Starting the Monday after their weekend excursion, the new Precure began meeting together at Saint Golden Faith Academy. Ryoko had been included in the trips to the Gazebo at lunch, and even got accepted into the Culinary Club. The upcoming Prestige Ball was a little over a month away, and they had almost decided on their menu. Yuki, of course, was the intermediary for communications between them and the Student Council. It was soon, however, that Jun had been invited to Azami's first real tournament basketball game.
Azami Akihito, president and team captain of the girls' Basketball Club, stood just under Yuki's height. She wasn't a giant, but she was fast as could be, and her jumping skills were through the roof. She lived with Jun in her communal household, and they considered each other like sisters. The game was on a Friday night, and she had even invited Jun's other friends to come and watch. Today was Thursday, the day before the game. The four Precure sat in the gleaming, newly-built basketball court watching Azami and the team practice.
"Yeah! Go Azami, you can do it!" Ryoko and Jun cheered excitedly. Emika watched shyly with a smile, while Yuki brushed Jubilee's feathers and put different clips on them to see which looked the cutest. On the court, Azami grinned with an intense stare. Sweat gleamed off of her olive-colored skin, and her freckles stood out against the red of her cheeks. Her brown eyes were serious, and wisps of black hair fell from the tall ponytail she wore for practice. Normally it was down, with two smaller ponytails on the side, but that got in the way when she played. She skidded back and forth between her own teammates, too fast for them to catch. Suddenly, she leapt magnificently into the air, spurred on by her friend's cheers. The basketball flew from her hands and it landed in the net across the court with a satisfying swoosh.
"Whoa! That was totally awesome!" Ryoko cheered. Azami panted and gave a thumbs-up, although her coach came over and crossed his arms with a stare.
"Akihito. You're making it all about yourself again. Just because you're the captain doesn't give you the right to ignore your teammates when you feel like it. You need to pass and let others work on their shots, too, you know." He scolded. Azami flushed even redder and chuckled.
"S-Sorry, coach, I'll be more careful next time. I'm gonna take a break and let them do some work, okay?" she apologized. The coach nodded, smiling at her as an acceptance of her apology. Azami stepped over to the benches and wiped the sweat off of her forehead with a fuzzy towel and took a large swig of water from a bottle. Jun and Co. rushed over to greet her at the edge of the court.
"You were so cool! That jump was incredible, I wish I could do that!" Jun breathed. She meant as she was, of course, not even remembering how high she could jump as Cure Hope. Azami laughed heartily.
"Oh, geez, you flatter me. It's just a lot of hard work, that's all. I mean, look at these magnificent calves, after all." She wiggled her eyebrows and stuck a sweaty leg out. She flexed the calf and everybody laughed. Azami was always good at making others laugh and cheering people up, and it made her unbelievably happy when she had the support and happiness of her friends. The coach assumed it was self-centered behavior, but really, it was just her desire to impress her friends who had been cheering her on.
"By the way, did you ever get that homework finished? I know you mentioned having quite a bit when we came over." Yuki asked softly. Azami nodded proudly, having accomplished her lofty goal of the stacks of homework she had piled up.
"That's great, Azami, I'm really proud of you! I know that math must have been hard." Jun made a face imagining her math homework. Azami made the same expression and nodded again. Ume was the math whiz of the household, but Jun and Azami were hopeless when it came to actual schoolwork. Jun, however, at least tried and kept up with it, while Azami was the type to shove it off until the last minute.
"Yeah, well, Ume was a lifesaver. I'll try not to let it pile up like that again, but who knows. I'm so busy with practice all the time…" she covered herself with an excuse, but Yuki made a 'tsk' noise.
"That's no reason to fall behind. Either way, I'm glad you got caught up. I'm also happy to help if you need it, Azami." she smiled. Azami smiled back. She'd given the others permission to call her on a first-name basis already, so it was normal.
"Alright, will do, Yuki. I'm glad you decided to join me for practice, it's always a little lonely walking home by myself." she chuckled. Jun pouted.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?! The Culinary Club can always run a bit longer so we can walk home with you, it's really no big deal! I'd hate for my sis to be lonely, you know." she made a face. Azami and the others laughed.
"I suppose I might take you up on that offer, Jun. As long as the others are alright with it, of course." Azami looked to Emika, Yuki, and Ryoko. They all nodded happily. "Aww, thanks, you guys~! Well, I'd better get back to the practice. You guys gotta see more of my sick moves, after all." And indeed they did, as the four Precure watched the rest of practice happily, focusing their attention on their newfound friend.
"So… Sable has yet to return. Well then, we will have to retrieve her soon. But first… Dusk." Prince Shadow growled from the darkness enveloping his statue. Dusk stood to attention, his lax face replaced by a serious one.
"Yes, Prince Shadow?" he asked.
"You will be given another chance. But this time… I want you to gather Negative Energy for me. Do not focus on catching the fairy. Do you understand?" Shadow didn't seem to be asking - he was commanding. Dusk nodded intently.
"Of course, Prince Shadow. I'll get so much Negative Energy you wouldn't believe it!" He grinned deviously. Prince Shadow chuckled.
"Very good, Dusk. And if you happen to see Sable, you know what you have to do."
"So Azami, how'd you get into basketball?" Ryoko asked curiously. "You're really athletic, so you could've joined any sports team, I think."
"Oh, basketball has always been fun, but I really got into it when I heard of how high some of those guys could jump. I was short growing up, even shorter than Jun at one point! So it really appealed to me, being higher and higher, making all those cool trick shots. I practiced every day, and then the Saint Golden Faith recruiter found me," she explained with a smile on her face. The five friends were walking home now, with Azami newly added in their midst.
"Interesting. Is there anything you could say about the new basketball court? The student council would like to know." The friends talked so casually, unaware of the Dark Land General floating above them. Dusk was so far up that Jubilee couldn't sense him, unlike when Ink tricked them by showing up and then disappearing again.
"So… that one isn't a Cure. I wonder how much it would hurt those girlies if I used that one as my target. Hahaha… Hahahaha!" He began to laugh raucously at the thought of Cure Hope crying. Dusk wasn't as intimidating as Ink, but he schemed and plotted the worst ways to hurt his enemies. Now, his plan began to fall into place. He knew what he wanted to do.
"Well, it was nice talking to you guys! Jun and I have our stop here, after all." Azami grinned, but in the back of her mind, she felt like something was wrong. She couldn't place it, however, so she shoved the thought away. Ryoko and Yuki waved, and Emika had already left two streets earlier. Everyone parted ways happily and went to their respective houses. Yuki and Ryoko had a while longer to walk, but they didn't mind if it meant being with their friends a while longer. Inside the communal household, Jun and Azami said hello to their families.
"Hi mama, hi papa." Azami kissed her parents on the cheeks. Her mom said something happily in Portuguese, and Azami replied in Portuguese as well. Azami's mother was from Brazil, and so she spoke both Spanish and Portuguese, but they preferred the latter. Jun smiled happily and went to her room, while Azami stayed behind to talk to her parents.
"Hey papa, do you have any aspirin? I'm starting to get a headache. I guess I was laughing too hard on the way home or something." She mumbled, sitting down at the kitchen table to start on her homework for the night. As much as she disliked doing it, she wasn't about to have another weekend pass her by because of it. Her dad smiled with a nod and brought her a glass of water and some aspirin from the kitchen. She took it and started on her homework, unaware that anything was wrong.
In her room, Jun sat with Jubilee.
"Something's off-jubi. I can't tell what it is, but something's wrong-jubi…" he muttered. Jun looked at him with a concerned expression, patting his head.
"Well, you'll figure it out. Emika, Yuki, Ryoko, and I will be here if you need us." she assured him, scribbling away on some sheets of schoolwork. Jubilee nodded, not relaxed, but he couldn't do anything about it without being able to tell if it was the Dark Land Kingdom or not. All he knew was that something wasn't quite right.
"Good morning, Azami, Ume, how are you?" Jun smiled the next day. Ume smiled back.
"I'm doing well, thank you, Jun. Are you going to join us for breakfast?" Ume asked, handing her some toast and butter. Jun nodded and sat down at the table with all six other people. Azami chose not to reply and sat down in her seat. She had a vacant stare on her face; not unhappy, but like she had something on her mind.
"Azami, sweetheart? Are you alright?" her mom asked, placing a hand on top of her daughter's. Azami snapped out of her trance and gave an obviously forced smile.
"Yeah, mama. Just a headache, I think. I'll be better after I stop worrying about the game tomorrow night." she lied. She was never good at covering for herself, but nobody ever really pried, either. Her mom nodded, but she was still concerned. Jun gave Azami a look, but went back to eating her breakfast. After they were all done, everybody departed and went their own ways. Ume left early since she had promised to tutor a classmate, and Azami went with Jun to meet up with their other three friends. Jubilee still had to stay in Jun's bag, since Azami didn't know about the whole "Precure" thing.
"Good morning Jun, Azami." Emika smiled from the street corner. Emika lived fairly close to them, so they were always the first to meet up in the mornings. Ryoko came after, and Yuki lived the furthest away, although they were all within walking distance of the school. Once they were all together, Yuki piped up with a smile.
"Good morning, Azami, I'm glad you decided to walk with us. It's always nice to have more friends, yes?" Yuki giggled and waited for an answer, but she didn't get one. "Azami?"
"Oh, sorry. I was concentrating. Uh, yeah, the more the merrier, right?" Another forced smile from Azami. Yuki nodded, seemingly not noticing, or just choosing not to make a big deal out of it. Jun, however, was concerned - Azami was almost never like this, and when she was, she usually came and talked to somebody about it. As far as she knew, Azami had approached neither Ume nor herself, so it was disconcerting, to say the least. Silently to herself, Jun had already decided to investigate.
"So, you got that big game tomorrow, huh, kiddo? I'm looking forward to seeing some of your cool moves." Ryoko grinned, arms crossed over their chest, trying to look cool. Azami nodded, back to spacing out again. Ryoko sighed and didn't say anything. The four others just went back to talking amongst themselves. Jun looked back, and as she did, she saw something that made her double take. Coming from Azami's head was small, tiny drops of black ooze. Only a few, and then it stopped.
"Psst! Yuki! Emika! Ryoko! I think something's really wrong! I could've sworn I saw Negative Energy coming from Azami…" she mumbled nervously to the others. They immediately turned, but Yuki was the first to turn back and shake her head.
"I don't see anything, Jun. Are you sure you're not just worried about Sable? That fight last weekend hit us all pretty hard. Do you need to de-stress?" she asked. Jun shook her head, convinced of what she had seen.
"No, I know what I saw… but I'll leave it alone for now. If I see it again, I'll let you know." she murmured. Emika, Yuki, and Ryoko looked concerned, but said nothing more on their trip to school. Eventually, Azami went her separate way to the gym for practice. The Culinary Club met up in the kitchen, where Jubilee hopped out of Jun's bag with a big gulp of air.
"Whew, your bag gets a little stuffy sometimes-jubi. It's so warm-jubi." He laughed a little bit. Jun giggled, trying to get her mind off of Azami and the Negative Energy.
"I'm a little chubby, so I'm naturally warm. Sorry about that." she smiled. Jubilee shook his head.
"No worries-jubi."
"Are you really warm all the time? Lucky… I get chilly all the time…" Emika chuckled. Jun leaned over and gave Emika a big hug, arms wrapped around her tightly. Emika blushed and hid her face in her hands. "Wow, you are really warm."
"Hehe! I told you!" she grinned. Ryoko threw themselves over the two, joining in on the hug.
"Yeah! Jun warmer! It's chilly outside, ya know!" they grinned right along with Jun, who was beaming from having her friends pile on top of her. Yuki leaned in and got a hug, too.
"Group hugs are always fun. Oh, my, Jun is quite toasty!" As they were all hugging, Jubilee jumped on Jun's head.
"Dusk-jubi! I sense him, he's nearby-jubi!" he shouted. They immediately separated. "Wait… No, Dusk left, and… Sable's here, too?! There's two of them?!" he flapped his wings and flew over to the window. The friends went to the window to see Sable, again, flying overhead. She was absorbing the Negative Energy from a girl. She had pretty dark skin and short, curly black hair that rested on her shoulders in ringlets. She wore the Saint Golden Faith uniform, and she had a purple sweater tied by the arms around her waist. A Shaori formed immediately after, stomping around and shouting.
"She's attacking an innocent girl! We've got to go!" Yuki gasped. Everyone agreed and grasped their Everhearts. Pink, red, yellow, and green light flooded the club room as they all called out their transformations.
"Pink... "
"Red..."
"Yellow..."
"Green..."
"... Everheart! IMMORTAL CHANGE!" They all changed into their Cure forms. Hope, Brave, Kind, Strong. Strong grinned widely and flexed their hands.
"Crazy! I'm still not used to this. Now let's kick some butt!" They fist-bumped the air. The others did the same before opening the window and jumping out.
"Hey! Sable! Pick on somebody your own size, why don't you?!" Strong launched a fist in their direction. Sable easily dodged, scoffing at Strong's attempt to hit her. Something was different today. Sable seemed off, like she wasn't entirely focused on the task at hand.
"Oh, please, you're all my size. I know when to admit I'm short… But that's not my point! Shaori, get those Cures so I can redeem myself!" she grumbled, crossing her arms and levitating into the air. She definitely wasn't the Sable the others had fought before. Redeeming herself? Sable was so narcissistic that Kind furrowed her eyebrows and wondered where it went. Something wasn't right.
"Precure… KIND RING!" Kind immediately fired off her purifying move, surprising her partners.
"Kind! What the heck?! What are you-" Strong had begun to shout, but they were silenced by the fact that the Shaori was already gone. Kind eyed Sable up and down.
"Sable, what is this?" She asked. Hope and Brave had preoccupied themselves with helping the girl who'd passed out from having her Negative Energy taken. Sable's face twisted into one of anger and fear.
"I had to try. You wouldn't understand… Prince Shadow, he… Ugh! Never mind! You stupid Cures aren't seeing the bigger picture! You should've listened to your friend!" She turned to leave, still angry as she vanished into a portal. Everyone de-transformed, bewildered and little lost at the whole exchange. Yuki and Ryoko ran over to Jun and Emika, who were gently waking up the girl. She groaned and rubbed her head. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at the group of friends who were surrounding her.
"Oh… My head hurts. What happened? Where… am I?" She asked, wincing a little as Ryoko helped her up. "Thank you, by the way…"
"We found you asleep on the grass out here." Yuki fibbed. "Do you need help getting back to your club?"
"No, but I appreciate the offer. I don't have a club. I have practice, but it was cancelled today. I'm a ballerina, my name's Matsuko. Matsuko Nagasawa." the girl explained. Jun smiled at her and patted her shoulder.
"Well, I'm glad you're okay, Nagasawa-san! I'm Jun Izanama, this is Emika Susume, Yuki Konoko, and Ryoko Hajime." Jun introduced her friends, and Matsuko smiled. She still seemed confused, but at the least, she wasn't in any pain. "How about we walk you to your first class instead? If your head hurts you shouldn't be walking alone in case something happens!"
"Oh… Izanama-san. If you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate it. My homeroom just changed. I'm with Ms. Hinamori, now." Matsuko explained. Jun giggled a little bit.
"Nice! That's Emika and I's homeroom! We'll show you the way."
For Jun and her friends, the whole day seemed to go by in a weird, surreal sort of way. Jun felt like something was wrong the entire day, given what she'd seen of Azami and the surprise Shaori during the morning club meeting. She pursed her lips and frowned, deep in thought about what the whole situation meant.
"Um… Jun? You doin' okay, kiddo?" Ryoko piped up. Jolted out of her thoughts, Jun looked at her friends and realized she was thinking really hard while trying to frost a cake at the same time… and the frosting had gone everywhere. She laughed wearily, setting down the piping bag with a sigh. The afternoon club meeting was going sour as well, it seemed.
"What's wrong?" Ume asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You never look like that unless you're really worried about something. You can tell us, we're your friends."
"R-Right!" Emika smiled. "What Ume said. We're your friends. You can talk to us."
"I'm just…" Jun started, then caught herself before she said anything rash. She remembered Ume wasn't a Cure, as much as she wished she could talk to her about the things that had been happening to the group. Ume was her confidante since childhood, and it was eating her up to keep secrets from her. "I'm just worried about Azami. She's acting strangely."
"Oh… Yes, I did notice that." Ume commented, thinking about the morning. "Well, I don't think we're getting anything done here, so why don't we clean up and go and talk to her? I'm sure she could use some support since her game is in a few hours. Even if it's a home game, I'm sure nerves can get to her."
"You're right, you're right. I'm probably stressing about it too much." So, Jun took her up on the idea, and the group began to clean up. She reached a hand into her bag to give Jubilee's head a pat. She and him both knew what was wrong; he sensed it, and Jun had seen it. But it seemed as if the others almost didn't want to think about it, nor did they believe either of them.
"Well, I've cleaned up the baking pans." Ume mumbled, wiping off her hands on a towel.
"I-I've got the flour and the other dry ingredients…" Emika piped up. "And Yuki and Ryoko cleaned up the rest. So… let's go!"
"Alright." Jun grabbed her bag and so did the others. Ryoko stood by Jun, leaning an elbow on her head with a grin.
"Aw, cheer up. I'm sure Azami's just fine. From what I've seen, she seems like a tough kid! Ume told me so."
"I know… it's just unnerving, is all." She muttered to herself. She was referring to the incident this morning in which she saw the Negative Energy coming from Azami, but of course, she knew the others didn't exactly believe her. They left the Culinary Club room and walked towards the gym, talking amongst themselves. When they reached their destination, Jun peered into the door to make sure she wasn't going to interrupt anything important. She saw the team gathered in a circle, all looking rather annoyed. Ryoko and Ume peered in as well.
"What's your problem?!" a voice yelled angrily. It was Azami, who had thrown her hands into the air in frustration. "I'm doing my sets just fine! Get off my case!"
"Whoa… is she normally like that?" Ryoko asked, a concerned expression on their face. Ume and Jun looked equally concerned.
"No… I've never seen her like this. I've never even heard her yell at somebody, at least not in a mean way like this." Ume answered quietly. Jun squinted, and again, she saw the ooze manifesting and flying away from the back of Azami's head. Her eyes widened, and she looked to Ryoko, who was also wide-eyed.
"I saw it too, kiddo." they murmured in Jun's ear. "Hey, Ume, why don't you go and get Azami away from the others and talk to her for now? It would be bad if she got in trouble before her game, yeah?"
"You're right. Thanks, Hajime-san." Ume stepped inside and jogged over to Azami, who had begun to have a heated conversation with her, too.
"Dudes! Jun was right!" Ryoko whisper-yelled as soon as Ume was out of earshot. "It's totally Negative Energy that's making her act like this! We've gotta do something!"
"Very well, but where's it coming from? Sable already left. And even she noticed that we should've listened to you. Sorry, Jun." Yuki apologized. Emika nodded her agreement, and Jun sighed.
"It's okay. I'm just worried! Azami's basically my sister! We've gotta find out what's going on." She stated seriously, eyebrows furrowed. Everybody else agreed. They entered the gym and approached Azami and Ume, who were busy arguing with each other. Jun observed the thin trail of Negative Energy coming from the back of Azami's head, which led all the way up into the gym rafters. The corners were shrouded in shadows where the lights couldn't reach, and from the darkness, a pair of red eyes peered out.
"Dusk!" Jun whispered to Jubilee, who was safely inside her bag. He shifted and peered his head out just enough to see where Jun was looking, and she was definitely right. A large, shark-toothed grin appeared next, and he floated down from the rafters.
"Hello there! I'll be using this Negative Energy to revive Prince Shadow, thanks!" He laughed, and suddenly, all at once, Azami collapsed to the ground as all of her Negative Energy disappeared into a small hole on Dusk's hand. The other basketball team members fled, realizing who it was from the news a few weeks ago. Ume pulled on Jun's hand.
"C-Come on, Jun, you guys! We've gotta get away from here…!" She cried.
"We'll be right there! We're just gonna get Azami, go without us!" Jun fibbed. Ume nodded, trusting Jun when she said that. She left without a second thought and the others moved Azami out of the way before they transformed.
"You ready to get yer butt kicked, Dusk?!" Ryoko grinned. "This is for hurting our friend!"
"Yeah! You won't get away with taking Azami's Negative Energy and making her act like this! She's always been happy… and now that you've made her like this, I'm really mad!" Jun made a face at Dusk. The tall man laughed raucously.
"You still think you can win?! I know how to fight you now! We've been watching you, dumb kids! All I have to do… is THIS!" He roared and transformed to the demon-like appearance he'd been on the first day Jun fought him and transformed. He took his vial out from the pocket of his tattered coat. Smashing it on the ground, another Shaori rose. It barely fit in the gymnasium, its head squeezing in through the rafters. It grew angry at its lack of ability to move, roared, and smashed the ceiling to bits before calming back down. The debris falling from the ceiling scattered everywhere, so in a flash, Ryoko transformed.
"Green Everheart! IMMORTAL CHANGE!" and with a blinding green light, they were Cure Strong again, launching themselves towards Azami in order to protect her with the giant, green shields they'd conjured up last time. Jun breathed a sigh of relief at the sight, the debris having missed the rest of them, thankfully. Now, with renewed vigor, the others transformed as well.
"Pink Everheart…"
"Red Everheart…"
"Yellow Everheart…"
"IMMORTAL CHANGE!" Pink, red, and yellow light filled the gym, the girls reappearing as Cure Hope, Cure Brave, and Cure Kind. The Shaori, faceless and shapeless except for the gleaming red eyes, bubbled over and changed along with the others. It took on the shape of Azami's ponytails and it held a giant, black basketball in its hands. It was drippy and misshapen, but it was obvious who it was modeled after.
"Scared-rii! Scared-rii! I don't wanna lose a game in front of my friends-rii! I don't wanna disappoint them-rii!" It wailed. Hope clenched a fist.
"That's it, you jerk! This is for hurting Azami and using her like this!" she launched at Dusk, sending a flying punch into his stomach. He crumbled and doubled over, the wind knocked out of him as he landed in a wall. Dusk coughed and got up, hand clenched over where he'd been punched.
"Are you kidding me?! She's the one with such a stupid fear! Only you dumb humans act like this!" Dusk scoffed. Strong's eyes narrowed.
"You shouldn't talk about other people's fears like you know them! C'mon, you guys, let's defeat this Shaori and get out of here!" they announced firmly. The others nodded, Cure Hope doing so only after sticking her tongue out at Dusk. The Shaori roared, slamming its basketball in the Cures' direction. Strong conjured up the shield once again, the basketball rebounding off of it and back into the Shaori. Hope and Brave ran around it, taking out its legs with their cure weapons they had summoned. Kind tried to restrain it with her ring, but it jumped and the ring snapped. It leapt up into the air, all the way above the hole in the ceiling it had made earlier. It landed on what was left of the gymnasium roof, running off and stampeding elsewhere on top of the school. Strong and Brave leapt after the Shaori, but Hope and Kind stayed behind to fight Dusk, who stood in their way.
"Stupid Cures! You'll never defeat this Shaori! It's the strongest one yet!" He boasted. Dusk spread his wings and flew, flapping them as hard as he could and whipping up a horrible gust of wind. It blew the Cures back and they slammed into a wall. When he stopped flapping, he had vanished. Hope struggled to stand, and Kind had to help her up. Elsewhere, they heard the Shaori roar and Strong yelling forcefully. Afterwards, they only heard Brave shriek out, "Strong, wait!"
"Where is he?! Do you see him?!" Hope asked, looking around furiously. Kind looked up in the corners, where Dusk had been hiding earlier, but couldn't see him there either.
"No! I don't -" As soon as she had started talking, Dusk rose from the shadows like it was a puddle and lunged for Hope, a giant sword brandished in his hands. He yelled furiously, swinging the blade at Hope, who blocked it with her staff. The edge of the blade rested a hair's breadth away from her neck. His feral grin was so close she could practically feel his nasty breath on her face.
"If you move, Cure Hope, or you, Cure Kind… My sword might just end up somewhere unpleasant. This is for making me look weak in front of Prince Shadow, and for punching me those times…!" He kept the sword near her neck, then suddenly twisted around into a roundhouse kick to Hope's face. She flew into the wall of the gym, cratering it and slumping over. She wheezed, the wind considerably knocked out of her. Kind rushed to help her but was met with the edge of Dusk's sword. It brushed her cheek, a small cut appearing where it had grazed her. "I told you not to move! Don't make me hurt you! My business is with the stupid bubblegum brat!"
Kind's eyes narrowed, watching Dusk warily and occasionally shifting to Hope, who had stilled almost completely. It appeared to be that she was unconscious. On the other side of the gym, a groaning noise was heard as Azami was just rising from her own unconscious state. She shifted, stood up, and looked around at the destruction, not understanding anything that was going on. Then, as she saw Kind and Hope, she realized that another attack was going on.
"Ugh, my head hurts… Go take your fight somewhere else, won't you? Dummy villain… ruining my game…" Azami pouted and began to walk away slowly. Kind's face was immediately confused.
"Uh… you're not concerned about this at all?" She asked, still being held at sword-point. Azami shrugged.
"You're Pretty Cure, yeah? You can figure it out. None of my business."
"Hey! Don't talk like I'm not right here, you stupid kid!" Dusk shouted, immediately angry. "These are your friends in danger here, you know!"
"Excuse me?" Azami immediately froze. She turned, her expression one of anger, eyebrows furrowed. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me! The brat here is the one that makes those stupid cakes! And the obnoxiously bright one here is the older one! The green one is the stupid punchy one, and the red one can't stop stuttering! All of your stupid friends are about to die, don't you get it? Or should I get you too?" Dusk's shark-toothed grin shone through once more.
"Jun? Yuki?" Azami's eyes widened. "You… You're really in for it now."
A blue light filled the room. Jubilee emerged from where he had been watching the Cures fight, his jewel the source of the glow. He flew up to her, and she seemed to already know what was going on. All she did was nod, and the light constricted into a pillar as yet another Everheart appeared. Kind smiled, just a little bit smug.
"Blue Everheart! Precure... IMMORTAL CHANGE!"
Azami's basketball uniform shone with an unnatural light. She grasped the Everheart tightly in her hands, holding it close to her chest. She rose a few feet into the air, surrounded by the cool blue light.
A giant, blue bow burst out from the Everheart she held, and the heart-shaped jewel rested atop it. She rose her hands above her head, and like a wave crashing over her, the Cure form seemed to wash down. Her hair grew even longer than before, turning a light blue as it did so. It was almost down to her ankles, wavy and one giant mass, although it appeared as if there were two ponytails on the sides. Instead of gloves, she got white wrist wraps with blue trim, and her vest was the same. The bottom of it was rounded off, and her skirt was a dark blue bubble skirt with frill at the end. Her thigh-high socks were a gradient of blues, light at the top and getting darker near the bottom, where they met white boots with equally dark blue trim, similar to Brave's. With a flourish of sparkles, her eyes shone and her earrings and choker appeared next. She gave a little twirl, landing gracefully on her feet.
"Another Cure-jubi! Another Cure to help us-jubi! Who are you-jubi?" Jubilee asked excitedly, a huge smile on his face. Azami, now transformed, relaxed. She took a deep breath, and her signature smile spread back across her face.
"I am… The light of an upbeat tune! Cure Joy!" she looked at herself, almost in awe. "I'm sorry I let myself be so upset and angry… I wasn't myself, and I'll try my hardest not to be like that again. But for now… this is between you and me, bud!" She glared at Dusk again, who only had time to gulp and get out an, "oh cra-" before Azami - no, Cure Joy - was on him.
She launched herself forward, kneeing Dusk straight in the face.
"Don't you EVER hurt my friends again!" she fumed. He, much like Cure Hope, slouched over after crashing into a wall. Joy and Kind then ran over to Hope, who they woke up gently and smiled at the new Cure.
"Oh! Another teammate… Who is it, Kind?" she asked softly, groaning just a little as she was helped up. Cure Joy smiled proudly at her sister-slash-friend and put her hands on her hips.
"I'm Cure Joy! AKA the one, the only… Azami Akihito!" she exclaimed excitedly. Hope's eyes widened and she had an infectious grin appear on her face, too.
"Azami!" She squeezed Joy into a tight bear hug. "I-I mean, Cure Joy! But where's… Oh!" Hope's face was surprised when she looked at Dusk, knocked out on the floor.
"Don't forget about the Shaori-jubi!" Jubilee announced with a stern look on his face. "It's still out there, and the other two need your help-jubi!"
"O-Oh! Right! Brave and Strong!" Kind looked towards the hole in the roof. The others gave a nod and they all leapt out of the gym and onto the roof. Looking around, they saw Brave and Strong just barely fending off the Shaori in the track field nearby. The Shaori itself wasn't doing so hot, either. It was morphing and changing, from the version that personified Azami to a shape the others knew well… Sable's Shaori. It was back, which meant she was still lingering around somewhere. Hope, Kind, and Joy leapt over to meet them down on the field.
"Sad-rii! Sad-rii!" the Shaori sat down and put its head in its hands. It wasn't even fighting back at this point. "I don't know what I am-rii! Wanna smile like the Cures-rii!"
"Whoa… Is that really how Sable feels? That's kind of sad…" Strong mumbled. The others looked equally worried. "Wait, who's that?!" Strong shouted, just now spotting Joy.
"It's Azami!" Hope explained, a weary smile on her face. The others grinned, looking quite excited to have another team member.
"Nothing silly like anger could keep me down! Especially when it comes to my friends! You guys mean the world to me, and you're the reason I can keep on smiling everyday… so I, Cure Joy, have got this one!" Joy pointed at the Shaori with a lopsided grin. Jubilee nodded, now perched on Hope's shoulder.
"Right-jubi! Focus all of your energy and determination into your Everheart, and your weapon will appear-jubi! I know you can do it-jubi!" he cheered. Joy took a deep breath and held a hand out in front of her. Her blue Everheart glowed.
"Everheart, become my weapon!" she called out, seemingly not of her own accord. From the gem, a long, pale blue metal rod appeared, forming in her hand. Then, the top of it formed three wavy spikes with a poofy blue bow at their base; a trident now rested in her palm. She held it firmly, eying the Shaori. It glowed, and she spun it like a baton. A series of glowing circles appeared behind the Shaori next, and Joy traced an X in the air. It flew forward, slamming into the globby black monster.
"Lucky and cheery, have a fun time!" she called out, aiming her trident. "Precure… Joy Dart!" she hurled it forward like a spear, and it twirled through the air and landed right in the middle of the x. When the trident landed, a huge wave of water came crashing out from the impact. It washed away the Shaori, leaving behind in its place another vial of ooze, this time a gentle, watery blue. Joy let go of a breath she didn't even know she was holding and de-transformed back into Azami.
"That was insane! How'd you guys do that all the time?! I'd get tired!" she groaned. Hope and the others only laughed as they all de-transformed as well. Jubilee left his perch to go and retrieve the vial, but before he could reach it, Sable appeared on-scene from a portal similar to the one Ink had used the other day.
"You'll thank me later, Cure Hope. Leave me out of this, and I'll leave you alone." She glared, tears obvious in her eyes. Jun's eyebrows rose in concern. She rose her hand for a second, thinking of reaching towards Sable, but lowered it instead.
"Sable… Let us help you. It's obvious something's wrong… we can do something about it. You don't have to be alone, you know." Jun suggested softly. Sable scoffed.
"You don't know anything about Prince Shadow or the Dark Land Kingdom. If I let you help me… no. Just leave me alone." And with a sniff, she left. Azami looked concerned but mostly confused.
"Who was that? The woman that attacked a couple of weeks ago? What was up with her?" She asked. Jubilee sighed and shook his head.
"I don't know-jubi. Sable was one of the strongest Dark Land Kingdom members, but also the youngest-jubi. It could be possible that she's able to feel more emotions than the others because of it-jubi. She was the same age as you, Ryoko-jubi." Jubilee explained. The others looked shocked. Ryoko was only 16 - was that really how old Sable was? That meant she was still a child, corrupted by Prince Shadow at such a young age… nobody wanted to think about it much. It was saddening in its own right.
Elsewhere, the girl with the purple sweater tied around her waist watched on in secrecy, now having known the identities of the Pretty Cures. She had an amused sort of smile on her face, but said nothing and turned away from the window she watched from.
Back at Prince Shadow's castle, the others looked on at him in his stony prison. A whole foot had emerged from the statue thanks to the Negative Energy Dusk had collected for him. It was a gleaming, black boot with silver trim on it. Dusk kneeled in front of Prince Shadow, waiting to be chewed out. He still didn't understand how he got his vial of Negative Energy back, but he wasn't questioning it.
"What are you kneeling for? You did your job. You weren't supposed to go after the Cures, but you got the Negative Energy, just like I asked. Leave me be." His growling voice came from the darkness his statue stood in. Dusk scrambled to his feet and nodded quickly.
"Y-Yes, sir! Right away, sir!" He left without another word. Prince Shadow sighed, clearly annoyed by something.
"What is it, my Prince?"
"Is something wrong?" Two voices came simultaneously. Ebony and Gloom emerged from behind the Prince's statue, ready to serve his every word.
"Yes… It's Sable. I'm afraid she's left our cause. It seems that picking somebody like her was a bad idea, in the end. I need a replacement for her, and I've decided to make you two Generals. Soon, you two can go and gather more Negative Energy for me. First, however, I want to give Ink a chance to redeem himself."
A/N: Sorry for the hiatus! A lot of changes have happened in my life, but I plan to continue this to the bet of my abilities. Updates should now be coming out more frequently than before (AKA like one chapter every 6 months).
NEXT EPISODE: A Hop, Step & A Joyful Hug Away!
