Disclaimer: No I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.

Five Elements; The American Mews

Chapter 23: The full power of Darkness

Mew Terra slowly stood up and looked right at Mirage, her face still slightly red. "Ummm….thank you for saving me. I can't believe you came out here just for…" Then she realized that Mirage wasn't even looking at her. He was looking behind him at the hacking Walt. "Huh?"

Mirage drew his sword. "May you find peace in death, dark being." Then the blade started to drop towards the boy's head.

Mew Terra's eyes widened in fear as she watched the blade drop in slow motion, her mind trying to find a way to increase her speed enough…

Mirage blinked as his sword struck the ground of the rooftop. "I missed him?" A mental flashback played in his head. ("He…he leapt over my head?") Spinning around, he grimaced as the black-haired boy walked over towards Mew Terra as if his life wasn't in danger. "Dark being…I'll slay you!"

Walt strolled up to Mew Terra and smiled at her. "I'm glad you came…Alicia." Then he blinked and patted himself down. "Hey, I'm okay? Wow, that was a quick recovery huh?"

Mew Terra face-fell, legs sticking up in the air. ("What the heck is with the Grant family? Are all of them superhuman?")

Mirage yelled out and charged right at Walt with his sword drawn. "I won't let you escape, dark one!"

Walt glanced behind him and then frowned. "What's with all this 'dark being' business? What did I do to you to suddenly make me the evil guy?"

"I cannot answer that, but I can sense it coming off of you like a shroud of pain." Mirage snapped the edge of his blade towards Walt's head, and barely showed any surprise when the blade hit nothing but air. Turning around, he realized that Walt was facing him now. ("Amazing…his speed is beyond mine!")

Walt narrowed his eyes, not even noticing as the irises turned blood red. "The only shroud of pain you're talking about is the one I'll drop on you unless you stop being a crazy danger…"

"You won't get away!" Mirage sheathed his sword and it started to glow with golden and emerald energy from within its sheath. "My ultimate technique, the attack that will slay your evil!"

Mew Terra just stood there, unsure who to help. ("This guy seems to be good, and he's saying something inside Walt is evil? Maybe we can figure out a way to purge it out of him?")

"I don't know what you are so hot to get out of my body, but I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not getting moved!" Then he turned his head to look right at Mirage, red eyes burning with a strange and powerful intensity that matched the emerald-eyed man's will easily. "If you're so hot to fight me, then bring it on!"

Mew Terra had never actually heard Walt say something angrily, and it sent strange shivers up her spine. ("I never knew that melodramatic guy could ever act intense. It seemed like whenever I tried to argue with him, he'd just back down and let me win. Now though…") Suddenly she realized that she was about to let Walt fight someone who had just beaten one of those mysterious demons. ("He'll get slashed to bits!") "Walt!"

"Not another word!" The black-haired boy pointed right at her, though his eyes never left Mirage's. "If you try to interfere…" He left the threat hanging and then placed his hands at his sides. "It's your move, blondie. Care to attack, or should I just go home disappointed?"

"Silence fool!" Mirage exploded into a burst of light, blinding both Mew Terra and Walt with its radiance. Less than a second later the swordsman was right behind Walt, hand around the hilt of his sword. "Hissatsu! Radiant Illusion Instance!" Then everything around him became blurry.

Walt was in mid-turn as the attack hit him. It was hundreds of sword slashes at once, too many for any one person to count the exact number. And yet it seemed like only a single slash. He felt his entire body shudder as the impact of those blows hit at once…

Mew Terra's vision came back just in time to watch Walt seem to explode into a spray of blood. "NO!"

Mirage started to sheath his sword, eyes closed. "May you find rest in…" His sentence was cut off as Walt punched him with enough force to rattle every bone in his body to the point of nearly breaking some of them.

Mew Terra gasped as Walt seemed to throw himself into Mirage, landing a single punch on the young man's jaw despite wounds that seemed to horrific to live through.

Mirage stumbled back, his entire body twisted into a partial collapse from the force of the blow. Through one eye he looked right into Walt's blood red ones, and he had to admit he was impressed. ("Despite using my best attack on him, he still had the strength to try and take me down.") A series of pops resounded from his body as his bones readjusted from the force of the punch. "However…it was all for naught. Sleep now knowing you almost took me out with that attack…" Then their eyes broke as Walt's body collapsed face-first to the ground, surrounded by a pool of his own blood.

"WALT!" Mew Terra ran towards her friend, eyes wide in fear that she had just watched the last thing he was ever going to do in this life. ("He can't be dead…no…he can't!")

Mirage wiped his cheek and then sheathed his sword, not a single drop of blood on the blade. "It was a shame. His determination was amazing, considering how outclassed he was…"

Walt's entire body shuddered and he slowly stood up, not seeming to notice the dozens of points on his body where blood was literally spraying out of him. "What was that about me being outclassed?" Then his head snapped up, teeth bared. And that revealed a pair of sharp fangs instead of normal human canines. "You won't say that when I actually land a solid hit against you!" Then he was moving, fist hurtling in to strike into and through Mirage's chest.

The blond-haired young man leapt back, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "That's proof enough that you are possessed by some kind of evil force. Considering that nothing human could live with those wounds, you must be under the control of the darkness…"

"You're so full of shit." Walt spat some blood onto the rooftop, adding to the puddle that was already around his feet. "Evil this and evil that, yet I wonder how evil you must be considering you tried to kill someone who had done nothing wrong!"

Mew Terra had stopped the moment Walt had stood up, and as per his wishes she didn't move another inch towards him. Then again, she didn't move back at all either. ("Walt…please…let me help…") But she could feel it coming from him like some of telepathic command. It was in his voice and in his stance.

("This is my fight now, regardless of circumstances.") Walt ignored the wounds that if not treated would prove fatal very soon. "Let's continue, because I really do want to land a solid hit on that pretty face of yours so I can watch it shatter."

"Don't try to bluff me." Mirage snapped up the point of his sword to point right at the teen. "That last hit took all of your effort." He smirked superiorly, right up until Walt punched at the air in front of him. Then he wasn't smirking at all as a small cut appeared on his cheek. ("He cut the air just with the pressure of the punch?")

Walt snarled darkly, his entire body seeming to bristle up in anger. "I'm sick and freaking tired of all you stupid superhuman weirdos acting like nobody is your equal! I'm not just stronger than you, but I'm more than capable of killing you if I wished!"

Mirage's face turned deadly serious. "Declare such a thing…and you are simply asking to be killed. Are you sure you want that, foolish child?"

Walt was about to punch, but suddenly he was blinded by a powerful flash of light that filled the air around him.

Mirage stood behind Walt once more, his hand around the hilt of his sword. "This is the end! Hissatsu! Radiant Illusion Instance!" Then he drew his sword out of its sheath, the world seeming to warp around the blade as it appeared to slash once through Walt. The truth became apparent as a hundred new cuts opened up on Walt's body.

Walt's head snapped back in a silent cry of pain, his eyes clouding over as he started to fall.

Mirage felt a tingle run up and down his spine. ("No, he's not beaten yet!") "Hissatsu!"

"Stop it!" Mew Terra started to run towards the two, but was blinded by another brilliant flash of light. "STOP!"

"Radiant Illusion Instance!" Mirage appeared right in front of Walt, swinging his sword once more. And then he sheathed it again and watched as Walt's body seemed to almost come apart, the muscle tissue torn and destroyed on all parts of him. ("That did it. The darkness cannot push him to fight any more. He will finally find peace in death.") Then he disappeared, appearing right between Mew Terra and Walt. "It's done, the darkness is purged and the boy's soul is free." As if on cue, Walt dropped to the ground like a ton of bricks.

Mew Terra started to run towards Walt, but was stopped by Mirage's outstretched hand. "Get out of my way!"

Mirage shook his head sadly. "He is dead, there is no doubt in my mind that is the truth. No one could survive that many of my ultimate attack. The darkness is gone, and therefore this world is not in…" She ran past him, despite what he was saying. "Fool, then go and mourn over him. His death was necessary."

Mew Terra dropped to her knees in front of the fallen Walt, eyes wide in fear. "Please…don't be dead…not Walt…" He was her best friend. He was the kind of guy that always kept his cool even in the strangest situations. No matter what ever happened around him, he'd never break down into fear.

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Alicia frowned and glared at the man in front of her. "Get out of my way. I've got business with this so-called gang boss of our school."

The teen in front of her, a brute at least two feet taller than her and much bigger than her crossed his arms across his chest and glowered down at the little blond-haired babe that had always been one of those annoying 'stop the bully' types ever since the school year started. "Listen, I'm not letting you in and if you keep being an annoyance I'll have no choice but to run you out of here."

"Run me out of here?" She smirked right at him coldly. "Just try it, you big pile of muscle."

The boy grabbed her by the wrist, easily blocking a kick he sensed was coming for his groin. "If you insist…"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Robert Grouwler." A voice spoke from directly behind the boy, and he froze at who that voice was associated with. "Or else you'll find that the rest of your life may involve a lot of looking behind you for gentlemen with guns…"

The large man slowly released Alicia's wrist and stepped aside, his entire body trembling slightly. "G…Go right in ma'am."

Alicia smirked and stomped into the small office, the sound of things getting thrown around coming from inside.

Walt was back to back with Robert, his arms crossed across his chest and his eyes closed. "Wise decision. Now then, as long as you don't mention to that girl I was involved, then you'll never need to see me again."

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Mew Terra shook Walt's body a few times, tears in her eyes. "Please get up Walt! I'm begging you…please get up!"

"It's a waste of time, fool." Mirage turned to walk away, right up until his felt a tingling of dark energy in the air. "That cannot…" When he heard Mew Terra's gasp, he knew that wasn't the case. ("How can he still be alive?")

Walt slowly stood up, his eyes barely open and his entire body straining to hold him up. "I…I can't…allow you to do this!"

"Do what?" Mirage turned to face the boy. "Besides you, who have I hurt?"

"You hurt Alicia…." Walt's tired eyes seemed to light up with that burning intensity from before. "I…I won't forg…ive you for that!"

"Just lay down. You're dead already…" Mirage sighed and was about to strike the final blow with his sword. "I'll send you to the great beyond, so your suffering will end."

"This pain is nothing…" Walt nearly fell, but somehow managed to stay standing. "Compared…compared to what it will feel like to watch Alicia cry!" He threw back his head and screamed at the top of his lungs. "I won't let that happen!"

"I grow tired of listening to your voice. Prepare to lose your head to…" Mirage drew his sword and charged.

Walt's eyes turned blood red again. "Mew Mew Darkness, METAMOPHORSIS!" An explosion of black energy erupted around him, his entire body disappearing within it.

Mew Terra and Mirage both looked as surprised as possible as they watched the swirling ball of darkness in front of them. ("That can't be!")

From within the darkness, a voice spoke out. "You would make innocent woman cry…unforgivable!" A pair of glowing red eyes pierced the darkness like a pair of rubies with a flashlight behind them. "For your transgressions against chivalry, I'll make you pay!" The darkness collapsed to reveal a humanoid wearing a pure black suit of armor. It had a pair of bat wings on its back…and a pair of…cat ears on its head? "I am the enforcer of that chivalry! Mew Darkness!"

Mew Terra stared at what appeared to look just like Walt, if you excluded the fangs, ears and wings on his back. "W…What kind of…"

("The darkness has taken the form of something familiar to the boy, and yet something…") He wasn't sure how to even explain it to himself. ("His willpower has caused this, but what does it all mean?")

"Prepare yourself." Mew Darkness gripped the hilt of his sheathed sword, the weapon appearing much thicker than the thin blade that Mirage carried around with him.

"You won't be able to defeat my attack!" Mirage's sword became surrounded by a glowing light of emerald and gold. "Hissatsu…"

"Not this time!" Everything around them turned to night, leaving just Mew Darkness and Mirage standing with no backdrop around them. "Ribbon…" He started to draw his sword, and as he did that a soft light fell over them both. Behind and above them both was the moon, or at least some kind of energy representation of it. Then he drew his sword, holding the blade up so that both of his eyes were looking at Mirage from both sides of the blade. "…Moonlight Slash!" The whole blade flashed bright gold, and then he swung the sword, the strike leaving behind a single glowing crescent of energy that hurtled in and flashed right through Mirage.

The blond-haired swordsman stood there, his eyes wide. Then those wide eyes closed as he dropped to one knee, clutching at his chest. "We'll…we'll meet again." He faded away just like his namesake, not leaving a single trace of his existence.

As the faux darkness faded, Mew Darkness sheathed his sword and turned to look at Mew Terra. "So, did I do good?"

"You big…" Mew Terra punched him as hard as she could, eyes almost cross from her anger. "Were you staying down just to build up dramatic suspense?"

Mew Darkness' tail flicked up and moved in tandem with his voice. "Of course not! Do I seem like that kind of guy?"

"YES!" Growling, Mew Terra kicked him once and leapt off the rooftop, almost bouncing away from the entire scene.

Mew Darkness propped his head up with an elbow and sighed. "My dear Alicia, we'll always have Paris." After throwing out that pointless remark, he stood up and brushed himself off. "Well then, I guess I'd better head home and make sure that Ellen hasn't actually cleaned up too much, or else I'll never find any of my stuff." As he turned to walk away though, he smiled as he glanced back at the retreating form of Mew Terra. ("I'll always be your guardian angel Alicia, albeit a dark one.")

To be continued…

And so a fifth Mew, Mew Darkness, has been created. What does all of this mean though? Shouldn't the fifth had been water? Or perhaps my view of the elements is wrong?