Hello! This is my first TMM fic, so go easy on me! Note: Updates for this fic are going to be slow, since I'm not finished writing it yet… but please review! The more good reviews I get, the more motivated I am to continue! …(begging).

Disclaimer: Tokyo Mew Mew and all related characters belong to Mia Ikumi and Reiko Yoshida. I made up King Jubala and Flan(Peach).

This chapter is strictly aliens, but don't worry, the new Mew, along with the others, come in chapter 2! I know Mercury might not be their planet, but I had to choose one planet with harsh conditions, and so it was Mercury. Mercury has no atmosphere and no sand, but well let's just pretend… Also I've never seen the anime, so everything I get is just from the manga, although I've seen anime pictures. And I don't know what happens in A La Mode, so this doesn't take that into consideration. If there are any mistakes, I'm sorry.

Chapter 1: A Mercurian Mission

It had been a year. A year since their salvation had been denied. A year since the transportation had failed. A year since their three representatives had returned to the planet with disappointing news.

"We are in a Crusade!" King Jubala had declared to his Mercurian nation. "We will reclaim the grounds that are rightfully ours! That was your mission- your only true purpose!"

"But, Your Majesty…" the leader replied, stepping forward. "The fascinating things we saw…the amazing data we've gathered. It wouldn't be right to just steal it away from its present inhabitants."

The enraged monarch jumped from his throne. "Silence! I don't care what kind of new data you've acquired! You went there for one purpose and one purpose only- and that was not to gather data!"

The second representative and tallest of the bunch took a step up next to his fellow teammate. He held out a small, glowing container, held tightly by a heart-shaped stopper. "Your Majesty, we knew it would be unacceptable to return with nothing to aid our race, so we managed to get a hold of this rare substance, said to have magical healing properties. Why, while we were still struggling to carry out your plan, we experienced the unbelievable power of this substance, bringing us back to life. We believed that if we brought it back with us, it would perform the same miracle for our beloved Mercury…"

He shook the container, and a drop of this liquid seeped out, hitting the sandy ground with a small splat. "…But, unfortunately, while we were traveling through space, it lost its power. It seems like it will only work on the planet of its origin- Earth."

King Jubala sat back down and rested his chin in his hand. "So I was right. You're all failures. Just like the rest of us…just like the ones that came before you."

At last, the smallest representative, about half the height of the taller one, stepped out and held something out to the king. "Here, Your Majesty. We're not complete failures. See, this didn't lose its power!"

King Jubala reached out and snatched the round, multicolored object from his little hand. He held it up to the light to examine it. "Now what's this?"

The little representative grinned. "A friend gave some to me. It won't help this planet, but it'll make you feel better! It's called a 'candy'!"

King Jubala scowled and threw the round candy drop to the floor. "Fools! A high-budget trip like that, and all you bring me is a bottle of useless liquid and a piece of candy!"

"I-I've got more candy, if you want it…" the little representative squeaked in nervousness.

"Get out!" King Jubala roared. "Get out of my palace! You're lucky I'm sparing your lives!"

The three representatives quickly scurried out of the underground palace.

The king watched as the little black dots slowly disappeared from his palace grounds. He stared down at the floor, at the little round candy, still wrapped. Slowly, he got up and snatched it from the ground, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. "Well…maybe they did bring something useful back…"

"Tart, you should know better than that," the lead representative scolded. "To offer the king of Mercuritopolis candy!"

Tart shook his head. "I thought he would like it. Besides, we've got nothing else to show from our trip to Earth."

The three of them were walking along the tunnels of the underground city where all of the Mercurians lived. The Mercurians didn't look all that different from normal humans, except for their unusually large elf ears. Another unusual aspect about the Mercurians' appearance was their outfit. To protect from the scorching sun and frequent sandstorms on the surface of Mercury, they wore short-sleeved, loose-fitting garments, some with veils and apron-cloths. The Mercurians never usually went outside of their normal boundaries in the city of Mercuritopolis, but sometimes they were forced to return to the surface to gather food, or to carry out special assignments. No human had ever known of their existence before since they used a special magical perimeter to avoid detection by the space probes sent from that planet.

These three residents passed quickly by their neighbors, since news of their failure had quickly spread and most everyone on this planet now hated them.

"Candy or no candy," the apparent leader added. "It definitely was a worthwhile trip."

"Yeah, yeah, we know, Kish," Tart complained. "Stop with all that mushy lovey stuff!"

"Stop with the lovey stuff?" Kish retaliated. "What about you over there with your little girlfriend? Kissing up in a tree!"

Tart's face flushed red to match his flaming red hair. "For one, she's not my girlfriend! We're just friends! For another, we weren't kissing! She was just giving me a piece of candy!"

Kish chuckled. "Yeah right. She passed it with her mouth! Don't think I wasn't watching." Tart looked away into the distance as Kish continued to chuckle to himself. "In fact…" he continued. "The only one of us who hasn't yet fallen madly in love is Pie here."

The tall, older ambassador just persisted frowning and staring into the distance.

"Aw, c'mon, Pie!" Tart cried, grabbing onto his teammate's long pants. "You must like someone. C'mon, tell us!"

Pie looked, snootily away from the other two. "I don't find it necessary to have foolish crushes on petty humans."

"You're just saying that," Tart said. "You always say stuff like that, but you don't really mean it, do you?"

Pie yanked the little Mercurian out of his grip. "Be quiet! We have much more to worry about than your insignificant little relationships!"

Kish continued to chuckle to himself. "Aw, I know that for a fact. See, I've known him longer than you have, Tart. I can read the signs."

"Hey!" Pie cried, turning to look at his other teammate. "Who invited you into this conversation?"

"I invited myself!" Kish replied with a grin. "Since I'm an expert on this subject…"

A nearby voice giggled at them, and they all turned to find its source. "You return to the home planet, fail to regain our territory, anger the king of Mercury, and you still have time to fool around?"

"Flan!" Pie cried. He jumped out in front of the other two representatives. "Please excuse these insolent friends of mine. They're really the ones…"

"Hey!" Tart and Kish cried at the same time.

In front of them stood Flan, a young woman in her older teens. She wore similar dress to the other Mercurians, except she wore a skirt, a bit longer than Kish's apron, and a veil covering part of her face. Her light pink hair was clipped up, spilling over the sides of her head. Flan reached up and removed her veil, letting it hang down her back. "Well, it's just surprising to see the three of you out and about after such a trying experience. It's been a while, Pie."

Tart's big yellow eyes grew wider. "Pie? You know that lady?"

The older Mercurian shook his head and his grayish pigtail swayed. "Flan and I used to work together. Good to see you again."

"That was before you met us, huh?" Tart prodded, but Pie just ignored him.

"So…" he addressed his former co-worker. "Where are you headed?"

Flan shook her head. "What business is that of yours? You think that because you're a representative of this planet that you have a right to know everything?"

Pie crossed his arms, but his expression didn't change. "You've changed since I've last seen you."

"Or maybe we're all changing…" Flan began. She cast once last glance at the group and pulled her veil up again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I do have something I must attend to." She turned her loose skirt and sprinted off into the dark halls of Mercuritopolis.

Pie stayed in the same position, staring at the direction in which Flan had just run, even as his other two teammates began to slip away.

"What's the matter, Pie?" Kish teased, suddenly appearing around his shoulder. "You upset because your girlfriend just ran away from you?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Pie objected. He sighed. "I just hope she doesn't get herself into any trouble, that's all.

Several days later, the three alien representatives were surprised to receive another summons from King Jubala.

The king wore an elaborate robe, decorated with all kinds of symbols, and a chain around his forehead, their version of a crown. His hair was very long and dark- almost like the evil entity, Deep Blue whom their race had created.

The three Mercurians once again stepped into the palace, looking a bit more humble than they had the last.

Tart shivered as he approached the throne, and not just from the marble floor against his bare feet.

Pie's eyes widened as he drew close to the front. A familiar figure was standing, silently beside King Jubala's throne. "F…Flan?!"

Flan smiled at them. "Well, we meet again…" She turned and quickly curtsied to the king. "Your Majesty, you must not intend to inform these failures of our plan…"

The king glanced up at Pie, Kish, and Tart standing before him. "I figured that as representatives of this planet, they have a right to know with is going on with their nation."

"And what is that?" Kish asked, taking charge once again. "Whatever has gone wrong with our nation, I can promise you that we will fix it."

"Yes, I know you will," the king answered, sarcastically. "Just like you fixed the poor surface conditions of this planet."

"King, you must give us another chance," Kish pleaded. "We must not return to Earth again. That little blue planet is filled with billions of Earthlings. These humans could crush our entire race with their inexhaustible power sources."

"Power sources?" King Jubala asked. "You mean that measly bottle of water you brought back with you?"

"It may have been useless here, but it has unlimited power on Earth," Pie spoke up.

"Anyway, that's not what I have called you here to discuss," the king interrupted. "You know of the Shadow Plague, do you not?"

Kish, Pie, and Tart all looked at each other in confusion. "Shadow…Plague?" Tart asked.

"Come on!" Flan suddenly cried from her corner. "Get with it! Are you blind to the world around you? You've been back at Mercury for about a week, and you haven't noticed?!"

King Jubala took in a deep breath. "Another reason I was counting on you to reclaim Earth for us…"

"The Shadow Plague!" Flan cried. "A terrible disease that had already affected about half of our population. We're not sure where it came from, but research has indicated that it might be due to the harsh conditions underground, and above ground, especially when transferring between the two. So far, about 50,000 Mercurians have died of some form of the Shadow Plague."

"Of course there's always the growing threat of attack by Jupiter," King Jubala added. "But that's for me to deal with."

"So," Kish spoke up again. "How can we help fight this 'Shadow Plague'?"

Flan smiled at them from her corner of the throne room. "That's where I come in."

"You?" Kish complained. "You're no ambassador, or even a powerful sorceress."

Flan just continued to grin. "Oh, I have my ways. And unlike you men and your forceful ways, I plan to travel to Earth, but instead of using your parasites, I will befriend the Mew Mews and get them to help me find a way to bring a Mew Aqua back to this planet to cure everyone!"

Kish frowned. "How come only she gets to go? We're on friendly terms with the Mew Mews now…"

"Because…" King Jubala replied, his voice rising. "I know Flan will stick to her job, get it done quickly, and report back here as soon as possible. If I sent you three, you'd waste our precious time with your pesky romances!"

Pie turned around and glared at Kish and Tart with an "I-told-you-so" look.

Kish looked seriously disappointed and shrank to the back of the crowd.

Flan looked back at them. "I leave this evening, so say your farewells while you can."

"Good riddance," Kish growled under his breath.

"Well, good luck, Flan," Pie said. He stepped over and shook the hand of his co-worker. What he found unusual was that she was wearing long sleeves. It was probably just to protect her from the raging environment above ground.

"Pie…" Flan replied with a smile. "Don't worry, I'll do my best. I…well, I'm sorry if I annoyed you that other day. Thanks for everything."

Tart and Kish stared in awe as a sliver of a smile appeared on Pie's face. "You too." Finally, the two of them pulled away and Flan headed up to her room in the palace. (She was a servant to the king.)

"That is all," King Jubala commanded, his way of dismissing his subjects.

Kish, Pie, and Tart began to troop towards the palace entrance. Only a few seconds later, the king called out, "Wait!" The three Mercurians froze in their tracks. "Tart…"

Tart slowly turned around, still shivering. "Um…yes, Your Highness?"

"Do you happen to have any more of that candy you brought back with you from Earth?"

"Um…why yes, I've got three left," Tart replied. His mind was screaming, "Please don't take them all!!!"

"Give me one," the king commanded. Tart stepped forward with relief and handed his ruler a round, wrapped candy. "I've decided to have my scientists study this material and see if they can replicate it. There's a considerable profit to be made in the candy business. Thank you, Tart, for bringing something worthwhile back from Earth."

Tart beamed. "You're certainly welcome, Your Majesty!" He skipped back over to his glaring teammates, and they all exited back out into the cold, cruel world of Mercuritopolis.

Of course on their entire trip through the rest of the city, the little redheaded representative teased his two friends. "Ha ha!" Tart cried, skipping along next to Pie. "Did you see that? Did you see that? And you said I wasn't going to be of much use. You said I wasn't old enough, you said I'd never be able to please the king. Well guess what? HAHA! IN YOUR FACE!"

Kish growled and grabbed a long, dirt-colored material, draping it over himself. "Grab a cloak, you arrogant little nuisance."

"Be careful what you say," Pie replied, much to the others' surprise. "I could say the same about you."

"Ooooh," Tart cried. "He got you good, Kish!"

Kish just grumbled and pulled the cloak around his head. It was much colder down in the deeper parts of Mercuritopolis.

Still, Tart continued to bob up and down, calling out brags to whoever would listen. While his mouth was flapping, his mind was reeling, and suddenly he stopped in mid-sentence. "Yeah, and little did…oh my gosh!"

"What?" Kish looked over at his companion. "You forgot something?"

"Yeah…I did!" Tart suddenly went running down the dark halls of the city.

"Tart!" Kish cried. "Tart! Ah, he's gonna get himself into trouble again…" He took a stride after the little representative, but as soon as he did, Pie reached over and grabbed his arm, holding him back.

"Let him go," he advised him. "He's a free spirit."

"Spirit…" Kish paused and stood up very straight. "I forgot something too!" He sprinted off in a different direction.

Normally someone in his situation would wonder why his friends had deserted him, if it was something he had done, or if they wanted time away from him, but Pie, on the other hand, knew exactly what was up. He glanced around the area and found himself in a typical Mercurian marketplace. "Perfect," he plainly stated and glided over towards a booth.

Meanwhile, in another part of the marketplace, Tart was glancing by a different set of booths. He looked up at the different wares these merchants were selling.

"Toys?" Mercurian toys weren't all that different from Earth toys, consisting of rag dolls, electronic games, board games, only made from glass particles. Of course that wasn't safe for the kids, but parents tended to be extremely strict on Mercury. "Nah., she's not really into toys…maybe I should get her some more plates…"

Tart gazed in a china shop for a moment before deciding against it. Then, he stopped at another booth. "Maybe some matches…" He shook his head again. "I don't think they'd let me buy matches. Besides, what if she smuggles them…"

At last, Tart stopped in front of a third booth and his face lit up. Sitting comfortably and majestically on a velvet cushion at the front of the counter was a silver baton topped on both ends by pointed golden knobs and glittering ribbons. "That's it!" he cried. "That baton is perfect!"

"May I help you, young man?" the Mercurian salesman asked, leaning over the counter.

"Yeah, I'll take that baton up at the front!"

The Mercurian man pulled the glittering baton from its place of honor. "You wanted this, correct?"

Tart nodded, joyfully. "Yup, that's the one."

"1,000 uboos." Uboos were, of course, the currency on Mercury.

"1,000 uboos?!" Tart cried (About the equivalent of 300 US dollars). He stuttered and checked his pockets. Altogether he only had about 37 uboos. Suddenly he pulled out one of his candies and plopped it on the table. "How about this rare Earth item instead? I guarantee you it's worth about twice the price of that baton. You can't find them anywhere else on this planet!"

The Mercurian gazed, dumbfounded at the round sugar-coated ball. "Wow…you're right; I've never seen one of those before." Slowly, he smiled. "Alright, I'll take it!" He grabbed the candy and handed Tart the baton.

"Yes!" The little representative skipped away holding the special item. "I had to give up one of my candies, but after King Jubala starts manufacturing them, I'll be able to get some more." He stared down at the shining baton in his hands. "Well, before I give this away…" He took a big sweep and twirled the glittering stick up into the air. "Aaaugh!" Crash! The performing item came crashing down on Tart's noggin. "Gee, this is harder than I thought."

In the other section of the marketplace of Mercuritopolis, Kish was also on the hunt, but unlike Tart, he knew exactly where he was headed and what he was looking for. He bent over a jewelry case, drooling for some inexplicable reason.

"Um…excuse me, young man?" the female marketer addressed him. "Would you like to see something a little closer?"

"Well…that one…the heart with the ribbon symbol and the diamonds in the center…it would look so accenting around her neck…"

"Oh," the lady replied with a smile. "Buying something for your sweetie?"

Kish eagerly nodded.

"Well, I can show you the most popular picks for girlfriends…"

Kish shook his head. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Aw, someone you've got a crush on, huh?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Well, you're awful open about it," the jewelry seller replied. "Most guys would just blush and look away, or yell at me for asking them."

Kish grinned. "Well, I'm on a mission. I don't hide my feelings."

The lady behind the counter smiled a bit. "Okay…you wanted to see that necklace, right?"

Kish nodded again, and the merchant slid the jewelry tray out, carefully picking up the heart-shaped necklace made of diamonds and pink painted ribbons. She placed it on top of its casing.

"You can look it over if you want, make sure it's really…augh!" The poor lady was startled as Kish suddenly grabbed the necklace. She tensed her muscles, ready to scream for help if he tried to steal it.

Thankfully, he just stared at the shining necklace, eyes wide. He began to feel all around it, as if something were underneath it, drooling.

"Um…okay. So you want that one…"

Kish's mouth was too full of drool to talk, so he just nodded again.

The merchant quickly swiped the necklace from his hands, packed it in a velvet box and, slowly handed it to him again. "15,000 uboos." It took all of Kish's money to afford the necklace, but he felt it was necessary. "Just try not to get it dirty before you get it to her…" the merchant called, concerned with his strange actions.

On the complete opposite end, both metaphorically and literally, Pie was gliding about the east marketplace. Being the exact opposite of Kish, he was the very image of composure and self-control. His mature manner helped him to blend easily into the crowd of merging Mercurians, and no one recognized him as one of the failure representatives.

Pie wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for, but he knew whom he was buying for. He quickly glanced around a few booths, but found nothing she would like. Then, at last, he came upon a booth selling table setting. He knew the glass probably wouldn't last for long, but he just knew she'd love the beautiful tea set. The cups and saucers were adorned with elaborate pictures of dolphins and other sea creatures. A merchant waltzed up, asking if he needed anything and he shelled out the rest of his uboos to purchase the tea set.

Whoosh! Spatter! That night, the sun was still shining, as it always does on Mercury, for 59 days, until it turns dark, for another 59. Flan trudged her way through the sand dunes of the "outside" as they liked to call it. Everyone hated going to the "outside" since the weather was so volatile. Flan pulled her rose-colored veil over her face to prevent the blowing sand from flying into her mouth and up her nose. It was bad enough that she had it in her eyes.

At last, she spied something metallic shining in the distance- her spaceship to Earth. A large dome had been put up around the ship. Now was especially the time to tighten barriers and prevent detection. If one of those blinking satellites in the sky happened to catch a picture of Flan lifting off from Mercury in this craft, worldwide panic would break out on Earth with the discovery of life on Mercury. At last, she approached the giant sloping side of the Mercurian spaceship, its long "tail" spreading for miles behind. It seemed a waste to Flan that this gigantic ship was for her only. What would she do with all that space? She took one step further, when a voice behind her interrupted her stride.

"Um…Flan? That's your name, right?"

Flan whipped around, wondering who in the world could have come to the surface after her. Her mouth opened and her eyes enlarged when she saw Tart standing, without a cloak, in the middle of the stinging sand. "What are you doing up here?" Flan cried. "You should be down below where it's safe." She took a step towards Tart to drag him back underground, but he pushed her back.

"No, I had to get this to you before you left." He pulled out the sparkly baton he had purchased that day, a card now tied around it with a string, and handed it to Flan. "When you get to Earth, give this to a girl named Pudding Fong. She's a…friend of mine. I just…I just thought she'd like it."

Flan grinned, knowingly. "Don't worry, I'll make sure it gets to her for you."

Tart quickly replied, "Thanks!" and ran back through the storm to the entrance to the underground city of Mercuritopolis.

Flan giggled to herself and looked down at the baton. She thought she had heard King Jubala say during that meeting that they had "pesky romances", and now she knew what he meant. Although this affection was distracting to the common goal, Flan thought it was kind of cute that Tart had a crush on a little Earth girl. She once again resumed her trip to the foreboding spaceship, tucking the baton away somewhere in her cloak.

"Wait!" a voice yelled, "Wait, Flan!"

At first, Flan thought that it might be Tart again forgetting something, but that voice was deeper than Tart's. Turning around, she observed her next visitor, this time Kish.

"Phew!" he cried. "It's a good thing I caught you in time."

"What do you want?" Flan asked, slightly annoyed. Why was he coming to see her off? He had seemed angry with her when she announced her plan to go back to Earth.

"Well, since I don't get to go to Earth myself…" He whipped out the small black, velvet box containing the necklace he had bought at the market. "I need you to deliver this for me, and you better deliver it!"

Flan took the jewelry box and was about to place it into her robe next to the baton, when Kish interrupted her.

"It's for a girl named Ichigo Momomiya. Remember it- Ichigo Momomiya! Write it down if you think you'll forget, because if you forget to deliver this, I will personally annihilate you!"

"Alright, okay," Flan said, trying not to laugh. "Ichigo Momomiya, I'll remember it."

Then Kish disappeared into the whirling sand, waving slightly as he went.

Flan giggled again. This was so exciting. Now Kish had a crush on an Earth girl too! She couldn't wait to meet these girls and see what they were so attracted to. Flan took several more steps towards the spaceship, glinting in the sun. A totally new planet with a totally new way of life was waiting for her, just as soon as she set foot in that ship…It was looming closer, closer…

"Excuse me, Flan." The voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Pie?!" she cried, happily. In her heart, she had hoped that Pie would see her off, but she didn't think he'd come up to the horrid surface just for that.

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

"Why, of course," Flan answered. "I'm so excited! I can't wait to see this wonderful planet that you've all been talking about…where our roots lie. It's the trip of a lifetime, and I can't believe the king gave it to me and only me. Of course, it would have been fine with me if you came too, but…" She trailed off as she noticed the look on her old friend's face. He actually looked a little nervous, hiding something behind his back. "Is…something wrong?"

"Oh, no," Pie quickly replied. "Look, Flan. I hate to ask you this, but…"

Oh no, Flan thought. No, not him too!

Pie carefully brought the boxed tea set out from behind his back. "When you arrive, I need you to give this to someone for me."

For some reason, Flan felt a terrible feeling in her stomach. No, Pie…

"There's a girl, Lettuce Midorikawa. She's got green hair, usually in braids, with glasses. This is for her. Not that I…uh, like her or anything. She's a friend of ours, and I thought she'd like this tea set…"

Now Flan felt incredibly disappointed as she gently received the boxed tea set. It wasn't that she was…jealous? Right? How could she be jealous of someone she had never even met? But then again, Pie had never given her a gift…She forced a smile to her lips. "Okay, I'll make sure she gets it." Flan turned violently from his gaze, suddenly wanting to get off this planet as soon as she could.

"Good luck!" Pie called, stopping Flan in the midst of her flight.

Flan glanced back at him for a moment. Then she pulled her veil over herself and hurried into the long, glistening spaceship. She stepped into the doorway at the top of the sliding ramp that was the door, totally forgetting her former feelings of wonder and suspense. These strange, angry, and disappointed feelings weren't natural, and she desperately tried to sort them out. Then, just before the sliding door closed, Flan glanced up.

Pie was still standing there, amidst the pounding sand, the same expression on his face as always, watching as she left him behind. Even as the dart-shaped ship began to lift off into the mysterious blackness of space, he didn't budge. Even as it became nothing but a glistening dot among the stars, he remained standing as a pillar on the endless flat desert of Mercury.