Chapter 3: Eye for an Eye
Kobra rushed in quick, barely avoiding Kano's blade as it careened over his head. With a guttural cry, Kobra delivered a swift uppercut to Kano, his fist driving deep into the pit of his opponents stomach. He continued his assault, sending blow after blow to Kano's abdomen. From afar the noise of the crowd was barely audible over the rushing blood in his ears.
With a final punch, Kobra crashed into Kano's jaw. Kobra expected the brute to topple to the steel floor, for him to at least show that he had just taken a vicious blow to his jaw. Instead Kano smiled, his plaque riddled teeth as sinister as a sharks.
Kano darted forward, his head connecting with Kobra's with a sickening thunk. It felt as if a bowling ball had just been thrown at the young martial artist's temple as he crumbled to the floor, pain shooting throughout his head.
There was no time to lick his wounds though, no time to question his own sanity for even stepping foot in the cage and no time to check to see if his brain was still intact from the savage attack as Kano rushed in, his knife seconds away from crashing into Kobra's prone body- - - - - - - - - -
KRAAAAAAAAAAAAANGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The blade collided at the the spot where Kobra had been merely seconds ago. The crowd was going ballistic, screaming at the top of their lungs for blood...Kobra's blood.
"Tear his fucking heart out Kano!"A rabid fan shouted. Kano pounced mercilessly again, continuing his onslaught. Kobra bobbed and weaved , his eyes locked on the blade in Kano's hand. He was being forced backwards, playing the role of prey against a formidable predator, and before he realized his mistake, Kobra felt his back ram into the steel cage, nowhere left to go...
"MOVE!" Through his haze Kobra could hear Cage yell, and without thinking, rolled to the right, barely avoiding Kano's lunging attack. As soon as he hit the floor, Kobra was moving again, scrambling to get back to his feet...not wanting to take his eyes off of this dangerous man. To his surprise however, Kano was stuck, his knife wedged firmly between the meshed steel wall.
Now's my chance! Kobra drove the heel of his foot deep into the back of Kano's thigh, sending the thug to one knee. He followed up with an elbow strike to the back of Kano's head, sending a ping of metal on metal as his eye rammed into the cage. The crowd began to grow restless as their hero Kano slowly made his way back to his feet. Another chant of "Kano" broke out amongst the spectators, their cries a vocal plea for Kano to make a comeback.
It worked...
As Kobra readied his next attack, he was met with a back fist straight to the jaw. Pain ricocheted through Kobra's face as his mouth piece flew across the ring much to the crowds approval. He stumbled back, flexing his jaw to see if it was broken.
In front of him Kano was rising to his feet, the knife forgotten in the cage. Kobra raised his fist once more, prepared for an attack from all angles. Kano leaped forward, his massive body leaving the ground in an impossible cannon ball position.
Before Kobra could dodge, Kano slammed into his abdomen at full force with his entire body. Over 200 pounds of pure muscle knocked the air straight from his lungs, sending Kobra crashing to the floor.
How...the...FUCK!? On the outside Cage was screaming, beckoning for Kobra to get back to his feet,to fight through the pain and confusion that was racking his body and mind.
Kobra struggled to stand, his sternum aching from the impact. He tried to control his labored breathing, and felt his heart sink when a thin smile crept upon Kano's face.
"You mess with the Dragon, you get bit boy!" The hue of Kano's eye began to brighten, the crimson oval shining as bright as a star - - - - - - - - - - -
Kobra fell to his knees, more from exhaustion than to avoid the beam of light that erupted from Kano's eye.
Stupid, stupid, Kobra! He thought miserably. I'm in way over my head. Kobra glanced behind him, cringing as he saw the charred hole cut cleanly in the steel. Kobra began to scramble backwards, pain etched across his entire body. Roars of laughter echoed through the arena, mocking Kobra. Even Kano burst into a delirious fit, a shrill almost jackal like utterance coming from the thug.
Kobra groaned in disbelief as Kano's eye began to emit a fiery glow again. There was just no countering an extraordinary attack like that. He gritted his teeth, his eyes intently trained on the illuminated organ.
Here we go again...
It was all he could do was close his eyes when a massive explosion shook "The Castle" to its very core. Kobra felt the impact pulsate throughout his body as chunks of the roof came crashing to the floor around them. Kobra stared in amazement at the gaping hole that punctuated the ceiling. Multiple ropes descended into "The Castle", followed by a pack of bodies.
The vibrant shouts of the spectators were replaced with screams of panic as gunshots rang in the air. Kobra dove to the floor, helplessly watching as several of the armed men surrounding the cage were cut down by automatic fire.
"FUCK!!" To his right, Kano made a dash for the cage door, but was stopped dead in his tracks by one of the infiltrators. The mysterious intruder wore a mask, but Kobra could tell from the black, skin tight BDU that the person was definitely a woman.
Kano hunched his shoulders, momentary defenselessness effecting the Black Dragon leader. The intruder was fast, but not fast enough as she raised a large handgun to Kano's forehead. The thug sidestepped the gun, sending the booming shot wild through the air. Kano was on the the outside of her defenses, free to attack at any moment. He landed a forceful chop to the womans wrist, sending the gun clattering across the steel floor, inches from Kobra.
Kobra reached for the gun, a high caliber Desert Eagle, as Kano made his way behind the woman, his large arms wrapping around her neck and head. She struggled in his grasp, not strong enough to loosen his brutish grip.
"Now, now, now...what do we have here!?" Kano breathed down her neck. He ripped the mask from her face, and Kobra was surprised to see a beautiful blond woman, pain evident in her deep blue eyes. Kobra raised the gun, desperately aiming down the sights at Kano despite his shaking hands.
"I should have known it was you love, I could smell you a mile away. Miss me much?" The woman grunted in anguish. Kano's arms were constricting tighter around her neck, suffocating...
"Would you shoot the bastard already!?" She shouted at Kobra. Kobra aimed directly at Kano's head.
"Let her go," he demanded.
Kano chuckled in response, oblivious to the gun pointed at his head. "Me and the misses are just getting a little reacquainted. What was it, love? 'Ear to ear?'"
Kobra squeezed the trigger, his shot hitting lower than he anticipated. A ragged hole tore through the side of Kano's neck as his iron grip on the woman released. With a choked cry the Black Dragon toppled to the floor, writhing in agony.
Kobra lowered the weapon and rushed to the woman's side, who was tenderly massaging the crook of her neck.
"Are you alright?" The womans gaze was transfixed on the twitching form of Kano, no sympathy or remorse in her bloodshot eyes.
"Give me that..." She said flatly, not taking her eyes off of Kano. Kobra slowly placed the gun in her outstretched hand. Without warning, she aimed at Kano's glowing eye and fired. Crimson still permeated his socket, but this time from the steady stream of blood that seeped from his mortal wound. Kano was dead...
Kobra stared at the gruesome bullet hole, praying that his stomach wouldn't turn from the smell of blood. He shifted his eyes away from Kano's slack face, down his lifeless body and stopped. Something was jutting from out of his trouser pockets, so small that Kobra had to lean closer to get a better look at it.
"Hold it right there asshole." The cold steel placed firmly against Kobra's skull froze him in place. "Put your hands where I can see them."
"Sonya...it's alright." The familiar voice caused Kobra to tear his attention away from the object. In front of them. Cage spoke softly, reluctant to come closer. "It's alright...you've earned it."
Perplexed, Kobra reached down and and retrieved the object from Kano's pocket. It was a folded parchment, time ravaged golden brown stains covering most of its surface. Kobra recalled Cage's words before his fight..."Kano has something that you need Kobra...it's an invitation."
The woman, Sonya, blasted Cage a dumbfounded look before turning her attention back to Kobra. "I've got a couple of questions I want to ask you..."
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Author's Note: Thanks For Reading