Seems like a lifetime.....
By Ryan Bowden
Copyright (C) 2001 Ryan Bowden
Part 1
Sonya Blade stands above a fifty foot cliff, confronted by her enemy, Jarek.
"It's over Jarek. Shinnok is dead, the good guys won. Your coming back with me." She orders.
"Never Sonya. I agreed to help defeat Shinnok, not turn myself in to the Special Forces. The Black Dragon live on!" He
retorts advancing on the lieutenant. They find themselves at the edge of the cliff.
"The Black Dragon died with Kano. Your the last one Jarek."
This enrages Jarek. He runs at Sonya.
"Never!!" He cries as he leaps at Sonya. Using her cunning and speed, she leaps out of the way, just as Jarek topples
over the edge. Neglecting to look over, Sonya pulls out her radio and begins to make contact with her partner, Major
Jackson (Jax) Briggs.
"Come in Major Briggs, this is Lieutenant Sonya Blade ove..."
Before Sonya can finish, she is grabbed by the ankle. She looks down to see Jarek holding on to the edge of the cliff
face. He uses his remaining strength to pull at her ankle. Sonya loses her balance and falls face first over the cliff.
Her scream seems to go on for hours. Pulling herself together, Sonya realizes that her death is inevitable. The wind
engulfs her as she falls, and her mind seems to blur. She looks back to when she first joined the Special Forces.
She wanted only to be like her father, Major Herman Blade. Her first day was the most nervous she'd ever been. Her
teammates tried to make it hard for her, being a 'girl' and all, they thought she was inferior. Sonya hated not to be
taken seriously. She looked over at the nearest officer and sprang into a handstand, grabbing him around the neck with
her legs. She then flipped him over her head, onto a couch against the wall. She looked back at the others, lifted an
eyebrow, and walked over to her desk. The rest of the office simply stared in amazement. From that day Sonya was looked
up to by her peers.
Through her years as a member of the Special Forces, Sonya had gained many enemies. But none worse
than Kano. Kano was a devoted member of the Black Dragon. A centuries old group of cut-throat madmen and criminals. She
remembered the day she had nearly caught him, but lost a teammate instead.
"That's as far as you go Kano!" Sonya had her gun trained on him. He was cornered. They were in one of the Black
Dragon's warehouses, used for containing drugs and illegal weapons. Kano slowly turned to face her with his hands up.
"Well blondie. You got me. Took you a while, but you got me." Kano smirked at her.
"Shutup and put your hands on your head. Now!!" Kano did so and Sonya motioned to 'Sparky', her partner, to cuff
him. Sparky walked over to Kano and pulled his handcuffs out. Before either of them could do a thing, Kano grabbed
Sparky around the neck and held him in front of himself as a human shield.
"Sparky!" Sonya yelled to her partner.
"Sorry sweet cheeks, looks like I win again." Kano pulled out a huge serrated knife and held it to Sparky's throat.
"Please Kano. We both know your not that stupid. You have nowhere to run. We're not letting you out, so just let
him go." Sonya warned him, inching closer. Kano looked to his left to see an open cargo door, and some crates to shield
him along the way. He turned back to look at Sonya, who was still inching.
"Not this time kiddo." And with those words, he dragged the serrated blade along Sparky's throat, spilling his life blood
all over the floor.
"No!!" Sonya cried and opened fire. Kano dropped the body and took off. As he got to the door a stray bullet ricoched
off the wall and hit him in his right eye. He cried in agony and lept through the door. Some officers gave chase but
lost him as Sonya knelt down beside her dead partner. She cradled his head, not caring about the blood running all over
her legs. She wept into Sparky's hair and whispered into his ear.
"I will kill him for this. You have my word. I will avenge your death."
It took several months for the Special Forces to catch up with Kano again. But they did. They had tracked him to a
seaside dock in China town. Ignoring the calls from her new partner Jackson Briggs, Sonya, her heart pumping with rage
and hatred, sprinted to chase Kano. She followed him onto an old boat along with hundreds of others. Losing him in the
crowd, the boat left dock and sailed out to sea.
Sonya pushed through many a man looking for Kano. She turned around and bumped into one man in particular.
"Excuse me." She said and went to walk around him.
"No it was my fault. Hi I'm Johnny Cage." He said with a smile.
"Great." Sonya smiled back and continued on her way. Johnny caught up and repeated himself as if she didn't hear him.
"Uh...Johnny Cage? The film star." He told her looking for some recognition in her eyes. Nothing. She looked at him
confused. "I guess you don't watch a lot of television."
"I guess not." Sonya replied uninterested. She pulled out a picture of Kano and showed it to Johnny. "I'm looking for
this man. Have you seen him?"
Johnny looked at the picture. Kano isn't particularly attractive, most in part to the metal plate over his right eye,
courtesy of Sonya. Imbedded in the plate is a new eye. A red crystal, stolen from a museum of natural history. Johnny
mistook Sonya's intentions. "I'm sorry, no. You know, you could do a lot better than him."
"He's not my boyfriend, he's a killer." She pulled out her badge. "My name is Lt. Sonya Blade, I'm with the U.S.
Special Forces. If you see him I want you to find and tell me."
Johnny nodded and looked at the massive crowd. "I doubt you'll have much luck. It's like looking for an innocent
man in an L.A. prison in here."
"Tell me about it." Sonya sighed and walked off, with Johnny in tow.
"I'd love to." He smiled to himself.
They walked off through the crowd. As they walked around the boat they came to a cabin door. Sonya kicked the door
down and proceeded inside, gun drawn. Johnny was impressed. Inside they found a group of men fighting a Chinese man.
Sonya and Johnny joined the fight each having a chance to show off to the other. The three warriors were easily defeated
and Sonya and Johnny joined the Chinese man.
"Are you okay?" Sonya asked putting her gun away.
"I'm fine. Thankyou for your assistance."
"Your welcome. My name's Sonya Blade I'm with the U.S. Special Forces. This is Johnny Cage." Sonya shook the man's hand.
"I'm Liu Kang. Are you both competing in the tournament?"
Johnny nodded his head but Sonya didn't understand. "Tournament? I'm here looking for a killer. Have you seen
him?" Sonya showed Liu the picture of Kano.
"I think so. He was fighting his way through a group of people before. But, I think you've stumbled upon something
larger than you think Miss Blade."
"Call me Sonya. What tournament?"
Liu Kang explained the history of the tournament to Sonya and Johnny. About how the sorcerer Shang Tsung had
corrupted it's once noble traditions. And about Goro. The fierce half dragon, half human Shokan warrior who remained
undefeated for the past five hundred years. As Liu Kang finished his story, the three warriors were confronted by a
blast from the sky. They dove to take cover and turned to see a man standing in the place of the blast. Liu Kang
recognized the man and greeted him.
"Lord Rayden. What brings you to us?" Liu asked the man.
"I have been observing these warriors, and I must say I'm rather disappointed." Rayden said taking a seat on some crates.
"Lord?" Liu asked.
"I have looked into the souls of these fighters, and only six of you have the strength to win. Unfortunately, only
you three have noble intentions."
"Us?" Sonya asked also sitting, taking everything in.
"Yes. You three have the strength to win. But so do some fierce warriors. A specter named Scorpion, an assassin
named Sub-Zero, and a criminal named Kano."
"Kano!?" Sonya spoke up. "He's why I'm here. Not this tournament, I'm sorry and I realize your intentions for
saving the world or whatever, but this man needs to be brought to justice."
"And he will be lieutenant. But only if you compete."
"And if I chose not to?"
"Then Shang Tsung will kill your teammates he has captured."
"What!?"
"Nathan McGregor and Richard Boon. He has captured them and chosen you to fight."
"Son of a bitch!" She jumped to her feet and began pacing around the cabin.
Johnny tried to console her, and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Dream on Cage." Sonya shot him down.
"You three are the Earth's last hope of survival." Rayden continued. As he did Sonya sat and tried to put everything
together. She didn't need any of this. She just wanted Kano.
The old boat dropped anchor off shore a large and mysterious island. Several minutes later, the combatants were
walking up the shore of the island. They began to climb a large flight of stairs and found themselves in Shang Tsung's
court. The man was there himself. He began to greet the warriors.
"Greetings. Welcome to the tournament of Mortal Kombat. I am your host, Shang Tsung. The tournament will begin
tomorrow so for now, enjoy the island and good luck. You'll need it." The old sorcerer left the Earth's warriors.
A board was set up on a wall with cabin placements. Sonya found her name and told the others that she'd see them later.
Sonya arrived at her room and walked in. It was rather small with two beds and minimal wardrobe space. That didn't
bother Sonya as she only had what she's wearing. She pulled out her radio and began trying to contact Jax. But she
had no luck. All she could pick up was static.
"Damn it!" She threw the radio on the bed and sat down. Sonya looked out her window. She could see the sun setting.
Somehow it seemed different. Otherworldly. A loud bell rang and Sonya headed outside for dinner
