Flashback- Rescue

Flashback- Five years ago near Californa

Cassie initiated a call and put it to her ear as she paced towards her break room. Once she knew the call had been picked up, she greeted

"Hey! Jacqui? I got a favor to ask of you."

"What's up Cassie, you sound worried."

"Worried is only half of it."

Cassie then proceeded to tell her best friend everything from the messages, to the horrific pictures, not in so much detail, to the small amount of help she could muster to get from her mother.

"Please Jacqui, I need your help…"

"Cassie, I owe Alex a favor anyway, from two months ago when he had that premonition that saved you and I from the Blood Oath. Dude saved me from some PTSD I did not need."

"Is that a…"

"It's hell yes. Cass, this will sound weird, but did you check in with Kano? Weird as it is but that guy does care deeply for Alex. He's probably having a heart attack right now wondering where Alex is."

Cassie frowned; she had considered asking Kano for help, but she had not been sure of his reaction to see Alex in such a state but the man was Alex's guardian and deserved to know, and perhaps he could help more than her mother could have.

"I hadn't yet."

"You should. Go to him and see what happens and let me know. Keep me updated, we can meet up later."

"Okay."

After a quick goodbye, Cassie hung up before she sighs as she thinks how to approach Kano and tell him that Alex had been captured. She wasn't sure before her feet had led her away from the base back out into the open and into someone.

"Oooph. Sorry."

"Eh, no worries Luv."

Cassie looks up to see Kano, worry clear on his face. She asks him

"Looking for Alex?"

"Yah. He didn't report for a mission and that is very unlike him. He's always on time if not early for missions. Alex ain't like that. Came over here to look for him, see how he is. Got this bugger on me."

Kano points at an armed security officer behind him escorting the Black Dragon member around the Special Forces base. Cassie clears her throat, thinking how to properly talk to Kano, of all people, about their predicament. The situation was grave enough, but this is Kano in front of her. As the tall, muscular Australian eyed her down, Cassie had to make up her mind.

"We need to talk."

Cassie gave clearance to Kano's escorting officer, who in turn saluted and walked away. Kano lightly chuckled as she turned to face Cassie, who remained stone-faced. Kano furrowed his brow and quickly noticed that this isn't like her. Even in tough situations, she's usually doing what she could to make light of it all. But this is much different. Kano deeply inhaled and inquired

"Alex is in trouble, ain't he?"

Though she withheld certain details from her friend Jacqui, Cassie knew that as Alex's guardian, Kano had to know everything. After some minutes of debriefing, Kano grimaced, but deeply exhaled and spoke

"Let's go. Now."

Kano moved past Cassie and headed towards the garage where Cassie had planned to assign infil and exfil, using land vehicles to maintain as less visibility as possible. Cassie phoned Jacqui to rendezvous with her and Kano to the garage, packing up numerous weapons and communication devices. Though Cassie felt her spirits lifted by her best friend and one of the best people for the job having her back, her mind was clouded by the darkest of scenarios for Alex. She wanted him back home safely, in her arms, but for the first time since joining the Special Forces, she was scared. She knew how tough Alex is, but even then, the pictures flashed in her mind so vividly and she can't help thinking they'd all go through the trouble just to come upon Alex dead. No. That is not true. That will not happen. Alex will come back to her.

Hours passed as Cassie, Kano, and Jacqui drove through the terrain of the Sierra Nevada mountains when they came upon a large, metal bunker stuck deep into a carved crevice in the wall. The door was lit by surrounding torches that dimly lit a large beastly insignia, one which Kano despised -- the mark of the Red Dragon. Despite Kano's protests to go in guns blazing, the other two smartly opted to infiltrate by stealth. Rescuing Alex is a simple extraction after all. Cassie kept herself calm and collected as she used a GPS sensor to track the burner phone the Red Dragon seemingly forgot to throw away. The location pinpointed deep into the bunker and higher up the mountainside, avoiding tripping any alarms and being sighted by patrolling Red Dragon clan members. Surprisingly Kano kept his cool and didn't kill any they came across. The GPS tracker brought them upon a locked metal door with no windows or slits, the coordinates of the burner phone right behind the door. Kano lasered the lock off and kicked the door down.

There he was, as the pictures sent to Cassie showed; Alex's arms tied above his head, scarred, bloodied, stripped naked, his legs tied and spread apart to give a good look at his exposed genitals. The room was nearly pitch black except for where Alex stood. Tearing up, Cassie, extremely relieved to see him, rushed over and began untying and breaking off Alex's bonds while Kano slowly caught up, and Jacqui on the lookout outside. Kano stopped in his tracks when his metal eye began beeping, as the room suddenly lit up, exposing a squad of eight Red Dragon clan members armed with weapons, some with guns pointed at Cassie, Alex, and Kano.

Two of them stepped forward to confront Cassie and Kano. One, pale, wearing a long, red scarf around his neck and face, who looked rather young, with a chain whip, similar to Grandmaster Hanzo's kunai, and wearing light metal armor over classic shinobi attire twirled his weapon tauntingly at Cassie, forcing her to step back away from Alex. The other, a dark-complexioned woman wearing a skin-tight black bodysuit outfitted with wrappers and built-in padding, conjured blue fire and concentrated into daggers, pointing one into Alex's neck. Two other armed guards step closer towards Kano, stripping him of his bowie knives. Kano grunted and remarked

"Jed...Maya...had to be you two fuckers, eh?"

Kano spoke to Cassie

"These two had a run-in with Alex a short while after he started as a Black Dragon. They almost killed him, but he managed to kill Maya's girl and get away. Seems like you two ain't forget, huh?"

"Shut the fuck up, one eye, before I take that other eye of yours!"

Maya retorted. She turned to Cassie, who was being restrained by Jed, and taunted

"And you, you fucking bitch! That freak Alex killed my beloved, so I'm going to kill you in front of him! AS for Kano's, he's coming with us. Daegon's got some words for him."

Maya nodded to Jed, who returned the gesture and gave the order for the armed guards to execute Cassie. The Red Dragon guards cocked their guns and took aim at Cassie, Alex limping himself in front of her.

A flashbang was thrown in and blinded everyone with a large, stunning flash of white. Jacqui rushed in and shot the two guards who had taken aim at Cassie. Kano took advantage of the confusion and elbowed both of the guards who had surrounded him. He grabbed one of his knives off the groggy guard and proceeded to stab him in the guts. Using the same knife, Kano whipped around and threw it into the other guard's face, killing him. The last of the two guards swung their blades towards Jacqui, who was able to dodge each attack. Jacqui parried a few other sword swings before pushing her left gauntlet into the mouth of one of the guards and letting loose a shotgun-type blast that exploded the man's head into pieces. The other guard grunted as he lunged with a stab at Jacqui's abdomen, who deflected the sword aside with her right gauntlet and shot again, killing the last of the henchmen.

Cassie and Alex watched as Jed left them and began fighting Kano, wielding his chain whip in a manner that nearly echoed Hanzo Hasashi's technique. Jed whipped his chain in circular patterns in an impressive manner, to which Kano effortless dodge rolled out of the way. Jed swung the knife end back and kicked it towards Kano, which embedded itself into Kano's chest. Jed smirked under his mask as he pulled it back, pulling Kano towards the Red Dragon shinobi's flying fist, flooring the Black Dragon. Jacqui ran in to assist Kano, but despite the numbers game, Jed was able to keep Jacqui at bay, deflecting Jacqui's gauntlet bullets while quickly twirling his chain whip around until Jacqui ran out of ammunition. Jacqui huffed as she readied a kickboxing stance and steadily ducked and weaved around Jed's chain whip swings. Jed retracts his whip and wraps it around his right forearm, catching the knife at the end in his hand to use as a dagger. Jed and Jacqui exchange blows, blocks, and counters until Jed landed a twisting elbow into Jacqui's nose, sending her staggering. Jed grabs Jacqui's wrist and twists her around into a crushing wristlock lariat, sending the Special Forces member flat onto her back, knocked out.

At the same time, Maya engulfed her fists in flames as she stalked Cassie and Alex. Even with her hands tied, Cassie was struggling to keep Alex on his feet as Maya instantly rushed the two. Cassie dodged effortlessly, actively avoiding suffering any serious burns from Maya's blue flames. Cassie threw a kick into Maya's kneecap, following it up with a knee into her jaw as she bent over. Maya shouted expletives as she was sent reeling. She growled as she grew the flames larger and threw a ring of fire towards Cassie, who used the flames to burn the ropes that tied her hands together, but unfortunately injured her hands severely in the process. Cassie screamed in pain as she waved her hands to take the heat off. Alex growled as he desperately tried to keep himself standing by leaning against a nearby wall. Maya lunged forward with a kick at Cassie, who countered by sweeping the Red Dragon pyrokinetic off her feet. Further angered, Maya sat up and threw a focused fire blast that knocked Cassie into the cavern walls, knocking her unconscious. Maya conjured a concentrated blade of fire and stepped towards a fallen Cassie, intent on killing her as she flashed a devious smile at Alex, still kneeling in pain. Maya turned her attention back to Cassie, who placed her heel on Cassie's neck, slowly applying pressure. Cassie quietly groaned as she opened her eyes to see Maya standing over her and she desperately tried to remove Maya's heel off her neck.

"Say goodbye, you bi--"

Maya was struck behind and slammed into the cavern walls by Alex, overcome by adrenaline and a sense of rage. The tall Outworlder grabbed Maya by the head and neck and repeatedly bashed her head against the wall. Maya screamed in pain as Alex stopped and held her in a chokehold and held her until she stopped moving, killing her.. Alex flung her body off to the side and relented when he knelt down beside Cassie. He gently shook her shoulders, brushing her hair out of her face to get a clear view of his angel on the battlefield. She came to, and Alex teared up, quickly embracing her. She groaned, still in pain, but returned the full embrace. A voice interrupted

"You're mine now, you freak!"

Alex was hit in the shoulder with Jed's chain knife and yanked towards a bloodied, yet standing Jed. Kano and Jacqui lay knocked behind the Red Dragon shinobi. Alex fell onto his knees in front of Jed as he reeled his chain whip around his arm and raised it above his head.

"For Maya. Her girl. And for the Red Dragon!"

"Eat my shit!"

Cassie lunged forward and tackled Jed off his feet. Cassie and Jed for control of the chain knife. Though Cassie was still injured, she managed enough strength for Alex to get on his feet. Jed elbowed Cassie off of him and uppercutted her, much to Alex's anger. The Black Dragon teenager stomped towards Jed; the mere sight of a bare naked, seven-foot muscular brute charging at him had suddenly stopped Jed from reacting as for once in his life, he felt genuine fear. Jed was snapped out of his trance when Alex threw a massive right haymaker in Jed's face, severely unhinging his jaw and sending him sprawling several yards away. Alex knelt down as the adrenaline began to wear off, heavily breathing to calm his heart rate. Cassie caught up to Alex, putting her hand on his head and running her fingers through his bloody, greasy raven black hair. Kano and Jacqui had also come to by then. Jacqui and Cassie put their arms around one another and Kano helped Alex to his feet and gave him a punch on the arm. Kano, wiping blood off of his mouth, simply uttered

"Right, lovebirds, let's get outta here before more of them show up, huh? And Alex... we got you a set of clothes. Can't have you return home with your cock out, don't we?"