Chapter 3
Pudding's Death
"You're missing work again?" Ryou said, "That's four days in a row!"
"Well, I have a huge rash on my right arm and my mom thinks it's contagious!" Pudding defended, "I don't want to get people sick!"
"You'd better be back soon!" Ryou said, "Some of the guests are leaving because they want you to be there to do the tricks you do."
"I'll be there tomorrow!" Pudding said.
The Next Day:
"Where's Pudding?" Ryou snapped, "She must be sick again…"
"You know, people will find it weird that you answer your own questions," Mint said.
"Ichigo, could you go to Pudding's house to see what's up?" Ryou asked Ichigo.
"I'm still waiting for my raise!" Ichigo said.
"Fine, fine!" Ryou said, "Fifteen an hour!"
"Twenty!" Ichigo said. Ryou gave her a threatening look, "Fine!" she got up, "But I'd better see some work done when I get back!" she left.
Mint leaned over to Lettuce, who was sitting beside her and hissed, "Who is she, Ryou?" Lettuce snickered along with Mint.
At Pudding's House:
Ichigo knocked on the door and Mrs. Fong said, "Oh, hi, Ichigo!"
"Were you…crying?" Ichigo asked.
Mrs. Fong looked impatient, "What did you want?"
"We were all worried at the café, so I came over to check on Pudding. Is she home?"
"Yes," Ichigo made as if she would push past her to see Pudding, but Mrs. Fong stepped in her way.
"Can I see her?" Ichigo asked. Mr. Fong was busily grabbing his coat, but then he ran into the living room and grabbed a small figure lying on the couch as if sleeping. As Mr. Fong pushed past Ichigo, she got a better look at who it was. It was Pudding.
"She passed out this morning," Mrs. Fong said, "She was just scratching at that dreadful rash on her arm, and then her head fell. We've tried everything to wake her up. It just won't work." She grabbed her car keys, "Would you go tell Pudding's friends at the café to meet us at the hospital, please? I'd like them there to accompany her. Maybe they'll help her wake up."
Ichigo ran hard and fast, with tears in her eyes. She pushed through the door at the café, and then gasped for breath. Her friends came and asked what was wrong, why was she crying? Of course Keiichiro had no idea whatsoever of what was going on, he was watching Masha's video camera, which video-taped what was going on down-town.
"Pudding…" she panted, "Rash…scratched at it…going to hospital…mom wants you there…" she continued to pant.
"Wha?" Ryou said.
Lettuce turned to the cash register in front of them and grabbed something off the desk. Then she turned back to Ichigo, "Write it down." She said.
Pudding's at the hospital. She's passed out! Her mom wants us there to comfort her (Mrs. Fong not Pudding).
"Wha?" Ryou repeated. Lettuce stood up on a chair, "Please go home!" she shouted to the guests, "We're having a crisis!" Nobody budged.
Mint stood on another chair, "GET YER BUTTS OUTTA HERE OR I'LL RAISE THE PRICES 75!" Everyone got up and hurried out.
When she got down, Ryou tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Raise prices? Do you have the power to do that?"
"No, but it works to get people out of places," Mint said sweetly. They all got in Ryou's car and left, leaving Keiichiro to his monitors.
At the hospital, they all went into Pudding's room half-expecting to see Pudding fine, but instead she was lying there, blood coming out of her rash where she had scratched the skin so raw there were dozens of blood clots. Pudding was seemingly asleep, but everyone knew she was simply unconscious. The doctors were rushing around, hurrying to get more blood in her body because she was losing about a gallon an hour.
After about a day of rushing to pump in blood, the doctor took everyone out into the hall and said, "We're doing everything we can to get blood in her, but we've run out of her type. I'm sorry, Mrs. Fong, everyone, but we've given up on her. She can't find the will to live and we can't even find the source of the rash. It seems to be from a silvery liquid we found in her veins, but it's like it's alive. Whenever we try to extract it, it moves faster and we lose it again."
They watched the machine that showed her heart rate for hours, hoping it would make more zigzags than just a straight line, but it didn't. Then Ryou's cell phone rang and Keiichiro had called to say that there was a break-in outside the hospital. The entire gang hurried outside.
It was Kish, hovering beside Pudding's bedroom window, staring in at her and smirking. As soon as he saw the Mew Mews, he said, "Don't shoot; don't shoot! I just came to watch dear little Pudding's death. Seems she's already dead!" he laughed.
"What did you do to her?" Ichigo snapped.
Kish looked insulted, "He? What would I do?" he smirk widened, "OK, so maybe I did something, but I ain't gonna tell you!" he smiled a happy smile. From the window, they could hear Mrs. Fong screaming, "NO! MY ONE AND ONLY BABY'S DEAD!" Kish smirked again.
"Yeah, guess what?" Zakuro said coldly, "One Mew Mew dead, one alien dead," she then shouted, "RIBBON!" with the rest of her friends.
"Zakuro Pure!"
"Lettuce Rush!"
"Mint Echo!"
Strawberry Check!"
Back in the Hospital Room:
"Oh, my god!" Mrs. Fong cried, "OH, MY GOD!" she was screaming now.
Pudding's arms were waving slightly, and her lips were mouthing an unmistakable sound, "Pudding Ring Inferno," she whispered.
"MY BABY'S ALIVE! MY BABY'S ALIVE!" Mrs. Fong screamed. Kish turned to see that Pudding was dead, but saw Pudding, not in the room, but on the ground next to her friends, attacked him. He fell from his flying position and ran off, but vanished as he got behind the trees. Pudding had changed back to normal but fainted.
She woke up an hour later, in the café, surrounded by all her friends. Above her there was a "Congrats, Pudding!" banner and a huge cake before her. She asked a lot of questions about this and that and her friends and mother answered them for her.
Back at the Aliens' Hideout:
"HOW COULD SHE HAVE SURVIVED?" Kish yelled, "MY PLAN WAS FLAWLESS!"
"Shut up, Kish," Pie said, "I have a new plan."