Chapter Three - The Robbery

Three days later

"Just a few more notches!" cried Jax. "Then it will finally be complete."

Jax and the other agents stood in front of an in-ground door a mile away from the main base. Behind the door led to an underground chamber where the man-made portal was located.

"This is great," General White said. "This portal will take us to every realm that exists." Then he turned to Jax. "I'll be choosing you to head this agency. The only order I'll be giving you right now is when this is all ready, send someone to Outworld. I want them to see if there are any activities going on."

"Yes, sir," Jax replied with a salute.

A little while later, Jax returned to the base. Sonya caught up with him the moment she saw him enter the lobby.

"So I heard from the General that you're heading the Outerworld Investigation Agency?" Sonya asked. "Who do you think you'll choose to send to Outworld?"

Jax shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I do know that it's not going to be Alex. She's a good agent so far, but I feel that she needs more experience. Up until she was recruited, she's only had military experience on a more local level."

"I see," Sonya replied. She remembered when she first joined Special Forces. She was a woman in her mid-twenties and wasn't assigned to any good missions until she was accidentally led to the first Mortal Kombat tournament while chasing Kano down.

Then again, Alex wasn't that much younger than Sonya. Alex had some investigation experience before in the military, but not as gruesome as this could be according to her files.

"I don't think I'll choose Hsu Hao either," Jax continued. "I'm starting to agree with Cyrax about having a bad feeling about him."

Sonya folded her arms and raised her eyebrow. "What gives?"

Jax looked out the window. "Well, I've been thinking… while we were working on the Black Dragon, Hsu Hao was always secretive about what he was doing, even though he succeeded in the missions. I have tried talking to him about it before, but he always said that 'it was all part of the plan.' I didn't question him because, after all, he was getting the job done, and as a free agent, he has the right to not answer my questions directly. Now, the more I think about it, the more I start to get this feeling… and Cyrax saw it first."

"It could be a tactic of the Chinese Secret Military for all we know," Sonya guessed. "They don't call it a secret military for nothing."

"I suppose," Jax sighed. "But I still have a bad feeling about him."

Sonya walked over next to him and stares out the window. "What about Kenshi?"

"Not yet," Jax replied. "Although I may change my mind by the time the portal is ready. Cyrax would be a good choice. We did restore his soul and has since been grateful, so he'll probably take the task. He did pledge his loyalty to us after all."

"So Cyrax it is?" Sonya asked.

Jax nodded.

Alex was the only one working out in the weight room. She rapidly delivered a few punches and kicks at the punching bag in the middle of the room. She was trained in both military martial arts like most everyone else here along with a little training of Kajukenbo, something she learned when she was once stationed at a military base in Hawaii in the beginning of her career.

She does this for a while before she decided that she had enough. After giving the punching bag a final kick, she happened to notice Cyrax walking into the weight room.

"Hey Cyrax," Alex said while wiping a bead of sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. "What brings you here?"

"Bored out of my mind," Cyrax replied as he headed towards a treadmill. He turned it on and began running at a high pace.

"I see what you mean," Alex replied, knowing that his cybernetics didn't require him to exercise. She then decided to head to the available treadmill next to Cyrax. She turned it on and walked in a fast pace.

"So while you're here," Cyrax said. "What's up with you and Kenshi?"

That caught Alex by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Hey, I may be a cyborg, but I know a good interaction between two people when I see it! Ever since you guys brought Kenshi here, I've been seeing you two spending more and more time together each day. If I hadn't known better, I'd say something was starting to cook between you two."

"Oh yeah," Alex replied while looking down at his feet. "There's something cooking between those cyborg toes of yours right about now."

Cyrax looked down at his feet. Smoke started coming out from between his toes, so he immediately shut the treadmill off. "Crap, not again." He walked over to a bench, sat down, and began to examine his foot. "It happens every time I go at the fastest speed."

"Maybe you should run at a slower pace for now on," Alex suggested.

That's when both of them sensed another person coming in. They turn towards the entrance and soon got a good look at Kenshi coming in.

"Who's in there?" Kenshi asked sensing people around.

"Cyrax," the cyborg replied. "And Alex."

Kenshi could hear Alex walking on the treadmill. He went over to her and tried not trip over anything at the same time since his senses were currently less enhanced without his sword.

"What brings you here?" Alex asked. Meanwhile, Cyrax watched the both of them with delight.

"Sonya told me that you would be here," Kenshi replied.

"Well, lucky you caught me then because I'm almost done here for the day," Alex said.

Kenshi nodded. "Well, maybe once you're done here, then-"

Suddenly, Alex made a misstep in her walk on the treadmill. Before she knew it, she was flying backwards. 'This is gonna hurt!'

Kenshi sensed what was happening and quickly threw his arms under to catch her. He succeeded as he felt her body fall into his arms. His right arm was around her back, and he had expected his left arm around the back of her knees… but the firm flesh in his left hand indicated to him that they were most definitely not the back of her knees.

"Uh..." Alex managed to say, feeling his hand on her rear.

Kenshi drew in a sharp breath in and quickly slid his arm towards her knees. At this point, Cyrax was down on the ground laughing hysterically.

Kenshi lifted Alex up. "Alex, I'm-"

"It's okay," Alex said with a chuckle. "I know you didn't mean it."

Kenshi finds himself smirking a little. Alex smiled as well, taking note of his smirk. 'If only he could see my smile… ah crap, there I go again with these thoughts!'

"Say," Alex said as a bold idea came to her. "Let's get out of this base. I know of a restaurant downtown we can go to. It'll be my treat."

It was funny because Kenshi had originally come here to suggesting having dinner at the cafeteria… however, Alex's suggestion sounded even better. "All right," he replied before he began walking out the door.

"Um, Kenshi, I can walk." It was followed by an amused giggle.

"Um, Right," Kenshi answered as he realized that he still has Alex in his arms. He gently put her down and they both headed out of the weight room, but not before Alex kicked Cyrax on his side, ending his hysterics.

"Owe!" he gasped.

After dinner, Kenshi and Alex returned to base and headed to Alex's room. Alex found herself wanting to spend a few more minutes with the swordsman and invited him in, which he accepted by simply walking in.

"It's been a while since I went to a restaurant," Kenshi said. "What was the place called again?"

"R & J's Steakhouse," Alex replied taking off her jacket. "Sonya and I discovered it one night when we decided to just go out and pick a random place to eat. We should sit at the bar next time."

"Maybe," Kenshi said with a nod. Deciding to sit down, he chose to sit at the side of her twin bed.

Wanting to keep the conversation going, Alex said the first thing that was on her mind. "So if I remember correctly, you did a lot of traveling for years."

Kenshi nodded. "I've been to a lot of places, yes."

"Do you have a favorite place in particular?"

Kenshi shrugged. "Not really… though, there is once place I… remember it being nice. It's called the House of Pekara."

"House of Pekara?" Alex asked. She walked over to the bed and sat next to him. "Tell me about it."

"Well, it's pretty much abandoned these days, but the structure was quite a sight. It was where I found my sword and… the last place I happened to… see."

Alex leaned over towards him a little. "I'm sorry."

Kenshi shook his head. At the same time, he was able to get a small whiff of the perfume Alex was currently wearing. He never really understood the reason for perfumes other than to conceal foul smells, but whatever Alex had on, it was… nice.

"I don't need pity," he said to her.

Alex cleared her throat, a little taken aback by his comment. "Um, well, that's not… well, it's something that I automatically say sometimes, well, sometimes you just don't know what to say, you know?"

Kenshi sighed a little. "I can understand that."

"I assume you've heard that a lot since you went blind."

He nodded. "I guess it should be expected, but even years later, it can still get under one's skin sometimes." He smirked a little. "But as you may have noticed, it hasn't stopped me from being the best swordsman in the world."

Alex chuckled. "After what I've seen, I can agree with that assessment."

She then remembered something from their last OIA meeting they had. "If you don't mind, can I ask you something?"

"That depends on the question."

Fair enough. "At the OIA meeting, I noticed you seemed… eager to get to Outworld. I usually can imagine others not being too thrilled about going there after what they nearly did to Earthrealm a few years ago. Is there any reason for that?"

For a moment, Kenshi was hesitant about answering that question. However, when he thought about it, the woman sitting next to him has been nothing but kind to him since the day they met. She always seemed curious about him, but at the same, she never pushed him too hard for any more than the words he gave as answers to her questions.

He then chose to be subtle. "Don't get me wrong… I'm grateful for Special Forces' interest in recruiting me as a free agent and being a part of the mission. If they choose me to scout Outworld, that's what I do… but… there's someone who I know who is currently there. There's… business I need to take care of with them."

Alex tilted her head at this, her eyebrows furrowed. "Business… sounds interesting."

"Let's just say it's been a long time coming."

She didn't like the sound of that, but whatever this business he had was about, it sounded personal by the dark tone in his voice. She nodded. "Okay."

"Thanks for taking me out," Kenshi said. "Like I said, it's been a while since I've been to a restaurant."

Alex smirked. "Sure."

From there, Alex thought that he would get up and begin to make his way out the door, but to her surprise, he simply stayed where he was. She also noticed how close his face was to her's.

Kenshi could feel her light breath on his cheek, also realizing how close they were. He found himself swallowing and actually thought - briefly - about closing those few inches between them. Of course, he's been with other women in the past, but now he was trying to remember when was the last time he felt a woman's soft lips on his own.

Kenshi cleared his throat, shaking the thoughts from his head. "Well, I should-"

They both jumped at the same time suddenly as they heard someone bashing on the door with their fist. With a frustrated groan, Alex got up and opened the door. On the other side of it was Jax.

"Jax?" Alex said with confusion.

"Get your gun," Jax ordered. "There's a robbery at a bank."

Alex's eyebrows furrowed when he didn't further elaborate right away. "Sorry to question you, sir, but a robbery? Isn't that a little too light of an operation for us military soldiers?"

"I know, but we got a tip that Kano's involved."

Of course Alex knew who that was and her eyes widened. Still, she managed to straighten herself and saluted him. "Yes, sir."

Then Jax noticed the swordsman in the room. "Kenshi, come with us in case we need backup."

"Right," Kenshi said while getting up.

They made a run towards the exit, but not before Kenshi made a quick stop to get his sword. The three agents then went outside and jumped into a black truck where the other agents were in including. Sonya was already there dressed in her gear and her own gun in hand.

"What makes them think its Kano?" asked Alex.

"One of the witnesses described the metallic implant on his face," said Sonya. "It's Kano for sure."

'This ought to be fun,' Alex thought. She hoped that Special Forces will finally catch the bastard this time around.

The trucks got to the bank within ten minutes. When the Special Forces got out, they were greeted by the local police, who quickly informed them that Kano managed to escape just minutes ago.

"How could you let him escape?!" Sonya yelled out in anger. "Of all the… ugh!"

Jax turned to the rest of the unit. "Spread out and cover as much ground as possible. He couldn't have gone too far."

With their weapons ready, everyone began to cover the perimeter. Some even began to go into the nearby woods, Alex included. Gun in her hand, she began to walk forward, keeping her eyes peeled on her surroundings.

It wasn't long before Alex noticed a red gleam not too far from her position. She turned it and she briefly thought it was just her imagination… but with the full moon above giving her a better visual, it wasn't all that hard for her to notice the figure turning and beginning to run.

"Freeze!" Alex yelled out. "Special Forces!"

Alex began running through the woods. She ran about two hundred yards before finally catching up with the figure. Making a quickly leap, she managed to tackle him to the ground and attempted to subdue him from there. Getting a good look at his face now, it wasn't hard to recognized the one glowing red eye and the silver metal covering the right side of the face… it was definitely the Black Dragon member, Kano.

"Get off of me, girl!" Kano growled menacingly.

"Yeah right," Alex said in a huff. "Now stop-"

A laser suddenly came out of Kano's right eye and the beam quickly hit Alex's left shoulder and searing through her skin.

"AAAHHHH!" Alex cried out. Reflectively, she jumped back, but because she was at a hill, she suddenly found herself rolling down it, not stopping until she hit the bottom. She tried to get back up, but the intense pain in her shoulder ended up making her cry out and fall back on her knees. She could hear Kano making his escape.

"Damn it!" she growled through clenched teeth. She looked at her wound, noting the blood slowly seeping out of it. 'Well, that's not good.' Trying her best to ignore the pain, she started climbing back up the hill.

A minute later, she could hear someone walking through the woods in her direction. Raising her gun with her good arm, she aimed at whoever was coming, but then stopped herself from cocking the hammer back when she heard a familiar voice call out her name.

"Kenshi!" She called out to get his attention.

Kenshi sensed her location and ran over to her. "What happened?"

"I saw Kano and-" Alex accidentally moved her arm, a sharp pain shooting through her shoulder. Clenching her teeth in frustration, she grabbed onto her shoulder. "Ugh! Bastard shot me in the left shoulder with a damn laser!"

As soon as she said that, Kenshi could smell the scent of blood on her. To think that not even an hour ago, he had smelled the nice, light scent of her perfume while they were talking. "How bad is it?" he asked.

"Well, I'm sure I'm going to need stitches, but I need something to at least stop the bleeding. I don't think he hit anything major, but damn it, it won't stop bleeding."

"I have nothing to clean it with… but…" Without thinking about it, Kenshi took off his crimson blindfold and began to wrap it around the injury.

It took Alex a moment to realize what Kenshi was doing and she found herself gazing up at his eyes. This was the first time she was seeing him without his blindfold on. His eyes were almost completely pale, though she could just make out the blue outline of where his iris and pupils were. She wondered, briefly, what color his eyes used to be before he went blind…

Kenshi could feel her staring at his face. He knew exactly what she was looking at. As he continued to wrap the blindfold, he turned her head away from her, unsure of what she was thinking at this point.

Alex frowned when he turned his head away. When he was done tying the blindfold, she reached her good arm up and placed her hand on his cheek before turning his head so that he was facing her. Underneath her fingers, she felt his jaw tense and she thought he would resist for a moment, but she was surprised in the end that he even let her turn his head at all.

"Hey," Alex said. "The blindfold looks cool and everything, but you look… pretty good without it, too. I like it."

She was rewarded with a small smirk from him. "Let's get you back," Kenshi said. He helped Alex to his feet and the two of them began to head back to where the rest of the unit was.