PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
Realm PC-9
A couple of days later, Prince Kanata called the group over to Hope Kingdom, where they found that the final castle, the Flower Castle, was cleansed of its vines but had not revived, and the vines surrounding the castle still choked the land. Suddenly, Haruka took off running toward the castle, as if chasing something, and she somehow disappeared through the closed doors, disappearing into the structure. As the other girls and Kanata tried to get in, Dyspear's phantom appeared, revealing that within the castle, Haruka was trapped in a genjutsu of her 'ideal world', and then summoning a butterfly-themed Zetsuborg to deal with them.
Being one of Dyspear's personal creations, the monster proved a tough opponent, its spiked tendrils soon managing to catch and restrain the group. Just when Teana was about to summon Susanō or go Super to break free, however, Cure Flora emerged from the castle's sigil, with Close right behind her, engaging her in a hectic duel. Close managed to gain the upper hand, forcing Cure Flora down and overpowering her, stating that her dream was something she could never reach, something that would weigh her down, something that she would never be able to stop chasing.
In response, Flora decreed that a dream that never ended was exactly what she wanted. Like the flowers blooming across the world, she would be strong, kind, and beautiful, dancing in the wind, always reviving and blooming anew no matter what came her way. Her conviction awoke her newest attack, Sakura Turbulence, which she used to destroy the butterfly-Zetsuborg's body so the team could finish off its core.
As Close, Stop, & Freeze retreated, Cure Flora awoke the Flower Castle. The four castles' energies combined to completely cleanse Hope Kingdom of darkness, destroying Dyspear's thorny castle and restoring the land to its full, true beauty. All that remained was to find a way to open the Door of Despair and free the captive souls of the kingdom's people. The girls de-transformed, looking up at the big purple double-doors floating up in the sky.
"Well done, PreCure" Dyspear's voice rang out, her eyes appearing before them in the sky. "Very well. I shall return Hope Kingdom to you. But, know that despair never truly ends…"
As Dyspear's energy vanished, the gang tried to think of what she might do next… and then Haruka went pale with horror as she figured it out.
"W-We have to get back…" she said. "We have to get back to Noble Academy now!-!"
Quickly, they formed a portal-doorway that brought them back to the Academy, only to discover Haruka's worst fear realized: the skies overhead were choked with brownish clouds swirling above the academy, while the building itself was completely obscured beneath a towering field of thorns with a huge blood-red flower at the top. Dyspear's silhouette appeared from the clouds, towering over the confused and frightened staff & students.
"Humans…" Dyspear's voice rang out with disdain and scorn. "This world shall belong to me. Your despair will be transformed into power!"
"Not on our watch" Haruka declared, walking forward, shrugging off Yuuki's attempt to grab her. Minami, Kirara, Towa, and Teana followed, the five girls standing together. "Secrecy's been thrown out the window by this, girls. Let's go!"
The girls were enveloped in colorful light, and the academy students & teachers were shocked as Cures Flora, Mermaid, Twinkle, and Scarlet appeared before them.
"The fighting princesses…" Principal Mochizuki murmured.
"Ha… Haruka is Flora?!" Yuuki's jaw dropped.
"They are the Princess Pretty Cures," Teana told the audience, "magical girls who wield the power of Light to fight against DysDark, the forces of darkness led by the Witch Queen Dyspear who seek to devour everyone's dreams and turn them into despair and power. I, meanwhile, am from another Realm; heroes from several universes have banded together to fight against Dark forces across the Realms and protect the innocent lives they threaten. I came to ask the Princess Cures if they'd like to join, and to help them against DysDark." She glanced back at the team's noncombatant. "Nanase Yui-chan got involved in things a few months ago; she can give you the details. Right now, though… We have a witch to burn."
The girls took off, Prince Kanata and the fairies following close behind, as Yui got to the task of giving backstory to the civilians. As they neared the academy gates, Stop & Freeze tried to bar their path, but Prince Kanata and Shamour stayed to handle them, letting the girls continue on. As they reached the base of the tower, Close appeared.
"Game over, girls" he smirked. "You aren't getting any further. Now, why don't say hello to an old friend?"
He pulled out a tiny, ragged coat and tossed it down, and it rapidly grew into a huge, ragged animated hooded cloak, with red bat-wings and a pair of bloodshot red eyes atop the hood. The clothing-beast reared up, letting out a raspy growl.
"That's… Lock?" Cure Twinkle stared. "They revived him?"
"Now, Lock, crush the Pretty Cures!"
"yEs…" the monster hissed. "For… DyspeAr-saMa's sakE… CruSh the PrECure…"
"Something's wrong" Cure Scarlet said. "He's being controlled…"
With a snarl, the revived & controlled Lock swung his 'arm' down at the girls, who barely scattered in time to avoid being crushed down into the vine-covered earth. Teana and Scarlet fired a Gōkakyū and a Scarlet Flame at the monster, blasting him backward to smack into the vine-tower but not doing much damage. He retaliated by blasting out a wave of Darkness-tainted wind at Cures Mermaid and Flora, but Cure Twinkle used a Full-Moon Humming barrier to shield them, the moon-shaped shield coming away cracked. She then kicked the damaged shield at Lock, smacking him in the 'face' and nearly knocking him over.
"Looks like Lock needs a boost…" Close remarked. "…Ah. There's something I can use…"
He teleported out, appearing above the group of Noble Academy students. He tossed out a handful of 'Despair Seeds', and upon landing they instantly sprouted into black vines that engulfed the whole group, trapping them in Despair Cages; Yui fought back, and almost managed to break free and avoid being caged, but ultimately succumbed as well. The 'despair energy' from the various trapped people flowed into Lock, making him grow in size and power considerably.
Now, as Cure Flora fired a Lys Tourbillon at Lock, the coat-monster didn't even flinch. The beast swung his massive arm to release a mighty gust of wind that blew the five heroes back, and then tried to crush them with his other limb, knocking them around. They all fired some of their high-level attacks – Trinity Lumiere, Phoenix Blaze, and a Divine Buster – at Lock, pushing him back at first, but then his black aura seethed and surged, and with a roar he bashed the attacks away. Then, his gaping black maw opened wide as a mass of Dark power rapidly charged up, firing as a massive destructive blast. The four Cures put everything they had into a barrier, straining as Lock's attack pushed against it, pushing them beyond their limit, their Princess weapons about to break…
"Amaterasu!"
A burst of jet-black fire suddenly engulfed the energy ball Lock had fired, rapidly spreading. The blast was quickly enveloped and devoured by the Conceptual fire, vanishing from existence. The Cures and Close looked in surprise as Teana stepped forward, her eyes reverting to normal.
"I suppose it's about time I go all-out, then" she declared. "I'll use my full power to help the Cures beat you both."
After a moment, Close laughed. "Full power? Nice try, Princess, but your bluff won't work; I can sense people's energy, and I can tell that you've been fighting at your max for a while now."
Teana allowed herself a little smirk. "The maximum of my base form, yes. But I've got another level I can use. …I've mentioned to you all my paternal lineage, right? How my father was the first prince of a kingdom of proud and brave warriors, who were wiped out leaving nobody left but a spec-ops soldier's son and my uncle, the second prince…" The ground beneath her began to rumble, rocks and debris cracking loose and floating upward. "I never did say what my father's kingdom was called. Though perhaps, when you learn the name of his little brother, you'll understand just who and what I am!" Her crimson aura flared to life around her. "My uncle's name… is Vegeta!-!"
The earth shook as she let out a rising kiai, her aura surging and crackling. Then, with a burst of shining golden light, she transformed – her eyes became a pupiless teal, while her long red-orange hair turned golden-yellow and separated into a mane of spiky locks, her bangs curling up and forward like claws. The Cures were in complete and utter shock.
"N-No way…" Cure Twinkle gasped out. "Tia's a… a Saiyan Princess?!"
'What the hell is this huge power?!' Close thought. 'It's only a hair below the Cures' Royal-form attack, but sustained and continuous rather than in a single burst!'
"Time for you two to learn what happens when you threaten a Super Saiyan's friends…" Teana declared. She then fired a golden ki blast at the supercharged Lock, who cried out as he was blasted back with great force, his tattered coat-body being damaged even further. Close charged at her, powering himself up with 'Despair Energy', and their fists met with a shockwave like booming thunder. They took off, purple and gold comets streaking through the air and crashing into each other repeatedly, blasts of magic and ki flying between them. Teana soon got the upper hand, grabbing Close by the leg, swinging him around and throwing him down at the ground with great force; the earth shook as he crashed into it, forming a crater. Lock tried to attack the Cures while they were distracted, but a barrage of SS-charged Crossfire Shot bolts hammered into him, snapping the girls out of their amazed stupor and getting them to leap back into the fight.
Suddenly, Lock began to shrink and weaken. Teana glanced over at where the students were trapped, and saw them all free; all on her own, Yui had broken free from her Despair Cage and then helped everyone else do the same. Close aimed at the Cures, trying to hit them while they were distracted, and Teana streaked down to intercept. She couldn't manage to stop him from charging and firing a high-level energy blast at them… but then a new figure appeared and sliced the blast in two.
"Shut?!" Close shouted, in shock. "What the hell are you do-OOF!"
Teana's kick hit Close mid-back, and then Shut dashed in with a crushing punch that sent the punk-looking DysDark General flying.
"What's wrong with you, Lock?!" he shouted at the snarling, twisted monster his former comrade had become. "Where's your high & mighty self now?! You've let Dyspear reduce you to a broken shell! Don't you remember your goals?!"
"mY… goaLs…"
"What are you doing, you traitor?!" Close shouted.
"You can't see it, Close? All this time, the PreCures, the humans, have all changed and grown. To survive, we need to do the same. We need to break free of Dyspear's reign!"
Enraged, Close fired a powerful energy blast at Shut, but the young Super Saiyan appeared and swatted it up & away. Teana then turned to the girls. "Take care of Lock, you girls!"
"Save him from the madness and pain he's trapped in!" Shut added.
Cure Flora nodded, and then she & her teammates brought out the Princess Palace and the Royal Key. They assumed their Elegant Royal forms, trapping the tattered monster Lock in a pillar of light, and then dove down at him with Grand Printemps. The resulting blast of rainbow-hued power sent a pulse through the area, forcing the despair vines to partially recede, coiling back around the main spire. Lock's tattered cloak, back to normal size and form, floated limply down to the ground; Kuroro cautiously floated over to it, pity in the cat-fairy's eyes.
"This can't be happening…" Close snarled. "How dare you? …How dare you?!"
He charged at the group, not sure whether to try to kill Shut or Flora first. However, Teana intercepted it, and Close barely had time to notice where the Super Saiyan's hand was before she fired a point-blank ki blast that blew a hole through his midsection and sent him careening off into the distance.
The gang relaxed a little… and then the earth began to shake as enormous dull-green vines started spreading all over. They quickly enveloped the town of Yumegahama, trapping everyone in Despair Cages, the despair energy from them being drawn in and increasing the power of Dyspear and her vines, allowing them to spread farther and faster. This set off a feedback loop, a chain reaction that rapidly spread farther and faster. The heroines were horrified as, before long, the entire planet was engulfed in Despair Vines, all the energy from the captured being flowing in.
Now, the top of the despair-vine tower shifted in form, growing and changing, until finally forming into Queen Dyspear, towering over all, her mask gone to reveal green eyes with glowing red sclera.
"IT'S OVER" her imposing contralto rang out. "THIS WORLD IS NOW MINE. DESPAIR CONQUERS ALL!"
"…Not yet" Cure Flora replied. "You haven't won yet; we're still here!"
"If you think we're gonna give up just because you've made yourself bigger by absorbing people's negative energy," Teana added, "you've got another thing coming!"
"One more time, girls! Let's finish this war!"
A mass of Dark power began to accumulate and charge in front of the keyhole-mark on Dyspear's chest. Cure Flora used Sakura Turbulence, releasing a tightly-focused wave of glowing pink 'petals' of magic that slammed into Dyspear's beam just as it fired, struggling against it. Mermaid, Twinkle, & Scarlet added their Coral Maelstrom, Galaxy Chorus, and Scarlet Prominence to Flora's attack, and Teana threw in a Galick Gun for good measure. The combined assault began to push Dyspear's attack back… and then the giant demoness smirked, and a shockwave of power nullified the girls' attacks and raced down to hammer the five of them, blowing them back quite some distance. They regained control and set down all the way back by the students & teachers.
"Are… Are you girls okay?" Kisaragi asked.
"We're fine" Cure Twinkle said, a little strained in tone as she held her arm.
"SUCH BRAVADO YOU GIRLS HAVE…" Dyspear sent a horde of 'vine-demons'. "I WILL ENJOY BREAKING THOSE IRON WILLS OF YOURS."
The half-bodied monsters charged en masse, and the five heroines moved to fight them, exchanging blows and blasts. Prince Kanata, Shut, and the three royal fairies joined in, doing what they could to help stem the tide. Several of the fiends melded into an extra-large one, but Teana promptly obliterated it with a Fūton: Rasengan. After a little while of this, a barrage of Light Arrows from Kanata and Crossfire Shoot bolts from Teana wiped the remainder out, just as a storm of Darkness blasts from Dyspear rained down on the whole group. Kanata hurriedly conjured a high-level dome barrier of light, which just barely managed to hold against the strike.
The girls charged back into the fray, firing more attacks at Queen Dyspear. The massive demoness simply smirked and let the hits bounce off her, to very little effect. Then, several of the enormous spiked vines sprang to life and swung at the heroines from multiple angles, while a swarm of Darkness blasts were mixed in to catch anyone who dodged the vines. The girls were unable to make it through the swarm of attacks, try as they might, and were battered around viciously. One final blast soared in, and as the girls plummeted to the ground (well, to the vines), the Cures de-transformed, while Teana fell out of her Super Saiyan form, barely keeping her Barrier Jacket online.
"IS THAT TRULY ALL YOU HAVE? …PATHETIC. NOW… ALL SHALL FALL INTO DESPAIR…"
The 'Door to Despair' appeared floated in front of the base of the spire/Dyspear, its massive doors opening wide to release a shadowy miasma. All the Despair Cages containing countless trapped people began floating towards and into the darkness beyond the doors, vanishing into the shadows of despair, which then slammed shut again, to be covered by a swarm of massive vines, out of reach.
"It's… over…?" Haruka murmured weakly.
A lone vine-demon loomed over Haruka, claws bared. It began to descend toward her, only for Puff to fly in with a tackle that knocked it back. Aroma joined in, pecking at the monster's face.
"We're not giving up!" the dog-fairy shouted as she struggled. "After everything Haruka and the girls have done for us, we can't let them fall here! As long as we're still here to fight, we won't let things end like this!"
The monster knocked Puff back, but Kisaragi was there to catch her. "That's right…" the glasses-wearing girl said. "Haruka and the others have done so much for us, protecting our dreams… Now it's our turn."
More and more of the students and staff came forward, putting themselves between the fallen heroines and their great enemy, glaring up defiantly at Dyspear.
"Protecting our and each other's dreams…" Yuuki declared, "is something that we can all do. We will never surrender to the likes of you."
"…FOOLISH."
A wave of vine-demons began to charge at the group of people, ready to tear and rend their way through to get to the Cures. …And then, their desire to protect their dreams and the girls who'd fought for them created a miracle. The combined power of everyone's dreams and determination manifested as a brilliant, shining golden light. The light obliterated the incoming vine-demons, pushed the giant vines back, and healed & revitalized the Cures & Teana. Then, the quartet's Princess Perfumes floated up and sprayed out a rainbow of magic dust/mist, which formed into four arcing pathways of glowing white light, leading to four ornate, shining doors floating in the air.
"I think that's your cue, girls" Teana said with a smile. "Go on; we'll cover you."
Haruka, Minami, Kirara, and Towa nodded and started walking up the light paths. Dyspear's vine-demons tried to attack them, but Kanata and humanoid-form Shamour cast a Light Barrier that repulsed them. The girls' walk began to speed up, and as more vine-demons tried to intervene Teana flew in with Mirage Longswords blazing and hacked them apart. As the quartet started running, one last wave of vine-demons approached, but then Shut slashed them away, joined by an unlikely ally: Kuroro, in human form and wearing Lock, fairy and imp reunited against a common enemy.
Transforming as they reached the doors, the Cures opened them up and leapt through. They shot up into the air, wreathed in golden light, as they underwent a new transformation. Long billowy dresses in white and gold, jewelry and crowns, fur-lined collars, lace gloves, and long golden staffs with red gems within heart-shaped heads, and bottom tips shaped like keys.
"Strong…" Flora decreed.
"Kind…." Mermaid continued.
"And beautiful…" Twinkle added.
"Go!" Scarlet shouted out.
All Four: "Grand Princess!-!"
"This warm feeling…" Twinkle murmured.
"The power is overflowing" Mermaid said.
"Flora… We finally made it!" Scarlet said joyfully, near crying.
"This is… true beauty…" Shut murmured.
"They finally…" Shamour smiled, filled with pride in 'her' girls.
"WHAT IS THIS POWER?"
"…The paths of our dreams shall not lead to despair!" Grand Scarlet decreed.
"The dreams you've locked within a cold cage…" Grand Twinkle gripped her staff.
"We shall reclaim them from you!" Grand Mermaid challenged.
"Queen Dyspear…" Grand Flora made a gesture. "Do prepare yourself!"
Growling, Dyspear fired a torrent of black lighting at the girls. Grand Twinkle raised her staff, and a shimmering galaxy barrier formed and effortlessly deflected the attack. Grand Flora pointed her staff, and a torrent of shimmering golden petals fired out and crashed into Dyspear's chest, the Light magic assailing her. A shining phoenix of golden flames formed at Grand Scarlet's will, launching itself at Dyspear and pushing her back, and then a massive dragon made of crystal-clear water came to life around Grand Mermaid and slammed into the giant witch's body, doing even more Light-type damage.
The witch-queen roared and began to charge up a massive amount of Dark power. In response, the four Grand Princess Cures focused their wills together, and a golden Dress-Up Key took form. They brought their staffs together, holding over the Princess Palace as the Golden Key was slotted into it, and then the shining light built up and released:
"PreCure: Grand Libération!-!"
Just as Dyspear fired her wave of Darkness power, the Cures' attack fired as well, a proportionately thin beam of shining golden energy that lanced out, pierced right through Dyspear's attack like it wasn't even there, and burned clean through the giant witch's chest. Glowing cracks spread out from there across Dyspear's body, and finally she cried out as an explosion of Light magic seemingly tore her apart, her giant body vanishing into a burst of motes of Light. The thorny vines enshrouding the planet were all destroyed in a wave of Light, and the evil clouds overhead were dispelled, revealing the beautiful blue sky.
As the four Grand Princesses descended, the air was filled with hundreds of voices cheering for them, throughout Noble Academy and the surrounding area. Once they touched the ground, they were mobbed with hugs and congratulations.
"Good job, girls" Teana said, still looking a little weak and tired. "Hell of a thing you've pulled off. Just one thing left…"
She glanced up at the Door of Despair, and Grand Flora nodded. She floated back up to the door, pulled out the Gold Dress-Up Key, and slotted it in. The doors swung wide open, and Light shone forth. All the captive people were freed and awakened, deposited back where they'd been snatched from. In the neighboring sub-Realm, Hope Kingdom's people were also restored.
-Break-
The King and Queen of Hope Kingdom came to, supported by Kanata and Shamour. Grand Scarlet set down, and as she ran to them with tears in her eyes, they realized it was a miracle, their lost little girl safe and sound. As the family came together again, the Princess Palace materialized and flew up & out, vanishing in a burst of light and reappearing as the Hope Kingdom castle. The castle then glowed with Light, which then raced out and coalesced in front of the group, forming a new Princess Palace.
"Sir," Cross Mirage spoke up, "I have just received the copy of the DDF archival 'footage' that was supposed to have made the trip back with us."
The redhead sighed. "Better late than never, I suppose."
Suddenly, the whole group was startled as the ghost of the last Cure Flora appeared with a pink flash before them all. Looking at the four Cures, she smiled.
"Thank you, girls. More than living up to our legacy, you have surpassed it. You have defeated the forces of DysDark, and restored both worlds. However, your work is not yet done, I feel. Your warrior-princess friend and her comrades in other Realms could use the aid of the Princess Pretty Cures in their fight against the forces of Darkness. Will you accept that task?"
"Of course" Grand Twinkle nodded. "We'd been meaning to from the start, after all."
"We've got a couple days before we should try to get going" Teana said. "We can take that time to rest, get all the reuniting and talking done, show you girls the background stuff for the DDF… Still, I think it's gonna be smooth sailing for us for a little while."
"We'll all get some rest," Puff said, "and then throw a big party!"
"Better make it two parties," Flora replied, "one for Hope Kingdom and one for Noble Academy.
The group gathered together, celebrating their victory, as the last-gen Cure's ghost smiled and returned to the afterlife.
-Break-
"We lost, didn't we?"
"We lost."
Grumbling at Stop & Freeze's words, Close limped onward. He glanced down at where he'd just barely had enough magic to spare to repair the hole in his torso, and then looked to the side. He had Dyspear-sama's arm draped across his shoulder, the woman looking half-dead on her feet as the quartet advanced aimlessly through the woods.
"I'm sorry I let this happen, Your Highness…" he murmured.
"We couldn't have foreseen this" the woman replied weakly. "For the Princess PreCure to gain such extraordinary power from their supposedly-powerless 'friends'… And then there is that interloper, the warrior princess and her golden transformation…"
"…What do we do now, milady?"
"…I… do not know…"
Suddenly, the quartet stopped as they heard a caw. They looked as a large raven set down atop a branch, looking down at them. It cawed again, and then the remnants of DysDark were surprised as the dark space between trees ahead of and around them was lit by a sudden swirling pillar of green flames…
-CHAPTER END-
That's it for Part 3 of the fic. The next part, focused on MahouTsukai PreCure, again might take a while, because I'll be starting after the events of episode 22, so I have to watch all those episodes before I can start work on the next chapter.
Also, I intend to soon finally renew my (expired for almost a month-&-a-half due to lack of funds) Norton anti-virus subscription, and I don't know if it might actually prevent me from accessing the site I watch these episodes on. If it does, I might even have to cut MahouTsukai out of the story altogether. We'll have to wait and see…