Chapter Seven: Battle in Zhu Zin

The two robots sprinted towards Tundra while the one that first appeared headed towards Smoke. Oniro had walked away from the upcoming battle and leaned against one of the buildings to watch. He was sure there was no need for his assistance in this fight.

Coward, Smoke thought as he dodged a punch from his assailant. The gray ninja continued to evade the cyborgs attacks for a while, so he would have time to figure out a strategy. Hitting a robot directly would probably not be the best idea. It would cause more pain to Tomas than his opponent. He was no ordinary human, but he was not invincible.

Tundra, on the other hand, had encased his arms in ice and was attempting to strike back. He managed to get a hit on one of the robots in its jaw, causing some of the metal to come off. While he was occupied with that cyborg, the other tried to charge at the cryomancer from behind. Kuai was aware of the attack and quickly created an ice clone. He jumped back just before the machine could land a blow on him.

Instead, the cyborg was unable to stop itself from striking the doppelganger and was frozen upon contact. The blue ninja then advanced to the paralyzed robot to give it an uppercut, but before he could, something grabbed his arm and pulled him back. It was a claw that was attached to a rope and the cyborg with the ripped jaw was using it to bring Tundra towards him. The cryomancer had no time to get the claw off before a metallic fist connected with his face sending him flying a few feet back. The immobilized robot quickly broke free of its icy prison and the cyborgs rushed at the stunned Kuai.

As Smoke evaded another punch, he caught a glance at Tundra to see how he was holding in his fight and saw his friend on the ground as his opponents were charging at him. Swiftly, the gray ninja teleported over to Kuai and threw a smoke bomb at the approaching cyborgs hoping the impact would drive them back. The bomb exploded and covered the street in a smoke screen.

"They will not be able to use their heat vision in the smoke. We should run while we ca... ugh!"

A net was hurled at Smoke and it wrapped itself around his body. The net was not made like any net Tomas has seen. It pulsated with green energy and became tighter the more the gray ninja struggled to get out. Tundra was quickly captured with a net as well and tried to summon a weapon to cut the net, but he soon realized that he could not use any of his powers. Smoke attempted to transform into smoke but failed to use his abilities as well. It must be an effect of the energy radiating from the net.

"There is no point in struggling."

With a wave of his hand, the Grandmaster ordered the cyborgs to stand down and walked towards the incapacitated rogues. He kneeled beside Smoke's head with a sinister smile on his face.

"I have such high expectations of you, Tomas. You will become a being of great power once your transformation is complete."

"I am... not... going to let... you use... me. Not... anymore."

"I am afraid you have no choice. There is no escape."

"There is always... a choice."

Oniro raised an eyebrow as he turned to Tundra. The cryomancer was still fighting against his bonds despite the pain the net brought upon him. The old man laughed at Kuai's futile efforts and stood up.

"It seems that Smoke has been a bad influence on you, Tundra. Do you actually believe that you will get away from the Lin Kuei? That you can forget your past and start anew? No. No one leaves the Lin Kuei!"

Using his own power, the Grandmaster transformed his hand into a panther paw. Long, white claws protruded from the phalanges and Oniro admired them as he advanced towards Tundra.

"Punishment is due for your disloyalty. Do not worry. I will not do too much damage to you. Just enough for you two to understand how you should never have crossed me."

He bent down by Kuai and placed the tip of one of his claws above the cryomancer's right eyebrow.

"I will start with you first. After all, you have brought dishonor not only upon yourself, but your brother as well. Sub-zero would be ashamed to call you his sibling."

Slowly, the Grandmaster cut into Tundra's skin and brought his talon down over his eye. Smoke could do nothing but watch and listen to his friend's painful screams. But he had to do something. He could not just let Kuai suffer.

"Get away... from... him!"

"Or what? You are clearly in no state to be making demands, Smoke."

Suddenly, new information appeared in the cyborgs' visors.

"Grandmaster, an abnormal energy spike has appeared. It continues to rise as we speak."

"What!? From where?"

Smoke could not here anything but his heart beating in his ears. It felt like his whole being was on fire, that his very soul was being devoured by flames. As the Grandmaster left Kuai to consult with his robots, Tomas stared at his comrade, who now had a deep gash over his eye. Blood was flowing from the wound and Tundra had is eyes squeezed shut to ease the pain. The old man was going to regret harming the cryomancer.

"I..."

Tomas placed his hands on the ground and pushed himself up against the net. The force caused the green energy to spark electricity around the ninja's body. The Grandmaster's attention was drawn back to Smoke and his eyes widen as the man got to his feet.

"Am not..."

The once green energy was now turning into red as it encircled Tomas. Oniro looked to his machines for answers.

"What is this!? Tell me!"

"The source of... the energy... spike..."

The cyborg was unable to finish his sentence before it began to malfunction. Electricity sparked from all the robots as they all struggled to stay active, but they soon fell to the ground and were forced to shut down.

"Your pawn."

The deep voice alarmed the Grandmaster. No longer entangled in the net, Smoke was standing up tall and was glaring at the old man in rage. Oniro could not see that very well because smoke was disguising most of the gray ninja's form, but the Grandmaster was only concerned about one thing: red eyes. Glowing red eyes that peered at him through the fog with pure hatred. It was embarrassing to admit it but... Oniro was afraid. Sweat was dripping from his forehead and his hands were shaking uncontrollably in fear. Yet, as he stared at this... creature, the Grandmaster could not help but smile.

"This... This is what I wanted to see."

Smoke said nothing as he took a few steps towards the source of his anger. He did not get far before he felt an agonizing pain in his head. The ninja roared as he grabbed his head with his hands.

"No, Tomas! You cannot kill him! You are only giving it what it wants!"

Whose voice was that? Why was it interfering? Smoke fell to his knees and the smoke surrounding him spread throughout the town. The Grandmaster could not see anything now, but he knew this would probably be a good time for him to leave. Tomas' power was too much for even him to handle right now.

"This is not over."

After stating that vow, he took off in the opposite direction of the smoke and disappeared in the forest surrounding Zhu Zin. Tundra, now free of the net due to the cyborgs failing, pushed himself off the ground, but he immediately started coughing as the smoke consumed him. He could not see his friend through the fog, so he held his hand out as he walked and called out.

"Smoke! Smoke, where are you!?"

Tundra heard someone shouting and assumed it was Tomas. He followed the sound and soon found his comrade hunched over on the ground gripping his head. The cryomancer listened as Smoke was whispering to himself, clearly not aware that someone else was there with him.

"Shut...up... just shut...up."

"Tomas..."

Smoke had not heard Tundra, so the cryomancer called him again, this time a bit louder.

"Tomas."

Kuai bent down and was about to place his hand on Tomas' back.

"Don't!"

Tundra jumped when Smoke yelled.

"Please... don't touch...me."

Tundra had an incredulous look on his face. Why was Smoke telling him to stay away? Disregarding his friend's demand, Kuai put his hand on Tomas' back and started moving his hand in circular motions to calm Smoke down.

"Tomas, I have no idea what is happening to you, but you need to calm yourself. We have to leave while we have a chance."

"It... hurts..."

"It will be alright. Just trust in me like I have done for you."

Smoke's head was still down, but Tundra could see his friend nodding and the smoke was slowly fading away. Kuai grabbed the spherical device from his pocket.

"Elder Gods, please allow this to work."

He pressed the black button on the sphere and glowing green lines appeared on it. Soon after, a swirling green portal was made in front of the two warriors.

"Hopefully, this will lead us to where we need to go. There is nothing on this thing where we can input a destination."

Tomas groaned as he lifted his head. His eyes were now their normal silver color and the voices were gone. He recognized Pyros' voice, but... the other one was one he had not heard before. Whoever, or whatever, it was, it sounded like bad news.

"Can you stand?"

Smoke looked to his left with half-lidded eyes and saw Tundra staring at him with a worried look on his face. It was hard to focus on anything, but Tomas tried to lift himself off the ground only to fall right back down.

"I... might need your assistance."

Tundra nodded and grabbed his comrade's arm and slung it over his shoulder. Smoke's chin fell onto his chest as his head drooped and he had his eyes closed. Seeing his friend so drained, Kuai allowed Tomas to lean against him.

"One step at a time, alright?"

Again, Smoke simply nodded and the two steadily made their way through the portal into the unknown. Unbeknownst to the warriors, someone had been watching the fight from the roof of the inn. The bottom of his black cloak flowed in the wind as he stood, and a few strands of his black-gray hair blew in his face.

"The seal is breaking. I was able to contain it this time, but it is only going to get worse."

It did not seem like Pyros was speaking to anyone. Everyone had left Zhu Zin once the cyborgs appeared, so he was the only one there now. Was he speaking to someone telepathically like he had been doing with Smoke?

"I understand. If the time comes, I will do what is necessary. In the meantime, I shall see how things go once they reach Outworld. Many changes have occurred throughout the timeline due to this development. It will either save the realms... or destroy them. Only time will tell."

The telepath turned around and walked a few feet before vanishing. He was right about one thing: things were only going to get worse from here.