Disclaimer: No I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

Five Elements; The American Mew Mews

Chapter 6: Roger's Decision; Hero or not

The sounds of high heels tapping on stone echoed throughout the interior of the green house. "Boss, why did you call me back? Didn't you want me to destroy the kid?"

"I didn't want you to destroy him just yet, but you did your job fine." The shadowed form sat in front of a computer in the shadowed corner of the huge glass building. "We simply needed to make sure that he knew of our existence, and that he knew you were a threat. However, please don't let him kick you around like that again. It reflects badly on I, who created you."

"Yes sir." Magnolia bowed and turned to walk off.

"Oh, and Magnolia?"

She stopped and turned to face the man, who, while still in shadow, was now standing up with his back to the computer. "Yes sir?"

"I need to see your whip for a second. I'd like to get a little bit of tissue samples from the children you were smacking around." He chuckled quietly, mind already working with plenty of plans on how to deal with these constantly changing developments. ("Excelsior, I'll show the world that you are not going to be a part of. The age of my super human children shall soon come to pass. Unlike what Ryou Shirogane has planned, I do not intend to use this incredible genetic technology to create Mew Mews, as you call them. No, I won't be saving the planet…I'll be conquering it. And in the process, I'll destroy these aliens that threaten it too, because they will be a nuisance to me as well.") "Ivy, are you awake?"

A loud rustling came from a nearby bush. "Yes sir, what can I do for you?"

"Magnolia is going to be very busy in a short while. She'll be going with me as I pay a possible prospect of mine a visit." The man chuckled once more, ignoring the angry look on Magnolia's face as he talked about her like she wasn't in front of him at the moment.

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Roger slowly opened his eyes to gasps of "He's waking up."

Immediately, every member of the medical team that was attending him all backed away from the bed and made sure to him a wide berth. They didn't know too much about what a Mew Mew could actually do, beyond what was general knowledge.

Roger sat upright in his bed, and he looked down at the white gown that he was wearing. "Where are my clothes?" When no one answered, he tiredly shot a glare at a nearby nurse. "Well?"

"S…S….Sir….we have them….i…in…the…wash…" She looked like she was about to have a heart attack.

"What in the hell is the matter with you, lady?" Roger slid out of the covers of his bed and took in his new surroundings. The entire room was almost blindingly white, with numerous beds set up in rows. It was apparently some kind of semi-futuristic looking medical bay. "Oh good, maybe while I was unconscious the mother-ship picked me up and is planning on taking me to Mars. It would fit with what has happened so far."

"Sir, I have to request that you remain in bed! At the current moment you still are not fully recovered from the…" The doctor that had been speaking went silent when his eyes met Roger's. Something about that look nearly made him want to run from the room in fear.

"Don't tell me to lie down. I'll get back in bed when I'm sleepy." Suddenly Roger felt angry with these stupid people. They were treating him like he was some kind of incredibly dangerous animal. ("I'm just a normal junior high…") Suddenly an image of Mew Sonic flashed in his head. ("No…to them I'm nothing normal. To them I'm some kind of deadly freak of nature created by science. Dangerous and…")

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Bruce pulled back the curtain that covered his bedside area. He had bandages all over him, and he didn't look particularly happy at the moment. "Tell me, how does the 'potential risk' feel?"

"Don't you start, ass." Roger wished he could shove his hands into some pockets, but unfortunately he didn't have his favorite pants with him. Those thoughts just made him feel angry once more. "It seems like that as of lately my temper has been getting plenty of reasons to rise. So how about one of you nice medical people get me my clothes?"

The staff slowly went back to what they were doing, realizing that the fact they were all staring at him made him feel irritable. One of the nurses ran off to go and collect the boy's clothes as well.

"So, what happened after I passed out?" Roger sat down at Bruce's bedside and tried to make small-talk, not wanting to think too much about what he had been through.

"I'm not quite sure myself. Some guys showed up and carried us all off. Actually, Walt is in the bed next to me, though he hasn't woken up yet." The Asian boy laced his fingers together and frowned, seeming to be deep in thought. "Caitlyn is here too, though she went off with that blond woman awhile ago." He turned his head to look at Roger. "She was crying by your bedside while you were still all bruised up, you know?"

"I'd be surprised if she wasn't." Roger wasn't in the mood to listen to someone else's talk about how Caitlyn cared about what happened to him. He hated it so much, because he knew that he wasn't worth her caring. ("If I die, then so what? As long as I go out with no regrets, what's there to worry about?") Shaking himself out of that line of thought, he sighed. "On that note, I'd like to share something with you."

"Oh? What's that?" Bruce leaned his head in, wondering if it was going to be some kind of whispered secret…

Everyone on that floor of the facility heard the nearly earth-shattering punch that Roger landed on Bruce's face. "Don't ever do that again!"

Everyone in the medical bay stared at Roger, their subconscious fears of him multiplied now. Bruce just sat in stunned silence, a huge bruise on his right cheek.

"If you ever risk your life to save my stupid ass again, then I'll make sure that we both die together! You idiot! What were you thinking you could do against someone like that lady?" Roger stood up and continued to scream in Bruce's face, not even noticing that his ears had changed and his tail was now showing through the back of the gown. "I couldn't beat her, so what makes you think that you could? You stupid idiot!"

Bruce froze at the second to last sentence that Roger had said. "What did you…"

"You heard me! I said you're weak compared to that woman! What are you going to do about it? Are you going to fight me? Are you going to try and defeat me too, regardless of the fact that I'll just transform and beat your sorry ass into kingdom come?" Roger was more than angry…he was nearly beyond reasoning at this point. Now he just wanted a reason to pound Bruce into the earth as hard as possible. "I can't even begin to explain why what you did made me mad!"

Bruce's fist clenched up and he swung right at Roger's head as hard as he could. "I'll kill you!"

"Roger!" The door to the room slid open to reveal Caitlyn, still wearing the same dress and shirt that she had on before. "You're okay!"

The moment she was in sight, Roger completely forgot about Bruce. And the punch never even got close, because he stepped away from the bed and walked over to her.

Bruce was now face-first on the cold tile, the force of his punch sending him over the edge of the bed.

"You're okay…I'm so glad." Caitlyn smiled…and then blinked as she noticed the fact that Roger's ears were now long, furry, and red. Then she saw the red tail swinging out of the back of his gown. "Ummm…"

Roger didn't see any point in hiding it from her. She had seen him transform already. "Yeah, this is the real me. Some crazy stuff happened involving genetics…"

"I already know. Ellen told me." The girl sighed. "You can't help but get into situations you can't deal with, can you?"

"Shut your trap." He blushed and turned away. "I can handle these new abilities just fine!"

"Is that so?" She smirked wryly and turned away. "It didn't seem that way before, when I first got there. Why did you get so embarrassed when Ellen thought I was your girlfriend?"

Roger turned a brilliant shade of red. "I…I…"

"Could you all please keep your voices down," Walt said through the curtain that went all the way around his bedside. "I'm trying to catch up on my beauty sleep."

"We can't be silent for years, so just come out as you are now." Roger turned his normal color again, more than glad to have someone to focus on besides Caitlyn. She would always put him in those situations. ("She must just love to see me blush.")

There was the hiss of the door as it opened once more, and a trio of people walked in, the first of which had Roger immediately on alert.

"Aizen?" The boy snarled darkly, though his ears and tail had returned to normal.

Indeed, the first of the trio was the man that Roger remembered all too well from just the other night. "Yes…" The professor took off his glasses and wiped them clean with a cloth. "I…I wish to apologize for my actions the other evening."

"Apologize?" Roger closed his eyes and thought something with all of his will. ("Mew Mew Sonic, METAMORPHOSIS!") When he opened his eyes and saw that he was normal, he paled. "I don't believe you. You're insane…"

Another the trio was a huge balding man in a lab coat. "That's enough. Professor Aizen…" He frowned and stepped forward, as if noticing Roger for the first time. After looking at the boy for a few moments, he turned back to the third member of the group he had come in with. "Is this really him?"

The third member stepped into view slowly. "Yes…that's him." Ellen flushed red at the dark glare that Roger threw at her. ("What did I do? If it wasn't for me he would probably still be paralyzed.")

Aizen rubbed the back of his red hair in embarrassment. "Yes, I deserve all of your anger. At that time I was not in my right mind…"

"It's alright, Aizen." The huge man stepped in just a little closer to Roger, and the boy immediately stepped back to put more distance between them. Something about the man gave him the creeps. "I am Professor Excelsior, the head of research at this facility."

"And why should I care?" Roger crossed his arms across his chest and stood calmly, not impressed by the man's size.

"You should care because without my help you won't be able to transform into Mew Sonic and help your friends, should they need you again." When Roger didn't give him any back-talk, he continued. "Aizen, during that evening, had a special chemical in his bloodstream that can cause the subject to be easily open to certain suggestions. Therefore, we have forgiven him for his transgressions."

Roger shrugged it off. Honestly, he didn't care that much about Aizen, since the guy was now normal again. There was still just that little mental itch that needed scratching at the moment, the itch to fight. ("I must have been out longer than I thought…")

Excelsior sighed, his deep voice heavy with worry. "Here's the deal, Roger. I may not like the current situation, but the best way for damage control to be done is if you work for us."

"Sorry, I don't work for anybody." Roger turned away and suddenly noticed that Bruce was gone from his bed, and Walt's curtain was moved to reveal his brother wearing his normal clothing, hair perfect as always.

"It's not that kind of work. At the moment we have the city under surveillance in case another creature like Magnolia attacks, but even if we detect it there is nothing we will be able to do about it…" Excelsior placed a hand on Roger's shoulder. "You however, can do something about it. You possess the necessary power to defeat even the strongest enemies."

"Thanks for the compliment, but what's in it for me?" Roger knocked the hand away and frowned coldly, not liking the idea of being someone's watchdog.

"Well? What do you want?" Excelsior seemed infinitely patient with Roger's behavior, where a normal adult might have lost their temper by now.

Roger held up a hand and walked over to Walt slowly. Leaning in to his brother, he spoke quietly. "What should I ask for?"

Walt shrugged, though in his mind he was screaming 'money'. "Not a clue, it's your choice after all, superhero.

Roger frowned at his brother and walked over to Caitlyn, placing a hand on his hip and tilting his head to the side at the angry look on her face. "What are you glaring at?"

She smacked him in the face, though he barely reacted to it. "You'll wind up destroying the city! You can't do this, if just for that reason. I saw how much damage you and that other woman did…you'll wind up ruining people's homes…" Her eyes started to water.

Roger winced. "Listen, it isn't like I'm into destroying stuff, but sometimes you just have to throw someone through a wall."

The girl went silent and looked away. "Fine, do whatever you want."

Roger sat down cross-legged on the cold tile and closed his eyes, going into thought.

Excelsior stood there like a statue, his eyes locked on Roger's form. "Well, have you come to a decision?"

"Yeah." Standing up and brushing the back of his gown off, the boy held up three fingers. "Firstly, I want money…"

Walt silently cheered.

"…to be used for the repairs made by any of my battles."

And then Walt cried. Caitlyn, on the other hand, seemed happy now.

Excelsior nodded. "We have subsidiary companies, so that is within our power. What else?"

"Secondly," Roger held up two fingers now. "I'll deal with the problems presented in my own method, so don't try and order me around." When Excelsior nodded once more, he held up a single finger. "Thirdly, for the love of god, please change how the amulet looks. I don't care about the shape, but yellow and pink?"

The last demand left Excelsior smiling. "Very well, all three of your demands will be met. From this point onward, Ellen will be living at your house so that you always have someone know ledged in the methods of genetic mutations on hand."

Ellen face-fell from right behind her boss. "What are you talking about Professor? How can I…"

"Until we have retrieved the case, I don't expect any arguments from you, miss White." Excelsior turned and walked out, Aizen following him and leaving Ellen in the room with the other three.

Roger smiled widely. "I actually think I might start to like that guy."

To be continued…

And so now Roger Grant is working as a 'superhero' to protect the people of his city from whoever is making genetic monsters like Magnolia. This brings up a good question though…can he do it all alone?

Author's Note: Hey there readers, just wanted to say hello and ask how well I am doing so far on this story. I noticed that the number of hits I was getting was going up, so I thought I may as well ask for a progress report from you guys on how my writing is.