#mk echo

Tagged By: @chadillacboseman & @meatgrinderminefield 💕

All Alora wanted was one night to herself, to have a sense of peace away from her hectic lifestyle. She wanted to be away from her peers, away from that god forsaken base, and from the latest thorn in her side: Jesse Waylon fucking Geller. Lately he had been showing up more and more at the Black Dragon base, Kano contracting Red Claw for a different type of business. Needless to say that Jesse’s persistent and obnoxious personality was a complete 180 from that Mitchell fellow she met two weeks prior.

She had gone to some shady bar, one that normally favored members of the Black Dragon and other mercenaries since they would usually bring fair business. It was almost an unspoken rule that the different factions kept to themselves, yet instead here she was, white knuckling her beer bottle as some greasy creep kept insisting on talking to her. She told him to leave her the fuck alone— exactly like that, but he persisted and even slid into the barstool next to hers.

“Fucking hell, you look rough. Like it though...” Is what he told her when he caught the first glimpse of her scarred face. That’s when Alora had verbally cursed him, annoyance crystal clear in her tone and had demanded for him to move.

He didn’t, five beers too far in to make a single coherent thought. Alora was ready to just give up and leave, far too drained and irritated to properly deal with the man and sort him straight. She downed the rest of her beer (her first one), placed money on the table and hopped off the stool without so much as a glance to the guy.

“Hey! Not done talking—“

It was instant when she swung around and clocked her fist into his jaw, blood and a few teeth flying out and skittering across the floor because he decided he didn’t need any when his hand came to slap against her backside. His cry of agony silenced the bar, the other patrons murmuring at the scene that was beginning to unfold. Fights were normal on this side of town, it was rare when something didn’t break out. He stumbled off the seat, using another one to keep himself upright.

“You fucking bi—!”

He was silenced again when her same hand shot out and whacked him on the nose, knocking him clean off his feet. He crashed to the floor, colliding into a few other bar goers as they barely cushioned his fall. Alora stepped closer, ready to execute another hit when the man put his hands up, waving and shaking them for mercy. Alora scoffed and rolled her eyes, prepared to finally leave when of course he had to open his mouth again. She didn’t quite catch what he said, just knowing that it was some other bullshit.

She grabbed her empty beer bottle off the countertop, the man’s eyes widening in fear when he saw her rear her arm back. He screamed when it came smashing down right next to his head, amber glass exploding into a million tiny shards and sinking into his skin.

He howled in pain and Alora sucked her teeth, muttering a ‘sorry’ to the bartender and dropping a few more bills for damages.

That was yesterday night.

Today, in the late afternoon, she’s sitting at the base’s bar and idly chatting with Kate and Billie. It’s an ordinary conversation, when Danny and Kano walk in with the latter looking positively peeved off. Alora briefly spares them a glance, opening her mouth to reply to Billie when Danny slides into the seat next to her, giving one of his infamous charming smiles before making it tight lipped and turning to talk to Billie who was sitting behind the bar.

“Whiskey, Kano Jr. I need it.” He muses, Billie giving him a look and rolling her eyes.

“Do I look like I’m ol’ enough to be servin’?” She retorts, downing the rest of her soda before hopping off her barstool anyway to reach under the counter and grab a bottle of whiskey. As she’s pouring it, Alora can’t help but notice Kano in the background, angrily talking about something to Alex and Kabal who were in the middle of a pool game. Their expressions shift from confusion to bewilderment as they listen to Kano talk, Alora unfortunately a bit too far away to catch exactly what he was spewing on about.

She’s brought back when Danny clicks his tongue, putting her attention back on Billie who just finished licking the rim of his glass and handing it off to him. Danny inspects his cup and wipes it off with a napkin before taking a huge sip, looking at Billie with a raised eyebrow before he brings the drink away with a sound of satisfaction.

“Keep that bottle out, Mini Me. Gonna need it with the way this deal got botched.”

That makes Alora’s curiosity pique, trailing her gaze from Danny’s glass to his face. He catches her stare and takes it as a sign to continue. With a heavy sigh he leans back, stretching and lifting his glasses to rub at his tired green eyes.

“Prick didn’t show up. Turns out the muppet got his ass handed to him at the bar last night….”

It’s a slow creep that starts in her heart and spreads throughout her body. The hair on the back of her neck prickles and Alora starts wondering if there was some sort of off chance that there was another guy who got beat at the exact same time.

“How’d you figure that?” Billie asks while Alora starts to twirl the straw in her own cup lazily, using her finger to have it circle around the rim. She’s keeping calm, staying silent to determine if she’s royally fucked or not.

“Well for starters, mate has the gall to send Kano a picture of him in the hospital. Absolutely beaten to shit.” Danny huffs and takes another sip, a slight grimace on his features as he places the cup back down. Alora feels a skip in her heart, simply giving a quirk of her eyebrows as her gaze drifts behind the Brit and back to her boss. She can see Kabal doing his best to talk Kano down, Alex giving his own input here and there. Kano shakes his head, a flash of disgust crossing his face before he leaves the pool table with a wave of his hand and heads towards the bar.

“What was the deal?” Kate pipes up, appearing from Alora’s right and leaning onto the countertop to look at Danny. He sighs, a bit dramatically, and looks to Kate with a small pout on his lips. Kano’s grumbling to himself when he reaches them, giving Billie a small head pat before ducking under the counter to reach for a bottle.

“Well darling—“ another sigh, “Dear ol’ boss managed to snag me some precious material from Outworld. I’ve been wanting to try and experiment for some new tech but,” He shrugs, downing the remainder of his whiskey before slamming the cup down and sliding it towards Billie. She makes a face a him, unscrewing the bottle and ready to pour when Kano grabs it from her.

Silently he serves himself, filling his cup to the brim before going to the tech heads, a ping ringing off his phone as he starts to tilt. He unlocks his phone with one hand, still tilting the bottle.

“Anyway, not to worry love. Kano and I are already making plans to reschedule. Isn’t that right?”

But Kano doesn’t hear him, a sudden hard gaze on his features as he glares at his phone. Faintly Alora can hear something playing from the device, wondering what exactly has him looking ready to pop his own head off. His hand seems frozen in midair, whiskey still streaming out and eventually filling Danny’s glass. It topples over the sides, a slow puddle forming at the base of the cup.

“Uh…”

“Da’? What’s—“ Billie is cut off when her father’s hand crushes the neck of bottle, glass raining down and into Danny’s cup and all over the countertop. Kate and Billie jump back, while Danny and Alora’s eyes widen. Shards crunch in Kano’s palm and when Alora flicks her attention from that to Kano, her stomach twists when she sees him already staring at her.

“Didn’t like this shirt anyway.” Danny remarks sarcastically, pushing back from the bar to avoid getting more whiskey all over him. He gets off the stool and makes way to the bathroom to clean up.

From her peripheral she can see Alex and Kabal stop their game, attention now pointed towards the scene. She can feel the tension radiating off of Kate, her fingers gingerly brushing against Alora’s hand from under the countertop. Alora’s pinky barely raises in return, not daring to break the eye contact with Kano.

Ever so slowly Kano lowers his phone and slides it towards Alora, whatever he was watching still playing over and over on a loop. She doesn’t have to look down to know what the video is, the sounds of glass breaking and various gasps still fresh in mind from yesterday.

“Look. At the fucking. Phone.” He growls through clenched teeth, his hand that was holding the bottle finally releasing and shaking out whatever bits of glass had embedded into his skin. He ignores the stings, waiting for Alora to clarify so he can proceed with what to do next.

Alex and Kabal made their way towards them with Danny trailing not too far behind, looking down at his shirt and muttering to himself. Kabal reaches in between Alora and Kano to grab the phone to tilt it so he could see what exactly has Kano’s panties in a twist. He hisses through his teeth, Alex looming behind to catch a glimpse as well. Immediately his eyes snap up to his friend and boss, mouth open and ready to intervene.

“This was you?” Kano asks, venom laced in his voice as he waits for Alora’s answer. She stares back at him, keeping her gaze on his but not ignoring the way his nails started to leave faint indents in the wood of the bar. She feels Kate’s touch again, the brief contact doing little ease the anxiety piling in Alora.

“Kano, come on she didn’t—“

“Shut the fuck up Demir!” Kano barks and smacks Danny’s overfilled cup off the countertop without looking, sending it crashing into who knows what. It shatters with whiskey splashing everywhere, a sharp inhale of breath sounding from Kate’s lips. Kano points his finger at Alora, nostrils flaring as he asks the question again.

“Was. This. You.” It’s repeated with malice, his thick eyebrows knitted together so tight that if the situation wasn’t so serious then Alora might have cracked a smile.

She runs her tongue over her teeth, keeping her expression as neutral as possible.

“I didn’t know.” She finally answes, not a quiver in her tone or a tremble in her body, even knowing that there’s no point in trying to explain the situation to him. She can see the muscles jumping in his jaw and Alora knows she has very little time to diffuse the bomb that is Kano of The Black Dragon.

His eyes narrow, his palms giving two firm taps to the top of the bar before he shrugs.

“Din’t know, eh?” His lips purse a bit, coming around the counter to the other side with his boots crunching over broken glass. He leaves a small trail of wet whiskey footprints as he stops in front of Alora.

Thick couldn’t even begin to describe the tension in the room. Her eyes remain on him, expression stoic as gauges how to proceed. It felt like a heavy weight was sitting on her chest, ready to crush and pin her body to the ground.

Alora makes the mistake of briefly breaking eye contact to look at Billie, who was doing her best to sneak away unnoticed and leave the room— most likely to find and grab her mother.

Whack!

Pain immediately forms on the right side of Alora’s jaw, stars and colors dancing in her vision as she’s slightly knocked off balance and stumbles off her seat. Kano sends a kick to the center of her back, propelling her forward and almost to her knees.

“Go on get up then! Since you like to fuck up strangers! Get up!”

Another hit right to the mouth, so excruciating that Alora’s vision goes blurry for just a moment. She falls to her side, blood dripping past her lips in a steady flow. She sees Kano approaching fast, fury etched in his face as he rears his leg back to kick her in the stomach.

Alora counters and grabs onto him just in time, gritting her teeth and swinging him around to send him tumbling away from her. The Aussie rolls into it, quickly standing up and grunting as he reaches out towards her again.

“Do you have any fuckin’ idea how important this deal was? Huh?! Do ya?!”

Alora finally gets to her feet and sends a devastating punch towards his chest, Kano shifting off to the side at the last second so that her fist scrapes alongside his cybernetic heart. He fists her braids, pulling her hair back to hit her square in the face. She can feel her nose crack from the impact, involuntary tears springing to her eyes and grunting as crimson gushes out. He strikes her again in the same spot, blood shooting into the back of her throat and causing Alora to gag and sputter out flecks of red. It stains Kano, painting his skin and bandolier.

Faintly she can hear Kate screaming and pleading for Kano to stop, Alex having to hold her back in his arms so she doesn’t get caught up in the fight either. Danny stands near her, ready to grab and hold on as well while Kabal catches Erron and Echo up to speed. Echo’s eyes widen a fraction at the scene, standing close to Erron as she watches the fight.

“You absolute dumb fuckin’—“ Kano roars.

Before he can get in a third hit, Alora catches his hand and crushes it in her own, pushing back against him to create some distance. The Aussie grits his teeth and knocks his head into her, Alora actually feeling as if she was about to black out from how hazy her vision got.

Suddenly she feels 16 all over again, fighting endlessly in the Koliseum to reach the end for something that was never going to be hers in the first place. Breaking bones, tearing muscles, ripping through flesh like melted butter all for nothing.

All because she made one mistake.

“Kano stop you’ll kill her! She’s had enough!” Kate begs, squirming in Alex’s hold to get free.

“No,” He says, spitting off to the side. “She can take it. Ain’t tha’ right, love?”

He takes Alora’s right arm and twists it behind her back, yanking it so incredibly tight and hard against her that she can feel something threaten to pop. Her scream is one of pure anguish, coming out hoarse and broken, resonating throughout the bar. The tears that were holding on finally fall free, streaming down her cheeks and leaving wet trails into the blood that was smeared across her skin.

Alora’s so frazzled right now that she can’t properly think straight, too focused on the searing pain of her arm and hacking up the blood that keeps getting lodged in her throat. She clenches her teeth and rears her head back to knock into Kano, his hold faltering but not enough for her to slip free.

Fight back. Stop being scared and fight back.

So she does it again, even stomping on his foot and using her free arm to reach behind her to his face. The angle is extremely awkward since it’s her left, but she finds the edge of his cybernetic eye plate, her nails wasting no time in piercing the into the delicate flesh that surrounds it. Kano roars in pain, holding on for just a few seconds before he finally lets go and shoves her away. He swipes his fingers across where she had her nails, grunting when his tips show dark red.

“Fuckin’ bitch!” In a fit of rage he shoots his laser out to her, not taking the time to properly aim. It doesn’t hit her anywhere critical but it does land on the shoulder of the arm he just potentially fractured. The smell of burning flesh hits Alora’s nose, making her gag at how it infiltrates her senses. She can hear Kano’s boots getting closer and closer and in a desperate attempt she swings her fist around to clock him on the side of his skull. The Aussie yells and shoots another beam at her, just barely hitting the edge of her shoes. Alora scurries back and yells as she spears herself into him, sending him crashing to the floor and unleashing a flurry of hits straight to his face. She’s ignoring the piercing pain of her left arm, too focused on making Kano hurt.

Within the second punch his nose is crooked, blood shooting out and soaking into his beard. Hit after hit cause him to scream, Alora not faultering for one second and for the briefest moment she has the urge to keep going until he’s unrecognizable. Sometime after the sixth punch Kano stops fighting back and it’s only when she can hear Billie screeching that she realizes what she’s doing.

“What the fuck!!”

Alora’s fist stops mere centimeters away from his good eye, heavy breaths passing her lips as she stares down at the messy scene. Her icy eyes are flicking wildly all over him, looking and waiting for a sign of life.

She wouldn’t do that. Couldn’t do that. Not to Billie.

“Da’!”

In that split moment of Alora snapping her head up to look at Billie, seeing her be held back by Skarlet, Kano’s fingers claw into Alora’s shirt. He brings her down roughly and collides his head against hers, shoving her onto her back and straddling her hips. His hands latch around her neck, closing off her airway and then lifting her to begin slamming her head against the ground. Alora’s gasp morphs into a choked gargle, the blood that had been collecting in the back of her throat viscous and blocking her breathing even more.

She can hear a collection of yells from Alex and Kate, knowing that they wanted to interfere but knowing that it could cost them. Not that Alora would want them to anyway, this was her fuck up after all.

She tries to cough, spitting blood up like a baby as it dribbles down her chin. Kano lifts her higher, her back coming off the ground and Alora knows he intends to throw her down with every bit of strength left in him. He never gets to do so, Skarlet running over and placing a hand on Kano’s shoulder to hold him back.

“Kane!” There’s fear in her eyes, Alex and Kabal running over to haul him off of Alora and pull him a good distance away. Alora turns to her side, heaving and hacking up whatever she could as it lands with a splat onto the concrete floor. She sucks in a deep breath, sputtering when more blood gathers and she spits it out again and again and again.

She feels a hand on her shoulder and on instinct she smacks it away from her without looking. She swipes across her nose, streaking blood and snot, and peers over her left to find the hurt expression of Kate as she stands there with her fingers fiddling with one another. Alora silently stares at her, trying to convey an apology through her eyes before giving up and rising to her feet. There’s a slight sway as she stands up straight, Alora giving a brisk shake of her head and sparing Kano one last glance who’s already turned his attention to his wife and daughter.

She doesn’t bother to look at the others, not needing to see the expressions on their faces and add to her shame.

Everything hurts; face, arms, stomach, back. She brings a hand to the back of her head and is only mildly surprised when just her fingertips come away with blood. They’re not the worst injuries she’s had, having gone against Shokan and Tarkatan before, it would just take a bit longer than usual to recover. She touches her jaw gingerly, nose scrunching when pain radiates from the simplest touch. Alora maintains her composure as she walks out the bar, feeling the burning stares of her peers on her back as they burn holes straight through her.

Even when she’s completely out of the room and out of sight she holds herself, head held high as she walks through the corridors towards her sanctum. Carefully she opens her door, twisting the door knob all the way to the end and then pushing it open. Michi’s tiny squeaks greet her and it brings the faintest smile to her busted lips. She wants to go say hello, to hold her sweet pet in her hands but she can’t taint him with blood.

She does however walk past her mirror and catch a glimpse of herself.

She stops and looks, a sinking feeling in her chest as she counts every bruise and gash that Kano graciously delivered to her. She twists around to look at the burn mark from his laser, hissing when she touches the edges of the wound. She finds herself thinking and hoping that the discoloration will fade and the cuts will scab before—

She blinks, eyebrows bunching together at her thought. A certain face flashes through her mind and Alora feels a surge of annoyance flow through her body. She sucks her teeth and turns away from the mirror, going to her drawer to grab fresh clothes. She whispers a quiet ‘hello’ to Michi, the first smile of the day gracing her lips when he scurries towards her.

“I’ll be back, don’t worry.”

The water burns in the best and worst way, hitting her open wounds and sore muscles but soothing her body and soul. She runs her fingers through her hair to work out the knots, faint throbs echoing through her body when her hands pass along to lather soap. The encounter plays in her mind all over, every hit sending a throb and Alora can feel her nails start to dig in her scalp.

It wasn’t her fault, she knows that. She doesn’t know exactly how much the video shows but it didn’t matter, not to Kano. A deal is a deal no matter what.

It doesn’t even cross Alora’s mind as to how he got a video in the first place.

She inhales sharply, holding it deep in her chest before releasing it. There’s a burn in her eyes but she refuses to let them form into tears. She wouldn’t let Kano of all people get to her like that. Instead she finishes cleaning herself up, going over her body two more times to make sure all the blood is off.

And then she stands there, eyes staring blankly as water washes down the drain. She doesn’t know how long she remains motionless but eventually she slides down the wall and brings her knees to her chest, resting her chin on top as she lets time continue to slip by.

———

Alex/JJ/Jesse: @chadillacboseman

Billie: @cyberneticsanguinaire

Echo: @roofgeese

No pretty faces in the fight pit. That was what one sign read just outside the chain fence of the fight pit. Kano’s rule. Most of the men of the black dragons figured it was because women were too weak, but that wasn’t it at all. The real reason was much more selfish. Kano was protecting the ‘eye candy’ of the black dragons. Often called trophies. Women he’d managed to charm into joining his crime family. Despite Jo wanting to get in there and toss a few guys around, Kano’s foot was firmly planted. “You got one of the prettiest faces, girlie. No way,” he’d told her.

“I can handle one drunk asshole,” Jo defended.

“Oh, I know you could,” He chuckled, then reached out with a rough hand and gripped her jaw nice and tight. “But I love looking at this face when I shove my cock in that tight cunt of yours.”

Jo sucked in a breath and pushed his hand away. “Wish I could say the same,” she mused.

“Oi! Don’t be like that. You seemed to enjoy yourself last time.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t fuck. I just said you’re an ugly motherfucker.”

“Well, at least I can fuck.” He grinned as he watched the fight. Erron and Lorenzo. Were they just going to circle each other and talk? What was this? “Get on with it already!”

And then the fists flew. Kano laughed as blood went flying. Jo watched with a cringe as she heard the crack of Lorenzo’s nose. After that, Erron seemed to go feral. “Jesus Christ. What’s got into him?”

“Haha! Fuck him up, Erron!” Kano was too happy to see Erron lose control like that.

“Shouldn’t you be stopping this?” Jo looked over to see Kano’s mile long grin.

“Why should I?”

“Lorenzo’s gonna die.”

“Eh. So what? He doesn’t pull his own weight.”

“He owes me money,” Jo said. Which seemed to catch Kano’s attention.

“He owe me money?”

“He lost last week’s bet and hasn’t paid up. That’s why he’s in the fight pit.”

Kano grumbled. Seeing Lorenzo die wouldn’t be a bad thing. Lorenzo failed to pay his debts… But Kano wanted his money too. Damn. “Yeah, yeah.” He stepped over to the railing of his little perch and looked down. “Hey! Turkey! Get in there!” He shouted to Alex.

“He’s got a name,” Jo sighed.

“Yeah, who cares.” Kano stepped back and fell back into the ratty old couch next to her. His legs spread out and he adjusted himself. They both watched as Alex struggled to pull Erron out and to the locker room. Then watched as a couple guys went into the pit to pull out an unrecognizable Lorenzo. “Josie,” Kano said, earning him a disapproving glance from Jo. “You think Kate would want to join us later?”

Jo’s eyes rolled and she shoved his knee away before getting up.

“What?” Kano asked, then laughed.

“Shouldn’t you be fucking Jazzie?” Jo reminded him, only to see him scowl at her.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you should be treating your girl better than this,” Jo scolded.

“She’s fine with it!”

“Then you should be thanking her, profusely.”

He grumbled again. Jo turned and walked down the catwalk stairs to the ground floor. She caught Alex on his way back from the locker room.

“What happened?” She asked.

“I don’t know. He’s in one of his moods,” Alex shook his head. “Echo’s in there with him now.”

Jo grinned. She gave a single nod. “Ah.”

“What?” Alex asked, noticing her amusement.

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“No. Tell me. What’s going on?” He pressed.

“Don’t think about it too hard. It’ll come to you.”

Confusion was just plastered to Alex’s face. It made Jo laugh as she left him. She followed the agents carrying Lorenzo to the infirmary.

Jo sat in the makeshift waiting area, fucking around on her phone, watching some videos that were already posted online of Erron beating Lorenzo’s face in. But one video in particular caught her attention.

It had been at the right angle to catch Lorenzo’s face as he spoke. Jo couldn’t hear what he was saying, but after several replays, she’d managed to read his lips.

The bastard had threatened to rape Echo with his friends.

Well, now Erron’s display made sense. Jo would have done the same thing. And if Alex had known, she doubted he’d have pulled Erron out. Well… This meeting wasn’t going to end well at all. Jo had only come to let Lorenzo know he still owed her money. But now…

—

About an hour later, Jo made her way in to see Lorenzo, wrapped up, braced, on monitors and an IV. Erron had done more damage than she’d thought. Good. Stepping up next to him, she tapped his shoulder to get his attention. His swollen eyes opened just barely to look at her.

Jo held up two fingers. “How many?” She asked. But he couldn’t answer her. His jaw had been busted. “Three?” she asked. Jo saw the slightest shake of his head. “Two?” She then saw the slightest nod. “Good. Then you’ll be able to see this.” Jo then held up her phone and played that video of him making that threat. Lorenzo watched it, then looked back to Jo. She could see his confusion even through all that swelling. “I can’t hear what you’re saying. But I can read your lips.” She then pocketed her phone and leaned forward, resting her arms on the bed rails and looking right into his eyes. “You threatened to gang rape Echo, didn’t you?”

Lorenzo’s eyes magically grew wider. His heart monitor beeped as his heart rate sped up.

“I’m going to take that beeping as a guilty plea,” Jo told him. “You better hope you die from these injuries. Because if you make a miraculous comeback, I’m going to dangle you from a helicopter and fly low over a heavily wooded forest. And I won't stop until there’s nothing left of you. And then I’ll find one of your boys and do the same to him. And the next. And the next. And the next. Until every one of you disgusting pieces of fuck are wiped out of existence. Do we have an understanding?”

Lorenzo’s heart rate had only raised more and more as Jo spoke with such venom. He couldn’t nod fast enough to her.

“Good.” She flashed him a forced, but convincing warm smile as she stepped away. “You still owe me and Kano ten grand each. Make sure we get that before you decide to die.”