Cars drove by the front wrought-iron gate. Inside racks of flamboyant costumes, cases of special effects makeup, and various other props were making their respective ways in and out of the storehouses that lined the main pathway of the studio lot. However, despite the familiar chaos of staff members shoving past each other and directors yelling over the clamor, there was no shooting scheduled today; everything was being put away for an indefinite period of time as the city was scheduled to begin its long recovery process from a bizarre ambush from attackers that had yet to be identified.
In an obscure corner of the lot, an anomaly began to form in the sky, although subtle enough that anyone caught in the frenzy of clean up paid it no mind. The swirling mist crackled and fizzled, and in a quick flash of light, deposited a screaming set of figures, whose cries again went unnoticed by the production crews. The patch in the sky cleared up as quickly as it had appeared, and the panicked shouts of the group it dropped were cut off by the thud of slamming with the pavement.
Johnny Cage was the first to try and pick himself up, having face planted onto the sidewalk. Struggling, he propped himself up on his elbows, then stopped. Making a strange expression, he sputtered out a small amount of blood. He quickly ran his tongue over his teeth to make sure he hadn't just accidentally spat them out along with the patch that now stained the concrete. Luckily (considering the alternative), it seemed he had only chomped down on his tongue when his chin made contact with the pavement. At least he didn't have to worry about implants for now.
As he wiped the last of his blood from his mouth, he heard another muffled groan from behind. When he turned to look, he saw Sonya propping herself up on her hands and knees, trying to reorient herself. Judging by how battered she was, Johnny had to imagine he didn't look like he could be in much better shape.
Putting his hand to his lip to make sure there wasn't any more bleeding, he managed to inquire groggily, "What just happened?"
Sonya turned to give him a look that most likely meant she thought he must be some kind of idiot (surprise, surprise) for thinking she could have the answer, but her attention was quickly diverted to something off to their right.
Following her gaze, Johnny could see something strange in the middle of the alley in which they had made a crash landing. Or perhaps embedded in the alley was a more appropriate term; whatever it was had slammed into the ground with such force the shock had crushed the concrete around it, like a small earthquake had taken place in one spot.
Johnny picked himself up somewhat and took a few steps closer to investigate the oddity; to his surprise, a man with silver hair was lying unconscious in the mini-crater. Even more unusually, even though he seemed to be just as battered as Sonya and Johnny were, he was dressed in simple white clothing that looked unnaturally fresh.
Johnny wondered if he should try to catch someone's attention and get the man to a hospital, especially since it seemed he had landed square on his back, as opposed to himself and Sonya, who was now crawling over to get a closer look. But before he could consider carrying the action out, he was interrupted by a gasp from his partner.
"Oh my God, it's him!" Sonya cried, startling Johnny, who hadn't seen her this shocked before. Now he was the one looking at her like she was crazy. They had never seen this man before.
"Who?" Johnny responded, confused.
"Him, Johnny!" Sonya said, scrambling to get closer to the stranger. "Look at him!"
Johnny did look again, but he still couldn't see what his friend was so worked up about. He considered going to get help again.
"It's Raiden!"
…What? No, it wasn't. It couldn't be!
Johnny looked again, and it was his turn to be surprised. She was right; he recognized their friend now, lying lifelessly in the ditch he had created when they crashed from the heavens. Strangely, his face didn't suggest an age that matched his hair, but he still didn't look to be in good condition, to say the least.
"Damn!" Johnny uttered. "What do we do?"
Whether Sonya had heard him or not was unclear; she was focused on trying to receive a sign of life from Raiden. Careful not to move his neck or shoulders, she put her hands on his cheeks and spoke to him.
"Raiden? Can you hear me?" she asked in an attempt to elicit a response. Nothing came. Now both she and Johnny were genuinely unnerved.
"Oh, jeez. Is he dead?" Johnny spat out without thinking.
"Of course not!" Sonya snapped at him in what was fairly blatant denial. One she calmed down, she tried to think of a way to rationalize her answer. "No. He can't be. They couldn't just dump him here like this so he could die. There has to be a reason," she argued, referencing the change the Elders had made to his appearance.
She stopped suddenly, and so did Johnny, for they thought they had heard something that had not come from their conversation. They looked and waited patiently at their fallen comrade, anticipating hopefully that they didn't just hear something from the crews running around in the main street. But an uncomfortable amount of moments passed, and Johnny couldn't help but look at Sonya and think of what they would possibly do now if…
He stirred. Minimally, of course; he had only managed to emit a small whimper, but it was enough of a sign that they both let out the breath they hadn't realized they had been holding. While Sonya closed her eyes in momentary relief, Johnny noticed that Raiden's hand had managed to twitch slightly, indicating that he had nerve control, at least above his waist.
"Raiden? Do you hear me?" she asked again. Her response was another weak grunt, but it was good enough for her.
"Okay. Johnny, help me lift him up," she commanded, already trying to get a hand under her comrade's right knee and arm. Johnny almost protested, but Sonya was going to drop their friend if he didn't take the other side immediately, so he quickly copied her actions and threw Raiden's arm over his shoulders. They struggled to bring Raiden to his feet, which evidently weren't capable of supporting his weight at this point. The two resolved to just try and drag him along without attracting attention as best they could, but it was difficult with their baggage flailing helplessly like a ragdoll every two steps. Both noticed that he seemed to have shrunk in stature a bit, his formerly commanding height now reduced to proportions a bit more realistic for humans, and it struck them as a bit unusual, though they remained quiet on the issue.
"This isn't gonna work," Johnny complained, trying to shift Raiden's weight back to the position from which he was repeatedly slipping.
"Well, suck it up. We don't have any other choice," Sonya demanded, switching to lieutenant mode. Johnny scowled and did what he was told until he remembered something.
"Oh! Be right back!" he exclaimed, suddenly dropping his side of Raiden and leaving Sonya to cry out and swear in protest as her balance was thrown off. Johnny went back to retrieve his sunglasses, which fell off when he was dropped. Picking them up, he realized to his dismay that the right lens had been smashed in. Oh well, he thought, shrugging. Better than nothing.
He returned to Sonya and Raiden and tried to fit the glasses neatly onto the latter's face, a task a bit more challenging than it sounded because his head had been tossed askew to one side in Johnny's absence. But the actor managed to get them on decently. He smirked at Sonya, hoping for a sign of approval on behalf of his quick thinking, but all he received in response was another incredulous and irritated look.
"What the hell are these for?" Sonya retorted.
Taken aback, Johnny slung Raiden back into position as he replied, "Jeez, just thought it would help a little. I thought it would look a little weird to have some unconscious dude hanging off of our shoulders. Here, I'll take it off…"
"No, it's fine," Sonya said, exasperated. They just needed to get out of here, fast.
Once they had made their way to the mouth of the alley entrance, they could see the crowding in the main street. They looked both ways for a path out, but Johnny was the first to find it.
"Wait, this is Midway!" he exclaimed suddenly, quickly adding an explanation for Sonya, to whom that little tidbit meant nothing. "This is my main studio lot. That's gotta be the front entrance, over there," he said, gesturing with a swipe of his head in the general direction of their way out.
It felt odd for Sonya to be taking direction from Johnny; it was either the other way around or from Jax. Well, she thought. Obviously he knows his way around.
They attempted to make their way over by hiding behind clothes racks, rolling cameras, and whatever else gave them cover. Finally, much to Sonya's relief, they were approaching the main gateway. Fifteen more feet, the guards would recognize Johnny, and they would be…
"…Uh oh."
'Uh oh?' What did he mean, 'uh oh?' There was no time for 'uh oh,' not here, not now!
"What is it?" Sonya asked fiercely, obviously growing more irritated by the second.
"We can't get out without a pass," Johnny explained.
…A pass?
"I have one in my trailer."
She looked at him incredulously.
"I can be back in five minutes."
Without warning, he left her again with their limp-jointed companion as he made a mad dash for whatever direction his trailer was. Now she had to figure out where she could hide Raiden and herself before…
"…Excuse me, ma'am?"
…Crap.
"Are you authorized to be in this lot?" inquired a young woman with a headset and clipboard. Quickly, Sonya scrambled to pose Raiden in what she hoped was an acceptable-looking pose. Luckily, his left foot miraculously managed to land in a sort of natural-looking kickstand position. She silently thanked Johnny for showing some foresight with the sunglasses. She immediately stood upright, beaming, with her hand on her hip. Together it looked like she and Raiden were old pals hanging around. She hoped. She also hoped the girl would attribute their haggard appearance to stage makeup.
"Um," Sonya scrambled for an answer. "Uh, yeah, yes, we are. It's just that we left our passes… in the back lot, and our friend is going right now…"
"I'm sorry, ma'am," the girl responded, shaking her head. "You can't be on this lot without a pass. We've had to take stronger security measures lately…"
"He'll be back in a few seconds."
"I understand, but we need…"
"It's Johnny Cage."
That seemed to stop the girl a little, but she tried to continue, probably after realizing people lied about knowing movie stars all the time. Sonya took the opportunity to cut her off again.
"My, uh, uncle here is a huge fan," she fibbed, trying to look like she was affectionately patting Raiden on the back while at the same time trying not to lose her grip on him.
Luckily, the girl took the bait, probably thinking the unconscious man was an older gentlemen with whom a little chit-chat couldn't hurt. She smiled and inquired, "Oh, really? What's your favorite movie by him?"
Sonya's eyes grew wide as she tried to think of an answer, but she had never seen any of Johnny's movies. There wasn't time for flicks and popcorn when you were on army call 24/7.
"He really can't choose, he pretty much likes them all," she blurted out with a nervous chuckle, trying to subtly bob Raiden's head up and down like a marionette in false agreement.
By now the girl was obviously suspicious as to why this woman wasn't letting her uncle speak for himself. She was about to begin interrogating them again when Johnny sauntered up to their side, flashing a pass in his right hand.
"Not to worry, everyone," he gloated, pumping his hands in the air as if to calm down a frenzy. "The Cageman's gotcha covered."
Visibly surprised that the strangers had not been lying about their acquaintance, the girl smiled and apologized, "Oh, Mr. Cage. I'm sorry, they just didn't…"
"It's all right, sweetie," he assured her, walking over to Raiden's free side and flashing a thousand-dollar smile at the intern. "We're on our way out now."
"Are you sure you don't need help, though?" she asked quickly. "You all look kind of…"
"Personal project," Johnny lied swiftly. "Trying out directing. We're going to change now."
"…Well, is your uncle okay, ma'am?..."
"He's fine, just tired," Johnny cut in again. "Busy, busy, busy. Take care now, sugar!" he called out as he and Sonya continued to drag Raiden out of the gates and into the questioning-free streets, causing Sonya to exhale in relief.
"Thank God that's over with," she stated, slacking her weight a little. "How far now?" she asked, referring to wherever Johnny could take them.
"Only four blocks to my summer home," Johnny answered. Sonya cringed at the idea, but then tried to tell herself it wasn't too far.
"All right then," she said, standing back up and looking in the direction of the street. She paused when she noticed the slope of the road.
"…Uphill? !"