On a bridge overbearing a deep pit, Sonya Blade is trying to use her radio to talk to the Special Forces Command.
"Triangulating your signal for evac, but… there is no island…" The radio becomes briefly distorted.
"I'm standing on it! Just lock onto my wrist comm!" As Sonya talks on the radio, Johnny walks onto the bridge and smiles when he sees her.
"Understood. What is your current status?"
"They have Jax. And if I don't fight in this crazy tournament, they'll kill him. I'm gonna try to-"
"Need help? I specialize in rescuing damsels in distress." Johnny said as he approached Sonya. "You again. Listen, I've got serious problems here. I'm in no mood to be hit on by some movie star." She said,
"C'mon. A girl like you shouldn't be wandering around this freak show alone." said Johnny. Sonya sighs and tries to walk off but Johnny grabs her by the arm. "Look, baby, I can't let you run loose without an escort." Sonya punches him in the stomach, then across the face, knocking him down. She assumes a fighting stance." I don't need an escort, and I'm sure as hell not your baby!"
They fight. Although reluctant to do so, Johnny Cage shows that he's not afraid of fighting a woman if he has to. When Maliza makes it to the bridge, she sees Johnny and Sonya. She stands by and watches the fight in amaze. After a brief scuffle, Cage manages to get the upper hand and he knocks Sonya to the ground. "Ha haaa! Not bad for a... girl…" He said.
Johnny seems to regret getting caught up in the moment and extends his hand to her. "Look, sorry about that." Sonya slaps his hand away. "I don't need your help."
Maliza looks and sees a burly man approach from behind Johnny. "Fine. Have it your way. I'll just leave you to your... problems."
"Hey! Watch out!" Maliza tries to warn him but he fails to notice the burly Australian sneaking up behind him. "Good idea!"
"Wha-AAHH!" Kano grabs Johnny from behind and throws him off the bridge.
"Now that he's softened you up, it's my turn!"
Sonya grunts, "Not man enough for a fair fight?"
"I don't do fair.'' Kano said before blasting her with his eye beam. Maliza feels uneasy about the situation but then senses Johnny Cage somewhere nearby, giving her the hint that he might still be alive after being thrown off the bridge. "So tell me...how are things at Command?"
"Bastard!" Sonya yells and screams as Kano blasts her. This angers Maliza and she intervenes. "Hey! That's enough!!" She said,
Kano merely laughs when he sees her. "Ha! This is your rescue?"
Maliza then puts her hand out, "Stay back or I'll fire." She warns him but Kano doesn't take her warning seriously and laughs. "Guillible bitch. Just had to point you in the wrong direction. Couldn'ta done it without ya!" He says to Sonya as she pants and groans in pain.
She looks over shoulder and sees Maliza. "... It's… It's you. From the… tournament…"
Maliza takes a glance at Sonya and warmly smiles, "It's okay. You're okay."
"Step aside, kid! This is between me and the bitch commander." Kano said but Maliza doesn't listen and looks at him with an angered expression. "I'm not gonna warn you again. Walk away or I'll shoot… and I promise you, it's gonna hurt."
"Heh, what are you gonna do? High five me?" Kano continues to provoke her until a magic ki blast suddenly begins to form in her hand which was getting ready to fire. Kano, at first, is surprised by this but then continues to provoke her. "This is your last warning. Stand down or I'll fire."
"Do it then. C'mon, I'm waitin!"
"Hmph, death wish granted then."
Without warning, she fires her ki blast which sends Kano flying when it hits him in the chest, injuring him severely. "AAUGH!" He screams out in pain as his back hits the ground.
"Holy shit…" Sonya says in shock to what she just witnessed. Maliza puts her hand down and sighs, "You just had to choose the hard way, didn't ya?"
Maliza turns to Sonya and extends her hand but Sonya then asks, "How did you do that? That was…"
"Oh, that?... Well, he was kinda asking for it. So yeah…"said Maliza.
Maliza was about to help her get back up when Johnny suddenly somersaults back onto the bridge. "Phew… that was a rough one…" He says as he dusts himself off. He looks behind him and sees Kano on the ground unconscious.
He walks towards Maliza and Sonya, "Shit, looks like someone got their ass fried. I'm impressed."
"I didn't do that…" Said Sonya.
At first he thought she was joking but then Sonya raises an eyebrow, making Johnny realize that she wasn't. "Wait! You're serious? She did that?" He asked and she slightly nodded.
"Holy shit." Johnny said in shock. "Same thing I said."
"Okay kid, I gotta ask, how did you-?" He says to Maliza but she frowns. "Stop… calling me kid." She said while holding her bag strap. "Oh.kay… By the way, who was that guy anyway?" Johnny extends his hand to Sonya but remembering what happened last time, he draws it back. Sonya then extends her hand to him, allowing him to help her to his feet.
"His name's Kano. He was an informant in our Black Dragon investigation. Big-time arms dealers. Turns out he was their leader and giving us the runaround. Lot of our guys got killed because of him." She said,
"So that's not a costume? You're actual military?" Johnny asked.
Sonya: "Special Forces."
Johnny: "Get out! So you know about this "threat to the world" stuff, right? Raiden called in the cavalry."
Sonya: "Raiden? No idea who you're talking about."
As they turn around, they see no sign of Kano. "Damn"
"It's alright. My blast injured him enough so he couldn't get far." Said Maliza.
"He'll have to wait." Sonya holds out her hand. "I appreciate your help, Cage."
"Johnny." He said when he shook it. "But right now I've got things to take care of. My C.O. is locked up on this island somewhere. I have to find him."
Sonya walks away and Johnny looks at her with admiration. Maliza notices this, "You like her?" she asked. "Yeah… wait, what?"
"Heh! I knew it… You like strong women!" Maliza smiles. "Okay, first of all, I just met you and second, who I like is none of your business." Johnny walks away but she blocks him and gets in his face with her hands behind her back. "Eh!?" Johnny leans back away from her face and Maliza takes off his sunglasses. "If you wanna win a woman's heart, you need to be more manly than childish. Women don't just fall for looks and fame status. They love confidence." She takes his hand and puts his sunglasses in his palm.
Maliza walks past him but then stops and looks over her shoulder, "You know… Raiden sees something in you. I guess you just don't see it." She continues walking away, leaving Johnny Cage alone on the bridge.
Sonya has found her way into an underground location on the island. She creeps around cautiously until… "Hey."
"Shit!!" Sonya yells out when Maliza approaches her from behind. She turns towards her, "What the fu*k!? You can't just sn- Ugh!" Sonya holds her hand in pain as she hisses.
"Oh, you're hurt." Maliza says when she notices the burned cut on Sonya's hand. "No, I'm fine. It's ju-Huh!?" Sonya tried to act as if it didn't hurt until Maliza suddenly took her hand. She places her thumb onto her wound which makes Sonya hiss in pain at first but then pain suddenly fades when Maliza uses her healing power to heal her.
"Kid… how are yo-?" Sonya was very surprised about this until Maliza suddenly stopped. "Can I ask you something?"
"W-what is it?" When Sonya asked, Maliza blinked once and her eyes suddenly glowed into a Magenta color. "Are you afraid of me?" she asked.
Sonya is a little uneasy at first when she sees her Magenta eyes but then responds, "N-no… Kid, you just saved me from Kano, why would I be afra-?"
"Can you please stop calling me that!" Maliza interjects and lets go of Sonya's hand. "I'm 19! Why does everyone keep calling me that!?"
Maliza scolds and Sonya looks at her confused, "Wait. You're 19?... That's… kinda weird. I mean… you sure don't look like a 19 year old." Maliza frowns when Sonya says this.
"Ugh, whatever… let's just go look for whoever it was you were looking for on this… island." She grunts.
As the two continue onward, they walk into what appears to be a prison or a lair. Rotting bodies stripped off their flesh hang off rusty meathooks. "Uhh… I'm gonna be sick…" Maliza said as she slightly gags at the sight. One of the iron barred cells they come across contains Jackson Briggs. He looks like he's been severely beaten during his incarceration.
"Oh my God. What did they do to you?" Sonya worryingly asks.
"Run, girl, run…"
He tries to warn them but when Maliza turns around, she sees Shang Tsung walk into the prison with two masked guards flanking him. "Uh… Sonya…" She taps Sonya's shoulder and she turns to face them.
"Miss Blade! You do not disappoint. I have been expecting you." Said Shang Tsung.
Sonya: "Let him go! We're not part of your tournament!"
Shang Tsung: "On the contrary, you are very much a kontestant. You will face Sub-Zero, of the Lin Kuei clan of assassins."
Ice begins to materialize in the prison, taking the form of a man. The ice shatters to present Sub-Zero. He assumes a fighting stance and Sonya walks toward him. "Now you will feel death's cold embrace." He said. Sonya was about to fight him but Maliza pulls her arm, "Hold on, I thought this was a martial tournament…"
"It is. Just… not as friendly as you think it is. Now stay back, ki-" Sonya stops when she remembers when Maliza complained about her calling her kid. "Uh… I didn't really get your name…" She said, Maliza lets go of her arm, "My name is Maliza."
"Alright… Thanks, Maliza."
Sonya then walks towards Sub-Zero, "Alright! You wanna fight, come on then!"
They fight. Even against his powers of ice, Sonya manages to fend off the merciless assassin and beat him unconscious. After defeating Sub-Zero, she then addresses Shang Tsung. "Done! We're leaving!"
Raiden suddenly appears in a flash of lightning as Shang Tsung moves forward. "Stand in my way and I'll kick your a-"
Maliza tries to stop her, "Wait, Sonya… His not-"
"A challenge?" Said Shang Tsung. Raiden suddenly gasps. In his mind, he sees a flashback of Liu Kang defeating Shang Tsung with a flying kick. He promptly gets between the two of them. "No. You will not be the one to challenge Shang Tsung."
Sonya misinterprets this as Raiden trying to protect the sorcerer. "You want some too? Fine by me!"
They fight. Showing her tenacity and taking advantage of Raiden's reluctance to fight, Sonya aggressively takes it to the God of Thunder and knocks him down.
"Enough of this!" She said, She grabs Raiden by the shirt and prepares to punch him again but Maliza stops her, "Sonya, stop! His not-"
"Shield your eyes."
Maliza and Sonya both look at Raiden when he speaks.
"What?"
"Shield your eyes." His eyes start crackling with electricity. A blinding flash envelopes the surrounding area. Sonya and Maliza manage to get one arm in front of their faces. Shang Tsung and the guards aren't so lucky. With them blinded, Sonya destroys the bars on Jax's cell with her wave energy blast. She supports Jax as best as she can. "Jax, come on! We're outta here!"
"'Bout time…" Said Jax.
"C'mon, I know a quick way outta here. Follow me." Maliza says as she leads the way. As Raiden picks himself up, the masked guards take off after them. Shang Tsung looks over at Raiden. "You aided their escape." Said Shang Tsung.
Raiden replied, "You allowed them to escape."
"They will not get far."
Tsung walks off. As the three escape into a forest, Maliza looks back and sees Sonya struggling to keep Jax moving. "Come on Jax! Move it! That's an order!" Said Sonya.
"Oh... so you're in charge now?"
She speaks into her wrist communicator, "Special Forces Command, this is Sonya Blade! Where's that evac?"
"Blade, they are en-route... coming to you shortly…"
Sonya responds, "Affirmative! Almost home, soldier."
"Sit down, you're definitely gonna need medical attention after this…" Maliza says as she helps Jax.
"Thanks for the help, Maliza. I never would've rescued Jax without you." Said Sonya.
Maliza then looks at Sonya, "That's… the first and nicest thing anyones ever said to me."
Suddenly, the two women seen at Shang Tsung's side the day previous approach them from the forest. "By order of Shang Tsung, no one leaves this island." Said Kitana.
Sonya looks over her shoulder, "Stay with Jax, I got this."
She then steps forward, "We don't have time for this. Outta my way!"
Meanwhile…
Malisha
"What the? What is all this?"
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I looked into my brother's nightstand drawer and was shocked when I found something I wasn't supposed to see. Three plastic pouches of white powder, along with a stack of unused syringes and a strange mini box was found inside. Not only that, but I also found a video camera and a strange card with it.
Even though I was shocked by what I saw, my curiosity got the best of me. I took the weird mini box that was next to the unused syringes and examined.
"This weird symbol… Why would Kai keep this?" I thought.
I opened the lid of the box and looked inside, only to find a strange packet inside. I took it out and fiddled with it. I felt a thick ring-like shape outside the packet and it felt squishy and rubbery. I didn't want to open the packet because even though I was curious, it wasn't mine.
I put it back inside the box and placed the box back into the drawer. The next thing that caught my attention was the camera.
I took the camera and examined it. "Geez, I never knew Kai had this…"
I opened the screen lid of the camera and tried to turn it on but the battery was flat.
"Ugh… the battery is empty." I sighed.
I got up and closed the drawer, "I really wish there's a charger for this thing."
I went to my room and searched for a charging cable for the camera until my phone on my nightstand started ringing.
I put the camera down and picked up my phone. "Why is Ava calling at this time?" I thought when I saw on the screen that Ava was calling me.
_______________
Me: "Ava?"
Ava: "Malisha…"
Me: "Why are you calling me at this ti-"
Ava: "I need you here. Can you please come over… I- I can't…"
Me: "Ava?... Are you okay!? Ava!"
_______________
The call abruptly ends.
"Something's wrong with Ava… I better get dressed and go over there. Guess this camera is gonna have to wait."
I immediately got dressed and got out of the house. As I ran down the street, I started getting this weird feeling as if I was being watched but I kept going.
Ava's home wasn't that far away from me so I was able to catch the last bus in time.
As I sat down on the front seat, I took out my phone and started texting Ava.
_______________
"Hey, are you okay? Just hang on, I'm on my way…"
…
…
…
"Malisha, the tub just got bigger… I don't understand…"
"Just hang on, I'll be there soon."
_______________
A few minutes later, I got up as the bus slowed down near Ava's home.
"This is my stop! Thank you." I said to the driver as I placed a coin in the coin slot and got off the bus. I went up to the front door and noticed the door was left open. I pushed the door open and no one was in the house. Not even the housemaid.
"Ava!" I called out but no answer. I went up the stairs and I could hear the sound of water coming from the bathroom down the hallway. I slowly approached the door and turned the knob. When I opened the door, I saw Ava inside the tub with a towel on and the shower was still running. She was hugging her legs and her body was shivering, almost as if she was terrified by something. "Ava…" I turned off the shower and tried consulting her but her skin felt so hot from the hot water that came from the shower.
"Ava… are you okay?..." I asked but when I touched her shoulder, she started blinking and then looked up at me. "Malisha?... wha-? Where… Malisha? What are you doing here?" She asked.
"What do you mean? You called me. You said you were seeing things."
"D-did I…? Uhh…" Ava tries to get up but I could tell, her legs were too weak to stand up. "Heh, you're burning up. I guess you were probably sitting in the tub for too long. C'mon…" I held Ava up as she slowly got out of the tub but she then fell onto her knees when she took one step forward. "Ah geez… Guess I'm gonna have to carry you to your room, huh…"
An Hour Later…
As I sat next to Ava as she rested, my thoughts then went back to the moment I found my brother's stuff in that drawer. "Geez, I still can't believe I'm still thinking about what I saw." I thought. But I remembered the syringes and the white plastic pouches that were in there, along with the weird packet that I found in that mini box. "Is Kai… doing stuff he isn't supposed to be doing?" I was worried at the thought.
"Malisha…"
I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Ava's voice. "Wh-what happened?" She asked.
"You were sitting in the tub. You looked… scared." I said and Ava slowly sat up. "... I must've had another panic attack again."
"Wait?... Panic attack…" I asked and she nodded slightly. I was… surprised by this because Ava never told me about her having panic attacks.
"Why didn't you-"
"It all started when… My mom attacked me. That night… on my birthday… that's when it started." Ava started fiddling with her fingers as she spoke.
"Why didn't you say this before? I should've…" I stopped when I noticed Ava looking at me with a concerned look. "I didn't want you to worry. I mean, you don't have full control of your powers yet so what if you lose control?"
I frowned, "Are you serious, Ava? You're losing control of your own sanity and you didn't even tell me about it."
"Because your powers almost got my mom killed. I didn't want to make it worse by telling you that my mental health was deteriorating from panic attacks." Ava argued.
"Then why would you stay with me even after what I did? Are… are you… afraid of me? Is that why you won't tell me what's going on with you?"
Honestly, I didn't think that me and Ava would have our first argument like this. The fact that Ava was mentally sick and didn't even tell me about it… it bothered me.
"No… I just… I just don't know what is going on with me. Everything feels like a dream, my parents are in hospital and I'm the only one who has to suck it up and pretend everything is fine…" She said,
Worry began to flood my mind when I saw her lips tremble. Deep down, I knew she was trying to hold back her trauma to try and help me keep control of my powers. I placed my hand on hers,"You don't have to always put my feelings first… you're just too fragile to handle this on your own."
Ava's face saddens, "I know… I just… I just want this nightmare to be over."
A part of me felt that if Ava was having panic attacks then it's possible that she might have them again. Even in school. So that's when I made a decision that might be helpful to keeping my friend safe and sane.
"Then let me stay for two months…"
"Wait… what? Two months?" Ava looked very surprised by my request. "I mean, your parents are not gonna be home for a while so… just let me stay with you until then." I said.
"But Malisha, what about your-"
I interjected, "If my siblings come back from wherever they are, I'll leave a note or I'll send a message if Shaina or Kai text me about where I am."
Suddenly, Ava's phone vibrates but she is hesitant to answer. "Are you gonna pick that up?" I asked and Ava picked up her phone. For a few moments after looking through her phone, she suddenly covers her mouth in shock. "What? What is it?"
She puts her phone in front of me and shows me an online post of someone mocking Ava and her parents on social media.
"What in diamonds' name is this?" I was upset by what I saw but when I saw the user's name, I knew exactly who it was. "Jamie…" I grunted.
"I can't believe this… My parents are in hospital and she has the nerve to post something like this on her social media page." Ava said as she slowly started crying. Seeing her like this really made me mad about the whole situation which just got ten times worse because of that post.
"When we get to school, we're gonna have to report it." I said as I comforted Ava.
Even though I tried my hardest to stay calm about this, I couldn't. The fact that Jamie posted something personal about Ava and her parents on the internet and mocked them to the whole world really made me mad.
Honestly, if Shaina and Kai were with me, things would have been easy but… I'm on my own. Meaning I'm gonna have to deal with these problems somehow.
To Be Continued…