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AmandaArtiste
Author of 51 Stories |
A/N: The last chapter got some interesting reviews. Honestly I think anyone’s best bet when writing fanfiction is to stay true to the characters, experimenting is fine just don’t go overboard, and um…type/write when the inspiration strikes. I can’t tell you how many post-it notes and typed-up ideas it took me just to get this story off the ground. Hope that helps the reviewer who asked.
Couple of things you’ll need to remember when you read this and the next chapter: in Pudding’s first anime appearance she blocked an attack from Kisshu by unwittingly causing a stone slab to spring up out of the ground, before Lettuce joined the Mews she frightened people at her school by manipulating water from the pool and could even use it to attack, and finally (in episode 43) Minto managed to fly alongside a twister to retrieve the Mew Aqua from a swan when Pai and Taruto tried to steal it by killing the birds first. Why’s this important? Well keep reading and it’ll become clear. I just wanted you to know I’m still basing this stuff off actual events in the series. Oh and that song Piper wrote will be mentioned again later. Enjoy the super long chapter!
Destinies Intertwined
Chapter Eight: What’s the Matter with Mew?
Minto landed and found herself walking through a thick forest alone in what she assumed was the middle of the night. She had only the blackened sky to go by and the weird fact that everything else around her was illuminated by a pure white light. From what she could tell the glow seemed to be coming from within. Everything was bright and strangely supernatural. The grass, the trees, the rocks…everything!
This…this is too weird. she thought as she wondered on deeper into the surreal forest.
Lettuce found herself in the same predicament. She had started out following a winding stream through the woods. Why? She couldn’t recall. But stranger still was the sudden sense of déjà vu, as if she’d been there before, in that exact spot, same situation and just as clueless. Then it occurred to her. She had been there before, several times in fact, and it had happened very recently too. It was somewhat of a nightly routine with her, like brushing her teeth or changing into a pair of pajamas before bed.
So then, she pondered, this is a dream? But…it seems so real.
Pudding was swinging merrily through the trees. Effortlessly she reached out and grabbed another vine as she went. The monkey girl howled triumphantly as she whipped through the brilliant white branches without a single care as to where she was or how she got there.
This is so much fun, na no da!
Eventually all three figured out that they were dreaming, though for some reason they were unable to awaken. After what felt like a small eternity of wondering about they came upon a clearing in the woods’ center and were surprised to find themselves staring across at one another.
“Minto onee-chan! Lettuce onee-chan!” Pudding called gleefully. “You’re having the same dream too, na no da?”
“Wait,” the bird Mew put a hand to her temple and shook her head, “you’re in my dream and you’re dreaming about this too?”
“That’s unusual.” Lettuce remarked innocently.
“It’s impossible.” Minto grumbled.
Pudding ran in circles around them. She remained her normal, hyper self despite the odd coincidence of sharing such an unusual dream with two other people. To her it was all harmless fun.
Lettuce walked over to one of the illuminated trees and caressed a leaf gently between her fingertips. “This is so strange. I wonder why everything around us is glowing?”
“It’s like the whole forest has a life force, na no da!” Pudding shouted between cartwheels.
“You mean an aura?” Minto guessed.
“That might make sense.” Lettuce said hesitantly. “Every living thing is supposed to have one.”
“Even that rock?” the lorikeet girl remarked in a deadpan voice while jerking a thumb over her shoulder.
“Well,” her friend sweat dropped, “rocks aren’t exactly alive so I don’t see how the glow could be explained as its-”
Pudding stopped leaping about and ran over to the rock. Placing a hand atop it she smiled knowingly and turned to the other girls. “The rock is alive, na no da.”
Her friends stared back at her with dumbstruck expressions. Quite honestly they looked embarrassed beyond words by Pudding’s naivety.
“P-Pudding-san,” Lettuce tried to humor her, “what makes you say that?”
The monkey Mew jumped up on the rock and struck a confident pose. “The rock’s part of the planet, right, na no da?”
Lettuce’s eyebrow twitched. “I-I guess so.”
“So what?” Minto asked bluntly.
“So…” Pudding wagged her index finger back and forth, “the planet’s alive. It’s covered with trees, and water, and plants, and people, and all kinds of animals, na no da! And if conditions aren’t just right the climate will change or the water could dry up and then everything would die, no da.”
“Is there a point to this?” the blue Mew asked impatiently.
“The point is,” Pudding crossed her arms in a self-assured way, “that since none of that’s happened yet the planet’s still alive. And that means everything on it is too! Even the rocks, na no da!”
Minto stared at her like she’d lost her mind but Lettuce looked thoughtful.
“But Pudding-san, planet Earth isn’t technically alive.”
“Is too,” the monkey Mew insisted. “It moves, it grows things, and it supports life, na no da. If it was dead it’d be just a big ball of dirt like the moon or Mars, na no da.”
Minto turned to glare accusingly at Lettuce. “This is all your fault for introducing her to the Science Channel.”
“S-Sorry,” the porpoise girl smiled nervously.
“Whatever. The problem now is finding out how we all got into the same dream and how we’re supposed to get back out.”
“Maybe we’re trapped!” Pudding suggested happily. “It’s happened before, na no da.”
“You’re way too cheerful about this.” Minto frowned.
“Maybe we’ll just wakeup on our own?” Lettuce shrugged. “I don’t remember any battle so it’s unlikely we were attacked by another dream creature.”
Their conversation was cut short when the ground started rumbling beneath their feet.
“Wee!” Pudding cried elatedly with both hands pressed to the ground. “This dream is great! Look what Pudding can do, na no da!”
“Pudding!” Minto shouted, “Even asleep you’re so immature!”
Lettuce had swirls in her eyes as nausea set in. “Pudding-san, please stop shaking the ground!”
All around them the wind picked up as Minto’s patience wore thin. “Pudding! You cut that out THIS INSTANT! Do you hear me?!”
“Weeee!” the blonde continued obliviously. The loud rumbling noises had drowned out their protests. “Pudding is super powerful, na no da!”
“Pudding!” Minto growled.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Lettuce groaned.
“PUDDING!”
That got through, “What is it, na no da?!”
“I said-”
“Speak up, na no da! Pudding can’t hear you over the wind!”
Minto gritted her teeth, “I SAID-”
“Said what, na no da?!”
“Oooohhh…” Lettuce clutched her stomach woozily while the stream splashed behind her.
“-STOP!!!”
Minto shot up in bed panting. With the dream still fresh in her mind she looked around to find herself safe and sound in her room with Piper sleeping peacefully beside her. Propping her head in her hands she tried to calm down and order her thoughts.
That dream again. she winced at the memory of its latest twist. More like a nightmare. What was Pudding thinking?! And why was she there in the first place? And Lettuce too?
She decided to ask them about it at work. If the three really had been having the same dream, a dream they could even interact in, there had to be something more to it than mere coincidence. She hadn’t been this shaken up since her dream of forced flight. That alone had been enough to scare her into quitting. Thankfully Zakuro had managed to change her mind.
The sound of soft breathing caused her to glance down at the little boy sleeping soundly on her right. Minto felt herself grow calmer as she watched him silently, and finally a gentle smile spread across her features in the dark. No dream was going to scare her away from her duties this time. No matter what she had to protect the Earth—and all the people she loved who lived there.
Pai explained this to his undecided comrades and expressed a bit of interest in volunteering himself. Of course it didn’t take long for him to regret it…
“Oooh, so you finally admit it, ay Pai?” Kisshu chided.
“What are you talking about?” he remarked stiffly.
Kisshu elbowed a snickering Tart and winked. “Your little crush on that fish girl, duh.”
Pai’s cheeks were actually tinged a pale pink. “Hmph, my affairs are none of your business Kish. Do you think you could manage to stay on subject for once? And she’s infused with porpoise DNA, not fish…you twit.”
“Sure Pai,” Kisshu shrugged, “whatever you say.”
Taruto snickered louder when Pai sneered at the cocky green haired alien. And he swore he heard his eldest friend growl.
“Besides-”
Kisshu floated down and draped an arm around the pigtailed Cyniclon causing his laughter to come to an abrupt halt.
“-it’s much more fun to tease Tart here about his little monkey Mew sweetie. Right Tart? Ahahahaha!!”
Taruto’s growl was audible throughout the entire pocket dimension. But rather than get angry, or start pouting like the others expected, his scowl became a mischievous smirk.
“Look who’s talking,” he countered, “you spent all that time moping around after we left because that old hag didn’t choose you over the Blue Knight, and now that we’re back the first thing you do is go and fall for that other Mew!”
“W-What?!”
Pai smirked as well at Kisshu’s flustered expression.
“That’s right,” Taruto continued impishly, “you’ve got a thing for the bird lady!”
Kisshu’s face went beet red. “Why you…!” he lunged for the kid but Tart moved swiftly out of the way.
Sticking his thumb on his nose he wiggled his fingers tauntingly and blew him a raspberry. “Nyaaaah!”
Tired of their immaturity Pai interrupted in his firmest tone. “Enough! We still have other matters to discuss before we decide on our next course of action.”
Taruto and Kisshu stopped and cast their gaze toward the stoic alien. They didn’t say it but the word “what” was written all over their faces.
“Upon arriving we discovered a certain unforeseen dilemma.” he reminded them. “Somehow a child from our planet was able to cross through a Crisect portal and arrive on the Earth. Fortunately he was intercepted by the Mew Mews before the enemy could harm him. Unfortunately,” he paused for effect and to make sure he had their full attention, “we must now decide whether or not to take him back.”
Kisshu winced, the way Pai said it made the whole thing sound so final. He really didn’t want to tell Minto that she couldn’t keep her ‘baby bird’. It would break her heart. And contrary to what his previous actions before their alliance might’ve led them to believe, he wasn’t such a cruel hearted guy. A little impulsive and harsh in battle, sure, but not heartless.
“Are you sure we should do that, Pai?”
The elder Cyniclon looked at him curiously. “You think we should leave him here to be raised by a Mew? To grow up among humans?”
“Why not?” Tart shrugged from his position floating with his arms folded behind his head. “He seems pretty happy. We should probably just leave everything like it is.”
“But who would teach him of his heritage?” Pai inquired. “Who would keep him from forgetting who and what he truly is? A Cyniclon.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong here,” Kisshu spoke matter-of-factly, “but the kid’s an orphan, right? So it’s not like he had anyone around to do that stuff in the first place.”
Pai was silent for a moment. “Still, the boy needs to be among his own kind. No one here would be able to train him, teach him how to control and properly harness his abilities. And let’s not forget, he’s still an alien among humans. And their race is known to fear that which they don’t understand.”
“You’ve read too many human books Pai.” Kisshu waved him off lightly. “Humans aren’t as bad as all that. You remember how it was right before Deep Blue got defeated.”
“Yeah Pai, and you even helped save those humans at the station.” Tart pointed out.
“That was different,” the lavender haired scientist stated bluntly. “They were in the way. It was necessary to clear them out. And with the alliance in place it would’ve been unwise to harm them.”
“Oh give it a rest Pai,” Kisshu yawned and swatted at him in aggravation. “You saved those humans because you wanted to. And because it made you look good and heroic in front of that green little mermaid of yours.”
Pai gnashed his teeth. He may have liked books but he hated it when people could read him like one!
“Yeah Pai,” Taruto smiled encouragingly, “and you even said that humans were wonderful creatures. Back at the last battle we fought against the Mews. Remember?”
The elder Cyniclon coughed and spluttered. “I remember no such thing.”
“Whatever,” Kisshu rolled his eyes. “the point is, if an orphaned kid from our race was gonna be raised by another species, humanity isn’t such a bad choice.”
“Hmph.” Pai crossed his arms, clearly not convinced.
“And-” Kisshu smirked; he knew just what to say to sway Pai’s opinion, “he’d probably learn a lot from the experience.”
That seemed to work, somewhat. At least Pai didn’t seem totally against it anymore.
“Very well,” he consented, “we will consider the possibility. But that doesn’t make it indefinite. I have some experiments to complete on the remains of the Crisects we destroyed at the station. The results should tell us exactly what they were after and hopefully aid us in strengthening our defenses and preventing future attacks from similar races. After that, we’ll return to Earth and observe the Mew Mews for a while longer. Then we’ll make our final decision concerning the boy.”
“Okay!” Taruto’s mood brightened. He’d been anxious to go visit Pudding again. He was curious on how well her siblings were doing with the garden and heck, he even missed the little midgets.
“Sure,” Kisshu smiled placidly. “According to the latest transmission we got from home everything’s running smoothly now. So we’ve got some extra ‘vacation time’ if we want it. There’s no hurry to rush back.”
“Hooray for Shirogane-san, na no da!” Pudding squealed happily as she rushed into the dining area with an envelope full of money. Since she was the youngest, and probably too young to be legally employed for the number of hours she worked, Ryou always paid her in cash. And if one thing could be said about the rich young blond, it was that he paid his employees generously.
“Now Pudding can go shopping and fill up the cabinets with lots of yummy food for next week, na no da!” little hearts appeared in her honey-brown eyes. “Pudding is going to invite Taru-Taru to dinner, na no da! She’ll prepare him an AMAZING feast, no da!”
“Uh, Pudding-san,” Lettuce sweat dropped, “haven’t you already had Taruto-san over for dinner?”
“This time will be different,” she insisted in a half pout, “Pudding will use all her favorite secret family recipes to make this a meal he’ll never forget, na no da!”
“Let’s just hope she doesn’t make him any of that ‘scary food’ she always likes to eat.” Minto commented between sips of tea.
Pudding puffed out her cheeks and flushed. “At least Pudding has a boyfriend, na no da!”
“Oh,” Minto took advantage of her outburst, “so you and Taruto are dating now, hm? When did that happen?”
The monkey Mew went bright red from head to toe as she was instantly surrounded by the other four girls. Me and my big mouth, na no da.
“No wait!” she frantically shook her hands and head. “Pudding didn’t mean it like that, na no da! P-Pudding and Taru-Taru are just friends, NO DA!”
Zakuro grinned, Minto jeered, Ichigo giggled, and Lettuce beamed in a congratulatory fashion. A collective, “Mmm-hmmm” came in response causing Pudding to fall over in embarrassment.
Ryou walked up behind her and looked down at the yellow clad waitress sprawled out on the floor. “Haaah,” he exhaled in exasperation, “anyone care to tell me why we’ve got a monkey girl on the floor?”
But all eyes were fixed on the envelopes in his hands.
“Nyah!” Ichigo’s eyes sparkled when she saw the one with her name. “It’s my weekly earnings! Now I can afford that cute new outfit I saw in the window of that boutique downtown. It’ll be perfect for my date with Aoyama-kun tomorrow!”
Ryou resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he handed out the envelopes. “Good work this week girls. Try not to blow it all in one place.” He looked pointedly at Ichigo who flat out ignored him as she drooled over her payment.
Minto and Zakuro weren’t nearly so enamored. Being relatively wealthy on their own they simply didn’t get the thrill that came with an average person receiving a generous salary for their part-time job. Though Zakuro was much less haughty about it than Minto.
“Such fuss over a few yen,” she trivialized it. “Why this would barely cover the cost of one week of dance lessons.”
“Or acting classes.” Zakuro added softly.
“Well some of us don’t come from super rich families MINTO!” Ichigo snapped. “So lay off.”
“Hmph,” the bird mew stuck her nose in the air, “so rude. You might want to think about buying some manners with that money instead.”
The others watched with varied uneasiness as Ichigo growled in humiliation while Minto smirked proudly.
“Aoyama-san might leave you for a more proper girl if you don’t get your ill manners in check Ichigo. Be nice or I might even introduce him to Kanna Saionji. You remember her, don’t you?”
“Grrrrr…MINTO!”
And that was it. An all out insult war erupted between the girls that left the others sighing with beads of sweat on their foreheads.
“The cat and bird are fighting again,” Zakuro stated.
“And all is right with the world.” Lettuce added.
Pudding had taken advantage of the distraction and snuck over to the table to polish off Minto’s tea and cookies.
To their relief, and Minto’s amazement, the place was still standing when they got there.
“Well,” the blue Mew remarked as she entered the home and slipped out of her shoes, “everything looks to be in one piece.”
“MAMA BIRD!”
Then again, Minto gulped as a blue and yellow blur came flying toward her, maybe I spoke too soon?!
WHAM!
Brown eyes bulged as she was gut-checked by the excited little Cyniclon. With nothing but socks on she couldn’t hold her ground and wound up sliding back into the door.
“Ouch,” Pudding winced then turned and smiled warmly as her siblings rushed up to greet her.
“Hi Onee-chan! Welcome home!” they chorused.
“Hi everyone, na no da!” she chirped back, “Have you all been good while Pudding was at work, no da?”
“Yeeees!”
“Good!” Pudding beamed and held up the bag of groceries she and Minto had picked up on their way over. “Then Pudding will reward you all with lots of yummy Crab roe Tenshin rice for dinner!”
A cheer instantly broke out.
“Can Piper-chan stay for dinner, no da?” Pudding’s sister asked hopefully.
“Sure!” the monkey girl answered, “If Minto onee-chan says it’s okay we’ll treat them both to dinner, na no da!”
Minto’s expression faltered when she was suddenly confronted with five pairs of mahogany eyes and one tangerine colored pair close up. “Well…okay.” she relented. “I guess we can stay.”
“YAAAY!”
Piper gave her a quick peck and leapt down to follow the others out of the room, presumably to resume whatever game they’d been playing before the two Mews arrived.
At first glance upon entering the house it looked like no one else was home. “Hello?”
“Up here!” came a voice from upstairs.
Lettuce found her brother Uri up in his room working on a model rocket. It was one of his favorite pastimes, much like Lettuce’s doll making hobby.
“Uri, where is everyone?” she questioned from the doorway.
The young boy looked up from his model and smiled. “Mom ran out to pick up something for dinner and Dad’s working late at school tutoring some students.”
As he spoke Lettuce’s mind became a bit hazy so she decided to head back to her room and relax for a while. “Good luck with your model, Uri. It’s coming along great.”
“Thanks ’Nee-chan!”
By the time she reached her room—which was only a couple steps away—Lettuce had begun to feel really dizzy. She sat her purse down on the dresser and laid down to rest. The covers remained neatly in place since she didn’t bother to crawl under them. For some reason she was suddenly very hot. Wiping a hand across her brow she realized she’d broken out into a cold sweat.
“Oh no,” she moaned with her eyes shut against the sunlight streaming in, which had started to give her a headache, “I can’t get sick now. I’ve got work tomorrow. And I’ve never called in sick before.”
Wincing as the pounding in her head intensified she removed her glasses and sat them on the nightstand by her bed. She laid there for a few minutes longer trying to wait out the headache so she could think clearly. Maybe an aspirin would help?
Lettuce reluctantly swung her feet over the side of the bed and stood up. She made it out to the top of the stairs, replacing her glasses as she went, but had to stop again when she was struck with a sudden case of double vision. When she removed her glasses she found it only made things worse by blurring them. With a groan she decided not to chance it and hobbled back into her room. Plopping back down on the bed she called to Uri and asked him to bring her up an aspirin and a glass of water.
Uri entered the room to find the window raised and the fan blowing at full speed from his sister’s nightstand.
“Onee-chan, are you okay?” he queried tentatively.
“Yes,” Lettuce sat up and forced a smile, “just a little tired is all. I think I should rest for a while.”
Uri left looking only slightly disconcerted and shut the door behind him. Lettuce sat the half empty glass down by the fan and tried to take a nap. But her sleep was restless and when her mother returned and came upstairs to check on her she was alarmed.
“Lettuce! You’re burning up with fever!” her mother had exclaimed.
But Lettuce had been too out of it to get worried. She stayed up in room with only the light from the hall shining through the crack in her door. Downstairs she could hear her parents discussing what to do.
“Maybe we should get her to a doctor?” Mrs. Midorikawa suggested.
“Let’s wait and see how she feels tomorrow.” Mr. Midorikawa offered sensibly. “If her fever hasn’t come down we’ll make her an appointment first thing.”
Lettuce’s mother relented and the family ate dinner while the green Mew remained in her room, struggled futilely to fall asleep, and declined any food.
While the pots on the stove simmered atop each burner Pudding skipped out of the room to complete her usual chores. Minto tidied up the small mess in the kitchen and had just finished putting the last of the ingredients away when she noticed Pudding reenter with a look of confusion.
“Hm? What’s wrong Pudding?”
The blonde scratched her head and held up the empty clothes hamper she’d grabbed from the bathroom. “The laundry baskets were all full before Pudding left for work, na no da. And now they’re empty. It’s very strange, no da.”
The sound of kids’ laughter and the pitter-patter of several scampering feet sounded from the living room just before Heicha popped her head in, saw the empty laundry hamper, and cheerfully announced, “Don’t worry ’Nee-chan, na no da! Heicha did all the laundry while you were at work, na no da!”
“Heicha…” Pudding smiled, touched by her sister’s thoughtfulness. “You shouldn’t worry about taking care of the house like I do, no da. That’s Pudding’s job.”
The little blonde stuck out her lower lip and propped her hands on her hips defiantly. “Hmph! Well Heicha is a big girl too, na no da! So she can handle the laundry and help out just like the others, no da!”
Pudding was at a loss for words, she hadn’t meant it as an insult. But Heicha definitely looked offended, staring up her with crossed arms and pouty red face.
“Looks like your siblings are growing up,” Minto noted with a grin. “That means they’ll be getting more independent from now on. You can’t expect them to allow you to do everything by yourself like before. They’re not that naïve anymore.”
Heicha looked at her big sister with watery eyes, intentionally making her lip quiver as she spoke. “Don’t you trust Heicha to help with the laundry ’Nee-chan? She’s watched you and Sensei very closely, no da. Heicha won’t make a mistake, na no da.”
Pudding faltered. “Well…um…” she looked to Minto for support but the bird Mew simply smiled and shook her head. “Unghhh…okay Heicha, you can help Pudding with the housework, na no da.”
“Yay!” the little blonde jumped for joy and raced off to rejoin the others. Not a trace of her previous mood in sight.
Pudding blinked and slumped over the hamper. “She just deliberately put me through a guilt trip, didn’t she, na no da?”
Minto giggled and gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Don’t take it too hard Pudding. It’s perfectly natural for kids their age.”
The monkey Mew wore a sulky expression. A few weeks with Piper-chan and Minto onee-chan thinks she’s suddenly an expert on children, na no da.
As the evening progressed both Mews grew increasingly tired. By the time dinner was over the kids had started to notice how beat they looked.
“We’re fine,” Minto assured them.
“It’s just been a long day.” Pudding nodded, “We just need to get some rest, na no da.”
Minto left with Piper a few minutes later. As soon as they rounded the gate he decided to do more than just look at her with concern.
“Mama Bird…ya know I can just teleport us back to your room, right? We don’t have to walk back.” he offered.
“That’s okay Piper-chan,” she fought back a yawn. “I’m not that tired yet and it’s a nice night. We can walk.”
“But since the Crisect thing I can teleport a lot further than I could before.” he insisted.
Instead of answering him Minto began to sway back and forth. Without warning the world had started to spin around her. The ground tilted at impossible angles and threw her completely off balance. Piper managed to catch her before she fell into the street and promptly teleported them both home.
Meanwhile Pudding’s siblings helped her get to bed early and promised to wash-up and go straight to bed themselves (after watching a kung-fu movie on TV). Feeling too tired to argue their sister agreed without a fuss and was soon fast asleep in her room.
“Good morning Lettuce!” Berry greeted her friend the moment she arrived.
“Good morning Berry-san,” the porpoise Mew replied warmly.
According to the schedule in the changing room it was Minto and Zakuro’s turn to have a day off. Even with Aoyama escorting her to work everyday Ichigo still managed to show up late. Tasuku and Berry were always right on time though.
“Maybe we should get Ichigo-san a pair of rollerblades?” Lettuce suggested jokingly.
“Ha ha, that’d be a disaster on wheels.” Tasuku laughed as the girls emerged in their waitress uniforms. “Looking good Berry!”
The hybrid Mew blushed at his praise. “Th-Thanks, um…Lettuce!” she grabbed the green Mew’s hand and pulled her back toward the kitchen, “Let’s go see who Keiichiro wants waiting tables while the others run the register or take hostess duty!”
“O-Okay,” Lettuce stumbled after her. She already knew she’d probably be stuck at the register again. Aside from her clumsiness she really was the best math student of the bunch.
Tasuku took off to make some mid-morning deliveries and nearly collided with Ichigo and Masaya as they raced around the hedges.
“NYAAAH!”
“AAAHHH!”
The pink Mew fell backwards into her boyfriend’s arms.
“Nice catch,” Tasuku laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry about that Ichigo. Didn’t see you coming.”
“It’s okay,” the cat girl panted. “We’re kind of running late again.”
“Some forgetful little kitty didn’t set her alarm clock.” Masaya teased.
“Nyah…” Ichigo blushed and pawed at the air.
Turning his attention back to Tasuku, Masaya inquired. “So, did you hear about the quake?”
The grey-eyed boy blinked. “Quake?”
“Oh yeah,” Ichigo vaguely recalled the newscast she’d seen on her way out the door. “There was an earthquake out in the residential area late last night.”
“That’s right,” Ryou startled everyone by appearing out of nowhere.
“Gah! Don’t do that!” Ichigo snapped with both her furry ears and tail showing.
“It was a small quake that barely registered on the Richter scale.” he explained earnestly. “But our data shows it was centered right around Pudding’s house.”
“Huh?!” Ichigo’s eyes widened. “Where is Pudding?”
“That’s just it.” Ryou lowered his head and fixed his eyes on the grass. “She hasn’t shown up for work today. It may be nothing but, in any case, I’m going to go check it out.”
“Do you want us to come along?” Masaya inquired.
“No,” Ryou shook his head, “I’ll be fine. For all we know she’s just running late. And,” he smirked, “I’m not letting Ichigo out of hostess duty. She’s already spent half the summer goofing off in California.”
Said Mew’s face reddened in aggravation. “SHIROGANE!” she yelled after him, “What’s do you mean ‘goofing off’?! I was fighting ALIENS you JERK!”
And so Masaya and Tasuku were left to try and calm her down before she wound up blowing their cover to the entire park.
“C’mon Mama Bird,” he nudged her shoulder with his toe, “rise and shine! You promised we could play.”
“Mmphf.” Minto grunted into her pillow and squeezed her eyes shut in protest. Her whole body ached and she felt like all her energy had been drained. Figures that on my day off I’d wind up with a cold, she thought bitterly.
But Piper wasn’t giving up. Hovering next to her ear he called, “Maaaaaamaaaaaa Biiiiird… You awake yet?”
With a groan she pushed herself up off the comfy pillows and struggled into a sitting position. “I am now.” she huffed with sprigs of wavy black hair in her face.
“Good!” he grinned perkily.
Winds picked up outside the mansion and caused nearby tree limbs to knock against the window panes while the blue mew grudgingly climbed out of bed and started to get dressed.
“Aw great,” her charge pouted, “it looks like a storm’s coming.”
Minto muttered something incoherent and trudged into the bathroom to brush her teeth and fix her hair. When she emerged the skies over her house and the surrounding area were darkened with thunder clouds.
“So much for playing outside.” Piper stated grumpily with his cheeks propped on his fists.
“We’ll just have to play indoors then.” Minto shrugged indifferently. “But first thing’s first, I’m going downstairs to get our breakfast.”
Piper floated sulkily and continued to stare out the window. The day was already off to terrible start for him. And then he made the mistake of muttering, “What could be worse?!”
“Pudding!” a familiar voice had her skidding to a stop.
Looking ahead she saw a blond figure rush her way. “Shirogane onii-chan?”
“Pudding,” he repeated as he reached her, “is everything alright?”
The yellow Mew blushed in embarrassment. “Everything’s fine Onii-chan, na no da. Pudding just overslept this morning. Sorry ’Nii-chan, no da.”
Ryou smiled in relief. “Ah, that’s okay. Ichigo’s late all the time you know?” that got a giggle from the monkey girl. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Pudding is fine!” the blonde beamed, glad she wasn’t scolded. “She had a good rest, na no da!”
“But Pudding,” Ryou’s brows knitted together in confusion, “didn’t you feel the earthquake?”
The monkey Mew blinked. “Earthquake, no da?”
Ryou quickly explained about the minor quake and how it was centered right under her house. Though surprised by the news she informed him that neither herself nor her siblings had felt any quake.
“But then again,” she smiled, “we were all pretty tired, na no da. Pudding had a busy day at work and Pudding’s siblings stayed up late to watch a movie, no da.”
They were about to head back to the café together when they noticed the dark storm clouds forming a few blocks away.
“Isn’t that where Minto onee-chan lives, na no da?!”
“Quick,” Ryou raced over to his motorcycle and tossed her the spare helmet, “put this on! We’ll go investigate!”
Ryou sent Pudding in ahead of him, the acrobatic monkey Mew was able to scale the vines growing up the outer walls of the mansion and do a backwards summersault onto Minto’s balcony without attracting unwanted attention. Piper was mildly surprised to see her standing triumphantly on the other side of the glass doors.
“Piper-chan!” she greeted, “Open up! Pudding has important business inside, na no da!”
Too bewildered to argue he let her in just as Minto knocked for him to come unlock the bedroom door.
“Pudding?” the bird Mew blinked when she saw her teammate standing across from her, the balcony doors wide open in the background.
The blonde’s eyes sparkled in excitement as she bounded over and sniffed the food. “Mmm…are those fresh bananas and toast with jam Pudding smells, na no da?”
Rolling her eyes the bird Mew shrugged and gave up. “Help yourself.” She really wasn’t that hungry anyway.
Ryou waited impatiently outside the gate when Pudding came rushing back out with a half-eaten banana in each hand and a piece of jam covered toast hanging between her teeth. He was about to smack his forehead and ask what in the world she’d been up to when Minto appeared behind him. Piper still had a tight grip on her shoulders from when they’d teleported.
“Well?” she asked expectantly as a clap of thunder sounded above. “You’d better have a good reason for interrupting me on my day off and making me come out in this weather.”
“I’ll explain everything back at the café.” he informed her and shot a pointed glance at Piper who took the hint and teleported himself and Minto there ahead of them.
Turning back to Pudding, Ryou saw she’d finished off the toast and one of the bananas. Without a word he shoved the helmet in her free hand and mounted the bike. He had a bad feeling about all these sudden, unexplained anomalies.
"This is ridiculous," she complained to the others, "First he has the nerve to send Pudding to my house to drag me out into the rain on my day off. Then he makes Piper take me to the cafe before he'll tell me what's going on. And when he FINALLY got here he rushed right past me and makes me wait again while he and Akasaka-san discuss the weather!"
"Do you really think that's all this is about?" Lettuce asked doubtfully. "It seems like a lot of trouble to go through for something so simple."
"Maybe a new enemy has appeared, na no da!" Pudding suggested eagerly.
Ichigo blanched, "Whaaat?! Another one?! But we just finished dealing with the last two!"
"Evil will never be fully extinguished from the world." Zakuro stated coldly. "As long as there is good there will be a certain level of wickedness to oppose it."
Well that dampened the mood.
"She's right," Masaya agreed, "but that doesn't mean we should stop fighting for what's important to us."
"If we did that," the monkey girl added somberly, "we wouldn't deserve it anymore, na no da."
Below them Ryou and Keiichiro discussed the possible causes for the strange earthquakes and weather patterns in the area.
"There's still a chance that these are all just coincidental." Keiichiro offered.
Ryou wasn't convinced. "If the incidents were spread out more, maybe. But they happened too close together. They have to be related somehow."
As the minutes ticked by the unease upstairs intensified. The questions on everyone's mind were:
What could've gone wrong now? and What's taking them so long to act?
Lettuce in particular became increasingly worried. She bit her lip and nervously wrung her apron as the minutes passed by with no response from either scientist.
Over by one of the heart-shaped windows Pudding sniffed the air. “Pudding smells rain, na no da.”
Sure enough the sound of raindrops pattering against the windowpane sounded softly behind her. That alone was strange enough, seeing as there hadn’t been a cloud in sight a few minutes ago (except for in Minto’s neighborhood), but when the drizzle turned into a sudden downpour it was too spontaneous to dismiss. Everyone looked up as sheets of rain pounded down upon the roof, making it look like waterfalls were rushing over the windows.
Lettuce’s eyes widened fearfully. “Oh no, it’s getting worse.” Sensations like having ice water in her veins washed over her and made her shudder to the core.
“It’s happening again,” Keiichiro gasped as a massive rain cloud appeared on the far monitor. “This system developed without warning.”
“How can that be?” Ryou murmured. “The right conditions aren’t in place. So why’s the whole park suddenly getting drenched?”
Removing his square framed glasses the brunet muttered reluctantly, “You don’t think it could have something to do with the aliens, do you?”
“The Crisects?”
“No,” Keiichiro met his gaze with a solemn stare, “the Cyniclons.”
Ryou scratched his chin in thought. “It might. They have been hovering overhead the whole time. And it might explain why we haven’t heard back from them yet.”
“Still,” Keiichiro looked skeptical, “to affect the environment to this magnitude in such a short amount of time. We’ve only seen one alien with the power to manipulate the natural balance on that kind of scale…”
Blue eyes widened, “Deep Blue?”
“Yes,” Keiichiro gave an encouraging smile, “but he was destroyed by Ichigo-san and Aoyama-san.”
“But there’s still the Blue Knight.” Ryou seemed doubtful that he was even a possibility. The Blue Knight lived to protect Ichigo and would never intentionally endanger the planet where she lived.
“Well,” the brunet hesitated, “there is one other being that might possess enough power.”
Ryou regarded him curiously. “Who?”
The manager looked deeply troubled as he answered, “Piper-san.”
“What?” the blond stared at his friend in utter disbelief. “How could he have anything to do with it? He’s just a kid.”
“Remember those findings we made at the last excavation site?”
“You mean the ancient carvings?”
“Right,” Keiichiro nodded and explained earnestly, “the images we found depicted powerful women that were deified by the ancient civilizations. The ruins aren’t nearly as old as the ones where we found traces of the Cyniclons’ past habitation of our planet but we can’t just overlook the fact that those ‘deities’ bare a striking resemblance to Chimera Animas or—more so—to the Mews.”
“So, you really believe that someone else created a project similar to ours in the past?” Ryou asked.
“It doesn’t seem possible,” the brunet admitted. “But then again, the Mew Project alone has shown us that there are a lot of things in existence out there that we never thought possible. Our ancestors may have indeed found a way to create powerful guardians to protect our planet and its resources. It would explain how life was able to adapt and survive in a world that changed so drastically over the span of millions of years.”
“And millions of years is nothing in the vast evolutionary process.” Ryou sighed. “I guess anything’s possible at this point. It may even link to those visions the girls mentioned.”
The two scientists hadn’t been all that concerned when the girls first came to them about their strange dreams yesterday. But now too many things seemed to coincide with the dreamt up events. The ground shaking, sudden gusts of wind, and now large water droplets were splashing against the roof so loudly they could be heard all the way downstairs. It had to tie together somehow.
“Urgh,” he fisted his hands in his bangs, “I feel like we’ve got the answer staring us right in the face right now but we just can’t see it!”
“Don’t give up,” Keiichiro smiled encouragingly. “I believe that everything will reveal itself in due time. And speaking of time,” he glanced at the clock in the corner of the computer screen, “I believe it’s time we explained the situation to the others upstairs.”
While everyone was engrossed in Keiichiro’s announcement and throwing out questions left and right Ryou approached from the side and fixed his gaze on the raven haired girl standing at the back of the group. As much as he didn’t want to believe it Keiichiro was right about one thing—the Cyniclons were prime candidates for this sort of mayhem. And that meant that Piper (whether willing or not) may at least have information they could use. The kid was young, but if Tart was any indication, even young Cyniclons knew plenty about the sort of advanced technology that was still alien to Earth.
"Minto."
The blue Mew stopped and turned at the sound of her name.
"Shirogane?"
The blond stood before her with his no nonsense expression. This was obviously a matter of Mew Project duty.
"Keep a close watch over Piper," he came directly to the point. "It's highly probable that he's connected to these strange occurrences somehow."
"Piper-chan?" she didn't like where this was going. If anything she'd hoped to keep the little Cyniclon from getting involved. He was already way too enthusiastic about fighting for someone his age.
"Right," Ryou nodded, "your visions, the ancient carvings we found, the unusual environmental phenomenon that have been centered around Tokyo...it's not just all one big coincidence. Something serious is going on Minto and I need you to find out all you can from Piper about-"
"BUT WHY ME?!" she demanded suddenly. "Why am I always the one who has to drill him for information?! He's just a kid, you know!"
Ryou's brow furrowed. "I know," he consented, "but right now he's the best lead we have. With Aoyama's memories of his early childhood lost we only have Piper's knowledge to go on. And since he obviously trusts you the most, it's only logical that you be the one to approach him. Get him to confide in you, Minto. I'm counting on you—we all are. Besides..."
He paused a moment to stare almost pityingly at the crestfallen Mew.
"...it might be good for him."
Sad mahogany eyes slowly rose to meet his unwavering gaze. "How?"
"It's like you said, 'he's only a child', and already he's been through so much." Ryou's voice became distant as though he had suddenly become lost in his own memories. "What he really needs right now is someone he can talk to. Someone who will listen and let him get it all off his chest. Do that and I promise you—he'll be grateful."
The smile he flashed her was sincere and promising. It brought a smile to her own face as she wordlessly accepted the task. Mission or not, it was her duty to look out for Piper's best interests. It may not always be easy but it was the right thing to do, both as his guardian and his friend.
"Hey." she greeted as she came round to lean beside him on the wall.
"Hey." he returned listlessly.
Tilting her head back Minto looked off into the vast expanse of gray sky above them. No sense beating around the bush about it. "Shirogane says you may be tied into some of the weird things that have been happening lately."
"Like what?" he asked curiously, tangerine eyes wide and innocent.
"Like..." Minto found herself faltering for a moment, "...like the odd weather patterns and those strange dreams Pudding, Lettuce, and I have been having."
"How would I affect your dreams?" Piper quirked a brow. "I don't have that kind of power."
Minto was about to point out how Pai and Taruto had already managed to create a Chimera Anima that could trap them in a dream dimension once before but decided not to mention it. Circumstances were complicated enough without dredging up the past and creating more suspicion between Piper and the other Cyniclons. "I'm not sure. But—we didn't start having the visions until after you arrived."
The blond alien looked down in thought.
"And then there's your ocarina..."
"My pipe?" he asked bewildered as he held up the elliptical instrument.
"Mmh," she affirmed, "it makes such beautiful music but also...I've seen you wield a lot power when you play it. None of us have seen that kind of power since—well—since the Blue Knight."
Piper was awestruck. "Y-You mean you think I might be as strong as him?!"
"In some ways," the lorikeet girl smiled. But it's only a theory.
"Wow," Piper glanced down to where he had clutched the ocarina protectively to his chest. The Blue Knight, that guy's amazing! I’ve seen some of the footage Keiichiro got of him in action. Imagine me, a knight! Heh, Heicha's gonna flip when I tell her!
"So," Minto pressed on, "do you remember anything else, about before you left, anything at all that might help explain things?"
The child's brow creased as he thought for a moment, a very long moment that seemed to stretch on forever. Finally he shook his head and sighed. "Nope, nothing. Sorry."
Minto's shoulders slumped as she frowned down at him. "Nothing?"
"No luck, Mama Bird. If there is some kind of connection between the Blue Knight and me, then my mom must not have known about it either. She never said anything to me about blond, blue-eyed knights with magic swords. We barely knew anything at all about Deep Blue. Only that he was supposed to be some kind of god that had come to save us from extinction."
"Deep Blue?" Now there was a name she'd hoped never to hear again.
"Yeah," he started to absently swing his legs back and forth in mid air, "we were all pretty much stranded until he came along. I heard he had all this knowledge of ancient science, technology, and space travel that had been lost to our species for thousands of years. Rumor has it that he agreed to share it with us—if we'd help him reawaken so he could return to his true form. That was gonna take a lot of energy though. But he was convinced that there would be enough on Earth to spare."
That sounds just like him, Minto scowled angrily as an image of the selfish tyrant appeared in her mind. That arrogant, manipulative, despicable...!
"You don't think I'm somehow connected to him too, do you, Mama Bird?"
Minto jerked herself out of her loathing thoughts and locked eyes with Piper. The poor little Cyniclon looked absolutely terrified at the concept. She was quick to put his fears to rest. "Of course not, Piper-chan! You're nothing like that monster. Nothing at all!"
Stupid Shirogane, her brow twitched, why did I let him talk me into this? Now Piper's more worried than ever. I just KNEW this would be a bad idea!
Could I really be related to some dangerous bad guy like Deep Blue? Piper wondered in uneasy silence.
“Geez,” Taruto kicked his heels out toward the ceiling of the control room where he sat upside down in the chair at his station, “what’s taking him so long?”
“You know Pai,” Kisshu opened an eye to glance at him lazily while he reclined back in his chair, “once he gets started on a project he won’t let up until he’s gathered all the data he can.”
The pigtailed alien snorted. “Still, they’re just giant bug monsters. It shouldn’t take this long to figure them out.”
Kisshu shrugged and went to doze off again when the door behind them slid open.
Taruto looked over and beamed. “Pai!”
“Oh,” Kisshu cast him an acknowledging glance, “so you finally finished analyzing those remains, huh?”
“Yes.” Pai nodded curtly, still wiping residue from his gloved hands.
Tart winced at the sight of the alien guts. Though he had to admit it was kind of cool that Pai got to dissect their enemy it was still pretty gross to see him up to his elbows in its innards.
“So,” Kisshu sat up and swirled around in the chair, “what did you find out?”
“After a detailed analysis of our enemy’s major internal body systems—what remained of them—I was able to determine conclusively the reason for their attacks on both races.”
Kisshu stared at him dumbly. “Duh, I kind of figured that much.” Geez, it’s like this guy swallowed a dictionary.
The elder Cyniclon ignored him and continued. “Due to the similar genetic make-up of both humans and Cyniclons the Crisects viewed us as a food source. We contain all the proteins and various other compounds that are essential to the species’ diet. So, it actually wasn’t our planets they were after at all.”
“They wanted to EAT us?!” Tart was creeped out by the unnerving news.
“Yes.” Pai remained ever emotionless.
“Hn, well that explains it then.” Kisshu also appeared unfazed as he turned back around and propped his feet on the console. “It’s kind of late though. We should probably wait ‘til tomorrow to tell the Mew Mews.”
“Heh, heh,” Taruto’s expression darkened mischievously, “I bet those girls will freak out when they hear they were almost eaten by giant space monsters.”
With that decided the three went about their business, doing whatever they pleased to pass the time until the next day. Pai left without another word, presumably to return to his lab and dispose of the excess remains. Tart went to his room to pig out on candy and read some of the comic books Pudding had given him. Comics were one of the human inventions he enjoyed (almost as much as sweets). Reading about genetic mutations, alien super heroes, and intense battle scenes was fun and some of the graphics were pretty awesome too!
Kisshu stayed at his station and stared out at the Earth in silent contemplation. He’d been doing that a lot more than usual lately. If Pai and Taruto had spent enough time on the ship to notice they might’ve been worried.
Memories from their first trip to Earth flooded back to him as he stared at his transparent reflection in the window. One in particular replayed in his mind as vividly as the day it had occurred. It had happened on Valentine’s Day, an Earth holiday girls in Japan celebrated by giving chocolates to the special boys in their lives. And naturally Ichigo had worked especially hard on her gift to Masaya. But Kish wasn’t worried about that, not when he had already made up his mind to abduct his reluctant ‘koneko-chan’ and take her to some distant planet where he’d have her all to himself. And better still, she’d be spared the sight of watching her people destroyed when Deep Blue awakened to reclaim Earth for the Cyniclons.
But his first attempt failed miserably and before he could try again the Blue Knight transformed into their powerful master. It was much, much too soon! Ichigo was still there, still refused to obey him and return his feelings, and in the end he wound up losing both his life and the girl.
Though the former had been restored thanks to the miraculous healing power of the Mew Aqua he had still lost the only girl he’d ever felt so deeply for. And when he thought back to their last meeting and how she barely noticed him at all old wounds reopened and plunged him deeper back into despair. It hurt so much to be reminded of how she didn’t return his affection. Dismally he stared out at the blue planet below them set before the vast backdrop of space and began to wonder if anyone out there ever would.
Keiichiro came out from the kitchen and asked if she needed any help. She assured him she was fine so he went downstairs to monitor the latest conditions. Except for the rain everything had gone back to normal around the city though he was reluctant to lower his guard just yet.
“What is with this Earth weather?” he muttered to himself.
As he got closer he noticed something else out of place.
“Hey Mama Bird,” he eyed her back curiously, “why’d you transform?”
The bird Mew’s shoulders tensed and an icy chill suddenly shot down his spine. Something’s definitely wrong here.
“M-Mama Bird?”
He reached out to touch her shoulder but jerked back when she whirled on him fiercely with an unnatural red glow to her eyes. There was something disturbingly familiar about that glow. He just couldn’t quite place why.
“Now,” she announced darkly in a tone much too sinister to belong to his firm yet loving ‘Mama Bird’, “the time has come for all humans to DIE!”
Tangerine eyes widened in fear. “W-What?!”
“Pudding! PUDDING!” he leapt from his motorcycle and shook her shoulders frantically.
Whipping out his cell phone he turned and started to dial the number to the café.
“Mew Mew Pudding—Metamorphosis!”
He spun back around at first relieved and then alarmed when he saw Pudding staring back at him with a devious smile and reddish glow to her eyes.
“P-Pudding,” he ventured, “what’s wrong? What’s happening to you?”
When the blonde girl gave no answer he turned suspicious and demanded that she tell him who she was and what she’d done with Pudding.
The monkey mew laughed coldly. “I am Chimera Pudding,” she announced, “and I will use Mew Pudding’s powers to destroy the Tokyo Zoo Crew and wipe out humanity, na no da!”
“Oh no,” he remarked uneasily, “according to this data three of predacytes Masha retrieved in America were accidentally released during the blast.”
Pulling up Masha’s video files he located the one from the day of the incident and replayed it on the screen. On closer inspection he could see that the predacytes had managed to use the extra power boost to infuse themselves with three of the Mews through their previous wounds. With the girls weakened and the predacytes stronger than ever they didn’t notice anything was wrong immediately.
“I’ve got to warn them before it’s too late.” he declared.
He’d just gotten up to rush to the phone when a voice from the doorway shouted, “Reborn Lettuce Rush!”
A blast of water missed him by inches and slammed two of the monitors against the wall. When he looked over he saw the porpoise Mew glaring back at him menacingly with reddened eyes.
“It’s already too late,” she informed him. “You pathetic humans are doomed!”
Outside the café Uri lounged on one of the park benches under a large cherry tree. With the hood of his jacket pulled over his head it was difficult to tell his identity and people dismissed him as just another jogger hanging around the park. It was chilly, wet, and downright gloomy out. But for some reason he felt the need to stick around. Something about the way his sister had looked before heading out that morning made him wonder if she was really as healthy as she claimed.
Onee-chan, he stared sadly into the endless rain,
“Cyniclon traitor!” she shouted furiously, “All traitors to Deep Blue-sama must be destroyed!”
Meanwhile Ryou was having problems of his own with Chimera Pudding. No matter how many times he tried to reason with her his words just didn’t seem to get through.
The commotion caused Heicha to run outside before her brothers could stop her. It was true that they weren’t supposed to leave the house until Pudding got home but the little blonde had always been more curious (and occasionally more reckless) than her brothers.
Heicha gasped in horror when she saw her big sister preparing to launch an attack on the injured blond lying sprawled out in the street. “No ’Nee-chan don’t do it!” the little girl cried as she rushed to intervene. “Shirogane onii-chan is a good guy, no da!”
Her pleas fell on deaf ears.
“Pudding Ring Inferno!”
“AAAHH!” scared out of her wits Heicha froze and covered her eyes as the blast came hurdling toward her.
“NO!” Ryou screamed, he’d never reach her in time, that attack was just too fast!
Just as Heicha was about to become a pint-sized pudding mold Piper appeared in front her and blew a shrill note on his ocarina. The sound waves countered the attack and stopped it cold. Chimera Pudding dropped her weapon and covered her ears.
“No fair, na no da!” she growled. “That’s cheating!”
Chimera Minto swooped down and fired a close shot at them from above. Piper repeated his attack and winced when she dropped to the sidewalk with her gloved hands clamped tightly over her ears.
While their enemies’ ears were ringing Ryou yelled for the two kids to follow him back to the café. “We’ve got to lead them away from Pudding’s brothers and the other civilians!”
On the way Ryou called ahead to the café but received no answer. Concerned he called Ichigo directly and ordered her to round up the others. “Hurry Ichigo!”
“Reborn Mint Echo!”
“It’s an EMERGENCY!” he yelled and swerved his bike to avoid the shot.
Back at the café the phone continued to ring down in the lab while Keiichiro stayed slumped on the floor a short ways away. His white shirt was stained with blood from a deep gash on his right shoulder. Sparks from the busted machinery rained down around him as Chimera Lettuce moved in for the kill.
“Reborn Loveberry Check!”
The porpoise Mew barely avoided a direct hit by the attack. She cast a glare behind her where Mew Berry and her boyfriend stood in the doorway.
“Luckily we were close by when we got the call.” Tasuku informed a relieved Keiichiro as he rushed over and helped him to his feet.
“Thank you, Tasuku-san.”
Mew Berry held off the Chimera Mew while Tasuku moved the injured scientist up the stairs. They made it out front just as the others arrived.
“What’s going on?” Ichigo demanded.
“Akasaka-san!” Zakuro was shocked to see the brunet in such a state and quickly knelt down by his side as Tasuku lowered him carefully to the grass.
“I’m afraid we’ve got a serious problem on our hands ladies.” Keiichiro informed the girls. “Three Mews have been infused with predacytes.”
“WHAT?!” a series of startled gasps rang out from the group.
“It gets worse,” the brunet continued, “the predacytes have changed Lettuce, Minto, and Pudding into Chimera Mews and are using their powers to achieve the Cyniclons’ original objective to destroy the human race.”
Mew Berry slowly backed out of the café just as Piper and Heicha arrived with Ryou.
“Keiichiro!” the blond immediately rushed over to check on his friend.
“It’s alright Ryou,” he bravely assured him, “I’m fine. It’s the others we should be worried about now.”
Ryou drew back. “What do you mean?”
“From what we learned about fusing human spirits with predacytes it greatly increases the person’s metabolism. And these predacytes are incredibly powerful. If the girls remain infused with the alien creatures much longer their systems will burn out completely.”
“N-No,” Ichigo’s eyes widened and quivered with unshed tears, “th-they’ll DIE?!”
“You’re ALL going to DIE.” a familiar yet disturbingly twisted voice announced from behind.
Piper sat Heicha on the ground and turned with his instrument ready just in time to see Chimera Minto land beside the smug faced monkey Mew.
“For the glory of Deep Blue-sama, na no da!”
The others were blown away, especially Masaya. He hated his alter ego and had hoped never to hear that name again. But the predacytes that Kisshu left behind when the aliens left Earth must have still been programmed to obey the heartless tyrant and his minions.
“All humans will perish.”
The grim statement drew everyone’s attention back toward the café where Chimera Lettuce emerged with her castanets poised for another attack.
“And the Mew Mews and their allies get to die first, no da!” Chimera Pudding held out her hands and narrowed her eyes in concentration. Her irises went from honey-brown, to bright yellow, to a fiery red as the ground beneath them started to shift and shake.
“H-How is she doing this?!” Mew Berry exclaimed. She nearly toppled over into Tasuku when a large sharp rock burst through the surface and knocked her back into Ichigo instead.
“Ichigo!” Masaya shouted as he snatched her out of the way before another sharp rock could spear her. “Hurry and transform! We need a barrier!”
“Right!” Ichigo nodded and shifted her gaze from Masaya to Chimera Lettuce.
The wolf teen stood and glared defiantly at the fiendish duo behind them.
“Mew Mew Ichigo-”
“Mew Mew Zakuro-”
“-Metamorphosis!!”
And in a rarely seen maneuver Masaya too transformed—into the Blue Knight! He wasn’t nearly as powerful as he’d been before the destruction of Deep Blue, but he held no regrets. It was worth it to be the master of his own destiny.
The three Mews held their weapons out in opposite directions and extended their power into a barrier to protect them against the others’ attacks.
“Pudding Ring Inferno!”
“Reborn Mint Echo!”
“Reborn Lettuce Rush!”
“We can’t hold out forever!” Mew Berry winced.
“We’re getting bombarded from all sides.” Mew Zakuro added.
“Just a little longer everyone.” Mew Ichigo persisted. “We’ve got to keep this up until we can think of a way to diffuse our friends from those aliens!”
Uri looked up from his spot on the bench and heard the commotion coming from inside the hedges surrounding the café. “Onee-chan…!”
The Blue Knight stood behind Mew Ichigo with his sword drawn in preparation to counter any attack that breeched the barrier. When he caught sight of his reflection in the blade a light flashed in his eye as though he’d just been struck with an epiphany.
It might work!
“Everyone!” he called suddenly, “I think I know a way we can save the others. But we’re going to have to drop the barrier.”
“WHAT?!” the hybrid and wolf Mew shouted.
“If they do that those Chimera Mews will cream us!” Tasuku exclaimed.
“Not if we can overpower them first.” the Blue Knight replied. “Listen, if we focus our power into the Chimera Mews we’ll drive out the predacytes and Masha can recapture them.”
“Retrieve! Retrieve!” the little pink robot swirled over Mew Ichigo’s shoulder excitedly.
“What makes you so sure it will work?” Mew Zakuro asked.
“I don’t know for sure,” he admitted, “and I can’t explain it, but something tells me that it’s the only way.”
With no other options left the Mews agreed and prepared to lower the barrier.
Tangerine eyes bulged, “Waaaiiit! You’re really gonna do it?! This is CRAZY!”
“Piper-san,” Keiichiro spoke softly to the quaking blond, “take Heicha-san and teleport to safety. This is no place for children.”
“Actually,” Ryou remarked thoughtfully, “he could come in handy.”
“Huh?!” Piper trembled as Ryou fixed him with a confident gaze.
“You could use your instrument to cripple the enemy long enough for the others to close in.”
The little Cyniclon looked doubtful but Heicha threw her arms around his neck from behind and gave him a quick peck on the cheek for encouragement. “You can do it, Piper-chan! Heicha believes in you, na no da!”
With a deep blush and an audible gulp he reluctantly agreed to go through with the plan.
No sooner had they dropped the barrier than they were knocked to the ground by a strong gust of wind.
“AAAHHH!!!”
Chimera Minto lowered her arms, a triumphant smirk on her face. “Face it Mew Mews, you’re finished!”
Chimera Pudding bounced over clutching a piece of her Pudding Ring in each hand. “You can’t even fight back without hurting your friends, na no da!”
“Ha!” Mew Ichigo called defiantly, “Just remember if you burn out all our friends’ energy you’ll die too!”
“Not likely,” Chimera Lettuce stepped forward and gestured toward the surrounding puddles. The three Mews were ensnared by long extensions of water that rose up and lassoed them tightly. “Predacytes can hop from one host to the next.”
“So as soon as your friends die, we’ll just infect someone else!” Chimera Pudding cackled. “Maybe even one of you, na no da!”
“If you live that long.” The green Mew added.
“Which you won’t.” Chimera Minto promised menacingly.
The Blue Knight managed to sever the aquatic restraints with one swing of his sword. The act only appeared to anger the Chimera Mews further.
“I’ll turn that guy into shish-kebab!” the yellow Mew growled. "Take THIS, no da!"
She held out her hands in preparation to launch another rocky attack when Piper floated up overhead and played the same shrill note as before. The sound pierced their eardrums and brought everyone to their knees in agony.
Thanks to her prior experience with the Chimera Cicadas Ichigo managed to struggle back to her feet. “C’mon girls,” she grunted out to Mew Zakuro and Mew Berry, “this is our chance. We’ve gotta save them!”
“You won’t win so easily!” Chimera Lettuce extended her arm toward a puddle directly under the Cyniclon and sent a drill-shaped blast of water spiraling up toward him.
Somehow less affected by his own head-splitting attack Piper kept focused on playing the note, so much so that he didn’t see the counterstrike coming from below.
“LOOK OUT!”
Someone dove upwards and shoved the oblivious blond out of the way just in time. The two came crashing down in the mud between Ryou and the Blue Knight. The scientist’s eyes widened in recognition. “Uri?!”
“Ow.” a tiny voice grunted underneath him.
Uri got to his feet and hauled the dazed Cyniclon up. A Piper-shaped imprint remained on the ground.
When the Chimera Mews shook off the attack they found themselves already in the clutches of their enemies. Mew Berry had grabbed Chimera Lettuce from behind, Mew Zakuro did the same with Chimera Pudding, and Mew Ichigo had Chimera Minto in a tight hold. All three infused girls looked shell-shocked by how quickly the tables had turned.
“This can’t be happening, no da!”
“You’ll never win you filthy alley cat!”
I’m gonna enjoy this. Ichigo’s eyes darkened at the insult.
“No matter what you try, it won’t work!” Chimera Lettuce declared vehemently, though her tone was laced with panic.
“We’ll just see about that!” Mew Ichigo replied. “Ready girls?”
“Ready!”
“Ready.”
“All right! Now everyone concentrate on releasing your energy into the others.” she directed. “One…two…three…”
“Mew Power Extension!!!”
“AAAAHHH!”
“NOOOO!”
“IT BURNS, NA NO DA!”
Cries of protests and agony immediately erupted from the girls in their hold. The predacytes put up a tough fight but they were being overwhelmed by the onslaught of immense power. It was too much to handle and they soon lost their hold and flew out of their hosts.
But there was something different about these predacytes…
“They’re HUGE!” Tasuku gaped. “I thought predacytes were supposed to be little jelly-fish sized aliens?!”
“They are,” Keiichiro furrowed his brow, “but these have been supercharged with the energy from the blast down in the lab and again when the Mew Mews channeled their power into the girls. Masha won’t be able to contain them now.”
The little pink puff ball trembled at the sight of the massive crimson jelly-fish monsters. “No good! No good!”
“They’re too big,” Ryou frowned.
“Too big! Too big!”
“And too powerful.” Keiichiro added.
“Too powerful! Too powerful!” Masha flapped his stubby pink wings frantically.
The diffused Mews collapsed into the arms of their exhausted teammates. While Mew Ichigo tried to lower Minto to the ground one of the predacytes lashed out toward her with its spiny tentacle.
“ICHIGO! Sui-Sei-Ran-Gyoku-Zan!!”
In a flash the Blue Knight swung his sword and decimated the three oversized predacytes at once.
“Wooow,” Piper remarked with awe. That guy’s amazing!
Masha zipped over and flew in circles around the spot where the glittery dust had fallen and dissipated. “No retrieve! No retrieve! Aliens gone! No retrieve!”
With the threat gone the scientists and Tasuku stood and helped the girls carry their three unconscious friends inside. Down in the basement Piper hovered anxiously over the motionless bird Mew.
“She’s gonna be okay, right?” he asked Ryou worriedly.
“She’ll be fine.” the teen genius gave him an encouraging smile. “You were a big help today Piper. Thanks.”
Piper jumped slightly when the Blue Knight walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Very impressive. We could not have saved the day without you.”
The kid looked as overjoyed as Minto when she received a rare compliment from Zakuro. He hadn’t quite come to idolize the Blue Knight but it was still cool to hear something like that from a warrior as strong as him. “Heh, it was nothing.”
Heicha hopped from the mat where Pudding laid to the one where Minto was resting and trapped the unsuspecting blond in a bear hug. “You’re Heicha’s hero, Piper-chan! Heicha knew you could do it, na no da!”
Everyone laughed when she gave him another peck on the cheek that turned his skin a deep scarlet hue. Embarrassed though he was he had to admit it was comforting to hear that from her too. Now he was sure he was nothing like Deep Blue.
That guy was nobody's hero.
A knock at the front door sent Pudding scrambling across the dining area. “Pudding’s got it, na no da!”
“Nyah! Pudding, slow down!” Ichigo shouted, “You’re going to break something!”
“Besides,” Minto waved dismissively as she finished setting the pastries out on display, “we’re not even open yet.”
“Pudding knows that, na no da!” the blonde shouted back as she skidded to a halt in front of the double doors. “Maybe it’s the mailman, no da?”
“But Pudding-san,” Lettuce looked up from the register where she’d been recounting the money, “it’s not time for the-”
“They’re back, na no da!” the yellow Mew cried joyously as she flung open the doors and stepped back to reveal Pai, Taruto, and Kisshu standing out on the stoop.
“And they knocked,” Minto grinned. “There may be hope for them yet.”
Pai entered first and faced the blond scientist as he strode into the dining area with an authoritative air. He did, however, steal a glance at Lettuce that made her blush and quickly duck her head down. Barely suppressing a smile he turned to Ryou and stated solemnly. “We’ve come to inform you of the results of our analysis of the Crisect remains.”
Ryou didn’t miss a beat. He folded his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side. “Good. Because we’ve got a lot to fill you in on too.”
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