WARNING: Blood, death, violence.
The Dragon Resurrected
Dark Dragon moved straight to Shiryu with a flying kick, and the latter avoided by crouching, proceeding with an uppercut. The Dark Saint side-stepped from its path and skittered forward to tackle and grab the enemy, but Dragon held his fists and they engaged in a trial of strength, arms swelling and bodies leaning in with the rising effort.
Weakened by the sacrifice he made to repair both Cloths, Shiryu was pushed back, boots sliding behind and leaving depressions on the ground. He growled, holding a little longer, yet Dark Dragon used the momentum to lower his hands and go with a knee to the Saint's chin. With him thrown back and their hands separated, he followed with a palm strike that Shiryu blew off with the reinforced shield, but the force generated still laid him against the pillar right to his back.
There was no time to prepare, since the enemy approached at a great velocity and reached for a throat grab. Shiryu responded with a knife-handed, Cosmos-filled strike to his triceps, something he learned watching Seiya's fight with Geki, although this time the power accumulated was enough to rip a scream from the enemy and crack some of his weak armor. After the grip on his neck was released, he followed that with a palm to Dark Dragon's stomach, then twisted in the air for a crescent kick to the face, throwing him straight to the floor.
Shiryu looked down at himself and noticed the rocks opened a shallow cut on his forearm. The prospect of losing blood in that situation made him apprehensive, and the longer the fight lingered, the more likely he was to lose.
Dark Dragon rolled out and up, then instantly dove at the enemy with another tackle attempt, both thus a stuck in an embrace, which Shiryu separated by pushing him sideways. The other proceeded with a high roundhouse kick, glanced off as Dragon followed the motion of the leg with his shield. What came next were the three heaviest punches of the fight at that point: Shiryu gave him one to the breastplate, one to the stomach, and the next to the head. Only the third was successfully intercepted by the black shield, but stress marks appeared in every metal touched by the strikes.
Desperate to end this before his armor got reduced to ashes, Dark Dragon used all the built-up Cosmos in him for a palm-heel blow to Shiryu's breastplate, sending him some feet away. Off-balance, the Saint was open for a strong attack, and he didn't waste the chance. "SOARING DRAGON!" shouted the Dark Saint.
Bolts of energy chased Shiryu, who could only defend by crossing his gauntlets and curling his head down. He was launched far against rocky formations, so hard that the weight created a series of holes in the walls. The claw-like energy of the Soaring Dragon ripped the clothes below the metal, and opened deeper cuts, slits which lazily dripped out blood.
"That technique…" Dragon whispered, stepping out without issue, but studying his wounds with worry.
"I can use the techniques of the Dragon as well. I'm not the Dark Dragon for nothing," said the foe.
Howsoever shallow the cuts still were, their length and the many bleeding spots told him what he'd have to do to defeat that opponent. "This isn't good," Shiryu told himself.
Shun watched the fight in standby while Jabu continued ridding Seiya of the toxins, and he evaluated getting involved, calling: "Shiryu!"
"Don't!" Shiryu lifted a hand towards his ally. "Don't worry, Shun. Stay back. You don't need to spill any more blood."
Dark Dragon lifted the brow in surprise. "Such honor. You now you'd win if that boy used his chain," he argued.
"Shun could probably kill you in an instant, but he is too pure a person. As his ally, I will ensure he doesn't need to get involved. I will win by my own merit!"
"Camaraderie, friendship, honor… these are obstacles keeping your goals out of reach. Power is all that matters in a fight, Dragon, and it's clear you don't have enough to defeat me on your own."
Shiryu challenged that by going back into a fighting position. "In the state I'm in, he might be right. It's useless…" he thought, feeling life force being carried out of him through the injuries "… I should use it, but if I do, I might pass out again, and then..."
He was reminded of his last moments in Jamir, before he traveled back to Japan. Mu seemed overjoyed at Shiryu's survival and fast healing, in fact seeing that as partially a product of his loyalty and courage. "It is no simple task to return from the state you were in, Shiryu. You saw the gates of death and somehow swam against its comforting tide. To see you here, standing before me once more, makes me believe you have a bright future ahead," the alchemist told him.
"Thank you, Mu. Thank you for the kind words, for keeping your promise, and for repairing my Cloth as well," said Shiryu. He looked down at Kiki, who was beside his master. "And thank you for everything as well, Kiki!"
The boy chuckled awkwardly. "Ah, don't mention it!"
Mu told him: "I must nonetheless leave you a warning. You have lost enough blood to kill the average man, and you are still not fully rested. It should take a month to replenish that volume of blood, but it will take much longer for your red blood cells to be replaced. You should avoid fighting at all costs, and if that is impossible, avoid any bleeding you can."
He was reminded of what the Rozan Rising Dragon did to his body, and facing an enemy like Dark Dragon, he would probably have to endure its consequences. "When I use the Rozan Rising Dragon, my blood flow shifts in an upward motion with immense force. This should only worsen my bleeding, but I see no other option to defeat him," Shiryu continued debating in his mind.
Therewith he began rising Cosmos, and so did Dark Dragon, both preparing for what they believed to be a final move. "I never fight alone," Dragon said, "I have my comrades with me, in body and in spirit. I will end this fight in the name of Seiya, the friend who returned me my life!"
"Big words for someone who's about to die," Dark Dragon replied, pulling an arm in preparation for another Soaring Dragon. "We will see who ends this fight before the other."
"Have a taste of the secret technique of the Dragon!" Shiryu strode forward at the speed of sound, having a dummy punch defended by his foe, who was surprised by the swiftness. He raised the opposing fist and yelled: "ROZAN RISING DRAGON!"
Lacking the window to counterattack, Dark Dragon was violently hurled against the ceiling, the false Cloth reduced to dust so that he was entirely unprotected. The thrust of the technique was tremendous, making part of the ceiling give in and collapse on top of the fighters, and soon they were buried in rubble, entombed without gaps.
"Shiryu!" Shun yelled again. "Shiryu!" He ran to where he last saw the man, and soon, from between some of the rocks, Shiryu tumbled out alive. The Dragon Cloth was amazingly unscathed, although his skin was coated in a scarlet wash of blood. He breathed intensely and fell on all fours, seeing the cave spin about him. "You are bleeding too much..."
Shun helped Shiryu up, who still had strength in him to stand with aid. The issue was more that he felt too lightheaded, and would have to rest a while before they continued the journey. "Yes, I don't know if I will be able to continue fighting after this," he mentioned.
"Come on, you don't need to, you've done more than enough," Andromeda said and escorted him to the others.
As the two passed by the unstable pile of stones, a nearly limp hand grabbed onto Dragon's fingers, prompting him to pull the arm back with a flinch. Under the rocks was the sorry sight of a barely alive Dark Dragon, skin as red as Shiryu's, yet head stuck in a way that he couldn't even fathom moving a centimeter.
"D-Dragon…" his voice came like a scratch, a weak hiss, so nigh was his demise. "Is it this spirit of yours that makes you so powerful?"
Shiryu stared with pity; from the start, perhaps pity was what he had the most for such a person. He could not comprehend that power alone was worthless, it seemed, and it made the Bronze Saints wonder whether he was this way out of nature, will, or hurt. "No," Dragon sated his question, "but it is this spirit that makes us fight the right fight, and that makes our potential limitless."
Dark Dragon opened a bloody smile, barely able to shut his eyes. The two Saints before him were sure they saw some semblance of tears under the eyes, if that was at all possible. "Quite late for a man like me to learn that, but you beat it into me."
"Take it to heart. You will get a chance in a next life."
"Do you truly believe that?"
"I do."
"I hope you're right… Shiryu." The Dark Saint finally went to rest, joining his former allies. Shun and Shiryu slotted the man's hand closer to him, into the rocks, then mourned another senseless loss over what they deemed to be a senseless cause.
Further deep into the Ten Wind Caves, after struggling a bit with dead ends and dark tunnels, Hyoga safely found his way to one of the largest, highest chambers he had yet seen, wide clefts being responsible for the good visibility inside. Crossing between the pillars, boulders, and stalagmites, he saw Ikki sitting on a raised section, a golden bow lying beside. He did not yet know, but that was the last piece they needed to have full possession of the Sagittarius Cloth.
"It's you. You have defeated yet another one of us," Ikki spoke. "Dark Cygnus was quite intent on taking your life, but it seems he was not enough to make as much as a dent on you."
Hyoga remained quiet, setting down the boot, elbow, and quiver he carried. When he put a closed fist forward, Phoenix noticed he didn't seem intent on talking much, and got off his seat.
"You can speak," insisted Ikki. "I think we should talk before we do something regretful."
"I have nothing to say to a traitor," Hyoga said.
"I am no traitor; I am trying to free us. You should understand, as you have always been a realist like me." Hyoga refused to reply once more. "What we went through as orphans was unacceptable, I am certain you agree. That old man and his goons ripped our childhoods away from us, our joy, our friendships, for what? They say it was to serve a goddess who will use our lives as fodder for her personal wars," said Ikki. The other nodded negatively upon hearing that, albeit remaining quiet. "Not just that, then he has the gull to plan a tournament, make a joke out of what we became, turn Saints into pop stars for nothing but profit and attention. Would you really defend those people?"
"I am here for the Gold Cloth," Hyoga countered, "I couldn't care less about Graad, let alone your monologue."
Ikki snickered and quit pacing about, raising both hands to the side. "Hyoga! Don't you get it yet? I don't want to kill you, but I want you to join us. You have proven to be one of the most powerful Saints I have witnessed so far. Such power should not be used to serve under some selfish goddess, but to serve ourselves. Graad and Athena never did a thing for us, so let us fight for ourselves and rise against the gods that permitted our suffering!"
"Right, I'm done listening to your drivel." Hyoga lost patience and went for a flying strike of his fist, which Ikki held in a palm with ease.
"Then this is how it will be."
Their battle was on. Cygnus rained ice at Phoenix with quick-paced punches, but his foe melted it all with flames he swung off the very air. In the other hand, Phoenix's claps of ember were washed away by Cygnus' cold winds. Without anything surpassing what they had shown at that point, they could've kept clashing for a hundred days.
Ikki spun and tried an arching, burning swing of an arm at Hyoga, who rolled back and returned with one of his techniques. "DIAMOND DUST!" he shouted.
Grunting, Ikki emanated a torrent of hot Cosmos through his palms, projecting a true maelstrom of fire to trap the snow and wind in its midst. Hyoga frowned, that being the second time this technique had no effect on someone. "The girl did a good job canceling your Diamond Dust, so I thought to give it my own twist," Phoenix revealed with a grin.
Not Dark Wolf, not Dark Unicorn, not even Dark Cygnus had interpreted June's canceling of the Diamond Dust as ingeniously as that man had. It was unquestionable that Ikki watched every match closely, and he was much more insightful a fighter than his comrades, so defeating him wouldn't be a matter of merely launching techniques until he fell. Hyoga needed a strategy, and being at such a similar level, he couldn't come up with anything substantial.
He growled angrily and ran in, and despite being so nimble and unyielding, Ikki blocked and dodged effortlessly his every blow. The lack of counterattacks was calculated; when the opportunity reared its head, Phoenix pulled Hyoga's punching hand in to immobilize him momentarily, then pointed an index finger at his right eye. "DEMON FIST!"
A string-thin beam of light shone into Cygnus' pupil, being mirrored inside and perplexing the senses. That great flash that filled his view eventually shuffled through memories in the brain, confusing him to the extent that he stepped back with a gasp.
In the split second for that to occur, a film played in Hyoga's mind. He dove into the eternal ice as he oft did while in Siberia, the voice of Camus echoing stifled by the water. "Your undying love for your mother will either mean your death, or the fuel to help you reach great heights," he told him.
As if in a soliloquy, he heard himself speak as he entered the shipwreck, swimming after his mom. "Мама, я всегда о тебе подумаю. Я всегда приду тебя увидеть, чтобы принести твои любимые цветы. Мама…" [Mom, I will always think of you. I will always come to see you, to bring your favorite flowers.] For some reason, it was hard to see through the darkness that day, and her peaceful mien was hidden. He looked closer, yet something felt wrong; the flowers withered, appearing pallid. "Мама?" When light shone on her, what he saw was a deformed, decrepit image, terrified in death rather than in its usual tranquil sleep.
His soul was rinsed with a bitter sensation, the impression that his mom's last seconds alive were to cyclically repeat in the afterlife, and that she would never find serenity in death's embrace. The Saint's tears dripped to freeze on his icy Cloth, but he was momentarily paralyzed in shock. Ikki took advantage of the situation to connect a couple hits, a kick to the stomach that folded the man's body, then an elbow to the back that dropped him to the ground.
"The Demon Fist should chew through your sanity until nothing remains. You might die inside before I am even done with you," he explained.
Hyoga began to get up slowly, so Ikki axe-kicked him back down, although he didn't give in. The next time he tried to stand, he did so in a hurry to hold the foe's axe kick in both arms, following with a cold punch that forced him a couple steps back.
Despite the tears and the daze, he was visibly furious, blue eyes furled. Cygnus' words slipped through gritted teeth, such was his fury: "You have committed a grave mistake, you wretch. You defiled the only sacred thing I still hold dear to me. This is no longer about the Gold Cloth." With insurmountable strength, Hyoga screamed and blasted Ikki with such a thunderous palm strike that he was sent against a pillar. He flew in and went for a punch, which Phoenix avoided by a hair, inclining to the side. The rocks crumbled covered in hardened frost.
Cygnus followed with a series of punches so heavy that, each time Ikki parried them, the ground beneath them trembled. With an opportunity, Phoenix connected a fist to Hyoga's face, but he was met with his secret technique. "ЛЕДЯНОЙ СМЕРЧ!"
Ikki's eyes widened in surprise and he was launched upwards. Before he was caught in the polar low, he enveloped himself in a blazing cocoon which exploded as soon as the tornado vanished. Hyoga knelt and defended, giving time for the enemy to return to ground.
Next, both came at each other at a similar velocity, punches generating a shock wave and a spinning pivot of fire and ice. Their blows connected every time, sliding them about and forcing them to leap back in dangerously. When Hyoga was finally overpowered by a palm heel hit, Ikki made a desperate attempt at something else. "PHOENIX FLIGHT!" he shouted.
What transpired was a simmering tunnel, the air surrounding it completely ablaze, which funneled from Phoenix's extended arms and hands out in Hyoga's general direction. Its surge broke through all defense, dressing him and the Cygnus Cloth in black smoke. Air was burned out of his lungs, and he fell back, the forearms he used for blocking growing a few blisters.
Ikki looked at the fallen foe, unimpressed that he had given him so much trouble. "You were a formidable fighter, Hyoga. This fight would have gone on to eternity, if only you had no tears left to cry." He walked calmly beside the young man as he talked, but when he had just passed by, he felt a hand grab on his ankle.
"I have not lost yet," Cygnus growled and scowled up at Phoenix with reddened eyes. "This isn't over."
"Are… are you out of your mind?" He kicked Hyoga's wrist to make him let go, then prepared to stomp on his head, but something else slapped him off from afar.
When Ikki turned to see, he was now faced with the image of June, holding her whip behind her and then dropping a golden boot and gauntlet from under an armpit. "I won't let you hurt him while he's down," she said.
"The next lamb comes for the slaughter," the man said with a somber tone. "I wonder what went through Dark Chameleon's mind when you defeated her; she underestimated you through and through. It is a shame to have to cull such strong warriors."
"Step away from Hyoga!" Ikki did so, raising a hand towards her and preparing for the next clash. "I don't care that you're Shun's brother, I'll have your head."
"Then come and get it."