Gogo walked down the sidewalk, appearing to be on lookout for something as she leaned forward and retrieved her phone from her pocket. She turned on the phone and looked at the map displayed on it, furrowing her brows at the screen.
"The last thing I'd want is to get lost here..." Gogo said quietly to herself," It'd be pretty embarrassing to text Rumi and ask for directions since it seems like I'm really close."
Gogo groaned as she tried looking over into the distance as she stated," It says the ice-cream shop is about four hundred meters that a way but..."
Gogo then turned around and looked into the opposite direction," What if it really means that a way? This isn't getting me anywhere, I don't even know what street I'm on."
After exhaling another sigh, Gogo pondered on what next she should do. Rumi called her on short notice saying that she wanted to treat Gogo to ice-cream and something else Rumi kept as a secret, but the location Rumi sent her wasn't one she was all that familiar with. And Gogo wasn't that great at reading a map.
Bordering on frantic, Gogo refreshed the map on her phone while muttering to herself," I'd ask someone for directions but there isn't even anyone around. And what if they have no clue what I'm talking about and I just make a fool out of myself?"
"Mommy do you need help finishing that?" Gogo suddenly then heard what sounded like a little girl ask as she saw two figures walking in her direction. Gogo looked over towards them and saw the taller figure with a banana split in her hands.
"We'll have to see dear." The mother answered with a chuckle, unknowingly sending hope to Gogo.
"I'm headed the right way!" Gogo cheered in her head as she suddenly began to run until she saw the ice-cream shop. She panted for a few moments, silently cursing herself for thoughtlessly sprinting towards the direction where the ice-cream shop was supposed to be.
"There's no doubt, this is it." Gogo said as she looked at the ice cream shop before she read the name of it written on it's glass doors," Dream Scoops."
Gogo opened the door to the shop and instinctively breathed in a sigh of relief, something about an ice cream shop never failed to make Gogo feel at ease. Maybe it was that aroma of waffle cones that flowed throughout the small shop or just the sight of all the pretty colours of ice cream buckets displayed at the front.
The line at the shop wasn't very long and there appeared to be only two people behind the counter right now. One was a fair-skinned tall guy with light brown hair and the other was a girl with a tan complexion and blue hair. Gogo seemed somewhat interested in the girl as she unconsciously started to stare at her. The girl behind the counter was currently too busy taking orders to notice Gogo's stare.
"How does she get her hair like that?" Gogo wondered as she stared at the girl. Her hair was arranged in what could only be described as a single large loop above her head.
The girl eventually noticed Gogo and her staring and soon cleared her throat asking," What can I get for you?"
"Ah, um do you have any milkshakes?" Gogo asked, not meeting the girl's gaze yet and still looking at her hair," Also, is Rumi in right now?"
"At least look at me when I'm trying to take your order." The girl said under her breath before turning her head to the back room and saying," Takai! You got a visitor!"
Rumi appeared out of the an entrance that seemed to lead to the ice-cream shop's backroom wearing the exact same uniform as the girl that Gogo was conversing with. Rumi offered Gogo and the girl a kind smile, unaware of how tense Gogo was beginning to feel in the presence of this girl.
"Gogo, I'm glad you were able to find the place, would you like to get a milkshake before we talk?" Rumi offered with Gogo nodding vigorously response.
After Gogo got her milkshake, the two of them sat outside the shop on a bench in silence for a few moments. Gogo took large sips from her cup, the chocolate milkshake Rumi made her being better than she expected as she tried thinking of what to say to Rumi now. Gogo held back on a sigh; She still wasn't able to ease into a conversation with Rumi but at least she didn't feel out of place sitting next to Rumi like she used to.
"My coworker Chinatsu can be a little intimidating sometimes, sorry if she made you feel uncomfortable or anything..." Rumi began sheepishly with a forced chuckle," She's pretty stern sometimes but she's really nice once you get to know her."
Gogo just nodded in understanding as she continued to drink the milkshake, forcing Rumi to talk in hopes that awkward silence wouldn't form .
"Right, um I guess you wanted to know why I asked you to come over to see me today! Well, I guess I could've just easily said this over text but..." Rumi began stiffly,"...You've been to the carnival that happens every June here right? The one that really huge Ferris wheel and all those games and stuff?"
Blinking for a few moments, Gogo remembered the carnival with ease as she pictured it in her mind. She may've only went once, but going there was unforgettable experience. She didn't get to go every year like how other classmates or even Taeko did because her household was too big, plus the boys were too small to go on a lot of the rides and the admission fees were outrageous. But the night Gogo went about several years ago, she could recall all the rides lit up as she went at night and having her hand gripped tightly by her father as she walked in a giant crowd of people.
"So, a cousin of mine works in admissions for the carnival and she was able to get free tickets and I thought it would be fun for us to go together!" Rumi offered," So would you like to go?"
"Yeah, that sounds like fun. It's actually been a long time since I went anyways..." Gogo admitted nervously.
"I only got three though and I was going to give the last one to my brother, is that ok?" Rumi asked with Gogo nodding in response," Great, so the tickets are valid for any day during the time the carnival's open so we'll just have to decide on when we can go."
Gogo walked home about an hour after, once the two of them decided on what day they were going to go. Gogo started imagining how the day going to the fair with Rumi would go and wondered what kinda rides Rumi would want to go on. Gogo never got to go on many of the rides at the carnival when she went her first time and all of a sudden Gogo started feeling somewhat unprepared.
"The rides probably aren't even all that scary, maybe they'll actually be fun." Gogo said to herself with a shrug as she pictured herself on a roller coaster with Rumi. Gogo smiled a small smile at the thought, but then she imagined herself getting awfully nauseous with her knees wobbling as she exited the ride with Rumi.
Gogo stared up to the sky, seeming only slightly annoyed to herself as she said," I just can't think positively, can I?"
Once Rumi's shift was finished she walked home in the opposite direction that Gogo had walked in and took in her surroundings to clear her mind. The nights were getting longer now and so the sun was finally beginning to set. It wasn't that dark out but the night grew cool quicker than Rumi had expected. Rumi thought about how she offered to take Gogo to the carnival with her, wondering if it could've gone better. Gogo did seem interested in going, that was undoubtedly a good sign but somehow Rumi still wondered if she wanted to go with her. It would've been a good chance to bond with Gogo and maybe things would become less, awkward between them after this.
"Somehow, it still feels like there's some kind of friction between us and it's not just my fault or just hers...we're equally awkward." Rumi thought to herself," She could be annoyed with me for dragging her out to tell her about the carnival, but she did seem to like the milkshake quite a bit, so maybe that made up for the walk. Maybe if we brought Miss Hightower along, things wouldn't feel uncomfortable. That could work but...I can't give her Kei's ticket."
Rumi remembered her cousin handing her the tickets a couple of days ago.
"Are you sure it's ok? You don't want to give them to your friends or your parents?" Rumi asked her cousin Akira curiously.
"My friends are working at the carnival too and my parents aren't really interested in going so it's fine! Take Kei and a friend!" Akira suggested as she handed her the tickets.
Rumi nodded as she took the tickets, looking at them in her hands as she said," This isn't really Kei's thing either."
"I had a feeling you were going to say that, but my bro thinks Kei should go. He seen at work and he said that Kei has been looking pretty bored lately, like he could use some excitement. Nothing like an amusement park to cheer someone up, wouldn't you agree?" Akira responded with a big grin on her face.
As Rumi approached her house, she fished for her keys in her purse as walked towards the door. She looked up and saw that the light were on in her brother's room. As Rumi found her keys, she pulled them out from her bag and opened the door quietly. Rumi took a deep breath as she walked upstairs towards Kei's room, standing next to the doorway of his bedroom.
"Hey, I told my friend about the carnival tickets and she said says she's down to come with us." Rumi said casually, though she knew her tone of voice wouldn't change how Kei would respond.
"I still don't want to go." Kei said flatly. He was sitting at the writing desk in his room, with his feet up on the desktop as he inspected his glasses for dirt on them.
"But everyone wants to go, I mean it's not just rides there; they've got games, the best takoyaki in town and..." Rumi trailed off, knowing that her words were falling on deaf ears," It's not the carnival I know I just...I want you to have fun for once."
"Whatever." Kei said uninterestedly as he reached for his phone on the other side of his desk.
"It would take much more than an amusement park to cheer up Kei." Rumi thought to herself.
Rumi didn't waste another second of her time and simply walked off to her room. She sat cross-legged on her bed, with only the moon giving light to her room. She thought about that day when she received those tickets from her cousin Akira. Later that day when she had been giving the tickets, she got to have dinner with Akira's family and as always, the dinners with Akira and her household were nothing like what Rumi was used to at her home. Akira would talk about her day with her parents and they'd discuss other normal stuff and Akira would always tease her brother at least once at the dinner table. Those two were always very close, and Rumi couldn't help but feel envious whenever she saw them.
"Must be nice." Rumi said to herself with a sigh.
Next weekend, Gogo was staring down her wardrobe, trying to decide what would be best to wear for today's outing. Scrutinizing all of the shirts hung up in her closet, Gogo was indecisive as she gingerly picked out one t-shirt from it's hanger. Usually Gogo wasn't really so unsure of what to wear out and as her sister walked past her room, she noticed Gogo staring down the shirt in her hands.
"Trying to impress Rumi?" Saori smirked as Gogo continued to look at the shirt.
"Not really, just trying to find a shirt I'd be ok with messing up with my-"
"-Gogo, that's gross." Saori interrupted," You're supposed to be excited about going to the carnival! Not worrying about how scary the rides will be!"
"It was exciting at first, but I've never even gone on a roller-coaster, so I just want to be prepared for the worst." Gogo shrugged as she tossed an extra shirt into her bag.
Saori rolled her eyes and asked," So it's just you and Rumi going?"
"No, her brother's tagging along too," Gogo responded as she packed some snacks into her bag, receiving a suspicious look from her sister," What? I heard food from the carnival is expensive."
"As practical as ever. Either way, I hope you have fun today." Saori said as she left Gogo to her snack packing.
Rumi threw on a sleeveless top in her room before she checked the time on her watch. There was still quite a bit of time left until they would leave. Rumi glanced over towards her door, tempted to check up on Kei and see if he was ready. Rumi could already see herself and Gogo having tons of fun at the carnival, riding every roller-coaster at the park, while Kei would be sulking away at in a bench in the corner. She knew that her cousin already talked to Kei last night, practically forcing him to go, telling him that the amusement park was a fun place and he was sure to have a good time there. If only her cousin knew that his claim really couldn't apply to Kei, who had a hard enough time putting on a fake smile for them that night.
Just then, Rumi's phone rang and she picked it up in an instant.
"Hi Chinatsu, how's it going?" She asked as she placed the tickets inside her bag," Yeah, I'm heading out today with Kei and my friend Gogo. Cover a shift? I don't think I'd be able to today. Well, what do you mean there's like no one else there? Weren't the new girls gonna work today? I see, well, if I come in, could I get to leave early? Ok, thanks, I'll see in you in an hour."
Rumi hung up the phone and threw it against the bed," Great, work was the last place I wanted to be at today."
She changed out of her outfit and threw on her uniform as she shouted outside her room," Kei! I got called in for work so I have to come later. You and my friend Gogo are going to go together."
"No thanks." Kei shouted back as Rumi stormed into his room," Besides, can't we all just go tonight?"
"But-!" Just then, Rumi's phone rang again," Oh hi Gogo! Excited for today? Oh, that's really nice of you. So...would you have any objections with us going tonight?"
"Well, I kinda wished you mentioned that earlier, cuz I'm getting a ride with my parents right now. They're spending the day with some relatives and the park is on the way there." Gogo responded into the phone, with the park coming into view.
"Oh, you're almost there? Ok, then that's totally fine, it's just that I'll have to join you guys a bit later, work called me in, sorry about that. I'll see you then ok?" Rumi said as she hung up the phone and glared at Kei.
"Now what did I do?" Kei asked in mock defense.
"Nothing, but you can't go looking like that." Rumi declared as she examined Kei from head to toe. Wearing nothing but a sweater, old t-shirt and jeans, Rumi held back on a sigh before she started to look through Kei's closet, knowing that he owned some nice clothes, it's just that he never once wore them yet.
She threw a blue and grey checkered button shirt with short sleeves and a pair of tan shorts in his direction.
"Put these on." Rumi insisted while Kei scrutinized the top she just pelted at him.
"This looks like a tablecloth." Kei commented flatly.
"Ok, so if you leave now you could get there in about thirty-five, forty minutes depending on traffic...gosh I should've just gave Gogo her ticket before today. Whatever, just when you get there, keep an eye out for Gogo; she's short, has dark burgundy hair and wears sunflowers in her hair and- You're listening aren't you?"
"Not really." Kei admitted uninterestedly as he started to check through his phone, the clothes Rumi picked out for him now on the floor.
"Look, right now, you aren't just going because I told you to. You're now in charge of making sure this gets to Gogo." Rumi said as she put the pair of tickets in his hand," And you're now also in change of making sure that Gogo has fun today."
"Pass." Kei replied, but Rumi didn't desist.
"Can you just go and give Gogo the ticket then?" Rumi asked," I'm not in the mood to argue at this point, I just don't want Gogo to waiting around there all by herself."
"Fine." Kei answered as he shooed Rumi away so he could change. Rumi smiled a small smile at her little victory and gathered her things before heading to work.
It was getting hot at the park and standing out in the open at the admission gate was starting to get to Gogo.
"Is she here yet?" Gogo asked as she started to fan herself weakly with her hand, under the impression that she'd be at these gates until Rumi was done with work. When she was told that she spend the morning with Kei, Gogo felt a rush of fear come over her, mainly because she wasn't prepared for this. Had she had known that it was just going to be her and Kei for most of the day, she would've tried to think of what rides a guy like him would prefer, some killer conversation topics and other stuff. Earlier, the thought of hanging with Kei and only Kei made extremely uneasy, but as the minutes passed, Gogo found herself less caught up in her worries and focused on how hot she was getting out here as she waited. As time dragged on, it seemed less and less likely that Kei was going to come, so gave up on the thought of spending time with him and concentrated more on the heat.
"Are you sure your friend's still coming?" A security guard asked Gogo, taking note of how long she had been stand at the corner here by herself.
Gogo nodded tiredly in response and the guard offered to get her some water. She nodded and the guard left for the water.
She looked towards the park, it was as big as she remembered it, maybe even bigger. She could hear screams from the roller coaster near the entrance of the park, as well as music playing from inside. Gogo watched as dozens of people entered the park, all them looking pretty excited for the day ahead of them. At this point, Gogo wasn't feeling as excited as before and just wanted to lie down in the shade.
The guard walked over with a cup of water for Gogo. She eyed it eagerly and took large sips from it.
"So what does this friend of yours look like?" The guard as while Gogo was still drinking.
"Good question." Gogo muttered under her breath," Um, he's tall and his hair is dark, he wears glasses and he kinda looks..."
"-Like that?" The guard interrupted as he pointed to Kei standing a few feet away from them, searching the crowd for Gogo.
Gogo nodded and started calling out Kei's name. As he walked over to her, Gogo started to feel nervous all over again as her face turned red.
"Ready to go?" Gogo asked awkwardly as she kept her gaze away from Kei's eyes and narrowed in on his feet.
Kei was about to say no but thinking about how Gogo was probably going to be alone for most of the morning made him pity her. So Kei nodded and the two of them walked towards the admission gate. Gogo waved to the guard and he gave her a thumbs-up and wink, which confused her slightly.
As the two of them walked into the park, Gogo took in her surroundings. The music was louder now, and the area was a little less crowded than the admission gates. From here, Gogo could see a line of restaurants on either side of her as well as four different entrances to different areas of the park. She looked up at saw a Ferris wheel on her left, a giant roller coaster on her right along with a sign pointing towards a mini water park and an even bigger roller coaster in the far distance straight ahead of her.
"This place is huge!" Gogo gawked as she tried to decide which ride they could go on first.
"Any ride you wanted get over with?" Kei asked as he looked around the park, appearing bored already.
Gogo started to mentally go over all of options and declared," Let's try the Ferris wheel."
The two of them walked over to the line of the Ferris wheel, and saw that the line was somewhat long, but not as long as the line for the roller-coaster they just walked past.
"Great, a long line means a long awkward silence if I don't start thinking of anything to say." Gogo said to herself.
She glanced over towards Kei, who was just staring at a nearby stream. A look of apprehension appeared on her face as she tried thinking of something, anything to say.
"Weather sure is brutal today? Yeah sure, start with the most blandest thing to talk about. It's really busy today? Boring, but maybe it could work. Wait, maybe I can just talk about the park and ask about his favourite ride here. That's perfect!"
Gogo then cleared her throat and asked," So, which ride do you think is the best one here?"
"Don't know." Kei said curtly, slightly discouraging Gogo in doing so.
Gogo tried laughing it off and replied with," Yeah, with so many rides here, I get why you can't pick just one!"
"Christ, I sounded so fake, like I was in some kinda commercial for the park. So, maybe talking about the park wasn't the best idea. But if I can't talk about the park with him then what else is there?"
"Rumi said you came early?" Kei asked casually.
"Huh? Oh, well yeah 'cuz my parents and brothers were going to see some family members out of town. I could've gone but we're heading to the park today and I also don't really like that part of the family."
For a split-second, Gogo could've sworn she saw Kei smile, so she cautiously continued her statement," They ask a bit too many weird questions for my liking."
"That's what the worst relatives always do." Kei informed, with Gogo smiling in response.
They went on the Ferris wheel and Gogo couldn't help but admire the view when they reached the top of it. It was unlike anything she had ever seen as she gazed down to the bottom where groups of people were crowded in lines for other rides around the area.
"Hey look at the size of that slide! And check out that ship swinging next to the water! And look at that, that thing!" Gogo marveled as she pointed to a ride that she couldn't quite describe.
Curious, Kei looked over in the direction Gogo was pointing at and saw the ride she was pointing to," It's called the Scrambler, should we go on that ride later?"
"For sure!"
The rest of the day was filled with Gogo and Kei going on as many rides as they could, minus the roller-coasters as Gogo had yet to find the courage for going on them. Gogo was thankful that Kei wasn't bothering her or asking her why she had been avoiding the roller-coasters the entire time as he followed behind her without question. After just going on the swinging ship though, Gogo wasn't sure if she really was ready for a roller coaster yet as she took a seat on a nearby bench.
"It's about three now, so it won't be long until Rumi gets here." Gogo noted," Maybe we can go on one more ride and then wait for her?"
Kei nodded and then asked," So what ride do you want to go on next?"
Gogo pointed towards the Scrambler while staring at Kei.
"Ah, I didn't realize it was right next to the swinging ship." Kei said as Gogo started to run over to the ride.
Gogo and Kei got on the scrambler and sat down in the seats while waiting for the ride to start.
"Would you say this is a good ride?" Gogo asked, the excitement creeping up in her voice.
"It's ok, I guess." Kei asked, seconds before the ride began. The two were spun around in their seats, with Gogo screaming and Kei remaining mute. The ride was so fast that Gogo could feel tears streaming out from her eyes. Unlike the swinging ship, she wasn't feeling like she was getting butterflies, this time she was actually enjoying herself quite a bit. Once the ride stopped, Gogo felt rather dizzy as she stepped out and had to take a moment to just stand in place before walking again.
"That was the best one yet!" Gogo exclaimed," We'll have to go on that one again with Rumi, in the mean time, let's have some of the snacks I brought in my bag."
The two of them walked over to a bench located in a section of the park with a large playground and fun-house mirrors around it.
Gogo opened up her bag and laid out all the snacks between them on the bench she brought for the day.
"Ok, so I brought chocolate and strawberry Pocky, a bag of chips, some cookies, and sour candy." Gogo listed off as the two of them stared down at the snacks in front of them.
"I'm just gonna get some fries over there ok?" Kei stated as he pointed to a food stall nearby. Gogo nodded and Kei left.
"Great, now I'm craving fries." Gogo said to herself as the scent from the food stall started to fill the air. Just then, Gogo started to hear the sound of a kid crying and saw a little boy standing by himself with his arms over his eyes. Gogo took a closer look at him; his eyes were all red from crying, he wore a blue and white striped shirt with dark shorts and he had a backpack that seemed one size too big for him on his back.
Gogo approached him, kneeling down next to him as she said," Hey little man, are you ok?"
"I can't find my mom anywhere!" The little boy bawled as Gogo put her hand on his shoulder," I think she went home without me!"
"No, I don't think she'd do that; she's probably worried sick about you," Gogo assured him as Kei walked over to the two of them with a box of fries in hand," So where did you last see your mom?"
"We were getting out of the line for the merry-go-round and the crowd was really big and then she was gone! I looked around the entire merry-go-round and I couldn't find her there! What if I never see her again?"
The little boy started crying again and Kei then spoke up.
"Hey, crying isn't going to get you anywhere right now. I mean, what would Macrochamp do?" Kei asked him.
The boy seemed surprised momentarily and then said," He'd get back on his feet because he's got bad guys to beat!"
Gogo thought she saw Kei mouth the last part of that sentence with the boy, but she figured she might've just imagined that.
"Ok, how about we look for a security guard and ask them to help out? Maybe ask them if the mom has already been in contact with them?" Gogo suggested.
Kei nodded and before they went to search for security guards, Gogo whispered to Kei," Nice job on calming the kid down. But, how did you know he liked that Macrochamp guy?"
Kei then pointed to the boy's backpack which had a huge image of Macrochamp on it.
On the other side of the park Nijoux sat on top on a food stall, eating cotton candy off of a stick.
"Strange, it's like eating a sickeningly sweet cloud. But's it's sticking onto my lipstick..." Nijoux noted as she stuck her tongue out.
"Excuse miss? You need to get down from there." A security guard shouted to her.
"Ah that's right. I've got better things to do than this." Nijoux reminded herself as she stood up and saw a man sitting by himself on a bench.
"Endopath, turn his cheer into absolute fear!" Nijoux shouted as she materialized a black frowning star in front of the man. The star multiplied with one of them heading towards him and the other towards the cotton candy in Nijoux's hand.
Nijoux let go of the cotton candy and it morphed into an Endopath.
"Endopath!" The monsterfied cotton candy stick bellowed.
"Ayato! Thank goodness we found you!" The mother of the little boy cried as she knelt down and hugged the boy tightly," You must've been scared to death! I'm glad you found these two to help you find me. Thank you so much for your help!"
"It was nothing, really" Gogo said sheepishly, before the group of them heard shouting coming from the other end of the park, along with the roars of the Endopath.
"What was that?" The mother asked before they all saw the cotton candy Endopath rampaging through the park.
"I think we've all had enough excitement for one day, we should all get out of here now!" Gogo declared as they all started to run towards the entrance of the park. Gogo ran behind them them and once they were far enough she hid behind a tree and reached out for her locket.
"Wait." She said to herself before she transformed.
"An Endopath made from cotton candy?" Well that's going to be a pain to try and attack, I'm at the entrance, I'll try to sneak into the park ok? Thanks for telling me in advance Gogo." Rumi said as she hung up, dashing towards the entrance.
"Pretty Cure, Vivacious Spark!" Joy shouted as she hopped from the top of a lamp post and landed behind a bench. The attack didn't do much to the Endopath, and it seemed as if all that happened was that the Endopath absorbed it.
"Oh come on! I know you can do better than that! Aren't you the one who loves to punch things a trillion times and stuff?" Nijoux chided from the top of the food stall.
"I'm not trying to punch an Endopath made from cotton candy." Joy hissed with her eyes narrowed at Nijoux,"I hope Rumi gets here soon..."
"So then what will you do? Because if my Endopath puts up a boring fight, then I get bored and then when I get bored I leave and find a better way for my Endopath to entertain me." Nijoux stated as laced her hands under her chin.
"Fine, if it's a fight that you want..." Joy began as she leapt up from behind the bench and towards the stick of the Endopath's body," It's a fight that you'll get!"
Joy began punch the stick of the Endopath furiously, while Nijoux and the Endopath looked at her in confusion.
Nijoux snapped her fingers, shouting out," Endopath, you know what to do."
The Endopath leered at Joy and then leaned down as it tried grabbing her.
"Pretty Cure, Effervescent Beam!" Delight cried out as she aimed her attack towards the feet of the Endopath. Joy stepped back and tripped from her footing while the Endopath was blasted a few feet away from them.
"Next time, aim farther from where I'm standing." Joy recommended as she brushed herself off.
Delight responded, "Sorry, I just thought that if I attacked it's body-"
"It'd absorb the attack right? Well, I thought of something that might work for attacking, just follow my lead ok?" Joy said as she began running away from the Endopath with Delight following behind her.
"What are they trying to do, escape? Endopath, you've got to follow them!" Nijoux directed with the Endopath nodding in response before it chased the Cures down.
Delight seemed confused but didn't question Joy as they kept running further into the park. The Endopath was gaining up on them quite quickly though, to the point where the Endopath almost got a hold of Cure Delight. Nijoux was following behind all three of them, seeming out of breath before she began ordering the Endopath around again.
"That's it, I've had enough of their games! Endopath, we're going to the park entrance now!" Nijoux commanded.
"No you're not." Joy said as she ran up to the Endopath and picked it up by the stick as she started to drag it away," Had a feeling this thing would be light!"
Nijoux looked somewhat appalled with her mouth agape as she said," Y-you can't do that!"
"Sure I can! I'm doing it right now, aren't I?" Joy pointed out as she continued to run away with the Endopath.
"I sure hope we're getting close to your destination..." Delight said quietly as she noticed the Endopath was starting to thrash around in Joy's grip.
Delight suddenly bumped into the Endopath without realizing Joy had stopped running. She looked at Joy in confusion before realizing why she had stopped. In front of them was a enormous pool with water-slides at the the opposite end of it.
"Joy are you going to toss that thing in there?" Delight questioned as she looked down at the deep pool in front of them.
"That's the plan!" Joy answered as she threw the Endopath in the pool. The Endopath splashed the girls and struggled to get out of the pool once it had been submerged. Once the Endopath finally came out from the water, it seemed sluggish and less willing to fight with it's black star now exposed just above the center of it's body.
"Well, now it's going to be all sticky." Delight pointed out, cringing at the thought of fighting it.
"Not for long," Joy stated as she up tot he sky," It'll dry out, that's when it'll be easier to fight it. In the meanwhile..."
Joy started running up towards the Endopath and jumped up while shouting," Pretty Cure, Vivacious Spark!"
This time, the Endopath was unable to absorb the attack and fell backwards upon contact with Joy's attack.
Nijoux finally caught up to them, horrified at the sight of her creation now as she yelled," What did those two do to you?!"
Delight darted up towards the Endopath and kicked it in it's center, surprised by how quickly it was getting dried up. Now it was way more easier to land a punch or kick on the Endopath.
The two Cures started to spar with the Endopath, who was having a hard time keeping up with them. Despite thinking that Joy's plan would've backfired on her, Delight was surprised to see that her plan actually worked. At this point the Endopath was pretty much done for, but just then the Endopath picked up Joy and held her up as high as it could. Delight stopped what she was doing and tried to think of a way to get Joy out of his grasp.
"Will you let me go?!" Joy yelled as she tried to push herself out of the Endopath's fist.
"Now throw her out the park!" Nijoux demanded in excitement.
Delight shook her head while saying quietly," Not happening."
The Cure clad in white then leapt up high and shouted," Pretty Cure, Effervescent Beam!"
The Endopath was knocked over and tossed Cure Joy up into the air before it fell into the pool again.
Delight was able to catch Joy in her arms and the two of them ran over towards the Endopath. It laid there in defeat, with the black star on it's body cracked in two.
"Gross." Joy commented before looking over to Delight as they conjured up their candles.
"Pretty Cure, Jovial Elation!" The two of them shouted in unison, turning the area around them a pale yellow and white in mid-sentence. An array of yellow, orange, white and blue lights then appeared and erased the black stars on the center of the Endopath.
"Serves me right for making an Endopath out of cotton candy." Nijoux said, narrowing her eyes at the Cures before she vanished.
Soon, the park was reopened and filled with people again. The girls were able to reunite with Kei and go on a few rides together. The park was a bit busier now, so the lines for all the rides Rumi and Gogo wanted to go on were inevitably much longer than before.
Kei left the girls momentarily to get them bottled water and Rumi wasted no time in telling Gogo what was on her mind.
"Gogo, I just wanted to say thanks for coming with me to the park and putting up with Kei for a couple of hours. I hope he didn't trouble you too much." Rumi said as she looked over to the ride a few feet away from them.
Gogo shook her head, as she said," Not really. I kinda had fun with him today."
Rumi looked at her in surprise and responded with," Actually? I didn't think it'd be possible for anyone to have fun with him."
Gogo forced out a chuckle, it would've made sense if the two of them weren't able to gel together but saying that no one could have fun with him sounded like an overstatement.
"Is he that...antisocial?" Gogo asked cautiously.
Rumi nodded," Won't make friends at work, at school, he never even smiled once during the last family dinner we had at our cousins he's just..." Rumi then looked over to Gogo, who seemed a bit surprised,"...Well, if you were able to have fun with him, then maybe he's just a work in progress."
"Like me!" Gogo replied with a wink, making Rumi chuckle a little.