NT: Interlude: Mercenary Rumble I

Sie Kensou couldn't figure out how he'd gotten himself into this situation. Sure, he'd been sent away from the Arena to help Kusanagi's Teammates track down the Kidnapped Girl so she couldn't be used as a backup source of power for the Yamata-No-Orochi, but he had expected maybe a few Yakuza grunts that Chris had hired for the kidnapping, nothing more, as opponents. While that'd been part of it, he and the group he'd been with had trashed the few Anjougumi Thugs that'd been around outside the Old Popsi Bottling Plant that they'd tracked the Kidnappers down to, that hadn't been all of it.

There'd been other Mercenaries here, ones that were a lot stronger than some random Yakuza Thugs. Five members of The Zodiac Group, a bunch of Hired Chi Adepts, Psychics, and Mystics, had been waiting for them. It was just his luck that Kensou found himself facing off against Iron Rat, a Wiry Chi Adept with one single Psychic Power, that of the Shingan, which let him read your moves before you tried them. The Guy was armed, too. He used that Okinawan Tinbe-Rochin style that some of their Chi Adepts used, Ganriki Ryūkyū Bujutsu. It had made fighting the guy a real pain. The guy was a real cocky bastard about it too, with his slicked back hair and eye-shaped belt buckle he not only showed he was confident in his powers but also had the attitude to match, constantly putting Kensou down as a lesser fighter.

Fortunately, Kensou was used to fighting against Psychics. After all, he'd been a regular sparring partner of one for most of his life. If your opponent was leaning on a Psychic Power to read your moves, you had to mix it up and go with moves that might seem counterproductive or random. An unorthodox fighting style would generally manage to screw something like that up. Thankfully for Kensou, he'd studied under the current master of unorthodox fighting styles. He just needed some breathing room to reach the flask of Melee Island Grog, and he'd be good to start up his Drunken Boxing. The only problem was, he couldn't get that breathing room! Iron Rat had set the tempo of this fight from the beginning, and his use of the Shingan ensured he kept it, giving Kensou no moment to grab his flask and drink.

As Kensou janked to the side to avoid a thrust from the short-hafted Rochin Spear, he almost immediately found himself being pressed back by strikes from the Iron Rat's Tinbe Shield, having to backpedal to avoid the shield bashes. A bludgeoning strike from the bulbous, mace-like, head at the butt of the Iron Rat's Rochin forced Kensou to duck, only for the Iron Rat to Channel Chi into his Tinbe Shield and blast forward like a meteor. Kensou could only try to block the blazing attack, crossing both his arms in front of him and being blasted backward into a pile of glass bottles, shattering them and cutting his back up in the process, painfully.

"My style was founded by the Hitokiri Usui Uonuma during the Bakufu Era, it has stood the test of time when many other styles could not. You won't be the first to fall to its techniques." Intoned the Iron Rat.

"You think so, huh?" Questioned Kensou.

He stood up and saw the blood on the floor, full of smashed glass shards. It wasn't enough, clearly, the cuts were superficial, even after having his grip on his Chi weakened by Iron Rat's sudden technique. He could win this if he just had a way to strike back and get out of the cage that Iron Rat's Shingan had fenced him into. Fortunately, he may have just gotten that chance with Iron Rat beginning to gloat. He wasn't attacking Kensou if he was gloating, after all.

"I know so. My Shingan sees all, and I see your defeat." Scoffed Iron Rat.

"That's a lie and you know it." Huffed Kensou.

"What? What are you blabbering about?" Queried Iron Rat.

"'Cause if your powers saw all, why would you give me room to do this?" Asked Kensou.

As he said that, he pulled the flask of Melee Island Grog from out of the pocket of his Hoodie and immediately put it to his lips to down the contents. Iron Rat's Shingan clearly told him not to let Kensou drink, because he lunged forward, Rochin Spear lancing out for Kensou's throat, but Kensou bent in half backward at the waist, downing the contents of the flask as the Spear Head passed through the empty air above him where his throat had previously been. A downwards strike of the mace-like butt of the Rochin Spear was dodged via the expedient solution of Kensou falling down, kicking out as he did so with both feet in a sort of lateral drop kick that sent Iron Rat stumbling backward. Kensou hit the ground flat on his back before somersaulting backward and standing up, taking up a stance that'd be familiar to anyone who knew about the lineage of Master Fu Wen Chi and the Beggar So.

"Eight Drunken Gods!" Hissed Iron Rat.

"That's right! I learned from the Master!" Boasted Kensou, Chi rippling through him unpredictably.

"No matter. Unpredictable style or no, I am still better and more experienced than a boy!" Spat Iron Rat.

"Let's find out if that's a lie, too! Time for Round two!" Exclaimed Kensou, before launching himself forward at Iron Rat.

And for the first time in the fight so far, the Iron Rat fell back in the face of Kensou's attacks, pressing his advantage, Kensou swayed aside from spear strikes and staggered away from blows with the shield. He struck out at an odd angle, ducking a spear strike at the same time before rolling along the ground toward his opponent to come up with a Chi-Enhanced Uppercut at Point Blank Range. The Kaiten-teki Kuutotsu Ken of the Lineage of Master Fu Wen-Chi, as taught to Kensou by Chin-Sifu, smashed into Iron Rat's chin from below, lifting the man up off his feet and allowing Kensou to lash out with a backflipping kick that planted Kensou's feet into the small of Iron Rat's back with a crack, causing the Iron Rat to cry out in pain even as Kensou staggered back into a stance.

The Iron Rat hit the ground hard before stumbling back to his feet to resume his stance. Kensou, however, just taunted the Mercenary drunkenly.

"Where's all that spirit gone?" He questioned.

"You want spirit?" Queried Iron Rat. Kensou just thumbed his nose at the Professional Mercenary in response, causing Iron Rat to growl low in his throat in anger.

"All right, I'll give you spirit!" Exclaimed Iron Rat. Iron Rat channeled Chi, forming the blazing meteor-like rush he had hit Kensou with before, forcing Kensou to stagger off to the right to dodge the burning shield rush.

Then Kensou came back in with a swaying punch and the fight resumed in earnest. . .

XXXX

Michelle Chang was facing off against the Paper Rabbit. The Small Woman in the pink poncho with her upturned nose and prominent front teeth was rabbitlike in more than just her size and facial features. Her powers were also rabbit-like in that they were geared toward trickery. Paper Rabbit was a Chi Adept who had a bit of illusionist magic, and she'd already used her spells to bedevil Michelle Chang more than once. She'd made illusory copies of herself that took hits for her, she'd turned invisible only to strike at Michelle when her back was turned, and she'd even conjured some sort of shadowy giant insect creature that could spit clods of dirt at her like cannonballs and would attempt to burrow underground and hit her from below.

In fact, Michelle was fighting that giant, shadowy insect now dodging slashes of its pincers and coming in with punches and kicks that seemed to bounce off the thing's steel-hard, chitin-like hide. As she went in for a Tequila Sunrise Uppercut, dodging a spit-up dirt clod as she did, Michelle reflected that it was probably a good thing she'd been fighting paper Rabbit in the truck lot out back, where they would load the trucks up with filled bottles for delivery. This giant shadow insect that Paper Rabbit had conjured would probably have really wrecked the place up otherwise. There was a rush of air above her head as she ducked under the dirt clod before slamming a Chi-Enhanced Uppercut into the insect's thorax.

She'd put a bit more Chi than usual into the attack, so when her fist met carapace, this time there was a resounding crack and an unholy squealing noise as Michelle realized she'd wounded the Monster. It reeled backward, and Michelle poured on the heat, lashing out with a trio of Chi-Enhanced Punches, ending in a powerful, lunging uppercut. The Machine Gun Cannon Combo was causing cracks to spiderweb across the steel-hard carapace of the giant, shadowy insect. She had it on the ropes and realized that she just needed one more big move to finish the thing off.

Unfortunately, it was an animal, even if conjured by shadow, and when animals were cornered, that was when they were most dangerous. As Michelle began to charge her Chi to finish the thing off with a Bow and Arrow Kick, both pincers came down onto her in an approximation of an axe handle strike, flattening her to the ground and cutting her scalp open from sheer force. Michelle tried to roll away, but the Giant Insect spat out a large clod of dirt that slammed into her side as she tried to stand, bruising her ribs and exploding in a cloud of dirt and dust that sent her staggering backward.

As the thing came in to try and clip her throat and neck with its pincers, Michelle didn't have time to think, ducking on instinct before channeling her Chi into a pair of punches and a kick, coming back up and slamming a Chi-Enhanced Punch into the thorax before kicking out at the arm with a Chi-Enhanced rising front kick, knocking its wild second pincer attack off-course, and slamming another punch into the thing's thorax. The Ultimate Cannon Combo. It managed to finish the thing off as her fist plowed through the weakened, cracked carapace and into the Thing's Thorax, causing it to discorporate into wisps of shadows.

Michelle huffed at that, only to hear the sound of running feet from close behind her, tumbling into a forward roll as the Invisible Form of the Paper Rabbit burst out of invisibility and struck for her exposed back with a dagger. Had Michelle not managed to tumble away in time, she would have been literally stabbed through the back by the Paper Rabbit. As it was, she just barely avoided the attack. Unfortunately, the rest of the fight wouldn't be quite so simple, as Michelle could see the Paper Rabbit casting a spell, muttering to herself in some indistinct arcane language, and gesturing with her non-dagger hand.

Suddenly, the Paper Rabbit took on a wispy, indistinct appearance, throwing Michelle off. The Paper Rabbit came in with a stab as Michelle tried to hit her with a Chi-Powered Front Snap Kick to knock the blade out of her hand. Unfortunately, she seemed to misjudge her attack or something, because her Front Snap Kick missed and Michelle only avoided being gutted by the Paper Rabbit's Dagger by falling back on her ass. She still got cut across her ribs, though. Tumbling backward as she fell to the floor and coming up to her feet, Michelle clutched at her ribs with one hand.

"Why are you doing this?" Asked Michelle.

"Because we were paid, obviously." Snorted Paper Rabbit.

"Then you don't know. You were paid to kidnap a girl so she could be sacrificed for power to fuel a Monster who is going to kill everyone!" Informed Michelle.

"Oh yeah? How do you know that? We were told it was just for insurance." Scoffed Paper Rabbit.

"Listen to me, you've got to help us stop this. . ." Spoke up Michelle, only to trail off as her vision began to blur.

"That's the Sumac Oil taking effect. This fight is already over." Nodded Paper Rabbit.

Michelle frowned at that. The Paper Rabbit was right, she didn't imagine she could win this wounded and blinded. Unfortunately for the Paper Rabbit, she hadn't come alone. The last thing Michelle saw as her sight faded was the large form of T. Hawk swooping in on the Paper Rabbit with a Condor Dive from above, smashing the Paper Rabbit into the ground. Then her vision went black.

She would just have to trust her teammate to handle this himself. . .

XXXX

T. Hawk had defeated the Obsidian Pig, a Half-Empath Demon Sumo who had boasted that he'd trained in the Sumo Sky Palace, a Hell Dimension, where the Demons there taught and trained in a form of Sumo that could create fiery shockwaves and clouds of flammable, poisonous gas. The Obsidian Pig had been tough and strong, but not agile enough to defeat his Aerial Maneuvers. The Empathic Abilities of the Half-Demon Sumo had not been enough for him to do more than slightly inconvenience T. Hawk. He had left the Half-Demon Sumo unconscious in the Loading Bay.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Michelle wasn't as fortunate as he had been, and T. Hawk arrived at the scene of her fight to find her wounded and bleeding, clearly unable to see from how she was stumbling around. He decided to try and even the odds and made his debut in spectacular fashion, leaping into the air and rippling his Chi to dart down at Michelle's Opponent in a Condor Dive, smashing into her with his diving shoulder check and plowing the woman through the asphalt of the parking lot and down into the sewers.

Standing up, he smashed a punch into the Woman as she tried to rise, knocking her down and forcing her to roll away to avoid a stomp. T. Hawk scowled at the diminutive, Rabbit-Like Woman with her dagger, and immediately was forced to parry a thrust from the dagger, slapping the Woman's Arm away at the wrist before grabbing hold of her and tossing her upward, back through the asphalt at ground level to land in the parking lot again. T. Hawk soared upward on a plume of Chi, landing next to Michelle.

"Michelle, are you all right?" Questioned T. Hawk.

"Don't worry about me. The Paper Rabbit's dagger is coated in Sumac Oil. I only got cut with it once, and now I can't see. She also has illusion magic, so be wary!" Explained Michelle.

"Noted." Intoned T. Hawk.

As the Paper Rabbit stood, however, all combatants were slammed back to the ground by the sudden unleashing of power that ripped through the air from the direction of the Arena like a minor earthquake. T. Hawk steadied himself well enough, but Michelle was wounded and needed his help. The Paper Rabbit had to lean on her magic to stay upright.

"What was that?" Queried Paper Rabbit.

"I told you. You've been hired to help unleash a giant monster." Answered Michelle.

"Will you not stop fighting now that you can see you have been duped?" Asked T. Hawk.

"Even if I do, there's no way the Jade Dragon and Gold Tiger will. They always finish a fight once it's begun. It's part of how they market us." Admitted Paper Rabbit.

"Then we will make them see. What of your other comrades?" Questioned T. Hawk.

"Did you beat the Obsidian Pig?" Queried Paper Rabbit.

"I did." Nodded T. Hawk.

"Then no. The Iron Rat's an Asshole, he won't stop fighting if he's been insulted." Sighed Paper Rabbit.

"Then we help Kensou knock him out and go back up Goro and Nikaido against the Gold Tiger and Jade Dragon." Insisted Michelle.

"I suppose. Here." Agreed Paper Rabbit, pressing a bottle into Michelle's Hand.

"What's this?" Asked Michelle.

"Essence of Egyptian Senna. It will counteract the Sumac Oil." Informed Paper Rabbit.

Michelle nodded, popped the cork of the bottle after a bit of feeling around, and drank it down. Moments later, her eyes began to water, and she shook her head, blinking. As she did, she blinked the blindness out of them. She beamed a smile before Paper Rabbit pushed a second bottle into her hand.

"That one's a healing potion. Drink it down, and we'll head for the plant floor to deal with the Iron Rat." Informed Paper Rabbit.

Michelle did so and hissed as the cut in her side seared shut. She would have a scar there, but her cut was gone. She looked over at Paper Rabbit with a frown and shook her head at her former opponent and current temporary ally.

"You could have warned me." Insisted Michelle.

"If I had, you might not have drunk it." Shrugged Paper Rabbit.

"This is wasting time. Every second counts." Reminded T. Hawk.

"Right, come on." Huffed Michelle.

Then, together, the three of them went back inside the plant, past the unconscious form of the Obsidian Pig in the loading bay, and out into the Plant Floor. When they arrived, however, they were treated to a sight they hadn't expected. The Iron Rat, unconscious on the floor, while the softly snoring form of Sie Kensou was slumped down next to him, a flask in one hand. He'd clearly resorted to using the Eight Drunken Gods to defeat the Iron Rat.

That just left Goro and Nikaido and their fights against the Gold Tiger and Jade Dragon to deal with. The quartet had gone off to the basement level of the Old Bottling Plant for their fights. With Kusanagi's Girlfriend in the generator room beyond. Together, the trio descended the stairs to the basement level.

Hopefully, they could talk some sense into the four combatants before a tragedy happened. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. As mentioned, it's part one of a two-part interlude showing how the group that had gone after Kusanagi's Kidnapped Girlfriend was faring. It turns out, Team New Faces being in a popular punk band means they have the money to hire some of the best non-mundane muscle to help out. The Zodiac Group are characters of my own creation, but their techniques and abilities are very much not. Chris also only hired some of them. There are thirteen actual members, so expect to see others pop up in the future.

Other nineties stuff in this chapter includes mentions of T. Hawk from Street Fighter, Fu Wen Chi and the Eight Drunken Gods from Drunken Master Two, Michelle Chang from Tekken, Popsi is a brand of soda from Gunsmith Cats, while the Shingan and Ganriki Ryūkyū Bujutsu are from Rourouni Kenshin, Hell Dimensions and Empath Demons are from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, while Sumac Oil and Egyptian Senna are a poison and antidote from Xena: Warrior Princess, the Sumo Sky Palace and the Techniques it teaches are from Shadow Warrior, while Melee Island Grog is from Monkey Island Two, the Anjougumi is from Ichi the Killer, and all the spells used by the Paper Rabbit are from Second Edition Dungeons and Dragons. Everything else is from King of Fighters.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the second part of the interlude as we meet the Jade Dragon and Gold Tiger. Then we'll be back with Ulysses for the second half of the fight with the Yamata-no-Orochi.

Stay tuned. . .