5 — THE COSMO OF FRIENDSHIP
The open Coliseum is gradually filling up with the audience that will see the third day of the Tournament. A lot of excitement, some girls wearing plastic helmets imitating their favorite heroes, boys with articulated dolls pretending to use techniques like Rising Dragon.
In the changing rooms, however, the atmosphere is one of concern and tension among the youngsters, in a circle.
"Tell us Jab, what happened to Ichi?" Shun asked.
Jab, who was usually full of himself, also had a worried expression and even Shiryu who usually set herself apart from them was there to listen.
"Ichi has been coming here to the Coliseum for a few days now. He came hiding to train because he wanted to stay strong for the fight. So yesterday he came again, always at dawn. But at this time I decided to come with him. Lucky for him."
Shiryu, Shun, Seiya and Jack were around Jab listening closely.
"While I was changing in the locker room, I overheard Ichi talking to someone. I thought he went mad, but soon after I heard him screaming and then I ran off to see what it was. He was white. Covered in ice from head to toe."
"Frozen?" Jack asked.
"Yes. I looked around and saw no one, but I also felt an icy presence in the shadows, which soon disappeared. There really was someone there."
"A Saint with a frozen Cosmo?" asked Shiryu.
"I picked up Ichi, dragged him to the locker room, and called the Foundation. They hospitalized him immediately. At least it looks like he's going to be okay."
"It might be just the beginning…"
"What do you mean, Seiya?" Jack asked.
"These battles, this tournament. All of this is forbidden for Saints to do according to our Oath. We shouldn't be fighting like this." Seiya's voice had seriousness and concern in its tone. "And the punishment for those who wear the Sacred Cloth like this..."
"Saints from all over the world will hunt and punish those who are violating this oath." Shun completed.
"I never knew that." Jack said and Jab seemed to agree with him.
"There is a constellation that historically made use of the frozen cosmo."
"Do you know who the bastard is, Shiryu?" asked Jab.
"No. But my Master told me that it has been many, many centuries since there has been a Saint from the Cygnus Constellation, for the Cloth is forever sealed in a glacier over Siberia."
"A Siberian warrior?" Shun pondered.
"Dragon, Pegasus. Ten minutes." announced an organizer, breaking into the locker room and leaving as quickly as he had entered.
Seiya and Shiryu looked at each other worriedly.
"But if it's really forbidden, why did the Pegasus Cloth protected Seiya in our fight?" Jack asked.
"I don't know either." replied Seiya. "Anyway, if we are really being hunted down and punished for this, I guess we reached a point of no return. Marin is going to kill me."
"If this Ice Saint doesn't kill you first." said Jab.
They were all confused about what to do and both Seiya and Shiryu had a fight to fight in front of thousands of people. The shrill voice of the announcers was already echoing throughout the Coliseum. From the locker room, they saw and heard the hologram of Saori Kido giving her usual welcome.
"Do you think she knows anything?" asked Shiryu.
"Well, they call us the Knights of the Zodiac. She must have no idea what's going on." replied Seiya.
"You should give her a little more credit." Jab said and before Seiya could take a hit, he finished. "We don't know what's on her mind."
"Well, Knights." Jack mocked. "Looks like you two have a fight to do." he said good-naturedly patting Seiya and Shiryu's shoulders.
"Seiya… I know how important this is to you. And honestly I don't care about winning. I don't really understand yet what my Master wanted when he sent me here. But I don't think it has to do with winning this Tournament."
"What do you mean?"
"That I'll let you win. So you can make it to the final and have some chance of finding your sister."
Seiya smiled, because although he liked to fight a lot, he didn't really see the sense in those ridiculous battles.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" the commentator began, very excited. "It's the first semi-final. The winner of this duel will be qualified for the Grand Final of the first ever Galaxian Wars!"
The audience went wild.
"And we have two great fighters back to the central Arena. We got to know them, right Stacey?"
"The crowd is torn apart, Adam. We can't tell who will win today and fight for the Gold Armor!"
"Who will have that honor? Is it Pegasus Seiya? The fighter who came from the cradle of myths, far from Greece? Or is it Dragon Shiryu, the Chinese warrior who brought the Rising Dragon from the Five Old Peaks? We'll know in a moment!"
The two entered together, without their Cloths, waved to the crowd effusively and settled the first round in Seiya's favor after a low-key fight. There wasn't much enthusiasm from the audience or the commentators; there were even some booing spots starting at some points in the audience.
The second round started and the story remained; a lukewarm match, with few emotions and an obvious result: Seiya fell out of the Arena in an unnatural way and Dragon won the second round. The whole audience booed widely, crying for their tickets to be refunded and threatening to leave.
Before the start of the third and final round, however, the two were called into the locker room under jeers.
Inside the locker room, there were two gentlemen in suits pacing tensely from one side to the other; the other youngsters were tucked away in a corner just listening. And as soon as the two entered, a bigger and bald one was soon screaming:
"Dragon, you have a visitor. Be quick." he said by Shiryu and turned to Seiya. "Pegasus. Either you fight properly or you will both be disqualified. It's pretty clear you guys agreed on something and the producers are all mad at you."
"This entire tournament is a great scam!" he roared back.
"Take this seriously or will you both be disqualified, is that clear?" said the man again.
"That's not fair!" Seiya said. "I need to get to the Final!"
"Then put up a fight!"
Seiya and the man started to argue; beside Seiya, Shun also started to argue against that nonsense, fearing that his friend didn't have the chance to be in the Final with him to have a chance of be seeing by his sisters.
"Hey. Shiryu! The message is for you too. The two of you will be disqualified if you keep pretending out there."
And so he walked out the door, leaving the kids frothing in the locker room. Shiryu had already returned and that man's words barely touched her, as she was already in shock. Seiya punched a cabinet, sinking the metal against the wall.
"Idiots…" he complained.
There was an enormous tension in the locker room as the lights began to flash announcing that the third and final round of the fight would soon begin.
"Seiya… " Shiryu began saying very seriously.
"Shiryu, I can't be disqualified so close to the Final. I don't know how to ask for this, but…"
"We will fight this with all our hearts, Seiya." she said very seriously.
"What?" Seiya was confused.
"That's what I said. If they want a fight. So let's fight with all our hearts."
Seiya found in Shiryu's eyes a huge fire, but there was also a slight friendly smile on the face of those who challenge him to an irrefutable dispute. They didn't need to say much more and Seiya knew that something in that visit had changed Shiryu's heart in a decisive way.
"Well, we are already being hunted down. We're doomed. If they want a show. Let's give them a show, Shiryu!" Seiya said, clenching his fists.
"Only this time, I'm going to win." said the girl.
"We'll see about that." threatened Seiya.
The two greeted each other before re-joining the Arena.
When Shiryu and Seiya returned to the Arena, they were welcomed by a roaring booing; the commentator tried to minimize, but some glasses were even flying into the battle area.
"I won't hold my fist anymore, Seiya. Get ready."
And the two then burned their cosmos which manifested itself like fire around their bodies; immediately silencing the audience's booing in wonder at the special effects. Resonating with those warm cosmos, the two Bronze Urns exploded and from their places came floating two imposing totems that broke in midair to cover the bodies of the two young fighters. Seiya noticed that Shiryu had a shield on her left arm.
Immediately, they charged each other absolutely fiercely; Shiryu more than once needed to resort to her shield to defend herself; while other moments, Seiya experienced the strength of Dragon's fist. The sound of the metallic clang of Armors colliding echoed through the Arena and was soon followed by a roar of joy from the audience.
"Looks like something bit them in the locker room, Stacey. They're on fire!"
"Oh, Adam. I think they were saving energy."
"And here comes the Dragon!"
"What a blow!"
Shiryu rushed forward and with a hook finally broke the swift Pegasus's dodge to take him to the floor with force and blood for the first time stained the Arena. With some difficulty, Seiya got to his feet.
"Seiya, I will show you the strongest Dragon stroke my Master taught me in the Five Old Peaks of Rozan."
"The Rising Dragon? Well, Shiryu. I've seen you using that move against Xiaoling. Even the children already know it." Shiryu smiled.
"Only now I'm actually going to use it."
Shiryu's long hair shimmered with the force of her own cosmos that burned beyond her body. Her arms moved like the flight of an ascending Dragon and she gathered all the power in her body into one spot: her fist. And she tore the heavens calling on her strength.
"Rising Dragon!"
Seiya barely saw where she came from and when he realized, just before he went out again, he was flying at an unbelievable height in the Coliseum.
"Pegasus Seiya was hurled many meters from the Arena, what an impressive feat, Stacey!"
"This Rising Dragon is much stronger than that of the first fight."
"He almost touched the roof of the dome, but that's impossible."
"If he gets out the arena, it's the end for him, Adam!"
"No! Look, he fell inside the arena. But look at that! He's very hurt!"
"We've opened up counting, Adam."
"Ten, nine… no, but he's getting up."
At the center of the Arena, Seiya was slowly getting up.
"I figured you'd get back into the fight, Seiya."
"Your Rising Dragon really is impressive Shiryu. But I have a very strong reason to keep fighting and I can't lose here."
"Then fight with all your heart."
Seiya traced his stars in the air, concentrated his cosmos and unleashed the meteor rain. "Pegasus Meteor Attack!", but Shiryu using her shield simply blocked all the blows.
"What's going on, Stacey?"
"You can't really see it, but in the slow-motion replay, it looks like Shiryu is blocking Seiya's Meteors using her shield!"
"And he tried again without any success. The incredible Meteors of Pegasus have no effect!"
Seiya couldn't believe that no scratches had been made on that damned shield.
"So this is the famous Dragon Shield?" Shun commented looking at the battle from the lockers.
"That's the end for Seiya. Nothing can penetrate a defense like that." Jab added beside him.
"Seiya, the shield on my left arm is much stronger than any other Cloth." Shiryu began. "I come from a place called the Five Old Peaks of Rozan in China, where there is an ancient legend. The legend of the Dragon God. And the Legend has it that the great Waterfall of Rozan was born from the very stars that fell from the Milky Way. And this Dragon Cloth slept at the deepest point of the great waterfall. It is considered to be the Reincarnation of the Dragon God and has spent the eternity being forged by the heavenly stars that poured down in the shape of the waters from the nine rivers. Until it acquired a shine and hardness that surpasses that of a diamond."
The crowd that booed in the first two rounds, now could barely breathe with tension. Shiryu's victory seemed sealed.
"The Dragon God is within us, Stacey."
"And her shield is unbreakable, Adam! Seiya doesn't stand a chance."
"His only chance seems to be… Maybe he has to destroy the Dragon Shield, Stacey."
Shiryu let out a smile.
"But that's impossible." she said. "And that's not all, Seiya. Look!"
His fist flew through the air in a seemingly simple punch, which Seiya blocked using his shielded arm, only to find that his Bronze Cloth shattered and again he went to the floor with even more violence. For both the Fist and the Dragon Shield were the strongest. The best defense. And the best attack.
"There is no way to win when you face the strongest defense and offense."
Seiya looked at Shiryu and found her looking at him confident, her black hair spread over her body. Whether he was at sin or not, he felt his pride shattered to be losing so bad at that battle. So easy. The audience shouted the name of Dragon, of Shiryu, imitated the Rising Dragon and the count echoed in their ears. He knew he had only one chance if he wanted to win.
And so he got up.
"Shiryu…" he began placing himself in front of the Dragon Saint, absolutely not having taken a scratch. His voice, though, sounded confident. "I will destroy your shield and your Dragon Fist!"
A brief silence between the two; the crowd went wild, Stacey and Adam echoing the threat valuing the moment while Shiryu looked confused at Seiya. And in Seiya's eyes, she thought she had met the eyes of someone who had lost a bit of reason, probably after so many violent falls to the ground.
"What are you saying? Are you crazy?"
Seiya didn't answer, but jumped in a totally dispossessed way towards Shiryu who defended herself with the Shield, drawing again blood from Pegasus; the onslaught, however, was enough for the two of them to hit the ground unbalanced. Seiya mounted on top and landed one, two punches on Shiryu's left arm thus managing to release her shield from her arm.
Shiryu responded with a very strong right cross to Seiya's face who didn't have any chance to dodge and was flung into the ropes; his destroyed helmet rolled out of the Arena.
"Even without the shield, I still have the Dragon's Fist!" Shiryu threatened.
And when Seiya got up to lean on the ropes, Shiryu armed her Rising Dragon and slashed with all his strength towards Seiya.
A huge burst of light happened and the sound of cracking bronze echoed through the speakers.
The entire audience sucked in their breath.
"The Dragon Shield has been destroyed!" announced Adam.
The amplified image on the screens left no doubt: both the Shield and the Dragon's Fist were shattered.
Shiryu was amazed to see that her Dragon Fist carrying the wrath of her technique was cracking from tip to arm. And in front of her, Seiya was holding the Dragon Shield with both hands, also cracked into ruins.
"But…"
The force of the impact caused Seiya to be pressed against the ropes and to fly back into the Arena finally releasing the shattered Shield to the side. Shiryu looked in disbelief at her destroyed arm.
"The strongest fist and the strongest shield can only destroy themselves if..." She looked at Seiya. "Seiya, you..."
But the Pegasus Saint had a lot of blood on his face, both arms bruised and his armor badly destroyed. He went to the ground exhausted.
The countdown began to ring again, and all Seiya could discern from his catatonic state was just the numbers going down. And with every number the announcer counted, he reminded of someone he would disappoint. His master Marin. His friend Miho. The children who rooted for him. Shun and the locker room youngsters. The girl from the bridge. And Seika. He remembered why he was still fighting. And he also heard a voice yell at him, waking him up from what seemed to be a nightmare.
"Come on, get up Seiya!" Shiryu roared.
And again he got up with difficulty. His face was drenched in blood, but his mind was still able to understand what needed to be done to move forward.
"I can't lose, Shiryu."
"Then fight me."
Shiryu took off her helmet, what was left of her wrist and the protection of her torso.
"What are you doing?"
"Your Cloth is completetly shattered Seiya. I don't want to defeat you while you have no protection."
"Then I want to fight you on equal terms too."
And Seiya also took what was left of his Cloth.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the climax of the battle. These two young fighters will battle without their protections. It's unbelievable!"
"Anything can happen, Adam. I can't blink!"
Shun invaded the floor in despair.
"You are both crazy! You can't fight without your Cloths if you're fighting for real! Your powers may be superb, but your bodies are as vulnerable as anyone's. Seiya, we can find your sister. There's no need for that! Shiryu! Please stop!"
The audience, immersed in that tension, did not even hear Shun, as he was not miked. And even if he was, none of it would make sense to them.
"Look at Shiryu's back! Focus the camera on her!"
"It's a Dragon, Adam!"
"Shiryu have a fabulous tattoo. It's the Dragon God in her skin!"
Shun did not find an answer between the two, as both seemed determined to face each other to the last consequences.
"My Master is everything to me, Seiya. And I'm going to burn my Cosmo so he can feel it from China." Shiryu said, letting out a half conviction of what made her so strong. Seiya, even lost, understood part of his determination.
"I'm sure he's very proud of you, Shiryu. I hope he understands when you lose. Pegasus Meteor Attack!"
The audience went wild with the blow, but Shiryu jumped up dodging the blows.
"If you think I'm going to stay put and take your fist, you are very wrong Seiya."
"Well then, let's see how long you can dodge them!"
But Shiryu avoided all of Seiya's fists, without exception.
"It looks like Pegasus is failing to aim his blows, Stacey."
"You're right, Adam. He looks very tired and a little dizzy, maybe that's what's keeping him so out of order."
"It's a strategic fight. Both are at their limits, ladies and gentlemen. And look at the audience, Stacey!"
"They're shouting Pegasus Meteor Attack with Seiya!"
"Will it help?"
"Well… it won't make it worse, right?"
But Shiryu continued to dodge all blows perfectly.
"You are very hurt Seiya. Your fist don't reach the maximum speed you'd want, only a few come close to it, and those are the only ones I really need to pay more attention to. The others, I can just…"
And Shiryu went to the floor.
"Shiryu has been hit!" The commentator rose from his chair.
"And looks like the audience did helped, Adam!"
"Could it be? And another Pegasus Meteor Attack comes! And she fell again! I think it's working, Stacey!"
"The audience is with Pegasus now!"
The crowd cheered, stamped their feet and shouted for their favorites.
"What is happening? It looks like your Meteors are getting more perfect and accurate, but how is that possible? I was sure I had dodged all of them, but… if it goes on like this, without my Cloth I won't resist another blow."
"What a fight, Shiryu..." commented Seiya. "But I think it's time to finish it."
"Seiya… Seiya, in that case, I have only one thing left." she said.
"Are you sure you want to use the Rising Dragon, Shiryu?"
There was no answer, and Shiryu felt a ridge rise cold in her body.
"I know its weak point. The Dragon's Claw."
"What? But how? You saw my technique only once and…"
"No, Shiryu. You also used it against Xiaoling in the first fight, don't you remember? But that was just a fake version and when you used the real one on me, I could tell the difference. To use the Rising Dragon to its fullest power, you leave your heart unprotected. And at that moment you are vulnerable. You should not use it."
"Even though you found out about that, you are not in a position to hit me at the exact point and at the exact moment, Seiya. Before you think about doing it, I've already won!"
"Well, let's see then." threatened Seiya.
Shiryu got up, mounted her guard and turned on her Cosmo. Seiya wiped the blood from his face and also made the universe burn inside of him. A silence settled over the entire Coliseum, not even the commentators dared to say anything, because everyone knew it was the last moment.
Seiya had his eye fixed on Shiryu's posture; she didn't blink, her Cosmo was strong and when she actually let her guard down for an uncountable instant, Seiya felt like time had stopped. And his fist lunged at a single Pegasus Meteor Star.
Shiryu flew across the Arena, broke the ropes and only stopped when her body destroyed the wall of the stands. Seiya didn't see any of this, as he soared through the Coliseum, crashed into the dome's roof, causing flaws in the image of the hologram Universe, and fell back into the bloodied Arena.
The silence remained, as it was not clear who would be the victor. Seiya was apparently knocked out, but Shiryu was also out of the Arena. After all, who would be the victorious one?
The screen finally announced the result: Pegasus Seiya was the winner.
The audience raved, threw drinks, screamed, jumped, embraced. A huge catharsis in the audience.
"And what a fantastic ending, my friends!" came the Storyteller's voice. "As the only competitor inside the Arena, Pegasus Seiya was considered the winner of this battle!"
"I'm shaking, Adam. What an incredible fight! And look over there..."
"It was the most intense fight of them all. I'm glad doctors are always on the lookout for the safety of these amazing boys and girls."
"Don't try this at home, children." Stacey joked, smiling.
"There goes Pegasus on the stretcher. Say goodbye to our winner, ladies and gentlemen!"
Seiya, very bloody and almost losing consciousness, was carried by doctors on a stretcher and covered by a white blanket already stained with his own blood. The other team, taking care of Shiryu, seemed more agitated.
"We need to take Seiya to the medical center immediately. How is Shiryu?" shouted the team's medical director.
"She… Her heart stopped." replied the shaky doctor.
"What?!" Shun was startled.
In the confusion that took place in the Arena, a girl jumped from the audience into the floor and went to Seiya's stretcher, being taken by the other doctors. She was crying.
"Please, save Shiryu." she said. "You're the only one who can save her!"
"Lady, he's very hurt." said one of the doctors.
"No, please no." she protested. "The Old Master used to say that the heart that stops by a Saint's blow can beat again if it receives the same blow to the heart. Please save Shiryu!"
"This is crazy, Seiya can't afford it anymore. We'll take care of Shiryu."
"She's right. Only Seiya can make Shiryu's heart beat again!" Shun said, coming closer.
"I'm sorry, but Seiya needs to be taken care of immediately."
"I want to try." muttered Seiya.
"Seiya!"
"Come on Shun, take me to Shiryu."
"Ah, Seiya, thank you so very much." the girl thanked.
The audience did not understand all that movement in the Arena very well, but soon the commentators brought the story. With a very mysterious voice, they came to tell everyone this:
"Ladies and gentlemen. The incredible fight between Pegasus Seiya and Dragon Shiryu takes dramatic contours, as Dragon's heart unfortunately has stopped. But there is still hope! For the miraculous Pegasus Meteor Attack that sealed victory for Seiya is also the only thing that can bring Dragon back to life. Will Seiya be able to do it one last time?"
With great hardship, Seiya got back on his feet, his vision blurred and blood running down his face. Shun ran to Shiryu and lifted her so that Seiya could hit her heart in the back. Jab took care to prevent the girl from going near Shiryu.
"Trust me Seiya." he said to her.
"Seiya, aim for the Dragon's Claw." Shun pulled Shiryu's huge dark hair and everyone could see the Dragon's huge tattoo.
Seiya cocked his fist tightly to overcome the pain and heighten the focus, but a hand landed on top of his, so that he could calm down.
"Like this you''ll only hurt her more." said the girl. It was Alice.
She wiped the blood from Seiya's face and asked him to concentrate, but he fell to his knees in pain and dizzy.
"It looks like Seiya is really, really hurt."
"I don't know if he'll make it, Adam.
"But look at the audience. The audience is with him."
"They're screaming his name!"
The entire Coliseum cheered and called for Seiya; Shun noticed that the Dragon tattoo was disappearing from the girl's body, vanishing from the skin and alerted his friend.
"Let's go Seiya. Get up and hit the Dragon Claw before the tattoo is gone."
Seiya remembered how Shiryu did everything to make him get up when he thought he was lost. And again he got to his feet and sent a single meteor that was actually his own fist flying, hitting the Dragon Claw of Shiryu's tattoo right on. The girl, along with Shun was thrown back into the stands.
There was silence and tension at the Coliseum.
Shun however rolled over Shiryu's body and smiled at Alice and Seiya.
"I can clearly hear her heart beating again. You did it Seiya."
The Chinese girl let go of Jab and then ran towards Shiryu jumping on her in joy, being restrained by the medical staff who would still like to assess the girl.
"Dragon is saved!" yelled Adam into the microphone to a burst of happiness around the audience. The screens outside the Coliseum flashed with the message that she was alive, and everyone stormed the streets in celebration.
"What a story, Adam!"
"I may cry, Stacey!"
Jack also invaded the Arena, placed Seiya on his shoulders and made him celebrate Shiryu's rebirth before entering through the tunnel of the locker rooms.
"Where are you taking me Jack?" asked a totally dazed Seiya.
"To the hospital!"
ABOUT THE CHAPTER: Ichi's battle, which we know of in the story, I chose to keep hidden to create a mystery about the outsider. =) I chose to use Jack for Geki for pure style as since he trained in Canada I thought the name would make perfect sense. For the rest, I liked to play with the idea of Seiya and Shiryu combining the fight and then the production getting revolted and forcing them to fight for real. The rest is what Kurumada wrote, because the fight is one of Saint Seiya's milestones and I wouldn't change what is perfect.
NEXT CHAPTER: Axia
Shun goes into battle, but his chains alert him to something very dangerous around!