Pretty Cure Fan Fiction ❯ A Mirror Darkly ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

To Blossom, it was no place for Precure to meet. A Yakuza safehouse, even if it was an apartment building. Made to the traditions of criminals, for criminals. The soda may have been substituting for beer and liquor, but it still seemed to her a parody of the proper way of things. If Blossom had been more familiar with the art world, she might have drawn a parallel to dogs playing poker.As it was, she just sat down at the head of the table. "All right, you dragged me into this. Who's coming?" The short-haired Gemini, the dead ringer for Rune's barely-used civilian form, one of the two Sagittariuses, a girl Blossom sort of remembered as a popular idol for awhile, and the somewhat older magenta-haired one raised their hands. "Okay, fine." Then the nervous-looking blonde raised her hand. "Not fine. No way in hell.""But-" Peace tried to interject."No buts. Even if I liked the idea of two of you wandering around, I can't do it. You're a perfect match for our Cure Peace, the systems would peg you in a second. Two Runes is pushing it, but if you stay in civilian form it should be fine as long as you don't get your bios checked." Blossom shook her head."But we need to do something about the other Cure Peace."Blossom thought for a moment. "That, I might be able to manage. Peace has access to the motor pool, because it's where they keep her armor. It's a lot less protected than the Garden.""So I can just walk right in?" Peace � no, Yayoi, asked her hopefully."Not quite. You'll still need a badge."Mana shrugged. "We can ask the Oyabun about that."Suddenly, the door slammed open. "Ask the Oyabun about WHAT?!" a voice shouted. Long blue hair in twin ponytails, and a flower-skirted dress, not to mention shorter and more developed than almost anybody there. It had to be"Marine!?" Blossom stood up and shouted at her partner. "What are you doing here?!"Marine pointed a finger at her in reply. "Oh, shut up! You're just another traitor anyway. Knew I should never have trusted you with this lot, Blossom. And now look. All the rogue Precure in one room, right here in downtown Tokyo. Get'em!"Nothing happened.Blossom looked nonplussed for a moment. "Wait, so you were sure I was not just AWOL, but in a conspiracy, and you just came after me with no backup?""Sh-shut up!" Marine spluttered "I can take you all by myself!"Yuri stood up.Marine took one look at the woman, seemingly back from the dead, tall, strong, and decidedly cold. She looked around at the sheer number of people in the room, and quietly tallied how many had Precure abilities. Finally, she thrust out her hands, wrists together. "Fine, capture me then."Gemini rolled her eyes. "Marine, look, I know we don't always agree...""That's an understatement, youkai." The blue-haired girl's glare could have melted steel. "You're all just traitors and monsters."Mana stood up. "What about me then? I'm human and I was never on your side!"Marine seemed puzzled "Of course you were. Everyone's on our side."Blossom tore the long sleeve off her own blouse. "Forget it everybody," she said with an air of resignation. "It's a long fight between us." She tied off Marine's wrists, for what little good it would do with superhuman strength.Marine glared back. "It is not. I get it, Tsubomi. Not everyone's cut out for this life, it's a tough break the youkai picked you and you've gotta stay with it." Her voice went quiet, tender. "Is that what this is about? You're just sick of it, you can't take anymore? I'll be fine. Just come with me and we'll go to Egret. She won't be happy to be losing you, but I'll make her accept it this time. You don't have to do this. I'll even file for marriage permission, so you can stay in the Garden with me if you want... ""Marine, it's not just that," Blossom said helplessly. "Grandmother told me. . . she said she'd be Cure Flower again if I didn't."Marine went pale. "What would possess her to do that?"Rikka's hands slammed on the table. "Your YTF's little invasion. Did anyone tell you where they were going?""Yeah," Marine shrugged. "Some kinda preemptive strike on a new Youkai world, before they get to us." Her gaze turned back to Blossom, looking genuinely wounded. "Why do you do these things to me, Tsubomi? I'm trying to understand you, but I just can't!""Because you're not," Blossom watched Marine's wince, but pressed on. "You think you are, but it's too much of a stretch, so you just. . . shut down whenever I try to talk. Or give me a new outfit. It used to be a drink, but you shut that off didn't you?""Of course I did!" Marine snapped. "You were drinking yourself to death, didn't care what you had to do to get it. Of course, you found a pretty good substitute. If you're not going to stop, I'd appreciate if you didn't bring your little trysts into my bedroom." It was Blossom's turn to wince, but Marine continued. "Anyway, stop being silly and let's get back to killing youkai. It's our job, after all."Makoto mentally steeled herself for the argument to continue, but Blossom didn't show the slightest reaction. The idol shook her head in a moment of resignation. "Do we look like youkai to you?"It took Marine several moments to process that statement. She hesitantly pointed at the faeries but the argument died on her lips. Her butt hit the tatami mat underneath her a second later. "A human world? There's another human world out there?Blossom shook her head. "Do you see, now? It. . . it has to stop. I've. . . I've had enough."Marine stared at her partner for a long time, seeing a spark she had long ignored the absence of in her eyes. "How long has it been..." Marine looked helplessly at her partner, then to Gemini. "If I find out you're lying, there's no pit you can dig deep enough that I won't find you, Youkai. And if your little pet there -" Regina made an indignant noise " - screwed with her head to make her believe this, you will suffer."<hr />Bel briefly wondered if he'd miscalculated. He didn't have long to think on it, though, before Cure Blossom was in his face, punching rapidly with a series of poorly-timed but powerful blows. Damn, she's an amateurish fighter, but this is annoying. And she can fly, which is a new trick for the Precure. I should just hope the other two can't THUD! "OOF!"That, incidentally, was the sound of two more flying Precure kicking him in the back while he wasn't paying attention. Cure Marine grinned broadly. "Hey, I know Tsubomi's awesome, but there's three of us here!""I don't think the world has anything to worry about once Mana and the others get back," Itsuki added her quick analysis. "Really, we should just tell the others to relax and head back home. If this is the best the Jikochuu can do, I think the three of us can handle it."Bel tried a short-range teleport. "I've been going easy on you so far." It was a bluff, of course. He'd been saving for this chance to get ahead of his fellow Jikochuu to try to take the number 2 spot from those upstarts Leva and Gula, but his reserves from letting them flail helplessly against Heart and her band were nearly spent. He'd even had to spend extra getting Ira and Mamo back on their feet a few times. There were almost twenty of the brats now, but it sounded like they couldn't stay for long.He had a plan.It was made easier when Cure Blossom made a key mistake. She shouted "Blossom KICK!" as she flew at him. Bel easily slid to the side of the strike, then grabbed her by the neck. "Hey! You can't do that!" The woman flailed, until he squeezed down and she cried out sharply.Another squeeze and Marine, who had pulled out some kind of wand, backed up a few inches. "That's right. I don't really care about your friend here, but you have something I want. All you have to do is bring Cure Ace out here for a fair fight, and I'll let her go.""How can you call THAT a fair fight?" A voice called up from the ground. Bel suddenly had a sinking feeling. One that got even worse as two voices shouted."SPIRAL STAR...SPLASH!"Twin energy beams slammed into him from either side, flooding him with an unfamiliar energy. The pain, on the other hand, was very familiar. He was forced to release Blossom, who flew away at high speed. He looked down at the newcomers. "And just who are you two?""Cure Egret!""Cure Bloom!"Bel stared incredulously. "Just how many Precure are there?"Bloom gave him a cocky smirk. "Just the two of us could probably manage all of you, except for that pesky resonance thing.""You have no chance!" Egret added. "Just give up and leave this world!"Bel swallowed nervously. He needed a new plan.<hr />The elevator descended from the public waiting area. The ride consisted of a long stop in an area of utter blackness, with red lights occasionally flashing on the walls. Blossom glared at Mana suddenly. "One last time. You get what you're looking for and keep this quiet. I'm letting you in so you can get changes done, but I am not going to be responsible for the first attack on the Garden itself."Mana sighed. "I get it, Blossom. You really think this can be saved and we'll try.""Good," Blossom gave a curt nod as the elevator began descending again.Nozomi had heard all of Blossom and Marine's descriptions, but none of it had prepared her for what she saw. The pyramid had to be hollow. That was the only explanation for this expansive room. The sky was painted blue, but she could see now that there actually were clouds, and below, a lake surrounded by trees, flowering bushes, and what she was sure were real gas lamps. Tall buildings, ten stories or more, poked out of the green here and there.Rikka's impressed questions didn't quite break the spell, but Nozomi did pay attention. "The trees are there to disguise the lack of an actual sun, so you can only tell the time by ambient light. I imagine they also take care of the need to recycle the air in here, and the lake. . . artificial, or an underground lake you just co-opted? Oh, this is just a wonder."Alice grinned and clapped her hands together in a characteristic gesture. "Blossom, what kind of flowers are those, to be able to do so well in artificial sunlight?"Blossom grumbled. "No idea. I think I asked awhile ago, but I can't remember. They're engineered, anyway. There's nothing in here that isn't fake in some way. It's a mockery to call this a 'garden.'"Alice gave her a slightly reproachful look, but dropped it.Nozomi personally felt that looking at the engineering was underselling it. Even if it was fake, it was beautiful, and that was real. She turned her attention to what would have been the horizon outside, and noticed that there was even a hillside at the far end, with several paths leading into caves that were no doubt meant to lead further into the complex.That seemed to her like a good place to start, and she'd get to see the whole place on the way over! So as soon as the doors opened she was off like a shot. "Nozomi!" Mana called out behind her, then sighed. "Oh well," her voice dropped so low the others could barely hear. "At least they're not looking for us here of all places. She'll probably be fine."Blossom sighed. "Still...well, no help for it now I guess. She's got a radio. You should probably spread out anyway. You'll cover more ground and it's unusual to see new girls grouped together like that. I need to go check in." Everyone nodded in agreement.<hr />Yayoi left the apartment first, repeating what Gemini and Tsubomi had repeatedly tried to drill into her head.There's usually a delay of at least a day between attacks, so the security net is on low alert Blossom had said. As long as you don't attract too much attention, two Peaces on the net should be fine.So she turned down and headed into the subway. A quick thumbprint scan and she was identified as Peace and allowed into the shopping arcade under the Shin-Ginza district. She almost decided to ignore her next direction, but fate intervened as some girls started to giggle at her, then suddenly seemed to recognize her and ducked away. Gemini had said Precure working for the government can afford to dress in the latest fashions, and Peace is no exception. And all the fitting is automated, so Blossom can't get something for you. You'll have to stop at a store and change clothes.Unfortunately, the latest fashions for a Precure on the go, as defined by the computer at the fitting station, seemed to be rather tight, with a short silk skirt that was dangerously high above the knee. It would be easy to move in, but as far as Yayoi was concerned Precure costumes came with shorts for a very good reason. The only consolation was the booth was completely opaque to the outside, so she could browse the selections for specific patterns, and finally settled on something with a long trench coat open in front to display the outfit underneath, in a rather twisted emulation of Eclipse's Cure form. She tried to pull it shut despite the massive heat, but it just wasn't designed for that.Giving up on decency, she walked back out into the store proper, having thrown away her old clothes. The looks didn't stop, but they changed from curiosity to admiration.If this wasn't a disguise, she'd have run back and changed again. She was tempted to anyway, but instead she just went to the train platforms. Luckily, she didn't have too long to contemplate, because the black train was coming into the station. Remember, it's the last stop before HQ, or you'll end up in the lobby and you don't want to be there. Blossom had repeated that several times, actually. Standing on the train was normal enough, she had taken the old ones in her own Tokyo down to Akiba enough times. Always a bit expensive, but always worth it.She forcibly brought her mind back to the present with a number of girls whispering in her general direction, blushing madly. Don't do anything suspicious Gemini had yelled at her. But what would Peace do in this situation?It only took Yayoi a moment of thought. She struck a pose, sticking out her hand in a 'V' sign at the girls. She didn't expect one of them to faint, probably in joy, but it was just as well. They weren't looking at her when the subway train pulled into her station and she slipped off, cursing the new boots that were pinching her toes and forcing her into a rather awkward gait.When she finally managed to get back up on the street, her eyes fell on the part of the pyramid not visible from the skies above � a huge cavernous space at the ground level underneath the structure, facing out towards the ocean. And from where she was standing, she could see why. It would make people nervous to note the large number of tanks, armored personnel carriers, jeeps, and other various military vehicles. While this Tokyo might seem like a pinnacle of modern engineering and peaceful living, this was the truth just under the surface. If things went bad again, there were more than enough troops to keep it quiet.She quickly made her way to the checkpoint in the fence, a large concrete box. Once inside there was a bored, middle-aged man in an enlisted uniform reading the newspaper. He glanced up at her. "Kise," he acknowledged. "Tough break in Hokkaido. Heard they actually brought the hammer down on a few of you girls.""I wouldn't know anything about that," Yayoi gulped nervously.He looked at her for a moment, then chuckled. "I guess you wouldn't. Any comment on the rumor that they're getting a soldier-ready version of that armor of yours out?""Sorry, even if I did know that would be classified," Yayoi winced a bit at the glare she got at that, but the older man sighed, then turned and looked her straight in the eye."Kise, try to understand. I've got a daughter, a little younger than you. The recruiters came to my house yesterday," his tone was grave. "You don't say no to that, but. . . I know what you kids go through. Could you maybe talk to her?"Yayoi winced again. "I'm sorry, I don't think they'd like that."He gave her another long look, and then sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, shouldn't have put you up to that. Hand on the scanner, eye in the hole." Yayoi nodded, placing her thumb on the familiar scanner while looking into the tube that was no doubt there to check her eyes. A brief flash of light blinded her for a moment, and then she heard the gate slide open. "Welcome home."<hr />Gemini, Regina, and Marine waited in the archway of one entrance to the path leading to the giant pyramid. She and Regina were sharing an ice cream openly, playing the young couple to divert attention, but that would only work for so long. Gemini knew that, if everything were going according to plan, Black, White, and Luminous would be waiting under the far gate, while Sagittarius, Berry, and Moonlight stood at the one opposite them. "I know why I wanted you here, but why did you agree to it?""Because I want to keep an eye on you two, youkai." Marine, who was in her civilian form, said without much of the usual venom. In fact, Gemini felt a strange pulse from the girl."What was that?"Marine glared at her. "What was what?"Regina gave Gemini a weird look. "You mean you don't know? She's jealous."Marine snapped "Stay out of my head, blondie!""I don't need to look in your head. You're practically broadcasting it."Gemini blinked, looking her over. "No, she looks like the same old grumpy Marine to me, but. . . " She squinted at the girl, only to see a ghostly image of Blossom hugging her from behind, adoring, obsessed, concerned with nothing else in the world, graceful, wearing the latest Parisian fashions, both of them, standing triumphant above a pile of dead monsters. "Gah! What the hell was that!?" The world returned to normal.Marine blinked. "Creepy is what it is? You all right?"Regina was completely astonished as well. "Wait, you can see her desires? I just kinda. . . know."Marine snarled "I thought I told you to stay out of my head!""I didn't mean to!" Gemini raised her hands defensively. "It just kinda slipped! I didn't even know I could do it!"Marine pulled out her Perfume and Heart Seed. "Prepare to di-"Gemini was nearly panicked. If Marine switched sides back now they were toast. "Marine, I swear, I didn't mean to see what I saw, and I'll take it to the grave with me unless you give me permission to tell someone."Marine considered for a moment, then put her magical trinkets back in her purse. "Fine, but one more of these 'slip-ups' and this alliance is off.""Right," Gemini breathed out in relief. Still, it could be useful, this new trick. She put it out of her mind for the moment and clicked the button on the radio in her ear. The induction mic, taped to her throat with a tiny tab of flesh-colored tape, was nearly invisible, and the whole thing relayed by the cell-like device in Regina's hip pouch, at the moment. "Everyone ready?"While there were a chorus of 'yeses' there was a delay, then Mana's hushed voice said "We're in the Garden. Nozomi split off from the rest of us, her radio's off, and I have no idea where she thinks she's going."Gemini considered it, but Regina answered. "She came here to deal with Cure Nightmare, that's probably her priority. Since it means none of the rest of us have to, I say let her do it."Gemini considered for a moment, then hit the button again. "Regina says Dream's probably got her own goals here. Leave her to it for the time being. Try to find out where Nightmare lives, she'll be there.""All right." Mana did not sound enthused. "As for the rest of us, we're in. Whenever you want to start that distraction is fine with me.""Right. Turn your cells to receive only, it'll make less 'noise' on the network." Gemini waited a moment, then announced "All right, girls. They need a distraction, let's give it to them."<hr />After the split-up, everyone consciously went in a different direction from each other, hoping to cover more ground. Alice knew that the radio wouldn't give her any information on the battle going on outside, since that wasn't her job. She reasoned that the best way to get what she needed would be the press office. For that, she'd need to convince someone she was here to sign up.At least, so she hoped. The problem was the sheer size of the place. The view from the elevator gave her a decent impression of the scope, but it was another thing trying to navigate the twisting paths. Greenery obstructed her view in every direction, and the street signs, while having such pleasant names as "Rose Lane" and "Snowdrop Street," were also remarkably unhelpful in actually figuring out where she was.Even worse, the Garden seen from the elevator was only the top level. While there were Cures going by in all directions, it was clear that the place was almost a mirror of the city outside � while a few structures were too big to be contained and stuck up like indoor skyscrapers, the majority of the Garden's businesses and facilities were on the levels below, with individual entrances hidden cleverly in gazebos, cafes, and other out-of-the-way places that made it perfectly clear that the only two ways to get around were to know where you were going, or to have a guide.Alice was about to reach for her radio when she turned a corner and finally came upon a minor bit of salvation. A traditional dojo, built out of wood, and the first thing with an actual sign out front. "Rose Squad Training." It was only about thirty mats, judging from the outside, but Alice guessed that it was probably another entrance to the sub-levels. A guess that was proven true when she stepped up and found the floor sliding out of the way, with a cheerful voice announcing "Guest access granted. Have a nice day."With much trepidation, Alice went down the stairs. The door at the bottom opened on a large running track and center field of astroturf. And it was a large enough track to encompass five fighting rings, each large enough to encompass an average Precure battle. Padded obstacles in each simulated fights in a forest, a city street, the shopping arcades, and even on the side of a mountain, as well as one left open for basic training.And that was what was going on. Two girls in white T-shirts and gym shorts moved among the transformed Artificials, barking out orders and encouragement. "You! Watch your footwork, in a real fight you'll get tossed into a wall and that's it!""Good work, Kimi! Have you been in the gym like I told you? Technique doesn't matter if you don't have power, and the magic's an enhancement, not a solution."Alice almost smiled, when someone pushed past her. "Peasant! Don't you know it's not polite to linger in doorways?""Sorry." Alice bowed to the person in genuine apology. "I'm afraid my guide left me to my own devices, and I'm a bit lost."The girl in the Green uniform looked at her in disdain. "You should know better. I'm the newest rising star of this squad, and if you're coming here you should acknow-GACK!" One of the untransformed girls had appeared out of nowhere, laying a hand on the Green's shoulder. Up close, Alice realized she was a bit taller than anyone else she had seen, maybe seventeen years old. Her brown hair and eyes were pretty typical, but she had a very faint scar on one cheek, just enough to give it some character beyond her slim but not muscular body."Rina. No, don't bother getting up," Alice was about to point out that Rina was standing. Then she wasn't, courtesy of a sudden sweeping kick from the unpowered human. "How many times do I have to tell you? Well, apparently being told isn't enough, being repeatedly tossed around isn't enough." She snorted. "Let me make one thing absolutely plain. This was your last chance, Rina. You've been tossed out of every other squad, and an invasion means we won't be needing the numbers soon. Your family, your money, your grades mean nothing here. And now, neither do you. Go back to your quarters, pack your bags, and wait for security. I'd tell you to say goodbye to your friends, but you don't have any here, do you?"Rina scrambled to her knees. "No, Sensei, please! Give me another chance! I know I can - ""You skipped training four times this week alone." The 'Sensei' snorted again. "You're a joke. I have no idea how you made it through the selection program, and I made a mistake being sorry for you and giving you a chance with us. Get out of my sight." When Rina had scrambled off, she turned to Alice with a smile. "Look, I'm really sorry you had to see that. Usually I handle it more quietly, but she's pissed off just about everyone with her antics. Who's your recruiter?""Uhm...ah...Blossom," Alice scrambled. "My name's Alice.""Blossom?" She raised an eyebrow. "Blossom doesn't recruit. Marine does sometimes, but Blossom usually tries to talk'em out of it. You must have really impressed her. My name's Satomi, by the way." She gave Alice a much closer look over. "You're from a rich family, judging by the way of speaking, but you don't let it go to your head. Good start, that. Seem to be in decent shape. Work out?""I do martial arts practice with my grandfather. . . " Alice said, feeling a bit bewildered.Satomi's grin only widened. "Established school, or an old family style? Doesn't matter, doesn't matter. You have your mastery?"". . . I just got it recently. . . " Alice admitted.This only seemed to please Satomi even more. "Blossom's first recruit and an established martial artist. And a real looker on top." Alice turned beet red. "Oh, you are just so cute! If I weren't in charge. . . ah well, I suppose there's nothing that says I can't show you what's what around here. Why don't we go up to my office?Alice quickly calculated. Satomi seemed to have some kind of rank around here. At least from the offices, she might be able to get at something important. She slightly regretted using the young woman, but times were desperate. "All right. . . "<hr />Makoto was completely lost. The palace of the Trump Kingdom just hadn't prepared her for this. In fact, just when she felt she could wander for days and not find anything, suddenly a blonde girl turned a corner and looked at her, astonished. "Wait, Makopi? What the heck are you doing here?" Suddenly her wrist was grabbed and she was being dragged off what she thought was the main thoroughfare and into a little canopied nook. "Makopi, geez...""Do I . . . know you?" Makoto tilted her head slightly."Uhm, you don't go through that many guards. It's me, Aki."Makoto was getting increasingly bewildered. "Guards?"Aki put a hand on her forehead. "Well, no fever. Must be from all the youkai your kingdom deals in. Look, Makoto, we can't let you wander about alone, you know that. Did you just come out for some fresh air, or did you want something? Maybe some new clothes? I know all those shorts you wear must be getting stuffy. . . ""Uhh...actually, I heard about the arcade and wanted to go check it out. . . "Aki thought about that for a moment, then shook her head. "I'd need to clear that. Come on, let's go back up to your room..."SCENE BREAKRikka was starting to get frustrated. Her attention turned to her bag, briefly. "Raquel, do you have any idea where we are?""I just know we've passed that same tree with the red and white flowers four times-raqu," he huffed, frustrated and peering out with only one eye through a hole in the zipper. Rikka shook her head and turned around another tight corner, and found herself looking right into a mirror.A split second later, Rikka and Rune jumped apart, eyes wide, staring at each other. "Raquel."Rune shook her head quietly. "Not here, not now.""That's good. I don't want a fight."Rune snorted. "Who said anything about notwanting a fight? I don't know how you got in, but if anyone found out it'd be worse than just quietly escorting you out the door and telling you never to come back. So that's what I'm going to do."Rikka gulped. She could transform, but that would put the whole place on high alert. But she also couldn't afford to let it end there. Finally, she said the only thing that came to mind. "You should have been more honest with Gemini, you know. And more forthcoming. She just found out about that night, she thought she really was human the whole time."Rune blinked, several times, then started to laugh in a way that set Rikka's teeth on edge. "You think that's all this is about? No, don't answer that, I can see it in your eyes. Come on then. Let me show you where that ridiculous naivete will get you in the end."Rikka swallowed nervously, but didn't want to jeopardize the tenuous conversation, so she followed. "Where are we going?""It's not far." In fact, they turned the corner to an archway made out of pure blue crystal. Set into a dais, it seemed like just another bit of modern art scattered in amongst the trees to serve as a landmark for the familiar, but there were not other paths leading away from it. "There's one room in the Garden where no one but us can go. Everywhere else, scientists, soldiers, bureaucrats, the people who we're told are our partners but are really there to keep us under control can walk in any time. Even our private bedrooms aren't truly safe." Suddenly, the ground behind the archway began to lift out of the floor, until it matched perfectly, an artificial crystal cavern. "This is the Hall of Memory."<hr />Mana had found a solution to the problem of the impenetrable maze of paths. She had noted that one of the buildings had signs on the roof indicating it was a hospital, and she had kept track of that to use as a landmark. Since Shika was most likely there, that probably meant there was a way out of the Garden and into places that were bound to be much juicier there. And when there wasn't immediately a way through that required sticking to the paths? Well, just get on your hands and knees and crawl through the bushes, of course.Most other people would probably have regarded the deep scratches and dirty clothes as an insurmountable impediment, but Mana just took it in stride. So when her head peeked out of the fifth hedge she had crawled under, she was rather surprised to be at the feet of two girls in miniskirts. "Well, now, what do we have here?"Mana shrugged as she was bodily hauled out. Despite the pair being at least a year younger than she was they were almost as strong. "Uhm...just a bit lost.""Yeah, kinda figured that. You new here?" Neither girl was pulling away, and Mana looked around to realize she'd popped out under some kind of canopy, the light of the artificial sky only barely filtering in.Mana gulped. "Erm, sorry, am I intruding?"Both of the girls smirked in a way Mana didn't like. It was an expression that just didn't belong on anyone her age, let alone younger. "Yes, but we certainly don't mind."Mana struggled for a moment and got free of her grip. "Hey, what's wrong with you two?"One of them, with orange hair, just shrugged. "Letting off some steam like the older kids."Mana sighed in relief. "You shouldn't do that, wait until you're older.""Nah, it's fun, you should try it. It's not against the rules." Mana's cheeks turned red, and only got worse when the other one, smiled and reached up to cup her cheek.She was saved further embarrassment when a voice called out. "Hey, kids! Knock that off!" Mana's body went ice cold and she turned and found herself looking at Cure Bloom. From Nozomi's description of Egret, she had expected. . . well, not this. True, this Bloom was a vision of power, with muscles bulging and not too much of the grace that still typified the other Cures. But she was also smiling. "You know the rules, everyone's gotta be all right with it. She said 'no'.""Well, not in so many words..." the redhead started to say.Bloom was having none of it. "Just for that backtalk, you're both on detention today. Back to your rooms, and you'll be having a private training session with me tomorrow."Mana's mind went to a dirty place for a moment with that phrasing, but apparently there wasn't anything fun about it. Both girls went pale and shouted "Yes, Commander!" before scampering off.Bloom shook her head. "Well now, that's taken care of. . . Cure Heart."Mana's heart skipped a beat. "I don't know what you're talking about,""Eh, relax, kid." Bloom said easily. "You and the Faerie you've got in that knapsack are fine. At least in my book, don't let that get around. The way I see it, you're not under my..." she trailed off, obviously trying to think of the word. "Jurisdiction, that's it. You're on the guest list, so as long as you stay where we can see you, you're all right."Mana blinked, and stared at that, completely bewildered. "Wait, but, I . . ."Bloom sighed. "I hate dealing with you Pink girls sometimes. Too honest about the world for your own good, and you're smarter than most of them. Fine. You're safe here because, to be completely honest, we need you. And your friends." Mana snorted, but Bloom just shrugged. "It's true. We're. . . I know this is going to sound ludicrous, but with Blossom having just switched sides, we're short-handed. I'll cover for her, this time, but I can only bend the rules so much even for her. The only alternative is to start writing off monster victims as dead, and I don't want to do that."So, you get the same offer as anyone else in your position. Heck, I'll sweeten the deal a bit and sign up your faeries too, you seem responsible enough to keep them under control. Two billion yen a year, each, plus you live here full time."Mana couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you trying to bribe me into betraying my universe?""No, trying to convince you that this is the only sensible way to save both our worlds. Heck, if you agree maybe you can even get your government to let us set up shop on your side to provide the protection without all this messiness. It's a bigger job than you're already doing, but you'd have the full might of this world at your back."Mana stamped her foot. "You really think I'm going to listen to you?!"Bloom shrugged. "No, but I'm not going to fight you here. So, exact same offer as anyone else. Take a look around, decide for yourself if it's really so bad." With that, Bloom turned around. She glanced over her shoulder. "Right, I've read your psych profile. You were headed to the hospital to make sure everyone's getting good care, right? That's a good place to start. Take this path to the right, when you get to the main intersection, the one with the fountain, turn around and take the small side path to the right of the one you just came in on. From there you'll see signs pointing you that way. Just say my name into any phone when you're ready to answer."Mana watched as the woman turned and left her and Sharuru to their own devices. Just before the woman turned the corner, she shouted "Wait!" Bloom glanced over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "Why didn't you stop them? They're too young for that stuff!"Bloom's eyebrow stayed raised. "Other than dragging you into it, that's exactly what I want them doing in a place like this." There was a brief beeping from the woman's waist. "Ah, and that'll be your friends. Now, I could just call in the army, but really, they're putting on a show, the least I can do is oblige. See ya!"Mana went pale, and as soon as Bloom was out of earshot she turned on her cell. "Gemini, they know the plan! Should we get out of here?""Hold on." There was a long pause. "Black says keep going. If they know we're a distraction, and they're playing along, they're probably underestimating you guys. Keep looking."<hr />Nozomi's steps slowed as she passed through the trees. She leaned over a rose bush and took a deep breath, the scent heady to nearly overpowering...but only nearly. And it wasn't just red, but all colors of the rainbow from the same bush, growing in a way that was carefully chosen so that no colors clashed but blended with the green of the leaves.She skipped on down the cobblestone road, passing a cafe that was hidden from the top view. Waitresses dressed up in outfits that were scandalously short served the young Precure their coffee, exotic teas, and ice creams. Nozomi would never have counted herself as a prude, nor would she deny that a girl could be more than a little attractive, but it seemed a bit much. Particularly since many of the girls were wearing an old-fashioned gym uniform, although the bloomers were a little more flatteringly cut the t-shirts just didn't quite give the right impression to her. Others, at least, were dressed more or less as ordinary girls, with dresses and the occasional shorts, blouses, ribbons in their hair�.and those gym uniforms showed off an awful lot of leg�Geez, what's wrong with you Nozomi? You've got a boyfriend back home. Nozomi quickly shook herself out of it, and with another look got a quick reminder of what these girls really were.The gym uniforms weren't just gray, but had colored trim. Most of the 'normal' girls also had pendants hanging out, usually just over very slightly exposed cleavage."Can I help you?" A voice asked from behind. Nozomi spun, surprised...and found herself staring at a vision. Red rose in her purple, straight hair all the way down to her backside, the 'girl' had a figure that definitely placed her at the older end of the spectrum. She was wearing the gym uniform, with purple trim. For some reason, Nozomi couldn't remember what power the purple Artificials had, and it didn't seem important. "Are you a new trainee, or did you get lost from your tour group?""...uhh�" Nozomi tried to not trip over her tongue. "I'm lost, I think�""Well, that's a shame," The girl was all smiles and honeyed words. "Do you remember where you were trying to get to?"Nozomi frowned. It was right on the tip of her tongue. "...I don't remember�""Well, that's okay. My name is Kokoro." She bowed. "A pleasure to meet you Nozomi."Nozomi bowed herself, deeply. "The pleasure's mine, really."Kokoro smiled brightly. "I know. Why don't I show you around until you remember where you were headed?"Nozomi found herself grinning goofily for a moment, but then noticed the way Kokoro was leaning in towards her. She wasn't sure whether to look down Kokoro's shirt, which she resolutely avoided doing, or into her glittering eyes. She settled on the latter, and the dazzled feeling seemed to get stronger. "Uhm�.I dunno.""You should let me help you. You need better clothes if you want to blend in," Kokoro pointed out."Thanks!" Nozomi beamed, skipping behind Kokoro, feeling for a few moments like she was fourteen again.<hr />Yayoi was lost.It wasn't as if that couldn't have been expected, actually. Bases like this would have to be laid out according to a logical pattern for getting vehicles in and out of the repair bays in a timely manner, but beyond that there was plenty of room for confusion. The area outside was like a parking lot, but the interior had specialized equipment for maintaining the various kinds of vehicles, and none of it was laid out in a remotely coherent fashion. Besides, she hadn't seen any mecha, so that wouldn't help."Oi, Peace! Get back up to your own floor!" a voice shouted at her angrily. "You're making everyone nervous!""Sorry! So sorry!" Yayoi bowed repeatedly and ran away, getting odd looks. She ducked into a closet to catch her breath. "Wait, up?"Of course. The mech could jump, but couldn't fly. So it would likely be kept on the second floor. Poking her head out, she saw a nearby set of stairs and tip-toed up. And sure enough, while one side of the long hallway had doors that looked like offices, the other was dominated by a single large hangar door. She briefly wondered how to open it before noticing another door with an eye reader and a thumbprint scanner to one side.Thinking she had succeeded, she did what was required by the scanner, and the door opened. She ran through and face-first into another door. A pleasant voice chimed "Voice-print and pass-code required for entry.""Uhm, what!?" Yayoi mumbled into her hand, holding her nose.There was a momentary pause, and then the computer chimed back. "Voice print match. Incorrect pass code. Two incorrect guesses remaining."<hr />Bel was completely out of plans.It wasn't that he hadn't tried. A couple more psycho Precure showing up out of the blue he could have dealt with. It had happened to the Jikochuu often enough that he was always keeping his senses alert for someone wanting to get the drop on him. The problem now was not only the sheer number, but the ones he'd worked into exhaustion yesterday were waking up. Ace was still hiding, and these other three replacing her had no time limit issues and if he gave them thirty seconds they could recover physically off of their own attacks hitting each other!For the first time, he wondered if the universe wasn't an inherently Selfish place.The thing that most worried him, though, was the shield. The Precure couldn't detect it, but as Ace had been weakening, so had the shield that protected the world from the worst of the Jikochuu's power. It allowed them to create more monsters with exponentially less energy.A few hours after Ace's retreat, the shield had started to get stronger again.So now he had spent well over an hour fighting a running retreat. He couldn't even get back to the bowling alley, let alone the Trump Kingdom, to recover. He had tried spending a bit of his energy reserves on monsters to buy breathing room, but every time he did it seemed like Blossom, Marine, or Sunshine was right on top of him.At that moment, the old man would have given his coat to a beggar in the middle of an ice storm if it would just buy him five minutes to think.And then he finally made his mistake."PRECURE BEAUTY BLIZZARD!" Ice and snow pounded him from above, finally forcing him to the ground."PRECURE MARCH SHOOT!" Adding to the injury, a sphere of compressed air battered him right back into the air, in an uncontrolled arc."PRECURE HAPPINESS SHOWER!" Ah, yes, something nearly identical to Heart's weakest attack, scaled up to propel him into the street, and down into a five-foot crater. There was the insult.Bel got to his feet, barely managing to hide the extent of his wounds beneath a sneer. More and more Cures had caught up with him, and he silently counted. "Twenty four of you, huh? Don't you think this is a little much for one poor old man?""NO!" every one of them shouted at him.He glanced up, and noticed that Mamo and Ira were standing on a nearby building. "Well, I don't think you brou-" the pair vanished on him. ". . . "The next twenty minutes before the shield lowered enough for him to get away were very, VERY painful.<hr />The office, other than the entrance (cleverly concealed in what appeared to be a giant rosebush) was such a picture of banality that Alice briefly wondered if she'd taken a wrong turn. It was only about 40 cubicles, although most had recently been stripped of any personal affects and not yet cleaned, leaving behind only a terminal and keyboard. Satomi led her down the hall to the end. "Yeah, it's kinda empty right now. There's been some.." Satomi trailed off, thinking better of saying what she was about to. "Well, it's classified, but to sum up we're gonna be a bit short-staffed while they prepare a second Quarantine Zone. They're hoping to lift the Tokyo, but there was an attack somewhere else � and no, I can't tell you where Alice.""I wouldn't ask," she answered as respectfully as she could manage.Satomi smiled. "Good. I wouldn't want to have to kill you." Her eyes widened when Alice went pale. "Geez, I'm joking. We only do that to the real criminals." She paused, seeing Alice's continued look of disbelief. "I'm guessing you know of someone who's. . . disappeared in the past few years then? I think I'm starting to see how you talked Blossom into letting you on board. Obviously that didn't stop you, but. . . first of all, please believe me. Most of those people really are monster attack victims. Sometimes it's just not pretty. I remember the Desert Apostles. Tearing people's souls apart. We only had a recovery rate of about seventy percent. Rose Squad was under different command back then, and the girl in charge wasn't really too good about making sure to get both halves of the soul back. It was forty percent for us. In fact, her being dismissed is how I got put in charge in the first place."Then. . . well, there's the actual criminals. Yakuza, and then just looters and opportunists. For the most part, we just turn them over to the police, all nice and public. But every now and again they see something they shouldn't. We keep Artificials anonymous for a reason. Sometimes, when the bad guys get desperate, they try to get out of Quarantine. That usually doesn't work. But there's always at least one Cure with family living in the Quarantine zone. This time around it's a lot worse. Tokyo, after all. There are five hundred and twenty six active Artificials, plus Rune and Nightmare of course. In total, I think a hundred and thirty lived in Tokyo when they were recruited, so their families are probably still here."Alice found herself feeling sympathetic. "So the bad guys go after families.""Worse. We had an incident where they started kidnapping looters." Satomi said bluntly. "We think they were looking for the identities of Artificials. They'd already targeted the actors in the television show before they realized it was all fake. You willnot be shown the pictures of what happened to them. I was there when we recovered what was left. That was when I started taking the JSDF track classes at the school.""Wait, you're an actual JSDF officer?"Satomi grinned broadly, happy at the change in subject. "First Lieutenant, just last week." She took a deep breath. "They don't like me talking like that to the new recruits. That was the absolute worst thing I've seen, but you do deserve to know. We ask you to give up a lot, and we ask the people to do the same to support you. It's a war, in every sense. But. . . I trust you can handle it.""I. . . it's a lot to take in."Satomi sighed. "I know. Lucky for you, it's not like signing up for boot camp. If you wanna back out before you get your powers, or after, there's nothing stopping you. That's why there's someone recruiting in every school these days. So, you in?"Alice gulped. There was no one else in the office besides Satomi, and it was obvious she wasn't going to just leave her alone up here. But she needed to look. And there was only one way to do that. "I'm sorry, Miss Satomi." She slid in and quickly tripped the larger woman into the side of the desk, efficiently knocking her out. "I hate this world."<hr />Makoto quickly found herself shoved into a simple apartment. Plenty of space, a single bed in one corner, couch with an entertainment system, a table and kitchenette, plush carpeting. There was a door, probably leading to a bathroom judging by the sounds of running water. Aki grinned at her. "Makopi, geez, left the water running and everything. I swear, for such a tough girl you're putting on the ditzy idol act hard today. No, don't say anything. I've got a date tonight, so please don't try to wander off again, all right?" Makoto nodded helplessly, and Aki grinned. "Good."The door was shut behind her, and Makoto opened up her messenger bag. "Davie, this is bad. . . ""Maybe you should call the others on the radio-davi!" the faerie murmured, when the door opened. Makoto found herself staring at her own naked self, just out of the furo.The other Makoto stared at this for a few moments, and then looked like she was going to faint before Makoto caught her. "Oy, no. You do not get to pass out! The Princess taught you better than that! I know, I was there!""Uhm...yeah, sure. Okay, so I've gone crazy. Six months with no one to really talk to but the doctors and Aki." The other Makoto grinned. "Okay, so, as long as I'm not babbling in the corner but just talking to myself, what are the voices in my head saying now, hmm?" Makoto slapped her other self. Hard. The native Makoto reeled back, as much from shock as from the pain of the blow. "Wait, you're real?""YES I'm real, and what the heck are you doing in here sitting around?!"The other Makoto stared at her as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "How are you not stuck here? Getting a fake identity that'll hold up is nearly impossible. I was lucky to get as far as having a few concerts, but they found me out and . . . well, it was kinda violent, but Egret explained that they don't just let Precure do what they want anymore. I told them I needed to find the Princess, and she put her best people on the case."Makoto stared at her in utter disbelief. "You mean you've spent the past however many months just sitting here while Davie and Johnathon were out there?" There was a long pause. "Wait...what happened to your partner?""I don't know," the naked girl admitted, taking a casual seat on the couch. "We got separated during the fight, and. . . well, I guess she's out there. No clue who Johnathon is, so I'm guessing he's another Trump Kingdom refugee. If he's lucky he's keeping his head down."Makoto blushed profusely. "Could you please put some clothes on?""Why, does it bother you?" she seemed slightly amused. "Sorry, just Aki doesn't seem to mind and I always get a warning before the doctors or Egret come in to chat." She threw on a robe. "Look, I know what's going on out there. But I keep messing up on my tests. Egret says as soon as I can pass for a native she'll let me join the Precure and get back to work.""And that's just it then? Just sit tight, do what you're told, and meanwhile not know what happened to Davie? And just how do you 'join' the Precure without your partner?"The other Makoto shrugged. "Egret said they'd made arrangements..." Davie poked her head out, and the pair looked at her in sheer horror. "What? Why are you giving me a look like that?""You don't know-davi?" The faerie asked."Know what?"Makoto's expression warped from horror to rage. "You IDIOT! The YTF doesn't just 'regulate' faeries! They kill them! Where's Davie!?""I honestly don't know!" The other Makoto backed away. "I don't have any power! They won't let me sing to find the princess, I can't fight the Jikochuu, What do you expect me to do?"Davie snorted. "Makoto never would give up on me. I don't know who or what you are."The girl wearing the robe winced. "So you'd expect me to just. . . throw my life away? Aki isn't the only guard I have, you know. She's a bit of a scatterbrain, but at least she's nice." Another snort, from both of them. "I barely know how to work the computer, there's no way I can get past everyone with powers and guns. Heck, they won't even give me street clothes to wear.""There has to be some way to get that idiot to get you something. The door's not even locked!" Makoto shouted.Her counterpart just shrugged. "Yeah, there is. I'm not that desperate yet. . . or I wasn't. . . I thought Davie was okay, you know."Makoto was about to ask, until she put it together with the earlier comment and turned bright red. ". . . okay, that might have slowed me down for a bit."<hr />Rikka followed Rune down the long spiral staircase, and into a tall room wide enough for a substantial crowd, that stretched off for hundreds of meters. The walls were the same light blue crystal as the archway above, but the noteworthy thing was the heart lockets, each on a small shelf on its' own. On the wall on the left, every locket was cracked in an identical pattern down the left side, as well as most having sustained some battle damage. Rikka looked a little closer, and realized each had a name over it. The wall on the right, each locket was cracked on that side, and no name was given. She looked to Rune, confused. "The ones on the left were hurt too bad to keep going. Or they died. On the right, the ones who are still alive and whole, physically."Rikka gulped. Rune continued on down the hallway. "This is our shrine, and our mausoleum. You caught me on my way down, so I hope you don't mind." She stopped, suddenly, and put her hands up in prayer before one locket for a few moments before moving on. "This isn't what I wanted to show you, of course.""...ah." Rikka winced. "I'm sorry to intrude.""Don't be. I'm sure if you'd met, you'd be friends too." Rune smiled at her. "I do want to be friends, you know.""Ahh...yeah, sure." Rikka chuckled nervously. "Why wouldn't we be?"Rune's face fell. ". . . You don't believe me. Okay, but give me a few minutes. There is something down here I want you to see."The ritual of prayer repeated over a dozen times on the way to the end of the hall, but when they reached it Rikka gasped. The hallway ended in an archway, with ten more shelves surrounding it. But instead of the simple locket, this one held more elaborate items. A thing that looked like a digital watch, blue. A single fold-out cell phone in yellow. Two things that looked strangely like a cross between a flute and a medallion. And two makeup compacts. And one empty shelf. There were no names, but Rikka didn't need them."Karen...Inori...Hibiki...Kanade...Reika...Miy uki...and this place reserved for Mana."Rune again prayed. This time, Rikka joined in. After they had finished, Rune opened the door. "I don't normally go past this room, but. . . you need to see." Rikka nodded, and entered. In comparison to the outer hall, this room was cavernous. There were pillars flanking a long red carpet, leading up to a central dais.Sitting on the dais were two crystal coffins, each containing a fourteen year old girl.Rikka walked up, but she didn't need to see too many details to know who it was. "Honoka...Nagisa..." The corpses were impossibly intact, looking more like they were sleeping than dead. Nagisa even had what looked like a painful bruise on her right cheek, and Honoka's legs were covered in cuts that seemed to be bleeding freshly. But there was no mistaking it. "...why bring me here?! Why show me this when I already knew!?""This is what happens to people who let the youkai into their hearts, Rikka," Rune said dispassionately. "If they'd done the sensible thing, the sane thing, and sided with their own race, they'd still be alive. Maybe we'd all still be alive. Maybe there wouldn't be a room filled with tiny memorials to girls too young to have known what they knew." Rikka gulped, and fiddled with her earpiece, trying to disguise pushing the button as Rune spoke."Maybe Raquel wouldn't have had to die."<hr />Mana knew what hospitals were like, of course. The realities of maintaining a stable environment to promote healing led to a certain sameness in every Japanese hospital, and she imagined throughout the world. The human body didn't vary that much, after all.What made this one different was a certain. . . lack of activity. After all, the whole point of a place like this was normally to save the lives of people who were critically ill. Even when someone wasn't immediately in danger of dying, time would be of the essence. Tests to be conducted, analyzed, treatments to be administered.Here, though, that wasn't the case. The patients here were universally not sick. There were injuries, of course, but there hadn't been a serious attack in days. Mana smiled at that thought. These girls might be the enemy, but she had still been fast enough to spare them some time here.If an Artificial were to fall ill enough to need long-term care, this place wasn't equipped for that. There were no rooms for long-term patients that Mana had seen. That meant the only patients here weren't here to get well. They were here to see if, and how, they died.Room after room of people in nice hospital beds, each room with a nurse observing. No one moved. No one woke up. Glancing over her shoulder, she picked up the clipboard at the foot of one man's bed. While he seemed healthy, at least as far as Mana's limited knowledge of medicine could decipher, he had been clawed open by a monster two years ago. Occasionally, it seemed he hummed some kind of dissonant melody in his sleep.The notes on the file said he should be given morphine if he woke up. A lot of it. Mana nearly dropped the papers in alarm, but then pulled out her camera to flip through and take video, making sure to linger long enough on each page. Then she took the page with that particular direction, folded it up, and slid it and the camera back into her knapsack.Sharuru peeked out. "Is that enough-sharu?"Mana thought about it, but then shook her head. "Even with the copy, I think that can be faked. We need something we can take a picture of that the public will believe. Let's keep looking." She stepped back out into the hallway and went to the elevator. She knew Bloom's invitation ended at the hospital, but no one had challenged her at all. She decided to risk hitting the button to take the elevator, not back up to the Garden, but down below, into a floor labeled "Hot Labs."<hr />Nozomi followed Kokoro through the department store in a fog. Every swish of the purple girl's hips seemed to dash all thought from her head, while the attendants buzzed about, asking questions she didn't pay a great deal of attention to. Finally, Kokoro had selected some things and she was led to the back. The attendants asked for her clothing, and she walked behind a privacy screen, took it off except for her underwear, and handed it to them before they departed.Nozomi stared down at the two outfits she'd been offered. Neither would leave much to the imagination. Or let her keep the radio on. The change room was...well, to be frank, it was huge, with mirrors on all four walls. And instead of a bench, there was a red loveseat under the lighting, which was currently set soft like the outdoors, but a panel she saw on the wall would presumably let her adjust everything.Erika would love this, she thought, turning her attention to the. . . clothes. The first was, had been told, a trainee "PT uniform." It consisted of the bloomers and the T-shirt, with no trim like the others had. The problem was, well. . . it looked a bit too small. She pulled the stretchy bloomers on under her skirt, and found that it would fit, but highlighted every curve and felt just a little uncomfortable. She pulled it off, along with her underwear, and turned her attention to the other outfit.In a way, though, that one was worse. A white mini-dress, with frilly apron and several petticoats, but it only barely came down past her hips, the heels would be impossible to move in, and the "loli panties" to flash everywhere. It was...no. Absolutely not.Why did I even agree to this again? Nozomi asked herself. Sure, that Kokoro girl's cute, but I have a boyfriend. A boyfriend I'm happy with. I'm sure Coco would understand if this was something I had to do but�No.Steeling herself, Nozomi turned to the door and unlocked it. Then her eyes widened as she realized she wasn't wearing a stitch. What the heck? I almost. She forced herself to calm down. Okay Nozomi, it's not your strong suit, but think. She's gorgeous, but you're not usually like this just because. She felt a brief moment of disorientation. Purple. The briefing. . . right, whites can use force bolts, the green ones are really strong, red for fire and blue for ice. What do purple Artificials do? Another brief moment to prevent herself from panicking. I can't remember. It's like� Nozomi felt a headache coming on, grabbing a robe that had been thoughtfully provided and throwing it on. Why am I even here again?With a jolt, she realized she couldn't remember that either. I'm in the Garden, literally surrounded by Precure who want to invade my world, and I can't for the life of me remember why I came! I'm naked...my radio! Where's my radio! She looked around the room but couldn't find it. Oh no, if the attendants have that, they know! I have to get out of here! Without another thought, she slammed the door open.And found herself staring right into Kokoro's eyes again. Those lovely, glittering eyes. Nozomi blushed as awareness of her state of dress, with the robe open way too far in front, returned to the forefront. "Uhm...look, Kokoro, I'm very flattered, really, but I think I need to meet back up with my group. I. . uhm, have a boyfriend, you see.""You do?" Kokoro tilted her head, looking puzzled. She leaned a bit further forward, and this time Nozomi felt her eyes drawn downward helplessly. Why isn't she wearing a bra, with a pair like that? "Who?"The question brought Nozomi back to the moment "...who�?" Nozomi frowned. His name...her boyfriend would have had a name, but suddenly she couldn't recall it. "I...I don't know�""You don't have a boyfriend." Kokoro spoke authoritatively. Nozomi felt herself giggle at that. Of course she didn't, she was being silly. "I have your radio, it's perfectly fine." Oh, Kokoro got it before someone else. She's so thoughtful."Yes, I am." Kokoro purred slyly. "Now, why don't you get dressed for me?"Nozomi blushed deeply. "Uhm...they're a little revealing. Especially the waitress one...I'd be flashing my panties everywhere�""You could not wear them�" the younger girl was definitely purring that one out�Nozomi blushed a little more deeply and squirmed. "Uhm�""Try on the waitress outfit, without the panties," Nozomi suddenly heard Kokoro say. "Then come out into the hall and let me get a good look at you." Nozomi giggled again and stepped back into the room. Feeling rather daring, she slid into the tight dress and put on the stockings, looking over her shoulder. With a blush she realized she'd have to be careful or everyone would get an eyeful.I'd never wear something like this� Nozomi grinned at just how sexy she was. Kokoro seems to bring something out in me� With a shrug, she ventured back out into the hall.And judging by the grin, the younger girl did seem to approve. "Oh my, I have outdone myself�.take a few steps�" Nozomi obeyed, making sure to get the right amount of sway in her step. "Yes, very nice." She turned back to the younger girl with a mock-pout to emphasize the look, getting a smirk in return. "Perfect...you're almost ready.""Ready for what?" Nozomi's eyes widened in alarm, realizing just what she was wearing in the middle of a crowded department store in the YTF. It got even worse when she suddenly realized she was enjoying it, and certainly didn't mind letting the other girl have her way. She was so distracted by the thought that she didn't notice Kokoro's frown until a hand found its' way to her cheek."Relax, Nozomi," The woman felt her face go slightly slack as the hand withdrew. "Don't worry about it. Yes, the outfit's very nice. We'll be taking it, but I think you'd do the other one more justice."Nozomi blushed. "Right...should I go change?""Yes. We're trying not to draw too much attention, right?"Nozomi nodded. "Yeah, right." She went back into the change room, blushing as she heard the door close behind her. She went to quickly remove the 'costume' before looking up, and realizing that Kokoro had entered the room behind her. "Excuse me, do you mind?" she sputtered slightly, voice filled with mock indignation.Kokoro grinned lecherously. "Not at all, the view's fantastic."Nozomi found herself spluttering with slight indignation before ducking behind the privacy screen. Still, she couldn't quite resist the urge to slow down, giving the girl a good look at her silhouette. "You'd better not be peeking.""Wouldn't dream of it," although the tone Kokoro used suggested it was on her mind.Nozomi peered out and blew a raspberry before she returned to the relative cover of the diaphanous fabric. Slowly she pulled on her new uniform. First the bloomers, which she now realized had been uncomfortable because they were also designed to be worn without underwear. When she got to the shirt, she giggled and tied it up in a knot just under her breasts. Yeah, that's better. Somehow it just felt right. Another few moments to pull on the socks and sneakers, and she was ready. Stepping out from behind the relative safety of the screens, she spun around on the tips of her toes. "What do you think?"Nozomi thought she saw Kokoro looking vaguely pensive for a moment, but the good, long look at the change had her switch to an expression that was practically drooling. "I think you'll fit right in around here."<hr />Yayoi paced. The door behind her had locked itself, which she discovered when she tried to back out and maybe find another way, or just go back to the apartments. It wasn't exactly like they needed one of Peace's weapons, even if it would be helpful. But she had to try."Well, it's worth a shot," she decided, speaking under her breath, before addressing the mark. "Sparkling and shining, Jan Ken Pon!" She even threw out her fist.There was a buzz sound, and the monitor showed a picture of a hand. "Voice print match. Incorrect pass code. One incorrect guess remaining. Failure to positively identify will result in immediate loss of all privileges, followed by death."Yayoi was terrified, and nearly tried to bolt out the door again. WhatdoIdoWhatdoIdoWhatdoIdo?!It took her almost a minute to calm down, but apparently the computer would be content to wait for her for hours. She took a deep breath and thought again. Okay...that's what I'd use for a pass-code if I were protecting my own computer. But that was dumb, even if I tried it someone would have made me do something better. So. . . what's the least amount of effort. . . "I will protect the smiles of the world!""Voice print match. Pass code match. Welcome, Cure Peace." The voice chimed out, and the door opened to a large, warehouse-like room. Against the back wall were four of the suits of power armor. But that was so far away Yayoi couldn't tell the exact distance. The rest of the room was dominated by industrial machinery, all emitting loud noises. Pounding, grinding, heating, cooling, sparks flying every so often. It wasn't so much for 'maintenance' as 'assembly' of the large parts of each suit of armor.Yayoi crept along one side of the room, not even acknowledged by the various engineers and mechanics looking at their tablets. It sounded like Peace had ordered some new weapon, and the whole of the place was abuzz. But there wasn't time for that now. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be finished before she was gone from this universe, she hoped. So instead she climbed the ladder up just over a meter to the cockpit of the closest mecha.And found herself staring a smiling Peace right in the eyes.For several seconds, neither girl spoke. Yayoi was terrified � this girl had calmly jumped between asking for autographs and blasting enough ordinance to destroy a tank! Meanwhile, Peace was just smiling at her. At least at first. Slowly her smile turned to a frown, and then she suddenly asked. "Well, aren't you going to monologue?"This seemed like the last thing anyone would say. Yayoi couldn't quite comprehend it before she found her voice again. "I'm sorry?""Well, you're my evil twin, right?" Peace cocked her head curiously. "Shouldn't you be, y'know, evil?""Uhm. . . how do you know you're not the evil one?" Yayoi asked, hoping to maybe confuse her.No such luck though. Peace beamed. "I'm the super-cool warrior for Justice who fights evil in her awesome giant robot! You're the one who works for the bad guys who want to unleash the evil forces on our world."Yayoi's expression was one of completely blank incomprehension. ". . . but that's not what we're doing at all! You attacked us!"Peace cocked her head again, the words seeming to bounce off a barrier in her head. ". . . So you're. . . not the bad guys?"Yes, she does understand! "That's right! We're trying to protect our world from evil, the same as you, but your superiors didn't trust us to do it!"Peace looked down at her feet, clearly processing this new information. Yayoi waited, hopeful that they wouldn't have to fight, when Peace looked up again. "Okay, I think I get it now.""Yes! Now, uhm, I kinda need to steal a mecha so when the fighting breaks out we can be on the good guys' side." Yayoi tried nervously, afraid someone would raise the alarm.Peace completely ignored her. "You're the ones who are going to unleash the ancient evil because you don't know any better, and we have to stop you."What the heck?! Yayoi really didn't know what had led her counterpart to that conclusion. "Uhm, no, we're not unleashing any ancient evils.""Of course you are. Your superior officers probably just didn't tell you!" Peace reached out to pat Yayoi on the shoulder comfortingly. "Happens to me all the time." When Yayoi was too stunned to answer right away, she continued. "Of course, I still have to stop you, but I can't kill you because you're not one of the bad guys really. So I have to beat you, and then you'll be my bestest friend slash subtexty romantic partner for all time. Or maybe we won't go subtexty, you are pretty cute! Oh, am I allowed to say that?"". . . I'd rather not fight. . . " Yayoi gulped nervously.Peace nodded. "Of course not. You had to leave your mecha back home, right?""Actually, I don't have one. We don't really have anything like officers, we're just a group of friends," Yayoi tried to explain again.Peace stared at her for a very long moment. "Well, this won't do at all!""It won't?" Yayoi was close to giving up on following the twists and turns in her doppleganger's torturing of logic.Peace shook her head dramatically. "No, of course not. You're my rival right now! It absolutely won't do for you to not have your own mecha. Take the one on the far right.""Huh?""For our duel, of course!" Peace grinned. "Never used one before, right? It's really easy, I'll give you twenty minutes to practice!"Yayoi swallowed. "Uhm...can I interest you in shogi instead?""Never play it," Peace said flatly. "Besides, this would be such a cool place for a fight!""Well, yes it would. . . ""Then, it's decided!" Peace grinned. "Transform while I clear the room, and then get suited up!"<hr />"It's time." Gemini sighed, and started out first, still in her human form. When she reached the center square, she stopped, and announced herself. Thanks to Regina, her voice carried throughout the square. "My name is Aida Mana. I was once an ordinary fourteen year old girl. In another life, I stayed that way. Here, instead I was brutally attacked, and nearly killed. I only survived by the most extraordinary of coincidences, and now I'm something other than what I was. For being so lucky, I've been condemned to torture and death by the people who once said they were sworn to defend me." By now, everyone had stopped and was staring. "PRECURE, LOVE LINK!" Her cloak billowed out behind her. "The Star of Love, Cure Gemini!""My name is Yotsuba Alice." Alice had stepped up behind Gemini, but was now being allowed to take the front of the stage. "I used to be called the most powerful child in Japan. My father prepared me to take over his company when he retires. Most of you have probably seen the results of some of my hard work, before things went wrong. I had the good fortune to be Mana's friend. I swear, you have never known someone kinder, more willing to help, or more generous than Mana. She gave everything of herself, and when the opportunity came, she gave up the chance to live a normal life. How could I not do the same for her? And how were we thanked for this? Hunted like murderers, like wild animals. Forced to live in the wilderness. No more!" She took a deep breath. "PRECURE, LOVE LINK!" Another flash of light. "The Star of Compassion! Cure Sagittarius!"To this point, the crowd had just been stunned, but they looked like they might be ready to break and run. However, this was when someone else stood up. Hino Akane was a known Precure, a national hero and former member of the YTF. "You all know who I am. Hino Akane, or Cure Sunny to most of you. For four months, I fought against the darkness. Some people thought that the Akanbe were silly, that compared to some of what we'd seen in this past decade that this was getting to be routine. Then the Wicked Witch attacked the airport with that depression spell. After that, it wasn't so funny. I sweated, bled, and cried for all of you."But I'm not here to talk about me, but a dear friend. You knew her as Cure Happy. To me, she was Miyuki. Today, I stand here for her. When Cure Peace first got her 'upgrade' she couldn't control her fire. We had been told to try to capture Mana, and instead she tried to kill this girl whom we were told we were only trying to talk to. Miyuki protested, and for her trouble, she took a blast of minigun fire. Cure Peace is still a member of the Task Force! Did any of you hear about Miyuki? Or about Reika, who tried to help her. My only regret. . . is that I didn't have the strength to stand up to them at the time." She pulled out her compact. "PRECURE, SMILE CHARGE!" Flame wrapped around her body, and a few moments later Cure Sunny stood before the YTF for the last time. "The fire of the sun, hot-blooded power! CURE SUNNY!"Gemini and Sagittarius may have been inspiring little more than fear, but during Akane's short speech they had stopped running and started gathering out of curiosity. Now, however, it was the turn of someone who had been calculated to draw them in. "My name is Kasunogo Urara. My story isn't that different from Akane's. For two years I gave of myself. When I wasn't fighting, I was singing, acting in television and movies. You said you loved me. I think. . . maybe, you even believed it. But then new threats came. Our powers, mine and my friends, we were obsolete, couldn't do more than hold back the tide. We would have been fine with this, but then these people offered a way to make us relevant to the fight again. We could be helpful."Urara spat on the ground in disgust. "Many of you know the results, but not what led to this. Cure Nightmare. The 'rogue' Precure who has put so many of your family members into an eternal slumber. She was once Cure Dream, and it was the YTF's experiments that killed the wonderful young woman she once was and left that horror in its' place. But that's not the end! CURE EGRET! I know you're in there! You promised to help heal her! But no, a scant six months later, you claimed she was too useful to you! She could fight the new monsters and win, so who cares if she's insane? No funding, you said! Instead you just let her loose!""And when I tried to get the truth out, you ruined me! Made sure my career ended, took every cent out of my accounts, left me penniless, shamed me in front of my loving family and told them that if they had anything to do with me they'd be the same!" She snapped up her wrist. "PRECURE, METAMORPHOSE!" When the crowd could next look at her, she was changed. "The effervescent scent of lemon. CURE LEMONADE!"Gemini nodded. "But all of this, all of these crimes. . . this isn't why we stand up today and say 'no more.' After all, we all know the truth. You're scared. The youkai aren't like anything the human race has ever faced. Even I can admit that. Almost everything that you've ever been told about them is true. Almost." She turned to Regina with a smile. "Love. . . "Regina took to the impromptu stage. "I'm not like the others you've seen already. You don't know who I am. My name is Regina, and I'm the daughter of King Jikochuu, the youkai who has been threatening your world." She held up her hands to forestall the black muttering that had begun. "No, I'm not human, but please. You've allowed faeries to stand with you before. I swear to you, I mean no harm. I just want to talk.""When this started, I wanted to do. . . well, what my father wanted. The destruction of this world. But then I got here. And I saw all these beautiful things around me. Sure, there was ugliness too. Every human heart has a trace of Selfishness in it. And that's what I thrive on. I thought father was right. . .until I met one human." She looked to Gemini meaningfully. "She taught me that there's something to love in everybody. To appreciate the whole song of the human heart, not just the minor keys I could hear."It hurts more than anything to be here, to give of myself to try to save you from yourselves. But I do it anyway, because she taught me. You're worth it. If I can learn that. . . are all faeries so dangerous that they deserve nothing but oblivion?"Regina took a breath. "That's. . .that's all I ask of you, that you think. But there are a few more people who would like to address you today. After all, I'm not human. I can't answer how you're supposed to act. So we brought someone who can."Suddenly, all eyes were at the far entrance. After all, no one had expected to see those three people again. Ever."Emissary of Light, Cure Black!""Emissary of Light, Cure White!""Sparkling Life, Shining Luminous!"The crowd parted, allowing the three to join the group and address them. Black decided to interject a bit of humor. "Sad to say, and despite what you see in front of you. . . rumors of our deaths were not greatly exaggerated. We come from another world, but I assure you, we are Cure Black and Cure White."White gave Black a slight glare. "My partner and I want to tell you today about what happened in our world. In our world, there was no government agency monitoring our every move. We were on our own, but people had hope. The magic came easily, because everyone knew they were safe. We grew through our own trials, and became stronger."Black smiled. "That's not to say we didn't have help. We never knew the support we had, from a few hard-working adults. When I came of age, I was asked to join them. We don't exactly hide the Precure from the public, but we make sure they can go about their ordinary lives. For ten years, our world has been safe. . . until yours tried to invade. It was only thanks to Cure Gemini that we discovered the invasion before you came for us. Our world did nothing to you."Luminous looked up. "And still, we are not here to fight. We are only here to ask that you please, please consider what your government is doing for you, and to you."Gemini stepped up again. "And. . . that brings us full circle."As Gemini was about to wrap up, though, two people stepped out of the pyramid and onto a balcony. "That was very nice, Cure Gemini," Everyone looked to the new speaker. Cure Egret easily leaped down the ten stories to the ground level. "For a minute I almost started to buy it myself. But maybe you people need a reminder. This part of Tokyo, nine years ago almost to the day, was destroyed. Over two million people died to a youkai attack. Can you bring them back?""Ten years ago Japan was a country lost, our people stagnating, economy barely moving. Now look at your lives! You have jobs! Even better, you're working fewer hours now! The building behind me houses the capacity to produce more energy in a day than the world uses in a year! Our nation is now the mightiest economic power in the world! America, China, Russia, all bow before us, begging for our bounty!"Ten years ago," Egret continued, with a sly glance at Gemini "...a coma patient who awoke could look forward to years or decades of painful rehab. We've made progress in the field of cybernetics that couldn't even have been dreamed of without access to the power of magic! We're on the verge of breakthroughs in cancer research, diabetes, possibly even in a few decades death itself." She turned her attention to Cure White. "So tell me, how's your world doing on those?" When White couldn't answer, she smirked. "I thought so. So tell me, people of Tokyo, which do you prefer?"<hr />Rikka backed away from Rune slowly, a hand grabbing Raquel firmly. Mostly because the faerie had reacted to that line predictably, trying to throw himself at the ranting Cure, who was now paying no attention whatsoever. "I guess your world just got lucky. Again." Raquel winced. "Mana must have run into them or something. Raquel, did you ever tell them what your real plan to fight the Jikochuu was?"Raquel blinked, several times. "What are you talking about-raqu?"Rune's eyebrow quirked. "Guess you never met up with Makopi. The faerie idol. We already knew about the power music and magic can have together, after Inori. Technically, she's still alive, if you can call that alive. The Melody of Happiness did a pretty good number on her head. A human just couldn't handle it. Burned out her cerebral cortex completely, extensive damage to most of the rest of her brain. But hey, it worked as advertised, right? She's happy. In fact, she'll never be anything else ever again."Rune's bitter laugh sent chills down their spines, but Rikka found her voice quickly. "Okay, so that's bad, but what does that have to do with Raquel?"". . . sorry, I seem to have gone off on a tangent." Rune coughed. "Right. So, Kenzaki Makoto. She confessed to the whole thing in custody. It was diabolical, and a lot more clever than we'd come to expect from faeries out the gate, but then, she was alone. Just her and one savvy partner faerie. So they come up with a plan. Fake identity, then build up a reputation as an idol. She worked a very subtle spell into her music, made you like listening to it. So easy...then her rep rises higher, until she gets on national TV."Rikka shook her head. "Makoto wouldn't do that!""Makopi was backed in a corner! She didn't think we'd help. So she was going to make us help. Turn everyone who listened to the broadcast into her smiling, happy little soldiers against the Jikochuu. And Raquel was involved."Rikka shook her head. "How do you know? Where's your proof?""She CONFESSED! I saw the interviews, the plans!" Rune shrieked. "So I brought Raquel to their new lab. The machine. And I threw him in, and I pushed the button. It was quick, and painless." She held up her Artificial Commune. "Not like I would have died if he'd had his way."Raquel had gone completely quiet. Rikka stared at her, mind blank. ". . . you're mad.""He was going to kill me! Someone was going to do it, and I wasn't going to let it be anyone else!" Rune screamed, almost incoherently. "I TRUSTED HIM AND HE WAS GOING TO KILL ME!"Rune's scream suddenly cut off with a choking noise. She doubled over, her eyes widening.<hr />The idol Rune was ranting about listened on a pair of headphones plugged into Makoto's radio. "I. . . I don't know what she's talking about! I never said anything like that! We were just looking for the princess!" Her breath came in shallow gulps as she turned to her counterpart. "Y-you believe me. You have to believe me! I never did anything like that!"Makoto shook her head. "Do you see, now? This is how they work. Keep you separated, lie, confuse you. . . "". . . where's Davie? WHERE IS SHE?!"Makoto paled. "I don't know. But she's probably. . . it's not good."Then there was a scream, before the Makoto of this universe passed out.Davie shook her head. "She took that hard-davi."Makoto just snorted. "We're better off. Coward. I hardly believe she's me."Davie considered arguing for a moment, then just sighed. "Let's find a way out of here-davi."SCENE BREAKAlice tried to remember all those 'data security' lessons given to the employees at Clover Media. Don't make your password easy to guess, don't write it down, if you do write it down don't keep it near your computer. She knew people broke the rules all the time, since it was a constant struggle at Yotsuba.She didn't know how long Satomi would be out, but she needed to be gone before the woman woke up. Still, with those rules, it didn't take much to figure out where to look. On the third keyboard she flipped up, she found it. A sticky-note, the user name, and four passwords. "Lance, keep an eye on Satomi, please." She sat down at the terminal and booted it up."All right-lans." The bear-like faerie floated over the girl. "Alice, are you sure this is all right-lans?"Alice plugged in a USB stick with a sigh. "No. This isn't right. I feel like. . . no, I am a thief. I'm breaking the law, working with Yakuza. I don't want this. I don't want to be this.""Then why are we doing it-lans?"Alice choked slightly. "Because if we don't, it'll be worse." She did a quick search for document files and started downloading them to the flash memory. "We just need to see this solved. Otherwise, we'll lose both worlds."Lance looked back down at the girl Alice had been forced to knock out by the circumstances. "...I don't like this-lans. But I can feel the darkness growing-lans""I know. I almost think I can feel it now, like a tingle in my fingertips. Something's happening, isn't it?" Alice suddenly felt her blood run cold.<hr />If Mana were to call the hospital above "sterile" the place she now found herself could only be "dead." As the doors opened, the first thing she noticed was the sound of fans, so loud she almost couldn't take it. The walls were painted such a bright white that the dim lighting above her head seemed almost like daylight. The walls were angled outward, meeting at about the height of her shoulder and at the ceiling to make the hallway hexagon shaped. She was just about to wonder about that when she saw a long, robotic arm rolling through a track in the wall, folded flat against it to allow humans to pass by.Being very careful to keep her arm out of the way of any other manipulator arms, she proceeded further in. Most of the doors she passed were closed, but the very first open one she passed was bad enough that she gasped.Row after row of glass tubes were in the room, at least a hundred. And each contained a person. A pale, naked person, with a neat heart-shaped hole in their chest. Next to each of the coffin-like containers was a small flat-panel monitor, displaying vital statistics like heart-rate, blood-pressure, and so on. Their arms were all wrapped in a cloth, with a number of plastic tubes feeding liquid into their arms. Leading away from each was a number of pipesIn the closest tube lay Shika.Mana ran over to pound on it, but she showed no sign of life. "Shika! Wake up! C'mon!"No reaction."SHIKA! I need your help!"Sharuru poked her head out of Mana's bag. "Mana. . . look at her heart-sharu." Mana turned her attention to that point. Unlike at the apartment, where there was white swirling with the black, Shika's chest was now as empty as any other Jikochuu victim's. Mana relaxed."Sorry. There's probably something here to get her moving again," Mana turned her attention to the controls, and sure enough there were a couple of dials that had obviously been drilled into console later, which were lacking on most of the other consoles. Both were currently set to zero. Mana shrugged, and started to turn them up.Shika's eyes opened, and she looked in Mana's direction. She quickly used the unrestrained arm to open the door to the coffin. "What are you doing here?""I'm here to rescue you, duh."Shika hung her head. "I cannot be rescued. I am dependent on the machinery to maintain my independence."Mana blinked. "Surely there's some other way.""There is�" Shika trailed off suddenly. "There might be. In effect, the spell-work is already done. If we found some permanent source of magical energy, and placed it in the void. . . it would not be a new Psyche, but it would empower me."Mana grinned. "I'm glad to see you've stopped saying you're unimportant.""The facts have not changed, but you won't accept them. Arguing is pointless."Mana swallowed. "Oh."Shika swung her legs over the side, and removed the IV band connecting her to the machine. Four trails of blood slowly leaked down her arm, though if that bothered her she gave no sign. "I do not know where we can find something that will work, but I would suggest following�." she looked to the ceiling, with a number of pipes and conduits. "...that one. The others are labeled, but that one�"Mana nodded. "Right."<hr />Walking along the winding paths of the Garden's 'exterior' again with Kokoro, Nozomi couldn't help but feel every eye on her. "I thought you said this would avoid attention.""It will. They're just checking you out," Kokoro wrapped an arm around her waist. "Can't say I blame them. You're the prettiest girl to come here in months, and the Garden attracts the best in Japan."Nozomi blushed as Kokoro's hand slipped lower momentarily. "Yeah, I kind of noticed that everyone's a little...uhm�"She felt Kokoro's shrug. "Eh, you get used to it. Most of us know that this is a dangerous job. Most of the girls you see here will be gone in a year, two at the outside. Life, and youth, is short. Seize the moment." The hand slipped lower again, although Nozomi didn't blush this time.The pair rounded a corner, and right into a couple of older teenage girls, a Green and a Blue Nozomi noticed. They ogled her quite openly for a moment, but then they spotted Kokoro next to her and muttered darkly, stepping past. While Nozomi couldn't make out what they were saying, the looks they gave the purple girl seemed like they were nothing short of terrified of her "Uhm...what was that about?""Maybe they're jealous?" Kokoro tried lamely, but Nozomi pulled away at that."That wasn't jealousy, Kokoro," she said, her voice firm. "They're afraid of you, and you're going to tell me why."Kokoro fingered her purple heart pendant. "The Purples in general aren't well-liked," she sighed in exasperation. "There's only a few of us, I think five. They tried to 'upgrade' some of the Whites with empathic powers. Instead, well, I'm a full-on telepath. Read and control minds." Nozomi raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. Kokoro's voice trembled in genuine fear "They probably think I'm controlling you."Nozomi blinked several times, then began to laugh, much to Kokoro's astonishment. "Oh, don't be silly. We're friends, right?" She bent down at the knees so she could look up into those wonderful purple eyes. "You wouldn't do that to a friend, right?""...no, not a friend," Kokoro muttered, stepping back.Nozomi nodded. "Good."Kokoro threw an arm back around her waist, this time not even bothering to disguise her intention with her hand. "Just forget it. What say I show you something that isn't on the usual tour. Say, my apartment?"<hr />Makoto pounded on the door, her counterpart passed out behind her. "It's no use. I don't get these computerized locks at all and I can't force the door open even a crack."Davie frowned. "Maybe we should transform-davie?"Makoto shook her head. "Not until the others are ready to leave, but let's call Alice for help." She pulled out the phone, letting Rikka and Rune continue to talk to each other. "Alice, I've been locked in one of the apartments. The locks are all on a computer. Do you think you can do something?"Meanwhile, still in the office, Alice looked over at the woman she had knocked out. "I have to start getting out of here quickly. Do you know where you are?"It took Makoto a minute to remember. "Can you remember the buildings when we were brought in? It's the big one on the right, top floor." She thought for a moment. "I'm gonna need help carrying someone out."If Alice was surprised by this news, she didn't show it. "Who?""Me."Alice thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not sure what I've got, but if you think we've got to rescue yourself, we'll do that."<hr />Rune's scream suddenly cut off with the first pulse of blackness that radiated from her body. Rikka took the distraction for the godsend that it was. "Raquel!" The faerie changed into his Commune form, and a moment later Rikka was Diamond. ". . . Rune?"There was another pulse, and Rune looked up at Diamond in terror. "Wh..what's going on?" She groaned again, nearly falling to the ground. "This...this isn't what I wanted...not how it's supposed to be�" There was another pulse, but this time she didn't seem to have the strength to make noise. Instead she shuddered, and breathed out a last few faint words. "I just wanted Mana to look at me again. Just wanted her to see me." Then, suddenly, she chuckled. She started to stand up again, the chuckle turning to laughter, brushing her hair back to reveal a pair of tiny bat wings. "I see now. I finally get it. We weren't just killing them down here at all...ripping them down to the fundamental energies that make them what they are and shaping it...of course there were consequences�" She started to laugh, yellowed eyes opening. "And I just had the bad luck to be the only human down here whose heart was open to them...or is that the good luck?""Rune? Are you all right?" Diamond rushed to her side, trying to help the girl stand. "It doesn't have to be like this...I'm sure we can purify you, if you want?"Rune laughed out loud at that. "Oh, you are just too precious." She stepped back, giving Diamond a smoky look. "The barrier's falling. This whole city, just filled with hearts failing to grasp that they're being led right to their doom by their own saviors. But as things stand...the Jikochuu need leaders. It's in their nature. Five dead now, two in these very halls. Two in the Trump Kingdom and one by the hand of the girl who should have been me."Diamond swallowed audibly. "You're not making any sense!""Probably not. You're human."Diamond understood in that moment. "And you're not.""Not anymore," Rune admitted, twisting from side to side. "Hmm...I will give the scientists one thing. Someone's got good taste."Diamond shook her head. "To be frank, I'm not quite sure how they convinced you to dress up like that."Rune shrugged. "Me neither, but now? I like it." She chuckled. "Now, let's see...what to do first. I mean, as long as I've got the run of the place and the apocalypse is twenty minutes away, need to make it count." Diamond fell into a ready stance, looking to say something, but that just got a laugh. "Oh, seriously. I'm still you. Do you really think you have the slightest chance of convincing me to stick around if I don't decide beating you up is the best use of my time?" She paused for a moment, considering that. "Although I guess that could be fun if I get around to it. Make you scream."Diamond shuddered. "What are you planning to do, then?""First, I think I'll go find Mana." she purred her response out."NO!"Rune raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? Now that is interesting. And I think I know right where she is. Sadly, it's warded against teleportation, but I can reach the entrance. So. . . a little game. If you can reach her first, I'll leave her to you to have your way with. Of course, if I get there, I'll take the both of you."Diamond snorted. "You make it sound dirty.""Oh, if it isn't yet, it will be. I'm just nudging things along." Rune vanished.Diamond glanced down at Raquel, and they ran.<hr />Unaware of the various kinds of Hell about to break loose above them, Mana, Sharuru, and Shika pushed through the underground. Every so often a robot would pass by them on the way to some task or other, but beyond that the whole place was silent. They passed door after door, only opening them briefly to make sure they were following the same pipe and for Mana to take additional pictures.The rooms in question seemed to run the gamut, from a number of simple rooms with row after row of tall machines covered in LEDs, to the more exotic like one lined with tubes full of fluid, each containing a human heart, all beating in perfect time.It was at this room that Shika finally showed a hint of frustration. "You are wasting time. You lack the context to interpret what you are seeing." Mana just kept on taking snapshots. Shika tried again. "This room obviously contains an experiment in individual organ cloning. I have little doubt one or more of these is meant for my use."Mana stopped taking pictures and looked at her in confusion. "I thought your artificial heart was meant to be permanent.""This is true. It is based on Labyrinth's biotechnology, which was far superior to our own." Shika glanced at one of the hearts out of the corner of her eye. "The most likely explanation is a rival research group decided to try to improve upon things."Mana shook her head. "I can't believe they'd play with your life like that.""After everything you have learned, this surprises you?" Shika asked, now the confused one. "However wasteful, the pure research being conducted in medicine is intended to save lives. I fall into a legal gray area, and my treatment tends to vary according to need as a result." She shook her head. "This said, if you are looking for ethical violations, this is not the approach you should be taking. You are looking for where they keep the prisoners they intend to experiment on.""I thought that was in the hospital." Mana was confused again.Shika gave her head another little shake. "Not quite. That is where the patients are kept. The distinction is subtle, but important. Patients are technically here either by their own will or, in most cases, the will of their families. Prisoners are not."Mana swallowed back her nervousness. "Where would we find them?""I suggest we continue to follow the pipe carrying magical energy."Mana blinked. "Why?""Humans do not generate magic the way faeries do, we can usually only steal it," Shika explained coolly. "In some ways, Precure are no longer strictly human, as you have been..." Shika seemed to need a moment to find a word that wasn't offensive. "Modified to begin producing magical energy on your own. Although that is splitting hairs. The question remains � if humans cannot be a source of magical energy, where does that pipe lead?"Mana turned so pale that only her hair color distinguished her from Shika. "We have to hurry,""I don't believe we do after all," Shika pointed out, but Mana turned and tried to open the next door, only to find it locked. "This is the first secure door we have come across. And with the nature of the security at this point, that can only mean they are attempting to keep something in."Mana nodded, and examined the door. "I don't think we can open it.""You can. Or, rather, Cure Heart can."Mana glanced at her nervously. "Is that really a good idea?"Shika shrugged. "It is either that, or leave without your information or my artifact. This is the only place that is locked, so it is the place you wish to go. Choose."Mana shook her head. "Has anyone ever told you you're weird?""Most are less polite.""Sharuru?" The faerie gave a grim nod, and then Cure Heart put her hands against the door. She pushed in, grunting with exertion until the metal gave a faint groan in reply. She then threw it open with a loud metallic clanging noise, causing only a soft ping to echo through the room. "Well, so far so good." She lifted the camera and they stepped into the room together.<hr />During the remainder of the walk, the fog in Nozomi's head had been steadily increasing, and so had the pleasure. She no longer cared about the looks the Precure were giving her. She just had to listen to Kokoro, purring in her ear, telling her everything would be all right, and it was. There were some vague, troubling half-memories continually threatening to pop up, but a wandering hand dispelled those just as easily. All she had to do was stay close to the girl who had stolen her heart with a glance and everything would be fine.Kokoro said so.Nozomi couldn't remember when they'd entered the apartment block, but that was okay too. All she knew was that she was standing in front of Kokoro's apartment. The moment the door opened, Nozomi was overwhelmed by another wave of dizziness. She just couldn't remember the last time she had wanted so badly, but it seemed to be more than that. The apartment itself was an example of insane luxury, money without taste run wild. Kokoro had simply filled it with whatever expensive furniture had suited her fancy at the moment, and the result was a mismatch that almost made her eyes hurt. But it was still her new home.Kokoro said so.Without a word, she stepped into the place and felt the door close behind her. She turned around. "Kokoro. . . I love it." Then she paused, and looked at the place again. "Wait. . . this is. . . ugh. . . you're doing something to me. . . ""Yes, I am," the purple-haired girl admitted in a quiet voice. "I may not be able to leave the Garden, but it's still the only safe place that exists for us. I can't let you do what you were going to, Nozomi.""What was I going to do?" Nozomi asked, her voice a plaintive whine. "What was so bad?"Kokoro sighed, and waved her hand in front of Nozomi's eyes. "You don't want to remember."Nozomi blinked rapidly. ". . . I want to know, Kokoro. I. . . I think I love you, but . . . "If Kokoro was startled by the sudden resistance, she didn't show it. Instead she sighed. "Nozomi. . . how would you feel if youkai burned your family's house to the ground?"". . . scared."Kokoro nodded. "There's never been an attack in the Garden. There never will be. As long as we're here, we know we're safe. If word got out that anyone was here. . . the adults would . . . " Kokoro swallowed. "That's why I got to you first. All you have to do is relax and you'll be fine."Pleasure swept over Nozomi's mind, starting to wipe things away, changing them. At first, she just couldn't resist, but then her eyes opened again. ". . . but. . . why?""You're too beautiful. Not your body, my sweet, sweet Nozomi." Kokoro held her close. "I love your heart. I can't bear to see it just. . . gone. But you sealed your fate by stepping in here. It's either try to shape you, like a beautiful gemstone. . . or let them smash you to powder."Nozomi's eyes started to close again. ". . .friends. . . "". . . yes, I know about your friends back home. But you have friends here too. What happened to you here. . . it made your friends very very upset. The ones who lived will be so happy to have you back." Kokoro brushed some hair out of Nozomi's eyes."...need me?"Kokoro purred. "Right. . . they need you..."Nozomi wavered, and then voluntarily closed her eyes, fear creeping into her voice. "Please...help them..."Kokoro blinked in surprise, and then gasped. "Wh..what the...for them you'd let me change you like this?""...yes."The girl's voice wavered. "...even knowing that you'd be. . . with me. . . and it's not..." for a moment Kokoro listened to her own voice. "Oh dear god, what the hell am I doing?"". . . Kokoro?"Kokoro paused. "Remember."And suddenly Nozomi did. Five years of memories in a flood. She would have screamed, but suddenly she felt Kokoro's presence in her mind, not changing or erasing, but protecting, slowly allowing her to re-orient. Suddenly she realized just how she was dressed, what she had done in the shop, what she was about to do with this girl.The slap broke the silence. Kokoro held her cheek. ". . . I'm sorry. I know that's not enough, that can never be enough. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She started to break down into sobs, falling to her knees. "Just. . . just go. Please, get out of here."She blinked as arms wrapped around her shoulders. "What?""Kokoro. . . Thank you. What you did wasn't right, but you were trying to be kind." Nozomi's voice was gentle. "And. . . when it came down to it, you didn't follow through. That's what counts. Another time. . . another story. . . maybe we could have had something. But now I have to go. I still have to save Nightmare."Kokoro looked at her, then stood up. "Th...thank you, but I can't let you go there. By yourself, you'll never make it."Nozomi shook her head. "I have to try.""...I know. Which is why I'm coming too." Nozomi was about to protest, but Kokoro cut her off. "Nozomi, I'm a telepath. Cure Nightmare's power reaches into your mind. I can protect you. For real, not what I was doing. I wasn't lying, you're far too beautiful to let that happen. I love you."Nozomi blinked, not quite sure she'd heard those words correctly. "We barely met a few hours ago.""Telepath," Kokoro said with just a trace of humor. "I probably know you better than you know yourself after what I just did. I know you love your boyfriend, I'm not gonna do anything. . . well, without his permission.""...that's kind of creepy, but I guess I can't stop you." Nozomi admitted. "Can you take me there?"<hr />White could see the situation was breaking down. Gemini and Black both looked ready to start an argument, Regina looking nervously around, Hikari pensive, and most of the others looking to either Gemini or Black. White could also see camera drones hovering around, and many of the video billboards had changed to showing the confrontation from various angles.If this breaks down into an argument, it doesn't matter what we do here, White realized. Egret can just dismiss anything Gemini says after this as the rantings of a lunatic and manufactured evidence.Black took a deep breath, about to say something stupid. White put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. Then she stepped out past the group, approaching Egret. To her credit, Egret nodded to Bloom and the few soldiers behind them, approaching as well, the pair circling around each other. The cameras zoomed in. This isn't a fight you can win with force."You know, back home I'm something of a scientist myself," White began.To her surprise, Egret nodded. "Your counterpart was a genius. I don't deny that you're probably capable.""Thank you. Since you acknowledge my authority, do you mind if I ask a few questions on just how you're coming up with these wonders of the scientific method?""Not at all," Egret smirked. "Of course, you'll understand if I can't answer everything on worldwide television. Especially in front of the girl who admits she came with the latest invaders.""Of course," White glanced sidelong at Egret. "Why don't we start with all those medical advances? I'm a physicist, but even I know it normally takes years to advance a new treatment to a human trial. There are lives at stake, after all.""Well, yes," Egret nodded in acknowledgment. "Of course, we haven't gotten very much to that point yet. A treatment for coma patients just recently reached that phase. I believe you're familiar with the first test subject. Very promising."Honoka resisted the urge to chuckle. She hadn't been on the debate team, but you didn't get to where she was without a healthy appetite for the art. "And just why was Shika chosen for such a trial, particularly since in this case there can't possibly have been any prior testing?"Egret blinked, seeing something change in the Cure's stance. That's not the front she puts on for the public. She may still be transformed, but that's the real Yukishiro Honoka. I have to be careful, she thought to herself. "Of course certain steps have to be skipped when no analogous condition exists. There's no way to do animal testing on Mana's condition. Regardless, full consent was obtained from her next-of-kin. Would you like to see the transcripts of the interview with them?"Honoka considered the possibility of Egret lying, but remembered Shika's words. This was considered too thoroughly in advance. I need a different angle. "She's chosen to go by the name 'Shika' and that's how I will refer to her.""Suit yourself," Egret smiled sweetly, her words laced with honey. "Would you like me to bring 'Shika' up here then? She'll be quite willing to tell you herself that she prefers her current condition, even if it isn't ideal."Honoka considered the offer for a moment, then shrugged. "Assuming she's available. Let's let the public see the results of this 'treatment' and decide for themselves."Dammit. Didn't expect her to call my bluff like that. "Excuse me a moment. It can take a few minutes to unhook her from the life support she still needs." Egret turned and walked back to her group, muttering into her mic. "Get Mana into the studio�"A voice came back a moment later. "...Aida Mana is missing, Ma'am.""What?!" She shouted, more than loud enough for the audience to hear. She managed to get her voice down to a barely audible hiss. "Where's the security footage? What happened?""...ma'am, it looks like...an intruder who looks just like her?" The voice on the other end was confused, while Bloom started to look distinctly nervous.Egret caught it in a nanosecond. "Bloom, how did Mana get into the experimental labs?""I forgot the hospital had an unsecured path there, so I gave her clearance when she wanted to go in," Bloom admitted."Ugh! You idiot! Of all the timing�" Egret turned and coughed, looking back to Honoka. "I apologize, White. It seems that Miss Aida isn't available for comment presently.""That's fine. We can come back to this once you've found her," Honoka grinned like the cat that got the canary.In Egret's estimation, it was definitely overconfidence. I really can't let them see Mana, but in this case ambiguity is better.Honoka continued. "Speaking of which...I find this structure rather impressive. Almost the size of a small city itself, made almost entirely of glass. A defiance of physics, one might say�""Well, architecture is hardly my forte, White," Egret chuckled. "But thank you, the men and women of Japan worked very hard on it.""I'm sure," Honoka nodded. "I assume the black coloration is deliberate. Some kind of solar collectors? You power the city with them, right?""Yes," Egret shrugged. "One of a number of new materials our researches have uncovered. It's an unprecedented find, extracting energy from sunlight far more efficiently than terrestrial methods.""But even at this size..." Honoka pointed out with a triumphant smile "...the surface area of this building is far too small to collect enough energy for an entire city.""It's one of a number of methods in use, White." Egret raised an elegant eyebrow, brushing some hair aside. "The hot labs are dug deep enough to house an experimental geothermal plant, as well as some alternate methods I'm not free to go into in this venue.""Of course�" Honoka frowned. I was sure I had her that time...what are you hiding?<hr />Makoto paced back and forth in the apartment. "What's going on? Where is she?""Maybe you should call again-davi?"Makoto shook her head. "No. She'll be here, just need to give it a minute."A scant minute later, the door opened. Alice was panting from having run the whole way. "We...we need to hurry! Something...something happened. Smoke...at the hospital."Makoto stared at Alice in shock. "What the heck? I thought this place was secure against monsters teleporting in! And none of us did it, so�""We have to help!"There were a thousand arguments that leaped to the front of Makoto's mind. She ruthlessly dismissed them. "...transform?"Alice hesitated for just a moment, then nodded. "What do we do about her?"Makoto shook her head. "Jam the door open and leave her. If she wants to help herself from there, great.""Right." Alice looked to Lance.<hr />Diamond sprinted through the front door of the hospital, not caring about the number of people who were staring at her, or the looks a few were giving her, or the number of Artificials starting to appear. The lobby was a mess, with injured girls all over the place, and a fire lit behind the front desk.That got Diamond to stop for a moment � it wasn't just a random fire, someone had stopped and piled up wood into a stable fire pit and lit it, and had probably used magic to make sure the lobby wouldn't go up because the flames licked the ceiling without spreading. "...she's playing with me."The pause was long enough for Rosetta and Sword to catch up. "Diamond, what's going on?"Diamond shook her head and took off running, the others keeping up easily. "I can't believe it. Rune turned into a Jikochuu, just out of the blue. She said she was going after Mana!""...you're right, I don't believe it," Sword sounded resigned. "It's like everything's going wrong at once. Is Mana answering her radio?""No, and neither is Nozomi," Alice confirmed. "If Rune claimed Mana's alive, there's probably no cell phone coverage where she is. But Nozomi. . . I swear I can't believe she's older than us."Diamond shrugged. "No time to worry about her. Where did Mana go?"Makoto pointed down one hallway in particular, with gurneys overturned and medical supplies smashed and left on the ground. At the end of the hallway was an elevator shaft, the doors wide open. The sign over it said 'Hot Lab.'The three nodded at each other, and jumped.<hr />Nozomi stood before the grove of trees she had seen from the elevator. The creepy thing about it was the size of the trees. Each one looked at least a century old, nearly too big around to get her arms around. But they were too close together, forming a tight barrier around the place. Stretching far above the rest, about a hundred meters in, was a single giant tree with the most perfect leaves, covered in flowers of all kinds. The only entrance was a single path, lined with flowers she recognized as red tiger lilies.Kokoro glanced to the hospital. "Your friends might need your help," she pointed out nervously. "Are you sure about this?""Never more sure of anything," Nozomi acknowledged. "Do you think we're being watched?""At this point?" Kokoro sighed. "I just hope this turns out okay. Do it.""Precure�.METAMORPHOSE!"< ;p>Cure Dream allowed the transformed Kokoro to follow her into the small forest. Once she set foot on the path, the sounds of the Garden faded behind her. Soft harps seemed to play, almost lulling her into a peaceful state before the felt a sharp pinch and turned to see Kokoro's hands held up with a slightly mischievous grin."Kokoro!"The grin grew a bit wider. "Didn't actually touch you, but you needed it."Slightly perturbed, they stepped into a clearing, and vines grew across the gap behind them. But there was no time to worry about their lack of an escape route. In the center of the clearing, at the base of the tree, a giant white rose bud slowly opened, revealing the sleeping form of a fourteen year old Cure. A butterfly-shaped ribbon on her midriff-baring blouse, a skirt that didn't quite come down far enough to cover the shorts that were common to most Cures, and hair done up in loops that were awfully familiar and in perfect condition despite having just awoken, she seemed to exude a strange aura of energy that sapped Dream's own.Dream started as the younger version of herself yawned, then opened her eyes to stare at them. For a few moments, no one moved, and then the younger Nozomi grinned. "Hey there! I'm Cure Dream! Who are you?"