Once More From The Top (or, A Different Path Taken)

A Mortal Kombat Fanfiction

By Snafu the Great

Disclaimer: Mortal Kombat is the property of Netherrealm Studios and WB Games. This idea came to me while I was working on Hokuto Kombat, and I was inspired to do this fanfic by several others fanfics: Once More From The Top by Brian Drozd (in which Ranma, Nabiki and Akane are killed by Pantyhose Taro and are sent two years back into the past), Careful Destiny by Todd Hill (in which Ranma does not go on the training trip and has a little sister), and Ranma, The Second Time Around by kayemsi (in which Ranma dies and is sent back). But the real inspiration came from The Legend of Korra, particularly the Lin vs Suyin fight.

This time around, Johnny and Sonya die at the conclusion of Mortal Kombat X, and the Elder Gods fling them 25 years into the past, back to where the events of Mortal Kombat 9 begin. This is going to be a short story, five chapters long.

Part One: A New Beginning

This was not John Carlton's day, let alone his finest hour.

But despite being kidnapped, brought to Raiden's Sky Temple, trapped in a cocoon and tortured by a bug lady who had her maggots eat away at his face, followed by sustaining several energy blasts from a super-powered fallen Elder God who hated his guts with a passion, he could not be any more prouder of his team, most of all his daughter, who Johnny watched wiped the floor with Shinnok.

Oh, the irony, Johnny realized, that Shinnok got his ass handed to him once again by a Cage. Had he not been in pain, he would had been laughing his ass off over that fact.

"How is he? Is he alive?" he heard Cassie ask Kung Jin, after they had pulled Raiden out of the Jinsei, the thunder god having cleansed it from Shinnok's corruption.

"Barely," Jin had replied. "I'll help him. Help your father."

Within seconds, Cassie was at her father's side. "Dad?"

Johnny groaned. "I don't feel so hot." He turned his head and looked at his daughter. "And to think...I was worried when you started dating..."

"Afraid I'd come home to someone like you?" Cassie asked, relieved that her father was still alive.

"Funny...and beautiful. Saves the world," her father quipped. "Yeah...my work here is done. Now get me out of this damn thing."

After several tries, Cassie had to resort to using her baton to begin smashing the resin which trapped her father in place. She was able to get her dad's shoulder free when backup arrived in the form of several heavily-armed soldiers, led by Johnny's ex-wife.

"This way! In here!" General Sonya Blade barked out, Desert Eagle in her hands. "Isolate Shinnok and D'vorah. And get the medic!" She turned her head and saw her ex-husband and daughter.

But as she took a step forward, she snapped her head back towards her men when she heard the screams. Three of her men were on the ground, bleeding out from fist-sized holes in their chests and torsos, and three more were slammed to the side from D'vorah's extended stingers. Sonya brought her Magnum to bear, but the weapon was knocked out of her hand, and she was knocked away. Kung Jin was also knocked aside, his Dragon's Head bow clattering to the floor.

In her hand, was Shinnok's amulet. The Kytinn looked at her and smiled an evil smile as she raised the amulet, aiming it at Johnny and Cassie.

"NO!" Sonya screamed as she quickly scrambled to her feet and bolted towards Johnny and Cassie, who was desperately trying to get her father out of the cocoon.

"Cass! Get out of the way!" Johnny shouted.

"I'm not leaving without you, Dad!" his daughter shouted back.

"Dammit, for once, just listen to me!"

D'vorah fired off a powerful blast from the amulet...

...just as Sonya shoved Cassie out of the way, knocking her to the floor, just as the blast from Shinnok's amulet struck them both, disintegrating them in an instant, the last thing Johnny and Sonya hearing was Cassie's horrified screams.

Then D'vorah aimed the amulet at Cassie, who began to once again, conjure green energy. This time, however, the emerald green soon gave way to crimson as she got back up. D'vorah blasted the young sergeant with the Amulet, but the crimson energies surrounding her body protected her from the deadly blasts.

"Cassie!" Kung Jin shouted. In his hands, was Sonya's Desert Eagle. He tossed it to her, just as D'vorah's attempts to disintegrate Cassie failed, third-degree burns on her hand and up her arm.

Cassie caught the Magnum and began to unload its deadly payload into the insect woman who had just killed her parents. Round after round tore into the Kytinn's body, forcing her back, until the gun clicked empty. Cassie dropped the gun and broke into a run, all the while retrieving her baton and extending it to its full length. The first blow had obliterated D'vorah's jaw.

The last ten blows had done the same to her head. But it didn't change the fact that Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade were dead.

Here, is where our story ends. But to some, an end is merely a beginning in disguise. The Elder Gods saw fit to change the fate of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade by sending them back in the past...back to the eve of the Mortal Kombat tournament. Here, is where our story begins. Here, with the knowledge of what is to come in the next 25 years, do they have a chance to change the fates of their friends...if they don't kill each other first.

Johnny Cage's Condo – Venice Beach, California

Johnny groaned and clutched his head, as if he was trying to stave off the mother of all headaches as he assumed a sitting position. 'And this is why I stopped drinking after Cindy and I divorced,' he thought as the vertigo passed.

Then he froze. The last thing he remembered was being obliterated alongside Sonya from Shinnok's amulet when D'vorah had used it on the both of them, hoping to wipe out the Cage family in one fell swoop.

She had missed Cassie, thankfully.

He was not in Raiden's Sky Temple. He was stretched out on the sofa in his living room, inside his condo. Several screenplays were stacked on the table, and his laptop was open. Johnny looked at the bottom right corner of the laptop's screen, and saw the date.

'The hell?! I'm in the past!' Johnny thought.

Then he saw the small wooden box, a foot in length, and four inches high. Johnny recognized it instantly. Inside the box, it contained the invite to the Mortal Kombat tournament. One which Shang Tsung himself had personally gave to him the night before.

But there was something else that was there alongside the box. Something that Johnny knew wasn't there. A folded piece of parchment, ancient.

It was a note. Brief, and addressed to him.

The Elder Gods send their regards, Johnny Cage. Consider this a second chance for you and for Sonya Blade. Do not waste it.

The paper then disintegrated, falling to the table like fine sand. That was when he noticed the second item. Two photographs. The first was a family photo consisting of himself, Sonya and a 13-year-old Cassie. They had been happy together, right before Sonya chose her job over her family. It had been a miracle in itself that they had remained married for so long in itself.

The second photo was that of his team, twenty-five years from now. Both he and Sonya were in the photo, albeit on opposite sides; Johnny stood by Cassie, who was flanked by Jacqui, Takeda, Kung Jin and Sonya. Johnny was grinning in the photo, while Sonya had her arms folded, hat pulled over her brow, and unsmiling.

Then, his phone began to ring. Johnny reached over for the phone, but hesitated. He knew that his agent was on the other end, trying to get him to reconsider in his decision to head for the tournament. He decided to skip that headache and got up from the couch.

Beep. "Hi. Johnny Cage. Talk to me," Johnny's voice on the answering machine said.

"Johnny, it's Chuck."

"Hi, Chuck," Johnny said offhandedly as he stretched.

"Johnny, I know you're there. Come on, pick up the phone. Look...all I'm saying is that you should reconsider this whole tournament idea. You're a commodity, John. You're looking at 20 mil this year. You wanna risk that? Janice called me and said that you haven't read the script for 'Iron Claw,' and shooting starts on the 17th of next month. And from what I've heard, this tournament isn't even sanctioned by any martial arts organization, let alone anyone has even heard of this tournament."

Johnny continued to ignore his agent as he thought of the prospects that laid before him. He had been fifty-four at the time of his death. Now he was twenty-nine again. He wondered whether or not he still pertained his skills from when he was training Cassie and her team.

Johnny raised his hands and focused. Moments later, a melon-sized green ball appeared in between his hands. He performed a Tai Chi routine with the glowing ball of energy. Yeah, that little side trip to Seido following the Netherrealm War had its advantages. Pleased to see that he still had his skills, Johnny went off to prepare, just as Chuck was finishing the call.

"Look, you're going, and I can't stop you. You got two weeks, and try not to get hit in the face."

Click.

"And Sonya calls me an ass," Johnny muttered as he began to prepare. Not only for the tournament, but to also try and save the lives of Liu and the others when the time came for Sindel to attack, but also hoped to fix his relationship with Sonya.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong...

Sonya Blade stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. When she was General Sonya Blade, she looked younger than her fifty-one years, easily passing for much younger. Now, she was twenty-six again. Twenty-six, and a Lieutenant.

The last thing she remembered before waking up in her hotel room was pushing Cassie out of the way, before both her and Johnny were obliterated by D'vorah. By all accounts, she should have died.

But she was alive, and in the past. She looked at the items that sat on the nightstand table; the small rectangular wooden box which contained the invite to the Mortal Kombat, along with a hand-written note addressed to her by Shang Tsung himself.

Lieutenant Blade. Major Briggs is here enjoying my hospitality on my island. If you wish to see him again, then come and fight in my tournament. Your refusal would be most unwise.

But there was also a second note, addressed to her.

The Elder Gods send their regards. This is your second chance, Sonya Blade. Do not squander it.

Aside from the note, there were two pictures. Both she recognized all too well. The picture of herself, Johnny and their teenage daughter, back when they were a family. The second was that of Johnny's squad, with Sonya on the far end of the picture.

The first photo Sonya looked at with a sense of regret. Johnny had the same photo with him. The second one caused her anger to rise.

She wondered if Johnny was also sent back into the past as she exited the bathroom and opened her travel bag. But now, she was presented with an opportunity to save lives, to change the past in order to secure a better future for Earthrealm.

But first, she needed to prepare.

Shang Tsung's Island, days later.

Sonya had felt a sense of anticipation mixed with dread as she ventured deeper into Shang Tsung's island fortress. Kano could wait. Now, she was trying to track her ex-husband down. The last time she was here was when both her and Johnny had rescued Cassie and Jacqui from Havik. Now, here she was, yet again, once again competing in the tournament.

She had kept her distance from Johnny. Part of it was because she wondered if he had been sent back in time with her. The other half was over a long-simmering animosity between her and her ex-husband, the accusation of her choosing her job over both him and Cassie.

She respected Johnny, both as a father and a fighter, but following the divorce and the events after that, her animosity towards him grew. When Secretary Blake tapped Johnny for the role of teacher and mentor to Cassie's team, it had increased, as she wanted to be the one to train Cassie and her team. But Sonya had buried it deep down inside of her. Her rage had reared its ugly head when Kano threatened to harm Cassie.

"Well then...if mother won't play nice, maybe daughter will."

"If you touch her..."

"Back off, Sonya, and all's well. But if you piss me off...then Cassie's gonna meet Uncle Kano."

"I swear to God I'll kill you!"

And she almost did, had it not been for Johnny.

"Sonya! Don't do something you know you'll regret."

Sonya saw Johnny was ahead of her. But rather than the tuxedo he wore, he was dressed instead the fighting attire she had seen him clad in during the Outworld Tournament and in Kahn's Invasion (i.e., his MKII-inspired uniform) and a sleeveless black shirt. Sonya's eyes narrowed...then widened in realization that whatever had happened to her happened to Johnny as well.

If that wasn't enough, it was how he had dismantled Reptile in a matter of second, followed by a lack of preening and grandstanding from his end. What he had done to Baraka was much worse. The Tarkartan had both arms and legs broken, followed by half of the bones in his ribcage.

Once Shang Tsung had dismissed the fighters for the night, Sonya decided to go after Johnny, rather than deal with Kano, as tempting that was.

But she lost Johnny upon entering a wooded pathway. Sonya looked around, and cursed under her breath. When she turned around, Johnny was there, and in a flash, Sonya found herself pinned up against a tree, Johnny's hand on her throat while the other was chambered back, ready to strike.

"STOP! CAGE, IT'S ME! IT'S SONYA!" Sonya shouted.

Johnny wasn't convinced. "Prove it."

Sonya's hand reached inside her pocket and she pulled out the photo of Cassie and her team, shoving it into his face. Johnny released her and lowered his fist. "Nice to see you too, honey," he said.

"Still the ass, John."

Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "You still love it."

After they calmed down, Johnny sat on an overturned piece of stone, while Sonya was leaned up against a tree. "What was the last thing you remember?" Sonya asked.

"After being captured by Shinnok?" Cage paused for a moment. "Being tortured by the creepy bug lady. Then by Shinnok. And Cassie kicking his ass up and down the Jinsei. Then you showed up...and you know the rest."

"Cass took down Shinnok?" Sonya asked, amazed.

Johnny nodded. "You would have been proud of her, Sonya. I know I was. You?"

Sonya shuddered. "Dying. And then...I was in bed., in my hotel room in Hong Kong."

"My place, on the couch for me. Looks like we've done something right, since the Elder Gods brought the both of us back here to this time."

"So what do we do now?" Sonya asked.

"We've been sent back 25 years, Sonya. We have a small, but valuable advantage. We know what's going to happen from here to Shinnok. Raiden messed with the timeline by trying to make things better, but ended up making things worse. Now we gotta try and fix his mess."

Sonya nodded. She knew about Raiden's interference. In the First Run (as what she called it), she and Johnny didn't hook up and Cassie wasn't born. Then came the Deadly Alliance of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, in which they were killed fighting off the Tarkartan forces. And they were revived by Onaga to serve him, but the mind control was soon broken. Then came Armageddon, in which they both were killed; Johnny by decapitation while Sonya was ripped in two.

"Not only that, but we got a chance to save the lives of Liu and the others. And hopefully, fix what went wrong with us," Johnny finished.

Sonya frowned. "There is no us, Cage. You wanted the divorce because you couldn't stand not being the center of attention. I had my responsibilities."

Johnny stood up. "Our twenty-three year-old daughter says otherwise." He took a step forward, removing his glasses so that he could look Sonya in the eyes. "And if memory serves, I fought with you to make things work until the bitter end. I never wanted to be the center of attention for you. I get enough of that already. I just wanted you. I would have done almost anything for you, yet you were unable to do the same for me."

That took Sonya aback.

Johnny shook his head. "You really are a piece of work, Blade. You're quick to pass the blame on to me when you're no saint yourself."

Sonya's eyes narrowed.

"You disappear in you work for days, weeks on end. You didn't have to lie to Cassie when she asked when were you coming home. Even with my own career, I made time for you and Cass." His voice could cut steel, his dark brown eyes staring down into Sonya's icy blues. "I said this one, and I'll say it again. There was a time when you cared more about your family than your job...General."

He then caught himself. "Oh, I'm sorry. I meant Lieutenant."

Sonya felt her hand ball up into a fist. The Johnny Cage of old was more boisterous and cocky. This one was more somber, the Johnny Cage she remembered two decades from now. She stalked past Johnny, and had walked several steps forward when he called her name.

She spun around. "What now?"

Johnny pointed to his left, Sonya's right. "Jax is that way. Kano's waiting for you at The Pit."

As much as she wanted to pound Kano's head into powder, rescuing Jacqui's dad took precedence. She stalked off in the direction of where Jax was imprisoned.

Johnny watched her walk off and pinched the bridge of his nose before putting on his glasses. So much to do, and so little time. But who could he trust?

Raiden would probably screw things up further, so that was out. Bi-Han was destined to die at the hands of Hanzo – make that, Scorpion. Sektor and Lin Kuei were in the pockets of Shang Tsung. Kuai Liang and Tomas Vbrada were somewhere in China. Kitana and Jade were firmly in the Outworld camp until their defection sometime later.

That left Nightwolf, the Lakota Shaman. He held Raiden in high regard, and Johnny respected him. But how to approach the Native American over the fact that not only was Johnny and Sonya from twenty-five years into the future, but to also keep him alive from a rampaging Edenian Queen.

Johnny sighed. 'And she says I'm the irresponsible one,' he thought as he walked off in the opposite direction.