Sword Art Kingdom III

by Jacob Pendra-Huth

After so many years of waiting, the next chapter of SAK, with the final battle awaiting the trio of Keyblade wielders, Sora, Asuna and Kirito. With swarms of enemies coming from all sides, the heroes must not only gather the Guardians of Light, but also the Lost Princesses of Hearts, all the while doing their best not to let the enemy win, in any world, in any dimension.

17. Orb of Neglect! Saving True Smiles!

(Note: It is highly recommended that you read Sword Art Kingdom: Final Mix chapter 'Asuna's New Stage! Friends Across Worlds' before reading this chapter)

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Swiftwing Gummi Ship

In the training room, Donald was teaming up with Asuna, facing against Sora and Yui, who was in her Soul Burst: Sakura Kinomoto. They were taking a break from training Yui in her swordsmanship in order to get use to Donald's new Soul Release, the Donald Summon.

"Ready to go?" Sora asked the two.

"I've got the card that should help us resist the attack." Yui answered, taking one of the cards that she had on hand.

"Good. This is only training after all." Asuna retorted, "I don't want any of us to get too hurt before we make it to the next world.

"I'll show you what I got!" Donald declared, "Power me up!"

Asuna pointed her Keyblades at Donald, channeling a beam of magic into him. He felt the power within as he leapt high, shouting, "Donald Summon!" He was enveloped in the aura of a yellow, long-legged bird, as it cried out, summoning portals around Sora and Yui.

"Now!" Sora declared, prepping himself as he had his Counter Shield prepped and ready to guard the attack.

"Siege!" Yui cried, waving her wand onto the card, creating an elastic cube barrier around herself and Sora, protecting them. The portals then unleashed a swarm of yellow filolial-like beasts, which from what they learned were called Chocobos, which came at the barrier, stopped by the elasticity and strength of the Siege barrier. They pushed on it for a couple seconds each before disappearing in a puff of light, but the attack was relentless and strong. Inside, Sora had Yui sitting on his shoulders as he blocked any groups of birds that got to the center of the elastic barrier causing them to recoil upon connecting with his shield. The attack ensued for a bit, before all Chocobos disappeared.

"Are you okay?!" Asuna called out to the pair.

There was a moment's pause, before the barrier popped, revealing Sora still carrying Yui, panting from the panic of blocking from all around him. "That was REALLY too close!" Sora said in an exhausted tone.

"I'll say…" Yui sighed, "Siege is not exactly the most full-proof barrier, especially against that."

"Aren't I amazing, or what?" Donald asked, smugly, twirling his staff, before bonking his head on the head of it.

"Yeah, when you're not showboating." Sora argued.

"I'm not showboating!" The duck retorted.

"Still, it is showing that our training at the Battle Tower has improved our skills." Asuna pointed out, "Let's hope it'll be enough for now in the next world."

"I just hope we can find one of the Lost Princesses in the next world." Yui wished.

"Um…" Sora paused for a second, before asking, "So… What were the clues Gretinal gave us?"

"How could you forget?" Donald asked.

"Actually, I could use a refresher." Asuna noted, "I think the first one was a young heart who…brought about miracles?"

"A young heart whose bonds of friendship brought about miracles." Yui corrected, raising one finger after another, "A heart of power who can turn lust into love. A wise heart endlessly pursued alone by darkness. Finally, a spirited heart whose free life had touched many others."

"You remembered all that?" Sora asked, a bit surprised that she remembered everything.

"I made sure to memorize what she told us." Yui answered.

"That's my girl." Asuna praised her, rubbing the top of her head gently.

Just then, they heard a voice over the speakers in the room, with Kirito calling out, "We're almost at the new world. Time to get ready!"

"Thanks, Kirito!" Asuna thanked him. They made sure they didn't leave anything behind as they left the room, returning to the bridge once more.

When they arrived, they discovered the new world off in the distance. The new world's appearance looked like it had a dark orb around the area, with what looked like an amusement park surrounded by a barren wasteland of canyons. On one small side of it, there looked like a small land that was just a forest with a construction sight.

"This world looks…rather gloomy." Sora described.

"At least it looks like an amusement park is in there." Goofy pointed out.

Asuna only looked at it for a few seconds, before her heart suddenly lurched. She grasped ahold of it, gasping at the feel.

"You okay, Asuna?" Donald asked, noticing her reaction. Everyone else looked to her.

"I'm…not sure." Asuna answered, "It's just a feeling but…I feel as if I know this world."

"You do?" Kirito asked, curiously.

"Yeah. At least…I feel a sort of connection to it." She further described the feeling she had, "I am not sure why, though."

"Maybe Gretinal will have the answer for that." Kirito stated, activating the crystal communicator, bringing Gretinal's full body hologram into view.

"I am happy to see you arrived at the next world. It could use your help, indeed." She started.

"Gretinal, before we get into that, can you tell us why Asuna feels as if she is connected to this world?" Kirito asked her.

"Ah, yes. I had a feeling that might happen." Gretinal responded, "You see, one of the sleeping souls within you is reacting to the world."

"By 'sleeping souls', you mean one of the Soul Drives that Asuna had before?" Sora questioned.

"Exactly." Gretinal answered, "To be specific, it is the soul of a 'Legendary Warrior' you connected with."

Asuna took two seconds before realizing, "Cure Beat. You're saying this world is the Pretty Cure world?"

This excited all of them as Sora asked, "Wait, does that mean that we're gonna be seeing Hibiki, Kanade, Ellen, and Hummy again?"

"Oh boy, oh boy!" Donald cheered, with Yui just as excited.

"No, you will not see them here." Gretinal answered, causing the team to look rather surprised, "Instead, you are aiding the next generation of Pretty Cure that came after them."

"There's a new generation of Pretty Cure?" Kirito questioned.

"There have been several." Asuna explained, "Apart from them, along with Cure Black, White, and Shiny Luminous in Yusnaan, there have been several generations of Precure. Yui and I were introduced to them when we went to their world a little while back."

"Right. And the newest ones after the Suite Precure are the Smile Precure." Yui recalled, "We met them, as well." The boys were all intrigued by this information they were given.

"Yes, but now, there is a new threat that is testing their happiness and their dreams." Gretinal informed sadly, "And unfortunately, outside forces are causing an even bigger threat that could spell doom if nothing is done."

"The Heartless." Kirito growled.

"Let's go save Miyuki and the others!" Asuna told the team, who nodded in response, and they raced to the teleporter, Yui activating after scanning a location to land in. She climbed on, and the team descended to the area down below.

---

(Insert 'Adamas Amalee ver.', TV version)

Music intro

(Rushing through black darkness, glittering shards of light pass by. As music starts, the three main Keyblades suddenly shoot forward like shooting stars, circling around from a distance, then crossing one another, shining brightly, forming the logo of the series.)

I'm trying to understand it but it's making me numb

(Left half of Sora's serious face, the other half hidden by the teeth of his Kingdom Key.)

This swirl of karma leaving such a bitter taste on my tongue

(Right half of Asuna's determined face, the other half hidden by the Lambent Light's teeth.)

'Cause I know the pain and sorrow, it has only begun

(The upper half of Kirito's face, with glaring eyes, the lower half hidden by the Elucidator's teeth.)

Who-o-oa, Who-o-oa, Who-o-oa

(Flashing through the faces of each hero; Donald, Goofy, Yui, Mickey, Riku, Leafa, Kairi, Axel, and Kayaba.)

Now I'm surrounded by my enemies, but luck's on my side

(In the dusty fields of the Keyblade Graveyard, the camera pans around the circle of the six main heroes as they ready their weapons.)

So I shatter through the walls and change the course of the tide

(In the same field, the camera pans the opposite way around the six other heroes as they ready their weapons.)

Can't stop this surging fate like a volcano set to break, Take a breath until you're set to

(Allies of the multiple worlds they will or have visited pan across the screen, finally ending with the silhouettes of the four Lost Princesses of heart, with the one in the center opening her hands to reveal a bright light.)

face that voice of fear. That god of death that's always looking down on you

(Philia stands on a lone green hill, staring at a card with the picture of Castle Oblivion on it. She feels a hand behind her, and looks to see Flair and Hinata standing behind her, giving assuring smiles, with Tinkerbell coming out of her pocket, and Samson giving a thumbs up.)

"Do you believe yourself?" I won't stop til I've won

(Maleficent and Dr. Temna stand together, with Pete and Tears next to them, and a swarm of Heartless and shadowed foes ready to strike.)

A glimpse of that bright future that's just begun!

(Xehanort's maliciously smirking face appears, as he and fifteen others float together in a circle. Screen splits in half as half of Heartless Oberon and Gouxus take the screen, their eyes shining from yellow to violet.)

Shining like a diamond, The emotions in your heart reflect like crystal

(The six heroes team up together, taking down Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed that come across their path with their weapons, skills and magic.)

As we vow an oath that will ignite your light and mine - And we will rise!

(A Demon Tower nearly falls on top of the six, but they get away, with Kirito, Asuna and Sora in the air, performing Soul Bursts and Keyblade transformation, creating Cloud's Buster Sword, Asuna's SAO Lambent Light, and Sora's twin guns, unleashing a sword beam, ice spears, and magic shots as one.)

So many times I've gotten back on my feet to make it to this moment

(A group of dark energy orbs shoots down the trio from a cliff above, hitting them into the ground. The attack comes from Xehanort, Heartless Oberon, and Gouxus.)

It's time our prayer that's waiting in the dark. Is set free so light the spark and let it shine!

(Sora, Asuna and Kirito get back up on their feet, shaking off their injuries, and raising their Keyblades as they charge forward, beams of sunlight shining upon each of them as they all take a leap at the Organization XVI, with their friends, the other heroes, including Roxas, Xion, Recon, Terra, Aqua and Ven, joining them from behind.)

---

Orb of Neglect, Construction Zone

In an open area with construction equipment and machines about the area, surrounded by a lush forest, a group of five girls and a couple of small characters were standing together, looking up at a jester floating in the air. These five girls and two characters were group that formed the Smile Precure, and the jester in the air was known as Joker. The girls had just been through a tough ordeal just moments ago, involving a monster which they purified.

"And they all lived happily ever after. Is that right?" Joker questioned the girls, "Not this time, I'm afraid."

"Why are you here?!" The orange-haired girl named Akane demanded.

"We've already took care of that Akanbe, so get out of here!" The green-haired girl named Nao told him.

"Yes, you did." Joker stated, "However, the fun has only just begun! We haven't even gotten to the grand finalé."

"What do you mean, de gozaru?!" One of the small characters, Pop, questioned with a glare.

Joker's eye mask shadowed as he said in a sinister tone, "I believe it's time to give you a taste of the splendors a Bad End can offer!"

From behind him, he whipped out a black orb down at the group of girls, and in a quick instance that no one could react to in time, four of the five girls ended up inside the orb, leaving the remaining girl, Miyuki, and the two small characters remaining outside, horrified had happened to their friends.

"EVERYONE!" The trio cried out, wondering what the heck did Joker do to their friends.

"Oops. Looks like I missed a few." Joker snickered, "No matter. I have surprise for the three of you!" He snapped his finger, and suddenly, Heartless composed of Soldiers, Air Soldiers, and Magimps appeared, surrounding the trio, who were not prepared for such adversaries. Things looked rather grim for them all.

In the forest, the six heroes were wandering through a small path when they heard a high-pitch cry of 'kuru' from close by. "What was that?!" Donald questioned.

"It came from up ahead!" Yui answered, and the six raced along the path.

They arrived at the construction site, where they discovered the scene taking place. In the air above them was a man that looked like a court jester. He had what looked like a triple-pointed hat that was red, blue, and yellow, tipped with a ball at each point, purple hair that had bangs going down each side, and a white masquerade mask with black slits for eyes. His attire was a white jumpsuit with purple and red-stripped leggings, a purple turtleneck frilled top with a red belt wrapping from one shoulder to the other, a yellow belt loosely around his waist, red bands around his lower arms, and jester-styled black shoes.

The trio surrounded by the Heartless were a young teen girl with magenta eyes and hair of the same color, wrapped in cone-shaped buns, held by yellow bows. Her attire was a long-sleeved pink shirt under a fuchsia and yellow vest, a pink and magenta skirt, white stockings with pink stripes, and a pair of pink and white sneakers.

The other two small characters had stubby arms and legs, with one having transparently pink fur with pink and yellow markings around its eyes and forehead, blue eyes, yellow furry ears that were tightly curled to look like buns, with a small tail to match, and a pink collar. The other one had a pale yellow body with blue markings around his eyes, curled ears, an orange, lion-like mane that covered his right eye, a bushy orange and pale orange-tipped tail like a fox.

"Heartless!" Sora, Goofy and Kirito shouted, as Asuna and Yui recognized a couple of the characters in the middle.

"That's Miyuki!" Asuna recognized the girl.

"And Candy's there, too!" Yui added, noting the pale-pink fairy.

Joker looked up to see the group, as Miyuki and the other two turned to see the new arrivals. "Wait… Is that you, Asuna-senpai?!"

"And Yui, as well, kuru!" Candy realized.

"Who?!" The third character, Pop, questioned.

"Let's save her, guys!" Asuna ordered, as the heroes drew out their weapons, and raced into the fight.

Donald and Sora took on the closest enemies on the ground, while Kirito and Goofy leapt at those in the air. Yui used a Whirlwind to launch Asuna into the air while knocking back some Air Soldiers, allowing the Lightning Flash to land next to Miyuki and the fairies.

"Are you okay?!" She demanded the young girl.

"Yes! I'm so happy you're here!" Miyuki cried.

"We're in big trouble, kuru!" Candy pleaded, "Joker just trapped all our friends in that crystal ball, kuru!"

Asuna gasped as she looked up at the man called Joker, holding the floating black orb aloft. She glared at him for a moment, before looking at the Heartless around, saying, "We'll save them. Right now, the Heartless." She charged at the Heartless, unleashing her Aquastrike technique to knock down an Air Soldier from the air into a Magimp, taking them both out with several stabs afterwards.

"Who are they, de gozaru?" Pop asked.

"Asuna's a Precure, just like Miyuki and the others, kuru!" Candy answered.

"Eh?! She's a Precure?!" Pop exclaimed, looking to her, then to the boys, fighting the other Heartless, "Then who are they, de gozaru?!"

"I recognize Yui, but not the others." Miyuki responded, "Guess they are her friends. Where is Melody and the others? We could really use their help!"

After a minute, the group eliminated the Heartless, gathering to Miyuki and the fairies' side, turning to Joker, who crossed his legs as he practically sat in midair.

"What a splendid show you performed for me." He told the group, "I guess you must be the infamous Keyblade wielders I heard so much about."

"Rumors spread fast, don't they?" Kirito asked.

"Who told you about us?!" Sora demanded.

"Why, the one who's been sending me these delightful Heartless." Joker answered, "They are quite useful, don't you think? A perfect monster to create a Bad End with."

Miyuki ignored this as she barked, "I don't care about that! Give me back my friends!"

"I think not." The harlequin answered, balancing the ball on one of his sharp fingertips, "Besides, I think they'll find life in the Orb of Neglect most pleasant."

"Orb of Neglect?" Sora echoed.

"In here, the very concepts of worry, sadness, and pain cease to exist. There's no need to lift a finger." He explained, "I'm certain they'll be quite at home in their new world."

"No, they won't, kuru!" Candy barked back.

"Whatever world you placed them in, it can't be as good as it sounds." Kirito argued.

"I'll bring them back, I swear it!" Miyuki declared.

"Oh? And how do you plan to accomplish that?" Joker asked her.

Miyuki stepped forward in front of the group as she answered, "Send me in there, too!" The answer startled the others.

"You're most welcome, of course." Joker told her, "But know that you'll forget even your own existence, and become consumed by unrelenting apathy." He lit up the crystal ball in a shadowy aura, and dropped it towards the ground, where it floated at a level for everyone to be able to touch it.

"No, I won't!" Miyuki retorted, walking towards the orb with a determined glare, "I won't let that happen!"

"Wait, hold on, Miyuki!" Asuna cried out, "You should prepare before you do anything reckless!"

She turned back to the others, answering, "I have to save them. Look out for Candy and Pop for me!" She looked back at the orb, and with an extended hand, her body became encased in a dark aura. A second later, the aura vanished, and with it, Miyuki.

"Miyuki!" Candy cried out.

"Quite the fool we have here." Joker snickered, looking from the orb to the others, "Of course, you are also invited to join them in an eternity of apathy, as well."

The heroes glared up at him, before looking at the orb. "Like we have a choice." Kirito answered.

"Miyuki may be strong, but I am not even sure if she can handle this on her own, de gozaru." Pop growled, before declaring, "I'll go in and help her, de gozaru!" He dashed towards the orb, and with one leap, and a dark aura, he vanished into the crystal ball as well.

"Pop!" Candy cried out.

"What a stupid fairy." Joker chortled.

"We can't let him go alone, guys!" Asuna told the team, "We have to go in after them."

"If the name suggests right, if we go in there, we might have to deal with something that'll cause us to fall into apathy." Yui assumed, "Well forget to care about others."

"But that won't happen!" Sora answered, "Our hearts are too strong to not care. And I know we all can overcome whatever that Orb of Neglect hits us with, we'll overcome it!"

"Yeah!" Donald declared, "I still wanna grow and get better!"

"I still wanna do a lot of stuff with you guys." Goofy added.

"I gotta go save everyone, so I am going in, kuru!" Candy shouted, "I am not afraid, kuru!"

"Then by all means, join your friends." Joker insisted, "For once you go in, you, the Precure, and the fairy will spend an eternity in blissful ignorance."

The team looked at him for a moment, then walked towards the crystal ball. They looked to one another, nodding in understanding, and reached out to the orb, with Candy leaping up to touch the orb as well. Their bodies became encased in a dark aura, and within moments, they vanished from existence.

"They certainly are a bunch of foolish idiots." Joker snickered, looking from behind him, "Are you sure they are a group I should worry about at all?"

The person he was speaking towards was none other than Tears, who arrived on the scene just moments after the others vanished into the Orb of Neglect. She was looking a bit on the salty side after her failure to defeat the Heart Sisters and their friends in the previous world, but still had enough smugness to answer, "Those putrid light-wielders in the other world may have gotten the better of me before, but this group is far from as strong as they are."

She came closer to the crystal ball as she stated, "However, this world of yours has had my daddy intrigued. A realm that puts people in a state of sloth. It is just another form of darkness that I can gather up to help my daddy out."

"I was rather uncertain about you, at first. But the Heartless you provided me have exploded my mind with endless ideas." Joker stated, spreading his arms out wide, "Truly, they could bring this entire world into the bad end my Master Pierrot desires!"

"Still, we cannot be too careful." Tears stated, looking within, "They are foolish light-wielders, but they are tricky to put down. Best for me to go in and have a little fun messing with them and those little girls." She opened up a Corridor of Darkness, and entered in, deciding to go her own path into the realm within the orb.

Joker watched her vanish, and snickered. "Those children may have talent against the Heartless, but they are still no match to what I have in store for them inside my Orb of Neglect!" He twirled in the air, before disappearing in an instant.

---

Orb of Neglect, Bad End Carnival

At this point, Miyuki was standing at the entrance of something she did not expect. She had just left her school, exited the front gate, and found herself at the entrance of an amusement park. It had all the rides you would expect from such a place; a large roller coaster, a merry-go-round, a pair of ferris wheels, and all other sorts of things. There were food stands, gift stands, and carnival games. Balloons were floating about in the air. The perfect place to have fun.

"What is this place?" She asked, wandering into the amusement park.

At this point, Pop had just arrived on the scene, and witnessed Miyuki going into the amusement. "Not good." Pop muttered, "She has no idea how terrifying this place really is…"

"Oh, wow! An amusement park!" He heard someone from behind, and turned to see the six heroes, along with Candy, arrive on the scene, examining the scenery.

"We went from a school to this place?" Asuna asked, looking about.

"Wha-!" Pop looked shocked as he raced over to the team as he asked, "What are you doing here?! This place isn't safe, de gozaru!"

"We know." Yui responded.

"Yeah. Despite this cheery and almost welcoming atmosphere, I almost feel like I'm being attracted to an anglerfish." Kirito compared, examining the area.

"It sure does look like fun, though." Goofy pointed out with a chuckle.

"That's the problem!" Pop argued, "You shouldn't even be here in the first place, much less take Candy with you, de gozaru!"

"But I have to help, big brother, kuru!" Candy retorted, "Miyuki and my friends are all in danger, kuru! I have to help them anyway I can, kuru!"

"And we want to help them, as well." Asuna finished, indicating herself and her friends, "Especially if the Heartless are involved. They could do far more damage than what Joker has in store."

Pop mulled it over, before deciding, "Okay, I trust you. Miyuki and Candy seem to know you two girls, so I'll be counting on you, de gozaru."

"Thanks." Yui thanked the lion-like fairy.

"Let's go catch up with Miyuki first!" Sora told the team, and they wandered into the amusement park.

Running through the entrance, seeing random folks in this area, until they ran to the main plaza of the amusement park, which had branching paths within it. In the center of it all, the team could see Miyuki standing there, almost perfectly still. She was looking slowly about, her eyes starting to go blank.

"Miyuki!" Candy cried out, causing her to look around to the team.

"Hello…" she greeted the others, speaking like she was in a trance.

The team stopped and looked at her, before Sora asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. This place looks like a lot of fun, isn't it?" She asked, "So much happiness, without any pain or suffering. There is no sadness, and no effort. Just fun."

"Miyuki, snap out of it, de gozaru!" Pop called out to her.

"Remember the reason you came to this world! You didn't come here for the amusement park!" Asuna argued with her, "You wanted to save your friends from being trapped here!"

"Trapped…here?" Miyuki echoed, her mind thinking through what they were talking about.

"Miyuki, come back to me, kuru!" Candy cried out, "This place isn't your ultra happiness, is it, kuru?"

"My…ultra happiness?" Miyuki echoed Candy's words. After a few seconds, she blinked, and her eyes reverted back to normal. She shook her head as she asked, "What…what was I thinking?"

"Miyuki is back!" Yui cheered.

"Thank goodness." Kirito sighed in relief.

She looked at the team as she said, "Thanks. I don't know what came over me. I just saw all the fun this place had, without any sort of pain whatsoever, and I just…"

"It really is the Orb of Neglect." Kirito stated, examining the place, "So much entertainment and fun, the food stalls look like they are plenty loaded with food, and there doesn't seem to be any lines for anything here. No effort in getting what you want. A fake reality that would invite most people."

Goofy then looked to hear Donald at one of the stalls, a large yellow jewel on display that had the word 'grand prize' on it. Donald was completely hooked to the sight of it, his eyes almost going out of focus like Miyuki's. "Donald, hold on!" Goofy hollered, causing Donald hear the voice and snap out of it, shaking his head.

"Aw, come on! I earned this grand prize from playing this game!" He called out to others.

"Really? And did you even play the game?" Sora asked.

"Well, uh…no?" Donald asked, "I just walked up, and got announced winning the grand prize!"

"Winnin' a prize like that won't make you feel good if you didn't earn it." Goofy told him. Donald looked back at the jewel, grimacing and muttering to himself, before sighing and wandering back to the team.

"This place really is dangerous." Yui stated, "We should find our friends and get out of here."

"Agreed." Asuna stated, looking back to Miyuki, "Did you see where the others are at?"

"I saw them enter in and split up." Miyuki stated, looking about, "Akane, Yayoi, Nao, and Reika are all scattered about in this place."

"Then I'd guess we'd better split up and look for them." Kirito told the team, looking at the group, "Two things we should be aware of. One is that since there are Heartless in this place, we should at least have one Keyblade wielder in each team, meaning at the maximum, we need to split into three teams. Also, we need to have a member in each team who knows what the girls look like."

"Yeah, and Yui and I, along with Miyuki, Candy, and Pop, all know what they look like." Asuna summed up, "So let's make sure that we have at least one of them in each team."

The team organized themselves, and after a few minutes, created the three search parties. Asuna's team had Goofy and Yui, Sora's team had Miyuki and Donald, and Kirito's team had Pop and Candy.

"Not to complain, but can either one of you fight?" Kirito asked.

"Do not worry, Kirito, de gozaru." Pop assured him, pulling out what looked like a scroll, "I can use transformations to fight, de gozaru."

"I'll do whatever I can, too, kuru!" Candy added.

"Well, Kirito is rather use to doing things solo, like he did way back when." Asuna noted, before turning to Miyuki and adding, "You should probably transform, too."

"Right." she replied, pulling out her transformation devices which looked like a pocket makeup case, opening up, and placing a ribbon decoration into it, "Precure Smile Charge!" Her attire glowed a pink hue as a makeup pad appeared, and she grabbed in in her hand, tapping her wrists, legs, and body, which became her magical girl attire. Her hair glowed, and extended in length. She tapped her cheeks with her pad, creating blush marks, and the pad fell into her transformation device. "Twinkling and shining, the light of the future! Cure Happy!" She finished, striking a pose.

Miyuki, now as Cure Happy, had a completely different look, her hair now bright pink and reaching her knees, styled in low pigtails that had curled strands at the end, and a winged tiara on her head with a pink jewel embedded into it. Her attire consisted of a sleeveless dress and skirt that you would expect of a magical girl; white, pink, and magenta, with white frills on the shoulders, and a magenta bow with a gold medallion with the Smile Precure symbol on it. She also wore knee-high boots that were the same color as her dress, a dark pink choker, wrist pieces, and wing-like earrings. Her transformation device, the Smile Pact, was attached to her waist.

"Wow!" The boys gasped, never seeing this transformation before.

Happy turned to Asuna and asked, "Why don't you transform, as well?"

"I can still fight, even without transforming." Asuna answered, placing a hand over her heart, "Besides, my Precure power is…well, it's sleeping at the moment."

"Eh?!" She gasped, "When will it wake up?"

"Dunno." Asuna answered, looking at her heart. Would it come back at some point? She wasn't sure.

"Fellas, we should get goin'." Goofy told the team.

"Right. Let's split up and find Miyuki's friends!" Sora declared, and the three teams divided up, going different directions in the park.

---

Sora's Team

Sora led both Donald and Happy along the streets, past customers that were standing by the stalls, but not in front of them, like they were waiting for the heroes to go to them.

"There are so many things to do here!" Donald noticed, looking at the stalls.

"Yeah, and that's what worries me." Happy noted, "I'm wondering if my friends ended up falling into this place's spell like I was?"

"This amusement park reminds me of the dream world of that carnival where I went searching for Pinocchio." Sora compared.

Suddenly, Jiminy hopped out of Sora's clothing, onto his shoulder as he gasped, "One of the Dream Worlds was Pleasure Island?! Oh, my. That is rather similar to this place, though the kids in that place ended up turning to donkeys."

"Eh?! Who is that?!" Happy asked, shocked to see Jiminy, "And what do you mean they turned to donkeys?!"

"Just as I told you. The kids who succumbed to the island's fun, ignoring their conscience on it being all wrong, ended up turning into donkeys."

"But this isn't the same." Sora compared, looking back at Happy, "And even if they lost their way, we will still save them."

"Thanks, Sora." Happy thanked him, "I'm ultra happy that you, Asuna-senpai, and your friends are here." Sora grinned and nodded in agreement.

Just then, darkness arose from in front of them, and they stopped to see Vermillion Sambas, Soldiers, and a new Heartless that was a bipedal wolf, dark blue and black, a long snout with a jagged mouth, pointed ears, spiked fur shoulders, and long talons. The Heartless emblem was on its chest.

"More Heartless!" Sora exclaimed, seeing them, "And new ones, as well!"

"We can take 'em!" Donald exclaimed, brandishing his staff, while Happy readied her fists, "Just let me use my summon and-."

"Wait, Donald." Sora stopped him, "I can't do that with you. Kirito, Asuna and Yui can do it, but not me."

"WHAT?!" He exclaimed, as Sora turned to see the bipedal wolf Heartless go on all fours, and made a straight bound, coming at Sora with his claws. Sora guarded it, before slashing backwards. This was immediately followed by Happy jumping in and unleashing a straight punch that sent the Heartless flying into the others.

"Thanks, Happy." Sora thanked her, who smiled back, before he got his Keyblade ready, "Okay, let's go!"

The trio went to work on the group of Heartless, with Happy demonstrating her skills as a Precure. Sora recognized similar feats of strength and skills like he did with the Suite Precure so long ago, but also noticed some moves that set her apart. For example, she was able to jump extremely high before hitting the ground hard, creating a shockwave that knocked back opponents, or creating a burst of light energy from around her to also do damage. The strangest attack, though, was her headbutting targets almost like it was a last ditch effort.

"Sora, it's time for some magic!" Donald shouted, and Sora responded by coming to his side. They magically spun around as they summoned firework rockets before shouting, "Duck Flare!", sending the rockets homing in at the remaining Heartless, beating them up.

"Amazing!" Happy exclaimed, seeing the two's attack.

"Aw, it was nothing." Donald answered, rubbing his beak, while Sora rolled his eyes at him. However, he then noticed someone off in the distance. A girl with medium blonde hair and a white headband, wearing a goldenrod dress over a pale yellow blouse, short white socks and orange Mary-Jane shoes.

"Hey, is that one of your friends over there?" Sora asked Happy, who spun around to see her wandering over to one of the attractions; a haunted house.

"That's Yayoi!" Happy realized, "But why is she going to the haunted house?!"

"Maybe she likes those things?" Donald asked.

"Come on! We gotta catch up to her!" Sora told the two, and they charged to the destination to catch up with the girl.

---

Kirito's Team

Kirito was immediately leading the two fairies down the path that looked like it was gonna take them to the roller coaster. "Kirito, why are we heading this direction, if you don't mind me asking, de gozaru?" Pop asked.

"Well, I'm just feeling like maybe one of the girls might've made their way to the roller coaster." Kirito assumed, "If it were me, I certainly wouldn't mind riding that coaster."

"Don't tell me you're being tricked by this world, kuru?!" Candy asked Kirito in a worried manner.

"Don't worry. It may look fun, but I know the truth of this place." He assured her, glaring at the roller coaster, "Let's keep going there to see if one of the girls are there."

The trio raced through, taking out a few Heartless that got in their way. Kirito took the front, but had help from Pop, who was able to transform into things using his scrolls, from a giant can crusher that he used sumo moves and smash opponents with, to an alicorn for dashing strikes. As for Candy, she was able to use some sort of light power that healed Kirito if he was injured, so that was helpful.

Fortunately, they were able to reach the roller coaster entrance in time, and saw a girl walking through the winding path that formed the line to the ride. She had short dark green hair tied in a ponytail, held by a yellow bow. Her attire was an olive and yellow top with various badges on the chest, dark olive shorts, orange socks, and a pair of red and black boots.

"Nao, kuru!" Candy recognized.

"That's one of the girls?" Kirito asked Pop, who nodded in response.

"Nao, it's us, kuru!" Candy cried out, racing towards the absent-minded girl, when three large creatures appeared, landing on the ground in front of the fairy, making her panic. They were Heartless with an ogre-like appearance, muscular, with ram-like horns on their heads, a plated dark red kilt around their waste, and dark wooden clubs in one hand.

"Looks like someone doesn't want us to get near her." Kirito stated, readying his weapon as Pop produced a scroll and wrapped his mouth around it, ready to transform.

"They remind me of Akaoni, kuru!" Candy compared, thinking to one of their enemies.

The trio lunged forward at the Heartless, the first one bringing its club down at him. Kirito avoided, but the shockwave forced him backwards. He skidded back to Pop, replacing his Keyblade for the one he obtained in Naofumi's world, The Rising Legend Keyblade. The guard was shaped like Naofumi's Legendary Shield, silver and black-outlined with a neon green interior, with a green jewel in the front like the shield, and what looked like feathers sticking out from the sides of it. The shaft was a dark silver metal and green, and the teeth was dark green, black and gold, almost like pieces of his shields.

"Time to see what this Keyblade can do!" Kirito declared, pointing his Keyblade at the Heartless and focusing, before shouting, "Shotlock: Judgment Aegis!" His Keyblade then folded in and transformed into a shield like Naofumi's, and he raised it high, as a beam of light shot down from the heavens above, hitting his shield, and sending spark of light energy raining down around him from the impact, showering upon the ogre-like Heartless, damaging them quite a bit.

"That's incredible, de gozaru!" Pop exclaimed as he witnessed the attack.

Kirito came out of the attack, looking at his reformed Keyblade, recalling how that attack felt like the Pope's Judgement attack on top of them way back when. He then noticed the Heartless were still intact, and came at Kirito again, unleashing their clubs one after another. Kirito readied himself, and parried the first club away, knocking into the second ogre's attack. The third one he quickly evaded, and unleashed a pair of Fire spells at the group, burning them.

"Pop, now!" Kirito shouted, as Pop used his scroll, transforming into his alicorn form. The two rushed forward, smashing and striking through the Heartless, taking them out.

"You did it, kuru!" Candy cheered.

Pop and Kirito didn't have time to celebrate, as they looked ahead, and saw Nao had vanished. "Not good. Don't tell me she already went on the roller coaster, de gozaru?" Pop questioned, looking to the entrance.

They ended up getting their answer when they heard the roller coaster activating, and they turned to see the coaster going up the rail hill, with Nao in the front car, and a few Shadow and Soldier Heartless in the other cars. The trio looked shocked to see her there, with Kirito shouting, "Quick, let's follow her!" He hopped over the winding path to the entrance, with Pop and Candy following behind by running underneath the railings.

"How are you gonna follow her, kuru?!" Candy asked.

"I'll show you!" Kirito answered, running into the entrance.

---

Asuna's Team

Asuna, Goofy, and Yui were already in a different part of the amusement park, wandering down the path as they ended up reaching what looked like the carnival section, filled with a lot of booths with games.

"Gee, I wonder if any of Happy's friends are around here." Goofy asked.

"I hope so." Asuna answered, "I am rather worried about them. They are all good girls, but when we first met them, they were still new to being Precure."

"Yeah, but they were really helpful in stopping Fusion and helping Ayumi reach Fu." Yui recalled, thinking back to the memories of that day they met all the Precure.

"Gawrsh, I hope we find them so Sora and the rest of us can be friends with them." Goofy hoped.

"Me, too, Goofy." Asuna agreed, looking ahead, "Let's keep going."

They had just started to move forward when Heartless suddenly appeared before them, startling them. They were composed of Shadows, electric-looking Heartless that looked a lot like the Vermillion Sambas, and Magimps.

"More Heartless in the area!" Asuna called out.

"Those are Gold Beat Heartless!" Yui analyzed the yellow floating Heartless, "They are incredibly threatening with their electricity!"

The trio went to work on dealing with the Heartless, taking them out, while experiencing the lightning skills of the Gold Beat, who not only shot lightning, but also used the frame it had around it, turning into electric whips to strike the trio. Fortunately, the three were experienced enough to take out the Heartless before moving on.

After another wave, they were able to spot a girl near a high striker. She had short auburn hair with a small ponytail, a loose orange long-sleeve top with yellow stripes and red pockets, worn over a dark red tank-top, blue pants and dark red flats.

"I recognize her." Asuna noticed the girl.

"Yeah. If memory serves right, I think that's Akane Hino." Yui remembered.

They watched as Akane picked up a hammer smaller than what was usually used for a high striker, and effortlessly whacked it down on the lever. Despite the lack of effort, the puck flew up and hit the bell at the top. "I won!" Akane stated, though not very enthusiastically.

"That looked pretty easy." Goofy noted.

"That's because of how this world made it easy." Asuna understood, "It's like Kirito said; this world is just handing you victories without any effort."

The trio walked over to Akane, who turned to them in response. They could see that her eyes were blank and out of focus. She had been brainwashed, just like Miyuki was recently.

"Heya there. Did ya come to have fun here?" She asked the trio.

"Akane, don't you remember me? It's me, Asuna." the Keyblade wielder reminded her.

Akane paused for a second before realizing, "Sorry, I don't remember. But say, why don't we go to one of the carnival games. It's easy to get the prizes."

"We don't have time for that!" Asuna argued, "We need to get you and your friends out of here!"

"Come on. There is no need for rushin'." Akane responded, "Let's go to that machine over there." She pointed towards a Whack-a-Mole game.

Asuna didn't want to use force to bring Akane back to the central plaza, but she didn't want to just let her keep playing.

"Hey, why don't you compete with her?" Goofy asked Asuna, getting her attention, "Maybe she can come back with us if we beat her in that game."

"That's a great idea, Goofy." Asuna answered, turning to Akane, "Let's have a contest to see who can make a higher score at the Whack-a-Mole game. If I win, you come back with me to the central plaza."

"Compete?" Akane question, "Nah, I don't want to put in the effort. I just wanna have fun."

"Then…how about if I reach a certain score?" Asuna asked, "If I do that, can you come back with me to the central plaza?"

"Sure, I can make that deal." The auburn-haired girl answered.

"Mama, have you ever played that game?" Yui asked.

"Well…no." Asuna admitted. She never really went to a carnival in her life, the closest thing being new year festivals. "But I know the concept, so I bet I can do it."

"Let's go." Akane told Asuna, and the four walked over to the carnival game, with the prize being the young girl's willingness to come with them.

---

Sora's Team

"AKANBE!" A clown-like face popped out of a painted house on the wall, scaring Sora, Donald, and Happy. "An Akanbe!" Happy exclaimed, prepared to fight it once she got over her fear.

"Wait, hold on!" Sora stopped her, looking to the motionless face, then seeing the spring behind it, "It's only a prop."

The team followed Yayoi into the haunted house, and were immediately greeted by a few scares here and there, but nothing they couldn't handle. In fact, it wasn't as scary as some other haunted houses. It wasn't even as scary as Halloween Town.

"It's a good thing Asuna isn't here." Donald stated.

"Yeah. She really can't stand ghosts and ghouls." Sora remembered.

"I didn't know Asuna-senpai was like that." Happy stated in surprise.

"Yeah, but we probably shouldn't have said that." Sora realized, "Asuna would have a field day with us if she learned we told you that."

"I'll try not to say anything." Happy assured them, "Let's keep going in to find Yayoi."

The trio ventured further in, and found themselves in an open room that looked larger what they expected from a haunted house. In it, they saw the room decorated like a haunted ballroom, with pictures of Akanbe monsters of different varieties on the wall. In the venter of the place was Yayoi, surrounded by Heartless, composed of the wolf Heartless they encountered before, and a ghostly one that Sora and Donald recognized as Search Ghosts.

"Yayoi!" Happy cried out, seeing her in danger.

"Let's get the Heartless away from her!" Sora told the others, readying his Keyblade, and leading the charge in. The trio got the Heartless's attention, and started getting them away from Yayoi. They did also learn they had to keep themselves away from the wall, as the Akanbe faces would pop out, hitting them and stunning them for a moment, giving the Heartless a chance to strike. Fortunately, they were able to adapt and take them out, without any harm coming to Yayoi.

As soon as things were calm, they gathered around Yayoi as she seemed absolutely oblivious to what had just happened. "Yayoi, are you okay?!" Happy asked.

"Oh, hi, there." Yayoi asked, "I was just coming into this haunted house for fun. Did you come and join me?"

"Yayoi, you usually wouldn't come into a place like this!" Happy pointed out, "Why would you think of it as fun?!"

Sora and Donald looked to her face, and saw the blank eyes she had, just like Miyuki's before, and Sora realized, "Happy, Yayoi's been brainwashed like you almost were."

"Then, can't we snap her out of it like you guys did with me?" Happy asked.

"Maybe… but let's get her out of here before we try to figure that out." Sora suggested.

"Okay…" Happy understood, worried for her friend, before telling Yayoi, "Let's go meet with the others at the central plaza."

"Sure. Sounds like fun." Yayoi answered, "Oh, but we should invite the others along, too. I saw someone with blue hair go over to the Ferris wheel a little bit ago."

"Reika's at the Ferris wheel?" Happy repeated.

"Then we should get going!" Donald answered.

"But what about Yayoi?" Sora asked.

"Don't worry. I will go to wait for everyone at the central plaza." She assured them, "I'll order sweets for all of us to have."

"Okay." Happy responded, glad to see her cooperating, "We won't be long."

When the four of them exited the haunted house, Yayoi walked off to the central plaza without a word, leaving the three to investigate and see where the Ferris wheel was at, before making their way towards it. "I'm very worried about Yayoi." Happy muttered, "She is acting so different from how she usually is. Is she really happy to be here?"

"She's not!" Donald answered, "This place has made her screwy in the head!"

"Donald's right. As soon as we bring everyone together, we can get them out of here and get them back to normal." Sora assured her.

"Thanks, Sora." Happy thanked him, smiling graciously, "I'm glad Asuna-senpai has friends like you. It makes me ultra-happy." Donald and Sora smiled happily in response to this, before racing off to the Ferris wheel.

---

Kirito's Team

Inside the station of the roller coaster, Kirito, Pop, and Candy raced up to the tracks where they would dismount or get on the coaster itself. "The coaster already left with Nao on it, de gozaru!" Pop reminded Kirito, "Should we wait for her to show up, de gozaru?"

"Not with those Heartless on board." Kirito answered, "Pop, turn into that winged creature and follow me!" He leapt off onto the rails, and his Flowmotion-like powers activated, causing him to magically grind up the hill.

"Amazing, kuru!" Candy exclaimed, as Pop transformed into his alicorn form.

"Get on, Candy!" Pop told Candy, who hopped onto his back, and the two raced after Kirito.

He continued to grind up the hill, until he made the steep descent, picking up the speed as he flew. He saw the coaster ahead, and was getting closer. However, as he was getting closer, the back car detached itself, and the two Shadow Heartless on it turned around and were ready to attack Kirito. He was caught off guard for a moment, but was able to react by leaping over the cart, slashing the Shadow Heartless as he did so. He regained himself on the railing, but saw that the roller coaster gained more speed.

"It detached, de gozaru?!" Pop exclaimed.

"They must really not want me to get to Nao." Kirito stated, "Gotta keep on my toes!"

He caught up with the coaster as the next car detached, with two more Shadow hopping up to attack Kirito as they flew back to him. Kirito repeated the same technique, leaping over the attack and slashing the Heartless at the same time, continuing the grind to the Coaster. It detached the next car, only now it's two Soldier Heartless, who readied spin kicks at the oncoming hero. Kirito had to act fast, jumping up, switching to his Dark Repulser Keyblade, and readying his Shotlock, unleashing Gleam Burst, sending purple fireballs at the Soldiers, peppering enough to cause them to fall off the cart and plummet down below.

"So the more carts I get over, the more dangerous the opponents." Kirito understood, continuing to grind the rail after Nao and the last three carts behind her front one.

The next cart detached itself and came at Kirito, with two Soldiers and one Gold Beat appeared, charging itself up for an electric attack. Kirito could see that this might be difficult, until he came up with an idea, and unleashed a Water spell on them. The spell hit the Gold Beat and the Soldiers together, causing the floating Heartless to electrocute the other two. Kirito then did a leap and horizontal slash through the targets, striking down the Soldiers while hopping in between the Gold Beat and the coaster car. Pop did a charge at the Gold Beat Kirito left behind, striking it with enough force to defeat it.

"Two more to go before we reach Nao!" Kirito called out as they made it back to the entrance, only to go for another round on the coaster again.

"She's going around again, kuru?!" Candy exclaimed.

"It didn't even slow down, de gozaru!" Pop noted.

"And I bet it won't until we reach Nao!" Kirito responded, taking past experience to assume the goal, "Speaking of which, here it comes!" The next cart detached itself, and the car came at Kirito, with one of the ogre Heartless appearing on it. What's more, the car started to slow down to match Kirito's pace. He swung his club down at Kirito, who could not block the attack, and got sent backwards by the attack, only to catch himself on the rail again to continue grinding.

"Are you okay, Kirito, kuru?!" Candy called out, before unleashing an energy with her ears to heal up the black swordsman. He got himself back into the groove again as he caught up with the ogre Heartless again, his distance the same from the other cars of the coaster. Kirito thought quickly and noticed it used a downward hammer slam on the rail he was on before. If he couldn't block, he could evade.

Kirito got in close as the Heartless raised its club and hammered it down at Kirito, but he evaded by jumping to the other rail, slashing the ogre with several slashes as it recovered. He slowed down and unleashed a Fire spell from a distance, and destroyed the ogre, allowing Kirito to leap over the car and pursue Nao.

"One more…" Kirito told himself as the last car detached itself, and one ogre and two Gold Beats appeared. It swung down at Kirito with its club, but he switched tracks, and slashed at the ogre. The Gold Beats unleashed electric attacks at Kirito, who slowed down to avoid the electric attacks, unleashing Blizzard spells at the two flying Heartless, freezing them. He then sped forward via magic, his Keyblade consumed in flames, as the ogre swung his blade again. "Flamestrike!" Kirito shouted, swinging his blade with a fiery slash, clashing with the ogre's club, before slicing through it in a blaze of glory, before swinging again, destroying the Heartless.

"Now for you two!" Kirito growled, focusing on the two Gold Beats, and Airstepping towards each of them slashing them many times to destroy the two, before getting back on the rail.

"Amazing swordsmanship, Kirito, de gozaru!" Pop praised Kirito.

"We can save Nao, kuru!" Candy cheered.

Kirito ground his way to Nao's cart, calling out for the girl. He hopped onto the remaining cart, as Nao turned to him. Kirito noticed the blank pupils in her eyes, as she asked, "Oh, hello. Did you come to have fun riding the roller coaster?"

"Forget about that!" Kirito argued, surprised him suddenly appearing on the car didn't wake her up, "We gotta get off when the ride is over! Everyone else is waiting at the central plaza!"

"Oh, okay." Nao understood lazily, "We can't keep them waiting." The roller coaster continued on its course, with Pop and Candy right behind. When they made it back to the station, they all got off the rails, and walked away. Kirito did notice that the other cars of the coaster were arriving, attaching themselves to the front car once more, like nothing happened. Deciding to dismiss this, he went to lead Nao back to the central plaza again.

---

Asuna's Team

Akane, Asuna, Yui and Goofy made it to the set of Whack-a-Mole machines, examining each machine. Finally, there was a machine that had Candy as the 'mole' on it, a soft mallet attached to a string by it, with the score '400' on the headboard. "This machine can work." Akane told Asuna, "If ya can get a score higher than that, I'll come back with ya."

"Sounds fair." Asuna understood, looking at the Candy mole heads, "Although, I feel guilty that I have to hit Candy with it."

"This is still that jester's world." Yui noted, "He ended up putting his twisted humor to it."

"Hey, mind if I give it a try, first?" Goofy asked, "I like these kinds of games."

"Go right ahead." Asuna answered, mentally thinking that if there were any quirks to be aware of, Goofy would find them out. Goofy rolled up his sleeves as he grabbed the mallet, which caused the machine to activate, and the game began.

Candy's head appeared from the holes on the board, each one popping out with a 'kuru' sound. Goofy was actually pretty good at the game, knocking each head as it appeared. The heads would only stay up for a little less than a second each, and occasionally, two would appear. At one point, something other than Candy's head appeared; a face that looked like a clown with its tongue sticking out, shouting 'Akanbe' as it appeared. Goofy hit it, and instead of it retracting like the other heads, it bursted out like a striking snake in Goofy's face, causing him to fall back to the ground, before it retracted itself. This was not only frightening, but it delayed Goofy from hitting a few more Candy heads. When the timer went to zero, Goofy scored '310', below the score they needed.

"Gawrsh, that was hard." Goofy muttered.

"Don't worry, Goofy." Asuna assured him, patting his shoulder, "You did a great job. And thanks to you, I learned what I should and should not do. You gave me just what I needed." Goofy rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment from how appreciated Asuna felt about him.

Asuna grabbed the mallet, activating the machine, and prepared. Immediately, Candy heads appeared, and Asuna whacked each of them with the help of her incredible reaction speeds. Whenever an Akanbe appeared, Asuna would avoid them, trying to not let her instincts whack the head. She had to avoid those, and smack all the heads of Candy, sad as it sounded. After time was up, Asuna saw the score; 420. She was able to pull it off.

"Way to go, mama!" Yui cheered.

"You showed em', Asuna!" Goofy followed up.

"You beat that score. Great job." Akane stated, her emotion as monotonous as before.

"As agreed, you have to come back with us." Asuna told the orange-haired girl, "Come on, your friends are waiting."

"Sure. Let's have fun with them." Akane answered, and they started to make their way back.

Suddenly, Heartless appeared in front of them, composed of the same ones they fought before, like the Majimps, Gold Beats and Shadows, but also Large Bodies and a Heartless that looked like an ogre. What's more, the Majimps and the Shadows looked like cybernetic implants were placed in them.

"Oh, come on! We just won!" Asuna exclaimed.

Yui examined the ogre Heartless with her scanner, and called out, "That's a Wild Oni. They are brutal Heartless known for their earth-shaking strikes with their clubs!"

"Then let's take them out, and protect Akane!" Asuna told the two, and they went to work on the Heartless.

Dealing with the Cyber Heartless and the Wild Oni were a bit difficult, what with the brute strength of the Wild Oni, the energy beam shots from the Majimp's cybernetic crystal balls, and the Large Bodies blocking attacks with their bodies.

"Mama, I think we should try pulling off a Trinity attack together!" Yui suggested to Asuna.

"You think we can pull it off?" Goofy asked.

"It's worth a shot." Asuna responded, looking at the crowd of Heartless, "We need to clear things out fast. Let's see if we can pull it off together!" The trio concentrated, and ended up feeling their powers combine.

Yui waved her fan to Goofy as he bent down, and Asuna got herself piggybacking onto his shoulder. Yui ran up them and sat on Asuna's shoulders. Goofy straightened up, and the trio formed a tower of people, with Yui magically enlarging her fan, and threw it. It boomeranged back to them, catching the edge of Goofy's shield, and the trio began too spin.

The trio spun around, slashing the Heartless that got close. The trio continuously gathered up magic energy as they spun, and on Yui's cue, they unleashed it as a gust that damaged the Heartless. They kept doing this over and over, till finally, it was basically the Large Bodies and the Wild Oni remaining. They spun towards them as they tried to attack their group, but their power was too strong, and after a series of slashing spins and gusts of magic, the Heartless were eliminated, thanks to their Trinity Tower.

Asuna and Yui hopped off of Goofy's shoulders, Yui saying, "That was a lot of fun!"

"I guess that's what happens when I team up with you two." Asuna understood, "With Donald and Goofy, it's Trinity Shield. With Donald and Yui, it's Trinity Bounce. And with you two, it's Trinity Tower."

"We can do anything so long as we're together." Goofy stated excitedly, to which the other two girls agreed.

"Didn't ya guys said that we had to go to meet with our friends?" Akane asked, completely ignorant to what just happened.

"Right. Let's go." Asuna answered, and she led the team as they ventured back to the central plaza once more.

---

Sora's Team

Sora, Donald and Happy made it to the Ferris wheel, seeing the open area in front of the entrance. "Where's Reika?" Happy asked, looking about the place. The other two looked about as well, examining the surroundings.

"Look!" Donald answered, pointing to one of the gondalas in the Ferris wheel, specifically the one that was getting close to a quarter of a way up the spin. A girl was in there, with long, dark blue, straight hair, a pale blue dress with navy detail and bodice, a pale indigo jacket that was worn over it, and boots that matched it. She was sitting rather casually, not even looking outside the window, but sitting like a doll, quiet and still.

"Reika!" Happy shouted, calling out to the girl in the compartment. She didn't respond in any way to her voice.

"She must be brainwashed like Yayoi." Donald assumed.

"Then let's go and see if we can't get her to come back with us." Sora decided, and he led the team to the Ferris wheel.

Just as they got close, something appeared abruptly before them; a Corridor of Darkness. And out of it, to their shock, was a man they met a long time ago. A man that Kirito, Asuna, Leafa, and Recon all defeated back in the original Organization XIII's headquarters.

"Gouxus!" Sora gasped, seeing the blond-haired man in the Organization's cloak approach them.

"Who?" Happy asked, noticing Sora and Donald get aggressive towards the man before them.

"Hello. It has been a long time since we last saw one another, boy." Gouxus greeted, "Though, I am rather shocked at what you are doing right now. Taking away the happiness that these girls have."

"It's not happiness! They're brainwashed by this world!" Sora argued.

"And that's a problem how?" Gouxus questioned, getting surprised looks by the three. He looked up to the sky, seeing the balloons floating off into the sky, to the Ferris wheel behind him, "This world is void of pain. A world where you can have your happiness without the effort, and one you can have all to yourself. A heart does want to be happy, doesn't it? So why don't you let this world give you happiness? There's no need to proceed forward so long as you're happy, right?"

"There's…no need to proceed forward?" Happy echoed, looking down. Her mind drifted off as she pondered on these words, wondering if maybe it was okay to let her friends be happy. Her eyes were starting to slowly fade out.

"But that's not true happiness!" Sora argued, snapping Happy out of her thoughts, "And it can't even be shared with others! Even if you are happy, your heart isn't fulfilled. You never gained it through your own efforts. How would that even feel truly good if you didn't gain it yourself, and shared it with your friends?!"

"Yeah! I don't want all that fun to myself!" Donald followed up, "I want to have fun with my friends!"

Happy was able to come back to her senses, hearing their words, and embracing them with her heart. She shook her head, and glared at Gouxus, who sighed as he stated, "Why would you share that happiness? It's not like they earned it. Dividing up that happiness means there's less for you to have."

"You're wrong!" Happy immediately responded, "You'll be even more ultra-happy if you share that with your friends, because their happiness for all your effort fills your heart with even more than you had before!"

"You are far more foolish than I realized." Gouxus chuckled, "If you are willing to accept the pain that comes with that happiness, then I'll gladly give you the pain." He snapped his finger, and a group of Nobodies appeared; Gouxus's Guardian Heartless, some wielding swords, others wielding spears. The Ferris wheel's gondalas suddenly stopped, with Reika's being on the very top, and a magic barrier formed on the front of every gondola, preventing escaping or entering. More Guardians appeared on each one, with arrows at the ready. Sora, Donald, and Happy all readied themselves for a battle against the group, as Gouxus vanished without a trace.

The Guardians were not especially powerful, but their numbers made it far difficult. The sword-wielding ones either slashed or did charging thrusts at the heroes. The spear users either swung their weapons at a mid-range, or threw them like javelins. As for the archers above, they rained down arrows at the trio. They were difficult to actually target, but fortunately, Sora got creative, and threw the spears that were dropped by the Guardians at the Nobodies. Even so, that was the one way they could actually do it.

"We need more spears!" Sora shouted, evading a thrust from a sword-wielding Guardian Nobody.

"Hey, let me try to get to them!" Happy called out, racing forward and making a high jump that got her well above the height of the Ferris wheel. She flew in the air until she landed on the highest gondola that Reika was on, with a Guardian on it, and punched it out of existence.

"Oh, yeah! My Airstepping!" Sora realized, focusing on one of the Guardian Nobodies high above, and using his Airstepping technique to bounce up from gondola to gondola to reach the Nobody, and slash it with his Keyblade. Donald was able to handle the last couple Guardian swordsman on the ground, while Happy and Sora took out the last archers.

With the last of the Nobodies cleared out, the Ferris wheel continued to move, as Happy and Sora leapt back down to the ground floor. "You okay, Happy?" Sora asked.

"I'm fine, now." She answered, "Thanks for waking me up there. I almost fell for that man's words."

"That's just what they do!" Donald pointed out.

"Yeah. The Organization wants you to believe that what wrong is right." Sora explained, "But we know the truth."

"Yeah. We'll get our own happiness." Happy answered, "I can't accept this place!"

Just then, they heard the Ferris wheel stop, and the gondola door opened up, and Reika stepped out. "Reika!" Happy called out as the trio raced to her.

"Hi there." Reika greeted in a lazy manner, "Did you come to join me on the Ferris wheel? I just got done."

"No, we have to go join the others." Happy answered, "We need to meet together to get out of here."

"Get out of here? Why?" Reika asked, "This place has all the fun we need."

"You'll understand. Let's go join the others!" Happy told Reika, taking her hand. Together, the team made their way back to the central plaza.

---

The three teams finally returned together again, now having all four other girls sitting at one of the stands with a table full of sweets and carnival treats.

"We finally got them together!" Asuna stated, looking at the four.

"Yeah, but they all looked like they are in the same state." Kirito pointed out, "They weren't even perturbed about anything that was going on around them."

Happy approached the girls, and called out, "Guys, you gotta snap out of it! This world is just an illusion made by Joker!"

"Joker? Who's that?" Nao asked.

"We fought him for so long! How can you forget?" Happy asked them, "We fought him and the rest of Bad End Kingdom as Precure!"

"Precure?" Yayoi echoed.

"What's that?" Reika followed.

If they weren't worried enough about their friends before, Happy and the Keybladers certainly were now. They were not just being oblivious. They were losing their memories.

"You girls gotta snap out of it!" Asuna argued, approaching Happy's side, "What happened to the girls who I met not too long ago? The ones who fought hard to achieve their goals?!"

"Working hard won't get you anywhere…" Nao pointed out.

"It's just an annoying waste of time." Yayoi followed up.

"And if all its gonna do is wear ya out, then what the point of tryin'?" Akane asked.

"Stress is less for the best." Reika finished.

"That's not how it works!" Kirito argued.

Suddenly, the four girls slowly started to fall asleep, resting their heads on the table. Asuna, Candy, and Happy came to their sides, trying to wake them up. "Akane! Wake up, wake up!" Happy pleaded, "Please, you have to open your eyes!"

Akane opened her eyes ever so slightly, and asked, "Do I… know ya?" This brought horror to the Precure, and Akane closed her eyes again.

"This is horrible…" Yui muttered.

"Have they really forgotten everything?" Sora asked.

"We gotta do something to help them remember!" Goofy stated.

"We have to get them out of here." Kirito decided, "Where's the exit?!"

"We have to purify this dimension, de gozaru." Pop answered, "Cure Happy, use your Happy Shower to purify this place."

"Right! That might snap them out of it!" Happy answered, gathering up energy into herself, shouting 'focus' continuously, until her transformation device bursted with energy. "Precure…" She called out, drawing a heart, and forming the shape with her fingers as she gathered it in the shape, "Happy Shower!" She shot a beam of pink light energy upwards, as everyone else watched her attack fly. "I'm gonna bring you all back home, I swear!" She declared as the energy flew.

"Go for it, Happy!" Candy cried out.

"Break everyone free of this place!" Asuna followed up.

Just as it got higher and higher to the sky, a large rectangular card appeared, flipping around as a dark void appeared, causing Happy's attack to go right through it, shocking everyone. The card flipped around again, and the jester that appeared leaning on the card.

"Too bad." He told Happy.

"It's Joker, kuru!" Candy recognized.

"He's here, too?!" Sora gasped.

"I'm afraid I cannot simply let you ruin my wonderful world here." Joker denied them, taking a small yellow ball from his jester hat-like hair from his head, which grew to the size of a baseball, "But I can give you all a friend to play with. I think a yellow nose one should be quite enough for one measly Precure and a group of riffraff such as yourselves." The heroes all braced themselves for whatever the man had in store for them." He tossed the yellow orb up as he shouted, "Come forth, Akanbe!"

The orb suddenly bursted out with a dark yellow energy, which became attracted to the roller coaster far off. The energy suddenly transformed it right before their eyes, becoming a massive, serpent-like monster with a face of a clown, the yellow orb being its nose. It was purple with light purple plates going down its back, and a blue underbelly. "AKANBE!" It roared as the others looked up in shock at the size of the monster.

"This is the kind of monster that is native to this world?!" Kirito asked.

"I think they might be creepier than the Negatones we fought with Melody, Rhythm and Beat." Asuna compared, thinking back to the days when they helped the Suite Precure.

All of a sudden, the amusement park vanished, with the replacement being a massive canyon, the heroes stuck at the bottom of one with the monster. The area was an eerie purple and rainbowish here and there, with a murky sky filled with clouds.

"What is this place?!" Happy asked.

"Where did the amusement park go?!" Donald asked.

"Ooh, what a beautiful darkness~" a voice swooned, and everyone turned to one of the lone stone pillars near Joker's position, seeing none other than a familiar lavender-haired young lady standing there.

"Tears?!" Sora gasped, "She's here, too?!"

"Now it makes sense why those Cyber Heartless were also here." Asuna understood.

"Such an incredible monster." Tear noted, blushing in admiration of the Akanbe, "And this dimension…so potent with darkness and sloth. I do love your work, Joker. I could gather a lot of darkness here."

"Your praise is quite pleasant to the ears, my dear lady." Joker answered.

"Everyone!" Happy cried out, turning to her friends, who were on the ground together, still asleep, "Please, you gotta wake up!" Candy, Pop, and Yui tried to wake them, but to no avail.

"I think you should be more concerned about our mutual friend here." Joker told Happy and the others, who drew out their weapons to fight the monster.

"This'll be fun to watch." Tears stated, sitting on the pillar, crossing her legs, "Be sure to destroy those light-wielders for me with this beast." The Akanbe spiraled around the pillar she sat on, before lunging towards the heroes.

"If we stay here, my friends will get hurt!" Happy noted.

"Then let's take it away from them." Asuna responded, turning to the fairies, "Pop, Candy, take care of them!"

"You can count on us, de gozaru." Pop replied.

"You got it, kuru!" Candy followed up. The seven fighters got the monster to pursue them, reaching an even deeper part of the canyon, where they took their stand. The Akanbe dove down and crashed into the ground, causing a shockwave that nearly blew everyone off their feet. They held their ground, and charged in as it came at them.

The serpent monster lunged forward, but Kirito dodged to one side, unleashing slash after slash on the body of the monster, but it didn't seem to have any affect. Happy struck it head on, punching the nose of the monster, but got recoiled by it. Asuna, Sora, and Donald unleashed magic in Water, Fire, and Blizzard together, their attacks striking simultaneously, but the attack didn't even faze it. It swerved around and with a shake of its body, sent Kirito, Asuna, Sora, and Donald flying.

Meanwhile, Yui and Goofy caught Happy. "We'll give you a boost!" Yui called out to Happy, using her tessen to unleash a gust of wind, while Goofy shoved Happy forward hard with his shield. The unified effort sent Happy rocketing forward at the Akanbe, catching it at its underbelly, and headbutting it as hard as she could, causing it to recoil from the hit.

"Oh, not bad, I dare say…" Joker admitted, before following up with, "But not good enough!" The Akanbe regained itself, and whacked Happy right back, sending her crashing into the ground by Yui and Goofy, causing them to fall over.

At this point, the other four girls had just woken up, and came to the edge to watch the heroes face off against the Akanbe. There stood there, slightly in awe at what was happening, while Pop and Candy were worried about them. "What're they doin' that for…?" Akane asked.

The Akanbe was a strong opponent for all of them. The massive size and the power behind its body blows were powerful. Not only that, but it did have the occasion of unleashing dark beams from its eyes, shooting at the team. They were able to hold their own, though Happy was clearly all out frontal assault to try and destroying this monster, desperate to save her friends. However their attacks were not doing a whole lot.

"Why can't we seem to dent this monster?!" Kirito questioned, in his Soul Burst: Second Form, narrowly avoiding the Akanbe's body as it charged at him.

"The answer lies within your friends." Said a voice from above. Kirito and the others looked up to see Tears change to a different position to get a better view of the battle.

"What do you mean, the answer lies in our friends?" Kirito questioned.

"It's their neglecting hearts." Tears answered, "Ignorance and sloth are what their hearts contain now. The darkness that seeps from hearts who were once filled with their icky light are amplifying the darkness enveloping this world. And in turn, amplify the monster. Isn't that just a beautiful sight?"

"What?!" Asuna gasped, out of focus for only a second, distracting her from a shockwave of the Akanbe's attack, sending her flying.

"Happy's friends are making this monster strong?!" Yui questioned.

"Too bad." Joker told them, "It seems like you'll even have to face the power of your friends with my Akanbe."

"I doesn't matter." Happy retorted, "We won't lose! We will bring my friends back!" The six other heroes nodded in agreement to this statement.

The Akanbe whipped its' body down at the group, who evaded as best as they could. Asuna and Donald turned and fired a Blizzard shot, while Sora and Kirito unleashed Fire spells. The snake-like monster plowed through the attacks, and struck down the four, making them crash into the walls, consuming their bodies in dust clouds.

"Guys!" Happy cried, as she, Goofy and Yui looked afraid of their friends' damage.

"There's no reason to struggle so much." Another voice spoke up. Standing in the shelter of the rocks was Gouxus, looking at the trio with a glare and a smirk.

"It's Gouxus!" Goofy exclaimed, getting the other heroes' attention, especially those who didn't know he was here in the first place.

"He came back again?!" Happy questioned.

"There is no reason for you to take your friends out of here." He told Happy, "This world has everything to offer. No need to go and do the things you don't enjoy. You can have fun, be one with one another, without any need of conflict. Isn't that what you want your friends to be?"

"Who is that?" Joker asked, intrigued by the new guest.

"Someone who is not needed in my daddy's goal." Tears waved off, "His darkness may be potent, he is an unnecessary third party here."

Suddenly, Kirito shot out of the dust cloud, and charged at the Akanbe as he barked at Gouxus, "This world is a total facade! A fake life filled with false happiness!" He unleashed his Sonic Leap Sword Skill at the Akanbe's nose, making his sword sink into the texture, only to get bounced off. The monster head butted Kirito, making him fly in pain, only for Sora to come right up and catch him.

Happy, Goofy and Yui chose to follow Kirito's path, as they charged at the Akanbe. Happy leapt up as Yui was given another boost thanks to Goofy's shield. Yui unleashed a whirlwind with her tessen, while Happy unleashed a barrage of punches. They both struck the underside of the monster's jaw. It didn't seem to faze it, as it whipped its' head down onto the pair, causing them to be hurled back to the ground. Asuna dashed out of nowhere, and made a leap, catching both girls before they were slammed into the ground, causing their crash to be less painful as they were redirected, and tumbled along the ground, skidding to a halt on their feet.

"Why do you reject this world?" Joker questioned the group.

"This is a hopeless fight, you know." Tears pointed out in a know-it-all manner, "You have no way to stop this darkness, so why do you fight?"

"It's because I want to return everyone back to normal!" Happy panted, regaining herself from Asuna, "I want to get them back to who they were!" The seven heroes came together, and charged at the monster again.

"Why?" Joker asked, "This world is filled with fun."

"Like I said, this world's 'fun' is not fulfilling at all!" Kirito barked, evading the tail of the monster, and unleashing a Horizontal Square Sword Skill on it.

"The smiles I see my friends have are not the smiles I want at all!" Happy shouted, making a diving stab with her foot at the same spot, causing some decent damage, but not enough to be a threat to the Akanbe, who whipped its' tail to knock them away.

"Not the smiles you want?" Tears questioned, laughing pompously at this, "What a bunch of weirdos you are!"

"Shouldn't it be better off than the latter?" Gouxus asked, watching Goofy unleash an uppercut at one part of the Akanbe, which didn't do much damage, "When you fail from doing your best, the disappointment stings your hearts."

"No matter how hard you try, things don't go well." Joker followed, seeing Yui and Donald race up the back of the monster, roaring as they unleashed Blizzard and Whirlwind together, "Everyone laughs at you. All you create are disgusting memories."

"And if people count on you, and you fail, you're basically taking all of your friends hard work with you." Tears noted, with Kirito and Sora barely avoid the Akanbe hurling down at the pair, enduring the rubble that it created at them, "Why would you try if there's a chance you'll fail everyone in the end?"

"You think, think, and think some more, but in the end you trouble your friends." Joker finished, as Asuna unleashed her Shotlock all across the body of the Akanbe, "You end up hating yourself for how helpless you are."

Happy joined Asuna's side, unleashing a punch and a stab at the rising tail of the monster, only for it to whip the two girls into the wall, and making them fall to the ground below, where Gouxus stood. "Face it. A world of ignorant bliss such as this is better than trying so hard, only to fail so much, end up with unbearable pain."

Asuna and Happy helped each other up as the former asked, "What gives you the right to think that we can't take failure? When there is something worth reaching, there's no way we would ever give up, no matter how many times we fall!" She healed herself and Happy with Cure, before charging forward as they rejoined the rest of the struggling heroes.

"Guys!" Candy cried, watching the seven fight with all their might against the tough enemy, "There are times when things just don't go well, kuru! But I love how everyone works so hard, kuru! Because... Because when Miyuki and everyone works hard, they are sparkling, kuru!"

"Candy's right!" Pop agreed, "These girls have powered their way through, regardless of the dangers, de gozaru. And these new warriors have done so much just to help us. I can honestly say that nothing they have done was not in vain, de gozaru!" The fighting heroes all heard Candy's and Pop's words, and although their hearts were filled with determination already, it just kept rising.

The Akanbe unleashed a laser blast with his eyes at the ground, which Kirito and Sora avoided, but Donald, Goofy and Yui all got blasted back from it. Distracted by their fallen comrades, they nearly didn't notice the tail that was about to fall on top of them. Asuna and Happy were racing as fast as they could to save them, but they weren't able to save them in time. "Watch out!" the two girls shouted.

Kirito and Sora turned, and saw the attack about to hit them. The Black Swordsman then instinctively tapped into his Soul Burst, feeling the strength from deep within, and unleashed it. His body pulsed with energy as he shouted, "Advance Burst! Dual Wielding!" Time seem to slow down as his eyes glowed yellow, and in his free hand, his Dark Repulser suddenly appeared, joining his Elucidator. He then crossed his blades above him, and endured the attack striking down on top of him and Sora, who placed up a defense with his Shooting Star Keyblade. The two boys struggled, but they shoved the tail to one side of them, making it misfire.

The others looked slightly surprised at Kirito's newfound power being unleashed. Sora panted from exhaustion, but Kirito charged forward, about to give his own speech in retaliation to what their enemies said.

"You're right, pain and failure will always be part of trying to achieve our goals. I know that better than most others." His mind flashed back to Aincrad in SAO, ALO, GGO, and the adventures he had since. There were many moments when he lost someone's life in front of him, failed to succeed, killed someone, lost a match, upset his friends.

He leapt up, and unleashing a Double Circular at the winding body of the Akanbe, unraveling it from his path. "All that despair, pain, and failure has been on my conscience, and by myself, I would've given into it. I can't forget all that has happened. But I had friends who kept me smiling. They healed my pain. They helped me succeed. They brought me from despair..." he unleashed a wide-ranged series of slashes, blasting apart an area for him within the Akanbe's body, "...and made have hope again!"

"Kirito..." Asuna muttered, hearing his words, and understanding everything he was feeling.

The Akanbe was glaring at Kirito, who found himself in a defenseless state. It was about to attack when Happy suddenly came in with a headbutt, knocking the face to one side. She glared up at Joker, and started, "There was a time, when we fought you and lost so badly. That's when I figured something out. I cried. I worried. I thought with all my might. I had hurt myself so much without realizing it. But I found out what was important! My friends, my family, everyone who I care for...I want all of us to be together, and create a future where everyone is ultra happy!" The words both Kirito and Happy spoke were starting to get through Miyuki's friends, who were still standing there, watching the fight.

The Akanbe struck the pair with laserbeams from his eyes, sending them crashing into the ground, damaged greatly by the attack. As they struggled to rise back up again, five figures passed by them, running at the monster before them. Sora, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui were making sure the pair were protected as they gathered themselves.

"That just proves how useless you guys and your lights are." Tears mocked them, "If you were strong on your own, you wouldn't need friends. They are just pointless when you don't need them."

"Friends are not pointless!" Sora barked, transforming his Keyblade into the twin pistols, and blasting the Akanbe along its body with magic shots, "They empower us, and strengthen our hearts!"

"In sad and fun times, they are always here for ya!" Goofy pointed out, raising his shield to protect Sora from a whipping strike from the Akanbe, causing the pair to go flying.

"When one of us cries or laughs, the others cry and laugh with us!" Yui added, entering her Soul Burst: Yuna, and summoning Valefor to unleash razor-sharp winds at the Akanbe, "They will always support you as you do for them!"

"As long as we're together, then there's nothing we can't overcome!" Donald declared, leaping onto Valefor, and unleashing his Fire spell into the mouth of the monster, causing it to swallow painfully, and smoke to come out of his mouth.

"When we try to find a solution, we know it won't be easy, and it will hurt, and we may fall into despair from time to time..." Asuna finished, fighting as she thought back to the days when after the dust is settled, she managed to succeed in her goals, with the help of many others, "...But that's just what it takes to achieve our dreams! They might constantly haunt our hearts and memories, but we made it past them! With every little step, we got closer to our future! We face the pain, the sadness, the darkness, and found a bright hope to reach together!"

Up above, the four girls watching and hearing the words of their comrades were starting to remember. Their past struggles, which were harmful, but they overcame together, and found true happiness and joy. Their eyes started to return to normal, as tears fell from each of them, touched by the people who were their friends.

"I'm sure a future in which we are all a part of will be a sparking and shining one!" Happy finished, as she and Kirito launched forward.

"And if someone is there to try and shut down our path forward, we will fight them, we will endure the pain, and we will defeat them!" Kirito declared, his body glowing as readied his Finisher.

The Akanbe dove down at Kirito and Happy, the latter girl charging up her magic energy thanks to an Ether given to her by the team. It charged at the two, as Happy shouted, "Precure Happy Shower!" She unleashed a heart-shaped stream of light energy from her hands, striking the Akanbe, and causing it to slightly move slower, but push through it. Kirito jumped forward into the attack and unleashed his Finisher, The Eclipse, unleashing a 27-hit Dual Blade Skill, faltering the Akanbe with the combined attack. With one final slash, and an explosion of energy, Kirito and Happy's combined attacks finally caused it to feel a great amount of damage, and caused it to be sent flying, crashing into the wall far away from the group. Joker and Tears both looked surprised at this suddenly turn of events.

Everyone gathered around the exhausted Kirito and Happy, the former reverting out of his Soul Burst, then glaring at the Akanbe as it started to come around again, glaring at the injured and exhausted group.

"You say that like anyone else would listen, but they won't." Gouxus huffed, drawing their attention, "You won't be able to sway us with your words, nor your friends. In the end, the seven of you are still alone to suffer in this fight."

"They are not alone, kuru!" Candy and Pop suddenly appeared, leaping across the field to the heroes' sides.

"Candy!" Yui gasped.

"Pop!" Kirito followed.

"No, wait! Stay back!" Happy pleaded.

Candy ignored her plea as she got in front of her friends, her arms out at the ready. "I am going to stand by your side, kuru." She declared, "I'm really afraid, but I've made my decision, kuru!"

"If Candy is planning to be by your side, then I shall join them, de gozaru!" Pop followed, "This is a fight we must see through with you, de gozaru."

Joker regained his cool as he showed his fanged teeth and shouted, "Then all of you can die together! Akanbe!" The snake monster charged up a ball of dark yellow energy from its' mouth, and fired at the eight heroes. They knew they couldn't dodge, block or repel an attack like that. Happy hurried forward, grabbing Candy and turning her back to the attack to take the full impact for her, while everyone else were ready to endure as best as they could from the attack.

Suddenly, four shots of fire, electricity, wind, and ice all came from above, and destroyed the ball of energy, shocking Joker. Tears and Gouxus both saw the attacks, and realized what this meant. The eight heroes looked up, and were stunned to see the four girls, who were watching before, now stood before them, as Pretty Cure, all of which looked a similar style to Happy's look.

Akane, now Cure Sunny, had pure orange hair, worn in a rounded bun with three, large loose strands of hair, one of which curls, while the rest of her hair is worn loose, decorated with a white tiara that has an orange gem on it, and a single wing. Her attire was mostly a mixture of orange colors.

Yayoi, now Cure Peace, had her lemon yellow hair is pulled into a large shape resembling an upside-down fan attached to a cone of hair. Her bangs changed in shape and curl outward, while her forelocks curl inward. She gains a white tiara with a yellow gem and wings, along with wing earrings. Her attire was mainly white and yellow.

Nao, now Cure March, had emerald hair, with extended hair that was still worn in a ponytail but now much longer, thicker, and partially curled, held by a winged, golden crown. On each side of the head is a thicker section of hair curled over the ears and shoulder, along with her grown bangs and curled forelocks. A white piece was underneath the bangs of her forehead with a green gem on it, and she gained white wing earrings. Her attire was mostly mixtures of green.

Reika, now Cure Beauty, had light blue hair, her bangs gaining volume and her forelocks growing on length with a straight curl on end, held by gold ornaments. Her hair grew to knee-length in four separate sections and a layer of choppy, straightened locks layered behind the ear. She wore a white tiara with a dark blue gem and wings, and gained winged earring like her allies. Her attire was mainly a mixture of blues.

"Everyone!" Happy gasped, joyful to see her friends all returned to normal.

"We all received your thoughts." Sunny assured the group.

"Your words broke through to us!" Peace added.

"Forgive us for our tardiness." Beauty apologized.

"Let's show 'em our powers!" March finished.

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Yui and Asuna all cheered in joy at the recovery of their allies. Kirito sighed in relief, but smiled in joy at their return.

"That's impossible! They've all returned?!" Joker gasped.

"But their hearts were consumed in darkness. How is this possible?!" Tears demanded.

"Will the stupid little miracles never cease?" Gouxus lazily questioned.

The four reawakened Pretty Cure looked at the three enemies around them, their glares showing how angrily serious they were at this point. "You're right about one thing. Ya outta rest when you are tired." Sunny admitted, "But...!"

"...You can't stay like that forever! You won't move forward!" Peace followed up.

"No matter how painful it gets, we want to march forward with our own two feet!" March continued.

"It may be hard to surpass such difficulties by myself, but with my friends, that becomes possible!" Beauty declared.

"It's because we believe true smile lie behind hard work!" Happy finished.

"We've all worked hard! We will all become happy!" Candy shouted.

The five girls placed their hands together in a semicircle, while Candy stood on top of them, and the six heroes stood all around the girls, watching them as they declared, "So let's sparkle! Smile Precure!" They radiated a golden energy, which shot into the sky above, startling the enemies all around them.

As the six heroes were all stunned at the immense power they were unleashing, one among them was feeling something within her. The energy they were delivering was suddenly connecting to a part of Asuna's heart, reawakening a part of her that was closed for a while. A golden, musical energy.

Asuna went around the girls as they held their position, and stood in front, facing Joker and the Akanbe as she gave a fierce glare, her white Wayfinder glowing a red hue. "You tried to take away the true smiles of these girls, erase all their memories of their precious time together, and placed them in this false world of neglect." She stated, "What you tried to do to them...is unforgivable!"

(Insert 'Let's Play! Precure Modulation' from Suite Precure OST)

Her Wayfinder floated up to her neck, as from her chest, a familiar golden symbol appeared. A Golden G-Clef. Everyone looked to her as Asuna looked down at what was taking place on her, before feeling what needs to be done. "Soul Burst! Suite Precure!" She chanted, and her body was consumed by light.

She detached the Wayfinder from her neck with one hand, while taking the Golden G-Clef from her chest into the other hand. Her Keyblade floated in front of her, producing the image of Cure Beat, strumming her hair in a power chord before she dove into the weapon, which turned into a red Fairy Tone. She clapped the G-Clef and Wayfinder together in the light, and the two merged to form a Cure Module, the Fairy Tone inserting into it from above. "Let's Play! Precure Modulation!" She chanted, creating a treble clef with her Module, before tapping the button underneath, causing the Fairy Tone diving into the Module, releasing the power from within.

Red ribbons wrapped around her shoulders, chest, and waist, shining as they transformed into her new dress. Bows suddenly shined and placed themselves on her chest and on her back. Her hair changed colors, length, and was styled as a hair ornament dove in, and placed itself on her hair, producing cloth pieces from it. Her earrings chimed into existence as armguards and boots appeared on her arms and feet.

A music scale appeared as she strummed a power chord with it. "Strumming to the Soulful Music of my Heart! Cure Soul!" She chanted, striking a pose with one hand on her hip and her other hand punching forward.

The energy from the Smile Precure created cracks in the sky as light shone down upon the scene, with one part shining on Asuna, now returned to Cure Soul.

Her attire was the same as before; her hair was as orange as Sunny's hair, lengthened and styled in a ponytail that curved down her right side in a large volume, with several pieces of hair sticking out on her left side, and bangs going down her sides. Her hair ornament that held her ponytail in place had white feathers, pink ribbons, and a red heart-shaped gem embedded in it. She had on red heart-shaped earring, and a red ribbon choker. Her attire was frilly, sleeveless, and a mixture of mostly red and white, with pink on parts of her multilayered skirt and ribbon tied to the back, the ends of which were going down to her ankles. Her armguards were red and white, with a heart on each of them. Her knee-high boots were red-striped, with pink frills underneath and white ribbons at the ankles. Her Cure Module was attached onto her chest.

Soul's eyes were closed, feeling the familiar energy coursing through her body. Everyone was in awe at the return of a familiar look. "Soul!" Happy exclaimed in joy at the sight of her.

"Mama's a Pretty Cure again!" Yui cheered, hugging Donald in her excitement.

"Happy and the others must've reawakened the soul of Cure Beat within her with their powers!" Sora assumed.

"A-A sixth Precure!" Joker gasped in exasperated anger, "This cannot be possible! Akanbe!"

The Akanbe opened its' mouth and fired another large orb at the group, aiming for Soul, who opened her bright orange eyes. She summoned a guitar weapon like the one Cure Beat carried, only it was red instead of blue. This was her Love Guitar Rod. "Soul Barrier!" She shouted, striking a power chord with her guitar, and creating a barrier of energy that not only stopped the attack, but destroyed it, causing a dust cloud.

Through the cloud, Soul shot forward with Airstepping, magically putting her guitar away as she with into a pirouette spin, before using the momentum to hammer her foot into the head of the Akanbe. Her dramatically-increased strength made it cried out in agony as it hit the ground, causing rubble to fly.

"What?!" Joker gasped, seeing what Soul did.

"I'm not part of Happy's team. I'm from a veteran group of Pretty Cure." Soul told the enemies around them, "A team that protects the harmony and the music in people's hearts."

She placed her hand forward as she chanted, "Resonate! My musical symphony!" Suddenly, four more familiar figures appeared, placing their hands on top of Soul's hand. It was Cure Melody, Rhythm, Beat, and Muse. They raised their hands high, and struck a team pose as Soul declared, "Suite Precure!"

"A veteran group of Precure?!" Joker scowled, "This is not what I expected!"

"I am getting really tired of these power-ups from these kids!" Tears scoffed, "First Philia with that mecha-singer power, now this?! Fortunately, this environment is in my favor." She stood up straight, and concentrated, gathering up the darkness she had gained so far, along with a bit of her own. She then shot it at the Akanbe, and enveloped it in a dark bubble of energy, surprising everyone.

"What are you doing?!" Joker questioned Tears.

"It'll take some time, but I promise you that I can empower this monster of yours into a Dark Hybrid." She replied, "I would like to see nothing more than these light wielders destroyed for good. In the meantime…" She lifted the Akanbe in the bubble upwards as giant, long-taloned claws broke out of the ground, followed by the rest of the body.

It was a monster not as big as the Akanbe, and quite odd-looking. It had half the body of a wolf monster, from its upper torso, with long-talon claws, fanged teeth, and glowing eyes. However, what made it strange was the bottom-half of the beast was an open book, with it sticking out of the pages. The team endured as it howled at them harshly, before the wolf shrank and dove into the book, which closed up, revealing its dark colored cover and Heartless emblem. It then lifted itself to reveal someone carrying the book from it back. It was a bearded creature that looked like an old man, half the height of the book, wearing glasses over its yellow eyes, a cloak, exposing his chest, along with his Heartless emblem.

"Let's see them deal with this special Heartless." Tears stated, while Joker looked intrigued. As for Gouxus, he had vanished once more.

"Look at the size of that book!" Beauty exclaimed, while Yui activated her scanner.

"The name of this Heartless is Grimm Ender-Sin." Yui analyzed, "My reader is able to tell that the name is based on the authors the Grimm Brothers and Hans Christian Anderson. However, this one is made to pull out the darkness of the tales from its book to attack people!"

"A Heartless based on fairy tales?!" Kirito gasped, "Who knows what it can pull out of that book it has!"

"Good thing I am well versed in a lot of the stories based on those authors!" Happy stated.

"Not sure if that'll help in this moment." Sunny noted.

"Doesn't matter." Soul interrupted, "Let's show them what we can do! Everyone, let's go!"

"Right!" Everyone responded as the Grimm Ender-Sin lowered itself, opening up it's massive book. It flipped through the pages, before stopping as it magically produced a witch, cackling as it threw a large apple at the group, causing an explosion. Fortunately, they all leapt into the air, leaving a trail of smoke from the detonation as they flew (Author's note: A.k.a, the iconic Precure team jump).

Soul and Happy led the attack, slamming their fists together in the face of the witch, sending it flipping away into the air, until it caught itself, and magically summoned what looked like an oven from its pages, expelling flames at the group. Sora, Donald, and Beauty leapt in, and unleashed a triple ice attack, with Sora and Donald unleashing Blizzard, while Beauty shot a blizzard gust from her hands, canceling out the attack.

"Is that witch based off of both Snow White AND Hansel & Gretel's witches?!" Happy questioned in shock.

"Pulling the worst out of each." Soul followed up.

"If it likes hot stuff, I got just the thing!" Sunny declared, as she and Kirito leapt upwards at the Heartless, Sunny's fist and Kirito's Keyblade in flames, before striking together with a fiery punch and a Flamestrike, respectively. The attack together was enough to destroy the witch. The Grimm Ender-Sin closed the book, floating towards the ground again as it seemed dazed from the witch's defeat.

Soul leapt in and started punching the daylight out of the Heartless, before kicking it away and prepping her Love Guitar Rod again. "Soul Sonic!" She shouted, unleashing a power chord, producing energy notes that turned to arrows, homing in on the Heartless. Unfortunately, the Grimm Ender-Sin recovered and used its book to block her attack, before flipping it open, magically summoning the wolf it was before. It lunged forward at Soul with its claws, which she guarded against, and got sent backwards.

"Soul!" Happy cried out, racing up and grabbing her as she flew, while Goofy, Yuna Soul Burst Yui, Pop, Peace and March raced forward. Yui got Valefor flew up as she was nearing up the last of her Soul Burst power, unleashing her Finisher, Energy Nova, blasting at the wolf monster. Peace joined in by unleashing an thunderbolt from her fingertips, shooting it at the wolf as well. It tried to counter with a howl shockwave, but the colliding attacks effortlessly broke through, and it got blasted back, greatly wounded, but still kicking.

Yui's steed disappeared with her Soul Burst, but Pop appeared as an alicorn, and caught her as she fell, flying her out of the way. "Thanks, Pop!" Yui thanked him.

"Just doing my duty, de gozaru!" Pop answered.

Goofy charged forward as March stopped, creating a ball of wind in front of her. "Precure March Shoot!" She shouted, kicking the ball hard at the wolf, who saw it coming. With a swing of its claws, it was somehow able to parry the attack, sending it down at where Goofy was at.

"Dog, watch out!" March shouted to him. Goofy saw it coming, and raised his shield, taking the full impact of the attack, but holding his ground as it pressured him. He was able to find his footing, and was trying to shove it back at the Heartless. Fortunately, Soul and Happy reappeared, and combined their strength together with Goofy to shove the March Shoot straight back at the wolf, hitting it in the face, and making it vanish, causing the book to close as the Grimm Ender-Sin was dazed.

"Nice job holding back that attack!" Soul commended Goofy.

"We got this!" Kirito shouted, as he and Sora dashed forward, "Let's go, Sora!"

"Alright!" Sora answered, and the two crossed their blades together as they went into their Team Attack, Comet Storm. They became encased in light energy as they shot towards the Heartless as one, slamming into it with their Keyblades, ricocheting off of it. They then unleashed a storm of slashes that sent down at the Heartless, before launching themselves at it one more time with an energy explosion.

"So strong…" Happy gasped, while the other Precure were amazed at the damage the two boys did. Soul used medicine to rejuvenate and sustain her Soul Burst.

"Seems like your Heartless is getting beaten instead of doing the beating." Joker pointed out to Tears as they watched.

"Like your monster was any good once they gathered themselves up." Tear retorted, "But don't worry. This Heartless has one good trick up its sleeve."

The Grimm Ender-Sin regained itself, and glowed with darkness. It held the book up high, becoming larger and larger, its shadow enveloping the heroes and heroines. "Now what's it doin'?!" Sunny questioned in shock.

"Brace yourselves!" Soul shouted, as it flipped over, causing the team to scream as it slammed the book on top of all of them.

The team thought they were smashed by the book, but instead, they found themselves standing in a dark dimension. "What is this place?!" March demanded.

"Is this…the place inside the book?!" Sora questioned.

Suddenly, the Heartless humanoid that carried the book reappeared, and with a wave of its hands, summoned up three story books, opening them up as something came out of each of them, looking distorted versions of what they should be. One of them was a hideous witch with tentacles for legs, three finely dressed women, the center one older than the others, with claws for hands, and a duck with sharp wings. What's more, the humanoid flipped forward and transformed into a long-bearded man with a wilted cap, carrying a spinning wheel of an old sewing tool.

"That's a lot of storybook characters." Kirito noted.

"Is that Ursula from Ariel's world?!" Sora questioned, seeing the woman with octopus feet.

"The sea witch from 'The Little Mermaid'?!" Beauty realized.

"I think that fowl is a duck from 'The Ugly Duckling'!" Peace assumed, terrified at the sight of the oversized dark duck.

"And that old man must be Rumpelstiltskin!" Yui analyzed, "But the last one…"

"That's Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters!" Happy recognized, glaring at the old man, "Don't you use the characters of my favorite story! Not even them!" She leapt at the Cinderella villains, with Soul joining her, while the others split themselves up to deal with the rest, except for Rumpelstiltskin, who floated high above them.

The stepmother and stepsisters were either swiping their claws together at Happy and Soul, or throwing dark glass slippers at the two, which Happy bashed away, while striking down the sisters aggressively. Meanwhile, Kirito, Donald, Pop, March, and Beauty were dealing with the sea witch, avoiding the tentacles that tried to entangle them, while dealing with it throwing magic potion bottles at them. As for the others, being Sora, Goofy, Yui, Candy, Sunny, and Peace, they dealt with the duck, which flew about, slashing them with its wings, and honking at them.

'She must really like Cinderella if she's taking offense to the Heartless using the villains.' Soul thought to herself as Happy struck down the stepmother, while she unleashed Soul Sonic on the stepsisters, 'Well, I'd better step it up if I need to help her stop this fairy tale nightmare altogether!'

Her body glowed brightly as she felt a surge from within, and she shouted, "Advance Burst! Crescendo Tone!" Soul summoned a golden fairy like the Fairy Tones, only with angel wings, and it shined brightly on her. Everyone turned as she was encased in the golden light, before reappearing, her appearance altered slightly in some ways, such as her hair being a brighter orange, the wings of her hair accessory slightly grew, her attire being brighter-colored, and she grew golden wings and tail feathers from her back.

"Eh?! What happened to Soul?!" Peace questioned.

"Asuna's Soul Drive of Beat must've already been able to reach the Advance Burst!" Kirito realized, "Just light my soul of Snow, and her soul of Lightning."

"You're not making any sense!" March pointed out, before the two evaded tentacles from the sea witch.

Soul flew past Happy, and kicked the two stepsisters into oblivion, before flying at the stepmother as it threw a glass slipper at her, who backhanded it out of the way, surprising it. "Happy, together!" She shouted to the pink Precure, who responded as she leapt in. The two war-cried as they punched the stepmother together, causing it to evaporate.

"Let's follow their lead!" Kirito shouted, turning to Donald, "You ready to show em your spirit, Donald?"

"I've been waiting for this!" Donald answered, rolling his weapon arm as he prepared to unleash his full force.

"Pop, girls, get back!" Kirito called to March, Beauty, and Pop, who understood and backed off, while he tapped into his energy, and shot a beam from his Keyblade at Donald, unlocking his Soul Release. "Donald Summon!" The anthropomorphic duck roared, raising his staff high, as several filolial-like birds appeared around the sea witch, and trampled it from all sides, until it was completely finished. Donald shouldered his staff, looking pleased at his achievement.

At the same time, Sora and the others were able to evade a flying attack from the duck, shooting rockets from his Magic Launcher, the second Formchange of his Shooting Star Keyblade , before Goofy shouted, "I know what to do, Sora!"

"I read ya, Goofy!" Sora responded, racing to him, dismissing his weapon as he and Goofy performed the Goofy Bombardment, leaping up together before Sora threw Goofy at the diving duck, hitting it and forcing it to the ground.

"That was so cool!" Peace cheered.

"Now let's roast this duck!" Sunny declared, gathering energy until she formed a fireball. Sora readied his Magic Launcher, unleashing it's attack as Sunny shouted, "Precure Sunny Fire!" Sora charged up his weapon, and shot the head of the launcher out at the same time as Sunny's attack, and an explosion of fire and stars filled the area around the duck, clearing up to see the fowl vanished.

"Guess that leaves one…" Sora stated as his Keyblade went back to normal, and everyone's attention went to the old man Heartless, who readied its wheel, and spun it, sending dark gold straw needles at the group like a machine gun. It aimed at all of them, causing everyone to scatter and try to avoid getting hit by the raining attack. Any that struck them stung painfully.

"This is now how Rumpelstiltskin turned straw into gold!" Happy exclaimed, covering her head with her hands she ran, with Peace, Donald and Yui right behind her.

"Heartless aren't meant to be to the book!" Kirito argued while Goofy covered his and Beauty's flank with his shield.

"Yeah, why bring up authenticity?!" Sunny questioned as she, March, and Sora raced for their lives.

Up above, Soul was evading the needles coming at her, before glaring at the Heartless, growling, "Time to finish this up!" She prematurely activated her Finisher, summoning a road of rainbow piano keys in front of her, aiming at the Heartless. She then flew forward as a large silhouette of the Crescendo Tone appeared above her with phoenix wings. "Precure Suite Session Ensemble Crescendo!" She shouted, flying into the heart on the silhouette's head, and it instantly rocketed forward, striking right through the Heartless in a golden blaze, before vanishing. Soul reappeared, landing on the ground behind it, striking her hand upwards as she shouted, "Finale!" In an instant, the Heartless exploded with the energy that encased it, and it vanished into existence. The whole area started to turn white after the final Heartless vanished, blinding everyone.

From outside, the book of the Grimm Ender-Sin became black smoke, and after a few seconds, vanished into nothingness, leaving only the Keybladers and the Precure standing there, free from the books pages, as well as completely defeating the Heartless. "Is it over now?" Happy asked as Soul reverted back to Asuna again.

"Not quite!" they heard Tears shout out, and they looked up to see Tears and Joker fly down, greatsword and rapier respectively in hand, and hit the ground with it. Their attack created a fissure that formed into a massive hole, the team in the dead center of it. They screamed as they fell, going into the depths down below, not sure where they would end up.

Tears and Joker looked down the hole, the former stating, "That should hold them in this world for a while."

"The Orb of Neglect can't take more of this punishment, you know." Joker told her, "This world is finite, and thanks to how much they've done, I wouldn't be surprises if they were able to exit this realm."

"After all the darkness poured into this world, thanks to me, I think this world should hold out." Tears assured him, "At least, until preparations are set." She looked up, seeing the Akanbe in the dark bubble, curled up with its eyes closed. "Your beast will be able to reach the goal I wish to have; gather the darkness, destroy the light."

"That, I can stand by; a perfect bad ending for your nuisances and mine." Joker agreed with a grin, "But what about that man in black before?"

"As I said, who cares?" Tears responded, glaring at the hole, thinking a bit of what happened in the last world, "If he interferes, I will end him. Nothing stands in my daddy's goal. No matter what."

---

Next Time on Sword Art Kingdom III

Miracles of Friendship!