Chapter 2: Bad Blood

Two weeks later...

According to Cage, "The Castle" used to be an oil refinery, located in the outskirts of Manhattan. Now it stood as nothing more than a deserted, sprawling sea of industrial piping and smoke stacks. It was here that Kobra would get his first real taste at combat, as "The Castle" was now used to run under ground pitfighting and gambling.

Kobra inhaled the bitter scent of the crude oil that still clung to the air and stretched his muscles. Not far from him, Cage paced idly around the loading dock area, a cell phone nestled against his ear. For the past two weeks Kobra trained rigorously with Cage, perfecting his Shorin Ryu technique while still maintaining a vicious mentality. This was not going to be a simple 'point' contest. There were absolutely no rules, anything goes. Cage flipped his phone phone shut, his conversation of travel plans to Bora Bora seemingly finished.

"Here, put this in." Kobra caught the small arch shaped object Cage threw at his face and inspected it. "At least if you get yourself banged up you can still have your looks."

Kobra bit down and adjusted his teeth over the mouth guard. He felt grateful for Cage's concern, even if it did come in the form of a joke, but he could tell there was real worry behind his innocent gesture.

"Any word on who I'm going to be fighting?" Kobra asked as he punched at the air. He felt confident in his abilities every step of the way.

"Yeah, and it's a doozy" With perfect ease Kobra shot his leg forward and executed a roundhouse kick.

"Well, who is it?"

"Have you ever heard of the Black Dragon syndicate?"

Kobra stopped, his rhythmic bouncing coming to a grinding halt. "Yeah...but what does that have to do with my opponent tonight?"

Cage grimaced behind his sunglasses, and for the first time Kobra felt fear creep down his spine. "Well, then, you know that the Black Dragons are notorious for their gun and drug trafficking throughout the world. They also have there hand in illegal fighting. Kobra...this place is their turf..."

A part of Kobra wanted to dismiss the claim, to deny the information he had just heard, but the grave expression on Cage's face told the story far better than his words.

"So let me get this straight. You want me to fight a terrorist!?"

"Not just any terrorist. His name is Kano, a ruthless, cold hearted sociopathic member of the Black Dragon that would kill his own mother to achieve success. He's going to be your opponent tonight..."

Kobra felt as though the life had been sucked right out of him. "Johnny, this is a mistake man! The Black Dragons are killers!" The panic was evident in Kobra's voice. All feeling of bravado were slowly being erased by the realization of pain and death.

"C'mon kid, relax. You can do this."

"You know what!? You show up out of the blue, acting like you know me or something, we train together for two weeks, two weeks, and you want to put me in a fight with a trained killer!?"

Kobra tensed as Cage darted his hand forward, forcefully grabbing him by the arm.

"Let go of me man..."

"You need to calm down. You think it was happenstance that I just happened to walk into your dojo? We've been watching you...we know what you are capable of, and we know your potential. Trust me...you can do this...you will."

Cage released his grip. This was becoming more surreal by the moment. "What do you mean 'we've'? What's really going on?"

Cage impatiently checked his watch. "We don't have time for twenty one questions, but just know that there are far bigger things going on than you, me, and the Black Dragons. This is just the staging ground for what's to come."

"And what's left to come?"

"Walk with me kid." Cage led Kobra through the grimy corridors of "The Castle" He felt more like a prisoner taking his last steps to death as Cage continued to talk.

"Kano has something that you need Kobra...it's an invitation."

As they neared the arena, the sounds of the depraved spectators buzzed through the air. Hundreds of bodies shook the foundation of "The Castle" to its very core as the over head light bulbs flickered. "An invitation to what?"

They came to a set of steel double doors. On the other sound, the noise was deafening. "You'll see..." Cage said, grasping the doors metal handles. Cage forcefully pushed the doors open, and Kobra was assaulted by the onslaught of brilliant light and unbearable noise.

Kobra shielded his eyes from the harsh glow as he trailed behind Cage through a sea of snarling and degenerate faces, each one of them starving to see blood. Kobra's fear did not subside as he saw the gigantic steel cage posed ominously in the center of the room, and several armed men positioned strategically around the perimeter, assault rifles at their ready.

"Johnny! What is this!?" Kobra's shout were futile over the thunderous atmosphere, and all he could do was follow Cage as they made their way up the ramp and to the cell door. Through the mesh wire there was no canvas or mat covering the floor, nothing but unforgiven steel waiting for whoever unfortunate enough to meet it.

"You gonna wish me luck?" Kobra asked, adjusting his Gi top.

"Kid, trust me...you've been preparing for this your entire life, you just never knew it. You don't need luck."

Kobra stepped into the confines of the cage, his adrenaline starting to pump out in torrents inside of his body. To his surprise the spectators noise began to diminish, first dying down to a light cheer, then finally, dead silence.

A pin drop could be heard throughout the dank air, and Kobra began to wonder what was going on when the ovation started up again, this time as a rhythmic pounding against the floor. Three beats in succession, followed by two others afterwards, louder and louder until Kobra could feel the vibrations coursing through his body, racking his heart in an unnatural beat.

It was then that Kobra saw him making his way through the crowd. An abnormally muscular man, his solidly built arms and chest covered in a thin layer of hair. The most distinguishable feature besides his imposing stature however was the crimson red eye set into a silver face plate on the left side of his face.

An earsplitting "Kano! Kano! Kano!" chant erupted from the crowd as he entered the cage. Kobra readied himself as Kano swaggered almost nonchalantly towards him. With a wave of his hand the crowd noise died, leaving only silence.

Kano stepped closer, so close Kobra could smell the sour scent of his breath.

"Who the hell are you?" said Kano, his thick Australian accent mocking.

Kobra said nothing. Giving his opponent even the slightest edge would spell doom for him. Instead Kobra kept his stare intense, glaring directly into the crimson and black eyes of Kano.

"Don't want to talk eh boy? This ain't a place for you..."

Kobra remained calm as Kano stepped even closer, there noses nearly touching.

"I'll slit your fucking throat punk.."

The words, deadly in there delivery, did not phase Kobra. To his surprise, Kobra found himself smiling, an unknown glee rising inside of him. Kano stepped back as Kobra raised his fist and steadied himself on the balls of his feet. Kano reached into a holster on his boot and unsheathed a large combat knife. The blade was at least several inches long, its highly serrated teeth used more to completely shred flesh from the bone than just merely cutting.

Kano waved the knife dangerously in front of him, a sick smile playing across his rugged features.

This is it...

There was no time for second guessing. All feeling of self doubt and fear were replaced with an unquenchable thirst for combat. Despite Kano's infamy, despite his massive size and blood seeking knife, Kobra lunged first...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Author's Note: I hope Kobra ate his Kan'O's, this is going to be a tough one. :)