Sorry for the late update.. My life got blown to hell, so I didn't have time to write. Really sorry. If I have any fans left, you guys rock!

x-x-x

The one thing Artemis hated was the sound of water. Flashbacks of when he was nearly drowned in the Hudson by the pigs - otherwise known as Retrievers - ran through his mind as he was carried away with several other Saviors. Right at this moment, the sound of rushing water mercilessly invaded his mind.

Opening his eyes, he found a black strip of cloth covering them. Nuzzling the cloth against his shoulder, he finally wiggled his blindfold off. Surveying his surroundings, he guessed he was in the Inner Circle holding cell. It was a dim, cold room, stacked with cages that didn't know the meaning of 'personal space'; the only light coming from a small, sealed window.

Looking at the window, Artemis could see part of a river violently rushing by. With a shudder, he squinted through the dark until he spotted the form of his teammate, Ukime. Looking around, he saw that most of his teammates were held in cages, closely packed together, like his. Already having a plan set in mind, Artemis began working the ropes around his wrist with his teeth.

"Idiots," Artemis thought, as he easily finished untying his wrist. While unbinding his feet, he noticed the others beginning to stir. The first to speak was the youngest, Willow.

"H-hello? Anyone–?"

"Shhh! They'll hear us. Just calm down, Will," Artemis whispered. Pinpointing his position, Willow nodded in Artemis's direction.

"Art, what do we do?" Ukime asked from the cage beside him.

Putting his plan into action, he whispered to Ukime, "Follow my voice, and lean against the side of the cage."

Following his orders, Ukime leaned against her cage and jumped when she felt hands untying the ropes binding her wrists. Once she was untied, they repeated the action until everyone was untied, and started thinking of a way to get out of their situation.

"Can't we just break the cages?" Jazz asked from a far-off corner.

"Not unless we want them to hear us," Artemis answered. Silence fell on them as they devised a plan to open the cramped cages. Suddenly, a crazy scheme wormed its way into Mickey's brain. Slightly crouched in her cage, she yelled as quietly as she could, "Field mouse!"

A tan colored whip that resembled a mouse tail appeared in Mickey's hand. Before anyone could register what she was doing, she blurted, "Ribbon Field slashes!"

Several slashes of lights hit the mouse-Mew's cage, and pieces of metal fell to the ground.

"Are you crazy?!" Melody cried, but was immediately hushed by the others.

"Yep," Mickey answered with an insane smirk. Without another word, the yellow-eyed Mew freed everyone from their cages.

"All right, someone must have heard that, so let's get the hell out of here," Artemis said, leaning over an electronic scanner near the door. "All right; that's a no-go."

Artemis looked around the room for a few seconds before striking upon an idea. Jumping on top of the many cages, he found a vent. "Over here, guys. I knew they had to be pumping air in here from somewhere."

"Can you get it open?" Jazz asked impatiently. Artemis nodded as he got to work on loosening the stubborn screen from the wall. Finally, after many curses and minor cuts, he yanked it open.

"Get up here!" he called down to the others. After clumsily climbing the cages, everyone huddled near the narrow vent.

"Okay, Ukime: you get in first. Any trouble heads our way, you'll be able to clear it while the rest of us are getting out."

Reluctantly agreeing with the older boy, Ukime hoisted her somewhat anorexic body into the air vent. Next to go in was Mickey, considering her attack could do some decent damage. Following her was Vala, Jazz, Melody, Hawthorn, Willow, and bringing up the rear was none other than the Brooklynite teen.

"Hey Art, where the heck am I going?" Ukime asked, looking past the squished bodies behind her and into their unofficial leader's eyes.

"Keep going until you find light. When you do, quietly check if there are any Retrievers anywhere, then carefully open the vent. Don't let your guard down for a second. All of you hear me?" Artemis directed the last bit at all of them, who responded with quiet nods. With a short nod from Artemis' head, Ukime began squirming her way through the vents.

The voyage through the vents was pretty awkward for some. They mostly kept their eyes down; trying not to think of the outfits they were in, whilst wiggling through the air ducts. After several uncomfortable moments, Ukime spoke in a hushed voice, "I found an opening, and there's no one near it. I'm going to check it out."

Receiving a nod of approval from Artemis, Ukime nervously opened the screen. Crawling out, she immediately pressed herself against the wall, disappearing into the shadows. Inspecting the room, Ukime's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

The room was circular in shape; smothered in red velvet. The dome-like ceiling had elaborate golden markings, accented by the navy blue Corinthian-style pillars. Remembering where she was, and why, Ukime motioned for the others to crawl out. In mere seconds, everyone was free of the tunnel, with Artemis leading them through the beautiful - yet sinister - palace.

They were halfway down a dark hallway when they heard soft voices drifting up to them. Peaking around a corner, Artemis saw two guards casually leaning against the wall. Pressing his back against the wall again, he hung intently to their every word.

"You hear the humans finally got that Mew project thing running?" asked a guard with a long spear, and white hair.

"Yeah, but I heard that they already caught half of them. Pathetic really, spending twenty years hoping, only to have it crushed. The humans are so stupid," the opposing, black-haired guard replied.

"I wouldn't talk about the humans like that with the Zanshin wandering around," the white-haired alien guard warned, fear intense in his eyes.

"I'm not afraid of them! How bad can they be if they keep filthy humans around as their equals?"

"Would you like to find out?" a deep, emotionless voice asked from behind. Artemis poked his head around the corner to see a tall alien with purple hair approaching the pair. Realization hit; Artemis identified the man as the Cyniclon, Pai.

"Ikasu Zanshin, sir, my apologies!" the white haired guard respectfully said, saluting the man with a fist to the heart and a bow.

"At ease. What were you saying about humans, guard?" the taller man challenged.

"N-Nothing at all, Ikasu Zanshin," the ebony-haired guard stuttered, bowing like the first guard had.

'Ikasu Zanshin' narrowed his eyes, contemplating killing the worthless guard, until a gentle hand touched his shoulder.

"Pai, don't," a kind, soft voice pleaded. Pai turned around - out of Artemis's view - to exchange a few words with the person behind him.

Artemis stretched his neck around the corner even further to see who was crazy enough to order the intimidating man around. Standing behind the purple-haired man was a woman with lime-green hair. Her eyes were gentle and kind, but there was an air of power and intimidation around her. She was dressed in a dark purple night gown that reached the floor, which had a light green vine-like pattern twirling up to her thigh. Even with a very large baby bump, the woman looked absolutely beautiful.

Then Artemis noticed the stark difference between her and the other three in the room: this woman was human.

Pai turned back to the guards and said calmy, "Proceed with your duties." His eyes, however, screamed, "Insult my wife again and they won't find the pieces."

The couple gracefully strode passed the awe-stricken guards and out of view.

The two guards looked around in shock before one noticed Artemis and started shouting for backup. Looking back at the other Saviors, he exclaimed, "We gotta go!"

With no further explanation needed, the team took off running down the hallway. They ran past the vent they had crawled out of, and into another circular room; this one was decorated in different shades of blue and black. Right in the middle of the room was a dark blue throne with golden trimming.

The trimming was images of three people dying, two being hit with a strange ray, and one running away; all had animalistic characteristics.

What was more frightening than the throne was the person sitting in it.

Instantly, all the Saviors knew who it was.

Deep Blue.

Dozens of guards surrounded the room, making escape nigh-impossible. Deep Blue kept his cold eyes locked with Artemis's, who stood strong while the others shied away behind him. On the outside, Artemis looked like he could snap the fearsome leader's neck right there on the spot. But on the inside, he was desperately trying to remember how to breathe.

"What is this?" Deep Blue's emotionless voice sent an involuntary shiver down all the Saviors' spines.

"Sorry sir, I don't know how they escaped. They were there one minute, then gone – UGH!"

The responsive guard's rambling was put to an end as he fell to the floor, convulsing. Automatically another guard stepped over the dead alien's body and answered, "Sir, they were recovered from Zakuro Fujiwara's underground circuit, The Haven. They have the same properties as the Mews you defeated twenty years ago. This guard's death is a result of one of the Savior's, Mew Diable."

"Explain her."

Deep Blue's harsh command was all the guard needed to proceed.

"She was injected with the DNA of a Tasmanian Devil, but has a cancer that is contagious through saliva. She must have bitten the guard, sir."

His eyes still locked with Artemis's, Deep Blue narrowed them into slits as they glowed an eerie blue.

"Dispose of them."

The single order sent the guards into a frenzy; all trying to stay on their leader's good side, and stay alive.

"Wait!" a bold voice shouted. Everyone froze as the brave (or stupid) alien walked right up to their leader.

"Sir, I was wondering if I could take them for a while as entertainment. My human toy is asleep right now and doesn't want to play," a forest-green-haired alien requested.

"You may have them, but for now, take only three. I'll have the males disposed of," the ebony-haired leader replied with a cruel smile.

"Let them watch. What better way to destroy their mental state than to let them see their friends tortured?" the amber-eyed alien asked with a smirk. Deep Blue returned the smirk and answered, "What a wonderful idea, Kisshu."

Kisshu picked out Artemis, Ukime, and Micky, while the guards forcibly dragged the others to the holding cells below ground. He shoved them through a door and quickly shut it, surprised to see one of the girls crying.

"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you; I just needed a cover. Your friends are in the prison eight floors below us, but I don't know how to get to them," Kisshu quickly explained in an undertone. Mickey laughed at her emotional display for a second before making eye contact with the strangely friendly alien.

"Why'd you choose us?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"I've read your Haven files. Forgive me, but I don't know your real names. You, Mew Field, can make snap decisions, Mew Joy can project shields to protect you guys, and Mew Sabtuer is the leader of the Saviors. You three will have a better chance at rescuing the others without doing something stupid," Kisshu explained, but was proved wrong when the beautiful Chinese-style dragon vase crashed to the ground. Ukime froze mid-walk, staring at the ornament she'd accidentally bumped.

"Sorry! I'm not very graceful!"

- - - Haven- - -

"What the hell do you mean I can't go!?" Yukai screeched.

Zakuro's cool, commanding voice answered, "Because you are too emotionally involved with this mission, and you'll do anything to get your sister. This is a stealth mission that requires much thought. Both of which you are incapable of."

"But she's my twin! You can't just let the little kid go in on his own! What if something happens to him?! What if they see him?" Yukai shouted, unaware of how pale Seru was getting.

"Yukai, cool it girl," Acedia whispered as she noticed how sick Seru looked.

"What if they see him and take him?!"

"Yukai!"

"What if they fucking torture him!?"

Yukai!"

"What if they kill him and we never see him again!?"

"Yukai, shut the hell up!" Acedia yelled as Seru leaned over and threw up in the small waste bin. Yukai's right eye began convulsively twitching; she couldn't believe she was getting left behind!

"Yukai, it is settled. Kibo is going in alone. He will be fine, I will take him to the Inner Circle and wait for him to come out," Zakuro said confidently. Putting a comforting hand on Seru's shoulder, she continued, "I will not leave until he has returned, okay?"

Seru nodded weakly as Zakuro transformed into her Mew form, consisting of a purple tube top, shorts, wolf features, and stiletto boots. The woman sadly touched the pendent at her neck before picking up the young boy and disappearing in a blur of purple.

"Stay safe," Seru quietly prayed.

x-x-x

The aliens get Japanese words because Japan is where they earned their legacy.

Zanshin- Original. The way I'm using this means the original group that made everything the way it is. The three originals who first came to earth.

Ikasu- Smart. This is Pai's nickname because he was the smart one out of the original three. Only the original mews, Deep Blue, Kisshu, Taruto, and the Saviors call him Pai.