Jupiter's Legacy

It had been a long night filled with little sleep and what he had gotten was far from restful. The cause of this unrest, his thoughts, which had once again returned to his father. Since learning his father was a god-like Shin or Kai to others he found it hard to focus on much else. He had always had the impression that his father had been a strong warrior, which could still be very much true but he had always thought of him as a human as well. And now he had to accept that and the fact the he himself was not a full one-hundred percent human but a half-breed. One part human one part… NO! He thought, violently shaking the thought from his head.

“I’m human and nothing else,” he stated to himself out loud. If only saying it could make it true.

The day continued a pace as normal as he remained in his room sitting atop his bed in a fetal like position but at least upright. He had to find some way to get past this. Glancing over to the small clock on his nightstand it read 3:56 pm. He had made plans the other day to meet up with one of his closest friends for a bit of fun in the usual spot but was about to be late, yet again. Jupiter was usually late for everything, a habit he was going to need to grow out of.

Quickly sliding out of bed he stood there for a few moments stretching his stiff muscles. He had spent most of the night like that with little to no movement. Already dressed in his usual sneakers and black jeans he didn’t bother to toss a shirt on as he slid his window open and jumped outside. He would be working up quite a sweat and the added shirt would just make the whole process uncomfortable. He did however reach back in and grab one of his many practice swords and strap it onto his back before taking off.

Their house which was on the outskirts of West City was rather small and simple compared to the day and age, one floor and only two bedrooms with a little attic space. Still he couldn’t think of living anywhere else, besides he needed to care for his mother since his father wasn’t in the picture.

After he made it a little ways from the house he took to the skies. Flying had always come natural to him though it wasn’t something be bragged about nor something he did with a lot of people around. Just one of the few racial gifts he had gotten from his absentee father. He had heard humans with enough training could fly but it wasn’t a very common thing.

From his house it wasn’t a very long trip to his destination so he didn’t fly as high or as fast as he usually would. Off the coast, roughly south west from west city stood two ever small islands that barely showed on the map. It was the larger of these two islands he was currently headed too. Mostly just on oversized hill with a flat top, it had been covered with trees but him and his friend had cleared off the top long ago. It was the perfect place for their usual sparing secessions, which had become much more completive as of late. He had yet to tell him of his father however. Each time he had thought to over the past month he had decided at the last second to push it off to a later date. It wasn’t that important after all right, and it’s not like it changed who he was.

Word Count: 621

Within no time at all he found himself approaching the island which still carried the scars of all their previous sparing sessions. And like he had thought his friend Alex was already there and waiting. Descending to the ground below and landing with a soft thud he took a quick look around before returning his gaze to his friend. What was left of the trees loomed over the two.

“About time you show up, any longer and I would have fallen asleep.” Alex stated as he slowly stood, smacking the dirt from his shorts d then off his hands. Of the two Jupiter was about a head taller while Alex had more muscle mass and a slight tan. He too had neglected to wear a shirt while wearing a simple pair of shorts, knee pads, and ankle braces, all of which was black.

“Yeah, sorry about that, you wouldn’t believe the traffic.” He shot back with a smirk. It didn’t take long after that for Alex to return that same smirk. Both knew that there had been no traffic along the way, just another one of Jupiter’s many excuses.

“So, you ready to lose this time?” Alex challenged as the two met in the middle of the field. Both knew what was coming and become much more serious for the moment. More than likely things would lighten up again once the fight had been under way for a while.

“Naa, I’m ready to win!” Jupiter shot back untying the practice sword from his back and tossing it to the side, they never began with them anyway. Then each stood there, waiting for the other. To a stranger one might have thought they were doing nothing but they would be wrong. Both were in a mental deadlock trying to anticipate what the other would do first.

Minutes passed and nothing happened. Just when one might have called this boring, it began. A quick jab from Alex directed at Jupiter’s face. 1-0 he quickly thought having anticipated the move and ducked the blow placing his hands on the ground. Then in one fluid movement he brought his leg around in a sweeping motion. In response Alex jumped backward, flipping in the air and landing several yards away. Jupiter would have expected a small pause after the attacks, Alex though had other plans. After landing from the last attack he pushed himself forward rushing Jupiter and going for the face again. The unexpected action coupled with the speed gave him close to no time to dodge as his friend’s fist slammed into the side of his face.

The force of the hit sent him rocketing backwards and it took much effort for him to steady himself. Now it was his turn. Hovering slightly off the ground and having to traction in order to propel himself he charged his Ki and used that to shoot back across the field landing a crushing kick to Alex’s lower chest. The staggering attack propelled Alex off in much the same way his own attack had sent Jupiter. He however wasn’t able to recover before crashing into one of the trees behind him, snapping it in half as he fell to the ground.

A few moments passed as Jupiter waited for Alex to rise to his feet. And as he slowly sat up their eyes met. They had both gotten in a good hit and both know what would happen next. Almost simultaneously afterwards they began charging more power. As each grew stronger the clear white aura of their Ki began to kick up dust from around them. Then one after the other they pushed their hands forward as each fired a medium sized Ki beam directed at each other. And as the two attacks collided they began the struggle, the struggle to see whose attack would push the others back far enough to do some damage.

Word Count: 646
Total Word Count: 1,267

Each began to struggle as they both attempted to gain the upper hand over the other. They both seemed to be dead even in strength, as soon as one put in more effort the other would mimic that and the beams would once again halt. Continuing the struggle seemed pointless. He needed to try something different. It took him but a moment, separating his right hand from powering the beam he quickly charged his Ki and fired a second smaller beam along the first. Alex, having both hands preoccupied with the beam only had a split second to respond. Releasing one of his hands from the larger beam he also began charging an attack. Instead of countering the second beam fired by Jupiter however he fired his attack into the ground below shooting him up into the air while both beams continued harmlessly below him.

As the attacks went off into the distance it left them at a stalemate once again. The two were more evenly powered then Jupiter had thought. After a brief pause the two once gain rushed each other. With no special beams or Ki this time they met in the middle of the field and began trading a rapid flurry of blows. The two floating slightly in the air they each got in a fair share of hits. Just as many were blocked, evaded, or countered however as each put in one final blow that both landed square in the face.

Each staggered backwards but soon enough they were at it again. Each giving and receiving yet even more blows, most of which were blocked in this session. Things were going nowhere, Jupiter thought. Then seeing an opening in his friend’s defense he took advantage of it to exit the confrontation rolling along the ground while grabbing the practice sword he had dropped earlier. Then dashing back into the fray he swung with all his strength.

The clash of metal versus metal could be heard as his practice sword collided with that of Alex’s own. When Jupiter had gone for his he had as well. Yet again at a standstill the clashes of cold steel could be heard over and over as each tried to deal any kind of blow to the other. With the next strike each held their own sword in place pushing on the other.

“Still think you can beat me?” Alex shouted applying more force.

“Of course, it’s not like I came out here to loose!” Jupiter shot back, increasing the force behind his attack as well.

As they continued pushing against each other something else began to stir between the two. Though their fight had been going on just as usual something else seemed to be bothering the two of them in the back of their minds. This feeling like they were being watched by something. With a sudden spark they felt it, a slight Ki signature high above them. Whoever it was had chosen to keep the power lowered in order to not be detected. Either that or they were just the weak. Ignoring this new presence for the moment they continued their struggle. Both had talked before about what to do in just such a situation, and neither liked the idea of some stranger watching them out in the middle of nowhere.

“1,” Alex said and waited.

“2,” Jupiter responded as the two began to charge their Ki.

“3” Both Jupiter and Alex shouted in unison as each threw their swords to the side and fired a combined Ki blast in the direction of the Ki signature. The attack continued along its path till it collided with its intended target causing a massive explosion that blocked all view of who it had been. The attack had been much stronger and larger than either of them could have done on their own. All that was left to do now was wait for the dust to settle and see whether or not there was anything left of their would be stalker.

Word Count: 666
Total Word Count: 1,933