Chapter 10: Phoenix Ascendant
Hey, so I found a song that fits Saint Seiya pretty well—Hoshizora no Message (A Starry Sky's Message), the ending theme from the show Uchuu Keiji Gavan (roughly 'Space Sheriff Gavan').
Seiya jogged down the main street, traffic still roaring past even at midnight. Jabu and Isaac are both back at the docks…Shun's gonna be tough to beat, hope June finds him 'round when I do—ah!
A powerful, violent Cosmos had suddenly flared up at the centre of the city. Definitely Shun…he must be calling us out. Challenge or trap, though?
Whichever, can't let this chance go. He swung around to face the distant power, sprinting off towards it. Damn, this is exhausting…been running around the city all night…next time I fight somebody, they're all gonna have to come to me.
It wasn't hard to track Shun; aside from the signal he'd sent out, the ten-foot wall of flame blocking off a block's worth of the main road was a fairly safe bet. Fire trucks swarmed around the affected area, pouring on water to no avail. Seiya ducked between them, slipping up to the fire unnoticed and diving through, emerging mostly unscathed—as a result of spreading his power over such a large area, Shun had only been able to create a barrier strong enough to keep normal humans out.
The fire-encircled area was almost barren, the air heavy and with stifling heat. Shun stood in the centre of the road in his Phoenix Cloth, facing away from Seiya, flames lapping about his feet.
"This is the last time!" Seiya called over to him. "Wherever all this hate comes from…I'm gonna crush it!"
Shun gave a short, hollow laugh. "It had to be like this...yes, it had to be you and me, didn't it?"
"I'm not the only one of us still up and around," Seiya said. "It's not just—"
Shun shook his head. "Chameleon won't get here in time. I've seen to that."
"Afraid to fight us both at once?"
"You know that isn't true," he answered. "I could take three of you, easy. But neither she nor Cygnus particularly interests me…my main feud is with my brothers, and I can't have any interruptions."
"Brothers?" Seiya raised an eyebrow. "Last I checked, you only had the one."
"You'll understand when you're older," Shun said with a cruel smile.
"Ugh, whatever." Seiya paused. "But…what exactly did you do to slow her down?"
"It was right around when you were starting to pick off my Black Saints…I decided to, I guess you'd say, even up the odds."
June made the leap to the next rooftop, heading towards Shun's distant Cosmos—and was immediately tackled out of the air by a large, heavy figure. They fell towards the alley below, bouncing painfully from one wall to the other before hitting the ground hard, rolling apart with a chorus of pained groans.
She sprang up as soon as she was able, readying herself to fight—and was confronted with the terrified face of the Lionet Saint, Ban. "You're…? Why did you—"
"You gotta help me," he mumbled, his features stark with fear. "They…they're everywhere, I…help me, they're all…right behind—they're—"
"Calm down!" she snapped, reaching for him.
He flinched away, almost shrieking. "No…no, no! You're one of them, aren't you?!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" He's gone completely mad…
"I won't…I won't—you can't—!" he yelled, lunging at her. She dodged back, his hands almost brushing her.
This—! He wasn't this fast when Jabu beat him…you hear about 'strength borne of madness', I guess this is it… She continued to retreat, keeping up intense focus to anticipate his lightning-fast strikes. And those eyes…whatever he's seeing, it isn't the real world. Some kind of illusion…did the Phoenix do this?
Just what is he capable of…?
"I had some time to kill," Shun said with a shrug, finishing his explanation. "So I stopped by the hospital. Lionet was relatively uninjured, especially compared to Hydra, Wolf or Bear, so…"
"But you didn't kill them," Seiya said quietly, almost more to himself than to Shun.
"…what?"
"You didn't kill them, right? Ichi, Nachi, Geki…they probably weren't even conscious. It would've been easy. But you left them."
"What are you trying to say?" Shun snarled. "I was focused on defeating the enemies still standing, not slaughtering invalids! It wasn't what I was there for!"
"You couldn't bring yourself to do it!" Seiya yelled, pointing directly at the Phoenix Saint. "And this isn't the first time you've shown me…you're not completely lost, Shun!" He started forwards, drawing back his arm.
"Silence!" Shun bellowed, gathering fiery energy between his hands. He brought it around just in time to meet Seiya's light-wreathed fist, their Cosmos warring against each other for a moment before Phoenix's light overcame Pegasus'.
Seiya landed on his back, crying out involuntarily. So strong…!
"What?" Shun jeered. "I hope you didn't think I needed the Gold Cloth to beat you. Or have you already forgotten our first fight?"
"Damn it…!" Seiya rose, trying to collect his thoughts. His first instinct was to charge back in and try the same thing again, hoping to do better. But Shaina…you taught me better than that. Rushing him head-on won't work...
He made as if to strike another direct blow—then swung down, striking the ground at a steep angle and sending a spray of dirt and gravel up between them, blocking Shun's line of sight.
The moment he'd done this, he swerved on his heel, dashing around behind Shun and reaching for him. Shun detected his approach at the last second, jumping high into the air to avoid the two-handed grab.
"The Rolling Crush you created in our second fight," he muttered, landing behind Seiya and skidding away. "You're much weaker than me, but if you got the chance to use that technique…" He shrugged. "Well, all I have to do is not let you get behind me. Simple enough."
Seiya turned, scowling. So close…
"You look surprised!" Shun laughed, leaping back in to attack. "You thought you could outwit me? Please!" He darted right and left, easily dodging the hundreds of blows Seiya sent his way to try and stop his advance. "I've outplayed the lot of you at every turn! You've played into every one of my ambushes!" He ducked in under Seiya's guard, rising from his crouch with an uppercut that hurled the Pegasus Saint away through the air. "The only reason any of you are still alive is dumb luck and persistence!"
Saori sensed the flow of the fight turning against Seiya, both her hands pressed to the window as rain began to batter down on the city. She reached out with her mind, feeling for the Gold Cloth's presence.
Sagittarius…they're fighting for you.
Why do you not help him? It is within your power.
Is he not your chosen?
…
No? But that would mean…
Is Seiya...?
Seiya hit the ground again, Shun digging his boot in a few times for good measure. "Well?" he sneered. "What were you going to crush?" He stamped down again—but this time, Seiya caught his foot, tugging it downwards.
With Shun tumbling down towards him, Seiya brought up his free hand, striking directly upwards. "Thunder Claw!"
"Rrgh!" Shun crossed his arms in front of his face, staggering away several steps under the wave of power before shoving outwards, shattering the attack. "Not enough…!"
Crazy… Seiya remained where he was, panting. Even the Thunder Claw that got through Black Dragon's defences…is useless against him… He looked up as Shun approached. "Don't suppose rain is your secret weakness?"
"Heh." Shun struck out again, knocking Seiya clean through a parked car and into the wall behind. "Now, how should I finish you…let my flames consume you? Destroy your mind? Or just beat you to death?"
"Come…get me…" Seiya slurred, deliberately sounding more tired than he was, making a show of trying and failing to stand. His only weakness…one of the things I'm trying to beat out of him…it's his arrogance. If he thinks he's won…
"Wait for me in hell, Seiya!" Shun spat, surging forwards and bringing his fist down heavily—but at the last moment, Seiya shook off his feigned exhaustion, jerking to the left and just avoiding the stone-shattering blow; Shun instinctively kicked out, but from this angle it wasn't at anything near full power, and Seiya was able to vault over it, pushing up off of the extended limb to swing his own kick up at the back of Shun's head.
Still off-guard and acting on instinct, Shun ducked forwards to avoid this, realising too late that he'd exposed his back. No—
Seiya locked his arms in place under Shun's. "Pegasus—Rolling—Crush!" At this last word, he launched them both skywards, his Cosmos surrounding the pair of them.
They soared ever higher, surpassing the rooftops of the towering office blocks surrounding them for a brief moment, before cresting their arc and plummeting back towards the ground.
He let go a few metres from impact, letting his accumulated energy remain with Shun, detonating as the Phoenix Saint hit the ground, Seiya rolling away and turning back to observe his handiwork.
Shun lay in a crater six feet wide and about half that deep, struggling to lift himself off the ground. "H…How…no…" His eyes grew savage. "…no! I won't lose like this!"
He threw himself back at Seiya, who moved to intercept him—their attacks met in a burst of light, throwing them both back. They stood glaring at each other for a few seconds, before Shun gasped, sinking to one knee, his already-cracked Cloth almost shattering completely, large chunks falling away and leaving him nearly unarmoured.
"Give it up, Shun," Seiya said wearily. "Come back to us."
Shun was silent for quite a while. "I want to," he finally said, his voice pained. "I do. But this thing, this hate, it's eating at me. It's killing me," he rasped. "It won't stop…until it's all burnt away. All of you, everything that made me…"
"Calm down!" Seiya called, approaching slowly, his hands held out. "I can help you. Come on. We were friends for so long…"
"Friends. Heh." Shun shook his head. "Right, none of you know yet…"
"What?" Seiya frowned. And…there was something he said earlier…damn it, with all this fighting I can't even remember… "What are you trying to say?"
Shun seemed to have stopped paying attention to him, and was staring up into the night sky, feeling the rain on his face. "Can I stop?" he whispered. "He beat me…right? Is it over? I…don't want to…" His words trailed off as a fresh storm of fire whipped itself up around his body, focusing in on him and solidifying until it formed plates of glowing metal—the Phoenix Cloth reborn.
Seiya flinched back. "What the…" Oh! Just like the mythical phoenix…reborn from the ashes…
"No…it's not over yet?" Shun gave a sigh, sounding immensely sad, lowering his gaze, his eyes hardening as he took up a fighting stance. "Prepare yourself, Seiya."
"Still not letting me help?" Seiya gathered all the strength he had left, advancing again—but Shun easily deflected him with a one-armed sweep.
"Sorry, Seiya…but freshly-revived, I'm at the peak of my strength. You were outmatched before, and you're in worse shape now." He brought one hand up, extending his index finger. "I'll let you experience what I've been through…I'll show you hell, like I did to Lionet!"
"We all went through hell to get here!" Seiya snapped, pushing himself up. "You're the only one who ended up like this!"
Lacking a reply to this, Shun pounced at Seiya, his finger lashing out. "Phoenix—Genma Ken!" He made a straight course for Seiya's forehead, trailing a miniscule beam of light in his wake—before being wrenched off-course, stumbling past his opponent with a surprised yelp.
He glanced down, seeing what had diverted his attack—June's whip, snared about his forearm. She now crouched a few feet away, Ban unconscious and carried over her shoulder.
"I'm sorry…Seiya…" she panted, releasing her weapon and putting a hand to the ground to steady herself. "He fought…like he was possessed…" She fell forwards, gasping. "Damn it…this is all I can do…"
Seiya took a moment to compose himself, turning back to Shun. "That's right…not just June…Isaac, Jabu…Saori, Nachi…Shiryu…after everything we've been through…" He slid one foot back, resting a fist at his side and raising the other hand high above his head. "…letting them down…is out of the question!"
"Fine words…it's really a shame you can't back them up." Shun gathered his power for another attack. I could just try the Genma Ken again…but especially with a miss like that, it's possible he was able to analyse it, and identify some weakness…if he is a true Saint…
Well, better err on the side of caution. I have more than one way to end this fight. "All right, Seiya," he said, gathering twin orbs of flame around his hands, "looks I'm destroying your body instead of your mind."
"That…kind of covers both, I feel," Seiya muttered. The only answer he received, as Shun let the barrage fly, was—
"PHOENIX STORM!"
Seiya disappeared inside the burning wall, Shun stepping back and laughing to himself. "You did well…much better than I would have thought…but it's—"
"—'over'?" came Seiya's voice from behind the inferno. "That what you were gonna say?" A second later, he came barrelling through the fires, battering them aside with something on his arm—the Dragon Shield.
"That's…!" Shun hissed, but got no further before Seiya tackled him to the ground, leading with the shield, the impossibly-durable object driving hard into his stomach. Shun stumbled up and away, and Seiya pursued him.
Gotta strike while he's off-guard…before he regains his advantage… He hurriedly loosened the straps on the Dragon Shield, letting it slide off his arm and taking a two-handed grip on the now-dangling straps—then spun a full circle, bringing the heavy shield around and building up momentum before smashing it directly into Shun's jaw.
"Kuh—" Shun fell away, trailing blood from his mouth.
Now! Seiya stepped up, discarding the shield and bringing his arms up parallel to each other. This'll be my only shot before he recovers…have to hit him hard enough to put him down for good—if I just damage his Cloth it'll regenerate again.
So…the two sides of me…the executioner and the human…please, work together for once! Give me strength! "This is it, Shun! I'm doing this for you…Pegasus—Thunder Claw!"
Arcs of lightning leapt forth from his leading hand, encircling Shun and carrying him away through the air, wracking his body from head to toe, hurling him back against the opposite building; he bounced off the wall, falling several stories and hitting the ground face-first, setting off car alarms for several blocks around.
Shun rolled over onto his back, coughing blood and giving a weak groan, the barrier he'd set up around his battleground finally flickering out and dying. Seiya staggered over and collapsed into a sitting position next to him.
"That…power…wasn't like before…" Shun muttered.
"Even if you had some lackeys tagging along…you were really fighting alone, the whole time," Seiya said wearily, leaning back. "I have so many strong friends and allies to keep me going…but I guess most of all, the friend I was fighting for was you."
Still… He glanced over at where he'd left the Dragon Shield, searching it out with his eyes. Where did that come from? I thought I sensed Shiryu's life-force passing on when it delivered the Dragon Cloth before…so who could have—huh? He couldn't find it; the shield was gone. "What…?"
On an overlooking rooftop, the shield's bearer returned it to its place on the Dragon Cloth's statue form, closing the Clothbox and hoisting it onto his back; he gave the battlefield a final perusal before turning to leave.
"Heh…if that's the case," Shun said, giving an oddly warm smile, "it wasn't friendship, Seiya…it was love for a brother."
"And this again…" Seiya began to put together Shun's earlier hints. "Wait…are you serious?!"
"And that's only half of it…" Shun gave a quiet laugh. "I was wrong about you, Seiya…all of you, I think. I'll tell you everything, but…when we're out of danger."
Seiya frowned. "Danger? Shun, the battle's over."
Shun sighed. "All these years, and you're still not very attentive…" he trailed off. "They're here. Get down!"
Seiya did so, half a second before the entire city block exploded.
For the benefit of those who haven't read it—in the manga, the Black Saints arc and most of the Silver Saints arc take place on the same night.
So yeah. Things are about to get fun.