Chapter 3
Sonya woke up around 11:00am. She was so exhausted that she hadn't heard her phone vibrate from incoming calls and text messages. She looked at the phone; six missed calls, all from Stryker. Sonya started to listen to his frantic messages. Nothing seemed amiss when he had pulled up to the base and saw that her truck was still there in the lot; he figured that she must have stayed there overnight. What threw him off was the fact that Sonya had promised to give him her report by 10am and she failed to send it. Stryker knew that Sonya lived for the job, and it was not like her to miss a deadline; which meant that something was really wrong.
Sonya sent him a text. "Hi Curtis. I am going to be MIA for a while. There is an urgent matter that requires my attention. I can't get into details at the moment, but know that I am fine. I will reach out to you when I have more information." She figured that it made no sense to call him until after she and Kano met with Liu Kang to find out what was required of them. She then briefly spoke to one of her superior officers and provided him a similar explanation. Sonya got up and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and freshen up with a shower. After she was done, she decided to look into the closet to go through some of the outfits that Kira had left her.
Sonya cringed from her choice of outfits. Sonya was normally used to wearing tee shirts, black or camo styled pants and jackets if she was out on the field. Instead, she saw multiple tight fitting leather pants in shades of black, brown and red. Her options for "shirts" consisted of halter tops, leather tube tops, or cropped spaghetti strap tank tops, all with the same color theme. Sonya found Kira's choice in undergarments to be equally surprising as everything was in lace. Sonya preferred her undergarments to be more functional and chose comfort over style, however, she did appreciate the change.
Sonya picked out a pair of dark brown leather pants, with a brown cropped tank top. The outfit accentuated her curves. She wore her blonde hair loose and put on some makeup. She then had to decide between which boots she was going to wear. She would normally opt for ankle length combat boots, but her choices were limited to thigh high boots, or knee length. Both styles had a slight heel to them. She chose a pair of black boots that were of knee length. Lastly, she put on fingerless gloves to finish her look. When she was completely dressed, Sonya looked at herself in the mirror and gasped. "I look like a Black Dragon."
Then she made her way toward the kitchen where she spotted Kano. He was wearing a dark red muscle shirt and dark brown cargo pants with pockets and brown combat boots. He was searching the refrigerator for a beer. When he closed the door, he stopped and stared at Sonya. The widest grin spread across his face. "Damn woman, you look good." He couldn't stop himself from eyeing her up and down. Sonya rolled her eyes at him. "Remind me to thank Kira when I see her," she sarcastically answered. "Well, if you're going to work with us, you gotta look like us," Kano said with a smile. "And baby, you look the part."
Sonya started looking around the kitchen. "What do you have here to eat? I am starving." Kano reached behind him to uncover a hot plate that had a veggie omelet with cheese, wheat toast and slabs of bacon. He gave her black coffee and left her with cream and sugar so that she could fix it the way she liked.
"I figured I let you sleep in since last night was a little rough on ya. Eat up. I was able to arrange our meet with Liu Kang. We leave in an hour." Sonya hungrily took a bite out of her toast. "What's your feeling of this guy?" Kano took a sip of his beer, " I don't get a vibe that he is looking to stir any trouble. I believe that the bloke just wants to talk. I'd like to know about what his interest is in us."
About an hour and fifteen minutes later, Sonya and Kano arrived to a local sports bar for their meeting destination. Before leaving the car, Kano tapped on the red orb of his cybernetic eye and it started to glow brightly. Sonya noticed that his eyeplate started to disappear and the right side of his face appeared perfectly normal. Sonya looked at him with surprise. "Since when have you been able to do that?" Kano smiled, "Fancy, right? It's a new enhancement. The effects are temporary; an hour to be exact, but at least I can go out in public without scaring the shit out of everyone." Sonya was impressed. "Interesting parlor trick, it'll be useful right about now. " "Aye, love. That it is," he said as he put on a pair of black sunglasses. "C'mon, we're a little early, let's have some booze while we wait."
They picked a booth table at the farthest end of the room to allow for more privacy. Kano sat across from Sonya, with his back to the wall so that he had a full view of the bar. After ten minutes they were sipping on a couple of beers, while still waiting for Liu Kang. "I wonder what exactly he knows regarding these disturbances," Sonya said while grabbing a handful of bar nuts. "I'm curious to know myself." Kano was watching the entrance for Liu Kang's arrival.
As she was circling her fingers around the rim of her beer, Sonya started to look at Kano's face for a moment. She briefly remembered how he had looked years before the disfiguring accident that had left him without the use of his right eye...She had been assigned to oversee an elite task force charged with hunting down Kano and the Black Dragon to bring them to justice. The Black Dragon were an international group of mercenaries well known for their torturous methods of killing anyone that thwarted their interests.
As their leader, Kano's ruthless reputation had preceeded him. He was also known to be exceptionally cunning and could be deceptively charming when he had to be. Upon their first meeting Sonya had thought to herself that it was an absolute waste that he was so damn good looking yet, such a cold hearted bastard. Kano's attraction toward Sonya was instant; he thought to himself however, that it would be a shame to have to bruise or cut her up. Whatever initial inclinations each one of them might have had, quickly went out the window the second that they matched fists. They had established an instant rivalry that continued to last throughout the years.
Now there they were, due to an ironic twist of fate, sitting in a bar having drinks together while waiting for an unknown stranger that requested their audience. The situation couldn't have been more bizarre Sonya had thought to herself. The idea of having to be civil with Kano in order to work alongside him was more than she could bear. This alliance would undoubtly change their dynamic for sure, and she wasn't sure if she was open to that change.
As Sonya was pondering these thoughts, Kano's eyes fixated on the door upon the arrival of three mysterious men. One of the men was Asian; he had long black hair with some of it partially tied back in a small bun. He wore black sunglasses and had on a long black leather jacket, with a white shirt underneath, partially exposing his muscled chest and black leather pants. The other two men were almost dressed identical in matching black leather jackets and pants, but one had a yellow shirt and the other a gray shirt.
"We've got company," Kano motioned to Sonya; she turned to look toward the door. Liu Kang took notice of Kano and started to approach their table. Two of the men with Liu Kang seemed familiar to Sonya, but she couldn't quite place where she may have seen them before. Sonya got up to sit next to Kano, allowing for the other men to sit across from them. Liu Kang smiled. "I thank you both for agreeing to meet with me. I realize that you must have many questions, but given the current circumstances, it is imperative that you both put your differences aside as your collaborative efforts are required." "What exactly are we up against?" Sonya asked.
"Allow for me to bring you up to speed.. I am a Fire God, but I am also known as the Keeper of Time," Liu Kang said. "I had reset time and created this current timeline to eliminate from existance dangerous individuals across various realms that seeked to conquer and destroy innocent lives. I had believed my efforts to be successful, however, it was recently revealed that stronger variants from previous timelines have been able to manipulate this present timeline. "
"There is one particular variant, a Titan known as Havik, that has already invaded Earthrealm. He has taken advantage of the Tarkatans; innocents that have been devastated by a deadly infectious disease that has caused a horrific disfiguring of their bodies. The later stages of the disease also causes for their minds to be deranged. Havik is taking advantage of these poor souls and forcing them to murder innocent people. If Havik is successful, he will conquer and enslave not only the inhabitants here but in other realms as well."
Kano looked at Sonya with disbelief. "Does this have anything to do with what you have been researching?" Sonya nodded at him in response. Suddenly, she remembered the graphic Facebook Live video she had recently seen. "The Tarkatans were responsible for the Golden Gate massacre," she said. Liu Kang replied, "Unfortunately, yes, and this is only the beginning. You haven't seen the limits of what Havik's power can do...of how he can manipulate mulitudes of people to do his will with just the touch of his blade...he is one of the most corrupted Titans that we have ever encountered as his main goal is to spread chaos and mayhem throughout all of the realms."
The man with the yellow shirt took off his jacket, revealing a scorpion tattoo on his arm. Sonya immediately recognized who they were. "You were both there too. You protected the victims of the massacre." "You are correct Ms. Blade. I am Kuai Liang, but you may call me Scorpion and this is Tomas Vrbada also known as Smoke. We are members of the Shirai Ryu, sworn defenders of Earthrealm. We are honored to meet your acquaintance and we will be assisting you in your efforts as well."
Kano shook his head at Liu Kang. "Sounds like some warped tale that you are spinning. A psychopath trying to invade realms? Current and and past timelines? Not sure if I am buying into all this, mate." Sonya stared at Kano in disbelief. "Kano, you didn't see what I saw. He is telling the truth, and if this is just a preview of things to come, we are all in deep trouble if we don't find a way to put a stop to this." She turned to Liu Kang with an inquisitive expression on her face. "How exactly do Kano and I fit into all of this?"
"The both of you show tremendous skill and are highly effective commanders of your own prospective teams. An alliance between the two of you would assist our efforts greatly in this fight against Havik." " I appreciate the degree of confidence that you are putting in us, but you do realize that Kano and I have an adversarial history. How does it make sense for us to work together?" Sonya asked. Liu Kang smiled, "I understand your hesitation Sonya. However, I have been able to foresee that your combined skillsets will greatly influence the outcome of this battle."
"Well that settles it then. Sonya will stay with me and the Black Dragon until this whole thing is sorted out," Kano said. Sonya's eyes grew large. "I may be agreeing to work with you, but I am NOT staying with you!" He turned to face her in their side of the booth. "I am looking at this from a strategic point of view. A lot can be gained if we are under the same roof working together," Kano said. Sonya glared at Liu Kang. "Tell me that this is not part of the plan. I can be civil and work with him, but to live with him and the Black Dragon? Morning and night? You can't be serious." Liu Kang smiled, "It is not that peculiar of a suggestion and it may be an effective one for our plight..."