Chapter 32

The Misguided Tour

Earth, present day: Singapore

A stray cat wandered through a small alleyway, gracefully leaping from old wooden platforms and cardboard boxes till it found a rather shady spot to rest in, the tropical sun masked by the clouds so that only a few warm rays shone down onto the feline, providing a perfect resting place for the day.

Until, without warning, the alleyway seemed to visibly brighten, the cat looked around confused, before letting out a startled hiss as a bright blue light enveloped the entire alleyway, sending the feline yowling away in terror.

As the light cleared two figures were now visible standing in the middle of the path, the first was the Egyptian Warrior Goddess Sekhmet, head of a Lioness with braided black locks, dressed in her blood red chain mail armor with her twin khopesh hanging from her belt.

Next to her was Sobek the Crocodile God. Wearing the very same outfit he wore during his match against Lenin, though now also sporting multiple stitches across his scaly hide. On his head and chest were large indentions in the shape of a human fist, battle scars sustained from his match.

"Are we in the correct place, Sobek?" The Warrior God questioned her friend, glancing around the alleyway they were in. The walls were filled with beautiful graffiti and murals, making for what could have been just a sheet of boring white plaster, into an elaborate canvas filled with various artworks, characters and patterns.

Sobek pulled out a small stone tablet, and it lights up with heiroglyphic symbols and a map, seemingly showing their current location, "Seems so, Republic of Singapore, located on the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Seems like we're in the area known as 92 Arab Street. Apparently a lot of artists have covered the walls of the houses here in artwork, making it a rather popular tourist destination here in Singapore."

Sekhmet gave the walls another look, mildly impressed. "Hmm, I've seen better. Never expected this, of all places, to be where he would choose to hide out."

"A bit strange when you think about it at first, yeah." Sobek said in agreement as he utilized some sort of tracking system on his tablet, "but it does make sense when you do some research."

Sekhmet looked over at her friend, eyebrows raised, imploring the Crocodile God to give further explanation.

"Well... if YOU were to descend down to earth. Where would you choose to go?"

"I don't know…"Sekhmet shrugged, "I suppose I'd go to Egypt?"

"Right!" Sobek replied, "And why would you go there?"

"Because that's where temples and monuments dedicated to our pantheon are?" Sekhmet answered as though this was obvious.

"Yeah! You would go somewhere where you're venerated by humans, right?! " Sobek said in a more animated voice, "Apparently there's a religious holiday here, where they celebrate his birthday on the 15th or 16th day of the First Lunar Month. If some place has your birthday as an entire holiday, Would you NOT want to stay there whilst on earth?"

"I suppose so…" Sekhmet admitted, "So how far away does the tracker say he is?"

"Hmm, not too far away." Sobek responded, checking the tablet, "Which is good, if we came in too close we could have alerted him to our position immediately. And Singapore is relatively small for a country, so distance shouldn't be too much of a problem. Come on, I'll lead the way."

…

(牛车水) Chinatown

After a few minutes of walking, Sekhmet and Sobek soon found themselves in a maze of old yet well maintained shophouses selling a wide range of wares like clothes, crafts and antiques. Multiple cultural institutions stood tall and proud like the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, the scent of mouthwatering aroma emanated from restaurants serving all kinds of Asian cuisine as locals and tourists alike moved through the bustling streets. This was the enclave of Singapore for the ethnic Chinese population, Chinatown, located in the central region of the country.

"How do these humans not even notice us?" Sobek growled curiously as yet another person accidentally bumped into him on the crowded street, apologized before continuing on their way. "Do they not notice our divine presence?"

Sekhmet looked at the crowd of humans passing by them without even a second glance with slight distaste. "Humans on earth are far less open-minded, their minds twist those that are divine and mythical into things they can understand. To them, we are no more than simple tourists from Egypt."

Sekhmet eyes swept across the entirety of the area, trying to spot anything amiss, "Well, Sobek? So where is he?"

Sobek grunted as he put the tablet away, "I'm afraid we have to step in ourselves, Sekh. The tablet only picks up Divine energy in the general area rather than specific coordinates, if we want to find this god, we have to sift through the crowd."

Sekhmet sighed as she turned back towards the crowd, "Are you alright, Sekh?" Her friend inquired seeing the Lioness' disgruntled face.

"I'm fine, my friend. Anyways let's split up to cover more ground, we'll regroup here after half an hour." With that Sekhmet stalked off, closing the book for any other discussion for the time being.

…

Sekhmet soon found herself wandering down the various shophouses, her height helping her tower over the many humans walking past as she carefully inspected them. Both her and Sobek's heightened senses made it easier to break through any disguises or illusion their target may hide behind.

Suddenly something caught Sekhmet's attention, on the ledge above her! Was that… a tail? Long, winding and covered in golden brown fur, the appendage seemed to beckon the Warrior Goddess in a taunting manner before disappearing over the ledge and onto the roof of the shophouse it was on.

Eyes narrowing, Sekhmet quickly made her way down a nearby alleyway so as to not draw any attention, before climbing up onto the roof of the shophouse to begin the chase. But there was nobody there besides her…

Suddenly, the tail appeared once more on the opposite side of the house, poking over the ledge and swinging back and forth as if it were saying, "Can't catch me!"

Sekhmet growled, and with one quick leap, landed on the other side of the house with a loud "THUD!", blocking off the entrance of the alleyway to prevent any means of escape for her prey.

"I must say, I expected this hunt to be longer, S-" But as she turned, Sekhmet found that the owner of the tail was nowhere to be seen in the alleyway. Instead all that remained was a single piece of Chinese dried meat similar to jerky, otherwise known as Bakkwa. Whoever was just here a moment ago clearly left it as a taunt.

The goddess growled in frustration, slamming her fist against the ground as she picked up the meat product to further inspect it. Sekhmet had to admit, the aroma it gave off definitely was appetizing and it would be a shame to waste food.

Sighing as she exited the alleyway, Sekhmet quickly began heading back to her rendezvous point with Sobek. Now that their target had been tipped off, he was sure to be on the move. But as Sekhmet walked through the streets, something else caught the Lioness' keen eye.

Hanging from a clothes rack outside a shop was a simple traditional Chinese dress, coloured a bright sanguine with oriental flower patterns embroidered on it. Being an Egyptian War Goddess, Sekhmet obviously had no interest in fashion or her own looks. But yet, she found herself seemingly drawn to the dress, walking over to feel the fabric in her own hands

"It even feels the same…" She murmured under her breath.

"You want buy?" The old lady manning the shop asked, slightly startling the goddess.

Sekhmet pondered over the choice for a moment or two before sighing, "How much?"

…

Returning to their planned meeting place, Sobek was very much confused when Sekhmet turned up with a bag in hand rather than their target, "I take it you didn't find him?," he chuckled with an eyebrow raised.

Sekhmet growled, "I did, but that joker led me on a wild goose chase before leaving behind for me some meat jerkies as an insult."

"Believe me I know," Sobek grinned as he revealed that he had bought a whole bag of the stuff, "Though it seems like he didn't just introduce you to the local food delights, hm Sekh?"

The Lioness rolled her eyes as she allowed Sobek to view her purchase, "What? Just because I'm a Warrior Goddess doesn't mean I can't appreciate beauty when I see it, might as well make the most out of this mission."

Sobek snickered as he looked at the dress wistfully, "Huh… it's the exact same color as that dress you were always wearing when we were kids…"

"It is, isn't it?"

"Yeah and remember how you never allowed anyone to touch or wash it without leaving with tons of bloody scratch marks?" Sobek chuckled, "I don't know if Lord Ra got more of a headache training us or trying to get you to take that damn thing off so your servants could clean off all the blood and food stains."

Sekhmet grumbled, slightly abashed at these old memories, "I was… considerably less mature back then."

"Smell-khmet, I believe was the nickname me and your father gave you." Sobek replied before bursting into laughter, which earned the Crocodile God a slap to his bruised chest by his friend.

"Laugh and reminisce later," Sekhmet growled, though traces of a sad smile was visible on her face, "Check the tablet now. With our target knowing that we're here and after him, the cheeky bastard is definitely already halfway across the planet."

"On the contrary, Sekh." Sobek replied, rubbing his chest as he showed his friend his tracker, the glowing dot that represented their target still well within the country: "He's still in Singapore."

Sekhmet snarled in irritation, "Great, so he's toying with us now, this should be fun…"

…

Singapore Zoo

Sekhmet's irritation only further grew as she and Sobek gazed up at the large signage written in white and green fonts, indicating the next location their target had led them to on their unwitting tour of Singapore.

"Singapore Zoo?" The Lioness snarled looking over at a big poster showing a cartoonish looking lion mascot, "I swear to Ra, when I get my hands on this guy,"

"Calm down, Sekh." Sobek replied as he purchased two tickets from the counter, "Let's just go in and get this over with."

As the two gods made their way in, they were soon greeted by the Proboscis Monkey's enclosure, monkeys that were for the most part what one would expect from a typical simian with reddish brown fur and long tails. Except that the male's all had abnormally large noses.

"Look! Look!" One monkey chattered to the others as he pointed to the two gods, (Sekhmet and Sobek had no problem translating the primate's words due to their divine nature) "What curious creatures! They possess man's body, yet the male has the head of the river jaw, and the female has the head of a thundering roar!"

More and more Proboscis monkeys came over to the glass screen separating them from Sekhmet and Sobek, ogling at them curiously, like some sort of weird reverse situation where the animals observed the zoo's visitors.

"Ahem, ah excuse me," Sobek started, which caused the monkeys to screech louder in excitement realizing these strange headed beings could understand and talk to them, "He speaks! He speaks!"

"Yes I'm capable of speaking to you," The Crocodile God replied, waiting for the monkeys to calm down." Now, me and my friends are after a certain individual, and we believed he might have passed through here. By any chance did you monkeys see someone else pass by from your lofty perch so high? Perhaps one who possesses a tail like you do?"

The monkey's whispered amongst themselves excitedly for a moment, before a single male with the largest nose amongst the troop came forward, "Perhaps we did, perhaps we did not, O great river jaw. Unfortunately my troops memory is hazy, so we might not be able to remember…"

"Unless?" Sekhmet growled, knowing what would come next.

The Proboscis Monkey's eye lit up greedily, "if I may, great thundering roar? A most delicious scent wafts from within your bag, perhaps if you give my troop whatever it is inside to eat, our memory might just possibly improve."

Sekhmet growled, nodding towards Sobek who held his food bag almost protectively, "Typical, thinking with their stomachs as primates usually do."

Sobek had a look of slight reluctance, but nevertheless nodded in agreement, "Very well, tell us what we want to know and we'll give you the meat in exchange."

The monkeys chittered in excitement, as the leader extended his arms out greedily, "He's headed west towards the Polar Bear enclosure! Now give, give!"

However, to the monkey's surprise, the two gods were no longer standing in front of them. Instead the entire troop felt a wave of intimidating aura crushing onto their backs, causing their furs to prickle in fear as they whipped around to behold Sekhmet and Sobek, eyes glaring daggers at the simians as they stood behind them, having somehow gotten inside the enclosure without them noticing.

"Nice try," Sekhmet snarled as the Proboscis monkeys let out a screech of alarm, huddling together in fear as the Warrior Goddess took a step forward, "but we're gods not idiots, we checked the map and this zoo doesn't have a polar bear enclosure, at least not anymore. Now stop wasting our valuable time, and tell us… where did he ACTUALLY go?"

"Sorry, sorry!" The leader squealed, "Yes, I lied! My sincerest apologies O mighty thundering roar, forgive us! But we were just following instructions, the king told us to lie if you came asking about his whereabouts, we don't know where he actually is at the moment!"

Sekhmet let out another threatening growl before Sobek lay a hand on her shoulder, "Forget it Sekh," he grumbled whilst looking at the tablet again, "He's already left the place." The dot on the map had begun moving once again, indicating that their target had now left the area around the zoo and was headed elsewhere.

Sekhmet cursed as the two of them turned to leave, "S-so… does this mean we're not getting any food?" The leader asked tentatively.

Sobek turned to stare at the troop, his expression wasn't angry, but the fire in his eyes was evident "Long ago I lost my tongue to those who told naught but lies," he growled as he opened his mouth revealing the faded white scar on his bottom jaw that used to be his tongue, "so think hard, do you really think I will award you for lying straight to my face?"

The sight of the Crocodile God's maw and large white fangs sent the troop of monkeys screeching as they scampered to the safety of the treetops in their enclosure.

"This bastard is getting more irritating by the second," Sekhmet grumbled as they left the zoo, "I don't know why Ra insists on having HIM be part of the god's roster."

"He's annoying, a trickster and his loyalty to the heavens is questionable." Sobek replied, looking at his friend curiously, "But without a doubt he is one of Heaven's strongest, whatever round he's fighting in… is a guaranteed victory."

…

(虎豹别墅) Haw Par Villa

"More money wasted on this chase." Sekhmet sighed as they were forced to fork over money to pay for the entrance fee to enter the next location their target had led them to, "What's the reason for him to lead us here this time?"

Sobek glanced around, before leading them towards a stone arch, with Chinese characters translating to, "Ten Courts of Hell" written on the top. On either side of the arch, two statues dressed in colorful Chinese armor stood guard. The one on the left had the head of a white horse, while the one on the right had the back horns and brown fur of an ox.

"Well... This place is a theme park attraction centered around the Chinese Pantheon. Look at all the dioramas and statues of their gods and folklore. I guess leading us here is another way of rubbing into our faces how influential his pantheon is in this part of Earth?"

"Typical…" Sekhmet replied, wrinkling her nose in slight disgust as she observed one of the many dioramas in the Ten Courts of Hell attraction. This one depicting a damned soul getting pounded into a bloody mess by demons carrying large mallets as punishment for their crimes in life.

"How uncouth… throwing their heart to Ammit is a far more efficient and clean method when dealing with sinners."

"Eh, what can I say? Enma and his colleagues always were one for theatrics!" A strange foreign voice echoes from somewhere.

Sekhmet and Sobek whipped around, their eyes sweeping around the dimly lit corridor as they struggled to locate the source of this new voice.

"Achihihihihi!" The voice giggled as the faint light from the corridor casted long shadows, and the laughter, though cheerful, reverberated off the walls with an unsettling resonance. Each snickering echo seemed to stretch and warp, bouncing off the walls and lingering in the air, creating a contrast between the brightness of the laughter and the darkness surrounding it. As well as making it that much harder for the two Egyptians to locate the source, for no matter where they turned, more laughter seemed to appear from every other direction.

"Show yourself!" Sekhmet roared furiously as she and Sobek drew their weapons, prepared for a fight, "Only a coward skulks about in the cover of darkness!"

"Hehehe! Perhaps to you maybe. But willingness to charge headfirst into battle isn't the only thing that dictates strength, princess 'Thundering Roar'!" The echoing voice replied, still playful as ever, "Sometimes you gotta be flexible, malleable, if not… you're just about as threatening as a little kitten!"

Sekhmet and Sobek growled, cupping their ears as the entire room exploded with reverberating laughter as the owner of the voice chortled loudly at his own joke.

"Enough of the games and listen to us!" Sobek roared as he slammed his stave into the ground, "We have some important orders for you to be carried out by Lord Ra-"

"Ah pap pap pap!" The voice interrupted, stopping Sobek from continuing, "Is this how you thank me for giving you a lovely tour around my home? I had to think up all the little locations I would bring you to on the spot, you know? At least be a LITTLE grateful!"

Sobek rolled his eyes, "Alright, thanks for leading us on a trip across Singapore. Which we did NOT ask for, by the way! Now can I talk, please?"

"Hmm… NO! HAHAHA! I take no orders, especially not from Chief Gods. But tell ya what, play one last game with me and I may listen." Suddenly the god's tail swooped out of nowhere, snatching Sobek's tracker off his hands and disappearing into the darkness, "To make the game more fair." He explained.

"We have no time for games, you irritating little...! GAH! Just listen!" Sekhmet roared as she slammed a khopesh into the side of a wall.

The voice ignored her before uttering his next words in a dramatic voice, "By the foot of the three giants, boat above their heads, lies an enchanting garden and diverse food, all for the soul!" Then the corridor went silent, as the voice and its owner left with a final mischievous giggle."

"Dammit!" Sekhmet cursed as she began moving towards the exit attempting to follow, "Come on Sobek, after him!" As the two gods ran out into the rays of the afternoon sun, they spied soaring into the horizon the tiny silhouette of a man riding on a wooly cloud.

The Warrior Goddess lips drew back into a vicious snarl, almost foaming at her mouth as her eyeballs turned a bloodshot red while her iris narrowed like a feline's. Sekhmet's fur bristled as her skin seemed to shift, similar to how Sobek had done before transforming into his Primal Form in his round during Ragnarok.

"SEKH! CALM DOWN!" Sobek growled as he shook his friend roughly, managing to shake Sekhmet out of her maddened stupor before anything disastrous could happen.

"Get off me! I'm fine!" Sekhmet yelled through heavy pants, her eyes slowly returning to normal.

"Are you sure?" Sobek asked unconvinced, "You've been pretty temperamental since the start of this mission. More than usual anyway... Actually you've been weird for a WHILE. Since… around the time your father reappeared"

The Warrior Goddess turned around, her face now eerily calm, "Like I said, I'm fine. Now we've wasted too much time here, Sobek. Where did he say he's going again? Something about three giants, a garden and food?"

Sobek pursued his lips, but nevertheless did not pressed the matter. Pondering over their target's last words with her, he thought long and hard before his eyes lit up, "I think I might know just where he might be…"

…

The Bay Area of Singapore was a truly wonderful sight to behold, various skyscrapers rose high, contrasting against the late afternoon sky. Meanwhile on the opposite side of the bay, was the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel. It's striking structure featured three interconnected towers rising majestically, with a unique boat-shaped SkyPark stretched across them. The building's sleek, modern design and large glass facades gave it a futuristic and elegant look, making it a distinctive landmark in Singapore's skyline.

Behind the hotel was the just as iconic Gardens by the Bay, multiple giant tree-like structures known as super trees dotted across the park, some even having connected boardwalks for visitors to walk on high in the air. Two glass domes, the taller cloud forest and the wider flower dome, housed vast amounts of beautiful flora within.

However it was neither of these two famous structures that Sobek and Sekhmet were headed to. Instead, walking a few minutes away from Gardens by the Bay soon led them to what was known as a hawker center, a familiar and iconic part of Singapore, where delicious food from various cultures were served at affordable prices. And just like Sobek predicted, in the midst of the bustling evening crowd, their target casually sat at a table with a plate of grilled chicken skewers called satays, paired with chunky peanut sauce.

Not that it was hard, seeing as he was the only 'human' who possessed a tail clearly visible to them, the god grinned watching them approach as he picked his teeth with a stick, "So, I take it little Sekhy has calmed down?"

"Never call me that again," Sekhmet warned as the two gods sat down on the opposite side, "now may we FINALLY get down to business?"

The god smirked as he snapped his fingers, his casual outfit consisting of a T-shirt and shorts were replaced with a very professional business suit, though his human disguise still remained, "Indeed we can, but make it quick, my food is getting cold."

"Then I'll make it as simple as possible," Sekhmet answered, rolling her eyes as Sobek reached for a piece of satay, only to have his hand slapped away by the goddess. "You, fighting for the gods, in Ragnarok."

The god chewed on his food thoughtfully, pondering over the request. Swallowing his food, he began to pick his teeth again with his stick, still thinking. Finally after a long uncomfortable silence did he stop, the two Egyptian Gods tensed, awaiting his answer… until he started to reach for another piece of satay.

"MOTHERFU- Just answer the damn question!" Sekhmet roared, sending the god into fits of giggles, "Apologies, apologies," He snickered, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes, "But yeah, so Ragnarok… 13 rounds. Gods win, humanity go bye bye. Humans win, they live for another millennia? What round are we on now?"

"Round 4 just started before we were sent down here to recruit your annoying ass. Lord Ra wants you to fight in the next round, or at least as soon as possible." Sobek answered, still grumpy he wasn't allowed a piece of satay.

"I see, I see…" The god answered, rubbing his chin before shrugging, "Yeah, no, NOPE, nada, zip! Tell Lord Ra that's not gonna happen."

"I know you're brave and rebellious," Sobek cautioned, "But it's not really smart to defy Lord Ra, you know? He is not as... forgiving as the Buddha or the Jade Emperor."

"You misunderstand, Becky! Can I call you Becky? I'm gonna call you Becky." Sobek cringed at the god's chosen nickname for him, "When I say no, I mean no. I'm not gonna fight immediately after the current one is done. I've got stuff going on here, buddy! You can't just expect me to drop everything at a moment's notice."

"What kind of stuff?" Sekhmet questioned, to which the god simply smirked, putting a finger on his lips before swiping it down his jawline.

"Do that again and I'll gut you."

"So what I'm getting," Sobek said, "Is that you'll join Ragnarok… just not immediately?"

"Bingo, Becky! Don't worry, don't worry, I won't run off. Tell Ra that he has my word that I'll be a part of his little Ragnarok, M'Kay?"

Sekhmet exchanged a doubtful look with Sobek, his words didn't exactly reassure them, but it was still better than him outright refusing…

"Very well, we shall relay your words to Lord Ra," Sekhmet sighed as she and Sobek got up to leave, "We wish you well when he inevitably comes for you, fireballs blazing."

"Thank you! Toodles!" The god replied cheerfully, taking the chance to toss Sobek the tablet he had stolen at Haw Par Villa before the two Egyptian Gods teleported away, the entire event that had just gone down completely unnoticed by the rest of the humans seated in the hawker center.

Polishing the rest of his meal off his plate, the god got up from his chair, and made his way out of the hawker center, gazing up at the starless night sky.

"Let's see," he mused, "time it would approximately takes for me to get back to heaven? Probably a few seconds, less if I choose to hurry." The god fished out a phone from his pocket, a new notification indicated that he had just been sent a message from a contact saved as, 'LiverFire'.

The god smirked, replying before looking back up at the dark clouds as he finally shed his human disguise. In the dark of the night one could make out arms and legs covered in the same brown fur as his tail. The gods face meanwhile, consisted of peach skin, a snout-like nose, slight underbite, mutton chops and long messy hair.

"Then again, what's the rush? After all…" Twirling his now glowing toothpick between his fingers, the utensil slowly grew in length and girth till it transformed into a long red cudgel with golden bands around each end. Slamming his staff into the ground, a wide grin spread across his face as he opened his fiery gold eyes. The ground below him shook as though in revernace, as clouds thundered in the distance, for the immortal Monkey King. The Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, was on his way back to the realm above.

"The journey is half the fun!"

August 9 is the National Day celebration of my Home country Singapore, and wouldn't you know it after doing a bit of research there's a really obscure holiday here for my second-last hidden fighter who just so happens to be one of my favourites! How could I not? XD This chapter is basically a love letter to my country as well as a premature introduction for Wukong.

Unfortunately had to cut into Round 4, but hey Sekhmet and Sobek are here as your Duat substitutes, also big thanks to Craftex101 for proofreading this chapter, He's the best.