Summary: Ichigo's life is going down the drain. Not only is her long distance relationship with Masaya in trouble, but her powers have become too unstable to use. Things change though when she comes into the possession of an ancient relic that not only restores the use of her powers, but also makes her far stronger than she once was. However, this new power threatens to turn Ichigo to the dark side, and Masaya might be the only one who can save her.
Setting: One year after the defeat of the Saint Rose Crusaders.
Author's Note: I've had the idea for this story for a few years now, and I'm finally doing something with it. The inspiration for it comes from Spider-Man. By the way, the title of this first chapter comes from the David Bowie song, Cat People (Putting Out Fire).
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew.
Chapter 1: "Putting Out Fire"
Ichigo Momomiya awoke to the unpleasant sound of her alarm clock. After sitting up and silencing the wretched device, Ichigo sighed and reluctantly got out of bed to start another day. Life had not been going well for her during the past year. For one thing, her schoolwork had become more stressful. Not that it was harder to do, just that it seemed that there was more of it, and between all that and her part-time job she hardly had any room to breath. The more significant problem though was that it had been over a month since Ichigo had heard from her boyfriend, Masaya Aoyama. After she finished getting dressed, Ichigo once again check to see if she had gotten any e-mails from Masaya, and once again she found none. After another heavy sigh, Ichigo went downstairs for breakfast.
It seemed to Ichigo that her day was once again off to a bad start, though she was thankful that at least the day promised to be a little different from the ones before it. On that particular Monday morning, Ichigo's class was taking a trip to the natural history museum to view a new exhibit that was opening. Just what was so special about this exhibit, Ichigo did not know, but she didn't care as long as it made her day less monotonous. After a brisk walk, Ichigo finally made it to the museum.
"Well it's about time you showed up." A familiar voice said in a rude tone. "You know we've been waiting for you for five minutes Ichigo."
Standing only a few feet in front of her was the owner of the voice, a girl with shoulder length dark-blue hair. This was Ichigo's friend, Mint Aizawa. There were two other girls waiting with Mint, one with olive green hair and glasses, and a younger girl with short blond hair. These were two of Ichigo's other friends, Lettuce Midorikawa and Pudding Fong.
"And good morning to you too Mint." Ichigo said with a sarcastic smile. "I'm doing quite well this morning. Thank you for asking."
"Look Ichigo, the rest of the class is waiting for us. And because of you we're going to be late." Mint said with a frustrated expression. "Why can't you get to class on time for once?"
"Well sorry, but I had a hard time pulling myself out of bed this morning." Ichigo explained.
"Pull another all-nighter?" Lettuce asked.
"Yeah, and it all because of that slave-driver Ryou." Ichigo replied, referring to their employer at their part-time job, Ryou Shirogane. "Why is it that I keep getting stuck with the late night clean-up?"
"Because you're the only one who's not busy at the end of the day." Mint replied flatly.
"Not busy?" Ichigo asked sounding a bit angered. "I have a mountain of schoolwork to do each night! How the hell can you say that I'm not busy?"
"Look, I can't help it if you have poor time management skills." Mint retorted. "Face it, you're the only one of us who doesn't have a life. I have ballet class at the end of the day, Pudding has to look after her family, Lettuce has to do special projects for the school, and dear Zakuro is still in America guest staring in that T.V. series."
As much as Ichigo hated to admit it, Mint had a point. All of her friends had important stuff going on in their lives, while she herself had nothing. But suddenly a thought dawned on Ichigo.
"What about Berry?" Ichigo asked, referring to the sixth member of their group, Berry Shirayuki. "Why can't she do the clean-up a few nights?"
"C'mon Ichigo, you know that Berry and Tasuku usually have plans." Mint reminded her.
Once again Ichigo found herself defeated. Berry did indeed usually have some date planned with her boyfriend, Tasuku Meguro. It was actually a very cruel reminder of how her own love life seemed to be circling the drain as of late. Ichigo knew that Masaya's studies in England were important, but a long distance relationship was not easy. And recently it seemed to be falling apart. As if on cue, Berry suddenly emerged from around the corner.
"Will you guys hurry up and get in here?" Berry said in a frustrated tone. "The teacher has been waiting for you guys!"
Ichigo and Mint put their current argument aside and the four headed into the building with Berry. After the five had rejoined the rest of the class, they headed down the large hallway past several exhibits until they entered a darkened room lit only by a spotlight over a veiled box on a pedestal. Several other people were surrounding the exhibit. Many of them were reporters or just part of the general public. Though Mint recognized a few people there who were part of the upper crust, and were most likely there because they helped to fund the exhibit. After a few minutes, a short bald man in a brown suit arrived and stepped up to a podium that was next to the exhibit.
"Good morning." The bald man said into the microphone. "For those of you who don't know me, I am Gendo Tanaka, curator of this museum. I'd like to thank all of you for coming to the opening of this exhibit. Now I it is only proper that this exhibit be introduced by its discoverer and head researcher, Dr. Christine Thomson."
With that the curator stepped down from the podium. In his place came a woman who looked to be in her thirties who had long chestnut brown hair and wore a red blazer and black skirt that ended just above the knees.
"Good morning to all of you." Dr. Thomson said into the microphone. "What you are about to see is an artifact whose true origins are shrouded in mystery. I give you, the Chimera Stone."
With that, the veil over the exhibit was dropped, revealing a glass box containing a small orb made of some sort of green crystal. Ichigo became fixated on the small object, though she could not explain how or why.
"The Chimera Stone is said to originally be from ancient Egypt, and was known as the Eye of Sekhmet.." Dr. Thomson began. "There it was said to be able to cure disease and heal major injuries. It was also said able to grant incredible strength and power to those who wielded it. Later in history the stone fell into the possession of the Roman Empire, where legends began to surface of the stone being able to turn men into horrible monsters that were part animal. After that the Chimera Stone vanished off the face of the Earth, perhaps traveling from one corner of the world to the other, until it was recently discovered five years ago in South America. Since then extensive research has been done of the stone, and while we have so far learned very little, but some of our researchers believe that the stone is of alien origin.
"Well by now you're probably all bored from hearing me talk, so I'll step down and let you take a closer look at the stone for yourselves. Please enjoy the exhibit while you can, as it's only going to be here for five days."
Dr. Thomson stepped down from the podium and the lights in the room brightened. Ichigo and her friends stepped up to take a closer look at the stone.
"That Dr. said that that stone might have come from space. You think Kish and his crew know anything about it?" Pudding asked, referring to the trio of aliens that tried to take over Earth a few years back.
"Who knows?" Lettuce replied. "Maybe if they come back we can ask them."
"Oh yeah, that's just what we need." Mint said sarcastically. "Those three caused enough trouble when they were here before, and it seems like we're still cleaning up the mess they left."
"But I think it would be fun to see Tart again." Pudding retorted.
"I have to admit I'm curious to meet those three." Berry added. "You fought those guys before I joined the team, so it'd be interesting to get to know them for myself."
"Trust me Berry, you're way better off not knowing those three trouble makers, right Ichigo?" Mint asked, though it seemed that Ichigo did not seem to hear her. "Hey, Ichigo?"
Ichigo was oblivious to the whole conversation that her friends were having. She was too fixated on the Chimera Stone. Ichigo could not understand what sort of hold the stone seemed to have on her, but whatever it was she was mesmerized.
"Earth to Ichigo!" Mint called as she waved her hand in front of Ichigo's face.
"Huh? Oh sorry guys, what were you talking about?" Ichigo asked after she was snapped out of her trance.
"Forget it." Mint sighed. "You can be such an airhead sometimes Ichigo, you know that?"
With that, Mint stormed off. The other four girls followed her after a moment. Ichigo was a bit offended by Mint's comment, but she could not deny that she did space out back there. Even as they left the exhibit, Ichigo found that she was still thinking about the mysterious Chimera Stone.
Later that afternoon, Ichigo and their friends resumed working their part-times jobs as waitresses at Café Mew Mew. Her job was one of the many sources of stress in Ichigo's life. The main reason being because while Ichigo did have six other coworkers, she seemed to be the only one who did any actual work. For one thing, the absent member of the group, Zakuro Fujiwara, was actually top model and up and coming actress, and was usually away at a photo shoot or filming some movie or T.V. show. Then there was Pudding, who spent most of the time doing circus tricks for the customers, often creating a mess in that Ichigo would have to clean up in the process.
Lettuce was a different problem entirely, as that while she tried her best to do her work, she was also a total klutz, and thus would often create yet another mess that Ichigo would have to clean up. As for Berry and Tasuku, they had become the door-to-door delivery service for Café Mew Mew, and thus did not work in the actual café. But the worst problem of them all was Mint, who only seemed to sit at a table in the corner and drink tea all afternoon. That especially drove Ichigo up the wall, especially recently. All this combined with her massive amount of homework and having to do the end of the day clean-up everyday was beginning to drive Ichigo up the wall.
That particular day at Café Mew Mew was so far proceeding like any other day. Ichigo was once again doing most of the work, and it was once again 4:00, and just as before Ryou came down from his office to deliver a very familiar message to Ichigo.
"You're cleaning up again tonight Ichigo." Ryou said to the exhausted waitress.
"Oh c'mon Ryou, can't you give me night off for once?" Ichigo asked the young blond man who was the owner of the café. "Why can't you or Keiichiro take care of it?"
"Keiichiro and I still have an important project to work on, and you're the only one of the girls who never has any plans in the evening." Ryou replied bluntly. "It's you or nobody."
"I'm starting to think that this job isn't worth what you're paying me." Ichigo grumbled to herself as she went back to work.
Moments later, a young man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail emerged from the back room of the café. This was none other than the manager and baker of Café Mew Mew, Keiichiro Akasaka, and there was an expression of concern on his face.
"We have a situation Ryou." Keiichiro informed the blond. "Another rogue Chimera Anima has appeared near Tokyo Tower. Berry is already on site, but she could really use some backup."
"Okay then, Mint, Lettuce, Pudding, the three of you get out there!" Ryou commanded, and with that, the three girls nodded and began to head out the door.
Ichigo sighed as the three girls left to go face the newest monster that was attacking the city, while Ryou and Keiichiro went to the situation room to monitor the battle. There was a time when Ichigo would've helped out in that battle, but that time had ended. In truth, Café Mew Mew was a front for a project that Ryou had created to prevent a race of aliens from eradicating the human race. That project involved injecting five girls with the DNA of animals on the verge of extinction to create a band of super heroes. That group of heroes became known as Tokyo Mew Mew, and Ichigo was originally the leader. But overtime a problem occurred that prevented Ichigo from leading the team.
There were some unexpected side effects caused by the Iriomote Cat genes injected into Ichigo. The biggest one was that when Ichigo became extremely excited, she would change completely into a small black cat. The reason for this was because the feline DNA had failed to stabilize properly. Why this was happening, neither Ryou and Keiichiro could not explain, but not long after the Mew Mews defeated a group of human psychics known as the Saint Rose Crusaders, Ryou discovered that if Ichigo continued to use her powers, she would end up becoming a cat permanently.
Originally this was not going to be a problem, but something else happened that Ryou had failed to predict. The animal DNA was supposed to disappear from the girls once the threat of the aliens was dealt with, but for whatever reason that was not the case. At first everyone thought that it was because of the threat presented by the Crusaders, but as it turned out the genes remained even after their defeat. It seemed that the girls were destined to defend the Earth from whatever major threat would arise, and there were a few. For one thing, a few of the mutated animals used by the aliens to try and take over Earth, the Chimera Anima, were still roaming wild. Thus the Mew Mews were still needed.
But Ichigo's powers were too unstable to use, so for her own safety she had to step down as leader of the team. Berry had become leader as a result. The one major problem Ichigo had with all this was that she could no longer help her friends if they were in trouble. Though she had to admit that since this little change in the team she was starting to feel very unappreciated, like she had no purpose other than cleaning up the café while the other girls attended to more important matters. Not that cleaning up the café was an unimportant task, but it was definitely a thankless one.
Later that evening Ichigo finally finished her work at the café and was walking home. The only thing that awaited her there was a late dinner and a monstrously long science assignment. Ichigo's only companion on this walk home was the small flying puffball that was originally Ryou's robot, Masha. Before Masha had played a small but important role in saving the Earth from the aliens, but since that time she had become Ichigo's pet.
"Well Masha, I think my life officially sucks." Ichigo sighed to the little white fur ball that hovered beside Ichigo's head and only responded by tweeting and looking sad.
That evening Ichigo's route took her past the museum that she and the others had visited that morning. As she approached, the doors to the building were suddenly blown off their hinges from the inside, causing Ichigo to stop and see what was going on. From the building emerged a creature that was definitely humanoid and wore only tattered black jeans, but was covered in brown fur and had the head of a wild pig. In its right arm the creature carried a glass box that contained a familiar green gemstone.
"What… is that thing?" Ichigo asked out loud, horrified by the creature before her.
Ichigo realized her mistake too late, as the pig monster heard her and saw her standing a few feet away. The creature reacted by throwing the glass case it was carrying. The case hit Ichigo in the forehead and knocked her to the ground, shattering open at the same time. As Ichigo struggled to get up, she unconsciously grabbed the Chimera Stone. The hideous pig monster then suddenly charged at Ichigo. Ichigo screamed, feeling certain that she was about to die, and clutched the ancient gemstone in her hand harder.
Suddenly the stone reacted and enveloped Ichigo in a blinding green light that caused the pig creature to stop and raise its arm in order to shield its eyes. Ichigo meanwhile felt an intense pain throughout her entire body that caused her to cry out. She felt as if her whole body was on fire. After what seemed like five minutes, the pain climaxed and the green light exploded into an intense flash that for a moment lit the night sky above. When the light cleared, Ichigo found herself standing up and catching her breath. She glanced at her reflection in the window of a building she was standing next to and was surprised by what she found.
Ichigo had become a Mew Mew again, but she looked entirely different from before. She still had her trademark cat ears on top of her head, but her hair had turned silver and her eyes had become emerald green. Ichigo's original pink frilly costume was replaced by a black somewhat similar version that looked to be made out of mostly leather. Around her midsection was something that looked similar to a corset strung with silver colored lace, and her skirt looked to be made of sections of armor and ended about half way above the knee. Pairs of leather straps with silver buckles replaced the garters around her arms, and three similar straps replaced the garter around her right leg.
Ichigo's gloves ended below the elbow and the fingers were tipped with what looked like silver claws. The pendant that hung from the now black collar around her neck had become silver and more diamond shaped. The design on the pendant had become emerald green like her eyes, and the two lines in it had gained more cornered curves. Lastly, the ribbon ties around her tail had truned black, and the ball-shaped bell attached to it had become silver.
'What's happened to me?' Ichigo asked herself as she looked at her reflection.
At this point the pig creature overcame its confusion and resumed its charge. Ichigo reacted by somersaulting about fifteen feet into the air and landed several feet behind the creature.
'Whoa, I've never jumped that high in the air before when my powers worked!' Ichigo thought to herself. 'Has that Chimera Stone thing done something to me?'
The pig creature turned and charged at Ichigo again. As if on instinct, Ichigo swiped at the monster's nose with her right hand when it came in range, causing the creature to squeal in pain. Ichigo looked at her hand and saw that the claws on her glove had extended, then retracted as she looked at them.
'Well, I guess cats do have claws.' Ichigo thought to herself. 'Still, this is really weird.'
The pig creature recovered and lunged at Ichigo again, but Ichigo reacted with lightning speed and delivered a roundhouse kick to the creature's side, hurling it into the wall of the museum so hard that it left an impression.
'Okay, now I know I've never been that strong or that fast before.' Ichigo thought to herself as she looked at the damage she had done to her opponent with an amazed expression. 'Not that I'm complaining, but what have I turned into?'
The pig creature got back to its feet after a moment and charged at Ichigo yet again. With her now lightning fast reflexes, Ichigo delivered a devastating punch to the monster's gut, causing it to fall to its knees. Once the creature was down, Ichigo jumped a few feet back.
'I still have no clue how all this has happened, but I feel… incredible!' Ichigo thought to herself as a smile appeared on her face.
The pig creature was starting to get back to its feet. Ichigo decided that the battle needed to come to an end, and suddenly new words came into her head as her mind tried to figure out how to end things.
"Black Strawberry Bell Bell!" Ichigo called out, causing the ornament around her tail to turn into a ball green light and come to her right hand.
The light turned into a black heart-shaped ring with a green bow on top and a silver bell hanging down in the center.
"Time to put an end to you freak!" Ichigo cried as she raised her weapon forward. "Black Ribbon Strawberry Check!"
With those words a massive beam of green energy was fired from the bell and hit the pig creature. When the energy of the beam dissipated, the pig creature had turned into a man with short black hair, muscular arms, and a large gut. The man fell to the ground on his face, completely unconscious. Ichigo walked up to get a closer look at the man, but heard the approaching sounds of police sirens and decided it was time to leave. With incredible speed Ichigo jumped high into the air and landed on a nearby rooftop. Masha followed as quickly as she could and finally caught up to Ichigo after a moment.
"Well Masha, I still don't understand what's going on, but I think my life just got a little better." Ichigo said to the puffball as she looked over the lit cityscape.
Elsewhere in the city, a man with blond hair wearing a black business suit walked down a dimly lit corridor. A stern expression was on the man's face. He reached the end of the corridor and stood before a pair of large metal doors. After pressing a button on the right side of the doorway, the doors retracted to allow the man to enter. The room he entered was a dimly lit laboratory littered with beakers, test tubes, papers, and various pieces of scientific equipment.
"You wanted to see me Dr.?" the man called into the lab as the doors closed behind him.
A moment later, a short man with tangled grey hair, and wearing thick glasses and a dirty lab coat emerged from the darkness.
"Ah, Mr. Montgomery, I'm pleased to see that you came here so quickly." The man in the lab coat said to his visitor.
"You said it was urgent Dr. Marcus, so I came as soon as I could." Montgomery said in an impatient tone. "Now what's so important that you needed to call me here this late in the day?"
"Well, you know that I just sent one of my hybrids to collect the Chimera Stone, correct?" Dr. Marcus asked.
"Of course I'm aware of it, I ordered it! Now get to the point!" Montgomery demanded.
"Well…" Dr. Marcus began hesitantly. "I'm afraid that the hybrid has been… defeated."
"What?" Montgomery shouted. "How is that possible? You assured me that your hybrids were unbeatable!"
"Yes, they are impervious to normal human weaponry." Dr. Marcus assured him. "But as you know I used the DNA of the mutated creatures that that group of aliens used to try and conquer the planet to create the hybrids. After extensive study I found that the only power that can eradicate those mutants is the power possessed by Tokyo Mew Mew."
"But you said that you made the hybrids to be far stronger than the Mew Mews!" Montgomery angrily pointed out.
"Stronger than a normal Mew Mew yes. But an unexpected development has occurred." Dr. Marcus explained. "I turn your attention to the following video shot by the remote camera I sent to keep an eye on the hybrid during the mission."
With that a large video screed lowered from the ceiling and flickered to life. Montgomery watched the video of Ichigo using the Chimera Stone to transform and defeat the pig monster.
"Just what am I seeing Dr.?" Montgomery asked.
"I think it should be obvious, especially to you my dear Mr. Montgomery." Dr. Marcus replied. "That girl, or rather that Mew Mew, used the Chimera Stone to enhance her power. If you recall the legends of the stone from Egypt, it is said that those who wielded the stone gained the power of the goddess Sekhmet and became able to destroy a thousand men in a single night. I believe that is what has happened here."
"This is a disaster." Montgomery said as he looked at the screen. "And all because your stupid hybrid threw the box containing the stone at that girl!"
"Yes, I admit that this particular hybrid made a very stupid move." Dr. Marcus agreed. "I was actually expecting it to be much smarter since I used the DNA of a pig, but I suppose the intellect of the human used to make the hybrid is a strong factor. Besides, it should be interesting to see just how powerful this Mew Mew has become thanks to the stone."
"I want that stone retrieved Dr." Montgomery ordered as he turned to leave. "Do whatever it takes to do it. Even if it means destroying that Mew Mew."
"Of course Mr. Montgomery." Dr. Marcus replied.
"Oh, and Dr.?" Montgomery said as he suddenly stopped at the doorway. "You do realize that I will have to inform Moreau of this little blunder. It would be wise not to fail again."
"I understand." Dr. Marcus said as he cringed a little. "I assure you Mr. Montgomery that I will not fail again."
Author's Note: I actually had the idea for the Chimera Stone back in 2002, and now I'm finally using it. The stone has another power that you have yet to see, but you will see it towards the end of this story. By the way, for those of you unfamiliar with Egyptian Mythology, Sekhmet was a lion headed goddess of war, and at one time she was also a goddess of healing.
Please review and let me know what you think.