At the Karlix building, Raflesina tapped her fingers against her table, watching the fights from the previous episodes on various large TV screens around the room. She tsked and pressed a button, turning off all the TVs. She scoffed.
"How patethic." she whispered to herself.
Indeed, Pretty Cure was getting stronger and stronger, and soon enough they would be unstoppable. But Raflesina had to stop them before they were so… and at any cost. And first, she had to remove what started it all: the skunks.
She stood up and walked away from the table, which metaphorically dissappeared within the darkness. "These meddling brats are not gonna stand triumphant for so long…"
Then, the moment we've been all waiting for arrives: with a grin stamping her lips, Raflesina pulls down her hood, revealing at last her previously-concealed face.
Her face is a paler than white color, her eyes are pure yellow, and her pupils are slanted, almost like a cat. She then let her long, dark crimson-purple hair from the bun she tied it in, letting it fall all the way to her ankles.
"It's time for Raflesina, the master of Karlix, to set things right and finish off Pretty Cure for good!" she cackled, her derisive laugh echoing through the entire room.
Suddenly, someone walked in, interrupting Raflesina's laughter. "Who's there?!" she asked.
It was Tsubo-kun. Who right now was frozen in amazement at the long-awaited reveal of his boss. "Rafure-chama… You're hot!" he whimpered.
Raflesina blushed, before growling furiously at him.
"URUSAI YO~!"
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(OP: "Do You Believe in Magic ~Mahou wo Shinjiteru~" - DivaCure 5)
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"Purikyua Jazumin Thandaa!!!"
Cure Jasmine threw the purple ball of light towards the Ash-Powder dummy. However, it just turned the dummy sideways and became a bunch of smoke. Jasmine growled and stomped her feet against the ground of the training room.
"Dagnabbit!" she groaned, sitting down and covering her face in shame.
Watching the whole thing, Lavvie and Lotus tsked to each other and walked into the room, their footsteps echoing throughout the empty space. "There's no need to train so much, desu…" Lotus mentioned sheepishly.
"You remember how the others gained their power-ups, right?" Lavvie agreed.
Jasmine shrugged. "Obviously they found some glowing humming birds and pointed their CureBottles at them." she answered, "I read the anime magazines. I know all about what I watch."
Lotus nodded and patted the purplenette's feet. "Then go find your own, desu. It might be out there somewhere, desu."
Jasmine nodded and stood up, detransforming and leaving the training room. "Arigato, guys! I'll try my best to find my upgrade! Peace out!" Ayameko called.
Suddenly, Lavvie tugged on his sister's arm in worry. "Something wrong, desu?" asked Lotus raising an eyebrow.
"Did we remind her about the glass door…?"
CRACK~!
"Uh oh…"
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TODAY'S EPISODE:
It Can't Be! Raflesina Enters the Scene
Masaka! Rafureshiina Toujou (まさか!ラフレシーナ登場)
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After healing the wounds from crashing on the glass door and leaving the perfume shop, Ayameko went back home to snipe some stuff her father used to weild; Arinori was a butterfly hunter when he was younger, and was particularly fond of these times.
"Digging through your dad's old stuff?"
Ayameko turned to see her mother entering the room, this time without her usual apron. "Oh, hiya, mom. Yea, it's just that I'm on a roll these days. Trying to catch some birds--"
Risako interrupted her with a shocked gasp. "Ayameko! How could you--?!"
"Nononono, wait, I said birds?" asked the purplenette sheepishly, "I meant boys! Yea! I've been seriously desperate for a boyfriend lately so…"
Her mother just stared at her for some seconds. "Oh."
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Soon enough, our favorite purple Cure was ready for some humming bird hunting. She went to look for the most foresty area of Sapparishita Park, until she saw a purple glimpse on the air. With a smirk, she followed the sparkle…
False alarm.
It was actually some guy holding a purple lantern. "Sumimasen, missy, but I'm looking for aliens." he said.
Ayameko slapped her forehead and ran off, still looking for her beloved humming bird. However, throughout her journey the tomboy faced many obstacles and false alarms… actually more false alarms than obstacles, but still.
By the end of the day, she'd more likely need glasses.
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On the other hand, on a larger part of the town, Pittan strolled through the streets, listening to a Microhard June he borrowed from a random child. "Luke Luke Night Fever, lalalalala~" he sang happily.
Suddenly, he saw a purple spark approaching him. His eyes widened; it was Ayameko's glowing humming bird!
With a grin, the cinnamon-brown bird Scentilian stood in position, ready to snatch the bird away. However, before he could ever take hold of it, a bunch of little kids ran over him, screaming endlessly in joy.
After all the children were gone, Pittan got up, only to have more children running over him. And this situation repeated itself for a third time, as the humming bird flew off. When the running was finally over, Pittan groaned, banging his head against a wall multiple times.
That was going to be an odyssey for him…
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"Ugh…"
Ramona McFly, Ashley's mother and Raflesina's human disguise, groaned as she covered her face from the sun and held her daughter's hand tightly.
From the moment she was born, the big boss of Karlix was always surrounded by darkness, mist and shadows, hence the fact she wasn't used to sunlight. Ashley, on the other hand, spent some more time in the outside world than her, so she was starting to get used to it.
"It's just the sun, mom." deadpanned the girl, "There's nothing to be so scared of."
Ramona rolled her eyes and sneered at her. "Ashley, shush!" the orange-haired woman (yes, in this form Raflesina has orange hair, albeit very dark) told her. Suddenly, Ashley spotted a familiar cherry-redhead running up to her.
Cure Rosa…
Chloe laughed gleefully as she approached Ashley. "Nice to see ya around, Ashurii-chan!" she smiled, before noticing Ramona, "That's your mom, right?"
Due to Chloe's eyes having a different color than Cure Rosa's, Ramona couldn't tell the difference between the two, and found nothing dangerous on Ashley hanging out with them. However, there was something on her stare that was so familiar…
"My name is Ramona McFly." Ramona introduced herself.
Chloe giggled. "Good to finally hear something about your family." the French girl said, "Ne, didja know that Ayamii-chan's been chasing humming birds lately?"
Ashley rolled her golden brown eyes. Obviously she's looking for one of these stupid power-up items. She thought, snickering towards her mother.
"Sooo… Where's the location of that shop you work at?"
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At the perfume shop, Lavvie and Lotus were rummaging through the Pretty Cure Encyclopedia, desperately trying to find some more info about the Silver Cure Humming Birds. When they finally got to said page, it was written that the Cures have all gotten their items at the same time.
"There must be a reason why this time they got ther upgrades one by one…" Lavvie pondered.
Lotus agreed, tapping her chin. "Maybe it's because of their clashing personalities, desu. Or that two of them have different ages, desu. Or maybe…"
Before she finished speaking, she noticed Lavvie tapping her shoulder as he shivered like crazy. "What is it, Lavvie, desu?" she wondered.
"Mite mite…"
The two then turned around to see a large shadow cowering over them, with something malicious in mind…
"GYAAAAA~!"
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(Eyecatch 1: At first, there are pink and black rosebuds. Then, they both bloom to reveal Cure Rosa and Leather Ashes standing on them, as Rosa hugs Ashes with a winkand a tiny PCPP logo appears on the left of the screen.)
(Eyecatch 2: Pittan hops in wearing a Cure Rosa outfit and does some weird poses before getting hit by Ayameko's paper fan. Then the other girls, Lavvie and Lotus laugh as Ayameko grins, Pittan rubs his head while he cries waterfalls, and a tiny PCPP logo appears on the left of the screen.)
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After hunting her humming bird, and not finding any sign of it, a tired Ayameko returned to the perfume shop, groaning endlessly.
However, something was different.
Very different.
The shop was dark and silent, just like in the beginnings of the story, and not a trace of the skunks could be seen. Heck, even a tumbleweed could be seen rolling by. Absolutely confused, Ayameko took a good look around, only to bump onto a shelf. Groaning, the purplenette lit up a random candle and continued strolling around the shop.
"Lavvie! Lotus!" she called out, "Where are you guys?"
Suddenly, she saw the Pretty Cure Encyclopedia resting against the ground, with its cover facing her. Ayameko blinked twice and picked it up, turning it the right way so the pages could face her, and saw that it had some information about the Silver Cure Humming Birds.
"Heh, I wonder who would keep such an important book thrown around like it's trash." she wondered.
She then noticed a small paper; a note, attached to one of the pages. Puzzled, Ayameko grabbed the note and began reading it out:
Pretty Cure,
I see you must be lacking something. You must be missing your dearly beloved skunk friends. Well, if you wanna see them again, alive or not, then go to the darkest building on the Black Maiden Villa. Mother and I will be waiting for ya.
Leather Ashes~
The purplenette gasped in horror. She then growled out and stood up, closing the book and running up to the door so she could warn her friends about such an event.
They had to protect the skunk prince and princess at any cost, especially if they were kidnapped by a little witch!
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At the streets of Oriyama, Ashley carried a bag containing Lavvie and Lotus inside, as both skunks were squirming for help, as her mother guided her.
"Nice work, sweetie. Now Pretty Cure will have no chance against us." Ramona chuckled, patting the girl's head.
Ashley nodded in agreedment, grabbing her mother's hand and readying her Leather Fan. "Kage Mutate!"
After a burst of black and red light, the two, mother and daughter, were back as Leather Ashes and Raflesina. However, to not be noticed, they covered themselves with a black shadow and flew away, causing many people to mistake them for a giant raven.
"Pretty Cure will never suspect!" Ashes chuckled in a really tiny voice.
"And victory will be ours!" Raflesina cackled as they flew away to the Black Maiden Villa.
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As quick as you could say 'roses are red, violets are blue', Ayameko gathered her friends and so, the five were all ready for the big rescue mission. Well, maybe except one.
"But Futari wa Hearty Pure is gonna start right now and--"
"We have no time for Hearty Pure, Chiara!" The purplenette interrupted her blonde-haired friend, "Lavvie and Lotus are in danger! We're the only ones who can save them!"
However, the five stopped briefly as Chloe asked, "But how do you know where is the darkest part of the town, Ayamii-chan?"
Ayameko sighed and closed her eyes as she began explaining the facts.
Turns out that, when she was very young, she was on her way to the bakery to get some sweets for her newborn cousin. However, as she walked, she past straight in front of the bakery, not noticing where she was going.
Soon enough, she realized she was lost on the darkest part of the town: a Red Light District known as the Black Maiden Villa. As she wandered around the place, she was caught by a group of bounty hunters who captured little girls and made stuffed statues out of their skin.
At first, she wanted to scream and run away, but then she shut her eyes and kicked one of them in the face. Noticing her newfound strength, she started beating up the bounty hunters before she ran out of the Black Maiden Villa. After that, she phoned her parents to take her back home, and the rest is history.
As Ayameko ended her explanation, Chiara was already tearful and with puppy dog eyes. "I-I don't know what to say…" she whimpered, blowing on a random handkerchief.
"And if I had the strength to defeat these hunters…" Ayameko came to a conclusion, "Then I have the strength to save Lavvie and Lotus!"
Chloe nodded, turning to the other girls with a wink. "Minna, let's work together and help Ayamii-chan save the day!" she exclaimed, the other girls nodding in agreedment, as the five ran towards the Black Maiden Villa.
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47 minutes after the big flashback, Chiara and Hanae were already tired as heck, their pigtails already drooping down in exhaustion. "Can we stop? My feet are killing me…" the blondie panted.
"You can say that again." Hanae agreed.
Then Chiara repeated what she just said, "Can we stop? My feet are killing me…" The two girls then looked at each other and giggled faintly.
It was pretty much obvious Chiara took that joke from that kiddie's show, the Junkyardigans. She loved that show ever since she was little, and her favorite character was Alejandra the canary, because she related to her in some odd way.
But enough with the things about Junkyardigans, Ikuko groaned and turned around at them. "Would you two quit it? We shouldn't stop; the two mascots that we love are in danger! Plus, Ayamii-chan's soon enough gonna be risking her life to save them!" she called.
Ayameko turned at the older greenette with a wink. "Let's go! Ikuyo!" she exclaimed, running with the fastest speed her legs could, as the others followed her.
However, in a few seconds she stopped in her tracks. "What is it?" asked Chloe as she and the other Cures stopped.
The purplenette just smirked.
"I just saw some things that'll make us go even faster."
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Next thing you know, our heroines were joyfully riding on some vehicles they borrowed from some random kids. In that case, Chloe and Chiara were holding hands as they rollerskated in front of the others; Ikuko and Hanae were riding a scooter together, Hanae holding tight onto her sempai's waist, while Ayameko rode a purple skateboard.
"Hold onto your pantsu, girls!" Chloe called.
"It's a Purikyua Overdrive~!!" Chiara agreed.
As the five Cures were on full throttle, Hanae's scarlet eyes dashed up to see a black spot on the sky. Maybe if they followed that spot, they could get to the Black Maiden Villa faster.
"After the black thing!" she exclaimed.
And so they went, ready for their rescue mission. On their way there, they passed some obstacles; Chiara nearly crawled into a hole, but luckily her sister was there to hold her hand. Many stunts and riding later, there they were.
The Black Maiden Villa was a very dark place, almost monochrome, with some red lights shining here and there. It was, literally, a true Red Light District.
And this time, our favorite purple Cure was ready to face it.
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(ED: "My Dear Friend" - Uchiyae Yuka)
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NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW:
Jasmine: Leather Ashes! Let these skunks free!
Ashes: Only if you Pretty Cures surrender.
Lotus: Girls, please save us, desu!
Lavvie: We're suffocating here!
Rosa: If only we could do anything…
Jasmine: But there is something I can do. Call forth the power of the purple humming bird!
Rosa: Next time on Pretty Cure Perfume Preppy: "Skunks in Pinch! Jasmine's New Power!" Hanekaeshita anata wo uketomeru!
