Chapter Text
“-and here we are!” Johnny thrust his arms open, dramatically gesturing to the building standing before him. Raiden tilted to peak out from behind Johnny, getting a good look at what he was meant to be beholding.
The bar was a bit smaller than Raiden had suspected when Johnny first told him about this location, not carrying the same oppressive energy as the larger structures surrounding it. The outer walls were surprisingly clean and looked well-taken care of, the green paint lathered around the doorway was slightly faded from sun damage but still looked bold. The wide windows allowed a peak inside the establishment itself, and Raiden could see how the energetic the patrons were within.
“I’m surprised,” Raiden admitted, getting a confused glance from Johnny, “I thought you’d go much bigger.”
Johnny’s momentary frown quickly split into a wild smile. Laughing, he clapped Raiden on the back, “well, goes to show you don’t know everything about me!”
Raiden silently nodded in response, internally sighing in relief that he wouldn’t have to be exposed to a much larger crowd tonight. When he agreed to Kenshi’s request, he hadn’t thought too much about what it could mean for him, too blindsided on how Kenshi had specifically asked him to do this.
“It was a last-minute call,” Kenshi had explained while getting changed, Raiden listening through the closed door to Kenshi’s room, “but I told him yesterday that we could go tonight. I know he’ll be upset that I can’t go, but I think he’ll feel worse if he can’t go at all.”
Kenshi didn’t usually ask for strictly personal favors, preferring to handle his own issues independently, and occasionally had to be convinced to allow outside assistance. On the opposite end, Raiden wasn’t a stranger to asking for help, and accepting to help. He was considered approachable, humble, and friendly by many within Fengjian, which naturally drew his neighbors to him when they needed a little assistance. In-turn, they’d be happy to return the support if Raiden requested it.
Though he and Kenshi were on solid terms, Raiden sometimes felt a bit awkward conversing with the swordsman one-on-one. It felt more difficult to engage with him in a strictly casual manner. Teasing and messing with Kenshi was a pattern that Kung Lao, and especially Johnny, easily fell into without worry, but it was a pattern that Raiden found difficult to replicate himself.
All this to say that when Raiden and Kung Lao had been invited to stay in America for the week, Raiden hadn’t expected Kenshi to ask anything of him, especially something as important to him as this.
Johnny enthusiastically swung open the bar door, allowing Raiden to enter first, before Johnny closed it loudly, the sharp slam nearly making Raiden jump.
The actor made a strong beeline for the counter, passing by attendees who were watching him with expressions varying from irritation to curiosity. As Raiden followed behind Johnny, he could even hear someone at one of the tables whispering to their friend, “is that Johnny Cage?”
Surprisingly, the bartender behind the counter didn’t even raise an eyebrow as Johnny plopped into one of the seats in front of her. He eagerly turned to Raiden, patting down the seat next to him, and then refocused his gaze onto the menu hanging in the back. As Raiden sat down, the bartender lifted her head, biting her lip as she carefully studying the two men in front of her.
“Hello,” Raiden hummed, trying to be polite.
The bartender’s gaze softened a bit at Raiden’s greeting, giving him a smile in return, “hey.”
Now assured that she wouldn’t kick them out for appearing suspicious, Raiden also took a look at the menu. There was surprisingly a wide assortment of food, despite the smaller stature of the bar, and some of it sounded completely new to him. He certainly wouldn’t be drinking tonight, as he was a bit of a lightweight, and him compromising himself would end up defeating the whole purpose of tagging along.
A tap at Raiden’s shoulder caught his attention, and he looked to the side to see Johnny watching him with pleased eyes. His foot was bouncing in place and the tip of his shoe nearly grazed the floor several times in the process.
“You want anything?” Johnny quickly added, “my treat,” and Raiden glanced at the menu once more. He placed a hand on his chin in thought. Nothing in particular called to him, and this was relayed to Johnny though a wordless shrug.
Johnny smirked in understanding and slapped Raiden good-naturedly on the shoulder, “don’t worry, if there’s anyone who knows the delectable cuisine of California like the back of their hand, it’s this guy.” Raiden snorted at Johnny punctuating his statement with dramatically pointing his thumb at himself.
Johnny flicked his hand up to try and quietly signal a nearby waitress, and the woman took notice, approaching the two men. He gave her their orders (or more accurately, what he wanted to order and what he was going to surprise Raiden with), and she departed.
“No drinks yet?” Raiden questioned, hoping he sounded non-judgemental, but Johnny still scratched the back of his head a little nervously.
“Nah, uh, Kenshi suggested that I should eat first before trying anything,” Johnny muttered, avoiding meeting Raiden’s eyes.
Guilt pooled in Raiden’s chest. I shouldn’t have said anything.
Somehow, as if detecting Raiden’s dejection, Johnny immediately bounced back, putting on a big smile. It wasn’t completely genuine, and Raiden could tell there was still some shame in there, but he didn’t mention it, not wanting to make Johnny uncomfortable again.
“How’s filming going?” Raiden tried to redirect the conversation onto something that Johnny could latch onto easily. The actor’s mind tended to move rather quickly when presented with something new, especially when it was something he cared heavily about, and Raiden hoped this particular topic would ease Johnny’s mind a bit.
When Johnny’s eyes lit up at the question, Raiden knew that he hit the nail on the head.
“Fantastic!” the actor declared a little too loudly, causing a few people to look in their direction with irritation. Raiden flinched at the eyes, but Johnny, as always, was unaffected by people’s attention. As he continued, he did lower his voice, though whether this was for Raiden’s sake or because Johnny remembered they were in a public location, it wasn’t clear.
“We’re starting with some of the early scenes,” Johnny explained, “specifically the scene where the audience gets to meet you and Kung Lao for the first time. While I’m really excited to get to the fun action parts, we’re trying to get into ‘the flow’. If that makes sense.”
“I think so,” Raiden nodded, “I must ask though, you never mentioned where the movie would end.”
Johnny loudly groaned, dropping his face into his hands, some strands of his hair flopping over, “Raiden, when I say that I would make this movie ten hours long if I could, please know I’m being serious.”
“Ten hours?” Raiden threw his eyebrows up, “I know movies have been getting longer, but I don’t think anybody could sit still for that long.”
“I knooow,” Johnny sighed, lifting his head, “I’m just so excited about this. But yeah, what I meant to say was that I’m ending it just before we leave for Outworld. In the movie, I mean. You know, when you became champion. Which actually happened like a year ago. Wow, talking about biographical pieces is really hard.”
Raiden was surprised, “weren’t you excited to start working on the sets and costumes for Outworld specifically?”
“I am! I really am!” Johnny insisted before lowering his voice further, “the problem is that, uh. You know how Liu Kang said that this would help introduce Earthrealm to Outworld?”
Raiden quickly looked around the bar, making sure nobody was looking at them. The bartender had left for the bathroom a minute or so ago, which was a relief, but the other customers were still a concern. While it was easy for outside ears to believe they were talking about a fictional world, the incredibly rare and borderline nonexistent chance of someone recognizing it as reality was a frightening one.
“I know.”
“To properly get the accuracy of Outworld across, I’d need to take a team there to do it,” Johnny elaborated, “like how you’d go to another country to do research and stuff. The problem with Outworld is-“
“It’s not on Earth,” Raiden understood. Johnny gave him a thumbs-up in congratulations.
“And when people sign contracts of secrecy, it’s under the presumption of not spoiling entertainment. What the presumption isn’t is ‘by the way, magic is real, dragons are real, hell is real, have fun with this life-changing information that you can’t share.’”
Raiden hummed, “so what’s your plan for it?”
“Well I’m considering starting up film classes in Outworld so I don’t have to worry about our fellow humans ruining the surprise-“ Johnny smirked at the amused snort Raiden let out, “hey, I’m kind of serious! Okay, maybe not with asking them to be my crew for Mortal Kombat: Part 2, but I think Outworld movies would be fun! Like how Shakespeare’s plays have movie adaptions. Did you know there’s an entire section in Sun Do’s library dedicated to scripts? Some even date back to a million years ago! I really want to see one on-stage but there’s never any performing when we go. Maybe I’ll ask if there’s a monthly schedule-“
“Johnny,” Raiden placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder, snapping Johnny out of his thoughts, “I really want to hear more about this later, but I’m still curious of your plan for filming Outworld.”
Johnny grinned sheepishly, “right! Uh, accuracy of Outworld… secrecy…”
“Your team?” Raiden tried to supply.
“My team!” Johnny smacked his hand down on the counter, giving a quick, apologetic gesture to one of the other patrons who looked up at the noise.
“I know there’s really no way to tell if someone’s being genuine when it comes to something really big like this. But the design team’s been really adamant with me that most of them want to see this whole story to the end. I guess I’m just hoping that during the filming process maybe I can get a feel for who can be trusted?”
It was a solid plan, admittedly far from flawless, but there was unfortunately no way to get the complete guarantee that Johnny was hoping for.
“You could hunt them down if they try to leak anything,” Raiden jokingly suggested, “hire an assassin to take them out.”
Johnny barked out a laugh, “I’ll do you one better, I’d send Ashrah after them.”
The loud clatter of plates being placed in front of the two made them quickly snap their mouths shut. Johnny gave a quick “thanks” to the waitress before happily digging in. Raiden examined his own plate, where mozzarella sticks were stacked somewhat neatly on crumpled checkered paper. He had them once in the past, where Johnny brought some over to share, and he quite liked them. Cheese wasn’t something he even typically had most of the time, so it was a nice variety.
Raiden was so absorbed with studying his cheese sticks, he almost didn’t notice Johnny let out a sigh of contentment. Raiden looked up, and felt his eyes widen and his jaw slacken at how Johnny’s plate was completely empty, with only a few crumbs remaining. The actor was busy trying to wave the bartender over. Feeling intense staring directed towards him, Johnny turned to be face-to-face with Raiden, “everything okay?”
“I need to see you and Kung Lao compete over who the fastest eater is,” was all Raiden could wrangle from his shocked mind, just as the bartender planted herself in front of them.
“What’ll it be?” she asked.
Johnny requested his first alcoholic drink of the night, and Raiden contrasted his choice with asking for a simple water. The two quietly watched the bartender pour their drinks and place them down in front of them.
“Speaking of Kung Lao,” Johnny took his first sip, “I didn’t see him at all today, he was gone when I came downstairs.”
Raiden hummed, swallowing his own sip before responding, “he said he was going to look around on his own today. You showed us a lot yesterday, he’s been exploring further.”
“That explains it. I kind of wish he came with us,” Johnny lazily swished his drink around in his glass. It was still three-quarters full, so Raiden hoped he was being at least a little careful with it.
“Am I not good enough company?” Raiden teased.
Despite still carrying his typical smile, Raiden could see Johnny’s face fall a bit. Johnny put down his drink to awkwardly lean back in his chair, “no, not at all. I just think it would be fun with all four of us.”
The silent addition of Kenshi didn’t go unnoticed.
Raiden reached over, patting Johnny on the shoulder, “he really wanted to come.”
“Yeah,” Johnny sighed, leaning forward and dislodging Raiden’s hand in the process, “I know he did.”
The silence between the friends stretched on, Raiden finding himself staring into his glass of water for most of it, his rippled reflection staring back at him.
Another glass of alcohol being placed in front of Johnny was what yanked him back to reality. The shaolin turned just in time to see Johnny down nearly half the glass immediately. Raiden’s stomach clenched in guilt and he opened his mouth to speak, but Johnny saw him out of the corner of his eye and raised a hand, halting Raiden.
“Don’t worry, Thunder Lad, last one for the night. Two’s my limit, I promised.”
Though Raiden’s worries were eased a bit, the atmosphere still felt heavy around them.
There were still a good handful of people in the bar. Some had left, some had arrived, but all-in-all, it looked like everyone was having fun. Even though things felt a bit bitter on Johnny’s end, maybe they could still turn this night around.
“Um, excuse me?” a small voice drew both Raiden and Johnny’s attention to the source. A woman stood near Johnny, and Raiden could see that she was flanked by a taller man. Johnny raised an eyebrow, prompting her to go on.
“I’m so sorry, but you seem so familiar. I couldn’t put my finger on it,” the woman muttered, and by the glint in Johnny’s eyes, Raiden knew what was about to happen-
“Name’s Johnny Cage,” the man himself purred out.
Raiden watched as the woman’s face morphed into recognition and she smiled, bright and genuine.
“The guy from the interviews!” she declared, and Raiden had to stifle a laugh at how Johnny looked disappointed that it wasn’t from one of his actual roles. His disappointment turned to noticeable glee, however, as she continued, “clips from your interviews kept showing up on TikTok so I finally caved and watched them. You’re really liked on there.”
Johnny wiggled his eyebrows at Raiden and in retaliation, Raiden smushed his hand into Johnny’s cheek, playfully pushing him away.
“He’s directing his first movie,” Raiden pointed out, knowing that Johnny considered it his pride and joy. The woman nodded in acknowledgment.
“I’ve heard, I was really disappointed when I couldn’t find any actual trailers.”
Johnny looked like he was ready to burst from the positive talk he was receiving, and he happily cut-in, now enabled to talk about himself further, “we’re working on one, I promise!”
The woman’s eyes widened in interest and even the man behind her tilted his head curiously. Raiden leaned back in his seat, happily letting Johnny take the wheel.
“We’re doing practical effects! It’s taking a bit longer to get out any official promotion because of it, but I know it’s going to look so good! If I’m honest though,” Johnny leaned towards her, dropping his voice in a whisper, “it was way harder to find the best actors possible. People aren’t too far off when they call me a perfectionist,” he teasingly winked.
“HA!” the woman responded, grin wide, “well considering how much you clearly care for this movie, I think you’re allowed to be a bit picky. As long as you’re treating people with respect.”
“I swear it. I wouldn’t be able to do anything without those guys anyway, they’re lifesavers.”
If Raiden hadn’t known Johnny for about a year, he’d be surprised at how quickly the actor could ease into a conversation and adapt to the flow of it. With how self-centered and egotistical he could be at times, it was easy to assume that Johnny dominated any conversation he partook in, making the entire discussion solely about him without hesitation and not letting anyone else get a single word in.
In reality, not only was Johnny highly adept at social conversation and managing the moods of others, but he was skilled at bending around highly sensitive information. Even when the path from his brain to his mouth was completely unfiltered from excitement, he was still somehow in control of specific details he’d share. He never disclosed important information, but would be able to give just enough for people to be satisfied. While Raiden initially believed this was just something Johnny picked up from his Hollywood career, he admittedly wasn’t so sure that it was the only reason the actor had honed this skill.
Raiden felt himself smile at the sight of his friend perking back up, reverting back to his usual energetic.
Unfortunately, the excited discussion between Johnny and Olivia (which she introduced herself as) attracted the attention of other patrons. This, inherently, would not be a problem, as Johnny tended to draw attention wherever he went, either through his status or volume. The unfortunate part was that two other guys were now approaching them, and the thought of a crowd gathering was a bit of a damper on his own mood.
“Did I hear that right?” one of the newcomers questioned, “you’re the Johnny Cage? The Hollywood actor?”
Johnny jumped a little at the unfamiliar voice and Raiden winced, wishing he would’ve given his friend a bit of a head’s-up. Even Olivia and Luke (turns out the man behind her was her boyfriend) looked started at the sudden intrusion.
“Uh, yeah! That’s me!” Johnny dramatically turned to face the men, looking a little uncomfortable himself, “can I get you an autograph or…?”
“No need for that!” one of the men patted Johnny on the shoulder, making the actor glare at him, “didn’t expect to see anybody famous tonight, let alone a B-list actor!”
Johnny huffed out a laugh, but it wasn’t one of fondness. At this point, it was clear to Raiden that these guys just wanted to be dicks. Though considering that Johnny just finished his last drink, all they had to do was pay, say bye to Olivia and Luke, and then go back to Johnny’s place, it was simple-
The other guy threw his arms over Johnny and Raiden's shoulders, leaning in with a cackle. Raiden winced, the sudden scent of metal and smoke filling his nose, making him queasy.
"Barkeep!" the man barked at the bartender, who looked over at him irritably, "get this fine man a drink! On me!"
While normally Raiden would appreciate the generosity, a sick, familiar feeling curled itself into his gut.
"He’s not drinking more tonight-" Raiden tried to protest, but was dismissed by the man tightening his arm around Raiden.
"Aw, come on! It's not every day we get to meet a celebrity!" he drawled, the other guy taking the chance to slide in beside Johnny.
Johnny had a sickeningly charmed grin plastered across his own face, but anyone could tell it was undeniably faked.
"Come on, guys!" Johnny's tone was trying to be light and teasing, but his irritation made it come across as such, "we've had a big night, need to sleep off the excitement!"
Olivia nervously spoke up, attempting to minimize the incoming pressure, "maybe we should leave him alone-“
It was sad to hear, as Johnny likely wanted the couple to stick around and hang out more (Raiden found them good company as well), but their current top priority was leaving.
Unfortunately, these strangers weren't adept at reading the situation.
"Pfft," the man who wasn’t hanging onto the two of them rolled his eyes, "he's famous, he should be allowed to drink as much as he wants! Don't be a spoilsport."
Johnny was no longer smiling.
Raiden, once again, was shoved closer into the side of the other stranger as the jerk laughed. He bit back some very strong words, feeling the electricity crackle underneath his skin. He forced down the instinctive urge to bare his teeth and strike.
This wasn’t training, and they weren't in Outworld. He would have questions to answer to if he allowed his building anger to take control. Kuai Liang taught him better, after all.
"Bartender," Johnny's leveled voice snapped Raiden out of his aggressive fantasies.
"I'll take another drink."
"Johnny-!" Raiden tried to urge him to reconsider, the red-hot rage in him quickly subsiding to an icy substitute, but the asshole holding onto him loudly crowed in victory, drowning out Raiden's plea.
The bartender placed another drink in front of Johnny.
Part of Raiden hoped that he’d just throw it at the awful men. It would be very rude and leave a mess for the custodial staff to clean up, but Johnny promised Kenshi-
Johnny downed the whole thing.
Raiden didn’t even hear the sound of Johnny slamming the glass down onto the table, his ears loudly ringing.
Kenshi’s never going to trust me again.
-
One foot in front of the other, Raiden followed Johnny down the sidewalk, the bright lights of the lampposts overhead guiding their path. The blood on Raiden’s sleeve had dried a while ago, leaving it crusty and likely staining his shirt, but the satisfaction of elbowing the jerk in the nose had been well-worth it. He used enough strength to make his point, but not enough to break something. At worst, it was just a bloody nose that would go away in an hour.
The initial walk from Johnny’s house to the bar had been full of banter and lighthearted conversation, making the journey go by rather quickly.
But on the way back? There was only an uncomfortable silence between the two, and Raiden found himself losing track of how long they’d been walking. He was already unfamiliar with the environment, so trying to find any landmarks that would point to their progress would be futile.
Johnny hadn’t even looked him in the eye since they left. Shamefully averting his gaze every time Raiden tied to catch his gaze.
“It’s not your fault,” Raiden had wanted to say, but the words got caught in his throat and refused to come out.
Raiden was so caught up in his thoughts, he almost ran face-first into Johnny’s back. The actor was facing away from him, but Raiden could see the hunch in his shoulders.
“Johnny?”
Johnny sighed, sounding agitated, "go on. You clearly want to say something. Just spit it out."
Raiden blinked in surprise. Was it that obvious?
“Are you okay?” he tried.
The loud growl from Johnny coupled with his shoulders tensing told Raiden that he certainly wasn’t.
“No,” Johnny muttered bitterly.
The atmosphere was dripping with tension.
Raiden reached out a hand to place on Johnny’s shoulders when a familiar buzzing came from his pocket. Johnny didn’t react to it, so Raiden slowly pulled his phone out (silently hoping it was either of their friends). Thankfully, it was Kenshi.
“Kenshi texted,” Raiden smiled at Johnny, even if the actor couldn’t see him, “he’s just about finished, and he’ll be back in an hour.”
As requested by the man himself, Raiden left out the part of Kenshi’s text where he said he was bringing home a surprise treat for Johnny.
Johnny huffed irritably, surprising Raiden, “just go ahead and tell him already.”
That uneasiness slipped back into Raiden’s gut again, but he stood strong against it, “we can talk about it later, it’s okay. Should I tell him we’ll be waiting-“
“Just tell him! He's already disappointed in me, I get it!"
Raiden froze, his thumbs hovering over the keypad. A familiar memory itched at the back of his thoughts.
(“Maybe it’s Johnny’s fault for nearly getting himself mauled and I had to save him!”)
He pushed it away.
“Johnny,” Raiden spoke up, “I don’t think Kenshi’s upset with you at all. He’s going to be more worried than anything-”
“Which is why he asked you to go with me,” Johnny spat out, “because I need a babysitter. Because I can’t be left alone for five seconds.”
Oh, something plummeted inside Raiden. Johnny was starting to spiral.
The actor had strong mood swings at times, but the really intense versions of it that Raiden had witnessed occurred in the presence of others. He wasn’t equipped to handle this alone.
f*ck, this wasn’t supposed to happen tonight. None of this was.
“I think you’re crashing,” Raiden plainly stated. Johnny looked back at him, narrowing his eyes.
“Obviously,” he grumbled, “I can handle this by myself,” Johnny leaned against a lamppost, rubbing his face with his hand.
“Just go home by yourself.”
Raiden’s eyes immediately locked with Johnny’s own, furrowing his brow in disbelief.
“I’m not leaving you out here alone. Let’s go back together,” he tried to coax, despite the uncomfortable feeling sliding around in his chest, “Kung Lao’s probably back too, we can all watch a movie together-“
Johnny slammed his fist against the lamppost, fixing Raiden with an even harsher stare, “are you actually treating me like a child right now!?”
Raiden returned Johnny’s harsh stare, and the actor humorlessly laughed, “f*ck, you really are like him, huh?”
To say that Raiden was level-headed would be an understatement. Most of the time, he was in a complete state of calm and collected, as it allowed him to make better decisions, and diffuse delicate situations.
However, to say that Raiden was always level-headed would be an outright lie.
“Then maybe,” Raiden bit out, “you should stop acting like a child.”
Johnny’s mocking grin fell, and his eyes widened.
Raiden steeled himself for a verbal retaliation, but it never came. Johnny just gave him an indecipherable look, sliding his hand off the lamppost.
And continued walking back home.
Raiden waited a couple seconds to see if Johnny would fire something back, but his friend remained silent. Quickly replying to Kenshi’s text (and letting him know that Johnny might need some help), Raiden rushed to catch up with Johnny.
It was a hot night, and Raiden found it a little discouraging to look up due to the lack of stars. Back in Fengjian, it was more common to see stars than not seeing them at all. It made him a little homesick.
He wanted to ask Johnny if he ever saw any stars. Knowing his friend, he’d probably insist that ‘he was the only star America needed’. Raiden stifled a little laugh.
Johnny gave no indication he heard him.
Raiden took a deep breath, “I’m sorry.”
There was a slight stutter in Johnny’s stride.
“That interaction in the bar made me really upset,” Raiden elaborated, “and I took it out on you.”
Johnny paused, once again standing in the middle of the sidewalk.
“I thought you didn’t get angry,” he muttered.
Raiden could barely hear him.
“It’s… complicated,” Raiden settled on.
There were a lot of mixed feelings swirling inside his thoughts ever since Liu Kang told him of his inherit passiveness, that his ability to feel rage was purposefully nullified.
“You know of what Liu Kang told me,” Raiden admitted, “as confusing as it all is, I think Liu Kang’s words scared me a little.”
Johnny didn’t respond to his confession, so Raiden took it as a sign to explain further, “the thought that I used to be someone being so angry that Liu Kang wanted to make me incapable of anger altogether, that I was denied the opportunity to naturally feel it? I know it’s a good thing that I’m learning how to properly express it and how to use it after all this time, but what if it’s a mistake?”
The “what if I hurt you all” went unsaid.
“You couldn’t hurt us,” Johnny’s tone was stern, adamant, as he kept going down the path “you’re too nice for it.”
Raiden felt a tinge of irritation, “…Johnny, I feel a little insulted by that.”
“I’m not saying you’re too nice to hurt people,” Johnny shrugged, “I’m saying you’re too nice to hurt us. You don’t even speak up because you’re too scared to hurt our feelings.”
“Because you’re my friends,” Raiden bit back a hiss, clenching his fist. Johnny’s words didn’t feel teasing or light, they felt demeaning, like he was purposefully pushing aside Raiden’s own strength. For what reason, he didn’t know, “and I believe I have proven before that I could win against all three of you. I did win the tournament after all-“
"Right, because you’re Liu Kang’s favourite,” Raiden could hear the eyeroll in Johnny’s tone, “I know, I know.”
Raiden paused, baffled at the sudden change of tone. Part of him wanted to bite back, to accuse Johnny of being uncharacteristically cruel on purpose, but thanks to taking a moment to breath, Raiden remembered that his friend was spiralling. Johnny was purposefully baiting him, wanting to make him lash-out at him. He wouldn’t give into it. It would just hurt the both of them in the end.
“We had a contest,” Raiden made sure his tone was as leveled as it could be, “I won fair and square. You were all very strong though, it was tough.”
Despite Raiden’s attempted de-escalation, Johnny, unfortunately, not only spoke in the same flippant tone from earlier, but there was something crueler behind it, “he pays more attention to you than he does to any of us. I’m not stupid, Raiden.”
And admittedly, that was true. But unfortunately, it wasn’t mainly for positive reasons.
Raiden bit his tongue, running his hand along the non-bloodied sleeve of his shirt.
“Because I might be a problem in the future,” it hurt to say out-loud.
He could faintly hear Johnny’s sharp inhale.
-
The rest of the walk had occurred after a stretch of time, where only the buzzing of the lampposts and an occasional car driving by broke the silence of the empty street.
Raiden hadn’t felt this exhausted in a while. At some point his hands had begun to shake, but he stuffed them into his armpits to try and steady them again.
Johnny had been concerningly silent for the rest of the walk, and Raiden hoped he was just deep in thought and not disassociating.
At one point Johnny had pulled out his phone, and Raiden barely caught Kenshi’s name at the top of the screen as the actor sent a message. If Johnny had felt well enough to say something to Kenshi, maybe he was coming down from his high.
Raiden’s hand was on the doorknob when it happened.
“Liu Kang wouldn’t care if we died.”
Raiden slowly twisted his head around to stare at Johnny, praying that his face accurately displayed the horror he had felt upon hearing that.
“That’s… That’s an awful thing to say,” Raiden spoke carefully.
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?” Johnny’s voice was cold, “he sent the three of us to die and you got a free pass.”
Raiden immediately knew what Johnny was talking about and it frightened him. He had long accepted he was never going to hear the full story of what happened the day Kenshi was blinded, as much as he wished to know what his friends went through. But Johnny wasn’t in his right mind, this wasn’t a logical, sober choice.
And Raiden didn’t want to hear it.
"Did Liu Kang ever tell you that we almost didn't make it home? That we almost died in that lab?" Johnny spat out bitterly.
Raiden tried to tune out Johnny’s words, to disconnect what he was saying from what it would mean.
“That we were almost mutilated and used as parts?”
Raiden’s blood ran ice-cold, and he looked to Johnny, desperately.
“What happened.”
Johnny met Raiden’s eyes, tired ones staring into frantic ones.
And just pushed past Raiden, walking into the house.
Raiden tried chasing after Johnny, but the actor rushed upstairs without hesitation, not even taking his shoes off. Raiden only managed to catch a glimpse of Kung Lao worriedly watching the two of them before he returned his focus towards Johnny. Raiden reached the top of the staircase just in time to grab ahold of Johnny’s arm, keeping him from shutting the door to his room
“Johnny,” Raiden pleaded, “please tell me what you meant.”
“Nothing,” Johnny bit out, “it was nothing! f*ck, I shouldn’t have-!“
“Guys?” Raiden could hear Kung Lao faintly calling from downstairs in concern, but he elected to ignore it.
Johnny tried to free himself from Raiden’s grasp, attempting to manually pry Raiden’s fingers off of his arm, “Please, I’m really thankful you came with me, I am, but I need to be alone right now.”
And Raiden wanted to leave him alone, he wanted to allow Johnny to rest and recover. But Johnny finally told him something important in relation to his Outworld mission, and it was terrifying.
“No,” Raiden’s own words caught him off-guard just as much as they did for Johnny, “I’m tired of watching you all hurt from this. I can’t help you if I don’t know what happened!”
“You,” Johnny hissed, sharply glaring at Raiden, “don’t get to make that decision for us.”
“Well when it keeps hurting you, I think I deserve to know!”
Johnny opened his mouth to continue yelling, but instead he released a sharp yelp of pain. Raiden jumped back immediately, feeling his palms burn hotter than they had been before.
He only had a moment to notice the bright red mark on Johnny’s arm before the actor locked himself away in his room.
Raiden blankly stared at the closed door, his throat tight and his eyes wet.
“Hey, are you okay?” Kung Lao stood at the top of the stairs, worriedly looking at his best friend, “Raiden?”
Raiden slowly turned to look Kung Lao in the eyes, now very aware that he was silently crying. Kung Lao sucked in a breath.
“sh*t,” Kung Lao walked over to Raiden, resting a hand on his shoulder.
Raiden cried harder at the physical contact and Kung Lao awkwardly directed him into his arms, trying to soothe him. Kung Lao was never the best at comfort through words, but just like Raiden did for him, he tried his best to return the favor through touch.
Distantly Raiden could hear the front door opening, and a familiar voice calling out for his friends.
But only one of the three answered him.
