Chapters 19/20: John Cena
John, Mickie, Shadow, Evan, Randy, Jade, and Mark were currently in the Living Forest searching for the missing Kitana. During Jade's panic attack, Mark had managed to go back to the palace to get his Sword of Judgment so that they could teleport from place to place. This was the first place they began their search for Kitana. The whole time they were searching for Kitana, Jade was a wreck.
"Jade, it's not your fault," John tried to reassure. "You can't focus on trying to be the new Mortal Kombat Champion and Kitana at the same time."
"Don't you understand, you fool?" Jade exclaimed at him, "That's exactly what I'm supposed to do!"
"Calm down, female," Mickie said to her with a disgusted look, "John's only trying to help you." John looked over at Mickie and silently thanked her coming to his defense. She smiled back at him while holding onto Shadow's saddle as she walked beside the large horse.
"I don't feel helped," Jade replied sarcastically.
"You know Jade, maybe if you were next to Kitana instead of Mark during Mickie and John's fight, you wouldn't have lost her," Randy shot back. Issues were never really resolved. Determining Kitana's location caused a silent truce to be formed, which was probably broken by now.
"Excuse me?" Jade questioned, offended by Randy's words.
"I know that John and Mickie definitely agree with me when I say that we shouldn't be looking for Kitana. Jade's responsibility, Jade should look for her," Randy replied. John did it make it clear, but he actually did agree with Randy. Kitana wasn't their responsibility, so he didn't feel the need to look for her.
"Randy, we would do the same for you," Evan replied.
"No…John would. He was the only person looking for me when I got sent to the Netherrealm. Where were you, Evan?" Randy asked.
"Will you stop bothering him?" Mark asked.
"Will you stop being so damn whipped?" Randy shot back. "Honestly, do you even care where Kitana is? What has she done for us since we've been here?"
"She gave us a place to stay, Randy," Evan said.
"Define 'us' because last time I checked, they were three of 'us' plus a large horse that were not in that palace," Randy replied.
"Randy, either you shut up and help us find Kitana or-
"Or what, Mark?" Randy challenged, "Are you gonna kill me with the sword? Because I'd rather be dead than look at your face for another second."
Mark raised the sword, "Don't tempt me, boy."
"Kill me," Randy kept going. "Kill me Deadman." Randy slapped Mark in the face. "Come on 'match for the Thunder God', kill me! Now!" Mark lifted the sword swiftly and aimed directly for Randy's neck. Mark was an inch away from killing the source of all of his unnecessary stress.
"Wait!" Mickie shouted, barely saving Randy's life, "Kitana's at the western side of the palace. She's fine."
Mark dropped the sword and turned to Mickie. "How do you know?"
"Shadow's origin is the Netherrealm. She knows of everything that goes in it and with its habitants, including Quan Chi. He knew where Kitana was and just made it vocal to two people whose identity Shadow couldn't figure out."
"Why should we trust a horse from the Netherrealm?" Jade asked suspiciously.
"Why should we trust someone who served under Shao Kahn?" John shot back.
"Can we please stop?" Evan asked everyone. They all seemed to share in his sentiments. "Let's just go back to the palace and look for Kitana there."
John and the others turned on their heels to walk back to the palace and search for Kitana. He and Randy turned around to look at Mickie, who was sadly petting Shadow. John assumed they were speaking to each other telepathically, something that has become a daily occurrence over the course of 48 hours.
"Mickie, you coming?" John asked her.
"I'll catch up with you guys later," Mickie replied.
"We're not splitting from you, Mickie," Randy said. "Believe it or not, John and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
Mickie turned to Randy and slapped the hell out of him. "Then why would you play with your life like that? Randy, you and John are like my brothers. I can't imagine losing either one of you. Why would you ask Mark to kill you Randy?"
John wondered that himself and turned to Randy for an explanation. "Honestly, I don't know. I guess I'm just frustrated that we're still here. Didn't Raiden say that the tournament prevented Armageddon?"
"Yes," John and Mickie replied in unison.
"And didn't Mark kill Shao Kahn?" Randy asked again.
"Yes," they replied again in unison.
"So why are we still here, trying to prevent Armageddon?" Randy asked.
"There are still Quan Chi, and Sting, and Terry," Mickie replied.
"Terry is weak, Sting is nothing more than a nuisance and Quan Chi is an opportunist. There are no opportunities for him to cease right now. Therefore, he won't be a threat."
"Don't be so sure-Shadow stop!" Mickie answered to Randy and commanded softly to her horse. Shadow didn't listen and instead nudged her again. "Shadow, what's the matter?" Mickie was silent for several moments before she turned to Randy and John. "We have to go to the Flesh Pits. Shadow feels a disturbance down there."
"Should we tell the others?" John asked.
"Well, we need some sort of transportation," Randy replied.
"Well, Mickie has Shadow and you have that whole fire version of the Silver Surfer thing going for you. That leaves me with no form of mobility," John replied.
"Shadow is a large horse. I don't think she'll mind carrying you, despite not being her master. Am I right?" Randy asked Mickie and she nodded. "See?"
"Okay, fine," John conceded, "Onto the Flesh Pits!"
"I'll follow Shadow," Randy said.
Mickie got on Shadow with John getting on behind her. Creating fire with his hands, Randy made a surfboard under him and climbed on. With Randy close behind, Shadow galloped almost as quickly as she did when John, Mickie, and Randy first encountered her. When approached by a huge cliff, Shadow stopped. On the other side of the cliff, however, was the Flesh Pits.
"What now?" John asked.
Mickie grabbed onto Shadow's saddle. "Hang on, Johnny." John grabbed Mickie's waist as Shadow and Randy jumped over the cliff and landed cleanly in the Flesh Pits. John got off Shadow first and guided Mickie down.
Randy turned up his nose as they entered the entrance to the Flesh Pits. "It reeks of dead bodies here."
"I smell that too," John said. "I also smell...something burning."
"Burning?" Mickie quipped before turning to Randy, "What did you burn on our way here?"
"No, it's not from Randy," John quickly added, "I think it's around this way." John moved ahead of everyone else and went to locate the scent of the burning something. His eyes widened and his stomach tossed and turned in weird ways.
"John, is everything-
Mickie and Randy stopped in their tracks at the sight of three dead bodies, two of which were their allies. Split evenly in two was the body of Baraka. Decapitated was the body of Liu Kang. Then, the source of the odor John and Randy both seemed to smell. The burning flesh of their closest ally, Melina. Mickie turned away and vomited profusely. John held onto Mickie's waist and pulled hair away from her face as she continued to vomit her guts out. Randy himself had to turn away from the bodies.
"I knew stuff like this happened in this area, but never would I ever think I'd see it for myself," Randy said to John and Mickie. Mickie had stopped vomiting, but was still feeling queasy and was now crying. He made his was to Mickie's side as the tears continued to fall from her eyes. "Mickie, it's okay. Everything will be fine."
"That's not why I'm crying, guys," Mickie replied softly. She broke away from both of them and raked a hand through her hair. She turned back to John and Randy with redness still in her eyes. "Melina changed during this tournament. She wasn't my best friend anymore. I hoped to make peace with her before she died. Shang Tsung and Quan Chi prevented that."
John and Randy looked at Mickie with a loss for words. Randy nudged John in the shoulder, urging him to go and comfort her. Randy then decided to go back to Bo' Rai Cho's home, which is where the three of them had been staying. John took the hint and went over to Mickie's side. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at him with sad brown eyes. He wanted to know what he could say to make her feel better.
"Mickie, if there's anything you want me to do-
Mickie didn't let John finish his sentence as she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. "Make love to me, John. Please, I need this."
John was startled for a split second before giving in to her kiss. His tongue swirled around her mouth as he remembered how she tasted. His hands made their way to her ass and he palmed the cheeks and pulled Mickie right on his hard on. He heard Mickie moan his mouth and it made him even harder. John had been longing to feel her lips again and finally he had the opportunity. However, it just didn't seem right. She was in mourning. She was mourning over the loss of her best friend. Of course she would want him to make her forget about her problems. She didn't want to have sex with because she missed him like he did her. Mickie was using him and he didn't like it one damn bit.
Using every bit of willpower he had, John pushed Mickie off him. "Not like this, Mickie." He proceeded to walk away from her and probably find an alternative way back to Bo' Rai Cho's house.
John felt Mickie grab his arm and turn him around. Looking at her right now made him wonder why he turned her down before. "What do you mean, 'not like this'?"
"You're in mourning, I get that," John placed a hand on both of Mickie's shoulders and placed a kiss on her lips. "I don't wanna be a scapegoat. When we have sex again, I want it to be because you want it, not because it'll make you feel better." Mickie opened her mouth to say something, but John placed a finger over her mouth. "Don't try and tell me otherwise, Mickie. I could tell by the urgency that your feelings weren't true."
"I'm sorry, John," she whispered before wrapping her arms around him. "Maybe we will be together again, but not now."
"Regretfully, I agree with you," John replied as he rubbed the curve of her back with his palm. "Can we be friends with benefits?"
Mickie looked up at John and punched him in the arm, "What do you think the answer is, you fool?"
"You'll consider it over a glass of Outworld wine?" John presumed.
Mickie laughed and shook her head. She looked back at John, sincerity clear in her eyes. "Thank you…for making me laugh again. In record time, no less."
"It was my pleasure. And so are you in your TNA attire," John joked again, receiving another punch in the arm from Mickie.
"Speaking of Total Nonstop Action," a familiar voice to John and Mickie started to say, "How do you feel about TOTALLY drowning a pool of your NONSTOP blood. Terry, give me a good pun for action."
"What are you doing here in Outworld?" John asked Sting and Hulk.
"What does it look like we're doing here? We're getting our girl back and killing the man who's made a mockery of our sport," Sting responded. He pointed his bat at John and a red energy blast hit John directly in his chest. It only moved John back an inch, but he remained on his feet. "Whoa, you're stronger than I thought. Still, you're no match for the both of us."
"We'll see about that," Mickie declared as she held her arms out as the Silver Stallion appeared in them. She smirked at the look on their faces. "Surprised?"
"Honestly we are…but only a little bit," Terry replied.
"We were hoping to get you back on our side before you figured out you were the true holder of the Silver Stallion," Sting added, "But of course, Mark never lets things go my way." Sting swung his bat at Shadow's hind legs, causing the horse to stumble to the ground. "Whoops, my bat slipped."
"I'm sick of waiting around," John declared before he charged at Terry and knocked him to the ground. He tried to protect himself from John's punches landed furiously on his face. For the most part, it was to no avail since John would find openings and punch him there.
John pulled himself off of Terry before grabbing both of his legs and swinging him around in the air. John had recently gained the ability to have a side of effect of gusts whenever he would land an attack. This would make anything attack he does practically guaranteed to land. John swung Terry into a nearby tree, but he quickly rebounded and went to attack him. John jumped up and grabbed him by his blonde hair and lifted him higher in the air before slamming his down hard on the ground. John landed on his feet with a drop causing Terry's unconscious body to jump before he attempted to give him a finishing punch to the face. Terry grabbed John's arm and got back up.
"Terry! I feel him near, we have to go," Sting said as he swung his baseball bat in Mickie's abdomen. "Mark is gonna be here any second."
Terry let go of John and joined Sting as they teleported out of Outworld. Just like Sting predicted, Mark had teleported to Shang Tsung's Flesh Pits by using the Sword of Judgment. "John, Mickie, you aright?"
John got up first and grabbed his shoulder. He turned his back to Mark as he wrapped Mickie's arm around his neck and lifted her up by the legs. He then turned back to Mark. "Sting saw you coming. That's why he and Terry left."
Mark cursed silently under his breath. It was then he caught sight of Melina and Liu Kang's dead bodies. "Did Terry and Sting kill them?"
"No, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi did. They were dead when we arrived here," John replied.
"Where is Randy?"
"He went back to where the three of us were staying at. Sting and Terry showed up a while after he was gone."
"What would make Randy leave you two?"
"I wanted to be alone with Mickie."
"Get your priorities straight boy. This is no time for flirting," Mark warned.
"Please, don't lecture me. You're the last person who should give me a lecture on getting side tracked by a woman," John shot back.
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that since you don't look like you need to take any more punishment than you already have." John wanted to say something, but he knew Mark was right. "Anyway, Kitana is safe in the palace. It would be greatly appreciated if you, Mickie, and Randy were as well."
"Yeah, well, we don't feel welcome around you guys," John answered.
"I'm not supposed to make you feel welcome. I'm supposed to make sure majority of you don't come back in a coffin. Two are already dead; would you like to join them?"
"No."
"Then be back at the palace by midnight before I go to your hiding place and drag you three to the palace." On that note, Mark teleported back to where he came from, leaving John wondering if it was time a truce is called.