In case any of you are wondering, I pulled a fast one. I deleted the mew submition form chapter.

=( I hate being sick.

Chapter Thirteen: Double-Crosses Suck


"Give her back!" Zari snarled, standing up to charge again. But as she got close enough to grab the young Kemon goddess, Grainiun threw her back on the ground again.

"How did this happen?" Jason asked.

"Takina and Nukai betrayed us. They gave the Kemons the codes to get into Shikyo's room," Zakuro solemnly explained, watching Zari charge at Grainiun yet again.

"Zari!" Shikyo cried, reaching a small hand out to her surrogate mother. Fear washed over the young Kemon and Hogosha rocketed out of the small grim reaper doll on the floor. As he charged towards the enemy, Chocho threw a small glass orb beneath him. The ball grew, swallowed the shadow, and emitted a blinding light. Hogosha painfully screeched as he disappeared within the prison."Hogosha!" Shikyo screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"Let's bounce," Koga arrogantly said before teleporting away. As the others teleported away, Zari latched onto Grainuin's ankle, disappearing in a black vortex.

"No! Oh my god," Ichigo cried and, forgetting their petty argument, fell into Kishu's arms.

An ice-blue blur sped across the room and held Makai a few inches off the floor, hanging by his shirt collar.

"Where did they take them!?" Kurimu growled, hitting the Kemon's head against the wall for emphasis.

"I don't know, ask the mind-reader!" Makai exclaimed, siccing the overprotective Mew on his friend. In seconds, Kurimu had Koran pegged on the ground, and she sitting on his back.

"Where did they take them?!" she yelled, slowly bending his arm awkwardly and painfully behind him.

"I don't kn–"

"Bullcrap! Tell me the truth!" Kurimu shouted, bending his arm back more, but not enough to break it.

"Kurimu, this isn't helping," Zakuro stated, placing a comforting hand on the younger girl's shoulder. Kurimu reluctantly got off of the panther Kemon, resisting the urge to kick him, and walked over to her friends. The basement looked just like a school dance, the Mews on one side, the Kemons on the other.

"Did you know?" Zakuro asked, being the only one able to choke down her anger.

"I swear, we had nothing to do with this!" Makai explained.

Zakuro took a deep breath to calm herself before asking, "Do you know where they took them?"

"Well, we use to hid out in an abandoned warehouse. But they aren't stupid enough to stay there," Makai explained, mostly to himself.

"I have knowledge of how to obtain our, I mean your, companions," Mugoi piped up.

"How?" Ryou asked through clenched teeth.

Mugoi simply pointed over to where wisps of darkness were floating above the grim reaper doll. A few minutes later, Hogosha was floating before them.

"The Council cast . . . a spell, you could call it, onto Hogosha so that he will never be exterminated."

"So what does Hogosha have to do with this?" Melody quietly asked.

"If he's her protector, then he must have a way to find Shikyo, and where there's Shikyo, there's Zari," Jason explained.

"Bingo, we have a winner," Makai joked, but he was ignored.

"Hogosha, do you know how to locate our divinity?" Mugoi asked. Hogosha closed his flaming red eyes, and everyone held their breath. A few moments later, a thin pink trail of light lead up the stairs and out the door.

"We must hurry; she's afraid," Hogosha said, in a voice that was gruff and protective, yet worried.

"That's the first time you ever talked! I didn't think you could!" Jazz pointed out.

"Yes, he talks, but we have more important matters to attend to," Mugoi stated blankly, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"So we follow the light? Can everyone see it?" Melody asked.

"Only the people I want to see it can," the shadow figure explained.

"Let's go! Ryou, Keiichiro, Melody, Satou, Lettuce, Zakuro, and Jazz, I want you all to stay here. Shikyo's dream can't come true if we all aren't there to die. Curry, Mugoi, Jason, and Taruto, you're staying also," Ichigo ordered, going into leader mode. "All right everyone, follow the light!"

Everyone said their silent goodbyes, and ran out of the café, yelling out their transformation phrase.

After about half an hour, the Mew team was standing in front of an old, abandoned warehouse. The wood was a dark gray, every window was shattered, and the doors were held shut by a heavy, metal chain.

"How do we get in na no da?" Pudding asked.

"Like this," Kurimu said, freezing the door with her attack then kicking it open. Everyone shrugged and followed the arctic Mew into the building. It was just like Shikyo's dream, except it was missing the dead bodies and blood, and they hoped it stayed that way.

"She can hear us, the light just turned red," Ichigo whispered, following the luminescent trail. The team followed it to a red, rusty double door with a broken lock. "Here's the plan: Pai, you get Shikyo and Zari and teleport away; we'll distract them." Everyone nodded and they cautiously opened the doors.

Ichigo quickly slapped her hand over Pudding's eyes to shield them from the horrors of the room. Zari was on the ground, blood flowing from her broken and bruised body, with Shikyo tied up in a corner; both were blindfolded.

Koran resisted the urge to hold his Mew, and let Kurimu run over to her.

"Zari, Zari, please wake up!" Kurimu begged, lightly slapping the orange-haired girl on the cheek.

"Pai, get her out of here. Kishu, get Shikyo," Ichigo ordered, adjusting their plans to the condition of the victims.

"Wait, something's up. Why would they leave her unprotected?" Koran asked, causing everyone to freeze.

"Very good Koran, you were always a smart one!" Chocho taunted, stepping out of the shadows.

"We don't want to fight. We came for the girls, that is all," Pai said.

"Oh, I'm not fighting you at all, she is." Chocho smirked as she side-stepped to reveal Kanon standing, ready to fight. She fired her Buster, hitting Kishu away from Shikyo, then fired another shell that knocked Pai away from Zari.

"Kanon, stop this!" Kea yelled, snapping out of her depressed state. Kanon replied with several more shots aim at the bat Mew. Sighing, Kea fired her attack at the controlled Mew and waited for her curse to take effect. Kanon's weapon glowed pink for a second, then fell apart.

Having lost her weapon, Kanon now had to rely on her snake-like quickness. Swiftly punching Kea in the face, she sweep-kicked Makai to the ground. Doing a backwards handstand-flip, she kicked Koran in the chest, sending him stumbling back. Dodging blast from Kishu's swords and spotting Koran readying himself to attack again; she flipped herself over to the two and split kicked them both in the back. Before the youngest could register what happened, Kanon spin kicked Pudding into a wall. Grabbing a large, discarded piece of her Buster, Kanon threw it a Ichigo and got her in the head; knocking her unconscious.

"Most impressive," Aiyoku commented, a hint of admiration in her voice.

"Indeed," Chocho replied with a kind, knowing smile gracing her face as the Kemon and Mew left. Kneeling down besides the chair Shikyo sat in, Chocho gently cooed, "It's okay, there's no need to be afraid. Your friends are just taking a nap. "

Speaking for the first time since being kidnapped, Shikyo said in an eerily calm voice, "You're all going to die now." Slightly surprised by the young goddess's reply, Chocho nervously backed away.

'This. . . thing is kind of scary,' Chocho thought as she backed away. A wicked, smug sneer worked its way on Shikyo's lips as her blindfold caught on fire. When done burning the blindfold the flame traveled, not harming the Kemon goddess or her clothing, down her body and began burning the ropes binding her. Chocho watched in awe as the Kemon gracefully stood and slowly walked towards her, her smile never leaving her face.

Letting out an intimidating laugh that sent an involuntary shiver run down the butterfly Kemon's spine, Shikyo spoke, "How do you keep someone hostage if you're afraid of them!" With that, Shikyo opened her eyes to reveal solid orbs of glowing red. Right as she opened her eyes, a small, crimson wave of fire swept towards Chocho and slammed her into the wall. Letting out another uncharacteristiclaugh, flames began to form around the powerful Kemon's feet. With fire swirling around her and growing larger with each passing moment, Shikyo slowly walk towards her abductor.

But before Shikyo could do anything she may have regretted, Hogosha appeared and wrapped his dark, wispy arms around her; immediately, she calmed down. Her eyes returned to their friendly auburn color as the flames encircling her slowly died down. Exhausted, Shikyo fell into Hogosha's arms and watched as her world blurred into darkness. The shadow specter picked up his charged and went to awaken all those who could teleport them out.

Slowly, Kishu, Pai, Makai, and Koran grabbed the unconscious forms of their teammates and teleported them to the café were the others worriedly waited. The first thing that happened was Ryou cussed out the two Kemons for the state the Mews were in, but was interrupted when Pai explained everything. When everything was as settled as it could get, Ryou gathered everyone except the Kemons, Shikyo, Hogosha, and Zari down in the basement.

"I'm asking you guys for help because this decision will effect us all. The Kemons cannot be trusted. We aren't sure if any of them are here to spy on us. But on the other hand, they are powerful, and if we exile them, then they may go back to the enemy and tell them our plans, secret, and weaknesses," Ryou explained to the people circled around him.

"I think we should keep them around, they could prove to be strong allies," Pai answered.

"If they can be trusted," Kea grumbled with a grimace, wincing in pain from the bruise Kanon gave her.

"Doesn't the intagliare deal keep them bound to their uh, sweetheart?" Satou inquired.

"We don't know if that's true, or if it's a bunch of bullshit," Jason replied.

"But what if it is true?" Melody timidly asked.

"What if it's not?" Zakuro retorted. A full blown argument broke out after that on whether or not they should keep the Kemons. In an attempt to save the last of his sanity, Ryou suggested, "We'll take a vote. Those of you who want the Kemons gone, raise your hand."

Seven people raised their hands, including Ryou himself. After counting, he neutrally announced, "They stay then, but they are not to leave your sight. Don't trust them with anything too serious."

The reply was just a couple of nods before the group dispersed back upstairs. The Kemons in question were sitting at a table in the corner of the café, some with sadness etched on their faces, others anger.

"So, when do you want us gone?" Makai asked through clenched teeth.

Kea was the one to reply to his hostel question, "You can leave whenever you want, but we agreed to keep you guys around."

"That is, if you want," Lettuce kindly added. The Kemons all broke out in smiles and let Makai be their spokesman as he exclaimed, "Thank you! We were as sure as hell you would kick us to the curb and leave us there!"

"But it's not that simple," Melody piped up, freezing the Kemons' celebration.

"You will have a lot of work to do to earn our trust back," Ryou finished, then left to check up on Zari and Shikyo. The Kemons broke out in smiles yet again and nodded eagerly.

"Where's Koran?" Satou asked, receiving looks that had,'Are you stupid?' written all over them. Looking down to hide her blush, she answered her own question, "Right, stupid question. He's with Zari."

Inside the miniature medical room, Zari began to stir. The first thing she saw, much to her delight, was Koran's worried face. "Hey stranger," she said with a smile. Koran perked right up at seeing his unofficial girlfriend awaken. Pulling her into a gently hug, he asked, "How you feeling?"

"How would you feel after you got the snot pounded out of you?"

"A normal person would feel crappy."

"Well it's a good thing I'm not normal," Zari said with a reassuring smile. Seeing that he wouldn't be calming down anytime soon, Zari gave him a quick peck on the cheek, throwing him into a state of shock. Smiling like a dork, Koran didn't notice the world until Zari frantically asked, "Where's Shikyo?"

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Koran answered confidently, "Downstairs sleeping. From what I heard she had a little power surge."

That was enough to make Zari sit straight up. Ignoring the pain in her ribs, Zari asked, "Is she okay? Did she hurt herself?"

Chuckling lightly, Koran replied, "Yeah she's okay, but I can't say as much for Chocho. She got the brunt of Shikyo's powers."

Having relaxed, Zari leaned back against the pillow behind and hatefully answered, "She deserved it. Hope they get it through their heads that they can't have Shikyo."

Sadly shaking his head, Koran retorted, "Chocho was always stubborn, she's not giving up so soon."

"Why do they want her?" a new voice asked. Snapping their heads around, Koran and Zari saw it was Ryou casually leaning in the doorway. Zari stared back at Koran, she didn't have to say anything, her eyes gave her away. 'Why were you here in the first place?' they asked.

"We were sent on a simple scouting mission, and we came across this place. Nice weather, very spacious for our people, absolutely perfect for us. That is until we realized that it was already inhabited and had protectors," Koran explained and paused, anticipating Zari's interruption.

"Us," she whispered.

Nodding in agreement, the panther Kemon continued, "Makai's father, Toumoku, ordered us to exterminate you guys and the humans, so we could take this place for ourselves. We were doing just that, but then you guys got more members, and the whole intagliare thing happened. So here we are now: Chocho trying to use Shikyo to destroy everyone, and us, trying to prevent it."

"Why do you need to move here?" Zari asked.

"There's a war in our dimension. Against who? I don't know. Toumoko's motive's aren't clear; it's just as hard to get inside his head as it is Makai's. I'm not–"

"You can't read Makai's thoughts?" Zari interrupted.

"Nope, I think he was dropped on his head as a baby too many times," Koran playfully replied, getting Zari to laugh.

"You're not what?" Ryou asked impatiently.

"I'm not really sure why he wants us here. It would be much simpler to just find another place to move our kind, or better yet, stop the war. But he doesn't want us to, he's content with killing an entire species. There must be a strong power here that he's interested in or something," Koran finished, noticing Ryou tense up. Tilting his head in confusion, Koran invited himself into the blonde's mind and not a moment later blurted, "What's Mew Aqua?"

Shooting a death glare at the green-blue eyed Kemon Ryou curtly retorted, "None of your concern."

Sensing Ryou's tension, Koran put his hands up defensively while saying, "Hey, sorry man. I know, I wouldn't trust me either after what happened."

Ryou rolled his eyes and stalked off to places unknown to the Kemon. Sighing, Koran sat down beside Zari and said, "That guy must hate us so much."

"He's just worried. He doesn't want anything to happen to us," Zari reassured him as she gazed into her Kemon's unique eyes.

Suddenly finding the patterns in the linoleum interesting, Koran replied, "Still, he hates us and doesn't trust us a lot."

Cupping his face in her hand, Zari made the Kemon look at her before she said, "He'll come around. I trust you; isn't that enough for now?"

Koran smiled at her before standing up and saying, "I'll go tell the others you're awake You had them worried sick." Giving her a lingering kiss on the forehead, he turned and happily bounded out of the room.

Seeing the happy Kemon practically run into the room, the others new exactly what he was going to say, but let him say it anyway.

"Zari's up!"

The next thing he knew, he was dodging a stampede of excited Mews; the news even brought a spark of life back to Kea. Being bombarded by all her friends and then some, Zari didn't notice Koran sneak in with someone on his back. With a huge grin on his face, he stood in front of the caramel-haired Mew. Reaching behind him, he lifted Shikyo off his back and set her down on the bed. Shikyo, who was dressed in a clean, purple pajama set, clobbered Zari into a hug.

"How are you feeling? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you tired? Did I scare you?" Shikyo asked like the five-year-old she was. Smiling maternally, Zari reassured the girl she'd come to know as a daughter, "I'm fine, Shikyo. How are you? I heard you had a nasty power surge."

For the first time since meeting the young goddess, Shikyo actually blushed. "Um, yeah, I'm okay. The power surge thingy was kind of embarrassing, sorry."

"Well, at least you did it at their place instead of ours," Jason joked. Giggling a bit, Shikyo turned to the Mew she's come to know as her mother and innocently asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Zari replied with a warm smile that disappeared as she was surveyed the room and came upon Makai and Kea, who were still sulking. Raising an eyebrow at them, she said seriously, "If you two don't make up, we'll stick you in a closet until you do."

Looking up from the ground, the two looked at Zari, then the other and smiled sheepishly. "Alright! Get outta here! Go make up someplace where you won't have an audience!" Jason loudly commented. The Mew and Kemon shyly walked out of the room to talk things out.

Little did they all know, they were being watched by menacing red eyes. "Just like him; he's fallen for a pathetic human," a gruff voice snarled.


Hehe, I got ideas that'll make you guys flip. Challenge for anyone who likes to guess endings: Guess what Toumoku's REAL plans are.

Oh my god! This is probably the second chapter I written without help! Not that help isn't appreciated.

Sorry about the late update, I thought I had until Sunday, then something else popped up.

Remember when I asked ages ago if I could draw your guys' characters? Yeah, well I'm working on that now. All the characters are going to get a single sketch of just them, couples poster, teams posters, then I'll make the group entire poster. But for those of you who haven't given me a straight answer, I want a yes or no. I can't take a hint. So far I got Jason done, and now I'm working on Melody.

I can't remember what color I made Hogosha eyes, or even if I told you what color they were, same with Shikyo.

Next chapter will be a bit delayed. Dead best friend's annual memorial is soon.

-TazzybizzyNya!