Chapter 18: Galaxian War!!
Jayr POV - Japan, Graad Coliseum - 1986
As I'm standing behind Saori's throne on the podium with Tatsumi beside her, and we are all waiting for the tournament to start, and as soon as the dome closes, projecting the starlit night sky in the arena, the voice of the commentator can be heard "Welcome, everyone! We're on the first day of the ultimate martial arts competition between Saints, The Galaxian Wars! As you can see, the stadium is completely packed full of people attending from all over the world, the event is also being broadcast live via satellite to stations in countries all across the globe! Everyone is tuning in for these much proclaimed 'miracle wonder wars'! What we will see, will be considered the greatest combat the world has ever seen!"
Hearing that I can't help but say "He's sure enthusiastic about this..." then, Saori stands up and moves in front of a camera, and at the same time, her hologram appears hovering in the sky of the colosseum as it says "Ladies and gentleman, I'd like to welcome you all here today to the Graad Coliseum, my name is Saori Kido, and as the main sponsor of this event I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to all the attendees, now as I'm sure you know at this point, the Saints are warriors who all wear a unique Cloth that represents their own guardian constellation, this means there are as many Saints as there are constellations in the sky".
And as the said constellations are clearly marked on the fake night sky she continues "There are 29 of them to the north, and 47 more to the south, and further, along the ecliptic plane that splits the north and south, there are the 12 constellations famously known as the Zodiac, among those 88 constellations, the 12 of the zodiac are said to be the strongest, and their power only granted to exceptional Saints and the Cloth that only those chosen 12 are permitted to wear...".
And the hologram points at the special podium in the arena, where the Pandora Box of all the competitors are placed, and above them, illuminated by the light is the Gold Sagittarius Pandora Box, as she says "... Is the Gold Cloth! By competing in these Galaxian Wars, the participating Saints will strive to obtain the Sagittarius Gold Cloth! They took their first step by earning one of the lowest ranking Cloths, known as Bronze Cloth. My grandfather, Mitsumasa Kido, discovered the Gold Cloth by chance shortly before he passed away five years ago, that was how he first came to know about the existence of Saints".
Then she points at the ring below, and the lights illuminate the ring showing the figure of the 8 young Saints all donning their Cloths, "During his life, he was an avid fan of martial arts, and dreamed of throwing a grand tournament featuring those legendary Saints, to that end, he gathered talented young man from across Japan and sent them all around the world to be trained as new Saints... Now, please enjoy what will surely be the world's finest martial arts competition!", and after saying this the hologram disappears, leaving space for the fight to truly start.
As Saori once again sits on her throne, I say "Thanks for your hard work... You have left enough hints for Saga to truly realize your true identity, and he will soon send the stronger Saints after you..." and with a sad smile she says "Yea... And I worry for how many we will lose in this fight..." but I reassure her "Don't worry as long as they don't die on the spot, I can definitely save them!" and hearing that Saori seems relieved, then I shout "Oh! It's starting!" and look at the hexagon ring with rope made of iron chains in the middle of the arena, where two figures can be seen facing each other.
(Image Here - Ring)
And as the announcer presents the fighters for the first match, and I quickly identify them, one is Jabu, equipped with his Unicorn Cloth, an armor that consists of a headpiece, a simple headband with a horn, a plain chest piece, and shoulders pieces, arms and legs pieces that barely cover the forearms, fists, and the leg only until the knee, then a simple belt as a waist piece, all lilac in color.
(Image Here - Unicorn Jabu)
Meanwhile, his opponent is a young man of great stature, semi-dark complexion and thick muscles, with dark brown eyes and short hair, wearing the orange Lionet Cloth, made of a headpiece that is shaped like a lion's face, the shoulders pieces that represent the lion's claws, the chest piece that is only a small circle that protects the heart, and of course, arms and legs pieces to barely protect hands and feet, with a simple orange belt as his waist piece, he is Lionet Ban.
(Image Here - Lionet Ban)
As I was checking on the fighters, I hear the voice of the announcer that explains the rules to the audience "All matchups are decided in a traditional elimination bracket, there are no rules that govern the matches themselves, In the event of a knockdown, combatants must stand up within the count of ten or the computer will automatically declare their loss, anything goes during these matches, there are no fouls or penalties on conduct, it doesn't matter even if a combatant dies, the Saints are fully prepared for any outcome, as a magnificent Gold Cloth is awaiting the winner, who manages to survive until the end of the tournament!"
And as the atmosphere becomes more heated as the excitement grows, the announcer finishes his speech "During combat, the Saint's status and data will be displayed on the sub-screens visible throughout the tournament hall! May the best Saint win!" and soon after the fight starts with both Jabu and Ban throwing a series of punches in a boxing style while testing each other, while at the same time the both slowly start to burn their Cosmo and increase their speed and power.
While enjoying the fight, which in my eyes is almost as if it is happening in slow motions even if both are about to reach Mach 1, I hear Saori's voice that asks "Who do you think will win this, Jayr?" and not leaving my eyes from the fight, I say "Both of them have more or less the same mastery of martial arts, while it seems that Ban chooses to specialize in boxing, and Jabu choose to master both boxing and taekwondo, but no one has an advantage over the other at the moment... But I can clearly feel the difference in their Cosmo... And on that front Jabu has an obvious advantage, in fact, if you ignore, Shun, Seiya, Ikki, Shiryu, and Hyoga, he has the strongest Cosmo among this batch of Bronze Saints, but he is still only a mid-level Bronze Saint, not a Peak one like the other five".
As I finish explaining that, the fight becomes more intense and Ban takes advantage of an opening to use his strongest technique, he concentrates his Cosmos in his right fist and throws himself with great violence against the body of his adversary with a powerful fist strike, leaving behind a trail of smoke like an explosion and yelling "Lionet Bomber!" hitting Jabu right into the stomach making him spit blood from his mouth and retreat in pain to lean against the iron ropes, presenting his back to his opponent.
Then Ban quickly follow after him and taking advantage of the fact that Jabu is now hanging on the ropes trying to recover from the blow he just received and starts punching Jabu's exposed back, seeing this Saori looks at me with a smile and asks "Are you sure...? To me it seems like he is about to lose..." and I take advantage of this moment to teach her how to better use her immense Cosmo, as I have done this past year, and with a smile, I turn to her and say "Saori, use your Cosmo... What do you feel?".
She follows my instruction and quickly says "Jabu's Cosmo isn't weakening, in fact, it growing stronger with each passing moment...", then she realizes "He is about to counterattack!", and indeed, as Jabu receives Ban's last punch, he uses the punch's force to his advantage, and using the ropes as a spring, he leaps over Ban's body and, still mid-air, kicks him in the face, then as soon as he lands, he rushes at Ban and starts hitting him in the face and the stomach, with a quick series of punches making Ban fall into the ground under the cheers of the audience.
And as Jabu was basking in this glory, Ban once again stood up, and burns and gathers his Cosmo to use another Lionet Bomber, but Jabu decides to end this and uses his telekinesis to hold Ban's body, then gathering his Cosmo into his legs, he leaps toward Ban and delivers a series chained kicks from the air at the speed of sound at a single point, hitting Ban in his stomach making him spit some blood and once again fall on the ground, where he remains until the count to 10, and next the computer declares Ban's defeat for a knockout, showing on the screen the replay of the action in slow motion, while the audience is going crazy over the show they have seen.
Then I hear Saori's voice "And with this, the first day of the tournament ends successfully... Tomorrow it will be Seiya's turn... And if everything goes as planned, the day after tomorrow, Hyoga will return..." to that I reply "Don't worry the Sanctuary will give the order to Hyoga to kill every participant, as they are deemed traitors... Tomorrow he will receive the orders from Camus..." then with a smile I add "...Only they aren't Saga's orders, but yours..." and after that, I escorted Saori back to the Mansion, then went to meet some old friend.
Ikki POV - Japan, Abandoned Factory - 1986
I'm in this abandoned factory near the outskirt of Tokyo, surrounded by the Black Four and 5 other Black Saints donning the Black Phoenix Cloth, in the end, I chose to attack with a small number, as it is easier to hide and move, but still, I chose the strongest ones of the group, the Black Four who have a level of power equal to a Peak Bronze Saint, and the Black Phoenix group who are at the Mid-level Bronze Saint.
The Black Four are Black Swan, Black Dragon, who I admit looks similar to my half-brother Shiryu, with waist-length black hair and a face with an identical shape, the most notable difference between them is that he has black scleras, Black Andromeda, a young man with dark green hair and black eyes, and Black Pegasus, who is almost the copy of my other half brother Seiya, only he has darker hair and eyes.
(Image Here - Black Four)
While the Black Phoenixs are a group of five identical brothers, they all have mid-length black hair and a tan complexion, but their face is mostly covered by the Phoenix's Mask so that they can't be easily recognized.
(Image Here - Black Phoenix)
As I'm about to tell them my plan, all of the sudden, all the Black Saints fall unconscious, and from behind me I hear a familiar voice that says "Hello there..." I turn around and see the figure of a young man, with dark blue messy hair and green eyes, dressed in casual clothes, leaning on a column, with his arm crossed and an easygoing smile on his face and say "Crateris Jayr... What are you doing here?".
And still with a smile on his face he replies "I felt your Cosmo nearby and decided to come and see if you need some help with the plan... By the way, don't worry about them, they won't even notice something happened..." then he comes closer and gives me the planimetry of the Graad Coliseum with emergencies exit, and hidden entrance marked inside, then he told me about how I could infiltrate unnoticed and make it seem real for the Black Saints, then after patting me on my shoulder and saying "Thanks for doing this, I can't image how hard it is to do... Good luck and don't worry about the injuries... As long as they are alive... I can bring them back to full health even if they lose some limb!".
Then right in front of me, he disappears, and I wasn't even able to feel how he moved 'The gap between us is still so big!? When I got my Cloth I felt invincible... But as he moves... I can't even feel it let alone react to it... If he wanted he could have killed everyone here and we would even know... And he is still only a Silver Saint... Just how strong are the mythical Gold Saints that master talked about!!'.
After a few seconds, the Black Saints get up on their own, but their eyes are still void of any awareness, then clarity return to them, and like nothing happened Black Swan asks "So what is the plan Ikki-sama?" and as I start explaining the plan the only thing in my head is how to close the gap as quickly as possible.
Jayr - Japan, Graad Coliseum - 1986
It's the second day of the tournament, and the people are still rushing into the arena and taking their seats, and right now the dome over the colosseum is open and the clear morning sky can still be seen, with its white cloud floating around, and the bright sun illuminating everything.
But soon all the seats are occupied, the colosseum dome closes completely and the giant quad screen descends from the ceiling to welcome them, and as the fighter for this round enters the ring, the commentator once again greets the audience and starts presenting the fighters and explaining once again the rules.
Next, I look at the fighter entering the ring, one of them is a 15 years old young man of large stature and thick build full of muscles, he has blue eyes, purple hair, dark skin color, and is donning a blue armor, that like all the Bronze Cloth, barely cover some vital points of the body, and of course, the limbs 'He is Orsa Major Geki, he trained in the training ground in Canada, if remember well the trial to gain the Orsa Major Cloth is to kill a 100 bears barehanded... one of the easiest I have heard until now... Geist to gain hers had to live in a snake pit for months and gain the acknowledgment of the snakes there, by surviving their poisonous bite with only her Cosmo...'
(Image Here - Orsa Major Geki)
The other is Seiya, donning his Pegasus Cloth, 'So he too is using the anime version of the Cloth, with the headpiece as a helmet in forms the head of a pegasus, the leg pieces, formed by the front legs of the armor at rest, and that was almost nonexistent in the manga version, are very extensive in the anime, so much so that they do not match much with the protections of the upper body, less complete, so these protect the thighs, knees, and legs up to his feet. The hind legs of a pegasus form the arms pieces together with the shoulder pieces, the body and torso are formed by the chest piece, and the skirt-like waist piece'
(Image Here - Pegasus Seiya)
Looking at Seiya's figure that waves at the crowds with a smile on his face I think 'He is definitely happy about the fact that he reunited with Seika... I just hope that now that he has some other things to fight for, he will put more effort into growing stronger... Because no matter how strong I grow... I can't see myself beating a God like Hades or Poseidon without their plot armor...'.
Focusing back to the ring, I see Geki saying something to Seiya, and move to touch him on his shoulder, but Seiya is already burning his Cosmo, and Geki's hand is almost burned by it, then the match finally starts with Seiya starting the hostilities, and hitting Geki right in the face with a jumping kick sending him into the ground.
While the audience cheers and the commentator yells "Holy Moley! Pegasus starts out with a brutal jumping kick!" then noticing the info on the screens he adds "The impact of that attack was measured at 1375 kgf! I-Incredible! An attack like that would have killed any normal human!", and as Geki gets up and says something to Seiya, seeing that, I turn to Saori and ask "Why showing how much force a punch of Saint produces?" and Saori replies "To give the world a glimpse of what my Saints are capable of... I think that knowing that such warrior is their protector, can give them the hope they need".
Back to the fight, Geki makes his move, and uses a simple technique based on brute force, he rams into Seiya, then extends his arms and concentrates all his Cosmo into his strong hands and tightly strangles his opponent's neck, this is his technique the Hanging Bear 'Pretty simple, but it is effective, at least with an opponent of the same strength or weaker... If he tries to use this on a Silver Saint, he would be killed before even reaching them', at the same time the commentator says "The amount of pressure that Bear is exerting with his arms is unreal! Any regular human would be crushed to death from pressure over 1800 kgf!".
After struggling for a few seconds, Seiya burns his Cosmo, even more, frees himself from his opponent's hold by breaking his wrist together with the pieces of the Cloth protecting them, then he attacks him with a quick series of kicks all over Geki's body so fast that for the audience it seems like he kicked only one time, and as soon as Seiya lands, the computer announces "Game over! The winner is Pegasus!" confusing the audience for a moment as Geki is still standing, but the next second his Cloths breaks in many places and he falls over unconscious, and the audience loudly cheers for the great show.
I let out a sigh and say to Tatsumi "Tatsumi quietly send Geki and his Cloth to the infirmary underground, I'll fix his wounds and the Cloth as good as new..." and as Tatsumi gives the command to his subordinates, I quickly move, while summoning from the Soulbound territory my set of tools, Blessed by Saori herself, making them turn golden like Mu's tools, while I'm moving towards the infirmary I think 'Seiya's Pegasasu Ryusei Ken is still too weak, he is only able to throw at a speed of 85 hits per second, failing to reach MACH 1 speed, that is too slow'.
At the same time, I hear the voice of the commentators that yells "The Galaxian Wars have gotten off to a crazy start, with both Unicorn Jabu and Pegasus Seiya quickly advancing to the next stage, among these ten Saints, who will be the one to rise above the rest and obtain the honor of wearing the incredible Gold Cloth!?".
Saori POV - Tokyo, Kido Mansion - 1986
I'm enjoying the scenery of the night sky, from the balcony of the Kido Mansion drinking tea, I let out a sigh of relief and say "Everything is proceeding smoothly..." then Tatsumi came and says "Ojou-sama, we've just received the latest newspapers from around the world, all of them have heavily featured the Galaxian Wars" and he give to me the tray with the newspaper on.
But I stop him and ask "More importantly, have we heard anything from the two remaining Saints, Phoenix and Cygnus?" but just as he was about to reply, Jayr came and said "Hyoga will be here tomorrow in time to take part in his fight... While Ikki, is already here and ready to act, he is just waiting for the right moment, but I suggested to him to act during Shun's fight... not only is what happened in the original timeline but it is also the point where the others will be at the weakest".
Hearing that I nod, then ask "How are Geki and his Cloth?" and Jayr sitting next to me replies "They are as good as new... The Cloth was already in bad shape before it received Seiya's attack, now it won't break so easily" after that we spend some time talking before Jayr went back to Dr. Asamori's Lab to check on his sister's disciple Steel Cloth.
Jayr POV - Tokyo, Graad Coliseum - 1986
Another day, a new fight, right now, we all are waiting for Hyoga to make his entrance, meanwhile, his opponent is already waiting in the ring, a young man with a pale complexion, he has no iris and his sclerae are completely black, he does not have hair along his head but he has white hair in a long and straight ponytail, his armor is of violet color and like all the other Bronze Cloth it protects only some vital points, he is Hydra Ichi.
(Image Here - Hydra Ichi)
As I was checking on Ichi, the commentator once again starts doing his job and say "Today we're gathered here for the third match of the tournament, Cygnus versus Hydra, unfortunately, Cygnus has yet to arrive at the stadium, so please bear with us through the delay", but just as the crows start to lose patience, Hyoga came calmly walking, and with a leap he reaches the ring, landing straight as a pole, while I think 'No superhero landing here... It's still too soon for it to become popular...'.
Hyoga is already wearing his Cloth, the Mask has in its center protection formed by the neck and the head of the swan, on its sides it has two wings, the chest has simple protection with protection that extends almost to the waist, which also has a simple design, the right arm is simple while the left arm is formed by a shield, has two simple knee pads as well as the feet which have two wing-shaped ornaments at the ankles and the shoulder pads have a semicircular design, all in pure white color.
(Image Here - Cygnus Hyoga)
He then looks at the other Saints and says "I should be happy to attend this reunion of our orphanage... But apparently, I'm not, because I've received the order from Sanctuary to eliminate all of you..." and while the others are shocked by this reveal, the commentator yells "Cygnus has just arrived at the stadium, so now the match between him and Hydra will begin"
And soon the fight starts with Ichi circling around Hyoga, who calmly stood still without raising his guard, then Ichi starts a rush of punches that Hyoga easily dodges, but he is backed in a corner, and Ichi attacks him with another punch, but Hyoga block it with the shield on his Cloth.
But before he could relax, from Ichi's gauntlet a set of 3 claws comes out and penetrate Hyoga's shield, and to a surprised Saori I explain "This is Hydra Cloth's ability, it is capable of generating poisonous claws on various parts, such as wrists, ankles, legs, arms, and helmet and can regenerate them in case they break during battle, as well as the heads of the mythological hydra".
Meanwhile, Ichi continues his assault on Hyoga furiously punching him, as he doesn't do anything to protect himself and he once again uses his claws to pierce Hyoga's Cloth, this time he attacked his chest, and Saori worried asks "Is the poison lethal? Should we stop this!?" but with a smile I reply "While the poison is lethal, Hyoga is safe, in fact, he isn't even poisoned, as the cold, he is generating with his Cosmo, is reinforcing his Cloth, making Ichi's claws useless as they are unable to further penetrate and pierce his skin...".
And indeed, Hyoga finally moves and grabs Ichi's arm and freezes it with his Cosmo, but Ichi doesn't give up and hits Hyoga with a jumping knee hitting him on the head protector, and the next instant from the knees another set of claw comes out and once again pierce Hyoga's Cloth, but this time Hyoga show that he is totally unaffected, by freezing the claw and making them fall on the ground.
As Ichi retreat in fear, Hyoga makes his Cosmo explode, lowering the temperature of the whole arena, then he uses his technique, he gathers the cold air around his fist by drastically slowing down the atomic motion of the air around his hand thus creating a field of intense cold, instantly condensing the surrounding moisture into pure ice which then shatters and manifests itself in the form of countless sharp and cutting snow crystals that are hurled through a powerful cold wind through his fist yelling "Diamond Dust!"
The technique hits Ichi, breaking his Cloth into many pieces, and making him fall to the ground knocked out, under the shock of the audience and the other Saints, then the bell rings and the commentator says "Hydra has taken too much damage to continue, this means Cygnus will be moving to the next stage!" and as the audience once again cheers for the fighters, with a sigh I once again move toward the infirmary to deal with the aftermath while saying "What the hell... These Cloths' condition sucks! They break as soon as someone blows on it... Doesn't anyone knows how to take care of their Cloths!?".