Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Saint Seiya Fan Fiction ❯ The Intense Clash of the Gods ❯ Tale 86 ( Chapter 86 )

"I see you're awake."

Kanon looked up from his hospital bed, seeing Deathmask leaning against the door with that smug grin of satisfaction on his face. "Funny, shouldn't you still be confined to bed?"

Angelo shrugged. "Two things. One, if I'm able to travel between this world and the Sekishiki at will, I can afford to hobble around here. Likewise..." he reached around the door, bringing a mobile IV supplying blood to him into view.

"I stand corrected," Kanon sighed. "Any news about Bodu and Rodriguez yet?"

"Still fighting... although Aldebaran finally got serious and leveled playing field... literally. The Taurus Temple's gone, and your temple and Shion's ain't much better."

Kanon nodded. "You think he'll win?"

"What, the kid?" Angelo smiled, "Bodu's got more spirit than most addicts. He'll be fine."
_
Cecil stumbled back, catching his breath as Aldebaran looked at him and smiled. "Impressive... not only did you escape death at the hands of the One-Inch Great Horn, you saved the gauntlets of your Robe."

"Thanks, I guess," the Alcor Zeta God Warrior responded, taking in his new surroundings... the place was a wasteland, and there was no cover if Aldebaran tried that ploy again. Which left him with only one option... to beat the tar out of Rodriguez while he still could.

Expecting him to attack, Aldebaran dropped into a defensive stance, quickly deflecting Cecil's strikes when the young man got into range. A swift kick to the side, however, sent Cecil flying away. He rolled to his feet, barely avoiding Aldebaran's rush before trying to focus again.

"Of the Gold Saints... my physical strength exceeds that of all others. True, my style may be a bit more straightforward, but you must admit," Aldebaran began, spreading his arms out to display the destruction around them, "That it is quite capable of destruction."

"Effective, no matter how simple," Cecil responded. "But it still has its flaws." He jumped into the air, sending another of the corrosive Black Tempests at Aldebaran. The man braced himself, his Gold Cloth shrugging off the attack without showing any kind of degradation. However, the force did push him back a number of feet, and as Cecil landed, he seized the opportunity he had gained for himself.

"Ankoku Moko Reppu Shiden Ken!!!!" He lunged at the Gold Saint, fist pulled back before striking rapidly, hammering the Taurus as hard as he could. Aldebaran countered by simply crossing his arms in an "X", resisting the attack for the most part and sliding back before charging again.

"GREAT HORN!"

Cecil screamed as he was sent flying away but flipped in midair and launched himself at Aldebaran again, jumping over his punch and kicking him in the head. Aldebaran stumbled back, Bodu swiftly sweeping at his legs away. The massive girth of the Brazilian hit the ground hard, Cecil surprised by the small crater that had been formed, but Aldebaran suddenly vanished, teleporting into the air and shooting down at Cecil, punching. The bastard child sprang backwards, Aldebaran continuing his teleportation process again and again as Cecil noticed his speed was increasing with each descent.

"Predictable," Cecil mused as he bent out of the way of a last one and punched into Aldebaran's chest, making minor cracks in the Gold Cloth to further the damage his clawings had done earlier. Aldebaran sagged from the blow, but then smacked the sides of Cecil's head on the temples with both his hands, stunning Cecil before slamming both his fists into Cecil's chest.

"FUNCIONAR!!!" Aldebaran screamed as Cecil was blasted backwards, howling with pain and his shirt ripped to pieces from the force of the attack. The boy rolled on the ground as Aldebaran snorted, pointed up into the sky. With so little artificial lighting, the stars could already be slightly seen, and Aldebaran was pointing up at a certain constellation important to Cecil. "Do you see something there?"

Cecil looked up, blinking at the sight of Ursa Major... the Big Dipper was there, but he noticed a strange, unusually bright star nearby he hadn't noticed before. "What the..."

Aldebaran quickly explained. "Some God Warriors of the past referred to a 'Star of Omens' that their opponent would see. Once one sees it, they have no more than one hour left in their life. The stories went that anyone that saw it met the most painful death imaginable. It seems that God Warriors themselves are able to see it as well..."

Cecil shook his head. "You expect me to believe that?" He ran at Aldebaran again, their fists smashing into each other. It hurt more than Cecil had initially suspected, and then his gauntlets shattered, joining the rest of his completely destroyed Robe. Shaking off the agony, Cecil planted his foot into Aldebaran's chest, knocking the big man back before pulling both his arms back and charging.

"Double-"

Aldebaran wasn't exactly sure what was coming, but quickly assumed his traditional defensive stance. Once Cecil struck, especially without his Robe, his fate would be sealed.

"STARCRUSH!!!"

His hands smashed forward into Aldebaran's chest, the shock and force of the attack completely overriding everything in Aldebaran's mind as his Gold Cloth began to crack in countless places, parts of it breaking off and falling to the ground. The attack carried on, breaking through Aldebaran's armor and connecting with his chest. His eyes opened wide in pain, the giant of a man grimacing in pain as he was sent skidding backwards, kicking up clouds of dust in the process. Cecil stood there, smiling and about to shout something in victory-

When Aldebaran's hand practically crushed his throat from behind.

"ONE-INCH GREAT HORN!!!"

Again, the tremendous blast was unleashed, and Cecil could only scream as everything went red for him. Aldebaran threw him away like a piece of garbage, noticing how much more of a wreck his "temple" was now...

"Hmph... I was expecting him to at least last half an hour..."
_
"Miss Shaina, you can't-"

"THUNDER CLAW!"

Numerous foot soldiers screamed in pain as the sole female Gold Saint ran full-speed towards the Taurus temple... that blast from before... Cecil couldn't have managed to escape another one... couldn't he?
_
Groaning in pain, trying to quell the ringing in his ears, and a complete wreck, Cecil tried his best to get back on his feet as Aldebaran looked at him from a distance. "You did quite well, Bodu... Fighting me so fearlessly and damaging my Gold Cloth so severely... but one cannot overcome their fate. Great men die and are mourned by millions. Heroes suffer death but their legends continue on and grow in strength.

"And bastards? They die anytime, anywhere. Society forgets them and what they did, no matter how great."

"You... you're wrong!" Cecil growled, struggling back onto his feet. "I made it this far, didn't I? I... I defeated a Corona without my Robe, and helped take down Ambrosia herself! And I managed to beat my brother and Thor..." he pulled back for a punch, charging. "What's to say I can't beat you!"

Aldebaran casually deflected it away and punched him in the gut, Cecil spewing blood everywhere before Aldebaran threw him to the ground and kicked into his back several times.

"Because you saw the Star of Omens, boy," Aldebaran repeated before kicking him away. Cecil screamed in frustration, rising up again, but was blown away instantly with another Great Horn. "That is why."

Stumbling forward, Cecil suddenly felt a loss of words coming to him as he collapsed on the ground.

I... I'm sorry, everyone... I can't...

"CEEEEEEEEECIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

His eyes snapped open as Aldebaran turned to see Shaina standing a distance away, a look of horror on her face.

"Ophiuchus, you shouldn't-"

"I'm not going to physically interfere, and so help me god, if you think of raising a hand against me, I'll kill you!" Shaina shouted back.

Shaina... I can't... Cecil would have chuckled if he could find the strength. Hell, he couldn't even talk...

Bullshit! Shaina's voice echoed in his head. Gold Saint telepathy, remember? Giving up like this? It's not like you!

But... he's got me beat... I can't...

What are you saying?!? Use Combat Awareness to know what's around you! The sky might be blackened from the smoke, but the stars still shine above you! And in spite of the ruin around your body, the warmth of the Earth is below you! You took down a goddamn goddess! What's one man?!? This isn't hell... stop acting like you're already dead!!!

Aldebaran turned to Shaina again and took a single step towards her when he suddenly heard... him.

"You know... you're right, Shaina..." Cecil slowly managed to say. "This place isn't hell or anything of the sort... SHIH-NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Aldeba ran turned back around just in time to get a face full of the Alcor Zeta no Moko Ranbu Sei, the furious stream of punches completely shattering and grinding his Cloth to dust as the vengeful and determined Cecil stood in defiance of not only his opponent, but the "Star of Omens".

"SHIH-NE!!!!!"

He could have sworn the sound of bones breaking accompanied that punch to the ribs.

"SHIH-NE!!!!"

Aldebaran had attempted to kick Cecil in the side, only for his kneecap to be struck hard, most likely shattering it.

"SHIH-NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A stream of punches to the face concluded the sequence, Cecil grinning before Aldebaran, in one last moment of desperation, thrust both his hands out.

"ONE-INCH-"

Cecil and Shaina both could only look in shook.

"GREAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT HORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!"

The blast knocked Shaina back, the Gold Saint shouting in horror as the dust slowly settled, she couldn't see anything yet... and...

"Was... that supposed to hurt... Aldebaran?"

A sudden gust of wind knocked the dust away, Cecil standing there in front of Aldebaran, looking much worse for wear, but still on his feet.

"BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKK TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS SSSSTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The wind immediately blasted Aldebaran up into the air, his flesh slowly being eaten away by the corrosive materials as Cecil pointed at the Star of Omens. "NO STAR WILL DETERMINE MY FATE!!!!"

As Aldebaran, now looking much worse than Cecil began falling to the ground, Cecil pulled back his fists again.

"Double!"

He sprang into the air, grinning as the Star of Omens suddenly vanished from his sight.

"STARCRUSH!"

Cecil smashed into Aldebaran's body, the man's eyes going blank before Bodu landed, tossing the unconscious man onto the ground and walking away towards Shaina. "Two down, three to go."