'From now on, you will be known as Jupiter, and she as Mu.' The Tutor said as Jupiter looked across to see an angelic girl with long hair just like his very own standing two meters away from him. However, his hair is white, while hers is blue.
'Nice...nice to meet you.' Jupiter said, reaching out with his scarred hand.
'Why do I have to bother with him?!' With arms crossed in front of her, Mu spun around and waddled away, leaving Jupiter's hand in the air.
He didn't have a reaction, but rather pulled his hand back. Jupiter turned to the Tutor and waited for an explanation.
'Remember what you are sent here to do.' The Tutor said, scratching his beard, 'you are here to learn to access Escalation 3, and perfect your Escalation 1's and 2's. Having a competitor just speeds everything up.'
A competitor? Jupiter glanced over at the girl who skipped away with movements as smooth as swans in the water and wondered what it really meant.
'Who would have thought that he of all people is the only one to make it....'
'You know what they say about the Red Blob right...It only allows those with the most latent potential to survive...'
'But still...regardless....send him to the tutor ASAP.'
'Yes Sir!'
Rocking up awake from those conversations in his dreams, Jupiter gasped for air as his hands gripped tightly onto the bedsheet. His hands glowed and slowly began to burn into the sheets as the smell of burning fabric filled his nose. In a panic, Jupiter almost screamed and tossed the sheet to the side, where it hit Mu right on the head.
The Tutor has only had one spare bedroom, and the two slept on one large mattress on the floor.
'What...what....' Mu seemed undisturbed in her sleep as she rolled over, hugging onto the burned piece. Not wanting to interrupt her, Jupiter simply crawled up in a ball and endured the cold through the night.
'Very well! Mu!' The Tutor said, clapping his hand together to gesture the end of the training exercise as Mu finished her elegant dance and Jupiter dropped onto his knees in fatigue, 'Jupiter, you need to channel your power at a more steady rate, rather than in bursts.'
'Yes, Sir.' Jupiter said, shaking away the ring in his ears and the ache in his head. He looked over at Mu, and she has taken a seat on the ledge overlooking a forest just below the Tutor's home, not paying any attention to him. Her dark blue hair flew in the wind, tumbles and spins in beautiful patterns, and Jupiter's mind is lost in the patterns.
'Remember what you came here to do.' The Tutor obviously noticed Jupiter's not so discrete actions.
'Yes, Sir!'
Months passed, and finally, Jupiter was able to get a handle over his very own powers, though he never got to know Mu. She never engages in direct communication with him, and Jupiter has stopped bothering with questions. His power is dramatically named the SECOND SUN, while hers is as simple as DANCE. And yet, she has always been so much more proficient than him, at everything.
Then, there was a long duration group assignment.
'You are to infiltrate the base of an underworld gang who has just settled in the nearby mountains.' The Tutor said, 'and you are to retrieve the financial document located at the main building office. You have three days.'
'Just stay out of my way!' Mu ordered as she marched forward directly through the main gate.
'Let me help!' Jupiter said, showing a rare sign of frustration outward, 'The Tutor said this is a group assignment!'
'A group assignment meant there is an assignment for the group.' Mu retorted, 'that means someone in the group has to complete it!'
'That's not what the Tutor wanted!'
'Stop talking about what he wants!' Mu said, turning around poking her finger into Jupiter with so much strength that he thought his heart is getting punctured, 'WHAT DO YOU WANT?'
'I....I...'
'You know what I want?' Mu said, her eyes full of fire, 'I want to get through the training as QUICKLY as possible, get away from this shithouse, get away from YOU, and get away from EVERYTHING! Leave me alone, and let me get this done!'
Then, Mu walked directly into the fire, as she danced, evaded and immuned the barrage of fire, taking down multiple armed gang members swiftly, she was taken by surprise by a giant from the side. He swiped his hand and whacked her across the body with his gigantic forearm before catching her mid-air with the other hand.
'What the hell is a little girl doing here?' He said, when balls of flames hit him right in the eye, blinding him temporarily. Then, Jupiter charged him already in his state of ESCALATION 2, and kicking the giant in the chest. His feet melted through his armor and flesh, and the grip on Mu was released. Detransforming his upper body as to not burn Mu with his power, Jupiter carried Mu away from the base back into hiding around the base as the gang members scrambled to rescue their injured boss.
Mu was knocked out for a long while, and Jupiter stayed with her until she suddenly woke up. Her eyes shot open before she was about to scream, but Jupiter covered her mouth quickly.
A few of her rib bones were dislocated, but Jupiter relocated them as well as healing her with part of his warmth.
'YOU!' Mu was just about to go off on him but realized the warmth coming from her side as well as the wrappings on her body. Jupiter's right sleeve is gone, and that piece of fabric is now tied around her chest, 'you...why?'
'This is a group assignment.' Jupiter said, 'I wanted to pass this too!'
Mu looked at the young boy seriously for the first time, and he had a stone-cold look on his face as he glanced over towards the base. Why is he acting all cool now?! Annoyed, Mu lied down on the ground again and looked at the stars overhead.
'I think...I have a plan.' Jupiter said, before laying out everything towards Mu. For the first time, she listened to him.
And the plan worked. As the two ran away from the burning building with the financial document in hand, Mu realized that perhaps the boy in front of her is not as useless as she had thought.
'Well done.' The Tutor said, tossing the financial document into the bin in the corner of the room, 'you have both passed.'
'BUT! What's the point of the assignment if you just trash the document!' Mu stood up angrily and pointed her finger at the laughing Tutor, and he shook his head without an explanation.
Jupiter's Escalation 2 is easier to activate and is certainly stronger than Mu's Escalation 2. However...her Escalation 3 is on a whole other level.
In all of their single combat training sessions, Jupiter had never once defeated Mu. He always struggled with his own Escalation 3, and often was forced out of that state with intense heartburn and pain. In order to fight this situation, the Tutor created a stabilizing implant for him, which enabled him to slightly tap into his powers.
'Just try to channel it, as if you are opening up a flowing river.' Mu said, as Jupiter dropped from the air again like a falling bird and went face-first onto the ground, 'it's really natural, and easy.'
'For me....It felt like I am walking a tightrope ten thousand feet in the air...' Jupiter replied, 'it has always felt that way...'
'When was the first time you used it?' Mu asked, sitting next to him, 'E3?'
'It was only after the procedure. I was able to get there temporarily?' Jupiter said.
'Procedure?' Mu tilted her head to the side before lowering her voice, 'where are you from, really?'
'You know the Tutor forbids all such discussions.'
'I was always able to get to Escalation 3...' Mu said, shrugging her shoulders and standing up.
Then, she easily activated Escalation 3 and began a dance of her very own. During the movements, she caught a glimpse of Jupiter and found his eyes locked onto her.
It wasn't the same look he had when looking at any of the assignments, such as the time he looked at the base they were infiltrating during the group assignment.
This look....this is a look Mu cannot decipher.
'What you want to do after you get out of here...' Jupiter asked.
'I...want to be a dancer. I want to perform on the BIGGEST STAGE, for everybody!' Mu said, spinning around after leaping in the air before reaching out her fingers and back leg, controlling her momentum flawlessly and beautifully. Her dark blue hair moving in compelling waves, 'I want to be the most beautiful!'
'You already are the most...' The sentence just came out of Jupiter without him realizing before their quiet was interrupted by the Tutor who had returned from his break.
'Get practicing your Escalation 3's. NOW!'
In Jupiter's past, he had always been a subject of bullying and abuse because of his lack of power. Being seen as one of the disposable experimental subjects, the Red Blob was tested on him. He was the only survivor, and that was where his training started. However, Mu's on the complete another side of the spectrum. She was dropped off at an orphanage, and her parents are unknown.
She always loved watching tapes of dancers, and she started at a very young age. Then, her powers activated, and an entire auditorium was destroyed with her first successful Pirouette turn.
She was taken into a fancy castle, and she was trained to be perfect from that moment on. And yet despite all of her perfect records...why the heck was she paired up with someone as flawed as Jupiter?
'You will be free after you have served our kingdom.' Her caretaker promised, and Mu has been holding onto that promise in the deepest part of her heart, 'you will be able to perform on the biggest stage the world has ever seen.'
Times flew, and finally, the training has come to an end. The last lesson was them having one last spar, and it ended in Mu winning once again.
'I guess...I will always be chasing after you, Mu.' Pushing himself up despite the fresh pain, Jupiter said with a rare smile and reached out his hand. Mu looked to the side and avoided eye contact, but still gave him a light tap with her hand.
Mu was picked up first by those from the Kingdom of Basha, and then Jupiter by agents of Necrovia. However, neither really knew where they came from until their fateful reunion along the country's borders.
'I always knew there was something wrong with you, you Necrovia SCUM!' Mu said, tossing aside the last of Jupiter's men onto the ground.
'Mu...' Jupiter said, reaching out with his hand towards the girl now donning a different hairstyle. Her long hair is no more, and now she carries a twin tail.
'Useless.' Spinning around and avoiding Jupiter's hand, Mu slammed him into the ground.
'Is he dead?' A voice came from behind Mu.
'Are you doubting my ability?' Mu spun around angrily, and the soldier who asked cowardly backed away.
Then, as the girl waddled away once again, Jupiter raised his head ever so slightly to see that beautiful figure disappear into the distance.
Still the most beautiful figure in the world.