Chapter 5: The Two Sides of Mercury

Upon entering the Pyramid at long last, Mew sighed mildly in relief over how well lit the inside was compared to the temple. The lights shined just as bright as it did on the outside, seemingly through magic as Mew could not detect a source of electricity near by - Not from the ionic pillars, nor the glass cut diamond patterned floors, or even the diminutive bricked walls.

"How mysterious, there must be a ton of Aurian secrets contained within these walls. I wouldn't mind diving into those secrets but," Mew raised his head towards the ceiling and had only one on his mind, "The Neo Drive's the only one I need right now."

He then lowered his head and sighed, his enjoyment currently soured by the sixty-nine inch tall girl anchored to his back. Her weight was measured entirely by her bitterness, which if Mew chose to convert into pounds would find weighing close to 1,000 tons.

Trying to stave off that weight, Mew moved forward and commented, "The entrance is a lot smaller than I expected."

He looked ahead and saw that the stairs were a minute walk away at his current brisk pace. But Kairi planned to see to it that the journey took much longer.

"Do you know nothing about Pyramids?" She inquired in a boastful tone. Mew turned with half a smile and found the girl squeezing her crossed arms under her chest.

"Pyramids use a series of interconnected rooms to ward off intruders from the tomb of their dead kings," Kairi's tone turned mocking as she smirked at Mew, "You can't just press a button and call an elevator down to take you to top, idiot."

"Of course not, then anyone could reach the top! Then...why would I need to be here?" Mew responded with a totally straight face.

Kairi swung her head back and huffed, "You have no reason to be here anyways!"

Mew smirked and retaliated with, "I can think of two good reasons."

"My mom's breasts do NOT count." Kairi spat scornfully at his face.

Mew sputtered a little then grit his teeth and moaned "Oh good grief" through them. He then took it upon himself to ask in a humored tone, "Well since you're in such an expositing mood Ms. Encyclopedia Brittanica, maybe you can tell me a little more about this Pyramid?"

Kairi puffed her cheeks up a bit and kept looking a way from him, even as Mew bombarded her with questions.

"Does it have a name? How old is it? How many floors are there? Are there any traps? Monsters?" When Mew was getting zippo for answers he quickly closed his eyes and turned to another subject.

"Weeeell...How about telling me about that stone on your bracelet? I've never seen anything like it before," Mew takes a second to chuckle before noting, "Honestly it kinda reminds me of my powers and how-"

"Hmph!" She loudly pushed between her lips before turning upon Mew and leaning forward. She wagged a finger at him and expressed herself haughtily, "Get real. Your 'powers' don't even begin to compared to an Aurians!"

She raised her brows and almost appeared to take pity on Mew with her smile, "Your 'victory'? A fluke and nothing more!"

She stood back up looking all proud of herself. Mew didn't really care as he chortled and said immediately after, "Are you THAT angry I beat you princess?"

Kairi coughed as her eyes opened then spat out in disbelief "N-No!" before raising her chin and asserting that, "I...just don't think anyone should have to see your ego inflated like a zeppelin over Sancturia!"

That clumsily given "reason" for her attitude was a one-and-done topic for Mew to pursue. So instead he used it to segue into another matter that was bugging him, "Say. Back there, with those onlookers...Why were they giving you grief?"

Mew must have struck a nerve as Kairi reacted with a muted gasp and her skin turned slightly pale. She quickly pouted and with a turn of the head mumbled, "S-Some people are assholes, who cares?!"

But under her breath Mew could swear she mumbled weakly "I didn't do anything wrong..."

Mew then stared at her until she stared back. She planted her fists on her hips and yelled vigorously, "Well? Enough gawking! Get a move on idiot!"

"You started it..." Mew mumbled whilst turning back around.

"Excuse me?" Kairi said with her voice flared up.

Mew gave up a dainty shrug and not a word more as he made his way to the stairs. His investigation of the Pyramid brought him to the second floor, where something a little more interesting awaited him.

The aesthetics of the room shifted to detail a certain duality. Split perfectly down the middle by an invisible dividing line, both sides of the room represented a different temperature climate.

The left side was covered in a sleet sheet of ice, with a thin chilly fog projecting off it. The right side showed an arid sea of light beige, cracked rock, where the air waved with projections of heat. And at the end of this room was a swirling vortex of otherworldly design – also known as a portal.

Kairi, who lagged behind him, was the right to offer her opinions on this sector, "Wha...what's all of this doing here?"

"You don't know?" Mew joked as he looked back. Kairi's face turned pink and she said, "O-Of course I do! Its..."

Silence arose from her demeanor. Mew had another chuckle at how cute her attitude was then looked back at the portal with a grin. As sure as he was that the sky is blue he remarked, "I should've known Gravitus would have his body guards lined up to block the way forward."

"Body guards?" Kairi turned to Mew right as he started advancing upon the portal.

"That's obviously a trap!" She exclaimed to no avail. So she threw her fists down and raised her voice, "Hey! HEY!"

"Listen!" Mew chirped in a painfully forced high-pitched tone the second before he stepped into the portal. As he was sucked away to god knows where Kairi was left flabbergasted.

"How can anyone be so...so stupid?!" She yelled before dashing for the portal not a second later.

The warp between locations lasted even shorter, bringing the two to a flat, roasted dark-brown surface of rock. Kairi bumped into Mew as he just stood there outside the portal and fell back onto her butt.

Mew turned around and looked mildly shocked as he remarked, "Oh hey, you followed me!"

She stood right back up and yelled, "Were you dropped on your head as a kid?! Who walks into such an obvious trap?!"

"The same kinda person who follows someone into said obvious trap?" Mew says with mild sarcasm.

Kairi flutters her eyelashes then clutches her arms under her chest and looks mildly shaken as she states, "W-Where are we anyways?"

Mew looks at the sky and sees that its pitch black up there with maybe a few stars hovering about. He then closes his eyes and feels something beaming down on this barren rock. Something very, very, very hot.

Mew smiles as he remarks in a nonchalant tone, "Don't freak out princess, but I thiiiink we've been transported to Mercury."

"M-Mercury?" Kairi's eyes bulged and she looked ready to faint, "The planet?!"

"Yep!" Mew said with his hands behind his head and a big grin.

Kairi looked around and exclaimed, "That's crazy! You're crazy! Cause last I checked...You can't breathe in space!"

"She's seen what I can do and this is so hard to believe?" Mew wanted to chuckle but upon further reflection he realized, "Then again, she's got a point."

He looks around and noticed nothing at work that would explain this phenomenon. Somehow, there just was breathable oxygen on this desolate planet scorned the most by the Sun's wrath.

Before he could give it anymore though he heard someone or something walking towards them. He grinned and felt his heartbeat quicken with anticipation as he noted, "And here comes the first challenger."

Kairi stopped freaking out long enough to join Mew in determining the identity of their company. Surely they were a foe, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be friendly.

Mew kept himself passive in demeanor and tucked his hands into his pockets in hopes that he'd hand out a warm welcome to whoever was coming.

"Ah geez, are those guests? Its been a while since I've had decent company..." Mew could hear someone whisper sluggishly from afar. It sounded like they had just woken up from a nap, and they were undoubtedly a guy. Maybe an adult, given their voice is somewhat deep.

Finally a figure approached with striking habanero colored skin. He had a droopy face that Mew took upon himself to nickname the "sad camel", and it is flooded with sweat. His red hair is like a shag mop covered in oil with many strands of hair dangling over his eyes, which were also red. His ear lobes also looked like grilled cheese melting off the sides of a toasted sandwich.

With the sad state this guy appeared to be in, Mew is shocked to notice that he is decorated in some sort of military vest with chain mail underneath. The spots on his vest and baggy pants suggested they were used for camouflage. He is also bare footed.

The guy sluggishly dragged his toes along the ground as he walked. Then he stopped ten feet in front of Mew and tried really hard to raise the side of his face and smile.

"Hey...Welcome to Mercury. Not much to do here but I'll try to be a good host while you're visiting..."

Even with as tired as he was the guy was the epitome of politeness, which totally took Kairi by surprise. She threw her arms up and decided she was done trying to make sense of this backwater planet.

The friendly stranger glanced past Mew and wondered, "What's with her?"

Mew gestured a thumb over his shoulder and joked, "Oh she's just having a bad day."

He then extended his right hand out, ignoring Kairi's angered gasp, and smiled, "Name's Mew, nice to you uhh..."

"Oh right, where are my manners..." After gasping at his misplaced manners the guy extended his own hand towards Mew's then paused as his sweat dripped from it. He then pulls it back a bit and the both of them pretend like they're shaking hands.

"My name is Michael..." The guy sighs and looks to the left, "But I'm sorta contractually obligated to tell you that I am also known as Aurian Mercury."

Mew nudges his brows slightly in curiosity then remarks, "Please to meet you Michael. As for Ms. Grumpy Pants back there-"

"WHAT?!" Kairi suddenly yelled, nearly blowing out Mew's eardrums in the process. She walks up to Michael, pushing Mew aside with one hand, then starts glaring at him judgmentally.

Her eyes widen as she gives a scathing review of Michael's character, "Bullshit. There's no way that YOU are one of the Planetary Aurians."

"Well, you got me there..." Michael dryly chuckled.

"Planetary Aurians?" Mew inquired. Kairi turned on him with both fists on her hips and said, "Did you even bother to do any research before you came to dirty our way of life?"

"Oh good grief..." Mew sighed. Given a moment to pout, Kairi became a little more cooperative in explaining herself.

Starting with an "Ugh..." she crossed her arms and said, "The Planetary Aurians are nine legendary heroes of Aurian folklore. Parents tell their children stories about them to give them aspirations to do great things..."

Kairi then spun back and brandished a finger at Michael, "And the only thing Sweaty McSweatpants could inspire is a brand of showers!"

Michael just stood there and took it, prompting Mew to come to his defense, "You can't judge a book by its cover princess."

Before Kairi yelled at Mew, Michael waved his hand around and noted, "Nah she's right...The Planetary Aurians are legends because of their fighting prowess."

He then forced a chuckle and said, "I-I'm humbled they put me in fairy tales, but I'm not the fighting type."

"I don't think Gravitus would hire someone who couldn't fight." Mew remarked with a crafty smile.

Michael's eyes widened as he muttered, "Ah geez..."

Kairi takes a moment to shake her head, no doubt reaffirming that she heard that right. She then started poking Michael in the chest and said, "That's RIGHT. The portal led us to you. You're the lap dog that bastard assigned to guard the Pyramid!"

Michael's face stretched as a revelation dawned on him, "Ooooh so the alarm went off because you guys...Right, riiight."

His face then somehow drooped more with his sigh. With Kairi backing off a little Michael laid a hand on the side of his face and murmured, "Ok...I gotta explain a couple things to you guys."

"Quit br-br-br-boring me here, Mi-Michael!" Out of the blue a fourth voice joined the conversation, clattering like bits of metal dancing in an earthquake. Mew and Kairi looked around and saw no one approaching in spite of how close it sounded.

"Sorry about this..." Michael swiftly apologized as his body was covered by a flash of light. A second later Mew's heart leaped as a person of similar build and clothes shot out of the light and rammed their face into his.

The grinning snow-blue skinned man had pointed up ears like an elves' and teeth that were made of black frost. His hair stuck up like a series of small icicles, and the surface of his skin looked ready to crack apart from a single touch. He too was decorated in military clothes, but his were pure blue.

With the bludgeoning gaze of madness from his frosted blue eyes this strange man rubbed his cheek against Mew's face and gave a chilling introduction, "R-R-Raphael's the name! Total slaughter's the game!"

"Pleasant fellow isn't he?" Mew smirked then waved a hand around and asked, "Sooooo, we talking split personality here or what?"

"Ghh...Don't l-l-link me to that pacifist pussy!" Raphael exclaimed like Mew had done the equivalent of insulting his parents.

A couple moments later Raphael whipped out a four-foot long lance of ice that was half spear and half handle, and one-hundred percent riddled with frostbite. He poked its tip into Mew's gut and laughed, "Now n-n-none of that psychological big word m-m-mumbo jumbo! I only wanna hear f-fighting words!"

Mew's smile subtly spread across his face as he said "Oh like" then raised his hands to shove Raphael off him as he enticed the man's battle-hungered demeanor, "Bring it on?"

Raphael's grin may as well have been off his face from how big it got as he squealed, "Ex-Ex-Exactly!"

Mew turned a bit sideways and hung his hands a little away from his waist. There his loving audience told him, "You're out of your mind!"

Mew glanced back and saw that Kairi had moved twenty feet away from him and Raphael. She raised her head and snorted, "That's one of the Planetary Aurians! You don't stand a chance!"

Mew face Raphael and saw his fingers twitching for a fight. Mew's own hands trembled with excitement until he closed them into fists. He then slanted his brows and said, "We'll see about that princess. I'll show you that my victory wasn't some fluke!"

"Heehee...!" Raphael giggled, "I'll enjoy adding your sch-sch-skull to the collection!"

"Again...Sorry about this." Michael's voice poked out from Raphael's body.

"Forget it man, this fight was gonne happen regardless!" Mew said gleefully.

"And you br-br-br-better pull your weight too or we'll br-br-br-both get it from the boss man!" Raphael exclaimed, staring up at his forehead.

"...Aw man..." Michael groaned a long acceptance of defeat.

"Alright Heat Miser and Snow Miser, enough bickering!" Mew said, his remark going completely over both Raphael and Michael's heads, "Lets get started alr-"

Raphael leaped at him like a grasshopper and plunged his strange lance into the center of Mew's arms crossed before his face. Mew chuckled in his head, "What's with Aurians and surprise attacks?"

Vs. The Temperate Twosome: Aurian Mercury!

Raphael shoved right off and plummeted to the ground. He dashed straight for Mew and thrusts at his hips once on both sides. Mew swayed around the attacks and edged his feet back to put some distance between them.

Raphael then thrusts his lance harder than before, only to be met with the palm of Mew's right hand. Mew grinned as he shoved the lance right back against his foe's hip and closed the distance to clobber him in the face with a punch.

Raphael went tumbling back but sprung right on his feet. He wobbled around purposefully then dragged himself forward, curving his path as he ran back at Mew. He went for a stab at Mew's gut but was successfully fended off by a gentle punch.

But to Mew's surprise the icy warrior followed up by slashing his lance upward and cutting his chin. It was a cut no bigger than what he'd get from a piece of paper but it was more than enough to get Mew's blood pumping.

He played around with Raphael's attacks for a bit, shifting his body to evade his predictable assault. All his strikes went for vital parts and his eyes were that of a killer. Bloodshot, wide open, he never let his prey out of his sight.

After dancing around the lance had run its course Mew ducked under an attempt on his head and then spun his right leg out to trip Raphael up. He then rose and uppercutted him square in the gut, adding a little fire to spice up the attack.

Raphael flipped through the air and landed on his feet, where he let out a mild grumble and then ran at him again. Mew grinned and chuckled "Persistant bugger ain't he?" then leaped back from the warrior's stab attempt on his feet.

Mew flipped upside-down and pressed his hands together. Spreading them apart to weave a web of electricity, he fired a net of it as big as his body down at Raphael. The icy psycho sliced the net in twine and then rocketed off the ground, his body enveloped in a cone of icy wind.

Mew swung his arms up for defense and took on the full force of the attack. Raphael moved fast enough to follow through with a downward slash, making Mew go spiraling down when momentum finally did its job.

Mew's palms dug up some tiny divots when he used them for his landing. He then stopped in place, raised one hand up, and used the other one to spin himself around. When Raphael descended to attack he froze up for a moment, as he would realize the error of his ways in a moment.

Mew's gyrating body kicked up a whirlwind with his extended legs deciding its diameter. He pummeled Raphael with a flurry of kicks for a good few seconds and then broke the whirlwind by vaulting into the air. He repositioned himself upright and then went for an axe-kick on his foe's head.

Raphael recovered fast enough to land and then, not wanting to take the risk, leaped back a good twenty feet as Mew went crashing into the ground. His impact raised a ring of spiked rock ten feet high around his foot.

Kairi slowly went from feeling smug to having her smile droop as she watched how effortlessly Mew seemed to be doing these crazy stunts.

Mew stood up behind the rocks and took a moment to assess himself. He wiggled his arms and legs around and felt a little stiff in the muscles. Peculiarly though, he noticed that these spots were where Raphael had attacked him so far.

Keeping that in the back of his head for now he swung a swift, grazing punch at the foremost rocks and decapitated it off. He sent it flying towards Raphael, who leaped away before it hit his legs.

When the rock crashed down though it broke into microscopic bits which, thanks to the lowered gravity, quickly became a dust cloud that plagued Raphael's body.

The chilled warrior coughed and gagged until his watering eyes caught the sight of a red glow beyond the dirt and dust. It grew bigger and brighter until it revealed its true form as that of a fireball...Three centimeters from Raphael's dwindling, grinning face.

"Kaboom!"

The fireball went off in a grand display of fireworks twenty feet in circumference. Mew stepped out from behind cover and crossed his arms to enjoy the spectacle.

It wasn't long to last and when it was over Raphael was back on the ground shaking his head like he'd just gotten over a bad cold. He did have a few burn marks though, so it wasn't a huge waste of time.

He grinned from ear-to-ear and cackled loudly to the world, "Ohohoh y-yes! Make me work for the thrill of the kill!"

Mew hung his hands by his pockets, clicked up a couple fingers like guns, then gave his foe a wink and said jokingly, "Hey...chill."

Kairi's anguished groan distracted Mew and allowed Raphael to go running in for a sneak attack. Mew swung his head back then etched a square shape in the air with the flick of his right fingers.

Following up with a snap, he watched as Raphael stepped foot on a part of the ground and was then sprung up and away by a makeshift springboard Mew crafted from the ground.

Mew bolted right up to the rock, gave it a spin kick to its back, and sent it hurtling after Raphael. The icy warrior lost his cool and grumbled, "Y-You! Pull your weight, n-now!"

With a flash of light Raphael forced control back over to Michael, who sighed as the rock came seconds away from hitting his face, "Oh gimme a break..."

He then winds his right fist back and threw it forward with the speed and force of a shotgun blast, leaving the rock as nothing but dust in the nonexistent wind.

Mew coughed up a little spit and gave Michael the time needed to crash land on the ground and sprint right for him. Mew braced himself and crossed his arms before his chest as Michael delivered a wallop of a punch into the center of them.

A five-foot wide bubble burst upon impact, and Mew found his heels digging up a two-inch deep divot in the ground. He glanced over his arms with a sly grin and remarked, "What was that about 'I'm no fighter'?"

Michael had the same droopy look on his face as he responded, "Well I wasn't lying..."

But then a more hardened look broke through in his eyes as he continued, "But I know when I'm needed."

He pressed his knuckles in harder and the ground cratered about three-feet around where they stood. Mew chuckled and then raised his arms to try and karate chop Michael's wrist.

With his fleet feet Michael pulled back and extended two fingers from his hands. He then took advantage of Mew's vulnerability to jab him in the elbows and shoulders.

Mew reeled back but then watched as his arms started limping at his sides. He looked at them and tried to give them a quick shake, but they could barely budge. He then looked up at Michael and whistled.

"Going after my pressure points eh?" He remarked.

Michael held his fists at his chest in a defensive stance and remarked, "I'll try and knock you out quickly. I don't want to fight longer than I have to."

Mew just closed his eyes and shook his head. Michael came flying at him with his fingers, but this time Mew was more prepared. He hopped back and then used the sole of his right shoe for defense, as there were no pressure points to exploit down there.

When his tricks proved useless Michael curled his fingers in and resorted to his fists. One swing to the heel of Mew's shoe was enough to make him start hopping back and nearly fall over.

Mew returned the favor to Michael by pushing all his weight forward into a headbutt. Michael stumbled back but recovered much faster than Mew did.

Mew then started panting, and he didn't quite know why. This strange feeling was joined by a curious amount of sweat forming on his skin, like he was running a fever. The Sun couldn't have been responsible, and while Mew was having fun this fight hadn't been that taxing on him thus far. So, there was only one answer.

He stared at Michael and smirked. Michael played coy and didn't say a word edgewise. But unfortunately his frigid counterpart was more than happy to pick up the slack.

"Q-Quit hogging all the fun already!" A flash of light signified another exchange of warriors, with Michael only having time to sigh before it finished.

Raphael didn't waste any time charging at Mew and thrusting his lance across his body. With one second intervals to each thrust, he was covering a lot of ground. Mew was slowly regaining strength in his arms and used them to deflect the lance until Raphael was forced to retreat.

There the icy psycho attempted a harrowing thrust straight for Mew's gut. Mew swung his right leg up to block the lance from the side, but Raphael still got through. The tip of the lance breached Mew's shirt and skin and drew a couple drops of blood.

"That's not right..." Mew thought as he retracted his leg and jumped a few feet back to give himself some time to think. When he landed he noticed a lot of weight on his body, the sweat he felt earlier being mostly to blame.

"Its like my reactions were delayed..." Adding to this conundrum was the return of the stiffness in his limbs. Again, where Raphael had been striking.

"Hmmm..." Mew shifted his eyes up at the mad warrior as he came charging in swinging his lance horizontally at his face.

Mew slid and ducked his head back to evade the strikes, but as he did so time seemed to crawl at a snail's pace as he observed his foe's weapon. As the lance's tip glided before his neck, bits of snow-like energy could be seen coming off it. And in turn, Mew felt the muscles on his chin begin to stiffen.

He grinned and then decided to put a theory into practice. He pushed his body up and immediately grabbed Raphael by his lance's handle. Getting into full contact with his foe's personal space, Mew then proceeded to clobber him straight in the nose.

The ground cracked at Raphael's feet before he was blown back, where his scalp played the role of a shovel digging a trench twenty feet long for the rest of his body to slide down.

Mew pulled his hand back but almost had to double-check that he had done so. His whole arm was totally numb, making even the slightest wiggle of his fingers an excruciating effort to perform. He didn't even notice the dark-purple droplets of blood he drew from Raphael's nose.

"I get it, this is like what happened with Kairi." Mew looked down at Raphael and waited for him to get up, even going so far as to pretend to give him a pep talk, "Hey! You can do it! Just believe in yourself!"

Raphael's nostrils were clogged with blood as he stood, leading to him sounding especially nasally as he growled, "Frickas frackas...! Hey! Take over for a m-m-minute!"

He switched right back over to Michael, who after his usual sigh ran right across the trench to deliver a fierce right hook towards Mew's chest. Mew may have be temporarily down an arm but he was far from out.

He used the back and front of his left hand to parry Michael's punches from getting in close while his arm regained its strength. Their clash of hand-to-hand combat appeared as blurs from Kairi's point of view, as her jaw now dropped at the crazy stunts Mew was pulling off.

Mew kept the encounter up-close and personal despite knowing the risks, as there was something he could only confirm from this spot. He kept a careful eye on Michael's hands, which moved like the graceful stroke of a painter's brush but the force of a sniper's shot, and nothing else.

When he attempted to go for his pressure points, Mew just turned parts of his skin to chrome to protect them. It was only when Michael wound his fists back that Mew reacted with more than just a paltry defense. Both his hands were strong enough to grab onto his opponent's fists and keep their grip on them tight.

He raised his arms up and his eyes perked a little as he noticed, "Huh? There's no bracelet?"

Michael rapidly kicked his feet into Mew's gut until he was forced to let go, upon which he made a swift retreat and shook his hands off. Mew felt the sweat drenching his body but kept an ever-present smile as he cordially told his foe, "Guess there's some class benefits to being a Planetary Aurian huh?"

Michael closed his eyes a bit and sighed, "Well...A psychopath sharing room and board in your body sure isn't one of them."

Mew snicked and said half-jokingly, "Yeah I totally get where you're coming from."

This made Michael give an honest-to-god smile for the first time, before quickly casting it aside to continue the battle. When he ran at Mew again, Mew tried to react faster than before. He hadn't pieced it all together, but the fact of the matter is that something about Michael and Raphael's auras were throwing him off.

"So if I'm going to be stuck sweating like a pig in the desert," Mew grinned while fending off Michael's attacks with his hands, "Might as well take advantage of it!"

He flipped back and drew the moisture from his sweat into his arms. He sliced them out and sent crescents of boiling water hurtling towards Michael.

It was a stroke of luck that Raphael took over the battle and stabbed the incoming water with his lance to freeze it over solid. Mew then dove at the ice and gave it a hardy kick to shatter it on top of Raphael's body.

Raphael growled then shifted back to Michael, who spun his arms out and carried the melting ice away in a small tornado of heat. He then coiled up the rest of his body and sprung straight for Mew, tackling him higher into the air.

He was forced to switch right back to Raphael, who raised his lance and prepared to plunge it into Mew's face. Mew clamped his hands around the lance's tip an inch from the space between his eyes and the two went plummeting into the ground.

Mew went "Oof!" as his back hit the solid rock but kept conscious long enough to ram both his feet into Raphael's gut. The icy warrior staggered. Mew then rose to his feet and hammered his cupped together hands into Raphael's chin.

Michael returned to battle and used the height gained from Mew's punch to bring his fists down atop Mew's head, forcing him to lurch down. Then Raphael came back out and attempted to stab him in the gut.

Mew hopped away but this time Raphael thrust his lance into the air his way and cackled, "Not t-t-this time!"

In a move Mew absolutely did not see coming, the upper half of Raphael's lance detached and went underneath the rest of it, revealing four chambers of what was clearly a gatling gun.

"Would it be in bad taste to say he's packing heat?" Was the biggest concern on Mew's mind as Raphael loaded his own aura into the chambers and fired off dozens of bullets in a blitz upon Mew's body.

Mew crossed his arms and tried to get to the ground as fast as he could. But Raphael had his number and kept the bullets firing upon him with impeccable aim. Mew might as well not have had his arms anymore with how numb they were by the time the psycho had finished unloading all his ammunition upon them.

Mew buckled down and wiggled his right leg around at the knee as Raphael returned his lance to normal and came running at him. With a grin behind his numbed up arms, the gears finally clicked in Mew's head.

"Yeah, that's the ticket..." He then swings his right leg up to kick the tip of Raphael's lance with the heel of his shoe. As he does so he surrounds his body with a thin veil of wind.

He followed up on that by hopping and spinning his other foot square into Raphael's forehead. The icy warrior nearly falls on his back and in frustration has Michael come out to take advantage of Mew's vulnerability.

Michael goes straight for the pressure points in Mew's legs, but before he could blink Mew has bent his leg to successfully plant his foot atop Michael's hand. He presses it down to the ground but takes care not to break a single bone.

Michael blinks a few times, like he was expecting a totally different result. Mew looks down and keeps his secrets behind a tightly sealed grin and a couple nudges of his brows. Michael draws out an "Oooh" and then has his place in the battle hijacked by Raphael once more.

"Fr-fr-fr-forget you! I'm shanking this bitch myself!" Raphael attempts to take up his lance in his other hand and stab it towards Mew's face.

Mew summons his sword in his right hand and slices right through the handle, sending the spear portion flying right past the side of his head. Once it has impaled itself on the ground behind Mew, Raphael gawks with his mouth wide-open.

Mew then holds his sword above his head in both hands and plays Whack-a-Mole with Raphael's head a few times using the blunt edge of it. After the psycho's been left sufficiently dazed, Mew dispels his sword and leaves Raphael's head bobbing around until with a goofy grin he collapses flat on his back.

Mew then takes his foot off of his hand and steps back, watching as Michael regains control and quickly stands up with his fists swung out. But then after a brief pause he looks a tad embarrassed and remarks, "Oh, you knocked him out."

Mew lays his hands behind the back of his head and remarks without a hint of shame in his voice, "Yep. He's out cooold."

Mew's then clobbered on the back of his head by Kairi, who had snuck up when he wasn't paying attention. With her knuckles and face red she grumbles, "Seriously, cut it out!"

Mew quickly stands back up and turns at her with a smirk and not a care in the world towards the bruise that'd be forming on his scalp.

"Ah quit being such a stiff princess. Besides, I beat the Planetary Aurian, just like I said I would!"

Kairi could barely glance at the sight of Mew's undying happiness. She kept her eyes closed and turned away with her arms crossed under her chest as she remarked, "T-They weren't that strong! I could've beaten them too!"

Mew turns back over to Michael and waves a hand out to say, "That was a good fight Michael. You and Raphael make a decent team!"

Michael dryly laughs and remarks, "Well...after a while you kinda just learn to work together, like it or not."

He then tilts his head and inquires, "But how'd you do it? After a certain point you just stopped getting affected by our Drives."

"So THAT'S what they're called," Mew said cheerfully, taking a moment to eyeball Kairi over her lack of cooperation before giving Michael the answer he deserves, "Yeah I figured out pretty early on that you had to have been doing something with your auras because I was only affected when you got in close."

Mew raised a finger up beside his hung high head and smirked, "Obviously if it had just been fire and ice you were working with I'd have nothing to fear. But you were utilizing the power of heat and cold, so I had to come up with a way to counter them both."

Mew then snaps his fingers and summons a veil of wind around his body. He mixes a bit of visible fire into the veil and says, "So I surrounded myself in this coat of wind and fire to emulate heat and counter your aura."

With another snap of the fingers he exchanged the fire for ice flakes and said, "And used wind and ice to emulate cold and counter Raphael's aura. Pretty neat huh?"

Michael slowly clapped his hands and gave his praise sincerely, "You completely beat us both. No arguments here."

Mew keeps up a humble attitude and remarks, "Oh don't feel bad, I had to work hard for that victory!"

He then tilts his head and says with a curious smirk, "Buuuuut since I won...You have to tell me what the deal is with you and Raphael!"

Michael widens his eyes and then after a gentle cough says, "Yeah I guess I shouldn't leave you hanging there."

Michael rubs the back of his head and stares longingly into space, "Its not much of a story really. Him and I come from a planet that was one-half hot, one-half cold. Both sides were constantly at war over territory control and the both of us just happened to be opposite sides of the war."

"I always tried to keep away but he took a strange liking to me and singled me out on the battlefield. Well, one thing led to another and after some terrible accident covered our planet in ice Raphael and I wound up being the only survivors."

"But we pretty much had one foot in the grave until some wizard guy came and saved us...By merging both of our bodies into one form."

"Ooof, sounds rough." Mew says, giving off a mix of empathy and intrigue.

"Its had a lot of downsides," Michael shrugs and sighs, "Sleep is hard and Raphael tends to take over at the worst possible times..."

But with a more positive expression he says, "But hey, at least I'm alive."

"Yeah but how long can you keep that up?" Mew wondered.

"Well I've been at it for over two-thousand years already, so-"

"Two-thousand years?!" Mew sputtered for a good five seconds, forcing him to catch his breath and swipe the drool off his face as he thinks, "First Auris now this guy? Geez, why are none of these immortal guy ever old men or women?!"

He then composes himself and moves on to another question, "W-Well alright if you say so...But now I've gotta wonder...Why work for Gravitus?"

"Cause he promised to find a way to split me off from Raphael." Michael states cleanly.

Mew is caught by surprise, but his reaction proves dull compared to the outrage Kairi would quickly express. She stamps her feet down to turn around and then yells at Michael, "That bastard's just using you! He doesn't care what you want!"

Michael recoiled a little and stammered, "Y-Yeah he uses us but like...I know for a fact he's trying his hardest to figure out a way to help me out."

His expression turned the sourest it had thus far as he whispered, "It...just may be possible there is no way to fix this."

Michael caught himself sighing and then lifted his head up. He reached into his right vest pocket and pulled out a little stamp, waving at Mew to stick his hand out. He then planted the stamp onto the back of his hand. Its a yin-yang symbol with blue on one side and red on the other. Mew found it cute and grinned.

When you walk back through the portal it'll detect you got the stamp for beating me and move out of the way so you can head further into the Pyramid. Michael explained.

Mew dropped the stamped hand by his hip and said, "Well it was nice meeting you Michael, but the two of us better get a move on."

"Don't let me hold you up. You're gonna have your hands full fighting the other eight Planetary Aurians." Michael warned.

Mew then tilted his head and pondered aloud, "You say that but...Shouldn't there only be eight Planetary Aurians total?"

Michael bit his teeth down with a hiss and then leaned in to Mew to whisper in his ear, "D-Don't let the last guy catch you saying that. Seriously, I mean it."

With that ominous bit of advice Michael pulled back. Mew blinked a few times, shrugged, then turned towards the portal and walked past the grumpy Kairi. He told her in a lackadaisical tone, "Better catch up or I'll leave you behind princess!"

Kairi swung her head back, saw Mew almost at the portal, then yelled "H-Hey!" as she ran after him.

Now all alone, Michael took in a deep breath, sat down, and reached underneath his vest to pull out an inch thick book with a mark on the halfway point.

"Now where was I?" He started scanning the pages of his book and felt nice and comfy. No voices in his head were going to give him trouble. He could read as much as he wanted to in peace.

"Nothing like a good book..." He says with a smile.

Next Time: The Phantasm of Youth