Chapter 3- Masks

Mileena followed Jack out of the store and ran the whole way to a place called the Grocery Store. Jack said it was a place to get food. They hurried in and Jack grabbed a metal basket looking thing. He place the bag of cloths in it and hurried through the aisles, or whatever Jack said they were. He grabbed a few things and hurried along.

"Jack, why are you rushing so much?"

"We've got 15 minutes to get back to the Dojo. It took us five minutes to get her from Simon's place. So we really have to move to get back in time! Come on! The milk and eggs are over here."

Mileena followed him and found that it was kind of cold to get eggs and milk. She shivered a bit.

"Ok. Got it. Lets go."

Jack hurried to the front of the store, but instead of going out the doors they came in through, he got behind a lot of people. Mileena thought he just forgot where the door was.

"Jack, the door is right there."

"I know."

"Then why are you standing in line? Where you not in a hurry a few moments ago?"

"I am, but we have to pay for these."

"Can we not just simply steal them?"

Jack looked at her then at the other people that turned around at the comment."

"HAHAHA! OH MILEENA! YOU'RE SO FUNNY! HAHAHA!"

Jack pulled her close and whispered, "We don't go around stealing whatever we want, Mileena! We have to buy these!"

"But Simon gave use those cloths earlier!"

"I know! But they weren't for free! I still have to pay for them! Look, if everything in the world was just handed to us, we wouldn't learn anything while trying to get it."

Jack was next in line and placed the objects they wished to buy on the counter, leaving Mileena to think on what he said.

After the "Cashier" place all the things into bags, Jack and Mileena ran out the door and down the street. A little while later, they turned the corner to the Dojo so find that a large crowd of had gathered at its door. Jack pushed though the crowd, all the while saying, "Sorry! Sorry! My fault! I know! Let me just get the keys!" after a few moments, the jiggle of keys could be heard, followed by the front door opening.

"All right! You people get set up and I'll be right back! Come on, Mileena! Lets set this stuff down upstairs!"

Jack hopped the stairs to at a time and fumbled with the keys again. When he opened the door, he was tackled by a red ferret to the face.

"AHHH! RED! ITS ME! ITS ME! HAHAHAHA! Stop that! That tickles!"

Jack sat the bags down and opened the fridge.

'Everything that is cold, put it in here please. I have to go change."

Jack left the room and Mileena did as he asked. A few minutes later, he emerged with a white gi with a black belt and the Dojo's symbol of the chest. Red was perched on his shoulders, wearing a little blue head band and a matching gi.

"I found you a smaller on, if you would like to join me. You don't have to if you feel too tired and all."

"Thank you for the offer. I would love to come and see you teach the art of martial arts."

"Well then, the gi is in my bedroom on the bed. I'll meet you down stairs."

Mileena went into the room and found the before mentioned gi. She pulled her cloths of and put if on, but found that the chest was a little tight. Leaving the front opened slightly, She headed down stairs to find that Jack had started his class.

"…and today is John's birthday, I hear. Happy birthday, man. Feel free to do 29 squats rather than 30 today."

"WHOOO!"

"The rest of you…30 SQUATS!"

The crowd began to bend their knees and almost sat down with their arms in front of them, but stood up before they could sit.

"Remember, legs apart, backs straight! LOWER, MITCH! There you go! Faster Adam!"

Mileena watched as the group continued and saw that Red was doing the same movements on a nearby table.

"Ah Mileena! Welcome. How does the gi fit?"

"It's a little tight around the chest."

"I'll get you another one."

"No no. It is acceptable."

"Alright. If you say so.

"So where are the children?"

"Oh, I teach them latter. The first class is just the adults that have nothing better to during the day. I teach the kids late in the afternoon. AND STOP!"

The crowed stopped and the room was filled with huffing and puffing."

"Class. I'd like to introduce you to Mileena! Our newest student."

Mileena was surprised by this but Jack just winked at her. He gently pushed her towards the crowd and they all gathered around her, shaking her hands and patting on her shoulders.

"Hi!"

"Welcome!"

"Glad you can join us!"

"Your hot!"

"Where are you from?"

"Love your mask!"

'Alright alright! That's enough socializing! Back in line, the lot of ya! Don't think I didn't hear that hot comment, Gabe! One block!"

"Ah man!"

Alright people! Time for a run!"

The crowed emptied into the street with Jack at the head. Red had climbed onto Mileenas shoulder with a fierce determination on his small little face. She smiled and ran along with the group, following Jack's lead.

A few weeks later

Mileena had grown accustomed to many of Earthrelm's ways. In the past few weeks, she learned how to use a "phone", how to ride the bus, how to pick up food on her own, and that being struck by a car was a very painful experience. Luckily, the driver wasn't not going too fast. However, the driver WAS angry at her for rushing out into the street and called her several names that Jack said were bad names. Insults like that would usually out her in a foul mood and wanted to make her tear the perpetrator apart, but ever since Mileena arrived here, she felt different.

No longer did she feel the impulses of rage and savagery. She was more calm and thought clearly now. She came to the bitter conclusion that Shao Kahn had, literally, "Knocked some sense into her". She felt more relaxed; freed even, from the monster that was inside her this whole time.

Mileena learned many things from Jack. How to talk to child was a big step for her. She always saw children as whine, weak little things, but Jack calls them, "The future". He says if the children knew what was right from wrong now, they can create a future that would be bring and full of happiness. It was a bit much for Mileena to take in all at once, but she like what Jack said.

That was another thing that Mileena recently noticed. She liked it when Jack was around. Every time he said her name or even look at her, her heart would beat faster and she felt butterflies in her stomach. She would always wear his cloths,too, even though Simon would give her the prettiest cloths. She liked how they felt on her, all baggy and stuff, but she especially loved the smell. Every time she was lonely or sad, she would lat a handful of the material and breath.

It smelt like Jack.

Any time that she wasn't by his side she would always thing of him. Her heart would race and her face would grow hot. She didn't know what to call the feeling, but she didn't want to ask him what was wrong with her. He had his plate full with all he had already.

Jack was always working, from working at the Dojo to working at the dinner and restaurant to helping at the vet with his friend, Derek. Jack never seemed to have any time for himself, but when every Mileena asked for help on anything, Jack would always say yes. He even took her to the beach a couple of times! He was very kind. He would let her sleep in his bed while he took the floor. Even at night, when she was asleep, he was always working hard at cleaning the apartment and cooking and Elder God's knows what else. He would always leave around midnight, though, in a mask and black costume. Mileena found out that Jack is actually a super hero, though he doesn't like to say that. He was called The Jackal, a name he despised, but smiled never the less when a child from his class would say, "I wanna be just like The Jackal when I grew up! He's so cool!"

One evening as Jack went out on one of his "patrols", Mileena found a black book on the desk in his room. It had no name on the cover or spin, but it seemed to be well worn. She opened it to find it was full of hand written words all over the pages, front and back.

'Well, Derek said I should start keeping a journal, said it should help to keep my head straight. I told him to go suck it, but I guess he was right. I've been writing little by little and I do feel better. Ever since my squad…we'll, let's just say I'm not all healed as much I'd like to be, but this seems like a good place to start. I'll write more later. I have to get going to the dinner now. Rush hour is in 20 minutes and Margret really hates it when I'm late.'

Mileena kept reading to find out what he meant about his squad and wanted to know more about the man she was staying with. As she read, it occurred to her that Jack never fully says what happened to them, just vague mentions of them. He also talked about some women named Sam. She seemed like a good friend but never really mentions her a lot. Then one of the most recent entries of the journal caught her attention.

'I met this woman recently. Well, I'm writing about it now, but in reality I found her a while back I've just been so busy lately I haven't had time to write. I found her a few weeks ago dying in an alley, where I almost died too. A purple swirling vortex thing popped into existence and spat out a bleeding women. After Derek fixed her, (and me), I took her home. I couldn't leave her in the streets or something. She saved my life. I owed her. I brought her home and put her in my bed. I never use it anyway. Red really liked her. For three days, he sat on her and watched out for her. Every time he heard a noise outside, he would arch his back and get all defensive for her.'

"Ahhhh, Red!" Mileena hugged the little guy and scratched his belly.

'I watched for those three days, hoping she would pull through. We almost lost her a few times, but it was like something was holding her here, like an anchor or something. I don't know. She is beautiful, though, even with the teeth on her cheeks. She has a kind smile that lights up my world, like Sam's did. Her eyes are like cat eyes , a pretty yellow, like flowers. She may be small, but she's strong. Boy is she strong! She once kicked a mugger so hard I heard his ribs break from across the ally and sent him flying into a dumpster! I almost felt sorry for the guy. ALMOST. Who mugs a woman in broad daylight?

Anyway, she's really sweet too. Always asking if she could help around here and what not. Asking about my world and its cultures. She tried making breakfast one morning. Nearly raised the whole place down! I came out of the bathroom to a room full of smoke and here she is burning cereal. CEREAL!'

MIleena blushed at the thought of the memory. She wanted to do something nice but didn't want to give Jack cold cereal, so she stuck the stuff with milk in a pan and left it on for a minute. She also had toast in the toaster and eggs going. (Raw eggs are gross!) She took a little nap and woke up to a burning kitchen. They had to get a new toaster.

'She's really good with the kids too! They all flock to her whenever she descended from the stairs. She's always patient with them and helps them when their struggling with a tough technique. I'm sure she'll be a great mom someday.'

Mileena stop and though on what Jack said.

Me? Children? Could that be even possible? I'm a failed experiment clone of Shang Tsung. Could I bare a child?

She kept reading.

'But I sense a deep sadness in her. Every time she thinks I'm not looking, she readjusts her mask, like she's trying to hide deeper into it. She even wears it in the apartment. I keep telling her she doesn't have to, but she does anyway. I wish I could help her, but I can't even help myself. Not after Sam-'

THUD

"huuuh…"

Mileena jumped at the noise as Red hissed, but stopped and ran out of the room. Mileena followed and found a dead looking body bleeding all over the floor.

"J-jack?"

Mileena leaned in closer and the body moved slightly.

"Hey…Milly.'

"Oh Jack! I thought you were dead!"

"Ahhh. I feel like I should be, what with all the bullets in me."

"Oh! I'll go get the pliers!"

"….You have a heart of gold, Milly…"

Mileena ran to the cabinet and pulled out some bloody looking pliers.

"Oh! Sorry, Jack! I forgot to wash then from the last time!"

"Doesn't bother me none. Come on Red, moooove. I don't want to squash you."

Mileena returned to that Jack had dragged his bloody body up over the couch and was laying on it face down. Mileena tore his coat and got to work digging the bullets out of his back.

"Simons gonna kill me."

"That's the second coat this week, isn't it?"

"Third , actually. AHHH! Careful there."

"Sorry."

SNIFF

"We're going to need a new couch, Milly. This one is done."

"Yeah. Especially after this."

"Yeah. Hussssahhh! AHHH that's the one that got my lung. Thanks. Now I can breathe again."

Mileena was always surprised at how fast Jack would heal. The wounds would just close right up after she removed the bullets.

'"So what happened? How did you come back a bloody mess?"

"….."

"Jack?"

"…..A man died tonight."

Mileena stopped and looked at Jack, who wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Jack…you didn't-"

"No. I didn't. A man was being mugged. I jumped down and made my usual entrance. One mugger pulled a knife from the man's chest. He panicked and rushed me. I think he was high or something. I broke his arm and threw him to the curb and he was out like a light. I rushed over to the stabbed man but he was already gone. I can still see his haunting eyes, screaming, "Why? Why did this happen?" Another guy came from a corner and shot me a few times with an Uzi."

"Was he friends with the high guy?"

"No. He was part of the 56th Angles. I guess they have a hit out on me. After taking him down. I went back to the dead man. His name was Mathew Fredrick and he was a father of 3 little girls."

"How do you know that?"

"I took wallet and phone out to call the police and his screen saver was a picture of three smiling little girls. The youngest of them looked like she was 4 years old."

Jack sat still as Mileena finally found the last bullet hole. She pulled out the tricky little thing and placed it on the plate with the other ones.

"Jack…I-"

"I couldn't save him. If only I could've been faster. It's my fault he's dead."

"Jack, no its not!"

"15 seconds! That's all I needed! If I wasn't lollygagging around with my police scanner, I could have saved him! He could have been home hugging his children and tucking them in tonight! But I…I…"

Jack curled into a ball on the couch and curled his fists into balls, crushing his mask. Tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"What am I but a freak of nature that can't even save a loving husband and father! I'm worthless!"

Mileena hugged him and tried to comfort him.

"JACK! You are not worthless! You the most kind and brave and strong and smart person I know!"

She took of her mask and grabbed his head and turned him around, looking deep into his piercing, tearful hazel eyes.

"You are not worthless, Jack! Do you hear me?! You are a wonderful man that…that…I LOVE!"

Mileena's heart was reaching at this point but she wasn't going to stop now.

"I love you, Jack Hyde! You mean the world to me! You saved me from death and showed me a life I never thought possible for me. I wear this mask so that others don't remind me that I am a monster! But when you look at me… I feel… normal! To see you like this breaks my heart!"

Without thinking, she closed her eyes leaned in and kissed him. His lips were soft and loving. They left like a cool summer breeze that just takes your breath away. She didn't want it to end.

But she felt a push from felt a push from Jack. She opened her eyes and saw that he was standing over her with a strange exportation on his face.

"I'm sorry, Mileena. But I don't feel the same way towards you."

"Wh…what?"

"I can't love you Mileena. You're…a monster. A freak! I can't love a…non human woman!"

Mileena was speechless. She had just confessed to the one she loved and here he was, calling her a monster and a freak.

"I-I…I"

Jack took off his jacket and placed it on the couch.

"I'm going out. Please don't follow me."

He left through the door, leaving Mileena feeling broken and worthless.

Halfway down the stairs, jack stopped and heard crying. He gritted his teeth and proceeded down stairs. He kicked open the door, breaking the locks and hinges. He sent it flying across the street, hitting a car and setting of its alarm. Jack jus t kept walking. He didn't have a destination in particular. He just left his feet along and just walked.

Half way down the 3 block of his walk, a guy came up to him with a knife and demanded his money. Jack ignored him and walked right past him. The guy chased after him and raised the knife high over his head, but Jack punched him so hard that he flipped through the air, throwing his clothes off except for a sock and his underwear and landed at the other end of the street. It would have been comical, had it not been for the fact that Jack just broke the heart of the one he cared about the most.

He kept walking until he found himself at the Broadway Bridge. He got up on the ledge and looked down. A fall like that wouldn't kill him, but it would make him feel better. He closed his eyes and lifted one leg forward….

…When suddenly he was pulled from behind! He got up off the ground and found that a homeless man with a bright, dirty yellow coat standing over him.

"Ok buddy.!I've just about had it with you!"

"Wha-"

"This is the third time I caught you at MY bridges trying to kill yourself! Well not tonight!"

"What?! I don't even know you, dude!"

"Huh?"

The man squinted his eyes and leaned forward to get a good look at Jack. He smelt like garbage and cheap booze.

"Oh! Sorry. Thought you were someone else. Well, doesn't matter! Your too young ta be killing yourself off my bridge!"

"Your bridge?"

"YEAH! MY BRIDGE! The one I live under!"

Jack went over to the edge again and looked over this time. He saw a small camp fire with a tent next to it at the base of a support pillar.

"Sorry. Didn't know anyone was living down there."

"Well now you do!"

Jack just leaned on the ledge and stared at the city.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why did you save me, old timer?"

'Ok, first of; it Greg, not old timer! Second; you're WAY too young to be killing yourself! And third; I don't need a dead body destroying my tent!"

"The fall wouldn't have killed me."

"Pftt!"

"No I'm serious! I've been through a lot in my 28 years of living and I really should be dead! Especially what happened in the army."

" Ah, a vet, huh? Me too! Gunnery Sergeant Gregory William Phelps, Sir!"

Greg saluted Jack, who did the same.

"Sergeant Jack Hyde, Gunny!"

Greg joined him at the ledge and leaned on it.

"So Why'd ya try to off yourself off my bridge, Sergeant?"

"…..I broke a woman's heart."

Greg whistled. "Breakin' a woman's' heart is never easy, Sarg."

"Please, Just Jack. And I know."

"So what, did she confess to you and you rejected her?"

Jack said nothing, which spoke volumes to Greg.

"Ah. So that's what happened."

Greg pulled out a flask and took a swig, then offered it to Jack. After a moment, Jack took it and took a drink, immediately regretting that decision.

"Holy crap!" he coughed, passing it back. "What is that stuff?!"

"The cheep stuff mixed in with my own home burrow. So tell me about this woman. What's she like."

So Jack told him about Mileena, everything but where she was from. He didn't need to spread around that she was basically an alien.

"Wow. She sounds like quite the catch, my friend."

"If only I could, Gunny."

"Greg." Greg corrected. 'And what do you mean? Don't you love her?"

Jack said nothing for a long time.

"….I love her with everything I have, Greg. My heart and soul is hers."

"So what's the problem?"

"…I can't love again."

"What, did you love someone before Milly and she died?"

"…."

"…Wow. I'm sorry, man. I'm a good guesser. It's a curse, really."

After another pass of the flask and a long while, Jack finally spoke again.

"Samantha. Her name was Samantha. She was my best friend's sister, actually."

"Went for your buddy's sister, huh?"

"Yeah. She was something, alright. She wouldn't take no nonsense form anyone, but she had a sense of humor that could light up any room. She actually saved me and Derek, he brother and my best friend."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, do you know a gang called the 56th Angles?"

"Yeah, I do. They ran me out of a good alley some time ago!"

"When we we're younger, Derek and I were in that gang."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Derek came from a broken home and I never had one to begin with, just the orphanage and one foster home after another."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Jack."

"It's all in the past now. I actually got adopted by a martial arts master, Jiankang Ming. He found me after… Well, let's go back before that. I grew up on the streets and only knew how to steal and mug people. I met Derek on the streets, too. He would run away from home all the time, so we hung out a lot. One day, we decided to join the 56th Angles, because they we're the strongest gang at the time."

"Stupid kids."

"I know, right? We were there for years. I've…done some things I'm not proud of, and I won't get into it. One day while we were in the crib, a girl comes up to Derek and says, "Mom's says it's time for dinner, Dee. Come on!" It was so unexpected! She just came waltzing in and waltzed right out, like it was nothing!"

"I'm starting to see the kind of woman you go for, Jack."

"Yeah, the strong kind. Anyway, she came in and out like it was nothing, and some of the guy's didn't like that very much. But our boss Mike Hammer though she-"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on! You're telling me that you used to work for THE Mike Hammer? The Angle of Death Hammer? The one with all the convicted murders but got out of jail three months ago due to bad evidence Hammer?"

Jack clenched his fists and cracked the stone a little bit. "Yeah. That's him."

"Wow. That's quite the grip you've got there. OK. Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt.

"Ok. So he said-"

"Ok, last time! I promise! Would you like to come and have a seat? My legs are getting tired."

Greg left for the end of the bridge. There was a chain linked fence there, blocking entry to the bottom of the bridge, but there was a giant hole in it, so it was really bad at its job of keeping people out. Greg pulled two fold up chairs and threw Jack a candy bar.

"Last on I have."

"Come on, Greg. I can't take your last…Snickers bar."

"Ah, don't worry about it! Think of it as payment for your story."

Greg slumped into his chair and Jack did as well into his. After eating the candy bar and throwing the wrapper into the fire, Jack continued his story.

"So, Sam comes in and grabs her brother and starts to walk out, but Mike was impressed by the fact that she slipped past the guards. "Hey, kid!" He said. "How's about you join our gang here!" "No way!" was her answer. "Gangs are for lowlifes that don't have anything better to do!"

"….She said that? TO THE HAMMER?!"

"As I sit before you today."

"Wow! So how did she get out?"

"Well, by some stroke of luck, the police raid that place seconds after she said that. While the guys were fighting the fuzz, we escaped! After that, Derek and I quit the gang. Threw away our guns and everything that tied us to the gang. Derek went home and I went back to the Dojo with my dad. I had to spar him every day for the next year after that, and he is not a man known for goings soft on, but I didn't mind. Derek and Sam started coming to the classes my dad taught and Sam and I hit it off. Over the next year, we dated and finally, when I turned 18, I asked her to marry me."

"….What did she say?"

"No."

"NO?!"

"At first. She said she didn't wasn't to rush into it, but I know she loved me as much as I loved her. She said yes about a week later. It was a small wedding, with Derek as best man and my dad as a stand-in for Sam's dad."

"WOW."

"Yeah. She was everything to me."

"So….what happened."

Jack reached for the flask and took a few gulps.

"I swear I'm going blind in one eye from that stuff."

"Wouldn't surprise me. There's rubbing alcohol in here. So, how did your wife die, if you don't mind me asking?"

"…She was always the kind of person that would help someone in need. She came across a mugging and tried to help, but got caught in the cross fire. The mugger shot her three times and ran for it. I held my wife as she slowly died."

There was a long pause as the void was filled with the sound of the fire popping.

"After that, I joined the army for 5 years. Though getting away would help. It didn't. I rose quickly through the ranks until I got to Sergeant. Had my own squad and everything. In our third tour in Iraq, we received the orders for a rescue that went horribly south. Due to bad intel, the small town we infiltrated was just covered with insurgents. We were outnumbered and no help was coming for us. I watch as one by one, my man died around me, until I was the last. Then I lost control."

"What do you mean?"

Jack pulled out a knife and cut deeply into his wrist, completely freaking out Greg.

"WHAO WHAT THE FU-"

"Hold it, Gunny! Watch!"

After a moment, the bleeding stopped and Jack wiped of the blood, reveling a faint scar of the cut.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?" Greg whispered.

"Ever since I was little I know what I was. A freak. A monster. Not human. And when the leader of the insurgents came and put a gun to my head, the beast came out in me. I broke bones, snapped necks, shot and stabbed, punched through walls, got shot multiple times, stabbed, burned and once got a RPG to the face, but I'm still here, and they're not. I later learned I killed 50 insurgents with my bare hands. Many of the body where never found. I got discharged and sent back to the states. And I've been working at the Dojo for the past 3 years now and a…side job. "

"What's the job?"

"….Ever heard of The Jackal?"

"NO WAY!"

"Way. Ive been wearing the mask for two years now, trying to make a difference. But I've been wearing a mask for 10 years too. The one that people wear every day to help themselves look at themselves in the mirror and say they're ok, even though they're far from it. "

Greg said nothing for a long time as he just stared at the fire.

"That's a lot for a 28 year old kid to go through."

"…"

"So what about this girl, this Mileena, right?"

"What?"

"What's are you going to do about her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Kid! I've got 43 years on ya! My time is done! Love, life, pursuit of happiness; that's over for me! But you; your just starting out. There's still time for you!"

"I do love her! I love her with all that I am, but what if I lose her?"

"THEN STILL LOVE HER! Gosh, kids these days! A few hiccups in the road and you all go crazy!"

"Hey! I didn't tell you my life story to get insulted by a transit bum!"

"Let me stop you right there, punk. I didn't get a choice! I was forced into this life!"

"You always have a choice!"

"That's right! YOU DO! And yet here you are, auguring to a homeless man about how a sucky life you've had, when you could choice to BE HAPPY!"

Jack was about to saw more when it hit him. He could choose to be happy with Mileena. She was here and the rest was in the past.

"You don't have to forget about Sam completely, Jack. Remember her, but don't live in the past. Trust me."

"But… but what if I lose Milee-"

"Then fight for her! Fight with everything you've got! And then some! I just met you like two hours ago, but I believe in you, kid. Don't make my mistakes. Go make her happy."

Jack stood there, in his existential crisis when Greg patted him on the shoulder.

"No more masks. Now; off you go." He said, giving him a slight push.

Jack fell over and looked around but for somehow, Greg was gone, along with his tent, chairs and fire.

"Was I…Was I dreaming?"

RING RING…..RING RING….RING RING…

Jack was startled by his phone but then answered it.

"Hello?"

"JACK! HELP! I-AHHH!"

"Mileena? Mileena! Are you there? Hello?!"

"Hey, Jackie."

The voice on the other end gave Jack a chill like he's never experienced before. It was calm and collective, but dripping with hatred and venom.

"Mike."

"My, how good it is to hear your voice again, Jackie. It's been far too long."

"Let her go, Michael, or I swear ill-"

"You'll what? Kill me? We both know that's not how you operate, Jackal. Yeah. I know who you are, and I know who your little friends are, too. Their next, right after this little lady."

"GET YOUR HANDS OF ME YOU-AHHH"

"MILEENA!"

"You sure do like your woman feisty, Jackie. And freaks too! Damn girl, what is wrong with your face! AHHHH!"

There was a crash on the other end of the phone and Jack heard a lot of angry squeaking.

"NHAAA! Stupid ferret! Come here!"

"SQUKEEE-"

SNAP

"REEEED!" Mileena wailed.

Jack felt his heart stop. A few seconds later, Mikes heavy breathing could be heard mush more clearly.

"Haa! Haaa! Damn stupid thin bit me! I hope you heard that snap, Jackie. Cause that's what I'm going to do to your girl's fingers every minute you keep me waiting.

"WAIT! I-"

"Starting now!"

SNAP

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"MILEENA! Mike you son of a bitch! I-"

"Tick tock, tick tock, Jackie. You have 9 minutes before I run out of finger and move to more….pleasurable spots."

His voice changed into a deep and menacing growl. "You know where to find me. Old roots are hare to dig up. See you then."

CLICK