(A.N./
Chapter two, what a sight to see!
It's almost as good
As chapter three!
With twists and turns
And cliffies galore
It'll leave the readers
Begging for more!)
--
Of course, at that moment, Ichigo understood the pendants, the breeze, and the small creaking noises she thought she imagined.
There were aliens in this house. More than one, she would bet.
In spite of herself, the first thing Ichigo did was react on her initial instinct, which was to scream. But after she had a large intake of breath, the pesky alien, Kisshu, behind her, sensed what she was doing and clamped his hand over her mouth,
"Shh! You don't want to scare anyone, now do you?" Ichigo growled and ripped his hand off, speaking in a harsh whisper,
"What are you doing here?!"
"Well," Kisshu said, striking a thinking pose, "We -as in Pai, Taruto, and me- thought that we would catch you guys in your weakest state here in the dark. And, without your pendants, your rendered completely useless!" Ichigo hissed like a cat,
"Useless, you say?! I'll show you useless!" She balled her hand up into a fist and was about to strike when Kisshu caught it in mid-air, 'tsk'-ing her softly,
"Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn't do that." Slyly, and still holding her fist securely, he pulled out a small, pink phone. Ichigo's eyes grew wide. It was one of Minto's phones! She had to get a hold of Ryou and tell him they were being attacked! It might be her only way out of the mansion. Kisshu snickered at her perplexed face and released her fist,
"But," he said, "You can only have it if you give me a kiss." Ichigo made a face of horror,
"No way!" Kisshu sighed and turned on his heel, waving the phone teasingly over his shoulder,
"Well, then, there goes the phone…"
"Wait!" Ichigo caught him be the wrist. She shuddered as she looked him in the eye. She scowled darkly, "I'll do it." Kisshu grinned in delight,
"Wonderful. Good choice!"
Ichigo held her scowl as Kisshu pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her waist. Ichigo immediately shoved him off,
"Don't get too comfortable, pervert." she growled. Kisshu just snickered and leaned his face closer to hers. Ichigo tensed up as she felt his hand cup her chin, and she shut her eyes tight when she felt his warm breath on her face. Almost a split second after she felt his lips press gently against hers, Ichigo pulled away,
"There! Happy?" she said angrily. Kisshu pouted mockingly,
"Oh come on, Koneko-chan, that wasn't nearly long enough!" Ichigo hissed again,
"You got your stupid kiss so give me the phone!" Kisshu sighed, crestfallen, and handed the pink phone to her before quickly teleporting away.
Wondering what that quick exit was all about, Ichigo flipped open the phone and held down the green button.
Nothing.
She held it down again.
Nothing.
She saw the little power symbol on the button she was pressing, but it wasn't turning on. That was when she realized she had been tricked into getting a dead phone. She ran her hands through her hair in frustration,
"Next time I see that stupid alien, I am going to kill him!"
Before that, though, she had to find her friends and warn them about the plan. However, before she could take a step, she heard a scream…
--
Pai was currently rummaging in the cupboards of the mansion's kitchen. He didn't recognize the strange room's purpose in the least, and was currently searching all of the cupboards for valuable information. Unfortunately, all he was finding was earth food. Good for nothing earth food, would you believe it? What was he going to do, poison the Mews? Actually, that sounded like a fairly good idea, but he was on a strict mission to gather information, not try to assassinate people.
Just when he was about to give up hope, a sack of flour fell from one of the cupboards he was searching in, and, before he could prevent it, fell onto his head. He pulled it up by the top, only to have it unroll and drench him in the white, powdery substance. He quickly wiped the stuff from his eyes and tried to brush it off his limbs to no success.
The disgusting substance was covering Pai completely. It made him feel like some kind of cake or dessert of some sort, and he didn't like it at all. Just then, he remembered the water-dispensing device they call the "faucet" on the other side of the room. He turned around to walk over to it when he froze. He saw a stalk-stiff figure in the doorway to the room. He immediately recognized him…or her.
It was Mew Lettuce, of course; Pai could recognize those bright blue eyes anywhere. Right now, though, they were fixed on him, utter fear clearly visible in her twisted expression. He thought about why she was so afraid, but it didn't take him long to remember a few factors.
A.) He was an alien
B.) He was intruding a seemingly innocent 'sleepover party'.
C.) He was covered in flour.
He blinked, waiting for some kind of reaction, but there was none. She was standing utterly frozen there, not daring to move. He decided to make the first move,
"It's not wha-"
He was cut off from his explanation when Retasu shrieked and turned to run.
She still doesn't recognize me, he thought as he read her movements. He stretched out his hand to stop her, a futile attempt,
"Wait!"
But…she was gone.
Pai grimaced and massaged the bridge of his nose.
This is going to be frustrating.
--
"Alien! Alien!"
The little pink, fluffy robot named Masha came flying in through the bedroom window, chirping noisily. He looked around the room, curious to where the pesky enemies, or the Mews, might be.
Suddenly, though, he heard a voice coming from a lump under the covers of the bed,
"Masha, na do da?" Masha buzzed around over the lump excitedly,
"Alien, Mew Pudding, alien!"
"Masha, tell Ryou that the Mews are in danger at Tokyo Tower, okay, na do da?" Masha paused,
"But Masha senses aliens here!"
"It's a trap, Masha, na do da. Just deliver the message that the Mews need help at Tokyo Tower, na do da!"
"Masha will! Masha will!" he chirped enthusiastically. He darted out the window, eager to be on an important mission.
From under the covers, Taruto snickered mischievously; he was quite proud of his new-found skill at the impressionistic arts. He smirked,
"That will throw him off well. He sure won't be bothering us any time soon!" He quickly silenced himself, though, when he heard footsteps entering the room.
"Mr. Cell Phone, na do da," he heard the all-too-familiar voice call, "Where are you?"
A bead of sweat fell down the side of his face. He stayed stone-still, hoping not to give his position away. If he teleported now, Purin would see him for sure and stop him before he could get away.
Stuck under the covers of the bed, he nervously awaited his fate in the hands of the monkey-girl…
--
Ichigo skittered in the direction she had last heard the shriek. She was moving at a slower pace, as not to run into any sort of "real" ghost (though she doubted that was the cause of Retasu's fear). More likely was that she was scared of running into an alien in her helpless state.
Nevertheless, she was still searching to comfort her friend and identify the threat.
She did not expect, though, to run into Retasu herself, who was making a quick escape from whatever it was she was screaming at.
Ichigo fell back, as so did Retasu, and they both gasped,
"Ichigo?"
"Retasu?"
Retasu quickly pulled Ichigo into a hug,
"Oh, Ichigo, I was so scared! I saw a huge, scary ghost in the kitchen with a terribly frightening voice!" She let go of Ichigo in a rush, though, "Sorry. I probably shouldn't have done that." Ichigo smiled,
"It's okay, I'm glad you're alright," She continued, editing her story a bit, "I found a cell phone, but it was dead. And I also found out that the aliens are here." Retasu gasped,
"Do you think…?"
"Yes," Ichigo answered, "I think your 'ghost' was one of them. We have to keep an extra close watch-out for any of them, and try to find those cell phones as quickly as possible." Retasu nodded, still quite nervous,
"This is all a bit…overwhelming. D-do you mind if I stick with you when we search?" Ichigo smiled comfortingly,
"Sure! I think we can get things done better when we both work as a pair. The only thing is that the other girls don't know the aliens are here, but the cell phones will help us more in the long run. The girls probably know already to keep a lookout, too, because of your screaming." Retasu nodded, forcing a nervous smile on her distressed face.
Ichigo stood up and offered her hand to Retasu, who took it and lifted herself up. She gripped Ichigo's palm tighter in hers, the two girls walking off to what they perceived to be the direction of the expansive dining room.
"Ichigo-san?" Retasu said quietly after a bit.
"Yes?" Ichigo replied.
"How do you know the aliens were here?"
Ichigo paused, wondering how she was going to get herself out of this…awkward situation.
"It's a long story." she said after a pause. Retasu nodded,
"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I'm guessing it had to do with Kisshu-san?" Ichigo winced. She should have known she would guess correctly; Retasu was the sharpest in the Mews, the one known for her intellect. Ichigo sighed,
"Yeah. I'd rather not talk about it."
"'Kay."
--
Minto wandered the halls of the second floor of the mansion. She knew the way fairly well, but in the dark, everything seemed so different. The shadows cast on the wall looked like the shadows of night creatures on the prowl, and the furniture even looked scary. In fact, the side table looked suspiciously like a giant dog…
Minto was mentally kicking herself for acting so much like a little kid. Of all things, why should she be scared of the dark? In her own house, nevertheless!
She bit her lip and continued walking to her parent's bedroom. Maybe she would just take a short break from all of this searching…
Just then, she heard a shriek from downstairs. It sounded like Retasu. Minto recoiled at the terrifying sound, but tried to comfort herself. Maybe she just tripped over something, or maybe she's scared of the dark too? She nodded to herself. That was probably it. Retasu was scared of the dark too. She felt somehow reassured that she wasn't the only one acting like a little kid around here.
But…what if Retasu wasn't just screaming out of fright of an imaginary thing?
Minto shuddered and turned the handle to her parent's bedroom. Opening the door slowly, she peered in cautiously, straining to see ahead into the dark. She spied a bright red object under her parent's bed. She blinked in observation and identified it as a hand-vacuum. Slowly, though, it came farther and farther out from under the bed. She took a step back in fright as it continued to travel outwards. The whole front of it had emerged when she saw a white, fanged grin appear from under the bed.
That was about as much as Minto could take. She shrieked as loud as she could and turned to run. At that moment, the vacuum turned on in a loud roar and she heard it chasing after her. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, the evil vacuum in hot pursuit.
What she didn't see was an impish glint flash across golden eyes hovering above the vacuum, and a pale-white hand gripping the handle.
This was going to be a long night.
--