Prototype 001

a Tokyo Mew Mew Fan Fiction

by The Plot Bringer and the Writer

^~*~*~*~*~^

Endless sea. . . Drowning slowly, far beneath the surface. . . The strife to reach the surface, leagues above. . . A thrashing, a willingness to break free. A desperation to shatter the chains, to finally emerge in the world outside, to open eyes and see. . .

And then, silence, blackness, for so long. . .

A dark laboratory, hidden from prying eyes. It is illuminated only by three large test tubes, a nexus of wires protruding from their sides. Within each is, as one might expect, an eerie bubbling liquid, almost fluorescent. And. . .

Her knees are drawn protectively to her body, curled into the fetal position. A thin stream of bubbles issues from her open mouth. But most distinct, however, are the twin ears on her head, almost resembling those of a fawn's. She is dreaming eternal dreams, living endlessly in confinement. And then. . .

A pair of eyes lift slowly in the dark, and she sees, gets her first glimpse into the world. A smile creeps onto her face. The time for the awakening had begun.

'Helloooooo. . .'

^~*~*~*~*~^

Ichigo Momomiya was sulking. It was a perfectly beautiful afternoon, with birds singing, sun shining, and the like. But, unlike anyone else, she wasn't outside enjoying it. Earlier that day, she had received a call from Shirogane asking she and her fellow crime-fighting friends to clean the Mew Mew Cafe, thus smashing her hopes of spending it in the park with Aoyama. Never again would she allow money to seduce her reasoning. . .

Ichigo's Flashback

Ichigo: Moshi moshi, Ichigo desu!

Shirogane: Hey, Ichigo!

Ichigo: (stiffening) Whatever you want, I'm not doing it! It's a gorgeous day, and I won't let it be ruined!

Shirogane: (pouty) C'mon, Momomiya, be a good sport. . . I was just wondering if my employees would enjoy cleaning the cafe for me while Keiichiro and I relax a little.

Ichigo: (hysterical) And why would I want to do that instead of enjoying such a lovely spring day? No, absolutely not! Do it yourself!

Shirogane: But it pays fifteen dollars an hour. . .

Ichigo: Fifteen bucks? Heh-heh! Well, I guess I could do it for fifteen dollars an hour!

Shigane: Oh, so you'll do it then? Good! Well, see you and the others in forty-five! Ciao!

End of Flashback

She scrubbed the floor harder with anger. "Stupid Shirogane. . ." the pink-haired Mew Mew mumbled to herself. Standing up, she started toward the kitchen to join the others.

"No! Purin! Stop that! You're going to break it!" Lettuce was vainly chasing the hyper monkey girl up and down the room, trying to stop whatever havoc that she might cause. The 'havoc' namely was the possibility of the many dishes she had balanced on her head crashing to the floor, not a pleasant loss to have to compensate for. Ichigo sighed at their antics, exasperated.

She turned her attention to the girl in the corner. Mint, as usual, was sipping her tea. Not working.

"Why can't you help us out here, Mint?!" she shouted in aggravation, though to no prevail. Mint was still sipping her tea and ignoring the cat girl, a dramatic sigh tumbling from her lips.

"Zakuro-san couldn't come help us today because she had a modeling shoot. . . Oh, in the depression of her absence, I cannot bring myself to help you. . ."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Ichigo nearly shrieked, frustrated and irate. "You could help us, it isn't like you normally do any chores! You work for cultural experience, remember?"

Mint appeared not to have noticed her friend's anger. "Oh, but it won't be any sort of experience without Zakuro-san. . . My efforts simply will not be at their peak. You three work on without me. . ."

The mentioned groaned and gave up, knowing further perseverance would be futile. Taking her mop and leaving behind the screams of her companions, she walked over to a door where she thought to be just a broom closet or somewhere unimportant to begin cleaning. . .

^~*~*~*~^

The girl looked around, puddles of a test tube liquid, and broken glass surrounded her feet. Behind her the test tube was broken, its contents emptied from her eruption.

'Where am I?' She looked around again at her surroundings. She found two more tubes, another girl and boy filled them.

The girl still imprisoned had long, pale orange hair. The boy had wild burgundy colored hair that covered his eyes. Both were curled into little balls. However, unbeknownst to her, she had a visitor. . .

Ichigo shrank back, bringing a fist to her mouth. "Oh, my goodness. . . what. . . is this. . ." She moved to take another step back and lost her balance on the slippery floor, falling onto the ground rather unceremoniously.

The girl's fawn-like ears pricked at the sound, and she turned to face its source. A curtain of honey-colored hair covered most of her body, but besides that, she was rather unabashedly nude.

"H- h- h. . . Hello?" she said, but with a little trouble. She staggered toward the pink-haired girl, clutching her arms and shivering with sudden cold and fighting for balance on new feet.

Ichigo's pupils dilated with shock and surprise as she watched the girl caterwauling toward her. Much too caught off guard to be too embarrassed of her lack of clothing, she simply watched on dazedly.

The stranger opened her eyes and studied her guest, cocking her head as would a puppy. She seemed without inhibition, to stand so freely before her unclothed as she was. A shiver coursed through her, and she squinted, unfamiliar with the unpleasant sensation.

"Who. . . Who are you?" Ichigo managed, picking herself up rather shakily. Her mop was abandoned at the doorway and long forgotten was the task of cleaning the room.

"Who. . . am. . . I?" the fawn-like girl replied, apparently not understanding. "Who am I. . ." She looked up at the pink-haired guest and her face was clouded with confusion. "I am not understanding."

That was a curveball. Ichigo suddenly came upon the thought that this girl might not have a name, an identity. But. . . what was she doing in Shirogane and Akasaka's cafe? She knew that their base of operations was in the basement, but she'd never been told of this room before. . .

A door creaked open. The pink-haired youth turned to find Lettuce peeking over it. "Ichigo-chan?" she questioned in her quiet, kind way. "Could you help us with the chandeliers? Purin-chan tried, but she broke one of the light bulbs, and you have the best footing so. . ." What she saw was unexpected, to say the least.

A red blush immediately sprang onto her face at the display of immodesty on the part of the strange honey-haired girl. "I-i-i-chigo-chan? W-who is this?"

The fawn-like object of speculation studied the new arrival, another girl with green tresses. Happily, she smiled, and repeated another word of her vocabulary, springing into her head instantly. "Hello!"

Lettuce gulped, the blush not receding. "I-I think we'd better go find Shirogane-san. . ."

Her companion nodded. "But first, some clothing. . ."

^~*~*~*~^

"Hey! Momomiya, what's taking you so long?" a voice called from the kitchen. The two Mew Mews hauled their discovery, now clothed (at least somewhat), with difficulty toward his voice. She seemed happily oblivious to their discomfort. The clothes felt odd, but warm, and she was enjoying the novelty of them.

Ichigo dropped one arm. "Lettuce-chan, you wait here," she instructed. Lettuce nodded exhaustedly, and the strange girl hummed, blissful. Good, she was calm for the time being.

Ichigo stomped into the kitchen huffily, giving Shirogane a loathing glare. Her chest was puffed up and her hands were crunched into fists. "You!" she spat!

Shirogane grinned. "Ah, Momomiya! So you've returned!" He blinked when he saw her expression.

"This. . . is all. . . YOUR FAULT!" She lifted a finger of accusation and jabbed it at him. He looked confused.

"Nani?"

She launched into attack. "First you make me give up a beautiful Saturday to clean your dumb cafe, then seduce my reasoning with large amounts of money!" She took a large breath. "Then you leave some weird, naked girl around in what I thought was a broom closet! I want EXPLANATIONS!"

Before he had time to react to that last statement, the mentioned decided to break free of Lettuce's grip, jumping in the giant doorway with her captor in tow.

"HELLO!" The fawn girl, wearing stockings, bloomers, and an apron from the cafe wardrobe, leapt toward the blonde enthusiastically.

"Whaaat!?" Ryou stepped backwards, and off to the side of the girl who lunged at him. She seemed not at all fazed, but instead just stood beside the two girls who gave her the warm, soft things to put on her body and smiled. She remembered this boy's face from long ago, when she was living under the water.

"Butterscotch. . . But I thought you were. . . you were supposed to be asleep." He shook his head in disbelief.

"So, you know her, then?" shot Ichigo heatedly. Lettuce seemed to be having problems with her face and hung her head shyly, unable to keep from blushing. Shirogane just nodded vaguely.

"My name. . . is. . . Butt - er - scotch?" she repeatedly, quizzical, pronouncing back the syllables to herself. "I am. . . Butt - er - scotch." She pointed to herself, and then to the blonde-haired boy. "You are. . ."

"Me?" He was taken back by her speech ability. Then again, she was human. . . if only half. "I'm. . . Shirogane." He was speaking slowly so as she could understand him.

"Shi - ro- ga -ne." Butterscotch smiled a triumphant smile. "Shirogane. Shirogane!" She lunged at him again, trying to hug him and succeeding. "You are Shirogane!" she yelled again.

The anger had left Ichigo's body. She watched as the fawn girl embraced him, just like a little child, only with the body of a woman. Truly even more perplexed, she spoke up. "Shirogane. . . who is she, really?"

The blonde gently eased the one now known as 'Butterscotch' off of him, and she smiled contentedly in their company, listening to their conversation and soaking the words in without immediate comprehension.

"She. . . is a prototype."

"A prototype? A prototype of what?" the cat-girl questioned, ready to listen.

Lettuce, face burning, came up with an absurd question. "Is she. . . is she your secret lover?"

In spite of the seriousness of the situation, Shirogane and Ichigo face-faulted. "No," he finally managed, "she is not my secret lover. I would. . . think of her more as little sister, if I had thought of her at all."

"Oh," Lettuce said, seeming somehow relieved that her employer was not keeping strange, naked love interests around the cafe.

They got back to the conversation. Shirogane cleared his throat and began. "Before the Mew Mew project. . . I met Akasaka Keiichiro, a young aspiring scientist interested in biogenetic mutation and the environmental sciences. He wasn't much older than myself and needed someone to fund his research. And I, being wealthy, agreed to do so, because I was interested in his practices as well.

"We began to build the Mew Mew Cafe, my funds, of course. And, despite what we told you. . . you were not our first experiments."

Lettuce and Ichigo gasped in unison.

"So you mean. . . that Butterscotch is. . ."

"Our first prototype, yes," he finished for her. "Akasaka was a bit. . . idealistic for the professors at his university. He talked of things like aliens and Mew Aquas, but they wouldn't believe him without any evidence. So, when he found me, I supplied him with everything he needed to begin working. And she. . . and two others, were the result.

"She is the fusion of human DNA and that of a White-Tailed deer, only, as you can, she cannot make her ears or tail disappear by will. As part of the binding. . . she always remains in that form. That is why. . . we never awoke them. Instead, we formed you. But it seems, now, we have underestimated their potential and power. . ."

The two Mew Mews were stunned into silence. Ichigo was the first to speak.

"And. . . you didn't tell us this? Why not?" She mulled over this astounding new piece of information, trying to comprehend the magnitude of it, while waiting for an answer.

He sighed wearily. "It was best if nobody knew."

At that exact moment, the doors burst open and Mint, Purin, and Zakuro (back from her modeling shoot) entered. "Ichigo-chan, Lettuce-chan, what's taking you so long?" It was Mint's voice. "Ichigo-"

The words froze in her mouth as she noticed the presence of the absurdly clothed Butterscotch.

"Hello!" she greeted with juvenile enthusiasm.

Everyone had a lot of explaining to do.

^~*~*~*~^

The Writer's Notes: Wow, the longest chapter ever to have my title on the by-line! Just a brief note about Mint's dramatic speech about 'being unable to work without Zakuro-san'. No, it's not yuri, but Mint can be both Shakespeare and contrite, so she was simply looking for a way out of work. Plus, she does have an admirance for the older girl, that's been established.

I hope everyone's enjoyed the fic thus far. It's mine (and my counterpart's) first shot at a Tokyo Mew Mew fic. What will happen next? ^_^ You'll just have to wait until we ship out the next chappie!

The Plot Bringer: WEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *giggle* ^_^ I've had coke before this note.

I do enjoy this plot. Considering it's out first Tokyo Mew Mew fic. Butterscotch is ME! ^_^ Not really, I just like to think that. Since I have black hair, not honey brown.

Well, hope you Read and Review. ^_________^

BYEZ! P