Disclaimer: No I do not own Mew Mew Tokyo.

Five Elements; The American Mew Mews

Chapter 3: Rivals and friends; one in the same

Walt sighed…and then gasped as he saw something shoot out of the cloud. "Eyes front stupid!"

Mew Sonic turned in time to feel the spiky thorns of Magnolia's whip pierce into his neck. ("She's still alive?") Snarling again, he snapped the Sonic Jammer up and knocked the whip away. "You're a persistent weed, aren't…" His pupils contracted to pin-points and he dropped face-first to the ground.

"Roger!" Walt managed to get up and started to run over to his brother. Then he skidded to a stop as Magnolia's whip struck the ground in front of him.

Mew Sonic started to stand up, until Magnolia's spiked heel dropped down against the small of his back. ("I can't move…")

"You're my prisoner." Magnolia started to laugh wildly. "It's all over for you. All of you…"

Walt grimaced, feeling the drops of sweat on his forehead multiply rapidly. ("She's right…now what can we do?")

Magnolia kicked Mew Sonic in the side a couple of times, laughing at how sad he looked. "That's what you get for making a fool out of me!" She continued to kick his ribs over and over again, ignoring the grunts of pain he gave off as the blows started to wear his strength down.

"Stop it…you're…" Caitlyn didn't want to cry…but it was just too cruel watching as this woman beat up Roger. She always had hated the fact that Roger loved to fight, but never before had she actually seen him getting the life beaten out of him without him fighting back. "He can't even fight back…please stop!"

"How?" Walt stood up and frowned, unsure how Magnolia was still alive. "He hit you with that attack…it should have destroyed you!"

("That's right.") Ellen gulped. From her limited knowledge about Mew Mews, she knew that when they used their ultimate attack it was supposed to be able to break down any kind of alien organism or biological mutations. ("His Wolf's Howl should have defeated her…unless…") "She defended herself at the last moment somehow!"

"That's right." Magnolia stopped kicking Mew Sonic and held up her whip, which suddenly retracted and wrapped around her forearm. Its bright green color turned brown and it fanned out like a leave, turning into a hardened brown shield. "I used this to shield myself from the full force of that attack. But it did hurt regardless." Her face twisted in anger and she kicked Mew Sonic in the side a couple more times. "Stupid kid! How dare you actually try to destroy me!"

"Get up already…" Walt could barely stop himself from trying to charge in and save his brother from this witch. "Get up and blast her again!"

"I…can't…" Mew Sonic gritted his teeth in pain as she kicked him in the side once more.

"It's useless." Magnolia's weapon changed from shield back to a whip. Grabbing both ends of the length of plant matter, she tugged it out and tapped one of the thorns on it with a finger. "This beautiful little weapon of mine is capable of releasing numerous different kinds of toxins, and one of my favorite is a natural paralyzing agent that is made by a rare plant from the tropics. It shuts down your body's ability to move, though it doesn't numb you to the pain."

"Damn it…" Walt was about to charge in, knowing well that he'd be killed…when he felt a sudden surge in the air. It was the kind of surge that he could feel like it was a heavy cloud descending over him.

"That's enough…" Bruce slowly stood up, his eyes closed. "Don't worry, I'll deal with her."

"Deal with me?" Magnolia cackled loudly, finding the idea of this child actually hurting her to be completely ridiculous. "What exactly can you do, boy?"

"What can I do?" Bruce concentrated, bringing his focus to his center. As a martial artist, he knew how to concentrate and let his anger go. ("I have trained hard to defeat Roger…I cannot let these circumstances change that fact. He cannot defeat her, so by beating her I will prove that I am the strongest between us.") His eyes snapped open and he charged in, body moving with surprising grace as he prepared to strike her hard enough to knock her out in one hit…he hoped.

Magnolia's eyes widened as she realized that this boy's claims might not be completely and utterly impossible. ("He's faster than a normal human…") Then her surprise faded. "However…"

Bruce threw a heavy side kick right at the woman, but he never even got close to connecting against her. She hopped over his attack, kicked his other leg out from under him to force him to the ground, and then she drove her spiked heel right into his back roughly.

"Bruce…stop it…idiot…" Mew Sonic closed his eyes and bit back the dull pain he felt from the blows to his ribs. Using all of his will, he tried to force himself to stand up. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move beyond forcing the fingers of his left hand to twitch a little. ("It's no use…even as I am now I'm not immune to those poisons she can use.")

Magnolia sighed as Bruce charged in again, and once more she slapped him away with ease. "Your speed, strength, and determination are all surprising…for a human. But regardless, you cannot defeat me, boy."

"I don't intend to win this fight! Flying Dragon Kick!" Bruce launched at the woman like a rocket, ready to drive his left foot right through her body.

Magnolia literally floated out of the way and wrapped her thorn whip around his ankle. As he kept going, the whip went taut and when it did she turned on one heel and sent him flying back the way he had come, head-first into the wall, or what was left of it. "Give up. Your brute force tactics can't work on a genetic masterpiece such as myself."

"STOP IT, BRUCE!" Mew Sonic felt his body tingle…but not in the way it had when he transformed. ("I'm losing strength…the poison must be trying to knock me unconscious. No…I can't let that happen…")

Bruce slowly stood up, a bloody red patch staining the hair on the top of his head from where he had connected with the wall. "I'm far from done!"

"Good." Magnolia snapped her whip at him, and when he dodged she appeared right above him. "I'm not done either." She fell right on top of him, heel digging into his spine with a crack and forcing him face-first to the ground.

Walt looked over at Ellen. "Take Caitlyn and go inside, right now. Call your people, and ask for help. Hurry!"

Ellen nodded and tried to pull Caitlyn inside, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't move the girl. "Come on, we have to go!"

"No, we can't just leave then to die!" The girl fought against being pulled inside, kicking and pushing against the woman's grasp. "NO!"

"Caitlyn!" Walt turned around and glared right at her. "Do you think that your being here is helping the situation?"

She froze, eyes wide. "What?"

"You heard me! Get out of the way and leave this to us!" Walt turned around and charged into the fight, hoping he could make some kind of difference. ("I can't fight very well, but by no means am I completely helpless!")

Magnolia saw the teen's approach and snapped her whip up, the sharp spear-like edge tearing towards Walt like a missile. "Don't start thinking that you can be a hero too. I'm growing annoyed with…" Her eyes widened as he rolled out of the way and continued to charge at her. "Hm? In a way you might be better than the other one…"

"Shut up and die!" Walt's fist swung towards her, and she calmly caught it, twisting his arm sharply and sending him flipping to the ground.

"I would, but there's no fun in that." Magnolia slowly turned to face the fallen Walt and then to Bruce, who was slowly standing up. "This is ridiculous…how do the two of you hope to beat me?"

"I don't intend to win." Bruce smiled slowly. "I just intend to go down fighting!"

"They call that suicide, you know." Magnolia cracked her whip a couple of times. "Well, then come and get what you wanted."

"Bruce…Walt…" Mew Sonic forced his lips to move, despite how hard it was to even talk now. "Run…please…you…"

"Shut up Grant!" Bruce snapped up one fist and looked at it intently. "You understand, don't you? You understand the feeling I have right now. It's the feeling that makes you so strong…the feeling of being the underdog during a fight."

Mew Sonic lifted his head up a little too look at the beaten and bruised form of his rival. "You…"

"I know I can't win!" Bruce wiped a bit of blood from his cheek. "Do you remember when we first met?"

"Who…could…forget?" Mew Sonic began to chuckle, but stopped as his jaw locked up from the pain of the chemical in his bloodstream.

"When you and I were younger…" Bruce completely ignored Magnolia, who was currently trying to destroy Walt with her whip. "…I made fun of you in class, and your response was to challenge me to a fight. At the time my skill was far above yours, so when we fought I easily beat you to a pulp…" His lips quirked into a bittersweet smile. "A dodgeball…a stray dodgeball came into your path…and whether out of luck or otherwise, you kicked it so hard that it connected with my nose and knocked me out."

"Yeah…good times…" Mew Sonic, even through the poison, smiled somehow.

"At that time…I thought that it was only a lucky break for you and that the next day I would defeat you. But when we fought…" Bruce looked sad as he remembered these things…as he remembered what seemed like they would be his last memories. "…you spouted out something about how you'd never let anyone look down on you, and then your skill suddenly improved. The fights from that point onward always ended up with a narrow victory for one of us."

Mew Sonic's eyes widened slightly as he remembered his exact words. ("No matter what you say about me, never call me weak or underestimate what I can do! If you do, then I'll have no choice but to kick your butt.")

Bruce nodded at the understanding that crossed his rival's face. "I say those words now! I say those words now because I understand fully what you meant…" Screaming out a battle cry, he charged towards Magnolia like a bird in flight.

And was shot down like the same bird if hit by a rifle bullet. Magnolia's whip pummeled and cut him mercilessly, and this time the toxins in it went straight to his bloodstream. "Annoying pests like you and the other one should stay out of matters between super humans." She thumbed over at Walt, who wasn't moving at all.

Mew Sonic squeezed his eyes shut and tried with all of his remaining strength to stand up. ("Please…let me wake up now…I beg you! Just give me the strength to stand and fight, just this once…")

Bruce's muscles were already locking up, but he refused to collapse yet. "I may die, but remember I didn't die a weakling."

"Shut up, stupid testosterone-fueled little brat." Magnolia slammed her knee right into his ribs and dropped him to the ground easily. "You don't know anything about what you face, do you? And you don't seem to understand that your 'rival' is now your superior. In this world, there are strong people and there are weak people. Welcome to the real world…welcome to being weak."

"You're wrong…" Bruce started to laugh weakly. "In this world there are two kinds of people. There are people who accept their fate…and there are people who fight it. Welcome to the real world…welcome to accepting your fate."

"Oh really? What is my fate?" Magnolia started to laugh loudly…

"Your fate…" His eyes started to close. "…is to lose."

"Lose huh?" Magnolia kicked him once more in the ribs. "Shut up right now…I'm tired of playing with the both of you."

"Then stop playing…" Walt slowly stood up. "Learn to accept…" He flinched at a flash of pain in his side. "…the truth. The truth is that we don't care whether you are a superhuman or not, because in the end we'll still oppose anyone who tries to look down on us…any of us…" He sneered coldly. "And at the moment…"

"Shut up already…" Mew Sonic's body twitched for a moment…and then he slowly started to move. "I think…I'm going to…throw up, all thanks to both of your…stupid speeches." Slowly, he forced himself to his knees.

"Good, I was wondering when you would get off your ass…" Walt collapsed and fell unconscious.

Magnolia grimaced as she watched Mew Sonic stand up and brush himself off. "What is this? How has my poison…"

Stretching out his muscles, the boy turned and smirked enough to show off his fangs. "Walt slipped me a little pill that is a special kind of stimulant he gets from a dealer downtown. If there's something keeping you from moving, it will force you to stand up. In my case, it's just a nice little pick me up."

Magnolia snickered and cracked her whip a couple of times. "So be it…then let's end this fight. You know that I'm better than you are, and since we're both superhumans, our power is about the same."

Mew Sonic glared at her angrily…and then disappeared.

("Where did he…") Magnolia screamed in pain as the bottom of a black boot caught her on the chin, sending her launching into the air.

"You don't seem to listen!" Mew Sonic leapt into the air above the air-born woman, and kicked her in the head with the tip of his steel-toed boots, forcing her back to earth instantly. "What part of 'don't underestimate me' didn't you understand?" As gravity pulled him back to the ground, he front-flipped and landed with his back to Magnolia, who was currently face-first in the grass. "Jeez, how stupid are you?"

She slowly stood up, laughing quietly. "That wasn't half bad."

Mew Sonic turned to face her, a slight smile across his lips. "Yeah, I knew it wouldn't hurt you that badly. Hence why I didn't care about doing it."

"What if it had killed me?" The whip at her side started to twitch and move on its own, as if it was calculating the distances it needed to stretch to reach him.

"Then I would have been disappointed. I intend to beat you as much as I possibly can before you pass out." He flashed his fangs. "And by the time I'm done, you'll be limping back to your boss!"

"We'll see." She slid her finger along one of the thorns gently and each of the thorns bloomed into red roses. "I possess many different kinds of toxin available to me, and this is one of my best. Wheel of Toxin; Sleep Pollen!" The whip flew through the air above Mew Sonic, and from each of the roses puffs of bright yellow polled poured out into the air. "Another rare group of pollen that only a special tropical flower has. All it has to do is touch your bare skin and you'll be snoring in less than ten seconds."

"Really?" Mew Sonic charged and tackled her, sending both of them into the next yard and away from the cloud of pollen. "Not if I get out of the way first!"

Magnolia yelled and kicked him in the chest with her heels. "Let me go!"

"That's fine with me!" He slammed his palm into her chest and while he stopped, she kept flying through the air until she slammed into the cement wall of Roger's neighbors, who at the time had been sunbathing on their porch. Now they both just stared at the two strangely dressed people who were squaring off in their backyard.

Mew Sonic caught the people out of the corner of his eye and he waved to them. "Hi there, mister and missus Johnson!"

"Don't ignore me!" Magnolia's whip returned to its thorny shape and she cracked it at him a couple of times.

"Who said I did?" Mew Sonic's hand suddenly snapped up and grabbed the hardened end of the whip, pulling it taut. "I never forget about an opponent when I'm in the middle of a battle!" His lips lifted a little. "Also…I never like to drag out a fight when it isn't necessary."

"What? What are you talking about?" Magnolia pulling harder, but no matter how hard she tugged the whip wouldn't come free from his hand. ("I should be stronger than him…right? What's the matter with me?")

"You played around too much…now you're tired." Mew Sonic held up his other arm and gave her one huge thumbs-down. "Now you're drained, while I'm still fairly fresh."

"Shut up!" Magnolia tugged harder on the whip. "I'll beat you regardless! I'm better made than you are!"

"Maybe so…" Mew Sonic's hand snapped out and little motes of light appeared along it. "Come on out, Sonic Jammer!" There was a blast of light, and when it cleared he held the sand-colored guitar in his free hand. "Ready for the end?" Then he disappeared, the end of the whip dropping to the ground now that it was no longer supported by him holding it.

Magnolia immediately changed her whip's shape to a shield so that she could protect herself. ("I won't let you catch me off guard with that powerful attack again.") Extending her senses to all of the plant-life around her, she immediately detected where he was hiding. ("Interesting…he's moving as fast as he possibly can to try and find some kind of opening in my defenses.")

Mew Sonic slid to a stop, flashing into sight again right where he had been standing before. Sweat was dripping down his face, and he was panting in exhaustion. ("She didn't give me a single opening.")

Magnolia stood up slowly and held up her shield. "You can't win, you know? Even though I may be tired, you're a fool. Running like that for no other reason than to find a way to blast me with your little guitar." She snickered and the shield returned to a whip. "I wonder why my boss was worried that you might possibly be a threat to us."

Mew Sonic remained silent, except for the noise of his panting as he continued to suck in air. ("I'm…not going to win like this. The only way to get rid of this lady is with the Sonic Jammer, but when I use it I feel like it takes some of my strength with it when it fires. So if I can't defeat her within two shots or so, I'll probably be too tired to fight back.")

Magnolia tapped her heel a couple of times. "You can't catch me with your little toy, can you? Then I suppose it is time to end this!" She snapped the whip back to strike.

("Magnolia, the boss wanted me to tell you to stop attacking and return to base.") A cold female voice echoed within the plant woman's head.

("What? Why? I'm about to win?") Magnolia lowered her hand and the whip wrapped around her arm to become a shield again. ("I thought he wanted me to destroy the kid?")

("I'm not entirely sure why, but I wouldn't question him if I were you.") A very evil giggle came from whoever was contacting Magnolia. ("He seems to be in one of his moods…")

Magnolia sighed and brushed herself off. "Perhaps another time, brat." Then she disappeared.

Mew Sonic just stood there…and then he collapsed to the ground. There was a flash of light and when it faded Roger had replaced the super-human. ("I wonder if there is a word stronger than exhausted?") Then he passed out.

To be continued…

And so our 'hero' has encountered the first of the mystery man's creations. However, the question remains…what does this mystery man want from Roger, and why did he withdraw Magnolia when she had the advantage in the fight?

To Chiomon: Thanks very much. I like the idea myself, if just because I don't think I could do an all girl team. Maybe that's just cause I'm not one myself, meh.