Things over in Pollution had been rather quiet. Tide and Ivy had continued to fail at their mission to defeat the Precure. And to make matters worse, they were the only two soldiers remaining. No one else was ready to be called up and all the other soldiers involved in this fight had been defeated and executed, or betrayed the cause by siding elsewhere. Things were starting to feel much more desperate when Tide and Ivy met with the king. They were aware of their failures and while they tried to push themselves a little harder, it had failed. Why were they called up in the first place? They were unworthy of their positions and their frequent failed attempts proved it.

"What are we going to do? Nothing we've done has been successful. We're as good as dead if we don't try and steal back one key or something!" Ivy panicked. She was clearly starting to feel hopeless.

"Calm down! We're going to figure something out! I know we're facing death right now but think about it! We're Pollution's last hope!! Especially with the boss still in recovery, we have to step up and prove our worth!" Tide shouted.

"Yeah but we tried that already and look how that turned out... why can't the boss just recover already? I mean, he's gotta be out for vengeance considering what happened to him the last time he fought!" Ivy explained.

"Well yeah, but he could be good to fight again any day now! I heard that he's starting to get his strength back." Tide said.

The duo began loudly bickering with each other until an unexpected third voice interrupted them.

"Can you two shut up?"

Tide and Ivy turned in shock. He was finally awake.

"Boss!" they both exclaimed.

"I can't believe it! You're actually awake!" Ivy was amazed.

"After all this time, you're alive. I really thought you were going to die. The Precure really wore you out before!" Tide said.

"Yes, yes I'm aware. I mean, just look at what they did to me." Hurricane said, pointing to the scar that now ran across his right eye. "They were dangerously close to blinding me. Well... one of them was. I guess that's what I get considering what I did to her."

Tide and Ivy managed to figure out who Hurricane was referring to, granted it didn't take long. However, they needed to refocus. They needed a new game plan.

"Moving on... we need a new plan. What do you recommend?" Tide asked.

"You think I know what's been going on? Figure it out yourselves..." Hurricane then walked away leaving the incompetent duo to sort things out themselves.

"Well... that didn't do much. But I think I remembered something important." Ivy said.

"What?"

"You remember that girl who follows the Precure around and how she's probably important somehow?" Ivy asked.

"I vaguely remember you mentioning that actually!" Tide said.

"Perfect! I think we need to try and get our hands on her. If she's that important to the Precure, they'd come running after her and then we have the chance to actually stop them! That way, we'll take back the keys and move on with the ultimate plan! And not only that, we will survive! We won't be executed like all the others, we will thrive as our master completes his plan!" Ivy explained.

"I like the way you think! It's perfect!" Tide said.

"Why thank you! Let's strategize and train a little bit, shall we?" Ivy suggested.

"Yeah!" he nodded.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

Back in Shizen Town, Ami had finally made her way to hang out with the others at their usual hangout location. As per usual, the girls were quick to greet her.

"Hey Ami!" Sora waved.

"Hi guys!" Ami waved back. She soon sat with everyone and got caught up on the conversation.

"So that's what you all were doing the other day? I wish I knew about it sooner! I would've loved to see how New Years is celebrated here!" Ami pouted.

"Don't worry Ami! I'm sure you'll get to experience it someday! Just like how you'll get to go home soon!" Emiri said.

"Not so fast, we still haven't stopped Pollution. We don't know when Ami will get to go home but we have to be alert. Our mission isn't done just yet." Suzuko said.

"Suzuko is right. We can't celebrate just yet. In fact, I think we need to start preparing. You don't know what Pollution could be planning. And we still need to defeat their king and take back the last key." Rei said.

"Do you think they could be planning anything huge?" Sora asked.

"I wouldn't be shocked if that was the case. I know Tide and Ivy aren't exactly the smartest but I wouldn't underestimate them." Suzuko replied. Naturally, she had the most inside information.

"Well do you know if Pollution ever had some kind of ultimate plan?" Emiri asked.

"I know they had something, but I was never told what it was. What I know is that they needed all of the Nature Keys to carry out the next step of their plan. They were pretty vague and secretive on the details. Only a select few people know of the full plan and I wasn't one of them." Suzuko explained.

"An ultimate plan... what would that involve?" Rei questioned.

"I don't know. But I think it's best we keep our guards up. Especially with Ami. I don't know if they know that you're the princess but we have to keep you safe. That's a priority." Suzuko said.

Ami wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. She was aware that she was in danger, but she also felt safe enough that she didn't have to worry. Were her friends and trusted protectors now going to start guarding her every second they could? What was going to happen? Whatever it was, Ami hoped that she wouldn't get treated like a helpless child. That's the last thing she wanted. She just hoped it wouldn't reach that point.

"I think you're right. We're going to work extra hard to keep her safe." Emiri agreed.

"Um, what do you guys mean by that exactly?" Ami asked.

"Well... if we're trying to protect you, that means we can't leave you alone right? The only time we can't be around you is school so we need to make sure you're with at least one of us at all times." Sora said.

She admittedly felt bad saying that since she knew independence was something very important to Ami but she also knew she promised Ami's parents that she would protect her. Sora already dreaded the thought of failing at that, and she knew it was the last thing she wanted to have happen.

"Oh... really?" Ami was struggling to hide her disappointment.

"Sorry Ami. But it's for the best. I can't let anything happen to you! I promised your parents I'd protect you." Sora explained.

"Well why can't any of you guys listen to me? What if I want to be protected differently? I'm not just some weak and helpless kid!" Ami protested.

"It's not that we think you're weak and helpless! We just don't want anything to happen to you! I can't fail your parents... not now." Sora said.

"That's just your way of saying that I am weak and helpless! I can protect myself! That's what I've managed to do up until I met you... who says I can't do that now?!" Ami snapped.

"Ami... please! I know you want to be independent and I know that's important to you, but for now we can't let you do that. It's just until we can get you home safely." Sora said, looking Ami in the eyes.

But despite Sora's best efforts, it wasn't enough to calm Ami down. Ami started to let out all her pent up anger.

"FORGET IT! I'm not going to just sit around and do nothing because you all have decided now is the time to treat me like I'm helpless! That's been most of my entire life! I don't need any of you to protect me! I will go and protect myself! I will prove it to you!" Ami then got up and left the rest of the group behind, leaving them all stunned.

"What did I do wrong?" Sora sighed. She felt like this was her fault somehow.

"No Sora, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. There's nothing you can do. I think we just need to let Ami get her anger out and then we can figure out what to do from there." Rei said.

"I guess you're right... maybe we're not taking the right approach. Do you think we should still let her have some independence?" Sora asked.

"That could work better. But we still need to be careful. I'm sure there is a way to balance what we need to do with what Ami wants. I just don't know how that would look..." Suzuko said.

"Yeah, I think we're going about this all wrong. Maybe we should see what would make Ami happy while still meeting the request of her parents." Emiri said.

"I think you're right. We should try that!" Sora said. "Where do you think she ended up going?"

"I don't know but we might want to find her sooner rather than later." Rei said.

"Good idea. Now let's go find her!" Sora got up and started heading toward the door. Emiri, Suzuko and Rei were right behind her. There had to be some way to make this right and they needed to find it as soon as possible. If Pollution was planning anything, they had to get to her before it was too late.

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

Ami found herself wandering through the woods on her own. She kept thinking about what she had said not too long ago. She knew that Sora meant well, as did the others. She messed up, she didn't act at all like the princess she was supposed to be. So much for all those lessons about manners and controlling your emotions and whatever. Ami also thought that her outburst made her sound incredibly spoiled, she didn't want to sound like that but she did. All because her anger got the best of her. Maybe the others did have a point. She did feel pretty uneasy being alone in the woods.

Not only was it somewhat chilly, there was a soft breeze blowing that only added to the unsettling atmosphere of it all. Ami wouldn't have been shocked if she learned that anyone had gone missing around here. She kept walking until she found a little clearing with a bridge. Was this the same bridge that Sora once mentioned to her?

Ami thought back to a brief conversation she had with Sora where she mentioned some kind of bridge where the girls would declare their friendship and that she wanted to take Ami there someday. Why hadn't she taken there? Did Sora and the others not see her as a friend? Ami viewed the four of them as her friends and also her allies since they were fighting to save her fallen home, but how did they view her? She could've sworn that to them, she was just some little kid but at the same time, if they did feel that way, they wouldn't have made so much effort to include her in their activities and introduce her to the "real world". Ami stood on the bridge, looking over into the little creek and just took in all the scenery. For whatever reason, being so alone helped her appreciate the view just a little more. But still, those lonely thoughts kept on crawling back.

"I wish they were here to see this with me... I want them to bring me here with them. Man, I messed up so bad... But how do I apologize? I haven't had many friends so how am I supposed to make it right?" Ami was thinking out loud, for some reason, it was helping her get her feelings out. Allowing herself to vent was also allowing her to break down and cry. She had to get rid of all these bad feelings, it was all she could really do. After all, she wandered too far off. How would anyone be able to find her?

"Oh... what a shame. You're out here all alone." a voice said.

Ami stopped crying and turned to see one of the last people she wanted to run into. She let out a gasp.

"Tide?! No... what do you want from me?" she could feel her heart racing. She had let her guard down and was risking allowing herself to get taken away. She had to find a way to get out of here.

"I want to know why you follow the Precure around so much. Everywhere they go, you're always close behind. And I know you're not one of them so what are you exactly?" Tide said, hoping to interrogate Ami and get some answers out of her.

"It's not your business! I'm just here to make sure they're safe!" Ami argued.

"Oh, are you sure about that? My partner sees something in you. She's convinced that you're incredibly valuable." Tide said.

"But I'm not! I'm just some kid!" Ami protested.

"Is that so?" another voice called out. "No random kid would just follow around a bunch of magical girls if she wasn't important to them somehow."

"No! You're here too?! Get away from me!" Ami was starting to panic now. She was completely defenseless here. The best thing she could do was pick up some nearby rocks and start throwing them at Tide and Ivy in hopes of getting away. Ami ran as fast as she could, trying to find a way out of the woods. However, it was of no use. All she could see was more trees and no trace of a clearing anywhere. And to make things worse, the villainous duo were hot on her heels. It was over. Ami was about to get captured and taken to Pollution.

"Oh too bad! The little girl can't find her way out of here! We're not going to hurt you! That is as long as you answer our questions!" Ivy managed to pin Ami down, keeping her from escaping. All Ami could do now was hope that someone would come and save her, and also that neither Tide or Ivy would hurt her.

"Tell us! How are you connected to the Precure?" Tide asked.

"I'm not! They just saved me once so I'm just supporting them!" Ami answered.

"LIES! You're doing way more than just supporting them! They're always telling you to run and hide. You wouldn't be running and hiding if you were some random civilian!" Ivy snapped.

"But I am just a random civilian!" Ami cried out. She could feel tears forming in her eyes now. She was certain she had never been more terrified in her life.

"No you're not!" Ivy screamed in the young girl's face. "You're from the Nature Kingdom aren't you? That's the only explanation!"

"No! Please! I don't even know what that is! Please don't hurt me!" Ami pleaded.

"You are a terrible liar. You really are from that kingdom... Not only that, but I'm pretty sure you are royalty." Ivy said.

"That's not true! The royal family went into hiding!" Ami said.

"Ah but who's to say they didn't go hiding in the real world?" Tide asked.

Ami was starting to run out of lies. She couldn't think of anything now. She was probably as good as dead.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" a familiar voice screamed out. Ami attempted to look up. And to her relief, four familiar faces were coming down. The Precure had arrived.

One by one, the Cures landed onto the ground. Everyone came ready to fight. Even Lightning, who ended up landing on her butt quickly recovered and prepared to fight off Tide and Ivy.

"Geez Lightning... get it together!" Storm glared at Lightning as she got up off the ground.

"Hehe, my bad! We've never done that before!" Lightning stuck her tongue out briefly before putting on a much more serious expression. She quickly summoned her sword and was ready to fight.

Lightning was quick to land a hit, punching Tide to keep him away from Ami. Storm used her powers to lift Ivy off of Ami, and soon ended up in a one on one with her. Thunder aided Lightning in fighting Tide whereas Ginger helped Storm with Ivy.

Now that she wasn't being pinned to the ground, Ami was able to get up and brush any dirt off of herself. She felt a lot more at ease now that everyone had come to help her. They truly cared about her, and she was stupid to think that they didn't.

"Hey, you okay?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah! Thanks to you and the others!" Ami nodded.

"I'm sorry we didn't listen to you. We shouldn't have decided what was best for you without your ideas. I just don't want to fail at keeping you safe!" Lightning said, looking at Ami.

"No, I should've listened to you guys. I put myself in danger all because I had to act all spoiled and selfish..." Ami said.

"But it wasn't spoiled or selfish! You made some good points and we chose to ignore you..." Ginger cut in.

"I think we all just needed to listen to each other better instead of jumping to conclusions and deciding what we thought was best." Thunder added.

"Yeah, that's the best way to put it. We all didn't handle things very well..." Storm said. "But don't worry about it now. We have to get you to safety. I hope you didn't think we weren't coming to find you."

"You guys! You really were looking out for me!" Ami couldn't help but tear up a little. They cared about her, even when she doubted that they did. No one had ever gone to such lengths to make sure that she was safe after an intense argument. Maybe that's how one finds out who their true friends are.

"Of course! We may have been asked to protect you, but you're also our friend! We want to make sure you can return home safely!" Lightning said.

Ami watched as the fight continued on. The Cures easily had the upper hand the whole time. She was certain that there wasn't a single moment where the four of them struggled to hold Tide and Ivy back. Even when they summoned a KuzuBug, it didn't take much effort to even try and stop it. The Precure looked so unstoppable, proof that they were truly meant to be the guardians of nature. Seeing that gave Ami even more hope that her home would be saved and that she would be able to reunite with her family.

Even Tide and Ivy were surprised that they were so easily beaten down by the Precure. They were aware that the four of them were quite powerful

but not so powerful that they could defeat a monster within minutes and prevent them from trying to torture Ami into giving answers. Tide and Ivy had to act fast and come up with a new plan: something that the Cures wouldn't suspect.

Ivy had been closely observing Ami's interactions with the Cures, which allowed her to pick up on a couple things. Lightning kept mentioning Ami's parents and how they specifically asked her and the others to keep Ami safe. That alone was a pretty big implication that Ami's parents were the king and queen, at least according to Ivy. And if her suspicions were correct, that meant Ami was indeed a princess, which would explain why the Precure were hellbent on protecting her and also why Ami had been hanging out with them.

Tide could tell that Ivy was deep in thought about something. Maybe she had a new makeshift plan that she was coming up with. If she did, she had to tell him now so they could surprise the Cures with something unexpected. They then both disappeared, leading the Cures to believe that they had accepted defeat.

"Just like that? Wow. They didn't put up much of a fight." Lightning said.

"I wouldn't count them out just yet. Something feels off..." Thunder said.

"What do you mean?" Ginger asked.

"I've picked up on a few things that Tide and Ivy do. I know I originally wrote them off as incompetent and stupid, but they are unpredictable. I wouldn't be shocked if they came back." Thunder explained.

"Do you think they went far?" Storm asked.

"Maybe... I have a feeling they're still nearby..." Thunder replied.

No one could argue with that. Thunder had some truly impressive abilities and understandably so. It takes being evil to know how someone evil thinks and figure out what they could be planning.

With Thunder's warning, everyone was in the waiting game. They had to be ready for another potential fight. The Cures stood around Ami, forming a circle of protection for her. They were ready to attack from any angle to prevent anything from happening to Ami.

Tide and Ivy then reappeared, but not in front of any of the Cures. In fact, they appeared inside the circle, grabbing Ami by the sides.

"You couldn't hide from us... princess." Tide said.

"You really thought you could trick us into thinking you weren't the princess?" Ivy asked.

Ami was absolutely stunned. She couldn't have seen this coming either. She tried to scream out but her voice disappeared right when she needed it most. The Cures turned around only to see Ami getting taken away, back to Pollution where no one knew what would happen to her. There truly was nothing they could've done. Tide and Ivy had acted too fast for them to even comprehend. And without a single trace, they were gone. And so was Ami.

No one knew what to say. No one knew what to do. They were outsmarted by the enemy, and had now failed to do what Ami's parents had requested. Lightning was the first to react. She fell to her knees and started punching the ground.

"DAMMIT! We failed... I failed! How did I just let it happen?! I stood there and did nothing! I can't believe we just failed her parents like that!" Lightning just let out all the frustrations she had. She was angry, she was upset, she was furious. And she had every right to be.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Ginger asked. She was at a loss for words, but she at least had to know how the four of them were going to make things right.

"I don't know..." Lightning replied. "But I know we can't let them get away with taking her." She found the strength to get back up again and while she was still frustrated with herself, Lightning knew that beating herself up wasn't going to do anything to change the situation. She had to find a resolve and lead the group, it's the least she had to do as leader.

"You're right. We promised to make sure Ami would make it home safely, and it isn't too late to do that." Thunder added.

"Exactly. From here on out, it's do or die." Storm said.

"You're right. It is do or die. And that's why we're going to Pollution. We have to go back and save her. And not only that, we're going to defeat Pollution. Once and for all. So let's save Ami and let's save her home." Lightning declared.

"How are we going to get there?" Ginger asked.

"I know how ~sky!" Skyla had appeared with the key chest, which made Thunder recall that the chest could act as a portal in some situations. This was how the four of them were going to get there.

"Turn the keys ~sky! Once you do, the chest will take us to Pollution ~sky!" Skyla explained.

With Skyla's word, the four girls and Skyla all turned the keys that were inserted into the chest. A light came out of the chest, flashing brightly and calling to the girls that it was time to go. There was no time for goodbyes or to tell their families where they were going, the final battle was starting now whether they liked it or not.

The Cures all took each others' hands and stepped forward, entering the temporary portal. Skyla and the chest went with them. The four of them all shared the same sentiments: save Ami and defeat Pollution. They may have just experienced one of the worst setbacks imaginable, but they were not about to give in and accept defeat. In fact, their determination was stronger than ever before. Lightning was ready to lead the four of them into what would be the most important fight of their lives.

Just you wait Ami, we're going to save you! Not only that, we're saving your home!

~⚡️⚡️⚡️~

to be continued...