"looks like we have two of the heightened gen here" Jon typed into the group chat as the molecules of air are pulled taught by the tension between the two. The groups of soldiers thrown back by the clash of their partial ESCALATION transformations have just scrambled back up to their feet when the middleman laid down his deal.
'Bugger off, Jupiter.' Mu was the first one to speak as she waved her hand with beautifully painted nails at him, 'you are no match for me.'
'You wanted to see us fight.' Jupiter turned his head once again to directly address the middleman, 'why.'
'Well.....it's all just business.' The middleman said without backing an inch despite Jupiter's ever-threatening demeanor, 'but to be honest, I am curious. It's not every day you get to see someone like you face off.'
'You are playing a risky game.' Jupiter said, looking back to face Mu who's also looking angrily at the middleman.
'I do not like to be played, mister.' Mu said, poking her fingers into the shoulder plates of the middleman repeatedly, 'you understand me? YOU UNDERSTAND ME?'
'Well, I will let you two settle your...differences.' Ignoring the poking and prodding from the two young superhumans, the middleman picked up the suitcase and took a seat at one of the viewing chairs designated for shoppers to sit back and watch the performance previously done by the pianist on the grand piano, 'let the performance...begin, again.'
'Tsk. I will not fall for such stupid tricks.' Mu said defiantly when Jupiter launched his very first attack.
With half a breath in, the implant upon his left chest lit up as well as his fist as he launched a red hot ball of energy towards Mu which landed near her feet and rapidly expands in a spherical fashion. A bright flash lit up the entire underground shopping mall before the sphere collapsed back in and imploded.
All that's left from where Mu's standing is a burned floor surface, and Mu is nowhere to be found.
'I am no longer the weakling I was, Mu.' Jupiter declared, pulling back his fist and standing tall in place.
'I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.' Mu said, appearing from the darkness with her entire body lightly glowing.
Jupiter didn't respond before throwing another of the same attack towards her, and Mu spun around in an elegant dancing turn as her body glowed brightly and absorbed the damage both from the initial explosion and implosion. Then, she took a gallop towards Jupiter before swiping her hand across horizontally when a slash of wind would have cut Jupiter's stomach wide open if not for him moving out of the way.
The soldiers behind him are less lucky, however, as their bodies were cut cleanly in half before parts of their bodies got thrown onto the wall and splattered.
Carrying on the momentum of Jupiter's evasion, he ran in a slight curve, encircling around the stage and closing in the distance between the two as both of his fists glowed brightly. Then, the two exchanged an array of blows with Jupiter utilizing the standard combat styles taught at most military schools, though each and every single attack of his come with a flash of light followed immediately by a heatwave from the center of impact.
In the meanwhile, Mu's style of combat is a lot more beautiful, smooth, and...seemingly effortless. Wither her shoes tapping on the floor at various angles, Mu spins and turns her way in between Jupiter's attacks, parrying and knocking aside his blows before any of them even comes close to hitting her body. Her hand is formed in the shape of a straight palm, and it also glowed rhythmically with her every movement.
Everything was just as Jupiter remembered.
Mu is as dangerous as she is objectively beautiful, and her powers are closely linked with her movements, similar to how his very own power is linked to his glowing body.
When it comes to close-quarter combat, there is really no way for Jupiter to land his blows, and even if he could, Mu would sustain next to no damage.
However, Jupiter knew exactly what to do.
'You are boring.' Mu said, throwing a tongue out at him and redirecting Jupiter's forward momentum past her as she spun next to him, her twin tails slapping across his back accidentally, 'you are ugly, you are slow on your feet. Worthless.'
'You are just as I remembered.' Jupiter said, planting his feet hard before letting out a loud roar. The impact of his feet was like a spark of an explosion before all of his body is lit up and he is turned into a being of pure light and heat, with lava-like patterns all across his body. The explosion of heatwaves caught Mu by surprise as she spun away hastily to avoid most of the damage, but the bright flashes of light blinded parts of her visual fields, as well as part of her skins facing him, is burnt.
Looking at the patches of skin that have turned pink on her beautiful shoulders and arms, Mu hissed angrily and ignored the fresh pain. It was not like Jupiter had finally landed a hit on her after persistent tries...no this attack is different fundamentally.
'ESCALATION 2. Activate.' Jupiter said, turning around to reveal his entirely transformed appearance. His long white hair now glowed even more brightly as it seemed to have a will of its own. His eyes are turned blue, and a track of light followed it where ever Jupiter moves. Levitating off the ground, Jupiter approached Mu like a divine figure straight out of Heaven.
Second Sun, the nature of Jupiter's power, as he commands the energy of fusion in his body. Pulses of radiation jets out of his body in between cracks of the lava surfaces and left behind burning tracks on the environment all around him.
Knowing that the time to play around had finally ended, Mu lets out a frustrated growl before grabbing tapping on one of her buttons over one of the bracelets she's wearing. Starting with the bracelet as the center, the materials of her dress that she's wearing began to pill off in a wave-like fashion as the white dress slowly transformed in both it's color and texture.
The full-body dress is turned into a black jacket and blue jeans, while her white dancing shoes are turned into heavy boots with clinks of metal attached to it.
'ESCALATION 2. Activated.' Mu responded as she changed from an elegant traditional dancer to a modern urban dancer in a matter of seconds, 'you are not ready for me.'
'Perhaps not.' Jupiter replied, and then the glowing figure clashed with the dancer again.
Completely changing her style of combat, Mu's movements are way more aggressive, powerful, and erratic as each and every one of her moves created explosions that send shock waves all throughout the underground complex.
Knowing that this place might be destroyed soon, Jupiter took in a barrage of attacks to his chest as the lava over his body were stirred up by the impact. However, Mu's hands and feet are also stuck to the viscous surface of his. Spinning his body around in mid-air, Jupiter kicked Mu through the ceiling like a rocket before he followed after her immediately.
The holes created through the flying Mu were small, and Jupiter easily burned through the various layers and returned to the surface where Mu's nowhere to be found.
Then, just as Jupiter is about to turn around, a wave of concrete towers over him before crushing his body completely.
That would have taught him a lesson. Mu thought as she pulled back her feet which kicked into the ground and were what generated the wave of concrete that has now fully swallowed Jupiter from within. However, that won't be enough to take him down.
Smoke rose as the concrete sizzled. Then, Jupiter rose slowly through the melting material and reappeared in front of her.
'You are so PESTY!' Mu screamed out, as she approached in for barrages of attack, but Jupiter took himself into the air and instead shot out balls of energy towards her on the ground which are all swiftly broken apart by Mu's fists and foot, 'do you like me or something.'
'There is only the mission.' Jupiter said with a strange sound of echo in his voice, 'and you are in the way.'
'That's MY LINE!'
Kicking up a bench, Mu hurled it towards Jupiter like a javelin to which he melted away with a simple outburst of radiation from his body.
It doesn't appear anything that Mu does right can damage him, despite how much she is trying. Such is the dynamic of Escalation transformations and superhumans... One's Escalation 1 may be stronger than another's, and the balance of the game might be shifted completely when it comes to Escalation 2 and Escalation 3. Some of the heightened generation superhumans might also have a stronger Escalation 1 than most Escalation 2 from other superhumans.
This is particularly the case for the two fighters in this fight, being NATIONAL TREASURES of their respective neighboring countries.
'I hate this...I hate this hate this!' Throwing a tantrum, Mu swung her fist in an outburst of childish rage before slamming her fist into the bracelet again. What's interesting is that Mu appeared to also have changed her personality alongside her combat style and appearance with the Escalation transformation.
Despite her being the second one to enter into Escalation 2, she is taking the initiative in going into the rare Escalation 3, as her power levels and power sets go up exponentially yet again. So far, there had been no one that even saw her power in Escalation 3 besides her, and she never thought she needed to use it, especially not against the loser in front of her.
'ESCALATION 3, ACTIVATE!'
The waves of transformation started out from her bracelet yet again, and this time Mu is wearing a near-transparent cloth that gently covers her sculpted body, yet leaving out hints for what lied beneath her cold layers. Her eyes glow a bright white, as her dark blue twin tails are now the only hint of color about her. She has transformed into what looks like an ancient priestess, symbols of purity and clarity. However, each and every single step of hers radiates with power... the power that Jupiter cannot yet fathom.
Not yet anyway, and certainly not in his current state.
However, despite the fact that he can also enter ESCALATION 3, he isn't sure if he can remotely compete with her.
Regardless, he will have to try.
'ESCALATION 3...ACTIVATE.' Parts of his body began to become intangible, as other parts floated in and out of existence. The glow from his entire body continued to brighten when he caught a glimpse of Mu's attack in the corner of his eye. She bent forward slightly, revealing flashes of her flesh underneath the thin cloths. In the same movement, Mu brought both hands together in a clapping motion but allows the hand to miss each other as her arms crossed over in front of her.
The sense of imminent danger overloaded Jupiter's brain before his lower limb and upper limb are suddenly picked up and twisted in opposite directions followed by a LOUD CRACK. Then, the pain knocked him clean out as he fell slowly back down to earth.
'It was just like before...' Jupiter said, as he freefall through the air, 'nothing had changed....has it, Mu?'