Silence…

The only thing Sonya Blade was sure of. The complete and total silence that filled the surrounding area. Her blindfold kept her from seeing anything and she couldn't speak with the cloth shoved into her mouth. Her hands were bound behind the chair she sat in with her legs tied to it as well. So as she sat immobilized, she had only one option… to listen. No voices, no traffic, no movement just her and her thoughts. She thought back to how she ended up here and hoped her teammates had gotten away safely.

Her first memory was of her team hunting down Hsu Hao and the other red dragon leaders when they ran into an ambush. The Special forces informants were nowhere to be seen, so Sonya feared they'd already been killed. Mavado and Kano who'd both previously worked for the red dragon in some capacity had turned to the special forces. The duo had made a deal to supply information for full pardons. They had been working together for months to hit not only red dragon targets, but other criminal organizations as well.

On this particular night Sonya's team was hitting a red dragon supply depot. Jackson Briggs led the unit. Her brother Daniel had finally made it onto the team after months of tests and training, so Sonya made sure to stick close to him on his first mission with them. However, she quickly lost sight of him when the bullets started flying. Sonya had seen the team's medic die first, then the radio man, then the demolitions expert. The specialists were being targeted first obviously, but she couldn't remember much after. It still was strange the specialists could be killed first when they were indistinguishable from the other soldiers. She was knocked unconscious at some point. She didn't think she'd ever wake up, but here she was… tied to a chair.

Of course that didn't last too long as someone had torn the gag from her mouth, then the blindfold as well. It was Kano who stood before her. He was covered in blood that wasn't his own as he twirled one of his signature knives. He took a seat in front of Sonya and stared at the woman. His red metallic eye was the only thing illuminating the small room they were in.

"No." Stated Sonya as she came to a sudden realization. "No, you're…."

"I was never working for you, blondie." Stated Kano. "Pay was shit and the deal was just as bad."

"You helped us take down so many red dragon bases. How could you…" Began Sonya.

"Small price to pay to get ourselves into SF headquarters, love." Stated Kano. Sonya instantly felt like an idiot, but the overwhelming fear overshadowed that. Not fear for herself, but for her team, her brother.

"Daniel?" Asked Sonya gulping at the thought of him dying in the fight.

"Didn't die in the fight, if that's what you're worried about." Stated Kano. "We dragged you, him, and a couple others from the scattered remains of your friends. I was actually just having a chat with Danny. Yeah, he wasn't much of a talker." Finished Kano as he held up the bloody knife. Sonya froze with her eyes locked onto the blade. It was drenched in fresh blood as well as some small bits of flesh.

"Is he alive?" Asked Sonya as she began to let tears out. Sonya Blade did not cry, she wasn't very emotional at all. Yet, the circumstances were bad, very bad. Her friends, her leaders, her brother were likely all dead or at least captured. Not to mention the man to do it was Kano, a man who Sonya had been….. intimate with, several times.

"I'd think you'd be more worried about yourself, love. After all, I still need information and nobody else has said a word yet." Said Kano as he wiped the knife off on Sonya's pants. Sonya wanted to scream when the single door to the room opened up wide.

"Kano!" Shouted Mavado. "What the fuck have you done? We were supposed to wait for the interrogator!"

"He was taken too damn long, so I done it for him!" Kano Shouted back.

"You killed most of our prisoners, Kano! This whole thing was for nothing if we kill everyone before we get what we need!" Yelled Mavado.

"Relax, mate." Said Kano with a complete mood swing. "I've got the information coming up in a tick." He continued calmly. "Me and blondie just need a little alone time before I get it." He finished while stressing that Mavado would leave.

Mavado looked over to Sonya for the first time with pity. "This is extremely unprofessional. We have standards, Kano. Daegon is going to hear about this. Your ass is on thin ice." Finished Mavado before storming out. He left them alone just as Kano wanted.

"Now where were we?" Asked the merc as he closed the door behind Mavado. His sadistic smirk said everything. He was going to hurt her, and likely kill her when he was finished….

"Noooo!" Sonya screamed as she shot up in her bed. Four AM was what the clock read. Yet another night of terrible sleep for Sonya Blade as she just decided to get up early which had really just become her normal schedule at this point.

She grabbed a cup of coffee and her workout clothes before heading out the door. She was going for a three mile run. She didn't time it and instead just focused on maintaining her speed the entire time. Afterwards she went into her garage and cracked the door as she used her bench set and dumbbells for some basic arm and chest exercises before finishing off her morning workout with the punching bag she had. She allowed her mind to wander for the first time since she'd woken up.

A little over a year had passed since the incident with Kano and the red dragon clan. She couldn't remember most of it as she'd subconsciously suppressed most of it. or at least that's what her therapist had said. Her mandated therapist that is. She was somewhat thankful she couldn't remember most of the incident, as what she could remember already played on loop in her head. She didn't need to remember seeing the bodies of her friends, her brother, or the non stop torture that lasted two days. Two entire days where Kano had hurt her in any way he could think of, as well as forcing himself onto her. Things she would have to live with. However, she was eventually saved by a team of navy seals that were accompanied by the few surviving members of her own team.

The first was Edward Lance, a very good friend of hers who'd been her partner for several years. He was known for his abilities in hand to hand fighting. Second was Jackson Briggs, her commanding officer. He'd led their team of SF for some time with the goal of bringing down the red dragon. It was a secretly funded government team where Jax hand selected his troops. Most of which were dead by this point. Two more had survived the ordeal, but both had elected to take the mental health discharges and put the military behind them. Sonya couldn't blame them after what had happened, but she also couldn't leave the military behind.

Jax had somehow convinced his superiors to keep funding his team as he began to assemble new members with the only other active member of the original team being Lance. Of course Sonya planned to return, but her therapist had insisted week to week that she was barely making progress. This made Sonya absolutely livid. Her physical wounds had completely healed save for the scars that would be with her for the rest of her life. She'd already paid her respects to the dead, and had ensured her brother had been buried with their parents. What Sonya needed now was some payback or at least some justice. Kano and Mavado were still out there, and the body count the two had racked up in that time was insurmountable.

'Kano'…. He was the one Sonya couldn't stop thinking about. What he did to her was terrible, and her friends, and most importantly to her brother. All so that Kano could get the answer to a question that Sonya couldn't even remember. That part ate away at her during her months of recovery. She wanted to know what it was the red dragon were looking for. What was so important that Mavado felt like infiltrating the special forces was the only way to get it? Sonya had obviously questioned Jax on this, but he didn't know, or didn't want to share. No one that Kano had questioned had survived other than Sonya, and she couldn't remember much of anything from the ordeal. She was the only one that could possibly remember what the criminals were after, and ironically she couldn't remember a thing Kano asked. Nothing important at least.

She thought about tracking the scumbag down and beating the answers out of him herself before finishing him. It wouldn't be too hard to find him, even now while officially off duty. Sonya knew plenty of people that owed favors and wasn't new to tracking criminals down. Hell, she already had a decent amount of information on the merc. Shortly after the events with her team Kano had gotten kicked out of the red dragon. Instead of calling it a career he decided to start up a gang of his own. He called it the black dragon clan, and they were ruthless. The red dragon had been established for a long time. They were known for vast resources and being discreet. Mavado did hold the clan to a standard even if they were scumbag criminals they still had a code. That was why Kano never made it any higher than one of Mavados Lieutenants. He had no code, Kano started the black dragon with the goal to steal, and kill, and lie his way to the top. They immediately butted heads with all kinds of criminal organizations including the red dragon, which Sonya was fine with, but also became an even bigger problem. They didn't care about staying discreet. A matter of fact Kano praised acts of violence in public. Kano wanted people to know and fear the black dragon. Anyone who watched the news knew that, and it was working.

As she finished her workout Sonya noticed someone watching her from the street. His teak hat and white robes were a strange outfit choice, but that didn't concern her necessarily. His presence in itself was what concerned her. Then his approach startled her. Sonya's first thought might be that the man was lost, but she was still untrusting of strangers.

"Are you lost?" she asked in a friendly tone. "Do you speak english? Can I help you?" Raiden nodded in response.

"Sonya Blade. I must speak with you." he stated which shocked the woman. "I understand you are searching for the black dragon and their leader, Kano."

"How would you know that?" asked Sonya Blade.

"Have you ever heard of a tournament called mortal kombat?"