Chapter Ten: The First Battle 头一个巴特尔

"I have great faith in fools. My friends call it self-confidence." --- Edgar Allan Poe

I was still pretty scared over everything I had heard last night. And the fright amplified when I woke up and saw a big furry white animal staring at me with horrendously bulbous eyes. "AHHHH! GET AWAY!" I screamed, throwing a pillow at it. Ryou heard me scream and rushed in, wild-eyed. "What's wrong? Are you okay, Komori?" he panicked.

"T-there's a f-fluffy w-white thing over there." I said, pointing to the corner of the room where the creature was pinned under the pillow. Ryou walked over to the pillow and regarded it.

"…Komori, this fluffy white thing is what we call a pillow" Ryou explained condescendedly.

"N-no! That thing under the pillow!" I whined. Ryou lifted the pillow up and burst out laughing.

"Masha! How did you get in here?" He laughed as he stroked the creature. "Don't worry, Komori. Masha's completely harmless." Ryou said.

"Uh, y-yeah. I think I'll be going downstairs now…" I mumbled shakily and walked out of the room. Later on, after I got over being scared by Masha I got dressed and decided to go exploring around the neighborhood a bit.

"Hey, Ryou! I'm going out!" I yelled.

"M'kay! Just make sure you don't get lost! I don't wanna go hunting you down the streets of Tokyo!" he yelled back. I rolled my eyes and walked out the door. Yeah, like I could get lost.

In the parlor…在客厅

Ryou stroked Masha's ears as he reclined on the leather couch across from Masaya and Ichigo in the parlor. "So, Ryou…Anything interesting happen since we last saw each other?" Ichigo asked, attempting to stir up some friendly conversation.

"Yeah. When did you move out of your place at the café into this Taj Mahal?" Masaya asked with false curiosity.

"Approximately four months ago. There's much more room over here for all my experiments and such." Ryou responded with a slight glare in Masaya's direction. What an ass...

"Heh. Still looks like you just moved in. I feel sorry for Komori; having to live in a dump like this with no one but you to cure her boredom. Oh, wait. You'd just make it worse." Ichigo smirked, trying to provoke Ryou. Don't let her get to you, Ryou. Keep your cool. Ryou grinded his teeth and tried to keep the conversation hatred-free… at least for the next five minutes or so. I'm starting to wish Komori didn't leave me alone here with these two. Selfish little brat, can't she see that I'm suffering?

"Oh, ha ha, Ichigo. So…what are you doing for a living nowadays?" Ryou asked, aiming the question more towards Ichigo than Masaya, ignoring her blatant insult.

"I'm starting my own fashion line, while Masaya here is an animal rights advocate. He's in Greenpeace." Ichigo responded, draping her arms across Masaya. Ryou felt a sickening sensation in his gut as he watched Ichigo smother Masaya in her arms.

"Will you excuse me? I have to go throw up." Ryou grumbled, standing up. Ichigo looked up at him with an innocent expression. Masaya eyed Ryou knowingly as he wrapped his arms tighter around Ichigo's waist.

"Aww, Ryou! Don't be a baby! Here, we'll cut it out, gosh." Ichigo said, detangling herself from Masaya. Ryou leaned down into his seat again, slightly embarrassed. I wonder if that was too straightforward…?

"Hey, Ryou. What's the latest alien poll?" Masaya questioned.

"Keiichiro and I have detected a new species residing somewhere underground Tokyo like I said last night. We're trying to compile data on them." Ryou stated. Ha. Try beating that, Mr. Perfect.

"Ryou…are you sure it's safe for Komori to be going out when there's aliens around?" Masaya asked. Ryou looked up and gave Masaya a look of utmost annoyance.

"I'm pretty sure she'll be okay. It's not like they're parading the streets."

"Yeah, but maybe you should send Masha to follow her, just to be sure, you know?" Ichigo added worriedly with a slight twitch in her left eye, "She might be getting harassed by a Kish!"

"Honey, I highly doubt that there is any alien in the galaxy that's more perverted than Kish." Masaya reasoned.

"Okay, fine! Masha, go follow Komori, but don't let her know, 'kay?" Ryou instructed. Masha gave a small 'Tweet' and flew through the window.

"Happy now?" Ryou grumbled.

Twenty feet below the Earth…在地球下面的二十英尺

"These humans are so unalert; they won't know what hit them." Ronin grinned evilly.

"Resu! Get ready!" Ronin instructed.

"I am prepared." Resu replied, popping his knuckles gleefully.

On the streets… 在街上

The unforgiving sun beat down on me as I explored the many winding streets of Tokyo. Maybe wearing black every day isn't such a good idea. I noticed that Tokyo was a lot bigger than New York City. Or maybe it just seemed that way because of walking around in this horrible heat. But despite the heat, it was still a beautiful day to take a walk. I have changed a lot; I never used to go for a walk just for the fun of it. I sicken myself. An enormous eruption from the street ahead burst with the sound of a thousand firecrackers detonating at once, interrupting my thoughts. What's going on? Is this an earthquake? A rumbling quake rippled through the street, forcing me onto the ground.

"OOF!" I cried, trying to propel myself up as another shock hit the ground. A horde of screaming people stampeded down the street, running as fast as they could, then falling flat on their faces as another shock hit the ground. The chaos that followed was filled with utter confusion. People were sprinting through the streets hollering, "Monster!" "Kirema Anima!" and "Giant animal!" as they ran around like headless chickens. I pushed myself up onto my elbows, attempting to see through the thick layers of dust. A chunk of metal whizzed by my head, and I realized that I had to find shelter from this 'monster' that seemed to be what was causing all the mess. I crawled over the hot concrete on my belly, dodging the debris that flew at me. Unfortunately, I didn't see the brick on a collision course with the back of my head.

Meanwhile, back at the house…同时,回在房子

Ryou's watch emitted a light green glow. "Oh!" Ryou exclaimed. "We're getting a distress signal from Masha. And from how urgent it is, I'd say it's bad!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ichigo asked.

"Komori might be in trouble!" Ryou squealed . Everyone jumped off the couch and bolted towards Masha's distress signal.

In the streets…在街

The world I had woken to was in absolute pandemonium. Buildings sat on their side, debris littered the street, people ran amok in panic, a giant cat tore through all the obstacles that stood in its way…wait a minute…a giant cat? I shakily sat up and rubbed my eyes in astonishment. A giant cat towered above, casting an ominous shadow onto my face. That cat's been taking some serious steroids…What am I saying? I think my head got hit a little too hard again. I caressed the back gingerly, feeling a large knot forming where I had been struck. The giant cat continued its path of destruction, sending a powerful ripple through the concrete, which crumbled beneath it like paper. That thing is definitely real! My first impulse was to run, but I couldn't manage to bring myself to my feet. This must be the aliens Ryou was talking about! The monster started to demolish everything within its reach. It started to advance to the middle of the street where I helplessly laid. I started to brainstorm as the rumblings drew closer. There has to be a way to fight this thing! Ryou said so himself! That DNA I injected must have done something…If only I knew how to use the powers!

"You'd better run, little girl! You don't want to be crushed by my kirema anima, do you?" a figure that crouched on the shoulder of the creature shouted wickedly. The kirema anima aimed for me, and lunged.

"AAAHHH!" I screamed. What are you doing! Jump out of the way! I pressed down my fears and rolled out of the range of the kirema anima just in time. Urgh! This is so frustrating! How do I transform! The kirema anima lunged again and I just barely dodged its attack. A jumble of words rushed into my head, overlapping each other into meaningless words. God, I think that my head really was hit too hard… One word stood out of the rest of the senseless phrases. Mewtemorphosis…it echoed clearly. Well, it's worth a shot. I pulled myself to my feet with the aid of a nearby pole.

"Mewtemorphosis!" I shouted. A shroud of black light encased my entire body. The scene of chaos drifted away, and the only reminder was of the incessant roars of the creature. The same bat that I had seen on the day when I was in Ryou's lab materialized before me. Its soft fox-like face gazed at me with curiosity. The bat always appeared as if it were made out of what you would think stars are made of. The bat made a small nod and enveloped me into its pitch-black wings. I felt myself growing ears and bat wings. Huh? Is this the power? The barrier faded and I found myself in a new outfit, back in the middle of the scene of chaos. I looked myself over. The outfit was made of a stretchy sort of black leather. A black tube top was covered by a jacket with the sleeves rolled up. The skirt was cut slightly below my fingertips, followed by a cozy pair of high-heeled boots covered in rhinestones. Hm, pretty stylish. Outfits out of nowhere; I could get used to this.

"What are you doing, you pathetic human!" the alien shouted in surprise. I actually had no idea what I was doing, so I couldn't really answer him. A stream of words flowed through my mind, and I found myself saying them out loud.

"Stop destroying this beautiful city! For your evil actions, I will make you pay!" I yelled. What the heck did I just say? Evil actions? Who came up with that corny line? Passion Sword… Another voice echoed.

"Passion Sword!" I said, reaching up. To my astonishment, a sword appeared in my outstretched hand. Its handle was covered in a twisting vine with purple fruit hanging off of it. A thin steel blade that was covered with circular gems stuck out threateningly. Before I could even fathom the stupidity of what I was doing, I ran at the kirema anima and slashed at it with the Passion Sword, sending a flash of violet light through it. The monster shrieked in pain and writhed on the ground. The creature downsized until all that was left was a regular-sized, normal cat. The figure looked down on me.

"This war is far from over, you pathetic Mew." he said and faded away. Did I…win? Ryou, Ichigo, and Masaya filed into the street, taking in the last of my battle. Ryou's eyes widened when he saw me standing amidst the chaos. Oh no… What if he saw me transform! Frightened, I spread my wings and flew up into the smoke-filled sky.

"Wait!" Ryou called desperately. I flew for about a mile to make sure I was out of Ryou's eyesight and landed behind a fallen building.

"Mewtemorphosis!" I whispered. The black shroud surrounded me again, but the bat didn't appear this time. As I stepped out of the shroud I was back into my normal tattered clothes. I stepped out from behind it and roamed around for sight of Ryou. I turned the corner and saw he was still standing in the same spot.

"That was…a Mew…" I heard him say, dazed as he crouched onto the ground. Keiichiro touched his shoulder.

"Come on, Ryou. We have to keep looking for Komori." Keiichiro said softly. It looked as though the entire group had split up to look for me. Look what I've caused… I ran to Ryou and Keiichiro with my arms outstretched.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" I said innocently. Ryou turned around and pulled me into his arms.

"God, Komori! We were so worried!" Ryou said as he looked me over for injuries, pausing at my head. I pulled away.

"I'm fine! I'm fine! I hid when I saw that giant….cat." I lied. Everyone gathered around me, giving me hugs and thanking god that I was okay.

"Let's get home; we've got a lot of work to do…And I might as well explain what's going on…" Ryou sighed.