"Wakey, wakey."

Kabal's eyes slowly opened. When he fully woke up, he tried to jolt up right. He failed as he found himself tied to the bed. It was an unfamiliar setting. He wasn't in his apartment, his swords weren't hanging on the wall, the only source of light was coming from the blinds on the windows and his mask was dangling in front of his face. His attention moved from the mask to the man holding the mask.

Kano.

This was the first time in three years that Kabal had been up close and personal to the Australian criminal. He's changed his appearance slightly. A beard now covered his chin, his hair was shorter, but there was one thing that remained the same. That right eye. Due to some birth defect, Kano was born with two eye colors. A brown left eye and a red right eye. Now, Kabal didn't know the specifics of the science of that, but it gave Kano a distinctive look.

Back to the present, Kano was chuckling while swinging the mask around with the strap. He joked, "Well, lookey here. It's been some time, Kadeem. Why, if I didn't know better, you was going to try to save these little piggies." He then shook his head condescendly. "Such a shame you didn't even get to save him. When we knocked you out, we dragged him out back and put him out of his misery. Oh, you should've seen his face when I slid my knife across his neck, the blood pouring down his neck. Pure comedy gold. Don't you agree, Kadeem?"

"That's not my name," Kabal declared.

Kano raised a brow and leaned back. "What?"

"Kadeem. You called me Kadeem."

"You are so deep into denial that you don't even admit your own name." Kano let out a loud chuckle, before holding a knife to Kabal's neck. The grin that was on the criminal's face was replaced with a snarl. "Now, I don't care who you say you are, Kadeem," he growled. "But that doesn't change the fact that you betrayed us."

Kabal, struggling to push his neck further into the bed, replied, "Do you remember what we did, Kano? Who we were sent to kill?"

"Of course. I remember that day as clear as day. When you shot me in the back." Kano then whistled again. "That damn near hit my spine. Ah, back then, when the Red Dragon was still a thing, those were the good ol' days. When me and you could kill a couple of them, no regret, and start a massive shootout in the streets.

"But enough about the good times," the criminal declared loudly. "In those three years you disappeared, I've been working out ways to pay you back for the bullet. Now, I could just shoot you," Kano contemplated. "But, the thing is, when time builds, so does interest. And, well, three years' worth of interest is quite a bit, don't you agree?"

Kabal, mustering up enough strength from his drowsy body, let loose a wad of spit. The saliva landed square in Kano's discolored eye. The Black Dragon jerked back, wiping his eye with his left hand. He the threw a fist at Kabal's face, knocking a tooth out of place. He then grabbed a handful of hair before bringing his knife closer. "Know, I know you ain't gonna be scared of what I'm about to do to ya," Kano growled. "But I think it might even scare me."

He then laughed as he brought the knife to above Kabal's right eye. The tied up man attempted to struggle, but the only thing that earned him was the knife going deeper into his skin. After a minute, he finally let out a scream.

Kabal jerked awake abruptly. Another nightmare again. He noticed that he was drenched in sweat. But that wasn't what worried him. His hand shot up to his face, feeling the cold metal of his mask. Oh, yeah. He was at the police headquarters. Sleeping in a cell. Next to a bunch of criminals. Now, for them to be locked up here, they were undoubtedly small time crooks, not worth the trouble of killing. Still, it could be fun if he beat some lessons into them.

He sat up on the slab that was called a bed, cracking his back. If there was one thing he hated, it was a stiff back. It was one of he thinks he couldn't stand, but it would be a personal pain he would have to experience for now. He grabbed the hook swords from the corner, swinging them into his holsters before opening the cell door. A chorus of threats were hurtled at him. Normally it wouldn't bother him, but he was feeling particularly irritable today. He stomped over to the nearest inmate, grabbed him by the collar, and pointed to another cell.

"Do you want what happened to that man to happen to you?" Kabal growled.

The inmate looked past the vigilante's shoulder to the cell, where a man cradling two broken ribs, a broken nose, and a fractured femur bone. The inmate then looked back at Kabal before shaking his head. The masked men shouted to the rest, "How about the rest of you?!"

He was met with a round of "no's."

Dropping the inmate, he turned his back to the cell block. "That's what I thought."

The sound of his footsteps soon faded. When they did, another prisoner turned to his cellmate. "That is one scary man." The cellmate nodded in agreement.

Kenshi listened on as Stryker poured another cup of coffee. The brunette shook his head, claiming, "You really need to quit."

The blond turned his attention to his friend, taking a sip of his caffeinated drink. After finishing the mug, he replied, "No, I shouldn't. Plus I get headaches when I do try to quit." Moving over to the pot again, he continued. "Besides, it's not like I'm addicted to cigarettes or alcohol, or something like that."

"I guess," Keshi conceded. He then heard a set of footsteps coming towards them. "Captain Briggs is on his way."

Stryker quit pouring long enough to ask, "Are you sure it's him?"

"Pretty sure," the swordsman affirmed.

A moment later, he was proven right as Briggs walked next to them, shaking his head at Stryker. "You know," the police captain stated, "You're the reason that we have to pay so much for coffee." He then turned to Kenshi. "But I'm not here to condemn Kurtis's drinking habits. I am here to discuss the Commissioner's whereabouts."

"Yeah, I haven't seen him for a few days," Stryker reported. He guzzled the cup before placing it on the desk next to them. "I saw him walk out the back door."

"Probably to talk with Rain," Kenshi mussed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an energy bar. Offering it to Briggs, asked, "Want one?"

The captain shook his head, turning to face Stryker again while Kenshi munched on his snack. "We need someone to look for him."

"Can't you just send Merkel? Isn't he here?" Stryker whined.

"He's on assignment with Sonya. They're not even on the continent, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Now I do."

"I'm going down to the holding cells to discuss our plans with Kabal."

A voice behind them announced, "You don't need to."

Briggs and Stryker whipped around to face the vigilante, but Kenshi just took another bite out of his bar. He raised the bar as a greeting before getting back to his snack. Kabal nodded and stated, "I've already decided what to do next."

"And what's that?" Stryker asked, moving towards his mug to refill it. His partner threw the wrapper away.

"We storm Rain's tower."

Kurtis Stryker dropped his mug in shock. Kenshi stood slack jawed. Briggs placed his palm to his face, a face-palm, if you will. "You cannot be serious," he muttered.

"Think about it," Kabal commanded. "Anarky said the next target would be a place where civilians would be shot on sight. By the ones they trust no less. Who does Rain have in his pocket more than anyone else?"

"The cops?" Kenshi offered.

"Exactly," Kabal replied, tossing him a bag of skittles. "Taste the rainbow."

Kenshi fumbled with it for second, unsure it this was condescending or the closest thing to a congratulations he was getting from Kabal. Nevertheless, he opened the bag and popped a few pieces of candy into his mouth, content with his prize. He offered some to Stryker, who took them greedily, only to get his hand slapped by Kenshi when he took too much.

Both Kabal and Briggs watched with interest for a few moments before turning to each other. "How many men can you trust that are here, right now?"

"With Sonya Blade and Merkel gone, I trust you more than most of the people here right now. In fact, you are now looking at the two most trustworthy men in the building," Briggs announced proudly. His mood change when he saw Kenshi slapped Stryker upside the head for taking more Skittles than necessary. Briggs looked back to Kabal and meekly added, "Perhaps that's not as good of a thing as I make it out to be."

"Hey!" Stryker called out, slightly offended.

Kabal interrupted them by claiming, "We don't have time for this! It's been almost a week since Anarky last made that message. If we don't go now, we chance a lot of people dying."

"Question," Stryker announced. "Aren't most of the guys in there bad, or something?"

"That may be," Briggs agreed. "However, if we do just let Anarky blow up Rain's tower, we concede. But we can't just storm the tower," he told Kabal.

The vigilante sighed. Stryker then asked, "Hey, where is everyone? Is it safe for Kabal to just, you know, be walking about?"

"Yeah," Kenshi agreed. "It does seem pretty weird that no one is calling us out right now."

Briggs stated, "When Gor Roh went missing, most of the men loyal to him left. I'm just happy that the inmates aren't doing the same thing and splitting."

"Good thing we have electricity," Kenshi mused while Styrker picked up the shards of his dropped coffee mug. The swordsman asked, "Alright, what next?"

"Don't know," Briggs admitted. "I have't thought that far ahead. What about you, Kabal? Got any good idea?"

"It's gotta be something crazy," Kabal added.

Once Kurtis was done throwing the mug away, he proclaimed, "I have a plan."

"What is it?" Briggs asked.

"Alright, me and Kenshi will distract most of the guards in the lobby, basically shooting up the place. While that bit of madness is going on, you two will sneak off through a side entrance. Once there, you take out any guard you see, making sure to remain unseen, otherwise I doubt Kenshi and I can keep the others occupied. Seem like a plan?"

"I can point out about a thousand holes in that so-called 'plan,'" Kabal commented.

Briggs then added, "But it's the best one I can think of at the moment. We'll go with your plan Kurtis."

"Really? I'm sure with a bit more preparations, you three can have a far better plan," Stryker stated.

"The bomb will be going off today. We can't waste anymore time. Get ready," Briggs replied.

Kabal shrugged, simply stating, "You're the captain."

"Right," Briggs agreed. "Kenshi, Stryker, go to the armory and get some guns."

"What about you two?" Kenshi asked, his arms crossed with him leaning against the wall.

Briggs took out his service revolver and checked to see if it had full ammo. When he was sure there were six bullets he closed the revolver before placing it back in his holster. "Me and Kabal are going on a stealth mission. More guns means more weight."

"And more weight means we become slower," Kabal added. He took out a knife from a sheath on his leg, checking its sharpness. "We need to be as fast as possible in order to get in and get out." He slid the knife back into its holder. "Hopefully, both Rain and Gor Roh will be there."

"Well, one can only hope," Stryker said. He slapped Kenshi's shoulder, a signal to say, "Let's go." The swordsman followed him, yet his arms were still crossed the entire way to the armory.

Just as Kabal was leaving, Briggs held his arm out. "Wait," the captain ordered. "I want to ask you something."

"What do you want?" Kabal growled.

"Why did you come back?" Briggs asked, crossing his arms.

The vigilante looked to the ground for a moment before replying. "Well, to be honest, I was planning on getting out of the city. But then, Anarky showed up on the television."

"Yeah, I saw that. I'm surprised we still had power."

"Well, what he said, it made me think. I would've been alone against him had I left at that very moment. But, now, I may stand a fighting chance with more people at my side."

Briggs smiled lightly. He held out a hand, offering it to Kabal. The vigilante took it hesitantly, but nonetheless took it. After a few firm shakes, Briggs said, "Welcome to the team."

Kabal smiled underneath his mask, and nodded lightly.

Rain paced around the room, grumbling to himself. The anxiety was killing him. And soon, other things would be as well. He rubbed his left arm absently, fearing when the bomb would go off. Gor Roh was sitting at the table fiddling with a nearby laptop. He looked up when his boss threw the chair near the desk across the room. The commissioner groaned inwardly. The 'prince' had been acting like this all week. It was not like Gor Roh was not worried about the bomb, but there was a difference between 'worry' and 'paranoia.'

Gor Roh switched the laptop off before asking, "Is that really necessary?"

Rain shot his lackey a death glare. He then ignored the underling, instead shouting, "Anarky! You still listening you useless piece of shit?!"

"No need for such language," Anarky's voice spoke over the intercom. "What is it with you people and the cursing? There are more civilized ways of speaking, or do you not understand that?"

"Shut up," Rain hissed. "Look, you piece of slime, I'm willing to discuss terms with you in person. On a few conditions."

"Oh? And what might those be?" Anarky mockingly asked.

"You talk with me and me alone, you understand?"

"So, Gor Roh will remain there?"

"Also, I bring my own personal guards. That way, you don't try anything funny," Rain finished.

"Anything else I should know about?" Rain glared at the intercom. "Oh, you look so adorable with that Batman scowl on your face."

That cause the crime lord to step back. "How do you…?"

"I have to admit, you have some heavy duty security. And all of those dirty little secrets I could just release to the public," Anarky jabbed. A humored sigh made its way through the sound system. "Imagine all of the panic would cause. Well, actually, all you have to do is look out the window. But I agree with your terms. You have a deal. My escort will be with you in an hour.

"I'll be in touch."

Rain's left eye twitched slightly. Gor Roh hesitantly asked, "Boss, are you gonna pop a blood vessel?" When Rain turned to glare at the commissioner, he said, "Never mind. Looks like you already have."