When her surroundings came back into focus, Blackberry discovered herself standing in a circular room, in the center of which was placed a row of five chairs, all facing a podium. Behind the stand stood a man, judging by his appearance in his early twenties. Beside Blackberry was the girl that she had arrived with, and already seated was a boy about Blackberry’s age. All three looked considerably strange; for one thing, they all possessed eerie golden eyes, and theirs ears, which were at least twice as long as a normal human’s, were pointed at the tips.

“Well, Pucca,” the man behind the podium spoke up, glaring at the girl that had appeared in Blackberry’s room. “You’ve already managed to make a mess of things by not only revealing yourself to a human, but bringing her here.”

Blackberry turned to stare at Pucca, who was now sitting in the seat to her right. She seemed quite flustered; a faint blush could be seen spreading across her cheeks, and she had begun to fidget anxiously with her hands. After a minute in which an awkward silence held reign over the room, she finally worked up the courage to mutter, “A simple mistake in teleporting could have happened like that to anyone.”

“So why didn’t you finish the human off? It would have caused less trouble for us.”

“Well…since she saw me…” Pucca motioned to Blackberry. “…I thought we might be able to make use of her.”

The others seemed to be considering this. The one who had spoken previously began to pace back and forth behind the podium, while his companion remained seated, drumming his fingers against his legs. Meanwhile, a feeling of unease was slowly edging away at Blackberry. They had already demonstrated that they were far from normal, and it didn’t seem that they would be particularly willing to let her go free.

“Well?” Pucca said, her eyes fixed grudgingly on the man in front of her. “Lemon? What do you think?”

Lemon halted abruptly, surveying the captive for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

“And Lime?”

Next to Pucca, the one called Lime smirked as he casually said, “It looks like you did something right for once. That is, if the girl will go along with us?”

Suddenly, everyone was focused on Blackberry. She stared at the floor, intent on not meeting the others’ gazes, not at all used to being given so much attention. After a second, she muttered in a meek voice quite unlike her own, “Go along with what? This is some kind of joke, isn’t it?”

“A joke?” Lime snickered, shaking with laughter as if he had just overheard something extremely amusing. “No, this isn’t a joke. It’s very much real. We want you to participate in an experiment of sorts.”

“An experiment?”

“Yes. If successful, you’ll be infused with the DNA of a red data animal.”

Blackberry remained silent, digesting this new information; she’d obviously stumbled into some sort of bizarre cult.

Lemon seemed to catch the disbelieving look in her eyes, for he chose that moment to interject. “Tokyo Mew Mew, a group of five girls, each with powers enabling them to defeat the aliens that up until recently plagued Tokyo. I believe that that much was made known to the public, correct?”

Blackberry nodded as Lemon continued. “The three of us come from the same planet as the original group. We’re looking for humans that might be used in our own Mew project, those who might be able to fight against the originals.”

“And you want me to help?”

“Exactly. You should also know that this is not something we can force on you. However, it would be a mistake to think that you would simply be returned home if you were to refuse.”

Blackberry gulped, her mind racing with thought. She was, of course, confused, as well as scared, but mixed with these emotions was also a feeling of excitement. If what they were saying was true, then she might be able to avenge her parents. However, was she, at only sixteen years old, able to carry out murder?

“I…I need to think about it…” she mumbled at last.

In response, Lime and Pucca both let out simultaneous groans of impatience.

“Why should we let her take her time?” Pucca protested furiously, stomping her foot down for effect. “This isn’t something we can afford to put off!”

“You just want to finish up so you don’t have to work with us anymore, right?” Lime teased, playfully wagging a finger under Pucca’s nose.

Folding her arms, Pucca stared crossly at the green-haired alien. “Maybe. But it’s really not your concern, is it?”

Lemon fixed his two partners with a stern glare as he responded, sounding as if he was straining to keep the anger from his voice, “And do you really think rushing her will do any good? This isn’t something we can force on her; she has to decide for herself, and it has to be in her own time.”

With that, the conversation seemed to be over, as the blonde alien turned his attention away from Lemon and Pucca and approached a door in the back of the room, saying, “I’ll show the girl to her room. The two of you can go rest.”

Blackberry followed, and after passing through several winding corridors, she found herself in front of another door. As they drew closer Lemon murmured something under his breath and the door slid open.

The room inside was almost completely empty, save for a single cot that rested in the corner of the room.

“Here, you can sleep in here for tonight.”

Blackberry did not respond, too still overwhelmed by the day’s events to register what her captor was saying. She simply nodded as he turned and departed.

Now alone, Blackberry curled up under the cotton blanket, her mind racing as she began attempting to process everything she had learned that day. Aliens, mews, invasion, it was almost too fantastic to believe, but she couldn’t deny that it was all very real. And then there was the decision that now faced her; should she join the aliens? She could avenge her parents, but that didn’t mean that they would come back.

“No,” she murmured softly, “they wouldn’t.”

But maybe…if she joined the aliens, it would make a difference.

I could…I might be able to make some difference, even if it’s just a small one, if I help them…

With this thought still echoing in her mind, Blackberry laid her head on the pillow, wrapped the blanket tightly around her, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Hours later, Blackberry opened her eyes. She sat up, staring blankly at her lap. Where was she?

That’s right…Yesterday there was that girl…and then I ended up here with the aliens…

The door slid open and Pucca’s figure appeared appeared in the entrance.

“Lime and Lemon want to meet you in the lab,” she announced in the same, harsh tone that she had used the previous night with Lemon. It was quite a change in comparisson the excited “Good morning!” that Blackberry was accustomed to waking up to. “Here, I brought you some clothes. Hurry and change into them.”

She tossed Blackberry a blue pleated skirt, similar to Blackberry’s school uniform, and a black sleeveless shirt, then left to wait outside, the door automatically shutting itself.

Blackberry changed quickly, leaving her own clothes on the unmade cot.

“I’m ready,” she called, hoping desperately that she sounded more confident than she felt. She could feel her heart pounding as the door opened to allow her though.

“Have you made up your mind yet?” Pucca questioned, leading her captive down the narrow hallway.

“Yes. I’ve decided to go along with you.”

“I thought you might say that.”

The two strolled past the meeting room, and through several other corridors until they finally arrived at what Blackberry assumed must be the laboratory. Against the back wall were two computers, and in the center of the lab was a completely golden pole, the decoration on top of which formed a snake, poised to strike, its emerald eyes flickering in the light reflected off of the computer monitors.

“We’ve based this off the technology reportedly used by the mews,” a voice commented, startling Blackberry.

Lemon and Lime stepped into the light provided by the computers, the latter of the two sweeping into an elegant mock-bow as he kept his eyes focused on Blackberry, whose face flushed with anger. He was treating her situation like a joke!

“Is it okay if we turn on the light in here?” Lime questioned, suddenly standing up straight.

“If you want,” came the elder alien’s reply. “You there,” he added, pointing to Blackberry. “Stand in front of that machine,” He motioned to the pole Blackberry had been admiring earlier. “-and don’t move.”

Although doubt continued to nag at her, the dark-haired girl reluctantly complied. She would already become to involved with these people to change her mind now that she had agreed to cooperate.

“Now then…”

Lemon took a seat in front of one of the computers, while Pucca and Lime both remained standing. He hurriedly typed something in, and the screen turned black, in white font the words, “Scan complete. Match found.” There was a sudden flash of light from the snake ornament, and the room went black.

The light returned as quickly as it had departed, only Blackberry no longer appeared to be in the laboratory. She was now surrounded by a green light, seemingly coming from unidentifiable shapes, hovering in midair with nothing to keep them afloat. Then she caught sight of a lone figure amongst the objects, some type of fox. It made its way toward her, reaching out a paw as it gradually drew closer. Blackberry leaned down to examine it, and, as it brushed against her leg, it vanished.