Days later, the four Pretty Cure and the fairies were all gathered in Kiriko's room, inspecting the fragment left behind from the shard that Rani and Nova were able to recover. It was awfully small, Kiriko wondered if they'd be able to analyze correctly at that size, but the two fairies reassured her that they'd be able to figure it out, despite how small it was. Kiriko seemed unsure, but the two of them said to her regardless of the size, it would be easy to figure out its contents with the right tools.
So, Kiriko found an old microscope her mom had laying around from when she was in her university years. Kiriko had to haul the microscope out from the garage and into her bedroom, feeling exhausted after two steps of carrying it. Kiriko looked at the microscope sheepishly, knowing it was likely older than her. While her mom no longer had use for it, it did come in handy for a time like this.
The microscope was currently being used by Rani, who kept her eye on the fragment beneath the microscope's lens. The girls watched her curiously, each of them thinking of how odd it was for an object that clearly had no purpose here on Earth to be inspected by an instrument that Rani and Nova had never even seen until this afternoon. After a few moments of inspecting and studying the fragment beneath the lens though, Rani was able to learn something worth sharing about the shard.
"This shard is made from Everlight!" Rani said to the group, only confusing the girls even more.
Rani chuckled awkwardly, feeling as if her discovery had been a bit anticlimactic, though that was only because this was the first time the girls had heard about Everlight.
"Everwhat?" Asuna repeated blankly as she scratched the back of her head, while Nova retrieved the shard from the microscope.
"Everlight is a semi-precious stone found in the kingdom." Nova explained as she placed the shard back on the table," It can't be found in a lot of places, but that's a good thing, since it's only notable use is draining people of their magic."
Kiriko had a look of question on her face as she said, "What do mean by draining people of their magic?"
"The Everlight stones are infamous among those who actually practice magic, specifically those who don't practice at it enough." Rani explained to them," I suppose you could compare to the Poison Ivy of your world. Many people don't realize they've been in contact with it until hours have past and they been...infected. Everlight has the ability to change it's colour, though it's usually translucent in it's regular form. Therefore, it could be easily disguised and often gifted to the strongest mages centuries past."
Rani picked up the PlayPact from the far end of the table where the microscope sat and open it up, placing the shard on top of the mirror. Once the shard was in place, an image was projected from centuries ago that depicted a boy with pale green hair receiving a velvety blue box with a gold ring inside. The gold ring had a strange stone embellished into it though, one that shone a rainbow of colours when the sun fell upon it.
"It's a slow process that involved a lot of dedication, the ones who were fully successful were working at their plans for months." Rani explained as they PlayPact showed an image of the same boy, now with a high fever on his bed," Ironic that those who worked away at their plans so diligently refused to put those efforts towards honing their own magic."
"It was common to watch a mage get poisoned by the stone itself once their magic was fully drained, or from outside sources." Nova stated as the projection disappeared," Anyways, while it seems like Everlight is a main component in these shards...something still feels off, like we're missing something."
"So...you can run out of magic?" Sophie questioned," I thought it was kinda like oxygen you know, like always around and flowing."
"In some cases, you can run out of oxygen too, right?" Rani reminded her," If you can't get enough oxygen to flow through your body in time, then certain parts have difficulty functioning properly. The Everlight has the ability to extract a great amount of magic in a short time, about a fraction of the time it takes for a Patchwork Heart to accumulate all that magic. If your Patchwork Heart can't compete with the demands of the Everlight, the Everlight will aim for the source instead."
"So...the Everlight can devour a Patchwork Heart?" Mari asked, taking a cautious step away from the shard, with Rani nodding in response.
"It's been banned in several parts of the kingdom for that very reason. Unfortunately, it still grows in more remote parts of the land." Rani debriefed, before she returned her gaze to the fragment," For that shard to be used like this is fitting, but...it's clearly been mixed with some other components, making it a lot more dangerous than usual."
"Maybe someone in the kingdom can figure out what other stuff was used to make it." Asuna suggested with a shrug.
"Ah, no it's ok! It may take a little time, but I'm sure the two of us will be able to figure it out on our own right here!" Rani reassured, her words rushed as Nova nodded in agreement.
The girls looked at them suspiciously for a moment, but nobody say a word in response. Rani and Nova hadn't been acting as they usually did when the kingdom was mentioned, but nobody wanted to address this matter. Nobody knew what the fairies saw there when they went back a few weeks ago, but judging by their expressions, the girls weren't sure if they were ready to know.
"Wow, it's gotten pretty late!" Nova remarked as she looked out the window to see the sky already toned down to a very dark blue," I think we've uncovered as much as we could today. Rani and I can pick this up again in a few days, when we've spent some time away from the shard."
Asuna then picked up Nova from where she was sitting next to Rani as she said," If you want to go home early just to start playing that game I introduced you to last night, you could've just said so."
Nova protested against Asuna grabbing her without warning, especially since she could fly and didn't need to be carried around like a toy, saying," I told you to stop carrying me around like this, plus you can't just go around telling everyone that I just wanna go home and game!"
"Well, I already did, not much we can do about that." Asuna pointed out as she collected her bag next to Kiriko's door," It's not like I said you sucked at it, which is pretty obvious after watching you try to reach a checkpoint for over forty-five minutes."
"You take that back! I was still figuring out the game controls!" Nova claimed, with Asuna still holding onto to her, well-aware that Nova didn't need her help for transportation.
Sophie and Mari giggled, following Asuna's lead as they collected their things too.
"I'm sure we'll be able to figure out how stop these shards from working. I mean, it shouldn't get any harder from here after actually getting our hands on one of them, right?" Mari said to Kiriko who nodded in response. Kiriko led the girls to the front door and waved each of them goodbye.
Once Kiriko was home alone, she ran back upstairs to her room and swung open her closet door. It looked as it always did, with the exception of a few bright coloured clothes in the middle of the rack. She picked out a few of them, hugging them and exhaled a sigh. These were the clothes that Kozue bought her when they went out shopping awhile back. Their pale colours were soothing and pleasant to Kiriko's eyes, making her feel at peace as she laid them all out on her bed. Kiriko would've never imagined owning clothes like this at her age but to see them here in her room made her feel a strange sense of accomplishment.
Kiriko trailed her fingers across one of the shirts, which was cropped and had a blue and pink mermaid on it. She then held it out in front of Rani and jokingly asked her,
"Do you think this would look good on me?"
"Yeah, I think so. But...you don't seem so sure, well, if anything...you seem hesitant." Rani answered," I don't really understand, it's just a shirt."
"In your world, it wouldn't make a different because everything is pastel, but on Earth, people will judge you on everything they can think of." Kiriko explained to her," Your clothes, your taste in music, your hobbies, your favourite shows. It isn't easy to be yourself when everyone else isn't like you. There are people who pride themselves on being unique and different but...I'm not sure if I can count myself as one of them. I don't want to stand out and draw attention to myself, I just want to do what makes me feel happy."
Rani nodded as Kiriko stood up, attempting to coordinate her outfit. Admittedly, this was harder than expected, she was sure she got the gist of it after scrolling through the fashion section of her Instagram page.
"Will you be wearing these clothes out anytime soon?" Rani asked as Kiriko tried matching accessories on her bed, with Kiriko nodding in response.
"Shina wanted to hang out for a bit tomorrow, so I thought it'd be a good time to try these clothes out." Kiriko explained, tossing a necklace onto the shirt to see if they'd look good together, not even noticing how surprised Rani was when Kiriko mentioned her plans.
"Isn't that the girl who changed Tadashi back to normal from when he turned into a frog?" Rani gasped out, with Kiriko nodding in response.
"Come on, she didn't do anything, the spell or whatever probably wore off." Kiriko reassured, her focus solely on the outfit she was trying to coordinate," She might not act like it most times, but Shina is a normal girl."
Kiriko then placed her focus only on the outfit she was coordinating, taking great care in making sure it looked perfect for tomorrow, while managing to still be wearable without being looked at too much. Once she finally decided on tomorrow's outfit, she laid the assortment of clothes onto her computer desk chair.
"These last few months have been so strange...a couple of months ago I probably would've never wanted to do any of the things I'm doing tomorrow." Kiriko stated aloud," I always kept to myself and never made the effort to be closer to anyone, and just admired everyone else at a comfortable distance. I didn't think that I had any place among them, but I eventually found somewhere to belong."
The next day, Kiriko could be seen standing at the entrance to the mall, wearing the outfit she put together last night. She was proud of herself for not only making such well-put outfit, or as they would call "coord" but also because she made it all the way to the mall without fighting the urge to go back home and change into something less eye-catching. For someone who had little to no experience in coordinating outfits, Kiriko's 'coord' was definitely something to be commended. She wore a light blue-green raincoat with purple and pink hearts on it with the cropped white top from last night and a grey circle skirt with lilac frilled knee-high socks. Her acccessories were a mix of items she had kept onto since she was little and new additions to her little collection. Today's outfit was decorated with some beaded bracelets and a light blue choker with a necklace that had a crown on it.
Kiriko just took in her surroundings, it had been a while since she last came here. The mall was filled with interesting things for Kiriko to see, like new stores popping up, new restaurants to try out, and getting to watch all sorts of people join together just to spend time in each other's company. Watching them all flood into the mall made Kiriko a little excited for today.
Shina texted her saying that she would arrive shortly, so Kiriko took a seat and waited for her.
"Come to think of it, this might be my first time actually hanging out with Shina like this." Kiriko thought to herself as she looked at the bus stop a few feet away," I wonder why she asked to hang out so suddenly."
Asperity was anything but peaceful with the absence of Jack and Lilith finding out. As soon as Lilith heard that Jack had been defeated, she was irate, and nobody really did expect it (except Domino) so they tried their best to appease her in some way. Well, Rubix tried her best. Bounce instead tried to avoid Lilith, unsure of exactly what to say or do in a time like this and only wandered through the maze-like halls of Asperity, hoping she could simply tune out all the noise and discordance going on beyond the halls of Asperity. Though, she was well-aware that she had one option worth trying to put Lilith's mind at rest.
Bounce saw a light at the end of the hallway that probably came from an open door, so she walked closer towards it and found Rubix standing in a room with translucent cubes that displayed scenes from Earth as if they were surveillance cameras. Rubix didn't even notice Bounce enter the room, her eyes glued to the makeshift cameras in front of her.
"You know, I doubt mom's going to like see you draped over a bunch of TVs like this." Bounce pointed out to her as Rubix continued to watch the screens.
"This is all I can do...I'm running out of places to search. It won't be no long until I have to revisit the first locations I scouted out." Rubix claimed as she stared at a screen displaying a group of teenagers walking out of a cafe," If Jack hadn't been so defiant, we wouldn't be in this situation."
Bounce shrugged saying," It's not our fault he got defeated. Though it sucks he isn't around anymore." Bounce said with a sigh before joining Rubix in staring at the screens," Tell you what, since you've been stressing about making mom happy, what if I just...make things slightly easier for you. I know your job is to look for the Patchwork Hearts of the Mage and King, so we could use their magic in the case that we can't find the rest of the well's magic, along with the of what we have built up. I can look for one heart, and you'll look for the other, so now you just have less to do!"
"What about finding the Princess." Rubix reminded her, finally removing her gaze from the screens.
"Oh yeah, uh...we can take turns on that!" Bounce suggested," Either way, the only thing that will make mom happy at this point is progress. And lots of it. If we could uncover both hearts and the Princess really soon, she's going to forget all about Jack and we'll be back in business!"
Rubix nodded slowly and responded with," Fine, then I have you look around for the Mage's Patchwork Heart. Meanwhile, I can search for the King's Patchwork Heart and the Princess. I'm going to search in a little while, I have some other things to tend to before I take my leave."
"Sure whatever, do what you gotta do. I can do some searching in my own in the meantime." Bounce stated, before she disappeared to the human world.
Once Rubix was left by herself in the room, she made all the cubes disappear and left the room to speak with Lilith. The closer she got to Lilith's room, the harder it was for her to keep walking. Soon enough, Rubix found herself unable to move forward without taking a break, only a few steps away from Lilith's room now.
"Damn it, even if my own body had a little bit of Nixe within it, it's nothing compared to the amount that Lilith's been hosting. It makes no sense for my body to reject it after this long." Rubix said to herself as she held her sides," I need to get accustomed to it, Lilith will have to share more Nixe's magic with me."
Kiriko had just met up with Shina, who said nothing bad about her outfit and complimented it instead, though her thoughts had admittedly been elsewhere. She was in truth far too distracted to even judge Kiriko on her clothes today, but it's not like she would've either way. Shina then took the lead as the two of them entered the mall.
As the two of them walked past the somewhat crowded halls, Kiriko felt something off about Shina but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. She looked pretty much the same, except for the fact that she obviously wasn't in uniform but...she was a bit quieter than usual. Kiriko had always viewed Shina as a fairly outgoing girl, but this was her first time hanging with her one on one, so maybe she just assumed wrong?
As Shina led the two of them past the lesser known stores in the mall, she felt herself tense up a little. Even she knew she wasn't acting like herself today, she hadn't felt like herself in days. Today's goal had been to fix that, to somehow magically repair herself and back to normal. Shina didn't have many friends who were girls, and despite being easy to talk to, she had things even she was hesitant to speak about with others. Things she would've like to get off her chest, but didn't have it in her to say aloud.
Shina led Kiriko into one of the chain clothing stores in the mall, and it appeared that neither of them had stepped into it before.
"This place is huge!" The two of them said aloud.
Shina took the first step into the store, eyeing the mannequins and the clothes draped onto them curiously. The mannequins were dressed just like the majority of girls shopping in the mall today, and somehow that didn't surprise Shina. She looked at them some more, taking note of how generic and tacky the outfits looked. She wondered if the mannequins were dressed any different, the rest of the kids her age in the mall would dress accordingly to the lifeless mannequins.
"There's zero appeal to this outfit..." Shina thought to herself, as she walked closer to the mannequins and felt the fabric of the jacket one of them was wearing," But, they must be doing something right if everyone wants to dress like this."
Kiriko then saw a display deeper into the store that caught her eye, and then said to Shina," Do you wanna check out that section over there?"
Shina looked up, slightly surprised by what Kiriko was pointing to but nodded and let Kiriko lead her further into the store. Kiriko wandered into a section of the store, filled with bright clothes, though some of the styles weren't to her tastes. If anything, she was only here to admire the array of clothes they had to display. Kiriko then saw a table of accessories and picked up one that caught her eye.
"This is so cute!" Kiriko remarked, holding up a headband with bunny ears on it," And soft too!"
Kiriko held it out for Shina to hold and she took it into her hands gingerly. It was quite soft and Shina also found it cute, though it didn't seem like something that Kiriko would've liked. Shina then looked at the mirror on the table and considered trying it on, though she decided against it, worrying she might not have been the only one who thought of doing that.
"I like them, wanna get a matching pair?" Kiriko asked, her voice filled with excitement as she picked out an identical headband for herself.
"Sure." Shina responded before the two of them continued to walk around the store.
As the two of them continued to look around, they noticed that the store's customers were almost exclusively girls their age, but yet, somehow they didn't feel as if they belonged despite the fact that they were in the majority.
The rest of the girls in store were gathered in groups no smaller than four, and they walked past the displays of the stores as if they had been here countless amounts of time, knowing where to find exactly what they wanted, if even the store rearranged their sections and displays every couple of days. Watching the rest of the girls reminded Shina of the archetype she always saw portrayed on her dramas, the popular girls. Always making sure they looked good when they stepped out the house, though for them they somehow managed to make it look effortless, drawn to large groups and known for getting all the attention, these were the type of girls that Shina had seen too many times in both real life and dramas. Though lately, she had been paying more attention to them than usual.
As Kiriko and Shina were waiting in line to pay for their headbands, Kiriko took notice of Shina staring at the girls in front of them.
"Do you know them?" Kiriko asked her, snapping Shina back to her senses, who only shook her head in response.
"No, I was just looking at their clothes." Shina admitted awkwardly with a chuckle,"...It's a common style they've got on I guess. It looks...interesting to say the least."
Kiriko nodded in response, though she didn't feel as if she fully understood what Shina was getting at. Once the two of them paid for their items, they exited the store and continued to walk around the mall again. Kiriko was too busy admiring the stores in the mall she had yet to step foot in to realize Shina had fallen quiet again.
Every time Shina wanted to say something, to speak about what had been on her mind these last few days, she fought against herself and remained silent. She watched another group of high-school girls, chatting among each other, probably fully capable of dishing out secrets with each other. Shina wished she had that ability right now, feeling herself grow frustrated as she continued her attempts to voice what was on her mind.
Just start off small, and work your way towards it, she had been reminding herself of these steps for days and only now did they cross her mind for today.
"You know, you never really struck me as the really girly type. But it's a pleasant surprise." Shina remarked as the two of them walked around the mall,"...You looked really happy in the store when you saw the headbands, it was nice."
"Oh well, I've always liked those kinds of accessories and cute things. I've just been a little nervous to show that side of myself." Kiriko explained sheepishly," But...speaking about that, you seem kind of different today, is something bothering you?"
Shina's eyes opened up wide, not realizing that Kiriko had caught on to her," Well...I've been thinking about my...um. Let's put it this way!"
Shina then put one knee on top of the seat they decided to sit at and placed her hands on her hips, wearing a determined look on her face as she said in a strange tone," As of lately, I've been doing some self-reflection."
"Self-reflection?" Kiriko repeated with a blank look on her face, with Shina nodding in response.
"I feel this era in my life needs to be put to rest." Shina said stoically, still using that weird tone.
"Do you mind elaborating?" Kiriko requested with an awkward chuckle.
Shina took a seat back down, looking down at the floor as she hesitantly said," I'd like to be like everyone else. I want to be that kind of girl who's got a bunch of girls to gossip to and have no trouble in getting...getting..."
"Getting...?"
Shina had a frustrated expression on her face and eventually blurted out," Have you ever felt really strongly about someone, but you had this doubt that it wouldn't work out between you two? Or they'd reject you because you weren't the kind of girl they were looking for?"
"Ah...so you have a crush, right?" Kiriko asked, with Shina sighing and nodding hesitantly in response.
Shina then laughed at herself, and responded with," Maybe you wouldn't understand, especially when you've got a bunch of guys thinking you're pretty. I like who I am, but...if the one I like most doesn't then, do I have any other choice? I don't want to feel like I won't stand a chance, that it'll never happen. I want to become someone that I'd be confident my...crush would like back."
"But Shina, if you had to change yourself for them, would you be happy?" Kiriko pointed out to her," If your crush doesn't like you for who you are, it's their loss. You're a really fun person to be around and if your crush can't see those good qualities in you, then changing yourself won't fix anything."
Shina studied Kiriko for a few moments, not in full agreement as she knew it was likely Kiriko had never been in the same position. But, then she remembered, Kiriko was going through something similar, to a greater extent too.
"Are you...speaking from experience?" Shina asked her.
Bounce stood in the parking lot of the mall, eyeing her surroundings in a rather curious manner as she stretched out her arms. So this had been one of the infamous malls that enslaved the masses she heard about. It wasn't as exciting as she expected, if anything, it just seemed to be quite cluttered judging from the view she got from a nearby window.
"Well, with an environment with this many people, there's gotta be a chance that I find the Mage's Patchwork Heart in here!" Bounce said to herself as she conjured up a set of black diamonds, before she considered stepping foot inside the mall. Bounce then heard the chatter of kids walking out of the mall. Bounce looked over their way and noticed that the two of them had matching bunnies. Looking at the bunnies gave Bounce an idea, and so she disappeared into the mall.
Kiriko and Shina eventually wandered into a toy store, much to Kiriko's delight. The store was filled to the brims with all kinds of toys, and the sight made Kiriko's heart race. Toys for babies, for kids, bright ones, interactive ones, soft plushies, they were all here and Kiriko hadn't felt such a strong sense of belonging in such a long while.
Though Shina didn't fully understand why Kiriko was so euphoric inside the store, she was glad to see Kiriko enjoying herself and looked through the store with her. She noticed a lot of girls swarming towards the collection of toys for the iconic bunny plush toy Bellini, that had taken toy store by storm over the past decade and almost went to join them. But then, another plush caught her eye.
It was a pastel green and pink frog with silly looking eyes and rosy cheeks, with his tongue sticking out too. Shina smiled at the frog and took him into her hands, taking note of how soft it was.
Meanwhile, Kiriko found herself staring at a doll with an exquisite dress on and bright hair. Kiriko hadn't collected dolls in ages, since it was a somewhat costly hobby plus it was hard to enjoy it when she felt the need to hide it from everyone. But this doll was just so well-made, being pleasing to the eye with her ornate dress and colour scheme.
Kiriko stared at the doll longer and brought its box into her hands moments later. Even the box was well designed. Kiriko was considering buying it, but just then, she heard the sound of someone dropping to the ground. She turned around to find one of the girls at the Bellini display had fainted. Then, another girl dropped, and another. Kiriko and Shina watched the sight with panicked eyes as they tried figuring out what was going on.
"It must be the Bellini bunnies." Kiriko said to herself, though Shina heard her and didn't seem to be following. Shina watched Kiriko take out her phone to message someone and suddenly felt weak in the knees, collapsing to the ground but not falling unconscious like the rest of the girls.
"Shina! Are you alright?" Kiriko asked as she sat next to her, with Shina nodding weakly in response.
Shina stared at the frog plush she was still clutching on with a pained smile on her face, having a strange feeling that the plush was at fault for this.
Bounce then appeared in the toy store, impressed by her findings before she laid eyes on Kiriko and Shina.
"These are all going to make great Defectives, but they'll need someone to follow their lead." Bounce stated as her gaze met Shina's. Shina held onto the frog plush tighter, though she didn't know why she did that while Kiriko stepped in front of her holding out her hands.
"I'm not letting you lay a finger on my friend, understood?" Kiriko said to her sternly, though Bounce wasn't planning on compliance. Kiriko then looked around and noticed the Bellini bunnies were growing ten times in size and walking towards her.
"Go forth and corrupt her Patchwork Heart!" Bounce called out as a black diamond shot out from the frog plush Shina held onto and sunk into her chest. Shina was knocked unconscious and instead her own Patchwork Heart emerged out from her, tainted by the black diamond. Shina's Patchwork Heart then merged with the frog plush and a new Defective was created.
"I can't just wait around for them..." Kiriko said to herself as she took her PlayPact out from her pocket, running into the nearest corner of the store.
"Pretty Cure, it's Playtime!" She called out as an array of pink and purple lights flew out from her PlayPact.
"The Princess of wishes, Cure Dolly!" Dolly announced.
Dolly ran back to the scene and stood before Shina, feeling guilty for not doing anything before and only drew out a sigh before she turned to face the army of toys waiting for her. The Bellini bunnies were closing in on them and so, Dolly had to try fighting them all off simultaneously. She knew there was no way of fighting them altogether without her team, but then she looked up and noticed a stacked of boxed toys on the top shelf of the aisle in front of her. Dolly then leapt up and swung all the boxes down, confusing the Bellini bunnies greatly. Dolly looked down at them, trying to figure out what made them different from the frog Defective.
"I take it the Bellini bunnies aren't real Defectives, but I'm almost certain they're somehow leeching off of those girls who fell unconscious." Dolly thought to herself.
One of the Bellini bunnies then noticed Dolly on top of the shelf and attempted to grab Dolly despite the fact that she was at an altitude higher than they could reach. Dolly jumped off of the aisle's top shelf, before she realized the frog Defective had gone missing. Dolly was about to turn around to see where it went, but she found herself in the grasp of what appeared to be a tongue. Upon realizing that she really was wrapped within the Defective's tongue, Dolly screamed and tried breaking free from the Defective's grip. She didn't have any idea what to do, too disgusted by held with the Defective's tongue to try inflicting any damage towards the Defective. The Defective gripped her tighter the more she wiggled around in it's grip, but just then, the Defective was hit dead on with a flaming sphere and let go of Dolly without realizing it. Dolly dropped to the ground, her body sore upon the impact of the fall but she knew now was definitely no time to be complaining. She looked up and saw the rest of her team standing a few feet away from her, all of them except Teddy with their gaze set on the Bellini bunnies.
Teddy ran towards Dolly and helped her stand up saying," It's bad enough we've gotta deal with a slimy frog Defective, but a gang of ten-foot tall bunnies too? We really can't catch a break."
Dolly nodded in response as she looked at the Defective in front of the two of them. A wave of frustration came over Dolly, knowing she wouldn't likely be able to get through to this Defective since it didn't have an owner. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed Teddy had already started charging towards the Defective again, clearly more than willing to begin fighting the Defective the old-fashioned way.
Teddy jumped up high, ready to deliver a powerful kick towards the Defective, but the Defective opened up it's mouth and wrapped it's tongue around Teddy's ankle, launching her all the way to the other side of the store. Teddy crashed into a display made of collectible bobble-head figures and the Defective laughed at the sight of Teddy trying to get back up. Dolly then looked at the Defective curiously, usually a normal Defective wouldn't be able to feel enjoyment or any type of emotion for that matter. Dolly's eyes then widened in realization and she ran in front of the Defective saying,
"Do you really think anyone would approve of your actions right now, including the one you like most?"
"I don't care what anyone thinks!" The Defective exclaimed as it threw down a punch in Dolly's direction," I never have and I never will!"
Dolly leapt up and stood on a giant crate filled with balls and she said," You're only saying that 'cuz your crush isn't here. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of this 'can't be bothered to care' attitude, but when your hurting people in the process, that's where I gotta draw the line."
Bubbly and Fantasy had just finished up their fight against the Bellini bunnies, who had been depleted of all their stamina, which wasn't all that surprising since they weren't actual Defectives. The two of them were just about to help Dolly in battling against the real Defective, but Dolly wouldn't allow them, simply putting out her arm in front of them to keep them away from the Defective.
Dolly only walked up to the Defective, an anxious feeling creeping up in her heart as she inched closer. Shina was right, she hadn't been through the exact same thing as her, trying to conform and act a certain way for someone she loved, but the idea of changing yourself to please others was without a doubt something that resonated with her.
"I know you're better than this, and I understand your frustration. But just because you're unhappy with yourself, it doesn't give you the right to take it out on others." Dolly reminded the Defective," Plus, I'm certain doing all this damage isn't going to make you feel better for long."
The three other Cures wore matching nervous looks on their faces as Dolly went and approached the Defective, none of them could tell if her words got through the Defective. If one thing was for sure though, it was that the Defective seemed weary of Dolly, cautiously taking steps back as the blonde Cure tried getting closer.
"You don't mean any of what you just said! You're only trying to trick me into siding with you!" The Defective clamored as it fretfully took steps away from Dolly," Can't you tell I don't have any interest in what you have to say?"
The Defective walked itself into a corner and Dolly got closer to it, so the Defective started to sputter out the first things that came to its mind.
"You don't really care about me! You could never understand me, so don't try and act like you do!" The Defective shouted to her, but Dolly wasn't really listening at this point.
Dolly was just a few inches away from the Defective now and said to it," Are you serious? You're trying to tell me of all people that I could never understand? I was just like you a few months ago. I can't guarantee it'll be soon, but I know things will get better if you stay true to yourself. Now, it seems as your heart's been manipulated by Asperity and those are the ones who don't care about you. All they want is to have you do their bidding and I'm sure you wouldn't want that. So would you be able to trust me and my team to help bring you back to normal?"
The Defective just sat there quietly, a defeated expression on its face before it extended out its hand to Dolly for her to shake it. Dolly then smiled to the Defective, using both of her hands to shake the hand of the Defective as said softly,
"I'm sorry this had to happen to you in the first place, I promise I won't let it happen to you again."
Dolly looked back to her fellow Cures and flashed them a thumbs-up and she conjured up her scepter, with the rest of the Cures following suite. They all inserted their toy toppers into their scepters, transforming into their upgraded forms.
"Playtime begins! Patchwork Form!" The four of them called out.
They held out their scepters up high and shouted in unison," Pretty Cure, Playtime Paradise!"
The Defective was purified by a mass of shimmery white lights smothering it, restoring the Defective to it's regular plush form and letting Shina's Patchwork Heart return to her.
Once Shina's Patchwork Heart returned to her, Shina awoke along with the girls who had feinted near the Bellini bunny display shortly after. The store was a complete mess thanks to the frog Defective but thankfully, no one had got hurt in the fight.
When Shina woke up, she found Kiriko and the rest of her team helping out the store associates to put the displays back together. Shina was puzzled, unsure of what happened when she was knocked out. She could only recall the sight of the girls at the Bellini bunny display fainting one after the other, but the rest remained a mystery to her. Then she realized she had been holding onto the frog plush from earlier. She looked down at it and hugged it tight, having a strange feeling as if the frog appeared in her dream.
"Well after today, there's no way I could go home without you." Shina said to the frog as she smiled to it," And I know just the perfect name for you! How does Tadashi sound?"
Kiriko and the girls were just about finished with cleaning up the store when Kiriko had locked her sights on the doll from earlier. After looking at the doll for a few more moments, taking greater care to admire all the details, Asuna cleared her throat and ultimately led Kiriko's train of thought to crash.
"Are you going to buy it?" Asuna asked her, with Kiriko turning rigid upon realizing everyone had been watching her look at the doll.
Kiriko then looked at the doll once more and nodded her head confidently as she said," Definitely!"
Bounce ambled through an emptied hallway in the mall, scratching the back of her head before she leaned against one of the walls.
"Well, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone today in making a Defective and searching for that Patchwork Heart here, but it looks like everyone cleared out after the Defective was summoned." Bounce said to herself with a sigh," How was I supposed to know that was going to happen."
Just then, Rubix appeared in front of Bounce, an expectant look on her face. Well, somewhat expectant since Rubix's face was usually without expression.
"I found them." Rubix declared tonelessly, though a very small smile appeared on her face.
"Seriously?! Wait, which one? Arabella or the King's Patchwork Heart?" Bounce questioned as Rubix lightly took hold of her wrist.
"Both. Let's get out here, we need to plan out how to approach them." Rubix said to her before they disappeared back to Asperity.