Mew Galaxy Chapter 4: How the Barrier Was Broken, a tokyo mew mew fanfic

Ditto.

Everything kinda moves a little fast in this chapter, and it may get a little confusing. Sorry. The character Cookie is first mentioned here, although we don't see her until later. And remember those presents from chapter 1? Special delivery! There's some comic relief near the end of the chapter in the form of Tart. After this, the story kind of switches gears. This whole thing is like three separate stories, the one with Mew Peach/Flan being the first.

Yay! Someone else reviewed! Thank you, Cooking Spray! I'm so happy that you like the story! Time to go yell at other people who don't review.

Chapter 4: How the Barrier Was Broken

At last, the Mew Mews seemed to be recovering from their shock. Lettuce gained mobilization again and swam out to the middle of the lake.

"I'm sorry," were the first words out of Peach's mouth.

"It's alright," Lettuce assured. "We'll talk when I get you to shore."

"No, it's okay, I can swim," Peach said. She began to crawl back to the shore. Lettuce glided up by her side. As she neared the edge of the water, she glanced over at the young lady's innocent, gentle face. Well, she thought, if he had to be in love with someone, I'm glad it's this girl. Finally, Peach and Lettuce pulled themselves out of the lake and found themselves surrounded by the other Mew Mews. Peach stood up and gazed worriedly at the others.

"I knew it!" Mint suddenly cried, shattering the sacred silence, slicing through the still air. "I bet you're the one who sent those two monsters after us, aren't you?! You've been disguising yourself as a Mew Mew in order to get in amongst us and know exactly where we are, at what time of day, and…"

Mint suddenly stopped when she saw the hurt look on Peach's face. Her pointy ears drooped downwards as all Mercurians' did when they were disappointed.

"Peach?" Ichigo slowly spoke to her.

Peach suddenly shook her head. "No, my name isn't Peach. It's Flan. I knew that if you found out my real identity you would never help me, so I lied to you. I'm very sorry." She turned her back and began to walk away. Good-bye, everyone. It's been fun."

"Y-You're leaving?" Ichigo cried.

"Yes," Flan replied. "You're not going to help, so there's no need of me staying here any longer."

Pudding's eyes grew watery. "Don't leave! Peachy!"

Flan reached down and caught Pudding as she ran up to hug her. "Pudding," Flan slowly said. "I'm sorry I had to lie to you."

"It doesn't matter! Don't leave!"

Flan glanced back up at the Mew Mews.

"What kind of help did you say you needed?" Ichigo asked.

Flan walked over to a nearby shady area near a tree. "Sit down, I'll tell you all about it." The Mews were a bit hesitant to sit down with one of the aliens, but eventually even Mint joined in the circle on the ground. "Well, remember when you gave the remaining Mew Aqua to Kish, Pie, and Tart to take back with them to Mercury?"

Ichigo was a little confused. "Yeah. You guys live on Mercury? I didn't even know that."

"Yup," Flan said. "Well anyway, for some reason the Mew Aqua lost its power. By the time they got back to the King of Mercury with the Mew Aqua, it was just a worthless bottle of liquid."

Ichigo stared, her pinkish eyes wide. "But…how could that happen?"

"We believe that they can only be used on Earth, but we're not sure. I was sent back here to get another Mew Aqua and find out how to successfully transport it to Mercury without it losing any power."

Zakuro nodded. "So you asked me how to transport one."

Flan nodded. "Exactly."

"I get it," Ichigo said. "You were just trying to get information by getting in amongst us. But…wait a minute. Are you an alien or a Mew Mew?"

Flan grinned. "I'm both! I'm a Mew Mew alien! I injected myself with panda bear DNA back at Pie's lab in the palace. It was completely my decision. None of them even knew about it."

"Well, we're sorry," Ichigo said. "We haven't even seen another Mew Aqua since they went back, and we have no idea how you could transport one, since we've never had to."

"What about those monsters that have been appearing lately?" Mint spoke up. "If you're a friendly alien and were only looking for information, how do you explain those things?"

Flan shook her head. "Those monsters were not from Mercury. I know that for a fact. There's only one explanation I can think of as to where they came from."

"What?" The Mews were all on edge, listening to Flan's story and were eager to figure out just what was going on.

"They're from Jupiter."

"Jupiter?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes," Flan replied. "The Jupitites have been after us Mercurains for many years now. They could have seen my ship and attacked Earth, thinking they would find and kill me."

"Your ship…" Mint said to herself. "Oh! You were that UFO we saw before!"

Flan nodded. She thought for a moment, and suddenly she jumped up. "Oh, yeah! I nearly forgot!"

"What did you forget?" Lettuce asked.

"I'll be right back," Flan said. She ran off down into the woods and came to her knotted tree with a hole in it. She couldn't believe she'd almost forgotten the presents! The Mew Mews looked suspiciously at her as she returned to their little area holding a bulging material, doubling as a sack.

"What's that for, Peachy?" Pudding asked.

Flan smiled. "I forgot, I have a few things for some of you." She sat down again and pulled out the long, glittery baton. "Pudding, Fong," she said, handing it to Pudding.

"Wow!" Pudding said, "This is for me?"

"Lettuce Midorikawa," Flan continued, handing a big square box to Lettuce.

"Whoa," Lettuce said as she struggled to grab it. "What could be inside this thing?" She set it down on the grass.

"And finally…Ichigo Momomiya." Flan handed the little velvet box to Ichigo and smiled. "See?" she called to no one. "I didn't forget!"

"Wow!" Pudding cried again, as she read the little note that had been attached onto one of the baton's sides. "Tar Tar got this for me?!"

Lettuce opened up her box. "A tea set!" she cried.

That caught Mint's attention. "Oooh, let me see!"

Lettuce pulled out the porcelain set and gazed at the beautiful undersea paintings on the sides of the cups, inside the saucers, and on the sides of the kettle.

"That's cute," Mint commented. "Who got you that?"

Lettuce looked inside the box and noticed a small tag. Her green eyes widened behind her glasses. "Pie?!?! But…why did he get me this? He…likes me???" Her face flushed a bit.

"Well, you are pretty popular, you know," Mint teased.

Ichigo stared at her little box. "I don't even have to look at the tag; I already know who this is from." She picked it up and read it anyway. "To my dear sweet Ichigo.' Oh, I'm going to puke."

Flan giggled. She guessed that Kish was totally in love with Ichigo, but Ichigo was in love with her boyfriend in England and couldn't stand Kish chasing her all the time.

At last, she finished reading the note and opened the little box. She gasped. The others all gathered around. The necklace lay sparkling on its cushion, even in the middle of the night. The little heart's pinkish glow almost reflected off of Ichigo's face. "Wowwwww," the others chanted.

"Are those real diamonds?" Lettuce asked in fascination.

"Yeah, they are," Mint could tell, just by looking at them. "2 carat. This thing is major-expensive…well, for people like you."

"It's beautiful," Pudding said.

Zakuro nodded in agreement.

"Put it on," Mint prodded. "It'll make you look like you've got money."

Ichigo's face turned red. "I'm not putting it on! Do you know what that means?!"

"But it's such a pretty necklace. It would be a waste for it to just sit in the box," Mint replied.

"Yeah, it would look great on you, Ichigo," Lettuce agreed.

"Just put it on so we can see it," Pudding said. "You can take it off later."

"Oh, all right," Ichigo finally agreed. She gently lifted the necklace from its box and slowly attached it around her neck.

"It really is pretty," Zakuro said, to everyone's surprise.

"Darn, I forgot my camera," said Mint.

"Nooo!" Ichigo cried. "Don't take a picture!"

"Why not? You look glamorous!" Pudding cried.

Slowly, Ichigo turned and took a look at herself in the lake. She did think she looked good with the little heart glittering around her neck, but she couldn't continue wearing it…that would mean that she liked Kish. But then again, what did it matter? He wasn't here to see her wearing it, and Masaya wasn't here to see it and get jealous.

---

Ryou lived in front of flickering screens. At least this was the way it was nowadays. This time, he and Keiichiro were analyzing a disturbing news special.

"Today, a crucial scientific breakthrough has been made," the ritzy reporter announced. "At the excavation site in Africa, fossils of surprisingly human remains have been found. The archaeologists hoped to identify which tribe of people lived in this city by testing the genetic makeup of these fossils, but the results they found instead are startling and may change the way we think about our ancestry as human beings…"

Ryou and Keiichiro looked at each other for a moment in suspense as a commercial blared on. "Our ancestry?" Keiichiro asked. "They've found information regarding the evolution of human beings?" They didn't have to wonder for much longer, as the fancy reporter came back on.

"And now back to our special report: Unearthing the Past: A Discovery at the Ruins. After intense DNA testing, studies revealed that the fossils recovered at the site of the ruins in Africa indicated that they came from 3 million years ago, but the DNA structure does not match up with DNA from the ape-like pre-humans of that time. The testing also revealed qualities similar to our own, but some above us, such as enhanced hearing, and anti-gravity system. We now believe that at this point in our history, when mammals first rose up on two legs, that these primitive people did not stay one species, but branched into two- humans, and this more advanced human-like species. Despite its obvious advantages over the cavemen, this species was mysteriously wiped out of existence just before the rise of the modern human. Efforts will continue to correctly identify and place this species in the evolution web…"

Ryou glanced over at Keiichiro. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"The aliens," Keiichiro plainly stated.

---

It had been several hours since Tart had fled the palace, although Pie and Kish still didn't know where he had gone. "I'm not worried," Pie had told Kish. "Like I said before, he's a free spirit, he can go where he wants…" He glanced over at Kish. "And you too. That's why I didn't try to stop you."

Reality had started to settle in and Kish had been very silent ever since they'd returned from the hospital. He sat on a bed attached to the side of the wall, staring off into the distance.

"I don't believe you," Pie spoke up. "I always knew you were a little…lusty, but I never thought you'd actually…"

Kish moved to the edge of the bed and stared up at his stony partner.

"So…who…?" Pie began.

Kish sighed. "Cookie."

Pie nodded in understanding.

Cookie was an older Mercurian, and Brownie's girlfriend, even though he abused her.

They looked at each other in silence for a while longer. "I was stupid. Naïve. Whatever you want to call it," Kish at last spoke up. "Guess Brownie will get his revenge, huh?"

Slowly, Pie sat down next to his younger friend. "I can't tell you that what you did was not wrong, but Kish, no one deserves a punishment like this."

Kish's hands began to tremble. "It's all my fault. I know that, but…" He closed his flickering yellow eyes and looked away from Pie. "I just…to tell you the truth, I'm…I'm scared."

After a few minutes, Pie reached out and pulled Kish's tear-soaked cheek to his shoulder. "You don't need to be so afraid," he said, soothingly. "Our spirits are connected. All of ours- yours, mine, Tart's, the humans'. Once they are together, there is no separating them. We are always together. No matter what happens."

Kish just let his head rest against Pie. Pie, he thought, you may be talking nonsense, but just keep talking. It's the best nonsense I've ever heard.

A few minutes later, Pie released him, made sure he was okay, and went on with his lab research.

Kish lied back in the bed and pulled the covers over himself. Turning to the left, he noticed a painting on the wall, depicting a garden with all kinds of fruit growing. His eyes set upon the little pink strawberries. "Ichigo…" Suddenly, he felt terribly guilty. "I'm sorry, Ichigo." Kish closed his eyes and turned his head back to the ceiling. "I guess you were right…I am a perverted freak."

---

Flan glanced around the interior of Café Mew Mew, a smile upon her face. Everything seemed to have returned to normal now. Lettuce was sliding all over the floor, while Mint slurped tea, Zakuro glared at the customers, Pudding swung from the ceiling, and Ichigo screamed for help.

"Flan!!! Help me!"

"All right, I'm coming, Ichigo," she said with a little laugh. She took another tray from her and helped hand out the orders.

"Thanks," Ichigo replied. "Aaaugh!" she cried as Pudding fell into her arms. "Um…nice of you to drop in."

"Thanks, I'll drop by again sometime!" the little blond-haired girl cried, hopping out of her arms. "Hey! I just remembered!" She pulled out her new baton and twirled it around at an amazing speed. "Watch this! It's…Pudding's Parade Spectacular!" With that she began to throw her baton and catch it while doing acrobatic feats.

Ichigo sighed. "She just never gives up."

Flan smiled, knowingly.

Lettuce slowly slipped next to them. "Hi, Ichigo, Flan." They greeted each other. "You know, after that whole event at the park, I think we should go tell Ryou and Keiichiro about your true identity. They're probably still worried."

"You know, that's a good idea, Lettuce," Ichigo said. "I forgot about telling them!" She looked up at the clock and it was getting towards closing time. "Alright, when the café closes, we'll go tell them. Okay, Flan?"

Flan looked a little bit away. "They're not going to be…mad, are they?" she hesitantly asked.

"Oh, no," Ichigo assured her new friend. "We've made peace with your kind already. They'll know that you're not a threat."

Lettuce nodded. "I'll see you then." She turned to continue with her work.

A bit later, closing time came and Mint hung the big CLOSED sign on the door. "Finally," she commented. "Every day, I can't wait until I can put that little sign up."

The Mew Mews quickly changed back into their street clothes. Mint, Pudding, and Zakuro were just about to leave when Ichigo stopped them. "Wait, you guys," she said. "We're going to see Ryou before we leave."

"Huh?" Mint asked, turning around. "What for?"

"Well, we need to tell him about what happened yesterday," Flan spoke up. The other three Mew Mews looked at each other.

"Oh, yeah," Pudding said. "Alright, let's go!"

As they began walking, Mint glanced down and smiled. "Hey, Ichigo, I thought you didn't like that necklace."

The little diamond heart was glistening around Ichigo's neck again. She had put it on after she'd changed out of her uniform. She shrugged. "What does it matter? It's only a necklace, and I think it's pretty, so I'm wearing it." She left it at that, and no one bothered mentioning it.

"I brought my tea set," Lettuce added. "Just because Mint wanted to use it today."

At last, they reached the door to the lab. Ichigo reached out her hand to grab the handle, but suddenly the door swung open, smacking her in the face as Ryou came bursting through. "Ow!" she yelled. "Watch out for people behind the door before you open it!"

"Ichigo?" Ryou said. "Well you shouldn't have been standing on the other side. Were you eavesdropping on us?!"

"No, of course not!" Ichigo cried, jumping to her feet. "We were coming to tell you something important! I was just about to open the door when you…"

Suddenly, Mint jumped in between the two of them. "Stop arguing! We're here to tell you something very important, so stop goofing around!"

At last, Ichigo and Ryou quit fighting and looked over as Flan stepped up to Ryou. She took a deep breath. "I'm very sorry for not telling you the truth sooner, but I was afraid…afraid of what you'd do to me if you found out. Don't be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you, or anyone else on the planet. I need your help."

"Peach?" Ryou slowly said. "…Just who are you?"

Flan closed her eyes and breathed in. "Zakuro…"

Zakuro held up a glass of water, and dumped it on top of Flan's head. The liquid went slipping over her body, and then her ears began to grow and unfold, until at last they popped out as their full elf ears.

Ryou stared. "I thought that maybe you might be one of them, but I wasn't positive. You were that UFO we saw awhile back, and that extra strand of DNA…that was your alien DNA, wasn't it?"

Flan nodded. "I would prefer if you not call me an alien, since that word seems to have many negative images attached to it. Instead, call me a Mercurian, since we come from Mercury."

"Whoa," Ryou said to himself. "Life on Mercury."

"To answer any further questions, yes, I'm both a Mew Mew and a Mercurian."

"Well," Ryou said. "You did a pretty good job of disguising yourself. Now I know why you were so reluctant to have your genes tested."

Flan smiled. She opened her mouth and began to explain her mission. "You see, my name is really Flan, and I came here on a mission…" She never got a chance to finish.

Suddenly, a giant greenish blob came crashing through the ceiling. "Aaaaugh!" the Mews screamed.

Keiichiro rushed out of the lab and stood next to Ryou. "Ryou, what was…?" Then he saw the ceiling damage and didn't need an answer to the question.

The blob took one giant leap- and trapped Mint and Zakuro in its interior, without them even having transformed yet.

"Quick everyone!" Ichigo cried to Pudding, Flan, and Lettuce. "We've got to save them! Mew Mew Strawberry Metamorphosis!" With a few quick flips and a flash of pink light, Ichigo emerged wearing her pink Mew Mew outfit, her black cat ears poking out from beneath her hair, and her black tail from the bottom of her skirt. Looking over, she noticed Pudding, in her yellow bodysuit with short monkey ears and curly tail. Lettuce stood next to her, long fin-like ribbons twisting around her body. Then, Flan stepped out, her pointy Mercurian ears replaced by round black panda ears.

She held up her pink-orange Frisbee, and threw it at the blob monster. "Ribbon Peach Gust!" The flat disc slammed into its side, almost hitting Mint and Zakuro, but the monster's exterior stretched and the Frisbee came zooming back at Flan. "Aaaah!" Flan ducked just in time and the Frisbee flew past her, sticking itself in the café wall.

"Alright, my turn!" Ichigo cried. She stepped up and held out her hand. "Ribbon…hey, wait a minute!" She stared down at her hand and noticed that she didn't have her weapon with her. "Strawberry Bell Bell!" Nothing happened. "Um…I said Strawberry Bell Bell!" Still there was no effect and her hand remained empty.

"Don't feel bad, Ichigo," Lettuce called. "I can't conjure my castanets either!"

"Me neither!" Pudding cried. "My rings are gone!"

"This is useless," Ichigo said. "We can't attack without our weapons!" She looked back up at Mint and Zakuro inside the jelly-like monster. It looked like they were trying to transform, but the substances inside were preventing them.

"Hey, wait a minute," Pudding said. "I'm getting something…" Words were popping into her mouth as she dodged the attacks of the blob. "P…Pudding…Pudding Baton!" Suddenly, a golden-colored baton appeared in Pudding's hands, although its two ends had long, multicolored ribbons and sparkles. "Huh?" she said. "This is…the baton Tar Tar gave me! Now it's all shiny and golden…" She suddenly held it up and twirled it around. "Ribbon…Pudding Baton Blizzard!" A shower of yellowish sparkles exploded from the ends of Pudding's baton. They swirled around and shot straight out towards the blob. It was knocked back, slamming into the side of the café.

Lettuce's green eyes went wide. "I feel…a strange new force…" She closed her eyes. "Lettuce…Cup!" One of the cups from her tea set flew to her hands, except now its background had turned green and a pink ribbon wound around the handle. "This teacup is my new weapon?" Lettuce said, confused. She grabbed the handle and green force began building up in the center. She thrust it out towards the blob that held Mint and Zakuro. "Ribbon…Lettuce Pour!" The green force blasted out at the monster, like a stream of poison water. Now it was starting to run out of energy. It swayed dangerously and Mint and Zakuro screamed.

Now what am I going to do? Ichigo wondered. Where's my new weapon? She looked down and noticed that she was still wearing her diamond necklace. Don't tell me… "Strawberry…Diamond!" she said the words as they crept into her mind. The necklace blazed in a white light, and then a big pink heart appeared in her hands, its red ribbons trailing behind it. A giant heart-shaped diamond glistened at its center, glowing in all different rainbow colors.

"Wow, pretty!" Pudding cried.

Flan yanked her Frisbee from the wall and stared at the Mew Mews in shock. "They…bought them new weapons?"

Ichigo closed her eyes. "Take this, Jupiter creep! Ribbon Strawberry Rainbow Shine!" A burst of rainbow colors filled the room. The light was so bright, Lettuce, Pudding, and Flan had to close their eyes. The blob monster made a horrible shrieking noise and then melted into nothingness. Mint and Zakuro fell to the ground.

"Ugh," Mint grunted.

Zakuro brushed her remnants of the goop from her designer dress.

Mint slowly got up and stared at the four other Mew Mews. "Um…Ichigo? What was that?!"

"My new attack," Ichigo explained, waving the pink heart. "Thanks to my new weapon."

Mint looked at Pudding, holding her baton, and Lettuce holding her teacup. "Huh? Your presents from the aliens became your new weapons?"

Oh no, Ichigo thought, Now Mint's going to be complaining about her and Zakuro not having new weapons.

Instead, Mint smiled. "That's so cool! See, Ichigo? Didn't I tell you that you should wear that necklace? It turned out to be your new weapon, and if you hadn't had it on, you would've been defenseless."

Ichigo looked a little surprised, realizing this for he first time. She reverted back to her normal form and picked up the little heart around her neck. "Yeah…you're right. For once, I'm glad I listened to you guys."

Lettuce, Pudding, and Flan went back to their normal forms, although Flan's ears were human again. "Now…where were we?" Flan resumed her conversation as if nothing had happened.

The other Mews gaped at the destroyed café, the huge hole in the ceiling, dented pillar, and slice in the wall.

"Um…what about the café?!" Ichigo cried.

"Oh, it's okay," Keiichiro spoke up. "I was planning on doing a bit of redecorating anyway."

"We're lucky Ryou's such a billionaire," Ichigo replied. "Anything like this without his money and we'd probably be out of business."

"I'm sorry," Flan said. "It probably came for me."

"You?" Ryou asked. "So those things are looking for you?"

Flan nodded. "Those monsters are from Jupiter- Jupitites. The Jupitites have had a rivalry with us Mercurians for ages. They think we're too close to the human race, and don't have the right to call ourselves a Mercurian race." Flan looked a bit worried. "Somehow they found out that I came to Earth and became a Mew Mew, so they're attacking you, just because they don't know which one is me." She looked at the ground and began to tell them the whole story about how she was sent back to Earth to look for a way to find and transport a Mew Aqua.

"That Mew Aqua didn't help?" Ryou said, confused. "Something happened as it was traveling through space…"

"Is it true that they can only be used on Earth?" Flan asked.

"I'm not sure," Ryou plainly replied. "I'll have to run some tests on a pinch of it that I saved here." He turned around and was about to head back into the lab, when he remembered something. "Oh yes! Flan, I need you to come with me for a sec."

Flan looked back at the other Mew Mews. "Just me?"

Ryou nodded. "If it's possible."

Flan stepped into the dark room wondering what in the world Ryou could need to see her alone for. He didn't need to do any more genetic testing, did he?

Ryou picked up a remote control and clicked on the big TV screen at the front of the lab.

The glitzy reporter blinked on again. Flan watched the news special with widened eyes and a look of wonder on her face. At last, when the program was over, Ryou clicked the TV off.

"So, I figured it might have been, but that other species they talked about…that was your kind, wasn't it?"

Flan nodded. She was finding it hard to speak. She couldn't believe that after all this time, it was finally found. "They…finally…found it."

"Found what?" Ryou asked. He looked over at Flan's face, trying to read her expression, but it wasn't giving him anything.

"They found…Pyridis."

"Pyridis?" Ryou repeated.

"Pyridis, the ancient city where our ancestors lived 3 million years ago. We've been searching for the Pyridis ruins forever."

---

The sun sparkled in the blue sky above. Today was Saturday, a day that the Mew Mews had off from work for a half the day. They all decided to take a trip to the park again, hoping that this time they wouldn't be interrupted by any giant, plantlike Jupitites. Mint held a wooden basket where they held another picnic lunch. This would be a better picnic, since the tensions between the Mews had dispersed. Trees began to appear on the street in front of them.

"Hey, we're almost there!" Ichigo called.

Flan looked up into the sky. She hadn't told any of the others about the discovery of Pyridis. This would be big news back on Mercury, but she had no way of contacting them to spread the joy…

Ichigo suddenly shrieked and jumped out of the way as a reddish streak nearly ran her over. "Hey watch where you're going, you freaky little dwarf!" she cried. "You don't have to run like your butt's on fire!"

The streak came to an abrupt halt and they all saw that it was a young boy. He wore an odd stocking cap, pulled over his head, a ski jacket with pants that were way too long for him, and no shoes. Ichigo was surprised that he hadn't tripped on those flopping pants legs. He glared up at her. "What did you just call me?!"

Ichigo snickered, trying hard not to burst out laughing.

The little boy's eyes grew watery and he slammed his invisible foot onto the sidewalk. "Stop laughing at me, witch!"

Flan giggled, walked over, and pulled the boy's stocking cap off. His long pointed ears and red pigtails on the top of his head popped out. "Tart, you really have no idea how to dress like a human, do you?"

"Flan!" Tart cried. "I didn't even recognize you! What have they done to you?!?!"

"I did this to myself," Flan explained.

"Tar Tar!" Pudding cried. She ran up and flashed him a smile. "Thanks for the baton!" She held up the sparkly stick. "It came in handy!"

Tart's face flushed red and glared at Pudding. "I didn't send you that! What would make you think that?! I'd never buy something for you; I don't even like you!"

Pudding's eyes grew watery. "You…didn't? But…your name was on the tag…"

Tart feigned shock and disgust. "What?! It was?! Rrrrrr, someone did that to tick me off. I bet it was another one of Kish's dirty jokes! I can't believe that…" Suddenly, Tart's voice cracked. He bent over, choking.

"Tart?!" Flan cried, alarmed. "What happened? Are you okay?" She knelt on the other side of the little Mercurian.

Tart's face was streaked with tears. "I…I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry…Kish…"

"What?" Flan asked, putting an arm around him.

"Pudding…" Tart rubbed the tears out of his eyes and looked back at the little Mew Mew. "Yeah, I did get you that baton, I just…didn't want to say."

Pudding smiled. "Yeah, I knew it. You do that a lot."

"Tart, what are you doing here?" Flan asked. "Did you come all the way to Earth all by yourself?"

"Yeah…" Tart admitted. "They'll probably be mad with me for taking a spaceship, but…" he looked at the ground, and his forehead creased again. He looked up again and straight into Flan's eyes. "Flan, we need to find a Mew Aqua! Now!"

"I haven't found one yet," Flan told him. "You need to be a little patient. We'll find one soon."

Tart shook his head. "No…you don't know…" He bit his lip, finally crying out, painfully. "…Kish's got Shadow Plague!" There was an awkward, uneasy silence following this announcement.

"What's Shadow Plague?" Ichigo asked. No one answered her for the moment.

Flan clenched her fists. "That jerk!" she cried. "He should've known better!"

Tart looked shocked. "Why does everyone say that? Why is it his fault that he got sick and is going to die? I just don't get it!" Tears were brimming on the edges of his eyes again.

Poor Tart, Flan thought, he's too young for all this and is getting confused and frustrated.

Finally, he just sighed and looked back up at Flan. "Well, we need you back at Mercury…"

"I can't go back to Mercury," Flan explained. "Especially now that we need to find a Mew Aqua to cure Kish."

"I just…you need to come back home! We need you…"

"There's something else I forgot to mention too," Flan spoke up. "I can't leave because…they've unearthed it."

"Unearthed what?" Tart asked, putting his hands on his hips. When he did, the zipper of the ski jacket came ripping apart and he pulled it together again. Ichigo covered her mouth to hide her smile.

"Unearthed what?!" Flan cried. "You don't know?! Pyridis!!! They found it!"

Tart froze in place. He smiled. "Well, we have to tell the rest of them!" He took a step away, but Flan stepped on his trailing pants and he fell on his face.

Ichigo couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out with laughter. Pudding and the other Mews couldn't help giggling a little.

"Flan!" Tart yelled, his face red as he pulled the pants up while trying to hold the puffy jacket together.

"We can't leave!" Flan cried. "We need to go back there! I'm afraid of what would happen to Pyridis if we let a bunch of nosy humans poke around it for too long."

"You're probably right," Tart said. "But could you just come back to Mercury for a little while? Pie's been worried about you. He found out about what you did…"

Flan blushed a little. "Oh, no…is he mad?"

"No," Tart said. "That's what's weird. He's more worried. He thinks your genes might be clashing or your power levels may be low, or whatever."

Flan stared at the pavement for a while. She clenched her fist. "Okay. I'll come back with you, but just for a little while."

"What?!" the Mew Mews cried. "But what about the Jupitites?" Mint asked. "We need all the help we can get to defeat them."

Flan smiled. "Don't worry about the Jupitites. After I return to Mercury, they should leave you alone. They're after us Mercurians, remember?"

"What?" Tart butted in. "Those stupid Jupitites are after you?!"

Flan pulled him up again. "Well, let's not worry about that, okay? We've got enough to worry about as it is. C'mon, Tart, lead me to the ship." They began to walk off down the sidewalk.

"Wait a minute!" Ichigo suddenly cried, stepping out after them.

Tart and Flan both turned around, giving her surprised, confused looks. "Ichigo?" Flan said. "I said don't worry about the monsters. They'll probably all disappear once I get back to Mercury…"

Ichigo shook her head. "No, that's not it. I…I want to come with you." Complete silence swept over the entire street. Not even a bird tweeted or a gust of wind blew.

"B-But…" Flan began. "Why?"

"I…I don't know," Ichigo admitted. "I feel like I have to, like it's my fault that the planet is in distress. I know it's probably just a weird feeling that I get every now and then when I think too much, but…I've never been to Mercury. I want to understand you and your people."

Flan and Tart stared, stunned. "Well…we've never had a human visit Mercury, but…I suppose if you still wanted to come…"

Ichigo smiled and nodded. She turned and waved to the Mew Mews. "See ya, girls. I'll be back really soon, I promise."

Mint, Lettuce, and Zakuro actually looked a little worried. "But…" Lettuce said. "You've never left us before. What are you going to do without us?"

"I'll be fine, I promise," Ichigo assured them. "I'm a Mew Mew, just like you girls. I can take care of myself."

Pudding suddenly broke away from the others. She rushed up in between Ichigo, Flan, and Tart. "I'm coming too!" she cried.

"Pudding?" Flan smiled. "Yeah, sure, you can tag along too," she replied, despite Tart's head shakes in the background and mouthing of the word, "Noooo!"

"Okay…we're off!" Ichigo called. She and Pudding turned and waved to Mint, Lettuce, and Zakuro.

Just then, Tart fought his way to the front. He looked straight at the three Mew Mews. He felt weird and disloyal asking for their help, but this was the only way to save Mercury now. "While we're gone…" he began. "You have to promise to do your best to find another Mew Aqua! It's…It's our only hope of saving our world. Please…"

Mint smiled, glancing back at Lettuce and Zakuro "Don't worry. We'll do out best! We are Mew Mews too, Ichigo, and we'll keep fighting to the bitter end!"

"Yeah…" Tart said to himself. "Keep fighting…"

"Hello!" Flan called from the other end. "Are you going to bring us to the ship, or not?!"

"Oh, sorry," Tart said. He turned back and hopped back up to the front.

They all waved to the three remaining Mew Mews as they disappeared around a bend. From somewhere deep in her heart, Ichigo felt destiny calling…

---

"Well, here we are!" Flan stared up at the long, shiny snake-like ship half of its nose buried on the soft dirt of the local forest. "Had a rough landing, eh?"

"Well, I wasn't really sure how to land it," Tart replied. "So I kind of just pushed a bunch of little levers and prayed for salvation."

Flan took a deep breath "King Jubala's going to be so steamed when he finds out you took a spaceship all by yourself and without permission."

"What does it matter? Let him yell at me. I don't care anymore."

"Wow," Pudding commented. "You flew to Earth all by yourself, Tar Tar?"

Tart glanced around, getting annoyed. "First of all, where have you been? And second of all, don't call me Tar Tar!!!"

"Okay, Tar Tar."

"Aaaaugh!" Tart yelled. "Flan, why did you let her come?!?!"

Flan smiled. "To torture you, of course."

Ichigo glanced around in wonder as they all stepped into the ship through a long ramp that doubled as a side hatch. It was amazing- here she was, just a normal 12-year-old supergirl, going to another planet. For a moment, she was stunned, staring up at the shimmering metal, and she nearly forgot everything- everyone around her.

"Hey, wake up, Ichigo!" Pudding called, tugging on the bow on the back of her skirt.

Ichigo glanced over and noticed Pudding, Flan, and Tart staring at her. "Oh…right. Sorry."

Tart grumbled. "Well, while you're spacing out, I need to change back into some normal clothes." He ran into a small room on the side of the wall, closing the door behind him. Minutes later, he emerged wearing his puffy shorts, arm and leg bands, and short jacket-like shirt, if you could even call it a shirt.

"You're still not wearing normal clothes," Ichigo teased him.

"Look who's talking, Mrs. Big Fat Skirt!"

"Hey! Did you just call me fat?!?!"

"No, I called your skirt fat! And your stringy bow thing, and freaky shoes with all kinds of unnecessary laces…and you call my clothes weird!"

"Excuse me! You're not even wearing a shirt, it's more of a very big collar!"

"Alright, that's enough…" Flan tried to get them to stop arguing.

"…Or maybe it really is a collar, and you're such a midget that it's almost like a shirt on you!"

Tart blinked a few times. "Are those knitted socks? Oooh, did you knit them yourself, granny?"

"Shut up!" Ichigo cried. "I'm not old, I'm only twelve!"

"Oh, really?" Tart snickered. "I see a wrinkle!"

Ichigo's eyes went wide. She whipped out a mirror. "Oh my God, where is it?"

Tart burst out laughing.

Ichigo growled. "Oh, you little…you'll pay for that!"

Flan sighed. "Do you realize you two have just wasted ten minutes of our precious time?"

Tart's eyes widened. "We have? Then what are we waiting for? Let's get this ship moving!" He ran up over to a stool and jumped on top of it so he could reach the controls.

"Oh, no," Flan said, waltzing over in front of him. "Oh no, you're not driving. You're too young."

"But I drove all the way here!" Tart argued. "I can drive all the way back!"

"But I thought you just said that you didn't know how to land the ship…"

"Yeah, well, I can do liftoff fine, it's just the whole landing thing…"

"No," Flan insisted. "Give me that wheel."

"But Flan," Tart whined. "It's more exciting when I drive. You never know when you're going to crash, where you're going to crash, how you're going to crash…"

"Give me that!" Flan cried, yanking the wheel out of his hands as he chuckled to himself. Flan put up an invisible perimeter, so no Tokyo residents would get suspicious. Soon, the Mercurian ship was "winding" among the stars again.

Ichigo had nothing to do, so she sat on a pillar-like stool, wondering. This was sort of a snap decision…was it the right one? She suddenly realized how far she was from her friends and her family. Did she really want to leave all that behind for these…freaks? Ichigo sighed, staring at the ceiling, but a couple of voices next to her jerked her out of her trance.

"I told you already to stop calling me that!" Tart's little whiny voice sang out.

"But, that's your name, isn't it?" Pudding asked, trying to annoy him.

"No!" Tart yelled. "My name is Tart! As in the dessert the Queen of Hearts made!"

"The Queen of Hearts made you?"

"No! I'm just…giving you an example!"

"Wow, that means the Queen of Hearts is your mommy! Then you'd be the Prince of Hearts!"

"Tar is a black, sticky substance they pour to make roads! I knew that, and I don't even live on your planet!"

"Yeah, I knew that too."

"So, are you a repetitive construction worker?"

"Um…no."

"Then don't call me Tar Tar."

Ichigo giggled. At least listening to them argue was cheering her up.

"Hey!" Flan cried, poking her head in. After she had set the ship at a considerable speed and direction, she didn't have to use the controls anymore. "We've got an incoming message, you need to get in here pronto!"

"Oooh!" Pudding cried. "We've got mail?"

Tart turned around and ran back over to Flan. "Just be quiet! This is serious!" Pudding followed him out of the room.

Ichigo didn't want to be left in the darkened room all by herself, so she slipped off her stool and went where she'd just seen Tart and Pudding go.

"Who would be sending us a message?" Tart asked. "I forgot this ship came equipped with a communicator screen, but I didn't give anyone the number…"

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Flan said. She sighed and pressed a button near the side of the wheel. A big, flat screen flipped down in front of the tree mural at the head of the ship. Suddenly, it blinked on, showing a Mercurian man with long, dark hair and a jeweled chain around his forehead.

Tart's eyes widened. "K…King Jubala!"

Ichigo shivered, and reached over as Pudding grabbed her. "He…he looks like that guy," Pudding whispered.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah. He looks like Deep Blue."

Tart and Flan got down on one knee. "Your Majesty…" Flan addressed him. "I have received much information from Earth…"

"That's not what I'm here to discuss," the Mercurian king blared. "We'll talk later, Flan." He turned his large face to Tart. "Instead…Tart! You took a spaceship…deliberately! And WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!"

Tart began to tremble "I…I apologize, Your Highness. It was only necessary…"

"Necessary? For what?" King Jubala calmly continued. "Your own personal intentions? Just because you wanted your little friend back…"

"I…I had to check on her!" Tart cried. "I was afraid, not knowing what was going on here…"

"DON'T TALK BACK TO ME!!!" King Jubala roared. Tart shut up and stared at the floor in terror. "I've had it with you deadbeats!" the king continued. "I order that you be hanged as soon as you return!"

All of the color drained from Tart's face. "No…I'm sorry…"

"No!!!" Pudding cried. She ran up, flinging her arms around Tart. "Please!!! Please, mister, don't kill him! He didn't mean any harm!" Tears began to fall from her eyes, spattering on Tart's shoulder.

He slowly glanced back at her, an expression of wonder and reverence on his face. "Pudding…"

"What?!" King Jubala cried, suddenly further enraged. "You've brought humans with you! That's a second hideous offense!"

"Please, Your Grace," Flan spoke up. "These humans asked to come with us."

"Quiet, Flan!" The king snapped. "The way things are looking now, I may as well hang you too!"

Ichigo had heard enough. She couldn't stand this scene any longer. She stepped up in front of the three of them, a determined expression on her face. "I don't care who you are; I won't let you harm any of my friends. They have done nothing wrong. I will protect them, no matter what it takes…!"

Slowly, King Jubala's infuriated look melted away into a look of disbelief. "It…can't be…"

"What?" Ichigo called. "Shocked that I'm resisting your orders?"

The king's face broke into a smile. "I don't believe it. It's really you. After all these years…"

"What are you talking about?!" Ichigo cried. "I don't know you. I've never seen you before in my life!"

"Why didn't you just tell me you had found her?" the king cried.

"Found who?" Ichigo cried. "What is going on here?!"

"My daughter…" the king slowly said. "The Mercurian heir…Princess Ichigo!"