Sneakers were screeching on the recently waxed floor. Shouts were being called and the "pang" of a basketball filled the practice gym.
"I'm open!"
Madoka called. Her teammate tossed the ball her way. Madoka caught the ball and instantly ran in the opposite direction, making sure that she was dribbling the ball as she did so. She was stopped as one of her other teammates ran in front of her. She stopped, clutched the ball with both hands and scanned the floor for possible openings. Her forest green eyes shot to the basket hanging above the floor. She was too far away to make a shot. She would have to pass to someone else. She tossed the ball over the teammate in front of her. A different teammate caught the ball, one that was on her mini-team for this particular scrimmage, and ran for the basket.
"Shoot Himeko-chan!"
Madoka ran for Himeko, trying her best to make sure that her scrimmage mate had a clear shot, the other girl jumped up, and the ball fell through the basket with a "shwoop." The coach blew her whistle, telling the girls that the scrimmage was now over.
"Great scrimmage girls! Remember, the first game of the season is this Sunday! It's Friday today. I want you all to know that these next two practices will be a bit more rigorous! I want this season to start off with a bang, win or lose! Got that?"
The girls all shouted "YES COACH!" and the coach dismissed them. Madoka let out a sigh of relief.

"This scrimmage was intense. I wonder how much more rigorous these practices can get."
"Way to go Madoka!"
Madoka looked upwards and smiled. Kichi and Audrey had been sitting the bleachers. They probably had cheered for her, but she was too in the zone when she played to have noticed them. But still, even if it was just a practice, Madoka was grateful for her friends' support.
"You play with such passion, Madoka. It's really fun to watch you play."
Audrey said.
"Thanks Audrey. You guys want to head over to the café? I think we've still got sometime before I have to be home."


Yui stood on the hill overlooking the park. A breeze dragged her black hair across her face. The mysterious young woman with white hair stood next to her.
"You still don't remember anything?"
Chula asked. Yui closed her eyes. She felt like there was something missing. She couldn't remember anything up until the day she woke up looking into the yellow eyes of the woman next to her.
"No."
She said. The young woman on her right said nothing. They didn't have a home. Though Yui wasn't quite sure what homes were. Everything about this world seemed strange and foreign to her. It was as if she belonged somewhere else. And it didn't help that she couldn't remember anything.
"What is it I'm supposed to remember? I feel like I'm on the verge of remembering something, but anytime I get close to an answer, it slips away."
The young woman with yellow eyes remained frustratingly silent. Yui turned to look at her, but the young woman looked ahead. Yui's burgundy eyes hardened.
"I thought you were supposed to be helping me."
Chula turned to Yui.
"I'm sorry. But I can't help. I wish I could. I'm your protector, and I'm failing."
Chula's expression melted from thoughtful to sorrowful. Yui's eyes softened. The woman next to her seemed deeply upset that she couldn't help.
"I guess it's not your fault though. I guess this is just one puzzle that I'll have to solve myself."


"Hmm... Three attempts and no souls have been reaped? This is not the kind of results I was expecting, Rounder."
Rounder keept his blue eyes locked with the small pebble he'd been staring at for what seemed like forever now.
"I'm sorry, my King. The Pretty Cure-"
"The Pretty Cure? What is that?!"
Rounder gulped.
"They're annoying pests that keep getting in the way. We'll take care of them. I promise."
Rounder knew better than to look up. He could feel the King's eyes burning into the spot of his head that was facing the King. The Gambling King was silent for a few moments.
"I hope you can live up to that promise, Rounder. Now go."
Rounder hadn't realized he had held his breath while waiting for the King to speak. He closed his eyes, and stood.
"Yes, Your Highness."

Rounder spun on his heel and left the throne room. When he exited, he found the magenta head of Swindla leaning up against a pillar in the hall.
"Hmm... I was expecting you to come out looking worse. Though,"
Swindla said, pushing off of the pillar.
"Be careful not to get silver hairs, Rounder. That wouldn't look good with such a young face."
Swindla teased. Rounder said nothing, but his expression was enough to silence Swindla.
"Prepare yourself, Swindla."
Rounder said, reaching into his vest and taking out a black, red and white card.
"It's your turn, now. Cas hasn't returned from his attempt."
Rounder finally faced Swindla.
"Don't screw this up."
Swindla took the card with a disinterest. She didn't say anything, but her red lips curved upwards as she disappeared in a flash of black flower petals.


Kichi and Audrey were sitting at Kichi's coffee table in Kichi's room, quietly doing their homework. Luckily for them, an Avari hadn't attacked them recently. Which also made them worry. What could those people be planning? Kichi thought, staring at her homework. The whole thing was still fairly new to her. How could it not be? She'd only become Cure Trump a little over a week ago. She was grateful for the fact that Audrey had the capacity to transform into a Pretty Cure Warrior. But then came the small green frog that was jumping up and down with the other two fairies on Kichi's bed.
"Keroro?"
Kichi started. The fairies stopped jumping and all looked at Kichi. Audrey looked up from her homework as well.
"How are we supposed to find your partner? I think I got really lucky in Audrey. She found out about me, and wanted to help protect me... But I still wasn't sure how to find a partner before that happened."
The fairies all were quiet, and Audrey opened her mouth, before closing it, unsure what to say to Kichi.
"It is a good question~roro. But the only thing I can tell you is that I'll know who to pick as my partner when she presents herself in a moment of dire need. When she finally accepts the fact that she can protect anyone when she puts her mind to it. Kind of like how both you and Audrey reacted~roro."
Kichi looked down at her homework. That would mean another Avari attack.
"Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much, Kichi."
Audrey said. Audrey had a small smile on her face, Razor flapping down onto her shoulder.
"We made a promise to Keroro to find his partner. We'll start looking for Keroro's partner after school tomorrow. And if we don't find her, there's always Sunday."
"But Madoka's basketball game is on Sunday!"


The school day came and went, and the girls went on a look for Keroro's partner. Madoka conveniently had more basketball practice, though the Audrey and Kichi had to act fast, as Madoka said the practice wasn't going to be a long one, and she'd meet them at Tea Card when she was done. Kichi took the group to the mall first.
"Surely, someone worthy of being a Pretty Cure will be here at the mall."
"I sure hope so~roro."
The small green frog looked a little defeated, but Kichi was confident they'd find him his partner in no time. Unfortunately, the mall wasn't that exciting of a place, and the girls left, Audrey taking them to a small flea market not too far from Tea Card.
"What if we never find her? Then it'll just be you two having to deal with Cure Poker. And she seems like a real... well... She's really difficult~roro."
Kichi set Keroro down and knelt. She didn't like seeing the small frog fair look so sad.
"Keroro,"
She said.
"We promised you that we'd find you your partner right? Well, I know for a fact that Audrey and I don't break promises. We'll find her. Just stay positive."

The girls continued to look around town for a girl fit to be a pretty cure warrior, but Keroro didn't feel anyone was right enough for his partner. The girls and the fairies were on the way home from Tea Card when Keroro finally perked up.
"I think... I think my partner was at that café~roro!"
Audrey and Kichi looked at one another. They exchanged glances, as if they were unsure how to process the information Keroro had just told them.
"Well, that's great Keroro. I really hope we can find her again."
Audrey said. She put her best smile on, trying to make Keroro know that they weren't giving up.
"We'll start at Tea Card right after Madoka's basket ball game."


The morning of the basketball game arrived, and Kichi and Audrey were one of the first to get to the school's gym. Madoka was on the floor, warming up.
"Hey! Audrey! Kichi!"
Madoka said, running over to her friends.
"So happy you two could make it to the game!"
"We wouldn't miss this for the world, Madoka!"
Kichi said.
"Do your best today, Madoka! We'll be cheering for you!"
Audrey said, smiling. Kichi high fived Madoka, before Madoka ran back on to the gym floor.
"I... I think she's here~roro! I don't know where, exactly, but my partner is here, in the gym~roro!"
Keroro cried. Luckily, not many people had showed up, and Kichi and Audrey didn't have to hide the fairies as much, but his outburst still took them off guard.
"That's awesome, Keroro. But you've got to stay quieter than that! People are starting to come in."
Keroro settled into the bag the girls had for the fairies, but he watched the floor with a determination in his eyes, ready to find his partner.
"I wonder who she could be though."
Audrey said, eyeing the small crowd in front of them. What if it was a girl from their school? What if it was a girl from the opposing school? Having a teammate from another school district would be a big problem for them. Audrey's eyes settled on the green head of Madoka. Her eyes narrowed. Surely it couldn't be a coincidence that Keroro felt his partner's presence the two times they were with Madoka. She turned to Kichi, and tapped her shoulder.
"Kichi, I think I know who Keroro's partner might be."


Swindla walked into the gym, her human guise shielding her from the weird looks she had gotten a day prior.
"The human's just don't appreciate good fashion sense."
She scoffed under her breath, looking at all the people in the gym. A fair amount of people had come now, and the gym was beginning to get loud. The whole city was full of greedy people, but Swindla wanted to make sure she found a fresh, new greed. A greed for fame was perfect for her. And the gym was full of it, most of it coming from the stands, but Swindla's eyes landed on a young girl on the gym floor. She had a look on her fact that Swindla love seeing: overconfidence. Swindla smirked.
"Perfect."


The game was getting heated, and the score was tied. Madoka stared down the girls from the opposite team, breathing hard. She brushed sweat off of her forehead. Just have to get this next shot, and I know we can turn this around, she thought. The screeching of shoes brought her back to reality. She ran to try and get the ball back in their position. As she ran, she only had eyes on the girl she was trailing. She didn't see the foot stick out in front of her. The next think Madoka new, she was tumbling to the floor, a pain shooting into her shoulder and arm as she hit the hardwood floor.
"Hey! Are you going to call a foul?"
Madoka shouted. She heard fans from her school start booing. But the ref didn't call anything. Madoka pushed herself to the floor, and caught her coach's eye. She was signaling for Madoka to come off the floor. She grudgingly made her way to the bench.
"Did you see that coach?!"
Madoka exclaimed. The coach tried to calm the girl, but Madoka was seeing nothing but red. Eventually, Madoka sat down on the bench, muttering under her breath.

"Don't give up, Madoka! You'll be able to turn this game around!"
Kichi cheered. Madoka turned to see her blond friend. Yui had apparently joined them, but she smiled and gave a small nod to her friends.


Swindla had hung back, not taking a seat in the bleachers. She saw the girl trip Madoka and figured it was the best chance to move. She heard what the girl's greed was saying.
"Ha! We're totally going to win this game! No one will be able to beat us this year! We'll be undefeated!"
A time out was eventually called, and Swindla made her way to the opposing team. No one questioned her being over there. She casually slipped by, dropping the card into the girl's bag before hanging back behind the bleachers once more. She knew it would be a while before the girl would see the card, but Swindla liked to take her time.

Eventually, the girl decided to pull something out of her bag. She picked up the card, a puzzled look on her face. Swindla, from a distance, activated the card's dark magic.
"AVARI! TAKE YOUR GREED AND FULFILL YOUR DESIRES!"
She shouted. Instantly, black and red lights burst from the card, enveloping the girl in dark energy. When the light faded, an Avari made of a basketball basket headboard and arms that ended in basketballs appeared.
"AVARI! No one will beat us! We'll be number one all year!"


People scattered, screaming at the monster that appeared as it began to stomp around, and destroy the gym. Kichi turned to Audrey, both girls nodding.
"Oshio-san! Get somewh- Oshiro-san?"
Kichi looked around, looking for the transfer student. She was no where to be found. Kichi hoped that the girl got to a safe place. She grabbed Darling, who was now in cellphone form. She ran towards the bathrooms, which was on the opposite side of the exits.
"Ready, Audrey?"
"Ready!"
"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"


Madoka shot up from the bench, looking in horror at the monster that appeared out of nowhere.
"Everyone, get to the ex-"
She started, but everyone was already cleared out, for the most part. A strange woman with really pink hair made her way to the center of the floor. She was shouting something that sounded like "avari." Whatever that meant. It was then that Madoka thought of Kichi and Audrey. She spun around, and was relieved to see that her friends had managed to escape. Madoka tried to run off and follow everyone else, but her body seemed to be frozen in fear at the monster that was now destroying the gym.
"What am I supposed to do now?"
She looked around, wanting to find some sort of normalcy. She finally regained control of her body, and was about to run off before two girls, a flash of pink and blue, caught her eyes. They slammed right into the monster in front of her.

One had light pink pig tails, the other had almost white blue hair with a small pony tail that split in half at the top of her head. The rest of her hair reached about her thighs and had split in two parts like the pony tail on her head. The girls fought with a ferocity that Madoka had only seen in cartoons and little kids shows.
"Wh-what are those girls?"
It was then that the girl with the pink pigtails saw she was still in the gym.
"Get to safety Maa-mmmma'am!"
The girl with pink hair said. Madoka's brows furrowed. It almost sounded like she was about to say her name. Nevertheless, Madoka made for the exits. But the woman with the hot pink hair stood in front of her.
"You're not going anyway, young lady."
Madoka stopped running, and started backing away from the strange woman.

She couldn't find her voice. She had no idea what was going on. She heard screams behind her, turned to look and regretted doing so. The girl with the blue hair had been slammed into the wall, and the girl with pink pigtails was being flung around by the basket monster.
"Cure Trump!"
She called. Madoka took a small gasp. The voice sounded familiar to her. She then felt a cold, small hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw a small green frog, with an orange sash around his neck.
"Madoka! You have to fight~roro! You're a Pretty Cure! They need your help! Trump and Royal need you~roro! I need you~roro!"
"What? Are you a talking frog? What the hell is going on here?! Someone give me some answers!"
"Later~roro!" The small frog said.

Madoka looked at the two girls still fighting the avari thing. The woman with pink hair wasn't doing anything, though she was shooting daggers at the frog. Madoka took notice of that and took the frog off her shoulder and held him in her arms.
"You're not going to hurt him."
"Well, that remains to be seen. But I'm afraid I can't let him do what I think he's about to do."
The woman charged towards Madoka, and she knew she was in trouble now. Madoka sidestepped the woman, and ran in the opposite direction.
"Give me some answers now, or I don't see a reason why I shouldn't give you to that crazy lady!"
Madoka yelled. The frog began to say something, but she couldn't hear him. The monster began firing basket balls from its basketball hands, doing more damage to the gym. Madoka cursed under her breath. A flash of bright green stopped her in her tracks. A green card with a barcode on the side, with a green outline of a club appeared in front of her.

"A Pretty Cure Card~roro!"
The frog yelled. Madoka was about to grab it before the woman with pink hair snatched it.
"Well, without this, at least you can't transform."
Too much was going on for Madoka. She couldn't make sense of the situation. The girl with pink pigtails appeared and started fighting with the woman.
"Give Madoka her card back! She's meant to fight with us!"
The girl's voice sounded familiar to Madoka as well.
"Kichi?! Audrey?!"
Madoka said, looking from the girl in pink to the girl in blue. They were her best friends, fighting some crazy monster. The strange woman let the card go, and it flitted down before landing on the avari monster. Madoka made a motion for it, but a flash of white appeared in front of her.

"I think you'll need this. Take it, and listen to the frog."
Madoka stared into the pale pink eyes of the girl that appeared in front of her. She took the card and nodded. Keroro jumped out of Madoka's arms, and a puff of light green smoke later, he was in a cellphone form.
"Use the card~roro! Slide it through the slit at the top and say 'Pretty Cure! Card Play'~roro!"
Madoka looked at the card, then back at the talking cellphone. The girl in white had joined Kichi and Audrey in fighting the basketball monster.
"Ha-how do you know this will work?" She said, her confidence wavering. The frog looked up at her, not letting her doubt feed her fear.
"Because Trump-san and Royal-san believe in you~roro! I believe in you~roro! Now you just need to believe in you~roro!"
Madoka went from looking at the card, the phone and the scene before her. For some reason, the three girls couldn't take down the monster. It was too quick, and it played dirty, like the girl it was born from.
"Trump Shot!"
"Royal Breeze!"
"Poker Barrage!"
The three girls fired their attacks, but the monster dodged all of them, and each attack ended up hitting the girls. Madoka grabbed Keroro and clutched the card hard. She looked up at the woman with hot pink hair, expecting the woman to stop her. Bu she was too involved with the fight to notice Madoka.

"Pretty Cure! Card Play!"
Madoka slid the card through the slit at the top, the box on the track pad glowing. She traced an "S" on the pad. Her clothes had disappeared, and her body was glowing with a soft green light. Her bob cut hair glowed with energy and sprung upwards, curling into a bun. A ribbon attached itself at the bottom of the bun, tying everything together. She punched her hands outwards one at a time, arm warmers appearing on each arm with each punch. The light on her torso intensified, and an upper body piece appeared, along with a skirt. She made a club with her hands and brought her hands over her chest. A dark green club gem appeared on her chest, a lighter green bow appearing on the sides. She round house kicked, boots appearing on her legs. Keroro attached himself to her waist, and a small, light green ribbon appeared on her back side. Finally she struck a pose.

"The Defeating Ending Move! Cure Straight!"
The light died down, and Cure Straight stared at everyone who in turn was staring at her. She wasn't quite sure what had happened, so she took a look at herself.
"Did...Did I just...?"
She couldn't finish her question. It all seemed too unreal, like a dream. However, she couldn't look at herself for too long as the basketball monster charged her way. Straight held her ground, readying herself. She pushed off one of her feet and charged towards the monster as well. She brought her fist back, and punched forward, hitting the monster square in the area where a stomach would have been. The monster flew backwards with a force that surprised Straight.
"Whoa..."
Trump and Royal ran over to her.
"Wow! Madoka-san! You're... you're a Pretty Cure warrior!"
Straight didn't have anything to say. And even if she did, Trump threw her arms around Straight's neck, hugging her tight.
"Yes! We've got a complete team!"
Trump said.

"AVARI! I'LL CRUSH ANYONE WHO STANDS IN MY WAY!"
The avari managed to get back on its feet and ran for the girls, firing exploding basketballs. The girls scattered, and began attacking the avari from all directions.
"Trump! We just need to stall! Straight can take care of this one!"
Royal yelled. Trump shouted something in response, and the two lead the monster away from Straight.
"Keroro, what they mean by me taking care of it?"
"You'll have to be the one that purifies this monster~roro! You can do it, Straight~roro! I know you can~roro!"
Straight watched her friends attack the monster. It was all up to her now. Keroro floated up towards her, the trackpad glowing. She made traced a golden cross on the screen.
"Experience my shuddering hand!"
She said, the words just flowing out of her mouth. Her hands were set ablaze with green fire.
"Straight Blaze!"

Straight thrust her hands downward, the fire hitting the ground and snaking towards the avari. Once the green flames touched the monster, it was instantly engulfed. The fire began to glow, and after an explosion of green smoke, the girl from the other team was on the ground, unconscious. The card swayed back and forth as it was pulled down to the floor. When it touched the hardwood, it instantly turned to black ash.
"You haven't seen the last of Swindla, Pretty Cure!"
Swindla cursed. She vanished in a flurry of black petals. The three girls returned to their civilian forms.
"Yay! Madoka! You were our last teammate!"
The girls began to speak before noticing the White Warrior. The three went quiet.
"Good job, Pretty Cure. You've managed to partner the three fairies from my homeland. I guess I should start to consider joi-"

Cure Poker lunged forward, clutching her stomach. Kichi shouted, and extended her arm, but Cure Poker began to glow with a blinding white light. When it faded, Yui was standing in her place. Kichi, Madoka and Audrey stood there, speechless.
"Abe-san? Shinohara-san? Hattori-san? What happened? And why isn't the game going on?"