Joseph Joestar vs Johnny Cage

Two figures stepped hesitantly into the ancient St. Moritz mansion, a man and a woman, stepping cautiously through the rubble that was once the grand foyer.

"This place is in ruins," the man said. The man, Joseph Joestar, Jojo to his friends, kicked a rock that was what remained of a pillar's brick. The woman, his elder named Lisa Lisa, led a few steps ahead, reaching a grand staircase leading deeper into the mansion. Lisa Lisa knelt near the base of the stairs, pointing out a trickle of blood to Jojo. "Wammu's Holy Sandstorm must have done this! And Caesar was caught in it!"

The two's eyes were drawn up the stairs as the trail of blood grew weaker. Cresting the top stair was a small red orb, the size of a melon, floating on the wind. The bubble of blood, floating closer to the duo, a ribbon noticeable in its hollow core.

"A bubble… c-could it be… it can't!" Jojo's throat closed as every bit of his optimistic nature tried to fight the knowledge that this was his friend's blood. "It's Caesar's bandana! And… a piercing! Wammu's lip piercing!"

Jojo reached out to the bubble as it drew near, the electrical sparks of Ripple struck his fingers and he recognized the signature all too well.

"The feeling of this Ripple energy… it… it can't be…" a tear welled in Jojo's eye as the bubble popped, dropping the bandana tied around the lip piercing into the man's hand. Lisa Lisa's lip quivered as she looked on silently. Jojo looked at the patterned bandana, slowly accepting the inevitable truth.

"I haven't called Caesar's name since we got here," Jojo muttered, almost under his breath. "It was because I was afraid. If I cried out his name and there was no response… if the only response was silence… that's what scared me. I couldn't accept it. So I didn't call for him. But now I know. The Ripple in that bubble told me everything. Caesar, just moments ago… died right here. Caesar, you bastard. You were a showoff 'till the end. Leaving a gift like this… Caesar, where are you?! Where are you sleeping?!"

Jojo leapt to the nearest pile of rubble, furiously digging through the stone and brick. The rubble tore into his hands but he didn't care. He was full of guilt, of sorrow, and of rage as he did not relent.

"I'll find you! I'll dig you up! Caesar!" Jojo shouted, his cries echoing through the halls.

"Jojo!" Lisa Lisa finally snapped at the man. "We don't have time to waste searching or grieving for Caesar. There are two of them and two of us. Two versus two. And the only thing we know by that blood trail is that Caesar badly injured Wammu. We're in enemy territory. Let's go and finish it! Jojo, come on. Take the antidote, then we'll hunt them."

Her voice was full of determination and resolve. Jojo couldn't believe it. She had known Caesar much longer than he had and she was not shedding a single tear for Caesar? This callousness, her sole dedication to the mission was enough to ignite the fires of rage within the young Joestar. He turned, about to lay into her, before he noticed the chip in her façade that calmed him.

"Master Lisa Lisa… your cigarette's backwards," Jojo said. Lisa Lisa gasped, not realizing her folly, as she reached a trembling hand up and removed the cigarette from her mouth, snapping it in half. Jojo realized she had to keep this calm front in view of her pupil, but underneath it all she was as torn as he was, perhaps even more. She had a goal, the only thing keeping her mind from the present situation, from the fall of Caesar.

Jojo turned with a fist to the heavens, shouting so every living thing in the mansion could hear him. "I will show no sympathy when I fight these beasts. I've inherited your fighting spirit!"

Suddenly, the boards on a window high above broke, illuminating the cross-shaped rock in the middle of the room. Blood trickled from under it. Both Lisa Lisa and Jojo stood in horror at the object that had been in front of them the whole time. The red liquid inched its way to the feet of the young Joestar and he could sense the faint, dead signature of Ripple.

"It… it's blood… Caesar… right here… Caesar… Whyyyyy?!" Jojo shouted.

"CUT!" the lights all flipped on as stage hands rushed onto the set. The man playing Jojo wiped his hands of the corn-syrupy red liquid as he reached into his back pocket, pulling out a pair of expensive-looking sunglasses. The woman playing Lisa Lisa pulled a tissue out, clearing her eyes of her tears, then rolled her eyes as she shoulder-bumped the man out of the way to her assistant waiting with a water bottle off-set.

The director rubbed his nose as he stepped onto the set, approaching the sunglassed man.

"Johnny… the line isn't 'why!', it's another 'Caesar!'" the director said, putting his hand on the actor's shoulder.

"Pfft," Johnny Cage gave a smug look behind his sunglasses, walking to a fabric chair with his name on the back almost paying no mind to the director. He ripped off his brown overcoat, revealing that he was shirtless underneath, a large black tattoo across his chest reading CAGE, before sliding on a bright blue jacket, leaving most of his tattoo readable underneath.

"Can't a guy ad-lib? What happened to creative liberty?" Johnny asked, waving to get a plate of hors d'oeuvres.

"You don't get it," the director said, nervously side-eyeing the door to a viewing booth across the filming studio. "Our first-hand-account consultant was very specific in how he wanted this scene played out."

Cage scoffed, grabbing a drink from a passing assistant. He slurped on the straw purposefully annoyingly, looking at the director from over the top of his sunglasses.

"And? How many movies has this guy been in?" Johnny asked after a long slurp. "Let this guy see one take and he'll be in tears. I'll be waiting for my Oscar."

As Johnny finished his sentence, the door the director was eyeing slammed open, the bright incandescent light only slightly peeking around the massive figure of a broad-shouldered man. Johnny leaned back in his chair to see around the now cowering director.

"What's the big idea?" the figure asked, striding into the room with confidence. The man was tall, a few inches taller even than Johnny, with dark brown shaggy hair in a mop topping his head, tight with what looked like the prop patterned bandana Johnny had just used in the scene moments ago. He wore a green, skin-tight sleeveless shirt showing off his extremely toned body, with a green and yellow scarf draped around his neck. Though this man was a tower of rippling muscle, there was a youthful look in his eyes and cocky smile.

"The script was perfect, I lived it myself!" Johnny said, throwing a finger into the man's face. Johnny pushed the man's hand out of the way, rolling his eyes as he took another drink of his beverage.

"Mister Cage, please show more respect for our story consultant, Joseph Joestar," the director nervously presented the large man.

"Please, my friends call me Jojo," the mountain of a man said, brushing his shaggy hair away from his forehead before turning his attention to the movie star. "But you can still call me Joseph."

"I don't come into your line of work and tell you how to get it done," Johnny scoffed at the man's audacity. "What's it matter anyway? We've got to get through the side-character death to get to the big fight scene! If you're asking for my opinion, I think we should cut out this Caesar guy entirely, let me fight Wammu and we can get right to the finale."

"What did you just say?" Jojo's blood boiled. He slapped the glass out of Johnny's hand, causing it to crash to the floor and shatter. Everyone else in the building stared in fear of the escalating situation, each eyeing their exits if it came to blows. "Depending on your answer, I may have to kick your ass! Because it sounded like you called Caesar an unnecessary side-character!"

"You're about to see exactly why I got this role," Johnny smiled, standing from his chair, bouncing in a combat stance with his hands balled into fist. "You're about to get Caged!"

[Liu Kang's Hourglass]

Liu Kang's eyes flitted behind closed eyelids as he focused on the large silver hourglass of time. He waved his hands as the sand flowed, each grain a hundred years full of an infinitude of events, both familiar and foreign to the newly crowned guardian of time.

A particular grain piqued Kang's interest as he peeked his eyes open to watch it fall in slow motion. The grain was filled with plenty of familiar events to him, but in it lay an otherwise infinitesimal variance from the timeline he originated from.

A female hand brushed the side of his face as he stared, a woman clad in blue, his partner and confidant in this realm beyond dimensions meant to assist him in the molding of the future.

"What catches your eye?" Kitana asked, peering into the massive hourglass. Liu Kang chuckled.

"Events are changing," Liu Kang smiled, watching the grain of sand settling into the pile at the bottom of the hourglass. "You will enjoy watching this, Kitana."

[Hollywood, USA]

Johnny Cage pivoted on his foot, thrusting high with his foot to kick Jojo square in the jaw. Jojo recoiled, blood trickling from his mouth as another kick came flying into his ribs.

He's fast! Jojo thought as the second kick connected, stumbling him back a few steps. Before he could recover, the actor jumped into the air, throwing both feet forward to kick the Joestar in the face.

Jojo flew backwards, rolling into the movie set of Caesar's death, bumping against the large cross-shaped prop rock. Kicking himself up, Jojo's lip turned up in a sly smile, a small amount of red trickling.

"Let Granny Erina know I did not connect the first blow, so everything from this point on is self-defense," Joseph said, turning to a crewmember still manning the camera, her face agape in shock. "Make sure you're filming this, I want to look good for my cinema debut."

The crewmember, stunned, barely gave a nod before swinging the camera to capture both of the fighters in the shot.

Jojo reached into his back pocket, producing two pairs of metallic clacker balls held together by sturdy string, clacking them together, causing them to ring out through the movie set.

"Round two, here's Johnny!" Johnny shouted, throwing a jab toward the younger man. Joestar leaned backwards, letting the fist pass just above his nose. He swung the clackers upwards with force from his leaning position, catching Johnny in the armpit of his extended arm. The blow, which would normally be a mere bruise, shot pain across the actor's chest akin to an electrical shock, causing him to tense up and recoil.

"How do you like that little dose of Hamon? I'll knock you into next week with my clacker volley!" Jojo shouted back, swirling the metallic clackers as he stood, defensively spinning them at his sides.

"Hamon? Wasn't that in the script? Damn, I think I remember seeing that somewhere…" Johnny tried to remember, damning himself for only skimming the stack of papers earlier that morning. He didn't have much time to process before Jojo came flying in with a flurry of blows, his metal clackers moving at supersonic speeds as they flew around the actor's body.

Johnny ducked left, weaved right, avoiding the clacker volley until he finally realized he couldn't be on the defensive any longer. Cage felt an intense energy come over him as he was bathed in a green light energy. The clackers smacked into the energy field, sparking with Hamon energy but left Cage unharmed as he leapt off the ground, flipping backwards as is kick connected with the Hamon warrior.

"What's this? My clackers were completely useless against that green energy? Are you a Hamon master as well?" Jojo asked, rubbing his chest where the actor had kicked, knowing that would only be one more massive bruise among many by the end of this.

"What can I say, I'm built to fight gods," Johnny said with a grin, the green energy dimming. He was never sure how he was able to summon this green energy but he was always grateful for the edge it gave.

"Fight this!" Jojo shouted, spinning one of his clacker sets on his finger before launching it at the actor, the twin balls spinning furiously. Johnny threw his shoulder back just in time, feeling the wind pass by from the clacker set as they just nicked the edge of his sunglasses, tearing them from his face as they were hurled against an unmanned camera, shattering the shades and the equipment in an explosion of glass.

"Those were five-hundred dollar sunglasses, asshole!" Johnny's brow furrowed before reaching into his belt to retrieve a second pair of sunglasses identical to the first, replacing them on his face with a bit of irritation. He reached in his back pocket, pulling out two pairs of brass knuckles with the word CAGE imprinted on each, sliding them onto his fists.

Jojo bounced on his feet, his fists rippling with Hamon as he put his remaining clacker set into his pocket. The green glow formed around Johnny once again as he charged, sliding across the ground with a foot in the air ready to kick. Jojo smiled, pointing confidently as he crossed his other hand in front of his face dramatically.

"Next you'll say 'this is where you fall down,'" Jojo said through grinning teeth, Johnny quickly approaching.

Johnny's foot slammed into its target, quickly following up with a spinning kick and another strike with the back of his fist. After the blow, however, he did not hear the figure fall.

"This is where you fall down," Johnny said, confusedly. It just then registered what Jojo had said, his eyes going wide.

"Sorry, you missed. What have you been punching? I wasn't the one you were pummeling so happily," Jojo asked, peeking out from behind and object. It was just at that moment that Johnny noticed that Jojo had somehow grabbed one of the massive cameras from offstage, blocking his entire body as Johnny had wailed on it. His legs and fist suddenly felt the pain of punching the metal object, searing through his limbs as he stepped back, waving the pain from his hand.

Jojo tossed the camera to the side, the intricate machine shattering against the prop rock on the movie scene much to the dismay of the crewmember still on her camera, knowing full well how expensive that was.

"Alright! It's showtime!" Johnny sneered, clanging his brass knuckles against each other twice causing them to shoot sparks across the ground.

Jojo crossed his hand in front of his face as he took this chance to charge his Hamon while his opponent was far from him, feeling the energy swell from within. In the middle of his breathing charge, between his fingers, Jojo saw the man charging up his own green energy.

"Suck on this!" Johnny shouted, hurling his arm as if he were throwing a baseball. A bit of the green energy shot out as Johnny loosed a force ball at the man, the energy glancing off of Jojo's arm. The energy ball left a scorching burn on his arm, but Jojo didn't stop his controlled breathing, knowing that his Hamon charge would be enough to balance out the damage done as well as fill him with enough Hamon to finish the actor.

After the ball of energy dissipated, however, Jojo saw that Cage was charging in a dead sprint at him. He quickly broke his Hamon charging stance, preparing for the strike.

"Zoom punch!" Jojo shouted, trying to catch Johnny before he got within striking range. Joseph's shoulder dislocated along with his elbow joint as his arm stretched, the Hamon in his system allowing him to do so without pain or consequence. As the punch was about to reach the charging actor, however, the man ducked into a sliding split, a move Jojo had no recourse for. As his arm retracted his vision was turned downward in horror as the man was in a full split at Jojo's feet now, revving up a punch.

Johnny's fist collided with Jojo's undefended groin, doubling the Hamon warrior over.

"You… son of a bitch…" Jojo eeked out, his whole body ringing in pain. More importantly, however, he was unable to control his breathing to fuel his Hamon.

Johnny stood up, throwing an elbow into Jojo's nose, breaking it, before landing a series of kicks into the man's ribs. Jojo took the blows, unable to break the actor's offensive onslaught as he was pushed against a vending machine just off the side of the set.

I… have to think of something… Jojo's mind raced, feeling his ribs beginning to crack. His head turned to see a closed bottle of soda sitting on a table just next to the vending machine, surely left behind from one of the people fleeing after this fight had started. Jojo reached to grab the bottle, focusing the small amount of Hamon he still had in his system in his fingertips as he angled the bottle at his attacker.

"Take a little bit of cola in the eye!" Jojo shouted, the Hamon radiating out of his hand and through the bubbling liquid within the bottle. Johnny turned to see what the mountain of a man was talking about just as the lid of the bottle exploded from the building pressure. The cap dug into the actor's eye, instantly bruising the flawless face of the man as he was drenched in the soda.

That's it! I can breathe again! Jojo thought as he gained a small reprieve from the blows. The actor, now a few feet away, pulled out a small hand mirror from his pocket, flipping it open and looking at where the bottlecap had struck him.

"You shot my face!" Johnny, horrified, stammered as he saw the instantly bruising black eye. A nearly primal rage boiled within him as he let loose a guttural shout, charging with fists raised once again. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"Not so fast!" Jojo took a deep breath as he felt the Hamon surge through his body. He felt energized and healed from the life energy as he focused it in his elbows for one more devastating strike.

Johnny leapt high into the air above Jojo's head, before coming crashing down with an axe kick aimed for his head.

"Rebuff overdrive!" Jojo shouted, raising his elbows. His elbows connected with the heel of the actor, his Hamon shooting sparks up Johnny's legs and sending him flying into the ceiling. Johnny let out a cough of blood as he hit the rafters above before falling and crashing into the prop cross-rock from his scene earlier, unconscious.

Jojo fell to a knee, his groin still aching with pain, as he tried to focus his Hamon to heal his wounds.

A brilliant flash of lightning lit up the studio just in front of the downed actor, a man now standing where the lightning struck.

"No time for a rest apparently," Jojo lamented as he raised his hands in a combat stance.

"That will not be necessary," Liu Kang stepped out from where the lightning struck. "I am Lord Liu Kang, and I am very impressed by your fighting prowess."

Liu Kang looked at Johnny's unconscious body as he spoke, a chuckle deep in his body slightly shaking him.

"Well excuse me mister 'lord', but I'm a little busy right now, I'll try to pencil you in for an appointment next Thursday," Jojo said. He had never had much luck with beings with this much perceived power, his mind immediately flashing back to Kars, but thus far he had not seemed hostile.

"Seeing as you knocked out a man I had been eyeing for a special fighting tournament, a spot has just opened up and I was hoping you could fill it," Liu Kang stepped forward, his brightly glowing eyes looking deep into Jojo's. Jojo hesitantly thought about Kang's words.

"Tell me about this tournament…" Jojo asked, readying himself for another adventure.

Winner: Joseph Joestar