Hey guys. I just wanted to make something clear for the rest of the story. I am italicizing thoughts so it will be clear whether Pyros is talking in Smoke's head or in person. Also, I am using bold letters for the "other" voice that is making itself apparent in Smoke's mind. I did not do this in past chapters and I feel as though it may have confused a few people. Sorry about that. Anyways, on with the chapter.

Chapter Fifteen: Fire with Fire

Kitana unfurled her fans and quickly threw them towards Smoke. He managed to dodge the projectiles just before they touched him, but Tomas soon realized that they were a distraction. The ninja held up his arm just in time to block an attack from behind.

She can teleport!

Indeed, the princess had reappeared behind Smoke and was now delivering strike after strike with the occasional use of her fans. Tomas has heard of fighters using a fan as a weapon, but he has never actually seen such people in real life. He also did not think that fans could be a deadly tool. Guess he was wrong. Kitana swung her leg up to hit his head and Smoke immediately ducked to avoid the attack. He countered by sweeping the princess' feet from under her. Luckily, the sand cushioned her fall. However, it did not cushion the foot that stomped on her stomach.

"Stay down, princess. I do not want to fight you."

"How dare you? You will learn respect!"

Kitana unfurled two more fans, and waved them around the air while speaking some incoherent gibberish. Smoke suddenly felt lighter and was being lifted off the ground by the blue aura the fans produced. The princess got back up to her feet and used her fans to propel herself upwards. She then thrusted her body to where Tomas was floating and struck him hard in his chest. The ninja fell hard onto the ground with a grunt. Kitana landed as well and held one of her fans out in front her, ready to strike again.

"I am no housemaid, ninja. I am superior to you."

Smoke was on his knees and he had his head down panting. She really was not a housemaid, that was for sure. A whizzing sound made Tomas' head jolt up just in time to see another projectile being thrown at him. Kitana smiled under her mask thinking that her opponent could not possibly dodge the fan in time. His head was a good as gone. However, the princess' smile quickly faded once smoke clouded her vision.

If not for the mask, Kitana would have suffered a coughing fit, but she could not see anything. She realized too late that her target had disappeared and as she looked around to try and locate him, Smoke reappeared above her. He grabbed the side of Kitana's head and slammed it into the ground. Again, the princess was pinned down.

"Two can play at that game, princess. Your teleportation will not catch me off guard again. Just surrender and I will let you go."

Her voice was muffled, but Tomas could practically feel the malice that leaked from Kitana as she spoke.

"Earthrealmers… why won't you just die!?"

With incredible force, Kitana threw Smoke off of her, which caused the ninja to lose his footing for a minute. That was just enough time for the princess to land a punch on Tomas' face. She followed the strike with a flurry of kicks and slashes from her fans. Smoke barely avoided the attacks unscathed. Finally, the gray ninja had enough and as Kitana threw another punch, he grabbed her fist. She tried again with her other hand and Smoke caught that one as well. The princess struggled to escape Tomas' grasp, but it was no use.

"I tried to settle this peacefully, but you will not listen to reason."

Smoke added pressure on Kitana's fists, causing the princess to yelp in pain. She imagined this is what it was like to be on the other end of her father's hammer. It hurt that bad, but her opponent would not let up. The pain drove Kitana to her knees and she gritted her teeth to keep from shouting again. It would make her look weak.

"So, allow me to be the one to end this fight."

Kitana's eyes widen at the deep voice. She slowly looked up and for a split second, she could have sworn she saw the ninja's eyes turn red. Involuntarily, the princess started to tremble and stopped struggling against Tomas. Why was she so scared all sudden? The sight of Kitana's frightened eyes made Smoke's own eyes widen. He realized just how much he was hurting her and in some sick way, he was… loving it?

"Kill her."

Smoke gasped as a terrible pain shot through his head. Was Pyros trying to communicate with him? No. No, this was different. And not in a good way. Before the pain overwhelmed him, Tomas decided to end this battle before he did something he would regret. While still holding the scared princess, Smoke struck his knee under her chin, sending Kitana flying a few feet from him. She crashed into the sand and immediately fell unconscious from the impact of Tomas' attack.

Smoke grabbed his head with his hands and clenched his teeth together. He closed his eyes, and it was at that moment that he felt it. That dark power he felt back in Zhu Zin. Tomas was beginning to remember what happened. The rage he felt towards Oniro, the incredible strength he had… and the voice. The horrible voice that wanted Smoke to kill his former Grandmaster.

"What… are you?"

"Tomas, can you hear me!?"

The pain immediately dispersed as soon as Tomas heard Pyros' voice. The ninja breathed a sigh of relief.

"Pyros, is that really you?"

"Of course. Who else could it be?"

"I… I do not know."

"It is alright, Tomas. I am here. What happened?"

"… I do not know."

Tomas looked over at Kitana, who was still unconscious on the ground. He walked to her side and made sure she was still breathing. Even if the princess tried to kill him, Smoke did not want her dead. He may be an assassin, but he had morals. Tomas released a breath he did not realize he had been holding when he saw the woman's chest going up and down.

"Good. She is still alive."

"You did not plan on killing her, did you?"

"No, not unless I was forced to. If I did, would that have been a problem?"

"Honestly, yes, it would have been."

"How so?"

"Soon, you will realize how. But now is not the time for that. I sense someone's presence in the forest. I believe it is Shang Tsung."

"Really? At least he was not as hard to find as we thought he would be."

"Yes, but be careful. He is not alone."

Smoke nodded, and with one last glance at Kitana, he sets out to the Living Forest. He will talk to Pyros about the other voice later. Hopefully, it would not show up again.

"Sleep well, princess."

As he entered the forest, Smoke quickly became aware of the living trees that resided there. They had huge mouths and eyes and the vines that hung from them were alive as well. Some even had people entangled within the vines. It was obvious that Tomas should keep his distance.

"This must be the Living Forest. I remember Li Mei mentioning this place before Kuai and I left Sun Do."

An explosion caught the ninja's attention from the greenery. He immediately hid behind one of the few "normal" trees and slowly peeked around it. There, shooting an RPG Launcher, was Kano. And the one who stood beside him was none other than the emperor's right hand. Shang Tsung. They were playing with military weapons as though they were toys.

"They you are, sorcerer."

As the Black Dragon's leader reloaded the launcher, he laughed and spoke to his companion.

"With a whole army totin' these, no one in Outworld of Earthrealm could stand up to you."

Shang Tsung picked up another launcher and examined it.

"Well done. You may tell your fellow Black Dragon that I am very interested in your merchandise."

Kano shoots another RPG and Smoke takes that as his cue to make his presence known. He started to walk into the clearing, but Pyros stopped him.

"Wait… I believe I have an idea."

"Please, do tell."

"I am being serious, young one. I want to see how far your abilities can grow."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

Pyros suddenly went silent and Tomas thought that he had went away. After a second, the telepath spoke again.

"Have you ever tried to create an explosion?"

"You mean like my smoke bombs?

"Well, yes, but I mean a real explosion. With a lot more fire and destruction."

"No. It is not like I can."

"You just told Kuai not limit himself. Take your own advice."

Tomas paused and looked back to Shang Tsung and Kano, who was opening another box of RPGs. How many was the Australian planning to practice with? The ninja sighed.

"…Fine. What do I need to do?"

"Just create one of your smoke bombs, but this time, make it INSIDE the RPG. It should detonate prematurely when Kano pulls the trigger."

"That man's name is Kano?"

"Yes. He is the leader of the Black Dragon clan and it seems that he is trying to make a business deal with Shang Tsung with weapons. But that does not matter. Right now, the sorcerer is your concern."

"Right."

Smoke closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He has never done something like this before and doubted that this would work. But he did as he was told and began making a smoke bomb. Tomas was not even sure what the inside of an RPG looked like, but it should not matter. Smoke can conform to any container, so his bomb should be able to do the same. Unconsciously, the ninja moved his hands around as though he was creating the smoke bomb in them like usual.

"This is just an appetizer, mate. Wait'll you see our whole warehouse of…"

Kano pulled the trigger on the launcher, and just as Pyros predicted, the grenade exploded while it was still in the weapon. Smoke opened his eyes and he jumped from the deafening sound. The explosion had thrown the Australian and Shang Tsung in opposite directions and set the whole area aflame. The telepath's idea had actually worked.

"I… did that?"

"Excellent! I knew you could do it, my boy!"

Tomas looked down at his hands. Never in his life would he have thought he was capable of doing something like that. He could not imagine what else he could do with his powers.

"Tomas, hurry! Before the sorcerer escapes!"

In his amazement, Smoke had completely forgotten about Shang Tsung. The ninja quickly teleported to where the sorcerer had landed. Shang Tsung was slowly get up from the ground and he had just gotten to his knees before the ninja grabbed him by the back of his collar and hoisted him up.

"Now you at my mercy, sorcerer."

Again, Tomas teleported, but Shang Tsung in tow. He was not concerned about Kano and whether or not he survived the explosion. Unfortunately, he did, but he was badly injured and unconscious. It was a miracle the Australian did not lose a limb. Kano, however, was not the one Smoke had to worry about, but the creature that had been lurking in the shadows and saw that Shang Tsung had been kidnapped. Even though the ninja had teleported, the creature caught his scent a good distance away. Silently, it went to follow the smell.

In another part of the Living Forest, Smoke kept his grip on the collar of his prisoner's shirt and shoved him against a tree. Shang Tsung was not terribly injured by the blast, but he was still weakened by it. It would take some time before he was completely healed.

"I must say, I was not expecting that explosion. I underestimated you, Lin Kuei."

"So, you know who I am. Does that mean you also know what I want from you?"

"I suppose you want revenge for your fallen comrade. I was not responsible for his death."

"No, but you were the one who invited the Lin Kuei to participate in Mortal Kombat. Why?"

"That was not my decision. The emperor believed your clan could provide a decent amount of entertainment in the tournament and he wanted to see what the Lin Kuei had to offer. It seems Oniro's warriors are not as powerful as we were led to believe."

Smoke punched the sorcerer in his face for his remark.

"I did not ask for your opinion."

"Heh, heh. I do not need your permission, ninja."

"You speak boldly for someone who is overpowered and will possibly die before the end of the day."

"Now why would you think that?"

Tomas was about to ask what Shang Tsung meant, but he suddenly felt someone's presence behind him. He looked back just in time to see a ball of acid heading towards him and he quickly jumped out of the way, but he lost his grip on the sorcerer. Shang Tsung slid to the ground and the acid hit the spot on the tree where his head was. It created a hole that burned halfway through the tree.

Smoke looked back at tree and saw that Shang Tsung had disappeared. Where could he have gone to in his weakened state so quickly? And where had those acid ball come from? The ninja looked all round, but could not see his attacker. Two more acid balls came at him and Tomas rolled out of their way. Whoever it was assaulting, they were difficult to track.

"Despite his failure at my tournament…"

Tomas froze. That voice… it could not be. But there he was, just standing a few feet from Smoke.

"What?"

In the flesh, it was Sub-zero. But Smoke remembered that Shang Tsung could shapeshift. He was not fooled by the sorcerer's disguise. The imposter pointed a finger at Tomas.

"I'll wager he was more powerful than you, Lin Kuei."

"Assuming his form will not give you his skills, shapeshifter."

Behind Sub-zero, a hideous green creature appeared and snarled at Smoke. He must have been the one who was throwing those acid balls. And to make matters worse, he could turn invisible. This battle was not in Tomas' favor, but he was not about to lose. He could not afford to. The ninja got into his fighting stance and prepared for battle.

"Let us see if smoke can freeze!"