ways_back_room | Weekend Entertainment #2

Sonya...was in serious need of a shower. Exercising horses for a living may've been fun, but mucking their stalls wasn't. Much as she'd gotten used to the smell and had been through worse messes, it didn't cover the fact that she was mucking stalls.

Dressed in jeans and a long sleeved workshirt, Sonya emerged from the stables into the man bar. Habit (mixed with a combination of hope and hesitation) made her look towards the entrance to see if her door had appeared.

Instead of a wooden door, she almost swore she was looking through a mirror. If the girl's hair was longer instead of cut short, Sonya swore she was looking at herself nearly..fuck, ten years younger. Then the girl's words registered with her: fucking milliways.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain composed. "This is milliways bar..though right now I'd compare it to the Twilight Zone."

Or.well, a bar within the Twilight Zone.

There's a look about Cassie most of the time. It's halfway between smug smirking cockiness and narrow-browed determination. A look that says "No biggie, I've got this." A look that makes people either trust and admire her or hate her fucking guts. Either way, she'll kick your ass or be your best friend before you know what hit you. And sometimes both.

That's not the look on her face right now. Right now, there's nothing but slack-jawed confusion. Maybe a little fear. Because it doesn't make sense. She of all people knows what General Sonya Blade looks like. And this isn't General Blade. Even if it does look just like...

"...Mom?"

Inhale, Cassie.

Sonya knew that look. She saw it in herself so many years ago, before Lance, before the Black Dragon...before everything turned the cockiness into a need just to survive and get her men out alive. The ambush with the Black dragon was only several years ago-had she changed that much?

The girl's reaction snapped her to attention, but her response only made her more confused. "I'm..I'm sorry, but..who are you?"

Maybe it was a good thing Cassie wasn't a mind reader, but certainly if there were any telepaths in the room they would've been getting a whole lot of cursing right about now. The girl looked so like her, and called her mom-she couldn't be a mom. Back home she was still trying to escape from Outworld, and here..she'd only had sex once and even if the condom failed-she could see nothing of Athelstan in the girl's looks.

She could..oh lord, she knew those features.

Hopefully Sonya doesn't take a hard look at the name patch on Cassie's front breast pocket.

"It's...it's me, Mom, it's...Cassie. But you...you're..."

Young. Younger than she's been since Cassie was a little girl. Maybe even before that. Even in Beverly Hills, this would be a medical miracle. Is that why she doesn't know her? But how?

Well, sorcery, obviously. Gotta be. The big kind. The kind that's never good. What she wouldn't give for a rifle right now...

"Who's done this?"

Edited 2015-04-27 06:16 (UTC)

She's too focused on the over all image to look at her name patch. She called her mom, and the look on her face when she told her otherwise.

Cassie....her grandmother on her father's side was named Cassandra.

"No one..." Without really being aware, her hand set on the table to steady herself. Tsung was the only sorcerer she was aware of, there were rumors he could create clones-but he wouldn't create one of her and still have her in the army.

Deep breath Sonya.

"This place, it likes to mess with timelines." She forced herself to remain calm, her officers demeanor taking over. Freaking out would do neither of them any good. "For me, it's the year '93. I don't know about you."

Cassie blinks.

"'93? 2014, for me."

It wouldn't be long before Sonya had her then, at least by her timeline. Assuming she doesn't end up McFlying herself out of existence just by being here. And again, assuming that really is her mom and not some...construct or something.

Cassie closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She's in the Special Forces - dealing with weird shit like this is part of her job.

"So what do you mean nobody? If time's getting fucked around with like this there's gotta be a reason, right? Does Raiden know about this?"

Sonya found herself having a strange case of de ja vu. The only thing she could do is answer-talking kept her from rambling.

"Don't think so. Certainly never mentioned it." The confusion got in the way of her urge for a shower, now the two were battling it out. "Don't worry about the timeline, it tends to stop as soon as you get through the door-if you go back it'll be as though no time's passed at all."

Which, was both a convenience and dread at the same time. "First drink's on the house, just.." Well, fuck, how to explain this. "This bar's sentient, most address her as 'lady' or 'Ms'-I think the original owner was a wizard or something. Just tell your order outloud, and she'll provide."

Unless of course she didn't think one needed alchohol or whatever it was they ordered-Bar did have a combination of humor and mother henning.

"Can't recall you ever mentioning this place either," Cassie says. "So you must've kept it a secret. Will have kept it a secret. Unless you didn't know the first time around and now..."

She slaps her wrinkled brow. "Fuck, I need a drink. Can that countertop mix me up a rum & coke?"

Three weeks short is no biggie at the end of the universe, right?

Edited 2015-04-28 20:22 (UTC)

Inspite of her need for a shower, Sonya took a seat at the closest table, inviting her..her daughter, to sit across from her. "Excuse the smell, they have stables attached and I just finished mucking out the stalls."

At her order, a napkin with writing appeared on the table close to her reading 'Manners, please :)'.

Sonya found herself smirking inspite of herself. "Like I said, most refer to her as 'lady' or 'Miss Bar'-for enchanted furniture, she has a will of her own."

"Stables?"

Dear Lord, this is a mindfuck. Teleported to an alien bar and greeted by her mother, aged 20 years younger and tending the stable which, of course, is just out the back. Cassie hasn't seen her do so much as go near a tree since those visits to Jax's farm when she was a kid. They'd all baled hay for him, of course, so it's not literally the strangest sight she's ever seen. No, that little prize goes to absolutely everything else going on in this room.

She looks down at the countertop. "I didn't, ah...mean any disrespect...Miss Bar. Could I please have a rum and coke? I'm having a weird day."

The writing on the napkin changes. Well...okay. Just this once.

Edited 2015-04-29 10:24 (UTC)

A glass tumbler of coke and rum appeared before her, along with a mug of tea in front of Sonya. She held it up, frowning a little when it was herbal and not caffinated, but then she had a time getting to sleep anyway.

"One thing, I'd like you to turn around and tell me if you see the door you came through." There was no door for her, so from her point she just saw the door to Outside. "See it, means you're free to go whenever you're ready, if not..it means that Bar's decided you need an extended stay, though why and how long is anyone's guess."

She's been here since November after all.

Cassie turns around.

"...Fuck me, where'd it go?"

Sonya let out a groan, though Cassie would still hear a distinctive 'fuck' somwhere in there. "Not seeing the door means you're Bound here. Why that is and how long Bar will keep you is anyone's guess-according to this calender, I've been Bound for.." she thought back. "Seven months, give or take-call it a 'leave of health."

That was her story and she was sticking to it. "There are rooms upstairs for those bound here, or even if you're not bound, manage to find a Door, and just need some time away." Like herself, when half her squad was killed and she needed a week before she was able to face everyone's pity. "Funds are either from tips or you can find yourself employment in here."

"Fuck me," Cassie repeats. She grits her teeth and clenches her fists.

"You're telling me I've been sucked into another realm, trapped in another realm, with my mother from the past. And nobody knows who did this and you can't explain anything? Hasn't anybody tried?"

The look Sonya gave her would've been that of her commanding officer. "Corporal, is it?" Sonya saw the patch on her uniform. "If either of us knew, if I knew..you seriously think I would still be here? Milliways is nice, and I do have a few friends here..but it's not where I'm supposed to be."

Right, so she'd be in Outworld, either facing recapture or being with her friends, but that was better than being trapped. Nice as this place was, it was still being under restriction.

Sonya tried to think. "She usually has a reason. Can you think of anything going on back through your door, something that would have Ms. Bar deciding you needed some time away? Maybe something personal or relating to work?"

That was usually the case: when she was bound, she was fifteen pounds underweight, severally sleep deprived and barely holding onto her sanity.

Edited 2015-04-30 21:45 (UTC)

Cassie closes her eyes again. Keep calm, soldier.

"...Yeah. Yes. Yes...Lieutenant. You're right. I let my frustration get the better of me."

How she fought off the instinct to say "General" at this of all moments, she'll never know.

"I can't think of anything it'd want me for at the moment."

Sonya noticed the hesitation and wondered just what rank she was in Cassie's timeline. A part of her wanted to ask, but she held her tongue: knowing now wouldn't do any good.

"Don't worry, you're not the first person to have that reaction-probably won't be the last." Being Bound was never a convenience for anyone.

"You have time to figure it out, if that's the case." Even if she found the reason, she may still have to hold up on the reason for being stuck. "Or just do what I've been told-consider it an impromptu leave of absence."

Sonya barely held from rolling her eyes. "Since you're here, there are a few rules to this place: one, no violence, atleast not in the main bar, two, no sex, there are little kids who come in here too, and finally, three.." And Sonya had to take a deep breath at this one. "No 'outside business' within the main bar. If you see someone you have conflicts with from home, take it outside. Consider Milliways as a 'no combat' zone."

So even if Tsung, Kano or Kahn showed up through the door, in lieu of holding herself back, she'd have to leave the main bar.

Cassie remembers her drink and takes a couple swills worth of comfort.

She raises an eyebrow. "Even if the whole Netherrealm entourage walks through that door? What if they make the first move?"

For a realm with no one in charge, it sure values its sovereignty.

She raised a good point-there had been a zombie attack before after all. "There's an entire security team of super powered beings as security, and from my time here, and given that not much happens here, they'd probably jump any trouble before they could even consider it." Like being on patrol: much as one was glad for a quiet night, when something did happen it was always a welcome distraction.

One of them was a god after all, and if a god's on security it means he would love fighting. "This place has been around for...little under a decade, and has been bringing in all sorts. I don't think anyone's willing to cause trouble taking over a tavern." She frowned, looking around a bit before talking a little more quietly. "That being said..if Tsung, Kahn or kano arrive-can't say it wouldn't be worth a night in the cell to give one of them a black eye."

She'd seen the holding cells in this place. After Outworld, she could call them a three star hotel room-atleast the holding cells had cots.

"Yeah," Cassie says. "Can't say I'd regret it."

Of course, Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn are dead now. But if Quan Chi or Mileena walk through that door? Yeah, she'll take her oath to protect Earthrealm over the house rules of the bar that abducted her, thank you very much.

She pats her bag. "At least I'll have one sidearm. Not loaded, but I'd feel naked spending that much time without my gun."

"What're you training for in the army?" She may start out as part of one branch, but she might go for another. "You may be put into a situation where you've no weapons except what you can improvise with."

One of the reasons Sonya pushed herself to learn all sorts of weaponry: she didn't want to be stuck in a situation where she couldn't use what she was given. "I've adopted a brother here who's been teaching me to use a sword and shield-he's a 12th century knight if you could believe it. Name's Olivier."

One good part about this place, a chance to pick up new skills.

"I've been outgunned and outnumbered in another realm before," Cassie says. "Improvising's a strength of mine. So's CQC. But it sure feels better to know I've got a firearm."

Once more, Sonya couldn't blame her logic. "All of my weapons were taken. Not here, but where I was before."

There's some hesitation. Timelines or not, Cassie was still, in some universe, her daughter. Clearly she knew of Outworld and the Neatherrealm and would know of the tournaments, but has she been told of her time in Outworld? She wasn't sure she could bring that up.

"You mean...in Outworld?"

Cassie's face falls. This had been awkward enough as it was.

"Is that...when you came in from?"

Sonya nodded. "I managed to find a door on my..third..escape attempt." Honestly, at some point she lost count. All that mattered was trying to escape, not the number. "Like I said...leave of Health in this place."

She tried to smile for her benefit. "Received an mp3 player for Christmas. Listening to jazz standards at night helps."

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