Lone Wolf
Chapter 6
A/N: The last chapter…except the epilogue, of course. Hope you've enjoyed.
Disclaimer: No more Mia Ikumi than I was last chap. But Scarlet, Pilka, and Zalka are still mine.
(Oh, by the way, I forgot to put this in a few chaps earlier: Chihiro is property of Hayao Miyazaki. Although I wish I owned her.)
…falling into the arms of Pie.
There was a second of silence as purple eyes met black. Neither party spoke, still a little in disbelief.
The spell would have held were it not for the entrance of Pilka. The robot charged between them, spurring both wolf and alien into action. Zakuro's crosswhip wrapped around the robot's shoulders as Pie's sword drove between the metal plates of her upper body. The blue-haired mechanical creature tripped, her computer-chip eyes going blank.
Pie knelt down beside the fallen Pilka and began prying the plates off her chest as though his life (or Zakuro's) depended on it. Once he had reached the mess of wires that formed the heart of the computer program that kept her running, Pie found what he was looking for: her central chip.
Taking the small, silver orb in his palms, he admired it a moment. That something so tiny and pretty-looking could be the brain behind a creation as destructive as Pilka had always amazed him.
But, as usual, no time to think of that. Wordlessly, he handed the ball to Zakuro. The werewolf lay it on the ground and dealt it two sharp taps with the butt of her whip. It exploded into smithereens instantly. Pilka's limbs twitched, then crashed against the metal floor and lay still.
"Well," Pie said, a tremble in his voice, "That's…done with."
Zakuro turned to the alien, her throat dry. "Uh…Pie? What are you doing here?"
The alien turned, and the wolf was surprised to see he was actually blushing, an action she hadn't thought was possible for Pie. "I…I was kinda…uh…er…concerned, when you…I mean when that…woman captured you…and she said something about me leading her to you…and I felt so bad…guilty…I just thought I had to…come save you," Pie finally managed to stutter out.
Emotions hit Zakuro like a flood tide. She didn't know whether to be angry at him for coming to "save" her when she'd been most completely capable of rescuing herself—or at least being rescued by the other Mews. But…it was really nice of him to put his life on the line to come save her…but hadn't he said it was just guilt? That he just didn't want to have her capture on his conscience for years after, so he'd decided to come help?
Her emotions were so tangled…better just be brusque with him. It was how, as a model, she'd been trained to treat men anyway.
"Well, that's very nice, but I'd better get back to the main fight. My friends need my help in beating that nasty Scarlet Red lady, and she's still got one robot left. So if you plan to be of any use, you can come too, or you can just be a coward and hide in the airlock here." With that, she made a sharp about-face and strode off, her pointed boots clicking on the metal floor.
Pie stared after the werewolf a moment, his eyes following the path of her long purple hair as it swung from side to side. She really must hate me…he thought, And I'm such a coward, I lost the only chance I'm ever going to have…
"Lone Wolf! Wait!" Pie yelled, finally driven to desperation. "I…I've got something to tell you."
Zakuro turned on her heel, angrily facing him. "Be quick, Pie. I've got a battle to fight."
"Well…um…Zakuro," Pie stammered, his face redder than Scarlet Red's hair. "I've just got to say that…I know we're enemies and everything…I'm an alien…you're a Mew…and…but…I think I love you."
Zakuro froze.
"What…did…you…just say?" She was incredulous. These were the words she'd longed to hear…he loved her. He loved her. Her, Zakuro Fujiwara, the model, the Mew, his former enemy…he loved her.
Pie's face fell. I must look like I don't feel the same way, Zakuro realized. But I do. I know now that I do. She walked over to where Pie was standing and put her hand on his shoulder. Within, she struggled, considering how to voice her feelings to him.
After a length, Pie spoke. "If…I should have known. I was very stupid to consider that you might think of me as anything more than a stupid boring alien. But you wanted to know why I came to help you, and its' the only answer I've got, Lone Wolf. I'm…sorry."
The wolf Mew gently put a hand under his chin and lifted his face so it was level with hers. "Could you please actually give me a chance to speak before jumping to conclusions, Pie. I…you know what I am. I'm a model. And a werewolf. And a crime-fighter. Trained to be cold, to never trust guys because they might just be using me. And…I'd never actually loved a guy. Not even liked one. Because I was afraid…afraid of love. But there was one man…who was the last person I expected to care for…but I did. I thought…I was sure that he would never care for a cold, superhero werewolf like me…but…Ok, I'm babbling, aren't I? I'm sorry, it's just…the thing is—I love you too, Pie."
Zakuro had never seen Pie shocked before. You know, it was almost humorous, the way his eyebrows shot way up and his eyes searched her face for any hint that she might be teasing. "You…do?"
"Of course, silly alien. Would I have said so otherwise?" she reminded him.
He really was handsome when he was shocked. But she didn't get to enjoy his shocked expression much longer, because a moment later, he was kissing her. For the second time.
This time, she actually returned his kiss. And she had to say, it was ten times as wonderful as it had been before.
When Pie finally broke off, he took a deep breath and faced her. "Well, Lone Wolf…we'd better go fight this battle…together."
Zakuro smiled what felt like her first real smile since her capture. "Of course. Scarlet Red is far too dangerous to be left on the loose. Are you ready?"
"As ready as I will ever be…my love."
Although it was a rather cliché thought, Pie couldn't help noticing that when Zakuro beamed, it looked like the sun had entered her eyes. It really was quite beautiful. If he had to pick one thing as the last thing his mortal eyes ever saw, that would definitely be in his top two…
…But, as usual, there was no time to think about that.
"Ribbon Strawberry Check!" Ichigo Momomiya shouted, back in the holding bay where the battle still raged. She and Mint threw themselves at the alien every moment, but Scarlet Red seemed undefeatable, and their attacks were wearing thin. Pudding was still preoccupied with Zalka, and Lettuce was trying to figure out the ship's controls so they didn't crash into any planets, but where was Zakuro? The former captive had been chased down a passageway by the other robot, Pilka, but she hadn't been seen in nearly twenty minutes. Ichigo hoped her wolf friend was OK.
"Ichigo! Watch out!" Mint yelled. The cat Mew snapped her pink-haired head up just in time to see Scarlet Red advancing, a sword of crimson crystal in her left hand.
"Ribbon…" Ichigo began, but it was too late. She couldn't get the attack ready in time. Deep Blue's sister was only a few feet away…now a few steps…now almost upon her…
"Ribbon Zakuro Pure!" A brilliant purple attack caused the air above the alien's head to crackle. Several inches of her beautiful reddish-black hair sizzled and burned, falling to the ground in a storm of ashes. To Ichigo, it looked as though Scarlet was crying fire.
Mint and Ichigo turned as one. Zakuro had returned! Smiles split both Mews' faces as they saw their friend walking toward them, safe and with no sign of that Pilka robot. And with her was another figure, one they recognized as none other than the alien genius Pie! It didn't escape Mint's notice that he and Zakuro were holding hands as they approached, but she'd worry about that later.
"Zakuro! You're okay!" they yelled at the same time. Mint ran over to her and gave her a gigantic hug, almost knocking the wolf off her feet.
"Are you ready to fight, girls?" Zakuro asked. "After all, no alien captures Zakuro Fujiwara and gets away with it."
Ichigo nodded. "Well—now that we've got three of us here, we can try combining our powers. Mint's and my individual attacks don't' work."
Mint and Zakuro nodded. They closed their eyes and concentrated on feeding their powers into their leader, as they had done so many times before. Violet and cerulean ropes of light flew into the pink core that was Ichigo. When the catgirl felt the power levels within her were high enough, she raised her pink-gloved hands in Scarlet Red's direction, yelling her newly-empowered war cry,
"Strawberry Bell Bell, Version Up! Ribbon Strawberry Check, Surprise!"
The powerful attack rocketed through the air towards the powerful alien. Zakuro gulped and clutched Pie's hand tighter. The strawberry-pink heart-shaped beam of light collided with Scarlet's pale, outstretched hands. For a moment, Zakuro's heart lifted with hope…then Scarlet Red pushed the attack away, sending it ricocheting through the air to collide with the spaceship's wall. The villain fell back, her hands burned and blistering, but otherwise unharmed, and still far from defeated.
"Wha—What? That always worked before," Ichigo wailed. Her big pink eyes welled up with tears as she realized that their most powerful attack had failed. There seemed to be no choices left.
Zakuro looked at Pie. Though she was not crying, inside she felt as though she would. She too had realized that there was no hope left. It's not fair, she told herself, I finally found true love, and now we're both going to die?
This realization was followed a second later by anger. NO! I'm not going to let this happen to Pie! Or my friends! She turned toward Ichigo, but the cat was in tears. So, instead she faced Mint. She took her left hand, the one that was not in Pie's, and placed it on the parrot-girl's shoulder. "Mint—there's one hope left, but I need your help. I need you to be strong. We might just make it through this, if we all work together. I need—I need you to attack Scarlet one last time."
The bird-girl shook her head stubbornly. She was terrified, Zakuro could tell. "Mint, do you ever want to see Keiichiro again?"
That did it for the bird. "I'll attack at your signal, Zakuro. I—I trust you to do…whatever you're doing."
From this dialogue, Pie had realized that Zakuro was going to try something. He grabbed her hand tighter and spoke in an urgent whisper. "Lone Wolf, don't! I've just found you—I—I don't want to lose you! After all…I love you."
Mint almost jumped in shock as the realization of what had finally happened to her friend hit her. Oh. So that's why Zakuro is risking her neck all of a sudden. I get it. She's finally in love! About time, too.
She secretly watched as the werewolf turned back to the alien, the pent-up tears visible in her violet eyes. "I love you too, Pie. That's why I've got to do this. It's the only chance that we might all live through this. I want to save you, and my friends too. Please—you have to let me."
After a long moment, Pie finally nodded. He lifted her chin in his hand, raising her eyes so they met his. "Good luck, my beautiful Lone Wolf. Come back to me." They stood there a moment, frozen in time.(Mint had to strongly resist the urge to go Awww, but she didn't want to face Zakuro's wrath if they lived through this) When Pie finally moved away, Zakuro turned to face their enemy, who was finally getting back up from the weakening blow.
Detaching her hand from Pie's, she prepared herself. She fixed on her best model face, hoping Scarlet Red had no inkling of what she was about to attempt. She inched toward the alien, crosswhip hidden behind her back as though she'd dropped it.
"One…two…three…now!" she whispered. Her friend heard the signal, as she yelled her dual battle cries with all the strength she had left.
"Mintoon Alo! Ribbon Mint Echo!"
The blast of blue light flew toward the weakened Scarlet Red. The alien reached up her burned hand to deflect it. As soon as the hand raised, Zakuro charged.
She held her crosswhip extended in front of her. She centered on Scarlet Red's torso, raised the whip—and struck.
For a second that lasted eternity, the weapon burned in Zakuro's hand. Her fingers begged to be released from the scalding whip, but her mind told them to stay put.
All of a sudden, the whip flared bright white and Scarlet Red exploded into millions of tiny flames. They rained down on Zakuro, leaving scorch marks wherever they landed.
The burning pain filling the werewolf lasted for about a moment. Then, the smoke cleared, and the sounds of Ichigo's tears again became audible. I did it, Zakuro realized, I saved them all. Deep Blue's sister is gone forever. We defeated her!
In the next moment, three things happened at once. First, Lettuce Midorikawa came rushing into the chamber, a big grin on her face. "I've got the ship to fix on autopilot, so we can fight without worrying about crashing…" the porpoise Mew began. As she laid her eyes on the strange sight of three of her friends and one former enemy standing beside a pile of ashes, she stopped short.
Secondly, Pudding Fong rushed in through another corridor, chasing the other robot, Zalka. Ignoring the scene for a moment, she cornered Zalka next to the hole the Mews had made in the wall when they entered the ship. With a fierce shout, she pushed the robot over the edge. The monkey's amber eyes followed her downward path until she was no more than a speck below them, then she turned too toward the other Mews. The words she was about to say froze on her lips as she took in the remains of Scarlet Red.
Thirdly, Pie recovered from the frozen stupor all six of them had momentarily suffered. He turned toward Zakuro and unexpectedly threw his arms around the werewolf. "You did it, Lone Wolf! You saved us all!"
Then, he grabbed his Mew's shoulders and kissed her. They stood there a long time, oblivious to everything, including the fact that the other Mews (except Mint) were staring at them, mouths agape.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of Ichigo (who had been in tears a moment ago) bursting into laughter. This seemed to release the others from their stupor.
"What's so funny?" Lettuce demanded to know.
"Well…" Ichigo managed to get out through her laughter. "I just had a thought…Kish will never let Pie live this one down!"
Three more laughing voices joined Ichigo's. The storm of hysteria was finally enough to rouse the two new loves from their kiss. "What is it?" Pie queried.
"If you missed it the first time, we're not going to say it again," Mint told him, smug despite the fact that she was doubled over in laughter.
Zakuro shook her head resignedly. "You guys are soooo immature sometimes. Well—come on, everyone. Let's go home."