Chapter Sixteen: Against All Odds

Shang Tsung, now Sub-zero, slammed his hand into the ground and summoned a trail of ice spikes that made their way to Smoke. The black-cladded ninja teleported away and reappeared behind the imposter with his fist pulled back, ready to throw a punch. His attack never reached Sub-zero before Reptile appeared in front of him to block Tomas. The creature may be ugly, but he was fast. Reptile kicked the ninja back and took off his mask to spit another acid ball. Smoke dodged it and countered with a smoke cloud. He threw it at Reptile and the Saurian vanished and reappeared in the air behind Tomas, who jumped up and slammed Reptile into the ground.

Just as he landed, Sub-zero used the opportunity to throw an ice ball, which froze Tomas in place. He then grabbed the incapacitated ninja and hurled him into a tree. The impact freed Smoke of his icy prison, but as he hit the ground, he landed right in front of the mouth of a living tree. It moaned and attempted to use the vines that hung from its branches to grab the ninja. Even though he was still disoriented from his fall, Smoke teleported just before the vines reached him.

Reptile was on one knee with his hand on his head. Shaking off his dizziness, the Saurian felt a presence behind him and blocked another attack from Tomas. Sub-zero readied another ice ball while the other two exchanged blows. Once his projectile was charged, the shapeshifter sent a beam of ice in Tomas' direction while the ninja had his back turned. Smoke glanced back for a second to see the ice ball coming at him and at the last second, he disappeared and the ball froze Reptile instead. The ninja went behind the frozen creature and hurled his body to Sub-zero. The cryomancer's eyes widen just as Reptile came flying into him and chunks of ice flew when the Saurian was freed from the ice.

The ground beneath the two became ice and Sub-zero and Reptile were sucked into it. Smoke knew that trick. Bi-han had used it on him countless times. Beneath him, ice began to form and Tomas jumped into the air to avoid it. His opponents came out of the ice and jumped after the ninja.

Sub-zero formed a Kori blade in his hand and swung it at Smoke as the two settled on the ground. The shapeshifter continued to swing the ice sword, and after Tomas dodged a few of Sub-zero's attacks, he stooped to one knee and grabbed the end of the blade. The ninja held the weapon between his hands and Sub-zero tried to push against Smoke so he could cut down on his head. As the cryomancer struggled, Tomas started emitting heat from his hands and the Kori blade began to melt. The sword became water in Sub-zero's hands and he fell forward, giving Smoke the chance to uppercut him right into a tree.

While Smoke was catching his breath, Reptile charged at him from behind, not realizing that the ninja already knew that the Saurian was coming. At the last second, just as Reptile rip his mask off again to spit out more acid, Tomas created a small smoke bomb in his hand and turned to thrust the bomb into Reptile's mouth. It exploded and the creature started coughing vigorously. Blood ran from his nose and he began heaving up the red liquid as well. The Saurian fell to his knees with his hand over his throat and shook his head continuously to clear the smoke away. One opponent down, it seems.

Smoke looked back to the tree where Sub-zero was holding his chin with his eyes squeezed shut in pain. He opened his eyes for a moment to see Tomas walking towards him and behind the ninja, Reptile fell face-first into the ground. He presumed the Saurian was dead. With a sigh, a strange green mist surrounded Sub-zero, and when it cleared, Shang Tsung was in his normal form.

"Now answer me!"

The sorcerer's head jerked up when Smoke addressed him. He scowled at the ninja and remained silent.

"What do you know of Scorpion, sorcerer!?"

Still, Shang Tsung gave no response. Aggravated, Smoke stomped up to the sorcerer and lifted him off the ground by his collar. Tomas again pinned him against a tree.

"Look. My patience has run thin and I am extremely close to just running a knife straight through your heart. But I will not have to do that if you just tell me what I want to know. Where. Is. Scorpion?"

Shang Tsung opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly, his eyes narrowed as though he was examining Smoke. The ninja was a bit uncomfortable with the sorcerer's staring.

"What?"

A smile slowly crept onto Shang Tsung's face. He then started laughing.

"As much as it disgusts me to admit it, he was right."

"Who was right? What are you talking ab…"

An invisible force hits Smoke on his cheek, jerking his head to the side.

"What?"

Smoke was then punched in the gut, which caused him to drop Shang Tsung. The sorcerer teleported Reptile and himself away while the ninja was being pummeled by an invisible attacker. Tomas started stumbling backwards from the force of the punches, but he was soon stopped when he felt something grabbed his arms. Two gray cyborgs suddenly appeared on each side of Smoke holding his arms to keep him in place . Before he had the chance to struggle, more robots showed up and surrounded the ninja. They held up their hands and emitted some sort of green pulse charge to restrain Tomas. Smoke started shouting in pain and tried to throw the cyber-ninjas off of him, but it was no use. The Lin Kuei has found him and they were going to take Smoke back to the temple. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"What are you doing!?"

Oh, gods. The voice was back. Tomas' head felt like it was splitting in two as it spoke.

"Get…out."

"You are just going to stand there and throw your life away!? Pathetic."

"Shut up."

"No. I have been silent for far too long! I will no longer be a prisoner within your mind and body."

The pain in his head and through his body from the charges was too much for Smoke. He dropped to his knees and closed his eyes, waiting for the cyborgs to take him away. If it would end this torment, the ninja would gladly let his former comrades whisk him back to China. Of course, Tomas did not really mean that, but what could he do?

Somewhere nearby, lightning struck down and from it, Lord Raiden and Johnny Cage appeared. The thunder god went still as he sensed an unknown power.

" There is great energy nearby."

Cage grabbed Raiden's shoulder and pointed.

"Um… Rai-dude…"

The god looked in the direction Johnny had pointed, and he saw the cyborgs and the green energy that pulsated from them. They seemed to be surrounding something and when he narrowed his eyes to get a closer look at the scene, Raiden saw Smoke. He was still on his knees and it looked like he was in pain. There was something else too. Some other presence that Raiden could not place. Whatever or whoever it was, the god had no time to think about it before another vision began.

It showed the same warrior Raiden saw with those robots, but he has been turned into a cyborg as well. Unlike the other visions, however, something like static clouded Raiden's sight, and then it became pitch black. Complete nothingness. After what felt like an eternity, a huge, clawed hand jumped out at the god.

"Stay away!"

With a jolt, Raiden was brought back to reality and he grabbed Johnny's shoulder to steady himself. His eyes were wide and his hands were shaking. That thing… what was it? Another cry from Smoke tore Raiden away from his thoughts and the thunder god scowled.

"They must not take him."

With a shout, Raiden released lightning bolts from his hands and shot them at the cyborgs. The green energy quickly dispersed as the cyber ninjas were electrocuted and Smoke gasped once he was free of his captives. His body felt numb, but Tomas was no worried about that right now. He looked as the robots shook and electricity sparked from them as their circuits were being fried. They all dropped to the ground destroyed and Smoke got to his feet.

As he got up, Raiden and Johnny Cage walked into the clearing to meet Smoke. The ninja immediately recognized the thunder god and figured the half-naked man that accompanied him was named Johnny due to the tattoo on his chest. Something just told Tomas that the actor was full of himself. Anyway, Smoke crossed his arm over his chest and kneeled before Raiden.

"Thank you, Lord Raiden. I am called Smoke."

Raiden nodded and Tomas stood up. It was truly an honor to be in the presence of the thunder god. Although, he hated that the two of them met under such dire circumstances.

"I suppose it was your appearance in Outworld that caused Shao Kahn to stop the tournament for the time being."

"I apologize for my intrusion, Lord Raiden, but we had no choice."

""We?""

"Yes. I was traveling with my comrade, Sub-zero."

Johnny gasped when he heard the cryomancer's name.

"Sub-zero? Call me crazy with a K… but didn't we see him die?"

Good. It seemed that no one knows of Kuai's existence. Tomas wanted to keep it that way until they found Scorpion, but he figured it would be alright to tell Raiden.

"The Sub-zero who participated in the last tournament is not the same one I speak of. I am talking about his brother."

"Brother!? You mean there's another walking air conditioner around here?"

Cage could not see it, but Smoke was smiling at the actor's joke. Usually he was the one making ice and cold jokes about the cryomancer brothers, but Tomas had to admit that Johnny might have him beat.

"Those cyborgs you just destroyed were actually Lin Kuei. The Grandmaster intends to turn every Lin Kuei into a cyborg. Sub-zero and I could not allow ourselves to be transformed, so we defected from the clan."

"The Lin Kuei now know that you and your friend are in Outworld. If you join us, we can offer you protection from your former clan."

"Forgive me, but I am more concerned about my comrade right now. I do not have time to participate in the tournament."

" That may be so, but I have a feeling Sub-zero will be at the tournament as well. You both seek Scorpion, yes?"

Smoke was taken aback. Being a god, it should have been expected that Raiden knew why Tomas and Kuai were here, especially since he told the thunder god about Sub-zero's brother.

"So, he is here."

"Indeed. He should be in the Coliseum by now. I am sure that Sub-zero will be there, too. Join us, Smoke, and we can lead you right to him."

Tomas thought about Raiden's offer. Yes, the thunder god was trying to convince Smoke to fight in Mortal Kombat for Earthrealm's benefit. Yet, if the ninja became one of Raiden's champions, he and Sub-zero would definitely gain protection. And instead of breaking into Shao Kahn's territory, Tomas could walk right into the Coliseum with no problems at all. It would make finding Scorpion, as well as Kuai, a lot easier.

"…Then let us go. Sub-zero's soul depends on it."

Again, Raiden nodded and placed his hands on Smoke and Johnny's shoulders. The three disappeared as lightning surrounded them, and once they vanished, Shang Tsung stepped out of the shadows, fully healed. Standing beside him was the Netherrealm sorcerer, Quan Chi. Shang Tsung ran a hand along his beard and had a sinister smile on his face.

"I now see what why you are interested in that ninja. He did not disappoint."

Quan Chi smirked.

"Did you doubt me, Shang Tsung?"

"Yes, I did. For once, I am glad to admit that I was wrong. Now, what should we do?"

"Let him be. I want to see how the tournament turns out now that Raiden has his new warrior. He still has not shown us his true power."