Chapter 21: To Live and Breathe

There were many ways that Macros' laboratory could have looked like. A pulsating organ? A vibrating muscle? Some unmentionable other thing? Turns out for as gaudy as his tastes were, he kept his laboratory in relatively simple shape...By his standards.

The inner workings of the lab had the rounded shape of a football arena with rows of capsules lining the walls. Each capsule was big enough to house an adult human and was lined with some dry, vein-y membrane on the outside. In the very back of the lab was a giant tree made of nerves that pulsed with light, sending "signals" into a large computer complex that was controlled via a piano because of course it was.

Macros, in a stunning display of near mind reading, suddenly turned around while gazing at Mew in particular and asked, "So? What do you think of my lab?"

Mew pouted somewhat and pinched his right hand down in a clamp, giving it a dry shake, "Ehh...I expected bigger."

"Ha!" Macros chuckled, "You should have seen the first model then! About as large as a newborn moon..."

He pretended to wipe a tear from his cheek and whisper to himself, "Ah, to think that was 349 billion, six-hundred..."

Mew stared at him for so long that he couldn't help but stop and smile his way, "Is something on my face?"

"Not at all. Its just..." Mew pulled back and shook his head, "How do I put it? You seem..."

Macros' brows and smile perked up slightly, like his heart beat was rising with anticipation. Mew leaned back and sighed, "Never mind."

"Hmmm." The curious man rolled his shoulders and turned around, bringing his guests closer to the center of his workshop.

And from there it was easier to get a look at all the capsules...And boy, were there a lot to take in. Mew found it fruitless to try after he hit the first thousand and rubbed the back of his head in frustration.

But Riku, on the other hand, seemed to have took it all in just fine and gave a firm glare at Macros as he asked, "Why are all these capsules here?"

Macros playfully brushed his left hand out and explained, "These capsules are DNA containers for work I have yet to complete."

He then looked over his shoulder and remarked bluntly, "But that's not what you're asking, is it?"

Mew watched as his brother tensed up and asked in an even firmer tone, "I'm sensing your energy in some of these capsules. And...why do they all have rockets?"

Macros took pause and turned around, taking a deep breath and letting out a sigh through his nostrils, "Remember my rules? Well, lets just say on the off-chance someone were to take issue with them and try to kill me, I like having back-ups."

He slipped a surprising detail with the brimming smile of a child, "In fact, I have one capsule hidden away on every planet in the universe!"

Riku's eyes narrowed and Mew was ready to jump him if he tried pressing the matter further. Not that he felt any more comfortable hearing this information. He glanced aside at Macros and was hoping for that "Just kidding" to pop out of his mouth.

"Though that's their secondary purpose. Their primary goal has always been to collect DNA samples from the native species and deliver them back to me," He whisked his right hand out to snap his fingers at Saturn, "In FACT, that's how we first met isn't it?"

Saturn crossed her arms and raised one brow at him, "Y'mean how I first started surveillance on your criminal butt!"

Macros' cheeks rose in glee as he closed his eyes and daintily remarked, "And its been a lovely two-thousand year friendship."

Saturn stuck her tongue out. Mew chuckled and tucked his hands in his pockets, "Well...cloning shenanigans aside now..."

"Yes yes. We have a lot of work ahead of us," Macros clapped his hands a few times with barely a sound, "Saturn, if we may?"

Saturn pocketed her hands in her floofy coat and dragged her body along up next to him, "Yeah yeah. Can't trust you to explain this with any shred of respect towards science."

She twirled around and the bottom of her coat went flying up all of a sudden as her eyes flared open, "Alright listen up! Cause we're only going to go over this once!"

"But feel free to ask questions." Macros calmly added.

Saturn immediately thrust a pointer finger at Mew and said, "EXCEPT if they're stupid and useless ones."

Mew flinched but quickly sighed and accepted his lot in life. Shina happily waved her hand and stood on her tip-toes for added attention hogging action.

"Can I start?! Please? PLEASE?"

Macros smiled and answered with, "Why you're here is the first thing we'll be explaining."

Shina dropped and laid her hand before her gasping mouth, "Wow, its like you read my mind!"

"A-HEM!" Saturn coughed while not-so-subtly nudging Macros with her elbow, "I will be explaining stuff!"

Macros turned to her and bowed, "By all means. Go ahead."

Saturn glared at him, as did Mew, though with envy at how he easily got under her skin just by being polite. She crossed her arms and with a whisk of her right wrist up she created a stick made of aura, followed by summoning a sort of chalkboard from a holographic projection off her wrist watch.

"First up, I wanna tell you why we're doing it his way," Saturn creased her eyes shut and tapped the stick on the board to summon a human-shaped body with metallic looking skin onto it, "My initial plan was to transfer Venus' consciousness into a robot body."

She slumped her shoulders and tapped the stick again, causing Venus' current body to appear beside the robot, and two arrows pointing in opposite direction between them.

"Problem is that Venus' entire consciousness is spread out throughout her gas body. If I tried a mind transfer into the robot..." Half of Venus' body shifted over to the robot, while the other half disintegrated into nothingness, "She'd lose most of herself in the process. And who knows what the flibbity that'd do to her motor skills, memories, etc."

"Yes, the Grand Cosmic Aurian Sage was a miracle worker to even manage as much as he did now..." Macros said with a sort-of diluted sense of bliss in his voice.

Saturn's rough cough snapped him out of it, while her waving the stick at him suggested it was his turn. Though first he pointed at himself, prompting her to grunt fiercely like a hungered lion, and then he chuckled and faced the others.

"And so our lovely techno master came to me for aid. I was ecstatic at the prospect of examining one of the Sage's works, seeing as how my advances on Saturn here ended with me getting tazed and kicked in the nuts..." Macros wily smiled at Saturn, "For all the good that did."

Saturn's brows arched and Macros guffawed, gesturing a hand up at the board. Amazingly, it responded to his wishes and pushed Venus' current body over to where the robot was, and in its place now existed a huge red "?".

"Naturally there were a few complications with the request...One, I had no idea what our little phantom looked like in her original state."

Mew raised his hand and Macros acquiesced after getting the nod from Saturn. Mew then gestured at Venus and glided his hands over the sides of her body, "Can't you tell a lot of it from her frame?"

"Certainly I know her original age and a few other details," Macros crossed his arms behind his back and proudly declared, "But I am a perfectionist. I will not accept even one detail out of place. The skin is but a mold to be placed over the finer details."

He brushed his palm out towards Mew and spoke with plenty of aplomb, "The color of her hair, the imperfections on her skin...Was one bone shorter than the others? Did she have a little more mucus protecting her stomach than others do? I wish nothing more than to recreate the pure essence of Venus in its entirety! No exceptions!"

In response to this enthusiasm, all Venus could do was tilt her head and look up at Mew with the clearest confusion in her face.

"I don't get it myself but if that's what he wants..." Mew whispered and then raised his voice upon waving a hand out at the scientist, "Then what does Shina have to do with any of this?"

Saturn perked up and smiled like she was ten feet tall, then slapped her stick back upon the board, clearing out all the data on Venus to summon forth walls of random text and numbers.

"For once I'm glad you asked!" Saturn brushed the underside of her nose and grinned, "While you were busy lollygagging on your couch, I studied all the data I collected in our battle with the Cosmos Drive!"

"And my conclusion?" Saturn whipped forward and crossed her arms as all the data converged, creating images of the copies Shina had made in the fake Sancturia, "Is THIS!"

Riku tilted his head and wondered aloud, "The fakes?"

Saturn swung her head forward so hard her chin smacked her chest, "Uh huh! Though I wouldn't call them fakes."

She nudged up her glasses from the side and smirked, "They had their own thoughts and feelings, body temperatures, and could even be interacted with. Thus, I have decided to dub them...Biolations!"

Riku's eyes could be seen coming out of his head as he sputtered, "B-Biological...simulations?"

"Yep! You got it!" Saturn exclaimed.

Mew instantly raised his head and said, "Yeah question? Why that dumb name?"

Saturn flung the stick at his head and he swung out of the way just in time. Before Saturn felt fit to keep going at it Shina slyly raised her hand and spoke up, "Ms. Saturn."

Saturn perked up with a giddy giggle while Shina rubbed the Cosmos Drive down by her waist, "I...I think I get what you want from me but...Those copies only last as long as I think about them. Are...you wanting me to follow Venus for the rest of our lives?"

"Oh no no no! That'd be silly!" Saturn shook her head while Shina breathed a sigh of relief.

Macros knocked on his chin with a fist and coughed. Then, with a snap of his fingers, the floor opened up behind him and Saturn. Two empty capsules were pulled up with hundreds of tubes crossed between them. He then glanced at Saturn, who begun reaching deep into her pockets.

"You're going to be using..." She whipped out a pair of perfectly sized gauntlets covered about 90% of the way with wires, "These!"

Shina's cheeks puffed and she covered her mouth while pointing at the gauntlets with one finger, "W-What are those?"

"They're conduits that'll help you focus the Cosmos Drive's power into these two capsules," Macros explained with a sincere maturity in his voice, "Though you cannot create permanent life, there are other powers the Cosmos Drive wields that will help me fill in the gaps I myself cannot deal with."

Saturn nodded and remarked, "Yep! For one, its power over the mind."

"Though a human cannot see their own insides without outside assistance, the brain still retains knowledge of how they look at all times," Macros taps his head and continued with a dry smile, "How else would you be able to function properly?"

Shina jerked upright and squeezed her fists by her chest in excitement, "I getcha now! You're saying I gotta use the Cosmos Drive to access Venus' memories of her old body!"

"Exactly," Macros swung his hand out towards her and exclaimed with a bellowing tone of delight, "Yours will be the hands that mold my canvas here today, Shina Aurora!"

"O-Oooof..." Shina wheezed a breath out and chuckled dryly, "When ya put it like that it sounds like a lotta pressure."

Macros folded his arms back and chuckled, "Not at all. Just build the framework, ensure her consciousness is all in one place for easy transfer, and most importantly..."

He stared at her with a mild glow coming from around his eyes, "Don't mess up. A child's existence is on the line."

Shina lifted the Cosmos Drive up to her chest and stared at it. Mew watched her and shook, as for a moment, he swore he felt Alex from her. She then quickly strolled up between Saturn and Macros, looked him in the eyes, and said firmly, "Then I guess I can't fail."

She then took the gauntlets from Saturn and put them on. Macros smiled and wandered off to his complex computer setup, while Saturn stood next to the capsules.

"I'll run stand by just in case he messed up somewhere." She said as Shina stuffed her gauntlets into a pair of slots on the backmost tube.

"I ain't worried. We got this!"

Macros sat down on a brain stem that popped out of the ground and stretched his fingers until the bones cracked. Then he slapped them all down at once on the piano, causing a loud, haunting tune to vibrate up the nerve tree.

The capsule lids swung wide-open and, after releasing some fog, were completely barren inside. Saturn rolled her right hand towards herself and remarked, "Come on Venus! Hope on in!"

Mew heard a mumbling coming from the little phantom and saw her inching back towards the door. He knelt down and patted her on the right shoulder of her cloth.

"Its alright," He spoke softly and gave her a smile, "It will work. Then you'll be able to do whatever you want Venus."

Venus nudged her head down then turned and floated into the left capsule. Saturn sealed the lid and Macros continued playing his piano.

Moist sounds came from the ceiling and floor, as the muscle membranes split open and sharp, four-fingered appendages rose up out of the holes carrying various tools and items. There were large sewing needles nestled into something colored like skin, a large cube of liquid bone marrow and many, many molds for it to fill, and rows upon rows of muscles.

Shina closed her eyes and took a deep, relaxing breath. Her body radiated with the azure glow of the Cosmos Drive and her hair levitated around behind her like a cape. Her body was in a state of absolute tranquility as her power flowed throughout the tubes. A framework of Venus' body was etched into the empty capsule as the appendages descended upon it.

They masterfully worked without interrupting each other. An eloquent dance of human creation, unfolding before their very eyes. Though quick in their movements, they never seemed to make a mistake. But the entangled blurs of ivory made it difficult to see the full extent of their work.

There was a lull of silence in the room for a few minutes until Macros stepped off his chair and waltzed on over to Mew and Riku. His piano computer continued playing his symphony of creation with skill that would make him the envy of every maestro.

"And that's the hard part out of the way. Now my limbs can finish the rest on their own." He remarked.

"How long will it take?" Mew asked.

"I'd wager...two hours?" Macros scratched the side of his head, "She's on the younger side so there shouldn't be any complications..."

Mew pointed out beside his crossed arms, "Mind if I take a look around?"

"Oh by all means please do. Just don't leave the lab or touch anything."

"Fine by me!" Mew then wandered off with an excited look in his eyes.

Riku watched him go with a stern, cautious look. Then, he felt a firm grip on his left shoulder and saw Macros standing beside him with a serious look in his eyes.

"Can we talk in private for a moment?" He whispered.

Despite the blatant distrust on his face, Riku felt compelled to answer with a nod. The two of them then stepped quite a few feet away so that not even Saturn's sharp ears could hear them.

Macros stepped out in front of Riku and folded his arms behind his back. Riku kept his fingers tensed up, ready to fight if the man tried anything funny.

"Calm yourself," Macros' sudden remark uneased Riku's nerves, as did the hazy way the man looked him in the eyes, "I am not anyone's enemy, least of all yours."

"...I find that hard to believe," Riku glanced around and stuck his gaze towards the capsules, "Everything about this place is unsettling...And its creator is giving off the worst vibes of them all."

Macros' smile didn't show confidence but rather a side of mischief he hadn't display so far. He scratched the side of his face and remarked, "I cannot blame you for feeling that way. Between you and your brother, you have more of a sixth sense."

He tucked his arm back and smiled with genuine sincerity, "But...that only lets you see past one layer of me. I'd say for the sake of your sanity, you don't try delving any deeper."

Riku's heart throbbed and his hand tensed up again, "...Who are you really?"

"Insignificant in comparison to whom I am now," Macros said with his eyes shut, "Riku, have you ever questioned the laws of God?"

"...Once or twice." Riku responded, eyes pointed at the ground.

"Then in His eyes, you're a sinner," Macros' voice deepened as he began to speak up, "But why should you care about the judgment of a hypocrite?"

Macros laid his right hand out by his hip and looked Riku in the eyes, "One of the fundamental laws of creation is the boundary of Equivalent Exchange. To make something, one must offer something of equal value."

"To which I ask: Then what did God exchange to create our universe?" Macros wasn't intent to let Riku answer the question...He himself doubted he even could, "The answer is...nothing."

Macros folded his arm back and shook his head, "He's a thief that stole from the abyss the flesh of the Formless to mold humanity in his image. Devil only knows what other dimensions he leached off of to create our universe."

The Formless...It sounded like a familiar name, as if Riku had encountered something like that recently. But he couldn't force himself to recall it, no matter how hard he tried.

Macros gazed upon him with a knowing smile and continued his little tirade, "So why does this law exist, if He almighty doesn't even follow it? Why, to restrain the potential of his creations, of course!"

Macros extended his hands out and Riku felt himself being drawn into a twisted starry space with only him and Macros floating inside of it, "Humanity is made in His image. And He is too prideful to make mistakes in His craftsmanship. Humans are all equally capable of becoming God. But His laws and His Commandments exist to restrain humanity's potential."

"For He lays His laurels atop an ivory throne, hidden in the heavens, in fear of His own mortality."

The moment Macros folded his arms back, the space ceased to be, and Riku swung his head to lock eyes with the strange, smiling man.

"...A-Are you...?"

"Any answer you come up with is wrong," Macros smiled and raised his head high, "For I am Macros, a mere scientist set on defying God's will not for the sake of Armageddon, or Chaos...But for the benefit of the universe."

"Should God find fault in my taboo, then He can come and smite me Himself," Macros looked up high and for a moment, appeared smug, "But I know that coward doesn't have the guts to try."

He then looked at Riku and waved one hand out to point at his stub, "And so, I wish to offer my talents to you...Phoenix of Balance."

Riku's face turned a shade paler but only for the second it took Macros to put a finger over his mouth and whisper him silent.

"...In truth, there were two jobs Saturn requested of me. The other of which was to help you with your lost arm."

Riku slowly looked over at the bubbly scientist and whispered, "She...did?"

"Of course. In...her own manner of speaking, she told me how you were suffering from some form of 'elemental energy feedback' that was preventing you from accessing the full extent of your powers," Macros glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, "Am I wrong?"

Riku looked at his lost arm with half-open eyes and then shook his head, "I am having trouble...but its something I will overcome on my own."

"..." Macros closed his eyes and huffed out through his nostrils, "And what if I told you that was impossible?"

"I went over the data she gave me," Macros flipped his right hand out before his chest and summoned a holographic document with a swipe, "Your body is very unique. I've dealt with elemental types before but you? You're made entirely out of elemental energy."

He poked his eyes up with a dry smile, "Every molecule, every atom, working together to create an equilibrium that keeps your body in balance. The moment you lost that arm, that balance was broken."

"Then I'll work hard to get that balance back. It wouldn't be the first time I had to." Riku stated confidently.

"You. Can't," Macros said, raising and deepening his voice, "Training, heart and determination are powerful tools I'll concede...But there are times when hard science trumps all of them, and this is one occasion."

Riku didn't want to believe what this one man had to say. He may be an expert but it seemed like his expertise lied in insanity, not science.

Macros arched his brows downward and sighed, "...I can understand any distrust you hold towards me, even after I opened my heart to you, which I rarely do. But..."

"There's more to it than that, isn't there? You're afraid of opening up to others for help. You believe it'll make you vulnerable again. Its a side of you that no one should ever have to see."

Macros put his hands back and closed his eyes all the way, "You take pride in solidarity, but its nothing but foolish pride..."

Riku's body tensed up. This was a lecture he'd heard before from Justek, and it was not one he wished to hear again from another stranger.

He started turning away when Macros softened the tone of his voice and put his hand on his shoulder, "No pride holds equal value to a life. Not yours, or that of those close to you."

Riku barely glanced over his shoulder when Macros flicked his wrist and a small rectangular card appeared out of nowhere in his fingers. He slipped it into Riku's pocket and patted it down as he walked by.

"Consider my offer. You can reach me on that card." He continued to walk on over to the capsules.

Riku stared down at the pocket. Then, he looked to his lost arm and winced. He could feel it was still there. The burning, wounding pain of Justek's blade cleaving through flesh and bone was fresh.

"Power without control is like an inferno without borders...It continues to spread away from its origin, consuming all in its path, while its source burns away to an empty husk..."

A black charred skeleton flashed in his head, wearing the hair of his brother.

Riku bit his lower lip, and felt a cold sweat on his cheeks...

The estimated time passed by uneventfully, and the grand show ended with the "Ding!" of an egg-timer.

"Ding...?" Mew sputtered in surprise.

He looked at the appendages clap themselves together in celebration while they retreated to their dens with empty racks and bins in tow.

Mew started walking to the right capsule when Macros ran in his way and pushed his cold palm against his chest, "I wouldn't get ahead of yourself there Mew. The young lass is still barren."

"...Barren? You mean she's...naked?"

"Yes. My rules of privacy do include avoiding prudish glances from the customers..." Macros smirked and muttered, "Even if you might be into that sort of thing."

"HMMMMMM." Saturn hummed with her brows slowly raising.

"HMMMMMMMMMMMM!" Shina hummed louder while pulling her head back.

Mew firmly crossed his arms and calmly stepped away while remarking, "I don't want to hear it from the siscon and the girl who drools at the sight of nuts."

The two girls clammed up instantly, giving Mew proper breathing space to ask Macros, "I can do up some clothes for her, if you want."

Macros shook his head and chuckled, "Heavens no that's fine. Little known fact about me, I like to knit in my spare time..."

He snapped his fingers up an clothes line shot out across the room, dragging a few articles of clothing along on pins, and hiding them behind curtains. An even bigger curtain draped around Venus' capsule after the lid opened up and started putting clothes in.

The process took but a few moments, after which the clothes line was dragged away into the unknown and the lid was left open.

Macros then turned aside and stepped back, extending his hands towards the capsule, "After you Mew."

Mew walked up to the capsule and leaned over it. His heart beat instantly turned into a flutter of warm butterfly wings.

He knew that Venus had been cursed at a young age, but looking at her in the flesh made her story even worse to have heard in hindsight. She was like a raggedy ann doll, so tiny and frail. Her hair was like yarn, red and tied into two small pigtails, with her bangs at the forehead swept to the left.

Her pale skin emphasized her freckled cheeks and tiny, pink lips. She was given a leather sleeveless vest and a beige shirt behind it, a belt buckle to keep a knee-length skirt up, and white stockings and brown sandals to wear.

And it hit Mew that this is the first time he had ever seen a normal human child. Any memories of himself being one were another of Alex's fabrications.

So really, he didn't know what to expect when this little girl opened her auburn eyes and took in light for the first time in two-thousand years.

She murmured like she'd just woken up from a nap, and began to raise her head. There was a little dust in her eyelids and it made them water.

She cooed and then groaned, laying her hands down flat by her sides. Slowly, her head panned towards Mew, where her eyes truly began to open all the way.

Mew trembled and he didn't know why. His hand moved up on its own and rested at the edge of the capsule, where it was there to greet Venus' a moment after. Her cupped his fingers around her tiny hand. It was cold for a moment, but he could feel the blood rushing through her veins to give her skin a little tint of color...Especially in her face.

Her eyes suddenly shot open full of wonder, and stayed unblinking in the face of Mew's smile.

"Good morning Maria." He whispered.

He gently held her hand and stood up, helping her stand. The capsule moved to a linear position, giving the young girl the proper distance to hop off onto the ground. Her knees gave in a little, but Mew's strength kept her upright.

He let go and stepped back, giving her the space to explore her surroundings with her own two eyes. He couldn't even imagine how many colors, smells, and sounds she was experiencing for the first time again.

Mew laid a hand over his heart. It was still fluttering away, albeit a little slower.

Venus looked at her hands and squeezed her fingers. Then she patted her cheeks once and gasped. Her cheeks turned bright red.

She leaned her head back and looked Mew straight in the eyes. Mew blinked and the next thing he knew the little girl was throwing herself at him and forcing her arms around his waist, holding on tight, and pressing her warm blood-filled cheek against his stomach.

Mew's own cheeks turned red and he drew his arms back, frozen in place.

"Thank you mister." She whispered with all the strength her voice could muster.

Mew felt his hands moving towards the back of her head and his mouth smiling.

"AAAAAWWWWW!" A shrill cry of delight raised Mew's sharpened senses back onto full alert.

"Oh no." He gasped and instantly looked up at Shina. She had her fists curled up below her chin and her eyes were swelled up with dazzling lights.

"She's. SO. CUTE!" Dog whistles wished they could make such a high-pitched sound.

"...Maria get behind me." Mew calmly swung his hand out and Venus tip-toed behind him after nodding her head, gripping his legs for support.

"Mister, what's wrong with her?"

Shina vaulted over the capsules and started dragging her feet towards them with an innocent, yet predatory look in her eyes.

Mew backed away slowly and cracked a dry chuckle, "W-Well Maria, this is what's known as 'A-Cute Defieciency'. It happens to people who don't expose themselves to cute things for a long period of time."

"She thinks...I'm cute?" Venus smiled and pointed at herself with rosy cheeks.

"T-That's not a good thing," Mew looked at Shina holding her arms out with a wistful look in her eyes and whispered, "Hers are the kinda hugs that could hurt a bear..."

"Oh come on Mew, lemme hug her pleeeease?" Shina's inability to slow down for even a second wasn't making a good argument in her favor, "I did most of the work, I think I've earned it!"

"She just got back to life Shina, give her a break!"

"Mew," She closed her eyes in that frightful way that Mew didn't like and stiffened her lower lip, "Don't make me force my way past ya. I know your weaknesses~"

Mew's eyes locked right onto...well, her entire body, and he grit his teeth tightly in resistance, "Her whole body's a lethal weapon! B-But I can't back down. I gotta protect Maria!"

"FWEEEEEEEET!" A sharp whistle forced Mew and Shina to hold their hands against their ears, and in the meanwhile Saturn dashed past them and snagged Venus up.

"What?" "Hey!" Mew and Shina proclaimed.

Saturn held Venus gently by the wrist and stuffed a silver whistle into her upper pocket, glaring at them both with the ferocity of an angry parent.

"Your antics are gonna corrupt her impressionable young mind!" Saturn then brushed the top of Venus' head with great enthusiasm, her glasses fogging up as she whispered, "Ooooh that's so nice..."

Mew pocketed his right hand and both him and Shina sneered at Saturn.

"Pot."

"Kettle."

Saturn thrust her head up and followed a cough by saying, "A-Anyways...There's a lot of tests I got to run to make sure Venus is doing ok."

Macros tucked his hands behind his back and sighed, "You know I always do a proper job Catherine."

"Venus' is my teammate so that's my call to make," Saturn then stuck her head up and muttered, "By the way, did you get the data you wanted from this, fiend?"

"Oh absolutely. I'll be in touch with you later about the others." Macros said with a nod.

"Others?" Shina remarked.

"If I had to guess, the Mercury duo," Mew answered then waved his hand towards her and remarked, "Which means you might be looking at another trip out here."

"Well..." Shina laid a hand on the side of her face and looked at Venus, who had a timid smile from looking at her back, "I ain't gonna complain. It feels good to help people out."

Mew silently nodded his head.

A few minutes later and Macros has escorted his guests back to their ship. Saturn helped Venus stay on her feet climbing the slippery ramp. Riku was the last to climb, as he glanced back at Macros, who in turn tilted his head and smiled.

"I hope you'll come back and visit someday. I really enjoyed your company."

Riku still had a bit of sweat. Mew stepped past him, waved his hand out, and proclaimed, "If I ever lose my body, I know who to call!"

"Hahahah! I don't think that'll ever happen..." Macros whispered to himself.

He waved them goodbye as they took off into space. A relatively short trip later, and the ship had arrived back at Mew's house. Mew and Riku went down the ramp, Mew stopping partway to look at Venus behind him.

She gripped onto the side of the door and waved her fingers at him, "See you later mister."

"Yeah..." Mew had a heavy feeling in his heart as he gave her a thumbs-up and smile, "That's a promise!"

Venus nodded, sliding back into the ship as Saturn started to force the ramp up. The ship took back off, with Mew staring at it even after it had long since sped away into the stratosphere.

"..." Mew put his hands in his pockets and sighed.

"You alright brother?" Riku said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm good," Mew smiled and faced Riku, "How about you? You were quiet for a while there."

"I...was just thinking about some stuff." Riku turned his head to the left and his brows raised.

"Well if you want to talk-"

"Hold that thought." Riku raised his hand and then pointed at the house.

Mew looked at the windows and could see a bit of smoke coming from inside. And then, it dawned on him.

"...Ah CRAP," Mew slapped the side of his face and rushed into the house throwing wind around to force the smoke towards its source, "I KNEW I was forgetting something!"

He hopped on over to the kitchen and found Joe Dark fanning his hand to combat the flames spewing out of a completely charred oven.

Mew raised his hand out and nonchalantly tossed a ball of water to put out the fire, and soak Joe Dark in the process.

Joe Dark hung his arms with most of his hair draped over his eyes, and swerved towards Mew. He then ran at him, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and forced his face against his.

"Don't. EVER. Leave me alone. Again." He growled.

Mew had a big grin as he glanced aside and thought, "On second thought, maybe this family's big enough as is..."

Next Time: A Surprise