Kiriko, Asuna and Sophie were all sitting in the study room, gathered around the table in silence as Mari stood up, pacing for a few moments. The tension in the room was a thick as a cloud, but it was cleared the most tense individuals in the room were Rani and Nova. Asuna and Sophie had their eyes fixated on the walls, pretending to be interested in their surroundings while Kiriko just stared down at the desktop. All Kiriko could think about was the fact that they had just been exposed.
After the girls had decided on their team name, they reversed their transformation and standing a few feet away from them was Mari with a grocery bag in hand. Once the girls noticed Mari was there, they were at a loss of words. But, strangely enough, Mari didn't appear as shocked as they all expected.
Kiriko then sputtered out," We're just-!"
"-You're the new Pretty Cure, right?" Mari asked, as a serious look that seemed out of place appeared on her face.
"So the truth is...the reason I knew about the whole Pretty Cure thing is because..." Mari began anxiously as she continued to pace about,"...My mother is from the Laruan Kingdom, she told me stories about Cure Cheer when I was a kid."
Everyone in the room looked at Mari in shock and so, Mari continued her explanation hastily.
"It's only my mom from the Laruan Kingdom, my dad is normal and from earth. So, I don't get the cool pastel hair and I don't have very powerful magic. I've never even been to the Laruan Kingdom. I'm just normal, earthling Mari Miyazono."
Mari then sat down in the empty seat next to Kiriko and said," I'm not going to tell anyone your secret. Something's going on in this city and it's up to you guys to save the day, right?"
Kiriko nodded, though now she wasn't sure if Mari's question was rhetorical or not.
"I promise to not to say a word about this. I understand you guys would want to keep this a private thing, so you guys can count on me to keep this a secret." Mari concluded with a resolute expression on her face.
The girls fell silent and not a word was said by anyone of them for a few moments.
Finally, Kiriko broke the silence, bowed her head before Mari with her hands clasped and said loudly," Thank you so much Mari!"
Soon after, Mari left the girls and returned to her usual self as she cheerfully said to the girls," Well, I hope you guys have a good weekend! And I hope you enjoy that book Kiriko, I'll see you guys around!"
Once Mari left, the girls then exchanged expressions and it appeared that Kiriko was the only one who appeared to be relaxed in the room.
When Kiriko noticed the girls skeptic expressions, she then addressed their concerns saying," We can trust her, guys. Mari is like, one of the nicest people I know. She understands the need to keep this stuff confidential, and since her mom's from the Laruan Kingdom, we don't even have to worry about her asking us for more information!"
Asuna shrugged and said," If you can trust her, then we may as well too."
Kiriko smiled at the response and then an idea came to her," Since we're all a bit more comfortable with each other, maybe we should have a sleepover!"
"To discuss Pretty Cure stuff?" Rani asked inquisitively.
Kiriko shook her head and then hesitantly said," Well, we can do that but I was thinking like just spending time together and hanging out like normal girls do."
Kiriko then awkwardly placed her gaze at the floor and sheepishly confessed," I've never really had been to a sleepover before and they seem like a lot of fun."
Sophie's eyes then widened in astonished as she asked Kiriko," You've never been to a sleepover?!"
Sophie then turned to Asuna to see if she could believe this, but Asuna's attention was lost to them and instead she was doodling away in her notebook. Kiriko then laughed sheepishly as she fidgeted with her hands.
"Not really, no..." Kiriko admitted as she stood up and started to gather her things off the table," When I was younger, my parents didn't let me go to my classmates' houses but they trust me to have my own sleepovers now that I'm older, it's just that I've never been comfortable enough to invite someone to my place."
Sophie then stood up from her seat and declared," We're going to make sure you have the best first sleepover ever, and that's a promise! Right Asuna?"
Asuna didn't look up from her drawing and simply responded with," Yeah sure."
Kiriko was unsure of what to say as she looked at Sophie and Asuna. She was surprised and grateful that her friends had been so concerned. It was refreshing in a way and all she could give them was an awkward smile as she said," Thanks guys, I didn't really think you'd care so much but I appreciate it."
The girls then decided one week from today they would have their sleepover at Kiriko's house. Kiriko was excited but at the same time, kinda nervous. She had little to no idea what was considered a necessity for sleepovers so after her student council meeting the day before, she went to the grocery store in search of snacks to have at the sleepover. After doing some thorough research on what was considered a must-have for sleepovers, Kiriko had then compiled a long and detail list of snacks to have.
She walked into the snacks aisle, and after she noticed she was all by herself, Rani then appeared out of her bag. Kiriko didn't even notice as she was too busy deciding on which bags on chips to buy for the sleepover.
"These two are the same flavour, but they feature different textures, therefore they bring a very different experience from each other." Kiriko surmised as she looked at the puffed up chips and nachos, both cheese-flavoured, in her hands. Kiriko then decided to take the nacho chips and put the other bag away.
"Are Nova and I invited to the sleepover?" Rani asked as Kiriko tried to decide on a second bag of chips, with Kiriko nodding in response.
"Well obviously, you guys wouldn't have anywhere else to go." Kiriko pointed out as she picked out a second bag and placed it in her shopping basket," I hope this goes well. I've seen stuff like this happen on TV and it kinda looks like fun."
Rani nodded in understanding and then Kiriko turned out and tried to pick out two soft drink bottles as she said,"I didn't want to tell Asuna and Sophie this, but when I was younger, I didn't actually get invited to many sleepovers. My elementary school was small and sometimes I would be asked by some girls out of obligation, but I usually got left out."
Kiriko then picked up a two liter of cream soda and cola and went to the candy aisle. She looked through the aisle but nothing really caught her eye. A lot of the candy available in the aisle were just items Kiriko deemed as inedible due to their sugar content. While she was a lover of sweets, she considered herself a girl of slightly more refined tastes and didn't usually buy the more cloying sweets in the grocery store. But, Kiriko caved in thinking that Asuna and Sophie might appreciate it so she bought a box of sour watermelon gummies and gummy worms. Before she left the aisles, she then noticed a box of chocolate covered almonds and immediately picked them up.
Once Kiriko paid for her things, she left the store and started to place the smaller items she purchased into her backpack.
"I think I should start carrying an extra bag around to carry you in, Rani. Would you like that?" Kiriko asked as she began to put away the boxes of candy in her bag.
Rani, who was currently sitting on the bench where Kiriko was rearranging her bag, nodded in response and said," Can my bag be light blue? It's my favourite colour."
Kiriko nodded as she was putting items away but then, she froze up for a moment. She started to search through her bag aggressively and then she started to rip things out from her bag before she shouted in a panicked tone,
"Where the hell is my Math textbook?!"
Kiriko then tried to retrace her steps mentally and then remembered that she left it in the student council room. She then groaned and then dialed up a number.
"Yeah, I see it." Hayase said a few minutes later as he stepped into the class room," Don't worry about it, I've been here at the gym with Tadashi since the meeting was adjourned. I'll just meet you inside the class room ok?"
Hayase then hung up on Kiriko and sat on the teacher's desk in the class room, sighing quietly before he took the other call he had off hold.
"Talking to your girlfriend?" The voice on the other side of the call jeered," Nice to see you've got those priorities of yours straight!"
Hayase rolled his eyes and then responded in irritation with," She isn't my girlfriend! She's just a friend who happens to be a girl..."
"Alright, fine. But remember you can lie to yourself, but you can't lie to me." The other person on the line said," Anyways, so you have seen those girls in the frilly dresses around town right? People from back home are posting these blurry as hell pics like they're some kinda cryptid, thinking what I'm thinking?"
Hayase took a deep breath and began briskly,"I've got no clue. But-"
Just then, the door was swung open and Kiriko stood in the door way, looking a bit exhausted as she heaved in her breaths. She offered Hayase a weak smile and walked over to him.
Hayase put the call on hold again and then held out the textbook to Kiriko, taking note of the large bags in her hands as he asked," Having a party?"
Kiriko then laughed awkwardly and set her bags down on the floor as she answered with," Just throwing a sleepover tomorrow night with some friends. Thanks again for staying back so I could get my book."
Hayase nodded in response and the two then walked out of the classroom. A somewhat awkward silence fell over them for a few moments, but this time Hayase was quick in his attempt to fill the silence.
"Do you need help with the bags?" Hayase offered as Kiriko awkwardly tried to hoist one of the bags around her shoulders. Kiriko simply shook her head.
"I'll be ok." Kiriko reassured with firm nod as she walked a bit faster to further prove her point," Was I interrupting something earlier? It sounded like you were on call with someone."
"Oh, that was just my brother." Hayase replied in dismissal, but Kiriko looked rather guilty now," It's fine, he was being annoying anyways."
The two of them reached the front of the school building and parted ways shortly after.
Kiriko and Rani were now all alone on the walk back home.
"So Kiriko, what makes you think that having a sleepover will help you and the girls become closer?" Rani asked in a genuinely curious tone.
The question may have sounded mean, but Kiriko knew Rani meant no harm in asking so she responded patiently with,"Sleepovers are a good way to get to know others here on Earth. You have them with friends and you get to know them a bit better through spending the night with them."
"So what exactly do you do during a sleepover?" Rani inquired.
"Um...lots of things, we could watch movies, listen to music, bake treats..." Kiriko listed off, as she adverted her gaze from Rani," I don't really know everything that's supposed to happen, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow!"
The next day, the girls were all assembled at Kiriko's house after school. The three of them stood at her doorstep while Kiriko rummaged her bag for her keys. Asuna and Sophie were taking in their surroundings as Kiriko opened the door to her house. The girls looked around Kiriko's house as they stepped inside, as both of them were somewhat curious to know what Kiriko's house was like after all this time. It was normal, that was for certain, with it's plain furniture arranged in the living room and a minimal amount of decorations in the house. Something did feel as if it was missing though, but the girls just couldn't figure out what it was.
Sophie was still trying to determine what it was when Asuna then asked out of nowhere," Are we home alone?"
"Yeah, my parents won't come home until later tonight." Kiriko said in a curt voice as she led the girls upstairs.
As the group walked upstairs, Kiriko felt her stomach begin to tie itself up in knots as they came closer to her room. Kiriko made the decision earlier that she wasn't going to hide or change the look of her bedroom just for the sleepover. She said that she wanted to be real with them, so she figured this was the first step in doing so. But then she began to worry that her bedroom might've been more embarrassing than she realized. With her pastel purple walls and stuffed animals all over her bed, Kiriko was beginning to wonder whether or not this was a good idea. She held back on a sigh as she opened up her bedroom door.
"This is my bedroom." Kiriko announced as she ushered the girls into the room," I'm probably just overthinking things as usual, they probably won't even care that much-"
"Aw Kiriko your room is absolutely adorable!" Sophie remarked as she looked around the room, causing Kiriko to flush red in response.
The girls inspected Kiriko's room, which was the last thing she wanted but they weren't being as critical as she expected. Asuna took a seat on Kiriko's bed and Kiriko watched as the two of them continue to survey her room. She remained quiet and waited to hear any other comments from them.
"In a way...it's not all that surprising your room looks like this." Asuna admitted as she held one of Kiriko's throw pillows.
"Right? It's totally fitting for the 'Princess of Wishes!' " Sophia exclaimed, causing Kiriko to turn red again.
"I'm glad you guys like it..." Kiriko said bashfully as she took a seat on her bed next to Asuna," So what would you guys like to do? I've got snacks downstairs, we could watch a movie, play some board games, it's up to you guys."
Sophie was thinking about which option seemed best out of all the ones Kiriko suggested, though Asuna seemed to have her eyes set on something at Kiriko's desk.
Kiriko then turned around upon noticing Asuna staring off into the distance and then asked," Is there something you had in mind Asuna?"
"It's gonna sound a little cheesy but..." Asuna began hesitantly as her gaze shifted to the side," But what if we do makeovers?"
"I think that sounds like fun!" Sophie commented excitedly before turning to Kiriko," What do you say?"
Kiriko pondered it and then thought to herself," This would be a good chance to show them at good at something besides being organized."
"Sure why not?" Kiriko answered as she stood up and took her makeup bag off of her desk. It was small in size and was a sparkly ivory white with lilac stripes. Kiriko then opened it up and took out an eyeshadow palette, and then another eyeshadow and then another one and one more after that. Asuna and Sophie were quite impressed as they picked up and looked at the palettes they gravitated to. Kiriko then pulled out some lipsticks, brushes and liners; even she was impressed by how large her makeup collection had grown over the last year, considering she seldom used this stuff. Most of it had been received as presents anyways.
"Whoa, was this the limited edition palette from last year?" Asuna asked as she opened up a square shiny red palette," And it hasn't even been used!"
Kiriko shrugged and replied with," What can I say? Red isn't my colour."
Kiriko watched as Asuna and Sophie began to dig through her makeup bag, both of them surprised at all the good stuff they found. She felt a little accomplished to have gained their attention successfully, but now was her chance to really show off.
"As a matter of fact, I think this palette would look really nice on you." Kiriko began as she took the palette out of Asuna's hands and equipped herself with a handful of brushes," Allow me to demonstrate."
Kiriko then led Asuna and Sophie over to her desk and motioned Asuna to take a seat. Asuna did as instructed and curiously glanced at Kiriko, who was cleaning off her brushes she hadn't touched in weeks with a tissue.
"I'll give Asuna a really nice makeover, complete with winged tips and red lips." Kiriko reassured with a wink before she got to work on Asuna's face,"Normally, I'd use a primer on the eyelids to make the look last throughout the day, but since we won't be doing much tonight, we'll just leave that out."
Kiriko dusted a medium orange-red eyeshadow onto Asuna's eyelids for the base colour. Kiriko was in truth sorta rusty and she had never actually done someone's else makeup, but she wasn't planning to give up now. Plus, Kiriko had entertained the thought of doing Asuna's makeup before, considering the red-haired girl was still getting the hang of make-up. It was clear she had her own distinct style with her gold, shimmery eyeshadow mixed with some darker copper colour paired with very dark eyeliner that seldom sported wings and some lip gloss on occasion. Kiriko was getting excited as she worked on Asuna's look and patiently blended two colours on Asuna's eyelids.
Once Kiriko was finished with Asuna's look, she showed off the completed makeover to Sophie, Rani and Nova. The girls were impressed as Asuna looked like a completely different person. Asuna's gaze awkwardly shifted to the floor as she felt herself grow uncomfortable with all these eyes on her. Kiriko then handed Asuna a mirror so she could get a look for herself.
"Interesting..." Asuna commented, nodding her head as she stared at her reflection, in slight disbelief of what she was seeing.
"Me next! Me next!" Nova shouted in excitement, though Kiriko wasn't sure how she was going to pull off a makeover on her.
Sophie then noticed Rani appeared to be less interested in the makeovers and was looking down at the floor. Sophie then leaned down next to her to see if she was ok.
"Is everything alright?" Sophie asked her, with Rani shaking her head in response.
Rani returned her gaze to the girls hesitantly, becoming less willing to speak as she found everyone's eyes on her.
"I always thought it would be nice to be human..." Rani admitted briskly as she stroked one of her ears," When I was little, I idolized Cure Cheer, and I always wanted to be like her. But I'm only a fairy, I don't get to do all the fighting or become a hero. That's what you guys are for!"
It was an inevitable thing that had been on Rani's mind, but the thought of it became even more frequent ever since she and Nova arrived on Earth. There were any other fairies to distract her from thinking about the inability she shared with all of the other kingdom's fairies to become human. And while it was nice to meet girls and be the one to find the Pretty Cure, Rani still couldn't help feeling so distant from her childhood dream.
"Rani, you're just important to the team as we are." Kiriko reassured as she sat down next to her," We wouldn't have even met each other if it wasn't for you and Nova."
Asuna nodded in agreement and Sophie quickly added," Yeah, you guys are like honorary members to the team! Wait, that sorta makes your status sound less legitimate. No, actually...you two were the very first members of the team, the originals of Toychest Pretty Cure!"
"You might not get a chance to fight, but...you guys have a better purpose. You're the ones the Queen and King called upon to find us right? That's practically asking you two to help save the world." Asuna pointed out with Kiriko and Sophie nodding in response.
Rani looked surprised with her eyes open widely, staring at Asuna curiously. She never really did see it like that, but thinking about it that way did make her feel a little bit better.
"Speaking of Pretty Cure, I didn't want to bring it up so early into the sleepover but, are we expecting any more Cures?" Sophie asked the fairies curiously.
Rani and Nova then exchanged glances, unsure of exactly what to say in response to the girls with Nova saying," The thing is...we're not sure. I believe we have our whole team assembled though."
"What makes you think that?" Kiriko asked in an inquisitive voice as the girls started to gather around in a circle.
"That's because three is the magic number!" Nova proclaimed as she stood up, but then Asuna swiftly grabbed hold of her and gave her a noogie as a way of scolding her.
"Answer the question properly." Asuna chided just before she let go of Nova.
"It's true! In the kingdom, we believe good things come in three. I think that's because the kingdom was formed by three people." Rani explained slowly," Centuries ago, our realm was hungry for magic and people of our home would do anything they could to make their magic as strong as possible, even if it meant they had to steal magic from other people. There were three people who felt that this needed to come to an end. There was a king of a medium-sized nation amongst them, a priestess, and a mage. The three of them soon found out that the reason people of the realm had evolved into such power-hungry felons was because they were being controlled. The one controlling them was a vile, horrendous entity that went by the name of Nixe. Together, the three of them put an end to Nixe, but unfortunately, it hadn't been enough to stop some of the people who hadn't even been controlled when stealing the magic of others. And so, the mage formed a plan. The mage put a powerful type of spell on the land that prevented people from taking the magic of others, but doing so resulted in the mage's demise. So, the king and priestess created a new tradition as well as a new kingdom. From there on, there was just the Laruan Kingdom and it became customary to divide your Patchwork Heart into two and give the other half to your most treasured toy. "
"And the rest is history." Nova added briefly after a few moments had passed," So yeah, we aren't expecting any other Cures but, we could be wrong."
The girls fell silent for a few moments, unsure of exactly how to respond to that. At this point, the girls were comfortable with the size of their team, but they weren't exactly against any new additions. They all felt as if they could probably use another member on the team, but they didn't have any ideas on who would make a good candidate.
Just then, the girls heard what sounded like a door opening from downstairs. Immediately, all eyes fell to Kiriko who seemed just as confused as the rest of them.
"I guess my parents came home early." Kiriko surmised before she stood up and went to go check for herself.
Once Kiriko was out of the room, Sophie took out her phone and went through emails quietly, reminding Asuna of a certain question she had been meaning to ask Sophie.
In a hesitant voice, Asuna then asked," So Sophie, did you ever get around to texting Reo back?"
"Oh, your friend right? I actually didn't get around to that but, the other day I called him up to apologize and then we started talking for a half an hour." Sophie explained cheerfully," He seems really nice!"
"That smitten bastard! I can't believe he didn't tell me!" Asuna thought to herself, before remembering that Reo didn't like phone calls," Wait, why did you call him?"
"I don't really like texting because I tend to forget responding back, I find calls and video chats much easier since they're in the moment, you know?" Sophie answered, with Asuna nodding in response, pretending that she related but was feeling the exact opposite.
Kiriko stood the head of the stairs and found her parents standing near the front door, taking off their coats and putting them away in the closet. Kiriko's mom saw her first and motioned her to come downstairs to give her a hug. Kiriko's mom, Konomi, hugged her tightly and adjusted her glasses once they broke the hug.
"I'd like to meet your friends, can you bring them downstairs?" Konomi asked as she gave Kiriko a soft smile.
Kiriko nodded, seeming a bit tense now and ran upstairs to introduce Asuna and Sophie to her parents. Kiriko returned after a few moments with Asuna and Sophie right behind her. Asuna seemed a bit shy as she partially hid behind Kiriko and looked down at her feet while Sophie was more successful in hiding her discomfort as she smiled brightly to Kiriko's parents.
"So mom, dad, these are my friends Asuna and Sophie..." Kiriko introduced as she awkwardly gestured in their direction.
"Nice to meet you..." Asuna mumbled as her gaze met Konomi's and her mouth lifted into a rather forced smile.
"Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you guys." Sophie greeted in an upbeat voice, her genuine smile still residing on her face as she waved to Kiriko's parents.
"It's such a pleasure to meet you girls after all this time...Kiriko has mentioned you two quite a few times now." Konomi remarked, while Kiriko's gaze drifted to the floor, wishing she was invisible right now," I'll go order a pizza for your sleepover right now, does that sound alright?"
Kiriko nodded and the girls returned back upstairs after they decided on what kind of pizza they wanted to get. From there, Kiriko got awfully quiet while Asuna and Sophie geared their conversation towards their tastes in music. She was listening a little bit, but her mind was set on her parents' interactions with the girls. Kiriko's parents had heard of Sophie before, because of her modeling work. Well, in truth, they simply recognized a photo of her that Kiriko had presented to them. Bottom line was Sophie appeared to be successful to them. Asuna however was only lucky because her older brother was smart and studious and thus Kiriko's parents automatically assumed that Asuna was just like him. It things were different, then chances were that Kiriko's parents would've looked down on her for bringing them to her house.
"I shouldn't be worrying about what could've happen. I oughta be grateful that my parents like them." Kiriko thought to herself,as she watched Asuna and Sophie have a dispute over which of the two songs Asuna listed off was better.
Elsewhere, Bounce was taking refuge on top of a high set of monkey-bars in the nearby playground. She laid on the bars and took a good look at the starry sky above her. With her sleeveless hoodie and black beanie hung over the bars, it appeared as if she claimed this spot as her own. Nobody was at the park, considering it far too late for any of the usual park's guests to pay a visit. The park was awfully quiet though, but Bounce enjoyed the silent peace even if she was well aware that it wouldn't last long.
"You know I can see you right?" Bounce asked aloud, causing a nearby cat to step away from its hiding place," You're a black cat trying to disguise yourself under a midnight blue sky."
The cat of course had no idea what she was saying and stared at her blankly.
"Even if you are just a dumb cat, you're still better company than everyone at Asperity." Bounce declared as she heaved in a deep sigh," I know they're family but...they keep treating me like I'm some kinda burden."
Bounce then stood up and jumped off the monkey-bars, standing right in front of the cat saying," Well, today I'm going to try and prove them wrong, and if I can't do that by tonight, I'll just take you home instead!"
The girls were eating their pizza in the living room, with a movie playing in the background on Kiriko's TV. The only people in the room who seemed to be paying attention to the film were Sophie and Rani. Kiriko's parents had gone upstairs to their office space to work on some stuff so the girls had the whole floor to themselves.
"Your parents are nicer than I expected." Asuna remarked as she dipped her pizza into a packet of garlic dipping sauce. She offered the packet to Kiriko, but after Kiriko noticed that Asuna had been double-dipping, she was no longer interested in the garlic dipping sauce.
"Yeah, they're not bad..." Kiriko said stiffly as she started to pick off some of the toppings on her slice.
Suddenly, the girls heard the cries of a Defective from outside. Without hesitation, the three of them dashed outside and discovered a Defective with a playground carousel on top of it's head standing out in the street with Bounce sitting on it's center point.
It wasn't long until Bounce noticed the three of them standing there, watching her and the Defective march through the street. Bounce didn't seem displeased in the slightest and simply waved to the girls.
"Fancy meeting you here in these...interesting parts of town." Bounce remarked as she jumped off the Defective," I doubt you three will be able to put up a fight against this Defective!"
Kiriko seemed slightly annoyed about the comment Bounce made about her neighborhood, but brushed it off, holding her PlayPact up high, with the girls following suite as they all shouted,
"Pretty Cure, it's Playtime!"
A large array of lights appeared out from their PlayPacts and enveloped the three of them, leaving the Pretty Cure in their place once the light dissipated.
"The princess of wishes," Cure Dolly!" Dolly announced.
"The dame of courage, Cure Teddy!" Teddy announced.
"The sailor of justice, Cure Bubbly!" Bubbly announced.
"When evil is near, playtime is here! Together we are..." The girls said in unison," Toychest Pretty Cure!"
"Lame." Bounce commented flatly," Defective, go after them and don't hold back!"
The Defective did as instructed and chased after the Cures.
Cure Dolly then started running in the opposite direction and the Cures followed after her, though neither of them had a clue as to where she was going.
"We really should try and keep it away from the main road, it could serve as inconvenience to people passing by!" Dolly advised her teammates, who only offered her incredulous expressions in response.
"You're actually worried about something like that right now?" Teddy questioned in disbelief," We've fought at your place before!"
"I know but I want to avoid that!" Dolly explained in her defense before she skidded to a stop in front of a play ground," This will work perfectly!"
"It's also probably the place where the Defective came from." Bubbly pointed out before the three of them began to engage in battle.
Dolly was the first to try and spar with the Defective. She jumped up as high as she could and tried to land an attack on it. The Defective dodged and then caught her by the bow on her back, but Dolly managed to pull herself free from it's grip. She then leapt up and landed on the top of the carousel, but doing so didn't bring her any advantage as the Defective then suddenly spun the carousel around. Dolly found herself sitting between two of the bars, holding on for dear life as it spun around.
"I can't do this much longer!" Dolly wailed as she continued to spin around. Unwillingly, she let go of the carousel, but luckily, Bubbly caught her as she descended back to the ground.
"So I guess that means we'd better not hop on that carousel." Bubbly duly noted before she let go of of Dolly, who was still trying to regain balance, and rushed towards the Defective.
Bubbly and Teddy then took their turn at fighting against the Defective. Teddy summoned up a pair of flaming spheres in her hands and began to shoot them towards the Defective, while Bubbly tried to engage in close-combat with it. It was easier said than done trying to fight against a Defective that seemed to possess no weaknesses. The Cures fought hard against it, but they felt as if they weren't getting anywhere with fighting against the Defective.
Bubbly and Teddy were taking a moment to catch their breath, when Dolly dashed up towards the Defective and shot out a small gale of wind before herself, jumping on top of it and trying to land a few punches onto it, hoping the gale of wind would've increased her velocity.
It worked to some avail, and moments after, Teddy and Bubbly joined her again in battle.
Bounce was watching the girls fight with little interest, feeling as if she had witnessed this scene about a hundred times. It was beginning to feel like an endless cycle of watching these Cures get near to defeat, only to turn this around and emerge victorious. What Bounce simply couldn't comprehend was why they kept doing this to themselves. Sure, despite the fact that they have access to great amounts of powers, these Pretty Cure were still human. Humans that would only get hurt, get beaten to a pulp and still recklessly put their lives on the line for no clear reason. Bounce had to give them some credit, most of the humans she knew were weak both physically and mentally and while it was nice to see humans who were the exact opposite, it was also somewhat irritating.
These Cures would fight until they couldn't move an inch and yet they kept going at it, they just didn't know when to quit and it almost made Bounce pity them.
Dolly jumped and was suddenly caught and tossed into the slide in the park.
"Your act is getting stale!" Bounce shouted as Dolly struggled to get up from the slide," All you girls do is continue to fight with no reward! How the hell can you people keep doing this when there's nothing in it for you?"
"Have you ever heard of doing something for the sake of others?" Dolly asked, her patience wearing thin as she lifted herself off of the slide," If you jerks are just going to keep making these stupid Defectives, then what other choice do we have?"
Bounce rolled her eyes and shook her head saying," You can literally just walk away and leave! Nobody's forcing you to stay!"
"Nobody has to." Teddy responded, as she started to walk over towards Dolly," If anything, you guys should be the ones having your actions questioned."
A smile then formed on Bounce's lips before she earnestly rubbed her head as she said," Maybe so, but...it's not like you guys need all those details-"
Just then, a sphere made from fire was thrown straight towards Bounce, but luckily for her, she dodged just in time. Though she wasn't pleased to see that she had been interrupted.
"Are you trying to pick a fight, you brat?" Bounce questioned impatiently as she glared at Teddy.
"So what if I am? You gonna do something about it?" Teddy inquired, appearing quite gallant as she formed another set of fireballs in her hands.
Dolly didn't appear to be very enthusiastic as she wore a look of disapproval on her face while Teddy attempted to engage in battle. They had more pressing issues, but of course, Teddy just had to pick a fight with someone who annoyed her. Dolly figured there was no convincing her otherwise at this point and turned her attention over towards Bubbly, who was now fighting the Defective single-handedly.
The Defective created a powerful wind as it spun the carousel around, leaving Bubbly unable to come close to it. Bubbly was blown far from the Defective and landed on her feet, trying to plan her next move.
"Bubbly, are you trying to plan a strategy?" Dolly asked in an unusually excited voice as she ran over to her teammate.
Bubbly nodded and the two of them huddled close. It appeared that Bubbly was at wit's end with this Defective. Bubbly had been fighting tirelessly against the Defective,, but without any weak points the match was proving itself to be much tougher than expected.
"I can't figure out what would work against this Defective, and I can't even come near to it because of that darn carousel!" Bubbly lamented.
Dolly nodded in understanding and looked around the playground to see if there was anything here that could work to their advantage. Dolly then noticed a hole dug up on the farther side of the park, most likely for drainage purposes. And not only that, she also saw another hole closer to them.
"I got an idea." Dolly stated before she whispered into Bubbly's ear. Bubbly nodded in response and so, Dolly ran towards the Defective.
Dolly began to fight against the Defective to the best of her abilities. The Defective kept trying to blow her away but it didn't stop her from fighting back.
"Let's see who's wind is stronger!" Dolly shouted as she held her hands up high," Pretty Cure, Gale of Wishes!"
The two were evenly matched as they blasted their wind against each other. Dolly wore a determined look on her face, with her gaze focused on where the Defective was standing.
"Just a little bit more...!" Dolly said to herself persistently as she kept her arms stretched out.
The Defective was pushed back slightly, with the hole between its legs.
"Now Bubbly!" Dolly shouted.
Bubbly nodded and quickly she placed both her hands above the hole she was standing in front of.
"Pretty Cure, Whirlpool of Justice!" Bubbly yelled out. The attack rushed through the hole and resurfaced through the farther hole and hit the Defective straight on.
The Defective was up in the air for a few moments and then crashed onto the ground. Dolly and Bubbly then made use of this opportunity and fought against the Defective until it could no longer move.
Dolly and Bubbly were just about to deliver the finishing blow, but suddenly the Defective picked up Cure Dolly and placed her on top of the carousel and tied her to one of the bars with the bow on her back.
"Hey, you're playing dirty!" Dolly hollered as she tried to undo the knot on her bow.
"Cure Dolly!" Bubbly shouted as she watched Dolly try to break free. Bubbly knew it was up to her now to save the day, but what else could she do? She then figure out what to do as she reached for her PlayPact and held it in front of herself.
"Let's play pretend!" Bubbly shouted as held her PlayPact up high. A violent, unrelenting wind emerged out from it and was heading straight for the Defective.
Dolly had managed to free herself by ripping the bow off of her dress when she saw the whirlwind heading for her and the Defective. Dolly's pupils had shrunk to pinpricks as she watched the whirlwind.
"That's amazing..." Dolly remarked in awe before she jumped off of the Defective.
The Defective had been defeated and all that was left was to purify it. Dolly stood a few feet away from the Defective while Bubbly ran closer and stopped right in front of the Defective.
"I got this!" Bubbly reassured as she held both of her hands out, " Pretty Cure, Justice Allure!"
The atmosphere around them turned yellow and blue and moments later, the Defective was purified, causing it to revert into it's original form.
Bounce had been caught a ring of flames by Teddy, who had been covered in scratches and bruises. Teddy rubbed her shoulder tenderly as she walked closer to the ring that held Bounce. Bounce didn't seem scared though, only intrigued as she tried to figure out what Teddy was going to do next.
"You guys have done nothing but make others miserable for no good reason and for that, I'm not going to let you get away with this any longer." Teddy declared as she stood in front of Bounce," After tonight, Asperity's going to have one less commander."
Bounce only snickered at the idea and then said," You really think you can stop me all on your own? You're real funny, Cure Teddy. Unfortunately for you, I wasn't even trying today. How about we try this again next time?"
Bounce then vanished all of a sudden and Teddy was left feeling rather frustrated as she watched her ring of flames burn without purpose.
Later, the girls returned to their sleepover and were currently in Kiriko's bedroom chatting louder than before.
"So guys, now that we all have gotten pretty comfortable with each other, the obligatory sleepover question needs to asked!" Sophie exclaimed excitedly, resulting in Kiriko and Asuna to exchange glances before looking at her in question.
All eyes were on Sophie and finally she asked," Who are you guys' crushes?"
Kiriko clamped her mouth shut to avoid to avoid laughter as she turned to the side, while Asuna had a more unimpressed expression on her face.
"Why are you asking that? You don't go to our school, so you wouldn't even know who we're talking about." Asuna pointed out as she narrowed her eyes at Sophie.
"Well you can at least tell me about them!" Sophie reasoned as she shook Asuna," I bet you're holding out on us!"
Kiriko then looked at the group, now begging the resolute Asuna to confess as she thought to herself," Sophie's right, we have gotten a lot closer. I don't think I'd ever believe it if I was told months ago that I'd have a popular girl, a model and a pair of talking animals that look like plush toys in my room. It makes me feel rejuvenated knowing that I have them all by my side."