Finally… Finally! I found a way to watch the four seasons of Pretty Cure I wanted to see without endangering my computer! …Apparently. …So far. Anyway, let's see if we can make this work.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Naruto (characters, techniques, abilities) – Masashi Kishimoto

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

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

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

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

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

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

Transformers Film Series – Hasbro, Michael Bay

Transformers: Beast Wars – Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment

Sonic the Hedgehog – SEGA

Gears of War – Epic Games

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

Mass Effect – Bioware

Metroid – Nintendo

Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Gen Urobuchi, SHAFT

The Legend of Zelda – Nintendo

Tōhō – ZUN

RWBY – Rooster Teeth

Pretty Cure / PreCure – Toei Animation

Kill La Kill – Trigger

Cross Ange – Sunrise

Cardcaptor Sakura – Clamp

Sailor Moon – Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha

Sailor Nothing – used with express permission of Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne; please visit his website for SN and his other original works

Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya – TYPE-MOON

Pokémon – Nintendo, GameFreak

PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES

-BOOK 35 START-

Realm STH-17

"So, what's the damage? What did we lose?"

"Well, Boss, the good news is that whoever infiltrated our base, they only took one thing. The bad news is…"

"…No… Damn it, no! I was so close to harnessing its power! It was going to be instrumental in my next plan to take over the world! And now some interloper has stolen it?! Who would dare steal from me?!"

-Break-

"This can't… I'm not…"

'You're a cut above the average merc, to be sure. But against someone on my level, you're nothing. If you want to live, then never show your face around me again.'

A gloved fist pounded the packed earth. Its owner did not notice a new figure calmly striding up from the shadows nearby…

-Break-

It was quite a pleasant surprise: scrying had discovered four more worlds with groups of Light-wielding heroes the DDF could seek the aid of… and they were all PreCure teams! Master Yen-Sid had a feeling they didn't have much time left before Xehanort & Ganondorf started their end-game plan (plus there was also Joker skulking around, Salem plotting on Remnant, and Maleficent had been awfully quiet lately…), but thankfully he & Merlin could still perform the spell that had let Gamma Team travel weeks back in time when they first went to Equestria.

And so, several DDF members got ready to set out; three were going in alone, while a full team was heading for the fourth world. With a quartet of brilliant, beautiful flashes of Light, they made their journey…

-Break-

Realm PC-7

The cheery 14-year-old girl known as Mana Aida was strolling down the street, dwelling on the things she had experienced. So much had happened since she and her friends became Pretty Cures… Recently, the quartet had gone up against 'Bel', one of the Selfish Kingdom's generals, and had received new weapons, the 'Love Heart Arrows', with which they'd sent him packing and rescued Ai-chan. Strangely, the charms that had enabled this new power had come from Ai-chan; just what was she, anyway?

Mana was so distracted by her thoughts that she almost walked into someone, stumbling as she narrowly dodged an impact.

"Easy there" the other person said. "You gotta be careful not to let your head get too far up in the clouds while your feet are still movin' on the ground."

"I-I'm sorry" Mana hastily bowed in apology.

"Hey, it's cool. Don't worry 'bout it."

Mana got a good look at the person. She was an older girl, probably around 16 or 17, with kinda-messy black hair down to her upper back, except for a vibrant red streak in her bangs. Her eyes were deep blue, and seemed to have some kinda weird shape in them when the light hit them right. She was clad in a red & black sailor-fuku outfit, and it looked like it had eyespots that almost seemed to be looking at her the same way the girl wearing it was. This girl had a rough, almost delinquent-like aura to her, but at the same time she had a friendly grin on her face, and her 'aura', for lack of a better term, put Mana at ease.

"U-Um… I'm Mana – Aida Mana. Please to meet you."

The older girl grinned. "Ryūko – Matoi Ryūko."

"I don't think I've seen you around before…"

"I'm kind of a traveler, passin' though, lookin' for people an' places an' things worth noting. Word has it there's been some weird happenings around here lately…"

Mana tried not to look nervous at that, knowing full well what Matoi meant. "I don't know about that…" she said with a slightly forced laugh. "Oh, I'd better get going; my friends are waiting for me. Nice meeting you, Ryūko-san!"

"Take care, kid!" Ryūko waved the girl off.

'Senketsu, is she…?'

'YEAH' the Kamui-turned-Bijū replied. 'YOU FELT IT TOO, HUH? THAT GIRL IS DEFINITELY ONE OF THIS WORLD'S PRETTY CURES.'

"Heh… So much for a long, troublesome search…"

-Break-

The four girls leapt to dodge another attack from the Jikochuu they had engaged in battle, summoned by Mammo near the town's warehouse district. It was 'only' a standard Jikochuu, patterned after a 'small' construction crane, and yet the girls were having trouble doing meaningful damage to it. They were just about to break out the Love Heart Arrows when the dark monster suddenly produced a wrecking ball and swung it in a rapid arc at the quartet…

There was a flash of red, and the wrecking ball went sailing off harmlessly, its chain severed. A lone figure in black & red then casually strolled out from the nearby shadows, fingers twirling what looked like a tiny red sword keychain or something. Cure Heart stared in astonished shock.

"You oughtta be careful swingin' big things around" Ryūko said with a calm smirk. "Someone could get hurt."

Mammo chuckled. "And just who are you supposed to be?"

"A traveling fighter," the teen replied, "come to aid the legendary warriors, the Pretty Cures, against the dark forces that threaten this world. In other words…" she gave a fanged grin. "I'm the bitch who's gonna kick your ass! Ready, Senketsu?"

"Ready!" The girls were surprised to hear Ryūko's clothes answer in a smooth male voice; although still a Tailed Beast sealed within Ryūko, Senketsu had (re)gained the ability to use the outfit that was once his body as a mouthpiece/avatar to communicate with others.

A flash of sparkling red light enveloped the newcomer, as the four Cures and the Selfish General sensed her power flare. When the light faded, Ryūko's hair had lengthened and spiked up partially, and she was clad in a spiky red & black combat outfit; Senketsu's active form was now less skimpy than it was before, covering enough of Ryūko's skin to be considered 'decent', though her midriff and her legs from mid-thigh down were still exposed.

"No way…" Cure Diamond murmured. "A transforming heroine who's not a PreCure?"

Mammo gritted her teeth with a snarl. "Jikochuu! Blast this interloper!"

The construction-crane Jikochuu produced a giant nailgun and fired a barrage of oversized armor-piercing nails. In response, Ryūko weaved a couple of quick hand-seals and exhaled a Hōsenka no Jutsu barrage, her projectiles canceling out the enemy's. Then, with a flash of red light she brought her Scissor Blade into its active form, taking a stance with the crimson sword and then charging. She moved with startling speed, sidestepping a few clumsy attacks thrown her way without losing pace, and when she got close she leapt and sliced the Jikochuu's nailgun in two. The monster swung its fist at her, but she grinned as she ducked under, and with a kiai she struck with a powered punch that made a shockwave in the air and sent the beast skidding back on its feet, a sizable dent now in its metal body.

Ryūko moved in and dealt a barrage of punishing punches, kicks, and slashes, battering and gouging at the Jikochuu's armored body. Enraged, the monster tried to crush her, but she used its easily-dodged limb as a springboard to launch herself high into the air over it, and then wove a quick hand-seal sequence while breathing in, and then…

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

The Cures got another surprise as Ryūko exhaled a huge fireball down at the Jikochuu, engulfing it in a fiery explosion. She landed several meters away with a flourish, as the flames and smoke cleared to reveal a badly-damaged and burnt Jikochuu. She turned toward the Cures.

"Hey, you girls!" she shouted. "I don't have any purification techniques!"

Getting the message, Cure Heart brought out her weapon and fired a Heart Shot at the downed Jikochuu, vanquishing and purifying it. As Mammo growled and teleported out, and the freed & purified Heart flew away to find its owner, Ryūko turned to the Cures as they came up to her.

"Looks like I had good timing," she said with a smile, "right, Mana-san?"

The four Cures startled, especially Heart. "H-How did you…?"

"Senketsu & I sensed your life-force, your magical signature, when we first met you, so he & I can tell it's you. Plus, your voice and your face…"

Cure Sword went on guard, with Diamond following.

"Please, you girls, be at ease" Senketsu spoke. "We come as allies. We represent a group called the Dimensional Defense Force, composed of sovereign powers, human & alien, as well as numerous warriors of justice, united to share tech & knowledge, protect the universe, and stop the forces of evil in whatever forms they may take."

"Interesting thing," Ryūko said, "the DDF has been to several universes that have fictional counterparts in other Realms – Transformers, Halo and Mass Effect, Sonic, Sailor Moon… Oh, and it turns out that Pretty Cures are a multiversal phenomenon."

"Wait, what?-!" Cure Sword said.

Ryūko brought up her Omnitool and displayed the holo-screen, showing images of the HeartCatch, Suite, and Smile teams.

"These three groups have been with the DDF for a few months now," Senketsu explained, "and recently our people detected the presence of four more Cure teams, one of them being you girls. And so, a few of our people were sent to aid you girls, and ask for your aid in return."

"Your aid against whom?" Cure Rosetta asked.

"Bad guys come in all shapes & sizes" Ryūko replied. "In addition to threats that don't really spread beyond the Realms they come from, we've also had to deal with bigger, more widespread enemies. We've already dealt with the Reapers and with the rogue Xel'Naga 'Amon', but now we have reason to believe another player who's caused the DDF quite a bit of trouble might be planning something big."

"Who?" Cure Heart asked.

"An old and powerful dark mage named Xehanort, along with his 'Seekers of Darkness'."

Cure Rosetta froze up, eyes widening. "X… Xehanort…?"

"…The Kingdom Hearts universe has a fictional counterpart here too, huh? Yeah, a few of our people were surprised when the Heartless and Keyblades and stuff started showin' up. And yes, we have some Keyblade-wielders, but so do our enemies. A couple months ago, Xehanort teamed up with another big-nasty, a guy called Ganondorf," (Cure Diamond's eyes went wide with shock), "and we think they and their underlings are finally gettin' ready to make their big move soon. We need all the help we can get, so we've been lookin' over the Realms, tryin' to find more warriors of the Light to help us. Imagine our surprise when we found four more PreCure teams!"

"This is… so crazy…" Cure Diamond murmured.

"…We'll help" Cure Heart spoke up. "However we can."

Ryūko smiled. "And we'll help you girls here, too. Hopefully Xehanort or Joker won't show up to cause trouble while we're at it, though…"

"Who is Joker?" Cure Sword asked.

"A former enemy of the Smile PreCures," Senketsu replied, "who once served as the second-in-command of their ultimate foe, the daemon Pierrot. Though, Pierrot was in a dormant state for most of the time, so Joker did most of the heavy lifting. Although he was killed in their final battle, he was revived later on. He initially worked for Amon for a while, only to survive his second master's death as well. Now, he is a wildcard, going about the Realms and doing what he can to make a nuisance of himself."

"Recently," Ryūko said, "the DDF went to the world of Pokémon, and while we were there Joker awakened Groudon & Kyogre in their berserk Primal Forms, just to see them cause as much chaos and destruction as possible. It coulda gotten real ugly if our people hadn't been there to help contain the situation."

"I feel I must warn you girls" Senketsu spoke seriously. "In all the Realms where the Pretty Cures exist, out of all the foes these heroines of light have faced… Though he may not be the strongest, Joker is the vilest, cruelest, most depraved and gleefully, sadistically evil foe any Pretty Cure team has ever been up against. He delights in causing suffering and despair, more-so than any other PreCure foe in any other universe, and his power & skill enable him to do so with frightening ease. He is Pure Evil. If he comes here, and challenges you girls… you need to run."

The four Cures felt nervous just at the thought of it, feeling a chill.

"Well," Ryūko spoke up, "hopefully he won't show his face around here, and we can focus just on this 'Selfish Kingdom' you girls are fighting."

Cure Heart nodded. "…Wait. You said you people have been to the Pokémon world?"

Nodding, Ryūko opened a tiny subspace pocket and pulled out a pair of Pokéballs. Cure Heart's eyes sparkled, as the dark-clad girl let her recently-acquired partners out to say hello. Ryūko's Pancham struck a pose with his arms folded and a cocky grin, while her Vulpix shook a few embers out of her fur and looked up at her mistress and the newcomers with friendly curiosity. By now, all three of the Earthborn Cures were starstruck, while Cure Sword was already starting to feel the tug of 'cuteness overload' from the little red fox Pokémon staring up at her with a smile.

"Why don't we find somewhere to give each other more detailed explanations, hm?"

"Eh? O-Of course!" Cure Heart shook herself out of her daze. "Come with us back to Alice's house! …Um, but I just noticed something: your transformation doesn't really do anything to disguise your identity, does it? This might cause a bit of an issue, maybe…"

Ryūko sighed as she recalled her Pokémon. "I might have to just not hang out with you girls in your civilian forms in public, probably… Anyway, let's get movin'."

-Break-

Back at the Yotsuba mansion, once Sebastian was caught up on things, Ryūko told the group a little more about her past, both before and with the DDF; the girls learned of how Ryūko had started out cold, violent, mean, and lonely, focused solely on vengeance, but over the course of her long and difficult journey had learned the value of friendship and family, compassion, patience, forgiveness, and true heroism. They were also intrigued upon learning of what Senketsu had become, what there were 11 others of amongst the DDF: the 'Tailed Beasts', beings of immense size and incalculable power, partnered with human (and one Pony) hosts to form a nigh-unstoppable team.

"I'm afraid there's not much I can teach you girls" Ryūko admitted to Mana, Rikka, Alice, and Makoto. "Our power-sets are just too different. I'll do what I can, though – maybe help you get a little stronger and faster, or teach you a couple close-combat tricks or whatnot."

"Any help at all is appreciated" Alice replied.

"So, what's our next move?"

"Unfortunately," Rikka said, "I think all we can do is wait for the enemy to make a move and then react to that. We don't have enough power or intelligence to bring this whole thing to an end. All we can do is deal with the Jikochuu as they come, and keep looking for the Trump Kingdom's princess.

Ryūko sighed. "I hate having to wait for something to happen… but, I guess there's nothing to it, is there? Alright, we'll handle things as they happen for now, and we'll keep looking for your missing princess. …Sorry you girls got such an impatient, rough-&-tumble delinquent girl as an ally instead of someone polite and proper and 'shining truth & justice' and whatnot."

Mana smiled and shook her head. "You're a courageous and kind person who tries to do the right thing, who goes out of your way to help people. I'm glad for the chance to fight alongside you."

The other girls nodded in agreement, and Ryūko smiled. "Thank you…"

-Break-

After an incident where a small, scrawny boy with virtually zero self-confidence tried to improve himself by apprenticing to Mana, only to come up short and be made into a Jikochuu that the girls had to purify so they could then talk him through his issues, the girls ended up getting involved in some sort of 'rose lady' contest. Ryūko quickly recused herself, calling herself "as far from ladylike as you can get".

While there, though, they met a strange girl who introduced herself as 'Regina' – blonde with sky-blue eyes, wearing a red & black dress. She seemed friendly, but at the same time she acted kinda spoiled, declaring that the jewel in Mana's bow was pretty and promptly demanding it.

"Hey, you can't just ask someone to give you something that's theirs outta nowhere like that" Ryūko said with a warning tone.

"Huh?" Regina looked quite confused. "Why not…?"

'This girl… She doesn't know any better? Ah jeez, she really doesn't… Well, they say stupidity is terminal but ignorance can be cured…' "How would you feel if you had something that was important to you, and someone else asked you to just hand it over?"

"I'd be upset."

"Then how do you think others feel if you do that?"

Now Regina looked even more confused, though there was also a flash of surprised guilt on her face as the message at least partially sank home. "…You're smart, née-san."

"It's stuff people normally learn growing up. You didn't?"

"I… I don't know… …A-Anyway, I'm gonna get going now. Bye-bye, Mana-chan, née-san, other girls!"

"…What a strange girl" Senketsu remarked.

Not long after, the girls encountered someone considerably less pleasant than Regina: Reina Itsutsuboshi, an old rival of Alice, a snooty and arrogant girl with a posse of yes-men (er, yes-girls). She seemed to be trying to rile Alice up, stir up Alice's infamous violent temper that was said to come out whenever her friends were insulted, but Alice wasn't taking the bait.

"So, all five of you are competing?" she asked with a condescending tone.

"I'm not" Ryūko spoke up, glowering. "I know that I'm nowhere near 'ladylike' enough for this kinda thing. I'm no 'lady'. I'm just here to support these girls."

As the 'Rose Lady' contest ensued, Reina and her girls did everything they could to sabotage 'Team Mana' and get Alice angry, but not only did it fail, but it ended up backfiring and making Alice look better, to the increasing bewilderment & frustration of Reina. …As a side note, just after the piano presentation portion of the contest, while the judges were deliberating, Ryūko fiddling around on the piano had transitioned to doing a respectable job playing one of her old favorite game tracks (the Chemical Plant Zone theme from the second Sonic game, to be precise). When the judges had asked her why she wasn't participating in the contest, she had sheepishly replied.

"I'm not ladylike at all. I'm a former delinquent, I'm rough and crude, I talk all rough and my voice is deep and scary, I'm trained to use a sword instead of a rapier or naginata or other kind of 'feminine' weapon… Plus, my mother acted ladylike in public, but she was a cruel, abusive, sadistic, evil, black-hearted witch, and I wanna be as different from her as I possibly can."

"…Lots of evil people of the world's history had dogs or played chess or ate sugar or the like; that doesn't make dogs or chess or sugar evil. Just because your mother was both evil and ladylike doesn't mean being ladylike is bad."

"I know, it's just… I've got some hangups of my own, some issues I still haven't fully worked through, even with my older sister's help…"

"What about your sister?" one of Reina's posse asked.

Ryūko snorted. "Satsuki-née is more at home in a military uniform than a lady's ballgown or whatever, all imposing and serious with that deep voice and that katana… Plus, she's got these big, bushy eyebrows! Kinda hard to look 'ladylike' with those fuzzy caterpillars over her eyes" Ryūko chuckled.

As the Rose Lady contest progressed to the finale, a tennis match between Alice and Reina, final attempts to set Alice off failed (and got Reina's goons some bruises when Ryūko foiled their attempt to dump mud on her & the other three Cures), and Reina's frustration led her to make a mistake that cost her the match.

Unfortunately, Reina's humiliated frustration and her jealous yet lonely desire to have the same kind of supportive friends that Alice had made her a prime target for Mammo to make a Jikochuu from. The Selfish Kingdom General promptly fused with the monster to form a giant rose-themed beast, capturing Cures Heart, Diamond, and Sword, and taunting Rosetta about not being able to do anything… and then getting smacked in the face by a flying barrier.

"It's not that I cannot fight offensively" Cure Rosetta explained as she took a stance. "I choose not to. When I was younger, I discovered that insults to those precious to me would send me into a rage, during which I could seriously harm others. Ever since then, I… have been frightened of my own strength, of my own emotions. But… I've changed since then! My emotions are wholly under my control, thanks to the guidance of my friends! This power is to protect those who can't protect themselves! I won't be afraid of it anymore! But you will be!"

The ensuing fight was over briefly, as Rosetta freed her comrades who then blasted Mammo and her monster, purifying the latter and sending the former fleeing. From the sidelines, Ryūko relaxed; she'd been ready to jump in and hack that thing apart the second it looked like the girls couldn't handle it, but she figured Rosetta needed this, so she let the girl have her inner realization and her win.

After all was said and done, however, something unusual happened: when little Ai touched the golden rose that Alice won, a flash of light accompanied the rose turning red… and a small golden crystal materializing. Some examining had brought up a startling discovery; this was apparently one of five Royal Crystals, treasures of the Trump Kingdom that may be able to lead the Cures to the missing Princess Marie-Ange…

-Break-

After that, the girls got their hands on two more Royal Crystals in fairly quick succession. The first had been relatively free of serious drama, other than Rikka's recent involvement in competitive karuta becoming public knowledge. Then, however, Makoto's continued efforts to find where her lost Princess might've gone led her to get involved in an acting gig, but she started to show the strain of practicing for that, schoolwork, and her secret mid-night patrols.

When the cold and seemingly-snobbish actress Tamaki Ootori had felt that Makoto wasn't taking her job seriously and started chewing her out, the worn girl had snapped and inadvertently outed herself as one of the magical girls seen about recently, revealing how everything she'd done here on Earth – becoming an idol singer, joining the 'rose lady' contest, and now taking this acting role – had been done in her single-minded quest to find her missing Princess. And if things were turning out like this, then perhaps she should quit acting, quit being an idol, quit being Makoto Kenzaki and devote herself as the warrior Cure Sword all the time, focusing on finding Marie-Ange and nothing else. Tamaki, realizing just how much physical & emotional damage Makoto/Sword could do to herself if she chose this path, had hurriedly switched from 'lecture' to 'damage control', pointing out that if Makoto tossed away everything but her job as a warrior, she'd burn herself out and essentially kill her own spirit.

"How would your Princess feel if by the time you found her, you had reduced yourself to a cold, empty shell who knows of fighting and nothing else? Wouldn't she be heartbroken, even horrified, to learn that you'd basically frozen your own heart and wore away your soul in your quest to find her?"

When Makoto had collapsed, nearly in tears, lamenting that she didn't know what else to do, Tamaki had explained that she needed to let herself have a life outside of her role as Cure Sword, for her own sake. She'd convinced the girl to admit to her team about her mid-night searches (who had gently called her out on pushing herself so hard and risking her health & stability) and ask them for help, and upon recovering a little Makoto had been able to focus on her acting role, pulling it off with aplomb.

And then Regina had shown up, and revealed herself to supposedly be the daughter of King Jikochuu. She had used her father's magic to force-spawn a Jikochuu from Tamaki Ootori despite the woman not having any selfish thoughts in her at the moment, and the monster had proven so powerful that the Cures' Love Heart Arrow attacks and even Ryūko's blade strikes and flame blasts couldn't overcome it. …But then, Ai-chan had flown in and produced another new set of 'Loveads', enabling the Cure Quartet to use a group attack, the 'Lovely Force Arrow', to purify the monster.

After that, Regina had casually showed up at the girls' school, saying she wanted to be Mana's friend. What's more, Mana had accepted the offer, despite Makoto's objections. Regina had soon ended up causing trouble, trying to get Mana to do stuff with her during school hours and getting jealous of Mana's other friends. In response, Ryūko had pulled Regina aside for a while and gave her a patient but stern talking-to. Mana and the others had no idea what their older comrade told Regina, but at the end of the day the mischievous little blonde left without a fuss, even giving a rather awkward apology… and claiming that she now wanted to consider Ryūko a friend too.

Of course, Ira had then shown up and tossed a Jikochuu at the girls; so much for a peaceful day…

Now, the quintet had come to look for more clues about the missing Trump Kingdom Princess at a spacious statue garden. And who should they run into but…

"Mana-chaaan~"

"Eh? Regina? What are you doing here?"

"I wanna hang out with you and née-san some more" she gestured at Ryūko with a smile. "Can I?"

Mana took a breath. "I don't have a problem with it. We're friends, after all. But… more than just me and Ryūko-san, you need to be able to get along well with Rikka and Alice and MakoPi too, okay?"

Regina looked a little down and confused, but then got a determined look. "I-I'll try! …So, what are you girls doing here, anyway?"

"U-Um…" Makoto floundered for an excuse that didn't involve the Royal Crystals. "We… came to see some of the statues!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Mana nodded. "We heard some of them are really pretty!"

"Hm? …In that case, I found a really pretty statue! Come on!"

She grabbed Mana by the hand, leading her into the garden, the others hurrying to catch up. She led them to a statue of a regal-looking royal woman, carved from white marble with a thumbnail-sized red gem set into the chest. Upon seeing it, Makoto gasped.

"That… That statue looks just like the Princess!"

"Princess Marie-Ange?" Ryūko asked. "What's a status of her doing here on Earth?"

"Hm?" Regina stared. "So this is what the Trump Kingdom Princess looks like?"

"How do you not know?" Rikka asked. "Didn't you see it when your people…"

Regina shook her head. "I actually don't have any memory of being in the assault on Trump Kingdom. …Maybe I slept through it…?"

"Is that a Royal Crystal?!" Raquel pointed at the tiny red gem, the little blue fairy gazing at it excitedly.

"It might be…" Alice mused.

Regina stared at the little gem. "You girls want that little gem? Hmm…"

She floated up, reaching for the statue with dark power shrouding her hand.

"Regina…" Ryūko said in a warning tone.

Stopping at Ryūko's voice and remembering the older girl's lectures, Regina thought for a second before focusing her power into her finger & thumb, bringing her hand in close and very carefully slipping the darkness energy between the gem and the statue's indent holding it. With a second of careful work, she gently pried the red gem out of the statue.

"Got it!" she said happily, coming back down.

She handed it to Mana, but the gem wasn't doing anything. Ai-chan touched it, but there was no response. Sighing, the lead Cure handed the gem back to her strange new friend. "You can hold onto it for now, I guess."

For the next half-hour or so, the six girls (and Senketsu) wandered around, hanging out together. As Regina gradually became a little more at-ease with them, she felt a funny feeling building in her heart. Watching Mana and the other Cures talking and laughing together, she clutched at her heart.

'I… I want…' "…that, too…"

"Huh?"

"I… I wanna be like that, too… with Mana-chan… with… all of you… There's this… feeling in my chest… like my heart is throbbing… I-I don't know what…"

Mana gave the girl a warm smile. "It's because you're my friend – our friend."

"…Friends? I have…?"

Mana & Ryūko nodded, and after a few seconds the other Cures did as well. A beautiful teary smile formed on Regina's face… and then the little red gem in her hand glowed brightly. Startled, she held out her hand, looking down at a newly-formed, ruby-red Royal Crystal.

"The fourth Crystal!" Charle shouted. "We found it!"

"It's so beautiful" Regina stared at it with awe.

"Right?" Mana said with a grin. "Hey, could I see it?"

"So... beau…tiful…"

"…Regina?"

"I… I want it… I want all of them…" She looked up, and her expression had changed. "Give them to me. Now."

"Her eyes!" Ryūko pointed out, shocked. "They've shifted!"

The Cures quickly noticed that Ryūko was right; Regina's sky-blue eyes were now a glowing blood-red color, seething with dark power.

"Something's corrupting her" Senketsu announced. "As soon as she laid eyes on the Royal Crystal, it triggered."

"Give me the crystals, Mana-chan. Give them to me now!"

"R… Regina, snap out of it! Come on! We're friends, right?!"

"Friends? …I… …The daughter of King Jikochuu has no need for 'friends'…"

Then, she flared with dark power, and the nearby sculptor working on a project a handful of meters away doubled over and collapsed as his 'Psyche' sprang forth, breaking free from his body and transforming into a massive Jikochuu of sculpting tools.

"Jikochuu! Take the crystals from them! Do whatever it takes!"

-Break-

In the ensuing battle, Cures Diamond, Rosetta, and Sword were quickly taken out of the picture, but just as Cure Heart was about to meet the same fate, a mysterious new savior arrived: the mysterious 20-something man named 'Joe' who ran the hobby shop in Mana's neighborhood, took care of Ai-chan, and had given the three Earthborn Cures their transformation gems… now clad in fancy knight's armor and wielding a glowing sword. With his Ryūko's help, Heart managed to return her petrified friends to normal, and a Lovely Force Arrow vanquished the Jikochuu and purified its captive Heart. However, the corrupted Regina then made her escape, taking the Red Royal Crystal with her. Ryūko and Mana were especially upset; they had worked so hard to befriend Regina and show her the light, bonded with her, come to truly see her as a friend, only for all that to be suddenly taken away from them…

The strange knight introduced himself as Jonathan Klondike, a surviving soldier from the fallen Trump Kingdom… and fiancé of Princess Marie-Ange. He told of how he'd been on border patrol during the attack, and had arrived too late to be of any help, only managing to discern that the Princess, his beloved, her traveled through the inter-world mirror in her chambers to this Earth, and so followed her through. He'd been searching for her ever since.

At loss as to what to do regarding Regina and the Royal Crystal she stole, the best they could do was move on and try to find the fifth crystal. Fortunately, Jonathan had an idea of where to start: a scenic countryside area dominated by an enormous field of beautiful yellow flowers, just like the ones that Marie-Ange loved back in the Trump Kingdom.

While there, the kingdom-less Knight told of how he and Marie-Ange met, bonded, and eventually fell in love, and how the failure to protect her weighed heavily on him just as it did on Makoto. Unfortunately, the calm and pretty atmosphere was broken as Regina appeared and created a train-themed Jikochuu. After a harrowing chase, Cure Heart managed to force the rampaging monster-vehicle to a halt and then open it up for a group finishing blow, while Regina had promptly retreated before they could try anything. However, the old-style steam engine that had brought them to this tranquil area produced a shining yellow light from its front emblem: the fifth and final Royal Crystal.

Not too long after, back at the hobby shop, the gang had been looking over their four Royal Crystals when Regina had appeared, still crimson-eyed and acting like her mean and bratty old self, and challenged the Cures to a 'game' for the sake of all five Crystals. Ryūko and Jonathan had been left out as the Cure Quartet was sucked into a pocket dimension, where Regina and the 'Selfish Trio' challenged them to a best-of-three series of contests. Cure Heart's earnest pleas actually seemed to briefly break through whatever dark force had a hold of Regina, but then Bel had casually undone her work, bringing the Dark King's daughter back to her cruel, red-eyed self.

The games, of course, turned out to be rigged, and as a result Team Selfish won the soccer-based first round. However, Ai-chan's magic gave Team Cure a victory in the bowling round, leading to a final game of dodgeball to decide it all. …And then, Team Selfish's inherent, well, selfishness led them to turn on each other, leaving the Cures bemused as the evil quartet bombarded each other with dodgeballs and accidentally outed themselves/each other, netting the heroines the win.

Unfortunately, whatever dark force was influencing Regina led her to break her promise to give up her Royal Crystal if the Cures won, and once everyone wound up back in the outside world, she'd taken all five… And then, the five Royal Crystals were suffused in golden light, and then shot off up into the sky, flying away off toward the distant mountains.

A rush ensued, with Alice's faithful and hyper-competent butler/assistant Sebastian ferrying the group to the mountains, close to where the Crystals' tracked signal had vanished. Making their way up the mountain, Jonathan and the five girls soon reached the spot where the Crystals' signature had vanished, only for the 'Selfish Quartet' to appear as well. After a few blows were exchanged, Cure Sword had swung a Holy Sword barrage at the ground in an attempt to kick up a snowy smokescreen, only to expose a massive ice crevasse that Regina had promptly fallen into, with Mana's attempt to save her leading to her falling in as well.

Bel had called a ceasefire, stating that anything bad happening to King Jikochuu's daughter would likely mean the heads of he & his two partners on pikes. Diamond, Rosetta, Sword, Klondike, and Ryūko had descended carefully down into the ice caves below, and thankfully had found Mana and Regina, the latter somehow back to her 'normal' self, blue-eyed and remorseful. They'd also found one hell of a surprise: Princess Marie-Ange, frozen in a giant blue crystal. Unfortunately, the Selfish Trio had then appeared, taking the crystallized Marie-Ange and Regina away with them, despite Ryūko coming within inches of taking Mammo's head off before the teleport whisked them away. Having lost so much so suddenly, the hero group dejectedly headed back to 'home base'.

It was then that the Royal Crystals had provided another miracle: floating in the air, they opened a portal between this Earth and the Trump Kingdom's world. The sextet (and their four fairy partners) made ready; it was time to save their princess and their friend…

-Break-

Realm PC-7b

Things were looking bad. As Diamond, Rosetta, Sword, Ryūko, and Jonathan struggled to fight their way through a small army of Jikochuu, they were forced to watch on a magic holo-screen as Cure Heart held desperately onto a giant thread of spider-silk suspended from a spider-form Jikochuu overhead, Regina hanging onto her back, and both of them dangling over a pit of lava. And the thread, unable to withstand the weight of two people, was starting to break.

"…Hey, Mana-chan? What… am I to you?"

"…You're my friend, Regina. Just like I've said before."

"When I'm with you… I feel light, and warm, and happy. The thought of you being sad or upset or injured hurts me. Seeing you smile feels like everything is good. …What is that feeling?"

"…It's love, of course."

"Love… I see… Mana… Thank you… and goodbye."

With that, a tearful smile on her face, Regina let go, choosing to sacrifice her life so that her dearest friend may live… and then Cure Heart's legs snapped out and caught her.

"Don't you dare give up like this, Regina!" Cure Heart shouted to the stunned girl. "We're not dead yet! We can get outta this! If the thread breaks, we'll climb the walls! If the walls are too slick or too jagged, we'll dig our way free! Don't underestimate Oogai Middle School's Student President!"

"That's… Is that… something amazing?"

"Definitely! It means that for the sake of others, I can do anything! I will not abandon you! I won't let you die for me! We're both getting out of this alive, no matter what!-!"

The warmth and determination from Cure Heart soon flowed through Regina, courage and the desire to help her precious friend eroding and breaking through the seal her 'father' had placed on her. Cure Heart gasped in shock as she suddenly took off like a rocket, Regina flying her up and out of the pit, hitting the Spider Jikochuu with a rising flying tackle that knocked it end over end in the process. The others finally arrived, and when Bel ordered the Spider Jikochuu to capture Regina, the girl effortlessly deflected the monster's attempts and sent it flying.

As the group hurried their way away from the ruined castle and back toward the portal, the infuriated King Jikochuu tried to strike his 'daughter' down for siding with the PreCures. However, there was a flash of red as Ryūko swung her Scissor Blade wreathed in crimson chakra, batting away and bisecting the incoming Dark Lightning strike. The group soon reached the portal, and as she leapt through Ryūko gave King Jikochuu a stuck-out tongue and pulled-down eyelid. The last thing they heard as they escaped was the Dark King's enraged roar.

-Break-

In the wake of everything, Jonathan decided to take the crystal holding Princess Marie-Ange and hide it "somewhere secret". In the meantime, Regina started settling in with Mana's family, who happily accepted her and Ryūko as guests (though the latter mainly stayed at Alice's). The next day, Mana's dad took the whole gang out to the beach for a picnic and playing around, making for a whole day of fun and relaxation…

"Found you~."

Then, the girls got a very unpleasant surprise when they turned to see Ira, Mammo, and Bel right in front of them; immediately, they went on guard.

"Time to come home, Regina" Bel said. "Your 'father' is waiting for you…"

"…N-No. I'm not going back. Not with you, and not to him!"

"Just shaddup and come on already" Ira growled as he approached, reaching for her… only for Ryūko to grab his wrist and start to twist it, forcing him to back off.

"What's going on?" Mana's father asked. "Who are you people?"

"Get back, Aida-san" Ryūko told him. "These guys are bad news. Let's just say, they're enforcers of Regina's father, who is not a nice person. We went to a lot of trouble to get her free of his abuses and manipulations."

"I'm not going back" Regina stepped away. "You can't make me!"

"That's where you're wrong…" Bel spoke with a low growl.

The other girls took aggressive stances, standing between Regina and the Selfish Trio.

"So, you're going to make this hard?" Mammo asked. "Very well…"

She extended her palm and fired a dark energy blast at the group. Ryūko stepped forward and reached out to catch it, groaning as she was shoved back against the struggling blast before she managed to throw it upward to explode harmlessly high overhead. She was then enveloped in sparkling crimson light, emerging in her combat form. Realizing they didn't have a choice in the matter, the four Cures followed suit, and Mana's father was thoroughly shocked to see his little girl and her friends become the magical-girl warriors who'd become the talk of the town recently.

In a flash the Selfish Trio dashed in amongst the five heroines, striking before they could react; Cure Diamond was hit with a kick that sent her tumbling out across the waves, Cure Rosetta was hammered into the sand so hard it left a crater, and Cure Heart was sent flying into a rock wall with such force that the rocks shattered, burying her in dust and debris. Mammo and Bel then ducked to avoid strikes aimed at their necks by Cure Sword's chopping hand and Ryūko's blade, and the two girls were sent skidding back by the two Selfish Generals' counterstrikes.

Cure Heart was the first to recover and leap back into the fray, coming in with a magic-charged heel drop that Mammo barely avoided. A Rosetta Wall from under the sand launched Ira into the air, where he was hit from the side by an ice barrage, as the other two Cures rejoined the fight as well. Unfortunately, the trio seemed to be going all-out this time, and the girls were having trouble; Ryūko needed to be in "Tailed-Beast Chakra Stage 0.5" (meaning that whisker marks appeared on her cheeks and her eyes changed to be like Senketsu's) to avoid being beaten around and break even with them.

Pinning the girls down, Ira & Mammo fired a combined blast at them. Cure Rosetta formed a shield to block the strike… and thus was left wide open as Bel fired an energy wave at the girls from above & behind. However, Regina finally made her choice and stepped in, firing her own beam of magical power to stop Bel's. His began to overwhelm hers, but then Ryūko pitched in with a ki beam of her own that forced a stalemate, holding it off long enough for Mammo & Ira's blast to fizzle out so the Cures could help handle Bel's.

The fight continued, but didn't seem to be going all that well. Suddenly, Regina fell to her knees, clutching at her chest. Then, the skies darkened, thunder rumbling, as an enormous black & red figure appeared, towering over the battlefield: an illusory avatar of King Jikochuu. Before anyone could react, Regina was enveloped within a huge tornado-like swirling column of Darkness, which resisted the girls' attempts to disrupt or break through.

When the Darkness dissipated, Regina was standing hunched over, the red parts of her outfit turned a deep, dull purple, a shadowy aura clinging to her. She looked up, to reveal a dead look on her face, her eyes turned red with black sclera.

"No…" Ryūko growled. "Damnit, no!"

"R… Regi…na…?" Cure Heart murmured.

Regina slowly raised a hand, crackling with dark energy, and then fired a massive wave of black & purple energy at the quintet. Quickly, Ryūko wreathed her Scissor Blade in red chakra and brought it up. There was a massive bang as the attack hit, and Ryūko groaned, slowly skidding back, as it broke against her sword, splitting in two to carve two trenches at an angle around her & the Cures. When the dark energy faded, residual sparks of purple 'lightning' sporadically crackling, Ryūko was softly panting but unharmed, her nigh-indestructible blade unblemished.

"He… He poured evil energy into her to assume control of her…" Cure Sword murmured with horror.

"Such cruelty…" Cure Rosetta whimpered. "Regina-san…"

"This… This can't be happening…" Cure Heart whispered.

The corrupted Regina charged, flying in and releasing a storm of Darkness bolts. Ryūko used her sword with blurring speed to bat some of them away, while Rosetta formed a quick barrier to block more, but some of them got through, battering the girls. Regina then flash-stepped in amongst the group, stunned and unbalanced them with an all-directions shockwave pulse, and then struck with a lightning-quick barrage of devastatingly powerful blows that sent them reeling, enough to (slightly) break through their outfits' magical protections and deal actual damage.

Another blast blew the girls back, leaving the four Cures on the verge of losing their transformations. Then, Corrupted-Regina hovered overhead, lifted her hand up and quickly formed a huge roiling ball of Darkness energy; Ryūko couldn't help but think of Kid Buu forming a 'small' planet-buster Death Ball. She threw it down…

"Ace Shot!-!"

Suddenly, a sparkling red blast of magic shot in and slammed into the incoming orb from below, destabilizing and dispelling it. The girls looked over at the rocks, to see a girl around Ryūko's age if not a bit older, obviously a Pretty Cure; she was clad in a white & red outfit, with long voluminous red hair topped by a glittering gold tiara.

"Who the hell is this?!" Bel shouted. "Another Pretty Cure?!"

"Trump-card of love…" the young woman announced. "Cure Ace!"

She dashed in, and she & Corrupted-Regina engaged in a quick exchange of mighty blows, shockwaves in the air from the exchanged hits. They then broke off and began charging magic.

"Dark warrior of the King Selfishness," she proclaimed, "you shall be vanquished."

Cure Ace's flame wave and Regina's Darkness blast rushed out at each other, meeting in the middle. The sand beneath the meeting point was melted into glass, power thrumming, and soon Ace's attack began to overpower Regina's…

"Hold the hell up!-!"

Ryūko leapt in, using her Scissor Blade to cleave down through the midpoint, canceling out both blasts.

"What are you doing?" Cure Ace demanded, looking cross. "How are you?"

"That girl is our ally!" Ryūko angrily shouted. "We finally got her to switch sides and join our team, but then her bastard dad used his dark magic to corrupt her like this! I ain't gonna let you kill our comrade!"

"Comrade? What foolishness! There is no way a member of the Selfishness Kingdom could ever-"

"Shut it! I don't give a damn if you don't believe me; she's our friend! We're gonna save her! And if you try to kill her again I'll have your neck!"

"She's right!" Cure Heart spoke up, glaring at Ace. "I don't know who you are, but Regina is our friend! We have to save her from King Jikochuu's corruption-curse!"

"But how?" Cure Diamond asked. "She's so powerful now…"

Ryūko took a deep breath. Then, the spectators were taken by surprise as she was engulfed in a blazing aura of crimson chakra that soon solidified around her, flicks of red 'flames' rising up from her, a series of black seal-like markings forming at certain points. And the onlookers, good and evil, were shocked as they felt her power soar.

"In… Incredible…" Cure Sword choked out. "This is the… the power of a Tailed Beast?"

"If you wanna make yourself useful, newcomer," Tailed-Beast Cloak Stage 1 Ryūko told Cure Ace, "then help the girls keep the Selfishness Trio from interfering. As for me? I'm gonna see if I can knock some sense into my little friend."

She floated up into the air via ki-based flight, and then rushed at the corrupted Regina. The two met in the center with a clash of blows that sent a thunderclap-shockwave through the air, then flowed into a rapid exchange of strikes like something out of a Z-Warrior fight. The Cures and the Selfish Trio were too captivated by the fight to even think of interfering, watching with shock and awe. A flame blast from Ryūko canceled out a Darkness burst from Regina, who dodged a spinning kick only to be nailed across the face by the broad side of Ryūko's blade, stunning her and leaving her open for a spiraling piledriver from 50 feet up down into the sand, kicking up a plume of dust and leaving a crater that she quickly crawled out of and charged again.

"Wake the hell up, Regina!" Ryūko shouted. "This isn't you! C'mon, kiddo, don't let yourself be that asshole's doll! Remember all I've taught you, all you've been through with us! Break free!"

For a second, Regina's dark aura wavered, and then, painfully and struggling, she spoke:

"I… c… can't…"

Then the black & purple energy flared, and she charged again with a feral roar. Ryūko went on the defensive, blocking the barrage of strikes her Darkness-corrupted friend threw at her, lashing out with precise counterblows whenever she got the chance. It was clear to the onlookers that Ryūko had the edge in skill and power, but…

"Damn it… I don't… have anything that can purify her… that can save her… …Is this it? Can I really… not help her…? Senketsu… I don't know what to do…"

'I… I DON'T, EITHER. I'M SORRY, RYŪKO…'

'…No… No, this can't be right… I have to be able to do something!

'There has to be something, anything we can do!' Cure Heart thought. 'Regina… We can't lose her like this! Please… Somebody, anybody…'

'If there's anything that can help us, anything that can let us pull this off… Please…'

Both: 'We have to save her!-!'

Suddenly, a brilliant white light shot down from the heavens, traveling through time and space and Realms. An ancient, Holy power, sensing the dire need and the two heroines' earnest prayers, was now (with its prime wielder's permission) lending its power to the cause. Everyone was caught by surprise as the light shot down into Ryūko's hand that wasn't holding her Scissor Blade, forming into a weapon that she and Cure Rosetta recognized immediately.

"Sora's…"

"Keyblade…"

Even the Cures who didn't know about Kingdom Hearts were still in awe as they sensed the power of Light concentrated within the weapon. Amongst the Selfish Trio…

"Hmm? What is that?" Mammo asked.

"A giant key?" Ira scoffed. "Ooh, scary…"

"Not good…" Bell said, slightly trembling. "This is not good! The legendary weapon of Light… You two! We can't let her use that on the King's daughter! And no matter what, do not let her hit you with it! Let's go!-!"

The trio quickly charged in, ready to intervene. However, Cure Sword moved to bar their path, with Cures Diamond and Ace following suit; Sword moved to engage Ira, Diamond began trading blows with Mammo, and Ace clashed with Bel. Meanwhile, Ryūko gripped her borrowed Kingdom Keyblade and charged, rolling under corrupted-Regina's attempt to block and hammering away with a combo of blows, knocking the girl back and leaving her dark aura wavering.

The corrupted Regina growled and charged in a rage, firing a wave of Darkness blasts, but Ryūko used her Scissor Blade and Sora's Keyblade to bat them away, then fired a barrage of Light bolts that curved through the air and hammered the Darkness-possessed girl back. Now, Ryūko felt the power of Light welling up, sensed the destabilized corruption in her opponent, and knew it was time.

"Cure Heart!" she called. "Lend me some of your energy!"

Nodding, Cure Heart willed her PreCure power to Ryūko, and the Keyblade glowed with pink & white light. The crimson energy of Ryūko & Senketsu joined in, and the Kingdom Key lengthened and shifted in form, assuming its glittering, regal-looking 'Ultima' form.

"The controlling threads of darkness entwined around your Heart… I'm going to sever them!"

She charged, using the glowing blade to swat away the corrupted Regina's last desperate attempt to blast her back. She drew in close…

"Kōton!" {光遁}

…and, with a flash of crimson and white, she struck with a dashing slash of awesome power:

"SEN'I SŌSHITSU!-!-!" {戦維喪失!}

There was a burst of purple light, as the Darkness controlling & enveloping Regina was shredded and shattered. The purple of her dress turned red, while the black turned white, her eyes returning to their normal white and sky-blue as she softly fell to her knees in Ryūko's wake.

"I… I feel… so light…" she murmured. "My heart feels… clean…" Tears came to her eyes. "I… I'm free… Mana-chan… Ryūko-onéechan… saved… me…?"

"Reginaaaaa!-!"

A flying tackle-hug from Cure Heart bowled Regina over, the pink-clad warrior of light crying tears of joy and holding her friend tight. Across the way, Bel growled.

"We've failed" he bit out. "Pull back for now."

He and the other two made their exit, vanishing back to their home realm. Ryūko watched as the Kingdom Keyblade dematerialized and teleported back to its true owner. "Thanks for the help…" she murmured with a smile as she watched the Light fly away.

She then joined Cures Diamond, Rosetta, and Sword in gathering around Cure Heart & Regina, celebrating that they'd done the seemingly impossible and saved their new friend's Heart. Unnoticed by them, Cure Ace gazed uncertainly at the scene from afar, and then made her exit. Mr. Aida stood off at the side, letting the girls have their moment; he didn't quite understand everything yet, but he knew something amazing and wonderful had just happened. A beautiful teary smile was on Regina's face, as she felt full of warmth and love from her friends…

-CHAPTER END-

Next Time: As Regina settles in with Mana and the others (while Mana has to explain things to her family), and the Selfish Kingdom plot their next move, Cure Ace continues to make herself known, but her methods and personality cause some clashes with the heroines…