7:00 am.

Saturday.

Tokyo, Japan.

A young lady sat alone in her room, facing her easel with her back to the window. At sunrise, she liked it best to have the sun's rays at her back, to lend light to her work, and also to keep her as warm as possible.

She shivered slightly, pulling her thin jacket closer around herself as she dipped her well-worn paintbrush into a mixture of blue and purple. Leaning forward, she painted with gentle, sure strokes, pausing for a moment to cough violently into the crook of her elbow.

Pai floated outside with an indiscernible expression on his face. He folded his arms, wondering what the human was painting. This wasn't the first time he had visited Rosalyn, to see how she was doing. Pai came across her one day and had been instantly entranced; for what reason, he simply could not logically explain. That intrigued him even more, and led to him visiting her more often, in an effort to discern why she was so captivating.

He vanished suddenly, an instant before she turned, with the strange feeling that someone was watching her. When she saw no one, she continued painting, humming a simple tune that was occasionally broken up by her intermittent coughs.

Pai teleported into the room that held Kisshu and Taruto.

"Ah, it looks like a beautiful day to bother the Mew Mews," Kisshu announced, stretching haphazardly. "Try not to miss me too much while I'm gone, Taruto."

The younger boy blew a raspberry at him. "Why would I miss you, big head?"

"Stop messing around," Pai said. "If you're going to attack them, then get to it already. Do not forget our true purpose here, either. And if you fail, Taruto and I will have to come as backup."

"Hah! I won't fail. Have I ever?" Kisshu grinned saucily and teleported away, leaving the two brothers by themselves.

"Oh, no, I'm late again!" Zoey stampeded down the stairs and hurried outside without any breakfast. It was Saturday, and Elliot had called in the girls to work at the café even earlier than usual. Zoey's new shift was supposed to start at 10, and it was already 9:50.

"Whew! I made it," she breathed, collapsing into a chair at the café. The others were already there, decked out in uniform and everything.

"Get off your bum and get ready to work," Elliot told her, sidling into the room. "It's going to be a busy day- the county fair opens this afternoon, and people love to come here for snacks between attractions." He tousled Zoey's pigtail as he passed by. "Honestly… You're so disorganized. You should be more like Bridget, here. She's an excellent example."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Bridget insisted, turning pink and smiling nervously. Elliot moved next to her and cupped her chin in his hand.

"Well, I think you are." He gave her a slow kiss, the kind that made her knees go weak.

"Wouldja look at that, ladies and gentlemen!" Kiki cried out, giggling loudly and bouncing around. "Smooches galore- never thought I'd see the day! Call the presses! Call the fire department- things are getting hot in here!"

"Oh, hush," Corina scolded lightly, sipping her second cup of tea. "Bridget's embarrassed enough without you pointing it out."

"I, uh…" Bridget was speechless and dreamy as Elliot pulled away from her. She still wasn't used to being kissed by him, and he had never done so in front of the other Mew Mews before.

"We open in five," he said, walking towards the back room. "If Zoey would hurry up already, I'd like you all to come back here with me. I have something to discuss with you."

Zoey grumbled her way to the dressing room and scurried back out once she was in her café uniform. She followed the other girls to the back, where Wesley was tapping away on one of the computers.

"Take a look at this," he said, waving them over. Renee sat unabashedly on his lap, lacing her fingers with his, and Kiki had to bite her fist to stop from saying something about it. "Our scanners have been picking up a strange signal lately. It keeps cutting in and out, but the signals match you girls' DNA structure."

"What are you saying?" Zoey asked.

"It means that there could be another Mew Mew out there," Elliot interjected, refraining from rolling his eyes at her question. "The computer keeps matching the DNA with various Red Data animal DNA, and then deleting it and making a different match. For whatever reason, the mystery girl's DNA is fluctuating."

"Fluctu… wha?" Kiki scratched her head.

"It means that it keeps changing," Bridget explained. "And that's what's causing the Red Data matches to keep shifting, too. Right?"

"Right." Elliot smiled softly at her before continuing. "Once the system makes a fairly steady match, we have to act fast if we're going to gain another teammate. Otherwise, the data may continue to switch for who knows how long."

"That's why we need you girls to find her as soon as possible," Wesley told them. "I've scheduled your shifts so that half of you can be out searching while the other half is working. It'll be extra work, of course, since today will be particularly busy, but finding the sixth Mew Mew will be worth the trouble. We're counting on you all."

"Now hurry up and go open," Elliot told them. "I'll set up the tables and chairs."

They filed back towards the restaurant area. Corina looked back, noticing that Renee was still sitting with Wesley. "Aren't you coming, Renee?"

"I'll be there in a minute," Renee assured her, glancing at Wesley with a half-smile. Wesley gulped as she reached across him and turned off his computer.

Rosalyn locked the door to her one-room apartment and headed down the stairs, ignoring the weak feeling in her joints. If she could manage to sell this new painting at the county fair for a decent price, perhaps she would be able to afford the antibiotics she desperately needed, which the doctors only provided for people who had insurance. It was hard enough to scrape together the funds for rent and food, let alone medicine. Rosalyn was behind on rent payments, too.

She grimaced as she stepped outside, head pounding, and made her way towards the fair. This walking pneumonia wouldn't get the best of her.

Kisshu rubbed his hands together as he watched the girl from the shadows, walking a mere few yards away from the bustling county fair. "Here's a suitable one. In fact, she's perfect." He jumped out at Rosalyn, startling her into dropping the rolled-up painting she held.

"Wha- who are you?" she asked, more curious than frightened.

"Mm… Probably the last thing you'll ever see," he said casually. "Now be a good girl and give me your spirit."

Rosalyn's eyes grew wide, and she took a step back. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know what I mean… your spirit." Kisshu darted forwards and raised his hand, levitating Rosalyn into the air.

"This is strange… You're not giving up without a good fight; I'll admit that," Kisshu noted as he dragged the life out of Rosalyn. "Heck, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were just as strong as those Mew girls." Rosalyn just shuddered in the air, letting out small moans of pain as her eyes rolled back. Kisshu found himself sweating with the effort of extracting the spirit. "Oh, come on…" He braced his feet and poured in more of his strength, finally taking it out and combining it with his Predasite creature. "Finally."

Rosalyn collapsed unceremoniously to the ground. Unlike all of his previous victims who stopped moving right away, her body continued to jerk violently every few seconds, and she took several shallow, gasping breaths before finally lying still. Kisshu watched her with a disturbed expression until she stopped. "Huh." He flew away to see what havoc his creation could wreak.

[A/N: In case you're confused, I'm writing this closer to the Mew Mew Power plot than Tokyo Mew Mew- but I prefer the Cyniclons' Japanese names. That's why they're Pai, Kisshu, and Taruto, while everyone else is Zoey, Elliot, etc. Rate/review please!]