Author's Note: I hope you like it! :D
It felt like Dren had slept no more than five minutes when the blaring lights in the lab woke him up. He cursed and gingerly stirred, not wanting to move much.
"Morning." Zoey said to him warily. Behind her was the entire team of Mew Mews staring obsessively at him, and he gave his face a quick wash to hide it after sitting upright stiffly. Their gaze annoyed him very much, why were they always so curious about things they didn't understand? Meddlesome beings.
"You were sleeping so deep that you didn't hear us all come in." Wesley said cheerily as he positioned a complicated machine beside the metal table.
"Be that as it may...are you all going to watch me as I get changed?" He asked the teenage girls with a wink and a devilish smile. Instantly their faces burst into blooms of cherry red, they were such easy creatures to manipulate he thought with an inward smile. "I'm assuming that you have brought me some fresh attire."
"We're not going to watch you change." Corina replied stiffly struggling to hide the blush that had risen on her cheeks. She promptly turned her back as did the others without complaint.
"Why do your females have such weak pride?" Dren asked Elliot who gave a shrug, "On my planet, the females were proud, dangerous beings that were something to be feared at if you crossed them." The Alien proceeded to pull off the charred vest, and discarded the jeans in messy corner. "So where are my new clothes?" He asked with an amused smile as he stood there stark naked in a pair of dark boxers that clung from his hips to mid thigh.
"You won't need them, for this test the less you wear is better."
"Well...in that case...I wouldn't want to hinder your experiment." Dren replied silkily with a high laugh as he pulled playfully at the band around his boxers. Zoey felt the hairs on her neck stand on end as she listened intently, beside her Bridget tensed visibly. She herself felt as if Dren was boring his gaze into her whilst mostly naked, and it sent a surreal chill up her spine unlike anything before.
"That won't be necessary, your...boxers didn't interfere with our machinery last time so it'll be fine. Of course if you wanted us to perform an examination for data I wouldn't say no." Elliot said blandly, so serious that it gave Dren reason to grin.
"Oh I don't think so Earth boy, I'm not into cross species, homosexual love or fondling." The Mew Mew team could stand it no longer...as one they all whipped around with flushed cheeks and an angry scowl.
"HOW LONG DO YOU EXPECT US TO LISTEN TO THIS?"
"IT'S DISGUSTING!"
"URGH – THE RUDENESS!"
"AAH – HE'S NAKED!"
"GET A GRIP GIRLS." Renee shouted at them and left the lab in a huff, closely followed by the rest of the team.
"Uh uh Zoey, you've gotta stay down here." Dren called out with a giggle and the girl lurched forwards in her tracks as if he'd just pulled on a leash attached to her, forbidding her to run. She turned around slowly, almost rigidly, and spoke in a croaky voice.
"You want me to...what?"
"Stay." Dren smiled at her, "Stay and watch my beautiful body, tormented as so by Elliot." Their gaze snapped together and she couldn't bear to look away, it was almost hypnotizing. Eventually he turned towards the table where he skipped onto it, even as he turned Zoey resigned to her fate and sat down on the stairs careful to avoid looking at Dren too much. Seeing a guy topless and so close was a new scenario for her. Sometimes he'd catch her looking and she would quickly hide her expression of embarrassment, he found it amusing that humans could be so shy.
"So blondie...I'm all ready." The alien said and laid down on his back where Wesley attached a hydrating drip into his vein, already the skin around the area was a dark purple from previous treatment.
"Alright, in this test we're flushing elements into your blood stream to see if it aggravates your magic." Elliot told him whilst speaking into a microphone headset, it was most likely to keep a record of this session Dren deduced. "If it's not successful, then we'll extract it. It won't be pleasant that's for sure."
"I always knew humans we're barbaric, but I'll play along." Dren told him dryly.
"Initializing pump." Wesley said to Elliot who had fixed a large mouth piece over Dren's nose and mouth, he inserted a tube into his mouth and the alien gave him an angry stare at the rude intrusive object.
Zoey felt slightly nauseous as they pumped a cloud of rich blue powder into the mouthpiece, his body wracked with discomfort as the powder travelled into his lungs and was reluctantly absorbed. "The coppers, gone in." Elliot told Wesley, who then extracted the powder out. "What's the readings?"
"He's stable, I'll start the exo-scan now." Wesley told him. And a sheet of red light covered Dren's chest, illuminating in the air an image of his lungs. They were filled with a dark material hanging half way between the blood capillaries and alveoli.
"Doesn't look like it's successful. Extraction." And he pressed a button on the mouth piece which squirted a pale pearl liquid into the mouth tube and down his throat. The poor Alien coughed, retched and choked as the liquid supposedly eradicated the copper inside of him. The routine was repeated, testing random elements within him, some had adverse reactions to his body so much so that he suffered symptoms similar to an allergy reaction, whereas other elements merely lingered uncomfortably in him. Then came Fluorine.
"Initializing pump." Wesley said, ticking off another element from his list but this time something different occurred in Dren. His eyes flew wide open his amber eyes dilating and constricting in an uneven tempo, his body wracked uncontrollably in a fit and foam began to gather at the mouth piece.
"Elliot!" Zoey cried aloud as the teen ripped the mouthpiece away from Dren. She ran across to the bed but dared not touch the body whilst Elliot and Wesley worked methodically to restrain the frail body.
"We have to stop him fitting – Elliot grab his legs!" Wesley shouted pinning Dren's head to the side after strapping his arms down.
"His charts are off the scale!" Elliot yelled above the frenzied beeping of machines, everything attached to Dren had sky rocketed and was fluctuating erratically. She glanced at his face but it appeared that he wasn't even conscious, those deep amber eyes were gazing listlessly at her, but after a moment his limbs froze and came to a rest, and she clapped her hands to her mouth. For on his torso, a glow of white light came from each of his pores on his skin. Elliot and Wesley backed away from the bed, pulling Zoey with them fearfully.
"What's going on?" She asked them to no avail. Even as they retreated to a far corner of the lab, Elliot pulled a switch down. A clear box enveloped the bed, a safeguard he explained, and the lab doors bolted shut tightly. Outside the Mew Mew team hammered on the titanium door with panicked cries.
"We have to help him!" She cried, tears pricking at her eyes. She watched as the white glow rose and formed a wispy ball of...white cloudy gas. It lingered gently in the air for a moment before slamming back into his body with such force that forced cracks to show on the glass. Even from a distance Zoey felt something push them back a few steps, and it felt as if the sheer force had winded her.
"Zoey, you'll have to destroy him!" Elliot told her sternly and she glanced at him in horror.
"Destroy him? What? I can't do that!" She replied with a cry.
"Look at him!" And she did look, his pale body was illuminated by white streaks traversing down his veins, giving him a ethereal, even more alien look. "What's happening to him?" And she squinted as the light glowed to a painful intensity, Dren's eyes were snapped open and stared at them mercilessly.
"DESTROY HIM!" Elliot urged her grabbing her wrist tightly and she winced with pain.
"No! No! I won't do it!" Zoey yelled at him, "What happened to him?" She added after Elliot released her with a look of sheer disappointment.
"My only guess...is he's having a reaction to the Fluorine!" Wesley gasped aloud, his gaze transfixed on the alien.
"There's nothing we can do for him!" Elliot yelled aloud over the sound of Dren screaming. He was screaming in pure agony and terror. It was an unreal noise that one would only ever make under extreme circumstances. His chest heaved and shook whilst his fingernails scraped the edges of the metal bed, his nails drawing off peels of steel. His frail body was almost entirely engulfed in light.
"ZOEY...ZOEY! HELP! HELP ME!" He screamed, then his mouth gaped open, in a silent roar of pain. She watched him beg at her but stood in the arms of Elliot and Wesley stunned and frightened. The light was now coursing through his veins, casting long shadows around his body where the veins ended. It came to a point where Zoey had to turn away, it was a gruelling torture scene and she gained no comfort from the guilty party sheltering her. It was going to be an immense blast that was sure and it was too late to destroy him...or for them to escape. Seeing as Elliot had barred the doors automatically like an idiot.
There was a ringing in his ears when Dren finally fluttered open his eyes. His body quivered with the effort and felt so much more heavier...perhaps it was his exhaustion...whatever it was he was struggling to sit up. He rolled to his side gingerly and pushed himself upright with great effort, it took him a long while to sit up. "Jeth a...Jeth a...JETH A!" He cried aloud in his native tongue. He blinked a few times but could see nothing but a rubble of dirt, glass and machinery in the dim environment he was sat in. Even the table he sat on was dented and charred beyond repair. "Rairthune owt sherl?" He called aloud and scanned the room slowly. There wasn't any form of life to be seen.
He sniffed around and could smell charred flesh. It a fleshy scent he wasn't accustomed to and he followed the pungent aroma to a heap pile of dust that he had previously discarded as important. He half crawled and walked towards it, his body feeling odd and disproportioned. He was off balanced and his body lopped around uselessly at times. He clawed away at the dust and the thin layer of rubble where he came across some fallen fleshy forms. Tentatively he reached for them and tugged out the smallest of the forms.
Zoey's slim body fell into his lap as he fell backwards from the exertion. She breathed shallowly and her eyes were fluttering in and out of consciousness. He studied her without much interest before returning to the rubble pile again to pull out two heavier and larger figures. "Oweke si." He muttered nudging one of the two males with long hair. He stirred a little as did the blonde coloured one, he crawled away from them apprehensively, unsure of their reaction.
"Uneowki tharm." He spoke aloud, his tone of voice surprising him. It was a deeper voice than he previously imagined himself to have and was layered with a subtle exotic accent that made him seem even more unlike these creatures.
"Elliot...Zoey..." Wesley gasped aloud, he coughed a few times and saw that Elliot was doing the same whereas Zoey had only began to stir. He shook her shoulder a few times but she remained unconscious.
"Where is he...where is Dren?" Elliot asked blearily and reached out for Wesley's hand as they pulled each other upright. The lab was rather dark but an unmistakeable pale form was crouched in a corner, his recognizable amber eyes glinting cautiously.
"Uneowki tharm." Dren repeated and he shifted towards them slowly as the male creatures began to pick up the female. What was more important was that the two males appeared to regard him as a threat.
"What's he saying?" Elliot hissed to Wesley, their pain and weariness forgotten against the alien.
"I sure don't know...but he doesn't sound like the Dren we saw. Perhaps the fluorine changed him..." Wesley muttered watching as the Cyniclon approached.
"Une owekee si yere, cin u ital une rerre une yeh?" He studied them carefully and switched languages to hopefully accommodate these primitive beings. "What...he saying." He repeated after Wesley almost in a doleful voice.
"He's speaking English again." Elliot marvelled, "How odd." He limped forwards but could make no more of the Cyniclon who shrank into the shadows other than the cautious amber eyes. "Dren, are you okay?" He called aloud.
"Dren...Dren...Fahh su une Cyniclon heah."
"Yes. Yes, Dren is a Cyniclon." He spoke slowly and pronunciated his words clearly as it was apparent the alien had lost the knowledge of everything Earth related.
"Dren is a Cyniclon?" The alien replied, "Dren su mek. Une yeh Dren." Inside his mind, he was struggling to piece together the new language but already his intellect was copying and verifying words the two males spoke to each other. He was a creature designed by the universe to adapt.
"Come on... Wesley, take Zoey and I'll get the bolts on the door." Elliot grunted, limping determinedly to the door. Dren shadowed them closely, watching the proceedings with much interest but never venturing too close. The blonde human pulled the bars horizontally freeing the badly burned door, he pushed it open allowing a broad beam of light to flood into the mess of the lab.
"Door." Dren said pointing at the open lab entrance.
"Yes Dren, a door." Wesley replied tiredly and hoisted Zoey up the stairs with some effort. Dren stepped into the light and the two humans gasped at him.
Elliot and Wesley simultaneously noticed how different Dren was now. Their eyes widened as they observed his body. Long gone was the scrawny, lanky body and his hair was unbound giving him a wild, rugged look. Their eyes roved over his fully naked body, he was hairless all over even round the groin, and muscles rippled visibly under his skin, just enough so that it could define him and the shadows cast on his body emphasized them deeply. He was masculine looking and they knew it, even from a distance he was radiating an aura of arrogance just from appearance, how his face was chiselled to beauty and how his eyelashes were lusciously long. Dren had entered the Adult stage of his life. Pale, white markings were on his skin, it slithered across from his neck to his pectorals, down his torso, arms and ended at his hip line. They were jagged, tribal like thicker in some areas but thinner in others and almost aggressive. As they stared, the pale markings gradually faded from view as the alien began to relax.
"We...we..." Elliot stammered looking at the impressive figure that stood easily at a height of over six and feet.
"We...need to find him some clothes." Wesley muttered with a smirk. They turned around and saw that the entire Mew Mew Team was blocking the doorway, their eyes as large as saucepans as they drunk in the sight of Dren hungrily.
"Okay, girls show's over." Elliot said hurriedly pulling a fluffy heart apron off Bridget ,who gasped at his speed of untying it from behind her. He tied it behind Dren who widened his amber eyes slightly at the wild lunge. But a moment later and his front nether regions were covered up.
"Well...it'll have to do for now." Wesley commented with a smirk at Elliot who scowled in reply.
"He looks like a dressed up treat for a hen party but it'll have to do. Run up and get me some clothes Kikki." Elliot ordered, "And the rest of you, help Wesley get Zoey up and awake. And stop staring at him."
"He's a real hot piece of eye candy." Renee commented with a sparkle in her eyes as she led the way back into the cafe, Kikki bounding past her and up the stairs.
"Tell me about it." Corina replied in a mystified voice as she followed.
"Oh my..." Bridget said quietly as Elliot pushed her frozen form into the cafe where Dren was out of sight.
"Oh my." Dren repeated to Elliot who turned around and ran a hand through his hand.
"Yes, right Dren, stay here a minute while Kikki comes back with some clothes." He muttered tiredly.
"Yes." And the voice was rich to his ears, subconsciously recognising the alien was far more attractive than himself.
"Delivery!" Kikki yelled, she clamped her eyes shut as she left the clothes at the top of the stairs.
"Well I hope these fit...you're a lot taller than me." He muttered passing the Cyniclon the clothes and boxers.
Dren half walked, half pushed by Elliot, into the cafe, its smells and lights dazzled him slightly. All eyes were on him as he entered, and he looked at them with his dilated amber ones. It was so strange and new/
"You're sure it's Dren?" Bridget asked tentatively and blushed as he turned to look at her. "What happened?"
"Dren." The Cyniclon said randomly, his intelligence glinting behind his eyes as he surveyed all the faces.
"Yes, we're sure." Wesley replied as he pulled a clean shirt over his head. "Something went wrong..."
"Definately." Elliot agreed and groaned as he noticed a dark bruise stretching from his arm to his shoulder. "And now it's like he has no recollection of anything or anyone."
"Tell me about it." Renee said a velvety voice. The men stared at her with surprise and found that a blush had crept onto her cheeks, as it was on the other girls cheeks.
"Told you that vest was too tight on him." Wesley chuckled watching the infatuating situation with amusement.
"Not my fault he's bigger than me." Elliot replied with a small scowl. And true enough Dren's chest muscles bulged at the sides of the vest, and his toned stomach showed where the vest ended before meeting a pair of combat trousers. By now the pale white markings on his skin were barely visible without squinting.
"Hey...Zoey's awake." Bridget murmured and they turned their attention to Zoey who was stirring.
"Hiya...hi gang." She murmured and squinted at the faces peering down at her. "What happened...Elliot and Wesley, you're alright..."
"Hey girl, yeah we're alright." Elliot replied softly. As Zoey slowly gathered her senses, she could smell something enticing. It was warm, spicy and musky, with woody undertones that sent her hairs standing on end and it was unmistakably male. She cast her eyes around for the source that sent her blushing furiously and her eyes landed on a man. He was handsomely built, even without seeing his face since he was turned the other way.
"Yeah...that's Dren." Whispered Corina, "Isn't he hot!" She added next to her ear.
"Corina!" Zoey exclaimed looking at her in surprise.
"Oh it's not a secret." Renee spoke with a smile, "Look at him, he could pass off as a model if it weren't for the ears."
"Alright girls, I'm heading up for a shower." Elliot interrupted, "He should be fine here, try not to aggravate him." And he stalked off.
"What's his problem?" Kikki asked curiously.
"My guess is he's jealous." Wesley laughed, "But he's right, I need to shower...I'll catch up with you all later, just keep Dren here for now he's practically harmless."
As soon as he was gone the girls surrounded Dren in a circle as he sat on the chair. "What do you think we should do with him?" Renee asked the group who all murmured and whispered in concern to each other.
"We should...I dunno, keep him prisoner since he's forgotten everything." Corina said and they nodded in agreement.
"So...Dren, you don't remember me?" Zoey asked him quietly.
"No." Dren replied evenly turning his face towards her. She was slightly taken aback by the abrupt answer but more so by his face. His eyes were pools of amber honey, and his face was so sharp...and angularly cut, so chiselled for definition. It was a beautiful face, sculpted with masculine features. He stared back at her. There was nothing so interesting about her appearance so his attention was quickly transferred to a flower pot he spied sat on a window sill.
"I...I'm going to go home girls." Zoey said, straightening up her face a dark red. "I'm covered in dust..."
"Alright...I'll walk you home Zoey, you just woke up anyway." Bridget offered kindly and her leader nodded in reply. "See you girls later."
They began a slow walk home and Zoey felt brave and tired enough to ask a question. "Was it just me or did you smell something about Dren...like not a bad smell...but a..."
"A soft enchanting aroma around his body, emitting off his skin like the rays off a sun...It was pulling me deep into his heart and perhaps it was an insight into his love, it was a primal pull of lust. As fiery and masculine as his musk...such a man on Earth has not existed but we find him as a Cyn-" Was the poetic reply.
"Alright Bridget...I think I get it..." She muttered with a sweat drop. But secretly she had felt the mix of emotions inside her. And as airy as Bridget made it sound, it was unmistakable and the very memory of it made her blush from the roots of her hair to the tip of her noise. She also felt a little sad, his attention on her was sorely lacking now and she was sure she'd miss it if only a little.
Dren how ever was being eyed up greedily by the other Mew Mew teams, most too infatuated by his looks and musk to talk to him. He watched them with wide eyes as they whispered around him, sneaking quick glances at him. "Alright girls, clear out and go home, I'm going to help dress him." Elliot told them sternly when he returned. And he tossed Dren a pair of boxers that the Cyniclon caught easily. The girls trudged out almost reluctantly and left the cafe, the ringing of the doorbell telling Elliot that.
"Get dressed." The human told him leaving a shirt and pants on the floor, with some socks. "I borrowed these from Wesley seeing as he's more of your height."
"Anek u." Dren replied with a small bow and pulled the clothes on rather clumsily. It fit him well enough though the shirt was a little too tight to button it all the way to the top.
"Seeing as the experiment left you with nothing but your basic Cyniclon behaviour, you're a brand new Cyniclon, so you have a brand new start." The teenager said, "My name is Elliot, your name is Dren."
"My name is Dren." The Alien said flatly, and the teenager realised that the Cyniclon's capacity for intelligence was unlimited and ever changing. Merely hours after waking up he'd already mastered the grammar of language. "Brand new start and new dress." Dren added, he was able to form sentences now, Elliot noticed.
"Right...so let me just pass you...this." And he disappeared into the kitchens for a minute and pulled out a thick cookery book. "It'll keep you occupied." Dren looked at it in amusement and began turning the pages slowly. A few hours later when Wesley returned Dren was crouched by the oven peering close to the glass pane while Elliot sat on a chair sipping Earl Grey tea.
"Well, looks like someone's been busy." He commented sniffing the air that was heavy with the scent of a rich cake baking. "It doesn't smell too bad either, that's some good sponge rising." He added looking at the cake in the oven next to Dren's head, the Cyniclon blinked once at him and spoke.
"I agree, the texture of it was very becoming and the batter was simply delightful, all hand beat by myself." Dren said with an impish grin. His language was unnerving and unsettled Wesley slightly.
"Well I can tell your going to be immensely popular with the ladies at the cafe..." He chuckled picking up his stray cookery books that were strewn all over the counters.
"Indeed, they might even want to include you in our fan club." Elliot added dryly giving Dren a cold look which the Cyniclon shrugged off. "Also Dren, I'm interested in offering you a place at the Mew Mew cafe kitchens. I'm sure Wesley would appreciate your charming good lucks."
"I'll gladly accept." Dren replied evenly with his rich tone of voice.
"Your vocabulary has developed incredibly Dren, how did you do it?" Wesley asked him curiously,
"I read books and my Cyniclon intelligence allows me to adapt faster than any primitive life form on this planet. Or so I deduced." And the head chef nodded satisfied with the answer.
"I quite enjoy this new you Dren, beats the whole "I must destroy the world" attitude you had before." The elder teen chuckled and the alien cocked his head to a side in confusion. "Oh never mind, speaking of the Mew Mew cafe, we're due to open tomorrow so after the kitchen is all cleared up I'd suggest you'd better get a good night's sleep."
"There's not a chance of the lab being put right any time soon." Elliot sighed and rubbed at his temples. "There's the guest room you can have upstairs, come up when you're ready and I'll show you it."
"Remember, I want my kitchen clean." Wesley added before traipsing out after Elliot to the stairs. "He seems awfully chirpy and bright but I am...absolutely bushed." He groaned rubbing his shoulders.
"Agreed...what I'm worrying about is what will happen when the other Cyniclons find out about this." Elliot muttered, stifling a yawn. "Also I want to know what his effect on girls is...something about his adult form made all the Mew Mews give him..."
"Rather predatory looks."
"Indeed."
After cleaning the kitchen methodically and putting the cooled cake into the storage, Dren walked up the stairs, feeling the curved tip of his ears as he went. "Such a strange predicament...working in a "cafe" with these humans. What is odd is that I have no recollection of anything before waking up in their tattered lab...perhaps they are my creators of Cyniclon Dren. Despite them being so primitive." He thought to himself through his natural tongue. He slid under the duvet in his room and curled up tightly against the sheet, his thoughts a thick mixture of confusion, rather like a mix of flour and butter cream.
Author's Note : Seeing as Dren is somewhat brain washed you might hear a little more about Zoey's feelings and thoughts in the future :)