Author's Note: Alright, well I know we're all tired of the same old new mew fics. So please, please don't drop this story after reading this chapter! The Mew Mew squad will attempt to create two new mews. Key word here- attempt. This is NOT a new mew story. Things will not go well. Ahem…anyway…

Chapter 8: From Bad to Worse

"Now, the first step is to reinfuse Ichigo. I have everything ready, and I'll start it up in a few minutes. Actually I've made several improvements to the first method. I think this time we'll be skipping the whole earthquake situation…"

Those were the last words Ichigo heard as she faded into a place where bubbles surrounded her. Everything was the same except that this time, the bubbles were blue instead of the green of before. She sighed as she heard the familiar pop of a bubble and a young wildcat appeared, and she felt the warmth as it jumped into her. Just like the first time, Ichigo thought, only less confusing.

When finally she awoke, she was surrounded by the faces of the mews, asking,

"Did it work?"

"How do you feel?" and

"Can you transform again, na no da?"

"I think it worked," Was Ichigo's response, "but Ryou, five hundred is a lot. I think we're going to need something else."

"I'm working on that. We definitely need more man power-"

"We're girls, na no da!"

"…It's a term, Pudding. Anyway, when I infused Ichigo for the second time, I also set it to infuse two other girls. I need you all to spread out and see if you can find Rika Sakawa and Nausicaa Minali. Keiichero and I have discovered that they have somewhat compatible DNA. In other words, possible new mews."

An awed silence passed over the girls. "New mews…" Ichigo said slowly. They all nodded, and left to search for Rika and Nausicaa.

-------------------------------------------

Zakuro was fairly certain that this would be simple. A small crowd would likely have formed around either Rika or Nausicaa, and so it stood to reason that if she should scan the area she was searching for any signs of gatherings. A little ways off, Zakuro spotted a worried looking girl, and decided to investigate. However, the girl approached her before she had reached her, and asked,

"Excuse me, but have you seen a girl, brownish blonde hair, kind of short, brown eyes?"

Zakuro opened her mouth to respond, but she noticed something strange. What seemed to be a goat was hovering about the girl's feet.

"No," Zakuro answered, "I'm sorry, but I haven't." Without saying goodbye, the girl ran away quickly to ask others and search for her friend. The goat tried to hurry after her, but its way was blocked by the many walking people, and it lost sight of the frantic girl. Zakuro casually walked toward it, and it turned its head to look up at her in a most human-like manner. "Well, I suppose this one didn't come out quite right. Follow me, and I'll see if we can do anything about this. I'll have someone explain what's happened to you."

Nodding, the goat obediently followed Zakuro back to the café, the goat's horned head swiveling from side to side to take in the new surroundings curiously.

"Ryou, which girl did you inject with goat DNA?" She was met with no answer. "Ryou?" Zakuro called again. "He was here not long ago…" She remarked to herself, although the goat snorted softly in sympathy.

"Zakuro! We've found one of the girls!" Lettuce shouted, running in. However, she sounded upset.

"I think I've found the other one." Replied Zakuro, and the goat gave a short 'baa' in agreement.

"Lettuce! Where are you! We sent you out for the cold packs ten minutes a- EEK! What's a goat doing in here!" Mint squealed, storming in as well. The goat seemed to glare at her, and a look of dread appeared on Mint's face. "I guess we won't be getting any help, then."

"Well, come on, we have to tend to Nausicaa." Lettuce reminded them, readjusting the cold packs in her arms and doing her best to motion for them to follow without dropping any. She was unsuccessful, but Mint grabbed the ones she had dropped with an impatient sigh. "The others should know about this." Lettuce added. As she lead them through the café, she explained to Zakuro what had happened in her absence. The goat appeared to be listening intently as well.

"Pudding found a girl not far from here, there were a bunch of people around her. She was unconscious, and I guess everyone thought she had a fever or something. Pudding heard them call her Nausicaa, since she had some sort of ID on her, and reported back really fast. Ryou and Keiichero left, they were pretending to be paramedics, and brought her back here. Oh Zakuro, she looks really sick! I think we did this!" Lettuce was on the verge of tears, but she didn't dare try to wipe her eyes for fear of dropping the packs again. They arrived at a small room at the back of Café Mew Mew.

"Where's Ryou?" Asked Mint, "He was here when I left!"

"Ryou's in the lab. He said something about a machine. It'd be best not to disturb him." Keiichero answered, polite as always. Ichigo and pudding were sitting on a bed, trying desperately to awaken a pale, sickly looking girl whom Zakuro judged to be Nausicaa.

"I suppose that means you're Rika." She said quietly to the goat, who looked up at hearing her name and nodded vigorously. Finally, the girl on the bed stirred. Her eyelids fluttered open to reveal mahogany colored eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but coughing came out instead of words. When the fit subsided, she gazed about at the others.

"Where…where am I?"