3 — THE GALAXIAN WARS

The dome closes. Darkness wakes up the excited crowd in the audience and the stars of the holographic sky illuminate all the fans.

"Welcome to the second day of the Galaxian Wars!"

A lot of chants, a lot of partying, a lot of anxiety.

"Are you ready for today, Stacey?"
"I'm always ready, Adam!"
"So remind our audience of the result of our wonderful opening."
"Well, Adam, in addition to that amazing opening ceremony retelling the Greek Mythology, we had the fight between Delphinus Alice and Lionet Ban! The fight was shocking, but the super british Alice got the better of it and qualified for the next stage. Better luck to Ban next time."
"We'll have Galaxian Wars again, Stacey, what do you know that I don't?"
"I already want it every year, Adam." and the two of them laughed with much approval from the audience.
"And we also had the excellent fight between Unicorn Jab and Nachi, the Wolf! A tremendous victory for the Unicorn in an electrifying showdown!"
"And we also had an amazing show from Make UP after the fight, didn't we?"
"Ah, what a band! I really want that singer's hair for me."
"He's really beautiful, Stacey."
"But enough talk Adam, because today we will have two more fights to watch!"
"That is true! Ladies and gentlemen."

The crowd responds with great excitement to the joy of the narrators.

"But first, Stacey…"
"Can't start without her, right Adam."
"Here she comes… our Organizer."

"Saori! Saori! Saori!" scream from the stands as the huge hologram materializes the elegant figure with her dyed hair flying. The welcome message is repeated like the first time, the message is now so much popular that the end of Saori's speech is repeated in chorus throughout the stadium.

'...one of them becomes the next Golden Knight!'

And then the princess disappears into the stars. In the starry sky, a cluster of nearby stars shines brighter than all the others. The commentator voice echoes.

"Straight from Canada, coming from the Snowy and Rocky Mountains of the North American continent, our first fighter is 15 years old and brings all his strength to represent the Bear Constellation! A bear roar for Jack! Jack the Bear!"

The crowd roars with the huge boy who, hands on hips, watches his Sacred Cloth assemble his silhouette protecting him from everything.

"This guy isn't fifteen years old, Adam." Stacey said off the microphone. "Check the file again."
"It's says 15 years here, we just accept it."
"Come on, the stars are changing."

Adam turned on the microphone.

"Our second hero of the night comes from Greece! Directly from the cradle of ancient Greek myths, where all these stories of all these constellations have their origins. A place of mystery and wonders. He is 14 years old and represents the winged horse from Greek stories. It's Pegasus Seiya!"

The crowd joins Seiya, he gives a shy wave and enters the Arena. Interestingly, however, his Cloth doesn't wear him and he looks ready to fight in his red jumpsuit.

"Oh, I think there was some problem there." Stacey told Adam off-mike.
"Boss, the boy doesn't have the protection. What? Won't there be a scene? Are you sure of it? The crowd likes the scene. Okay. Okay. We'll roll without it." said Adam off-mike to Stacey before coming back on the air.
"That's exactly what you're seeing my beloved audience. The challenger Seiya will face Bear Jack without his protection. Is he crazy Stacey?"
"Or very confident, eh, Adam? But look at the size of the Bear. I don't know where this confidence comes from."
"Oh, you thought you wouldn't have any surprises, didn't you? What will happen, Stacey? And off we go!"
"There they go…"
"Oh, I think this will be over very quickly, the Bear has already threatened Seiya, cracked his fists, went on like a bull and… stopped! Seiya stopped the Bear with his bare hands!"
"It's amazing, Adam. Look at the weight, more than 1500 kilos and the skinny boy like that managed to hold the Bear."
"He's on the ropes, it wasn't that easy. Maybe the Bear Jack is playing with the boy, see. Look at it, Jack is back at the Arena and now Seiya is the one trying to attack with a straight punch that Bear blocked. Check the number, Stacey."
"Uhhh, Adam. Only 900 kilos."
"There's nothing much he can do without his Armor. Maybe he made a big mistake, Stacey."
"Reminding everyone that the Sacred Armor these warriors wear can give them special powers to use in the fight. It's crazy not to be with them."
"Seiya keeps punching the Bear, but with that Armor over his body he ain't going nowhere. It will only hurt his hand."
"The Bear is laughing, Adam!"
"We all are. But look at that! Seiya tried a flying one! How much did it hit there, Stacey?"
"1100, Adam. It's improving."
"But it's still very far. This isn't helping the kid, I think."
"We don't know what it would be like if he had his Armor on, right?"
"Well, he made his choice. Seiya is now studying Jack, probably trying to find some gap that his thousand kilos can have some effect. Jack doesn't even bother to raise his guard. And there he went again. It's useless. It won't work."
"It was even less now, Adam. Only 800 kilos, I think he's tiring. Wow, Jack got him!"
"Yes, folks, it could be the end of the first round, Bear Jack grabbed Seiya with both hands and lifted him off from the ground. Look at the difference in size between these two, the difference in strength. It could be the end for Seiya."
"1800 kilos, Adam. One thousand and eight hundred!"
"Eighteen hundred? But it's not possible, a normal human being would die with so much pressure on the neck, but we have to remember here that these young kids are endowed with immense power."
"Two thousand, Adam!"
"How long can Seiya stand that pressure, will he give up?"
"Two and two hundred. That's crazy!"
"Two hundred and increasing pressure. This may be the last moment of the fight."
"My God, it looks real." said Stacey off the microphone.
"It might fail sometimes, but they're good."
"Two and five hundred Adam, but what we're seeing is not possible!"
"What flash was that Stacey?!"
"The pressure's up to three thousand, Adam. Three thousand!"
"It's not possible, Seiya will lose at any moment and… but, what? What's happening? Is Seiya… opening Bear's embrace?"
"Adam, this is amazing. The enormous pressure the gauges are picking up wasn't from Jack's hanging, but from Seiya's hands! He is breaking the Armor of the Bear!"
"But this is unbelievable. Look at that! Seiya is wearing the arm wards of his Pegasus Armor and breaking the Bear Armor. He did a spinning kick and finally broke free!"
"Now the fight will start, Adam, I'm feeling it!"
"I am too. And what about you there in the audience? Get ready that Pegasus has finally arrived!"
"Huh."
"What happened?"

In the center of the Arena, however, Bear Jack fell unconscious. His armor totally cracked and shattered by the floor.

"One second, one second…"
"I think something has failed again."
"Wait a moment, please everyone. I think… I think there was a technical failure, let's confirm with our team."
"Look at him Adam, Seiya has his Armor's leg protection too!"
"Yes, it's true Stacey. And the computer is claiming that it is a KO Victory for Pegasus Seiya!"

The audience goes wild, but Adam and Stacey are confused in the booth.

The maintenance from the Arena removes the pieces of the Bear Cloth from the floor and Jack leaves the battling grouns supported by Seiya, to much applause from the stands. The two go to the locker room through a short tunnel.

"You shouldn't have fought without your Cloth, Seiya." Jack said.
"Well, none of us were supposed to be fighting with our Cloths."
"Anyway, it looks like your Cloth chose to help you this time." Shun said, approaching them.
"What an incredible kick, Seiya!" Said a very happy girl to him when he arrived.
"Thank you Xiaoling."
"I saw exactly what you did, ok? Don't think you fooled me. Those bafoons on the booth may not have seen it, but I saw it wasn't just a kick. There were several of them! Like shining stars!"
"It's really impressive Seiya." Jack said.
"Your grip is amazing too, Jack. If the Cloth hasn't protected me, I probably would have lost."
"Well… now it's me!" Xiaoling said. "Hey, Shiryu! Are you ready?"

Everyone's eyes went to the other side of the locker room where a mysterious girl with long black hair was just looking through the opening they had to observe the battle in the Arena. She uncrossed her arms and accompanied the most excited short girl to the front stage.

"Good luck." they all said to both of them.

The commentators announced and the fight soon began, the youngsters all gathered in the reserved space of the locker room to watch the fight from a better angle. Shiryu, like Seiya, chose not to wear her Cloth, unlike Xiaoling.

"Dragon Shiryu and Ursa Minor Xiaoling. I don't remember them from when we were little." Seiya commented when he saw the two fighting.
"Xiaoling arrived after you had already left." Said a boy next to Seiya. It was Jab.

Seiya looked away from him.

"But Shiryu doesn't really look like she's from around here." Shun commented.
"I wonder how many children this Foundation has ruined with their lives." said Seiya bitterly. "Looks like the fight is over." commented another of the boys.
"What?" Seiya said looking for the screen. "Oh, it was just the first round, Ichi. By the way, it will soon be you and Shun out there, just like the old days."
"And just like old days, of course I'm going to win." he laughed.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Shun commented, getting closer, leaving Ichi disconcerted.

Seiya laughed with both of them, but also dedicated himself to better watch the fight between Shiryu and Xiaoling.

"The Dragon looks amazing. If she passes, she will face you Seiya." said Ichi.
"Oh, you're gonna be dead in a minute. You better use your full Cloth against her. She's been here a few days already and she kicks ass in training." Jab mocked.

The bell rang again and Dragon won the second round as well to the deep joy of the audience who watched. Seiya saw how Xiaoling was being carried by Shiryu to the locker room.

Jab came to her aid while Ichi and Shun celebrated Shiryu as soon as she arrived. Xiaoling was crying in pain.

"Ah, Xiaoling, what happened?" Seiya asked worriedly.
"She's faking it." Shiryu said, very serious.
"Oh, you noticed?" laughed Xiaoling.
"You should have fought seriously."
"I would lose anyway, you're really, really strong. You're doomed, Seiya." said the Ursa Minor.
"Hey, Jack, are you better?" Jab asked when he saw the big guy appear again in the locker room after passing by the medical center.
"Yeah, yeah." He said, but Seiya saw that there were still some injuries on Jack, thanks to his kicks.
"I don't understand. What are you doing here? Why are you fighting in this stupid tournament? It is forbidden for Saints to do this."
"Forbidden?" Jab and Jack asked together.
"I would really like to be a Gold Knight" added Ichi.
"That's not even a real Cloth, Ichi." said Seiya.
"I have my reasons." Xiaoling said full of herself.
"Well, what about you Seiya? Are you afraid, perhaps?" Jab asked and the two were ready to fight right there.
"Seiya and I decided to fight hoping that our sisters could be watching us." Shun said, pulling away. "I don't even like fighting."
"He doesn't like to fight…" Jab sneered.
"What about you Shiryu? Why are you here?" Xiaoling asked to break the locker room tension and everyone turned to see what she would say. She uncrossed her arms and without looking at anyone, seemed to answer only to herself.
"My Master told me this was my place."
"You don't seem very convinced of that." said Seiya after a brief silence.

She did not answer.

"Well, that's it. Since I lost, I need to train even harder. Lucky ofr me, my master is right here in town. I'll go tomorrow." said Xiaoling. "I'll tell her that I need to get as strong as Dragon Shiryu."
"Here!?" Seiya asked piked with interest. "My sister also was sent to train here in town. Did you… did you know her? Her name is Seika."
"Ah, Seika." Xiaoling said to Seiya's beady eyes. "No, unfortunately not. When I joined the trainings, she had already left."

Another disappointment made Seiya punch one of the lockers.

"But Mii does!"
"Mii? Who is Mii?

Xiaoling pulled Seiya to the tunnel entrance and pointed to the special cabin where Saori Kido was distributing her waves to the fans; beside her, a girl Seiya had seen before.

"Is that Mii? It's Alice, isn't it?
"Yeah. I call her Mii because she's like a big sister to me. We trained together, but she got there much sooner than me. And she sure met your sister."

Seiya held Xiaoling in his arms and hugged her.

"Thank you Xiaoling!"

Later that night, when the garden was deserted, the fountains turned off and the crickets singing. Seiya dragged Shun on a nightly adventure.

"We shouldn't be here at this hour, Seiya."
"Lower you voice Shun, I need to talk to this Alice."
"Can't you wait until tomorrow?"
"She's always next to that annoying Saori. I need to talk to her, it's important, Shun. Come on, give me a hand here."
"You've done seven years of training and can't get up there on the roof?"
"Hurry up, Shun."

Shun stood up to Seiya and threw him on the roof, to Seiya's silent protest with his friend. On the roof, near the attic rooms, Seiya calmly approached and saw the light on in a room; stepping on the tiles like a cat he approached, but saw that the window was draped a little. He stuck his face in the glass trying to see Alice, but when the girl pulled the curtain hard, Seiya saw that it was Saori Kido's room. She dressed in pajamas and had an incredulous face.

Seiya rolled backwards on the tiles and fell off the roof next to Shun.

"Run Shun!"

He said quietly and the two went back to the dorms.

ABOUT THE CHAPTER: Adding Saintia Sho's Mii and Xiaoling into the main group was one of the first ideas I came up with when I thought about the fanfic and I think the personalities fit really well. I also tried to keep Seiya's focus on his sister and create this relationship between Seika and Mii to explore further, as it makes sense in my head that like the other girls, Seika would also become a 'Saintia'.

NEXT CHAPTER: An Unusual Day

Seiya flees the Mansion to go to his sister's training ground, but he doesn't go alone.