Part 4
Kano was still swanning into the arena trying to incite the crowd, but Sonya wasted no time and lept into a sprint before Shang Tsung could even begin the round.
"Fight!" He quickly bellowed, alerting Kano to turn his face towards Sonya. She felt like it was being presented to her on a platter. That stupid arrogant grin beaming at her. She sprang into the air, bringing her right fist down into his stupid jaw. She followed that up with a left cross and spinning backfist combo. Kano staggered back, a little dazed and shocked at the sudden attack. As he brought his face back towards her, she threw her right foot into his head with a side kick, knocking his head backwards, followed immediately by another side kick to his stomach, bringing him back to where he started, doubled over in front of her. This time, she took the opportunity to land a devastating uppercut to his face, sending him flying backwards and to the ground. She could hear Shang Tsung applauding behind her, which prompted the entire crowd to begin. Sonya didn't take her eyes off Kano for a second. She watched as he struggled back to his feet.
"This is it, Kano. One way or another, this finally ends today. You've got nowhere left to run." She snarled at him. Kano slowly reached behind his back and then brought something back out. The sunlight caught it briefly and glinted in her eyes. It was a knife. One she recognised. On the blade was the symbol of the Black Dragon. Kano brought the blade up to his face and smelled it.
"Bring back memories?" He asked, glaring at her. This triggered a flash in her mind of Kano dragging the serrated blade across her partner's neck. She blinked the image away, holding her gaze at her enemy, while he smiled back at her. All of a sudden his expression turned from smug douche bag, to pure hatred. He flung the knife at her head as hard as he could. Adrenaline kicked in immediately as Sonya's arm sprung up, catching the blade. She allowed the momentum to drive her to her right, continuing through so that she could return the blade to his face. Kano was already in a sprint towards her after having flung the knife the first time. He somehow managed to catch the return throw, re-arming him. Unfortunately, now he was right on top of her. He swung the blade down hard into her thigh, causing her to let out an immense scream of pain as the blade tore through her flesh. Sonya looked down at the knife sticking out of her leg. Thankfully, it didn't look like it had gone in too deep. Running on pure adrenaline, she grabbed hold of the hilt and ripped it out of her leg. Probably a mistake. 'No time for that now!' She thought as Kano dove at her. Throwing the knife out of the arena, she rolled out of the way to avoid Kano, who hit the ground face first. She then quickly rolled back and drove her good leg into his kidneys. Rolling back away again, Sonya gingerly got to her feet holding her wounded thigh. The whole world seemed to slow down around her. The cheering crowd became a dull chant like it was coming from a closed room down the hall. She tried to push it all aside and block it out, focussing on both the injury to her leg and the madman trying to kill her. He was already back on his feet and charging at her. Sonya had to slow him down somehow, stop him from moving freely as he would have the upper hand while she was in this state. Moving quickly, she spun to the side, throwing her good leg out to sweep his out from under him. He hit the ground hard, landing on his back. Sonya quickly rolled on top of him, pinning him down. She held his head between her thighs, squeezing as hard as she could while sitting on his chest and knocking the wind out of him. Kano responded quickly, and in typical Kano fashion by grabbing her wounded thigh and sticking his fingers in the wound. Sonya screamed in agony and began punching him in the face as hard as she could trying to force him to let go. Kano quickly turned his face to the side, causing her to hit the metal faceplate in his head and bringing a loud crack from her middle finger, causing her to cry out in pain again. Pulling everything she had left in her body, she grabbed his throat with her good hand and squeezed with all her might. She poured every ounce of hatred she had been harbouring for this man into her hand. This was it. It was now him or her. Kano's face started to turn blue, she could feel his grip on her leg relaxing and his breathing had stopped beneath her butt. She had him. This was all going to be over. The entire world had disappeared and all that existed was Sonya and Kano. It felt like she was on fire with rage as she stared down at the pathetic human being underneath her. And he did look pathetic. His eye was getting more red by the second as his body begged for oxygen. He pathetically pawed at her hand to let go.
"Finish him!" Shang Tsung's voice bellowed in her ears, bringing the world suddenly rushing back into existence. She looked around from on top of Kano, first at Tsung, then finding her friends in the crowd. Then she looked down at Kano as he finally lost consciousness. She let go of his throat, feeling his body react and take in a big lung full of air.
"No." She responded, standing slowly over her opponent's body. "I won't."
"Miss Blade…", Shang Tsung sighed in frustration, "I am growing weary of your lack of commitment. You said so yourself, that you were here to bring this man to justice. Now do so." He instructed her slowly.
"No. That's not justice, that's vengeance. This man doesn't deserve death. He deserves to spend the rest of his life locked in a penitentiary making special friends with Rosco the weightlifter." She quipped, stepping off of him and approaching Shang Tsung's dais. "With all due respect Mr Tsung, he's coming back to America with me. Where justice will be served." She stood unwavering before him. Blood ran down her thigh, and the edges of her vision were a little blurry, but she was fully prepared to leap at the old man and knock him off his perch if she had to.
"I have been tolerant enough with you Lieutenant. If you do not choose to kill this man, then I shall do so myself." Shang rose to his feet and walked towards her.
"Not this time!" Liu spoke up as he entered the arena. "Do you dare defy the laws of Mortal Kombat, and disrespect the Elder Gods, by refusing this man the humility of mercy?"
"Do not push me Liu Kang." Shang Tsung moved towards Liu as a bolt of lightning exploded between the two warriors, signifying the appearance of Lord Raiden.
"Shang Tsung!" The Thunder God bellowed. "Do not force my hand."
"Your powers are useless against me Lord Raiden. You are expressly forbidden to interfere with the tournament."
"As are you at this stage."
Sonya jumped as Johnny suddenly appeared by her side.
"Are you okay?" He asked, helping her limp to the side of the arena to sit down.
"Yeah." She smiled as Johnny pulled out a small first aid kit they had found in one of their rooms. He pulled a bandage out and began to tie it around her thigh as a makeshift tourniquet. She winced in pain as he tightened it, slowing the bleeding.
"Sorry." He said warmly, smiling up at her. Sonya held her hand to her chest and he could see how badly swollen her finger was. Grabbing a stick from the ground and another bandage, Johnny began to wrap her finger and make a splint, all the while Raiden, Liu and Shang Tusng argued the ancient laws of Mortal Kombat behind them.
"That was some fight." He said smiling as he was dressing Sonya's wounds. "I'm very impressed by you."
"Thanks. Ow!" She cried as he tightened the bandage. He gave an awkward apologetic smile in response before changing the subject.
"How long do you think that will go for?" Johnny asked, looking over his shoulder at the argument behind them.
"God, who knows." Sonya replied, getting slowly back to her feet to test her leg out. Thankfully it seemed to be able to bear some weight, indicating there was no major damage. That was when she heard the agreement that had been reached.
"Very well. Liu Kang will face Goro, and if successful, the final opponent will be Shang Tsung." Raiden summarised. Liu and Shang nodded their heads in agreement, Tsung with a slimy grin.
"What are you, crazy!? Liu, that four armed freak's gonna wipe the floor with you!" Sonya butted in, hobbling into the arena leaving Johnny watching on with a worried expression.
"Stay out of this, woman!" Shang yelled but Sonya didn't back down.
"Eat me!" She snapped back at him.
Shang Tsung didn't hesitate, hitting her hard in the face with a backhand so forceful, she flew through the air back into Johnny's arms, sending both of them toppling to the ground. Sonya tried to move, but her body had had enough. She didn't have the energy left in her to move any of her limbs. She couldn't even open her eyes. Was she unconscious? She could still hear the commotion going on after she had been struck. She assumed someone had retaliated as Shang Tsung sounded very put out.
"So be it!" She heard him yell, and then nothing. She heard footsteps approaching them, as she felt Johnny sitting up underneath her and trying to make her comfortable.
"Is she alright?" The soft voice of Liu Kang asked.
"I think so, she's unconscious." Johnny replied, pushing hair from her face. "Liu, she's not wrong though. How are you going to fight that thing?"
"With trust in himself, and belief that it can be done." Raiden responded for him.
As the conversation continued, Sonya felt a warmth overcome her. A peacefulness as she drifted into full unconsciousness.
Sonya felt a gentle breeze on her face. The sound of birds ran in the air off somewhere not too far away. A warm light began to caress her face as well. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself back in her cabin. Her body felt heavy, but she didn't feel any pain as such. Just a desire for more sleep. She slowly rolled over and saw Johnny sleeping on Harriet's bed. She gingerly pulled herself out of the bed, and slowly limped over to Johnny's side, softly sitting on the edge of the bed. He had been by her side the whole time, keeping his eye on her. She felt a smile slowly forming on her face without any input from her brain. When she did realise it, a frown quickly replaced the smile.
'What the hell was that?' she thought to herself. The sound of a stick snapping outside pulled her attention away from the man sleeping beside her. She stood and walked over to a small window beside the front door of her cabin. Peering out the window, Sonya felt a sudden sense of being watched. She went to turn back to face Johnny when all of a sudden the front door exploded open, slamming into her side and knocking her hard against the wall and then to the floor. A swarm of Shang Tsung's guards came sweeping into the room. They wore long purple robes and a black and white mask over their faces.
Johnny leapt to his feet on the other side of the room, awoken by the noise. He was quickly forced back to the ground by the fist of the closest guard, rending him unconscious.
"Johnny!" Sonya yelled in the hopes it would rouse him, but he remained motionless. Two guards held her to the ground on her stomach, forcing her arms behind her back and clasping her wrists together with some kind of restraint. She'd never been on the receiving end of being cuffed before. It wasn't something she was keen to experience again.
Grabbing her by her restrained wrists, the guards pulled her to her feet, painfully. Sonya continued to struggle, trying to break free and check on Johnny to make sure he was okay. Each of the guards holding her kept pulling her away though, forcing her towards the door and to an unknown fate. Sonya gave one last big push backwards and broke free from the two guards holding her shoulders. She turned her head back as she ran away to confirm that she was actually free of them and saw them struggling to regain their footing and give chase. She almost gave an audible 'Ha!' in response. As she turned back towards Johnny, she was struck in the jaw by a guard she had lost sight of. 'You idiot!' She chided herself, feeling almost as if she was floating. Again, she felt a warmth overcome her, accompanied by a darkness washing over her and welcoming her back into unconsciousness as her body once again hit the ground.
Sonya gasped out loud as she woke from her unconscious state. It was like she'd been having a nightmare, only the painful area of her jaw was proof enough that it wasn't. It was also as if no time had passed from her and Johnny being attacked in her cabin to now. As she looked around at her new surroundings though, it was very clear she'd been out for some time. Sonya was hanging from her wrists, chained between two stone pillars. Her shoulders ached from the strain of her unconscious body hanging lifeless from them, and her wrists felt like they were going to be torn off. She put her weight back on her feet, easing her back and wrists immediately, while taking in her surroundings. She found herself in a cold stone dungeon, a large throne sat in the middle and the area was littered with what seemed like cages that had been made into the stone walls themselves. Sitting in the throne was a young Asian man dressed in elegant robes. He had an air of dignity about him that reminded her of Shang Tsung if he were much younger. In the darkness behind the cage doors, she could almost make out the reflection of eyes. She convinced herself that this was perhaps a concussion feeding her imagination. That was a much nicer thought than trying to figure out what these things were that seemed to be staring directly at her.
In front of her stood Liu Kang, bouncing around what was essentially an arena. He was facing off against his opponent. Sonya stared in horror as she identified the four armed titan, Goro. The young man in the throne noticed she was awake and addressed her.
"Glad you could join us Miss Blade." He oozed. He even spoke like Tsung. Sonya wondered if this was perhaps the old man's son.
"Who the fuck are you?" She cursed at him impatiently.
"My dear, don't you recognize me? My master, Shao Khan has restored my youth, so that I may participate at my best against your friend Liu Kang. Of course, that is if he can best Prince Goro."
Sonya couldn't believe it. This was Shang Tsung himself!
"Shang?" Sonya asked to confirm what she already knew. He smiled his disgusting smile at her in confirmation. She simply sneered in response as if she had just been shown something disgusting. As she did, her gaze re-focussed on a figure standing behind Shang Tsung. Chained to an opposite pillar on the other side of the throne was a familiar figure.
"Kano?" Sonya asked, trying to make out the unconscious figure.
"That's right." Tsung confirmed her suspicion. "Your speech moved me so I decided to let you take him back to your realm for incarceration. Again, if your friend can beat both Prince Goro and Myself." Shang smiled and looked towards the arena. For the first time since they'd arrived on the island, Sonya felt a twinge of success in her gut! Had she done it? She turned to look at Liu Kang, standing face to face with the behemoth that was Goro and quickly felt that feeling disappear. Immediately replaced with the all too familiar sensation of her stomach and her heart trying to change places within her body.
There was one fairly large feat that needed to be achieved before she could have her victory. And, perhaps more tortuous than anything, she had no control over the outcome whatsoever.
Shang Tsung leapt to his feet and bellowed, "Fight!"