Scene #1922: Seven Times Bright

Owner	Pose
Laura La Mer	It has been a bit since Laura had faced against Scorn, a Pretty Cure nemesis that eluded her understanding, clearly not affiliated with the Witch of Delays. She was even more enigmatic for the fact she had Phantom's powers, and had some sort if bond with Cure Tide. And that was something else that interested her, because she was starting to understand the Pretty Cures were a much more varied group that she had initially understood. After all, she herself was nothing like Cure Wing, and she was dissimilar from Cure Tide and Cure Wukong too. Nonetheless, her recruitment against the Witch of Delays continued undeterred, and that was one of the reasons why she had gotten in contact with Cure Wukong, leaving her a note to meet her at the Shed on this day and time. When Cure Wukong will come in, she will see Cure La Mer at the table with Kururun, having prepared in advance a few of Grand Ocean's best pastries for them, and a plate of fairy shell cookies for the pink seal.
Cho Konishi	Cure Wukong was, well... wasn't actually used to being called by people who weren't Wuwu. So when she was called? She giddily accepted the call. So it was that as Cure La Mer was waiting... suddenly... there was a flash. And a smoke bomb landed in the middle of the room?! And then, as it went off, it gave... a very tiny little bit of smoke. Like, it didn't really hide much, aside from the desk it was in front of. But when the smoke cleared... Cure Wukong was there, twirling her staff, posed dramatically, jammping it down on the desk under her. "Who calls on--" And then the desk broke from the staff strike. She yelped, falling with it, barely managing to catch herself as she wobbled back before using her tail to grip another desk and keep herself steady. "I-I meant to do that!" No she didn't. "I am Cure Wukong, and my sources tell me that you are searching for me!" Her sources being that note that Cure La Mer had left.
Laura La Mer	At the first hint of smoke Laura immediately closes the conch box inside of which the pastries lie, then gets up from the chair with a yell of "Kururun, stay behind me!" She was told the Shed was a safe place, but but her first thought at seeing the smoke was an attack. After all, even Grand Ocean had been a safe place. She doesn't inhale much of the smoke, and when she hears she relaxes, as much as assuming an annoyed face can be called relaxing. "Sure you did", she replies, immediately getting up and opening one of the windows hoping the smoke would gradually flow out. "You already know me, right? Cure La Mer, at the fight with Scorn. And this is my fairy, Kururun", she points at the seal who has gone back to eating her cookies like nothing had happened. "Kururun!", the fairy yells excitedly at Cho. She gets onto her chair again before opening the conch box. "Please, sit down, and feel free to eat these. They are pastries from my home", she settles on a smile at the other Pretty Cure.
Cho Konishi	Cure Wukong slid into the seat across from her, a big grin on her face. She shrunk her staff down to a very tiny size before tucking it behind her ear. "Yup! We fought together, it was fun. Scorn's kind of... wellll... she's a villain, sort of? As far as I know, she's another pretty cure's sister, who was like, brainwashed. We've been trying to rescue her but it's a... thing. A very big thing." She reached out and took one of the pastries, giving it a little nibble. "Sorry for that, I'm a stage magician at heart and uhhhh... still learning, you know?" Cure Wukong said with a sheepish grin. "So, what can I do for you? Do you need some big monster to break? Looking for a team? Hoping to make me your honorary guard? Cause I should warn you, I'm already besties with a mermaid and like, I don't wanna make her jealous."
Laura La Mer	"Brainwashed, huh..." Laura frowns at the news. That is normally bad news, but given how much she seems to have taken to her role, this is even worse than that. "Cure Tide, the girl that was with us? Scorn was really fixated with her, I was really tempted to give her a good kick like I did Chongire", the mermaid scowls. "Sorry, I just can't stand those types, but if she is brainwashed, that changes things a lot." The girl with pink-blue hair bites into a pastry. "I suppose she is resisting attempts at purifications." Laura relaxes considerably when she hears the pinkette is a stage magician. "I see, so that's a talent you are cultivating, I wish you the best then. Maybe you should pick a relevant time and place for it, but I see what you intended. I suggest you buy a top hat though, my first thought at seeing you with the cane was "ninja", so having that would help sell your image." When Wukong mentions another mermaid, Laura perks up. "I did get told the princess of the South Pacific has arrived here too", she smiles with interest. "I have tried to look for her all over, but we just can't seem to meet. A bit annoying since this concerns too." She brings a fist to her mouth to clear her throat. "But I didn't call you for that. You could say I am the opposite of Phantom, or well Scorn, since she seems to have that power now. She captures Pretty Cures, while I recruit them. My name is Laura Apollodoros Hyginus La Mer, a mermaid from Grand Ocean. Its Queen has sent me on a mission to warn and recruit Pretty Cures against the incursions of the Witch of Delays' generals."
Cho Konishi	Cure Wukong gives a light shrug. "Eh, go ahead. Kick her. Like, until she's better? A big kick might do her some good. I've been trying to beat sense into her and sometimes you just need to punch someone until they get the dark energy out of them. It's just a thing sometimes." ... Well, she was Cure WUKONG. "The cane? OH! My stick? Ohhhhh. Ninja! Ninja would be so cool. I think I have a ninja sticker somewhere, I haven't used it though. I've only really used the mermaid sticker." However, when La Mer got serious, so did she. She sat up a little straighter and stared at the other girl. Okay, let's see, what does she... Wukong blinked a few times, her mouth falling open. "Ohhhhh. Another big villain? That's fine. I'll help against that. Witch of delays, huh? What's her thing? Is she trying to wipe out all candy? Destroy love? Drain humanity's motivation? Find the seven mcguffins to summon the mcguffin eater?" ... Well, she was taking this mostly seriously./
Laura La Mer	"If I see her torment someone again, I might just do that", Laura nods in confirmation. "Especially if she is trying to put someone in a mirror. We don't need another Cure Kinder", she furrows her brow. She did look quite angry at the mention of that name. "Cane, stick... Same difference. Both hit just as hard, and that's what ninjas use them for", Laura waves her hand dismissively. "But if you want to reflavour yourself as a ninja, I guess only you can choose." Even if she thought that was kind of wishy-washy. "I am not surprised you would want to be like us" Laura smirks widely, flipping a strand of hair back proudly. "There really is nothing better than being a mermaid. Have you ever visited us?" she stares curiously at Wukong's potential underwater adventures. "The Witch of Delays is weird", Laura starts explaining. "She has this interest in bringing out a world of eternal delays and suck the motivation power out of everyone, but they themselves aren't any motivated to do it. She forces her generals to do all the work, and they only go do that if they are forced. Which seems why this guy called Butler is there. He seems the only one to actually be motivated, and strongly so even." She gives Kururun a light pet while the seal nibbles into another shell cookie. "I found out a bit of this when they had kidnapped me so I couldn't hinder them. For what good it did them. Kururun and I got out of there by ourselves, and I even became a Pretty Cure after the fact."
Cho Konishi	Cure Wukong gave a small nod. "Then yeah, just... don't let her do that to you if you can avoid it. She's not..." She was silent for a moment, trying to think on how to phrase it. "She's going to feel like a real tool when that happens. As for Cure Kinder, well... we'll... we'll find a way to save her," Wukong mumbled. "But, no, I wouldn't want to be a ninja permenantly. Just for a little bit. I like being the Monkey King, he's pretty cool. Don't tell Wuwu I said that," she said quickly. "I've visited the South Pacific Kingdom, it's pretty cool. A bit... weird. Lack of electronics is rough, but the mermaids are friendly. Lots of animals that aren't around here, too. Uhhhh..." She put a finger to her chin, seemingly lost in thought. "Really? They're not motivated to do it? At all? That seems kind of... well... it sounds like they're not going to do very well, then. I mean, if they're accidentally making more enemies when they actually kidnap one of us? But.... I am sorry you had to go through that. Are you okay? It sounds scary. If you weren't magic, how were you hindering them?"
Laura La Mer	"I will be careful, and I really hope so. It feels so wrong to see her in there", Laura sighs sadly. "But I am sure we will be able to. even if we have to knock the doors of the Phantom Empire's HQ down", she nods determined. "By the way, so your deal is you get your powers from myths and legends? I skimmed the page for Wukong when you told me to look it up. Are your enemies also so historical?" she ponders. "I see, it's much like Grand Ocean, we never have any disagreements there, everyone always gets along so well", she smiles happily, briefly lost in recollection. "What is your favourite sea animal?" Laura shakes her head. Not all things are good like that. "The problem is Butler forcing them to carry out the work. Without him, I don't doubt they would get nothing done. But they have taken advantage of my absence recently to gather a lot of the motivation power they need. About me, this is how", she exclaims, placing on the table the Aqua Pot. "Only a mermaid or a sea fairy can use it. It does a bunch of cool things like fly, take bubble photos, be my home, but the most important one of all is it's what is needed to recover the motivation power from the Layabouts, the youma they create. Without this, destroying the Layabout would destroy the stolen motivation power."
Cho Konishi	Cure Wukong nodded. "Exactly. We're bound to beat them eventually. After all, they're the badguys and the good guys always win in the end." After all, if they didn't, the world would have lost by now, right? "But yup, all of my enemies are historical in nature, from Wukong's story and the like. And... really? You never had any disagreements? Weird... I don't know if they have disagreements in Yellow Pearl Voice's home. Like... I mean, everyone has arguments sometimes, right? It's how you deal with them after that shows how good of friends you are. Otherwise you'd just be like... clones. And otters. Otters are SO my favorite. Yellow Pearl Voice has the most precious otter of all time, you can just hug her and squeeze her and scritch her and when she gets a bath she's so precious and clean and she's amazing!" Wukong gasped when she saw the Aqua Pot. "Really? That means it must be so valuable..." Her tail sloooooowly started to sneak around on the table and-- Wukong smacked it. "Uhhhh, maybe... keep it out of reach of me. My uhhhh... Cure Wukong motivations are sometimes... increeeeeedibly mischevious and neeeeed to be controlled... heh... heh heh... ehhh... s-sorry."
Laura La Mer	Wukong's explanation sounds all too right. "This Monkey King has a really long list of accomplishments, but he also has enemies to match. You must have really tough", she observes, impressed. "We are not clones, I am the only Queen candidate and the best singer for one, and I don't think there are that many into photos there", she pouts. She is very much the only her in existence. "Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, we just all get along perfectly. We just know what everyone else is like, and we take it into account. Don't you do the same here?" she asks, her surprise markedly genuine. When the tail started creeping around, Laura would have smacked it first had Wukong not beaten her to the punch. She has only become more fiercely protective of it since the incident. "I will do it, thanks for the warning", she says, slightly weirded out by the kleptomanic tendencies of Wukong's tail. "And if my enemies try it again, I have powers now. Being kidnapped has been uncomfortable, the Witch has this kind of slimy feeling to her, and she really wanted to convert me to their side, but I am not really one to quit. I didn't want to leave my friends by themselves, so I did everything I could to break out", she also reassures the pinkette.
Cho Konishi	Cure Wukong gave a small nod. "Yeah... yeah it does. It also doesn't help that wukong was... kiiiiiind of a jerk in a looooot of his stories. Which means, in many cases, he's kiiiiind of a jerk in like. Everything. Allllll the time," Wukong said with a sigh. "Sometimes likeable. But often a jerk." "And... not really? I mean, I guess it'd be nice if we did? But not really. A lot of people argue about all kinds of things, or refuse to accept that someone else like certain things. A lot of that..." "But... it seems you have everything well in hand, at least. That's great!" She got to her feet, stretching out and giving a light yawn. "I should probably head out, though. But... just know. If you ever need any help, Cure Wukong will have your back. I'll see what Wuwu knows about this Witch of Delays, okay? But I wouldn't expect much. He really only seems to care about his own mythos. Others he tends to ignore at best, actively deride at worst. He's kiiiiind of a jerk like that."
Laura La Mer	Honestly, to Laura it starts to sound like Cure Wukong is captive of someone she has no way to escape. She wouldn't know what to do if her fairy companion was an insufferably boastful and dismissive kleptomaniac. "If you want to break away from him for a while? Let me know." She has a perfect refuge, and his monkey sense of smell wouldn't help him any. "Thank you for the aid", Laura smiles at her consideration. "Also, take care and see you around, Wukong!" she waves goodbye.