xuri: Zomg zomg zomg zomg! xD -flails- TEH FINALE BEGINS! Ya'll ready for this? x3 Aaanyways, after this chapter, TWO TO GO:O Who's excited? I AM! xD Plus, since these chapters are... mainly fighting, they turned out much shorter. ;3 HA! See? I can limit the violentness. Ish. And excuse the weirdness. It's hard to describe certain things that happen on account of Ari's 'rage-rage power' x3 It becomes much more intense after this. Are you ready for the twists, cameos, and ultra super SUSPENSEFUL cliffhangers I have in place? xD

And, really, I like this chapter. It's intennseee. So be ready for the intennnsseeeness. xD

SamKo: Yay, people love the giant huggable chapter as much as I do. xD Seriously, it took some serious thinking to get the whole love-triangle-web thing in place... even if it only really involves Ryou, Shinta, Kona and Brooke and a l'il bit of Marzipan. x3 (Ryou luffles Ichigo, who luffs Masaya, but Kona luffles Ryou, even though she's starting to luff Shinta, who kind of luffs Brooke, and Brooke has always kinda luffed Ryou but there's always been that voice in the back of her head pointing at Shinta, and of course there's Marzipan, who luffs Ryou and Ryou's cooking. xD -headache-) Dun dun dun! Ari sure does get evil in this chapter and the next few, which was so fun to write. Plus I just love her and her uber evilness even more now. xD

--

Blend (chapter twenty-four)

..threat..

...very, very wrong...

It was like those three words echoed through the heads of everyone standing in Ari's vicinity. Yes. Yesit was very, very wrong. It was wrong that she was here. It was wrong that they were in the wrong place. It was all wrong.

But most wrong of all -

- Ichigo hadn't been wrong. She'd had a bad feeling. She'd had a horrible feeling, in fact. And it was coming to fruit, right before her eyes. Ari, a perfect picture of rage, and anger, and, wrongly enough, power. The air around her was saturated with it. Even Yumi, who was standing at the back of the alarmed group, shivered at the feel of her utterly blatant and vibrating power.

Ari was not wrong. Ari was right. Everything was going to go very, very wrong...

"Ichigo-chan! Move!" Roxi shrieked, stumbling forward from the group. Ichigo was too far away to be helped, but the redhead seemed far enough ahead of the rest of them - she jumped back with a gasp and landed quite a few paces safer away from the threatening Ari.

But the alien hadn't even made a move. She just stood there, smiling.

And in the golden depths of her eyes, there shone mirth, amusement, anticipation, anger, pulsating rage, a hint of laughter. But the emotion that shone brightest was hatred - pure, unbridled, maniacally-driven hatred. And she stared straight at Ichigo, unmoving.

"A-Ari!" Ichigo stiffened and held her arms out defensively, though, unless she was transformed, she was defenseless. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?..." Her voice was low, her smirk ever bright, her eyes wide and unfaltering.

"...What have I ever been doing here?"

Ichigo shivered. That was all she had a chance to do.

Ari's grin widened, as if in slow motion, and then everything sped up again. She moved. A lot. Before Ichigo could even react, step out of the way, cry out, or fight back in and way, shape or form, a shot of blue flame hit her square in the gut. Breathless, she was helpless to do anything to halt Ari's sudden advance, where the girl was taken by the shoulders and slammed against the ground. Her head and back hit the concrete with a shuddering slam. It was a miracle - or a merciless act - that she was still conscious.

"I've got you," Ari stared down at the near delirious Ichigo, pinning her shoulders to the ground. The alien's own voice sounded intoxicated, shaking with rage and delight all at once. Refusing to budge her hold on the girl, Ari leaned down so she could whisper harshly into her ear.

"I've got you now. How does it feel to be so close to death?... To see it staring you right in the face?... To know that in a matter of seconds, your heart will stop beating, and it will all be over?"

Ichigo couldn't do a thing. She felt her heart pounding against her ribcage, and could see the murderous glint in Ari's eyes. She was serious. She was done toying around with her, playing mind games... She was serious...

And Ichigo was terrified. Petrified. Even without words to describe it, she could see it in Ari's eyes - she had no intention of ending it quickly. No, she was going to make her suffer, make her bleed, make her watch as everyone else was destroyed right up until she suffered the most painful and burning death possible...

... and she couldn't do a thing to fight back.

"Ichigo!" Kikyo, transformed as Mew Kitsune, let out a cry, intending to tackle Ari away and blast her with an attack. Ari's senses were heightened, sharpened, as if anger fuelled her to utmost power. Her eyes flickering suddenly from Ichigo to the attacker, she only had to let go of Ichigo for a second in order to unleash a brutal kick to Kikyo, grasp her wrist and nearly tear her weapon away from her before throwing her several paces against the ground. Mew Kitsune didn't have time to even give a single cry of pain. And Ari grabbed a fistful of Ichigo's red head, pulling her up with cries of pained protest to look her in the eye.

"It's useless," she hissed, a glowing dagger appearing in her pale hand, her long fingers curling around the handle as she held it to Ichigo. Ari started laughing, "You're mine. All this time - all this time I've had to fight you! But you're weak... you're so easy to manipulate... and now, you're dead!"

Ichigo choked in horror, pain shooting through her body. Her head throbbed with pressure, and she couldn't turn her eyes away from the copper dagger held just inches away. The others were too far away to help. Besides, if they moved... Ari would lash out for sure. It was her she wanted. Not them. If they left, they wouldn't be hurt... her injuries were inevitable at this point..

"...run..." Ichigo sobbed, her body tensing at the constant pain, "...Run... please, run!"

"Ichigo...!" Kona breathed in disbelief, but they knew they couldn't do anything. One move, and Ichigo was done for. Roxi and Brooke had already gone to help Kikyo, but they couldn't so much as come close to Ichigo. All they could do was watch her suffer, watch Ari take over slowly...

"Are you ready," Ari whispered, her eyes wide, driven with psychotic reason, "to suffer, experience the most pain you could ever experience without actually dying?"

Ichigo could only whimper, gasping for her. Her chest felt tight, like everything had suddenly started to close in all around her. She couldn't think. She could barely breath. And all she heard in her own mind was ...Shirogane. Akasaka-san, Kona, Yumi, Roxi, Brooke, Kikyo, Shinta...Masaya... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...!

"ARI!"

Ari stopped. Without loosening her grip on the girl, she spun around, a cry being released from Ichigo's lips as she was yanked further. Hanajima and Marzipan stood there, staring in utter disbelief. The purple haired alien was still in her human attire, looking dissheveled as if she'd run a great distance. Ryou's eyes widened with realization.

She's... that girl is Marzipan?

"Ari," Hanajima stared, wide eyed, refusing to close the distance between them. Dangerous. Just like she'd told Marzipan, Hanajima looked at the alien as if she were the most dangerous thing in the world right now, "...how did you get out?" She whispered.

Ari's lips only widened into a smile.

"Heh. You were trying to keep me trapped, weren't you? You were afraid of my power, so you tried to keep my sealed until I exhausted myself. Useless," her hands flashed, and two daggers appeared in her hands as Ichigo was dropped unceremoniously to the ground in an unmoving heap. Ari was done with her, for now. "You should know that a closed portal is nothing against my full potential, 'Hana-chan'. You thought you could keep me behind bars, 'Hana-chan', that you could keep me from breaking out. Well, you were wrong, 'Hana-chan'!" She mocked, over and over again, her voice thick with rage but her expression one of unbridled joy.

"Ari!" Hanajima uttered in disbelief, seeing the alien's sights had set themselves on a new target. Ari only had to take one step forward, and then, she was in their faces, prepared to take a swipe at Hanajima, her kind, her ally. It was simple to dodge, at first. Ari was brash, acting without thought, only with power. Hanajima had the power to fool the mind, to quickly appear in a place she was not. The first slash cut through her illusion, shattering it. But the second hit her dead on. The blunt edge of the blade smacked across her forehead, knocking her over in a daze - since Ari was acting without thought, she did not need proper use of her mind. Only strength. Only power.

Gritting her teeth, Marzipan jumped back, quickly notching an arrow and aiming it at Ari. It was knocked clear out of her hands before she could even release, and she felt a cold blade cut deep just above her cheekbone, and then a blunt kick to the back of her knees. She fell. Ari stood infront of them, victorious, smug.

"Don't get it my way," she said evenly, staring at their helpless bodies. Weak. Useless. Why had she ever had a need for them, when she had this power all to herself..?

They all watched. They all watched in disbelief, as Ari effortlessly took out her teammates without remorse or struggle. Within seconds, they were down. And Ari was still flaring with that strong, saturating power that could be seen by even the human eye. It was remarkable. It was horrifying.

Ichigo, once she managed to regain her jumbled senses, sat up and viewed the horror that was Ari, standing only a few feet away from her. As if sensing her presence instantly, the alien coldly turned around, her golden eyes catching sight of the red haired girl and widening in intense anger.

Ichigo's mouth opened, and she froze. Literally froze, as something shot through her, rendering her body useless and paralyzed. Fear? No, it was more powerful than fear.

Ari was fear. She was the epitome of all that was horror and terror in her full range of power, her golden gaze fixed unmovingly on Ichigo, who in turn could not move at all, no matter how hard she fought the force. It sunk into her veins, sinking her to the ground, immobilizing her completely. As she could do was stare wide eyed, helpless, towards Ari. It shook through her, causing her body to experience spasms of pain that no reaction could be made to. Like an unbreakable bottle with an explosive inside, no one could see what pain she was experiencing from the outside.

And, after all - it's the inside that counts.

Lifting her head, with a smug expression, to face the other girls, they all experienced a similar pain, a similar and paralyzing fear, feeling weighed down suddenly, their movement restricted. As if witnessing her power, her true power for the first time, Ari smiled wickedly.

This is me. I am all I need...

"I-ichigo...!"

The alien did not have the chance to put the others through the power she'd sent through Ichigo's veins, as in a white blur, a swordsman appeared by her side, a glowing blade arcing down at her from above.

"Haahhhhh!" Shinta's own eyes flared with red flame. Ari pulled her gaze, and as if it were a reflex movement, caught the blade against the handles of her sais, cradelling it there as if a breakable toy.

She grinned. "Fool. You've seen what I can do. Protecting your little girlfriends - you're as good as dead now. I've had just about enough of you!"

As the battle went on, the girls felt their muscles melt, as if the spell of terror was gradually wearing off without the lock of Ari's gaze. Other than gasp for air, they couldn't do anything to help. Even Ryou, who was standing right there, right beside Kona...

"R-ryou," she whimpered, trying to smother the intense pain in her gut. She couldn't even crumble to her knees, only able to stand there in absolute pain.

He himself had been affected by Ari's own power, the power she had been able to use without summoning her blue flame or even the synthesis she'd used on them several times. Ryou could only watch helplessly as those people he'd chosen to throw into danger suffered in silence, until he could watch no more.

Once he was able to move, he put a hand on Kona's shoulder. "I'll be back. I'm going to get Keiichiro!" Lifting it from her, he darted inside, moving fast. There was no time to spare. Not if he wanted them to stay alive.

Letting out a breath, Kona fell to her knees against the concrete, her shoulders trembling almost uncontrollably, "Ryou..." But he was safe now. He was out of Ari's reach. If he was protected... then she could fight. She could protect them, without threatening a person so important to her.

Standing back up to her feet, Kona gathered all her energy and transformed into Mew Powder. As Ari was occupied with Shinta, she rushed over to Ichigo and tried to shake her. "Ichigo... Ichigo!"

But Ichigo had felt simply the horrifying aura of Ari's power. When something like that was released, she couldn't even imagine what it would be like, when a simple stare had nearly paralyzed her...

And even now, even with Ari's intent elsewhere, she could not move or react to the pain inside. It continued to bottle up, until it threatened to tear her very soul apart. Tears spurted from her eyes, the only thing that could be remotely moved. She was afraid. She was afraid, so afraid, and she knew she couldn't do a thing... maybe it was the fear, that horrible unrelenting fear, that kept her right where she was?...

"Join her!" Ari screamed in rage, retatiliating against a blow from Shinta's sword by pushing off and swinging to form some distance between him. Before Shinta realized the fatal mistake he'd just made, Ari's grin twitched to one of maniacal menace and she brought her two daggers together, fire enveloping the both of them in an instant.

"You're..." as she charged up, Shinta had no way to fight back or even predict the swift strike of her attack, "...done!"

Moving fast as a bullet, the giant ball of blue flame shot through the air, straightlining right for the Elemental Swordsman. He had mythic abilities, but he did not have super reflexes. He could not move fast enough to dodge it at all, let alone keep from being engulfed and destroyed by flame. He didn't have the reflex of a cat.

Kona did.

"MOVE!" Before he could even draw a breath of surprise, Kona sprung out from the side, pushing Shinta towards the ground in one swift movement. The shot skidded right across her arm and she cried out in pain before thudding against the grass, shaking.

"K-Kona!" Shinta breathed in surprise, staring up at her with wide eyes.

"You're alive," she choked, tears spilling down her cheeks as something reminiscent of a smile appeared on her pale and fear-scrawled face, "You're alive! Thank god, thank god, I was so afraid, so afraid, when I saw her pointing at you, I couldn't... I just..." Whimpering she collapsed onto him in a tight and almost suffocating hug, "Thank god, Shin-"

"Ichigo!"

Stopping, Kona pushed herself up and looked to the side, where Shinta was staring in alarm.

Ichigo sat there, absolutely and perfectly still, her face paler than white, her entire body weak, slumped, in shock. Her amber eyes were wide, fearful, terrified, fixed on one solid thing straight ahead of her.

Kona turned her head to see what was in that direction. And she felt like her heart had stopped.

And as it turned out, she wasn't the only one.

Cafe Mew Mew was engulfed completely in blue flame.

It seemed to work ten times as fast as normal fire - the building fell apart, crumbling, like it had been made of sticks and paper as the fire overtook it. Swallowed the innocent, pink building hole in a matter of raging seconds. It was falling. Cafe Mew Mew was falling.

"SHIROGANE!!"

Ichigo was on her feet, the spell broken. And she ran. She ran without stopping, tears streaming from her eyes, ran to the Cafe without pause or hesitation. Her body began to glow a bright white, not slowing down, and then burst into a torrent of sparkles that rained down on the blue flame and extinguished the entire fire, leaving Ichigo transformed in her pink Mew outfit, running as if her life depended on it.

But it was too late. The cafe had fallen, laying in ashes and various clumps, leaving little behind but blackness, smoke, death. Ichigo didn't stop. "Akasaka-san... Shirogane... Akasaka-san... Shirogane!"

As she cried out feverishly, the girl reached the remains and fell to her knees, digging helplessly at the debris, digging and digging and digging and not coming up with anything but ash and various pieces of the wall. And still Ichigo dug, crying out the names of the two who had been inside until the fingers of her gloves had worn off, her fingers raw and bleeding. She didn't stop. She wouldn't stop.

As for the others... they couldn't believe their eyes. It had happened in seconds. Seconds. And they couldn't do a thing. Kona sat still, tears spilling uncontrollably from her eyes. Roxi was shaking, and Yumi looked like she would faint, her own face unknowingly streaked with tears. Shinta's lips moved, forming the word 'no' over and over again, as if that would make the truth of the situation disapear. And Brooke fell to her knees, unable to tear her stricken eyes away from the empty space that Cafe Mew Mew had occupied only a minute ago. And they watched Ichigo, digging and shaking and crying out hysterically, not going any good, but refusing to sit by. Refusing to accept that Ryou and Keiichiro had been caught in the fatal and fast fire.

When she couldn't dig any more, having exhausted herself of energy and ability, Ichigo's hands dropped and pressed against the ash covered ground, her pink eyes locked on the remains, quick flowing tears dripping against the dirt in silence.

"If you play with fire," Ichigo heard Ari take a few steps forward, her voice brimming with mirth, "you get burned, Ichigo-neko."

In complete quiet, she wiped the tears from her eyes, but they just kept coming. She didn't care. Standing to her feet, still staring in disbelief at the ground, Ichigo lifted her gaze to stare straight at Ari. Straight into her eyes. But she didn't succumb to the fear, even as her ever growing power grazed her face, her neck, her body, feeding off any trace of terror. There was none.

"How can you do this...?" She whispered, her face solemn even as tears ran down her pale cheeks, "How can you see so many people fall at your hand, and just stand there... smiling, like it's some game?" Her Strawberry Bell appeared in her left hand.

Ari just smirked. "Humans are insignificant. You'll mourn their loss. No one else will. In 100 years, no one will remember any of the lives lost. Shirogane Ryou. Akasaka Keiichiro." Her smirk widened, "Momomiya Ichigo." Her golden eyes drifted lazily to the side, fixing on Shinta who would not look away from the collapsed building. "Don't blame me. Hey, boy," she barked in his direction, "stop looking so surprised. You know this is your fault. Yours and hers. I was aiming for you, but it really makes no difference. Two lives instead of one is just fine with m-"

"That's enough."

Ari looked up as Ichigo stood before her, trembling, her pink eyes focused unfalteringly, her entire body seeming to emit its own power. Slowly, the cat girl held out her heart shaped weapon, tears shining in the corners of her eyes.

"You've hurt so many," she said in a harsh whisper, her grip tightening, "You've done... so much damage. But to do this... to do this to Shirogane and Akasaka-san..." a single tear dropped onto the ground as she stared at Ari pleadingly, her face drawn with sadness, "...I can never forgive you!"

The alien's mouth twisted into a sadistic grin.

"You wanna play, huh, neko?" Her arms crossed themselves over her chest. She didn't even need to summon her daggers, her flame, or even synthesis. She was unarmed. But as her golden eyes glinted, intensified, the air around her seemed to shudder, itself, glow and magnify in her very presense. Ari lifted her head. There was murder in the air.

In a harsh, low whisper, she directed at Ichigo, "Then play the game. No one's stopping you..." The air shook, seemed to twist and twine around her, working like a vicious current, swirling like a whirling pool of power. Not stopping, not pausing... merciless... murderous...

The tears kept falling. She didn't care. Ichigo would cry all she wanted. But she couldn't - no, she wouldn't - let Ari get away with this. Not with murdering Ryou and Keiichiro. No. That was unforgiveable. She remembered what Lettuce had said once - 'The aliens have feelings. They're just like us. Why do we have to fight someone who is just like us?'. But as she looked at Ari now, Ichigo saw no feeling. No emotion. Nothing remotely human about the alien. She didn't have feeling at all. Ichigo had accused her of falling in love with Kishu - but as the cat girl looked at her now, she realized that Ari could never love anything. She was a heartless, cold-blooded murderer. Ichigo had made a mistake when she thought Ari was capable of feeling emotions like compassion or love.

Holding her bell tightly in hand, she aimed it at Ari, water still streaming down her face in the form of undescribable sadness. She would not forgive Ari. She wouldn't. Not when she'd taken two very important people from her life... forever...

It didn't matter. It didn't matter how much pain Ari would go through, how much she would suffer. Not when Ichigo had already suffered so much. She'd always thought no one deserved to be put through pain, even the aliens. Only Ari. Only selfish, cold, murderous Ari. She didn't deserve an ounce of compassion or sympathy. Not one.

Opening her mouth to say the vital incantation, the air suddenly rippled again.

And she felt it. Ichigo felt it against her, against her skin, through her veins, through her mind. It was not fear. No, this time it was much worse than fear. All she saw was Ari, her face mad with glee, until her mind seemed to blank out. Like a television having suddenly lost its signal, Ichigo lost control of her mind.

Or, at least, what she saw through her mind. Ari's power shone through at that moment; Kona watched in horror, still crying from the fire, still shaking because she couldn't do anything. The others were no different. They were helpless. Every last one of them was helpless. Marzipan was unconsious against the ground, and Hanajima lay awake, with her eyes open, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth as she stared up at the sky. The two of them could do no more. They were under Ari's spell, her spell of power and control.

As for Ichigo - they saw her face pale. They saw her eyes widen in horror, her bell drop to the ground as her hands fell limp at her sides. But none of them could even begin to imagine that things that were happening to her on the inside.

Pain. Pain flashed through her, once, twice, three times. Continously. Through her arms, her legs, it felt like the same fire that had devoured Cafe Mew Mew and those inside, tearing her apart piece by piece until she lay in a heap of shreds. Immobolized - by the pain, by the fear that coursed through her, and the power that Ari had sent at her - Ichigo could do nothing. She couldn't fight back. She couldn't even bring forth tears. She was helpless, just as helpless as the others. Helpless, hopeless, without a hope in the world...

Ari grinned wickedly, watching her prey suffer. No intereference. No attacks to worry about. She had Momomiya Ichigo in the palm of her hand... as if confirming this, Ari outstretched her arm, her blue hair flaring around her as wildly as her gold speckled eyes, her hand blocking the image of the struggling Ichigo from her sight. Then she closed her hand tightly into a fist. And squeezed.

Ichigo's chest felt tight. She felt like her throat was closing, like her entire body was collapsing under the pressure that wasn't there. But worst of all, there were images - horrible, frightening images that accompanied the pain constantly shooting throughout her body. Fires. Ryou, dying. Keiichiro, dying. Kona and Roxi and Yumi screaming, blood, Masaya, Brooke's wing tearing into shreds of black feathers, Shinta falling into a storming merciless ocean, Masaya, Kikyo clutching at her head and screaming as her body was engulfed by acid, Masaya, all of them staring at her, staring at her with dead eyes, Masaya... Masaya covered in blood, his blood, looking at Ichigo pleadingly with hollow eyes as he crumpled to the ground, life leaving him as if in a breath.

"NO!" As the horrific images, words, pains, tightness, breath shortage paraded around, took over her as a result of Ari's unrelenting rage-induced power, Ichigo opened her mouth and screamed. Glass shattering, it filled the air, filling the ears of them all around, a scream of undescribable pain.

The others seemed snapped out of their trances. Out of their misery, their wallowing, their mourning the losses of important lives. And they saw Ichigo, Ichigo in pain, Ichigo alone, Ichigo screaming as her mind seemed to be literally ripping itself apart inside her head.

They had to help her. That was all there was to it - they had to help her.

But as they climbed to their feet, ready to transform, ready to attack Ari and break the spell she held over Ichigo, over all of them, the air flashed. They turned. Ari turned. Ichigo fell.

There was silence. Because only one person, only one conscious person, recognized the figure that stood there, beyond that faded light. The face that stared with anger and puzzlement, straight at Ari, whose arms suddenly fell to her sides as she stared in disbelief as they spoke.

"What in the hell-- Ichigo?"

--

Next Chapter:

Power should not be placed in the wrong hands. But power has. Ultimate sacrifices are made as Ari reaches the climax of her power, threatening to destroy the Mews and all they hold dear. Ichigo is fuelled by the desire to avenge the death of two important people - but will it be enough?