Hello Fanfiction readers! Ashbel Longhart finally back to give you all another chapter to enjoy! Sorry I've been god for about two months, but life has prevented me from writing that much. But I am here and ready to give you more looks at the adventure of Dai and the girls! But first, the disclaimer!
(Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider Kuuga or Futari wa Pretty Cure. They both belong to their respective owners. I just own this story and my OC's.)
Last time, the girls met with Poisony for the first time and we had a little cameo of Honoka's grandfather is, as everyone probably knows at this point, a Showa Rider! Bet you didn't see that coming. Not only that, but Dai almost lost his life but revived and was up kicking Grongi ass in less than a minute. Now, it's time for the gang to meet with Kiriya. Let's go! Chou Henshin!
Ride 13: Beware! The Young Transfer Student! The Truth Finally Comes Out!
(One Year Ago)
"Shit, shit, shit! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" Dai chanted as he ran down the halls of Verone. Why was he running you ask? Because he was simply late for soccer practice. "Dammit, how can I be late on my first day of practice!? Ugh, I hope Fujimura-san isn't too angry at me."
Dai take a glance to the windows next to him, thinking. But as he was thinking, he doesn't notice someone in front of him until it's too late.
*CRASH!*
"Oof!"
"Kya!"
"Ah, wari(sorry)!" Dai quickly apologized, getting back up only to see who he ran into.
"It's okay, I couldn't see where I was going anyway." Honoka said until she looked up and saw Dai.
"Hey…aren't you…?" Dai began.
Honoka gasps before she gets up and points at Dai. "You're that boy who helped me weeks ago!"
"You're that girl I helped! I thought I recognized you!" Dai said. "Yukishiro Honoka, right?"
Honoka nodded. "Hai(Yes.) And your Ichi Dai, correct?"
"That's my name." Dai said with a smile before he notices the papers scattered all around them. "Oops, sorry about all this."
"It's okay." Honoka said as she bends down to pick them up only to see Dai helping her. "Ah, you don't have to do that."
"Nonsense, I want to help, even if I'll be even later to soccer practice." Dai said as he helped Honoka pick up the fallen papers.
"You're on the soccer club?" Honoka asked.
Dai nodded. "Yeah. Just joined yesterday. Why do you ask?"
"Because my friend Fujimura-kun is in the club."
"Fujimura? You two know each other?"
Honoka nodded. "Hai. We're childhood friends, actually."
"Wow." Was all Dai said before he collected half of the papers and gave them to Honoka. "Well, I gotta run. It was nice talking to you!"
"Me too. See you." Honoka said before the two parted ways.
(One Year Later)
"Dai-kun, are you sure you're okay?" Nagisa asked for the tenth time.
"I said I'm fine, really." Dai said as he and the girls were now driving in Ryō's car.
"If you say so…" Honoka said.
"Girls, you've asked Dai here that question ten times already." Ryō said.
"But he was almost dead. How can we not worry?" Nagisa said while taking glances at Dai up and down to see if he was alright.
"I thought he was dead too, but here he is, sitting right next to me." Ryō said. "You girls were right when you said that he's never betrayed my trust."
"Ichi-kun will always be there to help his friends, no matter what." Honoka said, speaking from experience.
"I can see that." Ryō said as he focused on the road when he noticed Dai looking at him. "What?"
"You just said my first name." Dai pointed out. The man had always called him by his last name.
"Is that a problem?" Ryō asked.
Dai simply smiled and said, "Nope, that's fine by me." He started to tap his hands all over the car.
"What are you doing?" Ryō asked while raising an eyebrow.
"My 99th skill: STOMP." Dai said as he continued to tap his hands all over the car until his eyes laid on the radio. Smiling, he went and grabbed the mic. "Hello? Hello? Testing, 1, 2, and 3. Testing, hello?"
"Hey, what are you doing? Don't touch that." Ryō said as he tried to grab the mic from Dai, but the boy kept it away.
"Today on radio Dai, I shall be singing one of my favorite songs! So listen closely!"
"Shouldn't we stop him?" Honoka asked the girl next to her.
"Uh…" Nagisa debated whether to stop Dai or not. Both she and Honoka were watching all of this with amusement, but this could get Dai in trouble later. Unfortunately(?), Dai had already started singing.
Omoi nimotsu wo
Makura ni shitara
Shinkokyuu...
aozora ni naru
Me wo akete 'te mo tsubutte mo
Onaji keshiki wa sugite yuku kedo
Ima, mite 'nakucha... kizukenai
Kimi wo tsurete yukou
Kanashimi no nai mirai made
Kimi ga kureta egao dake
Poketto ni shimatte
Boku wa... aozora ni naru
"Come on, girls! You sing too!" Dai said as he went to hand the girls the mic.
"Eh?" Both girls said in surprise. They both looked towards Ryō to see if he was trying to stop Dai only to see him trying to hide a smile of amusement. He had given up trying to stop Dai some time ago.
"Come on! It's fun! Watch!" Dai said as he began singing a different song.
Both Nagisa and Honoka just watched Dai in surprise as he continued signing where other policemen were sure to hear him. Smiles soon appeared on the girls faces, glad that Dai was still Dai as they continued to watch him sing while Ryō continued to drive the car.
(Insert STRIKE BACK by BACK-ON)
(Instrumental) The song starts as the camera rises up to show the legs of Kuuga before we get a sudden screen shot of Cure Black and Cure White before go back to Kuuga. Just as the camera is at the Arcle, we get a sudden shot of Mepple and Mipple before the camera gets to his chest. We then get another sudden shot of The PreCure cards surrounding Gouram before we go back to Kuuga whose back was facing the camera. He then suddenly turns around and punches the screen, cracking it as the title appears.
(Kidou sura kaerarenai kurai no kakuritsu da to shite mo) We now see Nagisa playing lacrosse with her team, catching a ball as Mepple is seen sleeping from Nagisa's bag.
(IPAASENTO demo areba mochiron teikou desho?) We then see Honoka with the members of the science club, doing an experiment that ended in an explosion as Mipple just giggles at the scene.
(Shosen, "unmei" to nagetsukerareta tte, No I won't!) We go to the city where police are examining a dead body. Ryō looks at the body before he walks away and gets out his phone, calling Dai.
(Hikkuri kaeshite, Because datte kimi to mirai wo miretara saikou janai?) Dai, riding on the TryChaser 2000, gets the call from his radio and speeds up, passing both Nagisa and Honoka as he races to meet up with Ryō.
(Bring it on! 'Cuz I'm just gonna grow up in the battle HEY! buchinuku donten!) Suddenly, the sky turns dark before the Dark King and his subordinates appears as well as an army of Zakenna appeared. Appearing with him was a shadow figure of N-Daguva-Zeba along with an army of Grongi.
(Still burning my fire ten wo kirsaku raimei I gotta kakikesu Nightmare tada mirai ga mitakute!) Nagisa and Honoka step in fear before Dai suddenly appeared behind them and gave them his signature smile and a thumbs up.
(Kako, mirai, soshite ikiteru ima, I ain't scared of my past and now for takusareta asu) Seeing his smile seemed to steel the girl's resolve as they took out the Queen PreCure and Dai summoned the Arcle belt.
(Screaming out for my pride!) A light then suddenly appears and appearing from it was Kamen Rider Kuuga along with Cure Black and Cure White, ready for battle.
(Namida mitakunai kara, sakebi tsudzukeru yo! Zutto...) Cure Black and Cure White engage a battle with some Zakenna before taking on Pisard, IIkubo, Poisony, Kiriya, and Gekidrago.
(I'm never falling down! oi kaze wo se ni fukitobasu Destiny!) Both sides trade blows for a bit before both girls held hands and fired their signature Marble Screw.
(Kono senaka ni aru, egao mamoritai kara! Zutto...) We see Kuuga kicking way a few Grongi, bashes them with the Dragon Rod while in his Dragon form, shoots a flying Grongi with his Pegasus Bowgun in his Pegasus form, slash a few more Grongi with his Titan Sword in his Titan form.
(I gotta blast off your pain for you and me! kanashimi nante Rest in peace!) Dai and the girls meet regroup as they face both the Dark King and N-Daguva-Zeba. Dai charges up a Mighty Kick before he jumps.
(Nando demo...) The girl then threw another Marble Screw as Dai kicks towards the two beings of darkness with the Marble Screw following close behind him before a light overtakes everything and we see a quick look at the blue sky before the song ends.
(The Next Day)
"Sorry, I'm gonna take a break." Nagisa said before she went over to the facets to wash her face. Today was another regular day at Verone Academy. Nagisa struggled in class(but not as much thanks to Dai) and was now out practicing with her friends and the rest of the lacrosse team.
Now drying her face, Nagisa went with the now common ritual of thinking back to the past events that have happened so far.
'Those guys from the Dark Zone didn't give us a break and attacked us again. They were smarter this time, disguising themselves as humans in order to get the Prism Stones. I don't know when the next attack might happen and sad to say, that's the least of our problems.' Nagisa's mind wandered to the events involving Dai and the Grongi. 'It's been a day since the fight with No. 26. No doubt even more Grongi will show up soon and as always, Dai-kun will be called out to help the police take care of them. I know Dai-kun's powerful, but I can't help but worry for him. I mean, he almost died! It's amazing, the way he recovered.'
Nagisa then began to think back to the day Dai had defeated Ginoga.
(Flashback, Yesterday)
After the drive which consisted of everyone just listening to Dai sing through the radio, Ryō had brought everyone to the hospital to get Dai examined as according to him, he simply changed into his clothes and ran out once he had recovered.
Currently, they were in Mizore's office where she was checking his body for any irregularities.
"You're body has completely returned to normal." Mizore said after examining Dai as the others sigh in relief.
"Yokata(What a relief)…" Nagisa sighed as Dai smiled and buttoned up the hospital gown he had changed into.
"Those are surprising healing powers." Mizore commented as she popped another lollipop in her mouth. The girls were starting to wonder how much did she eat those?
"Indeed." Ryō said, smiling that Dai was alright before asking, "But in the end, how did this happen? Was the Stone in the belt so powerful that it could bring people back to life?"
"Oh no, the Amadam Stone can't do anything like that…I think." Dai said before realizing that there wasn't much info on the Amadam Stone even after the Kuuga series had ended.
"You think?" Ryō looked at Dai questionable.
"Actually, young Ichi-san here was in a transient state and he overcame No. 26's poison." Mizore explained.
"Transient?" Nagisa asked.
"It means lasting only for a short time or impermanent." Honoka said.
Mizore then suddenly got a bit too close to Dai and tapped the area where the Arcle would be at, surprising Dai as Mizore continued explaining. "The Stone first increased the number of white blood cells which fought the poison off. But then it noticed that the poison can multiply itself in the host's body."
"It multiplied!?" The girls explained in surprise.
"Oh? I didn't tell you about that? Gomen(Sorry)." Mizore said before continuing. "Anyway, upon realizing that the poison could multiply, the Stone then decreased his body temperature in order to kill the poison as it could not survive cold temperatures. After the poison was killed did it then bring his temperature back up to normal."
"What incredible reactions." Honoka said, amazed at the Stone inside of Dai.
"Indeed." Mizore nodded in agreement.
"Dai," Said boy turned to Ryō. "What is that Stone anyway? Is it some sort of defense mechanism?"
"Uh, kinda." Dai said. "To be honest, I don't know much about the Amadam Stone myself. All I know is it's able to extend the lifespan of a person who has it."
"Wait, did you just say 'extend a person's lifespan?'" Nagisa asked.
Dai nodded. "Yeah."
The look Nagisa was giving Dai was a bit unreadable, but it was close to one of envy.
"All I know is that it has some medicinal effects. Beyond that is a complete mystery." Mizore said. "For all we know, this Stone could have powers beyond our wildest imaginations. Kinda scary that it's in the hands of a kid like this."
"Don't worry, I have complete control over it…I think." Dai said with a thumbs up…before looking away when he wasn't so sure.
"You think?" Ryō looked at Dai though his glasses in disbelief. The girls were the same as they looked at Dai in disbelief who could only look at everyone with a smile.
(Flashback End)
'Lowering his body temperature just to kill the poison. If I had to guess, I'd say that Stone is as crazy as Dai.' Nagisa thought.
"Second Years, move! Watch the ball carefully!" A voice shouted out, drawing Nagisa's attention. Curious, she went over to where the voice was at and found herself at the soccer field where second year students were practicing with none other than Shougo, out of the hospital.
"Come on! Move those legs!" Shougo shouted out as he expertly moved the ball around the other players and soon, with one mighty kick, sent the ball flying where it passed the goalie and struck the net of the goal.
"Sugoi(Wow)…" Nagisa muttered as this was the first time she's seen Shougo play. Now that she remembers, Dai had said that Shougo had gotten out of the hospital yesterday. Apparently, doctors had found out that he had long since healed. What should have been months of hospitalization turned into one month.
"Fujipi! Over here!"
"Hm-Whoa!" Nagisa turned and jumped in surprise when she saw a group of girls at the fence that separated the boy's and girl's fields cheering for Shougo. "He has so many fans…" Looking back, she saw a second year kick the ball too hard where it bounced over to a nearby student who had been watching the team practice.
"Sumimasen(Sorry!)" The second year that kicked the ball said to the other members before he ran over to where the ball was at. "Hey, can you pass that-!" However, before he could speak, the boy that the ball bounced over to ran past the player with the ball! "H-Hey!"
Everyone else soon noticed the unknown boy suddenly joining in. The second years that were out practicing went to stop the kid, but to their surprise, he expertly kicked the ball around and over the players that tried to stop him until all that remained was Shougo. Seeing him coming, Shougo kept an eye on his footwork and went right when he saw the kid going right, but he soon saw the kid smirk and realized that he had been duped as the kid changed directions in an instant and passed Shougo who could watch as the kid kicked the ball and watch it flying towards the goal as it…
*CATCH!*
Was caught by none other than Dai, suddenly appearing! The kid showed surprise on his face as Dai whistled, impressed.
"Whew! Nice kick." Dai commented as he shook his hand that was stinging a bit from catching the fast ball which the goalie would have no doubt been unable to stop.
"Kya~! It's Ichi-kun!" Nagisa jumped in surprise again when the fangirls started screaming at Dai.
"Dai-kun has fans?" Nagisa said as this was a first for her. Looking down, she saw Dai looked confusingly at the girls before he just smiled and waved, obviously not knowing why the girls were screaming for him. "That Dai-kun doesn't even know he has fans." For some reason, Nagisa felt annoyed and she didn't know why.
"Still though, the kid passed Fujipi."
"He's kind of cool."
"Dai!" Shougo and the rest of the soccer team jogged over to Dai who walked over to them, ball in hand. "When did you get here?"
"Just a few minutes ago." Dai said as he tossed the ball over to Shougo before looking over at the kid.
"I'm sorry for interrupting your practice." He said with a small bow.
"That's fine, don't worry." Dai said. "I've never seen you before. What's your name? I'm Ichi Dai, a third year."
"Irisawa Kiriya, first year freshman." The now named Kiriya introduced himself. "I just transferred here today."
"A transfer student that's really good a soccer…" Kimata said before he and everyone turned to Dai and hummed. "Hmm…"
Dai noticed their looks and asked, "What?"
"Nothing, just that he's a lot like you." Shougo said.
"He is?" The others nod. Dai blinked, looked at Kiriya and blinked before turning back to the others. "You sure?" They nodded again. Dai just blinked before he decided that he didn't know what the others were talking about and turned to Kiriya, extending out a hand. "Well, may I be the first to say: Welcome to Verone."
"Thank you, senpai." Kiriya said as he shook Dai's hand.
(Meanwhile, Riverbank)
At a riverbank, a trio of men is fishing, either to fish for food for tonight or to pass the time. Or both.
"Nothing's biting…" One of the men said.
"Guess today's a pretty dull day." Another one of the men said.
As one, the men all sighed as they simply waited to feel a pull on their fishing rods. The third men then saw something from the corner of his eye and gasped.
"What is it?" The first man asked as he and the second looked at the third.
"Whoa, that surprised me. I thought I saw a hand over there." The third man said as he pointed to something in the water. The others saw it and made noises of disgust.
"Ugh, that does look like a hand, disgusting."
"Think it's a glove?"
"Probably."
After that did the men go back to finishing. Unknown to them was that the 'glove' they saw was an actual hand, belonging to Ginoga who had been destroyed by Dai. Then suddenly, something started to appear from the arm as said arm soon drifted along the currents of the river.
(Verone Academy, Science Room)
In the science room of Verone Academy, the girls of the Science Club were busy working on their project. Why were they working on a project? Because it was for the Science Research Presentation Competition that would be held a few days from now.
Most of the girls were working on building their project while others like Honoka were writing down notes to make sure everything was constructed right and didn't blow up in their faces.
Suddenly, a girl came into the room. "Minna(Everyone)! Big news!" Almost everyone, keyword almost, turned to the girl. "Some transfer student somehow beat Fujipi at soccer!"
"Eh? For real?"
"That Fujimura-kun?"
"He was stopped by Ichi-kun in the end, but the fact he passed Fujipi is amazing! Anyway, I heard he just transferred today. Let's go see him, everyone! Yukishiro-san, want to go too?"
"Eh?"
"Wait a minute!" Everyone turned to the girl who spoke up. She was an ocean, green haired girl with round glasses and freckles. Her name was Yuriko. "We don't have much time until the presentation. This is no time to go off and do something else. And besides, there's no way I'll let you drag Honoka with you."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't be so high strung."
"What was that?" Yuriko's glasses seemed to shine as she glared at the girls before getting up. "Don't you understand? This year is our big chance to get first place in the Science Presentation! After all…!" She then went and grabbed Honoka's shoulder. "We'll be presenting Honoka's research, so we'll be sure to get the grand prize! But that's only if we don't slack off! Got it?"
"Hai, hai, we got it." The girls said as they got back to work. Though annoyed, they all knew that the upcoming Presentation meant so they didn't complain and worked.
(The Next Day)
It was another new day and on the soccer field, Kiriya was out practicing with the other members while from at the fence, girls were watching the team play, including Nagisa and her friends.
"I heard he had a perfect score on the transfer examination."
"No way, really!?"
"He's smart too!"
"And cute!"
"Irisawa Kiriya-kun, huh…"
"I'll bet he'll become an ace just like Fujipi in his first year."
"But he'll have to get past Ichi-kun if he wants that title."
As the girls gossip amongst one another, Nagisa and her friends talked amongst themselves.
"Kiriya-kun is the greatest!" Shiho commented. "I wonder if he'll let me be his girlfriend?"
"He's younger than you." Nagisa reminded her friend.
"What are you talking about?" Rina said. "In this day and age, if you want a boyfriend, he should be younger with a bright future."
'They're completely smitten.' Nagisa commented in her mind as her friends called out to Kiriya who kicked the ball and waved at them. When he turned back, he found to his surprise that Dai had stopped his ball and was now smirking right at him challengingly. Kiriya threw back a competitive look of his own before he and Dai faced off.
'Boyfriend, huh…' Nagisa said as she began to think. 'If I had a boyfriend…' She blushed as her mind drifted to her crush, Shougo before she snapped out of it, realizing what she was thinking about. "What am I thinking about!?" And then, she started banging her head on the fence, making her friends worried.
"Nagisa!" Said girl stopped her head banging at the call of her friends.
"Daijōbu(Are you alright)?" Shiho asked.
"We don't know what you were thinking about either." Rina said as she looked back on the field and found her eyes landing on Dai who was still playing against Kiriya. "Speaking of boyfriends, I surprised you and Dai-kun haven't gotten together yet."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Nagisa looked at her friend in confusion.
"What do you mean, what am I talking about? You've known Dai-kun longer than anyone here and he lives right next to you." Rina said.
"And let's not forget that before he got his own apartment, he used to live with you." Shiho added.
"Th-That doesn't mean anything!" Nagisa said as she walked away from the fence, trying to hide a blush from her friends.
(Classroom)
It was now lunchtime for the entire class as students and friends talked amongst one another. Nagisa and her friends were no different.
"Gochisousama(I'm finished)." Nagisa said as she finished her bento and placed it down next to the two empty wrappings of bread that she had bought earlier next to a box of milk. "Hmm, I don't think it's enough."
"I swear that stomach of yours is a bottomless pit." Shiho commented.
"I wonder if I have some chocolate?" Nagisa said as she rummaged through her bag. She was then surprised to see the notes she had taken from Dai's room. 'Oh yeah, I forgot to return this to him. I'll return it after school.'
"Is this really the time to eat?" Rina said. "It's your turn to present in math class."
"Ack!" Nagisa froze in shock. "I forgot to prepare!"
Both Shijo and Rina smiled, having expected this as Shiho said, "So like, anyway, you always forget about it."
"Just give up and get yelled at again." Rina said.
Nagisa's distress was soon replaced with confidence. "It'll be okay. I have a strong ally."
"Dai-kun?" Both girls said.
"No! Will you drop that already!?" Nagisa exclaimed angrily. "I'm talking about Honoka." She turned to where Honoka sat at only to find her desk empty. "Huh? Where'd she go?"
"I think I saw her go to the science club room." Rina said.
"Thank you. Be right back." Nagisa said as she got up and left the classroom.
(Science Room)
All was quiet in the science room as the only sounds one could hear were the sounds of a mechanical pencil moving, a brush brushing, and the static of the club's project. Honoka glanced over to her friend, Yuriko who was busy brushing the parts of their soon to finished project and smiled at her friend's dedication. It was one of the things she liked about her.
Suddenly, the door of the room opened and appearing was Nagisa.
"Ah, so you were here."
"Nagisa?" Honoka looked up to see her friend. What was she doing here?
"Honoka, I need a little fav…" Nagisa began until her eyes landed on a device that was producing electricity. "What's this?"
"Ah! Wait!" Honoka cried out, but it was already too late as Nagisa laid her hands on a metal sphere and she soon screamed as she felt electricity course through her, making her hair stand up until she pulled her hand back.
"What the heck was that!?" Nagisa asked, holding her stinging hand.
"It's device to produce electricity." Honoka said as she explained. "I'm going to use it as a reference to make lightning."
"Lightning?"
"Yes, using the principals behind lightning we are going to produce a simulation of air circulation and the water cycle."
"Huh?" Was Nagisa's clever answer.
Seeing her friend's confusion, Honoka said, "In a nutshell, we're going to make a small Earth."
"Oh." Nagisa said, getting it a little.
"And we're going to experiment using that instrument in the upcoming Science Presentation." Honoka said.
"We're going for the grand prize!" Yuriko added in.
"Is that so…?" Nagisa said as she found her eyes glancing over to Honoka's lunch, still a little hungry. "By the way, are you going to eat your lunch?"
"Um, I'm too busy. You can have it if you want."
"Really?"
"Wait a minute?" Yuriko said before presenting her lunch. "You can have mine's too."
"Itadakimasu(Thanks for the food)!" Nagisa said as she grabbed both lunches and dug in.
"Ah, but you can't eat two lunches, can you?" Honoka said only to her and Yuriko's surprise that Nagisa actually finished their lunch…all of it."
"Gochisousama(I'm finished)!"
"She ate all of it…" Honoka said in disbelief. Even Yuriko couldn't believe it.
"You should eat till your full, after all." Nagisa said, satisfied. After saying that did the bell ring, signaling the end of lunchtime.
"Oh, it's already this late." Honoka noted, looking at the clock.
"Yes, match is next." Nagisa said…until she remembered why she came here in the first place. "AH!" In the end, Nagisa did get yelled at by the teacher.
(After School)
"I forgot to prepare and the teacher made me stay after class to review. Arienai(I can't believe this)." Nagisa sighs as Dai had went home long ago so here she was, walking home alone. She then remembered about Dai's notes and took it out of her bag, opening up. She might as well pass the time while she's walking.
"Dai-kun sure is good at drawing, but that's to be expected since he makes manga for Ryota." Nagisa said to herself as she thought back to when Dai came to her home after he was checked out of the hospital. Her entire family shared a group hug with Dai as her little brother cried tears of joy that Dai was alive. While smiling at the memory, she looks down and reads the notes that mostly talked about his Rider form, Kuuga.
'So his forms are called Mighty, Dragon, Pegasus, and Titan.' Nagisa thought as she read through the notes and looked at the drawings of Kuuga's different forms. Turning the page, she came upon a drawing of Kuuga's Mighty form except that there were golden parts to the armor now.
"What's this?" Curious, she began reading.
-By allowing himself to be the conduit for electricity to power the Amadam, Kuuga can obtain upgraded versions of his standard ones. Known as Kuuga's Golden Power for its additional gold trimmings and extensions and the mark of power (chikara written in ancient Linto writings) on the back of Kuuga's hands.-
"No way…You mean Dai-kun can get even stronger?" Nagisa said to herself in surprise as she flipped through the pages of the small notebook to find drawings of Kuuga's Rising forms. So focused on the book, Nagisa didn't look where she was going and walked head first into a lamppost, falling down and dropping her things.
"Ite(Ow)…" Nagisa groaned, rubbing her head to ease the pain.
"Daijōbu desu ka(Are you alright)?" A familiar voice asked.
"Eh?" Looking up, Nagisa came face to face with none other than Kiriya. The boy offered a hand to her, but she waved her hands in decline and got up herself. "I-I'm fine, thanks."
"You should really look where you're going, Misumi-senpai." Kiriya said as he picked up the notebook while Nagisa grabbed her bag and lacrosse stick.
"Huh?" Nagisa looked at her kouhai in surprise. "How do you know my name?"
"You have a reputation for being the junior ace of the lacrosse club." Kiriya answered.
"Oh, I'm not that great." Nagisa said bashfully, running the back of her head before saw Dai's notes in Kiriya's hands. "Uh, may I have that back?"
"Huh? Oh, right." Kiriya said, handing Nagisa the book until his eyes landed on a page and commented. "Well this is an intimidating drawing. Kind of looks like that No. 4 that's been going around defeating Unidentified Lifeforms. Didn't know you could draw."
"Oh, that isn't mine. It belongs to a friend." Nagisa said.
"Oh, well your friend is a very good drawer." Kiriya commented as he handed the book back to Nagisa. "Well, I best be going. Be careful next time."
"I will." Nagisa said as Kiriya walked away. "Huh, he's a pretty guy. Though what did he mean by intimidating drawing?" She looked down at the notebook in her hand and her eyes widen.
Right there on the page was Kuuga only his armor was completely black and outlined in gold. Instead of the normal two horns of Kuuga's helmet, the drawing depicted four horns as there were three drawings in total. The first depicted Kuuga with his arm surrounded in fire. The next is one where Kuuga's kicking, his feet enveloped in flames. The last one sent a shiver down her spine for it depicted Kuuga roaring to the heavens while his eyes, unlike the last two which were red, were black.
"Wha…What is this?" Nagisa muttered as she didn't notice that her hands were shaking a little.
(Train Station)
Like Nagisa, Honoka had stayed after school, but for different reasons. The Science Presentation was tomorrow so she and the others worked on their project to put the final touches.
"Honoka #1, huh…" Honoka mused at the name Yuriko had deiced to name their project.
"Excuse me." A voice spoke up. Turning around, Honoka was met with Kiriya.
"What is it?" Honoka asked.
A look of surprise appeared on Kiriya's face before he shook it off and said, "Sumimasen(I'm sorry), but do you happen to be in the girl's Science Club?"
"Yes, I'm Yukishiro Honoka." Honoka introduced herself before asking, "And you are?"
Another look of surprise appeared on Kiriya's face. "I…I'm a freshman in the Soccer Club, Irisawa Kiriya."
"And?" Honoka asked, getting another surprised look from Kiriya. "Is there something you need?"
"Huh? Uh, no-I mean…" For the first time, Kiriya didn't know what to do or say. Before he could come up with something, Honoka's name was called.
"Honoka!" Turning, Honoka saw her friend, Yuriko waving and running up to her. "Is it really okay to visit your home?"
"Of course it's alright." Honoka said, seemingly ignoring Kiriya. "Let's check the draft together when we get there."
"Sure." Yuriko nodded before she noticed Kiriya. "It's the rumored transfer student."
"Yuriko, hurry up! The train's leaving." Honoka said as the train had arrived some time ago and was about to take off. She turned to Kiriya and said, "Well then, we have things to do so please excuse us." And with that she grabbed her friends hand and boarded the train, leaving behind a stunned Kiriya.
"Aw, this was a good chance to talk to him." Yuriko said before the train doors closed and the train took off. Kiriya could only look at the departing train in stunned silence.
"Strange…" Kiriya's stunned look was replaced with one of seriousness as he turned only for the serious look to be replaced with surprise as before him was a dog…standing on to legs. It also spoke. "You just got blown off, Kiriya."
'The hell?' Kiriya thought as the 'dog' transformed into Poisony.
"I'm just joking." Poisony said.
Kiriya calmed down once he saw his fellow Dark Zone General and sister. "You don't understand, Poisony-neesan."
"Oh?"
"I'm only interested in those two girls because of the fact that they beat Gekidrago and Pisard." Kiriya said, talking about Nagisa and Honoka. "It wouldn't be interesting to beat them so easily."
"That's a good excuse." Poisony said. "You forgot that those girls had a little help."
"I didn't forget. Why else do you think I joined the soccer club." Kiriya said. He had it all planned out. He would transfer to the academy and join the soccer club by showing that he could beat their players. But to his surprise, Dai had shown him that he was more than meets the eye. "If we're talking about excuses, then what about yours?"
Poisony's smile dropped at the mention of her first failed attempt.
Besides, isn't it better to have an excuse when it's to regain your honor?" Kiriya said.
"I don't need you to tell me that." Poisony said.
"At least you know. Ganbatte(Good luck), Poisony-neesan." Kiriya said, throwing a smile at his sister.
"Arigato(Thank you), my kawaii otouto(cute little brother), Kiriya." Poisony said back.
"By the way," Kiriya speaks up. "Your appearance is quite conspicuous."
Now that Kiriya pointed it out, Poisony looked around and saw that people were staring at her. It couldn't be help as her attire and complexion would make one think she was some sort of vampire.
(With Honoka)
Back with Honoka, she and Yuriko were still on the train as they were just talking to pass the time until their stop.
"I'm so glad I chose to join the Science Club since that let me meet you, Honoka." Yuriko said.
"Yuriko…"
"Honoka #1 will definitely get the grand prize, right?"
"Yeah," Honoka nodded. "Let's do our best tomorrow."
Both girls smile, looking forward to tomorrow when Honoka's phone suddenly started ringing. Taking it out, Honoka saw that it was a text from Nagisa.
"Nagisa?" Honoka opened her phone and read the text that was sent to her.
"What is it?" Yuriko asked.
"Nagisa wants me to meet up with me to talk before the presentation." Honoka said. "I wonder why?"
"Well at least she's being considerate of the club." Yuriko said as Nagisa wanted to talk to Honoka before the presentation.
Honoka just nodded and wondered what Nagisa wanted to talk about.
(The Next Day)
Today is the day. The Science Research Presentation Competition held at the Southwest Area Junior Highschool was today and many people had already filled the building. Inside, waiting at the door that lead to the backstage was Nagisa, the notebook still in her hands as she was waiting for Honoka to appear. A few minutes later, said girl dressed in a lab coat appeared from the door before closing it behind her.
"You wanted to talk about something, Nagisa?" Honoka said as she turned to her friend.
Nagisa looked at Honoka, then looked down at the notes as if debating whether or not to show her before she made up her mind and handed the notebook to Honoka. "Take a look at this."
"What is it?" Honoka asked as she grabbed the notebook and began to flip through it. "These are…"
"It's a notebook about Dai-kun's powers. He wrote it himself." Nagisa explained.
"Okay, but why did you want to show me this?" Honoka asked as she continued flipping.
"Just keep flipping and you'll see what I mean." Nagisa said.
Honoka looked at Nagisa in confusion, but complied and went back to flipping through the notes. She showed surprise when she got to Kuuga's Rising forms before stopping at the section Nagisa wanted to show to her.
"This is…" Honoka began as she looked at the drawing of the black Kuuga.
"Honoka," Nagisa spoke up, getting the girl to look up at her. "I'm sure you noticed it too, how well Dai-kun knows about his powers despite discovering them the same day we became Pretty Cure."
Honoka nodded. "Not only that, but he knows more about the Unidentified Lifeforms too and their abilities, like he's seen them before."
"We both know Dai-kun better than anyone else and we both know that he would never hide anything from us." Nagisa said before looking at the notes in Honoka's hands. "But this…"
"It's not that he hid it from us, it's just that he's never told us." Honoka said. "We've asked for an explanation about his powers, but something always comes up." And when she says something, she means their enemies. They had bad timing like that. "Where's Ichi-kun now?"
"He went to go check and get his bike back from Ichijo-kun so he said he'll be a little late for the presentation." Nagisa said, having been told by the Rider himself this morning.
"Then let's ask him when he gets back." Honoka said as she handed the notes back to Nagisa.
"Yeah." Nagisa nodded as she looked back down at the notes and the memory of Dai being surrounded by dark aura came to mind.
'Dai-kun…'
(With Dai)
"Thanks for doing this for me, Ichijo-san." Dai said as he and Ryō were currently in the latter's car, driving to HQ to reunite Dai with his Trychaser 2000. Well it used to belong to the police, but I rest my case.
"It's no problem. The TRCS is the only way for you to travel quickly when alone. We can't send men to come pick you up whenever there's an incident." Ryō said.
*Ring-Ring-Ring!*
Suddenly, Ryō's rang.
"Can you get that for me?" Ryō asked.
"Sure." Dai said as he took Ryō's phone out and saw the Caller ID. "Oh, it's Enokida-san. Mind if I answer?"
"Huh? Why?"
"I want to know how the Trychaser is right now." Dai said before he answered the before Ryō could protest. Ryō sighed as he focused back on the road… "Hai, Ichijo desu(Hello, this is Ichijo)." Until Dai tried to mimic his voice when he answered.
-Huh? Kouhai?-
"Is this Enokida-san?"
-Kouhai, you okay? You sound different.-
Dai quickly held back a laugh before he returned to his normal voice. "Actually, it's me, Ichi Dai."
-The shōnen(young boy)? Wow, your voice sounded a lot like Ryō's. That's impressive.-
"Thank you." Dai smiled proudly. "So, what do you need from Ichijo-san?"
-Actually, I was calling in hopes to talk to you.-
"Me? What can I do?"
-I was hoping you can help us regarding the thing you call Gouram. We've done all we can, but we can't get a response out of it.-
"Oh, sure. I'll help. Ichijo-san's driving me to HQ to pick up the Trychaser so I can meet you there."
-Great! See you then!-
And with that the call ended. Dai gave Ryō's phone back to him when Dai's stomach started growling.
"I guess my stomach's telling me it's lunchtime now.." Dai said before looking up at the man. "Can we stop by someplace to eat?"
"Sure, that's fine. What do you have in mind?" Ryō asked. Dai just gave him a smile.
(Akane's Tako Café)
"Here you two go!" Akane said as she served Dai and Ryō.
"Arigato(Thank you), Akane-san." Dai said as he happily ate his takoyaki.
"Been a while since I've seen you?" Akane said, talking to Ryō who was doing his best to act calm. "When was the last time I saw you? Yesterday?"
"You came here yesterday, Ichijo-san?" Dai asked the man next to him.
"I was in the neighborhood and felt like getting a snack." Ryō as he finished his takoyaki, looked down to see no more, and looked back up at Akane. "Seconds please."
"A big eater as always, I see." Akane said as she began making more.
"Why are you such a big eater, Ichijo-san?" Dai asked as he threw a takoyaki in the air and caught it with his mouth.
"My Hahaue (Mother) said I get my appetite from my Chichiue (Father)." Ryō said as he waited patiently for more takoyaki.
"Your kaa-san(Mom)?" Dai looked at Ryō as this is the first time the man has ever talked about himself and a bit surprised that he referred his parents using old style words. In fact, this may be the first time they ever talk to each other that wasn't about the Grongi.
"She's a nurse who works in a hospital in Nagano." Ryō said as Akane finally finished cooking and gave him his second serving. "She says my big appetite is one of the things I inherited from my chichiue."
"How is your tou-san? You sound like you really like him." Akane asked, curious.
"He's dead." Ryō said bluntly, getting Dai and Akane to look at him in surprise.
"Oh! Uh, I'm sorry." Akane apologized.
"It's okay." Ryō waved it off. "Like me, my chichiue was a police officer. He would sometimes act laidback, but he was really serious about his job. I admired him and he became the reason why I became a policeman."
"You must have loved him a lot." Dai said.
"I did." Ryō said, smiling at the thought of his dad. He then turned to Dai and asked, "What about you? What are your parents like, if I may ask?"
"Oh…" Dai set down his takoyaki and a somber look appeared on his face. "They're…both dead."
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Ryō apologized. "I didn't know."
"It's okay." Dai waved it off. "We don't really talk about these things with each other."
"True…" Ryō said as he finished his second serving and asked, "So, what were they like?"
"My parents? Well…" Dai thought of a way to talk about his parents before speaking. "They were both archeologist and really loved to travel around the world which is the reason they became archeologists in the first place. They actually brought me along on their trips so I've been to a lot of places around the world like China, America, and so on. It was a lot of fun."
"They sound like amazing people." Akane said as this was the first time for her that Dai's ever talked about his parents.
"They were…" Dai smiled sadly as he thought about his parents.
"…My chichiue died in a car accident." Ryō suddenly said.
"Eh?"
"He saw a kid about to be hit by a drunk driver so he threw himself to push the kid out of the way and got hit." Ryō said as Dai realized why the man was telling him this. He wanted to ask how his parents died, but he doesn't want to say it in fear of offending him so he spoke first.
"…My parents were with other archeologists investigating a recently found ruin." Dai began. "There was an accident and the ruins started to cave in."
"I see…" Ryō said, figuring out the rest. The two then sat in silence…until Akane laid more takoyaki before them. "Eh?"
"Those are on the house." Akane said. "After hearing you talk about your late loved ones makes me think about my life so far and my loved ones." Akane sighs as she rests her head in her hands, thinking.
Both men blink at the woman before Dai asked, "Akane-san, did you lose a loved one too?"
"Yeah, my chichiue." Akane said, also using an old term to refer her father. "How do I put this…He was a hero."
"A hero?" Ryō raised an eyebrow at that.
"Yeah." Akane nodded. "He was kind of cold, but that's to be expected when he lost his entire family. The only times he would lighten up and smile were when he was with me and hahaue. He'd treat others coldly, but the only ones he would treat with respect was this old guy who'd he call 'Oya-san,' his two mentors, and his friends."
"Oya-san?" Dai raised an eyebrow at that as for some reason, the name felt familiar to him.
"Anyway, don't you to have someplace to go to?" Akane reminded the two.
"Shit! That's right! We were supposed to meet Enokida-san!" Dai said as he got up and finished his takoyaki and record speed. "Come on, Ichijo-san!"
"I'm coming." Ryō, having finished his takoyaki before handing Akane the pay when she pushed the money back.
"Like I said, it's on the house." Akane said.
"Thank you." Ryō said before he hurried after Dai.
Akane simply smiled as she watched the two drives away.
(Investigation HQ)
"Trychaser~!" Dai shouts out as he ran past Sayuru and the other scientists and hugged his newly repaired Trychaser. He even rubbed his face against it.
"He really loves that thing, doesn't he?" Sayuru commented.
"Indeed." Ryō said before he looks down at the scientists' feet where the piece of Gouram lay, hooked up to machinery and the like. "So there have been no changes since we brought it in?"
"Yes, but I was hoping the shōnen may know something that could help us as you've mentioned before that he has extensive knowledge the Unidentified Lifeform and the ruins they were found in." Sayuru said before calling Dai over. "Oi!"
"Coming!" Dai said, patting the Trychaser as if it were a good dog before he went over to Sayuru. "Will this take long? Because I have a friend who's presenting a project today and I don't want to miss it."
"Depending on what happens, it may or may not."
"What do you mean?"
"I was wondering if you knew of anyway of making these pieces active." Sayuru said, gesturing o the pieces of Gouram. "As I said over the phone, we've tried everything but they're still like this. Can you help?"
"Oh sure. But I need everyone to step back." Dai said and everyone complied by stepping away from the Gouram pieces. After that, Dai went over to where Gouram's Amadam Stone was and knelt down, placing a hand over the stone. "Time to wake up, Gouram." Seconds passed, but nothing happened. Everyone looked at Dai, wanting to know what was he trying to do until suddenly, the green Stone of Gouram glowed, surprising everyone! Dai quickly rose to his feet and jumped back as the pieces of Gouram started to gather around the Stone. Not only that but the metal that the pieces were laying on to make sure not even tiny specs were bending and shaping weirdly.
"Incredible! It's assimilating the metal around it!" Sayuru said as the others stared in amazement before Sayuru turned to Dai. "What did you do?"
"I just made Gouram react to the Stone inside of me." Dai said, patting the area where the Arcle would be when suddenly, another scientist came running through the door.
"Help! Something's happened!"
"What's wrong?" Sayuru asked.
The scientist that ran in glanced at the moving pieces of Gouram in surprise before he focused back on the reason he was here. "It's…Just please come with me!"
The others looked at the man in confusion before Sayuru told the other scientists to stay here before he, Ryō, and Dai went with the scientist.
(Room)
The group ran as fast as they could as the scientists lead the others to a room.
"The room where we keep the remains of Unidentified Lifeforms?" Sayuru raised an eyebrow in confusion.
The scientist opened the door for the others and they all ran in only to come to a halt a second later. Right there on the table was some sort of mutating corpse that was moving. The sight alone would have made anyone throw up.
"What is this…thing?" Ryō said, having no other way to describe the sight before him.
"Oi! What is this!?" Sayuru asked the scientist.
"Uh, well…"
"Does anyone have a lighter with them?" Dai suddenly asked.
"Huh? Uh, here." Sayuru said, taking out a lighter. Dai grabbed it before he slowly inched over to a nearby oxygen can. Dai turned on the oxygen can before lighting the lighter on. With the simply use of putting a lighter in front of the oxygen can, a torrent of flame appeared and the fire burned the strange thing before him, getting a blood curling scream from it. Seconds later, the screamed died and Dai blew the lighter out before turning the oxygen can off. Ryō then told everyone to get back as he had left and returned with a fire extinguisher, turning the thing on and putting out the burning remains in seconds. All that remained was the burnt remains which let out a smell similar to that of a burnt corpse.
"These were the remains of Ginoga." Dai suddenly said, making everyone look at him. The Rider in turn looked at Ryō. "I thought you told everyone to burnt Ginga's remains?"
"I did." Ryō said as he threw a questioning look at Sayuru.
"Don't look at me, I didn't know anything about this." Sayuru said as the only culprit left was the other scientist.
"I…I hid away some of the remains." The man said.
"Why?" Sayuru simply asked.
"You know that we have to run biological tests in order to come up with ways to fight the Unidentified Lifeforms. I just thought we might miss something if we destroy even one corpse of them." The man said. "I didn't know this would happen."
"There's punishment for you later for disobeying orders." Sayuru said and the man just nodded. Sayuru then turned to Dai. "I'm guessing this," He gestured to the burnt remains of Ginoga. "Is the reason why you wanted the remains of No. 26 destroyed?"
Dai nodded as he set down the oxygen can and explained. "Ginoga's or No. 26's strongest ability was his regeneration. Even if he were blown up, his remains would regenerate and mutate into creatures called Mutants which are actually clones of the original. We got lucky that we were able to stop this one from growing any further."
"Talk about being resilient, being able to regenerate even under harsh conditions." Sayuru commented before asking the man, "Are there any other remains you hid from us?"
He shook his head. "No. That was the only piece."
Suddenly, Ryō's phone suddenly rang. He set down the extinguisher first before he quickly took his phone out and answered. "Hai?"
-Ryō! You're not going to believe this!- Rai's voice came from the other side. –No. 26 has appeared again!-
"No. 26!?" Ryō said in surprise before he looked at the burnt remains in front of him.
-Get over here quickly!-
"I understand! I'll be over there soon!" Ryō said before ending the call and looked at Dai.
"Let me guess, you missed a piece?" Dai asked.
Ryō nodded. "No doubt it's a clone like you said. How do we defeat it if it'll just make more clones once you defeat it?"
"Don't worry." Dai said. "As long as the clones hasn't matured then not only will it be unable to regenerate or poison anyone, but I should also be able to disrupt the Mutant's cellular structure when I do beat it."
"If that's so then let' go!" Ryō said as he and Dai ran out the door.
"Take good care of Gouram!" Dai shouted to Sayuru as he ran with Ryō. The two separated as the older man ran to where his car was while Dai ran back to the place where the rest of the scientists were for his bike was still over there.
"Open the garage!" Dai told the others and none of them refused him at the tone of his voice. Dai hopped onto the Trycahser before taking out his phone and texted Nagisa a quick message before sending it and put it away before summing the Arcle and doing the hand motions. "Henshin!"
The others stared at Dai in surprise when his Mighty form armor appeared and covered his form before Dai pressed some buttons on the Trychaser and the bike changed color from blue and black to red and gold.
"No. 4!" The scientists all gasp in surprise as Dai revved the engines of his bike and he took off.
(With Nagisa)
"Nagisa!" The voice of Mepple spoke. "Mipple, where's Mipple-mepo? Mipple, Mipple, Mipple…"
"Stop it with the 'Mipple, Mipple' already!" Nagisa said, annoyed. "Today we didn't come here to see Mipple, we came to cheer on Honoka."
"Honoka is independent-mepo." Mepple said. "She would succeed even without your help-!" He never got to say more when Nagisa closed him up.
"Be quiet, you!" Nagisa said. She already had a lot on her mind and Mepple annoying her wasn't helping.
"Misumi-senpai!" Nagisa quickly hid Mepple away when she ehard her name before turning to see none other than Kiriya. "You came as well?"
"Uh, yeah!" Nagisa said. "Are you alone, Kiriya-kun?"
"No, I came with the captain." Kiriya said.
"Captain?" Nagisa repeated in confusion until none other than Shougo appeared next to Kiriya. "Fujipi-senpai!?"
"Yo, Misumi-san." Shougo greeted the girl.
"Why are you here?" Nagisa asked.
"I came to cheer on Honoka." Shougo said. "I'm guessing you're here to do the same?"
"Uh, yes." Nagisa nodded.
"By the way, Captain," Kiriya spoke up. "Wasn't Ichi-senpai supposed to meet up with us here?"
"You're right." Shougo said before asking Nagisa, "Have you seen Dai around? We were supposed to meet up here."
Nagisa shook her head. "No, I haven't seen him."
"Then I'll go look for him." Kiriya said before excusing himself. "Shitsurei shimasu(Excuse me)."
"Don't be long." Shougo said as Kiriya left before smiling down at Nagisa. Nagisa, blushing, did her best to return it. "DO you mind if I sit here?" He pointed to the seat next to Nagisa.
"G-Go ahead!" Nagisa said, trying her best not to freak out. 'Arienai(I can't believe this)! Okay, calm down! What did Dai-kun say to do in this kind of situation?'
"Let's see…" Nagisa almost screamed when Shougo's arm brushed against hers when he lifted it up to look at the pamphlet he got. "Honoka's up third. Guess we'll have to wait a while."
'Wha-Wha-What should I do!?' Nagisa screamed in her mind. 'S-Something! I have to say something! Something we can in common! Clam down…I got it! Honoka! Honoka is Fujipi's childhood friend and she's my friend too, it's something we have in common! Oh, and also Dai-kun! Fujipi's friends with him and I'm friends with him! Ah, but which do I start with!? Ah I'm so nervous I can hear my own…heart…wait a minute.' She looked down to see that from within her pocket, Mepple was making sounds similar to a beating heart. Without thinking, she slapped him and said, "What the hell are you doing!?"
"Huh?" Shougo turned to Nagisa in confusion while the girl realized what she said.
"Uh, I mean-!" Before Nagisa could think up an excuse, her phone rang for a second, signaling that she got s text message. Nagisa has nevre been happier that Dai got her the phone. "Um, excuse me." Opening it, she saw that it was a message form the Rider himself.
Message: There's been an incident so I'm gonna be a little late. Save me a seat!
"Dai-kun…" Nagisa mutters as the memory of Dai lying in a hospital bed flashed in her mind before she shook her head to get rid of the memory. 'No, no, no! Dai-kun will be fine! He always has!'
"Is something the matter?" Shougo asked having seen Nagisa's worried expression.
"No! Everything's fine!" Nagisa insisted. "I just got a text from Dai-kun saying that he's gonna be late."
"Oh, I see. Then I better go and get Kiriya-!" Before he could finish, a buzzer went off, signaling that the competition was now starting.
-We will now begin the 15th Annual Southwest Area Junior High School Science Research Presentation Competition.- The people clapped as the speaker continued. –The presentations by each school will be evaluated by these judges. Later on, we will announce the first and second place schools as well as the grand prize.-
And so, the presentations came and the competition began.
(Factory)
Screams of fright were heard all over the factory as workers ran for the lives. The reason for said fright? A being that greatly resembled Ginoga only much more darker was attacking and killing everyone. As workers ran for their lives, police cars soon arrived and Rai along with other men ran out, guns in hand as they quickly spot the Mutant.
"Arms at the ready!" Rai said and the men all aimed their guns at the Mutant. Seeing as it was busy trying to kill a worker, Rai got its attention by firing a stray bullet. The Mutant heard and turned to Rai and the group of men. And that's when Rai gave the command. "Ute(Fire)!"
The ringing of gunfire rang out throughout the factory as the bullets struck the Mutant, but had little effect. The Mutant turned to escape only to run into Hiroshi and other men who had arrived from the back, shooting at it too. Seeing that it was trapped, the Mutant roared angrily before attacking Hiroshi and his group. He ran up to Hiroshi first, grabbing him by the neck before throwing him to the side where he crashed into a wall and dropped down onto some barrels. He was hurt, but alive. The others were not so lucky as the Mutant went and punches and claws at any men near it, either severely wounding them and breaking their bones, or kill them. One men flew over to Rai's group, disrupting there fire as the Mutant jumped over to them and started attacking his group as well. It batted aside men and grabbed them before slamming their faces into barrels, crates, or the walls before dropping them and cried like a wild beast. Rai pushed aside a knocked out men before getting up as Hiroshi too got up from behind the Mutant as said clone's attention was on Rai. Gritting his teeth, Rai fired his gun at close range, but they did little as soon, he ran out of bullets. With no time to reload, Rai went and hit the Mutant with it only to be punched in the face. Hiroshi ran up from behind and jumped onto the Mutant's back, punching its head only to be knocked down and kicked away.
"Hiroshi!" Rai cried out in worry for his fellow man before he saw that the Mutant had turned its attention to him. Gritting his teeth which were a bit bloodied, Rai got up and raised his fists, ready to fight the Mutant barehanded.
*VROOM!*
Turning their heads to the noise, Dai appeared, jumping his Trychaser where the front wheels struck the Mutant, pushing it away from Rai and Hiroshi as Dai landed the bike safely.
"Kid!" Rai smirked, glad to see the Rider.
"Leave him to me!" Dai said before he drove his bike up to the Mutant and hit to with the front wheels of the bike. The Mutant tried to catch the wheel in order to stop the bike, but it was knocked down, having underestimated the weight of said bike as Dai turned it so that the front wheels would smack the Mutant's head, sending it away. Getting up, the Mutant tried to turn and run only for Dai to quickly drive up to it and hit the clone across the back, sending it crashing through piles of cans and supplies.
Dai then got off his Trychaser and ran up to the Mutant who got back up only to be struck across the face with a punch. Dai went for another punch, but the Mutant ducked under it grabbed the Rider around the waist before throwing him over its shoulder. Dai landed on his back as he grunted in pain before he quickly rolled out of the way of a stomp aimed to crush his head in. He then got up quickly only for the Mutant to grab him by the neck, lift him up to his feet and knee him in the gut. Dai stopped the next knee strike before slipping his arms through and pushed out, pushing the Mutants arms away from him and freeing himself from the chokehold before pushing the clone away with two punches to the chest.
Off to the side, Ryō had finally arrived and got out of his car with a rifle in hand as he met up with Rai supporting Hiroshi up.
"You two okay?"
"We'll live." Hiroshi said, spiting some blood out of his mouth.
"If you're looking for the kid, he's over there." Rai said, pointing over to where Dai was fighting the Mutant.
"Thanks!" Ryō said, running off to where Dai was still fighting.
When the policeman got there, he saw Dai flying and crashing into an air duct, sending winds and steam everywhere as the Mutant went over to him and grabbed him, picking him up and slamming him down on what remained of the duct. Seeing that the Rider needed help, Ryō took aim and fired, the bullet hitting the head of the Mutant. It cried in annoyance and a pit of pain as if let go of the Rider and turned angrily at Ryō. That was its mistake as Dai used that chance to kick the Mutant away, getting back. The clone of Ginoga stumbled back before stopping and attacking Dai angrily, throwing a punch. Instead of blocking or dodging, Dai jumped up a little where the punch struck under his feet and sent him flying back where he flipped, slammed his feet against the wall of a nearby warehouse, before jumping off of said warehouse wall, leaving a foot imprint as he flipped and kicked out with his flaming Mighty Kick which for some reason was crackling with electricity. The Mutant was struck across the chest before it had time to block as it was sent flying back and landed on its back where the mark left by Dai's kick was clearly seen.
Landing on his feet, Dai got up and he and Ryō walked up to the Mutant where cracks coming from the mark formed all around the Mutant appeared until slowly, it started to dissolve into a puddle, as if it's previous form was nothing but an illusion.
"It dissolved." Ryō said in a bit of surprise as he had kind of gotten used to Grongi exploding when defeated.
"That's a good sign that it wasn't filly matured." Dai said as his armor disappeared. "There haven't been any reports of more Mutants, have there?"
"No, this was the only one." Ryō said.
"Great! Then I gotta go!" Dai said as he ran off.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Ryō asked.
"I gotta make it to Honoka's presentation! See ya later!" Dai said, putting on his helmet before turning his bike and driving away.
"And just like that, he's gone like the wind." Ryō said as he looked down at the muddle that used to be the Mutant before he went to check if anyone needed help.
(Presentation)
The audience clapped as a group of boys had just finished their presentation before leaving the stage.
-It was a very thorough presentation. Next is Verone Academy's: Exploration of Lightning, a Research Presentation.-
Hearing their school name, Honoka and the others came out with Honoka taking the podium while the others brought out their project which was hidden behind a cloak. Honoka bowed as the clapping died down and Honoka began speaking.
"Our research began by making an instrument that produces lightning." Honoka spoke through the microphone as Yuriko turned in the projector and slid through the pages. "Air is heated by the sun's rays causing it to rise, which in turn creates clouds. As the clouds get bigger, inside the cloud the amount of negative and positive charges increase. This large amount of electricity goes through the air to the ground. This is called lightning. The clouds become rain which flows down to rivers and then rises up to become clouds once again. Our plan was to produce a small Earth based on these principals."
Unknown to anyone, from behind the curtains was Poisony, disguised as a human that greatly resembled her except her skin was more tannish and her hair was chestnut brown. Poisony watched in silence, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.
"This small simulation instrument which produces lightning, clouds, and the water cycle is our research presentation."
Poisony saw it, her chance. With a snap of her fingers, dark clouds filled the sky above the building. Then suddenly, the lights above the stage cracked and a surge of lighting appeared, striking the presentation and surprising everyone.
"Nani(What)!?" Yuriko said in surprise as the electrical surges were started to get out of hand, scaring everyone as the audience got up and started to evacuate the room.
-Attention everyone. Due to an electrical surge, the electric voltage in the building is unstable.-
"Everyone, the exit is this way! Please calmly evacuate!" Shougo shouted out, helping people evacuate.
"I can see how Fujipi-senpai and Dai-kun are friends." Nagisa said, smiling admiringly at her crush before shaking the feeling off to focus on the situation at hand.
"Honoka, hurry up! Yuriko, you too!" One of the girls of the science club said to them before she and the others ran for the exit.
Honoka nodded and turned to her friend. "Yuriko, let's hurry and get out of here!"
"Eh? But what about Honoka #1!?" Yuriko said before screaming when a broken light fell down and almost hit her.
"Yuriko, hurry up! Just get outside!" Honoka said as she ran over to her friend, grabbed her, and lead her backstage before looking back at the stage. 'Could this be…?'
Outside, security was leading everyone out. Shougo looked back to see if everyone was out only for the doors to suddenly close. Shougo ran up to the doors and tried to open them, but they wouldn't budge.
"Dammit, they won't budge!" Shougo said as he gave up trying to open the doors and slammed on said door. "Misumi-san! Honoka!"
Back inside the auditorium building, electricity surged everywhere as on stage, Honoka watched as her club's presentation sprouted legs from under the cloth before said cloth was removed to reveal…
"ZAKENNNA!" A Zakenna.
"So it was the Dark Zone!" Honoka said as the Zakenna started sending out lightning, forcing Honoka to run back in order to avoid getting hit as she stopped when she saw Nagisa jump onto the stage.
"Arienai(I can't believe it)." Nagisa said as she looked up at the Zakenna.
"Nagisa."
"Honoka." They both nod as they knew what to do. Getting Mepple and Mipple. They slashed their Queen Cards and their transformation began.
"Dual Aurora Wave!"
Blinding Light surrounded the girls as always as within said light, the girls garbed their outfits and stood before their enemy, ready to take it down.
"Hikari no shisha, Cure Black!"
"Hikari no shisha, Cure White!"
"Futari wa PreCure!"
"Yami no chikara no shimobetachi yo…"
"…Tottoto ouchi ni kaerinasai!"
"ZAKENNA!"
Immediately after the girls were finished introducing themselves did the Zakenna attack them with lighting. Quickly, the girls jumped and flipped back, landing amongst the many seats of the room. Nagisa jumped towards the Zakenna, throwing a punch, but the Zakenna leaned back to dodge, but it was unprepared for Honoka who jumped in right after Nagisa and gave the Zakenna a kick to the face. Mad, the Zakenna roared and sent out more lightning, forcing the girls to dodge as they jumped back to gain some distance away from the lightning.
"I can't believe it became a Zakenna…" Honoka said. The presentation she and her friends worked on for an entire week, turned into a monster!
"We've got to do something." Nagisa said, knowing that they had to put the monster down even if it was important to Honoka and the rest of the science club. Balling her hands into fists, she and Honoka charged towards the Zakenna when all of a sudden…
"Yamate(Stop)!" The two Cures stopped at the sudden appearance of Yuriko who stood in front of the Zakenna, arms out to protect it.
"Yuriko!?" Honoak said in surprise.
"Don't destroy it! We made this for everybody, for Honoka! We worked hard to make this so we could get the grand prize! So please, don't destroy it!" Yuriko pleaded.
"Yuriko…" Honoka muttered, stunned at her friend.
"ZAKENNA!
"Abunai(Watch out)!" Nagisa cried out when the Zakenna suddenly attacked. It was too late as lightning stuck the ground behind Yuriko and sent her flying! Quickly, she moved, caught Yuriko, jumped off the stage and back to the seats, placing Yutiko down. "Daijōbu(Are you alright)?"
Yuriko groaned as she looked at Nagisa and pleaded, "Don't do it…" After that did she fall unconscious.
Rage surged through Nagisa as she gritted her teeth got up. "What have you done!? I'll never forgive you!"
"You're watching from somewhere, aren't you? Show yourself!" Honoka demanded, rage surging through her too. No one hurts her friends and gets away with it!
"If you say it that way, I might not come out at all…" Poisony's voice echoed before she appeared behind the girls. Turning around, Poisony vanished before appearing some distance away.
"You!" Honoka recognized the Dark Zone General instantly. Hard to forget someone who attacked your grandmother! Still mad at that time, Honoka attacked!
"Oooh, scary." Poisony said in a mocking tone as she jumped back and disappeared through a wall, leaving Honoka to kick said wall as her foot crashed through it, showing the strength behind it.
Honoka wanted to click her tongue in annoyance at having failed to kick the Dark Zone General before she removed her leg from the wall. She still had a bone to pick with the woman and will not stop until she kicked Poisony's face in. She was that mad.
"ZAKENNA!"
The roar of the Zakenna alerted the girls as they jumped back to avoid more lightning as said lightning was surging all over the place, making a mess out of everything.
"We've got to do something before it destroys this whole place!" Nagisa said as Honoka nodded. "I know this thing means a lot to you and Yuriko, but…"
"It's okay, I understand." Honoka said, knowing what needed to be done.
"Finish them off!" Poisony suddenly appeared, ordering her Zakenna to finish the girls off. The Zakenna roared and complied, gathering electricity for one big attack. In response, the girls grabs hands and raised their free hands to the air.
"Black Thunder!"
"White Thunder!"
*BOOM!*
The pair of black and white thunderbolts appeared, somehow entering the building as the girls were struck by their respective bolts and power enveloped them.
"Purikyua no utsukushiki tamashī ga…"
"…Jaaku na kokoro wo uchikudaku!"
The Zakenna soon fired its powered up lightning bolt as soon as Poisony disappeared again in order to not be hit by the bolt. Seeing the bolt coming their way, the girls knew they had to strike back now.
"Pretty Cure Marble Screw!"
Black and White bolts shout out of their hands and spiraled around one another where it met the Zakenna's bolt. AT first, there was a power struggle but it didn't last long as the combined attack of the girls soon pushed the bolt back and struck the Zakenna, destroying the Zakenna as the room was soon bathed in light.
(After the Fight)
-We are sorry for the long wait. Now that the electricity room is now repaired, we will know resume the science presentation.-
"Hey!" Both Nagisa and Shougo turned to see Dai, waving at them. "Sorry I'm late!"
"About time you got here." Shougo said as Dai took a seat next to Nagisa. "Where have you been?"
"Sorry, something came up." Dai said before asking, "So, what did I miss?"
"Well, Honoka had just finished explaining what she and the club had been researching when there was an incident in the electricity room. It's been repaired so now Honoka's finishing things up." Nagisa said before leaning in close to his ear. "Actually, the Dark Zone attacked again, but Honoka and I were able to take care of it."
"Okay." Dai gave Nagisa a thumbs up before the three of them turned back to the stage where Honoka and the others were presenting the results of their research.
"This is the result of our research." Honoka said as she gestured to the device next to her which had a miniature Earth in a container where a small cloud was produced and small electric bolts were raining down along with water. Honoka was relieved that the device wasn't destroyed like she and Nagisa had thought as they had told a lie to Yuriko about passing out in the electricity room in order to hide the fact that she was almost killed by the Zakenna.
"We worked hard to make this device for this research presentation." Yuriko spoke through the mic to give a small speech. "This is the result of the entire science club's member's hard work. Everyone worked really hard, but this wouldn't have been possible without one person in particular. Therefore, we have named our device after that person."
Yuriko nodded to the girls and they removed the cloth covering the device's name.
"Hono…Huh?" Yuriko stopped when instead of 'Honoka #1,' what was on the device was 'Yuriko #1.'
"Yuriko #1." Honoka said as she turned to Yuriko. "Everyone decided together that the one who worked the hardest out of everyone was you, Yuriko." The others girls nodded, having talked with Honoka beforehand before changing the name to Yuriko #1. "We couldn't have done it without you."
"Minna(Everyone)…" Yuriko covered her mouth as she felt tears forming.
"This concludes our research presentation." Honoka said as the audience all clapped. Honoka looked amongst the people and found Nagisa, Shougo, and Dai with the later giving her a thumbs up.
As the people clapped, Dai felt a tug on his sleeve, and turned to Nagisa.
"What is it?"
"Dai-kun, can Honoka and I talk to you later?" Nagisa asked.
"Sure. What for?" Dai asked.
"We'll tell you later." Nagisa said as she looked down towards Honoka and the girl nodded at her.
(After the Presentation)
While more presentations were going on inside, Dai was with both girls outside of the building.
"So, what did you girls want to talk about?" Dai asked.
"This." Nagisa said, handing Dai his notebook where the page to the black Kuuga was opened.
Dai's eyes widen in surprise. "Where did you-?"
"I forgot to return this to you when I found this." Nagisa said as Dai took back his notebook.
"Ichi-kun," Honoka spoke up next. "Nagisa and I have noticed that you know your powers very well…maybe a bit too well. Not only that, but you know about the Unidentified Lifeforms better than anyone while the police are still trying to figure them out."
"Dai-kun," Nagisa spoke up. "We've wanted to ask you this for a long time and after seeing this, we want answers. How do you know your powers so well and how do you know about the Grongi? Please, answer us…"
Dai looked at both girls before looking down, thinking of what to say. He knew a day like this would come. Despite knowing that, he didn't know what to say at the moment. Should he try and tell a half-truth, half-lie? Or should he come clean?
Surprisingly, the answer came sooner than he expected. It was clear. No matter what, Dai was an honest person who was bad at telling lies. So when he opened his mouth, he spoke the truth.
"Would you girls believe me when I say that I'm from another world where my powers and the Grongi are part of a TV show?"
And…done! This took a while, but I got it done. Ran into some problems here and there, but the chapter came out nice in my opinion. I hope you all feel the same. I was gonna have Dai do a long explanation with the girls about the truth, but I decided to just end it there. This has been Ashbel Longhart, signing out. And like always, here's this story's daily special…
Pretty Cure: Rider Fun Facts
"Hello minna-san and welcome back-mepo!" Mepple said as he and the others appeared on stage.
"Dammit, I wanted to know what Dai-kun was gonna say!" Nagisa complained.
"You will in due time, Nagisa-mepo." Mepple said. "Now, I bet you're wondering what we're going to talk about today-mepo."
"That thought did cross out minds." Honoka said. "I didn't really see anything that stood out."
"Ah, but that's where you're wrong-mepo." Mepple said as he gestured to the screen.
-… he flipped and kicked out with his flaming Mighty Kick which for some reason was crackling with electricity.-
"Hey, what was that?" Nagisa pointed out. "His Mighty Kick never produced electricity before."
"That, Nagisa, is a hint of Dai's Rising powers-mipo." Mipple said.
"You mean his golden powers?" Honoka asked.
"That's right-mipo." Mipple said. "As said before in today's chapter, by allowing himself to be the conduit for electricity to power the Amadam, Kuuga or Dai in this case can obtain upgraded versions of his standard ones. These are known as Kuuga's Golden Power for its additional gold trimmings and extensions and the mark of power on the back of Kuuga's hands-mipo."
"So he's gonna he a power-up soon?" Nagisa asked and the fairies nodded.
"But where did this electricity come from?" Honoka asked.
"The clue lies in the previous chapter-mepo." Mepple said. "Anyway, that's all the time we have today. Tune in next time as the girls deal with impostors while Dai must deal with more Grongi and much more. Until then, see you next time-mepo!" The group waves goodbye as the episode title appears.
Next Time: Are You Kidding!? Pretty Cure Impostors Go Wild! The Trust between Friends!