Asuna, Hayase and Tadashi were walking home after school together. They were chatting amongst each other for the first time in a while and it made Asuna feel great after so long. Of course she could talk to Tadashi when she wanted but Hayase was...a bit more of a challenge.
"And I heard the monster was like fifty feet tall!" Tadashi exclaimed, raising his hand up as high as he could to punctuate his point," So what happened was the girls with the frilly dresses showed up and beat the lights out of it! At least, that's what I've been hearing, but this isn't the first time they've come to save the day."
Tadashi then pushed Hayase's shoulder playfully, exclaimed," And to think we could've met them if Chinami didn't make us stay back."
"Yeah, I guess so, but I don't think they would've appreciated our presence if they were trying to fight a monster." Hayase pointed out as he ran his hand through his hair.
Asuna nodded in response and shrugged saying," Yeah you guys would've only gotten in their way. Especially you, Tadashi."
"Hey I can be pretty tough you know!" Tadashi claimed as he pulled up his sleeve to show his muscles, but all Asuna could focus on was how pasty white his arms were.
"Bro, you're gonna blind us." Asuna said flatly as she hid behind Hayase while shielding her eyes. From this angle, Asuna then noticed something new on Hayase.
"You got your ears pierced!" Asuna interjected in excitement, "They look really good!"
Hayase smiled back to her bashfully, his face tinted pink as he said," Thanks but-"
"-He's been shy about them, so he's hasn't been showing them off too much!" Tadashi interrupted as he firmly placed a hand on Hayase's shoulder, with Asuna nodding in response.
"They make you look cool!" Asuna exclaimed as she grinned. Just then, Asuna received a phone call and knew who it was without even looking at the caller ID. She was a bit hesitant to answer, but she knew that the caller would only contact her in case of emergency.
"I'm gonna stay behind, I have an important call." Asuna stated as she leaned against a nearby tree. The boys nodded and left Asuna behind.
Asuna picked up the phone and asked," What's up Soph?"
"I think I have a lead on where the well's magic might be." Sophie declared.
Asuna's eyes opened up wide and then she heard Kiriko and Mari's voice on the other side of the line.
"You can't be serious!" Mari said in an excited voice.
"Where is this lead?" Kiriko questioned desperately.
Asuna held back on a sigh upon realizing that this was one of those group calls. She hated the sound of a bunch of voices talking among each other, but she decided to say nothing about it.
"So, there's a girl at my school who owns that new water company Mizuhime..." Sophie began on the phone.
"This is stupid." Asuna said flatly, hours later when she arrived home, holding a dress in front of her phone.
Mari and Sophie were on a video call with her and shook their heads at the dress, causing Asuna to toss the dress on her bed in frustration with all the other dresses she had shown to them.
Apparently, Sophie's twin classmates Harue and Hyosuke's parents were unveiling some new type of project called the "Wonder Well's Water" and with a name as...intriguing as that, Sophie felt like something was going on. The twins had invited Sophie and some friends of her choice, to come to their unveiling of the project. At first, Sophie had been surprised, and even excited about the event but once she figured they probably only invited her to bring attention to this event with her fame, she wasn't as enthusiastic.
"Asuna do you only own black edgy-looking dresses?" Sophie questioned curiously but Asuna mistook her tone for condescending.
"There's nothing wrong with my dresses!" Asuna claimed as she crossed her arms in a huff, "Why do I even need to dress up anyways?"
"The Kanemiya family is fairly rich and they live in a mansion." Mari reminded her," You don't want to stick out right?"
Asuna looked away from the camera and sighed, not saying a word. It wasn't like she normally needed to dress up anyways. And knowing that her friends already had knowledge on these kind of events made her feel inferior in comparison. A thought then crossed her mind.
"Why aren't you guys overlooking Kiriko's clothes?" Asuna questioned skeptically.
"Kiriko said she was a bit busy tonight and she promised us she'd dress up in her best attire for the event." Sophie explained.
Kiriko was at home, writing in a notebook that had a sparkly lilac cover. It looked much different from her usual stationary, especially with the book being written exclusively in sparkly pink gel pens.
Kiriko was drawing a picture of the Well of Wonder. She was never that good at drawing, but she didn't let this discourage her. Next to the drawing was a list of things that the well could have held inside of it. Written on the list were the words water, magic, potions and energy.
Rani was sitting next to her as she wrote and watched her draw away in the notebook.
"Would it be possible for the well to lose its magic?" Kiriko asked as she put her pen down," Where would that magic go? Where could it go? Would it spread itself out across the globe? Or find a hiding place so obscure it could keep all the magic there? How much magic would need to be hidden anyways?"
"You sure like asking questions." Rani remarked as she joined Kiriko in staring at the blank page, "But its understandable. And I'm sure soon enough we'll get our answers."
Kiriko continued to stare at the page and shook her head at the drawing. Things weren't adding up yet and stuff like this never failed to immensely bother Kiriko.
"Also, I've been meaning to ask about the migratory thing..." Kiriko began briskly," Did you know Chinami was from the kingdom before that...incident?"
Rani shook her head as she said," She had her powers sealed up this whole time. There was no way for us to detect it."
"Ok, that makes sense." Kiriko responded as she stood up," So I guess you haven't sensed any other kingdom members since you came to earth, right?"
Rani shook her head and then Kiriko looked through her window and said," I would like to know what the kingdom is like. I'll be honest, it feels strange fighting for the fate of a land I've never even been to."
Rani nodded in understanding and Kiriko returned to working away in her notebook.
"If we find the well's magic, that only means we'll be left to have an all-out fight with Asperity. Is the the team ready for something like that? Am I ready for something like that?" Kiriko thought to herself.
At Asperity, Domino was holding out a set of blueprints as usual, but what was on this set of blueprints was anything but. In the place of his typical schemes and plans to defeat the Pretty Cure, there was a highly detailed diagram of a mansion on the blueprint. It didn't seem as sinister as his usual blueprints, not even the word Pretty Cure was written on it. Domino just smiled, admiring the architectural work of the mansion and angled his head slightly.
"What are you looking at?" Jack questioned as he walked into the room, crouching slightly next to Domino," Is this some sorta castle?"
"Not quite." Domino answered as he stood up," This is the Kanemiya Mansion!"
"What's that supposed to be?" Jack asked, unaffected by Domino's enthusiasm.
"This mansion is owned by a very wealthy family who is hosting a party to unveil a rather, interesting event." Domino explained before he revealed another rolled-up page from his inner jacket pocket. He handed the page to Jack who unrolled it curiously.
"We invite you to a night you won't forget, filled with fun, laughter, pleasure and- This is boring! Are you sure you gave me the right sheet?" Jack said as she stretched it out, twisting it to the side just before a string of words caught his eye.
"Wonder Well's Water?" Jack repeated as he stared the page blankly.
On the night of the party, the girls and the fairies had assembled at Sophie's house before they left for the Kanemiya mansion. The girls were all dressed as formal as they possibly could and it was evident that they had their own definitions of formal. Kiriko and Mari wore satiny dresses that reached their ankles while Sophie and Asuna opted for a slightly more causal look by wearing brighter coloured dresses that went to their knees.
"Wow Asuna, your dress is so cute!" Sophie remarked as the group inspected her dress," I'm a bit surprised it isn't black."
Asuna kept her gaze on the floor, wishing that her yellow dress wasn't as eye-catching as it was. In her defense, aside from all her black dresses, this was the best formal attire she had. The dress hadn't seen the light of day in literal years since she had received it as a birthday present but it didn't fit her until now. Plus, she was never fond of wearing brighter colours outside.
"You all look really good! But remember, we have business to tend to at this event tonight." Rani reminded the group, with Nova nodding in agreement.
"In the case that this really is the magic the Well of Wonder has lost, we'll need to act fast if we want to get it." Nova declared determinedly.
The girls nodded in response and took their leave for the party.
Sophie's mother offered to drive the girls there after Sophie mentioned her plans for the evening. Her mother was thrilled to hear that Sophie had made a bunch of friends and wasted no time in offering a ride, insisting that it was the least she could do. The ride to the Kanemiya mansion was longer than the girls expected, but with all the traffic they were met with, they somehow knew they were headed in the right direction.
"Could it be that the Kanemiya twins live out-of-town?" Mari asked as she looked around her unfamiliar surroundings in the car.
"They probably lived in a closed-off neighbourhood on the outskirts of town." Kiriko explained as she tried to read one of the street signs from within the car," I think I've heard about this neighbourhood before too..."
Soon enough, the girls reached the mansion and parted ways with Sophie's mom and were immersed into a ginormous crowd compiled of business people, fellow high-school students and members of the Kanemiya family outside of the mansion. It was quite the spectacle for the girls and they already felt lost in the crowd yet they hadn't even set foot in the mansion.
"This place is swarming with people!" Asuna gasped out as the girls tried to make it into the mansion," Sophie, can't you call the Kanemiya girl and tell her we're here?"
"Hm, I doubt I'll get much reception here in such a stranded place, plus Harue might too busy to even notice her phone ringing." Sophie answered as the girls continued to fight their way towards the mansion.
As the girls tried to reach the doorway to the mansion, a girl with light golden blonde hair wearing a lavish looking dress then noticed the group and smiled as soon as she saw Sophie. She grinned as she clasped both of Sophie's hands and offered her a large warm smile.
"Sophie, I'm so glad you could make it!" The girl declared as she pulled her in for a hug. As soon as she broke the hug, she then turned to the girls.
"Ah, these are my friends Kiriko, Asuna, and Mari." Sophie introduced as she waved her hand in their direction," They're from Ikoma High."
"I see, well I glad you were able to come! I'm Harue Kanemiya." The girl introduced kindly," It's a pleasure to meet you!"
The girls awkwardly said the same thing to her and Harue led the group into her mansion. WIth Harue taking the lead, things were much easier now since no one wanted to inconvenience Harue through obstructing her path. The girls had reached the front of the mansion and Harue ushered them inside.
Once the girls entered the mansion, they all wore a look of shock on their face as they observed their surroundings. The ivory painted walls were illuminated well under the very bright lights and chandelier in the room. The whole room was actually quite bright and not to mention filled with people. Paintings were hung up on the walls and a giant stairway leading to the upper level of the mansion was in the center of the room.
"You guys can check-in with your phones ok?" Harue said as she continued walking," I'll show you guys the event hall."
"Event hall?" Kiriko and Asuna repeated in shock.
As the girls started walking to the event hall, Mari then took this chance to ask Sophie something that had been on her mind since they first arrived.
"Harue seems very nice, are you guys good friends?" Mari asked casually.
"To be honest... not really." Sophie stated as she blankly stared at Harue.
"This is the event hall!" Harue exclaimed as she held her hands in front of the giant room they were about to enter. Kiriko audibly gasped and clasped her mouth shut in embarrassment while Asuna rubbed her eyes, in disbelief of the room's size.
"This must've cost a fortune to build!" Kiriko blurted out, before putting her hands over her mouth again.
"This whole room is bigger than my damn house!" Asuna remarked, eyes wide as she stared up at the ceiling.
Harue chuckled awkwardly and then said," Oh, it's not that grand. Anyways, you girls can make yourselves comfy and have some snacks at the tables over there ok?"
The girls then left for the snack table. Sophie was going to join them, but Harue then grabbed a hold of her arm and said,
"I have some business people here who are looking for models for an upcoming fashion show, would you be ok with meeting with them now?"
Sophie looked at her wide-eyed, unsure of what to say and only nodded her head awkwardly. Harue giggled and directed her to the group of business people.
The inside of the mansion was definitely less packed than outside and that was likely because most people outside hadn't received a formal invite, so they weren't given any access in. Standing outside of the mansion was a hoard of high-school boys dressed in semi-formal clothes looking expectantly at the mansion. None of them had received an invitation, but that didn't stop them from trying to sneak their way in. But, security around the house had gotten tighter by the time they arrived, and they weren't sure if they'd be able to walk in without an invite.
"This is the worst! I told you we should've talked Hyosuke into inviting us!" One of the boys lamented, while one of them narrowed his eyes on the door, waiting for his chance to enter.
"I'm not trying to coax that whiny emo kid into befriending us, even if it meant we'd have a secure way in." He responded with his arms crossed," Rules are made to be broken anyways!"
"Bro, when are gonna get to see the models? I'm getting tired just standing out here." Another boy in the group said as he loosened his tie.
The second boy then turned around and impatiently said, "I already told you, we'll them when we-! Ah, I think I found one."
The boys all then turned around and saw a girl with green hair that cascaded to her back wearing a dark green sleeveless dress looking around the mansion inquisitively. She was short and she appeared lost with eyes wide at the sight of her surroundings.
"Why did I have to wear a dress, of all things, to this party? I haven't worn one of these things since I was little."The girl said to her self in frustration, revealing herself as Bounce as she pulled down her dress in hopes that she wasn't showing more skin than she wanted to," Whatever, I made it this far, I can't just let something like this bother me."
Bounce then noticed the group of boys staring at her and she eyed them suspiciously before asking them," What the hell are you looking at?"
Inside the event hall wasn't as crowded as the main hall of the mansion, but it was uncomfortably hot with all these people populating the hall. Asuna pressed her hand behind her neck and took notice how hot her hands had become after standing in here for so long. She and Kiriko had stood at the corners of the hall, becoming a pair of wall-flowers as they awaited the time for Harue's father to unveil his new project.
"I'm gonna die." Asuna said in an exhausted voice as she put her hair into a pony tail.
"Funny how the girl who controls fire can't handle a hot room." Kiriko pointed out with a chuckle as she fanned herself with a programme sheet of the evening's events," Hey Asuna, if we were to somehow get the well's magic tonight...do you think you'd be ready to have a final fight for it against Asperity?"
"Why am I asking her a question like this?" Kiriko thought to herself skeptically," Of course she's gonna say yes-"
"No clue." Asuna declared indifferently as she looked forward nervously," I guess so if we have no other choice but...I don't think I've reached that point where I feel confident in my powers. I can't feel confident that we'd win. I want us to but...I don't know, I feel like we aren't ready as of yet."
Kiriko nodded in understanding and things went quiet between them.
A boy with short brown hair was sitting by himself near the wall of the event hall, completely immersed in the game his was playing on his phone and completely detached from his surroundings. Quite a few people were offering concerned looks to him, but he paid no mind to them. The majority of the night for him had been spent playing games on his phone or going to the snack table. Despite that the party started hours ago, he had yet to speak with anyone here, and he didn't plan to change that.
Just then, he saw a flash of green from the corner of his eye and looked up from his game for a moment.
Standing a few feet away from him was Bounce, ambling around the hall curiously as she looked around.
"Great, how am I supposed to find the well's magic with all these people around? I can't concentrate to search for it in a place like this." She grumbled to herself. Bounce then saw the snack table and perked up a bit, walking quickly towards the table. The boy then followed after her.
"Can't think on an empty stomach." She said to herself as she surveyed the table and tried to choose something to eat. She then noticed a platter of shrimp cocktails.
"Ooh shrimp, my favourite!" Bounce exclaimed as she started to pick out shrimp from the set of cocktails.
The boy was standing behind her now, eyes wide open in surprise as he watched the green-haired girl eat all the shrimp from the cocktails. He was tempted to tell her that those weren't for eating, but seeing her make a mess of the cocktails was admittedly entertaining. Bounce then turned around and saw him staring at her. She then offered him a shrimp.
"Have you tried these yet?" She asked, her mouth half-full of shrimp.
The boy opened his mouth to respond, but closed it as he stood there awkwardly. Obviously he had tried the shrimp here before, did she not realize this? The boy then smiled to her and shook his head, but he wasn't done with her. She shrugged and started to eat the rest of them she had collected in her cupped hands, paying no attention to the passerbys giving her dirty looks.
"It's nice to see someone's actually enjoying the party." The boy said with a rather forced laugh," So, what's your role? Business woman, heiress to a rich family, model?"
Bounce shook her head and plainly said,"I just came because I felt like it, plus I have some other things to attend to here. Hey, you wouldn't happen to know when the water thing will be announced, would you?"
The brunette was slightly annoyed by the question and said impatiently," It'll be in about an hour or so. But I could name at least a thousand better things to do here, want to find out what those things are?"
"Sure I guess." Bounce said, as he followed his lead.
Elsewhere, Sophie was getting a bunch of questions by the business people Harue introduced to her. It had been quite a while since she had an informal interview like this. The longer their chat lasted, the more tense Sophie became. But, the people chatting with her were actually really nice to her, but their questions had irritated her quiet a bit, though she didn't show it.
One woman then asked her, "So Sophie, when you finally get your big break, what's going to your first move? Model for a designer brand in Europe? Move overseas? Maybe even-?"
"-Um, I can't measure how that will take so I don't think it'd be wise of me to make such choices at this point in time. Things could change drastically by the time I reach that point in my career." Sophie explained with the people nodding in understanding, completely unaware of how bitter Sophie felt as those words escaped her mouth.
"Alright, well, we had some other people we needed to see this evening, so we'll talk another time?" The woman said as she and the others gave Sophie their business cards," If you to get in touch, don't hesitate to call, ok?"
Sophie nodded and the group then left her alone. Once the group was out of earshot, Sophie exhaled a giant sigh and felt her heart sink and her head swim as she tried to process what just happened. Without realizing it, the business people reminded her that she hadn't been moving forward in her career. It was frustrating and it made her feel like she was doing something wrong, but she didn't know what else she could do to change that.
She hung her head and then, Mari approached her and sat beside her.
"Were those people bothering you?" Mari asked, putting a hand on Sophie's back.
Sophie then lifted her head and adjusted her posture saying,"No, it wasn't them, it was just...they were bringing up things I didn't want to talk about. But, it's not like they knew, they were only asking because...well, to be honest I'm not quite sure on that part."
"I see." Mari responded softly as the two of them watched the crowds of people in the event hall," It must have been quite stressful to have been put on the spot like that. How about we spend the rest of the evening doing something you'd like?"
"Hmm..." Sophie sounded, trying to think of what she would've enjoyed doing at the party. She then noticed half of the people in the hall were dancing to the music playing in the room. She gazed at them intently, and considered joining them before she remembered that she didn't have anyone to dance with.
Sophie then sighed and said," It would be nice to go and dance right now."
Mari then giggled and stood up, offering her hand to Sophie as she said," Shall we?"
"This place makes me sick!" Harue shouted, her tone much less cheerful and inviting than before. Harue was leaned against the railing of the mansion's balcony, where she could get a full view of the courtyard that was free of people and only saw the courtyard's garden and fountain beneath her. Harue was with some of her friends from high-school, but her parents didn't know that she invited these girls. Her parents weren't approving of many people and these girls were no exception. They were far from it, actually.
"For christ's sake! It's not every day I turn seventeen years old, couldn't my dad just schedule the announcement on a different day?" Harue lamented as she rested her head on the railing.
"Is this what they call rich people problems?" One of the girls wondered aloud as she held a brown bottle to Harue," You need to loosen up a bit."
Harue nodded and took a hold of the drink while her friend opened it for her.
Bounce and the boy returned from the mansion's mini theatre and the boy looked quite proud after winning nearly every match of the game that he had Bounce play with him.
"You see, all you really need is strategy paired with lightning quick reflexes, and by that point, you'll be on way to becoming an expert." He explained in a brash voice, though Bounce wasn't really that interested in getting better in the game, though she did have fun.
Bounce then noticed people were dancing in the event hall. Not a single person in the hall was riding and everyone was in pairs enjoying the music as they danced. Bounce was quite interested by the sight of so many people dancing before her and it looked like fun, despite the fact that their dancing style was a bit boring to her.
"Hey let's join them!" Bounce suggested as she took a hold of the boy's hand and ran to the hall.
"Are you serious?" The boy then asked in an incredulous voice as the two of them rushed to the floor.
"Of course I am! Check out my moves!" Bounce declared as she began to dance. She definitely wasn't dancing like everyone else, it was as if she had been listening to a completely different song than everyone else. She received some more dirty looks again and this time, instead of sitting back and watching, the boy made an effort to correct her.
He took both of Bounce's arms and gently said," Like this."
He took the lead and showed her how the dance worked, paying no attention to the crowd and all the eyes on the two of them. Bounce was surprisingly light on her feet and soon enough got the gist of the dance. Bounce seemed to enjoy the dance and wasn't expecting the boy to be so good at this.
"You know, this dance is sorta boring." Bounce remarked, her tone sounding oddly upbeat.
"Yeah you're right, but it's timeless." He responded as a smile appeared on his face," Oh yeah, you haven't told me your name."
Bounce face turned as white as a sheet. She hadn't planned on telling him that. She then sighed and leaned in closed, whispering into his ear.
"That's pretty." The boy remarked as Bounce drew back," What does it means?"
"Who knows?" Bounce responded with a shrug.
"Someone must." The boy stated plainly as they continued to dance.
"By the way, what's yours?" Bounce questioned.
The boy looked at her in surprise and then said," You didn't know? It's...Hyosuke."
They stopped dancing once the music died down and some people had given them applause.
"Ugh, I wanna go home!" Harue shouted, her cheeks slightly tinted pink as she stormed over to the staircase.
"Harue, you are home." One of her friends called out from the balcony.
Harue groaned and leaned forward against the stairway saying," Don't remind me."
Harue then looked downstairs, unsatisfied with what she saw as she grumbled to herself, " Everyone is having fun at this stupid party except me, when I'm the birthday girl!"
Bounce then walked upstairs, looking around the floor and paying no attention to Harue.
"It's gotta be around here somewhere…" Bounce said to herself as she inspected the near empty hall before she finally noticed Harue standing a few feet from her," Wow, you're awfully bitter."
Harue gnashed her teeth together and questioned impatiently, "Who do you think you're talking to?"
"Doesn't matter to me." Bounce said tonelessly as she conjured up a black diamond and launched it towards Harue.
Harue fell to the ground unconscious as her patchwork heart had been corrupted. As she fell down, a lighter fell out of her home to jacket. Bounce then knelt to pick it up.
"This looks promising." Bounce remarked as she switched the lighter on and off.
Kiriko and Asuna just rejoined with Sophie and Mari in the hall when suddenly an alarm rang through the entire mansion.
"A fire alarm?" Sophie asked as she pressed her ears shut.
"Or maybe a false alarm." Asuna suggested as guests started to rush out of the mansion.
"There's a Defective here!" Rani shouted as she poked her head out of Kiriko's bag.
"Don't tell me those jerks at Asperity found out about the wonder well magic too!" Kiriko said as she fished for her PlayPact in her bag.
Bounce was still upstairs, watching as the sprinklers were set off from the Defective. The sprinklers did no harm to it and the Defective only eyed it's surroundings curiously, heedless of all the commotion it was causing. Bounce was smiling and felt rather impressed with herself. She had yet to see the Defective in action but somehow she already knew this one was going to put up quite the fight.
The Defective then noticed Bounce and glared at her, before it taunted, making Bounce jump slightly. She bumped into the wall behind her and laughed nervously to herself while keeping her gaze on the Defective.
"This Defective is so cool, and strong too..." Bounce said to herself as she took a step forward," Your goal is to get rid of any distractions and obstacles while I look for the Well of Wonder's magic!"
Bounce pointed downstairs and the Defective ran off while she continued her search.
The only people left in the mansion now were the Pretty Cure, all waiting around nervously for the Defective to appear. Just when thing became too quiet, the Defective then jumped downstairs from the top of the staircase and was inside the main hall. The Cures had been startled by the loud sound and all their eyes darted to the Defective, who was now trying to enter the event hall. The Defective charged into the room and blew ginormous flames towards the Cures.
The Cures leapt out of the way just in time, and the Defective took a few moments to recharge.
"This one shoots fire? This'll be too easy." Teddy remarked, as she held out her hand and shut one of her eyes. Dolly gave her a look and shook her head.
"You're going to get burned if you try fighting fire with fire. Besides, I'd be a bit more cautious around this Defective." Dolly advised as she returned her gaze to it," Something about it makes it feel very different from the others, it seems less...controlled."
In just a matter of seconds, the Defective was ready to blow another gigantic flame.
"Look out!" Bubbly shouted to the girls as she took a step forward," Pretty Cure, Whirlpool of Justice!"
Bubbly's attack missed the Defective by just a few inches and the Defective then went a blew another set of flames around the event hall, but these flames had failed to diminish. The girls looked around the event hall with panicked looks on their faces and they watch the flames thrive in the hall with no sign of clearing up.
"How are we going to put these flames out?" Fantasy asked worriedly as she anxiously watch the flames burn up almost everything in the event hall.
Bubbly didn't seem as worried as she took a deep breath and loosened herself up as she said to herself," This might take a while, but I got this!"
Fantasy stared at her for a few moments, thinking she was out her mind for her teammate believing she could do this all by herself. But with nobody else on the team with water-based powers, it only made sense that Bubbly saw it fit for her to take this task on all by herself.
"Bubbly, I'll do my best to help out, ok?" Fantasy declared as she stood with her back against her teammate, with Bubbly nodding in response.
Bounce had stood at the head of the staircase, where she could see everything going on in the even hall. Bounce was impressed by all the trouble her Defective had caused, never in her life did she think she'd see one of her creations deal out this much damage. It was oddly exhilarating but, only watching from the sidelines wasn't enough. The green-haired girl then decided to slide down the banister and join in on the fun.
"Look at all the chaos my Defective made!" Bounce declared joyously as she entered the event hall," This is by far one of the coolest things I've ever seen!"
"Bounce!" The Pretty Cure shouted in unison, with Dolly saying after," You've gone too far this time!"
Bounce started laughing at Dolly's response and only replied with," Yeah, I guess you might be right. But, wouldn't you agree this is quite a sight for the eyes?"
Dolly was furiously and instead of fighting the Defective, she started walking straight towards Bounce.
Suddenly, Jack and Domino appeared in the hall beside Bounce. Jack looked around the hall, wearing the same look of bewilderment Bounce had on moments ago, while Domino was a bit more apprehensive and cautious.
"Wow, you really are your mother's child huh? I'd never think to make a Defective out of a lighter." Jack remarked as he took a step forward, his hands in his pockets," Alright, I'll take it from here."
"Bounce, we're leaving, Jack will handle the rest of this." Domino stated in a stern voice as he urged her to follow along. He reached for her hand, but Bounce drew it back.
"As if! This Defective is mine and there is no way I'm abandoning it!" Bounce declared stubbornly.
The Defective then created yet another set of flames, heedless of the direction it was sending them to. It shot a few flames towards the Pretty Cure, but the bulk of this set was sent to the Asperity members.
Jack then drew an X shape in front of him and a transparent silver jack appeared before him. The flames diminished upon contact with it and Jack then said impatiently,
"Watch where you're shooting that thing, idiot!"
"See? This Defective is far too destructive, we shouldn't waste anymore time here." Domino advised her, but Bounce still wasn't interested.
"You're just jealous because I made a Defective way stronger than yours." Bounce claimed as she crossed her arms," I'm not leaving this fight! I went as far as putting on a dumb dress and not beating up a bunch of gross kids just to find the well's magic and-!"
Domino then lifted Bounce up, carrying her over his shoulder and ran out of the mansion as quick as he could.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Bounce shouted angrily as she tried to break free from his grip," Put me down right now so I can punch you in the face you jerk!"
"Even if I were to do that, I'm doubtful you'd be able to reach my face." Domino said with a sigh, knowing he was only adding fuel to the flame.
"What the hell did you just say?!" Bounce questioned furiously.
Back in the event hall, Bubbly and Fantasy were trying to put out the flames, but they weren't getting anywhere with the Defective continuing to shoot flames around the hall. The girls were getting frustrated and weren't sure of how to put an end to this.
Dolly and Teddy had tried to fight against the Defective, but it was near impossible to come near it. It was fairly quick but it's flames weren't making it any easier for the Cures to fight against it. Dolly and Teddy then stood back against each other, both feeling rather exhausted.
"This would be a lot easier if we could fight outside." Teddy said in a low voice," That way Bubbly and Fantasy could finally put out the fire."
Dolly nodded in response and then said," I know, but I can't figure out a way to actually get it outside! The event hall may be big but those front doors to the mansion certainly weren't."
Jack watched the fight continue at the top of the staircase, saying to himself," This one's pretty strong but I wonder how long it can last against those Pretty Cure?"
As if on cue, the Defective then shot a fireball towards Jack and he wasn't quick enough to dodge the attack. The fireball caused his vest to catch on fire and he looked the vest in pure shock. He shrieked and ripped it off immediately, stomping on the flame in an attempt to put it out. But instead, his shoe managed to catch on fire. Jack then took off his shoe and tried to blow out the flames, but it only got worse and the flames got bigger and moved to his shirt. He screamed again and ran off in search of some body of water. He dashed straight to the balcony and saw the fountain directly below and dived in.
"Cannonball!" He shouted before he fell into the fountain. He emerged out from the water in seconds, heaving in his breaths and leaning against the edge of the fountain. He took a deep breath and then noticed his reflection, groaning to himself at the sight of his hair down.
"I look awful..." Jack stated as he tilted his head backwards.
Dolly and Teddy had followed him up to the balcony, both of them had their eyes narrowed at Jack as they watched him step out of the fountain.
"Why do they have such a huge fountain?" Teddy questioned as she and Dolly continued to scrutinize Jack.
"I thought of something!" Dolly shouted as she took a hold of Teddy's hand and started running back to the event hall.
"Hey, hot stuff! Follow us." Dolly shouted as she and Teddy stood in the doorway of the event hall. Teddy gave Dolly a skeptic look but the Defective followed after her without any hesitation. The two Cures started running back to the balcony, and Teddy glanced over to Dolly suspiciously.
"Where are you going with this?" Teddy asked as they continued to run.
"You haven't caught on yet?" Dolly shouted as she skidded to a stop in front of the balcony. Moments later, the Defective arrived and then Dolly wore a look of shock on her face.
"Oh no! We've hit a dead end!" Dolly clamoured as she looked around in panic before her eyes met the edge of the balcony," Well, here goes nothing!"
Dolly winked to Teddy motioned her to follow suit. The two of them jumped off the balcony, with the Defective following after them. The Defective made a large splash but was no longer able to create flames, rendering it unable to attack.
"You're not a bad actor." Teddy remarked in surprised as she gave Dolly a high-five.
Dolly smiled in response and then said," Our job isn't over yet! I'm going to get Bubbly and Fantasy."
Bounce had sat in what appeared to be a janitor's closet of sorts in the mansion, accompanied by Domino. Bounce was beyond furious by being detained in here while Jack took all glory for her work. She had been ranting to Domino for the last three minutes now about how this was all very unfair.
"And not to mention, it if wasn't for me, you goons wouldn't have ever stood a chance trying to find the well's magic in this joint! Not like I did though but, that's not the point. I've been working so hard and each time I try to put in the effort, you two undermine me and treat me like some little kid-!"
"Ok Danica, I get it!" Domino exasperated after taking a breath, a blank look on his face before realizing what he had just said.
"I've already told you, I don't like being called that name." Bounce said slowly in a low voice," You two do nothing but try and protect me when you're getting in my way while I'm just doing my job. I know you're just following her orders, but I'm a part of this team too, whether you like it or not!"
Domino fell quiet for a few moments, trying to collect his thoughts. He put his hand to his forehead; if Bounce was good for something, it was giving headaches. But he understood Bounce was only voicing her opinions, it was her own little way of venting, despite sounding so aggressive. Domino then sighed and took a seat next to Bounce.
"Even if your mother is constantly telling us we must keep an eye out on you, it's not like she needs to. When we formed Asperity, we weren't planning to...have you on the team, not because we wanted to exclude you but, none of us wanted you to get caught up in all this." Domino confessed, well aware that Bounce was pleased by this response," We decided if we were to face defeat and...other unfavourable things, that would be fine. But, you're different. You don't have to join us, you can do so much more with your life! I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you went down with us."
"Don't say such things." Bounce said quietly, her gaze fixated on her lap before she stood up in front of Domino, looking him dead in the eyes," Asperity will win. Wanna know why? Because I'm not ever going to leave this team!"
Domino fell quiet, frustrated by Bounce's resolve but chose to not say another word and motioned her to join him in returning to Asperity.
The Pretty Cure had purified the Defective a few moments ago and were now inside the event hall again. Dolly looked around the hall with a guilty look on her face. Even with the success of Bubbly and Fantasy extinguishing the flames, the hall was in shambles. She placed her hands over her mouth and felt tears form in her eyes. Fantasy walked over to give her a hug, but Dolly shook her head and took a step back.
"It'll be fine, it's not like anyone got hurt." Teddy reminded her.
"With this amount of damage, it's a surprise that no one did. But who's to say this won't happen again and that normal civilians won't get involved?" Dolly pointed out as clutched the violet diamond on her bow," At the rate we're going, this is bound to happen again. We have to get stronger."
"And we know just how to do that." Nova stated as she and Rani sat on one of the few tables left in the hall.
"We believe it's finally time you girls pay a visit to the Laruan Kingdom to train." Rani explained with Nova nodding vigorously in response," It might take a few days and things could get tough while training in the Kingdom, but I'm almost certain you girls will come out a stronger team. What do you say?"
The Pretty Cure all nodded in agreement and all eyes fell to Cure Dolly for a response. Dolly wore a determined look on her face as she said,
"Let's go."