Okay. So, uh, yeah. I was wrong. THIS is the longest chapter of the story. It is the second-to-last offical chapter to be posted, and the last chapter and epilogue (Not an official 'Chapter' in my head, if this makes any sense) will be posted Monday (New Year's Eve). After that, I will take a week long break and then plan on starting to post Alien Upgrade on the eleventh of January, keeping the same Monday-Friday posting schedule.

That is all for the public service announcement. You may commence reading now. :)

Chapter Fifty-Four:

"You look so hot in that uniform," Mint said, a love-struck look in her eye as she studied Shinji in his new Café Mew Mew waiter uniform.

"Thanks," Shinji said, grinning at her as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "But I'll never be able to look as hot as you do."

Mint beamed.

"Does she realize we're all wearing the same thing?" Tart asked in a low voice as he gestured to the outfits that he, his brothers and Masaya were wearing, which were identical to Shinji's with the exception that his tie was a dark yellow.

"Let her have her ogling session," Rin said in a whisper.

"At least now she has motivation to actually work every day," Ichigo said in a low voice.

"Thank goodness for that," Lettuce said and both girls started giggling quietly.

Pudding sighed happily as she swept the floor.

"Pudding can't believe that this year is finally ending, na no da," She said. "And that a new one begins tonight."

"It's hard to believe that it's New Year's Eve again," Zakuro said. "Is anyone planning on making a New Year's resolution?"

"What's that?" Rozū asked.

"It's when a person makes a promise to themselves that they will change something about themselves or do something in the new year," Keiichiro explained.

"They usually last till a week after," Ryou piped up.

"Well, my resolution is to find my power," Rozū said determinedly, hands on her hips as she grinned.

"Pudding's is to join the cheerleading club in the spring, na no da," Pudding said.

"Mine is to eat less cake," Ichigo said.

"Why? You love cake," Masaya said.

"Yeah, but now that I get teleported to school and work—and on time—I don't have any chances to make a mad dash and therefore work it off in ways that don't involve serving customers or defending Earth," Ichigo said with a shrug.

"You look fine," Kish said, teleporting behind Ichigo to wrap his arms around her still very skinny waist. "And I love every ounce of you."

Ichigo smiled as he kissed her cheek.

"Thanks," She said, putting her hands on his before leaning against him.

"Can our general resolution be to defeat Mylo?" Rin suggested.

"This one we can't give up two weeks later," Tart said.

"It'll be the first resolution I've ever managed to keep," Mint said with a grin.

"Well, my resolution is to figure out who the Knights are," Lettuce said as she finished cleaning a table.

"It's kind of strange that we haven't seen any of them in a while, isn't it?" Rirī said, her brow furrowed.

"Yeah, I wonder what happened to them," Ichigo said, her voice curious and distant.

"I'm sure they're happy wherever it is that Knights go when they're not in use," Kish said with a grin.

"Yeah, maybe a beach somewhere," Shinji suggested. He had spent the past five days getting caught up on Defender Life, as he referred to it as. He also proved to be a very strong tactician, gained from many years serving as captain of the soccer team. Like the others, he would watch the live footage and give suggestions based off what he could see in his Masha's-eye view.

"That can't be, na no da," Pudding said. "They're all so pale."

"For some reason, the ears indicate to me that they could live on a beach and still be that pale," Zakuro said with a small smile.

"That probably is very accurate," Pie said.

They continued to laugh and chat happily as they set up the Café for that morning. However, for Lettuce, the fun ended shortly after they opened.

"Let-tuce-Cha-an."

Lettuce cringed inwardly as she looked up from the stack of menus and smiled.

"Ohayo, Hiroki," She said. "You want me to get you a table?"

"Nah, I just came by to talk to you," Hiroki said, leaning his arms on the hostess stand.

"Hiroki, I'm working right now, can we talk later?" Lettuce asked, biting her lip.

"It won't take long," Hiroki said, grabbing hold of Lettuce's arms and batting his eyelashes in an attempt of looking cute.

Lettuce sighed but indicated to him to continue. Hiroki grinned.

"So, I was thinking, maybe we could go to the New Year's Eve festival tonight? Together?" He said, grinning sweetly.

"Sorry, Hiroki, I already made plans to go with my co-workers tonight," Lettuce said.

Hiroki frowned.

"You never have time for me, your best friend," He said, clearly trying to guilt Lettuce. He looked more angry than hurt or sad.

"Well, maybe I would have said yes if you had asked me before the day of," Lettuce said, now getting irritated herself. "And it isn't my fault I don't have time to hang out. I've got school, and work."

"And yet you always seem to have time for your boyfriend," Hiroki growled.

Lettuce's eyes narrowed.

"Look, if you're coming here to gripe about how you don't like my boyfriend, you can just leave," She snapped. By now the entire Café was staring at the two, customers included.

"Well, I wouldn't have to always gripe if you would just listen to me!" Hiroki snapped back.

"I have been listening to you. And basically what you're doing is wasting air," Lettuce said.

"I'm not!" Hiroki argued bitterly. "I'm just hoping you'll come to your senses and come back to me. You are mine. After all, I'm the only one that could ever love you."

Lettuce blanched. Those words stung, and it hurt worse when she saw that Hiroki was being truthful, either not realizing or not caring about the words that had left his mouth. She felt her eyes prick with tears.

"Get out," She growled as she turned away from him. "Get out now."

"Not till you come with me!" Hiroki snapped, grabbing Lettuce's wrist harshly. Suddenly, a pale hand with long, claw-like fingernails was over his wrist and squeezed tightly, causing Hiroki to release his hold.

Hiroki glared up at the person holding his wrist. Pie glared at him, his eyes hard and angry as he said blandly,

"She has asked you to leave. I advise you do so now."

Hiroki glared at Pie but yanked his arm out of the alien's grasp and stormed away. Ichigo made sure to slam the door behind him, using a few choice words to describe Hiroki.

Lettuce couldn't face anyone and was sniffling slightly. She felt someone gently put their hand on her shoulder and she turned around, surprised to see Pie wearing his jacket and holding hers.

"Ryou would like us to pick up some items from the grocery store," He said. Lettuce nodded and allowed Pie to help her into her coat. He then gently took her hand and they left, Lettuce still silent.

Lettuce kept her eyes downcast, letting Pie lead her through the streets. However, when she did glance up, she was surprised to find that they were nowhere near the usual store they went to get items for the Café. As her brow furrowed with confusion, she felt herself being ushered through a doorway. She blinked as she looked around the crowded coffee shop.

"This isn't the grocery store," She said, blinking a few times. "Isn't Ryou going to be mad if we don't return with the groceries?"

"Ryou does not even know we left," Pie said as they got in line. "The last time I saw him, he was heading down to the basement with his headphones in and a mug of coffee and a plate of cake in his hand. He shall be down there for a while."

"So, then, why-?" Lettuce started to ask.

"I thought you should take a nice, long break," Pie said, running his thumb over her hand, giving her a small smile. "You definitely deserve it."

Lettuce smiled.

"Thanks," She said, leaning against his arm. "Think the Café will still be standing when we get back?"

"How many times has that building been destroyed and miraculously restored before the end of the day?" Pie asked.

"In general, or just when it's destroyed by you and your siblings?" Lettuce asked teasingly. Pie's smile grew.

"Touché," He said as they got up to the counter. They both placed their orders before going to sit on one of the shop's couches while waiting for the drinks to be mixed.

Lettuce snuggled into Pie, closing her eyes, enjoying the warmth radiating off of him and the feeling of having his arms around her and vice versa.

"Pie, have I mentioned that you are the best boyfriend ever?" Lettuce asked with a contented sigh.

Pie chuckled and ran his fingers over her braids.

"Not recently, but I do enjoy hearing you say that," He said, kissing the top of her head. "If for no other reason than I know that means I am doing something right if you are happy."

"Just being around you makes me happy," Lettuce said. Pie smiled down at her, but then his rare smile became a frown again.

"Lettuce? If you do not mind my prying, may I ask why Nakamura is so…" His voice drifted, searching for the right phrasing.

"Possessive of me?" Lettuce finished. She sighed. "I wish I knew. When we were toddlers, our mothers thought it would be a good idea to have us have play-dates. Let us play by ourselves while they got some time to relax and talk with another grown-up. We were opposites, but best friends despite it. I was shy and quiet, whereas he was outgoing and loud. When we were four, he declared us best friends. However, I soon came to realize that this phrase had a much different meaning to Hiroki than it did to me.

"When we entered kindergarten, I basically shut-down, just so overwhelmed by all the kids and teachers and routines. But Hiroki was always there, protecting me. Overprotecting as the case may be. When other kids tried to play with me, or even talk with me, Hiroki scared them off. He made it clear that I was his. But even then I knew that it wasn't healthy for either of us. For first grade, they put us in different classes, but it did no good. Hiroki refused to interact with the kids in his class, and I was just too timid to do anything but be by myself, not to mention the kids were too scared of Hiroki to approach me.

"This continued up though elementary school, nothing getting better. I was still Hiroki's possession, had no friends, very little social skills and just basically no one liked me. The fact that I was very smart didn't help me either and I got picked on a lot, but Hiroki never came to my rescue. He'd even join in the teasing, always telling me he never meant it and that it was all in good-nature. It didn't mean it didn't hurt, but I never told him that. Then, the summer before Junior High, we learned that Hiroki's father had been given a promotion in his work, and with that a transfer. The night before they moved, Hiroki and I went to the park near our building. To my surprise, he told me he loved me. I opened my mouth to respond, but I found I couldn't say anything.

"My brain was telling me to say 'I love you too', but my body refused to do so. Now I am really grateful that I didn't, because I wouldn't have meant it. I could never have meant it. My whole life, he was my friend, practically my brother, even though he was starting to rarely act like either. But I didn't love him in the same way he did. He took my silence as being dumbstruck and just assumed I did return the feelings. He promised he would return for me, but I silently hoped he wouldn't. The next week, I went to my first day of Junior High, determined to make friends. However, that didn't go as well as I had hoped. I wouldn't get the true friends I was searching for until I met Ichigo and Mint."

Lettuce blinked away tears.

"Just wanted to have friends, to be liked," She muttered, staring at the black and white tiles of the floor.

Pie pulled her into his lap and held her tight to his chest.

"You are liked," He whispered into her ear. "You are more than liked. You are loved. You are loved by your parents and brother, you are loved by your teammates, and you are especially loved by me. Never, ever forget that. And if someone does not love you, then they obviously have deep psychological issues that need to be tended to immediately."

Lettuce smiled and chuckled slightly.

"I love you, too, Pie," She said. She leaned her forehead against his and they kissed, Pie still holding onto her as she ran her fingers through his hair.

A moment later, Pie felt someone tap his shoulder. A young man's eyes narrowed at them as they both looked up.

"Oi, lovebirds," He said. "The barista's been calling your names for, like, three minutes now. So please do us all a favor and get your coffee and make out somewhere else."

Lettuce flushed scarlet, but Pie merely glared as he set Lettuce on her feet. He grabbed the coffee cups, paid, then went back to Lettuce, hand her cup to her and taking her free hand. Neither said anything as they walked down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand, Lettuce still embarrassed. Pie glanced over at her and smiled, and Lettuce caught this action out of the corner of her eye.

"What are you smiling about?" She asked curiously.

"Does my smiling bother you?" Pie asked, still smiling.

"No, not at all," Lettuce said. She smiled as she blushed, unable to meet his eyes for a second. "Actually, I like it when you smile. When you do, there's too many words to describe what it says to me."

"Then it is a good thing that just the thought of you is enough to make me smile, is it not?" Pie asked as wrapped his arm around Lettuce's waist and pulled her to his side, kissing the top of her head. She happily snuggled up into him as they continued to walk.

On the rooftop of the buildings the oblivious couple were walking past, a pair of cat-like pale purple eyes narrowed before disappearing into the shadows once more.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Scene Divider)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

After closing the store, the staff of Café Mew Mew quickly changed into the traditional kimonos they were wearing to the New Year's Eve festival downtown.

"Uh, those are the non-lethal fans, right?" Shinji asked hesitantly as he saw Rin bring out a fan. The young alien woman laughed and said,

"Yes, this one's harmless. Hopefully I won't need to bring out the other ones tonight," She said, showing him that—unlike her tessen fans—this fan was entirely made out of wood and painted paper.

"Don't jinx it, Rin," Mint said. She shuddered. "I've learned that lesson the hard way."

"Let's go party, na no da!" Pudding cheered, throwing her arms in the air excitedly.

"Hey, wait, I thought you weren't planning on celebrating New Year, just Chinese New Year," Keiichiro said, confused.

"Yeah, but Pudding never misses a chance to party, na no da!" Pudding said with a grin.

"Then let's hit it," Kish said with a grin.

Within minutes, they were at the festival. Exchanging grins, the team split off into to opposite directions. They played games and shopped; ate lots of mochi, sushi, soba noodles and fish cakes (the latter of which were particularly loved by Ichigo); listened to poetry and music; and eagerly waited for midnight to come.

An hour before midnight, the Tokyo Defenders (minus Masaya, who was still walking around the festival with Homare) had reunited and were sitting around a picnic table that had been set up, chatting excitedly when they heard screams coming from the crowd.

"What's going on?" Rozū asked, her brow furrowed as she stood on the bench to try and see what the disturbance was.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound good," Rirī said, biting her lip as she too got to her feet.

Suddenly, twelve large Chimera Animals rose up from the mass of people and stalls: a black rat with long front teeth and fur on end; an ox that stood on its hind legs; a growling tiger with yellow eyes; an albino rabbit with red eyes and claws; a large dragon with glistening green scales and flashing fangs; a huge, hissing black cobra; an angry chestnut horse that stomped it's spiked hooves; a goat that tried to ram into people; a large monkey swinging around and destroying whatever it could; a crowing rooster that sent everyone nearby to their knees at the sound; a snarling dog with spittle dripping out of its mouth, looking to bite someone; and a large boar with tusks made for impaling.

"Okay, there comes a point where it's just overkill to have that many Chimeras," Kish said grumpily.

"And… Mylo has gone far beyond that point," Zakuro said dryly.

"Nice, aren't they?"

They turned to glare up at Mylo, sitting casually in a nearby tree.

"I was only going to do one, you know, tying into the whole 'Year of the whatever' stuff, but frankly, I have no idea how this Chinese Zodiac thingy is supposed to work," Mylo said, grinning wickedly. "So I thought to myself, 'Eh, why not just do them all?' And I did. Aren't they magnificent? Strongest ever." He looked around at the scrambling people and his evil grin grew. "Ah, this brings to mind that saying: 'out with the old and in with the new'. Well, little humans, say sayonara to your old freedom and say konnichiwa to your new ruler."

"Like we're going to let that happen!" Ichigo yelled. "Tokyo Defenders, transform!"

"Mew Mew Zakuro."

"Mew Mew Pudding."

"Mew Mew Lettuce."

"Mew Mew Mint."

"Battle-Form Pie."

"Battle-Form Rindou."

"Battle-Form Lily."

"Battle-Form Taruto."

"Battle-Form Rose."

"Mew Mew Strawberry!"

"Battle-Form Kisshu!"

"METAMORPHO-SIS!" "TRANSFORMATION!" "REVOLUTION!" "FUSION!"

Mylo chuckled darkly at the transformed Defenders.

"We end this tonight," He said. "My Chimeras are too strong for you."

"We'll be the judge of that," Kish said, calling his swords to his hands.

"Yes, I'm sure you will," Mylo said patronizingly.

The Tokyo Defenders were about to leap into action, when Mylo called out,

"Oh, and by the way, humans make quite interesting Chimeras. It is fun to watch them squirm as they transform."

They paled and stared at Mylo.

"They're all humans?" Mint asked, her eyes wide.

"Yep," Mylo said, grinning wickedly. "Have fun."

And with that he disappeared.

The Defenders looked at each other, stunned.

"We haven't even gotten a chance to try our new tactic out on one, now we have to do twelve?" Rin asked in disbelief.

"We'll distract the others, just tell us which one you're going to take on first," Zakuro said.

"And we'll make sure everyone else gets out before they get hurt," Ryou said. Keiichiro and Shinji nodded.

"Good luck everyone," Ichigo said. She cringed as the tiger roared. "We're going to need it."

"We'll take on the dragon first," Kish said. "That way no fires get started."

His siblings nodded and they flew over to the large Chimera.

"Pudding's got the monkey, na no da!" Pudding called as she flipped away, challenging the monkey to attack her and then nimbly getting out of the way.

"Dog," Zakuro said, getting out her whip before running off.

"Tiger," Ichigo said before running onto all fours, her tail twitching.

"I've got the rooster," Mint said, pulling out her bow.

"And… I think I've got everything else," Lettuce said, biting her lip as she looked up at the other beasts. She gulped, but continued on.

"I sure hope this works," Tart muttered as he put his hands on Kish's shoulders.

"I hope so too," Pie said, putting his hands in the middle of Kish's back. Their sisters crowded around, just trying to get their hands in as well.

Kish took a deep breath with his eyes closed, focusing. Then he opened his eyes and raised his hands out in front of him. His palms began to glow faintly, and his siblings' hands did as well. Kish's eyes took on the same faint glow, and the Chimera became surrounded by light of the same color. With an enraged howl, the human became separated from the parasite, the latter being swallowed up quickly by Masha. Pie caught the unconscious girl as she fell to the ground and passed her off to Keiichiro, who took her to a place where she would be safe.

"One down, eleven to go," Kish said, grinning.

"Goat next," Rin said, and they ran off towards the Chimera that was eating the stalls.

Rozū closed her eyes as she put her hands on Kish's back and let herself become focused on their task. She felt her energy go into Kish, but suddenly she heard a roar coming from behind the ram Chimera, cutting off her attention. Her eyes opened and she looked past her siblings and her eyes widened as she saw the boar charging towards them, it's gleaming tusks aimed for the oblivious Kish's torso.

"No!" She screamed. She teleported right in front of the beast and stuck out her hands, turning away her face and closing her eyes, thinking she would do nothing more than be a bump in the road for the creature, enough to stop it just long enough for her siblings to finish dealing with the parasite.

But the pain she was expecting never came. Instead, warmth radiated through her body, bursting out through the palms of her hand. When she opened her eyes, she saw that her pale skin was reflecting...

She gasped and her eyes widened as she saw what she doing.

Flames were coming out of her fingertips, scorching the Chimera, causing the parasite to leave the human it was infused with.

Suddenly, the flames stopped, leaving Rozū staring at her hands in wonder. She grinned, her eyes watering with tears of joy.

"I'm going to need a new New Year's resolution," Rozū said to herself.

She had found her power.

"Rozū!"

Rozū grinned up at her siblings, who instantly hugged her.

"Are you alright?" Rirī asked, looking Rozū over for injuries.

"What were you thinking, jumping in front of the Chimera like that?" Pie demanded, squeezing his sister tightly.

"Never scare us like that again!" Rin scolded, kissing to top of Rozū's head.

"That was totally amazing!" Tart said as he gave Rozū a high-five.

"You're an Elementalist!" Kish said with a grin. "There hasn't been a Flame Elementalist in at least a century!"

"Hey, guys, I'm happy Rozū's found her power too, because it is totally cool and awesome," Ichigo called. "But we could use some help over here!"

This was true, as she was currently being held upside down by the tail of the rat Chimera.

"Well, it appears that there is little harm to the humans when they are hit by Rozū's flames," Pie said, quickly examining the human the parasite had infused with. There were a few second degree burns on the young man's skin, but nothing worse. "So, I believe it is safe to say we have found a new weapon to use against them."

Rozū grinned and brought her flames to her fingers again, running off to take on the Chimeras.

Mylo tapped his fingers against a metal railing as he looked over at the battle scene from a balcony. He frowned. So the littlest Ikisatashi had found her power? He banged his fist against the rail.

No. He was not going to lose so easily.

His narrowed as he saw the porpoise Mew, fighting off a Chimera by herself, none of her comrades nearby. He remembered that she was the special one to Pie, whom he hated just as much—if not more than—Kish.

It'd be a tragedy if she were to get hurt, wouldn't it?

Mylo smiled and called a Chimera to him, soon hearing a hissing noise from behind him.

"Chimera, attack the green one," He ordered. The snake hissed again and disappeared.

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!" Lettuce yelled, aiming at the rabbit Chimera before her. She smiled when she saw Rozū come up and blast it with her flames.

"Thanks, Rozū!" She called. Rozū was still bouncing and grinning, thoroughly overjoyed to be using a new talent she didn't have before.

Lettuce felt something cool and smooth wrap around her legs, and the next thing she knew, she was being pulled away from the battle. She screamed and heard Mint call out her name. Lettuce thrashed, but it did no good as the snake Chimera wrapped around her body, constricting her movements.

"Hello, sashimi."

Lettuce froze as Mylo floated down in front of her face, cupping her chin.

"What do you want?" Lettuce spat.

"Me?" Mylo asked innocently, pointing to himself. "Why, I only want your death and those of the rest of your pathetic race." He smiled. "Be proud, Mew Lettuce, for your name will be remembered throughout history. As the first to die under my rule."

With that, he moved away. The snake moved its large head towards her, hissing and flicking it's tongue, showing her its poisonous fangs. It moved its body so that the skin of Lettuce's shoulders and neck were exposed.

Before Lettuce had a chance to scream, the Chimera threw back its head, giving a hissing roar. Lettuce was released from its killer grip, falling to the ground. She looked around to see what was causing the Chimera agony.

Then she saw Pie, standing alone in the middle of the street, his arm outstretched in front of him. Lettuce wasn't the only one staring at him: so were the rest of their teammates and Mylo. Even the remaining Chimeras had stopped to gape.

"Pie?" Lettuce whispered, her brow furrowing.

She watched as Pie's jaw set and his eyes hardened. But they didn't just harden.

They paled till they were nothing but pearly orbs.

Suddenly, a blinding flash of white light surrounded Pie. They all shielded their eyes from the light, but also couldn't help but stare in stunned silence.

Because from out of the light emerged someone they hadn't seen in a very long time

The White Knight had returned.