Chapter Two - The Agency

Kenshi could hear shrieks in the distance. He could also see green-colored winds surrounding his vision.

"Thank you for providing me the souls of the Warrior Kings, Kenshi," he heard the deep voice say. It was followed by an evil laugh. Then, a sword ripped through the green-colored winds, causing it to split in half. Then, he could hear the loud shrieks again from the souls flying around, whispering Kenshi's name.

'What is this?' Kenshi asked himself.

Then, Shang appeared in front of him. Anger immediately consumes the swordsman. "YOU!"

Shang laughed darkly. "DIE!" He took out his sword and quickly jabbed it towards Kenshi.

Special Forces Base, Long Island, NY

Kenshi sat up quickly as his alarm clock went off. He could feel beads of sweat covering his forehead as his breathed heavily, his body slightly shaking from the dream he just had.

'Why do I have these dreams?' he thought while rubbing his face with his hands. He reached out for his shrieking alarm clock. It took a moment, but when he found it, he pushed a button and the alarm immediately stopped.

'Eight o'clock,' he thought, remembering what time he had it set for. He laid back down and wiped the sweat off his forehead. The sun shined through the window of his new room at the Special Forces Headquarters and he could feel the heat of its rays where he laid.

After a few minutes, Kenshi forced himself to get up from his bed and began to get ready for his day. After a hot shower, he dressed in an all-black attire; a t-shirt, slacks, his traveling boots, a short, finger-cut gloves. Then, he grabbed his red blindfold and placed it over his colorless eyes, securing it in a knot behind his head. Then, he took his katana out of his case and slipped it in the scabbard before buckling it around his torso, the sword behind his back. As soon as he released his grasp, his other senses heightened, giving him a better idea of where to go. Then, he was out of the door, locking it behind him.

As he made his way out, Jax happened to emerge out of his own room just a few doors down. After locking the door behind him, he turned and saw the swordsman walking down the hallway.

"Kenshi!" Jax called out while catching up to the new free agent. "How are you settling in?"

"Fine," Kenshi replied. He decided to get right down to business. "So what's the agenda for today?"

"There is going to be a meeting today about the agency. General Simon White will be discussing more about the project. Right now, I'm meeting up with Agent Cyrax for breakfast. Do you want to join us?"

Kenshi was not much of a breakfast person, preferring just a drink whether it was coffee or tea. However, as soon as Jax mentioned it, he could feel his stomach grumbling.

"I suppose," Kenshi answered with a shrug.

The two agents headed towards the cafeteria. Waiting outside was a black and yellow cyborg. "Morning Cyrax," said Jax with a nod.

"Morning," Cyrax said in his robotic tone.

"Agent Cyrax is a robot?" Kenshi asked.

"A cyborg actually," Jax replied. "He was originally an assassin in a group called the Lin Kuei, which is now rumored to be a force for good. Their old leader had started a cyborg program that would eliminate insubordination, and unfortunately, Cyrax was forced into the program, losing his soul in the process. Special Forces were able to restore his soul months ago and he has agreed to help us with the new agency." He looked at Cyrax. "So, what's for breakfast?"

Cyrax shrugged. "I didn't check the menu yet."

"Can cyborgs even eat?" Kenshi asked curiously.

"Yes, we can, but it's only an option."

The three of them walked into the cafeteria. After choosing what they wanted to eat, they walked towards an empty table in the middle of the cafeteria and sat down.

"How is the Black Dragon Investigation?" Cyrax asked.

"We managed to capture everyone," replied Jax. "Well, except Kano of course. Agent Hsu Hao has been a big help with ending the Black Dragon clan once and for all. Needless to say, all we have to do now is capture Kano. Hsu Hao volunteered to help with the new agency as well while we wait on confirmation of Kano's whereabouts."

"I still have a bad feeling about him," Cyrax said. "I feel as though he's up to something."

"You've been saying that ever since he showed up here a few months ago," Jax said.

"What do you think he's up to?" Kenshi asked Cyrax.

Cyrax leaned forward in his chair. "I'm not sure, but I'll try to find out. I've had this feeling ever since he showed up here. I can't explain it, but hopefully I will one of these days."

Jax then decided to change the subject. "Where are Sonya and Alex?"

"I spoke with Sonya this morning," Cyrax replied. "She and Alex headed to the weight room after breakfast. They'll meet with us at the meeting later."

Jax nodded. "Sounds good."

000

General Simon White stood in front of the six agents.

"The portal is almost complete," White said. "When it is complete, we can finally find out what is going on in Outworld. We received recent Intel that there is something evil lurking there once again. If this is true, Special Forces will prevent it, just like how we prevented Shao Kahn's invasion."

The six agents, Jax, Sonya, Cyrax, Kenshi, Alex, and Hsu Hao, all nodded in agreement.

"Would we go at once?" asked Jax.

"No," White replied. "Jax, Sonya, Hsu Hao, you're the only three with more experiences with investigations. Cyrax, you've only been here for six months, Alex, you've been here for two months, and Kenshi, you've only got here yesterday."

"But sir, didn't we agree that Kenshi would be a free agent?" asked Sonya.

White sighs. "I apologize, I almost forgot about that." He looks at Kenshi. "If we do decide to let you in on the mission, are you sure that you are up to it?"

Kenshi nodded. "Yes, sir."

Alex, who stood next to Kenshi, looked over at him, noticing how he sounded somewhat eager about possibly going to Outworld.

'That's interesting,' Alex thought in her head. 'I didn't think anyone would even want to be assigned to go to Outworld.'

When Alex first joined Special Forces as an official agent, Sonya had told her stories about Outworld. Alex herself personally never wanted to go there (though, of course, she would if her superiors asked her to), but with General White's words, she'll most likely not have to worry about it.

"When the portal is ready," White continued. "I think we'll only send one of you out first. God forbid, if anything happens, then we'll send the rest of you in."

Everyone nodded except Hsu Hao. The redness in his pupils glowed with no emotion behind it.

Every once in a while, for as long as he could remember, Kenshi would fall into a mild state of depression. Hours after the meeting, Kenshi lied on his bed, his thoughts drifting to darker times of his past…

Kenshi's mother died when he was just a child and his father met his end in a duel when he was seventeen. Since then, Kenshi traveled where he could, looking for new challenges using the skills he learned growing up. The road had been lonely with hardly any companionship. At times, he wondered if having a companion would have made his situation better.

When he became blind, he had vowed to not let it get in his way. Sometimes though, he became frustrated about not being able to see, especially when he made a mistake when fighting. He also constantly blamed himself for letting Shang Tsung take his ancestors' souls. Even a decade later, he still couldn't believe that he fell for their captor's trickery.

Sometimes, Kenshi felt like giving up, but then he would remember the promise to free his ancestors and continue to better himself. He was willing to keep those promises.

'But then, what would happen afterwards?' Kenshi thought. Then he let out a sigh. 'When my quest is over, I don't have anything else to live for.'

Then, he heard someone knock on his door, perplexing him. 'Who could that be?' he thought. He slowly got up and felt his way to the door. The moment his hand grasped on to the knob, he turned it and opened the door, now getting a sense for the person on the other side.

"Kenshi?" he heard a female voice say.

Kenshi recognized the voice. "Alex?"

"Yeah, it's me," Alex replied. "I was walking by and remembered that your room was here. It's almost eight o'clock and I haven't eaten yet. If you haven't had dinner, I was wondering if you'd like to go down to the cafeteria with me."

The moment she finished her sentence, Kenshi could feel his stomach growling. He realized that he hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast.

"All right," Kenshi replied with nod. Closing the door behind him, the two headed down to where the cafeteria was. They were silent, but thoughts played in his head.

'Clearly this woman is curious about me,' he thought. It wasn't like he was annoyed by her presence or anything… far from it, but the truth was that he wasn't used to people talking to him more than once.

Later, the two of them sat together with their meals in front of them. Alex looked at Kenshi, decided to break the silence between them. "So where do you come from?" she asked with curiosity in her voice.

Kenshi tilted his head to one side, deciding to voice what he thought on the way here. "You seemed to be curious about me ever since yesterday."

Alex looked down at her tray. "If that bothers you, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You have the right to be curious as long as you don't pry too much into my private life."

Alex tilted her head back up to look at him again. "Okay. Well, in that case… how is it that you are able to fight while, you… well…"

"Blind?" Kenshi answered. "Being politically correct is not necessary around me."

Alex nodded. "All right."

Kenshi continued. "My katana helps me. Its aura guides me with every step and helps me to figure who and where something is. It's also a resting place of the souls of the Warrior Kings. I happen to be a descendent."

"Your sword?" Alex said. "That's interesting. A resting place? It sounds like it serves as a tomb for the Warrior Kings. Do their spirits guide you?"

"You could say that," Kenshi replied. "Only, well, with the exception of the aura that still remains, the spirits are not there anymore."

Alex furrowed her eyebrows in a frown. "Not there? What happened?"

Kenshi sighed. "I... don't want to talk about it."

Alex nodded in understanding. "That's fine. But, well, if you do ever want to talk about it, you're more than welcome to."

For some reason, that took Kenshi aback only because he hadn't heard words like that from anyone in a very long time. "I'll… keep that in mind."

When they were done with dinner, they immediately walked back to Kenshi's room.

"Thank you for joining me for dinner," said Alex.

"You're welcome," Kenshi replied. He moved his hand into his pocket to get out his single key, which led to his room.

"Alex?"

"Yes Kenshi?"

"It's been a while since anyone's bothered to talk to me more than once socially. What's your interest in me?"

Alex felt a bit startled by the question, but she managed to answer. "Well, curiosity aside, since we'll be working side by side for an indefinite amount of time, I'd like to get to know you. Getting to know each other is a good way to earn each others' trust."

Kenshi only answered with a nod.

"Good night," Alex finally said. Then, Kenshi could hear her footsteps walk farther away from him. He stood there for only another moment before entering his room, closing the door behind him.

Alex entered her room and turned on the light. As she began to get ready for bed, she found that, to her astonishment, all she could think about was Kenshi.

'It would be nice if I could earn his trust. He seems lonely.' The last thought startled her. 'Alex… you've only known him for a few days! Don't start drifting off to those thoughts!'

Alex sighed a little as she lets herself fall on to her bed. 'Yeah… it would be nice to earn his trust… we'll see.'

Meanwhile, Kenshi has his own thoughts running through his man.

'She's seems like a nice woman,' he thought. 'When was the last time anyone was willing to earn my trust?'

As he drifted off to sleep, Kenshi realized that he was looking forward to seeing whether or not this woman will indeed earn his trust.