John Carlton was not impressed.

The California-born action superstar had aspired to greatness in Hollywood from a young age, fuelled in-part by his older sister, Rebecca, starring in a family sitcom in her teens. John had been brought onto the set to play the bit part of Casper Cage, a young karate student in the same class as his sister's on-set brother. The six-year-old John had impressed the production team with his acting chops and ability to quickly take to the moves he was taught. In particular, his flooring his of on-set counterpart and closing the take with the ad libbed line, "You just got Caged," won over the executives, leading to his small cameo quickly being expanded into a recurring character. At the insistence of his parents, John was credited under a pseudonym: Johnny Cage.

The show lasted four more seasons, with Casper quickly becoming a fan favourite. John would then move on to numerous commercials and bit parts until hitting it big with Time Smashers, an American adaptation of a Japanese tokusatsu series. Thanks to his interest in martial arts being piqued by his first tole, John had continued to practise Karate, specialising in Shorin Ryu and Shindo Ryu, both of which proved advantageous for his role as the Blue Ranger, Jeff Conrad. While working on the show, he also took up the practice of Jeet Kune Do.

From here, John would star in several independent martial arts films with fellow cast members from Time Smashers. As the primary source of funding, and the biggest star, these films would rely on Carlton's star power in their titles and marketing: Caged Rage, Cage Match, Citizen Cage, and You Got Caged. At this time, Carlton would also make regular appearances on the television series, Wu Shu, though the Hollywood movie adaptation would replace the entire cast with bigger stars.

Following the debut of the movie version of Wu Shu, Carlton would be sought out by an agent, who would book him several film roles, including 24 Karate Gold, Sudden Violence, and Dragon Fist. Role offers began flooding in following these films, and Carlton would legally change his name to Johnny Cage.

Through hits such as Exiting the Dragon of Death, The Gist of my Fist, Iron Claw, and World's Most Wanted, Cage rose into the upper echelons of the Hollywood elite. It seemed like nothing could damage his image, even such flops as Aquatic Assault or Who's That?
Cage also expanded his career into several ventures outside of acting. He would release a cologne named Cage Cologne, record a rap album titled Johnny Uncaged, win an episode of Celebrity SMASH TV, and he even had a brief stint as a professional wrestler with the WWE, which featured memorable feuds with John Cena, Kane and The Rock.

In recent years, however, Cage's star had waned. Following his highly-publicised divorce from his wife of three years, Cindy Ford, many of Cage's opportunities had dried up, thanks to his spiteful wife's many connections in Hollywood. He had gone from such major hits as 7 Poisons, Tommy Scissorfists and the Dragon Fist Trilogy, to such bargain bin garbage as the parody film Breaknose Mountain, the CGI monstrosity Every Dog Has Its Day, the creatively-titled HWAAAAA!, and the currently in-production Ninja Mime.

The production was a nightmare. Aside from the embarrassingly tight costume he was forced to wear in his role as the titular mime, Cage was also acting opposite French actors who didn't speak a word of English, performing fight scenes with severely under-trained extras, and having to deal with the intense California heat on top of the excessive makeup and black fabrics of the costume. He was at the end of his rope with this shit.

As such, it was probably a bad idea for the director to insist on setting a fight scene inside a burning building. The fire was controlled, of course, but that didn't make it any less of a problem when Cage opened the door to the 'building', ready to leap into action to save his love interest, only to be smacked across his white-coated face with a wall of heat that he swore made him instantly lose twenty pounds of sweat.

He slammed the door shut, separating himself from the rest of the crew, all of whom were confused by Cage's sudden decision to restart the take. But when he didn't open the door again, the director called out to him: "Cage, come on, we don't want to have to rebuild the set if it burns down!"

Johnny responded by putting a hole in the 'wall' with his fist. Then another with his knee. And another with his fist. He emerged from behind the wall and launched into a tirade, criticising every aspect of the production from the director's insistence on casting genuine French actors that couldn't even act all that well; to his slavish devotion to practical effects, with the insistence that they were always better than CGI; to the incomprehensible script he had personally written for the film. By the time he was face-to-face with the director, screaming in his face, Cage's tirade had moved on to the director's clear disdain for the original newspaper comic the movie was based on, turning the original costume into a stereotypical mime costume, which was far less comfortable than an accurate recreation of the comic version would have been.

The director, to his credit, made no move against Johnny, neither pushing him back, nor hitting him to get him under control. To his discredit, he jabbed a finger into Cage's chest and began to make his own complaints about Cage, accusing him of attempting to sabotage the film for the sake of his ego, bruised by the messy divorce.

Cage punched the dick in his dick and walked off the set.

"And these stunt doubles don't even look anything like me!" he concluded, storming past the place where the trio were sat, leaving Pesina, Ashby and Mullins looking deeply offended.


"Johnny, come on!" Chuck, the actor's long-time manager cried, attempting to make his client see reason. "You got a week left a' this thing an' we're done! Just put up with it for one more-"

"No, Chuck, I can't deal with this shit anymore. Fuck that asshole! I'm done with this f-" He threw the hat on the ground and wiped most of the makeup off with his glove. Chuck seized this opportunity to speak again.

"Look, I know it's bad, Johnny, but ya can't blow the paycheck or the publicity chance here. One more week, baby! One more-"

"I'm not doing it, Chuck. Fuck it. This movie'll kill my career, not bring it back from the brink." Not that he needed to finish the film to achieve that effect. No doubt, the tabloids would have a field day with this 'has-been's on-set meltdown'.

Chuck had no idea how to talk Johnny down and decided it might be best to give him a little space to calm down by himself before trying again. Hopefully, he'd have some good news to cheer his friend up by the time he came back from the meeting.


Luckily for Chuck, Johnny had indeed calmed down by the time he returned from his meeting. "I'm back from WB," he explained as he entered the trailer. Johnny perked up at that, though his expression - not obscured by his trademark $500 sunglasses - appeared apprehensive."

"You didn't book me for Massive Strike, Fight Dirty, or Fly High, did you?"

"Huh? No, ta hell with that stuff. Johnny I got in with the DC guys."

"DC? Really?"

"Really. They're givin' the shared universe thing another go. So, I put your name forward and they're interested."

"Oh, yeah?" Johnny was visible excited at the prospect of getting another shot at the big leagues. Or rather, the big League. "Who as?"

"Now, don't be mad," his agent replied after bracing himself. "They're interested in you for one role. But it's not Batman or Superman."

"Then who? Flash? Green Lantern?"

"They think, given your more comedic roles, that you'd be a good fit for Booster Gold."

"No," the actor said instantly, standing to leave the trailer. His agent had to move quickly to block the door and make him stop.

"Heyheyhey, Johnny just... listen, alright? Blue and Gold is really popular right now and a little unconventional for the genre. This could be your big break!"

"I don't do side characters, Chuck, you know that." He moved to push past, but the shorter man put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Johnny," he said with a serious tone. "You know I love ya. Your indie stuff was what got me interested in the business ta begin with. But you've gotta let go of your pride, buddy. You're not big like ya used ta be. Your star's dwindlin', man. Ya gotta take the parts ya can get, an' even if it's second billin' in a side movie and ya won't be headlinin' the big crossovers, this deal is... well, golden. Big payout, guaranteed multi-film contract, major push from Doubleya Freakin' Bee! Ya gotta do this, Johnny. Opportunities like this are rare, especially for a guy whose career ain't exactly in a great place nomore. You saw what this stuff did for RDJ back in '08. C'mon, man. Ya know I'm right."

Johnny removed his sunglasses and let out a deep sigh. He looked his agent square in the face and said, "I'll think about it."

"Yes! I promise ya won't regret it, Johnny! I'll go let 'em know you're interested. And who knows? Maybe another director at the studio might be able ta hook us up with some more opportunities. I hear Snyder's got somethin' big comin' up soon!" Chuck continued expositing about how great this opportunity could be, even as he grew too far away for Johnny to be able to make out his words.

The star let out a sigh and exited his trailer. Chuck was right. Of course he was. It was why Johnny had taken him on as his agent over a decade ago. His prospects were looking pretty grim right now. If this kept on for another year or so, he'd have to follow his sister's example and look for another field of employment. He was only twenty-nine, so stunt work or martial arts mentoring weren't out of the question, at least. He could probably do some modelling, even if he had lost out on 'Sexiest Man Alive' to Ryan Reynolds again.

While out getting some fresh air, Johnny overheard a couple members of the stunt crew talking over their smoke break. They were talking about some rumour about a martial arts tournament being held by some eccentric old man on his private island. Supposedly, it was held every fifty years there, and the best fighters in the world were travelling to the island to compete. The boat would be leaving from a pier in Honk Kong in two weeks' time, and was open to all challengers.

Where these crewmen had heard these rumours, Johnny had no idea, but a quick browse of social media and a Google search did bring up a few other mentions of this tournament. Not enough to be considered public knowledge, but enough to make this thing seem legitimate. When asked if there was any kind of prize, a few of those supposedly in the know suggested money, while others claimed the winner's name would be known throughout the world.

This sounded, to Johnny, like it could be a good opportunity to win back some of his lost fame. He was under no delusion that he could be considered the world's best, but if he could get at least one win in a tournament of the world's finest, it would be a boost to his public image. And really, what was the worst that could happen if he sneaked off to compete after filming wrapped on this dumpster fire? It certainly couldn't be any worse for his health than seeing Ninja Mime through to completion...


As an intentional celebration of reaching Chapter 20 and not as a complete coincidence, I've decided to stick with the Hollywood theme and plan out a trilogy here before the first part has even released. On a related note, be sure to check out the Royal Family Trilogy and the Kung Trilogy of Wasted Plotential.