Chapter 9:Welcome Back, Powers

(Zoey's Point of View)

I can't believe it's been three months since I was separated from the Mew Mews. I know, I haven't shown myself as a Mew Mew. If I did...well, I don't know if Ash, Ed or Chad would understand. To think, three months ago, I was protecting the world from all sorts of baddies, helping a café, et cetera. I guess, when I came here, met the boys and worked at "FATE," it was fate that I became fast friends with Chad, the humble giant, Ed, a short-fused funny man...and Ash...who's helped me, time and time, again. AH! Why am I blushing? It's Ash, a trainer who...why did he even save my life? Corina, Bridget, Kikki, Renee, Elliot...I guess Mark can take another Mew Mew...


(Flashback to Zoey's home world)

A cute little café was amongst a street, where Zoey, in a red maid outfit, was cleaning tables like a busboy...make that busgirl. There were four other maids that were also cleaning the café, probably to close the place down for the night. There was a green-haired glasses girl in a green maid outfit who was mopping the floor. The girl had been studying Zoey for sometime. Zoey looked like an overused battery: out of energy. "Zoey, is everything okay?" Hearing her name being called out, Zoey turned to the co-worker.

"Just fine, Bridget," she chirped. "I was having an overflow of thoughts." Didn't you mean overload? Bridget didn't seem too confident with Zoey's answer. She was curious about her thoughts.

"What thoughts were you having, if you don't mind?" Zoey felt trustworthy with Bridget, allowing her to speak her words.

"I've...been having these visions. There was a young man who was covered in a bluish light, but had puncture wounds and other injuries all over his body, like he entered a war zone and came out far from lucky." Bridget listened with intent.

"More on Mark, right?" Mark? Was that a close friend to Zoey? Zoey didn't believe it was this Mark.

"It wasn't Mark. The thing is, is that he had a mouse by him, but my cat instincts didn't react to it." She had cat instincts? But it didn't react to a mouse? That's troubling, and Bridget knew it.

"Zoey, keep in mind, you're not entirely a cat, despite being fused with one." Well, that was interesting to know about the redhead. Fused with a cat? Could she play with a ball of yarn, should it roll by her? Ridiculous, right?

"Yeah, but why has this guy been in my head for the past couple of weeks?" Now that she already mentioned it, could it have been Ash and Pikachu? Then, a blond boy, not Edward, entered the room, seeing the ladies and the spotless floor and tables.

"Nice work, Zoey, Bridget," he praised. The two girls turned to the blond, thankful to get an acknowledgment from him.

"Thanks, Elliot," Bridget accepted. Elliot accepted the thanks, but had something else in mind.

"Say, has Kikki been here?" Zoey looked up to lights above, spotting a blond kid in a yellow maid outfit...was she hanging from the ceiling?

"Look up," Zoey advised. The one in yellow was Kikki? Zoey and Elliot, eying the upside-down brat, sighed. "She's one heck of a monkey."

"Yeah, should have suspected that much." Kikki seemed to be done replacing some light bulbs.

"Light bulbs changed," she cheered as she leaped down...Oh boy! Rolling in the air, she looked like a torqued gymnast. She hit the ground, perfectly, on her feet. "Ta da!" Showoff. Zoey, Elliot and Bridget applauded the landing.

"Thanks for your assistance, Kikki." Kikki accepted the praise from Elliot, before turning back to the conversation.

"Kikki is wondering about this new boy, too, Zoey." She referred herself in the third-person? Okay...

"If I find out who it is, I'll be sure to introduce you to him and his mouse," Zoey promised. Kikki acted as if everything was just a blunt moment and shouldn't be pressured.

"Okay!" She took off, as Elliot rotated his head to Zoey.

"I think it's best if you get rest," he suggested. "I'd rather not have someone with an overloaded brain be distracted while working. Accidents will happen, and I'd not want space cases." Zoey agreed.

"I'm sorry, Elliot," she frowned. Elliot place a comforting hand on Zoey's shoulder as if to say don't worry about it.

"See ya back in good health." On that note, Zoey got to the locker room to change into some street clothes. There, a blue-haired girl in a, well, blue maid outfit saw Zoey as she covered her undergarments, or her bra.

"Elliot letting you go early?" she guessed.

"Yeah, sorry, Corina," Zoey apologized again. "I did my part of closing...and my mental state was called into questioning by Elliot." Corina didn't seem to care about anyone's mentality. Still, she sported a smile to the redhead.

"Well, as long as the tables are cleaned. Be careful out there, especially with the aliens." Zoey bowed a nod, before stepping out to the swift nightly sky. She proceeded on, her mind lingering on that mysterious glowing blue boy and the mouse by his side. Would those two have been the ones she's with at the moment? Crossing a park, she sat at a bench. Guess that boy latched onto her head like leeches to blood.

"That boy...it's not Mark. No way it's Elliot. Dran...gimme a break." Any other men you'd like to list? That's when someone made their appearance from thin air.

"Did someone call my name, little Mew Mew?" sneered someone. Zoey looked and saw a bright-skinned, green-haired boy with long, pointy ears, and dressed in green and brown rags. "Hi, Zo-zo!" Zoey didn't like to see him.

"Dran!"

"In the flesh!" Dran landed on the pavement, and Zoey braced herself for battle. Dran acted rather peaceful and playful, not hostile. "Oh, don't give me that embraceable strut. I came here to talk. You seem troubled." Zoey didn't like the lip that he zipped.

"Don't drag yourself into my troubles!"

"Oh, really? I thought I was your only problem." Zoey was ready to square off with Dran, when out of the blue, a blast of air shot, knocking both of them off-balance. They quickly straightened out and turned to where the blast came from. There it was: the black sphere. Zoey and Dran gazed at the sphere. "What the heck is that? That ain't something we're familiar with." Zoey wanted to agree with him.

"Thanks for answering my question that I was gonna ask." Not wasting another second, both dashed over to the sphere. That's when the unfortunate happened. Zoey raced forward, leaving Dran in the dust, that she snagged a loose vine. She tripped, and tumbled toward the sphere. She came to rest, mere feet from the unsuspecting portal to meet the rest. "That was close." She got to her feet, which turned out to be the worst move for her. Dran came in like a bullet, not even looking at Zoey. As soon as he did, he tried to plant his heels to the soft dirt. No help. He went flying into her, knocking her into the sphere. Oops...

"Oh no...Zoey!" Dran raced over where her hand was sticking out, and grabbed it. "Zoey! Hang on!" Dran yanked and yanked, strength draining from his scrawny body. The sphere sucked Zoey whole, and began to devour Dran's hands. "I'm sorry, dear Zoey." In a last ditch move, Dran flashed a vanishing act. Zoey was now on her way to meet her new boys. Still, she vainly tried to free herself, when the vibration "punched" her, awing her to sleep. For awhile, she was out, unable to wake...until she smelled something irritating. Unbeknown to her, it was Ash, waving a smelling salt over her nose. She flailed as the reaction to the salts, when she opened her eyes to the cap-wearing trainer. No surprise, she was out of whack.

"What's going on?"

"We're trying to figure that out," the Pikachu-less Ash coughed as he helped Zoey onto her feet. "I'm Ash. What about you?"

"It's Zoey...Zoey Hanson." Ash was a bit worried about her condition, when...

"AH!" Ed screeched. "My arm!" Chad saw his arm, looking like any human arm.

"So?" Chad huffed. Ed was about to make his statement.

"My arm is suppose to be auto-mail, not human skin!" Ed was reflecting back to when he was back at his time with Alphonse. Ash and Zoey joined the other two, while Ed burst into hysterics about his arm, prompting Zoey to cling on Ash's arm and back.

"What's Ed getting worked up about?" questioned Ash. Chad remained peaceful throughout Ed's embarrassing tirade.

"He claims that his arm has lost some sort of auto-mail," he calmed. "If you ask me, he's freaking out over nothing. And her?" Zoey started to come out of her hiding spot and tried a hand at shaking along the big guy.

"M-m-my name is Zoey Hanson," she introduced hesitantly. Seeing a nice girl, Chad decided to shake as well, his giant hand looking as big as Zoey's arm.

"It's Chad...Chad Sado." Chad turned to Ed. "Hey Ed. Over here." Still in his frustrated world, Ed stomped back to the rest. "We should try to find a way to survive together. We don't know what this world possesses, but staying here ain't gonna help squat." The rest agreed, a start to the journey that would change their lives.

(End Flashback/Zoey's view, continued)


At least I'm away from the aliens, including Dran. I do miss the other Mew Mews, Elliot, Mark...and I am searching for that boy in the blue light. At least Ash was by my side. I do wish you could see him, Ed and Chad.

(End View)


On an elevator-style scaffolding, Ash, Zoey and Pikachu were descending toward the hanger, where they'd hope to rendezvous with Ed and Chad. They split apart following the rescue of Zoey by knocking Viral to the floor in a repeat performance, which Ed and Chad acted as decoys for Ash, Pikachu and Zoey, who had barely any difficulty getting passed everyone. Zoey wanted Ash to be with her because she wanted to address something to him. This was the moment alone...aside Pikachu. "Check it out, Pikachu," Ash called as he saw cities in the far distance. Pikachu came over and saw the ever illuminating flow of lamps and other lights. They couldn't believe that they were so high up. "This is quite a view." It was breathtaking. Zoey stepped up, ready to talk to Ash.

"Ash?" she voiced. Ash heard her and jerked his head to her direction.

"What is it, Zoey?" Zoey, the floor was yours.

"Are you...are you mad at the fact that I had the data that Dardanel sought?" Fear. She feared that her temporary possession of the data caused her to be the target of the madman that wants death in this world. Ash didn't seem to panicked about it. A jeweler in hiding would be to blame, since that guy supplied her with the item in question.

"Why would I be mad at you? It's not your fault, the locket had that storage device that held the data." True enough. That data was stolen a month prior to the arrival of the heroes. "And if you're gonna ask about causing all the trouble to rescue you, it's okay. It's a habit of mine. I save Pikachu time and time again."

("It's embarrassing, but it's true,") Pikachu squeaked as it scratched the back of it's ears. Some habit to have, always saving the day. Zoey felt relieved from the answers...a little relieved.

"You've been nothing but help," she smiled. "You've helped Ed with cleanup after the shattered glasses. You've helped Chad with being very social. You've even helped me when I was sick and kidnapped." Especially that. "To think, I've had visions of a boy glowing in a blue light, and would've asked for help to search for him, only to find myself falling for you." Ash gulped in surprise. Zoey had admitted to having an infatuation for him. Pikachu was just as stunned as Ash. It took a moment, but Ash recovered with a smile, like those were her true words.

"Zoey..." he lisped. "Thank you...very much." So much for an overblown reply. 'Macy only fell for me after I rescued her Vulpix from disaster. Zoey...she's more than that. A lot more.' First, business came, then pleasure back at base. "I know we can stop the satellite and Dardanel. You've given me the confidence to stand up." The scaffolding reached the bottom, which the railing bars slid open. They stepped off, and made their way over to some oversize garage door.

"Here is Excel, chief supervisor of the ideological organization known as ACROSS," some woman hacked from a hot air balloon that appeared out of nowhere. Hey, who's stealing the author's job?! There were two women in the basket. One was an orange/blond woman in a turquoise over-jacket over a black shirt with matching shorts. The other woman was violet-haired, and skin as white as snow. She wore a snazzy red/blue leotard-like outfit with black sleeves. "I'm here, covering the action for the author, alongside agent Hyatt." Hey, no one asked you! Get out!

"Senior Excel, it seems the author is upset with our interruption of the story," Hyatt pointed out. Excel didn't mind. She'd better.

"Don't sweat it, Hat-chan! Excel will make sure she does the best color commentating, all in the effort for Lord Illpalazzo!" She turned to the empty night sky? Why? "Oh Lord, Excel will do her very best!" Man, where'd she get that energy? Out of the midnight blue night, a white-haired man...at least his head with yellow eyes and a trivial piece of headgear...anyway, appeared.

"I know you will, Excel," he ordered. "Oh, by the way, I wanted to announce that the author, Pete the Rock, will exclusively place me in an upcoming story. He's still working on details and will post on the favorite Fanfiction website." Excel was excited for Illpalazzo to be put in a story, thank you! Thank you all! The author will be here for as long as possible!

"Congratulations on your promotion, Lord Illpalazzo!" Okay, Excel. Can we get back to the story, now?

"I would agree with the author that the story needs to press. Don't discourage the author, girls, less the story." Finally! Both girls agreed and pointed their arms high.

"Hail-" both chanted in unison...but it ended when Hyatt heaved blood from her mouth and collapsed in the basket. That...can't be good. Excel saw her partner fall and attended to her aid.

"AH!" she screeched. "And there she dies again!" Again? That's not right. "CPR! CPR!" Her heart stopped? Excel, is... "Author?!" Yes? "Continue! We'll be back!" With pleasure. Ash and Zoey looked at the balloon, unsure on what just happened.

"It's not everyday that a Fanfiction story has backup authors and narrators, much less break the fourth wall," Zoey murmured. What can the author say?

"Maybe other authors will get wind of this," Ash predicted. "It might lead to new writing styles. A new trend, perhaps." If it does, they'll know who to turn to. Back to the story. Ash approached an electric number pad. "Luckily, the data had the code to unlock the door." Memorizing the code, Ash pressed the numbers. The sounds echoed locks being undone. The giant door rose up. It revealed a surprise. Standing in the doorway, there was a woman. The violet-short-haired woman was wearing a white fancy jacket to match her headband. She also seemed to be wearing a skirt, but was covered by her coat. She wore violet pantyhose and matching high-heeled stilettos. Gloves appear to be a trend, because she had black ones on. Was she Ropponmatsu?

"Too good to have been true." The roadblock?

"Targets confirmed," the woman acted like a robot. "Commence termination." Termination? Ash scented a problem with the woman. She wouldn't sound like that unless...

"An android?" he guessed. The trouble was mounting and Zoey retreated several feet. Ash and the woman, going toe-to-toe. Excel peered out while Hyatt laid in the basket, looking pretty much out of it.

"Ro-ro-Ropponmatsu?" she answered. "I hadn't seen her since the tearjerker episode when she and her co-workers recycled me from the wastelands." Hearing her partner, Hyatt woke up, peered out and seeing Ropponmatsu, herself, while blood trickled from her mouth.

"Oh, yeah, I remember now," she weakly...remembered? "When Nabashin got married to Kumi Kumi, and his daughter, Poemi was born, he took up the job in the government's science department and performed modifications on Ropponmatsu." Modifications? What kind of modifications?

"Teacakes! Are you serious?" Hyatt handed a clipboard over to Excel, who scanned it. "This...is bad." Was Ash ready for it? Where's Ed and Chad? Ash braced himself for Ropponmatsu.

"Prepare for termination," she monotoned. "There's no escape." Well, Ash could hijack the balloon. He wouldn't need to.

"Well, there may be no escape," proclaimed...Ed? "But who says we're running?" It was Ed, emerging from above with Chad. The boys acted as roadblocks as protection for Zoey, which Chad looked to verify that she was in good shape.

"Battle situation: Handicap three-on-one. Status: green. Battle: Engage." In a flash, Ropponmatsu made her first strike on Ed, but he ducked before delivering a nasty uppercut. The punch struck Ropponmatsu in the chin, but it didn't do anything. Worse yet, Ed was shaking off some sort of pain. What happened?

"Dammit! She's metal!" Duh! Androids weren't made of skin and bones. This was only going downhill from there. Ropponmatsu fired a punch...with some sort of extended arm. The long shot punch found its target, hitting Ed between the eyes. Ed fell to the ground, but stayed up. That's some modification there. "What the hell?!" Ropponmatsu turned to Ash, who tried to do a sneak attack. The arm retracted. When the fist returned, it propelled her arm to fly back at Ash. Ash had to have known about this move, because he pivoted pass the increased powered elbow before striking a palm thrust to the same spot: chin. It jarred her head back, but it proved to be useless. She recovered with vengeance. She fired beams out of her eyes, nailing Ash in the arm, ouch! Ash grabbed his shot arm as Ropponmatsu tried to chop him down. Not gonna happen. Pikachu released a massive stream of lightning, jolting Ropponmatsu. She stumbled from the shock as Zoey watched, helpless to do anything. That's when she saw a yellow pendant with a pink heart on it. Zoey knew what she found.

"My Mew Mew Pendant," she recognized as she scooped it. Meantime,Chad got to have his shot at Ropponmatsu. He laid a heavy chop on Ropponmatsu, in the spine. It pushed her toward Ash and Ed, who performed roundhouses to the front, palm thrust and knee to...the breasts. You could bet that boob-contact would cushion the blow. Well, you'd lose that bet. The combination attacks ripped the lower half of Ropponmatsu from the rest of her body. So what? We should expect blood to spray like a jacked up hose...but no! Metal, wires, circuits...those were exposed to the open air. Was that what was inside an android? Ropponmatsu was motionless, meaning that the heroes picked up another win. That was something new. Zoey regrouped with the boys, thankful to be okay. "Guys!" Ed and Chad saw Zoey, knowing that Ash perfected his duty. They weren't out of the woods yet. A secret compartment rose from inside the hanger. Inside...more Ropponmatsus? There was a squadron of the androids, all looking alike. Clones?

"This...is not good," Chad muffled the obvious. At least 50 Ropponmatsus stormed and circled around the five-some. Pikachu showed panic. Ed revealed grit. Zoey was fearful. Chad...was Chad. Ash geared for the losing battle. They needed extreme help. Zoey was going to use her pendant. What, was she going to summon her Mew Mew friends?

"Don't worry, friends. I'll fight alongside." Right, Zoey. Humor us. "Power Pendant Mewtamorphosis!" Why, Zoey? If Ed was without his auto-mail, Chad without his mega arm and Ash without his...something, why try when-AH! Too bright!

"Yikes!" Excel jumped while shielding her eyes. Hyatt too. The shine got everyone in the blinding light. What's going on?! The light dimmed, and nothing was the same. Zoey changed in every aspect. She had pink hair with cat ears, had a pink strapless silk blouse/skirt one-piece, armbands over near her shoulders, gloves, cat tail with a ribbon and bell...which was not right...and knee-high red boots. What the heck happened to Zoey, and what the heck was she doing with that heart-shaped...whatever it was? Ash turned to the new Zoey, shocked and awed at her fresh appearance. Excel was just as surprised as Ash. "Girl became catgirl! But why and what for?" That wasn't the only thing different.

"Senior," Hyatt voiced as she pointed to Chad...what the heck?! His arm! His arm was back to gigantic black and violet. His powers were back! What about Ed and Ash?

"Holy crosscut, Hat-chan! That arm has to be illegal!" That was one big arm! Ash was more focused on Zoey to notice Chad's big, bad "gun."

"Zoey?" he called. Zoey eyed the androids so hard that she failed to hear Ash. "Who...what are you?" Yeah, we're all wondering that ourselves. That time, she did listen.

"It's a little complicated to explain at this point in time," she grinned. "You could say that back where I live, I'm with four others like me protecting the innocent from evil aliens." For Ash, this was a new experience. Ed...Chad...not so much.

"Evil aliens, rouge reapers, immortal homunculi and corrupt organizations," Ed listed. "Either way you look at it, we've denied these guys from doing their businesses that would harm our worlds." Chad and Pikachu agreed, but Excel seemed offended. Was it the organization-part?

"ACROSS is not a corrupt organization, blond boy!" she yelled. You got proof?

"We do deal with the ignorant masses," Hyatt reasoned, calming Excel a little.

"Oh, yeah. That." One more for the list. Anyway, one Ropponmatsu charged in at Ed and throwing a punch, making Ed defend with his right arm. CLANK! A clank? When Ropponmatsu hit Ed's arm, a clank sounded. That didn't sound right. Ed shooed off Ropponmatsu and check his...metal? Metal replaced his arm. Ed was stunned to see his arm become metal.

"My auto-mail," he whispered in dismay. "I have my auto-mail back." That's when his shuttered dismay...became a grin of all ages. "Business is back!" Business? He clapped his hands together and waived his left over his right as his right emitted sparks. His alchemy? Was it back, too? His hand grew a blade, above his wrist. "All right! This is what I'm talking about!" Pikachu was shocked to see Ed's new arm, as well as Chad's arm and Zoey in her new form. Suddenly, it turned to Ash with something it knew.

("Ash, your aura!") it shouted. Aura? Ash heard his little buddy, but had no clue on what it was referring to...at least for a second.

"Oh, right," he realized. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Then, a blue glowing light began to leak from his body. Zoey turned to the light, seeing Ash coated in the blue light. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Is it?" she gasped. "Is it him that I've had visions about?" The light manifested to Ash's hands, curled to fists. He was combat-ready.

"Well, guys," he spoke up. "It seems we got our abilities back after so long. What about a warm-up with these dolls?" It had been awhile since they were able to use their powers. Battle time! The Ropponmatsu army charged in. Ed began the hacking and whacking process, slicing, cutting and stabbing each android, every one of them destroyed on strike. Using her toy, Zoey bashed the dolls into the ground, even as she used her entire body taking her portion of the Ropponmatsu army. Chad...all he needed to do was swing that huge arm. No one was safe from the giant arm. You didn't need a bigger reason to tell that Chad had it all wrapped with his bunch. Ash was blasting the Ropponmatsu squad with orbs from his hands. What was he, Ryu from the Street Fighter series? He punched, kicked and threw the dolls all over the place, all busting at the seams. Five minutes. 50 Ropponmatsu dolls destroyed. Pikachu was awed that Ash and his friends defeated the dolls without his help. Ash, Zoey, Ed and Chad regrouped, knowing that the four did quite a bang-up job.

"Guess we needed everyone's on that brawl," Ed huffed. They observed what each brawler had. Zoey saw some of the light from Ash as Pikachu got back to Ash's side.

"So, what's up with that powerful glow you got?" she pointed out to. Ash saw that his light was still seeping from his body.

"It's the aura that a...good friend helped me with," he replied. So, that light was aura, huh? Zoey was thrilled with how Ash used this aura, like an inner fire, guided by an accelerate. "By the way, you had little problems with the dolls. Where'd you learn how to move like that?" Zoey nervously laughed at that question. Was it something she wanted to hide from him?

"To be honest, when you have instincts like a cat, it's pretty self-explanatory." Cat-like instincts? Not so much of self-explanatory. Still, Ash went with it. Ed and Chad were checking each other's arms. Needless to say, Ed was jealous of Chad's macho arm.

"What the hell is with your arm?" he berated his larger co-worker. Chad looked over his arm, like it was nothing.

"My arm is actually a shield," he clarified. "Of course, you saw how destructive my arm is." That was true. The body count from Chad was quite a testament. Ed tried to upstage him with something from his bag of tricks.

"Nice to know, but can it do this?" Ed clapped his hands and slapped the ground. Sparks crackled. A shake ruptured, causing Zoey to react by jumping up. As she jumped, an iron hand emerged, two fingers up, like a peace sign. Zoey landed on a finger, only to lose balance. She shouted a bit, having Chad and Ed look over, when she fell. Ed and Chad saw Zoey fall, and ran around the hand. When they got to Zoey, they were...if Ash was jealous at Ed for being kissed by May, this was retribution. Zoey was on top of Ash...and they were kissing. Pikachu got onto Ed's human shoulder to get a better view of this. Wow...words were hard to come by from that scene. Their lips broke.

"You okay?" Ash asked in some concern, more bliss.

"Yeah," Zoey chirped. "Can...can I stay like this for a bit?" Oh boy... Ash blushed like this was something...you know what the author would say. Too bad they wouldn't spend more time.

"You guys can have all the romance when we get back to home base," Chad pointed out. "Right now, Dardanel is the only objective." Sighing in regress, Ash and Zoey got up, ready to go and stop Dardanel. They ran into the hanger, leaving the members of ACROSS to review the events.

"Well, those guys were sure something," Excel said. "Never thought that anyone would dispel so many Ropponmatsu dolls in such record time. Those four have some things, the ideological organization of ACROSS would desire to rule the masses. Iron fist may be a bit literal." Too literal? "Yeah. Too literal. Come on, author, you had to know what was coming in this chapter, right?" The author didn't anticipate you two and Illpalazzo to arrive and interrupt everything.

"He's right, senior," Hyatt agreed. "We did come in without proper acknowledgment."

"Perhaps it was meant to be a surprise. Nonetheless, Excel will stay in the story 'til the very end!"

"I don't think so!" sounded...May! Thank goodness... Excel and Hyatt turned to May, upset at the girls' bothersome actions. "This story is sacred to the author and his imaginations. It's best if you leave immediately." May...you're a lifesaver.

"Oh yeah, scrawny? You and what army?" What army? Not the Ropponmatsu army.

"Bakuro 33!" Rukia appeared with her chant...on the balloon. "Hellfire Blast!" Without warning...KABOOM! The balloon blew up. Bye Excel! Bye Hyatt! Both fell from the sky into the abyss below. "What bothersome pests." This author's glad to see his story safe from that type of hackers.

"So sorry about that, author," May apologized. No, no need. It was needed. "Say, is it all right if I close the chapter?" Of course. "Thanks. Well, with this scattered mess of androids and that peace sign, it seems that things will be looking up for the heroes."

"Well, yeah, but there will be a tragedy in the making in the next one. I do admit, hearing that Illpalazzo will be in another story by author Pete the Rock was one I didn't see coming."

"Did he say which one?"

"Not really. Should be really good." Excuse this author if he may interrupt, but...where's Alphonse?

"He's getting set for the next chapter." Oh, okay... "We'll see you there." Both May and Rukia ran off. Well, they said it. No need to repeat.