Futari wa Pretty Cure: A New Legend Chapter 29: Ride 29: Explosive Rising Power!, a Kamen Rider + Pretty Cure Crossover fanfic

Hello Fanfiction readers! After two long years (damn has it really been that long?) I, Ashbel Longhart, have finally returned with more Kuuga! You all know the drill by now so I won't make any excuses besides that this chapter took a lot longer than expected. But can you really blame me when we're about to debut not just one, but two new power-ups for our heroes? Gotta make sure everything's perfect. But before I go any further, cue the disclaimer!

(Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider Kuuga or Futari wa Pretty Cure. They both belong to their respective owners. I just own this story and my OC's.)

When last we left our heroes, they were enjoying a nice end-of-summer festival with friends until nature kicked in and ruined everything. The third Seed of Darkness was awakened and Dai had a talk with Daguva himself which only reinforced his resolve to stop the mad monster. And that's basically it. It's good to see that a lot of people enjoyed the last chapter so prepare yourself when I say you're all in for a treat today. This is the moment you've all been waiting for, so without further ado, let's ride! Chou Henshin!

Ride 29: Explosive Rising Power! Pretty Cure Rainbow Storm!

(One Year Ago)

"Hey, Dai-kun?"

"Hm? What's up?" Dai turned to Nagisa, licking his mint ice cream.

"You told me you wanted to learn 2000 skills, remember?" Nagisa asked, licking her chocolate ice cream while fighting off the summer heat.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, wouldn't it be hard to keep track of all those skills? I mean, it's already unbelievable that you know 990 skills—"

"It's 997 right now."

"Whatever. My point is, how exactly are you planning to keep track of all that? I can barely do simple multiplication."

"Simple, I write them down," Dai said, looking proud of himself.

"That's surprisingly...mundane."

"Well, it's not like I have a perfect memory. I admit it is hard to keep track of everything, which is why I always practice whenever I have free time."

"You must really want those 2000 skills," Nagisa said, licking her ice cream which was starting to melt. "Seems kind of a hassle to know that many things if you ask me."

"Maybe, but it's what I want," Dai said before quickly licking his ice cream, noticing a small stream starting to form. "After all, they're all for the single purpose of making people smile."

"You really like to see people smile," Nagisa said, smiling in amusement. "Then, do you think you can help me?"

"With what?" Dai asked, a bit surprised by the girl's sudden request.

"I kinda got into a bit of a fight with Shiho yesterday and I want to apologize," Nagisa said, looking bashful. "You wouldn't happen to have any skills that could me do that?"

Smiling at the ginger-haired girl, Dai gave her his signature thumbs up.

"Just leave it to me."

(Now)

As the clock struck 9 PM, night had fully descended as the sky had darkened and the stars littered the sky, hidden by either lasting clouds or the city lights countering them. As the sound of cars running and honking echoed in the distance, a pair of eyes gazed upon the scenery before them with less than positive intentions. The owner of these eyes was also not human.

Just at a glance, one could tell that this Grongi was strong, possessing the build of a bodybuilder. The usual cloth associated with these ancient serial killers was present on his arms and legs and covering his private lower body. Another was wrapped around his neck, acting almost like a scarf. The Grongi's skin was leathery which made sense as it possessed the characteristics of a turtle, possessing armor very reminiscent of a shelled reptile itself, even having a shell on its back. Its turtle-like head appeared hard, making it hard to tell if he was wearing a helmet or if it was natural.

Smirking to himself, Go-Gamego-Re cracked his neck before he reached for one of the rings on his fingers. Removing a sphere-shaped item attached to it, the item soon enlarged, becoming a steel ball and chain. Gripping the chain tightly, the turtle Grongi began spinning the steel ball around, preparing to throw it.

"Toriya!"

Suddenly, appearing right over the edge was none other than Dai, assuming his Blue Dragon form. Gamego turned in surprise and in that brief moment, Dai flipped over, switching to his Mighty form, before throwing a punch, striking the Grongi across the face which made him stumble back though he looked more surprised than hurt by Dai's attack.

Landing on his feet, Dai soon faced down the Grongi, the two circling one another. Swinging his weapon around to gain momentum, Gamego swung the steel ball at Dai who quickly sidestepped the attack. Swinging the ball around again, Gamego went for another swing which Dai ducked under this time. Dai pulled back to gain some distance but Gamego simply responded by throwing his weapon at Dai like a whip. Thinking fast, Dai jumped and kicked the ball away, nearly hitting the turtle Grongi with his own weapon who quickly side-stepped the deflected ball. Getting back up to his feet, Dai ran up and struck Gamego across the face with a punch, stunning him long enough for Dai to throw a side kick which knocked Gamego back and over the edge, sending him free-falling off the eight-story building. With nothing on hand to use to stop or break his fall, the Grongi face-planted into the ground, making a small crater.

Switching to Dragon form again, Dai leaped off the roof and fell down, landing with much more grace than Gamego. Turning towards the crater Gamego had made, Dai did not approach and instead changed into his Titan form.

"You won't fool me. A fall from that height isn't enough to faze you."

True to Dai's words, a hand reached out from the crater before Gamego picked himself up, no worse for wear despite his devastating fall which would have killed any normal person. Cracking his neck, Gamego dusted himself off before facing Dai.

"Dai-kun!" A feminine voice called out, soon revealed to be Nagisa as she and Honoka ran out from the building Dai had knocked Gamego off. They had tried to join him when they saw the aforementioned Grongi falling and ran back down to assist the Rider.

"Transform you two-mepo!" Mepple cried out and the girls did just that, already slashing the Queen card across their respective Card Communes. In one bright flash of light later, both Cure Black and White stood by Kuuga's side.

"Hikari no shisha(Emissary of light), Cure—"

"No time for that," Dai said, interrupting the black Cure.

"Right, sorry, habit."

"So, these are the strange Linto warriors I've heard so much about," Gamego said, evaluating both Cures before scoffing. "Not impressed. What's wrong, Kuuga? Can't defeat me by yourself?"

"Why do I get the feeling he just dissed us?" Nagisa asked, having noticed the way Gamego scoffed at them.

"Because he did," Dai said before holding up his hands, assuming a boxing stance. "Be careful, you two. This guy's strong."

"If he was able to survive such a fall without a scratch, he must be," Honoka said, slightly intimidated by the Grongi's sturdiness.

"I'm really gonna need you two's help for this one."

"We wouldn't have come had we refused," Honoka said, giving the Rider a reassuring smile which Dai nodded back to.

"Enough talking!" Having grown impatient, Gamego made the first move and charged forward like a bull. The two Cures jumped to the side while Dai stood his ground, deciding to take the turtle Grongi's attack.

Gamego practically crashed into Dai who immediately grabbed a hold of him, attempting to tank the attack. However, the Rider had underestimated Gamego's power as the purple Rider found him pushed back. Dai tried literally digging his feet into the ground, but even that wasn't enough as the Rider just left deep marks in the ground. Seeing as it was a bad idea for this to continue, Dai readjusted his hold on Gamego before shifting his weight, throwing himself backward, and bringing Gamego along with him. Once he felt his back hitting the ground, Dai brought his leg up and kicked the Grongi off of him.

Despite landing roughly, Gamego was quick to get back up, rising to his feet faster than Dai who was removing his feet from the ground. The Grongi moved to take advantage of the Rider's current state only for Nagisa and Honoka to jump in, aiming a punch and a kick respectively at the turtle Grongi's head. Both attacks struck their mark but to the disbelief of the girls, their attacks barely fazed him as Gamego grabbed the offending limbs that had struck him and spun around, bringing both Cures along for the ride. Both girls couldn't help but scream as they were spun around before being suddenly released where they both crashed into Dai who had tried to catch them.

"You girls okay?" Dai asked, having been unaffected by the crash thanks to Titan's defenses.

"Everything's spinning..." Nagisa groaned out as both she and Honoka's vision swam.

"Get a hold of yourself—shit!" Quickly reacting, Dai pushed both girls away before a steel ball struck him across the face, knocking him back.

"Dai/Ichi-kun!" Both Cures cried out in worry.

"I'm fine!" Dai assured them despite his right eye lens being slightly cracked. "Look out!"

Thanks to Dai's warning, both girls turned before quickly ducking just in time to avoid the steel ball that had struck Dai earlier. Pulling the ball back, Gamego began spinning it around to build momentum. Seeing the Grongi now armed made the Cures more cautious as they began to circle around Gamego, trying to find an opening. The Grongi seemed more amused than worried as he kept swinging around his weapon, deciding when was the best chance to attack. However, he grew impatient again and threw the ball to his left, aiming for Honoka. The white Cure quickly ducked under the attack but chose not to retaliate as Gamego pulled his weapon back faster than expected. Spinning it around a few more times, Gamego aimed for Nagisa this time who reacted better than Honoka by not only ducking but also kicking the steel ball away. Using that chance, Honoka rushed in and threw a kick at Gamego's legs, attempting to knock him off balance. However, the Gamego's reaction was faster than the Cure's as he simply jumped to avoid the Cure's sliding kick and she skidded over to her partner's side. Landing back down, Gamego pulled his steel ball back but only swung it around once before throwing it again at the Cures. The two were surprised and quickly jumped to avoid the Grongi's quick attack, but weren't fast enough as the chain the ball was attached to wrapped itself around the girl's legs. With a pull of his chain, the girls cried out before they were pulled back down to the ground, getting a laugh out of Gamego before he pulled the Cures off their feet and began spinning them around.

"Not again!" Nagisa cried out as she and her partner screamed as they were spun around, getting more laughter out of Gamego who was obviously enjoying their cries. He began to laugh more when he swung them around through some nearby support pillars, breaking them as the girls crashed through them.

"Hah!"

*SLASH!*

Suddenly jumping in, Dai now wielding a Titan Sword slashed at the chain, successfully cutting it thus releasing the girls who fell to the ground.

"You two okay?" Dai asked, turning to the girls in worry.

"We're fine," Honoka said as she and Nagisa unwrapped the chain tying their legs together.

"Thanks for the save," Nagisa thanked the Rider as she and her partner stood back up.

"Gamego's stronger than I thought," Dai said, turning back to the Grongi in question who removed another ring that turned into a third steel ball and chain.

"What do we do? Our attacks are barely fazing him," Honoka asked, looking worried at how little damage they had done so far.

"Then we'll just have to finish him off with one big attack," Dai said, gripping the Titan Sword with both hands as golden sparks started appearing over the Arcle.

Quickly figuring out what Dai meant, both girls nodded before they took a few steps back and clasped hands.

"Black Thunder!"

"White Thunder!"

*BOOM!*

From the skies, the familiar pair of black and white thunderbolts shot down and into the waiting hands of the Cures. At the same time, Dai positioned the Titan Sword behind him as golden sparks started to surround his body. Gamego, curious as to what the trio was planning, decided to watch and see what'll happen.

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

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

Thrusting their hands out, the Cures aimed not at Gamego but rather at Dai whose form soon changed, transforming into Rising Titan.

"Pretty Cure Marble Screw!"

The twin duel-colored bolts of lightning blasted out from the girls' hands and struck Dai's Rising Titan Sword. As Dai rocketed forward from the force of the attack, the twin-colored bolts were absorbed by the thunder-shaped blade, transforming it as the blade flashed between black and white and golden sparks crackled around it. Seeing this, Gamego finally acted and threw his steel ball at the incoming Rider, but the attack felt like getting hit by a pebble to Dai as Rising Titan's defenses were stronger.

"Hissatsu: Calamity Marble Titan Screw!" Dai shouted as he neared Gamego and trusted his sword forward. "RISING!"

*BOOM!*

With the sound of a clap of thunder, the whole area was bathed in light, blinding anyone and anything that happened to be nearby. After a few seconds, the light began to die down, revealing what had happened.

Dai's sword had pierced through Gamego's stomach as most of the golden part of the blade was stabbed in. In fact, Dai and the girls' combination attack had made a hole through Gamego as a building behind him was now greatly damaged. Dai held his breath until his mark appeared on the turtle Grongi, causing the Rider to smile under this helmet.

*GRAB!*

That is until Gamego suddenly grabbed the Rising Titan Sword, surprising Dai. To the Rider's horror, the mark that always accompanied his finishers began vanishing before Gamego started to remove the sword stabbing him. Dai responded by pushing forward, trying to drive the sword back in, but found that the Grongi's strength was greater than his as, with a pained-filled grunt, Gamego finally removed the sword.

"He survived our attack!?" Honoka exclaimed in disbelief.

"Arienai(I can't believe it)!" Nagisa exclaimed, also in disbelief. That combination attack had beaten Illkubo! Was the Grongi just that tough!?

"Nice technique, almost did me in there," Gamego commented as, despite his injured state, he was holding back Dai with no problem though it might have to do with Dai's form starting to return to his regular Titan form. "But it's going to take a lot more than that to kill me!"

'Shit! The transformation...!' Dai mentally cursed as he could feel his Rising powerup fading, returning him and his sword back to normal. Having lost his boost, Gamego easily dragged the Rider around, still holding onto his sword before the Grongi pulled the Rider in close and gave him a devastating uppercut, knocking him into the air.

"Dai/Ichi-kun!" The girls cried out as they watched Dai land roughly on the ground, rolling as his form changed, turning from purple to white.

'His Growing form?' Nagisa thought in surprise and worry as Dai changing into that form meant one thing: he was weakened.

"Dai!" Worried for the Rider, Nagisa dropped the honorifics as she ran to rescue her weakened friend.

"Black, wait!" Honoka cried out to her partner, but the black Cure had already run off, leaping towards the Grongi.

With a cry, Nagisa threw a punch at Gamego who side-stepped the attack. The Cure spun around to deliver another punch, but the turtle Grongi caught the punch, gripping it with enough force that would have crushed it had she not been transformed. Then, bringing his other arm up, Gamego swung and struck Nagisa across the face with a brutal haymaker, sending her flying and rolling on the ground.

"Black!" Honoka cried out as she quickly ran to her friend's side, jumping in front of her as Gamego faced her. But just as he was about to take a step forward...

"Ugh..." Groaning, Gamego coughed up a bit of blood before stopping and looking down at his stab wound where his blood was dripping onto the ground. "Guess I took more damage than I thought."

Placing a hand on his wound, Gamego turned to the weakened Dai who was struggling to push himself up.

"Try another color next time, Kuuga. Maybe then Lady Luck will smile at you." With those parting words, Gamego ran off.

"Matte(Wait)!" Honoka cried out only to get distracted when Dai fell down again, de-transforming. "Ichi-kun!"

"Dai!" Holding a hand over her left eye, Nagisa got up as she and Honoka raced over to Dai's side.

"Ichi-kun! Pull yourself together!" Honoka cried out as she helped Dai up only to find that he was unconscious.

"Dai! Oh please be all right!" Nagisa said, looking ready to cry as she overlooked Dai's unconscious form.

"It's okay, he's still breathing," Honoka said after checking. "Mipple? The Grongi?"

"I can no longer sense it anymore-mipo," Mipple said, popping her head out of her carrier.

"I can't sense it either-mepo," Mepple said, doing the same as his lover. "Sorry, but it got away-mepo."

"Dammit!" Nagisa cursed, punching the ground in frustration. "Now what?"

"We better contact Ichijo-san and get Ichi-kun to a hospital," Honoka said as she and Nagisa canceled their transformation. "Looks like we failed."

"Yeah..."

Steel balls raining from the sky. That had been the case brought up when Dai and the girls were told the news. Suspecting another Grongi attack, they and the police have been combing the city all day until they finally found the perpetrator. But unfortunately, as seen, they had been unable to stop the Grongi.

'What a way to end the night,' Nagisa thought, still holding her face as she could feel a blackeye forming. She was not looking forward to going back to school tomorrow.

(Insert RISE by MADKID)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Unknown Location)

In the dead of night, located in an unknown part of the woods stood a lone abandoned mansion. The exterior of the mansion was still fine save for the greenery that was starting to cling to the walls. Inside the entire place was engulfed in darkness as cobwebs stuck to nearly every corner and objects still there such as paintings and candlestands, none of which were lit, further adding to the darkness. In short, the place was a mess due to neglect, and yet none of this bothered the three souls living here.

"What a nice night this is," An elderly voice spoke up.

"What a nice night this is!" From a cage nearby, a parrot repeated the words that were just spoken.

"The heavy darkness and stillness so deep that it feels like all life has died out," Sitting at the table basking in the darkness befalling this place was the old man from that one rainy night at the festival. In actuality, this was but a disguise for Belzei Gertrude, the third Seed of Darkness that had appeared at the hospital.

"If the Dark King is revived, this darkness will continue for all of eternity."

"We already have the capability to do that," A second voice spoke up, coming from upstairs as descending down was Juna assuming his human disguise.

"If that's the case, we must revive the Dark King right away," A third, more feminine voice spoke up as standing by the window was Regine who, like her fellow Seeds, was also assuming her human disguise.

"No," Belzei said, smirking. "We must take possession of the Prism Stones first."

"But those girls have the stones. The Emissaries of Light, Pretty Cure," Regine said as the parrot repeated her last two words.

"The eternal power which lies in the Prism Stones, it is only appropriate for us to use it," Juna said, speaking as if it were a matter of fact.

"It seems we are in agreement," Belzei said, getting up. "In that case, shall we head out?"

"Head out! Head out! Head out!"

(The Next Day)

High in the sky, the sun had risen, marking a brand new day for the city and its people. But it wasn't just any regular day, oh no. For students all over Japan, Summer Break had finally come to an end, meaning classes were back in session, much to the complaint of many. As the boys and girls of Verone Academy walked along the road, talking amongst one another, Honoka was seen running up the hill toward Nagisa.

"Nagisa! Good morning!" Honoka called out as she reached Nagisa.

"Good morning," Nagisa replied back, turning to face Honoka which revealed her blackened left eye.

"How's your eye? Any better?" Honoka asked, looking worryingly at her friend.

"A little. Tsubaki-san said that it should heal up in a few days," Nagisa said, raising her hand up to touch it before stopping herself halfway.

"That's good to hear. You took a nasty hit last night," Honoka said, feeling lucky to escape with just a few bruises. "How did your family react? They must have been surprised."

"Oh, they were," Nagisa said, remembering how her family reacted when she came home last night. "They flew off into a panic once they saw me. Luckily they believed my baseball accident story and told me to be more careful."

"I see. And Ichi-kun? How's he?"

"I got a call from Ichijo-san a few minutes ago. He was discharged this morning and already left."

"Oh thank goodness," Honoka said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I've been so worried when he fell unconscious like that."

"Me too. Thankfully it wasn't anything serious," Nagisa said, smiling. Though, on the inside...

'Dai-kun's hospital visits are becoming more frequent, a clear sign of just how powerful the Grongi are becoming. Dai-kun's been doing his best, but after last night, the gap between them keeps getting bigger. Not only that but there's still the problem of the Seeds of Darkness, the remnants of the Dark King. Who knows what they could be plotting? Ugh, I wish Summer Break had lasted longer. This is getting way too heavy.'

"Speaking of heavy..." Nagisa began as she held up her school bag.

"Is something wrong?" Honoka asked.

"Ah, well, I don't know if it's because I went to bed late or I've been dreading coming back today, especially with this eye, but my bag feels kinda heavy."

"Did you put something in there? We're only having the opening ceremony and turning in our homework today."

"I'm pretty sure all I put in here was my summer homework," Nagisa said as she opened her bag to check its contents.

"Popo!"

"Ah!" Both girls cried out in surprise as popping out of Nagisa's bag was none other than Pollun.

"Pollun! When did you...?"

"I'm going with you-popo!"

"No, you can't! You have to wait at home!" And by home, Nagisa meant Honoka's home since that was the agreement, and yet more times than not, Pollun crashed at Nagisa's place much to the girl's annoyance.

"I'm going with you-popo! I'm going with you-popo!" Pollun repeated twice, shaking the bag which drew a few looks from passing students. The girls quickly tried to laugh it off as they got close together in order to better hide the fairy prince.

"Can't you guys talk some sense into him?" Nagisa asked the fairies.

"Sorry, no can do-mepo."

"Once Pollun sets his mind on something, there's no convincing him-mipo."

"Well, that's just great," Nagisa sarcastically said before turning to Honoka. "You think I could make it if I ran back home?"

"I don't think so," Honoka said after checking the time.

"Guess I've got no other choice then," Nagisa sighed, giving up as Pollun cheered inside her bag.

'I bet I could have made it if Dai-kun and his bike were here. I bet he's already at school.'

Turning off the engine, Dai parked his bike before taking off his helmet. Getting off the bike, Dai smiled down at the newly repaired Trychaser.

"As expected of Enokida-san," Dai smiled as he patted the seat of the bike.

"Though..." That smile of his slowly turned into a small frown as he looked at the bike all over. Despite having left it with the scientist/engineer overnight, the bike was still stuck in its transformed state. Now there was nothing wrong with it per se, just the fact that it wasn't transforming back set off alarms in the Rider's head.

'Enokida-san said the metal corrosion caused by Gouram fusing with it plus the fatigue that's been building up over the months might be the cause of why it's not changing back. That can only mean one thing...'

"I guess you're nearing your final stretch, huh buddy?" Dai spoke to the bike as if it were alive, rubbing its 'head' as if to provide comfort. "We've been through a lot over these past couple of months. You've been a huge help to me and the others. Thank you. All I can ask is that you hang in there for a little longer."

Dai got no response, as expected. Still, the Rider imagined the bike revving itself up as if to respond to its rider. He couldn't help but smile at such a thought.

"Sometimes I wish you and Gouram could talk like Mepple and Mipple. Heh, wouldn't that be amusing?"

"Oi! Dai!" Hearing his name, Dai looked up to see Shougo and Kimata with the latter calling out and waving to him.

"Come on! The opening ceremony's about to start!"

"Coming!" Grabbing his school bag, Dai gave the Trychaser one last pat on the head before jogging over to his friends. And so began the first day of the second semester.

(Special Investigation HQ, Science Division)

"Well now, isn't this a surprise," Looking up from his work, Sayuru gave his team a few instructions before walking over to greet his unexpected guests. "And what brings my dear kohai and the Chief of the police force here in person? Are we due for an inspection?"

"At ease, Enokida-san, it isn't like that," said Chief Hiwagawa. "I saw Ichijo-san here heading towards the Science Division and decided to tag along for personal reasons. No need to be alarmed."

"How goes the progress regarding the improved, super concentrated rounds?" Ryō asked, this being the reason why he was here.

"I'm just joking," Sayuru said, laughing a little before getting serious. "And while I'd like to give you some good news, progress with the improved rounds is taking longer than expected. We have to improve the guns to go along with the ammo."

"I see," Hiwagawa said, looking slightly disappointed but not surprised. "That's unfortunate, but I expected as much. We have a lot of men to account for, after all."

"Do you have any prototype rounds available?" Ryō asked.

"What?" Sayuru looked at his junior in surprise before realizing what he was asking. "No, uh uh, bad idea. The recoil would be too much if you used a regular rifle. It wouldn't be viable."

"Please," Surprising everyone around, Ryō bowed his head to the scientist. "He's out there, taking the punches we adults should be enduring. That's why I need to help in any way I can. Please, Eno—no, Senpai!"

"Hey, hey, come on now, none of that," Sayuru, looking a bit awkward, pushed Ryō back up before sighing. "Kid must be in real trouble if you're going this far for him. All right, I'll lend you a few."

"Thank you!"

"Don't mention it. We all gotta do our part. Just don't go crazy with them. Remember, the recoil's a bitch," Sayuru said before turning to Hiwagawa. "This is, of course, assuming the chief is okay with this."

"Under normal circumstances, I would deny this request, but these aren't normal circumstances," Hiwagawa said, giving his approval. "Our relationship with No. 4 is an extreme priority, especially as the abilities of the ULF are becoming more powerful. As a matter of fact, he's the real reason why I'm here."

"Oh?"

"Ichijo-kun speaks highly of No. 4, but I was hoping to hear about him from a second party. From what I understand, you've met the boy yourself. Tell me, doctor, what can you tell me about him?"

"The kid, huh..." Sayuru thought to himself, thinking about what should he say.

"Well...he's always smiling. And despite being so young, he's got a strong heart. I may not talk with him as much as Ichijo-kun here, but what I can say for certain is that he's the type of guy who'll have your back, no matter what. In short, he's a good kid."

"I see," Hiawagawa said with a small smile. "That's good to hear."

"Why the sudden interest in No. 4, chief?" Ryō asked, wondering where this sudden questioning was coming from.

"...Thanks to the support of No. 4, we have been able to have continued support from the government," Hiawagwa began, looking a bit grim. "However, there are still those who question our competency and whether we should place our trust in such a person."

"That's..."

"Our continued success is largely due to No. 4's support. But given the power he wields and the escalating situation, I cannot say their fears are unfounded."

"Chief..."

"Still, in light of his efforts to protect this city and the country, I want to continue placing my faith in our masked hero. That is why we must arm ourselves with heavier firepower and put an end to this...for all parties involved."

"Hai!" Both Ryō and Sayuru nodded their heads, sharing in the chief's feelings.

"Speaking of arming ourselves..." Sayuru began as he turned to Ryō. "Don't you have a crime scene to get to? Don't worry about the rounds. I'll have someone deliver them to you later."

"Right. Thank you again," Ryō said, nodding in thanks to his friend before rushing off to rendezvous with the others.

"Well, I suppose I better get back to work myself," Hiwagawa said, about to turn and leave.

"Actually," Sayuru spoke up, stopping the chief from leaving. "Now that you're here, chief, I was hoping you could look at something for me."

"Me?"

"Yes. It's a little something I'm working on alongside the improved rounds," Sayuru said as he brought the chief over to his desk and brought something up. "I was hoping I could get your permission regarding it since we're talking about the kid."

"This is..."

(Library)

"Ugh...!" Nagisa let out a loud groan, not caring about where she was as she laid her head down on the table. Both Honoka and Dai couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Rough day?"

"What do you think?" Lifting her head up, Nagisa threw a small glare at Dai's smiling face. "I knew bringing Pollun to school was a bad idea. He caused nothing but trouble for us!"

"What happened?"

"It really wasn't that bad," Honoka said, explaining. "Pollun just wouldn't stay quiet during class."

"You're being too light on him, Honoka," Nagisa said, taking over. "He wouldn't stop complaining about how boring class was no matter how many times I told him to stay quiet. I had to stand outside when I made up an excuse about being on my phone."

"That must have sucked."

"It did, and that's not even the end of it. Somehow, when we weren't looking, he snuck out of my bag, forcing us to look all over the school for him."

"We found him drawing on a picture of the principal," Honoka said, a small smile of amusement forming as the memory came up in her head.

"Yeah, and nearly got caught by the Vice Principal. Probably would have made us stay after school to weed the grass or something had we been slower."

"Yeah, I can see the Vice Principal making students do that," Dai said, wincing a little at the image. "And Pollun?"

"He's sleeping," Nagisa said, pointing to her bag where the sounds of soft snoring could be heard inside. "I swear, the nerve of this kid, causing trouble for us and just napping once he's done. If he wasn't so young, I would give him a Cobra Twist."

"That's never stopped you from doing it to Ryota."

"He's old enough to take it and big enough," Nagisa said before throwing another glare at her bag where Pollun was resting inside. "Seriously, the nerve of this guy to just sleep after what he did this morning."

"Why didn't you just put him to sleep like with Mepple and Mipple?"

"Huh?" Both Nagisa and Honoka turned to Dai, confused.

"You know, with your cards?" Dai said, mentioning the Pretty Cure Cards. "Pollun's got a space to scan cards like Mepple and Mipple when he's in that laptop form of his. Why didn't you just use Nelp to put him to sleep so he wouldn't be a bother in school?"

Both the girls dumbly blinked at the Rider before Nagisa checked her bag, reaching inside the open Pollun up, moving as quietly and gently as possible so as to not wake him up. True to Dai's words, right below the mouse-pad was a slot to scan cards much like when Mepple and Mipple were in their Card Commune forms. Closing Pollun gently, Nagisa sat back up, completely silent with her eyes staring off into the distance.

"Nagisa?" Honoka called out to her friend in worry.

"Honoka, can I borrow your bag for a bit?" Nagisa asked without turning her head to the girl.

"Uh, sure. Here."

"Thank you." Graciously accepting the bag from her friend, Nagisa zipped it open before stuffing her head inside and proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs. This of course drew looks from others using the library to which Dai embarrassingly waved them off.

"There, there..." Honoka patted her friend's back who now sounded like she was crying. "It's okay. I didn't know either."

"Luckily, today was only a half-day. Just think if you two had to keep Pollun in check during regular class hours."

"Ugh, please don't say that. I'm annoyed enough as it is," Nagisa said, taking her head out of the bag and glaring over at Dai who simply laughed.

"Anyway," Honoka spoke up while taking her bag back from Nagisa. "Ichi-kun, is there a reason why you're looking at that map?"

True to Honoka's words, over by Dai's side of the table was a collection of maps that he had been looking through since they came here.

"I'm planning out my next move against Gamego," Dai answered, looking back down at the map in his hands.

"You mean the Grongi we fought last night?" Honoka asked, lowering her voice as the air around the group turned serious at the mention of their latest adversary.

"He won't stay hidden for long, not if he wants to lose the Gegeru," Dai said, scanning the map for something. "He'll show up, and when he does we gotta be there to stop him."

"...but how?" From the side of Honoka's bag, Mipple popped her head out of her carrier, concern evident on her face. Honoka quickly shifted her bag so that the fairy would be hidden from anyone passing by their table. "He took your combined attack, the same one that defeated Illkubo, and lived-mipo."

"She's right," Following his lover, Mepple popped his head out, his expression mirroring the other fairy. "If our strongest attack couldn't even take him down, then how are we supposed to defeat him when he shows up again-mepo?"

"Still, we can't just give up," Nagisa said, shifting her bag so that Mepple was also hidden. "If we leave things as they are, more people are gonna get hurt. We've gotta stop them."

"Nagisa-chan's right," Dai said, looking up. "And besides, we've still got a few options we can use."

"We do?" The girls looked at Dai, confused as to what he was talking about.

"We do. Well, at least, I do." A grim look fell on Dai which alarmed the girls. "A part of me hoped it didn't have to come to this, considering the damage that'll follow, but we're low on options."

"What do you mean?" Honoka asked, wondering what the Rider was talking about.

"My gold powers," Dai said. "There's still one color I haven't used yet with it."

"You mean..." Nagisa realized what Dai was talking about, thinking back to the book explaining Kuuga's powers.

"It's time I bust out Rising Mighty."

"Rising Mighty..." Honoka repeated, picturing the form that Dai planned to assume.

"Wait, didn't you say that Rising Mighty's finisher was dangerous?" Nagisa said, remembering what Dai had told her long ago about the form's capabilities.

"Yeah, which is why I'm trying to find any safe spots to unleash it to avoid casualties," Dai said, gesturing to the maps he had been looking through.

"So that's why you were looking through maps."

Dai nodded his head before letting out a small sigh. "This would be less of a hassle with Google Maps."

"Google Maps?" Both the girls and their fairies looked at the Rider in confusion.

"Oh right, you wouldn't know." It was moments like these that reminded Dai of what year this world was in. "Basically, it's a free web mapping platform offered by Google that allows people to view city and street maps using satellite imagery."

"Really? That's amazing!" Honoka exclaimed softly, eyes sparkling.

"Man, that really would be useful to have right now. Probably would save dad from having to buy a map whenever we go on vacation," Nagisa commented, being reminded that Dai came from a world that was ten years ahead of this one.

"From what I remember, I think it should officially launch in about a year or two," Dai said, trying to remember when precisely the platform would be launched before getting rid of the thought. That wasn't important right now. "Anyway, we're getting off topic."

"Weren't you the one who brought it up first-mepo?"

Having the grace to at least look sheepish at that retort, Dai focused back on studying the map before him, making mental notes of any places that seemed safe.

"I guess the only safe places are either bays near the water or nature areas. Here's hoping Mother nature won't mind me burning down a couple of trees."

"Considering the alternative is to let an ancient clan of murderers run around, I'm sure it'll be fine," Nagisa said, getting a small laugh out of Dai.

"You said the resulting explosion reached a distance of a few city blocks, correct?" Honoka asked to which Dai nodded. Looking at the map the Rider was currently studying, the white Cure couldn't help but frown. "Even if we limit it to forests and bays, that's still not a lot of safe spots. Not to mention the fact that it'll be hard to lure the Grongi into such areas."

"I guess all we can do is to have Ichijo-san evacuate the area, which reminds me..." Reaching into his pocket, Dai took out his phone. "Give me a minute, okay?"

And with that, Dai got up and walked away to make his call, leaving the girls and the fairies alone.

"He's doing so much despite taking such a beating yesterday," Nagisa said, watching as the Rider went outside to make his call.

"Yes. Hopefully, he's not overdoing it," Honoka said, looking a little worried.

"This is Dai-kun we're talking about here. I wouldn't put it past him to work himself to death if it's to help people," Nagisa said, looking a little exasperated. "I swear, he'd probably be sick in bed all the time if I wasn't watching out for him."

"Well, then it's a good thing that he does have you," Honoka said with a small, teasing smile that grew bigger when she saw her friend glow a bit red at her words.

"Is Dai's finisher really that powerful-mepo?" Mepple asked, bringing the topic of Dai's finisher back to discuss. "Not to be a doubter, but how can you know how big it's going to be if you've never seen it-mepo?"

"Well..." Nagisa would admit that the fairy had a point. After all, they had nothing but words to go by at this point so how were they so sure that Dai's claims were true? Well, instead of verbally answering, the ginger-haired girl looked toward her partner, or more specifically, her right arm. Noticing the stare, Honoka unconsciously held her right arm which told the fairies all they needed to know.

"Right. Sorry-mepo."

Honoka shook her head. "It's fine."

"Still, I can't help but feel like Dai-kun's doing most of the work here," Nagisa said, leaning her head against her hand. "I thought we were getting stronger, but now I'm not so sure. Plus there are still those 'Seed' guys we have to look out for."

"True. We haven't seen them since the night at the hospital," Honoka said, thinking back to the incident. "We have no way to locate them and are forced to wait for them to attack...I'm starting to understand a little more why Ichi-kun is so frustrated with the Grongi."

"Tell me about it. You'd think Pollun would have a way to track them considering he could sense them and everything," Nagisa said, looking over to her bag where Pollun was sleeping in...and found the prince himself trying to crawl out of.

"Oh no, you don't!" Acting quickly, Nagisa grabbed the fairy prince just before he could get out and held him in front of her face. "And just where do you think you're going?"

"To play-popo." He spoke as if him running off into the unknown was the most natural thing to do.

"After what you put me and Honoka through today at school? Uh-uh, you're going back to sleep!" With a look in her eyes that scared Pollun, Nagisa reached over to Mepple's carrier to dig out the Nelp card.

"But I already took a nap-popo!"

"Don't care! We do not have time for your antics right now!"

"Nagisa, calm down. We're in a library," Honoka said, trying to calm down her friend whilst reminding her that they were out in public.

"Oops!" Realizing her behavior, Nagisa quickly collected herself while hiding Pollun in her arms, checking to see if anyone was looking over at them.

However, to her surprise, the girl found that the people around them had...fallen asleep?

"Huh? Why's everyone asleep?"

"What?" Turning, Honoka looked around in surprise as occupied tables had sleeping visitors. In fact, there were some people passed out on the floor which immediately set off alarms in the girls' heads.

"Something's not right." Getting up from their seat, the girls went and checked everyone, trying to shake them awake to no avail.

"Girls!" Running up to them was Dai, looking alarmed.

"Ichi-kun! The people are—"

"I know. Look outside." Dai pointed to the windows and the girls followed to find dark clouds blanketing the sky.

"It's already night?" Nagisa said in surprise, checking the time on her phone.

"No, this phenomenon is..." Honoka quickly realized what was going on as did Nagisa.

"The Dark Zone! But where—"

"Hello, children."

Hearing a voice that belonged to none of them, the group quickly turned to find Juna and Regine leaning against some bookshelves and Belzei sitting on one of the tables, all three in their real forms.

"You three are...!"

"Good afternoon, Pretty Cure. Kuuga."

(Meanwhile)

With police cars flashing their lights, the building which Gamego had been using previously was surrounded as policemen and detectives alike conversed with one another, sharing any info they had while some came out of the building, carrying with them any evidence they found within the building. Amongst the men was Ryō accompanied by Rai and Hiroshi.

"Using a roulette of all things to decide how to attack, seems we got quite the gambler on our hands," Rai commented, taking off his gloves as the three talked.

"If it's using luck of all things, then we've got no way of predicting the next attack," Hiroshi said, frowning at how little they were able to find here.

"Perhaps, but I don't think we're that empty-handed," Ryō said, taking a moment to clean his glasses before putting them back on and looking up at the building. "No. 39 needs a high vantage point if it wants to carry out more attacks. We should look for high-rises with good visibility overlooking areas laid out along straight lines."

"That's still gonna take us a while even if we narrow it down," Rai said, reaching into his breast pocket for his cigs. "Guess we're doing things the hard way then."

Just as the man was about to pull out a stick to smoke, a policeman on a motorcycle rode up to them, stopping just right in front of them. Getting off, he opened up the trunk box and pulled out a silver briefcase before turning and saluting the three men.

"Are you three with the ULF task force?"

"We are," Rai answered for them, putting away his cigs as the policeman handed him the briefcase.

"The institute sent me to deliver these proto rounds."

"We appreciate it," Rai said, nodding in thanks as did the others.

"Thank you," Ryō threw in his own thanks just before the policeman took his leave. Turning around, he and Hiroshi watched as Rai laid the case down on the trunk of his car and opened it up to reveal three silver cases containing the proto rounds.

"Here," Grabbing one, Rai handed it over to Ryō who accepted them with a thankful nod. Closing the case, Rai motioned Hiroshi to follow. "All right, let's roll! Sakurai, you're driving."

And with that, Ryō separated from the two, heading over to his own car. Just as he was about to get in, his phone started ringing. Taking a moment to place the proto rounds in the car, he took out his phone and looked to see who was calling.

"Dai?"

{Ichijo-san, how's the investigation going?}

"No. 39 is still in hiding. We're spreading out to see where he might attack from next. What about you? You feeling okay?"

{My wounds have already healed. I'm good to go whenever.}

"I see. Good to hear."

{I also have a plan on how to take down Gamego.}

"You do?"

{Yes. But you see, I need to ask a favor.}

Ryō raised an eyebrow at this. Having come to learn the boy's personality well during these past months, he quickly figured that whatever Dai wanted to ask for must be important.

"What is it?"

{I'm going to use my gold powers as the red Kuuga. However, there's going to be a lot of damage to the point the surroundings will be affected. I'm planning on bringing Gamego, that is, No. 39 as far away from the city as possible, but there are no guarantee things will go as planned. I know this may be asking much, but when Gamego pops up, can you evacuate the people in the area, just to be safe? What I'm going to do...will be really dangerous.}

"...If that's the only way to beat him, then do it. I'll take care of the details."

{...Thank you.}

"Don't worry about it. That's my job."

{I'll do mine too! Keep me posted.}

Nodding his head, Ryō ended the call and got in his car. Turning on his sirens, the man drove off to do his job, not noticing the dark clouds forming in the distance.

(Back with Dai and the others)

*CRASH!*

Bursting through the library windows, Dai and the girls, all transformed, skidded across the ground with Nagisa holding Pollun in her arms. Soon following them were the three Seeds jumping through the new hole the heroes made.

"Hand over the Prism Stones!" Belzei demanded.

"As if we'll just give them to you if you ask!" Nagisa retorted as the three ran, trying to get away so as to not get any civilians caught in the crossfire.

"We're not," Belzei ominously said as Juna sped past him, leaping into the air and falling towards the three.

"There!" He roared, swinging down his arms in a chopping motion. The three all dodged the blow, but to their surprise, hitting them was never his intent.

*RIIIIIIIIIIP!*

With the sound of something ripping, Juna's chop had cut through the air—no, it cut through space itself!

"What!?" Dai and the girls all exclaimed in surprise as Regine soon joined Juna and grabbed the edges of the newly formed rip in space, pulling at them so as to make the rip bigger. And as she did, something could be seen residing inside the torn space. Something—no, someone that the heroes were familiar with.

"Wait, is that—"

"The Guardian!"

Indeed, true to the girl's word, residing inside was in fact the Guardian of the Prism Stones, Wisdom, who at the moment was enjoying a cup of tea.

"Huh?" Hearing some commotion, the Guardian turned around to find Belzei staring back at him. "What the heeeeeeeeck!?"

"There you are!" Reaching inside, Belzei went and grabbed the tiny Guardian, pulling him out into the real world much to the shock of the heroes. "Hahaha! So it's true! Wherever the Pretty Cures are, the Guardian of the Stones is not too far behind."

"Let me go!" Wisdom cried out, struggling to break free from the Seed's grip to no avail.

"Chou Henshin!"

Transforming into his Dragon form, Dai sped up to Belzei, surprising the Seed with his speed before the Rider went and kicked the hand holding the guardian, knocking him free. With that done, Dai spun around and kicked Belzei in the face, knocking the Seed back as Dai jumped up and caught the guardian.

"You okay?" Dai asked, holding the Stone Guardian and the Prism Hopish gently.

Instead of giving his thanks, Wisdom cried out, "Behind you!"

*POW!*

"Guah!" Failing to react in time, Dai found himself knocked into the ground by Juna. Regine swooped in to finish off the downed Rider but was stopped by Nagisa and Honoka jumping in and knocking the female Seed back with a perfectly executed double-flying kick.

"Dai-kun! You all right?" Nagisa asked as Pollun in her arms looked at the Rider in worry.

"I'm okay," said the Rider as Honoka helped him up to his feet.

"What do we do?" Honoka asked as the three Seeds regrouped.

Looking over to the Trychaser that was parked near them, Dai barely had to think about their next move.

"Come on!" Urging the girls to follow, Dai leaped up and performed a backflip, landing perfectly into the seat of his bike. The girls soon followed though instead of flipping back they just simply ran over to the bike.

"There's no escape!" Regine practically screamed as she and June dashed over to the heroes before they could get away.

*VROOM!*

Revving up the engine, Dai quickly passed the guardian over to Honoka before Dai stood the bike on its front wheel and spun around, successfully hitting Regine across the face with the back wheel and knocking her back where Juna quickly caught her and skidded back. Taking that chance, the girls quickly got on the Trychaser once it was standing back on its two wheels and the three soon took off down the street.

"Did we get away-popo?" Pollun asked, hanging onto Nagisa.

"Something tells me it's not going to be that easy," Honoka answered, looking back to see if the Seeds were chasing them on foot. She wouldn't be surprised if they could actually catch up on foot.

"When is it ever?" Nagisa said before the Trychaser's radio let out a beep.

{HQ to all units! An attack believed to be by ULF #39 has occurred in eastern Yokohama.}

"Now he decides to show up!?" Nagisa exclaimed though her feelings were shared amongst everyone else as they continued listening to the radio.

{The local police precincts have begun to evacuate citizens in the affected areas. The tallest building in the vicinity is the Yokohama Landmark Tower.}

"The Yokohama Landmark Tower!?" Honoka exclaimed in surprise.

"You know where that is-mipo?"

"It's the tallest building in Japan!" (A/N: Fun fact: As Futari wa was aired in 2004, the Yokohama Landmark Tower was indeed the tallest building in Japan during that time. Just thought I should mention this.)

"Uh, how tall are we talking about-mepo?"

Dai chose to answer that one. "70 stories."

"Uso(No way)-mepo!"

"There's also a hidden 71st floor."

"Is that really important right now!?" Nagisa shouted as they drove past cars, ignoring the surprised stares they got. "What are the chances that that turtle guy is actually there?"

"Honestly, highly unlikely," Dai said, surprising the girls.

"Eh? But why?" Honoka asked. With how tall the building was, Gamego would have an unmatched view of the land which was perfect for his method of killing.

"Gamego needed to lay low after the damage we gave him. Sure the building has a hotel inside, but it's also got an in-door mall as well as a butch of other things. There'd be too many people and his condition would have drawn attention to him. My best guess is that he's probably hiding nearby so as to throw the police off."

"But where?" Nagisa asked.

"That's something we'll have to figure out ourselves," Dai said, trying to think of where Gamego in Yokohama could he be using as a vantage point.

*BOOM!*

"Wah/Kyah!" The girls and the fairies all let out a cry of surprise when something struck right next to them, almost throwing everyone off the bike if it wasn't for Dai's riding skills saving them.

"Right, nearly forgot about our pursuers," Dai said, fixing their balance as the heroes all looked back to see an unbelievable sight.

"Where'd they get a car!?"

"I think they stole it."

Indeed, true to their words, the three Seeds of Darkness were indeed chasing after them in a car, no doubt having stolen it from someone. Belzei was behind the wheel with Regine riding shotgun. Juna, possibly due to his size, was on top of the car, hanging on by digging his fingers into the hood.

"Arienai(I can't believe this)!" Nagisa exclaimed loudly as Dai quickly swerved in order to dodge a blast of wind from Juna trying to knock them off the road.

"What do we do? Yokohama's half an hour away from here," Honoka said, making sure she had a good grip on the Prism Hopish and Wisdom as they were the targets.

"Should we split up here?"

"No," Dai said, instantly shooting down the idea. "We have a better chance of protecting the Guardian with all of us together. We'll just have to grit our teeth and buckle up."

"Oh this is gonna suck," Nagisa said as she and Honoka held on for dear life as Dai pushed the Trychaser to its max speed, shooting down the road with the Seeds hot on their trail.

(Yokohama)

Skidding to a stop, Ryō parked the car before grabbing his rifle and loading in the proto rounds. Once done, the officer got out of his car just as more police cars arrived at the scene with Rai and Hiroshi among them.

"Has the area been evacuated?" Ryō asked, having put in the order as per Dai's request.

"They're still underway," Hiroshi said.

"So our guy's up there, huh?" Rai said, carrying his own rifle with him as he walked up to Ryō and they both looked up at the tallest building in Japan, the Yokohama Landmark Tower.

"I'm not sure," Ryō said, staring up at the 296.3 m building with suspicion. "The report only came just recently. There's no telling if he's really up there or just nearby."

"That a gut feeling or something?"

"Mostly, yeah."

"Normally I would question that, but considering the way this guy's operating, I guess we better test our own luck here then." Cocking his gun, Rai turned to Hiroshi. "Take some men and explore the building. Ichijo and I will spin the block to see if the bastard's elsewhere."

Nodding his head, Hiroshi shouted over to some men before they all ran off to storm the building. As they did that, Ryō and Rai along with some other men headed towards the nearest tallest building to investigate.

"You guys stay out here and contact us if you see anything. We'll go inside and investigate." The men nodded, understanding their roles as Ryō and Rai along with two other men went inside, giving the security guards a quick showing of their badges to be allowed past. The group of four made a beeline toward the elevator and with a push of a button, they made their way up in silence reaching the furthest the elevator could go in a minute. They quickly found the path to the roof and ran up, practically tackling the door opened to find...

"Nothing?"

"Keep your eyes peeled. Bastard could be hiding."

"But there are barely any places to hide up here." As the officer had pointed out, the roof of the building was mostly barren save for some glass panels and roof turbines. Given how big Gamego's body was, there would be no place for him to hide up here.

"Guess we chose the wrong building."

"Looks like it," Ryō said as he looked around to double-check for anything—

"Duck!" Before Ryō could react, one of the officers suddenly tackled him to the ground. Another thud sound told the bespectacled man that the other officer had done to same to Rai just before something flew over their heads. Seconds later, before Ryō could ask what the officer was doing pushing him down, the sounds of crashing cars followed by screams reached the man's ear as more and more objects that Ryō finally recognized flew over the roof they were on.

"Those are...!" What was flying through the air were the steel balls Gamego used as weapons. Turning his head to where they were coming from, Ryō saw them coming from the building located south of the Landmark Tower.

"Shit! He's over there!" Rai shouted, seeing the same thing as the four started crawling back to the exit, not standing back up lest they risk getting hit by the literal flying balls of steel. As they did so, their transceivers, or walkie-talkies as they're more commonly known, started beeping.

{Kuzuragi-san! Ichijo-san! The building to the—!}

"We see it! We see it! We're on our way!" Rai practically yelled into the handheld radio as the group made it to the exit and wasted no time running down. One elevator ride later, they all rushed outside and ran toward the building that Gamego was using, meeting up with Hiroshi who had no doubt seen what was happening.

"Sakurai! You and I are gonna evaluate the building," Rai said before turning to Ryō. "Ichijo, take some men and get up there! We'll follow you after we're done here."

Nodding his head, Ryō shouted to some men and they all beelined to the elevator while Rai and the others shouted for the people inside to evacuate. Reaching the top floor in under a minute, the small group rushed to the roof and immediately found their target near the edge, winding up for another throw. Ryō's body moved faster than his mind as he raised his rifle, took no longer than a second to aim, and...

*BANG!*

Ryō soon learned that Sayuru's warning was true as the recoil he experienced almost knocked him off his feet. But that alone was not enough to affect his aim as the bullet that flew struck Gamego's weapon, disconnecting the steel ball from its chain before falling down to the ground where it shrank, no longer usable. Surprised, the turtle Grongi turned around to find Ryō and his group aiming their guns at him.

"Keep your distance men!" Ryō shouted over the winds as the group spread out to surround the Grongi.

"Tch! So the Lintos arrived earlier than expected." While annoyed at having been interrupted, the ancient murderer quickly calmed down as he could simply use these men to fill his quota. With that thought in mind, he reached for another one of his rings.

'Those rings...' Ryō was quick to notice Gamego's action before remembering back to how his previous weapon shrank. Putting two and two together, the man quickly acted.

*BANG!*

Just as Gamego pulled off another one of his rings, it was quickly shot out of his hands.

"Aim for the rings on its hands! Those are its murder weapons!" Ryō instructed while trying to bear how his arms shook from the recoil. Looks like a trip to Tsubaki's was inevitable.

Following Ryō's instruction, the group soon began to pelt Gamego with bullets, aiming mostly for his hands so as to shoot off his rings. Gamego quickly realized what the officers were trying to do and quickly crossed his arms to hide his hands away and made a break for the exit only for Ryō to stand in his way.

"You're not getting away!"

*BANG!*

This time the recoil knocked Ryō off his feet as his rifle flew back and hit his face. But even as he fell to his knee, his bullet still flew true as it struck Gamego right in his forehead, causing his head to snap back and for the Grongi to stumble back a few steps. Shaking his head in an attempt to get rid of the pain, Ryō looked up to see the bullet that had struck Gamego fall to the ground as the Grongi in question brought his head back to its original position with his forehead noticeably steaming.

"Heh, not bad," Gamego said, scratching his head and speaking the human language so that Ryō could understand him. "So that's what a gun is. Gotta say it packs quite the punch. Unfortunately for you, that's not enough to crack my shell."

"Dammit!" Ryō cursed as the others quickly reloaded their guns and started firing at Gamego once again only for them to fall against the turtle Grongi's armor-like shell. Of course, he was quick to cover his ringed hands as they were the primary targets.

"Hmph! Going for my rings, smart. But you still lack the power to stop me!" Knowing that staying here was ill-advised, Gamego charged forward, intent on running Ryō over who still stood in his way.

Despite the bulky Grongi charging toward him, Ryō stood his ground as he got up and aimed his rifle, targeting the Grongi's eyes this time. But Gamego, while not the quickest Grongi in the clan, was still a being that far surpassed human capabilities. Even if he wasn't the fastest Grongi, he was still faster than a human and thus he would have reached Ryō before he could pull the trigger. 'Would have,' being the key words here...

*ZOOM!*

Faster than anyone could react, a figure suddenly tackled Gamego, knocking him off his feet and saving Ryō who looked to see what had knocked down the Grongi.

"Gouram!" Indeed, it was the sentient horse armor Gouram, buzzing like the insect it was modeled after.

'Did Dai send it for me?'

"Tch! Damn horse armor!" Gamego cursed as he picked himself back up only for Gouram to swoop down again and use its pincers to grab ahold of the turtle-like Grongi, taking him up into the air.

"Hey! Let me go!"

*ZZZZZZZZZ!*

As if responding to Gamego's words, Gouram did as demanded, however, it had dragged the Grongi off the building. So when it did let go of Gamego, there was nowhere else for him to go but down. A curse-filled scream in the ancient Grongi tongue echoed in the air as Gamego flailed while falling. Ryō and the others quickly ran over to the edge just in time to see Gamego crash into the ground below, creating a big crater. Soon after, Rai and Hiroshi, and the others down below rushed out of the building and surrounded the crater.

"Did that get him?" One of the officers hopefully asked.

"Unlikely," Ryō said, knowing full well how tough these monsters were. "Everyone back down. Come on!"

Nodding their heads, the group all ran back to the exit with Ryō being last as he needed a second to reload his rifle. After finishing that, Ryō followed after the others when he noticed something.

"When did it get so dark?" Thinking out loud, Ryō looked up to see dark clouds blanketing the sky. This confused Ryō as he was sure today was supposed to be clear skies.

"These clouds aren't normal...could it be?"

Realizing just what was causing these clouds, Ryō ran back over to the edge of the roof and looked down to see some new arrivals below.

"Don't get too close! Keep your distance!" Rai shouted to the men as they all kept a fair distance away from the crater Gamego had made with his fall.

"Is it too much to ask that that fall did it in?" Hiroshi said to Rai as he stared nervously at the crater.

"With these guys, not really," Rai said as a figure slowly emerged from the crater.

Despite suffering such a devastating fall, Gamego looked no worse for wear as he got back up to his feet and climbed out of the crater with no problems.

"Tch! Tough bastard," Rai commented under his breath as he adjusted his stance to prepare himself for the proto- round's recoil. Taking aim at Gamego's head, Rai was about to give the order to fire upon the Grongi when he noticed something.

'When did it get so dark?' Rai took notice that the area had gotten suddenly darker as if a massive shadow had swept the place. Hiroshi and the other officers also took notice and they all looked around in confusion until they looked up to find dark clouds blotting the sky above.

"The heck? Where'd these clouds come from?" Hiroshi thought out loud.

"I don't know, but I'm getting some déjà vu right now," Rai said as the way these clouds appeared reminded him of—

'Wait, this is—'

*Vrooooom!*

From down the road, the echoing sounds of an engine drew everyone's attention as they all saw Dai and the girls speed toward them.

"It's the kids!" Hiroshi exclaimed.

"'Bout time they showed up," Rai said until he noticed how the three weren't slowing down. He would soon get his answer as to why.

*BOOM!*

What could only be described as a ball of dark wind struck behind the bike, hitting with enough force that it blew the Trychaser off the road and knocked its passengers off.

"Shit!" Rai cursed as Hiroshi broke away from the group to go check up on the three.

"Are you three all right!?"

"Yeah," Nagisa insisted, still cradling Pollun as she and the others picked themselves up, groaning a little due to their rough landing.

"We're fine," Dai said as Hiroshi helped the Rider up. "And sorry, but we've got company."

As if on cue, the car the Seeds had been using skidded to a stop, allowing Juna to get off before the other two stepped out.

"I believe the saying, 'End of the road' is the most fitting thing to say here," Belzei said with a smug smile

"Dammit, how'd they keep up with us?" Nagisa said, wondering what dark powers the Seeds had used to keep up with the Rider machine.

"That's not all," Honoka said, turning to where Gamego was, still surrounded by Rai and the others.

"Glad you could make it, Kuuga. Want to see who Lady Luck shines on this time?"

Dai didn't respond back as he took a fighting stance. The girls did the same, starting down the Seeds with Hiroshi joining them by aiming his rifle at them. Everyone could practically feel the tension in the air building up now that the forces of the Dark Zone had arrived to complicate things.

"What do we do?" Honoka voiced her thoughts, wondering how to overcome this situation.

"Those three are still after the Prism Stones. Focus on protecting the Guardian and wait for an opening," Dai instructed while never taking his eyes off his Grongi opponent. "I'll keep Gamego busy in the meantime."

"Got it," The girls nodded, mentally preparing themselves for the battle that was about to ensue. However, it was at that moment that Nagisa took notice of something, causing her face to morph with horror.

"Uh, White?"

"Hm?"

"Where's the Guardian?"

Honoka's body froze as she registered just what her friend had said, only now realizing that she was no longer holding onto Wisdom. Had it not been for how she was raised, the white Cure would have cursed right then and there.

"Oh no! It must have been when we were knocked over."

"So he decided to run," Belzei said as he looked over toward the building Gamego had fallen down from. "He couldn't have gotten far. Spread out and find him!"

Like the darkness they were born from, the three Seeds became shadowy blurs as they sped past everyone and into the building.

"No!" Nagisa cried out, about to run after them when a cry made her turn to see Gamego having struck down an officer. Bullets rained down upon him, but he didn't seem bothered by them as he drew one of his rings and transformed it.

"Go!" Dai exclaimed just before the girls could run off to help Rai and the others. "I'll deal with Gamego. You two need to find and protect the Stones! Now go!"

Leaving no room for argument, Dai ran off to assist the others, leaving the girls behind.

"He's right," Honoka said, getting Nagisa to turn to her. "We can't let those people get the Stones. Who knows what'll happen if they do."

Nagisa gritted her teeth as she looked back at Dai ducking under a swing from Gamego. As much as she wanted to help her Rider friend, she knew that her partner was right given how powerful the Prism Stones are.

"We'll be right back!" Nagisa shouted over to Dai before she nodded at Honoka and the two raced toward the building. To their surprise, Hiroshi followed close behind them.

"What are you...?"

"You two look like you could use some help with this," Hiroshi said as the three went inside and stopped for a moment. "This is probably a bad time for introductions, but I'm Sakurai Hiroshi."

"Misu—uh, I mean, Black," Nagisa said, deciding to use her Cure name rather than her real one. Hiroshi was still technically a stranger to them despite being a part of the force helping Dai. For the man's part, he didn't seem bothered by it.

"White," Honoka said, following Nagisa's lead.

"Okay, so what are we looking for exactly?" Hiroshi asked since unlike Ryō, he wasn't as informed about the Pretty Cure's story and only knew the bare minimum.

"We're looking for the Guardian of the Prism Stones and you don't know what that is..." Honoka said, trailing at the end when realizing that Hiroshi had no idea about who Wisdom was much less what he looked like.

"You see, he's this small guy that's standing over this thing called the..." Nagisa tried to explain to Hiroshi what the Guardian looked like until she looked down at Pollun and got an idea. A part of her was against it, but time was of the essence and so she held the fairy prince to the officer.

"Here."

"Huh?"

"Popo?"

"Black! What are you doing?"

"Pollun knows the Guardian just as well as we do. He can help Sakurai-san here find him."

"Are you sure?" Hiroshi asked, staring at Pollun weirdly as this was his first time meeting a fairy.

"You've been helping Dai-kun just as much as Ichijo-san, right? Then you deserve at least this much trust," Nagisa said, deciding to place her faith in the adult as Hiroshi slung his rifle over his shoulder before taking Pollun from the Cure.

"I'll take care of him."

"You better," Nagisa warned before looking down at Pollun. "Pollun, help Sakurai-san here, okay? No funny business."

"Got it-popo!" Pollun said, looking serious.

"At least you know when to get serious," Nagisa said before the three nodded at each other and split up to cover more ground.

"Okay little guy, I'm relying on you to help me here."

"Leave it to me-popo!"

'Why does that not give me confidence?' Hiroshi privately thought as he felt like he was carrying one of those mascot plushies his niece liked to collect.

(Back with Dai)

"Hrah!"

*POW!*

The sound of fist meeting face was heard as Dai delivered a blow to Gamego, yet all it did was just turn the Grongi's head. Recovering in no time, Gamego swung his arm to lariat the Rider, but he ducked under the attack and rolled away. He went to get up only to be forced down again when he barely ducked under a swing from the Grongi's flailing weapon. Rolling further back, Dai got back up and the two fighters began to circle one another. Around them were Rai and the other officers, holding their position as they tried to analyze how best to help Dai. They had mostly gone ignored since their bullets could do nothing to Gamego, allowing him to focus his attention on Dai alone. The Rider himself was the complete opposite.

"Kuzuragi-san, aim for his rings!"

"Huh?" Rai was unable to ask the Rider to elaborate as he leaped towards Gamego for another attack.

"Too slow!" Gamego declared as he swung his steel ball around. The ball didn't hit Dai; rather, the chain attached to it wrapped and caught the Rider. Then, with a simple tug, Dai was pulled from the air and dropped to the ground. Dai quickly got back up to his feet, but it was revealed that one of his arms was caught, pressed against his body as the chains wrapping him squeezed him while Gamego began pulling the Rider towards him. Dai tried to resist but found his feet skidding across the ground due to Gamego's superior strength.

*BANG!*

It was at that moment that the turtle-Grongi was reminded that Rai and the others were still here as the former accurately shot the chain holding Dai. While they had failed to barely damage Gamego, the proto rounds were strong enough to break the chains of the Grongi's weapon, freeing Dai and leaving Gamego weaponless.

"Tch! Annoying bastards," Gamego grumbled as he dropped the chain in his hands and reached for another one of his rings. But Dai would not allow him.

"Chou Henshin!"

In less than a second, Dai assumed his Dragon form and rushed toward Gamego. Seeing the Rider coming in fast, Gamego quickly swung a fist in hopes of hitting the blue warrior. But instead, Dai quickly jumped and flipped over Gamego, landing right behind him as the Rider changed forms again. Assuming his Titan form, he went and grabbed Gamego's arms, trying to get them held up while the Grongi struggled to shake the Rider off of him.

"Now!" Dai shouted over to Rai as he tried to keep a good grip on Gamego's arms.

Rai realized just what Dai was doing, thinking back to what he told him earlier, and quickly acted.

"Everyone, aim for the hands!" Rai yelled out before he raised his rifle and started shooting at Gamego's hands. Soon after the other officers were following his action, taking aim at the Grongi's hands as one by one, his rings fell off.

Realizing what was happening, Gamego let out a roar before he pulled one of his arms out of Dai's grip and elbowed the Rider away, sending him stumbling back. Instead of pressing the attack, Gamego looked down at his hands only to find not a single one of them had a ring wrapped around them.

"No!"

"It's over," Dai declared in Grongi tongue, getting Gamego to look at him. "Without your weapons, you won't be able to complete your turn in time even if you replenished them. Go-Gamego-Re, your lucks run out."

"...perhaps," Gamego begrudgingly admitted as he angrily balls his hands into fists. "But at the very least, I can still kill you, Kuuga!"

With an anger-filled roar, Gamego charged at Dai with the sole purpose of ending his life. In response, Dai raised his fists up, prepared to meet the raging Grongi head-on.

(Inside the building)

In a random hallway on an unknown floor, all was quiet as the said hallway was empty. At least, it appeared that way. Invisible to the naked eye, the Guardian of the Prism Stones, Wisdom, had used his powers to twist the space around him so that it acted like a cover, hiding him from sight. As for why he was hiding like this instead of staying with the girls...

"Hopefully those two can take care of this soon," Wisdom said to himself, catching his breath as he had been teleporting all over the place to make it here. Knowing that he was the target of the Seeds, he figured that with him out of the way, the Pretty Cures could focus on fighting them. Now the sensible thing to do was return to the dimension he had been inhabiting before, but he soon learned that he was unable to. He didn't why he was unable to return, but he bet the Seeds may have something to do with it.

"Seriously, aren't those three a bit too powerful?" Wisdom said to himself while checking his surroundings. The last time something like this had happened, it had taken Illkubo gathering energy from both nature and the girls' Marble Screw before he could pull the Guardian out from his dimension. With the Seeds, all it had taken was a simple chop that forcibly cut through space. Perhaps the fact that the Seeds were remnants of the Dark King himself explained their immense powers.

"Oh, now I'm getting worried. Will those two be okay? I mean, they got their friend with them, but still..."

*step*

Wisdom immediately closed his mouth and held his breath the second he heard something. Glancing to his right, the Guardian wisely held back a scream as walking down the halls was one of the Seeds, Juna. Wisdom froze like a statue, becoming absolutely still as he hoped the bulky Seed couldn't hear the sound of his rapid heartbeat. The sound of Juna's footsteps echoing did not help his nerves but to his luck, his cover held as the Seed eventually walked past him, never glancing his way. Once he was sure the Seed was gone and out of sight, Wisdom released the breath he was holding and sighed.

That was a fatal mistake.

"HA!"

Before Wisdom even had time to react, a blast of dark wind filled the hallway, destroying the windows and blowing Wisdom out from his cover. The Guardian screamed as he rolled across the ground, only stopping when he bumped into something. That something turned out to be Regine's feet, much to Wisdom's horror as the female Seed smiled evilly down at him. Quickly, he got up to his feet and ran, or more like hopped due to him standing over the Prism Hopish. He never got far as Belzei soon appeared, blocking his way.

"Nowhere to run now, Wisdom," Belzei said, smirking as he reached down to grab the Guardian who could only look in terror.

"Freeze!" Suddenly, multiple voices spoke up which actually did manage to make Belzei freeze, but only for a second. Looking up, the Seeds found that at the end of the hallway were the men that had been working with Ryō earlier.

"Don't move! Hands where we can see them!"

"Hmph," Belzei simply scoffed at the officers trying to appear threatening to them. Raising one hand toward them, a bolt of lightning was soon fired, moving faster than the officers could react as their screams were drowned out by the explosion that followed. When the smoke cleared, the bodies of the men were laid all over the ground with some having been blown through the walls.

"Well, that takes care of the rabble," Belzei said, lowering his hand before looking back down at Wisdom who looked on in horror at what the Seed had done. "What's wrong, worried for them? Don't worry, they won't die...provided they make it to a hospital in time. Hahahahaha!"

*BOOM!*

Suddenly, just as Belzei reached down to grab Wisdom again, the floor beneath the Guardian suddenly cracked before it exploded, surprising everywhere there as Wisdom, having been at the center, was knocked into the air screaming. From the dust, a hand reached out and grabbed Wisdom, making him scream again until he saw who exactly had grabbed him.

"Pretty Cure!" Indeed, the one now holding him was Nagisa as she and Honoka jumped back to create some distance between them and the Seed.

"Guardian, are you all right?" Honoka asked as she and Nagisa checked the fairy for any injuries he might have.

"I am now that you two are here," Wisdom said, feeling relieved that he had been saved at the last second. "But..."

Following Wisdom's eyes, the girls saw the men at the other end of the hall and gasped before glaring at the perpetrators.

"Hidoi(How awful)..."

"You won't get away with this. Remnants of the Dark King, prepare to return to the darkness from which you came!"

"Return?" Belzei raised an eyebrow in amusement at the black Cure's declaration. "By all means, try if you can."

"Guardian, run!" Nagisa said before she went and threw Wisdom behind her.

"Don't throw me!" The Guardian shouted but it fell on deaf ears as both the Cures charged at the Seeds with Juna and Regine meeting them halfway.

As one, both Nagisa and Honoka threw a punch and a kick respectively, but both the Seeds blocked their attacks perfectly, also moving as one. In sync, both the Seeds batted aside the offending limbs, and both struck the girls with a palm strike which the Cures blocked by crossing their arms. Skidding back, they didn't have time to recover as Juna and Regine were already on them, throwing a punch and a kick themselves. This time, both girls reacted differently as Nagisa chose to guard against Juna's punch while Honoka dropped down in order to dodge Regine's kick. The results were that Nagisa was thrown back due to Juna's punch being stronger than what Nagisa was prepared for.

"Black!"

"Don't move your eyes away!" Regine practically screeched those words as she raised her left leg up and brought it down to axe kick the white Cure. Honoka was quick to react again and rolled away, dodging the attack. Getting on her hands, Honoka spun around and swept Regine's other leg, knocking the female Seed over as the white Cure then pulled both her legs back and went to dropkick the airborne Seed.

*GRAB!*

Unfortunately, Honoka's attack never connected as Juna intervened, grabbing her legs before they could hit Regine. Pulling the girl back, the bulky Seed swung the Cure around, causing her to scream in response as her world spun around. After a few rounds, Juna finally released the Cure by throwing her away right toward Nagisa who had recovered and was charging back into the fray.

Nagisa, seeing her friend flying towards her, reacted quickly by leaping forward. Instead of crashing into each other, Nagisa maneuvered herself so that she caught her partner just as they were about to hit by grabbing her arm and used the momentum to spin around and throw the White Cure back at the Seeds with her following close behind. Honoka, despite her vision swimming due to all the spinning, kicked forward when she felt she was close enough to the Seeds. She guessed correctly as Juna had to raise an arm to block her kick, allowing Nagisa to enter an opening and punch forward, aiming for the Seed's stomach.

*KICK!*

Unfortunately, Regine was there to save her fellow Seed this time as she kicked Nagisa right in the gut, knocking the girl back once again. Before Honoka could cry out in worry for her friend, Juna knocked her back with a strong punch, sending her flying where she fell and skidded across the ground, stopping right next to Nagisa holding her stomach.

"What's wrong? Is this all the strength you two can muster?" Regine said, smirking at them mockingly.

"This can barely be called a fight," Juna said, wearing a similar smirk on his face while rolling his shoulders.

"So strong..." Honoka groaned as she picked herself up.

"What amazing power. Their speed too," Nagisa breathed out, struggling a little to stand up.

"If this goes on, we'll be in big trouble-mipo!"

"Black! White! Use the Marble Screw-mepo!"

Both Cures looked at one another and nodded. With their limited options, this was the only thing left to do. Clasping hands together, they both raised their hands up.

"Black Thunder!"

"White Thunder!"

*BOOM!*

Despite being inside a building, the familiar pair of black and white thunderbolts rained down and into the girls' hands, filling them with power.

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

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

Thrusting their hands forward, they aimed at the three Seeds before them.

"Pretty Cure Marble Screw!"

Skidding back a little from the recoil, the twin duel-colored bolts of lightning blasted out from the girls' hands and spiraled around one another, becoming one as the attack flew toward the Seeds at great speeds.

However...

"Hmph!" Suddenly, Juna stepped forward and crossed his arms. To the surprise of the girls, the bulky Seed tanked the finishing attack and was actually holding it back. But the surprises didn't stop there.

"Hah!" Leaping forward, Regine landed right beside the Marble Screw and stuck both her hands into the spiraling energy of black and white. Whether her gritting her teeth was a sign of her efforts to stop the attack or that she was in pain, it was hard to say and the girls wouldn't be getting an answer as to their disbelief, the female Seed was actually brute-forcing the Marble Screw to stop spinning.

"Now for the finishing touch," Belzei spoke up as he walked forward and stabbed his hand into the Marble Screw. With that last act, the Pretty Cure's finishing attack was dispersed completely, leaving two shocked Cures to stare in disbelief.

"No way...!"

"They canceled...the Marble Screw!?"

"Don't look so surprised," Belzei said as all three Seeds smugly smirked at the shocked Cures. "The Marble Screw, while a powerful technique, is simple in design. Its power comes from the combination of the white and black thunderbolts that spiral around one another. And so, much like a drill, stop the spinning and the whole thing becomes useless."

"That can't be...!" Nagisa muttered in disbelief. While there had been times when the Marble Screw had been stopped before, no one had been able to outright cancel the technique completely due to how powerful it was. And yet, these three had done just that!

"Oh, but it can. You girls are just one trick ponies that won most of your fights through luck," Belzei said before motioning for the other two Seeds to continue the fight.

At his command, both Juna and Regine dashed forward, covering the distance between them and the girls in the blink of an eye. Still somewhat in shock, the girls were unable to raise their guard up and were soon knocked back, falling to the floor.

"Oh no!" Wisdom exclaimed, staring in horror at the downed girls.

"These are supposed to be the legendary Pretty Cures who took down the Dark King? How laughable," Belzei said, actually letting out a small laugh as he walked over to the Guardian, reaching down to grab him for the third time today.

"G-Get away from me!" Wisdom cried out as he turned and hopped away as fast as he could, but Belzei was too fast and snatched the small Guardian before he could even get in a third hop.

"Guardian!"

"You let him go!" Nagisa demanded as she and Honoka struggled to push themselves up.

"Hmph! Please. Without your greatest technique, just what can you two possibly do against us?" Belzei said as he and the Seeds all confidently smirked down at the girls.

*BANG!*

With a sound akin to clapping thunder, no one, not even the Seeds themselves, could react as blood suddenly exploded out from Belzei's right shoulder. All eyes widened in surprise before the sound of Belzei's pain-filled cry echoed throughout the hall as he dropped Wisdom from his grip.

"What!?" Both Juna and Regine turned around in surprise, quickly finding the culprit down at the end of the hall.

"Ichijo-san!" Both the Cures cried out in surprise as the man himself slowly advanced towards them, rifled raised and aimed at the Seeds.

"Now! Run!" Ryō shouted over to Wisdom who gave him a thankful nod before poofing away.

"Onore(Damn you)!" Belzei growled as he glared hatefully at Ichijo, holding his bleeding, damaged shoulder. "You pest! You're just a human!"

Raising up his uninjured left arm, Belzei thrust it at the glasses-wearing man and fired a lightning bolt at him. But to the surprise of many, Ichijo-san had already begun ducking just before Belzei unleashed his attack, having read Belzei's movements which told him to move which thus allowed him to dodge the bolt and escape with only lightly singed hair. Hitting the floor, Ryō fired off another round at Belzei only for Regine to quickly react and stand in front of the shorter seed. Raising her hand up, the female Seed formed an aura-like shield that seemed to heat up the air. The shield blocked the bullet, but to Regine's surprise, she found herself pushed back a little as the force of the bullet was stronger than she had expected.

"That's no normal bullet!"

Another thunderous bang echoed out as Ryō fired another shot at the Seeds who all moved out of the way to dodge. Clicking his teeth in annoyance, Ryō got up from his knees only to gasp when Juna suddenly appeared right in front of him. Moving completely by reaction, Ryō swung the butt of his rifle towards the Seed's face, but the bulky being of darkness caught the blow without batting an eye. Trying to pull his gun back, Ryō was unable to guard himself against Juna's swung fist which struck him across the face and sent him flying down the hall, blood spewing from his mouth.

"No!" At the sight of their flying friend, energy seemed to explode from within the girls as they both shot up to their feet and practically flew over to Juna who turned around in surprise. Both Cures launched a punch and kick respectively to which Juna was barely able to bring his guard up as he only managed to block Nagisa's punch. Honoka's kick had bent the rifle in Juna's hand who had tried to use it as a makeshift shield only to fail as the white Cure's foot struck the bulky Seed across the face, sending him skidding back.

Brushing away a bit of blood caused by a cut lip, Juna threw away the ruined gun and growled at the Cures, about to pay them back only to be pulled back by Belzei.

"Enough!" Belzei said, pulling Juna back by the shoulder. "Our priority is capturing the Guardian. No need to waste energy on these two."

"What was that!?" Nagisa angrily exclaimed. If it wasn't clear enough before, the Seeds were most definitely looking down at the Cures.

"Go!" Belzei barked his orders and both Juna and Regine disappeared, becoming blurs. Just before following them, Belzei looked down at Ryō lying right next to him, and with an angry scowl, the shorter Seed gave a kick to the man, sending him sliding and crashing against a wall.

"Hey!" With an angry shout, Nagisa leaped forward at Belzei and threw a haymaker only to strike the floor as the Seed jumped back and out the window behind him.

"Get back here!" Nagisa tried to follow but found no sight of the Seed down below or anywhere outside. "Dammit!"

"Ichijo-san!" Running over and kneeling down, Honoka was the first to reach the injured Ryō, checking his condition.

"Ichijo-san, hang in there!" Nagisa, having calmed down a little, joined her partner and helped Ryō sit up.

"I'm okay, I'm fine," Ryō said, insisting that he was fine though he wasn't making a convincing argument with his bruised cheek, cut lip, and the way he was holding his ribs.

"You're far from fine," Honoka said, looking around a little before spotting and grabbing Ryō's glasses. The left lens had been cracked and was missing a section, but everything else seemed to be fine.

"Don't worry about me," Ryō said, silently thanking Honoka as he took back his glasses and put them on. "You two have other things you need to focus on. I just arrived, but I could tell those three were after the little guy and the Stones. I'll be fine, so go before they catch him."

Both the girls looked conflicted, not wanting to leave behind their injured friend here, but understood the stakes involved and nodded.

"Try not to move too much, okay?"

"We'll be right back, so just sit tight there."

With both their pieces said, the girls ran off in hopes to find the Guardian before the Seeds do. At that moment, Ryō's phone began to buzz inside his pocket, and with a grunt, pulled it out and answered.

"Ichijo here."

{This is Sasayama. Ichijo-san, concerning the request you made to HQ earlier, I'm calling to inform you that the evacuation has been completed.}

"Thank you. Relay the news to everyone. Da—No. 4's the one who needs to hear that the most."

{Roger that. I'll get to it.}

Ending the call, Ryō put away his phone before pulling out his revolver and getting up, gritting through the pain as he turned towards the directions the girls had run off to.

"As if I could just sit around and do nothing."

(Outside)

Whether it had been intentional or not, Rai and the other officers' current formation, circled around to surround the area, acting almost like a makeshift ring as Dai and Gamego fought inside of it. All guns were raised but none of them fired as Rai knew they would have little effect on Gamego's tough skin, leaving them all watching the Rider duke it out with the turtle Grongi. As Rai watched the two fighters trade a cross-counter, he clicked his teeth in annoyance.

"Dammit, I can't just stand here and do nothing. The bastards gotta have a weak spot or something." Refusing to be a bystander after coming this far, the man looked through the scope of his rifle to closely look at Gamego's form, searching for anything that he could use to help the Rider out. And as it just so happened, there was something. Something even Dai had overlooked.

'His stomach.' To be honest, he had found it by chance, but nevertheless, Rai had noticed a small portion of Gamego that didn't seem as tough. It was a scar located right over his stomach, the same spot Dai had struck last night.

'Looks like the bastard hasn't completely healed from last night,' is what Rai concluded as he tightened his grip on his rifle, preparing himself for the recoil as he waited for the right time. At that moment, his transceiver beeped.

{Calling all units. The evacuation process has been completed. I repeat, the evacuation process has been completed.}

"Roger. I read you loud and clear," Rai said as he looked through the scope and...

*BANG!*

A thunderous clap echoed in the air before drops of blood stained the ground. The owner of the blood, Gamego, let out a grunt of surprise before he looked down at his stomach and found his own blood dripping from a new wound.

"Guh...Gwah!" Gamego's voice came out strangled as he fell to his knees holding his stomach. Dai, standing over him, could only look on in surprise before turning toward Rai who lowered his rifle with a satisfied smile.

"Kid! They just got done with evacuation efforts!"

Dai perked up at that, having been waiting to hear that the entire time. With his chance now here, Dai quickly spun back around to Gamego and slugged him across the face, knocking the Grongi to the ground. Not done just yet, Dai reached down and grabbed Gamego by his scarf before pulling him up and throwing him over his shoulder, sending him flying over the ring of officers and rolling onto the streets.

"Gouram!" Calling out to the sentient horse armor, Dai leaped into the air, transforming into his Mighty form as he did so, and landed right next to his knocked-over bike which he quickly picked up and got on. Once he did, the stag beetle entity that was Gouram descended from the air and formed itself around the Trychaser, transforming it into the TryGouram.

Revving up the engines, Dai practically rocketed off toward Gamego who was picking himself up. He saw the Fusion Machine coming toward him but was too slow to get out of the way and so the armored bike rammed into the turtle-like Grongi. With no other choice but to hang on for dear life, Gamego was soon carried away from the area, and he and Dai soon disappeared down the road.

"Where are they going?" One of the officers thought out loud, wondering where the Rider was taking the monster away to.

"Ichijo told me the kid was gonna try doing something dangerous and was the one who wanted evacuation efforts to increase more than usual," Rai informed, lowering his rifle. "Don't know what he's planning, but something tells me the usual explosions are going to be bigger than usual."

*SHINE!*

Suddenly, a pillar of pure light erupted from the roof of the building, instantly drawing the party's attention.

"And something tells me that has something to do with the girls."

(Roof)

Winding back the clock by a couple of minutes, Wisdom poofed into existence, panting in exhaustion as he hugged the Hopish containing the Prism Stones.

"I can't let those guys get their hands on the Power of Creation," Wisdom said, fearing the worst possible outcome. He was grateful for being saved earlier, but having seen the power of the Seeds firsthand now, Wisdom knew that he would be caught no matter how cleverly he ran and hide. But as the guardian of the stones, their protection was his number one priority. Given the current situation, there was only one thing he could do to ensure the Seeds would not get their hands on the Prism Stones.

"No choice. I've got to hand over the power to someone with the powers of light. Mepple, Mipple, the Pretty Cures...the white one would be the best, but..."

*creak*

Letting out a soundless gasp, Wisdom froze as the roof exit door suddenly opened. Just as the guardian was about to make a break for it, his senses picked up something.

"This presence, it's someone from the light!" A smile of joy formed on Wisdom's face as he cheered and came out from his hiding place to see who had arrived.

"Huh?"

"Popo?"

"...popo?" Wisdom could practically feel his hopes dying inside of him as the ones who had arrived were none other than Hiroshi and Pollun.

"Oh! Guardian, we found you-popo!"

"This is the guardian?" Hiroshi asked to which Pollun happily nodded.

'...no. No! NO! NOT THE TODDLER!' Wisdom screamed inside his head as he felt the situation had grown worse for him. 'Oh, why couldn't it have anyone else!? Wait, this presence...'

"Oh no, it's them!"

"Who?" Being a normal human being, Hiroshi was confused as to what the guardian was panicking over.

"Something bad is coming-popo!" Pollun said, having sensed the same thing as Wisdom.

"It's them! The Seeds!" Wisdom clarified, looking left and right only to realize that by being on top of the roof, there was nowhere else to run.

"Get behind me." Setting Pollun down on the ground, Hiroshi stood in front of the two denizens of the Garden of Light and aimed his rifle toward the roof exit.

"There's more than one-popo!"

"Oh no, it's all of them!"

"Don't worry, I'll protect the both of you," Hiroshi said, trying to reassure the two while keeping his eyes on the door.

"I wish I could believe you," Wisdom said and he meant that. If Ryō was anything to go by, then the people working alongside the heroes were all men of bravery, and the guardian respected that. But against the likes of the remnants of the Dark King, bravery wasn't going to be enough.

"Oh, what do I do? What do I do!?" Wisdom looked to be on the verge of a panic attack as he tried to think of what to do. His eyes then fell upon Pollun and he remembered his previous plan.

'Oh, even the black one would have been a better option than this guy, but I can't afford to be picky. Not with so much on the line.' Despite his reservations, time was of the essence and so, WIsdom came to a decision.

"O' power to create all things, hear my voice! Along with the seven stones of light, separate yourself from the stones for a time!"

"Huh?" Both Hiroshi and Pollun turned around to see just what Wisdom was doing.

"Oi, what are you doing?" Hiroshi asked, but Wisdom did not answer back and instead continued what he was doing.

"In the name of the Guardian of the Prism Hopish, I entrust the power of the seven Prism Stones to you, Pollun!" With those final words said, the lights that usually surrounded Wisdom suddenly moved away from him and toward Pollun who could only look on in confusion as all seven lights entered his body, causing his body to light up. Once all seven lights had disappeared into the fairy prince, the light surrounding Pollun died down and Pollun fell, exhausted.

"What did you do?" Hiroshi asked, completely confused as to what just happened.

Again, Wisdom didn't respond back, focusing his attention on Pollun who looked up at him for answers.

"Listen carefully Pollun, you..." The guardian never got to go further as a shadow fell over the trio, making them turn and look to find the three Seeds standing over them with Juna hovering over Hiroshi due to his great height.

"Shit!" Cursing himself for taking his eyes off the exit, Hiroshi quickly spun around and aimed his rifle at them.

*BANG!*

A thunderous clap echoed in the air, but no cries of pain followed as Juna quickly moved and pushed Hiroshi's rifle away, causing him to misfire.

"Ah ah, not this time," Now knowing full well just what kind of heat the hero's allies were packing, Belzei went and kicked Hiroshi hard enough to send the adult flying back.

"Mister!" Pollun cried out, about to run over to him when Belzei quickly grabbed Wisdom. "Guardian!"

"Nowhere to run this time," Belzei said, smirking evilly as he held up Wisdom who couldn't even struggle due to the tight grip the Seed had on him.

"Let go of the Guardian-popo!" Pollun demanded, hitting the Seed's foot with his tiny, stubby arms. Belzei barely even noticed the hits as he simply looked down and kicked the fairy away where he rolled over to Hiroshi.

"Pollun!"

"Kid! You bastards!" Angered, Hiroshi pulled out his revolver and aimed it at Belzei only for Juna to suddenly appear in front of him. "Wha-!?"

*POW!*

Slapping the gun out of Hiroshi's hands, Juna then the man's stolen rifle as a bat and struck the officer across the face, sending him flying and crashing against the roof's railings. Cracking a small smile, Juna then bent the rifle and discarded it.

"Mister!" Getting up, Pollun ran over to the injured officer in worry.

"Sakurai-san!"

"Pollun!"

"Oh? Look who decided to finally show up?" Belzei said as he turned to see the Cures had finally arrived.

"Guardian!" Nagisa cried out once she and Honoka saw Wisdom in the short Seed's hands.

"How unfortunate. You, girls, are too late," Regine said, smiling mockingly at the two.

"We have no further business with you two. Begone!" Belzei motioned his head and Juna stepped forth to fire a blast of dark wind at the girls which knocked them back a bit. Recovering, the girls looked to see Juna and Regine rushing up to them, and, faster than the girls could react, both Seeds knocked them further back with a double punch which broke through the Cure's hastily made guard and sent them skidding across the ground.

"Slow and weak," Juna taunted.

"It's almost disappointing how boring this is," Regine said as the two Seeds looked down at the Cures.

"Grrr...we're not done yet!" Nagisa growled as she and Honoka pushed themselves up and engaged the Seeds.

Deciding to take Juna, Honoka jumped and swung a kick toward his head only for it to be blocked. Pushing the offending foot away, Juna went and grabbed the white Cure's face who let out a muffled cry as Juna's hand grasped her head. With a roar, Juna savagely threw Honoka to the ground, creating a small crater as Honoka gasped in pain, feeling her body slightly bounce. Raising a foot, Juna stomped down on Honoka to finish her off, but the Cure was able to quickly roll out of the way and flipped onto her hands which she then pushed, pushing her entire body off the ground as she trusted both feet out to drop kick the large Seed. Honoka's attack had landed, hitting Juna's chest as the Seed was actually pushed back slightly. But with a grunt, Juna pushed back, thrusting his body forward so as to throw Honoka's feet off of him. While surprised at being pushed back in such a way, Honoka was able to correct herself and performed a cartwheel, and stood back up. Just as Honoka was about to catch her breath, Juna rushed forward with a punch which Honoka was barely able to dodge by moving her head to the side before quickly ducking to dodge another first that took a few strands of her hair off. Jumping back to create some distance, Honoka soon leaped forward with her body ready to deliver another kick. But instead of taking her attack head-on, Juna held out his hand and fired a blast of dark wind that caught Honoka by surprise, sending her flying back with a cry. The white Cure would have been sent over the roof, but Juna rushed forward again and grabbed Honoka by her leg. Confused as to why she had been saved, Honoka's world blurred as Juna pulled her back and slammed her into the ground, hard. Letting go of the Cure's leg, Juna walked up and stomped down on the Cure's back, getting another pained cry from her.

"Like I said: slow and weak," Juna said which Honoka could only respond back with a pained grunt.

Over with Nagisa, the girl let out a cry as she threw a flurry of punches at Regine and was expertly dodging each and every one of them all the while confidently smirking. Growing annoyed, Nagisa tried to surprise the female Seed with a sweeping kick, but Regine saw the attack coming and jumped to avoid the sneak attack. Now in the air, Regine snapped her leg out, hitting the black Cure across the face and knocking her back. Shaking her head to get rid of the dizziness, Nagisa ran back and threw a haymaker which Regine dodged too by spinning around the attack, getting behind the Cure. Quickly, Nagisa spun around and blocked a punch that had been aimed at the back of her head. Pushing the fist to the side Nagisa threw a punch toward Regine's face, but the Seed leaned back to dodge the blow. In fact, the female Seed did more than just lean back as Regine performed a backflip which, due to how close the two were, resulted in her foot hitting Nagisa under her chin, knocking the black Cure back and to the ground. Blinking away the stars in her eyes, Nagisa pushed herself back up and barely dodged a kick aimed at her face by ducking and rolling away. Pushing herself back up again, Nagisa soon found herself on the defensive this time as Regine was now throwing a flurry of attacks as her extended fingers and nails were like knives that cut into Nagisa's skin. Pushing through, Nagisa threw a punch but that got slapped aside as Regine landed a palm strike across the Cure's face, striking specifically at Nagisa's still-healing black eye.

"Ugh!" Nagisa couldn't help but let out a pained grunt as she stumbled back and held her eye.

"Hmm, I thought that eye looked a little dark," Regine said as she wickedly smiled. Rushing forward, she covered the distance between her and Nagisa in no time. On instinct, the Cure swung an arm, but the female Seed vanished before the desperate attack could hit. No, she didn't vanish, rather she had moved to the Cure's new blind spot. Faster than Nagisa could react, Regine scored a roundhouse kick to the black Cure's ribs, sending her flying back and crashing into the roof railings which bent slightly on impact. Nagisa groaned before Regine's foot struck her neck, trapping it in between the heels while slightly choking her. Nagisa grabbed the leg and tried to push it off of her, but Regine simply pushed harder, further choking the Cure.

"And that's checkmate," Belzei said, evilly smiling as they now had the Cure at their mercy. "I do believe we've wasted enough time now."

"No..." Pollun muttered in horror at what he was seeing.

"There were a few mishaps, but I think it's time we said farewell, Emissaries of Light," Belzei said as Juna and Regine prepared to finish both Cures off.

"No..." Tears formed in Pollun's eyes, his emotions going haywire as he didn't know what to do. He didn't know if there was anything he could do. Hiroshi was still knocked out, unable to help himself. Everything was a mess. All Pollun knew was that he...he wanted...he wanted the Seeds...the bad people that were hurting his friends to...to...

"STOP HURTING THEM-POPO!"

*SHINE!*

Suddenly, as Pollun's cry echoed through the air, his body started to glow a golden-like light.

"What's this!?" Blezei exclaimed as he and everyone present turned to Pollun in surprise.

"Pollun..." Both the Cures looked at the glowing fairy in awe and confusion, wondering what was happening.

"POPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

As the fairy prince's cry grew louder and louder, his body glowed brighter and brighter until he was practically blinding. Then, strong gusts of wind blew as a blinding rainbow light exploded from him. The Seeds, as if hurt by the light, covered their faces to block the light. This allowed Nagisa and Honoka to push their respective Seed off of them and move away before looking back at Pollun, the light not bothering them in the slightest. In fact, contrasting the Seeds, the light felt comforting to them.

(BGM: Futari was PreCure OST 2 Track 2 - Pretty Cure Power Up)

From within the rainbow light, Pollun had transformed back into the Pretty Commune while still glowing gold. Not only that but a card was seen flying around him, depicting a red-haired fairy dressed in robes similar to Wisdom while also holding up a staff that held some sort of four-leaf clover-shaped object. Opening himself up, the card was then slashed and Pollun spoke.

"Recieve the Power of Light-popo!"

Soon after saying that a bolt of shining, golden light fired from the Commune which soon split in two and spiraled around one another before splitting off towards the Cures who looked on in surprise as the lights struck their wrists; Nagisa's right and Honoka's left. Recovering their bearings, the girls looked to see just what had struck them and found two items attached to them, ones that they were actually familiar with.

"Hey, aren't these...?" Nagisa began, recognizing the item on her wrist.

"From the Garden of Light," Honoka said, also recognizing the item attached to her.

"The Rainbow Bracelets." Indeed, the light that had struck them was in fact the items they had used during the incident at the Garden of Light, the Rainbow Bracelets!

(BGM End)

"Hmph! And just what are those?" Regine, being the first to recover, moved to finish off Nagisa like she originally intended only to hit nothing but air. The Black Cure had vanished. "What!? Where did she-?"

"Toriyah!"

*POW!*

From up above, Nagisa came down upon Regine with an axe kick that struck the female Seed's head, forcing Regine to bend down as the world around her shook. Landing right in front of her, Nagisa then delivered a powerful uppercut that struck Regine across the face and sent the Seed flying into the air which the Cure followed by jumping up. Spinning around, Nagisa then gave a spin kick to Regine so strong that the female Seed actually coughed up some blood before she was sent back down to the ground, crashing like a speeding rocket.

"What!?" Belzei and Juna exclaimed in disbelief, finding it hard to believe that the black Cure had just done that to their female member.

Growing angry, Juna charged toward the landing Nagisa with the intent to avenge his ally when Honoka suddenly appeared in front of him and struck him with a palm strike that actually hurt him. Juna found himself gasping for air and stumbling back in surprise, holding the spot that the white Cure had struck. Honoka didn't stop there as she ran up to Juna and threw a punch to his chest that knocked him back further. Skidding across the ground, Juna only stopped himself by bending his knees and digging his feet into the ground. But Honoka, running up to the Seed again, used that bent knee as a step to jump up and deliver a knee strike to Juna's head. Blood spewed from his nose as Juna found himself stumbling back again while Honoka landed right behind him and gave him a shoulder rush that sent him stumbling forward. After that, Honoka ran up to him, jumped, and used Juna's shoulder to flip over him before landing and jumping to give the Seed a spinning roundhouse kick to the face. This blow finally knocked Juna off his feet and he spun around once before sliding over to Belzei who couldn't help stepping back in alarm.

"This is impossible! They were not this fast before! And this power..."

Indeed, even the Pretty Cures found themselves surprised at their power boost. The Seeds who had been giving them so much trouble and were about to finish them seconds earlier were now flat on their backs.

"We never really spent that much time with these things last time, but were they always this amazing?" Nagisa questioned as they had only used the Rainbow Bracelets to help Dai back then.

"Power is welling up inside of me," Honoka said, looking at the bracelet in amazement. "Not only that, but my injuries are disappearing."

"I can even feel my eye getting better," Nagisa said, tapping her black eye which was quickly becoming less painful as the darkened spots were vanishing.

"Curse you!" Belzei growled as he could feel the situation growing worse for his side.

(BGM: Futari was PreCure OST 2 Track 1 - A New Power)

"It's time to end this! White!"

"Right!" Nodding in agreement, both Cures soon clasped hands as their Rainbow Bracelets glowed golden, providing them powers as their bodies were enveloped in a rainbow glow.

"Kibō no chikara yo! Hikari no ishi yo! (O Power of Hope! O Will of Light!)" Honoka began as the glow of the bracelets had turned them completely gold.

"Mirai e mukatte tsukisusume! (Face toward the future and press onward!)" Nagisa finished only to notice something. "Wait, wasn't this different back at the Garden?"

"Focus!"

"Right!" Refocusing on the matter at hand, both girls thrust their hands out and shouted loudly...

"Pretty Cure Rainbow Storm!" Those four words seemed to echo as the girls then forcibly pulled their arms back before thrusting them again, punching forward as...

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

...a grand beam of rainbow light shoots out from their hands, breaking the sound barrier as the Cures were actually thrown off their feet by the recoil. And yet, despite that, their hands never once let go of each other as they regained their footing and solidified their stance, allowing their attack to continue uninterrupted.

The three Seeds could only look on in surprise as the beam of rainbow light quickly reached them before they could react properly. Unlike the Marble Screw which involved two energy beams spirling around one another, this one was just one huge beam, leaving no rooms or openings which they could use to disrupt it. With no other choice, they held their hands and tried to block it with their darkness but soon found themselves pushed back.

"We can't lose...!" Regine growled out, refusing to lose against the Pretty Cures. However, Belzei, seeing no way to counter this new finisher, and the fact that he was using his injured arm to block, quickly made a decision.

"Retreat!"

"But–!"

*BANG!*

"GYAH!" Regine let out an ear-piercing scream as she fell to her knees.

"Regine!" Juna cried out as he quickly found what was wrong; a bullet wound in Regine's leg. But where...?

"Ichijo-san!" Both the girls cried out in surprise as over by the roof exit was Ryō with a smoking gun.

"You!" Juna growled as he was about to jump at the man only to be reminded of his current situation with the Rainbow Storm.

"Retreat!" Belzei yelled louder over the roaring finisher and the three Seeds did just that, but not before throwing one last glare at not only the Pretty Cures but also at Ryō. Seemingly disappearing into thin air, the Rainbow Storm now longer had anything trying to stop it and so it soon soared up into the sky, blowing away the darkened clouds.

(BGM End)

With their enemies gone and the sky returned to normal, the girls lowered their arms and ran over to Ryō who was leaning against the wall.

"Ichijo-san!"

"You idiot! We told you to stay put."

"Sorry, but it wouldn't sit right with me if I just sat around while you two were putting yourself in danger," Ryō said, sitting down and holding his still-hurting ribs.

"Ugh, no wonder you and Dai-kun get along so well," Nagisa commented as the man's stubbornness reminded her of the Rider.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Ryō said with a small smile. "Anyway, what about Sakurai? And the kid? Are they all right?"

"We're fine." Walking up to them, a now conscious Hiroshi carrying Pollun in his arms spoke up.

"Sakurai-san! Pollun!"

"You all right?" Ryō asked his fellow officer.

"A few bruises, nothing that'll kill me," Hiroshi said, licking away some blood on his lip before turning to the girls. "Still, you two were amazing. I can see how you're friends with No. 4."

"Oh, you saw all that?" Honoka asked, having thought the man was still unconscious during then.

"The sound of this kid screaming woke me up," Hiroshi said, holding up Pollun who then jumped out of his arms and into Nagisa's.

"Whoa!"

"You're all right-popo! I'm so glad-popo!"

"Yeah, thanks to you," Nagisa said as she smiled and patted the prince's back gently. As she did, she was reminded of the Rainbow Bracelet still equipped to her wrist.

"Pollun, how did you do all of that?" The last time the Cure's had used the Rainbow Bracelets was through the power of the Prism Stones along with assistance from both the Queen and Wisdom. How had the young fairy granted them the bracelets then?

"I don't know-popo."

"Sigh, I should have expected as much."

"Still..." Honoka spoke up, getting everyone to turn to her as the white Cure had a crestfallen face. "I'm glad we won and everything, but the Guardian..."

"Oh...right." Nagisa soon mirrored her partner as she was reminded that despite their victory, the Seeds were able to escape with Wisdom and the stones.

"What do we do now?" Honoka asked as they had no way of tracking the Seeds down and thus no way of rescuing the guardian.

"I can ask HQ if they can form a search party," Ryō said with Hiroshi nodding in agreement. "I'm not sure how much help we can provide given that the enemy can disguise themselves, but we'll do the best we can to aid you two."

"Ichijo-san," Both girls looked at the glasses-wearing adult and smiled with gratitude. "Thank you. Dai-kun's really lucky to have you helping him all the time."

"Considering how much help he's been giving us, it should be the other way."

"Speaking of Ichi-kun, where is he?" Honoka asked as she noticed a distinct lack of fighting in the air. Had the Rider already defeated his enemy?

*RUMBLE!*

"Whoa!" Suddenly, everything started to shake, surprising everyone.

"W-What? An earthquake?" Nagisa thought out loud, looking left and right in confusion.

"Look! Over there!" Hiroshi spoke up, pointing behind Nagisa as everyone turned and soon, all eyes widened with shock.

"What in the...?"

(With Dai)

With only the trees to tell him that he had arrived at the city park, Dai skidded to a halt, stopping the bike which caused Gamego to go flying off and crash into a tree. Getting off, Dai walked over to Gamego who slowly got back up, still holding his bleeding stomach.

Refusing to roll over, Gamego gritted through the pain as he charged at the Rider who quickly took a stance. Like a raging bull, Gamego went to tackle and hopefully push Dai down to the ground, but the Rider had been prepared for him and grabbed onto the rushing Grongi, wrapping his right arm around the monster's neck and attempting to choke him. Gamego would not go down like that as he used his close proximity to give Dai a punch to the ribs. Grunting through the pain, Dai responded back by using his free arm to deliver elbow strikes down on Gamego's back, but they had little effect due to the natural armor covering it. Seeing as that wasn't working, Dai changed tactics and swung a knee up to Gamego's chest, this time actually having an effect as the Rider delivered a second one. In frustration, Gamego grabbed Dai by his legs and stood up, throwing the Rider over his shoulder which released the choke hold he had on him.

Falling to the ground, Dai quickly rolled back up to his knees as Gamego turned around and charged at the Rider with a rushing knee attack. Dai's held up his hands and somewhat blocked the attack aimed for his head as he was sent rolling back further. Gamego quickly rushed over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him up to his feet before giving the Rider a headbutt to the face. Somewhat dazed, Dai powered through the dizziness and swung an under punch to Gamego's gut, hitting his wound which got Gamego to cry out and bend over slightly. Using this chance, Dai delivered two quick punches to the Grongi's face before jumping up and sending the monster flying back with a dropkick.

Now with some distance between one another, silence seemed to fall upon the area as Dai steeled himself for what he was about to do next.

'Well, it's now or never.' Taking a deep breath, Dai took a stance as golden sparks surrounded his form until it changed.

Much like the last three forms, his physical appearance hadn't changed all that much. The Amadam Stone within the Arcle turned to gold, transforming the belt. The red Mighty armor and shoulder pads gained golden highlights and the Lynt symbol for 'power' appeared on the back of his hands. The most noticeable change, however, was a new piece of armor added to the Rider. A golden leg piece known as the Mighty Anklet.

With his transformation now complete, Dai took his usual kicking stance as Gamego finally picked himself up and looked at the Rider's new transformation. A silent exchange between the two occurred before Dai finally took off running, his flaming right foot leaving behind burnt footprints as it crackled with electricity. In response to the charging Rider, Gamego held out his arms to the side and flexed his muscles, confident he could take the attack much like he did the last one.

He would be soon proven wrong.

"TORIYAH!" Dai's cry seemed to almost vibrate the very air around him as he jumped up, flipped, and kicked toward the Grongi. The finisher connected and Gamego was soon blown off his feet, flying back a good couple of feet. Both fighters landed at the same time, but Dai was the only one to rise back up to his feet as the mark that Dai's Rising Mighty Kick had left on Gamego glowed brightly. The Grongi himself never got the chance to look at his new wound or even scream as the light soon overtook him.

And then...it happened.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

No one said anything. No one could say anything. Their voices felt stuck inside their throats as they witnessed the sky turn red. Rai and the officers down below were very much the same as the entire city of Yokohama shook. Even as some men fell flat on their butts, their gazes never left the unbelievable sight happening before them, paralyzed with horror.

A dome of fire. It was the only way to describe it. Any noise was drowned out by the sounds of explosions as a huge shockwave washed over everything nearby, sending a huge blast of wind that broke a great number of building windows and knocked over cars before the flames overtook them, melting them down until stone crumbled and metals were turned into puddles. Complete destruction.

"So...This is what he meant." The first to recover their voice was Ryō as he gulped down some saliva, trying to process that what was happening in the distance was really happening.

"Oh, my god..." Honoka muttered in horror as she and Nagisa realized who was the cause of this.

"Dai..."

And so, on that day, with one simple kick, the entire country of Japan shook.

And...done! Holy CRAP! That was action PACKED! So much was happening all at once and not to sound arrogant, but I do believe this is one of my best works yet. I didn't know you could fit so much action into one chapter, but I did and it was AWESOME! Hopefully, you all feel the same way as I hope I did Rising Mighty's debut justice. Part of me thinks I could have done Dai's fight scenes better, but on the other hand, the girls had more people to fight against which extends their scenes a bit more so I don't think there was much else I do. Hopefully, the Rainbow Bracelet scene wasn't too overshadowed by the Rising Kick as I tried to give an equal amount of love to both of them. But all in all, I think everything turned out great.

I'd say tune in next time, but we all know how long I take with updates so instead, I'll say please patiently wait as there's a story I've been neglecting for a while now. Until then, this has been Ashbel Longhart here, signing out. And now, it's time for...

Pretty Cure: Rider Fun Facts

"Hello, minna-san! Good day to you all and welcome back for another segment of Pretty Cure: Rider Fun Facts-mepo!" Mepple cheered as he, the other fairies, and the girls all greeted the audience.

"Man, it's been a while since we've done one of these," Nagisa said, looking around with a nostalgic look.

"That it has, my dear Nagisa-mepo," Mepple said, nodding in agreement.

"I would ask what it is we're talking about today, but I can pretty much guess what it is," Honoka said as there was really only one thing they could talk about.

"That's right-mepo! It's the form everyone's been waiting for, Kuuga's Rising Mighty form-mepo!" Mepple said as the form in question appeared on the screen.

"So cool-popo!" Pollun said with stars in his eyes.

"So, what can this form do-mipo?" Mipple asked, curious as to what this form was capable of.

"I'm glad you asked, my sweetheart," Mepple said, throwing in a quick flirt before bringing up the form's info. "According to this, thanks to the golden power, Kuuga's punching power has risen to 5.7 tons. His running speed is still the same but his jumping height can now reach 29 meters, nearly matching the regular Dragon form's maximum 30 meters-mepo. But his kicking power has especially powered up, doubling over to 22 tons of force-mepo!"

"Incredible! That's even stronger than Rising Titan!" Honoka said, amazed at the boost to what was basically Kuuga's default form.

"That's right! Before if there's anything that outshines these facts, it's the finisher-mepo."

"Oh right, that," Nagisa said, nervously looking toward the screen which showcased the results of the finisher.

"Dai's newest finisher, the Rising Mighty Kick, strikes with a supposed force of 50 tons. Very strong for sure, but the resulting effects of the kick are what stand out. As shown on screen, the kick causes the target to explode with a blast radius of a few city blocks, making this one of the most destructive finishers in Rider history-mepo."

"I've seen it, but it's still hard to believe a kick can cause that much damage," Nagisa said, still somewhat in disbelief.

"What's going to happen to Ichi-kun now?" Honoka asked, knowing something this big was going to cause a big reaction.

"At this point, only the author knows-mipo," Mipple said before walking over and patting Honoka's leg. "But I'm sure Dai-kun will be fine. He's got Ichijo-san and the others to help him."

"Yeah, you're right," Honoka said, smiling.

"Well, that's all the time we have folks. Tune in next time as Dai faces the consequences of his actions and–"

"Next chapter's going to be about me-popo!"

"Dammit, Pollun! I told you to stop interrupting me-mepo!"

"And there they go again," Nagisa said, shaking her head as Mepple and Pollun ran around in circles. "You'd think they grow tired of that same routine."

"I think that just shows how close they are," Honoka said before she, Nagisa, and Mipple waved goodbye to the audience. "Until next time, everyone!"

Next Time: Regaining Trust. Pollun on the Loose!