Texas Mew Mew
By: Rachel Douglas
Chapter One
"Hey! Rachel! Are you coming?"
I turned at the sound of my name. "Coming!" I called back.
I'm Rachel Dayli (it sounds like day light with out the "t"), and I'm 14 years old. I'm in the eighth grade, about five foot four inches, and I have dirty blonde hair. My eyes are a blue-green, and I wear pointed, called "cat-eye", bronze-colored glasses. Also, my favorite color is blue, my favorite animal is the dog, and my favorite thing to do is be with my friends.
The person who called me, Nathan Boroko, is my boyfriend. He has straight brownish-black hair, and has an Asian look about him. His eyes are brown, like melting chocolate. "Come on, let's go look at the chemistry exhibit! It sounds really cool!" He told me on my arrival.
"Ok Mr. Future chemist, let's go." I tease.
Nathan is very smart, and he aspires to be a scientist—a chemist, to be exact. I'm glad he's smart. He can help me on my math homework.
"Oh, be quiet!" He laughs.
Now we walk past the other exhibits, which we already saw. We're in the Bob Bullock Museum, where they're hosting a big scientific event. I asked Nathan if he wanted to go, and our parents let us go alone for once. I'm happy to be with him; I always am.
I am, as usual, bamboozled by all the information in the chemistry section. Nathan is very nice, and takes the time to explain it to me. Not that it makes sense to me period, but I have a better understanding of it than before.
"Let's go out to the front." Nathan suggests, "We've been in here for three hours."
"Wow!" I exclaim, "Really? It doesn't seem like that to me. Maybe it's because I'm with you."
Nathan rolls his eyes and smiles at the same time. "Possibly." He says with a grin. I love it when he smiles; it makes me feel so happy. The large bronze star outside is coming into view now. For a moment, we just stop to breathe in the fresh air. Nathan turns to me, "I'll be back soon, dearest. Bathroom." He explains with a slight blush.
"Don't worry!" I say cheerfully, "I'll wait here for you." He nods, and then walks back inside. I daydream happily, but then my thoughts are interrupted by a friendly voice and a hug. "Neph! Hi Rachel!" My best friend, Katrina Snowfield, is standing right behind me, embracing me happily; she is also speaking in our "language" we made up as best friends.
"Katrina!" I exclaim, returning her hug as I ask, "Why are you here?"
"Oh, Dad dragged me over here. He said it would be interesting, but I don't really get it. Why are you here?" She asked me in turn.
"I'm with Nathan." I say, blushing red. Katrina grins mischievously.
"Oh, so that's it!" She laughs teasingly. "That's why you're here!"
"Hey, be quiet!" I playfully swat at my friend, and then notice movement behind her.
Katrina speaks my thoughts, "It's Evie, Victoria, and Glenna! All in one place! How weird." The trio notices us as we notice them, and begin to walk toward us eagerly.
The two of us rush to greet them, "Hi Evie! Hi Vicky! Hi Glenna!" We cry happily.
We stand in the courtyard, conversing happily with each other. Evie Lightwren is here with her family, as is Victoria Colowii and Glenna Nightoko. All of them laughed when I told them I was here with Nathan, though I don't see what's so funny.
Suddenly, the earth beneath us began to shudder violently. "An earthquake?" We scream in alarm. A flash of white light blinds me, and then it is black.
Suddenly, I am alone, dressed only in a flowing sky blue robe. The ground and sky above me are green and black, with sparkling stars. Then, straight in front of me, a white wolf stands. It comes up to me, whimpering happily. I stroke it, and it seems to nod. It takes a few paces back, and then springs at me, graceful as a deer. My body absorbs the wolf, and I fall to the ground, or it seems that way. I… I am merging with a wolf. It feels… amazing. What is happening…? I think to myself, and then all is black.
"Rachel! Oh God, Rachel! Please wake up! Please!" Nathan's anxious voice sounds above me. I blink, adjusting to the sudden sunlight.
"You're okay!" Nathan cries with joy; his eyes are wet, but he is smiling at me. I smile at him, and then rise to a sitting position.
"Where are…?" I begin to ask, but I see my friends, everyone waking up as slowly as I am. I am very relieved. I walk over to them, and, silently, as if we already knew it beforehand, we agree to wait, and, as Evie put it, "see what comes on the wind."
Chapter Two
I arrive at school on Monday, and everyone I pass is buzzing about the earthquake on Saturday. Earthquakes have never happened in Austin before, so it's quite a phenomenon. In the gym, waiting for class, Evie, Victoria, Glenna, Katrina and I all sit together, but in silence. Everyone else is chattering away, as usual, but we all seem to understand something that we don't even know yet. Then, I hear a noise above the chatter: a soft, crescendoing boom, like footsteps. I turn to my friends, but only Evie and Katrina seems more alert than the others.
"Do you hear that?" I ask softly. They nod, and give me a worried look. One thought runs through our three heads: What is that sound?
Our thoughts are soon answered, as we hear a huge CRASH! A large crow—or could it be a crow, with it's elephant-like size and blood-red eyes—caws hoarsely and its claws begin to tear at the top of the building, around the hole in excavated in a single slash of its talons. Every girl in the gym screams, and runs for the interior of the school, but my four friends and I are frozen in terror at the monstrosity above us.
That is when a tall, blonde male teenager, who looked to be about 17 or 18, burst through the door that lead to the outside of the school. He spots us together, and cries out, "Take these, all of you! You must fight!"
We look at him like he's crazy, but manage to catch what he throws at us: small, gold talismans, each with its own symbol. The one I caught has a silver wolf engraved on it; the wolf has a pale blue jewel in its jaws. I look at the blonde teenager, whom yells at me, "Transform! I know it sounds crazy, but you can! Trust me, please! Or that monster will be able to get you!"
I do think he's crazy, but… My friends and I exchange a look: suddenly, we all know why we felt connected. We raise our talismans together, and from the jewel in each of our talismans, there is a glow, depending on what color the jewel is. Without knowing where the words came from, I cry, "Crystal Wolf! Metamorphosis!!" The glow engulfs me, and I hear a wolf howl. A moment later, I am dressed in a low-cut sky blue dress that, I note with mild dismay, is short on my legs. I have sky blue gloves on, with boots of the same color. But, most amazingly of all, I have a white tail, like that of the wolf that I saw in my dream. On an impulse, I touch my head; I have white ears! (I do not know if they are white, but since my tail is white, I would think they match.)
"Yes!" the blonde boy exclaims joyously from the background, "they've all transformed! YES!"
All? I wonder, and turn to face my friends, only to find that they have all changed too! Evie has bunny ears and a small brown/white bunny tail; she is dressed in a low-cut, short light brown dress, with furry brown boots and "arm gloves." ("Arm gloves" cover part of your arm, but not your hand.) Glenna has a blue-gray and green turtle shell, which she is spinning around trying to see, and has a small tail of the same color; she is dressed in a low-cut leaf green dress, gloves and boots. Katrina is wearing a slightly longer dress than Evie, Glenna and I, but her dress is low-cut like ours; she has cat ears that have spots on them. She also has a spotted tail, with her dress being white and black spotted, just like her ears and tail (her boots are plain white). Victoria looks spectacular, with her modest, lavender half-sweater covering the top of her purple dress, which is the longest of all. She, amazingly, has huge, kaleidoscopic peacock feathers sprouting from her back, with small pom-pom like objects on her head, and purple boots to match.
There was a deafening boom overhead as the crow fought its way inside with beak and talon. Blonde boy called out, "Let the words come to you; it is time to fight!"
As if on cue, words spring into my head, and I cry out, "Icy whip light!" and with a flash of white light, a whip-like beam forms in my outstretched hand.
Katrina calls, "Snowfall arrow!" and a bow and arrow, all white, with spots on the arrowheads, forms her hand.
Evie shouts, "Spring star!" and a pale green star shaped weapon materialized in her fur-surrounded palm.
Glenna bellows, "Emerald turtle staff!" and a short baton, with an emerald turtle on the top, came forth into her hand.
Victoria roars, "Amethyst triangle!" and a purple triangle shaped weapon emerged into her purple-gloved palm.
Now we face the crow, which has fought its way inside toward us. It slashes its talons at us, but with the agility that none of us knew we possessed, we all dodged the mighty claws. Katrina and I catch each other's eye: Now is the time. All five of us form up together, and we all exchange a look that says one thing: NOW! Our weapons rise as one, and we all shout our attacks.
I shout, "Ribbon… Artic Stryke!" as Katrina launches a frozen white arrow, roaring, "Ribbon… Snow Echo!" Evie yells, "Ribbon… Terra Star!" as Glenna bellows, "Ribbon… Turtle Surprise!" Victoria cries, "Ribbon… Feather Storm!"
Simultaneously, my whip light strikes with an arrow as two beams of light, one surrounded by a ribbon of green turtles, collide with a triangular prism of purple, green, and blue. The crow gives a final caw of anguish as all five of our powerful attacks collide with its engorged form. There was a rainbow flash of light, and the crow fell to the ground as a small, jellyfish-like being emerged from the crow's skin.
A small, pale blue-furred robot flies up and caught the jelly-like thing, chirping eagerly. Blond boy walks up, saying, "Good job R350. Recovery complete." The robot, R350, peeps happily in response.
At this point, I can't stand it. I stomp up to Blondie and growl in frustration, "Who are you? Why am I in this costume, and why must my friends and I fight? Last of all, what was that?" I point to the hole in the roof that the crow had made.
Blondie smiled, then spoke with a maddening calm, "My name is Raian Shirogane. You and your friends will have to come with me. All will be explained to you there. But that," he indicated the large hole, "was a kirema anima. It is an animal that is infected by aliens, and the aliens are what make the animals into vicious beasts, like the crow you fought. Now, please come with me."
Everyone follows him, though hesitantly. What if someone saw us? As if reading our minds, Raian told us, "The police will be here in fifteen minutes; ample time to get away. No one will see you don't worry. Now come on!" At that, we all hurried into a waiting limo.
Raian got into the front, and the rest of us got in the back. The female driver sped us off at Raian's word. The driver fixed her eyes on us in her rear view mirror. "So these are the girls, Raian?" She asked curiously. "The Mew Mews?"
"Indeed, those girls are the Mew Mews, Kimu. Oh, right." He turned to us. "Everybody, this is Kimu Akasaka. She's my research partner."
Kimu's long, braided black hair twitched as she glanced at Raian. "As you can see," She smiled at us. "I'm also his driver."
Raian glared for a moment at her, then commenced to stare out the window. I ignore him; I'm still annoyed at being left in the dark. I study the gold talisman in my hand curiously. "Hey," I look at everyone, "what do your talisman things look like?"
We all compare and contrast our talismans, which Raian says are called (by him and Kimu) Metamorphistals (A combination of "metamorphosis" and "crystals"). I see why they call them this, because all ours have jewels on them (and obviously, they help us transform). Mine has a wolf with pointed ears; it is holding a translucent pale blue jewel in its jaws. Katrina's is a tiger-like cat, who is protecting a white and black-flecked jewel with its tail. Evie's has a pale brown jewel, and it has a bunny poking its head over the jewel. Glenna's is a turtle with a green emerald-like jewel in its shell. I like Victoria's second best to mine; it is a peacock with the purple amethyst-like jewel as its body. All of our animals are darkened silver in color, which contrasts nicely to the gold on the Meta jewels.
After a five-minute drive in silence, Raian points to a large white, gold and black café, saying, "Here we are. Get out quickly and go inside. Hurry!"
We need no second bidding. Soon we are all inside the café, and pause to admire the interior. It has a high ceiling, and has circular tables with chairs that have stars, hearts, or triangles as their backs. The tables and chairs are colored either sky blue, purple, chocolate brown, leaf green or white with black spots. The inside of the café is pale gold and white, giving it a calming, but elegant feel. We all admire it openly, and Raian seems to notice.
"You'll be able to admire the Mew Mew Café later, since you're going to work here. Now come on, we have things to discuss. Take a seat and listen up." He admonished us curtly. He doesn't notice the stunned look on all of our faces until we're yelling angrily.
"What! What do you mean, we're going to work here? Since when??" We cry out in almost complete unison.
Raian sighs in exasperation. "Since we figured out you were the Mew Mews. So, basically it's been decided that you work here since today. Now, sit and LISTEN, and you may learn something."
We all sit obediently, and wait expectantly. Kimu dims the lights as Raian shows us a series of slides on a Power Point. The slides show deforestation, black smoke, and all the things you would be shown in a lecture about global warming. But it wasn't about global warming.
Raian explained. "I'm sure you've all seen pictures similar to this somewhere. You've all heard about global warming. I'm here to tell you that these scenes, well, only a few were actually caused by what we call global warming. The rest were caused by…aliens." He paused, taking in our faces as we looked at him like some nerd saying aliens were coming to destroy us. "Yes, I know you all think I'm crazy. But if it weren't true, you wouldn't have dog-ears, cat ears, bunny ears, peacock feathers, or turtle shells right now. The aliens, for whatever reason, are destroying our planet in slow, but disastrous ways. So, you have been chosen to retaliate against their attack."
I interjected, "But how and why were we chosen? You could have chosen anyone…right?"
Raian shook his head. "False. In order to inject you with genetic data, which is what we did, you had to be perfectly compatible: chemically, mentally, and physically. It took us three years to find all five of you." He paused again. "I guess now would be a good time to tell you which animal genes you all have in you. Rachel…" He changed the slide. "You have Artic Wolf genes in you." He ignored my squeak of delight as he changed the slide again. "Evalina, you have Brown Hare genes inside you."
"My name is Evie, but why I am I a bunny? I don't look like one!" Evie cried indignantly as her ears waggled. We all stared until she came to her senses. "Oh…right." She murmured and sat down, embarrassed.
Raian continued, "Katrina, you have Snow Leopard DNA within you." He ignored another squeak of happiness from Katrina; she loves cats.
"Victoria, you're fused with Peacock genes. Glenna, Loggerhead Turtle DNA. That's everyone." Raian turned around. "Any more questions?"
"Well, yeah!" I nodded. "My question is: How the heck are we going to explain this to our parents?"
Everyone cried out similar demands as Raian tried to explain. Kimu finally emerged and helped out Raian by saying, "Girls, your parents know that you are to work here at the Mew Mew Café, but neither Raian or I recommend that you tell them about your powers. How could any of us explain this to them?"
There was silence for a few moments, then all of us nodded in comprehension. Raian clasped his hands together impatiently. "Right, you'll begin work tomorrow. My limo will pick you up." Kimu grinned and added, "And I'll be picking you guys up! You'll have to finish your homework on the way or during your break. You'll be working until 5 o'clock after school on weekdays, and on weekends you'll start at 1 o'clock and end at 6 o'clock. Oh, and you guys get 5 days off per month."
Raian interrupts, "We'll fill you in tomorrow. For now, Kimu will take you guys home."
"But how do we transform back?" I cry out in dismay, "I can't go home with wolf ears! My parents will know something's up!"
Raian quells any complaints by simply saying, "Think about transforming back to normal, and you will."
We all try it and within a minute, we are all in the same clothes that we were wearing when the crow attacked. In silence, we all get into the limo with Kimu. No one says a word as we are all dropped off, though Kimu reminds each of us to look for the limo after school.
I am the last one to be dropped off. I enter the house to find my parents sitting on the couch watching T.V. nonchalantly. I approach them hesitantly.
"Hi Mom, Hi Dad. Sorry I'm home late." I murmur. "I was… busy."
"Oh, don't worry honey. Raian called and said you'd be home late." Mom said eagerly. "Yeah, congrats on getting a job. How much does it pay?" Dad added.
I stare in amazement. What? I wonder, stunned. "Ten…Ten dollars an hour." I stammered through my surprise. Dad grins, and Mom smiles comfortingly.
"I'm…I'm gonna go upstairs and get ready for bed." I say to them, to which Dad replies, "Ok, I'll be up to read to you in a little while."
Dad reads books to me almost every night; it's a ritual we both enjoy. I went upstairs to the computer, and saw that it was only 7:15. I sat in front of the computer, and Nathan's Instant Messaging icon popped up as he typed:
N: Hi! I'm glad you're ok. After the incident at school, and I didn't see you. I was worried.
R: Oh, don't worry! I typed quickly. I got out early with Mom.
I felt bad lying to him, but… there was no way I could explain the day's happenings to him, as much as I wanted to.
N: That's good. Hey, there's no school tomorrow. You free?
I smiled and blushed as I wrote back:
R: I'm pretty sure. I know! I'll call you on your cell tomorrow if I am. Ok?
N: Sounds good. Oops, gtg! Love you!
R: Love you too. Bye! hug
I signed off and got ready for bed early so I could think. As I ventured into my room, a surprise awaited me. The surprise in my room is in the shape of a winged pale-blue furred robot that had a heart on the end of its tail.
"Hey, you're Raian's robot, R350, right?" I ask. It tweets in response, then its eyes glow and a hologram appears.
It's Raian, who speaks somewhat mechanically. "Consider R350 a Christmas and birthday present so I don't have to get you one later. He'll help you out a lot more than he'll help me now. Oh, and R350 will pass this message around, but I'm warning you now. Now that you have wolf genes in you…" he ignored my squeak of happiness, "if you get too excited, or suddenly scared, your wolf DNA will manifest. I'm just telling you so you won't freak out when it happens, which I'm sure it will eventually. Ok, I'm off to tell the others. R350's staying with you; don't worry about hiding him, he turns small so he can attach to your phone or look like a small toy. Later."
The hologram dissipates quickly. I sigh as R350 flies out my open window. R350… I ponder. What a boring name. I know! I'll give him a name. I'll ask him if he likes it when he gets back. I smile happily, and then I look at the photo on my nightstand. It was of Nathan and I at the Arboretum, laughing happily and holding hands as our picture was being taken. As much as I love that picture, it made me wonder if because of my new abilities, would anything ever be the same?
R350 tweets in greeting as he flutters back in my window. I turn, and pet him as he flies around me. I step back, then ask, "Hey R350, how would you feel if I called you… Riku? How does that sound?"
The very happy, newly named Riku flaps around my head, tweeting excitedly. "Beep tweet beep!" he chirps eagerly. I hush him so Mom, Dad, or my dumb older brother Joseph wouldn't hear. Once quieted, Riku sits on my shoulder as I look at the clock. It was 9:10, and Dad was coming up the stairs.
"Riku, turn small and go sit on my bookshelf!" I whisper hurriedly. Riku darts over to my bookshelf and turns small so he can hide. Just in time, too, because at that moment Dad enters with my glass of orange juice.
"Ready to read?" he asks.
"Yup!" I exclaim as I nestle down under the covers.
After reading part of our story (in which, of course, Dad stopped right at the good part), Dad gave me a hug and turned off the lights. I sit in bed, thinking. Well, at least I'll see Nathan tomorrow. I smile and sigh happily. But I have to work at the café, darn it! I roll over in annoyance, but nonetheless am soon asleep.
Chapter Three
Sunlight streams through my window as I open my eyes. I put on my glasses, and smile as I pull up the blinds to face the sun. I almost fell back onto my bed as I see Kimu in the limo, waiting and chatting to Mom. I dress quickly, in a T-shirt and jeans, and walked down to Kimu.
"Kimu! What are you doing here?" I asked in surprise. Mom turns around upon hearing my voice and smiles kindly.
"Kimu says that you're going to work at the café from nine to one o'clock. Call me if you need a ride back. Kimu told me that you'd get breakfast free at Mew Mew Café, so grab your phone and get going." Mom gives me a hug and I grab my cell phone that is charging on the counter inside.
Reluctantly, I follow Kimu into the limo. I sigh and yawn. It was only eight o'clock, and if we started at nine, why couldn't we wait? I express my thoughts to Kimu.
Kimu laughs, "You've forgotten that four other girls work at the café too, Rachel. We have to pick everyone up, and then get y'all into your uniforms! It takes more than five minutes to do that, silly!"
"Oh…right." I mutter, embarrassed. "But wait, you said…uniforms??"
"That's right. You guys will like them though. They're pretty cute, if I say so myself." Kimu smiled, and would say nothing more.
We pick up Katrina, and her grandparents need, amazingly, little convincing. Katrina shrugs in response to my questioning look. We pick up whoever is closest, and soon we are all in the limo, yawning.
My friends and I arrive at the Mew Mew Café to find a long line of girls, some with guys, awaiting the grand opening. Kimu instructs us to go in the back door before anyone spotted us, which we did without further ado.
Raian is waiting for us, and hands us separate uniforms. "Go change now, there's some changing rooms in the back. Go on!" He hurries us to the back rooms, where we changed.
"Kawaii!!!" Katrina and I exclaim as we look at everyone's outfits. ("Kawaii" means "very/so cute" in Japanese)
I am wearing a sky blue dress with a heart-shaped, white waist apron. I had sky blue ballet flats, with cute knee socks (also sky blue) that have sapphire blue hearts on them. All of us are wearing similar outfits, with one key difference: color. Evie's is chocolate brown, Glenna's is a leafy green, Victoria's outfit is purple, and Katrina's is white with leopard spots.
Raian nods approval. "You guys look good." He admits. Then he hands us each a nametag, and tells us to put them on for the customers. The tags all have ears and tails that pertain to our animal, although Victoria's tag has peacock feathers surrounding her name, and Glenna's is a turtle with her name written on the shell. After pinning on the tags, Raian gives us a quick rundown of how things are to go.
"Ok, every table has a little flag that customers can raise to signal they need something. So whenever you see a flag (they're all gold, black and white striped), go over to that table immediately. We'll rotate shifts by hour: who will greets customers and who serves. That means four of you will be serving and one will be greeting. Rachel, you start on greeting. Everyone else, I think you've seen waitresses working enough to understand what's expected of you. Understood?" Raian looked around as we nod in understanding.
"Oh Raian! You forgot this!" Kimu emerges from the kitchen with five pads (for taking orders) and five pens, with a peacock, a white wolf, a snow leopard, a brown bunny, and a turtle on top.
"Awesome!" We all take our corresponding pens and pads (each had our name written on the top), placing them in one of the front pockets of our aprons. "Enough of that." Raian says sharply. "Rachel, go to the front. Everyone else, spread out among the tables. Let's go!"
We all move into position, and Raian opens the doors. Pretty girls flood into line, but somehow, I don't find greeting people too hard. The first couple approached my podium.
"Welcome to the Mew Mew Café! How many here?" I asked merrily, smiling happily. I seat the couple at a blue table, and tell them that a waitress would be there soon. I pass Evie, who is going to serve them, and instruct her to tell the couple to raise the flag when they're ready to order or need anything. Evie nodded, and I move back to my podium, seating next a group of four giggling girls. Victoria serves them easily. I hear her speaking to them, listening for ideas for when it was my turn to serve.
"Welcome to the Mew Mew Café, I'm Victoria and I'll be serving you today." She told them as she passes out menus to the girls. "Can I take your drink orders?" After that, she added, "I'll be right back, but if you need anything, raise this flag and one of the other waitresses will be here soon."
I am impressed by how well we do as the hours pass. I glance at the clock; it is already 12:45, but the line is thinning quickly due to the fact that we're going to close in fifteen minutes. The last minutes pass slowly, but when we finally close up, I change clothes, and wave good-bye to my friends, but Katrina follows me.
"You want to go to the Quarries today, Rachel?" Katrina asks me hopefully.
"Sorry, Kat," I say, "I told Nathan I'd go on a date with him today. He was worried about me yesterday."
She grinned. "I'll come with you then!" She hops up. "So where are we going?"
I sigh and smile at her enthusiasm. "Let me call him, Kat. Now hush!" I chide, and she remains quiet. I dial his number, and wait while the phone rings.
"Hello?" I hear his sweet voice on the other end.
"Hi, Nathan! It's me!" I smile happily.
"Hey Rachel. You free today?"
"You bet. But Katrina's following me. I can't get her to go away."
"You never will!!!!!"
"Katrina!"
"Ha, that's fine. We'll just sneak away when she's not looking."
"We'll distract her with a kitty!"
"Kitty?"
"Katrina, be quiet. Ok, so I'll meet you at the Arboretum?"
"That sounds fine to me. Talk to you soon. I love you!"
"Love you, too. Bye!"
I snap my phone shut, and glare at Katrina. She grins innocently. I laugh, and we walk to the Barns and Noble bookstore nearby. Katrina and I head for the manga aisle, which is our favorite place in the whole store. I settle down with a copy of the new Fruit's Basket book, and prop it open, waiting for Nathan. I don't have long to wait.
I am so absorbed in my book that I don't notice someone approach until he hugs me, saying playfully "Guess who?"
I turn and blush happily. "Nathan-chan! Hi!" I return his hug eagerly.
"Hi Nathan!" Katrina waves. "I thought I'd bother you and Rachel for awhile." She adds mischievously.
I glare, but Nathan quickly intervenes, "That's fine Katrina. How about we go down to see the cows?"
"Okay!" We agree simultaneously. This, I think, is why Katrina and I are best friends: we can never be mad at each other for more than a day.
All of us, Katrina, Nathan, and I, head down toward the stone Arboretum cows. These cows have been here for as long as I can remember, and they're very popular with the younger (or not so young!) people. We hurry to crawl up on the cows. I watch from on top as Katrina struggles valiantly, cursing, "DARN YOU TALL PEOPLE! GAH!"
I laugh as Nathan crawls up next to me on the gray speckled cow. Nathan sighs, but grins. Katrina finally manages to make it up, and we sit and chat for a while. Then it slips.
"So we were at the café, and…I mean…!" I stammer worriedly. Nathan looks at me curiously, while Katrina gives me a look that says, "Don't worry about it. He won't care."
I sigh. "Sorry. I got a job at that new café with some of our friends. That's all it is."
"Oh," Nathan nods, "I was worried it was something secret, but that's not a big secret."
"It's nothing big!" Katrina hugged me eagerly. "I'm working there too!"
Nathan smiled. "That sounds cool. How often do you work, Rachel?" he turned to me.
"Oh, it's three-thirty 'til five on regular school days, and one to six on weekends." I told him quietly. He nods understandingly, and then asks,
"Which café?"
"The Mew Mew Café!" Katrina chirps as she slides of the cow we sit on. "Can we go to the lake? I want to chase the ducks!"
I sigh. "All right, but don't tease the ducks too much."
Katrina nods, and dashes ahead, not that Nathan and I mind being by ourselves as we walk slowly toward the lake. I smile and sigh with content. Maybe this won't be too hard, I begin to think, I can handle this. It is at that moment that Nathan places his arm around my shoulder, and white wolf ears pop out of my head as I blush.
Chapter Four
"Arrgh!!" I quickly cover my head, panicking. Is this what Raian meant when he said my wolf genes would manifest? Crap! Nathan looks at me curiously.
"Rachel? Are you ok?" He asks in a concerned voice.
"Oh, ha, I'm fine, just fine, heh." I sigh with relief as I realize that my ears are gone. Phew!
"Ok, if you're sure." Nathan walked on, and I followed him eagerly.
Just as I'm starting to think that today will be wonderful, I hear screams. I jump up, and start to run toward the noise.
"Rachel!!" Nathan cries and runs after me.
There's a roar, and a huge Clydesdale stomps into view. People scream and run, and there's almost no one left as everyone retreats. The monstrous horse kicks out, hitting Nathan squarely in the chest.
"NO! Nathan!" I scream. He's fainted, and as I move him over to safety, I hear a shout.
"Snow whirlwind!" Katrina hurtles out of the bushes in Mew Katrina form, slicing at the Clydesdale's leg with the wind from her bow.
"Mew Katrina!" I cry in relief. She smiles, and then I see my other friends coming in Mew form.
"Rachel, let's head out!" Mew Glenna yells toward me, and then turns to the kirema anima. "Green Wave!" She roars, and a huge spout of green water geysers out of the fountain behind her, turning into a huge wave as it hits the anima.
"Crystal Wolf!" I shout. "Metamorphosis!!" A wolf howls; I'm Mew Rachel once again!
"All right, fathead!" I yell at the infected horse, "You asked for it, and you're getting it!"
Evie tosses her star into the air, and proceeds to back flip between two bars until her star is near her, and kicks it, crying out, "Lapin Star Kick!" Her star flies, hitting the horse in the shoulder, and it wails, flinging itself toward Evie.
"Oh no you don't!" Mew Victoria twirls her triangle, calling, "Peacock feather kiss…with a sting!" as her triangle hit the anima on the nose with a soft glow, then a sudden flash made it bellow in rage and terror.
"Things getting too hot? Allow me to cool you off!" I taunt. "Blizzard Rush!" I fling my frozen whip light around the equine's neck, where ice shards bury themselves.
We all form up again, in the shape of a star. "Texas Mew Mew! Kaleidoscope strike!" I roar as we all launch our deadly attacks.
"Ribbon…Turtle Surprise!!"
"Ribbon…Feather Storm!!"
"Ribbon…Terra Star!!"
"Ribbon…Snow Echo!!"
"Ribbon…Artic Stryke!!"
The horse laments for a final time, and the alien emerges from its skin, and the horse falls to the ground, tired but not injured.
"Riku!" I order, "fetch our alien 'friend' and let's head out before someone spots us." Riku tweets, and grabs the alien parasite as we take off. I take Nathan in my arms to the far side of the Arboretum where we all transform back.
I shake him gently. "Nathan…Nathan…" I whisper softly. His eyes open slowly, then suddenly.
"Rachel! I saw this huge horse, and then it grew dark. What happened?" he looked about.
I sigh, then call, "Riku, please." Riku tweets sadly, and flutters over, perching on Nathan's chest.
Nathan looks confused, but then his eyes look blank as Riku erases his memory. I wipe away a tear. It's the only way, I tell myself. He would be confused, knowing about this. Riku had already erased the memories of everyone else who saw the horse.
I look at his injuries as he falls back asleep. Not bad, I think, he'll just have stomach cramps for a day or two. I saw that the horse hadn't hit him as hard as I thought, and there was only a small bruise.
"How is he?" Katrina walks up to me, looking concerned.
"He's fine." I tell her with relief. "He just has a small bruise on his chest. I guess the kirema anima only had power while it existed, so the injury that it caused wasn't that bad once we got rid of it."
"Quite right." Raian nods approval. "Your boyfriend should be fine by tomorrow." He adds with scorn.
"Raian…" Kimu looks nervous as I grow red and my ears and tail pop out. "That isn't such a good idea…"
It isn't. "YOU KNOW WHAT, YOU INSENSITIVE CLOD?? YOU SHOULD JUST SHUT UP RIGHT NOW BEFORE I GET REALLY ANGRY!!" I roar in fury, my ears folded back and my tail straight out.
Raian cowers with my friends, startled by my sudden outburst. "Ok, ok, I'm going to shut up now, jeez!" Raian appeases to me. My ears go back into my head, and my tail vanishes.
"All right, back to the café." Raian instructs us, "We have a serious problem."
"What about Nathan?" Evie asks. I look at Raian.
"Riku, take him home. The rest of you, come with me." Raian walks off toward the café.
I give Nathan a hug, and leave him in the care of Riku as I follow Katrina and the others to the café. Katrina gives me a sideways hug, and I return it gratefully. We all enter the café, where Raian takes us to the basement.
"We've determined that the infected Clydesdale was just a distraction. Look." He turns on the T.V, where news reports are blaring, "There appears to be a huge snake wrapped on the capital, and no army plane can get through! It's destroying the capital, people are trapped inside—" Raian turns off the T.V. "You get the idea."
We all sit in silence as we contemplate the monstrosity of the problem. Raian turns away from the screen to face us.
"If this snake gets bored with the capital, there's the high possibility that the people will be in danger of being killed, or worse, eaten. That is why we must stop this serpent now, before it harms anyone."
We all nod. Then we rise as one, and our cries ring in the air.
"Emerald care care! Metamorphosis!"
"Sky high lapin! Metamorphosis!"
"Peacock feather dance! Metamorphosis!"
"Snowbound leopard! Metamorphosis!"
"Crystal wolf! Metamorphosis!"
Within five minutes, we're all in Mew form and on our way to the capital. People see us, and cry out in amazement. We move along, focused on the enemy ahead of us.
The monstrous serpent hisses upon seeing us. A boy is floating above it, with strange purple hair and black clothes. "Who are you?" he asks upon seeing us.
I grin, and my friends and I get into our star formation as I cry out, "We're Texas Mew Mew, here to destroy this hissing abomination!"
"So you're the girls who've messed up our plans!" the boy cried. "Well, just so you know, I'm Kraxon, who's here to destroy your planet! Sorry our introduction's so very short, because that's how long you'll live!!" He faced the snake. "Sepris! Attack!"
The snake slithered off the capital, and lunged at us. We all dodged, and Mew Glenna cried out, "You want a piece of Mew Glenna? Because no one hurts my friends without my permission! Green Wave!!!"
The snake, to our surprise, bats Mew Glenna's wave away like a drop of water. Evie glares, "So you're a toughie, eh? Well, so is Mew Evie! Lapin Star Kick!" Evie's star hits the snake, making it roar in anguish as the star imbeds itself in the snake's tough skin.
Mew Victoria takes advantage of the situation, and swishes her colorful tail toward the snake, which is momentarily distracted by the colors; this allows Evie to retrieve her star. Then she whirls around, and flings her triangle, roaring, "Peacock feather kiss…with a sting!!" The soft glow turns to angry red as the snake howls in pain.
Mew Katrina laughs, "You think her kisses hurt, you've haven't met my friends Sharp and Arrow. Snow leopard breeze!" She fires five small arrows, which imbed in the snake as I yell, "OH, are you cold? Let's get freezing, then! Blizzard Rush!"
We all form up as the snake tries to deal with the intense series of freezing, painful attacks. Its lament is frightening; yet it allows us prepare ourselves.
"Texas Mew Mew!" I roar at the top of my lungs, "Kaleidoscope strike!"
"Ribbon…Turtle Surprise!"
"Ribbon…Feather Storm!"
"Ribbon…Terra Star!"
"Ribbon…Snow Echo!"
"Ribbon…Artic Stryke!"
In the blast of kaleidoscopic attacks, the snake disintegrates, lamenting in anguish as it vanishes.
Kraxon's eyes widen. "What…what is this?? None of our warriors could defeat Sepris, none of them, yet these five mere girls destroyed him!"
"That's right, dork!" Katrina and I stick out our tongues at him and all of us laugh. Kraxon cringes and glares at us.
"I…I'll be back for you stupid Mew Mews!" He bellows, and then vanishes into thin air.
The crowd emerges and cheers, "Texas Mew Mew, Texas Mew Mew, Texas Mew Mew…!"
We all blush, but I yell out, "Thank you, people of Austin! You got trouble? Texas Mew Mew will kick its butt!"
The crowd cheer and we left quickly as they begin to stampede toward us.
"You know," I turn to my friends after we transformed back to normal, "I think I could get used this superhero thing!"
Chapter Five
I arrive home without too much trouble, though I am confronted with Nathan's messages on the computer. Many of his messages read something about the Mew Mews. I blush happily as I read that he likes Mew Rachel best of all the Mews.
I am distracted from such thoughts as I glance at a calendar nearby. Mom has written: "School said to be open. Check morning news."
I sigh. I liked it when school wasn't in; Nathan asked me to go places with him almost everyday. It was wonderful to be together with him.
Just like Ichigo and Masaya, I like to think. Ichigo is the main heroine in the series of manga called Tokyo Mew Mew. It's one of my favorite books. She has a crush on Masaya, who looks almost exactly like Nathan (and acts like him too!). It's a great story, and I see a lot of resemblances between Ichigo and Masaya and Nathan and I.
I am awakened from my reverie by Riku beeping, "Trouble, trouble! Aliens! Aliens!"
"What?? I just got back from beating they're butts!" I groan, but head out the door again, ignoring Mom's protests. Raian is waiting outside for me, and shoves me inside the limo where I find my friends looking just as confused as me.