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[America Mew Mew] Episode Thirty Six
So we're finally in the final inning. I must say, it's exciting to be here, and I'm sorry to leave you guys at such a sucky cliffhanger, but this chapter is already twice the length of normal chapters. XD I promise the ending'll be happy, because of course this is based off TMM (but with a little bit more swearing and maybe a little PG-13 in the Sorrel and Garner romance department?)
Title: Episode Thirty Six: The Final Battles Begin! Who's Deep Evil?
Fandom: TMM [but so very, very AU]
Summary: Ryou, Roy, Mimi, Shuu, and Nel go out to find Miles... but with mixed results. Mimi discovers the aliens' leader's been attacking, and hmm? Sorrel finally finds out the truth about Garner? This is one busy episode, folks.
Claimer: ... too lazy to put one down. If you've reached this point, you should know who belongs to who.
Even after two hours, it was still raining. Ryou frowned, watching the rain pour down from his bedroom window. "This looks pretty harsh. You think your dad'll make it out of there okay?"
Roy shrugged, pacing around the room furiously. "Dunno. It hasn't rained like this in years."
"You don't have your violin?"
"Would I be pacing like a madman if I did?"
"Probably not," Ryou snickered, cheerfully glancing over at his friend. "We do have a piano if you're interested."
The door suddenly burst open, and both boys froze to see Mimi standing there. Ignoring the water falling off her hair (and the rest of her body), she desolately smiled at the boys. "Miles has gone missing again. Can you guys do your weird wizard powers and see where he is?"
Roy frowned, "Is he like really missing? Cause we could call Shuu---"
"His dad already did that," Mimi shivered. Ryou rose from his bed and walked into the adjoining bathroom. He came back within seconds, tossing two towels in her direction. Mimi wrapped both towels around her (using the second one to get the excess water off her hair). She flashed Ryou a grateful half-smile before sadly responding, "Seriously. We've tried everything, but he's been gone! Not in his house, not hanging out with school friends or Shuu - and we even called really obscure people like that Minoru kid and the Nilos person who's always with Shuu."
Ryou then took a hair dryer and started drying Mimi's hair. If it had been at any other time, Roy would've snickered, saying something about the state of the two - but it didn't feel right. Miles was missing at this hour?
Mimi gratefully dried her hands, then took the hair dryer from Ryou. Ryou shrugged nervously as the door opened again. Liz studied Mimi over for half a second before taking her hand.
"Ryou," Liz grumbled. "How come you didn't tell me Mimi came all this way in the rain?"
"She literally came five minutes ago," Roy pointed out. Smiling gently, he added, "So please don't blame Ryler. Auntie Liz, can you--"
"Already on it," Liz beamed. "Come on, Mimi, take a shower first. You can talk to the boys later."
Mimi tried to protest - she really did! - but she ended up sneezing and left the room without a single word of dissent. Ryou stared after the two, whistling. "Wow," He sighed, shaking his head. "I think my mom's officially the iron fist of this household."
"Either that, or she thought we wanted to do something to her," Roy quipped sarcastically. "Like I'd do something to a girl who already has a boyfriend."
Ryou glared at him. "And here I thought you were the one with manners."
"Anyhow," Roy coughed. "You wanna start searching for Miles? I'd go out and talk to the gardens, but you know. It's raining."
"Never stopped you before," Ryou dryly replied, shaking his head as he moved towards the center of his bedroom. He sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and added, "But I can't seek people without directly knowing their whereabouts. How am I supposed to find Miles? I'm not exactly capable of doing a mana signature search."
They both flinched as the door opened. Shuugo walked into the room, tilting his head to the side as he inquired, "So I heard you were looking for Miles?"
"Yeah," Roy nodded. "I take it you've seen him lately?"
Shuu's lips curled into a frown as he sat on his older brother's bed. "Unfortunately. Seems the guy's being possessed or something."
Ryou and Roy exchanged nervous glances.
"Shuugo," Ryou began, crossing his arms as he warily stared his brother down. "How come you didn't tell us?"
"I didn't get a chance until now," Shuugo pouted. "I literally just got home, niisan. Could you at least give me some advice? I have no clue what to do about the whole thing."
Roy looked thoughtful as he sat down in Ryou's desk chair. Bringing it towards his friends, the orange-haired teen asked, "Well, did he remember being possessed?"
Shuugo nodded. "Oh, definitely. It was like Miles and this other dude were fighting for control of Miles' body. The voice was the same, but their tones were completely different. I can't put my finger on it, but something about the whole situation didn't seem right."
"That's not possession," Ryou opened an eye lazily. "If anything, that'd be some kind of weird mental link. Whoever's controlling Miles is here on Earth."
"So," Shuugo blinked. "It was more like a psychic link? But Miles isn't a mage."
"Whoever controlling him was," Roy shrugged. "But can you honestly think of anyone in the area that'd want to control Miles Alesci for his personal benefit?"
"Not particularly," Shuu bit his lip. "And that's why I'm worried, yerf. No mage would want him 'cause they'd think he was a norm. You think it's the aliens?"
"Maybe." Roy leaned back in the chair. "Primrose called me this morning and sounded pretty worried. Seems Briar talked to her and warned her about his leader possibly coming to Earth."
Shuu and Ryou both stood up immediately. In an odd unison, they yelled, "ROVIN! How come you didn't tell me?"
Roy stared back at the two with wide eyes. "Holy crap, your unison skills've improved."
They both glared at him in perfect unison, their feet tapping against the ground. Ryou growled, "I'm waiting, Rovin."
"I thought you would've read my mind," Roy confessed, now standing up. "I asked Nilos to give me the mana signatures of all the elves in the area, but none of them were particularly weird or outstanding. So... I didn't think anything peculiar had come up. Not yet, at least."
"But," Roy added as an afterthought. "The aliens, according to Primrose, have lost all contact with their leader. I don't think the technology on their home planet is that bad."
"Rovin, niisan? I think we need to head over to the base and see what's up."
Roy and Ryou chimed in their agreement as they headed towards the door. Just then, Mimi walked through the door and crossed her arms as she stared the three boys down.
"I know what you're going to do," She demanded, "And I want in. Miles is my boyfriend, you know."
Shuu shrugged, "We can easily protect her if the going gets too rough."
Roy hesitated, nervously looking towards Shuugo and Ryou. He began, "Mimi, do you realize--"
"You're in," Ryou responded.
Roy stared at the Shirogane siblings with incredulous eyes. Shaking his head, Roy rubbed his temples, "If we bring Mimi, you do realize we're going to have to ask Nel for a ride, right?"
Mimi tilted her head to the side, "Nel?"
"Roy's older sister," Ryou replied with a smirk as he took Mimi by the arm. The four walked down the stairs and through the various hallways in relative silence. Shuu glanced over his shoulder every now and then - almost as if he were expecting something to come alive, Mimi noticed - while Roy stared down at the ground and buried his hands in his pockets.
Oddly enough, Ryou was the only one with confidence. As the four approached the garage door, Jishou was reading a book on the nearby couch. As the adult looked up, he called, "Where're you going? It's pretty bad rain."
"I know," Ryou nodded. "But we have to get Mimi home. Nel said she wouldn't mind giving us a ride."
Roy chimed in, "And you know we have to pick my folks up. We should be back in a couple of hours, Uncle Shou - and if not? Ryou and Shuu'll be spending the night at my place. That'll be fine with you, right?"
Jishou nodded, tilting his head to the side. "Yeah," He curiously responded. "You sure you guys aren't doing anything suspicious? Because I remember high school involving a lot of drugs--"
Mimi looked at him with alarm. Jishou laughed, shaking his head, "Nevermind. You two wouldn't take middle schoolers to those kinds of parties. Just call me if you run into trouble, okay?"
"Sure, Dad," Shuugo waved as he opened the door for his party. Opening the garage door, Shuugo watched as a red SUV pulled into the empty slot. Mimi blushed as she realized the driver was a beautiful college-age student. Her long auburn hair was pulled back into a casual ponytail, but even then? She was pretty dressed up in what seemed to be a white peasant top.
The girl waved to the four as she pulled her car window down. "Oy," She said, "Hurry up and get in. We've only a couple of hours, right?"
"Yeah," Roy said as he took the passenger seat. Shuugo, Ryou, and Mimi piled into the rather roomy back of the car and put their seatbelts on as the girl quickly backed out and drove onto the city streets. The first few minutes of the ride were silent.
Finally, as the driver turned towards the park, she said, "So, Roy. Who's the pretty girl with you?"
Mimi put a hand to her cheek as she replied, "Um, Mimi Belmont. I work at the flower shop with Ryou and Shuugo and Roy."
A look of understanding washed over Nel's face. "Oh! So you guys are using me for Mew Project business."
Mimi stared. Slumping back into her seat, she grumbled, "So who doesn't know about the Mew Project yet? It's not a big secret anymore."
The driver laughed, "I think our parents are the only people left. And even then, my folks are probably just pretending."
"Or they think we've gotten caught up in mage business," Roy chuckled. "Anyhow, Mimi. This is my older sister, Cornelia Bancroft. But pretty much everyone calls her Nelly or Nel."
"It's nice to meet you, Nel," Mimi enthusiastically smiled. "And um, thank you for the ride."
Ryou nudged Shuu. "Can you believe it?" The blond whispered to him. "She's actually being polite."
Mimi kicked her employer in the shin for that comment; he softly groaned to himself as he massaged the forming bruise on his leg.
Nel chuckled, "I see her reputation is well-deserved."
"What reputation?" Mimi blinked, turning her head to stare at the incoming downpour.
Nel shrugged, making another turn as she pulled onto a somewhat empty street. "Roy said you were kinda violent, but girly-girl at the same time. I don't know you well enough to say anything, but Ryler does make kinda sexist remarks sometimes, huh?"
"He is half-Japanese," Mimi giggled. "You can't really blame him."
Shuugo's face fell. "But I'm half-Japanese too..."
"You're more Americanized," Mimi insisted, flashing a smile at Shuu. "It makes more sense for you to be nicer."
Nel and Roy gave each other amused glances. The car finally stopped as it reached its destination in a well-lit parking lot near the park. Nel gestured towards the umbrellas in the back, but she remarked, "You guys do know the spell for preventing water, right?"
"Yeah," Shuu nodded. "Learned it in fourth grade. We'll be fine, Nel, but we should prolly use the umbrellas anyway to avoid suspicion."
Mimi stared at the three. "Wait a sec... is Nelly part of your weird little Harry Potter cult?"
Nel amusedly smiled at Mimi. "I've never heard of it that way, but yeah. I'm a mage just like the rest of them."
"Maaan," Mimi moaned. "I wanna be like you guys. But nuuu, I get stuck with the catgirl powers and really weird acrobatics."
"You're more physical than we are," Roy pointed out as he got out of the car and opened a green umbrella. Holding the door open for everyone, he added, "You and Shuu'll probably be more useful in battle because of it."
"Wait," Nel stared. "You can't mean you're letting Shuu and Mimi fight."
Ryou glanced at her, "And what if we do?"
"Then I'll just have to come with you," Nel stubbornly responded as she opened a pink umbrella and walked out of the car. She waited until everyone was out before locking the door and placing the keys inside her necklace jewel. Mimi stared in amazement as she watched the key seemingly disappear into nowhere, but decided not to comment on that just yet.
(It seemed to Roy and the others, making things disappear was nothing new. But what was new to them, then?)
"Fine with me," Roy smiled. "I'm glad to have my sis as back-up."
"Back-up?" Nel gently noogied her younger brother. "I'll have you know I'm a pretty darn good mage, thank you very much."
She paused, twirling her umbrella as she made herself the center of their umbrella circle. Closing her eyes, she, Ryou, Roy, and Shuu said in a weird, but cool, unison, "Shield us from the elements. Nullification!"
A clear barrier appeared around their feet, hands, and umbrellas. Mimi gaped as she realized her feet were as dry as they'd ever been. What kinds of abilities did these people have? And why couldn't they have used them earlier? It would've made her life a heck of a lot easier.
"You ready?"
Mimi blinked, glancing up at Ryou as the five of them started walking towards the base. Mimi shakily nodded, replying, "I have to be. My poor boyfriend gets kidnapped more than I do." She blinked, pondering on that statement for a moment before she added, "... does that mean he's Princess Peach and I'm Mario?"
Shuu snickered, "Let's hope not. But Miles does have a weird tendency to get kidnapped, huh?"
Staring directly at the redhead, Mimi stuck her tongue out from underneath her umbrella. (Even if the spell had nullified the effects of rain, it was just comforting to have it with her.) "Meanie," She retorted. "For your information, I'm not even Italian. Miles is."
Roy shrugged exasperatedly as Nel mouthed, "Explanation?"
"There's not much to get," Roy admitted as the five navigated the path back towards the base. "Miles is pretty much the damsel in distress of our group."
"Huh," Nel mused, easily floating over every obstacle in her path. When her feet gracefully landed on the ground, she commented, "So does this mean the girls are stronger?"
Mimi grinned, "I'd sure like to think so."
Roy made a face as he held out his free hand and made the vines shrink back from the group. "Oh please. Nel, you're like co-dependent on your boyfriends."
"Say that again," Nel growled, following her younger brother. "And you'll be sorry."
Roy rolled his eyes, snapping to make the trees move back. "Says the girl who's letting her kid brother do all the work."
Mimi and Ryou couldn't help laughing as Nel nearly whapped her brother over the head. The base was just looming before them now. All they had to do was go in and rescue Miles. Again. Talk about your deja vu, right?
"I don't think so."
The five swerved to meet a tall adult leaning against the side of the base. He had the same holier-than-you aura the rest of the aliens did, and yet... none of the aliens were as well-groomed as he. His piercing red eyes stared the five teenagers as he walked towards them.
"Little mage, didn't you say that you weren't going to bother Miles until he finished my errand?"
Shuu winced. Staring directly at the man, he protested, "That was before I realized he wasn't possessed. You just directly controlled him through your mind. Wouldn't that make you a mage too?"
"It's my duty to make sure my subjects are well," The man insisted, staring at his ruby ring more than Shuugo. "Could you at least understand that?"
Ryou interrupted, "But Miles has been living on Earth all this time. How can he be your subject?"
"Silence!"
Nothing could've prepared Ryou for the barrage of rocks that instantaneously came his way. Cursing under his breath, Ryou twirled the umbrella, calling, "Guardian!"
The alien raised an eyebrow, "So you're a mage too."
"Of course I am," Ryou smirked. "You think I'd be stupid enough to come here if I couldn't protect myself? So what do you want?"
"I doubt you'd understand," The leader impatiently tapped his foot. "Not if you don't think the boy's my subject."
"Because he isn't," Shuu bitterly protested, throwing his umbrella to the ground as he summoned his dagger. "Now let my best friend go!"
"Little mage, when do you learn?" The alien sneered. "Now leave before I make you."
"Not likely! Mew Mew Mimi---"
Shuugo pressed his fingers to Mimi's lips. Swerving to face the alien, Shuu questioned, "You mean you can handle a five-on-one battle? You sure?"
"Bring it," The alien smirked.
Roy scoffed, "Fine! Rose Vine!" He sprinted to the alien. Vines immediately sprung from the ground and seized the alien's feet. The alien quickly cut them off, flying higher towards the sky. Roy just jumped off each vine and propelled himself up towards the alien. Smirking, Roy cried, "Take this!" as he thrust his rapier into empty air.
Crap. Roy shakily landed on a tree branch. Ryou dashed towards the alien; his staff raised high in the air. Tossing it, Ryou yelled, "San! Float!"
Wings unfurled from Roy's, Ryou's, and Shuugo's backs. Mimi seized her pendant and kissed it. "Mew Mew Mimi, Metamorpho-sis!"
Pink light blinded the entire battlefield. Roy winced, stumbling as vines immediately wrapped around him. Shuugo disappeared right as Mew Mimi summoned her meteor hammer; Nel closed her umbrella and jumped away from the fray.
Twirling the hammer, she whispered, "Grand Revival!" The other four instantly received green wings on their feet.
A giant fox jumped from the shadows. It lunged onto the alien; they fell to the ground in mere seconds. The fox growled, bearing its teeth. The alien punched the animal's stomach. The fox yowled, headbutting back to the alien's groins.
The alien stumbled towards the ground. The fox circled the alien; Ryou caught his staff as he floated to his opponent.
"Stardust Breaker!"
Dust flew in the alien's face; the fox stepped back into the shadows of the vines. Roy thrust his rapier into the alien's left arm.
Then Ryou and Roy spoke together in an eerie unison.
"Those who hurt our world will never be forgiven! Aerial Retribution!"
Vines enveloped the alien; blood seeped from the vines. The alien cursed hysterically. Mew Mimi now spun her meteor hammer, shouting, "Ribbon! Mimi Bind!"
The ribbon and vines melted into one; it squeezed the alien even tighter. Mew Mimi winced at the blue blood that dispersed from the thorns.
And then? Then?
The vines and ribbon dispersed. Beams of light blinded everyone. Putting sunglasses on, Roy and Ryou fell to the ground as beams hit them. The alien floated gracefully from the plant. Flexing his arm, he sneered, "Poor mortals. Did you think you could really hurt me?"
He twirled his index fingers counterclockwise as he whispered, "Eternal Darkness."
The last thing Mew Mimi remembered seeing was the pitch-black sky, as every single form of light crumbled to the ground and sizzled. She couldn't let them win this quickly!
Ryou sleepily protested, "Chronos! Freeze--"
Everything became numb afterwards. She couldn't see - and the rain wasn't falling down anymore - so what was going on? Eternal... Darkness...?
"MIMI! MIMI! Wake up!"
"Huh?"
Mimi jolted up, staring at the walls before her, then at the quilt over her body. How---what---when---aw, who cared? It was mind-numbing.
"Who," And then her vision came into focus. Celsia crossed her arms, peering straight into her teammate's blue eyes.
"You scared me," Celsia sighed, putting her hand under her cheek. "You were sleeping like that for nearly a whole day! And let me tell you, Meems, you shouldn't have knocked yourself out like that! Everyone's been busy fighting."
Fighting? Wait, what?
"Briar was right," Primrose whimpered, embracing Mimi. "His leader's unusually cruel. And he's been attacking everything related to the Mew Project in broad daylight."
"So where are we...?"
"My house," Celsia confessed. "Everywhere else is under attack - and Ryou and the others have been fighting ever since they first heard about it."
Mimi stared at her with wide eyes. "But what about the flower shoppe? Who's taking care of that?"
"Bunch of mages," Celsia shrugged. "I know it's hard to believe, but turns out Ryou was a wizard the whole--"
"I knew that," Mimi blurted. "But I need to go and fight! Miles is still in danger as long as that madman's around!"
"You will do no such thing," Celsia pushed her friend back into the bed. "You need to rest! Ryou just called and said he had everything under control!"
"But what happened?" Mimi narrowed her eyes. "What caused me to fall asleep for a whole day?"
"Mimi," Primrose stared down at the ground. "You didn't fall asleep. Mr. Ryou said you were stuck in time."
"Stuck in time?"
Primrose nodded solemnly. "When Mr. Ryou cast that spell, he intended to freeze Mr. Bad Guy from acting, but it backfired and hit you. You weren't moving, so he put you here and told your parents you were spending the night at Celsia's."
"Yeah," Celsia nodded. "I had to tell my folks that you were doing some weird protest thing-y for the environment. Thankfully, they bought the excuse... and you just woke up."
Mimi ran her hands through her hair. Sitting up, she protested, "But how? I thought weird wizard spells worked unusually well on me---"
She then got up, ignoring Celsia's protests. "Did anyone come and visit me?"
"Just Ryou and a fox," Celsia scratched her cheek. "Why? Ryou just came to try and un-do the spell, but he wasn't very successful..."
Mimi crossed her arms. "What kind of fox?"
"A little red fox," Celsia smiled knowingly. "It's a favorite animal of the Shirogane family."
"You know something about the fox that I don't," Mimi stubbornly glanced at her friend. "So spill. I need to know."
"His name is Rune," Celsia poured herself a glass of green tea. Now making one for the other two girls, Celsia added, "He's... a little unique, I guess."
"Oh!" Mimi gasped. Putting her hand to her mouth, she whispered, "... Is he Shuugo? I remember Shuugo disappearing in that battle - and a big, yellow fox taking his place. I'd never seen something that massive."
Celsia slowly nodded. "Yes. Keep in mind Shuugo didn't tell me - I found out indirectly through the Professor."
Mimi's eyebrows furrowed, "Wait. The Professor knows Shuugo's a fox? But he shouldn't know anything about the Mew Project."
"That's what confuses me," Cels confessed, holding out a cup of green tea for her friends. Primrose happily took the tea. Mimi thanked her friend with a smile before sitting back down on the nearest chair. "You know," Celsia added. "I think the guy knows more than he's letting on - just like Ryou and Shuugo were. The whole family's mysterious."
Pausing, Cels added, "... You think you can fight again?"
"Yeah," Mimi said in-between sips of green tea. "That is, if my folks don't suspect anything."
"They don't," Primrose assured her. "Mine are the most worried, but Roy's daddy said that Roy was taking good care of me. Like, Roy's daddy and mommy are covering for us and telling us that we should fight."
"Huh. Are they wizards too?"
Celsia smiled, "Sure seems that way. If you're ready, Ryou said he'll be over in a few minutes. I've got your clothes ready, so go get dressed." She then tossed a pink sundress and brown flip-flops in Mimi's direction. Mimi easily caught them after setting the cup on the bookshelf.
Primrose pointed out the nearest bathroom; Mimi then locked the door behind her as she quickly changed clothes.
Walking back in, Mimi was then ushered by Primrose and Celsia to a secluded corner of the room. A burst of yellow and orange sparkles appeared; then Ryou came from nowhere. Lightly dusting himself off, Ryou adjusted his hand bandage as he set his ruby on the coffee table.
"Good," Ryou said as Mimi, Celsia, and Primrose sat around the table. "You're all here."
"But we're missing Retasu and Sorrel--"
"We're here," Sorrel chimed, carrying a tray of sandwiches to the room. Setting them down on the couch, she and Retasu sat down beside the others. "So, Ryou, what's the first order of business?"
"This is," Ryou smiled, summoning five marbles from within the ruby. He tossed each one to the mews before he sat down cross-legged on the floor.
Mimi eyed her pink marble, "... Hey. Aren't these the jewels from our weapons?"
"These are your new power-ups," Ryou explained. Leaning back, he added, "Go ahead and summon your weapons. Roy and I were waiting for the right moment to introduce these... and well? Now is probably the best time."
"Definitely," Sorrel blew her bangs out of her face as she summoned her microphone. Noticing the inset violet jewel, she pushed it out and set her brand-new lavender one in. The mircophone glowed, and Sorrel found herself singing along to a brand new melody.
Celsia gazed at her teammate in awe. "Ryou, you don't mean..."
"I do," Ryou grinned, watching Celsia place her new aquamarine jewel into her weapon. "New attacks for everyone. Your old attacks are still accessible, but these new ones should be more effective on the aliens."
"Wait," Mimi quizzically turned to face her boss. "You mean even the Christian Cross attack works for me?"
"It does now," Ryou winked. "It's better and stronger, but same idea, right?"
"Meems is special," Primrose teased, insetting the goldenrod marble into her golden spheres. "You get three attacks!"
"We do share one," Retasu calmly added as she inset the jade marble into her castanets. "Ribbon Aqua Drops?"
"Reborn Aqua Drops," Ryou corrected. "But yeah, you guys share an attack. But this one's pretty powerful, so only use it in emergencies, okay?"
The five mew mews echoed their agreement as they made their weapons disappear and set the sandwich tray on the table. Sharing the abundance of turkey and cheese sandwiches, Mimi then asked, "How're things on the battlefront?"
Ryou frowned, "I guess you could say it's okay. We're trying to keep property damage from happening, but oddly enough? The guy we fought last night was only after things related to the Mew Project. If something had the slightest connection? The building goes boom."
"So... elaborate?" Sorrel questioned, finishing off a sandwich.
"Roy's dad's hospital," Ryou replied. "Luciano stayed there as a patient last month. Miles went for a check-up last week. It was attacked last night. Coincidence? We think not."
Mimi whistled, "That's harsh. Is it---"
"Thankfully, yeah," Ryou ran a hand through his hair. "I had to explain things to the mage doctors last night, but they protected the hospital and its residents. Whatever magic and powers the aliens possess, it's a heck of a lot stronger than we thought it was."
Celsia moaned, "Then that means without the power-ups, we were goners."
"We're probably screwed even with them," Ryou admitted, shrugging. "But we've got to at least try and figure out why the aliens are attacking anything and everything the Alesci family's touched. It's revenge, but the oddest one I've seen yet."
"Gotcha," Mimi put a hand to her heart. "Then let us handle it! Ryan, where'd you say the latest attack was?"
"The latest attack will happen down in a warehouse fifteen minutes away from here. I say that because I saw the future - and it's the only possible place that attack could've occurred."
The mews expectantly stared at each other, then slowly nodded as they looked back at Ryou.
"Take us there," Mimi held out her hand. "Use that special wizard spell of yours, okay? We don't need to alert the adults this time."
Ryou slowly put his hand on top. "You five do realize that if I do use my magic, I won't be able to help you in battle?"
"We're aware," Celsia added her hand to the growing pile. "But we're Manhattan Mew Mew. We can handle it."
"Agreed," Sorrel chimed in. Primrose and Retasu put their hands in the pile without hestitation, and all five girls eagerly looked at Ryou.
Sighing exasperatedly, Ryou smiled, "Fine, fine. Galaxy Transport!"
Mimi closed her eyes. A sudden breeze flew through her hair - and was she flying? It felt like she was going to throw up (oh Yahweh, please don't let her die now! That lunch was especially tasty)... opening her eyes, she immediately fell to the ground.
The other mews stumbled as they landed on the concrete warehouse floor. Only Ryou gracefully landed, as he told the girls, "You were good for your first time. I think I barfed all over the grass..."
"You did barf. I remember it too well," Roy laughed as he helped Celsia and Retasu up. "Their experiences as mew mews probably helped."
"So," Mimi said, holding out her pendant. "We get to attack again?"
"Not so fast," Roy shook his head. "Ryou and I wanted to check something... you know, this was originally where Ryou's dad researched animal DNA. It burned down a while back."
Everyone looked at him with alarmed faces. Ryou nodded, acknowledging their fears as he said, "The files were backed-up - and the Mew Project moved to my house, but the whole thing was a fiasco. Thankfully, the fire was forgotten and replaced with the warehouse you see before you. We think the aliens'll attack here, not realizing that the Mew Project no longer exists here."
Mimi narrowed her eyes, "... You're going to take us back in time, aren't you? To show us something important?"
"Not you," Ryou shook his head. "The aliens' leader. I have a feeling we'll need to subdue him and show him the truth. We didn't kill Alina Alesci."
"Is that what this whole battle is for?"
Everyone swerved to meet Panforte. The white-haired alien gazed at Ryou as he walked towards the group. His eyes briefly stared at Sorrel - and Mimi could've sworn he was actually smiling at her! - but the smile disappeared the moment Panforte held open his tome.
"Revenge for Galani?" Panforte repeated.
Ryou blinked. "Galani? All we've heard of is Alina..."
"Galani was her code name," Panforte explained, turning the pages to reveal a picture of Alina. "When Chive, Briar, and I were assigned to Earth, we were supposed to find Earth species and determine how we could grow them on our home planet."
"But you guys then attacked us," Celsia interrupted. "How does that equate into the whole thing?"
"Our leader decided he wanted Earth for his own purposes," Panforte responded, letting Ryou delicately flip through the pages. "But it was pretty obvious to us that it couldn't be accomplished with three people. Earth has diverse cultures and billions of humans; it'd be impossible this way."
"So you thought he had an ulterior motive?" Roy suggested.
"I'd known he always had another motive," Panforte shook his head. "But I never suspected it'd be simply to take revenge on one human."
"Waaaait," Mimi stared. "He wants revenge on Miles?"
"Not particularly," Panforte amusedly brushed his ponytail back. "More like he wants to kill Luciano Alesci."
"That's news to us," Roy put a hand on his hips. "You have any ideas why?"
"Only Briar and Chive were aware of his true motives," Panforte sighed. "I can't fathom why he didn't trust me, but I don't like how this will end."
Sorrel's eyes narrowed, "So why fight us? Did your leader tell you to?"
"He thought you were getting in his way," Panforte shrugged nonchalantly. "We were ordered to fight you. It was only when we lost contact with him that I realized what he was really planning."
Primrose looked thoughtful for a moment before she said, "Mr. Panforte? Does this mean you're on our side now?"
"I don't believe in sides," Panforte shook his head. "But I do believe in justice. Whatever this one man did, I don't believe it warrants the end of his life."
"So you guys believed we killed Alina," Ryou mused. "And thus you come back to Earth to take revenge for her life. She probably died in the fire that killed the Mew Project, then?"
"I wouldn't know," Panforte answered. "You'd have more of the answers."
"How about an answer to this one?" Celsia questioned. "What's the name of your leader? I feel weird just thinking of him as the bad guy."
"Briar and Chive dubbed him 'Deep Evil,' but his name is Cartellate."
Roy still eyed Panforte warily. "How do we know that you're not giving us information to distract us?"
"Kill a whole planet just to avenge one woman's death? Even if she was my queen?" Panforte shook his head. "Anyone with a sense of morals can see why I'd defect."
"Have to say," Mimi nodded, smiling sheepishly. "If Ryan was planning to do something like that, I'd betray him in a heartbeat."
"Hey!" Ryou retorted. "I'll have you know---"
"It was rhetorical, Ryou," Mimi rolled her eyes. "There was no need to actually respond."
Ryou blushed, choosing instead to summon his staff as he stared at the warehouse doors. Panforte took his book back and made it disappear into his wristbands. Summoning a lighter, leather-bound book, he hid in the shadows as the door cracked open. Each Mew Mew silently kissed their pendants and transformed as they too disappeared behind huge boxes.
Cartellate walked through, his hands holding a giant parasite easily. Gently scratching its head, Cartellate snickered, "So this is where the Mew Project once was. Let's see if a little arson'll attract that man now."
"Not so fast!"
Cartellate groaned as he spotted the five mew mews posing before him. "Haven't we had enough of this? I thought I made it perfectly clear when I defeated you last night."
"You missed the fox hiding in the shadows," Ryou sneered, appearing ontop of a box. Pointing his staff towards the villain, he added, "Perhaps you need to learn a little self-restraint and common sense."
Crossing his arms, Cartel stared Ryou's staff down. "Perhaps you need to learn the meaning of the word humble."
The mew mews summoned their weapons. Ryou called, "Float!" as white wings unfurled from his back. Cartel gave chase, flying into the sky and zooming after his prey.
The giant parasite, lost and swerving from one side of the warehouse to another, encountered a cockroach scrambling under the boxes. The parasite lunged, giggling as it and the cockroach merged and became one.
Mew Celsia screamed as she saw the new Chimera Anima, "Oh, ewwwwww. Did it have to be a cockroach?"
"Sorry," Mew Primrose apologized, summoning her spheres into her hands. "At least it wasn't a spider or rat?"
"Mew Celsia?" Mew Mimi added, chasing after the Chimera Anima. "We live in NYC. If a cockroach appears in broad daylight, it should be nothing new. Get over it and come on!"
"Says the girl who couldn't kill the spider," Mew Celsia grumbled as she chased after the cockroach. Mew Primrose jumped ontop of the Chimera Anima and kicked its abdomen.
"Reborn! Primrose Shield!"
Everyone stared at the giant yellow shield that popped into Primrose's hands. After hesitatingly eyeing the humongous weapon, Primrose thrust the shield and sliced the Chimera Anima's head from its body. Blood gushed everywhere.
"Ewww," Mew Celsia flinched. "Reborn! Celsia Tripleshot!"
Multiple arrows flew through her hands and hit the Chimera Anima's head and body with increasing speed. Mew Celsia blinked, then whistled, "Impressive. I think this one's a keeper."
"How about this one?" Mew Mimi yelled, swinging her meteor hammer around. "Reborn! Mimi's Bell!"
As the hammer hit the Chimera, a giant bell resonated throughout the battlefield. Cartel stumbled; Ryou seized the chance and swung the staff into his opponent's arm. The Chimera Anima yowled as it separated. Masha appeared from nowhere to happily gobble the giant parasite. Roy wasted no time in squishing the cockroach underneath his feet.
"That was easy," Mew Mimi commented, blinking.
Mew Primrose giggled. "You sound like a Staples commercial."
Mew Mimi stuck her tongue out, running towards Cartel. Mew Lettuce ran beside her; summoning her castanets, Mew Lettuce then cried, "Reborn! Lettuce Aqua!"
Water gushed from the castanets and towards Cartel's face. Cartel yowled; Ryou jumped and back-flipped onto a stack of packed boxes. Covering his eyes, Cartel shot red and white beams from his hands. Boxes exploded; the scotched contents lay across the floor. Ryou continued jumping as the beams kept firing.
Mew Sorrel instantaneously sang into her microphone as she hummed, "Reborn! Sorrel Harmony!"
Cartel gasped for air as he rose from the concrete. Placing his hand over his ear, he aimed beams at Sorrel. She dodged them each time; her melody unwaveringly continued to play as the mew mews kept attacking Cartel.
But then?
One beam missed and hit her squarely in the stomach. Gasping, Mew Sorrel stumbled, her hands in front of her as she kept struggling for air.
"How dare you?!"
Everyone stared as Panforte appeared from the darkness and attacked Cartel. He flipped through his book before whispering, "Divine Healing." Laying his hands over Sorrel's bloody stomach, he closed his eyes and kept whispering to himself over and over again.
Mew Sorrel looked up at him. "... Why're you healing me?"
He shook his head. "Sssh. You can talk later."
The wounds slowly reversed themselves, but the damage was done. Cartel squarely looked at Panforte and Mew Sorrel. Laughing hysterically, Cartel swung a box around and threw it to the ground in a heap. "So I see. You abandon me for her... just like Alina abandoned me for those stupid humans."
Panforte muttered, "It's not like that, sir."
"Speak up!" Cartel screamed, his eyes widening as he punched another stack of boxes. "I can't hear you!"
"I am not abandoning you!" Panforte stared back at his leader. "But your sanity has long been gone! When are you going to realize that killing Earth will not bring back your highness?"
Cartel narrowed his piercing, blood-red eyes. "Shut up," He demanded. "Shut up."
Panforte obeyed, his gaze now on the rest of Mew Sorrel's wounds. Mew Sorrel shivered as she whispered, "You drove him crazy. Why'd you do that?"
Mew Lettuce, in her panic, cried, "Reborn! Lettuce Aqua!" and shot more water in Cartel's way. Mew Primrose immediately ran in, adding, "Reborn! Primrose Enforce!" to create a barrier of water and pure, yellow energy.
With Cartel distracted, Panforte could finally say, "Because I hate myself for still loving you."
Mew Sorrel stared at him. "Panforte, but--"
He silenced her with a knowing look. Taking his hands off her partially-healed body, he let her rest on the ground. "Mew Sorrel, I want to promise something to you."
This was incredibly bizarre. Mew Sorrel flinched as Panforte scooped her up and took her outside the warehouse. Letting her rest on the grass, Panforte then attempted to heal her again. Smiling sadly at her, he remarked, "I promise to always love you. Even when it seems that I don't... I do. You're my number one."
Her eyes widened as she watched him kiss her cheek gently. No way-- it couldn't be--- Mew Sorrel pressed her lips together as she instinctively relied on Panforte's neck for support. "Panforte... you're..."
"I promised," Panforte whispered in her ear. "I came back to you when it was all over."
"It explains everything," She sadly smiled, looking back to take Panforte's face in completely. "Why you couldn't tell me anything... why you pretended to be Garner... why you never harshly attacked me... everything. And here I was, stupid enough to never put two and two together."
He let Mew Sorrel cry on his chest for a few minutes before he squarely looked her in the eyes. "Sorrel. Do you... still love me? Even if I'm... you know, not human? Or was your archenemy?"
Mew Sorrel laughed, looking back at him amusedly. "In case you haven't noticed, I've got wolf ears and a wolf tail. I don't think having an alien boyfriend would change much of anything."
He pressed his lips. "Yeah, but... you're taking this incredibly easily. I thought for sure you wouldn't hated me and declared you wanted absolutely nothing to do with me."
"Truth be told," Mew Sorrel leaned on his shoulder. Taking his hand, she squeezed it gently. "I still don't know what to make of all this. I was told that you wanted to destroy the Earth, but what happened?"
"I fell in love with you," Panforte blushed, staring at the ground. "Nothing made sense after that, and."
Her eyes widened. "You what?"
"Do I have to repeat myself?"
"N-no," Mew Sorrel put her free hand over her stomach. Panforte immediately stared down at her, his eyes studying her body carefully.
"Are you still hurt?"
... Huh. He looked really cute when he was worried over her like that. Mew Sorrel shook her head, pulling her shirt up to let him inspect the wounds more carefully. "It just hurts," Mew Sorrel admitted. "But I think you've healed as much of it as you could."
"It's still my fault," Panforte put his hand to his face. "I didn't think he'd be this hysterical about me healing you... I should've known."
"So he doesn't approve of interspecies romance," Mew Sorrel mused. Pulling Panforte's hand away, she gently smiled, "It's okay. I'll live."
"Deep Evil's a lot stronger than I am," Panforte insisted. "I can't let you fight him alone."
"Panforte," Mew Sorrel sighed exasperatedly, "I have the other mew mews. Then there's Ryou and Roy and Shuugo and the whole slew of wizards that've been helping us..." She closed her eyes, not quite aware of the detransformation she was currently undergoing.
Panforte shook his head as he looked down at her. "You're in no condition to fight. Please don't worry me---"
Sorrel cut him off as she kneeled and brought his face to hers. Gently kissing him, she ran her hands through his hair and let the ponytail loose. Panforte's eyes widened, but he smiled as he gently kissed her back. The two only let go reluctantly, and Sorrel nervously gave him back his ponytail holder.
"That was the only thing I could think of to shut you up," Sorrel nervously responded. "I'm sorry, you probably don't..."
He kissed her again. Letting go, he licked his lips as he commented, "No. I still love you more than anything, okay? I was worried that you wouldn't like the real me."
"We're not Romeo and Juliet," Sorrel pointed out, collapsing to the ground. "How many times do I have to tell you it's okay? I know everything now: you lied to me because you didn't want me to find out you were an alien. You were probably using me at first to get close to the mew mews, but the more time we spent together, the more you fell in love with me..." She trailed off, mumbling something to herself, but she'd clearly forgotten about Panforte's hearing.
Panforte tilted his head to the side, "You fell in love with the real me too? But I thought you hated my guts."
"You were sorta-kinda attacking me," Sorrel laughed. "But I meant: you and the real Garner are so incredibly different. He was incredibly confident, cocky, arrogant... not at all thoughtful and sweet like you were. And, and... you were my first serious boyfriend. I know this is going to sound so incredibly stupid, but I regretted breaking up with you. I didn't want it to end at all."
He cupped her face with his hands. "... No. I felt the exact same way."
Sorrel sadly smiled, "So we're like the two main characters of a bad romance novel?"
"No, because bad romance novels don't happen in real life," Panforte chuckled, kissing her again lightly on the lips. He then leaned over and kissed the nape of her neck lightly, reaching up to her face again before repeatedly kissing her there. Sorrel blushed, sure her entire face was red---
"So that's where you've been up to. My Panforte... and here I thought I could rely on you and your darling sister."
Panforte and Sorrel jumped, staring at Cartel as he hysterically laughed at them both. His eyes were even more red now (was that possible?) as he haggardly rumpled his hair even more.
"Your darling sister?" Sorrel stared at Panforte confusedly. "What do you mean---"
"Oh, she doesn't know?" Cartel sneered. "This is getting good. Tell her, Panforte. Tell her about the darling sister you've been trying to free from my grasp... tell her how you've been forced to follow my every order because she's my secretary? Tell this pitiful human how I assigned you to follow one of the mew mews because I knew you'd eventually kill her?"
Sorrel rolled her eyes, "We've already established that he really loves me."
Panforte immediately stood up, stretching his arms out to create a barrier between Sorrel and Cartel. "It may be true, but dammit, I love her. Okay, your highness? I love Sorrel Hayden. I'm sorry that you saw parallels between us and Alina and Luciano, but we're happy together!"
"Is this pitiful speech supposed to rouse my morals," Cartel yawned. "Because you should be trying harder!"
Panforte growled, "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, but I would," Cartel smirked. "Ghostly Sins!"
Panforte summoned his book as he cried, "Dark Storm! Collide!" and watched the two balls of darkness attack each other from head-on. Sorrel watched in a panic. Taking her pendant, she hurriedly kissed it as she cried, "Mew Mew Sorrel! Metamorpho-sis!"
The attack hit Panforte; he spiraled to the ground. Coughing up blood, he winced but rose up again. Mew Sorrel joined him, their hands linked as they called out again, "Reborn! Sorrel Harmony!" and "Dark Storm! Punish!"
She sang into her microphone as she held her lover up for support. Cartel winced, growling as he held his ears with his hands...
"Eternal Darkness."
The darkness enveloped them; Mew Sorrel could feel herself gasping for air. Closing her eyes, she winced as the spell dispersed. Lazily opening one eye, she moaned, "Panforte. I'm... I'm so sorry. I... love you too."
She limply lay there. Panforte stared, poking and prodding her... "Come on, Sor. Wake up! Please wake up!" Nothing happened. He gently lay her on the ground, his body pulsing with blue energy as he growled, "How dare you! You can't get over Alina's death, so you have to punish me? Why---"
Cartel bridged the gap between the two men. He simply pressed a hand to Panforte, closed his eyes, and whispered, "Eternal Slumber."
Panforte collasped to the ground, linking his hand with Sorrel's for the final time before darkness completely enveloped them both. Cartel stared at the two fallen lovers one last time, then sneered as he disappeared back into the warehouse,
"So much for not being like Romeo and Juliet."
Title: Episode Thirty Six: The Final Battles Begin! Who's Deep Evil?
Fandom: TMM [but so very, very AU]
Summary: Ryou, Roy, Mimi, Shuu, and Nel go out to find Miles... but with mixed results. Mimi discovers the aliens' leader's been attacking, and hmm? Sorrel finally finds out the truth about Garner? This is one busy episode, folks.
Claimer: ... too lazy to put one down. If you've reached this point, you should know who belongs to who.
Even after two hours, it was still raining. Ryou frowned, watching the rain pour down from his bedroom window. "This looks pretty harsh. You think your dad'll make it out of there okay?"
Roy shrugged, pacing around the room furiously. "Dunno. It hasn't rained like this in years."
"You don't have your violin?"
"Would I be pacing like a madman if I did?"
"Probably not," Ryou snickered, cheerfully glancing over at his friend. "We do have a piano if you're interested."
The door suddenly burst open, and both boys froze to see Mimi standing there. Ignoring the water falling off her hair (and the rest of her body), she desolately smiled at the boys. "Miles has gone missing again. Can you guys do your weird wizard powers and see where he is?"
Roy frowned, "Is he like really missing? Cause we could call Shuu---"
"His dad already did that," Mimi shivered. Ryou rose from his bed and walked into the adjoining bathroom. He came back within seconds, tossing two towels in her direction. Mimi wrapped both towels around her (using the second one to get the excess water off her hair). She flashed Ryou a grateful half-smile before sadly responding, "Seriously. We've tried everything, but he's been gone! Not in his house, not hanging out with school friends or Shuu - and we even called really obscure people like that Minoru kid and the Nilos person who's always with Shuu."
Ryou then took a hair dryer and started drying Mimi's hair. If it had been at any other time, Roy would've snickered, saying something about the state of the two - but it didn't feel right. Miles was missing at this hour?
Mimi gratefully dried her hands, then took the hair dryer from Ryou. Ryou shrugged nervously as the door opened again. Liz studied Mimi over for half a second before taking her hand.
"Ryou," Liz grumbled. "How come you didn't tell me Mimi came all this way in the rain?"
"She literally came five minutes ago," Roy pointed out. Smiling gently, he added, "So please don't blame Ryler. Auntie Liz, can you--"
"Already on it," Liz beamed. "Come on, Mimi, take a shower first. You can talk to the boys later."
Mimi tried to protest - she really did! - but she ended up sneezing and left the room without a single word of dissent. Ryou stared after the two, whistling. "Wow," He sighed, shaking his head. "I think my mom's officially the iron fist of this household."
"Either that, or she thought we wanted to do something to her," Roy quipped sarcastically. "Like I'd do something to a girl who already has a boyfriend."
Ryou glared at him. "And here I thought you were the one with manners."
"Anyhow," Roy coughed. "You wanna start searching for Miles? I'd go out and talk to the gardens, but you know. It's raining."
"Never stopped you before," Ryou dryly replied, shaking his head as he moved towards the center of his bedroom. He sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and added, "But I can't seek people without directly knowing their whereabouts. How am I supposed to find Miles? I'm not exactly capable of doing a mana signature search."
They both flinched as the door opened. Shuugo walked into the room, tilting his head to the side as he inquired, "So I heard you were looking for Miles?"
"Yeah," Roy nodded. "I take it you've seen him lately?"
Shuu's lips curled into a frown as he sat on his older brother's bed. "Unfortunately. Seems the guy's being possessed or something."
Ryou and Roy exchanged nervous glances.
"Shuugo," Ryou began, crossing his arms as he warily stared his brother down. "How come you didn't tell us?"
"I didn't get a chance until now," Shuugo pouted. "I literally just got home, niisan. Could you at least give me some advice? I have no clue what to do about the whole thing."
Roy looked thoughtful as he sat down in Ryou's desk chair. Bringing it towards his friends, the orange-haired teen asked, "Well, did he remember being possessed?"
Shuugo nodded. "Oh, definitely. It was like Miles and this other dude were fighting for control of Miles' body. The voice was the same, but their tones were completely different. I can't put my finger on it, but something about the whole situation didn't seem right."
"That's not possession," Ryou opened an eye lazily. "If anything, that'd be some kind of weird mental link. Whoever's controlling Miles is here on Earth."
"So," Shuugo blinked. "It was more like a psychic link? But Miles isn't a mage."
"Whoever controlling him was," Roy shrugged. "But can you honestly think of anyone in the area that'd want to control Miles Alesci for his personal benefit?"
"Not particularly," Shuu bit his lip. "And that's why I'm worried, yerf. No mage would want him 'cause they'd think he was a norm. You think it's the aliens?"
"Maybe." Roy leaned back in the chair. "Primrose called me this morning and sounded pretty worried. Seems Briar talked to her and warned her about his leader possibly coming to Earth."
Shuu and Ryou both stood up immediately. In an odd unison, they yelled, "ROVIN! How come you didn't tell me?"
Roy stared back at the two with wide eyes. "Holy crap, your unison skills've improved."
They both glared at him in perfect unison, their feet tapping against the ground. Ryou growled, "I'm waiting, Rovin."
"I thought you would've read my mind," Roy confessed, now standing up. "I asked Nilos to give me the mana signatures of all the elves in the area, but none of them were particularly weird or outstanding. So... I didn't think anything peculiar had come up. Not yet, at least."
"But," Roy added as an afterthought. "The aliens, according to Primrose, have lost all contact with their leader. I don't think the technology on their home planet is that bad."
"Rovin, niisan? I think we need to head over to the base and see what's up."
Roy and Ryou chimed in their agreement as they headed towards the door. Just then, Mimi walked through the door and crossed her arms as she stared the three boys down.
"I know what you're going to do," She demanded, "And I want in. Miles is my boyfriend, you know."
Shuu shrugged, "We can easily protect her if the going gets too rough."
Roy hesitated, nervously looking towards Shuugo and Ryou. He began, "Mimi, do you realize--"
"You're in," Ryou responded.
Roy stared at the Shirogane siblings with incredulous eyes. Shaking his head, Roy rubbed his temples, "If we bring Mimi, you do realize we're going to have to ask Nel for a ride, right?"
Mimi tilted her head to the side, "Nel?"
"Roy's older sister," Ryou replied with a smirk as he took Mimi by the arm. The four walked down the stairs and through the various hallways in relative silence. Shuu glanced over his shoulder every now and then - almost as if he were expecting something to come alive, Mimi noticed - while Roy stared down at the ground and buried his hands in his pockets.
Oddly enough, Ryou was the only one with confidence. As the four approached the garage door, Jishou was reading a book on the nearby couch. As the adult looked up, he called, "Where're you going? It's pretty bad rain."
"I know," Ryou nodded. "But we have to get Mimi home. Nel said she wouldn't mind giving us a ride."
Roy chimed in, "And you know we have to pick my folks up. We should be back in a couple of hours, Uncle Shou - and if not? Ryou and Shuu'll be spending the night at my place. That'll be fine with you, right?"
Jishou nodded, tilting his head to the side. "Yeah," He curiously responded. "You sure you guys aren't doing anything suspicious? Because I remember high school involving a lot of drugs--"
Mimi looked at him with alarm. Jishou laughed, shaking his head, "Nevermind. You two wouldn't take middle schoolers to those kinds of parties. Just call me if you run into trouble, okay?"
"Sure, Dad," Shuugo waved as he opened the door for his party. Opening the garage door, Shuugo watched as a red SUV pulled into the empty slot. Mimi blushed as she realized the driver was a beautiful college-age student. Her long auburn hair was pulled back into a casual ponytail, but even then? She was pretty dressed up in what seemed to be a white peasant top.
The girl waved to the four as she pulled her car window down. "Oy," She said, "Hurry up and get in. We've only a couple of hours, right?"
"Yeah," Roy said as he took the passenger seat. Shuugo, Ryou, and Mimi piled into the rather roomy back of the car and put their seatbelts on as the girl quickly backed out and drove onto the city streets. The first few minutes of the ride were silent.
Finally, as the driver turned towards the park, she said, "So, Roy. Who's the pretty girl with you?"
Mimi put a hand to her cheek as she replied, "Um, Mimi Belmont. I work at the flower shop with Ryou and Shuugo and Roy."
A look of understanding washed over Nel's face. "Oh! So you guys are using me for Mew Project business."
Mimi stared. Slumping back into her seat, she grumbled, "So who doesn't know about the Mew Project yet? It's not a big secret anymore."
The driver laughed, "I think our parents are the only people left. And even then, my folks are probably just pretending."
"Or they think we've gotten caught up in mage business," Roy chuckled. "Anyhow, Mimi. This is my older sister, Cornelia Bancroft. But pretty much everyone calls her Nelly or Nel."
"It's nice to meet you, Nel," Mimi enthusiastically smiled. "And um, thank you for the ride."
Ryou nudged Shuu. "Can you believe it?" The blond whispered to him. "She's actually being polite."
Mimi kicked her employer in the shin for that comment; he softly groaned to himself as he massaged the forming bruise on his leg.
Nel chuckled, "I see her reputation is well-deserved."
"What reputation?" Mimi blinked, turning her head to stare at the incoming downpour.
Nel shrugged, making another turn as she pulled onto a somewhat empty street. "Roy said you were kinda violent, but girly-girl at the same time. I don't know you well enough to say anything, but Ryler does make kinda sexist remarks sometimes, huh?"
"He is half-Japanese," Mimi giggled. "You can't really blame him."
Shuugo's face fell. "But I'm half-Japanese too..."
"You're more Americanized," Mimi insisted, flashing a smile at Shuu. "It makes more sense for you to be nicer."
Nel and Roy gave each other amused glances. The car finally stopped as it reached its destination in a well-lit parking lot near the park. Nel gestured towards the umbrellas in the back, but she remarked, "You guys do know the spell for preventing water, right?"
"Yeah," Shuu nodded. "Learned it in fourth grade. We'll be fine, Nel, but we should prolly use the umbrellas anyway to avoid suspicion."
Mimi stared at the three. "Wait a sec... is Nelly part of your weird little Harry Potter cult?"
Nel amusedly smiled at Mimi. "I've never heard of it that way, but yeah. I'm a mage just like the rest of them."
"Maaan," Mimi moaned. "I wanna be like you guys. But nuuu, I get stuck with the catgirl powers and really weird acrobatics."
"You're more physical than we are," Roy pointed out as he got out of the car and opened a green umbrella. Holding the door open for everyone, he added, "You and Shuu'll probably be more useful in battle because of it."
"Wait," Nel stared. "You can't mean you're letting Shuu and Mimi fight."
Ryou glanced at her, "And what if we do?"
"Then I'll just have to come with you," Nel stubbornly responded as she opened a pink umbrella and walked out of the car. She waited until everyone was out before locking the door and placing the keys inside her necklace jewel. Mimi stared in amazement as she watched the key seemingly disappear into nowhere, but decided not to comment on that just yet.
(It seemed to Roy and the others, making things disappear was nothing new. But what was new to them, then?)
"Fine with me," Roy smiled. "I'm glad to have my sis as back-up."
"Back-up?" Nel gently noogied her younger brother. "I'll have you know I'm a pretty darn good mage, thank you very much."
She paused, twirling her umbrella as she made herself the center of their umbrella circle. Closing her eyes, she, Ryou, Roy, and Shuu said in a weird, but cool, unison, "Shield us from the elements. Nullification!"
A clear barrier appeared around their feet, hands, and umbrellas. Mimi gaped as she realized her feet were as dry as they'd ever been. What kinds of abilities did these people have? And why couldn't they have used them earlier? It would've made her life a heck of a lot easier.
"You ready?"
Mimi blinked, glancing up at Ryou as the five of them started walking towards the base. Mimi shakily nodded, replying, "I have to be. My poor boyfriend gets kidnapped more than I do." She blinked, pondering on that statement for a moment before she added, "... does that mean he's Princess Peach and I'm Mario?"
Shuu snickered, "Let's hope not. But Miles does have a weird tendency to get kidnapped, huh?"
Staring directly at the redhead, Mimi stuck her tongue out from underneath her umbrella. (Even if the spell had nullified the effects of rain, it was just comforting to have it with her.) "Meanie," She retorted. "For your information, I'm not even Italian. Miles is."
Roy shrugged exasperatedly as Nel mouthed, "Explanation?"
"There's not much to get," Roy admitted as the five navigated the path back towards the base. "Miles is pretty much the damsel in distress of our group."
"Huh," Nel mused, easily floating over every obstacle in her path. When her feet gracefully landed on the ground, she commented, "So does this mean the girls are stronger?"
Mimi grinned, "I'd sure like to think so."
Roy made a face as he held out his free hand and made the vines shrink back from the group. "Oh please. Nel, you're like co-dependent on your boyfriends."
"Say that again," Nel growled, following her younger brother. "And you'll be sorry."
Roy rolled his eyes, snapping to make the trees move back. "Says the girl who's letting her kid brother do all the work."
Mimi and Ryou couldn't help laughing as Nel nearly whapped her brother over the head. The base was just looming before them now. All they had to do was go in and rescue Miles. Again. Talk about your deja vu, right?
"I don't think so."
The five swerved to meet a tall adult leaning against the side of the base. He had the same holier-than-you aura the rest of the aliens did, and yet... none of the aliens were as well-groomed as he. His piercing red eyes stared the five teenagers as he walked towards them.
"Little mage, didn't you say that you weren't going to bother Miles until he finished my errand?"
Shuu winced. Staring directly at the man, he protested, "That was before I realized he wasn't possessed. You just directly controlled him through your mind. Wouldn't that make you a mage too?"
"It's my duty to make sure my subjects are well," The man insisted, staring at his ruby ring more than Shuugo. "Could you at least understand that?"
Ryou interrupted, "But Miles has been living on Earth all this time. How can he be your subject?"
"Silence!"
Nothing could've prepared Ryou for the barrage of rocks that instantaneously came his way. Cursing under his breath, Ryou twirled the umbrella, calling, "Guardian!"
The alien raised an eyebrow, "So you're a mage too."
"Of course I am," Ryou smirked. "You think I'd be stupid enough to come here if I couldn't protect myself? So what do you want?"
"I doubt you'd understand," The leader impatiently tapped his foot. "Not if you don't think the boy's my subject."
"Because he isn't," Shuu bitterly protested, throwing his umbrella to the ground as he summoned his dagger. "Now let my best friend go!"
"Little mage, when do you learn?" The alien sneered. "Now leave before I make you."
"Not likely! Mew Mew Mimi---"
Shuugo pressed his fingers to Mimi's lips. Swerving to face the alien, Shuu questioned, "You mean you can handle a five-on-one battle? You sure?"
"Bring it," The alien smirked.
Roy scoffed, "Fine! Rose Vine!" He sprinted to the alien. Vines immediately sprung from the ground and seized the alien's feet. The alien quickly cut them off, flying higher towards the sky. Roy just jumped off each vine and propelled himself up towards the alien. Smirking, Roy cried, "Take this!" as he thrust his rapier into empty air.
Crap. Roy shakily landed on a tree branch. Ryou dashed towards the alien; his staff raised high in the air. Tossing it, Ryou yelled, "San! Float!"
Wings unfurled from Roy's, Ryou's, and Shuugo's backs. Mimi seized her pendant and kissed it. "Mew Mew Mimi, Metamorpho-sis!"
Pink light blinded the entire battlefield. Roy winced, stumbling as vines immediately wrapped around him. Shuugo disappeared right as Mew Mimi summoned her meteor hammer; Nel closed her umbrella and jumped away from the fray.
Twirling the hammer, she whispered, "Grand Revival!" The other four instantly received green wings on their feet.
A giant fox jumped from the shadows. It lunged onto the alien; they fell to the ground in mere seconds. The fox growled, bearing its teeth. The alien punched the animal's stomach. The fox yowled, headbutting back to the alien's groins.
The alien stumbled towards the ground. The fox circled the alien; Ryou caught his staff as he floated to his opponent.
"Stardust Breaker!"
Dust flew in the alien's face; the fox stepped back into the shadows of the vines. Roy thrust his rapier into the alien's left arm.
Then Ryou and Roy spoke together in an eerie unison.
"Those who hurt our world will never be forgiven! Aerial Retribution!"
Vines enveloped the alien; blood seeped from the vines. The alien cursed hysterically. Mew Mimi now spun her meteor hammer, shouting, "Ribbon! Mimi Bind!"
The ribbon and vines melted into one; it squeezed the alien even tighter. Mew Mimi winced at the blue blood that dispersed from the thorns.
And then? Then?
The vines and ribbon dispersed. Beams of light blinded everyone. Putting sunglasses on, Roy and Ryou fell to the ground as beams hit them. The alien floated gracefully from the plant. Flexing his arm, he sneered, "Poor mortals. Did you think you could really hurt me?"
He twirled his index fingers counterclockwise as he whispered, "Eternal Darkness."
The last thing Mew Mimi remembered seeing was the pitch-black sky, as every single form of light crumbled to the ground and sizzled. She couldn't let them win this quickly!
Ryou sleepily protested, "Chronos! Freeze--"
Everything became numb afterwards. She couldn't see - and the rain wasn't falling down anymore - so what was going on? Eternal... Darkness...?
"MIMI! MIMI! Wake up!"
"Huh?"
Mimi jolted up, staring at the walls before her, then at the quilt over her body. How---what---when---aw, who cared? It was mind-numbing.
"Who," And then her vision came into focus. Celsia crossed her arms, peering straight into her teammate's blue eyes.
"You scared me," Celsia sighed, putting her hand under her cheek. "You were sleeping like that for nearly a whole day! And let me tell you, Meems, you shouldn't have knocked yourself out like that! Everyone's been busy fighting."
Fighting? Wait, what?
"Briar was right," Primrose whimpered, embracing Mimi. "His leader's unusually cruel. And he's been attacking everything related to the Mew Project in broad daylight."
"So where are we...?"
"My house," Celsia confessed. "Everywhere else is under attack - and Ryou and the others have been fighting ever since they first heard about it."
Mimi stared at her with wide eyes. "But what about the flower shoppe? Who's taking care of that?"
"Bunch of mages," Celsia shrugged. "I know it's hard to believe, but turns out Ryou was a wizard the whole--"
"I knew that," Mimi blurted. "But I need to go and fight! Miles is still in danger as long as that madman's around!"
"You will do no such thing," Celsia pushed her friend back into the bed. "You need to rest! Ryou just called and said he had everything under control!"
"But what happened?" Mimi narrowed her eyes. "What caused me to fall asleep for a whole day?"
"Mimi," Primrose stared down at the ground. "You didn't fall asleep. Mr. Ryou said you were stuck in time."
"Stuck in time?"
Primrose nodded solemnly. "When Mr. Ryou cast that spell, he intended to freeze Mr. Bad Guy from acting, but it backfired and hit you. You weren't moving, so he put you here and told your parents you were spending the night at Celsia's."
"Yeah," Celsia nodded. "I had to tell my folks that you were doing some weird protest thing-y for the environment. Thankfully, they bought the excuse... and you just woke up."
Mimi ran her hands through her hair. Sitting up, she protested, "But how? I thought weird wizard spells worked unusually well on me---"
She then got up, ignoring Celsia's protests. "Did anyone come and visit me?"
"Just Ryou and a fox," Celsia scratched her cheek. "Why? Ryou just came to try and un-do the spell, but he wasn't very successful..."
Mimi crossed her arms. "What kind of fox?"
"A little red fox," Celsia smiled knowingly. "It's a favorite animal of the Shirogane family."
"You know something about the fox that I don't," Mimi stubbornly glanced at her friend. "So spill. I need to know."
"His name is Rune," Celsia poured herself a glass of green tea. Now making one for the other two girls, Celsia added, "He's... a little unique, I guess."
"Oh!" Mimi gasped. Putting her hand to her mouth, she whispered, "... Is he Shuugo? I remember Shuugo disappearing in that battle - and a big, yellow fox taking his place. I'd never seen something that massive."
Celsia slowly nodded. "Yes. Keep in mind Shuugo didn't tell me - I found out indirectly through the Professor."
Mimi's eyebrows furrowed, "Wait. The Professor knows Shuugo's a fox? But he shouldn't know anything about the Mew Project."
"That's what confuses me," Cels confessed, holding out a cup of green tea for her friends. Primrose happily took the tea. Mimi thanked her friend with a smile before sitting back down on the nearest chair. "You know," Celsia added. "I think the guy knows more than he's letting on - just like Ryou and Shuugo were. The whole family's mysterious."
Pausing, Cels added, "... You think you can fight again?"
"Yeah," Mimi said in-between sips of green tea. "That is, if my folks don't suspect anything."
"They don't," Primrose assured her. "Mine are the most worried, but Roy's daddy said that Roy was taking good care of me. Like, Roy's daddy and mommy are covering for us and telling us that we should fight."
"Huh. Are they wizards too?"
Celsia smiled, "Sure seems that way. If you're ready, Ryou said he'll be over in a few minutes. I've got your clothes ready, so go get dressed." She then tossed a pink sundress and brown flip-flops in Mimi's direction. Mimi easily caught them after setting the cup on the bookshelf.
Primrose pointed out the nearest bathroom; Mimi then locked the door behind her as she quickly changed clothes.
Walking back in, Mimi was then ushered by Primrose and Celsia to a secluded corner of the room. A burst of yellow and orange sparkles appeared; then Ryou came from nowhere. Lightly dusting himself off, Ryou adjusted his hand bandage as he set his ruby on the coffee table.
"Good," Ryou said as Mimi, Celsia, and Primrose sat around the table. "You're all here."
"But we're missing Retasu and Sorrel--"
"We're here," Sorrel chimed, carrying a tray of sandwiches to the room. Setting them down on the couch, she and Retasu sat down beside the others. "So, Ryou, what's the first order of business?"
"This is," Ryou smiled, summoning five marbles from within the ruby. He tossed each one to the mews before he sat down cross-legged on the floor.
Mimi eyed her pink marble, "... Hey. Aren't these the jewels from our weapons?"
"These are your new power-ups," Ryou explained. Leaning back, he added, "Go ahead and summon your weapons. Roy and I were waiting for the right moment to introduce these... and well? Now is probably the best time."
"Definitely," Sorrel blew her bangs out of her face as she summoned her microphone. Noticing the inset violet jewel, she pushed it out and set her brand-new lavender one in. The mircophone glowed, and Sorrel found herself singing along to a brand new melody.
Celsia gazed at her teammate in awe. "Ryou, you don't mean..."
"I do," Ryou grinned, watching Celsia place her new aquamarine jewel into her weapon. "New attacks for everyone. Your old attacks are still accessible, but these new ones should be more effective on the aliens."
"Wait," Mimi quizzically turned to face her boss. "You mean even the Christian Cross attack works for me?"
"It does now," Ryou winked. "It's better and stronger, but same idea, right?"
"Meems is special," Primrose teased, insetting the goldenrod marble into her golden spheres. "You get three attacks!"
"We do share one," Retasu calmly added as she inset the jade marble into her castanets. "Ribbon Aqua Drops?"
"Reborn Aqua Drops," Ryou corrected. "But yeah, you guys share an attack. But this one's pretty powerful, so only use it in emergencies, okay?"
The five mew mews echoed their agreement as they made their weapons disappear and set the sandwich tray on the table. Sharing the abundance of turkey and cheese sandwiches, Mimi then asked, "How're things on the battlefront?"
Ryou frowned, "I guess you could say it's okay. We're trying to keep property damage from happening, but oddly enough? The guy we fought last night was only after things related to the Mew Project. If something had the slightest connection? The building goes boom."
"So... elaborate?" Sorrel questioned, finishing off a sandwich.
"Roy's dad's hospital," Ryou replied. "Luciano stayed there as a patient last month. Miles went for a check-up last week. It was attacked last night. Coincidence? We think not."
Mimi whistled, "That's harsh. Is it---"
"Thankfully, yeah," Ryou ran a hand through his hair. "I had to explain things to the mage doctors last night, but they protected the hospital and its residents. Whatever magic and powers the aliens possess, it's a heck of a lot stronger than we thought it was."
Celsia moaned, "Then that means without the power-ups, we were goners."
"We're probably screwed even with them," Ryou admitted, shrugging. "But we've got to at least try and figure out why the aliens are attacking anything and everything the Alesci family's touched. It's revenge, but the oddest one I've seen yet."
"Gotcha," Mimi put a hand to her heart. "Then let us handle it! Ryan, where'd you say the latest attack was?"
"The latest attack will happen down in a warehouse fifteen minutes away from here. I say that because I saw the future - and it's the only possible place that attack could've occurred."
The mews expectantly stared at each other, then slowly nodded as they looked back at Ryou.
"Take us there," Mimi held out her hand. "Use that special wizard spell of yours, okay? We don't need to alert the adults this time."
Ryou slowly put his hand on top. "You five do realize that if I do use my magic, I won't be able to help you in battle?"
"We're aware," Celsia added her hand to the growing pile. "But we're Manhattan Mew Mew. We can handle it."
"Agreed," Sorrel chimed in. Primrose and Retasu put their hands in the pile without hestitation, and all five girls eagerly looked at Ryou.
Sighing exasperatedly, Ryou smiled, "Fine, fine. Galaxy Transport!"
Mimi closed her eyes. A sudden breeze flew through her hair - and was she flying? It felt like she was going to throw up (oh Yahweh, please don't let her die now! That lunch was especially tasty)... opening her eyes, she immediately fell to the ground.
The other mews stumbled as they landed on the concrete warehouse floor. Only Ryou gracefully landed, as he told the girls, "You were good for your first time. I think I barfed all over the grass..."
"You did barf. I remember it too well," Roy laughed as he helped Celsia and Retasu up. "Their experiences as mew mews probably helped."
"So," Mimi said, holding out her pendant. "We get to attack again?"
"Not so fast," Roy shook his head. "Ryou and I wanted to check something... you know, this was originally where Ryou's dad researched animal DNA. It burned down a while back."
Everyone looked at him with alarmed faces. Ryou nodded, acknowledging their fears as he said, "The files were backed-up - and the Mew Project moved to my house, but the whole thing was a fiasco. Thankfully, the fire was forgotten and replaced with the warehouse you see before you. We think the aliens'll attack here, not realizing that the Mew Project no longer exists here."
Mimi narrowed her eyes, "... You're going to take us back in time, aren't you? To show us something important?"
"Not you," Ryou shook his head. "The aliens' leader. I have a feeling we'll need to subdue him and show him the truth. We didn't kill Alina Alesci."
"Is that what this whole battle is for?"
Everyone swerved to meet Panforte. The white-haired alien gazed at Ryou as he walked towards the group. His eyes briefly stared at Sorrel - and Mimi could've sworn he was actually smiling at her! - but the smile disappeared the moment Panforte held open his tome.
"Revenge for Galani?" Panforte repeated.
Ryou blinked. "Galani? All we've heard of is Alina..."
"Galani was her code name," Panforte explained, turning the pages to reveal a picture of Alina. "When Chive, Briar, and I were assigned to Earth, we were supposed to find Earth species and determine how we could grow them on our home planet."
"But you guys then attacked us," Celsia interrupted. "How does that equate into the whole thing?"
"Our leader decided he wanted Earth for his own purposes," Panforte responded, letting Ryou delicately flip through the pages. "But it was pretty obvious to us that it couldn't be accomplished with three people. Earth has diverse cultures and billions of humans; it'd be impossible this way."
"So you thought he had an ulterior motive?" Roy suggested.
"I'd known he always had another motive," Panforte shook his head. "But I never suspected it'd be simply to take revenge on one human."
"Waaaait," Mimi stared. "He wants revenge on Miles?"
"Not particularly," Panforte amusedly brushed his ponytail back. "More like he wants to kill Luciano Alesci."
"That's news to us," Roy put a hand on his hips. "You have any ideas why?"
"Only Briar and Chive were aware of his true motives," Panforte sighed. "I can't fathom why he didn't trust me, but I don't like how this will end."
Sorrel's eyes narrowed, "So why fight us? Did your leader tell you to?"
"He thought you were getting in his way," Panforte shrugged nonchalantly. "We were ordered to fight you. It was only when we lost contact with him that I realized what he was really planning."
Primrose looked thoughtful for a moment before she said, "Mr. Panforte? Does this mean you're on our side now?"
"I don't believe in sides," Panforte shook his head. "But I do believe in justice. Whatever this one man did, I don't believe it warrants the end of his life."
"So you guys believed we killed Alina," Ryou mused. "And thus you come back to Earth to take revenge for her life. She probably died in the fire that killed the Mew Project, then?"
"I wouldn't know," Panforte answered. "You'd have more of the answers."
"How about an answer to this one?" Celsia questioned. "What's the name of your leader? I feel weird just thinking of him as the bad guy."
"Briar and Chive dubbed him 'Deep Evil,' but his name is Cartellate."
Roy still eyed Panforte warily. "How do we know that you're not giving us information to distract us?"
"Kill a whole planet just to avenge one woman's death? Even if she was my queen?" Panforte shook his head. "Anyone with a sense of morals can see why I'd defect."
"Have to say," Mimi nodded, smiling sheepishly. "If Ryan was planning to do something like that, I'd betray him in a heartbeat."
"Hey!" Ryou retorted. "I'll have you know---"
"It was rhetorical, Ryou," Mimi rolled her eyes. "There was no need to actually respond."
Ryou blushed, choosing instead to summon his staff as he stared at the warehouse doors. Panforte took his book back and made it disappear into his wristbands. Summoning a lighter, leather-bound book, he hid in the shadows as the door cracked open. Each Mew Mew silently kissed their pendants and transformed as they too disappeared behind huge boxes.
Cartellate walked through, his hands holding a giant parasite easily. Gently scratching its head, Cartellate snickered, "So this is where the Mew Project once was. Let's see if a little arson'll attract that man now."
"Not so fast!"
Cartellate groaned as he spotted the five mew mews posing before him. "Haven't we had enough of this? I thought I made it perfectly clear when I defeated you last night."
"You missed the fox hiding in the shadows," Ryou sneered, appearing ontop of a box. Pointing his staff towards the villain, he added, "Perhaps you need to learn a little self-restraint and common sense."
Crossing his arms, Cartel stared Ryou's staff down. "Perhaps you need to learn the meaning of the word humble."
The mew mews summoned their weapons. Ryou called, "Float!" as white wings unfurled from his back. Cartel gave chase, flying into the sky and zooming after his prey.
The giant parasite, lost and swerving from one side of the warehouse to another, encountered a cockroach scrambling under the boxes. The parasite lunged, giggling as it and the cockroach merged and became one.
Mew Celsia screamed as she saw the new Chimera Anima, "Oh, ewwwwww. Did it have to be a cockroach?"
"Sorry," Mew Primrose apologized, summoning her spheres into her hands. "At least it wasn't a spider or rat?"
"Mew Celsia?" Mew Mimi added, chasing after the Chimera Anima. "We live in NYC. If a cockroach appears in broad daylight, it should be nothing new. Get over it and come on!"
"Says the girl who couldn't kill the spider," Mew Celsia grumbled as she chased after the cockroach. Mew Primrose jumped ontop of the Chimera Anima and kicked its abdomen.
"Reborn! Primrose Shield!"
Everyone stared at the giant yellow shield that popped into Primrose's hands. After hesitatingly eyeing the humongous weapon, Primrose thrust the shield and sliced the Chimera Anima's head from its body. Blood gushed everywhere.
"Ewww," Mew Celsia flinched. "Reborn! Celsia Tripleshot!"
Multiple arrows flew through her hands and hit the Chimera Anima's head and body with increasing speed. Mew Celsia blinked, then whistled, "Impressive. I think this one's a keeper."
"How about this one?" Mew Mimi yelled, swinging her meteor hammer around. "Reborn! Mimi's Bell!"
As the hammer hit the Chimera, a giant bell resonated throughout the battlefield. Cartel stumbled; Ryou seized the chance and swung the staff into his opponent's arm. The Chimera Anima yowled as it separated. Masha appeared from nowhere to happily gobble the giant parasite. Roy wasted no time in squishing the cockroach underneath his feet.
"That was easy," Mew Mimi commented, blinking.
Mew Primrose giggled. "You sound like a Staples commercial."
Mew Mimi stuck her tongue out, running towards Cartel. Mew Lettuce ran beside her; summoning her castanets, Mew Lettuce then cried, "Reborn! Lettuce Aqua!"
Water gushed from the castanets and towards Cartel's face. Cartel yowled; Ryou jumped and back-flipped onto a stack of packed boxes. Covering his eyes, Cartel shot red and white beams from his hands. Boxes exploded; the scotched contents lay across the floor. Ryou continued jumping as the beams kept firing.
Mew Sorrel instantaneously sang into her microphone as she hummed, "Reborn! Sorrel Harmony!"
Cartel gasped for air as he rose from the concrete. Placing his hand over his ear, he aimed beams at Sorrel. She dodged them each time; her melody unwaveringly continued to play as the mew mews kept attacking Cartel.
But then?
One beam missed and hit her squarely in the stomach. Gasping, Mew Sorrel stumbled, her hands in front of her as she kept struggling for air.
"How dare you?!"
Everyone stared as Panforte appeared from the darkness and attacked Cartel. He flipped through his book before whispering, "Divine Healing." Laying his hands over Sorrel's bloody stomach, he closed his eyes and kept whispering to himself over and over again.
Mew Sorrel looked up at him. "... Why're you healing me?"
He shook his head. "Sssh. You can talk later."
The wounds slowly reversed themselves, but the damage was done. Cartel squarely looked at Panforte and Mew Sorrel. Laughing hysterically, Cartel swung a box around and threw it to the ground in a heap. "So I see. You abandon me for her... just like Alina abandoned me for those stupid humans."
Panforte muttered, "It's not like that, sir."
"Speak up!" Cartel screamed, his eyes widening as he punched another stack of boxes. "I can't hear you!"
"I am not abandoning you!" Panforte stared back at his leader. "But your sanity has long been gone! When are you going to realize that killing Earth will not bring back your highness?"
Cartel narrowed his piercing, blood-red eyes. "Shut up," He demanded. "Shut up."
Panforte obeyed, his gaze now on the rest of Mew Sorrel's wounds. Mew Sorrel shivered as she whispered, "You drove him crazy. Why'd you do that?"
Mew Lettuce, in her panic, cried, "Reborn! Lettuce Aqua!" and shot more water in Cartel's way. Mew Primrose immediately ran in, adding, "Reborn! Primrose Enforce!" to create a barrier of water and pure, yellow energy.
With Cartel distracted, Panforte could finally say, "Because I hate myself for still loving you."
Mew Sorrel stared at him. "Panforte, but--"
He silenced her with a knowing look. Taking his hands off her partially-healed body, he let her rest on the ground. "Mew Sorrel, I want to promise something to you."
This was incredibly bizarre. Mew Sorrel flinched as Panforte scooped her up and took her outside the warehouse. Letting her rest on the grass, Panforte then attempted to heal her again. Smiling sadly at her, he remarked, "I promise to always love you. Even when it seems that I don't... I do. You're my number one."
Her eyes widened as she watched him kiss her cheek gently. No way-- it couldn't be--- Mew Sorrel pressed her lips together as she instinctively relied on Panforte's neck for support. "Panforte... you're..."
"I promised," Panforte whispered in her ear. "I came back to you when it was all over."
"It explains everything," She sadly smiled, looking back to take Panforte's face in completely. "Why you couldn't tell me anything... why you pretended to be Garner... why you never harshly attacked me... everything. And here I was, stupid enough to never put two and two together."
He let Mew Sorrel cry on his chest for a few minutes before he squarely looked her in the eyes. "Sorrel. Do you... still love me? Even if I'm... you know, not human? Or was your archenemy?"
Mew Sorrel laughed, looking back at him amusedly. "In case you haven't noticed, I've got wolf ears and a wolf tail. I don't think having an alien boyfriend would change much of anything."
He pressed his lips. "Yeah, but... you're taking this incredibly easily. I thought for sure you wouldn't hated me and declared you wanted absolutely nothing to do with me."
"Truth be told," Mew Sorrel leaned on his shoulder. Taking his hand, she squeezed it gently. "I still don't know what to make of all this. I was told that you wanted to destroy the Earth, but what happened?"
"I fell in love with you," Panforte blushed, staring at the ground. "Nothing made sense after that, and."
Her eyes widened. "You what?"
"Do I have to repeat myself?"
"N-no," Mew Sorrel put her free hand over her stomach. Panforte immediately stared down at her, his eyes studying her body carefully.
"Are you still hurt?"
... Huh. He looked really cute when he was worried over her like that. Mew Sorrel shook her head, pulling her shirt up to let him inspect the wounds more carefully. "It just hurts," Mew Sorrel admitted. "But I think you've healed as much of it as you could."
"It's still my fault," Panforte put his hand to his face. "I didn't think he'd be this hysterical about me healing you... I should've known."
"So he doesn't approve of interspecies romance," Mew Sorrel mused. Pulling Panforte's hand away, she gently smiled, "It's okay. I'll live."
"Deep Evil's a lot stronger than I am," Panforte insisted. "I can't let you fight him alone."
"Panforte," Mew Sorrel sighed exasperatedly, "I have the other mew mews. Then there's Ryou and Roy and Shuugo and the whole slew of wizards that've been helping us..." She closed her eyes, not quite aware of the detransformation she was currently undergoing.
Panforte shook his head as he looked down at her. "You're in no condition to fight. Please don't worry me---"
Sorrel cut him off as she kneeled and brought his face to hers. Gently kissing him, she ran her hands through his hair and let the ponytail loose. Panforte's eyes widened, but he smiled as he gently kissed her back. The two only let go reluctantly, and Sorrel nervously gave him back his ponytail holder.
"That was the only thing I could think of to shut you up," Sorrel nervously responded. "I'm sorry, you probably don't..."
He kissed her again. Letting go, he licked his lips as he commented, "No. I still love you more than anything, okay? I was worried that you wouldn't like the real me."
"We're not Romeo and Juliet," Sorrel pointed out, collapsing to the ground. "How many times do I have to tell you it's okay? I know everything now: you lied to me because you didn't want me to find out you were an alien. You were probably using me at first to get close to the mew mews, but the more time we spent together, the more you fell in love with me..." She trailed off, mumbling something to herself, but she'd clearly forgotten about Panforte's hearing.
Panforte tilted his head to the side, "You fell in love with the real me too? But I thought you hated my guts."
"You were sorta-kinda attacking me," Sorrel laughed. "But I meant: you and the real Garner are so incredibly different. He was incredibly confident, cocky, arrogant... not at all thoughtful and sweet like you were. And, and... you were my first serious boyfriend. I know this is going to sound so incredibly stupid, but I regretted breaking up with you. I didn't want it to end at all."
He cupped her face with his hands. "... No. I felt the exact same way."
Sorrel sadly smiled, "So we're like the two main characters of a bad romance novel?"
"No, because bad romance novels don't happen in real life," Panforte chuckled, kissing her again lightly on the lips. He then leaned over and kissed the nape of her neck lightly, reaching up to her face again before repeatedly kissing her there. Sorrel blushed, sure her entire face was red---
"So that's where you've been up to. My Panforte... and here I thought I could rely on you and your darling sister."
Panforte and Sorrel jumped, staring at Cartel as he hysterically laughed at them both. His eyes were even more red now (was that possible?) as he haggardly rumpled his hair even more.
"Your darling sister?" Sorrel stared at Panforte confusedly. "What do you mean---"
"Oh, she doesn't know?" Cartel sneered. "This is getting good. Tell her, Panforte. Tell her about the darling sister you've been trying to free from my grasp... tell her how you've been forced to follow my every order because she's my secretary? Tell this pitiful human how I assigned you to follow one of the mew mews because I knew you'd eventually kill her?"
Sorrel rolled her eyes, "We've already established that he really loves me."
Panforte immediately stood up, stretching his arms out to create a barrier between Sorrel and Cartel. "It may be true, but dammit, I love her. Okay, your highness? I love Sorrel Hayden. I'm sorry that you saw parallels between us and Alina and Luciano, but we're happy together!"
"Is this pitiful speech supposed to rouse my morals," Cartel yawned. "Because you should be trying harder!"
Panforte growled, "You wouldn't dare."
"Oh, but I would," Cartel smirked. "Ghostly Sins!"
Panforte summoned his book as he cried, "Dark Storm! Collide!" and watched the two balls of darkness attack each other from head-on. Sorrel watched in a panic. Taking her pendant, she hurriedly kissed it as she cried, "Mew Mew Sorrel! Metamorpho-sis!"
The attack hit Panforte; he spiraled to the ground. Coughing up blood, he winced but rose up again. Mew Sorrel joined him, their hands linked as they called out again, "Reborn! Sorrel Harmony!" and "Dark Storm! Punish!"
She sang into her microphone as she held her lover up for support. Cartel winced, growling as he held his ears with his hands...
"Eternal Darkness."
The darkness enveloped them; Mew Sorrel could feel herself gasping for air. Closing her eyes, she winced as the spell dispersed. Lazily opening one eye, she moaned, "Panforte. I'm... I'm so sorry. I... love you too."
She limply lay there. Panforte stared, poking and prodding her... "Come on, Sor. Wake up! Please wake up!" Nothing happened. He gently lay her on the ground, his body pulsing with blue energy as he growled, "How dare you! You can't get over Alina's death, so you have to punish me? Why---"
Cartel bridged the gap between the two men. He simply pressed a hand to Panforte, closed his eyes, and whispered, "Eternal Slumber."
Panforte collasped to the ground, linking his hand with Sorrel's for the final time before darkness completely enveloped them both. Cartel stared at the two fallen lovers one last time, then sneered as he disappeared back into the warehouse,
"So much for not being like Romeo and Juliet."