Disclaimer: No I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

Five Elements; The American Mew Mews

Chapter 7: Mysterious Gunman; Mew Terra

A small group of birds chirped and danced about in the morning sunlight through the branches of the nearby trees around the Grant home.

Ellen sighed as she poked her head into the living room. Roger was just lying on the couch, watching the television with a dead expression on his face as he blew through channel after channel. "Why don't you go outside or something? Maybe you could go train, since you never know when you might need to go to work."

The boy ignored her as he shoveled more popcorn into his mouth.

"Just because it's Sunday, you're acting like a sloth." Sighing, she turned and walked back into the kitchen. Looking at the stacks of dirty dishes, there was a moment of depression in her heart. ("How did I go from being the assistant of a great genetics professor to a housemaid in the course of one day?") "Why don't you go outside and do something, anything!"

"Because the television is just too fun." Roger flicked through more channels, looking anything but amused at the moment. ("This is such boring entertainment. I'm seriously wondering whether or not to take her advice and actually head outside. No Sunday cartoons on in the afternoon, just infomercials and talk shows.") Then he flicked across the local new channel and smiled slightly, his cynical side getting a little perk from what it saw. "Good, there's breaking news. Maybe some kind of horrible disaster?"

"…at the moment the robbers' demands haven't been unidentified, but all the police can do is wait for their demands." The man sitting at the news desk continued to speak as a picture of a bus parked in middle of a major street in front of a bank could be seen. "If you are just joining us, a group of bank robbers have robbed the head branch of the national bank in town. Upon trying to escape, their original method was cut off by the police, and as such they were forced to take a passing bus full of passengers hostage. At the moment it is a standoff between these men and the police…wait, one of the men seems to be coming out of the bus."

Roger sat up on the couch and stared at the screen, rubbing his chin. "Hmmm…so what's the deal? There's a bunch of robbers that's holding a lot of people hostage. Maybe I should go help them." Then he decided he was too lazy. ("The police can handle it.")

Ellen poked her head into the living room. "Oh yeah, Caitlyn called you."

"Caitlyn called me?" Roger rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, she asked me if I wanted to go shopping with her, right?"

"Yes…" Ellen frowned and threw an apple at him, which smacked into the back of his head. "Why are you so flippant about that girl? It seems to be amazing that there is any girl who actually cares about you, you slob."

"Shut up." Roger took a bite out of the apple, something nagging at the back of his head. ("What is the matter with me? Why do I have this feeling that I am missing something?")

"…our demands are simple…"

("Maybe something about Caitlyn?") Frowning a little more, Roger took another bite out of the fruit.

"…we want a method out of the city limits as soon as possible. If you don't meet our demands within the hour, we'll start killing the hostages one by one. And just to let you know we'll mean business…" The voice on the TV continued to speak, until Roger threw the rest of his apple at it.

"Shut up, stupid thing. I'm trying to…" Roger did a double take as he looked at the image on the screen. ("Bus number 355…that's the bus that Caitlyn takes to get to the…mall…") His mind registered the picture on the screen, of a man covered up from head to toe in heavy bullet-proof armor. And locked in a headlock, with a gun to her head…was Caitlyn, tears dripping down her face.

"GAH!"

Ellen heard a loud crashing noise from the living room and sighed. ("That stupid kid probably tripped over something…") Poking her head into the room again, her eyes widened at the fact that Roger was staring at the screen in horror. "What's the…matter?"

"C…C…" Roger had to do something…because somehow he knew this was his fault. ("It's like everyone that has anything to do with me winds up being in danger! Why am I cursed like this?") He pounded his fists into the table as he realized there was something he could do. "I have to go and…" A loud gunshot came from the TV, and his mind froze. ("No…")

Ellen walked in and looked at the TV too, her eyes wide. "Oh my goodness…it's…"

Roger slowly turned to look at the screen, and his eyes widened. ("What in the…")

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Caitlyn had treated today like any other day. She woke up in the morning, did her morning exercises, and then got ready to go hang out at the mall. And like always, Roger didn't even answer his phone when she called to ask if he wanted to come.

Then things had gone badly when a bunch of men with guns stormed into the bus she was on, yelling at everyone to get on the ground. It was when one of the men grabbed her out of her seat and dragged her outside that she truly got frightened…

When he had said he was going to kill her, she felt both fear and sadness…

But now she felt only confusion. She had heard the gunshot, but yet she wasn't dead. There wasn't even any pain. ("What…") Her eyes opened as she felt the lock on her head go loose.

The robber collapsed to the ground, his eyes glazed over in unconsciousness. A pair of boots clicked on the pavement, the only background noise to the surreal scene. The man looked to be out cold, but she had heard a gunshot…

A single form seemed to walk past the policemen and their blockades like they weren't there. Its right hand spun something on its ring finger so fast that it was a blur to everyone's eyes. Then the person's hand snapped down and they heard the sound of metal on leather.

Caitlyn was having a bit of trouble understanding what exactly was happening in front of her. There was a man wearing a pair of leather chaps, along with a leather jacket which hem went down to his calves that was approaching her slowly. His jackets collar was surrounded by a layer of fur, and he wore a cowboy hat. ("Is…this some kind of movie scene for a weird western?")

The man continued his approach, unafraid of the guns that were trained on him from the window of the bus. ("So, these boys wanted to take this entire bus as a hostage?") He tugged slightly on the piece of cloth that was his mask, which hid his lower face from view. Then his dark brown eyes glanced over the area around him for a few moments.

"Stop right there, hero!" A man from inside the bus yelled out. "If you don't stop, then we'll kill the girl, along with ten more hostages."

The man continued his approach slowly, the two dark brown fox ears that were in the place of his normal ears flicking a little. "I can tell by the sound of your voice that you won't try that, because you're afraid of how I managed to shoot your friend with such accuracy from such a distance using just a pair of revolvers." Brushing back his jacket he revealed a pair of shining silver revolvers that were hanging at his hip. "The real question is…are any of you fast enough or good enough at the draw?"

"Screw this, just kill the girl!" The sound of a weapon being cocked could be heard from inside.

The man's hands were like a blur for a moment, and then a window of the bus shattered inwards. There was the sound of a gasp, and then there was a loud thud noise as someone on board collapsed to the ground.

"I would advise that none of you try anything at all. I can hear and see all of your movements." The man was now standing just ten feet from the bus' windows, his eyes locked on the silhouettes inside. "Well? Feel like surrendering?"

"Screw you!" There was a loud screeching noise as the tires of the bus turned rapidly, the whole vehicle tearing down the street and ramming right through a blockade.

"I thought as much, stupid fools." Brushing back his coat again, the man took a deep breath. "Terra Fox Storm!" Then both revolvers were lifted, and the entire vehicle shook as it was filled with holes…too many to have been caused by just a pair of pistols.

A loud trio of pop noises could be heard as the tires of the bus blew out and it careened out of control into a wall.

Caitlyn just stood there, staring at the man with complete surprise in her eyes. "Who are you?"

"Me?" The man casually flicked one of his ears. "Obviously, I'm Mew Terra."

"Mew…Terra?" Then a picture of Roger's transformed self flashed in her mind. ("That must…but…")

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Ellen stared at the screen, Roger having left long ago to try and get there as quickly as humanly possible. "Another Mew Mew? But how, unless he works for the man who created Magnolia…but that can't be possible. If that was true, then he wouldn't be helping us out, would he?"

Her cell phone rang and she glanced at the caller ID, immediately answering. "Yes sir, I'm watching it right now. Roger is already on the way."

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The doors to the bus opened slowly and five men came running out of it as quickly as they could to get away from the crazy man with the guns. He had fired into the bus like he didn't care what happened to the hostages, and they didn't want to be around when he started firing again.

They made it about twenty feet before they heard a loud crunch noise of a fist punching through a nearby concrete wall. All at once they turned and stared at a strange guy who was standing across the street, his fist in the wall. He was wearing an all leather get-up, and his sand-colored eyes were trained on all of them like a wolf on its prey. "You were the guys who put a gun to Caitlyn's head…like her life wasn't worth anything…" A deep guttural growl escaped his lips and he withdrew his fist from the wall. "Let me repay the favor!"

"Kill him!" All at once they lifted their guns…

But their target was no longer there. He was standing amongst them, his hands resting on two different shoulders and literally crushing them with his grip. "Don't even waste my time!" Then his hands snapped up and struck both men in the side of the head, knocking them unconscious instantly.

Gasping, the remaining three realized that he had moved just in time to catch either a boot or a fist to the face, dropping them all at once.

Mew Sonic slowly stood up and brushed himself off. "Stupid fools…wasting my time. They should have just given up." He turned and walked around the broken bus, since he didn't give a damn about the people inside it. There was only one person that he actually cared about at the moment. "Yo Caitlyn, are you alright?"

Caitlyn flushed red as her brain caught up to what was happening. "Uh…yeah, I'm okay. That's for asking, mysterious stranger."

Mew Sonic rolled his eyes at that. She was trying to play along with the silly little 'superhero' thing that she believed he was. ("Yeah right.")

Mew Terra chuckled calmly and turned his head to look right at the other superhuman. "So…it's nice to meet you. Now then…" His hands snapped up to point the barrel of one of his revolvers to Caitlyn's head with amazing speed. "Freeze right there or she dies."

Caitlyn froze up, and the approaching policemen all did the same. Mew Sonic just kept walking though…his eyes locked on Mew Terra's.

"Did I not say it properly? Freeze or she dies." Mew Terra pressed the barrel of the weapon against the girl's head for emphasis, while Caitlyn just trembled at the fact that her sudden savior was now using her for the same purpose.

Mew Sonic slowly narrowed his eyes, but kept approaching. "Let me answer your threat with one of my own. If I see that trigger finger start to move, then you'll never be able to use those shooting hands of yours ever again, got it?" For a few moments their eyes truly met, and lightning crashed between them…

And at that time Caitlyn kicked back as hard as she could, catching Mew Terra right in the groin. Despite being a superhuman, he was still a male and therefore was immediately stunned. Using that opportunity, she quickly ran over and leapt behind Mew Sonic.

The non-stunned superhuman smiled slowly, showing his fangs. "Nicely done." Inwardly, he was snickering calmly because that was exactly the plan that he and Caitlyn had come up with in the past. There had been times before when she had been used as a hostage, and after the first time they worked out a system to get her out of that situation. "Now then mystery man, you have one of two choices. Either you can surrender, or I'll bash your face in and then you'll surrender."

Mew Terra regained his focus quickly…and started to chuckle helplessly. "I should have seen that coming. Pedestrians these days tend to know martial arts, huh?" Holstering his drawn revolver, he bowed to Mew Sonic, and then leapt to the top of the back in one bound. "We'll meet again." Spinning around, he ran out of sight.

Mew Sonic pondered chasing him down, but then decided against it. ("He's pretty quick. Honestly, even if I did catch him the fact that he has long range weapons puts me at a pretty big disadvantage.") Turning to look behind him, he smiled slightly and scooped Caitlyn up his arms, whispering so that only she could hear him. "Well, I may as well take you freaking shopping to make sure that mystery man doesn't come back and try to use you again."

Caitlyn blushed at how he so casually had just swept her off her feet, but she didn't argue as he followed the same path as Mew Terra, up onto the roof of the bank and then off towards the mall at incredible speeds.

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Night had come and gone, and the Mensing household had a day like any others.

Bruce Mensing sat knee-deep in the pool that was in the middle of his family's backyard, which had been worked to look just like a Japanese garden. ("I must concentrate…I must focus and amplify my power with my mind. Soon, I will surpass Grant's abilities and defeat him with the power of my almighty battle spirit.") "I will win the next time he and I meet on the field of battle."

"Is that so?" A very calm voice echoed out from nearby, by the wall of the backyard. "Actually, if you fight him as you are now then you'll be completely and utterly destroyed."

Bruce immediately was standing, his guard up as quickly as humanly possible. "Who's there?" Spinning around to look at the spot where the voice was coming from, he realized that no one was in the backyard. They were talking across from the wall.

"Just consider me a fan of your fighting." The man's voice spoke warmly, as if he was speaking to an old friend. "I just wanted to present you with an offer that would give you power like Grant's, if that is what you wanted."

Bruce scoffed and looked away. "I won't accept any kind of boost that will make me stronger than him. I'll win without any crutches!"

"Crutches?" The man's laughter picked up in volume. "No no, you misunderstand me boy. I don't intend to make you stronger than him at all, only to level the playing field. His superhuman abilities give him an advantage that nothing normal can match, but what happens if I give you a way to make it so his superhuman powers were no longer a clear advantage for him? That would make it so that only the strongest fighter would win."

"That's very true…" Bruce's lips quirked into a small smile. "Alright, keep talking."

To be continued…

And so another Mew has shown themselves, but because of his chaotic actions it is hard to tell whether he is on the side of the mysterious man who created Magnolia, or Mew Sonic's side. And after that, Bruce is visited by a strange person who offers him a chance to fight Mew Sonic on equal ground. What will his choice be…and will it prove fatal for Roger?