"Congratulations!"

Poppers filled with string and glittery bits exploded in the air, along with the sound of kazoos and cheers.

"Good work, everyone!" Aqua said to the fully assembled Pretty Cure team. Ruby insisted on having a little party to celebrate finding the last member of the Pretty Cure. It wasn't much, just a small cake Shiori bought (she thought it was so stupid and tiny, she had the money to buy a fabulously rich and decadent gigantic cake, but everyone stuck that idea down. Shiori didn't understand these people.) and some party poppers under a pavilion in the local park.

It was an exciting time to be sure! Though they had a long way to go in defeating their enemies, at least they had their full firepower at their disposal. Even so, Ruby thought that his brothers looked kind of down, even though they seemed determined to put on happy faces. Even Jasper was reserved, not even bothering to challenge Ruby to a cake eating contest.

"Actually, we have some news," Jasper said suddenly after giving up on actually eating his fairy-sized slice of cake. Aqua sighed, dropping his happy pretense. The girls and Ruby watched them with interest.

"What's wrong, Jasper?' Hinata asked softly, putting her fork down.

"Well, you know, we have all of you here now," he said, looking tense. "That…Radia Troupe or whatever, they're just going to get even tougher on us, now that all the Pretty Cure have awakened."

Aqua nodded. "And there's still the problem of Selen and the Helminth. We know they're still out there somewhere, and they'll be even harder to defeat than those three."

"So…"

"We've decided…"

The two looked at each other for a long moment before turning to face Ruby, whose mouth was currently stuffed with cake.

"We think you should go home, Ruby," Aqua said, in his softest voice. Ruby's eyes widened and he tried to speak, but that just caused him to choke on his cake, and Yume had to perform the world world's tiniest Heimlich maneuver to clear his windpipe. Once he could breathe again, he lurched forward, slamming his front paws on the table.

"WHAT?!"

Today's Episode: "I'm Not Useless! The Birth of Cure Ruby?"

Predictably, the party ended on a sour note, and the group decided to head their separate ways until the brothers could sort themselves out. Ruby didn't talk the entire time back, despite his brothers' attempts to reason with him.

"Ruby, we're really not trying to be mean," Aqua said for the umpteenth time when they were all safe in Hinata's room. Ruby just hmmmph'd and sulked on Hinata's bed.

"I know you're upset Ruby, but that doesn't mean you have to be a huge brat about it," Jasper sighed, frustrated. That got a glare from Ruby, which was a step up from the total ignoring they were getting earlier.

"Hinata, would you please inform my brothers that they are GIGANTIC JERKWADS and I don't ever want to speak to them again?" Ruby said loudly, turning his back to his brothers.

"Jasper, Aqua, Ruby said that you guys are, um, jerks and he doesn't want to talk to you," Hinata repeated.

"We know, Hinata, we're right here," Jasper said, massaging his temples. Aqua flew onto the bed and tried to pat Ruby on the back, but he violently shrugged away from him and went and hid under Hinata's pile of stuff animals.

"Um…Why does Ruby have to go back to the Treasure Kingdom, anyway?" Hinata asked.

"We're worried about him," Aqua said , looking down. "It's just going to get more dangerous from here on out, right? What if something were to happen to Ruby?"

"He's still just a kid, y'know," Jasper said, trying to sound nonchalant but the worry was clear in his voice. "We won't be able to watch him all the time."

"We have to stay here to help you keep a link with the Treasure Kingdom up, but Ruby can go back home, where it's safe," Aqua added, glancing nervously over at the plushie mountain Ruby was hiding under.

Ruby was quiet, peering back out at his brothers. He choked up, starting to shake, until he jumped up and burst out from the pile, scattering the stuffed animals all over the bed.

"Stop treating me like a baby!" he yelled, tears welling up in his eyes. "I can take care of myself! I'll show you!" Before anyone could react, his gem glowed, and with a pop, he was gone.

"You…want to be a Pretty Cure?" Izumi and Yume asked together, staring in bewilderment at Ruby (who teleported unannounced into their shared bedroom onto Izumi's bed). Ruby nodded and grinned triumphantly, crossing his arms together.

"My brothers think I can't protect myself-which is totally a lie!" Ruby added in quickly. "But, if it makes them stop bein' worrywarts, I'll just become a Pretty Cure like you guys! Then nothin' can hurt me!"

Ruby spread his arms out wide as if he expected a round of applause for his genius idea, but the twins just continued to stare blankly at him.

"Wh-what? Don't you think it's a good idea?" he said defensively. Izumi scratched the back of her head.

"Uh, I dunno Ruby, are you sure you can just…become a Pretty Cure?"

"Sure I can! If I try hard enough, I mean, why wouldn't I be able to?" Ruby started to sound doubtful himself, but he quickly shook that thought off.

"Really, I can do it! I came up with a name and everything!" He hopped upwards and did a spin in the air, locking into a silly and complicated pose upon landing.

"The deep red crystal of power, Cure Ruby!" he announced, making exploding noises and waving his arms around. "And I'll have like fifty gazillion attacks like, uh, 'Giant Ruby Bomb Explosion!' and, and, 'Atomic Ruby Blaster'! And-"

Yume busted up laughing before Ruby could finish rattling off more badly named attacks.

"Those-those sound like attacks from-from...Nee-chan, what was that show with the teenagers in the badly made superhero suits that you like so much?"

"That…You're thinking of Power Soldiers, and I-I don't like them anymore! That's show's for babies! The Silver Mask is way cooler!" Izumi spluttered out.

Ruby frowned, gritting his teeth.

"I'm serious! Don't laugh at me!"

Yume stopped laughing and both twins turned to look at Ruby, whose eyes were angry and welling up with tears.

"I'm serious…I have to do something to become stronger," he said, voice tight. "If I don't, Jasper and Aqua are gonna make me leave…"

"They want you to go back home so you'll be safe?" Yume asked, voice soft. Ruby just nodded, trying to wipe away his tears but more kept spilling out.

"But sending you away is kinda harsh, isn't it? Won't you be lonely?" Izumi said, crossing her arms.

"I'm sure they know that, but isn't protecting your loved ones more important?" Yume replied.

"No!" Ruby said immediately. "I mean…I know they're…I know what they're trying to do, but they can't! They promised!"

The tears were rolling freely down his face now, and he struggled to get his words out without choking. "Our parents died when I was really little, and I can't remember them…Ever since then, Jasper was taking care of us, and then Aqua too when he got older. We've always been together, and…"

Jasper and Aqua brought Ruby to their parents' grave, once every year like clockwork. This was the first time they came that Aqua didn't cry when he saw them, and even though Jasper never cried once, his face didn't looked as pained as it always did. Ruby felt nothing for these bodies underneath the ground, as he only had vague memories of a blurry smiling face or a faint laugh, but he felt his brothers' pain, and like always, reached out both his small arms to hold each of his brothers' paws.

"You know Ruby," Aqua started, the first time any sound that wasn't a sob came out of him when he was in this place. "You don't have to ever worry about us going away."

Jasper sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Unfortunately it seems like I'm stuck with you two brats forever." Aqua pouted and Ruby stuck his tongue out at him, but they all soon fell into laughter.

"But you gotta promise," Ruby said once they all stopped laughing. "You can say anything, but it doesn't matter unless you promise!"

Ruby stuck his nose in the air, and Aqua and Jasper shared a look and a laugh.

"You make a good point, Ruby," Aqua said gently. "We'll always be together."

"Promise," Jasper said, before ruffling up Ruby's fur.

"They promised we'd always be together, always," Ruby finished, sniffling. "And you can't break a promise or you'll get a thousand needles in your eye and I don't want them to get that! Not even Jasper!"

Yume started tearing up and Izumi was full out bawling.

"Rubyyyyyyyyyyyy!" Izumi cried, grabbing the fairy around his waist. "I'll help you! I'll train you so hard you'll just transform into the strongest Pretty Cure ever!"

Yume nodded fiercely. "I'll help too! I'll do anything I can; you definitely have to stay with your brothers!"

"S-stop crying, you're gonna make me cry!" Ruby bawled, ignoring the fact that he had already been crying for several minutes, which in turn made the twins cry more.

Florine stared into the black abyss that was the cup of "tea" her sister had served her and Neon. Neon was sipping on it while reading a book as if the concoction in the cup wasn't liquefied black magic that had a strangely spicy after taste. How she kept making these sins against all that is good in the world was beyond Florine; how hard was it to put hot water and a paper bag in a cup without completely ruining it? Perhaps Krylie would have more luck defeating the Pretty Cure if she just invited them for tea.

"Florine, your face is like, totally scary," Krylie joked, but her voice had an edge of fear to it after seeing her little sister glower at a teacup for almost a minute straight.

"I wish you would put your ability to ruin even the most simplest of things to better use, like ruining the Pretty Cure," Florine sighed, tapping the cup absently. Neon choked on his tea a little, and Krylie immediately launched into angry defensive mode.

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?! Are you trying to say my tea is bad?" Krylie said, voice going up an octave.

"That's an oversimplification of my statement, though the tea is dreadful. Once again dear sister, please put your powers to better use."

Neon could almost see hackles rising on the back of Krylie's neck.

"Well, sorry for ruining everything, Miss Perfect!" Krylie yelled, slamming her hands on the table. Krylie just raised an eyebrow at her, unimpressed. "Sorry I'm not perfect like you, but it's not like I don't try!"

"Does it really matter if every attempt you make ends in failure?"

"H-hey, every time you tried to defeat the Pretty Cure, you messed up too!"

"Every attempt I made had you there with me, so I think I'm sensing a pattern."

"Th-that doesn't mean it was my fault!"

Neon felt the air temperature drop as the two sisters glared at each other, and he quickly tried to get their attention, waving his arms around.

"H-hey, come now, you two don't need to figh-"

"SHUT UP NEON!"

Krylie and Florine shouted in unison without breaking their shared glare. Neon made a squeaking sound and brought his hands back to himself.

"See, you made me yell at Neon! He didn't even do anything!"

"Oh, my apologies, I wasn't aware I had control over your bodily autonomy. Maybe all those failures of yours is my fault!"

"Forget this! Forget you!" Krylie yelled, turning her back to Florine.

"Likewise," Florine huffed, getting up from her seat. They both headed for the door and got there at the same time, pushing each other trying to leave first.

"Move over, I was here first!"

"It was obvious I was first, you immense child."

"Move-!"

Finally, after much shoving each other into the door frame, they both managed to get out. Neon just stared after them, dumbstruck.

"You know, Yume, since Ruby didn't do so good with my training last time, I let you pick something for him to do this time, but…"

"…Maybe this isn't the best idea…" Yume finished, bringing her knuckle to her lips as she watched a big brown mutt of a dog chase a terrified Ruby around the pavilion they had their party at earlier.

Yume sighed, moving her hand to play listlessly with a dangly bit of her headband. "I thought this could kill two birds with one stone? Since I promised Anzu-chan I would walk Ebi…"

Izumi snorted a laugh out at that. "Anzu-san's got a good sense of humor, namin' a huge dog like that 'Ebi'."

"Anzu-chan is really funny, isn't she?" Yume sighed, a dopey expression on her face. "And cool, and smart, and good at tennis-"

"Yume-chan, please don't go into your never-ending Anzu-san appreciation mode. Again," Izumi said, putting a hand up.

"I don't do that!" Yume denied, puffing her cheeks out angrily. Izumi stared at her, raising an eyebrow. The twins' attention was pulled away by a sharp yelp of pain from Ruby-it seemed that Ebi finally caught him and got a bite out of his tail as a prize. Immediately, Ruby's gem glowed red, and the same light surrounded Ebi, lifting up the now whining and thrashing dog.

"W-wow, I think all that chasing really did level me up…!" Ruby said in awe. "Hey, hey guys, look-huh?" Instead of the admiration he was expecting, Izumi and Yume were wildly flailing their arms at him, fervently whispering to 'put him down!'. Ruby complied, and Ebi took off, hiding behind Yume like a scared little puppy.

"I don't think anyone saw that," Yume said, glancing around anxiously. Of course, they picked a secluded area to train in, but you couldn't be too careful.

Luckily for them, the few park goers were more distracted by the arrival of a bickering pair of sisters.

"The problem is that you're not taking this seriously enough!" Florine shouted over at her sister, who while walking at the same pace did so a few feet away from her. Florine's human disguise was much more chic and actually coordinated compared to Krylie's "teenage girl with no supervision" style.

"I do so take it seriously!" Krylie shouted right back, her voice tinged with a slight whine. "You're-You're just taking it too seriously!"

Florine deigned a raised eyebrow glance at Krylie. "So I should just be like you and pretend that none of this matters at all?"

Krylie made a frustrated growl and stamped her foot. "That's not what I'm saying at all! You always do this, just—Ugh, just forget it!"

She turned her head away, transforming back into her original form, totally ignoring the gawking spectators. Florine wasn't about to drop it though.

"I always do what?" she demanded, following Krylie's lead and transforming as well. Krylie rolled her eyes, putting most of her attention into finding something to turn into a Mogunna.

"You twist what I'm saying around!" Krylie said, glancing over a water fountain. "You know that's not what I meant!"

"Then you should learn how to speak more clearly!" Florine hissed back, pausing to glare at woman who continued to gawk at her, sending her running for the hills. "How else am I supposed to interpret something like that? How could I possibly be taking this too seriously?"

"Because, you start to act like that!" Krylie's scarf reared up to life and stuck its fangs into the water fountain. "You act-you act like a huge, heartless jerk!"

Florine's eyes went cold, mouth drawn into a thin line.

"We…should probably go and transform now," Yume whispered to Izumi, who just nodded, all three of them getting caught up in Krylie and Florine's spat.

"Pretty Cure, Shining Heart!"

"And whose fault do you think that is?" Florine yelled all of a sudden, ignoring the bellowing of the newly made water fountain Mogunna. "If you didn't act so childish all the time, if you would act like the older sister for once, maybe I wouldn't have to take care of you! Maybe then I could act as idiotic all the time as you do!"

Ruby stared at the bickering sisters, eyes going wide. Amber coughed awkwardly.

"Um, are we gonna fight, or-"

"SHUT UP!" Florine near screamed and Amber did just that.

Krylie's anger melted from her face, being replaced with a confused expression. Florine snorted and looked away.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about, always so dopey and clueless, if I didn't become the strong older sister in your stead, who knows what would have happened after-" She cut herself off, casting a narrow glance at Amber and Petal.

"…So you really think I'm a bad sister?" Krylie asked quietly, looking down at the ground. Florine suddenly looked very uncomfortable.

"Perhaps not…I wouldn't say 'bad'…" Florine fumbled around her words, somehow feeling like the bad guy here (well, moreso than usual).

Amber huffed. "Are you two really gonna make us stand here and wait for you to finish your little-"

"We are having an important conversation here!" Krylie said, raising her head and pointing her finger at Amber. "Weren't you ever taught any manners?! Mogunna, go teach her some!"

The Mogunna reared up and blasted Amber with a stream of water, knocking her into a tree. Petal jumped up and aimed a punch at it, but got the same water blast, getting thrown into a heap on top of Amber.

"I'm just…worried," Florine admitted, looking vaguely uncomfortable about admitting this. "Those annoying girls have gotten six members now; it's just going to become more difficult for us from now on."

Ruby felt a weird sense of déjà vu hearing this. Amber and Petal tried to get up, but as soon as they moved, the Mogunna blasted them again.

"But if I wasn't so dumb, you wouldn't have to worry so much?" Krylie asked, and Florine sighed, running her hands through her bangs.

"You're not dumb; I shouldn't have said those things. I'm happy that even after everything, you can still act like this, I just-"

"I get it!" Krylie said, leaning forward and grabbing Florine's hands. "I need to become a little more serious, I understand! I'll work hard to be a better big sister!" She grinned, pinching Florine's cheeks, causing her to squawk angrily. "And then you can be the cute little sister sometimes, too!"

Satisfied that the Pretty Cure weren't going to try to get up again, the Mogunna turned around, about to open its mouth, but a cracking sound distracted it. It turned around and blanched at the sight.

Ruby, with great effort as seen on his strained face, was levitating all the pavilion tables and chairs above him. The Mogunna blinked right before it found itself buried underneath all of them.

Ruby didn't take any time to gloat, running over to the soaked Amber and Petal pile and nudging them.

"C'mon, guys, get up and purify it!" he said. "I need to hurry and talk to my brothers!" Groaning and shivering, the two managed to get up. Petal sneezed.

"If I get a cold because of this, I'll never forgive you!" Petal yelled at the Mogunna. Both lifting up their arms, they shouted.

"Pretty Cure, Love Strike!"

"Pretty Cure, Light Slash!"

The Mogunna sighed weakly, and turned back into a normal water fountain. Finally, Krylie and Florine actually noticed what was going on.

"Did…Did the little bunny thing help defeat the Mogunna?" Krylie asked dumbly.

"I'M NOT A-" Ruby's shouting was completely ignored by the sisters.

"Even the little mascots are getting stronger, we need to, too," Florine said. Krylie grinned, patting Florine on the back.

"You can count on me! I'll get so strong I'll be able to punch this whole planet into the Sun!"

"Just make sure we're all off of it first," Florine chuckled, and with a snap of her fingers, they both disappeared.

Petal and Amber sighed in relief, transforming back into their civilian selves, still dripping wet and miserable.

"Sorry guys, I have to hurry up and get back!" Ruby said quickly, right before his gem glowed and he vanished with a pop.

"I'MREALLYSORRYIACTEDLIKEAHUGEBABYEVENTHOUGHISAIDIWASN'TONE-"

"Ruby. Please, say that again with more pauses."

"And get off of us!"

Ruby appeared back in Hinata's room, right on top of his brothers. Hinata snuck out when he appeared, figuring she should give the brothers some privacy to talk.

Ruby sniffled, wiping away the gushy tears that immediately sprang to his eyes and rolled off of them.

"I said m'sorry," he repeated, looking down. "You guys were just worried for me, and I just got mad, but…But I really want to stay! I can get stronger if I try, I was able to levitate heavier stuff today, and-"He cut himself off. "But, I understand, if you want me to go back home. I just don't want to be a burden."

"Oh, Ruby, you're not!" Aqua said quickly, patting Ruby on the head. "And besides, Jasper and I talked about it, and decided that maybe you should stay here. The Pretty Cure and us will be plenty to protect you, I think."

"Besides, we made that embarrassing promise, and you'd just whine about that forever," Jasper said with a sigh, trying to appear disinterested.

Ruby started bawling again, causing Jasper to look highly uncomfortable.

"I thought you forgot about it since you're a big stupid jerk!" Ruby cried, somehow not sounding malicious at all.

"Huuuh?! What'd you say, brat?" And then the two of them dissolved into a (mostly one sided on Jasper's part) argument. Aqua sighed. Oh well. Even if his brothers were like this, he wouldn't have it any other way.

(Though, if they learned how to be quieter, he wouldn't oppose that.)

Hinata: Okay, I'm going to do it! It's time to start getting over my shyness! For the first time in my life, I'll go into town by myself and- W-wait, what is this? I didn't come out here to meet a prince!

Hinata: Next time on Crystal Hearts Pretty Cure: "A Runaway Prince? The Meaning of Courage!"