Chapter Six – The Kiss

Three days had passed since Cyrax went through the portal to Outworld. Twice a day, he would contact Special Forces to let them know what's going on. At the moment, nothing was found yet in Outworld, but he would, of course, still continue to scout.

Sonya sat in her office going through some paperwork. Some of it was about the OIA, some it was other cases including Kano. She hadn't seen him since the robbery two weeks ago at the local bank.

'I wonder if I could try to find Kano again,' Sonya thought.

She reached her hand to her head and grabbed a lock of her blond hair that fell to one side of her head. The lock was shorter than the rest of her hair. She thought about that one gruesome night that occurred a few years ago...

The dark clouds covered the sky and the rain fell hard on the tall buildings. On top of a fifty-story building were two people standing in their respective fighting stances. Both were bleeding from the battle that was still going on.

"It's over Kano! You and I both know that it's over!"

Kano spitted blood out of his mouth. "Sonya," he said in his Australian accent. "It's not over... until you're dead!"

He ran over to Sonya and threw a punch at her. She blocked the move and attempted to slug him. Kano blocked the move and then got down and performed a sweep-kick knocking Sonya off of her feet.

Sonya laid there feeling weak from the bloody battle. 'I don't think I'll make it,' she thought. She closed her eyes as she began to lose hope.

Kano reached to his side and took out his butterfly knife. "It ends here, Sonya. I win. You lose."

Sonya quickly shook her head. 'NO! I can't lose! He killed Agent Sparky, my partner! I can't let him get away with it!'

Just before Kano raised his knife, Sonya quickly got to her feet. Using all of her strength, she kicked Kano right in the stomach. Kano stumbled back and reached his hand out. He only managed to grab a lock of Sonya's blond hair and pulled it right out from her scalp. Then, he stumbled off of the edge of the building and began to plummet to his death.

Sonya ignored the sharp pain in her head as she ran over to the edge and watched Kano fall fifty stories. Then, she could hear his bones breaking as he landed hard on the pavement below. For a minute, Sonya stared at him and he didn't move.

She reached over to her walkie-talkie and turned it on. "This is Agent Sonya Blade. The member of the Black Dragon, Kano, is dead."

Sonya sighed. It was later that she found out that Kano was alive. Apparently, he was resurrected in Outworld… either that or he somehow survived the fall. Thinking about that made her clench both of her fists in frustration.

'I'll get you one day, you bastard,' she thought. 'And I'm going to make sure that your death is permanent!'

A day of exercise, training, and paperwork drained Alex's energy right out of her for the day. It was seven o'clock when she entered her room and collapsed on to her bed. She reached over to her CD remote and turned it on.

She laid her head against her pillow and closed her eyes. She let herself listen to the words of the music playing. Alex indeed enjoyed the soft rock from the band's music. It helped her relax and to forget all of her problems even if it was only temporary.

Just before she fell into a slumber, the emergency alarm suddenly went off startling her. Then, the door burst open and Jax walked in.

Alex looked up at the agent as she sat up from her bed. "Jax! What's going on?"

"Get your gun," Jax said. "There's a gang terrorizing a neighborhood with military grade weapons."

Alex got up, took her gun, and followed Jax out the door. They went into a truck filled with other agents, including Sonya and Kenshi. The van quickly drove off to its destination.

Ten minutes later, they reached the neighborhood. Frightened residents pointed to the location where the gang was.

"Spread out and cover the perimeter!" Jax ordered. "Be careful, everyone!" Everyone went their separate ways.

Kenshi took out his katana and ran down the streets. He could smell the metal of the guns and followed them.

A few minutes later, three members of a gang stepped in front of him. Kenshi stopped on his tracks as he sensed their presences.

"Hey, look at this," one guy said. "What's with the blindfold?"

"Put you guns down," Kenshi demanded. "You're under arrest."

The three men laughed. Then, one of them spoke up, "How can you catch us? Your blind and you have no gun! Let's get him!"

The three of them took their guns out and pulled the triggers immediately. Kenshi used his senses to dodge all of the bullets coming towards him, letting them pass him like it was nothing.

When they ran out of bullets, the three thugs dropped their guns in shock. Kenshi was close enough to deliver a few punches and kicks at them. All of them fell to the ground unconscious.

"That's three down," Kenshi mumbled.

Meanwhile, Alex gazed around the alleys of the neighborhood looking for more thugs. She kept her handgun in front of her.

Briefly, she looked up at the sky. The rain started falling down from the heavy clouds, hitting her face. 'Damn it!' she thought. 'We better catch these thugs before it really pours.'

"Hey there, precious," she heard someone say from behind her. She growled and rolled her eyes as she quickly turned around and faced four thugs.

'Shit,' Alex thought knowing that she was outnumbered.

"Put your hands up where I can see them! You're all under arrest!" she cried pointing her gun at them.

"Oh, come on, sexy," one thug said as he walked towards her, clearly not caring that there was gun pointing right at him. "Put that little toy down. We don't want to hurt you. We just want to play." He walked a little closer to her. "I guarantee that you'll have fun as well."

Alex looked at each thug carefully and she realized that none of them have guns on them. She slipped her gun back into her belt. "Sure, I'll have some fun. I hope you like dancing."

Immediately, she crouched low to the ground and performed a sweep-kick to the thug closer to her. He fell hard on to his side. The three other thugs ran towards her.

Alex performed a backward flip and managed to smack one thug under his chin with her foot. She flipped back a couple of more times. By then, the first thug she knocked down was up on his feet and chasing after her.

When the two thugs were closer, Alex turned her body halfway around and elbowed the third thug in the face. She then quickly extended her leg sending the fourth thug to the wall knocking him out. The third thug grabbed her from behind and the first thug ran closer to her. Alex jumped up and used both of her legs to kick the thug sending him flying back. He hit a pile of garbage pails and was knocked out as well. Then, she grabbed the thug holding her by the arms. She lifted him over her head with all of her strength and threw him to the ground head-first, knocking him out.

"As Jax would say," Alex said grinning. "That's what you get!"

What she didn't know was that the second of the four thugs was still up. He went up to her from behind, grabbed her, pulled her gun out from her belt, and aimed it at her head. 'Shit!' she yelled in her head as she realized her error…

Meanwhile, Kenshi, Sonya, and Jax returned with other agents with the captured thugs.

"I believe that's all of them," said Sonya. "Are all of the agents here?"

Jax looked around and counted. He realized after counting that he was one agent short. Jax turned back to Sonya. "We're missing someone."

Kenshi used his senses to look for Alex. When he couldn't sense her anywhere nearby, he gasped.

"Agent Walker is missing," he informed them.

Sonya quickly turned to him. "Let's go find her."

"I'll find her," Kenshi replied. "You guys take care of everything here."

"I know usually the one who gives out the orders here," Jax said. "But are you sure you don't need our help?"

Kenshi took out his katana and began running down the street.

"I think he's sure," Sonya replied.

Meanwhile, Alex was being held by the thug. He pointed her own gun at her temple and she could feel it's cold steel on her skin. "I wouldn't move if I were you," the thug said.

Alex swallowed hard. She tried to say as calm as possible, but it was hard when your heart was pounding rapidly while trying not to panic. 'Oh my God!' she thought with terror. 'I'm going to die!'

"I would've spared your life," the thug continued. "But since you beat the crap out of us, I'll just pop one into your head and end your little life."

Alex heard the gun clicking. She tightly shut her eyes and got herself ready for her death. As she waited, Kenshi came to her mind. 'Oh God!'

Just a millisecond before the thug pulled the trigger, his hand holding the gun was sliced off by a sword. Alex fell to the ground as the thug was forced to release her and was pulled away from her.

Alex looked up to see what was going on. She saw the thug being pinned against the wall by her Kenshi. Despite being blind, his face seemed to glare right into the thug and his teeth were clenched in what looked like anger.

"This is for trying to kill her!" Kenshi yelled. He pulled back before his swung his sword to the side, cutting through the thug's torso. The thug stood there momentarily in shock before he fell forward and his body split in two.

The rain began to pour down harder, causing the dead thug's blood to slither through the cracks of the streets like a river and going down a nearby sewer drain. From where she fell, Alex began to shake violently not just from the cold, but from the shock of almost being killed and the thug's violent death. It wasn't like she hadn't seen that kind of brutality before, but no matter how many times one saw something like that, it was still hard to get used to.

Kenshi could sense Alex a few feet away. He ran over to her and bended down. "Alex, are you okay?" He wrapped his arm around her and he could feel her body shaking. It was interesting how one's hands could kill someone in one moment, and then be gentle in another…

"I think so," Alex replied. She looked up at him. "I was fighting, but that thug got my gun and..." She shook her head and suddenly started rambling. "Damn it, it was a stupid mistake! You never turn your back on anyone even if they're down! I was sure I was going to die before you came along and I thought I was never going to see you again and-"

She fell quiet the moment Kenshi brought her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her. Comforted by the gesture, Alex threw her arms around his shoulders, returning the embrace.

"It's all right," Kenshi whispered into her ear. "They won't hurt you anymore, not while I'm here."

He held her close to him feeling her damp hair sticking on to his skin. It made him wonder something he never thought he would think about concerning her. 'What color is her hair… her eyes? What does her smile look like? These are things I'll never know…'

Alex closed her eyes tightly, refusing to shed the tears that threatened to spill over. What helped more than anything right now was having the swordsman right here in her arms. She suddenly realized how… right this felt.

'Am I...' she thought, but before she could finish that thought, Kenshi pulled his head away, though he kept his arms around her.

"You all right?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"Yeah… I'm all right," Alex whispered. Then, without thinking about the possible consequences, she leaned her face towards him and pressed her lips against his.

As soon as she felt her lips on his, Kenshi became shocked since it was something he wasn't expecting. For a minute, he was still, not knowing what to do. Then, he decided to relax and returned the kiss. He brought Alex up a little closer to him with his arms, creating a little more passion into the kiss.

Kenshi and Alex kept their kiss going despite the pouring rain coming down hard on them. They both felt the softness of the other's lips and went into a rhythm, slowly opening and closing their mouths.

After a while of this, they both pulled back to catch their breaths. Alex placed a hand on Kenshi's face. "We better get back," she said. "The other agents will be wondering where we are."

"All right," Kenshi said. "Do you, eh, want me to carry you back?"

Alex smiled. It was childish to be carried, but she couldn't resist the call, plus she still felt a little shaken from her near encounter with death. "Sure, why the hell not."

Kenshi smirked as he placed his sword back into its scabbard behind his back. He picked Alex up, one arm under her knee and the other around her upper back, and began carrying her to where the other agents were located. As she let her hero carry her, she let herself place her head on to his shoulder. She smirked as she felt Kenshi lean his head on hers and pressed his lips on to her forehead.

He thought to himself, 'It's been far too long since I let anyone get this close.'