Saint Seiya Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ The Second Stallion ❯ The Steed Receives his Wings ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: ironneko 
Anime/Manga: Saint Seiya Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 11.09.2004 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.6K | Visits: 764 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Saint Seiya Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 11.09.2004 | Pages: 5 | Words: 5.6K | Visits: 764 | Status: Completed
The Second Stallion
by RaZiel
Disclaimer: I own nothing... yet... (insert evil diabolical laugh...)
" " denotes speech
' ' denotes thoughts
Chapter 1: The Steed Receives his Wings
***********************
The two rivals stood facing each other. The large feline, king of all beasts, stared impassively at his equine opponent. Carefully, he circled around the purple-clad warrior in hopes of finding an opening. However that is when the Unicorn made his move.
Quickly springing into motion, Jabu delivered a series of lightning-quick blows as he closed the distance between himself and his chosen opponent, but the Lion merely shugged off the attack and retaliated with devastating punches of his own, forcing the other Saint to the ropes.
The crowd erupted in cheers as the battle between Saints finally got underway.
The orange hulk approached the downed fighter and began to unleash wave after wave of fists upon his rival's unprotected back, confident that the match was all but over. Unfortunately for him, he failed to properly assess his opponent and the devotion he felt towards the daughter of the man who had adopted him.
As the blows kept coming down on him, the Unicorn Saint caught sight of a certain somebody in the audience. Suddenly, the tiredness seemed to disappear from his eyes completely as the fighter caught his second wind and an inevitable smirk appeared all over his face. With a tremendous effort, he manoeuvred out of the way from the incoming attack and launched his most powerful technique, the Unicorn Gallop.
The crowd once again roared in acceptance as they witnessed the fall of the mighty Lion, one of the stronger ones in the Galactic Challenge organised by the Kido foundation.
As his rival faltered, Jabu turned to face his admirers, the people who had been entranced by the dexterity and skill displayed by the Unicorn Saint. His victorious expression suddenly faded as he realized the auditorium had became silent. With a sense of dread he revolved his head in time to see his rival rise once more, his thirst for battle unquenched still.
On the sidelines, several other Saints were watching the fight going on in the main arena.
"Well, what do you know? He did manage to get back up after all... It seems he's stronger that I remember..." said the Andromeda Saint, whilst the nearly sentient chains wrapped around his arms generated a small static charge in response to the battle taking place a few feet away. "I might just end up fighting him after all..." a sad look adorned his features as Shun thought about the futility of it all. 'A tournament in order to win something that will enhace our destructive power, which in turn, will bring about more senseless violence...'
"Come on Shun, you know Jabu won't lose against the Lion. He's always been one of the strongest of the bunch," said the Hydra Saint, "you know, alongside Seiya and your brother."
'My brother...' not a day passed without Shun thinking about Ikki. He didn't know what had happened to him since that fateful day ten years past when he had taken his place and gone to train to Death Queen Island.
'What happened to you Ikki?..'
His musings were cut short as a commanding voice broke through his reverie.
"Quiet you two, you're disturbing my concentration."
Both Saints turned around to face the Dragon, who was apparently in a meditative state. Shiryu had never been particularly friendly before but it seemed his training had made him downright hostile towards other people. Besides he always tensed up whenever Seiya was mentioned so the other Saints assumed he had a bone to pick with the teen.
Looking back towards the fight, Shun couldn't help but think about Mitsumasa Kido's selfishness. To take care of a group of orphans merely to have them become weapons of destruction... The Andromeda Saint felt disgusted. He directed an angered look towards the golden throne at the top of the coliseum.
Sitting in said throne was a violet-haired woman overlooking the match.
"Tatsumi?" she called out.
"Yes, my mistress?" replied the bald servant, ever faithful to his lady.
"Has the Pegasus Saint arrived yet?" enquired the adopted granddaughter of the late millionaire, Mitsumasa Kido.
Tatsumi contemplated the question for a few moments before replying, "No word has been received of the Phoenix or Pegasus Saint. However we have been contacted by the Cygnus Saint, he has informed us he will be arriving late".
Saori took some time to think about this fact. The battles had already started and three Saints were still missing? It was preposterous. What would her grandfather think about this? An errant thought slipped into her mind at that time.
"What about my grandfather's... special project?"
The tuxedo-clad man inwardly sighed before responding, he hated having nothing but bad news for his mistress. "No word has been received about him either. However, he should be arriving along with the Pegasus Saint, they were sent to the same place after all..." that last part had come out almost as a mumble. Why did she even care about that snotty kid? He didn't even form part of the original plan.
There was a sudden explosion of cheers as the Unicorn Saint finally emerged victorious from the match and the crowd began chanting his name.
"JABU!!! JABU!!! JABU!!!" was all that could be heard inside the stadium.
"Fine, that will be all Tatsumi," she replied while standing to congratulate Jabu on his victory. She knew she could trust Tatsumi to handle those matters, however, her thoughts returned to a particular troublesome boy who she had been unable to tame in the past, no matter how she tried.
'Seiya, where are you?..'
**************************
Both fighters were evenly matched, neither of them had been able to land a single blow as of yet, but the stalemate wouldn’t hold for long. Seiya was a trained fighter. Six years of staying at the Sanctuary had made sure of that. His skills had grown under the careful observation of his teacher and he was now a force to be reckoned with.
However, not even he could keep up with his chosen opponent, a warrior the likes of which he had never seen before.
While jumping over a low sweep, Seiya failed to predict the swing of his opponent’s second leg, as he had propped himself onto his hands to gain leverage, and had managed to deliver a pretty powerful blow. The attack caught him right in the solar plexus and he experienced a momentary shortness of breath.
A moment was all it took really.
Before he knew what hit him, the pigtailed warrior was on top of him. Delivering punches that were strong enough to shatter solid rock. The assault lasted for a few more seconds until the pummeled teen was able to push his opponent away from him.
Backing up, he cautiously studied the teenager who stood on the other side of the arena. Tall by any standards, his opponent measured around one point eighty six metres. The lean, athletic build disguised the power his blows carried.
‘Man,’ Seiya thought to himself, ‘this guy sure packs a punch.’ He was slightly favouring his left side, and was almost certain that he had fractured a rib or two. He now understood how this stranger had defeated Cassius with such ease.
When the giant had first laid eyes on his opponent he had laughed out loud and demanded a real challenge to the High Priest. He was quickly silenced after having his arm fractured with a level of speed that quickly caught Seiya's attention, as he sensed a faint emission of Cosmos coming from the smaller man. He was ensured of his opponent's effectiveness after Cassius lost his ear to a knife hand strike.
He knew he was going to have to pull all the stops to defeat him and obtain the Pegasus Mantle. Mentally steeling himself, he began to draw out his Cosmos.
The crowd went wild at the display of power. Seiya had began to glow with a bluish hue and was now making some strange hand motions. This development quickly caught the attention of two very particular female Saints.
Shaina looked on in disbelief as this boy who still had no Mantle of his own traced the thirteen stars of the Pegasus constellation.
'First that ...boy... defeats Cassius, and now this pipsqueak is drawing upon Cosmos?'
To say that the Cobra Saint was pissed would have been an understatement. Her champion had been defeated by a teenager who had never been seen around the Sanctuary. She never would have predicted that a veritable unknown would wield such power, he had defeated the giant in a matter of minutes! There was also Seiya, he had always been nothing but a pushover, but now he was fighting like a man possessed.
Marin was merely curious as to how the stranger would react to this development. The Eagle Silver Saint had seen Seiya’s attack countless times before, so she was not concerned about it. She was, in fact, the trainer and instructor of the, so far, Pegasus wannabe. However, she had yet to see an opponent more formidable than that which her student was facing at the time.
Said warrior stood still, watching the detailed figure that was being traced in the air. At first he just stared at it with an unreadable expression on his face. Then, he smiled.
A powerful blue aura expanded from within the fighter’s soul and became visible to the human eye. It was easily twice as impressive as Seiya’s. Power was just oozing from it in waves, and had begun to permeate the arena. Then he began to weave the exact same pattern with his own arms.
Marin was shocked into speechlessness. She had been absolutely certain that none of the other Pegasus candidates had mastered the use of Cosmos, much less knew the actual technique the previous Pegasus Saint had made his trademark.
She knew that a fighter could not learn a move of a Cloth unless it was his or her destiny to become the Saint of that constellation. So unless the move was taught from master to student, such as Camus had done with Crystal, the Silver Saint, who had probably also taught the Diamond Dust to the next Cygnus Saint, even the thought of it was ridiculous.
Most Mantles had that same type of heirarchy, she herself was what would be considered the next step after the Pegasus Cloth. She had been the one who taught Seiya the Ryuseiken after all.
There was one other case similar to this but under totally different circumstances. The twin Gold Saints of Gemini, Kanon and Saga, were nothing like her charge and this "Ranma". Besides, they shared the use of a far more dreaded technique. The Galaxian Explosion.
Seiya was so caught up in the buildup of his move that he failed to notice his opponent mirroring his moves and just attacked as soon as he was ready.
"PEGASUS RYUSEIKEN!!!"
A multitude of shooting stars erupted from within the teenager's body as he shot towards his opponent, almost invisible to the naked eye.
The signature move of the Pegasus Saint, the Pegasus Ryuseiken was one of the most powerful moves the Bronze Saints had in their limited repartee. Every fighter who had trained at the Sactuary knew of its potential for greatness, after all, it had been the previous Pegasus Saint who had put an end to the Sacred War, over two hundred years before, whose only survivors had been the Libra and Aries Gold Saints. So, they were understandibly surprised after seeing Seiya pull it off.
As the rain of blows approached him, the pigtailed warrior finally made a move.
"PEGASUS SUISEI-"
Suddenly, a chill went through his back as a powerful Cosmos made itself known to him for the briefest of instants. He instantly stopped his attack as he caught a flicker of gold from the corner of his eye. He averted his gaze momentarily and was able to view the outline of a man that seemed to be watching the battle impassively.
An overwhelming explosion of pain caught him unawares as Seiya's attack finally hit home and the pigtailed fighter was pummeled by the multitude of blasts. He had forgotten about his opponent and, as a result of that, he'd also cut down on all defensive power, maximising the damage he received.
He fell to his knees after receiving close to a thousand blows.
'Damn it, I can't believe I forgot about Seiya's attack'. While turning to face his foe, who was still recovering from the effort of launching the special technique, he contemplated his options.
'I think I can still pull off a Ryuseiken, however, I'll be too vulnerable if it misses'
Once again, he began focusing his Cosmos in hopes of managing a retaliatory strike, the energy he had gathered previously having been dispersed into the environment. Wiping the small trail of blood that flowed from the side of his mouth, the teen began to stand.
As his opponent rose to his feet, Seiya couldn't help but stare. 'What is this guy made of?' he desperately thought as he witnessed the teen who had been the recipient of his most powerful technique just shrug it off. His eyes widened alarmingly as he sensed the Cosmos buildup within him and he quickly summoned his own in order to brace himself against the imminent strike.
He was surprised when the other fighter fell to his knees once again. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he quickly began making his way over to where his opponent had fallen.
'Why can't I move' thought the kneeling man while attempting to stand. 'Something's holding me down... can't be... but there's no other explanation... this is Psychokinesis'
He was familiar with the legendary power of the mind that enabled someone to do practically anything they desired. Rumours of teleportation and the ability to manipulate objects and people at a distance had reached his ears. However only a very select few were knoown to have this extraordinary gift, and they had all passed into history way before he was ever born. So who was holding him down?
'Damn it, I can't lose. Ranma Saotome never loses!!!'
With an almost inhuman effort, Ranma unleashed, once again, the power hidden deep within his soul as he fought against the mysterious energy that was determined to keep him down. A blazing corona appeared around the pigtailed teen as his Cosmos manifested in the visible range. The silence of the crowd at seeing the blatant display of spiritual strength was quickly replaced with the sound of the winds that rushed past as Ranma's battle aura grew in size.
Finally, after an agonisingly long wait, he rose to his feet and stood in a fighting stance as he turned to look at his rival. 'I'm ready, there's nothing that will stop me no-'
"PEGASUS RYUSEIKEN!!!"
He was surprised to find his rival had buried a fist in his chest. He shouldn't have been, but he was nonetheless as Seiya, who was not one to pass such a promising opportunity, concentrated all of his remaining power into one final attack, which sent his opponent flying into a nearby column. The last thought to go through the battered fighter's mind, before the blissful sleep of unconsciousness was, 'No... I, don't... lo...s..e...'
The crowd exploded into cheers as they witnessed the ascension of the new Pegasus Saint. One man amongst them having been particularly impressed with the performance of the loser.
'He did better than I expected. I believed that no one could stand up to my Psychokinesis. It seems I was wrong'. With that final consideration he began to make his way to the middle of the arena, where Seiya was receiving his Pegasus Mantle.
He quickly reached the fallen Ranma and, taking care not to aggravate his injuries, carried him towards his own living quarters.
****************
'Ooohh, man... What hit me?' Ranma thought as he woke several hours after the fight. He looked around the unfamiliar room and was surprised to discover that he had been bandaged expertly. He was lying on a small futon inside a small stone room. He looked through the only window and was shocked to discover it was nightfall.
"Was I out that long?" he asked to no one in particular. It all came back to him then, the fight, the strange power and his defeat because of it.
'Damn it,' he thought, while slamming his right fist into the ground, 'I shouldn't have lost that match. I don't lose. Ever. So why now?' He couldn't help but wonder who had been behind the unexpected assault that had immobilised him. He sighed, disheartened, and looked around once again.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't vent your frustrations on my floor, holes like that take some effort to repair"
"What the-?" Ranma immediately turned towards the source of the voice and was able to discern in the poor light the outline of a man. Finally, after several seconds of silent contemplation he asked, "Who are you?"
The man took a step into the room so the moonlight coming from the open window would shine upon him, revealing his figure to the enquiring teen. A small gust of wind blew inside the room and Ranma couldn't help but stare as the man's lilac hair fluttered about.
"My name," he finally said, "is Mu..."
******************
'Oh... this is not good...' thought Seiya as he tried to pick himself up after taking quite a beating at the hands of Shaina and a number of Sanctuary's common thugs.
He desperately began to look around in hopes of finding something that would help him.
The Cobra Silver Saint had not been amused that he had won the Pegasus Mantle and had ambushed him just when he was about to leave Sanctuary.
So far he had received no help whatsoever from his teacher, other that her telling him to get the hell away from there if he wanted to live.
His gaze finally settled on the metal box that laid haphazardy tossed on the ground in front of him.
Marin had told him that he should only wear his Cloth at a time of desperate need.
'If this doesn't qualify as "desperate need" then I don't know what will,' he thought to himself while still mulling over the decision.
A triumphant shout caught his attention as he spotted one of his opponents approaching him while signaling the rest of his buddies to join him.
His mind made up, Seiya reached forward and pulled on the handle.
*************
"Y-you're the Aries Gold Saint!!" Ranma exclaimed while trying desperately to sit upright. He had heard about the legendary warriors who could move at the speed of light. They were Sanctuary's elite, the Gold Saints. The twelve most powerful warriors out of the eighty eight Saints that served the goddess Athena.
Mu, the legendary blacksmith, who had also been the disciple of the former High Priest, was the bearer of the Aries Gold Cloth. Like him, there were eleven others, each belonging to one of the signs of the zodiac.
"That's right," he said with a smile on his face, "I am the guardian of this first temple," he continued as he approached the fallen warrior. Ranma was amazed to find that his injuries had already healed, as Mu began to check up on them.
"It seems you're healing abilities weren't overrated Ranma," he said, "you've healed completely."
"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?" asked the teen as his caretaker finished removing the bandages he was covered in.
Mu paused for a second and looked at him with an unreadable expression for a couple of seconds. Ranma used that time to study him. He couldn't believe that this man was the Aries Gold Saint. He looked so... frail.
Nonetheless, now that he was wide awake, he could feel a massive power hidden deep within him, just waiting to be unleashed. 'Not only has he got this huge amount of power, but that level of control is like none I've ever seen before...'
Finally, with a small sigh, Mu responded, "Well... I felt a bit guilty. You see, it was because of me you got the injuries in the first place..."
'What!?' though the pigtailed warrior to himself as he looked back on the fight and couldn't recall a single moment when-.
"Y-you were the one using psychokinesis?" he tentatively asked as he remembered the flash of golden Cosmos just before he was immobilised.
Suddenly both of them felt a powerful explosion of power. Mu cast a quick glance towards the window and turned back towards Ranma.
"The questions will have to wait Ranma. The Pegasus Saint is in trouble and he will need his twin," he said as he stood up to his full height again.
"But I-"
"Go!" he exclaimed while tossing one of his spare leather breast plates at Ranma.
"Fine," he replied while jumping towards the open window, "but when this is over I want answers!" and with those final words he broke into a sprint after leaping towards where he felt Seiya's Cosmos begin to lose its strength.
As Mu stared at Ranma's retreating form his shoulders slumped ever-so-slightly.
"I'm sorry Ranma, but you're not ready to know the truth yet..."
And with those words, he shimmered out of sight.
***************
Seiya couldn't understand it, he had felt an incredible rush of power once he was clad in the Pegasus Mantle and he had actually managed to tag Shaina in the shoulder with one of his attacks. now he was being beaten by the low ranked warriors and his sensei was just standing there letting it happen!
'Seiya,' he remembered her saying, 'the Cloth is nothing but a conduit for your own power. It has no Cosmos of its own. Without a proper bearer it becomes nothing more than a useless pile of metal.'
As the blows kept raining down, a faint brilliance began to appear around Seiya. The soldiers gathered around him suddenly backed off in fear as the Pegasus Saint flared his Cosmos powerfully.
An errant leaf landed on his left shoulder pad and was instantly incinerated due to the sheer amount of heat that radiated off the energized suit of armour.
"You think you can just take me for a weakling? You think I can't fight back? You are seriously mistaken!!! PEGASUS RYUSEIKEN!!!"
Just as before, a multitude of comets erupted from within Seiya's body. With his Cloth amplifying his power, the attack tore into his enemies mercilessly.
The soldiers were thrown about like rag dolls as Shaina desperately tried to avoid the shooting stars the infuriated Saint had unleashed.
'His attack is faster than before, and the blows are stronger as well,' she thought as she began to block the ones she couldn't dodge in time.
Suddenly, Seiya felt a stab of pain in his left side and his attack faltered a second too soon, causing the last of the meteors to miss the Cobra Saint completely.
'Dammit,' he thought to himself, 'I still haven't recovered from the battle with Ranma.'
'T-that one nearly struck my mask,' thought Shaina as she unconsciously held her hand to her face in order to reassure herself the item in question was still there, 'I've got to stop playing around with him, if it wasn't for his bruised ribs...' she didn't want to think about what would have happened...
Seiya had fallen to his knees, exhaustion finally taking its toll on the rookie Saint.
Shaina snapped out of her daze and looked over to the Pegasus. "Let's finish this..."
"Feel the power of the Cobra!!!" she yelled as her hands were covered in purple lightning and her nails glowed brightly. As she lunged forward to deal the deathblow a blur stepped in front of her and caught the brunt of the attack.
Surprised, she stepped back to take this new element into consideration. Meanwhile, Seiya's mysterious saviour stood up from where he had been thrown.
"You!" said Shaina, venom dripping from her voice as she laid eyes on the man who had defeated Cassius. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey, I'm pissed that he won too, but I can't let you kill him, it just isn't right," he said. 'Besides, I'll never get any answers unless he lives...'
"Hey, you!" he exclaimed while looking at Marin, "Take him away from here, I'll handle her," he said while taking a loose stance.
The Eagle Saint was confused, what was he doing here? And, more importantly, how could he still be standing after the battle with Seiya? "But-"
"Don't argue with me, just go!" he replied.
"Don't underestimate me boy!" Shaina yelled as she jumped towards him in an attempt to catch him by surprise.
He quickly blocked her attack and attempted one of his own. "You know, I don't like fighting women, with them being the weaker sex and all, but you're not giving me much options here," he told her while ducking under a claw swipe.
"How dare you?!" Shaina felt insulted. He wouldn't fight women? This kid who wasn't even able to defeat Seiya implied that women were weak? That she was weak? He would pay.
She raised her Cosmos until a brilliant aura surrounded her and then let loose with a wicked uppercut that fell short of hitting the pigtailed warrior.
Ranma jumped back to avoid the blow, and felt a searing pain in his chest. Looking down he noticed a large gash had cut through the worn down armour he was wearing and had managed to reach the skin, where some blood was seeping through the cracks.
'I've got to end this now,' he thought.
"I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice," he told her as his own Cosmos began to flare. The blazing corona surrounding him matched the one being emanated from the Cobra Saint.
'Impossible!' she thought, 'His power can't be equal to mine, I'm a Silver Saint and this punk couldn't even get a Bronze Mantle..'
'Here goes...'
"PEGASUS RYUSEIKEN!!!"
Once again, a flurry of meteors were unleashed as Ranma became nothing more than a blur, heading straight for the Cobra Saint.
Shaina desperately tried to dodge the incoming strikes but she was barely able to block a few as the sheer amound of strikes overwhelmed her.
When the assault was over she almost doubled over in pain, as Ranma turned to face her after recovering from the attack.
She suddenly felt her mask shift and stood in shock as it fell apart, having been neatly severed into two, right at the middle.
Ranma looked at her and knew that the battle was over. With a small smile on his lips, he began to walk towards the fallen Pegasus.
"Ranma," Shaina said as the pigtailed warrior walked past her, refusing to meet his gaze, "the next time we meet... I shall give you no quarter. We will fight until one of us is dead."
"I look forward to it," he replied, while stopping to look back at his defeated opponent. As he turned to face the other way, he couldn't help but make another comment as a smirk appeared on his face, "Who would have guessed that under that horrible mask hid such a cute face?"
Ranma once again began to walk towards Sanctuary, making sure that Marin and Seiya hadn't been followed by soldiers.
Shaina remained standing where she had been since her mask had been torn apart. A single thought kept revolving around her head.
'Cute..?'
**********************
Author's notes:
Well now, that's an interesting development now isn't it? How many people were expecting Ranma to get the Pegasus Mantle? I just thought that doing that would be either too predictable or too boring. Besides, I kind of like Seiya (even though he ALWAYS wins against Saints who are a million times more powerful).
I decided to cut this chapter into two since it was getting to be really long and I still didn't reach a suitable ending point for it. In fact, I didn't even reveal what Ranma's Mantle would be (and I know you're just dying to find that out). I believe I've got a pretty interesting idea about that but I'm still trying to round it out so it seems believable.
I'm sorry about the delay, what with finishing school and college entrance issues coming up I had little to no time available for writing.
About AGDM... well, I should be able to update sometime this month, I've been busy creating my own decks for tournament play and I've been trying to tone down Ranma's (since no one in the anime would have a chance of winning against what I had originally planned and I don't want this to be too unreal)
Anybody interested in being a prereader? I've still got, let's see... three more slots to fill. Oh and one more thing, Peter Kim would you please cut down on the constant requests? I've already got a deck planned out and I'll update when I can so just, chill out. Ok?
PS: Just in case no one read my "auto review", Fist of Orion crosses over with Hokuto no ken (Fist of the North Star) so it's not a pure Ranma/Saint Seiya x-over (which is to what I was referring to).
Post revision notes: I'm gonna make this short. I am not dead, I was just VERY BUSY for the past few months. Started college now and it's taking up 110% of my time, so bear with me. Updates will come again now, at least more regularly but don't expect any to come at least for a month, since I have midterms coming up. AGDM: I nearly finished ch2 in draft form and will be doing some revising for the next few days. I will post it as soon as I finish it but, again, don't expect it too soon. The main reason I didn't update was that I had to rewrite everything from scratch since I lost all of my files due to a virus (damn you blaster worm!!!) and with them went my drive to write. If it wasn't for a friend of mine who told me to get my butt in gear I might not even have posted this (capo Marta :P).
Anyway, you know the deal. C&Cs, flames, anything will do, as long as I know that someone reads this. E-mail me at ironneko @ hotmail.com or ironneko @ yahoo.com.ar. (new address!!)
by RaZiel
Disclaimer: I own nothing... yet... (insert evil diabolical laugh...)
" " denotes speech
' ' denotes thoughts
Chapter 1: The Steed Receives his Wings
***********************
The two rivals stood facing each other. The large feline, king of all beasts, stared impassively at his equine opponent. Carefully, he circled around the purple-clad warrior in hopes of finding an opening. However that is when the Unicorn made his move.
Quickly springing into motion, Jabu delivered a series of lightning-quick blows as he closed the distance between himself and his chosen opponent, but the Lion merely shugged off the attack and retaliated with devastating punches of his own, forcing the other Saint to the ropes.
The crowd erupted in cheers as the battle between Saints finally got underway.
The orange hulk approached the downed fighter and began to unleash wave after wave of fists upon his rival's unprotected back, confident that the match was all but over. Unfortunately for him, he failed to properly assess his opponent and the devotion he felt towards the daughter of the man who had adopted him.
As the blows kept coming down on him, the Unicorn Saint caught sight of a certain somebody in the audience. Suddenly, the tiredness seemed to disappear from his eyes completely as the fighter caught his second wind and an inevitable smirk appeared all over his face. With a tremendous effort, he manoeuvred out of the way from the incoming attack and launched his most powerful technique, the Unicorn Gallop.
The crowd once again roared in acceptance as they witnessed the fall of the mighty Lion, one of the stronger ones in the Galactic Challenge organised by the Kido foundation.
As his rival faltered, Jabu turned to face his admirers, the people who had been entranced by the dexterity and skill displayed by the Unicorn Saint. His victorious expression suddenly faded as he realized the auditorium had became silent. With a sense of dread he revolved his head in time to see his rival rise once more, his thirst for battle unquenched still.
On the sidelines, several other Saints were watching the fight going on in the main arena.
"Well, what do you know? He did manage to get back up after all... It seems he's stronger that I remember..." said the Andromeda Saint, whilst the nearly sentient chains wrapped around his arms generated a small static charge in response to the battle taking place a few feet away. "I might just end up fighting him after all..." a sad look adorned his features as Shun thought about the futility of it all. 'A tournament in order to win something that will enhace our destructive power, which in turn, will bring about more senseless violence...'
"Come on Shun, you know Jabu won't lose against the Lion. He's always been one of the strongest of the bunch," said the Hydra Saint, "you know, alongside Seiya and your brother."
'My brother...' not a day passed without Shun thinking about Ikki. He didn't know what had happened to him since that fateful day ten years past when he had taken his place and gone to train to Death Queen Island.
'What happened to you Ikki?..'
His musings were cut short as a commanding voice broke through his reverie.
"Quiet you two, you're disturbing my concentration."
Both Saints turned around to face the Dragon, who was apparently in a meditative state. Shiryu had never been particularly friendly before but it seemed his training had made him downright hostile towards other people. Besides he always tensed up whenever Seiya was mentioned so the other Saints assumed he had a bone to pick with the teen.
Looking back towards the fight, Shun couldn't help but think about Mitsumasa Kido's selfishness. To take care of a group of orphans merely to have them become weapons of destruction... The Andromeda Saint felt disgusted. He directed an angered look towards the golden throne at the top of the coliseum.
Sitting in said throne was a violet-haired woman overlooking the match.
"Tatsumi?" she called out.
"Yes, my mistress?" replied the bald servant, ever faithful to his lady.
"Has the Pegasus Saint arrived yet?" enquired the adopted granddaughter of the late millionaire, Mitsumasa Kido.
Tatsumi contemplated the question for a few moments before replying, "No word has been received of the Phoenix or Pegasus Saint. However we have been contacted by the Cygnus Saint, he has informed us he will be arriving late".
Saori took some time to think about this fact. The battles had already started and three Saints were still missing? It was preposterous. What would her grandfather think about this? An errant thought slipped into her mind at that time.
"What about my grandfather's... special project?"
The tuxedo-clad man inwardly sighed before responding, he hated having nothing but bad news for his mistress. "No word has been received about him either. However, he should be arriving along with the Pegasus Saint, they were sent to the same place after all..." that last part had come out almost as a mumble. Why did she even care about that snotty kid? He didn't even form part of the original plan.
There was a sudden explosion of cheers as the Unicorn Saint finally emerged victorious from the match and the crowd began chanting his name.
"JABU!!! JABU!!! JABU!!!" was all that could be heard inside the stadium.
"Fine, that will be all Tatsumi," she replied while standing to congratulate Jabu on his victory. She knew she could trust Tatsumi to handle those matters, however, her thoughts returned to a particular troublesome boy who she had been unable to tame in the past, no matter how she tried.
'Seiya, where are you?..'
**************************
Both fighters were evenly matched, neither of them had been able to land a single blow as of yet, but the stalemate wouldn’t hold for long. Seiya was a trained fighter. Six years of staying at the Sanctuary had made sure of that. His skills had grown under the careful observation of his teacher and he was now a force to be reckoned with.
However, not even he could keep up with his chosen opponent, a warrior the likes of which he had never seen before.
While jumping over a low sweep, Seiya failed to predict the swing of his opponent’s second leg, as he had propped himself onto his hands to gain leverage, and had managed to deliver a pretty powerful blow. The attack caught him right in the solar plexus and he experienced a momentary shortness of breath.
A moment was all it took really.
Before he knew what hit him, the pigtailed warrior was on top of him. Delivering punches that were strong enough to shatter solid rock. The assault lasted for a few more seconds until the pummeled teen was able to push his opponent away from him.
Backing up, he cautiously studied the teenager who stood on the other side of the arena. Tall by any standards, his opponent measured around one point eighty six metres. The lean, athletic build disguised the power his blows carried.
‘Man,’ Seiya thought to himself, ‘this guy sure packs a punch.’ He was slightly favouring his left side, and was almost certain that he had fractured a rib or two. He now understood how this stranger had defeated Cassius with such ease.
When the giant had first laid eyes on his opponent he had laughed out loud and demanded a real challenge to the High Priest. He was quickly silenced after having his arm fractured with a level of speed that quickly caught Seiya's attention, as he sensed a faint emission of Cosmos coming from the smaller man. He was ensured of his opponent's effectiveness after Cassius lost his ear to a knife hand strike.
He knew he was going to have to pull all the stops to defeat him and obtain the Pegasus Mantle. Mentally steeling himself, he began to draw out his Cosmos.
The crowd went wild at the display of power. Seiya had began to glow with a bluish hue and was now making some strange hand motions. This development quickly caught the attention of two very particular female Saints.
Shaina looked on in disbelief as this boy who still had no Mantle of his own traced the thirteen stars of the Pegasus constellation.
'First that ...boy... defeats Cassius, and now this pipsqueak is drawing upon Cosmos?'
To say that the Cobra Saint was pissed would have been an understatement. Her champion had been defeated by a teenager who had never been seen around the Sanctuary. She never would have predicted that a veritable unknown would wield such power, he had defeated the giant in a matter of minutes! There was also Seiya, he had always been nothing but a pushover, but now he was fighting like a man possessed.
Marin was merely curious as to how the stranger would react to this development. The Eagle Silver Saint had seen Seiya’s attack countless times before, so she was not concerned about it. She was, in fact, the trainer and instructor of the, so far, Pegasus wannabe. However, she had yet to see an opponent more formidable than that which her student was facing at the time.
Said warrior stood still, watching the detailed figure that was being traced in the air. At first he just stared at it with an unreadable expression on his face. Then, he smiled.
A powerful blue aura expanded from within the fighter’s soul and became visible to the human eye. It was easily twice as impressive as Seiya’s. Power was just oozing from it in waves, and had begun to permeate the arena. Then he began to weave the exact same pattern with his own arms.
Marin was shocked into speechlessness. She had been absolutely certain that none of the other Pegasus candidates had mastered the use of Cosmos, much less knew the actual technique the previous Pegasus Saint had made his trademark.
She knew that a fighter could not learn a move of a Cloth unless it was his or her destiny to become the Saint of that constellation. So unless the move was taught from master to student, such as Camus had done with Crystal, the Silver Saint, who had probably also taught the Diamond Dust to the next Cygnus Saint, even the thought of it was ridiculous.
Most Mantles had that same type of heirarchy, she herself was what would be considered the next step after the Pegasus Cloth. She had been the one who taught Seiya the Ryuseiken after all.
There was one other case similar to this but under totally different circumstances. The twin Gold Saints of Gemini, Kanon and Saga, were nothing like her charge and this "Ranma". Besides, they shared the use of a far more dreaded technique. The Galaxian Explosion.
Seiya was so caught up in the buildup of his move that he failed to notice his opponent mirroring his moves and just attacked as soon as he was ready.
"PEGASUS RYUSEIKEN!!!"
A multitude of shooting stars erupted from within the teenager's body as he shot towards his opponent, almost invisible to the naked eye.
The signature move of the Pegasus Saint, the Pegasus Ryuseiken was one of the most powerful moves the Bronze Saints had in their limited repartee. Every fighter who had trained at the Sactuary knew of its potential for greatness, after all, it had been the previous Pegasus Saint who had put an end to the Sacred War, over two hundred years before, whose only survivors had been the Libra and Aries Gold Saints. So, they were understandibly surprised after seeing Seiya pull it off.
As the rain of blows approached him, the pigtailed warrior finally made a move.
"PEGASUS SUISEI-"
Suddenly, a chill went through his back as a powerful Cosmos made itself known to him for the briefest of instants. He instantly stopped his attack as he caught a flicker of gold from the corner of his eye. He averted his gaze momentarily and was able to view the outline of a man that seemed to be watching the battle impassively.
An overwhelming explosion of pain caught him unawares as Seiya's attack finally hit home and the pigtailed fighter was pummeled by the multitude of blasts. He had forgotten about his opponent and, as a result of that, he'd also cut down on all defensive power, maximising the damage he received.
He fell to his knees after receiving close to a thousand blows.
'Damn it, I can't believe I forgot about Seiya's attack'. While turning to face his foe, who was still recovering from the effort of launching the special technique, he contemplated his options.
'I think I can still pull off a Ryuseiken, however, I'll be too vulnerable if it misses'
Once again, he began focusing his Cosmos in hopes of managing a retaliatory strike, the energy he had gathered previously having been dispersed into the environment. Wiping the small trail of blood that flowed from the side of his mouth, the teen began to stand.
As his opponent rose to his feet, Seiya couldn't help but stare. 'What is this guy made of?' he desperately thought as he witnessed the teen who had been the recipient of his most powerful technique just shrug it off. His eyes widened alarmingly as he sensed the Cosmos buildup within him and he quickly summoned his own in order to brace himself against the imminent strike.
He was surprised when the other fighter fell to his knees once again. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he quickly began making his way over to where his opponent had fallen.
'Why can't I move' thought the kneeling man while attempting to stand. 'Something's holding me down... can't be... but there's no other explanation... this is Psychokinesis'
He was familiar with the legendary power of the mind that enabled someone to do practically anything they desired. Rumours of teleportation and the ability to manipulate objects and people at a distance had reached his ears. However only a very select few were knoown to have this extraordinary gift, and they had all passed into history way before he was ever born. So who was holding him down?
'Damn it, I can't lose. Ranma Saotome never loses!!!'
With an almost inhuman effort, Ranma unleashed, once again, the power hidden deep within his soul as he fought against the mysterious energy that was determined to keep him down. A blazing corona appeared around the pigtailed teen as his Cosmos manifested in the visible range. The silence of the crowd at seeing the blatant display of spiritual strength was quickly replaced with the sound of the winds that rushed past as Ranma's battle aura grew in size.
Finally, after an agonisingly long wait, he rose to his feet and stood in a fighting stance as he turned to look at his rival. 'I'm ready, there's nothing that will stop me no-'
"PEGASUS RYUSEIKEN!!!"
He was surprised to find his rival had buried a fist in his chest. He shouldn't have been, but he was nonetheless as Seiya, who was not one to pass such a promising opportunity, concentrated all of his remaining power into one final attack, which sent his opponent flying into a nearby column. The last thought to go through the battered fighter's mind, before the blissful sleep of unconsciousness was, 'No... I, don't... lo...s..e...'
The crowd exploded into cheers as they witnessed the ascension of the new Pegasus Saint. One man amongst them having been particularly impressed with the performance of the loser.
'He did better than I expected. I believed that no one could stand up to my Psychokinesis. It seems I was wrong'. With that final consideration he began to make his way to the middle of the arena, where Seiya was receiving his Pegasus Mantle.
He quickly reached the fallen Ranma and, taking care not to aggravate his injuries, carried him towards his own living quarters.
****************
'Ooohh, man... What hit me?' Ranma thought as he woke several hours after the fight. He looked around the unfamiliar room and was surprised to discover that he had been bandaged expertly. He was lying on a small futon inside a small stone room. He looked through the only window and was shocked to discover it was nightfall.
"Was I out that long?" he asked to no one in particular. It all came back to him then, the fight, the strange power and his defeat because of it.
'Damn it,' he thought, while slamming his right fist into the ground, 'I shouldn't have lost that match. I don't lose. Ever. So why now?' He couldn't help but wonder who had been behind the unexpected assault that had immobilised him. He sighed, disheartened, and looked around once again.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't vent your frustrations on my floor, holes like that take some effort to repair"
"What the-?" Ranma immediately turned towards the source of the voice and was able to discern in the poor light the outline of a man. Finally, after several seconds of silent contemplation he asked, "Who are you?"
The man took a step into the room so the moonlight coming from the open window would shine upon him, revealing his figure to the enquiring teen. A small gust of wind blew inside the room and Ranma couldn't help but stare as the man's lilac hair fluttered about.
"My name," he finally said, "is Mu..."
******************
'Oh... this is not good...' thought Seiya as he tried to pick himself up after taking quite a beating at the hands of Shaina and a number of Sanctuary's common thugs.
He desperately began to look around in hopes of finding something that would help him.
The Cobra Silver Saint had not been amused that he had won the Pegasus Mantle and had ambushed him just when he was about to leave Sanctuary.
So far he had received no help whatsoever from his teacher, other that her telling him to get the hell away from there if he wanted to live.
His gaze finally settled on the metal box that laid haphazardy tossed on the ground in front of him.
Marin had told him that he should only wear his Cloth at a time of desperate need.
'If this doesn't qualify as "desperate need" then I don't know what will,' he thought to himself while still mulling over the decision.
A triumphant shout caught his attention as he spotted one of his opponents approaching him while signaling the rest of his buddies to join him.
His mind made up, Seiya reached forward and pulled on the handle.
*************
"Y-you're the Aries Gold Saint!!" Ranma exclaimed while trying desperately to sit upright. He had heard about the legendary warriors who could move at the speed of light. They were Sanctuary's elite, the Gold Saints. The twelve most powerful warriors out of the eighty eight Saints that served the goddess Athena.
Mu, the legendary blacksmith, who had also been the disciple of the former High Priest, was the bearer of the Aries Gold Cloth. Like him, there were eleven others, each belonging to one of the signs of the zodiac.
"That's right," he said with a smile on his face, "I am the guardian of this first temple," he continued as he approached the fallen warrior. Ranma was amazed to find that his injuries had already healed, as Mu began to check up on them.
"It seems you're healing abilities weren't overrated Ranma," he said, "you've healed completely."
"Why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?" asked the teen as his caretaker finished removing the bandages he was covered in.
Mu paused for a second and looked at him with an unreadable expression for a couple of seconds. Ranma used that time to study him. He couldn't believe that this man was the Aries Gold Saint. He looked so... frail.
Nonetheless, now that he was wide awake, he could feel a massive power hidden deep within him, just waiting to be unleashed. 'Not only has he got this huge amount of power, but that level of control is like none I've ever seen before...'
Finally, with a small sigh, Mu responded, "Well... I felt a bit guilty. You see, it was because of me you got the injuries in the first place..."
'What!?' though the pigtailed warrior to himself as he looked back on the fight and couldn't recall a single moment when-.
"Y-you were the one using psychokinesis?" he tentatively asked as he remembered the flash of golden Cosmos just before he was immobilised.
Suddenly both of them felt a powerful explosion of power. Mu cast a quick glance towards the window and turned back towards Ranma.
"The questions will have to wait Ranma. The Pegasus Saint is in trouble and he will need his twin," he said as he stood up to his full height again.
"But I-"
"Go!" he exclaimed while tossing one of his spare leather breast plates at Ranma.
"Fine," he replied while jumping towards the open window, "but when this is over I want answers!" and with those final words he broke into a sprint after leaping towards where he felt Seiya's Cosmos begin to lose its strength.
As Mu stared at Ranma's retreating form his shoulders slumped ever-so-slightly.
"I'm sorry Ranma, but you're not ready to know the truth yet..."
And with those words, he shimmered out of sight.
***************
Seiya couldn't understand it, he had felt an incredible rush of power once he was clad in the Pegasus Mantle and he had actually managed to tag Shaina in the shoulder with one of his attacks. now he was being beaten by the low ranked warriors and his sensei was just standing there letting it happen!
'Seiya,' he remembered her saying, 'the Cloth is nothing but a conduit for your own power. It has no Cosmos of its own. Without a proper bearer it becomes nothing more than a useless pile of metal.'
As the blows kept raining down, a faint brilliance began to appear around Seiya. The soldiers gathered around him suddenly backed off in fear as the Pegasus Saint flared his Cosmos powerfully.
An errant leaf landed on his left shoulder pad and was instantly incinerated due to the sheer amount of heat that radiated off the energized suit of armour.
"You think you can just take me for a weakling? You think I can't fight back? You are seriously mistaken!!! PEGASUS RYUSEIKEN!!!"
Just as before, a multitude of comets erupted from within Seiya's body. With his Cloth amplifying his power, the attack tore into his enemies mercilessly.
The soldiers were thrown about like rag dolls as Shaina desperately tried to avoid the shooting stars the infuriated Saint had unleashed.
'His attack is faster than before, and the blows are stronger as well,' she thought as she began to block the ones she couldn't dodge in time.
Suddenly, Seiya felt a stab of pain in his left side and his attack faltered a second too soon, causing the last of the meteors to miss the Cobra Saint completely.
'Dammit,' he thought to himself, 'I still haven't recovered from the battle with Ranma.'
'T-that one nearly struck my mask,' thought Shaina as she unconsciously held her hand to her face in order to reassure herself the item in question was still there, 'I've got to stop playing around with him, if it wasn't for his bruised ribs...' she didn't want to think about what would have happened...
Seiya had fallen to his knees, exhaustion finally taking its toll on the rookie Saint.
Shaina snapped out of her daze and looked over to the Pegasus. "Let's finish this..."
"Feel the power of the Cobra!!!" she yelled as her hands were covered in purple lightning and her nails glowed brightly. As she lunged forward to deal the deathblow a blur stepped in front of her and caught the brunt of the attack.
Surprised, she stepped back to take this new element into consideration. Meanwhile, Seiya's mysterious saviour stood up from where he had been thrown.
"You!" said Shaina, venom dripping from her voice as she laid eyes on the man who had defeated Cassius. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey, I'm pissed that he won too, but I can't let you kill him, it just isn't right," he said. 'Besides, I'll never get any answers unless he lives...'
"Hey, you!" he exclaimed while looking at Marin, "Take him away from here, I'll handle her," he said while taking a loose stance.
The Eagle Saint was confused, what was he doing here? And, more importantly, how could he still be standing after the battle with Seiya? "But-"
"Don't argue with me, just go!" he replied.
"Don't underestimate me boy!" Shaina yelled as she jumped towards him in an attempt to catch him by surprise.
He quickly blocked her attack and attempted one of his own. "You know, I don't like fighting women, with them being the weaker sex and all, but you're not giving me much options here," he told her while ducking under a claw swipe.
"How dare you?!" Shaina felt insulted. He wouldn't fight women? This kid who wasn't even able to defeat Seiya implied that women were weak? That she was weak? He would pay.
She raised her Cosmos until a brilliant aura surrounded her and then let loose with a wicked uppercut that fell short of hitting the pigtailed warrior.
Ranma jumped back to avoid the blow, and felt a searing pain in his chest. Looking down he noticed a large gash had cut through the worn down armour he was wearing and had managed to reach the skin, where some blood was seeping through the cracks.
'I've got to end this now,' he thought.
"I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice," he told her as his own Cosmos began to flare. The blazing corona surrounding him matched the one being emanated from the Cobra Saint.
'Impossible!' she thought, 'His power can't be equal to mine, I'm a Silver Saint and this punk couldn't even get a Bronze Mantle..'
'Here goes...'
"PEGASUS RYUSEIKEN!!!"
Once again, a flurry of meteors were unleashed as Ranma became nothing more than a blur, heading straight for the Cobra Saint.
Shaina desperately tried to dodge the incoming strikes but she was barely able to block a few as the sheer amound of strikes overwhelmed her.
When the assault was over she almost doubled over in pain, as Ranma turned to face her after recovering from the attack.
She suddenly felt her mask shift and stood in shock as it fell apart, having been neatly severed into two, right at the middle.
Ranma looked at her and knew that the battle was over. With a small smile on his lips, he began to walk towards the fallen Pegasus.
"Ranma," Shaina said as the pigtailed warrior walked past her, refusing to meet his gaze, "the next time we meet... I shall give you no quarter. We will fight until one of us is dead."
"I look forward to it," he replied, while stopping to look back at his defeated opponent. As he turned to face the other way, he couldn't help but make another comment as a smirk appeared on his face, "Who would have guessed that under that horrible mask hid such a cute face?"
Ranma once again began to walk towards Sanctuary, making sure that Marin and Seiya hadn't been followed by soldiers.
Shaina remained standing where she had been since her mask had been torn apart. A single thought kept revolving around her head.
'Cute..?'
**********************
Author's notes:
Well now, that's an interesting development now isn't it? How many people were expecting Ranma to get the Pegasus Mantle? I just thought that doing that would be either too predictable or too boring. Besides, I kind of like Seiya (even though he ALWAYS wins against Saints who are a million times more powerful).
I decided to cut this chapter into two since it was getting to be really long and I still didn't reach a suitable ending point for it. In fact, I didn't even reveal what Ranma's Mantle would be (and I know you're just dying to find that out). I believe I've got a pretty interesting idea about that but I'm still trying to round it out so it seems believable.
I'm sorry about the delay, what with finishing school and college entrance issues coming up I had little to no time available for writing.
About AGDM... well, I should be able to update sometime this month, I've been busy creating my own decks for tournament play and I've been trying to tone down Ranma's (since no one in the anime would have a chance of winning against what I had originally planned and I don't want this to be too unreal)
Anybody interested in being a prereader? I've still got, let's see... three more slots to fill. Oh and one more thing, Peter Kim would you please cut down on the constant requests? I've already got a deck planned out and I'll update when I can so just, chill out. Ok?
PS: Just in case no one read my "auto review", Fist of Orion crosses over with Hokuto no ken (Fist of the North Star) so it's not a pure Ranma/Saint Seiya x-over (which is to what I was referring to).
Post revision notes: I'm gonna make this short. I am not dead, I was just VERY BUSY for the past few months. Started college now and it's taking up 110% of my time, so bear with me. Updates will come again now, at least more regularly but don't expect any to come at least for a month, since I have midterms coming up. AGDM: I nearly finished ch2 in draft form and will be doing some revising for the next few days. I will post it as soon as I finish it but, again, don't expect it too soon. The main reason I didn't update was that I had to rewrite everything from scratch since I lost all of my files due to a virus (damn you blaster worm!!!) and with them went my drive to write. If it wasn't for a friend of mine who told me to get my butt in gear I might not even have posted this (capo Marta :P).
Anyway, you know the deal. C&Cs, flames, anything will do, as long as I know that someone reads this. E-mail me at ironneko @ hotmail.com or ironneko @ yahoo.com.ar. (new address!!)