The room was about as big as a small bedroom, made even tighter with a desk stuck in the corner, a padded bench against the opposite wall, a chair had made it in there, and a tv monitor hung from the ceiling with speakers and a camera mounted not far off. Opposite that was the door to get in, then in another corner was a tight squeeze of a door--the tiny bathroom. The place was illuminated by a single neon light that hung from the ceiling right beside the water pipes. Whywas it this team of heroines was forced to be stuck in such a place?
"The rent is cheap," D's synthetic voice came over the speaker. "Stop complaining."
"I'm making room!" Kaola sang out, hanging upside-down from the pipes on the ceiling. Sasami sat on the bench with her arms crossed with Ryo comfortably nestled atop her head, while Edward typed at her laptop at the desk, humming to herself.
"When do we get to save the world?" Kaola asked.
"When Miss Mihama gets here," D replied. "She can't drive, so she had to find a ride here that 'wasn't from her teacher.' I'll explain all the details after she arrives."
"Why couldn't Kaola just go pick her up..." Sasami mumbled.
"Because her vehicle is a traffic hazard."
"BUT SHE PICKED ME UP IN--"
There was a knock at the door, the knob slowly turned, and everyone turned to look. It was...a little girl. Orange pigtails, plain clothes, and...surprisingly short. She held a small black and orange cat close to her chest.
"Hiiiii!" Kaola and Edward said in unison, while Sasami smiled and waved.
"What do you need, kiddo?" Kaola asked, bringing her hands up and began to swing from the pipe that way.
"I'm, um...I'm...looking for 'Ichiban--'"
Ed was suddenly right in front of Chiyo, eyes closed, with a finger pointing up. "YOU FOUND US!" she exclaimed.
"Ah--!" Chiyo cried out.
Kaola leapt to the floor, then the three of them congregated in the middle, and they stood shoulder-to-shoulder.
"Standing to defy all that is evil and wrong in the world!" Ed started out.
"We aim to fight against any and all that isn't right," Sasami continued.
"With justice as our theme and victory our anthem," Kaola said.
"Edward!"
"Sasami!"
"Kaola! We are...!"
Edward stood on the right with her arms crossed and smiling big. Sasami stood proudly next to her with one hand on her hip and the other making a peace sign by her eye. And Kaola sat crouched in front of them with one hand on the floor and the other open stretched out in front of her.
"The Ichiban Tsuyoi Shoujotachi!" Sasami's pet climbed up onto her shoulder and gave a finishing "Mya!"
Little Chiyo stood there for a moment looking at them, developed a small sweatdrop, then slowly started to turn away. "...I'm...sure...I'm looking for somewhere else."
"No, no, no, no!" Sasami and Kaola waved their hands frantically in front of themselves, and Edward bounded up to the door, and with a hand on Chiyo's back led her in and kicked the door closed.
"No, no...we're the ones you're looking for!" Sasami said, her eyes going into arches. "Are you Miss Mihama?"
"...well...yes." She cleared her throat, then gave an uneasy bow. "My name is Chiyo Mihama, and...I called the number I saw in the phonebook."
"Miss Mihama, welcome to our office, yo," the voice sounded over the speakers. "We've been expecting you. I apologize for the humble setting."
Chiyo looked around, then spotted the speakers. "...where are you?"
"D doesn't stay here," Kaola explained. "For safety, he keeps in contact with us over the phone. We don't even know his identity or what he looks like!"
"Why is his voice weird?" Chiyo asked.
"To protect his identity even more. I think he's a reclusive millionaire who uses his money to fight crime," Sasami mused to Chiyo.
"Like Charlie's Angels?" she asked.
"No, like Batman!" Edward interjected.
"Agents," D cut in. They quieted down and looked over towards the speakers. "Miss Mihama, please tell them what you told me on the phone."
"...uh...um," she stuttered, "I...I thought it was a vet number. Sakaki-san insisted Maya-chan wanted me to call your number...so I did, and..."
"No, yo," D interrupted. "What did you tell me about Maya?"
"...well, he's..." Chiyo's voice trailed off, then she looked around for anyone else that would've been listening in. She then whispered too them, "...he's actually an Iriomote mountain cat. A yamapikarya."
"An Iriomote mountain cat!" Kaola shouted.
"A yamamayamayaaa!" Edward sang.
"Don't you mean 'yamapikarya'?" Sasami corrected her.
"'Yamamaya' is another name for them!" Kaola cheerfully said.
Chiyo's eyes were wide, and she frantically waved her hand about. "Ahh! Ahh! Ahh! Shhhh! Shhhh! Don't say that loud, don't say that loud!"
"What? Yamamaya?" Kaola asked. She pointed at the cat in Chiyo's arms. "But he IS a yamamaya!"
"Yamamaya, yamapaya, papa-laya, pretty papaya..." Edward went on.
D once again cut in. "Since last night, Maya has been behaving strangely. There has been something bothering him. It's a known fact that animals have a more acute sense that something is wrong than humans. They can sense earthquakes and a multitude of other disasters before they hit, as well as have a good sense of what's going on with their own kind. This is important, because last night...the Tokyo Mew Mew team was taken out."
All of them gasped in unison...except Kaola, who asked, "Who?"
They slowly turned their heads to look at her puzzledly as D spoke over the speakers. "Tokyo Mew Mew." Their pictures came onto the tv screen. "A name for five girls living here in Japan who were infused with animal DNA and given magical properties in order to fight against the threat of an enemy only known as 'Deep Blue' and its various plots. The one known as Mew Ichigo was infused with Iriomote mountain cat DNA."
"How do you know so much...?" Chiyo asked.
"Manga."
"Ohhh...wait, what?"
"In zoos around Tokyo as well as Iriomote Island by Okinawa, Iriomote mountain cats have become lethargic. Other animals, including the red lion monkey and other related species, have started acting in the same fashion. They sense that something is very wrong. I suspect that this is because of their connection with the team, and the desire to help how they can is likely an effect of their connection with the girls. That is why Maya picked us out."
"Us?" Sasami asked.
"Yes, Agent S. The entire species of Iriomote mountain cats has picked you three...to find what happened, find out if they are still alive, and hopefully deal with this unknown enemy."
"W-w-wait a moment, D-san! Wait a moment!" Chiyo flailed about. "Y-you didn't tell me any of this on the phone!"
"Well...you didn't ask."
"That's not the point!"
"Miss Mihama...you have to realize the weight of the situation. Unless the Tokyo Mew Mew are recovered and reinstated, there won't be anyone to stand against Deep Blue or Earth's other enemies."
"...but what about all the other magical girls out there?" Sasami asked. "They always go out and protect the planet and its people from evil enemies!"
"No, Agent S. It doesn't work like that."
The tv blipped on and a multitude of various magical girls were shown on the screen, all of them standing on top of a miniature Earth and fighting a monster. "Each magical girl is always made by various sources when there is threat of impending doom from a new enemy. Sometimes they are born with their abilities, sometimes they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and sometimes their power is bestowed upon them. Then the magical girl and this enemy become each other's arch-nemeses. Whenever this foe goes to strike, there's the girl, always there to fight its latest scheme. Sometimes a team of magical girls is formed, and sometimes the enemy is able to be handled single-handedly. But..."
On the screen, one of the girls suddenly disappeared. The monster she was fighting encroached in, then was seen stomping on a miniature city. It bent over and picked up Tokyo Tower, then started to pick at its teeth with the end. "In the event of a magical girl or set of girls being taken out, their enemy is allowed to run rampant and to do as they please. Meanwhile, the other girls are too busy fending off their own nemeses' schemes to fight off this newcomer. If this evil wanted to, it could easily team up with another girl's enemy, combine their forces, and overwhelm her and take her out too."
Another girl suddenly disappeared. "...freeing up that evil force...to do about as it pleases as well. Are you seeing where this is going?" One by one, each magical girl disappeared, until finally all the monsters were standing together on top of the world, then gave the camera peace signs. "The balance in the magical girls' at large fight against evil is very delicate. While each of their enemies is capable of taking over the world by themselves, together...it would be terrible. With your associations, you, of all people should know this, Agent S."
Chiyo looked over to Sasami. "...what does he mean?"
"...uh-uh...I, um..." she stuttered.
"She knows Pretty Sammy!" Kaola cheerfully announced.
Chiyo squinted at Sasami and leaned in a little, then suddenly gasped. "PRETTY SAMMY!"
"Ehh?" Sasami replied, her eyes going wide.
Chiyo let go of Maya and let him jump to the floor, then pointed a finger at Sasami. "You're Pretty Sammy!" Maya wandered across the floor and up to Sasami's pet sitting next to her on the floor. They greeted each other with their own cry.
Sasami got a few blue lines down the side of her face. "N-NO! NO I'M NOT! I'M NOT PR--"
Her frantic argument was interrupted by Kaola, Ed, and even D laughing. Ed had her arms wrapped around her midsection and was doubled over, while Kaola had a hand to her face. Chiyo looked at them all. "What...what's so funny! She's Pretty Sa--"
"No she's not!" Kaola finally managed. She giggled hard and let herself fall onto her back on the floor, then finally calmed down. "Sasami-chan...hee...is far from a magical girl. She's clumsy, quiet, and always runs away when we're fighting! Just look at her!"
Chiyo looked back at Sasami, who had frozen in-position with her arms awkwardly held up and criss-crossed defensively, as well as a wild look on her face. "But...she looks just like--"
"No she doesn't!" Edward replied. "Deeee!"
An image of a short cute-faced, blue-haired girl with pink eyes and ponytails with a rabbit-like creature by her feet appeared on the tv screen. She had on a deep pink uniform with a white mini-skirt, a black sash tied around her waist, and loose green sleeves that lazily hung off her arms. Chiyo looked at that picture...then back at Sasami...who was shorter and had a cute face, pink eyes, blue ponytails, and a rabbit-like creature by her feet.
"They look nothing alike!" Edward chimed, her laughter finally dying down.
"Hahh?" Chiyo said, squinting one eye and getting a sweatdrop down the side of her head.
"...ah...ah hah hah hah hah!" Sasami awkwardly started laughing. "Y-yeah! See? My clothes are totally different! I-I...I couldn't POSSIBLY be her! Ah heh heh heh...!"
"...your clothes are different?" Chiyo asked with a flat voice.
Sasami nodded. "Mm hm!"
"...and that means you aren't her?"
Sasami nodded, getting a sweatdrop. "Mm hm!"
Chiyo looked at her unbelievingly for a few silent moments and turned her mouth. "You honestly expect me to think--"
"Agent S is a personal friend of Pretty Sammy," D interrupted. "The magical girl universe is very strange and we don't understand everything, but whenever we need her, S is able to summon Pretty Sammy, codenamed 'Magical Weapon PS' right to the scene."
"That's always when things are going bad!" Kaola said. "Sasami-chan always runs away by then!"
Sasami obviously wasn't happy about the way they were talking about her. She was giving Kaola and Ed a glare from a sideways glance.
"Now...I'm sorry, but the world is still currently in danger," D spoke up. The girls turned and looked to the screen. "Agent E, you've been working on tracking the robot that attacked Mew Ichigo, correct?"
"Yep!" Edward announced. She leapt over to the desk and sat crouched on the chair, her fingers nimbly dancing on the keyboard. "Aaaaand iiiiit waaaas..." She then put her finger on the screen. "Here!"
Everyone gathered around the desk and peered at the screen. A satellite picture showed Tokyo, then zoomed out to show the rest of Japan. The robot was shown as a crudely drawn representation of itself and was shown flying towards the northeast over the Pacific Ocean. It went for quite a distance, even passing close to Russia, when somewhere between Russia and Alaska, it disappeared. A couple moments later, a yellow face appeared where the robot had been, looked left, looked right, then looked sad, then disappeared.
"...what...does that mean?" Chiyo asked.
Ed gritted her teeth and furiously ran her fingers through her hair, then shouted. "Noooo, no, no, NOOO! Edward lost hiiiiim!" She typed on the keys entering in a few more commands, waited, typed a little more, waited again, then crossed her arms and her expression sagged. "He disappeared!"
"It likely dropped below the radar then," D explained.
"How are we going to find them now?" Sasami asked.
An awkward silence came over the room. They had been expecting to jump right in and help, but now their only lead to finding the culprits had vanished.