Chapter Sixty-Two: Reunion

Finally, Hydro's systems were beginning to come back online. Before he could move a muscle, the word "Initializing" appears in his vision as his mainframe was rebooting.

"You are certain this will work?"

The hydromancer could hear people talking around him, but their voices were muffled and filled with static.

"To be honest, I am not. I have never done something like this before with an actual person. If this were just a regular robot, then it would be easy, but…"

Hydro's screen suddenly goes red and the word "Override" shows up. It soon engages and the slaving protocol is removed.

"A person's mind is fragile. One wrong move, and I could…"

"Cyrax, it will be fine. I have faith that you… wait, I think he is waking up."

A face appeared in Hydro's vision and a scan confirmed that the person was Sub-zero.

"Sifu?"

When he did not get an answer, Kuai turned to Cyrax.

"Can he hear me?"

"He should be able to. Try calling to him again."

Sub-zero nodded and turned back to Hydro.

"Sifu? Can you hear me?"

Once the scan was complete, the hydromancer was able to speak.

"Yes, Sub-zero."

Hearing his voice, Hydro reached up to his throat. He could not believe that his voice sounded like that. It sounded so… dead. Much like a robot. If he had not known better, Hydro would say that he sounded as though he had no soul. Perhaps he did not. Not anymore.

"How do you feel?"

Hydro slowly sat up on the table he was placed on and looked around. He was surrounded by a group of people, including Sub-zero, and he froze when his eyes landed on the yellow cyborg standing beside him.

"Cyrax?"

Nodding his head, Cyrax put his hand on the hydromancer's shoulder.

"Yes, Sifu. I am here."

Hydro stared at the yellow cyborg's hand, looking over the small metal plates and wires that enveloped it. Then, he turned away while shaking his head.

"No…"

"Sifu?"

Hydro did not look back at Sub-zero, but he responded.

"I remember… the things I have done for Shao Kahn… for that bastard Oniro…"

"You are not at fault, Sifu."

The cyborg's head jerked up and he and everyone around them turned to the left staircase where Tomas was coming down. As he approached the group, his allies parted so the silver-haired man could come through and speak to Hydro directly.

"We know. Back there, when we were fighting, we knew you were not yourself."

Under his mask, Smoke smiled and patted his sifu on his back.

"And, well… I think you were a little sloppy back there. I suppose old age has gotten to you, Sifu."

Tomas chuckled when he saw Kuai Liang facepalm himself and Cyrax shook his head, but he could hear the yellow cyborg laughing too. He instantly shut up though when Hydro's gaze fell upon him. While he could not see his sifu's eyes, Cyrax could feel Hydro glaring at him, right into his very soul.

"You know, boy…"

Turning back to Smoke, the blue cyborg stood from the table and turned his body, so his face was only a mere inch away from Tomas'.

"I think I did well. Considering that… I did kick your ass."

Smoke was not at all intimidated by Hydro and he immediately countered the cyborg's remark with one of his own.

"Allow me to correct you. I LET you kick my ass."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Smoke."

Tomas and Hydro both began to laugh. The others in the room just looked at the display in silence, genuinely happy that the former Lin Kuei assassins were reunited with their teacher.

While Smoke, Sub-zero, and Cyrax brought Hydro up to speed about their plans, Nightwolf approached Raiden and asked the thunder god about their new ally.

"Hoakah, how can Hydro best help us? I am not against him aiding us, but…"

The shaman looked at Hydro and saw how the blue cyborg was repeatedly opening and closing his right hand. Nightwolf could see Hydro's hand shake slightly as he continued the action, as if he were struggling to do that simple task.

"It will take some time before he is used to his cybernetic body. We do not have that time, Hoakah. In his current state, will he be of use?"

Raiden sighed. Nightwolf did make a good point, but the god still was not sure how to proceed now that Hydro has become a part of the team.

"I do not know. But this is an unexpected turn of events."

"What do you mean? Hydro should have never undergone this transformation?"

"No, Nightwolf. In the former timeline, Hydro was never freed of the slaving protocol and we never had any encounters with him. For Hydro to suddenly appear like this…"

Raiden put a hand under his chin as he thought. From what the thunder god had seen in his visions, Hydro did not play a major role in this fight. In fact, he was hardly ever seen or mentioned by anyone. Was his sudden appearance a result of Raiden's actions to change the future? Even so, the blue cyborg may be able to help them in some way. Raiden was just not sure how.

Speaking of Hydro, the cyborg was listening to his students as they told him about the tournament in Outworld and how Shao Kahn's invasion should have been avoided since they won Mortal Kombat. Hydro was confused about the emperor's course of action too, and he wondered why the Elder Gods did not interfere. But he himself could not judge them. After all, if the cyborg had been there for his students when they needed him most, he could have attempted to help them in their darkest times.

Hydro could have saved Bi-han from his death by the hands of Scorpion. If he had participated in the tournament in the cryomancer's stead, Bi-han would be alive. And he could have helped Cyrax escape from the Lin Kuei like he had all those years ago. But now the Botswanan was stuck in a cybernetic body with no hope of being human again. They had all suffer because of him.

Especially Smoke. Looking at the man now with his mask off, Hydro could tell that Tomas was upset with him. Even though he looked at his sifu with a smile on his face, the blue cyborg could tell it was a forced smile. Hydro sighed and grabbed Sub-zero's shoulder, signaling for the cryomancer to stop his story for the moment.

"I… I am so glad that you are all alright. No thanks to me, that is."

Tomas smile faltered slightly, and he turned his head away from Hydro. His action did not go unnoticed by his sifu, but he continued to speak.

"You boys have done so much and grown into fine young men. And it pains me that I was not there to watch you grow like I should have. I am so sorry for that."

"I do not want an apology."

Hydro watched as Smoke looked back at him, but his smile was no longer there. Instead, Tomas stared at his sifu with a deep frown.

"I just want to know why you left."

All these years, Tomas kept telling himself that Hydro left for a good reason. Something had happened and the hydromancer was forced to leave the Lin Kuei, right? But a small part of Smoke kept telling him otherwise. Maybe Hydro just… left. Maybe Hydro did not care about the students he had left behind. Maybe Hydro did not care about Tomas.

"Listen to me, boy."

The sternness in Hydro's tone reminded Smoke of when he was a child and the hydromancer would bark out instructions for him and his classmates. For that reason, Tomas immediately straightened up and listened to his sifu as he demanded.

"I do not know what thoughts are running through your head."

Hydro glanced at Kuai and Cyrax.

"Through any of your heads. But know this… you boys are EVERYTHING to me. I did not want to leave you, but I felt as though I had no choice."

"Why?"

The blue cyborg froze for a moment when he heard Smoke's voice crack. So much pain had been put into that one little word and it felt like a knife had been stabbed into Hydro's heart. He owed it to his students to tell them the truth and he planned to do just that.

"I needed to leave the Lin Kuei, because… because…"

Hydro trailed off. What was he about to say? Why did he leave the Lin Kuei? The hydromancer found himself asking that question, a question he should know the answer to.

"I… I do not remember."

He put a hand on his forehead and looked down at the ground.

"I honestly cannot remember."

Tomas' face softened and he was more concerned about his sifu than angry. He remembered what Cyrax had told him earlier about the possibility of some of Hydro's memories going missing and it seemed that that possibility has become a reality. What other memories is the cyborg missing?

"Hey, guys?"

Smoke's attention was pulled away from Hydro to Stryker, who was walking towards him and his comrades. The officer's gaze fell upon the blue cyborg.

"Listen, I really hate to cut your time short, but… we should take advantage of Hydro's situation."

Hydro lifted his head and faced Kurtis, curious about what was going through the policeman's head.

"How do you mean?"

"We need intel, right? Why don't we send you back to Outworld undercover?"

"Undercover?"

Stryker nodded his head. Hydro and his students thought about Kurtis' suggestion. After a moment, the blue cyborg nodded his head as well.

"That could work. But there is a possibility that they will be aware of my defection."

"That is true."

Everyone then turned their attention to Cyrax, who had a hand under his chin, thinking."

"But in order to detect any errors within your system, they will need to scan your neural net, Sifu"

"Will they do that once I return?"

"I doubt it. They will not need to if they do not see anything amiss."

"That's why I'm coming with you."

Kabal had now joined the conversation and he stood next to Stryker.

"It'll be suspicious if you return empty-handed, considering that Hydro came to Earthrealm because of me. I'm sure the Lin Kuei wants him to bring me back alive so they can interrogate me. I know too much as it is."

While it did seem like a good idea, Smoke could not help but go against this plan. Hydro may be fine, but Kabal definitely was in no condition to go to Outworld with his wounded shoulder. And if things did turn sour, the hydromancer was going to need all the help he could get while in his weakened state. That was when an idea occurred to Tomas.

"No…"

The silver-haired man looked at Kabal.

"I will go."

Now everyone's attention was drawn to Smoke. He could see the confused expressions on his allies' faces, or at least on his human allies' faces. But Tomas ignored them and continued.

"Kabal, with your injury, you will not be able to defend yourself, let alone be of assistance to anyone. And do not try to deny your pain, because I can see how much of a struggle it is for you just to stand right now."

Kabal opened his mouth to protest, but he the only sound that came out was a grunt as the pain in his shoulder began to flare up again. The speedster thought he could handle the pain and help Hydro when he needed to. Now Kabal realized that Smoke right. He was in no state to fight.

"He's right, partner."

A gloved hand rested on Kabal's shoulder, and he did not have to look back to know that it was Stryker's. The speedster sighed but nodded his head.

"Forgive me if my words sounded harsh, Kabal."

Kabal turned back to Tomas and the silver-haired smiled at him.

"But I do admire your courage. And you will help us more if you allow yourself to heal. Prepare for the next conflict that comes our way. Hydro and I will take care of this."

"Are you sure about this course of action?"

Unaware to the group, Raiden and Nightwolf had been listening to their conversation for some time and they decided to stay back to hear what the champions of light had in mind. Once they were aware of the thunder god's presence, Stryker and Kabal jumped back as they saw Raiden walk past them from behind and he stopped before Smoke and Hydro. Tomas nodded his head to the god.

"I am sure. How about you, Sifu?"

Hydro nodded his head too.

"I am ready when you are."

They both looked at Raiden and Earthrealm's protector considers this plan in silence for a moment. Their idea seemed promising and Raiden knew that the two men could defend themselves, but it was still risky. If something went wrong, Smoke may be transformed into a cyborg and the Lin Kuei may reactivate Hydro's slaving protocol. They knew the risks, yet they were determined to follow this plan through, and the thunder god needed to have faith that everything would be alright.

"Very well. But be vigilant. With Kabal's escape from Outworld, Shao Kahn and his allies will now be even more cautious. That includes the Lin Kuei."

Grabbing his mask, Tomas put it back over the lower half of his face and quickly adjusted the straps until they felt just right. The action felt so natural to Smoke that his mask was fit for battle in only a matter of seconds.

"Yes, Lord Raiden. We understand."