Kaio What? (Pyrrha.)

Pyrrha was ready and excited to follow Jake wherever he went. This was going to be an experience for sure. She had never attempted to trigger her ascension outside of a fight before. Not only would she get to test herself here, she’d also get to show off. And so, as Jake took to the air, the young alien did the same. The excitable alien took only last look at Times Square and all the pretty lights one last time before turning to follow Jake.

As they moved further away from the city and towards the docks, the night air grew crisp and cold. It nipped at Pyrrha’s nose. It didn’t bother her too much though. With all the energy circulating throughout her body the card hardly had an effect on her. Eventually all the bright and shiny lights would fade into the distance behind them. Where they were going was a little more quiet. When the two descended upon the warehouse, Pyrrha wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. The building was big, which meant a lot of space, but it was still a building.

As Pyrrha followed the young man inside her eyes immediately began scanning the whole building. She was half worried she’d bring the whole place down if she pushed herself to far, but at least there was no one here who could get hurt….except for Jake.

Pyrrha was beginning to regret this a little more as each moment passed. She found it cute that Jake pointed out the equipment to use. She doubted that it would have much use to her, but the gesture was nice. Her eyes looked about the place with a small sense of amusement. She kind liked it here. If only there was some more serious training equipment to use.

The young alien’s eyes would eventually fall back to Jake as he took to demonstrating a bit of his power. Pyrrha let out a small clap. It looked neat. But she was about to do one better…..she hoped. “Well here we go! A promise is a promise. I’d step back if I were you….like waaaaaaay back.” Pyrrha would then lower herself a bit. Arms at her side, she began to focus on the energy within her. At first there was a small gust of wind that seemed to emanate from the girl. As the seconds passed a small flicker of her energy began to show through. There was a small growing aura around her, light blue in color.

Pyrrha continued to push herself, the look on her face going from enthusiastic, to straight up concentration. She began to let out a grunt here and there, mainly out of frustration. It shouldn’t have been this hard to trigger her transformation. The young Aeteran’s grunts soon turned into a steady roar and the aura around her body erupted into a full on inferno. The energy radiated off her body with great intensity and the gust being emitted from her soon picked up force.

“Ugh! It shouldn’t be like this! I should be able to do this at will!” she growled. She was getting increasingly frustrated at her failure. Little did she notice though, that the angrier she got the more her energy seemed to flare. Sparks soon began to arc off of her body in every direction. “COME ON DAMN IT! CHANGE!” she yelled. As the weight of her failure began to sink in, she began to think of home. Mainly she began to think about her mother. The pain of losing her was still fresh in Pyrrha’s mind. Then there was the smile. The sick disgusting smile of the bastard that killed her mom. Envisioning his ugly mug and the failure to protect her mother was the trigger she needed. “ILL KILL HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!!!” she yelled with all her might. There was a brilliant blinding flight of light that burst from her body. The aura surrounding her erupted with tremendous force, the ground beneath her feet cracked and caved.

When the light faded she stood there bathed in a stunning golden aura. Small sparkles popped here and there like mini star bursts. Her expression was a bit more serious. The most drastic change however was her hair and eyes. Her two tone purple hair was now as golden as the aura that surrounded her and was standing on end. And her ones light blue eyes were now glowing an intense shade of Turquoise.

Pyrrha would gaze down at her hands, the aura was enough to give away that she had done it. A slight smile crept onto her face. “Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.” Lowering her hands, she’d look up to Jake. “This is it! My ascended form.”

Jake took to the warning, not too seriously, but understood that perhaps he should listen to her. So he took a couple steps back, lowered his body to the ground. Ready to take the force.

He... He was not ready. At first the building had a gust, inside. The gust seemed even stronger because of that fact, his shirt subtle yet shifting. Color grew around her as she seemed to pick up the pace, the wind growing stronger, a thick like feeling growing on his skin. As the seconds passed, so did everything about her grow. The wind she generated, the power she seemed to emit, the sparks of energy bouncing away from her.

The boy had to take another step back just to handle the power wind. He wasn't close to her, wasn't close when she had started, yet he felt as if he was next to her by the time she screamed out her proclamation of killing someone. The force was enough to nearly knock him off his feet, but he was able to keep his balance. Barely. And what came out was... Amazing.

Staring at the drastically changed woman, Jake couldn't think. Didn't know what to say. Simply seeing her told him that whatever form this was of his. Was not enough. Hell, he wasn't sure how much damage a fist of his red energy could even manage on her. It could hurt just about everything, but some things just took it better. A demon lord. Maybe even this. "It's... I'd say amazing but I'm starting to think amazing doesn't cover it..." He finished, before frowning. He needed to know just how much he could match this. Despite the chill of fear going down his spine at what a punch from her could do.

"Let me... Do something." He spoke, before focusing on his energy more. He didn't have a trigger like her it seemed. Her hatred for the man she wanted to kill. No his energy was just... Apart of him. Something he couldn't really touch, yet pull onto. Hell, if he just had some way to visualize it. To call it, he was sure he could form it better. Still, despite that. He managed.

Glowing brighter, Jake's body seemed to grow a deeper shade of red, the small sparks bouncing from him drastically changed and grew in size, his eyes no longer having any semblance of blue in them. Now, they were a strange, light shade of red. His power didn't have the fanciness of her ascension. Hell what he did must have barely been felt by many if at all. It was a power that simply existed. "Do me a favor. Punch me. Right here. Don't hold back too much. Please. I'll heal." The boy called out, crossing his arms into a guard. This was his form that he remembered only as the form that pushed Madeline back a few meters. He really hadn't use it beyond that. But he knew it was far, far changed compared to what was before. So he needed to know. Just how strong it made him now.

Pyrrha stood opposite from Jake, the golden aura continued to burn around her. She felt good like this. It almost felt natural, despite how hard it was to achieve. “Glad I didn’t disappoint!” she said with a slight seriousness to her voice. There was something about the duress she had to go through to achieve this form that also tweaked her attitude slightly. While she felt good, and felt more like herself than ever, there was definitely something there.

It had seemed that with all of Pyrrha’s focus and determination to show off her ascended form, a fire had been lit within Jake. His amazement and awe of Pyrrha’s new form made him want to ‘try something’. The young alien couldn’t help but feel a small sense of pride at this. And so, as Jake positioned himself to push himself past what he had shown Pyrrha, she couldn’t help but get excited at what would come of it.

The light red color to his body began to deepen and the hue of his eyes had changed completely. To be honest, Pyrrha was a little disappointed in herself when seeing how easy it was for the boy to transform. Though seeing his new form did make her question whether or not she had the capacity to do the same. Was there a level beyond her current state? If there was, how many where there? Just how strong could she possibly become? These thoughts truly excited her and now more than ever she was excited to see what she could do next.

The Aeteran would have to wait to answer these questions. Now she had to fulfill a rather strange request. He wanted her to do what now? She had been asked to strike him. She wasn’t sure how to respond to that. She stared down at her hand and curled it into a fist. Raising it up so that it was in her view, she looked past it and stared into Jake’s eyes. A playful but serious smile crept onto her face. “Alright! But just remember, you asked for this!”

Pyrrha knew she couldn’t use her full strength. Not only was this not an actual fight, but she didn’t feel like she had been pushed to that point yet. Still, using this form outside of normal combat was a strange thing for her. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to temper her strength. In the blink of an eye, no, faster, Pyrrha had closed the distance between her and Jake. Quickly entering a stand, the girl fired off a quick jab at the spot Jake had indicated.

Okay. He'd never actually done this before. Blocking. Hand to hand wasn't his forte. Sure, he could adapt to someone who knew how to use their fists. He couldn't match them, but he could... Handle them. So this was both exciting and terrifying. Which made the moment of impact both a surprise and even more of a challenge.

She was fast. Not the fastest he had seen, but fast. Like a blur she was suddenly in front of him, her fist making impact with his guard. He'd have wished he could have taken it. In fact, he kinda did. If you counted the fact he suddenly impacted into a metal bar on the other side of the warehouse. It dented, his back was very sore. So was his arm... In fact he was pretty sure he couldn't move his arm.

"Oof... That... Hmm... That was good..." Were his teeth shaking? He was pretty sure his... No his whole body was shaking, stemmed from his arm, the impact had coursed though him... It made him want to do more.

"Hey... Pyrrha... Could I have a go." He called out, lowering to the ground, his slightly good hand planting down on the ground as he let out a grunt. He had only done this... Once. And even then it was accident. He wasn't even sure if he had done it right. But he wanted it done now.

Trying to focus even more of the energy inside him, to improve his power, to increase what was already there. He could do more. So much more. The red sparks that had bounced off him sharpened and grew, one of the bolts bounced off his hand and hit the ground, cracking the ground with a thunder of a snap but that was only the start. More bolts began to bounce off him, growing stronger and more frequent, his skin deepened more, making him a deep crimson red. And as he looked to the eyes of Pyrrha with a blood like red that held nothing of the blue he had before, not even the feeling, yet they were also narrowed, as if he was questioning something about the Aliens eyes.

Rising to his feet, Jake took a step forward, causing the ground to crack even more. Stopping to look down at the damage, he frowned before looking as if he was about to lunge towards the alien... "What the actual fuck." The voice paused Jake, who spun to see a red haired woman standing near the front entrance. "Okay, who the hell are you two?" She called out, and Jake responded, his red skin seeping back to norm, his eyes shifting from red to blue.

"Anita? Heeeeyy... What are you... Doing here.." He spoke back, hoping she'd remember him, then hoping she didn't... Please don't remember him. Just kick the two of them out. That'd be so much better then any other answer. He didn't want her to remember him. It'd been nearly two years anywa-

"Jake? What the hell happened to you? You... What the hell happened to your chest? You were a lot beefier when I last saw you. Actually, better question. Where the hell have you been... No. Who is she? I said you could bring girlfriends here but not like this!" The woman grew louder and bolder, causing Jake to panic. This was the worst case. Worst case.

"Pyrrha? Umm. I need to talk to a friend. Just umm... Ahhh... Spin on that thing. No flying, just spinning!" He said to the other half breed in the warehouse, before running over to the older woman. "And she isn't that kind of friend Ita!" He finally called out as he jogged over, before walking with the red head to a office building in the warehouse.

Pyrrha let out a small gasp. She was quite shocked by her own strength. She was holding back and yet she had pushed Jake back quite a bit. A bit was an understatement. She had basically launched the young man. To make things worse he had crashed into one of the metal support pillars of the warehouse. The young alien was actually caught off guard by how shaken Jake seemed to be. “Im so so so sorry! I…I tried to hold back a swear! Please tell me you’re ok.” Pyrrha would get her answer as Jake rose to his feet.

This was beginning to turn into a spar at this point. Both taking shots at one another just to test their strength and durability. Seeing as how Jake was ok, Pyrrha calmed down a bit. She’d crack a smile at his request. She readied herself for his strike, but upon seeing him begin to push past his current form again, the young Aeteran had a not so bright idea. She already knew she was strong in this form she currently held. To her, even though she had no prior knowledge to how strong Jake was, blocking while in her ascended form would be boring.

So as Jake powered up, Pyrrha powered down. The burning golden aura around her popped, completely dispersing into the air. Her hair gently floated back into it’s original shape and the golden coloring faded completely. Pyrrha smirked from behind her guard which she had formed by crossing her arms in front of her body like an X. “Hit me with everything you got! Don’t hold back!” her entire approach to this was the complete opposite to that of Jake.

Sure he wanted to test himself against her strength, but Pyrrha wanted to push herself. She wasn’t going to get any stronger if she took it easy. This would be a great opportunity for the alien.

Unfortunately moments before Jake could strike, a red haired woman entered the building. She immediately began questioning Jake and freaking out over the damage the two had caused. Well the damaged Pyrrha had managed to cause. Despite being told to spin on one of the nearby pieces of equipment, Pyrrha had no clue which thing Jake was referring to. Instead she tried to silently hover behind the two Earthlings before giving up on that pursuit. Pyrrha would then float over to the metal beam Jake had crashed into. Grabbing the pillar on both sides, and digging her heels into the ground, she attempted to bend it back into place, which wasn’t to hard.

The woman stared at Jake, a frown on her face as he explained a few things. A few things she had the look of utter impossibility. But eventually she just shook her head and left the boy behind, walking towards what was previously the blonde haired young woman that looked as if she was about to take a hit from the previously red skinned boy. What. A. Night.

After said woman had sent the boy she knew flying several meters and he seemed unharmed for the most part. It was as if he had a bruise had formed over his arm and then vanished along with the red tinge. " Now don't talk. Pyrrha? The boy called you... Christ he's grown. Jake said you need a place to stay. Despite the utter destruction already seen here... I can't freaking say no. I shouldn't say yes..." Scrunching up her nose, the woman would turn to the floor, cracked as it was and tap the ground with her foot, several small taps, but in a rhythm.

"He is very lucky I have a lot of money. And a few secrets of my own. I don't use this building anymore. Have fun, I know I did. Pleasure to meet you. Hmh." The woman finally finished, finishing her quick taps and heading for the front entrance, taking her leave.

Soon after she left, Jake stepped out, rubbing the back of his head and looking more confused then he should have been... More surprised then anything. "She ahh... She took that better then I had expected. At all. And she said you're fine. Which is awesome. Anyway..." Going silent, Jake stared at the floor. Feeling more confused then before. He could have sworn a lot of the ground was cracked before... In fact, at least some aspect of the floor should have been cracked. Everything just looked... Like before they'd entered the building.

"Also sorry about before. Not use to actually taking and blocking direct hits. That and I don't have a good hold over the.. Whatever... forms... And then you went and turned off your form and I just." He was a mix of annoyed and pained and want and knowing. Of course she had a reason to turn it off and want to take the hit. But much like how he hurt... Well. He didn't want to hurt her, even without the interruption of Ita, he'd have forced himself to stop and he wouldn't have been happy.

Just a moment after Pyrrha had pushed the metal beam back into place, the redheaded lady would come out of the office. Pyrrha quickly snapped to attention when the woman addressed her. At first she found it rude the lady told her not to talk, but this was her place after all, and Pyrrha and Jake had snuck in and made a mess of things. Internally Pyrrha was shaking. She was afraid the lady was going to be like everyone else she had met since coming to Earth. Pyrrha was ready though and as the redhead spoke, Pyrrha prepared herself for the worse.

The young alien would end up giving the woman a confused glare as she said Pyrrha could stay. Her eyes lit up with glee. She wanted to lash out and hug the stranger but knew better than to press her luck. Instead she eased her posture a bit and listened to the woman talk a bit more before abruptly leaving. No sooner did the strange lady leave the building, Jake stepped out of the office. The look on his face was initially that of relief. His disposition changed however when the topic switched back to that of the little measuring contest they were having.

“Well there’s nothing stopping us from continuing! You don’t have to worry about hurting me, I’m tough!” she said, puffing out her chest and flexing. She didn’t like how upset? Sad? Whatever it was he was feeling, she didn’t want their meeting to end on a sour note. Pyrrha would let out a sigh. She’d have to suck up her pride. Taking a few steps away from Jake, Pyrrha let her mind fill with the thoughts and emotions from earlier. The vision of her mothers face and the alien’s. The pain of losing her mother.

Instead of letting it consume her like last time, the young Aeteran put her focus on it. She directed her energy at it. At first she felt her muscles quiver with anger, but with one final calm breath her energy would explode once more. And just like that she had cloaked herself in that brilliant golden aura. Her hair once again stood on edge and regained its golden yellow hue. “There. Now then, hit me with everything you got!” she’d say as she got back into her blocking stance.

Well, it seemed that Jake was in the good. He made peace with an alien from another... Space. World. Yea. Saw an old friend that only demanded that he visit her and explain things more when he did. And was closer to really figuring out about his own ability and power. 'I mean its... Its... Haa." Jake clicked his tongue, realizing his words were too late, Pyrrha already in the midst of her ascension.

Taking a step back, the boy frowned. After that, his mood had soured a little. Seeing Ita... It made him think. Think about what he needed to do. Maybe he needed to take a vacation to Chicago again. Deal with something he'd been ignoring. But he wasn't going to just step away. Turn his back on her now. Not when she came to this form a second time. Honestly. He just hoped he didn't disappoint. Because if he did... Then he wasn't strong enough. And if that third... State he could put himself into wasn't enough... Then... He wouldn't be sure of anything anymore.

Walking close to her, Jake clenched both his fists, trying to remove the frown on his face before looking to the aqua like eyes of the ascended Pyrrha. Reminding him of the eyes of Ann... And he really had trouble with that fact. "I need to do it closer. I can't control how fast I am with that form... Nor how much strength I put into my steps yet... Heh. Really. I can't focus that form enough for anything... But." With that, he began to focus the energy. He had never really gone from base to third. Not quite. He didn't really consider what happened during the bunny bandit a true third form. He'd gone to it in hopes his body would fight the sleepiness nature that came from the bunny's that induced it.

His body began to pulse with the red like energy, the chaotic like power taking over. Of course. He could just use his arm. Yes it would break every single bone in his arm. Not just his hand, but the shoulder, maybe even a bit of his chest. It'd be the most powerful attack he could give her. It'd destroy him. It'd destroy the building and he didn't want to think what it'd do to her. Which is why the thought came to him and left just as quickly.

Gathering his red energy and focusing it, Jake looked back to her eyes, his returning to that crimson blood, his body slowly following though, bolts of his energy sparked off his body and the boy started pulling a fist back, he looked to her block and taking in a deep breath, sent his fist at her. Hoping he didn't hurt her... Yet hoping he did anyway.

This was possibly going to hurt….Maybe. Pyrrha wasn’t exactly sure. As Jake began to take on the same red glow again, Pyrrha readied herself. Her eyes narrowed as she focused on the young man. Her bright blue eyes shifting to the fist as it was arched back. *Here it comes!* As Jake’s fist flew forward, Pyrrha’s golden aura flared up in anticipation of the hit. She’d treat it like any other hit. The impact was a lot stronger than Pyrrha thought it would have been. Of course she wouldn’t really feel it’s effect right away.

As the hit connected, the young alien dug her heels down and tensed every muscle in her body with the energy circulating through it. She was pushed back several feet, tearing up the ground as she did her best to remain on her feet. Once she came to a stop she could tell something was off. Her eyes trailed up to her left hand, as her arms had remained in the cross guard. Her fingers felt tingly. That feeling traveled down her forearm and up into her bicep. Her entire left arm, the one that had taken the full force of the punch felt heavy.

Slowly rising out of her guard position she’d flash a big grin and give Jake a thumbs up. “That wasn’t half bad. A lot tougher than some of the people in that Tyrant’s army, that’s for sure.” She’d wince slightly as she tried to keep her left arm tucked up against her body. She was partially afraid that if she let it fall she wouldn’t be able to move it again, at least not for a little while. That and she was too prideful to admit that the hit actually hurt.

{4}

The impact, Jake could feel it though his fingers. And he wasn't sure how to take it all in. A part of him felt this calmness over what had happened. The ground in front of him torn, the alien looking alright. At least, he was sure she was alright. Blinking lazily, he frowned before letting out a yawn, feeling rather tired all of a sudden. "Glad you're alright then." Even saying that, he did begin to feel a little down that this, his safest strong form, did... What.

Pushed her back a bit. Of course, her being a trained fighter, she perhaps handled it a lot better then he did. Was able to block it ina way far more efficient then his own. "Hate to think that I might not have done the best I can. I know that you can punch harder depending on your form and such... Never really figured all that stuff out. Not even starting on how I can't really control how much power I'm using or... Hmm." Jake frowned, having seeming to forget Pyrrha to focus on his own problem. Power. power and how to use it. Hell he couldn't even fight someone in... In...

Looking to the alien, Jake allowed his form to fizzle out, his skin seeping back to his norm, blue eyes on hers. "This... This might be out of the blue.. But your a person of combat... Could you teach me a bit?" He needed this. He had been looking for this for so... So long. Someone to teach him. And here was someone who wanted to just get stronger, who could fight.

Pyrrha could tell that Jake was not happy with the results of his punch. He didn’t let it on initially, but he was the type of person who wanted to get stronger. Just like Pyrrha. Sucking up her pride once again, Pyrrha would let her left arm drop to her side. She winced slightly from the pain. She could even feel the blood rushing to the area. She was pretty sure that if it weren’t for her scales, Jake might have broken a few bones. The young Aeteran would revert to her normal form and approach the young man.

Pyrrha with playfully punch Jake on the shoulder. “Chin up! You definitely pack more of a punch than most people from my galaxy.” She hoped that her words would lift the boys spirits. She wasn’t really good at this sort of thing. While she might have interacted with plenty of people since arriving on Earth, this was the longest she had ever been in someone’s company. So she just tried to do her best. “I wouldn’t go saying I’ve quite figured out my power either.” There were so many questions left unanswered because of her ascension, but she planned on figuring it all out.

While she was trying to act cool and collected, she was caught off guard by Jake’s request. “W-wah? Me?” She could feel her pride and ego inflating. How flattering it was, that someone else saw her as a worthy teacher. While that was all well and good, there was one slight problem. She had never trained anyone in her life. She was always the trainee. There was always someone teaching her. She’d assume it would be easy if all she had to do was imitate her previous mentors. But Jake wasn’t an Aeteran. He wasn’t being groomed for war or conquest. The lessons Pyrrha had learned, would not apply here.

The young Aeteran had half a mind to turn Jake down. But he had done so much for her in just the few short hours they had met. She had to pay him back in anyway possible. If he wanted to get stronger, then she’d help him. She’d quickly go from having a look of shock on her face to having full blown confidence and determination. “If you want to get stronger, then you couldn’t have asked for a better teacher! We’ll train together! There’s no telling just how high we can go. Im FIRED UP!”