Chapter Eighteen: The Coliseum
Arriving at the entrance to the Coliseum, Smoke, Raiden, and Johnny Cage stopped for a second before going in. They all took a moment to admire the gigantic structure where fights were hosted. This coliseum was very similar to the one in Rome and the actor wondered if that was where Shao Kahn got the idea. It was actually a logical thought coming from Cage. Tomas took a deep breath and Raiden looked over at the ninja, concerned.
"Is something wrong?"
"I am literally about to fight for my life, as well as my realm, in a tournament where there are Netherrealm specters, insane sorcerers, and possibly Lin Kuei cyborgs if they are that desperate to capture me. Forgive me if I feel a bit overwhelmed."
The sound of clapping drew Smoke and Raiden's attention to Johnny. He had a stupid grin on his face.
"Thank you! Someone other me thinks that all of this is…. I don't know what this is, but crazy is putting it mildly!"
Smoke shook his head, but Raiden let out a chuckle. Johnny did not expect to ever hear the thunder god laugh.
"I understand. But as you have said, Smoke, we are fighting not only for ourselves, but Earthrealm as well. I may be a god, but I cannot protect our realm on my own. You both are needed."
Saving an entire realm? Smoke never thought he would take on the role of savior for a whole world and Johnny always thought he would forever be a hero in movies, not in real life. How drastically the two Earthrealmers' lives have been changed. Cage shrugged.
"What the hell? At least if and when we get out of this, this little adventure of ours will make a great movie. Or even a tv series!"
The actor waved his hands in the air making Tomas frown in confusion.
"We can call it….wait for it….Defenders of the Realms! I already know who would be the perfect actor to play you Rai-man."
Smoke pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. And Kuai thought he was annoying? Cage could definitely give Tomas a run for his money. Ignoring the actor, the ninja and Raiden turned and headed inside the Coliseum, leaving Johnny to ramble for a few more seconds before he realized he was alone. He threw his hands up in the air.
"Oh, come on guys! You know that show would be a hit!"
Cage then jogged up to his comrades and continued to talk about his movie ideas until they were in the arena. As they walked in, hundreds, maybe thousands, of people were shouting and cheering. In the middle of the arena, Shao Kahn sat on another throne while he watched his daughter fight one of the Shaolin monks. She kicked her opponent to the ground and drew her fans out to deal the killing blow. The monk looked up at the princess in defeat.
"I have failed. I deserve death."
"I have failed my father. You must kill me."
Kitana looked away from the monk as she thought about Liu Kang again. Why does that particular memory keep coming back to her?
"Kill him!"
The princess looked back at her father. When Kitana does not do as he asks, Shao Kahn growls impatiently and kills the monk himself with a green energy blast. Kitana looks at the charred body in horror as the audience cheers.
"Kitana…."
She looks at the emperor again.
"You will join me."
The emperor motions his head to his side, signaling for his daughter to come. Kitana looks down at the ground as she obeys her father and takes her place beside him. As she stands by Shao Kahn, Smoke, Raiden, and Johnny approach the emperor's throne. Shang Tsung smirks as he sees Tomas with the thunder god. It looks like Raiden has taken him as a champion for Earthrealm, Kitana, however, took a step back when she saw the ninja.
She was not sure what she saw back on the beach, but every time the princess laid eyes on Smoke, she felt an overwhelming sense of fear. If her father knew how afraid she was, he would more than likely punish her for her weakness. She should not fear anyone, especially an Earthrealmer. When he finally noticed her, Tomas and Kitana stared down each other as though one of them would attack the other any second. Raiden sensed the tension between the two and concluded that they must have met sometime before he and Johnny found the ninja. But now was not the time for revenge and the thunder god hoped that neither Smoke nor Kitana engaged in battle, unless they were meant to fight against each other in Mortal Kombat. Shao Kahn laughed at the sight of the Earthrealm's fighters.
"What happened to the rest of your allies, Raiden? Did they abandon you?"
"That is none of your concern. Whenever you are ready, emperor, my warriors are prepared to battle."
Raiden motioned to Johnny and Smoke. Even though they were the only fighters he had right now, they can buy some time until the other returned from their missions. The emperor scoffed when he saw Cage, but he paused when he saw Smoke.
"You must be one of the intruders my daughter was sent to eliminate."
Shao Kahn scowled at Kitana and she stayed silent, embarrassed of her failure. He then looked back Tomas.
"You should know better than to tread where you are not welcomed, ninja."
"Then you should not make it so easy, emperor."
Shao Kahn scowled. How dare a filthy Earthrealm speak to him in such a manner? Before anything escalated out of control, Raiden decided to get the conversation back on topic.
"Let us get on with the tournament, Shao Kahn. Who will fight next?"
At that, the emperor told Shang Tsung to come forth. The sorcerer nodded and stepped forward.
"The next fight will be Smoke vs…. Kano!"
So the Australian still lives. Coming from behind Shao Kahn's throne, Kano walked up throwing a knife up and down as though he was bored. A sinister grin appeared on his face when he saw Smoke.
"That was a cheap shot back at the Living Forest. I would've been dead if not for Shang Tsung. You're gonna pay for that, mate."
Tomas was not at all intimidated by Kano's words. He simply walked to the edge of the emperor's makeshift arena and got into his fighting stance.
"It is unfortunate that you did not die back in the forest. You are only getting in my way."
Kano laughed and pointed a finger at the ninja.
"One dead Lin Kuei in a tick."
Shao Kahn raised his hands in the air. It was time for the battle to start.
"FIGHT!"
The two combatants instantly charged towards each other. Kano threw two of his knives at Smoke and the ninja deflected them with a knife of his own. A low growl rumbled in the Australian's throat, but a smile quickly followed. How he could do it Smoke had no idea, but Kano rolled his entire body into a ball and flew into the air. The human ball crashed into Tomas' chest and he was sent flying back into a wall. That attack really caught the ninja off guard.
Grunting as he stood up, Smoke watched as Kano's eye started to glow a really bright red and shortly after that, a laser shot from it. Tomas gasped in surprise, but he quickly teleported out of the way of the laser and it hit the wall instead. A small, smoking hole was made where Smoke's head would have been. Kano frowned when he noticed that the ninja had disappeared. Before he could pinpoint his opponent's location, the Australian was kicked in the back and knocked down to his knees. Kano looked back to see his attacker, but instead, a punch was delivered to his face and it made his laser eye go off involuntarily.
A shot from it grazed Smoke's arm as he backed away to avoid the laser. A small yelp escaped him and he looked at his arm to see the damage. There was a gash and it did hurt, but Tomas could fight through it. The ninja looked up in time for Kano to land a punch in his face and the Black Dragon's leader followed that with a kick to Smoke's stomach. The wind was literally knocked out of Tomas and he fell to one knee. Kano laughed and was about to kick the ninja again, but Smoke would not give him the chance.
As Kano's leg reached his face, Tomas grabbed it with one hand and he used all of his strength to throw the Australian across the arena. Kano crashed into the wall and the force was so powerful that he coughed up blood. He landed on his hands and knees and panted heavily. The fight did not seem it was in his favor now. As he wiped some blood from his mouth, Kano heard footsteps approaching him. A shadow loomed over the Black Dragon Leader and he looked up to see Smoke looking down upon him.
"Stay down."
But would Kano take Tomas' advice? Of course not. The Australian got up to one knee and spat out blood near his opponent's feet.
"Why don't you go and fuck yourself?"
Kano then shot his laser again, but Smoke simply changed into his smoke form and moved behind the Australian. Kano continued to shoot in all directions, hoping that he would hit his target once he was back in his human form. One of his shots would have Johnny if Raiden had not stopped it and Kitana deflected some of the projectiles with her fans. Appearing behind Kano, Tomas finally changed back to normal and attempted to restrain his foe. He held Kano's arms behind his back and the Australian instantly struggled against the ninja.
"What the hell!? Get off of me!"
"Not until you yield. Do not give me a reason to kill you. You can still walk away from this if you just surrender."
"Surrender? Like hell I will!"
Kano then headbutted Smoke, causing the ninja to let go of his arms and threw one of his knives at the stunned ninja. Tomas yelped as the projectile hit him in his side. Kano smirked and kicked the ninja in his chest to back him against the wall. Smoke slid to the ground and looked down at the wound in his side. The knife was only going to get in the way, so Tomas grabbed the handle of it and quickly pulled the weapon out. As his opponent charged at him again, Smoke threw knife at Kano, who turned his head to avoid it.
That gave Smoke just enough time to turn back into smoke and make an attack. As Kano turned his head back to look at Tomas, the ninja changed back into his human self and punched the Australian right in the stomach. Smoke followed that punch by kneeing Kano in his chin and as his head thrown back, Tomas kicked him in his chest. Kano landed on his back and instantly fell unconscious. The battle was over.
"Finish him!"
Smoke looked at Shao Kahn. The emperor wanted him to kill Kano. As he placed a hand on side to stop the bleeding from his injury, Tomas could see Raiden shaking his head. Even Johnny Cage was telling the ninja not to murder the Australian. But they did not need to worry.
"I will not kill him. The fight is done."
Smoke then walked back to his comrades with Shao Kahn looking in disgust. His daughter on the other hand was not surprised. In fact, the ninja could have easily kill the princess, but he did not. She could tell that Tomas was a man on a mission and he not going to kill anyone if it was not necessary. He had a target in mind and it seemed neither Kitana nor Kano were that target.
Approaching his allies, Smoke almost fell to the ground because of his injury, but Johnny caught him and helped the ninja stand upright.
"Dude, that was awesome! You really beat that guy's ass!"
"Well, I cannot say that I came out of the fight unscathed."
Raiden stepped up and looked at Tomas' wounds.
"Allow me to heal your injuries. It will take only a moment."
Smoke nodded and the thunder god went to work. As Raiden was healing him, Tomas saw someone coming through the entrance of the Coliseum. It looked like…
"Sub-zero?"
Johnny Cage looked back when Smoke said the cryomancer's name, and surely enough, the newcomer was Kuai Liang. The blue ninja stopped and looked around the arena for a moment before his eyes landed on Tomas.
"Smoke!?"
The blue ninja called out to his friend and started jogging towards him, but he did not make far before he was surrounded by Lin Kuei cyborgs.