Mortal Kombat: Broken Chains

By: Miss-DNL

Chapter 6: Citizen Cage

About a week had passed since Sub-Zero first arrived at the trading post. Not much had changed between him and the group since the first day, the Ling Kuei assassin kept his distance and hardly even spoke to Kung Lao or his friends unless had to. They hardly ever saw him really, he was typically held up in his room or disappeared from the trading post entirely. Whenever that happened Siro got high strung, worrying that he was going to go complete his mission, but that didn't seemed to have happened yet. No mysterious or brutal deaths had been reported in the newspaper as of yet. Kung Lao kept trying to convince him that Sub-Zero was just leaving to be by himself or to stretch his muscles out. His attempts were in vain though. Taja seemed more adjusted to their new guest's anti-social behaviors, she had said that at least he wasn't another Siro; who took offense to that. Other than having an assassin living with them, things seemed to be going as they normal do for them.

Sub-Zero was currently sitting in the room he had been given. He had finished the meal that had been provided for him a while ago. Now he was just watching the city from the bedroom window. He himself was hanging back in the dark his mask present as always, Sub-Zero had still refused to take off his mask in the presence of his allies. It was a bit agitating for Taja a Siro, who were growing curious but Kung Lao respected his privacy.

Out of the three Sub-Zero got along better with the monk than with his friends. The monk left him alone, and accommodated as needed for him. So in turn Sub-Zero gave him the respect he deserved. His friends on the other hand were a bit annoying, he could stand Taja but Siro was a different story. The man had made it known that he didn't trust him, so in turn Sub-Zero gave him the same treatment.

Looking at his healing wounds Sub-Zero figured that soon he would complete his unfinished mission soon. He clenched his fist, he could feel the pain of the wounds dulling. Maybe he could finish it tonight if given the chance.

Turning his gaze back out the window Sub-Zero noticed someone that…stood out from the rest of the crowd. A tall, dark haired, American man wearing sunglasses and a loose tuxedo. Seeing the luggage Sub-Zero figured it was the other fighter Kung Lao had mentioned to him one time. He'd also told him about his cockiness. Despite the annoyance Sub-Zero knew he'd feel after meeting this man he did admit to himself that he was a bit curious how this would turn out. Raiden had chosen the man after all, so had to have some sort of worth to him. Still, part of him felt he'd leave soon enough…

Getting up from the bed he slipped into the dining area and hopped up onto the sturdy wooden banisters. He wanted to watch this unfold a bit before meeting this Johnny Cage personally.

Down in the store Taja stared as, the one she assumed to be Johnny Cage come strutting through the door with a huge grin on his face. The red head couldn't help but grin herself as she knew Kung Lao would not be the least bit exhilarated by his arrival. She contained her amusement as he came over to the payment area, the rest of the store staring at him, possibly contemplating how to rob the man of his valuables.

Leaning on the counter that she was at the man says, "I head that this place was where I could find this guy, Kung Lao, is he here?"

Even though she knew where her friend was at the moment Taja decided to mess around with the guy a bit, "Depends, why do you want to see him?" She questioned.

The actor glanced around unsure if he was should talk about what he was going to say in public, "Well you see I was told, by this white haired dude that if I wanted to enter this tournament I needed come see this Kung Lao guy to…unlock my 'hidden potential'." Johnny said putting air quotations around the words hidden and potential. Taja nodded along with what the man was saying and let him continue speaking, Johnny scoffed, "I mean, I don't think any more training. I am Johnny Cage after all," He grinned at her in a rather flirting way, "You've probably heard about me."

"I sure have." Taja said bemusedly with an overdone nod, Johnny quirked a brow finding it odd but wasn't sure what to make of it.

"So," Johnny started slowly still not knowing what to make of her comment, "Is he here?"

Drawing out a long hum Taja pretends to think for a moment, before she could respond Siro came into the store, "Hey Taja, could you go help Kung Lao with inventory. I'll take the shop for a bit."

Taja gave Siro a look, which left him a tad confused before she sighed, looks like her fun was stopped before it could really start, leaving the counter, "Yeah, sure."

"What was that about?" Johnny asked Siro who watched the red head leave the room.

"I don't even know…" Siro answered blankly before looking at him, quickly he assumed who it was, "Oh, I see." Johnny raised a brow but Siro waved it away, "Don't worry about it. That's just her."

"Okay?" Was all Johnny managed to say. A moment or so later Taja and Kung Lao came through the doorway into the store. Figuring he was finally getting to meet the guy he'd been told to meet with, he held out a hand he saying "I'm guess you're Kung Lao right? Johnny Cage, I was told you could help me with my 'hidden potential'."

Kung Lao nodded, "That's correct, I hope you didn't have any trouble traveling here."

"Nah, I have a good travel agent." Johnny answered with a slight shrug.

Kung Lao merely nodded to this before gesturing inside, "Come in, you'll have to wait for a moment while we finish things in the store."

While they led the famed actor into the dining area Siro leaned in next to Kung Lao's ear, "Uh, Kung Lao don't you think we should tell him about, you know, Sub-Zero? Just to be safe?" He whispered cautiously.

"That'd probably be best…" Kung Lao said warily, considering Sub-Zero's temperament it'd probably be a wise decision to formally introduce the assassin to their new comrade.

Noticing their secrecy Johnny raised a brow, this group was a bit weird, but there was defiantly something going on. Standing in the dining area, he noticed the building really was old fashioned, he'd thought it was just a store gimmick, but then again the whole city seemed old fashioned. This trip was getting more and more interesting. Clearing his throat he caught the groups attention, "I hate to interrupt but, is there something you need to tell me?"

Kung Lao looked to Taja who nodded and headed up stairs before he regarded Johnny, "Yes actually, we have another ally with us. I felt it'd be best for us to introduce you to him before we began."

Johnny furrowed his brows, "Okay?" He said, there was defiantly something odd going on.

"He's not in his room." Taja called from the top of the stairs.

Kung Lao crossed his arms, seemed they'd have to wait then. Siro grumbled to himself, he didn't like it when the assassin ran off, he always felt it meant someone was going to die somewhere in the city. "Where'd he run off to this time?" He muttered to himself, Siro jumped when a figure suddenly dropped down from the ceiling startling everyone but Kung Lao. Aggravated by the sudden scare Siro flatly added, "Never mind…there he is."

Johnny Cage blinked a bit caught off guard by the entrance and further what he saw. He hadn't expected a tall, muscular, blue clad ninja to jump down from the ceiling, let alone be this other guy they were talking about. He watched as Kung Lao went over to the ninja and motioned to him, "Johnny Cage this is Sub-Zero, Sub-Zero this Johnny Cage. He's our new ally for the tournament."

Sub-Zero looked at the man over briefly, as much as he had planned on observing the situation first, the situation had called for his appearance. From where he stood, Sub-Zero wasn't very impressed. He wrinkled his nose, the smell of cologne was absolute wafting off of him it was managing to seep through his mask! How could such a stink smell good to people? Inwardly he stifled his urge to gag. There were some things he didn't understand about society outside his clan, and he doubted he ever would understand. Still, he remained quiet to further observe before giving his final judgment on the situation.

Grinning Johnny held out his hand to offer a greeting handshake, "Nice ninja get up, who's your designer?"

The actor's grin slowly faded as Sub-Zero just have him an hard stare, then dropped all together when the assassin crossed his arms refusing the hand shake. Sub-Zero shot Johnny an annoyed look, "It is not a 'get up' and I am no ninja. I am a Lin Kuei warrior." Johnny just stared at Sub-Zero, not getting how he had insulted the man. Sub-Zero looked to Kung Lao, "Is Raiden serious about choosing him for the tournament?"

Kung Lao nodded curtly, "Yes, he is."

Now it was Johnny who was insulted, "Hey! I do all my own stunts! Everything in my films is all me!" He declared to the ninja who looked at him, arms still crossed, for a while before very bluntly saying,

"I've never watched a movie."

The Lin Kuei's unenthused response was like a bombshell dropped down on the actor who stared at him wide eyed and shocked. The other three watched the scene play out from the side lines. Taja and Siro found it amusing while Kung Lao was a mix of slight amusement and apprehension. The two were supposed to be his comrades after all, and he could tell he may have to play peace keeper between them if they didn't get along.

"What!?" Johnny exclaimed in disbelief, "Have you been living under a rock your whole life!?"

Sub-Zero snorted, "It was the manner in which I was raised, and thankfully I was. I don't like wasting time."

Kung Lao sighed when Johnny got a clearly offended look on his face, the first meeting between them was going over as well as he thought it would. In the worst case scenarios his mind had come up with the situation was going over pretty well, no one had gotten punched the face yet after all! Yet looking at the two Kung Lao wasn't sure how long that would last, and if a fight did break out he knew who'd win. Sub-Zero's wounds weren't completely gone but he knew Lin Kuei were taught to tolerate pain to high amounts.

"Waste of time!?" Johnny yelled at his insulter, Sub-Zero huffed at what he perceived as an offended child.

Before the situation could escalate Kung Lao got between the two of them, "That's enough, both of you couldn't have two more different upbringings. Standards are different between them. Insulting each other won't change them," He gave Sub-Zero a look, the assassin gave him an indifferent one in return, "at least try to tolerate one another because we're going to be dealing each other for a while."

The two others who were chosen to participate in the tournament stopped speaking and looked at each other. Sub-Zero chose to say nothing while Johnny ran a hand through his hair and nodded, "Yeah fine."

Kung Lao looked at Sub-Zero, the assassin nodded to him curtly. This relieved Kung Lao somewhat, despite his attitude Johnny Cage seemed to be reasonable enough. While Sub-Zero seemed to have enough respect for the monk to listen to him. This he could work with.

"Good," Kung Lao said, "We're going to go finish things up in the shop. You two wait here," Sub-Zero raised a brow wondering why he had to wait. Kung Lao went over to him, "Could you help me train him?"

Sub-Zero looked from the monk to the actor then back to Kung Lao, he had nothing better to do at the moment, "I'll help, but I can't promise any results. I'm no teacher."

"That'll be enough." Kung Lao said with a nod, he was no teacher either but he'd do as he was told to by Raiden. He had to have chosen him for a reason, and maybe he had known that Sub-Zero would arrive before Johnny. Kung Lao couldn't say for sure but he'd take the help he could get.

Afterwards Kung Lao left with Taja and Siro to go square things away in the store, leaving Johnny and Sub-Zero in the dining area. Johnny put down his luggage down next to the table before he took a chair to sit down. He casted glances at Sub-Zero on occasion as he waited, the ninja had taken up leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Despite the short spat they had between them the actor was somewhat curious about him. He had claimed that the uniform he was wearing wasn't a get up, but that would mean he really was a ninja; despite the statement he'd made that he was. The actor ignored this, he sure as hell looked like one but Johnny found that to be a bit far-fetched, and he knew far-fetched he was an actor after all. Still, he found something to be off with the man, but he couldn't pin what exactly it was though. Something just didn't quiet feel completely human about him. Johnny Cage put the thought aside though, he didn't feel any danger so it didn't matter at the moment.

As time went on Johnny could feel his patients waning but he managed to keep himself in the room for a couple of reasons. One, despite the fact he was full of himself, admittedly, Johnny knew it was rude to look through a person's home without permission. The other was the fact he could feel Sub-Zero watching him like a hawk. It was almost a bit unsettling how the man hadn't moved since the others had returned to working in the shop. Johnny Cage had gotten up a few times to examine things in the room but in what had be a little over two hours Sub-Zero hadn't budged. Once or twice he had attempted to start up conversation but all attempts had been ignored. This left Johnny to be forced to sit and wait in silence, annoyance was beginning to creep up in his mind.

'This had better be worth it…' Johnny though in mild irritation to himself.

Few minutes later Kung Lao and the others rejoined them back in the dining room, this seemed to finally stir the silent assassin who moved away from the wall by a few steps. Kung Lao looked from the man clad in blue and black to Johnny, then apologetically bowed his head, "Sorry for the wait, we were a little busier than I thought we were."

"Eh, that's fine." Johnny lied, he couldn't be rude to a guy who was being so polite. Also it wouldn't look go on anyone to snap irately at a monk.

Kung Lao smiled slightly, he could hear the actor was slightly irate but it was understandable considering the time he was forced to wait and at least he was polite about it. He looked to Siro, "Before we begin Siro will show you two your room. Get changed into something more suitable for training."

Johnny Cage nodded casually, "Sure thing."

Siro lead the actor upstairs to the last empty room they had available. Moment later Johnny came down wearing loose fitting jeans with white stripe down the side and a, sleeveless work out shirt, on his arms was martial arts tape. His sunglasses were smartly taken off showing light brown eyes. He looked to Kung Lao who nodded opening a door revealing stairs heading downward, "This way, I have a training room downstairs."

One by one the group filed down the stairs into the training room. Sub-Zero was a little impressed with what he saw. It was a sizeable room with an outline of what looked like a sparring arena at the center of it. There was both some weights, some old fashioned martial arts training equipment, and some weapons to practice with. The Lin Kuei felt a bit surprised to see various kinds of weapons in the room. He wondered if he could get permission to use the room to keep up his training after this, he'd been going outside the city to do so during his stay.

"Nice setup you've got here." Johnny complimented as he looked around the room.

"Thank you," Kung Lao said before gesturing to the sparring square, "Now if you will, step inside the sparring area? I want you to spar a bit, so I can see your skill."

"Sure thing, I don't mind showing off for a bit." Johnny said normally with an eager grin before he stood on side of the square, "So, who's the opponent? One of them?" He questioned motioning to Taja, Siro and Sub-Zero, "Or you?"

Kung Lao looked to Sub-Zero, who nodded and stood on the other side of the field, cracking his knuckles, "Your opponent will be Sub-Zero."

Part of the Shaolin monk thought that the decision to pit him against the Lin Kuei warrior might be a bit much, but another part of him wanted to test the man. He wanted to see what his Lord Raiden saw in him. The best way to do that, was to challenge him and he could see no better challenge than a Lin Kuei, other than himself that is. This would either kill his skepticism or encourage it.

"Frosty?" Johnny Cage chuckled, Sub-Zero narrowed his eyes, feeling irked by the pun, "Sure thing then! Let's see what you got!" The actor challenged daringly.

Sub-Zero got into his fighting position, "You'll see soon enough."

Once Johnny got himself into his fighting position Kung Lao looked from one to the other then raised a hand high, "Begin!"

Johnny Cage was the first to throw a hit, he sprinted forward and kicked outward. Sub-Zero was surprised by his speed but blocked with his arm guard before grabbing his leg and hitting on the side of his knee. Johnny recoiled at the sharp pain blistering through his joint but didn't give in. He flipped himself backwards making Sub-Zero release, suddenly he rushed forward at a faster rate than before scoring a hit on the ninja's collar bone. The blow was dampened by Sub-Zero moving aside but at hit connected nonetheless.

"How'd you like that frosty?" Johnny taunted lightly.

For a moment Sub-Zero was surprised then he heard the challenging taunt and he smirked somewhat accepting it, "Don't get full of yourself, I've yet to even try."

"That so? Bring it on then!" The actor challenged grinning, eager to see what the assassin could do.

Kung Lao watched the match go on with pleasant surprise, now he could see what Raiden had meant. There was defiantly some potential in the martial arts actor. He was glad to have been wrong for his skepticism. He'd be sure to apologize to the Thunder God later, when he got the chance. Now he could embrace his task of training the man more fully, but now he worried if he'd be able to do it correctly. He shook it off, the man was trained, and trained well it seemed. Kung Lao figured he'd start by examining his chi and worked from there. Yes, that's what he'd do.

Looking back to the fight he noticed something, Sub-Zero wasn't using his ice powers. This was interesting to Kung Lao, he hadn't told him to hold back. The fact that he was in fact holding back was a relief though. Kung Lao supposed he should have thought of that in the first place, but thankfully it had crossed the assassin's mind.

"That's enough." Kung Lao announced, stopping the match.

"Huh? What for?" Johnny Cage questioned as the two fighters separated, he had been enjoying his sparring session with Sub-Zero. Wasn't everyday someone could challenge the great Johnny Cage after all! "It was just getting good!"

"You'll get a chance to spar with Sub-Zero again, there's still time till the tournament." Kung Lao reassured, "That match was just for me to see if your skills as I said before, and you do indeed have great skill Johnny Cage."

The actor smirked, pleased with the praise, "I knew that, but what about this 'unlocking my hidden potential' deal?"

Kung Lao sighed at his cockiness, "I was getting to that. I'll need to sense your chi to see-"

"My what?" Johnny interrupted before Kung Lao could continue.

Kung Lao inhaled to calm himself, "Chi is life energy; it powers us and our movements. It comes from our souls. Strong chi means a strong soul. If one's soul is strong enough they may develop special abilities, which would be reflected in the soul."

Johnny Cage stared at the monk dumbly, "Uh, nice speech and all but I don't really believe in that kind of stuff. No offense! I mean to each their own but I thought I was coming here to train up before the tournament."

"Don't worry about it Johnny, I take no offense, and I appreciate your honesty." Kung Lao answered to the actor's relief. The monk wasn't really surprised Johnny wasn't a spiritual man, he seemed obviously materialistic. This also meant Raiden hadn't might have not told him about magical and supernatural qualities of the tournament, in modern days very few people believed in other realms and gods, or Johnny didn't believe him.

"Johnny, what did Raiden tell you about the tournament?" Kung Lao questioned.

"Well, he told me that it was this big important tournament that only a chosen few can participate in." Johnny said before continuing, "He also said that it was really dangerous and that people could die in it, but I'm not worried about that. I won't chicken out because of a little blood."

Kung Lao wasn't sure if the actor understood how much blood would really be in the tournament. Mortal Kombat was downright gory and barbaric when it got down to it. Decapitation, disembowelment, and dismemberment were only a few of the things on the long list of 'creative' deaths that could occur. The Shaolin Monk didn't voice this though, no need to kill his confidence and he was sure he'd find out soon enough how dangerous it was. Continuing the conversation Kung Lao says, "Do you know why it's so important Johnny?"

An amused grin came onto his face, "Well, that's kind of a weird part. He said something like the fate of the world kind of stuff. Really dramatic about it."

"And did you believe him?" Kung Lao asked, despite everyone already knowing what he was going to say.

"Uh, well no not really, way to over the top to be real." Johnny shrugged, "I thought he was just building up hype or something. Making it sound big," He thought back for a moment, finding the tone Raiden had used to be all too convincing, "Though he kind of sounded pretty serious about it."

"That's because he was serious about it." Kung Lao stated with some firmness.

Johnny Cage looked at him before chuckling a little, "You mean he was serious about the whole realm things, evil empowers and people with super powers? You've gotta be kidding me. It's just gotta be some sort of over the top tournament with people using personas and special effects."

Sub-Zero, annoyed stepped in, "It is not a joke." He snapped, surprising Johnny, "Everything Raiden said is real, if Earthrealm loses this competition we will be taken over by Shao Khan. You'd better start believing in 'magic' because you'll be seeing plenty of it soon enough." Sub-Zero looked at the actor sternly before saying, "And I'll prove it to you right now." He looked to Kung Lao, "I believe I know a way of unlocking his hidden potential, let me spar with him again."

The Shaolin monk looked at the Lin Kuei warrior for a moment, he knew what Sub-Zero was talking about. Sadly his method would take longer than they could afford to take. He nodded, "Alright, we'll do this your way Sub-Zero."

Next thing Johnny knew he was standing on one side of the sparring ring again, he had no idea how Sub-Zero was going to prove magic was real but he wasn't about to back down from a challenge. 'What's frosty going to do? Blast ice at me?' He thought musingly to himself, he looked the man over he couldn't see any possible way of doing that, no sign of any gizmos or anything of the sort. Johnny dismissed the thought, gestured for Sub-Zero to give it his best shot, "Alright, round two. Bring it Jack Frost."

"Prepare yourself, I won't be holding back this time." Sub-Zero warned cautiously as he got into his fighting stance again.

"Let's go then!" Johnny exclaimed, ready to spar again.

"As you wish." Sub-Zero said coolly, soon as Kung Lao began the match Sub-Zero fired and ice ball, which Johnny Cage barely managed to dodge.

Johnny stared as the ice spread out across the ground, he couldn't believe what he had just seen. There was no way he could have used some sort of gadget to fake that, he'd seen the ice gather in between his hands! His jaw hung open, "How the hell did you do that?"

"Let's just say magic." Sub-Zero said as he rushed him from the side. In all honesty Sub-Zero wasn't sure if it was magic or just some natural ability he had. He didn't know enough about the Cryomancers to be sure, but if he had to guess he'd say it was some natural quality of their chi; so in a sense, magic.

Sub-Zero, covered his fist in a thin layer of ice and swung at Johnny, the actor ducked out of the way and swung back at him hitting him in the chest. Sub-Zero ignored the blow and swung again with his other fist, hitting him back. Kicking Sub-Zero pushed him back before firing another ice ball. The Lin Kuei kept his ice shots weak to avoid really damaging the man, the same reason he kept the sheets of ice on his arms thin. All he wanted to do was panic the man enough to force his ability to surface. Using pressure to force improvement was a method that the Lin Kuei used often. If it had worked for his clan for centuries surely it'd work on anyone.

The last ice blast hit Johnny's leg, freezing it to the spot. Sub-Zero used the time to hit the actor in the jaw knocking him back. Grabbing him the Lin Kuei threw him over his shoulder, to his surprise Johnny rolled on the ground quickly regaining his footing. As much as it shocked him Sub-Zero admitted to himself the actor was well trained. He even seemed to have some actual fighting experience under his belt. Though he kept this to himself, he was sure the man didn't need any ego stroking.

Johnny turned to Sub-Zero after covering looking pretty irate, "Hey! Watch the face!"

Sub-Zero raised a brow, he honestly couldn't believe the man just said that, "In Mortal Kombat you'll need to worry about more than just getting your face bruised up…"

The actor paused a moment, "Well…this isn't the tournament…"

There was a moment of silence in the room before Sub-Zero sighed and continued his attack forcing the man to dodge and fight back when able. Johnny did his best to keep up with the trained assassin, and he was doing pretty well, despite the fact Sub-Zero was hurling ice at him seemingly without limit. Johnny could feel that the assassin was slowly ramping up the difficulty, it irked him to know that he hadn't truly gone all out in the beginning. At the same time even in his arrogance he wasn't sure how he'd beat the man if they were actually going at it. It slightly worried him that there would be more guys like him in the tournament. What would an average guy like him do against guys like that?

Holding his ground Johnny gritted his teeth, no, no way was he going to back down and chicken out before the tournament even started! He'd show everyone he could really fight. He'd show his critics, his fans and these guys he was a real fighter!

With a sudden burst of determination Johnny swung the strongest punch he'd ever thrown in his life. The hit knocked Sub-Zero across the sparring area, the ninja just barely stopped himself from sliding out of the ring. Surprised with himself Johnny looked to see a glowing green energy coming from his fist, he grinned, "I'm awesome." He chimed.

Everyone else in the room sighed tiredly.


I'm REALLY sorry about the wait. Thankfully I managed to avoid a whole month wait but still, I'm behind on this. I got hit with a bout of overall laziness and when I wasn't lazy I was tired. My sleep schedule is non-existent and while I'm a night owl I missed several days of sleep this month but that's no excuse really I had plenty of time to work on this but I didn't, and I'm sorry.

This chapter isn't as long as I wanted it to be, nor did it turn out exactly as planned but I hope you enjoy it. Johnny has finally arrived, and they've managed to get his power to surface. One thing I never got about MK was Johnny always seemed to know about his ability, which I find odd. They explain how he has it, he's a descendant of a warrior race or something, but I think it's odd that a guy who doesn't really believe in magic and stuff in the beginning has a such an ability. So I included this part.

Also it was fun to have him meet Sub-Zero. Cocky/Arrogant Guy meets Stiff and Serious Assassin XD

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