NT: Chapter 100

In the End, Team Psycho Soldier was declared the winners of the Nineteen-Ninety-Eight King of Fighters Tournament. Chizuru helped to cover up the incident by claiming there was a gas leak of an experimental industrial coolant that was meant to cool the power systems for the Arena and had hallucinogenic effects when mixed with oxygen. A spokesperson for Mishima Industries then corroborated the cover story, and the Japanese Government, not wanting to alarm the public or alert them to the existence of things like the Yamata-No-Orochi, which the Government might not be able to deal with easily, went with the cover story in order to save face. Chizuru would have to do interviews, but the Government had set her up with Mizunashi Reina, who would gladly report the cover story.

In the meantime, I still had a day remaining in Japan before my flight back to South Town. Apparently, Kensou and Athena had booked a flight into Hong Kong on some sort of business for Chin Sifu that involved the theft of an Artifact called the Dragon Mirror that supposedly has the power to resurrect Chi-You, an ancient God of War who was known as a Maneater, when combined with the Phoenix Mirror. Apparently, the Chi-You Men who stole the Dragon Mirror are descendants of Tsu Tang, an ancient Conqueror who was once the Champion of Chi-You. That was as far as I got before realizing that my Patrons weren't urging me to join my teammates on their trip, and I tuned out the rest of the explanation.

With Nightwolf still recovering from overuse of his Shamanic Magics during the fight with the Yamata-No-Orochi, and his teammates having decided to do their own thing till he recovered, that left me at loose ends for a day or so. Of course, I also got a third of the prize money for winning the King of Fighters Tournament. Fifty million Yen, or roughly three-hundred-forty-five-thousand US Dollars. I didn't need the money, of course, but it was more than enough for me to book another night's stay at the Starside Hotel with plenty of extra to burn.

That being the case, I made my way around Minato Ward, looking for something interesting to do. Of course, because this was Minato Ward, close to the border with Shinjuku, I inevitably found myself wandering around Shinjuku. I'd just settled on checking out the Cat's Eye Cafe, since I was told the place was where Sweepers like those employed by City Hunter tended to frequent, when something exploded to my left, throwing me to the pavement. Getting to my feet, I heard cackling from inside where the explosion had happened. The sign that said Crown Game Center was still visible through the smoke even as I caught sight of a fleeing, black cat with the mark of a crescent moon on its forehead.

"No, way." I frowned at that.

"In the name of the Moon! I'll punish. . .Gak!" Began a familiar voice before being cut off again.

"Surely not. I can't be that unlucky, can I?" I questioned, gazing up at the sky.

As if to answer me, a grunt of pain presaged a Fuku-clad, dark-haired form being smashed through the remaining glass of the Game Center. I rushed forward, Chi rippling, and caught the flying teenage Girl before she landed hard on the pavement. Setting her down gently. She looked over at me with a hint of red on her cheeks before she seemed to recognize me. I recognized her, too. It was that Red-clad Sailor Mars Girl from the First Dustup I'd had with these guys, back when I'd been fighting Aries.

"Why me? What did I do to piss you off, Lord Raiden?" I queried into the aether.

"Hey! You're that guy who beat Aries!" Exclaimed the Girl, I think her name was Rei or something.

"And you're that Mars Chick. Rei, right?" I asked.

"Yeah! Look, we might need your help. Recently, we've been up against this Guy who likes to crossdress, and he's been turning people into Monsters. Ones that are a lot tougher than we're used to." Explained Rei.

"Oh." I muttered, frowning.

There was a chance this was my fault. I'd sent that Nephrite asshole back to the Hell Dimension he came from. The Dark Kingdom, or whatever the place was called. I should have known that guys who worshipped an Old One like Yamath wouldn't be deterred by that. If their God dying hadn't deterred them from name-dropping him, I doubt that one of their Generals being banished would stop them from fucking up Tokyo. They would have just sent another one who was stronger than the last one.

"Yeah, so will you help us out?" Questioned Rei.

"Fine, but only because there's a chance this might be my fault." I sighed.

"What do you mean?" Queried Rei.

I wasn't listening, though. Instead, I rippled my Chi and shot off into the burning Game Center like a bullet, charging in through the smoke. What I found was an odd-looking Monster who looked like a reject from a Tokusatsu Show. That Monster was being helped along by an effeminate-looking man whose Chi was super-tainted and who kept casting fireballs at three other Sailor Girls. The First Two I recognized, the one kneeling next to the idiot in the Formalwear was Sailor Moon, while the one with the Blue Hair and Visor was Sailor Mercury. Usagi and Ami, I believe, were the names they'd let slip in our previous encounter. The Green-clad Sailor Girl in the Sōsetsuken Stance, though, was new. She was also the only one who wasn't even bruised.

"Hey! Sōsetsuken! Help your teammates against the Youma, I'll handle the Crossdresser!" I called out. The Green-clad Girl looked over at me, shocked, before the Crossdresser looked over to see me and looked even more shocked.

"You? I thought Nephrite made up your encounter with him to avoid being trapped for all time in living agony! I ought to thank you, though! You opened the way for me to prove myself!" Exclaimed the Crossdresser.

"Don't thank me yet, you'll be joining your buddy soon enough!" I challenged.

"I doubt that. I may not have Nephrite's Martial Arts Skill, but his primary mystical talents lay mostly in Divination. I, however, am a Combat Mage!" Sneered the Crossdresser.

"I'm shaking in my boots. We gonna do this or are you just gonna yap at me all day?" I asked.

"Damn you! I'll teach you to make light of me!" Snapped the Crossdresser before he incanted a few mystic syllables and pushed both hands out toward me.

A wave of flames erupted from his hands, scorching hot enough to melt the metal of the arcade cabinets nearby. I leaned on the teachings of the Great Kung Lao, however, and teleported myself through the Dragon Lines beyond the roiling wave of fire. I reappeared a few steps behind him, Blurring into a Senkugoshoha from the Ansatsuken Style, slipping past the Jet of white hot flame he fired at me one-handed as he whirled about and incanted a mystic word. My Chi-enhanced fist smashed into the Asshole's face, breaking his pretty little nose and sending him shooting backward through plumes of his own flames.

I followed after him, avoiding the spear of blue fire that he shot out at me and flinging a spell of my own at him. A humble magic missile spell that, in the hands of a Seventh Circle Caster like myself, became a torrent of mystical force. The Crossdresser conjured a shield, but that only blocked the storm of missiles. When my fist came streaking in at it, it shattered, and my follow-on kick launched him further backward to crash through a concrete and metal concession counter and shatter the popcorn maker behind it, kernels of popcorn falling down and getting into his prissily made-up hair. He stood up shakily with a snarl and glared at me.

"Damn you! I'll make you pay for that!" He spat.

"Not like that you won't." I smirked.

"Die!" He growled out, charging a fireball with both hands as he spat a string of Mystical Words in his ancient, antediluvian language.

"You first!" I snapped, preparing to plunge into the Dragon Lines again.

When his fireball was finally tossed my way, it was so blue with heat that it was blending into the indigo range, turning to pure plasma. Honestly, parts of the Game Center were just catching on fire from the fireball passing by it. However, plasma was still a state of matter, and if it was matter, it could be affected by Megakinesis. Instead of teleporting through the Dragon Lines like I'd planned, I instead reached out with the power of my mind and snatched control of the ball of plasma before tossing it back at the Crossdresser with a half ton of force behind it.

The Crossdresser barely had time to try and dim his own flames before the fireball had been flung back at him, blasting him back out onto the street. That was probably what saved his life there. I couldn't imagine that even a Guy with as much Dark Magic and Corrupted Chi as he had coursing through him could survive something like that. Pure Plasma like that could melt through even something as tough as Trinium, after all. It was the reason that Goa'uld like Ba'al used Plasma Weapons for their forces. Instead of a skeletonized corpse or a pile of ash, I found a badly charred crossdresser trying to crawl away to safety when I followed the explosion outside. Fortunately, there was nobody on the street, everyone else had sought shelter or booked it elsewhere when the explosions started. I made my way over toward him, casually.

"I gotta hand it to you. That was one Hell of a Spell. Pun not intended, of course. I'm not sure if I could have taken that head-on and lived. You're definitely a better Combat Mage than your buddy Nephrite was. He wanted to go sword to sword with me, as if I was inclined to show any sportsmanship whatsoever to guys who are delusional enough to use the promise of a dead Old One like Yamath to motivate the rank and file." I intoned.

"Yamath. . .will. . .rise. . .again. It's. . .not. . .delusion!" Bit out the Crossdresser.

"Buddy, Yamath's dead. His brothers are all either dead or sealed away in the Deeper Well. None of your Hoary Old Gods are coming back, no matter how much energy you feed them. Even Set realized it wasn't worth it and fucked off to dimensions unknown, and he lasted the longest out of all of them." I blinked.

"Blasphemer. . ." Hissed the Crossdresser.

"Oh. Oh shit. You're a true believer! I don't believe this, that's too fucking funny!" I chuckled.

"Heretic. . .just. . .like. . .Nephrite!" Scowled the Crossdresser.

"Nephrite was apparently more realistic about your chances than you were. You can tell him I said that when you join him in whatever punishment your Queen puts you guys in." I intoned.

"Fuck. . .you!" Snarled the Crossdresser.

"No thanks. I'm not into dudes. Even if I was, I wouldn't be into ones that'd been feeding on Dark Energy so long they were essentially Demons themselves." I smirked.

And with that, I began chanting in mystic syllables, dredging up magical power from my core, and casting the Seventh Circle Spell of Banishment. Just before the spell took hold, however, I fixed the crossdresser with a glare and said one more thing.

"By the way, you can tell your queen that if I have to deal with you guys again, I'm gonna come down there to wherever this Dark Kingdom is and deal with you guys permanently. Don't make me do that, you won't like the outcome." I warned.

Then the Banishment spell took hold, and the Crossdresser was whisked away back to whatever Hell Dimension the Dark Kingdom was part of. I honestly had no clue whether or not I could do what I'd threatened, but given the quality of the two Generals I'd faced so far? I was willing to make the threat anyway. I'd deal with the consequences afterward if I had to. Besides, I was heading back to South Town after this anyway, so a Hell Dimension localized to Tokyo wasn't likely to be something I dealt with anytime soon, regardless.

For now, I made my way back into the burning Arcade and began casting spells to douse the flames. Ironically, the Blue-Haired Sailor in the Visor, Ami, was already doing something similar, though her mist spell or whatever it was didn't seem optimized for the task. It was helping, though. Aside from that, there was no sign of the Tokusatsu Reject Youma. Instead, there was a Brown-Haired Kid in glasses lying unconscious on the floor next to the Green-clad Sailor Girl. I guess she managed to knock him out, though from the look on Usagi's face, she'd helped. . .somehow.

"Hey, Sōsetsuken, looks like you handled it all right." I nodded.

"Makoto. My name's Makoto, not Sōsetsuken." Informed the Green-Clad Sailor Girl, Makoto.

"Isn't that a Guy's name?" I asked.

"Hey! It's a perfectly fine name for a Girl!" Snapped Makoto.

"Sorry, sorry. Anyway, I didn't know your name, so I just called you by what I knew you as. You were in a Sōsetsuken Stance when I arrived, and Sōsetsuken was faster to say than 'Green Sailor Girl'." I responded.

"You could have called me Sailor Jupiter." Pointed out Makoto.

"Yeah, I've gotta be honest, this whole Sailor thing is new to me. We don't really get Magical Girls back home in the States." I insisted, pulling a battered packet of Red Apple Cigarettes out of my coat pocket.

"You smoke?" Questioned Makoto.

"Yeah, why? Wanna bum one?" I queried.

"No! I'm not old enough, and you don't look like you are either!" Huffed Makoto.

"Looks can be deceiving. Anyway, you won't have to deal with that Crossdresser again. I sent him packing back to whatever the Dark Kingdom is for a year and a day. He was pretty badly burned, though, so I doubt he'll be back. The Youma don't strike me as the type to take mercy on a wounded commander when they could kill him and move up the ranks instead, after all." I informed.

"How?" Asked Usagi.

"He made the classic blunder that all Primarily Combat Mages are prone to in one form or another. He relied so much on powerful spellwork that he didn't stop to think about what happens if someone hits you with your own spell. Once I'd riled him up enough, the rest was easy. There's a reason folks associate evocation with fireballs, and it isn't just cause of the spell." I explained.

"That's Clever." Mused Ami.

"That's strategy. You learn to use it or you die when someone stronger comes along." I shrugged.

"Stronger than you? I heard you beat this Guy and Nephrite! Who's stronger than that?" Questioned Rei.

"There's always a bigger fish. If you think I'm strong, you should see Akuma of the Satsui no Hadou. Or Master Gen of the Crane and Mantis. Hell, there are probably dozens of Fighters stronger than I am, and that's just the Human Ones. It's the same for Sorcery, I'm only a Sorcerer of the Seventh Circle, Circles go up to Nine for Purely Mortal Sorcery, and that's without mentioning any Demons, Immortals, or Special Bloodlines, all of which can do stuff I can't even if I had mastered the Ninth Circle. As for Psychic Powers, I barely qualify as a mid-level Psychic." I answered.

"Huh. I guess I never realized how big the world is." Mused Rei.

"Look, are you good to get out of here before the Cops show up, or am I gonna have to help you out there too?" I queried.

"Tuxedo Mask needs help!" Blurted out Usagi.

"Who?" I asked.

"That's Tuxedo Mask." Ami relayed, pointing at the Unconscious Guy in the formal wear.

"Right. Stupid question. You're lucky I even have any of these left after what went down yesterday. Here, you can have one. I'm keeping the other in reserve." I sighed, reaching into my coat and pulling out one of my last two healing potions that I had brought along.

"Interesting. A healing potion." Mused Ami as she seemed to be scanning my Potion with her visor.

"Hey, don't analyze my potions. It's rude." I huffed.

"Sorry. I think this is the first time I've seen magic not related to the Moon Kingdom. I got a bit excited." Apologized Ami.

"Yeah, well, for future reference, unless a Sorcerer says you can reverse-engineer their potions, don't do that. Not unless you're enemies or something. We can get pretty grumpy about trade secrets, and all." I cautioned.

"Noted." Nodded Ami.

"So, you're a Sorcerer, a Martial Artist, and a Psychic?" Questioned Makoto.

"Yes, and?" I queried.

"Can you tell what I'm thinking?" Asked Makoto.

"I don't need to be a psychic for that. I'm too old for you. You can't be more than what? Fourteen?" I questioned.

"So? You can't be that much older, right?" Queried Makoto.

"Like I said, looks can be deceiving." I opined before reaching into my coat pocket and pulling out my ID. True, it wasn't my actual age, but my actual age wasn't even in double digits, given how I'd been genetically engineered in a lab. Besides, this one would get the love-struck Barely-a-Teenager off my back so I could leave.

"Oh." Frowned Makoto.

"Yeah, Oh. Besides, I'm leaving back home tomorrow morning anyway." I nodded.

"Wait, what if we need your help again?" Asked Usagi.

"Sorry, but I have a life that doesn't involve sticking around Japan indefinitely. If you want my advice, look into learning strategy." I replied.

Then, with a jaunty wave, I turned around and headed out of the wreck of the Games Center. As I did, I lit up my Cigarette and took a drag. At the very least, I wouldn't have to deal with those girls again. At least not any time soon. Besides, Chizuru promised to keep an eye on things in regards to the Dark Kingdom after I left. I'd really done all I could for them. If they couldn't handle it now that I'd taken out two of the Dark Kingdom's Generals, then Chizuru would step in. I was done with this.

I spent much of the rest of my time in Tokyo wandering about Shinjuku before heading back to the Starside Hotel for dinner and to sleep. The next morning, I found myself on a Far East Airlines flight back to South Town. Fourteen hours later, I had landed back in the States, ready for a bit of rest after the whole debacle with the Yamata-No-Orochi.

Unfortunately, events would conspire to see me back on the road again before the week was out. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the next chapter. In it, we see how Chizuru intends to deal with the aftermath of the Yamata-No-Orochi and tie up loose ends with the Sailor Scouts in Japan. It seems that dealing with Nephrite Early for them resulted in Beryl just sending Zoisite earlier. Fortunately, the Sailor Scouts had Ulysses to lean on with his penchant for stumbling into hijinks, allowing him to help deal with Zoisite's attempt to awaken Gamecen of the Seven Great Youma.

Other nineties stuff this Chapter includes mentions of Mishima Industries from Tekken, Mizunashi Reina from Case Closed, the Dragon Mirror, Phoenix Mirror, and Chi-You Men are from Shenmue, while Chi-You and Tsu Tang are from the Settlers Three, Nightwolf and the Great Kung Lao are from Mortal Kombat, while Gen, the Ansatsuken, and Akuma are from Street Fighter, The Sailor Scouts, Dark Kingdom, and Youma are all from Sailor Moon, while Yamath and Set are from Conan the Barbarian, the Deeper Well and Hell Dimensions are from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Cat's Eye Cafe is from City Hunter, while the Goa'uld and Ba'al are from Stargate, Banishment, Magic Missile, Megakinesis, and Circles of Spellcasting are from Second Edition Dungeons and Dragons, while the Sōsetsuken is from Double Dragon, Red Apple Cigarettes are from the Works of Quentin Tarantino, and Far East Airlines is from Toy Story Two. Finally, the Starside Hotel is from Kaiji. Everything else is from King of Fighters.

At any rate, the next couple of chapters will be a couple of interludes showing events in places like Sunnydale, Seacouver, and New York City as we look back in on people that Ulysses has helped out in the past. Consider it something of a Hundredth Chapter Bonus.

Stay tuned. . .