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Finally, it was over.
After eons upon eons, plus a few different timelines, Titan Shang Tsung had finally ridded himself of that pesky Liu Kang once and for all.
Sure, it had taken much more carnage than he had originally intended. Allies that he had intended to get much more mileage out of had unfortunately perished during the long, chaotic battle. Though he could not find himself to truly mourn the loss. After all, they had died for a good cause. A greater purpose.
As Titan stood at the top of the pyramid, admiring the bloodbath strewn across the hundreds of thousands of steps, he couldn’t help but smile.
Here he remained, the victor of this drawn-out game of theirs. It had been so satisfying to watch not only Liu Kang fade from reality, but also all the creations from his timeline. Such a carefully crafted timeline, completely erased from existence. The screams as the vermin realized their fate was exhilarating.
It didn’t take long for the others, the so-called ‘forces of good’ to realize what had happened. With the leader of them gone, they had all quickly retreated back to their timelines, with their metaphorical tails between their legs.
While Titan could have killed them, he decided that it would be much more fun to let them run back home. Give them hope that maybe, just maybe, he would forget about them. That their timelines would remain unharmed.
Of course, all their deaths would come in due time. Either personally at his hands, or at the hands of his remaining allies— all of whom had been dismissed back to his timeline in order to regroup.
Having a moment to himself was quite nice. Not only to admire the battlefield that lay beneath his feet, but also to relish in the fact he had won. And his victory had come with no major losses.
At least, that’s what he thought. Until he turned around to return home.
There was one major loss.
Light.
Not the concept of Light, abstract nor physical. But rather, one of Titan’s own counterparts. The one who had been part of the ‘Union of Light’, which was where she had gotten the nickname from.
Liu Kang’s timeline was not the first one Titan had managed to enter. That honor had gone to the timeline Light had inhabited.
After discovering the existence of other timelines, he had decided to ‘check in’ on his counterparts. His intention was to kill the ones he deemed weak, while allying himself with those he deemed strong. But upon meeting Light, all of those plans went right out the window.
He had known that things would be different in other timelines, but he could have never imagined just how stark the contrast would be.
Never in a million years would have ever imagined there would be a version of himself that was legitimately good or pure. For a time, he was certain that it was all just an act. That like himself, she was a master manipulator.
But after getting to know her better, Titan realized that this truly was the real her. And shockingly… he found himself falling for her.
Despite all the differences between them, they were a shockingly good pair. That was mostly due to Light’s effort, but still. Titan enjoyed the company. And when things became physical, that certainly helped keep him invested in the relationship.
Though in the background, he still made moves to further his own agenda. Those moves, of course, being his infiltration and manipulation of Liu Kang’s timeline.
He had intended for it to be a simple takeover. One that Light would have never found out about. But of course, Liu Kang had to go and ruin his plans. Such a nuisance that ‘Fire God’ had been.
Thanks to him, Light found out about what Titan had been doing and was even recruited to aid the forces of good.
That was how they ended up here.
In the moment, Titan hadn’t even thought twice about killing her. She attacked him first. All he was doing was defending himself. It was her own fault that she died. At least that was how he tried to justify it to himself.
Yet, as Titan looked down at her lifeless body, he realized he didn’t want her to be gone. It was far too late for him to be making such a revelation, but the weight of it still caused him to drop onto his hands and knees.
He cared for her. Although he had tried to convince himself that his heart had grown too cold and calloused for such a thing, he truly did care about her. Maybe even loved her. But now she was gone. Dead by his own hands.
And all that remained of her was her corpse.
After a moment of contemplation, Titan reached out to her, part of him hoping that she would reach out to him in return. But she didn’t, of course. So instead, he simply placed his hand on her upper arm.
Still warm.
Despite the damage she had sustained from the battle and her death, she was still undeniably beautiful. Although, she wasn’t given the privilege of having a peaceful expression in death. Instead, she had died screaming in agony, which was reflected on her features.
As if it would somehow take away her pain, Titan carefully coaxed her face into a more peaceful expression— carefully shutting her eyelids and mouth, and smoothing out the wrinkled lines on her skin. She looked better that way. Less like she was dead, and more like she was simply sleeping.
But she’s not just sleeping, is she?
After that line of thought, it doesn’t take long for Titan’s sorrow to turn into anger.
Why?
WHY?
Why did things have to turn out like this? Why did she have to get involved? He never told her about his plans for this exact reason. And yet she just had to get involved once she was told. So truly, it’s her own fault, not his.
In a sudden fit of rage, Titan engaged the tekko-kagi strapped to his wrist and swiped across her chest and stomach, cutting her clothing, skin, and even into the fat and muscle underneath.
Her body was still fresh enough to bleed, especially with such deep wounds. It soaked into her clothes, turning her once colorful and vibrant outfit all to a deep shade of red.
Titan pulled his arm away in order to examine the metallic claws on his wrist. As to be expected, they were coated in blood. And despite him still feeling anger towards Light, he couldn’t help but give it a taste.
He lifted the thin blades to his mouth, letting droplets of blood drip onto his tongue. The taste was bitter and metallic, yet somehow still had a bit of a sweet undertone to it. It was… good.
He dipped his fingers into one of the cuts he made across her stomach, then brought them back up to his mouth. His tongue darted across his fingers, lapping up the sweet blood dripping down them. Once his fingers were clean, he repeated the action over and over again in a desperate attempt to consume as much blood as possible before it all soaked into her clothes or the dusty ground.
But quickly, her blood wasn’t enough to sate him anymore.
Using the tekko-kagi again, Titan dug deeper into her stomach, messily cutting loose several rough chunks of fat. Without hesitation, he grabbed one and ate it.
The taste was far from favorable, and the texture was even worse. It was like trying to eat the fat off a piece of animal meat, except this fat was lumpy and raw. It was a battle itself to chew it and force it down his throat. Yet for some reason, he craved more.
Titan sliced and ripped out more pieces of fat, forcing them down his gullet while suppressing the mild feeling of nausea they gave him, until he finally reached the layer of muscle hiding underneath.
He sliced a piece off, tearing it away from her body, then scarfed it down like a ravenous animal. The taste and texture were a welcome change from the fat tissue, in his personal opinion.
It was delicious, actually.
He needed more.
He ripped more fat out of her gaping abdomen, feeling it squish between his fingers as he threw it aside in order to expose more of the muscle, which he was much more careful with. He sliced the muscle across her stomach away in large, carefully crafted shapes, almost resembling cuts of beef or pork.
He decided to start with the largest piece first, cradling the limp flesh in his hands as he sank his teeth in. It was so fresh, so delicious. He had intended to savor it for longer, but he couldn’t stop himself from gobbling down the entire piece within only a few minutes.
With the smaller pieces, he again tried to pace himself, but found himself unable to. He couldn’t control himself, not when Light was treating him so well. He had always been so weak for her. That was his problem.
Titan was snapped out of his thoughts when he reached back into Light’s open abdomen for another piece of muscle, only to find there was none left, and he was instead grabbing at her organs.
Time to move on, he supposed.
He took a moment to think about what to eat first. He quickly ruled out her intestines as an edible option, and pulled them out of her body. But rather than discard them entirely, he draped them around his shoulders and torso. It almost felt as if she was embracing him again.
Her guts were still warm, almost as warm as her hugs had been. Hugs that he’d never experience again. He needed to cling to this last bit of her comforting warmth, even as he continued to defile her once pure and pristine body.
Light’s stomach was next to be dismissed. Using the last bit of coherent thinking he had, Titan figured that her stomach acid mixed with her last meal would be a less than favorable taste. Still, he was careful while removing it, not wanting to accidentally puncture or tear it and have its contents leak all over him. He set the unwanted organ aside, next to the small piles of fat he had previously discarded. A repulsive sight, truly.
If anyone were to find him like this…
Titan had to forcibly shake the thought off in order to continue his desecration.
Dipping his hand back into the gaping cavity that was now Light’s abdomen, he retrieved one of her kidneys. It fit perfectly within the palm of his hand. He almost wanted to cherish the thing, as if it were something precious and not a bloody organ. But his hunger was far too great.
Sinking his teeth in, Titan was pleasantly surprised by the texture. Unlike the muscle he consumed which was a bit tough, this was so much softer and even a bit spongy. He had no trouble taking a bite. The taste, on the other hand, was a bit overwhelming. It tasted almost purely of iron and blood, with an acrid undertone.
Still, not wanting to leave the organ only half eaten, Titan forced the rest of it down. He did, however, leave the other kidney untouched in favor of taking his lover’s liver.
The size was almost overwhelming, —a thought he’d had in regards to Light a few times before— weighing down his hands as he struggled to hold the plump organ in his manic state. Just like all her other organs, it was dripping with blood, trickling down Titan’s already stained hands and forearms.
Unable to fully lift the liver to his mouth, Titan hunched over like an animal in order to take a bite, digging his teeth into the plumpest part. It was so much better than her kidney.
The texture was somewhat similar, though it was much more solid, rather than spongy. Despite that, he had no problem taking bite after bite. Eating her liver was something akin to eating butter. His teeth cut through so easily, never once making him struggle.
And the taste. Oh, the taste.
The most prominent flavor was of course blood, but the undertones were so much stronger than he had anticipated. There was a prominent bitterness, which he could only assume was due to bile, but it was rounded out perfectly with an unexpected sweetness. It was delicious.
Titan had initially been unsure about whether or not he would be able to finish such a large organ, but he found himself devouring the entire thing in only a few minutes, even craving more after he was finished.
He panted softly, wiping his bloody mouth with his bicep, which fortunately didn’t have too much blood on it. He felt so full, his stomach all but screaming at him to stop and purge itself. But he wasn’t quite done yet.
Once again looking back down at his deceased lover, Titan was able to truly take in the damage he had caused.
All of Light’s clothing on her upper half had been shredded, alongside the skin on her chest and stomach, creating a deep cavern of carnage. Rather than a tightly packed group of organs, the ones that remained flopped out of place as they had nothing to hold them in place anymore. Her pancreas and uneaten kidney had fallen down to where her intestines would go, balancing delicately atop her bladder.
The only organs that remained mostly in place were her lungs and heart, thanks to her ribcage holding them in place. It was strangely beautiful that way.
Once again placing his hands inside of Light, Titan was much more careful this time. He slipped his hands beneath her ribcage, sliding them across her lungs. They were so smooth. Perfectly healthy, of course. Light would never be the type of person to smoke, or partake in any other sort of activity that would cause her lungs to deteriorate. They were in pristine condition. Something that couldn’t be said about the rest of her.
But her lungs weren’t what Titan was most interested in. No, he was after her heart.
Maneuvering his hands as careful as possible so as to not puncture her lungs, Titan took a hold of Light’s heart and began to pull. There was some resistance, of course, but with enough force he was able to remove it from her ribcage, and therefore her body entirely.
There it was.
Light’s heart.
While Titan undoubtedly believed that souls were the core of everyone’s being, Light was different. She had simply been so compassionate, loving, and outright pure that there was no comprehensible way that her heart wasn’t her core.
And now it was in Titan’s hands.
It felt so good.
The weight was perfect. Not too heavy like her liver, but just enough for him to really feel it in his hands. He began salivating at the thought of taking a bite.
Like her lungs, Light’s heart was in perfect condition. Were she somehow still alive, Titan had no doubts it would be beating strong. How he wished he could feel it.
He could feel himself salivating, strings of drool dripping from the corners of his mouth. He needed her inside of him desperately. He simply couldn’t wait any longer.
As he rose the tender heart to his mouth, maw open to devour it, he heard a familiar baritone voice behind him.
“I could have saved her, you know.”
“What…?”
Titan’s voice shook as he lowered his hands and turned to look back at the man speaking to him. Quan Chi.
“I said…” The pale sorcerer stepped closer to the gory scene before him, grimacing as he stepped on a piece of discarded fat that was surely going to ruin his boots. “I could have saved her.”
Titan quickly exchanged glances between his ally and the desecrated corpse beneath him, his mind failing to piece together what the man was saying in such a manic state.
Quan Chi merely scoffed and shook his head before elaborating. “Had her body remained intact, I would have been able to turn her into a revenant. She could have been yours for an eternity.”
Titan remained quiet as Quan Chi crouched down next to the nearly unrecognizable woman before cupping his hand around her cheek.
“It is a shame, truly. She would have been quite a beautiful one.” The taller man once again shook his head as he stood back up.
“Oh well, I’m sure that you’re satisfied with the choices you’ve made, Lord Shang Tsung.”
And with that, Quan Chi left through a portal as swiftly as he arrived, leaving Titan alone with his lingering words.
Slowly, Titan turns back to the heavy heart in his hands. Suddenly, it feels wrong to eat it. Quan Chi’s information shouldn’t have changed anything- it’s not like he was planning on saving Light. Yet with the knowledge that he could’ve, had he just been patient, is crushing.
His thumb slowly brushes over her aorta. Truly, the woman had an incredible heart, literally and figuratively. It would be a shame to let it go to waste, on second thought…
But of course, the only proper course of action is to keep her heart. Cherish it. Display it. Use it as a symbol of his strength. Make sure that nobody ever dares to challenge him again. Because if he is willing to kill the one person he ever loved, he’ll most certainly have no problem with killing anyone else who decides to cause a problem.
With his mind made up, Titan almost gets up to leave. But he stops himself. He needs to give her a proper farewell.
Leaning down to press his lips against Light’s cold ones, he whispers.
“Farewell, my love.”