"Princess! The last wave has been breached! We have to go!" A tanned, tall woman, most of her obscured in shadow, ran into a large, dimly-lit room. The main source of light came from the brilliant heart-shaped diamond floating above a pedestal. In front of the pedestal stood Himemiya, princess of Dream Peaks. When she made no response, the female soldier, stepped forward, a hand outstretched. "Princess-Princess, we have to go!"
Himemiya never once tore her gaze away from the crystal. her slim, dark hands rested on it protectively, as if the thing were a small child clinging to her royal skirts. Her lips pressed together in a thin line, she shook her head. "I can't do that..."
"Wh-what? What are you saying, Princess? If something happens to you, it's all over!"
"Not to me...To the Dream Charm." Finally, she lifted her head, eyes closed resolutely as she sighed. "Hisa...I need you to do something for me."
Even in teh direness of the situation, the woman-Hisa-dropped to one knee and briefly inclined her head. "Yes."
"Do you remember the stories of Pretty Cure?"
"Yes."
"I need you to take the Dream Charm and flee to Earth. Find Pretty Cure, and let them protect the Dream Charm. Send them here to help us." She lifted the charm away from the pedestal, the glow illuminating her face from below and obscuring her eyes as she turned and approached the soldier. "Don't let anything happen to it. Can I trust you with that?"
"Big sister!" A smaller figure ran into the room, her thick braids bouncing behind her. She skidded to a halt, panting heavily and holding her side. "Big sister, they're almost here! We have to do something!"
Himemiya swept past Hisa before the other woman could react, withdrawing a pouch from her skirts and dropping the charm inside. She tied the pouch around Kaana's neck like a choker. "Both of you, please. Don't worry about me-I'll be fine." Before she could say much more, there was a deafening explosion, and the entire room shook, dust falling from the ceiling. The large picture window shattered-
"Princess!" Hisa screeched, rising to her feet and rushing towards her.
Hisa's eyes snapped open, never mind the fact that she shouldn't have had her eyes closed in the first place. But then, she wasn't an ordinary, or even a real, snake. Shakily, she sat up, head inclined as she looked down at the drawer of Fumie's bureau. Himemiya, a lifeless doll, was in there. Hisa's eyes started shining a bit with unshed tears. She'd wanted to protect her, protect the Dream Charm...
And she couldn't help feeling like she had utterly failed.
OP: "Purikyua Club" - Bukatsudo Four
"Hooray for the weekend!" Fumie cheered, pumping her fists into the air.
She, Aoi, and Kurako were on their way to the rooftop. And in order to get there, they had to go up to the top floor, so of course they were on the stairs right now. Aoi had made breakfast boxes for everyone, and Kurako had wanted to eat on the roof, and then Fumie had declared that since they were a team, they should all go. Mari wasn't able to make it, due to cheerleading practice, but Fumie had put her box in the minifridge so she could eat it later.
"After eating, we should all go to town! Like, we can go to LumiCafe and eat lunch there, and throw coins in the fountain, and play crane games-"
"Fumie, there is a such thing as too much activity," Kurako muttered, eyes shut in annoyance.
Aoi just laughed, patting her shoulder. "Kurako, we've such a lively friend."
"She's a friend?" Kurako muttered, eyes opening as she frowned. "I'm not so sure about that..."
Aoi's smile faded as she watched Kurako look away, gaze fixed on her feet. She squeezed the younger girl's shoulder reassuringly, and was about to say something when-
"H-hey, wait a sec...is it just me or is the floor quivering?" Fumie asked suddenly as they reached the landing on their way to the fourth floor.
"Nope, it's not just you," Kurako said, frowning lightly.
"Oh, don't mind them, please," Aoi smiled, waving a hand dismissively as she continued up. "It's just the Suzuki twins."
The other two blinked, tilting their heads in unison. "Suzuki twins?" Fumie suddenly gasped, smacking her fist into her open palm. "Oh! You mean Misses Uta and Kotone! Kotone's in one of my classes! But," she added with another frown. "But what do you mean, it's them-"
"TWO, THREE, FOUR, GO!" The entire floor suddenly erupted into music: the sound of a drumset being beaten upon, a cymbal clashing every now and then, and an electric guitar barely heard over it. Everyone shrieked, even Kurako though she'd later deny it, and covered their ears, gritting their teeth.
"What the-what are they doing?" snapped Kurako, struggling to be heard over the music. "Are they trying to deafen everyone?!"
"Well, everyone else seems to have less of a problem than we do!" Aoi shouted, uncovering her ear just long enough to point into the hallway. Everyone on the floor was walking around with looks of discomfort on their faces, but they didn't look like they were in pain, like our heroes were. At first Fumie thought they all must be partially-deaf already, but then she looked closer and noticed something. Every one of the students had yellow plugs in their ears.
"Ear-plugs! You lucky stiffs, give us some!" Kurako shouted, stepping further into the hallway until she was standing right in front of one of the doors. Abruptly, the electric guitar stopped playing, and the door she stood in front of opened, making the music a bit louder. A girl about Fumie's age, with bright purple hair tied into two small, thick ponytails that curled at the bottom, poked her head out.
"Pardon me, but would you mind lowering the volume? My sister can't concentrate on her music," she said, smiling cheerfully.
Kurako could only stand there and sputter as the other girls came up behind her, trying to see past the pig-tailed girl and into the room. Finally, she managed to shout "WE NEED TO LOWER THE VOLUME?!"
TODAY'S EPISODE: To The Beat Of My Own Drum! A Rockin' Cure!
Kotone Suzuki sat at her drum set, brow furrowed in concentration as she shut her eyes tight. She was currently beating out a very long drumroll, the rest of the girls looking at her with varying expressions of curiosity and anticipation. Kurako, however, wore a look of supreme annoyance. Kotone paid no mind to her audience, leaning forward in her seat as she moved her hands faster and faster and faster...
TSSSS!
"Thank you!" Kotone shouted in English, raising both drumsticks into the air and standing up. Letting out a deep breath, she smiled triumphantly and gently set the drumsticks on her seat as she walked to where her sister and guests sat. In the room she shared with her sister, there were two loveseats on either side of a small coffee table; Fumie and Aoi sat on one of them, Uta and Kurako on the other. Kurako had the bad luck of being the one Kotone flopped next to. "Pheeew...that was a great start to the day, huh?" she smiled.
"I'll get drinks for everyone~" Uta sang as she went to the mini-fridge in the corner.
Kotone nodded, turning her attention to the rest of the group. "Sorry 'bout that. But I just love to start my day with good music, you know? It's like my own personal caffeine!"
"Doesn't mean the rest of your floor should suffer as well," Kurako sniffed, arms folded over her chest. Kotone just ignored her as Uta came back with cans of juice in her arms.
"Anyway...sorry to have wrecked your eardrums," she said, accepting the can her sister held out. She opened it and took a drink without checking what it was, then choked. "U-utaaaaa! I hate tea!" she whined, holding the can back out and shaking it a little.
Uta just laughed, switching it with her own drink-orange juice. "Sorry, sister. But yeah, we're both totally sorry," she smiled cheerfully. "It's just...well, our whole family's into the music business, and we can't stay away from our instruments or mics for too long. Even if it does leak out and everyone can hear, that's okay-we're sharing our music with the school!"
Aoi sipped her own juice, tilting her head quizzically. "But...But why not soundproof your room, then?"
"You can do that," the twins asked in one voice.
"Or hey," Fumie suddenly said, standing up. "You could have just asked to have a whole floor to yourself-it's this whole floor that can hear you; if you had it all to yourselves, then there'd be no problem."
Kotone shook her head, frowning a bit. "Yeah, no...See, it's not right.. it's like...Well, ya ever hear the story of the rooster? He thought his henhouse was too small, but I dunno why he had to sleep in there anyway because he should have been outside watching for the sun, but anyway, he thought it was too small for him. So the farmer let a rabbit move in, and then three chickens, then a cat, then a dog, and then a sheep. And then he let all of them out except for the rooster, and the rooster realized he had all the room he needed already. Anyway, the point is we don't need too much room, we're perfectly content with one room. What'd we do with the whole floor to ourselves anyway?"
No one said anything.
Kotone grinned with her teeth showing. "Exactly! So! What were you doing before you came to see my performance?"
Nocturna could barely keep her eyes open, breathing raspy as she leaned her head against Gachan's hand. The tall man rested his other hand on her head protectively as Chuusha rested two fingers on the frail girl's wrist, frowning. All was quiet.
Behind them, Fureyaa and Kemuri peeked in from the doorway, glancing at each other for a moment before returning their attention to the scene before them. Chuusha finally stood up, causing them to duck back out, said a few unintelligible words to Gachan, then stalked out. She wore a look of immense anger on her face, muttering to herself, and was so lost in her own rage she went right past Fureyaa and Kemuri.
Fureyaa jogged after her. "Chuusha, how's she doing?"
Chuusha snarled, suddenly whipping around and backhanding the boy. She ignored his sharp cry as he fell to the floor, looking at him as if he were something on the bottom of her shoe. "Shut up!" she snapped, turning around again and vanishing into darkness.
Kemuri knelt down to help Fureyaa to his feet as he rubbed his stinging cheek. "I guess she's not any better..."
"Guess not..." he mumbled. "I can see why, though...Without the Dream Charm, she's just...down and out." Kemuri frowned, biting at her thumb. "She's like Antoinette from "City Nightlife," when she was in the hospital and needed the operation but no one would let her have it because they thought she was really her evil twin sister!"
Fureyaa stared blankly for a few moments. "...Kemuri, I think you should stop watching these human shows," he sighed. "But you're right about the Dream Charm. If we can only get more of the Dream Shards..."
"Is that a proposal for action?" Kemuri grinned, exposing her teeth wickedly.
"It certainly is," Fureyaa answered, eyes gleaming a bit.
Eyecatch 1: Fumie stands at an easel, tongue poking out slightly as she carefully dabs some paint onto the canvas. Satisfied, she steps back and spins the easel around to reveal a watercolor of Cure Ink, the PCBE logo where a signature should be.
Eyecatch 2: Kurako, Aoi, Kotone, Mari, Uta, Kaana and Hisa all sit down on the floor, watching Fumie. Fumie stands at a podium and bangs a rubber gavel, calling the club meeting to order. The PCBE logo appears in the corner.
"So...we came here to eat breakfast, stopped to deal with two very noisy girls...and that was all that was supposed to happen. So why did we pick up two more people for our lunch-date?" Kurako grumbled, looking out the corner of her eye at the Suzuki twins. All of them sat in a circle on the roof, breakfast boxes open, munching happily. Kotone just smiled and waved nonchalantly at Kurako, she stiffened and hastily looked away. "Really, how did this happen?"
Fumie shrugged her shoulders, beaming around her mouthful of omelet. "I dunno-something about Aoi making great food, the girls wanting to try, and then I said 'the more the merrier.' You were too busy sulking to notice," she giggled.
Kurako bristled. "I was not sulking!"
"Uhm, 'scuse me..."
Kurako turned, about to snap What? when she saw an apologetic-looking Uta leaning over, smiling sheepishly. She couldn't stay mad at a face like that..."Uh, yes?"
Uta fidgeted, voice dropping to a whisper. "Well...it's just that Miss Aoi's breakfast is too hot for me, Miss Fumie is sharing with Kotone, and...well, I don't wanna be a bother..." She trailed off, eyes darting from Kurako's face to her breakfast box and back. Still smiling nervously, as if she were afraid she'd be shot down and have to either go hungry or eat a spicy fish croquet.
Kurako blinked, glancing down at her own barely-touched breakfast. "Oh. uhm, yeah...sure..." she mumbled, holding her food out. The grateful smile Uta flashed her before she dug in with her spork made Kurako's face heat up a bit. "You're welcome?" She didn't notice the triumphant look Aoi shot her.
Unnoticed by all, the dark vortex appeared on another part of the building. It flashed, faded to reveal Fureyaa and Kemuri crouching and overlooking the girls. "That's them?" Kemuri asked.
"Well, three of them are...not the other two. The ones who look alike."
"Well, too bad for them then." Kemuri abruptly stood up, hastily holding a Dream-Eating Crane and positioning it in her hands. She ignored Fureyaa's shocked cry, blowing it away...
...and it fell onto one of the spare sporks.
"Go-go, Bakuko!" Kemuri shouted as the black aura surrounded the spork, and it started to expand and shift.
Kotone was the first to notice something was wrong. "W-what the-?!" she cried out, standing up suddenly and taking a step back. "What's wrong with me-"
"Oh no, not again!" Fumie whined as she and the others stood as well, face to face with a Bakuko. "And so early in the day?!"
The Bakuko, looking like nothing more than a giant version of the spork with angry eyes and a keyhole mark on the concave, screeched, leaning forward. "Bakuuu! Bak-?!" Its cry was cut short as the lid to a breakfast box smacked its head. Roaring angrily, it swiveled around to glare at Kotone, who was still posed in her "throwing" move, glaring right back at it. "Baku?!"
"M-Miss Kotone!" Kurako cried in shock and horror, stepping in front of her. "Don't get involved! We can take this!"
"'Take this...?'" Uta echoed, trembling slightly.
Urgh, didn't wanna do this, but here goes! Fumie thought, pulling out her PreCure PC.
"Pretty Cure! Show my future!"
"Painting the world with new tints, Cure Ink!"
"Spinning with grace and strength, Cure Twirl!"
"Adding flavor and zest to life, Cure Spice!"
"Protecting everyone's dreams, Pretty Cure Bukatsudo Energetic!" the three of them declared, striking a pose.
"Bakuko-baku!" the monster cried, swiftly twisting its body around. Before the girls knew what was happening, a multitude of sharp spikes were sent flying at them. They scattered, Fumie screaming a bit, and the spikes embedded themselves in the roof. "Bakuuu!"
Kemuri stood up, laughing behind her hand. "Ohohoho! This one's gonna be easy! Fureyaa, I tell you, we'll have the Dream Charm in no time now!"
Fureyaa wasn't listening, instead nervously scanning over the so far one-sided battle. The Bakuko kept on sending wave after wave of sharp spikes, not giving Pretty Cure a chance to attack. That part he didn't mind so much. But...
"Bakuuu!" the Bakuko shrieked again, an edge of triumphant laughter in its voice, as it send out another wave...and several were headed right Uta. She covered her face, screaming in terror-
-Fureyaa jumped-
"Utaaa!" Kotone screamed.
Uta curled up, trembling for a few moments before she realized that nothing was happening. She peeked between her fingers, lowering her hands with a slight gasp as she saw Fureyaa standing in front of her, his back to the Bakuko, edges of his cape gathered in his hands. He stood there, eyes shut, gritting his teeth. The spikes had landed against his cape, quivering on their points for a moment before falling ineffectually to the ground. He let out a sigh of relief, opening his eyes and smiling nervously at Uta. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," Uta nodded.
Fureyaa turned around, making sure to stay in front of Uta, wrapping his cape around himself in case another wave came their way. "Kemuri! Leave civilians out of it!"
"My bad!" she shouted back nonchalantly.
"No." Kotone stepped forward, glaring at the Bakuko again, taking it by surprise. Pretty Cure stopped their dodging temporarily, trying to catch their breath. "There is no 'my bad!' Not about this! You attacked my sister, you attacked my new friends, and me! We were supposed to have a get-to-know-you breakfast, and you totally ruined it! I don't know what's going on, but you never attack my friends, old or new!"
Twirl turned her head, slight surprise on her face. "...friends?" she whispered.
"And I don't care if they're some kinda warrior and I'm not-the second you threaten my friends, I'm in too!" Kotone snapped, arms spread.
A faint glow suddenly emitted from her jeans-pocket. Pipipipipipipipipipi...
Kotone winced, shielding her eyes from the light as she reached into her pocket to grab her personal computer. "Wh-what is..."
Kemuri smirked. "Not a civilian no more!" she cackled. "Bakuko, get her!"
"Bakuuuu!" it screeched. But rather than send another wave of spikes at her, it tried a new tactic: twisting and lashing out its body. Kotone, unfortunately, was too close to the guard-rail, and as she tried to run...
...the Bakuko smacked into her...
...and she fell over the railing, eyes wide.
"M-MISS KOTONE!" Ink screamed.
Kotone blinked as she fell, then frowned, face a mask of determination. "No. You. Don't," she snarled, quickly flicking open her computer-now a PreCure PC.
C. U. R. E. Okay!
"Pretty Cure~ Show my future!"
Light purple and blue light exploded and spiraled out below her, and she seemed to be in a void of those same colors, sparks of purple light shooting around her as her clothes vanished and her body was bathed in light. Kotone smirked, swinging one leg out to make herself spin around, crouching low before jumping into the air again. As she did so, the sparks flew faster and faster around her torso, finally exploding away to reveal a light blue, long-sleeved shirt that split around the waist and fanned out behind her. She clapped her hands together in front of her chest before moving them to place her fingertips at her temples and closing her eyes.
She stomped her legs a few times, snapping her ankles together once as the sparks of light surrounded her legs. They attached to her, then exploded off to show her light purple pants with darker purple hems, dark purple socks, and light purple Mary Janes with blue circular jewels on the straps. Her eyes, now ice-blue, opened as she swung her arms in a circle in front of her, gathering the light to herself and allowing them to form her purple jacket and heart emblem with ribbon. Her hair suddenly lengthened, turning an icy purple shade, parting and twisting around itself til she had a long, thick braid tied with a light blue ribbon.
Back in the real world, the blue light suddenly flashed and faded away, the newest Cure leaping out of it with a cocky grin on her face. She successfully cleared the guard-rail, landing on her feet on the safety of the roof. Pretty Cure stared in awe before Ink began to smile. "A new teammate~" she squeed.
The Bakuko started to look nervous; perhaps he was regretting shoving her off the roof a moment ago. "B-baku...?"
The purple and clue Cure moved her hands as if she were pounding an invisible drum set before tapping a cymbal. "Drumming a new life's rhythm, Cure Beat!"
Now even Kemuri looked nervous. "Ohhh...I had no idea you could transform while falling..." she mumbled to herself.
Beat grinned, taking advantage of the stunned silence from her opponent, and the fact he wasn't moving right now. "Quit. Bothering. Us!" she cried, raising her hands into the air. Her fingers moved as if to grasp a pair of invisible drumsticks, and she brought her hands down, moving as if she were at her drum set again, performing the drum-roll. "Pretty Cure..." Pale purple light spiraled and gathered between her hands, forming the shape of a heart. "Drum-Roll Anticipation!" Thrusting her hands out as if pointing the drumsticks at the Bakuko, and the light shot out at it.
The purple, glowing heart struck the creature right on the keyhole mark, making the Bakuko stiffen in shock. "B-baku-!" it cried before slumping a bit, eyes drooping tiredly. "B-bak..." The eyes closed, bright light surrounded it and flashed, and then all there was was a spork, lying harmlessly on the rooftop.
"Oh, come oooon!" Kemuri cried, stomping her foot. "Fureyaa, we gotta go!"
Fureyaa shot Uta an apologetic look, waved brightly at Pretty Cure, then leaped up to join Kemuri. Then they both ducked into the vortex, and vanished.
Cure Beat ran over to Uta, hugging her tightly. "Uta! Did you see me; I was so awesome!"
"You're great, sis!" Uta laughed, relief sweeping over her now that the monster was gone.
"H-hey, Koton-Cure Beat." Ink, Spice, and Twirl came over to her, Ink smiling brightly as she held her hand out. "'s'great to meet you! Welcome to Pretty Cure!"
Cure Beat looked between Ink's hand and her face a few times, then reached out to shake her hand. Or so it looked. When their hands joined, Beat squeezed and tugged her forward-Ink had grabbed Twirl and Twirl had grabbed Spice in attempts to not fall, and so Beat had gathered Pretty Cure into a group-hug. "Wahahaha! I totally knew we'd be friends!" she laughed, hugging them all tightly. "Good to meet you all!"
As Uta laughed and joined the hug, Twirl's face flushed red as she glanced at Spice. It's really this easy? she wondered.
Back in Fumie's room, Mari stepped in, sighing. "I'm back," she announced after taking a drink from a water bottle. "How were you guys?" she asked.
The snakes didn't answer.
"Hm?" Mari's cheerful look faded away as she took in Hisa's forlorn expression. "Hisa? You okay?"
Hisa just stared sadly at the plush princess.
"Princess, you're coming with us!" Hisa cried, grabbing Himemiya's hand and tugging her towards the vortex of light.
"Wh-what-" the princess gasped.
"The Dream Charm is important, but so are you!" Hisa declared as she and her sister leaped in, taking Himemiya with them. The light flashed and faded away just as another explosion outside shook the castle.
"Himemiya..." Hisa whispered, nudging the doll.
ED: "Lead Me There" - YUME featuring Mari
ON THE NEXT EPISODE:
Fumie: Waauuugh, it's awful!
Kotone: I knew that guy was bad news! He's a bad guy-I'm sure he's planning to kidnap my sister and hold her for ransom!
Kurako: How can he do all that in their current state?
Aoi: Guys, let's stop arguing and just watch where we step, okay? Next time on Pretty Cure Bukatsudo Energetic: The Incredible Shrinking People! Thumbel-Uta?! Don't be late for next meeting!