Lyra looked on at the pathetic excuse for Phoenix's power. He would go up in flames any hour now. And that girl who was almost immediately overtaken by Ursa Major was with him as well despite the fact that he was the one who gave her that power in the first place. Lyra found it truly pathetic.
In this case, just like Camerina wished, she would just have to speed him along.
She took out a power that she was hiding in her robe that her leader gave her for such an occasion. She quickly looked around for something to hold its power. The best candidate in the immediate area was an empty glass bottle with its label torn off.
"You will do," she shrugged. She dropped down to where the bottle was and started to push the power into it. She put more force into it and then the power went into the bottle.
The effect on the bottle was immediate. It started shaking on the ground, Lyra jumped back to her perch before it started transforming. It started morphing into a giant telescope that had arms and legs made of a dark energy as well as eyes.
"KUROIHOSHI TELESCOPIUM!"
It has the desired effect. Both Phoenix and the former Ursa Major looked towards the sound.
"Is it…" Lyra could hear the girl ask Phoenix from where she was at.
"A Kuroihoshi," Phoenix confirmed. "Maybe… maybe that power will come this time." He started standing up, his legs shaking.
"You're not going to last at this rate!" The ex-Ursa Major tried to get him to stop. She grabbed onto his shoulder to try to get him to sit back down.
"I-if I don't go, m-my…" He pulled away from her and then started running towards the Kuroihoshi. She ran right after him.
Lyra smirked. This was getting interesting.
"KUROIHOSHI TELESCOPIUM!"
A Brighter Day (Opening)
I'm ready with my back to the wind
And I will fly higher than I ever have been
I'll follow all my dreams, my destiny is waiting for me
I am on my way, heading for a sunny blue sky
And all my past worries, I will leave them behind
Now it is time for the beginning of the Zodiac
Pretty Cure Zodiac!
There was a time when I was lost and alone
I couldn't find what I was wanting the most
Looking around for anybody else to show the way
I wondered how the light could ever break through
When I had built the highest wall around me
Then I soon realized it was up to my heart...
To spread my wings and fly again.
So here I go!
I have got my back to the wind
And I will fly higher than I ever have been
I'll follow all my dreams, my destiny is waiting for me
I am on my way, heading for a sunny blue sky
And all my past worries, I will leave them behind
Now it is time for the beginning of the Zodiac
Pretty Cure Zodiac!
David, who had a cup of coffee in his hand, and Huaping, who was walking not far in front of him, both turned a complete 180 when they heard the sound of the Kuroihoshi yell out into the quickly fading light. David looked back at the vase-turned-kid under his care. The ten-year-old-looking boy stared right back at him with shock in his eyes.
Huaping then started walking towards where the sound was coming from. It didn't take him long to start running in that direction instead. David followed his charge, knowing exactly what the kid was going to do.
"KUROIHOSHI TELESCOPIUM!"
Rose's and Axl's eyes widened when they hear the cry. They are immediately heading in the direction of the Kuroihoshi. It doesn't take them long to get there. They saw the Kuroihoshi stomping on the ground and swinging its arms out to the sides, destroying everything it can reach. The two siblings looked at each other and nodded, taking out their key rings. In a bright light, Axl turned into Iris. They took the bronze key off of the ring and threw the rest into the air. The rings turned into a magic array that was pink for Rose and yellow for Iris.
"Pretty Cure, Zodiac!" They pushed the keys into the keyholes that appeared in the center of the arrays. "Star Power!" They turned the keys. The arrays broke apart into many pieces.
Rose placed her hands near each other. A ring made of rainbow light appeared at the end of each of her arms and traveled down them until slightly before her elbow before disappearing. This left a pink light in the shape of an arm warmer that went just slightly beyond her wrist. She flicked her arms so they crossed, throwing the pink light off and revealing white arm warmer and three red bracelets of beads on each wrist. She crossed her right arm over her face, having a red cloth appear on the middle bracelet that, when stretched out, would reach her elbow in a stream of pink light.
Then, a larger version of the rings appeared right below each of her feet. They started traveling up her legs, slowing down when it transformed her shoes and socks to bright pink light before disappearing. She clicked her feet together, throwing the light off of them. They were revealed to be white, ankle length boots with the heel and toe being pink. The top part was overturned, revealing the pink inside. A white bow was attached at the point where it was overturned, a gold symbol of a constellation attached to it.
An even bigger ring appeared around and started traveling up her legs, taking her clothes away. When it reached a certain area on her right leg, it slowed down, leaving two inches of pink light right above her knee. It sped up again, transforming her clothes into pink light before disappearing. Rose crossed her arms over her chest before throwing them off, the light going with them. It was a single strap, bright pink dress with the thick strap going over her left shoulder. The strap and the top of the dress along with the hem of the skirt were a few shades darker as well as the biker shorts that were peeking out underneath the skirt, leaving an inch between the same-colored, simple garter on her right leg. There was also a big bow tied on the back of the dress that was the same shade as the strap, the excess ribbon going down to her knees, twisting as it traveled downwards.
Her hair started becoming bathed in rainbow light, starting from her roots. The light went passed where her hair ended continuing on until it went passed her hips. Rose spun in place, her hair being separated into ponytails. The light then came off of her hair in a flash of pink light. Her hair was a shade of pink between the dress and the garter. The thick pony tails were held in place by two gold spheres with two, dark pink ribbons coming out of them. Engraved on the spheres was a five point star with a constellation symbol on top of it. Pink lights appeared around her neck and on her ear lobes, flashing off to reveal a pink choker and gold star earrings, but her glasses had disappeared. The shooting star necklace she was wearing was still around her neck.
Lightning struck Iris. However, it did not damage Iris, but instead left her with electricity coursing along the outside of her. Electricity surged in and out of her body at different points. It first started with her head. Her long, practically ankle length brown hair became yellow at the tips, the blonde going from about half an inch in her bangs to about half a foot in her long, thick pony tail. The metal scrunchy that tied her hair at the halfway point had also changed from blue to yellow and the yellow bumps on it turned to gold stars. The beret sitting on her head also changed from red to a light purple and the pin on it changed to a gold star. A small amount also went into the choker that doubled as the top of her dress, making it yellow.
Electricity then pooled into Iris's metal dress. Her dress's color changed from blue and red to yellow all over which included the pink, puffy sleeves. The yellow and red, cone-shaped accents on the skirt (that looked like a hoop skirt that ended above the knees) also changed to purple which was the same for the lines going down the middle of the body of the dress, along the top of her chest, and at the beginning and end of the sleeves. The belt across her chest changed to a purple ribbon that tied into a bow in the back. The excess dangled about half way down the skirt.
The metal leg warmers and shoes on her legs and feet changed when the lighting pooled into them. They changed into a white, cloth version of leg warmers that had yellow lined at the top and the bottom. There was also a light purple ribbon on the top being pinned down by her constellation. Her shoes also changed into white, high heel boots with the toe and heel being yellow in color, the tops being hidden by the leg warmers. The giant, metal gauntlets on her forearms turned into lighting and fled her arms, leaving only a row of purple beads on each of her wrists.
The two of them placed the key rings on their right hips and placed their hands on the left side of their chests. When their hands were removed, their badges appeared in their respective colors.
"The archer, dancing with all the colors!" she shouted out. She struck a ballet pose before getting into one that matched her constellation. "Cure Sagittarius!" Rainbow glitter suddenly busted out from behind her, falling to the ground.
"The goat, sailing through the storming seas!" Iris said while pointing towards the nearest, far away ocean. She then struck a pose that matched her constellation. "Cure Capricorn!" Lightning then struck the ground behind her.
"KUROIHOSHI TELESCOPIUM!"
Sagittarius launched herself at the Kuroihoshi, Capricorn looking around the area a bit before deciding to join her. The former punched the monster right in the face while the later kicked it right on the other side. Capricorn landed back onto the ground while Sagittarius placed her free hand onto its head and flipped into the air. The two then kicked it on either side of its telescopic neck. The Kuroihoshi coughed badly, falling to the ground easily.
"That was easy," Sagittarius said. "Now to purify that Kuroihoshi." She moved her hands to place them –
"Get down!" Capricorn yelled. The Reploid tackled the human into the ground, making them both avoid the hot stream of fire aimed right at her. When the fire let up, they both looked over at the person who let out the scorching torrent.
To both of their surprise, it was Phoenix. Fire was licking off of him, sweat was rolling off of his forehead, and he was breathing heavily, but it was him.
"I finally found you, Cure Sagittarius," Phoenix said as the two got back up. "Please don't hold it against me; I have to do this."
"What are you talking about?!" Sagittarius yelled at him.
Instead of an answer, Phoenix made a pair of fire wings on his back instead. He charged at the two of them while the Kuroihoshi got back up and started walking away and as the girl that Capricorn kept running into managed to catch up to Phoenix. Capricorn quickly pulled Sagittarius flush against her and faced her back towards Phoenix.
The yellow cure yelled out in pain as Phoenix collided with her. Both she and Sagittarius went flying and crashed into a nearby wall with Capricorn taking the majority of the burden. Both slid down the wall as Capricorn started glowing white.
When the glow disappeared, Capricorn's base appearance changed from Iris to his original appearance, Axl. His lower Reploid armor looked similar, although everything that was black was now yellow and the red stripes were now purple. Instead of screws adorning his hips, the golden Capricorn symbol replaced them. His upper armor (which only covered his chest) was drastically changed, no longer having the giant core in the middle of it and two purple stripes running through the yellow metal from the middle of his lower chest to over his shoulders. While his Reploid audio receptors were there in full, however instead of his helmet, he had a white headband-like part going over where his bangs were separated from the rest of his hair with a giant, gold star right in the middle of it. His gauntlets were gone and he had skin-tight yellow gloves on his hands. With the exception of his face and above his yellow choker, his skin was pure white. His hair was defying gravity, it splitting into five parts in the back that made it shaped like a star. His hair was also blonde at the tips, but quickly faded into red.
"Capricorn, are you alright?" Sagittarius asked him.
He gave her a pained, giant grin. "Yeah, no problem, little sis. That was nothing!" He still held his shoulder as she helped him off of the ground.
The girl stared at Capricorn, not believing what she was seeing. Phoenix stared at him, too, but for entirely different reasons.
"Capricorn is… Axl?" he whispered to himself. He then took a good look at Sagittarius. His eyes widened. "Is Sagittarius…"
"Phoenix," Lyra came out of hiding, landing on the ground in front of the Kuroihoshi. "You know what will happen to your twin sister if you don't destroy Cure Sagittarius."
"Wait, what will happen to me?" Sagittarius asked Lyra. Lyra looked at her, confusion in her eyes before realization slowly dawned on her.
"Wait, you're his twin sister…" she pointed at the two. "… Well, this is… unexpected…"
Sagittarius yelled out as she launched herself at Lyra, the Kuroihoshi temporarily forgotten. The punch was blocked by the other. The two then started exchanging blows as fast as they could. They could not make a hit land on each other no matter how much the two went back and forth. Capricorn extended his plane-like wings on his back. The jets on the outsides of his leg armor activated, sending him through the air and hitting the Kuroihoshi in the back. It roared out in pain.
It was at that point Huaping finally made it to the battlefield, still hidden away from everyone else. He took out his keys. He threw the key ring and the extra key into the air. In front of him a blue, magical array appeared with a symbol of the zodiac right in the middle of it. "Pretty Cure, Zodiac!" he yelled. He then placed the key he was holding into the middle of the array, a key hole manifesting at the exact spot. "Star Power!" He turned the key and the entire array broke.
Water suddenly poured over Huaping's hands. He watched as it suddenly stopped, revealing white, fingerless, biker gloves adorning his hands. Water then poured all over his body, obscuring his clothes from view. When the water stopped, he had on a long sleeved, skin tight, light blue shirt and blue short shorts with the bottom of the shorts being light blue. Another wave of water washed over his body again. When the water stopped, he was also wearing a sleeveless, blue vest that was open and an aqua green belt. The belt also had a gold belt buckle that was his symbol.
Huaping then ran his right hand through the right side of his hair. From his short hair, his bangs lengthened – especially on the right side – and his hair turned light blue. From blue light, a blue choker and dangling, gold, star earrings appeared on his neck and ears respectively. Water then poured from just above his ankles, hiding his shoes from view. When the water stopped, in their place were white, combat boots. Huaping put the keys and the key ring on the right side of his belt. He placed both hands over the left side of his chest. When he removed them, the Zodiac badge was pinned to his vest.
"The water bearer, controlling the calm, midnight waters!" Huaping said while stretching his arms out to both sides. He then posed to match his constellation. "Cure Aquarius!" Water rained down around him for a brief moment.
Aquarius jumped in and, after seeing another Cure he had never met before, decided to throw himself at the fight and kicked the one in white away from the one in pink.
"Thanks!" Sagittarius told him. She then noticed the badge on his chest. "So you're a Pretty Cure, too. I'm Cure Sagittarius. Who are you?"
"我無法理解你的語言," he replied. Sagittarius sighed before the two of them started going after Lyra again.
Capricorn kept attacking the Kuroihoshi. Even with his shoulder slightly burnt, he was still able to keep it busy on all his own. He kept kicked it as hard as he could and would even use his jets and wings to get into the air above it and punch it from above. He then got far into the air above the Kuroihoshi after punching it so hard it was struggling to pick itself back up, muttering "K-kuroihoshi Telescopium…"
Capricorn placed both of his hands over his badge, a yellow light shining off of it. Capricorn crossed his hands above his head. His two guns appeared in his hands. He aimed it at the Kuroihoshi. Lightning surged from his hands and into the barrel of the gun.
"Capricorn Bullet!" He pulled the trigger to many times to count in a second, many shots of little lightning bolts heading towards the Kuroihoshi. They all hit the Kuroihoshi, making the weakest one any Cure has come across writher in pain.
"KUROIHOSHI TELESCOPIUUUUUM!" it cried out in anguish. It then exploded. When the smoke dissipated, all that was left was a glass bottle and a power right next to it. Without a fairy there to grab it, Capricorn turned around, guns pointed at Lyra, but fingers not on the triggers.
"Rose is… Sagittarius…" Phoenix muttered to himself, more and more flames licking over him as his anger rose. "My own sister is… Sagittarius… How could she…" He clenched his fists. "CAMERINAAAA!" He was surrounded in fire. He glared at Lyra as both Sagittarius and Aquarius kicked her away from them. His body then turned into pure fire as he went towards Lyra. He passed right through her. She screamed as the flames burned her. When he reached the other side, Phoenix reformed.
Lyra almost fell to the ground, but regained her balance. "I'll… tell Camerina about your betrayal…" Shen then jumped away. No one followed her.
A dizzy spell then passed over Phoenix. He would've fallen to the ground if it wasn't for Sagittarius catching him. "Len, hang in there! Len! What's wrong? Len!"
"He doesn't have much time left," the girl (who had stayed at the sidelines the entire time) explained to her. "It happened with me, too. Phoenix's power will overpower him and it will turn him into one of those monsters."
"Don't worry, Len," Sagittarius reassured him. "We'll get the Phoenix power out of you." Phoenix was too out of it to respond to her. The girl then walked over towards Capricorn who let his guns dematerialize.
"Um… so this is…"
"Yeah…" Capricorn guessed what she was about to say.
"I… I just want to say thank you for… you know, saving my life those times." A blush was coming unbidden onto her cheeks.
"I-it's nothing, really!" He was waving his hands in front of him. "I would've done it for anyone…" He rubbed the back of his head.
"I-I still want to say thank you somehow…" she looked down at the ground. Her face was bright red. "C-c-could I… maybe… treat you to… lunch today n-next week? At the new café opening up on the square okay with you?"
"I-I guess…" Axl turned away. He then noticed that Cure Aquarius had been staring at them the entire time. "停-停止盯著我們!"
"Huaping," a voice said from the end of the alley. Both turned to the sound of the voice. Capricorn's eyes widened when he recognized the person. That person's eyes widened when he saw and recognized Capricorn as well.
"Axl, you're a Pretty Cure?" It was stated as a question, but it was said like a statement. When Capricorn turned back towards then girl, she was already leaving the area, waving to him goodbye. He gave a small wave before looking back at David.
"We… might have a lot of explaining to do…"
"I already knew about Len, but not you and Rose, so yes, you have some explaining to do." Capricorn nervously laughed before sighing.
Cancer, Virgo, Aries, and Draco were all breathing heavily. All were sporting some sort of minor injuries. The girls were glaring at Draco who could've help but smirk at the girls.
"You're very good," he complimented them. "However, it is about time that I head back. Next time, I hope to crush at least one of you." He then spread dragon wings that none of the girls noticed before, flying away on them. All three of them sighed. Their clothes and, in Cancer case, her hair glowed orange, white, and light blue respectively. Their normal clothes and hair styles returned to them as well as Gabriella's wings once again becoming hidden to any normal passerby's eyes.
"There's no point in going after him right now," she told everyone. "For now, we should leave and regroup with the others at Joanna's." The other two nodded and started walking to the nearby porta-potties.
"I hope Joanna is going to be okay," Lana said to the others.
"Me, too," Gabriella's eyes were wet with unshed tears.
Jasmin saw that Rose was calling on the network. She answered the call with a hello.
"We finally found Len," she told them. "You can call the others and tell everyone thank you for us."
"Sure thing," Jasmin spoke into the headset she was wearing.
"And Jasmin? Thank you. We couldn't have done this without you." Jasmin could tell her voice was filled with gratefulness.
"That's what friends are for," Jasmin reassured her. "I'm going to let you go, I need to tell everyone what's going on."
"See you later," Rose said, not waiting for a good bye before hanging up on Jasmin.
She looked over to the bunk bed the two of them shared. Len was currently on the lower one, still looking like he did when he had Phoenix's powers. He was sweating badly and he was burning up. If what that girl said was true, then Len wouldn't last much longer. From what she had seen, she and Axl might not be able to handle the Kuroihoshi that was born from him so easily.
She looked at her cell phone and called Anna. It picked up on the third ring.
"Hey, Rose, what's up?" Anna asked her. "I thought that Len was found."
"He has been," Rose ensured her. "But he's going to turn into a Kuroihoshi and it might be soon. Please get a hold of Chloe and Stephanie and anyone else you know that is a Pretty Cure, please."
"O-okay," Anna told her. "I'll call them all and have Chloe drive all of us to your place, alright?"
"Thanks Anna," Rose thanked her. "I'll see you when you get here." She then hung up on her. She then called David.
"What?" David asked her.
"David, that boy you're taking care of, what's his name?"
"Huaping, why?"
"Len's going to turn into one of those monsters. We may need him to help save Len."
A sigh. "Fine. We'll be there soon. You better have a guest room ready."
"Always do." David hung up on her before she could say anything more. There was one more number that needed to be called before she could go back to attending Len. She scrolled through her contacts before she got to the number Axl got from Joanna.
You Are a Star (1st Ending)
It's 5AM, now it's time to get out of bed
Another day is ready to start again
The shower's running, the coffee is burning
Gotta get out the door in time for the train
Cell phone is ringing, the message is coming in
The traffic's jammed, now let's see who's gonna win
Yeah, the game is on, if you are strong and you wanna play...
No one said the race would be just a piece of cake
Work your way to the top
You've got to put in the time, pay your dues
The corner office is there, waiting for you
You, yeah, you are a star
There's no mistaking you will make it to the end
I know you've got what it takes to believe in yourself
You will never give in
You're a star
No one else in the world could replace the way you smile The way you look when you're inspired
I know you will shine no matter what you will face
Cause you are a star
Joanna was lying in bed with Nina at her bedside in a standard bedroom with odd pictures on the walls. The lion-turned-human looked at her, concern for what was wrong with Joanna. Yes, she was old, but she was still quite healthy-looking from what Nina could tell. There was no reason for her to by dying, was there?
"Ah may be healthy as a horse, but Ah am dying, Nina; that's what happens when ya get ta ma age," Joanna told her as if she knew what she was thinking. "Ah've been along for a long time and Ah've done many different things in ma life. As long as Ah get to say good bye to Gabriella, Ah can die with no regrets."
The phone next to the bed starts ringing. Nina jumps from the sound of it. Joanna only chuckles before answering it. "'ello?" She listened to the voice before saying "Of course Ah can; Ah'm not that old!" A bit more silence. "Good bye." She hangs up. "Well, Nina, it looks like your biggest battle is yet to come.
"We'll be taking down Phoenix."