Betraying My People Chapter 39:

Return of the Mews

Ichigo, Kisshu, Yusuke, Hiro-sama and Yuna were all sitting around eating chocolate chip cookies while waiting for the others to return.

"These are really good," Hiro-sama said.

"I'm glad you like them," Ichigo said. "The only thing I actually miss about Earth is chocolate, but whenever Pai and Taruto go, they bring back more, so it's not too bad."

"Where do they get it?" Yuna asked.

"Keiichiro is a baker, so he's got plenty," Ichigo said. "He's very good about sending some back."

"Well, I'm glad you made these," Yuna said.

Suddenly they heard teleportation, and tensed. Luckily it was just Pai and the others coming back. "Welcome back," Hiro-sama said.

"Thanks," Pai said. "We brought the Mews, how is everything here?"

"Not good on the outside," Kisshu said grimly. "Luckily for us, Hiro-sama and Yuna put a spell on this house so it will keep out unwanted guests."

"That's good, thank you," Pai said. "What is the situation here?"

"The entire Council except for me and Choji has been brainwashed, and Gen seems to be starting to brainwash people close to the Ikisatashi family," Hiro-sama said. "Amaguchi Yusuke's mother has been brainwashed, and I'm fairly certain it's only a matter of time before more people get brainwashed."

"Why wasn't Choji brainwashed?" Aunt Hamaya asked.

"He joined Gen," Hiro-sama said grimly. "They're working together now. We're going to have to take them both down to resolve this."

Siria-sama sighed. "I wonder why all this is happening now," she said. "First Sanosuke tried to take over, and now there are traitors in the Council itself."

"I don't know," Hiro-sama said. "But it seems to me that all this started after the Mew Aqua healed the planet."

"You're right," Pai said. "But what would that have to do with all these problems?"

"I hate to say this, but what if it has something to do with Kisshu?" Hiro-sama asked.

"What makes you say that?" Pai asked, as Kisshu looked worried.

"Well, Kisshu is the strongest warrior on our planet, and he's been getting more attention since he and the rest of you brought the Mew Aqua back and healed the planet," Hiro-sama said. "Mizuki, Kuro, and Gen have all made attempts to kill Kisshu, and whether it was jealousy or just wanting him out of the way, this is becoming a problem."

Siria-sama said somewhat sternly, "I don't believe it has much to do with Kisshu. Mizuki had been trouble from the day he set foot in the school; he could have gone for anyone. Kuro was always a hothead, and he wasn't a very good warrior, due to the fact that he spent all his time teasing people. And Kuro attacked Ichigo as well as Kisshu. Gen's only reason for attempting to kill Kisshu was that he was in the way, and I'm fairly certain that the reason we all got left in a small wooden hut in the middle of a hurricane was so he wouldn't have to kill us personally. I also know that you got kidnapped, Hiro-sama. I believe that Gen wants all of us out of his way. It's not Kisshu specifically that he wants."

Catching the sternness of her tone, Hiro-sama said, "You're probably right. I apologize."

Siria-sama nodded and said, "We need to figure out what's next. We're safe here for the time being, right?"

"Hai," Hiro-sama said. "The spell is still in place."

"Good," Siria-sama said. "Does anyone have suggestions on what to do now? We need a plan in order to take back the Council and reverse the brainwashing."

The others thought. Finally Zakuro said, "I think we need to find out who else has been brainwashed. We might be able to find more allies."

"And if everyone has been brainwashed, besides us?" Siria-sama asked.

"Then we need to reverse the brainwashing," Zakuro said. "We are too few to fight against all your people, and it would be wrong to injure or kill them while they're brainwashed."

"You're right there," Hiro-sama said. "But we're in danger if we leave here, how should we do this?"

"Split up into pairs," Zakuro replied. "We can go around and see what the situation is. You said the Cyniclons who have been brainwashed have blank eyes, right?"

"Hai," Ichigo said.

"Then we look to see how many people have blank eyes, and get a general idea of how bad the situation is," Zakuro said.

"I guess that seems like the best option," Hiro-sama said. "How should we set up the pairs?"

"Since none of us Mews can teleport, I think that we should pair up Mew and Cyniclon," Zakuro said. "That way, we can get out of a situation fast."

"Alright," Siria-sama said. "What are the pairs?"

"I'm taking Ichigo," Kisshu said.

"I will take Lettuce," Pai replied.

"I'll take Pudding," Taruto said.

"I'll take Kasumi," Hiro-sama said.

"I'll take Zakuro," Aunt Hamaya said.

"I'll take Mint," Uncle Aran said. "The rest of you should wait here, we'll be back."

"Very well," Siria-sama said. She looked at Yuna and Yusuke, who nodded.

The others teleported out to different parts of the town.

With Kisshu and Ichigo: They landed near the Amaguchi's house, and started walking around. They saw Mrs. Amaguchi, and hid. "She has blank eyes," Ichigo whispered.

Kisshu nodded, and teleported them elsewhere.

With Pai and Lettuce: They had already seen five Cyniclons, all with blank eyes. Pai was getting worried. "What if everyone IS brainwashed?" he asked softly.

"Then we'll find a way to get them back to normal," Lettuce said. "Do you think a machine is doing this?"

"Most likely," Pai said.

"If we find the machine and destroy it, maybe everyone will wake up," Lettuce said.

Pai looked at her, amazement clear on his face. Lettuce blushed. "That's a great idea, Lettuce-chan," Pai said, causing Lettuce to turn even redder. "Let's go find the machine."

With Taruto and Pudding: They had also seen several Cyniclons with blank eyes. "I guess everyone really has been brainwashed," Taruto said sadly. "I'm glad Yusuke didn't get brainwashed."

"Are Taru-Taru and Yusuke close, na no da?" Pudding asked.

"Yeah, we've been best friends for as long as I can remember," Taruto said. "And don't call me Taru-Taru."

"Aww…" Pudding said.

With Hiro-sama and Kasumi: Like the others, they too had seen several Cyniclons with blank eyes. Currently they were hiding, having spotted a few members of the Council walking around. Finally they came out of hiding, and Hiro-sama asked, "So how did you become a Mew?"

Kasumi was a bit startled, but said, "The guy who started the Mews somehow infused me with Cyniclon DNA without my knowledge. I met Ichigo when she came looking for Aoyama, Deep Blue's human host. She, Pai, Kisshu and Taruto took me back to the café the Mews used as a base, and told me the story. I was shocked when Ichigo showed me her human form, though."

"Why?" Hiro-sama asked.

"She was put on the 'missing persons presumed dead' list at the police station," Kasumi said. "Her neighbor had found her parents dead in their house, and Ichigo missing. Her friends got questioned, and they said they had no clue what had happened. Except for me and the other Mews, no one on Earth knows Ichigo is still alive. That's part of why she came here; it wasn't safe for her to reappear, unless she revealed the Mews. Also, she killed the guy who started the Mews. She would have gone to jail if she had come out of hiding."

"Why did she kill this guy?" Hiro-sama asked.

"Ichigo quit the Mews long before I joined," Kasumi said. "Ryou, the guy who created us, murdered her parents in retaliation. She joined Kisshu, thinking that she would help him take over the world. It didn't turn out that way, but at least she got the chance to avenge her parents by killing Ryou."

"Wow, she's been through a lot," Hiro-sama said.

Kasumi nodded as they kept walking.

With Aunt Hamaya and Zakuro: "It seems like everyone's got blank eyes," Aunt Hamaya said. "Do you think we should go back?"

"Might be a good idea," Zakuro said. Aunt Hamaya took her hand and teleported home.

With Uncle Aran and Mint: "Everyone here has blank eyes," Mint said. "It looks like Siria-sama was right, everyone has been brainwashed."

"I think we should go back, if everyone's been brainwashed, the others will be back soon," Uncle Aran said. Mint nodded, and Uncle Aran teleported back home.

Back with all the others: Mint and Uncle Aran teleported in to find everyone except Pai and Lettuce there.

"Where's Lettuce and Pai?" Mint asked.

"That's the problem, we don't know," Aunt Hamaya said. "Pai hasn't been back or contacted us. And Lettuce isn't responding on her pendant."

"This is bad," Ichigo said. "Not only has everyone been brainwashed, Pai and Lettuce are missing."

"Can't any of you sense where Pai is?" Zakuro asked.

"I can try again, it didn't work last time," Kisshu said. He closed his eyes and concentrated, then said in a distant voice, "They're in some sort of lab. It looks like they're searching for something." He opened his eyes.

"Do you have any idea where the lab is?" Siria-sama asked.

"No," Kisshu said. "Do you think they're looking for a way to reverse the brainwashing?"

"If they think a machine did this, that would explain it," Uncle Aran said. "I just hope the lab isn't teleport-proof."

"We just have to wait," Hiro-sama said. "If we don't know where they are, there's not much we can do right now."

"I guess…" Kisshu said. Suddenly he clutched his head. Ichigo ran to him as the others noticed Taruto, Aunt Hamaya, and Uncle Aran were doing the same thing. "What's wrong?" Ichigo asked worriedly.

"Pai's calling for help," Aunt Hamaya said. "He also managed to implant their location in our minds. Sorry if we worried you, he was rather loud about it."

"It's fine," Ichigo said. "We've got to go find them, though."

"Right," Kisshu said. "All of you who are coming, grab on to one of us."

The Mews and Hiro-sama obeyed, and the Ikisatashis teleported to Pai's location.

What's going to happen now? Review and find out!