Chapter Sixty-Five: Imposter

"Where exactly are we going?"

Smoke made his ways down the halls of the Lin Kuei temple with Enenra seemingly bored out of his mind. The demon felt they should have left the temple by now, but it seemed that Tomas had a different objective in mind. The silver-haired man kept going, but he answered Enenra's question.

"The Grandmaster's study."

"His study? What do you think you will find in there? His will?"

"I…really do not know. But there must be something of use-"

"Master Smoke?"

Tomas was cut off in his thoughts and he stopped in his tracks. He turned to his right and saw a young boy staring at him with his arms tightly folded around himself. This was the same boy Smoke had seen when he was heading to the Grand Hall. The day the Grandmaster had announced the Cyber Initiative.

"…Huan?"

The boy nodded, sniffling loudly. Smoke could see that Huan's eyes were red. and his cheeks had tear stains on them. He had been crying. Just seeing the child so sad made Tomas' heart break. The silver-haired man was immediately by Huan's side and he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"What is wrong? Why were you crying?"

The child's eyes began to tear up again and he soon let out a sob. He looked down on the floor and Smoke noticed how Huan hugged himself even tighter. Tomas held out his hand and smiled gently.

"Let me see. It is okay."

Huan hesitated for a moment, but he soon gave in and nodded his head. The child let his arms fall and he allowed Smoke to take one of his hands. What he saw on them made Tomas' eyes widen.

"By the gods…"

Huan's whole hand was covered in burns. Blisters had also formed over the injured areas. Smoke was careful not to hold the boy's hand too roughly so as to not cause Huan anymore pain. Tomas looked back up at the child.

"Who did this to you?"

"Master S-Sektor. It w-was my fault."

"No, no. Whatever you did, you did not deserve this, alright?"

Smoke let go of Huan's hand and moved his own hand to cup the boy's cheek. While he looked calm on the surface, Tomas' blood was boiling inside. And that could be taken literally considering his powers. Even as a robot, Sektor was still the arrogant and cruel man Smoke has known for all these years. Nothing had changed.

"I h-hate it here."

It came out as a whisper, but Tomas had heard it. He sighed.

"I am sorry, Huan. Things will get better, I-"

"Is this why y-you left?"

Tomas opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly closed it and looked down at the floor. He just was not sure what to say to Huan. The boy continued.

"Did they h-hurt you too? Do you hate t-them? Do you h-hate me?"

That last question made Smoke lift his head up and he immediately shook his head.

"No, no, no. Of course I do not hate you. Do not ever think like that. Huan, if I had the choice, I would not have left. But I had to. I HAD to."

He knew Huan did not completely understand the circumstances that caused him to leave the Lin Kuei, but Tomas hoped he had gotten through to the boy. He at least wanted Huan to know that he had nothing to do with the silver-haired man's defection from the clan. Smoke gently grabbed Huan's arm and pulled him into a hug.

"I am so sorry for leaving. For leaving you, Huan."

Huan cried into Tomas' shoulder and hugged the man back. He kept his hands out of the way though so they would not hurt as much.

"You should go get your hands taken care of."

"Will you…will you come with me?"

"I-"

Smoke stopped when he heard voices nearby. They were getting closer. Fast. Pulling Huan away, Tomas looked the child in his eyes and spoke.

"Huan, I cannot come with you. Not now. There is something I must do."

"But-"

"Listen to me. The Grandmaster will not be happy to see me right now. In fact, he will be very, VERY angry, okay? I have to go."

"Will you…come back?"

Smoke smiled.

"I promise I will come back for you."

Tomas ruffled Huan's hair, making the boy chuckle, and he took off down the hall towards his original destination. Huan watched the silver-haired man until he disappeared around a corner, and then he turned to go to one of the nurses. But after his encounter with Smoke, the boy's burns were feeling much better.

The door creaked open, and Tomas slowly stepped inside, praying that no one was in the Grandmaster's study. He thanked the gods that the room was empty. Closing the door behind him, Smoke quietly made his way over to the desk that sat in the middle of the study, and he opened the drawers within it to see if he could find anything important in them. What he found was a few papers, some journals, and even a picture of Oniro and Sektor as a child standing with an unfamiliar woman. Of course, her face had been cut out for some reason, so Tomas could not tell who it was, but he assumed that was Sektor's mother.

"I heard from my sifu that Sektor's mother was an angel. He used to say that she really brought out the best of Oniro, but when she died…the Grandmaster was never the same."

"Could explain why he is such a dick."

"Maybe so."

Smoke put the picture back in the drawer and closed it.

"But that still does not excuse him from the terrible things he has done."

Tomas walked away from the desk and looked around the room. Two bookshelves stood on each side of the room and the Lin Kuei symbol was carved into the ceiling. This was the first time Smoke has ever stepped foot in the Grandmaster's study, so he had no idea where else he should look. But then, just as he was about to leave, something caught Tomas eye. He walked towards the bookshelf on the right of the room and saw something strange imprinted on the spine of one of the books.

"The dragon?"

What Smoke is speaking of is the Mortal Kombat symbol, the dragon. It is said to depict the Elder Gods in their true forms. Tomas had seen it everywhere when he was in Outworld during the tournament, but it just seemed out of place in the study. That is why he decided to take a look at the book. Smoke grabbed it and attempted to pull it out of the shelf, but he soon found that he could not. The book was stuck.

"Blood."

Tomas frowned.

"What?"

"Blood, Tomas. That imprint is not just for show. You need to show it that you are worthy of its secrets."

"Worthy? I need to show a book that I am worthy?"

"Just do it already!"

Smoke sighed, but he took out a kunai knife and held up his left hand. He then made a small cut on his thumb and looked back to the book.

"What now?"

"Rub your blood over the symbol."

Tomas nodded and did as he was told. He smeared his blood on his thumb over the Mortal Kombat dragon and watched as the liquid seeped through the spine, vanishing completely from view.

"Is this thing…sentient?"

"Correct. There is powerful magic at work here to give a simple book sentience."

"How did Oniro come across such magic?"

"I do not know. Wait, do you hear that?"

Both Enenra and Smoke stopped talking and they heard a loud groan coming from the bookshelf like something had been moved. Tomas stepped away from it and the shelf began to shift to the right until an entranceway could be seen. A staircase could be seen, but where it led was covered in darkness.

"We are going down there, aren't we?"

Smoke again nodded.

"Are you sure that is wise?"

"…No."

But despite his doubts, Tomas proceeded towards the entrance and walked down the steps into the void below.

It felt like an eternity, but Smoke had finally reached the bottom of the staircase. There, he saw a tunnel with torches lined each side of it. Tomas cautiously made his way down the tunnel and his eyes darted around the area for any signs of movement. But by the time he came to the end of the tunnel, the place was still empty. Well…almost.

"I see Oniro has been busy."

Smoke froze in place. It was the stench that had caught him first. A stench that the silver-haired man had become too familiar with. But when he actually saw what Enenra was talking about, he had to put a hand over his mouth.

"Oh, come on. It is not like you have never seen a dead body before."

"So…many."

Before his very eyes, Tomas saw piles upon piles of corpses scattered all around the room. Men, women, children. There did not seem to be an end to the masses of bodies. Smoke could taste the bile rising in his throat from the sight, but he managed to keep it down. He took a step back.

"How…why…?"

"I knew Oniro was sick, but this…how did no one this was down here?"

"Welcome home, Tomas."

Tomas gasped and quickly turned around. Standing a few feet away from him was the last person Smoke wanted to see right now. The Grandmaster smirked when he saw the silver-haired man's surprised expression turn to a deep scowl.

"I did not wish for your homecoming to be like this, but you are here and that is what matters. It is a shame that things had to be this way."

Oniro took a step forward and at the same time, Tomas took a step back. As he did, Smoke's foot hit one of the corpses on the floor, a child's corpse. His eyes darkened at the sight.

"…W-Why?"

Tomas looked back at the Grandmaster, his teeth clenched together in anger.

"Why did so many have to die!? There are children down here! What did they do to deserve this!?"

Smoke's voice echoed throughout the room. He did not expect for Oniro to care about his words, but when the old man laughed in his face about it, something in Tomas snapped. He charged at the Grandmaster with a roar and threw a punch at the man. But he only succeeded in hitting air. Oniro had vanished in the blink of an eye.

"What the-?"

A hand grabbed Smoke's outstretched arm and twisted it behind his back. The silver-haired man grunted as he struggled to get out of the Grandmaster's hold, but it was no use. Oniro held Tomas still and put a knife to his throat.

"Why are you so stubborn? Why do you not surrender!?"

The Grandmaster twisted his captive's arm further and Smoke yelped in pain. But he calmed himself and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Tomas reappeared behind the old man and attempted to kick him, but again, Oniro stopped the silver-haired man's attack. The Grandmaster grabbed Smoke's leg and tossed him across the room into the wall. Tomas hit the wall hard, and pieces of brick fell to the floor along with him. He landed face first.

"Sloppy. Have I nor your sifu taught you anything?"

Smoke pushed himself off the ground and scrambled to his feet.

"Something is wrong."

Tomas responded to Enenra's observation in his mind.

"What? The fact that fighting me seems like child's play to Oniro right now?"

"Exactly. He is much more powerful than the last time we fought him."

"So what should d-?"

"…Tomas?"

Smoke did not respond. His focus was only on the body that lay next to him. Blood spewed from the corpse's eyes, nose, and ears and their white hair had now been dyed crimson with the red liquid. His dark brown eyes were now lifeless, but there was no way that Tomas could recognize them. After all, he could not forget the leader of his former clan.

"If that is Oniro…then who the hell am I fighting?"