Mortal Kombat: In the Dark

In the Dark Days

(October 8, 1992)

"Lieutenant Blade, do you have a minute?"

It's 7:29 in the morning—way too early for conversations.

"Not right now, I'm busy." I told him. I could tell he didn't take it well. He is a rookie here after all. "I'm sorry. It's just that I don't really have as much time on my hands as I usually would. Papers are steady piling in my office. Being a lieutenant is a lot different from what I thought." I realize that my excuses aren't making it any better.

"I understand. I actually forgot about your promotion." He put on a faint smile even though I could still tell how disappointed he was.

"How about this, when I return from the meeting, we can talk." I suggested. He didn't show it, but I know he appreciated the thought of it.

"That'll work. Conversation with Sonya after the meeting." He said.

"You'll get five minutes only. And that's Lieutenant to you, rook. I'm on the clock." After he understood the message, he gave me a salute and continued his work.

I know it might seem like something mean to tell a person, but I run my shifts military. I know how important discipline is, especially when your life is very well on the line. This is something that I understood quite early on after I got set up by Kano. That's why this meeting is so important to me. Today, we're going to finish this operation.

I entered the SFCC meeting room. It seems that I'm much earlier than the other members. "I can't believe they really have me here this early and they're late." I said to myself. Someone tries to catch my attention by fanning me their way. I recognized who he was and headed in his direction.

"So...did everyone learn how to turn into ghosts or is the place just empty." I asked sarcastically, though I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

"If that was a joke, you're going to need to improve that skill." That sarcastic, and personally rude, remark came from a young man named Kabal. We know him as an ex-Black Dragon member. He was one of the people we were set on tracking long ago, but he turned his life around in order to carry out the very task that Kano was using to set us up. Unlike Kano, however, he has actually been clearing out some of their hideouts alone and has shown better results than most.

"I hate to admit it Sonya, but your monotone speech took the humor away from it." And that sarcastic crap came from none other than Jackson Briggs himself. I can only describe him as lucky. It's a better description than you think. While I went up in rank just a month ago, he moved up from sergeant to major just a week later. Not only did he skip lieutenant, he also became my superior after all the years of me being his superior. If it wasn't for our long-term friendship, I would have made sure he got demoted to a cop.

"Laugh it up, guys." I said dryly. I hate to admit it, but after hearing myself just now, I realized he was right. "Anyway, why is the meeting starting so late? And where is everyone else?

"For whatever reason, Fang is late." Jax explained.

"Hasn't he been in the office since it opened up this morning?"

"He hasn't been heard from since yesterday evening. Neither have your previous unit." Kabal debriefed.

"Then I'm assuming a search party was sent for him?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago. It only takes seven minutes to get to his house and 15 minutes to get to Central Station." Kabal responded.

"Wouldn't they notice that something is off about this? Not only is he four hours late, but he isn't here for the most important meeting in history." I added. I have a very bad feeling about this, but they all seem content on the situation.