AN: Welcome to a special episode of Care Package Precure! This episode walks an odd line between canon and noncanon, due to the references below. Those familiar with other fanseries know I've been referencing MissMelli's Spooky! Pretty Cure, Nexus Schwarz's Mythical Pretty Cure! and the semi-crossover between me and my friend Tonniwott's Gain Tempo Precure. Today these crossover friends get a chance to shine, and while the events are canon for CPPC, I ask you to think of this chapter and any subsequent chapters featuring these lovelies as AU versions of the characters. That said, there are planned crossovers with CPPC and the REAL versions of some of these kids in the works, so please stay tuned! Enjoy the chapter, and if you offered your characters for use in this verse, please consider that they're probably staff and don't show up... yet. Thanks!

Eric paced the length of her small cabin over and over as she turned Sam's declaration from two nights earlier over and over in her mind. Camper Cures. She almost smiled. How she wished she could have been one, after meeting her own idol, Cure Rainyday, almost twenty years ago. She wasn't the only one, either. It wasn't common knowledge to most of the staff, but Eric at least was well aware of Biddy Hadyn's own encounter with a certain Cure Stargazer. Encounters were fine, even in the spirit of camp, as long as they were in moderation. Girls needed to know that magic existed. Girls needed to know that they were safe and protected. Girls needed to know that they could be amazing one day.

Still, that did not mean they had to be gallivanting around, using this magic on their own before it was their time. It was certainly a problem, as was the fact that they seemed to use this to more or less clean up the messes of full staff members.

With a sigh and a smile, Eric knew she would have to do something about it… but it was far from the first thing on her list. The life of a camp director was filled with problem, after problem, after problem. She had to inspect the kitchen, to do performance reviews, and then she needed to think about programming for the next year. Tomorrow she had a meeting with some people in the Northeastern Camp Club about accreditation standards. The next day… well, she didn't want to think of that.

A couple days playing among (usually) competent, caring staff? It wouldn't kill four or so (at the most) underage superheroes, especially because they seemed to be CITs.

Now, if it was the entire CIT program? That would have been an urgent issue. Eric laughed at the thought, though: there's no way it would happen without her knowledge.

Special OP: Run Run Fun ~ Pretty Cure Eight

"What is this?" asked Amelie coldly as she stared at the too-young Precure warriors in front of her. They shuffled around on the same beach, each looking phenomenally guilty, a product of being caught red handed.

The girls had been doing their normal routine: defeating a Humglum, collecting the Courage Bead, making sure everything was fine, and most of all, hiding from the staff… something they apparently hadn't done very well. One of the girls, Cure Garuda, gulped nervously, and swallowed hard. "Um… it's not what it looks like?"

"We're cosplaying?" suggested another, a Cure Grandmaster.

Amelie took a deep breath, her hands moving in a relaxed motion as she tried to calm herself. Then, she looked around the beach at the eight magical girls stationed there. Considering that Biddy had left with four of the CITs for their own observation, this must have been the rest of the program. "I'm going to assume you're my campers," she said slowly. "I'm going to assume you never meant for me to see that you… somehow… became Precure. I'm also going to pretend I never saw this. But if I ever, and I do mean ever, see any of you transformed again, you're going to wish I hadn't. Now. I'm walking away for five minutes, and when I come back, I better not see any Precure warriors."

True to her word, she left, and Cure Witch let out a huff as she crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out, aimed at nothing but her purple outfit and matching violet fishnet gloves. "Well, this sucks."

"Y'know," said Cure Grandmaster nervously as she pulled on her roughly made pink and grey belt that held the two Courage Beads she has accumulated, "She said it was only if she saw us. We just got a little careless, that's all. Next time we'll be sneakier."

"If there is a next time." Cure Cerberus, decked out in red, rolled her eyes. "How were we to know she was going to come back from break early? How will we ever know?"

The group was silent. Then, realizing they only had a couple minutes left, each detransformed in a flash, leaving eight normal girls in their place… and not all of them were CITs. "I guess I better get going," said a tall blonde girl with a sympathetic grin. "She thinks we're all her campers, and it'd probably be worse for us all if she realized we weren't. Come on, Skye, Ast, let's get back to our groups."

"See you, Fay!" cried the former Cure Witch, now Sofía. Beside her, Bing grinned and nodded her own goodbye.

Kaitlin, or Cure Grandmaster to those in the know, waved a little. "Goodbye, Ast!"

"Later, Skye," called Brandy and Jasmine. Brandy blew a kiss and winked at Skye's frown and deep scarlet blush.

"Well," said Brandy as she flopped onto her bed, "that didn't go so well."

Jasmine frowned. "The observation? Or the Precure thing?"

"Well, both, but mostly the observation. So a tiny little monster attacks a group of third graders, and they start crying, and the staff comes back and we're the reason why to them? And now we have to go watch a different group? Ugh."

"At least we get a couple hours off," said Bing with a shrug.

"I don't want a couple hours off!" Brandy threw a couple punches at the air. "I didn't come to camp to sit in my cabin and relax, I came to do stuff! Specifically, I came to learn to be a counselor, even if I didn't think that meant becoming a part time superhero."

Sofía gave Brandy a slightly disbelieving look. "It's more than that," she said, sounding ever so slightly offended.

"Like what?"

"Like… well, I don't know, but it's important."

Kaitlin looked up from her own bed, where she had already set up the pieces on her magnetic travel chessboard. "Are you saying there's some cosmic meaning?"

Sofía shrugged, but Jasmine took up the fight. "I'm not sure. Do you ever think about what Precure means to you, though?"

The room was silent. They had, once upon a time, on their first observation day. Faced with a camper in trouble, somehow their CIT brooches had responded, and when their three friends from other programs had wandered in on the scene while heading back from the bathroom, they too had managed to transform. Deciding a group of eight was too large, they'd divided into subteams.

Kaitlin clutched her brooch tight. Game Tempo Precure may have been the smallest group… just her and her new friend Ast, almost the leftovers after the formation of the other teams… but they had something in common, something to protect. Kaitlin thought of the games she learned at camp, silly and childish at first, but full of strategy if you let them be. The difference between those and her favored game of chess was in working together. Chess was one on one, with whoever sat across from you as your opponent. Precure had opened her up to a way of looking at that person with love, as a friend.

On Brandy's bed, she and Jasmine met eyes. Adventurous Brandy had always been fascinated with the camp legends of what mythical beings existed out in the Breezy Bridge woods, and friendship dictated that Jasmine follow in all sorts of explorations. When Skye joined, the team had not become less adventurous, but only more balanced. Now, their search for the mythical was smarter, cooler, and most of all, more fun. Precure allowed them to see the woods… and themselves… a whole new way.

Leaning against Bing, Sofía smiled as she remembered the scary stories she, Bing, and Fay had been told every summer around the campfire. Those stories had thrilled her and her two girlfriends time and time again, and had allowed them to see fear as something that maybe, wasn't that scary… heck, perhaps it was even something fun. Though being a magical girl could be frightening sometimes, it too was also a good time. She never wanted it to stop, and she said as much. "I don't want this to end."

From the looks on the others faces, they agreed with her. Jasmine was the only one to speak up, however: "Still, even if Amelie can make us quit Precure, she can't take away that fact that we already were."

There was silence for a moment, then Kaitlin quietly added something. "If we have to… stop… well… I have an idea for something we should do."

The girls took deep breaths, smiled shakily, and listened.

The second observation went better than the first one. Faced with middle schoolers not much younger than they were, crying, fighting, and fear was nowhere near as likely. Still, there were challenges, particularly with the obviously forming cliques.

"I don't want to go over there," muttered a girl dressed all in black as a counselor named Eleia, Jasmine, and Kaitlin stood around her. "They all hate me."

"Why do you think they hate you?" asked Eleia. Behind her kind face, there was an obvious sort of exasperation that Jasmine desperately hoped the girl couldn't read.

Crossed arms, a snarl, and a roll of lined brown eyes met Eleia's question. It was a moment before she spoke. "When I write or draw in my notebook, they steal it from me and ask questions. They say what I'm drawing is weird, or even scary. I mean, it is," amended the girl, "but good. I don't care if they get scared."

"Can I see your notebook?"

"Only if you're not going to be a big baby about it."

"I assure you, I'm the farthest thing from a big baby," said Eleia with a smile.

The girl reached into her notebook and dug out a lined book. Even the cover was doodled on, decorated with band names in unreadable fonts and pictures depicting void monsters with multiple faces and arms as best as they could. Eleia turned to the first page and began to read. "'Chemical war. Gas. Blind, choke, burn, blister, kill. Machine guns. Rapid fire bullets… aircraft… planes… zeppelins.' Abbey, what is this poem?" Kaitlin and Jasmine easily caught that Eleia looked a little bit scared, and a whole lot of concerned.

The girl, Abbey, laughed. "Um. That's actually my World History I notes. We were talking about weaponry in World War I. I have a really good memory for things people say, so I don't take many notes at all, and they usually look like weird minimalist poems."

Eleia flipped a page, and this one didn't have an obviously plausible explanation. A horrible monster, drawn as realistically as a monster could, took up both sides of the notebook. The spiral between the pages had been incorporated as part of the art, creating a surprisingly straight spine for such a twisted beast. Teeth, eyes, and blood covered its body. Eleia turned to notebook to Abbey. "And this?"

"It's a monster."

"I see that. Why are you showing the girls things like this?"

Abbey's lip twisted upwards. "Aren't you listening? I'm not! They take my notebook and leaf through it. I wouldn't show them this in a million years!" She turned heel and began storming off in the opposite direction from the rest of the group.

Peering at the cover, Jasmine caught something. "You know, it's hard to read, but I think one of these words says 'Dream Journal,' Eleia."

"Does it?" Eleia flipped it over. After ten or twenty seconds of squinting, she nodded. "It looks like that. I suppose when I give this back, I'll have to apologize. You can't help what you dream, even if it is kind of, ah. Messed up."

She started to follow Abbey over to the trees, when a cry rang out. "I'm scared!" Eleia froze, eyes wide, and then she abruptly turned and waved her hand over the group. Jasmine and Kaitlin had seen this before and knew what was going on; they pretended to freeze, not even letting themselves blink. Before their eyes, Eleia transformed, her arms moving gracefully like a ballet dancer as she did. When she emerged from the light of transformation, she curtseyed, spun around, and announced to no one in particular: "The Cure with a song of knowledge! I'm Cure Wisdom!"

Cure Wisdom ran into the woods, past Abbey. As soon as she was gone, all the CITs in the area stopped and smiled wearily, gathering together. "We know how that is, don't we," joked Brandy with a halfhearted grin.

"Yeah, and we know what's coming next. I think I'm getting too genre savvy," said Sofía, sticking her tongue out a little bit. "Any moment now, and we'll see…"

"Ohohohoho!"

EYECATCH 1: Fay, Sofía, Kaitlin, and Jasmine sit on pillows, each in their pajamas. They're talking enthusiastically. It's obviously the cutest slumber party in history... until Brandy, Ast, Bing, and Skye burst in with their own pillows, ready to destroy in an ultimate sleepover pillow battle.

EYECATCH 2: Brandy, Ast, Bing, and Skye are winning a game of gaga easily, and even showing off a little for kicks... until Fay, Sofía, Kaitlin, and Jasmine take the lead within a few seconds, smiling as they do.

"Oh look," said Jasmine dryly. "It's Xanthe. Right on schedule, of course."

The woman curtseyed, her yellow dress flaring out, its old and off-white lace catching on the twigs of the tree she stood on. "Well, well. If it isn't the Pretty Cure Eight! Cobalt tells me you got into a tad bit of trouble earlier, and so I decided to come in and take you all out of the game, permanently! Ohohoho, be honored to be defeated by such a lovely and royal opponent as I!"

"Does your Infinite Princess know you're stealing her thunder?" yelled a voice from the trees. Ast, Fay, and Skye burst in. Ast smiled sassily as she raised her eyebrows at Xanthe. "You think you're so cute, huh? Even the cutest face can be ruined when faced with the blade of Cure Jet!"

Skye rolled her eyes. "Come on, Asterisk, we don't need the banter. We just need to drive her off before she releases a Humglum, same as ever."

"We consistently fail to do that because of Ast's banter," Fay pointed out. "I'm starting to think Ast likes fighting."

"You bet your Ast I do!" said the girl in question, murder flashing in her eyes, which were still aimed at the Color War general.

Xanthe glared back, but then spun around again, accidentally tearing her dress as she did. She paused in annoyance. "Well, don't let me hold you back. A good princess gives her subjects what they want, after all!" She reached into her pockets and pulled two fistfuls of Fearful Beads, then tossed then, scattering them on the ground. Some hit nothing; others hit some of the campers. Smoke images began to show a myriad of fears, but the strongest ones by far were Abbey's. Nightmare dreamscapes played out with every classic bad dream, and several strange ones. Monsters terrorized Abbey as kids at her school laughed at her, and color drained from the backgrounds as her good dreams began to wilt.

"Now!" continued Xanthe, "As I see your fears, let them become!"

An abomination of a monster burst from Abbey, seeming to pull along the fears from other campers too. "Yikes!" said Sofía. "This one looks mean."

Xanthe smiled and clapped her hands twice. "Have fun in your last battle, Precure Eight! I'll be watching you fall from afar!" She disappeared just as Ast picked up a reddish rock and threw it at her, and the stone passed through the air where she stood and into the Humglum. As it fell through the monster, the girls watched the color drain from it, leaving it a dull grey.

The Humglum roared with at least twelve of its mouths, and Kaitlin felt tears welling up in her eyes, tears she tried to blink back as she chanted to herself. "Courage, courage, courage… I have to have courage to be a Precure, even if the monsters are scary!"

"I guess Abbey was afraid of her own Eldritch horrors," said Brandy grimly, cracking her knuckles. "Not the kind of creature anyone would want to find in the woods, so let's get some real mythical beings in here to take it down, right guys?"

"Amelie will be back from break any minute, though," Fay warned. "I don't know if we have time to transform."

The thought sat heavily on their hearts for a moment as the Humglum raged, its smoke-like arms passing through trees and draining them of life. It crept closer and closer to the group of kids. As it swept through a passing rhododendron bush, Skye's face hardened, and she turned to face her friends. "We can't just sit here deciding whether our powers are worth sacrificing a group of kids for."

"We were just waiting for Amelie…" protested someone. Skye wasn't too sure who; she was enraged.

"No. In a few moments, these kids will be in horrible danger, and I don't want to wait around for someone to save them, even if it means this is my end as Cure Jade. I'm going to do the right thing, but you are all welcome to leave if you think I'm wrong."

The girls looked at each other and nodded. No more words were needed. They knew what to do.

"Nightmares nevermore! Scary story transformation!"

"Precure! Advance me!"

"Gem of the summer, guide us through a mythical transformation!"

And in three bursts of light, the subteams vanished, caterpillars in their magical chrysalises.

Smoke from an invisible campfire enveloped Fay, Bing, and Sofía, lifting them up and surrounding them with magical sparkles and shimmers. Vines snaked up Bing's arms while Sofía clapped to summon a pointed purple hat, and Fay pulled a ribbon from nothing. As they moved, transforming themselves, they couldn't help but smile, bringing those smiles with them into their signature poses.

Fay saluted perfectly, standing even taller than normal. Bing moved as though to spike a volleyball, and Sofía twirled a finger with a sassy and magical flair that was so unique, it was impossible to perfectly imitate.

"A mischievous silhouette on a firelit night, Cure Witch!"

"A warm smile on a summer's night, Cure Pumpkin!"

"A ghostly chill on a still night, Cure Spectre!"

"Banishing fear with the power of courage, we are Spooky Stories! Pretty Cure!"

Ast and Kaitlin spun and moved in perfect unison, their hearts connected by some silent beat. As they spun, kicked, and dipped, their outfits materialized, with Ast's new black and red ensemble complimenting her naturally dark hair, which abruptly became fire truck red in a shower of sparkles. Kaitlin's locks turned a bright pink as her cheeks, while her own two-piece outfit followed in the same shades (though it, at least, had accents of a light, silvery grey).

They broke their hold on each other to pose, Ast's hands sweeping up and towards the sky, while one of Kaitlin's snapped into an imperfect salute (though next to Cure Spectre, nothing would have looked quite as perfect), the other landing on her hip.

"The sable, summery team player: Cure Jet!"

"The hopeful and warm challenger: Cure Grandmaster!"

"Pieces moving together to an upset victory – Game Tempo Precure!"

A green full moon enveloped Skye, changing her clothes with magical ease and elegance. Nearby, Jasmine's transformation at the hands of multiple lightning bolts struck both of them as much more energetic. Neither, however, matched Brandy's dynamic and dangerous movements as campfire crept up, consuming her clothing and changing her very appearance.

Right before they posed, they felt the pop of new, animal traits: bright gold eyes for Brandy, wings for Jasmine, and rabbit ears springing from Skye's head.

"Burning brightly with the magic of courage, Cure Cerberus!"

"Shining brightly as a beacon of summer, Cure Garuda!"

"Reflecting brightly the potential of each camper, Cure Jade!"

"Never forgetting what's important! Mythical Woods Pretty Cure!"

As the smoke and light faded, the teams looked at each other, not even having to communicate with or without words. They'd fought together before; they each knew the drill.

The strategic genius of Game Tempo split up, each leaping onto tall trees to watch over the others. "Don't touch it!" yelled Cure Grandmaster. "We don't want to see what happens if you do!"

"Okay," said Cure Garuda, "but in return, you two summon your weapons, just in case. We don't know how high up this thing can reach."

The two nodded, and after a brief summoning, Grandmaster clutched her baton desperately, while Jet twirled a large, black sword with little care.

Cure Garuda, up above even the Game Tempo girls, twisted and twirled in midair, trying to catch the Humglum's eye. She darted gracefully in and out of its grasp, only wincing minimally at the teeth that climbed up its arm. After a moment, the thing seemed to forget about stomping through the forest; it switched its focus over to the girl who kept getting uncomfortably close to its many eyes, swatting at her like she was a mosquito. Garuda yelped as it almost brushed her foot.

"Clear the way, Cure Garuda," said Cure Jade, a sly smile playing on her face as she thrust out a hand towards the beast. "Relative Constant!" A glowing green sheet of energy lifted the monster up and then disappeared suddenly, causing the thing to fall flat on several of its faces.

Cure Jet grinned. "So magic can beat this thing, even if we can't touch it, huh? Wonder what it'd say to a magical sword in some of those eyes?"

"T-that's so dark…" Grandmaster's eyes were wide and her lip quivered, but she quickly shifted her gaze back to the ground, watching the abomination struggle.

"Not as dark as these thoughts are," said Cure Spectre, her eyes narrowed. "Who's been letting these little kids watch horror movies?"

The look on Cure Pumpkin's face implied that this was exactly the sort of thing she would do, but she only narrowed her eyes at the shadowy beast. "It doesn't matter, anyway, time to get rid of it."

"Yeah, let's put this nightmare to rest!" cheered Cure Witch. She traced a finger down her opposite arm, then tapped the resulting bone-shaped wand on her hip before raising it up and pointing it dramatically. Her face scrunched up slightly as she focused every brave and courageous thought she could into the weapon, tracing a star in the air as she did so. "Pretty Cure Haunted Hex!"

The magic hit and burned a large and neat hole through the monster. Witch flinched, expecting it to regenerate, but it didn't, and from up above, Jet's eyes twinkled. "So, if we all use our finishers, think it'll just disappear?"

"Worth a shot!" Cure Cerberus hollered. "Let's go, girls!"

Wands, swords, and batons were summoned in a flash, and the girls grouped into their subteams, surrounding the Eldritch horror with much more confidence than they had at the start of the battle. "On three, we finish him," said Cure Pumpkin. "You guys know the drill. One!"

The Spooky Stories Pretty Cure raised their wands. "Pretty Cure!"

"Haunted Hex!"

"Jack-o-Jinx!"

"Cobweb Curse!"

"Two!" said Jet, as she tucked her sword into its suddenly-appearing sheath and gripped Grandmaster's hand. Grandmaster joined her to chant the finisher in unison. "Precure Heartpiece Capture!"

Cure Garuda looked to her two best friends. "And… three! Pretty Cure Amber Dive!"

"Moonlit Snare!"

"Hellfire Slash!"

Caught between eight bursts of magic, the Humglum let out a last pathetic whisper of its own name before dissolving. As it disintegrated, not one, but three Courage Beads. Jade, Spectre, and Jet each picked one up, and in turn showed the rest of the group the designs, each basically the same, but with a few key differences. Though all had monsters at the forefront, one showed too many teeth and spikes for any reasonable beast. The next was designed with multiple eyes, and the third had long, twisted arms that seemed to be depicted moving in unnatural ways.

They switched their view over to the group, where three sleeping bodies not there before now rested. One was Abbey, her straight black and white hair falling over her face. The other two were a couple of the girls who were said to hate her. "Well, those are all our monster, alright. I guess maybe our scene friend was trying to deal with her own fears in the best way she knew how, and it just caught the others in a bad situation," said Cure Witch with a frown. "I'm a little worried, though. I've never seen…"

"A combination Humglum… neither have I."

There was no cursing, no bitter faces, but rather just calm resignation as the girls watched a new Precure step from behind the trees. Her hair was long, golden, and curling all around her ears and neck, down to the midpoint of her back. Sun-shaped tattoos marked her arms, and her dress was as golden as everything else. She was, surprisingly, smiling.

"Amelie?" asked Cure Grandmaster.

The Cure's smile grew. "You can call me Cure Luciole for now, girls."

"Well then, Cure Luciole," said Garuda, "we have something for you before you say anything. Hold out your hands."

The three girls holding the newly-gained beads brought them forward, and the others began to unclasp and remove their own Courage Beads. "We don't want what we've gained to go to waste," explained Cure Jade.

"And though our memories, hopes, and friendships won't, the Beads might have," said Spectre.

Cure Jet dumped the first one unceremoniously into Luciole's outstretched hands. "So they're yours now."

The grown Cure looked down on it in surprise, then shook her head and handed it back. "I can't accept this. You earned these, however, ah, wrongly."

"But if we can't use them, what's the point?"

"Well…" Luciole appraised them. "You're all very good at what you do. I thought I might have to step in, but no. You work well as a team, and I'm sure that power will be harnessed well when you're on staff in a few years. Until then, I'm sure you'll be responsible enough not to use the power you have."

"You're not going to, like… take it away?" asked Cure Cerberus.

Luciole grinned and shrugged. "I can't. And how can I punish you for something that nobody can know about, including my own superiors? So, I'm just going to give you the worst thing I know." Luciole glared at them, and the glance was chilling… or at least, it was until you saw the twinkle behind it. "Don't do it again, or else. Now, I'm going to leave, and when I come back…"

"Normal campers," chimed the eight girls as they tried to hide their smiles.

"Great. See you in five."

When the group arrived back at the cabin, neither of the other observation groups had returned yet, though that was partially due to the fact that with two counselors and three groups, Kendra, DJ, and Delcine had been left with another program's staff member and Amelie had to pick them up, something she did immediately upon the other group's safe arrival in the cabin.

For a moment, the girls collapsed onto their beds, but then Brandy began laughing. "We all look like wrecks," she said. "Maybe showers are in order all around?"

"As soon as I can stand," muttered Sofía.

The door to the cabin creaked open and Biddy walked in, followed by Vita, Mallory, Brooke, and Harper. Each young woman had twigs in her hair, dirt on her face, and a wide-eyed surprise at seeing most of the other CITs much the same way.

"Nice observation?" croaked Biddy after a moment, and the five girls nodded.

"You?" asked Bing with a nervous smile. Even Vita was quiet as Biddy shrugged and walked past.

As soon as the counselor was in her room, Mallory smiled cheerfully, but not too genuinely. "I think all us in the Biddy group are going to go take a shower! There's four stalls, right? Yeah, just enough for us! So none of you come in until we're done! Okay, bye!"

And they were gone.

Brandy raised an eyebrow and nudged Sofía. "You think they're…"

"What? No way. We'd know about it by now."

"Do you think they might be…" Brooke trailed off, her round face scrunched up in worry, her hands on her cheeks.

Vita scoffed. "What? No way."

"I agree," said Harper. "If they were also Precure, we'd know by now."

Special ED: Song of Stories, Song of Summer