NT: Chapter 107

As the gigantic Construct charged forth, bronze feet throwing up tremors in the Arena Sand, I realized this could very well be a problem. It was big enough and solid enough that I was going to have to hit it a bunch of times to break through the mystically-enhanced bronze that made up its body. To do that, I'd have to go all out with Chi from the start. I dodged to the side as the Bronze Golem reached me and tried to stomp on me with enough force to powder reinforced concrete. I snarled and turned as I strafed around the construct, and just to test my assumption that I was going to have to do this the hard way, I raised my right hand, uttered a mystic syllable, and fired a pea of flame at the charging, divine magic-empowered, bronze-bodied construct. The Seventh Circle Spell of Delayed Blast Fireball exploded moments later in a conflagration that fused the sand of the arena into glass where the Construct had stomped with enough heat to melt through tank armor.

Unfortunately, the glow of the magic empowering the Bronze Golem flared up, ice blue power overwhelming the mystical power of my Seventh Circle Spell after barely scorching the Bronze Golem. Whoever had created this thing had seemingly made it extremely resistant to Arcane Magic and Sorcery. The Bronze Golem opened its mouth and screamed at me with a noise that sounded very much like the sound of tearing metal as it charged me again and forced me to dodge away from a slapping palm that threw a fountain of sand up into the air as it collided with the sand where I had been standing moments ago. With a shout, I came out of my dodge and leapt up onto the wrist of the Golem as it withdrew its arm.

I ran up the arm of the Bronze Golem, fifteen feet up to its shoulders, and channeled Chi into a quartet of devastating arrow punches, first right, then left, then right again, then another left, rippling my Chi with each strike, making each strike deadly enough to dent steel and powder reinforced concrete. The Total Destruction Combo of the Great Kung Lao slammed into the side of the Bronze Golem's Head, deforming the construct around my fist but failing to break through the Divinely Empowered Metal. I was then forced to backflip off the Construct's Shoulder, darting away from the slapping hand that it hefted at me.

As I landed on the floor of the Arena, the Bronze Golem's hand met the side of its head and neck like the Clanging of a bell, noise ringing out like a gong. As it did so, I noticed cracks beginning to form in the side of its head, giving me an idea. If it was going to take too long and too much energy for me to break through the thing's outer shell, why not have it break through its own outer shell? If I could get it to effectively knock itself out and expose the conduits of Divine Magic underneath the Bronze, I could then disrupt those conduits myself to win the fight.

As my strategy for defeating the Bronze Golem was set, it recovered from literally ringing its own bell in time to roar at me with another of its tearing metal-sounding screeches. I smirked, condensing my Chi into my muscles and compressing it down to bulk up using the Geki Hou of Master Tung Fu Rue. Thankfully, my Armored Vest and Jacket were mystically enhanced and resized to fit my new, more muscular size. I smirked at the thing before making a motion I'd seen once before from the Vale Tudo Fighter Craig Marduk, who always seemed to be able to get under his opponent's skin. I made a gesture with my thumb, drawing it across my throat in a throat-slitting gesture before giving the Golem first a thumbs down, then the middle finger.

Enraged, it charged me again, and this time, when I dodged, it wasn't to the side. It was once again upward, using the Kuu Saijin of Bongwhang Taekwando, which I had taken off of Kim Kaphwan during the King of Fighters Tournament, to sail upward and strike the Golem's head with a Chi-powered, Flaming, Leaping Hurricane Kick. My blow struck the side of the Golem's Head and staggered it, widening the cracks as I landed on its shoulder. Then, I dove for the Arena Floor to avoid another swat of the massive bronze hand. I landed in a three-point stance and watched as the Bronze Golem smashed its hand into its head again. This time, an entire chunk of bronze fell to the Arena Floor, cratering the stone under the sand.

That wasn't the only thing that fell to the sand, either. The second, self-inflicted blow turned the stagger the Bronze Golem was undergoing into a stumble, which I then turned into a fall by rushing forward and surging my Chi, tucking myself into a shoulder roll and lashing out with a series of kicks. The Jyasen of Master Gen slammed into the already shaky ankles of the Bronze Golem and sent it toppling to the floor. A large plume of sand was thrown up, and one of the Bronze Golem's hands crashed into and cracked the wooden retaining wall separating the Fighting Pit from the stands.

Now was my chance, and I didn't wait before rushing forward and surging a Combination of Mystical Power into my right hand, chanting a mystic syllable and channeling an overpowered Third Circle Dispel Magic Spell into the glowing blue conduits of divine magic as I thrust my right hand into the glowing blue streamers of divine power. The Divine Power flickered as the Bronze Golem let out another scream that sounded like tearing metal as its literal animating essence was disrupted. Just to be on the safe side, I slammed another pair of Chi-powered punches into the conduits as well. The horrific screeching the Bronze Golem was doing suddenly cut out, and it trembled once, going perfectly still afterward.

I did it, and it didn't even take too much energy to do, thanks to my tactics. Looking up at the stands where Bellona's Throne stood. The Roman Goddess of Battle nodded once at me before standing up from her throne.

"Ulysses is the Victor. We will take a short break before the next match to repair the arena. Should anyone wish to sign up and attempt to beat Ulysses to the Champions Fight, now would be a good time." Intoned Bellona.

I couldn't help but grin at that pronouncement. It seemed Bellona, at least, believed that I could back up my claims. Of course, as a Roman Goddess, she would be one of the ones to know, as one of my Patrons, Janus, was also a Roman God. This was her arena as well, and if I were the Champion Team, I'd start wondering if that confidence meant that they ought to watch out or not. I wasn't too worried about the other potential challengers, however. If Bellona had faith in me, that was good enough for me. Instead, I decided to head to the Hall of Trials and wait for Oz to finish his shooting Trial.

As I passed by Sheeva, I noticed several others lined up to get their names written down. Three of them were more interesting than the rest, though. The First was a Chinese Woman with her hair pulled up in buns, wearing a blue outfit with nylon stockings that showed off the fact that she had legs for days. Another was a Blonde in some kind of tactical outfit who had short hair and an undercut and reminded me a bit of Sonya Blade of the Special Forces. The last was another Blonde with much longer hair in a sleeveless black leather bodysuit with yellow trim, who looked more like a Model than a Martial Artist.

Looks could be deceiving, however, as my Chi Sense pinged off all three of them something fierce, showing that they all had not only awakened their Chi, but that it was much more well-trained and honed than that of a member of the general populace. As I passed by the line, I took a look at Sheeva's list and saw the names of those three near where mine was. Zhang Chun-Li, Cassie Cage, and Sarah Bryant. I'd remember those names going forward.

Then I made it to a spot next to the Hall of Trials, pulling out a battered packet of Red Apple Cigarettes from my expanded jacket pocket and lighting up as I waited for Oz to finish up his shooting trial. It seemed this trip to the Arena was getting more exciting the longer we stayed here. As I took a drag on my cigarette, breathing in the tobacco, I reflected that it was a shame the Compass and Clock would only be around for a limited time. As I exhaled the smoke through my nose, I shook my head, chuckling.

After all, I could get used to this. . .

XXXX

Oz had been ushered into a large area along with two other guys. Both had eyepatches, both were scruffy-looking, and both wore a lot of black. One was noticeably less scruffy than the other, though, and had a tactical vest on and a Pistol that both looked high-tech enough that they could have been something from one of those big high-tech conglomerates. Something like Mishima Industries, Ultratech, or the DataDyne Corporation. Hell, maybe even something like Sunnydale's own recent rising stars in Triarch Industries. The other guy had some custom guns, but they didn't look fancy, more like he customized them in a garage somewhere. He also didn't have any body armor, just black leather.

As Oz was wondering what these two Guys' deals were, though, a Voice came over a speaker as what looked like a couple of streets in an average midwestern small town materialized in the space. Oz could smell the magic there, but the others seemed to think it was tech. He wasn't so sure, or at least he wasn't so sure it was completely tech-based. It could be MagiTech. Ulysses had said there were a couple of folks out there who made a habit of doing stuff like that, especially out in other planes and dimensions.

"All right, Misters Plissken, Snake, and Oz. The Setup for this Trial is rather simple. This average midwestern town has been overrun by Fae Elves. Your job is to clear them out. Whoever manages to shoot the most amount of elves in the least amount of time wins. The current record for the Small Town Invasion Scenario was set by Colton White. He shot one-hundred-three elves and cleared the town in fifteen minutes." Informed the Voice.

"Ain't Elves supposed to be the Good Guys?" Questioned the Scruffier of the two Eyepatch Guys.

"Not these kinds of Elves, Mister Plissken. These Kinds of Elves are more akin to Parasites than anything else. They leech off the energies of other dimensions." Answered the Voice.

"So you're saying Lord of the Rings lied to me?" Queried Oz, jokingly.

"Those were not Fae Elves, Mister Oz. There is an Old Poem in certain planes and dimensions about Fae Elves. Would you like to hear it?" Asked the Voice.

"Shoot." Grunted the Less-Scruffy Eyepatch Guy, who, by process of elimination, had to be Mister Snake.

"Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder. Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels. Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies. Elves are glamorous. They project glamour. Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment. Elves are terrific. They beget terror. These are Fae Elves, from a Dimension known, somewhat unimaginatively, as Fairyland. That's the thing about Fae Elves, though. They are parasites who leech the dreams and creativity of other species. They don't have the right sort of mindset to truly be creative themselves." Recited the Voice.

"Right, so who wants to go first?" Questioned Mister Plissken.

"Go ahead." Nodded Oz.

"Nah. I don't wanna." Smirked Mister Plissken.

"Then I'll go first." Huffed Mister Snake.

"Knock yourself out." Chuckled Mister Plissken.

"Ditto." Affirmed Oz.

"Right, Showtime!" Grinned Mister Snake.

And with that, Mister Snake walked into the town, sneaking around and taking out lone Fae Elves with his silenced weapon here and there. The Fae Elves were actually pretty neat. Dressed in Green Armor and Clothes, with chiseled features, exaggerated pointy ears, and glowing green eyes. Honestly, Oz could see how something like that could trick you into thinking they were the Good sort of Elves. A lot of times, things that looked pretty could be rotten to the core inside. Just look at Harmony and how Cordelia used to act before she got involved with Ulysses last year.

Regardless, Mister Snake made his way through the town, taking out lone Elves before shimmying up to the rooftops of various houses and picking off groups from above, somehow using that pistol like a sniper rifle, but one that could fire real quick. Every time the Elves tried to look for where the shots were coming from, Mister Snake would lie flat against a surface and make like some kinda octopus, blending in with the background somehow to avoid detection. The first time he did that, though, Mister Plissken snorted.

"Optical Camo. Pussy." Scoffed Mister Plissken.

"I dunno. Seems like a smart move to me." Mused Oz.

"Yeah, if you ain't got the stones to go for an assault, sure." Smirked Mister Plissken.

"How would you do it, then?" Queried Oz.

"Normally? I'd try and make the Elves take each other out. Stir shit till something broke, then mop up the rest. Something tells me that ain't a thing that can happen here, though." Huffed Mister Plissken.

"So then you just attack?" Asked Oz.

"A lotta times, if you hit someone hard enough and fast enough, they panic. Their instincts kick in, and they either flee or try and fight back. If it's the second one, they don't usually fight back good enough to win, though." Confirmed Mister Plissken.

"That doesn't seem like it's work." Frowned Oz.

"You got a lot to learn, Kid. Just watch and learn, I'll show you how." Nodded Mister Plissken.

Eventually, the time ran out, with Mister Snake having shot one-hundred-seven elves and clearing the town in sixteen minutes. Not good enough to beat the record, based on the time requirements, with Mister Plissken smirking and mentioning this was what happened when you went for stealth over speed. According to him, it always took longer to do things like that. Mister Snake came walking up, though he didn't seem too put out by his failure to break the record.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" Questioned Mister Snake.

"You're damn right." Agreed Mister Plissken.

"You think you can do better, Plissken?" Queried Mister Snake.

"Two things. One, hell yes, I can. Two, Plissken's my family name. Call me Snake." Affirmed Mister Plissken.

"Two Snakes? Won't that get Confusing?" Asked Oz.

But Mister Plissken was already heading into the mock town. The Fae Elves Reset and Oz and Mister Snake were treated to the sight of one man causing so much chaos that the Fae Elves didn't know how to react. Short bursts from Pistols that seemed like they'd been modified in Mister Plissken's Garage to function like Submachine Guns mowed down groups of Elves as Mister Plissken weaved between cars and around mailboxes, simulated magical attacks splashing against cover as he did so.

Oz had to hand it to Mister Plissken. He was pushing the Fae Elves out of the town quickly. He was definitely going to beat the time record. The only issue that Oz could see was that he was causing too much chaos and panic. Elves were running out of the Town, slipping into invisibility glamours in small groups to try and escape the Madman with the rapid-spitting weapons. That much confusion seemed to work wonders at forcing the Elves to flee, but it didn't seem like Mister Plissken was gonna manage to beat the kill count requirements.

Indeed, as the timer ran out at fourteen-minutes-six-seconds, Mister Plissken had only killed ninety-eight elves. The rest had run in terror, fleeing from him. Hell, the last minute and a half had been Mister Plissken trying to corral a group of elves to bump his kill count up. It hadn't worked like he'd hoped, though, and Mister Plissken failed to beat the Record based on the Kill Count Requirements. As he came walking up, Mister Snake didn't say anything, just gave a knowing smirk. That set Mister Plissken off.

"Hell, I'd like to see you clear a town of hostiles quicker, Sneak Boy!" Scowled Mister Plissken.

"That wasn't the point of the exercise." Retorted Mister Snake.

"I know what the point of the Exercise was!" Snapped Mister Plissken.

"Right, I'll just get going on my turn, then." Huffed Oz.

"Good luck, Kid. You're gonna need it." Scoffed Mister Plissken.

"Don't be afraid to pull out if you need to. There's no shame in withdrawing from an unwinnable fight." Nodded Mister Snake.

"I'll be fine." Waived Off Oz.

As he made his way into the resetting town, Oz smirked, drawing on his Inner Wolf to lend him Speed, Strength, and Toughness. As he did so, his clothes, which he'd had specially enchanted to shift with him, expanded as he got a hell of a lot fuzzier and a hell of a lot more bulky. Then, Oz dashed into town, clawing the throat out of a Fae Elf Sentry as he passed by it before quick-drawing his Revolver and fanning the cylinder into a sextet of stunned Elves, gunning them down before they could even react to the sudden werewolf in their midst. Oz reloaded and charged back into town, popping a pair of shots off against two Fae Elves that were flinging spells at him. They went down, though their spells, a pair of Fireballs, hurtled toward him. Oz wasn't worried, though, jumping up and over the incoming projectiles, bouncing off the roof of a backyard shed, and taking to the rooftops.

Here, he managed to gun down several groups, using his Werewolf Strength and the Parkour he'd picked up over the summer to hop from rooftop to rooftop. Several of the groups he'd gunned down had been trying to run. Funnily enough, the Glamour that they tried to use to turn invisible didn't work on him. The nose knows, after all, and Oz could smell the magic inherent in these projections. He kept firing from his elevated position, bullseyeing Elves with each shot and dodging incoming spellfire.

That pretty much set the tone for the trial, and by the time the Town was cleared of Elves, and the Timer ran down, Oz had killed one-hundred-sixteen Elves in thirteen minutes and two seconds. That was a brand new record, and as the primal power and fury of his Inner Wolf left his body, receding back into his spirit through meditative breathing and the Shamanic Magic of the Matoka Tribe. As he made his way back over to Mister Snake and Mister Plissken, Oz had a grin on his face. Mister Snake just nodded at him, but Mister Plissken gave him a sour look.

"Werewolf Shit is cheating." Scowled Mister Plissken.

"Sour grapes." Huffed Mister Snake.

"Fuck, I don't need this. I'm outta here. I'm gonna drown my sorrows over at that Space Bar. Maybe dance with one of those Blue Chicks with the Weird Headtails." Scowled Mister Plissken.

"They have Twi'lek Dancers at the Space Bar?" Questioned Oz.

"Is that what they're called?" Queried Mister Plissken.

"It is." Nodded Oz.

"Then yeah. They do. You in, Kid?" Aked Mister Plissken.

"Cool. I'm taken, though. Also, not gonna leave my friend." Shrugged Oz.

"Suit Yourself." Shrugged Mister Plissken.

As Mister Plissken walked off, Mister Snake shook his head at the man before turning to regard Oz. Oz cocked an eyebrow, and Mister Snake frowned in thought before nodding once at Oz. What he said next surprised Oz, though he probably should've seen it coming.

"When you turn eighteen, if you feel like going into Private Contracting, look me up." Offered Mister Snake.

"Sorry. Not my kinda gig. Besides, I'm pretty sure you're not from the same timeline as me. The nose knows, plus there haven't been separate special forces branches since the late eighties, and that Patch on your Shoulder says FOXHOUND like it's its own thing." Refused Oz.

"I see. Well, good luck out there then, Kid." Nodded Mister Snake.

Then he made his way out of the area. Oz followed him shortly afterward, after dropping off his revolver. Apparently, his prize for being the new champ was that he could have any number of enchantments put on his gear. He chose to be able to never run out of ammo and also be able to still use blessed silver and cold iron rounds in his revolver. It was a custom job, though, and required Bellona's personal touch, so he had to fork over his revolver for it to be done. With that, Oz made his way back out of the Hall of Trials to meet up with Ulysses. By the time they'd gotten back to the Arena, other fights were going on.

It would turn out that Bellona would be able to enchant Oz's revolver before Ulysses had to fight again. . .

XXXX

I watched as Cassie Cage manhandled a pair of Ninja from the Arashikage Clan, one wearing Red named Slice, and one wearing Purple named Dice. Both wielded a pair of Tekko-Kagi on their arms, similar to what the Shredder had done, though unlike the Boss of the New York City Foot Clan, they clearly weren't Masters of using them. Hell, if my Chi Senses were on-point, and they usually were, neither Slice nor Dice had done more than awaken their Chi and train it to a basic level of competency. That may have made them outstanding combatants against normal soldiers and Martial Artists, but against the kinds of people who fought in Bellona's Arena? They were outclassed, simple as.

"Honestly, with guys like these for their rank and file, it's no wonder the Arashikage Clan became defunct in eighty-two." I huffed.

"Those are real Ninja from our timeline?" Questioned Oz.

"Real Ninja? Sure. From our timeline? Probably not." I responded.

"How do you mean?" Queried Oz.

"Look, they're still wearing Arashikage Mon on their Dogi. You don't do that with the emblem of a defunct Shinobi Clan unless you can actually handle yourself against the kind of guys who that Clan's enemies can send after you. After all, if the Clan's defunct, you don't have their protection anymore." I answered.

"And these guys aren't?" Asked Oz.

"Not hardly." I confirmed.

"I wonder why they aren't using their swords?" Questioned Oz.

It was true, both of them did have swords on their person. Using their Ninjato would give them a bit of extra reach, but I doubted it would have helped them any. After all, Cassie Cage seemed to be a lot better trained than they were. Plus, she had at least a knife and a pistol on her person that she was keeping holstered just in case. It was probably better for the two Arashikage that they didn't pull their Ninjato here.

"Do you think it would help them?" I queried.

"Probably not." Admitted Oz.

"What I want to know is who Cassie Cage is. She seems related to someone I know, but that isn't possible." I mused.

"Why not?" Asked Oz.

"Sonya Blade is too busy with the Special Forces to have a kid. Plus, I doubt she has a sister. They'd have to be twins or something, they're so close in age. That's something mystically significant enough that I would have picked up on that. After all, it's a major sympathetic link to work sorcery through." I pointed out.

"Maybe she's from another timeline. Or like a daughter from the future or something. Maybe both, this place is weird." Shrugged Oz.

"Maybe." I acknowledged.

In the end, Cassie Cage managed to shred the two hapless Arashikage Shinobi. Next up, Sarah Bryant took on a slightly built man in a black suit and gloves with an odd-looking mask. The Man, Going by Grendel, had an odd two-pronged spear that he seemed to wield with deadly efficiency. He was good, well-trained, and clearly kept in good shape despite his slight frame, but in the end, he didn't have his Chi awakened, and against someone who did, and could use that to propel themselves to feats of superhuman strength, skill alone wouldn't be enough. Not when the Chi-Adept had skill of their own.

The weapon made all the difference here, as did this Grendel's willingness to take hits if it meant he could press home his attack. Between his spear, his skill, and his willingness to take hits that would seem absolutely insane to anyone else, Grendel managed to eke out an upset victory against Sarah Bryant after taking a blow to the face that dislocated his jaw in favor of getting a cut in on Sarah Bryant with the razor-sharp edge of his spear that hobbled her. Sarah Bryant surrendered soon after, seeing that she would either have to put him down or be killed. Had I bet on the outcome of this fight, I would have lost my money, which was interesting enough.

Regardless, Grendel forced his jaw back into alignment and strapped it there with a piece of cloth before making his way out of the arena. Next, Zhang Chun-Li faced off against a group of Robots, apparently these were B-One Battle Droids from the same universe and timeline that Kad Bralor was from. Apparently, they were a type of mass-produced soldier of certain, pan-galactic, megacorporations, dangerous in numbers and armed with deadly weapons that could sear through advanced armor. Chun-Li was up against a squad of ten of them.

The alloys used in their construction, and the weapons they wielded, along with their numbers, should have made this an even match. Emphasis on the word should. Zhang Chun-Li was no ordinary Martial Artist, though. Thus far, she was the closest to me in Chi Capability that I had seen thus far. She blitzed through the Squad of Battle Droids, some of which even shot their squadmates, they were unable to keep up. It was when she unleashed her finishing maneuver, a Chi-Powered Kick Combo that struck so swiftly, so many times, that even I had to try to keep up, that I recognized who she was.

"That's the Zhang Family Hongquan Style's Hundred Rending Legs." I intoned.

"Is that bad?" Questioned Oz.

"That depends." I mused.

"On what?" Queried Oz.

"On how winded I am when I face her. I had no idea she was that Zhang Chun-Li." I frowned.

"Is she famous or something?" Asked Oz.

"In certain circles, yes." I nodded.

"Tough break." Remarked Oz.

And with that, I continued to watch the fight. What little of it there was left, anyway. In the end, Zhang Chun-Li managed to completely destroy the Robotic Soldiers of the Future. Those Battle Droids didn't even land a single shot. Next up, Cassie Cage took on another Robotic Soldier, this one apparently called a T-Eight-Hundred from a timeline where the World ended in Nuclear Fire as the Machines rose up to destroy humanity. This one had been reprogrammed as a Gladiatorial Combatant by an interdimensional Gambler, who was apparently watching the fights over some sort of interdimensional comms device in his home dimension. He shouldn't have bothered, though.

After an initial bit of good offense where the T-Eight-Hundred Split Cassie Cage's lip, the Robot was taken apart using some sort of Green Energy that wasn't quite Chi and wasn't quite Magic, but some sort of Combination of the two. The Green Energy suffused Cassie's Body, and she literally dismantled the T-Eight-Hundred by Hand. She would go on to fight Zhang Chun-Li after my next fight, Grendel having withdrawn. I would face the winner of that fight, and whoever won would go on to face the Champion Team. Speaking of which, my next fight was here.

It turned out that I would be facing off against another giant automoton, this time, though, instead of facing a bronze golem empowered by Divine Magic and based on the Ancient Power that animated the Colossus of Rhodes to defend the City of Rhodes in ancient times, I was facing something far more futuristic. A surplus Omni Consumer Products ED-Two-Oh-Nine Enforcement Robot that had been modified and reprogrammed by the same Interdimensional Gambler who had reprogrammed the T-Eight-Hundred to fight against Cassie Cage. It seemed he had more than one horse in this race. That was smart of him.

As I stepped down into the Arena, I looked up to see that Faith and Xander had made their way down to Bellona's Arena. No sign of Willow or Giles, though. They were probably checking out one of the other parts of the Compass and Clock. Hopefully not Camaztotz's Blood Bar. We didn't need people causing a problem that would get them on the Aztec God of Blood Sacrifice's Shit List, after all. That was just something we didn't need, especially with another apocalypse happening in the next six to seven months. At least as far as my Patrons had told me, that was still on the cards. We didn't need to borrow trouble when there was plenty here already.

Shaking my head clear of those worries and focusing up, I turned to look at my Opponent. It was a bipedal, chicken-legged Robot, with a reinforced alloy Chassis. Two miniguns hung in an undersling mount under the main Chassis, though this one had been modified to have them twin-linked in a more central location to help with aim. I could tell that the chassis had been modified as well, and there was the telltale glint of Trinium Weave running throughout the Robot's Superstructure, one that seemed reinforced with magics that I wasn't exactly familiar with. If I were a betting man, and I was, I would say the electronics were also replaced by more advanced crystalline ones, too.

As Bellona called for silence, asking if I was ready, I nodded at her. She then turned to the ED-Two-Oh-Nine and asked the same question.

"Hostiles detected. Ready to engage!" Droned the Robot.

"Then let the next battle begin!" Called out Bellona.

Then ED-Two-Oh-Nine turned to line up its miniguns on me, and my next battle in Bellona's Arena had begun. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. In it, we get to see Oz win the shooting trial, along with seeing Ulysses handle the Bronze Golem. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of new challengers that are effectively racing Ulysses to face the Champion Team, two of which are currently still in the running and are damn competent in their own right. Also, Xander and Faith have linked back up with Oz and Ulysses. Giles and Willow are still shopping around Ayizan's Bazaar. There's a ton of material spell components on offer there that they wouldn't be able to get hold of otherwise, after all.

Other nineties stuff this chapter includes mentions of the Great Kung Lao, Sonya Blade, Sheeva, The Matoka Tribe, and Cassie Cage from Mortal Kombat, Chun-Li and Gen from Street Fighter, Sarah Bryant from Virtua Fighter, Solid Snake and FOXHOUND from Metal Gear Solid, Tung Fu Rue, Kim Kaphwon, and the King of Fighters Tournament from King of Fighters, Red Apple Cigarettes from the Works of Quentin Tarantino, Trinium from Stargate, Ultratech from Killer Instinct, Mishima Industries from Tekken, The T-Eight-Hundred from Terminator, the Datadyne Corporation from Perfect Dark, Grendel from Matt Wagner's Grendel Cycle, Fairyland Elves from the Discworld Novel Lords and Ladies, the Foot Clan and Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Circles of Magic and Spells from Second Edition Dungeons and Dragons, and Oz, Faith, Xander, and Sunnydale from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Eighties Stuff in this Chapter includes mentions of Omni-Consumer Products and the ED-Two-Oh-Nine from Robocop, Slice and Dice and the Arashikage Ninja Clan from GI Joe, Snake Plissken from Escape from New York, and Twi'lek Dancers from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Two-Thousands Stuff in this Chapter includes mentions of B-One Battle Droids from the Star Wars Prequels, Mandalorians from the Star Wars EU Novels and Comics from the Two-Thousands, Colton White from the Video Game Gun, and the Divinely Empowered Colossus of Rhodes that the Bronze Golem was based on is from God of War Two.

At any rate, the next chapter will include Ulysses Versus the ED-Two-Oh-Nine, along with Cassie Cage Versus Chun-Li. After that will be Ulysses Versus the winner of that fight. I'll also have a lot of images out before then as well.

Stay tuned. . .