A/N: Just a reminder that, sadly, WE OWN NOTHING!
The next day the acolytes emerged from their rooms late the next morning after having a sufficient eight hour sleep and by some miraculous stroke of luck they had got up in time for hotel's breakfast buffet and (as they were all pretty hungry and a bit jet-lagged) there were no mishaps. However, this is the Acolytes we're talking about and their lives are never without incident.
"Okay," said Magneto stepping out of the tourist information centre. "I am going to go and find the local radio bases in the city to see if I can use them to locate mutant signatures." Magneto told them handing them each a map of the city and shoved an English to Japanese dictionary and phrase guide into Piotr's hands.
"What're we supposed to do then? Hit the sushi bars?" Grumbled Sabretooth.
"Search the city for promising candidates." Magneto replied coolly. "Meet me outside Inohara Park at precisely 7:00." He told them walking off.
"So, where do we start?" Asked Piotr.
"We could try the market at Ota-ku first," suggested Pyro, "it's a wholesale market which sells many different things, including cooked food; so many people will buy lunch there at the next rush hour, which gives us an opportunity to look for people and browse without getting busted by Mags. If we go now we can catch the three minute train from here to Omari station and take a bus there before rush hour."
The other four looked at him in disbelief as he began walking in the direction of the station. "You coming or are ya gonna stand there looking like a bunch of wallabies?" They promptly chose to follow.
When they got to the station they bought tickets and were attempting to work out where they were supposed to be.
"Okay, so, where're we s'posed to be, homme?"
"Erm... er..." stuttered Poitr in a futile attempt to translate the foreign symbols on the ticket by using the dictionary.
"Oh for the love of Mike, give it here, Russian!" Sabretooth growled and snatched the book from his hands. He looked at the book and rotated it to several angles, including upside-down, but still could not decipher the phrase. Pyro, whom had been suspiciously silent up until now, took pity on them.
"Firstly, the Japanese read their books from the right cover to the left cover, mate..."
"WHAT KIND OF LOONY PLACE IS THIS?! READING BOOKS BACKWARDS!" Roared Sabretooth, thoroughly annoyed.
"Ain't you ever read Manga, homme?"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? IT SOUNDS LIKE A DISEASE!"
"It's a type of Japanese art form, think of it like a Japanese comic. It really is quite interesting." Said Colossus.
"Secondly," Pyro interrupted, "there are translations in several different languages on the back of the ticket, including English."
"So we need to be on platform seven at five past eleven." Clarified Mastermind.
"Right you are, Masty. Now, hurry up, we only have two minutes left!" Exclaimed Pyro, before leading them accurately through the labyrinth of a station.
Several hours later with multiple incidents including a misunderstanding between Remy, a shop attendant over a diamond necklace, an accident in regards to how to properly light a firework and a mentally scarred fishmonger; they stumbled outside of Inohara Park looking decidedly battered.
"Okay," wheezed Piotr "we have three hours until Mags shows up; what should we do?"
"Well, they already have an APB on five suspicious-looking hommes, with no clear description so I vote we split up for a while until it's all died down in about an hour. Mastermind, stay with Pyro, the last thing we need is Pyro burning Tokyo to the ground; the firework shop fiasco was bad enough." Groaned Remy.
"Why me?" whinged Mastermind
"Because you're the newbie! We've been hanging around this loon for months, now it's your turn to suffer, bub. Got a problem with that?" Snarled Sabretooth grabbing poor Mastermind by his trench coat.
"N-no, not at all." Mastermind stuttered smiling weakly. Sabretooth released him and stalked off as the other two branched off stranding a quivering Mastermind with our favourite Pyromaniac.
"Oh, boy, we're going to have so much fun."
"Yeah, lots of fun." Mastermind said weakly as they walked into the park. After about two minutes the two realized how hungry escaping the Japanese police had made them, so Mastermind decided to get something from a nearby food stand.
"Stay put, I'm going to get us some food." Mastermind told Pyro.
"Okay." Said Pyro coming to a stand in the shade of a young maple.
Unfortunately, the queue was quite long and Pyro quickly got bored. So, he did what any other pyromaniac mutant would do in his situation; he pulled out his lighter and began morphing the flames into various shapes and forms. Unfortunately for him a young heroine of ten was walking through the park, looking for inspiration for her act and stumbled across Pyro creating a marmoset of fire. She was suddenly struck with a determined fire of her own; this man would teach her his way with fire and she would make enough money to buy herself and her siblings nice meat for a month instead of their usual offal. And by god he would show her! So the monkey mew did the first thing that came to her mind; she jumped him. Quite literally.
"Show Pudding how, na no da!" She demanded as she knelt on his chest as his eyes fluttered open, she used English, which Akasaka-chan taught her as she recognised his language from his deranged babbling.
"Wha-What?" he groaned
"Show Pudding how!" The youngest mew repeated, "show Pudding how to use fire like you, make Pudding your student, na no da. Show Pudding how to make flaming animals, na no da!" by now she was bouncing around pleading from all different angles in such a quick succession that Pyro had barely had time to sit up before she landed in front of him looking up at him with wide eyes, searching for an answer.
"Who's Pudding?"
"You're looking at her, na no da!"
"Sorry little Sheila, no can do." He said picking himself up and attempting to walk away. Despite being so tiny that she barely reached his waist, she was not about to give in. She rushed forward in front of him and threw out her arms to block his path, her face and eyes set stubbornly.
"But you have to, na no da." She protested.
"No, I don't." He argued.
"Yes, you do, na no da." She cried.
Pyro decided to take what seemed like the sensible option; he ran. But what he didn't realise was that Pudding had a secret of her own, the fact that she trained herself to do tricks and performed on a daily basis, shared her DNA with that of a monkey and was naturally hyper made for a startling result: a speed machine to put sonic the hedgehog to shame, with the stamina of a triathlete! So as much as he tried to run she was always ahead of him, pleading.
He hid behind a tree, gasping for oxygen; she was already dangling there, upside-down, from the lowest branch.
He bolted again, this time opting to sit at a park bench after running for ten minutes; she was already sat next to him, her face had been hidden by a newspaper; and, just when he was congratulating himself, continued imploring him to teach her.
He tried to run through the crowded paths, hoping to lose her, but she was hot on his tail, belting out a chorus of 'pleases' as she swung from the street-lights.
Eventually, exhausted, he came to a stop underneath an archway and collapsed next to some bins, which, naturally, the monkey girl was already sat on.
"So, will onii-chan teach Pudding now, na no da?"
"Look kid... er, Pudding, it isn't that simple. You've heard of mutants right?" she nodded as if waiting for him to get to the point. "Well, I am one. I can manipulate fire because of my powers, so unless you've got the same powers, I can't teach ya." He explained.
For a moment she looked crestfallen, and then her face brightened. "Your power is so cool, na no da. So if you can't teach Pudding, You can be part of Pudding's act, na no da." She jumped up and down smiling brightly, giggling.
"Wait, an act? No, just no..." He trailed off, then he made the mistake of looking at her, her eyes were wide and teary like a puppy who had just been kicked and her bottom lip started to tremble.
"No... No... I won't fall for it... Urgh, fine."
Pudding immediately cheered up and glomped him with bone crushing force. "Thank you, thank you, thank you Kasai onii-chan, na no da."
"What have I gotten myself into?" he groaned, though he had to admit, the kid was cute and he had to admire her tenacity.
So there he was in Inohara Park, co-ordinating the act with this young girl named Pudding with the aid of various props including a giant ball. However it was then that Mastermind stumbled over looking really ticked off.
"Pyro, I thought I told you to stay put!"
"I tried but, I got bored and started playing around with me lighter and this crazy little Sheila stalked me for at least 45 minutes, I tell ya she's like a bloody limpet; she latches on and won't leave!" Sobbed Pyro.
The girl in question popped up in front of Mastermind "Are you a friend of Kasai onii-chan, na no da?" she asked pointing at Pyro. "Hey, you look like a monkey, like Pudding, na no da." She exclaimed.
Mastermind frowned. "Leave us alone, we have stuff to do and places to be."
But Pudding just closed her eyes, tilted her head and giggled in that adorable little way of hers.
Mastermind then thought quickly, they had to find the others and re-group before Magneto showed up, so he decided to use his powers to change his appearance. He made himself appear as a salivating, purple, scaly beast, sporting a set of knashers that'd make jaws run crying for momma and basically would've made most kids run screaming and have nightmares for months. However Pudding was not "most kids." She stood there tilting her head before smiling and saying, "THAT WAS SO AMAZING! You must join Pudding's act too, na no da."
Mastermind blinked in surprise, damn this kid was gutsy. "No, I won't... eh..."
"NOOOOO, DON'T LOOK AT HER FACE OR YOU'LL BE ENSLAVED TOO!" Yelled Pyro.
Too late. At the sight of her puppy dog face, he caved in and agreed to her terms and was awarded with a gigantic hug and the nickname "Mahō onii-chan."
About fifteen minutes later the other three Acolytes showed up, only to find Pyro and Mastermind doing hula-hoops with a petite blonde girl of ten.
"What're you two IDIOTS doing!" Yelled Sabretooth.
"Sabey, Colossus, Gambit. Mates, run before its too late!" Pyro told them desperately.
"Listen to him, or she'll have your souls!" Mastermind added.
"You've both flipped your lid, she's a little girl." Said Remy scornfully.
Pudding launched herself through the air like a torpedo, did a flip and landed daintily on her feet before the Acolytes. She took one look at Sabretooth and exclaimed "A LION!" then she pointed to Piotr "And you can be his tamer!"
"Not a chance kid, beat it."
"I do not think that is possible..."
She gave them the look and their hearts melted, even Sabretooth's usually cold one.
"I s'pose I could give it a go. At least Lions are ferocious."
"I used to pretend to be a lion tamer when I was young anyway, so why not?"
Remy snickered and said "Oh boy, these crazy hommes have gone soft over a petite femme."
This time Pudding said "Hey your voice is funny you can be the, er... Piero, na no da."
"The what?"
"The piero, I can't think of the English word, na no da."
She futilely attempted to mime what she meant, but Remy just wasn't getting it.
"Okay, I'm sick of this, Sabretooth, hand over la dictionaire."
"Uh, I don't have it." He said gruffly.
"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IT YOU INSUFFERABLE FURBALL?!"
"I kinda threw it in the ocean."
"Why did you do that, imbécile?"
"I DISAGREED WITH IT!"
"Fantastic, so we're in the middle of Tokyo, where the only person who speaks English other than us is the psycho little girl AND YOU TOSSED OUR ONLY SYMBOL OF HOPE AWAY! DIE!"
Pudding whom was sick of their bickering and frustrated at Remy's misunderstanding of her offer decided to apply ten year old logic, by pulling out a crayon and leaping on Remy to scribble on his face.
"Ack... GET IT OFF OF ME!"
"Gee, Gambit, normally you're practically begging to have a woman on your face." Said Pyro who was watching the exchange with interest and amusement.
"SHE'S A CHILD, YOU DORK! I MAY PHILANDERER BUT I AM NOT A PAEDOPHILE!"
When Pudding was satisfied with her work she jumped off to reveal a coloured red nose and a crudely drawn smile.
"She wants you to be a clown, Cajun!" Sabretooth guffawed; the girl had now earned his respect for doing that to Remy.
"Urgh, no!" Said Remy disgruntled. "Why do you even have an act anyway, isn't your mére worried about you at home?"
The girl looked at the floor sadly "Oka-sama is dead, na no da. She died when Pudding was six, na no da."
Remy felt thoroughly ashamed of himself for asking and was receiving venomous glares from his colleagues.
"What about your Papa, you still have him, right?"
"Otō-san, is in China working on his martial arts. So Pudding looks after her siblings, cooks, cleans and makes money, na no da. But Pudding doesn't mind, she loves her siblings; Hanacha-chan, Chincha-chan, Lucha-chan, Honcha-chan and Heicha-chan."
None of them would have ever thought the cheerful little girl had had it so hard. Their respect for the child was heightened considerably and they mentally promised to do as much as they could for Pudding and her family.
"I'll be the clown, erm, piero." Whispered Remy gently.
"Yay!" She exclaimed then gasped. "I have to go to work at Cafe Mew Mew. Will you come with me and meet my honorary Onee and onii-chans?" she asked innocently. They all agreed, Magneto completely forgotten.
A/N: Mwahaha, nobody can resist the cuteness of Pudding! So, what do you think? Drop us a review!