Johnny Cage was inspired.
Despite barely escaping with his life, the events on Shang Tsung's island had given the struggling actor a brilliant way to revitalise his career. Screw starring in other people's movies - he'd write his own. He'd take inspiration from the fantastical tournament to determine the fate of the Earth and write a fantasy martial arts movie he would also star in. But the best thing was that he could take as many liberties as he wanted, and no one would be able to decry the film for historical inaccuracy. After all, who would ever believe anyone who accused Johnny of historical revisionism surrounding a mystical tournament with undead ninjas, four-armed men and literal gods? Thanks to this, he could simply make a few tweaks, such as expanding the role of the character based on himself to make him the hero. With a few name changes to avoid being sued by Liu Kang or Sonya Blade, it would be easy to pass off as a fictitious event he imagined himself.
For his own role, he couldn't just base the character on himself too much. After all, starring as himself would seem desperate at worst, and like a Bruce Campbell-esque dead end for his career at best. No, he needed a character tailored to his strengths as an actor - charming, charismatic, tough - but different enough so as not to be immediately apparent where he got the idea from - serious, damaged, probably celibate. He needed a name that suited this kind of character; far from the flashiness of 'Johnny Cage'. Something that conveyed the idea of a down-to-earth, grizzled hero like the action heroes of the '80's. Not another John though. There were enough of those. Michael worked. Michael Grimm.
Grimm would be a special forces operative, as well. That way, Johnny might be able to hire on Sonya Blade as the military adviser for the film and work closely with her as 'research' for his role as their amalgamated counterpart, eventually convincing her to let him take her out to dinner. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was about a fairly masculine woman who didn't take his shit that Johnny found so appealing, but his mind kept wandering back to her when he wasn't working.
Grimm would be joined in his quest by an Asian martial artist. Rather than a Shaolin monk, he would instead be Japanese, because that would better appeal to those anime fans. Yoshitsune Minamoto, descended from the real Minamoto clan and trained by some mountain clan in various martial arts and sword styles. That would appeal to the samurai-loving crowd as well.
They would be roped into competing in a tournament held by the demonic sorcerer, Shang... Lao, who would drink the blood of his victims, rather than stealing their souls. It was less of a high concept notion that would be more palatable to the atheist demographic, while also appealing to vampire fans who hadn't had a worthwhile vampire movie in years. The four-armed monster that served him would be named... Gongoro, because that mofo was gone (Johnny cracked himself up). He considered giving him six arms, but worried about the animatronic budget and left it at four (going purely practical would appeal to up-their-own-ass film snobs).
The godly mentor, who was likely the inspiration for the Japanese god, Raijin, could have that name, Johnny supposed. There was no copyright on mythology, after all. As for the two ninjas, Scorpion and Sub-Zero... well, Johnny hardly wanted to incur either's wrath, if either one was still active. One would be a member of the same clan that trained Yoshitsune, revived from the dead as Shang Lao's undead servant, while a member of their rival clan is hired to assassinate Earth's heroes. That should be different enough from the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu to avoid an assassin coming for him in his sleep. The actual plot would play out largely the same as the real events, aside from Grimm defeating Lao, and the two ninjas both being killed by the heroes.
Johnny was satisfied with his script. If he pitched it right, he was sure to get a deal. He'd compare it to Big Trouble in Little China, and say it was, 'Enter the Dragon, starring an inoffensive white guy'. Those kinds of phrases were like catnip to movie producers.
But, in spite of his enthusiasm, there was something missing here. The story was intriguing, the threat was exciting, the characters were relatable, but the story was lacking a certain... emotional hook. As he pondered this, lightning struck outside Johnny's trailer. It wasn't raining, either before or after the strike, causing the actor to slowly turn his head towards the door.
"No way..." he muttered in disbelief. He thought that whole ordeal was over. "No, no, no, no." He scrambled to hide the evidence of his script as he dreaded what the man now knocking on his door might have come for. He had saved Johnny once before, but he didn't want to think what might happen, should the Thunder God have become enraged by his exploitation of those real events for his own gain. His life had been on the line every second he'd spent on that island, dammit! And not a second of it had been recorded or televised. He deserved to make something from that experience!
He almost bashed the door open and expressed all of this to the man outside, but found pause as his fingers touched the door and felt the tingle of static electricity. He had to calm himself down and try not to piss off the literal god that had at least respected his privacy enough to arrive outside and knock, rather than forcing his way in - which Johnny knew first-hand that Raiden was more than capable of...
He opened the door, slowly, hoping that he'd just imagined the lightning and the thunder and the static electricity and that it was just Chuck, back from another meeting with the WB guys. That, or a fault with the equipment. He could live with that.
But, alas, no. Before him stood a man in a white and blue tunic, his face obscured by a black cowl surrounding his face, and a Japanese conical farmer hat casting shadow across his face and leaving only the area around his glowing white eyes visible. He seemed oblivious to the gawks and mutterings of the cast and crew that had noticed his arrival, likely thinking he was some weird tribute to Big Trouble that had been suddenly added to the script.
"Johnny Cage," the man said, that thunderous baritone unmistakable.
"Ah, shit," Johnny muttered under his breath. "Look, Raiden, if this is about the script, I-"
"There are more important things at stake than your career, Johnny Cage," the thunder god interrupted.
"Gee, thanks, Raiden..." the actor replied sardonically. He'd been told this in practically the exact same wording by others before, but hearing it from a man he knew to be a God somehow made it feel like an official statement from the universe itself.
"Earthrealm requires your aid for a second time, Johnny Cage."
"Okay, first, stop calling me by my full name. I know you spend most of your time in China, where that's normal, but in America, it isn't. And secondly, I've been in one of your tournaments. I did my part and that shit was terrifying, so I am never taking part in another one." Johnny wasn't sure why he was feeling bold enough to talk down to a god now, but it was strangely thrilling.
By now, more people were gathering to observe this strange discussion between the washed-up actor and this mysterious trespasser. Two members of security approached Raiden from behind. Johnny tried to open his mouth to warn them, having seen the horrific deaths Raiden could inflict when angered. By the time his second word was escaping his lips, the two men were struck by the electric aura that surrounded the thunder god. They were both thrown back and left lying in an unconscious heap. Johnny supposed they were lucky they didn't go for their tasers, or they might have lost their hands. Raiden, for his part, seemed to barely notice the presence of the two men.
"Shao Kahn has challenged Earthrealm directly, Mr. Cage. This tournament will determine the fate of Earthrealm on a permanent basis, regardless of the victor."
"...What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"If Outworld wins, Earthrealm becomes the emperor's dominion. If Earthrealm wins, the emperor loses his claim to Earthrealm forever."
"How the hell did that come about? Earthrealm won, so we should be safe until long after I'm dead."
"Putting aside the potential reward for a consecutive victory, Shao Kahn took additional steps to 'encourage' my agreement to his terms."
"Wh..." Johnny's throat was feeling strangely dry, all of a sudden. "What did he do?"
"He sent his forces to the Wu Shi Academy. They massacred the majority of the monks, to spur Liu Kang into action. And they also captured Sonya Blade and took her back to Outworld."
A sudden surge of mixed emotions filled Johnny's soul. He sympathised with Liu Kang's plight, having become friends with the monk during the tournament. He dreaded what might become of Sonya, having found himself quite smitten with her during the tournament. And he felt frustrated that Raiden seemed to be telling him this to manipulate him into going with him. And worse, that it was working. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"Alright," he said, finally. "I'll go. Earth needs the best fighters it can get and I'm provably up there." He grabbed a shirt and jacket, making sure his sunglasses were in the pocket where he'd left them. He closed the trailer door behind him and allowed Raiden to place a hand on his shoulder, despite knowing that the coming teleportation was likely going to make him hurl again.
It was easy for Johnny to regret his decision every second he spent in Outworld (oh, yes, Raiden had neglected to mention that part when he'd come to recruit him), but by the time he was back in Earthrealm, Johnny felt incredibly satisfied. He had played his part in Earth's final victory in the tournament and, while no one would ever know about the part he played (outside of those that had joined him in Outworld), he was satisfied knowing that he had helped to ensure Earthrealm's safety from Outworld forever.
But more importantly, the experience had giving him fresh inspiration with which to complete his script. It was while watching Liu Kang with Shao Kahn's daughter, Princess Kitana, that Johnny realised what was missing from his reimagining of the story: romance. Johnny was apparently the first person to notice the two's flirtatious interactions; though he suspected Scorpion was strangely aware of it as well.
It made sense, though, as Johnny now knew that Scorpion had been a father prior to his death at the hand of first Sub-Zero (yes, it turned out there were actually two Sub-Zeroes). As such, Johnny now had extra elements to add to his script to give it more heart. First off, one of the two ninjas would now have a wife and child - though he struggled to decide if it should be the dead ninja with a widowed family, or the living ninja as a widower. Eh, he could figure that out later. What concerned him more was adding in Princess Kit...sune, the fan-wielding assassin daughter of Shang Lao, who betrays her father upon falling in love with the hero... Michael Grimm. Johnny wondered if Sonya might get jealous from watching him perform the love scenes with the hot Asian actress who would play the femme fatale...
Thanks to the trip to Outworld, Johnny was already formulating plans for a sequel based on the Outworld tournament once the first film was successful, granting the production a higher budget to recreated the hellscape of Outworld. And Shao Kahn's He-Man-esque physique would be a good fit for Shang Lao's true form in said sequel, to avoid repeating the same final battle from the first. There was probably room to make a trilogy out of this thing, but Johnny didn't want to tempt fate by planning for that.
With the script complete, Johnny called Chuck over to read it. He felt bad for his agent, who had been left to explain Johnny's disappearance from the set of his last film. While he'd been fired from that film, Chuck had been able to spin the 'disappearing thunder guy' as an abduction to dampen the blow to Johnny's career.
"Wow," was all he said for a while after he finished reading the document from front to back. "Johnny, this... this thing's great! How tha helldya come up with widdis?" Chuck's accent was never difficult to spot, but it tended to force its way to the forefront when he was surprised or annoyed or excited. Johnny hadn't yet told Chuck about the nature of the tournaments; only that he had competed into two such secret affairs. Chuck, naturally, concluded that these were illegal underground cage match-type events, which Johnny had laughed off, saying that Chuck had watched Cage Match one too many times. Chuck was, of course, concerned for both Johnny's safety in such seedy events, as well as the damage to his reputation that would follow news of it getting out. Johnny had reassured Chuck that anyone speaking out about it would only be painting a target on themselves, suggesting to Chuck that he meant a hit, but really referring to the nice men in white coats.
All this to say, Chuck concluded that Johnny had merely drawn on the concept of the secret tournaments for the film, and fabricated the rest. After all, undead ninjas, four-armed abominations and ancient mystics were too unbelievable to be real, right?
"You know, sometimes, I even amaze myself," Johnny said with a smug, well-practised grin. "Maybe, I should pursue a career in screenwriting instead of acting..."
"Yeah, don't do dat."
"...Yeah, thanks, Chuck..."
"I mean, it's good, but I wouldn't quit acting ta make this your career."
"...You're a dick, Chuck."
"This from you, Johnny? Really?"
Johnny shook his head. "You got me there, bud."
"Really, Johnny, it's good stuff ya got here, so it could make a decent safety net if the DC thing falls apart again. Oh, speaking a' which, ya gotta stop pullin' these disappearin' acts. Tha WB guys're gettin' antsy about it. Ya gotta show more commitment, even ta tha craptastic gigs ya got straddled with."
"I know, Chuck. Trust me, though, bud. I'm gonna stick with this and get this thing greenlit, even if it kills me."
Chuck shopped the script around to a few studios a few months later, as per Johnny's instructions. Johnny had already told him the way he intended to pitch it, with strong buzzwords and references to key movies to help guarantee a purchase. Of course, Johnny always intended to play the lead role of Michael Grimm to show off what he was capable of as both a martial artist and an actor. However, it was now clear that Johnny's full vision for the story of Mortal Kombat would never be brought to fruition.
It was fascinating to Chuck, to see the discourse online surrounding Johnny shift overnight from washed-up has-been whose attempts to cling to his career were pathetic and #cringe, to a criminally underrated actor and stuntman whose career was cut tragically short.
On April 15th 2012, Johnny Cage had been killed in New York City by an honest-to-god centaur in an otherworldly invasion. Details were still scarce on what the fuck had happened, but the government had promised a statement about it for later that month. The only things anyone knew for sure were that a big fucking portal had opened in the sky over New York and dropped a gigantic fortress in the middle of Central Park, bringing with it an army of centaurs and dudes with metal blades in their arms and, most significantly to Chuck, giant men with four arms.
Chuck recognised the idea as the big bad champion Johnny's character had to take down in the movie. This, coupled with eyewitness reports of Johnny fighting these creatures alongside other people that seemed suspiciously similar to the characters in the script, told Chuck that Johnny's fantastic work of fiction was perhaps closer to the truth than he had initially believed. All of a sudden, Johnny's sudden departures from the set made perfect sense and only served to improve Chuck's image of his now former client tenfold.
In a way, Johnny dying heroically in a demonic invasion was the best thing that could have happened for Chuck's business, as his office was inundated with aspiring actors looking to be clients of the agent of the fallen hero. Chuck was sure most of them were only looking to use the name on the door to boost their own presence in auditions, though, so few had found replies waiting for them in their inboxes. Even without the duplicitous serpents looking to leech off of the stardom of a dead man, Chuck would have gladly given up this boost to his business if it meant having his friend back. Now, though, all Chuck could do was ensure that Johnny Cage's movie saw the light of day.
Ultimately, it was Warner Bros. that Chuck found himself accepting the offer of. Aside from the money they could pump into it to better bring the film to life and the fantastic action directors they had on-call, Chuck had managed to build a good relationship with some of the execs in his attempts to salvage Johnny's career and secure the DC gig. As such, he was sure he could get some say in the way the film was produced, to keep things true to Johnny's vision.
In light of Johnny's deeds, his old friend was given a producer credit, and asked for approval on a few changes. First off, the studio, now knowing that the events depicted were at least partially factual, wanted to use Johnny's name for the character of Michael Grimm. Chuck knew it was primarily to boost ticket sales with the 'Based on a true story' tag, but Chuck wanted his friend's legacy to be properly honoured. After an hour-long call with Johnny's older sister, Rebecca, he had the approval of the Cage estate to use the name. The character would be split into two, with the military backstory Johnny had planned being given to a new character, whom the studio opted to recast as a black woman to appeal to those demographics. Chuck felt a slight sense of trepidation about this, but, so long as Johnny was Johnny, the specifics of the fictitious sidekick characters didn't matter.
On the subject of casting for Johnny himself, Chuck recommended some of the old stunt crew from Ninja Mime, Johnny's last film before the tournament. Mullins was ultimately chosen for the role, with the others on-hand for stunts and minor roles. Chuck was sure Johnny would agree with the decision, were he around to have a say (well, he'd have demanded to play himself or take the script elsewhere, but Chuck still thought it was a good choice).
Several liberties were to be taken with Cage's backstory, which Chuck, while disagreeing with them, knew he'd have to let go to have more say in bigger details. For one, Chuck would be replaced as the manager character by some celebrity cameo. Though disheartened, Chuck saved up his veto bucks for when it really counted. Cage was a struggling actor whose star had dwindled, as was the case in real life, but the director and new screenwriter were insistent on adding some grit in the form of drug and alcohol abuse. The initial pitch for the idea presented it with some degree of subtlety which, based on his thirty years of experience in the biz, Chuck knew would balloon into extensive, unsubtle scenes by the third draft. Chuck pushed back hard against that one and it took a conference call with Rebecca to get them to relent (though, he swore he saw a few of the execs share a 'We'll get it in the sequel' look).
Most of the tension in the film's pre-production came from Chuck disagreeing with the proposed changes, and he had an ever-growing suspicion that his relationship with WB might end when this film wrapped. By the time the script was finalised, Chuck felt defeated. He had managed to hold off the more character-ruining ideas, but the film could only be described as 'inspired by true events', at best.
Chuck visited Johnny's grave the following day, finding Rebecca there with her and Johnny's parents, Robert and Rose Carlton. He apologised for the changes that would be making their way into the film, deciding 'to hell with the NDA, they deserve to know'. They held no grudge against him, instead thanking Chuck for helping to advance Johnny's career and for doing what he could to keep his friend's portrayal as accurate as possible.
When it released in late 2012, Johnny Cage's Mortal Kombat broke box office records and raked in over a billion dollars worldwide. WB was quick to greenlight a sequel, Mortal Kombat: Invasion, drawing on eyewitness accounts and official statements from the government, which would release the following year. Chuck, surprising no one, was not involved with the sequel, giving him no power to deny the proposed changes from making their way into the sequel.
Raiden's power was limited outside of his jurisdiction of Earthrealm. As such, when the fallen Elder God Shinnok made his return, The Elder Gods offered Raiden aid as he led Earth's warriors into Edenia to confront Shinnok. This aid came in the form of Johnny Cage's resurrection. Once Shinnok was imprisoned once more, Johnny returned home. His first port of call was his parents' house. Accompanied by Raiden, Johnny explained the situation to his parents and sister. While it was clearly difficult for them to wrap their heads around the idea that their Johnathan had actually come back from the dead, especially with his now blank white eyes needing to be constantly hidden beneath his impenetrable sunglasses, they were still elated to have him back.
The next stop, of course, was Chuck. Rebecca had warned Johnny that Chuck wasn't in a good place right now. He'd apparently taken Johnny's death quite hard. Deciding a more delicate approach might be best here, Johnny sent Raiden away and approached Chuck's apartment alone. His knocked was greeted by the sound of bottles clanging together, which did not give Johnny hope for what he would find. The door opened slowly, restrained by its chain. A pair of bloodshot eyes appeared in the near total blackness on the other side.
"Hey, Chuck," Johnny said cautiously. "I'm back."
Chuck remained silent for a moment before drunkenly slurring, "Yeh, das wutcha sed las time."
"Last time?" Johnny asked, concerned, hoping there hadn't been a Mileena-esque doppelganger of him created while he was gone.
"Las' nite wen ya caym rownd fer *hic* a visit."
"Chuck, I wasn't here last night."
"Shhhhur ya wer. Yawways ere wen i get drunk."
"Chuck, I'm not a hallucination. It really is me."
"Yawways say dat. Butcha never let me tuch ya. Yer a gost man."
"Chuck, really. I'm alive again."
"Uh-huh, shuuuurrr..."
Seeing he was getting nowhere, Johnny rolled his eyes and brought his hand down on the chain, shattering it. Compared to the stone blocks he'd shattered on the island, this flimsy chain was nothing to Johnny's iron fist. The sudden strike sent Chuck reeling back inside and Johnny opened the door fully. He let the evening light illuminate the room enough to find the light switch and closed the door once the lights were on.
The apartment, shockingly small given the money he was making when Johnny was alive, stank of beer. Naturally, empty bottles and cans littered the floor with barely enough free real estate to even stand in the room. Johnny crossed the room to open the window, noting how the terrified Chuck kept his eyes glued to him every step of the way. Once fresh air began circulating, Johnny turned back to his old friend and flashed him his trademark Hollywood smile.
"It really is me, Chuck," he said.
"J...Johnny?" Chuck seemed barely able to comprehend that Johnny really was back from the dead. Not that Johnny could blame him. After all, the only people Johnny knew of that had ever come back from the dead were Scorpion, Sindel and Mileena. He'd never met the former two prior to their deaths, and barely knew the latter before hers. He supposed it must have been a whole different kettle of fish to wrap one's head around the notion that a person one knew in life had died and then come back. Then again, Johnny supposed it was fitting for 'J.C.' to return from the dead, at least.
"Yeah, buddy. I'm back." Chuck reached out slowly. Johnny did the same and took his hand. "For real this time."
Chuck broke down and cried.
It was some time before Chuck was able to gather himself. A cup of coffee helped the older man to sober up enough to explain what had happened since his death. Johnny had been told by his family that Chuck had attempted to get his movie greenlit, and how it had been posthumously dedicated to his memory and tweaked to more accurately reflect the true events of the tournament. They had also told him that the film was, unfortunately, not a particularly good one, but was a smash hit at the box office, producing two sequels, the latter currently being in production.
Chuck explained exactly how bad it had gotten, seemingly able to recount details and recite dialogue from memory. From the sound of it, it was a tragic misfire stemming from a fundamental lack of care for the original story. Johnny, in spite of himself, attempted to remain positive about it as he cleaned up the bottles scattered around the room, while Chuck began recounting the problems with the sequel.
"Come on, Chuck, how bad could it really-?"
Johnny was cut off as Chuck stood up from the table and turned him to face the full body mirror in the corner. Johnny found himself staring at his mirror image, holding a half-empty beer bottle, with an array of already empty bottles scattered around the room behind him. Johnny's eyes widened as he understood what Chuck was getting at.
"No... They wouldn't..."
"I'm sorry, Johnny," Chuck confirmed dejectedly. "I tried ta stop-"
"Hey, hey, it's okay. I know you tried. Becky told me you kept most of the really offensive shit out of the first one, at least. It's commendable, you staking your professional relationship with WB to stand up for my honour. You did good, Chuck. I'm lucky to have a manager with as much integrity as you."
Chuck hugged Johnny tightly. Although rendered uncomfortable and exasperated, Johnny let Chuck do his thing, for his sake.
"What do you say, tomorrow, we head down there and tell those asshats that the real hero's back and ready to make the movie the right way?"
"Hell yeah, Johnny. Hell fuckin' yeah."
It didn't quite go as planned. Of course. Why should anything in Johnny's life ever go according to plan?
His attempts to fix the franchise had failed. Despite Sonya and Jax backing up the story officially, few people believed Johnny truly had come back from the dead, instead accusing him of faking his death for the publicity. An official investigation found him innocent of such a crime, but this did little to sway public opinion. Before this whole Mortal Kombat mess, people just didn't care about Johnny Cage. Now, they fucking hated him.
Apparently, being dead also meant the studio now fully owned the rights to Johnny's franchise and he'd have to play ball if he wanted his own fictional depiction to be portrayed accurately. The studio was quick to offer to halt production and let him rewrite the script, so long as he based it further on true events. They even offered to let him star. They seemed to regret that decision rather quickly, in light of the backlash towards Johnny that emerged soon after. No doubt, the suits would have loved any excuse to get rid of the 'problematic' element, but the contracts had been signed, so Johnny was locked in.
Apparently, his character was set to die in this film to set the stage for the black lady sidekick to take over the franchise, in light of her actress becoming suddenly very successful. Johnny was allowed to keep his character alive to serve as a supporting character, but not the star. Feeling bad for Mr. Mullins, who even detractors of the films agreed did a fine job with the material, Johnny opted to have Mullins reprise the character in the film's opening scenes up to his death, whereupon his soul would enter a new body (Johnny) and he would take over from there. It wasn't the most elegant solution, but it was the best he had, within the restraints of the studio's mandates. God, Johnny missed the '90's...
The film under-performed at the box office, while receiving generally more favourable reviews from critics. It was theorised that Johnny's involvement, while making the product better, led to the notably drop in ticket sales. It could have also been the quality of the second film, but Johnny seemed just as likely a cause to most. Despite this issue, Johnny's contract guaranteed him at least two more sequels, so they were stuck with him.
Unfortunately, nowhere in the contract was it stipulated that said films were guaranteed a theatrical run. They could make them straight-to-DVD in a year or two to get it over with and give him the boot. Luckily, the executives weren't quite that heartless, so they gave Johnny one last theatrical shot with film #4 (the battle in Edenia, he supposed, even if it wasn't publically known about yet) and he had two years to make it happen. If this one failed to perform, it'd be the bargain bin for the next film. And by extension, his career.
Naturally, the stigma that had hospitalised Mortal Kombat: Risen pretty much murdered Mortal Kombat: Vengeance. It performed even worse, and the horrendous sequel clichés Johnny had been mandated to include made the film rate even lower among critics than any of the previous films.
The mandate for this final entry in the series (before the inevitable reboot) was the most bizarre one yet: Mortal Kombat: The Death of Johnny Cage would see Johnny Cage killed off for good... multiple times. They wanted him to die and come back repeatedly. It seemed that one of the new execs really had it in for Johnny over his 'deception' (another proposed title) and demanded this be the plot to 'provide a sense of catharsis for the audience'.
"Asshole," Johnny muttered every time a new mandate came in. It was soul-crushing to know that this film he had worked so hard to make, hoping it would reinvigorate his career, had taken his death to get greenlit, and then produced a series of terrible sequels that were likely to sink his career entirely.
It was while preparing for the day's shooting, filming the scene where Johnny would have his neck snapped by Shao Kahn, that Johnny took a glance at the calendar and realised that it had been ten whole years since the tournaments. Ten years since all of this madness had begun. Ten years since Raiden had come to rescue him from the terrible movie he was making and take him away to Outworld to risk his life in what was somehow a less terrifying prospect than being stuck making that godawful piece of crap. He almost wished Raiden would show up and take him away for such an occasion again.
He exited his trailer in costume, ready for makeup, when the actor playing 'Raijin' approached, walking with purpose. Morning, Carlos," Johnny said casually.
Carlos cocked an eyebrow at this. He looked to either side, as if making sure he wasn't being pranked, before holding up a finger and running a charge of electricity along it. Raijin's electricity was mostly CGI, so that meant...
"Oh, shit. Raiden!?" Johnny hadn't seen Raiden since he had helped him explain his resurrection to his family so many years ago. He was honestly happy to see him, even if his arrival heralded another possible death for the actor.
"Carlos?" Raiden questioned.
"Oh, sorry about that. He's the guy playing you in the movie. I haven't seen you in so long, I guess I forgot what you looked like."
Again, he cocked an eyebrow, this time looking down over his new, but no less recognisable white and blue ensemble. "I would have thought my attire a tad too iconic to forget. Although, resurrection is occasionally known to cause memory loss."
"Ah, funny guy..."
"If you are quite done with this needless banter, Earthrealm has need of you once more, Johnny Cage."
As had been the case ten years ago, the appearance of Raiden was drawing the attention of the rest of the crew. The difference, of course, was that they now had the context to understand what was happening.
"Honestly, Raiden, at this point, I'd do anything to get out of this hellhole."
"Good. But you might want to change first. I doubt you would want Lieutenant Blade to see you in this getup."
"Raiden, come on..."
Dying sucked.
Dying twice sucked more.
Knowing he would definitely one day die a third time sucked even more than that.
Johnny had, along with four of his allies, been killed in battle with the so-called 'Deadly Alliance', which had also killed Liu Kang and Shao Kahn. Unlike the latter two, the others had been quickly revived by the, himself, recently-revived Dragon King Onaga, and placed under his mind control, as Sindel had been during the invasion of Earthrealm. They had been saved, fittingly enough, by Sindel's group, which also included a reformed Ermac and the spirit of Liu Kang.
Admittedly, it wasn't the most heroic moment in his career as a defender of the realm, so there was no way he was going to include it in any of his movies (assuming he had a career after this next disaster). He'd just make something up from scratch. After all, who would speak out against his claims? As if Sonya or Jax would admit to have been in the same boat. And Raiden, Kitana and the monks would probably never even see the movie... which was kinda depressing, now that he thought about it. Sindel and Kitana had offered some Edenian magic to make his eyes blue again for the first time in almost a decade. That was a positive, at least.
Liu Kang (still a wandering spirit) could sympathise with Johnny for having died twice, ironically making The Death of Johnny Cage more true to life. As such, Johnny made a request of his old friend. Liu Kang joined Johnny in his confrontation of the execs in charge of the Mortal Kombat franchise and 'politely' asked them to give him total creative control over the franchise.
"Hi, I'm Liu Kang, real life champion of Mortal Kombat and also a ghost," the monk said politely, following the script Johnny had prepared for them both.
"That's the thing about me," Johnny said, setting up his retort in response to the execs' predictable demand for answers. "People think it's all special effects, but I am the special effects. Or, at least, I'm good friends with the special effects." It wasn't his best work, admittedly, but he hadn't had long to write it before production got back on track. "See, my buddy here is the greatest fighter on the planet and he can also possess people's bodies, so you can imagine the havoc he could wreak on your professional and personal reputations." Johnny's shit-eating grin hadn't been on full display like this since the closing quip of World's Most Wanted.
This threat was enough to wrestle back control of the franchise and allow Johnny to write, direct and star in a reboot. Johnny returned to his home, spirit monk in tow, to plan out his big reworking of the franchise.
"You know, regardless of my feelings on your acting ability-"
"Come on, man..."
"I can't deny, your writing is surprisingly competent, for the short time you had to write it."
"I know you literally don't have a heart anymore but, Dude. Seriously."
"I'm mostly joking."
"You really let that Mortal Kombat title go to your head, huh?"
"Perhaps... What do you intend to do with the films now?"
"I wanna do it right this time. No spin about me being the big, bad saviour of Earthrealm; the real story."
"That's very respectable of you, Johnny. Might I recommend Tony Jaa to star?""...As you? Wait, you watch movies?"
"It's the twenty-first century, Johnny. Of course I watch movies. Just not yours."
"Okay, you're going back to the academy now."
Johnny and a now rehabilitated Chuck would spend the following few months working on the script for the reboot and meeting with casting directors, stunt co-ordinators and various others to make arrangements for film's production that autumn. Pre-production went surprisingly smoothly, considering it was the to be Johnny's directorial debut, and his reputation was still in a bad place after his first resurrection. Still, he felt better about this film than he had any other production in the last decade and a half. At age thirty-nine, Johnny Cage was finally working on a film he knew he could be proud of for reasons beyond box office intake. Everything was finally on-track for filming to begin... just as Johnny was called away to Edenia to battle the Forces of Darkness at the Pyramid of Argus, where he would, for one final time, be killed in action...
Continuing the theme of Hollywood shenanigans, this is the second part of the Johnny Cage trilogy and will very likely be the best one before a disappointing finale. It took over two months to write as I worked on other stuff, so I guess you could say it was in development hell. Like Johnny's movie. On a related note, be sure to check out the Royal Family Trilogy and the Kung Trilogy of Wasted Plotential.
