Match of the Millennium

Description: Saving the environment, one dumpster at a time!

[JACE]
It's a beautiful day outside the grocery store in the bustling downtown district of Metro City.

The front of the grocery store bustles with vibrant activity, creating a dynamic scene that captures the essence of everyday life. A steady stream of cars flows by the entrance, their engines humming softly as drivers maneuver into parking spaces, creating a rhythmic backdrop to the bustling atmosphere. The exterior of the store is adorned with large, colorful signs that proudly display the name of the supermarket and showcase enticing images of fresh produce, delectable bakery goods, and other enticing products.

As the automatic sliding glass doors welcome customers, the constant ebb and flow of people creates a lively dance. Shoppers, adorned in an array of clothing styles, move purposefully with carts in tow, weaving through the pedestrian traffic. The hum of conversation and laughter adds a sociable melody to the air, creating an ambiance of community engagement.

Contributing in no small part to the convivial atmosphere is a group of people stationed near the door. There are three people hundled in a close knit group, one of which holding a television camera pointed at a younger man in his late twenties holding a microphone up to his face as he talks to the camera. He is standing near a table stacked high with those reusable canvas bags you get at a grocery store much like this one to use in place of the paper or platic bags. Not far behind him, from a bluetooth speaker, a song is playing on repeat. It seems to be sung, based on the voice, by the very one hanging on to the microphone right now. The chorus is simply:

o/` I got snacks! I got snaaaacks. o/`

o/` In my canvas sacks. Reusable canvas sacks. o/`

It's a bop.

As people are entering the store, Jace is reaching over to the table to pick up one of the bags and offering it to the next prospective shopper, an older septuagenarian, "Hello ma'am. Would you like to use a reusable canvas bag to help save on wasteful plastic bag usage at the grocery store?"

Kindly and firmly the lady rebuffs the offer to help save the environments, replying in a slower cadence of speaking as the younger man points the microphone at her, "No thanks, dearie. I use the plastic bags to scoop up after my dog when it jumps the fence into the neighbors yard after Taco Tuesday." Just as breezily as she offers the reply, she's into the store.

Jace, for his part, smiles and laughs and then turns to the camera and mouths, "Taco Tuesday?" to the camera and the people behind it with a mild look of terror before he simply shrugs and turns towards the next person entering the grocery store.

[KONGOU]
So. Jurassic Park. Classic movie. Great film. Perhaps hits a little too close to home given the genetic manipulations, rampant darkstalkers, and other assorted calamities that the world has had to endure over the years but watching people run from dinosaurs in the safety of your living room instead of -actually- running from dinosaurs due to a lab experiment over at the local branch of Mishima Zaibatsu is always preferred.

Thus when a faint *Toom* rumbles through the area, rattling shopping carts and bouncing cars up and down - at first the people pay it no mind. Until another *Toom* occurs and then another *TOOOM* and then another *THOOOOOM* that begins rumbling and rockeing the area with all the implication of the approach of an invisible T-Rex. The ground cracks. Lights flicker and people stumble. A distinct smell like that of some sort of faulty electrical wiring also wafts through the air as well. It's all rather bizarre and so so, Metro City..

A final crackling *THOOOM* ripples through the air and earth along with a flash of light akin to a nearby lightning bolt touching down. Cameras and other recording devices may briefly find themselves going on the fritz as, in the middle of the parking lot, a mirage like haze ripples into being and then begins to press forward, distorting like saranwrap being pressed into by something far far to large to be contained by it. Then a final *TWHOOOM* occurs and a massive object bursts through, nearly twenty feet up from the ground.

It is a gigantic---dumpster?? One of those massive twenty yard or more renta-dumpsters usually attached to trucks used to haul away debris and rubble. The massive thing begins rumbling through from 'nowhere' seemingly levitating slowly. A

nother *TWHOOOM* and another shape begins to appear, this one beneath the dumpster, pressing in with that saranwrap like effect warping and wrapping about a physique so monstrously huge and muscled it looks lke a VFX job. The very air parts and warps and with a final burst of blue-white aetherial energy, Kongou the Strongest Titan, The Walking Mountain, the Iron Bodied Colossus, *pops* into view underneath the massive dumpster, holding it aloft balanced on a single hand.

The concrete sunders under his weight. His feet crushing footprints into it as he settles into being and looks around, tendrils of energy crackling around him. A few feet over his head, the bulbs of an overhead parking lot light pops with with a sudden overload of electrical energy as the behemoth surveys the area...and slowly smiles...

[JACE]
Carrying much the same reaction as the shoppers who are going about their errands of everyday life, for indeed everyone must buy groceries, the most distant seismic events do little to shake Jace from his publicist-given mission to distribute as many of the canvas bags out today as possible and film enough footage to edit together a PSA to show on local cable and several other marketing distribution channels such as ad-supported streaming and radio. He is already pushing the canvas bag refused by the previous customer towards the next one as he begins his spiel.

"Sir," he begins politely, "Did you know plastic bags are difficult and costly to recycle and most end up on landfill sites where they take around 300 years to photosynthiate?"

He didn't use the right word, nor was he anywhere close to the right word, but the pop star drives on before the man can correct him.

"They break down into tiny plastic particles that contaminate the the soil and waterways and enter the food chain where they're snorted by sea turtles like the ocean floor was a night club in an episode of Miami Vice. Take this and keep sea turtles from doing dru--"

The closing in of the seismic activity now seems to fully catch Jace's attention, and as the tableu unfolds in the parking lot of the grocery store, Jace's jaw goes slack. He slaps the canvas bag into the chest of the customer, seriously suggesting he take it, and then drops it to be caught or not caught. His hand travels up to his eyes, lifting the aviator sunglasses to behold what he sees without the UV filtering. He then turns his head, taking note of the camera man fiddling with the camera to try to restore it to functionality, which he does just in time to catfch Jace return his attention to the now smiling Titan.

"Woah."

Beat that, Keanu.

[KONGOU]
The technological disturbance caused by the behemoths arrival continues to wash out over the area in an expanding dome of power, flickering lights and sending car alarms into a symphony of chaos.. But it eventually passes. People find their phones working once again, internet service restored and, naturally, camera begin snapping and video recordings begin as the monstrosity just stands there, surveying the parking lot and seemingly having no interest in moving forward much more then he already has.

"Oh man. He -is- bigger in person.." quips one of the supermarkets workers, a young man who was in the middle of pushing carts back into the store when the titan arrived and now finds himself within speaking distance and ear shot of Jace as they all look upon the monstrous brute.

"No wonder the tickets to see him at a World Warrior match are running so high.."

"To bad about Team Blaze then, eh? Was betting on that Hawksley and Braun to get further in.." comments someone else.

And additional buzzing and muttering begins as the infamous behemoth continues looking over the area and then finally starts moving forward. Once more, the ground begins shaking and thundering as he draws nearer to the entrance of the supermarket and, by proximity, those gathered there to make their pitch about making the world a cleaner and safer place for all. His shadow creeps forward upon them, the very weight of his presence seemingly altering the area like some sort of invisible pressure. The very humidity seeming to change as he gets closer and closer while balancing the massive dumpster on mere finger tips as he draws nigh.

[JACE]
The words of the people near him are not missed by the man shooting the PSA.

Yes, Jace was quite taken aback by the shear magntitude of humanity that approached the grocerystore. The pop idol still retains the instincts honed over thousands of performances given during his lifetime to think quickly when presented with the unexpected. The wheels are already turning even as he turns quickly to the camera crew, addressing them with a wry smile.

"You're gonna' wanna back up."

He turns his attention back to the Titan, settling his sunglasses back over his eyes, the microphone rising back up to close in with his mouth as he begins narrating the scene in front of him dramatically, "Shockwaves ripple across the MetroMart in Downtown Metro City, toppling carts, shaking cars, interfering with electricity, and cutting off the bluetooth speaker playing my new single in support of reusable canvas bags at the Grocery store, Sacks, available on all of your favorite streaming platforms. Why, Ladies and Gentlemen, I even lost two bars on my cell phone signal and that thing has three extra Gs. I eagerly away the Army and Air Force to begin sending tanks, helicopters, and jets to repel the latest kaiju attack on Metro City, only to experience the greatest relief to see that it's one of the participants in this year's World Warrior Tournament, Kongou, the Strongest Titan."

The washed-up pop star with the microphone waits for a moment and then speaks up to the bohemoth on his shopping trip, using a clear confident voice that will surely project to the heights required to be heard.

"Kongou. We're shooting a Public Service Announcement for using reusable canvas bags at the gocery store. Can we get a brief moment of your time?"

[KONGOU]
Taking note of the cameras clicking and recording him, the behemoth swivels his attention towards those onlookers and raises a massive arm up overhead in a wave. He then brings it down, clenching his fist and flexing a massive bicep, causing the muscle there to swell like a buick under his skin, bulking up and building towards huge and horrifying immensity with an audible sound of his sinew creaking and the fiberous weights of his muscles contracting. Yes, one can literally hear the behemoth flex and a crackle of energy encircles the girth of his unfeasibly huge arms like an orbiting moon. The air warbles abit, the very pressure of his movements distorting the air -- but the feat is both as awesome as it is frightening as it doesn't send people scattering but instead brings more cameras catching the flex.

He twists his wrists back and forth, making the muscles jump like a practiced bodybuilder on stage and not some sort of huge 'thing that should not be' - and then uncurls his arm and dips it into a wave once more before turning and starting forward again -- only to be stopped by the pop star infront of him.

His body slides to a stop, muscles relaxing like landslides on his monstrously large body as he purses his lips in confusion and surprise at being so directly addressed. Confusion dances over his features as he considers the words of Jace and he studies the man at length for a few seconds before finally speaking. His deep voice thickly rumbling out with some unplacable accent that seems to warble together all the brutish rumbling voices of the entire world into one voice.

"Hello." his expression pulls into a slow grin, creaking his flesh once more as he looks Jace over and then glances past him towards the table. "Ahhh..what's this..! A Public Service Announcement?" he asks, sounding confused as if not really getting what that is.

"He's not from 'here'!" mouths one of Jace's subordinates towards the pop star, trying to coach from a distance. "Literally!' he hoarsely whispers, having some knowledge of the guy.

"Explain." demands Kongou, deep voice intoning and somehow managing to sound demanding and affable all at once.

[JACE]
In the moments before the Titan comes to a stop, Jace takes a single step with his right foot, his knees tensing to spring away should the need arises. Ever the progressional performer, his upper body remains stock still with the microphone in his hand, only returning to a fully upright position as Kongou stops and poses his question. Jace looks sidelong towards the camera, ensuring that it is, indeed, rolling as he nods his understanding to the tidbit of information mouthed to him by the sound engineer. With a supremely confident smile of two rows of pearly white teeth, Jace replies.

"Of course! I'll be happy to explain. A Public Service Announcement is media produced by celebrities like me who have extra time on their hands and can use their public profiles to draw attention to programs available to, and to change behavior for the good of, the community. Often, but not always, in lieu of a court mandated period of incarceration in a county, state, or federal facility."

Jace pauses as if awaiting a reponse, but the quickly turns to the cemera with an addition.

"I'm the 'but not always' folks!"

With a huff and an audible 'phew', he then turns his attention back to Kongau.

"Would you like to get involved in this? It's for a good cause and it won't take more than a few minutes. I'm sure someone like you can nail this in one take easy."

[KONGOU]
The giant inclines his head as he listens attentively. His lips purse once again and he clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth a few times and once Jace finishes his explanation, he simply stands there as if expecting more...and then he grins once again.

"A celebrity!" As if that was the most important part of that whole conversation. It seems he knows what -that- is.

"You mean...you're famous?" He considers Jace and then looks around the parking lot in search of...well...signs of that. Lines of people waiting for autograph. Massive film crews. Screaming fans. Fainting girls.

He purses his lips again, looking confused and then he leans forward, like a sequioa bending over to converse with a smaller tree. "..Are you -sure- you're famous?" He asks, one eyebrow quirking up slightly before he finally straightens back up again. The massive dumpster tilts and arcs over head as he moves and then spins about as the giant twists his hand and then presses it up a few times with his fingers..launching it airborne for several hards and then catching it again with a faint *boom* upon its impact.

"It's looking like to me that you need some help, yes you are. Hmm..I do have an order waiting for me. I had wanted to stock up Blazin' HQ with some food.."

There is a pause and then the giant finally grins and gestures at Jace with a massive hand, "Very well then. I will help you obtain more fame. What is it you would have me do?"

[JACE]
Jace's eyes widen, his eyebrows popping over the gold rims of his aviators as he listens to the Titan reason out his words. He glances quickly to the camera crew and then shrugs, laughing it off with a smile to the camera.

"Well, I mean, two triple platinum albums, several films, a Beater account with over 750k followers on it, and a Fightstagram account lagging only slightly behind, but you're so kind to stop and help out. It's all about the turtles today."

He looks up to the Titan for a moment and then continues, "You said you were here to pick up an order. Is that what the hopper is for?"

At the conclusion of the question, Jace uses his free hand to gesture with an open palm towards the dumpster Kongou is carrying, and then shifts the mic closer to Kongou to catch the answer of the Titan.

[KONGOU]
"Fightstagram? You're on Fightstagram! Greaaat!" rolls the behemoths voice with a truly pleased rumble to its heavy bassy vibrations. "I do love browsing that!"

One wonders where the heck he's been able to get a phone big enough for those tree branch dwarfing fingers to be able to manage being able to do so.

"You'll have to tell me what it is, man. I want to follow you! And so..you are a musician! Perhaps you have heard of Athena? I was able to get some autoraphs from her. Hmm...if I had of known I would have found something of yours for you to autograph for me.." The giant smiles lightly, rubbing his bearded jaw with his free hand in thought and then he nods his head, "I will have to get something later. Legally of course. I've been told piracy is wrong here.

Kongou then lifts the dumpster up and gesturs at it with his free hand and now deigns to answer the posed question.

"I've come to collect quite a bit of meat that was being delivered here in back. You see, in addition to myself, there is an ogre that occasionally frequents Blazin' HQ named Zog. And I wanted to put on a little party for our members before they go their separate ways."

The gigas grins abit, inclining his head as he looks Jace over once again and then smiling as his mood lifts with a thought once again, "Perhaps you can perform music for us at this party! Yeah, yeah. It'll be a blast!"

He pauses once again and then asks, "Does that count as a Public Service Announcement?"

[JACE]
While his Fightstagram is lagging behind his main socials as a result of not having fought in about five years, Jace nods emphatically never-the-less. The microphone comes back to him as he speaks into it with a clear and well-trained voice.

"Yeah! I'd love to trade socials with you, man! And I have heard of the mysterious Athena. That's a cool autograph to have!"

He continues to listen, smoothly moving the microphone back to pick up the voice of the Titan, as if the microphone pointed in any direction at all would miss the boom. He then seems to get an idea, his upper body turning and leaning as he looks over to the camera crew.

"One of you go grab me a sharpie, will ya?"

Turning with back to Titan, Jace continues to listen and nods his head. Finnally, he comments.

"That's getting pretty close to a Public Service Announcement, yeah! Did you know, plastic bags are difficult and costly to recycle and most end up on landfill sites where they take around 300 years to photodidact. They break down into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the soil and waterways and get snorted up by sea turtles like the ocean floor is a table at Studio 54 or a diaper changing station in a gas station bathroom. Snorting plastic particles in the number on cause of straws getting stuck in sea turtle noses, which is in turn the number one cause of nobody being able to get a straw at Starbucks that doesn't start biodegrading half-way through a frappucino."

One of the producers from the camera crew visibly cringes, but Jace either ignores it or doesn't see, and continues.

"This is why, for the turtles, I'm giving you every canvas bag on my table, so you can get all that meat back to Blazin' HQ this trip and all trips from now on, using no plastic bags that might pollute the environment."

[KONGOU]
The behemoths eyes begin to glaze over halfway through that. His grin remains, however, creating this strange dichtomy between his full toothed affable expression and this dull, distant, distracted and lost look in his eyes as they flicker back and forth over Jace in a futile attempt to follow all of that.

"Ah.." he rumbles, part way through that, a mild rumble of slight confusion and being simply lost as all get out.

"Photo..Didact..?" he rumbles, "....Like....a photo filter..?" he rumbles, still grinning and attemting to absorb this information.

"Bio..Degrading?" he considers in further confusion.

And then he gasps, eyes widening as the offer of the bags is made to him. "For -me-?" he rumbles with excitement at the 'gift'. "I've never been given a -gift- before! All of these bags for -me-??" He straightens up and looks over towards the table full of bags and then considers, "...Well they are very tiny bags but....they are rather fashionable and seem sturdy. I accept your gift! How kind of you! This is a great day!"

[JACE]
Jace is visibly taken aback by the misunderstanding of the word, concern and mild panic splashing across his face as Kongou works over the word. Perhaps it's the first time someone has even had the chance to confront Jace about the misuse of it, even as nicely as Kongou is going about it. Jace, for his part, looks over to the crew, posing the interogative.

"It's photodidactate, right?"

Non-plussed, and perhaps a full day with Jace weighing on him, the producer replies curtly.

"Photodegrade."

Jace's jaw hangs open for a moment, mulling it over as he looks between the producer and Kongou. He then shakes his head, quietly apologizing.

"I'm sorry. I thought photodegrading was what made you get wrinkles from too much conventional flash photography."

Jace seems at a loss as to what to do next until a hand baring a sharpy flies into his field of vision. Not missing a beat, the pop star jams the mic into the front of his skinny jeans, reaches out with his right hand to pluck the sharpie from the hand of the assistant. He bites down on the cap and spits it out over his shoulder like a mid-20th century action hero disposing of the pin of a grenade. He seizes one of the bags and begins writing, his head bowed low as if he's directly addressing his crotchal region.

"That's right! They're sturdy, long lasting, and super versatile, completely negating the need for plastic bags from the grocery store ever again. This one is special though! This one is especially for your collection!"

He finishes his writing and chucks the sharpie over his shoulder and presents the bag to Kongou. On it reads the following:

To Kongou, literally my biggest fan and PSA partner! Thanks for helping me keeping sea turtles out of trouble and off the streets! Good luck in the World Warrior Tournament!

Then, in a larger than life flowing script: Jace.

"Thank you so much for your time today, Kongou! I couldn't have done it without you."

[KONGOU]
"I am touched and uplifted!" declares Kongou as he receives the signed bag. "No doubt the value of this is now incredible and worth telling everyone about and inquiring further about you and the great fame you have that I have somehow missed. What an honor!" declares Kongou.

A loud *TOOOM* occurs as he sets the dumpster down , shuddering the landscape as its great bulk settles upon the concrete near the table.

"You may load all bags into this as you see fit. But now I have spent much time on this P. S.A. -- and must go around to the back to tell them all about you and this great thing you have done for me. I will have them bring the food around..."

He grins at Jace and the producers as he straightens back up again. "I will have to repay this great thing you have done..."

Kongou then turns, waiting no longer, and begins treading heavily towards the rear of the store, thundering his footsteps away from the gathered group gradually as he lifts a massive arm and waves in departure, "Goodbye for now! Perhaps I will see you when I return, perhaps not!"

And with that, the colossus continues on his way towards the loading zone of the marketplace.

[JACE]
Jace retrieves the microphone from its precarious position, holding the device aloft to catch the last words of the Titan before watching him take his leave. He then raises a hand, and waves.

"Thanks again, Kongou!"

He lowers the mic and then gestures the camera crew back towards him. He passes the mic off, gives a few pleasant remarks about editing, and the walks over to his table. He ducks low beneath the table, rising a moment later with it held sturdily between two hands and his right shoulder. He turns it slowly, being very careful not to move so fast as to risk the piles of canvas bags falling off. With a tilt, the bags begin sliding down the table and directly into the hopper.

Jace sets the table down a moment later and smiles, looking around with a definite sense of accomplishment plastered across his face. He reaches into his pocket, dials a number, and lifts the phone to his ear.

"Hey Skeeter, it's Jace. We finished shooting the PSA. Yeah, we gave away all seven-hundred and fifty bags. I gave one to a guy, and another seven-hundred and forty-nine to Kongou. Yeah. THAT Kongou. He asked for my autograph! It's going to be a great PSA..."

Log created on 23:40:40 12/02/2023 by Kongou, and last modified on 15:43:29 12/03/2023.