So here we have Book 26, the last Book of the Malia Arc, and indeed the last Book before the few-months time-skip to the beginning of the Reaper War. Sorry this took me so long; I had other stuff going on, and I had to watch through the entirety of Smile PreCure before I could finish this chapter. If you haven't yet, I recommend you watch through or at least read detailed plot and character synopses of HeartCatch, Suite, and Smile before reading this Book.

As a side note, let me say that the promised "new character" mentioned in the last Book has been nixed; I've decided not to add her. For those curious, she was going to be a 15-year-old Diclonius/Saiyan hybrid, daughter of a dimensional-refugee Saiyan mother and a now-deceased Diclonius father. I decided after some thought that I would not add her or her mother in, mostly because it was just a spur-of-the-moment "wouldn't it be cool if…" character without any real depth.

THE FOLLOWING THINGS ARE THE PROPERTIES OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS; I DO NOT OWN THEM AND MAKE NO MONEY OFF OF THIS STORY

Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha (Teana, various other characters) – 7Arcs

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Shion and friends/family) – 07th Expansion and Studio Deen

Shuffle! (Kaede Fuyō and associated characters) – Navel and Asread

Erika's New Perfume (Marie, Sarah, Erika, Timmy, Veronica) – DeviantArtist 'Lance the Young'

Mai-chan's Daily Life (Mai, Kizuna) – Waita Uziga

Star Wars (Ahsoka, Cody, Rex, Force Unleashed cast) – George Lucas, Lucasfilm

Halo (Forerunners, UNSC, Sangheili Alliance) – Bungie, 343 Industries

StarCraft (multiple characters, events, and devices) – Blizzard Entertainment

Naruto (characters, techniques, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

Mahō Sensei Negima (characters, spells, abilities) – Ken Akamatsu

Kingdom Hearts (characters, weapons, enemies, concepts) – Square-Enix

Neon Genesis Evangelion (characters, concepts, tech) – Studio Gainax

Elfen Lied (Kaede K., others) – Lynn Okamoto, Arms

Red vs. Blue (The Blood-Gulch Crew, the ex-Freelancers) – Rooster Teeth

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic – Hasbro, Lauren Faust

Transformers Film Series – Hasbro, Michael Bay

Transformers: Beast Wars – Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment

Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon – Naoko Takeuchi

Digimon – Google and Wikipedia won't tell me who presently owns this franchise

Yu-Gi-Oh! – Kazuki Takahashi, Viz Media

Sonic the Hedgehog – SEGA

Gears of War – Epic Games

Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles – Columbia Tristar (I think)

Mass Effect – Bioware

Metroid – Nintendo

Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Gen Urobuchi, SHAFT

The Legend of Zelda – Nintendo

Tōhō – ZUN

RWBY – Rooster Teeth

Pretty Cure / PreCure – Toei Animation

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

-BOOK 26 START-

Realm PC-5 – Earth – Japan – Kibōgahana

LOCAL DATE: January 15th

Tsubomi Hanasaki got out of the family car, carrying some of the supplies for the get-together that her family (minus grandma Kaoruko, who was busy at the botanical garden) and the Kurumi family had planned for today. A blanket of white coated the ground and the trees at this park, where they would spend a couple hours playing in the snow or otherwise enjoying each other's company. Tsubomi let out a content sigh, watching her breath come out in a fog that drifted away into the partly-cloudy sky. She was thus caught off-guard by a tackle-hug from her bestest-best friend, nearly being knocked over; Erika Kurumi was as energetic as ever.

It had been three weeks since they, along with Itsuki Myōdōin and Yuri Tsukikage, defeated the entity known as Dune. On Christmas Eve night, Dune's castle-ship had finally arrived in orbit over Earth. In short order, he'd kidnapped Kaoruko, reclaimed the portion of his power she'd sealed 50 years earlier, wilted the Heart Tree, and used his dark power to turn the entire planet into a massive desert, with all the people reduced to 'Heart Crystals'… except for the four PreCures, and any & all people they had purified in the preceding months; the same magic that returned people transformed into rampaging 'Desertrians' to normal had somehow rendered them immune to Dune's evil power or the effects of the Heart Tree's fall. The four PreCures had led an assault on Dune's castle, fighting their way through the underlings in the way. Though Yuri suffered two emotionally-devastating losses within 20 minutes of each other (the death of a girl who turned out to be her little sister, fighting out of desperation to earn their father's acceptance… which he had already given her beforehand, something she only learned too late, forgiving Yuri and letting go of her anger as she ceased to be; and the death of her aforementioned father, giving his life to save hers and Tsubomi's), she and the other girls rallied against Dune. In the end, Dune was vanquished when the girls and their fairy partners temporarily merged into the mighty Infinity Silhouette.

Dune's death and the power of Infinity Silhouette magically undid the damage, restoring the Earth and all of its people. Everyone the world over – especially in Japan, where all this weirdness was centered – now knew that the mysterious magical warriors, the PreCure, had saved the world. Though thankfully for the girls' privacy, as far as they knew their identities were not known to anyone other than Tsubomi's grandmother – a retired Cure herself – and a pair of kindergartener girls (who were thankfully old enough to understand, in a way, the importance of secret identities).

At the moment, the PreCures' fairy partners were taking a brief break from watching over the still-growing replacement Heart Tree (presently a sapling less than a foot in height) to spend a little time with their human friends; Chypre and Coffret were presently perched atop Tsubomi's and Erika's heads, respectively, acting as plush dolls whenever the girls' family members were looking or in earshot. At the moment, the mated pair of fairies were quietly conversing about a topic that made Tsubomi blush and Erika pout: making fun of the three girls' recent habit of going up to the top of a hill overlooking the city, putting their hands on their hips and an odd expression on their faces as they looked out at the city together, and chorusing "We have done something amazing…"

The first half hour or so of the day at the park was calm and uneventful; Tsubomi and Erika played in the snow, as Tsubomi's mother (who was several months pregnant) and Erika's older sister Momoka watched them, while their fathers and Erika & Momoka's mother relaxed and chatted. However, the tranquility and fun would not last…

As the two 14-year-old heroines hurried over to their families for a snack, conversations stopped and everyone's attention was drawn to the sudden appearance of a black 'puddle' of Darkness about a foot wide that emerged atop the white snow nearby. It slid across the ground, stopping a few meters in front of everyone. As they stared at it, confused, it bulged upward and began to emerge into a proper form. Soon, it was a small black creature, around two feet tall, with two-fingered hands and a pair of long, thin antennae sticking out over glowing yellow eyes. It twitched subtly as it looked up at the humans.

"It's… cute, I think?" Momoka said, unsure.

The little creature locked gazes with Tsubomi, and then suddenly it leapt/lunged at her. She instinctively reached out and caught it, and immediately it began thrashing around, scratching at her arms. She winced from the sudden pain and difficulty, looking at the little beast's face… and watching as a disproportionately-large mouth opened, glowing yellow and rimmed with large triangular black teeth. She screamed and threw it several feet back, and it landed on its feet, its 'mouth' having disappeared into the jet-blackness of its 'face' as it gazed at her and the others. Then, a dozen more little black 'pools' emerged and formed into more of the little creatures, followed by a half-dozen larger Darkness patches that disgorged much taller, muscular, and more humanoid-looking versions of the little ones. The Shadows and Neoshadows were then joined by a pack of Soldiers and Armored Knights, appearing in several wavering 'pops' of Darkness (AN: for lack of a better way to describe the spawn-in effect of Emblem Heartless in the games). The entire pack of nearly three-dozen dark creatures slowly advanced toward the Hanasaki & Kurumi families, their postures and demeanor explicitly hostile. The few other people at the park had already fled, leaving the two families to fend for themselves.

Tsubomi looked back at her mother, belly swollen with the near-complete fetus inside, and knew that she couldn't run away from these things in her current state. She took a deep breath as she realized what she and Erika now had to do. Tsubomi looked over to her dark-blue-haired friend, who nodded with a serious look on her face, and the two of them then looked up to the fairies perched atop their heads, who got the message. Erika looked back at the others.

"Mom… Dad… Momo-née…" she said. "We're sorry."

"For what?" Mr. Hanasaki asked.

"For keeping a really big secret from you all for quite a while now" Tsubomi replied. "Chypret! Coffret!"

The two fairies moved from their positions atop their partners' heads, floating in the air beside them, to the shock of the watching families.

"Ready, Erika?"

"Let's go, Tsubomi!"

The duo pulled out what looked like fancy perfume bottles, which glowed with power, and then shells of pink and light-blue swirling magical light enveloped the two girls; their families stared in awed disbelief, while the Heartless stepped back, surprised by the new development. After a few seconds, the girls' voices were heard echoing out from within the magic 'shells':

"A flower spreading across the land…"

"A flower fluttering in the ocean breeze…"

The shells opened like flower buds and dissipated into motes of light, revealing two of the legendary young heroines of the world.

"Cure Blossom!"

"Cure Marine!"

"HeartCatch! PreCure!"

As the girls stood between their families and the Heartless, the former stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"T… Tsubomi and Erika are…" Mrs. Hanasaki murmured.

"…PreCures…" Momoka whispered. "Blossom and Marine… M-My baby sister's one of the PreCures…"

An Armored Knight leapt toward the girls, one blade pulled back and ready to strike, only for Cure Marine to step forward and catch the blade, the magic in her glove preventing it from being cut through; she pulled the Armored Knight forward with that hand, and with the other she landed a crushing punch to the Heartless' midsection that sent it hurtling backward, crashing into a tree which survived the hit, unlike the Heartless which instantly disintegrated into Darkness particles on impact. The other Heartless charged, joined by more spawning in behind them, and Cures Blossom & Marine rushed forward into the fray.

The families watched as Heartless went flying every which way, Blossom & Marine carving through them with little difficulty. Pink and light-blue energy blasts flew as the duo cast Blossom Shower and Marine Shooter, quickly obliterating the little cannon-fodder Shadows and disorienting the larger Armored Knights and Neoshadows. Magically-charged punches and kicks one-shotted their targets more often than not, these foot-soldier Heartless proving to be little more threat than the Desert Apostles' Sunackies had. Unfortunately…

"Aah! Marine! Help!"

…They proved to be a bit smarter than Dune's mooks. Blossom and Marine turned around, back toward the others, to see a Neoshadow gripping Coffret tight in one hand, while pointing a sharp claw-tip of the other hand right at the little fairy's throat. The Neoshadow hissed softly and gestured at its hostage, making the message clearly understood. The two PreCures could do nothing as the other Heartless surrounded them, slowly closing in… Suddenly, the Neoshadow was karate-chopped in the side of the neck from behind, knocking it aside and knocking Coffret out of its grip. Tsubomi/Blossom gasped as her father unexpectedly saved Erika/Marine's partner. She immediately fired a single pink bolt of magic that hit the downed Heartless before it could get up and retaliate, while Cure Marine charged up and released her Marine Dynamite attack, a shockwave of bright-blue magic that blew away the surrounding Heartless, destroying them. Two large flying/floating fat Heartless appeared, one with a red color scheme and carrying a staff with the tip wreathed in fire, the other blue with an ice-tipped staff – a Volcanic Lord and a Blizzard Lord. They launched elemental bursts at the two PreCures, who leapt back out of the way and formed their Blossom Tact and Marine Tact. Within a few seconds, the duo fired their finishers:

"PreCure: Pink Forte Wave!"

"PreCure: Blue Forte Wave!"

Two large blasts of pink and light-blue energy raced out and impacted the Blizzard Lord and the Volcanic Lord, respectively, the magic consuming and destroying them while also purifying the Hearts they'd been constructed around, releasing them to return whence they came. Cure Blossom punched out a lone Armored Knight survivor without turning to face it, and then she & Cure Marine started over back toward their families. Then, however, they were interrupted as one last 'pool' of Darkness formed, this one much larger across. From it slowly emerged a massive monster, easily 60 feet tall, muscular and humanoid in structure, with short legs and curled feet, long arms tipped with sharp claws, and a large heart-shaped hole in its abdomen area; wavering, twisting black tentacles acted like hair on its head, as two large, glowing yellow eyes stared down at the two young heroines.

"It's, uh… a bit bigger than most of the Desertrians were…" Cure Marine remarked as she stared up at the Darkside looming over her.

"Y-Yeah…" Cure Blossom replied a little nervously. "…Not anywhere near as big as Dune's 'Desert Devils', though; we can take it… probably."

The huge Heartless swung one of its claws at the girls, who leapt up to dodge and struck at the Darkside's face with a coordinated double-kick, making it stagger back a step. The Darkside then formed a large swirling sphere of Darkness power in one hand, supporting it by the other hand grabbing and holding the wrist, and then 'threw' it upward; the sphere hung in the sky 100 feet overhead and began disgorging/dropping smaller balls of Darkness that drifted toward the ground and burst like balloons upon landfall; one landed and detonated on Marine, and she cried out as the burst slammed her into the ground so hard she almost bounced. Cure Blossom got her out of the way of another one, and then readied her Tact, preparing to blast the hovering sphere. However, she was forced to stop as the Darkside tried to punch her and Cure Marine, sending out a dark shockwave and causing several Shadows to spawn in around where the fist had made contact.

As Cure Marine dealt with the Shadows, Cure Blossom fired another Forte Wave up at the sphere of Darkness, destroying it and putting an end to the rain of exploding balls of energy. The Darkside tried to smash Blossom with its fist, but she rolled out of the way, leapt onto its arm, ran up it and started striking it in the head; with its other arm it grabbed her and threw her down, only for Marine to catch her. The Darkside formed a glowing point of purplish light in the empty space in the center of the heart-shape hole in its torso, and energy bolts came shooting out from it, curving through the air and flying at the girls, who dodged them or smacked them aside with their Tact weapons. Cure Marine fired a Forte Wave shot at the Darkside, which stumbled back, its form wavering.

"Let's finish this thing off, Blossom!" she shouted.

The duo performed synchronized movements with their Tact wands, their bodies beginning to glow as they launched their combination attack:

"PreCure: Floral Power Fortissimo!-!"

Cures Blossom & Marine seemed to transform into a single heart-shaped mass of alternating pink and light-blue light, careening through the air like a colorful comet straight toward the Darkside. They punched clean through its upper chest, leaving a flashing pink/blue heart-shaped hole as they returned to normal form behind it, in front of their families. A second later, the glowing heart-shaped wound in the Darkside exploded, and the titan toppled over into the snow, leaving a huge imprint and making the ground shake, and dissipating into Darkness particles soon after. At last, the park was quiet again.

Cures Blossom and Marine nervously walked over to their families, unsure of what to expect. The first to make a move was Momoka, who moved forward and pulled Erika/Marine into a very tight hug, holding onto her almost desperately (with Marine having to wiggle upwards a little bit to free her nose so her big sister's fairly ample cleavage didn't suffocate her). The parents followed, coming in close to their daughters.

"My little girl's one of the PreCures…" Mrs. Hanasaki murmured, hugging Tsubomi/Blossom. "My little flower-bud is one of the four heroines who saved the world…"

"It's almost unbelievable" Mr. Kurumi said. "Though… It could help explain the changes and maturing both of them have done in the past several months…"

Tsubomi nodded as she de-transformed, returning to normal form. "We've experienced a lot" she said. "I'm… We're sorry we couldn't tell you…"

"…You okay, Momo-née?" the now de-transformed Erika asked, her voice muffled as Momoka still hadn't let go of her.

"It's hard to think of how my precious little baby sister has been risking her life for almost a year now" Momoka replied, her voice slightly shaky as she imagined what sort of dangers Erika had faced.

The young heroine pouted. "Not a baby anymore…" she murmured.

"You could save ten worlds and you'd still be my precious baby girl" her mother replied. "You being a superhero won't make us not worry about you."

"I've noticed how you've grown up a lot in the past year, Tsubomi" Mr. Hanasaki said. "Now we know why."

"…Let me make a guess" Tsubomi's mother said. "Is Itsuki-chan Cure Sunshine?"

"Yes, she is" Chypret replied. "And Tsukikage Yuri is Cure Moonlight."

"Eh?-!" Momoka was shocked. "Y- Yuri-chan, too?-!"

"For a while she wasn't" Coffret replied. "She lost her PreCure form and her confidence when her fairy partner was killed in action. But opening her heart to Tsubomi and Erika and Itsuki helped her regain her faith and her power."

"Does anyone else know about you girls?" Erika's father asked.

"Well, there are these three little girls," Tsubomi replied, "Rumi and Haruka and [AN: can't find an episode synopsis of Ep. 44 that actually mentions the I've-forgotten name of the little girl who lied and said she knew the PreCure in order to impress those three other kids into being her friends; in this timeline, Tsubomi/Blossom secretly revealed herself to the little girl after the battle by saying something she-as-Tsubomi had said to her earlier]. Also, Grandma knows, too."

"Eh?" Tsubomi's father's eyes widened. "My mother knows about the PreCure?"

"Knows about 'em?" Erika said (now finally free of her sister's hug). "She used to be one!"

"Huh?-!" was pretty much the group response.

"Long ago," Coffret said, "Kaoruko-san was Cure Flower. However, you know that evil super bad-guy leader Dune we beat a couple weeks back? Well, 50 years ago he and Cure Flower fought. She managed to boot him away from Earth and seal away a good chunk of his power, but to do so she had to sacrifice her own powers, so she couldn't be Cure Flower anymore."

"On Christmas Eve," Chypret continued, "she got her powers back and helped us fight off two of the bad-guy generals, but then Dune showed up and beat us all and took her power to use to unseal his powers, and then we had to beat him, but this time we took him out for good!"

"We can give a more detailed explanation later" Tsubomi said.

"Hey, uh…" Erika chimed in. "If these… whatever-they-were monsters attacked us… what if they're also going after Itsuki and Yuri-san?-!"

"…Uh-oh"

-Break-

Same Time – Myōdōin Dojo/Residence

Itsuki Myōdōin frowned as she looked out at the sizable force of dark creatures that had trapped her, her brother, their mother, and grandfather against the side of the house. All of the dojo's other members and staff were off today, so there was no-one to help them. She and grandfather had done their best to fight these things off, but they were resilient and – more importantly – numerous; too much for two normal humans, regardless of martial skill, to handle alone. As she pondered what to do, she felt as Potpourri, currently hiding in her shirt, poked her head out and looked up.

"Itsuki…" the young fairy murmured. "I think we need a PreCure for this one. I'm sure your family will understand…"

Itsuki gasped quietly, and then after a few seconds she nodded, realizing there wasn't really any other choice.

"Mother… Brother… Grandfather… I'm sorry. I've been keeping a very big secret from you for a few months now; I'll understand if you're angry or upset… Potpourri!"

"Ready!" the tiny fairy emerged into view, to the surprise of the three onlookers.

She pulled out her transformation item, and she was then enveloped in a flower-bud 'cocoon' of golden-yellow magical energy. After a few seconds…

"A flower bathing in sunlight…"

…the shell burst open, revealing to Itsuki's immediate family one of the four now-famous warriors of justice:

"Cure Sunshine!"

The Heartless rushed en masse at Itsuki/Sunshine, who leapt into their midst and began her attack. The dark creatures quickly began to fall to the PreCure's might, her magically-supercharged speed and strength enabling her to cull their numbers at a high pace. She leapt high and used Sunshine Flash to release a barrage of yellow magic bolts that cut down nearly a third of the enemy's numbers. Upon landing, a pack of Soldiers charged at her, but she cast Sunflower Aegis, forming a large sunflower-shaped magic shield that the rushing Heartless smashed right into, and then launched it forward, sending the Soldiers flying and bowling over several more.

Suddenly, distracted by dealing with a trio of Neoshadows, Cure Sunshine heard something right behind her. She spun, eyes widening in surprise as she saw her grandfather holding onto a shimmer in the air. He focused his ki and jabbed his elbow down into what he was holding onto, and a pained shriek sounded as whatever it was tossed him back; she caught him before he could fall. The air flickered as a large chameleon-like monster appeared, clutching its left wrist as it hissed at the old man.

"A cloaker?" Itsuki/Sunshine said. "And it almost got me…"

"Such is the danger of engaging multiple foes from different directions without support" her grandfather said. "I assume you are accustomed to fighting alongside your three comrades, and thus you neglected to watch your own back because you are so used to having others watching it for you. Is that correct?"

Cure Sunshine looked embarrassed and ashamed. "Yes, grandfather. It will not happen again."

The old man gave a little smile. "Not now that I'm here, it won't."

Itsuki/Sunshine blocked a punch from the Stealth Sneak and countered with a punch of her own that knocked it back and stunned it, while her grandfather caught a charging Soldier and threw it at a Neoshadow, knocking it and the Armored Knight behind it over; a quick energy-bolt cluster shot from Itsuki took them and their surrounding fellows out. Cure Sunshine used another Sunflower Aegis to shove the Stealth Sneak back again, and then a Sunshine Flash to take out what remained of the foot-soldier Heartless. The chameleon Heartless rushed at her once more, but she sent it back with a mighty kick; the monster growled as it staggered, obviously worse for wear.

"Sunshine!" Potpourri shouted. "Finish it!"

Itsuki/Sunshine nodded and formed her magic tambourine. As she rang it a few times, her family saw as each strike conjured floating flowers that remained in the air between her and her target. Then, she held the instrument high as it glowed with golden-yellow magical energy, and as she threw it forward it released:

"PreCure: Gold Forte Burst!"

A solid wave of yellow energy from the tambourine struck the multiple floating flowers, which became the heads of a huge barrage of golden energy projectiles, all racing toward the wounded Stealth Sneak, spreading out to converge from multiple angles. The chameleon Heartless was left stuck spread-limbed to a giant yellow flower of magic, which spun behind it as it rose into the air. The creature's body disintegrated into Darkness particles, the now-purified Heart it had been constructed around soaring up into the sky and disappearing.

"I get it now…"

Cure Sunshine turned to look as her brother and mother came forward, the former looking at her.

"I learned afterward how I'd been turned into a monster, using my fear of the operation… You were the one who purified me and returned me to my normal form, weren't you?"

Itsuki/Sunshine looked down at the ground bashfully. "Um… Y-Yes, that was me."

"It was amazing!" Potpourri chimed in. "That Desertrian had been giving Cure Blossom and Cure Marine trouble at the same time, but Sunshine matched it blow for blow!"

"Well, I had the benefit of knowing the fighting style it was using" Itsuki admitted as she de-transformed.

"My little girl's a hero who helped save the world…" their mother murmured, coming forward to hug Itsuki.

"To be honest," her grandfather chimed in, "I actually had a sneaking suspicion that Itsuki may have been one of the PreCure… It wasn't anything concrete; just a gut feeling born from observation." He gave his granddaughter a proud smile. "I am glad to see I was correct."

"So…" her brother said. "Who are the other three?"

Itsuki debated for a moment whether or not to say. "Tsubomi and Erika, and that older girl Tsukikage Yuri-san" she replied. "They're Blossom, Marine, and Moonlight."

"That would help explain why you started hanging out with those two a lot and bonding more deeply with them after that day" her mother said.

"Moonlight spent some time not being a PreCure 'cause of some bad things that happened to her," Potpourri said, "but Itsuki and the others helped her find her will to fight again."

"…I'm worried" Itsuki said. "If these monsters came here, then…"

-Break-

Same Time

"PreCure: Silver Forte Wave!"

The bright blast of magical energy hit the Guard Armor dead-on, the attack's progression destroying the large Heartless. With the field cleared of enemies, Yuri de-transformed, and the instant she turned around it was into a hug from her mother, catching her off-guard, though after a few seconds she relaxed.

"I'm sorry, mother…" she said.

"Don't be" the woman replied. "My little girl's a superhero; what's there to be sorry about? …Your father will be so proud…"

Yuri's face fell. "He was."

Her mother looked at her, confused. "…Was?"

"Mother… Father was captured by Dune, and brainwashed into his second-in-command. During the final battle, we managed to free him from Dune's control, but… then Dune took matters into his own hands. He… I-I'm so sorry, mother; father sacrificed his life to take a fatal blast from Dune meant for me and Cure Blossom. He died saving us."

Yuri prepared for her mother to be furious with her for this, closing her eyes and fighting back tears. But after a few seconds, that didn't come; her mother simply held her again, and after a few seconds the woman sobbed as it all hit home, and Yuri joined her. Mother and daughter held each other for a minute, grieving.

"…W-What happened to Dune?" her mother whispered.

"Dead" Yuri replied. "The other PreCures and I combined our powers to destroy him."

The woman nodded, accepting that. "What happens now?" she asked.

"I should probably check on the other Cures," Yuri replied, "see if they've encountered this new enemy as well."

-SCENE BREAK-

Hanasaki Botanical Garden

One Hour Later

The four Cures and their families had gathered at the botanical gardens to discuss matters; apparently, a small force of the dark creatures had attacked her as well, but Coupe had made short work of them (the four knew full well that, though normally docile and seemingly sluggish, the large and powerful elder fairy could fight with surprising skill and ferocity if the need arose). The Cures, fairies, and Kaoruko had given a more detailed explanation of the battles against Dune and his underlings; Tsukikage Haruna, in particular, learned of the death of her daughter's fairy partner, and that of the second daughter she never knew she had, who had lived a life desperate for a father's approval, fighting Yuri out of a desire to be 'complete', and who'd let go of her anger and hate as she passed on.

"I haven't a clue what these new enemies might represent…" the retired Cure said. "Neither Coupe nor I have ever seen them before."

"Um…" Tsubomi spoke up. "W-When we destroyed some of them, little lights that looked like Hearts floated up into the sky. Maybe… they're like the Desertrians; people's Hearts separated from their bodies and turned into monsters."

"This was a different type of corruption from what the Desert Apostles did to people, though" Yuri replied. "It's something new."

"Yes…" Kaoruko said. "And I have a feeling that this may be the start of something even bigger than them…"

"Well," Mr. Hanasaki said, "at least this time you girls will have family support, for however little that helps."

"Right" Itsuki's brother added. "We'll all help you girls in whatever little way we can."

"Just let us know if there's every anything you need," Mrs. Kurumi said, "even if it's help keeping your secret, keeping an eye out for suspicious activity, or just shoulders to cry on."

"I can't help but feel a storm is coming…" Yuri said. "I just hope we can weather it…"

-SCENE BREAK-

Realm PC-6 – Earth – Japan – Kanon Town

LOCAL DATE: January 15th

It had been three weeks since the four now-famous heroines, the Suite PreCures – Melody, Rhythm, Beat, and Muse – saved the world from the daemon known as 'Noise'. Not long after the final battle, the residents of Kanon had learned of how the monster was the sapient incarnation of the collective sorrow of humanity, and had sought to eliminate all emotion and all sound from the world, only to be struck down by the Suite Quartet (with only the Cures and those in the know being informed that what remained of Noise's essence was purified and reincarnated as a friendly, harmless little bird-thing). Also given out was the knowledge that the individuals seen at various points summoning those 'Negatone' monsters had all been under Noise's mind control; Cure Beat was, in fact, one of them until she was freed, and once the others were freed they aided the Cures in the final fights (excluding Falsetto, on whom Noise's grip was so strong that it took Noise's destruction to free him). As a result, if for whatever reason any of the Trio or King Mephisto ever chose to visit Kanon town where people knew their faces, they would be recognized as four of Noise's many victims, rather than willing accomplices, and thus would not be shunned or attacked for doing something they had no control over.

Right now, the quartet – Hibiki Hōjō, Kanade Minamino, Seiren/'Ellen' Kurokawa, and Ako Shirabe – were gathered at the former's large and lavish house, along with Hibiki's parents (her mother still home for the holidays) and Kanade's as well as Kanade's little brother Sōta (though Hibiki suspected he mainly showed up because Ako was here; how Kanade couldn't see that her little brother and the youngest Cure had developing 'interest' in each other was beyond her). They were practicing together in the Hōjō family's music room, working to maintain their ability to work in harmony with each other.

As he watched Hibiki happily playing the piano, her father remembered that day at the concert hall months ago, when she had angrily called him out in front of a sizable crowd, bringing up that one piano recital years ago, when he'd told her that she "hadn't really been playing the music", how that had broken her heart, made her think he saw her as not capable of being a musician, and she had come to hate music as a result. Shocked and deeply guilt-ridden at the misunderstanding that led his little girl – daughter of a composer and a violinist – to despise music, he had desperately explained to her what he'd meant: that day, young Hibiki had not wanted to be playing at that time, but had forced herself to, had taken no joy in playing regardless of how well she did it (and for a third grader, she'd played extremely well), going through the motions like a machine. By not enjoying herself and her own music, and not playing for the enjoyment of others, that was how she had 'not truly been playing'. Hibiki had shut down in shock there on the stage, while he'd had to live with the revelation that he had destroyed what could have been a source of great joy to her. And, oh gracious, was his wife mad at him when he explained things to her via vid-chat that night.

By great fortune, however, the revelation of the truth to Hibiki had set her on the path of repairing her faith and enjoyment in music, as well as repairing her (until then strained) relationship with her father. And now here she was, all but radiating joy as she put her heart and soul into the melody she played out along with her friends.

As the girls finished their set, the parents applauded. The mood was then promptly ruined by a significantly loud growl from Hibiki's stomach, to her embarrassment, so everyone headed upstairs and into the kitchen for lunch.

"Ahh, to be young and able to wolf down huge amounts of food without gaining a kilogram…" Maria Hōjō remarked wistfully as she watched her daughter ravenously devour her lunch, with Sōta doing much the same to his own meal nearby; Ako looked a bit put off by the two of them, but really, her meal was almost as big; she was just more polite, slower, and better-table-mannered in eating it.

As everyone finished their meals, however, something strange was noticed: shouts faintly heard from outside. Curious, they got up and headed out the nearby door, to see a few people running off into the distance, as well as a very strange creature right outside on the front lawn. The thing – looking like a vaguely human-shaped white sack with pointed limbs, a large vaguely whale-like head with a black-outlined white symbol on top, and seams that ran up its sides – turned to face them, a mouth 'unzipping' along the front and sides of its head to reveal dark-grey pointed teeth. The thing twitched a few times, and then abruptly lunged at Hibiki, who cursed as she tried to hold it back. The creature hissed, and Hibiki's body stiffened as a glowing light became visible in her chest, slowly emerging toward the being's open mouth. A kick from Ellen knocked the Dusk away, and the light returned to within Hibiki's chest; she gasped for breath, clutching a hand at her chest as she broke out in cold sweat.

"Did… Did that thing just try to eat her soul?-!" Kanade exclaimed.

A pack of more Dusks spawned in, followed by a sizable horde of other Nobodies – Creepers, Dancers, Snipers, a quartet of Dragoons, even a few Berserkers. The unnatural monsters approached, boxing the now-frightened group in against the house.

"Hibiki… Kanade…"

The duo looked down at Hummy, who nodded. The girls sighed as they realized what they'd need to do, and they, Ellen/Seiren, and Ako stepped forward, standing in a row between Hibiki & Kanade's families and the Nobodies.

"What are you girls doing?" Kanade's father asked, worried.

"We… have a secret we've been keeping" Hibiki said. "Sorry… Fairy Tones!"

"Do-Do!" "Re-Re!" "Mi-Mi!" "Fa-Fa!" "So-So!" "La-La!" "Ti-Ti!" "Do-Do!"

The others watched in shock as eight little gem-fairy things floated down from the second floor of the house, hovering in an arc over the four girls' heads. The quartet pulled out four shiny brooches with slots in the top. Glowing light surrounded the girls' bodies in four shimmering energy 'cocoons' of pink, white, light-purple, and yellow. After a few seconds, their voices were heard from within:

"Strumming the wild tune…" "Strumming the graceful tune…" "Strumming the soul's tune…" "Strumming the goddess' tune…"

And then the transformation shells broke away, revealing none other than the four legendary heroes:

"Cure Melody!" "Cure Rhythm!" "Cure Beat!" "Cure Muse!" "Suite PreCure!-!"

As the Nobodies took a few steps back from surprise, the onlookers were all but speechless.

"Nee-chan… Ako-chan…" Sōta murmured, eyes wide. "T… T-T-They're PreCures…"

"Cure Melody becoming stronger and stronger… and Hibiki rekindling more and more her lost love of music…" her father said. "They were connected…"

"Hibiki & Kanade's harmony power went up with time and practice –nya" Hummy said. "That's also part of it."

"H… Hummy is talking…" Kanade's mother murmured. "She's their magical-girl mascot character, like Luna & Artemis in Sailor Moon…"

The Major-Land cat nodded. "It's a big, long story –nya. We'll explain when the fighting's over. For now let's watch them and Seiren and Ako kick butt –nya."

"…Seiren?" Kanade's father asked.

"That's Ellen's real name –nya. She and I have been friends for a long time, but then she got made into one of Noise's brainwashed minions, but then our friendship freed her –nya. It's also a long story."

The Nobodies charged, and the Suite Quartet rushed to meet them. The monsters stood little chance against four experienced and powerful magical girls; a Sparkling Shower from Cure Muse took out a Dragoon and two Snipers, Cure Beat's 'Beat Sonic' took out the rest of the Snipers, Melody and Rhythm double-teamed the Dancers and Dusks, Muse took out one Berserker while Melody handled the other, and so on. All the while, the spectators looked on as the girls made mincemeat out of the strange white creatures.

As the last Creeper fell via Cure Beat stomping on it, a dark vortex suddenly appeared in the air over the street a few dozen meters away. From it dropped a gargantuan entity, at least 60 feet tall; it looked like a huge and highly-evolved version of the initial enemies – a rounded head with that weird symbol for a face, thick and short legs with pointed feet and spikes on its hips, a thin waist, huge diamond-shaped spikes for shoulders and very long arms, and four long blue tentacles extending from a scarf-like structure around its neck. Spotting the four puny humans in its path, the Twilight Thorn made a bizarre sound as its body surged with power.

"W-Whoa…" Hummy stared. "The Negatones were hardly ever that big –nya…"

The Twilight Thorn surged forward, lashing out with a crushing punch that the PreCures leapt to avoid; Melody leapt straight up and struck with a magic-powered kick right to the monster's face. The TT went sailing back from the blow, corkscrewing through the air, only to abruptly stop. It then threw its arms forward, the limbs stretching very far, very rapidly, grabbing the surprised Cure Melody. The rest of the creature's body followed, making for a crushing headbutt that sent Melody flying, to be caught by Cure Rhythm. A Sparkling Shower / Beat Sonic attack from Muse & Beat knocked the Twilight Thorn back while dealing a respectable amount of magical damage. Melody & Rhythm hit it with a synchronized double diving kick, and then leapt back to avoid a swing of its fist.

The Twilight Thorn formed a wavering ball of black and white energy in front of its upper chest, and thorny 'streamers' of white and black energy came spiraling out, trying to coil around or impale the PreCures. The girls leapt and dashed, staying in motion to avoid the sharp tendrils, until Cure Muse hit the TT with a Shining Circle, forcing it to halt its attack. Cure Beat used Beat Barrier to protect Melody & Rhythm from an attempted crushing strike from the Twilight Thorn, and then they blasted it with Passionatto Harmony. The Twilight Thorn made its odd noise again, and leapt high into the air, holding a rapidly-growing sphere of destructive energy over its head, preparing to throw it down at the girls. Cure Muse blasted the center of the sphere with Sparkling Shower, making it detonate with great force. A couple seconds later, the Twilight Thorn landed in the street with a ground-shaking thud, and dazedly struggled up onto its feet, its form wavering.

"Time to finish it –dodo!" the Fairy Tone Dodori said.

The quartet drew their weapons, including Cure Muse pulling out the Belltier-type weapon that her mother & father had recently forged for her, just in case a new villain ever arose in Noise's place.

"Come forth, Tone Rings!"

With their weapons they formed four glowing rings of pink, yellow, green, and orange, and called out as they launched them forward:

"PreCure: Music Rondo!"

"PreCure: Music Rondo!"

"PreCure: Heartful Beat Rock!"

"PreCure: Allegro Halo!"

The four rings hit the Twilight Thorn and expanded to instantaneously encircle and Bind it.

"Three-quarter beat! One, two, three!" A pause, and then… "Finalé!"

The quadruple magical explosion consumed the Twilight Thorn, shrouding it in light and smoke. When that had faded, the monster toppled over onto its front, going still and then bursting into 'Black Nothingness' that rapidly faded away. With the monsters all gone, the girls headed back over to the Hōjō & Minamino families, nervous of how they'd react. However, Hibiki/Melody got a nice surprise as her mother all but ran over and hugged her tightly, with her father following a few seconds later. Kanade/Rhythm's mother & father embraced their daughter as well, her dad giving her a proud smile. Ako/Muse fidgeted a little as Sōta stared at her with wonder, and worried about her apparent discomfort (and a little mesmerized) he accidentally said the first thing that popped into his head:

"Y-You look really pretty."

Then he went wide-eyed and bright red and clasped his hands over his mouth, while Ako/Muse blushed and partially turned away, though still looking at him through the corner of her eye, unable to stop a tiny little smile from forming on her face. Watching this, Kanade/Rhythm's eyes widened in realization.

"Wh… T-Those two…"

"You didn't notice?" Hibiki/Melody whispered. "Really, Kanade? All this time, and you didn't notice?"

"Okay!" Hummy called out. "It's exposition time –nya!"

-Mini-Break-

A while later, gathered in the Hōjō house's living room, fairly detailed explanations – from Major Land's history and the awakening of Melody & Rhythm, to the final defeat of Noise – were finally finished. Besides learning of Hibiki & Kanade's developments and adventures, the parents and Sōta got to learn a few surprising facts about the other two Suite PreCures, such as how Ellen/Seiren used to be A) a shapeshifting magical cat, and B) one of Noise's brainwashed/mind-controlled minions, and that Ako was a literal princess.

"The enemies that attacked us today…" Ellen said. "We've never seen anything like them."

"All that time and trouble dealing with Noise," Kanade said, "and now we might have a whole new, different enemy to fight, less than a month after the last big mess?"

"PreCures? Can you hear me?"

Everyone turned to the nearby large mirror, which changed to show the face of a blonde-haired woman in regal dress.

"Mama?" Ako asked.

"Aphrodite-sama" Ellen/Seiren bowed.

"Dori and Tiri contacted me and told me what happened" the Queen of Major-Land said. "Are you girls and your families all right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, we're okay" Hibiki replied. "…Do you have any idea what in the world those things were?"

"Not much, unfortunately. I have my court mages and scholars looking into it, and my husband is using an old scrying mirror to look in other Realms for any clues. I do know, however, that the strange white monsters that attacked you were literally soulless – they had no Hearts."

"That must be why the first one tried to eat Hibiki's Heart!" Kanade exclaimed. "It must've been trying to either get a soul of its own by taking someone else's, or even trying to turn her into another of them!"

"Or maybe both –nya" Hummy added.

"News!" a man's voice was suddenly heard shouting from off-'camera' on Aphrodite's side. "I've found something! Something big!"

"What is it, dear?" Aphrodite asked.

The Earth-side viewers saw as King Mephisto came on-screen beside his wife. "Those creatures were called Nobodies" he said to them. "They are what remains of a person's body, essence, and life-force energy after their Hearts are consumed by Darkness and made into evil creatures called Heartless. And I just found out that, in another Realm 'neighboring' this one, there's another PreCure team, wholly unconnected to ours, who recently got done fighting a threat equal to Noise. They just had to fight off a Heartless attack earlier today. And, there's a third PreCure team in another neighboring Realm, and just today they fought a third type of new enemy – creatures called Unversed, the negative emotions of people given form as monsters."

"You mean, like Noise?" Hibiki asked.

"Yes, but smaller, much weaker, and less intelligent. Noise could be considered an extremely high-level Unversed, I suppose, far stronger and smarter than 'normal' ones. I'll let you girls know if we find out anything more."

"I apologize for all this, girls" Queen Aphrodite said. "You're not even fully recovered from fighting Noise, and now there's this new enemy…"

"It's not your fault, Your Majesty" Hibiki replied. "You couldn't have foreseen this. And none of us are hurt, and my & Kanade's families aren't upset about us being PreCures, either."

"Other than what's to be expected from learning our children have been in mortal peril countless times over the months without us even knowing…" Kanade's mother remarked. "But all the same, we are very proud of them."

"That's good to hear" the Queen smiled. "I know perfectly well the pride and the worry of knowing that one's child is out fighting…"

"As one set of parents to another," Mr. Hōjō said, "we swear we'll help take care of Ako-chan and Seiren however we can."

"Thank you…"

"We should probably let Otokichi-san and Crescendo Tone know about what's happened" Seiren said. "We may need their abilities to deal with this new threat. Let's hope our luck holds out…"

(AN: I'm shoving this in here because of things that are happening and have happened with this site when it comes to posting the first chapter of a story. At some point in the past, it started being that when I upload, via the "File Upload" option, and then post the first chapter of a new fic/Book, the stuff before the actual story (author's notes and Disclaimers) and the remarks after are cut out. So I started uploading the first chapter of each new Book via the Copy-N-Paste option. However, recently they changed it so the C-N-P way no longer has/allows bolding, italics, etc, which can really seriously mess things up just as bad. So, I'm going to have to try uploading this chapter via File Upload and then posting it. If they don't appear, know that there are SUPPOSED to be an Author's Note and a lengthy Disclaimers section at the top of this page before the "-Book 26 Start-" header, and a short Note at the bottom after the "-Chapter End-" bit).

-SCENE BREAK-

Realm PC-7 – Earth – Japan – Nanairogaoka

LOCAL DATE: January 17th

It had been only seven days since the defeat of Pierrot, the ancient, extremely powerful (and utterly massive) eldritch abomination who sought to bring about the ultimate 'Bad End', plunging the entire world into Darkness and despair. The five Smile PreCures – Miyuki, Akane, Yayoi, Nao, and Reika – had saved the world, destroying Pierrot and undoing the damage he'd done to the Earth. Unfortunately, however, they'd had to make a great sacrifice to do so: they had lost their PreCure powers, and what's more their fairy partner Candy had had to return to Märchenland, with the connection between the two worlds being lost. The girls had been utterly heartbroken, final victory be damned.

Right now, the quintet was gathered in the park where, seven days ago, they'd been forced to say goodbye to the friend who'd brought them all together. The mood was bittersweet, as they looked around at the beautiful world they'd saved while supporting each other through the almost mourning-like sense of loss. The sky was slightly overcast, diluting the sun's rays.

"Hard to believe it's only been a week…" Nao said.

Akane gave a murmured grunt of acknowledgment as she and Reika nodded.

"I wonder… if Märchenland is doing okay…" Miyuki spoke up. "When he saw those 'Despair Giants', Pop said they'd hit that realm already…"

"The damage was probably undone the same time it was undone for Earth" Yayoi replied. "At least, I hope…"

The girls were huddled together in the cool January air as they sat in the field, taking comfort in each other's presence as they reminisced. The clouds overhead thickened, dimming the light.

"Huh?" Miyuki perked up. "Hey girls, look at that."

She pointed at a trio of little blue creatures in the shade of a tree; they were around two feet in size, though hunched over, with pointed limbs and long, thin horn-like antennae, and two triangular red eyes that looked perpetually angry. Their movements were jerky and twitchy as they looked around, communicating in what sounded like a cross between chirps, sharp whispered breaths, and the soft 'whoosh' a long thin object like a small branch makes when swung through the air. As one, they suddenly turned to look at the girls, noticing them, and began to scurry closer, antennae twitching. The girls got to their feet, feeling wary of the strange creatures.

"Are they… s-some kind of fairy?" Yayoi wondered.

"Something about them feels… wrong, somehow" Reika said. "I cannot quite put it in words."

The three Floods drew closer, looking up at the five girls. One's eyes briefly glowed as it stared at Miyuki, and then it drew back and hissed, turning to its fellows and letting out a sharp, quiet chirp. The other two followed its lead in assuming a threatening posture, putting the girls more on-edge. Suddenly, the lead one leapt at Miyuki, who yelped in surprise as she reached her arms out to catch it and hold it back. It wriggled in her grasp, jabbing at her arms with its forelimbs, and then it made eye contact with her, staring intensely, as its eyes flashed red. Miyuki gasped and trembled as she felt her fear of this strange creature, her doubts over the future, her loneliness and missing of Candy, all swelling up… and then being actively sucked out of her, into the little beast she was holding. She gritted her teeth and threw the Flood back, to land on its 'feet' beside its two fellows.

"T-That thing…" Miyuki said. "It was sucking out power from my negative emotions. It was drawing out and absorbing 'bad energy' just like the Bad End Generals did to their victims!"

As the girls processed this little revelation, five more Floods appeared, along with four of a new type of enemy; they were bigger, taller, more muscular and with more defined features, dark-blue with silver hands tipped with large claws, with diamond-shaped heads and two short horns, their all-red eyes looking almost sorrowful in shape.

"This ain't good…" Akane murmured. "These things don't look friendly, and we ain't got our powers anymore…"

One of the Scrappers suddenly charged forward, claws brought back and ready to strike as it went right toward Yayoi. It was intercepted, however, by a roundhouse kick from Nao that knocked it back a respectable distance; after a few seconds it picked itself up off the ground and snarled at its target's rescuer. Then, in reddish bursts of Darkness, a multitude of dark creatures appeared around, behind, and over the already-present foes, varying in size and form – floating jar-like creatures in red, yellow, and blue; vaguely bat-like flying ones with sharp-edged wings; little rabbit-type ones; what looked like giant boots with the heads of the creatures peeking out from within; and two big fat ones, one with an armor plate on its gut, two spiked circular shields on its arms, and a gladiator's helmet. The monsters all advanced on the girls, who quickly realized they wouldn't be able to outrun these things, and without their lost powers they didn't stand a chance of getting out in one piece if these monsters went for the kill.

"Girls…" Miyuki said softly, trembling. "I just wanna say… I love you all…"

"We saved the damn world…" Nao murmured. "We can't go out like this…"

"I ain't goin' down without a fight" Akane said. "Bring it, ya freaks!"

"I've…" Yayoi spoke up "s-seen a few shows where the previous series' heroes get… t-taken out at the start of the next series by the new enemy. Maybe… we'll come back as ghosts to guide the next generation of PreCures…"

"If that is the path set out for us…" Reika replied. "But… even if our journey ends here, these beasts will not find us easy prey! I know not about you four, but like Akane I will fight them to the last breath; I will not simply lie down and die…"

The five former-superheroines readied themselves for what could be their last fight. The Bruiser and the Buckle Bruiser charged, leaping forward toward the girls, who braced themselves. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and motion, and the Bruiser fell to the ground minus its head, vanishing in a burst of Darkness. Simultaneously, several large, bright-blue magical rune-circles appeared stacked atop each other and angled upward, and as the Buckle Bruiser hit they compressed slowing it down… and then abruptly un-compressed, acting as a giant spring to launch the big Unversed clear across the field, crashing to the ground behind the other monsters.

The girls looked in awe at their rescuers. One was a tall old man with a long grey beard, clad in a blue robe and a pointed hat with gold stars and a crescent moon on it. He lowered his outstretched hand, and the blue rune-circles disappeared, as he shot the Unversed an intense glare that actually made some of the closer ones step back. The other rescuer, sheathing the sword with which he'd slain the Bruiser, looked to be around the girls' age, clad in a blue and grey kimono, with brown hair held in a topknot/ponytail, and two small cream-colored animal ears and a fluffy white-tipped orange tail. This latter one the girls immediately recognized, especially as he turned to face them:

"PreCure!" he called out.

"Pop!"

"These dark creatures…" the human-form Fairy said. "They attacked Märchenland. We fought them off, but they… they took Candy!"

The girls gasped in horror.

"Is she all right?-!" Miyuki asked.

"I don't know…" Pop replied. "Anyway, this is Master Yen-Sid. He is a very powerful and skilled mage. He claims to be a member of a large coalition of heroes and armies from various multiple Realms, united against common foes. These beasts are underlings of one of those foes."

"They are called the Unversed" the old man spoke, as he erected a barrier around their little group to prevent the monsters from interrupting. "They are raw negative emotions, given life and form by dark magic. Their masters have their sights set on this world, and on two others that are 'nearby' in a sense. Also, those two other worlds have PreCure teams of their own."

"Ehh?-!" the girls 'chorused' in shock.

"Their powers are subtly different in nature from each other's and yours, the neighboring Realms from which their fairy allies came from are different as well, and they had their own mighty enemies to face down, but the basic principles remain: teen girls, acting as transforming warriors of justice, using light and magic to defend their respective Earths from dark and powerful foes. They were both recently attacked by our enemies' forces, but as they kept their powers after defeating their respective 'Big Bads', they were able to fight off the attacks with little effort. However, since you girls had to sacrifice your powers to slay the daemon Pierrot, I chose to intervene personally."

"Are you… going to fight these things off and rescue Candy for us?" Akane asked.

Yen-Sid smiled. "I've got something even better in mind."

He reached into a subspace pocket stored in the sleeve of his robe, and pulled out a familiar artifact: the Royal Clock. Next, in his other hand he summoned a key-shaped weapon, with a guard made to look like two shooting stars, a blue shaft/blade with white stars on it, with a crescent moon and star as the teeth. As the old master readied his Star Seeker, Pop stared in awe.

"That's… a Keyblade" he murmured.

"A what?" Yayoi asked as Yen-Sid began to channel his magic.

"It's a legendary weapon, capable of great power. Some of the details have been obscured with time, but it is said that those strong of Heart can use it to accomplish extraordinary feats. Some wielders are good, and some evil; the evil wielders can extinguish Hearts, blot out stars, spread hatred & despair, and bring whole worlds to ruin, while good wielders can grant miracles, protect the innocent from any threat, mend worlds, and forge unbreakable bonds of friendship and trust between people."

Master Yen-Sid let out a long, slow breath as he held his Keyblade pointed down at the Royal Clock, which now hovered a foot off the ground. A point of blue light formed at the tip of the Keyblade, and he made a key-turning motion. In response, the little 'door' in the center of the Royal Clock's face opened up, and a golden light came out, mingling with the blue light and forming a few magical 'rings' around it and the Keyblade's head. He let out a quiet grunt, putting more focus into the fine manipulation of the large amount of magic contained in the deceptively-small light. After several seconds, he pointed the Star Seeker straight up, and 'fired' the mass of magic into the air. It hung several meters overhead like a star, and then burst downward into five trails of light, which flew down into the hands of the surprised girls below. After a few seconds, the lights faded and solidified into a very familiar device:

"My… Smile Pact…" Miyuki murmured, staring at it with wonder.

"You will need your powers to face what is coming" Yen-Sid said as the girls looked at their new Smile Pacts. "Now, girls, it is time to save your friend."

Miyuki, Akane, Yayoi, Nao, and Reika all looked at each other, and nodded. Then they held the devices aloft, and magic enveloped their bodies. Yen-Sid and Pop stood back and watched the swirling 'cocoons' of pink, red, yellow, green, and blue magical light, feeling the surging power from within.

"Happy!" "Sunny!" "Peace!" "March!" "Beauty!"

"The five lights that guide toward the future!"

And in bursts of colorful light, the five legendary warriors emerged once more:

"Shine! Smile PreCure!-!"

"Get ready" Pop said, glowering at the Unversed waiting outside. "We're about to drop the barrier."

"For Candy's sake," Cure Happy replied, "we would take on 1,000 times this many!"

Touched by this, yet another example of how these girls cared as much about his baby sister as he did, Pop nodded and then drew his sword. At the count of three, Yen-Sid dropped the barrier, and the Unversed immediately charged, with the PreCures and the human-form fairy rushing to meet them. Unversed fell like dominoes, thoroughly outclassed by the determined, experienced, and angry magical girls attacking them – Axe Flappers were zapped out of the sky by Peace, Beauty's ice turned the Hareraisers into bunny-cicles which were then used as impromptu projectiles to take out the Floods and Red-Hot Chilis, March's whirlwind kicks sent Scrappers and Shoegazers flying, Happy's blasts and blows shot down Yellow Mustards and Blue Sea Salts as well as aiding Pop in finishing off the few Unversed that survived March's attacks, and the Buckle Bruiser, distracted by trying to hit Peace, took a Sunny Fire to the face from above, sending it toppling over dead. Yen-Sid assistance was wholly unneeded, though a Scrapper that tried to rush him got vaporized by a Light-type spell fired from the old man's finger. In less than 60 seconds, the entire pack of Unversed had been destroyed.

"Alright!" Cure Sunny pumped her fist. "We're back in action!"

"Your fairy friend is imprisoned in a pocket dimension" Yen-Sid said. "I will open the way for you."

He pointed his Keyblade at a spot in the center of the field, and Light built up at & around the tip. After a few seconds, a beam of light shot forth, stopping at a point in the air right above the ground, as a shimmering circular portal formed there.

"Go" the old master said. "Pop and I will monitor your progress and keep the portal open from out here."

Without a second's hesitation, the quintet rushed through the portal. On the other side, they found themselves inside a massive dome-shaped area, nearly 300 meters across, and looking to be totally empty; oddly-shaped dark blue tiles made up the ground/floor, and the walls/ceiling looked like more odd-shaped dark-red shapes with a swirling purple 'backdrop' visible behind and between them. And toward the center, floating about 15 feet off the ground, was a spiked cage made of dark-red metal, containing a tiny white fairy with curled blonde hair/ears, sitting with her head down and eyes almost-totally closed. Upon spotting her, the girls' eyes held unshed tears; they thought they'd never get to see her again…

"Candy…" Miyuki/Happy whispered. She gritted her teeth, a few tears finally falling, and cried out. "CANDYYYYY!-!-!"

The five Smile PreCures took off running toward the center of the huge area, shouting out to their thought-lost friend. Hearing their voices, the little fairy stirred. Her head rose, and as she looked out and saw them coming, her eyes went wide and began to tear up.

"E… Everyone… Reika! Nao! Yayoi! Akane! Miyuki!-!"

The Cures kept running, as fast as they could, drawing closer and closer to Candy…

(BOSS MUSIC: Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep – "Unforgettable")

Suddenly, something big dropped in from above, landing between the girls and Candy's cage. The dust quickly cleared to reveal a huge Unversed, with a red and grey body partially clad in red and black armor, long and sharp uneven horns, and two large glowing-red streaks/eyes on its dark-blue 'face'. It let out a deep, rumbling growl as it stood tall, looking down at the little humans before it. It held out its hand, and in a flash of flame a huge hammer appeared in its grip, the head a big red construct wreathed in fire. The monster spun its hammer a few times, leaving trails of flame from the head as it took a stance. To make things worse, it then began to float a few feet off the ground. The girls could feel its powerful and menacing dark aura, as well as the heat that seemed to radiate from it.

'Curse it…' Yen-Sid's voice sounded in the PreCures' heads. 'Be careful, girls! The Form-4 Iron Imprisoner is one of the most powerful and dangerous of all Unversed! Do not underestimate it!'

Candy's cage floated up to the ceiling, out of the way. Cure Sunny made the first attack, sending a Sunny Fire shot right at the Iron Imprisoner's face. It was a direct hit, but the powerful Fire-type Unversed didn't even flinch. Moving faster than something that big should be able to, it lunged forward while swinging its massive flaming hammer down at the Cures. The girls scattered in all directions, barely avoiding the flaming shockwave released on impact with the ground. The Iron Imprisoner immediately struck again, trying for a low horizontal swing into Cure March, who narrowly avoided the hit by jumping up, dodging the blazing hammer by only a meter and feeling the magic imbued in her PreCure outfit protect her from the radiant heat. The instant her feet touched ground again, she noticed the hammer coming down at her, but was able to use her super-speed to flash-step out of the way in time.

"PreCure: Peace Thunder!"

The blast of Lightning magic knocked the Imprisoner back, the electricity making it twitch a little. Upon recovering, it held its hammer low and started floating/flying forward very quickly while spinning its flaming hammer and surrounding itself in swirling flames and scorching wind. Cures Happy and Peace felt a flash of panic as the spinning fiery death headed straight toward them, and Happy picked Peace up and leapt high, sailing over the Imprisoner as it passed below them. The Unversed seemed to 'bounce' off the wall, shooting out at an angle without losing momentum, now heading straight for Cure Beauty. Reika fired off a Beauty Blizzard, but the ice blast failed to overcome the high heat and high rotation of the Iron Imprisoner's attack, forcing her to leap to the side with milliseconds to spare, feeling the heat as the whirling fire passed by. Now it was heading right for Cure Sunny, who smirked; this thing meant to hurt her with her own element? As the Iron Imprisoner drew close, Sunny ignored the heat – which was harmless to a Fire-elemental like her – and leapt back just clear of where she predicted its hammer would go… and the Imprisoner abruptly broke out of its spin, swinging its hammer in a wider range than she expected. Sunny cried out in surprised pain as the hammer hit her head-on, sending her tumbling through the air a good few meters, barely managing to land on her feet. She groaned in pain, thankful that her magic had successfully protected her from serious injury.

"Sucker hits hard…" she murmured. "And it tricked me into makin' a mistake, so it's not just a big dumb brute, either… The old guy wasn't kiddin'; this thing's dangerous."

"PreCure: March Shooter!"

The kicked cannonball of magic and explosively-compressed air slammed into the back of the Iron Imprisoner's head, making it stumble forward. It then turned to face Cure March, snarling at her, as she made a "bring it" gesture. The ground beneath the I.I.4's feet suddenly became a glowing circle of fire, and the monster 'dropped' into it, the fire-circle then vanishing. Everyone looked around, confused, until a few seconds later, Cure March felt heat beneath her boots and noticed a glow she was now standing on. Reacting on instinct, she leapt back & away, and only partially managed to avoid the Iron Imprisoner's rising attack from below, sending her flying. Cure Happy caught her before she could hit the ground, and helped her pat out the smoldering tiny flames on her outfit. Happy then charged up power while the Unversed was distracting trying to play Whack-A-Sunny, pink light gathering in her hands.

"PreCure: Happy Shower!"

The bright-pink beam scored a direct hit on the Imprisoner, which let out a rumbling groan as the Light-magic attack did a not-insignificant amount of magical damage to the Darkness-based entity. The Iron Imprisoner let out a rumbling growl as it seemed to partially curl up while floating off the ground, and the air began to rush toward it, being drawn in. The girls yelped in surprise as they too were pulled closer despite their attempts to resist, involuntarily converging on the Imprisoner as it gathered power. Then, it released in the form of a powerful fiery and concussive explosion centered around itself, sending the girls flying in all directions.

It immediately then vanished with a flash of red light. The entire 'arena' was now tinted red, and the girls had to act fast in getting back on their feet as some of the oddly-shaped things that made up the walls started flying out at them while shrouded in fire, forcing evasive maneuvers. The situation was quickly made worse as jets of fire began to spout up from spots on the floor, trying to catch the PreCures or box them in for the flying shapes. The attacks seemed to be focusing slightly on Cure Happy, who looked a bit panicked as she frantically dodged the multiple attempts to do her serious harm. In another red flash, the room returned to normal with the Type-4 Iron Imprisoner again in the middle. The Unversed began another spinning fire-hammer attack, this time predominantly going after Happy and Peace. However, by focusing on them, it allowed the other Cures to start readying their counterattacks; it came out of its spin, staring down Happy who had just leapt back…

"Beauty Blizzard Arrow!"

A high-velocity arrow of super-dense ice came soaring in, slicing across the right side of the Iron Imprisoner's head and taking out its right 'eye'. The beast roared in pain and rage as it reared back, free hand clutching its face. Then, Cure Sunny, boosted/launched by March, came soaring in and landed a full-power super strength punch to the center of the Imprisoner's chest, sending it staggering back, off-balance.

"Peace Thunder Hurricane!"

The Unversed's body seized and writhed as the massive Lightning-type attack assailed it, leaving it stumbling back, smoke trailing from it.

"Happy Shower…"

It turned around… to see Cure Happy now right in front of it, glaring up at it as she readied an enormous amount of power in her hands.

"…Shining!-!"

The tiled ground cracked and cratered beneath her as Miyuki/Happy released a tremendous wave of pink magical energy, on par with a charged Kamehameha or Starlight Breaker, at point-blank range. The Iron Imprisoner was fully engulfed, consumed by the Light-type magic. After a few seconds the attack cut off, and Cure Happy panted for breath, staring at the cloud of smoke right in front of her. The smoke cleared… and she gasped as she saw the Iron Imprisoner still standing there. But then its hammer slipped from its grip, dropping to the ground and disappearing in a burst of flames. Then, slowly, the monster toppled over backward, hitting the floor with a thud, and its body came apart into flames and Darkness, vanishing. Seconds later, the entire area began to shake and rumble, the odd red 'tiles' starting to crack and come apart along with the floor. Candy's cage floated back down and then vanished, freeing the little fairy.

'Everyone, get out of there!' Pop telepathically shouted. 'The pocket realm is unstable and beginning to collapse!'

Cure Happy grabbed Candy by the ear/hair and started running for the portal, soon joined by the others. She threw the fairy forward through the portal first, then she and the other four girls passed through as well. They all emerged back in the field at the park safe and sound, de-transforming and panting for breath, as the portal closed behind them.

"MIYUKIIIII!-!-!"

Miyuki was nearly knocked over as Candy tackled her, hugging her as tight as her tiny little arms would allow and bursting into tears. Miyuki hugged her back, her own cheeks soon wet as well.

"I… I t-thought I'd never s-see you agaaaain!-!" the little fairy wailed.

The other four girls joined in a group hug with Candy in the center, emotions being released at the joyous reunion. Pop stood nearby, now back in his normal form. Eventually the group hug came apart, and Miyuki and the girls looked around.

"Where'd the old guy go?" Akane asked.

"He left" Pop replied. "But he told me people from their coalition, the 'Dimensional Defense Force', would be here soon. And he left this for us" he held up what looked like an ordinary set of DVDs. "These will bring us into a pocket realm where time passes faster inside, and they'll show us the recorded history 'footage' of all the Force's members… as well as the two other PreCure teams."

"Eh?-!" Candy's ears/hair sprang up to accentuate her surprise. "Other PreCure teams?-!"

"It's apparently a long story, little sis. For now, let's find a bookcase. Master Yen-Sid was able to reconstruct the pathways connecting to the Mysterious Library for us! Let's go there and look this stuff over, find out what we're up against."

The girls nodded. Candy settled into Miyuki's bag, just like old times, with Pop riding in Nao's backpack, and the seven set out for their destination, wondering what would come next…

-CHAPTER END-

And that's the long-awaited start of Book 26. A word of warning, though: because I have an ambitious translation project, a book report, and other things to work on, the next chapter might take a while again. Also, if anyone's wondering why the Smile Cures' families weren't involved here, there is a reason which will be revealed next chapter.

Tune in next time.