When I woke up, I didn't know where I was. There was a cold, concrete wall surrounding me on three sides. The other side was made of iron bars. The floor was made of brick and had a drain in the back corner of the room.

I tried to process everything. The last thing I remember is being shot by Kisshu's weird bazooka and having a cat ripped out of me. That was a really weird vision… unless! No! Does that mean that my cat DNA is gone now? - After that… I don't remember anything. - But why would Kisshu take my DNA? I need it. It was true. I did need it. I felt incredibly weak without it, like my body was lacking something vital. I remembered what I learned from my biology class. My body needs all of its DNA to do things like make proteins and break proteins and – and… All kinds of other stuff! If my DNA is messed up, there will be protein errors and vitamin absorption issues and… I felt the blood drain from my face. If I don't get some DNA to fill the gaps soon, I'm going to die!

At that moment, Kisshu teleported into the room. Now that I thought about it, it looked more like a cell. "Thanks for all the help, kitten," he grinned at me, his fangs twinkling in the low light. "That Anti-Mew ray was Pai's prototype. He wanted to see if it would work, so I tested it for him. And now that your Mew Mew DNA is gone, we can be together forever."

I wasn't a Mew Mew anymore. I could no longer protect my friends of my family. Why? Because I had gotten romantically involved with the enemy. And Kisshu didn't want us to be enemies anymore, so he had done something about it. I was such a fool. How long did I think that our precarious relationship could have lasted? I should have known that something would change. But I hadn't expected Kisshu to be the one to change it. And now that the aliens had a weapon that could destroy the Mew Mews, Earth would likewise be destroyed.

Kisshu stood over me as I sat there on the floor, staring up at him, trying to keep from passing out again. He knelt down and cradled the back of my neck in his hands, pulling my face closer to his. "Let's celebrate, kitten," he cooed. Then he drew me into a kiss and forced his tongue in my mouth.

I no longer wanted his love. I didn't want to sacrifice my world just to be with him. But as my head spun like his tongue in my mouth, I knew that my weakened state made me powerless against his advances. I didn't have any physical strength left in me. Or… did I? Because, all of a sudden, I had my hand around the back of Kisshu's neck, pulling him closer.

For some reason, my body was acting on its own. I guess that my brain was too out of it. Something I couldn't name urged me – no, propelled me – to suck face like it was my final lifeline. It was no romantic attraction. It was no lustful desire. It was some sort of survival instinct that I had no hope to understand. And the longer I kissed him, the more my head cleared. I finally managed a thought: Drink his spit. It grossed me out and soothed me at the same time. What was this? Drink his spit? But it repeated over and over in my brain like some sort of sick mantra. Drink his spit. Drink his spit. Drink his spit. It was like I was some sort of messed-up vampire that forgot I had to drink blood. I heard Kisshu make some sort of happy noise. And then the world went black again.

I had a really weird dream. I was in a realm full of bubbles. But I wasn't alone; Kisshu was there. He looked at me with his golden eyes and smirked, like he knew something that I didn't. He walked toward me and wrapped me into a hug. It was the warmest hug I had ever received; literally, temperature warm. As much as I wanted to hate him right then, I found that I couldn't. I was so cold. And here he was, warming me up. I hugged him back, and that's when he disappeared. But I didn't go with him. It was strange… If he was holding me while he teleported, wouldn't I go with him? Somehow, I realized that he hadn't teleported. And even though he was gone, his warmth remained. It flowed through my veins and right into my heart. I chuckled gleefully. It was weird. It was almost like… he had gone inside of me.

I woke up in the cell again. As I looked around, I noticed that there was a cell across from me. In that cell slept a girl around my age. An alien with fuchsia hair teleported onto the expanse of brick the served as a walkway, separating the cell that held me from the cell that held the girl. He had his back to me. He spoke. "It serves you right, Mew Mint. You shouldn't have tried to fight us. Now, you'll die like the inferior species that you are." He laughed cruelly before leaving the same way he came. They had started capturing the other Mews. And it was entirely my fault. And Earth was going to die.

Kisshu came back a few hours later, looking paler than usual, his eyes widened in fear. When he saw me, his expression shifted into one of relief. "I'm so sorry, kitten," he apologized. "I didn't know this, but… the DNA that I took out of you… without it, you'll… die." He swallowed and stared at me with worried eyes. "The other four are already dead. I thought that you were too, but you seem to be okay. It doesn't make sense as it happened to you first, but I'm glad you're alright anyways." He tried to smile, but his lips faltered. "Kitten, what's wrong? You look mad."

I looked mad because I was scowling at him. And I was scowling at him because I was mad. I hated him. He had used me as a guinea pig for Pai's little experiment without even knowing the possible after-effects. He had brought me to this place and locked me up. He was going to kill my entire world. He claimed to love me, but he didn't know what love was. So of course I was mad. I felt betrayed.

I automatically found myself reaching for my mew charm before registering that it wouldn't work. - This fact was probably why that hadn't taken it away. - But my fingers had already curled around the metal pendant, and a familiar instinct rushed over me again. I brought the charm to my lips before yelling, "Mew Mew Quiche, METAMORPHO-SIS!" Halfway through the transformation, I realized that the words were wrong. But it seemed to be working regardless, so what was I worried about?

When I had finished transforming, I whirled on Kisshu and glared at him. He gaped back at me, his eyes wide with shock. He flung his hand over his mouth and blushed, backing away. I was surprised that I could still transform too, but there was no reason for him to be that surprised. Or at least I didn't think so until I caught a bit of my reflection in his eyes.

I glanced down at my clothes, expecting a pink mini-dress. But instead I saw a long, flowing skirt that hung from my hips. The cloth was brown tweed. It opened in an A-line-seam over a black piece of fabric. A red belt of some kind of cord was tied at the top of the skirt. My stomach was open and exposed and much thinner and paler than it had ever been in my lifetime. My top was a corset of black and brown shapes; the stiches and hems were red. I looked at my hands. The fingernails were almost claw-like. I had to find a mirror. And before I knew it, I had teleported. I, Kaylee Smith, had teleported.

I heard a gasp and saw a blue-haired, female alien drop some sort of pottery dish out of the corner of my eye. Before me was a mirror. As I looked into it, I couldn't believe what I saw. There, in front of me, was Kisshu. But it wasn't Kisshu. It was more like his female counterpart. And it was me.

I had long, forest green hair that trailed down my back in a braid. My amber eyes had slit pupils. My canine teeth had elongated and sharpened into fangs. And the other things that had elongated and sharpened… were my ears. I racked my brain for any explanation as to why this had happened. And that's when I remembered: Spit contains DNA.

I woke up in the hospital. I could tell from the scratchy, white blankets and the beeping of monitors. My parents leaned over me. "She's awake!" my mother said happily. From the redness in her eyes, it was obvious that she had been crying.

"Kaylee, are you alright?" my father asked.

"No," I murmured. That seemed to be the loudest my voice would go. "I'm an alien."

"What?" Dad looked confused.

My mom rolled her eyes. "It's those stupid shows she always watches," she explained to him. Then she looked back at me. "Kaylee, honey, you were in a car accident. Do you remember?"

I did remember. "…Yeah. Wasn't that like… three months ago?"

Mom raised her eyebrows. "No, sweetie, it was only three hours ago."

"Do you remember what caused the wreck?" Dad asked. He clenched his jaw. I knew that he must be ready to kill whatever or whoever had hurt his little girl.

I nodded slowly. "There was… a bright, red light."

"They ran a red light?" Dad asked quickly and loudly. He was about to lose his temper.

"But sweetie," Mom said gently, "you weren't near any traffic lights. You were at that turn by the mental hospital."

I wasn't sure how to explain that the red light had come out of nowhere… That it was more like a flare or something rather than a stop light. So I merely said, "I have to pee."

"Of course, honey. I'll help you over there." Mom helped me to the bathroom door. When we got there, I told her that I was pretty sure I could that I could pee by myself, but I would yell for her if I needed help.

As I sat down on the toilet, the edge of my hospital gown moved up a little bit, and I found myself staring at my thigh. Then I saw it: a pink mew mark. And I knew that the red light hadn't been a flare.

~ The End ~