Kamen Rider is a Villain in Pretty Cure Chapter 39

"You can hear me... no, you definitely can. Even if you can't, it's okay. You'll understand what I mean. After all, you're the world's greatest hero."

"I have something to tell you... Your father, Mr. Nono, was severely injured saving someone and is now in critical condition in the hospital. We don't know if he'll wake up."

Tears welled up again in Hana's hollow eyes, moistening them before sliding down her cheeks.

"But I promise you, your mother, sister, and friends are all safe. If I can get back, I can heal those injuries too. So Hana, listen to me."

"I know... both your hopes and your despair, it's all my fault. I trampled on your true feelings with the will of the game world. It's okay if you blame me for everything, if it makes you feel better—"

Seeing the monster being suppressed before him yet stirring restlessly, Ash let out a light laugh. "But if it's like this, you'll only feel worse... So, none of that matters. The past, whether yours or mine, it doesn't matter anymore..."

"Actually, I want to blame you a little too... If you had just told me honestly, maybe it wouldn't have come to this... But, whether it was right or wrong, I think if we could have shared it, we wouldn't be blaming each other with such misunderstanding."

Now, regardless of whether you win or I lose, if humanity is lost, it will be a tragedy that even God would have to avert his eyes from.

"Hey, Hana, I've really enjoyed these past months with you."

"These past months with us, they weren't just a final burst of light before everything was destroyed, were they?"

"Whether it's your destruction or the world's, in this world where miracles are allowed, you can still have a better ending, right?"

"You promised to save me, so if it doesn't end happily, then all of this is meaningless, right?"

Removing his helmet, Ash, with an unbelievably sincere expression on his face, opened his mouth bitterly.

"I..."

The V-Rex Robot stepped forward, sending Ash, who was in its chest, to Hana's front. This allowed the man's hand to touch and caress her now cold cheek.

"I'm an arrogant fool who understands nothing but the thrill of battle and shining light."

I want to spend the next month with you, the next year, I want to be with you forever.

"So, someone as clumsy with words as me, I really don't know how to comfort you."

Before Ash, the darkness formed by Rampage Energy began to shake violently. The flower bud seemed to writhe, as if trying to swallow Nono Hana back, but before that could happen, her calloused palm was firmly grasped by another, thicker hand.

"So, I—"

The man did not accept all the Tomorrow Energy of that world. Instead, he forcefully threw the Mirai Crystal towards the sky above their heads and, raising his hand, shot it, causing it to explode!

"You—you..."

Including the Tomorrow Energy accumulated within Ash, it all transformed into dazzling golden light, scattering over the girl whose "wings" were bound.

At this moment, she was like a beam of sunlight shining solely upon her. With the restoration of Tomorrow Energy, in addition to her usual pink battle suit, a veil and thin skirt like a wedding dress, along with transparent wings on her back, appeared years late.

Under the overflowing light of tomorrow, even the darkness within him that was about to steal his remaining life vanished without a trace!

"I LOVE YOU!!!"

Their fingers intertwined, Ash held Nono Hana's hand with a grip that would never let go.

"I want you!"

As the man's tears streamed down, in the brilliance that fell like the sun, he tightly grasped the one he loved. Amidst the crackling sound of exploding darkness, he pulled her out from the decaying core that bound her!

"Hana—!"

He believed in miracles.

"Ash..."

"Ash..."

"Ash."

"Wuwuwu..." Lying in the man's arms, she could no longer suppress her feelings. Murmuring her lover's name as if in a dream, she finally couldn't hold back her tears.

"You don't need to say sorry." Ash spoke before Nono Hana could. "And you don't need to feel sorry for yourself. This isn't your fault. Look, this world that has continued to exist, and that rainbow."

After the pitch-black energy disappeared, everything in this world still remained.

The fact that this world could exist into the future was connected from afar by her hope and the rainbow reaching for dreams.

"Your outstretched hands, in order to convey this feeling to someone."

The man raised his hand, connected with the woman's.

"Now, they are firmly held by me."

In the sky, at the junction of the light behind them and the darkness before them, under the gaze of the sun and the entire world, Ash tightly embraced his beloved, clad in a wedding-dress-like attire, and without hesitation, kissed her lips that held the light of the future.

"—"

She also actively responded, reaching her hand from under Ash's arm and wrapping it around the man's scarred back.

So sweet.

"Me too, absolutely." Gripping those broad hands, the girl's long-empty gaze and heart were refilled by his hope and love. "Absolutely, I will never leave you again."

"Let's bear this future together."

A shared will, a simultaneous vow from their united words.

"A future where we can find support even when lost, where there's someone to embrace our sorrow when we cry, no longer alone."

"But a future together!"

Until this flame of life burns out—

"Ohhhhhhhh——————"

Although they didn't know what was happening, seeing the two kiss and then pull away with affectionate eyes, everyone, no matter where they were on Earth, was filled with joy and excitement for this moving scene, embracing their loved ones and kissing their partners.

Tomorrow Energy, for the first time in many years, overflowed the world once more.

Some people watched the scene, unable to stop themselves from wiping away tears.

"You've grown up, Hana—"

"▇▇——"

As Hana departed, the Doomsday Monster's beautiful goddess form could no longer be maintained and collapsed. With sharp fangs, ugly bat wings, and disgusting, writhing, multi-eyed heads, the darkness, originally born from despair and decadence, continued to mutate and twist into an unnamable, screaming, wriggling entity that shouldn't exist in the real world!

The materialized Rampage Energy let out a roar that no Earth creature could produce, charging towards the two, determined to devour them once more.

"Sister—!"

Kotori, covering her mouth with her mother in front of the TV, stared with wide eyes, looking at the terrifying scene with a bit of fear, watching the monster charge towards the golden super robot standing on the earth.

Some people held hands and closed their eyes to pray.

However, their worries were completely unnecessary; what they needed to do was clearly in the hearts of the two.

"Come on, Hana." Ash took his lover's hand again, opening his hand towards the incredibly ferocious enemy before them. "It's time for our trump card. This is our final farewell."

"Mm!" Hana squeezed her lover's hand just as tightly, hope, vitality, and courage—feelings she had cheered for others with in the past—reappeared in her eyes.

"Go, go! Ash!"

"Go, go! Myself!"

Saying the long-lost signature line, Nono Hana even smiled with a hint of nostalgia.

How long had it been since she last cheered wholeheartedly for someone else?

"Here we go, Ash!"

Standing on the chest of the V-Rex Robot, the two, moving as if in a dance, intertwined their fingers and aimed their clenched fists at the monster.

"To hold onto this cherished happiness," Ash raised his clenched left hand.

A loud, bright sound echoed from the golden, shimmering steel giant behind them. The massive body beneath them slowly raised its hands to face the charging enemy, and countless newly born Tomorrow Energy flowed from the shoulder energy units into the machine's core.

[Tomorrow Energy Output: 5.67 Billion%]

A faintly shimmering heart-shaped crest gradually overlapped with the Time Ranger crest on its chest.

"To embrace this shining future!" Nono Hana raised her bright right hand.

All energy, all tomorrows, and all love converged at this single point, reaching its peak.

The V-Rex Robot, with all its energy gathered in its left-hand iron fist, its hand flashed with a color that could no longer be described as "gold."

It too raised its iron fist towards the charging monster.

"Tomorrow Punch!!"

The light fist, symbolizing the opening of the future, spun, shone, and flew out, illuminating everything.

What would the scene be like when infinite light collided with absolute darkness?

Ash and Hana leaned against each other, watching the sunrise on the distant horizon.

The giant darkness, the giant monster, stopped halfway through its charge. In its chest, a huge heart-shaped gap pierced through its body, allowing one to see the super robot holding its left hand, still smoking, and the two standing on it, their faces brushed by the same gentle breeze.

Hana took a deep breath and exhaled two words towards the despairing darkness that had once bound her.

"Ascend!"

Infinite "tomorrow" easily shattered the despair of the "past." The energy that shot out exploded and collapsed within the darkness like an avalanche.

In the darkness enveloped by light, there was no longer a scream of pain, but a sigh of relief and happiness that released everything.

"Yell for you," Hana, with a look of sacredness, crossed her hands over her chest towards the dark world.

"The End," Ash, looking completely cool, swept his finger across his bangs.

"Tomorrow."

Looking at the girl beside him, who had returned to being the ordinary, familiar girl named "Nono Hana," and could only be "Nono Hana," he saw her smiling with pure happiness, opening her arms to him.

"Will surely be a beautiful tomorrow."

Looking at the man before her, still bearing the scars of a warrior, she saw him smiling happily, lifting her up with both hands.

"I understand now, Ash."

Leaning on his shoulder, Hana, feeling a bit sleepy, looked with him towards the horizon where the true setting sun was about to end, and quietly said.

"The world gave me the hope of tomorrow and the future, it must be."

"So that I could meet you in the future."

Closing her eyes, the woman no longer shy, tilted her head and kissed the man's dry lips once more.

"Mwah~"

"I like you too."

[Extra] Case File 79 Happiness

The world was saved.

To be precise, it was saved by love, and that much is true.

However, the ordinary people living in this world of heroes wouldn't understand such things. At this moment, as the darkness recedes, they cheer towards the finally arrived tomorrow, celebrating the coming future.

After all, those covered by the dark world were merely frozen, not killed. Even the apocalyptic battle where the two great titans almost leveled Nursery City into rolling hills was repaired by the omnipotent Tomorrow Energy, fixing all the damage. With that in mind, what reason would they have not to celebrate this happy ending?

But for Ash and Nono Hana, who were at the center of the events, these things didn't much matter.

"It's so beautiful... When the sun rises again, it will be another tomorrow."

Having just finished the final brain surgery on Hana's father, ensuring he was out of danger, Ash, back in his white coat, sat side-by-side with Hana, who was wearing a simple pink dress, on the hospital rooftop.

Without a word, the two leaned against each other, letting the half-red, half-yellow light pierce the night and shine on their squinting faces. Hand in hand, they quietly admired the beautiful sight of the sun rising from the horizon, bringing life to everything.

Just as Ash had said, he brought back the future, and made the sun rise once more.

"Yeah." Another hand wrapped around her from behind, pulling her shoulder closer to him. Hana naturally leaned her weight against his chest. "This is the tomorrow we protected together."

"Mhm." Hana nuzzled him affectionately, her hair brushing against his collarbone, sending a ticklish fragrance through him.

"It's most beautiful when I'm with you."

"You really like to act spoiled." Even though she usually acted strong and carefree, she was still a woman... no, a girl?

"Is that not allowed?"

"No." The man left a kiss on her hair, subtly. "I have the leeway for it now."

Feeling the warmth radiating from his chest, Hana closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if to inhale all the air imbued with Ash's scent.