"We need to find out why Quan Chi wants you," Sonya told Johnny. She, along with Mileena, had returned about an hour ago. Sonya hadn't seemed too surprised at the new arrivals when Johnny led her into the kitchen. She had embraced Liu Kang, telling him how nice it was to have him back. Her approach was more formal with Kenshi. The coolness of her voice startled Kenshi when she registered Ermac, although the only word she said to him was hello. Kenshi noted Ermac had seemed equally uncomfortable with the woman, tensing his body and slightly orienting himself away from her, although in the small kitchen there was hardly enough room to move with all the people. Kenshi resolved to find out the source of the tension.
"Who wouldn't want me?" Johnny quipped.
Sonya, apparently, was either numb or immune to Johnny. "I bet it had something to do with Kano."
"Kano?" Liu Kang questioned.
Sonya answered, her voice stonier than it had been when addressing Ermac. "Johnny and I saw him a few days ago, leaving a building with a package. We followed him to the docks, but he got away." Suppressed anger dripped from her last few words.
The monk answered in his calm way. "Then it seems our best course of action is to find Kano and make him tell us what he stole."
Kenshi followed Johnny into the building, Liu Kang close behind. The hotel smelled faintly of… cinnamon. Kenshi found the scent to be somewhat pleasant. They walked over to where Kenshi could hear the receptionist typing.
"Hello, we're here with the police department," Johnny delivered his lines perfectly. The receptionist briefly stopped typing, but quickly resumed.
Johnny continued, his voice the perfect balance of authority and charm. "We're here to investigate the recent robbery. Would you mind telling us the way to the room?"
The bored, distracted tone of the woman grated on Kenshi's ears. "It's in apartment 12A." The typing stopped and was replaced by a light rustling. "Here's a room key."
Johnny's voice could have charmed a dragon. "Thank you, we'll be as fast as possible."
Johnny swished and began walking. Once they were out of the woman's earshot, Liu Kang commented, "That was great. She didn't even ask to see your badge."
"I am an actor, and a pretty darn good one," Johnny reminded Kang. "Here we are, apartment 12A."
Something clicked and the door opened. Kenshi's nerves went on end as soon as his feet hit the cold concrete floor. The strange sense of magic permeated everything there was here, causing Kenshi's abdomen to clench. His nostrils flared as the peculiar scent filled his nose, driving out the agreeable cinnamon. He surreptitiously drew his katana.
"There's nothing here," Johnny stated, a bit disheartedly.
"Are you sure the robbery happened here?" Liu Kang asked. "It doesn't seem like anything's happened here for a while."
Kenshi walked farther into the room, his senses open to anything out of the ordinary. He slowly sauntered around the smallish room and through the adjacent kitchen and bedrooms, keen to anything and everything. Soon his efforts were rewarded, for he became aware of a strong concentration just below his feet. "I found something."
Johnny stepped over. "What?"
Kenshi gestured down. "In the floor."
Liu Kang had joined the two. He bent down, the tendons in his legs cracking, and rapped at the floor. "It's hollow." Kenshi heard the monk take a deep intake of breath, then a thumpsnap as he hit the floor.
"Way to go!" Johnny said excitedly. His voice dropped with his next sentence. "There's nothing there."
"There was," Kenshi stated. He would have thought the monk, at least, would have noticed something. The strength of the magic here still lingered. His katana practically vibrated in his hand.
"Why would the person who hid whatever was here want to hide the fact that it had ever been here at all?" Liu Kang mused aloud. Kenshi's mind had been running along the same lines.
"They didn't want anyone to know," Kenshi answered the obvious question. His mind wandered for a bit as he thought of all the things that could have been hidden.
"Any clue to where Kano went?" Johnny questioned.
"If there was, whoever lived here erased it," Liu Kang responded. "Let's join the others at the docks. Maybe they have been luckier than we."
They had not been any luckier.
The two groups met up at the docks, each disappointing the other with dismal news. It seemed they might have to start exploring other options than finding Kano.
Amid their discussion, Raiden had cracked in. After being filled in on the recent discoveries – nothing – he too seemed at a loss.
"You searched everywhere?" Liu Kang asked. Kenshi nearly shivered from the look he felt Sonya throw at Kang.
"Yeah. The hotel looked normal?"
"Yeah," Johnny answered. "Too normal. Whoever's been robbed is trying to keep this quiet."
"Which is a good enough reason to find out why," Ermac stated.
"It looks like we're back to tracking Kano the old fashioned way," Sonya sighed.
Mileena began sniffing the air. "Do you smell that?"
"Smell what?" Johnny asked. Mileena didn't answer but began walking off the dock and along the pier. By mutual consent, everyone else followed.
Suddenly Mileena began running toward the warehouses. Bootsteps thudded as the rest of the group sprinted to catch up to the energetic mutant. Kenshi wondered how the thunder god felt about having to travel the mortal way. Not as if he had a choice.
"What is she doing?" Sonya asked Johnny irritably.
"Mmhmmhmm," Johnny somehow managed to shrug as he ran.
"I hope it's important," Sonya curtly responded.
Just as suddenly as Mileena had started, she stopped, immediately in front of one of the warehouses. Her followers nearly ran into her, but managed to stop in time. The lack of noise, well excepting some panting, afforded Kenshi the opportunity to hear something he was previously unaware of. Voices.
Kenshi heard Johnny rubbing Mileena's back. "Way to go!"
Sonya had pressed her ear up against the door. Kenshi followed suit.
There were two voices in the room, one bearing a heavy aussie accent. He made a motion at Sonya.
"Kano," Sonya said shortly. She made a move to bust through the door and attack the thug right then and there, but Liu Kang laid a hand on her arm. "Not yet." Sonya slowly lowered herself and resumed listening.
There was another voice with the crook. It's low, smooth tones were a stark contrast to the scratchy criminal's. Kenshi could sense the mounting hysteria in the thug's voice when he answered. "We should get in there," he informed the others.
Sonya needed no further invitation. She threw open the door and flew in, leaving the rest to follow in her wake. The atmosphere in the warehouse was even chillier than outside, a dank smell pervading the air. Sonya stopped short just inside the door, a small gasp escaping her lips.
Although Kenshi couldn't see the scene before him, he could still feel the danger, still hear the moans of the aussie thug. His katana shed some light on the subject, ever helping him see without sight. He could feel the criminal bound to a steel chair, wounds dripping from him. He was only semiconscious at the moment. His attention shifted from the outlaw to the man standing above him. He couldn't see how undeniably handsome the man was, but he was aware of his intimidating presence. He could tell that the stranger was looking at them, not with too much hostility, more curiosity, but he was still on guard.
Another presence made itself aware to Kenshi. A girl, but not a girl, stood some ways away from the two other inhabitants of the room, observing the new arrivals with something more like scrutiny. Kenshi , in turn, was fascinated by the child who felt nothing at all like others her kind. Her aura, where other children were light, was heavy. Kenshi began to wonder just what they were getting themselves into.
No one seemed to know how to start, until Johnny broke the silence. "What are you doing?" Kenshi could have come up with a thousand other better questions to ask, but it was too late now.
The man's voice was smoother than even Johnny's had been when he was lying to the receptionist. "We were just asking this man about the whereabouts of an item rather important to us."
"Would it happen to be something he stole?" Johnny asked artlessly. Kenshi wondered why no one else was speaking up.
"Yes," the man answered carefully.
"We might know who has it then," Raiden had taken the lead, for which Kenshi was grateful. "Would you mind telling us what it is?"
The man threw a glance at his young companion. A wordless agreement passed between the two, after which he again focused his attention on the thunder god. "An amulet was stolen from our home this past week. We intend to reclaim it, just as soon as we are made aware of its location." Here the man looked meaningfully at the thunder god.
"We believe it has been sold to a sorcerer by the name of Quan Chi." Raiden went on to answer the stranger's wordless question. "Quan Chi is a very powerful sorcerer in the Netherealm." The stranger seemed to relax a bit at the words. Who was he to relax at the thought of a sorcerer?
"Then we will go to this Netherealm and reclaim our possession." The man smiled at the group. "Thank you for your help."
Raiden continued, a bit faster as the two strangers got ready to leave. Sonya seemed pleased at the fact that they weren't making any moves to take the thug with them. "We too are searching for this sorcerer. We believe he is plotting to take the realms with your amulet, although we don't know how."
The man smiled at them all again, polite as ever. It was beginning to rub on Kenshi's nerves. "I believe we're up to the challenge." Kenshi wondered what help the girl could bring, but kept his thoughts to himself.
"It might be mutually beneficial if we were to work together, until the amulet has been reclaimed," Raiden carefully stated.
The man and the girl paused, searching each other's eyes. The man seemed to be particularly lost in his companion's. After some hesitation, the man finally responded. "Perhaps that is the best course." The girl felt pleased.