U4: The Space Wanderers

Chapter 6: Versus Vigorin

Goddard slowly walked up to the stage, this time with a stern stance. The situation was risky, but he had to give it his all if they wanted to settle everything. Vigorin looked down at Goddard, and smirked. "Hmm, you've done a lot kid. Stronger than you look, but looks can be deceiving..." Goddard clenched his fists to keep himself calm under Vigorin's foreboding aura. "Our final match is between Vigorin and Goddard!" The crowd started roaring with excitement even before the match started. A few seconds passed, and then the host finally blew the whistle.

Within a split second, Vigorin was right in front of Goddard, arms outstretched to grab him. Despite his speed, Goddard was able to evade him just as fast. Both Vigorin and Goddard were confused. "What the... how did he..?" Green lightning was emitting from Goddard, like a light static aura. Before Goddard could figure out what was happening, Vigorin tried to jump in for another sneak attack. In a split-second flash of green light, Goddard somehow ended up behind Vigorin and slammed him to the ground.

Sighlan, Dirken and Xanny were cheering him on along with everyone else. Vigorin slowly rose up in an eerie manor. "What an odd kid..." Vigorin then somehow pinned Goddard to the floor. "... but you gotta try a bit harder to finish me off." Goddard struggled to let go of Vigorin's grip, but his energy was starting to glow bright. For some reason, Vigorin's hand was starting to bubble, which made him let go of Goddard. In quick retaliation, Goddard bashed Vigorin with a strong headbutt, shoving him back across the stage.

When Goddard got back on his feet, he noticed a weird gray blob on the floor. "Uhh... what the heck is that..." The gray blob then turned into a light pale color. "Wait a second..." Goddard then slowly looked back up to Vigorin. His face was filled with anger, but there was a melted mess where his arm once was. The audience was stunned at what had just happened. "You insignificant vermin, you blew my cover..." Vigorin's body then started to convulse and reshape itself into something new.

Vigorin was gone, and in his place was the one who stole his identity, a disturbingly lanky Elastian who's limbs encompassed a quarter of the stage arena. Onlookers were frightened by the realization and tried escaping, but were quickly halted by Elastian soldiers who were slithering from cracks made throughout the walls. "... No matter, one way or another, all of you will be imprisoned." Xanny then realized who the Elastian was. "Y-you! You're the one who took my parents away from me!"

The Elastian looked back, and then gave a sharp, toothy grin. "A ha, quite a keen eye you have, Xanthon." Xanny grit his teeth before yelling back at him. "Was this entire tournament a sham? Was I ever gonna get the chance to see my parents again!?" The Elastian then slowly started to laugh, which eventually turned into a heavy howl. "I know very well you Grays love to see a good fight, it's the only way to get the last of you together so we can finally imprison this damn planet! As for your folks, did you really think you'd see them again? Hah, those two along with half of the planet's population already perished. They couldn't handle the 'simple' tasks we forced them to do, so a punishment was in order."

Xanny's eyes swelled with tears, but his face was lit with a burning anger. "Y-you... YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD!" Xanny then lept from the stands to join Goddard. "Yo, poof-ball, how about we tag-team this monster?" Goddard gave him a nod, and then the two went into their fighting stances. Meanwhile, Sighlan and Dirken were dealing with the Elastian soldiers in the stands. "Dirken, hold steady, we have to go all out if we're going to get rid of these guys!" yelled Sighlan. "Yeah, you're telling me. Using up a lot of energy trying to fight 'em..." Just as it seemed that they were cornered, a bunch of the Elastians were swatted away.

"Heheh, did think we'd let ya deal with those creeps alone, huh?" Grill, Grease and Grit joined Sighlan and Dirken to fight off the Elastian soldiers and save the audience. Back to the stage, Goddard and Xanny faced off against the main Elastian. "You think a couple of kids can withstand an Elastian Elite!!" The Elite then stretched his arms to try to grab the two of them, but luckily they were able to evade the attack. Unfortunately, he was able to sprout a third arm from his torso, which was able to hold a grip on Goddard and Xanny.

With quick thinking, Xanny inhaled a deep breath, and let out a loud pink shockwave which pushed back the Elite. Goddard then flashed a burst of energy to burn off the Elite's hand. With silent coordination, Goddard and Xanny bounced off each other's feet, with the former going upwards and the latter going downwards. Xanny outstretched his arms and charged more of the pink rippling energy through them. As he landed, his hands transmitted a quake of energy that stunned the Elite.

Goddard then bounced off the ceiling, and started heading towards the Elite. Using what little energy he had at the moment, he channeled it through both of his arms. His fists both started to enlarge with bright green energy, with green lightning trailing from his eyes. "For all of those that you imprisoned..." Xanny then started lunging towards the Elite with his pink, rippling fists. "And all of those that you've massacred..." Their fist then slammed onto the Elastian with a mighty force. "THIS WILL BE YOUR END!!!"

The energy emitting from both Goddard and Xanny was too much for the Elastian Elite, boiling his body alive. "S-STOP, STOP THIS RIGHT NOOOOOOOOOOO-" His body then exploded in a flash of pink and green energy, which also wiped out the other soldiers. After a long moment of silence, the audience slowly started to clap, which then lead to a loud cheer for the ones who saved them.

Once everyone had gotten out of the gym, the Space Wanderers had a small talk with their former opponents. "So, what are you guys gonna do, now that your planet is somewhat freed from those guys?" said Dirken. Grill replied, "We still got a lot of work to do. I think me and my buds are gonna go to various camps and free whoever is still alive. If you guys need help, just give us a ring!" He then gave the Space Wanderers their contacts. Just as they were headed to the Ultimatum, someone started running towards them.

"Hey, guys, wait up!" They turned around and saw Xanny running up to them. "Xanny, what's up?" said Goddard. "Nothing much, just wondering... if you guys have any space in that ship for another person." The three of them were surprised. "Uhh, are you sure about that? Don't you want to help out the others?" said a confused Sighlan. "I'm sure they can handle it themselves, plus it's not like I have a home or family to get back to... Also, I'm sure you guys might need some help." replied Xanny. Dirken scratched his head at the predicament. "Well, it wouldn't hurt having more hands on the team, eh? We are going to another planet though, are you alright leaving Grate behind?" Xanny gave a stern nod and smile. "Alighty, I guess that makes four of us now!" Xanny then looked over to Goddard. The two of them gave each other a big smile and a fist bump.