Chapter Ten: Master of Masters
Using his shapeshifting abilities, Oniro was able to make it back to the Lin Kuei temple in record time. His own frustration and anger fueled him throughout the short journey. The Grandmaster stomped across the wooden bridge that lead to the temple's gates and before anyone could greet the old man, he shoved his way past them and thrust the doors open. He did not have time to be bombarded by his underlings. Now, he needed to check in with the leader of the Black Dragon clan.
Oniro burst into the lab and headed straight to Kano, who was having fun messing with some of the recently transformed assassins that were not activated yet. They laid motionless on steel tables in their now metallic bodies waiting to be awakened to serve their master.
"Ha, ha, ha! You know, I've been thinking, mate. What if we changed your voices to sound like the Terminator, eh? That'll make some poor bastards shit their pants, won't it Baldy?"
One of the scientists who had been typing on a computer raised his head up and tried to mask his annoyance. He was indeed bald, but he hated the nickname his boss gave him. He could have sworn he heard snickers behind him, too. Ignoring Kano's suggestion, the Grandmaster stopped in front of the Australian and spoke.
"Have you finished with the preparations?"
"Wha... oh, yeah! The two in the back are fully operational and ready to go, mate."
"Good. Send them out now."
"Sure, but what's the rush? We have some time before..."
"I said send them out NOW."
Kano just shrugged and walked over to Baldy.
"I don't know what's got the old man's panties in a twist, but..."
The Black Dragon's leader took a glance at Oniro, who stood standing a good distance away with his arms crossed. Hopefully, the Grandmaster had not heard Kano's smart remark.
"Go ahead and activate units LK-9T9 and LK-4D4. The Grandmaster has a job for them."
The bald man nodded and entered some sort of code into the computer. Soon after, a box appeared on the screen saying that data was being processed. It took a while, but finally, the process was complete, and a monotone voice rang from the computer.
"Units LK-9T9 and LK-4D4 activated."
The moment the labels were called, the sound of clanking metal on the floor could be heard. Two robotic figures walked into the lab, one red and one yellow. Kano snorted.
"They look like fucking mustard and ketchup. Mustard and ketchup, mate!"
He burst into laughter and again, the Grandmaster ignored him. He did not have time for the Australian's stupidity. At least he was better with technology and weaponry than he was with jokes.
"I have an assignment for the two of you. Three of our cyborgs have failed to complete their mission. I expect that you will not do the same."
While the yellow cyborg stayed put, the red one kept walking until it stopped right in front of Oniro. The old man was not at all intimidated by the robot.
"Do you understand your orders?"
"Yes, Grandmaster."
"Good. And remember, you are the only one who has not been programmed with the slaving protocol. Do not take advantage of that. But…"
The Grandmaster looked back at the other cyborg, who was standing silently a few feet away.
"Do with him as you wish. After all, traitors need to be punished. Simply going through the transformation is not punishment enough."
The red cyborg clenched his fists in anticipation.
"Very well. We will not disappoint."
Oniro smirked.
"Of course you won't. No child of mine has room for error."
Meanwhile in Sun Do, a woman with black hair tied back into a ponytail was walking to one of the small rooms in her hut. Her friend had brought back two strangers from his stroll in the forest. One was a cryomancer, ice-wielding warriors that she thought were extinct. The other was terribly ill and speaking of him, the woman was opening the door to his room to check on his condition. Last time she saw the stranger, he was still unconscious and had a really high fever. His skin would have burned her if not for her fire-wielding abilities. Hopefully, the fever has gone down.
As she stepped inside the room, the woman saw that her patient was sitting up on the mat he had slept on. He looked much better than he had before. Color was coming back into his skin and he was not sweating as bad. Silver eyes looked up at the woman who had stopped at the doorway. Smoke gave her a small smile.
"Hello."
"… Hello."
An awkward silence passed between the two. The woman honestly had no idea what to expect from her guest once he woke up.
"Well, I… I apologize if I disturbed your sleep. I can…"
"No, no. I have been awake for a while."
"Oh, alright. How do you feel?"
"Better, thank you. I hope my presence has not alerted you. I mean no harm to you or…"
"I know. My master is a good judge of character."
"Your master?"
"Yes. He and your friend went to get some firewood. They should be back shortly."
Tomas just nodded and attempted to get up from his bed. The woman quickly went to his side and placed a hand on the ninja's shoulder to stop him.
"No, please. You need to rest."
"I feel as though I have rested long enough."
"Your comrade would disagree."
"How would you know?"
"I saw how concerned he was when he and my master came. He stayed right by your side until Master Bo Rai Cho convinced him to help him with wood. It was rather sweet."
That caused the silver-haired man to laugh.
"Do not let him hear you say that. He will claim he is anything but sweet."
"Maybe so, but that still does not change the fact the he will want you fully healed before continuing your journey. So again, please. Rest."
With a sigh, Smoke stayed where he was and the woman lets go of his shoulder. She soon decides to start back up the conversation they were having.
"May I ask your name?"
"My name?"
"Yes. You do have one, do you not?"
The gray ninja debating on whether he should tell her his real name, but since she has already seen his face, it did not matter now. Knowing Kuai, he probably held back on telling this woman either one of their real names. Smoke did not blame the cryomancer for that.
"It is… Tomas. Tomas Vrbada."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Tomas. I am Li Mei."
"Pleasure to meet you too, Li Mei. I assume that my friend introduced himself as Tundra and me as Smoke."
"Yes, and I assumed that those are not your real names. Tomas sounds much better anyway."
"Ha, ha. You think so?"
It felt weird for anyone outside of the Lin Kuei to say his name. It felt foreign in a way, like the name did not belong to Tomas. Perhaps it did not, but it was the only thing that he could remember from his past that stayed with him, so he would keep the name. After all these years, he owned that name now.
"Li Mei is a nice name. You know, your name means "pretty rose" in Chinese."
"Is that so? I like that."
A knock resonated from the door making Tomas and Li Mei turn their heads in its direction. Li Mei went to the door and grabbed the handle.
"Who is it?"
"Li Mei, I found a nice piece of wood that talks to me. It says "open the door, we're starving!""
The black-haired woman rolled her eyes as she opened the door, revealing her master and Tundra. Each of them had a pile of wood in there arms.
"Hello, Li Mei. Have you been taking care of our guest?"
"Yes, master. He awoke shortly after you two left."
"Wonderful. I am sure you would like to see your comrade, right cryomancer?"
"You do not need to keep calling me that. I have told you my name."
"Indeed you have, cryomancer."
Tundra grunted in annoyance. The drunken master laughed and walked away while his student walked up to Tundra.
"Do not worry. He is not usually so annoying."
"For his sake, I hope you are right."
"You do not plan on fighting him, do you?"
"He is definitely thinking about it."
Kuai and Li Mei looked over at the room Smoke had been residing in, only to see the gray ninja standing in the doorway with a smug smile on his face. Tundra had to smile at the sight.
"I am guessing you are feeling better. You looked like shit."
"Aw, Tundra, you wound me. Besides, I make shit look good."
"That… sounds so wrong on so many levels."
Smoke laughed and soon, Tundra joined in. Li Mei stood back and watched the display between the two Lin Kuei. She started reminiscing of the times when she used to laugh with her friends and family. When Shao Kahn was not the emperor. Her smile quickly dropped when she thought about that.
"So, Li Mei…"
Li Mei shook her thoughts away as Kuai approached her. He placed a fist over his heart and bowed to the Outworlder.
"I did not properly thank you for helping my friend and I. I do not know what we would have done if you and Master Bo Rai Cho had not aided us."
"Wait…"
Smoke arched an eyebrow as he looked at Tundra and Li Mei in confusion.
"Did you just say Master…"
"BO RAI CHO!"
Tomas' eyes widen when he heard the booming voice and tensed up when he felt an arm wrap around his neck. Bo Rai Cho meant it as a friendly gesture, but by the ninja's reaction, the plump man realized that he may have gone a bit too far.
"Hello, my friend. How was your sleep? Are you hungry? Would you like a drink?"
"Uh… no. No thank you, but… you are really Master Bo Rai Cho? The Drunken Master?"
As if to answer Smoke's question, Bo Rai Cho took a huge swig out of his flask, which he had refilled before he and Kuai went to get the firewood, and let out a huge burp.
"Oh, that's a stinky one."
"That burp?"
"No. That fart."
"Master! How rude!"
Everyone started covering their noses and running out of the house. Tomas thought the smell would knock him back into the world of unconsciousness, Kuai felt like he was going to puke again, and even though she knew how nasty her master could be, Li Mei would never get used to Bo Rai Cho's farts. Ever.
Once the smell died down, Smoke, Tundra, and Li Mei went back into the house. Bo Rai Cho was sitting in a chair near a fire he made with the wood he and Kuai brought back. The three also took seats around the fire.
"My apologies. I should have said "excuse me.""
"Yes, you should have master."
"Anyway, now that you know my name, how about you tell me yours, fire man?"
Was he referring to Smoke? The gray ninja heard Tundra snickering in the corner.
"Well, my name is… Tomas Vrbada."
"Tomas? What a boring name! I like fire man better."
"Master…"
"Ha, ha. I am only joking with him, Li Mei. Tomas is a nice name."
"Uh… thank you?"
"I like fire man."
Smoke glared at his friend, but Tundra just smirked at him. The name was funny. As Tomas looked at his friend, however, he finally noticed the scar that covered Kuai's eye from their former Grandmaster's punishment. The gray ninja felt terrible for what happened and wished he could have done more. The cryomancer did not deserve that. Kuai must have known what his friend was thinking about and placed a hand on his face near the scar. Bo Rai Cho and Li Mei noticed and they silently agreed to change the subject.
"So, are you two here for the tournament?"
Both ninjas' heads jerked towards the drunken master. He had gotten their attention.
"Yes. We are looking for the sorcerer, Shang Tsung. He may know something about the death of my brother."
"I see. Did your brother happen to be a Lin Kuei warrior named Sub-Zero?"
"… Yes. How did you know?"
"You both are cryomancers, it was not hard to piece together. But… are you sure you want to hear about Sub-zero's fate?"
Bo Rai Cho's usually cheery tone changed quickly when he mentioned the deceased fighter. It unnerved the two former Lin Kuei and even Li Mei. Tomas and Kuai looked at each other again. Did they really want to know what happened to their friend and brother? They made it this far to find out the truth, so they could not back away now, right? Tundra nodded and Smoke gave the master their answer.
"… We want to know. He was not only my friend, he was as much as a brother to me as he was to Kuai. We owe it to Sub-zero to find the truth."
Bo Rai Cho nodded.
"Very well. I will tell you everything I know. After all… I was there when it happened."