Gogo soon found herself inside an ambient, shimmery pale yellow void. It all seemed so surreal, not a single sound could be heard and there wasn't a single person aside from her here. Although she seemed initially doubtful, those feelings began to wash themselves away as she clothes were sparkling immensely, as was the rest of her body. She then held the locket up very high and tri-beam of glimmering yellow, orange and magenta light came flowing out from it. Gogo was given a new dress in the place of her school uniform that was a pale yellow with puffy 'cold shoulder' sleeves that were adorned with little gold beads at the ends. The dress also had bells at her waist and many pink frills at the bottom. Placed onto her feet were a pair of pale shoes with a smiley face at the top of them and the bottom of her back, a large orange bow appeared. Her hands were then sleeved into a pair of yellow fingerless gloves that reached her forearms and finally, her hair was part in two pairs of twin tails and turned bright pink, orange and yellow with a gold crown that had a pink smiling face nestling into her hair. She then snapped a bow appeared on the center of her dress, another pink smiling face appearing on the center of the bow. She then opened her eyes, revealing them to now be pink instead of brown and placed her hands on her hips.

"A warm ray of sunshine to brighten up your day, Cure Joy!" She introduced.

"That's what will bring light to the candles." Ms. Hightower said to Onyx in a wry voice as she pointed to Cure Joy.

Onyx rolled her eyes and declared," Either way, she won't stand a a chance against my Endopath, this is going to be her and her last battle."

The Endopath roared and dashed over towards Joy, taking steps so loud that Joy was startled from the sound of them. Nervously, Joy took a step backwards, and eyed the Endopath curiously as she waited for it to make it's next move.

"What can I do to knock this thing off it's feet?" Joy thought to herself as she stared at the Endopath.

Suddenly, the Endopath swung at her and instinctively, Joy leapt up, not realizing how high she was going to jump as she did that. When she looked down, the Endopath, Onyx, and Ms. Hightower seemed almost microscopic from down below.

"Holy crow, how the hell did I get so high up?!" Joy shouted as she grabbed the highest branch on a rather tall tree beside her.

"Your powers have awakened and now you've been granted the strength to preform feats like this!" Ms. Hightower shouted to her.

Joy clung harder onto the tree, shouting down to her," I didn't quite get tha-!'

The tree's branch sounded as if it was about to break off, which seemed likely granted how brittle this part of the branch was.

"It's comes with the dress!" Ms. Hightower shouted with a sigh following after.

"This was a such a dumb idea, I can't do this, I don't really even know what I'm supposed to do!" Joy griped as she squeezed her her eyes shut while clinging onto the branch," But, it won't to me any good to just sit in a tree."

"Let's see..." Joy said as she evaluated the land below her,"...Masumi hasn't been looking so good since I've been here. So maybe she's somehow connected to that thing. It seems almost as if, that thing is leeching off her, but...what exactly is it taking away from her?"

The branch start to crack again and Joy clutched on even tighter as her heart skipped a beat," I don't have all that much time to think about this, but one thing's for certain, that thing and Masumi are connected somehow and that has to mean there must be some kind of weak spot on it, something to make it stop leeching off Masumi..."

The Endopath looked over towards Onyx for guidance of what next to do. As it turned around, Joy noticed something suspicious on it's back.

"Do I always need to direct you to what you're supposed to do? Go get her out of the that tree now so I can implant one of these into her!" Onyx demanded as she held out a small collection of the black stars from before in her hand.

The Endopath nodded and walked over to the tree where Joy was and found that she wasn't there. Onyx squinted at the tree to check and see if Joy was still in the tree. With no sign of her, Onyx was about to go up into the tree herself to scope out the pink-haired Cure but just then, she heard a voice shout,

"Over here!"

Joy was now standing on top of the convenience store and was staring directly at the Endopath.

"What are you waiting for, go get her right this instant!" Onyx commanded impatiently as she pointed towards Joy. The Endopath did as told again and hastily darted over towards Joy while swinging it's arm up in a mildly clumsy manner. Joy hopped up, this time making sure she wouldn't launch herself up higher than intended and landed on the Endopath's arm. She sprinted down the Endopath's and the Endopath tried swatting her away and shaking her off, though every time she did manage to get thrown off her balance and fall, she found herself holding on to the Endopath's arm and hoisting herself back up.

"Why is she...?" Onyx trailed off, her eyes enlarging in realization upon figuring out what Joy was after," Endopath, don't let her get to your-!"

"Joyous heel smash!" Joy screamed as she drove her foot into the black star behind the Endopath, creating a small crack in it that let a dark aura seep through it in the process.

The Endopath seemed much weaker now, unable to stand on it's on two feet as it dropped onto it's knees in defeat with Joy jumping off of it.

"Cure Joy, now's your chance to purify it!" Ms. Hightower instructed as she pointed to the Endopath.

"But I thought I just did..." Joy responded as she wiped off her heel against the ground.

"Not just yet! Focus and try to channel all your energy into your hands to purify it.' Ms. Hightower explained," Then let your instincts take over!"

"How's that supposed to work?" Joy asked under her breath with her eyes narrowed. She shook her head and decided to do as instructed.

With her eyes shut tight, she tried concentrating her powers into her hands and gradually, felt power radiating from them.

Onyx looked at her with a near apprehensive look in her face, trying to compose herself as she aimed a star towards the Endopath, in hopes of reversing the damage that Joy caused.

"Pretty Cure, Brilliant Elation!" Joy shouted as the area around them turn a pale yellow in mid-sentence. Onyx threw a star at the Endopath, but it got singed once it came in contact with the yellow barrier created by Joy.

"Watch your back, Cure Joy." Onyx said, knowing the outcome of this battle had already been decided as she disappeared.

The Endopath was met with a swarm of bright yellow, pink and orange lights that had disintegrated the black star and turned the Endopath back into a regular empty Pocky box.

In the place of the shattered black star was a white little charm with a smiling face engraved onto it that looked identical to the pendant Joy had before she set it under the flame.

"Uh, should I keep this?" Joy asked as she picked up the white charm and eyed it curiously.

"It'll become handy soon enough so I suggest you do." Ms. Hightower commented, causing Joy to look at her suspiciously.

"Implying that I'll have to do this again?" Joy questioned before realizing that Masumi had returned to normal and was looking greatly confused as to what just happened. Joy rushed to her side, de-transforming and turning back into Gogo.

"Did I pass out?" Masumi asked as she held her head.

"Hey, Okada, um...yeah I think you did. When I got over here, I saw you out cold on the ground here. Are you feeling alright?" Gogo asked.

"Yeah for the most part... I was just really upset about messing up during try-outs for the volleyball team today." Masumi explained, catching Gogo off-guard.

"Well damn, she's being way more open than I expected. What do I do now?" Gogo thought to herself.

So, Gogo asked in a somewhat awkward voice," Why do you think you messed up?"

Masumi then sighed as she answered saying," I don't think I did my best and I also got intimidated by a few of the older girls. I just feel so disappointed in myself right now..."

"So. damn. honest." Gogo said in her head as she felt herself beginning to perspire," You don't know if you didn't make the team right? And even if you don't that's ok, I mean, I don't think that could let someone like you want to give up, am I right?"

"I guess, but...what makes you say that?" Masumi questioned, with Gogo internally panicking even more as she tried stringing together a good enough answer for Masumi.

Gogo searched her mind for some kind of evidence to back up this claim as hard as she could and finally, it came to her.

"You didn't let forgetting your kneepads at home keep you from trying out, and despite seeing all the older girls there, you still went out and played right?" Gogo reminded her, with Masumi nodding slowly in response," So, even if you don't make the team, it'll be fine! You can find some other place that will appreciate your passion and determination to play! And when you find that place, I'll...watch your first game ok?"

Masumi smiled and nodded in agreement enthusiastically, collecting her bag and standing with Gogo following suit.

"I'll see you tomorrow in class ok?" Masumi said as she began to walk home," Bye Gogo!"

"Wait, in class?" Gogo asked while waving back," Wait, did she just call me...Gogo?"

"That is your name, isn't Mitsugi?" Ms. Hightower asked as she hopped over towards Gogo. Gogo knelt down towards the bunny and stared at it with a blank look on her face for a few moments. Ms. Hightower looked evidently uncomfortable by this stare and stared back at Gogo nervously.

Gogo then quickly grabbed her and started pulling at her cheeks inn suspicion, the blank look still on her face. Ms Hightower started yelling at Gogo to stop and Gogo continued to pry at her.

"I'll fail you on your next test if you don't put me down!" Ms. Hightower declared loudly as Gogo pulled at her ear to see if she was a real animal and not some sort of stuffed animatronic .

"You're already failing me." Gogo reminded her in a bratty voice as she put Ms. Hightower down. Gogo stared at her long and hard, feeling more and more weirded out as she did so.

"To think my homeroom teacher, the teacher with long pale blonde hair and teal eyes that the boys in my class fawn over..." Gogo began in her head as she pictured Ms. Hightower in her normal appearance. She then looked down at the present Ms. Hightower before her.

"...Is actually a rabbit. A rabbit who wears a cupcake hair- I mean, ear...clip." Gogo thought to herself as she picked up Ms. Hightower, who started shouting again.

"Just where do you think you're taking me to?" Ms. Hightower interrogated in irritation as Gogo stuffed her inside her bag.

"You've got some explaining that needs to be done. A lot of explaining." Gogo replied as she walked into the convenience store to finally get what she originally came here for.

"Can't we do this at my place?" Ms. Hightower reasoned, with Gogo laughing somewhat bitterly in response.

"It's getting late and I haven't even bought groceries yet to make dinner tonight. Plus, I don't think I'll fit in your rabbit hole."

"I don't live in a rabbit h-" Ms. Hightower was interrupted as Gogo stuffed her deeper in the bag to get her to stop talking. After Gogo bought the groceries, went home to make dinner and finished doing so, only then did she get the chance to let Ms. Hightower explain herself.

"Wow Gogo, you're even busier than I imagined." Ms. Hightower remarked as Gogo came into her bedroom after making dinner for the boys.

Gogo then pointed a finger to her and imperatively said," Don't do that."

"What?" Ms. Hightower asked with look of confusion worn over her face.

"I'm not comfortable with...that." Gogo admitted, sounding a little quiet as she adverted her gaze from Ms. Hightower. Ms. Hightower caught on and remained quiet until Gogo sat on the bed. She sat opposite of her and awaited Ms. Hightower to speak.

"So..." Gogo began unsurely.

"So..." Ms. Hightower repeated.

"What was that?" Gogo asked, her teacher still not saying anything yet," All of that? How did I do...how was I able to do all of that?"

"Give me your smiling locket for a second."

"My what?"

"The necklace." Ms. Hightower restated as she pointed to the pink pendant slung around Gogo's neck. Gogo gently took off the necklace and handed it to Ms. Hightower, who inspected it very carefully while Gogo patiently waited for an answer from her.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Ms. Hightower said as she held it up to the light, with some avail to make it glisten.

Gogo slowly nodded in response as she looked at the pendant, while also noticing the great admiration that could be seen in Ms. Hightower's eyes.

"But, it's just a necklace, it's just a cheap trinket or whatever right? I mean-"

"-That's where you're wrong Mitsugi." Ms. Hightower quickly interjected," This necklace, holds great power, power that can only be awakened when those of strong, undying hope come in contact with it. These necklaces will give power to help restore a land very dear to me."

Ms. Hightower opened up the locket, revealing a small hologram of the land of Euphorium within it. The sight was something Gogo definitely didn't expect and so, she crouched closer towards it to get a better at it.

"Something tells me this place isn't very close by..." Gogo observed as she looked at the shiny castle in the center of the hologram.

"Worlds away is a beautiful, bright and joyous land called Euphorium. The land of Euphorium was an originally happy land, where everyone and everything lived in harmony with one another. However, it is as happy as it is mysterious, as this land is riddled with many enigmas though...most haven't realized this."

The hologram in the locket changed to the scene at the lakeside, with the dark figure rising out from the lake.

"One of the biggest enigmas being, how creatures like this can exist and be so powerful in a land overflowing with light." Ms. Hightower continued as the hologram zoomed in on the figure, not making it anymore distinguishable from before," She appeared within the lake and allegedly attacked the Queen's daughter Emiliana. Once that person did that, she rushed over to the sanctuary where the four Everlasting lights of Cheer were and blew them all out. And now, without these four lights..."

The hologram projected the current state of Euphorium, with grey clouds and bleak dark skies. It looked like it was night here, but, judging by the looks the inhabitants wore on their faces, it had definitely been like this longer than imagined."

"What was that creature, or person that blew out those candles?" Gogo asked as she stared into the hologram projecting from the locket.

Ms. Hightower took a rather long pause and finally said," She goes by the name of Castra. She calls herself the embodiment of anguish and misery, and she claims that there is truly no such thing as happiness."

"Is that why she blew out those candles?" Gogo asked as Ms. Hightower closed up the locket, while nodding in response.

"Those candles, those that can only be lit permanently by happiness, are what keep everything in order in Euphorium, without the candles...the people of Euphorium may lose hope soon enough. That is if Queen Aurelie is unable to pull herself together before that happens."

"But, we already lit up one candle," Gogo pointed out as she pulled out the Candle of Intrigue from her bag. It had taken on a form of a twisted branch with a pink orb in the center with it being hollow at the bottom ever since Gogo had transformed.

Ms. Hightower narrowed her eyes at her and flatly said," This isn't lit properly, you were only able to ignite it for a short while with your transformation."

"So then, what's going to light this thing up for good?" Gogo asked as she swung it around a bit, with her teacher gesturing her to stop.

Ms. Hightower cleared her throat and answered," When all the candles are assembled together, then chances are...they will probably light up."

"What do you mean by, probably?" Gogo asked as she poked Ms. Hightower with the candle.

"I mean I myself am not sure. Maybe it will, Maybe it won't. Maybe you'll need some other items to activate it's power fully, I'm not sure." Ms. Hightower rambled," I don't actually have as many answers as you think."

"Wait, so...finding these Purikura isn't why you're here?" Gogo probed as she eyed Ms. Hightower.

Ms. Hightower remained silent again for a few moments straight and took a deep breath saying," No. I've been here for a while and for a whole different reason than finding the Pretty Cure. Anyways, you don't have to worry, you won't be alone for long and-"

"Oh. So I really do have to do this again." Gogo interrupted with a groan following after as she crashed onto her bed," Why does it have to be me? Couldn't you recruit a more...positive person?"

"So far, the candles haven't found anyone more positive than you. And that's really saying something." Ms. Hightower replied, with Gogo only setting her gaze to her for a few moments before switching it back to the ceiling above her.

"Did the candles ever consider that I might be too busy? That I might have others priorities?" Gogo interrogated as she held up the necklace," That I might not be strong enough to do this?"

Ms. Hightower's gaze fell to the side and she stayed quiet as she tried to think of some other way to persuade Gogo. Instead, Ms. Hightower just shook her head and said,

"Look, could you at least sleep on it? I have to know before they attack again." Ms. Hightower urged as she started looking towards the window in Gogo's room.

"By the way, who are they?" Gogo questioned as she started fidgeting with the chain the pendant was hooked onto.

"They go by Melancholy, but...that's all I know so far." Ms. Hightower debriefed as she hopped towards Gogo's window," I assume your parents are home now so-"

"Nope. Parents won't be here until ten-thirty and the boys are in their rooms, so if you'd rather not jump out a window..." Gogo trailed off as she stepped off of her bed and walked over to her bedroom door, holding it out for Ms. Hightower.

"Uh, thanks..." Ms. Hightower said stiffly," By the way, you're free to call me Lulu in this form. Ms. Hightower is just a pseudonym I use here in your world."

"No thanks." Gogo responded quickly," It feels...kinda weird."

And just then, Ms. Hightower returned to her human form as a puff of pale purple smoke appeared.

"Good night, Mitsugi." Ms. Hightower said as she exited Gogo's room. When Ms. Hightower left, Gogo slammed the door shut and walked over to her bed. She laid down with the necklace on the pillow beside her as she stared to gaze at it for a rather long period of time. A necklace that held great power, a land of overflowing light. It was admittably, a lot to take in and it left a sinking feeling in Gogo's stomach knowing that something could go very wrong either way with her becoming a Pretty Cure.

"Doesn't my own teacher know better than to trust me, the kid who hadn't read the novel we were supposed to read for class, with the fate of her home? The feeling of being depended on, it's nerve-wracking."

It felt like Gogo had been talking to an entirely different person tonight, a person who didn't know her up until this afternoon. Gogo knew she needed not to put a lot of thought into this. She was a reckless girl at most times, and mildly awkward as well. What happened today must've been a total fluke, nothing more, nothing less. It would've been best to give the necklace back to Ms. Hightower first thing tomorrow morning. Clearly, this meant a lot to Ms. Hightower, likely more than Gogo would ever know but...she just wasn't cut out for this job. The idea of somehow screwing things up and making things worse was too much to bear and with enemies like Onyx hell bent on having her defeated, it was definitely a possibility.

"It's not a big deal...people decline offers and stuff like this all the time." Gogo reassured in her head as she opened up the locket, revealing the hologram of Euphorium again.

"But how many people have ever declined the offer to become a magical girl?"

Gogo rolled to her side and stroked the glossy surface of the locket, trying to determine if she was making the right choice.

Turning into Cure Joy this afternoon was, something indeed. To become a warrior who fought in the name of happiness and to protect these feelings of joy experienced by others, it was weird to think someone as pessimistic as herself was able to awaken powers like that. It felt unreal, like one giant dream, but because this 'dream' left behind the remnant that was the locket, Gogo had no choice but to accept the fact that this was all indeed a reality, a whole other world, a double-life.

Now to decide if she would let it become her double life.

The next day, Gogo woke up rather early, much earlier than intended but, it didn't bother her all too much. At least now, she had extra time to have maybe two breakfast if she felt necessarily and head to class earlier to hand the necklace back to Ms. Hightower. When she left her house quietly after getting ready, she looked down at the smiling locket worn around her neck and tucked inside her shirt, try to confirm her choice one last time.

"I don't have anything to do with this, and I'm not dependable...so it just can't work."

As Gogo walked down the street to school, she started thinking more and more about the subject while the sun was rising slowly, tinting the sky into a pale blue and orange hue.

"Even if I did decide to take up the offer, things would get much harder from here, and not only because of that Onyx girl...I'll have to juggle my school-work, my extra-curriculars. I may not even be able to pick up the boys after school when mom and dad are staying at work later than intended."

Gogo then saw a group of girls about her age, maybe older, from a different school walking together to the nearest bus station. They seemed oddly upbeat even though it was quite early. With their unending chatter, they reminded Gogo of the girls in her class eating lunch together at the pair of desks.

"There's also that thing. The requirement of recruiting more people to help me. And that's something I know I definitely can't do. I can't have have regular conversations with regular people. I don't know how to put myself out there like they can. I wouldn't be able to recruit a single person, so ultimately...I can't do this."

When Gogo arrived at the gates of the school, she looked around to see if anyone was here at this early hour. There weren't many people at all, it made the school feel quite peaceful with the absence of all the students and the noise.

"Maybe I could just refer Ms. Hightower to one of the girls in my class, they would probably like the idea of fighting monsters in a giant frilly dress and having magical powers. They could probably all join together to form a team as well. Yeah, maybe that would be best..."

As Gogo walked into the school, she saw very few people walking around the halls while she made her way to the classroom. She didn't know any of them, and continued to walk past these students without acknowledging their presence and she walked forward. Just before she got to her classroom, she heard sobbing in the hall and quickly went towards the wall and peered from the side to see who was crying without being seen. It was one of the girls in her class and she was on the phone with something with her free hand covering her eyes.

"But you don't understand, the guilt's killing me!" She choked out through the phone between sobs,"Well, I had no other choice! I couldn't just fail yet another test! And Natsumori told me the teacher would never find out! But now he did and now mom and dad are going to find out and they'll never speak to me again!"

"I think her name was Touka..." Gogo mumbled to herself as she watched the girl dry her eyes with her shirt sleeve.

"You know what? I'm just going to skip today. Maybe the teacher will forget all about it." Touka said over the phone as she hung up. She then started walking in the opposite direction towards the nearest exit to leave. Gogo then wondered what next to do as she watched Touka leave.

"It's really none of my business...I've gotta give this thing back to Ms. Hightower right now anyways." Gogo reminded herself as she walked towards her classroom. When she walked in, she found not a single soul in class yet and suspiciously looked around Ms. Hightower's desk to see if she was actually here in that bunny form of hers. With no sign of her, Gogo sighed and unclasped the necklace as she tried deciding where to put it on her desk. She left it on the corner of the desk and took her seat awkwardly. Gogo then went into her bag and searched through to see if she had forgotten anything. Realizing that something was indeed missing, Gogo froze up in panic after double-checking her bag for it.

"No doubt about it, I forgot my lunch at home!" Gogo thought to herself as she took a gulp.

She then looked at the time on her phone in a very distressed manner and she'd tried coming to a decision on whether or not she should run back home and get it. Gogo then shook her head and decided she'd wait until lunch time to go and retrieve her missing lunch when she heard what sound like a scream from outside. She ran towards the closest window in sight and saw Touka getting confronted by Onyx. Gogo spectated nervously while Touka took cautious steps away from Onyx.

"You're just a cosplayer or something, right?" Touka asked, though her tone was that of an unsure one.

"You wish I just a cosplayer." Onyx retorted as she materialized a black star between her fingers and flung it towards Touka,"Endopath, turn her cheer into absolute fear!"

Touka tried running, but was inevitably hit by the star that multiplied before it came in contact with her. The other star went towards a nearby bench and the bench came alive.

"Endopath!" The monstrous bench roared.

Gogo gritted her teeth, trying to determine if she should try to do something about it. Though her thoughts were interrupted shortly by a certain someone's voice.

"What are you waiting for?" Ms. Hightower asked as she leaned against the door way," If you don't go now, that thing might run into town and cause more trouble."

"I'm not going." Gogo declared as she sat back down in her seat, her voice firm with her teacher giving her a really unimpressed look," It doesn't have anything to do with a girl like me."

Ms. Hightower said in response,"Right, a girl like you. Who ignited the Candle of Intrigue and awakened as a Pretty Cure? Come on we don't have time for this-"

"I'm serious! I'm not going to be strong enough! I don't have it in me to fight and defeat monsters all the time and make bonds like that girl can with other people! If you ask me, you're just wasting your time trying to get me to help! It isn't fair of you to do this you know."

"What isn't fair is you not helping that girl knowing your the only one who can!" Ms. Hightower snapped," Look, not everyone can awaken as a Pretty Cure. I've seen people try all their lives to awaken powers like yours with the candles and even if their hearts were in the right place, they couldn't do it. Haruzawa doesn't have to grieve like this, don't you agree? Nobody does, but the only person who can reverse this..."

"...Is me, I know." Gogo finally said," And I guess, they'll target anyone they find won't they?"

Ms. Hightower nodded a single nod as she walked over towards her desk, quickly noticing the locket resting at the corner of it. She picked it up and eyed it before looking towards Gogo in suspicion. The two of them heard the Endopath shout again and Ms. Hightower tossed the necklace to Gogo, who caught it and ran towards the door with Ms. Hightower following behind as she transformed. When the two of them appeared in front of Onyx, Touka and the Endopath, Onyx looked at her curiously and simply said,

"How convenient of you to arrive. Back for more already?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Gogo said as she held up her locket.

"Pretty Cure, turn that frown upside down!" She announced as a pink, orange and yellow light show appeared and swarmed her.

"A warm ray of sunshine to brighten up your day, Cure Joy!" Joy announced.

"Get rid of her." Onyx said imperatively to the Endopath who complied without hesitation.

Joy surprisingly rushed head-first towards the Endopath to deliver a mass of punches, but one missed punch resulted in her getting her fist grabbed by the Endopath and having her thrown to the opposite side of the school.

"Joy!" Lulu shouted as she hopped up to see where Cure Joy had landed.

"Pitiful," Onyx remarked uninterestedly as she rolled her eyes," Bring her over here so I can corrupt her."

The Endopath followed orders and found Cure Joy's foot sticking out from a bush in the school's garden. The Endopath instantly grabbed her boot only to find out it was only her boot inside the bush.

"Looking for this?" Joy shouted from the top of a tree as she pointed to herself.

The Endopath charged towards her as Onyx shouted," Just rip the tree out!"

And so, it grabbed onto the tree and uprooted the tree effortlessly, causing Joy to fall out from it.

"Hey, what are you going to do with this tree now?!" Joy shouted as she clung onto a branch of the tree, getting flailed around like a leaf and was starting to feel sick.

The Endopath managed to flick Joy off the tree and into the opposite direction where she fell on the pavement in front of Onyx. Joy's muscles ached after hitting the ground at such an impact that she had little to no time to run away from Onyx.

Joy turned pale with fear as Onyx inched closer towards her with a black star in her two fingers as she reassured to Joy," Don't worry, you'll make a wonderful Endopath."

Joy tried inching backwards to escape what appeared to be the inevitable when suddenly, Lulu had launched herself towards Onyx and knocked the black star out of her hand. Lulu hung to Onyx and gave Joy some time to flee while she could.

"Go get the Endopath, I've got this brat!" Lulu instructed as Onyx tried shaking her off her arm.

"The only brat here is you." Onyx responded in irritation as she continued to try and shake off Lulu with little avail.

Joy nodded and raced towards the Endopath and began partaking in a fist fight with it again. After a short while, Joy was feeling herself getting drained of her energy and then she caught a glimpse of Touka who started whispering things to herself like,

"I can't believe I did this! Everyone's going to hate me once they find out!"

"And I thought I had it bad..." Joy said to herself as she landed one more punch towards the Endopath, sending a few feet away from herself. She tended to her bruises for a moment and then returned to her fight with the Endopath. At this point, both of them were battered and were barely able to push through this fight.

"I just need to find that star from before, but where...?" Joy muttered to herself as she noticed something at the bottom of one of the Endopath's legs. Instantly, Joy hurried towards it while the Endopath was down and cried out,

"Joyous heel smash!"

She created a small crack in it and a black aura seeped out from it as she took a few steps away from it.

"Now's my chance!" Joy shouted as she held her out in front of herself.

"Pretty Cure, Brilliant Elation!" She yelled, causing the area around her to turn pale yellow. The Endopath had been purified at last and was returned to a regular bench with a pure white charm appearing on top of it. Onyx left without saying a word and Touka was coming to slowly, trying to figure out what happened. Gogo retreated up into the tree behind Touka and gestured Lulu, now transformed back to Ms. Hightower, to check and see if she was alright. Ms. Hightower gave her a rather annoyed look before tending to Touka.

Ms. Hightower cleared her throat before asking," Haruzawa, are you feeling ok? I saw you unconscious over here and was about to get the school nurse."

"I'm...I'm really sorry Ms. Hightower, but I don't have any idea how I got here." Touka answered in an uncertain voice.

As the two of them talked, Gogo continued to watch them up in the tree, thinking about what just happened.

"If peppy girls like her and Masumi can get corrupted, then I guess that means no one is really safe..." Gogo said to herself quietly as she held up and looked at the second charm she collected since her Pretty Cure career started.

Later during class, Gogo was fast asleep during her lesson in English but lucky for her, Ms. Hightower let her off the hook today and paid no mind to her as she slept through her class.

Gogo was a heavy sleeper this morning and didn't even wake up when the bell for lunch rang. Today every kid left the classroom, except for Gogo who was still fast asleep at her desk.

"I don't think she realizes how hard she makes things for herself sometimes..." Ms. Hightower stated in a soft voice as she walked over to Gogo's desk," But, perhaps her future teammates can help her with this issue of hers. After all, she'll be having teammates sooner than she thinks."

Just then, something outside the class window caught Ms. Hightower's eye and she gazed down to see a girl with very fair and short dark hair walking with a pair of girls. It wasn't her appearance that caught her eye but rather, the glossy white locket with a smiling face on it worn around her neck.

"Much sooner than she thinks."