Hello, everyone, and welcome to the rewrite of Phoenix Mew Mew. It's been several years since the start of this project and now, I have decided to rewrite it. I am a more matured writer now and, as a result, you may find this version to be a bit darker, longer, and more detailed than the initial story. A special thank you to Azure-Midnight Rain, who has never given up on me and is my official partner/author, who will be drawing illustrations for this particular FanFiction. Without further a due, Phoenix Mew Mew: A Place in the Stars
Sweat poured into her eyes as she trudged towards the building, her arms hanging limply at her sides, fingers curled around a bottle of warm water. Whoever thought building a city in the center of the devil's soul was a good idea appeared to be solely mistaken. Belle Johnson breathed in deeply as she looked up the looming building in front of her, already missing the cool crispness of early August in London. As she dropped her head, a few reddish strands of hair drifted in front of her face.
Luckily, her apartment wasn't far from the school and she didn't need to take the bus. Meeting people like that would've been awkward. Still, she'd have to meet people in the classrooms, where their true personalities slithered out. The thought made her shiver in spite of the heat. As if it would give her strength, she chugged down the rest of the water. After a moment's hesitation, she halfheartedly dragged herself to the building labeled Administration, ignoring the few people she passed.
The woman at the front desk beamed at her, "You must be Belle, the new transfer student?"
She debated lying. "I prefer to be called Button," she stated bluntly, not returning the smile.
"Oh, of course. Saw that on your papers. Forgive me. So, you're already from England, then?"
Button nodded. "Then why don't you have an accent?" the overly curious woman asked, tilting her head in a way that reminded Button of a less than intelligent duck.
"Originally from California," Button said as she rolled her eyes. "Moved to England when I was seven? That should also be included in my papers."
The woman dropped her gaze, finally getting the message that Button wasn't much of a conversationalist. "W-well, the Headmaster will want to see you," she said in a quieter tone. "His office is just around the corner, Miss Johnson."
She nodded in the direction of the office and Button fought the urge to apologize as she walked down the empty hallway. At her school in London, the hallways were decorated with expensive art and marble sculptures, usually created by the school's alumni. The Jerald Schooling System consisted of many different branches, including ones in London, Tokyo, Sydney, and obviously, Phoenix. Stupid humans, building a city in the middle of the desert. Button wished she'd been relocated to New York instead, but the school there was shut down years ago after a big drug bust.
Button wiped the sweat off her face with her sleeve, grateful that makeup was something of a foreign concept to her. "You've only been here a month, Ryou, and you've already caused more trouble than most of the students here cause during their entire high school experience!" a deep male voice yelled, sounding equally angry and exasperated.
Her hand hovered over the mahogany door as a quieter, younger voice replied calmly, "He was asking for it, sir."
"No, I wasn't," a nasally voice interjected.
"You told me to stop flirting with Jenn, Newton," Ryou responded.
"Yeah, because she has a boyfriend and was asking you to stop."
What an asshole. Button's hand slipped and slammed into the door as the headmaster shushed the two boys. "Who is it?" he called.
Button swallowed thickly. "The new transfer student," she replied, her voice only loud enough to be heard through the door.
"Come in."
She turned the knob and pushed the heavy door open, her gaze shifting from the greasy guy nursing a bloody nose in one chair to the admittedly cute, but obviously douchebag-ish, guy in the other, and finally settling on a man with a gray mustache at a wooden desk in the back of the beige-colored room. The more appealing of the two stared at her with his bright aqua blue eyes. He was either trying to look attractive or intimidating. To Button, he only looked arrogant.
"You two are dismissed," the Headmaster said as he beckoned Button forward.
She walked towards the desk, her shoulder bumping into the blonde boy's. "Watch where you're going, flat-chest," he said, shoving her out of the way.
She gave him her most withering glare, "Watch where you're going, blondie."
Blondie frowned at her in annoyance, but his cocky smirk returned as quickly as it left, "Name's Ryou."
Button heard the door slam behind her as she waited for the orientation torture to officially begin.
Button mentally cursed the Arizona sun once again for the heat it gave off. In England, it was usually cool enough you didn't want to cut your head off. Here, the sun seemed to think everyone was a cactus. And, of course, she hadn't been smart enough to refill her water bottle before leaving school. The school day managed to go by without a hitch, which, by Button's definition, meant no one bothered her. Then again, she glared at literally anyone that tried to approach her.
Clutching Game of Thrones in one hand and the strap of her of her black and blue messenger bag in the other, she plopped down on the steps of some cafe in the middle of the city. Arizona seemed to be full of these weird tourist trap restaurants, but the pink muffin-shaped building behind her had to take the cake. She admired it for a second, leaning against the gold spray painted railing. It reminded her of the house of a crazy cat lady back home. The thought made her giggle.
"Excuse me, Miss, but the cafe doesn't open until Saturday."
Button nearly leaped out of her skin and her head spun around to look at a man dressed like a character from a dramatic Roaring Twenties movie. He appeared to be Japanese and in his early twenties with a long black ponytail and calming grey eyes. She had to tilted her head all the way up to see his face and the grocery bags cradled in his arms.
"Oh, sorry. I was just sitting for a sec," Button told him as she pulled herself up.
The man looked around, "Arizona sure is hot, isn't it?"
"Yeah..." she looked at the twelve or so grocery bags weighing him down. "Would you like some help with those?"
"Thank you," he said as she took a few of the bags, revealing his deceivingly scrawny arms. She followed him inside the store, marveling at the heart-shaped... Everything... The chairs, tables, windows, doors, and even floor tiles were shaped like cute little Valentine hearts. She hated admitting that she kind of liked the aesthetic.
"I'm Keiichiro, by the way," he said as they walked through a pair of swinging heart-shaped doors.
"Button," she replied quietly, staring at the immaculate kitchen. She wished her kitchen looked even remotely this clean, but Button often shirked off cleaning up after cooking. "Nice to meet you."
"You too," he held out her hand and she hastily set her book down to shake it.
Button gave the kitchen one more look before setting her last bag on the counter, "I best be going now. Maybe I'll come by on Saturday?"
"I'd appreciate that."
She smiled a bit at the strange baker before turning to leave. The door swung open in front of her and she found herself staring at Blondie himself. "You," the two teenagers growled in unison. "What are you doing here?"
They looked at each other in surprise before Button rolled her eyes, "Later, Blondie."
Ryou waited until he heard the front door close to walk over to the center island, where Keiichiro stared at him in amusement. "What the hell was she doing here?" he demanded.
"You know her?" the brunette asked with a slight smirk.
"She's some bratty new girl at my schools. Thinks she's all that. Glares at everyone. Reads books. Who does that anymore?"
"Well... You do, for one."
Ryou rolled his eyes, "But not in public. I'll ask again: what was she doing here?"
"She was helping me with the groceries, Ryou. Seemed okay."
"Bet she was acting," Ryou mumbled under his breath.
"I might mention that we have more important matters to talk about?" Keiichiro told him as he pretended to wiped dust off of his hands.
Ryou turned around, "You mean those random anomalies you were talking about a few days ago?"
"Apparently, they weren't as random as I thought."
The blonde's heart stopped as he stared at his partner. "Aliens? We told the Mews they were done."
"And they are," Keiichiro sighed. "The infusing process won't work on them anymore. The attacks are centered in Arizona anyways."
"So... We're doing it here?" Ryou questioned, putting together the puzzle pieces of Keiichiro's words.
"I'm willing to give it a shot... Earth needs saving, after all."
Ryou heaved in a deep breath, "Let's fire up the Transfuser then."
The two men walked down their secret passage into the basement of the cafe, shoving aside dusty boxes and equipment. It cost a fortune moving all of their junk from Tokyo to Phoenix, but apparently, it had been worth it. "Do we know anything about this alien?" Ryou questioned as he ducked under a low hanging beam. He stared at it, debating if it was a support beam or not.
"From what I can tell, it has the ability to transform human, like our old foes, but their new forms seem to be dependent on their emotions and personalities."
"And how do you know this?"
Keiichiro sat down in his chair and typed a few commands into the computer. "Last week, several people reported seeing a florist change into some kind of vine monster," he paused and looked over at Ryou. "Six people died before the florist was shot and killed."
"Oh."
"What DNA are you choosing this time?" Ryou asked as he sat down next to his partner to input his own codes.
"Red panda, mountain viper, black-footed ferret, mediterranean monk seal, and polar bear. I also sent out the trumpeter swan DNA, but I doubt it'll work," Keiichiro replied as the room flashed bright red.
"Six instead of five?"
Keiichiro looked up at Ryou. "I'm afraid this enemy might be a bit more dangerous than our previous foe... We're going to need all of the help we can get," he pushed away from his desk. "For now, just keep your eyes on females between the ages of ten and twenty. They'll likely show some of their animalistic traits and diets, maybe their Mew Mark will be visible."
Ryou tried not to think about his partner's ominous words as he stared at the curling DNA strands on the computer screen.
Button shoved open her apartment door, knocking over a few stacked up boxes. "Shit!" she mumbled as she bent down to shove the fallen books back into the boxes. She looked down at the mail scattered on her floor. Junk mail already? She picked up the papers, sifting through them as she wandered into her kitchen. She paused on one about a musical arts boarding school before dumping them into her silver trashcan.
She walked past the pictures hung on the wall, more there for atmosphere than her sanity. She leaned over her coach to turn on the air conditioner in the window as a small ball of softness rubbed against her legs. "Oh, hi, Falafel," she cooed before scooping up her fluffy calico cat. "What did you do today?"
The cat meowed in response as Button lazily turned on the television and set the feline back down. The TV had been the first thing she set up. She didn't have cable yet, though her grandparents back in England promised her the cableman would be there next Friday to set it up along with her internet. Even so, she had a stack of DVDs set up with Disney films, action movies, and a few silent films. Button picked up Beauty and the Beast, opening the DVD player to insert the movie.
As she stared up at the screen, waiting for the movie to load, she found that she felt a little dizzy. Button shoved a hand through her hair, tearing the single braid in her hair free. The world tilted and she shook her head furiously to get rid of the vertigo. Button flailed for support. Her arm managed to catch a random box as a red light flashed in front of her vision and the world dropped into darkness.
When she came to, she was lying on a bed of soft grass, an expanse of blue sky spreading out in front of her. She forced herself to sit up, wrist burning and head spinning. A woman in a beautiful white dress sat in front of her, picking at the flowers around her. Her eyes remained focused on the red petals as she mumbled a small, "Hello."
The voice weighed down on Button, leaving her gasping for air, like it held more gravity than other sound waves. The woman turned, her blazing crimson eyes focused something over Button's shoulder. She turned and found nothing behind her but more grass and sky. "Helena," the woman whispered. "Alta Ailin."
Button drowned in the words and jolted up, gasping for air as she stared around her living room. Her eyes settled on the TV screen in front of her while the musical score for Beauty and the Beast played over and over. Falafel nuzzled against her anxiously and she ran her fingers through the cat's fur to calm her racing heart. She looked down at her still burning wrist, finding a small mark branded on the inside of it.
Slowly, she ran her fingers over the small imprint shaped like two tilted white leaves. Her dream flashed through her mind, leaving as quickly as it came. Button breathed out deeply as she leaned back against the boxes next to her. She looked up at the TV one more time before shutting it off, leaving the room dark and quiet aside from the whirring of the air conditioner. When did it get so late?
After eating a quick snack of raspberries and water, Button flopped into her bed and let sleep overtake her. No dreams bothered to haunt her.
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