WHAT???" Bryant balks in surprise. "There's a third pegasus? I thought there were just two!"
"I'm not kidding!" Ruida protests. "Just as I was about to take PreCure here to the Black Realm, another pegasus appeared and shot rainbow stars at me, freeing PreCure!"
"A most interesting turn of events..." Yende muses. "My question is, who is this pegasus and how does it relate to what we curently know about PreCure?
Lautia then warps into the room. "What's all this about a winged horse?"
"Ruida claims to have found a third winged horse that rescued PreCure just as she captured them." Yende explains to Lautia.
"Really?" Lautia is intrigued.
"I was so close to catching PreCure!" Ruida adds. "Then that third winged horse came!"
"It would help all of us and Lady Dischord if you could somehow make it appear again." Bruyant explains as he brings up an image of Eika. "Once we know what it is capable of, we can capture it, the one it's connected to, and PreCure."
"Great idea!" Lautia smiles.
"I'll do it!" Ruida volunteers. "And this time, PreCure will not escape!"
[OP: "DANZEN! Futari wa PreCure (Flash Fire ver.)"]
We join Homura, Yuki, and Aiden by a table not far from the cafeteria, doing homework. "It's been a week or two since Aiden befriended Eika, another pegasus from the Crystal Plains." she narrates as we see scenes of Aiden and Eika's first meeting in a flashback. "While he was initially overwhelmed when first told about our quest and his role within it, so far he's been doing a great job protecting us." We see Eika freeing PreCure before returning to the present.
"So, have you guys heard about the uproar concerning our big English exam?" Aiden asks.
"No, what happened?" Yuki asks, piqued.
"Based on my understanding..." Kaede adds as she joins the others at the table. "One of the eighth grade English teachers brought the answer key to the test with her while she was overseeing the computer lab on Monday, and it mysteriously disappeared while she was helping a student. Furthermore, she saw a student--I believe her name is Rui--place something round inside the answer key. Whether that has to do with the disappearance of the answer key, I'm not sure, but so far, no one has claimed responsibility, and the school is offering a reward of extra credit on all exams to whoever finds it."
"So Rui took the answer key?" Homura is confused.
"No--a teacher claims she saw Rui place something inside or onto the answer key--that's what led the staff to assume that she took the answer key, leaving her as the prime suspect." Kaeade explains before getting up to leave. "If I find out more information, I will let you know."
"Thanks, Kae-sempai!" Homura waves goodbye as Kaede disappears into the crowd, leaving them the only ones in the study area some minutes later.
"Good thing we all have study hall this period..." Aiden smiles as he takes out his gold DS.
Hinote appears from the red DS seconds later. "Interesting books you have here-hino..."
"We were answering the questions in them, but then the news about a missing answer key ruined my will to work." Homura explains.
Kouri emerges from the blue DS at the same time Eika appears. "What's going on-kori?"
"Allow me to fill the horsies in..." Aiden assures the girls. "See, in our world, when the wise ones want to see how much we know about something, they give us a test on it. Only the wise humans are allowed to see the answers, which they use to determine how we did on the test."
"I see-eiko..." Eika replies.
"That's why the school is so worried about a test's answers when they are missing." Yuki continues. "Sometimes a student finds them when they are not supposed to and gives away the answers."
"That that isn't fair to those that put in an effort-hino!" Hinote notes.
"It isn't, which is why they harshly punish you if you cheat." Homura explains.
"What I don't get is the claim that Rui put something in or on the answer key...." Aiden muses. "Is there more to Rui than we know?"
"I'm pretty sure there is-eiko, and we can learn about Rui's true form if we first find the test answers." Eika assures Aiden.
[Episode title: "The case against Ruida! The Black Realm among us!"]
That evening, the girls and Aiden meet outside the school building. "We have found that the leader of the Black Realm, a being known as Lady Dischord, has four advisors that form a shield around her to protect her from hearing the Eight Melodies-hino." Hinote explains to Aiden. "So far, PreCure has only dealt with the weakest one, who has been masquerading as a student among you-hino."
At least red horsie shares my suspicions... Aiden thinks.
"Part of the mystery is whether or not this being has planted a monster in the missing test answers-eiko." Eika continues. "so our objective tonight is to find both her and the test answers."
"How are we going to get inside the school to start looking?" Homura wonders. "The school's locked by now."
"Not for long!" Eika conjures a star shaped key and a number of other items before giving the key to Homura. "This is the Star Key--it can open any door-eiko!"
"Nice, an infrared sensor!" Aiden smiles as he looks at a binocular-like device, which shows him the infrared pattern of the three pegasi when he looks in it.
Yuki examines a box-like device with a white fingerprint sensor--when she finds Aiden's fingerprints on the infrared sensor and looks at them through the white sensor, it beams back an analysis of his fingerprints. Fascinating...
"You've thought of everything, Eika!" Homura laughs as she unlocks the back entrance with the Star Key.
"I have one list thing to give you-eiko..." and Eika conjures three small walkie-talkies. "This will allow you to talk with each other even though you are miles away."
"Let's go inside..." Aiden motions for the girls to follow him inside, where they wind through the halls for a while until they arrive at the computer lab where the answer key was last seen.
"Yuki and I will check and make sure it wasn't left behind in here." Homura offers as she accepts a fingerprint analyzer from Aiden.
"I'll check the classrooms to see if it wasn't left in one of them by accident." Aiden explains. "The code if you need help from me is 'Shining Star'"
"Understood." Yuki replies as Aiden departs.
The girls waste no time dusting for and analyzing the different fingerprints around the monitor's desk, but none of them appear to match Rui--just the number of monitors that are on duty each day.
Yuki is about to give up when she thinks she sees a female figure with features similar to Rui wandering the hallway. Could that be who I think it is?
[CM break]
Meanwhile, Aiden enters the eighth grade exam hall and dusts for fingerprints around the teacher's desk. After looking at them with the fingerprint analyzer, he sighs whe he sees that the prints around the area only match the teacher and one of her assistants.
"Any luck-eiko?" Eika asks.
"Nope." Aiden sighs as he puts away the fingerprint analyzer. "Let's go see how the girls--" Suddenly, a growl gets his attention, so he fishes out the infrared sensor and flicks it on. "Who's there?"
"We're here, if that assures you at all..." Homura begins as she enters the room with Yuki, who is carrying what fingerprints the girls have found.
"I heard a growl before you two came, so there's definitely something else here..." Aiden notes as he studies another unfamiliar heat pattern located by a window in a shadowy corner.
Yuki fumbles for her flashlight keychain and flicks it on, revealing one of the exam papers--or what an exam paper would look like with muscles, firey red eyes, sharp teeth, strong legs, and blades for appendages. She screams in surprise, but Aiden tosses a chair at the Urusainaa, buying the girls time to escape. The Urusainna, meanwhile, tries again and again to destroy the chair, but cannot cut through the metal and plastic.
With Aiden distracting the Urusainaa, the girls jam the music note game cards into their DSes, join hands and call "Dual Elemental Fury!" sending a wave of flames and ice over them.
Inside the cocoon of flames and ice, Homura's body, now glowing red, first gains a ruffley shirt-like outfit, colored red, gold, and orange, before gaining a matching skirt in the same colors. Yuki gets the same sort of outfit on her glowing blue body, only hers is colored in silver, light blue, and dark blue. Homura next gains some black fingerless gloves, while Yuki gets some white gloves that have fingers. Homura's next piece of clothing is red pants with gold trim and brown shoes, with a gold bow with a red button on the shirt to finish. Yuki gains some light blue pants with silver and dark blue trim and white shoes, with a light blue bow with a dark blue button in the center.
As the cocoon clears, Homura steps into the grass. "The flames of a pulsing rhythm, Cure Ember!"
"The lullaby of a winter's night, Cure Glacier!" Yuki agrees as she joins her partner.
"We are PreCure!" both call to no one in particular.
"Ember! Paper burns when exposed to fire, so try and kick it!" Aiden suggests as he grapples with the paper-Urusainaa by throwing another chair in its direction.
"Hah!" Ember tries to kick the Urusainaa, but it puts up a blue shield, rendering Ember's attack useless.
"You thought defeating my pets would be that simple, did you...." Ruida smirks as she warps into the room. "It's smarter than that."
So Rui really IS the being that PreCure's been fighting all this time! Aiden is shocked once he puts two and two together. But what would she want with an answer key for an important exam?
"We've said it before and we'll say it again--we're not giving the Rainbow Notes to you, ever!" Ember barks.
"Stubbron as always...maybe I ought to kidnap your friend here to get you to talk." Ruida muses as the Urusainaa picks up Aiden and prepares to cut his throat with a paper blade. "Tell me where the Rainbow Notes are, and your friend will live--refuse, and he will die. Is that a deal?" she sneers as she watches Aiden try to get free.
Glacier grunts. "Aiden's helped us many times before, and you have no right to kill him!"
"What has he ever done to you?" Ember agrees.
Eika...where are you when I need you? Aiden silently pleads, ever aware of the paper blade looming inches from his throat.
A flash of gold gets Ruida's attention, and a stream of rainbow stars comes flying at the Urusainaa. "Star Beam!" Ruida gasps and warps away as Eika flies into the room. She fires more rainbow stars as the Urusainaa drops Aiden, which destroys its paper blade, and sends it flying backwards.
"You saved me, Eika!" Aiden weakly smiles as he eases himself to his feet.
"Anytime-eiko!" Eika smiles.
Kouri flies up to Aiden and notices a few scrapes and small gashes dotting his arms and legs. "The Urusainaa must've roughed you up a lot to get wounds this bad-kori..."
"I have gotten worse wounds before." Aiden replies as he tries to get up.
"Hold still--Kouri will see to it you're good as new-hino." Hinote urges Aiden to lie down, allowing Kouri to examine his wounds.
After studying the small gashes and scrapes on Aiden's body, Kouri envelopes Aiden in blue light and commands "Healing Snow..." After a few tense seconds, Aiden gasps as he sees snow falling around him, despite that he is inside a building. That, and the snow is falling on his wounds, making them disappear in a strangely soothing warmth.
Ember, meanwhile, sees the Urusainaa starting to get up, and takes that opportunity to charge a fireball. "Fire of a beat eternal..."
"Melody soft as falling snow..." Glacier says as she charges an ice ball.
"Together with the songs of PreCure..." Ember continues, holding her ball high.
"Let all the world sing of the promise of love!" Glacier adds, holding her ball high.
"PreCure...Frosty Fever!" With that, both balls are slammed to the ground, making a wave of fire and ice engulf the Urusainaa, returning it to a normal piece of paper and healing what damage was caused.
"Is everyone okay?" Aiden asks as he looks around the trashed classroom.
"I think so..." Homura replies as she and Yuki return and begin helping Aiden clean up the mess.
"The good news is, we found the missing answer key-eiko!" Eika reports as she unearths the missing answer key from the mess.
"Although, do we know if Rui took it or not?" Yuki wonders.
"Oddly enough, no one took it at all." Aiden replies. "It turns out that while we were busy chasing down Rui, Eika found it in one of the computer labs' trash cans, and we were going to take it back here when we got attacked. It seems the teacher on duty in the lab on Monday accidentally let it fall in the trash." he explains as he sets the answer key by a stack of exams on the teacher's desk.
"So is the school's offer for a reward for nothing?" Yuki asks.
"Probably not, but I wouldn't mind some extra credit for finding it!" Homura smiles, making everyone laugh.
[ED: "Mamoru no Melody"]
[NEXT WEEK: "Dreaming among the stars! A Rainbow Note on our field trip!"]