Kamen Rider is playing the villain in Pretty Cure

"Um, me?"

To be honest, Miyuki recalled what happened between her and Ash. Although it seemed that she had experienced many happy and surprising things with him...but if Miyuki were to write about it, he really couldn't squeeze out any literary talent from his little head.

"Hmm..." He bit the eraser tip of the pencil, looked through the stories written by his friends, and wrote a few words with a flick of the pen.

"[Ash... is a very cute person!]"

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll write about it later when I think of it. It’s not homework assigned by the teacher anyway, so there’s still time, right?

"It's not good, it's not good!"

Just when Miyuki was feeling confident, Akane rushed in from outside in a panic, followed closely by Lihua and Zhi, who also looked anxious.

"What happened? Could it really be the remnants of the Tragedy Kingdom..."

"No!" Facing the two men's serious expressions, Akane shook her head breathlessly. "It's even worse than this. It seems there was an accident on the streets of Nanaseigaoka City and on a passing ferry!"

"The streets seem to be in a mess right now!"

The rain continued to fall amid the rumbling thunder, and it was getting heavier.

Messy raindrops continuously fell on the faces and bodies of the five Pretty Cure girls, coating the surface of their battle suits with a layer of dew, sticking their wet rainbow hair together, and letting the damp feeling slide across her cheeks.

But the girls who usually take care of themselves are now indifferent to the rain splashing on their faces. The only thing they feel is the cold wind blowing in their faces.

Thanks to the sudden heavy rain, the unprovoked fires in the city center and on ships were put out in time, preventing a greater disaster of a city-wide fire.

The damage caused by the serial explosions was severe, but the Pretty Cure's specialized repair and healing abilities were much stronger. Miraculously, the ruins were restored to their original state as if time had turned back. The Dragon team members of GUYS couldn't help but praise them loudly for how well they had done.

but--

"Thank you so much!" In fact, they did receive a lot of thanks after repairing their injuries, but their hearts did not contain any joy of achievement, but only a coldness as cold as rain.

because...

This is not a happy ending, nor can it even be called a good ending. In such a huge and wantonly expanding disaster, it is impossible for no one to be harmed, and not everyone can survive.

Standing in front of these people, the Pretty Cures who were able to reverse the tragic ending and defeat the world-destroying Piero were at a loss and stunned.

What they are most thankful for now is that Tangtang was not brought with them due to the heavy rain.

"Mmmmmm—"

Staring blankly at the wound that looked like it had been torn open alive, and the twisted body with tire marks on it, Midorikawa was the first one who couldn't help but stagger out of the room. The sound of his retching reached his companions' ears, and the others also felt their stomachs churning up their throats.

"The number of casualties from the explosions in the streets and the burning and sinking of ships... and the number of victims..."

She had no intention of reading any further. The scene before her eyes made Lihua's voice lose its usual calmness.

"In these incidents, the police found traces of human intervention..."

"who is it!"

She rushed back with a painful look on her face. The rain completely wet her cheeks. She didn't know whether it was rain or her tears sliding down her face.

"Why, why would you do such an outrageous thing!"

"Witnesses saw two motorcycles rushing out of the street, one of which caused several fatalities. Later, someone on a ship saw a purple swordsman fighting a monster?"

"The swordsman is Ash? Are the enemies the remnants of the Kingdom of Tragedy? Simply taking lives goes against their principles! Who is it? Who is Ash fighting?"

"Everyone!" At that crucial moment, it was Miyuki's voice that brought the chaos to a halt. "Everyone, no matter what the reason or problem, if we just sit here and wallow in self-pity and despair, even the defeated Wolfren and the others will laugh at us!"

What Miyuki could see was that behind them were the police, doctors and firefighters who were constantly busy. Even though they did not have the power to transform into heroes, they were still working hard to help everyone in this disaster.

"Everyone! Even if we don't use it to fight the Kingdom of Tragedy, Pretty Cure's power is sure to bring a smile to every unfortunate person's face!"

Everyone nodded silently, put aside those bad thoughts, and began to silently do their best to become a member of the rescue team.

Even if they don't know the professional rescue knowledge and can only comfort the injured, they still want to try their best to help.

------

"Damn it, where did that guy Ash go? He was killed or something... Impossible!"

Of course, what worried them the most was Ash himself, who had clearly appeared but then mysteriously disappeared. In the end, it was Akane who took the initiative to go out in the increasingly heavy rain and darkness to look for him.

"It's not good, the rain is getting heavier!"

Even though the legendary warrior's physical fitness didn't require him to worry about catching a cold, Akane, who used fire as her power, was inevitably annoyed by the moisture. After actively using fire to keep her body dry, Akane went to the places that Ash often went to, but still found nothing.

This made Qian more and more annoyed. Of course, what annoyed her the most was that she had clearly agreed with him to be the force that protected and helped him, but she was not by his side in the subsequent crises.

"It's fine that Reika is so powerful, but even Miyuki... I wanted to try to warm him with my flames."

Am I so useless... Feeling powerless, Qian clenched her fists tightly, but she made up her mind in one go. She must find him this time!

Before they knew it, they arrived at the very familiar uphill section that they had to pass every time on the way to school. It was here that Qian found Ash lying alone on the ground, gradually being submerged by the rain.

Ash, covered in a "ragged sack", fell to the ground unresponsive, his life or death unknown, while the dark sword Yue'an, with its gauntlet broken, lay quietly beside him.

Qian, who had just made up her mind, felt as if someone was slapping her in the face with a laugh.

"Ash-Ash!"

Chapter 172: The Dark Future Seen by Qian

Witnessing the pain of innocent people made Akane feel extremely depressed, but at the same time she also had hope in her heart. This hope came from Ash, who had been standing by them after recognizing them.

Whether it was the results of their sparring or their performance in fighting side by side, it made her believe in Ash's strength. Perhaps Ash had already defeated that enemy and would run towards us from a distance, waving his hand? After all, he had always been like this.

The hope she had in mind was shattered at this moment. Qian, who was crying out in her heart that something was wrong, vaguely sensed how "completely different" the current enemy was from before.

She hurried to Ash's side and pulled his face up from the rain. The girl wanted to use heat to dry the area around Ash first, but she didn't expect that this action would cause Ash on the ground to start twitching violently. The girl had no choice but to carry him on her shoulders in the pouring rain, letting both of them get wet.

Ash's hands are so cold! Is this dark, sticky stuff on my hands... blood? Wounds! Wounds everywhere! These scars are almost sticking to my clothes. Why, why are they even scarier than last time?

"Who! Who made you like this?"

Seeing the unspeakable wounds on Ash's body, the girl's previous feeling of powerlessness and fierce anger stirred up her heart. The anger she felt for him almost made her bite her silver teeth to pieces, as if she was a little beast, ready to find the culprit and tear him into pieces.

"Why couldn't you tell us when you were in danger? Anyway, I'm taking you to the hospital now!"

She placed Ash's entire weight on her shoulders. Unable to use fire, she could only use this most direct way to transfer her body temperature.

Just as Qian was about to rush to the hospital, she seemed to step on something with a clang. As she raised her foot, the dark sword Yue'an rolled to her feet and lay quietly on the ground. In her eyes, the emblem emitted a faint light with each breath.

Well, the sword that fell on the ground is his. Let’s take them both back.

"Stop!" Just as Qian made this decision and did just that, Ash, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and shouted with a vigor not unlike that of a sick patient, "Don't touch that sword!"

"Eh?"

Akane responded with a confused sound, but her hand had already pressed on the hilt of the sword, which had cracks all the way from the bottom.

"Ash!"

Qian suddenly opened her eyes and looked around. She didn't know when Ash had disappeared, and only the rain was still falling.

Although she had no knowledge of this, Qian still instinctively understood it. The world before her seemed to be what would happen in the future.

Ash...is he just looking at things like this all the time?

Is the future... so dark?! The girl tried to move her arms and legs, but the legendary warrior strength of the past was useless now. Her limbs were stuck in a sea of ​​mud, as if countless people wanted to pull her down.

All the colors around him turned black and white. Cure Sunny's hands could no longer ignite a flame or emit any light. He fell into the darkness below like a drowning man.

"Everyone!"

After struggling desperately, she finally saw the others, but at this time the other Pretty Cures were sinking like puppets. No matter how Akane called out, they would only look at her with those empty eyes full of despair... Yes, through the reflection of their pupils, Akane saw her own eyes, which were also full of despair.

"This is your destined ending."

This is Piero's voice. From above, he punishes the warriors who rebel against him by letting them fall into darkness forever and never be able to turn over.

"Hahahaha—come and become my nourishment!"

This was the voice of another person whom he had never heard of, but whom he hated extremely. The black flames released from its twisted, alien-like hands burned the entire planet to ashes. The corpses of his friends and relatives, whom he cared about, lay at his feet, staring at him with eyes that were still open in death.

One that destroys the spirit.

One destroys the flesh.

Finally, even Ash, who had been standing in front of them, slowly closed his eyes under the light that descended from the sky.

The future shattered before Qian's eyes.

“No—don’t—ah—!”

Ever since Ash chose to believe them and let them choose the future of this world, the Dark Sword Yue'an no longer predicted a bad end to him. Now, the indestructible holy sword has been destroyed by absolute violence.

The dark future that had been accumulating for a long time suddenly poured into Qian's world.

At the moment of mental collapse, the battle suit on his body turned into a light spot and disappeared after several times as if the signal was bad. The rain mixed with the tears in his empty eyes. Miaoan, whose heart was taken away by the absolute prophecy, slowly fell backwards.

"Snapped!"

Until another pair of cold hands caught the fallen girl with the last bit of warmth.

----

"Thank you so much!"

"I don't know who you are, but you've been so helpful! You're like angels."

In the past, people who always fell into a coma in the tragic barrier had never seen these warriors, but this did not prevent them from expressing their sincere gratitude to the Pretty Cure for their help. The existence of these beautiful girls who were extremely powerful and could comfort the hearts of the wounded was their meaning, and it was no wonder that some people called them "angels".

"Please don't do this." Lihua, unable to contain her enthusiasm, declined somewhat helplessly. "We just did what we were supposed to do."

Under the gazes of others saying "What good kids you are", the few people who "fled in panic" found a corner in front of the hospital and sat together, as if they were sighing deeply after a big battle with the clown monster.

"Did we do the right thing this time?"

They were of course happy to receive praise from police officers, doctors and other adults whom they admired in daily life, but what they felt more at the scene was real sadness. No matter how beautiful and powerful the power of the Pretty Cure was, it did not yet have the ability to resurrect the dead.

"If we had noticed this incident earlier, maybe..."

"What's happened is over. There's no point regretting it here." Lihua encouraged her companions earnestly, but if you looked closely, you could see that her hands, resting on her skirt, were still shaking. "All we can do now is to prevent this from happening again."

"Yeah, and Ash is still missing... I hope he's alright."

He clasped his hands together and began to pray for Ash and Akane who was looking for him.

"Snapped!"

The sound of the door opening beside them immediately attracted the girls. Standing at the door was a tall figure holding a woman horizontally in his arms. They stood there until a bolt of lightning struck from behind, illuminating the faces of Ash and Akane.

"Yo."

Looking up, I saw the uncontrollable surprise in everyone's eyes, and the scar from the jaw to the corner of the mouth moved along with the smiling face.

"As promised, I'm back."

Chapter 173: Who is the enemy we are going to defeat?

The rain along the way mercilessly soaked both Ash and Akane like drowned rats. Akane, soaking wet, lay on Ash's shoulder with her eyes closed, her head resting on his neck, her hands tightly around his waist, her trembling brows and slightly open mouth as if she was having a terrible nightmare.

Ash knew that this dream was probably terrible.

With the help of others, the trembling girl who curled up in his arms like a frightened little animal was slowly placed on the bed. The unconscious girl actually held onto Ash's arm and was reluctant to let go, as if only here could she feel safe and comfortable.

"Ash... No, you can't go... Don't leave."

Wet strands of hair clung to Ash's face, and he could sense the fear in the trembling she felt. Back then, she'd even dared to go up into space with him, which meant her embarrassing expression wasn't simply terror. Instead, it reminded Ash of the sadness she'd shown when he'd exposed his pain.

"What on earth did you see, Akane?"

Without any intention of staying any longer, Ash pulled his arm out of her arms. Just as he was about to continue limping away, he was pushed back into his seat by a hand from behind.

Lihua stood in front of Ash with her hands on his shoulders. Behind her were other people running towards her with medical kits, looking extremely worried.

"As long as I'm alive, I'm fine. Compared to all this, I'm now—"

Just as Ash was about to stand up, he was pushed back down by the owner of those hands.

The two of them stared at each other face to face. There was no relaxation in their eyes, only tense nerves and expressionless expressions.

Facing Ash's serious, fierce and unreasonable look, Lihua, who was standing at the same eye level with him, glared back without flinching. Worry, blame, and an indescribable emotion mixed together and flowed through her. Her eyes, which were usually as calm as water, exuded amazing momentum and power when they looked at Ash.

"You are a patient now, you are not allowed to walk around!"