(A.N./
"Chapter Seven"
"Reviewer Heaven"
It's all the same
When called by name
Take your pick!
You're probably sick
Of my bad rhyme
But in time
It'll grow on you!
Don't believe me?
Yeah, me too.
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I'm not quite satisfied with this chapter for some reason. Maybe it's because it's not as long? Anyway, I'm racking my brain to figure out a twist to this story that will give it a longer lifespan than it's looking up to right now. Any ideas? Criticism? I gladly accept any input from you guys! Anyway, enjoy the chapter!)
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Gravity hit like a bullet. Ichigo felt herself gain her weight back in a millisecond, and she heard Kisshu grunt under the burden of her weight. He eventually resorted to flipping her up in his arms bridal-style, and that's when Ichigo got a good look at her surroundings.
The alien's dimension was like she had remembered from her rescue mission to recapture Masha. They were not in a room, though. It was out in the open space of the swirling, green void surrounding them, with dozens of stone pillars scattered across the landscape. A stone platform stood in the middle, and a large screen was projected onto a stone wall; a control system stood before it.
She barely had time to take in the scenery before Kisshu had whirled himself -and Ichigo- around to face the Blue Knight.
The Blue Knight's expression wasn't anger…or frustration. It was a solemn face. His eyes were his expression. They were cold and hard, brittle as stone. That was his way of expressing anger, if he didn't show it on his face. Kisshu took note of this and smirked. A weakness had just been discovered,
"Hmph, it seems when I have Ichigo with me, you can't touch me, ne?"
Ichigo scowled. She certainly did NOT like the concept of being used as a human shield, nevertheless, Kisshu's human shield. She growled,
"I'm not some inanimate object! Put me down!" Kisshu's smirk widened,
"Are you sure you want me to do that?" He loosened his grip on Ichigo, and she stole a nervous glance towards the empty, green space below them. She shifted her position nervously,
"Um…maybe I changed my mind…"
"Drop her."
Both Kisshu and Ichigo looked up to the Blue Knight, who was positioned a few meters away. Ichigo shook her head rapidly,
"No, no, no, no! Don't drop me!" Kisshu only gripped her tighter to himself, much to Ichigo's relief…and displeasure. He spoke,
"I'm not that stupid, you know. You'll just catch her once I let go of her." The Blue Knight's face turned stone again. Apparently he had underestimated his adversary, was constructing a new battle plan, or both.
Ichigo was getting a bit peeved about being treated like an object, as was Kisshu's habit of doing. So she made it known.
"Would you listen to me?!" she growled at Kisshu, "Look, just because I don't have my pendant, doesn't mean I'm just some object or pet! I'm not some useless rag doll you can throw around! Now, you can just hand me over to the Blue Knight, go back to wherever you came from, and leave me alone!" Kisshu sat there for a moment, staring into her angry eyes, before blankly replying,
"It's not that simple."
"Yes it is! Just hand me over to him, and you'll be done!"
The Blue Knight watched the conversation anxiously, looking for an opportunity to rescue Ichigo or annihilate Kisshu. Either would prove success for him.
"Do you know what Pai would say if I handed you over to him?" Kisshu hissed.
"Do you know what Pai would say if he saw you with me?!" Ichigo contradicted. She was getting the hang of arguing with him.
"Exactly my point!" Kisshu said, "Either way it's a lose-lose situation, so I'd rather go with the choice where I can keep you and avoid Pai's nagging speech later!"
Ichigo was silent, simply glaring into his eyes as a defiant response.
Suddenly, the Blue Knight spoke up,
"If you're finished, I'd like to get on with our fight, Kisshu." Kisshu lifted his head from the arguing and smirked in response,
"Gladly! I need to filter some anger; bring it on!"
He flew over to a floating pillar and set Ichigo down on top of it. She looked panicked because of the distance from where she sat to the ground. Kisshu brushed her flushed cheek lightly with his fingertips before turning to the Blue Knight, Dragon Swords at the ready with a flash of light.
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Zakuro sprinted down the stone halls of the alien's dimension. She stole a quick glance behind her at the three Mews who were following. They were all full of energy and determination to get the heck out of the place. No harm had been done to them, but all the same, it wasn't the best way to spend your night: being stuck in your enemy's home, in pajamas, without being able to defend yourself.
They rounded a corner and came to a small, cramped room without much light. Various machines and tables were lined against the walls, some of the devices emitting eerie noises.
On one of the tables, Zakuro spotted the missing pendants, one of which was attached to a device with cords and wires plugged into one of the flashing machines.
"There!" she yelled, "Hurry, transform! Try and find your pendant!" The Mews rushed over to the table and fumbled with the pendants, trying to transform with each one. The first one with success was Purin, who found her match in one go,
"Mew Mew Pudding! Metamorphosis!" With a flash of light, she had transformed. She giggled and danced about the room in delight.
Minto switched pendants with Retasu and kissed it. It lit up, and she cried,
"Mew Mew Minto! Metamorphosis!" With another flash of light, blue in color, Minto was now transformed, and admiring her wings as if they had gone missing for months on end. Retasu fumbled with hers and kissed it. She yelled,
"Mew Mew Lettuce! Metamorphosis!" Soon, she joined the transformed Mews. They looked curiously at the remaining pendant, strung up with all sorts of wires. Pudding hesitantly reached her hand towards it, like it would get up and bite her. She grabbed it and yanked it away from the wires, snapping them in the process. The ends of the cords sparked a little, but the pendant was safe. Pudding sighed in relief.
"Come on," said Zakuro, "We have to get back to Ichigo as soon as possible!" They ran out the door, one after the other, only to almost run into two bodies blocking the hall. Pai and Taruto. They both scowled at them as Pai spoke,
"You're not going anywhere."
With that, he raised his hand and summoned a blue parasite. He took out a pink orb, someone's spirit, from his pants pocket, and fused them together.
In a blinding display of light, a chimera animal appeared before them all. It resembled a giant, walking shark, with hind legs like a dinosaur. Its sharp teeth looked menacing as it screamed in a deafening cry. Pai ordered the giant beast forward,
"Go! Chimera Animal!"
The Mews clenched their weapons at the ready, and awaited the attack. The monster sprung up on its enormous hind legs and lunged for them. They all dodged the attack, scattering in various places throughout the hall. Zakuro aimed her weapon,
"Ribbon Zakuro Spear!" It was a direct hit, and she got a good hold on the giant chimera animal by her whip-like weapon. She yelled,
"Minto, Lettuce, now!" They nodded and called their attacks,
"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!"
"Ribbon Zakuro Spear!"
Both of the attacks hit, and the beast screeched and flailed its head, freeing itself from the Zakuro Spear. It lunged at it's attackers: Minto and Lettuce. They both saw it charging, and jumped out of the way, one to the right, one to the left. Lettuce jumped back and tripped over something, landing on her backside. She realized she was in the room where they got the pendants from, and rose from the floor.
But, before she could take a step, the stone door shut in front of her, and she was left in the dark with the beeping machinery. With wide, scared eyes, she looked left and right, then walked to the door. She tried to pull it open, but her efforts were in vain; the door staid firmly shut. She tried pounding on it, but its stone structure, like the rest of the buildings in the dimension, was completely solid. She aimed her weapons at the door, and yelled,
"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!"
The enormous wave crashed down on the door, but did no damage, and swept back in a rebound toward Lettuce. She screamed a bit when she found herself doused in her own watery attack. The machinery buzzed gradually louder and louder before she heard a zap, and all of the power went dead.
She whimpered and collapsed on her knees, feeling the damp floor.
What now?
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Ichigo was beginning to feel worse and worse by the second.
Her hair had finally finished drying, but she still felt cold. Her whole body shivered and twitched, and she felt tired, not just from sickness, but lack of sleep. She knew, though, that if she fell asleep now, she would topple off the pillar she was on and into the green abyss below her. She groaned. For now, she would have to stand the cold and tiredness and just wait out the battle before her.
The two boys were slashing at each other furiously, always attacking and dodging, attacking and dodging. However, the only one that seemed to be giving in was Kisshu, who looked absolutely furious at the frustration of missing the Blue Knight over and over. It was beginning to effect his fighting, too; his swipes at the Blue Knight were looking more and more violent and messy.
"How can you have so much power?!" Kisshu yelled to the Blue Knight as he ducked his head to avoid his rival's sword. The Blue Knight didn't respond. Kisshu was in no mood for the "ask a question I won't answer" game. He yelled,
"Come on, say something! Where do you get your power from?!" He swung his swords at the Blue Knight, once again missing by a hair. The Blue Knight only sighed, giving no response. Kisshu growled and charged towards him, swords outstretched. The Blue Knight got out of his range of attack, and Kisshu maintained defensive mode once again.
Just then, Ichigo took a deep breath. Before she could stop herself, she gave a loud sneeze. She tumbled backwards off the pillar and fell with a shriek. Both boys called,
"Ichigo!"
The Blue Knight was the first to react. He dove towards her and caught her about fifty feet down from where she had fallen. Ichigo shuddered in her cold and clung onto his jacket, burying her face in the warmth of his chest. Kisshu growled,
"We're not done here!" The Blue Knight shot him a glare, and spoke for the first time in a while,
"Ichigo is hurt. This battle is over." Kisshu shut his mouth and remained silent, his face morphing into one of frustration and pity. The Blue Knight shot him another despaired look before flying quickly in the opposite direction, toward the stone structures of the dimension.
Kisshu snapped out of his daze of thought and began to pursue them, flying after as fast as he could manage. They weren't getting away, Ichigo or no Ichigo.
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