Author: I can't believe I already have 17 reviews! Wow guys, thanks, all of you! I especially enjoy SonicXMinagirl's little rants about how hot Kisshu is. And thanks to The Wolf for saying that this is the best fanfic ever. That really made my day. it might even make my entire month, for that matter. :)

Okay. So now I was transformed. And now what? What could I do? Kisshu still had Joey pinned up against the window. In fact, now that I had transformed, Kisshu turned to me for a moment and smirked before turning back to Joey. "Bad move, kitten." A sai appeared in Kisshu's free hand and he pressed the point of it into Joey's temple. "You take one step, and he's likely to get dead."

He was using my own words! My words were being used against me. And sadly, he had me. Joey's eyes were filled with fear. "Kaylee," he keened, "what the heck happened to you? And who is this guy?"

"Joey," I said bluntly, "I'm not Kaylee right now. I'm Mew Strawberry. Keep up."

He laughed nervously. "Okay. Whatever that means."

"Kisshu," I addressed the alien, "let Joey go and tell me what you want."

"Isn't is obvious?" he cackled, still looking up into Joey's frightened face. "I want you to surrender, kitten. You do that, and I'll let your lover boy go."

"Hey, Joey is not my boyfriend. He was actually just asking me out, and I was just about to say 'no'." Total lie. It hurt seeing the look on Joey's face, too. But I had to protect him the best way that I could think. However, at the moment, I couldn't think of anything. I was just about to give up when it happened.

There was a yell. Then Kisshu's sai arm was suddenly hit with the business-end of a target Taser. The electricity coursed through him and forced him to drop both his sai and the arm that held it. A figure to the left ducked back behind the counter. Ellie. "Strawberry Bell!" I called for my weapon. Throwing it like a boomerang, I watched it hit the arm that pinned Joey to the window. That thing must be made of tougher stuff than it looks like, because Kisshu swore and let Joey fall, stumbling backwards into a table.

"Joey, get the heck out of here," I snapped as I ran to Kisshu. Joey nodded and hesitated for a moment, but soon found his feet and the door.

I looked at Kisshu spread across the table and said, "You too, Ellie. And thanks for all the help." The store clerk jumped up and ran out the back.

I leaned over into Kisshu's ear, pinning him beneath me. "I know you want me all to yourself," I whispered, and I felt him shiver. I was freaking him out, and I was enjoying it. "But if you want me bad enough to threaten my friends, remember, I'm not the only one with the ability to surrender. And just so you'll always remember this moment…" I leaned my mouth closer to his ear and bit the upper cartilage, making sure I drew blood. I spat the red liquid back on his ear for lack of a better place, and then rubbed it in a little too. I wanted it to scar. I'm going to let him know that if he wants to play dirty, I am just as good at it as he is. My discarded yogurt cup had been knocked off of the table in the battle, and it was overturned in the chair next to me. For kicks and giggles, I took some of the drippy, melting treat and brushed it over the unwounded part of his ear. Then I licked it off.

I then stared into his golden eyes. They were filled with hatred and disgust. He spat on my cheek, but I merely grinned. "Thanks for the free DNA sample. I'll be sure to give it to my head scientist," I added. His eyes widened in anger and… Wait – Was that fear? Seriously? He was afraid of me? "You're scared." I didn't hide my surprise. "Well, I suppose that makes sense. I could kill you, right here and right now, and you know that." I leaned back so that I could see his whole face. He was majorly p*ssed. "But because I really want you to remember this moment, I'll let you go. My superior probably won't be happy about it, but I'll have you know this: Humans aren't the heartless ones here. I'm sure I'll regret this, but I know I would also regret not giving you a chance to do the right thing. But keep in mind Kisshu, with me, you only get one chance. If you need proof of that, you can ask Joey." Ironically, I would have given Joey a second chance. But Kisshu doesn't know that. And now, for his own protection, Joey will never know that either.

I turned and left, scooping my purse up off of the floor and unzipping it to let Masha free. As I demanifested from my Mew form, Masha screamed, "Alien! Alien!"

I replied, "I know, Masha. I know." I walked out of the door of Swirlz and headed to my car, parked directly out front. From the driver's seat, I was able to see through the glass window and into the shop. I expected Kisshu to have vanished already. But he hadn't. He sat on the table, staring at me with some indecipherable expression on his face. As I watched him watch me, he reached a hand up to his bloody ear. And just before he vanished, I saw him smirk.

Masha chirped, "Text. Text." The robot held my phone with his tail. I figured that I might as well reply before I turned the car on and started driving.

"Thank you, Masha," I said as I took the mobile device in my hand. The text was from Joey… again.

-"Kaylee, what the heck happened back there? Who was that creepy guy and… Mew Strawberry… What? How?... WE NEED TO TALK!"-

I groaned before replying, "Meet at my house ASAP." It was probably better that I hadn't got to answer Joey. After finding out about this, he wouldn't want to go out with me anyways.

At my house, I watched Joey pull his tan car into my driveway. I stood on the path that led to the front door with my hands on my hips. Across the street, Ginger peeked out from behind her curtains. I nodded at her, and she disappeared, only to cross the street a few moments later with a multiple-CD case in her hands. She had borrowed my DVDs, and now I needed them back.

Joey got out of the car and strode around the front of it to stand before me. "Well… talk!" he looked very angry.

"Ginger," I said. She nodded as she stepped onto the path.

"I have them," she smiled.

"Good," I replied. Then to Joey, "You want answers? I hope you have eighteen hours to spare."

Inside, we explained to Joey about an anime that had been made to spread the word about a very real impending war. Some parts of this anime were true, but some things were fictional edits. Then we put in the first disc. Ginger sang along in Japanese when the theme song played. "Ribon wo musunde warate mitara. Kawaata watashi ni nareta ki ga shita. Chiisuna yuuki ga gishin ni naru." I didn't feel like singing. At least, not at first. But then I got into it right around the part where Kisshu's picture shows up. "Doki doki sasete ne! Itsudemo toki mi tahino. Ironna watashi misete ageru dakara. Moto moto suneou ni. Afurelu kono kimochi wo. Anata ni todokaitanyou. Uke tote ne ne. MY SWEETHEART!"

"What is the purpose of all of this?" Joey asked.

"Just watch the show," I demanded, grinning at the TV screen. Joey sighed and sat back to watch the first episode of Tokyo Mew Mew. And then the second.

When it was over… "So Ryou is that Ryou?" Joey asked, wide-eyed.

"Pretty much," I answered. "He's my boss… sort of."

"Be quiet! The third episode is coming on!" Ginger hissed. To my surprise, Joey actually shut up and watched the next episode. After that was over…

"(insert expletive here)! What a (cuss)! That little (bleep)!" Joey profaned, over and over and over again. "That (yep, another one)! Who does he think he is? Ichigo didn't ask to be kissed. For the love of all things holy, why?" I blushed profusely. It was a good thing he didn't know about what happened to me at the library yesterday. And just when I thought I was safe, "Did that (swear) elf do that to you too, Kaylee?" I looked up into a pair of wild blue eyes. Joey looked ready to kill someone… that someone being Kisshu.

I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn't. "Episode four!" Ginger announced. A smoldering Joey finally sat back down. The aftermath…

"Oh. So this guy has a habit of ruining dates, does he? Little (expletive number six)," Joey sulked on the couch. After the fifth episode, he yawned. "Rhythmic gymnastics? Oh man, that was sooo boring." When the sixth one finished, "Was that even English that she was speaking? It didn't really sound like it."

"It's called, 'Engrish'," I informed. "It's English with a terribly thick Japanese accent."

When the seventh episode was over… "'No angel could have an ugly face like that'!" Joey was bent over, heaving with laughter. "Wow. That Pudding girl is my favorite character now."

"She actually said 'evil face'," I corrected.

"Do you care what she calls that (beeping) elf?" he inquired jovially. I did, for some odd and inexplicable reason. But I wasn't going to tell him that. And I was also getting sick of his cuss words.

We had finished episode ten when I was fed up. I handed him the CD case and said, "Go watch the rest of these at home. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Okay," he nodded, accepting the DVDs. "So, when did you become a Mew Mew anyway?"

"Umm… yesterday," I answered.

"You can't even keep your secret identity for one day? Kaylee, you suck as a super hero," he laughed before walking out the front door.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, glad to see him go. I was also glad that I hadn't agreed to go out with him. He had annoyed the crap out of me today. "What do you want to do now?" Ginger asked me. What I really wanted to do was smack Joey. But I had already missed my opportunity.