Lance's Role

by Thrudgelmir2333

A 'shonen' fic that sequels Next Dimension and Lost Canvas. In 1960, the Pope of Athena receives three prophecies from an old enemy that irremediably set the course of his reign over Sanctuary's tragic history and almost two decades later a Saint of Pegasus finds himself put through the unfolding of a new age of violence caused by the Pope's actions. Please enjoy and review.

11. 1A: Upgrade to Silver

Notable OCs up until now that I own: Pegasus Lance; Andromeda Shinta; Heracles Aguilon's Silver Saint Generation; Taurus Daniel's Gold Saint Generation

Notable Original concept (until now): Pegasus Temple; Sanctuary Town; MMC; Sanctuary Forts and Outposts

Recurrent/Cameo OCs belonging to Jenny DeVic: Cassiopeia Cassandra; Behemoth Torak (Toruk); Mrs. Schafurwatt

Recurrent/Cameo concepts belonging to Jenny DeVic: 88 Knights Festival; Golden Line Heritage; The Great Bodyguard legend; The Sanctuary-sponsored orphanages; Andromeda Island's geography and tests

Author Notes:

Please enjoy and review.

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"The desire for Silver Sainthood among Bronze Ranks has always been constant. It is a far more realistic goal than Gold Sainthood and carried many rewards and freedoms, including the prestige of acting as officers to the Bronze Saints and Masters to many renowned Training Grounds.

Never was the role of this order as important as during the Civil Wars and the post-Abaddon period, times where the Gold Saints acted most efficiently as deterrents or match ups for attacking enemy Gold Ranks. The void created by their absence from their usual matters in such times was often filled by the Silver Saints, who took the role of leaders of the army, bringing order to the chaos of the battles.

Thus, it comes with no surprise that Pegasus Lance, known in his early periods to be rebellious to Sanctuary, would covet this position should the opportunity arise in times of peace, such as the one he lived in, where the responsibilities of the Silver Saints would be decreased in inverse proportion to their freedom of movement."

-extract from "The False Peace", by Aquarius Camus

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Taurus Daniel took a moment to prepare his words and review the mood amongst his comrades. He could not really say that Kirin's protest came unexpected. The experienced Taurus knew Kirin before the Civil War and the falcon-eyed warrior had always been suspicious of others. Pegasus' story wasn't clean, either. "In order to be accepted as a candidate for a Cloth of Gold, a number of things is required. First, you must have an unlocked 7th Sense. Second, you must be within the five strongest candidates born under the constellation of the Gold Cloth in question. Third, you must be an accepted member of Sanctuary's society. The position of Cancer Gold Cloth has been unoccupied since 1963, so there is little if any competition for it."

All Gold Saints nodded in accord. "In order to be actually chosen for it, you must obtain the blessing of the Pope or, preferably, Athena among those five candidates, right?"

"Yes. Silver Cloths, however, share the same circumstances as Bronze ones when it comes to be born under their protection. In order to obtain that protection, two to three years of preparation are usually required. As a result, the age range of Bronze Saints that underwent normal training programs is usually between twelve to fourteen years old while the youngest Silver Saints typically are between sixteen and eighteen." Taurus continued. "Two weeks ago, Pegasus Lance signed himself up as a candidate for the Silver Saint order."

"Let me guess; there was a backlash?" asked Saga.

Daniel scoffed. "Of course, but the Silver Saint order has not the authority to deny this. Pegasus was running for the Silver Cloth whether the other Saints liked it or not."

"Why would he do that?" asked Mu. "I thought he didn't like Sanctuary. Why would he want to climb the ladder?"

"Most likely to gain more power and freedom." answered Aquarius Malta. The red-haired Gold Saint waved his hand at his own armor. "The Silver and Gold Saint orders enjoy particular luxuries in times of peace. As a Silver Saint, Pegasus would also be in a better position to one day be able to ask Sanctuary to put him on reserve or let him go altogether. Military protectionism is tighter among the lower ranks. You'd be surprised at how young some Gold Saints have turned over their Cloths for the next generation to enjoy."

Daniel took note of Malta's last words and contained a chuckle. "Is he saying that because of Camus, Shura and Aldebaran? That is so bitter of you, Malta."

"Or maybe he was just trying to position himself better in Sanctuary." commented Kirin.

"Silver Cloths are more likely to abandon you if you try something fishy against Sanctuary, don't they, Kirin? They also keep pickier eyes on their owners." Malta reminded him. "Plausible as it may be that Lance has an agenda against Sanctuary, living with a Silver Cloth not nearly as submissive as the Pegasus Bronze Armor would only be a hindrance to him if he were to ever try anything treacherous." Malta saw Kirin fold his arms, unconvinced. "I don't like Pegasus Lance anymore than you do, but I'd say if he successfully obtaining the trust of a Silver Cloth then that would actually reduce the chances of him being a traitor."

"Let's not dwell on that right now, okay?" asked Taurus, not wanting to go back to he previous subject. "Since the Silver Saint order did not grant Pegasus Lance an immediate pass, a competition was arranged between several candidates, the objective being a Battle Royale to determine who had the right to a chance to obtain the Kentaurus Silver Cloth." The Gold Saint explained. "The winner then would be subject to a battle test administered by a high-ranking member of the army. His Holiness, the Pope, was present and so was I."

"Daniel and I will now speak to you of that test and what we observed." explained Shion to his Saints. "This is the episode of Lance's career that gave birth to the possibility of him becoming a Gold Saint, namely the battle between him and the Silver Saint Heracles Aguilon."

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Chapter 11

First Arc

Episode 7

Upgrade to Silver

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The day before...

Early January, 1976

Sanctuary Town Coliseum

One year and two months after the Andromeda Island Incident

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The Coliseum was packed that day with civilians, soldiers and Saints, all to watch the massive match between the dozens of candidates struggling for the Kentaurus Silver Cloth. His Holiness, the Pope, watched the whole thing from his private stand, accompanied by an escort of his elite, halberd wielding Papal Guards, young Mu who contently distracted himself on a seat by the Pope's feet with a mechanical gadget he was working on and Daniel who, under the guise of a Golden Zodiac gardener, sat far off from the Pope among the people.

The battle was characterized by the loud shouts of protest and disgust coming from the stands, however, as the people saw the many warriors fall one by one until after a while only a small group that included Pegasus Lance still fought at the ring.

"This is BULLSHIT!" one screamed.

"Why can't anyone just get that guy?!" another one shouted

"Beat him! One of you just grab him and beat the fuck out of him!"

"God damn it! I can't believe that guy is going to get a Silver Cloth."

"...making me lose a ton of money!"

"...can't believe this crap!"

"This is so lame..."

"If it were me, this would be done by now!"

The Pope shook his head as he continued to watch the spectacle of outrage. While the fight had been prolonged by the large number of candidates and high level of skill of some of them, there was clearly a small group of men who had the advantage, namely the Bronze Saints. Though out of their armors, they were making short work of the foot soldier candidates who, though of comparable speed levels, just couldn't keep up with the hardened youth who had gained the favor of a Bronze Cloth.

But what was causing the most outrage was the fact that none other than Pegasus Lance was among those Bronze Saints and he was maintaining an advantage by means of using his main technique, the Charge Fist, to hit and run amongst his toughest foes. Several fallen bodies already littered the arena and it didn't seem like the fight was going to last much longer.

Down at the arena everyone had their eyes on, Lance, absent of Cloth, did his best to dodge around the onslaught of blows a Bronze Saint had turned against him. He blocked a clumsier attack with his arm before delivering a devastating kick that shot the foe out of the arena. He sped out of there before two attacks from behind struck the ground he stood on.

His feet dragged on the ground as he tried to land from his sudden dash. He saw the weaker foes dropping like flies until only about three Bronze Saints were left, who wasted no time in turning their attention to him. Lance didn't recognize any of them, mostly because he took all his missions for Sanctuary by himself or with Shinta and his time in Sanctuary was otherwise spent away from the other members of the army.

A sudden supersonic blitz allowed them to surround the unarmored Pegasus. They all figured Lance was the biggest threat and could deal with each other later. One jumped in the air, another dashed at him and the last one seemed to be preparing a long range attack by charging cosmos into his hands.

Lance blocked the dasher's attack easily and countered with a strike to the leg that tripped the opponent. The jumper descended on him with a kick that Lance caught with both hands and, when the sonic boom of a large cosmos blast being shot was heard, a sudden twist of wrist and footing shift allowed Lance to spin the caught foe straight at the blast, taking him out.

The shot Bronze Saint screamed and crashed on the ground. Before the other two could recover, Lance made his move. His arms crossed tightly before his chest and the surface of his skin lit up with stored cosmos he had prepared prior to the fight. He then spread them to the sides. "Pegasus BURST!"

There was a flash of light followed by a powerful sudden explosion of cosmos that struck all three Bronze Saints, sending them flying through the air and crashing straight on the ground. Dust and pebbles blasted from the arena's floor by the attack screened the area for a bit, but it didn't take long to clear to reveal a prevailing, panting Lance standing amidst the defeated Bronze Saints and foot soldiers.

Burst was a technique he had developed to serve as an emergency move or as a finisher. It required him to store cosmos into a thin external layer that, rather than act as a barrier or empowerment, would be inert and static until the right moment. He would then make it explode, causing a sudden burst of power that struck everything within a certain range instantly. What it lacked in brute destructive power, it compensated versatility. Unlike with his other techniques, especially the Charge Fist, Burst required no freedom of movement, even relishing in situations where it is constrained.

A moment of tense silence followed shortly before being broken by an outraged uproar from the crowd.

"What?!"

"Fuck this! This is bullshit!"

"He cheated!"

"NO! We can't give the Silver Cloth to that guy!"

"What did you do to my friends?!"

Lance's red eyes narrowed in irritation. He tried to ignore the revolting stands, who had expected someone else less hated to have become the winner. He tried to focus instead on the Pope, who descended from the stands along with his escorts and the Silver Cloth of Kentaurus that had been resting by the old man's feet.

Lance exited the field and stood before the holy man. Even after two years, he couldn't help but feel anger at the sight of his black, expressionless mask that had done nothing but condemn him since he returned from Mount Olympus, but this time it was different. This time Lance would get to see the bitterness in Arles' voice as he was force the finally reward Pegasus in front of everyone, not to mention with a promotion.

The several members of the crowd started leaving. Shinta, who had been watching from the stands, kept his distance from the encounter between Lance and the Pope but also couldn't wait to go down there and congratulate his friend. "You did it, Lance!"

Shinta was not entirely surprise. Truth be told, Lance had no real foe among the many contestants to the prize, as he was the most experienced on the field. Andromeda Shinta also noticed that the Burst technique seemed to have changed Lance's attitude a little bit, as Pegasus seemed less hesitant to make risks knowing that he had a way out of a tight situation through his new move.

"Man," complained a foot soldier to a citizen friend as the passed by Shinta. "Can't believe Pegasus is getting a Silver Cloth. I don't care how strong he is; that guy is rotten!"

"I know... but did you hear that story about how his team pulverized three Specters they encountered in Andromeda Island?" asked said friend "I've heard they were Celestial Stars, too. You're in the army; how strong are Celestial Stars anyway?"

"Strong enough for me to know that story is BS! Celestial Stars are pretty much Hades' equivalence to Gold Saints. Besides, we're not even at war. How could Specters be attacking us if Holy War isn't expected until twenty years from now?"

Shinta saw the citizen unconvinced by the soldier's words before the two of them trailed off. He tried to focus on the Pope's declaration of Lance's victory.

Meanwhile, the disguised Gold Saint of Taurus took notice of the green haired boy, who was the only one asides from him who wasn't leaving the Coliseum in disgust. "So that is the Andromeda Saint, Guardnia's sole surviving successful student?" he wondered, having taught Guardnia to be a Silver Saint himself. "In a small way, I suppose I could call him my grand-student."

Down at the fighting floor, Lance waited patiently for the Pope to hand him over the Cloth Box and announce him as the Silver Saint, but Arles seemed to be taking his sweet time, as if he really didn't like what he was being forced to do right now. "Though I can't really tell thanks to that mask of his." he admitted. The object was so concealing that, for all he knew, the Pope could have fallen asleep during the contest without anyone noticing. "But he has to give it to me! The contest' rules say it so."

The Silver Cloth Box suddenly raised itself from the ground, lifted by Shion's telekinesis. "Pegasus Lance,… two years ago we met each other for the first time right in this arena. It's a shame it was under such, well, shameful circumstances." Shion could then very easily detect a concealed grunt of frustration from Pegasus. The Pope saw the many foes littering the field. "Truth be told, the mere fact that you beat a Silver Saint back then made you a possible candidate to Kastiel's order, though I suppose something like this was necessary to really cement that reality."

Lance felt like saying something, just to give the Pope an answer. He could sense the old man was building up to something and that Pegasus was not going to like it. It took a bit to get it out of his throat. "...Thank you...your Holiness." he said, though he really wish he could afford to call the man something else. "He'd just paralyze me and send me to jail if I did it, though."

"Deserving as you are of the Silver Cloth," said the Pope as he made it land at Lance's feet. "I'm afraid I cannot offer you the title of Silver Saint..."

"WHAT?!" Lance exploded. His fists tightened "What are you saying?! I won! I got the Silver Cloth so what the hell is the problem?!"

Shion watched the red eyed boy give voice to his frustration but he couldn't blame him. Pegasus Lance was more than deserving of his shot at becoming a Silver Saint, though the choice itself surprised Shion because he always figured Lance would try to leave Sanctuary as soon as possible, not rise in its ranks. "Perhaps he's merely looking for freedom in the power that the upper orders give. I cannot say I complain about that; if Lance's red eyes are the sign he's the boy Hecate spoke of, then I need him close by and as tied to Sanctuary as possible. Though he's a Pegasus, the flames of the Phoenix Hecate mentioned may be merely a symbol of whatever happened to Lance during that mission of his to Death Queen Island. Regardless of the truth, I need to see more; I need to push this boy to his limit." Shion then offered an explanation. "You imply injustice too soon, Bronze Saint. Do you see me as that cruel of a creature?"

"You really don't want me answering that, not after the shit your negligence has put me through!" Lance thought.

The Lemurian continued. "I merely meant to say that your trials are not yet over. I want you face one final test before joining the Silver Saints, one that you can wear the Kentaurus Silver Cloth to. It's nothing elaborate. In fact, it is right up your alley for it involves fighting a superior Silver Saint in front of everyone." The rage in the teen's face switched to puzzlement. "Return here by the end of the day. Heracles Aguilon will be here to face you in combat." The Pope and his Papal Guards then departed. "Oh, and... congratulations over obtaining the Silver Cloth. Whether you'll be using it in the future will be up to your next battle, though."

The Pegasus Saint watched in puzzlement as the Pope and his escorts left the Coliseum. Not even the sudden arrival of a congratulating Shinta took his mind off the Pope's twist. "Lance, you've done it! You got the Silver Cloth! That is so amazing."

"Yeah...right!"

Shinta blinked. "What's wrong?"

Lance recalled everything he had heard over time about the Heracles Silver Saint. "I think the Pope just screwed me over again..."

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Several hours later...

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The sun descended, painting the cloudy sky red and shadowing the Coliseum with the rocky peaks of the mountains surrounding Sanctuary. The Coliseum's floor had long been cleared of unconscious bodies and the crowds seats were almost entirely clear save for a certain unit of foot soldiers who served under Heracles Aguilon. Pegasus Lance or, better yet, Kentaurus Lance entered the arena along with Andromeda Shinta, carrying his new Silver Cloth on his back.

Lance put the Kentaurus Silver Cloth on the ground. It was much like the Pegasus Cloth Box, though the metal it was made of had a color more akin to bright silver and the engraving of the winged horse biting on the handle was replaced by that of a prancing centaur holding the Box's handle with one hand and a bow on the other. Lance grabbed and pulled said handle, triggering the usual mechanism that made the box open up, dropping all its sides to the ground and revealing Lance's new Cloth.

Shinta still couldn't help but widen his eyes at the beautiful armor. It consisted of a metal, quadrupedal figure composed by a folded body armor, with the front and back halves of the leg protections serving as the legs. The waist protection was placed at the neck of the body armor to serve as a connecting point to the humanoid half of the creature, with one of its plates lifted up to shape a torso from which the arm protections formed arms and the folded, open face mask formed a sort of head.

The untainted, shiny surface of the protection matched the beauty of Silver Cloths Shinta had seen in the past, such as that of his Master and Saint Cynthia. He watched as Lance took the pieces one by one and put them on. "Do you need help?"

"I'm fine, thanks. It's not exactly a full body plate armor." Lance took his time checking out each plate, nook and decoration before wearing it. Once he was finished putting each piece on and adjusting the headpiece, he closed his fingers repeatedly and moved around his arms. "It's so much lighter than Pegasus, it's surreal." He then noticed the spikes on his shoulder guards and the headpiece protrusions. "I just wish I didn't look like a hedgehog."

"I think you look awesome!" Shinta encouraged. It didn't seem to change Lance's mind. "Is something wrong, Lance? I thought... you'd be happier with getting the Silver Cloth."

"I thought so, too. I guess I'm just worried. What is the point of this fight?" Lance inquired. He saw the Pope entering the Coliseum once more and take a seat in the same spot as during the contest. "I've proven that I'm strong. Why is he making me go through this, too?"

Shinta, too, couldn't figure out what Lance did wrong in the Pope's eyes. After the incident in Andromeda Island, Lance had concentrated all his efforts in training and missions. As if something had possessed him after the defeat he suffered against the Specter trio, the Pegasus Saint spent everyday practicing cosmos and fighting in preparation to a promotion.

"I don't know why he'd do that, Lance. You've gotten so much better over the last year. I can't even hit you with my chains in spars any more because you got so good at sensing the cosmos I use."

Lance nodded. "Yeah, it's almost like... some weird 'sense' has been awakening inside my head." He saw more soldiers taking seats in the Coliseum. The only reason these would attend the fight was to watch Lance get his ass kicked. "I've heard a lot about my opponent. Heracles Aguilon... He's supposed to be the top Silver Saint in Sanctuary, but I don't think I've ever met him."

"Master Guardnia once told me about him." revealed Shinta. "He said Aguilon was a drillmaster; a trainer who works with large groups of people in Sanctuary, and that he's been in Sanctuary for many years, even before some of the Gold Saints. They say that during the Civil War he stopped the streets of Rodario and Sanctuary Town from descending into chaos and that he has fought Gold Saints by himself." Shinta then saw someone entering the arena. "I think that's him."

There was an uproar of cheering from the small crowd as Lance's opponent arrived. The new Kentaurus Saint narrowed his eyes at the sight of a tall, armored man stepping on the field. Lance analyzed him.

Heracles Aguilon was a very large man, standing over eight feet tall and sporting a powerful, muscular build tightly packed beneath a black trainer and the Heracles Silver Cloth. A strong, square jaw coated itself in full beard, gray hair ran beneath his lion-shaped helmet to his shoulders height and several, nasty scars lined his face and exposed muscles, most notably a triple one that had barely missed his right eye and marked his brow and cheek, as if he had been attacked by a lion or a feline of the sort.

Black lines crossed over his full torso plate as decoration and a bead incrusted, round plate protected his entire neck. A single, round pad curved itself around his left shoulder and his left forearm protection was thick and spiked, resembling a mace. His right shoulder was exposed but the entirety of his right arm was protected by bicep and forearm guards strapped to it while a set of simple, balanced greaves run up to his knees. Finally, the silver-colored metal 'Belt of Hyppolita', depicting Ares' sword, adorned and protected his waist.

Unlike all the other giants Lance had faced so far, Aguilon didn't seem to have any particular lack of muscle balance, possessing normal looking arm, neck and leg lengths for someone of his stature, making him also seem terrifyingly nimble for his weight. All the other skyscraper warriors of Sanctuary Pegasus had met always seemed to have one oversized aspect to them in relation to the rest of their attributes, like enormous gorilla arms, colossal shoulders or immeasurable stupidity. The combination of sharp eyes, precise body balance and imposing figure made Aguilon seem to Lance like someone truly out of the regular definition of muscle-head.

"KICK HIS ASS, AGUILON!" a soldier at the stand shouted.

"YEAH!"

"This is gonna be good!"

"Break his fucking face!" one suggested.

The enormous man calmly walked towards Pegasus, not taking heed to any of the cheer. In fact, he seemed slightly bored by it and the sight of middle fingers and soldiers preparing to toss rotten fruit didn't please him either. With a raise of his hand, he caused the foot soldiers to shout out his name in cheer, but also gave order for his personal unit to make their move.

In the stands, the group of twelve soldiers sitting together nodded in accordance and stood up. Widely known as the Herculean Guard, they were Aguilon's personal, elite squadron of foot soldiers, handpicked by the veteran Silver Saint not just for their strength, but for their discipline, honor and willpower. They were characterized by the silver outlines in the plates and pieces of their armors, the way their eyes were shadowed by the hoplite helmets, by the semi-roman scale armor and the silver colored shield each marked one labor of Hercules.

"Silence!" the Herculean Guard with the Cerberus labor shield shouted. "Lord Heracles Aguilon is now engaging in a respectful match for His Holiness, Pope Arles, to watch. There will be no hissing at the foe. Have shame upon thy faces! How dare you disgrace your units with such vulgar display before the man chosen by Athena?!"

And before Lance and Shinta's bewildered eyes, the crowd went silent and dropped the fruit they had brought to throw at Lance. One by one, they grudgingly sat down and went quiet and it was not until complete order was established that the Herculean Guard also sat down to watch the match.

"...Holy shit..." muttered Lance.

"G-good luck, Lance. I'll be watching with everyone else." Shinta then rushed out of the field quite hastily before Lance even had time to react.

A shadow suddenly fell upon the red eyed teen and the Kentaurus Silver Saint found himself standing alone before a man that, though not quite as tall as Minotaurus Guen, made him relive the sensation of the sun being blocked out by an insurmountable foe. An intense stare was shared between the two when hardened brown eyes met defiant red ones. Without a word having yet been shared between the two, Lance had the sensation of standing before a true warrior.

Tension rose between the two, heightened by the atmosphere of enforced respect created by Aguilon's men. If the elite soldiers could create such a reaction, just how powerful was their trainer? Lance, feelings beads of sweat run down his temples, expected the match to start at any moment, and was surprised when instead he saw an armored hand extend itself to him. "Pegasus Lance, I presume?" asked Aguilon.

Lance blinked. "...It's Kentaurus Lance right now."

"That will remain to be seen in this fight and is no excuse for a man not to shake another man's hand!" Aguilon reminded him. Lance hesitated once more, taken by surprise, but eventually returned the handshake. "That's more like it! I have heard much about you. I have to admit, defeating a Silver Saint like Kastiel is no small feat... but then again, I remember drilling that stupid boy myself and how careless he can become."

The mere mention of Kastiel's name put Lance back into a tense mood. "What is going on here? Why do I have to fight you?" Lance demanded to know.

Aguilon laughed out loud. It was a sudden, hearty laugh that came as a big surprise from a man that had looked so stern until right then. "HA, HA, HA, HA! You really haven't been taught anything by Kastiel! It's fine, I'll explain it to you. Tell me, do you know about a constellation protection? You must earn a Cloth's respect by usually undergoing a series of tests and training period, the length and nature depending on each Cloth, so that you'll be watched over by their stars."

"Yeah, I know that."

Heracles explained. "Bronze and Silver Cloths usually require three years of testing, not counting the three years of instruction one gets just to become a Saint. Just having the Cloth on your shoulders doesn't mean you've fallen under its constellation protection, where the real power and favor comes from, correct?"

Lance raised a brow. He hadn't been taught anything of this. "So what, you're here to help me impress this Silver Cloth?"

"Partly, yes, I am. Bronze and Silver Cloths usually require all sorts of binding rituals. There is one Cloth in China that wants you to reverse the current of a waterfall, for example. In order to get my Cloth, I had to force a bull on the ground with my bare hands, amongst other things." Aguilon explained. "The Kentaurus Silver Cloth follows the myth of the centaur creatures, who were aggressive and war-like. A good battle should be enough to get it to take you under its protection and, only then, will you be truly the Centaur Silver Saint."

Realization hit Lance followed by relief. So this is why the Pope said he couldn't announce him as the new Kentaurus Silver Saint. He still had the feeling that Arles was toying with him somehow, though. "Okay, I get it, but why you? What is the other reason you're here?"

Aguilon scoffed. "Face it, kid; you're not going to impress anyone by fighting foes everyone knows you can beat, otherwise you'd just win the lame contest and that would be it. Right now I'd say from your record you're among the top five Silver Saints and I'm the strongest thing you can face next to a Gold Saint in these parts, second in line for the Gold Cloth of Taurus. Don't think for a minute I'll go easy on you. Let your guard down during this match and I'll destroy you!"

Aguilon then pulled out a rock from the ground and crushed it right in front of Lance with his hand before letting the wind wash the resulting dust from his palm. Several foot soldiers saw this and were at the edge of their seats with excitement. They'd finally get to see the punk that terrorized the ranks get his comeuppance.

Lance raised a brow. What was with this guy? One minute he was stern-looking and menacing, the next one he was acting nice and explaining things to him and then he was back into the merciless warrior he looked like. The strange, almost silly attitude did not however calm the bad feeling Lance was getting about that fight.

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In the stands, in a spot with less Lance haters, Shinta had taken a seat and now gulped at the sight of the poor rock reduced to dirt. Not an impressive feat at all for a Saint, but the way Aguilon did it with so little cosmos was super scary.

Without the Andromeda Saint even noticing at first, Daniel, disguised gardener of the Taurus House, sat by his side. Shinta suddenly felt a shadow over him and realized that a ten foot tall man with blonde hair running down his back and lines on his face just took over three seats next to him and whole bunch more in front with his legs.

Daniel noticed he startled Shinta. "Oh, excuse me."

Shinta couldn't help but stare at the gargantuan men. He looked like he could crush Shinta's head with his fingers. "Oh, hmm, don't worry, I just-"

"Sorry," Daniel tucked his legs together and leaned his head down so as to not take over so many seats. "I always forget how tiny these seat steps are." He saw Shinta's armor and feigned ignorance. "Oh, and you're a Saint to make it worse. I apologize."

"It's okay. You're here to watch the fight?" Daniel nodded. "...Lance didn't do anything bad to you, right? You're not here to watch him get beaten up?"

Daniel laughed. "Oh, no, of course not! I'm here to watch Aguilon fight." he said. It was not entirely a lie.

"You know that Silver Saint?"

"Aguilon is a famous face, but yes, I've known him personally since we were very young, back when he was a trainee. I bet this is going to be a great match. As one born as a Taurus, I always enjoy a good fight and Aguilon can sure make them scream." he commented, though this seemed to aggravate Shinta's preoccupation. "You... don't look like the type that would enjoy this sort of thing, if you don't mind me saying. Let me introduce myself; my name is Daniel, I work at the Golden Zodiac as a gardener." Another technical truth.

"My name is Andromeda Shinta Akiyama and... yes, I'm not the type to enjoy fighting." admitted the green-haired boy. "I'm here to support my friend, Lance. I know it may sound weird for a Saint to say this, but I'm a pacifist, I don't like seeing people hurt each other."

"Ah, a pacifist..." Daniel sighed.

Shinta squinted. "Is something wrong with it?"

Daniel took a moment to react, as if he had been recalling something. "Something wrong? Of course not; quite on the contrary, I think it's wonderful. I only know meat heads and warmongers in Sanctuary. I think there being a couple of people who think like you in this place is great." Daniel then chuckled.

Shinta couldn't help but be infected by the man's good mood and compliment. He felt his worried frown quirk upwards. "Yeah, I've noticed many times that not a lot of people think like me in Sanctuary, but I suppose it's normal. I'm in the army, after all."

"That is no excuse for everyone to be violent, you know?"

Shinta pondered his words. "Well,... yeah, but-"

"Actually, to tell you the truth, I... had a neighbor, living right in front of my House, who was a pacifist, too, though he was Saint."

Green eyes widened. "Really? What was he like?"

"A wonderful man, he was; couldn't stand the thought of war and spent his time crafting all sorts of beautiful things. Unfortunately,... he passed away, leaving me only with bitter old soldiers as friends." Daniel confessed.

Shinta frowned sadly, especially since the neighbor was someone who might have been a kindred spirit to Shinta. The saddened look on the face of such an enormous man made it all the worse. "I'm so sorry. How did he die?"

"Well,...I try to remember him for how he lived, not how he died; always fiddling in his workshop, always being so nice to everyone... that is worth a lot more than the tragedy of his death." Daniel said. A quiet chuckle shifted his mood. "He was a bit weird, too. He named his second kid after his ancestors' land." Daniel then shook off his nostalgia. "Figure that..."

Shinta sensed an impending desire from the man to change subject. "I see... so anyways is Aguilon dangerous? Do you think Lance is in trouble? Those soldiers of his looked really strong."

Daniel frowned. "Aguilon's no mollycoddler, I'll tell you that much, and the Herculean Guard get their strictness from him. You're friend is in for a hell of a fight, but Aguilon is no lunatic, either."

Shinta sighed in relief. The important thing was that Lance was in no danger of anything terrible happening to him. Master Guardnia had told Shinta so many stories of lethal injuries and disfigurements and, for some reason, ears being chopped off was a trend in Sanctuary's Coliseums. Shinta got up and shouted "Good luck, Lance! Do your best!"

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The two Silver Saints in the arena watched as the Pope stood up. "You may begin the match!"

Tension spiked on the field and Lance's body went tense into a basic fighting pose. Aguilon didn't seem to pay attention to him, instead looking at Arles. The Heracles Silver Saint sent a mental message to the Pope. "How far do you want me to take this?" The Pope shook his head, a previously arranged signal between the two of them that meant that Aguilon should just see where it goes. The Heracles Saint nodded and turned to his foe.

For the past two years, Pegasus Lance had been the biggest headache in Sanctuary's Saint ranks, starting from the moment he defeated Kastiel. Were it not for Pegasus' pairing with the Andromeda Saint, Aguilon was certain that sooner or later he would be called to discipline the red-eyed rebel. He had sometimes imagined what that moment would be like, but never feared it. Even then, the gigantic Silver Saint was certain he would be the one to control the pace of the battle.

It was also fairly obvious the Kentaurus Saint was nervous and knew that something wasn't right about this match. The combination of small beads of sweat on his temple and gritted teeth did not escape the eyes of Heracles Aguilon. The older Silver Saint did not blame him. The Pope often had an obscure way of going on about things.

"Alright..." Lance muttered. "Let's do this!" A sudden blitz and a sonic boom followed. Aguilon lost track of Lance's position for a second but remained still. Lance went around him a couple of times and approached him from the right, intent of striking the man's head. Cosmos run down his legs to boost his movements and he made his move.

Heracles' ear quirked with the sound of a foot leaping near him.

"KENTAURUS CHARGE FIST!" Lance shouted. He felt his cosmos increasing more than he expected and fill his arm with a white aura with a slight silver glint. As soon as he came close enough he thrust his fist at the lion's helmet.

Something large and covered with silver colored armor suddenly stopped his punch right in its tracks, letting a bursting sound of impact fill the arena. Lance's red eyes widened in shock at the sight of Aguilon's palm having tanked his attack.

Aguilon locked eyes with him. "That's not enough, Pegasus!"

"W-what-" Lance's phrase was cut short when the palm closed around his fist and pulled him to the giant, who pummeled Lance's face with a huge punch. Lance screamed and felt his leg being grabbed and pulled over the man's shoulder before the red eyed Saint was bashed on the ground so harshly the marble cracked loudly and gave in, sinking him.

Lance coughed out blood, still feeling his world spinning. Shaking, he raised himself from the rubble and looked up to see a very unimpressed Aguilon staring down on him. He rolled to the side to dodge a series of blows that almost pinned him back to the ground and positioned himself away from his foe.

Aguilon raised his fist from the dirt and scoffed. "Come on, is that all? This fight is going to be short." Lance gritted teeth and tried to keep calm. Once more, he blitzed out of sight. Aguilon sighed and did the same, leaving the area seemingly empty to the audience.

A sudden clash of elbows, however, made them reappear in the center of the arena. Lance instantly stepped back from the opponent so as to not let Aguilon grab him again. Heracles, however, sped around him in an instant and let his shadow swallow the amateur Silver.

The sensation of the shadow and a pair of eyes looking down on his back sent a shiver to Lance's spine. "He's so fast!" He turned around and confronted the Silver Saint.

"You're moving around as you should to try to take advantage of my size, but experience won't be enough to beat me." warned Aguilon. Silver cosmos burst up from around his body and engulfed him. "So, Pegasus, are you ready?"

Lance gulped and raised his clenched fists. Was Aguilon just playing around with him? "I can't afford to make any mistakes, this guy is clearly different from everyone else I've faced so far." The Kentaurus Silver Saint let his white aura emerge and power up around him. Eventually, it started shifting into burning orange.

"I imagine you're used to prey on bigger foes' inferior speed." commented Aguilon. "What will you do now, Pegasus? Will you give up now that you can't do that? Of course, if you do that, you relinquish the Silver Cloth."

"What?! Give up?!" Lance protested. He furiously shook his head. "You gotta be kidding me. I haven't even got you to fight me seriously!"

Aguilon laughed out loud. "Fine, let's raise the bar a little!" He then suddenly dashed forward to meet Lance with an array of successive punches. Lance charged cosmos into his forearm guards and soon found himself almost desperately trying to keeping the blow barrage at bay while trying to find an opening. He was forced to step back several times and widen his eyes in emergency; Aguilon's pressure was not letting up a single bit.

A spike from Aguilon's left forearm suddenly grazed his face, slashing Lance. Knowing he couldn't outlast his opponent, Kentaurus rushed forward with a palm blow that struck Aguilon's punch, stopping it. The sudden shift of the flow caught Aguilon by surprise and allowed Lance to plant a kick as hard as he could on the warrior's waist, which only seemed to have the effect of pushing him back a bit.

A bit more used to the intensity of Aguilon's attacks, Lance was able to dodge a sudden swing from the left, get within Heracles' area and strike him again with the elbow. Cosmos exploded around the roaring Lance, speeding him up so that he could deliver two more powerful blows to the chest. Aguilon stepped back once more and tried to catch the attacker, but Lance jumped to avoid his arms and charged cosmos into his feet "KENTAURUS CHARGE FIST!" Kentaurus bashed them both straight on Aguilon's face, blasting the Silver Saint so hard the huge man was forced to let out his first grunt of pain and blood.

The risky move caused Lance to fall on his back but he flipped back to get away from Heracles. He panted as he got up, feeling his aura calm down. If it would really take moves this daring and cosmos consuming to hurt Aguilon, then Lance was in big trouble.

The warrior rubbed his jaw. "Heh, heh! That's more like it. You're fighting more like a warrior, now!" Aguilon clashed his knuckles together and focused his energy. "Seems like all it took was push you a bit. Let's keep going."

"I'm used to fighting adversity, that's all. I don't know yet how I'm going to beat you." Lance thought to himself. Aguilon didn't let him have time for further thoughts, though, because he rushed at Lance with a punched that forced the teen on the defensive with a cross block. He felt the enormous strength of his opponent make his body shake. "D-damn it! H-how strong is this guy?"

{======================|0|======================}

Kentaurus Lance

Strength: 6
Skill: 6
Mind: 5
Spirit: 5
Violence: 7
Cosmos: 250 (unmastered 7th sense)
FFS: 1450

vs

Heracles Aguilon

Strength: 9
Skill: 7
Mind: 8
Spirit: 7
Violence: 8
Cosmos: 1000
FFS: 7800

Note: Keep in mind that FFS scores don't have a hand in how much fighters pruposely hold back throughout a battle.

{======================|0|======================}

His attention was forced down when a huge kick tried to strike him, but Lance dodge with a head turn. A counter was attempted with Lance leaping and side-kicking Aguilon, but a plated arm took the blow. Lance stopped his fall with his hand and a rolling. He felt like he was trying to take down a truck.

It was made all the worse when Aguilon suddenly smirked and blinked away. An enormous lariat blow then exploded on his chest and his world went dark. Blood came out of his mouth and his feet left the ground. He felt hands grabbing him.

"Kornephoros!" Aguilon declared. Lance opened his red eyes only to see the fading image of the Heracles constellation behind Aguilon as the larger Silver Saint burned Silver cosmos in his hands which burst out a powerful typhoon that struck the new Silver Saint. Lance screamed and the crowd gasped as the attack lifted Kentaurus into the air at an enormous speed. "It's not over yet!" Aguilon then gave chase with a leap that super sped him through the sky.

Lance felt his body slow down and halt in the air, still sustained by the sudden wind currents. Just when he thought he'd have an opportunity to turn the attack around, though, Aguilon suddenly somehow appeared right above him. The large Silver Saint's foot then glowed brightly in white light that blinded Lance. Aguilon flipped his body over itself and delivered a devastating kick to Lance that shot the Kentaurus straight back to the arena.

He crashed on the floor like a rock which then dragged through shattered rubble. The crowd cheered at the amazing move, muffling out Shinta's concerned gasp. Heracles effortlessly landed from his leap and looked down on the floored, bloody Saint.

Feeling only the harsh, ruined rock against his skin, his head spinning around and blood dripping from his body. Lance coughed yet again, feeling the damage Heracles just caused that made him tear him apart with pain. He slowly struggled to get back on his feet, though he only managed to barely stand, his body trembling as much as his sight.

{======================|0|======================}

The few people occupying the stands went nuts and the Herculean Guard didn't seem interest in stopping them this time. Their trainer was occupied and the Pope wasn't about to make any announcement. "AGUILON! AGUILON! AGUILON!"

"Kick his ass!"

"YEAH!"

Shinta gasped. "Oh, no, Lance!" he screamed as he got up from his seat and moved to the edge as much as he could. Daniel grabbed him by the shoulder to contain him. "Lance, don't try too hard! You're hurt!"

Daniel stared at the sight of the former Pegasus Bronze Saint putting up a pathetic stand before Aguilon. It looked like Lance was about to fall over. "Aguilon's Kornephoros lifts the opponent high into the air with the strength of Hercules himself; to the untrained eye, it seems like he has the element of Wind, but the truth is that he just executes a simple arm movement that carries such a herculean power that it blasts the air into a twister that is said to be almost as strong as the wind storm of the Great Bodyguard of Athena." He recalled. "The move Aguilon used is very powerful and then Aguilon just knocked him back to the ground... I'm surprised your friend took such a blow and still stands."

The Andromeda Saint saw Lance struggling to stay on his feet while bleeding all over. "He can take a lot of damage... He's strong..." Shinta's concern, however, overpowered his trust. "But at this rate he could get killed! He's too stubborn to stay down if he knows he can still throw one last punch. If he doesn't stop the match right now-"

"If he stops, he loses the Silver Cloth." Daniel reminded Shinta. "He has to fight until the end, whether the end means victory or the hospital." Daniel's 7th sense then felt energy swelling in Centaur. "Besides, Pegasus are just like you said, stubborn to the last punch-"

"But Lance isn't like that!" Shinta suddenly shouted, narrowing his eyes. "He knows his limits! He always gives his best but he also always knows when it's time to make the smart move and retreat and I can't stand sitting here watching him get pummeled like that, even if he's a Pegasus!"

The disguised Taurus Saint folded his arms. "I don't think he's done yet."

Shinta squinted at the fight, trying to see whatever Daniel had seen. It was then that he detected the unmistakable orange energy of Lance's fire cosmos.

{======================|0|======================}

The loud sound of cheering did not distract Aguilon at all, who was instead focused entirely on the sight of his battered, bloody opponent panting and immersed in a flame of energy. He knew Lance's element was fire but it seemed like the teen was too smart to use it recklessly. This told Aguilon his opponent was aware of how much cosmos such a destructive element consumed. "You are yet to make a decent hit, kid. You won't get the respect of Centaur even if you survive at this rate. Are you going to risk exhausting yourself by trying to burn me or what?"

Lance tried to ignore the infuriating sound of the crowd rooting against him. He had half a mind of parading both his middle fingers at them, but it wouldn't be worth the cost of losing his concentration. He looked at his gauntlets and armor and saw them cracked all over. Lance was certain that, had he been wearing the Pegasus Cloth instead of this superior Silver Armor, he would have taken a lot more damage and probably lost his only protection "I think I figured out his move, but I don't think I have a way to counter it yet. I have to think of a plan of action."

{======================|0|======================}

Meanwhile, the Pope watched from his stand, intrigued, as the red eyed teen made his stand. "Aguilon, raise the intensity. I want you push him further than this." he ordered via mental message.

Aguilon returned the Pope with a nod of the head and focused back on the new Centaur Saint. He, too, thought it was time to push the kid further. He started burning his cosmos.

The sudden emanation of energy coming from Aguilon made the ground tremble and Lance stumble around. "G-great, what now?!" He saw Heracles tightening both his fists close to his chest, which shined with a layer of bright cosmos running up them, and once again the image of the mace-wielding Hercules appeared behind the warrior.

Winds picked up around Aguilon, also stirred by the sudden rise of energy. The warrior gritted teeth in concentration and hunched forward. Once the energy needed was gathered, his fists were suddenly swallowed by two spheres of white light. Aguilon laughed. "Take this! HERACLES FISTS OF FURY!" He then roared and punched both fists forward at the same time, launching an enormous duo of cosmos comets that ran straight towards Lance.

The alarmed young Saint gasped at the amount of power launched and immediately jumped to the side to dodge. He felt the blasts smash beneath his feet, causing two powerful explosions that sent him flying.

His back came crashing down on the ground, the sound of collapsing stone echoing from the two impact points. Lance widened his eyes in horror at the sight of two enormous, fuming craters now marking the spot the attacks as Heracles was charging for round two. "HERACLES FISTS OF FURY!" Seeing two meteors of light once again fill his vision, Lance jumped high in the air over the two attacks, but by the time they exploded, knocking him to the floor and allowing Hercules time to charge yet another attack. "HERACLES FIST OF FURY!"

Tired of the attack that was obviously meant to make Lance dance around and exhaust himself, the Centaur Saint once again jumped over the attack, though towards Aguilon. As soon as the attacks came close to hit the floor, Lance made his move by thrusting his hand at them. "KENTAURUS BARRIER!"

A large transparent shield formed in front of his fingers, absorbing the shock wave of the Fists of Fury, and allowing him to maintain his footing while landing.

This crucial detail then allowed him to counterattack

"HERACLES FISTS OF FURY!"

"KENTAURUS CHARGE FIST!"

Aguilon gritted teeth when his arms were suddenly struck by a bullet punch that forced him on the defensive. Having successfully pressed his counter, Lance then made his burning aura explode and empower his barrage of fists, which forced Aguilon to keep blocking with his forearms and armor plates.

The enormous warrior suddenly felt himself being pushed back by the assault, forcing him to step back several times and narrowly avoid a punch that grazed his unprotected right shoulder. He roared and blocked a heavier attack from Lance before swinging his arm at him. Lance blocked it with his elbow which then pushed the arm up, allowing him to roll underneath it while striking the ground. "BLADE!"

A sudden geyser of white light burst through the ground and Aguilon lost his footing. An elbow struck his back, causing his balance to be lost, before he sensed cosmos exploding behind him. Once more the bullet like impact, this time of a kick on his back, was felt and Aguilon was tossed into the enlarging hole on the ground, dropping down several feet to the old, collapsed catacombs located right below the area that were now just rubbished rock and metal.

Lance wasted no time as he burned his cosmos to the max in preparation for his fire attack. Though the image of the Centaur constellation did not appear behind him, due to not being under its protection, Lance still waved his hands around to form Centaur's star formation.

Aguilon coughed and got up from the rubble, feeling more dirty than hurt. He looked up above his shoulder to see Lances aura bursting to thrice its size. He then realized he fell right into the fireplace. "Why, you-"

"KENTAURUS!" Lance's fist was swallowed by a sphere of fire. "FLAME ATTACK!" The usual torrent of fire was then shot from his knuckles, though this time enlarged, empowered and carrying a slight glint of silver amongst the cosmic flames, courtesy of Lance's new protection.

The flame blast turned Aguilon's hole into a fire pit, consuming the enormous Silver Saint and exploding into a larger bonfire once the torrent's flow was cut. Lance watched, panting heavily, as his most destructive attack did its work.

{======================|0|======================}

The crowd protested and booed and Shinta sat at the edge of his seat. "Lance got him!" he celebrated. Even if it wasn't a strong finisher, Lance's Flame Attack was usually the move that caused the most amount of damage, especially against bigger foes and large groups of enemies. If this didn't hurt Aguilon, nothing would.

Daniel and, on the other side of the arena, Pope Shion, however, weren't convinced. They knew perfectly well what would come next.

Lance growled in frustration as he watched the flames dancing. He stepped away from the fiery hole, trying to keep his cosmos flowing.

Something large jumped from among the flames and plummeted on the floor before the Kentaurus Saint, raising dust everywhere. Heracles Aguilon raised himself in all his splendor. Lance sweated nervously as he realized that Aguilon was only marked in a couple of spots in his armor. He knew Flame Attack would never defeat Aguilon like this, but to cause so little damage...

Aguilon dusted the ash off him. "That's a powerful fire." he complimented. "The way you got the drop on me was surprising, too. For a second there, I was startled. You sure are fighting hard!"

"C-cut the crap!" Lance snarled, though the weakness of his voice denounced his exhaustion. "T-this is nothing compared to some of the shit I've been put through in missions for Sanctuary. Don't think you can take my Silver Cloth so easily." In truth, though, Lance was nearing his limit. "I've been throwing everything I got at him and he still only has a couple of bruises. How can there be such a big gap between Kastiel and this guy?"

The Heracles Saint sighed deeply in thought as he tried to figure out Lance's motivation. "Someone like you... it's strange that you'd want the Silver Cloth so badly. Why are you after it?"

Lance coughed, feeling hurt all over. "I t-thought I told you to cut the crap. Why w-would anyone want a p-promotion, huh?!" Aguilon's harsh stared showed Lance how unconvinced he was. "I don't have to tell anything about it. Y-you're just here to test me, right?"

The flames behind Aguilon started dying down, though the heat didn't diminished. Aguilon looked up to the sky and saw the saw being darkly clouded. "What poor motivation. No wonder you're having such a hard time."

"W-what?!"

"I feel sorry for you, Pegasus, because you're quite the pathetic Saint." Aguilon accused. "I imagine that somewhere deep in that head you don't even consider yourself one."

"SO WHAT?!" Lance shouted. "I d-don't like Sanctuary anyway! To me you can all just go to hell! All Sanctuary does is push me around, hate me, shout at me and then demand I do my duty to Athena. Fuck Athena! And fuck you Saints!"

Aguilon growled, insulted. "Now wait just a minute there, you-"

"If you want to know about my motivation, then why don't you go ask the teacher you sent to take care of me?! His name is Kastiel and he's probably abandoning some other kid in some Training Ground right now!" Lance confronted. "And this test... I bet it's as much of a farce as all the Masters here in Sanctuary! The Pope sure is comfortable over there, watching my ass get beaten by you, isn't he?! Ever since I got my Cloth he has done nothing more than make my life hell! Hell, the only friend I ever made in this dump is a Saint that thinks in the exact opposite manner as everyone of us assholes!"

There was rumbling among the clouds. Small drops of rain started falling on the arena before it picked up the pace, killing the remaining flames and soaking the two Silver Saints. Aguilon turned his face to the Pope. "He really hates your guts, old man..."

It took a bit, but he eventually got a reply from Pope Arles. "Do your duty, Aguilon. Push him over the edge."

"Alright." Aguilon spread his feet to adjust his footing, tightened his right fist and raised the other in a defensive manner. "At least you're passionate about something. Truth be told, Saint Lance, I'm not sure if I'd like some one as full of resentment as you in my order. Anger in the heart corrupts Saints and unfortunately you look a lot more like someone I'd fight against than someone I'd fight for."

Lance re-assumed a fighting pose. "Are you going to kick my ass or what?!"

Aguilon took a deep breath in preparation. He felt his cosmos swirling internally and rise up to his shoulder and then down to his fist. "I will put an end to this with a technique that was handed down to me by a lineage pure of mind. Hopefully, it will teach you a lesson about how it is, quite simply, not your destiny to be a Saint."

Reminded of Bellerophon's speeches, Lance growled. "Don't think you're the first to spill that kind of bullshit at me!"

Aguilon smirked. "Maybe not, but I bet I'm the first one to wreck you with this move!" Aguilon's aura then exploded into white light which gathered around his fists. The constellation of Hercules appeared in the background and the warrior roared loudly. "Take this! HERACLES" He then thrust is fist forward. "RYU SEI KEN!"

Lance's jaw dropped and his red eyes widened to the max when Aguilon's fist exploded into what seemed like hundreds, if not thousands of blue cosmic blasts fling at high speed at the Kentaurus Saint. Lance screamed and stepped back, caught completely by surprise, and his whole body relived the sensation of being bombarded by countless blasts of pure energy, each with the impact of a cosmos empowered fist.

Completely overwhelmed by the shower of attacks, his battered body fell to the ground screaming in pain and shock. Aguilon's fuming fist was lowered and the crowd was left with dumbfounded looks.

But there was a sudden uproar from the watchers and they all started screaming Aguilon's name and that of his attack. Lance was left on the ground, an expression of pure bewilderment filling his face. "W-what?! That was... Bellerophon's move!" The faint, concerned shout of the word 'Nissan' was heard and the crowd acted like the fight was won. Lance turned over and tried to get up only to feel countless new bruises on his body burning him with pain. Gritted teeth helped him endure the torture of standing back up. "I...I was outside his arm reach but he hit me, anyway, like in the Temple of Pegasus!"

"NOW! Get him NOW!"

"GO AGUILON!"

"NISSAN, STAND BACK FROM HIM!"

Lance saw Aguilon's fist fuming and still swirling with energy. Could all of those blasts have really been fists? Aguilon didn't leave his position, but Lance felt like he had truly suffered a brutal beatdown. Was this going to be just like Mount Olympus? Was Lance just going to now be trashed and thrown around like a doll by the move, just like Bellerophon did?

"Time to finish things, Pegasus Lance. It's a shame, but you just aren't ready for the Silver Cloth. Come back when you've grown some more." said Aguilon as he prepared another round. "HERACLES RYU SEI KEN!"

The large, silver coated punch once more unleashed the wave of meteor blasts of cosmos, and all Lance could think of was Bellerophon doing the same thing with him, mocking him, humiliating him, proving without reason of a doubt that Lance would never get out of Mount Olympus, much less get the Bronze Cloth of Pegasus.

He could also see the utter failure that were Death Queen Island, Arcadia and Andromeda Island; three cases of how he was too weak, both on the inside and the outside, to accomplish anything he sought out to. He couldn't stop what happened in Death Queen Island, even though he promised he would. He couldn't save virtually anyone in Arcadia, even though he told Shinta and Alexis he would, and in Andromeda Island... he couldn't do anything but watch as Shinta solved the problem in a flash!

A sudden flare revived itself in his red eyes and Lance counterattacked. He saw immediately that some of the blasts were smaller and faster while others were bigger but slower. Having seen the move so many times before, he also deduced that its current speed should be about of 850 punches per second. When the first meteor reached him, Lance was then easily able to dodge it with a side-step.

Aguilon widened his eyes.

"Never again!" thought Lance as his orange aura brightened up and enlarged. The second meteor, a smaller one, arrived and Lance effortlessly blocked it with the palm of his hand. He kept on dodging the bigger meteors and blocking the smaller ones, seeing the pattern of the punches of cosmos being thrown and easily making his way through them, approaching his opponent more and more with each dodge and block.

Aguilon growled and threw one last round of faster Meteor Fists, but the Kentaurus Saint had already adjusted completely to move, allowing him to side step the first punch, reach out to him with his hand and catch Aguilon's enormous wrist in the process of executing the technique. "What?!"

"NEVER AGAIN!" his aura exploded in size and suddenly change from orange to a brilliant gold. "WILL I LET YOU TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T ACHIEVE! KENTAURUS!"Lance then seemingly dashed into a beam of light that left behind a dragged image of his body through the rain drops. "CHARGE FIST!"

Aguilon reacted instantly. "KORNEPHOROS!" his arms both swept to create the typhoon.

But he was too late and the thunderous sound of a fist crashing straight against his chestplate's center between his swinging arms and the Silver surface of the protection gave in, cracking and swallowing the punch. For the first time in the fight, Aguilon let out a real complaint of pain. Lance roared and dug his fist deeper into the damaged armor, pushing the enormous warrior back.

Aguilon's feet stomped the ground harshly to stop his back dragging and raised his fist high in the air. White cosmos flowed to it, forming a huge ball of energy. "HERACLES! SUI SEI KEN!"

He then let it down and hammered it straight on the Kentaurus Saint, smashing the screaming Lance with a Comet of cosmos that crushed him against the floor, loudly shattering the ground and exploding into a flash of light that briefly blinded everyone.

Said light soon emanated and a suspenseful silence filled the arena. The Herculean Guard, concerned with their Master, got up but did not leave the stand. As soon as everything became clear, it was a screaming Shinta that rushed down the arena.

"NISSAN!" he shouted.

Standing before a crater of rubble was the imposing, tall and victorious figure of Silver Saint Heracles Aguilon, who now sported a cracked spot in his otherwise smooth Heracles torso armor. The large mass of energy his fist had become disappeared as he was gasping heavily.

A defeated, unconscious, bleeding Lance laid on the ground before him, his Silver Cloth cracked all over as the small flames of his golden cosmos were dying out. The Pope stood up from his seat. "The match is over! Heracles Aguilon wins!"

The silence remained unbroken despite this declaration, except for the sound of the rain and of Shinta getting to Lance and trying to wake him up. The disguised Taurus Daniel walked over the Coliseum's stands and stood before the Pope. "Your Holiness..."

"Saint Daniel, please tell me you saw what everyone else saw just now." Shion requested.

Daniel tried to decipher the emotions in his voice. "Heracles Aguilon won...and, apparently, Pegasus Lance just executed an attack at the speed of light."

Shion nodded in confirmation. "Daniel, call the other Gold Saints. Tell them I'm summoning them to an important meeting. I need to discuss something with you all."

Already having an idea of what it was, Daniel did not hesitate. He blitzed away from the scene to warn Malta, Kirin, Saga, Aiolos and Mu. He wasn't sure of what was going to happen now, but they had a long talk ahead of them.

Rain kept harshly falling on the arena as Aguilon watched the Andromeda Saint roll over Lance and trying to wake him up. The large warrior scratched the damage caused to his armor, still a bit shocked by the sudden twist in the fight. He saw His Holiness approaching.

"L-Lance! Lance, please wake up!" Shinta screamed.

"He's not in danger." Aguilon assured. "I'm sorry I hurt your friend, but a fight is a fight!" Shinta got teary-eyed and felt like lashing out, but he knew Aguilon was not a fault. Lance would never forgive him if he didn't respect the outcome of the duel, either. Aguilon got down on his knees to better analyze his victim. "You should let someone from the hospital carry him. I broke some of his bones and he shouldn't be moved too much."

The Pope then arrived with his golden-armored Papal Guard escort, one of which held an umbrella above the head figure of Sanctuary. "Congratulations, Heracles Aguilon, that was a marvelous fight."

"Oh, great, it's the pretty boys..." one Herculean Guard commented under his breath.

The Silver armored Herculean Guard then arrived as well and tension suddenly spiked between the two foot soldier elite divisions. The Herculean and Papal Guard were bitter rivals and would always spare looks of contempt at each other. The Herculean Guard, however, bowed in sync with their trainer at the Pope. "I did what you requested me, your Holiness; pushed him right over the abyss." he then touched the hole in his chest plate. "I've done a good job, I presume. Ha, ha, ha!" he laughed weakly.

"Indeed, you did, Saint Aguilon. I knew Athena and I could always count on you. You are dismissed." Shion declared.

Shion then waited until Aguilon and the Herculean Guard left before he turned to the heartbroken Shinta and the unconscious Lance. "Saint Andromeda?"

Realizing that someone of great importance had joined the scene, Shinta hesitantly turned from tending to Lance and bowed to the Pope. "Y-yes, your Holiness?"

"Do not be sad over your partner's defeat. He did his best. However, I would like you to transmit a message to him. Tell him when he recovers that tomorrow a discussion about his future will be have amongst the Gold Saints regarding his future based on what happened today."

"What?! Is Lance in trouble? But he didn't do anything wrong!" Shinta protested. "After all he's been through... he ended up fighting to the end! Doesn't he deserve the Silver Cloth's respect?"

"That will be decided tomorrow, Saint Shinta." assured Shion. "I will have a soldier call the hospital for Saint Lance. Until tomorrow, may Athena be with the both of you." The Pope then left the Coliseum, Papal Guard in tow, and wondering what each Gold Saint will think once they hear what he has in mind.

{======================|0|======================}

The Next day

Present Time

Pope's Halls

{======================|0|======================}

"And that brings us here." concludes Daniel. "I went to find and alert all of you that the Pope had summoned us because he found a Cancer-born Saint who unlocked the 7th sense."

"So, in his fight with Aguilon, was it to test if Lance has the power of a Gold-Rank?" asked Saga.

Daniel rubbed his chin. "I'm not sure if I would say that. In my opinion, from what I saw, I don't think he did it on purpose. If he did, it was very rudimentary. A mastered 7th sense is required to get the Cloth, but the Pope..." he then turned to Shion. "Your Holiness, you said you had a plan for him."

"I still do." confirmed Shion. "It was my intention to send him to a proper teacher; someone who could help him understand the 7th sense and at the same time instill in him the values Kerberos Kastiel did not, but regardless of who it would be, that would depend on him receiving the approval of the Gold Saint order anyway."

Capricorn Kirin snorted and looked away. Aquarius Malta remained calm, but in deep thinking. Aiolos was the first to break the silence. "So, we have talked about everything we need to talk about, right?" he asked. "We have spoken of everything pertaining to his ascension to a Gold Saint, so now how will we decide as a group if he's worthy or not?"

Mu looked at one of the large, curtained windows and saw the sun setting. "Boy, we've been here for quite some time." he concluded. "Master, how did you intended to settle this dispute?"

There was a loud knocking on the door before Shion could answer, alerting all the Gold Saints. "Yes?" called Shion.

The door opened and one of the Papal Guards rushed inside, forgetting his halberd. "Your Holiness, pardon me for interrupting, but I have news. It seems that our men have captured Pegasus Lance and Andromeda Shinta."

Shion widened his eyes. "...What?!"

"The unit has just arrived to the Pope's Halls with them and are awaiting orders."

"What?! Why did you bring them up instead of jailing them?" Malta demanded to know. "What are they even doing here?!"

"Well, it seems we'll now all get to see the spy with our own eyes." commented Kirin.

Everyone looked at the Pope, expecting instructions. "...W-well... let's all meet our candidate face to face."

With this, the bewildered Gold Saints and alarmed guard made their way out of the throne room together with the Pope.

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Chapter End

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Next Chapter: The Decision

Release Date: 2nd November, 2014

Description: The Gold Saints all encounter the Pegasus and Andromeda duo and the Pope makes up his mind about how the Gold Saints will decide Lance's future.

Author Note: I'm not sure what to say about Heracles Aguilon. I believe I first came up with him, much like with Shinta, out of sudden necessity rather than planning. In version one, I was trying to come up with more, stronger Silver Saints and since I always liked Hercules, the myth figure, and I saw Heracles Algeti as kind of a missed opportunity in the canon series, I thought I'd create my own Silver Saint leader/ Heracles Saint. The decision to have him fight Lance as a test for the Silver Cloth was made in the 2nd version of the story and it has been transplanted to the 3rd, current one with an overhaul twitting and a very much adapted fighting scene.

As for him having the Ryu Sei Ken, well, old readers already know where that will lead to, but even they don't what why the hell he has it. Guess you'll just have to read the story to find out...