"I'm home!" Taykoe announced, walking in through the back door.
Her hair was dripping and her clothes stuck to her body. Kori had left her a mile from the boardwalk with instructions on how to get home, saying she was going to head home herself. Taykoe shivered, hating the AC unit for being cranked so high. Slowly, she made her way into the house, heading upstairs. The door to her bedroom was shut but Taykoe could hear music playing inside. She opened the door. Immediantly, Ariha looked over.
"Back already?" she asked, rolling onto her side so that her back was to Taykoe.
Taykoe suspected that she was being nice and offering her privacy in order for her to change.
"Yeah," Taykoe replied, changing quickly.
"We're going to a party tonight," Ariha announced.
Taykoe glanced back at her, pausing with her jeans at her knees.
"Why?"
"This is it," Ariha declared. "This is where it all ends."
Ariha rolled over, winking at Taykoe with her right eye. Wait, right eye! Taykoe pulled her pants up and leapt against the closet door as Arisa rolled to her feet.
"You must think I'm stupid," she chuckled. "I've known you were mews since the beginning. When I hit Ariha in the back, I saw the mark. What a coincidence that she and the mew have that same mark, huh?"
"What are you doing here?" Taykoe asked.
Arisa grinned slowly.
"The house is quiet, don't you think?"
Taykoe's blood ran cold but she refused to be intimidated.
"What do you want?!" she yelled.
Arisa grinned, holding up a vial with a tiny pin at the top.
"Wait, that's-" Taykoe began.
"I want what's rightfully mine!" Arisa yelled.
She raised the vial and stabbed it into her arm. Her body was absorbed by a light. Taykoe reacted instantly.
"Mew Taykoe Metamorphosis!" she yelled.
It was funny. Only earlier she'd been worried about exposing them all. And now, she knew what needed to be done. The light from the two transformations was absolutely blinding. Taykoe waved off her transformation, her blue eyes determined and focused. She briefly took in Arisa's orange clothes, not bothering to wonder what animal the girl was. All she cared about was beating the snot out of her.
"The blood is rushing to my head," Hachi announced.
She flailed, swinging left and right but only managed to knock heads with Misha. Ana, meanwhile, was asleep.
"Guess what they say is true, " Ahsim remarked. "She really can sleep anywhere."
"She's not sleeping," Kei muttered.
He slowly opened his eyes.
"Even untransformed, you all have the advantage of your animal senses and abilities. Of course, for those with an easily distracted attention span like Ana's, feigning sleep is the best way to focus," Kei explained.
"That makes sense considering the fact that I've never seen anyone successfully sedate Ana," Hachi admitted.
"Can you all please shut up?" Haru requested. "I hit my head pretty damn hard when they came after me."
Keiichi snorted.
"Bet that taught you not to run with untied shoes huh?"
"Shut up!" Haru yelled.
"Keiichi," Ariha said quietly.
This drew everyone's attention to her. Unlike the rest of them, who'd been tied upside down by their ankles, Ariha had been thrown into a cage swinging over what looked to be a bottomless pit. The others were at least over a sort of metallic bridge. Even with all that knowledge, Ariha smiled.
"I have a plan," she announced.
Taykoe dodged the low blast Arisa sent her way. Her lip was bleeding but she took no notice of it. Arisa laughed and ran at her, brandishing the bladed spear.
"I'm going to ram you through," she declared.
Taykoe ducked, lashing out with her whip. The leather of it wrapped around the blade. Taykoe took a running start, leapt and swung herself off the roof onto a building nearby, landing perfectly. Arisa ran forward, using the spear to propel herself after Taykoe. Taykoe gripped her whip tightly.
"Oh man," she mumbled.
Arisa landed. In that second, Taykoe lashed out but Arisa was ready for her. She dodged, her spearing lunging forward, leaving a small cut on Taykoe's arm. Taykoe leapt back, leaving a long distance between them. Arisa smiled at her.
"Why Taykoe, whatever is the matter?" she asked.
Taykoe glared at her.
"Nothing. I can keep this up for hours," she declared.
Arisa laughed.
"I'm so glad. You see, endurance is a strong point of mine. I merely hoped it was one of yours as well."
Taykoe tightened her grip on her whip, still glaring at Arisa. Where the hell were the other mews? Because, in truth, Taykoe was on the end of her rope.
