ALRIGHT.

See those profiles? My first contribution to this story? Yeah, I want you guys to fill those out. And say the character you submit is pretty badass. I'll make her our fifth Mew.

Sound cool? Right then. ON WITH THE SHOW!

Episode 2: Bitter Sweet Symphony

--

Penny let out a low whistle as she entered the café. It was pretty, alright…absolutely gorgeous, even. White and pink marble flooring, gleaming walls, sugary sweet ceiling. Everything about this place was absolutely adorable.

"Madeline, how did you find this place?"

"My mom passed it on her way home from work. She thought it would be some place we would like. Do you like it?" Madeline looked at Penny with a shy, expectant smile. Maddy was always trying to make everybody happy. Penny grinned.

"Maddy, it's beautiful. I'm so glad you told me about this place! This could be, like, our new hangout or something!" Penny was about to say something else when a girl walked up to them holding menu's. Penny lost all words she was about to say.

The girl was Japanese, which was for sure. But she had long blonde hair and warm, red-brown eyes. She was wearing an absolutely beautiful cream and white waitress uniform that made Penny look down at her own garb in disgust. She pulled her cap a little lower her eyes to hide her embarrassment. This older girl was gorgeous!

"Hello, and welcome to Café Mew Mew! Please follow me to your table!" She led Pen and Madeline to a table stationed under a window, with a perfect view of Huntington Hill. The girl placed the menus in front of them, "I'm Berry, by the way, and I'll be serving you your food today. Just call me if you need anything, and I'll be right back for your drink orders!" She walked away exchanging glances with yet another beautiful girl. This one had short red hair, dressed in a red uniform, and brown eyes. She had a cat-like grace about her. She gave Berry a thumbs up and a smile. She caught Penny staring, gave her a surprised grin, and then turned to help another girl.

Pen's thoughts were interrupted by an older boy rollerblading up to their table with a pitcher of water. He had shaggy black hair, and smiling eyes. "Hello, ladies! I'm your water-guy, Tasuku, and if you need anything when Berry isn't here, just call me!" He filled their glasses, gave them a quick wink, and bladed away to help another table.



Pen leaned in to whisper to Madeline. "Is it just me, or is every person working here gorgeous? As in, I'd kill to look like the waitresses and that waiter is FINE?"

Madeline giggled softly. "Well, they are certainly very pretty, all of them. And yes, that waiter is very nice looking. Which I guess means yes, every person I've seen working here is gorgeous."

Penny leaned back, pulling her hat down again.

Berry returned a split second later. "Hi, have you two decided what you'd like to drink?"

Madeline smiled and murmured, "Um, uh, would you mind if I had some Orange Tea, please?"

Without even missing a beat, Berry wrote it down and said, "Of course, no trouble!"

Pen's eyes widened. Berry could hear Madeline perfectly. Usually, waitresses had to ask Madeline to repeat her order, and then Pen had to repeat it again after they couldn't hear it. But this one had picked it up first try. That was a good sign.

Berry turned to Penny and asked, "And you, miss?"

Penny smiled and said, "Could I get some raspberry lemonade, please?"

Berry nodded and replied, "Got it. No problem! Be right back!" And then she walked back to the kitchen. Pen noticed some of the other waitresses. One who looked about their age was juggling plates for another group of girls, one in blue was chatting with a group of boys, and a tall, model-esque one in purple walked away from just taking the orders of some very young girls.

But then, even if their orders had just been taken, every single customer got up and walked out. It was…really weird, to say the least. All that were left were Pen, Madeline, a gray-haired girl in pigtails, and a black haired girl.

They all looked at each other from their tables, and the gray-haired girl let out a laugh. "Um, ookaaaay?"

Pen laughed. "Well, that was weird."

The black haired girl gave them all a condescending stare and said, "I haven't even gotten my tea yet." She took her cell phone out from her purse, then frowned at it. "Oh, well, this is retarded. I can't even get a signal now." She glared at the ceiling, as if the wiring was purposely trying to sabotage her phone call.

And then, suddenly, everything started to shake.

"EARTHQUAKE!" yelled the gray haired girl.

Shaker started falling off tables, chairs scooting away. As the two other girls dove under the table, Pen moved Madeline under theirs and said, "Stay there!"



Pen jumped under the next table…there was only room for one under each table.

Suddenly…a blinding white light filled the room.

Pen shielded her eyes, but even with them closed, she could see the developing figure before her. It was a…bunny rabbit? The HELL?

But it was such a nice feeling. Like light and warmth and happiness and peace all in one. The rabbit stared at Pen, as if analyzing her…then merged with her. And Penny felt whole.

Pen was under the table. Her head was woozy, her ears were ringing. She could hear everything. She held up a hand to look at…had she been wearing gloves before? And what was this outfit? What in the world was…?

"Mew Penny!" Berry ran to her, with a growing concerned look on her face. The red waitress was right behind her. "Mew Penny, are you alright?"

Pen's head was swimming. How did they know her name? And why were the calling her MEW? Wasn't Mew a Pokémon?

"I…I…I'm gonna faint…"

And she did. Pen blacked out.

--

Pen had woken up completely normal. The three others had been there as well. The totally flippin' hawt owners of the café had told them that they had been standing in a compromised position in the café. Something had fallen on their heads, they'd been knocked out. They each got 50 gift cards, a sincere apology, blah, blah, blah. But as they'd been walking out, the blond owner, named Ryou, had stopped Penny. "Hey, something fell out of your pocket during the earthquake." He tossed her a small, music note keychain that flashed purple.

She stared at it and said, "Not mine." He shrugged. "Keep it anyways. Give it back next time you show up." She had given him a skeptical look. Arrogant, wasn't he? Assuming she'd be back. Well, he HAD given her 50 to spend there…oh, forget it.

She had walked Madeline home, and now here she was, walking in almost complete darkness. Pen had taken a shortcut through the elementary school, and that had just proved to be the stupidest thing she'd ever done. It was really dark. Like, really, REALLY dark. And she was just now remembering those…things that had been happening. One had just come on the news, but the police said it was just a freak accident from the sewers. They'd even arrested a scientist or two for mutating it or something. That rat thing. But still…Pen was scared.



She heard a rustling noise behind her and whirled around to face it. It had just been the wind in the bushes. She picked up her speed, but heard the same rustling behind her yet again. Without even thinking, she gripped the keychain hanging from one of her belt loops. It calmed her down a little bit. She turned slowly…and screamed.

A gigantic spider loomed at her. It had many, glowing, red eyes, and a small, "O," for a mouth lined with teeth. It hissed at her, and one of the holes near its mouth ejected a thin, white string. It barely missed Penny, who had dodged slightly. It burned into the blacktop like acid on a string.

Pen let out an, "EEP." And then she ran.

The spider scuttled after her pretty fast. It followed her. She couldn't jump the fence…it would catch her. So, she led it through the maze of classrooms, trying to be silent and screaming her lungs out at the same time.

"Shit shit shit shit shit shiiiit!" She ran as hard as she could, seeing a classroom with its door slightly ajar. She threw herself into it, slammed it behind her, locked it, and retreated into the corner. She stood, arms at the ready for a fight, breathing hard. Her hat was askew. The keychain flashed.

Everything got quiet for a few seconds. This classroom had no windows. She couldn't see or hear if the spider thing was gone. She silently cursed herself. She had just done almost every stupid thing that got people killed in horror movies. She'd taken a short cut during weird happenings. That was like asking to be confronted by a monster. She had holed herself up in a classroom; though, she hadn't had much choice about that. She couldn't have outrun it, and there was no way staying out in the open would've helped her. And she was alone. Smart. Plus, the fact that she was blonde did not bode well. The blonde's always died. Brunettes were the lucky ones.

Well, she wasn't going to make another mistake. She wasn't going to walk towards the door or open it. That was just a gigantic beacon for the monster to jump through and grab you right then.

She waited in silence. A chill went down her spine. She had a feeling she was going to die here.

The spider crashed through the wall. Pen gasped, and whimpered, but held her ground. Nowhere to go now. She dodged another spider string. And another. And another. Eventually, one got her. It caught her left arm. She winced, pulling it back.

Yeah, no doubt about it. She was dying here, tonight, in this dark classroom.

"PENNY!"

Penny turned, cringing in pain. And there was that blond guy, one of the owners of that new café. Ryou.

"You have to transform! It's the only way to save yourself!" He yelled from his perch on the desk on the opposite side of the room. His hair was slightly disheveled, and his face held a mix of looks. Determination, panic, concentration…



"FOCUS, STUPID!" His bellow brought Penny back to the moment.

"I AM NOT STUPID, JERK!"

"THEN TRANSFORM!"

"FINE!"

Penny unclipped her keychain in one smooth moment and held it up. She felt a pull in her brain. Words appeared. She needed to say them. "Ribbon, Mewtamorphosis!"

A bright, white light filled the room.

Penny's illuminated form stood in a dark room, with the glittering twinkling of stars all around her. Purple music notes on staffs floated around her, then wrapped around her torso and upper thighs to create shorts and a top. Her hair shortened, turning a black color, and the notes wrapped round her hands to make gloves as well. The notes wrapped around her feet, around her neck, and then, she had a collar and shoes. She opened her eyes, smiling. She sprouted a puffy bunny tail, and black bunny ears. A guitar appeared, shining brilliantly, strapped to her back. She twirled it to the front, strummed the front, winking as the notes around her exploded in a musical frenzy. As her transformation came to an end, Penny made a peace sign and said, "Rock on and get ready to rumble, 'cause you ain't go nothin' on the Mew's!"

Suddenly, she was back in the classroom, confronted by an evil, gigantic spider, blinking in confusion.

"It's no time to pause for thought, stupid!" yelled Ryou. "Use your attack!"

Penny didn't stop. She swung the bass in front of her, eyes glinting with playful malice. "Concerto CRASH!" A string of purple and silver notes hit the spider. In a purple flash, the spider screamed, and it started to shrink back to normal size. A hand-sized insect thing jumped forward, but was held in place by a flying pink fluff ball. The pink fluff ball ate it, shuddering a bit, and then it said, "Eww. Tastes nasty, tastes nasty!"

Penny blinked. She wasn't in her weird ass superhero form anymore…"WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST DO?" She looked at Ryou, eyes wide, panicked.

Ryou sighed, rubbing his temples as if he had a headache. "Look, kid, I'm gonna need you to come back to the café so I can explain." He got off the desk, looked at her expectantly. "You coming? You're gonna have to if you want to know what's going on, stupid!"

Penny glared at him in spite of her confusion. "I am NOT stupid. I'm sure if you had just sprouted bunny ears, and then killed a gigantic spider, you'd be a bit stunned, too!"

He just walked out of the classroom. Penny sighed, moving her cap slightly back…and she followed.