Howdy! Happy New Year everybody, welcome to 2008! It's the 4th already but oh well! Short chapter ahead, I've decided I'll keep them the 3 to 5 pages long (Size 10 Verdana) instead of short ones. Habit I suppose. But this is shorter than usual.

Enjoy!

10- Time to Get Serious

Re-Cap of Chapter 9:

" It wasn't me. I was with Shirogane this whole time." He looked at the Chimera jelly. " I think I know who it was."

" Pai? Do you think…?" Kish started, staring at the bottled Chimera jelly carefully.

" Yes. It's a warning Kish. A stern warning to be prepared."

---

" Mew Ichigo!" A voice was heard suddenly, piercing the silence. Ichigo's ears flickered as she realized she knew the voice. It was Ryou, and by the sounds of his footsteps, he was coming towards them at full speed.

Deciding not to rely on her sensitive hearing, she turned around, confirming her suspicions. But Ryou wasn't alone. Behind him were three very concerned looking Mew girls.

" Mew Ichigo!" Mint yelled out, speeding ahead of Ryou, eager to see what had happened.

" Mew Mint!" Ichigo yelled, concerned at her friend's sudden disturbance.

" Ichigo-san, what happened?" Lettuce asked, knowing that Mint would probably ask in a different, coarser way. Lettuce had that sort of ability to make situations a lot less serious by asking in a sweeter voice.

" Well, we," Ichigo indicated Kish as she spoke, " were hanging around here, enjoying ourselves when all of a sudden Kish spotted the Chimera from the top of the Ferris wheel. Before that, we didn't see anything suspicious or out of the ordinary."

" I'm happy that you're safe, Ichigo," Mint sighed, knowing that she herself was overreacting earlier, worried by the fact that Kish and Ichigo were alone together when the Chimera was set off. Who knew what could have happened?

" But I don't understand how a Chimera could have been set off, without any warning. After all, Kish was with you, Purin and Tart were here and Pai was with me." Zakuro muttered.

" Onee-Sama!" Mint yelled, her mouth dropping open. " I thought Pai was with Shirogane!"

" That doesn't matter right now!" Ryou yelled, ending the conversation but fertilizing all four girls' curiosity. Pai had said himself that he was with Shirogane the whole time, but Zakuro had let slip that he was with her… what was going on?

" Blondie's right." Kish suddenly spoke up. " I'm sorry this happened everyone, but I don't think discussing it here will do us any good." He pointed to a wall where, if you looked close enough, you could see about a dozen people crouching behind it.

" Oh damn it." Tart whispered, realizing that he was being watched. It didn't help that he was less than ten centimeters away from Pudding.

" Maybe they'd like to see my show Na no da!"

" Pudding-san, I don't think that's what they're here for." Lettuce sighed, walking towards the aliens. " Pai-san, Kish-san, Tart-san, can you get us out of here?"

" Hai." Pai answered, walking towards Ryou and Zakuro, grabbing them gently by the arms. Kish took Ichigo and Lettuce while Tart had Pudding. Although he moaned in protest, he didn't quite mind having her so close to him after all. Hey, he'd been out with her, even today. But Tart was still Tart- naive and stubborn.

---

With a matter of seconds the strange group appeared in the laboratory of Ryou Shirogane. Keiichirou was sitting at the computer, beside him a tray with 10 cups of tea sitting on it, one of which he was sipping himself as he read data on the screen.

" Ah," Keiichirou turned around in his chair and saw the group. " You're here."

" Akasaka-san," Mint began, " Would you have any idea who set off the Chimera?"

" Well, Mint-san," Keiichirou stood up, placing his cup down as he did so. " I was not at the computer at the time of the attack, however…" He motioned the group to come closer.

" I was able to, theoretically, 'go back in time' and check for disturbances. And what I saw was amazing." He paused; trying to chose his words carefully. If he bluntly said what he was about to say, it may have caused trouble. Just as he had chosen his words, he was interrupted.

" Keiichirou, we have no time for your drama! What did you see?" Ryou outburst, stepping forward toward the computer. " It's important."

" Two more aliens were hovering over the theme park, where Kish and Ichigo were."

The whole group gasped, except the three aliens, who went paler than usual.

" So I was right." Pai said, turning to Zakuro. She nodded her head.

" Hai, indeed you were." She turned to Ryou. " Pai and I were discussing a theory after you left us, Shirogane. You see, apparently Ichigo hasn't told us the whole story about what's going on here." She turned to Ichigo coolly.

" Zakuro-san!" Ichigo said, almost shouting. " I haven't kept anything a secret!"

" Iie, I didn't say it was a secret. You just failed to come back to us after you and Kish settled your agreements. Apparently, there was a Chimera involved and Shirogane witnessed what was going on…?" She trailed off, making Ichigo realize what she was going on about.

" Oh! H-Hai, Gomen nasai, minna, I did forget to mention that."

" It's fine baka." Ryou snapped, his cold blue eyes impatiently staring at the data on the screen. " I informed Lettuce, Pudding, Mint and Zakuro about what happened yesterday."

" But!" Ichigo protested. " If you all knew, why mention it Zakuro-san?"

" Ichigo." Ichigo stopped her rant as Zakuro's eyes narrowed. " You may not remember this, but two years ago I said to you girls we needed to take the fate of the world seriously and trust one another."

" Hai…" All four Mews nodded their heads.

" Whilst we had peace for a while, we need to regain our bonds now. It's time to get serious. If we do not trust one another and tell all information, it could lead to arguments and the possible end of the earth." Zakuro finished, her lips thinned.

" Wait up." Kish stood forward. " You're talking as if these other aliens are trying to take over earth again!" He stood still as silence took over the room.

" If they're not," Purin muttered, " Why did they set off the Chimera Na no da?"

---

To make up for the shortness, I'll post 11 up straight away.

If I keep changing the names of Kish to Kisshu, Mint to Minto, Pudding to Purin and Lettuce to Retasu, forgive me. This fic and it's prequel are the only times I use the "Tokyopop" versions of their names.

And one last note- this story is soon coming to an end! About another three or four chapters and it'll be over! Well, nonetheless, I'll keep it up if everyone enjoys it and reviews! I like long reviews, but short ones are good too (sometimes)! I like reviews full stop really! Haha!

So, please review! Enjoy chapter 11 too since it's up! Review both chapters please, this is why I usually only update one chapter at a time…

MK!

BTW, if I change my name to Strawberry Bubblegum, it's still me; it's something I've been debating for a while now. But for now, I'm still Moonlit-Kris.