"Alright...", you groaned and wiped away the sweat that ran down your neck, leaving marks on your dirt covered skin. "Should be enough punishment for now. We'll do more tomorrow anyways..."

Annoyed, you threw the hoe onto the ground and turned to Johnny. He was eager to do a good job, every single move of his had the same amount of strength. He was pretty firm and managed to dig a good bit into the ground.

"Finally!", he groaned and stopped as well to stretch towards the sky. "I feel filthy. Did a movie once, needed to be covered in this goo, fake blood and all that. Man that was nasty."

Amused, you listened to his ramble, hands crossed in front of your chest and let your head fall to the side in oder to have a better look at him once more.

Just how he had a special interest in your face you had a special interest in how he acted. He carried himself light, almost careless, with a certain kind of bounce in his step.

Every time you wondered what he'd do next.

How would he move?

"Like what you see?", he asked with a smirk as he noticed your gaze.

Demonstratively, you tilted your head further and threw a glance at his bottom. Both your eyebrows wiggled as you showed him a smug grin.

"I got an eye on you.", playfully, you gave him a gentle kick against his hip.

"Woah!", he stumbled to the side, hands in the air. "You gotta be harder than that, tiger. Doesn't even tickle."

Again, he raised his fists to start a fight.

Arms spread with a shrug, you invited him and even bowed so that he had to come at you or it would have been a hit to his ego.

With a tilt of his head he made his neck crack and took a leap at you. He grinned, a row of pearly white teeth lit up. Two steps and he was in front of you again, so close, that you almost forgot the slip away.

Some kind of spark crossed his eyes. Or maybe it was just the usual confidence he seemed to embody.

You used that to your own advantage. Your feet slid to the side and in one swift movement you tilted away, just far enough for him to miss.

His balance shifted and he stumbled. It wasn't a serious way of stumbling, just enough to make him loose his focus for a second.

A broad grin on your face you reached out and placed a quick slap on his butt. Surprisingly, it was firm and almost didn't move as the impact hit it.

"Quit messing around, hunny bum.", you laughed and jumped away as he tried to turn on his heel.

A baffled expression was on his face, but it quickly turned into a smirk. At a loss for words, he raised his arms and tried to ask for an answer.

"C'mon, all these things you've seen and that upsets you?", you asked.

"You slapped my butt.", he huffed.

"Yup. Got some nice cheeks, my guy. Gotta admit."

"You slapped my butt.", he repeated again as he came closer in a way that gave threatening big sibling energy.

Defensively you raised both hands and tried to escape but he was already close again. His arm wrapped around your neck, pulling you in a headlock while his other ruffled through your hair.

"Johnny!", you screamed.

"No one touches Johnny Cage's butt!", he couldn't empathise enough just how amusing yet annoyed he was.

"Argh! You're hurting me!"

"No. One. Touches. The. Butt.", his knuckles drilled into your skull, bones rubbed against bones and a very thin layer of skin.

"Okay! Stop! Please, I won't do it again!", you begged, halfway laughing. "Mercy!"

The pressure on your head eased but didn't disappear entirely. His arm was still wrapped around your neck.

Your ear pressed against the side of his rib cage. The beating of his heart echoes in your head, mixed with your own breath.

"Swear you won't do it again.", he insisted.

"I won't...", you whined.

"Attaboy.", satisfied, he let go and gave you a push to get some distance. "So we gonna grab a bite or something? I'm starving."

You stumbled a few steps back but quickly caught your balance again. Immediately, your eyes returned to the price.

Johnny turned away. His attention left you for a brief second.

"Gotcha...", you said whispered and charged at him again.

His eyes jumped over his shoulder. He caught a glimpse of you moving.

Out of reflex, he turned, fists raised. He must have expected a blow or another attempt at starting a fight. His feet rose to allow him more movement.

But you didn't have anything like that in mind.

He didn't attack in response of you coming close. Quickly, you duck under his arm and reached out.

A loud smacking sound filled the silence.

He froze.

Laughing, you ran as fast as your legs could carry you.

"Nice butt, hunny bun!", you laughed hysterically until the lack of air started to burn in your lungs.

"I'm gonna kill you!", Johnny screamed after you.

Even though he was quite the large guy he was light on his feet. Just as expected, he managed to catch up with you rather quickly.

Fear burned in the back of your neck. You could feel his rage breathe down on you.

It was like the whisper of the armageddon, like a spider that watched from the corner of one's house. It was only a question of time till it would come down and cause you to have a heart attack.

Tears of laughter and cold fear filled the corners of your eyes as you chased down one of the stone paths, crossed one of the many archways.

Air burned in your lungs. Beads of sweat ran down your temple.

A group of figures appeared in the close distance, dressed in orange and beads made of wood.

For a brief second your chest lightened with relief. Secretly you thanked Liu Kang for blessing you with this.

"You better write your testimony!", suddenly, Johnny's fingers wrapped around your collar. "Goddamn rascal!"

Startled, you stumbled over your own two feet.

His arm wrapped around your neck once more. But it was already too late. Your weight shifted and pulled him down as you fell.