Well, here it is— the biggest chapter in the history of my writing. It is going to end the same way the anime ends (since I recently re-read it). There, of course, will be differences to fit in with the story line, and never fear, the story is not finished. I'm going to end it with a different ending. According to the anime they find Berri and fight the Saint Rose Crusaders. No, not happening, I don't like Berri all that much, so she doesn't exist in my little anime world. Maeve exists in Berri's place. Yay! Also, if you so desire, I can have the Mews battle this new (unnamed) enemy or you can chose to have me write it with an entire new generations of Mews like I did the last time. This would mean that weddings and such would be included in the plot. Make your choice before you review and send me a reply. Thanks, everyone!
-Silver
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Maeve and Ichigo met up at the park and headed towards one of the many paths. As they were walking and chatting, Ichigo sensed that Maeve was headed in a more serious direction as she asked about Masaya. "Maeve," Ichigo started and turned to her fellow Mew, "if this is going somewhere that I don't want to hear, I need you to tell me."
"It is," Maeve replied, "it is going somewhere that you don't want to hear, but you must hear it."
"You're going to outright tell me that it's Masaya, aren't you?" Ichigo asked and turned her face away from Maeve's intense gaze.
"Yes, Deep Blue's soul took root in Masaya's body when he was a very young boy. Masaya has no idea that Deep Blue has any power over him, just as he doesn't know that he is the Blue Knight," Maeve replied and took hold of Ichigo's elbow and turned the red-head towards her, "You do need to know that this isn't going to end well. It could end badly or extremely badly. The choice you have to make now determines how many people die."
"What choice?" Ichigo whispered.
"The choice to save the world and save Pai as well, or to save the world and kill him," Maeve replied and looked Ichigo straight in the eye, all her emotions close to the surface.
Ichigo saw Maeve's pain, her love for Pai, and the sadness this was bringing her. Ichigo dropped her head to her chest and sighed, "Either way I save the world, but I could never let you suffer again. I'll help you. What do we have to do?"
Maeve smiled and began, "This is what we need to do…"
Soon, Maeve and Ichigo were back at the café waiting for the other Mews to arrive. Pai and Ryou were there as well. When Zakuro arrived, she growled deep in her throat and pulled out her pendant, but Ichigo stepped forward and lowered Zakuro's hand with a serious face. Zakuro seemed calm as usual and took a seat as far away from Pai as possible. The other Mews trickled in, none of them having quite the same reaction as the last; finally, Minto arrived and the meeting began. "I know you all have some questions, but we have to get down to business. We found Deep Blue, we know who he is," Maeve stated.
The Mews buzzed and Pai raised a hand, "But there have been a few complications," Maeve added.
"What kind of 'complications'?" Minto asked.
"Pai, you should explain this part," Maeve said and stepped back as Pai gazed at the Mews with steady, stone-cold eyes.
"You all recall how I was reassigned to a new mission after I was discovered to have a special connection to one of your leaders," Pai began to small snickers of amusement, "my new mission is not a pleasant one, and if I complete it, will make your lives harder. I have been instructed to track down my master, Deep Blue, and offer up my body for his use. If I fail, I will be tried for treason and given a dishonorable discharge. In other words, if you don't attempt to 'stop' me, either I will be thrown in jail for the rest of my life, killed, or die at your own hands."
The others had fallen under an eerie quiet. Ichigo stepped forward and said, "As your team leader, I was given the choice to help Pai or let Maeve suffer. I want to know if you stand behind me to help Pai or not."
Lettuce stood and looked around at the others and replied, "I think we all want to help Maeve. Maeve, you've had such a huge impact on us and have made such a difference in our team, we couldn't let you down like that."
All the other Mews except for Zakuro agreed. "Do you have some plan as to how we aren't going to get ourselves killed in the process? Or even accused of some wrong-doing?"
"Yes, we do," Maeve started and stepped forward again, "Knowing who Deep Blue is, and getting him to show up is the easy part. We have a number of very key players in this. Of course, all of us must be there, but also the man we have determined to be Deep Blue must be along with Pai and Kishu. We suspect that Tart will also tag along, but the more witnesses the better. Now, Kishu is going to become immediately enraged when he sees our 'subject' and will attack him. This will cause a series of events to happen leading to the release of Deep Blue's power. Once Deep Blue awakens, Pai will attempt to approach him and give his body up to Deep Blue, our goal then is to send two people to fight Pai, just enough to keep him occupied. One will be assigned to Tart, and the rest of us will be in a battle with Kishu and Deep Blue. We anticipate that Kishu will turn on Deep Blue upon discovering who has been harboring him for these last 11 years. The battle itself is fairly unpredictable, but we can hope that Deep Blue will be destroyed and Kishu and Tart will be able to file a true statement that Pai fought the Mews and tried to fulfill his mission, but we thwarted his efforts. Questions?"
"How the hell are we supposed to defeat Deep Blue?" Minto asked.
"That's where the experiments that Keiichiro and I have been doing come into play," Ryou claimed, "we have developed a booster power shot for your animal DNA. The shot will allow you to attack with higher accuracy and effectiveness."
"And Pai won't be telling the others about it?" Zakuro questioned.
"No, I am thankful that you are helping me. My lips are sealed," Pai replied.
"So are you with us?" Ichigo asked once again.
"Yes," All the Mews replied.
"Thank you, thank you so much…" Maeve said as a tear slipped down her cheek and Pai wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
After a few more days and much careful planning, all the Mews were in the café's basement receiving the boosters they needed for the battle. "I hate needles," Maeve grumbled as she sat on her hands and had Ichigo hold her legs still.
"We noticed," Ryou stated sourly and glanced at the three needles that had fallen to the floor after Maeve's reflexes had knocked them to the ground.
"Hey, don't pick on the reflexes, they happen to be really useful," Maeve said and grimaced as Ryou stuck the needle into her shoulder.
"Thank Kami that was the last one," Ryou grumbled.
"Anyway, we're almost ready. Maeve-chan, do you really think we'll be able to defeat Deep Blue?" Lettuce asked.
"If all goes well, we should be able to do more than defeat Deep Blue," Maeve replied and jumped down off the stool she had been sitting on.
"It'll take a few days for the shot to work, till then, all you can do is wait," Ryou stated.
"Not true, all we can do till then, is bait," Maeve whispered with a smirk and rushed out the door.
Ichigo met with Maeve in the park and gave they gave each other once-overs to check out each others' outfits. Ichigo looked like a dream in a short jean skirt and filmy, pink ruffle top over a red, spaghetti-strap, v-neck tank top and silver heels. She twirled the ends of her high ponytail and played with a silver chain with her bell attached to it. Maeve added a small amount of blush to Ichigo's cheekbones and nodded with approval. "You look good, Masaya's going to die."
"Me? What about you? You look like you're out to kill!" Ichigo almost shouted, eyes wide.
Maeve had pulled out all the stops, she wore a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a midnight blue, scoop back halter top. It tied around her neck and then cut low enough to show off just the tops of her breasts, then wrapped around under her arms to half-way down her back. Her large, chandelier-like gold earrings and tall, black, heeled boots finished off her look.
"I still don't understand how this is supposed to help our cause," Ichigo grumbled as they headed towards a late night concert.
"The point is to get Kishu riled up. If he's already mad at Masaya, and he finds out that Masaya is Deep Blue later, it'll help bring him over to our side. Just trust me," Maeve replied and patted Ichigo's shoulder, "Plus, it'll be a fun girls' night out. Zakuro is meeting us there, everyone else decided to bail."
They headed into the concert when Zakuro met them at the gate with Masaya not far behind. "Ichigo, why didn't you introduce me to your lovely friends earlier?" Masaya asked sweetly.
"Because we're far from lovely," Maeve sneered and walked on.
Soon enough, Pai showed up with Kishu following. The concert had already begun and the three girls were dancing while Masaya stood there looking confused and lost.
"Humans, I don't understand what Ichigo sees in that bozo," Kishu griped and teleported to her side.
Ichigo did not notice Kishu until he started to dance a little too close for Masaya's comfort. "Hey! That's my girlfriend," Masaya shouted at Kishu over the din.
"What did you say? I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the music I'm dancing to with this lovely lady," Kishu shot back.
Masaya had had enough and it took all of Ichigo's strength to throw herself into his path and apologize adamantly for him to forgive Kishu. Maeve jumped in, "If you're so upset, you dance with her."
"Ichigo, why don't we just leave?" Masaya pleaded.
"You may not be having fun, but I am. I'll meet you at the coffee house later," Ichigo replied as Masaya fought his way through the crowd.
Ichigo headed back to where Zakuro and Maeve had been just a minute ago to find Kishu and Zakuro without Maeve. "Where'd Maeve go?" Ichigo commented, more to herself than anyone.
"Where do you think?" Was all that she got in reply.
Later when Ichigo met up with Masaya for coffee, Masaya was extremely angry.
"How could you leave me alone like that?" Masaya growled.
"I was having fun, you couldn't bring yourself to have fun too, so I let you do your own thing while I did mine," Ichigo retorted, a furrow forming between her brows.
Masaya grabbed Ichigo's wrists and shook her, "I love you so freakin' much and you can't even stand to be with me at one stupid concert?" He practically shouted.
"Masaya, let go of me, you're hurting me," Ichigo said through clenched teeth.
"Not till you're willing to listen to reason. I'm your boyfriend for Kami's sake! Why can't you just go with me to have fun my way for once?"
"The concert was your idea!" Ichigo stated, eyes wide with shock.
"Well you could have at least come without your friends. We never get to spend time together!"
"That's all we do!" Ichigo shouted and yanked her hands out of his grasp, "I never get to go out with my friends and you treat me more like a pet than like a human being!" And with that Ichigo stormed out of the coffee shop in tears.
From a dark alley across the street, a pair of golden eyes narrowed and glinted with anger. "He won't get away with that every again," The figure growled and disappeared into the darkness.
The next day Ichigo met with Maeve in the back of the café. "I think it worked," Ichigo stated as she sat down at a table.
"Good, you meeting with him later?" Maeve asked especially loud, knowing they were being listened to.
"Yeah, I am. He called me afterwards and apologized. I'm thinking about giving him another chance," Ichigo followed Maeve's lead.
Soon the two were rewarded. Ichigo's phone buzzed and she answered, "Moshi, Moshi, this is Ichigo!"
"Ichigo! Help me!" Masaya shouted into the phone, slightly muffled.
"If you ever want to see your sweetie again, you'll come to the park—alone," Kishu growled into the phone.
"Don't hurt him!" Ichigo cried and smiled to Maeve who gave her a thumbs up.
"Just get to the park on time. You have two hours," Kishu hissed and hung up.
"Now?" Ichigo asked.
"I'll call the girls, you go and stall. Start flirting with Kish a little, hold them off till we get there, then just flat out tell Masaya you don't love him. He'll fly over the edge, try to hurt you, and then he'll change. Just keep them busy till we get there, that's the important part. Deep Blue is mine," Maeve stated and pressed the first speed dial on her phone.
Half an hour later, Ichigo was walking through the park towards a small clearing with a fountain in the center. There were benches scattered throughout the large, paved area, and it was fairly clear from cover overhead. Ichigo was headed towards the fountain when she heard a strangled cry and a soft scuffling sound. She whirled around, her ponytail flying. "Hello?" She called out to the sky, "Anyone there?"
"Kitten! I didn't think you were coming so soon," Kishu crooned from a tall tree. He had Masaya's mouth covered with one of his hands and dangled Masaya off the tree branch.
"Kishu, put him back on the ground safely!" Ichigo demanded.
"But Kitten, is that really what you want?" Kishu questioned with a smirk.
"It's my job to protect him, of course that's what I want!" Ichigo shouted and stomped her foot.
"You're so cute when you're angry," Kishu stated and teleported back out of the tree, levitating just far enough above the ground that Masaya's feet could not touch.
"I've heard that one a thousand times," Ichigo grumbled, "Will you just let him go so we can talk this out, Kishu?"
"Talk what out, Kitten?" Kishu queried, a slight look of confusion crossing his face. Ichigo saw his grip on Masaya loosen.
Ichigo glanced skyward and saw a quick flash of blue, signaling the other girls were there. "Oh just some things. Really I just want to talk to Masaya. You see, he and I haven't been getting along so well recently, and I was really hoping I could just—break it off. You know?" Ichigo stated innocently.
Kishu dropped Masaya. Masaya's legs buckled beneath him and he looked up at Ichigo with deep sadness in his eyes. "You want to break up with me?" He asked softly.
"Yeah, I do. I just don't love you anymore, and you're so controlling, I never get to have any fun," Ichigo pouted.
"Fun? Fun! That's what you want? You don't want a devoted loving boyfriend? Well I'll show you fun!" Masaya shouted and ran at her, hands reaching out for Ichigo's throat.
Masaya had barely started to move when Kishu intervened. Kishu grabbed Masaya's wrists and twisted them behind her back. "Why not show the lady some respect and leave you piece of dirt!" Kishu growled throatily into Masaya's ear and threw him to the ground.
"Why not show me some respect?" Masaya stated in a cold voice as his features began to change.
"Why would I show a mere human respect?" Kishu asked, his head was thrown back with his face to the sky so that he could not see the changes occurring.
"Because I am your master," Deep Blue replied. Masaya was no more, Deep Blue stood in front of Kishu and Ichigo.
"Deep Blue?" Kishu questioned and looked at the alien form, "I thought you would be completely your own. You used a mere human as your body?"
"Is that a problem?" Pai asked Kishu.
"You knew that, that mortal! That dog was hiding Deep Blue's soul?" Kishu shouted angrily into Pai's face as Pai approached him and Deep Blue. Ichigo slunk backwards towards one of the benches where Maeve had concealed herself. Maeve pressed Ichigo's pendant into the palm of Ichigo's hand as she leaned against the bench, feigning faintness.
"It was my mission to know. One of the Mews led me to it by chance. I was following any leads I could get and remembered hearing a conversation between the three strongest about Deep Blue and the White one's suspicion of his whereabouts. I followed her and it led me to the correct answer. I could not share the information with you because you were no longer one of my comrades on a mission with me," Pai replied stonily.
"Well, la-di-da. One new mission and you get all anti-friendship, anti-comradeship. I thought we had an understanding, Pai, but I guess I was wrong," Kishu snarled.
"What difference does all of this make now, anyway?" Ichigo cried out, crocodile tears dripping down the sides of her face, "You're going to kill me, and Masaya's dead. I never wanted that to happen! If I die, I'll never get to hug or love anyone ever again! All I wanted was a chance to start over with whoever I wanted. I wanted to love…"
"Whomever I could," Maeve said as she and the rest of the Mews appeared in full battle regalia.
"Here to stop us again?" Pai asked, staring Maeve down.
"We wouldn't be doing our job if we weren't," Maeve replied as Ichigo pressed her pendant and transformed, "Go, girls, go," She whispered in a tone that only animal ears could pick up. Lettuce, Minto, and Pudding charged at Kishu and took him to one side of the fountain. Pai saw what was happening and rushed towards Deep Blue.
"Master, please allow me to offer up my body to you in order to return you to full strength," Pai bowed as he spoke.
Deep Blue made a move towards Pai to take his body and leave Masaya's as Ichigo and Zakuro rushed Pai and attacked him, knocking him out of the way. Kishu saw this and had to take a blow because he was not paying attention to Minto. Pai growled and started attacking the two Mews. Deep Blue howled in anger and grabbed Ichigo's shoulder. He unsheathed his sword and was about to bring it down on her when Maeve kicked Deep Blue in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "You," He growled as she stood over him.
"Nice to see you again," Maeve commented and unsheathed her own sword, "Ready for a rematch?"
Maeve and Deep Blue went at each other like two wolves fighting for territory. They both landed blows, and they both dodged blows. The fight between the two of them looked like a dance, but you could see Maeve was visibly slowing down. Zakuro heard Pai muttering under his breath, as he watched her out of the corner of his eye, "Come on, don't slow down, he'll find a weak point. Don't slow down!"
The other battles went on, soon Lettuce was knocked out and Pudding cried out. Maeve was distracted for a mere second, but it was long enough; Deep Blue found an unprotected spot near the top of her thigh and plunged his sword towards her. Maeve realized just in time to get mostly out of the way, but Deep Blue's sword found its mark. Blood started pouring out of the deep stab wound and Maeve staggered towards the fountain. She leaned against the edge for support and gasped as the pain finally registered. Gritting her teeth, she stood and glared Deep Blue down. "You got lucky that time. I won't let that happen again!" She attacked him once more before her leg gave out. "Damnit!" She cursed. Her mew form melted away and left her completely unprotected. She was about to be hit with another one of Deep Blue's attacks when Ichigo leapt in the way.
"NO!" Maeve shouted as Ichigo went flying into a bench. Growling, she faced Deep Blue as her alien features changed her appearance.
"You'll pay for that," She hissed and attacked Deep Blue again. Soon, it was Deep Blue that was slowing down and Kishu was helping Maeve fight because he was angry about Ichigo. Finally, Maeve was able to get close enough to plunge her sword into his chest, "I told you that you'd pay," was all she said as she twisted the sword and he gasped his last breath. As soon as he was down, Maeve staggered backwards, pale from the loss of blood and passed out.
"It…struggle….fantastic…Deep Blue…"
Maeve picked up a few words as she came to. Soon, the phrases were clear. "Ichigo's lucky that the attack didn't hit her any higher up, a little bit higher and she probably would have died from blood loss before you got her back. How's Lettuce?" Keiichiro asked.
"Better, she's sleeping right now, Ryou's with her," Minto replied as Maeve became fully aware of the fact that she was in a hospital.
"I just wish that Maeve-onee-san would wake up," Pudding stated, sniffling.
"Me too, Pudding, me too," Pai stated solemnly.
'Pai? Pai's here?' Maeve thought and started to stir, 'damn body won't move fast enough.' Maeve growled.
"I think your wish just came true," Keiichiro added, "Look."
Maeve slowly raised her head and turned towards them all, "What are YOU looking at? And where am I?"
"Where do you think you are?" Minto snapped.
"Oh, that answers a TON of questions, thanks for the update, Minto," Maeve grumbled.
"You should be glad Minto's here, she's the one that was telling us all about your escapades with Deep Blue," Keiichiro laughed.
"Oooh, story time," Maeve coughed.
"Take it easy, you took some pretty bad blows," Keiichiro told her.
"Like what?" Maeve asked.
"Three broken ribs, one severed artery, a collapsed lung, and minor cuts and abrasions," Pai stated, "All due to a terrible car accident, that no one saw."
"Sounds lovely," Maeve grumbled and pushed herself up into a sitting position, "So—when do I get to go home?"
"Doctors said you could come home soon as you'd been awake for 24 hours," Ryou said from the doorway.
"Let's go visit Lettuce and Ichigo, now, Minto, Pudding," Keiichiro suggested and steered the two Mews away.
"Okay, so, what is so important it had to wait till now for you to tell me?" Maeve asked.
"Pai, this is your question," Ryou shrugged and sat down next to Maeve's feet.
"I wanted to know if we could have the rest of the Mew Aqua to restore our planet. We'll be able to come and go as we please if we can just help our families," Pai pleaded.
"Why are you asking me this and not everyone together?" Maeve asked as her brow furrowed.
"Because, the others delegated you to decide, and it means that he'll have to leave for—what was it?—five years," Ryou replied.
"Oh," Maeve said softly, "I see."
"It will appease our supervisors and hopefully I'll be honorably discharged because of what you and the other mews have done, unfortunately that means that I'm required to stay on the planet for three years, minimum, before I can travel. I won't be discharged till they get to my case, that'll take a year, and until after all the Aqua has taken affect and everyone is settled in, another year. Five years is the soonest I can get back," Pai turned away and faced the window as he told her all this.
"Look me in the face and tell me it's the best option we have," Maeve replied.
Pai turned to her and told her just that. "Then go, don't stay any longer, just go. The sooner you leave and the less of a goodbye we have, the better off we both are," Maeve finished and turned her head away from him.
Dun, Dun, dun….. What now? You tell me. Suggestions, reviews, comments, anything? Send me a review and tell me what you thought. More when I have time.
-Silver
Note: Sorry this took so long. I hope it was worth the wait.
