Order 04: Awaken, Mew Salvia!
Next day- Saturday. As per Miss Mendel's instructions, Sally again leaves for the café, laptop and handbag on hand. Today though, she was wearing different clothing from what she had worn for the past days outside and last night for that matter- instead of a full white coat and pants, a simple long skirt and blouse with sandals was her attire, with a hairclip similar in fashion to a geisha's for décor- almost covering her right eye's field of view.
"Welcome to Café Mew Mew." someone greeted as she opened the door- Ichigo. "Please, feel right at home..."
"Don't mind if I do... and thank you." Sally replied. "Is Miss Mendel here?"
"Here goes the 'patient'..." one of the junior staff members who was near Retasu puffed.
"Shhh... if she's a patient, you don't want to spook her..." Retasu replied, taking her station at the counter. "I think that she's more of a student than a patient..."
"Or an applicant." The junior member replied.
"She opened the store and left for a while..." Ichigo replied as Sally took her seat at the blue table. "What can I get you?"
"Nothing for now... but thanks for the thought..."
"Welcome to... Café... Mew... Mew..." Ichigo spoke and slowed down as another person entered- familiar to all five of them (Sally not included and Zakuro is in her history class). "Chief..."
"Hallo... everybody..." the voice of their chief came in- Keiichiro.
"Chief, welcome back!" Minto, Retasu and Purin cheered. "We missed you so much..."
"I missed you too girls... by the way, where's Arua?" he replied, taking out a white rose from his pant pocket and placed it on his shirt pocket. "I haven't seen that lovely partner of ours for a long time now... I could just hear her saying..."
"Put a lid on it..." Arua's cold voice came from behind him, the followed by a squeaky hammer to the head- embarrassing Keiichiro. "You have taken too long- six months to be exact! And by the way, where's Ryou (or Ryo for that matter)? Weren't the two of you supposed to be together on that trip?"
"We parted ways a while back... saying that he'll visit his family for a while..." Keiichiro replied, as they went towards the blue table, then noted who was sitting. "Hello there... it seems that my lovely partner has a guest..."
"Shut up... and don't make her your guest. By the way, she's the daughter of my former student so, hands... off..."
"Nice to meet you young lady..." Keiichiro held Sally's hand and kissed it- just his normal greeting.
"Okay... okay... back to work for you..." Arua replied as he dragged her business partner away into the kitchen. "You still have to look at our papers..."
"I see... he's not here..." Ichigo thought with a sad face.
"What's with chief Ichigo?" the junior staff member who puffed at Sally again asked. "That's the first time I saw her sad.
"Don't worry about her... she just remembered someone..."
"Boyfriend?" the junior sneered and Retasu's reply- a slight head tap.
In the Administration office, both Arua and Keiichiro were examining the café's papers- from income and balance sheets to certificates.
"Wow... I was right in trusting you in the first place... you are an excellent partner. Look at this, you managed to boost income while keeping costs low- proportionally. And these application forms; chef, waitress, cashier- all of them coming from people who took specific courses- culinary, HRM and accounting... I don't know how you do it, but so far, it's doing good..." Keiichiro praised her work during the six months that he was gone. "So, to celebrate our success, shall we go out together?"
"You wish... even gods kneel before me when asking my time..."
"'Gods'?"
"Screen gods I mean- actors..." she replied, taking out a front page of a celebrity scandal mag- that of a famed actor kneeling before our proprietress. "This happened a month before. So why should I give out my time?"
"Tell you what, I have lots of secrets that I wanted to tell you- which I can only tell you if we spend the time together..."
"I have secrets of my own as well- and ones that don't need revealing!- everyone does, even you. Well then, I must attend to my 'patient'- she's a little bit cracked..."
Lunch time. The café was unusually empty for this time of day- usually, it would be almost packed. The only ones in the main area were a few customers- Sally included- who was eating her packed lunch, Ichigo cleaning the counter, Minto and Retasu cleaning up the latter's 23rd broken plate for the month, and Purin serving while balancing on a ball. Suddenly, a couple of goon-like characters dash in the door, yielding knives. The girls were taken aback, not knowing what to do or what will happen next (they might transform you know).
"Okay... take out your cash and it will be peaceful..." Goon No.1 spoke as his partner minded the door, putting the closed sign out.
"Yeah... peaceful..." Goon No.2 added. "No one will get hurt!"
Suddenly, something hits him on the face- a grain of rice.
"What the? Who did that!"
Another grain hits him, now noting him of the direction of the source- Sally's. He stood up at the table, looking at her while she munched on.
"You're a good looking one lady... why don't you... Ack!" the villain could only ask as his words were cut short by a stream of rice grains being expertly shot out of Sally's mouth. He coughed the grains out of his choked throat and lunged his knife towards her- but in vain, for she quickly grabbed it and twisted it off with a crack, hurting the goon more.
"Don't... mess... with... someone's... lunch!" she replied as the goon tried to lunge his other hand, only to be stopped by Sally's Glock 9 to his face. "Now leave... you're disturbing the customers and the sanctity of this place..."
The two quickly bolt out- chickening quite rapidly for bad guys, just as Keiichiro and Arua returned from shopping.
"What happened?" the two asked.
Later, Ichigo and the other three were thanking Sally.
"No problem... and they are the worst kind of people- crashers..." Sally minded.
"Even though you saved us, there is a house rule..." Ichigo then replied, pointing to the "no firearms allowed" sign.
"Take it then..." she replied, taking out the gun. "It's just a stun gun made to look like a real gun you know..."
"Stun gun?" Ichigo asked as she took the weapon, pulling the trigger and confirming what Sally had said- making her return the gun.
"Every girl's must-have in this dangerous time... thieves and all kinds of assaulters everywhere..."
"That's right... even I have one..." Minto replied, showing off her ballpen-disguised shocker. "It's the latest personal security item today..."
"That's a nicely crafted one- by the way, I'm Sally Vie Andronfelt- you can call me Sally..."
"Ichigo Momomiya..." Ichigo introduced herself.
"Minto Aizawa..." Minto followed suit.
"Retasu Midorikawa..." Retasu added still.
"I'm Purin Fon!" Purin cheerfully ended.
"Thanks for introducing yourselves to me- now I can say, that we are friends..."
"It seems that you girls are having a ball there... but cut the chat and back to work... the dessert rush is coming- I can feel it."
A few moments later, customers began pouring in, eager to have some dessert. Going along with the flow, Sally ordered as well, raising her hand just as Zakuro entered and approached.
"What can I get you?" she approached and asked her, also making her think. "Hmm... I don't know but I've seen this one before... but where?"
"Chocolate mousse... and iced tea without the sugar please..."
"One coming right up..." Zakuro replied as she went off and told the order to a junior member, passing Mendel in the process.
"How was your studies Kurenai?" Arua asked as she entered the dressing room as well. "Your mother called a while back, checking on you."
"You know her, always worrying here and there. And by the way, she was asking if you were coming over again."
"Tell her I'm busy..." Arua replied casually, since she and Zakuro's mom were friends.
"Thank you for waiting..." Ichigo greeted Sally as she gave her order. "Chocolate mousse and iced tea without sugar... it seems strange that you have a sweet dessert with an unsweetened drink to go along with it..."
"I'm allergic to combined caffeine and sugar... so I take artificial or honey..." Sally replied, taking out
"I can understand artificial... but honey? Isn't that the same as sugar?"
"Actually, they're different..."
Something stops the scene and in comes a chibi version of Sally, dragging a blackboard with the words "Technicalities of Dessert".
"Wait a minute! To prevent Ichigo's confusion on some of the intricacies of cooking, I and my partner will tell you how... Spazziel?"
Another chibi girl appears, wearing a clean chef's uniform.
"You're late!" Sal scolded the other chibi girl.
"I'm still at the hotel kitchen when you dragged me here!" the other girl named Spazziel replied. "Well anyway, a little know-how in cooking is needed here. In the previous line, Sally here told Ichigo that sugar and honey are different, which is in fact, true. In the chemical world, sugar that is extracted from the sugarcane plant- which we call table sugar, is called sucrose... while honey is often called fructose- a substance much sweeter than table sugar- which in Sal's case is turned into a granulated form like table sugar- called creamed honey, which she carries around in sachets."
"And that explains that... Ack!" Chibi Sally almost completes her line when she gets hit by the other's eraser. "What was that all about!"
Back to normal and a few moments after the dessert rush had ended- about four in the afternoon.
"Nice work..." Arua clapped as Keiichiro looked on. "We managed to handle that rush pretty well... you are the best crew yet... ever!"
"As a result, who wants to close early?" Keiichiro added- no one replied, stumping him.
Later that afternoon- an hour later, the five had left the shop to redo their customary night out- which was stopped at the end of it by the sudden chimera attack- which they were talking about in a restaurant- which was supposed to have Arua on hand- her treat.
"Who could have sent such a thing?" Zakuro asked as she stirred her juice.
"Could it possibly be?" Retasu asked.
"No, it's different..." Ichigo replied. "From start to finish- all was different. All of our spells were ineffective- almost useless. Only by combining our skills, adding to that the stranger's did we manage to defeat it."
"But could this also relate to the return of our powers?" Minto asked as well. "We have lost them sine we defeated the aliens three years ago and now..."
"Masaya's disappearance, the return of our powers and now this... are they all related?" Ichigo thought.
"Add one thing to that- the stranger with your ears and tail..." Purin suddenly cuts in.
"Yes, she looks very familiar- but where?" Zakuro added.
"Cat ears and tail... like my characteristics... could she be a Mew Mew too?" Ichigo again asked. "And whose side is she with?"
Suddenly, they hear an explosion, followed by mass hysterical screaming, police cars and the words "A chimera!"
"Not again..." Arua, who was walking up the road to meet with the girls puffed as she saw a dust cloud in the distance- prompting her to slip into an alley and vanish, reappearing with hair untied and staff on hand near the scene (on top of a building of course, assessing the situation). "I guess it's time for me to tell them..."
The police have been successful in the evacuation and operatives have been shooting at the giant werewolf, further angering it and attacking them- knocking them cold. One officer spots the group emerging from a restaurant and nears them.
"Ladies, this is not a safe area! Please run as far away as you can!" the officer yelled as he was shooting the chimera, back on the girls.
Then, the creature sweeps the officer off his feet and into a second floor office window- who knows what happened to him. It then turns notice to the girls, who were now ready- the girls' reply, transformation.
"It's got the same anti-spell shield as the one yesterday..."Mew Ichigo reminded. "Be careful..."
The team went their own ways, trying to divert the monster's attention. But the chimera thought otherwise, for it shot its stiff spiky hairs in all directions, hitting all of them. In the meantime, Sally was watching the TV when the news flash came in- another chimera attack. Since she was the only one in the house that day, she did procedure and left, taking along her Tek-9s, knife and a handbag. By this time, the team was unable to move (or formulate a solution for that matter) and the monster was not doing anything- the reason, a black rift opened above it and the same black-clad person that the girls saw last night emerged from it.
"So these are the 'Mew Girls'... how pathetic..." he spoke as he stood on the creature's head. "Not even a match for me..."
"Who are you, what do you want?" the now angry Zakuro asked.
"I'm what you humans call a black knight- agent of destruction..." the stranger replied, showing his face for the first time- short black hair with black shades. "And I'm here to destroy all of you... destroy them!"
Then out of space, more black rifts appeared followed by what seemed to be masked, cat-eared, hunched minions wearing tight black outfits, uttering "Nyan!" over and over- a total of thirty appear.
"Now I'll leave you to your cruel fate... Nyan Troopers, attack!"
The minions reach out their arms towards the team, palms facing them. Then, in the middle of their outstretched palms, eyes appeared and began shooting ring-shaped pulses, forcing the team to split up. On a six-to-one ratio, the Mews were in a real fix- all except Ichigo were hit by the beams. Ichigo in the meantime raised her shield via her strawberry bell. It held up for a while but soon cracked under the unrelenting assault. Just as her six-pack jumped to attack her, bullets suddenly bounce off them and with perfect accuracy also bounces off the others' six-packs stopping all thirty of them.
"What the!"
"Hey you, don't ever crash someone's neighborhood if you don't want to be hurt..." a person wielding a couple of Tek-9s and wearing a long skirt and blouse with a geisha hairclip on the right side suddenly appeared out of a tree.
"It's Sally..." Ichigo thought.
"Well, well, well... something new. But you're in the wrong place at the wrong time little girl..."
"It's not safe here... get away from here!" Ichigo spoke, trying to stave off Sally.
"Like what I said Ichigo Momomiya... I hate crashers..." Sally replied shocking all five of them. "Are you okay... Ichigo, Minto, Retasu, Purin and Zakuro?"
"How did you know that we're..."
"An angel told me... but that's for later. Right now, this goon needs to be taught a lesson..."
"Eliminate her!"
"Nyan-nyan-nyan-nyan-nyan!" the minions uttered as six of them charged at Sally.
She replied by firing at them, knocking them out. The rest of the minions also charge, surrounding her and jumping her. Sally also jumps over them and fires at them- seeing the others down, she threw at them a yellow egg that began to glow as it neared them- the light beginning to give the mews some relief.
"That's a healing bomb- hold on as I take care of these guys..."
And Sally goes on, dancing a bit as she shot them at the back, sending them cold into the floor. But with her gun clips empty, she was forced to take out her knife and slam the handle into the rest of them- fainting them. Suddenly, the chimera fires a beam from its mouth, blasting Sally off her feet and into the air- she suddenly remembers one of Arua's quick lessons- how to land on her feet. She did land on not just her feet, but on her hands as well- and it was not the only cat-like attribute she manifested, for upon landing near them, the mews see it, and Ichigo herself could not believe what she was seeing or hearing for that matter.
"Cat... ears... and... tail... She's the same person from last night!" Ichigo alarmed as Sally meowed angrily and loudly.
"I should have known..." Zakuro replied.
"But that means..." Lettuce spoke, looking at both Ichigo and Sally. "Is she a Mew Mew too?"
"Are you guys okay?" Sally asked, stopping her meow and standing up. "By the looks of things, we seem to be on the same side... I never had a real dedication in my life... and the world is in much more danger like what my father told me- so I decided... time for me to formally awaken!"
"Finally, and just the right time too..." Arua thought as Sally took out a familiar object- a 'power pendant'.
"That's... no way!" the black knight alarmed as she kissed her pendant and loudly said the following words.
"Mew Mew Salvia... Metamorphosis!"
Transformation Sequence: (Camera view: global- full body shot) A formation appears at her feet just as her figure becomes blank-undressed, along with crosses of light on the hands, forehead, chest and feet. Pillars of light emit from the formation just as lines of light cover her body in patterns. (Camera view-in sequence: Feet) White feminine battle boots appear, covering her feet with short white socks. (CV: Up towards the waist) Then, a knee-length white skirt with long sashes (three of them- placed equally around the waist) with blue trim covers the waist area- with a pair of bloomers underneath. (CV: Chest area) A simple short sleeved blouse now covers that particular area. And her arms and hands now move in view, with white gloves with bracelets (when viewed on the sides, form an "X") covering her hands, with the subject arching her hands like a cat showing its claws. (CV: Head and Face) With her hair in original color, a headset similar to a glassless angel control visor appears and places itself to cover the ears, with the wing antennae deploying just as her white cat ears appear. (CV: Backside) Her white tail finally appears and is adorned by a sort of stiff blue metal ribbon near the tip (that looks like spikes). (CV: Back to the chest) Her pendant appears and is framed at her chest by a small blue-ribboned cross of gold. (CV: Global-full body) She does a pose- Transformation, complete.
"Amazing..." Ichigo commented. "Seeing someone transform other than me has always been fascinating- but enough of that... Strawberry Bell!"
The others (except Salvia though) also take out their weapons and stand at the ready.
"You imprudent, pesky humans..." Black Knight spoke as his minions regained consciousness, standing up and again uttering. "Kill them!"
And so a five-to-one fight ratio was made... and after a few minutes, they were beginning to tire, with the minions still standing even after they were knocked down over and over. All except Salvia were now tired and held by four of the minions as the fifth one aimed its laser eye at the mew- Salvia notices it.
"Oh no you don't!" She alarmed as she knocked her minions down yet again. "Salvia Flutestaff!"
Then in the same fashion as Ichigo's summoning of her bell- appearing at the tail ribbon, a staff with a similar style to a flute appears, being held and spun like a cheerleader's baton. She then positioned her weapon near her lips- ready for a blow.
"Ribbon... Salvia... Silencer!" she called and blew the flute, emitting a silent note that stopped and muted all of them and weakened their grip on the girls, allowing them to break free.
"They couldn't attack when speaking... I know! Hit their mouths!" Zakuro noticed and told them.
"It's worth a try... Ribbon Mint Echo!" Mint replied and aimed her bow, shooting towards the mouth of one but hitting the neck instead- no matter, for the minion stopped and one thing that has not appeared suddenly did- a black cat bell. The bell cracked and the minion wearing it vanished, leaving behind a small gray crystal. The others take notice and attack, eliminating all of them.
"Hehehe... so you managed to... I'll leave you to your cruel fate then... Destroy them!" the black knight spoke as he entered another black rift that he created.
The creature now did its master's bidding, for from its mouth, it issued the same beam that had forced Sally to transform into her new Mew form. The Mews split up to evade it and again attack the creature on all fronts- keeping it from using its beam. Locked with multiple targets, the chimera was forced to fire its spines all around- Ichigo's shield now fared well in this circumstance, shielding her from harm- she had enough.
"Okay... time for a team blast! Everyone, cue in!"
"Does that include me?" the new face Mew Salvia asked.
"I said everyone, cue in!" Ichigo now spoke in a more serious tone. "Pudding!"
"Pudding... Ring Inferno!" Pudding barked, successfully locking down the monster.
"My lead now!" Mint replied. "Ribbon Mint Echo!"
"Ribbon... Zakuro Spear!"
"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!"
"My turn..." Salvia replied as the three attacks converged, prompting her to raise her staff for transformation- into of all things, a shogun. "Magic Shotgun Burst!"
The four attacks- three ribbons and one magic impact at the same spot, breaking the shield and hurting the monster a bit.
"Here goes... Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!" Ichigo called, banishing the chimera and once again turning it into a black crystal.
"Finally..." Salvia blew a sigh of relief.
"That was nice teamwork by the way..." Zakuro replied, and extending her hand.
"Thanks..." Salvia took and shook it. "Am I in?"
"Sure you are- you helped us so much that we think that this is the only way that we can thank you... right guys?"
Everyone nods, and then someone stops them.
"Nice work... I'm sure that Salvia will be a good addition to your team, after what just happened." A voice familiar to them suddenly comes in, then the person owning that voice appeared before them- someone very familiar- hair untied and with a staff on her right hand.
"Chief... Arua?"