Chapter Eight-Of Foes and Fans

"Come on, Arissa! I have to sweep this place up!" Mint tried to coax the young girl out of the window booth. She was playing Jacks. She had been doing that ever since Ryou brought the game home for her at her request.

"Just do the other side. I'll get her to move in a few minutes." Zakuro advised. It had not been easy for the child to get over the Cyniclons. In Zakuro's opinion, she was still harboring a little anger towards the Mew Mews and towards Ryou and Keiichiro. She watched Zakuro come over. "I don't want to move. Ryou said I can stay here."

"Yeah, but Ryou also told Mint to clean up over here. Can't you just move for a few minutes?" Zakuro sighed. Because of the strange circumstances in which Ryou had acquired guardianship of Arissa, the child had become rather spoiled. "Come on, Arissa. Please." When shestill refused to move, Zakuro through up her hands. "Fine. Don't move then." She glanced at Mint, and pointed to the kitchen doors. They would go get Keiichiro to interfere. He was really very good with the child. Zakuro went about her other duties then. Keiichiro would deal with Arissa on his own.

Keiichiro was working on a new pastry when Mint came in to get him. "Problems?"

"Big ones. Ryou's charge is being difficult. She won't leave the window sill, and I need to get over there to sweep."

Keiichiro frowned. "What's she doing?"

"Playing jacks. I don't even know where she learned that game."

"Probably from one of the cyniclons, I'd imagine. I'll go get her. Sorry about that." Keiichiro went to the window seat. He watched her finish up another game, and then sat down beside the young girl. "Hey."

"Hi hi, chiro." Arissa really did like Keiichiro, even though he was against her best friend Kisshu. "I winned four times."

"Oh? That's wonderful!" He smiled amiably. "I wish I knew how to play that. It looks like so much fun."

"I teach you!" She started to let the jacks fall again, but the older boy put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't we go see what Ryou is doing first? He's been too quiet lately. We'll play jacks later." Without waiting for a response, Keiichiro picked her up. "Mint's going to clean up your play area, okay?"

Arissa pouted, knowing that she'd not get her way with Keiichiro. "kay." They walked down to Ryou's laboratory. She was silent, knowing Ryou would be at work.

"Heh...Ryou, your little imp here was causing trouble." Keiichiro sat her down in an empty chair."

"Mmm..." Ryou looked up from his papers, and glanced at Arissa. "What are you up to?"

"Mint no let me play Jacks." Arissa pouted now.

"She was trying to clean up where Arissa was sitting, and she wouldn't let her." Keiichiro clarified.

"Arissa, if the girls have to clean upstairs, you have to learn to move out of their way. Where are the jacks?" Ryou had put his papers aside now, to give the situation his full attention.

"Uptairs." Arissa replied, wondering why her guardian wanted to know.

"Keiichiro, I want you to put those up for me. She can have them back in a week." Ryou announced. "Maybe then you'll learn to obey when someone asks you to do something."

"No fair!" Arissa glared at Ryou. "You said I tould play there!"

"I also thought you would know to move when asked." Ryou replied evenly. "If you continue to throw a fit, I'll keep them longer." He knew the beginnings of a temper tantrum when he saw one. "Keiichiro..."

"Right. Let's go, Arissa." Keiichiro took her by the hand, and they went back upstairs again. "Give me the jacks."

"No! Dey mine!" She grabbed up the jacks, and stuffed them in her pocket, before fleeing out of the cafe.

"Arissa!" Keiichiro ran after her, with Mint and Pudding, who had just gotten there after being in school.

"What's going on?" Pudding asked.

"Probably another one of her tantrums." Mint sighed in annoyance. "If she was mine to raise, I would've already given her a good smacking."

"She's still mad at us, I guess." Pudding concluded. "I mean, we did take her away from her best friends."

"Who weren't any good for her!" Mint shot back. "I mean, sure they seemed to really care for her, but still..." They caught up to Keiichiro, who was scowling up in a tree. When Mint looked up, she frowned too.

"And you thought you guys could raise her better? That's laughable. If Pai was down here, he'd give you thousands of statistics on how he knew it would never work!" Tart smirked from his position in a high tree, where he was holding Arissa tightly.

Keiichiro looked dumbfounded. "How did you know where she was?"

"That's simple. We've been keeping an eye on her for a long time. Pai insisted. We just had to wait for the right time, and now it's come." He patted the rather upset Arissa on the back. "It's alright, Arissa. Everything will be okay now. Big brother Tart will make sure they don't mess with you anymore, then we can go home."

"Don't even think about it!" Mint shouted. "She legally belongs to Ryou now!" She and Pudding glanced at each other.

The younger of the two looked up at Tart, pleadingly. "Please, Tart. She doesn't belong with you guys!"

"I'm sorry, Pudding. I really am. But I have to take her back with me now. Kisshu's missed her so much. He won't even fight with you guys right now."

"No wonder we've had such a long vacation..." Pudding put in, before Mint nudged her in exasperation. "That's not a good enough reason, though!"

Apparently, Arissa was wildly confused. She was trying to get down now. "No go..."

"Yes, go." Tart held her tighter. "You're starting to get as annoying as those mew mews. It's time to remind you of who raised you." He smirked at the Mew Mews and Keiichiro, before releasing an infuser from his palm. "Watch and learn, Little one." He sent out the bobbing infuser into a nearby plant. "So long, chicks." He left with Arissa then.

"He's kidding right! This is his worst work ever!" Pudding transformed, and finished off the weak predacyte quickly.

"It was meant to distract us, and it worked!" Mint muttered under her breath. "She's gone."

"Man! How am I going to explain this one?" Keiichiro muttered. "You don't think Tart will actually hurt her, do you?"

"I doubt it..." Pudding replied, being sincere. "She is his little friend. He wasn't really hurting her just now." The three of them headed back to the cafe.

"Nicely done, Tart." Pai smirked, taking Arissa from him. They were holed up in a cave somewhere south of Tokyo. Far enough away that the mew mews would never get to them before it was time for them to return to their ship. But first, Pai needed to talk to Arissa about what was now happening. He sat her down on the floor beside him. "It's been a long time, Arissa."

"I missed you..." She offered, happy to be near them again.

"We missed you too. It's a shame we keep having to go about things this way, isn't it? They're the ones to blame for it , though. Not us." Yes. He knew he could get Arissa back on their side of the line, with a little effort.

"Dey loves me." Arissa replied, defending the mews and the mews' leaders. She crossed her arms, making her point clear.

"They're only saying that. It was also their kind that hurt you so badly. We've never punished you or hurt you in anyway, have we? They're the ones who took you away from us." Pai watched for signs that Arissa was comprehending what he was saying.

Tart wasn't sure persuading her was going to be as easy as they had thought. He remembered then what she had said to him when he grabbed her. "We'll never try and take your toys away."

"Of course not!" Pai agreed. "Is that what they were doing? How cruel is that? Well, you won't have to worry anymore." He scowled now. Arissa was staring out of the cave, like she was thinking about leaving. "Arissa, Kisshu really misses you." It was his last tactic. He hoped it would work, otherwise, they would be taking her by force.

"I miss him too..." Arissa turned to look at Pai again. "Ryou sayed he's bad though."

"Listen you little-!" Pai was getting highly irritated with the child. A hand on his shoulder stopped him from advancing on her.

"Ryou is right." Kisshu stepped out into the light. "I am bad. But I would never intentionally hurt you, Arissa." He came over to Arissa, and scooped her up. "You're my little sister. I would never hurt you."

Arissa felt strange, being in Kisshu's arms, yet, comfortable at the same time. She squirmed a little bit, for good measure, before resting her head on Kisshu's shoulder. "I no like them."

"Good. We don't either. Let's stick together, the four us of us." He looked to Pai and Tart. "I think it's safe to go back now. Let's just give her the medicine first."

"Unbelievable. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd taken parenting classes." Pai remarked, giving him the vial with the liquid in it.

"Who says I didn't?" Kisshu quipped. He handed the vial to Arissa. "You know the drill."

"Yes." She drank it down without a complaint, taking the water that Tart offered her after that.

Tart smiled, ruffling her hair a bit. "Now maybe we can make you a real cyniclon." He left to return to the ship. Pai and Kisshu followed suit. Arissa was sure to remain with them now.

"I don't believe it." Ryou said calmly. A little too calmly. "Can't you handle a six-year old, Keiichiro?" He was staring at his old friend, frowning deeply. He was really upset by the news the other man had brought to him. "They'll work harder to make her strong enough to go against us. They'll train her until she can't move anymore."

"I don't know about that, Ryou. I actually saw Tart with her this time. He was relieved, as if she was his responsibility recovered." Keiichiro offered.

"They can't get away with this! I don't care how comforting they are to Arissa. She's just going to have to learn to live without them." Ryou stood up, and headed up to his room. "Tell the girls to search everywhere for them. With any luck, Arissa's been here long enough to try and resist them." We can't just let the cyniclons have their way! That'd be like letting them win a battle. Even if Arissa hates me and everyone else for the rest of her life, it's for the good of mankind that we get her away from them.

"No. You've got to really focus, Arissa." Pai said patiently. "And you're not old enough." The girl had been bugging him to teach her how to make an infuser appear. "Besides, your type of predacyte wouldn't be animal. You're more of the plant nature. That's Tart's specialty." He chuckled in amusement at her crestfallen expression. "Oh, don't look so sour." He patted her on the head. "I've got a new toy for you, young one." He picked her up, and carried her into his new laboratory. He sat her down in his desk chair, and went into a closet. He produced a small string, with a pendant on it.

Arissa watched him come back with it, warily. "What that, Pai?"

"First, this is a pretty necklace for you to wear." He put it on for her. "It acts like a tracking device. If you're ever in trouble, I'll know about it in a heartbeat." He smiled at her, lovingly. "Kisshu thought you might like the color aqua..."
"It my favorite!" Arissa stood up in her chair, and hugged Pai close. "I likes it."

"Good." Pai sat her back down, after hugging her back. "And now for the toy..." He handed her a fan. "Look familiar?"

Arissa's eyes widened the size of plates on a dinner table. "Dis yours!"

"Not quite. It's yours. It has almost the same power as mine, if it's used properly. I want you to have it on you at all times, Arissa. Especially if Kisshu takes you down below for an excursion." Pai smirked to himself, at her reaction to having a weapon just like his. She seemed to really like the idea. "However, you're not to use that on us. Is that understood?" He carried her over to his computer control console, and put up the pictures of the mew mews on it. "These are your target. Especially that one, right there." He pointed out Ryou to her.

Arissa hesitated, understanding what Pai intended for her to do. "No. They my friends."

Pai refrained from shaking the girl. "Enough of that! You're ours now, Arissa. You don't have to listen to them anymore."

"How's it going in here?" Kisshu was leaning in the door frame, looking bored.

"Quite as expected." Pai replied, setting Arissa on her feet. He watched her with a chuckle, as she tackled Kisshu into a loving hug. "Show Kisshu your new toy, Rissa."

"I haves a fan, jus' like big brother Pai!" Arissa showed him, proudly.
"Heh heh." Kisshu scooped her up. "And I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun, blowing people away with it!" He smiled. "You're well on your way to becoming a true Cyniclon."

"When I be 'clon?" Arissa wanted to know. If she became a cyniclon, she'd never have to go back to Ryou and his friends. As much as she liked Keiichiro, she didn't like how the mew mews always hurt her brothers.

"Very soon now, I'm sure." Pai replied, coming over to them. "For now, I have something I need to take care of." He disappeared in front of them.

Kisshu smiled brightly at Arissa. "Come on, let's go show Tart! He'll be so proud of you!" Won't the mew mews be surprised when one of their own race attacks them! He snickered at the thought, as he went to hunt down Tart.

(A/N: Awww! Such cuteness with the cyniclons being parental! And Pai gave her a fan of her own. Thank goodness for Season 2 premiering. Maybe next week, we'll get to see Tart's weapon. That'd be cool. Anyway, sorry for the length. I hope you enjoy it anyway.)