Animal I Have Become
T.A.R.N.S.: This is request fic for comentdacat.
Nyoshi: Disclaimer: Cannon characters belong to Mia Ikumi, story plot belongs partly to T.A.R.N.S., and Kiba and the other half of the plot belong to comentdacat. Lyrics are by Aly & AJ.
Don't let nobody tell you your life is over,
Be every color that you are.
Into the rush now, you don't have to know how
Know it all before you try.
It started late one night when Keiichiro and Ryou were working in the lab.
"Almost done?" Ryou asked Keiichiro as he closed the program he'd been working on.
"Almost." Keiichiro replied. He was almost done and preparing to shut down the system when suddenly, without warning, the DNA infusion machine shot off a ray of light similar to the ones that had given the original Tokyo Mew Mew their powers.
"What happened!?" Ryou asked.
"I don't know." Keiichiro said as he hastily began typing away at the computer screen in front of him. "I didn't do that."
"Then what happened?" Ryou quietly wondered.
Ichigo had no sooner walked in the door off the café the next day then Mint had grabbed her and dragged her back to the computer room.
"Hey, what's going on?" Ichigo protested as she was fairly dragged along.
"Ryou called a meeting." Mint explained. "He said it was important."
Ichigo sighed as Mint dragged her into the room. "He says that every time."
Ryou scowled at her as she came into the room, and then began speaking. "Last night Keiichiro and I were doing some computer work when the DNA infusion ray went off without warning."
"Why would it do that?" Lettuce asked.
Keiichiro, who had been typing away at the computer for most off the meeting, spoke up. "I finally found a reason. Apparently, someone infected our system with a virus, causing the laser to fire off at random."
"Can you trace the virus?" Ryou asked.
"I'm working on it." Keiichiro said as he continued typing.
Ryou sighed and turned back to the girls. "In the meantime, you girls will have to go search Tokyo and find the new Mew."
"How are we going to know when we've found the new Mew?" Zakuro asked.
"With these." Ryou handed each of the girls a small tracking device, except for Ichigo. "Ichigo, you can use Masha."
Ichigo nodded, then turned to the other girls. "Let's go, ladies."
Mint sighed as she walked down yet another alley. The search had been going on for more than three days, and there was still no sign of the latest Mew.
Suddenly, some noises behind her made her swing her head around and look back down the alley. Behind her were three teenage punks.
The first boy snickered as he looked at Mint's dress. "Aren't you dressed a bit fancy to be out here?" He asked.
"Aren't you a bit too stupid to know that?" Mint retorted.
"Oh, feisty." The first teen said while his companions snickered. "Let me tell you something, honey. I don't know what you're here for, but whatever it is, you're lookin' in the wrong place."
With that, he and his companions slowly began advancing towards the girl.
Notwithstanding, Mint pulled out her Power Pendant and kissed it. "Mew Mew Mint, Metamorphosis!"
A moment later she was standing there in full Mew attire. Tossing her hands up elegantly, she summoned her weapon. "Minto Arrow." She grabbed the bow, but before she could use it one of the ruffians knocked it out of her hand, sending it sliding further down the alley. In response, Mint kicked him in the stomach, causing him to double over. She tried to kick the third one, but he caught her foot before she could.
She then tried to lash out with her fist, but the first ruffian caught her wrist. "Slow down, sweetheart." He mocked. "You're not going anywhere."
"Let go of me." Mint fairly screamed. She struggled to get free, but to no avail.
"Kiba Firestorm!" A line like the cord of whip, that looked like it was made of red fire, curled down the alley, hitting the first thug and knocking him away from Mint.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Mint punched the third guy, then the whip hit again, this time hitting the second guy. All three of them raced away, vanishing further down the alley.
Mint picked up her Arrow, then turned around so she faced back up the alley. "Who's out there?"
"Are you alright? I've seen those three down here before, and they're nothing that you want to tangle with." As he spoke, the owner of the voice walked out of the shadows. Mint now saw that he was young, about fourteen. He was wearing a red tank top, black pants, and black boots that had red buckles running across them. But by far the most interesting parts of his appearance wear the trim less collar he was wearing, which had a gold pendant similar to the ones the Mews wore attached to it, though his had red instead of pink, and the wolf ears and tail. He also had brown hair and blue eyes.
"Who are you?" Mint asked.
Before the boy could answer, the rest of the Mews came running up.
"Mint are you alright?" Ichigo asked.
"We heard that Mint-oneesama transformed." Pudding added.
"And we thought that something might be wrong." Zakuro finished.
Before Mint could reply, the boy spoke again. "Zakuro? Is it really you?"
Mint, Ichigo, and the rest of the Mews looked at Zakuro. "You two know each other?" Ichigo asked.
"He's my brother, Kiba." Zakuro told them.
"Where have you been?" Kiba burst out. "Mom and Dad have been so worried."
"Yeah?" Zakuro asked, anger coloring her tone of voice. "Well, they should have thought of that earlier. And if you tell them where I am," She pointed a finger in Kiba's face, "I WILL hunt you down and maul you!"
Kiba held up his hands. "Okay, okay, calm down; I won't tell."
"Umm…." There was a long moment where no one knew what to do, and then Mint spoke.
"How would you like to come back to our headquarters for a cup of tea and maybe some cake?" She offered Kiba.
"Sounds good to me." Kiba said. "I'm starved."
So the six of them headed back to the café, where Ryou and Keiichiro were waiting for them.
"Did you find the new Mew?" Ryou asked.
"Yep. This is Kiba." Ichigo said.
If the leaders of the Mew project were surprised, they didn't show it. They simply looked at each other.
"Mmm, good cake." Kiba said as he put another bite in his mouth. He had de-transformed, and was now back in his normal human form, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and blue and white sneakers.
"You guys have an interesting headquarters." He told the Mews, who were standing around, except Zakuro, who was elsewhere.
"Thanks." Ichigo smiled.
"I have a great idea." Mint spoke up. "Why don't you take a job as a waiter here?"
"But Mint, we don't need…" Ichigo began, before she was cut off by the lorikeet.
"Nonsense." Mint told her. "We can always use more help."
Just then, Ryou stuck his head out of the kitchen door. "Are you going to get this café ready to open or not?" He asked.
"Kiba-oniichan wants a job here!" Pudding, already in her waitress uniform, announced excitedly.
"Okay." Was Ryou's response. "Follow me, I'll get you a guy's uniform."
The two of them walked away, and Ichigo went back to the girl's changing room to change into her uniform. When she got there, she found Zakuro sitting on the bench in the room.
"Hey Zakuro, what's wrong?" Ichigo asked.
"It's been along time since I've had contact with my family." She replied. "It still kind of makes me mad."
Ichigo was confused. "Mad about what?"
"Never mind." Zakuro stood up, adjusted her headpiece, and left the room.
Ichigo stared after her a moment longer, then shrugged and took out her uniform.
In a hidden underground base not far from the outskirts of the city, a silhouetted figure was staring at a computer screen. He smiled as he looked at the blinking dots on the screen. There was a new one there, a black one.
"Perfect." He reached for a wooden box that was sitting nearby, opened it and smiled again.
"Now it's my turn to act."
Kiba hung his black-and-white waiter's outfit back up, picked up his backpack, and headed for the door. It had been three days since he had been found by Tokyo Mew Mew, and everything was going pretty well.
"I'm leaving," He called as he walked through the main dining room.
Lettuce was there, sweeping the floor, and Pudding was supposed to be washing the tables.
"See you tomorrow." Lettuce told him.
"Goodbye, Kiba-oniichan!" Pudding exclaimed.
Kiba waved goodbye and headed for the door. He headed out to the sidewalk, turned right and began walking down the street. He had gone a few blocks when he suddenly heard a cry of "Help!"
Darting down a convenient alley, he shouted, "Red Wolf, Metamorphosis!"
A moment later, he reappeared, this time in his Mew form. He turned and raced towards the direction of the call.
He turned down another alley, in the direction he'd heard the cry come from.
"Hello? Anyone here?" He asked as he turned down the alley and slowed to a walk.
"Help…" Came the feeble reply.
Kiba turned to his left to see someone laying there. Cautiously, he approached the prone figure.
Before he could do anything, the person, a middle age man, sprang up and grabbed him by the wrist.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Kiba protested.
"I'm finishing what I started." The man replied. He held up his other hand to reveal a modified Para Para. He released his grip on the jellyfish-like creature, which flew up to Kiba and absorbed itself into him.
Kiba gasped, then his eyes closed and he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
The man smiled. "Excellent. My plan is going exactly as I wanted it to. Goodbye, Kiba Fujiwara. We'll meet again."
And with that, he was gone.
T.A.R.N.S.: Hmm...I'm not sure if I like this story or not. I think I do.
Nyoshi: I guess we'll find out. Once again, this is a request fic.
T.A.R.N.S.: Well, I'd love to stay, but I have several other things to do this afternoon, so I gotta go. Oniichan means older brother, and Oneesama means older sister.
Nyoshi: Anyway, please review and tell us what you thought, and we'll see you next time.
