They'd become heroes. Kawada Asa, the awkward new transfer student, and Nakayama Yoko, the secretive school idol, had come upon cute cell phones that could be used to hold a creature from the Garden of Days. The creature, Starry, led Asa to the clock tower in the middle of town to find a Moon Piece, but it had almost been taken away by a magician named Mekuramast before Yoko appeared and retrieved it. Together, Asa and Yoko transformed into Cure Sunday and Cure Night and defeated their first Hidoinaa. Still, as much as Asa seemed to love fighting evil, Yoko wasn't so sure about it. She sat in her desk and thought as the class waited for their teacher to come.

"Yukari!" she whispered, poking her friend under her crown braid with a pencil.

"Ow!" Okamoto Yukari turned around in her desk and winced. "Yoko, what did you do that for?"

"Sorry." Yoko tilted her head towards the other side of the classroom, where Asa was sleeping soundly in her desk. "What do you know about Kawada Asa-san?"

"Oh?" Yukari leaned forward. "Ice Queen Nakayama is actually making more friends? Odd choice, too."

Yoko facepalmed. "I told you to stop calling me that. It's ridiculous. Besides, we're not friends, I just..." She paused for a second. "I just wanted to know."

The door swung open, and everybody (minus Asa, who was still snoring away) sat up straight for Nakata-sensei's entrance.

"Um, hello, everyone!"

The various classmates slumped back down, tilted their heads or smiled and waved at the figure jumping into the classroom. It certainly wasn't the teacher; this girl was a classmate, with short, fluffy red hair and a big pink bow in the back. She twirled around, flashing the charm attached to her bag.

"Ogata-san!" "Mia-chan!" Some of the other kids got out of their seats and crowded around her. She smiled and waved at the circle. Kondou Hoshi was trying to shake Asa awake, and Yoko and Yukari similarly didn't get out of their seats.

The girl in the middle of the circle opened up her bag. "I brought some souvenirs from my vacation!"

"Oooh!" One of the others stared inside. "What's that one?"

Hoshi finally shook hard enough for Asa to blink sleepily up at her, then at the front. "Ehn...?"

"Oh, this?" The classmate beamed at her circle of friends. "Ah... It was in some weird shop in the mountains." She held up a glimmering chunk of stone. The once-dozing Asa sat straight up in her chair.

M-Moon Piece!

Futari wa Pretty Cure Blue Moon

Episode 2: Mysterious Moon Piece? Watch Out for Stalkers!

Five figures appeared in the Etherium. The ripples seemed to move around them, appearing in front of one, then another, then far away. All five stood up straight and bowed in the same direction.

"Mekuramast hasn't found any Moon Pieces yet," came the voice from nowhere.

The other four looked at the magician in question, light glinting off their eye masks. He simply tilted his head upward and removed his own mask, allowing the light to sparkle from its blue accent jewels. "Well, you can't blame me for trying. We've only just begun, after all."

"And they call you the Master Magician?" A young boy stretched back and made a face. "You're just lazy and boring."

"It's better than your title, Binbeat," commented a boy not much older - or was he two men? - oh, now they were quintuplets, and female at that - and then they were back to one boy. "The Youthful Musician? Please. The rest of us have titles that actually make sense."

"Shut your face, Tachimany," the child grumbled.

Tachimany split into three old women. "Just one face?" They turned back into the one boy and dodged Binbeat's frustrated swiping.

"Silence!" A woman stepped forward and slapped a riding crop against her gloved hand. She was wearing white like the others, with a short, open red jacket and matching jewels on the ends of her mask. She threw back her head as she turned and glared at everyone present. "The boss hasn't even finished, and here you are, bickering." She swept the arm holding the riding crop to the side, pointing at an old woman wearing a white dress and a purple head-covering with white stars. "Mireyes is the only one who hasn't interrupted."

"That old lady sees the future," Binbeat whined. "She probably just saw that you'd flip out on us, so she shut up."

The woman in red smacked the child over the head and stepped back into line. "Continue, boss."

The ripples came again. "Thank you, Kainatrol. I was going to suggest that everyone descend upon the town to find the Moon Pieces, but on second thought, maybe you should go solo. After all, there's no one in our way."

She bowed and quickly put her dark red hair back into place upon rising. "Oh, I'll find them."

Mekuramast spun his magic wand, stepping forward. "With all due respect, boss, Kainatrol's abilities are more suited to other areas. If you're unhappy with me, I completely understand, but you could still send Binbeat or Tachimany to do the job."

The aforementioned animal tamer glared, but the magician paid no mind. The air rippled again, seeming to think about this. "You may continue searching in a different area of the town, Mekuramast. I'll be sending Kainatrol to the area you were in. Someone with her... 'people skills' should be able to find the Moon Pieces if they're there."

The lunch bell rang before they knew it. Asa and Hoshi headed towards the door, but Asa stopped mid-step.

"Asa?" Hoshi turned around to face her.

"I'll catch up with you!" Asa beamed. "I have to talk with Nakayama-san for a bit."

Hoshi stared. "You don't mean Nakayama Yoko? What do you want to talk to her about?"

She sweatdropped. "Well, I needed to apologize for throwing food in her hair yesterday."

The other girl ran a hand through her mess of hair. "Your funeral. I'll be at the usual table." She shrugged before walking out the door. Asa shivered, gulped and walked over to Yoko's desk. The silver-haired girl was eating alone, without even Okamoto Yukari with her. That, at least, made it easier.

"Nakayama-san?"

Yoko looked up. "What?"

Asa jumped a little. "Hey, uh, you know that girl who came back from vacation? The one with the big pink hair bow?"

"That clashes with her hair?" Yoko nodded. "I don't know her personally. Ogata Mia-san. Why?"

Asa glanced around quickly enough to slap herself in the face with her short blue hair. "She had a weird stone with her! Don't you think it's a Moon Piece?"

"A Moon Piece?" The other girl frowned and drew out the Moon Piece she already had. The two girls inspected its rough edges, polished top, clear exterior and black core. "Her stone looked nothing like this. It didn't even have a number carved into it."

"Don't just say that if you don't know!" Asa put her hands on her hips without thinking. "All we've seen is this one. The others could be completely different! And it could be in disguise, for all we know!"

Yoko shook her head and took another bite of egg omelette. Asa wondered why that was the only thing in her entire lunch box. "Shouldn't you ask these things to Starry? He knows this Garden of Days better than we do, and he's the one after the Moon Pieces."

Asa looked back at her desk, where she'd left her phone pouch. "He's still sleeping! Even I wake up for lunch time."

'But not for my history presentation,' Yoko thought, and sighed inwardly. "Well, I don't think it's a Moon Piece, but we'll ask when you transfer him over to my phone after school just to be sure. Now go eat with your friend." She put another piece of omelette into her mouth, and that was the end of that. Asa shuddered and went back to her desk, picked up the pouch and her lunch box, and walked out to go find Hoshi.

Two other girls, classmates from the Lily Class, had gathered on the rooftop of the school, eating their lunch and laughing.

"It's really cool that Ogata-san brought all that stuff back, right?"

"Yeah, cool, cool! I wish I could go on a vacation like that."

"Me too, me too! I want to go!"

Behind the two of them, a figure materialized. They put their lunches down in unison, jumped up and spun around. "Wh-who are you?"

The woman laughed and adjusted her face mask. "You can call me Kainatrol. Now..." The riding crop materialized in her hand. "What are your names?"

The schoolgirls started to feel strange. Their eyes went blank, and their hands dropped to the sides.

"Izumi Misaki," said one.

"Misaki Izumi," said the other.

Kainatrol shook her head. What people would name their children these days. The poor girls probably got teased so much in school for matching. "On to more important things. Have either of you seen any... strange stones?"

Izumi Misaki and Misaki Izumi nodded at the same time.

"Ogata-san."

"Yeah, Ogata-san."

"In her bag."

"She had one."

The maroon-haired intruder smirked. "Oh, really? Tell me more, and things will just go back to normal." 'This'll show him,' she thought. 'A magician can't do what an animal tamer can.'

Everyone else had cleared out of the classroom for the day; thankfully, Asa had the excuse that she had to clean up the room afterward, and not even Yukari would question if Yoko stuck around after school. Starry tumbled out of Asa's transformation phone and popped into his true form with a stretch and a yawn. "Good afternoon ~susu!"

Yoko raised an eyebrow. "How can you stay asleep so long? It's useful for us, but I'd think it might not be good for your health."

The little orange thing jumped up and scratched his head. "I haven't slept in a few days ~susu. I've just been searching for Moon Pieces ~susu."

"Oh, that's right!" Asa hit her palm with her fist. "Starry, did you sense a Moon Piece around here today?"

He tilted his head. "What are you talking about ~susu? I can't sense Moon Pieces like I can your cell phones ~susu."

Asa facevaulted. Yoko tilted her head a bit. "What gave you that idea, Kawada-san?"

"N-nothing..." She pulled herself up from the ground, face bright red. "So how are we supposed to find them?"

Starry hopped up onto Yoko's shoulder, not noticing her perturbed expression. "Where did you see the Moon Piece? We can check and see if it is one if we pick it up and use the Scan Card ~susu."

"You mean one of the cards in the pack?" Asa already had them out from her cell phone pouch and was flipping through them. "It's the one with stars on it, right?"

"Yeah, the one that says 'Scan' ~susu!"

Yoko leaned on the windowsill and looked out the window while the other two were talking. Asa was already so used to this. It was inevitable, considering that she seemed to watch way too much TV - kids' TV, at that, just like the rumours kept saying. Seriously, though, what was this Pretty Cure thing all about? They didn't even know why they needed the Moon Pieces, or who these other people were who also wanted them. And Asa wasn't even questioning this. That was probably the scariest part. "Hey, Starry-"

Starry and Asa turned to Yoko, but she was staring out the window.

"What is it ~susu?"

"Is it another monster? Or the magician guy? Or one of his friends?"

Yoko shifted over and motioned to some bushes in the courtyard. Asa and Starry poked their heads through the open window and stared. A figure in a trenchcoat looked up at them and ducked behind the bushes.

"What was that ~susu?"

She frowned and rose out of her chair, glaring in the direction of the bushes. "Somebody here must have a stalker. We've got to do something about this."

Starry blinked. "But Pretty Cure is meant to fight Hidoinaa and the Etherium ~susu. What's a stalker?"

Yoko flipped back her grey hair and turned the glare on him. He gulped and jumped back into Asa's phone. "This Pretty Cure thing should be used to help everyone. We are going after that person, and I don't want to hear any objections from either of you."

Asa gulped and held tightly to Starry's phone. She usually gained confidence around Yoko if the conversation turned to Pretty Cure - she knew her way around this sort of thing, after all! - but the Ice Queen Nakayama glare was undefeatable. "L-lead the way!"

Yoko frowned a little, but nodded and walked out the door and down the hall as quickly as she could without breaking school rules. Asa started running, but had to brake every few steps so as not to pass in front of Yoko. She contemplated leaping down the stairs in one jump, but falling on her face wouldn't earn her any hero points and would probably get the other girl mad at her. By the time they were out of the school, the stalker was no longer in the bushes.

"They've got to be somewhere." Yoko stood up and swept her gaze around. "Kawada-san, do you see anyone?"

Asa gulped. "Well, there's - hey, look!"

Yoko turned around to see the other girl pointing and jabbering at a figure down the path with short, fluffy hair and a big pink bow. "What?"

"It's her! It's that girl in our class!" The blue-haired girl raised a fist in the air and grinned before zooming off in the classmate's direction.

Yoko facepalmed. "She really is crazy." A flash of brown in the bushes caught her eye, and she started to move towards it, hiding behind trees and bushes on the way.

Inside the cell phone pouch, Starry had swirls in his eyes."Asa is usually too scared to move around Yoko, but when it comes to Pretty Cure, I can't keep up with her ~susu..."

Asa ignored him. "OGATA-SAAAAN!"

Ogata Mia turned around and blinked at the unfamiliar girl. "O-oh, hey! You're that new girl in my class, right?"

Asa beamed. "Yeah, I'm Kawada Asa! Hey, I know this sounds weird, but can I see that weird stone you brought to class?"

At the same time, Yoko spotted the trenchcoat from behind a tree. Got you. She was about to step forward and confront the person when a voice came from the side.

"Well, now, what are you doing following innocent people?"

Yoko's head turned to an older woman with bright red hair and a necklace with a white pearlescent heart shape at the front. However, the woman wasn't looking at her. The figure in the trenchcoat stood up and turned around.

"Dawn," she replied (the stalker was female?), crossing her arms. "Or what should I call you now? It can't be your name anymore."

'Dawn' frowned. "That's none of your concern. I should have known it would have been you. Haven't aged a bit in years, have you?"

"We generally don't." The one in the trenchcoat shook her hidden head. "Now get out of my way."

The lighter-haired woman's eyes kept their light. "You may be called the Feared Tamer, but your control still won't work on me."

Yoko gaped from behind the tree. What was going on? The one in the trenchcoat made a disapproving noise.

"Unlike you, I can still do something. The Moon Dial is already ours." She walked off and disappeared into the air. "We only need the pieces."

'Dawn' glared at the space where the other person had been and walked off in the direction she'd come in. Neither of them seemed to have taken any notice of Yoko.

Mia frowned and hesitated before pulling the strange stone out of her bag and holding it out. "Don't do anything weird to it, okay?"

"I'm not going to hurt it!" Asa pulled out her phone and swiped the Scan Card. She waited for a bit.

Nothing happened.

"Whaaat?" She stared and started shaking her phone. "But I was so sure!"

"It's not magic!"

Asa blinked. "H-huh?"

Mia put the stone back in her bag and stepped backward. "You're just as weird as everyone says! You really do believe in all that weird stuff you watch on TV, right? I'm not going to buy into it! Find someone else to be your weird 'friend' who helps you delude yourself! As for me, I'm going to go find my mom, who's picking me up, and then I'm going to go out shopping, and then I'm going to go home and do my homework and go to sleep! Know who does all that? Normal people!" She ran off in the other direction, leaving Asa standing with Starry in the phone in one hand and the card in the other.

"Asa..." Starry looked down. Asa trembled, staring off where the other girl had run away.

"Kawada-san!" Yoko ran up behind her and grabbed her shoulder. "Snap out of it!"

Asa's head snapped back. "N-nakayama-san?"

Yoko removed her hand and crossed her arms. "You two need to hear this. I found the stalker, but..." She looked over at Starry in Asa's hand. "Tell me what the Moon Dial is."

Starry popped out of the phone and landed on the ground in front of the two of them. Yoko crouched down to look at him. "The Moon Dial can reset time."

"Eeehh?"

The little orange thing nodded. "If all the Moon Pieces are put into the Moon Dial, it can start the world over from the very beginning ~susu."

Yoko frowned. "Why would the people we're fighting - whoever they are - have something like that, or want to use it?"

"They're from the Etherium, a void where time doesn't matter ~susu." Starry looked up at the two. "They want to expand their void to the Garden of Days and even to other worlds ~susu!"

"How would that even work?" Yoko blinked twice.

Starry cleared his throat. "They say that every world began like that before it was created ~susu. If a world is turned back to that state, the Etherium can expand there and keep it that way forever ~susu!"

"So they're imperialists, only with an extra turning-the-world-into-nothing bit." Yoko frowned and got up, turning to look at Asa. The blue-haired girl just stared at her feet. Yoko grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"HEY!"

"...huh?" Asa blinked a few times.

Yoko quickly removed her hands. "Pay attention! This is your thing, not mine! I don't know what's gotten into you, but someone's in danger here, and one would think that you would be the first one to step up!"

Asa stared into Yoko's eyes. What was she talking about? It was the same thing that Mia had screamed at her for and that she knew people were whispering about at lunchtime when she wasn't there. But Yoko wanted her to do it. Starry, too, who had hopped into Yoko's phone and was looking up at her.

"...what do I need to do?"

Yoko's grey eyes locked onto Asa, making sure she couldn't get away. "These 'Etherium' people think Ogata-san's got a Moon Piece. Even if she doesn't, we have to go after her and make sure she's safe."

Asa gulped. "She... She's going out shopping. She said so."

Yoko's head turned in the direction that Mia had gone. "Probably at the Seiki Open Mall - the old shopping district. I know the shortest way. Let's go." She put Starry, in the phone, away and ran down the path. Asa stared after for a moment and nodded, breaking into a run to catch up with her.

Mekuramast hadn't come up with anything. He concentrated on spinning his wand in one hand, glaring at it as if that would make a Moon Piece show up. This lasted until he heard someone stepping out onto the roof from nowhere. Kainatrol. He really couldn't stand that animal tamer. Rather than give her the satisfaction of seeing him frustrated, the magician sat up, making his wand-spinning look more like boredom. "Didn't find anything, did you?"

The smack behind him must have been Kainatrol's riding crop on her gloved hand again. "There are two mistakes you should correct before speaking with me again. I didn't get anything, and that's only because I didn't get it yet."

"If you say so," he shrugged. "You might need a little help, though." He pulled off his hat and pointed his wand at it before drawing out a small, black diamond-shaped object. "If, that is, you turn out to need a Hidoinaa. I know you never keep any on you."

"Keep it." Kainatrol came up behind him and slapped the diamond out of his hand. "I'm sure I won't need it, but thank you so much for the offer." She teleported out, leaving the Master Magician to put his top hat back on and roll his eyes.

"See you, mom!" Ogata Mia waved back as she ran into the street. Nobody had driven it for years save for vendors and equipment trucks; it had been paved over with bricks decades ago and converted to the Seiki Open Mall, and, though not many people were outside, there were bound to be more in the store. She passed a small 'courtyard' - really just a gathering of tall potted plants - and walked towards a clothing store before someone put a hand on her shoulder. Someone who hadn't been there before. She gasped and spun around, stumbling back. Before her was a woman in a crisp white dress shirt and matching pants, a shiny dark red vest, and a white eye mask with dark red accents. Her hair was red, but much, much darker than Mia's, and she held a riding crop in her hand.

"Who..."

"My name is Kainatrol." She smirled and looked into Mia's eyes. "Give me this 'strange stone' I've been hearing so much about."

Down the street, among a few people, Yoko's eyes widened. "Hey -"

Asa grabbed her and covered her mouth. "Are you crazy?" She dragged Yoko into a corner and whispered, removing her hands. "We aren't even transformed! You'll be letting her and the whole town know who we are!"

"Well, at least you're back to normal." Yoko put her palm to her forehead. "What are we supposed to do? Hide?"

They were too far away to see Mia's eyes glaze over from mind control, but they could certainly see her reaching into her bag. Asa looked around. "There's no one near the plants! Let's go!" They ran toward the 'courtyard', making sure that no one else would see them.

Kainatrol took the stone and looked it over. A frown grew on her face, twisting into a glare. "No... it's not even a Moon Piece!" Her control of the schoolgirl snapped apart, and Mia looked left and right, taking in sharp breaths and then staring at the woman in front of her. Kainatrol flung the stone back at her, hitting her in the stomach. Mia cried out and doubled over in pain as it dropped to the bricks.

The animal tamer clenched her fists and breathed to regain her composure. "You've been nothing but a waste of time."

"Dual Infinite Phase!"

Their heads turned to a burst of light inside the gathered plants. The other customers at the mall took this time to run away from the whatever-it-was before two strangely-dressed girls emerged from between two large potted ferns.

"On behalf of the light, I am Cure Sunday!"

"In the name of the shadows, I am Cure Night!"

"We are Pretty Cure!"

"We'll defend at all hours..."

"...to ensure a peaceful era!"

Night looked at Sunday and sweatdropped. "Let's never hide between plant pots again."

Sunday gave a nervous laugh. "I just about got stung by a wasp..."

Kainatrol's eyes widened and her pupils shrunk. "It can't be... no, you're different from them!"

Sunday quirked an eyebrow at her. "Uh, what now?"

"Never mind that!" Night ran up to Mia, who was gasping for breath. "Are you all right?"

Mia grabbed onto Night's leg warmer to try and get up before she offered a hand, coughing. "You... you're..."

Night didn't answer, just looking down at her. "You have to get out of here, Ogata-san."

Kainatrol had mostly regained her calm expression by now, save for a small twitch at the side of her eye. "It wasn't a Moon Piece anyway. I'll be going now." She stepped backwards and disappeared into a ripple in the air.

"Heeey!" Cure Sunday waved her arms in the air and shouted. "We didn't even get to fight anything! That's so cheap!"

"Sunday." Night groaned, helping Mia stand. "We have more important things to do than complain."

Sunday shivered a bit and sighed. "You're right... Still, it's a big letdown, you know?"

"How?"

Mia bobbled around, getting her balance, and bent down to pick up her stone. Night let her go and watched as she stood up. The three never said anything for a while, until Mia ran off in the same direction she came from.

"Morning, Asa!" Hoshi waved as the blue-haired girl ran up to the shoe lockers. "How's it going?"

"All right," Asa said, bending over to open up her own locker. "I... huh?"

"What is it?" Hoshi leaned over to see her friend draw out a piece of pink paper. Unfolding it revealed cute stationery with pink cats running around the border, and only one word written in the middle. Sorry.

"Sorry..." Asa read, staring at the note.

"Huh?" Hoshi raised an eyebrow. "Sorry for what?"

"I dunno!" Asa folded up the note and stuffed it into her uniform pocket. She turned her head to see a red-haired girl with a pink hair bow run down the hall.

Kainatrol teleported into the Etherium and stormed over to Mekuramast. He looked up, bored, from making a Hidoinaa come out of his hat.

"What now? You couldn't find it?"

"Don't give me that," she snapped. "You knew this whole time that Pretty Cure were back."

"They're not back," he shrugged, twirling his wand. "It's not the same Pretty Cure."

"You did know!" She smacked the small Hidoinaa with her riding crop, sending it scurrying back into the hat. "Tell me who they are and why they're here this time!"

Mekuramast put his hat back on and turned his back to her. "You know better than that." He began to walk off. "A magician never tells what he knows."