Chapter Forty-Eight: This Means War

The feeling of cold metal against his throat greeted Tomas as he awoke from his slumber. Seeing the blade gave the silver-haired man an adrenaline rush and he instinctively transformed into smoke before the Tarkatan moved to cut his throat. The creature was confused as to how his target managed to move out of the way of his weapon so quickly. But he had no time to ponder on that thought as he neck was twisted from behind. His lifeless body dropped to the floor with a loud thump.

Smoke took that moment to calm himself. He had not expected to be thrown back into the real world just to be attacked by a Tarkatan and he needed a minute to think. Letting out a breath, Tomas looked down at the dead Tarkatan that laid in the middle of the floor.

What the hell is a Tarkatan doing here? Are there any more around the base?

Something in the corner of his eye drew Smoke to the window to his right. He walked to the window and placed his hands on the windowsill as he looked out. In this case, Tomas was not greeted by a lovely morning sky as he had hoped. Instead, just beyond the mountains, a huge storm cloud had formed in the distance. This was no ordinary storm cloud, however. Flashes of green light pulsated from within the storm and the energy it produced was incredibly strong. Whatever this what, it was not a natural phenomena. At least not to Earthrealm.

A shout from outside Tomas' room made the silver-haired man drop into his fighting stance. As he did, the door was pushed off its hinges and thrown into the room with another Tarkatan laying on it. This one had a knife made out of ice sticking out of its head. Stepping over the body, Kuai entered the room with his signature Kori Blade in his right hand.

"Are you alright, Tomas?"

"Yes. I love waking up to the sight of a Tarkatan looming over me."

Ignoring his friend's sarcasm, Sub-zero looked over at the Tarkatan that Smoke had killed just moments before. Tomas quickly put on some clothes while the cryomancer waited for him.

"Did Shao Kahn start his invasion early?"

"I honestly do not know, but we need to check around the base for any more intruders. I doubt that we were the only ones who were attacked."

Smoke nodded and followed Sub-zero out of his room just as he was slipping his black hoodie on. They sprinted down the halls taking down any Tarkatans that happened to cross their path and soon found Sonya and Jax fighting off a horde of the bladed creatures. The two Special Forces members were back to back as the Tarkatans surrounded them. Tomas and Kuai nodded to each other and without saying a word, they charged at their targets. While the Tarkatans were still distracted, Smoke flipped over two of them and threw two kunai knives at their heads, which instantly killed them. At the same time, Sub-zero froze the Tarkatan in front of him and smashed it into pieces with his fist.

Now that the Tarkatans were aware of Tomas and Kuai's presence, they turned their attention to the former Lin Kuei. That was a big mistake. As soon as they turned their backs, Jax slammed his arm down into the floor to create a shock wave within the ground. The ground pound knocked that Tarkatans into the air before they could lay a hit on Smoke and Sub-zero and once she raised her arm, Sonya shot energy blasts at the Tarkatans using her wrist and Kuai Liang watched as the Tarkatans fell back to the earth and saw how they were all missing some body parts. The Tarkatans were not good-looking to begin with, but now they looked downright disgusting.

"Thanks for the save. Jax and I were in a really tight spot."

Sonya withdrew her arm and she and Jax approached Smoke and Sub-zero.

"First the Wushi Academy, and now this? What is with these things?"

Jax shook his head in disgust as he looked at the fallen Tarkatans. A growl from behind startled everyone and they all turned to see another Tarkatan about to attack. It roared as it charged towards the group with its arm blades drawn, but it did not have the chance to strike anyone before it was stopped. Kiva pounced onto the Tarkatan and sunk his fangs into the creature's neck. Its howled as it tried to pull the wolf off of it, but Kiva refused to let go and clamped his teeth down harder into his target. Soon enough, the Tarkatan stopped struggling and fell to the ground with the spirit still clinging onto it. Kiva let go once he was sure that his enemy was dead.

The wolf then turned to the four people he had just saved. Tomas, however, could feel Kiva's gaze on him specifically. He watched as the spirit trotted up to him and held out his paw. With a bit of hesitation, Smoke knelt down and shook Kiva's paw.

"Uh, Tomas…what are you doing?"

Tomas dropped the wolf's paw and turned his head to look at Kuai.

"He held out his paw, so I shook it."

"What are you talking about?"

"The wolf?"

Tomas motioned his hand to Kiva, who was scratching his head with his back leg, and arched an eyebrow. He did not understand the confused looks that Sub-zero, Sonya, and Jax were giving him.

"Kiva."

Kiva looked back and saw Nightwolf jogging towards him. The shaman stopped beside Kiva and patted the spirit's head.

"Kiva. That is his name?"

Nightwolf stopped petting Kiva and looked up at Smoke.

"Can you…see Kiva?"

"Of course. I must admit, the way he took down that Tarkatan was incredible and…"

"Amazing."

Tomas did not expect for Nightwolf to grab his shoulder and hold him still. The silver-haired man was confused by the action, but Nightwolf said nothing as he stared at him.

"You can also communicate with spirits?"

"Excuse me?"

Nightwolf frowned and closed his eyes. A second later, Tomas' eyes widened as a bear appeared out of nowhere. Unlike Kiva, the bear was orange in color. The Native American could feel Smoke stiffen under his grip as the silver-haired man watched the bear approach them.

"It seems that you can only see the spirits I call forth. The spirit you see now is called Komo."

"Wait, spirit?"

"Alright, explain. Now."

Tomas and Nightwolf looked away from Komo and looked at Kuai, who had his arms crossed over his chest.

"As a shaman, I have the ability to speak with the spirits. Your friend here seems to have the same ability."

"You mean you can communicate with ghosts?"

"In a matter of speaking, yes."

"Hold on."

Smoke shook his head and held his hands up to get Nightwolf and Sub-zero to stop talking.

"You cannot see the animals?"

Kuai shook his head.

"And neither can you?"

Tomas pointed at Sonya and Jax, who both shook their heads. So they really were spirits. But if they are, how is Smoke able to see them? He suspected it had something to do with Enenra. It was a demon, so it would make sense that it can see spirits since it came from the Netherrealm, which is the home of many spirits. This new ability could come in handy to Tomas, but as Nightwolf said, the only spirits he can communicate with are the ones the shaman called out. He cannot call the spirits out on his own.

"This has come as quite a surprise, Tomas."

Everyone froze in their spots and looked back. Surely enough, Raiden was the one who had spoken and was now coming their way. Another person, who was wearing a purple cloak with the hood pulled over their face, walked behind him. Jax was the first to address the thunder god.

"Raiden. When did you get here?"

"We have only just arrived. We met Liu Kang and Kung Lao at the entrance of the base and and helped them dispose the last of the Tarkatans that had attacked. I sent Kitana and Johnny Cage to search the rest of the base for any Tarkatans that we may have missed as well as to locate all of you."

"Looks like the only ones that haven't been accounted for are Cyrax and Jade."

As if on cue, something crashed through the entrance doors and skidded across the floor until it stopped at Raiden's feet. Another dead Tarkatan with a boomerang stuck in its head.

"That should be the last of them."

Stepping into the room, Jade, Kitana, Cyrax, and Johnny Cage joined the others and Jade called her boomerang back to her.

"It would seem that way."

Coming from the back door, Liu Kang and Kung Lao also joined the rest of the Champions of Light. They were now all together and it was time for Raiden to explain some things to his warriors.

"This assault by the Tarkatans was only a distraction. Shao Kahn himself has not appeared in Earthrealm yet, but it is only a matter of time."

The thunder god then turned to the hooded figure behind him.

"Allow me to introduce you to the former Queen of Edenia."

Kitana stood beside the stranger as they took off their hood. Long, gray hair cascaded down her back and her dull eyes scanned the other fighters around her as they watched her.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all. You may call Sindel."

A few gasps escaped from the group as they looked at the elderly woman. She bore some resemblance to Kitana and that showed even more as she smiled at everyone. Her smile was actually comforting considering their current situation. Kitana grasped her mother's hand and smiled back at her, as did Jade as she stared at Sindel with tears in her eyes.

"My queen. You are…"

Sindel's smile widened and she held her arms out to Jade.

"It is me, my dear."

Without hesitation, Jade ran into Sindel's arms and sobbed into her shoulder. The queen embraced the crying Edenian and she, too, started to cry.

"Oh, Jade. You have grown into a fine warrior. Just like your father."

"My queen, you do not know how much that means to me. I have missed you."

"I missed you too. Please forgive me for leaving so suddenly when you were a child."

"No."

Jade pulled back to look at Sindel.

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"That is right, Mother."

Kitana grabbed one of Sindel and Jade's shoulders to get their attention. Sindel cried even harder and pulled Kitana into the hug as well.

"Sorry to ruin the reunion, guys…"

The Edenians looked up at Johnny, who had an unusually serious look on his face, and stared at him with wide eyes.

"But if you're really Sindel, then doesn't that mean that your spell isn't working anymore? I mean the one you…?"

"I know what you are talking about. And you are right, uh…"

"Johnny. Johnny Cage. You know, Citizen Cage? Ninja Mi…?"

A slap on the back of his head shut Cage up and he turned around to see that it was Smoke he hit him. Again. The silver-haired man frowned at Johnny as the actor rubbed his head.

"Sorry. It's a habit, okay?"

"One I hope you break someday."

Hoping to diffuse the situation before it could escalate, Raiden brought everyone's attention back on him to further explain their ordeal.

"Sindel's resurrection was inevitable. If Quan Chi had brought her back himself, she would have been made into his slave. But now since the Elder Gods have allowed her to come back to the living world, Sindel is on our side and her power will be of great use to us."

If they were being honest with themselves, none of the Champions of Light were surprised about Sindel's return. Somehow they all knew that Shao Kahn was going to enter Earthrealm one way or another, so when Raiden confirmed their suspicions, they did not hesitate to accept Sindel among their group. They would need all the help they could get in this war.

"So, what's our next move?"

Always straight to business, Sonya gave Raiden a stern look as she waited for the god to answer her question.

"Now we must hurry to Deacon City. We must evacuate as many people from the city as we possibly can. That is our main priority as of this moment."