Chapter 14: Clash of Raging Fists
Sleepy time went by a lot better for Mew this time around. In fact when he woke up he found that he had overslept by an hour.
"9:00?!" Mew jolted upright at the sight of the clock. But he forgot how stiff his sleeping arrangements were and as a result suffered a kink in his neck.
"Ow!" He quickly rubbed the sore spot and glanced down at the couch, "Good for sitting...Oof! Baaaaaad for sleeping."
Once his joints were in order he stood up off the couch and looked into the kitchen. Kairi was having a hearty breakfast of eggs and cereal, all dressed in her normal day clothes.
"Morning!" Mew spoke, pulling Kairi's eyes away from her plate. She looked spooked for a moment then darted her eyes back down to the plate.
"G-Good morning." She said, sounding a bit tired.
Auris then leaned her head in past the kitchen door, her eyes closed and smile pleasantly presented.
"Are you going to eat today?" She asked with a high pitch in her voice.
Mew sniffed once and absorbed the scents of farm-fresh eggs and bacon on the pan. Yet again the temptation of God's greasy delights confounded his sense of reason, but at those crossroads he found the strength to proclaim, "S-Sorry! I'll have to pass again!"
Auris pouted like a puppy dog and slowly pulled her head back in. This left Mew a clean look at Kairi fluttering her eyelashes his way.
"You're skipping breakfast? That's crazy. Its like, the most important meal of the day!" She exclaimed, utterly flabbergasted.
"Your concern's noted but unnecessary," Mew started twisting his upper body around to stretch his arms, "I don't need to eat. But boy do I sure love me some food!"
"What are you a plant?" Kairi asked while her jaw dropped.
"I'm sturdy oak that soaks up adrenaline and drips out sweat!" Mew cheerfully declared.
"Or a weed that grows when your ego's fed." Kairi grumbled.
After Mew bent down to touch his knees a few times he started to move for the door. He waved back and said, "Anyways! I'm off to the Pyramid for a couple rounds with the Planetary Aurians! See ya later!"
"Pbbbbllltt!" Kairi vibrated her lips spitting out her food then slammed her fork on the table and pushed her chair back.
"H-Hey!" Kairi almost tripped catching up to Mew, who turned around at the door to greet her with a joke.
"Gonna give me a kiss, for luck?"
Kairi raised her right fist and scowled, "Yeah. Pucker up asshole."
"Haha..." Mew waved his hand out and leaned the other by his ship, "Relax. We'll pick up your training later, promise!"
"Nuh-uh! You're taking me with you!"
"...You're not ready yet." Mew sighed firmly and shook his head.
"Oh yeah?! Well..." Mew fully embraced the possibility that this would become a long-winded confrontation. But then Kairi's eyed darted away from him as she pouted.
"M-Maybe I'll learn more from watching you fight." Her voice was soft, barely even a whisper. But the message was crystal clear. Mew stared at her a little while and the blank look in his eyes must've pissed her off.
"This is a one-time offer! Take it or leave it!" She yelled with her face bright red.
"Sure, why not? What's the harm?" Mew then raised his head and hollered, "Heat that Auris?! We are heading out!"
"Be safe dearie!" Auris yelled back affectionately.
"M-Mom!" Kairi huffed in embarrassment. She then turned back at Mew and saw him with a goofy grin. Mew got clocked in the gut by her elbow and she walked right past him out the door.
He held his gut for a bit and chuckled, "G-Good thing I got my rest..."
He then followed her outside, where the two ran afoot of Gabriel, who pleasantly stood and greeted them with, "Ah, off and running already?"
Mew looked to him and said, "Yep. Thought I'd take a walk to Jupiter and back. Maybe Saturn too, if my legs're up for it?"
"Ah..." Gabriel slowly nodded his head then turned his attention to Kairi for a brief moment.
"Mew..." His tone was coming off as judgmental prematurely. But Mew knew exactly what to tell him.
"Its ok, she said she's just going to watch and learn."
"Is that true?" Gabriel asked of Kairi.
"Y-Yeah..." She replied.
Gabriel gave his nod of approval but followed that with a cautionary bit of advice to Mew, "Just be careful. Jupiter and Saturn are..."
He stared deeper into Mew's eyes and tried not to come off as rude saying, "Well...they are...different, to say the least."
"Got-cha!" Mew replied, flicking a couple fingers off his forehead as a gesture of farewell, "We'll be back to train some more within an hour!"
"Then I'll wait right here." Gabriel said, leaning back against the house like a guardsman.
Mew and Kairi thus went and climbed their way up the Pyramid until they reached the sixth floor. There they found all manner of weight lifting equipment. Machines designed to work the biceps, triceps, quads glutes abdomen and everything else in-between filled every empty space between the stairs and the portal.
Circumventing this obstacle course of iron-pumping madness took a lot of leg lifting on the two's part. Kairi then threw a crass remark Mew's way to break things up, "Congrats. You're now officially the second biggest musclehead I know."
After she almost stumbled over a dumbbell she said in a huff, "God who needs all these weights?"
"Nothing wrong with getting fit!" Mew cheerfully said.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kairi presumed an insult from that remark. Mew turned around and chuckled nervously.
"I-I wasn't saying..."
Kairi meanwhile bent towards one of the weights lying around and squinted her eyes.
"200 lbs?" She raised her head haughtily and whispered, "I could lift that."
"Yeah yeah you can show me how ripped you are later." Mew joked.
Kairi stared at him with her mouth completely flat and unamused. She then passed him by with her head still held high. Mew bent down at the weight she looked at and saw that there wasn't a "lbs." after the "200" but rather a "t".
"Well now..." Mew smiled and stood up. And as he walked toward the portal, he observed that it had been the lightest weight in the room.
Kairi was about to enter the portal when Mew pulled her back and said, "Whooooa there."
Before she pitched a fit Mew reminded her, "Unless you wanna become a pancake you should let me go first."
"O-Oh right, Jupiter's..."
"Got the densest gravity, yeah," But there was a bright side Mew could see, "Though considering the other planets it shoooould be fine?"
Mew then waltzed into the portal without an "If", "And" or "But" from Kairi. A few seconds later Mew popped back in and said, "Its all clear! Come on!"
He slipped back through and Kairi followed right after. They arrived on a icy-rock surface overlooking the stars in the depths of space. A "short" distance away lied the gas giant Jupiter, complete with brown-orange atmosphere and pinkish "navel".
Mew propped his hand up to his forehead and was amazed at seeing another planet this close from the outside.
"Man if only I brought my camera...I bet I could make millions."
Mew's observation came to an end as he heard Kairi grunting. He turned and saw her leaning forward, pulling down by the moon's gravity. Her efforts to stand were a great struggle.
"Holy crap I feel like a beached whale!" Kairi then swung her head up and made Mew flinched by saying, "Zip it!"
Mew DID want to make a joke regarding her two "anchors" but knew there was a time and place for that. So instead he said, "Just take a deep breath and focus your power throughout your body."
Kairi hesitated to do just that but found her body quickly standing when she did. After a few blinks she sighed in relief. She then got her turn at viewing the scenery, providing some commentary of her own.
"We're on one of Jupiter's moons?"
"Seems that way," Mew started to rub his chin, "Do you know which one?"
"Ummm..." Kairi swerved her head around, looking at the ground and the other moons surrounding Jupiter.
"Icy crust, cracked surface..." Her final verdict wound up being an unsure proclamation of, "Europa? I guess?"
"Sounds about that." Mew spent a little bit more time looking at the moons when suddenly...
"Huh?" Mew narrowed his eyes towards a growing speck in the depths of space. As it got bigger and closer, it burned up like a descending comet...straight towards them.
"That's no moon!" Mew exclaimed, suddenly throwing his arms around Kairi.
"H-Hey!" She blurted with a blush as mew tackled her to the ground. The "comet" went scorching by overhead and smashed the ground. Mew shielded Kairi from the hard pebbles and chilling dust that flew up from impact. It passed by relatively fast, and once Mew heard the dust settle he lifted his head to see who was responsible.
"G-Get off me...!" But he forgot that he was on top of Kairi, who practically gave him five seconds to comply. Mew hastily stood up and went apologized.
Kairi stood and dusted off her back then joined Mew in glaring at their assailant. The settling dust revealed a deep trench burrowed in the moon's surface about six feet deep at the end. A person hopped out and stretched their arms to the air.
They had light orange skin and short shaggy scarlet hair. Their muscles weren't as thick as Mew was expecting. But boy were they impossible to ignore. They were pronounced and solid as a rock, similar to those on the statues of Greek gods. Their dark-blue jeans shorts threatened to snap under the pressure of their thick thighs. A black tube top shirt left their chiseled shoulders and firm back muscles exposed. Around their neck rested a navy-blue knitted scarf, whose tail fluttered in the breeze left by their impact. There were no socks or gloves to speak of on their person, they were simply happy enough showing off how few scars or nicks were on their knuckles and heels.
"He looks pretty tough..." Kairi noted with her voice kinda shaky.
"He?" Mew looked at her and chuckled, a response that left her befuddled.
"Kick. Ass! A ten-point landing!" The person spoke with a deep, booming voice. Though it could've been as baritone as an opera singer's and it still wouldn't have been able to obscure the femininity in their tone. And when the person swung their head back with a grin and their striking blue eyes it became strikingly clear to Kairi who all this muscle belonged to.
"A-A girl?!" Kairi exclaimed.
The thick muscled gal turned her body around and put one hand on her hip. She positively beamed with an approachable fun-loving attitude that hid a tough, gritty interior underneath all that rock hard skin. She had decently-sized breasts but for once Mew's jaw-dropped more at how she had six-pack abs that could cut diamond.
Looking at this girl got Mew's heart racing. The girl stare at him back and the two's teeth bit down into a fierce competitive scowl. Mew took one step forward, and she was about to do the same. But the trench gave her pause, and her gaze followed it up to where her two guests stood.
"Hrmm, make that a nine-point-five landing..." She shrugged that off then leaped right over the trench. The fierce gravity was a joke to her. She flew like a sparrow the dropped to the ground like a boulder all on her own. Once behind her company she spun around, threw a hand up and yelled, "Sup!"
Mew turned and matched her friendly gesture with a shout of "Yo!"
It took Mew nudging Kairi with his elbow to get her to turn around and meekly say, "H-Hi?"
The girl planted her hand back down and declared, "Awesome!"
The three stood in dead silence for a few seconds with the girl just grinning from cheek-to-cheek. Kairi blinked then threw out an "Ummm" causing the girl to thrust her eyes open and declare, "Oh right! Intro!"
She stabbed a thumb up by her chest and put on an air of professionalism akin to a cop's, "Aurian Jupiter, at your service! Real Name: Noel! Profession: Galactic Patrolwoman! Coolness Rating: 100% Concentrated Badass!"
Her overwhelming attitude felt like the complete opposite of Mars'. She was bona fide confidence personified in every inch of her six-foot tall amazonian body. But Mew didn't even tremble as he met her intro and mirrored it with his own brand of confidence, "Sup, name's Mew! Real Name: Mew! Profession: Man of Danger! Coolness Rating: 110% Concentrated Badass!"
Jupiter closed her eyes and laughed loud enough to tickle a mountainside, "Ha ha! Yeah you totally look like the kinda guy who could've beaten Michael, Maria and Gabriel!"
"And Seth, don't forget Seth." Mew noted.
"What about him?" Jupiter spat hastily, her voice cold as ice.
"...Ah, I think I get it now." Mew nodded his head.
He then watched as Jupiter tightened her grip around her hip, making a distinct cracking sound with her knuckles. She also jerked her head left to right, cracking her neck muscles.
"So what's it gonna be? One on one? Two on one?" Jupiter pounded her fists before her waist and grit her teeth to say, "Maybe a hundred to one?!"
Kairi was already retreating when Mew held his arm back and whispered to her, "Just keep your distance and pay attention."
Mew then stood tall against his magnificently sculpted foe and threw his arms up. He boasted with a robust hamminess in his voice, "You face the might of a million men in one!"
Jupiter ground her teeth together as a fire grew in her eyes to blot out the sun and stars blazing in the ebony sky.
"That so?" Jupiter opened one hand and squeezed her fist so hard that the ground suddenly cratered at her feet, "Cause that ain't gonna be enough!"
She raised and smashed one foot forward, shattering the ground. Mew met her show of strength and flexed his knuckles by his hips. She responded in kind by nudging her grin up, the cockiness and confidence speaking a language Mew never thought he'd get to experience towards another.
Their hearts raced together and pumped blood and adrenaline into their legs. They galloped towards one another, two bulls meeting on the wilderness plains. They raised their hands up and tackled each other head on, slamming their sweaty palms together and meeting on even footing. They were the same height, wore the same azure flame on their irises, and their hearts beat as one.
After wearing their scowls in the open and growling like lions, the two rammed their foreheads together and broke apart the ground twenty feet around their heels.
Vs. The Bloodfist Demon: Aurian Jupiter!
Blood dripped from their foreheads down to their nose. Jupiter grabbed Mew's hands and forced them down to his hips, shoving him off. The two hopped a couple feet back. Jupiter bent forward, throwing up her fists before her face as her scarf swayed with her movements.
"Can't take this one lightly..." Mew pointed at the ground and a jolt of electricity ejected from the fingertip and burrowed itself in the cracks. Jupiter grinned and bolted forward swinging right for Mew's face.
Mew swung his head to the left and felt pressure along his cheek that nudged his head back a little. He widened his eyes and swerved his head around as Jupiter curved both her fists towards the sides of his head.
He took his opening to leap back and snapped his fingers at the ground as Jupiter stepped one foot forward. A lightning bolt rose from the ground and smited her. Mew grinned until Jupiter launched herself out of the lightning bolt with static tingling her skin and rammed her left fist into Mew's gut.
"GUH!" Mew felt like he just spat out all the air in his lungs. Jupiter threw two more punches to lift him higher then kneed him in the chest and swung her fists at his head to send him to the ground.
Mew dug his heels into the ground but wound up dragging his feet all the way to where Kairi stood, the ground he razed building up at her toes. Mew grit his teeth and swung his head back. Seeing the fright in her eyes turned his ferocity into a grin as he joked, "Taking notes?"
Jupiter went diving down foot first and Mew hastily told Kairi "Get back!" as he swung his arms out and grappled Jupiter around the leg. Her momentum twisted his body back, a soft crack coming from his spine. Mew held his ground and spun himself around to throw the brawler to the ground.
She landed on her back and dug up most of the ground in her path. She smashed her bare heels down to stand up, victimizing the poor unfortunate ground that had to be in her way.
Jupiter tossed some spit down to her left, its speed and impact like a bullet. She grinned and raised her fists to her face, fluttering some fingers towards her. Mew stood up and his upper arms trembled.
"Ah come on, she went down and I'm the one hurting?" Mew closed his eyes with a "Tsk" then waggled the pain out of his limbs, firming them back up with the flexing of his fingers.
He then stared his burning glare at the fiery warrior and charged forward. He paused before her, just briefly, to weigh his options. He decided to sweep his left leg towards her knee caps and she in turn thrust her left fist down ready to snap his leg in two.
Mew held his leg back slightly and grazed the side of her fist. He could feel the pain even though he avoided it, and it left his heart fluttering. Jupiter narrowed her gaze knowingly towards him then with a nudge of the head gave him a chance to put his foot back.
The moment it touched down Jupiter threw a few quick jabs at his face that he slid back to evade. She then thrust her right fist towards his chest to make him block it with his palm.
She sped right behind him with a single kick of her feet and turned to pummel his back with a few swift swings. Mew felt the pain in his front too, his energy being blown out like shockwaves. His stamina was ridiculous though. He knew he could outlast a few of her punches while gauging her techniques and strength.
He grit his teeth through the pain and turned around, slapping his hands up to deflect her myriad of blows. He then dug his feet into the ground and rammed his head in between her arms to smash her nose. She stumbled back a couple steps then nailed her feet to the ground and brushed the drop of blood from her nose onto her wrist.
"That's a nice warm up!" She smirked his way.
"Hey, that's my line!" Mew replied as he bounced around and swiped sweat off his forehead. He went in closer to Jupiter and threw a punch straight for her face, hoping to catch her by surprise with his speed.
She blocked with both her arms crossed up then kept that defensive stance while kicking a foot up towards his chin. Mew leaned his whole upper body back to to avoid it. It seemed silly and unnecessary but it was just part of his plan.
From there he pulled his legs up and wrapped them around Jupiter's waist. He twisted his body around, pulled her up, then slammed her down to the ground with him. But she went down fighting, and dropped her left elbow down onto his thigh at the moment of impact.
Mew let go but felt a throbbing pain in his leg. The two of them started to stand but the pressure on his foot resonated to his thigh and held him down a couple seconds longer. Jupiter's shadow loomed and Mew raised his head with a hearty chuckle. Jupiter then uppercutted him in the jaw to knock him off his feet.
She whirled around twice to build up more momentum and force for two more uppercuts to his chest. The fourth and final punch had her burrow her knuckles in and twist them like a screw. Upon release a resounding "Crack!" followed, and Mew was swept up in a large twister of pure strength.
Jupiter dropped down and threw out a thumbs-up the second Mew came crashing down on his back. Mew's body twitched around for a few seconds as the brawler spun around and stretched her arms out one at a time.
"C'mon! That can't be your best!" She said, firmly planting her knuckles up above her hips and kicking her left heel up against the ground.
Mew spit on the ground and bounced back on his feet. The pain rippled up his back and shook his body hardcore. After a couple coughs he laid a hand on his chest and took in a deep long breath. That seemed to help the pain a little.
"Well...Looks like I won't be taking it easy this time." Mew slowly closed and opened his eyes, looking over in Kairi's general direction. She was a speck in the distance, but that didn't make the worry in her eyes any less apparent.
He bucked up and lowered his hands to his hips, stating under his staggered breath, "Guess I oughta practice what I preach..."
He then threw his fists up similarly to how Jupiter does it and fluttered his fingers towards him, saying with a somewhat cockier tone, "C'mon! Lets go...round two!"
Jupiter raised her fists and pounded them together a couple times. Then she rubbed them together and declared, "Hell yeah! Hit me with your best shot!"
Mew bolted straight for the brawler and threw a punch straight into her gut. The dust in his wake moved a couple seconds later. Jupiter grimaced then jabbed her elbow down at his wrist. Mew pulled his fist back and snatched her by the wrist, throwing the arm up above his head.
Mew then rammed his forehead towards her face. She grabbed his scalp in one hand and dropped her raised elbow towards his neck. Mew grinned and bore the strikes to his neck without budging. He kicked his feet rapidly against the ground and used his thick skull to shove Jupiter back.
With her efforts failing Jupiter raised her arm up high and started grunting. Mew heard the gruesome sounds of muscles bulging and skin stretching and tilted his head back to see what was up. Jupiter's arm had doubled in size and girth, making it look abnormally connected with her relatively normal shoulder.
"Holy shit...!" Mew gasped as he ripped his head out of Jupiter's grip at the cost of a messy hairdo then jumped away. Jupiter dropped her elbow again and smashed the ground. Mew landed in the middle of a moon wide tremor as a fissure formed half a mile wide on both sides of Jupiter's fist.
Mew stared wide-eyed as the brawler casually lifted her beefy arm and returned it to normal size, swinging it around a couple times and letting out an impressed whistle.
"Not bad! Most bad guys shit their pants when I do that!" She laughed that monstrous display of strength off as a mere joke, which was definitely the scariest thing for Mew.
"I am REALLY glad I didn't have breakfast now," Mew caught his breath and thought over this a little more, "That must've been her Drive. Alright...g-good to know."
Jupiter licked her lips and charged right in swinging. She swung her arms left and right, clobbering away at Mew's chest. Mew held his arms up to block and started losing ground for it. Jupiter's focus was straight as a bullet and unstoppable as a train.
Mew breathed in deep and shoved his arms out to throw Jupiter's fists back towards her face. He then swung his arms down and slammed both fists into her gut to stagger her back a little. He grabbed her by her left shoulder and lifted her off the ground, ramming his left fist into her rock hard abs a few times, each blow stronger than the last.
The final punch struck her chest and toppled Jupiter onto her back, but she sprung right back up and slid forward to meet Mew face-to-face. Mew danced around her flurry of fists to go for her back, and she responded by kicking him in the gut with her left leg.
Mew held his ground and grabbed her leg in both hands. In a mad move she lifted her other leg off the ground and spun back, twisting her other leg out of alignment just a little just for the chance to throw a punch towards Mew's face.
Mew let go and ducked under her swing. Her thighs landed firmly around his head and her legs underneath his arms to get to his back. She then used her full weight to drag him face-first into the ground.
She rolled off him and jumped to her feet. She spun her right arm around, doubling its size at the exact moment she threw a punch up. A tiny whirlwind flew along the ground towards the hapless Mew. Little did she know though he had a big ol' grin and stood right up to catch the whirlwind in his hands.
He collapsed the wind into an orb then thrust it back at its creator. Jupiter lobbed the ball into the air with the back of her hand then leaped to spike it down. Her showmanship gave Mew the opening he needed to rise up and knock her down with his fist.
She landed on her feet but Mew dove right down and smashed his fist along her left cheek. But it wouldn't budge much, and she grit her teeth into a huge grin while slowly forcing his fist back into his elbow.
She swung her right leg up at his chest but only her foot managed to graze it as he backed away in the blink of an eye. But she kept swinging her leg out in a flurry of kicks, forcing Mew on the defensive. It wasn't bad enough that she had the strength, she also had the speed, as her legs were like orange streaks in the air.
Mew also felt like he was getting hit in the chest despite his arms being in the way. It was a strange sensation, his chest and arms getting hit at the same time, with the blows to his chest feeling half as strong as the ones to his arms.
"No no no, this must be her Drive power," And depending on how this escalated, that would only prove to be a bad thing, "Cause if I can't block her Drive, then she can just keep me hitting me with those big fists of hers..."
Mew realized at that point that there was no benefit to blocking her attacks. He'd just have to meet her fist-to-fist and use the brawler's overwhelming strength against her. In the middle of her flurry of kicks Mew suddenly threw a punch down at the bottom of her foot and made her leg recoil back towards her thigh.
She stumbled a bit back and Mew started kicking his right leg repeatedly to get her on the defensive. But it seemed she was content just meeting him on an even playing field and started kicking her leg up to meet him. Each time their legs connected it split the ground around them at random locations.
Jupiter quickly upset the balance by doubling the size of her leg, forcing Mew to raise his strength a bit to match it. The previously impacted zones grew in size as their clash rang louder in the air, deafening any chance of conversation the two may have wanted.
From the corner of his eye Mew saw a smirk form on Jupiter and suddenly he heard her muscles expand even further and the skin on her legs visibly cracking at the seams. Mew was awe-struck that her leg was now three times its normal size and she still swung it around with the ease of a wooden bat.
Mew retreated, knowing he could not match her in that state. Jupiter, however, slammed her leg down. The ground couldn't handle it and almost collapsed as she dashed straight ahead. Mew was ready to dodge left when he found her triple-sized fist plunged into his chest.
Her knuckles covered his whole chest, their raw strength exploding out of his backside and obliterating a cone of land a whole mile behind him. Mew gasped for air as he felt the bottom of his ribs break, yet found it a higher priority to crack a joke.
"T-That's gonna leave a mark..." He chuckled as Jupiter shrunk her arm and pulled it right off Mew's chest to leave him stumbling back.
Jupiter then turned around and threw both her arms up, grabbing onto her right elbow as she basked in her own glory and exclaimed, "One! Two! Three! Four!"
Mew held a hand on his chest and slowly breathed in and out through his nostrils. His knees stopped shaking and he stood tall, listening to the brawler continue her countdown, "Five! Six! Seven! Eight!"
A bit of blood dripped out of his mouth but he licked it right up and squeezed his hands into fists.
"Nine! T-" Before the final count was rung Mew charged forward like a herd of wild stallions and drug his fist along the ground. With a loud grunt he swung his fist up into Jupiter's back and lifted her right off the ground. Now the girl was the one gasping for air, a feat Mew took pride in after being her punching bag so far.
He used his fist to throw her over his head and onto the ground, where she bounced off it and prepared to stand and fight. But Mew charged right back in and clobbered her not once but twice in the chin. He battered her chest with a myriad of flaming jabs unseen by the naked eye. He then quickly threw his right leg into her hip, leaping to hammer his left foot into her other hip while simultaneously punching her forehead. Upon landing Mew nailed her gut with both his fists, causing her to bend forward and cough up a couple drops of blood.
But as Mew went for an uppercut to her face she rose up and snatched his fist out of the air. She raised it level with her face and spat the blood between her gums onto his knuckles. Her eyes were like a panther's, her smile like a grizzy bear's.
"That all you got, punk?" That wasn't a boast, that was a threat. One she'd follow up much sooner than Mew expected. She pulled him in to clock him in the gut with her elbow then threw him over her head.
She then zipped in front of his legs and grabbed them, dragging him right off the ground like a ragdoll. She locked her legs into place and spun him around and around and around, quickly creating a towering whirlwind as wide as the length he spun him.
"Taaaaake THIS!" She said before effortlessly flinging him off into space. Mew went tumbling around at terminal velocity, losing all sense of positioning or time as his brain bounced around in his skull.
When he finally straightened himself upright and turned to the moon he found he was easily thousands upon thousand of miles away from it. Mew closed and widened his eyes as much as they could handle it, shaking his head at the absurdity of his predicament.
He caught his breath and was grateful that the "Mumbo jumbo" placed on these planets kept him breathing this far out. He then bent down and prepared to rocket back into the battle when the battle, it seemed, would be coming straight for him.
A ring of dust that was roughly a speck this far out formed as a familiar bright burning streak bolted forward at ludicrous speeds. Mew slowly straightened up and braced for impact as Jupiter slammed the full force of her body into him and pummeled at his chest with her fists. The two were being carried forward by the momentum of their clash to another of Jupiter's massive moons – the yellow sulfur wasteland known as Io.
And with how blistering fast they were moving even the great distance seemed like a casual stroll for them. Finally they smashed into the moon's surface with the force of two meteorites, greatly disturbing the already geologically vulnerable environment.
The two got right on their feet and shoved their right arms together as the sulfur pockets erupted and clouded their vision. Mew could safely breathe the air in by converting the toxic atmosphere into oxygen, but despite Jupiter having no such luxuries she fought with all her strength just the same.
She advanced on him ducking under his fists and smashing hers across his gut to make him yield. Mew's abdomen was starting to feel wobbly like gelatin but he would never surrender, even against this respectable adversary.
He hammered his kneecap into Jupiter's chin to make her stand then smashed both his fists down on her head, hoping both forces would make her kneel. And she did! But only to better furiously pound his thighs with her fists. Mew's knees buckled under pressure until he was level with Jupiter's face, where she flashed a grin before filling his vision with the grit of her double-sized fist.
Mew went tumbling onto his back across the sulfur filled lands, though to him that wound up being the equivalent of covering his clothes in cheese dust. He planted his hands on the ground and twisted his body left as Jupiter leaped and dropped a punch towards his shoulder. Before either could follow up her punch accidentally caused an eruption in the ground that spewed lava to separate the two momentarily.
Mew stood and nudged his head down to the left, his heart feeling like it was about to explode from all the adrenaline. Jupiter surely felt the same, even if he couldn't see it at the moment.
"Days like this..." Mew grit his blood tinted teeth and raised his fists in preparation for the lava to subside, "Are when it feels good to be alive."
A river of lava separated the two but Mew heard the sounds of splashing coming from close by. Jupiter sprinted bare-footed across the lava's surface and surprised Mew long enough to throw a punch at his chest. She pressed her body up close and personal and rapidly threw short length punches into Mew's gut, ending on a firm swing to knock him twenty feet away.
Mew's heels slid up the side of a mountain and he glanced back, sensing how it towered taller than Mt. Everest. He grinned and his mind started conjuring up an insane idea. He waited for Jupiter to approach and deflected her punches with his hands so her Drive's aftershocks missed him entirely.
She doubled the size of her legs one at a time and tried to sweep him off his feet. Mew hopped over them and continued making his way back. He threw a punch and a kick or two to keep her suspicions lowered. But for being a distraction it sure sucked having to throw his full strength into each blow.
The sulfur pockets on the surface burst around them, lowering visibility down to the bare minimum. Yet their eagle-eyes pierced through the veil and gave them a clear look at one another. Mew saw Jupiter throwing all her might into each punch, her blood-drenched teeth grit into a wild scowl. What she saw from him is a happy-go-lucky grin and his eyes filled with a genuine enjoyment of life.
The blistering heat and toxic air was a menial distraction to the two's bare-knuckle brawl. The eruptions and gurgling ground fell on deaf ears as the clash of their fists eclipsed the moon's distress.
Mew soon widened his eyes and realized he almost missed that they were near the top. When Jupiter leaped and thrust her fist down towards his head Mew evaded it with a backflip and landed on the shaky mountain top. Her punch inflicted a deep penetrating wound that caused lava to ooze out onto her feet as she stood up at Mew.
Mew swung his arms up and boasted assuredly, "Its over Noel! I have the high ground!"
Jupiter spat a wad of blood into the sizzling lava and shook her hands free of sulfur. Mew could barely make out her wild grin until she punched her fists together to push away the toxic air around her. She then wagged her fingers towards her body and exclaimed, "You underestimate my power!"
"Yeeeeeessss!" Mew couldn't have been any more elated that she got the reference. He put his hands down in his pockets and with a satisfied smile he turned around and appeared to lean his back against the empty air.
"I'll knock ya right off your high horse!" Her boast was followed by her tripling the size of her right arm and charging right in.
Mew smile just got wider as he crossed his arms and summoned his sword into the ground behind him to lean up against. The sword played the role of the shield and blocked the full might of Jupiter's punch. But poor Io, it'd have to pay the price dearly.
The reverb of her punch went down to the tip of Mew's blade and split open the sides of the mountain down to the bottom and continued traveling across the moon. It split off into multiple branches until half the moon was covered in fissures.
Mew felt all this and softly blinked his eyes while muttering a high-pitched "Whoopsie". But he got what he wanted out of all this and that was to leave his opponent completely stunned. He dispelled his sword and turned around to quickly grab Jupiter under her shoulders and suplex her against the mountain top...Whatever was left of it anyways.
The mountain had enough. The whole thing burst wide-open and launched the two of them straight up in an eruption of lethal sulfur and lava. Mew still held on tightly to Jupiter as they were launched away from the moon even if it hurt his back doing so. He then grit his teeth and spewed fire from his feet to turn himself around at high velocity with Jupiter at the center.
"Sorry, but I'm supposed to be tutoring someone here...SO BACK YOU GO!" He declared before throwing his all into tossing Jupiter straight back to Europa.
She didn't go flying nearly as fast as she sent him earlier but Mew fixed that by charging in and slamming her with a shoulder tackle. After a couple of those Jupiter finally recovered. But surely even she wouldn't be able to turn the tide in this state, right?
Mew should've known better than to make assumptions. Jupiter grinned and tripled the size of BOTH her arms, punching them both back with enough force to propel herself forward off of Europa's surface. Mew widened his eyes and was helpless as the gal grappled her muscular hands around the sides of his head and pressed down to lower his resistance right before flinging him straight towards the moon.
Mew crashed flat on his back against the hard icy ground and stayed there unable to move. He lifted his head up but his arms and legs were buried under a couple tons of debris, not helped by the moon's immense gravity. And Jupiter, defying the laws of physics as she does, was flying straight down at him.
"THIS'LL FINISH YOU!" Her voice echoed loudly through the depths of space as her body underwent one last change. Pushing her arms to their limits, the skin was stripped off her hands and biceps and exposed the sinew of her muscles. Her arms, now quadruple their size, would surely turn Mew into paste if he didn't act fast.
Mew grit his teeth and pulled out his entire reservoir of strength to rip his arms free of the debris and cross them up before his face right as Jupiter's fists came crashing down.
What ensued could only be described as complete and utter insanity. The whole moon split apart like an egg, its pieces being blown away in all directions while its core destabilized and spread its contents wherever they could go. The large fragment that Mew and Jupiter were on stayed where it was, luckily.
Jupiter shrunk her arms back down to normal and planted her knees atop the rubble Mew was buried under. She panted and her arms were visibly throbbing in agony. But a second later a silvery coated fist shoved up through the rubble and punched her square in the gut.
Her breathing grew unsteady and with a sweaty gasp she suddenly collapsed on the ground to the left of the rubble. Mew pushed himself up and shook his arms to dispel the metal off them. He grit his teeth and with a nasally hiss felt the pain of his efforts reverberate throughout his body.
"Ooooow...G-Good ol' adamantium," He then closed his eyes and thought aloud, "But hooooo boy...That was WAY too close for comfort..."
He stood up and had the courtesy of helping Jupiter to her feet as well. He offered his back as arm support and then carried her away from the massive pile of rubble. She slowly opened her eyes and somehow still had the strength to smile.
Mew looked her in the eyes and complimented her with, "Hey, that was a great fight!"
"Yeah, same to you," She replied with no hard feelings between them. She grimaced her eyes closed and let out a struggling grunt, "Ah shit...I'm aching all over here!"
"Hahaha, you gonna be ok?" Mew cheerfully asked.
"Pffft, I'll be fine. This is nothing!" Jupiter insisted, then nudged her head forward and remarked, "But what about your girlfriend?"
"My wha-" Mew turned his head forward and upon seeing Kairi flat on her butt with her skin as pale as snow he widened his eyes and declared, "Ooops! Almost forgot!"
He suddenly dropped Jupiter flat on the ground and ran straight on over to Kairi. Her gaze was the only thing that followed him up as he got closer, and her pupils were the size of pin needles. Mew crossed his arms before his chest and nonchalantly chuckled, "Hehe see? Someday, you'll be able to fight opponents like this as well!"
Dripping with a cold sweat Kairi closed her eyes and whispered "G-Great...Lovely..." as she tried to stand back up. Mew held his hand out to help but she just looked away from it and managed just fine on her own.
Mew then found his chin on his chest as Jupiter socked him one on the back of the head and yelled bluntly, "Rude!"
When Mew stood up and turned around Jupiter planted her hands on her hips and declared, "Well since ya beat me I guess I gotta give you the ol' stamp of approval right?"
She reached into her right pocket and her thighs made it a real struggle to pull out the thumb shaped stamp inside. She then forced Mew's hand forward and planted the stamp on the back. This time the stamp was golden and symbolized a police officer's badge.
Jupiter wiggled the stamp around between her fingers and with a small grin said, "Certified and ready to go!"
Mew lowered his head and nodded out of appreciation. But Jupiter's eyes suddenly regained their fury and she made it clear as day to Mew, "But don't think this is over. Next time, I'm gonna be the winner!"
"But maybe next time we could fight somewhere a little more...durable?" Mew said, surveying the drifting rubble formerly known as Europa.
"Ah pish-posh..." Jupiter flapped her right hand down without a care and proclaimed, "My friend'll put the moons back together just like she always does."
"A-Always does?!" Kairi exclaimed, her skin now so pale she may was well been see-through.
Jupiter started laughing and so did Mew, albeit not for as long, cause he had a question for his beaten opponent.
"Before we go I'm kinda curious to know what led to you working for Gravitus."
"You are?" Jupiter acted surprised but then punched her fist up against an open palm and declared, "Ain't that hard to explain! I have a lot of fun punching out the bad guys giving him shit!"
She cocked her body up and with a hearty grin added, "Y'know, in the name of truth and justice and all that wordy mumbo-jumbo in-between?"
"...Hmm," Mew swung his hand up and said, "Fair enough! Thanks for telling me!"
"No problem! Now don't go being a stranger ya hear me?"
Mew started to head for the portal but had to turn around and drag Kairi by her arm when she wouldn't move. Yet as has become commonplace now Jupiter had one last thing to say before they left.
"Oh!" Mew turned his head back and as she waved his way she asked, "If, and that's a mighty big if we're talking here, ya make it to my little sister, tell her I'll be coming around to visit tomorrow!"
"Will do!" Mew spoke confidently before leaving through the portal with Kairi literally in tow.
Now that they were gone Jupiter breathed a heavy sigh then fell right down onto her back. She stretched her arms and legs on this barren rock and enjoyed the view of the stars above. As her eyes gently closed, signaling a growing urge to nap, she muttered quietly to herself, "Looks like its all up to you now...Cat."
Next Time: Justice! vs. Justice!