Chapter Text
𝕌𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝟞𝟘𝟡
Johnny’s swift steps echoed as he made his way down the hall. His brow was drawn, fists clenched at his sides as his mind whirred with possibilities. Sento’s message played over and over again but it didn’t make any more sense than when he’d first heard it. It had not been his Sento, the one strapped to his back, but the silvery ghost of another. It had emerged from the flames and told him to seek the Keeper of Time, Lady Mileena of Outworld.
He turned the corner to finally face the double doors he’d been looking for. The Taira clan’s emblem was burned into the main panel of each one with more traditional torches on either side. It was his leader’s personal request to keep the grounds as untouched as possible from his family’s traditional build.
Johnny pulled them open to reveal the multi-chambered room. It was the personal chambers of the Taira clan’s leader and despite everything else had been decked out without any structural change. Every electronic, every game system, every media-based advancement was packed along the walls for his leader’s amusement. There were some extravagant purchases Johnny only allowed because the money had come from his leader’s personal funds.
Being in so many films had come with a constant flow of residuals that kept Kenshi in fun-money so he didn’t have to worry about looking selfish.
The Snorlax had been difficult to explain and somehow the most forgiving of giant purchases.
The TV was nearly wall-to-wall with an extravagant sound system set up below it. Jujutsu Kaisen blared on it. Kenshi had started the series just a few days ago and had become obsessed. There had been a hole since that hero one ended and this new fixation had been ravenous. Kenshi had quickly fallen under the spell of the fan favorite, Gojo, and Johnny could hardly get him to focus on paperwork with all the JJK talk.
Kenshi had even fashioned himself a black headband that he had tucked over one eye currently. With the bong and other assortment on the table, plus the stench, Johnny knew his leader was blazed out of his mind. It was the weekend, he was within his hours to let go, but it still made him roll his eyes. Smoke lingered in the air around him and Johnny knew this might be a difficult pitch.
Johnny sighed when Kenshi jumped to his feet, immersed in the action on screen.
“Kenshi?”
The man tisked and waved at him to be quiet as the show mounted its tension. He understood the appeal but he was rattled from Sento’s message of war. He tried a different approached. “Iitai koto ga arimasu–”
“Johnny!” Kenshi whined in frustration as he tried to watch the show. His hand flapped behind him, trying to get him to shut up. “I’m too high to watch, read these fuckass subtitles, listen to your accent, and try to translate that.”
Johnny bristled as he always did when his leader and boyfriend mentioned his Japanese. “My accent is perfect, and you are more than capable of – why do you even need subtitles? It’s in Japanese.”
“The inconsistencies are important to know what they think the English speaking audience wants to hear.”
“There’s a message,” Johnny pushed.
It seemed to catch some of Kenshi’s attention. “From who?”
“From Sento.”
“You have Sento,” Kenshi grouses. He didn’t have to look to sense the blade there. And he knew it rarely left Johnny’s back.
“Another Sento.”
There was a long pause, Kenshi paused the tv, slid the blindfold down fully. He slumped fully into the couch. Johnny waited out the temper tantrum and was eventually rewarded with a loud huff. “What other Sento?”
“I was meditating–” Johnny powered through his partner’s “you’re always meditating” to speed things along. “-and he came to me. He spoke with the same voice your ancestors have used with me.”
“You only sound so formal when you’re scared, Barbie. That’s not good for me or my marathon,” Kenshi grumbled as he got to his feet. He took up the bong and finished the green that was left there. It was only impressive because he’d nearly blinded himself with the makeshift cosplay. JJK had really filled up the room as of late, especially merch of a certain white haired curse breaker. Johnny really didn’t watch TV like that lately but he didn’t mind as long as it didn’t get in the way of work.
“It’s kind of serious, Kenshi,” Johnny insisted.
“If there’s two Sentos? No shit.” Kenshi tossed off the headband. His face was screwed up in irritation when he turned around. “What do they need?
“Us, and Lady Kitana. We’re meeting at her palace.”
“To fuck?” Kenshi was annoyingly serious.
“To be picked up by a Lord Cage, possibly the one I’ve already met with,” Johnny clarified, scowling at the implication. He loved his partner but his offhand flirting annoyed him in serious moments. The way Kenshi grinned at his own joke softened any actual annoyance. “I’ll get a fire message to Lady Kitana.”
Kenshi turned off the TV and snatched his phone off the table. “I’ll text Liu Kang, it’ll probably be easier at this hour.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s timezones, dumbass, they’re probably on round three by now,” Kenshi snickered, tapping at the screen. “He’s on that strap right now, Barbie, trust and believe.”
A laugh burst out of Johnny despite how he tried to smother it. They both ended up giggling at the obvious couple, tension broken. Yeah, it would be easier.
xXxXxXx
Current Universe
The soul cistern was larger and more demented than Johnny imagined. It put the scale of their situation into perspective in the worst way possible. He cracked some lame joke but he barely heard it as he eyed the others around Quan Chi. They looked pretty serious. The sorcerer’s chanting was evident even from this distance. This would not be an easy in-and-out like he’d hoped.
“Earthrealm is in grave danger.” Ashrah was restless, her sword gleaming even brighter. “Just one soul stealer can kill hundreds of thousands. If he unleashes a batter of them–”
“Millions will die.” Baraka hissing growl showed his displeasure.
Kung Lao stepped up, resolute in his decision to take down this secondary sorcerer who seemed to be just as equally a monster. “He must be stopped.”
“I will deal with Quan Chi,” Ashrah assured them, brandishing the holy kriss. “The four of you subdue the others. I will go around and give a signal, then we strike from both sides.”
As the team moved forward, Kenshi found a much more insistent hand stopping him in place. “Whoa there, big guy.”
“Johnny, please, you heard her,” Kenshi pleaded. “Millions could die. You can’t think I’m the type of man who could stand by while this happens. I can still fight.”
“Which is why I don’t want you embarrassing Team Cage out there. Now…” Johnny tone deepened and the Alpha’s trepidation started to fade, though both their hearts were starting to race. “Give me your sword.”
Kenshi’s flinch broke his heart. “Why?”
Ouch. He deserved that though. “After everything, you still don’t trust me?”
“What? Of course I–!” Kenshi cut himself off, sighing sharply. He unbuckled the strap of his reliable sword, Hirosaki, and let it rest upon his open palms. He considered its weight, its symbolism, then bowed his head to his Omega and handed it over. Whatever his future mate thought was best, he trusted him. Johnny only wanted him safe and he was blind now. Getting himself killed would do the mission no good. Still, it stung. His Alpha side felt wounded but he kept that tucked away.
He felt neutered as the blade was lifted out his grasp. His hands lingered, fingertips faintly curling around nothing as his soul grew heavy with guilt.
‘I hope he doesn’t change his mind now I have lost my eyes.’ The thought pained him but he tried not to let it show. What good was he now to Liu Kang? To Johnny?
Kenshi was just starting to turn away, wondering what to do with himself now, when a new weight hit his palm. It was foreign in every way but for the warmth that instantly flooded through his body. It felt like the kickstart of a renewed livewire, sharp and sure into his very bones. For just a moment he swore he could hear someone talking to him.
A thousand thousand someones.
Then Kenshi was sucked back into the moment and he seized the katana before it could tilt out of his hand. Sento . Johnny had given him his family’s sword, the very one that had protected him against Gorro back at the laboratory when Kenshi himself had fallen.
“What?” Kenshi felt along the sheathe, fingers marking and tracing the metalwork. He found the Taira clan insignia and let out a trembling sigh. He had been hunting for this blade for most of his adult life. Just this time last year he’d still been shackled to the Yakuza with just a rumor of an ancestral sword to give him hope. He had never asked permission to touch it. He had been so wrapped up in Johnny he had forgotten to want to.
But Sento had been trying to protect Johnny. He would need him! A flood of self deprecating thoughts had him stuttering. “I can’t. Not when you’re–”
“It was yours the moment you kissed me.”
The declaration had their chests tight, their nervous hearts in their throats. They needed to hurry, to get in place, but they felt stuck in this heavy moment.
Kenshi, burdened with self-appointed guilt and unsure of himself as an Alpha.
Johnny, throat closed around all the words he needed to say as he tried not to take the other and run for Earthrealm’s portal.
“I was gone for you, Kendoll,” Johnny managed to confess, blanketing the hands on his Alpha’s so they held Sento together. “The Taira clan need to be saved and you’re the one to do it. You saved me, didn’t you?”
Kensi blushed at the strangely romantic confession and Johnny laughed nervously. The swordsman was so pretty when he got all pink across his nose. “I…”
“Now’s a great time to admit it in case I eat shit right now,” Johnny tried to jest, hoping the depth of his emotion was returned. Now wasn’t really the time to demand a return confession (nor would he want it) but a part of him needed the confirmation. He took a deep breath to gather his courage and squeezed Kenshi’s hands. “Honestly, I didn’t think we’d be in mortal danger out here, but I can’t die with you thinking you were anything but perfect for me.”
Kenshi’s jaw dropped and he reached up to tuck a finger under his chin, gently closing it. Those wide, sweet lips called to him but they didn’t have time. “There’s just no one out there who would be a better match for me, Kendoll.”
Kenshi’s breaths were strained, fingers working Sento so tightly the metal bit white marks into his fingers. He released the blade only to take Johnny’s hand from his face to lace their fingers. “I…I thought we agreed not to lie to each other?”
Johnny remembered that night they were together in the Jinsei chambers where he’d accused Kenshi of lying while balls deep inside him. It brought the smile back to his face but his heart was still heavy. Kenshi thought his words were hollow, made out of desperation, and he didn’t blame him. They hadn’t even known each other a year and Johnny was an established playboy. He’d earned his reputation body by body but that didn’t mean his heart was at play.
“We’re not going to die,” Johnny prefaced firmly, squeezing his hand. “But if we do, I just wanted you to know that you were it for me, babe. I’m not saying it because I’m feeling the finish line pressure. I’m saying it because I’m scared I’m never going to be able to show you.”
Love Alpha. Want Alpha forever. His bite. His heart.
‘Just tell him you love him. Tell him you want to do the bite stuff! You said you wanted to be his mate after jerking him off, that doesn’t count. Open your stupid fucking mouth and tell him the ‘L’ word before you get blasted by a God of War knockoff! Kenshi, I love you. I want to be your forever mate and have a hundred kids or whatever. Just say it! Say something, idiot!’
Johnny bit his lip so hard he knew that if Kenshi could see he would’ve scolded him.
‘Say anything… ’
“The only regret I have is answering the door that night.”
It wasn’t what he had meant by far but Kenshi’s smile was bright and it made the vice on his gut loosen.
“I know I argued with you but I would’ve done anything you said in the end. You have a crazy power over me, Kenshi. You’re the only one who’s ever earned it,” Johnny admitted. It was as close to a love confession as he could get right now with Ahrah’s signal time edging closer every second. He swore he saw Kenshi shiver but he knew from the spike in the Alpha’s scent that the weight of his sentiment was felt. “And if my blood is worth anything, it’s yours, okay? It’s all yours, babe.”
‘You saved me when I was rotting in that fucking apartment. I’ve never felt so alive. I don’t know how to tell you that because then I’d have to finally figure out how to thank you.’
Kenshi's hand traveled up and down Sento, his Alpha so beautiful even as he was overtaken. Johnny didn’t need to hear anything back when he could see the quiver of his lower lip, when he could smell the burnt caramel notes of his scent that only came out when his inner Alpha was pleased. Johnny had never known such relief and he was glad he got something out of his tight chest when everything felt like it was on fast forward.
“I know I’m out of practice but that’s part of being together, isn’t it?” Johnny closed the last step between them and smiled when Kenshi eagerly reached out for him. His Alpha’s fingers dug in through his armor and wished they could bury their faces in each other’s throats just to cement the feeling. “What’s mine is yours.”
Johnny somehow kept forgetting how fucking fast his Alpha was. Kenshi’s fingers shot out with precision and curled a fistful of his hair. Johnny made a noise but was happily dragged into an urgent, biting kiss. He let Kenshi guide him, his lip bitten to elicit a gasp that left his mouth vulnerable to the passionate attack. He could taste the adoration on Kenshi’s talented tongue and was glad to steal the moment while they had it.
They were still indulging in each other when Sento pulsed with a crimson heartbeat right at the center. Once, twice, then a hummingbird thrum that sent ripples of energy through the sheathe. The writhing crimson went through Kenshi’s hands and up into his arms, disappearing into his flesh.
Kenshi pulled back with a groan, staggering back as the unknown chi tingled through his limbs. Johnny followed him with his arms outstretched but he stopped when he realized it was coming from Sento. Kenshi gaped as a healing hum restored the strength in his arms, his legs, his very spine. The ache disappeared and he could stand straighter without wincing. Even beneath the blindfold he could feel a strange warmth that soothed even deeper than the balm. He dared not touch it but smiled in awe as the sensation faded to pleasant warmth.
Kenshi almost couldn’t believe it but he felt better. He swore he could see shapes, movement, but it was much too faint to be anything but false hope. Still, he felt healed. As he stretched his arms and swiped Sento through the air he realized it was better than that. He wasn’t hungry, thirsty, it was a small miracle after the long nightmare he’d been subjected to.
It was like he’d been resting for days.
“Astounding. This is more than I could ever hope for.” Kenshi sheathed Sento and savored the fading hum of power from his family’s blade. “Johnny, my body feels restored. There is no vision but my eyes don’t feel tender anymore. Sento has blessed us.”
Johnny could see the Alpha’s restoration in the way he held himself and smiled . The crimson chi had distorted to its growingly-familiar silver before disappearing all together. “You. He’s working his magic for you, babe. Holy shit. I’m a little jealous.”
Kenshi turned his head toward Johnny fully and made a startled noise when he saw a shocking trio of emerald in his shadow world. They were faint but amongst the inky nothing around them it was startling. “Gods. I can. I can see something on you. Within you. Your eyes, and your chest…”
“Wait-” Johnny wanted to ask more but Kenshi was already splaying a hand on his chest and pressing. It was nice but he was still reeling over the fact that he could see anything at all.
“I can almost feel something, maybe, I’m not sure.” Kenshi was barely whispering as he tried to concentrate on the glowing orbs. They were so small, just flickers now, but it felt so important to connect with them that he nearly pushed the Omega over for a moment. “It’s spectral. I don’t think this is just Sento, Johnny. I feel you.”
“I don’t have any magic, Ken. As much as everyone wants me to,” Johnny said softly as he let the Alpha touch him, feeling unworthy as guilty relief flooded through him. He felt so cut open just knowing that there was hope for Kenshi’s eyesight he almost didn’t know how to handle it. “I’m such a fucking asshole for feeling good right now. I did this to you so whatever Sento worked up was just for you.”
Kenshi shook his head but Johnny was barrelling on, cutting through the first high whistle of Ashrah’s signal.
“I can’t lose you.”
Kenshi’s fingers lingered above Johnny’s heart, everything cycling much too fast in his mind
“We need to go, sutaraito.” Kenshi grabbed his forearm and dragged him toward the others, both of them picking up a run. Later he wanted to say but they hit their mark in moments.
Later he would prove to Johnny that he knew how he felt. That he didn’t have to say it for it to be reciprocated.
xXxXxXx
𝕌𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝟙𝟛𝟙
Bi-Han was struggling with his evening meditation. His mind felt restless, humming , so he’d moved to the richest part of the gardens to seek refuge. The Wu Shi Academy was rather empty at dinner time with everyone piled into the dining hall. The feast would be rich tonight with a round of fresh game from the mountains but he had no interest. Let his flock enjoy the bounty of their hard work.
Bi-Han immersed himself in the flowers and tried to make sense of his thoughts. If he could not find peace then he would at least uproot his disrest. Nothing came forth. It wasn’t normal for his nerves to be fizzling like this. There had been no great villain in decades and the daily reports had been blessedly stale, even in Outworld. There were small disputes in a few corners of the realms but nothing that would be giving him goosebumps like this.
He was contemplating heading to the Hourglass when he passed by the bushes of Outworld lilies. Their scent was sweet and and mimicked Earthrealm’s jasmine in many ways. Oh. He had not been out this way in a while. Bi-Han remembered the day he’d had them selfishly planted in the most gorgeous part of the gardens. He wanted them surrounded in beauty, as he would want her.
Bi-Han doubled back and touched one of the fleshy petals. They were pale pink with azure centers. Kitana’s scent had always been like crushed jasmine blossoms, her color azure, how could he not want them close? He stayed far away from this timeline’s Kitana but his heart was still full for her. His princess, such forbidden fruit but a goddess worth worshiping. One he would have worshiped for the rest of his life if permitted. An Omega worth dying for, living for – any other was a shade in her memory.
He pinched the petal between his fingers and a lewd memory of an Alpha’s tongue held so similarly, pearly with cum as it waited for permission to swallow.
He ripped his hand back as his cheeks flushed. Liu. Again, not the man in this timeline, but his Liu. His Alpha. How he missed him just as terribly, just as selfishly. He tried to remain pious and keep his mind together in the moment but his dreams were vulnerable. Tattooed arms and dark lips haunted his dreams like the sweetest spectors. How few nights they had truly had together but how invigorating.
Kitana and the wine blush of her cunt, her strong thighs, that commanding Omega whine that had made him weak. She had been able to toss him around with ease and put him where he wanted. So many times he had dropped to his knees for her, cock and tongue at her bidding.
Liu Kang and his wide shoulders, tree trunk thighs, and high pitched whimpers. His champion, his favorite knot and secretive confidant. They had hidden their friendship, their relationship buried even deeper. Many had thought they fought over Kitana and they played the part for fun. It had made interesting liaisons with roleplay that had led to some of the best sex he's ever had (respectfully.)
Bi-Han closed his eyes and let the scent take him back to nights where he was beneath them, pressed between two unyielding bodies. His mouth full, his knot wet, and always a hand in his hair. They both had loved to pull him around, just as much as he and Kitana led Liu around by his long locks. He smiled to himself as he remembered how careful they’d been with their princess's intricately braided hair but not one other inch of her.
Then his lashes were wet and he had to put a stop to the pleasant flow of memories. Nostalgia was such a potent drug. Bi-Han physically flinched as he drowned the bubbling arousal, the fondness, the old flames. He must have been a masochist to lean into those ancient memories so hard. Both of those wonderful people were long gone from his life. They had been split up by the shattering. Only recently when a Johnny Cage variant had visited him did he know about the multiple timelines. It had broken the seal he’d put on all those feelings and now they returned in treacherous waves, striking him when he was most vulnerable.
Except that Keeper of Time, Lord Cage, had told him that he suspected a rogue amongst the timelines. He described it as something searching, stealing, plucking at strings it shouldn’t be able to touch. He’d explained that Johnny Cage Titan variants had divination, that they knew of the timelines through their vision. Most didn’t survive. The curse of sight could be overwhelming and most went mad from it, or were killed for it. Many were murdered for it by friend and foe alike, though mostly by Outworld sorcerers looking to gain a power they couldn’t obtain. They tried but all ended up with bloodless, twisted Titan remains and not much else.
Three. Lord Cage had spoken of only three Johnny Cages that could see into the timeline and would ultimately be able to aid them in any fight ahead. Even with his power, Lord Cage still saw blurry faces and vague scenes. But they were getting clearer as the years wore on and he worried. He had declared Bi-Han singular, the only Time Titan of his specific name.
It had been an honor and a horrible shock. The only Bi-Han to be a Keeper of Time.
“The only one permitted to live, yes. You’re the only one who will be on our side if there is a fight. Any other Sub-Zero’s will be on sight. Trust me, I’ve double checked. I don’t like it anymore than you do.”
Lord Cage had gone on to explain that it would be his Liu Kang would be the Time Titan in need of aid. If the worst happens, Bi-Han may be called on to serve. It had given him the strangest hope and doubled his drive to keep his world peaceful. He wanted to make Liu proud, and dare he even think of seeing his Kitana again. The thoughts had driven his dreams into frenzies. But this was not the time to dwell on such sweet hopes. It would whip him to madness and send him to sleep in heartache, as it had done so many nights before.
Bi-Han managed to pull himself together before he heard the footsteps in the garden. Geras found him soon enough and he was able to offer a smile. That was until he saw the man’s stoney expression. “My lord, the Hourglass…”
Could he happily be so wrong that it was now? If a voice called to him through the glass, would he go?
By the Elder Gods, of course he would. For the redemption of his name and character. He would go to show his allegiance to what was right, and just.
He would go for love, because he was a fool. Because he would always be a fool.
xXxXxXx
𝕌𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖 𝟚𝟝𝟘
John and Syzoth shared a look that spoke volumes. It was the silent language of a couple that had been together for more than ten years. They were both bulky and weathered, one handsome and one rather pretty for a half-lizard man. Syzoth’s mutation was more obvious in this universe. Half his body was covered in shiny scales and his fangs were bigger than the average Omega, poking over his lower lip. His eyes were crimson and wide but all of it looked so cute together.
Johnny could see the appeal of this Syzoth. He seemed sweet and deadly, and there was devotion in his eyes as he looked up at ‘him’.
And John was gorgeous. He was taller than any other Cage variant he’d seen. His hair was long enough to be tied up in a messy bun, strands falling into mossy eyes. Cage variants usually had amber or truly golden eyes but this was one of the few that deviated. This was also one of the few that were Alphas. John had plated his own prominent fangs in gold and his tattoos mimicked those Johnny had seen on other Syzoths. Intricate tribal swirls native to the Zaterran wove down his arm in bright red ink. He suspected the markings went much lower in more intimate places.
They had to be quite the show in bed.
“I mean,” John drew the word out, shrugging and trying his best to not look interested. “We’re kind of past the ‘going to war’ age, aren’t we?”
“Thirty-eight is hardly a cut off for Johnny Cage,” the Titan assured him. “You both look fit as fuck to me. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I needed you. You both do major damage on the field and I could really use another heavy hitter.”
“I’m not sure,” Syzoth hummed, casting a teasing look to his partner. John had done a horrible job maintaining his cool through the other’s pitch. He was practically licking his chops at the prospect of an inter-timeline brawl with different versions of himself around. He knew his mate missed being in movies and that he would always be obsessed with himself one way or another. It all sounded right in his wheelhouse. “We did decide it was time for retirement.”
Johnny snorted, “From what?”
“From the hero business, pal,” John snarked back. “For your information, you’re looking at two of the best sorcerer hunters in Outworld. Or did all your research not turn up that we’ve been protecting both realms from assholes since we mated.”
Johnny liked that word in this universe. He rarely came across timelines that had developed some sort of true ‘mating gland’ but this was one of them. They both had white scars on their necks where they’d pierced the glands and formed their adorable soulbonds. He wondered if they could hear each other’s thoughts or if it was just emotions? If they warmed up to him, he had to ask.
“It’s not just about us,” Syzoth reasoned calmly, touching his mate’s arm with a soft noise. The effect was immediate. John visibly relaxed and his smile went easy once more. Spectacular . A Cage with his intended was always a sight to see. Johnny really did love himself and all the shades he came in.
“Yeah?” Johnny wasn’t sure what obstacle they would have. He didn’t delve deep into this universe but they were as battle ready as anyone else joining the fray. “What do you need? I can get anything. Name it.”
“A babysitter.”
The casual way John said it only made the impact more striking. Johnny must have let it show on his face because the couple snickered at him.
“What? You thought we were celibate heroes?” John rolled his eyes and held up three fucking fingers. There was no way. “Eight, four, and Cassie’s barely started formula. You can’t expect us to just roll out of here without notice. My little monsters need a very specific hand if it’s not us so unless you have someone around…”
John made a show of putting up his hands but even he looked disappointed. It was short notice of him to demand them be on-call or leave within a few hours to another day and a half.
“We can try and find someone with spare time,” Syzoth promised.
“You’re so much more agreeable in this universe,” Johnny sighed, rolling his neck and trying to think of something. “Everyone I’ve gathered is going to be in the thick of it. That universe isn’t going to be safe for them no matter what. It should be at your home or den or whatever. I’ll think of something if you guys can’t find anyone.”
“Good, figure it out.” John wrapped an arm around Syzoth, pulling him close. “Either way, I’m enjoying the next two hours. Don’t call before that.”
“Insatiable.” But the delicate blush that stained the pale scales across Syztoh’s cheekbones was worth it.
Even Johnny felt a stirring at that and he wasn’t even into the little guy like that. “I’ll, uh, leave you guys to it.”