Chapter 18: Polluted Problem
On a clear and sunny day, the beach is filled with clean sand on the shore with shells and small rocks, and healthy trees and plants on the land. There is a sandy walkway that leads to the entrance of Drawville and to the ocean. Stood at the entrance is a huge metal gate with two giant doors that are about a three yards high, and the whole gate and the doors are covered with seaweed with poison spiked urchins on them. Next to the gate stood a palm tree, and hanging on its trunk is a painting of Pigment Village. The painting stood still for a moment…, until it begins to shake back and forth. After shaking so hard… Splash! Splash! Out popped from the painting are the Pretty Cure girls, the fairies, Matt, and Tint. The team landed safely on the ground and looked around.
"Did we make it through?" Megumi pondered. "Are we too late?"
"I don't think so-desu wa." Ribbon replied while looking around the scenery. "By the look of things, I say we made it just in time-desu wa."
"That's a relief." said Rikka while calming herself.
Matt spots the sandy walkway and calls out to the team. "Look girls," he said, "This sandy path must lead to the ocean. I'll bet we'll find the cause of what's happening to Blue Ocean's problem."
"You're right Matt," Iona followed, "Let's go team and check it out."
Once everyone is settled and agreed, they all decided to press forward and head out towards the ocean.
At Rainbow Castle and inside the dining hall, there is a long and elegant table where King Splat sits on one end, and Queen Chroma, with a couple of Blot guards surrounding her, sits next to the King. The two were having a chat discussing about their situations.
"I see these Pretty Cures are much stronger than they look." The king said in a calm tone. "They sure know how to make me a little irritating when it comes to these frilly warriors that stand in my way."
"Those Pretty Cure warriors will defeat you." the queen said in firm tone. "You have no chance of defeating them. Once they restore the Prism Diamond, you will have no chance of triumphantly beating them, and your conquest will be over."
"Is that so?" King Splat clasped his hands together, "Well that's not likely going to happen. My Blot men having have been improving their strength and stamina much better after their defeat of those Pretty Cures, and I say, the next time my Blot minions encounter them, the Pretty Cures won't stand a chance."
"Even if you're men are getting stronger, no matter how strong, you're mighty men will never defeat those warriors with their special hearts and will power."
"Hmph, no matter. I will still win and rule over Spectrum Land." the king then looks at his Blot guards. "Guards, take the queen back to her cell."
"GWOP-PO!" The guards replied and saluted. Then the two Blot guards escorted the queen back into the prison cells where the captive civilians and warriors are being held. Once the queen exits the room, the king makes a firm and aggressive look.
"Pretty Cures... you will not get in my way."
Minutes have passed as the Pretty Cure team walked through the tropical bushes and palm trees. They were continuing walking down the sandy path, until one of the girls spotted something up ahead. "Hey look." Hibiki called out. "I can see the ocean." Everyone looked up, and there in a distance they can see the ocean and the beach just about a few yards away.
"Hey you're right!" Megumi replied, "Let's hurry and have a look."
Megumi and some of the girls ran up ahead to catch a glimpse of the beach. "Hey! Slow down!" Matt called out to the girls.
After a few seconds of running, the girls who were up ahead arrived at the beach and got a view of the scenery. The girls smiled to see the clear ocean water, hear the ocean wind, and feel the sun shining on them. Soon the rest of the team caught up to the girls, and everyone sees this majestic view.
"Wow…! Look at this beach." Yuko said in amazement.
"It's so lovely." said Komachi.
"And beautiful." Karen followed.
Everyone kept staring at the beach with their eyes widen and their smiles so big. "It is an amazing place." Matt noted, "But remember, we're here to find the Wonder Color of this ocean area and fix the problem that's happening here in Blue Ocean."
"We know, we know…," Erika said while waving her hand to Matt. "We got a mission than to relax in the sun and ocean water. We know, we know…"
After staring this majestic scene, Yuri speaks up. "So now that we are here, where do we start looking?" she asked.
The team begins to think of finding the next Wonder Color. "Hmm… the ocean is a huge place." Ako said while thinking, "the next Wonder Color could be anywhere out beyond the sea."
"It would also be troublesome if the Wonder Color is underwater." Matt noted, "I mean, how are we suppose to search for it if we can't breathe underwater."
"Good point Matt." Makoto responded, "Then how are we suppose to get to it?"
Everyone thought really hard of where to start looking for the Wonder Color of Blue Ocean, including the fairies and Tint. While everyone is thinking, Candy kept looking around the oceanic scene cause of its beautiful sight. That is until she spotted something on shore near the washed waves lying in the wet sand. There in Candy's perspective is a small white and transparent slug with wings on its sides and horns on its head. It contained two red organic balls inside the slug, one in the head and one in the torso. It has no feet, but a pointy tail on its end. Candy became curious of this weird creature she sees.
"Hey, what's that-kuru?" Candy asked to everyone. The team heard Candy as she pointed towards the direction where the slug creature is. Everyone looked and sees the slug on the ground.
"What is that-coco?" Coco wondered.
"I don't know," Tarte replied while scratching his head, "looks like some kind of slug…, or something."
"It looks like it's hurt-lapi." Flappy stated.
"Well…, why don't we check it out?" Tint asked.
The Pretty Cure team decided to observe the slug creature carefully. They walked up to the creature and looked down on it. Judging by the team's view, the slug looked ten inches tall and five inches wide. It wasn't moving, and it makes the Pretty Cure team a little worried if the slug is still alive.
"Well I'll be…" Matt said in little astonishment.
"What is it Matt?" Mana asked.
"It's rare to see this sea creature up on shore."
"What creature is that?" Kurumi wondered.
"Why girls, this thing is a sea angel."
"A sea angel?" said some of the girls in unison.
"It's like a jellyfish, but in a form of angel."
"So we see…," Reika noted, then she looked back at the sea angel on the sandy ground, "but what's this sea angel doing here for?" Matt shrugged in response.
Then Urara noticed the sea angel is breathing. "Hey look, the sea angel is still breathing." she stated to everyone. The team looked, and in little surprise, they see the creature moving.
"Aw…, the poor thing." Yayoi said in little sympathy. She then crouched down and picked up the sea angel into her cupped hands.
"Be careful Yayoi," Matt warned her, "these creatures can contain poison stings that can paralyze your hands for quite some time."
"Don't worry, I'll be careful." Yayoi then carefully turned the sea angel around making it laying on its back and seeing its face. It had small eyes and a short mouth on its face. The little creature is still breathing as everyone kept staring at it. Then after a good half-minute of staring the sea angel, the creature slowly opened its eyes. "Look, its waking up." Everyone examined the sea angel that's about to wake up from its unconsciousness.
The sea angel fully opened its eyes and focuses its view. When its view is cleared and adjusted, it sees the girls, the fairies, Matt, and Tint staring at it. "Mmm… mm… mmmm…, where… am I?" the sea angel said in a cute and girly voice. "Who are you?"
"Good morning little one." Yayoi said with a smile.
"How are you feeling?" Mai asked.
"And what you doing here washed up on the beach?" Matt questioned.
A few minutes passed as the team found some boulders on shore and sat in a circle as they introduced themselves to the sea angel. The sea angel floated gently in midair as she speaks to the team.
"Thank you so much for finding me and saving me everyone." the sea angel said, "You are very kind people. My name is Bubbles."
"Nice to meet you Bubbles." Love said with a grin.
"So tell me Bubbles," Matt speaks, "what's a sea angel like you doing on shore? I mean, shouldn't sea angels live in the dark depths of the ocean and somewhere arctic?"
"Yes, that's true…" Bubbles said with little concern, "but I'm a special sea angel to live here, and lately terrible things are happening here in Blue Ocean."
"What do you mean-natsu?" Natts asked.
Bubbles paused for a breath, then she replies, "Blue Ocean is wonderful area of Spectrum Land where the skies are sunny, the wind is calm, and the land is beautiful. But all that changed when a group of evil people came to our area and started to cause trouble. After that, Blue Ocean became a ruined place, and the ocean became dirty."
"Let me take a wild guess who is the evil people." Tint said with a firm look, and her arms crossed together. "It's the Blots, right?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"We already know who our enemy is to deal with here in Spectrum Land." Aguri stated. Ai, who is in Aguri's arms, nodded in agreement.
"Hold on," Hikari spoke up, "my question is: what do you mean the ocean became dirty?"
After Hikari's Question, Bubbles looked around while staring at the ocean. She examined very carefully of the ocean on the beach until she spotted something not far her position. "Take a look over there." Bubbles said as she pointed to area where the team needs to look.
Soon the team got off the boulders and head towards the area where Bubbles directed them. Once they arrive at Bubbles' specific scene, they examined the water in ocean and made a quick shocking reaction. Inside the water contained gray oily liquid that's spreading everywhere on shore and out to sea.
"What is this stuff?" Inori asked in little fright.
"It doesn't look like good ocean water to me." Nagisa stated while being a little scared.
Suddenly, Matt's nose started to twitch, including Honoka's. The two picked up a strange smell coming from the contaminated water. "Hey, do you smell that?" Honoka asked.
"Yeah," Matt replied while sniffing out the smell, "it's familiar to me."
"Me too. What is it?"
Matt became more curious, so he decided to get close to the contaminated water, crouch down, and dip his finger for a moment. He swirls his finger in the oceanic water, then he pulls out his finger and takes a whiff of it. After carefully analyzing the smell from the water, Matt blinked and makes a statement. "Just as I thought…"
"What is it Matt?" Saki asked.
"This oceanic water is polluted…, with turpentine."
"What…?" said some of the girls in unison.
"What's tur-tur-turpen…?" Miyuki asked as she tries to pronounce the word.
"Turpentine…," Honoka corrected for Miyuki, "It's a type of oil chemical used in paint thinner to wash away permanent paint or anything involves with paint."
"Right Honoka," Matt followed up and agreed. He then looks at the sea that's covered with the polluted turpentine, "And judging by the look of this mess, I say those nasty Blots have contaminated this portion of the ocean really bad." The Pretty Cure team made a concerned look about this polluted problem.
Bubbles looks down in a troublesome state. "This is so horrible." she said in sorrow. "If this keeps up, not only the ocean and the land will be polluted by this disgusting oil, but all my friends and people in the sea will become sick and die of this poisonous substance. Blue Ocean will be in a terrible and hazardous place… forever."
The team stared at Bubbles in her sorrow fright and knew that they couldn't let the Blots get away of finding the Wonder Color of Blue Ocean and destroying this land. Tint kept staring at the poor sea angel, until she then makes a firm look. She flies in front of Bubbles with a confident look. "Don't you worry Bubbles." Tint said in a firm mood, "We'll save this place, and we'll stop those Blots before they conquer this area."
Bubbles's eyes began to widen. "How do you know?" she wondered.
"Because these girls are the heroes that are going to save the day and erase those Blots for good."
Bubbles looks at all the girls who are grinning at her. "All of you girls are going to save my home and this land?" Bubbles asked in little surprise.
"That's right!" Erika shouted with confidence, "We won't let those mean Blots take over this beautiful beach and ocean."
"But you're just young girls. How can you be so sure?"
Akane winks and smiles at Bubbles. "You may not know it, but we happen to be the Pretty Cures here to save your home and Spectrum Land." she said.
Bubbles then blinked in surprise when she heard what Akane said. "Pretty Cures!? You're the Pretty Cures? The warriors here to save our world, Spectrum Land?"
"Mmm-hmm! That's us!" Nozomi replied happily and nodded.
Bubbles smiled with joy, "Oh, thank goodness, the stars gave all of us salvation for our world. Thank you so much Pretty Cures for helping me and saving Blue Ocean." But then Bubbles makes a thought, "But…, how will you stop those Blots in those outfits you are wearing? Don't you have any weapons or magical wands to fight?"
The Pretty Cure team wanted to reply Bubbles that they can transform to fight, but… "Girls," Matt shouted. Everyone heard Matt's call and faced towards him. "Look over there." Matt also pointed in the direction he was looking at in his view. The team, including Tint and Bubbles, looked to where Matt is staring, and they all spotted something surprising.
Just way beyond to the team, everyone sees two Blots on the sandy beach standing next to a wall of steep rocky hill. The two Blots were just chatting to each other, but it looked like they're on guard for any intruders. And it seems the Blots didn't notice the presence of Pretty Cure team arriving on the beach.
"It's the Blots-nya!" Hummy said in shock.
"Quick! Hide!" Itsuki commanded.
And everyone did as they all hid in the bushes and behind the palm trees that were close to the sandy shore. After they hid, the team peeked out slowly to see what the Blots are doing.
"They're just standing there… do nothing and talking." Hibiki stated.
"How come there's only two right there?" Nao wondered, "Where's the other Blots?"
"Perhaps those are outlook guards." Setsuna suggested, "They're maybe guarding that area to keep any intruders from entering of what's behind the hill."
"This means one thing," Matt followed up, "just behind that steep hill is something the Blots are hiding or doing something sinister."
"You're Matt," Kanade agreed, "but what is it?"
"That's we're about to find out." Iona replied, "We need to get over there now and find out what are the Blots trying to do next."
"But…, how do we get over there?" Rin asked, "Those guarding Blots don't look like they want to move."
"We can just take the backside and climb up that rocky hill." Tint suggested.
"A good idea Tint." Ako responded, "Let's hurry and move." Everyone nodded in agreement and moved forward toward the hill undetected.
Meanwhile somewhere far out in the middle of the ocean, there's an island with a big river flowing down in the middle of the isle. But on the beach, there is a small port and many Blots carrying cargo boxes from the shore to the inner land of the island. On the side of the boxes depicted a rainbow with a red circle and cross on it. Once the Blots exited the shore and arrived on land, they entered a small town that's right close to the beach and the river. But this town is in a dreadful state. The Blots have already taken over the town as they took over the market and stands, they sealed the residents' straw huts, and worst of all, they force the citizens on the island to be the Blots' slave workers. While the Blots just relax for nothing, they kept a close eye on the citizens that instead of making portraits or paintings like they suppose to do on the island, they are building metal forts for the Blots' base. The citizens of the island were in desperate need of help, hoping a great holy miracle will aid them.
At the far end of the town, there stood a big, tall, and wooden tower with one of the Blot generals overlooking the town. He is in his tannish overalls, wearing a blue shirt, has oily black hair, and wears a blue beret. He evilly smiles at the town knowing his plan is running successfully. He then laughed evilly. "Yes!" he shouted with evil glee, "Soon this whole town and island will belong to me, and my chance to find that Wonder Color in the ocean will be a cinch."
"That's not going to happen you old bag of rot." said an old woman in a grumpy old voice. The general in the overalls turned towards the voice he heard. There in his view he sees a old woman, around in her 80's, with wrinkles on her cheeks, puffy gray hair, small round glasses above her nose, and a hat that is in the shape of a tip of a paintbrush. She is also wearing a brown robe all around her. But she is tied up with a rope wrapped around her, and a Blot is holding her magical staff that has a paintbrush tip on its top end. The old woman glares angrily at the Blot general, "You think you old rats can take over our town and conquer Spectrum Land like that? Well I wouldn't bet my life on it, because soon the warriors from another world will come here and kick your saggy behind for good to teach you black blobs a lesson."
"Oh, can it you old hag. The Pretty Cures may have bested Erass and Scribelle, but I won't be defeated so easily like them. I have the power to stop and melt away any attack they throw at me. No one can stop me, and I will defeat those Pretty Cures once and for all. King Splat will be pleased of me, and I will be his number one right hand man." The general grins evilly at the old woman. "And you, Sage Brushette, and your people will bow down before me and King Splat… forever."
"We'll see about that. We'll see…"
Back at the beach where the Pretty Cures are, the team quietly and carefully sneaks through the trees and bushes to get past around the Blot guards and climb up onto the rocky hill to spy on the other side of the hill. Once they reached the top and found large boulders for the Pretty Cure team to spy, they looked down at the sandy beach. And in their view they see a small port and an army of Blots gathering and carrying loads of cargo boxes and long metal containers to put them on cargo boat. The cargo boat on the shore is ready to cast off when their cargo load is ready and onboard. There is also a mobile crane on shore to carry the cargo boxes onto the ship.
"Whoa, look at all the Blots." Urara said in awe.
"There so many of them." Nao stated, "I don't think we should surprise them."
"More importantly, what's with that cargo ship, and those boxes and containers the Blots are carrying?" Matt wondered.
"It must be something dangerous." Alice noted.
"Or something disgusting-de lance." Lance followed who next to Alice.
Yuri carefully analyzes the Blot crew, "Judging by the look of things right now, I say the Blots are almost done transporting the cargo onto the ship and are about to head out to sea."
"Where do you think they're going?" Love asked.
"I don't know, but we have to follow them and find out." Reika stated.
"But how are we suppose to follow them when there's so many of them." Yayoi said with concern, "There's it's a whole army, and if we get spotted, we'll be caught and cornered for sure."
"There is one way…" Honoka speaks up. Everyone turned toward her and listened. "We'll just sneak on board." Some of the girls blinked a little in surprise.
"Are you sure that's going to be okay-mipo?" Mipple said with concern.
"Well, how else would we get pass them and find out where they are going with all that cargo?"
"You mean we have to sneak past those Blots undetected without transforming into Pretty Cure and fighting them." Nagisa said in shock.
Honoka makes a firm look to Nagisa, "If we attack them now, we might defeat them, but then we won't know where the Blots are going to take those cargo boxes and containers. They might lead us to some place that the people are trouble from those Blots. Plus those people might know where the Wonder Color is in the ocean."
Nagisa sighed in grief, "I don't believe this."
"You know, Honoka has point." Tint commented, "It may be a little challenging, but if we want to know where these Blots are going, then I would follow Honoka's plan and sneak onboard."
"She's right," Karen followed, "Also, the Blots seem know where the Wonder Color is in this ocean."
"Well everyone, let's head down there and sneak in." Kurumi commanded.
"Wait!" Bubbles shouted to stop the team, "Are you sure this is a really good idea?"
"We have to try." Miki replied, "If not, who knows when the cargo ship will come back here again. And it might be too late for us if the Blots already got a head start and captured the Wonder Color."
Bubbles feels unease, but she makes a stern look. "Okay…, let's go."
Everyone agreed and started walking down the hill quietly undetected.
On the sandy beach, the Blots kept transporting the cargo boxes and containers onto the ship as they are down to the last set of boxes and containers. One of the Blots is guarding a long metal container as he marches back and forth preventing from any intruders to pass by him. As he kept marching back and forth and focusing his job, he heard something coming from the bushes. He turned and noticed the bushes are rustling and shaking back and forth. The guard had a spear in his hands, and he sticks his weapon toward the moving bushes. The bushes kept moving back and forth, until Syrup popped out and faces towards the Blot guard. The Blot makes a curious look on his face not knowing what an orange bird is doing in the bushes. But his curiosity stopped when Syrup pulls one of his bottom eyelids down and sticks his tongue at the Blot. When the Blot saw this, he became angry and chased after Syrup. Syrup quickly reentered back into the bushes while the Blot chases after him. The Blot couldn't see Syrup, but he can see the bushes moving knowing Syrup is causing the bushes to move, so the Blot follows him. Syrup within the bushes runs behind a huge rock, and the Blot followed him when…, DONG! The Blot conked out when Matt held a big rock in his hands and hit the Blot on the head.
"Nice work you two." Megumi complemented.
"Thanks," Matt replied, "And you were great too Syrup."
"That was close, but I knew I could do it." Syrup said in a confident mood.
"Now that the Blot is down, let's go check on that metal box container he's guarding." Setsuna said.
Everyone moved out from the huge rock and headed toward the container. Once they arrived, Itsuki and Akane moved the latches to unlock the door to the container and opened the doors wide. The team looked inside the container only to find a small pile of metal drums inside. Everyone stepped inside the container and looked around the place.
"What are all these drums doing in here?" Alice wondered.
"The bigger question is: what's inside of them?" Makoto followed and pondered.
"I think I just found the answer." Hime said as she stares at one of the drums. "Look." Everyone looked to where Hime pointed, and on the drum labeled, Pure Turpentine.
"More turpentine." Megumi said with surprise.
"So it all makes sense," Rikka said with curiosity, "The Blots have to be behind the polluted ocean. They must have dumped these paint thinner chemicals into the ocean."
"But…, why would they do that?" worried Mana.
Everyone wanted to know why, until… "Pretty Cures!" Coco cried. Everyone heard and see Coco at the back end of the container with Natts, Tarte, and Davi.
Nozomi walks up close to them and speaks, "Coco, what is it?"
"Look! Through the opening cracks-coco."
Nozomi did and looks through the opening spaces of the walls, and in surprise she sees a few Blots coming towards the container. "Eh! It's the Blots!" she shouts to everyone. "They're coming this way."
"Quickly, we got to get out of here!" Tarte demanded.
"No wait!" Honoka halts them, "Instead of fleeing, will stay in here, and let those Blots take us to where they're heading on that ship."
"Honoka's right." Matt followed, "Let's take this golden opportunity to sneak onboard." Matt then thrusts his arm towards the opening doors and points them with his finger. "Quick! Lock the doors!"
Yuri, Itsuki, Iona, and Hibiki volunteered and swiftly closed the doors and locked themselves in the inside. Once they are locked in, everything's dark, and the team can only see light passing through the opening cracks of the doors.
Outside of the container, the Blots looked around the large metal container making sure everything's secure. Once the inspection check is clear, one of the Blots gave them the signal. "Gwop-po!" he shouted and gave a thumb-up. The other Blots gave a thumb-up in response. Then first Blot called out to another Blot that's far away from him.
The Pretty Cure team inside the container waited for the anticipation of what's going to happen next. A few seconds have passed, and so far nothing.
"What's happening?" Saki whispered and wondered.
"I don't know." Mai whispered and replied back to Saki.
Everyone kept waiting…, until they heard a loud motoring sound coming from outside of the container. The sound is getting closer to the team as if the machine making that noise is right next to the container.
"What's that sound-desu?" Shypre wondered.
"I don't know-deshu." Potpourri replied.
Everyone is still quiet waiting of what happens next. Then all of sudden… CLANG! The whole container started to move shaking the team inside only for a moment. The team didn't know what happened, but outside of the container it was being lifted by a huge crane as it carries towards and onto cargo ship.
"Hey, it feels like were moving." Bubbles mentioned.
With that in mind, Tarte, Coco, Nozomi, Rin, and Nao, who are standing next to the container's doors, peeped through the opening cracks to see what is happening. And there in their sights can barely see that they are lifted and loaded onto the cargo ship.
Outside of the container, the crane slowly stacked the container, with the Pretty Cure team inside, carefully onto the cargo hold of the ship and next to another container. The claw of the crane let go of the container and is cleared out of the way.
Inside the container, everything is still dark, until Matt pulls out something from his messenger bag. "Hang on everyone," he said to the team, "I got a flashlight." And Matt pulled out his traveling flashlight and turns it on towards the ceiling of the container. With the flashlight on, everyone can now see.
"Thanks for the light Matt." Mai said with a grin.
"Anytime."
"So…, now what happened?" Ellen wondered.
"I don't know-nya." Hummy replied as she is in Ellen arms.
"We must be onboard on the ship." Tint thought.
"Let's hope your right." Kanade said in concern.
Outside out on the dock, A Blot who stands on the concrete pier and on the left side of the cargo ship gives the waving arm signal to the Blot driver in the cargo boat. The Blot driver in the cargo boat gave a thumb-up, and then he starts the engine of the boat. The engines in the boat started operating and the rotors started turning. Soon the cargo boat started to move and sailed off. WOOOO! Then the sound of the steam pipe of the ship sounded off as the boat takes off from the port and out to the ocean.
The Pretty Cure team inside the container felt the shaky impact of the moving boat knowing that the boat is now heading towards its destination.
"The boat is moving." Hikari noticed.
"That means we're heading to where this ship and the Blots are going." Reika noted.
"We'll find out what are the Blots are up to when we get there." Matt said, "But right now, we just have to wait until the ship is docked." Everyone agreed with Matt, and so they decided to unwind and relax.
But as the team waited patiently for the ship's arrival on its destination, Bubbles makes a concerned look on her face. Candy and Miyuki noticed her.
"What's wrong-kuru?" Candy asked to Bubbles.
"Oh, I'm… I'm worried if my people and my friends in the sea are okay." Bubbles said in concern. "Those mean Blots have polluted my home really bad, so I hope it's not too late to stop them."
Miyuki comes forth to Candy and Bubbles with a smile. "Don't worry," she said, "Once we get off this boat, we'll stop those Blots and save your friends." Bubbles heard Miyuki and sees her happy face. "After all, I want to see everyone smiling." Bubbles grins a little after that statement.
The cargo ship kept sailing through the ocean's waves and towards its destination, and the Pretty Cure team kept waiting patiently inside the container for the ship's porting arrival.