Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Episode 3.

"Cygnus! Warrior of the ice cold"

Seiya returns to the orphanage where he was raised and discovers that Miho has arranged rooms for him near by where he can live (And where the other orphans, who hero-worship Seiya, can visit!). Saori wonders where Phoenix and Cygnus are, but is primarily worried about Phoenix. In Siberia, Hyoga is visiting the ice-covered lake where his mother is "buried", where
she drowned in a sinking ship. Breaking the ice, he dives downward and places a rose in her hair. A pile of other roses around her shows this is far from his first visit. Surfacing, he is met by a young Eskimo boy who leads him to the glacier where the Cygnus Cloth is frozen. Calling upon his power of the "Aurora Thunder Attack", Hyoga breaks the glacier into pieces, and earns the Cloth. In Tokyo, the games are ready to begin again. Competing tonight: Cygnus
Hyoga, in his first match, against Hydra Ichi. Hyoga starts the match basically dodging Ichi's blows, content to let his opponent tire himself out and see how he moves. This results in his getting hit several times, until he counterattacks. He starts by half-freezing Ichi's arm, then
delivers a full-blown punch that shatters Hydra's Cloth. The game is over... next up will be Seiya and Dragon Shiryu.

Episode 4.

"Dragon! Unrivalled fist and shield"

It's Seiya's turn in the ring again. People nearly come to blows over tickets for the match. It should be the most exciting one yet, pitting Shiryu against Seiya. Seiya barely remembers the older boy from their days in the initial training camp at the Graude Foundation; Shiryu has
grown into a tall, splendidly muscled young man whose very aura of calm assurance is infuriating to his opponents. The two square off and the rain of fists starts immediately; no tentative sparring for these two! Shiryu lands the first punch, and Seiya falls. Just then Shunrei,Shiryu's foster sister, arrives with a message from home. It seems his sensei, Roshi, is ill. Shiryu remembers how he won his Cloth, his sensei instructing him to use his power to reverse the flow of a great waterfall. His Cloth was underwater, beneath the full force of the falling water.He succeeded, and he is determined to succeed in this endeavor, too. This distraction allows
Seiya time to recover, and the two face each other again. Shiryu demonstrates his "Rozan Ascending Dragon" as the other Saints look on in shock; but somehow, to Dragon's disbelief,Seiya gets up and reciprocates with the "Pegasus Meteor Fist". Shiryu blocks all the punches with his shield and it's Seiya's turn to be shocked. Shiryu strikes and his blow crumbles Seiya's arm piece! Dragon tells him he should quit while he's still able and his armor basically in one piece. Seiya refuses. They clash again, and Seiya goes down, but Shiryu's shield has been
shattered! Replay shows the Dragon hit and damaged it himself when he missed a blow at Seiya's head, as Seiya dropped to the ground in a faint (He'd run into the same shield face first...). Shiryu refuses to take advantage of Seiya's faint to destroy his opponent or the Pegasus Cloth, and again allows his opponent the time to recover. Despite their enforced rivalry, the
two are coming not only to respect but like each other. Because Seiya is obviously hurt, Shiryu does what he sees asthe honorable thing dispenses with his armor, sending it flying. Seiya,not to be outdone, follows suit. Shun objects; without their armor their blows may well prove
lethal. Shiryu and Seiya ignore his protests. They'll be fighting without the protection of theirarmor despite the danger.

Episode 5.

"Miracle of rebirth! Friendship of the Cosmos"

The battle between Seiya and Shiryu continues. Both now do their best to evade each other's
blows rather than block; and demonstrate both are very agile! Seiya attacks with his "Pegasus
Meteor Fist". Shiryu dodges most of them... but one gets through, and for the first time Shiryu's
blood is seen. They clash again, Shiryu jumping over Seiya's head to avoid another "Pegasus
Meteor Fist". He collapses upon landing. Remembering his sensei's warning of his weak spot, a
pressure point just above his heart, and to keep his guard up, Shiryu struggles to his feet again
to continue the battle. He realizes that without his armor that pressure spot is unprotected by
anything except his own skill. Yet he must lower his guard over that area to launch his "Rozan
Ascending Dragon" attack. He dares not be overconfident now! The two go at each other
again. Both land good, solid blows, but Shiryu is knocked out of the ring and lies still, while
Seiya is still on his feet. Seiya is called the winner (because Shiryu has landed outside the ring,
not because he has not gotten up), but as the doctors rush to Shiryu's still form, Seiya
collapses. As the stretcher bearing Seiya begins to leave the ring, the other doctor declares that
he can't find a heartbeat in Shiryu! The tatoo on the Dragon's back is fading rapidly as Shunrei
goes to Seiya, begging him to help. A blow of his fist is the only thing which may get Shiryu's
heart going once more. Seiya, still reeling and nearly unconscious, agrees. He nearly faints
again, but manages to land a punch on target. He is actually imparting a part of his own life
force to Shiryu. Shiryu's body and Andromeda Shun, who is holding him, are knocked through
a wall, and the tatoo on Shiryu's back returns to its full splendor as a heartbeat resounds. Seiya
is carried out of the arena in triumph. But behind, Andromeda's chains rattle a warning, and we
get a brief glimpse of a rather nasty grin...



Episode 6.

"Phoenix! Look at Hades, warrior!"

Seiya is still in a hospital bed with Miho and several children from the orphanage in attendance
when Shiryu, recovered, and Shunrei come visiting. Shiryu is momentarily unsure of his
welcome, but Seiya greets him as a good friend. Shiryu tells Seiya that tonight it is Shun and
Jabu squaring off. But, he adds, there is an odd feel to the air... there is danger coming. He
reminds Seiya that there is still one Bronze Saint missing, Phoenix Ikki, who was sent to the
infamous Death Queen Island to train. They decide to go to the arena, despite the fact that
Seiya isn't supposed to be out of bed yet. Shun and Jabu are already in combat, and Jabu is in
difficulty. Shun is beating him without even raising a sweat, the "Nebula Chains" doing most of
the work. Jabu is momentarily on the ropes, his Cloth damaged in several places, when Shun's
chains begin indicating much greater danger. First they spell out the name "Axia", to everyone's
confusion. Who is Axia? Then the chains point to the box where the Gold Cloth is kept. The
box opens, and the Phoenix emerges. The crowd goes wild, but both Seiya and Shiryu still feel
uneasy. For one thing, Shun's chains are still going nuts; Shun throws them at the Phoenix, who
catches them! Seiya informs Shun that the Phoenix should be his older brother, Ikki, and Shun
is overjoyed. Shun remembers their parting when Ikki was sent to Death Queen Island. Then
Ikki delivers a punch through the "Nebula Chains" that knocks Shun off his feet.



Episode 7.

"It is stolen! The Gold Cloth"

"Defend yourself, Shun!" Ikki yells as he attacks, but Shun only stares at him in disbelief. As
Shun goes down, Unicorn Jabu interferes, this was supposed to be his match with Andromeda!
Ikki knocks the Unicorn out with a single punch for his trouble. Ikki then laughs and taunts
Tatsumi, remembering the many times Saori's butler-cum-bodyguard beat him up while he was
a child. We get to see through his memories some of the training the young warriors were put
through as kids, as well as the fact that Shun was something of a cry baby, and that Ikki
continually stood up for him. Then each trainee drew for their final training camps, and Shun got
Death Queen Island. Ikki volunteered... nay, insisted... on going in his place. Returning to the
present, Ikki is then pitted against Wolf Nachi. Poor Nachi never has a chance. Ikki hits him
once with his "Phoenix Illusion Demon's Fist", and Wolf goes catatonic. Ikki pushes him over
with a single finger. Then Ikki summons the Dark Phoenixes, his minions, who all look like him,
except that their armor is black. They each steal a piece of the Gold Cloth, and disappear,
while demonstrating their ability to teleport.



Episode 8.

"Win it back! The Gold Cloth"

The five remaining Bronze Saints and the Tokyo police give chase to Ikki and his Black
Phoenix team through downtown traffic to the waterfront. Hyoga stays right on their tail,
following by leaping from rooftop to rooftop after them. He summons the others to the wharf
Ikki is at by sending a plume of snow to them. Ikki knocks down a police helicopter with his
Phoenix fire. The Saints search the warehouses for their quarry, and Seiya interrupts Ikki just
as he is trying to don the Gold Cloth. Ikki and his men escape, carrying the pieces of the
Sagittarius Cloth with them. The Bronze Saints manage to find and annihilate quite a few of the
Black Phoenixes. They retrieve about half of the missing Gold Cloth. Ikki, however, is
determined to have all of it. The Bronze Saints discuss matters, and Shiryu says they can't
properly fight the enemy until he and Seiya have their Cloths fixed. He volunteers to take both
sets of Cloth and try to find someone to heal the damage. As he leaves, we get a glimpse of
Ikki's booted foot as he, too, watches Shiryu depart.



Episode 9.

"Formidable enemy! The four Heavenly Knights of darkness"

Open to a press conference with Saori and Tatsumi speaking on the theft of the Gold Cloth.
Seiya brings in a policeman and his police dog; they are going to try and track Ikki down. The
other Bronze Saints follow their own leads. Shun sees a tree that Ikki used to practice his
punches on and has another flashback of their early years training in the area. Then, suddenly, a
cold breeze whips up, and Shun feels a chill up his spine not caused by the sudden rain of
snowflakes. Is it Cygnus Hyoga? Well, it's a Swan, but not Hyoga! Shun barely escapes being
crushed by the tree as it's knocked over by his foe, Black Cygnus, Hyoga's evil counterpart.
Shun finds himself taken by surprise and fighting for his life, rapidly loosing the battle. Then
Hyoga arrives, and Black Cygnus finds he's met his match. His black snow turns white as
Hyoga exerts his influence. Seiya arrives next on the scene. Hyoga is distracted and his
doppleganger takes advantage of this for an attack. Hyoga shrugs it off and counterattacks, is
winning when Black Andromeda shows up and interrupts the battle. All four of the Black Saints
face the three Bronze Saints and deliver a combined warning and challenge to the Bronze
Saints before teleporting away. Saori retreats to her planetarium to consult with Mitsumasa
Kiddo's spirit. Ikki and his requested reinforcements from Death Queen Island, the Black
Saints, plan their next move.



Episode 10.

"Beware Shiryu! The cementery of Cloths"

The episode opens as Seiya is washing his hair. Saori arrives with a message from Ikki: He and
his Black Saints against the Bronze Saints, the winner taking the entire suit of Gold Cloth.
Meanwhile, Shiryu and his foster sister Shunrei go to visit his sensei. Shiryu asks him what he
can do to repair the damaged Cloth. His mentor tells him the information must be earned;
Shiryu agrees to the contest. Roshi discharges energy into the water fall, which in turn sends
flashes of power back at Shiryu, who must deflect all the blows. Finally he succeeds, and his
mentor sends him onward to Mu, who he says can fix the battle damage. Enroute, Shiryu finds
he must fight animated skeletons wearing what appear to be ancient Black Cloths. Despite
being badly outnumbered by the evil spirits, the Dragon prevails and then must continue the
arduous journey. Finally he finds Mu's residence, a tall spire on the top of a rock out-cropping.
There, he is confronted by Kiki a telekinetic young brat, who drops rocks on his head until
Shiryu knocks the spire off its foundation. Then Mu appears, and demonstrates his own
considerable power by resetting the spire on its base. Shiryu pleads with him to heal the Cloth,
the battle against Ikki cannot be won without the Pegasus and Dragon Cloth. Finally Mu
agrees. And at home on the waterfront, Seiya wakes to a nightmare vision of Shiryu being
attacked by a demon (looking suspiciously like a distorted Mu) and knocked into an endless
crevasse to his death...


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