In Mint's Limo.
"So, Mint, how did you learn about the Café reopening?" Ichigo asked.
"Well, Peppermint told me. She said-"
"Wait. You named your kid Peppermint? Peppermint Leaf." Ichigo said starting to laugh.
Mint was getting impatient.
"ICHIGO!"
"Sorry..."
"As I was saying...Pepper asked if she could work there. I asked her why and she said that she thought working for once would be nice. The thing is if you remember is that only people involved with the Mew project can work there."
"You may be over reacting. Maybe Ryou and Keiichiro decided to end their days of research on kirema anima and re-open the café as their new full time job."
"We should still check it out."
"Just in case we see Ryou...I should warn you. I saw him the other day and he looked the same. He said that an experiment went horribly wrong causing him to stop aging."
"Wow..."
"I know."
"Wait... Where did you see him?"
"He said he ran into my daughter and husband. He said that Masaya had forgot something and asked him to walk Chero home so I wouldn't worry..."
They looked at each other and shrugged. The limo pulled to a stop. They has arrived at the café. The two women got out and headed towards the familiar place, they went to everyday when they were young. They went to the back door and picked up the key under the mat that Keiichiro left for Ryou, who was always forgetting his keys. They entered as quietly as they could. They snuck past the kitchen where they saw Keiichiro absorbed in a new cookbook. Then Ichigo and Mint reached the lab. They saw Ryou at the computer.
He must have thought they were Keiichiro because he said, "Keiichiro, call Ma-"
He turned to see Ichigo and Mint.
"Call who?" Mint asked.
"Ma banker Lee."
"I have to lie. I can't let Ichigo know Masaya and Chero are apart of this." Ryou thought.
"Uh huh..." Mint said.
"What are you working on Ryou?" Ichigo asked.
"Nothing really. I was just looking back to the past. I have to clean out some of my old documents. I found old video files of the mews and was looking at them. Then I remembered I have to get a hold of my banker to reschedule my appointment."
"Really? Let me see those old clips!" Ichigo said with excitement.
"Ok. You want to look too Mint?" Ryou said.
"No thanks."
Mint decided to look around. She found a shelf with a whole bunch of pictures. Pictures of the old Mew crew. Pictures of Ryou when he was little and with whom Mint figured were his parents. Then one picture surprised her. It was a pic of Ryou, and Masaya in the lab. Mint took the picture out of it's frame and flipped it over. It said, "Masaya Aoyama and Ryou working on the New Mew project."The picture was taken recently! Mint saw the filing cabinet and decided to look in there. She was really nervous. In the cabinet there was a file on each of the mews even Berry. She then saw what she wanted.
"NO!" Ryou said.
Mint turned really fast thinking she was caught.
"Please?! Delete that!! PLEASE?!" Ichigo cried.
"No! I wont delete this! It's too good!"
Mint look over Ryou's shoulder to see a clip of Ichigo tripping in battle. Mint sighed.
"Same as always," She thought.
She turned her attention back to the folder. It was labeled, "New Mews."
"Huh?!" Mint cried out.
"WHERE DID IT GO??" her mind screamed.
"Looking for this?" a voice asked.
Mint turned to see Keiichiro with the "New Mew" folder.
"Keiichiro! Give it back!"
"Why should I? It is Ryou's."
"It's only fair if my daughter is involved with the new mew project I should know!!"
Keiichiro got a look of shock and Ryou turn to face Mint.
"How did you find out Mint?"
"About the new mew project? 1. On the back of one of the pictures it says, "Ryou working on New Mew project" 2. That folder in your hand Keiichiro says New Mews."
"Keiichiro, we might as well tell her that her daughter is apart of the New Mew project." Ryou said.
"...You just told me."
"Oh...How did you figure it out?" Ryou asked.
"Well let's see after some commoner came returning Pepper's hat, she was saying goodbye. A few minutes later she comes running inside and asks if she could work here. I knew that only people who are in relation to the Mew project can work here. So, I called Ichigo and we came down here to investigate."
"Oh..."
"Can I see the picture Mint?" Ichigo asked.
"No!" Everyone else exclaimed in unison.
"Eh? Why not?!"
"Why would you want to? It's just a boring old picture of Ryou on the computer." Mint said.
Then all of a sudden the phone rang.
"You going to get that?" Ichigo asked Ryou.
"No. I'm talking to you. That would be rude."
The answering machine went off.
"Hey you've reached the office of Ryou Shirogane and Keiichiro Akasaka. Please leave a message. BEEP!"
"Hey Ryou. It's me-" The message said.
Ryou picked up the phone.
Covering the mouth piece he said, "This call is important."
Into it he said, "Ryou here. Yeah. I know. It's a little late for the warning. You sure? Ok. See ya. Bye."
He hung up the phone and turned to face Ichigo. He sighed.
"That sounded like Masaya. What did he want?" Ichigo asked.
"He called because he thought you should know before you found out yourself."
"What?"
"...Masaya isn't working for some big science corporation like you thought. ...He's working for me." Ryou said with a sigh.
"Wait...That means..."
"Yes."
Keiichiro walked over and laid out the file. Inside was info about Chero and Pepper, which animal DNA they have infused in them and about the development of their powers so far.
"As you can see, Mint you were right. Ichigo...We're sorry that we had to use your daughter. Masaya was really upset about the whole thing, but it was our only choice. The aliens have returned." Keiichiro explained.
"W-what?! You can't be serious! My daughter is a MEW MEW?! How could you do this Ryou?!" Ichigo screamed.
"Ichigo. Calm down. They had no choice. You don't see me freaking out like this. Do you?" Mint said.
"Well you didn't almost lose your own life and have the one you love the most try and kill! Did you?!"
Tears started to pour out her eyes.
"We all almost lost our lives many time Ichigo! It's not our fault your true love ended up being the alien master, Deep Blue!! You really need to get over yourself! You don't think I'm upset? I'm just as upset as you! I'm just going to accept the fact the world needs my daughter's help! That doesn't mean I'm not worried. Ichigo...If you accept the fact that your daughter is a Mew you can help her go through this rough time." Mint explained.
"...I'm sorry! I'm sorry..."
"It's ok. We thought you would be upset when you found out. When Masaya called he told me to tell you. I wanted to tell you earlier, but Masaya thought you would get angry. He wants you to be happy." Ryou said.
"You're right...I'm sorry." Ichigo said pulling herself together, " Now. How can I help?"
It was getting late and Mom still had not returned. I was sent to bed by my dad.
"Dad... Do you think she found out?" I asked.
"I don't know. Goodnight sweet heart."
"Goodnight dad."
Then next day I awoke to find my Mom smiling in my face.
"Good morning Chero!!" She said.
"Uh...Good morning Mom..."
"So Chero, when were you going to tell me you were a Mew?"
"Well uh...Wait. How do you know?"
"Ryou told me. Mint and I used to work at Café Mew Mew when I was younger, so we decided to stop by and visit Ryou."
"Wait... So that means?"
"Yup. I used to be a mew too! I was the first one. Kinda like you."
She pulled out an old magazine with a picture of a girl with cat ears and pink hair, eyes and outfit. She kinda looked like Mom...
"Is that you?"
"Yup. It was also around that time I met your father."
"Cool."
I looked at the cover more. The caption said, "Mew Ichigo, leader of the Tokyo Mew Mews."
"Um... Isn't kinda obvious to who you are by going by the same name?"
"People are stupid...Your father figured it out, though. I guess it was because I was late to sooo many of our dates and kept on disappearing."
"Wow. I would love to talk more Mom, but I promised I'd meet Pepper at the park, so we can try and find the other members of our team."
"Ok. Wait! Can I see your transformation?"
"...Sure..."
I then transformed. When my Mom saw my transformation completed she hugged me.
"I'm sooo happy you're a cat like me!"
"Technically I'm a tiger..."
"Whatever."
I changed back to normal and said goodbye to Mom. On the way out I was stopped by Dad.
"Yes Dad?"
"Did you mother seem upset to you?"
"No she was actually happy and excited."
"She was giving me the cold shoulder all this morning."
"Probably because you her husband lied to her and kept a huge secret from her."
"You're right... I should make it up to her...You're a girl what would cheer you up?"
"If I was Mom I would want you to apologize and take me out on a date like in the old days. Remind her of when you first met and of other fun things you did together."
"Ok. Thanks Chero."
"Bye!"
I finally got out of there! I had to hurry up or I was going to be late.
When I finally got there I saw Pepper in cute blue dress. She smiled and waved.
"Hey Chero!" she shouted.
She ran over to me.
"Hey Pepper! What's up?"
"Just waiting for you."
"Sorry. My Dad caught me on my way out."
"It's ok."
"Ok so I figure that everyone involved in you hat thing is one of us. So we need to find those twins and that girl who stole your hat. This may be hard..."
"Not really."
"Huh? Are you serious?"
"Well yeah... The monkey girl is right over there." She said pointing to the girl who stole her hat.
"That was too easy... It took me forever to find you!!"
"Stop complaining and come on."
Now that I got a closer look at her she wasn't all that young. She looked around 13. She was dressed in acrobat clothing and was putting on a show for some people. We headed over to her. She recognized us right away.
"Hey! You're the girl whose hat I stole! Are you back to give me my cash?" She asked Pepper.
"Ummmm... Yeah!" Pepper said handing the girl money.
While she was distracted I decided to look for the mark. She noticed my hovering.
" What are you doing?" she asked.
"Um... Nothing!" I replied.
"Do you want to see my show?" She asked hopefully.
"No, sorry. I really don't want to."
She looked at me with those darned puppy dog eyes. I couldn't give in. I had to remain strong. I was about to tell her no again when something cut my cheek. A shirikin? No. A feather? I looked up to see a strange girl with purple hair and eyes with big ears floating above us. ...FLOATING?! She was wearing a blue shirt that showed her belly and a skirt to match. Two steamers were trailing along behind her and she was quite pale too.
"Aw I missed... I was aiming for her eye. Oh well..." The girl said sighing to herself.
"Who in the world are you?" I asked.
"Oh me? I'm Teshi, feather mistress. I'm here to kill you. " she said with a giggle.
So, she must be one of the aliens Ryou was talking about.
"Well then let's have some fun. Why don't you transform?"
I sighed. I looked to Pepper and she nodded.
"Power Pendent Metamorphosis!" said in unison transforming our selves into our Mew forms.
"Mew Chero! Ready?" Pepper asked.
"Ready Mew Pepper! In order to protect the ones we care for we will make you pay!"
"Isn't that sort of a long battle cry?"
"...It was the best I could think of right on the spot. Next time you make one up."
"Fine."
"Fine!"
"Hello?? Are you even going to pay attention to me?"
"FINE!" we both shouted.
"Ok. Touchy...Since you wont make the first move I will!" Teshi said. She pulled out a kirema anima and threw it at a bird who happened to be flying overhead. The bird fell to the ground and started to grow huge! It's eyes turned red and talons huge! It was a monster!
"Attack!" Teshi commanded.
"Get ready Pepper!"
I looked at the monkey girl. Her eyes were all starry.
"Oh my gosh!! These guys are soooo AWESOME!" She said.
Pepper went on the offense staring down the kirema anima. She pulled out her darts.
"Feather Darts!" She called out. She aimed carefully.
"Ribbon Feather Shower!"
She missed, but she was off to a good start. I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Shouldn't you be paying attention to me?" I turned around to see Teshi grinning at me.
"Or maybe I should start attacking innocent bystanders..."
"Rainbow Staff!"
My staff appeared in my hand. I was about to strike her down when she vanished. I felt a piercing pain in my back as one of her feathers penetrated my skin.
"Too slow. If you keep this up you'll die in no time."
I heard Pepper scream. She was trapped in one of the bird's claws. I tried to rush over to help her, but was blocked by Teshi.
"Don't go yet. This was only just starting to get fun." She said throwing another feather at me.
This time I dodged. She threw another and it missed my by a long shot.
"Lousy shot there Teshi." I commented.
"I wasn't aiming for you."
I turned to see the feather heading straight for that girl. I ran. I had to protect her. I jumped in front of the girl just in time. I screamed in pain as the feather bit into my right arm.
"In minutes the poison that my good friend Grayda the poison master made and inserted inside that feather will spread through your body and cause you to be paralyzed." She said with a bone chilling laugh.
My arm started throbbing. I fell to the ground and couldn't move. Teshi floated over to me and grabbed me by the hair.
"Sad isn't it? Just when you found out who your up against you end up dying in the first battle."
"STAY AWAY FROM HER!!"
We both looked over to see the monkey girl. On her neck was the injection mark! It was glowing. She started to transform. Her blonde hair turned sandy brown and she wore a sleeveless top that showed her belly. It was sandy brown with dark brown fur across the top. She had an arm poof on each arm and a skirt that was a little bit shorter than knee length.( I have a picture of monkey girl and Chero. PM me if you wanna see them.) On her head popped out a pair of Monkey ear and out popped a monkey tail.
"Ginger Whip!"
A brown whip formed in her hand at the top of the handle was a little heart.
"Ribbon Ginger Snap!" she cried out.
The whip got long and flew out towards Teshi. Teshi dropped me and teleported out of the way.
"We shall met again mew mews." Teshi said teleporting away.
I knew she would be back. The girl ran over to me.
"Are you ok?" She asked.
With all the strength I had I said, "Yes...Help...Pepper..."
She nodded and helped Pepper with the kirema anima.
I smiled. The poison was too much I tried to keep my eyes open, but it was all in vain. I blacked out.
"Are you ok Pepper?" Ginger Lee asked.
Pepper nodded at her new team member.
"Yes thanks to you. We haven't had a proper introduction. I'm Peppermint Leaf, you can call me Pepper."
"I'm Ginger Lee. Oh yeah. Your friend over there needs our help. Teshi used some wacky poison feather on her."
"Oh no! Chero! We have to take her to Ryou. NOW!" Pepper said worry filling her voice.
The ran over to Chero and carefully picked her up.
"Who is this Ryou anyways?"
"I'll explain on the way. We have to hurry."
Ryou sighed. He didn't know why he should be the one cleaning the café. Surely Keiichiro or Masaya could have done it, but no. They left the job for him. Now he knew how Ichigo felt. He leaned on his broom. Yes it felt just like yesterday that the café was filled and Ichigo was running around like crazy while Mint drank tea, Pudding did tricks, Lettuce messing up everything, Zakuro scaring off the customers, Berry and her boyfriend making deliveries. Yes siree it used to be crazy in here. Now it was empty and quiet.
The door opened with a bang.
"Sorry we're closed. Come in on Monday for our grand reopening." Ryou said not looking at who opened the door.
"Ryou!" said a frantic voice.
Ryou look over at the door to see Pepper and another girl carrying Chero in their arms.
"What happened?!" Ryou demanded.
"Chero and I went to the park and... and an alien named Teshi appeared, made a kirema anima. I fought the kirema anima while Chero took on Teshi... She used a feather with a pointed end and hit her back. I'm not sure what happened next because the kirema anima grabbed a hold of me." Pepper explained.
"I can explain what happened next. My name is Ginger Lee. Teshi was fighting Chero and Chero was dodging very well. Then Teshi threw a feather at me, but Chero jumped in front of me and took it in the arm. Teshi said in minutes the poison in the feather would spread and cause her to be paralyzed. Chero fell to the ground. Teshi floated over and picked Chero up by the hair. Then I turned into a mew and scared Teshi away. I helped Pepper and now we are here."
"Follow me. We have to lay her down." Ryou said.
Ryou took Chero off their hands and carried her upstairs to his room and laid her down onto of his bed.
"Who knows how long she will be out like this. Pepper, you and Ginger need to go down to the lab and get Keiichiro. Go now!"
The two girls ran out of the room.
Ryou turned to the limp girl on his bed. He bent over her and deactivated her mew powers. He flipped her over.
"I'm sorry...It's all my fault..." He whispered.
He pulled out his first aid kit, he put on a pair of rubber gloves. He turned back to Chero and pulled her shirt up half way. There was a nice hole where the feather had hit. It was still bleeding so he got out some medicine and got to work bandaging her up. Once down with her back he pulled her shirt down, bandaged her arm and put a bandage on the gash on her face. He flipped her back over and sighed.
Keiichiro burst in the room with Masaya following behind. The two girls were also there.
"Chero!" Masaya cried out.
"Pepper do you have the feather that was in Chero's arm?" Ryou asked.
"Yeah. I pulled it out on our way here to make sure no extra poison would go in." She said handing him the feather.
"Good. Keiichiro can you make an antidote from the traces of poison on the feather?"
"Yes. What type of poison is it?"
"Not to worry it's only a poison made to paralyze, but if you don't hurry the poison may slow her heart beat down slow enough to kill her." Ryou said handing the feather to Keiichiro.
"I'll hurry as fast as I can."
"Pepper, Ginger go and help Keiichiro out. He may need your assistance."
"Right." The girls said rushing out the door.
"I'm sorry Masaya. I didn't know this group's power was so strong. I'm so sorry."
"She'll be ok Ryou. Chero is strong like her mother. She will be able to over come this."
A few minutes later Keiichiro and the girls returned with a shot in Keiichiro's hand. He handed it to Ryou.
"I hope this works . You have to inject it in the same area as the poison started." He explained.
Ryou nodded. He lifted up Chero's blue sleeve and pricked her skin with the needle. He pushed the green liquid in. Then he pulled the needle back out and turned around to face the observers.
"Now we wait." Ryou said.