Chapter 12: Rusty and Musty
Out in the hot desert, everything around is scorching hot. The sun is really burning up the whole vast place as there were cacti, dry up bush weeds, lots of sand, and rocky plateaus. There right next to grassy field that turns to a rocky road is a path that leads to the opening area of the desert. The path that leads to the grassy fields has been blocked off by tall and steep plateaus for the prevention of the blots invasion. All stood next to the entrance path is a wooden sign, about four feet tall, that has a painting of Pigment Village attach to it.
Suddenly the painting begins to shake and then… Splash! Splash! The Pretty Cures girls, Matt, the fairies, and Tint landed safely on the ground and arrived at their destination. But due to the extreme heat of the area, everybody started to feel hot.
"Whoo! Man it feels hot here." Tarte exclaimed.
"Jumping Jalapeños! It's so hot here!" Matt said in a quick surprise.
"Wow! Is it a scorcher here-davi!" Davi shouted.
"It feels so hot here that I'm almost melting." Karen stated.
"(Panting)… It's so hot that I'm thirsty-coco." Coco said while he's sweating.
"Me too-natsu." Natts followed as he is also sweating from the heat.
"Well even though it is really hot here, we have to move and head to the next area that has the next Wonder Color." Makoto said to everyone. The team nodded in agreement.
"But where are we suppose to go-desu?" Coffret wonder.
"Hey! Take a look." Tint called as she spots a wooden sign that point down the road. Everyone sees Tint and the sign. There is also writing on the sign. Tint looked at it and reads it out loud to the team. "For those who want to travel the opening land of Yellow Desert, head down this path and meet Rusty and his house." Everyone became curious.
"Who's Rusty?" Yayoi asked.
"Don't know," Matt responded, "but if this sign says if want to travel Yellow Desert, then we got to meet this Rusty fellow in order to help us get pass this hot desert."
"So I'd say we meet this Rusty guy and get on with our mission-ropu." Syrup suggested. Everyone agreed, and the team started down the sandy and dirt road to find Rusty.
Meanwhile at Rainbow Castle's dungeon, all the citizens of the Drawville and Rainbow Castle are locked inside their cells as they feel so down and gloomy feeling there is no escape and hope to break free. The dungeon is a dark and muggy place that is covered with hard stones everywhere, the walls and the floor. All the captives have in their cells are a couple of benches and a haystack. Many children were frightened as they are with their parents hugging tightly for safety. All the guards and the artists' weapons were confiscated from the Blots as they slump in misery. Everyone in their cells felt so sad and hopeless.
Just then, the captives hear someone coming to their cells. They stick their heads near the bars of the locked doors to see the person. There in their sight is two elite Blots dressed up as knights holding captive to the magnificent and beautiful ruler of Spectrum Land, Queen Chroma. Everyone in the cells was surprised and shocked to their wonderful queen being captured by the Blots. The Blots and the queen arrived at a prison cell that has a few people. One of the Blot knights opened the cell, and the other tossed queen Chroma inside. The Blot locked up the door and the two exited the dungeon.
The queen got up on her feet and makes a shout, "You'll never win and rule over Spectrum Land!" After that, she slowly sat down onto the floor feeling so ashamed and hopeless.
"Queen Chroma…" said a young girl next to her. The queen heard her voice and sees her with her mother, her father, and artist warrior. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, yes my dear child." The queen said with little joy. "It's just… I feel so hopeless now."
"Can't you get us out, your highness?" said the father of the girl.
"Not with this on." The queen shows the other captives a dark gray bracelet on her left wrist. "Not only I can't take it off, but this thing is sealing my powers. I'm sorry I let you all down as my duty as the Rainbow Ruler of Spectrum Land."
"Don't be your majesty." the girl's mother responded with a smile. "All it matters that you're safe from harm."
"Yeah," the artist warrior followed, "we not may find a way out, but we are sure glad that our beautiful queen is still alive, and that's what count."
When the queen heard those words, she is pleased and smiles to the captives. "Thank you so much my loyal and wonderful citizens."
The captives smile in response, but the girl makes a question. "Hey Mom," she asked, "Are we ever going to get out of this scary place?"
The mother makes a concern look and replies, "Oh, I don't know my Sweetie. I'm not sure if there is hope for all of us to survive." She hugged her daughter tightly knowing she loves her child so much.
"Oh, but there is hope." The queen calmly replied. The other captives turned to their queen in a bit of surprise. "One of my best men has secretly told me that the Pretty Cures have obtained the first Wonder Color of Green Forest, and they are on the hunt to obtain the next color."
"The Pretty Cures are here!?" the father said in surprise.
"Then there is hope for all of us and Spectrum Land." the artist warrior responded with a grin.
The girl smiled as she makes a quick question to her queen, "Will they save our home and Spectrum Land?"
"Of course," the queen smiled and replied, "as long as we believe in them, I'm sure the Pretty Cures will overcome many trials and defeat the Blots once and for all."
The girl smiled as she turned to her mother. "Did you hear that Mommy?" the girl said, "We're going to be free from the Pretty Cures." The mother only smiled as she and her daughter hugged tightly again.
While the captives were looking away, the queen makes a concerned look on her face as she stared out the cell's window. "Please Tint, I hope you are alright." she thought.
Back on the trail of the desert, the Pretty Cure team is walking along the road as they were sweating a lot from the sizzling sun. They have been walking for seven minutes, but the heat is really getting to them.
"Oy! This heat is killing me!" Erika complained.
"I'm so hot-desu!" Coffret complained as he is on Erika's head.
"Man, I can sure go for a gallon of water right about now." Akane said while she is sweating.
"Ugh! I'm thirsty!" Miyuki moaned and shouted.
"Me too-kuru." Candy followed as she is lying on Miyuki's shoulder.
"It's a good thing we ate at that café." Yuko stated while she is sweating, "Otherwise we wouldn't have enough energy to last this long."
Everyone is getting hot and tired, until Honoka makes a question, "Hey Tint, are we at Rusty's place yet?"
Tint is flying slowly from the heat as she tries to reply back to Honoka, "I'm not sure. I haven't been to Yellow Desert before, so I don't know how close we are to his place."
Everyone started to get feeling to stop and give up due to the extreme heat. Matt was thinking of the same thing as his forehead is sweating like crazy, until he looked up. "Hey! Is that it!?" he shouted to everyone and pointed toward his direction.
Everyone looked up and looked to see what Matt has pointed. There in everyone's view are two wooden buildings, one on each side of the road, and a huge fence with barbed wires on top of it that is blocking the path. One building looked like a farm barn while the other looked like a two-story hotel. The all looked at the site, until Matt spotted something above him. "Hey! Look!" he shouted. Everyone looked up to where he is looking, and they spot a huge sign that says, Rusty's Desert Transportation Service. "This must be the place to find Rusty."
"I hope he has good fresh water," Nao said in exhaustion, "because I'm so thirsty."
"Me too," Hime complained, "I can't take it anymore in this dead heat."
"Well let's go inside before we fry ourselves in this hot sun." Matt suggested. They all nodded and agreed as they enter the two-story building hoping for something good to happen.
As they entered, they were in a lobby where the room is really cool. Everyone felt relieved to have the cool breeze blown in their hot faces. They looked around after the cool breeze, and there they see many knick-knacks on the shelves, tour guide vouchers on a stand, fresh fruit and vegetables in boxes, and cold water bottles in a barrel full of ice. They even spotted some couches and chairs in the room. A few chairs and couches were made of wood while the others are made by stuffed fabric.
After examining the room, Hikari spots a front desk in the back of the room. "Hey look," she called to everyone, "there's a front desk. Maybe we can call someone."
"Good idea Hikari," Matt responded, "let's go up and see." Hikari agreed as the two walked up to the front desk while the others are sitting quietly on the couches and chairs. Matt and Hikari reach the desk and see a bell and sign that says Ring for service. The two looked at each other and they both agreed as Matt rang the front desk bell. Ding! Ding! Ding! "Hello, is anybody in here!?" Matt called out. The two waited for a few seconds until…, Woof! Woof! Woof! A low sound of a dog barked appeared. The two flinched in little fright and then all of sudden a yellow coated Fila Brasileiro appeared in front Matt and Hikari from the back room. The dog stopped in front of the two as sits and wags his tale back in forth.
"Oh, how are you doing?" Hikari said in a cute tone.
"Hey there boy," Matt said as he pet the dog, "that's a good boy."
The other girls and fairies of the team noticed the dog as they approached him and petted him. "Aw, he's so cute." Inori said with delight.
"I really like him-popo." Pollun said with glee as he is on top of the dog's head.
"He sure is friendly." Honoka said with a grin.
"Well blast a nickel out from the sky, of course he's friendly partner." said someone with a western accent. Everyone heard the voice and turned toward the sound. Coming toward the Pretty Cure team and going behind the front desk is a man in his fifties who's about five feet tall with a bushy and split brown mustache and brown hairy chin beard. He wears a light brown-yellowish cowboy hat with brown hair bangs sticking out to his forehead. He also wears a red bandana on his neck, a yellow button-up leather jacket with white cufflinks, long tan jeans, and brown cowboy boots. He lays his left arm on his desk and flicks his hat up with his right hand as he grins to the girls, Matt, and the fairies. "Well howdy y'all and welcome to my rootin, tootin store and hotel. And of course my transportation service ma'ams. Oh! And you too boy."
"Um… howdy…" Rin replied in confusion.
"Well howdy yourself mister." Matt replied. "You must be Rusty, am I correct?"
"That's right partner," the cowboy replied, "the one and only, desert traveling, hot walking, and sand kicking cowboy you'll ever meet. And that my little doggie is my best and loyal friend Musty."
"Musty, aw… what a cute name." Tsubomi said with a smile as she pets him.
"You know how to speak to this to guy Matt?" Urara said in little surprise.
"Of course," Matt replies with a grin, "back in my home country America when me and my parents were travelling in the deserts, we encountered many cowboy and cowgirl people in small western towns. I'm used to their attitudes and behavior."
"Hmm… America must be a wondrous place." said Aguri curiously.
"Kyupi" Ai replied as she is in Aguri's arms.
"It's nice to meet you Rusty." Matt greeted, "We need to travel the opening land of Yellow Desert in order to find something important for our quest."
"Oh? Is that so?" Rusty said curiously. Matt nodded in response. "Tell me partner, what is it that you're looking of this hottin tootin important thing for?"
Hikari, who is with Matt at the front desk, replies the answer, "We're looking for the Wonder Color of this desert."
Rusty widens his eyes and twitches his mustache when heard what Hikari said. He then quickly grabs his gun out of his gun holder and aims at Hikari. Matt and the other girls, including the fairies, jolted in fright of this shocking scene. Hikari becomes scared as Rusty starts to speak, "How do you know about that Missy?" he said in a stern look. "Ever since I saw that yellow glowing light flying towards the sky and headed to the opening desert, my keen instincts told me a hot hullabaloo of danger is approaching here in Spect-arr Land." He kept staring aggressively to Hikari with his gun aiming at her. "Are you one of those dang-gun Blackie Blots that is here taking over our Spect-arr Land?"
"No! You got it wrong!" Nagisa shouted to stop Rusty from hurting Hikari, "We know the Wonder Color is here because we are here to retrieve it and save Spectrum Land."
"How do I know you all not pulling my leg, Orangey Hair?"
Matt kept staring at this shocking sight, until he blinked and got an idea. "Perhaps this will help." Matt replies to Rusty as he searches in his messenger bag. He looked and looked until he pulled out the Wonder Color Case and shows it to Rusty.
Rusty observed the case, and with that Rusty flinched in surprise that made his hat twirled. "Well sweet flipping pancakes on a butterscotch sandwich! The Wonder Color Case!" Rusty begins to think, "Hmm… only those who have that case must mean they are good friends of the wisiest sage of all, Sage Mark. And you young folks have it, so you must be very good and kind people." Matt smiled in relief knowing that showing the case would prove the team is good people. "Uh, tell me young fellers, who are you young folks?"
"If you must know, we are actually the Pretty Cures here to save your world." Komachi stated calmly.
When Rusty heard that name, he smiled and jumped in excitement. "YEE-HAA! Well shoot down my cactus creampuffs!" Woof! Woof! Woof! Musty barked with great joy as well.
"Boy he sure is happy." said Rikka in exasperation.
Rusty then took off his hat and places on his chest. "It's a really an honor to meet the heroes of Spect-arr Land." he said with happily. "I will do anything for the rootin tootin heroines of our world."
"I'm glad that you understand that we're not enemies." Matt commented.
"So that you know were not part of the Blots," Karen said, "can you help us get across the hot desert and aid us to find the Wonder Color of this area."
"Why of course my blue-haired Missy," Rusty replied as he bowed to Karen. But then he puts his hat on his head again and crosses his arms while he makes a concern look. "However you won't be able to find the Wonder Color in this here desert so easily."
"Why is that-coco?" Coco asked.
"Ooo! A talking fairy! I never saw a cool fairy like that one before." Coco blushes after what Rusty said. But Rusty shook his head to get to the point, "(Cough) Ahem...! As I was saying, just on the other side of this area is a huge wasteland where you'll be stranded out in the sun forever. It's just nothing but sand and dunes. The Wonder Color is hidden very well in the desert that it is like finding a needle in a haystack."
"Makes sense." Matt commented.
"So then how do we find the Wonder Color in the huge opening of the desert?" Setsuna asked.
"Mmm… even I'm clueless to begin of finding that Wonder Color myself." The team looked at each other thinking it will be impossible to find the next Wonder Color out in the middle of the hot desert. But Rusty snaps his fingers when he got something in his mind as the team heard his snap. "However…, there is an outpost with an oasis near it I know that may have people know exactly where the Wonder Color is."
The team blinked in surprise that there is hope to finding the Wonder Color. "Do you know where that outpost is?" Kanade asked.
"Of course young Missy. I've been there so many times. I transport people from citizens from different places of Spect-arr Land who then come here asking for a lift to the outpost."
"Then please, take us there right now." Tint begged as she got near the desk, "Spectrum Land is counting on us in order to be saved from the Blots."
"Wait a moment everyone," Matt interrupted, "but how much do we have to pay for your service to get to the outpost. I know you run a business here."
Rusty smiles and straightens his hat, "Normally I would charge a big load of gold rocks, but with all that's happening here in Spect-arr Land, I'll do anything free for you dazzling heroes, including your good caring friends, to save this here world."
"You mean!?" Yuko said in great surprise. Rusty smiles and winks at her saying yes.
"Alright! A free lift!" Erika said in excitement. Everyone is happy and pleased.
"Great, so how do we get there?" Matt asked.
"Follow me partners." Rusty replies as he exited the desk and heads out the front door. Musty starts to follow him. When Rusty got to the door, he stopped and flinched when he realized something. He turns to the team, "Oh! By the way, feel free for any drinks and fresh food. It's still free for you special heroes."
"Really!? Gee thanks!" Nozomi said happily in relief, and then she along with a few thirsty girls head toward the barrel and quickly grabbed a water bottle and start to drink it. Everyone else is a little bit embarrassed to see Nozomi and the other girls, but after that was settled, the team followed Rusty and Musty outside.
As the team, Rusty, and Musty were outside of the building, they followed Rusty and Musty as they head to the big barn. As they all approached, Rusty opens the lock to the front doors of the barn, and then he opens the doors. When the doors were wide open, everyone stepped inside the barn and looked around. But this particular barn didn't contain any animals or haystack; instead the whole barn contained mechanical machines, tools, and parts everywhere on the walls and the floor.
"What is this place?" Hibiki wondered.
"Well one thing for sure is that this isn't a place for farm animals." Itsuki stated.
"It looks like all this equipment is used for machines and vehicles." Honoka noted as she looked around carefully.
They kept looking around the barn some more, until they come to a stop when Rusty and Musty stopped in front of a huge object that's covered by a tarp.
"Well, here's our ticket to get to the outpost." Rusty said to everyone, "I'm glad this heavy, sturdy, and iron-will machine is still in one smooth and clean piece."
"Wh-What is it?" Ellen asked.
Rusty smiled, and then he replies as he removes the tarp that covers the object. When the tarp is off, it revealed a huge yellow semi-truck. What's different about this truck is the tractor looks the same as an ordinary truck back in the human world, but it had huge tires with big treads and it had passenger trailer connected to the tractor as it has huge tank treads under the trailer. "Behold everyone," Rusty announced, "This here baby is my rootin tootin trusty vehicle we are going to ride in and get to our destination. The Desert Wanderer."
"Wow, we're going to ride in that big truck-lapi?" Flappy said in amazement.
"It's really big-chopi." Choppy followed.
Matt turns toward the Pretty Cure team and he makes a statement, "Well if this here truck can help us get through the scorching desert, then I think finding that Wonder Color will be easy."
"You're right Matt." Kanade agreed, "Then we better get move on."
"Darn tootin so!" Rusty followed, "You won't be able to save Spect-arr Land by just standing on your hot flippity-flappity feet. Hop in everyone!" The team nodded as they got inside the trailer while Rusty and Musty hopped inside the tractor. Rusty is behind the wheel and Musty is on the passenger side. In the trailer, the Pretty Cure team sees a bunch of supporting poles and benches. They all sat down and buckled up. Rusty, in the tractor, picks up the radio's speaker and makes a speech. "Are you all settled up in there?"
In the trailer, there were speakers on the roof as the team heard what Rusty said. They want to respond back, but they don't know if he can hear them. Without taking any chances…, "Uh, yes we are!" Mai shouted.
"Alright! Engines on!" Rusty got his truck keys, puts it into the slot on the wheel, and he turns the tractor on. The engine starts to turn over, until… VOOM! The tractor is on. "Ah, smooth like butter on a delicious pancake in the early morning." Woof! Musty barked in excitement. Rusty pulls the stick shift as he drove his truck out of the barn and stops in front of the fence. Using the buttons on the truck's dash board, he closes the barn's front doors, and then he opens the fence's doors. The team inside the trailer wanted to know what's going on, so they opened the windows the trailer had and stick their head out to see. In their view they arrived at the fence as the team sees the fence's gate opened all the way. Rusty speaks with his radio speaking to the Pretty Cure team, "Alright partners, next stop: Clay Outpost. Yee-Haw!" He puts the radio speaker down, moves the stick shift, and steps on the gas pedal as the whole truck passed the fence and headed to the opening are of Yellow Desert.
"Here we go!" Matt shouted to everyone. The truck headed towards its destination as the fence's gate closed behind them.
Meanwhile at Rainbow Castle in the throne room, King Splat is sitting in the queen's throne as he looks at a portal that watches the Pretty Cures' movement. There he sees the team inside the truck that's heading toward the outpost. King Splat became annoyed as he glares at the screen. "Those meddlesome Pretty Cures may have gotten the first Wonder Color, but they're still no match for me if they retrieve all the Wonder Colors." he said evilly. King Splat closes the portal as stare out down the hall of the room evilly. "She better find that Wonder Color for sure."
As the gang in the truck progresses through the desert, everyone is sitting quietly and patiently hoping that they get to Clay Outpost soon. Some girls talk to each other, and some slept. Matt got a piece of cloth as he took out the Wonder Color Case and cleans it. While he is cleaning, Matt looked up and spotted a small window in front of the trailer. He gets up and looks through it. There he sees another window in the back of the tractor as he sees inside Rusty driving and Musty watching the road. He looked around to see if can try to find a way to contact him, but he couldn't find any microphones or speaker boxes anywhere. He shrugged as starts to speak.
"Uh, hello? Rusty?" he said getting Rusty's attention. Rusty didn't hear him, so Matt gave another shot. "Uh, Rusty!? You there?"
Rusty then heard Matt's voice as he grabs his radio speaker. "Hey partner, what's up?" he asked.
Matt felt a little relieved that Rusty heard him. He took a breath and speaks, "I was wondering something… How did you and Musty became good friends?"
Rusty makes a curious look. "Why'd you asked that boy?"
"Well because you and Musty are very close to each other, and I like a good story of friendship, so I want to know." While Matt is talking, some of the Pretty Cures heard Matt as they listened to Matt and Rusty's conversation.
Rusty smiled as he looked back at Musty who is also smiling. Rusty took a breath as he kept driving, "Well my boy, just sit back and relax as I tell the story of me and great doggone friend." Matt did as he starts to listen to Rusty's story. "You see it all started when I was traveling out in this here desert…"
I was wandering around the whole Yellow Desert place to kill some time and explore many areas that people haven't seen yet. I just stopped for a moment to fill up my gas tank, when of all of sudden… AAROOOOO! I heard a scream and it sounded like a dog not a wolf. I looked high and low of that tooth-picking sound, and then I saw it. That young dog was beating up by the vultures of this here desert and it didn't look too good for that poor fella. He was outnumbered and he was still just a puppy that time. I couldn't bear to see that poor creature getting rustled up by them desert eating snakes, so I took action as pulled out my silver blast cannon guns. I dashed over and helped the poor doggie. "Yee-haw!" I shouted as I triggered the guns and shot at the vultures, "Take that you black stinkin yellow-bellied rats!"Them vultures were scared of me, so they flew the coop and never came back. As the vultures were gone, I saw the poor dog lying down on the dirt ground in pain. He was still breathing for one good thing, and I took him in.
I drove back to my shop and hotel and aided the poor dog with everything I know about curing pets. He lived with me until he got better. Once he was back on his feet again, the little puppy jumped in joy as I smiled happily to see him recover from his injuries. I didn't know where he came from or why he ended up in the middle of the hot-bacon desert, so I decided to adopt him. As the months passed, my dog grew up to be a fine big breed and was still the best friend I have.
Then one day I got lost in the desert and couldn't figure out the directions to get back home. I was down to my last bite to eat and drink. I struggled to find my way back as my dog kept staring at me seeing how scared and panicked I was. But then my dog did something so extraordinary for me. He started to sniff out as I saw him did what he was doing. He then gave a pointer stance telling me to go into that certain direction. I didn't know if he was right, but I followed his doggie advice and drove off. And after a half-hour of my dog guiding me the way, we were home. It turns out that I discovered my great doggie friend can sense and find way back to any town it knows from his scent. And soon after many months passed again, my dog Musty became my great navigator for my travels here in Yellow Desert. We will always stick together until the very end.
"And that, my friends, is my heartwarming story of me and my great friend Musty." Rusty and Musty smiled at each other.
The team inside the trailer was very touched by Rusty's story that they almost shed a tear, and so did the fairies and Tint. "Wow… that's an incredible story you got there Rusty." Matt responded with a smile as he is cleaning the case.
Rusty turns his head back for a moment and looks through the small window in the back of the tractor. "It sure is partner," Rusty responded, "and I'll bet my golden nuggets that you fellers got a good friendship stories as well."
"We all do." Makoto replied. "It not may be like the same kind of story you have Rusty, but we experienced what the power of friendship love is."
"That's right," Komachi followed, "At first we were all strangers to each other, but when we were chosen as Pretty Cures, we weren't just teammates."
"We became very good friends after our destiny chose us as warriors." Setsuna finished the statement.
"We all had our good and bad times," Rin continued, "but no matter what they are, will always be best friends until the end."
Everyone smiled to each other as Matt smiles while watching the girls. As he smiled, a thought came to him, "Friends…. and the power of love."
"I'm very glad to hear that from you young girls." said Rusty as he smiled to them. Woof! Woof! Suddenly Musty barked to grab Rusty's attention. Rusty heard him and asks, "What is it, boy?" He then looked up ahead and… "WOAH!" He quickly hit the brakes. SCREEEEEEECH! The truck came to a sudden stop as everyone in the trailer was pushed and flung to the front end of the trailer.
Some of the girls and fairies were okay, including Matt and Tint, while the others have their eyes spinning in dizziness.
"Wha… What happened?" Tint wondered.
"Ooo… is everyone alright?" Honoka asked while rubbing her head.
"I'm okay, just a little dizzy." Nagisa said in little pain with her eyes spinning.
"How come we suddenly stopped?" Yuri questioned while got up on her feet.
"Ow, did we hit a roadblock?" Rikka suggested.
Matt shook his head to gain his conscious and sees if he still has the Wonder Color Case on him, only to find out it's gone. "Hey! Where's the case!?"
"Don't worry, I got it." Ako called out to Matt as she shows the case in her hands.
Matt feels relieved that the case is safe. Then he got up on his feet and speaks up to Rusty. "Hey Rusty! What happened!? Why'd we stopped?" he shouted and asked.
"Well partners… we got a problem." he replied from his radio speaker and the speakers from the trailer.
The team blinked in little surprise. "What happened?" Yayoi asks to Rusty.
"Um partners… you might want to step outside and see this."
After hearing what Rusty said from the speakers, the team headed for the trailer's doors and stepped outside. When they got out, the gang walked up in front of the truck and spotted a huge river. There is a little downhill that leads straight into the river. As they looked at the river that runs the water really fast, Tint sees Rusty and Musty not far from where the team is standing. Tint flies towards Rusty and Musty asked what's wrong. Rusty pointed out the cause of the problem, and Tint looked. Tint gasped at what she saw and called the Pretty Cure team over. When the gang heard her, the team went over to Tint, Rusty, and Musty and looked at what the three were looking at. Everyone gasped at what they saw: the bridge that crosses to the other side of the river is broken. The bridge had a big open gap with one small part of the bridge on their side and the other part of the bridge on the other side.
"Oh no!" Mana cried.
"How are we supposed to get across?" Inori wondered.
"Well we can't swim across." Matt stated, "The water in the river is running too fast. We'll get washed away."
Everyone thought a moment, until Mepple got an idea. "Hey I know!" he said, "Why don't we use Setsuna's teleportation powers to get across-mepu."
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Setsuna regretfully replied. "This truck is too big and heavy for me to do in my normal form. And with all of us together, it's hard for me to transport us at the same time." It's back to square one again for everybody.
"Well dag-nabbit!" Rusty shouted, "There's has to be some way to get across, otherwise we won't make it to Clay Outpost, and we be stuck out here like a cactus sunbathing from the sizzling desert sun."
"I wonder how the bridge could've accidently broke?" Tarte asked.
"This is no accident." Matt replied. Everyone sees Matt as he inspects the bridge to see the problem. He then came back to the team, Rusty, and Musty, with a piece of wood from the bridge and a tool. "Take a look at this." Matt showed everyone the piece of wood as it shows no scratch marks, splinters sticking out, and no sharp wood thorns sticking out from its end. The wood was clean cut. Then he showed the tool which is a large saw. "Someone vandalize the bridge by cutting and sawing it off."
"What!?" the team shouted in surprise.
"Who could've done that?" Hikari worried.
"Someone or somebody doesn't want us to get to Clay Outpost." Matt responded with a concern look on his face.
Musty sniffed out the wood and the saw Matt held, and then… Grrr! Grrrr! Musty growled in anger. When everyone sees Musty's anger state, Rusty makes a concern look. "You might be right kid," he said, "cause if Musty is angry about that scent from that piece of wood and saw, then some nasty and darn tootin people are trying to stop not me, but you Purdy Cure folks from crossing."
Everyone started to make concern looks. "I can take a good guess." said Nao as she stares at the broken bridge.
"Yeah, me too." Akane followed as she is right next to Nao, "The Blots."
"Those little splats are trying to stop us from getting the next Wonder Color." Matt said with little anger. "And if that's true, then that means something bad is happening to Clay Outpost."
"We have to get there right now!" Erika commanded.
"How Erika?" Tsubomi asked, "We don't have materials to fix the bridge." Erika shocked and gasped, and then she sulked.
Everyone tries to think hard as Ako, who is holding onto the case with its lid open, thinks hard as well. She has her left hand on top of the spinner as Ako thinks of a solution to cross the bridge. She thought really hard, but couldn't come up with an idea. She then sighed and speaks to herself, "Oh man, I can't think of a way to get across. (Sigh) I wish we can fix the bridge."
Just then spinner glowed and the green color slot glowed as well. Ako noticed and gasped. The others looked at Ako and they all see the case glowing. Then the slot that contained the Wonder Color Green popped out and floated in midair. Everyone watched including Rusty and Musty as the Wonder Color Green orb floated toward the broken bridge. When it stopped, the orb glowed brightly and then it swirled all around the bridge as little green sparkles and a thick green watery jet stream encircled the bridge. With its magic, the sparkles and jet stream created tree vines and roots coming out from parts of the bridge as they connected together. The magic of the Wonder Color Green turned the broken bridge into a new and floral bridge. With its roots as the rails, the trunks as platforms, and the floral as decoration, the bridge is fixed.
The whole gang was amazed by this and was speechless. The Wonder Color then floated back into the case and the slot with the green color glowed. Everyone kept staring at the new and fixed bridge to see its amazing magic.
"How cool was that!?" Yayoi said in great amazement with her eyes sparkling.
"Wow, I didn't know the Wonder Color can do that." Yuko said in surprise.
"But how's that possible?" Iona wondered, "I thought the Wonder Color is just a piece of the Prism Diamond."
"Wait!" Tint called to everyone, "Remember back at Sage Mark's house and what I said about the Wonder Colors from the textbook? The book said that the Wonder Colors can grant special powers to the person who wields them. And I bet that's one of the things we just saw from the book said."
Matt turns to Ako, "Ako, what did you do to make this magic happened?"
"I don't know," Ako responded calmly, "I was only thinking of how to cross the bridge, and then I said I wish the bridge was fixed."
"That must be it!" Ellen said in surprise as she is next to Ako, "Your Majesty-"
Ako gave a stern look to Ellen, "I told you, you don't need to call me 'majesty.' I'm still Ako Shirabe."
"Uh… sorry, I think the Wonder Color reacted when you wished for the bridge to be fixed."
"Is that it?"
"That really must be it!" Tint shouted. "Your desire to fix the bridge must've got to the Wonder Color and it created that desire for you." Tint makes a curious look, "The Wonder Colors can give anything you wish for, something simple, as long you are holding onto the case or the Wonder Color itself."
"That's amazing!" Miyuki shouted in excitement, "Then those Wonder Colors must be really magical and have incredible powers."
"Which also means we have to be extra careful not to let them fall into the Blots' hands." Reika pointed out.
"Agree," Matt followed, "We're going need to find all those Wonder Colors and use their magic in order to progress our journey and mission." Everyone agrees Matt with a nod.
"Well now that the bridge is fixed, shall we continue on?" Rusty asks to the team. Everyone heard Rusty and responds with a nod. "Alrighty then, hop back in let's move our bustles!" Everyone hopped back inside the truck, and so did Rusty and Musty as they continued on by crossing the fixed bridge and into the opening desert again.
After a half hour passed, Rusty makes call to his radio speaker again and speaks to the team in the trailer. "Attention Purdy Cures, and of course Matt and you young fairies, we are approaching Clay Outpost soon. Have a look outside." Everyone did as they opened the windows and stick their heads out. And in their view they see a small town with a beautiful oasis next to it. The team smiled as they finally arrived in Clay Outpost.
Rusty is glad to make it to the town, but something gone wrong with Musty. He growled in anger knowing something bad is happening in Clay Outpost. Rusty looked at his angered pet, and then he looked back at the town. "That feller boy is right." he said while driving his truck. "It appears those darn rascal Blots may have taken over that town."
The truck kept driving along the sandy and dirt road as it is getting closer to Clay Outpost.