Author: You guys may think this chapter is short, when in reality the first chapter was just really long. This chapter is probably around the average length that you'll be getting.
"Alright," Gentiel began. "We need to compose a plan. Pai, what are the results of your tests?"
Kisshu leaned against a pillar in the aliens' alternate dimension headquarters, smirking. He would wait his turn and shock all of them.
"The water here isn't as polluted as it was in Tokyo," Pai answered. "As a result, there are more life forms available for hosting in the river."
"Good," Gentiel nodded. "What about you, Taruto?"
"The plants here are a lot happier than they were in Tokyo. They don't want vengeance on the humans, but they are open to the idea of spreading their roots and taking back the land," the pre-teen alien replied.
Gentiel nodded, and then turned to Kisshu. "I highly doubt you did any research at all."
Kisshu smirked. "You are right about that. I had a little fun instead." Pai snorted in disgust. Kisshu continued, pretending not to have heard. "I made a Chimera Anima and sent it out to play." Gentiel's eyebrows lowered in disapproval, but Kisshu just kept talking. "And it turns out, my Anima found a Mew Mew." Pai's face turned to shock; Taruto's to disbelief. Gentiel didn't react.
"I- Impossible," Pai stammered. "They are in Japan."
"Oh, this Mew was new. She was alone, but managed to defeat the Chimera anyway. After that, I made it a point to introduce myself," Kisshu's smirk faltered.
"This is going to be that old hag all over again," Taruto mumbled.
"Kisshu, you didn't…?" Pai let the rest hang in the air.
"No, I didn't kiss her," Kisshu said, then admitted, "that's not to say I didn't try." Gentiel's brow furrowed even more. "We fought a bit. It's obvious that she hasn't been trained. I figured I'd ask your opinion about what to do with her," he finished, looking at Gentiel.
Gentiel raised one eyebrow in suspicion. "You need to ask? Kill her. That should have been apparent."
"May I suggest an alternative?" Kisshu asked, raising his gold eyes to meet Gentiel's hazel ones.
He heard Pai mumble, "Baka," (fool) under his breath. Gentiel merely waited.
"You mentioned one of my talents was emotional manipulation," Kisshu paused, and Gentiel nodded for him to continue. "It's obvious this Mew is a rookie," he smirked. "It should be easy to convince her to switch sides."
Gentiel broke eye contact and seemed pensive. Finally, he spoke, "I'll present the idea to Mistress Blood Red…" and then, looking at Kisshu again, "but you will respect her decision and follow her orders."
"Yes Gentiel," Kisshu bowed at the waist, and Pai gave him a suspicious look. They both knew that Kisshu would do what he wanted to do regardless of Blood Red. As Gentiel walked away, Kisshu asked, "Gentiel, if she's your fiancée, why do you still refer to her as 'Mistress'?" Gentiel stopped walking. "Why must you still be so formal?"
Gentiel replied in monotone, "For the same reason you must ask such stupid questions." Then he walked away again.
"Alright Kisshu," Taruto shrugged. "I guess you win."
"What?" Kisshu inquired.
Taruto clarified, "Gentiel's face looked… sad." Kisshu blinked. So the great Gentiel was not so emotionless after all…
Grace woke up in a room she didn't recognize, in Ryou's arms. She jumped, and something behind her beat the air noisily. She turned slightly and remembered at the sight of white-blonde hair falling over her shoulder. Ryou was still holding her, one arm under her knees, the other behind her head, kneeling on the floor. He was staring at her. She blushed and jumped again, her wings involuntarily unfolding and flapping, lifting her out of Ryou's arms and into the air. Ryou stood up and backed away as her legs swung downward, narrowly missing his head. She landed gently, en pointe.
Investigating the room, she noticed the walls were covered with white, soundproof foam. The room hummed, obviously lined with electronic equipment.
"How do you like the training room?" asked a familiar voice. But when Grace turned, the figure leaning against the wall was not familiar at all: white clothes, white hair, and white animal appendages, along with disconcerting yellow eyes.
"Who are you?" Grace responded, and the wolf girl's eyebrows rose.
"You don't recognize me? Then again, I wouldn't have recognized you had you not transformed in front of me."
"Ember?" Grace was incredulous.
"That's my secret identity," she winked and put a finger to her lips. Then, putting forth the same hand, "I'm Mew Lone Wolf. It's nice to meet you, Mew En Pointe."
"What?" Grace asked.
Ryou answered, and she was suddenly very aware of his presence again. "You are a Mew Mew, a super lady. It is your job to fight threats on the Earth. Currently, that threat is aliens trying to destroy our planet and take it for themselves."
"Aliens?" Grace sounded skeptical.
"You're finding that hard to believe?" Lone Wolf asked. "Sweetie, you have wings. Aliens should be easy to digest by now."
"You believe this?" Grace asked her best friend. Ever the science mind, she wanted proof.
"Believe it? I fought one of them last night. He was really creepy," Lone Wolf shuddered.
Ryou's eyes went wide. "You did what?"
Wolf winced. "Did I forget to mention that?"
"Which one was it?" It was a question, but sounded more like a demand.
"Umm, about that…" Lone Wolf stared at the floor. "I didn't exactly pay attention in Alien 101. Which one has the green hair and stalker-like tendencies again?"
Ryou's blue eyes went dark with enmity. "Kisshu," it was almost a growl. "What did he do to you?" Ryou actually looked… concerned about her well-being?
"Well I suppose there really is a first time for everything," Lone mused to herself before speaking aloud, "Nothing." Ryou looked skeptical but relieved, until she said, "Not that he didn't try. I kneed him in the balls."
Grace shook her head, clearly confused. "Wait, what are you guys talking about?"
Ryou paused to think, and then decided to just show her. "Sit down," he ordered.
"Where?" Grace asked, looking around for a chair. Suddenly, a section of the wall to her right began to move forward. She jumped in a startled manner, and then undid her transformation. She was back to red hair, green eyes, and wearing a T-shirt & sweats. The section of the wall stopped moving, and Grace realized it was a bench. "Woah. That's awesome."
Ember had also de-transformed and took a seat on the far left of the 3-seater bench. Grace sat down beside her. A portion of the wall opposite the bench slid up, revealing a plasma screen TV. Grace was beginning to like the training room. A video began to play.
"Ember, be sure to pay attention this time," Ryou said sternly as he sat in the seat next to Grace.
"Yeah, yeah," Ember replied. Grace was too enthralled by the big TV to notice Ryou's position had changed.
"This footage is from about four and a half years ago," Ryou explained. "They may look different now."
On the screen, an alien with purple hair and eyes was shown doing various activities: dropping something into a body of water, fighting with various Mews, waving a fan that made lightning bolts. "This is Pai," Ryou said in a teacher-like voice. "He is intelligent and systematic. He attacks with his Sky Thunder Fan. He does not tend to show mercy."
The screen changed to a black-haired, blue-eyed alien in a blue coat. He swung a sword at the ground, creating a rift in the earth. "That was Deep Blue," Ryou supplied. "He was the most powerful, but he was killed by Mew Mew Strawberry and her boyfriend."
As the screen changed again, Ryou explained, "This is who Deep Blue was before his full manifestation." A blonde-haired alien with slightly different blue eyes in the same coat was shown either assisting the pink Mew Mew or fighting a certain green-haired alien whom Ember had seen before. "He called himself the Blue Knight, and ironically saved Mew Strawberry's life on more than one occasion. Even if an alien seems friendly, it could likely be a similar circumstance. Expect betrayal."
The screen showed an alien with brown hair who was obviously still a child. He was mostly shown fighting with a yellow Mew Mew around the same age in various childish ways: rolling on the ground, banging each other on the head, and sticking out his tongue at her. There were also pictures of him with plant and insect Chimeras. There was one scene in which he appeared to be having a verbal argument with the pink Mew. "This is Taruto. He is childish and views fighting as a game to win. According to Mew Pudding, he has occasionally shown mercy."
The screen at last switched to the green-haired, yellow-eyed alien Lone Wolf had fought. From what she could tell, he was taller now and seemed slightly thinner. "This is Kisshu," Ryou's voice took on a disgusted tone. "He is unpredictable," a scene showed him trying the kiss the pink Mew, the next showed him trying to kill her. "Manipulative," the screen showed him winking into the camera, apparently very pleased with himself for having found it. "And he has a tendency to be somewhat of a stalker." Several scenes showed him watching a girl and at times, forcing himself on her. But in every scene it was the same girl.
Lone Wolf thought, "Only somewhat?"
The audio began and there were English subtitles for his Japanese words.
"Be mine, or he dies."
"Cripes. If you wanted a kiss you could have just asked, nekomimi-chan."
"It's troublesome to be with you if four others show up at the same time."
"She's mine."
"SHE'S MINE!"
"Become mine, OR I'LL KILL YOU!"
Ember blinked at that last one. "And now he's going to stalk me? Oh spaz…"
"However," Ryou stared at the screen, "his unpredictability can sometimes work in our favor. Observe." Several scenes played of the pink Mew about to be strangled/smashed/eaten by various Chimera Animas, but Kisshu called them off at the last second. Then the scene changed to him holding a sword to Deep Blue's jugular, in monologue about the girl he loved and how he wasn't going to let her be killed. "He's a wild card," Ryou summed up, "but there are certain advantages to being his 'favorite toy'."
"I don't understand," thought Ember. "Is he telling me to go for it? But that's just so weird! It's so wrong… I already have a boyfriend!"
The screen went black. "So," Ryou finished, "those are the aliens. Now I want Ember patrolling the streets in her human form. Grace, you'll stay here for ability exploration and combat training."
"Okay," Grace shrugged. "My parents don't expect me home until five."
Ember walked north on 3rd Street, heading for the river. She'd been walking around for two hours to no avail. Sighing, she sat down on a bench outside the Yum Center and thought about how big Louisville was. And it apparently was a small city. She couldn't imagine how exhausted she'd be if she had to protect some place like New York.
"Ember? What are you doing here?" the familiar voice was surprised, but curious.
"Josué?" Ember was truly excited to see him. "What are you doing here?"
"I asked you first," he flirted. What to do? She couldn't exactly tell him, "Oh, I'm just a super heroine patrolling the streets in case of an alien attack."
"Oh, I'm just… on a walk," she replied. It wasn't a lie. She had been walking for about an hour. "I got tired and saw this bench. You?"
"Returning a client's laptop," he nodded toward the convention center.
"Oh, okay," Ember just bobbed her head in a daze. She was more than a little preoccupied with the whole being-a-superhero-who-might-very-well-have-an-alien-stalker-now thing. So much so in fact, that she missed his next question. "I'm sorry? You'll have to repeat that," she blinked at him when she had realized that he'd spoken.
"I said, 'Are you free now?'" he asked again.
"Sort of," she answered hesitantly.
"So, do you want to walk over to 4th St. Live with me?" he asked it carefully, like he was actually scared of being turned down. She watched how the sun shined in his golden hair and thought any girl who would turn him down was crazy.
"Yeah, sure," she tried, and failed, to sound nonchalant.
Josué smiled. "Okay. Let's go." He rose from his seat and held out his hand to help Ember to her feet. Once she was standing, he didn't let go.
Around noon, Kisshu decided to do a little studying on the local area. After five minutes on the crystal ball computer, he had discovered that a popular landmark for this city was a place known as "4th St. Live". What do you do to a landmark in a place you are planning to take over? You destroy it, of course.
Ember's stomach growled on the walk over, so Josué had talked her into lunch at T.G.I. Friday's. They were already on the right street anyway. They had just finished the jalapeño popper appetizer when Ember got a text from Grace. – "Ryou's computer just picked up a massive energy reading on 4th St. Live. We need to be there asap. I'm nervous. I'm not sure if I can save the world. :/" –
Ember brought her hand to her forehead in distress thinking, "Oh no. He really is stalking me." She looked across the table at Josué.
"What?" his perpetually happy voice asked.
"I'm sorry," Ember apologized and tried to convince herself that she wouldn't be lying to him. "My friend Grace just texted me with this serious emotional issue, and I have to go." This technically was not a lie. Grace probably was spazzing and would really need her help. "It's pretty bad, and what kind of friend would I be if I wasn't there to support her?" Also true. Anyone would freak if they found out they were a Mew Mew in the morning and had to fight aliens that afternoon. Oh yeah, and she'd just found out that aliens were real. It was pretty bad…
"Oh, of course," Josué looked disappointed but nodded in sympathy.
"Thanks so much for being so understanding," she tossed in with a smile as she rose from the booth. He'd be happy if she smiled.
Sure enough… "No. It's no problem, don't worry about it," he grinned from ear to ear.
"Alright cool." Smile. "So I'll see you at school on Monday?"
"Yup," he chuckled. "Where else would I be?"
"Thanks again, bye!" Ember walked out the door…
To an unexpected sight. A Chimera Anima roared, and flames spit from its mouth. It was four times the size of the one she fought last night, and it was orange with black stripes. Was it… a tiger? "Where did the aliens get a tiger?"
Ember looked around for a place to transform. This street was busy (even if most of the people were running for their lives) and she wasn't about to expose her secret identity to the world. Luckily, someone had left their beat up Chevy Travolta unlocked. She jumped inside and let Lone Wolf take over. When she stepped out, she was dressed in white from head to toe.
Running at the Chimera Anima, Lone Wolf leapt into the air, calling her staff. She was able to smack it on the shoulder. It didn't even blink. It merely turned and swatted her out of the air, pinning her beneath its giant paw. She heard a laugh and looked up. Kisshu stood before her, a smug look on his face. "That was so easy," he remarked, looking down at her. "I didn't even have to make a strong Chimera. You really are a rookie Mew Mew." He laughed again, then bent down and grabbed her chin. "You'll make a cute enough toy." She trembled, and he added, "That's right little Mew Mew, I'm your master now. You have to do whatever I say."
Lone Wolf steeled her nerves and moaned, "We'll just see about that." Kisshu chuckled at her, bemused.
As if to prove Lone Wolf's point, a voice shouted from the top of a nearby building, "Grande jeté!" Quick as lightening, a glowing orange ribbon slapped the ground close enough to cause both Kisshu and the Chimera to jump. Backing off to examine the interference, Kisshu clenched both his teeth and his fist in frustration. No longer pinned down by the Chimera Anima, Lone Wolf stood up.
From the top of the building, a graceful figure in point shoes and a tutu descended on a pair of feathery wings. "Mew En Pointe!" Lone Wolf exclaimed gladly.
"Wolf," En Pointe greeted with a calmness that Grace never would've had in such a circumstance. "Shall we get to work?" a sweet yet somehow menacing smile lit up her face.
"En Pointe?" Lone Wolf asked, unsure that this was the girl who had fainted under Ryou's gaze just hours before. But… she wasn't going to complain. "Okay, let's do it! Which do you want?"
"Ryou indicated my weapon was better suited for Chimeras, so I shall choose that one."
"Of course you do… No one wants to fight stalker face," Lone rolled her eyes. En Pointe just smiled sweetly.
"Hey! I can hear you!" Kisshu yelled. And then calling for his sai, he lunged at Lone Wolf.
En Pointe took this moment to strike out at the Chimera. "Plié!" The Anima was wounded enough to let out a blast of flame. "Wolf!" she called out.
Lone Wolf looked up and saw the flames spewing from the monster's mouth. Kisshu's face was a foot away from hers. She raised her hand, flicked her wrist and that foot of space was filled with broiling hot fire. Kisshu stopped dead in his flight path as En Pointe leapt into the air, hovering on white wings.
The swan mew began to spin faster and faster. If she wasn't a special Mew, meant for such spinning, she may have passed out from lack of oxygen due to the speed at which she twirled. The orange ribbon danced above her head. She let one foot fly out behind her as her body leaned forward, arm still spinning the ribbon above her head. Then she snapped straight up on her toes, raising her right ankle directly in front of her left knee, still twirling herself and the ribbon. She shouted, "Pirouette!" and let the ribbon fly towards the Chimera like a whip. Upon being struck by the orange glow, the Chimera dissolved into a jellyfish and a Burmese tiger. Lone Wolf sent a burst of flame in the parasite's direction and it was incinerated immediately.
Kisshu was shocked by the strength of the new team member. The two were obviously close, and he was outnumbered. Without thinking about where to go, he teleported to anywhere that was away, leaving his subconscious to choose the destination.
"Okay…" Lone Wolf looked at the tiger. "Now what do we do with this?"