"Grandmaster!"

Hanzo turned his attention to his pupil calling out to him. "What is it, Takeda?"

The young Shirai Ryu panted and placed his hands on his knees, evident that he was exhausted.

"Me and the team found something during our regular patrols in Outworld, b-back in the Flesh Pits."

"Flesh Pits?"

The former wraith contemplated Takeda for a moment. "Why were you in the Flesh Pits?"

"General Blade wanted us to retrieve anything we can find notable in that…place." Takeda shuddered at the memory; he should've expected what the place looks like based on the name itself, but he had underestimated it.

"And what did you and your team find?"

"A couple of scrolls. A box of jars and containers filled with, umm, stuff that we left the science guys to examine. We also managed to get hold on most of Shang Tsung's 'experiments'. The living ones are left for examinations and to be subdued later, while the others that didn't last long were incinerated."

Hanzo has never been in the so-called 'Flesh Pits' before, but he doesn't need to guess what horrors are inhabiting in a place called as such. It's best to leave certain bits of information in the shadows. "What else did you find?"

Well, great.

In Hanzo's hands is what Takeda's team found in the Flesh Pits. Something that he remembers seeing during his time in unwillingly serving under Quan Chi.

What he is holding now is a teddy bear, albeit sloppily crafted with uneven stitching and a torn seam at the side of the bear's face. He's currently in the Special Forces base, sitting along with Takeda at the break room.

"Want me to get you something for lunch, Grandmaster?"

"It's alright, I'm not hungry." His attention is too fixed at the toy he's holding now.

"I wonder why there's a teddy bear in the Flesh Pits, of all places. D'you have any idea who owns it?" Takeda asks as he takes a bite out of a sandwich. "I don't like to imagine a kid wandering in a place like that. That's kinda screwed up."

The war-torn ninja shook his head. "Well, I know of–"

He was interrupted as Takeda's teammates enter the break room. Jacqui Briggs was first to barge in. "Hey Tak, we've been looking for you–Master Hasashi." She does a small bow, while her two other companions, Cassie Cage and Kung Jin, do the same.

"No need for pleasantries."

"He's about to tell me about the teddy bear we found back at the Flesh Pits."

"Oh, you mean that teddy bear?" His girlfriend points at the toy Hanzo is holding. "I was wondering how it got there. Looks kinda creepy."

"So Grandmaster, what do you know about it?"

"Yeah!" Cassie takes a seat, with Jacqui sitting beside her, while Jin leans on the wall, his arms crossed. "We've seen a lot of fucked up stuff back there, but that stuffed toy kinda stands out."

Hanzo breathed out a sigh. It's almost like he's surrounded by schoolchildren, eager to hear a bedtime story before taking their nap. "Well, if I must." His fingers traced at the seams, then stop as they land at the end where the damage starts, the cotton spilling out at the gaped hole. "This toy, well…"

Making his way in the underground subway, Scorpion suddenly stopped in his tracks. There was someone in here. Whoever was in hiding, they weren't trying to be subtle–

"Scorpy!" A shrill female voice cried. Scorpion turned around at the source. Facing him was the claimed 'princess' of Outworld, Mileena. Wearing a revealing pink leotard outfit, with a veil of matching color covering the lower half of her face, she was unreadable. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Begone, abomination!"

If the half-Tarkatan was frowning, he couldn't tell. "But I've heard so much about you! Daddy has always admired your prowess." Then with a swift hand, she removed the veil to reveal a set of sharp Tarkatan teeth, morbidly formed in an uncanny grin that nearly occupy half of her face. "I would like to present to you a gift."

"I will give you one final request before I end your suffering, beast."

Before he managed to summon his weapon, Mileena brought out a peculiar object. In her hands is a hastily-made stuffed toy, and she seems to be proud of it. "I wanted to give you this teddy. I made it myself!"

Scorpion shot a skeptical look at the stuffed toy. Why is she doing this? "Mere gifts cannot guarantee your life."

Mileena's facial deformation cannot convey her disappointment. "But I worked so hard on it! You have to accept it! I've been told that Earthrealmers exchange these kinds of 'gifts' as a sign to forge an alliance to each other. What do those lot call it…ah yes, 'friendship!'"

The wraith glared at her direction, now positioning himself on a battle stance.

"Please, won't you take it?"

"So, uhh," Kung Jin ponders at the story that Hanzo relayed to them. "Mileena thinks that to gain your trust…was to make you a teddy bear? Where did she even get that stupid idea anyway?"

"Well," Takeda interjects. "we did find collections of scrolls back at the Pit. One of the Outworlders who were with us told me that some of the scrolls are various documents about Earthrealm. At least one of them gave Mileena that idea."

"But a stuffed toy? Really?"

"Well, if what we've been told is true, then Mileena is technically a child. I mean, Edenians live a lot longer than us, reaching up tens of thousands of years. She's roughly our age, but uhh, yeah. You can't really blame her for thinking it would work." Takeda justified. "But even so, it won't change the fact that everything she did is wrong."

"I highly doubt there's anything to defend." Cassie agrees. "We've been told by the locals in Outworld that Mileena's reign was much worse than how Shao Kahn would've handled. To have Kotal Kahn as their new ruler, while, umm," A slight shiver ran down on her at the memory of dealing with Kotal and his enforcement. "While he has some anger issues, take that aside he's probably the best leader Outworld has ever got."

"There is something to defend." Hanzo asserted.

Everybody on the table paused, perplexed at what he just said.

Jin was the one who broke the silence. "What is there to defend? She was merely created by Shang Tsung upon Shao Kahn's request to have a 'daughter'–"

"She was brought into the world stumbling into chaos, only made worse that her caretakers are beings incapable of sympathy, whose twisted views are taught to her. If you were to be taken care of by such people, you would have no doubt end up like her."

"Doesn't explain why she had to do the things she did. Why bring Outworld down with her? Because Shao Kahn declared it himself that she is to be the heir to the throne? Why handle the position so badly, her own people would rather wage war against her? If they could anyway."

"Mileena has just…a unique way to handle things." Jacqui noted. "But you have to ask yourself if her being half-Tarkatan has something to do with her approach in handling situations."

"Aww c'mon, I'm pretty sure being a half-something has nothing to do with it." Cassie chimes in. "I mean, look at me! I'm practically half the strength of a Blade and the awesomeness of a Cage. You don't see me fucking shit up."

Jin stifles a laugh. "And you managed to come out annoying for someone who is a mix of two great halves."

Jacqui and Takeda laughed alongside with Jin, with Cassie shooting him a glare. "I'm gonna spare you just this once, Jin."

Hanzo patiently waits until they settled down. "As I was saying, Mileena was brought into the world, forced to grow up to take upon a role she has no understanding in. Was she taught anything beyond kombat? Probably not. Ethics, manners, socializing, and other such things? She probably has to learn them on her own, by observation or by research. She didn't have the time to develop herself beyond that, to become her own person, and not some physical transmission of Shao Kahn's wants.

"She was told to be the next ruler of Outworld, but did her 'father' teach her how to rule an empire? She may have learned how to place an iron fist to keep the populace in line, or to engage in kombat, but to gain the crowd's trust and protect them from inter-and-outer realm conflict? She herself is a threat to her own people. Her actions are no doubt, inexcusable, and her rebellion against the current emperor of Outworld made matters worse."

Jacqui was in deep thought. "I guess I could understand why she waged war against Kotal Kahn. To her, she's the rightful heir, because Shao Kahn officially stated that."

"But just because she's going to be empress under Shao Kahn's decree, doesn't mean she should." Cassie countered her.

Hanzo examines the teddy bear in his hands again, its dark brown fabric tattered and giving in to age trying to contain the mass of cotton inside it. He wonders how the tear in the seams came to be. "Thinking about it now, her attempt to give this toy to me as a gift must have been her desperate attempt to prove herself to her 'father.' To initiate an alliance, he would have deemed her worthy of being a Kahnum."

"Grandmaster," Takeda tries to get Hanzo's attention, whose focus is now transfixed at the stuff toy, "Why are you telling us this? Not that it's–"

"No, Takeda. It is completely understandable."

His student nodded. "Yes. I was just wondering…why are you sympathizing with her? Y'know, after everything she has done."

"Yeah?" Jin asked. "No amount of analyzing her background could bring her out of prison, or justify what she did. And we're keeping it that way. After all, by the end of the day, Outworld business isn't our business unless it interferes with our realm."

Hanzo sighed deeply, setting the stuffed toy on the table. "Her pursuit for revenge against her traitors, in reclaiming what she believes to be her rightful place in her empire, brought her to her downfall." His eyebrows furrowed. "I, of all people, would know."