Futari wa Pretty Cure: A New Legend

by Ashbel Longhart

Ichi Dai had a somewhat good life. Working at his uncle's orphanage, taking care of the kids, and so on. But on his birthday, he was suddenly transported to PreCure no Sekai. After a year of living in this new world, he later finds out that Grongi are here, causing chaos and death wherever they go. As the new Kamen Rider Kuuga, he must protect this world's smile. "Chou Henshin!"

28. Ride 28: Stormy Summer Festival!

Hello Fanfiction readers! It is I, Ashbel Longhart, finally back after a LONG absence. I'd apologize once again, but at this point, I'm sure we all know the drill by now. I'm trying to get better, but life takes priority. That and I was suffering from a bit of writer's block, though not for this story. Anyway, before I continue, cue 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.)

Now then, time to recap. When we last left our heroes the girls were feeling a bit dispirited caused by how long the fight's been going on and how it's not only affected them but the entire city they lived in. But with some encouraging words from some reliable adults, the girls bounced back on their feet and Dai debuted his Rising Dragon form. Moving on to the present, don't expect any Grongi here as this is mostly a Pretty Cure chapter though I managed to fit in a few changes of my own. You'll see what I mean as we dive into today's chapter. Are you ready? Then let's ride! Chou henshin!

Oh, and depending on when this gets posted, Merry Christmas to all my fellow readers and writers!

---

Ride 28: Stormy Summer Festival! A Flashy Battle Against the Thunder God!?

---

(One Year Ago)

"Kids! Are you ready yet? It's time to go!" From down below, Rie's voice echoed up towards where the children were still at.

"Just a minute!" Nagisa cried out from her room as Dai tightened the obi around her waist, making sure it was secure enough that it didn't come undone from just a little movement.

"Thanks!" Nagisa said once Dai was finished before checking herself in the mirror. She did a little twirl around to check out the full look of her yukata before turning to Dai. "How do I look?"

Dressed in a light pink yukata designed with apple blossom flowers all over the fabric and accompanied by the magenta-colored obi she had just finished putting on, Dai had only one thing to say to the dressed-up pre-teen.

"Kawaii(Cute)!" Dai answered honestly with his usual thumbs up.

"Oh, stop. You're making me blush," Nagisa said, actually blushing a little at Dai's compliment towards her. "You don't look so bad yourself, even if it is just a hand-me-down from my dad."

Dressed in a grey-colored yukata accompanied by a navy blue obi, Dai may look plain in comparison to Nagisa's bright colors, but they no less brought out Dai's natural looks with his usual messy hair being combed neatly with his bangs brushed to the side.

"I'll have to thank your dad later for this," Dai said, patting down on his yukata as his handbag (given to him by Rie) hung from his wrist.

"Onee-chan! Dai-niisan! Hurry up!" From down below came Ryota's voice urging them to hurry up.

"We're coming!" Dai responded back before turning to Nagisa to see her grabbing her own handbag.

"I swear, Ryota could really learn a thing or two about patience from you," Nagisa said, looking slightly annoyed.

"Well, you can't blame him for being excited. It is a festival," Dai said as Nagisa closed the door behind them and descended down together.

"You're looking pretty excited yourself," Nagisa pointed out, noticing the gleam in Dai's eyes.

"Ehehe..." Dai could only laugh in response. One couldn't really blame the boy for being excited due to his unique circumstances. While he was no stranger to attending festivals, having gone to plenty with his uncle and the kids from the orphanage, this would be his first time going to a festival in another world.

'I wonder how they're all doing...' With the mention of the people he had been forced to leave behind, Dai found himself thinking about how they all must be doing. Were the kids worried about him? Probably. Was his uncle worried about him? Oh who was he kidding, of course, he was. There was no sugarcoating the fact that he had been dragged into this world against his will (read: kidnapped).

As of now, he's been in this world for half a year and while he had no trouble integrating himself, in no small part thanks to the Misumi family for taking him in, it was still jarring to think that he was in a whole new world, not helped by the fact that he still hadn't heard a word from Tsukasa since their brief talk long ago.

Placing a hand over his waist, Dai thought back to the words Tsukasa spoke to him.

"Ichi Dai, the will of Kuuga no Sekai has chosen you to be PreCure no Sekai's Kamen Rider Kuuga."

Those words, the meaning behind them...could it be...?

"Dai-kun?"

"Huh?" Snapping out from his thoughts, Dai blinked twice before he turned to Nagisa who was looking at him in concern.

"Are you all right? You have a stomach ache or something?" Nagisa asked, looking down at where his hand was at.

Realizing what he must look like to others, Dai quickly put on a smile and patted his stomach.

"I'm fine. Just think about what kind of treats we might get to eat when we get to the festival. Maybe Akane-san will be there!"

"Oh! That would be nice!" Nagisa said, drooling a little at the thought of eating Akane's ever so delicious tako balls.

"If you two are so excited about the food, then come on," Takashi said as he, his wife, and Ryota were waiting for them at the door.

"Come on you slowpokes! The others are probably there already!"

"Hai, hai," Nagisa said, waving off her little brother's impatience as she turned and smiled at Dai before grabbing his hand. "Come on! Let's go!"

Putting on his brightest smile, Dai responded with a big, "Yeah!" and went with the Misumi family to enjoy of night of games and fireworks.

---

(One Year Later)

Out in the wilderness, the morning sun awoke all the residents of the forest as the chirping of the birds served as an alarm clock for everyone to rise for the day. Up in the trees, squirrels hopped from branch to branch, looking for nuts that may be hidden amongst the leaves. Up in the skies, the birds flew up in groups, their figures no more than a simple moving V to those on the ground. And in the waters, a family of fish swam around, fighting against the ripples that came from the miniature waterfall.

*thoom!*

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a single spot of land started decaying, causing the grass to turn a sickly yellow and any nearby tree roots to wither. Then, a sprout rose up from the ground, growing rapidly at an unnatural rate until its form started to shift and change, resembling that of a man. Once this figure was finished forming, it rose its head up and let out a roar not unlike that of a beast, scaring the birds hiding in the trees.

Over in the distance, amongst the many people walking, the two disguised Seeds of Darkness, Juna, and Regine, rose their heads up, hearing the beast-like roar loud and clear.

The third and last Seed of Darkness had awoken.

Unknown to the other Seeds, they were not the only ones who had picked up the roar. Sitting at a nearby cafe, Daguva smiled to himself.

"So the last one's finally bloomed. Well, calling it the last one may not be right," Daguva said to himself as he played with the fourth and actual last Seed of Darkness inside his pocket.

"I wonder how you and your friends will respond to this...Ichi Dai." Smiling to himself as always, Daguva raised his cup of coffee to his lips...and promptly gagged due to how bitter it was.

---

(Insert RISE by MADKID)

(Instrumental) The song starts as the sun begins to rise over the horizon, casting its light over the city. Over on top of the tallest building in the city, three figures can be seen standing, looking towards the sunrise.

(Oh oh oh oh oh oh~! Oh oh oh oh oh oh~!) As the sun rises higher and higher over the city, we soon see that the three figures were none other than Dai, Nagisa, and Honoka, all transformed as they looked over the city protectively.

(Hikari mitsuketa kuuhaku no jikan) We first see scenes of Nagisa playing lacrosse with her friends on the lacrosse team. Sweat drops fly off of her as she catches the ball with her lacrosse stick before throwing it. Off to the side, Mepple is seen sleeping inside of Nagisa's bag, dreaming about eating various foods.

(Mayoikonda chuuzuri no sekai) Honoka is seen in the lab with her friends in the science club. The girl mixes a vial of chemicals in her hands while the others watch with anticipation. A puff of smoke erupts from the vile, and the girls sigh in relief when that's all that happened. In the corner, Mipple watched nearby from within her carrier, looking on with interest.

(Shinjirareru kotae sagashimotomete) The scene transitions to Dai playing soccer with the rest of the soccer team. After scoring a goal, Dai switches with someone else and goes over to the bench, grabbing a water bottle. However, just as he's about to take a sip, he gets a phone call from Ryō. Answering the call, Dai's expression turns serious.

(Tada samayotteru) [Yeah] Nodding his head, Dai ends the call and runs off, running towards his TryChaser 2000. Getting on the bike, he revs up the engines and drives off. This doesn't go unnoticed by both Nagisa and Honoka as they stop whatever they were doing and race off to follow after the Rider.

(Yubi no sukima nigeru light, Yosomi shiteru hima mo nai) The scene changes again to show Ryō along with the other men of the Special Investigation team, all running around as they all armed themselves and got into their respective cars, racing down the road to the scene of the crime.

(Uketa kizuna ato sae kate ni, Seijaku kirisaiteku) Darkness overtakes the scene as the Seeds of Darkness, Juna, Regine, and Belzei Gertrude all appear, glaring menacingly at the screen before all three of them get sucked into a portal and a shadowy form appears to replace them.

(Dare mo kare mo Dead or alive, Mamoru dake ja Can't survive) In an abandoned warehouse with flickering lights, the Grongi consisting of mostly the Go Tribe appear, their forms flickering between their human and Monsters forms in tandem with the lights.

(I don't wanna lie to myself) With Baruba and Dorudo at his sides, Daguva walks up, smiling as always as he raises his hand and sends out a blast of fire that momentarily blocks the screen.

(Keep on the fight, get right, I'll never lose and cry) Skidding the bike to a stop, Dai quickly takes off his helmet and gets off his ride as he faces off against the Go Tribe, accompanied by the Seeds of Darkness and a small army of Zakenna.

(Keep run up day and night, Time to rewrite) Just as Dai was about to summon the Arcle, both Nagisa and Honoka finally catch up with the Rider, appearing by his side with their Lovely Communes in their hands. Behind them were the Special Investigation Team as Ryō and the others all aim their guns at the Dark Zone and Grongi.

(No matter what anyone say I find my way) Dai looks at both the girls who give him encouraging smiles before the three nod at one another and ready their respective transformations.

(Yeah, never go away) In a bright flash of light, Kuuga followed by Cures Black and White all leap out of the light and towards their enemies.

(Never go away) Both sides charge at one another and at the same tie Dai throws the first punch, Ryō fires his gun and the fight begins.

(Now, nobody can't stop me no way) With both his hands and feet covered in flames, Dai throws a barrage of punches and kicks at any Grongi and Zakenna that get to close to him before coming to deadlock with the leader of the Go Tribe, Go-Gadoru-Ba, whose eyes briefly flash gold.

(Wasurete shimau koto no nai you ni) With their backs to one another, both Nagisa and Honoka punch, kick, block, and throwback any Grongi and Zakenna that attacked them before coming face to face with the Seeds of Darkness.

(Nakushita mono subete torimodosu tame) Over with the Investigation Team, Ryō and the others fought with their guns and bravery, not backing down against such overwhelming odds until Ryō comes face to face with Baruba. The two have a staredown as Ryō aims his gun at Baruba who simply stares back, her expression unreadable.

(Rise suddenly in this world) [I don't look back yeah] In a flash of golden lightning, Dai assumes his Rising Mighty form while the girls equip their Rainbow Bracelets. Now ready, the trio stands up against Daguva in his Imperfect form.

(Kurikaesu tabi no hate) Taking the lead, Dai charges at the Grongi leader, throwing lightning-fast punches which Daguva simply guards against before he punches Dai back.

(Nouri ni nokotta shippai nante) The girls jump in this time to try their luck, they both attack in perfect sync as Nagisa's right eye and Honoka's left eye briefly flash gold.

(Zenbu torikaese ima Turn over) In a show of strength, Daguva pushes the girls away before a tornado envelops his entire form. With a swing of his arm that disperses the tornado, it reveals Daguva now in his Perfect form as the entire area is suddenly enveloped in flames.

(Rise suddenly in this world) [I don't look back yeah] Seeing the sight of Daguva at his full strength, anger seems to ignite from Dai as with a roar, darkness soon envelops the Rider as he transforms into Kuuga's Ultimate form.

(Oh oh oh oh oh oh~! Oh oh oh oh oh oh~!) The scene changes to a bright morning day, the sky bright blue with few clouds in the sky. Dai stands on top of a small hill looking up at the sky as Nagisa down below looks up at the Rider with worry. Turning around, Dai gives Nagisa a smile, but this only seems to worry the girl even more as she quickly runs up to the Rider and grabs him by the arm in desperation. As soon as she does this, the scene returns back to the battle as Nagisa tries to grab Dai's arm, but fails as the Rider charges forth, both he and Daguva meeting in the middle as they both throw a flaming punch at one another and just as both attacks connect, a bright flash of light blinds the screen and the song comes to an end.

---

(Wakaba City Mall)

"What floor is this new shop on?"

"Umm...it should be on the sixth floor."

Riding up the shopping mall escalators, Nagisa and her friends, Rina and Shiho, were carried up to their destination. Their goal: Shopping for clothes. But as Nagisa's friends were chatting away, Nagisa was deep in her own thoughts, recalling the events that transpired a few days back.

'A new enemy from the Dark Zone has appeared, born from the Seeds of Darkness sown from the Dark King. That makes two of these new guys now. We tried to stop the last one from awakening, but it was already too late by the time Pollun's sensed them. Just how many more are left? How many are there in total?'

It was a scary thought, knowing that newer, stronger enemies were just waiting to pop up and cause havoc. Things were already bad enough what with the still-present threat of the Grongi. There was no way of resolving the ever-growing worry bubbling inside of Nagisa, but the girl had decided to see things through till the end, no matter how bad the situation can worsen.

'Dai-kun, Ichijo-san, and the others in the police force are still working hard out there. So I gotta keep it together myself!' Nagisa thought to herself, slapping her cheeks lightly as she reached the top of the escalator. She moved to walk forward only to stop when she saw her friends not moving.

"Hey, what's up? Weren't we going to the department store upstairs?" Nagisa asked, looking to see what her friends were smiling at.

"Take a look."

"Look, look, look!" Pointing forward ahead of them, Nagisa followed their fingers and soon found what they had been looking at.

With a sign reading 'Yukata Corner' hanging above, right in front of the girls was a station selling yukatas from already made ones, with some being displayed on mannequins, to simply the cloth itself where people could buy and sew a yukata themselves.

"There's a festival at Wakabadai Shrine tomorrow," Shiho said, remembering the advertisements they had seen when coming here.

"That's right," Rina said, remembering about the festival herself. "When you go to a summer festival, you've got to wear a yukata!"

"Ditto," Nagisa said, agreeing with Rina. "I asked my Okaa-san if I could buy a new yukata this year, but I guess I'll just have to wear my old one."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with just looking around," Rina said as she walked over to the station and looked at their selections before pulling out an orange cloth designed with purple butterflies on it. "Hey, don't you think this one's cute?"

"Totally!" Shiho said, nodding in agreement before turning to a nearby mannequin which was wearing a striped pink yukata decorated with yellow and hot pink flowers of different sizes. "But, this one's pretty cute too, right?"

"It is!"

"This one seems nice," Nagisa said, pulling out a pink cloth designed with what looked like either purplish-grey fireworks or scattering flower petals. "I wonder how much this is..." Nagisa froze up when she laid eyes on the price tag. "Expensive...I guess it really is impossible."

Putting back the wrapped-up cloth, Nagisa looked around again only to stop when she found an unbelievable sight.

"Oh. My. God." Emphasizing each word, Nagisa struggled not to burst out laughing as she stared up at a mannequin wearing a black yukata. What Nagisa found so humorous though was that designed on the back of the yukata was the face of Dai's Rider form, Kuuga, with the words 'No. 4' written next to it.

'Oh I gotta show Dai-kun this,' Nagisa thought as she took out her phone to take a picture. She briefly wondered if her friend could sue for this.

As the three friends continued their window shopping, a few familiar faces appeared from the escalator.

"I wonder what cloth would be good for this year's yukata," Sanae wondered out loud as she and Honoka made it to the top of the escalator.

"I really like the fireworks yukata you sewed me last year," Honoka said, thinking there was no need for her grandmother to sew her a new yukata when the one she wore last year still fitted her.

"But you know...your parents always look forward to seeing what kind of yukata you wear every year," Sanae said, picturing the smiling and crying faces of her kids. Honoka could too which caused her to laugh awkwardly.

"And besides, I have fun sewing a yukata for you every year as well."

"Oba-chama..." It was times like these did Honoka feel that she was very blessed to have her family. With how doting they were with her, it was a miracle she didn't grow up spoiled.

"Huh? Honoka?" Hearing her name, Honoka blinked before turning to see a few rows down was her friend and partner.

"Nagisa!"

"My, oh my! What a coincidence!" Sanae said. "Are you shopping for a yukata as well?"

"More window shopping really," Nagisa said, rubbing the back of her head while briefly thinking back to what she had found earlier, causing her to laugh a little.

"Hey, Nagisa, what about this—oh! Hey, Yukishiro-san! Fancy seeing you here," Rina, popping up from a different row to ask about the yukata she was holding, greeted Honoka when she saw her. Shiho, having been next to her, rose up and did the same.

"Yo!"

"Hehe, it's good to see you all," Honoka greeted back. "Are you all shopping for yukatas?"

"Shiho and I are," Rina said. "What about you?"

"Oba-chama here makes me a yukata every year so we're here shopping for cloth," Honoka explained, gesturing to her grandmother beside her.

"I believe this is the first time we've met," Sanae said before bowing. "I'm Honoka's grandmother, Yukishiro Sanae. A pleasure to meet you two."

"The pleasure is ours," Rina said as she and Shiho bowed in return. "We're friends of Nagisa here. I'm Takashimizu Rina."

"Kubota Shiho! A pleasure ma'am!"

"Well aren't you two well mannered," Sanae commented with a smile. "It's good to see such spirited people during times like these."

'Ain't that the truth,' Nagisa couldn't help but think. With the threat of the Grongi still hovering over the city, it was a bit surprising that the summer festival was still being held, not that she was complaining though a part of her thought otherwise.

"So does your oba-san really make you yukatas every year?" Nagisa asked Honoka who answered with a nod. "That's nice. I wish my folks knew how to sew yukatas, then I wouldn't be stuck with my old one." Maybe she could get Dai to sew her one? Then again, it's not like she could buy any of the cloth here what with how pricey they were.

"I could lend you one of my old yukatas if you want," Honoka offered, surprising Nagisa.

"Eh? For real? Are you sure?"

"Yes. Since Oba-chama insists on making me a new one, there's no problem with lending you one of mine if that's fine with you."

"Well, since you're offering, then sure," Nagisa said. "If your oba-san was the one who made it then it must be better than anything I have."

"Oh, you flatter me," Sanae said, giggling at Nagisa's compliment before looking around as if trying to find something. "By the way, is Ichi-san not with you girls?"

"Dai-kun? Oh, no," Nagisa said. "The girls tried to invite him but he said he had something to do today. Something about getting his bike checked."

"His bike? Is something wrong with it?" Honoka asked.

"I don't know," Nagisa shrugged. "It looked fine to me. But he looked really concerned this morning."

It was hard to hide the worry Nagisa felt. She knew how much Dai cared for the motorbike, having seen the amount of care he put on it. The vehicle had been with him since his early days as a Rider, and she's honestly grown fond of the bike herself knowing how much it's helped Dai in his battles against the Grongi. That and how many times it's saved her from being late for school.

'Hopefully, nothing's wrong.'

---

(With Dai)

The sound of multiple keyboards being hit echoed inside the warehouse garage as scientists surrounded Gouram, typing away as they gathered and compared data in hopes of unearthing any secrets the sentient horse armor may still be hiding. Dai barely paid any attention to the people in lab coats, having grown used to seeing them surrounding Gouram whenever he came here. His attention was instead focused on the reason he was here.

"How is it, doc? Is he going to be okay?"

"I'm not sure if the bike identifies as a male," Sayuru commented as he looked over the Trychaser in front of him. "Hmm, you really put this guy through the wringer. Not to mention the metal corrosion..."

"You can fix it, right?" Dai asked.

"Of course, I can. Who do you think help build this in the first place?" Sayuru said with a confident smirk though that soon turned into a frown as he looked back down at the Trychaser. "The problem isn't the damage it's sustained but the metal corrosion the inner parts are suffering from, no thanks to your little friend over there. I'm surprised you noticed it."

"Well, I mean...it hasn't changed back yet," Dai said only to get a confused look from the man. "The colors. Normally they change depending on when I'm transformed or not. But they haven't changed back even I'm not transformed."

True to Dai's words, the Trychaser, which normally was blue with the 'horns' being black, would turn red and gold whenever Dai transformed into Kuuga. But as he pointed out, the Trychaser's colors have not returned to their normal colors and it was still in its transformed state. Dai had noticed this a day after the case involving Bemiu (ULF#38) and waited to see if it would change back. After a few more days with no signs of change, Dai decided now was a good time as any to bring the motorbike here to get it looked at.

"I see," Sayuru said, seeing why Dai was concerned about. "Well, if you're so worried about then I'll take a look at it overnight."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Besides, I hear there's a festival happening tonight near your place. You're still young so go and have some fun with your friends. Don't worry, I'll take good care of your bike."

"Well...okay. Thanks, Enokida-san!" Dai said as he soon ran off to go prepare for tonight. "I'll come by to pick it up tomorrow!"

"Have fun!" Sayuru called out as the Rider left the garage. Once gone, the man took another look at the bike in front of him before looking towards the laptop laid next to him.

'...It's still good for now, but the damage is really starting to show the more this fight drags on,' Sayuru thought to himself as he pressed a button on his laptop, bringing up the blueprints of what seemed to be a new bike that looked very similar to the Trychaser. 'I know the kid really likes this bike, but I think it's time I started working on making him an upgrade.'

---

(Later, Nagisa's Room)

As the sun sank below the horizon, turning the sky a blazing orange color, the cries of birds echoed outside of Nagisa's room as Honoka finished tying the obi around Nagisa's new/borrowed yukata.

"There, all finished," Honoka declared, patting Nagisa on the back as the girl checked herself in the mirror.

Dressed in a night sky blue yukata decorated with images imitating fireworks and accompanied by the yellow obi around her waist, Nagisa found it almost hard to believe that Honoka's grandmother sewed this herself.

"I didn't know you knew how to tie a kimono," Nagisa said as she moved around a little to make sure nothing would come falling apart later down the line.

"My Oba-chama taught me," Honoka said as she was dressed in the new yukata Sanae had made for her which was white in color and decorated with purple flowers accompanied with a red obi. Her hair was also tied up and held in a bun.

"I guessed as much," Nagisa said as she checked herself in the mirror again. "This is really cute though. Is it really okay for me to borrow such a beautiful yukata?"

"It's fine. I only wore it once last summer, so I think the yukata would be happy to let you wear it."

"Thank you!"

"Dōitashimashite (You're welcome)."

"Nagisa and Honoka are so pretty-mipo!" Mipple commented as she and Mepple stood to the side with the former admiring the girls' yukatas.

"But not as cute as Mipple-mepo!" Mepple said which ignited another lovey-dovey session between the two which the girls just smiled and laughed at.

"Hey! All done in here?" Appearing from the bedroom door was Dai, checking in the see if the girls were ready.

"Yep! We're both good to go," Nagisa said only for her and Honoka to blink before they both smiled amusingly at Dai.

"What?"

"Really, Dai-kun?" Nagisa said with a raised eyebrow.

For those wondering what the girls found so amusing, it was due to the design of Dai's yukata. Garbed in a bright red yukata, what stood out about it was the two black Kuuga symbols positioned at the sides. And knowing the boy as they did, the girls guessed there was a third one on the back.

"Is this about the picture I showed you earlier?" Nagisa asked, wondering if her friend felt challenged or something since she knew that Dai tended to put his symbol on some of his clothes.

"Hey, I'll have you know I made this a week ago," Dai said before crossing his arms and turned his head away. "You're just jealous that you don't have any merchandise featuring you guys."

"As if!" Nagisa exclaimed. If there were any merchandise featuring her and Honoka, she'd probably die of embarrassment.

Honoka giggled at her friends' antics before turning to the last member of their group, Pollun, who was snoozing away in his Pretty Commune form.

"He's asleep," Honoka said with an amused smile.

"He was all 'A festival-popo! A festival-popo!' just a little while ago, hopping about-mipo," Mipple explained.

"He probably got carried away and wore himself out-mepo," Mepple said.

"Rumble rumble rumble...flash!"

"Huh?" Everyone looked at Pollun in confusion who looked to be talking in his sleep.

"What's he mumbling about?" Nagisa wondered as the fairies hopped over to the young prince's side.

"Pollun, wake up-mipo."

"Let's go to the festival together-mepo."

The two urged the young fairy to get up, but Pollun just let out more jumbled noises in his sleep and looked nowhere close to waking up.

"He must have really tired himself out," Dai said, a bit astonished to see the normally hyperactive fairy so calm like this.

"I feel bad about waking him up," Honoka said, not wanting to disturb the fairy's rest.

"I guess it can't be helped. Let's let him stay here," Nagisa suggested.

"You sure?" Dai asked. "I feel the same way as Honoka-chan, but I also feel bad for just leaving him here while we all go out to enjoy the festival."

"We can all bring him something when we get back," Nagisa said. "Let's let him rest for now. Rina and Shiho are waiting for us."

"Well...okay," Dai said, relenting. "I promised I meet up with Shougo and the others later so let's get going."

"Yeah," Honoka nodded as Mepple and Mipple jumped over towards their respective partners, transforming into their Card Commune forms where they landed into the waiting hands of the girls. After stashing them away in their bags, the trio made their way downstairs where Nagisa's mom was seen having just returned home.

"Tadaima (I'm home)," Rie called out as she entered her apartment house before seeing Dai and the girls. "Oh! Well isn't that quite a beautiful yukata you're wearing, Nagisa."

"Yeah. Honoka let me borrow it," Nagisa said, showing off the yukata.

"Well thank you, Yukishiro-san. I can tell just from looking that you're much better at dressing people than I am."

"Oh, I'm not that great..." Honoka said with a bashful blush.

"Where's Ryota?" Dai asked, seeing no sign of the boy. "Was his stomach ache that bad?" He tried to warn the boy that having an eating contest against Nagisa was a death wish. You would think he would know that considering they were siblings.

"Oh no, Ryota's fine. The doctor gave him some medicine and he was back on his feet a few hours later," Rie said. "His friend's father is taking him to the festival, so he left a while ago."

"All right!" Nagisa cheered. "Now there's nothing that can get in the way of my fun!"

"Hey now, that's no way to talk about your own brother."

"Joking, I'm just joking!"

"Well, we better get going," Dai said as the trio moved past Rie. "Ittekimasu (We're taking off)!"

"Kiwotsukete ne (Stay safe, okay)?"

"We will!" The trio said as they all left for the festival.

---

(Later, Wakabadai Shrine, Festival Grounds)

Night had descended by the time Dai and the girls made it to the shrine. As they expected, people were already crowding the festival grounds as multiple stalls were lined up from left to right with half either selling food or holding various games for people to play. Lamps hung from everywhere, illuminating the place as people either walked around in casual clothes or yukatas.

"Hey!" Over by the shrine gates, both Rina and Shiho called out over to the approaching trio. The former was wearing a white yukata with a bright yellow obi and decorated with polka dots and goldfish, while the latter wore a lemon yellow yukata with a maroon obi and decorated with bright yellow and pink flowers. Rina's usual low pigtails were braided up and Shiho had a red flower hair clip attached to the left corner of her head.

"Thanks for waiting," Nagisa said as she and the trio joined up with the two.

"You both look great," Honoka said, complimenting the two.

"Thanks! You two look great as well," Rina said, complimenting the girls before turning to Dai. "Hmm...let me guess, you made that yourself?"

"Yep!" Dai said, puffing out his chest with pride which ignited giggles from the girls.

"Well, it's certainly unique," Rina said, not knowing the true significance of the symbol decorating Dai's yukata.

"So, where are your friends?" Shiho asked, having been told, as did everyone, that Shougo and the others would be coming here.

"I texted them earlier and it seems they'll be running a bit late," Dai said.

"Oh, is that so?" Nagisa said, looking slightly disappointed. This did not escape Dai's notice.

"Disappointed?" He asked with a knowing smirk.

"A-As if!" Nagisa exclaimed.

Honoka herself giggled at her friend, knowing exactly why Nagisa was disappointed but chose to keep it to herself.

"Why don't you girls go on ahead?" Dai suggested. "I can wait here until the others arrive."

"And leave you here by yourself? Yeah, not happening," Rina said as she and Shiho went and grabbed Dai's hands.

"Let's go, let's go!" Shiho said as she and Rina dragged Dai through the gates and into the festival grounds.

"Wha-? Wait, what about Shougo and the others?"

"It's their own fault for being slowpokes! Now c'mon!"

"Those two sure are excited," Honoka commented as the two dragged Dai away.

"That's one way of saying they're just impatient," Nagisa said. "C'mon, let's go, or else they'll leave us behind."

"Right!"

And so, after convincing Dai to just cut loose, he and the girls proceeded to enjoy the festival for all it's worth. They tried the various games here at the shrine, such as Yo-yo Tsuri (yo-yo scooping) and Ningyo Sukui (toy scooping), the former of which Dai had won as evident by the red and yellow yoyo bouncing in his right hand. As for the latter game, Nagisa had come out on top having scooped a few toys modeled after famous mascots from various animes, a couple of which were Pokemon. But they didn't just focus on the games as they mostly walked around while grabbing a few treats such as candy apples and crepes to snack on. The sizzling sounds of foods such as yakisoba and okonomiyaki being grilled merged with the air of people laughing and having a good time.

"Wow...!" From their respective bags, both Mepple and Mipple let out cries of awe as they gazed at all the things the festival had to offer, and seeing their expressions brought a smile to Dai and the Cures.

"They seem to be having fun," Dai softly said so that only Nagisa and Honoka could hear him.

"Yeah. It's too bad we had to leave Pollun behind. He would have loved this," Honoka said, still feeling guilty about leaving the young prince behind.

"Nagisa! Let's eat! I'm starving-mepo!"

"This one doesn't seem to care though," Nagisa said, slightly glaring down at the fairy hanging from her bag.

*sizzle!*

"Hm?" Nagisa suddenly came to a stop as a familiar scent brushed against her nose. "This smell is..."

Turning to their left, the group turned to see none other than Akane herself running a stall selling her signature takoyaki.

"Here you go!" Akane said as she gave a pair of kids a container containing their freshly cooked takoyaki along with a pair of wooden skewers held together by a rubber band.

"Akane-san!" Nagisa called out to the woman who turned and smiled once she spotted the group.

"Hey! About time you guys got here."

"Business is booming, isn't it?" Honoka said, having only to look at how messy the pans were and how much Akane was cooking to see that the woman had gotten quite a couple of customers before their arrival.

"Festivals are a busy time for me," Akane said before giving them all a wink. "But since it's you guys, I'll give you all a discount if you buy from me."

"After an offer like that, how can we refuse?" Dai said as the girls all cheered.

After watching a stunning display of cookery, the group of five all got their own respective containers of takoyaki and went to an area where they could eat in peace and safety.

"We sure lucked out, huh?" Nagisa said with everyone nodding in agreement.

"Hey! There they are!" Suddenly, looking up from their meal, the group all saw both Shougo and Kimata followed by another who Dai recognized as Kotaro.

"Fujimura-kun!" Honoka cried out as Nagisa noticeably grew nervous at the sight of her crush.

"Well look who finally decided to show up. Took you, boys, long enough," Rina said with a teasing smirk.

"Sorry, we tried to get another friend of ours to come along, but he declined so it's just us three," Shougo said, rubbing the back of his head while looking apologetic.

"Eh, that's fine. At least it even things out," Rina said, pointing out how there were now four boys and four girls making up their group.

"It wouldn't have hurt to have waited for us a little longer," Kimata said, crossing his arm as he slightly glared over at Dai whose turn was it to look apologetic.

"Sorry guys, I offered to stay behind and wait till you got here, but the girls kinda dragged me along."

"Oh really? And here I thought you were just trying to hog all the girls to yourself," Kimata said as he went and grabbed Dai's head into a chokehold. "You sly dog! I didn't know you had it in you, Dai!"

"I-It's not like that!" Dai said, breaking free from his friend's hold on him while blushing at what he was implying.

"That's an interesting yukata you're wearing," Kotaro commented.

"Thanks! Made it myself," Dai said, puffing his chest out again. "By the way, why aren't you guys wearing yukatas?"

"Didn't feel like it."

"Too expensive."

"Not my thing." One by one, the boys all gave out their own reasons for coming here in their casuals.

"Well now I feel like the odd one out," Dai said, suddenly conscious of being the only male here wearing a yukata.

"Oh silly Dai," Kimata began before bluntly saying, "You've always been the odd one out."

"Gh!" Dai felt like an imaginary arrow had pierced him as he held his chest. "Harsh. I'm not that weird, right girls? ...Why are none of you looking at me in the eyes?"

"Anyway," Honoka spoke up, still avoiding eye contact with Dai so as to avoid answering him. "Now that we're all here, why don't we all go see what else the festival has to offer. Right, Nagisa?"

"R-Right!" Nagisa exclaimed nervously until she remembered that she and the others still had yet to finish their takoyaki. It was then an idea popped into her head.

"H-Hey, Fujipi...senpai..." Nagisa nervously began, speaking slowly as she held up her container. "Do you...want so—?"

"Here guys, I saved you some," Dai (unknowingly) interjected, presenting his container to the boys who all beamed at him.

"Hey, thanks!" Shougo said as he and the others took what was left off of Dai's share.

"Don't mention it," Dai said before turning and jumping in fright at a glaring Nagisa. Confused at first as to why the girl was glaring at him angrily, he saw the way she was gripping her container and realized his blunder.

'Whoops,' He thought as he turned to avoid eye contact from the angry Cure.

"Now, now," Honoka said, patting Nagisa's shoulders as to get the girl to calm down. It seemed to work as Nagisa stopped glaring over at Dai and finished her takoyaki in grumbling silence.

Once all the girls finished their food, the group all made their way back to the festival grounds, visiting the classic yet popular Kingyo Sukui (goldfish scooping) stall.

"There!" Shougo declared as he successfully scooped up a second goldfish into his bowl.

"That's our secondary ace!" Both Kimata and Kotaro said which earned an angry glare from Shougo.

"Who you calling secondary!?"

"Now, now," Dai said, trying to calm his friend down but this only got him being glared at by Shougo who silently reminded him who was the #1 ace of their team.

As the boys were busy teasing Shougo, the girls were watching Nagisa who, compared to Shougo, wasn't doing so well.

"Uso (No way), uso, uso!" Shiho repeated as Nagisa had just broken her fourth Poi trying to scoop up a fish.

"What happened to your usual scooping skills?" Rina asked as Nagisa was usually great at this game.

Nagisa didn't answer as she glanced over at her crush who had calmed down from his friends' teasing and re-focused back on the game. Inside her chest, Nagisa could feel her heart quickening a little as her cheeks were slightly colored.

'Oh, why can't I stop being so nervous!' Nagisa cried out in her mind as she had hoped to show off her skills in front of her crush but was instead putting on a poor display due to the jitters.

"Hey, everything all right?" Dai asked, clearly seeing how nervous Nagisa looked.

"I'm fine!" Nagisa said, practically shouting in Dai's face which got everyone to look at her, causing her to blush in embarrassment. She then glared over at the Rider, taking her anger and embarrassment out on him.

"Why is everyone glaring at me tonight?" Dai said to himself which earned a sympathetic giggle from Honoka.

After a few more rounds of scooping fish, with Nagisa still failing to scoop up any due to the jitters, the result was Shougo having successfully scooped up four fish after breaking two pois.

"Not bad," Dai commented, honestly impressed at how well his friend did.

"Oh please, this is nothing compared to your score last year," Shougo said, brushing off the praise as he turned towards Honoka and handed the bag of fish over to her. "Here."

"Huh?"

"Your place has a pond, right? I've got no place for these little guys so I think it's best if they lived with you."

"Are you sure?" Honoka asked. While she had no problems taking the fish off her friend's hands, the pond at her house wasn't exactly lacking fish itself.

"Onee-chan! Dai-niisan! Honoka-san!" Suddenly, calling out towards the group was none other than Ryota, running up them.

"Ryota?" Nagisa said, having forgotten that her brother had gotten here before her.

"I was wondering where you were," Dai said, haven not forgotten about the kid. "You enjoying the festival, Ryota?"

"Yeah!" Ryota responded with a nod. "I saw you guys and thought I should come over."

"You sure it isn't just so you could say hi to Honoka here?" Nagisa asked with a teasing smirk, causing her little brother to blush.

"S-Shut up!" Ryota exclaimed, causing everyone to chuckle.

"Actually, you came just at the right time, Ryota-kun," Honoka said as she handed the fishes over to him.

"Eh? For me?"

"Yes. My place already has fish so I was hoping you can take care of these little guys for me. That is if you want to."

"I'll take them! You can count on me!" Ryota quickly said as he accepted the bag of fish with a smile. "Thank you!"

"I should be the one thanking you," Honoka said, smiling appreciatively.

"Well isn't that nice?" Nagisa said, sliding over to her brother's side as she spoke in a teasing tone. "A present from your beloved Honoka-san. You must be bursting with joy."

*STOMP!*

"Ow!" Nagisa cried out as a blushing Ryota stomped on her sandal-wearing foot before running off to escape the ensuing wrath.

"Ryota~!" Rolling the sleeve of her yukata, Nagisa went to chase after her brother only to remember who she was still with. Glancing back at Shougo, Nagisa turned around while rubbing the back of her head trying to save face.

"Ahaha...what a little brat..."

"Nice save," Dai said sarcastically which just earned him another glare from the ginger-haired girl.

---

(Meanwhile...)

"Rumble rumble...flash...boom..."

Just outside Wakabadai Shrine, walking down the dark streets was none other than Pollun who seemed to be in a half daze. Hours earlier the young prince had awoken from his slumber to find himself all alone in Nagisa's room. Quickly realizing that he had been left behind by everyone, the fairy prince managed to slip out of the apartment building and made his way towards the shrine. Now one may have guessed that Pollun would have gotten himself lost due to his unfamiliarity with the city and they would have been right...if it wasn't for the fact that he was struck with his powers of foresight as soon as he got out. As a vision of what seemed to be something flashing and exploding replaying in his head, his feet moved on their own, seemingly guiding him towards where his vision was taking him.

"Rumble...flash...boom..." Pollun repeated once again to himself as he could see the lights of the festival up ahead.

"Well now...what do we have here?"

Pollun's mouth, which had been moving on its own much like the rest of his body, had quickly closed shut as his entire body froze. A feeling of dread, so powerful that it gripped his heart, froze Pollun in place as the sounds of soft footsteps neared him. As much as Pollun didn't want to, and he really didn't want to, his curiosity got the best of him and he slowly turned around...he soon wished he hadn't.

"Hm? Aren't you one of those so-called fairies from the Garden of Light? What's a little guy like you doing so far away from home?"

"..." Pollun said nothing. He couldn't say anything, too frozen in fear to speak up.

"Oh? Were you perhaps heading towards where those lights are? What a coincidence, so am I. Shall we go there together? I'm sure whatever's there will be interesting."

Again, Pollun was too frozen to say anything. Thus he could do nothing as Daguva went and picked him up and carried him in his arms as they made their way over to the shrine.

---

(Back with the group)

"Hey, have you heard?" Kimata began as everyone, after stopping by a cotton candy stall, gathered behind the shrine house. Taking a quick bite from his cotton candy, Kimata gestured over to a flight of stairs leading up a hill. "There's a rumor that a ghost comes out from the small shrine up there."

"I know, I know, I know about it!" Shiho spoke up as she and Rina looked at one another nervously.

"If you go up there when it gets dark..."

"You can hear the sound of someone crying..."

"Boo!"

"Kyah!" Both girls cried out, holding each other as Dai couldn't help but laugh.

"Dai-kun!? That wasn't funny!"

"Gomen (Sorry), I couldn't help myself," Dai said, smiling apologetically.

"It's your own fault for getting scared at your own story," Nagisa said.

"Aren't you scared?" Honoka asked.

"Not at all."

"Oh? Aren't you confident?" Kimata said as he smirked at her. "How about a test of courage then?"

"Eh?" Nearly everyone said as Dai was the only one who seemed interested.

"That sounds fun. How're we doing this?"

"Like this," Kimata said as he pulled out a handful of popsicle sticks from his pocket. "Here. Everyone grab a stick. We'll make boy-girl pairs."

"I guess we're doing this then," Shougo said mostly to himself as he and everyone grabbed a stick for themselves.

"Everyone got one? Then, one...two...!"

Pairings:

Nagisa and Shougo

Honoka and Kimata

Rina and Dai

Shiho and Kotaro

"Looks like we're together, Misumi-san," Shougo said as Nagisa stood nervously next to him.

"H-Hai!" Nagisa stuttered before looking away so that Shougo wouldn't be able to see her smiling.

'How did this happen!? I mean, I'm happy and all, but...'

"Nagisa-chan," Hearing her name, Nagisa snapped out of her thoughts and looked over towards Dai who gave her a wink and a thumbs up. "Ganbare (Good luck)!"

Nagisa's only response was to blush. She should have known that Dai must have had a hand in this pairing. How he did so when it was Kimata who took out the sticks, she just chalked it up to one of Dai's many skills.

"Now before we begin allow me to explain the rules," Kimata began as he took out four candlesticks. "Each pair will go up one at a time and when they reach the shrine, they'll set a candle as an offering."

"And where did you get those anyway?" Shougo asked as there were no stalls around that sold candles as prizes.

"You were planning this from the start, weren't you?" Kotaro asked, raising an eyebrow knowingly.

"Well, it was originally just gonna be us guys," Kimata said as each pair obtained a candle for themselves. "Everyone have one? All right then...who wants to go first?"

Immediately after Kimata said that did Dai raise his hand, his excitement obvious from his expression alone.

"I guess we'll go first," Rina said, shrugging her shoulders with an amused smile.

"Then Dai and Takashimizu-san will lead the way," Kimata said, also smiling amusingly at Dai.

"Could it be...?" Nagisa began.

"Does Ichi-kun like these sorts of things?" Honoka finished, a bit surprised to see this new side of their friend.

"Yosh! Shuppatsu shinkou (All right, let's go)!" Dai said as after lighting up their candlestick did he and Rina ascend up the stairs. Just by looking could one easily tell that it would be a somewhat long climb, but not a tiring one. After a good couple of minutes, Dai and Rina were now walking through the dark with the candle in Dai's hand and the moon and stars above being the only sources of light to guide them upwards.

"I'm surprised, Dai-kun," Rina spoke up, wanting to get rid of the silence that had settled in.

"Hm? About what?" Dai asked while making sure to watch his step as these stone stairs weren't exactly in the best of shape due to how many years it's been since their first construction.

"About all of this," Rina said, gesturing to their current situation. "I've never seen you so excited like that before. Never took you for one to be interested in occult stuff."

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm that I'm interested in occult-related things, but more like I'm attracted to the unknown."

"The unknown?"

"Yeah. Think about it. We live in a world where we can travel to different parts of the world in a matter of hours and any information we seek can be almost instantly found online. And believe me when I say that it's only gonna get better in the future. Yet, even then, humanity has yet to figure out all of the mysteries surrounding the Earth. The history of the world is never 100% accurate and it may be that way for decades to come."

"I'm sorry, but you lost me," Rina admitted, making no attempt to hide her confusion.

"What I'm trying to say is that there's a mystery to be found in various parts of the world and when I think about what could be discovered, well, I can't help but get excited about it."

It was worth remembering that Dai's parents were both archaeologists and so the excitement and curiosity towards ruins and the like came naturally to Dai who had inherited his parents' love and passion for uncovering mysteries and secrets.

'Of course, there's no arguing that some mysteries are better off remaining buried,' Dai thought to himself, briefly thinking about the Grongi. He considered it somewhat of a miracle that he had yet to get a call from Ryō all day.

"I think I kinda get it, but I also kinda don't still," Rina said before looking sheepish. "Sorry. You'd probably be better off talking about this stuff with either Yukishiro-san or Nagisa."

"With Nagisa-chan?" Dai raised an eyebrow in confusion. Honoka he could get due to the girl's thirst for knowledge, but why would Nagisa also be interested in what he was saying?

"Yeah. I mean, she'd probably be as confused as I am, but I'm sure you'd prefer talking with her than with me."

"What do you mean? Sure I don't hang out as much with you and Shiho compared to Nagisa-chan, but I still think we're pretty good friends."

"Well yeah, I think so too. It's just, you and Nagisa, you guys are just closer."

"Closer how?" Dai asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Closer as in I bet a thousand yen that you two will get together in a few years' time if not sooner," Rina answered, smiling teasingly at the Rider.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Nagisa-chan and I aren't like that," Dai said, waving his free hand in front of him. "If anything, we're more like siblings than..." At this did Dai's checks begin to redden as he struggled to form the last word stuck in his mouth.

'I think this is the first time I've seen him this flustered,' Rina thought to herself in amusement.

"Well, maybe you two were like that, but ever since the appearance of those ULF's, you two have been growing noticeably closer."

'That's because we have to team up in order to fight monsters on a weekly basis,' Dai thought to himself, but since he obviously couldn't say that he instead said, "There's nothing going on between me and Nagisa-chan. Besides, you saw how she was around Shougo."

"Oh yeah, I saw all right," Rina said, chuckling to herself. "She hides it well enough that Shiho hasn't realized it yet. But if you ask me, I prefer if she ended up with you."

"And why is that?" Dai asked, wondering why Rina was so insistent on this.

"Well, besides you possibly being the best boyfriend any girl could have, I'd say the main reason would have to be...is so Nagisa can stop worrying about you."

"...huh?" Dai couldn't help but blink dumbly at that, utterly confused. He was so confused that he hadn't noticed the two had reached the top of the hill and were now standing in front of the miniature shrine.

"She thinks about you a lot," Rina said as she took the candle from Dai's hands and walked over to the shrine. "I've noticed that she's gotten into the habit of falling silent whenever she's thinking about something. And most of the time, she makes this face whenever she's worried. And ever since you showed up a year ago, most of those worries tend to usually center around you."

"But when I saw him about to finish you off, I jumped in, because I was more scared of losing you!"

For some reason he couldn't explain, the conversation Dai had with Nagisa and Honoka after their first defeat against Daguva popped up in his head, specifically the words that Nagisa had spoken to him.

"Nagisa worries about a lot of things, as I'm sure you know," Rina said as she placed the candle on the shrine before clapping her hands together in prayer. Whatever could she be praying for was lost to Dai. "School, the club, her grades, boys...Nagisa's got a long list of things she's worried about, but we both know her worrying about stuff like that is because she cares about them. And the fact that she worries about you a lot should tell you just how much she cares for you, Dai-kun."

"..."

"I won't be arrogant and say that I know exactly what Nagisa's feelings are. We're the best of friends but we're not that close. She's obviously crushing on Fujipi-senpai, but I've already said I'd prefer if she ended up with you. So while I have this chance right now, I'll just come out and ask you, Dai-kun..." Finishing her prayer, Rina turned to Dai with the most serious expression he's ever seen on her. "What are your feelings concerning Nagisa?"

Dai didn't answer right away even though he felt that he really should have been able to. His feelings regarding Nagisa...he liked to think that there wasn't anything special going on between them. But as the threats towards the city grew more and more with each passing day, there was no use arguing the fact that their continued teamwork and subsequent losses brought Dai and Nagisa (as well as Honoka) that much closer than ever. While he'd much prefer if Nagisa wasn't involved in his war against the Grongi, especially since she and Honoka had their own war to worry about, trying to dissuade her at this point would be a fool's errand.

'Despite my feelings, I am appreciative of her support,' Dai thought to himself, suppressing a smile from forming lest Rina gets the wrong idea.

But he was starting to get off-topic, though the said topic was still a hard one to respond to. What are his feelings concerning Nagisa?

"..."

*rumble!*

Dai went to open his mouth when the sound of something rumbling in the distance was heard. Turning around, Dai, with his enhanced eyesight, spotted dark clouds approaching from the distance. And judging from the rumbling sounds coming from them, those clouds were thunderclouds which meant...

"Looks like it's gonna rain," Rina said, spotting the incoming clouds once they were closer. "Ah man, and I was starting to have fun too."

'Grilling me about my feelings is fun?' Dai thought, shaking his head at his friend. Weren't they just having a deep discussion a second ago?

*thoom!*

"!" With a barely audible gasp, every single part of Dai seemed to freeze up as his senses picked up an all too familiar presence coming from down towards the festival grounds.

'No...there's no way! What's he doing here of all places!?'

"Well, we better head on down before it starts pouring," Rina said as she began descending down the stairs only to stop when she noticed Dai not moving. "Dai-kun?"

"..." Dai didn't respond back right away as his attention was focused down towards where the festival grounds were at.

"Dai-kun?" Rina called out to the boy again, growing concerned at her friend's continued silence.

"...Let's go," Dai suddenly said as he walked over to Rina and descended down the stairs.

"R-Right..." Responding somewhat awkwardly, Rina quickly followed after Dai, her worry clear on her face but she didn't get a chance to ask what was wrong as Dai was descending down at a rapid pace. "H-Hey, slow down, Dai-kun! I'm wearing sandals here!"

Dai didn't seem to hear her as the teen continued to descend down, practically jumping down the steps as he seemed to be in a hurry, and for good reason. Rina did her best to keep up with the Rider while making sure she didn't trip and fall down. But as Rina chased after Dai did the dark clouds reach the hill they were on and soon enough, in a matter of seconds, rain began pouring down upon them.

"Aw, man! It started!" Rina cried out as she held her bag closer to her, wrapping her arms around it so as to keep whatever was inside safe.

Again, Dai didn't respond back as he kept going down the stairs with his pace slightly increasing in response to the rain falling.

'Rain...then it really is him!' Dai thought to himself, looking ready to race off and leave Rina behind when he stopped as down below was Nagisa hovering worriedly over Shougo who was holding his leg.

"Fujipi-senpai!" Nagisa exclaimed in clear worry.

"What's wrong?" Dai called out, choosing to set aside his current worries as he and Rina made their way down towards the two.

"Dai-kun! Rina!" Nagisa cried out, looking relieved to see them. "It's Fujipi-senpai! I slipped and he tried to catch me but he twisted his ankle."

"Oh no!" Rina said as Dai knelt down by Shougo to see the extent of his injury.

"Can you stand?" Dai asked as he rolled up Shougo's pants and sock to see that a bruise was starting to form.

"I think so..." Shougo gritted through his teeth as he tried to stand before wincing.

"Don't push yourself!" Nagisa said as she and Dai helped Shougo up to his feet.

"What do we do?" Rina asked.

"We have to meet up with the others down below," Dai said as he took out a flashlight from his bag and handed it to Rina. "Light us a path. Nagisa and I will help Shougo down."

Nodding her head, Rina turned on the flashlight and walked in front of the three as Dai and Nagisa helped Shougo hop on his feet.

"Sorry about this," Shougo apologized to the two supporting him.

"What are you saying?" Nagisa said, appalled that Shougo would say such a thing. "For a soccer player, your legs are your life. If my foot hadn't slipped..."

"I just haven't trained hard enough. Don't blame yourself so much."

"Come on, you two. Save the talking for later. We're almost down," Dai said as he could spot Honoka and everyone else down at the bottom waiting for them.

"Minna (Everyone)!" Honoka called out to the four from down below. "Are you all alright?"

"Minna!" Nagisa called back. "Fujipi-senpai's in trouble!"

"Eh?" Honoka blinked in confusion until she and everyone saw Shougo once the four reached them. "Oh no, what happened?"

"I slipped and Fujipi-senpai twisted his ankle trying to save me," Nagisa explained, summarizing what happened.

"Kimata, call for help," Dai said as Kotaro came over to take Nagisa's place in supporting Shougo.

"Right," Kimata nodded as he took out his phone and dialed someone as the group made their way out of the festival grounds and onto the sidewalk.

"You okay man?" Kotaro asked as the group took shelter under a tree

"It's nothing that won't heal," Shougo said, trying to play off his injury.

"Just hang in there," Dai said before turning to Kimata. "Well?"

"No good," Kimata said, frowning. "I was supposed to call someone to pick us up, but I can't get a connection."

"Now what do we do?" Nagisa asked, looking worriedly at Honoka who looked equally concerned.

"Something dark is coming-mepo!" Mepple suddenly spoke up, scaring Nagisa who quickly clamped down on the Commune.

"It's getting closer and closer-mipo!" Mipple spoke up this time, getting the same reaction from Honoka. The two girls looked over towards their friends and it seemed only Dai heard them as he was now looking around in concern.

'Dang it, why now!?' Nagisa exclaimed in her mind as she and Honoka looked around for any signs of trouble.

*BOOM!*

A flash of light followed by a clap of thunder caused everyone to jump in surprise. Seconds later, two lights appeared in the distance with them getting closer and closer. It was a car and seeing it, Nagisa instantly sprung into action.

"Excuse me!" Nagisa cried out as she ran out and waved her arms out in hopes of getting the driver's attention. "Stop! Stop!"

Fortunately for Nagisa, the car did slow to a stop just before it passed her. Walking on over, the window was pulled down revealing a small elderly man with grey hair worn back with none of it in front of his ears and small, dark-colored eyes, and dressed in a brown suit with a pale yellow shirt and striped tie.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, but can you please help us?" Nagisa asked as she pointed over to the others, specifically Shougo. "A friend of ours is injured and we don't have a ride to take him to the hospital."

The old man looked over to where Nagisa was pointing towards before he nodded his head and parked the car.

"I understand. Bring him over here, I'll take him to the hospital."

"Really? Thank you so much!" Nagisa cheered before calling over the group. "Oi~!"

"Looks like she got us a ride," Dai said, smiling proudly at Nagisa before looking at the group. "So who's gonna go? We all can't fit in that car."

"I'll go," Honoka offered as she replaced Kotaro in supporting Shougo.

"Any objections?" Dai asked everyone else but not one raised any fuss. "Okay then. Come on, Shougo."

Nodding his head, Shougo, with the support of Dai and Honoka, was brought over to the car where Nagisa opened the door to the backseat for them.

"Thank you for your help," Honoka thanked the old man as she and Dai lowered Shougo into the car.

"Please, don't mention it," The old man said as the girls got into the car with Shougo.

"Hm?" Just as Nagisa was about to take a seat, she noticed that Dai wasn't making a move to join them and was instead looking back over towards the festival grounds. "Dai-kun? What's wrong?"

"...You girls go on ahead."

"Huh?"

"Just go. There's something I need to take care of," Dai said as he practically pushed Nagisa into her seat. "Take care of Shougo for me."

"Wha-? Hey!"

"Oji-san (Old man), thanks again!" Dai said to the driver before he ran off back towards the festival grounds.

"Your friend certainly seemed to be in a rush," The old man commented before he reached to switch gears. "Please put your seatbelts on."

"R-Right," Nagisa stuttered a bit as she and Honoka shared a look of concern. Why did their friend look so serious?

---

"Ah! It broke again. This is harder than it looks."

"You're not supposed to use so much force. Trying scraping it a little before breaking it."

"Hm, that might work. Thank you for the advice," Daguva said, turning to Dai who, drenched by the rain at this point, was glaring over at him. "Are you just gonna stand out there in the rain all night or are you gonna come over here and keep me company?"

Still glaring over at the Grongi in disguise, Dai entered the canopy where rows of tables were set up allowing people to sit down and play the game that was set up here, Katanukigashi (die-cut candy). Looking around, Dai noticed that the canopy was empty save for Daguva and him. Considering the lack of blood and destruction, Dai half-guessed and half-hoped that the people had left due to the rain canceling the festival short.

"Really though, the Linto's of this era sure come up with the most amusing things to pass the time. Before I realized it, I've already spent an hour playing this," Daguva said as he threw his failed die-cut candy into his mouth and ate it as he grabbed another one from a nearby box sitting next to him. "It's unfortunate that these aren't very good to eat though. Kind of a letdown if you ask me."

"..."

"Hm?" Looking up as if noticing for the first time that Dai was glaring at him, Daguva seemed confused before realizing the reason behind Dai's glare.

"Oh, don't worry," Daguva said, smiling as he reached beside him and patted a frozen stiff Pollun on the head. "The fairy here was just keeping me company while I waited for you to arrive. He's been quite the boring conversation partner, however, so you can take him back."

While still keeping his eyes on the Grongi leader, Dai reached over and grabbed Pollun, pulling him in his arms where he placed a hand on top of the young prince's head and gently patted it. As if in response to Dai's warm and gentle patting, Pollun started to tear up but didn't explode into full-blown crying as he usually would have done. His instincts told him that doing so would just anger Daguva.

"What are you doing here?" Dai asked, finally speaking up as he held Pollun protectively in his arms. Should anything happen, he could at least make sure to use his body to protect the fairy prince.

"Oh, I simply decided to drop by when I saw all these lights here. Then I sensed you nearby and thought I should say hello," Daguva said as most of his focus seemed to be down on the die-cut candy in front of him, trying to get the rabbit-shaped foodstuff cut out without breaking it.

"Hello. Now get out," Dai said coldly, acting completely out of character when compared to how he usually interacted with other people. It just goes to show just how much Dai hated Daguva. But all that hate was simply a mask to hide his fears of the Grongi leader who smiled in a way that seemed like he knew what Dai was trying to hide.

"Oh don't be like that. It's rare for me not to be in the mood to fight right now. Why not take this chance to have a chat with one another?"

"And what exactly would either of us have to talk about?"

"Well, for one thing, we can talk about how much we have in common."

"We have nothing in common."

"Oh, I beg to differ. We have plenty in common, you just don't know it."

"You're a monster who kills for pleasure."

"Now what did I say about being hurtful?" Daguva said, brushing away another failed die-cut before grabbing another. "Besides, if I'm a monster, then you are one too."

"What?" Dai raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What exactly is a monster?" Daguva said as he scratched at the die-cut candy with surgical precision without even looking. "Is it a hideous beast which stalks the dreams of children? Is it a person whose nature is so rotten that only his form is that of a Linto's? Or is it simply someone people consider a freak because they're abnormal?"

Dai didn't respond back, causing Daguva's smile to widen.

"You'd be surprised by how much people use the third definition," Daguva said as he slid the die-cut candy he had been working on over to Dai. Looking down at it, Dai saw that instead of breaking away the surrounding frames to free the image within, Daguva had turned it over and carved his symbol on the back which took the form of a corrupted version of Kuuga's symbol only with an extra set of horns.

"What do you call those people ruling up top? The government?" Daguva asked before continuing without even waiting for a response. "While the Linto's of this city may appreciate all you've done for them, to those sitting cozy up top, they, and perhaps the rest of the world, consider you a freak...like me."

"..."

"Oh hoh? Not even going to deny it? Well, even if you tried to, I have evidence. Baruba informed me that back when you fought...oh, what was her name? Right, Mebio! Back when you fought the cat, the police who are supporting you now shot you back then."

Again, Dai could say nothing as the memory of that event surfaced in his head. Despite it happening months ago, the memory was still clear in his mind. While he may have chalked it up to perhaps the Amadam Stone improving his memory, it was more due to the fact that the memory of getting shot at was just hard to forget.

"The only reason why they aren't doing that still is because you are the only thing they have that they can use to fight against me and my clan. They're using you, and once you've outlived your usefulness, they'll throw you away like yesterday's garbage."

"...maybe you're right," Dai said, admitting that there was truth to Daguva's words. However, not once did the fierceness in Dai's eyes die down. "But that doesn't justify what you're doing nor does it change what I have to do and that is to stop you from killing any more innocent people. Sure, my powers may frighten people, but that doesn't make them any less worth protecting."

"Oh really?" Daguva said, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "You say my game is killing innocent people, but just how 'innocent' are they?"

"What are you talking about?" Dai asked, narrowing his eyes at the Grongi leader.

Instead of answering, Daguva instead asked, "Do you like horror movies?"

"...huh?" Dai blinked, having taken a moment to process what Daguva had just asked.

"Just a few days ago I went to a movie theater and watched my very first horror movie," Daguva said, leaving out the part on how he got into a movie theater without a ticket. "Quite honestly, the movie bored me. Even weaker members of the clan are far more capable of committing gruesomer actions than what was shown. And yet, the room I was in was filled to the brim and the people around me, while scared, were completely enraptured by all the blood and death that was happening on the screen...why do you think that is?"

For the third time in a row, Dai didn't respond back for he had nothing he could say which only pleased Daguva further as his smile was practically splitting.

"The answer, Ichi Dai, is because they crave it. They crave to be in the victim's place. And they crave to do what the killer was doing to its victims."

"That's not true," Dai said, denying Daguva's claims.

"Is it? You have all these laws and rules that keep people in line but tear those down, introduce a bit of chaos...and everything explodes, much like the Linto tribe 2000 years ago."

"Because you attacked them. You forced their hands."

"Well, yes, my involvement was what caused the tribe to become so violent, but the beautiful thing is that it happened after Riku sealed me away along with what was left of the clan. It was only after they won did they get drunk on their own achievement and sought out more battles to satisfy their new bloodlust."

Dai gritted his teeth as he had nothing to refute what Daguva said for it was all true.

"You can try and defend the morals that people have, but at the first sign of trouble, they'll drop those self-imposed rules and do whatever it takes to survive. At the end of the day, these 'civilized' people you're protecting will kill each other one day. I'm just speeding up the process."

"It'll never come to that," Dai declared.

"Oh really? How can you be so sure?"

"Because—"

"Because people aren't like that!" A third voice spoke up, surprising both Dai and Daguva as they both turned and saw standing right next to their table dripping wet was Nagisa glaring heatedly at the Grongi leader.

"Nagisa-chan!" Dai exclaimed as he stood up in surprise. "What are you doing here? I thought you went with Honoka-chan and Shougo to the hospital?"

"I got worried so I asked the old man to stop and ran after you. And I'm glad I did," Nagisa explained as she moved over to Dai's side while never taking her eyes off of Daguva.

"Well, if it isn't the black Cure. What a surprise it is to see you without your partner by your side," Daguva said as he pointed out how Honoka was nowhere to be seen.

"She's taking care of a friend," Nagisa quickly explained, silently telling Dai that Honoka had gone on ahead to the hospital with Shougo which meant that Nagisa had come here all by herself.

"Is that so?" Daguva said, smiling in a way that he knew something that they didn't. "And pray tell, what exactly am I wrong about people?"

"Everything!" Nagisa shouted, denying everything Daguva had said about humanity. "Sure, there may be some bad people here and there in the world, but not everyone is as bloodthirsty as you claim! You and the rest of your clan, we're nothing like you!"

"I think the history of man would beg to differ," Daguva countered. "Every so few years a new war breaks out somewhere in the world. You claim that humanity isn't bloodthirsty yet time and time again you people are always eager to kill one another. How is that any different than from what I'm doing with the Gegeru?"

"Wars are fought for a reason. You just kill for sport," Dai exclaimed, practically spitting out his words at Daguva.

"Well, I mean, we all have our hobbies."

"You think you got humanity all figured out, but you don't!" Nagisa exclaimed, slamming her hands down on the table. "How could you know when you've been napping for the last 2000 years? Sure, humans fight one another, but time and time again, when the going gets rough, we stand united! Dai and the rest of the police force, they're proof of that! And another thing! You say that you and Dai are alike, that you're both monsters, but you couldn't be more wrong! Dai here is the nicest, kindest, and most heroic person that I know! He's no monster, far from it!"

"Nagisa-chan..." Dai muttered, looking at Nagisa in surprise at all she said about him.

"You say he's a monster, but the only monster I see here is you!" Nagisa shouted as she finished by pointing a finger at Daguva.

For the first time since this conversation started, the smile on Daguva's face dropped, forming a straight line as Daguva stared right at Nagisa. There was no killing intent spewing from him, and yet his stare seemed to be drilling a hole through Nagisa who started to visibly sweat which was hard to notice due to how drenched she was from the rain. But despite this, not once did Nagisa attempt to look away as she stared back at Daguva, hands clenched tightly as to prevent them from shaking. And close by, Dai's body was tensed, looking ready to jump in case Daguva tried anything.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Daguva ended the staring contest between them as his smile returned.

"Such fierce eyes you have...I don't think I've ever met a female Linto quite like you."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"It might," Daguva said as he stood up. "It's clear to see that we'll never see eye to eye."

"Obviously," Dai said as he stood up too. "Humanity will never end up like the Grongi. I...no," Dai looked over to Nagisa for a second before turning back to Daguva. "We will make sure that the corruption you plan to spread will never happen."

"My, aren't we confident?" Daguva said as he exited the canopy, walking out into the rain yet his form remained dry even as the rain fell on him. "But you forget, Ichi Dai..." Turning back to look over at the Rider, Daguva's smile grew sinister. "It doesn't have to be me who accomplishes my goals."

Dai gritted his teeth and placed a hand over his stomach, knowing exactly what Daguva was talking about. Nagisa did too as her expression grew angrier at what Daguva was implying.

"This has been a lovely talk, but sadly I must get going now," Daguva said as he turned and left, waving his hand behind him. "Continue to fight on, you two. You're the only thing making my Gegeru as fun as it is after all. Hehehe..." And with those parting words and laughter, Daguva's form disappeared into the shadows, leaving Dai and Nagisa alone.

"That guy gives me the creeps-mepo," Mepple said, popping his head out from Nagisa's bag.

"No argument there," Nagisa said, calming down before she turned to Dai who flinched due to the look she was giving him.

"Um, Nagisa-ch—?"

*SLAP!*

"Ow!" Dai cried out as Nagisa suddenly slapped both her hands onto Dai's cheeks, practically grabbing his face as she pulled him closer to her.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Did he do anything to you? Is everything all right?"

"You ask me that after slapping me?"

"Answer the questions!"

"I-I'm fine, Nagisa-chan, calm down," Dai said, waving his free hand as his other was still holding Pollun. "I'm all right, nothing else happened."

"Thank goodness," Nagisa said, sighing in relief before she quickly went back to glaring at him. "Baka!"

"Eh?"

"Why did you go off on your own like that!? Did you forget how many times that guy nearly killed us!? What were you thinking!?"

"I-I'm sorry, but I couldn't just ignore him when I sensed him earlier."

"So you knew he was here but you didn't think to tell Honoka and me?"

"You were already pretty worried about Shougo and I didn't want to add to that."

"So you thought to keep me and Honoka away again, didn't you?"

"I—"

"Didn't you!?"

"...yes," Dai admitted, looking down as he was unable to hang his head due to Nagisa still holding his face.

"Argh, idiot! There you go again, worrying about everyone but yourself. Do you know how much I hate this part of you?"

"Sorry..."

"Seriously, what am I going to do with you?" Nagisa sighed as she finally released her hold on Dai before looking down at Pollun still burying his face in the Rider's chest. "Is Pollun okay?"

"I think so," Dai said before he looked down and shook Pollun a little to get his attention. "Hey, Pollun, it's okay, everything's okay now. The scary man's gone."

"*sniff* He's gone-popo?" Pollun asked as he finally broke away from Dai and looked around to see no sign of Daguva anywhere.

"Yep. You did very well, being brave like that," Dai said as he patted Pollun on the head again which caused more tears to form from the fairy prince.

"I... *sniff* I was... *sniff* ...Waaaaaaah!" No longer needing to hold back in fear of Daguva, Pollun wailed as he cried into Dai's chest.

"There, there. It's okay, it's okay," Dai said, speaking gently as he patted the fairy's back, holding him like he was a baby.

"Poor Pollun, he must have been scared near to death," Nagisa said, looking worriedly at the fairy yet was relieved that nothing had happened to him. "How did he get here? I thought he was still asleep back at home."

"He must have woken up and made his way here," Dai said, guessing correctly at how Pollun came here. "Unfortunately, he ran into Daguva along the way. The rest is history."

"Just what the heck was he doing here?" Nagisa thought out loud as she looked over at Daguva's pile of broken die-cut candies.

"From the way he talked, he got curious about the festival. It was a coincidence that we happen to be here too," Dai explained as Pollun noticeably calm down, reduced to sniffling.

"Ugh, that guy makes no sense," Nagisa said, scratching her head in annoyance. "He talks about wanting people to kill each other and yet he goes around doing random stuff like this. Just what is his problem?"

"Who knows," Dai said as he looked down concerningly at the die-cut that had Daguva's symbol on it. "I don't think there's a single soul in the world who could understand Daguva."

*BOOM!*

"Kya!" Nagisa let out a cry as she and Dai jumped up when a sudden thunderstrike lit up the sky above. Looking outside, the rain was still coming down hard.

"Dang, it's really pouring out there," Nagisa commented, looking worriedly at the sky as she hugged herself, beginning to feel cold due to her wet yukata. "I hope Honoka and Fujipi-senpai made it to the hospital okay."

"Yeah. Hopefully, the others took shelter elsewhere," Dai said, hoping that Rina and the others were safe and out of this rain.

"Yeah, and Ryota too," Nagisa said, having not seen him since he ran off with the fish Honoka had given him.

"Aww, you do care about him," Dai said, smiling teasingly at the girl who blushed in response.

"U-Urusai (shut up)! I'm his big sister, of course, I care!"

"Hehe, sorry, sorry," Dai apologized, waving his hand in an attempt to pacify his friend.

"...rumble...flash..."

"Huh?" Looking down, both Nagisa and Dai saw that Pollun had finally stopped crying but now seemed to be in a daze as he muttered,

"Rumble...flash...boom!"

"Pollun?"

"Hey, what's wrong?" Both teens asked the fairy, wondering what was going on.

"It has awakened-popo..." Pollun said, his voice monotone as he stared off into the distance.

"'It has awakened?'" Nagisa repeated, confused until she and Dai widen their eyes in realization.

"Could it be!?"

"The last Seed of Darkness has awakened-mepo!?" Mepple exclaimed, realizing too the meaning behind Pollun's words.

"Pollun! Please, you have to tell us, where is the last Seed of Darkness?" Dai asked, hoping that Pollun's ability of foresight could at least allow him to pinpoint the Seed's location.

"Rumble...flash...flashing...gathering together...raining...flashing...BOOM!"

*BOOM!*

At the same time, Pollun finished whatever he was saying did another lightning strike occur, causing our two heroes to jump.

"Geez, that surprised me," Nagisa said before turning to Dai and asked, "So, did you understand anything Pollun just said?"

"I was about to ask you that," Dai said, looking sheepish.

"Well that's just great," Nagisa said sarcastically which Dai could only awkwardly laugh in response.

*BOOM!*

"Geez, it is really come down," Nagisa commented as she looked out into the rain, just barely catching the third lightning strike in the air. "You'd think it would have let up by now when Daguva left."

"Yeah..." Dai said, narrowing his eyes at the rain. He too had figured that the cause of the rain was Daguva's weather ability at work, but the Grongi had long since left yet the rain was still going. That alone felt suspicious to Dai and he wasn't the only one.

"Hold on-mepo," Mepple spoke up as he too narrowed his eyes at the rain. "Something isn't right-mepo."

"What is it?" Nagisa asked, lifting up her bag which Mepple was hanging from.

"It's the rain, it doesn't feel right-mepo."

"The rain?" Nagisa raised an eyebrow as she took another look at the downpour happening outside.

"Hmm..." Humming to himself, Dai placed Pollun down on the table before walking outside, not minding the rain hitting him like a hard shower. To his right were the lights of the festival which was probably all but canceled at this point. And to his left...

"Nagisa-chan, you might want to see this."

"Huh?" Confused, Nagisa left her bag and Mepple with Pollun before stepping outside herself, holding up her hands to somewhat shield her face from the rain. Looking towards where Dai was looking, Nagisa gasped at what she saw.

Thunder. From the clouds above, a great number of thunderbolts were raining down from the sky and spiraled downward where it seemed to be gathering at someplace in the distance.

"Is that what Pollun meant?" Nagisa said, remembering Pollun's words from earlier.

"This is bad," Dai said, frowning. "The city hospital is in that direction."

"The hospital?" Nagisa looked at Dai in confusion until she realized what the Rider was implying. "Honoka!"

"We gotta go," Dai said as he went back to the canopy to grab Pollun.

"But how?" Nagisa asked as she followed Dai and grabbed Mepple. "You said you left your bike with Enokida-san. How are we gonna reach the hospital in this weather?"

"You forget, Nagisa-chan," Dai began as he smirked at the Cure. "I've got a friend who's always ready to answer my call."

---

(Meanwhile, Wakabadai General Hospital)

"Easy now," The nurse said as Shougo carefully sat in the wheelchair. Once that was done did the nurse turn to Honoka. "Don't worry, miss. We'll take good care of your friend."

"Thank you very much," Honoka said as the nurse wheeled Shougo away to get treated, leaving Honoka by herself at the hospital entrance.

"It's a good thing we got here safely-mipo," Mipple spoke up once the two of them were alone.

"Yes. It was really coming down once we got here," Honoka said as the rain outside grew noticeably louder. "But who knew that kind old man was the director here. We really lucked out."

*BOOM!*

"Kya!" Honoka cried out, jumping at the sudden thunder strike. Looking outside, Honoka could only make out the street and signal lights outside.

"It's really coming down now."

"What should we do now-mipo?"

"I can't go home with the weather like this. Guess we'll just have to wait until the rain calms down," Honoka said as she went over and took a seat on one of the many chairs lined up in the lobby.

"I should probably call Oba-chama to let her know I'm all right," Honoka said as she took out her phone and dialed her house phone, but failed to get a connection. "No connection, must be because of the storm outside."

'I hope Nagisa and Ichi-kun are okay,' Honoka thought to herself, remembering the look on Dai's face earlier which caused Nagisa to go after him.

"Honoka, bad news-mipo!" Mipple suddenly spoke up. "I sense a dark presence here-mipo!"

"What!?" Honoka exclaimed, standing up in surprise.

"It's coming from the rooftop-mipo!" Mipple informed before looking concerningly at Honoka. "What should we do? Nagisa and Mepple aren't here-mipo."

'She's right,' Honoka frowned, realizing that without Nagisa and Mepple, she couldn't transform into a Cure should this dark presence be from the Dark Zone, or worse, a Grongi.

'Even still, I can't ignore this!' Honoka thought, steeling herself as she walked over to the elevator and had it take her to the top floor. Holding herself like a dignified lady, Honoka did her best to not let the slightly annoying elevator music get to her as a minute later, the elevator stopped and she stepped out. Looking left and right, she soon found the entrance to the stairs that lead up to the roof.

"Please, be careful-mipo," Mipple said, obviously very worried for her partner's safety.

Honoka simply nodded in response before she made her way upward. It didn't take her long to reach the top and grabbing the door handle, Honoka gulped down her nervousness and slowly opened the door. It was still raining and judging from the constant sounds of thunder she was hearing, quite badly at that. But rain and thunder weren't going to scare her as she continued to push the door open, peeking out until she spotted something unbelievable.

Lightning bolts were spiraling downwards onto a short man who seemed to be absorbing them. The said man was pale-skinned and had long silver-white hair that stood up as if shocked by lightning, ironic considering what was happening right now. His eyes were completely white, lacking irises and pupils. He wore a purple spandex suit with pieces of material wrapping around his arms and hand and on his face were purple facial markings reminiscent of claws.

"That person..." Honoka muttered as the man's appearance brought to mind the two Seeds of Darkness she and Nagisa had fought in the past. Which can only mean...

"The third and last Seed of Darkness..."

"Such dark powers, there's no mistake-mipo," Mipple whispered before looking up at her partner. "What should we do-mipo?"

What can they do? Honoka could not transform without Nagisa and Mepple, leaving her with no way to confront this new enemy.

"We'll have to retreat for now," Honoka reluctantly decided as she slowly closed the door so as to not alert the Seed. "I hate to do this, but we'll have to leave the Seed alone. For now, let's get everyone here evacuated."

"But where can we go-mipo? It's still raining-mipo."

Honoka could not answer the fairy due to a lack of one. Just where could they evacuate to in this weather? There was also the problem of trying to explain the reason behind the evacuation.

'Even still, I gotta try!' Honoka thought. Even if it would be difficult to explain, it was better than getting innocents involved, not to mention that Shougo was still here.

'After that, I need to find a way to contact Nagisa and Ichi-kun—'

"Watch out-mipo!" Mipple suddenly screamed.

*BOOM!*

Unable to react in time, the door behind Honoka was blasted open, tearing the metal door off its hinges and hitting her, knocking and sending her rolling down the stairs as each roll made Honoka cry out in pain. Reaching the floor below seconds later, Honoka groaned in pain before she looked up and gasped, quickly rolling away in time to avoid the falling damaged metal door which struck the ground with a loud gonging sound.

"Honoka! Are you all right-mipo!?"

"Yeah..." Honoka groaned out, shaking off her fall as she stood up and looked to see just what had blasted the door.

"You..." Up above, the third Seed descended down the stairs and narrowed his eyes when he spotted Honoka.

"Uh oh," Honoka said before she quickly took off running.

"Duck-mipo!"

*BOOM!*

Had it not been for Mipple's warning, Honoka would have gotten blasted by a thunderbolt had she not ducked while turning a corner. Forgoing the elevators completely as to avoid getting trapped in a single place, Honoka made a beeline for the stairs, throwing open the doors hiding them, and quickly descended. As she did, she noticed that she was going quite slow and she soon realized why. Mentally apologizing to her grandmother, Honoka kicked off her sandals before untying the obi around her kimono. Once done she threw it to the side before quickly shaking off and throwing away her entire yukata, leaving it behind as she ran down in nothing but socks, a white skirt, and a sky blue shirt. She of course kept the bag that held Mipple in it with her, tying it around her wrist so as to not accidentally drop her. It should be noted that Honoka had run down 5 whole floors during all of this. Impressive.

*BOOM!*

However, her pursuer was far from normal, or even human for that matter. Just as Honoka was about to descend further, the stairs above her exploded, surprising her and forcing her to come to a stop as the Seed walked out from the dust and rubble.

"I knew it. You're Pretty Cure; the white half."

Unable to go any further, Honoka gritted her teeth before she decided on the next best, and possibly only thing she could do now to survive: fight.

Acting quickly, Honoka threw a fast roundhouse kick, aiming for the Seed's temple in hopes to knock him out, at best, or at least daze him. But the Seed was fast, blocking Honoka's kick easily and just as easily knocked it back before rushing forward to throw a punch. While a bit unbalanced, Honoka managed to bring up her guard by crossing her arms in front of her which blocked the punch, but the force behind it knocked her back where she crashed into the 5th Floor door and out into the halls where her back soon met the wall. Letting out a grunt of pain, Honoka lowered her arms before quickly jumping to her left, barely doing another punch from the Seed whose fist easily dug itself into the wall. Rolling to her feet, Honoka took off running to create some distance, but the Seed once again proved fast as he quickly grabbed Honoka by the back of her shirt and threw her the opposite way where she crashed into a wall and fell to the ground. Honoka couldn't help but feel like a pebble being thrown and skipped around.

Cracking his knuckles, the Seed looked pleased with himself as he walked over towards Honoka, reaching out to grab her, only for the girl to spin around and knock the Seed back, hitting him across the face with a fire extinguisher that had fallen when she struck the wall earlier. Raising the hose, Honoka aimed and squeezed the release lever, releasing the pressurized carbon dioxide at the Seed who raised his hands to cover himself. Moving the hose around to spread the spray around to act as a smokescreen, Honoka took off running again. Turning a corner, Honoka ran past three doors before grabbing and throwing open the fourth one which she entered and hid behind, taking a moment to sit down and catch her breath.

"Honoka, are you all right-mipo?" Mipple asked, clearly worried for her partner who had been thrown around.

"I'm...okay," Honoka said, trying to ignore how her back ached. She had suffered worse after all, though that wasn't exactly something to be proud of, she felt.

"What do we do now-mipo?" If things continued on like this, then sooner or later, Honoka was gonna run out of steam and luck.

Honoka didn't answer back for she had none. The situation truly was dire and unfortunately, she didn't have a plan to get out of it.

'If only I could get a connection,' Honoka thought, taking out her phone to see that she was still unable to get a stable connection.

'Calm down, Yukishiro Honoka. Think, what are your available options right now and what can you do—'

*BANG!*

Honoka couldn't help but let out a startled yelp as the door next to her was kicked open and torn off its hinges, allowing the Seed to enter the room. Quickly, Honoka raised the extinguisher and squeezed the release, spewing pressurized carbon dioxide right in the Seed's face. But this wasn't as effective as Honoka had hoped as the Seed reached his hand out through the white stream and grabbed the extinguisher, tearing it away from Honoka's hands and leaving her weaponless. Throwing the extinguisher away, the Seed raised its right hand and brought it down towards Honoka as if to strike her down right then and there. Seeing she would be unable to dodge in time, Honoka suppressed the urge to dodge back and instead rushed forward, slamming her elbow into the Seed's chest which not only surprised it but was also forced back as its feet skidded across the floor due to unexpected power behind Honoka's blow. Honoka looked proud of herself...for exactly a second before the Seed smirked at her.

"Impressive," The Seed said, brushing his chest as if to get rid of some dust. "You react quick and your appearance belies the power you're hiding. However..."

Faster than Honoka could blink, the Seed closed the distance between them and struck her across the stomach with a punch, forcing Honoka to bend over and gasp, feeling like she was about to throw up. But before she even could, the Seed went and grabbed her by the neck before lifting her up and squeezed, choking her.

"Unfortunately, this is about all you can do without that precious partner of yours. How lucky for me that you came here all by yourself."

'Can't...breath...!' Honoka thought as she tried to pry the Seed's hand off of her while kicking her feet against it, but the Seed simply ignored her kicks and laughed.

"Looks like this is the end of Pretty Cure."

"NO!"

*POOF!*

Suddenly, from Honoka's bag jumped out Mipple who quickly transformed into her true form. She then jumped and landed right on top of the Seed's face where she then proceeded to—

*Spit!*

"Gyah!"

—spite right into the Seed's eye, causing him to cry out in alarm and release his hold on Honoka who fell to her knees coughing.

"Honoka!" Mipple cried out as she fell into her partner's arms.

"I'm fine," Honoka assured before looking up towards the very angry Seed.

"Damn you!" Wiping the spit from his eye, the Seed angrily brought down a fist towards Honoka in an attempt to finish her off, but the girl quickly rolled under his attack and ran out of the room, making a break for it.

"Thanks for the save, Mipple," Honoka said, smiling thankfully at the fairy in her arms.

"That's what friends are for-mipo," Mipple said, very glad that she was able to save her partner, unorthodox as it was though it wasn't like her stubbly little arms were going to do anything against the Seed.

"Don't think you can escape!" Sliding out of the room, the Seed thrusted a hand forward and shot lightning towards Honoka who was unable to react in time and was thus struck across the back.

"Honoka!" Mipple screamed in horror as Honoka cried out in pain. The attack blew the girl off her feet where she flew for a few seconds before coming back down and rolled across the ground where she eventually skidded to a stop in front of a window. It was still pouring outside with lightning occurring in the distance.

"Honoka! Please get up-mipo!" Mipple exclaimed, tears forming from the corner of her eyes as she tried to help her paralyzed partner up.

"Kh...ah..." Honoka could barely get a word out as her body felt numb, not helped by the fact that she could feel her back smoking. A small part of her hoped this wouldn't lead to another scar forming.

"I had hoped to avoid using as much energy as possible..." The Seed spoke up as it walked over towards the downed heroine. "But I'm willing to waste what I've gathered so far if it means taking one of you out."

The Seed raised a hand towards Honoka as sparks began to gather around it. Seeing this, Mipple stood in front of Honoka protectively, hoping to use her little body to shield her partner.

"Mipple...don't..." Honoka fitted out, not wanting the fairy to get hurt but Mipple refused to move.

"Die, Cure White!" The Seed shouted as he once again shot lightning towards Honoka and Mipple.

Honoka gritted her teeth as she broke through the numbness paralyzing her body and quickly grabbed Mipple much to her protest. She then rolled over and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the incoming attack.

*zzzzzzz...!*

That is until she heard the sound of buzzing in the distance. Confused, Honoka opened her eyes—

*CRASH!*

—and was promptly surprised as crashing through the window was Nagisa and Dai both being carried by the sentient horse armor that was Gouram.

"What!?" The Seed shouted in surprise.

"Go, Gouram!" Dai shouted back as he and Nagisa let go of Gouram, rolling to the ground as the sentient horse armor spun around like a drill and pierced through the lightning aimed at Honoka where it then reached the Seed and struck it with its pincers, sending the dark being flying back where it skipped across the ground, leaving cracks behind with each skip.

"Honoka!" Nagisa cried out as she and Dai went over to Honoka's side and helped her up.

"Am I ever glad to see you guys," Honka said, smiling.

"Are you okay? You're hurt," Dai said, noticing Honoka's burnt back.

"I've certainly been better."

"Mipple!" Jumping out of Nagisa's bag, Mepple assumed his true form and hugged a crying Mipple.

"Mepple!"

"It's okay-mepo. We're here now-mepo."

"Kh!" Getting up to its feet, the Seed glared over at the three heroes. "So the black half arrives in the nick of time to save her other half. How cliche."

"So that's the last Seed of Darkness," Dai noted as Nagisa stepped forward, glaring over at the Seed.

"You...How dare you hurt Honoka like this! You'll pay!"

"Hmph. I'd love to see you try," The Seed scoffed before he raised his arm up. "I had hoped to finish one of you off but now that all three of you are here, I can't afford to waste any more time. Arise, Zakenna!"

Suddenly, from the sky, two shadows flew in through the window Nagisa and Dai had crashed through and entered two random rooms. Seconds later, the entire floor shook as bursting from the rooms were two Zakenna, one assimulating a health monitor while another assimilated a defibrillator.

"ZAKENNA!"

The sight of the two Zakenna's didn't scare the three one bit as they all stepped forward.

"Pollun, you stay with Gouram," Dai said as he placed the fairy prince on top of the giant stag beetle.

"Be careful-popo."

"We will," Dai said, assuring the fairy with a smile before he summoned the Arcle around his waist. "Ready, girls?"

"Ready!" Both girls exclaimed as their respective fairy partners transformed back into the Heart Commune forms.

"Henshin!"

"Duel Aurora Wave!"

Going through the hand motions, Dai soon took off running as his body transformed part by part. At the same time, the second the girls swiped their cards, they too took off running as rainbow streams of light gathered around them like usual. By the time Dai finished transforming, the light surrounding the girls burst, revealing their transformed states as Pretty Cure. Now done transforming, the girls, forgoing their usual introduction, took on the defibrillator Zakenna while Dai took on the monitor Zakenna.

"Have fun you three," The Seed said before it jumped up and through the ceiling above, ascending to the floor above.

"Wait!" Dai cried out, attempting to give chase, but the monitor Zakenna grabbed his leg with a wire-like tentacle and swung him around. Clicking his teeth, Dai grabbed the appendage and ripped it apart, freeing himself as he flipped over and landed on his feet, facing the Zakenna who used its body to block his way.

"Okay, fine then. You want a fight, you got it!"

"ZAKENNA!"

The girls quickly jumped back, avoiding the defibrillator Zakenna's paddle-like hands, though in this case, the paddles were its hands. Compared to the monitor Zakenna's skeletal appearance, the defibrillator Zakenna's box-like body remained stationary as it seems its only form of attack was to swing around its electric-powered paddles. At least, that's what the girls assumed as they dodged another one of the Zakenna's swings and moved in close enough to punch/kick the monster's face, sending it skidding back. Anger growing, the Zakenna roared again before it started swinging its arms around wildly in hopes of hitting the girls. It was working somewhat as while the Zakenna was still failing to hit the girls, because of its wild movements the two Cures were forced to constantly dodge from flipping around to jumping off walls when they ran out of space to move.

"This is getting us nowhere—whoa!" Nagisa exclaimed before crying out as she quickly dodged a swing that would have struck her across the face.

"We need to create an opening!" Honoka yelled over as she jumped up to avoid a swing that broke the window behind her.

"But how?" Nagisa thought out loud until she took a glance over at Dai's fight.

Roaring, the monitor Zakenna shot out a beam of light from its screen-like face. Dai dodged it by jumping to the right which proved wise as the beam struck and left a hole in the floor. Roaring again, the Zakenna started swinging its arms around frantically not unlike its brother was doing against the Cures. Gritting his teeth underneath his helmet, Dai kept on moving to dodge the Zakenna's whip-arms but was forced back by a surprise beam attack that struck him across the chest. Skidding back, Dai ignored the smoke steaming off his chest as he charged back towards the Zakenna who sent out its whips again. Only this time, instead of dodging them, Dai stood his ground and let them hit them. Why he wasn't dodging was soon answered as the Rider went and grabbed both of the Zakenna's whip-arms and kept a good grip on them, preventing the Zakenna from pulling them back.

"Sorry, but compared to some of the Grongi I've been facing recently, you're nothing!" Dai said before he went and chopped the whip-arms with his bare hands, getting a cry of pain from the Zakenna.

At the same time, by watching the Rider's fight did Nagisa get an idea. She ceased dodging and was rewarded with the Zakenna's large paddle hand slamming her into the wall.

"Black!" Honoka cried out in worry, wondering why her friend had stopped dodging.

She soon received her answer as the dust cleared, revealing Nagisa had gone, and grabbed the Zakenna's paddle hand, holding onto it so as to prevent the dark monster from pulling back.

"White! Now!" Nagisa cried out and Honoka nodded, seeing what her friend was doing.

With only one to deal with now, Honoka had an easier time advancing towards the defibrillator Zakenna while still dodging its wild swings. Jumping up, Honoka went and kicked towards the Zakenna's face.

"ZAKENNA!"

But to Honoka's surprise, the Zakenna had pulled its hand back and used its paddle hand like a makeshift shield. Honoka attempted to pull back but soon found herself slamming face-first into the Zakenna's hand which was noticeably producing more sparks.

"White!" Nagisa cried out in worry but soon found herself in the same position. 'Dammit, can't...move!"

'Static!' Honoka thought, figuring out how she and Nagisa were stuck on the Zakenna's hands. 'It's holding us by static clinging to our clothes!' Was it ridiculous? A little, but its effectiveness was shown as the Zakenna went and clapped its hands thus slamming both girls together. After that, the numbers on the Zakenna's screen face went up before both girls soon had high currents of electricity running through them, causing them to scream in pain.

"Girls!" Dai cried out in worry, about to go aid them but was forced to quickly block another beam attack from the monitor Zakenna. Clicking his tongue, Dai decided it was time to end this now.

Drawing upon the power within him, the Rider's right foot was bathed in flames. Calling upon a bit more power, sparks soon accompanied those flames yet Dai did not enter a Rising state. In fact, he was deliberately not entering his golden state for he knew what would happen should he go Rising in his Mighty form.

'Hold it...hold it in...!' Concentrating carefully, Dai soon took off running, dashing at a speed faster than the Zakenna could react. By the time it blinked, Dai's foot had already slammed right into its face. A small shockwave occurred as the Zakenna was soon sent flying back, crashing through a window where the dark monster let out one final cry before it exploded. Dai had made the right call sending the Zakenna outside for the size of the explosion was big enough to possibly damage the entire floor.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Dai soon turned around to where the girls were...and came upon an unbelievable sight.

"Hnnngh...!"

Looking at the numbers on the screen, the Zakenna was shocking the girls with enough volts to not only fatally hurt them, but enough to stop their hearts. And yet, to Dai's surprise, the girls were pushing against the Zakenna's paddles despite the fact that they should be completely paralyzed. Not only that but the electricity the Zakenna was giving off seemed to be empowered the two as a barely noticeable golden aura surrounded the Cures.

"That's..." Dai muttered, getting a familiar feeling as he gazed at the aura the girls were giving off.

Using their legs to push the Zakenna's paddles away from them, the girls, with their backs pushed against each other, reached out and clasped their hands together.

"Black/White Thunder!"

*BOOM!*

From the many broken windows, black and white thunderbolts flew in and struck the girls, not only empowering them like usual but the burst of power also blew away the Zakenna's paddles trapping them.

"Purikyua no utsukushiki tamashī ga…" (Our beautiful souls...)

"...Jaaku na kokoro wo uchikudaku!" (...Shall crush your evil heart!)

The second the girls touched the ground they both thrust their hands towards the remaining Zakenna, neither noticing that their eyes briefly flashed gold and missed how the hearts on their outfits changed from their usual colors to gold for a second.

"Pretty Cure Marble Screw!"

Black and white energy blasts from the girls' hands as usual, though the blast that shot out of the girls' hands was notably bigger than usual. The Cure didn't pay it much mind as their attacks spiraled around one another and struck the Zakenna with a force so strong that one couldn't even hear its final cry as it was enveloped in light. Once it died down, the remains of the Zakenna were apologizing as usual while escaping through the broken windows.

"That attack...it was stronger than usual," Dai noted before looking towards the girls to see them collapse to their knees. "Girls!" The Rider wasted no time running to their sides. "Are you two all right?"

"My body is completely numb..." Nagisa groaned out, looking exhausted.

"Mine too..." Honoka groaned out, looking just as exhausted as her friend but still managed to move her head towards the hole the Seed had made when escaping. "The Seed..."

"I'll take care of it. You two just rest," Dai said, motioning over Gouram to look after them before moving over to the hole where rain was pouring through it. Looking up, Dai saw more holes that all lead up to the roof, explaining how the rain was coming through.

Quickly assuming his Dragon form, Dai easily jumped through all five floors and landed on the roof. Quickly entering a stance, Dai looked around but spotted no signs of the Seed.

"It's gone..." Dai said, relaxing as the rain finally began to die down. As the rain practically bathed Dai he thought back to what had happened with the girls.

'That aura...could it be...' Placing a hand on his belt, worry grew inside of Dai; worry not just for the girls but for the future to come.

---

(Some Time Later)

"Thank goodness it was only a minor sprain," Honoka said, her yukata back on her after Dai had gone and retrieved it for her.

Some time has passed since the fight against the Seed and the Zakenna. Like almost every fight involving the Dark Zone, the damage to the area was reversed once the fighting was over. Sending Gouram back to Special Investigation HQ, Dai phoned Kimata and the others to tell them about Shougo's condition while staying with the girls until they were able to move again. By the time their friends made it to the hospital, the girls were back on their feet though there was still a notable stiffness to them which they did their best to hide from the others as they all stood outside.

"The doctor said I'll get better so long as I keep off of it for 2-3 weeks," Shougo said, supported by a pair of crunches as his sprained leg was encased in a cast.

"That's a relief," Dai said, glad that his friend was all right.

"I'm really sorry," Nagisa apologized, still feeling guilty.

"I said not to worry about it," Shougo said as a van pulled up to them. "Ah, this is my ride."

"Anyone want to hitch a ride? We can drop you guys off at your houses," Kimata offered as Kotaro helped Shougo into the vehicle.

"I'll take you up on that," Rina said, accepting the offer.

"Me too, me too!" Shiho said, raising her hand.

"I'm fine, my oba-chama is picking me up," Honoka said, declining the offer.

"Nagisa and I are going with her," Dai said, speaking for Nagisa who still looked sadden.

"Then I guess I'll see you at school later," Kimata said, waving goodbye as he and everyone else got into the van.

"Yeah. See ya," Dai said, waving back as the van soon left, leaving just the three of them.

"So, how're you two feeling?"

"Most of the numbness is gone so we're getting better," Honoka answered, massaging her shoulder. She had had a feeling though that her back was going to hurt in the morning.

"That's good," Dai said before looking around. "Looks like it'll be a while until Sanae-san gets here."

"My house is about 30 minutes from here so it'll take a while."

"I see," Dai glanced over at Nagisa who had yet to speak up. "You okay, Nagisa-chan?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah..." Nagisa said, jumping at suddenly being addressed before looking down again. "Just...kind of depressed about how the festival went."

"Ah...Yeah, it got pretty rough, didn't it?"

"That's putting it lightly," Nagisa scoffed before sighing. "Ugh, arienai (I can't believe this). After what happened today, I'm really not looking forward to going back to school."

"I don't blame you," Dai said, crossing his arms as he gazed up at the moon with not a cloud in the sky. It was almost hard to believe how much it rained earlier.

"Second semester's about to begin," Honoka spoke up, frowning a little. "It's almost hard to believe how long we've been fighting."

"Yeah," Nagisa nodded agreeing with her friend. "We've been fighting for almost half a year now. Just when is this going to end?"

"It ends when we put our respective baddies down for good," Dai said firmly, turning to face the girls. "We've still got a long road ahead of us, but I know that as long as we stick together, there's nothing we can't overcome."

Both the girls looked surprised at the Rider, but soon smiled, encouraged by their friend's words.

"Yeah, Nagisa nodded as she and Honoka stood next to Dai, basking in the moonlight above.

"So long as we're together..."

"There's no way we'll ever lose."

---

And...done! Whew, another big one, though those are probably the norm at this point. *Looks at the story graph* Yep, it is. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed today's chapter. It came out better than I expected, though I admittedly lost a bit of steam near the end. Nevertheless, I'm happy with what came out and I hope you all feel the same. No Rider Fun Facts today as I can't really think of anything to talk about since like I said up above, this was more a Pretty Cure chapter. But as I'm sure you all saw, some interesting developments are happening and I'm sure a lot of you can tell where I drew inspiration from with the conversation between Dai and Daguva. I'm finding myself writing scenes with Daguva more and more entertaining the more I do it and it's kind of concerning me, but I digress.

Now, concerning what's going to happen next time...hehehehehe! Oh boy, is the next chapter going to be EPIC! I saved the last Kuuga form everyone's wanted to see for this next episode of PreCure for I found it only proper. It's not going to be for a while as I've got other stories that need my attention, but once I get around to doing it, you guys better have your snacks and drinks ready for next time is going to be...explosive. Until then, this has been Ashbel Longhart here, signing out.

Next Time: Explosive Rising Power! Pretty Cure Rainbow Storm!