NT: Chapter 109

As the match between Chun-Li and I began, it did so with a remarkably mundane exchange. I dropped into a Hung Gar Stance, intending to begin with mundane martial arts and work up from there. Somehow, Chun-Li seemed to guess my intentions, either that or there really was something to the Motto that Martial Artists communicated with their fists, as preached by the Tohoufuhai-Quan School of Hong Kong and others like them. The Turtle School of the famed Muten Roshi and the Crane School of the Tsuru-Sennin were both known to utilize advanced versions of Chi Sensing that folded the ability in as a matter of course. Any Psionic with certain Clairsentient or Telepathic Powers could also figure it out, as could those rare few, such as the practitioners of Ganriki Ryūkyū Bujutsu, who were just that skilled at reading body language. I was pretty sure, though, that Chun-Li was just practiced enough to know what was up.

Regardless, I came at her with an Arrow Punch, which she predictably sidestepped, while parrying my punch at the wrist with a coiling knife-hand in a Snake-Style Deflection. As she did so, Chun-Li pivoted, launching an elbow strike at my face, which I blocked with an elbow strike of my own. Both blows rebounded off each other, as Chun-Li recovered, launching a leaping front kick at me that I parried at the ankle. My attempt to grab hold of her leg and ground her was foiled, however, with a quick rotation and flip as she kicked off my grasping hand and backflipped around to land on her feet, facing me. I rushed in with a series of punches, which she dodged away from, ducking a Tiger Claw strike and lashing out with a sweeping leg, which I jumped over, lashing out with a kick that she blocked with both arms, skidding backward a few feet as I landed.

"Not bad." She grinned, speaking in Cantonese.

"Thank you, from a Grandmaster-level opponent, that is quite the compliment." I nodded.

"I see your Hung Gar is quite strong. It won't be enough on its own to gain victory, however. Tiger and Crane have their place, but neither tends to withstand the flood on their own for long." Smirked Chun-Li.

"Perhaps, not. Snakes, on the other hand. Well, they can swim through all kinds of waters." I offered, my grin matching her own.

As I said this, I shifted from the Standard Hung Gar Stance to Shequan Nanpai, the Southern Snake Style. The coiling, sinuous motions of my arms primed for deflecting incoming strikes. Chun-Li nodded as she saw that, rushing forward with a sliding sidekick aimed at my chest. I parried with a sinuous motion, only to be forced to parry a second, follow-on kick from the same leg, before having to sidestep away from a leaping front kick. Chun-Li's third, thrusting kick hit empty air as I pivoted away from it and launched my counter-attack, a Snake Style Spear Hand aimed at the pit of the knee of her kicking leg. Somehow, she managed to twist just enough to avoid it, bringing her leg up high before launching it down at me in an axe kick. I was forced to tumble away, shoulder rolling through the motion to avoid the kick.

As I came up, I did so with a spear-hand thrust to her solar plexus as she turned, forcing Chun-Li to parry. This turned into me throwing an inside Wing Chun Style Pak Sau, slapping away her counter punch, and striking out with an elbow strike at her face with my other hand. This, she blocked with a Wing Chun-style Bong Sau, her wing-arm block intercepting my elbow. From there, we proceeded to Chi Sau and Chi Geuk, grappling with hands and feet, each trying to trip the other up or break through the other's guard. For a few brief moments, we were at a stalemate, with Chun-Li trying and failing to pin my leg to the ground with hers or remove my blocking hands with a Lap Sau or some other attack. In the end, the stalemate was broken by both of us at the same time. I managed a punch to her floating ribs with a Hsing Yi Uppercut, while at the same time, she landed a knee strike to my chest.

We were both sent skidding backward a few feet, evenly matched in terms of infighting, it seemed, at least for the moment. However, it was time to change things up. As I came out of my skid, I did so in a three-point stance, while Chun-Li was forced to kip up off of her back as she landed in the sand of the arena. She huffed and took up a Bajiquan Stance, while I lowered myself into a Qixing Tanglangquan Stance, pointer fingers extended as I took up the Seven Star Mantis Guard.

"Praying Mantis?" Questioned Chun-Li.

"I thought it fitting considering you're using Bajiquan right now." I answered.

"Likely." Admitted Chun-Li.

"Perhaps you'd care to test another style?" I queried.

"Just how many styles do you know?" Asked Chun-Li.

"Many. Not just Kungfu either. I can offer you Shotokan Karate, Muay Thai, Western Boxing, and dozens of others." I explained, taking up guards from each of those in turn as I brought them up.

"A true Renaissance man. And you say you're only seventeen?" Questioned Chun-Li.

"In our world, age is deceiving, is it not?" I queried.

"It is, though I do envy you. How is it you find so many hours in the day?" Asked Chun-Li.

"Magic." I responded.

"Cute." Huffed Chun-Li.

"I wasn't trying to be. It really is largely a function of Magic." I reiterated.

"Ah. That makes sense. I've only met one other Martial Artist who uses actual magic and not simply Chi or Psychic Powers by another name. A Taoist Sorcerer of the Kei Pirates Guild who attempted to use his magic to avoid arrest for long enough to get his boat into international waters. He'd been able to summon mist to hide the boat and mystical barriers to block attempts to shoot out his engines." Informed Chun-Li.

"Interesting. So how did you apprehend him?" I questioned.

"Interpol is international by design. He thought he was safe in international waters and let his guard down. He was wrong. We boarded his vessel while he was sleeping." Answered Chun-Li.

"Smart." I nodded.

"I thought so. That's not really germane to the situation right now, though. Now that you've demonstrated your capability with Mundane Styles, how about we crank the intensity up a bit?" Queried Chun-Li.

"So soon?" I asked.

"I think we're past the warm-up stage by now." Confirmed Chun-Li.

"Very well. I was having fun, but you may be right on that front." I agreed.

And with that, I surged my Chi, condensing it down into my muscles as I bulked up using the Geki Hou of Master Tung Fu Rue. Chun-Li's own Chi technique was more refined, controlled enough that she didn't show any outward signs of bulking up, but no less powerful for it. Clearly, her having been in the Martial Arts game for far longer than I have was on display here. Idly, I wondered how I could get the Geki Hou to be that controlled. Honestly, it would save a lot of effort spent on clothes shopping if I could do that, as I couldn't always be wearing enchanted clothing that shifted with my form.

However, soon enough, Chun-Li took her guard again, and I took mine, as the fight prepared to recommence. When it did, I would have to banish all thoughts aside from winning from my mind, as Chun-Li clearly was done with the exhibition portion of this match. As she rippled her Chi, blurring forward into motion, I was forced to use the Gekiro of Master Gen as a method to dodge the Kaitenteki Kakukyakushu of Zhang Family Hongquan, as Chun-Li flipped about and launched a rotating helicopter kick at me with the Spinning Bird Kick. Thankfully, the Waterfall Kicks of Master Gen launched me into the air and away from Chun-Li's attack.

Unfortunately, she was able to plant herself onto her hands and launch herself up at me using the Tenshokyaku of the Zhang Family Hongquan Style, her Rising Heaven Kick propelling her toward me feet first at speed. With a surge of Chi, I flipped about and launched myself into the Hishou Kyaku of Bongwhang Taekwando, mentally thanking Kim Kaphwan for being a man of his word and handing me the training manual after I defeated him at the King of Fighters Tournament. Without the Flying Soar Kick, I would have just eaten that attack big time. As it was, my downward Chi-powered Kick met Chun-Li's upward Chi-powered Kick, and the two attacks cracked out in a shockwave in mid-air that ruptured glass throughout the stands.

Both of us backflipped away and landed in the Sands of the Arena, unharmed, though the same couldn't be said of everyone watching. I noticed a few bottles of beer rupture in the hands of hapless onlookers, embedding glass shards into their grasps. Thankfully, however, this could be swiftly remedied with cash, as I informed Bellona when she glared down at me from her position in the stands.

"I'll pay for treatment!" I insisted.

"See that you do." Intoned Bellona.

Then, Chun-Li was darting forth at me again, keeping close to the ground this time as the fight continued. . .

XXXX

Up in the stands, Faith, Xander, and Oz looked down at the fighting with interest. They had thankfully been in a row below the shockwave from the two attacks colliding, and so neither Faith's bottle of Jekyll Island Red Ale nor Xander's bottle of Thirsty Burst Lemon Lime Soda shattered in their hands. The same couldn't be said for the Woman in the Black Leather Catsuit with the Snake Emblem on it, sitting one level above them, whose sunglasses cracked from the sonic boom. She began to swear pretty badly in a language that sounded a lot like Russian to Oz, something about this being beneath her dignity as a Baroness.

"Huh. I guess Uly's really getting into it." Mused Faith, drawing Oz's attention back to the present.

"I guess." He offered, Laconically.

"Nah, you guys haven't seen him cut loose yet. Just keep watching. If the arena isn't totalled by the time they're done, I'll eat my hat." Smirked Xander.

"X, you ain't wearing a hat." Pointed out Faith.

Privately, though, Oz was pretty sure that Xander was right. He didn't have a whole lot of experience in terms of Independent Hunting, of course, but he'd spoken a bunch with Old Man Morris, whose family had been in the business of Hunting since the days when the Real Dracula had still been running around free. He said that when it came to Chi Adepts, this was pretty tame. Apparently, he'd seen a Chi Adept who claimed to have studied at the Kun Lun Sect of Mount Zu absolutely demolish a group of Demon-strain Werewolves that had taken up residence in the Slaughtered Lamb Pub in North Yorkshire back in the mid-eighties. Apparently, after he'd finished carving up the Werewolves, he'd destroyed the Pub with a single cut from his sword. If Ulysses could do something like that, and Oz had no reason to believe he couldn't, then he figured Xander wouldn't have had to eat his nonexistent hat even if he'd been wearing one.

"One thing's for sure. The Champion Team seems nervous." Offered Oz, looking up at the Box where the trio of Aliens were currently seated.

"Oh yeah? How can you tell?" Questioned Faith.

"Yeah, Oz. I dunno about you, but I can't really tell whether the aliens or the guy in full armor is nervous or not." Frowned Xander.

"It's in the way they're standing. They're hiding it pretty well, but I can tell." Answered Oz.

"Yeah?" Queried Faith.

"Yeah. The nose knows." Smirked Oz.

"You mean you can get all that from the Wolf?" Asked Xander.

"Body language is one of the ways that Animals communicate." Shrugged Oz.

"I guess your fuzzy side means you've gotta be more in tune with that sorta stuff, then." Offered Faith.

"I've learned how to tell." Confirmed Oz.

As they watched the fight continue, however. Oz's eyes remained locked on the Champion Team. The guy in Armor, the Mandalorian, he recalled him being called, was having a discussion with the reptilian insect-looking Yautja and the Klingon. Somehow, Oz didn't think they were discussing strategy so much as they were discussing how to get out of the next fight while saving face.

A few minutes later, he would be proven right as Bellona stood up from her seat during a lull in the fight to make the announcement. . .

XXXX

I'd been having a blast so far in this fight. Relying on just Martial Arts and Chi instead of being able to pull out Magic or Psychic abilities when I had gotten into a tough spot had really allowed me to stretch the limits of my capabilities. Chun-Li had clearly earned her spot at Grandmaster-Level, and it was pushing me to evolve my capabilities and tactics on the fly, not having the safety net of Magic to fall back on by agreement. I was bruised, battered, and scuffed, and she'd squashed my nose flat, bruised my left eye, cut me above my right eye, and split my lip with a Senretsukyaku of the Zhang Family Hongquan Style, taking a number of the Thousand Rending Kicks right to the face. In return, however, I had managed to scorch her with the Dragon's Fireball of the Great Kung Lao, bruise her ribs with a Senkugoshoha technique of the Ansatsuken, and blacken her right eye with the Senshippou Kai of Master Tung Fu Rue. She'd also accumulated a number of minor bruises and scrapes as we'd kept going.

Now, however, there was a bit of a lull in the combat as we gathered our respective strength, preparing to clash again. That suited me just fine, however, as my healing factor would have time to work on the various wounds I'd suffered. Sure, it might not be long enough to do much, but every little bit helped, and Chun-Li didn't have a healing factor of her own. After all, she wasn't a secret Goa'uld Human Hybrid that had been genetically engineered in a lab using Scientists from the Black Dragon with access to Outworld Magic and Goa'uld technologies from Ba'al. She was still a human, albeit a powerful Chi Adept and clearly a Grandmaster-level Martial Artist. One thing was for certain, I was doing a lot better than I had the last time I had fought a Grandmaster-level Chi Adept.

"This has been fun." I remarked as we paused to catch our breaths.

"Is that what you call it? Fun? You sound like someone else I know. You move like him at points, too." Grumbled Chun-Li.

"Interesting. Who is it?" I questioned.

"A guy named Ryu. You wouldn't happen to know anyone by that name, would you?" Queried Chun-Li.

"No family name?" I asked.

"Not that I know of." Refuted Chun-Li.

"I know of a couple of different people named Ryu, but without a family name, I wouldn't be able to tell you." I shrugged.

Before Chun-Li could respond, however, Bellona stood up from her throne, calling for silence as she did so. I looked up at her, seeing that the Mandalorian, Klingon, and Yautja of the Champion Team were all standing off to the side of Bellona's Box. As the Roman Goddess of Battles spoke, however, she offered news that I was shocked to hear.

"The Champion Team has offered to forfeit to the victor of this bout, in recognition of the fighting skills displayed in the arena tonight." Intoned Bellona.

"You've both shown feats worthy of any Warrior. It is no shame in yielding before such prowess." Intoned the Klingon.

"The offer is on the table, if you want it." Confirmed the Mandalorian.

The Yautja said nothing, or at least, nothing intelligible. His clicks and grunts may as well be gibberish for all I knew. Clearly, whatever translators the Klingon and Mandalorian had didn't extend to their Companion. It was either that, or the Yautja Voicebox was just too alien to be understood by those of us who couldn't translate one way or the other.

"I will allow the victor of this bout to choose whether or not to accept the offer from the Champion Team once victory has been attained. For now, we need a victor to even reach that point to begin with. Continue your bout, and know that I will be watching the ending with great interest." Intoned Bellona.

And with that, the Roman Goddess of Battles sat back down. As she did so, the Champion Team took seats near her throne, and I turned back to Chun-Li. I nodded at her and flashed a lopsided grin.

"Can you believe that? After all these hoops to jump through, they're offering to back out?" I questioned.

"I see. If you defeat me, are you planning to take them up on the offer?" Queried Chun-Li.

"Absolutely not. Why? Are you planning to take them up on the offer?" I asked.

"Maybe. It depends on how much longer this fight runs." Admitted Chun-Li.

"In that case, how about we make this simple? One attack, my strongest against your strongest, to determine the winner." I offered.

"That sounds fair enough." Agreed Chun-Li.

"All right, get ready, because I'm gonna give you my very best!" I challenged.

"Be careful, Little Brother. I won't hold back either!" Warned Chun-Li.

As the brief respite ended, I cupped both palms together and began charging a Denjin Hadouken, using the ultra-dense Chi of the Geki Hou of Master Tung Fu Rue, along with the power of the Chikara no Hadou. Bluish-white power blazed and crackled in my palms as I charged the attack, arcs of yellow lightning coruscating out from the charging beam to lash across the sand, turning the arena sands to glass wherever they touched. Meanwhile, Chun-Li began charging a massive ball of Blueish-Purple Chi between her two hands, imparting rotational force on it that whipped up sands from the arena and flash-fried them into glass slag as they passed through the orb of Chi.

For a few moments, we both charged our attacks, imparting as much power as we could to them, in keeping with the spirit of the challenge. My strongest attack versus Chun-Li's strongest attack. One way or the other, this bout would end here, with this beam struggle. I wanted to make sure it ended in my favor. After five seconds of charging our attacks, however, I caught a glint in Chun-Li's eye. She was ready to fire. The least I could do was not keep her waiting and reciprocate.

"Here I go! Denjin Hadouken!" I exclaimed, thrusting my palms out in front of me and firing my Chi Blast.

"You wanted my best, now here it is! Kikosho!" Shouted Chun-Li, doing the same with her gigantic Ball of Chi.

A torrent of power was unleashed, cracking fissures in the arena floor that were swiftly filled with molten glass from melted sand as my Denjin Hadouken and Chun-Li's Kikosho raced forward. A veritable pillar of Bluish-White Chi, crackling with the yellow lightning of the Chikara no Hadou, raced forth from my cupped palms and was met with the fury of a massive ball of ultra-dense Chi, spiralling with the rotational force of a whirlwind. The blast from the two attacks meeting instantly sublimated the remaining sand in the arena, turning loose sand and broken stone into smooth glass. Both Chun-Li and I were blasted backward from the force of the blow, crashing through the wooden retaining walls on either side of the arena.

I let out a grunt of pain as I smashed through mystically reinforced wood, my ribs creaking in protest, bruised from the impact. For a few moments, I did nothing, just letting myself catch my breath from my spot underneath the pile of busted, jagged planks of mystically reinforced wood. Then, after a moment, I crawled out from under the pile and stood up, making my way back into the arena to behold our handiwork. Not only had the two blasts met with enough force to utterly demolish a modern tank and then some, but they had created what I could only describe as a glass crater in the middle of the arena floor.

Frowning, I looked for Chun-Li, hoping I hadn't killed her with that. It would have been a great shame to do that, after all. Fortunately, she was made of sterner stuff, and she managed to drag herself out from under the collapsed and broken mystically reinforced wood of the retaining wall on her side of the arena, bruised, battered, bloodied, and scorched, but still upright for the moment. Of course, she then shook her head at me, bowing with a wince to me after doing so.

"I forfeit. Even if I somehow manage to beat you here, it's clear I won't have enough stamina left in me to make my way home for the night. You win." Offered Chun-Li.

"Thank you for the exchange of pointers." I responded, bowing back to her.

And with that, my bout with Zhang Chun-Li, Grandmistress of the Zhang Family Hongquan Style, ended in my win. After handing Chun-Li a healing potion and downing one of my own, I looked up at Bellona's Throne. The Roman Goddess of Battles, somewhat annoyed, asked if I was willing to accept the Champion Team's forfeit. I could only give her a wolfish grin in response before giving my answer.

"Absolutely not! I jumped through these hoops, and I deserve a fight for it!" I refused.

"In that case, we will take a short break while my attendants once again repair my arena. In the meantime, if you would please provide banking details to Sheeva, we can get those wounds you offered to pay for the healing of taken care of." Intoned Bellona.

"Of course." I agreed.

And with that, I headed off toward where Sheeva was waiting to give her my banking details so that we could do just that. The Shokan Warrior seemed to have a positively feral look in her eye as we did so, one which I had only seen a few times before, back when I had been dating Cordelia and she had gotten all hot and bothered by my guitar playing. It was distracting enough that I only paid half-attention when the Mandalorian of the Champion Team handed an oddly spherical device with a red button on top to the Yautja. Whatever that was, I was sure I could handle it, though. For now, I intended to bask in my victory over a difficult, Grandmaster-level Opponent.

And that was a task made far easier by the Shokan Warrior that was practically purring into my ear. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. Chun-Li was the most difficult opponent that Ulysses has faced since the Yamata-no-Orochi, and for good reason. Chun-Li is a High B+ Tier opponent, by the standards I had laid out in the power scaling for this fic. By beating her, Ulysses has officially crossed the barrier into the lowest rungs of A-Tier. Mind you, A Tier Power is a vast spectrum, and Ulysses is still at the very bottom. It's still a bigger accomplishment than ninety-nine percent of the Galaxy can boast of.

Other nineties stuff in this chapter includes mentions of the Great Kung Lao, Sheeva, Outworld, and Black Dragon from Mortal Kombat, Chun-Li, Gen, Ryu, the Ansatsuken, and the Chikara no Hadou, plus all the respective techniques are from Street Fighter, Master Tung Fu Rue, Kim Kaphwan, the King of Fighters Tournament, and their techniques are from King of Fighters, the Turtle and Crane Schools, along with Muten Roshi and Tsuru Sennin are from Dragonball, the Tohoufuhai-Quan School is from G Gundam, Ganriki Ryūkyū Bujutsu is from Rurouni Kenshin, Clairsentient and Telepathic Psionic Powers are from Second Edition Dungeons and Dragons, The Goa'uld and Ba'al are from Stargate, the Kei Pirates Guild is from Outlaw Star, and Xander, Faith, Oz, and Cordelia are from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Eighties stuff in this Chapter Includes mentions of the Slaughtered Lamb Pub from American Werewolf in London, the Kun Lun Sect of Chi Adepts from Zu Warriors From Magic Mountain, Klingons from Star Trek TNG, the Yautja from Predator, and the Baroness from GI Joe. Two-thousands stuff in this chapter includes mentions of Jekyll Island Red Ale from Lost, Thirsty Burst Lemon-Lime Soda from Doom Three, and Mandalorians from the Star Wars EU Books, Comics, and Games.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the fight with the Champion Team, as Ulysses takes on the trio of Sci-Fi Characters, then we'll have one last chapter at the Compass and Clock to finish out this mini-arc.

Stay tuned. . .