U4: The Space Wanderers

Chapter 5: Going All Out

"Hold up hold up hold up, what are you talking about?" Sighlan concerningly said to Dirken. Dirken slowly turned his head and explained himself. "When I was a kid, I used to watch some of Vigorin's old matches back in his prime. His fighting style was all about using his high stamina to outlast his opponent. Lots of dodging and weaving, with the occasional pressure-point punch to knock the wind out of them. He was very slow and methodical, but this... what we just saw was nothing like how he used to fight. That... that wasn't even a fight. I'm sure of it... he is not Vigorin..."

Both Sighlan and Goddard grew concerned, especially Sighlan since she had to go up against Vigorin later. Xanny walked up to the three, and looked at Goddard. "Yo, poof-ball, we're up." Goddard realized he was talking to him. "... Oh, I forgot! Sighlan, Dirken, wish me luck!" The two of them walked up to the stage to face each other. "Our next match is Goddard and Xanny!" yelled the host. Goddard reached his hand out for a handshake. "I hope we do our best." Xanny swiped Goddard's hand. "I saw how strong you were earlier, if we're going to have a good fight, I want you to go all out. Because I'm definitely not going to hold back." Goddard was surprised at Xanny's response. "Uhh... alright."

The host blew his whistle, signaling the start of Goddard and Xanny's fight. Just like before, Xanny thrusted himself at his opponent. Seeing the speeding gray, Goddard dodged it with a high jump. Xanny noticed Goddard's leap, and did something crazy. He stopped his body in mid-air, and created pinkish ripple, bouncing off of it. Xanny ricocheted himself with multiple mid-air ripples to reach Goddard. "Don't dodge me, fight!" He then kneed Goddard in the stomach, causing him to fall back into the arena. After the two quickly landed, Goddard found no choice than to rush towards Xanny. Xanny then flipped and tried doing the same shoulder toss he did to Dirken earlier.

Unexpectedly, Goddard also grabbed Xanny's shoulder's at the same time. The two the flipped multiple times before both slamming downwards. Goddard got up and wiped some blood off his mouth. "Gee, what's with attitude, I thought we were having fun?" Xanny's brow crinkled in anger at Goddard's sentiment. "Fun!? This isn't about fun!" He then got up, knocking Goddard down with a wake-up kick. "We're winning for our livelihoods! If I don't win that trophy, I may never get the chance to see my parents again." "Wait wha-" Goddard the stumbled his words as Xanny punched in the chest.

Xanny kept explaining himself as he was pummeling Goddard. "My mom and dad were taken from me, and I had only escaped by mere chance. By their captives kept following me, and eventually bargained a deal... 'Win the trophy, or else you and your folks are dead.' If I don't win, I'll be done for." Goddard then pushed Xanny off of him. "I-If that's the case, then why did you tell me to go all out?" Xanny brushed himself off. "Because I don't want you to chicken out of this fight. I want to win this fair and square. It's the Gray way. Goddard then got up, and shook the pain off. Xanny saw Goddard's weakened state and saw this as an opportunity to finish the fight, so he dashed towards him with punch.

Surprisingly, Goddard caught Xanny's punch with his own hand. "Hold up... I haven't gone all-out yet. If you want a fair fight, I'll give you one." Then with his other hand, Goddard swiped and uppercut, sending Xanny upwards. Xanny created another ripple to bounce back towards Goddard, but he leaped off the ground to counter Xanny's attack. For the next few minutes, Xanny and Goddard would be going back and forth, with Goddard bouncing off the stage floor and the ceiling, and Xanny jumping between his pink ripples, with the two colliding multiple times.

The two were actually building up energy. Xanny soared downwards, charging up a punch with rippling pink energy trailing off of it. Goddard was jumping upwards, charging up another one of his giant green punches. As their fists met, the energy that was exuding from them started bursting, almost like a green and pink fireworks show. Then with a sudden burst of blinding light, the two kids came crashing back down. After everything had settled, the host noticed that Xanny had fell out of the ring. "And the victor of the match is Goddard!"

As Xanny slowly got back up, Goddard once again reached his hand out. "Don't worry, when my team wins this tournament, we'll help you find your parents." Xanny looked down at Goddards hands, then back up at him, and smiled. "... Thank you." Goddard pulled Xanny up as the walked over to Dirken and Sighlan. "You guys went ham over there, y'all alright?" said Sighlan. The two of them nodded with big smiles on their faces. The three of them let Xanny sit next to them.

Sighlan then sighed and got up. "Welp, looks like it's my turn." Dirken looked at Sighlan with concern. "Be very, VERY careful. I don't know what I'd do without a captain..." Sighlan silently chuckled. "I'll be alright, see ya in a bit." Sighlan walked up to the stage to see Vigorin already standing opposite of her, despite not being there a second ago. "Our next match is Sighlan and Vigorin!" A chill went up Sighlan's spine, but she kept her composure in check and took to her usual stance. The host blew his whistle, and just as sudden as before, Vigorin was literally centimeters away from making contact.

It was almost as time slowed down for a moment. For Sighlan, it seemed that she was about to meet the same fate that Grease met earlier. Luckily for her, she spotted an opening under Vigorin's arm. With a split-second reaction, she weaved around him and dodged his dangerous attack. Just as she turned around to face him though, he was already a couple inches away, gearing up a punch. With quick movement and adrenalin, she avoided the punch by jumping onto Vigorin's shoulders and flipped into an elbow jab to his back.

When she did that though, she noticed something very wrong. As Sighlan did her elbow jab, it felt like Vigorin's body was completely soft, despite being a very muscular gray. Just as she landed onto her feet, Vigorin already done a flip of his own and was about heel-kick her to the ground. Sighlan miraculously dodged it at the last second, but then Vigorin was already right behind her winding a hook. It seemed that every time Sighlan dodged Vigorin's attacks, he was already in the middle of doing another one. It was as if he was in multiple places at the same time.

After a few minutes of dodging Vigorin's impossible strikes, Sighlan was starting to grow exhausted. With the last bit of strength she had, she used it to sucker-punch Vigorin in the jaw. While her fist did make contact, she was already somehow off the stage. Vigorin somehow pushed her off without her even noticing. "And the victor of the match is Vigorin!" Sighlan might have lost the match, but she got what she needed.

She walked over to the guys to take a seat. "You did awesome out there, sorry that ya lost though." said Dirken.  Sighlan chuckled. "It's alright, though you were right. That is definitely not Vigorin." She then started to whisper to the guys. "In fact, I don't even think he's a gray. His body, his muscles, they're not real. What ever he's using to fight is not of this world." Goddard then stuttered, "W-what do you mean?" Sighlan sighed and looked over to Goddard. "I'm pretty sure he's an Elastian. Not just a normal one either, I think he might be an elite soldier. He probably kidnapped or even killed Vigorin and took his place to imprison the remaining grays."

Sighlan then put her hand on Goddard's shoulder. "I know you're probably tired, but we're going to need you to go all out again if we're gonna take him down. Once his identity is exposed, then we'll come in and help you out, but until then, strike him down with all you got." Goddard stood in silence for a brief moment, but then nodded, giving her a thumbs up. "I'll do my absolute best."