Chapter 1 – PikaPika! A Diamond in the Rough

Disclaimer: This fanseries was developed and originally written in March, 2012, during Smile Pretty Cure's airing. The main character, Cure Diamond, is in no way related to DokiDoki Pretty Cure's Cure Diamond. The naming was pure coincidental.

Shineburgh, a beautiful utopia of color and light. The land is made of the brightest stones, from the roads to the buildings. The citizens of Shineburgh go about their daily lives as they day goes by. A particular red little ruby bee buzzed about in the air towards Castle Bright. "This is bad-tsuu!" he buzzed. Through the tiny window up at the castle tower, he went down to the audience haul.

In his presence was a tall crystal with a faint, red center. "Queen! The Gems-tsuu! They..."

The crystal hummed, and the red center began to glow. The bee's face lifted, as if the crystal answered him. "Y-Yes! I'll go at once-tsuu! We can't let them get their hands on the Gems-tsuu!" at once, he flew out of the castle's window once more. As his tiny body buzzed through the air, a deep-green tiny bird fluttered next to him.

"Where ya headed, Rubee-pii?" she tweeted. "Going to the human world again-pii?"

"I don't have time for you today, Pamerald-tsuu!" Rubee sighed, buzzing through the air without a care. But the bird-like creature stopped the bee in his tracks with a nasty glare in her eyes. It was that kind of glare that made the busy bee freeze in fear.

"You ALWAYS have time for me-pii," Pamerald muttered as she loomed over the smaller insect. "Or need I remind you that you can't do anything on your own-pii, and I have to drag you back here-pii."

"Y-Yes-tsuu..." Rubee stuttered, and the two started to fly side by side.

"So this seems pretty urgent-pii. And you're not goin' to the usual gate right away-pii."

"This is pretty big-tsuu," Rubee replied. "The Gems are being targetted-tsuu!"

This made Pamerald slow down and taken in what the bee had just told her. "Wait-pii!" she exclaimed. "The Gems are bein' targetted-pii?!" She zoomed past Rubee and stopped him once more. "But how're ya gonna find them-pii?! The Gems can't be easily found-pii!"

Rubee then smirked at his parakeet friend. "That's where we get our resident professional." In an instant, Pamerald realized who Rubee was talking about, her face sunk. She thought that this trip was going to be a rough one indeed...

As the two flew to a small opal hut, they were surprised to see the holes dug up around the area. The pushed the door open to find it empty, the furniture in order but not used. "Opero!" Rubee called out. "You here-tsuu?"

"Maybe he's off doin' another excavation-pii..." Pamerald sighed. "Can't we go without him-pii?"

"No! His ability is crucial for this mission-tsuu!" Rubee was dead set on bringing this Opero. All of a sudden...

"Wan!" barked a voice behind them. Rubee and Pamerald turned to find a small and droopy opal dog, though bigger than those two combined, standing at the doorway with his tongue sticking out. "Wan!"

"There you are-tsuu!" Rubee buzzed around the dog. "Come on-tsuu! We gotta go-tsuu!"

"Wan!" Opero barked, looking at Pamerald through the flaps over his eyes.

"...Uhh..." Pamerald was at a loss for words when it came to Opero, as always. "What did he say-pii?"

"Of course she's coming with us-tsuu!" Rubee stated. "Come on! Let's go to the gate-tsuu!"

"Wan!"

"You're a little bit TOO excited about this, aren't you-pii?"

In a city on our planet Earth, in the country of Japan, is the spring of April and the first day of a new school year. Many boys and girls have just gotten off the train or the bus and started walking down the road to a huge illustrious school at the top of the hill. The students wore black and white uniforms, like that of a standard high school, but more formal-looking. They chattered amongst one another, catching up over the spring break or meeting each other for the first time. These students were Jyuunisujou students, a well-known preparatory high school.

In a park passing, three Jyuunisujou students were held up by three older teens. They looked tough and mean, trying to make a pass on them. "It's the start o' school, right?" one of them, a mohawked teen, grinned. "You can't skip just one day, right? Let's have some fun."

"P-Please, leave us alone," one of the girls pleaded.

"Oi, Aniki!" another, an orange-haired student smirked. "She said please. That means we got permission, right?"

The black-haired teen stood behind them, scowling with his arms crossed. He gave a nod, and the two advanced on them.

"Hey, hey, HEY!" roared a bright female voice from the park as a bag flung at the shining head of the mohawk teen. The bag was heavy and knocked him down rather easily. As they all turned to the park edge, a girl with blonde-hair tied into a high ponytail was glaring at the teens. "They said NO!" she exclaimed. "Can't you take a hint?!"

While the students' faces lifted, the bleached-hair teen then charged at the girl. "You sunava-" he growled, but as he approached her with a prepared fist, the blonde leaned in. Quicker than he can react, the girl grabbed his extended arm and flung him over her shoulder, hitting the ground. The mohawk teen then got back up and lunged at the girl as well. He was stopped by a punch to the chest, followed by a series of rapid punches in the same general area as the girl let out loud martial arts yells that sent the mohawk teen back.

"That's it?" she scoffed, dusting her hands off. The black-haired teen launched a roundhouse kick, and the girl quickly blocked it, lunging her palm at his chin and pushing him back down. "NOW that's it?" The teens got up and ran off, not before the black-haired teen left a lasting glare at the girl as he retreated.

The three girls crowded around their hero with glee. "I can't believe it!" one of them squealed. "We were saved by THE Suzumiya Kurisu!" The girl named Kurisu smiled and gave the three a thumbs-up. "Thank you, Kurisu-san!"

"Well, if you girls are okay," Kurisu said, "we should probably head on over before we're late." From a distance, they could hear a bell at the distance, and the four made a mad dash to the school campus before the gates closed.

In the auditorium, many students were gathered before the stage; they were separated by gender, year, class, and class sections. The blonde Kurisu stood at 2C, standing next to the girls she had saved. Apparently, they were going to be classmates this year. She looked out to see a brunette-haired girl in the first year class, all the way at the edge of her row, fidgeting. The girl had her short hair put into two twintails at the bottom, and her sleeves were longer than her arms so her fingers stuck out a little. "She must be a freshman," Kurisu muttered to herself.

"You didn't hear?" one of her new classmates, Mariko, whispered. "That's Fuuma Misora. She's a school prodigy, and they say she passed the entrance exam with a perfect score! No one EVER passes with a perfect score!"

"For real?!" Kurisu gasped, looking at Misora once more. She didn't seem like the smart type, the way she was fidgeting. Maybe she's one of those students who become different when they're up at the chalkboard! "That's scary..."

"Sh!" Quickly, one of the passing teachers tapped Kurisu on her head. When she looked up, it was a tall young-man with a stern face. "No talking. The assembly is about to begin," he whispered.

"Waaah..." Kurisu moaned silently. "I got scolded by Sasahara-sensei on the first day of school..." Slowly, the blonde looked back up to find that a beautiful girl with short blue hair and a saintly appearance took up the podium. She looked out at the students and cleared her throat. "That's Tennouji Iruka...so she cut her hair..."

"Eh?! You know Tennouji-san?!" Mariko whispered.

"Sorta. She was my classmate last year, but we never got along well." Kurisu remembered the times the two of them had fought in their first year, and Iruka had always won. "I guess she's the school's student-body president now..."

"Welcome back, my fellow classmates and upperclassmen of Jyuunisujou High School's junior division," she spoke in a clear and majestic voice, "and welcome, new students. My name is Tennouji Iruka. It is with great honor that I have been granted the title of student-body president, and I will do my best to attend to each and every one of you. As your president, I wish to focus on furthering your careers and futures, but as a fellow classmate, I ask that you treat me as you do each other so that we can have an adaptable and comfortable environment with and each other. Thank you."

The students and teachers clapped as Iruka stepped off from the podium as Kurisu looked on. She thought to herself, 'Tennouji-san's grown in just a year.'

The red bee buzzed about, huffing and puffing. "Shoot, I lost them-tsuu." Rubee sighed as he flew closer towards Jyuunisujou's Junior High campus. "Mou~, Pamerald's gonna be so pissed when I find her again-tsuu..." As he flew around, he saw three teens, one with a mohawk and another with bright bleached hair, stomping towards the campus with a group of other men behind them.

It was now lunch period, and some of the students were out mingling in the school's courtyard for lunch. Kurisu sat under a cherry blossom tree with a neat bento box on her lap. Mariko and her other friends, Inoue Seina, a girl with huge glasses, and Hajime Yuki, a quiet girl. "I CAN'T believe we get to eat with THE famous Suzumiya Kurisu!" Mariko squealed, still in her fangirl state. "You're, like, totally a legend around Jyuunisujou!"

"I heard you beat up an entire gang all by yourself," Seina added, eating a piece of Japanese fried chicken with her chopsticks. "Your strength is quite legendary among the students, even in the Senior High School division."

"I wouldn't call it LEGENDARY, you know…" Kurisu blushed slightly at all the praise she was receiving. "But I couldn't let those guys have their way with you. It's wrong, and I wouldn't forgive myself if I let it happen."

Mariko smiled brightly and tapped Yuki with her elbow. "Hey, why don't you say something?" Yuki looked up from her bento to meet with Kurisu's eyes. She was silent for a bit and returned to eating. "Don't worry about her," Mariko laughed. "Yuki-chan's always like that, but that don't mean she's not grateful for what you did for us!"

The blonde let out a warm smile; the first day of the new year, and Kurisu made more friends than she did before. "Yosha!" she yelled and took out a bowl-like container. She pulled off the plastic covering to reveal breaded pork cutlet covered with fried egg and onions over rice. "I'm super pumped now! Time to eat!" She began to gorge down her katsudon like no tomorrow, and the three girls laughed at her voracious appetite.

"So what they say about you is true," Seina started. This caught Kurisu's attention. "You really aren't-"

All of a sudden, a loud scream echoed from the front of the courtyard. The teens from before had returned, now standing at the open gateway with more men than before. "Where is she?!" the mohawked teen roared.

"Get your butt out here, girlie, or we're gonna take down your prissy school!" the bleach-head let out his threats as well.

"Considering how impossible it is to take down an entire school, you don't exactly scare us." The teens turned to the school's front door, where the calm and collected Iruka began to approach them. Her arms were crossed, and her face was unnerved. "I don't exactly know why you're here, but as it stands, I will not allow you to harass the student body any more than you have now with your…idle bantering."

The black-haired teen then stepped up, now face-to-face with Iruka. "You talk big," he scowled, looking down at her. "Can you back it up?"

"Do it, aniki!" his followed roared. "Pound her to the ground!"

"You're over-compensating for something, aren't you?" Iruka smirked. "Having this many followers…are you trying to make up for something you lack? Are you really that weak?"

Something clicked in the teen, and his fist pulled back to launch itself at Iruka's face. A hand caught the first, and he and Iruka looked to the side to find that Kurisu had caught the blow. "You…"

"…Suzumiya…Kurisu…" Iruka was at a loss for words.

"You just can't shut up, can you?" Kurisu sighed, looking up at the teen. "Eh, whatever. You owe me now."

"I don't recall ever indebting myself to the likes of you…"

"Oh stuff it! You freakin' owe me!" The blonde then pushed the teen back. "As for you…you're ruinin' my meal time. Get lost. I hate fighting the same guys that have no real reason to fight over and over."

"Takeru-aniki…" the followers growled and stepped in front of the teen, "…we'll take care of her. For your defeat before!" The students and Iruka watched they charged Kurisu with knives, chains, and brass-knuckles. The blonde only smirked.

Overhead, Rubee buzzed about the school courtyard, fixed on this onslaught of delinquents. His shining black eyes gazed down at the blonde that tore through hell, creating a "body-count" on the school grounds. "She's crazy-tsuu!" he exclaimed. But he saw something in her, something different than everyone there. "Could she be…"

"Ora, ora, ora, ORA!" Kurisu roared as she watched the last guy fall. She looked at the one called "Takeru". "Oh, so you're gonna be the tough guy, takin' the last stand?" she taunted. The two stared at each other. Soon, they ran at each other with fists pulled back and battle cries roaring.

In the nurse's office, Mariko, Seina, Yuki, and Iruka watched the nurse stick a bandage onto Kurisu's cheek. "There, that's the last one!" she smiled as Iruka sheepishly bowed and left the office with the other four.

"That was reckless, as always," Iruka sighed. "I could never understand the stupidity that goes through your head."

"Hey, I won, didn't I?" Kurisu smirked. "In the end, all but that one guy got arrested…but no one got hurt, right?"

"You did," Iruka replied with a cold, disapproving glare. "Think before you jump headfirst, baka." She then left the group, going down the hall.

"You're welcome, jerk!" Kurisu responded with her tongue sticking out. But as Iruka faded down the hall, Kurisu only watched her back. "Hmph…same as always…"

"That was awesome!" Mariko cheered, jumping onto Kurisu's back. "You are a GOD!"

"I can't believe for a minute that you and Tennouji-san are not friends," Seina added.

Kurisu paused a bit, and she remembered how she defended Iruka in that quick instance. "…We're not…" she said.

Back at the park where Mariko, Seina, and Yuki were attacked, Takeru stood alone. He kicked a swing in rage. "Damn it!" he roared. "Even now…I'm still weak! Couldn't even take out one freakin' girl!" As he looked down at the ground, he noticed a looming clear shadow with light refractions glittering over him. He looked back to see a tall burly figure made out of…some sort of crystal? He let out a scream and fell back, moving back.

"You know?" the figure smirked, "that girl thought she could earn points with her classmates by making a mockery of you, you know?" He loomed over Takeru with a big grin on his clear face. "She thinks your nothing but trash. Trash that can be burned easily. You gonna let yourself get burned?"

"What did you say?!" Takeru growled and stood up.

"You got good eyes. Your Heart Gem…" The figure's red eyes looked into Takeru's chest. A moonstone gemstone appeared, dulled and cracking. "…is about ready. Fall to despair, and dull the world around you!" With a thrust of his palm, the moonstone in Takeru's chest shattered as the teen's eyes dulled. A cubic zirconium stone then formed inside his chest. "Come on, boy. We got a Gem of Light to find."

The school bell had rung, and the students began to depart from the gate in groups. "Get home safe!" Mariko called out to Kurisu as the blonde ran down the hill, waving back at her three friends.

As she headed down the path she took to school, she looked at the park where she first saved them. Slowly, she walked into the park grounds, touching the springed horse-like object by the handle. "It's more eventful this year," she muttered to herself, "than when I first enrolled." She paused and was lost in thought for a bit. "But…I think it'll be okay. They say that people grow every day. I think I've grown this past year, too…"

"That's the spirit-tsuu!" called out a childish voice above Kurisu. Surprised, she looked around frantically. "Above you-tsuu!" As Kurisu looked up, her eyes widened when a deep red bee with black stripes buzzed down towards her. Her first instinct was…

"Eeeek! A bee!" she squealed and began to run.

"W-Wait! Come back-tsuu!"

"And it talks! Now I know when it's going to sting me!"

"Stay still for a bit, or I WILL sting you-tsuu!"

"Ahhh! It said it's gonna sting me-tsuu!"

The two chased each other around the park, Kurisu crying and screaming like an idiot as Rubee tried to catch up with her. After a while, the two stood by the slides, panting and wheezing. "Are…are you gonna stop running now and listen-tsuu?"

"I'll listen…I'll listen…just…haa…don't sting me, please…" Kurisu was so out of breath, she was about to collapse from running too much. "What…you're a bee, right? I've never seen or have heard of a red bee before."

"I'm a bee-tsuu." The bee smirked and buzzed around Kurisu's face; it was bigger than the average bee, about the size of a stuffed animal. "The name's Rubee-tsuu. I've come from the land of Shineburgh to-"

"Wait…" Kurisu held out her hand in front of Rubee and sat down, crossing her legs. "Sha…Sha…i…n…baagu? I've never heard of a town like that before."

A drop of sweat slid down Rubee's head. "It's not a town-tsuu. Just because it has 'burgh' in it doesn't make it a town-tsuu. It's another world like this one filled with the most beautiful and shiniest gems you can come across-tsuu!"

"…Uh hunh…" The blonde was totally not buying it. "Another world? There's no such thing. You're just a figment of my imagination, and I'm so tired that I'm talking to a bee…"

"I'm not a figment of any imagination-tsuu!" Rubee buzzed angrily. "Listen-tsuu! I'm here because the Gems of Light hidden in your world are being targeted by a dark force that once plagued ours-tsuu! It's my duty as the Queen's knight to-

"Yeah, you had me at Queen." Kurisu stood up and dusted herself off. "This is something out of a fairy tale, and I've long since grown-out of that. I'm out of he-" Before she could leave, a young man stepped in front of her. It was Takeru, the teen she fought at school earlier. "It's you…" she said. Then a sigh escaped her lips. "Listen, I'm not in the mood for a rematch, so if you'll excuse me, I-OW OW OW OW OW!" As she walked past him, Takeru grabbed Kurisu by the wrist, holding it up and twisting it. "Wh-what the heck's wrong with you?!"

"…weak…" he muttered and sent his foot into her stomach, kicking her a ways back onto the dirt.

"Agack!" she gasped, holding her stomach. Was Takeru that strong when they last fought? He hit her a few times before, but they didn't hurt as much as this did. "What…what's gotten into you?!"

"You…think I'm weak, don't you?" Takeru calmly asked as he looked down at her from the shades of his eyes. His pupils were dulled and lifeless. "I'm just a warm-up to you, aren't I?"

"N-No! You were strong! I never thought anything less about you as a fighter, but-"

"Don't mess with me!" The black-haired teen leaped into the air and dug his fist into the ground next to Kurisu as she rolled away. The dirt shot out of the ground from the impact. He was definitely different from before, Kurisu thought. "I'll show you…that I ain't weak!"

"Girl-tsuu!" Rubee called out to her.

"It's Kurisu!"

"That boy, he's not the same-tsuu!" Rubee's eyes gleamed, looking into the boy's back. "His Heart Gem was shattered and replaced-tsuu. They must've gotten to 'im!"

"They? Heart Gem? What're you talking about?!" Kurisu tried to dodge a flurry of punches, but she tripped onto the swings, and her feet kicked up onto Takeru's chin, sending him back a bit. "Oww…"

"Heart Gems are what make a human's heart-tsuu," Rubee explained, hovering over Kurisu. "When a human's heart begins to darken from negative emotions-tsuu, the Heart Gem dulls and cracks-tsuu. They must've accelerated the process-tsuu."

"Seriously, who are THEY that you're talking about?!"

Just then, a loud thud, followed by an obnoxious and boisterous laugh echoed in the air. Kurisu looked up to find a burly-looking figure made out of…cubic zirconium? "Okay, I am SO dreaming…"

"It's Zir-Q-tsuu!" Rubee panicked.

"Zir-Q?"

"What're you standin' around for, boy?!" Zir-Q taunted. "That girl is still alive! As long as she lives, she'll forever taunt your weakness and show you up!"

Being addressed like that, Kurisu shot up angrily. "Hey, that's not cool, saying stuff about me like that!" She then dodged a thrust from Takeru and upper-cut into his torso. "I'm not trying to show up anyone! I'm just trying to protect myself!"

Hearing the word "protect", Takeru's mind clicked as he grabbed Kurisu's wrist. "Pro…tect?" he growled and headbutt her past the swings. The blonde stumbled and fell as Takeru stood straight. His fists were covered in cubic zirconium. "Protect? Protect what?! There's nothing worth protecting anymore if you're weak!" The cubic zirconium began to engulf his arms and legs.

Zir-Q looked on and smirked. "That's right, brat!" he laughed. "Protecting is for the weak! You're strong! You take what you want! The strong will ALWAYS get what they want!"

Kurisu looked up as she held her forehead, Rubee buzzing next to her. She watched Takeru cover himself in cubic zirconium as it grew in size, forming a large muscular figure made of cubic zirconium. Takeru hovered in the middle, in the fighting stance that the figure was in. "What…on earth…"

"It's the Counterfeti's Synthesan-tsuu!" Rubee exclaimed.

"A…Kauntaafeti?" Now Kurisu was even more confused.

"The Counterfeti Army exist to dull the light of the world-tsuu," Rubee began to explain. "By feeding off the negative energy of every living being-tsuu, they take away the light and make them their slaves-tsuu!"

"That's…horrible, even though it makes no sense!" The Synthesan began to move, and Kurisu dove to protect Rubee from the punch that it launched. "Oof!"

"You can't beat it as you are-tsuu," Rubee added. "Only the Legendary Warriors, Pretty Cure, have defeated the Counterfeti!" All of a sudden, the bee was grabbed by a large hand.

"And those 'Pretty Cures' as you call 'em don't exist, do they?!" Zir-Q held the struggling bee in his giant hand. "Synthesan! Destroy this girl so we can look for the Gem of Light!"

"Rubee!" Kurisu called out as she jumped out of the way of the Synthesan's foot. She looked up at the teen hovering inside it. "That boy…Takeru-san…or whatever his name is…"

"Well, aren't you going to protect yourself?!" Zir-Q taunted some more. "Show us how weak you are that you can't do a thing by yourself!" Hearing these words made Kurisu twitch. "Strong people get what they want. They take things by force and make it theirs! There's no need to protect yourself or anyone else without getting hurt, and getting hurt makes you WEEEEAAAK!"

"Take that back!" the blonde roared at the crystal-like Synthesan. "Getting hurt doesn't make you weak! It makes you stronger! You learn from your mistakes and become a stronger person than you once were!" She stood up and clenched her fists. Rubee caught a faint light glowing her chest. "Just because I want to protect myself from getting her doesn't make me weak. It's so I can live to see another day, to continue getting stronger! And then I'll use that strength, a strength only I have, to protect everyone around me!" The light in her chest grew brighter and brighter. "I may be alone, but I'm more than enough to protect that bee that came here from another world on his own!"

"Actually, I'm not exactly alone-tsuu, but-"

The Synthesan let out a roar once more. "No! Protecting…can't protect…protecting makes you weak! If you can't protect, you're weak!" It lifted its arm once more and hovered over Kurisu. "If you're strong, why don't you protect yourself now!"

Kurisu looked up and stood her ground as the giant fist began to come down on her. "Because…" she said as she closed her eyes, the light shining its brightest, "…I'm not nor have I ever been afraid to protect!" The light exploded and sent the Synthesan flying back. Zir-Q screeched as the light sent him back as well, releasing his grasp on Rubee. From Kurisu's chest came out a diamond ring. "Wh-what's this?" Kurisu questioned.

"It's a Heart Ring-tsuu!" Rubee gasped. "Only those whose hearts contain a Gem of Light-tsuu! And you have the Diamond of Light-tsuu! Put it on your finger, quickly-tsuu!

Kurisu slowly put the ring onto her finger, and a light shot out, revealing a white and pink flashlight. "…Wh-what's this now?!"

"It's a Heart Flasher," Rubee explained. "This is a mystical item…that's wielded by the Legendary Warriors-tsuu! Kuri-tsuu, you're a Pretty Cure!"

"Puri…kyua?"

"Whaaaaat?!" Zir-Q sat up in shock. "Impossible! The Pretty Cure are only legends! Synthesan, destroy her!" The Synthesan then got up and stomped towards Kurisu.

"Hurry, Kuri-tsuu! Shine the Heart Flasher on yourself and yell out, 'Pretty Cure! Lights On!'" Frantically, Kurisu tried to find the button that turned it on. "It turns on by your spirit! And make it flashy!"

"Uh…I don't understand, but okay!"

Around her, the world became dark, and the light in the Heart Flasher shone from below her face. 'Flashy…' she thought to herself and opened her eyes. "It's…show time!" She then tossed the flashlight into the air. "Pretty Cure! Lights…ON!" With a snap of her finger, the flashlight exploded into a burst of light, illuminating the world around her. The light glittered down onto her bare fore arms, forming white forearm guards with pink frills shooting out. The lights then glittered over her legs, revealing white boots with pink frills down the v-shaped opening and center under the knee. Her dress bursted out in light revealing a white mid-length flowing skirt with pink accents and frills underneath. Her blond hair grew longer and brighter, tied together by a pink ribbon with a heart-shaped diamond on the tie. Finally, she opened her eyes to reveal the change from light brown to a bright pink color.

Jumping back, she thrusted her first forward and opened it, revealing a diamond. "Like the endless universe glittering inside a tiny diamond!" She clenched her fist once more and posed, her right arm clenched into a fist and pulled back while her left hand extended outward and open and her left leg leading.

"Cure Diamond!"