4I'm sorry that I was inspired by this only just a day or two ago, having seen some of the new Johnny Cage intros for MK 1. Liking what I saw I felt compelled to make this little fic, just because it reminded a me little of Sonya and Johnny but with Li Mei actually being receptive to his humor. Truth be told I don't think I'm going anywhere with this until MK 1 comes out, if at all but I loved the idea too much to not do anything with it.
Two figures were in front of an overturned carriage. One was male and the other was female. the male had on a dress shirt and pants that while they would look normal on Earthrealm were out of place here and on his face were sunglasses. The female and the other hand wore a purple sleeveless outfit over red pants and had a tattoo on her right arm.
"You are one of Lord Liu Kang's champions?" The woman's tone was almost disbelieving.
"Yeah, why is it that obvious?" If the Earthrealmer was offended then he clearly didn't show it
"Obvious that perhaps his judgment is lacking if he thinks some stage performer can help us."
"Ooh tough crowd, but I'm a movie star miss, I've faced worse."
"Well, what about them?" The woman gestured to a bunch of men and women wearing armor and wielding a variety of weapons.
"So who are the Masters of the Universe over there?" The woman looked at him with a confused expression.
"Them? They are Reiko's soldiers and he has decided to side with General Shao in his bid to control Outworld."
"That figures. Get whisked away to a land of magic and wonder, and face down mundane assholes." The man showed no signs of fear to the point it almost irritated the woman.
"You're actually going to help us? I don't know what you think this is, but this isn't some, what did you call it again."
"A movie, and no this isn't a movie. It's not even practice." The woman only sighed.
"You better not die you fool, I don't want to explain this to Lord Liu Kang.
Reiko's warriors closed in fifteen strong carrying a vast assortment of weapons, swords, axes, and maces carried along with shields, and some carrying two-handed spears.
'What is this the Seven Poisons? Well, Johnny, you'll prove grumpy and gorgeous over there right if you do get killed, so remember always keep moving, be aware of your surroundings, and pick your targets.' [1]
Johnny was confronted by two warriors armed with maces.
'Jackpot. A sword would be trouble, here they have to hit me with the head, the only downside is one hit from that can disorient you enough to leave you open.'
The first Warrior armed with the mace tried to strike the map but he quickly dodged out of the way before following up with a dashing punch to her face.
'All right one down' Unfortunately this other assailant was armed with a shield and took up a much more defensive stance putting most of his body behind his shield.
The movie star continued to dodge and weave around the attacker, Until they decide to charge after him quickly getting out of the way the unarmed man moves behind his enemy and unleashed a flurry of strong shots to the back, Before quickly sweeping their legs.
Johnny turned around only to be confronted by five more people coming after him the closest one was armed with a spear and she was doing her best to impale with it. Getting a good look at the sides of his opponent he saw that she carried no other weapon with her.
'Okay if I can disarm her maybe I can use that spear to help hold the rest of these guys off.'
The woman was Reckless with her attacks thrusting and stabbing getting more irritated as time went on and anger she stabbed two forcefully and the spear tip was lodged into the ground.
Taking advantage of this Johnny ran up the shaft of the spear and took a woman out a jump kick to the chest and went back to the weapon to try and use it.
"Come on dammit why won't you-." he was interrupted by a war cry as a man charged at him with an ax, the blow narrowly missing Johnny but managing to cut through the spear. Leaving it more like a staff.
Thinking quickly Johnny did a split punch that managed to hit the man right in his genitals and while he was doubled over in pain he followed up with an uppercut to the chin.
'Alright, four of these clowns down.' Johnny picked up the newly created staff and wielded it in a defensive position.'If only Sifu Fei could see me now. I can't believe I learned bojutsu for the play High School play, Rocking Hood: The Prince of Pain. One of the few times I saw Mom and Dad happy together.' [2]
With an improvised staff in his hands this time Johnny went on the offensive. One of his three remaining attackers left one was armed with a spear and the other two with swords. He attacked One of the assailants by rapidly striking them with a bunch of faints to the side before quickly striking with the staff at their chest and delivering a powerful strike to their neck.
The remaining Spearman however charged ahead forcing Johnny to use the staff to hold back the spear. Managing to get the tip of the spear right below the staff but in the middle of it as well Johnny raised the staff up and the spear along with it. The actor proceeded to move forward before dashing forward and kicking the spearman in the chest knocking them onto the ground.
With only one opponent left Johnny charged forward with his staff and proceeded to defeat the swordswoman with relative ease as the earlier swordsman. With all of his attackers rendered unconscious Johnny rushed over to try and help his gruff ally but When he looked over he was presented with a shocking sight.
The purple-clothed woman seem to be launching what would appear to be sparkling blasts of light from her hands at her two remaining foes defeating them. She turned around and looked at him, Johnny swore he saw a hint of relief on her face but it quickly became her usual stoic nature.
"So you actually can back up your boasting, wonderful I'll never hear the end of it will I?"
"It's not a boast if it's actually true, and I'm one of the best there is."
"You only fought seven of them I managed to defeat eight of them." A rare boastful smile graced the woman's face.
" Hey, come on I didn't even have weapons and I still managed to kick some ass."
"Perhaps." Johnny's ally for lack of a better word gave an approving nod before it was replaced with curiosity "But why go out of your way to help us unarmed?"
"His Holiness wouldn't exactly be thrilled if I just sat by." The woman wanted to scream at his lack of respect for the Fire God. "Besides I don't know much about this General Shao, but my Grandfather has stories of home and wasn't too fond of generals trying to take power." [3]
The woman gave a nod but her features somewhat softened it seemed rare to see the cocky Earthrealmer seem so thoughtful.
"It must be nice to have stories of your family and to know of your parents." The woman saw Johnny grimace, she wondered if she offended him.
"Not all the time." Then as soon as it came that grimace was replaced by the same usual confidence."So I'm Johnny Cage and who are you?"
"Li Mei ex-Umgadi I was once a bodyguard to the royal family." [4]
Well Li, may I have some thanks for helping you." The actor's grin was met with a weary sigh from the Outworld native.
Your humor is criminal, Johnny." The name was strange for her to pronounce. "You ought to live up to your last name and be put in a cage."
Johnny laughed. "Color me shocked you do have a sense of humor."
"If you think I'm bad you should just be glad you're not in Orderrealm they would probably have you executed."
"I've dealt with tougher crowds, like in Cannes when Ninja Mime III was shown there, I was declared the biggest destroyer of culture since the plague."
"We can worry about that later we have to make sure Empress Mileena and her sister are safe."
Johnny gave a nod as he and Li Mei continued to move on through Outworld hoping they could stop the General's scheme, but they each had one last thought as they moved onward.
'Are all Earthrealm men so strange?'
'She's cute when she's not prickly as a cactus.'
[1] A Johnny Cage movie.
[2] An OC, one of Johnny's earlier martial arts teachers. Bojutsu itself is the Japanese art of staff fighting.
[3] While Johnny Cage might not come from a Mediterranean warrior cult that bred warriors for the gods, I do like the idea of Johnny Cage being Greek although in this case, it's from his father's side, and this grandfather at least one of the Greek coups of the 60's or 70's before coming over to America.
[4] In the MK1 timeline, Outworld and Edenia are one Realm with Outworld being peaceful and never ruled by the likes of Shao Khan who is just General Shao, the jury is still out on if Onaga ruled Outworld at one point.