Pretty Cure Bukatsudo Energetic ep31

“Wh - what is this?” Chuusha muttered darkly. She sat in a chair, leaning over the small table that had appeared, one hand on her chest as the other supported her head. Her white hair fell over her shoulders and hid her face from view as her body trembled slightly. “Ugh, I feel like I'll explode...”

Gachan stood nearby, hands behind his back as he observed Chuusha with a look of concern. Seeing Jubilation hovering nearby, he approached and bent down to her level. “Jubilation. What's happened?”

She jumped, eyes wide as she turned to look at the half-masked man. “G-Geez, don't sneak up on me! ...We fought Pretty Cure. And one of them attacked Chuusha and...” She shrugged. “She just got all weird.” Then her expression turned to one of confusion, and concern. “Do you think she's okay?”

Gachan straightened and approached Chuusha. The woman was still muttering to herself, body tensed a bit. Gachan blinked, his visible eye narrowed – and then widened.

One of her hair decorations had a chip in it, and a faint purple aura was pulsing around it as pain leaked out of it and into the wearer.

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OP: "Morning Role-Call” - Bukatsudo Five ft. Kaana and Hisa

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In a small, dusty shop, Shinji Reiki sat behind the counter with his feet propped on an upturned box. As he ate a few chips (courtesy of...well, his own shop), he watched the weather report with a bored look.

“So while these storm clouds haven't opened up yet, I personally would still advise residents to remain indoors. No one likes being caught in a downpour, after all, and in my experience, the longer a storm cloud doesn't open, the worse it is when it finally does.”

“Er – Ayano, I'm not entirely sure your personal opinion is what we should take into consideration--!”

“You ever get stuck in a sudden downpour on your way to your new car?! It freaking sucks!”

It seemed people were taking the weather lady's advice anyway, though. The streets were mostly-deserted, save for five girls who strolled past Shinji's window just then.

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TODAY'S EPISODE: Needles and Pins! One Last Appointment

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“How are we sure the last Dream Shard is even around here?” asked Hisa, from Fumie's shoulder. “I mean, it could be anywhere...”

“Exactly,” Aoi said. She pushed her glasses up her nose, eyes closed in a serious expression. “The last Dream Shard could be anywhere, yes, but we have to start somewhere. And the town is a good enough place to start.”

They'd briefly considered staying and looking around the school, but after a few minutes' deliberation, Kurako said she was sure they'd have found all the Shards there already. And besides, they didn't particularly want to make up a story to any teachers or other students if they were caught poking around somewhere they weren't supposed to.
And on top of that...

“I just feel like we should search the town, too,” she added after a moment's pause. One hand strayed to her chest, over her heart. “I don't think it's coincidence we've been venturing outside more and more lately. And it's like Hisa said.”

Hisa blinked and straightened at the mention of her name.

Aoi just smiled at her. “You said when Pretty Cure grew stronger, they would sense where they needed to be, right? I think that's why we're going outside more...We can tell the Dream Shard is here. Just like when we went to the carnival, and Chuusha showed up.”

Hisa blinked once again, face tinting a slight red. “Ah--” She looked around the rest of the group, noticing that every one of the girls was smiling with her hand over her heart, as if in agreement. Blushing harder, she coughed and looked away, a smile tugging at her mouth despite her embarrassment. “W-Well...Clearly you're all strong Pretty Cure, then. Certainly moreso than when you started...”

“Big sister, just say you're proud of them and call it good,” Kaana laughed.

The others laughed too, Hisa's sputtering words drowned out. When they finally calmed down, Kotone cleared her throat. “As Aoi was saying...to town!”

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“Chuusha, where are you going?!” Gachan demanded.

Chuusha held her hand in front of herself, a dark vortex conjured up. She tossed him a cold glare over her shoulder. “Where do you think?” she snapped. “Pretty Cure did something to me, the Dream Charm is nearly complete, Lady Nocturna is in obvious pain!” She threw her arm in the general direction of Nocturna's room. “I'm not going to sit around and wait for Pretty Cure to overpower us! You may be content to let them do as they please, you may want to see Lady Nocturna fall--”

”That is not what I wanted!” Gachan shouted before he could stop himself. His furious shout echoed around the room, making Jubilation freeze where she stood beside him.

Chuusha just glowered at him, unaffected. “You say what you will. But you've done nothing to help us as of late. You're clearly up to something...”

“Chuusha, there's something you don't know about--”

“Spare me.” With no more words, Chuusha vanished into the dark vortex.

”Chuusha!” Gachan shouted after her. Before he could do more, Jubilation glanced up at him and followed after Chuusha, and the vortex vanished.

And Lady Nocturna could not be left alone...

A low growl passed Gachan's lips. As he turned around, it quickly morphed into a cry of rage, and he grabbed the table Chuusha had been sitting at and threw it across the room.

It smashed against an invisible wall, where it dissolved into goo.

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The ominous sky did nothing for the girls' spirits as they marched down the walk, taking the occasional break to run and check an alley, or in some bushes, or--

“Kurako, the Dream Shard's not going to be in there,” Aoi sighed.

Kurako stood in front of the bakery, nose pressed to the window as she stared at the freshly-baked donuts on display. “Th-they're heart-shaped,” she muttered, mouth watering. “How did he get them to be heart-shaped?”

Fumie sighed, walking over and grabbing Kurako by the ear. “Come on, Kurako,” she muttered as she dragged the girl away, ignoring her yelp of pain and protests along the lines of Aw, c'mon, one donut! “We can get something to eat later.”

“Yeah...” Kurako finally gave in, sighing. “Sorry...”

“I'm a little surprised. Normally you're much more focused,” Aoi said with a laugh.

“H-hey, it's...” Kurako began to say something, but then her words choked in her throat. She stopped, completely still, and her hand strayed to her chest. Everyone else did the same. “...I know where to go!” she said.

Pretty Cure nodded as one. So did they.

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“This is the last time,” Chuusha hissed. “The last time we fight.”

She and Jubilation stood at the exit of one of the roads, one that led to the town square, where Sparkling Fountain was. Jubilation looked over at Chuusha, frowning lightly. “Are you feeling--”

“Shut up!” Chuusha snapped, glaring at the girl. “This is the last battle, one way or another! Pretty Cure is going to suffer this time, and we'll get that Dream Charm! Got it!” Her expression didn't change, even when Jubilation nodded. “Good...”

Jubilation bit at her lip, frowning. This was bad...This was bad. If Chuusha was this desperate, and this certain Pretty Cure would come--

Her breath caught when she saw a few civilians walk by, having apparently risked the threat of storm to fetch a few groceries. She glanced over at Chuusha, relieved that she hadn't spotted them yet. Too busy glaring at a point in the distance. ”I know you're coming, Pretty Cure...You'll be here,” she was muttering, a hand tightening against her chest.

If Pretty Cure were going to be here, where the civilians were...Jubilation looked back at the small family. It wouldn't be long before they came into Chuusha's view.

No choice.

”Bakuko!” Jubilation cried suddenly, conjuring a Dream-Eating Crane and flinging it into a nearby sandwhich-board. “Go!”

“Jubilation, you idiot!” Chuusha shouted over the new Bakuko's roars. “You just wasted our Dream-Eating Crane! Jubilation!”

Jubilation ignored her, leaping atop the Bakuko's head and directing it at the civilians. Just as she hoped, they all screamed in terror and ran in the opposite direction, away from Chuusha, away from Pretty Cure's destination.

”Jubilation--!”

“Chuusha!”

Chuusha looked back down, staring right into the eyes of Pretty Cure. Fumie stood at the lead, looking at the departing Bakuko. As Chuusha watched, Kurako shoved her aside. “Fumie, get the Bakuko! Kaana and Hisa, go back to the school, protect Himemiya and the Dream Charm! We'll take care of Chuusha!”

"Pretty Cure! Show my future!"
"Painting the world with new tints, Cure Ink!"
"Spinning with grace and strength, Cure Twirl!"
"Adding flavor and zest to life, Cure Spice!"
"Drumming a new life's rhythm, Cure Beat!"
"Joyfully singing life's song, Cure Aria!"
"Protecting everyone's dreams, Pretty Cure Bukatsudo Energetic!"

Cure Ink leaped off after Jubilation and the Bakuko, Kaana and Hisa shifted into their human forms to get to the school faster. And then Chuusha and the rest of the Cures were left alone.

Chuusha grinned. “I knew you'd be here...” she said.

“We knew to come here,” Beat said, shrugging a little. But they still didn't know quite--

As if on cue, there was a flash from the fountain. Both parties gasped as realization hit them. The final Dream Shard had activated, made itself known. And it was sitting in the bottom of the Sparkling Fountain.

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“This should be far enough,” Jubilation muttered. She had moved her Bakuko to the park now, the civilians had been long-gone. She sighed, jumping off it to land on the ground. “Now, should I get rid of you, or--”

”Mariiii!”

“Cure Ink?” Jubilation whirled around in time to see Ink touch down in front of her, Baton of Heart out.

“Mari!” Ink stepped forward. “Please, you've got to stop this--”

“Stop calling me Mari!” Jubilation shouted. “Bakuko!”

The Bakuko roared, and charged in.

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Eyecatch 1: Kaana and Hisa, in human form, stand together to take a selfie. Hisa takes the picture, and after a flash fills the screen, we see the photo. Pretty Cure have photo-bombed the sisters; Hisa looks in annoyance at Ink, Twirl, and Beat, while Kaana smiles at Spice and Aria. The PCBE logo appears in the corner.
Eyecatch 2: Pretty Cure (as civilians) stand in Fumie's room with the curtain shut. Fumie is holding the Dream Charm in the air by the chain as Kaana and Hisa part the curtains. The sunlight hits the charm and everyone smiles in open-mouthed awe as the whole room is filled with rainbow light. The PCBE logo appears in the corner.

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“It's mine!” Chuusha cried, surging forward.

“The Shard!” shouted Twirl, rushing to meet Chuusha. “Protect it at all costs!”

“Right!”

Twirl was the first to reach Chuusha, swinging her leg out in a sweeping kick at the woman's face. In a swift motion that looked like a blur, Chuusha snapped her arm up and seized the Cure's ankle before the hit could connect, and pulled. The red Cure went flying behind Chuusha as the white-haired woman flung her like a bag of flour, but not before twisting herself around, letting her foot clip Chuusha in the jaw, Chuusha's head snapping to the side.

For a few seconds, things seemed to slow down to a crawl.

And then there was red.

Red everywhere. A boiling, gnawing feeling in her chest that thrashed and tore and demanded to be let out.

Chuusha roared.

It was a mixture of pain and outright fury. As if enraged that someone had dared to cause more of this horrible feeling she'd been suffering ever since the last battle.

Chuusha saw red. She saw nothing but red, and anger, and hate, and all she wanted to do was lash out at Pretty Cure. Lash out and maybe this awful feeling in her body would go away, maybe the angry and snarling monster inside her chest would be satisfied.

With another inhuman shriek, Chuusha grabbed the next Cure to run at her; Spice was seized by the wrist and flung into the air, high above the fountain.

But she wasn't going to be dispatched so easily. The wind rushing past her, her hair and clothes whipping wildly, Spice moved her arms in front of herself, Baton of Heart appearing in a burst of light. ”Pretty Cure Spice! Cinnamon Blitz!” Small spheres of light rained down on Chuusha, blasting small craters into the ground, the fountain, around her. More would have hit her, but Chuusha surged forward again, out of the way. It was almost as if the pain she was feeling was motivating her to move faster, to fight harder.

Spice's eyes widened when she realized not only was Chuusha darting out of the way of her attack, but now she was jumping--

--up to meet her.

She yelled, swinging her leg out to kick Chuusha in the side. The blow connected, knocking her against a building and sending dust and building-pieces into the air.

With loud cries of their own, Beat and Aria flew at her, their hands linked.

“Pretty Cure...”

”GRAAAAAH!” Chuusha threw herself out of the crater she'd formed, eyes flashing red. Her arms went out, a spray of needles flew at the girls. Momentum carried them right into it.

“Beat! Aria!” Twirl, still on the ground, screamed her teammates' names, barely heard over their own shrieks of pain.

“Forget us!” screamed Beat, eyes shut as the needles sprouted all over her body, just as before.

“Get the Shard!” Aria followed, managing to speak past the pain.

The word 'shard” woke up something in both Chuusha and Twirl, and they both made a mad dash for the fountain. Chuusha was closer, and had gravity on her side. She grinned, teeth bared, her arm out--

--Aria and Beat, still in pain, still covered in needles with more popping out of their flesh, blasted their attacks.

”Pretty Cure Beat! Melody Crash!”
“Pretty Cure Musica Encore!”

The twin attacks briefly spiraled around each other, pale purple and pink, before striking Chuusha in the back and enveloping her. There was another shriek from her, and for a moment it looked like that had done it, that had downed her.

But then the attack itself was blasted apart, the light practically shredding apart around Chuusha as she thrashed her arms out. Unnoticed by her, large cracks appeared in hair decorations, beginning from the chip The aura around them pulsed again, knocking the wind out of her as she fell back towards the fountain, reaching for the Dream Shard--

”Pretty Cure Twirl! Ribbon Wrap!” Twirl screamed, ribbons of light erupting from the just-summoned Baton of Heart and snaking to Chuusha. They bound her, snapping her arms to her sides, and Chuusha yelled in pain again – even this hurt?!

Twirl grit her teeth and pulled back the Batons, keeping Chuusha from going nearer the fountain. “You won't have that Dream Shard!” she yelled. “You won't hurt Dream Peaks any longer, and you won't harm Earth!”

Spice landed in the fountain, sending up a wall of water. When it fell, she stood up to her calves in the fountain, fist clenched tightly around the Dream Shard. “Mora will not have its way, Chuusha,” she said sternly. “Mora will not have the Dream Charm as long as Pretty Cure still stands!”

Chuusha just stared, breathing heavily, hair stringy around her face, eyes wide and hollow-looking. Those words echoed in her head until she could focus on nothing else, in time with her beating heart.

”Mora will never have the Dream Charm as long as Pretty Cure still stands!”

A girl in purple had said this, glaring at Mora fiercely. She opened her mouth to say something further and--

“Ngh – GYAH!” Chuusha pitched forward, only kept from falling to the ground by Twirl's ribbons. Her head pounded, adding to her horrible pain, the aura pulsing around her ornaments intensifying. “Agh...”

Twirl looked concerned. “....Chuusha?” she called out.

”As long as Pretty Cure still stands! Mora will never get the Dream Charm!” Those words were still there, she could see the speaker in her mind's eye but there was no face. Who was it, who had said that, and why did trying to remember only make her head--

Another pulse of the aura, the cracks deepening and completely overtaking the ornaments, another jolt of pain that ran from her head to her tailbone.

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”Pretty Cure Ink! Rainbow Wave!”

The Bakuko defeated, Cure Ink landed back on the ground, staring directly into Jubilation's eyes. Jubilation glared back, hands curled into fists. The glare intensified when she saw how apologetic Ink looked.

“Mari--”

“It's--!”

“Mari, please! I'm sorry about what I did to you. I'm sorry about everything. It's all my fault, I know, so please...please just--”

A scream tore through the air, reaching both girls and making their blood freeze. Jubilation and Ink looked in the direction the shout had come from: Sparkling Fountain. Ink's face paled. “Th-the girls! The Dream Shard, the--” She stopped, looked at Jubilation. “Mari--”

Jubilation's face darkened, and the dark vortex appeared behind her. “Just...just go. Go back to your shiny new friends.” She stepped backwards into it, hands clenching into fists. “Get outta here, Fumie...”

And then she was gone.

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Chuusha's hair decorations shattered.

For a second, everything stood still. The world went on mute, the town become as gray as the sky. Chuusha felt numb.

And then there was screaming.

Twirl's ribbons burst apart into spheres of red light, the needles covering Beat and Aria disintegrated in the same way. For a split-second no one moved--

”HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

--and then Chuusha dropped to the ground like a rag doll, but she didn't stay that way. On the ground, she lay there, her shattered hair decorations on the ground around her head as she tensed up, arching her back and twisting her spine, her hands clawing at the ground, heels digging in. Her head slowly, painfully tilting back as she stared wide-eyed at nothingness, the blood leaving her face, pupils shrinking.

“Chuusha!” Spice screamed, rushing out of the fountain and over to her. The others joined her, crowding around the fallen woman as she twitched and spasmed in agony, screaming as if she were being torn apart atom by atom.

“Chuusha, what's wrong?! Chuusha!” Twirl shouted, hands going to her shoulders.

Chuusha didn't respond to any of the girls' cries. It was as if they weren't there, and they might as well have been. To her, all there was was herself, and pain.

All the pain she should have felt in every battle. All the pain she should have felt in her entire existence. All of it had been stored in her hair ornaments.

And with them destroyed, all of that pain had rushed out at once, consuming her.

And there was nothing to be done for it.

“Chuusha! Everyone!” Ink shouted, finally arriving on the scene. She skidded to a halt, eyes wide in horror at the sight of Chuusha on the ground, her screams still filling the air. “Chuusha, what--”

”IT HURTS! IT HURTS, OH GOD, IT HURTS MAKE IT STOP PLEASE!” Chuusha sobbed, arching herself almost completely off the ground. ”PRETTY CURE HELP ME STOP IT STOP IT IT HURT--”

“Chuusha!” Twirl shouted again, squeezing her shoulders. When there was no change in the woman, she looked to the others, her face showing a range of emotion, as did the others'.

Regret. Fear. Anxiety. Horror.

Ink closed her eyes for a second, and held her Baton of Heart out.

Resignation.

“Girls...” she whispered, voice raw. She went unheard because of Chuusha's blood-curdling screaming, but everyone knew what she had said. What she meant.

There was no other way.

Tears in their eyes, the girls held out their Batons of Heart, forming a circle around Chuusha. Ink's voice wasn't the strong and fierce one it normally was when she began the incantation. Instead, the girls spoke firmly, resolutely, but without the usual fire. The voice of someone who was doing what they had to do, much as they didn't like it.

“Pretty Cure...”
”Sparkling Dream Festival!”

As the fireworks exploded around Chuusha's body, which was now hovering above the ground, rightside-up, the agonized expression faded, her teeth and hands unclenched. A look of total, utmost peace appeared, tears appearing her eyes. Of course they were tears of relief but also--

She looked down at the girls, distraught. “...I didn't know,” she whispered.

The tears fell from her face, vanishing into little sparkles of golden light. That same light slowly overtook her, from her limbs and working inward towards her face.

“I swear I didn't know – I didn't realize how much it – I'm sorry...Tell Fureyaa I'm sorry.”

Her eyes closed just before the light covered her features completely.

”Ganbatte.”

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In Despair Horizon, Gachan stiffened, gasping faintly. He looked at his gloved hand, expression unreadable.

“....Chuusha.” His hand curled into a fist. “It won't be long, then.”

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Later, the girls sat in Fumie's room, the last Dream Shard in Fumie's palm. They all sat around the desk, joined by Hisa and Kaana, Fureyaa, and the slowly-recovering Ayumu. Fumie stared at the Shard, then bit her lip, tears escaping her eyes.

Kurako put a hand on her shoulder, and Fureyaa did the same.

“Fumie,” he whispered, his own eyes shining. “You did what you had to. All of you.”

After a pause, Fumie nodded. “I know...But it still...” She couldn't finish that sentence, and drew a deep, shuddering breath. When she opened her eyes, she looked at the group, then the Dream Charm on the desk. It sat beside Himemiya, innocent. Waiting. “Let's finish this,” she declared.

Everyone nodded as one, even Ayumu.

Fumie held her breath as she took the Dream Charm in her other hand, and slowly moved the two items together. A soft white light surrounded both Shard and Charm, a wisp of light pulling them together. Fumie released them both as the two pieces fused, a bright and brilliant light enveloping the Dream Charm. The light then shifted to pink, and burst outward.

Everyone cried out, shielding their eyes as the light filled the entire room.

As it finally began to fade enough for everyone to see, sparkles and shimmers of pink and white floating around them all like a glittery snow globe, a dark-skinned woman stood before them.

She slowly opened her eyes.

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ED: "Just Close Your Eyes” - Yukari Tamura

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ON THE NEXT EPISODE:
Fumie: “The Dream Charm is complete again! And now we're going to Dream Peaks?!”
Kaana: “Huaaaah, it's good to be home!”
Fumie: “But wait, it seems we're not done yet...and there's something we don't know about Mora? Next time on Pretty Cure Bukatsudo Energetic: Princess Resurrected! Pretty Cure's History Revealed!  Don't be late for next meeting!”