Looking at the Tiga before him, who stood only three meters tall, Sherlock was a little dumbfounded.
Wait, was this right?
Jujutsu Society had every goddamn kind of Innate Cursed Technique, and it was perfectly normal for some people to develop theirs into all sorts of bizarre things, but wasn't this way too fucking ridiculous?
And if Sherlock hadn't misheard just now, had this guy said "cursed tool"? Or even "exclusive cursed tool"?
Who the fuck in their right mind made a cursed tool into a Spark Lens? The most fucked-up part was that this Spark Lens could actually turn someone into Tiga. Even more fucked up, this Tiga apparently wanted to challenge Satoru Gojo?
What kind of goddamn ridiculous turn of events was this?
Sherlock didn't understand. Sherlock was deeply shocked. Sherlock felt that he might have eaten too many mushrooms and started hallucinating.
Satoru Gojo wasn't doing much better, either.
As everyone knew, Satoru Gojo was a veteran anime geek and a fan of all sorts of weird Pokémon. Even now, his room still held the gaming merchandise and figures he had bought with Suguru Geto back then.
So when this curse user named Eiichi Kurokawa had jumped out to challenge him, Satoru Gojo hadn't been angry. But when Eiichi Kurokawa pulled out a Spark Lens and transformed into Tiga, Satoru Gojo really did get a little angry.
His anger wasn't because his opponent had turned into Tiga, though. It was because his side had lost the battle of presence.
And losing on presence was one thing, but the way his normally boisterous student Sherlock looked as though he'd never seen anything before really left Satoru Gojo speechless.
The kitty was particularly unhappy with the situation before him, so the kitty decided to put his clever little brain to work.
An extremely tiny Blue appeared in Satoru Gojo's palm. Drawn in by Blue's attraction, Sherlock, who was still immersed in the shock of Tiga's entrance, was lifted into Satoru Gojo's hand without putting up any resistance.
?
An enormous question mark popped up over Sherlock's head as he came to his senses. Before he could say anything, Satoru Gojo put on a hot-blooded look.
"Hmph, he's only a mere Tiga! I, Satoru Gojo, am no pushover, either! Sherlockmon, I choose you!"
With that, Satoru Gojo raised Sherlock in an extravagantly exaggerated pose and hurled him toward Tiga.
Meow? Meow? Meow?
The instant he heard Satoru Gojo's equally over-the-top declaration, three enormous question marks popped up over Sherlock's head, and he voiced his confusion.
Wait, was this fucking right?
Leaving aside being treated like a Pokémon, and leaving aside how "Sherlockmon" sounded rather like a Digimon and didn't match Satoru Gojo's line at all...
Was Satoru Gojo fucking serious? Sherlock really wanted to grab Satoru Gojo by the collar and ask the strongest sorcerer of the modern age a soul-searching question.
Me? Fight Tiga?
What could a lowly Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer like me, Sherlock, possibly have to offer against a veteran Giant of Light?
It was no exaggeration to say that anyone could see the astonishment on Sherlock's face, and Satoru Gojo could see it, too.
Upon seeing Sherlock's astonished expression, Satoru Gojo finally failed to hold back his laughter and said to him,
"Calm down, Xia-chan. That's not the real Tiga, just a curse user using a cursed tool. Believe in yourself. You can do it!"
Satoru Gojo paused slightly here, his smile turning mischievous as he continued speaking to Sherlock.
"Besides, this is a rare opportunity. Don't you want to try fighting Tiga? Don't worry. With the great Teacher Gojo here, never mind Tiga-even if Godzilla showed up, everything would be fine~"
Hearing Satoru Gojo's words, Sherlock was decidedly unhappy. After all, nobody wanted to be a Pokémon.
But he had to admit that Sherlock's suggestion was intensely tempting. Nobody could resist Ultraman, and nobody could resist having a fight with Ultraman, especially the most famous one, Ultraman Tiga.
Sherlock didn't mind cosplaying Zetton for a bit, even though Zetton had never appeared anywhere in Tiga's series.
What? Why Zetton and not another monster? Well, first of all, Zetton was a dinosaur. No boy could resist becoming a dinosaur, just as no boy could resist becoming Ultraman.
Secondly, Zetton had huge beams! His finishing light beam was absolutely stronger than Ultraman's Specium Ray...
Just as nobody could resist becoming Tiga, no man could resist Zetton's mighty beams, either...
Ahem. All of the above was purely Sherlock's imagination as he was flung through the air and had no practical significance whatsoever. After all, Sherlock couldn't transform.
Using the momentum of Satoru Gojo's throw, Sherlock slipped both brass knuckles onto his hands in an instant while mercilessly hurling dozens of Ice Breakers toward Tiga.
Reinforced with cursed energy, the Ice Breakers Sherlock threw shot toward Tiga like bullets.
Facing the Ice Breakers Sherlock had hurled at him, Tiga showed no sign of moving. He simply stood there holding Tiga's entrance pose, his only response that extremely familiar Ultraman sound effect.
"Hah!"
Unsurprisingly, Sherlock's Ice Breakers failed to penetrate the opposing Tiga's defenses. Leaving aside how exactly Eiichi Kurokawa had made this Spark Lens capable of transformation, even if the thing was merely a rubber suit, with cursed energy reinforcing it, piercing its defenses with Sherlock's thrown Ice Breakers wouldn't be easy.
Sherlock hadn't expected his thrown "concealed weapons" to hurt Tiga, either. The moment those Ice Breakers imbued with his cursed energy touched Tiga's body, Sherlock's objective had already been achieved.
Still in midair, Sherlock's figure flickered, vanishing in an instant. Almost in the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of Tiga, his fist, coated in tremendous cursed energy, slamming mercilessly into Tiga's body.
To Sherlock's surprise, the seemingly indestructible Tiga was actually sent flying by that punch?
Sherlock was left standing there somewhat dazed, staring incredulously at his own fist, seemingly unable to believe that Tiga was such a dud.
What left Sherlock even less able to keep his composure, however, was the distinctive sound that rang out from the cloud of dust raised by Tiga's crash after he was sent flying.
Anyone who had watched Ultraman would recognize that sound. It was the sound of the light on Ultraman's chest beginning to blink!
He'd made Tiga's light start blinking with one punch?
Sherlock felt that this world had truly gone so mad he could barely recognize it anymore.
Satoru Gojo, however, had no intention of letting Sherlock off. He sat right on top of the perimeter wall, grinning as he cupped his hands around his mouth and called to Sherlock.
"Xia-chan~ Be careful~ As everyone knows, when Ultraman's light starts blinking, he's going to unleash a move~"