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Johnny Cage was two beers into a five-beer night.
With a sigh, he eased himself down onto the overstuffed sofa, leaning back against the cushions and propped his feet up on the coffee table. If he closed his eyes, he could try to ignore the fact that the last royalty check he’d received in the mail was close to six months before. Then it was easy to also ignore the stack of bills under his feet and the financing papers for the condo in case the well went truly dry.
It wasn’t quite drought weather yet, but it was getting damn close.
He’d met with his agent that morning, fully preparing to find he was finally being dropped, only to have the man toss an offer for Hollywood Dance Off at his feet. Sixteen weeks of good exposure, a chance to get his face out there again, and all it was going to cost was his fucking dignity.
Welcome to Hollywood.
While Johnny fully understood that careers had been revitalized by less, it still felt like one very short step away from putting on four-inch heels and walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard. It wasn’t like he had much of a fucking choice left, so he’d smiled and agreed to meet again next week to sign the contract. Then he’d come home, ordered a pizza and cracked the first Budweiser he’d found in the fridge to quell the bitter feeling in his throat.
Two years before, he’d been one of the top earners in Hollywood, with a pro-fighting career under his belt, sixteen movies in ten years, and his pick of scripts. Then the accident happened. His marriage had fallen apart in the rubble and the roles had petered out. Now it was TV spots and B movies once in a while if he was lucky, maybe a signing at LA ComicCon or some voice over work. If his star had risen fast, it had hit the ground even faster, and the aftermath was all he had left.
There was some part of him that realistically said he should be counting his blessings. He was thirty-nine years old, his body wasn’t broken or scarred like most fighters his age, and he still had his looks. Instead, here he was sitting and pining for the past while slowly drinking himself to oblivion.
The tinny noise of the doorbell cut through his self pity, leaving behind a healthy dose of disgust. Pity was for losers who weren’t willing to fight for what they wanted. Wisdom a la Robert Carleton. His old man had made damn sure Johnny had known at a young age that only pathetic failures stopped to get emotional, and the cutthroat made it to the winners' circle.
Johnny had never hated him more.
“All right, all right, I’m coming. Jesus.” He kipped up with a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. His wallet was on the living room floor, half hidden by the yesterday’s Chinese takeout containers but still easy to snag as he kicked the paper bags out of his way. Between that and the beer bottles on just about every available free surface, the last housekeeper he’d tried to hire had taken one look and hit the road running. No matter, he hadn’t shared the place since his ex-wife had moved out the summer before and he had no plans to change that any time soon. If it was a mess, it was his mess, and he was fine living with it.
Johnny peered through the keyhole, fully prepared to open his wallet, and stopped blinking in surprise.
The man standing in the condo entryway was lean and muscular, a shock of dark tousled hair falling over his eyes. “Johnny Cage? I’ve been trying to reach you for days, man. I need to talk to you.”
Great. Just what he needed, a crazy fan. That seemed about right for where his luck was.
Trying to play nice, Johnny plastered a smile on his face as he spoke through the door. “I don’t owe anyone money. I haven’t gambled or done hard drugs in years, and my alimony is up to date. If you’re some type of muscle, you’re SOL.”
None of what he spoke was entirely true, but hell, he was an actor for a reason.
“Naw, man, nothing like that.” The stranger raised his palms in a conciliatory gesture. “But it is time sensitive.”
There was nothing seemingly aggressive about the kid, and it wasn’t like Johnny couldn’t defend himself if needed. With a sigh, he cracked open the door cautiously, keeping his guard up. “Look, if it’s a script idea I don’t take unsolict—”
From down the hall came a sudden breaking noise, followed by a bellow that could only be described as enraged.
“What the fuck was that?” Johnny started to lean out the door, only to let out a startled yelp as the stranger suddenly leapt forward and put an elbow to the door, pushing them both back into the condo.
“Like I said, time sensitive.” From the hallway came an angry snort, and the screeching sounds of blades on drywall. “We need to move fucking fast. Is there a balcony?”
“Uh yeah, off the bedroom.” What was going on? Had he fallen in the shower and hit his head? Finally tipped off the edge and started drinking the hard stuff again?
“Perfect, lead the way.”
“Okay buddy, you can’t just show up at my fucking house and expect me to fall in line. What the fuck is going on?” The old arrogance slipped into his voice almost automatically. He was Johnny fucking Cage, not some production assistant to order around. “You’ve got two minutes before I call the cops.”
There was a loud bang at the front door, followed by splintering wood and the ever-present sound of growing like a feral animal. The stranger plowed a hand through his hair in frustration. “We don’t have two minutes. If that thing gets in here, it’ll shred us before we have a chance. I promise, I’ll take you to someone who can explain everything, but right now we have to go.”
As he spoke, their time ran out and the front door exploded in a shower of fragmented wood. Standing in the rubble was a creature that Johnny could only describe as something out of his worst goddamn nightmares. The thing was at least six feet tall, a solid wall of muscle with pale mottled skin and the cruelest eyes he’d ever seen. Spread across its shoulders and chest were a series of spikey lesions that cut through the tough skin like armour. As if that wasn’t terrifying enough to get his ass moving, the creature let out a snarl, giving a glimpse of a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. The monster raised a pair of deadly looking blades as it fully entered the condo, and that was enough to snap Johnny out of shock.
“This way.” He reached out and grabbed the kid's arm, dragging him towards the bedroom as fast as he could move. Jumping over piles of dirty laundry and script pages, he tossed the balcony doors open and rushed them both out into the cool ocean air. Thank god he lived on the beach, at least the drop wouldn’t be as bad as if they were hitting concrete.
Hearing the creature moving down the hallway, neither man was willing to wait any longer. Johnny jumped first, hitting the sand and moving almost seamlessly into a body roll before kipping back up onto his feet. The other man hit the sand harder with a groan, but quickly shook it off and rose to his feet.
“You know I’m suddenly really glad I took the beachfront house in my divorce.” Johnny bent low and rested his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. “The house we had in the hills was on the side of a sixteen-foot cliff.”
“Oh man, the landing would have sucked.” The younger man stuck out a hand. “Cole Young, by the way.”
“I’d say nice to mee—oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” His gaze moved up to the balcony, just in time to see their attacker jump the edge easily and vault towards the sand.
“Run!” Cole took off a shot down the beach towards the boardwalk with Johnny right behind him.
“What the fuck is that thing??” Johnny chanced a glance over his shoulder to see it eating ground, right behind them.
“I’m not sure entirely.” Cole shook his head. “It’s been on my heels for three days. I had a funny feeling it was using me to get to you.”
“And you led it straight to my door?” They hit the boardwalk stairs at a steady run and took off down the wooden strip. “Thanks a lot.”
“No problem.” A shrill scream sounded behind them, steadily moving closer as the monster made headway.
Ahead was Via Dolce park, long abandoned after dark and looking more ominous than Johnny wanted to admit. Still, they could find cover among the trees and even the playground fixtures if needed. Johnny steered them in that direction, pausing in dismay as another cry split the air… from in front of them. Two more of the creatures emerged from the park, like mutant velociraptors out for the hunt.
“Oh shit.” To Johnny’s surprise, Cole’s form shimmered, and a gold armour quickly took form spreading across his torso and down his arms . As Johnny watched, he raised a tonfa and slipped into a fighting stance. “We may have to try to fight our way through this, after all.”
“Are you insane?” Johnny gave him an incredulous glance. “We don’t stand a chance.”
“I’ve won fights with worse odds.” They stood back-to-back as the creatures began to circle them like sharks. “Call it a challenge.”
“Fuck that. ”Johnny’s words were lost in the squeal of tires on asphalt. Out of the dark came a slightly battered-looking black Range Rover at a speed normally reserved for NASCAR and cheap hot-rod franchises. Narrowly missing both Johnny and Cole, it plowed into the two creatures in front of them, sending both flying into the street as metal screamed.
The third beast howled in rage and made to take a swipe at Johnny in retaliation. In a flash, Johnny dropped in a split and sent out a punch that he hoped would connect roughly where the creature’s balls were located. With a scream, it stumbled back in pain, only to get caught in a bright flash of pink energy emanating from the Range Rover’s open window. It dropped like a rock, hitting the concrete and going down for the count in a wash of smoke.
Johnny watched slightly stunned as a woman leaned out the driver’s side and made an impatient gesture. “Haul ass and get in!”
Cole let out a whoop behind him and made a beeline for the vehicle, yanking the passenger side door and throwing himself into the seat, With few other options, Johnny followed suit, yanking one of the passenger doors open and tossing himself across the worn leather. Almost immediately, even before he had the chance to close the door completely, she gunned the SUV into gear, causing him to roll across the seat and nearly hit the floor. “Jesus Christ!”
“What are you doing here?” Cole seemed remarkably nonchalant given the situation. “I thought you were headed to New York to find that cop, Stryker?”
“New York was a bust. The guy was dead by the time I got there.” The disappointment in her words struck Johnny, a mixture of regret and frustration evident. “Raiden thought you might need some backup, so he sent me to help.”
“Yeah, you could say that.” Johnny watched as Cole ran a hand through his hair and leaned back against the seat in fatigue. “What the hell are those things?”
“I’m not sure.” She began to navigate them out of the park and back onto the main streets. “I had a sketch of one at the base in Indiana, but I was never ever able to find out exactly what they are. Another type of elite fighter? Shang Tsung’s version of black ops?”
“Uh excuse me,” Johnny leaned between the driver and passengers’ seat, bracing his hands on the armrests. “Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?”
For the first time, he got a look at the women had come in like a bat out of hell and saved their asses. Seated, he could only guess at her height, but she had to be about a half a head shorter than he was, with the toned build of a fighter and hair the color of summer wheat caught in a high ponytail.
Keen blue eyes searched his face and then, to his surprise, a well-manicured hand reached out and silently shoved him into the back seat again. “Did you see those arm blades? Stryker was ripped up to hell and back again when I found him. It had to have been the same type.”
“Fantastic, and I thought Sub-Zero and Goro were brutal to fight.” Cole let out a sarcastic snort. “Shang did say he’d bring an army, though.”
“Fucking wonderful.”
They pulled to a stop at a red light, and Johnny leaned forward, only to find himself gently shoved back again. His annoyance rising, he leaned in again and braced himself. “Okay, enough is enough. What the hell is going on? And who the hell are you?”
The last question was addressed to solely her and was rewarded with a deep scowl that was both beautiful in in its own way and made his balls clench in fear. Cole choked back a laugh from the passenger seat and made a vague gesture. “Johnny Cage, meet Major Sonya Blade.”
“AKA the woman who saved your Hollywood ass.” She threw him a glance in the rearview mirror, and just for an instant, he was sure he saw humor there before it frosted over again.
“I appreciate that. That ass is very popular. It’s made me a lot of money in the past.” He watched as a smile ghosted across her face and then was gone as she schooled her features.
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” In the passenger seat, Cole was watching Venice Beach fly and now she reached out and poked him in the leg to get his attention. “Did you explain arcanas to him?”
Cole shrugged in apology “I didn’t get the chance before we got attacked.”
With a sigh, Sonya began to steer him onto the highway. “Well, strap in and let’s get this bootcamp started. It’s a four-hour drive to meet Raiden. We’ve got plenty of time.”
The car lasted two and a half hours.
In that time, Johnny found himself learning about things he’d rather have thought were only in his movies. Gods, other realms, arcanas and the ever-present tournament looming over it like an executioner's axe. It was improbable, illogical and totally bat shit crazy. By all rights, he should have tried to stop the car, run away screaming and called a car to come and get him. Hell, he could have taken the story they were selling and made a banging movie script.
The problem was he wanted to believe them.
How else was he going to explain the Ginsu mafia? There was no special effects department in the world who could make those arm blades anything but real. So he sat, and he listened, and he felt the beginnings of self doubt creep in when he realized he had no idea what his arcana could be, or why it hadn’t manifested while they were being attacked.
As he was contemplating that, the SUV had made an ominous creaking noise and smoke had started to curl out from under the edges of the hood. By the time Sonya had managed to steer them to the edge of a service station, white smoke was pouring out in a steady stream. Coasting them to a stop, she slammed her hands off the steering wheel. “Fucking wonderful.”
“When was the last time you had this thing serviced?” Johnny scowled in mock censure.
“How about like two large attackers and one go fuck yourself ago?” Sonya lobbed it right back at him as she undid her belt and tossed open the car door in frustration.
“Baby, be nice. It’s been a long night and I’m already feeling fragile.” He rested a hand over his heart with a grin.
“If you’re feeling like a damsel in distress, go find another champion to kiss it better. I’m busy.” As she spoke, she leaned into the driver’s side doorway and blew him a kiss. “And if you ever call me baby again, I’ll kick your ass from here to Monterey.”
It was almost majestic to watch her stalk around the car and yank open the hood to assess the damage. From the passenger seat, Cole cleared his throat. “I think she likes you.”
Johnny threw him a slightly against look. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“I’m going to go check the service station out, see what they have for snacks.” Cole looked a tad relieved to be escaping the situation, saying something to Sonya as he bypassed her that Johnny couldn’t hear. Considering the fact her head remained buried in the Range Rover’s hood, and that she tossed him a playful bird, Johnny could only wonder.
After a moment, he slid out of the car and gratefully stretched his legs, locking his hands behind his head as he looked at the night sky. After everything he’d seen that night, he suddenly felt…small. Like he’d been left out of the bigger picture until that moment and now he was scrambling to catch up.
Trying to shake his unease, he made his way up to where Sonya was working and peered over her shoulder. “What’s the verdict?”
“A concussion if you ever sneak up on me like that again.” She elbowed him back gently. “And as for this, I think it’s overheated. We’re going to have to wait and let it cool down, see if that helps at all.”
“How long have you had this wreck?” He watched as she closed the hood and leaned against the vehicle’s side.
“About six hours.” She shrugged at his expression. “Raiden dropped me off in Santa Monica. I…liberated this one from a chop shop.”
“Why do I get the feeling that being an accessory to car theft is the least of my problems?” Johnny settled in next to her, crossing his arms over his chest. The list just kept getting longer and longer, and he had a feeling the end wasn’t in sight.
“Because it is.” Sonya sighed deeply, and for the first time, Johnny saw the traces of exhaustion in her features. “You have very little time to unlock your arcana, and we as whole have even less to get ready for the tournament.”
“I still think you all are way off the money,” Johnny shrugged. “I’ve never had any type of power. Unless you count the ability to do a perfect flip kick and land on my feet.”
“Don’t kid yourself. You have what? Four black belts in three styles? You were top of the pro circuit for a reason.” Sonya smiled, a genuine smile, at his surprise, and Johnny felt like he’d been kicked in the chest. In the car, she’d been tough and aloof, but that smile…was like the sun after a thunderstorm. “Don’t give me that look, Cage, it’s not like I live under a rock. I know who you are.”
There was something about the way she spoke, like for the first time in a long time, he was more than just an open wallet or a trophy fuck that caught him in the throat. He coughed, embarrassed, and studied the ground. Sonya, for her part, either didn’t notice or choose not to acknowledge the growing silence, instead reaching out to trace the dragon tattoo on his forearm. “Besides, you wouldn’t have that if you didn’t have an arcana. Cole’s the only person who was born with one that I know of. The rest of us get ours the hard way. They don’t call it Mortal Kombat for nothing. A life has to end to pass the mark on.”
Johnny studied the symbol, his ever-present reminder of how fucked things could go so quickly. “It’s not something I’m proud of. I’d rather forget it.”
“What happened?” There was no pity in her voice, no rancor or judgement. It wasn’t like she needed the details; they had been splashed across the internet. No, he suspected she just wanted to heat the story from his own lips.
“Two years ago, I was filming a movie in Ankara. We had to do this scene where I was fighting on a balcony, two attackers and me.” It was still as clear as day in his mind, every moment, every instance where things could have been different. “They brought in our normal stunt men, guys I worked with for years. Drank with, trained with. One of them, Marcus, was a good friend of mine by that point. I considered him a like brother.”
Sonya pulled her phone out of her pocket and thumbed up an image. In it, she and a muscular dark-skinned man were sheltering in full gear in the shadow of a large tank, dirty, worn out but smiling. “I know the feeling, and I know what it’s like when that family gets hurt, or worse.”
“It got worse.” Johnny confirmed. “Halfway through the scene, I launched a kick on my mark like I was supposed to and he…took it the wrong way. He stumbled and lost his footing. It was five stories up and we didn’t have a crash pad on the ground because the rail was supposed to be secure. He died instantly.”
“That’s not your fault.” Sonya interjected. “It was an accident.”
“It felt like my fault. It still feels like my fault,” Johnny felt his brow furrow. “I went out that night and got blackout drunk for the first time in ages. When I woke up the next morning, my head was pounding and the dragon was on my skin. I thought I’d gotten a tattoo, and I was just too drunk to remember.”
“No such luck,” Sonya pushed off from the truck and moved to reopen the hood. “Chances are it transferred the moment your friend died, and you didn’t notice it until the next day.”
“The fact that’s a logical explanation in the midst of all this Twilight Zone is truly terrifying.” Johnny scuffed his foot across the gravel and decided to take a shot. “How’d a gorgeous woman like you end up in this mess?”
Sonya rolled her eyes with a groan and gestured to the service station. “You. Go. See if they have radiator fluid so I can get us back on the road.”
“Oh, come on,” Johnny spread his hands wide. “Sharing is a bonding experience.”
“My foot is going to bond with your ass if you don’t start walking.” He could have sworn she was fighting a grin.
Yeah, Cole was right. She definitely liked him.
Johnny was halfway across the parking lot when the wind picked up, sending a shiver down his back and making the hair stand up on the back of his neck. His stomach lurched, causing him to stop in his track as he fought to control the urge to gag. Every instinct he had told him something was very wrong and about to get worse. As if in slow motion, he turned, watching as a figure strode from around the edge of the low building with a slight swagger.
Sonya’s back was turned as she rustled around under the hood, and Johnny realized a fraction of a second too late that the figure had his attention fixed solely on her. In a flash, a red laser beam closed the distance between them, and struck her hard in the shoulder, sending her bouncing off the hood and into the dirt.
“Sonya!”
His stupor broken, Johnny took off running, his only thought of getting between the man and Sonya’s prone figure. Johnny could see the man moving closer, a large hunting knife brandished in his fingers. Instinctually, Johnny gauged his target and launched into a kick, putting as much power behind the action as he could. As he moved, the surrounding air grew charged with a neon green energy. It rushed through his body like a high voltage current, amping his movement and making his head spin. His foot connected solidly with the man’s chest, sending him skidding in the dirt as he took the full impact head on.
It was only then that Johnny realized that there was something deeply wrong with the poor bastard in front of him. His skin was an ashen gray, lined with Lichtenberg scars, his eyes a sickly red.
No. Eye.
The other was masked by a steel plate that covered a good portion of his cheekbone and temple. With a snarl, he spat blood in Johnny’s direction and stumbled awkwardly to his feet. “I’m going to make you pay for that, asshole.”
Johnny took a protective stance in front of Sonya as she began to stir with a groan. “You’re going to try.”
As their assailant dove towards him, Johnny feinted to the right and sent out a hook that collided squarely with the man’s jaw, sending him reeling again. It took no time for him to recoup, the mangled eye glowing fiercely. This time, Johnny was prepared when the optic beam lashed out, dropping into a split as it sailed over his head and shattered the SUV’s windshield. Scrambling back, he took shelter along the vehicle’s edge, trying to catch his breath.
From behind, Johnny heard the sound of someone running across the gravel in their direction. In an instant Cole dropped down beside Johnny, hovering close to where Sonya still lay motionless. “What the fuck? Kano?”
“You know this chunder from down under?” Johnny grimaced.
“Unfortunately.”
“Is she alive?” He peered over his shoulder, watching as Cole turned Sonya’s head gently and checked her breathing. Johnny could see a large burn puckering the skin on her shoulder. The edges ugly, burned and blistering through the fabric of her tank top.
Sonya’s eyes flickered, and she groaned. “Motherfucker, I’m going to kill him. Again.”
Cole moved to cradle her head in his lap and gave him a deadpan expression. “Trust me. She’s fine.”
“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Kano was on the move, stalking around the side of the car and trying to box them in like a wolf stalking it's prey. Johnny rose to his feet and prepared to face off again.
“He’s supposed to be dead. Sonya killed him weeks ago.” As he spoke, Cole gently probed the injury on Sonya’s shoulder, stopping only when her she reached up to slap his hand away in irritation.
“Did anyone tell him that?” As he spoke, Kano lunged, swiping at him with the hunting knife and barely skimming a slice from Johnny’s t-shirt. With a curse, Johnny tossed a punch in his direction and tossed a look over his shoulder. “Keep her safe.”
“Can keep myself safe.” It was barely a whisper, but strangely enough, it sent relief soaring through Johnny.
He had no time to respond before Kano was on him again with an almost primal yell. Beyond rage, beyond reason, he only thought of finishing them all off and having it done and over with. Johnny took a breath and prepared to unleash hell, hoping that meant he could trigger another energy burst.
From the sky above, there came a sudden crack of thunder, causing both men to pause in surprise. Abruptly lighting cracked the sky, soaring towards Kano and hitting with dead on accuracy. Silently, he crumpled to the ground in a heap and lay still. A handful of feet away, a lone figure stood glowering, sparks flickering from his fingertips.
“Come on,” Cole roll to his feet, relief etched on his face. “That’s our emergency exit.”
“Who? You know what? Fuck it.” It was one strange face, too many in all the people he had met in such a short evening. Every time Johnny thought he’d found his footing, another person appeared, and he was on his ass again. Scooping Sonya up in his arms, he started for the cloaked figure. “Let’s get the hell out of here before something else tries to kill us.”
“Agreed.”