Chapter 1: Day of Destruction
Three days later...
Since the defeat of Gravitus the saviors of Sancturia, Mew and Kairi, have been at Mew's humble mountain home for some much needed R&R. Sunny days have kept their spirits high and the fresh mountain air has made their late night rests relaxing.
But on this day, in the mid-afternoon hours, the two found themselves locked up in the living room doing their own things. Mew was dressed in his standard affair black shirt and blue jeans, and Kairi was wearing her green shirt and dark blue jeans.
Mew sat on the couch before the TV, a controller in hand and his fingers pawing away at the buttons at a rapid pace. He stuck the tip of his tongue out and a mild sweat displayed just how locked into the gameplay he was at the current moment.
Kairi, on the other hand, sat comfortably upright in the chair to his right, reading a book that she had brought with her from home. She gently flipped through the pages, but upon every turn she'd poke her head up to see what Mew was up to.
"Come on come on!" Mew proclaimed as he squeezed the controller in both hands and watched as a ranking was displayed for his efforts.
"B?!" Lamenting in defeat, Mew slumped back into the couch and plopped his controller onto his lap, "Ah come on, that was my best run!"
He tossed one arm out towards the screen and hollered over to Kairi, "Can you believe it?! How can they expect me to succeed when the window's so tight on that rocket?!"
She pulled her book down from before her eyes and replied dully, "Mew, I don't even know what you're talking about."
Mew dropped his arm to the couch and said with a sly smirk and nudging of his eyebrows, "Oh don't think I didn't notice you peeking at me playing this past hour."
Kairi pressed one finger between the pages of her book to act as a bookmark as she put it on her legs. She then closed her eyes with a mild blush in her cheeks and grumbled out the side of her mouth, "I-Its not like there's anything else to look at right now!"
"Anything else would probably more entertaining than stuffing your face in that book." Mew's unwarranted jab at her hobby got her eyes flared up in an instant.
"What would you know! You've never read a book in your life!"
"That's not tr-"
"Mangas don't count." Kairi bluntly countered.
"...M-Maybe not but-"
"Neither do comics." She said with a more stoic flare.
"...Yeah-"
"Or strategy guides." Her tone turned cold as ice, leaving Mew chuckling dryly to himself as he swiveled back in view of the TV and picked his controller up to go another round at the stage.
After a brief period of silence where Kairi picked up her book once more, Mew commented aloud, "Alright alright I admit, that was uncalled for. But come on Kairi, you're clearly interested in what I'm doing. Why not drop the paperback for a few minutes and go a round with me in this game?"
Kairi clamped her book shut in the same manner and rolled her eyes, "I-I don't care about your game! Be-besides...I got to keep my brain sharp for the next semester."
She put on a lovely display of resistance but by Mew knew exactly which buttons he needed to push. With a playful smile he waggled the controller right in her line of sight and remarked, "Come oooon, you know you want to. Contrary to popular belief, video games don't project brain draining UV rays."
She tried to pull her eyes away from the controller but Mew could see them darting back very briefly. She then quickly tried to pull the old "put my arms under the chest and look haughty" routine while declaring, "N-No way! I refuse!"
So for the icing on the cake, Mew tempted her with the one thing she'd never be able to let go of, "Ok fine...Besides, you know you'd lose anyways."
Mew then positioned himself straight in front of the TV and hovered his controller before his waist. Only a few seconds later, Kairi sat herself down beside him and firmly pushed him to the left side of her couch with her butt. She had a controller gripped tightly in her hands and her competitive glare focused entirely on the TV.
"Pick the mode." She told him firmly.
With a jolly chuckle Mew replied "You got it!" and went straight for the multiplayer menu.
Ten minutes later...
Kairi's face was planted on her legs with the controller held above her head. Mew laid his controller on his lap, stretched his arms up high with nary a look of strain on his face, and said in a calm manner, "Weeeeeell! Good games Kairi, but it appears I'm the winner!"
She swung her head up and let out a grunt through her nostrils similar to an angry boar's. She then tossed her controller onto the table, planted her arms under her chest, and plopped back into the couch.
"Stupid busted controller..." Mew could make out her grumbling under her breath. It was a response he hadn't expected from her, even back when she was at her worst.
"Huh, I wonder if she used to play this game with her sister a lot..." Assuming that, Mew rubbed the back of his head and thought to himself, "Maybe I should've held back a little bit..."
He saw Kairi pouting as she propped her feet up on the table and avoided eye contact with him. Her frustrations, vented out as huffs of hot air through her nose, seemed to be derived from another source of irritation besides losing a video game.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Mew offered.
After a little display of resistance Kairi turned to Mew and said, "...When are we going to go out and do something?"
Mew fluttered his eyelashes a little and replied, "We went hiking yesterday."
Kairi swung her eyes up and let out a groan. She then admitted, in her own way, "Y-Yeah, that was pretty cool...T-That mountain goat was pretty cute too..."
She quickly shook her head, sat upright, and looked Mew in the eyes, "But you know what I mean! When you said you'd bring me down to Earth I thought that meant we'd go, y'know, traveling the globe, exploring new locales, eating at exquisite restaurants..."
Mew cocked his head back and chuckled, "Well I'm not made of money Kairi. I can take us anywhere you want to go but as far as food and souvenirs go..."
"Yeah yeah I get that but..." Kairi's eyelids sank and she spoke to him in a soft tone of voice, "But that doesn't mean we have to stay cramped up in this house all the time, right? Isn't there somewhere exciting we can go to?"
If there was one thing Mew was a sucker for, it was a cute face. Not that he needed the extra push, seeing as how what she said was reason enough for him to reconsider what they'd been doing lately.
After moving the controller from lap to table he picked up the remote, waggled it around his face, and relented to Kairi's request, "Alright. I'll flip through the channels and we'll see if there's anywhere you'd like to go. Unless...you already got an idea in mind?"
"History books aren't always good inspirations for tourists," Kairi looked at the TV and after a few moments decided, "Just...try and keep it local for now."
Her fingers were fidgeting before her waist. It wasn't hard to imagine that for as much as she wanted to travel the world, it would be tough to blend in with other cultures.
"Lucky me that Aurians speak the universal language of English..." Mew thought, reminiscing about the past in relation to Kairi's current struggle.
He then turned off the console and flipped back onto the main channels. The first thing he saw was a news station talking about recent events.
"Oh hold up a second." Mew paused, feeling the topic was important for the both of them.
"Security of Defense Judas Jeremiah is being questioned today on the recent weather phenomenon and reports of a satellite falling out of the sky over the Arctic Circle. We go live with footage on his report."
A man in his mid-fifties with short, slick backed brown hair and grey tips walked out onto a podium in the White House lobby. He wore a normal white buttoned shirt, a plaid tie, and thin strapped suspenders. He had a cup of hot coffee in his hands and his face was starting to wrinkle.
The man presented himself with confidence before a crowd of reporters and instantly addressed all concerns, "Our team has been working on the clock to find the source of the storm outbreak. There is a slight possibility that someone out there has made a weather control device, but as it is yet unconfirmed, I beg my fellow people of the United States to not panic."
"What about the satellite?!" A few reporters raced to ask.
"Minor malfunction in the anti-gravity systems. We are fortunate that, as a smaller satellite, it burned up quickly on reentry and did not cause any lasting harm to the ice caps."
He then waved his hand at the crowd and left the podium, his departure covered from the photo-hungry reporters by his two security guards.
Mew stared at his mild-mannered man and slowly blinked his eyes. He didn't even realized he was in a trance until his heart jumped upon Kairi saying, "Ugh!"
He then stammered her way, "W-What's up?"
She had one hand planted on her face, and slid her fingertips down to the chin. She then grumbled in bitterness, "That bastard Gravitus! We're lucky that Sancturia didn't get exposed after what he pulled!"
"Lucky...Hrrmmm..." Mew stared at the TV one more time then closed his eyes to put the man's presence out of sight and out of mind for now.
"Its a bit of luck and a bit of Saturn's genius. That cloaking barrier of hers is top-notch!" He said as he started flipping through the channels.
"Anyways enough of that! Lets find us a place to go!" At a button press a second Mew was practically speedrunning cable but giving Kairi only a frame to look at what the channels had to offer.
"H-Hold up!" Kairi proclaimed in a flustered tone before snatching the remote out of Mew's hand and holding it up beside her face.
Mew realized what he was doing and chuckled right in Kairi's grumpy face, "Sorry, I'm so used to mashing buttons."
"...Its fine," She sounded almost understanding of his problem, "Just let me browse through them."
She took the reins and started over from the beginning. Now spending a few seconds at a time glancing at the channels, Kairi seemed to have difficulty finding anything to her liking. She wasn't being picky. The channels were just unfortunately airing a bunch of olden day movies and sitcoms.
"Wait..." But then she stopped on another news channel that was unique to this state. There was a newscaster standing on the outskirts of this big city near a lake. The city was surrounded by freeways and was filled with plenty of skyscrapers. There were also a couple sports stadiums on the southern end.
"What's that?" However, Kairi pointed to a strange tower close to the center of the city. It had probably the most average height out of all the buildings in the city but its design was one-of-a-kind. It looked like a UFO positioned atop a three-sided stand. It was futuristic, even in this modern day.
"That's the Space Needle. Its Seattle's famous landmark. It ain't on the level of the Seven Wonders of the World but...I've personally always had a fondness for the place."
"So its just a giant monument?" Kairi inquired.
"Not quite," Mew said in a humored tone, "There's an elevator that takes people to the top floor where you can get a scenic view of the area..."
He then smiled and whispered, "Aaaaand, there's a restaurant up there as well."
Kairi's eyes lit up like a pair of newborn stars and her burrowed down childlike innocence took a grasp over her tone of voice, "R-Really?!"
"Seattle's just a couple minute flight from here, buuuuut..." Mew leaned back into the couch with his arms behind his head, "If you don't have any cash..."
Kairi suddenly whipped out a dainty leather wallet with a purple frilly border and proclaimed, "You get us there and I'll pay for it, ok?!"
"Oh man! She's really wanting to go there!" Mew gently pushed her wallet down and remarked, "Its about time for lunch I suppose."
"And god knows anything's better than another vegetarian special..." Kairi groaned with her tongue dangling out in disgust.
Mew shrugged his shoulders and said, "Hey hey hey...I produce good produce!"
She nearly slapped him upside the head with her wallet. But by masterfully lifting himself off the couch he made haste for the door and opened the way outside. With a courteous bow he brushed his hand out like a butler and said in a joking tone, "M'lady."
"Hardy harr Mew..." Kairi snipped back while chuckling to herself. She got up and a few moments later, after shutting the TV off, the two were out of the house.
"Ok, just stay close to me and follow my lead." Mew advised as he held his hands out and started producing a cloud-like material to envelop the both of them.
"Brrr...Could you warm it up a little?" Kairi trembled, her body hunched over with her arms clutched against her waist.
"Who ever heard of a warm cloud?" Mew said, being surprisingly serious about this of all things.
"If you're that cold you could always cuddle up to me for warmth..." But then he was right back to his usual self, and Kairi karate chopped him on the back of the skull for it.
"I-If its only a couple minutes, t-then I'll make it through..." She proclaimed.
Mew, gently rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head without a care in the world, told her "If you insist" before taking off towards the sky.
They left the mountains behind and headed west towards Seattle. It was a short flight, and fortunately there was no bird traffic. Once Mew was over the city he poked his head through to make sure they would have a safe landing.
"Nobody's at the very top. Probably cause its lunch time. Excellent!" So he successfully lands them on top of the Space Needle, dissipating the cloud before it could draw anyone's attention to them.
"And here we are! Welcome to the Space Needle!" Mew presented the mighty tower by throwing his arms up and out.
Kairi took a moment to peek over the side. The color was quickly flushed from her face and she retreated. A strong, cold, quiet breeze stroked her hair to the right, forcing her to put a hand up to hold it in place. She stood there for a while after, her eyes glistening with wonder.
"We're so high up..." She whispered.
"She's lived in a floating city all of her life..." What started as a joking critique of her observation turned into something a little more understanding as Mew thought about it more, "Though I guess this is the first time she's ever had something to compare to scale..."
City landscaping and hillside houses appeared as something she could reach out and hold in the palm of her hand. Humans that were her size now crawled around as ants on the ground. So many of these thoughts and feelings were being expressed in the way she quietly glided her hand around in the air.
Mew didn't have to interrupt her, her stomach did a good enough job by gurgling out a cry of hunger. Her cheeks turned pink and she rubbed her tummy. Then, she quietly turned to Mew with a canned laugh and said, "C-Can we go inside to eat now?"
"Yeah!" Mew said with a smile, "Follow me...again!"
The elevator to the cafe was a few steps away. As a continued string of good luck, no one was on it at the time. So they made it to their next destination without any trouble.
Kairi had to take a step back right after her first step forward off the elevator. The floor was moving, slowly but surely, in a clockwise circle. A bunch of white glass tables and chairs covered the perimeter of this floor, while stainless glass windows offered a breathtaking view of the surrounding area.
Mew strutted out into the open where a few other people watched. He then bombastically drew everyone's attention to him and Kairi by proclaiming, "Well come on! Lets grab a seat and order up!"
So while he had an all too easy time sitting down it took Kairi quite a bit longer to shuffle past the odd gazes Mew's comment drew towards them. But once she was at her seat she let out a heavy sigh and the rest of the people were out of her mind.
"...So how does this work exactly?" Kairi whispered to Mew with her fingers tensely positioned at her waist.
"May I take your order?" A server got the jump on the two of them from behind and Kairi nearly leaped out of her seat.
"Eep!" She proclaimed, and the server cautiously stepped back.
"Is everything ok?" He asked of Mew.
Mew waved a hand down and said, "First time up here. She's a little afraid of heights."
"Well, I'll have you know that the Space Needle's been structurally sound since its creation. And our food? Top notch." The server reached for the menus at his belt and handed them out.
Mew leaned back comfortably into the chair and remarked, "I already know what I'm having. One toasted chicken and mozzarella sandwich. Marinara sauce for dipping, strawberry lemonade for a drink."
The server put that menu back and Kairi took the other one for herself. He then asked, "Do you need time to decide?"
Kairi squinted at the menu and quickly picked up on something to her tastes. She hung the menu over her shoulder and said, "I guess I'll try the toasted three meat sandwich. A-And get me a small root beer."
"Excellent choice. It'll be right out." Once the server took that menu he was ready to move. But before he took a step Kairi turned around in her chair, got on her knees, and yelled to him.
"W-Wait!" It was an odd sight for Mew to see her act so timid around strangers, but she was lucky to not have run afoul of an impatient server.
"Yes?" They kindly inquired.
Kairi reached into her wallet while asking, "Will my money be good here?"
"Oh? You're from out of the country?" The server said pleasantly. Though when the dollars came out of Kairi's pants his expression turned blank with confusion.
Mew felt the atmosphere become awkward as the served had trouble bringing himself to say, "Y-Yes...I...I guess we take dollars here."
He was trying not to be sarcastic but a bit of it slipped into his tone. He then turned and walked away. Kairi was left blinking until she sat back down properly and put her money away.
"Did...did that guy say dollars?"
Mew closed his eyes and with a smile started to count down in his head, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1..."
Kairi's eyes widened and she plopped her face flat down onto the table. She burrowed her fingertips into the back of her head and let out a very, VERY angry groan.
"Augh! That son of a bitch was taking ideas from Earth the whole time!" Her realization was thankfully muffled enough that only Mew heard it.
Mew had a hearty chuckle at the whole affair, "What, the constant advertisements for Sunbucks didn't tip you off?"
She swung her head up and waggled a finger at him accusingly, "T-That was just a coincidence! This is outright plagiarism!"
Mew crossed his arms up to his chest and after a deep breath said, "Now that you mention it though...We never did find out just why he adopted Earth culture into Sancturia specifically..."
He then gave a rough shrug and proclaimed, "But who cares about that right now?! Didn't we come here to enjoy ourselves?"
Kairi pressed and wiggled her lips around then muttered "Yeah yeah" in agreement. She tapped her right fingers on the table and grumbled aloud, "Can't believe he got away with that for so long...Asshole."
The top of the Space Needle kept spinning slowly, giving the two of them a chance to survey the scenery. Kairi quieted down quickly then laid her hands against the sides of her face, her elbows on the table. Mew could see her paddling her feet around underneath the table, a sign her mind was drifting off somewhere.
Mew got in a similar position and waited around for her to say something. Her first word after a couple minutes was a melancholic murmur of "Shina..."
Mew closed his eyes and quietly sighed, "You can't replace her Mew, but..."
He reached out and tapped her on the shoulder. She perked up slightly and he poked out at the window.
"I actually do come here every now and then for a change of scenery. Its probably one of my favorite scenic views in the whole wide world."
"Huh?" She said in a dazed tone.
"Just look out there for a moment, what do you see?"
He could see many things. He even checked them off in his head as Kairi identified them.
"There's a snowy mountain in the distance...The lake's sparkling cause of the sun...The city's bustling...And uhhh, there are hills with houses?"
"Yeah exactly," Mew leaned back into the chair and propped his feet up on the table, "From this one location you get to see most of what the Earth has to offer. Hills, mountains, lakes, cities...All that's missing is the desert!"
Kairi smiled and her tone got a little more chipper, "Well when you put it that way..."
"Auh! And you should SEE this place when the sun sets! Mt. Rainier looks gorgeous!"
Mew turned aside for a moment and saw her shaking her head at him. She then sat upright and said softly, "You really do like the Earth don't you?"
"Of course, its my home," Mew started turning back to the windows and remarked, "And I'd do anything to protect it."
As he looked outside there was something out there. It was floating, by itself, independent of any forces of gravity. He looked closer. It wasn't a something. It was someone. A boy, probably about his age, with a red shirt, blue jeans and short brown hair.
A cold feeling filled the air around him. All noise deafened to silence. The boy's body became surrounded by fire. It was a familiar fire. His fire. Fire is fire no matter what, but the energy exuded was all too similar to his. The boy almost seemed to stare back. His eyes were glistening like demonic rubies. His hand raised out before his chest. Fire gathered to the palm.
Mew's heart dropped one powerful, hardened beat and his skin felt cold. Kairi's deaf cry of his name barely registered. As his pupils shrank, he forced himself out of the chair and leaped towards Kairi. He held her to the ground and kept her wrapped around his body, his back turned to the incoming fireball.
Everything was black, then it was red. Fire exploded throughout the seams of the building. Blistering heat scorched the flesh and sinew off every human inside. The rough explosion tossed the top of the Space Needle off its support.
Glass shattered from the force of the blast. An opening was made, and Mew's body rolled out with Kairi in tow. He was panicking, his mind jumbled. There was barely any noise being made. They plummeted to the ground rapidly, the surface filled with screams of horror.
Mew suddenly thrust his eyes open. He saw the Space Needle's top, consumed with fire, hurtling towards the ground like a meteor.
"Sorry!" He proclaimed to a shaking Kairi as he let her go and flew straight towards the debris. He slammed his palms against the bottom and easily held it back from falling any further.
It was only a stroke of luck that the rest of the tower wasn't coming down at this very moment. It didn't matter. The damage had been done. The assailant incited fear and panic into the crowd of normal humans. They scrambled to get away from the sight of the tower ignited in flames, the smoke burning high into the sky.
This gave Mew an opening to put the remains of the Space Needle onto the ground, where he didn't think twice before dowsing the whole thing with water from the nearby fountain. The whole thing was now charred black and filled with molten glass. The skeletal remains of its occupants were frozen in their last moments of writhing agony. Jaws, unhinged in screams. Parents, coddling their young in a fruitless moment of protection.
Mew's heart raced. He could have saved those lives. But now, it was too late. And its all his fault.
"BMMM!" "CRSSHHH!" "KSSSHH!"
It wasn't ending with just the Space Needle. Mew didn't want to look back, but he had to face the reality of this moment. The attacker stayed where he was and casually bombed Seattle with fireballs, creating wanton destruction with hundreds of bodies burning at his feet.
Mew bit his teeth down and was prepared to charge up when Kairi came running at him proclaiming, "M-Mew, are you alright?!"
She had landed in an alleyway, and had to push her way through the last people attempting to escape the chaos. Her presence kept Mew grounded in a calm sense of mind for the time being.
"Thank god you're alright. Sorry about that, its just-"
Kairi's pupils were shrunken and she was low on breath. She hastily pointed up at the figure in the sky and proclaimed, "F-Forget about me! W-W-What about him? Why...why does he have the same kind of energy as you?!"
Mew narrowly looked up at boy while Kairi took a shot in the dark, "Is that that brother you were telling me about? Riku was it?"
"No way. Riku would never do something like this." Mew denied while firmly shaking his head.
"How would you know? Its been two years since you saw him!"
The possibility couldn't be denied, but there was one thing that disproved it for Mew.
"Riku's got black hair, this guy has brown. And that sure as hell doesn't look like a dye job..."
Kairi lowered her head after catching her breath, then proclaimed at the top of her lungs, "W-We don't have time for this! Right now he's destroying the city!"
"You're right!" Mew swung his head down with a hard nod then quickly looked around. Against all odds, a large piece of cloth from a pair of picnickers had survived the fire. Mew ran right over, picked it up, then brought it back to tie around Kairi's head like a hood.
She looked at him in the heat of the moment and got insanely confused. He then planted his hands on her shoulders to stare her straight in the eyes and proclaim, "This'll keep your identity a secret while you go help the citizens evacuate!"
"E-Evacuate? But what about-"
"I'm clearly better suited for fighting this asshole. But it won't be easy if I gotta worry about the citizens being in the way. Please Kairi, you're the only one I can trust to do this."
Kairi paused for a moment then firmly nodded her head and proclaimed, "O-Ok! But once I'm done helping I'll be there for back-up alright?!"
"...Right!" Mew snapped his hands off of her then turned to the sky. Once Kairi had flown off Mew grit his fists taut beside his hips then rocketed straight at the mad bomber.
He threw his fist back, widened his eyes, and took a swing straight for the back of the bastard's head. The boy silently swung his right hand up and grabbed Mew's fist with ease. Mew pressed forward with all his might but couldn't make a difference in the struggle.
The boy twisted and tilted his head back to face Mew. His teeth were locked into a nasty, grimy white grin, and his eyes glowed like fire. Mew's mouth slowly went agape only for him to quickly be shoved back by a gentle flick of the boy's wrist.
Mew propped himself upright and shook the trembling off his body, staring the assailant down face-to-face as they dropped their attack on the city.
"What is with this guy...?" Mew settled into a state of uneasy as the boy's movements proved akin to that of a sluggish marionette. The boy drooped his head down then dangled his hands out beside his chest. One hand had a black leather glove on it, with a thin magnetic plate on each side.
The boy slowly started clapping, greeting Mew with a raspy, unhinged tone of voice, "Did you enjoy our tribute of marrow and dust, o'mighty 'Elemental Overlord'?"
Mew tried to keep himself off the edge by cracking a smile and telling a mild joke, "I'm flattered you know that I like BBQs..."
He then narrowed his gaze at the boy and got a lot more growl-y as he said, "But I prefer mine with a few coals tossed in...Not human lives."
The boy raised his head and jeered with a smirk, "Humanity was born from ash so it could thus return to ash. To raise their worth any higher would be only one of your many follies."
Mew held his ground and raised his fists up slowly, "Why does it feel like...I've met this guy before?"
"Alright you mad bomber, what the hell do you want?!" He then demanded to know.
"What we want is something only you can provide..." The boy laid his hands by his shoulders and stretched his fingers as far as they'd go. Fire exploded around his body, letting loose a pained screech similar to that of a bird.
Mew felt a few sweat drops form on his face but remained vigilant in the face of danger, "We? I guess you'd have to have a few screws loose to do what you're doing..."
"Is that really any way to treat a familiar face?" The boy suddenly blurted without prompting. Mew froze momentarily and his heart skipped a beat.
"...Who are you?" He wondered.
"We've met before, but at the same we have not. You're more welcome to piece that together..." The glint in the boy's eyes turned a darker shade as his flames were corrupted by a scorching black tint around the edge, "That is...assuming you don't die first."
His nasally hiss exuded with an unnatural degree of confidence. Mew gulped deeply, a sensation he was unfamiliar with until now. This mysterious, malicious boy then tucked his hands into his pockets and chuckled.
"But for now you can call us...The Phoenix of Destruction!"
Next Time: Deadly Relations