Kamen Rider is playing the villain in Pretty Cure

Chapter 55: So-called Friends

Regina, holding Ai-chan, sang a lullaby and rocked her arms to the rhythm of the song. Listening to the girl's sweet voice, the sleepy baby soon fell asleep.

Regina now doesn't look like a member of a dark organization trying to invade the world, but more like a carefree young lady who comes out to play with her loved ones.

As for Ash, who was wearing a Showa-style motorcycle leather jacket and sunglasses and following behind, he was the young lady's bodyguard.

"What a cute sleeping face! I feel like my mood has brightened up. Mana is right, it's more fun to play with a lot of people!"

"Yeah, it would be great if Regina could understand."

The girls were chatting happily, and the originally awkward relationship quickly heated up. Ash, who couldn't find a topic to start with, could only pretend to be a spark doll with a blank face.

"I like this sculpture too." Looking up at the stone sculpture that looked like the princess of the Poker Kingdom, Regina felt as if she knew her and it looked more and more familiar.

"Especially the red gem on the chest, I love it so much! Do you know what this gem is?"

"We all speculate that this should be the royal gem... Hmm!" Makoto casually said the speculation, and when everyone's attention turned to herself, she realized what she was saying. She subconsciously covered her mouth, but it was too late.

"The Royal Jewel, I remember this is the item you mentioned, Arisu, that you Pretty Cure girls are collecting, right?"

Haha, Mr. Ash actually found out from Arisu? !

The girls' attention shifted to Arisu again. The orange-haired girl lowered her head in embarrassment as everyone looked at her as a "traitor."

"Even if Mr. Ash doesn't know it from me, he will definitely know it from everyone else."

"That's true though... Anyway, this royal gem is something very important that we are collecting!"

"Oh, I understand now that you mention it."

Isn't this the same process of collecting core coins, gathering lock types, and obtaining all switches? This is the sales method that Dai Ge often uses.

"Can that royal gem you're talking about be linked to your weapons and transformation devices? Are there sound and light effects?"

"Mr. Ash, what you said is outrageous." Arisu began to explain for him. "Gemstones generally don't shine or make sounds, right? Royal gemstones aren't children's toys."

"It seems that this generation of brothers is not very active in selling toys." Ash's gaze drifted past the fourth wall of the C05 level and went far away, his eyes pointed at something.

"Don't be so absolute. Perhaps among your descendants there might be a Pretty Cure who can transform using gemstones."

"Using gems to transform, it feels so gorgeous!" Hearing Ash's words, Mana's eyes showed longing. "I really want to meet them!"

"I guess it won't be too long. After all, co-productions are Dai Ge's favorite way to reap fans' money."

"It feels like you've been saying all sorts of weird things today, Ash." Regina, unable to join in the conversation, puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction. After thinking about what Ai and the others had said, she pointed to the gem on the statue and said, "Ash, if this is what Mana and the others are looking for, then give it to them as a gift."

"Wait, this belongs to the art museum, you can't just take it away!"

Ai quickly spoke up to stop her fat tiger behavior.

But Regina doesn't understand reason, but Ash must know the rules, right?

"Princess, here."

Hey, you're too fast!

"Mr. Ash, this is a crime!"

Facing the accusations from Rikka and the others, Ash held the red gem and shrugged innocently.

"Look, no matter what, I'm now a member of a dark organization that's trying to invade Earth. And you're asking me why I'm taking things without paying?"

"I can't argue with that...but this feeling is so annoying!"

They don't want to accept this fact. It feels like all their efforts are in vain!

Playing with the red gem in his hand, Ash looked at the plastic texture on it with disdain. It felt exactly like a DX toy.

Just as everyone was arguing about whether to put it back or take it quickly, the statue where Ash had snatched the gem began to crack from the chest and the cracks continued to expand. Soon, it shattered into pieces on the ground.

“What, what, what, what should I do!!!”

The girls panicked when they saw their items were broken. This was an art gallery exhibit, and no one knew the actual value of the sculpture. What if they couldn't afford the compensation even if they sold all of them?

"Is there no other way but to buy this art gallery first?"

Arisu, whose thinking was different from others, immediately took out his cell phone and started contacting the housekeeper regarding the acquisition.

"If something's broken, just fix it. Put this thing here... OK."

Seeing Ash pick up the broken sculpture and put it back together, the four girls' mouths began to twitch.

"What is this?"

The originally beautiful and gorgeous female statue has been pieced together by Ash with the head on the chest and the legs on the head. It is something that would require an investigator to pass a SAN value check if it were to be put into the COC world.

"Hmm... probably destroy the mechamons."

"You know you spelled it wrong!"

The other girls who were so anxious that they were about to cry finally turned their attention to Ash, the culprit. He was standing there without any anxiety, tossing the plastic gem in his hand and observing the surrounding situation. Ash came up with an idea.

"I have a great idea."

"There's no surveillance here, so no one will know it was us. You still have time to escape."

After hearing Ash's suggestion, the girls wanted to transform into Pretty Cure and punch him one by one. To some extent, it was quite impressive that Ash could be so annoying at the critical moment.

"I'm really sorry!"

The girl finally decided to go to the art museum and apologize honestly. Fortunately, the craftsman who carved the stone sculpture did not make things difficult for them, but was very generous and said that it was not their fault.

"That stone sculpture isn't something a little girl can break. It's probably because it was about to break, so it's not your fault."

Of course it wasn't their fault. The culprit was still hiding behind the pillar and whistling.

"I found a red plastic rock on the beach and carved it out on a whim. But it doesn't feel very real after it's been carved. It doesn't feel like I made it myself. So now that it's broken, let it be."

Although Mr. Craftsman repeatedly told them not to worry, they still offered to help clean up the mess, at least not wanting to just watch and do nothing.

"Mr. Ash, this is your fault. Don't just watch!"

Rikka, who was helping to pack up the stone sculpture fragments, picked up a broom and saw that Ash was not helping at all, just like he was at his own home, and she made another sound of dissatisfaction.

Originally, Ash was planning to refuse as usual, but when he saw the girls offering to help, he felt a little guilty, so he took out a green watch face and threw it over.

"[Watermelon Armor ~ Small Watermelon ~]"

"Ha, how can such a small thing have..." Rika shut up halfway through her words. This little watermelon robot moved at a lightning speed, and with an efficiency several times greater than theirs, it swept away all the debris in no time, leaving no scraps behind.

This made Rikka, who was originally planning to continue lecturing Ash, suddenly at a loss for what to say.

But unlike Ash who didn't say anything, Regina still couldn't understand why they were actively asking for help.

"Why would Mana offer to help? She's clearly already been forgiven."

"It's mainly due to my mood." Seeing Regina start to ask for her advice, Ai began to preach to Regina earnestly. "Even if I can't restore it to its original state, I have to at least do what I can."

"But I instructed Ash to remove the gem. It has nothing to do with you, Mana."

"Of course, because we are already friends?" Following Ai's words, Rikka offered a timely assist.

"Is it because we are companions that we have to share the joys and sorrows, happiness and unhappiness together?" Thinking of what Ash said before, Regina felt as if she seemed to have sensed something.

"Regina, you understand very well!"

"But if your friend is like Mana, it would be very hard to take on all the troubles of others."

"Lihua, please don't say that. It's embarrassing."

At this point, the girls all burst into laughter around Ai, and even Ai herself couldn't help laughing. For them, who are now friends who know each other well, maintaining and enjoying such a beautiful friendship is also a part of their happy daily life.

But Regina's mood was shaken when she saw this scene, and this fluctuation gradually expanded, causing a strange and turbulent wave in the black sea of ​​her mind.

I feel so sad, but also very happy.

So, is this what a true friend is?

Looking back at Ash, the man raised his finger and gave her a "look at me more" gesture.

Even Ash is encouraging me... I see.

I don't just want to be friends with Mana, I want to be friends with everyone!

“I want to…”

"I also want to be friends with everyone like Mana!"

When she made up her mind to shout out what was on her mind, she saw four people looking at her with smiles on their faces.

"Regina is already our friend."

Not only did she keep showing her affection, but Rikka, Arisu, and even Makoto nodded to her.

"Yeah, so Mr. Ash."

"No need, I'm just a rival."

"KORA!"

Regina understood when she saw Mana quarreling with Ash again.

So this is a friend?

The moment the girl, who was originally in darkness, confirmed her feelings, a red light shot up from the gem in Ash's hand!

Chapter 56: Gem-induced Mutation

"What kind of light is this!?"

While everyone else was surprised by this scene, Ash narrowed his eyes slightly. Wrapped in the light, the plastic-like gem with a Bandai water pattern began to gradually change its appearance, discarding its original plastic texture and becoming as gorgeous as a finely crafted sculpture, with a phantom red light flickering in its translucent texture.

His long experience had taught him that this probably meant that it had changed from being unlocked to being usable, and that this royal gem was now truly worthy of its name.

It seems that as he vaguely guessed, Regina, who appeared as the enemy, was not a bad person with a dark heart, otherwise she would not have triggered such a superstitious phenomenon based on friendship.

Looking at Regina, the princess was also surprised by this scene, and seemed not to realize that she was the one who caused this scene.

“This is the real Royal Crystal!”

The girls' attention was attracted by the light of the gem. When the gem gradually revealed its true shape, the girls hurried over to check the situation.

“So it’s true.”

"Oh my god, this is incredible."

As the girls expressed their admiration, Ash quickly adjusted his mindset, held up the gem to the sun, and observed its internal structure through the bright sunlight reflecting off the translucent gem.

"It doesn't look like the Philosopher's Stone, and it doesn't look like anything special. Probably only that blue thief would be interested in it."

"Will there be any thieves targeting this?"

"Yes, that blue thief might even target your elves."

“Hey——!”

The frightened girls hurriedly covered their partner elves, and looked around with the elves whose faces were also covered in cold sweat, fearing that the mysterious blue thief mentioned by Ash would come out and steal their friends.

The vengeful Ash spared no effort to slander someone's reputation across the world, and Ash felt that he was not lying, because if it was the thief knight, he might really do the same.

"We would be in big trouble if we were targeted by thieves!" The girl quickly tightened her pockets and only breathed a sigh of relief after making sure that the gems they had collected were still there.

"So, when you collect this thing, you will unlock a powerful form after collecting it all?"

After all, in order to sell toys to the audience in front of the TV, collecting various small props and then unlocking big props is the tradition of Oying, which cannot be missed.

“There is no such setting anymore!”

"So that unlocks the final form in one go?"

"What final form? Pretty Cure's transformation itself is already her final form."

Why do you always care about this kind of thing?

Regina, who was having a very happy day today, didn't care much about the royal gem at first. No matter how precious the gem was, she would just give it as a gift to those she loved. But when she saw the true form of the crimson gem, Regina couldn't take her eyes off it.

She instinctively felt that there seemed to be some invisible and intangible connection between herself and the gem. Her feet moved unconsciously as she moved closer to Ash. She stared at the gem, and her eyes, which were originally as blue as the sea, gradually turned a heart-wrenching red.

Now, Regina, who was originally happy about the friendship she had gained, had only one thought in her mind.