WARNING: Violence, death, implied blood.

The Dark Saints

As sunlight ran out with the even's arrival, Seiya, Shun, Hyoga, and June separated out of the Colosseum after the Gold Cloth's thieves. Having no hopes in their own numbers to catch all the pieces at once, they had to at least thwart the Dark Saints' plans by leaving them an incomplete set, so such was their goal.

Seiya was the first to disrupt the enemy, since not only was he among the fastest of his group, but the Dark Saint he pursued was the slowest of them all, Dark Bear; this was a pale man no different in size from Geki, but wider, with much more fat in place of the Bear Saint's hardened muscles. The thief was intercepted in an empty city street, the day already quite dark above them.

With another swift Saint in the way, Dark Bear couldn't help but groan in frustration. "Why didn't I get the chain guy?" he complained.

"I'm getting those pieces back!" Seiya warned him, pointing to the two golden greaves the other held under the armpit.

Dark Bear did not give in, yelling: "Get out of my way!" After building up Cosmos, he rocketed his body with an elbow aimed forth, aiming to pounce Seiya off course. Brute force felt like his best bet in any given situation, and as scary as it seemed, it wouldn't be enough.

Instead of jumping out, Pegasus picked the riskier option of rocketing back at Dark Bear, only with a sly bounce off the asphalt and a foot forward. He phoned that in so truly that, bolstering that leg forward, he connected right against his throat at once. Summing the two forces into Dark Bear's exposed neck, he swung the opposite direction, gold pieces flying one direction and back hitting the ground.

Knowing a foe so tough could survive that blow, Seiya made sure to strike him in the head as soon as he came down. He paid attention to breathing and movements, then it was clear that either the man was out cold, or had died from the kick's ferocity. "Eh? That was easy," he commented. "This guy was nothing like Geki. What's up with that?"

At a harbor not incredibly far, Shun caught up with Dark Hydra, a man nowhere near the eccentric Ichi in appearance. As the Dark Saint ran from in between warehouses, Andromeda already waited there with the chain laid out in a large spiral, premeditating his movements. With the two shoulders of the Sagittarius Cloth, that thief had a different idea from Dark Bear, instead choosing to turn around and make for a different exit.

The free end of the chain chased him and spun about his torso a couple times, Shun tensioning and impeding him from getting too far. "I cannot allow you to go. Please, hand over the pieces without resistance!" said Andromeda.

Dark Hydra spat on the floor. "Shut up!" he shouted in response, turned about, then used the chain's momentum to advance at the Bronze Saint. The circle chain was ecstatic at the presence of a threat, trapping the man in an endless cycle of attacks. Were he to stop there, perhaps his only injuries would've been a few cuts and cracks, yet Dark Hydra let go of the pieces and went with fangs swinging in an attempt to pass through those defenses.

To that the square chain responded, untying him and piercing his skin from multiple corners and sides. Without Shun's handling of the weapon, it surely would've perforated Dark Hydra's body by the lots.

Fearing for the enemy's life, Shun begged him: "Stop this!" Dark Hydra had no plans to do this. He aimed for the Saint, and if something wasn't done, either Andromeda would have to allow the chain free reign over the man's body, or allow the man free reign over his life. He chose instead to choke Dark Hydra out with the circle end, putting him to sleep as the fangs nearly reached his throat. "I apologize for this, but you left me no other choice."

That done, Shun took the two shoulders of the Gold Cloth, pulled the two ends of the chain back, and jumped over the warehouse's roofs after more pieces, if he were to reach them.

In a shady and humid alley, Dark Lionet, in possession of the Cloth's boots, was played with by a mischievous shadow that skipped through the tops and the sides. "I'm over here!" June's voice echoed from nowhere in particular, and she stepped on his head as a platform to reach the low top of a building, whipping back to hurt and deafen him.

Whenever Dark Lionet scanned for clues on her position, he found naught but emptiness. He had experienced how swift that girl was against him and a comrade, so he had no doubt of what was the best course of action. "I have to get away from her!" he whispered and ran for the sidewalk.

"Give up! You move like a turtle," June sang. Sliding from a side, she swept Dark Lionet's feet with the whole body, surprising him to the extent that he dropped the pieces. She twisted and rolled to grab a boot, but the man got a hold of the other. The Saint played with the whip in her fingers. "Oops, seems we've reached quite the predicament. Someone's got to give, and I think it will have to be you."

The man was apprehensive. Despite being much taller than her, it was as if she loomed larger and larger with each step. On second thought, he preferred to keep one piece for the time being so they could come back for the other later, and leaned back to continue the escape.

June noticed he was going to make it for the other side of the alley as soon as he spun, and thus used the whip's edge to grab him by the ankle. Despite her precision, Dark Lionet was a heavy and powerful man. When he fled at super sonic speeds, her strength had to parallel that of his launch, something she couldn't do. The result was June being pulled forward and losing balance, while the Dark Saint tumbled awkwardly.

He could no longer hide the frustration, in fact having it marinated in anger that turned to explosive rage. He charged again, this time traight for Chameleon, who had to hurriedly respond by skipping to a wall, running along it, and rolling the whip around the foe's neck. With a meticulous pull of her wrist, the weapon slid featherly along the throat. In that dim extent of the alley, only the faint penumbrae of the two were visible, the splatter which came off Dark Lionet being unmistakable. He fell to his knees and then face first with a deathly creak, to no longer move.

"That was… bad," June mumbled after a nervous sigh. "You had to go and force my hand." It was possible to see her shadow grab the second boot before she left, retrieving yet another piece of the Gold Cloth.

Dark Unicorn was the slowest of the bunch, carrying a friend on a shoulder and the Sagittarius' circlet in the opposite hand. Running on an out-of-use overpass, he thought his location would make it less likely for him to be found, and the fact he carried only one piece a deterrent for him to be chased.

He learned of his ignorance when pristine crystals of ice fell with the breeze's motion. A chill ran down his spine, the rising Cosmos behind him announcing a fearsome presence. "Snow… no, not him!" When he turned to see, it was indeed Hyoga who stood on the concrete barrier, concentrating in preparation for battle. The Dark Saint's fear mixed up with unbridled vindictiveness, so he set his friend's body down and left the circlet atop him.

Cygnus came down and assumed the swan's pose, whereas his enemy lifted two fists forward, legs apart. "The piece, now," Hyoga demanded.

"No. You won't leave this place alive, Cygnus!"

"It's your last chance."

"I said no!" Dark Unicorn moved in with a supersonic kick, shock waves traveling through the air until it was blocked by Hyoga's shield, who responded with a palm strike to the same leg, partially congealing it. To push Dark Unicorn away, he harshly punched his breastplate, but the other was able to maintain balance.

The solid flesh in his calf's muscles made Dark Unicorn stumble awkwardly, nonetheless, he hadn't given up. With a huge jump, he gathered all strength for a technique. "UNICORN GALLOP!"

Hyoga did not expect that from a so-called Dark Saint, so he was close to failing in response. He dodged to the side and defended with the gauntlet, that blow enough to warrant a grunt from him. "What?" Despite the affected leg, Dark Unicorn followed with a series of hasty kicks. Hyoga was sure he would be overloaded soon enough seeing his speed, thus he chose to go for a kill.

With three punches, the last one smashing Dark Unicorn in the face, he plastered the enemy with brittle coatings of frost which broke in the following impacts. The glass-like noise of ice crashing over the pavement resounded, then the thief jolted spinning in the air to crumble limply on the ground.

Cygnus approached the circlet and took it, but the vision of the two Dark Saints' horrified expressions made him stop and ponder something for a while. Despite them being the enemy, it seemed camaraderie wasn't alien to them; haply they sought the Sagittarius Cloth for reasons beyond personal gain as well, howsoever unclear were their motives.

"Only HALF the parts?" Tatsumi screamed and berated the Bronze Saints, who had finally returned, this time inside Saori's office in the Kido Mansion. "How can you be so incompetent? Have you any idea how much Mitsumasa Kido prized this artifact? You would better find a way to gather the other parts if you have any honor left in you!" He scoffed as he left the room. "Hmph, Saints… what a joke. It is no use to have such power when they cannot do something so simple!"

A disgruntled Seiya had arms crossed and stared at Shun, holding back not to blow up on Tatsumi. Shun gave him a tranquil smile and hummed, but June didn't hold back as much, motioning her hands like talking ducks at Saori's employee behind his back. Hyoga had no reaction in the seat he occupied, as per usual.

Indeed, Saori was in her office that evening, and she had watched the scolding with arched eyebrows, still wearing her preferred white dress for the Galaxian Wars. She stepped towards the group and bowed with a kind smile. "Thank you for this, everyone. Even while outnumbered, you managed to rescue this many parts. Your hard work humbles me," she told them.

"Don't mention it," said Shun.

Seiya was still rather cynical of Saori. "Since you're thankful, why don't you answer some questions?" he inquired. He rested the head with both hands behind it, eyeing her from the side. "I'm sure we deserve it after going through all of that."

"Sure. I will do my best to answer," Saori confirmed.

"How did the old man get that Gold Cloth in the first place? He wasn't a Saint or anything, right?"

"He never told me in detail," she said with a sigh of her own. At face value, she was almost as clueless as all else. "It was clear that something important happened in his visit to Athens, and that is how he acquired the Cloth."

Seiya nodded and continued the questioning: "The other day Shiryu told me that if this Cloth falls in the wrong hands, it will be pretty bad. Thinking about that, don't you think the whole tournament thing is kind of dumb?"

Saori rested her arms on her waist. "Well… I guess it is no use hiding it anymore, is it?" she spoke with an exhausted tone. "The tournament is as good as over at this point." She walked to the open balcony and stood at its door, feeling the gelid wind while marveling at the stars. "Grandfather said something about using the Gold Cloth to lure an enemy in. He never told me who that enemy was, but…" she looked at the Saints once more "… he advised me to only lure the enemy once we had enough Saints to protect the Gold Cloth. That is why he trained you into Saints, and those Dark Saints are probably that enemy he spoke of."

"Aaaah, why was that geezer so cryptic anyway?" Seiya bemoaned.

"Still, why a tournament?" asked Shun. "Was there no safer option, like Olympic games?"

"That was grandfather's plan as well, and I do not I blame him. Ever since Seiya's fight with Geki, no one has talked about anything but the Galaxian Wars. The enemy was very likely to see it, and above all, there would be less doubts that it was fake, which I guess legitimized the Gold Cloth we had."

With a shrug, Seiya somewhat accepted her explanation: "Hm, if you say so… I just want to get the other pieces because Shiryu said it's dangerous, that's all."

"I understand, and I would prefer to help you against this enemy if I may. It definitely seems it would be dangerous for them to take the Gold Cloth." Saori held her hands together. "I will prepare some snacks for the four of you. I bet you must be starving after that chase."

Saori left the office and closed the door behind her, leaving them alone. They stared at each other for a few seconds, Seiya shrugging a second time. "So! Seems Ikki is with the enemy now," he said.

Shun scratched his own neck in nervousness. "I still have a hard time accepting it. I wish I could talk to him, learn what this is all about," the boy told.

"The Dark Saints… so they're the enemy Saori's grandfather wanted us to lure in."

"They were willing to die for the Gold Cloth," June commented. "I wonder what use they have for it."

Hyoga, who sat with his legs crossed on an armchair near them, finally talked: "Shun."

"Hm?"

"In your fight with Jabu, he used a technique."

"Ah, yes. The Unicorn Gallop."

"I got the circlet from the Dark Unicorn Saint. He used the same technique, exactly as I saw Jabu do in your match."

Everyone's brows tightened. "Is that so? That's strange. Maybe they were trained by the same people…?"

Hyoga crossed the arms and deviated his stare to the shelves on the other side. "It seems the Dark Saints don't just wear Cloths based on those of other Saints, they also learn their abilities."

"Huh, but the fake Bear Saint I fought was way weaker than Geki. I took him down with just one kick, he didn't even react," Seiya said.

June reiterated that sentiment: "The one I fought was weak as well."

"Dark Unicorn was a decent fighter, but that doesn't matter. We should be prepared for a difficult battle," said Hyoga. "If they're capable of using our moves, some of them might be as strong as us."

Shun bit an index with his lips anxiously, murmuring: "That would be no good."

While their thoughts were lost on how to find and defeat this new enemy, Shiryu had finally arrived in Tibet, the general area surrounding Jamir being the only clue he was given as to its exact location. Without certainty, he resorted to asking local tribesmen for directions, and they had much information to give him. The more curious was their question on whether he truly planned on hiking up there; when he said he would, they advised against it. The mountains were so high that the air was thin, the temperatures were low, and the gusts of wind that raged through its peaks could be an obstacle alone.

With warm clothes, the two stacked Cloths on his back, and a heavy duffel bag crossing his torso, he found Jamir and journeyed to the summit anyhow. Whichever path to a higher elevation he found, he followed, although the greater the altitude, the trickier it got. Narrow paths gave a sense of how dwarfed he was by the ridges, with the fall being as great as the rocky formations yet above. Many times he crossed beside large precipices or in the middle of frightening ravines. "I can see why Old Master didn't allow Shunrei to come along," he confirmed.

There was a lot of daylight remaining, but with the difficulty to breathe and the constant physical effort to go up such a dangerous range, soon Shiryu was lightheaded and hungry. He found a reasonably flat area and set up a tent tied to a rock, preparing a fire to warm himself. The temperatures were decreasing at an alarming rate, and it was about to be a frigid night up there without sunlight.

The Saint unwrapped some sandwiches which Shunrei had prepared for his trip, eating them near the fire pit, enough to keep him fed for the night. That done, and the darkness having veiled everything around the tent, he went to sleep.

In no world would've Shiryu prepared for the chaos that awakened him in the middle of the night. Powerful winds threatened to lift the tent with him inside, and he heard the sound of the fire pit being dismantled and thrown off Jamir by force. "The winds are this strong?" he thought. All was pitch black without the fire outside, such that he could only make out his surroundings by touch.

Afraid that he had chosen a bad spot to camp — although there was no such a thing as a good spot in a range like Jamir — he began packing things up into the duffel bag with haste. As soon as he crawled out of the tent, it flew off, and he grabbed it by the thin steel. Due to the gust's strength, Shiryu couldn't fold the tent before it unfolded again, so he pulled it all the way to where he remembered placing the Cloth boxes.

After lowering himself to put the straps on his shoulders, a finger slipped and the tent flew off, coming loose from the rock and suffering the same fate as the fire pit. It was worthless to try and hike up the mountain in such darkness, with such aggressive gales stripping him of any safety. He tapped the way through the ground and the rocks seeking a formation to protect him until sunrise.

A tall rock seemed like a good place to rest against, a spot where the winds weren't as troublesome. He sat side to side with it and ensured he was well grounded, hoping that nothing worse could befall him before morning. Fatigued as he was, he fell asleep despite the haunting howls whistling through the rocks' corners, something otherwise unlikely.

He woke up scared by his own faltering, looking around and placing hands firmly on the ground. To his terror, what laid before him was nothing but air; he had fallen asleep steps away from a tall fall, and again his diminutive self wondered at the greatness of Jamir. Anyone whose feet slipped at that altitude would be a tiny dot in those gray and ivory mountains, dead to be never found. "Falling off this without my Cloth… it would have been my end for sure," he whispered.

Now that he was a little less tired, he pressed on towards the summit. As aimless as he was, soon Shiryu noted that there was no path to adopt that would not have been followed by someone as powerful as him, and so whichever path he took was likely to arrive at some destination, whichever it might've been. As absurd as it may have sounded, his mindless walking was the only way to traverse that fearsome region.

So it was not surprising that, in a plateau at a point so high, he found a stone tower of many stories in the distance. "Finally! This has to be the tower where Mu lives." Without question, he followed its sight and took in more of the geology, how hazardous it was to reach what was supposed to be someone's home. "I can't imagine that anyone else would live in such a place." Nearing the tower, he noticed the lack of doors and stairs. Even his home seemed to be inhospitable; how powerful was this Mu anyway? Shiryu clapped and called: "Mu! Hey, Mu, are you there?"

"Go away!" the voice of a boy responded from above. When Shiryu looked up, he noticed a small shadow some stories from him, the sun too bright to make it out properly.

"Are you Mu?"

"No! Go away!" The boy waved a hand awkwardly for him to leave, and Shiryu kept standing there, a hand over the brow and eyes squinting, silent awhile.

"But…" he paused a moment before insisting, finding the situation silly after what he had gone through "... I have come all the way from China to have these Cloths repaired!" He pointed at the Cloths stacked behind him.

"You're really pesky, aren't you?"

"What did you say?" The boy up above swung a hand inwards, and suddenly a pebble hit Shiryu's head from behind, making him turn. "Who did that?" There were no signs of anyone. Soon enough, another pebble hit him, this time from the front, so he turned back again. "Hey!" The child laughed audibly, to which Dragon frowned and pouted, pointing up as he yelled: "Is this how you treat visitors? I have gone through quite a hike to get here!"

Suddenly Shiryu was covered by a large shadow. Lifting eyes further, he saw the irregular form of what seemed like a boulder suspended in the air, and eventually falling in his direction. Done with the pranks, he burned Cosmos and, with a single punch, blew the thing to tiny fragments.

"Enough! I will bring you down here!" He took off all objects from his back and torso, then put a lot of energy into a forward blast. "SOARING DRAGON!" The power was such that the tower, which had no proper foundation, shook and echoed out snaps and cracks from its innards. It tilted slightly, ejecting the prankster off that higher floor and right beside Shiryu.

The child had an ashy skin, pale blue eyes under bronze, flowing hair. The most characteristic part of his appearance were two dots in the middle of his forehead, being replacements for eyebrows at first glance. In a hurry, the Saint unstacked the Cloth boxes and placed both before him.

"Here, I request that you fix these Cloths."

"Uh… uhm… I'm not Mu!" The child got up and stirred hands to the side of his head. "You totally got the wrong person, mister!"

"Wow, of all places in Jamir, this is not the one. I would not have imagined there were other stone towers about. Do you know where he lives?"

Another voice called from a distance: "You need to search no more." Shiryu turned to see, so there he was, a young man adorned in warm clothes like the boy's, with long blond hair tied in a loose, low ponytail. "I am the one you seek."

"Master Mu, this man attacked me! Did you see?" The kid pointed at Shiryu, who frowned and shook his head.

"W-what? There's a misunderstanding!"

"He's a savage, he tilted your tower!"

Mu laughed and patted the boy almost condescendingly. "I saw what you did, Kiki. It is not very welcoming to prank a traveler like that, especially since you saw the hardships he endured to come this far."

"Wait, so you saw me going up Jamir and did nothing to help?" Shiryu questioned.

Mu walked over to the stone tower and pointed an index as close as he could get to it without touching. The whole structure began to slowly go back to its former angle, and the man answered throughout the process: "Our people elect a sheltered life. This tower is the safe haven for Kiki and me; we reside far from civilization and avoid interaction for most of our existence. We could have helped you, but not knowing your intentions, it was best to let you go through the same obstacles as all the others."

With the tower now completely untilted, Shiryu had his mouth agape. "What powerful telekinesis…"

The man walked over to him. "I hope you do not mind our cynicism. Only a small remnant of our kind is extant," he revealed.

"It's fine, I understand." Shiryu opened the boxes and revealed the assembled parts of the damaged Pegasus and Dragon Cloths. "I have come here because you might know how to repair these two."

"Yes, I am capable of it." Mu hovered hands over the metal, as if sensing for something. It didn't take long for him to have an answer to the inquiry. "These Cloths are lifeless. Simply repairing them won't do it."

"What? What do you mean?"

"You see, Cloths are not mere plates of metal. They contain a life force in them, and it is this life force flowing through the compound material that makes them what they are. Lifeless Cloths like these are as good as ordinary armor."

"Hm, I see. How does one go about bringing them back to life?"

"There is a way. Are you in a hurry?"

Shiryu nodded once. "I must take these Cloths as soon as possible to Japan. A friend awaits me, and we have an enemy to face."

Mu caressed his chin with a thumb, bearing an unpromising expression. "I should be able to do it, however, I must warn you that this may come at the cost of your life," he told.

At that revelation, Shiryu looked bewildered. "I…" He paused and thought for a moment. Back came memories of the silent moments he spent lifeless, and how Seiya brought him to reawaken against all odds, without expecting a reward. To him, his life was Seiya's; he owed it to him and, if that was necessary for them to have some chance against this enemy, he was willing to make the sacrifice. He gathered up courage and nodded again. "If that is the risk I must take, then I will."

"Oh, are you sure?" Mu reinforced; he seemed taken aback that the Saint accepted the terms after a few seconds of thought, and wondered how important this enemy's defeat could've really been to him. Either that, or Dragon was the sort to be so full of himself he acted in such rash manners. Soon the young man's words proved the latter assumption wrong.

"Just promise that if I die, you will take this Cloth back to where I need it to be," he asked while patting the light metal of the Pegasus Cloth. "It is of great importance that it arrives as soon as possible."

There was some surprise in Mu's face. He could only imagine the loyalty and bravery of such a man, to be giving his life for a friend and a cause. Even in his state of ignorance, he admired Shiryu, and assured he would do as he was told: "That much I can promise. Now, let us have at it..."