Pain!

All there was to feel was the intense sensation, never going away. She tried to claw at her own face, but to no avail. Where were her own arms? It felt as if she didn't even have arms to even try. The feeling wouldn't go away, that unbearable feeling, like acid constantly being poured from above! Why wouldn't it stop!?

Then it suddenly ceased. She couldn't feel anything at all. But that didn't bother her in the least. The pain was finally gone and that was all that mattered. She tried to remember-What was she trying to remember? The very act of thinking seemed difficult to do. She couldn't look at anything to jog her memory, for she couldn't see, strangely enough. She also felt like she was floating. Where were her legs? Did she ever have legs to begin with?

The fact that she didn't know was a little frustrating, and even more grating was the fact that she should know. But it felt like trying to remember only made it that much harder.

She tried to figure out where she was, but she had no sense of direction, no frame of reference to even go off of. She felt no gravity pulling on her and couldn't even tell if she was moving.

Perhaps if she stopped thinking about it and waited?

...

How long did she wait? Was it merely seconds, or minutes? Or even years?

But she pushed that out of her musing. She could hear something, finally.

It sounded like flames. It never bothered her before, but now she had the niggling feeling she didn't want to be anywhere near flames. The fear felt irrational, but the feeling was almost overpowering.

As the sound of the flames became that much louder, coupled with the far off and almost surreal sound of cries of pain, numerous in number, the anxiety began to intensify, as if she knew what those sounds meant.

But then, the cries began to fade, and so too did the sound of crackling flames. Apparently, she must have been moving, somehow, for she felt like she was being pulled somewhere else. Although the anxiety steadily began to fade, she felt like she was supposed to have been going where those flames and pained cries were coming from.

Shang Tsung's flesh pits-

This underground location, infamous due to it's owner, was long abandoned, thanks to the sorcerer's untimely death. No longer were new genetic experiements being conducted, but it was still inhabited by the flesh pits guardians, mutated, gruesome looking beasts tasked by the late Shang Tsung to protect it's secrets.

The main entrance from the pits into the vastness of Outworld was tidy looking. The floors were covered with metallic tiles, and small tables in seemingly random locations, topped with candles were now unlit, the flames put out from neglect. The further in one would go into the pits, the less Spartan the interior appeared, with the walls becoming more cavernous in appearance, as well as the ground, though metal flooring was still present in a pattern that was only understood by the lab's creator.

In this area of the pits were large vertical tubes, large enough to fit a single average sized person each. The tubes were about eight feet tall, not including the foundation they stood on. In the leftmost corner of the room sat several tubes, about six or seven in number, each containing a body, somewhat floating in some liquid that might be water, but was a darker blue in hue. All of the bodies were female and they did not move at all. They were unbelievably still, possibly brain dead, but very much alive.

One of these figures twitched suddenly. A finger flicking at nothing, and then the wrist jerking in a random direction. Not long after an arm, then a leg. The whole body twitched violently, and the eyes, which were closed, snapped open.

The woman opened her mouth to breath, but belatedly realized there was no air, only the strange liquid inside the tube. She looked around quickly, banging her fists against the glass, the need for oxygen intensifying. With nothing to lose, her feet joined in the effort to attack the casing along with her hands, putting as much force as she could into her swings, as much as she could manage with the drag from the liquid.

It was several moments later when the casing began to crack, and liquid seeped from the glass as if in a hurry to escape. A couple more strikes against the casing, and the fluid streamed through like a sprung leak.

And finally, one more strike.

The glass finally gave way. The fluid burst through like an angry tidal wave, and the woman found herself falling. The fluid carried her right out of the tube like a temporary carriage and she landed somewhat roughly on her stomach.

She coughed violently, and eventually water forced it's way out through her throat and out of her mouth. Her breaths came in quick and in short gasps, as if hungry for the now abundant oxygen. After her breaths steadily began to calm, she looked around again, slowly this time, using her senses for what weirdly felt like the first time, although she remembered what it all felt like. Perhaps Deja Vu was a more fitting term.

Swallowing, she propped herself up on her hands and knees, steadying herself before attempting to stand. Her legs felt weak, although she remembered walking before, however long ago that was. Finally feeling brave enough, she stood on her feet, instantly regretting it. A wave of vertigo assaulted her and she staggered. The floor looked very inviting as she tried to prevent herself from collapsing back onto the ground. Flailing her arms, she managed to grab onto a nearby table, although her knees still gave out on her. Quickly, she examined the table and realized her arms were covered by a fabric. She turned her hands about, seeing some skin that wasn't covered by what she assumed were probably bandages and noted that it covered her body in places as well.

The next thing she did was feel her face, touching her forehead, and chin and the side's of her head, feeling what felt like teeth, but it was on the outside rather than the inside of her mouth. The front of her face felt different. The teeth were much smaller there, but still sharp, like fangs, and were behind the lips. Oddly, the fangs that she could feel on the sides of her face didn't feel at all out of place, like they were supposed to be there.

She then closed her eyes, momentarily, letting herself concentrate, and focused on her own breathing. After about half a minute of doing this, she stood on her feet again. This time, she managed to stand without any further complications.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud, not really expecting an answer from anyone, but mainly to hear her own voice. It sounded familiar. That was good wasn't it?

"My name is..." she began, pausing in thought. It was on the tip of her tongue...

It was Kitana, wasn't it? No, that wasn't it. She felt like she knew that name, and very well, but it didn't feel quite right.

"No, it was...is Mileena," she corrected herself. Yes, that sounded about right. But what was she doing here? She instinctively knew this was a lab of some sort, but she couldn't recall what the place was called or who it belonged to.

Her breath hitched in her throat. She remembered something. Something important.

She had died.

She felt like she should have been more surprised at the realization, but she couldn't be bothered to shout or show any other obvious sign of surprise.

"Who was it..?" she demanded, the question being said aloud without a real purpose. She wanted to hear her own voice again. It felt like it had been a while since she'd spoken. As she tried to think of anything before the tube she broke out of, she wandered the room, looking for anything to wear. The bandages weren't uncomfortable, but it was improper to just walk around with only bandages to cover herself, right?

Now she remembered. Bugs. She didn't know why yet, but she really hated bugs. Of course, she had to have always hated bugs, but something about insects seemed to make her angrier than she remembered. Maybe the reason for that would resurface soon enough. She decided to let the thought go once she spotted a wardrobe. She pulled on the handle, her grip lingering even after she opened the door, savoring the feel of her hand simply touching something.

Forcing herself to remember what she was doing, she wrenched her gaze from the wardrobe's door handle to the articles of clothing hanging inside the container by their collars.

None of the attire really looked appealing. They all looked like simple robes with pants and a sash. Frowning, she pushed the clothes to the side, trying to see if there might be anything different. There was one, it looked identical to the rest but was more purplish in color. She couldn't explain it, but she liked the color purple, gripping the fabric, and removing it from the wardrobe.

Without hesitation, she removed the bandages before putting on the robe, then pants, before tying the sash around her waist. Idly, she scratched at one of the larger teeth that framed the side of her face, before heading to where she knew the exit would be. The first place she would look for for answers would be the Outworld Palace. She began to walk, wondering if Kitana would be at the Palace right now. Perhaps she could explain what happened.