Mamaya had never seen her sister like this before. She had known that something was going at the cafe that she worked at but she had no idea that it was anything like this. She thought that maybe she was just getting into usual teenager things, not that Mamaya would know what usual teenager things were anyway. Looking at her sister now, she knew that this was not usual teenager things.

She wore a short orange dress with a big black belt. Tall black boots with silver buckles on the sides. Ripped black gloves. Garters and arm bands. Her hair turned orange, like a flame. Her eyes had turned orange, too. What was most surprising was her ears. They were no longer normal human ears; now she had two tall, fuzzy orange and black fox ears protruding from the crown of her hair. A fluffy orange tail protruded from underneath her skirt to match. For a moment, Mamaya wondered if they were fake. But then she saw one twitch and she knew it had to be real.

"Amaya, what's going on?! Please, don't go with him!" Mamaya cried out.

Amaya looked over her shoulder and flashed a sad smile at her. "I don't have a choice, Mamaya. He'll hurt you if I don't do what he says. I can't let that happen. I've been fighting for you this whole time. I'm not about to stop now," she said. Her voice was small, like it had been broken down over years of pain. It was enough to make Mamaya's heart ache. She had no idea her sister felt this way.

Mamaya felt tears in her eyes. She tried to force them back in but it was to no avail. She couldn't remember the last time she'd cried. Now she couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks. She was so confused. There were so many things racing through her mind and all she wanted now were answers.

Amaya knelt to her sister and gently wiped the tears from her face. "Don't cry. I'll come back for you. I promise. Take care of Ms Rosbe and all the others here okay?"

"Enough!" Kisshu snapped. "Come now, or I won't allow anymore free speech for you."

Amaya's eyes snapped wide and her face fell. She stood and began walking toward the shattered window where the green-haired boy stood waiting. Mamaya reached for her hand but it fell from her grasp as she continued walking away. "Amaya! Don't go! Don't leave me alone!" she cried.

The older girl paused for a moment, and Mamaya thought that maybe she would turn around and come back. But instead, the boy jumped out and Amaya obediently followed.

Mamaya ran to the window to look out and see where she'd gone, but when she got there they had already disappeared.

She was gone.

Ichigo slumped to her chair with an exasperated sigh. It had been a long, hard day and it was finally over. The sun was setting in the distance, shining its golden orange light across the bare cafe floor through the front windows. She looked out toward it and smiled. It was beautiful, and she could at least say that after a long day at work she had a lot to be thankful for. This was the city they protected and she would defend it till the end.

"Ichigo? Are you ready to go?"

She turned toward the familiar voice. Lettuce, Pudding and Mint stood a few feet away behind her, waiting patiently. They had already changed into their usual street clothes and gathered all of their things.

Ichigo smiled. "Yes! Just let me change," she said, running into the change room to hurry and catch up with them.

She opened her locker and began untying her uniform skirt. Now that the day was over, maybe she would have time to see her boyfriend on her way home. She wondered what he was doing today. It was unusual for them to not see each other on the weekend, but with the cafe's growing popularity and Zakuro's busy schedule, Ichigo had had to work a lot of overtime. She hardly had time to contribute to her love life at all!

She would call him on her way home, she decided. If she continued on like this he would think that she had stopped loving him.

Fully changed, Ichigo stepped out into the hall and smiled. "Let's go home!"

They grinned and began walking toward the door.

"Hold on girls!"

Ichigo stopped. She turned to look over her shoulder and frowned. "Shirogane, we're all tired. We've had a long day! Can't you just let us go home?"

Ryou scoffed. "You don't have a choice. You're Mew Mews, remember?"

They shared glances. Something had to have happened for Ryou to be stopping them. "What's going on then?" Mint asked.

"We're detecting some alien-related activity down near the Tokyo Tower. I'm sure you all remember what happened last time down there. I suggest we all get down there as soon as we can. Keiichirou will contact Zakuro and Amaya. The rest of us should go immediately," he explained.

Ichigo remembered. Last time they were battling at Tokyo Tower, they were fighting against Kisshu's giant Chimera Moth, racing for the Mew Aqua Crystal. It had been a mess and they had won, but that night she and her boyfriend had almost broken up. Thankfully he was a nice guy and it instead made them closer, but the memories all flooding back gave Ichigo the shivers. What were the aliens planning at Tokyo Tower this time? Whatever it was, she had a feeling it would be much worse than last time. She sighed. That eliminated the idea of her stopping by Aoyama's house before she went home.

But she had no choice. This was for the sake of all Tokyo. "Let's go, then," she said.

Ryou met her gaze and nodded. The rest of them all nodded their agreement and began running at a steady pace toward their destination: Tokyo Tower.

It was raining. It had begun soft and light, almost unnoticeable and built up to a heavy downpour. Amaya's hair and fur were beaded with droplets of rainwater like jewels that shined in the moonlight. She shivered, only absently, because she could not clearly tell just how cold she was. Her mind was in a fuzzy state of unaware-awareness. She was there, but not enough to understand the things around her. Her body moved of its own accord. Her thoughts were a confused mess that she had long since pushed aside, just to keep things simpler. She felt like she was moving on autopilot.

Kisshu grinned devilishly. Amaya could sense his presence in front of her before she could see it. His face was inches from her own. His alien breath breezed over her cool cheeks as he laughed. It was a strange smell; not unpleasant, but unusual.

"You sure are cute when you're like this, aren't you? Waiting and ready to obey my every command," the alien said, his voice snide and confident. "Maybe I'll replace you for Ichigo. I've always liked a girl with long hair."

She felt fingers tugging gently at her hair and it immediately struck something odd within her. For a violent killer, he had surprisingly gentle hands. A part of her felt great fear at the thought. To think that hands as stained as his could still have a loving touch seemed wrong.

What was going to happen to her? Was he going to kill her? And even if he was, why had he brought her here? She couldn't tell where she was - partly because she had lost touch of most of her awareness but also because she knew nothing about the outside world or what it looked like. All she knew were the four walls of Ms Rosbe's children's shelter.

"Are you listening to me, Foxy? You don't want to make me angry, not when your life depends on it."

Kisshu's voice pulled at her consciousness. He was beginning to allow her a little more awareness. Her vision cleared a little. Things were still blurry, but she could see and feel and hear much clearer now. She tried to shake the remaining cobwebs from her mind but it was like they were glued there; a veil of uncertainty blocking her from clarity.

"I'm listening," she replied absentmindedly, though she hadn't heard a word he'd said before that.

He grinned, sharp teeth glowing in the moonlight. "Good."

The pendant around her neck pulsated, making her look down at the golden blur. It vibrated against the hollow of her throat, waiting for her attention. She frowned. Were one of the Mew Mews trying to get in contact with her? she wondered.

She stared down at it for a moment, then, as if her reactions were delayed, began to reach up to answer it. Before her hand could even touch its surface, she felt a sharp pain against her cheek, and her entire body fell to the side. She hit the ground with a startled thump. Tears began to surface in her eyes. She'd landed hard against the rough concrete on her elbows and knees. When she leaned up to look at the damage, she saw red.

"You are not to move unless I order you to. Don't get too brave just because I'm allowing you some control," Kisshu growled down at her.

She began to stand, but Kisshu slapped her again, this time on the opposite cheek. She didn't hit the ground as hard as last time, but it caused tears to fall down her red cheeks. She held the spot in her hand. Her face stung. The cold, wet rain made the burning sensation ten times worse. She felt hot tears on her skin. This time she made no attempts to get up. She lay on the wet ground with puddles of rainwater surrounding her, soaking her to the bone, flecking her with dirt and grime.

This time she felt her conscious mind retreat. It hid further beyond the curtain of blurriness that she had been fighting to get through. Part of her knew she couldn't give up. She had to fight. But another was scared. He'd done nothing but hit her and already she was in pain. He was just getting started. Who knew what else he had planned?

So she hid away. And the rest was a blur.

Mamaya had no idea how long she'd been running through the cold, wet streets for but it felt like hours. She had no idea where she was going or how far away it was. All she knew was she could not wait at the shelter with all the nervous, crying kids and Ms Rosbe about to break down around her. It was too much chaos and it was making Mamaya's brain hurt, so she and Amaya's pet fox Aja slipped out and ran off before Ms Rosbe had the chance to even notice.

Her throat burned and her skin had goose bumps all over. It felt like she would never be able to get the cold out of her bones but she had to continue. There were millions of voices inside her screaming for her to turn back and return to the shelter but she had to push on. Amaya spent hours racing through the beating hot Tokyo sun with a toddler on her back, all to save them. She couldn't give up now.

Suddenly, she heard Aja bark at her side. Mamaya looked down at the fox cub and frowned. "Aja? What's the matter?" she muttered. "Are you hungry or something?"

Aja barked again and ran ahead of Mamaya. She gasped. If Mamaya lost her, her sister would be so upset. She chased after the little fox with desperate speed. "Aja! Wait! Come back! Don't go so far ahead! Where are you going?!" she wailed. The rain splashed against her bare legs as she ran.

Aja was fast. Mamaya was having a hard time just barely keeping up with her. She was sure that this wasn't even the fastest the fox could run. How much longer could she go on before having to admit that Aja had gone and run away?

The fox barked and came to a halt. Mamaya skidded to a stop in response and almost lost her balance on the slippery, wet ground. When she regained her footing, she leaned over her knees and panted heavily. "Jeesh Aja! I can't run as fast as you! Why'd you do that?" she snapped.

"Amaya's not answering. Something might have happened to her."

Those words resonated with Mamaya to the core. It echoed through the walls of her brain, burning itself in her mind for her to remember forever. She stood up and looked to the left. She held her breath when she saw what she saw: three girls dressed a lot like Amaya had been, with varying kinds of animal ears and tails, followed close behind by Ryou Shirogane.

She froze.

They froze.

Then Ryou broke the silence. "Mamaya! Where's Amaya?"

Her heart fell. So she wasn't here. Panic swelled up in her chest. If her sister wasn't here, where was she? "I don't know! The shelter was attacked by some weird guy and then he attacked her and then she ran off with him and I haven't been able to find her since!" she wailed hysterically. "Please help. You're the one who made her like this, right? So fix it!"

The girls looked back awkwardly at Ryou, then down at the frantic girl before them. She was beginning to cry but it looked like she wasn't even noticing it, probably assuming it was just rainwater. Ichigo couldn't bare to see her like this. She wasn't quite sure, but she had a feeling this was Amaya's younger sister. The two looked so alike, almost like mirrored images. Sure, there were some differences. Amaya's hair was longer and darker, she was obviously taller, and her face was a little thinner; but aside from that, they could have been twins.

It was like seeing Amaya upset. They didn't know each other very well, but Amaya was a friend. Seeing friends upset always hurt Ichigo.

She leaned in and rested her palms above her knees, smiling down at the shorter girl. "Your name's Mamaya, right? You must be Amaya's younger sister."

The girl sniffed and nodded her head slowly up and down. Ichigo saw her glance toward her ears and tail but that was natural. She wasn't sure what Mamaya knew about the Mew Mews but it couldn't be much judging from her reaction. Amaya probably hadn't told her much, if anything at all.

"Don't you worry, Mamaya," the girl in green said, smiling gently down at her. "We're going to get Amaya home to you safe and sound."

Mamaya looked from the green girl to the pink, then back. Part of her wanted to believe them but how could they be so sure? Then she looked at the yellow one, who was much closer to Mamaya's own age, and around her height, too. She knew this girl, though not very well. She saw her at the shelter every once in a while with a little girl who looked a lot like her - her sister maybe?

The yellow girl smiled. "Don't you worry about Ms Rosbe! We'll get everything under control before she even has time to blow a gasket!" she chirped.

Mamaya looked at each of the girls, then up at Ryou, frowning worriedly. Her stomach was a knot of anxiety and confusion. "Are you really sure about this? What if someone gets hurt?" she asked.

Ryou's face never faltered. Even as a child, it was the same. "That's a risk we've gotten used to taking. We're going to save Amaya. Wait here. Akasaka will make you some hot chocolate. We'll have her back before dinner," he said. "Promise."

Mamaya opened her mouth to protest to her staying at the cafe but before she could get a word in edgewise, they were running off at speeds she could never dream of following. She sighed and tried to quell the nervous feeling in her stomach, but it still made her uneasy. She felt like something was gravely wrong. She couldn't put a finger on what it was but she had a feeling it would reveal itself all too soon.

Aja barked up at her, tail wagging.

Mamaya looked down at the fox cub, forgetting that she was even there. She smiled down at her and nodded, as if she understood what the fox was saying. Of course, she couldn't, but imagining was fine all the same. "You're right," she murmured. "We should go inside. I guess all that's left to do now is wait."

"You surprise me. I thought that you would put up a hell of a fight, but you're making this surprisingly easy for me. Had I known you were so weak, I wouldn't have even wasted one of my parasites on you to keep you under control," Kisshu's leering voice sneered. Amaya felt like she'd been drugged. Everything was so fuzzy she could hardly think straight. Her only clarity was the icy wind on her skin and the piercing venom of Kisshu's voice.

The alien boy laughed quietly in the stormy night. "Soon the parasite will take over your entire body and then you'll become the ultimate Chimera Anima. An anti-Mew Mew. A prototype. You are going to be the key to my success in exterminating mankind from this planet. It's all thanks to you, Mew Mew Blackberry."

"No way in hell will we let that happen, Kisshu!"

The alien perked up and turned to look over his shoulder. Down below them on the sky deck stood Ichigo and the Mew Mews. Kisshu remembered a time years ago when they were in the exact same position, them below, him above, waiting for the Chimera moth to hatch and spread its poison all over Tokyo. That plan had failed for Kisshu at a great cost, but this one would not. He would be sure of it.

But not without having a little fun, first.

He grinned, a sharp tooth sticking from his slightly parted lips. "Ah, what a happy reunion," he mused, arms stretched out before him as if awaiting a big embrace. "Me, you, and Tokyo Tower. Remember all the fun times we had here last time, Ichigo?"

Ichigo glared daggers at him, but otherwise refused to give him the satisfaction of a reply. "Amaya! Run away from there! He'll hurt you!"

The girl simply stood at Kisshu's side, saying nothing. Amaya's mind was becoming so fuzzy she couldn't even process the words she heard, let alone who had said them to her.

Kisshu laughed loudly into the cold, wet air. "She can't hear you. She's one of us now."

The girls shared uneasy glances with one another. Even without knowing the full meaning behind the alien's words, it could not be good. "Amaya would never join you! She'sa Mew Mew!" Ichigo retorted. "Tell him, Amaya! Tell him how you're a Mew Mew and you're meant to save the Earth with us!"

The girl did not reply.

Ichigo felt her heart sink.

"What'd you do to her, Kisshu?!" Mint shouted.

Kisshu's laugh pierced through the veil of rain falling like a curtain around them. It stung Ichigo's ears, as it echoed through the air. "You're not going to be able to save her this time. In fact, you're all going to die here, and I'm not even going to be the one to do it." He stepped aside and put a hand on Amaya's shoulder. "She is."

Shock left them silent. Confusion gave them doubts. What was going on?

"Amaya, please don't listen to him! Whatever is going on, whatever he did, we can help you!" Lettuce pleaded.

Kisshu tapped the Amaya's shoulder with his long, curved nails. "Don't listen to her, Amaya. I am the only one you should be taking orders from." He looked down at the group of girls who had made his life a living hell and flashed a toothy smile. He couldn't help it; he was smug with satisfaction. He was finally going to succeed. "Now then, Amaya. Kill the Mew Mews!"

And then she attacked.

Mamaya sat awkwardly at a cafe table, staring at the floor in front of her as she swung her feet back and forth underneath her chair. This was the place where Amaya worked and Ryou supposedly lived, and probably where all of the other secret weird things were kept that had to do with ears and tails and floating boys in the air. Akasaka had welcomed her in and offered to dry her clothes and bring her some tea and allow her into the associate lounge to watch TV or take a nap. She'd politely accepted the first and second and gracefully declined the latter. Now she was forced to wear her sister's work uniform and sit quietly with her tea.

Well, she wasn't forced to be quiet. But what could she possibly talk about with Akasaka? He was kind, from what she could tell, but she hardly knew him at all. Even Amaya was only barely acquainted with Ryou's childhood friend.

"Your sister will be all right. Ichigo and the others have always dealt well in situations like these," Akasaka said.

His words brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up at him sitting across from her with a cup of his own tea steaming hot in front of him. Aja lay in his lap, curled up in a ball and sleeping soundly. His hands stroked her furry back gently. She gave a small smile, then thought. If Akasaka was always here with Ryou it meant he probably knew everything that happened here. Maybe she could get answers from him. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is going on? My sister didn't really tell me about any of this and it's not like she's been saying much of anything to me lately so . . ."

Akasaka's smile wavered as he looked up to meet her eyes with his. "You and your sister aren't getting along?" he asked.

Mamaya shook her head and looked back down at the floor, face warm. Why was she all of a sudden spilling her guts out to him? She hardly knew him at all. But lately she felt so alone. Amaya was always either running around with Aja or out here with Ryou. She hardly had time to speak to her at all anymore. Maybe talking to Akasaka about it would make her feel a little better.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I mean she didn't even tell me about this. How could she not tell me? I've been with her for so long and she hid it from me," she murmured toward the floor. Tears stung her eyes. Her voice began to shake. She felt a trickle at her cheek and watched as a tear fell from her face and hit the wooden floor. "How important can I be to her if she can't even do that?"

The room fell silent as Akasaka took a sip from his teacup. He set the cup back down gently against the table and continued petting Aja's soft fur. "Maybe," he said, "it's because of how close you are and how important you are to her that she had such a hard time telling you."

She looked up at him and frowned. "Huh?"

Akasaka smiled. "I don't know you two very well but I know you well enough. You're the most important person to her. You've looked up to her all your life. Maybe she didn't want your opinion of her to change. Perhaps she was afraid that after telling you she can change into a fox-infused superhero you would think she was some kind of freak." He shrugged. "I can't tell you for sure what her reasons were. But you should definitely give her a chance to explain. You've been her inspiration to fight since the beginning. She protects you better than anyone, even herself."

Mamaya sat in shocked silence. Maybe he was right. After all, they had come this far together and Amaya always said that they would be together till the end. She could never imagine her sister turning back on her word. She protects me. She always has. She protects me better than herself.

Better than herself...Mamaya froze. "She sucks at protecting herself. And I just left her to that guy."

Akasaka sipped his tea. "Don't worry, the Mew Mews-,"

"I have to help her!" Mamaya cried. She stood so quick from her chair that it toppled over behind her and onto the floor. She gave a thankful little bow to Akasaka and turned to run for the door. "Thanks for the tea, Akasaka, it was delicious!" she shouted, tearing through the door. Aja barked and chased after her. Akasaka watched them go and waved as they went. Then he stood from his chair and collected Mamaya's still full, untouched teacup.

"We can't just keep running! We're bound to get tired eventually," Lettuce cried, panting already as she fought to keep up with the other Mew Mews slightly ahead of her. "What should we do?"

Mint looked over her shoulder as she ran, she and Ichigo tied for the lead. Amaya was chasing after them still, throwing her attacks at them one by one. Each attack was getting closer and closer. The ground erupted around them. "Lettuce is right. She'll hit one of us soon if we don't fight back!"

"But what if we hurt her?" Pudding cried.

Ichigo's warring mind made her dizzy. She was the leader. She had to choose. She didn't want to hurt Amaya. She couldn't bare to cause her pain; but if they kept running, Mint would be right: she'd hit one of them and then Amaya would feel equally guilty about it. Either way, one of them had to get hurt. She just had to make sure that the damage was repairable. She let out a tired whine. "We have to fight! Aim to stop her but not to hurt her. We can do it!"

"Where's Zakuro when you need her?" Mint wailed. If they had Zakuro's whip, containing Amaya would be easy. Akasaka had said that he would send for her but it was taking much longer than they thought it would. The four of them couldn't do this alone.

Then they saw her. She was approaching in the distance, transformed with her weapon in hand and already ready to battle. Seeing her there made them simultaneously light up. "Zakuro!" Mint beamed.

"Step aside!" she shouted to them.

Without questions, they split down the middle: Mint and Ichigo running to the left while Pudding and Lettuce began to flee to the right, leaving Amaya in clear view for Zakuro. The fox girl didn't even slow: she continued running, making her new target the girl in front of her. She approached closer and closer, lifting her weapon into the air as she prepared to strike.

"Ribbon ZaCross Pure!"

She stopped. A bright purple light surrounded her like a vortex. It wrapped around her from her knees to her shoulders and then bound her tightly still. Amaya wriggled back and forth, looking for a point of weakness so she could break free, but it was too tight. She was stuck.

"You did it!" Pudding cheered.

Kisshu's laugh above them made them look up into the sky. He had a familiar looking jellyfish-like parasite in his hand. Ichigo knew what that meant: he was preparing to create another Chimera Anima. "It won't be that easy, kitty. You and your friends are in for a real treat!" He lifted the parasite into the air and a bright white light shone from it. They covered their eyes against the flare as it blinded them.

"FUSION!"

Ichigo peered through her fingers to look around them in a frenzy. From previous experience, Kisshu always needed surrounding animals to create a Chimera. Maybe if she found the rat or cat he was picking on and saved it, it would delay his plans to create a Chimera Anima. But as she looked around, she saw nothing around them. No stray cats or dogs, not rats or mice crawling about, not even a butterfly. What was he planning on using to create his Chimera?

Amaya screamed.

Ichigo looked up from the ground to look at the girl. The parasite alien was entering her body! He was going to create a Chimera using Amaya!

"The parasite I already put inside her will react well with this one. They'll work together to mutate her body while also allowing me to control her mind. She'll be indestructible!" he cackled, laughing into the open air. "But don't worry, I planned for double reassurance, just in case you Mew Mews thought up something smart. I also created an army of Chimera Animas just below the sky deck. They were all made with fox genetics, so if she wants to, your Mew Blackberry can even talk to them and give them orders to kill you!"

Ichigo gulped. She shared glances with the other Mew Mews around her. A twisted laughter rang through the air. They looked up. Amaya was transforming. Zakuro's whip pulled and stretched around Amaya's growing body. Fear kept them frozen. Kisshu had never planned something like this before. Would he finally succeed in taking over Tokyo and destroying mankind?

Kisshu laughed and floated higher into the air and Amaya finally broke free from Zakuro's whip. It retracted back to the wolf girl's side.

Ichigo drew in a deep breath in an attempt to still her pounding heart. She looked around at the other girls and gave them the best reassuring look she could. "We have to fight. We promised Mamaya we would save her sister. We won't fail. We can't give up on Amaya!" she reminded them.

They looked back to her and nodded. Then they turned to the mutated monster that had once been their ally and friend.