Author's Note: Well that little site outage sure did buy me some time to whip up more chapters. We're rapidly zeroing in on the end of this arc! Enjoy what's to come!
-Chapter 13: The Tournament - Among Friends-
Night deepened as the six champions trekked through the forest. With Liu and Lao in front, the rest brought up the rear, always looking around and wary of any unwelcome attacks from Outworlders. The darkness made it hard to see and the thick foliage presented excellent shadows in which to hide. If anyone wanted to ambush them, this would be the place to do it.
"The temples Raiden spoke of… what are they?" Magnus questioned.
"There are two." Liu replied. "The Temple of the Dragon and the Temple of Balance. Both are fixtures of the island, once used as residences for the monks. Now Shang Tsung has converted them into his personal dungeons and torture pits."
"He is that depraved?" Magnus asked.
"Wait until you see what the entry looks like," Kung Lao piped up, "three bridges across a large chasm filled with spikes. One wrong step and you're history."
"A comforting thought." Mileena remarked. "Far be it from Shang Tsung to do anything half-measure."
"Is there anything you can tell us about him that might be of use?" Liu Kang wondered. Mileena fell quiet for a moment, saying nothing as they walked.
"Despite his arrogance he has power to back up even the most audacious of his schemes." Mileena answered at length. "The only person he truly fears is the emperor. Not even the Elder Gods."
"Lord Raiden said he is host to a legion of souls." Magnus said. Mileena nodded slowly.
"Yes. Shang Tsung is a great and fearsome sorcerer. Those who have challenged his power become his slaves."
"Really? Haven't seen any slaves around," Johnny commented from the rear. "Or do you mean the monks?"
"Not like that." Mileena said with a sway of her head. "He enslaves souls. When a warrior dies, Shang Tsung takes his essence and makes it part of his own. For this reason he is as powerful as he is ageless. He has a thousand spirits to call to his aid… the sorcerer learned that Black Art from the emperor himself untold centuries ago." She explained. "Or so the stories go."
"I'm suddenly rethinking my desire to win this thing." Johnny commented. Sonya rolled her eyes.
The forest began to grow thinner, the trees further apart as a clearing formed before them. The grass grew short and dry, giving way to hard rocky ground as the expanse of sky loomed larger before the group. In the distance, they could see the outline of the Temple of the Dragon, resting atop an island of jagged rock about a mile away. Sure enough, Kung Lao's description proved accurate and three stone bridges stretched forwards across a great pit. Three large paifan gateways beckoned them onwards, one of them full of light as if someone was keeping watch from within. "So… we're here. Now what?" Johnny asked aloud.
As if on cue, branches snapped and cracked, foliage rustling as it was trampled underfoot. The sound came from all around the champions as previously unseen foes emerged into the moonlight. They were Black Dragon mercenies, much like the ones Scorpion had killed, only now there were enough to surround the six champions and corner them. "Oh great. The welcoming committee." The actor groaned.
Everyone hurried to assume kombat stances. "The rules state that it must be single kombat!" Liu Kang barked to their foes.
"These lads aren't 'ere for the tournament." A new voice announced in a thick Australian accent.
Their gaze drawn to the top of the biggest paifan gateway, a single figure stood out against the fire light within. His massive shoulders spoke of the power in his body. In the darkness his silhouette was broken only by a red glow coming from his right eye, where a metal plate glistened from cheek to forehead. His muscular chest bared, revealing thick curly hair and burly arms surrounded by an intricate dragon tattoo, he cut an imposing impression even at a distance. Gripping the railing, he leaned closer to right side of his face glinted silver and the cybernetic glowed a menacing red.
"They've been paid ta kill you."
His eye landed on Sonya. The leader of the Black Dragon flexed his arms and smirked at her. "How ya doin', babe?" Kano asked. "Did you miss me?" Sonya's frown deepened and an angry fire was lit in her soul.
"Kano." She growled. "Why don't you drag your worthless carcass down here and I'll give you a hug?" She challenged.
"Well, you'd do a better job than Jax." Kano snickered, inflaming her ire.
"These must be the ones Lord Raiden spoke of." Kung Lao mused, steady and still in his Wing Chun stance.
"Agreed. Everyone stay together." Liu Kang ordered as the six moved back to back.
Johnny put up his dukes and grinned. "This reminds me of Red Shadow when I was surrounded by a group of thugs in a backalley. I managed to beat them by-"
"We're not basing our strategy around one of your damn movies!" Sonya snapped.
"I'm just saying! There's six of us and… who knows how many of them."
"Then it is an even fight." Magnus replied, drawing his axes.
Approximately 30 Black Dragon mercenaries had them surrounded. All of them were clad in bulletproof armor plating that concealed their features entirely and carried advanced military-grade rifles. It seemed like an entirely unfair advantage for the martial artists.
They were, however, trained kombatants. Taught to defeat otherworldly adversaries, they presented an X-factor no mercenary could account for.
"Be ready." Liu said in a low voice. The champions tensed, watching their enemy with steely gazes, prepared for the worst. Liu watched the mercenaries in front of them as they trained their weapons on the six. He focused on their trigger fingers. They remained very still… then softly began to squeeze-
"NOW!" He called out.
Rushing ahead, feet enveloped by chi fire, Liu Kang rammed into the head of a mercenary with a dragon kick, snapping his head back with enough whiplash force to break his neck.
The other champions sprang into action as the bullets flew. Automatic weapons fire shattered the tranquility of the night, replacing it with the din of kombat. Magnus rushed the Black Dragon nearest him with a roar, swinging his axes to cut clean through the arms of one mercenary who fell to the ground screaming in pain while his blood sprayed across the rock. Whipping around, the Yngling buried his axe in the back of another helmeted head, using his leverage to yank on his axe, twisting the head and snapping the neck in the process. Barreling forward with his head down low as bullets whizzed past overhead, Magnus slammed shoulder-first into another mercenary and threw him to the ground in a Laustak tackle. Raising an axe high, he brought it down with such force it split the Black Dragon's head in two.
Grabbing the nearest mercenary, Johnny Cage drove two punches into his face and gut before landing an uppercut with enough force to fracture his helmet and send blood spurting before he spun around and struck with a snap kick that pitched the Black Dragon into a nearby tree.
Not done yet, the actor grabbed another merc close to him and rammed his open hand into the Black Dragon's extended arm, snapping his elbow and driving shards of bone through layers of skin and cloth. Then he grabbed his leg and another downward blow snapped his knee backwards, broken bone protruding painfully from spilt skin. The mercenary screeched in pain only to be silenced as Johnny rammed him with a straight punch that laid him out flat on the ground. "You got Caged!" He remarked with a toothy, satisfied grin.
The actor landed triple snap kicks to the head of another mercenary while a nearby Magnus electrified his weaponry via his arcana. Hacking his weapons into the body of another mercenary, he turned and hurled them into a cluster of Black Dragon. He advanced on the fallen cluster as one tried to rise, Magnus swinging his axes down low and burying them in his thighs. Blood squirted around the wound as the mercenary cried out in agonizing pain, promptly silenced as Magnus rammed his knee into his head with enough force to break his helmet and his skull. The Black Dragon recoiled, blood spurting out from every available opening as Magnus drew his seax knife and lunged with a roar, driving it clean through a mercenary's neck. Using it as leverage, he gave it a sharp twist that snapped the neck bone, killing him instantly.
Converting an axe kick into a rising knee, Johnny Cage whipped around with a hook kick and promptly drove his heel into the Black Dragon's face, shattering the metal of his helmet as well as his jaw. Grabbing the wounded merc, the actor pulled him down onto his knee, fracturing his skull with a loud CRACK. Releasing his beaten foe, Johnny wasted no time executing a backflip kick that caught another advancing merc on the chin with enough force to break his jawbone.
Across from them, Sonya and Mileena laid into mercenaries with their own brand of fervor. Harbouring an especially strong hatred for the criminal clan, Sonya did not hold back as she used her power glove to prime her assault with a blinding blast that staggered those in front of her. She laid into one with a flurry of punches, before grabbing his shoulders and slamming his face into her knee with shattering force before she threw him to the ground. Another Black Dragon attempted to get in close and shoot her full of holes, only to suffer from a leg-grab as Sonya wrapped her limbs around him and pitched him overhead to the ground, driving his head into the ground with enough force to break his neck.
Sonya whipped around and lunged feet first at another mercenary, her boots driving into his face before she adjusted her position and flicked her feet, viciously whipping his head to one side and snapping his neck too. Mileena, meanwhile, lunged forward and sank her sais into one Black Dragon's collar, pinning him in place as she lowered her veil, opened her jaws and bit down. Mileena's teeth scythed through metal, flesh and bone, earning her a hearty chunk of his head that she quickly wolfed down before moving on. Pouncing on yet another mercenary, she buried her sais in both sides of his head, using them as leverage to grab and twist, snapping his neck before twisting his head all the way around and ripping it off as blood spurted freely from the open wound.
Wrenching her sais free, she turned as another mercenary dashed towards her. Acting quickly, Mileena threw out both of her sais to impale his feet, pinning him to the ground. The Black Dragon dried out in pain as she pounced on him, bracing herself against his body as she snapped her jaws open wide and bit into the right side of his neck. Mileena tore out a massive chunk of flesh as the mercenary screamed in agony, repeating the process with the other side of his neck and leaving his head supported by his spine alone.
Cartwheeling off of him, she retrieved her sais as she did, lunging backwards in an exploding springboard kick where she pounced on one mercenary and stabbed him over in over in the face, her sai breaking through the metal of his helm to drive deep into his flesh until he stopped thrashing about. Satisfied, Mileena bounced up and wrapped her leg around another Black Dragon, dragging him to the ground she snapped his neck with a flexing twist of her leg.
Whipping out her garrotting wire, Sonya whipped it around one mercenary's neck and vaulted over him, bending him over backwards as she rammed the back of her head into his skull, fracturing it on impact. Whipping around with her wire crossed, Sonya pulled tight and lunged forward with a rising knee, striking his head with so much force that (combined with the cutting power of her wire) it ripped his head clean off. Turning around, the blonde ducked low as another Black Dragon fired on where her head had been, ramming her boot into the side of his leg to collapse the joint before she rounded a vicious left hook that shattered the face of his helmet, before she planted her other hand against his chest and fired her power glove, blowing open a hole in his torso. Throwing the mercenary's body to the ground, Sonya raised her leg and stomped down hard, crushing his head underfoot.
Finding themselves surrounded, Liu Kang and Kung Lao stood poised and ready to fight. Running his hand along the brim of his hat, Kung Lao was the first to strike with a grin. He surged towards the Black Dragon he had singled out, battering the mercenary with a windmill punch before he promptly whipped off his hat and slashed it around, the razor rim cutting clean through the Black Dragon's neck and decapitating him. Throwing his weapon out, the Shaolin high-kicked another mercenary towards his hovering buzzsaw and the Black Dragon screamed in pain as as his spine was severed in two.
The monk turned, sweeping the legs out from one mercenary before he vaulted over another to execute a dive kick, his foot crashing into into the neck of another mercenary and snapping his neck on contact. Teleporting away, he reappeared shortly after, surging upwards into the remaining mercenary, his knee colliding with his jaw and shattering it with a loud CRUNCH. As the final Black Dragon made to stand, Kung Lao pushed him towards his spinning hat and the mercenary stumbled into the blade, crying out as muscle and bone were split in two with a shower of blood.
Liu Kang moved like a ghost, his command over his body so perfect and flawless all the mercenaries could see was a blur, like their bullets simply passed through him. The Shaolin bolted towards one of them, grabbing his arm and slamming his fist into the elbow with enough force to rip his limb clean off. Howling in agony, the mercenary was silenced as Liu Landed a hook kick to his face before he reared back and cloaked his fist with chi fire. His uppercut was so powerful it tore the mercenary's head clean off.
Whipping around to handle some more, the monk chose to handle the Black Dragon rushing towards him first. Liu Kang quickly snapped out his fist, ramming it into the mercenary's gut. He followed up with a right hook and then a low jab before a palm strike came ramming into the Black Dragon's face, shattering his helmet as well as his skull while driving bone shards into his brain and killing him instantly.
Another moved to take his place and Liu swiftly struck him in the chest with a kick, smashing him across the face with a right hook and then a backhand, putting him in the perfect position for Liu to execute a chop to the back of the neck, killing him as he broke his spine. As the mercenary fell dead, Liu ducked to avoid another, responding with a reacharound kick that staggered the Black Dragon long enough for Liu to land a three-point Wu Shu strike to his back, enough kinetic energy transferred with sufficient concussive force to explode his organs and kill him where he stood.
The kombat unfolded so quickly and violently that the Black Dragon were killed in short order, their numbers thinned with such an intensity that Kano chose to intervene. Drawing a pair of assault rifles, he made his way to the roof of the paifan gate where he took aim with two full magazines. "Chew on these ya drongos!" He cackled, pulling the triggers and unloading rapid-fire rounds into the battlefield.
The champions reacted immediately. Sonya cartwheeled out of the way as she grabbed a fallen mercenary's rifle before making for cover behind a tree. Johnny scrambled to do likewise, as did Liu Kang and Kung Lao. Mileena lunged for Magnus, grasping his shoulders as she rode him to the ground only to teleport away at the last second to avoid incoming gunfire. They reappeared behind a tree, perfectly shielded. "Thank you." The Norwegian said.
"Anytime." She replied, amber eyes full of energy from the bloodshed. They stopped, waiting out the barrage as Sonya took her chances and opened fire on Kano when she could.
'Hardware's not customized. He's got to run out soon.' She reasoned, timing her shots to avoid getting repeatedly fired upon. Taking her time an exercising a well-trained sense of patience, Sonya waited until Kano's focus shifted and then crouched, took aim, and squeezed the trigger.
A single bullet erupted from the barrel of her rifle, ripping through the air until it pierced Kano's shoulder with enough force to throw him off the rooftop. The crime lord fell with a shout, landing on the foot of the bridge as his rifles tumbled into the pit below. Despite his wound, Kano picked himself up and surveyed the carnage unfolding. His contingent of mercenaries were dead. All of them. "Aw, fuck this! He ain't payin' me enough for this!" He grumbled.
"KANO!" Sonya roared, charging after him. Taking that as his cue to get going, Kano started running, booking it down the bridge with Sonya in hot pursuit.
"Sonya, wait!" Johnny called after her as the other champions reassembled, the rest of the Black Dragon violently dealt with.
"Go. Help her rescue her partner." Liu urged. Johnny whirled with a quizzical look on his face.
"But-"
"Raiden said your destiny would become clear." Liu said, gesturing to the distant Sonya. "There she is." Glancing back at the retreating blonde, Johnny's gaze lingered for a moment before he decided his course.
"You know, you gotta admire her." He said wistfully. "When she sets her mind on something…" Liu Kang leaned forward, the barest of smiles tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"It's not her mind you're admiring." He said knowingly. Johnny shrugged.
"It's true." He confessed. With a simple nod he took off after Sonya, chasing her across the bridge. Liu Kang returned to the others and started moving in the opposite direction.
"We're just going to leave them?" Mileena inquired.
"My destiny does not lie with them." Liu answered. "I know that I must face Goro and Shang Tsung. I will return to the palace by way of the Temple of Balance." He stated. Kung Lao quickly fell in step behind him.
"Not alone you're not." He stated, leaving no room for argument.
"Indeed." Magnus concurred. "I promised you before the tournament began that I would help you accomplish your mission. And do that I will. It does not matter to me if you are the Chosen One or not. I have my own quarrel with Shang Tsung to attend to." Liu Kang nodded in acceptance and started off with Kung Lao in tow. Magnus paused beside Mileena, their eyes meeting.
"I cannot simply abandon them to whatever that sorcerer and Kano have planned." She whispered.
"I know." Magnus affirmed with a soft nod. "I think you should go." He added, earning a bright look from her. "You gave me a chance. Now you need to give them a chance. Your destiny is found in making friends, give them a reason to be your friends." Mileena nodded in agreement.
"When this is over, I will find you." She promised.
"And I you." Magnus replied. Mileena reached up a hand and lowered her veil, revealing a bloodstained maw. Her teeth parted, and her long tongue darted out to lick his cheek ever so briefly. Then her veil was up and she was gone, chasing after Sonya and Johnny. Watching her go, Magnus eventually turned back to the monks and tightened his belt and he moved to confront his own destiny…
The tortured screams of Jax lured Sonya deeper and deeper into the dungeons under the Temple of the Dragon. Gone was the chill of night, replaced with the heat wrought from too many fires and too many bodies packed into singular areas. "Hang on, Jax. Hang on!" She growled, never once slowing her pace as brick and mortar walls flew past.
"Come on, Sonya darlin'. Just a little further." Kano's lingering voice teased from somwhere further ahead. Light began to grow, reflecting across distant walls. It was firelight, impossibly bright, suggesting a chamber of great significance. The blonde halted at a junction of three halls and turned to her right. There at the end, within a fiery red torture chamber, lay her target.
"Jax!" She shouted.
Her armless commanding officer sat bound in a chair, with Kano looming over him. He looked up with tired eyes, one swollen shut from one of many bruises dotting his flesh. "Sonya…?" Kano snickered, his cybernetic eye aglow.
"So glad you could make it, sweet cheeks. Gonna be a joy ta watch you end up like your partner 'ere." He remarked. Kano's voice fell silent and was replaced with the groaning clang of ancient clockwork machinery. Invisible gears churned as barred doors along the length of the hall begin to rise from their placement to the tune of rattling chains heaving them into the walls.
In the silence after the chains had groaned for the final time, some untold number of creatures emerged from their cells into the hall, filling it wall to wall. Many of them were human, or nearly so, in shape and form. Others had grotesque animal, bird, or insect heads. Some had multiple legs. But they were all dressed for kombat, and all of them laid eyes on Sonya.
They assembled in the hall, a mass of savage warriors that formed a living barricade between Sonya and Jax, and there they halted. As one they assumed fighting stances, and, with a terrifying cry that sprang simultaneously from fifty inhuman throats, they lunged for the blonde.
"You think I'm afraid? Bring it on!" Sonya growled, lunging into the fight with a handstand kick that clobbered one in the chin, vaulting into an arc kick that drove her boots into another's face. The kombatants were bigger and heartier than she was, and although Sonya threw herself into the fight with gusto, they seldom reacted to her blows.
Heavy fists rounded on her, slamming into the blonde as Sonya did her best to ward them off. But the raw strength and power was enough to send her skittering down the hall. Getting back to her feet, Sonya unloaded rapid-fire energy bursts from her power glove, only to find they had no effect on the toothy horned monstrosity looming before her. A powerful backhand slammed her into the adjacent wall and a winged creature that vaguely resembled a sentient pteranodon flew in to slam her into the floor. The monsters closed in as Sonya wiped blood from her lip. "Fuck…" she grumbled.
The blonde got up only to be set upon again. This was no Mortal Kombat, just a simple one-sided brawl. Fists and feet crashed into her over and over again, her body slammed into the walls floor and ceiling as opponents vastly bigger and stronger than her beat Sonya black and blue. From his vantage point, Kano cackled.
"Go on, lads! Finish her!" He called out. Two of the bigger brutes hoisted Sonya up with their arms, grabbing her limbs as they threatened to tear her apart. The bloodied blonde struggled, growling as she tried to fight against the strain. It was hopeless. Her mind was too clouded by pain to focus and the monsters holding her had every advantage in terms of strength. It seemed like Kano was right; she would end up just like Jax.
But then…
"Heeeeeere's Johnny!"
A lunge kick plowed into the skull of the monster holding Sonya, pitching him into the others as the blonde was released and fell into the waiting arms of Johnny Cage. Groaning weakly, Sonya looked up with blurry eyes to see Johnny smiling down at her as he carried her to the safety of a nearby wall. "Don't worry, babe, I got this." He announced, turning around and striking a pose as the monsters got back up.
"We got this!" Lunging over his head, Mileena charged into the fray and targeted the nearest humanoid beast. Sliding across the floor, she tripped him up and promptly pounced on his back, ripping into his flesh with her claw-like nails. Lowering her veil, Mileena then bit into the back of his neck, tearing out a chunk of flesh and bone she promptly spat out. Amber eyes met the actor as she wiped her maw on the back of her glove. "Come, Cage. Let us clear a path." She growled. Johnny said, nothing, popping the tendons in his neck and cracking his knuckles in a show of limbering up.
"Alright people! Lights, camera, aaaaaand… ACTION!" With a shout, he joined Mileena in kombat, the two plowing into the army of monsters with gusto and power. Teleporting high, Mileena rammed her boot into the neck of a fanged creature, slamming him into the ground and snapping his neck in the process. Rushing forward with her sais drawn, she impaled one in the neck and tore it free to bleed him out while she rapidly stabbed into another until his guts spilled across the floor.
Johnny landed two palm strikes that knocked the wind from his lungs before he executed an axe kick that drove his heel into his forehead, his eyes popping out as his skull was shattered. Another beast rushed him with claws out, trying to tear him in two. Dropping into the splits, Johnny drove his fist between his legs and the monster whimpered in pain. Whipping around, he hook-kicked the monster in the face with the flat of his foot before harnessing his momentum to whip around and land a rising uppercut that knocked the creature flat on its back with a broken jaw.
Picking herself up, Sonya dusted off her jacket and looked to see Johnny and Mileena ripping through her foes to clear a path to Jax. For the first time in a long time, Sonya Blade smiled faintly. "Well holy shit." She remarked, finding the strength and spirit to charge back into the fight. "Save some for me!" Tossing out a stun grenade, she blinded a trio of monsters while charging up her power glove. Planting it against the torso of the middle most monster, an ensuing energy blast blew open a gaping hole in his body. In it went a frag grenade, which blew him to pieces and showered his allies with viscera.
The trio continued to bludgeon their way through the mass of monstrosities, leaving dead in their wake as they drew closer and closer to Kano. Realizing he was on the losing end of his plan, the Black Dragon leader frowned as he moved in front of Jax, ready and waiting for when the three reached him. Felling the last monster, Sonya, Johnny and Mileena squared off with the crime lord. "Ya just had ta go one more round with me, eh? You're addicted, aren't ya babe?" He teased with a sick grin. Sonya began stalking towards him.
"First, you're gonna get the fuck away from my partner." She growled. "And then I'm gonna put you down like the dog you are."
"Well ain't that jus' music to my ears." Kano snickered, crouching down low. "May I have this dance, luv?" Suddenly plucking the knives strapped to his boots, he lunged forward and drove both into the unsuspecting Sonya's shoulders. The blonde cried out as blood spurted from the wounds, Kano cackling as he unloaded a laser beam from his cybernetic eye right into her face.
"Sonya!" Johnny cried, rushing to fill the gap as the blonde lieutenant was laid out on the floor. It was Kano who managed to attack first, launching forward in a rolling Kanoball strike that pummeled Johnny before he drew his knives and slashed at the actor, streams of blood sprinkling across the floor as Kano landed on his feet with a killer gleam in his eye. Johnny righted himself and tensed in preparation as the Black Dragon leader charged him again. Johnny quickly caught him on the chin with a swift uppercut and then an overhead punch before laying into the mercenary with multiple left and right crosses, beating Kano black and blue until he finally sent him flying with with a shadow-powered roundhouse kick.
Kano picked himself up as Johnny advanced towards him, crouching low and zapping the actor in his shins with a laser burst from his cybernetic eye. The hit put Johnny off balance as Kano guarded his approach with a throwing knife, the blade catching Johnny in the shoulder before Kano grabbed him and hit him with a headbutt, his cyber appendage digging into Johnny's flesh and staggering him further.
Mileena pounced on Kano from behind, digging her sais into his back with repeated stabs to force the mercenary off of Johnny. Giving her his attention, Kano spun around and lashed out with his elbow, a hidden blade popping out of his gauntlet. Mileena bent over backwards to avoid, cartwheeling in order to maintain her distance from him. She charged back in the moment his blade vanished, only for Kano to follow up with a hard boot to her stomach, his foot caught in place thanks to the hidden knife suddenly buried in Mileena's gut. Using his available leverage, Kano reached up and kicked her across the face, sending Mileena spinning. Leaping to his feet, Kano turned as Johnny managed to gather his senses and launch another punch. Unfortunately, Kano grabbed his arm and jabbed a knife through his biscep, Johnny crying out in sudden pain before Kano then blasted him with an optical laser, scorching the side of Johnny's face before he finally released him.
Finally breaking away from Kano, Johnny landed a shadow kick and followed up with two shadow bolts to put some distance between him and the merc. Taking a moment to recover, Mileena subbed in to try again. She threw out her sais, but the merc was quick to roll past her attack in another Kanoball strike, slamming into Mileena and opening her up for another suite of attacks. Multiple knife slashes cut through Mileena's attempts to ward him off, both blades digging in deep and allowing Kano to lift her off the ground and execute a lumbar check, striking her first with his knees then with his boots. Johnny rushed in with a shadow kick to try and help out only to soon find himself lifted off the ground as Kano's hands encircled his throat, choking him out before applying a massive headbutt that cracked his skull. Staggered, thoroughly wounded and very kombat-weary, Johnny barely had anything left and could not prevent Kano from grabbing him and throwing him to the ground, promptly driving his head into Johnny's and landing another krushing blow.
With both of her allies down, it was up to Sonya to handle Kano herself.
The mercenary sprang to his feet and popped the tendons in his neck, squaring off with the battle-tested blonde as he grinned in twisted delight.
"We can do this the easy way, Kano, or we can do it the hard way. Your choice." Sonya challenged as she stripped off her bomber jacket for more maneuverability.
"Let's make it the hard way." Kano replied. "Come on, what're ya afraid of?"
"Not a thing." Sonya retorted, clenching her fists as she narrowed her eyes. "Not a single, solitary thing." Kano grinned.
"That's the way. Come ta poppa." He reached behind him and pulled out a knife. It's blade was long and curved, pure silver, with wicked edges resembling the spines on the back of a dragon. He held it up and turned it back and forth before his eyes, making the steel blade flash in the light. "This baby sure brings back memories." He remarked. Sonya kept her eyes on Kano, not the knife. If he wanted to blind her, he wasn't going to succeed.
"You used it to stab your mother in the back?"
"Guess again." Kano replied. "It put a big smile on your old partner. From ear to ear." He said, miming a cut along his neck as he flashed pearly white teeth.
Sonya moved, bringing up her right foot and snapping it forward at Kano's kneecap. But Kano's leg wasn't there. He'd moved it aside, and took the opportunity to deliver his own downward punch to Sonya's thigh. She blocked inward with her forearm, but again Kano had moved, this time putting her into a hip throw which bore her to the hard metal floor. She rolled to her feet, knees bent and arms forward, facing him. Kano only laughed, and tossed his knife from his right hand to his left.
"I've studied all your moves, sweetheart," he sneered, "you can't touch me. But I can touch you any time." His left hand flashed out, the blade winking, thrusting at her face.
"Then study this!" Sonya growled. She hit the back of his knife hand with the edge of her right hand, at the same time hitting the inside of his wrist with her left. His hand flew open and the knife twirled away. She grasped his wrist and his elbow then, forcing them back and down, in a move to dislocate his shoulder.
But Kano was still larger and stronger than Sonya. He held her with sheer mass of muscle, despite the leverage she was using. Then he smashed the heel of his right hand forward, aiming for the bridge of her nose. Sonya ducked under the thrust, rapidly punching high and low. Then she dove, hands straight down on the ground, and launched herself feet first at Kano in an arc kick. She knocked him to the floor and then trapped his neck between her muscular legs and began to squeeze.
Their bodies locked together, Sonya and Kano struggling and writhing in a heap. No matter what he tried, the crime lord was unable to break free. His face was turning red, his one good eye bulging. Sonya tightened her grip. Kano couldn't breathe. Soon his struggles grew weaker and more random. Sonya only held him tighter.
"Come… on…" he goaded between labored breaths. "You… don't have… the mongrel… in ya…" Sonya frowned, ensuring her grip on him was tight. Then she looked up and spied Jax close by, slumped over in his chair. He was safe now. Almost. He was her reason for doing this after all.
"You're right," she told the mercenary, "I'm not like you." She loosened her grip and let Kano slump to the floor. Rolling away from her opponent, Sonya rose slowly to her feet and walked briskly towards Jax, leaving the fallen Kano behind her. Johnny was already there, helping untie him and aid the Major back to his feet. He slipped an arm around him and Sonya swiftly did the same. "Thanks." She said softly, their eyes meeting. Johnny just shrugged.
"Saving damsels in distress is what I do best." He remarked with a wink.
"The hell you say?" Jax demanded. "I ain't no damn damsel!" He snapped.
"Not like that!" Johnny protested, earning a grin from Sonya. A groan drew their attention back to Kano who had risen to his knees. He was still red in the face, looking winded and tired. But the best he could manage was a grin as he pulled a grenade of his own from his belt and primed the detonator.
"Get down!" Sonya cried, throwing all three of them to the floor. The flashbang went off with enough concussive force to make their ears ring, giving Kano all the time he needed to scramble to the side wall of the torture chamber. Pounding on the wall, the masonry soon parted to reveal Tremor on the other side, using his geomancing powers to create an exit for his leader.
"What happened?" He asked in a gravelly voice.
"Nothing worth the pay." Kano rasped, rubbing his throat as he made his exit with Tremor closing the wall behind him.
It took the three humans a moment longer to get back up, their vision blurry and their pulses pounding in their heads. A veiled Mileena rushed to their side, helping them up. "Hurry!" She beckoned to the hall's entrance. "Guards will come to investigate. We must get him back to the surface."
"And then what? This place is still probably crawling with killer Outworlders." Johnny questioned, sticking a finger in his ear to try and quell the ringing.
"One problem at a time." Sonya replied as they started easing Jax out. "Hell, maybe Raiden can get us a 'get off the island free' card for following our destines."