CHAPTER XIII

The Last Dragons

"Oi, mate. You sure about this?"

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Kano grunted, then craned his neck sharply to one side, to the accompaniment of a slight cracking noise. "You'd better. This is not something we want to be making any mistakes with. Too many risks involved."

"It can get through."

"I seen that film, with what's-'is-face, Jeff something, 'The Fly'. Poor bugger went n' got 'imself all fused with 'is own machinery. I could do without a propeller in me head, you get me?"

"Look, if passing through works like you say, there's no way in hell you'll wind up with anything where it shouldn't be. Besides, can you think of a better way to do this? They'll have roadblocks set up all the way to St. Paul. We're not getting anywhere farther than this on the road. Now let me work."

The two Black Dragon members had been driving non-stop for ten hours, in a Jeep they'd hotwired and stolen from a garage. It wasn't a very good Jeep – Kano had pointed that out on more than several occasions. It was missing one of its doors, and from the sound he was hearing, Kano was sure that there was something horribly amiss with the muffler. But nothing had happened, and so they counted their blessings as the Jeep had taken them on a long trail beginning in New York state, west through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and now they were in Indiana. Half a year ago, Kano had been practically chased out of Illinois by Sonya Blade - his fists clenched as he thought of her – and he had wound up a stowaway on a plane bound for Miami. After making contact with the few Black Dragon members that remained there, including a long-time associate of his, Jarek, he had hooked up with his current partner on the phone, and had agreed to meet him in North Virginia. Kano really hadn't liked being so close to D.C, but he had had no choice, as this guy he was now paired with had been in the process of completing a small job up there, and couldn't be interrupted. Also, he was essentially the only big-name Black Dragon member left, next to himself and Jarek, and the latter was enjoying some well-earned personal time off. He certainly did well enough for himself in that little extortion scheme of ours a couple of years back, thought the crimelord. I know I'd be able to count on Jarek in a pinch. But this guy…

His name was Kabal. He'd only been with the Black Dragon a short time, maybe a year, but his reputation preceded him. Supposedly some kind of technology whiz, able to cook up anything you needed as quick as you pleased, with the right materials at hand. If that weren't enough, he was also quite the martial arts expert, and he could apparently wield a pair of hookswords like nobody's business. Kano had heard that he had once used them to slide down a steel cable into a sealed-off factory. Nice, he'd thought.

He was pretty decent-looking too, Kano thought. Not especially attractive or anything, but he just had one of those faces you could trust, a real winning smile. Long black hair, too. If he'd been wearing a suit, and had his hair in a ponytail, he could have been a P.R. bloke, or something similar. But as it was, he was decked out in grey shoes below brown desert-wear pants and shirt, and a green-and-black vest which covered that. Strapped to his back were his hookswords, strange weapons that Kano imagined would have a nasty effect on someone's ribs if used the right way.

He had been useful so far, and this contraption he was building seemed impressive alright, but to be honest, the man's personality was getting on Kano's nerves. He was vain, and didn't like being given orders. Rather, he seemed used to dishing them out. He'd been very politely dancing around the fact that he needed silence to work, and was a hair's breadth from telling Kano to shut up. Kano was waiting for it. The second he did, the crimelord was planning on teaching him a thing or two about respect.

Kano spared another brief glance at the figure to his right, then went back to keeping an eye on the door. They were in the middle of an abandoned warehouse – funny how often us 'crims wind up in those, he thought wryly - and they were being tailed. While he kept watch, Kabal was doing a number on a long-range remote transmitter that should give them exactly what they needed; a fast mode of transport, ASAP. Kano didn't quite understand it all, but Kabal was the electronics expert, not him. Supposedly, they were going to hijack themselves a helicopter, and fly clear away to where Kano had reappeared on Earth, when he had jumped back through the portal from Outworld. That had been a close one, he remembered – Sonya and Jax had been right behind him, and it was only because he'd managed to kill another man and switch clothes with him that he'd gotten away. He'd shaved his head, and wrapped his cybernetic eye in bandages, masquerading as a recently released hospital patient. It had worked for a while, and he'd fled from Illinois with that Special Forces bitch on his tail.

Since then, after losing her, he'd switched clothes again, this time to some black and red duds he'd really liked, and had set to work an a scheme to rebuild the Black Dragon that wasn't going well. Along with Jarek, he had planned to recruit new blood. But at some point, a phone call must have been eavesdropped upon, because he'd found himself bolting from Miami with FBI squads on his ass. He'd again lost them on the way up to the rendezvous with Kabal, and everything had been going smoothly until about an hour ago, when a Special Forces van had rammed into them from behind a sign advertising beef jerky. They'd been pursued for ten minutes, exchanging fire, until finally Kano had become fed up and had brought out the grenade launcher. With the SF van a smoking pile of rubble, they abandoned the jeep, Kabal grabbing the necessary equipment, Kano taking the weapons – guns, grenades, and a rocket launcher - in a large carrying case, and had for the time being set up shop here.

But the area was being searched. Any minute now a helicopter would be showing up. That was what Kabal was counting on. He looked over his device, made a few satisfied noises, like a doctor checking over a patient. "She's ready to go."

"Right," said Kano. "So what's it do again?"

"Transmits a homing frequency to the copter, and brings the cockpit under my control."

"So yer telling me we'll lure it in, and then take it for ourselves? And then we fly it to the portal?"

"Assuming it's still there, yeah. But it'll be heavily guarded, so I hope you're ready for action.

Kano nudged a rocket launcher on the floor with the toe of his boot. "Always am."

"Remind me again why you want to head there? This…Outworld? From what you described, sounds like a pretty nasty place."

Kano snorted. "Nasty ain't th'half of it. Bloomin' dinos flying through th'sky, trees wi' faces on 'em, all manner of weird crap. But it's th' safest place for th' Black Dragon right now, I figure."

Kabal nodded. After that fiasco several years back where Kano had tried to get ahold of a gem called the Eye of Shiitan, or something similar, several of the Black Dragon who were broken out of confinement at a Special Forces facility wound up dead. Of them, Jarek had survived, but was in critical condition, and needed weeks to recover. Tremor, the bulky ninja, had walked away too, but disappeared shortly after. Kabal had heard rumors that the man was a Lin Kuei traitor who had defected to the Dragon, and that he had been firmly dealt with. It wasn't something he cared to ponder; past events and members he'd never met were of no interest to him. Their importance expanded to the current situation, and stopped there. But at any rate, that incident had sparked the beginning of a series of worldwide arrests. The Black Dragon's ranks were being thinned out, week by week. From the accountants to the street thugs, everyone with ties was being put away.

Kano continued with a mirthful smile, seemingly reading Kabal's thoughts. "We're an endangered species. Gotta hide out, make up a new base of operations elsewhere. What I figger is, Why not offworld? Special Forces wouldn't dare follow us in. Take 'em 2 years t'work out the legal crap. Maybe once I'm there, I can make some connections, find out how t'make those portals. Get members in n' out…"

It wasn't the sturdiest plan Kabal had ever heard, but it beat staying on Earth and being hunted down by every single law enforcement agency this side of the Pacific. "Can you please save that for later? For now, let's just concentrate on getting there."

Kano chuckled. "Kabal, before we do that, jus' lemme get one thing straight…"

He whipped the knife out from his boot so quickly that it was up underneath Kabal's throat before he even had time to blink. Kano got in flush and close to his subordinate's face, pressing him back against a wall. His breath smelled like beer and meat.

"Don't talk down t' me. I mean never. I'm th' leader of th' Black Dragon, not you. Got that?"

"I wasn't-"

"Ya were. And another thing; I heard you muttering when I hit that van with th' grenade. Ya think I'm a psycho? Yer call. But you'd better start growing some balls, or else yer gonna find yerself lyin' in a great big pool o' yer own red." He put the knife away, and stepped back.

"You didn't have to use a grenade launcher."

"Was a sure way to get them off our tail, no? You'd prefer perhaps I ask 'em real nice-like?"

"Just because we're criminals doesn't mean we have to be murderers."

"Yeah, well when ya dance wi' devils, you'd better be ready t' tango. Now let's do this."

Kabal stooped back down, and hit a few switches. He then bent, and picked up the small panel he'd been tinkering with, tucking it under his arm. "Let's go."

Kano grabbed the weapons, strapping the rocket launcher to his back, and carrying an Uzi in each hand. They made their way up to the roof in silence, up a small, dirty flight of stairs. After Kano introduced his boot to the door that was rusted shut, they hid behind two of the roof's chimneys. They were about twenty feet apart.

Kano yelled across. "Now what?"

"We wait."

Sure enough, after about five minutes, a local police helicopter came into view, the words 'Indianapolis P.D.' emblazoned on its side, making its way over toward the rooftop. Kabal grinned, and put an ear to his receiver.

"Ten-twenty-six, receiving beacon, unknown origin. Moving to investigate, over."

"Roger, unit three. Proceed with caution."

Kabal's grin widened. Bending, he pressed two buttons. The first knocked out the helicopter's communications. The second made the controls his. He guided it closer in, and had it land on the roof. He and Kano were inside the copter, and all over the two officers in seconds. Kabal saw that the first found a nice place on the floor to sleep, and looked up to see Kano bringing his blade to bear on the second beaten man's throat.

"Don't! We'll need him!"

Kano growled, but put the knife away.

"Please…I got a family…"

Kabal produced a pistol in exchange, and put it to the bleeding officer's temple. "Shut up. Here's what's happening. You didn't see anything. Equipment malfunction, but you're not sure. You're heading back to base, ETA twenty minutes. Going to look around the area a bit. Got me?"

The officer nodded, terrified for his life.

"Then let's go." With that, Kabal put three slugs into the panel he'd constructed, its usefulness ended. Communications came back instantly.

"Unit three, what happened? We lost you for a minute."

The officer tried to block out the pain, and the cold press of the metal against his head. "Some kind of equipment problem. Going to have the guys look over it when I get back. Give me twenty; I want to look around some more. That beacon's got me wondering."

"Twenty minutes, roger."

"Unit three out."

Kano chuckled. "Good, good. Let's get this sonuvabitch in th'air."

Kabal gave the man directions, and they took off. When they'd reached the city limits, the officer spoke up.

"Where…are we going?"

Kano smiled. "Glad you asked. We're going to Illinois. You're gettin' out."

With that, Kano grabbed the officer by the collar, opened the door, and kicked him through. The man fell, screaming all the way down.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"Oi", said Kano with his best winsome grin, "That was his stop. Couldn't take him with us, now could we?"

"You could have at least given him a parachute."

Kano considered for a moment, and nodded. He reached over to the wall, plucked one of the three available chutes off, and tossed it out. When he closed the door, he paused a second before falling into bouts of laughter. Kabal, who had taken over at the helm, stared at him, horrified. "You are a psycho."

"And you're a flipping genius." Kano took the other seat. "I was wrong. I can't kill ya - yer way too useful. Maybe a bit chicken, but yer a bloody whiz. So what happens when we get to th' portal? It'll be under heavy guard. For that matter, you sure we can get there in this crate?"

Kabal sighed. "Well, we've got enough fuel to make the trip…we just have to hope they wait a while before shooting at us." He fitted the transceiver over his ear. "I'll try to stall them."

Two hours later, they arrived at their destination, taking the long way around to avoid communications from police stations, and to their horror found that the authorities had constructed a series of large stone walls around the portal, which was for some reason, apparently still open. Kano hadn't believed it – it was the very real possibility that he didn't want to admit to himself, that it would have closed. Honestly, he didn't understand why it was still active.

Doesn't matter, he thought. It works, and we're getting through. He looked over at Kabal. Would have been pissed if I'd told him those things close. Poor bugger, I've reeeally got to be more honest with him from now on.

Kabal noticed that Kano was smiling. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. I have a plan."

"What's that?"

"Take us in."

Short pause. "You sure?"

"Ya heard me. Take us in, say 40 meters away, ten stories up."

Kabal shrugged. "You're the boss. Hope you're ready for this."

"You just worry about keepin' 'em confuddled on th' radio. I'll worry about the guns."

The helicopter began to come down, and instantly, Kabal was bombarded with questions, them being in an Indianapolis helicopter and all, their registration number, what the hell they were doing out here, and so forth. As he lied his way through the conversations, Kano was busying himself with something in the back. Finding what he'd brought along, he made a grunt of satisfaction.

Kabal glanced off to his right just in time to see Kano lean out the open window with the rocket launcher. His eyes widened.

Kano pressed the trigger, and seconds later, panic and chaos reigned on the streets below. The wall Kano had opened fire on tumbled, collapsing to the ground with a mighty crash. Shots began coming at them from all directions. Ducking back into the cockpit, Kano grinned again, seeing the swirling vortex of blue and black that was the portal into the Outworld.

"FLOOR IT! NOW!"

Kabal obliged, locking the stick into place with a hooksword, and flipping backwards to duck behind the seat. Kano did the same. The echo of machinegun fire was deafening in the small, cramped space,

The engine was on fire now, and the copter could not help but tumble madly toward the portal. It trailed a tail of red flame behind it as it flew through.

Instantly, Kabal and Kano experienced a searing agony, as though they were being ripped apart and placed back together. It was excruciating, and Kabal lost consciousness for a second. Upon regaining it, he looked up to find that he was upside down, and about to die.

The copter was now scraping across an unfamiliar, rocky red ground, and tumbling over and over, bouncing like a flaming basketball. The propellers snapped off, followed quickly by the tail, landing treads, and one of the doors.

He felt someone sling an arm around his waist, there was pain, and then his vision got all funny, like he was lying on his back, and then he saw the ground again, followed quickly by the sky. He realized that this was what happens when someone rolls along the ground. And then he realized that that was exactly what he was doing.

When he'd stopped tumbling, he was greeted by the welcome sight and sound of the helicopter becoming a large, pretty fireball. That was good, that meant he wasn't in it.

Several minutes later, he managed to rise to his feet. Turning his head, he saw Kano sitting on the ground, breathing hard. The crimelord looked up at him, and chuckled. "Ya owe me one, mate. S'weird, going through…black ya out if ye're not prepared for it. S'what happened to ya. Hadda toss you out the whirly. Helluva ride, eh?"

"You could…say that…ow." He brushed some red dust from his arm. "So...we're in Outworld, now?"

"Yep."

He looked around. It looked like something out of Dante's Inferno. Orange skies, red dust, and what looked like an immense castle in the distance. He looked back at where they'd come through. The platform and steps leading up into the portal were a ruined mess, rubble strewn about, and Kabal saw several dead figures in purple robes sprawled on the floor. He wondered how many lives they'd just taken.

"So what now?"

"Well, I figure we find a village, lay low. Should get out of here ASAP. If I know the boss, he'll be havin' this ruckus checked out."

"Boss?"

Kano got up, grinned, and gave Kabal a friendly smack on the shoulder. "Yeah, boss. C'mon, I'll tell ya all 'bout it later. For now, let's see what we can salvage from this wreck. Best do it fast though."

Kabal shook his head no, but resigned himself, and followed Kano over to the smoking remains of the heli.