Chapter 84

Stepping out of the Fuji Air Terminal in Haneda Airport, I mentally reviewed what I knew about the tournament while we waited for our bags at the Baggage Claim. After the supposed terrorist bombing that blew up the Kagura Stadium at last year's finals, the KOF tournament committee had decided to centralize the Tournament in Tokyo, where, presumably, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and JSDF would be on hand to stop more destruction. Kagura Stadium Two, as it was being called, had been built in Roppongi specially for the tournament. The idea was, apparently, to revitalize the district, many of whose clubs were shut down following the Japanese Recession a few years ago.

Of course, there was also the fact that Rappongi was fairly close to Shinjuku and Juuban, which meant that any would-be terrorists would also likely have to contend with the Sweepers of City Hunter or Juuban's mysterious protectors to boot. Given how City Hunter tended to work against mundane combatants compared to the Demons that plagued Juuban intermittently, though, I'd trust the latter to defend against the actual culprit over the former. After all, it was unlikely that City Hunter's Sweepers could do much against a mystical threat that was immune to bullets like the Yamata-no-Orochi. Meanwhile, by fighting Demons, Juuban's mysterious protectors showed they had at least some mystical firepower.

Of course, there were other reasons for being thankful that City Hunter was close by as well. Roppongi was basically infested with Yakuza who'd fled the chaos of Shinjuku after the downfall of the Anjougumi Yakuza Group a few years ago. While Shinjuku was more or less stable now, it'd taken a year and a half for it to get there, during which point, the Yakuza in Roppongi had basically solidified into one gang, led by a man known only as Kuma, who it was claimed had been a member of a secret Super-Soldier project code-named Squad Seven-Oh-One.

Of course, I was aware was real thanks to my downloaded information. Apparently, the genetic science that had gone into that project had been partially used in my own creation. The guy was capable of the same sort of things that Chi Adepts could do just by dint of his genetic enhancements. Leap up the sides of buildings, punch with deadly force, tank lethal blows, and so on. That was before throwing Chi Use into the mix. My downloaded information put him on a similar level to Kobra from the Black Dragon. My info was a few years old, though. He could be closer to someone like the Shredder right now, or even beyond if he'd worked at it.

Regardless, it meant that this was a tense situation to inject an ancient monstrosity like the Yamata-no-Orochi into. Between the Yakuza under Kuma in the district and the Demons next door in Juuban, our best bet was to ensure the Yamata-no-Orochi never woke up even partially. The Juuban Demons would feel that and so would any Makai Demons in the area who had slipped through the cracks of the local Gods and their Spirit Detective Watchdogs. That was before adding the genetically enhanced Yakuza Leader into things. I wasn't so sure we could handle all of that. Not all at once, anyway.

By the time we got our bags, I was fully alert and prepared for a potential disaster. Kensou and Athena must have noticed that as well because they asked about it while we waited for our ride to the Starside Hotel, where we'd be staying for the Tournament. Starside was one of the better Hotel Chains, the Japanese equivalent of the Four Seasons. Mind you, the Hotel started as a money laundering scheme for the Teiai Corporation in the late eighties that got spun off into a legitimate business venture that only occasionally hosted illegal gambling events by the early nineties. It was just too lucrative to keep connected to money laundering like that.

"So, you seem on edge." Began Athena.

"I am on edge." I responded.

"OK, why?" Questioned Kensou.

"I don't think you guys get how delicate the situation in and around Roppongi is. Not just with the Yamata-no-Orochi, either." I frowned.

"Wait, are you talking about the Yakuza?" Queried Kensou.

"Partially, but also the situation in Juuban." I pointed out.

"Come on, we can handle a few Yakuza thugs, can't we?" Asked Athena.

"Thugs yes, their leader is a Genetically-enhanced Super-Soldier, though. Think someone who can leap up two stories, tank knife strikes without getting cut, and punch through brick walls before you add Chi into things." I huffed.

"Does he actually know how to use Chi?" Questioned Athena.

"Probably. My information is a couple of years out of date, though. He could be even stronger." I warned.

"Huh. Why isn't this guy in the tournament?" Queried Kensou.

"It's invite-only, Kensou. You know that." I responded.

"Which begs the question, how do you know all this?" Asked Athena.

"I know more than just this. For instance, if the Yamata-no-Orochi wakes up even a tiny bit, every demon in Tokyo will feel it. Juuban's odd Demons, Makai Demons, the odd Western Demon, or Jiangshi that might be around, all of them. We could be dealing with a feeding frenzy at the same time as we're trying to contain the Yamata-no-Orochi." I pointed out.

"But we'll have allies, right? I mean, every Shinobi Clan and Demon Hunter in the City will be helping deal with that stuff." Pointed out Kensou.

"I just want you to be prepared. I'm not sure what Demon Hunters are around outside Juuban's mysterious protectors, but I know the Hayabusa Clan and the Azuma Clan maintain minor holdings in Tokyo, while other clans like the Mugen Tenshin and so on are largely absent in the City. Tokyo is largely still Foot Clan territory, and those guys don't exactly like me." I retorted.

That seemed to sober up Kensou and Athena somewhat as they realized exactly what sort of situation we were walking into. Hopefully, the local Gods had a Spirit Detective or two in the area. We also maybe could count on the Chi Adepts of Nerima Ward to help, though I doubted it. The less said of the goings-on of people like Saotome Ranma, the better. Thinking about that brand of crazy was hazardous to your mental state at the best of times. There was a reason they called the Chi Adepts of Nerima the Wrecking Crew, after all. They'd be about as likely to wreck up the districts they were trying to defend as they were to defeat any Demons that showed up.

Eventually, however, our car arrived to take us to our hotel. A Lincoln Town Car, which I thought was unusual for Japan, with an Older Male Driver. We lapsed into silence on the way to the Starside Hotel in Roppongi. No need to scare the driver, after all. It was as we were passing through Juuban, however, that something happened to throw us all off our game. We were stopped at a red light, waiting for a group of pedestrians to cross the street near a shopping district when suddenly there was a booming noise and a flash of light. Looking around frantically, my Mystical Radar pinged off the top of a nearby building. Some sort of lower-mid-tier Demon was nearby and approaching fast!

"Get down! I shouted.

I forced our driver down into a hunch with Telekinesis just as something made of gold fur, hooves, muscle, and sheer, demonic, power landed on the hood of the town car, demolishing the engine and smashing the glass. The Car was stopped dead as the Demon killed it, much to the shock of the nearby pedestrians who all began to run away in terror. The Demon leaped onto the road to begin chasing pedestrians, but I wasn't about to allow that. With a surge of Megakinesis, I ripped the doors off the dead Town Car.

"Everyone out!" I ordered, getting out myself.

I got my first look at the Demon as I did so. It was nine feet tall, covered in a bristly hide of golden hair. Instead of feet, it had hooves like those of a ram. Fitting, considering it's horned, ram-like, head. However, the talon-tipped fingers, torrential demonic aura, and sharp fangs indicated that this was no mere herbivore. No, this was a predator, and one I did not recognize. Whatever Hell Dimension it called home was clearly not one of the more well-known ones. It reached for one of the fleeing pedestrians, some girl who wasn't fast enough to run away or hide, but I wasn't having it.

In a burst of Chi, I blurred into a Senshippou, the Chi-powered punch and kick combination smashing it away from the girl, who had to have been no older than thirteen. The Demon stumbled back away from the girl and I clamped onto it with Megakinesis, holding the Demon in place through sheer, psionic, might. I turned to the frightened girl, who was wearing a Sailor Fuku as if she'd just gotten out of junior high for the day and had headed out to go shopping with friends only to be stopped by a Demon Attack.

"Run, I'll deal with this!" I intoned in Japanese.

The Girl nodded, before fleeing. It was the sensible thing to do, of course. Turning back to the Demon I realized it was struggling to break free of my psychic hold. Megakinesis could root a moving car or van in place, but the sheer physical power this Demon seemed capable of was able to contest that power. As it tried to break free more violently, instead of clamping down harder, I cut my hold entirely. It lunched up off the pavement suddenly and stumbled, not prepared for a sudden cessation of the hold.

I cracked my neck as the Demon righted itself and spat a gout of golden fire at me before I burst forward in a Senkugoshoha of the Ansatsuken. I bypassed the flames entirely thanks to the technique, which melted a nearby steel mailbox, setting the few letters in it alight, and slammed a Chi enhanced first into the Demon's Solar Plexus. The force of the blow knocked the Demon back and I grinned at that. The Demon regained its footing swiftly, moving to block the flying, Chi-enhanced, knee strike I launched at it by crossing its arms in front of its head. It breathed more gold flames, but I kicked off its chest, propelling myself clear of the blast and flipping around in mid-air to land on my feet.

"Who the Hell are you?" Demanded the Demon in Japanese.

"The guy who's about to end you. You know, I should be thanking you. I was cooped up on a plane for over Sixteen hours. It's good to get in some exercise after that." I smirked.

"Fool! I'll tear you apart!" Snarled the Demon, rushing forward.

I janked to the side to dodge, glancing to my left to see Athena and Kensou busily helping pedestrians who had hunkered into cover escape the scene of battle. That was good, it meant I could cut loose. I slammed a Shaolin Fist of the Great Kung Lao into the ribs of the Demon before skipping back away from it. It roared out in anger and pain before blurring into a charge. I moved to dodge out of the way, only to find that I wasn't the intended recipient of the charge. The Demon headbutted Kensou away from a mother and daughter pair he was helping to escape, sending him flying into a parked car, smashing in the side of the unfortunate Mitsubishi. The Mother screamed at the sudden appearance of the Demon next to her, and the Demon commenced his real attack.

The Demon grabbed hold of the Mother's wrist and then did something I hadn't seen before. He ripped a portion of the Mother's Chi out of her body and devoured it, growing stronger. The mother fell to the ground, unconscious like a puppet with its strings cut. Apparently, the Demon was a Chi Vampire, like a Jiangshi or something. The Demon turned to me with a menacing snarl as it stalked back toward me now that it had powered itself up a bit.

"Time for round two! I'll teach you to mess with Aries of the Dark Kingdom!" Snarled the Demon in Japanese.

"Come get some!" I challenged back in Japanese.

And the fight recommenced anew. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, here's the next chapter. In it, we see the situation on the ground in Tokyo involving local players near Roppongi and watch Ulysses get mixed up in the Youma Situation in Juuban because he's a trouble magnet par excellence like that. He could have run, of course, but then a pedestrian would've been eaten and that dog just wouldn't hunt. Plus, he needs the exercise after being stuck on a sixteen-and-a-half-hour flight from South Town to Tokyo.

A note on where we are in Sailor Moon Continuity. We're still in Early Sailor Moon. Jadeite has been supplanted by Nephrite, but that only happened very recently. This Youma, by the way, isn't a Canon one. I went with another Youma based on a Constellation since Nephrite does that, but in canon, there was no Youma for Aries.

Other nineties stuff this chapter includes mentions of Fuji Air from Die Hard Two, the City Hunter Sweeper Organization from City Hunter, Youma and the Dark Kingdom from Sailor Moon, the Anjougumi from Ichi the Killer, Squad Seven-Oh-One from Jet Li's Black Mask, the Nerima Wrecking Crew and Saotome Ranma from Ranma One-Half, the Hayabusa Shinobi Clan from Ninja Gaiden, the Azuma Shinobi Clan from Tenchu Stealth Assassins, the Mugen Tenshin Shinobi Clan from Dead or Alive, the Starside Hotel and Teiai Corporation from Kaiji, Makai Demons and Spirit Detectives from Yu Yu Hakusho, and the Foot Clan and Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Black Dragon, Techniques of the Great Kung Lao, and Kobra are from Mortal Kombat, while the Senkugoshoha and Ansatsuken are from Street Fighter, and Megakinesis is from Dungeons and Dragons Second Edition. Everything else is from King of Fighters.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve an appearance by some of the Sailor Senshi and the rest of the Aries fight.

Stay tuned. . .