“What form of monstrosity are you!?” A now fearful and dwarfed Motaro barked. The enenra's response was a lunging claw that the centaur dodges, letting the pavement take the strike. The vapor demon's claw was stuck to the ground allowing ample time for Motaro to slash at the arm with his tail, but the demon's smokey composition rendered any form of damage and pain useless as the metallic tail simply phased through it. After several unsuccessful strikes a new set of claws sprung out from demon smoke's forearm, seizing Motaro by the torso while the enenra's forearm shifted and contorted back to a more realistic anatomy. Motaro felt the life being burned out of him due in part to the monsters incredibly hot grip already struggling trying to hold off the already crushing grip. On desperation Motaro arched his tail above him and fired another blast at the creatures face causing it's entire head to scatter like clouds. For a moment the heat and pressure went away as if the beast was legitimately injured at least, inciting a moment of relief for the centaur general and a moment of worry for Ibuki and Rose. Those moments would be put to rest when the scattered smoke of Tomas's twisted form rejoined back at the body, reforming his head completely as if nothing happened at all. The enenra let out an enraged howl followed by a savagely slamming Motaro in the ground, causing tons of concrete chunks to erupt from the ground.
Motaro spat out blood as the monster let go of him, but was not granted breif mercy once Tomas seized his hind legs and began slamming him brutally against anything destructible, crudely reducing him into a oversized ragdoll. Ibuki watched on in concern for not only Smoke, but actually Motaro. While she did believe the centaur deserved to pay for critically injuring her allies and killing Jade the savage onslaught he was enough to spark curious pondering as to whether or not he deserved punishment to that level. Rose on the other hand was locked in deep thought about the enigmatic figures who had told her about this event and also to seek out being known as Raiden and bring him to someone known as”Ingrid”. For what purpose she did not know, but at least to her the cards seem to agree with task she was given. The enenra continued it's wild assualt, running Motaro a building and draggin him through it by the hind legs, decimating the structure. Smoke hurled Motaro to the ground and started to mercilessly pound him into to it in a manner reminiscent to a frenzied ape. The beatdown is so brutal infact Ibuki had to look away when she saw torrents blood erupting from the crater and shield her ears from the bloodlusted, manic roars of the enenra. Smoke finished off with a double fist smash synced in with it's demonic bellow causing small tremors to race as far as to Ibuki and Rose once contact had been made to the beaten centaur. Yet the vapor creature was still not finished, it's bloodlust not yet satiated it grabbed Motaro by the torso and lifted him up showing a bloodied and basically broken nigh unconscious centaur inadvertently to Ibuki and Rose both of whom are aghast by the horrific condition he put Motaro through and the fact that the centaur was still alive.
“No way how could anyone survive that?” Ibuki said aloud to herself.
“Such savagery at least he is still on our side I hope. Rose thought to herself. Smoke held the broken beast up to its eye level as Motaro weakly opened his eyes but still had the energy to keep fighting at least from his point of view. Mustering whats left of his ebbing might, Motaro raised his left arm and jammed his elbow spike through the enenra's forearm, this time meeting resistance from the vapor limb. Smoke didn't even bellow in pain, rather grunted as if it was a mild inconvenience and simply retaliates with several tendrils of manipulated steam erupting from the puncture that motaro's elbow spike was still embedded in. seeing the tendrils coming for him Motaro desperately tried to swat them away from coming for him, but his arm simply phased through as one snaking mist races into a gash in his arm. The other tendrils make their way into other openings individually, whether it be his mouth, ears, eyes or, wounds. The Centaur began gasping for air as the smoke clogged his lungs and airway and began tearing through the eyes from the vapors that have breached through there.
Only just now the worst had begun when the steam began to scorch him from the inside with unthinkable heat that was for the general, equivalent to having a sun put inside him. Motaro tried to scream in pain, but could cough and gag out a murky mist from his throat. Soon the scorching steam started blasting from his mouth, slowly dissolving the skin and flesh from his head staring from where it initially came out from. Afterwards more burning steam started to erupt from various areas of his body.with dissolving the skin and flesh as it continued despite his body burning away, Motaro could still not bellow in agony since there was basically nothing left of his trachea at this point. A horrified Ibuki covered her mouth while Rose backed up in front of the young ninja on instinctive impulse as the hulking demon continued dissolving and or liquefying the centaur's body. Reality kicked in when after what seemed like an eternity ended on the seventh second the burning smoke dispersed and all that was left of the mighty outworld general was a unrecognizable and hollowed burned corpse of browned flesh and bone barely hanging to the body by strained tendons. The enenra raised the corpse up high and smashed it on the ground creating a gory explosion right in front of the two still awake females.
Ibuki's heart halted when the mutilated skull remains of Motaro landed right at her feet, completely terrified at the slight chance she may share a similer fate to the centaur Rose on the other hand was calm and somehow was able to sense some strain of rationality from within the monstrous visage of the enenra, regardless she had her scarf at the ready in case of possible attack.
“I........Ib.......Ibu.......Ki......” the creature echoed surprsing the ninja
“Smoke?” Ibuki calmly replied.
“....sa......safe....” It replied before suddenly diminishing in size and completely compressing itself into a familiar form. Like it was a sheet, the mist descended and slid off of Smoke's body revealing his human body, still wearing the same armor before his transformation. Shocked but relieved, the ninja sprung to her feet and limped towards Smoke still clutching her broken arm with Rose following behind. The exhausted enenra dropped to his knees once the two women got to him and grabbed him to keep him from collapsing.
“Wh...what happened?” Smoke weakly questioned then looking at Rose. “wh...who are....”
before he could finish his second question for Rose his body and conciousness submitted to his fatigued state his head dropping down abruptly right after sparking more concern.
“Smoke!” Ibuki said aloud shaking him with her one funtional arm.
“He has only passed out. He will be alright.” Rose assured.
A few seconds passed by when lightning appears once more surrounding the surviving chosen and Rose. Ibuki knew very what this mean while Rose was anticipating the arrival. Once the lightning cleared Raiden and a mass cadre of other fighters. Ibuki could recognize the ones that were with her but there was a equally large number of fighters mostly from her world although there were two from the other.
“Raiden....” Ibuki said relieved. “wh what happened?”
“Better question is what happened here?” A bruised cage answered looking at the wounded bodies across the streets before seeing Jade's body.
“Oh no.”
“By the elder gods no!” a bloodied Kitana creid out racing to her dead friend. “Jade! Who done this to her!?”
“It....was some huge horse freak that attacked us.” Ibuki answered hesitantly intimidated by the subtle anger in the edenian princess's voice. “He badly injured the others and.......killed Jade....”
“Where is he?” Kitana demanded. Ibuki only pointed across to what was left of the general an still dissolving sludge of eviscerated flesh, bone, and severed limbs.”
“Whoa who did that?” A shocked Ken asked shielding his wife from the gruesome site
“Smoke did.” Ibuki revealed. “He turned into some huge cloud monster just when we thought he was done for and brutally killed him.” as Ibuki returned her glare to the group she couldn't help but notice Sagat carrying the bodies of Ermac and a yellow cyborg over his shoulder and under his arm.
“Wh..what happened to Ermac? The kunoichi asked.
“He took the full brunt of an trap he tried to contain to save the others.” Liu Kang answered
“A noble sacrifice indeed.” Sagat agreed, surprising the others that knew him.
“So the yellow robot?” The Ninja asked again
“His name is Cyrax.” an familer voice said.
Ibuki and Rose turned to their left and seen Sub-zero accompanied by Guy who was partially cybernetic walking to the two to see about Smoke. Ibuki was shaken by the looks the two warriors had. While it was obvious as to why she was rattled by Guy's new form, Sub Zero she could sense grief all over him as if it was written on his body. The most notable attraction aside from his missing mask and cowl and the injuries on his skin was a black inky substance the gave off a pungent odor akin to blood splattered around various areas of his body.
“Smoke is he alright.” Sub-zero requested
“Yes. He's just out for now.” Ibuki said “But what happened to you and Guy?”
At an earlier point of time in shang tsung's island the fight between the two defenders and revenats continued on with Guile had just tossed Charlie into a pillar taking the wind out of the undead fighter.
“Come one Charlie remember who you are!” Guile pleaded to his former friend “Remember you friends, family, country...”
“Stubborn fool how many more times do I have to tell you it's too late?” Charlie barked back. “all of that is beneath me and your pleading will only make it easier for me to end you!” Charlie lunges at Guile with a sweep, tripping up his former friend and follows up with a roundhouse that Guile manages to block in time in midair, but not with out being sent flying by the force behind the revenant's strike. Guile is able to get back to his feet and fire a sonic boom at Charlie. Charlie fires on of his own to cancel out the blade of air and create an obscuring explosion which he uses as an effective cover up to utilize his teleport. Guile notices the wraith had dissapeared once again as the explosion cleared and knew that Charlie was going to be right above him, only this time he didn't have enough time to counter it when Charlie did materialize. Guile was forced to settle for evading the pounce by rolling away, but would soon charge his corrupted friend again not wanting to be on the defensive. The two soldiers engaged in an all out slugfest trading and blocking blows not wanting to reveal to each other a sign of waning momentum. Guile manages two land two consecutive strikes to Charlie's gut and jaw, however the wraith shrugs both attacks off and delivers a brutal uppercut to Guile's jaw stunning the soldier and leaving him wide open for a tackle which is what Charlie does.
Across the Courtyard Kuai Liang and Bi Han were locked in a similar form of battle compared to Guile in Charlie only difference being in that they're reading each others attacks perfectly and blocking them all. Kuai creats a ice sword and attempts to vertically slash at Bi han, who jumps back revealing a clone in his place who stops the blade by clapping his dark palms on the blade. Kuai Liang attempted to wrestle the ice blade free but the actual noob ran in and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to lose his grip on the sword with the clone following up with a kick of his own knocking the Cryomancer away and on his back. Sub Zero quckly gets up and sees his brother fire a strange dark ball at him. Sub-Zero blocks it but it the strange projectile induces a bizarre state of confusion to his mind. Kuai Liang tried to shake of the strange feeling as Noob ran at him ready to deliver a snap jab. Sub-Zero attempted to block, but for some reason his body was not allowing this specific action even though he tried with all his might leaving him wide open to a punishing blow to his jaw the shattered his mask, damaged his jaw, and sent him flying off the arena.
Sub-Zero landed on his stomach in the open crevice where the masked guards of Shang Tsung stand watch at. As Sub-Zero tried to get to his feet Noob lands in front of him and fired another dark mass directly under his brother turning into a man sized portal the swallows the ex lin kuei whole. another portal oppens up diectly above where Kuai once laid and drops the expels the cryomancer to the earth with noob waiting to deliver a punishing uppercut that connects to his face, breaks his nose, and launches him several more feet in the air. Even with his injuries Sub-Zero was able to gain control of his balance in the air and land on his feet, only for Noob's shadow clone to put in a choke hold from behind when he lands on his feet. With precious air being lost in his dire ordeal, Kuai desperately elbows the doppleganger who responds with a knee to Kuai's back. Noob jumps in with a right hook that Sub-Zero blocks with his forearm and attempts to retaliate with a kick. Noob quickly parries the kick and forces Kuai's foot back to the ground with both hands. In retaliation Bi han kicked at his brother's shins several times in succession trying buckle the limbs and bring Kuai to a vulnerable position on his knees. Kuai denied Noob of this opportunity through pure will alone provoking Noob to settle for a downward hammer strike with his fist aiming for the cryomancer's skull. Sub-Zero parries it with his forearm and kicks Noob away in the gut, then headbutting the wraith's doppleganger dazing him and hurling it by the head at his brother who sidesteps out of the way and fires another portal that to his surprise Sub-Zero does not attempt to evade and willingly drops in.
Weary bound Noob stood on his guard as the another portal opened up above and down drops Sub-Zero who had foot on a unstable ice sledgehammer he had created while inside the void. Noob jumped back as Sub-Zero smashed the hammer head to the ground, exploding like a grenade and launching lethal ice shrapnel everywhere. Noob tried his best to avoid it but several painfully impale him in the back of his left shin, making him bark out from the extreme discomfort. Noob landed and looked at his wounded leg and realized in shock that the ice shrapnel embedded was freezing the flesh and greatly hampering his mobility once more in turn leaving vulnerable to Sub-Zero who uppercuts him and strike in the side. Kuai Liang was not finished he grabbed Noob by the left arm bending it just to get him to stand and he kicks down at the frozen leg shattering the frozen flesh around the shin that revealed bone and muscle, making the wraith holler out of the top of his lungs in pain. Noob's legs crumpled from the agonizing injury and his brother puts him in a head lock, leaving the wraith at his mercy.
Back at the other fight Guile had once more gained the upper hand against his corrupted comrade beating him down in a fusion of rage and agony at their circumstances. Charlie parries a kick and tries to punch Guile in his face. The soldier catches the fist, stopping it cold. Charlie assaults Guile with body shots with his free hand trying to relinquish the other from Guile's grip. Guile trades body shots in return, ignoring the pain and blood he was spitting up. Eventually Charlie's last strike would do the deed and weaken Guile long enough for Charlie to free his restrained fist and kick Guile away a considerable distance. On his knee Guile clutched his bruised stomach and Charlie charges him one more time to finish him off once and for all
“You fought well Guile.” Charlie commended “But this is you're last mission alive.” once within distance, Charlie winded his fist back, siphoning all of his might into one decisive blow that will end the battle. Once his fist was at it's apex Charlie believed victory was now inches from his grasp, for Guile however this was ans equal opportunity for him to claim victory himself.
“Right where I wanted you! 1!” Guile said aloud as he performed a flash kick at just the right time when Charlie was in a position that was actually very vulnerable. The kick propelled the revenant in the air and stayed suspended just long enough for Guile to land and turn around and perform yet another well timed flash kick with a front flip.
“2!” Guile shouted again when his heel connected to Charlie's chin, rocketing back into the air even higher. Guile landed and began charging even more power into his leg for one final flash kick as Charlie descended down, loosing consciousness by the second.
“Forgive me Charlie....STRIKE!” Guile said to himself as he performed the flash kick on last time, even more powerful blasting Charlie at least 3 stories high into the air leading to a stomach churning thud that echoed in the winds, Guile was victorious, but it was a bitter triumph against an old friend who was reduced to a corrupted shell of his former self. Guile just stared at the revenant's unmoving figure before turning to look at Sub-Zero, who has restrained his former sibling.