NT: Chapter 99

As the circular pulse of bluish white energy came in at me, I immediately was forced into a dodge, as was Athena. We broke apart as the wave flashed toward us as fast as lightning, with Athena levitating herself up into the air using Psychokinesis, and myself being forced into the Dragon Lines using the Techniques of the Great Kung Lao to teleport myself away. As I came up behind the Orochi-Possessed Chris, I saw the pulsing energy destroy the reinforced concrete retaining wall and keep on going, coring through stands as it demolished a section of seating.

"Damn, it's a good thing Nightwolf's Spirit Magic got all those people out of here!" I swore, looking on in shock.

"Stall him! I might have something that can hurt him!" Demanded Athena as she landed and began gathering Psychic Power.

"Sure thing, did you just fucking see him vaporize a huge chunk of this arena?" I questioned with a scoff.

That was probably the most destructive single attack I had ever witnessed. We definitely weren't in the realm of C or B-class Demons or Demonic Vampires anymore. Hell, not even Seiryu or the Judge had been that destructive. I guess when you're being possessed by an entity created by a literal Elder God like Gaia, that's the sort of power you could expect. Unfortunately, I was a Champion. It was my responsibility to help keep the world turning with a minimum of death and destruction. As the Orochi-Possessed Chris moved to fire another pulse of energy at Athena, I knew I had to reclaim its attention.

Immediately, I dredged up Mystic Energy from my core and incanted a magical invocated, stretching my hand out. As I did so, seven shimmering darts of mystical force smashed into the Orochi-Possessed Chris, each hitting him with the force of a stone hurled from a heavy catapult as I assailed him with the Spell of Bigby's Besieging Bolt. The bolts smashed into the Orochi-Possessed Chris, bowling him over and knocking him down, keeping him on the Arena Floor as another would blast him off his feet once more every time he tried to stand.

As the spell ran its course, I snarled, bulking out one arm with the Geki Hou and gathering Chi to fire off a Dai Shou Ha of Master Tung Fue Rue at him as he stood up one more time, the Giant Blast of Condensed Chi slamming into him and blasting him back down to the Arena Floor, destroying the remaining ring tiles and blasting him through the floor of the Arena into the maintenance tunnels underneath. With a shout, I rushed forward, leaping at the Orochi-Possessed Chris as he tried to clamber out of the hole I'd blasted him through, lashing out with a Chi-Powered Flying Kick, the Gekiro of Master Gen. I blasted the Orochi-Possessed Chris back through the Retaining Wall, locking him down with Megakinesis.

Unfortunately, it was taking everything I had just to keep my Psychic Grip on the damned thing, something that, a few seconds after I latched on, would be completely broken. The Orochi-Possessed Chris let out a mighty roar and another wave of power blasted through the arena, destroying the stands that I had kicked him into and throwing off my Megakinesis. Now free from my grasp, the Orochi-Possessed Chris was glowing subtly with Blue-White energy, signifying the deep draw that Chris was pulling on the possession for more power. As he strode forward, I could see the Orochi-Possessed Chris' skin beginning to turn leathery.

"Athena! He's starting Full Possession! Tell me you're almost done charging your attack!" I pleaded.

"Just a bit more!" Insisted Athena.

As the Orochi-Possessed Chris stopped in the middle of the wreck of the Arena Floor, he glared at me with a snarl on his face. He held his arm up and fired a ball of bluish-white energy at me. Once again, I was forced to teleport using the Dragon Lines, coming out of the veins of the earth off to the side of my opponent, even as the ball of energy vaporized another large section of the arena. Fine, if Athena needed a bit longer, I'd have to give her a bit longer. I glared back at the Orochi-Possessed Chris and nodded at him.

"Come on!" I challenged.

Then I launched myself forward at the Orochi-Possessed Chris, rippling my Chi as I did so and using the Senkugoshoha of the Ansatsuken Style to slip aside from a Pillar of White Lightning that the Orochi-Possessed Chris sent surging up out of the ground in my path. The Lightning blew a massive hole in the roof of the Arena's Dome, blasting out lights and causing glass to rain down everywhere. As I came in, I buried my fist into the Orochi-Possessed Chris' Face, smashing a Chi-enhanced blow that should have punched his jaw clean off. Instead, it merely rocked his head back, splitting his lip and bloodying his mouth, but doing little else aside from that.

The Orochi-Possessed Chris smirked at me, grinning through bloodstained teeth, some of which had turned to fangs as part of the possession, as he struck back. His kick hummed with bluish-white energy, smashing me away, breaking one of my floating ribs, cracking two others, and bruising the rest, while also cutting a gash along my right side. I smashed through a section of the retaining wall as I was blasted back by the kick, stars exploding behind my eyes as I landed in a heap. I struggled to stand as pain blossomed down my entire right side, and the Orochi-Possessed Chris lifted a hand at me, drawing in more blueish-white energy with a wolfish grin on his face as he did so.

"Die!" Snarled the Yamata-no-Orochi through Chris' mouth.

Then he fired another pulse of Blueish-White energy at me, and I was forced to use my Sorcerous Contingency Teleport as I couldn't enter the Dragon Lines fast enough while wounded. I managed to teleport away from the Yamata-No-Orochi and came out on the other side of the arena from it. Chris's skin had turned fully scaly, and his mouth had become full of fangs. His hands now ended not in fingernails, but sharp talons. I judged that he was a third of the way through full possession. If he got to be completely possessed, then we'd have failed here, and the Nuke from the USS Dallas would be needed to finish Gaia's Mad Creation. Something had to happen before then.

Unfortunately, I was hurt bad and just standing up was forcing me to use my Psychic Abilities to shunt the pain aside, and my Chi Enhancement to shore up my body. I guess even the sort of Genetic Engineering that Ba'al could do with fusing human and Goa'uld DNA wasn't good enough to make me able to deal with a major attack from what was effectively a Small God in terms of power. The Yamata-No-Orochi seemed to sense that I was on my last legs, too, because it locked onto me with Chris' eyes, now morphed into the slit-pupiled eyes of a serpent, and began to raise Chris' arm for another attack.

Thankfully, Athena had seemingly finished charging the Psychic Ability that she had been setting up for, as the Yamata-No-Orochi, which had previously been raising its pilfered hand to fire off another blast of energy at me, simply stopped moving. This wasn't Megakinesis, and prodding the effect with my Psychic Senses revealed that it wasn't actually stopping the Yamata-No-Orochi from moving, it was slowing down time so that even something so supernaturally fast as the Yamata-No-Orochi was moving at a fraction of a crawl.

"What did you do?" I queried.

"I hit him with my strongest time dilation effect. He should be slowed considerably. He can only move at a fraction of his normal speed, and not a big one." Smirked Athena.

"So you slowed him down so much that time was practically stopped for him?" I asked.

"Yeah. It took everything I had psionically to do, and I had to use the psychic equivalent of a ritual to do it, but I think this should give those three time to finish their seal." Nodded Athena.

"Great, has anyone seen my jacket? I could use a smoke, and a healing potion or three, too." I grumbled, clutching at my mangled right side, the wounds catching up to me.

As I said that, Nightwolf walked up, holding the magically-enhanced Royal Flying Corps trenchcoat out for me to take. I took it with a grateful nod and removed a couple of healing potions from the expanded pockets, downing them one after another as my broken, bruised, and cracked ribs and cut-open side healed up. My right side, which had been mangled and which forced me to lean heavily on Chi and Psychic powers to keep fighting, now turned from a bloody mess into a large purple blotch.

"I saved it for you when the Yamata-no-Orochi began destroying the Stadium. It seemed more useful than trying to join the fight while reeling from the after-effects of my spirit magic." Offered Nightwolf.

"Thanks." I grinned at the Native.

Unfortunately, everything Athena had didn't manage to stop the Yamata-No-Orochi for very long. We had less than one minute remaining on the clock before Chizuru, Kusanagi, and Yagami were finished casting their resealing ritual when a flash of bright, white energy lit up the arena, destroying half the arena in the process. I immediately threw my coat away and turned to see the Yamata-No-Orochi in Chris' Body was free and starting another transformation, its muscles bulging and neck elongating. I spat out the Red Apple Cigarette that I'd only managed to take a few drags off of and immediately began to charge my Strongest Attack, drawing on the Chikara no Hadou as deeply as I could.

"He's loose!" Exclaimed Nightwolf.

"I can see that!" Snapped Athena.

"Less talking and more fighting!" I demanded.

"Right! I can perform more Spirit Magic, but it'll cost!" Cautioned Nightwolf.

"I'm down to Chi Techniques! That Time Dilation wiped out my Psychic Stamina!" Warned Athena.

"Just do what you can, we need to hit it together!" I ordered.

And with that, Nightwolf began chanting in Lakota, while Athena began to charge a massive Chi Ball, the same Senki Hakkei that Kensou used, while I continued to draw on the Chikara no Hadou to charge the strongest Denjin Hadouken I could. As the Yamata-No-Orochi bulged with muscle, towering up into the air like a giant, his neck now serpentine and beginning to bud into more heads, l looked over to my allies. Nightwolf and Athena nodded at me, and I nodded back at them, then together, we let our attacks fly.

As I fired off my strongest Denjin Hadouken, the coruscating mixture of blue Chi and the Yellow Energies of the Chikara No Hadou burst forth from my hands in a wave that seemed capable of blasting through a city block, it was joined by a bolt of lightning summoned from the very sky as Nightwolf invoked Wakinyan Tanka's power, and a truck-sized ball of Chi. Our three attacks mixed in a giant display of power that could have leveled a small town. The Yamata-No-Orochi let out a roar of dismay as it was bathed in the energies, flensing it to the bone in places and charring scaly flesh and corded muscle, forcing it to expend energy to regenerate. That weakened it substantially, though I was huffing and puffing now. Nightwolf wasn't looking much better as he was hunched over from the price the Spirits extracted from him. Athena looked like she was barely managing to stay awake, she'd drained so much Chi and Psychic power in the fighting.

"Fuck! Maybe today is a good day to die after all." I spat.

"Nobody is dying today!" Called out Chizuru.

"You shouldn't've let it get this far." Scoffed Yagami.

"Doesn't matter, Yagami! We're ready now!" Admonished Kusanagi.

"Together now!" Intoned Chizuru.

The three of them put their hands out, drawing on the powers of their clans and the Sacred Treasures they had been entrusted with. Light spilled forth from their hands, coruscating in a display that bathed the Yamata-No-Orochi in light and shadow by turns, turning the colors in the Arena monochromatic for a few moments as the Holy Power of the Three Sacred Treasures seized the giant, sinuous monstrosity that had once been Chris, binding it in chains of light and darkness, yin and yang.

"NO! NOT AGAIN!" Roared the Yamata-no-Orochi.

It was no use, however, the Yamata-No-Orochi was finished. The Power of the Three Sacred Treasures flared once more, and a massive surge of energy flashed through the Arena. For a few brief moments, I found myself blinded by the sheer power on display. When my sight cleared, I found myself standing two city blocks away from the Arena, which was now crumbling in on itself, finally unable to withstand the immense discharge of powers that had taken place within it.

I frowned at the seeming loss of my Jacket, before I was tapped on the shoulder. Turning, I saw Nightwolf, who nodded at me and pressed my jacket into my arms. He, Athena, Chizuru, Kusanagi, and Yagami were standing behind me. I took the Jacket with a thankful nod, tossing it over my shoulders. It seemed that for now, the danger had passed. Everyone was exhausted, physically, psychically, and mystically, but we were alive. The Yamata-No-Orochi had been sealed away once again, and it had only cost the lives of less than a dozen people and an arena that could easily be rebuilt.

That wasn't to say that such casualties were trivial, but it could have been a lot worse, to the tune of over thirteen million people dead and the City of Tokyo destroyed. When you compared it to that, the losses were barely worth mentioning. Maybe that was just the Goa'uld DNA or the time spent dealing with Demonic Vampires in Sunnydale talking. Maybe I was just jaded. Either way, there was only one thing I knew for sure right now. We had just saved Tokyo and possibly a large chunk of Japan from destruction, and I needed a smoke. I reached into the expanded pocket of my coat, pulled out a battered packet of Red Apple Cigarettes, and lit up, taking a deep drag as I did so.

The tobacco tasted like victory on my tongue. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we have the end of the fight with the Yamata-No-Orochi. Before the end, it had enough power to effectively be a Small God, a Demon Lord, or a Minor Old One. If Ulysses, Athena, and Nightwolf hadn't weakened it by combining their strongest attacks, it would have been too powerful for the sealing that Chizuru, Kusanagi, and Yagami had pulled out. Thankfully, they did so, and Ulysses can add a second notch to his saved-the-world tally, right next to the one from helping Buffy deal with Acathla.

Other nineties stuff in this chapter includes mentions of Gen, the Chikara no Hadou, and the Techniques of the Ansatsuken from Street Fighter, Bigby's Besieging Bolt and Contingency Teleport, as well as Megakinesis and Time Dilation are from Second Edition Dungeons and Dragons, C-Class Demons and Seiryu are from Yu Yu Hakusho, Nightwolf and the Great Kung Lao are from Mortal Kombat, Demon Vampires, the Judge, and Sunnydale are from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Goa'uld and Ba'al are from Stargate, the USS Dallas is from Hunt For Red October, and Red Apple Cigarettes are from the works of Quentin Tarantino. Everything Else is from King of Fighters.

At any rate, the next chapter will include the aftermath of Ulysses' first trip to Japan. We'll see how Chizuru covers up the fact that the Yamata-No-Orochi just destroyed a Fifteen-thousand-seat Arena in the Heart of Tokyo. We'll also get more Sailor Moon Stuff.

Stay tuned. . .