Match of the Millennium

Description: In the dark, crime-filled streets of Southtown, the wandering Johnny Cage finds a new breed of vigilante... CHOPSTIX! ...Well, no, actually, Johnny ends up disturbing a bunch of ramen-eaters while he and his crew are doing location scouting for a new movie, and ends up trying to persuade Tairyu into a career in movies.

[TAIRYU]
It's not one of the busiest streets one can find in Southtown. Just a few ways down, one of the red light districts begin, and most of the population either duly averts it or... is already on business there. As a result, this kind of waystreet tends to see much less in the way of people actually coming on business here, and more passing through.

tStill, it happens to be the location of a certain streetside Ramen stall. One a certain young man in a black jacket and pants with an obnoxiously red, high-collared button-up shirt happens to be making his way to. THe man himself practically screams 'yakuza' in both dress and presence alike, though the air that follows him now is largely a calm one, and even polite when settling to leaning at the stall and handing out some money for an order.

"Hey, hey, Tairyu-san," the ramen chef running the stall calls to this particular man, who then lifts his briefly-distracted green eyes up from the counter to him.

"You've got, ah, a little something there," he tells the man - Tairyu - with a subtle gesture made towards his neck. Or more accurately, the fresh dribble of a red slightly darker than that of his shirt itself staining his collar and part of the jacket.

"...Ah," the younger japanese man lets out in a breath of realization, then, and gives a tug at his jacket in an effort to hide it. It doesn't help much. "...Mmmh. Sorry for the trouble, but you have something I can wipe that with?"

Apparently this is not an uncommon exchange, between the two.

[JOHNNY CAGE]
"Cut!"

"Johnny, we're not filming yet. We're location scouting."

"I know. I'm just practicing."

Johnny Cage, Star of the Silver Screen and Savior of Earthrrealm hops off the Director's Chair that he's been sitting in for the longest time of ten minutes. There's a small crew around him of about four or five people, all of which are wearing 'Streets of Cage' bomber jackets. They all look like they are doing different jobs that all have something to do with the man with the sunglasses that's no longer in the director's chair.

They're all parked across the street from wherever the Ramen people are doing their conversation about something that doesn't matter in the least, probably so who cares.

"This movie's gonna' be sick, guys. And I'm directing too? Even sicker. I know, I know. I haven't directed before but how hard can it be? You boss people around. I'm good at that. Watch this."

Johnny grabs his bullhorn and holds it up to his lips because he's doing more Director practicing. "Hey! Noodleheads!" Johnny Cage chuckles to himself. "Get out of my shot or you're fired!"

Laughter. So much laughter.

[TAIRYU]
"Haw?"

Tairyu sends a look over his shoulder, back towards the direction of the much-too-loud voice.

"...Oi, who on earth are those guys?" He murmurs, the question clearly directed to the chef even if his eyes are directed over to across the street.

"Some movie people, I think," the chef answers, while setting a big bowl and chopsticks down in front of the young yakuza. "They have been going at it for a while over there."

"But they don't have any cameras or anything."

"Yeah, right? Who knows how the people in 'that business' think like. Just don't pay them any mind. I doubt they'll be there forever."
"Hhhh..."

With the bowl held up in the bowl of his left hand, and the right hand used to bring up noodles and meat with chopsticks, Tairyu does throw another, more direct look to the crew. And more specifically, at the man yelling into the bullhorn.

"...So loud."

[JOHNNY CAGE]
"Fired! Ya' hear me! FIRED!"

Johnny's laughter is enough to have one of his people take bullhorn from him before they just continue their laugh track to being movie jerks. It's just way too much fun that they're having at this particular moment. They really should get themselves back to work.

"Guys, we should get back to work. Let's look at few more places because this street looks like crap. I mean, do we even have any trash scenes in the movie?"

One of those people slides up next to Johnny and holds out the script to him for them all to get down with the looking through it and checking for places that this horrible street might fit.

Meanwhile, some of the others in the Cage Crew are spreading around and taking pictures of a much of this street as possible. Enough that they can recreate it back at the studio if they need to. Ramen noodle stand and patrons included.

[TAIRYU]
To the credit of the patience and composure of the locals, the ramen stall lot don't express their annoyance through more than idle, low mutters.

There's not even anything said when the photos come along. Tairyu's back is turned over towards the general population, too, so he mostly just focuses on his ramen bowl.

That is, until one of the crew comes up to the stall itself with a camera, and moves to get a photo that shows the Yakuza's side profile, and...

The tips of chopsticks clasp, crossed, on the sides of the camera's lense and with a powerful push, leverage it up up and up right on time with the shutter closing, resulting the photo ending up being of... the cloudy sky above.

"It's rude to take photos of someone withour permission, you know," murmurs Tairyu, with a glare sent towards the man from the corner of his eye before he snaps the chopsticks away from the camera, and back to the bowl. "Be more considerate of others, you."

[JOHNNY CAGE]
Johnny Cage is only pretending to pay attention to the script guy because he doesn't really care. He's going to use whatever street works in the end anyway so it doesn't actually matter what's in the script.

Hell, did Johnny even read the script?

His eyes are peering boredly over the top of his sunglasses while the script kid is yipping and yapping about something that Cage doesn't care about. This gives him enough time to look over and see the location scout's camera get handled by the noodlehead. "Holy shit. Did you see that?" Johnny pats the script kid on the shoulder before crossing the street to the stall.

"Hey. Hey Noodlehead!" Johnny points from the photographer to the chopstick wielder. "Do that again!"

The location scout looks nervous but brings the camera back down to repeat the process while Cage stands back with his hands framing Tairyu between them. Like he's seen real directors do.

[TAIRYU]
The location scout doesn't even get to fully lower the camera before the chopsticks have already pincered the optic tube in between them again. The hold of Tairyu's hand on them is slightly different this time, however, and a twist of his wrist and palm both brings the sticks spinning over, and yanking the camera off of the man's hands, flying into the air.

Thankfully, before the camera hits anything, the chopsticks snap through the air again, this time catching the neck strap, and leaving the immensely expensive device hanging from them there. "You know this thing is there for a reason, right?" Tairyu points out, in deadpan.

"And Director-San!" He turns, then, where he stands, just so that he can crane his neck back and direct his eyes to the rest of the crew. "Ignoring for a moment how rude it is to disturb the locals like this, it's very poor leadership to send your employees to repeating a task that's proven risky."

The chopsticks snap away from the camera's neckstrap, sending it back to falling downwards... only to be caught into the palm of Tairyu's hand, and nonchalantly held back over to the scout. "Here."

[JOHNNY CAGE]
While the bulk of the Cage Crew are worried about the expensive camera, Johnny Cage is in a little bit of awe. He actually just watches the entire show that Tairyu puts on and goes into clapping his hands. "That was pretty slick, Noodlehead." Johnny's just going to keep calling this dude that because he figures he's charming and it's endearing or something.

"I'm pretty sure you already know me. But allow me to reintroduce myself..." A hand is extended for shaking and introduction purposes. "Johnny Cage. And yes, before you ask, you can have an autograph. Kevin, get him an autograph."

Kevini steps up and pulls a glossy, signed, 8x10 photo of Johnny Cage out of a folder and offers it to Tairyu.

"You're pretty handy with chopsticks. I think maybe you should be in movies. Especially, my movie. The one I'm gonna' film on this very street. As uh..." Cage has to make something up on the spot. "Evil Ninja Ramen Noodle Slinger?"

Behind him, the script kid is visibly frustrated about more changes he' going to have to make now.

Johnny grins. "You interested?"

[TAIRYU]
Annoyance is quickly replaced by bemusement on Tairyu's face when Johnny comes all the way up over to him. Eyes slowly blinking at the movie star. "...Don't call me that," he mutters, though it may well just go to deaf ears.

He does, at least, take the offered hand for a quick (albeit firm) handshake just for politeness sake, even if he does mutter a "...Who?" under his breath when he introduces himself with such confidence that the name should ring a bell for him. Apparently it doesn't.

"I... wasn't going to ask..." He notes on the subject of the autograph, then, only to get a glossed, signed photo shoved right into his hand. "...I still didn't ask."

The rest of what Mister Cage says doesn't get an immediate response from him. The Yakuza just stares blankly at him, with a bowl of pork ramen still held on the palm of his hand, expression only growing more confused with that improv'd movie title given to him.

And even more so at the offer.

There's several seconds of silence on his part, before he utters out a single, deeply-rumbling word:

"...What?"

[JOHNNY CAGE]
"Chopstix! Yes! Chopstix! We can do a whole series about a Ramen loving retired fighter that doesn't want to fight anymore because he's weak but gets drawn back into things when evil oil developers or whatever decide to try and take out the street... this street... where his favorite noodle stand is!"

Johnny turns to script kid. "Write this down. Are you writing this down? This is good stuff. I'm amazing at this." The script kid starts writing stuff down.

Back to Tairyu, "Basically, I'm trying to make you a movie star. With it comes fame, women, money, and more importantly... women. Do you want me to change your life or what?"

[TAIRYU]
Tairyu stays quiet for another moment longer, though the expression on his face might well be enough for people perceptive enough to tell that he finds the entire movie concept Johnny is pitching to him... well, ridicilous would be the polite way to say it.

But still, he bides his time patiently, and lets the american keep talking, while he idly brings more of noodles and assorted vegetables and pork bits to his mouth with the chopsticks.

Once the question finally comes, he makes a deliberately long effort at suckling up a bunch of noodles, ending up with a wet *thwip* of a slap from the ends of them against the tip of his nose. And the answer he gives...

"I already have a job."

He completely missed the point?!

[JOHNNY CAGE]
"YOU'RE COMPLETELY MISSING THE POINT!"

Johnny Cage looks exasperated but doesn't even try to facepalm because that will smudge his stylish shades and he can't be doing that right now. Or ever. His sunglasses are seriously way too expensive to be messing with like that. He takes a moment to breathe himself into a much more calm state and tries to get his explanation on again.

"Did you hear the part about the women? I'm talking some serious Chick Magnetism here, man." He holds his hands out in front of his chest to indicate HOW SERIOUS. He might even be waggling his eyebrows beneath those shades.

"Listen. Being a movie star is kind of like winning every lottery ever. I should know, I'm the biggest movie start in Hollywood history." Humblebrag. "Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you'd be me. Because you're clearly nowhere near my level. BUT! A kick-ass Chopstix trilogy could be just what the doctor ordered!" Johnny sneers at the ramen for a second. "You wouldn't have to eat crap like that anymore..."

[TAIRYU]
Tairyu lets ou a heavy sigh at Johnny's exasperated outburst, and even shakes his head while he's making his case on the movie-stardom.

"...Where would I even find the time to do that kind of thing?" He's missing the point again! "Besides, I don't have any experience in acting whatsoever. I don't know how to do any of that stuff."

"And for that matter..."

Suddenly, his tone and his gaze both harden. He's not *quite* glaring at Mister Cage, but there is a certain steely authorativeness there, suddenly; one that allows for absolutely zero argument or insubordination.

"Kindly do not insult Suzuki-san's ramen," he tells him such, with that tone like a japanese blade cutting through air, already-deep baritone seeming to rumble with such strength that it can almost be felt in the air. "He works very hard to provide people with a good meal, don't you see?"

[JOHNNY CAGE]
"Who?"

Johnny didn't even realize there was another person close enough to be talked about because he was trying to figure out how much money he could make off this one dude right here. Oh and make him a star too. That's part of it.

Johnny Cage narrows his eyes behind his glasses and almost immediately frowns. "Alright, alright. You don't want to be a mega movie star. Fine. Your loss. But... Kevin?"

Kevin hands Johnny one of his cards.

"My card." Johnny Cage flicks it from his fingers in Tairyu's direction because he's kind of a dick. In fact, the business card says:

Johnny Cage
Kind of a Dick
But You Love Me Anyway.

"Call me when you realize your mistake." Another snap of the fingers and the Cage Crew turns to start heading back across the street to their expensive cars so they can get out of this place.

"And it doesn't take a genius to make noodles! Pasta + Hot Water. A blind monkey could do that!"

[TAIRYU]
Since Tairyu's hands are still mostly occupied, he ends up catching the tossed business card with a snappy pinching motion with the chopsticks again. ... Only to realize right after, that this probably only will encourage Johnny further, and immediately regret it.

The card itself is eyed over while the moviestar has turned to walk away... but he sends another sharp look towards his back over his last words.

"I'm sure you are a busy man, Cage-san," he calls over after him, maintaining a certain stoic composure to his tone even in spite of... well, pretty much everything. "But come try the ramen, sometime. ... If you do, I will... consider your offer."

Log created on 16:21:27 07/06/2020 by Tairyu, and last modified on 21:26:00 07/06/2020.