"What're we gonna do?" Peace asked nervously. "We can't defeat this monster without the Candles!"

"Good question," Heph hung his head. "I don't know."

The Precure glanced at the Akanbe, just in time to see it raise it's massive, gloved hand and start charging another attack. Purple energy crackled, forming a small, tight ball that looked like an over-inflated bouncy ball. The Precure shrieked as the Akanbe fired, the sphere exploding as it hit the off-guard Precure.

The blast sent the Precure flying through the air, their bodies slamming into trees and rocks as they tumbled uncontrollably. Pain shot through their bodies as they crashed to the ground, groaning.

"Ow." Sunny groaned.

"I have reason to suspect we have no effective way of defeating this Akanbe," Beauty said.

"No need to voice our thoughts, Beauty."

"It seemed relevant."

Grimgrok snickered, crossing his stubby arms over his chest. "I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight, honestly," he smirked. "But I guess the mighty Precure aren't as big and tough as I've heard."

The Precure righted themselves unsteadily. "Alright, guys," Happy whispered. "I think we need to rethink our strategy."

"You think?" March muttered, raising an eyebrow. The girls leapt back as the monster threw a fist at where the Precure had been standing a moment before.

"Don't we have any other attacks we could use?" Peace asked apprehensively. "Like.. Rainbow Healing? We didn't need the wands for those.."

"The Décor that allowed us to preform Rainbow Healing were summoned by Candy's feelings and her desire to aid us in battle," Beauty reminded her, dodging one of the Akanbe's attacks. "Candy was one of the playing factors in our attacks."

"So in short, we're screwed," Sunny said. "Until we find all the Décor? We can't beat this guy?"

"I suppose," Heph said, peeking out from under a picnic table. "Unless.."

"Unless what? We're running low on options here, Heph-san," Happy shouted over the Super Akanbe's cries of, "Akanbe!"

"The Super Akanbe's nose consists of two regular red noses, right? So.. if two of you were to attack at once, it would purify both Décors at once," Heph pointed to the Akanbe's large, bulbous nose. "It's just a theory, though.. I wouldn't know.."

. . .

"Wait.. that actually makes sense," Happy said. She mentally slapped herself.

"That's way too logical. Guys, have we seriously never considered that?" Sunny asked.

"Let's not mind that now..! Sunny, let's finish this Super Akanbe, and send this Bad End Commander back to the rotten place he came from!"

The two girls leapt into the air, as they landed on both sides of the Super Akanbe. With a determined look, Happy unleashed her signature move,

"Precure! Happy.. Shower!"

A shower of sparkling stars rained down on the Akanbe. Sunny immediately followed suit, charging up her respective attack at once.

"Precure! Sunny.. Fire!"

She flung it at the Super Akanbe, who was overwhelmed by the two attacks combining midair. It swirled into a blinding yet beautiful mix of pink and orange. Only the monster's silhouette could be seen through the blazing light, which faded with an angry cry of "Super Akanbe!"

Happy and Sunny held out an arm as two Décors fell from the sky. They examined the two new Décors - the Strawberry Décor, and the Rose Décor.

"That.. went surprisingly well," Sunny said.

"For you, at least," Grimgrok growled. "Those other commanders are never going to let me hear the end of this.." He gave one last glare to the Precure, then disappeared in a flash of yellow static.

Heph ran over holding the Decor Décor. "Two Décors already!" He said excitedly. "At this rate, we'll be done in no time!" He smiled as Happy and Sunny inserted the new Décors.

Happy removed her own Décor from her Smile Pact as the yellow sky faded away. Instantly, her transformation was undone, and she was simply Hoshizora Miyuki. Not an ultra-happy warrior of peace. She looked at her friends to discover that they, too, had reasserted their civilian forms.

"We're lucky you were here, Heph-san," Miyuki beamed. "We were in a bit of a desperate situation just now."

Heph blushed and looked away. "I just thought logically, that's all."

"Logic, which we don't have, apparently," Akane said with a frown.

The Precure looked around at each other and smiled, relieved that they had once again triumphed over the Bad End Kingdom's forces. They knew that there were many more battles to come, but for now, they were grateful for their victory and for each other's support.

The Precure let out a collective chuckle at Akane's comment. "Good job, Precure!" Heph exclaimed, hopping up and down. "You got two more Décors!"

"We couldn't have done it without your help," Miyuki said, giving the little creature a smile. "Don't give us all the credit!"

"Speaking of Décors, we still have fourteen left to find," Reika pointed out. "And we have not even a rough idea on where to start."

"We'll figure it out," Miyuki said with determination. "We're the Precure, after all. We always find a way."

The girls all smiled at each other, feeling a renewed sense of hope and strength. They may not have all the answers, but they had each other, and that was enough to face whatever challenges lay ahead.

"So.. how about we go get those donuts?"

* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

The three Commanders, having gotten bored of cards, had moved onto playing Hangman. Eventually, Joker too had admitted his boredom and joined them. Though, Wolfrun, Akaoni and Majorina found it difficult to keep up with Joker's vocabulary.

"That's enough." Joker said. "I'm not adding eyelashes to the stickman."

"Your words are too hard! How are we supposed to guess?" Wolfrun growled.

"What's the word, anyway ~oni?" Akaoni asked.

"Xylophonist."

"What does that even mean ~oni?"

"Someone who plays the xylophone."

"This is stupid ~dawasa!"

Joker opened his mouth to say something, but then a pale yellow static filled the stone room. The Commanders turned in time to see a baleful Grimgrok enter the room.

"I'm assuming you managed to beat the Precure?" Wolfrun said with a smirk.

"No luck," Grimgrok fiddled with the wooden sword at his side. "But don't worry, I'll get em' next time."

"There is no next time. We're getting rid of him, right, Joker?"

"If that was the case, Wolfrun-san, I should've dismissed you out during the pre-historic times." Joker said with a mischievous smile. "And Akaoni-san and Majorina-san while I was at it."

Grimgrok looked at the other three Commanders with triumph written on his face. Joker narrowed his eyes with a truly frightening, child-like smile, then continued.

"Our efforts to defeat the Precure were in vain last time- I think we'll need all the help we can get! Even if it's not by much.."

"Hey-"

"Don't take this the wrong way, my dear Commanders, but I truly believe by working together we could possibly defeat the Precure and bring the universe the Bad End it deserves!"

"Work together with gnome-boy? No thanks." Wolfrun said with a glare in the aforementioned Commander's direction. "Seriously, you're not really about to tell us the value of friendship and teamwork, right?"

"That may be the Precure's way of phrasing it, but no. I suppose I am suggesting that we are more powerful working together. The Precure's only strength is that they work as a team. It's excruciatingly painful to admit, so I'll put it this way as so I don't need to sound like the Precure: there's power in numbers."

The Commanders all glanced at each other. They did get what Joker was saying. The Precure relied on one another. They couldn't perform group attacks alone- not that it mattered, without the wands. The unending monologues about friendship and what-not weren't just for show. The Precure genuinely found their power fighting together.

So maybe, if they worked together, they could-

"No. Never."

"Not a chance ~oni!"

"You're as bad as the Precure ~da wasa."

Joker bowed to the Commanders, more to hide the smile playing on his lips. "I figured. At least give it some thought, hm? After all, there are five of us now, and there's 5 Precure."

The Commanders grunted, not looking directly at Joker. He frowned, doubting if they could really secure their victory over the Precure this time. Honestly, he'd only brought them back because..

They kind of enlightened him. There wasn't another way to put it. Their stupidity was amusing. They may be worthless, but it was okay to have them around sometimes.

Not that he'd hesitate to destroy them if they held him back. It never hurt to have allies, but if they made him weak..

What was he saying? He was dragging around dead weight, and for what?

(A/N: I TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE THIS WITH THE SHORTEST CHAPTER POSSIBLE.. I'M SO SORRY I JUST FEEL LIKE I CAN'T REVEAL TOO MUCH PLOT AT ONCE

I'm sorry! I'll have an update by next week, and if I don't you can spam me with comments and pressure me however you want.

~Pounce)