"I love all fairy tale characters. Even the villains."


There were no words horrible enough to describe the horror, the hopelessness, the despair, of the situation.

What had once been a large city was a barren landscape, all rock and cracks and darkness. The sky was filled with large, angry red and black clouds. No people were in sight, none at all. The only signs of life were the five brightly dressed girls kneeling on the ground; a tiny fairy resembling a fox and lion behind them; and in the pink one's arms, an even tinier white fairy who was only just regaining consciousness.

And before them all was the only other sign of life: a giant monstrosity that resembled a harlequin gone horribly wrong.

The pink girl, Happy, glanced away from him for an instant, just enough to look at the smeared ink stain on the ground. What had happened immediately prior to this thing's revival had been nothing short of horrifying. Sure, she hadn't liked Joker, but she wouldn't wish his fate on anyone.

The next part was a big blur to them all; they were too stunned by this horrible turn of events, such despairing things so rapidly after another, three battles in a row with no rest, the despair in the air that was practically choking them...
They registered the thing-Emperor Pierrot-before the, declaring that this would be the Worst Ending, that there was nothing but despair. They felt the air around them grow thicker, constricting their throats and nearly stopping their hearts. Their limbs shook as they tried to snap out of it, to move, to do something-

And then the emperor laughed. And his voice dropped to a whisper, a low, chilling one that sounded as if it were right in their ears instead of far away. "Everyone will despair. Everyone will experience the Worst Ending.
Just like me."

Before even this could register in Happy's mind-oh, she'd heard it, though, she had definitely heard it-there was another voice to be heard. Or rather, another three.

"Pretty Cure, oni!"

It was as if a spell had suddenly been lifted from them. The girls and their two fairies suddenly jerked, almost like they'd been shocked. Happy was the first to look to the source of the voice.

Behind her.

There was a large, open book, pages rapidly turning before stopping in the middle. The voices continued, echoing slightly.

"Pretty Cure, hurry, get in, oni!"
"Hurry before something happens to you, dawasa!"
"Pretty Cure, we can't keep the book open for much longer, rufu! Hurry up and..."

"GET IN!"

Panic seized the group, and before they knew it, they were on their feet and moving to the book. Happy held a hand out, faintly surprised to see a trio of tiny paws emerge from the pages, as if they were water. They grabbed her hand-

-and she fell inside, quickly followed by the others.

After Pop fell in as well, the book slammed shut, vanishing in a quick burst of dark energy. Pierrot was left alone.

"...victory snatched away from me.
Another Bad End for me."


The group found themselves walking down a long, dark corridor. By now the fear and despair of the moment had left them, and they were just...numb. And shaken. Happy tightened her grip on Candy as the young fairy sniffled against her chest. She directed her gaze to the large lantern light directly in front of her...and on the floor. The light revealed three little fairies-the fairies that had remained when she'd accepted the Bad End Generals. The ones Pop had claimed not to have ever seen before.

"Is it safe here?" Peace finally asked. "Will we really be alright?"

"Don't worry, dawasa," one of the tiny fairies said. Though her voice was small and rather high-pitched, it held an undercurrent of strength, confidence. Even as childish as her voice sounded, anyone who heard her would believe what she said. "We're perfectly safe here...No one knows about this place but us, dawasa."

"No one ever found us here, oni!" the pink fairy said, a little proudly.

The blue, canine fairy turned to one side, the just-as-big-as-him lantern in his arms shifting for a moment before he regained his balance. He went further into the darkness, hopping onto a stepping stool that was illuminated as he drew closer. From there, he set the lantern on a table, pressed it into a tiny opening in the wall. And then the room was suddenly lit up by dozens of lanterns sitting in similar spaces halfway up the walls. The light was a bit dim, but it wasn't scary. It felt reassuring. Comforting. Brought to mind days by small fireplaces, conversing with friends in the light while there was soft darkness all around oneself.

But it was hard to feel comforted when something horrible, the most devastating and despairing thing in the world, was happening to their home.

"We...You aren't going to just invite us here to stay, are you?" March blurted out suddenly, voicing what everyone else was thinking. It was the only explanation they could think of, anyway. She clenched her fists, her eyes growing moist as she continued, voice strained. "Y-You...You just brought us here, out of the blue! If you're going to tell us to just hide in here for the rest of our lives while our families and friends are hurting out there-"

"C-Calm down, oni!" the pink fairy interrupted, bringing his tiny paws before him as he stepped back. "No one's thinking of doing that at all, oni!"

"Then...then why...?" Beauty asked, a hand going to her mouth as her eyes watered. "Why would you take us here? We are needed at home, we have to-"

"Know the enemy first."

Pretty Cure, Pop, and Candy startled, staring in surprise at the three fairies. The green-cloaked one, the one who had spoken,
was standing before a small bookcase with a few thin books on it. She replaced the larger book she'd carried in, the one that had pulled them all into this place, and then pulled out another one. Turning around, she walked towards the group, showing off the book's cover.

It was dark in color, a purple so dark it almost looked black, with an image of a large, full moon on the cover. "We didn't bring you here so you could hide away and be safe, dawasa. We brought you here because we can't tell you our story, or how to save our emperor, out there. it's much safer to explain while taking shelter, dawasa."

"Your emperor?" Pop echoed, frowning. Then his brows shot up, his eyes widened as he pointed to the fairies. "A-Ah! You're from the Bad End Kingdom!" He took half a step back, an arm held in front of Candy protectively.

Happy's eyes widened a fraction. That was it! That was why the voices that called out to them had seemed so familiar! And their forms...a little ogre, little witch, little wolf! So the generals didn't disappear after all, they had been fairies the whole time! And from Bad End Kingdom? But they didn't seem to want to hurt them, so...

"But what's going on?" asked Sunny. "You're going to tell us how to defeat Pierrot?"

The three fairies shook their heads, the green one frowning in slight annoyance. "No, I said we're going to tell you how to help him, dawasa."

The three of them huddled together as they worked together to set the book down, motioning for the others to gather around.

The book opened to pure-white pages...until images began to appear on them. "Sit down, and listen, dawasa. We'll explain everything."