Kamen Rider Plays the Villain in Pretty Cure

Her sudden sinister laugh startled even Ash.

Even Cure Yell wasn't what I was supposed to be, then—

What was I supposed to be? What was I supposed to be—

"Then—!"

Who would understand?!

What was there to understand?!

The silence was finally broken by Time Fire's words. With a voice almost like a roar, Yell charged at Time Fire again just as he had assumed his stance, the Melody Holy Sword in her hand shining with an even more blinding light.

"Then tell me, what exactly am I supposed to be?!"

Her pink eyes truly burned with "black flames." Filled with a fury she had never felt before, Yell swung a heavier blow than ever. Even when she had protected this world as a Pretty Cure, protecting others, she had never been able to unleash such an overbearing strike. Yet now, blinded by rage, she had used it.

"What heroes, what villains—do you think everyone would play such a childish game with you?!"

"You call this childish—urk?!"

Time Fire's defensive stance was utterly useless. His consciousness went blank for an instant, and when he came to again, the damage warnings from his battle suit helmet, the howling wind and retreating scenery around him, and the agonizing pain in both arms all told Time Fire the outcome he hadn't seen.

He had truly lost that strike.

"Ha... ha... hehehe!" Panting heavily, Yell stared fixedly in the direction Time Fire had been sent flying. The inexplicable thrill and release rising within her made a strange curve form on her once graceful and pure face, and she couldn't help wanting to laugh wildly.

Should I laugh? No, that's not right. I'm a legendary warrior—Precure.

I'm supposed to protect everyone's bodies and hearts, to make people feel warmth. How could I be happy because I hurt someone? That had to be wrong, right? So I can't laugh anymore—then what was this simple feeling of happiness I had right now—

"Hah—hehehehehahahahaha!"

The black Rampage Energy that had flashed by only briefly began appearing once more, bit by bit, within that Mirai Crystal.

Hahahahaha, I can't—haha! I can't laugh anymore, hahahahahahaha—

An incredibly bizarre scene unfolded. Before the Doomsday Monster and Time Fire she had defeated stood the world's guardian, everyone's understanding big sister, the Pretty Cure who protected hearts, laughing maniacally amid the swirling smoke like some great villain.

Case File 59: Losing Control

"What's so funny—"

Of course! That guy wouldn't be taken down so easily. He would get back up, then I could send him flying again. Or I could pin him to the ground and aim at that hateful metal helmet, one punch, another punch, one more punch, and beat that guy until—!

"It's already over!"

What was this—how terrifying!

As though affected by something lurking deep within, the Doomsday Monster, which had only just managed to calm down and get back up, actually let out a frightened cry at the battle before it.

A monster without self-awareness had now gained instinctive fear.

"Stop screaming back there!" The Raging Enders cried out from behind her. Still unable to pull herself free from her rage and inexplicable pleasure, Yell roared as she turned around. During the turn, she reversed her grip on the Melody Holy Sword and hurled it toward Raging Enders like a javelin.

I know it. Time Fire never says anything sensible. Nothing he says should be surprising, so why was I this angry?

Was it because he was right? Did what happened to Ash-sensei strike too great a blow to my fragile heart?

The fierce, dazzling light that had never faded pierced Raging Enders' head as easily as cutting tofu. Rampage Energy erupted from the massive wound, and Raging Enders' already weak roar grew even fainter.

After thinking it over, I understood.

Eight years of loneliness, pain, and fear had made me crave it too desperately. I thought that beam of light was the end of suffering, but what I saw was only the beginning of the end.

Ha, was this what they meant by, if I had never seen the light, I could have endured the darkness?

"It's already over!!"

The screaming gradually blended with Saya's female voice. The Doomsday Monster was truly terrified now, but how could the red-eyed Yell distinguish what voice it was?

Thump—!

A sound like a beating heart came from Hana. The darkness within the Mirai Crystal that represented the girl's heart was actually becoming more and more substantial!

Yet Hana remained completely unaware of it.

"You're the one who's finished!!!!" With an enraged roar, Yell kicked off the ground and charged forward, raising her clenched right fist and smashing it viciously into Raging Enders' face. Its teeth and Rampage Energy flew together, while large tears welled in its wide yellow eyes.

But would Yell care about Raging Enders' pain?

Maybe she would have before, but now she only threw punch after punch, smashing down viciously until that Doomsday Monster's hateful mouth would never open again, until it could never again say "it's over" as though it were mocking her.

Just now, it seemed like they said... there was someone inside?

Yet the instant that thought arose, it was thrown to the back of Nono Hana's mind by her endlessly swelling, bloodshot fury.

Someone inside a Doomsday Monster? Ha, how could there be anyone inside? I've fought Doomsday Monsters for eight years. Wouldn't I know if there were people inside?!

And even if there was someone, so what? Did it still matter now that I had chosen a sword that had lost its purification power? They're all Doomsday Monsters, so there was no need to distinguish them. If the person inside died, then they died. Consider it for the damn peace of the world!! Hit it, hit it, hit hit hit hit hit hit hit!!!!!

Beat it to death!!!

There was no sound anymore. Even the begging cries it could make at first had vanished. Under Yell's all-out brutalization and torment, not a single part of Raging Enders' body remained intact. The nurse uniform formed from Rampage Energy had long become strips of ragged cloth. If not for the unreasonable special nature of Rampage Energy, the Raging Enders before her would surely have closed its eyes and gone to heaven.

Yell stopped throwing her rage-filled punches. It wasn't because she had vented all her anger, but because she had realized that beating this ugly thing, which couldn't fight back at all, was no longer enough to wear down her emotions.

This Doomsday Monster was no longer useful to Yell. Then it could end up just like the previous Doomsday Monsters.

Shaking her wrist, Yell stepped onto Raging Enders' barely breathing body. Every step deeply aggravated the external wounds she had beaten into it. The trembling of the Doomsday Monster beneath her feet no longer caught Yell's attention. Her eyes held only her sword now.

Pulling the sword from Raging Enders' head, Yell looked calmly at the dying thing beneath her feet.

"Then die for me."

She easily uttered cruel words she would never have spoken in the past.

"Wait!"

It was another voice—a woman's voice.

Yell paid it no attention. To her now, if it were the voice of that punchable guy Time Fire, she would immediately throw her sword over, then repeat on him exactly what she had done to Raging Enders.

If it wasn't Time Fire, there was no need to care.

"Yell—Miss Yell? Please, Miss Yell!"

So annoying, so annoying. Who are you to point fingers here? Do you know what will happen if the Doomsday Monster isn't killed?

"Miss Yell—"

"You're so annoying, woman! If you're not here looking to get beaten like Time Fire, then get the hell out of here!"

She couldn't take it anymore. She was actually starting to understand that bastard Time Fire. These people who understood nothing and had absolutely no power only knew how to babble on from the sidelines. They were completely useless, yet they came over to obstruct people doing things. Look, this Doomsday Monster was practically about to recover.

I—Precure! How to deal with monsters is my business!

Yell turned her head. She wanted to see who this woman constantly interrupting her was. Whoever she was, Yell would make her get far away and stay away. If she didn't listen, Yell would throw her as far as she could.

So who exactly was it?

"Miss Yell..."

It was Saya's mother, Yakushiji Reiro. She no longer possessed the elegance and composure she had shown at the opening ceremony. Her beautiful gown had been torn apart in the disaster, and what remained on her body was more like a rag.

Terrifying, so terrifying! She was practically a different person from the one Yell had seen by chance before, but—

"Yell, she's my daughter! Please spare her!!!"

Daughter? What was she talking about? Was her daughter under this Doomsday Monster?

Yell hadn't heard clearly. She only heard the woman before her, who seemed familiar yet whose name she couldn't recall, staggering as she said something about her daughter. Could it be that her daughter was pinned beneath this Doomsday Monster?

Ah, then that was truly tragic, wasn't it? Should I cry? I really should cry. Yesterday's me probably would have wanted to cry upon hearing that, but I didn't want to cry now. Maybe it was because my tears were about to run dry.

I don't understand, and I don't really want to think. The Doomsday Monster probably killed someone, right?

Then it deserved to die even more.

Yell raised the Melody Holy Sword once more. Blazing light gathered on the blade. With one thrust, Yell had the confidence to completely kill even the strongest Doomsday Monster.

Reiro watched Yell raise her sword again, watched the increasingly dazzling light on the Melody Holy Sword, and fell to her knees as though every bit of strength had been drained from her body.

"No—don't—!"

Her daughter... Saya!!!

Bang!

Pfft!

The shrill sound of a beam burning through the air rang out. With a faint twitch of her shoulder, Hana saw sparks explode from her puff-sleeved battle suit and a faint light pierce through it.

Yell, who was in the middle of charging power, naturally couldn't dodge. A small blossom of blood bloomed on Yell's left shoulder.

The shattered flame visor reflected her as she turned around. Behind her, the muzzle of Ash's Vulcan Gun, held in both hands, was still wreathed in a faint thermal glow.

Case File 60: Love Is the Disease

Nono Hana expressionlessly lowered her head and looked toward the bee-sting-like pain coming from her arm.

She could see a dark, bloody hole in her shoulder. What should have been heavy bleeding had been cauterized black by the beam's high heat, leaving only her off-shoulder short sleeve stained red by the blood flowing down and continuing onward.

My arm was pierced. It hurts so much. Should I cry? Well, I'm used to this level of pain, so there's nothing to cry about. Besides, compared to pain... this pleasure of bleeding right now was real after all?

Time Fire, that thrill of battle you talked about was real too.

The Melody Holy Sword drooped from Hana's hand. Her arm had paused from the pain, naturally making her unable to finish charging the Melody Holy Sword.

Pshht—

A sound like a sharp sword piercing the air rang out. The light surrounding the Melody Holy Sword dispersed, and seeing Yell stopped, Reiro nearly burst into tears as she knelt on the ground.

Yell said nothing. Tomorrow Energy spread across the wound, restoring the charred injury as though time were flowing backward. Rather than treatment, it was more like rough repair work. Once she confirmed it wouldn't affect the battle, she turned toward the direction the beam had come from.

"As expected of the world's hero, Miss Yell. That strike of yours nearly made me leave the stage early. I had to toy with death once again."

Time Fire—or rather, Ash—twirled the Vulcan Gun in his hand before sliding it back into the holster on his thigh. Rising from the ruins, he cracked his joints as he moved them and walked toward Yell.

"Don't look so surprised. Darkness is my friend. What, Yell? Do you want to fall into hell with me too?"

Dark power wrapped around him in layer after layer, constantly drawing the Rampage Energy from the nearby Doomsday Monsters into his body.

[Dark Echo absorption in progress... Do it, Ash. This is what you want to do, right?]

"This is how it should be."

The long-absent system prompt sounded. Ash ignored it, instead savoring the pleasure of Dark Echo repairing and strengthening his body. He couldn't help baring his teeth in a grin.

Before I reach my limit, Dark Echo will only make me stronger... What else could I be but a villain?

But even Ash didn't understand whether this woman, whose personality had changed so drastically, had been corrupted by something in the traditional sense.

Normally, waking someone like this up was her friends' responsibility. Unfortunately, she seemed not to have had a single friend in eight years. No choice, then. I suppose I'll reluctantly take on the job.

"Hahahahaha, come on, come on! Let's begin the second round of our 'date,' Miss Yell~!"

Was that so?

Cure Yell walked toward Ash expressionlessly. In truth, she no longer cared.

I'm Precure. I can only be Precure. Precure's duty is to eliminate darkness. I will eliminate darkness... Anyone who stands against me is darkness that should be erased from this world!

At this moment, Nono Hana's thoughts, her expression entirely engulfed in darkness, had completely lost balance. Under normal circumstances, she would have realized it, but now, she no longer had the heart capable of controlling this "rampage."

So you're next after the Doomsday Monster, then? But...

"Who would want to date you?"

Don't you know that's the word I least want to hear right now?!

"Who knows? Probably every hero in the world!"

Thinking this, Yell's face completely darkened as she raised her sword. This time, she didn't intend to use her fists. It would be better to cleave Time Fire apart. Besides, with so much Rampage Energy on Time Fire now, the Melody Holy Sword could perform very well.

Using the utterly terrified Raging Enders beneath their feet as their battlefield, they stepped on its soft belly and swung their swords at each other!

Screech—

Future against future, darkness against darkness—two nearly identical yet utterly opposite natures clashed, igniting blinding flames between them. Tiny explosions erupted almost without pause where the two swords collided, illuminating Yell's "evil" smile and Time Fire's calm mask, chipped at one corner.