"What do you think?" Asked Stryker with several other earthrealm heroes standing beside him.
"He's definitely strong." Stated Art Lean as he focused on the same warrior as Stryker. "I definitely wouldn't wanna go up against him."
"Yeah, but, you aren't me." stated Johnny, as arrogant as ever.
"Thankfully there's only one of you." Lance said, cutting into the conversation. Art and Stryker both chuckled over the remark. "I've gone up against this guy before." Lance continued. "and he's tough, but not unbeatable."
"What is there to know?" Asked Johnny Cage, getting serious for possibly the first time that Lance had seen.
"He's black dragon. Goes by Tremor. He's basically made of rock." Began Lance. "More or less means he can take and dish out a lot of pain."
"So is he slower dragging around all that weight?" Asked Johnny while stretching for his match.
"A little, yeah, but he's deceptively fast." Informed Lance. "Most importantly, he can manipulate the earth around him, to an extent."
"Earth bending rock guy. Considering what we've already seen, that sounds easy enough to me." Said Johnny with confidence as he finished stretching.
"You should reconsider this time, Cage. I've seen Tremor kill armed soldiers by the dozen." Interjection Sonya. "Just forfeit, nobody will think less of you."
"I'm sorry, What?" Asked Johnny with Lance equally confused.
"This guy is black dragon. The real deal. Don't want to see you get killed is all." She explained.
"So what? My other opponents were all pushovers?" Began the actor. "Why don't you want me to fight? You stopped me from taking on Scorpion already, so what's the deal? Spill."
"I'm just trying to help. I owe you one for saving my ass on that bridge and…"
"Oh I see…." Said Johnny in sarcastic realization. "You think because I beat up that scumbag that you need to protect me or some crap, right? Let's get one thing straight, Beautiful. Johnny Cage doesn't need protection!" He finished before walking towards the arena, clearly upset.
"Is that why he has a bodyguard back in the states?" Stryker asked sarcastically, getting a few snickers from his allies. Sonya, however, was not amused.
His allies each screamed a supportive chant. Sunlight glistened off of Johnny's sunglasses as he slid them over his face.
He wore his basic fighting attire consisting of his Cage jacket, Cage belt, blue shin guards, black sweatpants, and of course his favorite pair of sneakers. The chosen fighting location was on the beach of Shangs island. Made for beautiful scenery with waves crashing into rocks only yards away.
"I enjoyed your films Johnny Cage." Stated Tremor as he stepped up to battle as well.
"Good aren't they?" Asked Cage grinning as he outstretched his leg; ready for action.
"Johnny Cage! And Tremor!" Announced Shang Tsung, introducing the two fighters.
"FIGHT!"
Johnny Cage rushed at the black dragon with a flying kick before hitting with several jabs and ending with a right hook. Initially after so many good contact hits the crowd seemed impressed, but Tremor had not budged an inch from the combo. He slowly turned back to Johnny with a grin of his own.
"I will enjoy this more." Stated Tremor delivering a hit so hard Johnny slid across the sand in pain. The actor shot back up, throwing a handful of sand at his opponent, but this proved ineffective as Tremor simply shoulder charged Cage back into the ground. He once again jumped up, but quickly slid away from the mercenary before firing off his signature forceball. The ranged attack collided directly into Tremor. The earth warrior stumbled back feeling the ranged attacks effects. Johnny rushed the black dragon and used his shadow to drive his knee into Tremors jaw. A crack so loud even Scorpion cringed knowing Tremors jaw was broken.
"Damn I'm good!" Exclaimed Johnny looking to the spectators. Tremor took advantage of the distraction hitting Cage with a strong backhand. The actor spun through the air having not protected himself in the slightest from the attack.
Although still shaken from the hit, Johnny rushed Tremor again with a few high kicks that he ended with a frontflip. Johnny's heel collided with Tremors head, putting the black dragon's face in the ground. Before Johnny could begin bragging, a rock shot from the ground directly into the actor's stomach. He gasped for air after the unexpected attack and Tremor hit him with a quick punching combo that ended with a strong front kick. Johnny's back smashed into the ground and he toppled over onto his chest.
"Show him what the black dragon are made of Tremor." Said Kano as he rooted for his friend. Meanwhile Cage slowly rose back to his feet. He dropped his cracked shades and got ready for another round. Tremor seemed unharmed by his cracked jaw, and Johnny realized he couldn't hold back if he wanted to win the match.
"That's it! No more mister nice Cage." He finished before shooting off towards Tremor with the strongest shadow kick he could muster. Tremor was lifted off his feet and sent crashing through the sand. He quickly recovered before rushing the actor who had been ready. Tremor tried hitting the actor with a combo of blows, but Cage was far too fast dodging each one before countering with a shadow flip kick that sent Tremor into the air. Johnny continued with a flying shadow elbow into the black dragon's spine that sent another loud crack out for everyone to hear.
"You just got Caged!" Exclaimed the actor as Tremor crashed into the ground in agony. Monks who sat in anticipation clapped in awe after the actors' comeback victory over the mercenary. Even the other fighters from outworld were impressed with his final display.
"Johnny Cage wins." Stated Shang Tsung as the actor continued his gloating. Tremor, however, was unable to return to his feet with a severe back injury.
"C'mon mate! On your feet!" Yelled Kano, but Tremor only squirmed.
"I've made the rules for failure very clear, Kano." Began Shang Tsung. Kano's face dropped into disappointment as Shang Tsung turned to Tremor. "Your soul is mine." Stated the sorcerer as he sucked the life force from the defeated warrior. A disgusting green energy was pulled from the black dragon as many looked away in fear. Johnny Cage kept his eyes locked on the sight before him. His stomach churned as Shang Tsung devoured the soul of someone he fought moments before. For once the actor was speechless.
"Tremor!" Yelled out Kano with several Outworld goons holding him back. Johnny Cage wanted to vomit at the sight of Tremors final breaths. He was further sickened by Shang Tsung's twisted smile after consuming the warrior's soul. Even the wicked outworld fighters had looked away in disgust of the man and his actions. Johnny glanced around hoping one of his allies would say something, or stop the horrendous killing they were forced to watch, but even Raiden stayed silent. When the sorcerer finally finished Johnny spoke up.
"I didn't wanna kill the guy!" Yelled Johnny. "He was already down." Everyone seemed taken aback by Johnny's outburst and even the Outworlders seemed uneasy with Shang Tsung.
"Not accustomed to death, mister Cage?" Asked Shang Tsung curiously. "If you wanted to end the killing you could always challenge Goro now and put an end to the whole tournament." Baited the sorcerer.
"Maybe I should." Said Johnny confidently. "I've beaten everybody else you've thrown at me."
"Defeating a few warriors hardly makes you a champion mister Cage." Replied Shang Tsung.
"Fine then I….." began Johnny Cage before he felt a hand cover his mouth.
"I'm sorry for my friends outburst." Spoke Liu kang as he held his hand over Johnny's mouth. "It will not happen again. You have my word." Finished Liu Kang.
"Ensure it does not." Spoke Kitana before Tsung had a chance to reply. Liu gave a thankful glance to the edenian and pulled Johnny to the side as the next set of fighters prepared to battle.
"That was very foolish Johnny Cage." Spoke Raiden as he approached the duo.
"And for a minute you actually impressed me too." Spoke Kung Lao. "Way to mess that up."
"You likely would have been killed by Goro." Added Kenshi. "And the tournament would have been lost."
"Jeez.. thanks for having so much faith in me guys." Said Johnny sarcastically after being barraged by his allies' words. "But that was way too disturbing."
"I understand why you're upset Johnny, but when you have an outburst like that you put us all at risk." Reminded Liu Kang. Johnny nodded in understanding.
"I just wasn't prepared for that. I'm all for fighting, but I've never seen something like that before. Or at least I hadn't until I got here…." Johnny rambled off as he tensed up clearly starting to feel uneasy about the tournament. Sonya quickly put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him as he sat.
"I'm with Johnny. This is way above my pay grade." Stated Stryker.
"At least we're still here." Replied Lance. "Not everyone was so lucky."
"Easy for you to say. You're used to killing." Stated Art Lean. "We're not all soldiers."
"This isn't fair to you." Began Raiden. "I know that many of you wouldn't have come here if you knew the full situation, so I kept details from you, most of you. The truth is I understood that if you actually knew what you were walking into, many of you wouldn't have assisted me, but if you don't fight now we'll have no home to return to."
"What about everyone who already died?" Felix asked. "Lots of folks came here and died in their first fights without ever really even learning why."
"I will honor their sacrifices, and I pray to the elder gods that their souls will rest peacefully." Answered Raiden.
"If you can't find the drive to keep fighting for yourself then you just need to think about those you care about." Stated Sonya. "Their lives depend on you."
"This is all really seriously fucked up." Stated Stryker with a sigh. Most of the group nodded in agreement.
"We will reconvene in the courtyard for the next round of the tournament!" Announced Shang Tsung after finishing his conversation with Quan Chi. The earthrealm heroes each slowly got up and moved on towards the courtyard with each warrior deep in thought.