Ryou Shirogane was pacing back and forth in the computer room. His brunette friend sat in a chair watching something on the computer screen. Ryou gave him a stern look.
"Keiichiro! Stop watching cat videos and focus on our mission." Ryou said sharply.
"Oh yes, sorry Ryou." Keiichiro said, exiting the page and returning to their desktop, which showed a picture of all the Café Mew Mew workers posing happily.
"What do you propose we do?" Keiichiro asked, "I mean, we anticipated this coming for years. Of course they'd want their revenge on us after that company shut down."
"That's not why they're doing this." Ryou gazed off into space, "The inhabitants of that world are too naïve to think of such things."
"Then why do you assume the time has come?" Keiichiro asked, munching on a cookie.
"I don't assume that at all." Ryou walked over to the door and peered out, "I'm just worried about the workers. They don't know anything about…that world. But Berry almost found out earlier."
"It wasn't really necessary to snap at her, though." Keiichiro said calmly.
"I had to do what I had to do," said Ryou, "If I acted any differently, she would've been onto me."
"I suppose you're right," said Keiichiro, opening a candy bar and taking a bite, "Berry is a sharp one after all."
"I wouldn't go that far," said Ryou, "But she definitely would notice if I were to act out of character."
"There's nothing wrong with improving yourself though, Ryou." Keiichiro was now opening a lollipop.
"Would you stop it with the candy just for a minute!?" Ryou snatched the lollipop out of Keiichiro's hand, "We have to be serious here!"
Keiichiro sighed.
"I know, Ryou, but I think you're just overthinking this whole matter. Just because Berry san watched that show doesn't mean anything."
"It means something, Keiichiro, but I can't quite pinpoint what it is just yet," Ryou gave the lollipop back to Keiichiro, who happily enjoyed it, "I need more time to think. Cover for me."
He walked back towards the computer. Keiichiro looked at him before standing up, stretching his legs, and then walking out into the main area of the café.
There was quite a commotion going on around the café, including Retasu dropping more plates, Purin trying to fix a table (very badly at that), and Minto slacking off, back to her tea. Zakuro was the only one working as she was supposed to, as Ichigo and Masaya were making out again and Tasuku was trying to cheer up Berry, who looked disturbed.
"Um, excuse me?" Keiichiro tried to get their attention, but they didn't listen. Keiichiro sighed, hoping he wouldn't have to yell.
"Café Mew Mew!?" he raised his voice, yet it was not a mean tone. All eight workers looked over at the man with the ponytail, who sweatdropped nervously.
"Are you lovely people all working?" Keiichiro asked as politely as he could. Everyone immediately returned to work.
"Please try and cheer up, Berry san." Keiichiro walked over to Berry. Berry looked up at him with sad eyes.
"I can tell you're upset about something." Keiichiro said, "Please talk to me if you need help with anything."
"Um, sure." Berry said as the tall man walked away. Tasuku put his arm around Berry.
"If it helps, you can talk to me about it." He said sweetly. Berry's face flushed as she sat down at a nearby table.
"It was HORRIBLE!" Berry said in a shocked tone, "It was about Ichigo, only she was named ZOEY and she had an annoying voice! And she was making….CAT PUNS!" Berry started hyperventilating. Tasuku hugged her to calm her down.
"It's alright, Berry, it was only a cartoon." He smiled at her. Berry looked up at him.
"You're right, Tasuku, it was just a weird coincidence, that's all!" she beamed at him, "Thanks Tasuku!" she threw her arms around him, much to his delight.
Zoey had been sucked through a rainbow spiral that seemed like it went on for hours.
"Oh my gosh! Is this rainbow tunnel gonna, like, end soon?" she complained before being thrusted into the ocean next to a small island.
"HELP ME! I CAN'T BREATHE!" Zoey exclaimed, gasping for air. She then realised that she somehow could breathe. She didn't care why, she just wanted to know where she was.
"Where am I?" Zoey looked around before spotting a large, clear dome. A squirrel in a purple bikini was tinkering with a machine. Just then, she saw a pink starfish run past, laughing like an idiot.
"This must be that Spongeboy Squarebob show I saw that one time!" Zoey whispered to herself.
"That's Spongebob Squarepants to you!" a yellow sponge was suddenly right in front of her. It gave her a creepy smile.
"AAAHHH! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU CREEP!" Zoey screeched, "YOU'RE A BIGGER CREEP THAN DREN!"
"I don't know who that is, but I'm not a creep!" Spongebob said in a high, obnoxious voice, "People just say I'm annoying! I dunno why!"
Zoey eyed the sponge carefully. Obnoxious voice, creepy smile…this was surely the case of flanderization. Zoey smirked, a plan cooking in her mind for the first time, since she wasn't very bright.
"Hey Mister sponge guy! Do people call you an abominoble?" Zoey asked, "Do people just think you shouldn't exist or something?"
Spongebob started crying, flailing his arms about.
"YES! WHY DOES NOBODY LIKE ME!?" he wailed as Zoey cringed.
"Don't cry!" Zoey demanded, "Listen, I have a proposit—a propo-" she struggled with her words, "I have an idea!"
She smiled in a crafty way, "You're a flanderized character, right?"
Spongebob gave her a blank stare.
"A flanderwha?" he blinked. Zoey was astonished. She was actually smarter than someone!
"You're stupid, annoying, and probably either exaggerated or out of character a lot, right?" she finally asked.
"I…I guess…" Spongebob looked confused, "What's your point!?" he suddenly shouted, irritated.
"Aren't you tired of people insulting you for it? It's not YOUR fault you're flanderized! Listen sponge, I'm Zoey Hanson from Mew Mew Power, which is the English dub of a show called…" she cringed again, "Tokyo Mew Mew…"
"Tokyo!? Isn't that in Finland?" Spongebob asked quite loudly.
"I think it's in Thailand." Zoey falsely corrected him, "Anyway, I'm so JEALOUS of Tokyo Mew Mew! THEY don't have any characters who are considered ABOMINOMIES! All their characters are WELL-DEVELOPED and LIKEABLE!" she turned bitter, "Everyone I know is a complete JERK!"
Spongebob stared at the redhead, not knowing how to respond.
"I mean, Mark used to like me back when we were filming the episodes of MEW MEW POWER! But now he suddenly DOESN'T like me! I mean WHAT THE HECK!?" Zoey screamed out as she kicked the sand on the ground. The sponge tilted his square head, still confused.
"I wanna get revenge on everyone who hates me, which is practically EVERYONE!" Zoey clenched her fists, "Want in?"
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! REVENGE! REVENGE! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Spongebob ran around wildly. Zoey thought to herself.
'This might take a while.'
She ran over to grab the sponge and fly up into the rainbow vortex in the sky, bouncing off of the dome as they went. The squirrel looked up.
"What in tarnation was THAT!?" she exclaimed before returning to her work.
"Ok, with one worker short we're gonna have to work TWICE as hard." Elliot exclaimed to the four café workers.
"I hope Zoey isn't too mad at us…" a girl with green braids and glasses said in a worried tone.
"Who cares about her?" Elliot frowned, "Listen Bridget, we have to forget about her."
Bridget's face fell. She began sweeping up some dust on the ground.
The café had just closed and now they were having their post-work meeting.
"But Elliot! Without Zoey that makes ME the most annoying café worker!" a blonde girl complained.
"That's not the point, Kikki," said Elliot, turning towards the door to the kitchen, "Listen, Wesley wants to say something to us. It seems very important."
Elliot led the four girls into the kitchen, where Wesley was reading a recipe book. He put it down upon seeing the group walk into the room.
"Oh hey guys," he said with a smile, "I was just thinking about something…"
"Well make it snappy, I've got ballet class in 10 minutes." the blue haired girl said in a snobby tone.
"Don't worry, Corina, this won't take long at all." Wesley chuckled.
"Well then get on with it already!" the purple haired girl Renee said.
"Alright girls, that's enough." Elliot said in a serious voice, "Wesley, just speak already."
"Our café has been failing lately ever since Mew Mew Power ended. According to recent reviews, our workers are too "jerky" and "obnoxious"," Wesley rubbed his chin, "But I know that's not true."
He smiled at them, "We have to understand that some people are just sensitive, and they might not be able to tolerate the "antics" of our lively workers."
"Stop being such a softie, Wesley, our workers are just plain annoying." Elliot said sternly, folding his arms, "Face it, nobody's been coming here since the show ended. After all, they only came because the script called for a crowd of customers and they were getting paid to be here."
"Really? To be honest I thought it was more because our cakes were lacking quality and flavour." Wesley said in concern.
"Wesley, you're always thinking of cakes…" Elliot sighed, "If that's what you really think, why don't you just look for "inspiration" or something stupid like that?"
"Because the only thing I can think of is to go to other café's for inspiration, and I don't want to steal their recipes! In order for it to be legal, I'll have to give credit to the other café, and then nobody will come here and they'll just go to the other café!"
"Wesley…there is one place we can go where we can give credit and still not mention another café." Elliot smirked, "Wait, why am I telling you this?"
"REALLY!?" Wesley lost his cool for a moment. Then he cleared his throat, "Sorry, I got a bit excited," he sweatdropped nervously, "Tell me! Where is this place?"
"It's another café called Café Mew Mew," said Elliot, "It's located in Tokyo, Japan."
"You can't mention FOREIGN COUNTRIES on 4kids!" Corina cried out, shocked.
"Relax Corina, we're not working for that stupid channel anymore." Elliot crossed his arms sternly, "Good thing too. I had to pretend to like Zoey! Yuck!" he shivered before turning back to Wesley, "Anyway, we'll have to pay big bucks to get there. But luckily I'm rich," he smirked in an arrogant fashion.
"We're goin to Japan!" Kikki called out with glee.
It was a new day at Café Mew Mew in Tokyo. Before work started the employees had to have their early morning meeting. Keiichiro walked out into the main area, where all the waitresses and waiters were waiting anxiously.
"Since Ryou is busy with…something, I will be taking over as your boss today." Keiichiro said seriously. The other workers all sighed in relief.
"I'm glad you're all happy," he smiled at them, "Anyway, last night I received a phone call from the owner of another café in America. He says he wants to bring his employees over here for some inspiration." Keiichiro said, "I think it's admirable that they're travelling all the way here for inspiration."
"Inspiration?" asked Minto in disbelief, "Why not just go to another café in America rather than coming all the way out here?"
"I don't know," said Keiichiro, "But I think it's very honourable that they chose our café. It makes me feel accomplished as a chef, and proud of all you lovely workers," he smiled, "It's too bad that Ryou will be missing out on this lovely occasion," he frowned.
"Don't be upset, Akasaka san!" Retasu begged him, "I'm sure Shirogane san has a good reason to miss out!"
"I know he does. He's working on a project," said Keiichiro.
"Do we get to become Mew Mews again!?" Purin called out excitedly.
"Sorry Bu-Ling san, but this is simply some research. It has nothing to do with Tokyo Mew Mew," said Keiichiro as Purin's face fell, "Now I'd like it if you'd please stop asking questions about it. Ryou would like to keep it private," he smiled nervously and cleared his throat, "Anyway, our guests of honour will be arriving in about an hour, so I'd like you all to be on your best behaviour please."
"Sure thing!" Ichigo said enthusiastically.
"Ok," said Masaya, giving him a serious look.
"Alright," said Minto casually.
"YAY!" Purin cheered excitedly.
"Of course!" Retasu bowed.
"Sure," said Zakuro in a calm voice.
"Got it!" Tasuku said in a happy tone.
"Yup!" Berry winked at Keiichiro happily. Keiichiro smiled and went to turn the lights on, "Thank you everyone."
An hour later, the workers were all hard at work. All of a sudden, they heard a voice from outside the door.
"Elliot!? You never told me this was that café!" a nasally male voice hissed. Ichigo whirled around at the sound of the voice.
"I didn't know!" another, deeper voice hissed.
"Um, Akasaka san! I think the guests are here!" Ichigo said, turning to the man who was walking out of the room. The other workers all got into a line, ready to greet the guests.
"Welcome to Café Mew Mew! Well, Tokyo's café mew-" Keiichiro opened the door halfway before shutting it again immediately. Then, he opened it again just a crack.
"I'm incredibly sorry, that wasn't very polite of me," he said, his voice trembling a bit, "I was just spooked. Please wait a moment."
He turned back to the workers, who all looked confused.
"I'm sorry everyone, but I'm afraid you all have to wait in the kitchen until further notice." Keiichiro said in a serious tone.
"No greetin the guests!?" Purin said sadly as they all trudged into the kitchen, as Retasu shut the door behind them.
"What just happened?" Minto asked in a slightly irritated voice.
"I don't know," said Retasu, looking worried as she walked over to the others.
"I think something's going on!" exclaimed Ichigo, "I mean, think about it! One minute he's all eager to have us greet the guests and as soon as he sees them, he tells us to wait in here until further notice!"
"Thanks for the recap Ichigo," Minto said sarcastically, "Listen, it's probably nothing all that important. He probably wants a few minutes to talk to them without us getting in the way."
"But why did he shut the door on them?" asked Retasu in concern.
"I don't know," said Minto.
"MMMM!" they suddenly heard a high pitched voice. They all whirled around to see Purin eating the cake on the table.
"PURIN!" shouted Minto, snatching the cake away, but it was too late. She had already eaten half of it.
"What!?" exclaimed Purin, upset that her snack had been taken away.
"That's not for you!" Minto said in a sharp tone, "That was probably for the guests!"
"Bu-Ling didn't know na no da!" Purin complained, "Bu-Ling thought Akasaka oniichan made this cake for her na no da!"
"Why would you just assume that?" Minto said in an annoyed tone.
"Guys, I think something fishy is going on," said Zakuro seriously.
"Someone say fish?" Ichigo's cat ears perked up. Masaya chuckled at her perky attitude, wrapping him arm around her.
"I don't think that's quite what she meant," he sweatdropped nervously. Ichigo's face fell as he hugged her.
"But seriously, something suspicious is going on, no doubt," Zakuro closed her eyes, thinking.
"Exactly! We have to find out what!" Minto exclaimed.
"Oh so NOW you agree that something's going on!" Ichigo said angrily. Minto glared at her.
"You two. Stop being childish." Zakuro said, giving them a cold stare, "Listen, there has to be some reason why people from America would come all the way to out café just for some inspiration. There are plenty of cafés in the states. Surely they can't be visiting just for kicks." Zakuro folded her arms.
"Then let's find out what's going on." Retasu walked back over to the door and opened it a crack, peering out. Keiichiro was talking to Ryou and…another Keiichiro?
'Am I seeing double?' Retasu thought to herself, adjusting her glasses. She looked again but there were still two Keiichiros. This time, she could also see a girl with green hair, darker than hers, and she was also wearing two long braids and glasses.
Retasu screamed before she fell backwards, leaving the door to thrust wide open. Minto glared at her and helped her up.
"Keep it down!" she hissed at the bespectacled girl before noticing the door was wide open, quickly scrambling to shut it.
"Retasu! What in the WORLD are you doing!?" shouted Minto, waving her arms frantically at the green girl, who laughed nervously.
"Silly me! I'm very clumsy!" Retasu blushed, trying to forget what she had just seen.
"So, where are your employees?" asked a nasally voice, which seemed to be drawing closer to them.
"Oh, um, they're…a bit busy right now," they heard Keiichiro's voice, "Please be patient while I fetch the cake I baked for you this morning."
Everyone quickly hid behind the counter as Keiichiro walked into the room, inspecting the cake before asking, "Who ate this?"
Silence.
"I'm not going to yell at you," said Keiichiro, "I just want to know."
Purin reluctantly crawled out from behind the counter.
"Bu-Ling's sorry na no da…" she said sadly, "Bu-Ling thought it was for her!"
"It's fine, Bu-Ling san, I can always bake another cake," Keiichiro smiled.
"Someone say cake!?" a small girl with cream coloured hair jumped into the room.
"Sorry Kikki san, but unless you want to eat half a cake, I advise you wait until I've baked another," said Keiichiro. Purin's eyes widened as she jumped up to face the girl.
"You look like me na no da!" Purin shouted out in a shrill voice. Kikki covered her ears before complaining, "Dya hafta be so LOUD!?"
"Hey twin! Can you do tricks?" Purin asked excitedly. Kikki's expression brightened as she pulled a unicycle out of nowhere.
"Of course I can!" Kikki smiled, "After all, I AM Kikki the Great!"
"Then let's go!" Purin squealed, grabbing Kikki by the wrist and dragging her out of the kitchen, past everyone out in the café, and outside, not noticing anything going on around her.
"Um, Bu-Ling san? We're still on work hours…" Keiichiro tried to get her back, but her and Kikki were already gone.
"Girls…and guys, please stay here while I go sort things out." Keiichiro said calmly to the confused bunch of workers, spotting them in their hiding spot, before departing the room, closing the door behind him.
Elliot and Wesley were sitting at a table, drinking tea and eating cupcakes. Corina, Bridget, and Renee were looking around the café.
"This café is really nice!" Bridget was admiring the decorations.
"It's almost as nice as our café," said Corina, smirking.
"It's exactly the same," Renee said coldly, "Either this is a weird coincidence or something's up."
"I'm sure it's nothing!" Bridget cheered, "Probably just some weird coincidence!" she suddenly tripped over a plate that had been dropped on the ground.
"Be careful with that plate, Bridget!" Corina snapped at the braided girl as she fell with a smack on the ground.
"That plate was already there!" Bridget said in an exasperated tone as she stood up.
"It must be something, Bridget. Did you not notice that "Keiichiro" guy? He looked EXACTLY like Wesley!" Renee said in a serious voice.
"So? There are doppelgangers in the world." Bridget said in a confused voice, before examining the plate, "Wow, this thing is really valuable!"
"It's broken." Corina said sharply, snatching the plate from her and placing it on the table next to them.
"Now listen!" Corina snapped, "We have to make a good impression on everyone here!"
"Well arguing isn't going to solve anything." Renee said coldly.
"BUT RENEE!" Corina complained a little too loudly. Everyone looked over at the three girls who were standing by the door.
"It was your fault." Corina glared at Bridget, who looked upset.
"What did I do!?" Bridget exclaimed, hurt.
"Well-" Corina began, but Renee shot her a cold glare.
"There's no time for this. I think I know what's up," said Renee, "Remember that show we filmed over a decade ago?"
"You mean Mew Mew Power!?" Bridget exclaimed before Renee covered her mouth.
"Don't be so loud!" Renee hissed, "Yes, Mew Mew Power," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "I believe this has to do with the original Japanese version."
"Of course!" Corina gasped, shocked, "I mean, we're in a Japanese café identical to the one we work at, and that Keiichiro guy looks JUST LIKE WESLEY!"
"SHHHH!" Renee shushed her, "I think we're all aware of that!" she hissed. Corina sighed, irritated.
"Do you think Elliot brought us here on purpose?" she asked.
"I don't know, Corina," said Renee, closing her eyes and thinking, "But whatever the reason, we're here now, so we have to deal with it."
"So, now that we've settled that matter, can we order something from here? You two are forgetting the reason we came here in the first place!" Bridget cheered. Corina and Renee sighed in unison.
"In case you haven't noticed, there's no waiters or waitresses here!" Corina snapped at Bridget, who sweatdropped nervously.
"This place is clearly in need of improvement if nobody's working here." Renee said in a bored tone.
"I'm sure they're just busy right now!" Bridget said in an optimistic tone. Corina facepalmed and sighed, aggravated.
"Let's just sit down and drink some tea."