Chapter Sixty-Four: The Devil's Work

Tomas was not sure what had happened to him, but next thing he knew he was in the void of his mindscape with Enenra standing over him. The demon had his arms crossed and he looked furious.

"What the FUCK were you thinking?"

Standing up, Smoke faced the demon and shrugged.

"Last minute decision, I suppose."

"Last min…!?"

Enenra growled and seized Tomas' arm with an iron grip.

"Do you even realize what is going on out in the real world!? You are strapped to a medical table and being prepared for surgery. You are going to be transformed!"

"Correction: WE are going to be transformed."

Smoke snatched his arm out of Enenra's grasp.

"That is, if you do not do something about it."

Now Tomas was the one crossing his arms while Enenra stared at him in disbelief. But then…he smirked.

"So…you really want to play this game with me, Tomas?"

"It is not a game, Enenra. It is a test."

"A test? Are you serious?"

"Very."

Smoke walked past the demon and he thought back to his conversation with Pyros before he left the temple. He was sure of what he was doing, but "if" his plan backfires… no. The silver-haired man shook his head.

"Pyros is very cautious of you and honestly I cannot blame him. I am having a hard time trusting you as it is, and we share a body. As you have already said, we should be working together to reach our goal, but that is not possible if there is mistrust between us. So…"

Turning back around, Tomas looked at Enenra with an unusually relaxed expression.

"Prove it."

Enenra chuckled, but he was not at all amused by his host's antics.

"Prove what?"

"Prove that I can trust you. I am tired of people believing I should trust them just because they tell me to. I want to know for a fact that I can trust you and that you will be there if I need your assistance. Is that too much to ask?"

Tomas stood there waiting for an answer, but Enenra was not sure what to say. The demon shook his head.

"You are willingly to risk your life for this? What if you are wrong about me?"

"Then I am wrong. That is all there is to it."

Enenra pinched the bridge of his nose. He could not believe Smoke was acting so childish right now. Humans really were pathetic. But then again…his host had a point. Enenra has tried more than once to take control over Tomas' body and even though the demon has been quite helpful since the invasion began, he was still a demon. Demons could not be trusted.

So, it did surprise Enenra how far he and Tomas have come with how rocky the trust between them is now. He could imagine what they would be able to do if Smoke put all his faith in the demon. If he had to get his hands a little dirty to show his worth, then so be it. Besides, it was about time he got in on some of the action.

"…Fine. But I do this MY way."

"Hey, how is he?"

A blonde-haired scientist hovered over Tomas' unconscious form. The silver-haired man had not moved ever since Hydro brought him into the lab and it did not seem like he would until the cuffs on his wrists were removed. When the blonde did not answer his friend's question, the other scientist in the room, who happened to bald, walked towards him to see what had caught his attention.

"Hello? You with me, kid?"

"Wha…? Oh!"

The blonde-haired man shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Sorry, just…thinking."

"About what?"

"Come on, aren't you curious? About him?"

The blonde nodded his head to Smoke.

"I mean, WHAT is he? Where did he come from?"

"Look, I understand that you're curious, but the Black Dragon clan isn't paying us to be curious. We got a job to do, so let's do it."

The two scientists froze when they saw Tomas move his head a little, his eyes still closed. They took it as a sign that he was coming to and the bald man immediately picked up a syringe with a clear liquid inside.

"Gotta make sure he doesn't wake up in the middle of the procedure. That'll be a hassle."

The scientist placed the needle near Smoke's neck and moved to plunge it into the silver-haired man's flesh, but he suddenly froze. As did his comrade. The two turned towards one another, both looking terrified, and the blonde was the one who spoke first.

"Do you….do you feel that?"

The bald scientist nodded and they both felt the need to look behind them. So, at the same time, the two men slowly turned around and their eyes widened even more at what they saw. The blonde man even began to hyperventilate as he was consumed by fear.

"You should know better than to stare. It is rude."

Piercing red eyes were seen among a dark cloud of smoke, which started to spread around the lab. As the gas surrounded the two men, the lights began to flicker and eventually they gave out completely, leaving the scientists in almost total darkness. Almost. But the light provided by the creature's eyes was not exactly comforting.

"I believe you two have something I want."

Suddenly, the blonde was gasped as his hands flew to his throat. He felt like someone was trying to strangle him, but there was no one there. His friend attempted to help him but was immediately thrown back and into a wall by an invisible force. He hit his head hard and landed back on the floor unconscious.

"You."

The monster's eyes drew closer to the blonde scientist, who was still desperately trying to get air in his lungs.

"You wanted to know what I am. What WE are."

The man continued to struggle, but he had heard what the creature had said. He tried to speak and managed to choke out a few words.

"What…what are you…talking…?"

"What am I talking about? You should have put it all together by now, Damian."

Loosening its hold on its captive, the monster was amused by the alarmed expression on the blonde's face when it spoke his name.

"How…how do you know my name?"

"Simple. Your sister called out to you just before she died. And you were not there to save her."

The creature let go of Damian and gave him time to regain his composure before speaking again.

"She would be disappointed to know what you have been doing all these years. Working for the Black Dragon. Using humans as guinea pigs for your experiments."

Standing up, Damian rubbed his throat for some time before he snapped back at the monster.

"What the hell do you know about my sister!? What did you do to her!?"

The blonde heard a deep chuckle coming from the smoke and he looked around for the source. But a clawed hand wrapping itself around his throat stopped him.

"I killed her."

With a quick motion, the creature slashed its claws across Damian's neck and blood oozed from the wound in large amounts. It only took a second for the man to fall back to the ground, dead. The lights came back on soon after that and standing beside Damian's body was Enenra in his human form, blood dripping from his hands. He pushed a few strands of his crimson hair out of his face and looked down at the blonde.

"And do not even think that you will see your sister again in death. Where she rests, you will never be able to follow her."

Enenra then turned around and headed to the table where Tomas still laid. He cut off the straps restraining his host and broke the cuffs around Smoke's wrists. As soon as those were off, Tomas' eyes flew open, and he instantly sat up prepared to fight off anyone who intended to harm him. Grabbing the silver-haired man's shoulder, Enenra only scoffed at Smoke's actions.

"Calm down, idiot. Everyone has been dealt with."

Tomas took a few deep breaths to calm himself and put his head in his hands.

"By the gods, my head."

"I suppose that is what you deserve for putting yourself in this situation."

With his hand still on Tomas' shoulder, Enenra helped his host stand up and the two walked towards the exit. Some put a hand on his forehead and Enenra sighed.

"Are you okay, Tomas?"

Smoke frowned. He was surprised that the demon had cared enough about his well-being to ask if he was alright.

"Um…yes. Yes, I am fine."

"Good."

Enenra's hand suddenly fell through Tomas' shoulder. Literally. The demon's body was beginning to fade away.

"Because if you do something like that again, I will let them murder you with a smile on my face. Even if I must die alongside you. Got it?"

Tomas only shook his head and soon Enenra disappeared. As the demon returned to his host's body, Smoke started to feel guilty about something. He was not sure what, but he figured the body that laid on the floor in front of him had something to do with it. What did Enenra do?

Hydro had just entered the clocktower in St. Dominic's and he saw Kano and Kintaro with a group of soldiers as hostages. He was lucky that Goro was still out of commission. The cyborg had heard what Tomas had done to the Shokan Prince and was very proud of his student for being able to take Goro down so easily. Smoke, Sub-zero, and Cyrax really have grown. But now was not the time to be thinking about that.

One of the soldiers yelped as Kano zapped him with his laser eye, toying with them as if he were playing a game. Hydro was disgusted by the Australian's actions. How could he attack the soldiers when they clearly were in no state to defend themselves? They were chained and had no weapons! Pushing those thoughts aside, Hydro approached Kano to see what his next task was.

"Finally!"

Kano exclaimed when he saw the blue cyborg.

"C'mon. We gotta get em' to the graveyard. On yer feet, all of ya!"

The Black Dragon's leader turned back to the soldiers as he spoke, but none of them moved.

"For what purpose?"

Hydro was curious about what Kano had planned for the soldiers. He did not think that the Black Dragon took prisoners, so why were these soldiers still alive? Kano shrugged as he answered Hydro's question.

"Don't care, really. So long as I get paid."

So, it was not Kano who needed the soldiers. He was just escorting them for a paycheck. But then who was he bringing the soldiers to? Kintaro began to grow impatient when the soldiers still did not move from their spots.

"He said on your feet!"

A few of the soldiers jumped at the sound of Kintaro's booming voice, but they refused to get up. The Shokan growled at their disobedience.

"Get up!"

Kintaro stomped towards the soldiers and reached his hand out to grab one of them, but Hydro was not about to let him do so. Instead, the hydromancer shot two beams of freezing cold water at the Shokan and watched as Kintaro was encased in ice. Kano looked back at the cyborg in anger.

"Hey! What're-!?"

The Australian was cut off when Hydro shot water at him as well and Kano was quickly trapped in ice just like his Shokan comrade. Once that was done, Hydro turned to the soldiers and grabbed the chain that was restraining them.

"I will help you."

Small streams of water passed from the cyborg's hands to the chain and as they flowed through the loops, the chain began to freeze little by little. When it was completely frozen, Hydro brought his fist down upon it and smashes into pieces, freeing the soldiers. But they did not have time to celebrate as Hydro noticed cracks within the ice that held Kintaro.

"Go! All of you! Now!"

The soldiers nod in agreement.

"Let's go! C'mon!"

The soldiers escape just as Kintaro breaks free of the ice and he growls at Hydro while stomping towards him.

"Your treachery will be punished!"

Hydro got into his fighting stance and prepared to battle the Shokan.