Match of the Millennium

Description: Rafferty has stars in his eyes, over the fact he may be about to meet movie idol, Johnny Cage. It's a good thing he's wearing mirrored sunglasses! Lyraelle meanwhile, has a star studded meetup of her own planned, but will the sly succubus get her way?

[JOHNNY CAGE]
Downtown Southtown is packed to the gills. Well, at least this particular street is. And that's only because the JOHNNY CAGE STREET TEAM is out in full force right now. They've pretty much shut down the cross street of the block where Pacific High is sitting in order to push and promote the soon-to-be-released LEGEND OF THE DRUNKEN MASTER reboot! Starring, of course, JOHNNY CAGE.

Speaking of the A-Lister, he happens to be here in front of the street team van that's promoting both him and the flick. There are Cage Chicks all around, rocking their shorts and halters that say: 'JOHNNY'S' across the front. They are all super hot, by the way, because that's how Johnny Cage rolls.

Anyway, Johnny's here too. Which normally would be a rarity but in this case, the Hollywood Superstar is standing in front of the Legend of the Drunken Master standee and posing for pictures and signing autographs for the people in line. And what a long line it is...

[RAFFERTY]
Rafferty can't believe his luck. A real, bona fide movie star right on his doorstep, so of course he's one of the fans in the queue. He got the heads up that the Cage show was rolling in to Southtown, from one of the female models at his agency. She was getting all giddy about the possibility of meeting the star and from her excited conversation with their mutual agent, Masako, he managed to pick up all the important details. As such, he has beaten most of the crowd here and is currently in the enviable position of fifth in line.

He's dressed for the occasion in a particularly eyecatching ensemble, the highlight of which is a quilted cotton jacket, adorned with Pacific Blue palm trees. Keen followers of the fashionsta, will note that its previous outing was at the fight between Nena and Tarmo in the recent Ristar contest. Then there's the shades. There's no way he could show up to meet Johnny Cage without a suitably snazzy pair. He's opted for some mirrored Ray-Bans, to give his modern look, an air of classic vintage cool.

As he awaits his audience with the man of the moment, he watches the women, who worship the actor and fighting star. He muses over having someone actually wear a top with your name on, like you own them or something. Well, there was those girls with the t-shirts showing his face at that one fighting match. Not that he was around to witness them. He was staying well away from the violence that day.

The young model hasn't seen the movie that Johnny is promoting today, but since when did that matter? He can blag it if needed. He has been binge watching some of his older releases, including Citizen Cage, The Gist of my Fist and Time Smashers. He persuaded Nena to join him for the screenings, but she seemed rather concerned about the lack of logic in their plotlines. Who cared about that, when they were full of so much action and fun though?

As he moves forward another place in the queue, he tries to catch the attention of Cage. Maybe he will be recognised as another movie star in the making. Maybe this will be his big break!

[LYRAELLE]
"Thanks for saving my spot, Rafferty~"

The by-now-unmistakable voice of celebrity succubus Lyraelle Darkheart comes from behind Rafferty as he's trying to get Johnny's attention. Before he can react, the owner of said voice squeezes in-between the blond model and the guy in front of him - the proximity and her own proportions resulting in both being brushed by the demon queen's considerable curves. She's dressed in her usual strapless purple leotard, gloves and thigh highs combination.

"'Scuse me, sorry~"

The succubus' wings flutter lightly between a folded and extended state to try and fit into the afforded space, likely interfering with the vision line between Cage and Rafferty as she butts into the fourth spot in line, putting Rafferty back a space. The intrusion is met with a mixed response from the rest of the line; some grumble about the act of cutting in, some are excited to see the succubus join the queue - whether due to her fame, her personality, or her aesthetic value. Some don't show recognition but seem to have their interest piqued; a small minority are simply apathetic.

The guy in front of Rafferty seems briefly perturbed, but upon realizing what's going on and who it is, he seems to be instantly defused, face reddening slightly.

"So nice of you to stand in line for me like this," Lyraelle says, looking over her shoulder at Rafferty and smiling a familiar and winsome smile. "By the way, did you ever send me that e-mail we discussed? I was just wondering if my spam filter might have screened it..."

[JOHNNY CAGE]
"... because Johnny Cage Cares!"

Another random tagline from Johnny Cage as he sends the next couple of people away with a wink and a fingergun. Not that it's actually easy to tell that he's winking considering the awesome pair of sunglasses he's wearing right at this here moment. They are mirrored shades, of course, but thanks to having his own line of eyewear, Johnny Cage is rocking a pair of those.

Real Talk, though, they are just Cage branded Ray-Bans. We're being iffy about this because Johnny's player hasn't come up with a name for this brand yet but it'll be dope when he does.

Anyway, Johnny Cage motions for the third person in line to step on up but since that's just some rando Cage fan, the autograph process is handled so fast that it becomes super obvious that Cage is just trying to get to the next person. Or... winged hottie? "Holy Cosplay Batman." Johnny Cage lets the Cage Chicks drag off the recent speed-autographed one as he focuses his attention on Lyraelle. "Breast!" Johnny! "I mean, Next!"

Oy vey. This is probably not going to end well.

[RAFFERTY]
At the sound of The Demon Queen's familiar voice, Rafferty visibly shudders. What the hell is she doing here? Relations between the teen and his employer have become increasingly tense of late and the last thing he needs is her showing up on his day off.

"I didn't save you a spot" he replies calmly, determined not to let his irritation show. "I'm waiting here to see Johnny myself."

He tries to wiggle his way back into the line of sight of the superstar, peeking out from behind his unwanted companion's wings.

"You might also wanna give me some room to breathe" he protests, feeling uncomfortable that her close proximity is causing certain reactions in his body, that would likely be common to the majority of teenage boys in such a situation.

As the cries of delight at seeing the sexy streamer start to outweigh the complaints about her cutting in, the smooth skinned style setter surrenders to his fate, shrugging his broad shoulders and taking a step backwards.

"I haven't sent you any emails" he murmurs into her ear, in his honeyed California accent. "I presumed you were joking about that. Surely a woman of your status doesn't need schoolboys to flood her inbox with sycophantic scribblings."

As the Hollywood hearthrob enters his orbit, Rafferty prepares his megawatt smile and indeed his opening speech, though it seems for now, neither will be necessary. The action hero is focused firmly on his pink haired foe and her feminine charms. The platinum poser puts his lips together and pouts petulantly.

[LYRAELLE]
"Oh, sorry. I didn't realise you breathe from down there," Lyraelle remarks coquettishly as she folds her wings to be less obtrusive, smirking all the while over her shoulder at Rafferty. "And it's a stretch to say that I /require/ sycophancy so much as /thrive/ on it. Hasn't anyone told you that you shouldn't assume, Rafferty? You make an ass out of you and... well, mostly you~"

Winking, Lyraelle turns her attention ahead - and when Johnny's reaction to seeing her is one that seems to lack recognition, but does seem to show appreciation for certain assets, Lyraelle decides to lean into said assets - literally. She places her hands on the table that Johnny's sitting at, leaning down and propping herself up while her tail flicks in the air behind her - providing both Johnny and the Cage fanatics with a generous view of her person. There's a sound of dozens of phone cameras clicking - shots of the scene are likely to be appearing in news articles within the next few hours.

"Hiiii Johnny! <3 I don't know if you know me, but I'm such a big fan! I'm Lyraelle - I'm a fighter too, you know! And influencer, and World Champion, and owner of the Midnight Channel - but enough about me, of course. I'm so glad that this opportunity came up!"

Lyraelle turns and rests a hip on the table, lifting a leg up as she props herself up and brushes her fingers through her pink bangs and ponytail while smiling sweetly.

"I sooo want to talk to you about a few things! First things first, though, I guess, since that's what the line is for - I'd love to get your autograph! Oh!"

A slight flush comes to Lyraelle's cheeks as she presses her fingertips lightly against her lips, green eyes widening in embarrassment.

"Oh, no! I forgot to bring the picture of you that I was going to get you to sign! Oh, I don't know what we could do about this! Do you have any ideas what we could do?"

Lyraelle's lips form a pleading pout as she rests her hand behind her neck and looks at Johnny for assistance, somehow managing to put both her upper and lower half on display at once.

[JOHNNY CAGE]
"Hah! No problem!"

Johnny Cage snaps his fingers at one of the Cage Chicks working the Street Van. She rolls her eyes for just a moment before she snatches open the doors of the van to reveal... well... it looks like there are Johnny Cage photos and posters and merchandise of all shapes and sizes. This might as well be a store on wheels or something!

Johnny rises to his feet and flashes a big ol' grin as he waves Lyraelle in the direction of the back of the van. "Do yourself a favor, go take a look at all the amazing Johnny Cage merch, pick out a couple things and I'll give you the Too Hot For TV discount, alright?" Johnny's grin has switched from needing to go to horny jail to something so much more full of himself that the self-promotion has no shame.

"Whoa!" Johnny's standing now and that gives him a chance to see past the wings and the tail of the non-picture bringing fan and off in the direction of Rafferty. Johnny spins out from behind the table to step past it and Lyraelle as he makes his way to meet up with the next person in line. Lyraelle needs time to pick something for him to sign anyway. "Nice shades, bro!" Johnny Cage almost immediately throws a hand up for some high-five action with the fellow wearer of mirrored sunglasses. "Gotta' love the classics, man. Am I right?"

[RAFFERTY]
"I..."

How can the (relatively) innocent boy compete with the harsh tongue of the hell maiden? He bites down on his plump pout, sucks in his sculpted cheekbones and prepares to do battle, only to find himself rendered speechless by her wanton behaviour and display of wiles.

He's left to seethe silently, staring at the back of her ponytail, as she sets about seducing the screen star. He has an urge to tug it, or perhaps pull on that other tail of hers. That would teach her!

But then...oh joyous moment, Johnny brushes off the babe's obvious attempts to get him to sign her flawless flesh and instead launches himself into self promo city! Rafferty could kiss him, if he was into that kind of thing, but instead settles for giving him a million dollar smile and his eternal respect. Not only did he resist Lyraelle, but he's seizing a business opportunity. What a guy!

By the time the star has sidled up to him, the blond boy is practically swooning with hero worship and he delightedly throws up his hand, to perfectly hit the high five.

"Thanks, man. They aren't as cool as yours, but I do my best." He can see his own reflection in the mirrored lenses of Cage's shades and he's never looked better.

Handing over the DVD copies of the aforementioned films, as well as a life size poster of the man and a sleek black marker pen, he asks "Will you make it out to Rafferty? I'm gonna be an actor like you. Maybe we will be in a movie together one day."

[LYRAELLE]
Lyraelle's eyes, which have been walking a practiced tightrope between innocently pleading and come-hither, flutter a couple of times as Johnny circumvents the implied invitation to put his name on her person by redirecting her to the merchandise van - as if she weren't a devastatingly sexy demonette practically insistently offering the privilege of making his personal mark on her person in spite of her own immense and ever-increasing personal worth, but a forgetful ditz good for nothing but unloading a Gist of My Fist poster on.

A more reasonable, forward-thinking Lyraelle might see the move as a sharp way to move merch while avoiding the risk of claims of impropriety, but that's not the Lyraelle that we're living with.

Instead, it's a blow to the ego swifter and more effective than Johnny Cage's signature move.

She turns her face toward the merchandise display, using the pretense of looking over the posters and t-shirts as an excuse to hide her simmering glower from the rest of the line - only to see one of the Cage Chicks giving her a pure saccharine smile, inviting her to buy a poster and eat sh** in equal measure.

Lyraelle returns the smile in kind before flashing a momentary green-eyed glare that disappears by the time that she turns back around to face Johnny and Rafferty. Clearly, this is just a case of Cage not quite latching onto her meaning. She folds one leg over the other and rests her gloved hands on the table, taking on a casual posture, then clears her throat, intentionally interrupting Rafferty's conversation with the superstar.

"Oh, Johnnyyy~"

If Johnny turns around, he (along with the rest of the fans) would be greeted by the sight of Lyraelle unfolding her legs and smiling with much more obvious intent.

"I think I found something for you to sign~"

As she says so, the succubus puffs up her chest, presenting it and flitting her big, green eyes between her cleavage and Cage.

Surely he can figure this one out.

[JOHNNY CAGE]
"Yeah? One sec!"

Johnny Cage is focused on the pile of stuff that Rafferty's given him at the moment. Not to mention this dude brought his own marker so that's like a bonus point or three. "Rafferty, huh? That's a sick name, bro. I'mma' call you Raff, though, because shortening names is kinda' my thing. I'm amazing at it."

Johnny Cage is doing a signing spree right at this moment while he's having a conversation with The Raff and handing him product after product back, each with a Johnny Cage signature on it.

"Oh, that would be pretty awesome. We both look like a million bucks. Between the two of us, that's like, a billion bucks. We'd be a killer team. I'd have to have top billing, though." Johnny signs the last thing and hands it back over to Rafferty. "And we'd have to find you another thing because rocking sunglasses as perfectly as I do is kind of a dealbreaker."

Johnny holds up a finger to Rafferty. "Hold on." With that, he turns back around to Lyraelle and the Cage Chicks. "Hey Tina! Tina, stamp her whatever! Half-Price! I got a Mini-Me over here that I gotta' give some advice to!" Johnny seems to be looking right past Lyraelle at a particular Cage Chick that the Succubus may have just optically become familiar with.

"Alright, bro, tell you what I'm gonna' do. I'm gonna' hook you up with the greatest inspiration for being an actor that you're ever gonna' get." Johnny reaches up to pull off his own sunglasses and he holds them out to Raff. "I'm gonna' let you borrow these. You take them, you use them, and you get your ass to Hollywood. And when you walk on set as a co-star of one of my badass flicks? That's when you give them back to me." Johnny Cage flashes his signature grin. "How's that sound?"

Meanwhile, Tina the Cage Chick stalks toward Lyraelle with the 'Johnny Cage' signature stamp.

[RAFFERTY]
It's Rafferty's big moment. He is finally getting to talk to a movie star! Perhaps they will discuss their greatest influences in the industry, maybe they will mull over their dream roles, perchance they may converse over which leading lady they'd most like to star opposite, or Johnny may invite him for a beer. The model doesn't even like beer, he's much more of a champagne drinker, but he could make an exception.

Sadly for the schoolboy, his daydream is disrupted by the call of "Oh, Johnnyyy~"

Turning to look in the succubus' direction, along with the rest of the queue of fans, he is met by the sight of her shameless seduction attempt. Surely the star won't fall for it? He must get hit on like this all the time. Something inside Rafferty however warns him to prepare himself for dissapointment. After all, the guy is only...

The guy is only just the greatest human in the world! Not only did he just totally diss the demon queen, he actually seems to care about his career.

Rafferty radiates joy, as Cage converses with him, making the teen the focus of his precious attention.

"Raff works" he beams beautifully. "Raff Stewart has a certain ring to it. I'd be totally fine with you having top billing. I mean, of course, you're the star! We could do one of those buddy movies, where you're the confident and experienced guy and I'm the green rookie, who you have to pass on your knowledge to. That and your tips on picking up the ladies." He grins at the older man, warming to the theme.

As soon as Johnny mentions that the sunglasses are a no go, the teen tears them from his face, letting them fall to the ground, much to the delight of the scruffy looking kid behind, who just scored himself a pair of brand new Ray-Bans. They are soon replaced with Cage's own shades, as Rafferty takes them from the actor and places them on his face with a trembling hand.

"They're a perfect fit" he announces to the crowd, which earns him a round of applause from several of the more friendly onlookers. Holding his collection of signed merchandise close to his chest, he looks Johnny directly in the eyes. (Not that he'd notice, since the boy is wearing mirrored sunglasses) and says "I will not let you down, Mister Cage. We WILL be in that movie together and I WILL give you these shades back, in as immaculate condition, as the day you handed them to me."

[LYRAELLE]
Rafferty, it seems, is having the time of his life.

Meanwhile, things couldn't be much worse for Lyraelle. She's on the verge of having her whatever stamped (for half price!) by Tina the Cage Chick. None of this is what Lyraelle planned. This is supposed to be the lead-up, a sideshow to the real main event she has in mind - a way to get press coverage before she announced her true intentions while socially steamrolling the pretty blond boy out of sheer spite for his having the audacity to praise another woman in her presence and then accuse her of being jealous!

"So, how we doing this? Heads or tails?" Tina snaps Lyraelle back to reality with an upnod, holding up the Johnny Cage stamp in one hand and chewing a wad of bubblegum.

Lyraelle's eyes burn with the heat of a thousand infernal suns.

=*= IN A WORLD OF PURE IMAGINATION =*=

Moments later, Lyraelle stoops down to pluck the gum from Tina's smouldering jawbone, pops it in her mouth, and walks away while chewing it casually as the entire scene explodes in a hellish conflagration behind her.

=*= IN REALITY =*=

"Let's go tails; I'm feeling extra slutty today," Lyraelle says with a bright smile as she walks over to bend over the hood of the Cage van.

"Not the first time I've heard that today," Tina says with vague disinterest as she follows around the van to dutifully stamp the demonette.

As she's in the midst of attempting to print Johnny Cage's name on Lyraelle's demonic derriere, the would-be temptress' tail suddenly loops around Tina's wrist. She only has a moment to peer in confusion before she's left faint for lack of essence, collapsing behind the van's grill. Lyraelle picks up the stamp and twirls it between her fingers.

"Thanks, hon'. Bet that one was a first for ya," the Demon Queen taunts before walking over to the signing table again. She reaches into her cleavage and pulls a folded sheet of paper from the front of her leotard, smooths it out on the table, then takes the stamp out, pressing Johnny Cage's signature onto the bottom of the page.

"Oh, Johnny! Thanks for signing this for me~" the devil-queen crows, holding up the sheet for Johnny and Rafferty to see, should they look - an official Professional Fighting Worldwide title defense contract. Her radiant smile then turns from Johnny Cage to his blond fanboy.

"Come here when you have a sec, Rafferty~ I need you to witness this for me."

[JOHNNY CAGE]
"You're gonna' go far, kid. You already had the look and now you got the sunglasses. If you've got the moves, I better watch out." Johnny's in the middle of teasing Raff before he straightens up into a less enthused face. "But seriously, don't take any of my gigs. I don't plan on retiring just yet." And then he's all smiles again. "Selfie Time!"

Johnny just assumes that this dude is going to want a picture so he's throwing an arm around Raff's shoulders and putting up his Peace fingers and also making one of his awesome Johnny Cage faces because he's super sure there's going to be a phone whipped out for camera shenanigans here in a second.

"No problem! Just leave the money on the table!" Cage does kind of look back in that direction finally. He blinks twice when he doesn't see Tina but his eyes miss the fact that Tina's Bootay and Legs are peeking out from in front of the van. He's too busy trying to kind of maybe halfway see what the stamp signed but it just looks like a piece of paper from here. "Your selfie's next!"

Poor. Oblivious. A-Lister.

[RAFFERTY]
Rafferty is wary. On the one hand there's Johnny Cage, legend, movie star, badass fighter and his new best friend. On the other hand, there's Lyraelle, who as draining as she may be at times (literally) does pay him quite a considerable fee to work for her. His bewildered expression tells the tale of his inner turmoil, as he glances between the two celebrities.

As soon as the word selfie is mentioned however, there's no longer a contest. The boy lives and breathes this stuff. He takes hundreds of photos of himself daily and now he has the chance to post a picture of him and Johnny Cage to his feed. He's totally living his best life!

He whips out his blue cell phone, lightning fast, then preens and poses, as perfectly as one who is paid to look photogenic can, being very aware of all of his best angles. When the shots been taken, he turns to the movie star and sincerely says "Oh, I wouldn't do that to you, Johnny. Besides, I haven't really got the moves" he adds, with a laugh. "At least not the fighting ones!"

His eyes flit briefly back to Lyraelle, daring to see what her reaction to his defiance is. Whatever it may be, he can handle it. He wouldn't switch this experience for anything right now.

[LYRAELLE]
Lyraelle's envy-green eyes linger on Rafferty as he deigns to defy the Demon Queen, catching his when they turn to her - somehow, in spite of the mirrored shades, he can be certain that their gazes are meeting, a knowing look in her eyes as they narrow ever-so-slightly at the same time that her glossy lips form a perfectly serene smile.

"Oh, don't worry, Rafferty. We can take care of business in your own time."

Somehow, the sudden shift to gracious warmth may be altogether more worrisome than the acidic assertiveness that the demonette's tongue was dripping with before. Curiously mollified, the she-devil saunters away from the table, pulling her smartphone out from whereever she keeps it and resting her arms languidly behind her head.

"Just don't forget my turn for a selfie, Johnny~"

[JOHNNY CAGE]
"Make sure you tag me in that pic, bro. We look amazing."

Johnny Cage has finished making the lifetime of yet another one of his fans and is already turning his full attention back to Lyraelle because he still has a huge line to get through. So he needs to get this going and moving along faster. Plus, he's got to spend some quality time with the Cage Chicks later.

BOW CHICKA WOW WOW!

Anyway, Johnny Cage makes his way over to Lyraelle, taking a moment to hold his hand out to one of the other Cage Chicks for one of his spare pairs of sunglasses. They get popped open and slid onto his face as Cage flashes his signature grin. His hands even rubbing together and such.

"Alright, now what were you saying? You're some kinda' super hot fighter babe or something?" Cage is all about making verbal amends. "Sorry about all that but I had to secure that kid's career. Hollywood's gonna' need a new handsome face after I retire at some point in the vastly distant future."

[RAFFERTY]
Despite currently basking in the wonderous glow of Johnny Cage's attention, a chill passes through the blond boy's bones, as Lyraelle's green eyed gaze fixes on him.

"Sure thing, Your Majesty" he splutters out, hoping that the use of her more formal title will placate her somewhat. He watches as she moves towards them, ready to flee, if she should decide to pounce. It seems she is merely after a souvenir snap of her own however. Or at least that's what she claims. He doesn't quite trust her...

"I'll be sure to tag you, man" the Californian kid assures him. "I'm on all the social media platforms!"

He steps aside to let Lyraelle take her turn. He's more than happy with what's happened here today and he's eager to get on with uploading the photo to his various feeds.

Although this task is occupying his long, well manicured fingers, his hearing is sharp enough to pick up the sound of a compliment when he hears one. He runs a hand through his lustrous locks and enjoys a secret smile to himself.

[LYRAELLE]
As Johnny Cage approaches, hands rubbing together, Lyraelle steps into his side, angling to slip her previously-stretching arm around his back and lean up slightly on her already-elevated heels in order to nearly match the movie star's height for picture-taking purposes. She, too, is a veteran of thousands of selfies, both solo and with her fans; angles and image creation are both natural instincts for her.

"Sounds like everything you need to know about me, Johnny~" the pink-haired hellion says in honeyed tones as she takes an initial shot of the two with her arm outstretched. If he'll allow it, she'll drape herself against his shoulders in a pose suggesting a good deal of familiarity and affection, lifting her left heel as she strikes her signature V salute on the far side of Johnny's face, tilting her own head and winking for the camera.

#JohnnyCage #newboyfriend #Johnnyraelle #LyraxJohnny

On the other hand, if she's rebuffed?

#JohnnyCageMustDie #NextDQTVictim #StampThis

Hopefully Johnny Cage has experience with 'Choose Your Own Adventure' novels.

[JOHNNY CAGE]
Maybe Johnny Cage has been through this kind of thing before. Maybe he's used to the familiarity that fans get when they are trying to take pics and what not. Which is all par for the course of being as awesomely perfect as he is. Still, though, Johnny Cage is nothing if he's not All In when it comes to feeding his fandom.

And his own ego.

Johnny Cage makes quite sure that his chiseled by the gods handsome facial features are looking their best for this here selfie, thanks to angles and both of his sides being his good side. He even brings up a hand for some more Peace sign action because as much as he a kicker of asses and such, he has to promote peace because his agent totally says that people out here look up to him and he has to always be diplomatic in that regard. Unless it's about America. Then he can go in with the patrioticness.

Either way, Johnny Cage just offers his signature grin and allows this selfie pose to go down by also takes a moment to tap the arm of his sunglasses. This activates the holograph text superimposing itself onto the lenses of those dark shades. In Johnny's Chi Green lettering come the words: 'SINGLE AF' because he's taken enough of these pictures to know he has to keep his reputation intact. No celebrity tabloid mishaps here, baby!

Being a Defender of Earthrealm and having Special Forces on Tech Support is one serious perk!

Log created on 13:40:03 07/06/2021 by Rafferty, and last modified on 20:45:41 07/06/2021.