MN - 3 - Paper Novel Version

After a moment he walked over to a man who stood leaning against the wall of a warehouse, reading a newspaper by the light of a small caged bulb above the door.

“Say, buddy,” Johnny began as he approached the warehouse. “Do you know anything about the Dragon Wing...?”

Then he looked at the paper the man was reading. In the center of the front page was the same photo of him yelling at the cameramen that had been on the other tabloid back on the sound stage in Florida. Johnny’s Chinese wasn’t very good, but it was good enough for him to read the headline: JOHNNY CAGE FAKE.

“Dammit, do I have to see this crap everywhere I go?” he snarled and snatched the paper out of the man’s hands.

“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of an introduction,” the man said, still leaning against the wall.

“Give me a break! I’m Johnny Cage!”

“Don’t let ’em get to you,” the man said. “It’s just as much a lie in Chinese as it is English.”

“Sure,” Johnny said. He looked at the man for a moment. “Say,” he said at last. “Wait a minute. Aren’t you Art Lean? I saw you fight in London. You were great.”