Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Johnny Cage steps into a raised platform in the middle of a forest. This is where a kombat tournament was held. Of course it wasn't Mortal kombat, he wasn’t chosen for that. Even though this tournament wasn’t as powerful as Mortal Kombat, it was still fun. Think of it as hockey but for Outworld.

“There’s nothing hotter than a warrior princess!” Johnny Jokes to his opponent, getting closer to her. “Careful Cage, lest you get burned.” His opponent, Empress Mileena yells back, playing onto his joke.

Mileena flashes her Sai in a cross in an X formation on her chest, getting into her starting position soon after. “Fight!” A bold, deep voice yells from what seems out of nowhere. Johnny and Mileena run into each other, Johnny diving into a kick, throwing Mileena off of her feet. She grunts as she gets up. All of a sudden Mileena jumps into the air, Sai pointed for Johnny’s shoulders. Johnny crouches under her with great flexibility, going into a roll. He pops up behind her and grabs Mileena by the shoulders. He kicks her in the back, throwing her across the stage. Mileena stagger’s herself from getting up so quickly, staying on the ground for an extra second as Johnny walks closer to her. As Johnny stands over her, she kicks him down to the ground, swiftly jumping onto him once he hits the floor. Mileena pummels Johnny with some punches, getting up off of him. Johnny quickly uppercuts Mileena from the ground, dazing her.

They both go back to their respective sides of the stage, insinuating the first round is over. “You want more?” Johnny jokes with a smug grin on his face.

Mileena realising her opponents patterns, Mileena slides under johnny. As Johnny turns around to face her, she teleports to his other side above him, delivering a hard kick into the back of his head. Johnny is now on his knees, waiting for the princess to get closer to him as she had in the other round. Mileena tries to pick him up from his shirt collar, but Johnny pushes himself off of her and delivers a couple of punches and kicks into her abdomen in a somewhat combo’d way. Mileena falls onto her back, Johnny pinning her down onto the floor.

As Johnny picks her up by her shoulders, her eyes change as well as her mouth, though you couldn’t see it through her cloth mask. She sinks her teeth into his left arm, biting hard. Johnny stands up off of Mileena, who had now passed out from the fighting. He raises his right arm up in victory as the announcer states “Johnny Cage wins!” in a booming voice.

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Come on, buy something good! I’m paying.” Johnny tries to compel Kenshi, who still seems as if he wants Johnny to spend no more money on him. “No Johnny, I’m not that hungry.” Kenshi lies. “Ugh, fine.” Johnny says. “But I’m buying you something good next time.” Johnny crosses his arms in a winey yet jokey way. “What about you guys?” He turns his head over to the other side of the table. Syzoth, Kung Lao and Raiden sit there. They all tell Johnny their orders, Syzoth only asking for a drink as he couldn’t even stomach human food.

Madame Bo comes back to their table, perfectly balancing 4-5 plates in her arms. “Just for you, Syzoth.” She says with a smile. Madame Bo places down a plate with some roasted crickets on it. “Thank you Madame Bo, these are delicacies!” Syzoth smiles, very grateful for Madame Bo.

“All you got was a salad?” Kenshi asks johnny. “I thought you were blind!” Johnny jokes. Kenshi blatantly points to Sento on his back with a smirk. Even though Kenshi knew Johnny knowed about Sento, he liked reminding him. “I’m not too hungry, I just fought a princess!” He smugly says. “Speaking of the Princess Johnny, did she bite you?” Raiden asks, thinking he had seen it in their fight. “No, she tried though. Didn’t break my skin.” Johnny pulls his right sleeve up, tracing his forearm with his finger. There was no bite shown. “See nothing.” He says, putting his arm back down.

The rest of their dinner had gone well, jokes being shared with roaring laughs coming from whoever heard them at the table. It was a nice night for all four of them.

—

Johnny wakes up the next day not in his bed, but on the floor beside his couch. He groans, touching his fingers to his temples. His head hurt badly, throbbing with a terrible headache. Johnny leans on his couch beside him. He grabs onto the arm rest and pulls himself up to his feet. As Johnny stands up, an immediate urge to puke goes to his stomach. “Oh shit.” He says to himself, grabbing his stomach. Johnny runs to his downstairs bathroom, not noticing the state that his house was in.

The house looked like it had been broken into and ravaged. His floor was cluttered with cans and bottles, some of them spilling liquid onto his floor. The indoor pool had garbage in it and one of the inflatables had popped. His couch he had just been leaning on had weird stains on it that hadn’t been there last morning. His roomba was spinning in circles, not knowing where to go.

The bathroom was in the exact same state, cans overflowing from the garbage as if someone didn’t know it was a garbage for a bathroom, as if it was just in the kitchen. The sink was slightly on, dripping into the sink. His soap pump was on its side, pooling onto the bathroom counter.
Johnny puts his head over the toilet bowl, puking. “Fuck.” He coughs, wiping his lips with his arm. Johnny looks down onto his shirt, it had been split on with many different coloured liquids. “Come on.” He sighs, picking up the middle of the shirt by the button.

Johnny leaves the bathroom, seeing the state of his house. “What the hell happened last night?” He asks himself, scanning his eyes through the house. Johnny walks over to his laundry room. The house was so big he could have it on the first floor in its own room.

Johnny liked doing his own cleaning. It was something he found peace in. Cleaning was one of the only things he could control when he was a kid, and his mother enjoyed the help. Johnny’s father never really did anything when he was around. Johnny had only hired a cleaner once, and Johnny had thought they had cleaned everything wrong, and had to do it when they left as it annoyed him so much.

Johnny unbuttons his shirt in the laundry room, putting it into the wash. Since the washer had some of his other clothes in it, he puts some soap in the washer then turns it on. He takes a clean load out of the dryer so that it’s ready for him to switch when the washer finishes.

As he takes the load to the couch he realises how dirty his couch was, making him scoff. Johnny puts the basket down onto a somewhat clean part of his floor. He goes into the kitchen and opens the sleek white cabinet that had some sort of spill on it. Johnny takes out stain remover and a cloth. He starts cleaning the couch, scrubbing hard.

Once the couch is cleaned enough, he puts the basket onto it, starting to fold the laundry just as he hears the washer beep, telling him it was done. Johnny finishes folding the shirt he had in his hands and puts it down in a neat pile with a couple other button ups. He switches the load into the dryer and goes back into the living room. As Johnny walks back he sees his left forearm. “What's that from?” He asks himself out loud, looking down onto a somewhat scar.

Once Johnny finishes folding the laundry, he picks a garbage bag up, cleaning all the cans and bottles off of the floor, helping the Roomba out.

After about an hour of cleaning the floor, Johnny picks the Roomba up and puts it in the middle of the room. Finally it now knew where it was going, cleaning the floor with precision.

Johnny looks into his pool, it was just as much of a mess as the rest of the house. He goes back into the laundry room, taking his pool net out. He fishes all of the garbage from the pool, including the pool floatie. Johnny throws it all into the bag he had put the rest of the garbage in.

“I hope nobody went up stairs.” He thinks to himself, still wondering what had happened the other night. He assumed it was just a party.

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“Ring Ring Ring!” Johnny's phone buzzes on the nightstand next to him. Johnny opens his eyes after being woken up by the loud noise. He picks the phone up and looks at the screen. It was his PR agent, Chuck. Johnny sighs and picks the phone up, not excited for this call.

Typically whenever Chuck needed something from him, he would just text, but when Chuck called, it was never good.

“Hi Chuck.” Johnny answers, sitting up in bed. “Hey Johnny, how’s it going?” The man asks. Chuck had a strong masculine voice, it even commanded Johnny around. He was a good PR agent and always helped Johnny with issues, even if Johnny had bitten off more that he could chew.

“I’m fine, why?” Johnny seems to have been rushing his PR agent, not wanting to be on call for too long. “You should check twitter, you’re trending.” He says in a serious tone. “Alright.” Johnny smiles, thinking he’s been trending for a good reason.

Johnny scrolls his phone onto Twitter, seeing his name in the trending column. He taps on the column, his smile dissipating from his face. He wasn’t trending for a good reason. He thought maybe someone had tweeted something good about him. What was he thinking, it was Twitter.

What he had seen was a clip from his most recent fight. God knows how someone got footage of it, but this wasn’t good for Johnny, passing out in the middle of a fight wasn’t in the style of a martial arts star.

He looks through the comments, being even more disappointed. “What kind of fighter is he?!?!” “I knew he fakes his stunts.” None of the comments seemed to be supporting him. They all made fun of him. His ‘devoted’ fans all turned a cheek on him. None of them were real.

“I want this off of the internet, get it all down.” Johnny sounds angry. It was Anothny’s job to deal with these types of messes. Why did he have to show Johnny?

“Fine Cage, I’ll get on it now.” Chuck didn’t like it when Johnny had used a stern voice. It wasn’t Chuck’s fault he didn’t see every little thing online. Chuck thought Johnny just wanted to know what was happening about him online.

Johnny hangs up the phone and slams it down on the nightstand. He gets up out of the bed. He kicks the nightstand out of anger, hurting his foot. “Fuck.” he says to himself annoyed. What could he do to gain his popularity back? There had to be something. Johnny picks his phone back up from the nightstand. He opens his contacts, and taps into a contact titled ‘Blaze, hype’.

Weirdly enough, Johnny had 2 contacts named Blaze in his phone. It was hard knowing so many people, especially in Hollywood. Everyone had switched their name to something more stand-outish.

He texts Blaze “Send invite’s out, party at my house tonite.” He adds a couple of emojis on the end of it and hits send. Blaze was one of Johnny’s 2 hype men, the other being nick-named Otter, since he was skinny and sleek. Johnny had later texted Otter too.

Johnny knew both of them were good at their jobs, they had been under his employment for 5 years. They were trustworthy.

—

Johnny goes downstairs, realising that since he was having guests over, he needed the place to look good. There was still some laundry piled up on the couch he needed to fold and put away, he could probably vacuum as the Roomba seemed tuckered out, going to its charging station. He grouped a couple other things together and put them all into a list. He starts on the list right after he changes his clothes into his cleaning ones.

Johnny had an outfit for cleaning, he hated getting good clothes dirty, and when a pair of clothing had gotten a stain on them from cleaning, he decided to make those specifically for cleaning. The pair was a white t-shirt discoloured and ragged, with a pair of gym shorts he used when sparring with his friends. He wouldn’t be caught dead in those shorts with a trainer.

As Johnny cleans, he thinks “People can’t worry about me when I’m throwing a party, right?”
He scrubs harder at the spot on the couch. “This will show that nothing is wrong.” Johnny smiles a little at his thoughts.

His thoughts always made him feel better, even when he was a kid. Sometimes he let his thoughts run free, speaking out loud. People may have thought he was egotistical, but it was his way of making himself feel more comfortable in conversations.

—

Johnny’s party had been going well for the first part of the night. Like always, Blaze and Otter had done their job’s well. People came in throughout the night, the door practically staying open.

“Good job you guys!” Johnny pats both of his ‘hype men’ on the back. “Yeah no problem Cage, people like coming here.” Otter smiles. Otter looked at Johnny's wrist, he had his flashiest watch on. It was something he only put on during parties, but only on formal ones. “What is his plan?” Otter thinks to himself.

As Johnny leaves Otter and Blaze, James, a bigtime director, taps him on the back. “James!” Johnny says as if he was an old school friend he hadn’t seen in years. “How’s the new movie going?” Johnny was good at small talk with directors and actors. Even though he didn’t know what projects half of them were working on, he could still kiss ass. “It’s going good, but I did want to ask a favour of you. The choreography was awesome, who did it?” James asks. “That would be yours truly.” Johnny points to himself with a smirk on his face. “How would you feel about coming onto the team to do ours then?” James puts his hand onto Johnny’s shoulder, obviously having drunk enough for a week. “I would be honoured.” Johnny jokes, ready to get onto another movie set.

As Johnny searches the crowd for another person to talk to, a younger guy comes up to him, almost cornering him in the crowd. “Johnny, Johnny, can I talk to you?” The boy asks, looking giddy with excitement that he was talking to a movie star. “Sure.” Johnny tries to seem excited for the talk, but he knew it would be a boring one. “Thank you thank you!” The boy practically shouts.

He didn’t look old enough to be at the party, he was short with a baby face. Maybe he was in college or university, but he couldn’t have been old enough to be a graduate. At Least it didn’t seem that he was drinking. The boy was there for business.

“Mr. Cage, I’m in my first year of film school and I wanted a real professional’s opinion, someone who’s been a part of everything.” The boy was speaking fast, practically jumping up and down. “Woah woah woah, slow down.” Johnny interrupts. “Right, sorry But I was wondering if you’d watch my film?” the boy asks. Johnny lets out a quiet sigh, not wanting to be rude to the guy. He was only trying to get started in hollywood. Johnny saw a little of himself in him. “Sure, sure, do you have a copy on you?” Of course Johnny knew the boy had a copy on him, but he thought he would ask. “Yes yes, thank you again Mr. Cage!” The boy digs into a crossbody bag he had around his shoulder like a purse. The boy hands Johnny a DVD, it had a homemade look to it, the cover of it all drawn by hand. “Alright, noe get out of here, it’s probably a school night for you and we don’t want to be tired.” Johnny definitely saw himself in the boy, it seemed as if he didn't want him to make the same mistakes that Johnny did when he was still in school.

Johnny looks for yet another person to talk to. It was easy since it was his house and his party, but he didn’t like being alone anyway. Luckily for Johnny, a girl comes up to him.

She was wearing a nice red, yet showy dress. She had heels on too. They matched her dress. The girl's hair was beautiful, thick and black.

“So you’re the infamous Johnny Cage.” She says in a flirty tone. “You’re looking at him.” Johnny smirks, knowing where this is going. “That shirt looks good on you.” She says, getting closer to him, almost touching his shoulders. Johnny laughs a little, complementing her dress back. “You know, I’ve never been with a movie star.” The girl puts her arms around his neck. “Well, what’s your name?” Johnny asks. “Rebecca.” She answers, getting closer, almost hugging him. “Your dreams might just come true.” Johnny says, then going in for a kiss. She kisses back. After a couple of seconds, they break apart. “Why don't we go somewhere more private?” Rebecca asks. “Of course.” Johnny takes her up the stairs, to his room.

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Johnny smashes his lips onto Rebecca’s as they stumble into his room. He takes a breath of air and closes the door as Rebecca starts to unbutton his shirt. She takes off the straps to her dress, but keeps it down onto her waist. Johnny pins her to the wall, putting his lips back onto hers. After a couple of seconds he takes another breath.

Suddenly a thought hits Johnny’s head. A thought of hunger. Not hunger for a burger or a surf and turf, but for meat. Raw meat. Images of uncooked chicken and cow flash his mind. His stomach grumbled and yearned for food. Johnny looks at Rebecca, her smooth skin just asking to be bitten through.

As Johnny sinks in for another kiss, he gets rougher. Johnny pins Rebecca to the wall, biting her lip, almost breaking through the skin. Rebecca opens her eyes at the pain. “What the hell is he doing?” She thinks to herself. Johnny bites harder. The taste of iron and metallic blood fills his mouth. It tastes good to him. When Rebecca feels the pain, she starts to try and push Johnny off of her. It takes Johnny a second to realise what's happening. He had zoned out. Johnny lets Rebecca go from his grasp, not meaning to have hurt her. “You’re a fucking freak!” Rebecca yells, running out of the room holding her lip. “Wait.” Johnny tries to chase after her, letting her go once she gets down the stairs. “Fuck.” He says to himself, wondering what happened to him. “Alright, parties over, everyone leave.” Johnny yells down from the second floor.

—

Once everyone has left, even Otter and Blaze, Johnny goes downstairs, trying to ignore the mess everyone left. He goes into his laundry room, opening what seemed to be a cabinet where he kept cleaning supplies. Johnny digs into the back of the cabinet and takes a bottle of wine out. Johnny walks back to the living room, sitting on the couch next to a couple of empty and crumpled up red plastic cups. Something you would have seen in a movie. Johnny opens the bottle, taking a sip. He immediately spits the wine out onto the carpet under his feet. It tasted disgusting. “What the hell.'' Johnny looks at the bottle, trying to find any weird ingredients in it. Nothing. It was all normal, in fact it was the same type of wine he had ordered on his honeymoon with Cris. It was their favourite wine, that’s why it was hidden from the rest of the bottles.

Johnny puts the bottle down onto the coffee table, next to some garbage. Johnny sighs. “What if she goes to the press?” He thinks to himself, looking down onto the stained carpet. “They’ll eat me alive.” Johnny gets up from the couch. “I’ll deal with it tomorrow.” he walks upstairs, back to bed.

—

“Ring, Ring, Ring!!” Johnny’s phone wakes him up yet again. “What do you want chuck?” He answers annoyedly, putting his hand on his forehead. “What the hell, Cage.” Chuck answers with a stern voice. “What.” Johnny moans, forgetting what happened last night for a moment. “Oh shit.” Johnny says after a silence from Chuck. “What were you thinking, Cage.” Chuck sounds disappointed.

If Johnny ever screwed up Chuck knew the next day. Chuck almost had a dad-like feature to him. He was stern and smart .

“Listen Chuck, I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t mean to hurt her. Let's be honest it was a late night at a party, I was drunk.” Johnny tries to explain himself. “You still hurt her.” Chuck sounds annoyed. “Please Chuck, you gotta help me out of this.” Johnny pleads, wanting all of this to be over. Johnny feared that this may be the death of his career. “Johnny of course I’m going to help you, you’re my client, but I need you to do something for me.” Chuck tries to calm Johnny down by making his voice softer. “What do you want?” Johnny calms down, asking in a sincere way. “Lay low and don’t leave the house, I’ll get someone to grab your groceries.” Chuck explains. “What about the tournament?” Johnny asks. “You’re out Cage.” Chuck sounds flat, like Johnny already knew this. “Right, I just thought I would be able to watch the others fight. Kenshi’s still in.” Johnny’s voice goes lower.

He was sad he couldn’t see Kenshi fight. After all, he was his best friend.

“Johnny this is for the better. You can see Kenshi and the others after this all blows over.” Johnny sighs in agreement. “I want to hear you say it.” Chuck knew Johnny went by his word, but if he was silent, he was planning something. “Fine.” Johnny says, hanging up the phone and slamming it on the table yet again.

Johnny walks over to his bathroom, wanting to calm down. He turns the tap on cold. Johnny splashes his face with a little bit of water. This had always helped him. He looks up into the mirror in front of him. His mouth was open and showed his teeth. They look weird. As if his canines grew larger and the other teeth followed. His teeth were sharp. When he tried to close his mouth they ripped a little bit of his lip up. Johnny wipes the blood onto his finger and looks at it. The red substance triggers something in him. A hungry feeling takes over him again. He grabs his stomach in pain. The pain of starvation.

His legs takeover, walking Johnny down the stairs back into his kitchen. He opens the freezer and seizes a foam tray filled with chicken breast on it. He rips the saran wrap straight off of the package. He ravages the meat with his bare hands. Johnny devours all of the chicken whole, barely chewing. Once all the meat was gone, he stared down into the tray. “What the fuck just happened.” He whispers to himself. Johnny looked to the floor, the juices from the meat seemed as if it was going to stain his hardwood.

Suddenly a wave of nausea comes over him. He feels as if he’s going to puke. His head throbs with pain. He goes down onto the floor lightly, passing out in a sleeping position.

Chapter Text

Johnny smashes his lips onto Rebecca’s as they stumble into his room. He takes a breath of air and closes the door as Rebecca starts to unbutton his shirt. She takes off the straps to her dress, but keeps it down onto her waist. Johnny pins her to the wall, putting his lips back onto hers. After a couple of seconds he takes another breath.

Suddenly a thought hits Johnny’s head. A thought of hunger. Not hunger for a burger or a surf and turf, but for meat. Raw meat. Images of uncooked chicken and cow flash his mind. His stomach grumbled and yearned for food. Johnny looks at Rebecca, her smooth skin just asking to be bitten through.

As Johnny sinks in for another kiss, he gets rougher. Johnny pins Rebecca to the wall, biting her lip, almost breaking through the skin. Rebecca opens her eyes at the pain. “What the hell is he doing?” She thinks to herself. Johnny bites harder. The taste of iron and metallic blood fills his mouth. It tastes good to him. When Rebecca feels the pain, she starts to try and push Johnny off of her. It takes Johnny a second to realise what's happening. He had zoned out. Johnny lets Rebecca go from his grasp, not meaning to have hurt her. “You’re a fucking freak!” Rebecca yells, running out of the room holding her lip. “Wait.” Johnny tries to chase after her, letting her go once she gets down the stairs. “Fuck.” He says to himself, wondering what happened to him. “Alright, parties over, everyone leave.” Johnny yells down from the second floor.

—

Once everyone has left, even Otter and Blaze, Johnny goes downstairs, trying to ignore the mess everyone left. He goes into his laundry room, opening what seemed to be a cabinet where he kept cleaning supplies. Johnny digs into the back of the cabinet and takes a bottle of wine out. Johnny walks back to the living room, sitting on the couch next to a couple of empty and crumpled up red plastic cups. Something you would have seen in a movie. Johnny opens the bottle, taking a sip. He immediately spits the wine out onto the carpet under his feet. It tasted disgusting. “What the hell.'' Johnny looks at the bottle, trying to find any weird ingredients in it. Nothing. It was all normal, in fact it was the same type of wine he had ordered on his honeymoon with Cris. It was their favourite wine, that’s why it was hidden from the rest of the bottles.

Johnny puts the bottle down onto the coffee table, next to some garbage. Johnny sighs. “What if she goes to the press?” He thinks to himself, looking down onto the stained carpet. “They’ll eat me alive.” Johnny gets up from the couch. “I’ll deal with it tomorrow.” he walks upstairs, back to bed.

—

“Ring, Ring, Ring!!” Johnny’s phone wakes him up yet again. “What do you want chuck?” He answers annoyedly, putting his hand on his forehead. “What the hell, Cage.” Chuck answers with a stern voice. “What.” Johnny moans, forgetting what happened last night for a moment. “Oh shit.” Johnny says after a silence from Chuck. “What were you thinking, Cage.” Chuck sounds disappointed.

If Johnny ever screwed up Chuck knew the next day. Chuck almost had a dad-like feature to him. He was stern and smart .

“Listen Chuck, I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t mean to hurt her. Let's be honest it was a late night at a party, I was drunk.” Johnny tries to explain himself. “You still hurt her.” Chuck sounds annoyed. “Please Chuck, you gotta help me out of this.” Johnny pleads, wanting all of this to be over. Johnny feared that this may be the death of his career. “Johnny of course I’m going to help you, you’re my client, but I need you to do something for me.” Chuck tries to calm Johnny down by making his voice softer. “What do you want?” Johnny calms down, asking in a sincere way. “Lay low and don’t leave the house, I’ll get someone to grab your groceries.” Chuck explains. “What about the tournament?” Johnny asks. “You’re out Cage.” Chuck sounds flat, like Johnny already knew this. “Right, I just thought I would be able to watch the others fight. Kenshi’s still in.” Johnny’s voice goes lower.

He was sad he couldn’t see Kenshi fight. After all, he was his best friend.

“Johnny this is for the better. You can see Kenshi and the others after this all blows over.” Johnny sighs in agreement. “I want to hear you say it.” Chuck knew Johnny went by his word, but if he was silent, he was planning something. “Fine.” Johnny says, hanging up the phone and slamming it on the table yet again.

Johnny walks over to his bathroom, wanting to calm down. He turns the tap on cold. Johnny splashes his face with a little bit of water. This had always helped him. He looks up into the mirror in front of him. His mouth was open and showed his teeth. They look weird. As if his canines grew larger and the other teeth followed. His teeth were sharp. When he tried to close his mouth they ripped a little bit of his lip up. Johnny wipes the blood onto his finger and looks at it. The red substance triggers something in him. A hungry feeling takes over him again. He grabs his stomach in pain. The pain of starvation.

His legs takeover, walking Johnny down the stairs back into his kitchen. He opens the freezer and seizes a foam tray filled with chicken breast on it. He rips the saran wrap straight off of the package. He ravages the meat with his bare hands. Johnny devours all of the chicken whole, barely chewing. Once all the meat was gone, he stared down into the tray. “What the fuck just happened.” He whispers to himself. Johnny looked to the floor, the juices from the meat seemed as if it was going to stain his hardwood.

Suddenly a wave of nausea comes over him. He feels as if he’s going to puke. His head throbs with pain. He goes down onto the floor lightly, passing out in a sleeping position.

Chapter Text

Kenshi was worried about his friend. It wasn't like Johnny to not show up to a tournament, even if he wasn’t fighting. He knew Johnny loved watching the fights. With the faint it made Kenshi even more worried, Johnny wasn’t answering his phone.

Kenshi knocks on Johnny's front door.

He remembers when Lord Liu Kang had told them earlier that day that Johnny wasn’t coming back. It felt weird not having him around. It was quieter, no movie star rambling about god knows what in Kenshi’s ear.

There was no response to Kenshi’s knock. He bangs the door louder, hoping Johnny had just not heard him or was taking a nap.

Johnny and Kenshi had fun watching together. Even Kung Lao was a little bummed out with Johnny leaving. He enjoyed answering Johnny’s stupid questions.

Still no answer. Kenshi knocks again, this time yelling Johnny’s name in as well.

Yet again, no answer.

“You better be okay Johnny.” Kenshi sighs, getting his shoulder in position to the door, ready to break it down. Kenshi had done this many times, though not to a friend's house. Kenshi takes a deep breath in, then out. He launches himself into the door, breaking it.

Kenshi stands in the doorway, waiting for Sento to grant him more vision. Sento guides him through the mansion, giving him directions and little vision. First he checks the living room. Kenshi feels the couch as Sento doesn’t give him good depth perception. Nothing.

Kenshi then checks the hallway leading to the laundry room, not expecting to find him there he doesn’t take long.

He then goes into the laundry room, it was small so he could see it all and nothing appeared to be different.

Kenshi goes back to the main entrance. |It was a large room, Johnny’s kitchen and living room mixed together, as well as the pool. The pool was a little back so no one could fall into it while getting out of the living room, but it was still a hazard.

“If Johnny had passed out again and fell into the pool…” Kenshi stops his thought, wishing that's not where he finds him.

Kenshi goes into the kitchen. As soon as he walks in, he stumbles on something. “What the hell.” Kenshi looks down, Johnny lays there. “What the hell did you do johnny?” Kenshi bends down, taking the actor by his shoulders and carrying him to the couch and laying him down. “Johnny.” Kenshi says loudly, shaking him by the shoulders. Johnny’s eyes open slightly, as if they were allergic to the light. “What the fuck.” Johnny whispers, putting his hand onto forehead, like he was trying to rub out a headache. Johnny opens his eyes all the way, looking to his right, seeing Kenshi. He almost looks scared when he sees Kenshi’s face. Johnny sits up and gets off of the couch. “What are you doing here Takahashi?” He asks in a suspicious way. “You weren't answering your phone, I got worried.” He says calmly. “I turned it off.” Johnny puts his hand up to his mouth, not wanting Kenshi to even sense his teeth. “That’s not like you.” Kenshi argues. “Sorry I turned my phone off once.” Johnny sounds annoyed. “Johnny, are you okay?” Takahashi asks after a silence. “I’m a grown man, of course I'm fine.” Johnny lies, turning his back to Kenshi. “Just go.” Johnny says in a quieter tone. “Cage if you’re dealing with something I want to know.” Kenshi sounds more serious as the seconds go by. “I’m not ‘dealing’ with anything.” Cage exaggerates his words, trying to give Kenshi a hint. “Cage, you passed out in a fight. That seems like a problem.” Kenshi crosses his arms, stepping closer to Johnny. “Yeah and? Everyone has sick days.” Johnny puts his hands into fists. “Just tell me if you need help, Johnny.” Kenshi sighs. “And I will when I need to.” Johnny responds. “Just leave.” Johnny adds on in a demanding voice. “Fine.” Kenshi coldly says. He walks to the door, stopping to look back at Johnny, Sento allowing it. Something catches his eye in the kitchen. It was a foam tray that seemed to be ripped to pieces. Johnny sighs, giving Kenshi yet another hint. He walks out, not wanting to have angered his friend more.

—

After his ‘fight’ with Kenshi, Johnny goes to his bathroom to clean up. He felt dirty. Maybe sleeping on the floor did it to him.

He turns the shower on, letting it warm up as he gets a towel out of the closet. As he puts the towel on the counter, he catches a glimpse of himself, and his mouth. “Shit,” He swears, seeing his teeth have grown pointier and more grotesque. Why did it have to be his face? He was an actor. It was his entire job. “I’m done with this bull.” He whispers as it hurts his lips to speak. He runs down to his garage.

Johnny wasn’t that too into mechanics. In school he preferred the sciences and arts, but he knew his way around a workshop. In highschool his father told him that ‘drama is for girls’ and he wanted him to take a shop class. His father was always telling him stuff like that.

Johnny opens a big red toolbox, he keeps it around in case he needs to fix something on his car. Johnny takes a pair of pliers out of the toolbox. He runs back upstairs, putting the towel down on the floor, in case he makes a mess.

Johnny puts the pair of plies into his mouth. “Molars first.” He thinks the back teeth wouldn’t ruin his look. He would keep most of his teeth, but the back ones hurt the most. “3,2,1.” Johnny takes a deep breath in and pulls. It hurt like hell, blood splattering onto the towel underneath him. He throws the tooth into the sink along with the pliers. He puts his hand up to his mouth to stop the bleeding a little. Johnny feels his gums with his mouth. Something was growing back already, what the hell, it was his tooth. It grew back in almost an instant. Johnny turns the shower off, not wanting to waste too much water.

Johnny tries taking the same tooth out again and again and again. It grows back each time. The floor was drenched in his blood, but somehow he hadn’t passed out.

After many trials, Johnny quits, slamming the pliers down onto the counter. They were now lying in a puddle of blood. “fuck , fuck, fuck!” Johnny gets more angry by the second, resulting in him punching the mirror. It shatters into millions of pieces, cutting his hand up.

Chapter Text

Pain coursed through Johnny veins, it rustled him awake. The pain of his teeth kept last night. It felt as if there was a big gaping hole in the middle of the face that had been freshly cut out. He tries to let out a groan but nothing comes out. His vocal cords hurt too. It all hurts. It felt as if he was getting plucked with needles. He could hear his blood pumping through his veins.

Johnny gets distracted from his pain for a second. It was his phone. The buzz of it seemed so loud. It felt like it was his brain vibrating, hitting his skull in each and every direction.

He shakily puts his hand over to the nightstand, picking up his phone with a weak grasp, almost dropping it onto the floor a couple of times. The bright screen hurt Johnny 's eyes, it felt blinding to him. He squints as he turns the brightness down. Johnny checks the notification. It was Kenshi. Johnny taps on the pop up and sees Kenshi’s message.

Funnily enough, Kenshi hadn’t used his phone that much until Johnny showed him how to properly use it. He had only used it for calls and messages when he was in the Yakuza. But Johnny showed him how to use social media. Of course Kenshi didn’t post anything, but he was on his phone a little more often with the help from his ancestors.

Kenshi’s message read “Hey Cage, I’m sorry if I touched a nerve last night. Just know if there’s an issue, you can tell me. I’ll pay for the door.”

Johnny tries to put his thumb up to type, but it just goes back down. His hands out of everywhere else on his body felt the weakest. Johnny lets go of the phone, putting it back onto the nightstand.

“I need an advil.” He thinks to himself. Johnny sits up in the bed with some struggle. He lunges himself out of the bed, forgetting what state the bathroom was in. The blood startles Johnny at first, but he remembers what happened. He thinks it’s probably why his mouth hurts so much. He gets a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Not wanting to see his face ruined, he looks straight to the floor. The sharp teeth want to make him hurl, but he keeps it in. Johnny rummages the closet in the bathroom and takes out a towel. He sheepishly throws the towel over the cracked mirror.

He didn’t want to see his face and he hoped no one else would ever see it in the state it was in.

Johnny aches down the stairs, going slow so as to not lose his footing. Johnny looks at the stainless steel of his kettle. He could see his face. Johnny grabs the paper towel from under the sink and positions it onto the kettle. Infact, Johnny did this to all of his some-what reflective items.

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t look at his face. Johnny’s face was his job. He wouldn’t even want Kenshi to be around him even if he didn’t have Sento. It was too much, what would Johnny do without his face. He couldn’t play the villains in movies. He was an action star who played heroes and main characters, but he couldn’t play a hero with a fucked up face. Johnny feared he was out of a job.

After Johnny covers almost everything in his house with things like towels, clothes, and papers that he could get to balance, Johnny looks to the front of the house. There was a big gaping hole in his broken door that Kenshi had left. “People would look through that.” Johnny sighs. He takes a blanket off of the couch and throws it over the hole, keeping it up with some loops of the wool that had been loose on the corners of the door. After covering the door up, Johnny closed all of the blinds in his house. There weren't a lot of them over his windows, but he closed the ones that could.

After closing all of the blinds and covering almost everything, the house was dark. Not pitch black, but it was dark. Johnny’s phone lights up the living room, it hurts his eyes yet again. He goes onto twitter, trying to ignore his home feed of people belittling him, calling him names and telling him he was weak. It reminded Johnny of his childhood. Instead of looking at all that, he starts to write a tweet.

He wanted his fans to know he was okay, even if they weren’t being too kind to him. There had to be some of them who just didn’t post.

“Hey Fighters, just letting you know I’m okay, it was my decision to opt out and I just had a bad day. Stay tuned for some good news!”

Johnny hits post. He didn’t really have any big news, but that was what he said when he tried to get out of things. It had always worked. People cared about the new things other than the old problems.

Johnny then dials a phone number. It was one all the celebrities used to do renovations on their houses. He needed a new door.

“Hello, how may I help you?” The feminine voice on the phone says. “Hi, it’s Johnny Cage, I need a uh door replacement.” Johnny’s voice was raspy. He was talking in an almost whisper. “Of course Mr. Cage, what material do you want?” The company had already known Johnny’s address, he had called them a couple of times before. “It doesn’t matter to me, just make it match.” He looks over to the door. “How am I going to explain this?” Johnny thinks to himself as the voice explains to him some other things. “Mr. Cage are you still there?” They ask him. “Uh, yeah, sorry.” He had spaced out. “We’ll have a worker coming by tomorrow, is that okay?” They ask. “Yeah, thank you.” Johnny hangs the phone up.

Chapter Text

Johnny sits on his couch, staring at his ceiling. Johnny was definitely dressed down, he wore a sleep robe and some comfy, yet still sleek and stylish pyjama pants. He knew the guy was coming to install another door, but he couldn’t care. He thought what he was wearing was much better than his cleaning clothing anyway. It was early in the morning anyway.

Johnny hears a voice come through the door. “Excuse me, I’m here for the door reno?” The man’s voice seemed frail, like he was nervous to see Johnny. “Coming.” Johnny yells, grabbing a mask from the side table.

COVID had happened a couple years prior, he had some extra masks from the quarantine sitting around. They were good to hide his face with. When he put it on, he looked normal. The mask hid his teeth. It hid Johnny’s ripped up lips and scars on his mouth too.

Johnny opens the door and takes the blanket off of it. He throws the blanket onto the couch. “Hi, come in.” Johnny says, his voice weak. The repair-man steps into the mansion. He looks into the darkness of the house. “I thought he would live in better conditions?” The man thinks to himself. It was weird seeing a celebrity's house, dark and messy. The man had been to many other celebrity houses for repairs, but Johnny’s was the weirdest one.

The man puts his box of tools down beside the door. “I’ll be right back, just have to get the door.” He laughs a little, walking out to the truck he had come in.

He comes back quickly, placing the new door on the outside wall of the house. He walks back into the mansion and picks his tools back up. Johnny goes back to the couch, noticing the guy doesn’t want to talk and just does his job instead.

Johnny was used to people wanting to talk to him when they were there at his house to do just a simple job, this guy was different. Typically it was all “How was the set of Ninja Mine?” or questions about his co-stars.

“Hey, I’m done.” The guy says to Johnny, peeking his head through the door. “Thank you again.” Johnny stands up, moving a couple steps closer to the man. “Yeah, no problem.” The guy seems eager to leave the mansion, it was awkward for both of them. After a long weird pause in the conversation, the worker leaves, but before the door could close a flash goes through the house. “What the hell was that?” He thinks to himself, going closer to the door, hoping it was just a light flickering because of god knows what. After a little looking around the front, he thinks nothing of it and goes back to the couch, sitting down and turning the TV on. He puts on the original Ninja Mime.

Johnny always put it on when he wasn’t happy or fell sick. It was a comfort film. It gave him some sort of happy nostalgia. It was the movie that actually made him popular. If Kenshi, or even Kung Lao was there, he would be talking all the way through it, speaking of how the practical effect’s work, how many times they had to shoot a scene, and his opinions on the rest of the cast. If only everything was normal. If only Kenshi and Kung Lao could come over and it could all be normal.
—

Later that day, Johnny still sits on the couch even though the movie had finished a little bit ago. He scrolls on Twitter. It was always Twitter. It’s how he kept up with what people thought of him. He also liked seeing the drama and updates of all the other celebrities.

“Elanor’s having a kid, nice.”

He knew most celebrities as he is one, but they didn’t really speak a lot. His friends were Kenshi and the others, not famous people. Really the only time he spoke to them was when he was on set with them. They were all fake anyway. It didn’t matter to Johnny.

Johnny looks at the next post, it was about him. “What the hell is this?” Johnny asks himself. He clicks on the article.

It was titled ‘Johnny Cage, washed up and devastated after wife Cris Carlton leaves.” “That was months ago?!” Johnny is outraged, the article was outdated, yet the photo was of today. That’s probably what the flash was, a camera.

The photo was of Johnny, with the mask on, robe and Pj pants. He looked sloppy compared to what his fans had seen him in before. Typically it was a suit, or some fancy button up with some tailored pants on. His hair was amess too, it was sticking up in all directions.

“Take a more unflattering photo next time.” He whispers to himself. Johnny looks to the rest of the article, skimming things like “After Cris left Cage, he had gone out of the spotlight for months.” “Cris leaving Cage was so bad for him, that he has spiralled.” “Could this be the end of Johnny’s career?”

“Why the fuck does this always happen to me?” Johnny asks himself, texting Chuck's number.

—

Just as Johnny puts his phone down, it buzzes. “What now?” Johnny sighs, picking the phone right back up.

“Hey Johnny, me and the guys wanted to know if you were up to coming to Madame Bo’s with us later today?”

Johnny wished he could say yes. It was all he wanted to do. He wanted to see his friends again, but he couldn’t risk it. He would have to go with the mask on, and then what would happen if he had an urge? It was too much of a hazard, for now he would skip out on the social gatherings.

“No thanks, still feeling sick, maybe next time!” Johnny writes back. Johnny felt bad for not texting Kenshi last time, it was rude of him but he couldn’t do it.

Johnny also didn't want Kenshi to worry about him. It wasn’t Kenshi’s job. Kenshi had other things to worry about like the goddamn Yakuza hunting him. Johnny was a grown man that could deal with his own problems. He didn’t need a team of people helping him, Johnny had been through hell, he could get out of a sickness.

Chapter Text

Red. It was all Raiden could see. The white tile of the bathroom floor was stained. Johnny’s bath mat was a sleek grey, and now muted and dull skarlet. What was worse than the blood everywhere was the teeth. Sharp pointed white pyramids of all sizes scattered around the floor like they were confetti. It looked dangerous. Even with all Raiden had seen in Outworld, it made him feel sick. He wasn’t there when Kenshi was blinded, but he heard the stories. It was worse when he saw a friend in pain rather than an enemy.

Kenshi and Raiden rush over to Johnny’s side, trying to pick him up from the floor as he mumbles “I'm fine.” in a quiet tone.

Kenshi and Raiden drop Johnny by his shoulders onto the bed. His eyes were closed, Johnny had passed. Raiden had guessed it was from blood loss.

Johnny’s face was drastically different. Instead of a normal mouth Raiden saw a gaping hole in the middle of his face, shark-like teeth protruding from wherever they could come out of. Some of the sickly teeth had been missing, showing bloody gums instead. Raiden had seen injuries like this before. It reminded him of Baraka.

“That wouldn’t make sense?” Raiden whispers to himself. “What wouldn’t make sense, Raiden?” Kenshi asks. Raiden had forgotten that Kenshi couldn’t see. “Nothing, never mind.”

Raiden thought that Johnny wouldn’t want people seeing him like this. It wasn’t Raiden’s news to share anyway, when Johnny wanted to tell Kenshi, he could. He could even tell Raiden when the time comes.

Raiden strays his eyes off of Johnny, looking to the bedside table. He sees a box of masks on it. They were surgical masks. Raiden grabs one out of the box, putting it onto Johnny. “He wouldn’t want us to see him like this.” Raiden thinks to himself.

—

Kenshi and Raiden thought it best to wait for Johnny to regain consciousness before they would leave. When Johnny woke up after about 10 minutes, both of them had crowded around his bed.

Johnny takes a moment to look around, then, after realising that he was being looked at, feels his face. There was a mask there. Good. “You better not have broken down another one of my door’s.” Johnny laughs a little, trying to avert his eyes.

He knew his eyes were different, they were discoloured with crimson red in the iris. A bleak orange covered the whites of his eyes like a sick cat.

Johnny grabs his $500 shades from beside him, sitting up, getting out of the bed. “Why are you two here anyway?” He asks, sighing. “We were worried about you.” Raiden says in a serious tone. He was always serious. “Why would you be worried about me?” Johnny chuckles in reply. “Just leave, I’m fine.” Johnny ads, trying to hurry them out of the house. “You were hurled over the sink, I saw the state of your house.” Raiden sighs. “We are here for you Johnny.” Kenshi chimes in.

Even if he couldn’t see what had happened to Johnny, he knew it was bad. That’s what Sento had told him.

“I know that, and if I needed help I would ask for it.” Johnny sounds annoyed, averting his gaze even if they couldn’t see it through his glasses.

“Johnny, I saw the blood.” Raiden crosses his arms. Johnny stays silent.

Johnny knew the hiding of his secrets was up. He was done. It was embarrassing to Johnny, needing help. It was his issue and his issue alone. Kenshi and Raiden had their own issues too. Johnny wasn’t barging into their houses and asking for their problems like a therapist. He was angry.

“I don't want to bother you with all of my things.” He sighs, giving up. “It’s not a bother Johnny.” Kenshi walks closer to the actor, putting his hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “It’s really no big deal, Kenshi.” Johnny swats the Swordsman’s hand off of his shoulder. “It is a big deal.” Sento whisper’s into Kenshi’s ear. The Katana was always right.

“My ancestor’s say otherwise.” Kenshi seems more serious. “Why are they always here?” Johnny mumbles under his breath. “Would you rather me not be able to see, Cage?” Kenshi crosses his arms. “No, but, why can’t they be quieter?” Johnny mumbled, sadder.

There was a silence between the three of them. “Please, just go.” Johnny interrupts, balling his hands into fists. “Fine.” Kenshi reluctantly agrees, leaving with Raiden.

—

“I feel as if Lord Liu Kang should be informed of this.” Kenshi says as they walk down Johnny’s driveway. “It’s dangerous, whatever he has contracted.” Kenshi ads on. “I agree.” Raiden was quiet, he was thinking of what to do. “I shall go back to the Shirai Ryu and ask.” Raiden ads on, stopping at the end of the driveway to shake Kenshi’s hand. “Please update me.” Kenshi shakes the farmer’s hand with a small smirk on his face.

—

“Lord Liu Kang.” Raiden slightly bows at the god as he sees him with the Shirai Ryu trainee’s. Liu Kang had stopped by every so often to check in on everyone. It was about once a month he would stop by.

“Hello Raiden.” The fire god smiles, walking towards him. “I need to speak to you, alone.” Raiden asks. “You seem troubled, what's the issue?” Liu Kang crosses his arm in a somewhat nice way. “Kenshi and I had gone to check on Johnny as he hadn’t been responding to us, and I think he has contracted a disease.” Raiden didn’t want to say Tarkat in front of the initiates. It was a terrible thing to have, and he didn’t want to scare any of them. “Why don’t we go somewhere more private.” Liu Kang’s smile dissolves into a serious look.

Liu Kang guides Raiden to a secluded place of the building. “What do you think Johnny Cage has contracted with Raiden?” He asks, with a worrisome face on. “I think it’s tarkat.” Raiden looks to the floor as the words leave his mouth. “I understand, thank you.” Liu Kang seemed as if he wasn’t worried. It made Raiden feel weird, why wasn’t he worried?

Chapter Text

“Knock knock.” Johnny hears on his door. Johnny had given up on locking people out of his life, it was no use. Kenshi would usually show up and ruin his privacy, so why should he try and keep him out?

“It’s open.” Johnny yells from the couch as he puts a surgical mask back on and stands up.

Liu Kang walks into the mansion. He looked around the dark home, making out outlines of trash on the floor.

“Hello Johnny Cage.” Johnny was practically stunned when he saw the Fire God. Johnny was expecting Kenshi again, not him. Why would he even be here? Johnny had contacted Liu Kang when he was out of the tournament, but that’s it.

“We need to speak.” The god was calm, he looked very serious. Almost like he was going to scold Johnny like a parent to their kid.

“Okay, what do you want to talk about?” Johnny knew what Liu Kang was going to ask, he was just trying to avoid it.

“Raiden came to me the other day, talking about how you’ve grown ill. He believes it to be serious.” Liu Kang walks closer to the actor, who is now looking down at his feet. Johnny stays quiet, why would Raiden go to Liu Kang? It was his issue, not anyone else's. They were so nosy. It reminded Johnny of the paparazzi.

“I just have a cold! I don’t know why everyone’s making a big deal of it.” He spills out angrily. He had the right to be angry in his mind.

“If it’s a cold Johnny Cage, why don’t you take off your mask.” Johnny hadn’t seen this side of Liu Kang before. He seemed smug and like he was planning something. Before Johnny had seen Liu Kang be truthful to him, transparent, but now, he was plotting something.

Johnny sensed that the Fire God knew of his affliction. His secret was out, all of it was done for him. Johnny was annoyed, but somewhat happy. He could stop hiding.

Johnny puts his fingers in the loops of the mask, pulling it off quickly. He sighs. “By the elder gods.” Liu Kang mutters to himself.

Even though Raiden had told Liu Kang of his suspicions, he was hoping that Raiden had been wrong. This wasn’t part of Liu Kang’s timeline, this wasn’t supposed to happen to Johnny. Liu Kang felt somewhat guilty, he felt as if he should have looked closer.

Lord Liu Kang scavenges into a crossbody bag. He pulls out a vial with a weird greenish liquid in it.

“What is that?” Johnny asks. “It should stunt the growth of your Tarkat.” Liu Kang goes closer to Johnny, dipping a Q-tip into the vial. “I’m going to put this around the outer teeth.” He says while lifting the Q-tip to his face.

The liquid was cold, it almost felt as if it was numbing. Johnny didn’t like it. He wanted to rub it all off, but he wouldn’t. Johnny knew it would help him in the long run.

“Thank you.” Johnny says quietly, he was still a little annoyed.

“I have a couple of questions Johnny Cage, would you like to sit down?” Liu Kang asks while he puts the medication back into his bag.

“Sure, we can sit on the couch.” Johnny takes his sunglasses off too. There was no point in wearing them at this point and it only made it harder to navigate his house. It was dark enough already without them on.

“Do you want tea or something, I can start the kettle.” Johnny asks as the God sits down on his couch. “No thank you, now let us begin.” Johnny sits down on the couch beside Liu Kang.

“Do you remember when this all started?” The fire god asks. “Maybe a week ago, around the time I won against Mileena.” Johnny moans, his head hurt all of the sudden. Sometimes he had random painful headaches, and this was one of them.

“Are you okay Johnny Cage?” Liu Kang could sense the man's pain. “Yeah yeah, just peachy.” Johnny sarcastically replies, putting his hands onto his temple’s.

“Don’t lie.” Liu Kang sounded a little annoyed at the actor’s sarcasm. Johnny sighs back. “Were there any questions?” He adds into the silence.

“Yes, sorry, how are your symptoms?” The God asks, looking closer at Johnny’s mouth. It was grotesque, he felt terribly sympathetic for the actor.

“How do they look?” Johnny sounded annoyed, he was obviously in pain and didn’t want to talk of it. He thought Lord Liu Kang could ask anyone else inflicted with Tarkat this. Why him?

“Hey, does anyone else know about it? Like Kenshi?” Johnny changes the subject. The pain in his head had numbed and he looked up over to Liu Kang. “No, only Raiden and I know.” the fire god explains. “It is your secret to share, not mine. The only reason Raiden had told me was because he knew I could help.” He adds on. “Can you tell them to meet at my house soon or something then? I want to tell them in person.” “Of course, I will arrange their flights in.” Liu Kang smiles. “Let me get a hold of Kenshi though.” “Of course Johnny Cage.”

—

Kenshi’s phone buzzes beside him. He grabs it. His voice text tells him “Johnny Cage: Hey, I wanted to speak to you in person, you still in Cali?” “Please text back: Of course, when do you want me over?”

Kenshi knew he didn’t need to say please, it was a robot, but the voice text was helping him out. Why wouldn’t he use his manners?

“Johnny Cage: How about tonight? Pack a bag to stay the night, it’s important.” The emotionless voice tells Kenshi. “Sure.” Kenshi says back. He was happy to stay over at Johnny’s but he was never serious with anything. He was concerned.

—

Kenshi knocks on the door to the Cage mansion with his one remaining hand. His other was holding a small bag. Kenshi didn’t need a lot of things with him. Some extra clothing and Sento was all he needed.

When Johnny opened the door to Kenshi it felt weird. Even though he didn’t need light, Kenshi knew the house was dark. He could sense that Johnny tried to clean the place a little, but didn’t really get anywhere with it.

“Do you remember where the guest room is Kenshi?” Johnny asks the swordsman as he walks into his house. “Yeah, thank you.”

Kenshi and Johnny walk to the room, Kenshi putting his bags down onto the bed.

“What was it you wanted to tell me?” “You might want to sit down, Ken-doll.” Johnny tried to put some humour into his words, but it just sounded like he was about to cry to Kenshi.

Kenshi sits down on the bed, waiting for the news Johnny was going to tell him.

“I, uh, I was lying about how it was just a cold. It’s more serious than that. I have contracted Tarkat, like what Mileena has.” Johnny sounds fragile. It was something Kenshi had never heard in the actor’s voice before. He sounded defeated and sickly. His voice is somewhat groggy.

Kenshi was shocked by what Johnny had told him. It took him a minute to process. He felt terrible for his best friend. He even felt guilty, but for what? It wasn’t Kenshi’s fault that he caught the disease.

“Kenshi?” Johnny says. “Yeah, sorry, thank you for telling me.” Kenshi looked confused, like he was still processing everything.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Kenshi suddenly asks. “I mean for support, I could help you deal with it too.” He adds. “That sounds good, thank you Ken-Doll.” If Johnny could smile, he would.

Chapter Text

A couple weeks had gone by since Johnny told Kenshi and the other’s. Kenshi had been a great help to johnny. And Kenshi started to like living with a roommate. It was better than living alone in D.C. with only Jax as company. Kenshi liked Jax of course, he was an awesome friend and terrific at his job, but it seemed as if they were only work friends. It got boring fast. But with Johnny he felt happier, Johnny always made him happier.

Johnny enjoyed the company too. Ever since Cris had left him it felt alone at all times. Even in his new house it felt empty without someone else. Kenshi was filling that void for Johnny. He wished Kenshi could stay forever, but he would have to leave eventually. His work was in D.C. Jax had been helping Kenshi out with his in person shifts by taking over for him, and Kenshi had worked online at home. But it all was a big hassle. Johnny felt guilty for keeping Kenshi from his work. It was like Johnny being sick was delaying the Takahashi family's freedom. He would help Kenshi in any way he could after this all blows over.

Kenshi had been helping Johnny a lot. He helped clean the house when Johnny was too weak on his own. Kenshi knew Johnny got upset when his house wasn’t clean. He tried to keep Johnny at least mentally together.

Kenshi, on some occasions, had also helped keep him together physically. When Johnny tried to rip his own teeth out, Kenshi was there to stop him. It may be hard, but Kenshi knew how to calm the actor down. He just hoped, for Johnny’s sake and his own, that this would all blow over soon. That Johnny would be able to get better, that he could at least get some form of medicine or treatment other than the thing that Lord Liu Kang had given him.

When Johnny told the others of his disease, they immediately were supportive. Though when Baraka had heard of his affliction, he felt some sort of guilt. Even if it wasn’t him who gave Johnny the disease. He tried to give Johnny heads up on what he would have to deal with soon.

—

Kenshi sleeps in the guest room of the Cage mansion. Even if it was smaller than Johnny’s older house, it was still a mansion.

The guest room was sleek. The bed was big, almost too big. Kenshi had gotten used to the room, he had unpacked his bags and everything, but it still felt weird being in someone else’s house. It was weird for him to stay at one place for so long. The FBI had him moving a lot, due to him getting hunted by the Yakuza.

Just as the swordsman was about to doze off, he heard a loud bang coming from down the hall. He gets up out of bed and stays still for a second, hoping for the noises to stop and be able to go back to bed. But, he wasn’t that lucky, it continued.

Kenshi sighs and grabs Sento from the chair near the bed, going into the hallway. Kenshi walks steadily and slowly, making sure he isn’t in danger. As he progresses the noises get louder and grosser. It sounded like chewing or scavenging. Kenshi knew what it was. It was Johnny. This had happened countless times before, Tarkat was difficult to hold back. It took control of him.

Takahashi takes the katana out of its sheath. He didn’t want to use Sento on Johnny, but he had too. Whenever Kenshi had to do this he just thought of them sparring or practising like at the Wu-Shi academy.

“Johnny, are you okay?” he asks into the darkness of the mansion. No response. “Johnny, try to control it.” He tries to remind the actor. It never worked before, but he hoped Johnny had a better grasp on the disease this time.

“Can't you just leave me alone this time Takahashi?” Johnny’s voice was groggy and raspy. Kenshi knew it wasn’t Cage talking, it was the Tarkat. His hope of not having to fight left him with a sad sigh.

“This isn’t you Johnny.” He says, getting into his starting stance. “That’s so fucking corny.” The disease laughs, staring into Kenshi’s blindfold. Even if Kenshi didn’t have eyes, he could feel the gaze. It made him feel sick.

Suddenly, Johnny’s body lunges at Kenshi, taking him off guard onto the floor. Kenshi pushes back at the diseased man on top of him, eventually throwing him to the side. Kenshi feels his arms to make sure his sleeves are down, they are.

Kenshi unleashes a combo of punches into Johnny's abdomen. In response to that, Johnny kicks twice at Kenshi’s feet, trying to get him off balance. “Don’t harm him too badly.” Kenshi whispers down into Sento as he swings it out hitting Johnny in an uppercut way. Sento had listened to Kenshi as the man in front of him wasn’t bleeding. Kenshi sees a figure appear behind Johnny, it was his ancestor who mirrored his move, just to the back of the actor’s head. The man groans and gets back into the fighting mood quickly, using his new claw to scratch at Kenshi’s chest, ripping his pyjama shirt. Kenshi runs to the man, kicking up, throwing Johnny to the air, then slicing his sword again. Just as Johnny tries to attack again, Kenshi sweeps his legs, getting up gracefully and walking backwards a little, giving them space between each other. Johnny Suddenly bursts towards the swordsman in a weird nanobot type motion. He kicks straight into Kenshi’s jaw. It hurt and was probably going to bruise, but it was the least of Kenshi’s worries. Kenshi quickly gains back his footing and puts his palm to Johnny’s neck, knocking him to the floor. Kenshi watches Johnny stumble on the floor trying to get up for a moment, until his body goes limp and still.

Kenshi takes the man's body by his shoulders, dragging him up the stairs into his master bedroom. Kenshi throws Johnny onto the bed and leaves the room, locking the door behind him as he sighs.