Chapter Four: Escape

Smoke was running as fast as he could to Kuai's room. He sprinted down hallways and soon found himself back in the courtyard, where his "imaginary" friend was waiting for him. The gray ninja stopped just a few feet away, panting.

"You were right."

"I know, and I hate that I was."

"How did you know?"

"I told you, I know many things. The real question now is have I earned your trust?"

Tomas thought about that. Sure, the guy had told him one thing that had been true, but maybe it was all part of some diabolical plan of his own. But then again, what did Pyros have against him? What did Smoke have against Pyros? They have never met, or at least Tomas felt they never met. Pyros could be someone from his forgotten past. Someone he trusted.

Or maybe he was just psychic. Who knows? Either way, if it were not for Pyros' advice to go to the armory, Tomas would have never found Cyrax and learn the truth behind the Cyber Initiative. That was good enough for him. For now.

"Yes. I trust you, but if you betray that trust, I will not hesitate to kill you. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly. Now, you must hurry to your cryomancer friend. It will not take long before he is taken as well."

"Taken? What do you mean by that?"

"Cyrax is not the only person who is supposed to be transformed into a cyborg tonight. The Grandmaster has sent some of your brethren to take Kuai and you to the lab."

"But the Grandmaster said that our transformations would start tomo...oh, gods."

Realization hit Smoke like a freight train. Even Oniro had to know that most of his warriors had doubts about the initiative and would most likely resist. The old man was going to do whatever was necessary to make sure everyone was transformed. Everyone. And what better way than to force his strongest fighters to do the surgery and show how much they "improved" by going through the procedure? False advertisement, really.

Without another word, Smoke dashed out of the courtyard, leaving Pyros behind. He just stood there and watched the ninja go.

"May the Elder Gods watch over you... Enenra."

Still in his room, Kuai was laying on his mat looking up at the ceiling. He felt weak after his episode earlier and did not want anything to do with anyone. He just wanted to be left alone. Soon enough, though, the cryomancer heard someone knocking on his door. Kuai grunted and ignored the banging. The visitor knocked again and Tundra continued to disregard them. After a minute, the knocking stopped.

"Kuai Liang, open the damn door now!"

Kuai quickly jumped up in surprise. That was definitely Tomas' voice and he did not sound happy. In fact, his friend sounded a bit... frantic? Tundra got up from his bed and opened the door. Smoke pushed the blue ninja back inside and looked out in the hall to see if he had been followed. No one was in sight, so Tomas closed the door.

"Smoke, what is wrong with you? You cannot just barge into..."

"Kuai, I really do not have to explain, but I need you to come with me. We are getting out of the temple. Now."

"Wait, get out? You mean leave the Lin Kuei? Are you insane!?"

"Look, terrible things will happen to us if we stay here. We have leave before..."

Smoke was interrupted by knocking on the door. He inwardly cursed at himself. Dammit! I thought I had more time. While Tomas was busy panicking, Kuai sighed and went to the door.

"When exactly did I become so popular?"

Before Smoke could protest, Tundra had already opened the door. Standing outside was Xiao and Ling.

"Oh. I must admit I am a bit surprised to see you two at this hour."

"Yes, we apologize if we interrupted anything, Tundra. Smoke. The Grandmaster sent us to escort you two to his throne room. There is an urgent matter he would like to discuss with you."

"It must be urgent if he wishes to see us this late. May I ask what it is the Grandmaster wants to speak to us about?"

"A mission involving another tournament in Outworld. After Sub-zero's death, the Grandmaster thought it would be fitting that you would compete in this Mortal Kombat in your brother's honor. He would also like Smoke to participate as well."

Kuai's eyes widen. It was an honor to be fighting in the tournament for the Lin Kuei and he knew Bi-han would have been proud. While Kuai was excited about this mission, Tomas knew that it was all a lie. Something was not right here. As Tundra continued to talk to the sentries, Smoke noticed how Ling was slowly reaching for something on his belt. Kuai was too eager about the tournament and was not paying attention.

"Kuai, vrať se!"

Everyone looked at Smoke in confusion, but Tundra understood what his friend had said. For some reason, Kuai did as he was told and jumped back towards Smoke as the gray ninja formed a smoke cloud and threw it in Xiao and Ling's direction. The two were blinded by the attack and could not stop Tomas from throwing them to the ground. He placed his foot on Ling's chest and grabbed what the sentry was reaching for.

"A syringe..."

Smoke angrily threw the needle aside and grabbed Ling by the collar of his shirt.

"You were going to betray us like that!? Drag our unconscious bodies to a madman that will transform us into robots!?"

"I am sorry, Smoke, but we had no choice! The Grandmaster feared that you may refuse to do the procedure and defect from the clan. He even thought that you would convince Tundra to go with you."

Realizing what was going on, Kuai looked over at Xiao and saw that he also had a syringe. He was going to try to get Smoke. The sentry did not get the chance, however, and yelped in pained as the cryomancer grabbed his wrist and twisted it. He then struck the sentry in the back of his neck to knock him out. Xiao's cry drew Ling's attention to him, and Tomas used that as a distraction as he knocked Ling out as well. The guards may have betrayed the gray and blue ninjas, but they were friends. Smoke and Tundra did not have the heart to kill them.

"We need to hide them. Kuai, grab Xiao and throw him in your closet."

Kuai nodded and dragged Xiao by his arms into the closet. Tomas did the same for Ling.

"We will be long gone before anyone discovers Xiao and Ling in there. First, we have to..."

He stopped when he saw that Tundra was clearly not listening. The cryomancer's eyes were glued to his closet and he was clenching his fists. Tomas placed a firm hand on Kuai's shoulder and snapped his friend out of his thoughts.

"Are you with me, Tundra?"

"...Yes. Yes, I am with you, Smoke."

Smoke was not entirely convinced that Tundra was in the right state of mind, but he would have to deal with that later. Right now, they needed to go to Cyrax's room.

"Come on. We are getting out of here, alright?"

Kuai just nodded and followed Tomas in silence. They quickly reached the Botswanan's room and went inside. There, the two found a few bags laying on the floor, each filled with food and water. The ninjas each grabbed one. On Cyrax's bed, there was a box filled with weapons like kunai knives and stars.

"Let us grab what we need, quickly."

"How did you know that this stuff was here?"

"Cyrax told me."

Tundra stood back with an incredulous look on his face.

"Wait, when? Before he left to the tournament?"

"Well... no. After I left you, I went for a walk and went by the armory. The scouts had found Cyrax and left him in the arsenal while they went to report to the Grandmaster. He was badly injured, but he managed to tell me about what happened at the tournament and what he knew about the Cyber Initiative. It was never his idea, Kuai."

"Did... Did he say anything about Bi-han's murderer?"

Smoke stopped packing and looked at Tundra. He then shook his head in response to the question.

"I am guessing Oniro did not tell you anything about that when you spoke to him after the meeting in the hall?"

"No. He would not tell me any details concerning who it was that defeated my brother."

Tomas sighed. There were a lot of secrets the Grandmaster was keeping. Hopefully, those secrets would not get them killed.

"You said Cyrax was badly injured. Is that why he is not here?"

"Yes. I wanted to bring him, but with a broken leg..."

"I understand. You do not have say more. I do hope that he will be alright."

"As do I."

The two grabbed their things and got ready to leave. The moment felt unreal, like none of this was really happening. They were going to leave behind their childhood home. For good.

"You ready?"

Tundra nodded, his eyes filled with determination.

"Yes. What about you?"

"... No... but we do not really have a choice now do we?"

Fortunately, the gray and blue ninjas were able to sneak their way through the temple and out to the bridge. They briskly made their way down the wooden pathway and into the woods, where they disappeared as stealthful as the night.

Back at the temple, Cyrax had been taken to some sort of underground lab. He was surrounded by bare white walls, shelves full of beakers with unidentifiable liquids inside, and computer monitors that displayed various blueprints and texts he did not have a chance to decipher. This would have been a dream come true for the Botswanan, but now that he knew what horrors were going to occur in here, it was nightmare.

"Well, well, mate. You just made my night."

Just hearing that Australian accent made Cyrax groan. The sound of heavy boots resonated throughout the lab and stopped as their owner approached the yellow-clad warrior.

"Aren't you supposed to be on the run from those two Special Forces officers, Kano?"

The leader of the Black Dragon clan simply laughed at the remark.

"Talk it up, mate. Enjoy your final moments of freedom."

"You are not going to be part of this procedure, are you?"

"Of course not! If I were, I wouldn't even knock you out. I would want you to feel all the pain and I would slice n' dice you with a smile on my face, mate."

"Is that supposed to scare me? Sorry, it must be the accent."

"You're one to talk, Jamaican."

"It is Botsw...ugh!"

Cyrax suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck as something was injected into him with a syringe. It was more than likely some kind of sedative and a powerful one at that. The drug was quickly taking affect and made the Botswanan a bit woozy. Kano noticed and came up to Cyrax to grab him by his collar.

"What's wrong, mate? You're not looking so good."

Cyrax was having trouble focusing on the Australian's face. His vision was starting to go black and he would have fallen to his knees if it were not for the two Lin Kuei that were holding him up. After a minute or so, the Botswanan closed his eyes and fell unconscious. The leader of the Black Dragon laughed at the display and let go of Cyrax's shirt. He turned around and walked towards one of the monitors.

"The old man paid us good money to make these suits. Let's show him he's getting the best shit for his bucks."

Well, that's chapter four! I hope you guys are enjoying this fanfic as much as I enjoy writing it.