"So, it sounds like Reika's a model student of your whole school, huh? Student Council VP, smart, and attends two clubs…" Zephyr said.
"That's right. And when she's a Precure like us, she has powers over lce." Cure March said.
"(Ice, huh? And shes a model student? I wonder if…. Nah, I dunno if we even have counterparts in this universe.)" Hope said.
"Hey, quick question since you guys faced Black a lot, but… have you ever actually faced him man to man before?" Kazuma said.
"No, not once. Only time we were close was during this time we had to heal Korra, physically and mentally." Hope said. "We dove into the memories she had of the Past Avatars, and directly stopped him from using the First Harmonic Convergence to his advantage. Of course, that time, we only tricked him into thinking we could beat him. The only time one of us ever DID fight one, as you guys will probably remember, was when David went one on one with Blizzard Blue once we cleared her Dungeon, but that was when she disguised herself and was likely holding back."
"To be honest, we were evenly matched that time. If we had went full power… Hoo… Pretty much everyone there would've been popsicle sticks right then and there." David said. "Ohhh… But along the way, we ran into a Snow Leopard, and… Well…"
"Let me guess… You ended up killing it, didn't you?" Glacius asked.
"N-not intentionally. I severely underestimated the boost in power the Frost Universe gave me. I didn't mean to take it out." David said. "Yeah… I still feel bad about that… Glacius, I hope you don't take it personally."
"I don't hold anything against you, David. You were fighting because you had to, and you didn't know how strong you were in the Frost Universe. Besides, all creatures fight for survival. It was merely defending itself." Glacius said. "But I understand if you feel bad about killing it."
"Th-thanks. That means a lot." David said.
"That wasn't the only thing we ran into, though." Sachiko said.
"We saw a Wendigo." Al said.
"That thing…is why I don't play Until Dawn." David said.
"There was even a Yuki-onna and some weirdo named Celsius." Ajna said.
"Please don't remind us of that guy." David said. "The guy just never stopped talking."
"Still, we were lucky Blizzard Blue held back that time. Imagine if she did get serious. Facing a color god at full power probably doesn't end well for those stupid enough to challenge them." Hope said. "(And it could be Mark if we can't find some way to help him..)"
It wasn't long before the group reached the School Auditorium.
"Okay, let's see what we're working with here." Eddy said as he opened the door to the auditorium and peeked his head in. After a moment, he brought it back out, looking confused. "It's empty."
"What? How can that be?" Al asked before she looked in as well. "He's right. No cage, no Precure."
"That can't be right. Maybe they're being hidden somehow?" Scarlet proposed.
"Well, the Akanbe fought when Reika became a Precure was based on a Mirror, right? Shot in the dark, maybe it's reflecting the scenery and creating an illusion." Glimmer said.
"An illusion?" Emo repeated. "Well, that could certainly be the case. But if it is, then that means we've walked into-"
The doors to the outside then slammed shut behind the group.
"-a trap." The warlock finished his sentence as, from above, came down the Mirror Akanbe. Like the Soccer Net Akanbe, it looked a little different as well. It was a Mirror Prop with a pink bow on the side of the head.
"Akanbe!"
"This is getting old." Al said.
"Relax, this is the last one. After this, it's on to stop Black." Akane said.
"We don't know what kind of powers it has compared to the other four, stay on your guard." Ichiro said.
"Wait, Cure Starlight, didn't you say something about a clone strategy this Akanbe used?" Klonoa asked.
"Yup." Cure Starlight nodded. "And Cure Beauty was able to figure out the real one."
"Great. So for all we know, this one might be a fake." Mermista said.
"I'm really going to hate dealing with this annoying mirror." Zi-O muttered.
"Yah-ha!" Ed said, racing forward. "Prepare to meet your maker!"
The Mirror Akanbe threw a punch to stop the boy in his tracks, but when faced with the immovable object that was Ed's head, it staggered. Ed then jumped up and punched the monster directly in the nose.
"Alright! Shatter it, Ed!" Eddy called out to his friend.
Ed then reeled a fist back to land a heavy blow onto the Mirror Akanbe. Before he could, however, the monster then shined as it split into four versions of itself. The one in front of Ed was hit by the blow, but simply vanished.
"Great, it did the cloning trick!" Ragna said.
"Okay, you mentioned Reika managed to find the real one." SE said. "How exactly did she figure it out?"
"Well, she was able to figure it out by finding the real one among all the mirror images, but…" Cure Happy said.
"We don't have the brainpower for that!" Kazuma asked.
Hagakure then got an idea. "Wait, I've got an idea!" she said, running forward.
"Hagakure, what are you-?" Tsubaki asked.
"Warp Refraction! Say cheese!" Hagakure called, flashing a bright light through her body that shone on the remaining four versions of the Akanbe.
"Akanbe…!" the Akanbes yelled as it was blinded. As a result, all four of them were supposed to have their shadows shown… but only one had one, and the three others didn't.
"Of course, it's a Mirror, therefore the ones without shadows are its mirror images." Mari said.
"Wow, smart move there." Cure Starlight complimented.
"Just doing my part! Now take this thing down!" Hagakure said.
"I'll do the honors. I didn't hit the right one the first time, but this time I'm not gonna miss!" Cure March said as she gathered up energy.
"Oversurge, Azure Striker! Voltaic Chains!" Gunvolt raised his electro hand and summoned chains below the real Akanbe, ensnaring it before being electrocuted by the chains. "Make it count, Cure March!"
After Cure March had gathered enough power, wind exploded around her and lifted her up into the air, before it was all compressed into one single ball of magic. "Pretty Cure! March Shoot!" she called, kicking it like a soccer ball straight to the Akanbe as it hit dead on, causing a blast that threw up a cloud of dust.
"Bullseye!" Frosta cheered.
"Annoying my butt! That was the easiest one!" ZS laughed.
"Heroes win again!" Ed said, as Eddy noticed something on his hand.
"Hey, you okay Lumpy? Your hand's bleeding." Eddy pointed out.
"Hm?" Double D said, looking at Ed's hand; the same one he had punched the Akanbe in the nose with. "Oh, that's not blood Eddy. It's red paint."
"Red paint? Now where could that have come from?" Alkal asked.
This line of questioning was cut off as the group heard something from the dust cloud. The group looked to it, the cloud clearing to reveal a shocking sight: the Mirror Akanbe was still standing.
"Uh…doesn't that usually work?"
The Mirror Akanbe gave off what the group assumed to be a mocking laugh as it then rubbed its nose. When it lowered its hand, the group caught sight of something that shocked them, the Smile PreCures most of all:
The nose wasn't red. It was black.
"A black nose?!" Glimmer said. "But Akira, that means…!"
"Yeah… the black ones are the most powerful ones." Cure Starlight confirmed with dread. "Once again, Black flipped the script on this one too! Literally!"
"Wait, wait! We know how these work! Those things need a pilot! So who…?" ZS started to ask.
The Mirror Akanbe answered this question for them as its mirror body shined before revealing a girl trapped within it: one with dark blue eyes and dark blue hair.
"...That's Reika, isn't it?" Emo asked.
"Reika! Are you okay?!" Cure Happy asked.
"I don't think she can hear you, Cure Happy." Lancer said. "By my guess, there's only one way to get her out. We have to shatter the mirror."
"How do we do that? More importantly, how do we beat this thing? It's the strongest version of the monsters." Glimmer said.
"She's right. Without Reika, we can't combine our powers together to purify it!" Cure March said.
"Then Black's seemed to have created an unwinnable scenario. Damn, guess there is something in that big head of his…" Piccolo scowled.
"Well there has to be some way to beat it, right?!" Ristarte said.
The Mirror Akanbe laughed as its body shined again, this time creating eight copies of itself that charged towards the group as one.
Simon masqueraded with Baal and unleashed a sonic scream that shattered the copies. The Mirror Akanbe was unperturbed, however, simply creating more and more copies to send against the group.
"This thing is playing to wear us out. We have to finish this now!" Tanya said.
"Then maybe take all of them down at once?" Lumine suggested.
"It'll just make more though. Who's fast enough to…?" Eddy said as someone passed the rest of the group, approaching the charging horde of mirrors without a word. "...Mark?"
The half-angel stood in front of monsters, his head down. Just as the mob reached him, one of them tried to punch him, only for Mark to grab the fist, keeping it stuck in place. Then he raised his head, his eyes shining red for just a moment.
"I'm done with this!" he said as he instantly went into his Varja Form, curling his other hand into a fist.
"Oh dear, I know that look…!" Double D paled. "Cover your ears!"
"What?! Why?!" Cure Sunny asked.
"Just do it!" Hope said.
The group did so as Mark reeled back and…
*BOOM*
Punched so hard that all of the mirror clones, as well as the nearby windows, shattered into a thousand pieces. Before the real Mirror Akanbe could process what happened, Mark dashed right into it, sending it crashing to the ground.
The Angel of Wrath marched over to the fallen monster, who now seemed much less malicious and more frightened as it tried to crawl away as best it could. It failed, however, as Mark reached out and grabbed a hold of its nose.
"Got a little rhyme for you." Mark said darkly as he slowly tightened his grip on the nose as the Mirror Akanbe started to panic, flailing around at attacking. Its blows did nothing to stop its torture, and its attacked made his grip harder and harder, its black nose beginning to crack. "Mirror, mirror, mark the date. For now we get…to watch. You. BREAK."
The black nose, unable to withstand the otherworldly power being sent against it, shattered under the grip. The Mirror Akanbe then screamed as light began emanating from its mouth and eyes before it exploded. When the light cleared, all that remained on the stage were Mark and slowly coming to Reika. Mark then sighed, powering down before he sat down on the edge of the stage.
"That rage…" Hibiki whispered. "That's the same as when I lost control of myself and went on a rampage…"
"Hibiki…" Miku whispered.
Bernadetta looked at Mark before slowly approaching and sitting down next to him.
"A-Are you okay, Mark?" Bernadetta asked. "Hope was right, wasn't he? What happened with White must've really rattled you."
"...I know it's stupid, to blame myself for this." Mark said. "He would've tried this even if White hadn't wasted her power on me. But…damn it all, I do. Just another problem I've gotten you guys into, thanks to my stupidity."
"L-Look, we may not know what happened when you went to help Siege, b-but…" Bernadetta said before touching Mark's hand. "We're here for you…"
"Yeah, I know." Mark said. "And that's what makes it even worse. That's why I'm so mad at myself. Because…if it wasn't for White, I'd have gone off and died, and…left you all behind."
"Look, we know you. You wouldn't have done what you did without a good reason." Bardock said. "Just tell us: did you think what you died for was worth it?"
"...Damn it, I do." Mark nodded glumly.
"Well, then what's there to regret?" The Saiyan said. "You made your choice. We all know the risks that come with this life, and we do what we do anyways. Even if it means…"
"...We don't make it back home." Mark finished. "But…even then, I…I don't know how to stop feeling angry at myself. Usually, fighting helps me get it out, but I can't fight Black! If I can't fight to get my rage out, how do I forgive myself for almost leaving you all behind? How do I stop myself from trying to take it out on Black? I-I don't know! I..I…!"
"Hey, Eddy, mind if I…y'know…" Hope started to ask as Mark was wracking his brain as he was filled with a confusion-mixed mess of guilt and sorrow.
"I did that with Arata, and it helped." Sachiko said.
"...Do it, Jonah." Eddy nodded.
Nodding, Hope then ran towards Mark. "Hey, Mark!" Hope said as he balled his fist.
"Huh?" Mark asked in surprise.
"Let's see you grit those teeth!" Hope said as he punched Mark square across the face and sent him flying into the wall of the stage.
"Ow…!" Mark said as he recovered. "What the hell was…?!"
"To wake you up. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound right now?" Hope said. "You were drowning yourself in guilt and sorrow you didn't even need so much, I had to Gurenn Lagann you."
"B-But I almost died! White used her powers to revive me, she's weakened, Black is causing all this trouble because of me, and-and-!"
"You really think one little revival would drain her to the point of exhaustion?" Hope said. "I know her, that wouldn't even phase her. I bet right about now she's back in her domain kicking back and relaxing, healthy as can be."
"Hope's right, Mark. She restored an entire world. One single life is a chump change in energy compared to that." David said.
"That doesn't change the main thing! What I went through there…dying was the only way to fix things! I…I was prepared to throw away everything! My family, my friends, this…! Do you really think I can just…go back after crossing that line?! After thinking so little of all that? Of all of you?!" Mark asked, tears in his eyes.
"You can… If you do stop being such a drama queen for two seconds and actually listen to what we are trying to tell you." David said. "White doesn't mind this at all. She has to monitor countless worlds and all life in them. Do you think one resurrection is enough to make her crumple like a wet napkin?"
"He's right. Live, dead, it doesn't matter. The point is you made it back and are living among us even now." Jexi said. "Don't just take it for granted or blame yourself. Instead…take that life and throw it right into the face of adversity."
Mark fell silent at that as he looked down, contemplating. It was then that Bernadetta took his hand once more.
"I-I meant what I said, back in Solistia." Bernadetta said, even as she was clearly nervous. "Y-You deserve to be happy. And…it's alright if you died for someone else. Because if it really helped them…t-then we…I can forgive you. N-Not that you did anything wrong! I-It's just, maybe saying that would-!"
She was cut off as Mark suddenly pulled her into a hug, as tears ran down his face. "...T-Thank you." he said softly.
"I think he got the message, Bernie-Bee." Hapi said.
"Also…WOO! The ship is sailing, boys!" Eddy whooped.
"Eddy, not now! Can't you see he's recovering!? Besides, I don't wanna think that far ahead!" Bernadetta flusteredly said.
"Umm…" Reika suddenly spoke up. "Who are you people?"
Everyone turned around to see that Reika had gained consciousness
"Oh, don't worry, they're with us." Cure Happy replied. "Also, I'm really glad you're okay."
"Um, Mark? Could you give Reika's Smile Pact to her? It's right next to you." Cure Peace pointed at the item next to him.
"Oh, right." Mark sniffed as he picked up the Smile Pact and handed it off to Reika. "Sorry about that, I had a bit of a crisis. Better now, though."
"It's alright. I'm just glad you're feeling better." Reika nodded with a smile.
"Same here with you. So, here's what's going on-" Bow said.
"No need to explain, I fully know the situation. Black in truth, is a god who wishes to take over our world and fully intends to not let our story end, badly or happily, instead creating his own ending. He needs to be stopped." Reika said.
"How did you…?" Bow asked.
"She's the smart girl, of course she catches on quick." Glimmer said.
"What she said." Cure March confirmed.
"Therefore, we don't have any time to waste." Reika said. "Pretty Cure! Smile Charge!" she said using the powder puff within to transform herself into Cure Beauty.
"Snowing, falling and gathering, a noble heart! Cure Beauty!"
"And that makes all 5." Connor said.
"Alright! Now all that's left is to find Black wherever he is and force him to surrender!" Frosta said.
"Still…" Cure Starlight looked at her hand. "I have no idea what his final trick is. And something tells me that I'm not gonna like it one bit."
"Uh…guys…I don't think we need to find him." Nami said, looking outside as the sky turned dark as shadowy monsters were rising up. "Cause he's coming right for us!"
"Guess he noticed we made good on our promise and messed up his work." Ragna said.
Cure Starlight looked at her hand once more and clenched it. "It's time, huh?" She slapped her own cheeks to get serious. "Okay, you guys ready?"
"Yeah…this might be a nice warm up before we take our fight to the Bad End Kingdom." Cure Sunny said.
"Promise me one thing, girls." Cure Starlight said to the Smile Precure team. "No matter what happens next, never lose hope, never stop fighting, and remember the smiles you made along the way, especially the people you've met so far. Those are what you're fighting for."
"(Even if you have to sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of others.)" Zi-O thought, knowing how their story ends.
"We promise." Cure Happy said.
"That's what we like to hear. Now, let's get your story back on track, so you can defeat the big bad and get your happy ending!" Hope said.
As the shadowy army marched on the school, Black was in the rear of it all watching as his minions marched.
"Of course those annoying idiots would try and actually find the girls." Black groaned. "This is such a pain. Should have just wiped them out but if I did, I would have gotten the school too. Oh well, doesn't matter anymore. I already have what I need from them." he said looking back to five figures in the dark. "I know you ladies haven't been alive long but…it's almost time for your grand debut. Be sure not to leave any of them standing. As for those Emblems they have, feel free to take them for yourselves. They'll make you much more powerful. Is that clear?"
"Yes master." all five of them replied as a glint of light showed them all as five dark versions of the Smile Precure team.
"Then let's no longer waste anymore time. Advance…Bad End Cures!" he called out.