"I've been a bit worried lately. I mean, I like doing the magical girl thing, but I've been thinking lately that as much as she complains about it, maybe Shima actually has more natural talent. Then it turns out there's more than one person trying to get pictures of us as Pretty Cure, and the one who came closest to getting them was my little brother?
"It's not like I'm jealous or afraid of Shima, y'know? She's my best friend! Just, it was starting to feel like I was holding her back. Shima still believes in me, and it helps that I've picked up a new move, but I still think I need to step up my game somehow.
"Oh, and Shima's been talking again about 'the stars are right'. I'm not sure what that means, but the way she says it sounds so ominous..."
X-Heart PreCure!
Episode 14: The Stars Are Right! Terror On The High Seas!
As the sun dropped into the mountains, cool air had already begun to flow out of the hills toward the sea. Being closer to the city's commercial center, this part of the shoreline was dominated by concrete piers. Without explanation, Shima had invited Tamaki to watch the stars come out on one such pier. Even in competition with the city lights behind them, it remained an impressive sight to see.
"I know it's strange for me to say this, but the sky tonight looks more familiar than usual."
Shima grinned. "I'd be more concerned if you didn't think so. I've put this sky up in the planetarium enough times."
"You have?" Tamaki's stray hair wavered uncertainly.
"This is what it looks like when the stars are right. And then something good happens."
"Oh? What happens?"
"This happens." Shima pointed out to sea, where a cluster of lights could be seen drawing closer to the dock. A ship's horn sounded, then the ship itself drew close enough that its tall, white-painted sides could be seen rising up from the waves.
"It's a boat?"
"Eighty-two meters long, with a crew of eighteen. It has berths for twenty-eight passengers, and is equipped for scientific and educational purposes… not that the specifications matter. I lived on that ship for most of elementary school."
"You walked to school from a boat?"
Shima's reply was swallowed by the ship's horn, sounding again as it drew up to the dock not far from where they stood. People could be seen up on deck and also on the pier taking action to secure it in place.
"Shima!" Koishi's voice called out from behind the pair. She wore a lavender dress and had her hair up in her usual elaborate braids. "Have you seen my Dad? I only let him out of my sight for a moment!"
"Yagami!" The voice of Kagura Ranichirou boomed from the direction of the ship. The girls spotted him standing on top of a large wooden crate, topless and flexing his arms. "Come down from your little ship only if you do not fear my glorious muscles!"
"Not again…" Koishi groaned.
"I've feared you not a single day in twenty-five years, Kagura! But stand right there if you're ready for a beating!"
The figure that appeared on the deck of the ship was tall and powerfully built, for all that he was still smaller than Shima's uncle. He was wearing a white dress suit with a white fedora, and his face was engulfed by a bushy blue beard. Without waiting for an answer, he jumped down from the ship's deck, a drop of some several meters, landed on his feet, then lunged at Ranichirou.
Ranichirou met his charge, then they began to grapple, each seeking to gain an advantage.
"I see you still wear that stupid hat!"
"You never did have any taste! Or have you just finally gone blind?"
As the two men continued to wrestle against and insult each other, Shima and Koishi ran ahead and began adding their shouts to the mix.
"Would you two knock it off already? You don't have to do this every time you see each other!"
"Stop fighting! You're embarrassing me in front of my best friend!"
As the scuffle continued, a purple-haired woman with rim-less rectangular eyeglasses stepped up next to the two combatants and knocked their heads together. The pair went down clutching their heads.
"Seriously, you two?!" She berated them sternly. "I haven't seen my daughter in over a year, and you're making me break up a fight before I even get to say hi to her? Have you no shame?"
"Well, you see… It is my duty as your big brother to chastise this cretin swiftly and forcefully."
"It's not like I'm not excited to see our little girl myself..." The man with the blue beard tried to laugh it off. "But you have to understand, when your brother calls me out like that, I've got a record of 156 wins, 172 losses, and 55 ties at stake. It's a matter of honor that I should attempt to even the score!"
"That's it, exactly! If I don't allow him every opportunity to make up his deficit, which by the way is correctly accounted 257 wins in my favor, 101 losses, and 47 ties, it would be ungentlemanly!"
"Ungentlemanly," the woman parroted scornfully. "What kind of gentleman picks a fight, or allows a fight to be picked with him, when both participants' teenage daughters are standing right there begging them not to? What kind of gentleman acts younger than his own children? Answers, both of you!"
Ranichirou lowered his gaze, as did his opponent.
"It seems my enthusiasm has been misdirected."
"We owe our daughters an apology."
"And an apology to our friend for making her watch that," Shima chimed in.
"Oh, I've got brothers. This sort of thing is-" Tamaki trailed off, catching the sharp glares from both Shima and Koishi. "That is to say, I would gracefully accept your apologies?"
Once the apologies were taken care of, Shima began the introductions. "Mother, Father, this Suou Tamaki, my best friend. She goes to school with Koishi and me. Tamaki, my mother, Yagami Sumire. She's a professional oceanographer. And this is my father, Yagami Benkei. He is the Captain of that ship."
Tamaki bowed. "Pleased to meet you. I never realized that Shima became our Captain because her father is also a Captain."
Shima facepalmed. "No, Tamaki. It's not like that at all. My father is a Captain because that's his job on the ship. The only reason our club leader has the same title is because Mme. Fisher is demented."
Shima's father glanced at his daughter and chuckled. "I can see we have a lot of catching up to do."
The following evening, after seeing a movie together, Shima and her parents went to eat at a family restaurant. Her father wasted no time reclining as much as he could against the inflexible back of the booth.
"Ah, now that's what I call recreation! There's nothing like going to a movie theater and then having dinner at a restaurant to prove that we're really on land!"
Shima gave him a skeptical look. "Dad, we never used to do this stuff when we all lived together here."
"Well, you know, Shima… Coming ashore is one thing, but being on land isn't special until you've spent some time at sea. And I say that as a man who would be married to the sea if I weren't married to your mother. There are some things that can only be enjoyed properly on land."
"I think I could marry the sea... I understand now why you left me with the madame manager, and I'm thankful for the friends I've made here, but that doesn't mean I miss the sea any less." Shima's voice suddenly got quiet. "I missed both of you so much."
"And we're glad that you still love us, Shima-chan." Her mother reached across the table to give her a small hug. "Just the same, you've only told us about your friends. I'd have thought that even you would have noticed a boy or two at your age."
"My little girl, making eyes at boys?!" Her father slammed his fist on the table. "What ever happened to my little darling who used to tell me that she wanted to marry Papa?!"
Shima and her mother exchanged glances, then turned to her father with perfect deadpan delivery. "I want to marry Papa." "I want to marry Papa."
"Auch!" Her father fell out of his seat, clutching his heart. "Even you, Sumire? Don't you love me more than that?"
Shima's mother adjusted her glasses. "I don't recall marrying the kind of man who would encourage his teenage daughter to say something so creepy."
Shima copied her mother's gesture. "None of my friends' fathers say things like that… Not that I've met any of their fathers. At least, Uncle Ranichirou doesn't say things like that."
Her father's eyes widened. "Now you're comparing me to that meathead? Shima… my daughter, have mercy on your poor old man!"
"Sorry, father, but I have a reputation to maintain as a hard-hitting pirate captain."
"A pirate captain?" Shima's mother looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh, right. You did say that your Astronomy Club's charter was written up as a letter of marque."
"We're officially school-sponsored pirates, yes. Though it's mostly a joke. We don't have a ship, just the planetarium."
Shima's father pulled himself back into his seat and grinned through his thick beard. "Well, if it's just a ship you need, why not bring your friends aboard ours for a little while? A day trip or two won't hurt our schedule any, and you can show all those friends you've made on land a little bit of where you come from!"
Shima thought for a moment. "Actually, that's not a bad idea."
Mid-morning found Shima perched on the railing of her father's ship, wearing a white t-shirt with a small anchor print positioned over her heart, a small sailor-style cap, and blue jeans. She waved down to the other girls as they approached, then disappeared into the ship and met them at the top of the gangplank.
Tamaki had put her hair up in a ponytail. She was wearing a lavender buttoned shirt with white stripes and a knee-length red skirt. On her feet were only sandals, and her toenails and fingernails were painted to match her skirt. She had a large bag slung under one arm.
Himeka had dressed up in navy blue capris with water wave pattern printed down one leg, along with a green t-shirt and sneakers. A brown satchel with a sun printed on it hung at her hip. From the sounds of clinking metal inside, it was probably full of tools.
As for Yui, she had arrived fully decked out in a one-piece dress which was white up top and black below, with a yellow star stream embroidered across the skirt portion. The portion of the dress covering her midriff was hidden beneath a brown leather underbust corset, which matched her boots.
"Good morning, Captain! Can we come in to play?"
Shima grabbed Yui's nose and pinched it lightly. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Captain? The Captain of this ship is my father, you know. I just live here."
"This is our ship because we are pirates!" Yui pulled free and posed with one hand pointed skyward. "This is the destiny that was written for us in the stars!"
"The stars want us to take over a ship from Shima's dad?" Tamaki's stray hair wavered hesitantly. "There's no way that could be right."
Himeka whispered something into Yui's ear.
"Hm… Actually, that's a good point. This is obviously more like pirate training, for when we get a ship of our own! A cooler ship! With blackjack, and– and I am not finishing that tired old meme. Anyhow, we've got plenty of time. My sister hasn't even gotten serious about our Captain's pirate queen dress yet!"
"She's welcome to forget about that entirely." Shima deadpanned.
"Oho, perish the thought! After all, this dress is already a step in that direction." Yui spun around, showing it off. "Pirate Preview, Model Yui!"
"So Shima's going to end up in a dress like that one?" Tamaki asked.
"No, this is the dress for an ordinary pirate. Shima is getting the dress that tells this one to make the peoples walk the plank!"
"Oh! That sounds exciting!" Himeka's eyes practically glittered.
"Doesn't it?" Yui nodded cheerfully. "But never mind that now. Where's your Captain? Don't we get a tour?"
"Oh, you don't need my father for that. I lived here on this ship for most of elementary school, after all."
A loud gurgle emanated from Tamaki's bag. She quickly covered by holding it up to her stomach. "I think maybe I was a bit more hungry than I thought?"
Shima shrugged. "It's as good a place to start as any. Let's go find an empty cabin to dump our bags and club mascots in first, then we can head for the galley."
A short while later, the girls returned to the deck, sans bags, with each one of them enjoying a fresh crepe. Outside the ship, there was already water nearly as far as they could see.
"Mmph?" Tamaki quickly choked down a bite of her crepe. "How are we this far away from the shore already?"
"It's magic!" Yui interjected, "This whole ship has been ensorcelled by a sea witch!"
Tamaki blinked. "Really? Shima, is that a thing that happens?"
"In fact it is not," Shima replied tersely. "However, we have been under way almost the entire time since we went inside."
"This fast, though? I figured we were just getting moved around the docks!"
"Nope. We're out on the ocean now. If it wasn't such a nice day, we wouldn't even be able to see the shore from here."
"So what comes next, Captain?" Yui interrupted with a dramatic flourish.
"I told you not to call me that." Shima griped. "I just live here."
"So I'm free to come up with my own delusion, then?" Yui paused, then flashed a roguish grin. "I know! Actually, I should have done this right from the start!"
Yui dashed forward to the prow, and leaned up against the railing. Her dress fluttered in the wind as the hull split the waves beneath her.
"I'M QUEEN OF THE WORLD!"
Tamaki glanced at Himeka. "I don't get it?"
Himeka shook her head.
"It's from an old movie." Yui turned to face them, still leaning against the rail. "Apparently my Mom had a thing for the lead actor when she was in high school."
Shima facepalmed. "At least be careful if you're gonna do that. If you fall in, I'm not going after you."
At that moment, just below Yui and hidden from her by the curve of the hull, a gangly humanoid fish clung to a thick rope. Like the others before him, he was clothed in a white cloth mask and hood. His only accessory was the same rope he was secured by, which coiled around his body several times. A further several meters trailed below and behind the fishman, at the end of which dangled a monster in the shape of a marshmallow. There was a gag tied around the marshmallow's mouth and tears streaming from its eyes.
The fishman sniffed at the air, then nodded.
"One of those, without question." Even whispering to himself, his voice had a gravelly quality. "The accursed treasures of darkness must be claimed for the Pira Clan!"
As the last of the crepes (Himeka's) was polished off, Shima's father emerged from inside the ship with a hearty laugh. "And how are our young guests enjoying the weather out here? I should have stopped by to greet the lot of you sooner, but I wanted to get us to our destination as quickly as possible! Ha ha ha!"
Tamaki scratched her head. "Our destination is the middle of the ocean?"
"Well, not the literal middle. That's the kind of place Shima might ask to go to, but once you're out of sight of land, it basically all looks the same, y'see."
"It's the principle of the thing!" Shima protested.
"So what's so special about this place?" Yui asked. "Is it a place of power where the ley lines intersect?"
"What even-?" Shima's father clamped a hand down on his hat, though it was in no danger of going anywhere. "Never mind, I'm sure I don't need to know. As for what's special about this part of the ocean, well… for one thing, the water's very clear around here and you can see to the bottom. And for another, well… have a look!"
He pointed to one side of the boat, and the girls gathered there to look into the water. As he had said, the water was clear straight to the bottom, sunlight glistening down through schools of fish to the wreckage of an old wooden ship. It was overgrown with kelp and coral, but somehow still had a rusty cannon visible among the wreckage.
The girls were all visibly impressed by the sight below them, and even Shima's expression brightened. "I never knew there was something like this so nearby! Father, why didn't you tell me about this?"
Captain Yagami laughed and rubbed his beard. "Well, for one thing, I only learned about this spot recently myself. Or rather, I should say that your mother read about it and suggested I bring you here. And since I was reasonably sure you didn't know this was here, I figured why spoil the surprise?"
"You have to admit, it's a pretty good surprise," Tamaki chimed in. "Just check out how crazy Yui's going!"
Tamaki pointed at the brunette, who was leaning precariously over the railing several paces away.
"Keep your eyes peeled for mermaids!" Yui shouted. "This is the kind of awesome shipwreck that should definitely have mermaids living in it!"
"Mermaids?" Himeka gasped, as she tried to hold Yui back from going over the rail. "I never realized this was going to be dangerous!"
"What's dangerous about mermaids?" Tamaki looked confused. "Aren't they girls just like us, but with fish parts?"
"Don't they lure sailors into jumping overboard and force ships to crash into rocks and stuff?" Himeka fretted.
"Well, you don't spend much time at sea without hearing old stories like that..." Shima's father nodded sagely. "Though you don't hear of many mermaid sightings in modern times. Usually these days they get written off as dolphins or orcas… if they were ever out there at all."
"Oh yeah, there were stories like that…" Yui stopped flailing about and thought for a moment. "I'm sure any mermaids we meet will be totally friendly! That's today's delusion!"
"That's the spirit!" The Captain laughed again.
Shima rolled her eyes. "Even mischievous mermaids wouldn't be all that bad, relatively speaking. It just occurred to me that the Deep Ones might be a real thing."
"Deep Ones?" Tamaki asked.
"Yeah. They look human when they're young, but as they get older they look more and more like fish. They never die, unless something kills them. And the things they do to people…" Shima shuddered slightly. "They're really bad."
The boat rocked gently as the ocean swelled beneath them. It wasn't especially a big wave, but Himeka's face turned pale and she clapped her hands to her mouth.
Yui was at her side immediately. "Himeka? Are you gonna be okay?"
"I think… I'm gonna be sick…"
"Well, that can't be any fun for you!" Captain Yagami frowned. "Why don't we get you inside for a while? We've got some stuff in the infirmary that we can give you to help settle your stomach."
Shortly afterward, Himeka returned to the cabin she and her friends had claimed and lay down on one of the beds to rest. Tun sat next to her with a fresh pot of tea, while Ton gazed absently out through a porthole.
"Are you going to be okay-tun?"
"Probably? Shima's father gave me some medicine, but it's supposed to take a while to start working."
"Just let me know if you want any tea-tun."
"Thanks, but I'd rather just rest."
"I'll stand guard-ton! Anyone wants to disturb you, they gotta defeat me in combat-ton!"
Himeka almost giggled. "I don't think we really need to worry about that."
"You can't ever be sure-ton! The ocean is vast-ton! A monster could approach from any- Did something just go by our window-ton?"
Ton rushed over to the porthole, and scrambled to see outside the ship. Tun stayed close to Himeka, who rolled over to look. When the object outside swung by the window again, all three saw it happen.
"What was that-tun?"
"I know that shape-ton! It's that cheeky marshmallow that thinks it can run around being evil on my watch-ton!" He pushed the window open and climbed onto the rim. "I'll show him-ton!"
"Ton-sama, that's dangerous-tun! We should warn the legendary warriors instead-tun!"
"Ha! I don't need to bother them for this-ton! Just as soon as I get out this window, I'll show them what a mighty lanternfish warrior- Oops!" Whatever Ton had intended to say got cut off as he fell through the window.
"Ton-sama!" Tun gasped, then ran to the door. "I've got to let the legendary warriors know before something bad happens-tun!"
"Wait!" Himeka pulled herself to her feet, Flash Token in hand. "I'm coming too!"
On the ship's deck outside, Shima had begun to pace restlessly.
"This was a bad idea. I should've remembered that not everyone can enjoy being on a ship."
Yui turned back from leaning over one of the railings and gave her a cross look. "Does this seriously have to be about you, Captain? Sure, you invited us, but we're all here because we want to be. Himeka too."
"Don't call me Captain. I'm just an ordinary club president."
Yui waved off her objection. "Look, it's not like I don't get where you're coming from. But we're pirates! It's in our charter! And there just aren't a whole lot of titles suited to somebody who leads pirates, y'know? You don't want to be Captain because you don't personally have a ship. We could make you an admiral, but that implies more ships than just one, which you don't have. So if those are out… perhaps we should call you Queen?"
"Please don't."
"Princess of the crystal clear ocean?"
Tamaki blinked. "Isn't that more of a mermaid thing?"
"Yeah…" Yui nodded slowly. "Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. Anyhow, what's important here is attitude!"
"Attitude." Shima echoed with a flat expression.
"That's right! You need to step up, Shima! Instead of disqualifying yourself for some silly reason like not having a ship, think of the crew that you already have! Do you want to be our leader only because Miss President decided it for you, or do you want to seize the Destiny that was written for you in the stars? What will it take to make you feel like a Captain?"
"A ship of my own." Shima glared at her.
"Fine, be that way." Yui glared back. "If you had a ship, what would make you worthy of her?"
"A worthy Captain is a person with great strength and wisdom, somebody who can protect the ship and her crew. Someone who can navigate by the stars and determine both where the ship is and how to reach the destination from there. And for that matter… a person who can find places like this, who puts in the effort to learn about all of the wonderful and interesting places that might be just a bit out of the way!"
A bell-shaped shadow encased in a block of ice faded into view, accompanied by a muffled tone. It was almost directly in front of Shima, who shrieked in surprise and clapped her hands over her mouth.
Yui dived for the object, then rolled back to her feet with both hands on the mysterious treasure.
"This time for sure! The Destiny written for me in the stars begins by grasping this with both hands!" She glanced quickly at Shima and then at Tamaki. "This is gonna be so amazing! You two want in?"
"Yui, I don't think that's a good idea…" Tamaki replied cautiously.
Yui ignored her. "We need to get Himeka out here. She's gonna love this."
As if on cue, Himeka ran out from inside the ship, Tun clinging to her shoulder. She skidded to a halt as she saw what was going on.
"Great timing, Himeka!" Yui returned her focus to the artifact in her hands, without seeming to notice Himeka's magical token or Tun's animated state. "Shima?"
"...I've ruined everything."
"What?" Yui frowned. "Shima, this is Destiny! This was always going to happen!"
"Indeed!" The gravelly voice was immediately followed by a fishman jumping onto the ship's deck, trailed by a length of rope and a crying monster marshmallow. "All has been foretold! Pira Mariner will claim the accursed treasure of darkness for the glory of the Pira Clan!"
"No can do, mister!" Yui wrapped her arms tightly around the shadowy object. "I'm keeping this thing until Pretty Cure shows up! Then they'll have no choice but to make me one of them!"
The fishman inclined his head to the side, then turned to face Shima. "That can happen?"
Shima shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. Maybe you should leave before we have to find out."
"And before the adults show up!" Tamaki chimed in. "I hear the crew of this ship is pretty strong!"
"Mariner has made arrangements for that. The crew of this ship is unconscious to a man."
Shima scowled at him. "I know most of those people personally. Are you telling me you went out of your way to harm each and every one of them?"
"Not harmed, incapacitated. Since they cannot now interfere, there will be no need for any among them to suffer. Please surrender the treasure now."
Yui tightened her grip on the treasure. "Nope!"
The fishman glanced at Yui, then turned his attention back to Shima. "Please give the order to your subordinate."
"I wouldn't tell her to do that even if I thought that she'd actually do it!" Shima snarled back at him. "Why don't you just leave? You can tell all your friends that Pretty Cure defeated you and threatened you with unspeakable pain."
"That would be dishonest. Pira Mariner has been entrusted with this mission."
The fishman pulled a small pouch out of his robe and poured out a pile of gray dust onto his hand. It caught the sea breeze and blew into the four girls, who began to cough as it reached them. Yui passed out and slumped to the deck, leaving the treasure to freely float away from her. The other three girls quickly recovered.
The frozen artifact continued to float in the between the girls and their enemy.
"As expected, the legendary warriors are not taken down so easily. As well, since the human who succumbed to sleeping dust is not the one who called it out, the accursed treasure of darkness does not vanish. Pira Mariner will claim it for the glory of the Pira Clan!" The fishman produced a white disc and tossed it into the ocean. "Be created, Kiraina!"
For a few moments, nothing seemed to happen. Then the water began to bubble rapidly, and suddenly a great wreck of a wooden ship surfaced. Sea foam drained rapidly from several holes in its hull, including one great breach in the shape of a jagged-toothed mouth. Comically long arms snaked out from the sides of its body, and a single rusty cannon was fixed to the monstrous ship's deck.
"KIRAINA!"
Tamaki and Shima held up their glowing Cure Lodestones. Himeka raised her Flash Token.
"PreCure Cross My Heart!" "PreCure Cross My Heart!" "Transmute! Brilliant Flash!"
In the world around Tamaki and Shima, everything vanished. Their bodies now floated in the air between a softly glowing sea and a beautiful starlit sky. Two large banners, pink for Tamaki and blue for Shima, each emblazoned with a golden heart crossed underneath by a golden X-mark, formed out of the wind and the sea spray, and wound around their bodies, hiding their clothing and everything below their necks from view.
The banners rippled and reformed, becoming fanciful knee-length dresses in pink and blue, replete with ribbons and frills. Elbow length gloves and tall boots formed around their hands and feet, and leathery black belts and bandoleers, with golden buckles all shaped in the same crossed-heart emblem, wrapped around their waists and crossed their chests.
Tamaki's black hair washed pink and shortened back to the nape of her neck, except for a small handful of strands that wound themselves into thin pink braids and tied together in a bow at the top of her head, secured in place by the tiara that appeared.
At the same time, Shima's glasses vanished and her hair grew longer, washing blonde as it reached down to her back and gathered into a ponytail, cinched by a heart-shaped ornament that sprang into being for that purpose.
The real world reappeared exactly as they had left it, with the transformed girls posed back to back.
"Flying the flag of the whistling wind, Cure Breeze!"
"Flying the flag of the crashing waves, Cure Surf!"
"Joined together under the jolly roger of love, we will calm your hatred and steal your heart! Setting sail, Cross Heart Pretty Cure!"
The world around Himeka also vanished, but she seemed to be in an entirely different place. Her form now hovered in the air, momentarily suspended over a glistening pool of water. Then she fell in. Ripples spread from where she'd hit the pool, catching the light of the sun and hiding everything beneath the surface behind its brilliant reflection. The ripples became small waves as the water began to flow in one direction. A moment later, her head and shoulders broke the surface. A white one-piece swimsuit had replaced her clothing.
With a deep breath, she ducked back into the water, swimming along with the current. Light from the surface washed over her in gleams and flashes as her ringlet curls grew longer. Her hair color shifted from pale green to powder blue, and her eyes changed to match.
The current increased suddenly, so she swam to the surface and looked ahead, breaking the surface this time just as she was swept over the waterfall. Her body spun slowly in the air as she fell, with the falling water reaching out to form stockings and elbow-length opera gloves as each arm and leg drew near.
Her descent slowed. At the bottom of the waterfall, where mist rose steadily from another pool, she ceased to fall with her feet hovering just slightly above the water. The edge of her hand slashed sharply upwards, splitting the entire waterfall in half. The parted waters warped and wound around her body, then solidified in the shape of a sleeveless white dress with a powder blue sash.
Sinking just enough that her feet dipped into the water, a pair of slippers formed on her feet. The Flash Token spun in the air and elongated into a boomerang, then attached itself to the sash near her hip. She took a couple of steps forward, then the water resumed falling behind her.
She returned to the world exactly as she had left it, and quickly struck a pose.
"The fighting spirit of the waterfall, Misty Brilliant!"
"That was awesome!" Breeze's stray hair bobbed with excitement. "I'd been thinking it would be neat if all three of us transformed as a trio, and now it finally happened!"
"Do you really think so?" Misty Brilliant tilted her head thoughtfully. "That didn't really feel like being part of a trio, though. More like… we were doing the same thing at the same time, but the timing didn't quite match."
"So we're still a duo plus one?"
Misty nodded. "That's it exactly! It's a sign that I'm not on your level yet!"
"Would you two get serious already?!" Surf snapped.
"Oops, sorry." "Sorry."
The other two magical girls quickly apologized and got ready to fight.
"So what's our plan this time, Surf?" Breeze turned to where Surf had been to find her not there. "Surf?"
Cure Surf was in close pursuit to Pira Mariner, having already torn off a piece of guardrail to use as a weapon. The fishman clearly had no desire to be caught, and was running down the length of the ship as fast as his spindly legs and ninja tricks could carry him.
"Kiraina!"
The monster ship howled, lowered its deck so that the cannon was pointing directly toward the heroes, and fired… a small cloud of rust, which rapidly dispersed in the ocean breeze.
Breeze had been poised to leap into the path of a cannonball, and skidded to a stop as she realized what had happened. A few steps behind her, Misty hurled her boomerang at the monster. It connected, but the ship-sized creature didn't even seem to notice.
The monster howled again, this time pulling up an anchor on a chain and brandishing it in the air. Then it hurled the anchor at the other ship, chain trailing behind it. Breeze met it head on and deflected it away from the ship, then narrowly dodged Misty's boomerang as it flew back to her hand.
"Whoa, that was a close one!"
Misty winced. "Sorry, Breeze! I'll be more careful with the next one!"
"Don't sweat it, Misty! I'm actually pretty tough!"
As the pair prepared to deal with the monstrous shipwreck's next attack, Pira Mariner narrowly avoided being spitted on a length of railing, thrust at him repeatedly by the enraged Cure Surf.
"Marshmallow! Grab the treasure so we can get out of here!" The fishman shouted, as he frantically hurled the marshmallow minion in the general direction of the treasure, with the rope still attached and trailing behind it. Then Cure Surf's length of railing caught the fishman square in the back, knocking him helplessly into the air.
She leapt after him.
"Kiraina-!?"
The marshmallow howled plaintively as it flew through the air, but stopped abruptly when the rope snapped taut and slammed it bodily into the deck. As it dizzily tried to stand, another tug from the rope knocked it off balance again. At the other end, having tied himself to the other end of the rope while it still trailed over the edge, a chubby red fairy pulled himself onto the deck and lit up with bright pink luminescence.
"You're not getting away this time-ton! Prepare to get pummeled-ton!"
"Kiraina? Kiraina!"
With a howl, the monster marshmallow abandoned all pretense of following orders and rushed at the approaching fairy. They met with a flurry of stubby-limbed punches. Moments passed, then they separated, tried to trip one another with the rope they were both still tied to, then leapt at each other again and traded rapid blows in the air.
Ton kicked the marshmallow skyward, or perhaps he himself was spiked into the deck. Regardless, the sticky snack monster had the misfortune of being in the path of Misty Brilliant's boomerang as it spun through the air toward the animated shipwreck.
"Wha- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Ton had just enough time to register what was about to happen before the rope snapped tight and yanked him off the deck as well.
Misty's boomerang whistled through the air as smoothly as if it had struck nothing at all, until it reached the shipwreck monster, where it pinged ineffectively off the cannon, leaving behind only a stuck marshmallow to show where it had hit at all. Attached as he was to the other end of the rope, Ton dangled helplessly in front of the shipwreck's gaping maw.
"Get down here and fight like a man-ton! You cheeky, sneaky… hey, knock that off-ton!"
Ton's sudden change in attitude had nothing to do with the giant mouth full of jagged wooden teeth he was dangling in front of. It had everything to do with the fact that the ship monster had pried the marshmallow free from the outside of the cannon and stuffed it into the barrel.
"KIRAINAAAAAAA!"
The ship monster bellowed, a scream that sounded a little like laughter. Then it fired.
"I COULD BEAT YOU IN A FAIR FIIIIIIIiiiiiiiiiiiii-"
Ton's protest faded away as he and the marshmallow vanished into the distant sky.
At the end of a long, wiry arm, the shipwreck monster's fist lanced out, aiming at Misty Brilliant. Misty dodged out of the way, but found herself in the path of a followup punch from the monster's other arm.
Breeze dashed in and kicked the fist out of the way. Misty's boomerang spun back to her hand. No trace of the marshmallow remained.
"I… I really didn't expect it to go like that."
"Keep trying! I think we're getting better!"
As the mismatched pair kept up their battle against the monster, Pira Mariner rounded the cabin in a panic. Cure Surf was nowhere to be seen.
"Kiraina! Get over here! Rescue me this instant!"
"Kiraina?" The monster reached out toward the fishman. A glossy white boomerang pinged off its hand, and it hesitated. Cure Breeze dropped onto the monster's outstretched arm and spiked it into the deck.
A moment later, Cure Surf burst through the wall behind Pira Mariner. She grabbed him by the shoulders and began slamming him violently against the deck and the broken wall.
"Kiraina, save me!" The fishman called out in terror.
"KIRAINA!" The monster reared up in the water, then drove forward and rammed the ship. The deck buckled and the ship rocked in the water. The treasure, once again neglected during the fight, slid off the deck and into the water.
"Hey, Surf! Let's do our thing!" Cure Breeze rushed toward the monster, obviously planning to hit it at close range.
Cure Surf tossed the fishman into the cabin through the broken wall, then ran to Breeze and matched their shoulders together as they normally did for their finishing move. Cure Breeze put out her left hand, and glowing pink energy gathered into her palm as she shouted.
"The energetic love of the whistling wind! Breeze Color Charge!"
Cure Surf put out her right hand, but the only energy that manifested this time took the form of an acrid taste welling up at the back of her throat, followed by a strong odor of burnt almonds. She gagged painfully and fell to one knee unable to even get the words out.
The fishman scrambled to his feet and choked out another command. "Withdraw, Kiraina! Continue bombardment from range only!"
"Kiraina!" The creature's shriek was apparently an affirmative. It floated away from the ship, probed inside its jagged-toothed mouth with one spindly arm, and pulled out a cannonball. It loaded its cannon, then turned it toward Cure Surf, who was still coughing and unsteadily trying to get to her feet. Then it fired.
"Surf!" Breeze moved instantly to place herself between Surf and the cannon, throwing up both arms to block the monster's shot head on. The attack struck with punishing force. Breeze screamed defiance even as it pushed her back, leaving jagged furrows behind where her boots scraped across the deck, stopping only just short of her recovering partner.
The cannonball fell to the deck and rolled away. Breeze immediately turned to her friend, who was just then getting to her feet.
"Surf, are you alright?"
Cure Surf barely seemed to notice the question, instead launching herself at Pira Mariner once again, who once again fled as if his life depended on it.
"Kiraaaina!" The monster fired its cannon again, which was deflected by Misty's boomerang. It flew back to the white-clad magical girl's hand, who then looked back to Cure Breeze for direction.
Breeze glanced back at Cure Surf, who remained hot on the heels of Pira Mariner, then at the monster that was getting ready to shoot its cannon again. She turned to Misty and shrugged.
Pira Mariner fled and Cure Surf pursued him furiously. There was no chance that he would escape her while remaining on the ship, but nonetheless he did not jump overboard.
"Kiraina!"
The monster dredged up another cannonball and shot it in Surf's general direction. It failed to strike anywhere near her, and instead skidded across the top of the ship's cabin and showered the deck with large angry sparks.
Cure Breeze went on the attack, leaping across the water atop tiny pieces of floating debris. A punch from the monster's long arm missed wide, and she took advantage of the opening to dash up the creature's arm and get on top of its deck. The monster howled plaintively and tried to sweep her away with its spindly arms, but its entire face was on the hull. It could only guess at where her location, and she evaded its attacks easily. Reaching the cannon, she pushed it with all of her strength and heaved it into the sea.
Back on the ship, some of the sparks kindled into small flames. Misty Brilliant tapped her boomerang on the side, then tossed it over the burning parts of the ship. A steady stream of water fell from the weapon as it flew and doused the flames, then it spun back around to return to its owner and narrowly missed Pira Mariner as it passed.
His balance disrupted, the fishman skidded across the deck. A jagged chunk of sheet metal struck him squarely in the back, sending him sprawling. A moment later, the girl who had thrown it dropped out of the sky and grabbed him by his robes.
Surf slammed him into the deck, then swung him over her head and back into the deck on her other side. Then she forced him up against the guard rail at the edge of the deck, and began to tip the fishman over the edge.
"That was poison, wasn't it? What did you do to me?!"
"No poison! Pira Clan does not poison! Drugs, yes! But drugs seem always to have no effect on legendary warriors!" The fishman struggled frantically as Surf pushed him further over the railing.
"And I should believe you? You invaded my home. You threatened my family. I offered to let you walk away, even give you a perfectly good excuse. You had a peaceful solution right in front of you, but you chose this."
"Mercy! Please, mercy! Pira Clan cannot respire in seawater!" The fishman protested as he struggled.
Surf pressed harder. "You chose to come here! You chose to not leave! This is the ending you chose!"
Pira Mariner lapsed into terrified incoherence, but somehow caught the attention of his monster.
"Kiraina? Kirainaaa!"
The monster's arms shot out across the water, both hands clapping against the ship's hull in a strangely accurate approximation of a sumo shove.
The boat rocked violently, but Surf kept a firm grip on both the railing and her prisoner. For his own part, the fishman just watched the ocean tilt nearer to his person with wide and terrified eyes.
Having been drugged into a peaceful sleep, Yui was not so fortunate. She slid toward the edge of the tilted deck with nothing to stop her. Being much lighter and rounder, Tun tumbled helplessly alongside her like a blue and white basketball… until a boomerang struck and deflected her back toward the deck. It arced around toward Misty Brilliant as she raced down the perilously tilting ship's deck toward Yui.
She made it just in time. At the moment when Yui would have slipped completely into the water, Misty grabbed her and tossed her back to relative safety, and as the ship began to right itself, Tun scrambled across the deck and began to drag Yui toward the safety of the ship's cabin and the lower decks.
Having sacrificed her own balance to save her friend, Misty herself was not so fortunate. At the moment when the ship began to right itself, she tumbled overboard. The ship's railing receded away from her outstretched hand and she fell into the sea.
The moment she hit the water, Misty Brilliant began to dissolve into foam. Her hair, her clothing, and everything else that had come with her transformation bubbled to the surface and vanished, leaving only Hirouin Himeka. Her Flash Token came away separately, and shot out of the water like a mortar, then fell back to the surface, triggering an eruption of steam wherever it fell into the water, until it finally landed on the deck of the ship.
Surf and her captive were perfectly positioned to see it happen. Himeka kicked and stroked against the clear seawater, but somehow only managed to sink slightly less like a rock. After a moment's hesitation, Surf shoved the fishman the rest of the way over the rail, then dived into the ocean and swam toward her friend.
Himeka didn't give up and neither did Surf, who caught Himeka by the arm, pulled her bodily over her shoulder, then began to swim swiftly back toward the surface. Unnoticed by either, Cure Surf's chest began to pulse with a soft blue light. Not long after, Surf broke the surface and sailed through the air with Himeka still over her shoulder. She landed solidly on the deck of the ship, and both girls drew in much needed air.
As soon as she had her feet back under her, Himeka blanched and began running for the lower decks with her hands over her mouth. As Surf wrung the water out from her own hair, Breeze tumbled out of the sky, but managed to land only a little awkwardly on the deck nearby.
"Breeze!" As Surf ran toward her partner, the blue glow that had been pulsing in time with her heart flowed down her arms and into her fingers. She did a double take. "I've got it back! Get ready to dunk!"
"Aye-aye, Captain!" Breeze rolled to her feet and put her hands together. "The energetic love of the whistling wind! Breeze Color Charge!"
Her entire body began to glow with the warm pink color of her magical charge. After just a moment, it flowed into her hands and formed a shining pink orb.
"The reliable love of the crashing waves! Surf Color Charge!"
The moment she reached Breeze, Surf thrust her blue orb into Breeze's pink ball, which once again grew into a heart-marked magenta basketball. Breeze bounced it off the deck a couple of times, then looked across the water toward the monster.
"Slight problem, Captain."
"Run at me. I'll boost you."
Breeze did as ordered, and Surf launched her into the air, shining orb and all. Seeing her approach, the ship monster tried to slap her out of the air, but Breeze twisted out of the way of its attack, touched down lightly along its arm, then ran all the way down its arm to its body.
"PreCure Breeze Dunk!"
Cure Breeze's ball struck the monstrous ship solidly on the deck, then the monster's whole body lit up with a brilliant pink glow. Its toothy grimace softened, then curled into a contented smile.
"Aye-Aye-Ai!"
Then the monster's body shattered like glass. The shards scintillated like soap bubbles, then popped, leaving behind a black disc emblazoned with the image of a cannon. Now lacking the power that had kept it at the surface, the dilapidated shipwreck rapidly sank beneath the waves.
Next to Cure Surf, the clawed hand of Pira Mariner grasped the rail, then the fishman hauled himself up onto the deck. Surf held up her fists, but he made no move to fight her. He looked around, seeing nobody else on deck, then out across the water, where Cure Breeze could be seen swimming back to the ship. Apparently satisfied, he took a few unsteady steps toward Surf, then whispered just loud enough for her to hear.
"That was not our poison. You did that to yourself."
A round sheet of slimy water appeared in the air above him. Then he jumped into it and vanished. The slimy pool fell and splashed on the deck. The damage to the ship… from sabotage, from cannonballs, even the damage from Cure Surf's violence and the small fires on the deck, all of it shimmered and returned to normal.
Cure Breeze jumped out of the water and onto the deck.
"And I'm back! Did we win?"
Under the cinnamon-colored night sky of the Field of Rivers, the land sweltered even in the absence of the sun. In the midst of that oppressive heat, the click of hard leather on stone echoed off the walls as a young woman with dark green hair descended the steps that led to the Pira Clan's shrine. She was wearing a simple white gown with black gloves, and a necklace set with a small cluster of lustrous green gems. A pair of small, white-feathered wings protruded from the small of her back.
"Halt." A pair of hooded figures blocked her path with spears.
Raising her hand to her mouth, the woman snapped open a fan made of white feathers.
"Please to be letting me pass? I would like not to be making a scene."
"If conflict is not desired, by all means leave in peace."
"I regret to be saying, these days we are sometimes needing to act against our desires." She paused, and fanned herself a few times. "However… perhaps the two of you would do just as well. Please to be telling what your clan is knowing about the legendary warriors and the treasures of the dark king."
The spear-man on the left pointed his spear at the woman. "Those are secrets of the Great Amazonya and the Pira Clan!"
"Then please to be fetching him here. This is being a matter of importance."
The spear-man on the right brandished his spear as well. "The Great Amazonya must not be disturbed!"
"Negotiations have failed, then." She snapped her fan shut and slipped it into her sleeve, then pulled out a glossy white chakram that looked like it could be made of plastic. "Now is the time to be acting against our desires."
It was late afternoon when the ship returned to the harbor. The girls, Shima included, gathered up their things and went ashore.
"Well, that was a blast!" Tamaki turned to Himeka. "I'll bet it feels good to get solid ground under your feet again!"
"It does…" Himeka smiled slightly. "But I'd do it again. Some adventures are worth throwing up for."
"You said it!" Yui agreed. "Though it is kind of suspicious how everyone fell asleep for a bit in the middle..."
"Oh, was that a thing that happened?" Tamaki chuckled nervously.
"Totally happened. I talked to the crew." Yui spun dramatically in place. "I choose to believe that we were attacked by ghost pirates from that shipwreck! Lady ghost pirates, like Anne Bonny and Mary Read!"
Tamaki looked confused. "Who're they?"
"Lady pirates, like ourselves! I looked them up." Yui paused and glanced at Shima.
"Yui?" Himeka looked concerned.
Yui frowned. "Our Captain's being really quiet. What really happened while I was out?"
"Well… the thing is…" Tamaki scratched the back of her head. "I was a little distracted. I'm really not sure."
"And I was seasick," Himeka agreed. "I'm not the best person to ask."
"Captain?"
"Nothing happened," Shima answered coldly. "Everything's fine."
"Next time!"
"Y'know, I was expecting more danger from a possessed ship. Like… maybe some ghost pirates, and more than one cannon."
"Seriously? I thought that went badly enough as it was."
"Okay, maybe it wasn't our best performance ever. Still-"
"Tamaki, I choked on our finishing move! It was a complete disaster!"
"But you delivered it in the end, so all's well that ends well, right? I'm just saying that if they'd really brought the thunder, I could've been punching cannonballs away from the ship with my bare hands and leapfrogging off more cannonballs to land that dunk at the end."
"And when we have our own ship, you can punch out all the ghosts and cannonballs you want, but this is my dad's ship we're talking about. I won't allow you to involve it in your fantasy shenanigans."
"Boo. Y'know, if you read ahead in the script, we don't even get a ship until-"
"Next time, X-Heart PreCure: Food or flowers? Trouble at the cherry blossom festival!"
"Ooh, festival food! This is gonna be a blast!"