A cab pulled over to the shipyard at Hong Kong where Shang Tsung's ship was docked. The first to come out was a short man with slicked back black hair, wearing a blue tuxedo, red tie and round glasses. He looked around the shipyard, his concern growing more intense.
"Johnny, please! Be rational about this." Chuck cried out as Johnny Cage exited out of the vehicle, clinging onto his many suitcases. Unlike Chuck, Cage was a taller, more muscular man. Their attire was mostly the same with the biggest deviations being Cage's pink shirt under his blue tux, blue tie and sunglasses.
"This tournament crap ain't worth it."
"Will you relax Chuck?" Johnny groaned in annoyance. He placed his luggage down and signaled for the driver to carry it over to the boat.
"Look Johnny, I'm just trying to say that maybe you should rethink this whole tournament bullshit. I mean…. just look at the goddamn boat." Chuck aggressively pointed towards while Cage just stood in front of him nonchalantly.
"You're too good to be traveling on that piece of junk and to make it worse, you don't know where the boat is going. Buttfuck nowhere is where it's goin—"Chuck swiftly turned to the right where he saw two figures in blue ninja garments walking towards the boat.
"What the fuck?" Chuck exclaimed.
"Bloody ninjas are getting involved." He said. Johnny avoided eye contact, maintaining a blank expression as if he was ignoring all of Chuck's concerns.
"Listen. If you're worried about your career going down the shitter, I can help you with that. I have many contacts in Hollywood, I can get you to star in the next big hit—"
"You have many contacts, and Cindy has more!" Johnny said, showing his frustration. Chuck arched back in fear and when Cage noticed, he took a deep breath and tried to relax himself.
"Look. I understand that it's tough going through a divorce, trust me I've had my fair share of failed marriages–"
"And clearly none of them have done significant damage to your career." Johnny cut him off.
"The point is, I wanna help. I can try to get in touch with some producers and help you get another role." Chuck said. Johnny simply scoffed.
"But of course, if you just wanna kick back and relax, that's perfectly understandable. But I don't recommend this. These people could be fuckin' insane and this tournament isn't sanctioned by any martial arts organization. I couldn't find any schmucks who even know a single damn thing about it! What do you think you're going to gain from participating?" Chuck asked.
"I love to fight." Johnny responded, "It's why I like to star in action films. Now, as much as I like relaxing on a beach in the Bahamas, I'd rather let out my frustrations by fighting some assholes. It isn't enough that Cindy is ruining my entire fucking career, but people think my stunts aren't real…that this green energy I produce is just some CGI."
"With this tournament, I can prove to people that my powers are legit." Johnny finished speaking his mind. Chuck didn't utter a word but stood dumbfounded as he watched Johnny boarding the boat, the cab driver had moved his luggage onto the boat and began walking back to the car.
Johnny turned around to look at Chuck one last time. Noticing the concerned expression of his agent, Johnny smirked and waved at him goodbye.
"Relax Chuck! I'll only be gone for a few weeks…that's a promise!" He yelled from the boat.
"Just don't get in the face! Okay?" Chuck responded back.
"Oh come on, Chuck! Let's be real, that ain't gonna happen!" Johnny said, turning around to observe the rest of the passengers on the boat. The blind swordsman walked past him and Johnny took a quick glimpse at him out of shock and amusement.
"Armed with a sword and blind folded…that's gonna be fun to watch." He muttered to himself.
"I may be blind. But I can still hear you." The swordsman responded back to him. "Well shit." Cage muttered under his breath. The boat began to move and was about to make its voyage to the Lost Sea when Johnny could hear a man bump onto the side of the boat, firmly grasping as he tried to pull himself up. What followed next was an explosion behind the man that violently shook the boat, though barely did damage despite the boat being withered. The straggler managed to climb himself up to the boat and as Johnny recovered from the impact, the two locked eyes with each other. Standing before the actor was a man in his mid-30s, a bearded face, white gi with a bandolier and a cyber implant over where his right eye should be.
"What the–" Johnny muttered. The strange man pointed at him, "You're–You're Johnny Cage!"