Snap!
The somewhat large, expensive camera flashed and immediately a picture was taken of the girl standing a few feet away from it. She was beautiful, her skin was sun-kissed, her lips painted red and her hair a lovely shade of auburn. Her smile was so bright and full of life, she was a great subject to photograph. She smiled again and played with the ends of her dress that came to knees, bunching it into her hands as she stood ready for the next picture.
Mari smiled as she looked down at the picture she took of her subject, Shinobu. Easily one of the best shots she taken this afternoon with her, but she had a feeling Shinobu could also take much better photos too.
Shinobu was trying out different poses in the meanwhile, before she noticed that Mari appeared to be zoning out. Shinobu then waved her hand to Mari to get her attention and idly called out,
"Everything ok, Mari?"
Mari jumped slightly, it was a good thing she had the camera slung around her neck otherwise it would've dropped out of her hands. Mari nodded attentively and resumed her photo shoot with Shinobu.
"Shinobu Akagawa, a girl who wants to get into modelling after she's done with high school. She's cheerful, extremely photogenic and kind to a fault. Shinobu will definitely get people's attention, but it's good portfolio shots that will set her apart from the rest." Mari thought to herself as she took another picture of Shinobu. Shinobu was one of the first people who Mari had photographed ever since she had slowly transitioned to taking photos of people rather than plants and objects. The thought of it had originally been a bit intimidating to her, but Mari knew she had to get around to it eventually. As of now, Mari had only shot photos of close friends, clubmates and family but a few days ago, Shinobu contacted her personally, asking if she was interested in shooting with her. Mari was slightly hesitant at first, but Shinobu was so sweet, and not to mention unbelievably pretty.
"I can sense it, even if it's weak, it's certainly there." Mari thought to herself as she took pictures of Shinobu," She's got magic running through her veins."
It wasn't all that surprising, not was it uncommon. These days, Mari felt her ability to sense magic growing stronger and stronger. It was nice in some ways, but frustrating in others. Some people had maybe a singular spark of magic in them, easy to miss. Those were the ones that Mari felt some pride in sensing since they were so obscure. The ones that stood out to her made her feel nervous.
"I guess with becoming a Pretty Cure, it's becoming easier to notice magic. There's traces of Laruan kingdom magic all around. Some of it is weak, other sources are very strong. My mom once told me that people from the kingdom have been migrating to the human world for centuries now, it's only as of recently that more people have migrated in larger masses. Apparently, it's not because there is anything wrong with living in the kingdom..."
Mari snapped another photo, this one was of Shinobu sitting next to the flowerbed in the school courtyard.
"...They just wanted to explore and discover new things." Mari thought to herself as she looked at the photo she just took," It's likely that Shinobu's ancestors were from the kingdom but their stories were lost to time, so she may have no clue."
Mari looked down at her watch and noticed it was getting late. She looked over to the sun setting and wondered if it would've been best to keep taking some photos, especially since these golden hour shots were becoming a trend. She then noticed Shinobu was yawning and she smiled to herself, not surprised that Shinobu looked good even when she was tired.
She then called out to Shinobu and said," Would you like to wrap up for today?"
Shinobu jumped slightly and said in an unconvingly tone of reassurance," We don't have to! I mean...I could go for a few more shots."
"It's fine, it's getting a little chilly anyways." Mari pointed out to her," We can take some more photos tomorrow. How about we go get something to eat instead?"
"Alright, sounds good." Shinobu responded as she stood up and walked over to Mari, who had stood next to her bag," I'll get changed and I can show you this really great restaurant I found last week. I'm treating you, ok?"
"Are you sure? I really don't mind paying for myself." Mari said awkwardly, her face flushing red as they started to walk to the school.
Shinobu was insistent and responded with, "Think of it as my way of saying thank you. You've been really fun to work with and I know all those photos we took today will be great for my portfolio!"
Mari nodded and Shinobu walked towards the washroom to change while Mari waited by the school doors.
"It's girls like her that make me wonder...was I the best choice for the final Pretty Cure?" Mari said to herself quietly.
These last few months had been exhilariting, life-changing, maybe even euphoric, but... there had been so many times since Mari became a Pretty Cure that made her question her position and if she deserved it. Especially when she seemed unable to go a day without feeling a strong sense of magic from someone who wasn't a Pretty Cure and just a regular person.
"This world is enchanting and filled with mystery. It feels nice that it's not just the Pretty Cure with magic flowing within them but...wouldn't that have made them also suited to be Pretty Cure?" Mari asked aloud before Shinobu exited the washroom, now in her uniform. Mari smiled at her, she almost forgot why she had been thinking so much about magic appearing on Earth in the first place. Shinobu walked ahead of her and Mari continued to think about her role as a Pretty Cure.
The two of them walked for about fifteen minutes once they left the school and reached the restaurant that Shinobu was talking about. It was fairly large, but thankfully it wasn't too crowded at this time of day, but chances are it'd start to pick up within the next hour. Strangely enough, Mari saw a few students from both her school and other schools dining here at the restaurant. Most kids here age would've chose Cafe Rosewood or some other less expensive looking place. While Mari and Shinobu waited for a server to take them to a table, Mari watched the other students at their tables, studying, laughing and gossiping amongst each other. They all looked like they so happy to be in each other's company and it made Mari wonder what it would be like if she was their friend.
When Shinobu and Mari had been escorted to a table and given their menus, Shinobu skimmed through her menu, already sure of what she was going to get and start to make small talk with Mari.
"So Mari, aside from photography, what else do you like to do in your free time?" Shinobu asked as she put down her menu and reached for her glass of water, holding it in both her hands.
"Um, well...I like cooking, and making jewellery, not much else to be honest." Mari replied with a forced laugh while she put her menu down. Shinobu frowned a little, with an inquisitive expression on her face. It was obvious to Mari that her response wasn't satisfactory to Shinobu and it made it look like she was holding out on something. In truth, that really was all Mari did. She had old hobbies she enjoyed but she found that when you were the only one to enjoy it with, it wasn't as fun.
"When I was younger, I did theatre." Mari confessed with a nostalgic smile on her face as her eyes trailed to the table top," I wasn't the best actress but...I had a lot of fun. Acting came naturally to me."
"Oooh that's awesome!" Shinobu remarked excitedly," What made you start acting?"
Mari was hopping from one chair to the next in the Miyazono family's livingroom, completely heedless of where she was heading and what could happen. She barely landed on the farthest chair in the livingroom, panting out her breaths before she jumped off the chair she just got on and shouted victoriously,
"Bad guys beware, for I, Cure Cheer, am here!"
Mari's mother then walked, more like raced, into the living room as soon as she heard Mari say that name. As soon as she saw that distressed look on her mom's face, the one where Satomi was flushed red and resembled a tomato, Mari bursted out into laughter and fell on the ground. Satomi then made a shushing motion and sat her daughter upright.
"Mari, remember, we can't have you playing Cure Cheer when Aunty Izumi and your cousins are here." Satomi reminded her as she smoothed out Mari's hair," They aren't allowed to know about the kingdom, or about Cure Cheer, ok?"
Mari nodded and held back on pouting at her mother. She had been so exhausted this past morning with her cousins running around the house that the last thing she probably wanted was for her dad's side of the family to start hearing her prattle on about a magic kingdom of toys and a hero named Cure Cheer. They probably wouldn't have minded and would've just assumed Mari had an overly active imagination but Satomi wanted no one to hear about her home, not even once.
"Don't worry, as soon as they go home, you can play as Cure Cheer again." Satomi reassured her," But you are quite good at acting when playing pretend, perhaps you should try out theatre."
"It was a bit of a short-lived career but it was fun while it lasted." Mari admitted as she took a sip from her glass of water," It was probably only fun for me since I saw myself as boring. I had a hard time finding something interesting about myself, so to play a character like a hero or something meant everything to me."
I've always felt plain and ordinary despite the fact that I had extraordinary things happening all around me. You would think a boring person like myself would've had a hard time keeping myself entertained, but it was quite the opposite. It was because of how boring I was that I was able to lose myself in make-believe and my imagination.
Shinobu ordered the two girls a vegan pizza to share, despite the fact that only one of them happened to be vegan. But, Mari still enjoyed the pizza regardless and let Shinobu prattle on about how she wanted to be a model and how she came to her decision. Mari listened intently, taking note of how Shinobu lit up when she spoke of her journey, if only Mari could've snapped a candid of her right now.
"People will always shine brighter with that distinct light in their eye when they talk about their passions. It feels surreal being in the presence of those with such strong passion." Mari thought to herself as Shinobu spoke.
"I've got so many models I look up to and aspire to be like, I like to think of them all as beautiful in their own unique way." Shinobu said, before an idea came to her," How about I show you some of my personal favourite models?"
"Um, sure." Mari said as Shinobu took out her phone and went to a photo album on her phone. Shinobu handed the phone to Mari so she could scroll through her list of models. All the girls Shinobu had selected were indeed quite pretty, it was easy to see why Shinobu had chosen them, But then, she reached the photo of one model and lingered on this girl's picture longer than the others. It was Sophie.
"Not only did living in my imagination stop my boredom, it was also having interesting friends that had dreams and ambitions so great, it made their presence magnetic." Mari thought to herself. Soon enough, the girls were finished their meal and soon went their separate ways home.
"We're still shooting tomorrow, right?" Shinobu asked, with Mari nodding in return," Awesome, I'll see you then!"
When Mari was in her room while getting ready for bed, she looked down at the three books she laid out in front of her, as a strained smile found its way to her face. She then slowly picked up the third book in the collection and looked at the page where Cure Cheer was introduced. Despite the fact that she didn't like drawing style used by the new illustrator in this book, she still enjoyed looking at this page and brooding over Cure Cheer.
"I wonder how different my life would've been if I had been born and raised in the kingdom." Mari said to herself as she set the book down," Would I have been as strong as Cure Cheer? I understand that I can't be her, but it would've been nice to at least live in the kingdom just like she did."
She put her books away on her side table, taking off her glasses and just staring at the ceiling as she said," In a way, I'm kinda like Earth. I'm not flashy or interesting, I'm average and easy to miss. It truly would've been nice to be a full-blooded member of the Laruan Kingdom." She mused as she closed her eyes.
The next morning, Mari woke up earlier than usual from a really good dream, though she couldn't remember what happened in it. She smiled and simply shrugged, assuming she probably remember it later in the day. Then she sat upright and looked at her reflection in her vanity mirror near to her bed. Mari's eyes opened wide, she double blinked a few times before she took her gaze away from the mirror and looked at her hair. She let out the loudest scream the Miyazono household had heard in a long time.
Mari's hair was now blue, green and yellow and had grown a bit overnight, now reaching her mid back instead of her shoulders. Mari shook her head, her breaths shorter as she ran her hands through her hair, trying to confirm whether or not it was her real hair. She prayed that it was just some wig or that this was a bad dream, but the hair felt like her own and it seemed she didn't need any waking up.
"Mari, is everything ok?" Mari's dad asked before he was about to open the door.
"Yeah, I just thought I saw a mouse! Turns out it was a scrunchie. Don't come in though, I'm changing!" Mari warned as started walking towards the bathroom she had within her bedroom.
Mari looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, standing as still as a statue and in disbelief of what she saw. She shook her head, her heart racing as she pressed her eyes shut. She placed her palms on the bathroom counter and leaned against it, not wanting to face her reflection again.
"I don't understand, I'm not supposed to be looking like this, I don't have any super special Laruan kingdom magic. I can only use my powers in Pretty Cure form anyways." Mari rambled aloud as she felt her head throb. This was unreal, it couldn't have been happening. After all these years Mari was sure, no, Mari was absolutely positive that she would never get to have any perks that came with coming from the Laruan kingdom. No cool pastel hair, no magic, absolutely nothing of the sort.
"Well, maybe this is some Pretty Cure malfunction? I don't feel like I've got magic powers or something, so yeah. Maybe this has nothing at all to do with-"
"-Mari are you sure all you made all that ruckus over a hair tie? Because I think I saw a mouse creeping around the kitchen the other day so for all I know it could be the same one." Mari's dad suggested as he walked in carelessly, only making Mari's patience grow thinner. Mari balled her hands into fists and all of a sudden, the doorknob to her bathroom door went missing. Mari's eyes widened, her mouth agape as she tried to figure out how she just did that.
"Mari?" Her dad repeated as he looked around the bedroom," Guess she's getting ready."
Mari's dad didn't even notice the missing doorknob on her bathroom door and simply exited the room without another word. Mari took a deep breath, feeling relief and an unexpected sense of pride as she placed her hand over the spot where her door knob was supposed to be. It disappeared, not even the hole where you would insert the doorknob in could be found.
It finally happened, she finally had awakened her own magic without realizing it. Magic that she could use freely in her human form, that was hers and hers alone. But then, Mari looked at the clock hanging on the wall and she remembered how she had planned to meet with Shinobu at twelve today.
"Goddamn it!" She shouted, realizing she had no idea how to make the door knob reappear.
Hours later, Mari was on her way to the spot she had planned to meet with Shinobu wearing a large hat to hide her hair, only she arrived much earlier than they had scheduled to meet. Mari soon saw Kiriko, Asuna, and Sophie at the tables she told them to meet her at. She walked faster and the three of them looked at her expectantly. Rani and Nova were sitting on the top of the table, looking at her worriedly as she finally took off the hat.
Nobody had the same reaction as they saw Mari's hair; Kiriko was taken back, Asuna was impressed, the fairies were panicked and Sophie was only concerned for Mari. Sophie then held up a grocery bag with the things that Mari asked her to bring.
"Thanks a bunch Sophie." Mari said before she looked into the bag and removed a wig, eyeing it curiously," This...doesn't really look like my hair."
The wig may had been brown, but it wasn't the same shade as Mari's hair and it was pin-straight yet bouncy, curling inwards to frame the face not to mention shorter too.
Sophie reddened and her gaze fell to the ground as she awkwardly said," I know, but it was the closest thing I had, and I thought it'd look cute on you too."
Mari closed her eyes, and then said after taking a deep breath," It'll have to do. Thanks for helping though."
Asuna leaned against the table, scrutinizing Mari's wig as she said, "Kinda looks like Urarak-"
"When did this happen? Did your parents find out about it?" Kiriko asked as she stood up to help Mari out with placing the wig cap on.
"Overnight I guess. I woke up and all of a sudden my hair was blue, green and yellow." Mari said as she placed the wig on her head," My mom's out of town for a work conference and my dad didn't find out about it. So, I guess I'm safe for now?"
"We would seal away your magic, but doing so might also make you unable to transform into a Pretty Cure." Rani pointed out," But not taking any action here could become a greater risk than we realize."
"Should we stay for your shoot today? Just in case something goes wrong with your magic." Kiriko offered.
"If you don't mind." Mari said as Sophie handed her the wig brush," Wow this wig is soft. Anyways, Shinobu is coming at twelve and I doubt we'll be here for very long. If something weird is going on and I'm not noticing it, please cover for me."
"Define weird." Asuna requested flatly.
Mari then listed a few things off, and counted with her fingers, "Um, I guess anything that involves objects disappearing, or appearing from out of nowhere or-"
"How about objects floating?" Asuna asked her, causing Mari to look at her in question. Asuna then pointed to the wig brush, now brushing through Mari's wig. Mari yelped and firmly placed the brush on the table.
"Yes, especially objects floating." Mari pleaded with a heavy sigh.
Shinobu arrived around twelve, just as they planned, now wearing a pair of high-waisted indigo jeans and a pink cropped button-up shirt. Shinobu was as bright and cheerful as ever, and greeted Mari with a small hug and a giant smile. She even complimented Mari on her 'haircut'.
"It really suits you!" Shinobu gushed with a giggle, though Mari wanted stray away from the topic.
Mari and Shinobu began their photo shoot while Kiriko, Sophie and Asuna were sitting behind a set of trees nearby. Kiriko was working on homework, Asuna was playing a video game on the Switch she brought with her and Sophie just kept a close eye on Mari.
As Kiriko worked on her homework, she started asking Rani and Nova some questions regarding Mari and her overnight transformation since the whole thing didn't make all that much sense to her, even if she was a Pretty Cure.
"Mari's experiencing these changes because she's a half-descendant from the kingdom right?" Kiriko questioned with Rani nodding in response," So, does this mean that every member of the kingdom had to go through this stage of stabilizing their magic?"
"They didn't." Nova asked plainly," Mari's a special case. She's been raised in an environment with a sharp deficiency in magic, so it would've been harder for her powers to emerge in a place like this. She probably had a great amount of magic hidden away within her that we couldn't even sense, so for it to appear from seemingly out of nowhere has to come with some drawbacks. But, it's not like every member of the kingdom is adept with magic, far from it actually."
"So, do you think her magic's gotten this strong because of her becoming a Pretty Cure?" Asuna asked as the girls quickly inspected Mari.
"It's likely." Rani answered, as they watched her take photos of Shinobu. This session was taking longer than expected since both Mari and Shinobu kept getting new ideas for different shots and relocating around the school, resulting in the girls to continue following them closely, but remaining unseen.
"Why is she even taking photos of this girl again?" Asuna asked, lying flat on her stomach behind a bush alongside Sophie and Kiriko.
Kiriko was crammed in the middle, not even looking up from her homework as she replied with," I heard Shinobu's making a modeling portfolio, so she wanted as many good photos as she could get."
Asuna nodded in understanding, though she seemed uninterested in the photo shoot the girls were having and returned to playing her video game. Nobody else was paying attention to the shoot except for Sophie, who was staring at Shinobu in question. Shinobu could definitely look good in photos, but Sophie had a feeling that if Shinobu wanted to get noticed, she would have to work twice as hard as her competitors.
As she watched Shinobu have her photos taken by a scenic wall of roses, she then noticed a long, skinny vine curl around her left arm. It appeared neither Shinobu or Mari had yet to notice the vine that started to tangle itself tighter onto Shinobu.
"Oh dear." Sophie said to herself, before alerting Rani and Nova.
Bounce was walking around the front of the school courtyard, taking in the day devoid of the inane chatter from the high school students and examining the school in front of her. Was it the best idea to come scope a place like this for good Defective material when nobody would be around? Most likely not, but Bounce didn't care. She wanted nothing more than to be anywhere but Asperity. These days, that place was feeling less and less like a home and more like an imprisonment. It was bothering her relentlessly and she found herself in the human world more often these days, ambling around empty streets and encountering homeless cats. It was a shame she had to let go of Katrina.
She then shut her eyes for a moment and became aware of a presence she hadn't noticed until now. She was irritated in both detecting the presence of the person here, who had clearly been following her and herself for not being too absorbed in her thoughts to not have noticed it before.
"Why are you here?" Bounce asked as she turned around, finding Rubix standing in a tree.
"We need to work together." Rubix said, her voice low as she leaned against the tree and her gaze fixated on Bounce.
Bounce scoffed and stuffed her hands into her pockets as she said," No, we don't. We have separate missions, so you can just run along and go work by yourself while I-"
"-The Patchwork hearts of the King and the Mage. " Rubix interjected, her tone more stern yet just as soft," Lilith needs it. And you've had a lot of trouble finding it."
Bounce's patience was growing thin by just being near Rubix but every time she spoke, Bounce swore she felt her blood boil. She was so sick of the girl's indifferent tone, her blunt words and yet how she obviously seemed very out of tune with both the human world and Asperity. Everything bewildered her and she could only focus on whatever orders Lilith would give her. It only added to her weirdness.
"I don't know what you're getting at, but in any case, I am capable of finding them by myself or at least until Jack and Domino are back in the game." Bounce explained, turning her back on Rubix as she walked around the school aimlessly," I don't ever want your help, got it?"
"There's a good target on the west side of the building." Rubix stated, before she disappeared.
Bounce took a deep breath, feeling foolish for what she was about to do and started walking in the direction Rubix directed her to.
Mari was trying to pull the vine off from Shinobu and finally after a few good tugs, Mari ripped the vine away from Shinobu and fell on the grass in the process. Shinobu then helped Mari back up to her feet while Mari dusted herself off.
"I can't believe your guys' magic couldn't even free Shinobu from the vine." Asuna remarked, her tone deadpan as the three of them watched Mari grabbed a tight hold of Shinobu's wrist so they could relocate.
"Who would've thought Mari's magic would be so troublesome." Rani exasperated while shaking her head," It's as bad as a toddler mage's."
Just as Mari was taking Shinobu to a different spot to shoot, Bounce then appeared a few feet in front of them. As soon as Bounce laid eyes of Shinobu, she smiled and conjured up a single black diamond.
"For once that damn Rubix was right." Bounce said as she sent the black diamond towards Shinobu," Go forth and corrupt her Patchwork Heart!"
The black diamond was awfully quick, so quick that Mari didn't even get a chance to see it glide right past her but all of a sudden, Shinobu dropped onto the floor moments later.
"Shinobu!" Mari shouted as she knelt down next to her, shaking her gently in a near desperate attempt to wake her up.
Bounce rolled her eyes at the sight Mari trying to help her friend, though she of all people knew she wouldn't wake up so easily and said," How many times have we done this? You know the drill!"
Bounce then created a Defective made from Mari's camera with Shinobu's corrupted Patchwork Heart. Mari was in sheer disbelief looking at the ten foot tall Defective glowering towards her, made from her most favourite, and not to mention expensive, camera.
Mari then stood up, pressed her eyes shut and then exhaled as she said," You'll pay for this."
Mari then retrieved her PlayPact from her pocket and held it up high as she shouted," Pretty Cure, it's Playtime!"
A kaleidoscope of sparkles and light appeared from out of her PlayPact, engulfing Mari and leaving Cure Fantasy in her place once they had dissipated.
"The creator of dreams, Cure Fantasy!" Fantasy announced.
Fantasy stood her ground and pointed straight at the Defective, saying," Of all things to make a Defective out of, this is your worst choice yet!"
Bounce narrowed her eyes, and wore a curious expression on her face as she asked," And why might that be?"
"Because it's my camera, so I know it like the back of my hand and..." Fantasy said as she jumped up high onto the Defective's arm gently,"...It's cost me half of my summer job's paycheck."
The Defective then pressed the flash button on itself and Fantasy was momentarily blinded. She lost her footing and fell off the arm of the Defective, still recovering from the flash. Fantasy groaned as she kept blinking, seeing nothing but spots around her. The Defective was just about to strike, but then the rest of the Pretty Cure appeared just before it had the chance.
"Pretty Cure, Wishing Tempest!"
"Pretty Cure, Vigilant Ember!"
The two attacks hit the Defective dead on, but it didn't pay out a lot of damage to it. The Defective was only pushed back a few feet, but it was still standing. Dolly and Teddy seemed unimpressed with their efforts as they stared down the Defective while Bubbly came to Fantasy's aid.
"Oh my gosh, are you ok?" Bubbly exasperated as she helped Fantasy back up to her feet. Fantasy nodded and returned her attention to the Defective. Fantasy examined it closely, trying to determine which features could've been used as an attack against them. There were so many hidden tricks and modes the camera had, endless uses for each of them, but for use in a fight? Despite the fact that she was a Pretty Cure and had been fighting for a while now, Fantasy still couldn't figure out how her camera could be used in battle. She sighed, and squinted her eyes at the Defective.
"I have to think outside of the box! Think like the bad guy right now." Fantasy reminded herself as she closed her eyes for a moment," Aside from the flash, how else will it fight?"
Fantasy watched as Teddy leapt up high and clung to the lens of the camera, holding out her right fist and shouting,"I got you now!"
Just as Teddy's fist was going to connect with the camera lens, only then was Fantasy able to predict the Defective's next move. The Defective then pushed out it's lenses, catching Teddy off guard and making her lose grip. Teddy was about to fall on the ground, but Bubbly created a gigantic bubble to cushion her fall.
The Cures gathered around Teddy, sharing the intention to make sure she was ok. Fantasy took a deep breath as she stared at the Defective. She finally thought of something that could've dealt a great amount of damage to the Defective. Fantasy then poked Bubbly to get her attention and started to explain her plan.
Bubbly's eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously in response and said," That's brilliant!"
Fantasy shrugged and let her fellow teammates go on ahead to try fighting the Defective. With Dolly and Teddy work in sync with each other, they were almost evenly matched against the Defective but it'd only be a matter of time until someone slipped up and failed to miss an attack. Dolly made sure to be extra careful with fighting the Defective, putting an awful lot of consideration in where and when she would strike the Defective. Teddy on the other hand had the grace of a wrecking ball and even though she had been informed this was Mari's camera, she seemed to not be focusing too much on who it belonged to but rather how much damage it would bring to others if she didn't fight to the best of her abilities.
Bubbly then leapt in front of her teammates and shouted," Pretty Cure, Whirlpool of-!"
The Defective then immediately grabbed her and tossed her into the group of trees a few feet away. Bounce had an alarmed look on her face once Bubbly stepped before the Defective like that, but seemed to have calmed down now since the Defective appeared to already know what would've happened if it were to be hit by Bubbly's attack.
"Ok, the trouble Cure's out of the way, now we can wrap things up quicker." Bounce declared with a breath of relief.
Dolly and Teddy looked over towards the spot where Bubbly was thrown before exchanging expressions. Fantasy then dashed up towards the Cures with a hopeful look on her face that only confused the two of them.
"Don't worry, we can still do this!" Fantasy reassured them as she took the lead. Dolly and Teddy then nodded and the three Cures continued to fight against the Defective. With the three of them working together against the Defective, it was a lot easier to fight against it. But even then, it wasn't like they were getting ahead or had the upper hand. They were only strong enough to keep up with it.
"Damn it, at this rate, we'll run out of stamina and lose!" Teddy lamented as she narrowly dodged a punch from the Defective. The Defective hadn't appeared to be losing as much energy as the Cures were and without realizing it, it grabbed a hold of Dolly's wrist.
"Shoot!" Dolly chided herself as she attempted to remove herself from the Defective's grasp. She pulled as hard as she possibly could but with the amount of strength she had at this point from all this fighting, even she knew she couldn't free herself. The Defective then tossed her into Fantasy and the two of them struggled to get up, while the Defective quickly grabbed Teddy and squeezed her in its grip.
"Let go of me you dumb camera!" Teddy demanded as she gnashed her teeth together, trying to push herself out of the Defective's grip with no avail.
The Defective then held her up very high, winding up it's arm to throw Teddy as far as it could. Teddy looked almost nauseous from being handled so poorly, but then, she had this bewildered look in her eye as she saw a certain figure in mid-air.
"Pretty Cure, Whirlpool of Justice!"
The Defective was hit dead on and drenched by Bubbly's attack and fell flat on it's face, letting go of Teddy in the process. The Defective appeared to be quite exhausted from it's fight with Dolly, Teddy and Fantasy, much to the Cures' surprise since it didn't seem to tire out one bit. Dolly and Fantasy almost felt sorry for it, but Teddy certainly didn't.
Teddy then punched it in the lens as hard as she could, but not hard enough to break it while yelling," And that's for spinning me around like that!"
Dolly literally had to hold Fantasy back from fighting with Teddy as she chuckled awkwardly while saying," Bubbly sure is strong."
Bounce was at a loss of words, irate as she pointed her finger at Bubbly and questioned," You were supposed to be unable to fight! We hit you and you flew for miles!"
"Did I?" Bubbly asked as she blinked a few times innocently," Or did you think I did that?"
Bounce's eyes opened wide, a look of question appearing on her face as she sputtered out," What are you trying to say?"
"It was a replica of her." Fantasy finally said plainly in a voice that made Bounce only more furious," I made an illusion of her to make an attack, since I had a feeling you were going to be extra careful of her. And just like that, you fell for it and gave us the chance to attack when you least expected it."
"Now, if you don't mind..."Fantasy said as she then took a step forward, conjuring up her white scepter, holding it before her face," I'd like to return to my photo shoot."
"Pretty Cure, Fantastic Daydream Jubilee!" Fantasy shouted as she twirled her scepter around, the atmosphere around them turning into a kaleidoscope colour in the process. A bunch of hearts appeared in every colour imaginable to purify the Defective, encapsulating it and restoring it to its regular form.
Bounce shook her head, a near hysteric smile on her face as she said," There's no way I'm going back to Asperity after this."
And just like that, Bounce left without another word.
The Pretty Cure reversed their transformations and Mari rushed over to Shinobu's side in hopes she'd come to soon. After a few minutes, Shinobu finally woke up and slowly sat upright, trying to figure out what happened and why there was a gap in her memory.
"Are you feeling ok Shinobu?" Mari asked her worriedly, still feeling guilty that Shinobu had become a target today," I'm really sorry this had to happen today...if you want to call it a day, that's totally fine."
"No thanks, I think I'll be fine to shoot a little longer." Shinobu responded, though it appeared she'd have to reassure Mari she'd be ok," I'm feeling great, I want to keep shooting! Besides, I like taking photos with you."
Mari smiled a small smile though she didn't seem fully convinced. She may have been a good photographer but she knew she was far from the best. If anything, she was surprised Shinobu had been so determined to keep shooting.
"But..I didn't have a lot of experience taking photos of human subjects. " Mari admitted nervously," To be honest, I'm worried my photos won't be to your liking."
"I've seen some of your shots and if I'm being honest, I'm beyond impressed." Shinobu confessed with a giggle," Plus...there's a reason why I was shooting with you."
Mari looked at her quizzically and so Shinobu explained herself.
"I haven't been able to get a photographer who wants to work with me. A lot of them find me awkward and tense on camera, plus I'm plain in appearance so they don't have much faith that I'd get far." Shinobu stated as her gaze fell to the floor, before she looked towards Mari," But you didn't turn me away, even if you had never really taken photos of people! You saw my potential and you've been so nice to me this whole time, I'm so glad I ended up shooting with you. You're a great friend Mari!"
Mari stared at her for a few moments and nodded before she smiled, grabbing both of Shinobu's hands and saying,
"I look forward to taking more photos with you!"
That afternoon, Mari went home with a box of hair dye from the pharmacy near her house. Mari held it up to the light and scrutinized the colour that the dye would allegedly make her hair. It was her first time using this stuff, so she wanted to be extra sure that this was the closest possible shade she could get to her old natural colour. Mari then placed it on her bed and looked down at the box, her arms folded as she sighed.
"Rani and Nova said if they were to seal my powers, I probably wouldn't be able to be a Pretty Cure anymore..." Mari said to herself in an unimpressed tone," Why did my powers come when I least expected it? Was it because I was feeling bad about myself? I guess that was my magic's way of proving me wrong, that I'm not ordinary. Far from it actually."
Mari then opened the box dye and headed straight for the bathroom saying," Either way, this needs to be done."
Mari's dad then came home from the grocery store and knocked on Mari's door expectantly, still completely unaware of her magic running wild.
"Mari, do you have a moment to talk?" He asked as he held his ear close to the door.
Mari was rinsing the dye out of her hair and once the water in her sink started to run clear, she walked out of the bathroom and said," Come on in."
Mari's dad wasn't expecting the strong smell that came with the dye and cleared his throat tensely while looking at Mari head to toe.
"Doing something new with your hair?" He asked her casually, but she shook her head and took a seat on her bed," Or, I'm guessing you're just hiding a certain something up."
Mari remained quiet, and just looked down at her bedroom's carpet while her dad took a seat next to her. She was both impressed and embarrassed, unsure of how to explain any of this to her dad, but it appeared that he wasn't done talking.
"I was never sure if this day was going to come, Skylar did warn me about it but...she also warned me about a bunch of things. So, obviously I know I lot about the kingdom and that stuff. But when we were having you, she explained so many things that could've happened and how we would need to explain them to others...yeah, I got confused rather quickly. Anyways, I just want to say that...I'm happy that you were able to awaken your magic. I know you've always wanted this, wanting to be like that Cure Cheer girl. So, if there ever comes a point that, you want to learn more about your heritage, your other homeland, don't feel like you're not allowed to. You can go to the kingdom and maybe even live there for a bit if you'd like, granted that you complete your high-school education, alright?" Mari's dad offered, smiling at Mari.
Mari only gave a very quick nod in response, being a bit worried her dad might retract his statement. The two of them never really spoke about the kingdom together (her parents had yet to know she was a Pretty Cure too) but she was thankful she got to have this talk with him and placed her head on his shoulder.
"Thank you, I couldn't have asked for anything more." Mari replied softly.
Bounce impatiently sat cross-legged on the floor in a dimly lit room in Asperity. She didn't intend to come back here for hours, maybe even days but here she was. Rubix literally dragged her back after finding the green-haired girl on a swing set at an empty park, the last place Bounce was expecting to be found at.
Bounce then came clean, shrugging as she eventually said," I don't really want to do this."
"Do you think Lilith cares?" Rubix answered, not missing a beat as she conjured up a pair of red and blue luminescent cubes," Meet your reformed team members."
"What makes you think turning us into these...these creatures is going to help Asperity?!" A voice that sounded like Jack's bellowed from the shadows in the room. The voice was a lot louder than Jack's usual tone, definitely not as playful either. He sounded completely irate and Bounce jumped when he yelled all of a sudden. Rubix wasn't startled though and only glanced towards the spot where the voice came from.
"Jack, you know why this had to happen," A robotic tone that sounded somewhat like Domino, reminded him," We were the weakest members, it was only a matter of time before we received our modifications."
The two figures appeared from the shadows, standing behind the cubes Rubix conjured up. There was a tall figure dressed how Domino once did, but it definitely didn't look human with a literal domino for a head and two intersecting rings around it. It didn't show any skin at all, suited up in a black, white and neon blue lab coat, dark pants and gloves. Domino would've worn something like that, but something gave Bounce a weird feeling the clothes weren't actually covering anything.
"It's nice to see you again Bounce." Domino said to her, only making her more uneasy.
"Quite fitting, yes?" Rubix asked her, but Bounce wouldn't respond with her eyes glued on Domino.
"Was there any point of doing this to me though?!" Jack questioned as he slammed his hands, or paws, on the top of the red glowing cube. Jack wore his exact same clothes, but now, he had the body of a tiger.
"You're depriving all the woman of the world by taking away my normal, handsome form!" Jack claimed as he banged his fists against the cube.
"Jack please you were not that attractive." Domino said to him flatly, only agitating him more.
"Bring them back to normal!" Bounce demanded as she waved her hand frantically in their direction," It's bad enough you of all people are here but now my family has to be turn into these, these things?! Change them back right now!"
Rubix shook her head once, and answered with," I didn't do this. If you want, you can voice your opinions about this change to your mother."
Bounce shook her head, at a loss of words and feeling completely powerless right now, wishing that she was the strongest member in all of Asperity so she could restore things to the way they once were.