Johnny Cage hit the ground hard. He lay on his back, not doing so well in his first found of Mortal Kombat. He looked up at Sonya. She was yelling at him to keep going and not give up. He remembered her fight and how well she did, he couldn't lose with her watching. He raised his legs and jumped to his feet. Johnny's opponent ran at him but Johnny ducked to the side and gave him a hard kick to the stomach. His opponent learched over and looked up to be kicked in the face. Johnny ran away a little and raised his leg as if to do a side kick. He was to far away to hit him however. Johnny's opponent stood and smiled at Johnny, knowing he was too far. Johnny suddenly lept towards his opponent with such speed, all Sonya could see was a blur. Johnny's opponent flew through the air a short while and hit the ground hard. Out cold.
"Johnny Cage, wins!" Shang Tsung bellowed from his throne. Johnny began jumping around punching the air. Sonya ran into the arena and Johnny lifted her in the air, spinning around. They realized they were making a scene and came to their senses. Sonya composed herself and shook Johnny's hand. Liu had now joined the two and was congratulating Johnny.
"Well done Johnny. Your amazing." Liu shook Johnny's hand.
Johnny loved compliments and embraced them.
"Yeah well." He replied with a big grin. Shang Tsung began to address the spectators.
"This concludes day one. I must admit, you have impressed me. I look forward to the rest of the tournament. Round two will begin first thing in the morning. Enjoy the evenings festivities."
The large group of remaining warriors began to spread to all parts of Shang's grand island. The evening was filled with celebrations, training, and extravagant food. The three Earth Realm warriors walked through the main part of the island. It was like Mardi Gras. Entertainers and warriors alike lined the paths showing off their skills. Sonya, Johnny and Liu watched happily and continued to walk. Sonya noticed one man standing off to one side. It looked as if he was selling something. She saw a sign laying on the ground near the man's feet. It said "Souvenirs" only it was misspelled. The man turned around and something glistening from under his hood caught Sonya's eye. She could just make out a low red glow.
"Kano." Sonya said under her breath. Kano was busy making a sale on some vases he had stolen from Shang Tsung. His customer was taking out the money to pay when Kano noticed Sonya staring at him intensely. Sonya lept into a fast sprint, scaring Johnny half out of his wits.
"Hey Sonya! Where ya goin!?" Johnny called, but she couldn't hear him. Kano took all the money from his customer and took off, his robe falling off revealing his metal plate.
"Hey jerk!!" The customer called out. Sonya flew past him, knocking him down. He just barely missed a puddle on the ground and smiled to himself. Then Johnny and Liu ran past, through the puddle splashing the customer. He just sat there dripping and humiliated.
Kano pushed through the thick crowds with Sonya in fast pursuit. She came to a clearing in the crowd but couldn't see Kano. She scanned the area with her eyes but found nothing. Until a shadow on a nearby roof alerted her to Kano's fleeing. She took off again, losing Johnny and Liu in the crowd. She was alone. Kano darted across the roof as Sonya got to the edge. She lept in the air and grabbed the ledge, hauling herself up. She could see Kano running across the ancient tiles of one of Shang's roofs. She took off again. Kano came to the end of the roof. He stepped back and lept for the adjacent roof, landing firmly on the tiles, cracking them. He looked back at Sonya who was now at the edge also. She took a step back to leap aswell, but Kano picked up one of the lose tiles and threw it at her. Acting quick she kicked it in mid-air, smashing it. Kano had taken the opportunity to continue running. Sonya took the leap and landed where Kano had. She stood and was about to run when she heard a cracking. She looked down and saw the cracked tiles. Just as the roof collapsed, Sonya took a small leap forward, avoiding a fall. She looked down into the hole as the tiles she was standing on slipped from their place, causing her to fall on her back. She sat up in time to see herself slide through the hole. She hit the ground hard, tiles falling around her. She looked up to find herself in someone's living quarters. One of the warriors was sitting at his table eating dinner. He stared at Sonya, his spoon hovering before his mouth, which was gaping open. She looked around embarrassed.
"Oh." She smiled awkwardly.
**********
Sonya walked out the front door of the living quarters, still apologizing.
"I'm am so sorry, please enjoy your meal. And good luck in the tournament. And oh..." She said completely embarrassed. She shut the door and walked out into the center of the courtyard. She slowly ran her hands through her hair and rested them on her neck. She looked around in a vain attempt to see if Kano might still be around. Nothing. She lowered her arms and began to walk back to her quarters.
"Sonya!" Johnny ran over to her.
"Johnny, hey." Sonya said stopping. "Where's Liu?"
"Oh, talking to his thunder god." They began walking off past a dark alley between two living quarters. All that was visible inside was a dull red glow.
"So Johnny Cage. What exactly brings you to the tournament?" Sonya asked him, suddenly taking an interest.
"Well, all my life I've trained with the best of the best in Martial Arts. Then I began to use my skills in my movies. Sudden Death, Fatal Impact, the best Martial Arts ever seen. But no-one believed it was me. They all thought it was special effects and stunt masters. They all called me a fake."
"That's it!? That's your noble intention for being here!?" Sonya couldn't believe his selfishness.
"All my life I've trained to get this good. You have no idea what I've sacrificed! To have gone through what I have and be called a fake, I just wanted to prove how good I was."
"I'm sorry. I guess I can see how frustrating that would be." Sonya found herself apologizing again. She couldn't remember the last time she had apologized this much. She usually never did.
"So why are you here?" Johnny asked.
"You know why I came. I came to stop Kano. But now I don't know what I'm doing. I was just doing my job and I've been thrown into something I'm not even sure exists. And now the fate of my comrades, and apparently the world are at stake."
"I know what you mean. It's like something out of a movie."
They walked and talked until they arrived at Sonya's quarters.
"Well, this is me. Thanks for the company Johnny. I had a nice time." Sonya had a hard time expressing her feelings and as much as she hated to admit it, she had grown very fond of Johnny.
"Me too. I'll see you in the morning." Johnny said taking her arm. He gently kissed the back of her hand and smiled up at her. Sonya rolled her eyes and took her hand back, laughing.
"Night Cage." She said walking into her room and shutting the door. Johnny was left outside smiling to himself. He slowly walked back to his room with a big grin on his face.
Sonya locked her door and leant against it. She stayed there for a moment thinking about what had just happened. A smile slowly formed on her face and she went to take a shower.
The next couple of days the warriors from both realms fought harder than they had ever dreamt. Sadly the death toll was rising by the minute. The massive crowd that had arrived days earlier had been reduced to a handful from each realm. Sonya, Johnny and Liu had won all of their fights and were becoming anxious as to the conclusion of the great tournament. Day six rolled by and Sonya was up to fight. She and Johnny had developed quite a friendship, and he was standing with Liu in the sidelines cheering her on. She was jumping around the arena warming up for her next fight. She looked over at Shang who was pre occupied with one of his female servants. Sonya rolled her eyes and yelled at him.
"Hey! You wanna focus grampa?" She scolded him. Shang's servants couldn't believe their ears. If anybody else had said that, he would have had their souls in an instant. But Sonya had no fear of Shang and he admired that in her.
"My apologies miss Blade. Perhaps I can make it up to you." He said with his dirty grin.
"What ever it is? I don't want it." She scoffed at him.
"On the contrary. I believe you will quite enjoy my gift to you." Shang waved his hand at someone behind Sonya. She turned to see the small crowd move back to reveal her opponent. Her face went dead serious.
