Lone Wolf

Chapter 3

A/N: Yay, I got another update! This story's actually flowing for me, amazingly. I have no idea what the final length will be. Currently I'm estimating about 7-8 chaps, but I could be wrong.

Disclaimer: All TMM chars, plots, etc. property of Mia Ikumi. The town of Krent, the Krentari River, and the new character introduced at the end of the chap are MINE, however.

He saw the girl.

She was struggling against the bonds holding her, the bonds of Kirema Anima he himself had made. Defiance was in her eyes as she met him stare-for-stare, even captive.

The girl. The model. The Mew. The werewolf. Lone Wolf. Zakuro.

He'd had her! She'd been captive, unable to move. It had been his chance to destroy one of the Mews forevermore—even though they were now no longer attacking Earth, he still had his dislike for humans, especially Mews. While his companions seemed to think humans were great—they even lowered themselves to the level of dating them—his opinion had not changed.

Anyway, she'd been at his mercy. He could have had her. But instead—he had to go and kiss her! Of all the things! He couldn't believe himself. This was lower than he'd ever gone…

…but he'd liked it.

It had taken a long time for the reticent alien to accept it—but he'd liked it. She was a beautiful girl, and kissing her had been…fun.

What could this mean? Could he care about her? She was constantly on his thoughts now. Did he…miss her?

No, couldn't be. But somehow…he did. He had to see her again soon or he would go crazy. Even if it meant turning the ship's entire course around to head back to Earth…

"Hello-ooo! Earth to Pie! Pie, is your brain in orbit again?" A mocking, aggravating voice rung in the daydreaming alien's ear.

Pie shook his head, causing his short purple hair to shake. "What do you WANT, Kish? You know not to disturb me when I'm making important calculations!"

Kish, a slightly shorter black-haired alien, best known as the "annoying one of the group" and the boyfriend of Ichigo, stifled a giggle with his palm. "Looked more like you were daydreaming, Pie-san. Anyway, I have a question…"

Pie turned toward his friend, irritated. "You've started picking up Earth customs, Kish! I'm disappointed in you! Putting '-san' at the end of someone's name is a purely human custom. You've been spending too much time with that Mew."

Kish threw up his hands in a gesture of defeat. "Ichigo and I are in love. What else can I say? Anyway, that's what I meant to ask you. Pudding and Ichigo are getting a vacation from their job for the next couple weeks. Tart and I were wondering if…er…um…" the alien trailed off.

Pie exhaled a blustery sigh of frustration. "Spit it out, Kish. I haven't got all day."

"Could you…bring the spaceship to dock near Earth for a couple days?" he finally managed to say.

The taller alien turned on his short companion in complete aggravation. "We were just near Earth a few weeks ago! You want to go back?"

Though his voice was filled with obvious dislike, inside of him a war was being waged.

Earth? Yes, the answer is YES! I'll get to see Zakuro again, and Kish and Tart won't notice because they'll be out too…said one part of him.

Stupid! You're letting this…werewolf…mess you up! She's casting a spell on you like Ichigo did on Kish, or that dirty monkey did on Tart! What can you be thinking?

"…Please, Pie?" Kish begged. And I mean begged. The black-haired teen got down on his hands and knees, bowing to Pie multiple times. It was obvious he and his friend were desperate for Pie's answer to be affirmative.

Finally, the battle within him was won. The mathematician sat back in his chair with yet another gusty sigh, trying to keep his voice in a monotone. "Yes, I suppose that could be arranged. We have nowhere to be, anyhow."

"OhthankyouPieyouarewonderfulthankssoveryverymuch!" Kish babbled, no longer able to contain his excitement. "YouarejustthebestfriendeverTartandIthankyousososososomuch!"

"Calm DOWN, Kisshu," he replied, using the nickname he knew Kish hated. "I'm only agreeing because I'm bored, too. Also, it would give me time to work on my calculations for reaching Planet X in the fastest possible way. As you probably know, our ship's current warp speed is the square root of eighty-three point four times pi, and if we double warp speed we reach a consistency of…"

But he was talking to the wall. His friend, in no mood for one of Pie's long-winded numerical lectures, had already darted out to seek out Tart and share the good news.

Pie leaned back in his chair, a small smile on his face. Thank you, Kish…he mused. For once, you and your lovesickness have done something good…

Zakuro stretched her back, reclining in the golden yellow sunlight. The model was relaxing on a beach a few miles out from Tokyo, in some remote town she'd never really even heard of.

Once she'd left the café, the realization had hit her. She had three weeks to herself, with no work, no modeling, nothing. At first, she hadn't known what to do.

However, the wondering was soon over. Despite the fact that the DNA of a cold-loving species of lupine were injected into her veins, Zakuro Fujiwara was a beach girl. However, the beaches of Tokyo weren't fun, as she was easily recognized and bombarded by paparazzi.

So, with the aid of her Mew powers, she'd quickly transported herself to this random, almost unoccupied strip of yellow sand along a river of some sort. It was a small one, and yet again, she had no idea as to what it was called.

The werewolf planned to stay here, maybe even for the entire vacation. The town—it might be called Krent, now that she thought of it, and the river might just be the Krentari River—was pretty scenic. Calming, rather. Nobody here knew her as Model Zakuro, or Mew Zakuro, or Zakuro the Lone Wolf…Here she could just be Zakuro, a plain girl on a vacation from her job at a restaurant back in the city. It was refreshing.

Still…was there something missing…

Her thoughts were interrupted by a scream.

It had been a long day, and he couldn't wait a moment longer. First, he'd had to safely dock the ship near Earth, while every minute either Kish or Tart screamed "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" into his ear. Next, he'd had to mix up a new bottle of Kirema Anima solution, seeing as Tart had used the last serving without telling him. They'd been out of snakes, so he'd have to use the only animal he could find—a cockroach.

After convincing Tart that no, that cockroach was NOT candy, he'd spent a frustrated half an hour learning one thing: insects didn't make good Anima. The bug kept scurrying away on doomed-to-fail attempts to escape Pie's laboratory. At last, he'd had to get Kish to guard the door, which the shorter alien at last reluctantly agreed to, griping every minute about how he'd be late for his date with Ichigo. After he'd finally got the solution applied to the roach, Kish had wondered why Pie had even made a Kirema Anima in the first place. After the purple-haired aliens had convinced his friend that it was "for research purposes," Kish had left, unwilling to keep Ichigo waiting another minute.

So then, he'd had the spaceship to himself. As soon as he was sure they were far enough away, Pie had almost sprinted to the tracking device. His nimble fingers had entered Zakuro's personal data before his brain had fully accepted what he was doing. He vaguely noticed that her coordinates were several miles outside of Tokyo, but he hadn't cared. He just wanted to see her, even if it meant capturing her again…

So now, the teleportation had finally worked. The cockroach Anima, with Pie riding its back like some futuristic knight-in-armor, crashed down onto…

…a beach full of normal humans, with no sign of Zakuro.

What have I done?

Zakuro glanced up, her purple eyes immediately catching the source of the problem. It was Pie—again, back with yet another of those weird Kirema Anima. And once again, she was going to have to face him alone.

Why do I keep running into him? It's like he's tracking me down…or stalking me…weird… the rational, cautious, cool-headed part of her thought.

Well…maybe he just wants to see me, and can't think of another way? It's kind of sweet…remarked a hidden figment of herself.

She quickly stifled those thoughts. This was time for action, not reason. Dodging behind a nearby tree so nobody would see her, she prepared to fight—yet again.

Her last thought as she whispered "Mew Mew Zakuro Metamorphosis," fervently hoping nobody would hear, was Isn't this supposed to be my vacation from all this?

He grinned. She was coming. His faithful tracker hadn't failed him after all.

With the all-too-familiar cries of "For your evil actions, we will make you pay!" and "Ribbon Zakuro Pure!" the wolf Mew descended upon the tall alien.

She really is beautiful…a small part of Pie mused as he watched the violet-haired girl charge him.

Shut up! You're acting like Kish! another part of him retaliated. Deep within, he realized that he'd done this just to see Zakuro…but no, that was too hard to accept. Best forget about it, considering that she was in the middle of attacking him.

"Darn you, Pie! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US!" the lone wolf yelled, her temper almost driven over the edge by the cocky smile on the face of the boy who a scant few days ago had kissed her under the Tokyo moonlight.

"Calm down, Lone Wolf," Pie responded, his voice as cutting as always. That nickname again…she fumed within her. Why must he always be like this?

The alien realized her distress, and an inner part of him cried yet again. You're the cause of this, you realize…it said. Despite this, Pie managed to paste a cool smile on his face. He opened his mouth to deliver the werewolf another of his traditional stinging barbs…

…when time froze.

No, literally, they couldn't move. Zakuro was frozen in mid-attack, her cross-whip extended. The cockroach's movement jarred to a stop, and Pie realized that his arms too could no longer function.

In a flash of blinding light, the sky turned red and a red-glowing figure descended from it to land with a gentle pfft! of sand between the Mew and her alien enemy.

As the light cleared, both Pie and Zakuro were struck with a niggling sense of familiarity about the person that had appeared.

It was a woman. An extremely beautiful woman. A tall, pale-skinned woman with floor-length reddish-black hair, constantly waving back and forth in the gentle breeze. A woman wearing a short sleeveless red dress, revealing every curve and muscle of her well-defined pale body. A woman with malicious crimson eyes, full of sarcastic laughter as she regarded the frozen duo, and sharp white teeth like some sort of primeval vampire.

"W…who are you?" Pie stammered. Somehow, she looks familiar, but who is she?

Her voice, when she spoke, was like the pure note of a laser beam slicing through pure silver metal. "You don't recognize me, Pie? Alien…loyal alien…that you claim to be?"

Pie studied her a moment longer, her cryptic words scrambling around in his calculating brain. Suddenly, it clicked. "M…m…master? Deep Blue?" Sure, the strange woman seemed to be so very different from the late Deep Blue, the powerful alien that had awoken in the body of Ichigo's ex, Masaya Aoyama, and forced Kish, Pie, Tart, and the rest of the aliens of their planet to work for him and help him take over Earth, there did seem to be some strange similarities. How could he have ever forgotten that familiar malicious gleam, even though it glared at him now from the depths of blood-red instead of ice-blue?

She laughed, and it was the sound of hunting dogs eager for the chase. "Yes, Pie, I am related to that pitiful creature who called himself your master. I'm Scarlet Red, his sister. Sister and superior in power, may I add. I didn't have the foolishness to choose an intelligent alien race as my servants and lackeys. Robots, you know, are so much more useful, considering they don't have minds of their own. But…" she turned away from the alien, her tone suddenly a mocking parody of businesslike. "Why should I explain all this to you, now. Suffice to say that I share the same goal as my dear brother, but unlike him, I shall be successful. Do you know why, Pie?"

"N…no, ma'am," Pie stammered, still unsure at what Scarlet Red was getting at.

"Because, my dear, of you. You have led me to the one thing that will be key in allowing me to take over your dear planet. A hostage! See, Pie, we shall get to know each other very intimately, I feel, considering that I'm taking this dear, dedicated Lone Wolf of yours as my prisoner."

Before Pie could scream, let alone react, jets of blood-colored light shot from Scarlet Red's hands. An expression of terror crossed Zakuro's violet eyes as the woman teleported her far away. Pie thought her mouth tried to form his name as she disappeared, but he wasn't sure.

"Catch you later, Pie-san," Scarlet Red smiled mockingly as she too disappeared, taking the red light and paralysis with her. A moment later, the beach had returned to its normal state…save for one fact.

Pie was staring out at the rapidly setting sun, in the direction the woman-alien had taken Zakuro.

Lone Wolf…don't worry. I'll save you somehow. I don't know why…but I have to save you. Keep heart, Lone Wolf. I'm coming for you……