Mortal Kombat 9: Ember Edition

Chapter 19: Introducing Robo Bro

It wasn't much longer after following Ember's directions that Smoke and Raiden came across the bridge. There, stood Kabal, back facing them, black ponytails swaying with the breeze. When Smoke's grey eyes caught sight of the blue Lin Kuei cyborg, they at first narrowed. But once he recognised the cyborg, he rushed over to him.

"Sub-Zero!" Smoke shouted, kneeling beside him.

Kabal turned to face Raiden and was taken aback. "Hey, You're the lightning guy!" He thought aloud.

Raiden nodded casually. "Yes. You have great power, Kabal, we would welcome your aid in the fight against Shao Kahn."

Kabal's grip on his hook blades subconsciously tightened and the material of his gloves stretched as he did so. He had seen Shao Kahn and a little bit of what that monster was capable of. He would like to join, but he wanted to find Stryker first.

"I'd love to," Kabal started, "But I need to find my partner first. His name's Stryker." Fortunately Raiden nodded again.

"Yes, Stryker is safe and has joined us in our cause." The thunder god informed, awaiting Kabal's answer.

Kabal shrugged. "Alright. I'm in."

"Sub-Zero!" Smoke yelled again, trying to get a response from the cyborg. Meanwhile, he was inspecting the damage and raised an eyebrow. "Why is he burned so badly?" Smoke asked Kabal in a calmer tone.

Kabal pointed his hook blade behind him, in the direction Raiden and Smoke had come. "That was the fire chick, said her name was Ember. She went that way."

This information had shocked both warriors, Smoke more visibly so, but it began to make sense to Raiden. It certainly explained why she was ready to cry and why she told them to come here. But he didn't understand why she hadn't just said that Sub-Zero was here, why she attacked him so, and why she just left him.

Smoke voiced Raiden's thought. "What could've possessed Ember to do this?" This was baffling to the Lin Kuei, especially since last night she was freaking out over losing Sub-Zero. Raiden shrugged, very confused.

"I don't know...and I have a feeling she won't be willing to answer. No matter. Right now we need to get Sub-Zero help." Though the problem with Ember bothered him, there were more important things right now.

Kabal put away his hook blades and helped Smoke bring Sub-Zero back on his feet. "That's probably a good idea. We got him. Lead the way, Thunder man." Smoke was so focused on helping his friend that he barely noticed how Kabal spoke, when he did he internally groaned.

'Please don't be another Johnny Cage...'

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Back at base, Ember was laying in her temporary room. Sonya was sitting next to her, wrapping gauze around her arms, checking to see if Ember reacted whenever the rubbing alcohol was used. She'd been beaten pretty bad by Kintaro and her "brother", a lot of those injuries were inflicted on her head so Sonya was making sure the girl didn't go into a coma.

When Ember started coughing up a little blood Jade offered to get some water for her. She shared a worried glance with Kitana before closing the door behind her.

Raiden and Smoke had returned to base, bringing Kabal and the cybernetic Sub-Zero with them. Immediately Jax began working on rebooting Sub-Zero so the cyborg could join them in the fight against Shao Kahn. Ember was having mixed feelings about the procedure.

"Sure, he won't attack us after being reprogrammed..." She said, "but his mind, he won't really have one. All he'll do is take orders but otherwise he'll be just a mindless--"