Miyoko's nightmare had been spreading. It now covered a large portion of the school's courtyard and was creeping up the side of the school building. Students laid on the dried grass, some sobbing in their forced sleep. They suffered from the same nightmare that the Suya Seed was growing inside of Miyoko and their fear fed that same seed, helping it bloom faster.
"Suyaaaah!" Another crashing sound thundered across the nightmare. There was a giant school desk, almost as tall as the school building, with a vase on its "head" and narrowed eyes stomping around the Nightmare Garden. It was feeding off of the power of the Suya Seed and wrecking havoc, making this nightmare that much more terrifying for everyone involved.
"Tsukino-chan, hang on!" Cure Light called to her friend. The blond was hang in a cocoon of vines that was now up to her chest. Pretty soon it would consume Miyoko entirely and Cure Light had a feeling that was a bad thing. She turned to the pink cure, Cure Faith, with a worried expression, "We need to save everyone! Tell me what I can do to help!"
"Nothing." Came the pink cure's tart reply. Cure Faith stepped forward, leaving Cure Light behind her, "Just stay out of my way."
"Huh? But..." Cure Light bit her lip, "Don't you need my help?"
Cure Faith began walking towards the Nightmare. Her silence spoke volumes.
[ Courageous Hearts Precure
Episode Two
Precures Working Solo? This isn't how it should be!]
Suddenly, Cure Faith's walk broke into a run. She was faster than anyone that Ayumu had ever known, with her feet just barely touching the ground. The Nightmare made a growling sound and lunged at Cure Faith, intending to body slam the running Cure.
"Watch out!" Cure Light yelled.
The warning proved pointless. The pink Cure leapt over the giant desk and landed on the ground behind it. The Nightmare slammed unproductively into the ground. She turned swiftly and lifted her hand into the air,
"Pretty Cuuure!" She started. Light's eyes widened with awe. A ball of pink light was forming in Faith's outstretched hand. The other Cure grabbed it, three fingers sinking into the light as if it were a bowling ball, and then swung it at the Nightmare, "Miracle Rush!"
As the miracle rolled towards the Nightmare it grew like a snowball. But the time it reached the Nightmare it was already five feet across. The Nightmare lifted itself on its shaky desk legs and let the attack roll right under it.
"What!" Cure Faith gasped.
"This Nightmare can easily dodge your rolling attack." Leo smirked, "This is your last fight, Cure Faith!"
"You say that every time." Cure Faith hissed, holding her ground as the Nightmare munched up the ball of light, "But this isn't over yet!"
"Um, I can help you –" Cure Light reached out towards Cure Faith, but her fellow Cure jumped into the air and out of Light's reach, "O-or not?"
Faith threw a kick at the Nightmare's "chin" so that it flipped upward. When she landed on the ground she quickly darted under it and punched it into the air. Her strength was superhuman. The giant desk was thrown at least fifty feet into the air by someone barely even a fourth of its size. Light watched in amazement as Faith followed her opponent into the air with a superhuman jump. The smaller bodied girl got above the Nightmare and kicked it back towards the earth, assisting gravity's pull.
"This time for sure!" Cure Faith yelled, holding her hands up again, "Pretty Cure! Miracle Rush! Pretty Cure! Miracle Rush! Miracle Rush! Miracle Rush!"
Faith couldn't summon large attacks quickly, so she covered her weakness by summoning a shower of smaller, faster attacks. The pink lights rained down on the giant desk and drove holes through its top. The Nightmare wailed in frustration as it was pelted with more attacks than it could handle.
"And now, one more!" Faith landed on the ground and took a deep breathe, "For all of the dreamers– Have a little more faith!"
She held up her arms to summon one final attack. Cure Light noticed now that Faith looked exhausted. Because the Nightmare was flailing around on its back she had the time to focus what little power she had left into a final attack of a decent size.
"Pretty Cure!" Faith's voice cracked with exhaustion, but she didn't let herself stop, "Miracle RUSH!"
"UNI UNIII." Her final attack hit the flailing Nightmare dead on. With one final cry, the desk dissolved into pink light. When the light cleared there was a smaller, normal-sized desk left in its place. The vase on top of it shattered into sparkles and flower petals. Behind Cure Light and Faith, the vines on Miyoko began to loosen. Light turned around in time to see her friend beginning to fall, and she was quick enough to catch her.
Cure Faith turned her attention back to Leo and glared, "Now scram, Leo! And don't get near Miyoko-chan ever again!"
"Curses! You won't get this lucky next time, Cure Faith!" Leo called before vanishing.
Light tugged Miyoko a bit closer. Her friend's face was no longer twisted by nightmares, but held a relaxed smile. The Nightmare Garden flashed and then changed into a regular rose garden. The campus was now filled with hundreds of brilliantly coloured roses. There was a picnic blanket on lively green grass and a small pinkette sitting on it. The pink haired girl smiled in Miyoko's direction and waved calmly.
"Okay, it's time to go." Cure Faith sighed, "Miyoko-chan's Dream Flower should be safe for a while."
"For a while?" Cure Light repeated, "Isn't it safe forever?"
The other Cure just glared at Cure Light, "Don't be naïve,you rookie. I'm bidding this dream 'Good Morning.'"
"Okay..." Rebebe whimpered.
The new brilliant scenery retreated into Miyoko's chest until it had disappeared completely.
Cure Light was left in the school courtyard again. She could hear her classmates yawning as they slowly came to, free from the forced nightmare. She laid Miyoko in the grass, letting her new friend sleep peacefully and enjoy the last few seconds of her happy dream.
"Wow, Cure Faith. That was incredible." Cure Light beamed excitably, "Hey, can you train me to do that? I can help you out!"
"No." Faith responded bluntly, "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but no. As you can see, I'm doing just fine on my own."
Light begged to differ. Faith's shoulders rose and fell quickly as she tried to catch her breath. Her face was pale and she seemed about ready to collapse. Nothing about her seemed "fine" at all. Sure she had defeated the Nightmare, but it had clearly taken a lot of effort and been incredibly draining.
"Maybe... But it'll be a lot easier with two of us." Light stood up and held out her hand.
Faith looked at Light's hand, then turned away, "No thank you. In fact... Rebebe."
"Y, yes!" Rebebe squeaked.
"Hand over the Courage Chains. Yours too, Light." Cure Light jumped back with surprise. That was not what she had expected to hear.
"Being a Pretty Cure is dangerous work." Cure Faith elaborated, "Or didn't you see that fight right now? You could get hurt or even killed, and thousands of lives count on you not to mess up."
"But... The Courage Chain reacted to me..." Light argued hesitantly. This was her destiny.
"They'll react to anyone who shows them courage." Faith explained bluntly, "Having it react to you is nothing special anyway. You were just in the right place at the right time."
"That's not true!" Rebebe argued more spiritedly, "Ayumu is Cure Light! The Courage Chain did choose her!"
"It's a danger to her." Faith's voice rose with frustration. Then she closed her eyes and exhaled, putting a hand to her head as a dizzy spell passed. When she spoke next, she sounded much more calm. "I appreciate that you transformed to help Rebebe, but it was a spur-of-the-moment transformation. You haven't had time to make an informed decision about this."
"Informed...?" Light repeated. She hated to admit it, but Faith did have a point. She still only knew the basics of the problem and she had not expected or even wanted to be a Pretty Cure until she transformed. Her golden eyes set on Faith's and she saw true concern and fear behind the girl's pink eyes. Cure Faith was not trying to be mean.
"Nngh... Inoue-san...?" A groan from Miyoko caught their attention. She was beginning to wake from her dream and it probably wouldn't be good for her to see two Pretty Cure.
Faith held out her hand to Rebebe and Cure Light, prompting them silently.
"Well..." Cure Light looked at Rebebe, who seemed uneasy and guilty from the indirect scolding, "Okay... Will you let Rebebe keep the chains?"
Faith bit her lip and glanced at Rebebe, "I'd like to hold onto them for a while, Rebebe. I'll give them back to you once you are completely honest with this girl."
Honest? Light blinked. Was Rebebe lying somehow? Her stomach knotted.
"Okay..." Rebebe retrieved the three other chains and held them out to Cure Faith. The three chains floated to Cure Faith's waist and attached to the hip of her outfit. She then looked to Cure Light, waiting.
"Promise you'll give them back to her." Cure Light said quickly, "And that you'll give me a chance to actually say 'yes.'"
"... Okay." Cure Faith agreed, "I promise."
Light held out her pinky finger now. "Super promise? Like... With needle swallowing and everything."
This seem to take Faith aback. But she nodded again and linked fingers with Light, "Just promise to think it through. Don't let 'destiny' be your reason."
Miyoko stirred more. Light tapped the diamond-shaped jewel on her outfit and the entire ensemble disappeared in a burst of light, leaving Ayumu in her school uniform. She handed the leftover Courage Chain to Cure Faith and watched as the only remaining Pretty Cure attached it to her waist with the others.
"Thank you." Cure Faith turned around, "Be sure to take it easy today. You must be tired."
"Oh uh... Hey, you too!" Ayumu called, "And um, Cure Faith? What's your real name–"
Before she could finish her question and even hope for an answer, Cure Faith jumped to the school roof and vanished from sight.
"I'm home!" Later, Ayumu was back in her residential district. Rebebe and her had stopped to buy some convenience store snacks, but were otherwise too tired to wander town. It wasn't like they had the Courage Chains anymore. Ayumu had felt fine sitting in Shiori's desk at school (aside from the awkward stares,) but now her body was stiff and sore.
"Welcome home, oneechan!" She heard the tapping of small cloth-covered feet racing down the wooden entry way and looked up to see her little sister barreling towards her. Yukari Inoue was ten years old and in the fourth grade, attending the elementary school portion of Reverie Academy. She had wanted to walk home by herself with her friends, and had apparently gotten back before Ayumu.
"Thanks, 'kari-chan." Ayumu giggled, catching an armful of little sister and just barely managing not to fall onto her back, "Did you have a good day?"
"Uh-huh." Yukari grinned, "I got my friends' numbers on my cellphone. They're going to show me around this weekend!"
That was fast. Ayumu's smile softened. Yukari might be a bit of a whiny brat at home, but she had such a cheery and cute personality outside of the house. It was no surprise that she had immediately made a ton of friends. Plus she probably didn't take a missing classmate's seat.
Her mind wandered back to how awkward the end of school had been. How she had returned to the classroom with Miyoko and reluctantly gone back to Shiori's desk. No one said anything about her sitting there, but Ayumu felt incredibly awkward the entire time. It had made note taking difficult and worn her out mentally.
"How was your day, Ayu-nee?" Yukari still had Ayumu caught in a hug.
Ayumu hesitated, then lifted Yukari up just enough to spin her around a few times, "It was great! I made friends too, but I totally forgot about their phone numbers!"
"Ahaha! Oneechan, you're such a klutz– Wah!"
The older sister's tired legs buckled and she fell onto her back, cushioning Yukari's fall with her body. Yukari rolled off of Ayumu and giggled again. "Like I said! Such a klutz!"
"Y, yeah... Ow..." Ayumu whimpered. She tilted her head back when she heard approaching footsteps and frowned, "Oniichan..."
"Little sister #1." Daisuke looked down at Ayumu skeptically, "Did you get tackled by a ten year old just now?"
"No, I just fell." Ayumu grumbled, her cheeks puffing up like an angry fish, "How did you get back so fast? We go to the same school!"
"I showed Yukari and her friends a shortcut." Daisuke shrugged, "What took you so long?"
"Grrr..." She didn't answer. Ayumu picked herself up and grabbed her bag off of the floor, taking some time to remove her shoes. When she added her shoes to the pile by the door she noticed that there were only three pairs, "Is mom not home yet?"
"Mom has to work late now, remember?" Daisuke spoke in a condescending tone, "She's the producer for the evening news. She needs to make sure the 11 o'clock news gets off to a good start."
"Oh... Well excuse me for not being her day planner." Ayumu growled, "I'm going to my room to study."
"It's your night to cook dinner."
"I know that, Oniichan!" Ayumu huffed, "I'll do that when it's dinner time!"
With that, Ayumu stomped off to her bedroom. She didn't like to lose her temper, but it was hard not to get annoyed at Daisuke sometimes. He was always looking down on her, just because he was older and taller! That wasn't Ayumu's fault! It was his! So why did he give her such a hard time about it?
"Big brothers are the worst!" She tossed her school bag on the bed and then collapsed next to it, sighing loudly as if to emphasize a point, "You can come out now, Rebebe."
"Bebe!" Squealed the delighted fairy. The bag shuffled a bit before Rebebe squirm free and flew into the air, excitably flitting around the room, "Wow! Ayumu's room is so big! And pink!"
"Hehe... To be honest, this is just the way it was when we bought it." Ayumu admitted, "I kind of wanted Daisuke's room, because it's yellow."
"Really? Do you like yellow?"
Ayumu nodded, "Because it's like the sun, you know? I love the sun."
"Oh... Yeah, I can get that." Rebebe agreed. She examined a bookshelf in the far corner of the room and began poking through the books while Ayumu continued.
"Daisuke and Yukari got to pick their rooms first, so this was my only option." She sighed, "Though I guess we're lucky to even have this many rooms."
"I like it this way, -rebe." Rebebe tried to assure her, "It's like the sun at daybreak."
"Hmmm... I guess so." Ayumu grinned, "I still wish I could have had Daisuke's yellow room! Big brothers are so mean!"
She flopped onto her back now. Rebebe flew over to her friend's side and sat next to her, "I wouldn't know. I've never had a big brother before."
"You're lucky then." Ayumu turned her head to look at Rebebe, "Do you have any siblings?"
"Yeah, a big sister." Rebebe beamed proudly, "Her name is Yumeme, -rebe. She was really cool."
"Ehh... Big sisters can be cool, huh?" Ayumu breathed out thoughtfully, "I wonder if I'm cool to Yukari? I'm kind of clumsy..."
"Yumeme was a Pretty Cure partner, like I'm gonna be." Rebebe chimed, "And Ayumu is going to be a Pretty Cure, -rebe! I think you're cool like Yumeme, Ayumu."
"You do? Ehehee." Ayumu smiled shyly, blush creeping along her cheeks, "But wait... If Yumeme is a Pretty Cure partner like you, then doesn't that meant here are other Pretty Cure? Why do you need more?"
"W, well..." Rebebe's voice quivered anxiously. Ayumu was suddenly reminded of what Cure Faith had said earlier: Rebebe needed to be more honest. Did her lack of honesty have something to do with her sister's Pretty Cure?
Ayumu sat up properly, "It's okay, Rebebe. I won't be angry." She promised, "I know you weren't trying to be dishonest."
"Rebe..." Her fairy friend still looked guilty. Those guilty eyes searched Ayumu's for reassurance. She must have found it, since she exhaled a squeaky breathe and settled down on the bed in front of Ayumu. "Yumeme was the partner for a team of Pretty Cure called Dreaming Pretty Cure, -rebe. They were in Yumekawa before I got here. I was sent here after them, -rebe."
"Eeh... Is that so?" Ayumu mumbled thoughtfully, "Was that Cure Faith one of them?"
Rebebe nodded slowly, "Cure Faith was their leader. She was the first Pretty Cure that Yumeme ever partnered with."
"Partnered... Past tense?" Ayumu worried.
"Mm... Two weeks ago, Yumeme disappeared." Rebebe admitted, her voice much more quiet now, "The Dreaming Princess didn't know what had happened. We tried very hard to find her or contact her, but two weeks passed without a single check-in, -rebe."
"Oh no, Rebebe..." Ayumu scooped her fairy friend up in her hands. Rebebe didn't need to say it: Ayumu could imagined that her new friend was upset over this. She may fight a lot with Daisuke and Yukari, but if they ever went missing...
Ayumu squeezed Rebebe in a gentle hug, "I'm so sorry, Rebebe."
She heard a little sob break from her friend's throat and felt Rebebe burrow against her, "B, but the Dreaming Princess says Yumeme is still alive somewhere. She sent me here to fill in for her and find her." Rebebe squeezed the words out in a brave, steady voice.
As much as Ayumu wanted to just sit and comfort Rebebe with hugs, she respected how brave her friend was being. So she forced the urge aside and focused on the topic at hand, "Then don't you need to partner with the Dreaming Pretty Cure? Why are you looking for more of them?"
"They all disappeared." Rebebe said sadly, "Cure Faith is the only one around here."
"How do you know that?" Ayumu asked, more curious than accusing.
Rebebe wiggled out of the hug, "The Courage Chains are a back-up system. Being a Pretty Cure is really dangerous, but Dreaming Land needs them... so when a Pretty Cure becomes unfit for her duty, a Courage Chain appears in the Dreaming Castle."
"I see..." This seemed very convenient, but Ayumu didn't comment on that, "You had four chains, so that means four of the Dreaming Pretty Cure are unfit to be Pretty Cure... But Cure Faith is still around. That means there were five of them, right?"
"Yes." Rebebe agreed, "But now there's only one. Cure Faith is strong, but a Pretty Cure doesn't get her strength from being alone."
Ayumu was reminded briefly of the fight earlier that day. Cure Faith had indeed been strong. Fantastically and amazingly so. But when the fight was over, the pink Cure had looked so tired. Pale, fainting, and weak with exhaustion.
"Even so, she didn't want my help immediately." To Ayumu, this was admirable, "She's so tired and must really want help, but she didn't let me make a hasty decision... She must be really kind."
"Mm." Rebebe agreed, "But she really needs help, Ayumu. It's not just Dreaming Land that the Pretty Cure are supposed to protect. Already, this town itself is in a lot of danger."
"What? Yumekawa city is?"
[ EYECATCH 1: Ayumu is at her computer doing homework, when Rebebe flies over to give her a tea cup. She almost drops it, but Ayumu is quick to catch the cup and save her laptop. They both sigh in relief, then laugh. ]
[ EYECATCH 2: Cure Light and Cure Faith stand back-to-back, with Cure Light smiling a bubbly smile and posing dramatically while Cure Faith is frowning with her arms crossed over her chest. Cure Faith begins walking to the right, out of the frame, and we see that Cure Light could only maintain this pose when leaning on her fellow Cure. Cure Light flails and falls dramatically to the ground, leaving an empty frame with the logo in the corner. ]
"Ayumu! Is supper ready yet?"
"Lay off it, Daisuke! Water doesn't boil in thirty seconds, you stupid!"
It was early evening. Since it was a Monday night, Ayumu was only cooking for three. Her father was in the neighboring city, spending the night in a company apartment, and her mother was working late. Still, her older brother Daisuke ate a lot. Even if she was technically cooking for three, Ayumu felt like she was cooking for an entire army. And on top of her brother's huge appetite, she had Rebebe to think about.
"Rebebe..." Ayumu sighed and turned back to the pot of noodles she was boiling, thinking deeply about their previous conversation.
"What do mean, Yumekawa City is in danger too?" Ayumu had snapped out of her shocked stupor a second later, her voice accidentally raised with urgency. It had made Rebebe flinch, but her brave fairy friend didn't falter.
"Yumekawa City is on the Dreaming River." Rebebe explained, "The dreams along that river flow directly into Dreaming Land and nurture the land. The river also flows directly out of Dreaming Land, so the Dreaming Princess can give humans the courage they need to make their dreams come true."
"That's like in the folktales." Ayumu whispered. Many stories took place along this river, and all of them involved the heroes getting the final push that they needed to make their extraordinary dreams a reality. "So that magic is real."
Rebebe nodded urgently, "But that's why Yumekawa is being targeted by the Night Manor, -rebe! The river flows into the ocean, so that the Dreaming Power in the water spreads all over the world. But if the Night Manor turns that into Nightmare Power..."
"The river can be used to spread nightmares instead!" Ayumu finished, voice full of horror, "That's terrible, Rebebe."
"Uh-huh. What's worse is that the Courage Chains started appearing five months ago." Rebebe spoke quickly now, "Dreaming Pretty Cure has been falling apart for almost half a year now. In that time, the Night Manor has been able to plant a lot of Suya Seeds and kill a lot of Dreaming Flowers."
"Kill them?" Ayumu whispered, "What do you mean?"
"The Suya Seed isn't an evil thing on its own. It's used to put humans to sleep so we Dreaming Fairies can check their dreams and make sure that they're healthy and happy."
She understood how they planned to check the dreams. When the seed in Miyoko had bloomed it wasn't a flower that came out. It was as if Miyoko's mental landscape seeped into reality. Ayumu had literally been inside Miyoko's nightmare...
"But when that Leo guy used the seed, I didn't see Tsukino-chan's dream. It was a nightmare!"
"Yeah. The Night Manor is using the Suya Seeds to put people to sleep and turn their dreams into nightmares." Rebebe explained, "What it creates is called a Nightmare Garden. The Nightmare Garden can suck in other humans and give them nightmares too. It pollutes the city with Nightmare Energy and makes everyone have nightmares instead of dreams!"
"No..." Ayumu whimpered, "That's horrible..."
Rebebe exhaled again. She seemed tired from all of the explaining, so tried to wrap it up quickly, "That's why I need you to become Cure Light! It'll be scary and dangerous, but we have to protect everyone's dreams!"
Something sizzled and smoked, jolting Ayumu out of her flashback-induced stupor. The water in her pot had started overflowing onto the stove.
"Aaahhh no no nooo!" She lifted the pot and held it away from the heated burner until the water settled, then placed it on the stove again and turned down the heat.
"What's going on in there, Ayumu?" Daisuke called from the living room.
"N, nothing! Nothing at all! Supper is almost ready!" Ayumu called. When Daisuke didn't respond in a bully sort of way she sighed and looked down at her cooking. "I'm so clumsy and dumb. Would I even make a good Pretty Cure?"
The finished product was noodles with a side of homemade sauce, baked chicken, and some steamed vegetables. A very Western looking meal, one that Ayumu had learned from an English magazine. She had taken a liking to practicing her English with cooking magazines because she could quickly tell if she had read the text correctly or not: If the food tasted awful then she had probably made a mistake, but if it looked similar to the pictures then she must have understood it.
"Looks good, Ayu-nee." Yukari praised her, "You're so good at reading English."
"Ehehe... R, reading and speaking are totally different." Ayumu smiled shyly.
"And if your test scores are any indication, so is writing." Daisuke mumbled. Ayumu gave him a nasty look before returning her focus to her own eating.
"Yukari, how were classes today?" She tried to change the subject and keep the table from being awkwardly quiet.
Her younger sister hummed thoughtfully before replying, "They were okay. The math they do here is easier than my old school, but the books they've been reading are really different. I have to catch up in this novel by the end of the week..."
"Eh... Maybe it's a good book, at least?" Ayumu hoped.
Yukari shook her head, "It looks really boring. It's some Dreaming River folklore..."
"More about the folklore, huh?" Ayumu mumbled thoughtfully. She lifted her gaze from her plate and looked across the room, towards the staircase. I wonder if those stories were influenced by the Dreaming Land and Dreaming River's history? Maybe Rebebe would know...
Speaking of Rebebe...
Ayumu almost choked on her pasta.
"Ah! Oneechan, are you okay?" Yukari asked.
"Slow down, pig." Daisuke scoffed.
Ayumu coughed until her lungs felt clear. As much as she wanted to retort to her brother, she couldn't bring herself to. Because across the room, hovering urgently by the staircase, was Rebebe.
"Th, this 'pig' is done eating!" Ayumu stood up and rushed her plate into the kitchen, "Daisuke, it's your night for dishes!"
"I know." Daisuke called after her, "Wait, don't you want to stay for Yukari's dessert?"
"I made pudding, Oneechan!" Yukari added.
Ugh, it was so tempting. Ayumu dragged herself to the stairs, "Save mine! I need to call a classmate about homework!"
"Oh, okay!" Yukari called.
Ayumu grabbed Rebebe on her way up the stairs and pulled her fairy companion into her pink bedroom, then sighed loudly, "Re, Rebebe! I told you to stay here and wait for me to bring you leftovers –"
"There's no time for that, -rebe!" Rebebe spoke with the same urgency of her flying, expression panicked and scared, "I can smell a Nightmare Garden in bloom!"
"A Nightmare Garden? Right now?" Ayumu repeated in disbelief, "But there was already one today! There can't be two in the same day!"
"There can be!" Rebebe worried, "Because the Night Manor is so strong right now, without a full Pretty Cure team to stop them!"
"E, ehh? You never told me that bit!" Ayumu gasped, "Can you smell it out?"
Rebebe sniffed the air, then nodded, "It's close enough that it stinks really bad. I can find it with my nose, -rebe!"
"Good." Ayumu ran to her closet and yanked a coat off of the hanger, then tossed the coat on in a hurry. The pockets were big, so she stuffed Rebebe in one before running out of her room and down the stairs.
"How'd the call go, Oneechan?" Yukari looked in Ayumu's direction when she heard her sister tearing down the stairs.
"Great! I need to borrow a textbook, though." Ayumu lied, "I'll be back in a bit!"
"Oh, okay." Yukari waved, "Be safe, Ayu!"
"I will!" Ayumu called. At least, she hoped that she would be.
The night was calm and bright. A full moon reflected off of the streets and lamp posts provided additional lighting. There was a soft hum of insect life and the light rumble of traffic in the distance. It hardly seemed like a night that had literal nightmares roaming the streets.
"Over there, -rebe!" Rebebe called, pointing a short fairy arm down a street corner. Ayumu turned swiftly and picked up the pace. She had been running for five minutes already, which was five minutes that Cure Faith had spent fighting alone. "We're almost in the Nightmare Garden, Ayumu! Keep it together, -rebe!"
"Right!" Ayumu agreed. If it was anything like Miyoko's nightmare then it was going to be surreal and terrifying. She had to keep her wits and courage about her if she planned to...
If I plan to what?
It occurred to Ayumu, if only momentarily, that she had no plans for after she got to the garden. She had literally taken off without a second thought, with no plans for what she would do when she got to the Nightmare Garden. Though Rebebe had filled her in on some more of the specifics, she still hadn't committed to the idea of being a Pretty Cure.
"Ayumu?" Rebebe noticed that Ayumu had slowed her run. The slow run eventually became a walk, then nothing at all. "Ayumu? What's wrong?"
She bit her lip, feeling anxiety bubbling up inside of her. What was wrong? Where had that burst of courage from before gone to?
"Ayumu?" Rebebe prompted again.
Ayumu took a deep breathe, "Sorry, I need a moment. I need to think really quick!"
"Think? About what?" Rebebe wondered, but she got no answer.
Cure Faith must be in there... I need to have my answer before I go in there. Otherwise I'll just become Pretty Cure out of necessity!
Inside of the Nightmare Garden, Cure Faith was indeed fighting alone. A Suya Seed had been planted in the heart of a businessman who was returning home late. He was strung up in a similar way as Miyoko had been, with vines coming from his chest and rooting themselves into the ground. His nightmare had been spreading steadily since being infected, painting the neighbor with his terrifying imagination. Homes were replaced with decaying structures that threatened to fall apart, the moon was replaced with a bloody red circle that oozed iron scented goop, and the roads were cracked into widely separated slabs. The iron scented goop also oozed from between these cracks and was hot to touch, like some sort of twisted lava.
Cure Faith leapt from slab to slab, struggling to find safe landing spots between jumps. The roads were dissolving in the disgusting liquid and faded faster when she pressed her weight against them. A few splashes of the red liquid had already gotten to her boots and gnawed holes into them, so she wasn't about to see what happened if she landed in the stuff.
It was a different story for her opponent.
"Suyaaaa!" Wading through the red slush was a giant suitcase. Its bottom was drawn up in a round angle so that the corners could act as feet. It moved with surprising speed for something so awkward and body slammed into the imaginary lava.
"Kyah!" Cure Faith crossed her arms and jumped off of her latest hold as it was swallowed by a wave of the liquid. A faint pink barrier formed around her front, a product of her Precure powers, but it wasn't there to protect her backside. Faith landed butt-first on another slab as the large wave dissolved and began rocking the 'water' violently. She had to do a quick backwards somersault so that she could backflip off of the slab before it was swallowed up. Her next landing was on her feet, and she took a moment to assess her damaged surroundings before leaping to one of the damaged houses. This would take longer to dissolve.
"Nnngh... No more..." A faint moan drew her attention. Inside the house was a family. All of the people had been drawn into the nightmare and were now suffering in their forced sleep. She turned her head and counted the number of infected houses: Five. That was five families contributing their Nightmare Power. Five families in danger of losing their dreams...!
"Had enough, Cure Faith?" Called a voice. It was not Leo, but a smaller form with short pink hair barely visible from under a red hood, "You gave my big brother a hard time today, so I'm here to finish what he started!"
"Usagi...!" Cure Faith hissed. The girl floating in the air was Leo's younger sister. They both had the same red eyes and primarily dressed in black, but Usagi's hair was pale pink and she wore a red hooded cape over her black ensemble. The red was accented by a white fluffy trim and there was a giant white bunny head printed on the back, symbolic of the girl's name.
"Unfortunately for you, Cure Faith, your time is running out!" Usagi called, "While you've been trying to find a place to stand, this man's Nightmare Garden has been laying down its roots. Soon it'll be stuck here forever, just like every other nightmare you've failed to stop!"
"Ah-!" The pink girl gasped, eyes wide with horror. She turned and saw that the man in question was almost covered in vines. Soon the cocoon would be complete and the roots would be so deep that nothing could dig them up again. His Nightmare Garden would be here forever, trapping him and all of these households in despair. "No... I can't let anyone else go 'missing!'"
"And I can't either!"
Cure Faith flinched. When she turned to the source of the voice she saw Ayumu running down the street. The ground under Ayumu's feet began to dissolve and crack when she stepped on it, throwing the girl off balance.
"Ah! Rebebe, you never said this would happeeen!" Ayumu called, stumbling from piece to piece as she struggled to regain her failing balance.
"I didn't know the ground was going away, -rebe!" Luckily, her fairy friend flew to the side she was teetering towards and pushed her upright again. No longer in danger of falling clumsily into the liquid, Ayumu began hopping slabs and traveling in the direction of Cure Faith.
"You fool! Go back!" Cure Faith called when she saw her, "This nightmare isn't safe for a normal human! You're going to fall in and burn up!"
"I'm not a normal human!" Ayumu called to Cure Faith, "I'm a Pretty Cure!"
"Pretty Cure?" Usagi had been willing to let Ayumu hop around before, but this wouldn't do. She pointed at Ayumu, "Suitcase Nightmare! Get her!"
"SUYAA!" The suitcase began wading through the red again, this time in Ayumu's direction. When it was close enough it slammed into the water and created another wave.
"Ah!" Ayumu saw the huge wave coming her way. She grabbed Rebebe from her shoulder and threw her in Cure Faith's direction, "Sorry about this! CATCH!"
"AYUMUUU!" Rebebe shrieked as she was thrown. The throw wasn't strong enough to reach Cure Faith, so the pink Cure leapt through the air and caught Rebebe part way. They landed in the fenced area outside of one of the houses just as the red waved swallowed Ayumu. "AYUUU!"
"Ahahaha!" Usagi cackled victoriously, "Talk about pathetic! She wasn't a Pretty Cure after all, was she?"
The wave began to settle. All that was left was red liquid, rocking back and forth at a slower and slower rate until the surface was still. Cure Faith didn't realize that her eyes had teared up until she heard Rebebe's own tears break into a sob. The sound brought a cold slap of reality to Cure Faith's face.
"Ayumu... Ayumu!" Rebebe whimpered, "Waaaaah! It's all my fault!"
"Rebebe..." Cure Faith tugged her closer and shook her head, "Nn-nn. I shouldn't have... or I should have... I, I..."
"I lost my first Pretty Cure!" The fairy's sobbing overpowered Cure Faith's, "I can't be a Pretty Cure partner! I'm the worst partner! I'm sorry, Ayumu!"
"Re... Bebe. Oh, Bebe." Faith held her tighter, gently rubbing the fairy's ears to soothe her, "It's not your fault at all..."
"Don't lie to her!" Usagi's voice came from overhead. The pinkette snickered at the girls' sobbing, her smile splitting like an ugly crack from ear to ear, "You dreamed of becoming a Pretty Cure partner? Then don't worry, little baby!"
"Rebe?" Dark purple eyes darted to Usagi, still stained with tears.
"You got her killed! That's great! Now she'll never be in pain again. She'll never have to experience the pain of hopelessness!" Usagi giggled, "And since I feel nice... I'll help you follow in your stupid sister's footsteps! Suitcase Nightmare!"
"Suyaaah!" The suitcase clombered over.
"Send Rebebe to join her sister!" Usagi giggled, "And send Cure Faith to join her precious teammates too! This is the end of Dreaming Pretty Cure, forever!"
The suitcase moved backwards. Cure Faith realized very quickly that it was going to slam into the red again and send another wave at her. But it would be different this time... She was standing in the yard of one of the houses. The resulting wave would hit the house and burn the suffering family inside of it...!
"I can't let that happen..." Cure Faith whispered, "Rebebe, fly away! I can try to create a barrier!"
"I won't leave you alone!" Rebebe sobbed, "I won't let Oneechan's Pretty Cure all be dead too!"
"Rebebe... No!" The suitcase slammed down and a wave came hurtling towards them. It was over. Cure Faith set Rebebe on her shoulder so that she could hold both arms out and hope to create a shield. She watched the oncoming wave, trembling all over... And then she saw what had to be the strangest thing.
Standing on the crown of the wave – or more specifically, on a slab of glowing concrete on the wave – was Ayumu. The glow she was standing on began to spread along the gooey water, but it wasn't nearly as startling as simply seeing Ayumu there.
"Heeeek! I've never surfed except on the interneeeet!" Ayumu's scream was barely audible. Both because of the distance and the shock that was muting all sounds that tried to touch Faith's ears.
"What the heck!" Usagi shrieked, "How are you still okay, you Not-A-Pretty-Cure girl?!"
Cure Faith's eyes were wide. She had seen Ayumu be swallowed by the wave. She knew Ayumu had drowned – no, burned to death – in that horrible red liquid. The liquid that was now clumsily surfing, "How are you still here?!"
"Ayumu!" Rebebe called joyfully, "AYUMU!"
"Oh, hey! Rebebeee! Cure Faith!" Ayumu giggled and waved to them, "It's okay! Brace yourselves!"
"Brace ourselves? Ack- that's right, we're going to burn up –" Cure Faith's protests were cut off when the wave slammed into her. She was covered in gross red goo, but it didn't burn like she had expected for it to. "What's going on?"
"I think that I figured it out!" Ayumu landed next to Cure Faith and sighed in relief, "Nightmares are the opposite of dreams... But Dreams are also the opposite of nightmares!"
"Eh?" Rebebe and Cure Faith blinked in unison.
"Which means!" The black haired girl turned and faced the infected man. He was almost completely covered now, with only the top of his head remaining, "If this nightmare can eat up dreams, then dreams can also eat up the nightmares! All you need is a bit of courage to face them!"
She looked over her shoulder at Cure Faith and her smile became more goofy, "But when it comes to fighting giant suitcase monsters, I think being a Pretty Cure would be Pretty Helpful!"
"Courage...?" Cure Faith repeated. There was a flash of light from the chains attached to her waist. The yellow diamond popped off and floated towards Ayumu.
"No stop!" Cure Faith reached out to grab it, but Ayumu snatched up the Courage Chain first. Faith shook her head disapprovingly, "You saw how dangerous this is! Stop right away, before you really do get killed!"
"It's okay, Cure Faith." Ayumu gripped the chain more tightly. Its light crept up her arm and began to cover her entire body, which alarmed Cure Faith more, "Nightmares are going to be scary. I know that fighting them will scare me. But no matter how scared I get, as long as I have courage then I'll be okay."
The light around her hands 'popped' to create gloves. There was a pop around her shoulders, around her waist, on her back, on her legs, on her feet, on her head – Slowly, Cure Light overtook Ayumu Inoue.
With her transformation complete, Cure Light turned to face Usagi and her Suitcase Nightmare again. She pointed beyond them, at the man who was infected, "Hang on, Mister! I'm Cure Light, and I'm here to nurture your dreams!"
EPISODE THREE PREVIEW
Rebebe: Cure Light! Your transformed again!
Cure Light: Mm! Rebebe, let's do our best! To become the best Pretty Cure team-
Rebebe: -and best Pretty Cure Partner there could ever be!
Cure Light & Rebebe: Courageous Hearts Pretty Cure is here to fight for your dreams!