Chapter Fifty-Eight: Control

The blue cyborg stomped towards the car it knew its opponents had fled to and grabbed the vehicle by its undercarriage. It then lifted the car from the ground and expected to see the three warriors in front of it, but they were nowhere to be found. Before the cyber ninja could scan the area for them, it was kicked from behind, and it was pushed forward into the air. It managed to right itself and skidded across the ground to a halt. Its white eyes looked upon its attacker and immediately recognized him as Tomas. The silver-haired man stared back at the cyborg with a firm gaze, yet his eyes softened the longer he looked at his opponent.

"We do not have to fight, Sifu. I do not want to fight you."

"I am Lin Kuei Unit LK1V1."

Standing behind a pile of rubble, Kuai watched the exchange between his friend and the cyborg. When Tomas said that he would be the one to confront Hydro, the cryomancer did not protest. In fact, he encouraged Smoke to talk to the cyborg, because he knew how close the silver-haired man was to his sifu. As a child, Sub-zero had been a bit jealous of Smoke's relationship with Hydro and wondered why his comrade was so attached to his mentor. But as he grew older, Kuai realized why.

When Kuai was brought to the Lin Kuei, Bi-han was right by his side. He did not have to worry about being alone because he had family there with him. Tomas, however, was not so fortunate. Cyrax was brought to the Lin Kuei alone as well, but at least he had memories of his childhood before he was found by Oniro. From the moment they met, Hydro had taken Smoke under his wing and treated him like his own son. The man had treated Kuai, Bi-han, and Cyrax the same way, but there was something about the bond between Tomas and their sifu that was… different. Special even.

And Tomas needed that more than anyone.

"That is not your name."

Sub-zero shook his head to clear his thoughts and continued to watch Smoke. The silver-haired man slowly took a step towards the cyborg.

"You are being controlled. Oniro is trying to turn you into something…someone you are not. You can…"

Tomas was interrupted by the ninja when it charged at him with its katana. He dodged the strike and just before the cyborg could swing its sword again, it was stopped as ice engulfed its feet. Cracks immediately appeared in the ice as the cyber ninja tried to escape, as Tomas had expected, but again, it was stopped. The speedster instantly found his way behind the cyborg and hook his swords into the cyber's back. After seeing how Cyrax's nanotechnology was able to fix his injuries, Smoke was not too worried about harming Hydro, but he did not want anyone to hurt his sifu unless it was absolutely necessary.

The masked man twisted his hook swords around and tossed the cyborg to the wall of a brick building behind him. The ninja's head hit the wall hard and its vision blacked out for a moment, which was long enough for Kuai to toss a couple of ice knives into the cyborg's arms and legs to pin him to the wall. The cryomancer felt terrible for doing such a thing to his mentor, but he was not about to allow Hydro hurt Tomas. The cyborg slowly looked at the projectiles that were now stuck within its limbs, as if it were trying to find a way to remove them without further injuring itself.

"Sifu, please…"

The cyborg turned its head up to look at Smoke, but it was beginning to wonder why. Why was it answering to "Sifu"? Why did it sound…right? The slaving protocol overran its train of thought and the cyber ninja returned to its mindless state.

"I am Lin Kuei Unit LK1V1. I must return you and Sub-zero to the Lin Kuei temple so you may begin your transformations."

"You do not have to. It may not seem like it, but you can choose to disobey Oniro's orders. You can fight his control over you."

"My purpose is to serve the Grandmaster and the Lin Kuei."

With the sounds of metal and wires being torn, the cyborg ripped its arms from the knives that were still stuck in the wall and raised his hands to cast two powerful streams of water from them. The water was shot in Tomas' direction and they would have hit the silver-haired man if Kuai Liang had not stepped in. The cryomancer summoned another ice shield and protected himself and Smoke from the streams of the cool liquid. But even his shield could not last against the force of the water and it soon shattered into pieces. Tomas and Kuai were pushed back and they landed roughly on the ground.

The cyborg gave the two men no time to recover as it leaped into the air and prepared to stomp its opponents into the ground. Luckily for Smoke and Sub-zero, their supersonic friend was there to drag them out of the way at the last second before they were crushed by the cybernetic ninja. The speedster skidded to a halt and released his comrades.

"It doesn't look like your friend's listening to you."

Standing up, Tomas glanced over at the masked man and shook his head.

"No… he is listening."

If not for his mask, Smoke would have seen that the speedster had a confused expression on his face. The silver-haired man turned back to the cyborg, who was slowly walking towards the trio with its katana in hand. He glanced once more at the masked man and saw blood dripping down his arm from the wound in his shoulder. It was surprising how the speedster managed to throw Hydro and then rescue Tomas and Kuai from being flattened with his injury. But Smoke was not sure how much more strain the speedster could take.

"Stay down, alright? You need time to heal."

The masked man shook his head, but underneath his mask, he was clenching his teeth together as the pain in his shoulder worsened.

"I told you, I'm fine. I got thi-UGH!"

The speedster yelped and grabbed his shoulder again. He soon lost the strength to stand and would have fallen to his knees if Sub-zero had not caught him. The man let out a dry laugh.

"Heh, heh. You know, I…think I'll take your advice."

"Good. You should too, Sub-zero."

Smoke saw Sub-zero roll his eyes at the suggestion.

"I told you before, I am not a child."

"I know, I know. But really…"

Turning back to the cyborg, Tomas stepped in front of his comrades in a protective manner.

"... I want you two to stay out of this. No matter what happens, please do not interfere."

Smoke did not wait for a reply and instead proceeded towards the cyborg alone. Sub-zero watched the silver-haired man as he walked, but he also kept his attention on Hydro. Even if the cyber ninja tried anything, Kuai was going to do as his friend asked and let him handle the situation himself. However, if such a situation got out of control, the cryomancer was going to step in whether Tomas liked it or not.

"I know you hear me, Sifu."

The cyborg quickened its pace as Smoke spoke to it.

"Please, stop this. This is not who you are!"

Speeding up, the ninja's pace turned into a sprint and it held its katana up as it prepared to strike Tomas. The silver-haired man was ready for the attack and he raised his gauntlets to block the sword.

"Whatever happened to "use your words instead of your fists"?"

Smoke pushed the cyborg back, but that did not stop it from drawing another katana from its hand and swinging the sword at its opponent. This was worse than Cyrax's constant use of his buzzsaws while he was under Oniro's control. Tomas ducked under the blade and swept the cyber ninja off its feet.

"Or I suppose "blades" are more like it instead of "fists"."

The cyborg instantly jumped back to its feet and flung a barrage of attacks with its katanas at Smoke, who either blocked them or avoid the strikes when he could. He meant it when he said he was not going to fight his sifu and the silver-haired man stayed on the defensive. As the ninja continued attacking him, Tomas noticed the excessive amounts of oil that were leaking from its arms and legs. Sooner or later, Hydro was going to run out of fuel and while he was for the idea of stopping the cyborg without physical force, Smoke did not think it would be a good idea for it to use up its oil supply. The last thing Tomas needed was to be ambushed while his friends were injured and his sifu was unable to function.

Being distracted by the oil, Smoke barely dodged another slash of the cyber ninja's katana, but he could not avoid the wave of water that rushed towards him and forced him back into the car that had momentarily been the trio's safe haven. His body was pushed so hard that he even created a dent within the side of the vehicle, which made it difficult for Tomas to climb out, but he stopped when he felt the end of the cyborg's katana on his throat. Remembering the cyber ninja's orders, Smoke knew that it was not going to kill him, but it would incapacitate him anyway it could. In that moment, he was at the cyborg's mercy, so…

"Why did you stop?"

Indeed, the cyborg had froze in its tracks. And for a second, Tomas could have sworn he saw the ninja's hand shaking a little. Little did the silver-haired man know, the cyborg was thinking. Thinking about why its opponent was not attempting to escape. Thinking about why his opponent had practically allowed himself to be cornered.

Many things about the current situation felt wrong to the cyborg. Why exactly was it trying to capture these men again? Because the Grandmaster ordered it to. Why did it go after the masked man in the first place? Because the Grandmaster ordered it to. Why was it listening to the Grandmaster? Because…

"Just do it."

Again, the cyber ninja's pondering was interrupted when Smoke spoke to it while taking off his mask. When the mask was removed, Tomas let out a breath and leaned his head back.

"I would rather die than let you drag me back to the temple."

"That goes against my ord…"

"What is one less warrior to Oniro, huh? Who would miss me?"

The cyborg's programming was telling him to move and subdue Tomas, but oddly enough, it ignored the commands that were being delivered to it. It even lowered its katana from Smoke's throat, even though the silver-haired man did not notice.

"You would be doing the Grandmaster a favor, actually. I am just…useless. A waste."

Tomas let out a chuckle, but there was nothing humorous about it.

"I really am a burden."

Hearing metal clanking on the ground, Tomas finally looked back at the cyber ninja and frowned as he saw it stepping away from him. Its grip had also loosened enough that its sword had dropped from his hand, but the cyborg did not seem to care. Smoke climbed out of the wreckage of the car and just stared at the ninja, confused.

"S... Sifu?"

Tomas' voice seemed to fade out as the cyborg grabbed its head. Images suddenly flashed through its mind at an alarming speed until they stopped on one specific picture. It showed a young boy, about eleven or twelve years old, and he looked frightened. The child was shaking the cyborg's arms, which it took a moment to examine, and watched in awe as its fingers moved one by one. There were no wires or metal, just flesh and bone. It…he could actually feel the boy's fingers digging into his skin and the sensation felt foreign, yet familiar.

"Please don't go, Sifu!"

The child was shouting at him and the ninja could not understand why. But he soon saw a trail of a red liquid going down his right arm. The trail came from an arrow wound in his arm and he winced as he tried to move. The action caused even more pain to rack through his body, but despite the pain he felt, he could feel the corners of his lips turn up. He was smiling as he looked at the boy again.

"It is okay, boy."

His voice was gruff, yet gentle when he spoke to the child. He put his left hand on the boy's shoulder to comfort him.

"This was not your fault, okay? Do you hear me? You should not blame yourself for something I…"

Before he could finish, the boy covered his eyes with his hands and began to sob. The man drew his hand back in surprise from the sudden action. He could barely hear what the child was saying as he cried.

"I'm s..sorry! I'm…s..so sorry! Y..you're hurt because o..of me! S..Sektor was r..right! I'm..I'm a burden t..to you!"

With every word the boy spoke, the man felt like daggers were being plunged into his heart one by one. Just seeing the child in pain hurt his very soul. Why? Who was this boy? While he was pondering these questions the man involuntarily reached for the child again, but this time, he grabbed the child by his head and pulled him to his chest. He felt the boy struggle for a moment, but he soon relaxed.

"You are NOT a burden."

The child continued to cry, but the man knew he was listening.

"You did not know that archer was there. How could you? I did not even notice him until it was too late and he had already fired his arrow towards you. I was not going to stand by and let him harm you. I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you, boy."

As he began to calm down, the boy lifted his head up and stared at the man with tearful eyes. Yet, the man kept a smile on his face.

"You have nothing to apologize for. It was my choice to jump in front of that arrow and I would do again if it means that you will be okay. Understand?"

Stunned by the man's words, the child continued to stare at him in silence. But he soon regained the ability the speak, even if his words came out like more of a croak than actual words.

"But…but why?"

Yes. Why? He was not sure of the answer himself. But again, the man's mouth moved for him and spoke the words he had not known he wanted to say.

"Because, believe it or not…there are people out there who care about you. I care about you. And I swear to you, I will always be here for you. Always."

The man blinked few a times when he realized there was something in his eyes. He could feel something trickling down his cheek and onto his lips. It was wet and salty like…tears. Real tears. How long has it been since he was able to cry? To smile? To feel?

In the back of his mind, he could hear Oniro's voice giving him commands, but the Grandmaster's voice began to fade just like the boy's form. In the child's place, there stood a man who looked similar to him. Silver hair, silver eyes. This boy…this man is someone important to him. Someone he was supposed to protect. But he has done nothing but bring pain upon the silver-haired man. All because of the Grandmaster and the Lin Kuei.

The thought of having hurt this person was too much for the cyborg to handle and he could feel everything fading around him. The last thing he heard was the man…Tomas calling out to him. And then the world went black.