WARNING: Violence, blood, injury.
The Hanging Bear
"Enter the first Saints!" an excited announcer called in the tournament's first battle. "Bear Geki!"
Geki walked in, a towering tan-skinned man with brown spiky hair. His height was only part of how menacing this Saint looked, hard muscles exacerbating it. The Bear Cloth had a dark shade of metal, each part buffed down into many square sections with enough material to weigh down a weaker wearer. The pads on the shoulders were tall too, and the circlet he wore was deceivingly delicate compared to the rest of that bulky armor.
"Pegasus Seiya!" Seiya walked from the opposite end towards an inner circle in the center of the arena, face to face with that fearsome foe, or as close to face to face as he could get. From that angle, Pegasus felt certain that Geki was almost two meters tall.
The Bear Saint grinned haughtily, apparently having heard from Jabu about the two's latest bout. "It's a shame that I have to fight a coward like you. What made you decide to participate after all?" he asked.
"I couldn't pass on the opportunity to teach you and Jabu a lesson," Seiya replied with a smirk his own.
The other laughed and prepared for the fight, legs apart and boots well-planted on the ground. "The only one who will learn a lesson here is you. Seiya, prepare yourself!"
Seiya took a proper fighting position, and the word "FIGHT" appeared on the panels. In that moment the entire arena lit up to make every possible detail of their clash visible. Without ceremony, Bear broke the sound barrier to tackle his adversary, who escaped at a velocity somehow greater than his. What followed was a strife so incredible that the spectators could barely believe it was real.
Every time Geki attempted to tackle Seiya, shock waves were sent across the Colosseum, and the ground shook under their feet. In the other hand, Pegasus narrowly dodged his enemy and gave smaller blows to the body and legs; those smaller blows, however, were enough to generate a deafening sound like a bang. For each occasion their Cloths accidentally touched amid a strike, sparks flew from them.
People were amazed. For five minutes, they were quiet faced with the echoes of fighting until they were comfortable, and excited cheering returned. The only ones unimpressed were the Saints themselves, who watched from their raised platform with little to no reaction. Those were Shun, June, Jabu, and Hyoga.
Seiya's light kicks and punches were meant to tire Geki out, as he expected such a large opponent to be exhausted much quicker than someone shorter and nimbler. His mistake was the same he committed when fighting Cassios: allowing Bear to shave off their distance until it became impossible to miss a tackle.
Therefore Geki burned his Cosmos and charged once more. This time, out of rhythm, Seiya's near miss ended up a total failure, and he was hammered by that man's weight straight against the wall at the arena's edge.
"Agh!" The barrier behind Seiya cracked with the forced, and his body threatened to go into shock with the sudden pain. Geki followed by throwing the man to the floor and attempting to immobilize him, and it would've been useless were he not so physically overpowering. Pegasus struggled to push his arms away, but none of it had any effect. Soon after, the Bear's hands reached for the neck, thick fingers tied tightly around it, thus he lifted the Saint gradually, allowing his legs and arms to flail about.
"I got you now," he muttered with an angered frown.
"What's this about?" Seiya's voice came out with difficulty. "You plan on pinching me until I tap out?"
Geki chuckled. "You won't have the air to tap out when I'm done with you." Pegasus could feel the brute's body surface become warmer, the air around it bending as his Cosmos grew. "I have choked hundreds of grizzly bears as training in Canada. Compared to a small fry like you, they were fearsome enemies! Now sleep…" Geki's hands constricted Seiya so much that it seemed as if he aimed to break bones. "HANGING BEAR!"
Instead of a scream, only a gagged groan exited Seiya's mouth, eyes wide in an exasperated expression. Flailing the arms became a chore, as if a waste of energy, and his hands instinctively reached for his own throat.
Shun and June watched the fate of their friend in nervousness. "What's going on?" June asked.
"Geki's arms are much physically stronger than Seiya's. He needs a way to counter this in time," said Shun.
"It's too early for him to lose. There has to be something he can do!" June leaned against the rail and proceeded to yell: "Come on, Seiya! Fight back!"
Her voice spiraled in Pegasus' thoughts, consciousness now a fleeting matter. His eyes convulsed and raised into the skull, any further effort futile. It was in this sorry state that he was reminded of a lesson — one that perhaps he should've paid more attention in younger days.
"Seiya!" When he opened the eyelids, the blurry image of Marin greeted him. She sat on a stool in their stone hut, knocking a finger on a blackboard behind her. "Pay attention! This will be useful." There was a simplistic diagram of a man's anatomy, which she pointed at as she explained. "Different people have different strengths. People with smaller, light bodies tend to be fast, but they cannot run if their legs are injured. Of course, you will aim for the tendons in their legs whenever you get the chance. If all they have is their speed, you are very likely to win." Therewith she pointed to the chest and shoulders in the diagram, outlining key parts. "One of the worst things a fighter can do is overestimate their one strength and only focus on that. This is common with men: they train their arms so they can pack a good punch, and think they need nothing else. In this case, all you have to do is aim for the tendons in their arms." Seiya began to feel his awareness fade again. "Hey! Are you listening? You really are a lost cause, aren't you?"
That phrase is what repeated on and on now: "Aim for the tendons in their arms." It was the tool he felt he could use to defeat Geki's one strength. Seeing that his technique left the victim's arms free and his own arms exposed, that was the perfect chance to strike. Pegasus focused and burned Cosmos before he had no more vigor left in his sinews. Power amassed into the arms, he thrusted knife-handed blows rig below Geki's shoulders. It hit so fiercely that the Bear Cloth formed small cracks, yet Seiya was not done.
"Huh?" Geki wasn't sure what happened, putting all might into the Hanging Bear, and then the enemy struck again.
This time the blows lashed directly through the armor to reach the flesh, avulsing pieces of the shoulder pads. Then another double strike, and another... a last one came after a long series, so Bear's muscles loosened, hands and fingers ceding the grip that tied his enemy so well beforehand.
"Yes!" June and Shun commemorated once Seiya filled his lungs with air and stood triumphantly off the floor, finally released.
"My arms! How is this possible?" asked the incredulous Geki.
That smirk returned to Pegasus' face. "If all you have is your arm's strength, then you should've learned to use them better!" He leapt once more, and there was very little Bear could do to defend himself in such a situation. His arms, hands, and fingers scantily responded to his wishes, moving sluggishly, feeling stiff, and frequently twitching at the smallest touch.
So he took nearly every attack directly, punches and kicks that either cracked the Cloth or damaged his insides further, until Seiya was satisfied and flew in for a titanic kick to the chin. That tall man took the full brunt of the strike, a boot smashed against his bare face; had this not been the rugged Bear, he may have suffered more serious sequels, although the effects weren't the most catastrophic. Geki's circlet fell off his head and he laid passed out on the arena, to no longer move.
The crowd cheered as a ten-second countdown began. In the final numbers, they all chanted together: "Three! Two! One!"
"Pegasus wins the first battle of the Galaxian Wars!" said the announcer, and the audience rained praises onto the victor. June and Shun hugged each other excitedly as well, laughing along while their colleagues seemed either grumpy or unimpressed. Despite this, not only had common folk become aware of the power of the Saints, they also experienced an epic upset that made the tournament that much more exciting to look forward to.
Once Seiya left the arena and reached the observation area where the other Saints lounged, June clapped in a rhythm, singing: "Sei-ya! Sei-ya! Sei-ya! Sei-ya! You kicked that guy's ass!"
"For a moment there we thought you were about to faint," Shun commented.
Seiya laughed and blushed. "Heheh, it was my fault! I went in too cold. Should've prepared better!" he told them.
A crew member approached the observation platform by the stairs. "Andromeda and Unicorn, you're next! Come with me to the halls," he called.
"It's my turn now." Shun readied himself mentally and walked towards the stairs.
"Get out there and win, Shun! You can do it!" June rooted a little too much for her friends, it seemed, especially when it came to things she was passionate about — fighting certainly being among those.
"Good luck, Shun!" Seiya reinforced her wishes.
With such support, the boy nearly felt overwhelmed. Although battling wasn't his style, he had no choice but to show appreciation: "Thank you, guys!"
The announcer set the picture for the next battle while the next Saints walked through the corridors. "For our next battle, enter the next Saints! Unicorn Jabu!" he spoke.
A lot of noise was made for Jabu as he entered, his purple Cloth being not too different from Seiya's apart from the harder edges on the plates and a characteristic horn, proud off the center of the circlet. That face and Cloth was the one most seen by the media, as Jabu had no qualms being in all the promotional material Graad asked of him. The ladies in particular squealed at his sight.
"Andromeda Shun!" In came the Andromeda Saint, and the younger women became even wilder now. Shun was the youngest participant of the Galaxian Wars at the age of sixteen, and was also thought to be the cutest. He refused to double down on his looks much, but magazines didn't shy away from using his image on covers to catch the attention of teenage girls and those close to the demographic.
They were all acquainted with the feminine form of the Andromeda Cloth, with its shapely pads, the cuirass with somewhat protuberant breasts, the coronet with a wide V-shaped adornment at the front, and the chains that he kept tied around each arm, one end with a circle and another with a delta. To some ignorant few, there was confusion on whether he was a boy or not.
In the middle, they faced off valiantly. "You look inoffensive, but I will treat you like I would any other Saint," said Jabu.
"Whatever happens, do not force me to hurt you," the other said, and despite the content of his words, Shun's statement had no hint of arrogance. He genuinely worried for the well-being of his opponent.
Jabu gave a nervous smile, imagining he was misunderstood. "You saw Seiya and Geki. This is a real fight, so we're meant to hurt each other."
"That does not mean I want to do it."
As the fight was announced on the panels, both Saints got into position, Shun more reluctantly than the other. "Well, that doesn't bode well for you," was what Jabu yelled before running straight at Andromeda and proceeding with a kick.
Shun merely avoided by jumping away at a similar pace. The circle end of the Andromeda Chain extended off his left wrist and hit Jabu's leg off center, such that it wouldn't even come close to hitting a target. He tried the same move, and similarly did Shun respond, the chain pushing him off a second instance.
"You can't avoid fighting me forever, Andromeda!" The Unicorn Saint began running in a circle around Shun, at times changing direction to try and find an opening, but he was persecuted at every step. At a risk, he charged with great speed to try and leg sweep Andromeda, who dodged with a bounce and used the same side of the chain to grab the opponent by the ankle. Before Jabu tried to get up, Shun pulled hard on the chain to make him slide back on the floor.
"What do you think you're doing? This is wasting our time!" Jabu complained.
"I am showing you you cannot touch me. If you force my hand, I will have to hit harder, and I would rather avoid that."
Unicorn was allowed to get up in the coming seconds, saying: "Being around Seiya has made you into a coward too. Fight me head on!"
That's not what Jabu got at all. His ankle was indeed released from the chain, but what ensued was a curious show of Shun's powers that confused the entire Colosseum. "Nebula Chain…" Shun whispered. The circle end unwrapped itself to a formerly unimaginable length, drawing a spiral on the ground. Everyone watched impressed at how the chain stretched as if infinite, forming what seemed like the shape of a galaxy in Shun's perimeter.
"What is this…?" Jabu tried to step between the lines of the chain, but it whipped up and struck him in the face, splitting a superficial cut. "This is the trick that's supposed to defeat me? Give me a break!" He concentrated his Cosmos into his legs and blasted towards Shun, yet it was proven useless against the Nebula Chain, which formed a true wave of metal rings. Unicorn was sprung back whence he came. "What?"
Seiya watched in shock what occurred in the arena, not unlike the whole crowd. "What is Shun doing?"
"He's using the chain to keep Jabu away. The Andromeda Chain is famous for its defensive abilities, so I doubt someone can get around it this easily," explained June.
Jabu was simply staring while in deep thought, striving to calculate a hole in such a technique. "Every time you come close, this Nebula Chain will protect me even if I am unconscious. In other words, you are the one inflicting pain on yourself. Please, give up on this senseless fight!" Shun told him, but it seemed he wouldn't give up.
Unicorn shook the head and snapped back: "How can you say this is all senseless? You're taking part in the tournament too, you hypocrite!"
"I am here for reasons you would not understand."
Seemingly enlightened, Jabu walked around the perimeter of the nebula, machinating something. "If you want to avoid fighting so much, let me say there has been a miscalculation in your strategy, Andromeda." He stopped the stroll and crouched, heightening a good amount of energy. "Your chain can protect you from all sides, except one!" Unicorn did a great jump which skipped the whole diameter of the Nebula Chain, and thus put him straight over the opponent. As he fell downwards, he straightened one leg and contracted the other, shouting: "UNICORN GALLOP!"
"You made me do this!" Shun yelled in response. Before Unicorn was able to conclude that attack, the other end of the Andromeda Chain was unraveled from its resting place, zigzagging and piercing through multiple parts of Jabu's Cloth, oft slicing through flesh and drawing strings of blood. The boy stepped aside and allowed his opponent to fall stiff onto the floor.
"H-how…?" he stuttered.
Shun revealed to him his misunderstanding: "You were wrong in thinking there is a place my chain does not protect. Sadly, the square end of my chain was the only one available to strike, and it is the most offensive of the two. You should stay down now, lest you get hurt even more."
A surprise still came. Jabu hadn't given up yet, and thus grabbed onto each end of the chain as closest to Shun as possible, pulling on them so that they tensioned. With difficulty, he got up into a crouch and tried to pull the adversary hither. "This chain is all you have, so what will you do without it?" he questioned.
Howsoever worried Andromeda may have been, it was not for himself: "You are already injured! I do not wish to make things worse for you. Stop!"
"Big talk, but let me see you try."
"I…" Shun thought of debating, but he knew it would be no use against such a proud fighter. "I am so sorry, Jabu... THUNDER WAVE!" Both poles of the Andromeda Chain suddenly became electrified, creating a circuit that exploded inside Unicorn's body. There was some arcing between the weapon and the Cloth, colored rose, which fractured it into more pieces than before. To reduce the chances in killing him, Shun shortened the span of the technique, so Jabu quickly stopped convulsing and fell to the floor limp, albeit breathing.
The countdown started. To double check, Andromeda knelt beside the man and touched the right side of his chest with a hand, ensuring the heart had a beat. He sighed in relief. "You should be fine. I wish I did not have to do such a thing, Jabu."
Seiya was especially astonished at what he saw. "No way! Shun has gotten this powerful…" he spoke in a mix of admiration and fear. "I kind of feel left behind."
"Heh, I expected it, in all honesty. I sure hope I don't get to fight him though," June said with a chuckle and a shrug. When Shun returned to the benches, his two friends congratulated him too. "That guy didn't stand a chance against you!"
"I wanted to have defeated Jabu myself, but I'd never want you to lose to him," Seiya told him.
Shun had a less begrudging view of his opponent, and said: "He is an ignorant man. I actually feel bad for him."
"Aaah, stop being so nice all the time, Shun! There's no reason to feel bad for that bastard!"
"I just wish I could find my brother without having to fight, but it seems that is not an option."
"Yeah, well, I definitely get that feeling too."
The crew member returned to call for the participants of the next fight: "Chameleon and Wolf, come to the halls and get yourselves ready."
June froze up and held her whip in both hands. "It's my turn! I'm kind of nervous," she noted.
Seiya pumped his fist in the air and smiled brightly. "June, we believe in you!" he told her.
"Go in there and do your best!" said Shun, offering an encouraging smile of his own. This invigorated her with the same confidence she usually had, and reminded her that she was about to do something she enjoyed, regardless of how violent the match ended up getting.
"Thank you, guys! I'll win this fight and come back for you, just you see," the girl promised before taking off down the stairs. The announcement for the fight had already initiated at that extent.
"Both fights so far have been amazing shows. I bet the next two will be as exciting!" the announcer continued, and the crowd was yet energetic despite the constant exhilaration. The power of the Saints would tarry to get old to ordinary people, and they couldn't wait to see the next competitors' tricks. "Now, for the next two saints! Chameleon June!"
Seemingly lost, June was pushed in by someone from the production team, and she pressed her pace to the center of the arena, waving at the crowd around her. People seemed as excited for her as they were for Shun, in part because she was a female Saint, and otherwise because rumor had it that her face was as beautiful as her Cloth, her hair, and her slim curves. The mystery behind that mask made her into a fascinating figure, although she'd have to prove herself in battle if she wished to keep people's interest.
"Wolf Nachi!" The Wolf Saint came in after, taller than June by almost ten centimeters, a golden skin topped by curly black strands of hair that fell down to the neck. His Cloth had a gray tinge to it, with a simple breastplate like a shield protecting mostly the heart, and with the right gauntlet crowned by three short claws, whereas the left one looked more plain. They faced each other off, June holding the handle of her whip in her right hand, the whip itself in the other.
"I hope you're about to do your best, Chameleon, because I will put my all into a victory," Nachi said, lacking Unicorn's inflated ego.
"That's good to hear! I wouldn't want an opponent who half-asses our fight. That's no fun." Once they were given a go, they both got into position, June sliding the whip behind herself and yelling: "Anyway, time to show you what I got!"