Previously on Oranges to Grapes...
In an attempt to save face from Conner's plan to fight back against the crystal domes, Rosita and Jessica take the fight to the resulting Diademons with Eartha as a witness, but they get cocky, and it costs them dearly...
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"NOOOOOOOOO!!!" Eartha screamed in anguish as Rosita and Jessica were laid out on the ground before the army of Diademons advancing on them. "That does it, Anton! I don't care what they told me, I just can't stand by and let what could happen to them happen to them! We've gotta go down there and save them!"
"Well, seeing as you're already putting your foot in," Anton said, "allow me to put in the whole moose! Get ready to transform, Eartha!"
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Eartha raised the Sealing Ball over her head and shouted, "Precure Ruination!"
Anton dissipated into rocks and dirt, and it swirled around Eartha and made her clothes turn into orange light... then they started changing!
First, her torso became surrounded with rocks that clustered onto her until they became a brown jacket over a tan shirt.
Next, more rocks spiraled around her waist and became a pair of brown shorts.
Then, even more rocks and dirt swirled around her wrists and ankles until they became brown gloves and Mary-Jane shoes.
Finally, she threw the Sealing Ball in the air as more orange light poured out of the top of her head, and she ran her paws through the sides of it as it became a set of brown twin-tails. The ball then landed on her chest and became a chartreuse ornament of a brown tie.
"Antithesis of courage, Cure Fear!"
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At last, the third Hell-Sent Cure was born, but now she had another question on her mind... "Okay, now how am I gonna get down there?"
Try riding that boulder over there, Anton's voice said in her mind.
"What the?" Cure Fear asked. "You mean I can drive rocks now?"
Sort of, Anton's voice said.
Knowing there was no time for questions, the transformed fennec fox decided to roll with it. She ran up to the rock her partner pointed out and grabbed it with both paws. "Okay, on the count of three. One... two... THRE-" But when she pulled on three, the large rock popped out of the ground easily and launched into the air! "Hey, it's lighter than I thought."
Nope, you're just stronger, Anton's voice explained. Now hop on, quick!
Once again, Cure Fear rolled with the voice and STOMPED her foot down, bounding up to the boulder and landing clean on top before she plummeted back down, boulder and all towards the meadow where she needed to be. "Hold tight, girls! I'mma coming!"
And come she did, for just as the gap between the Diademons and the unconscious girls was about to close, something large and heavy CRASHED into the crystal monsters, smashing them into more diamond dust!
"What the!?" the one surviving Diademon exclaimed as its compatriots were reduced to a glittery cloud, and when the dust cleared, all that was different... was a brown-clad girl hopping off a boulder stuck in the ground. "So, another one came to avenge its friends, did she? Well, I'll just-"
"AH, SHADDAP!!" Cure Fear shouted as she PUNCHED the last remaining Diademon, instantly shattering it and any more words that it could've said. With no more words to distract her, she could check on her friends to see if they were still alive... and luckily, she could see their chests rising and falling, telling her that they were still breathing. "Rosita? Jessica?"
Both feline females were starting to stir, and they opened their eyes to see Eartha in her new form. "Mnf... Ngh... Ugh, what happened?" Rosita asked.
"I think we were hit by a chorus of Disarming Voices," Jessica muttered. "Wait, is that a third Cure?"
"You are correct on both accounts, ma'am," the girl in brown confirmed. "Cure Fear at your service. I saw that those whatevers had swarmed you with Fairy-type energy and broke your transformations, so I came here to rescue you!"
"Huh. So that finally came full circle," Rosita said as she got up. "Well, it's a good thing you came when you did, then, Cure Fear!"
"It's also a good thing Pokemon attacks are apparently non-fatal and only cause temporary loss of consciousness," Jessica added as she followed suit. "But why haven't you separated yet?"
"Because I haven't tried out my finishing move yet," Cure Fear said as she looked at the crystal dome that started the whole mess, "and I know just what to use it on. Stand back, girls, I don't know how crazy this is going to get!"
After the female felidae gave the vulpine some room...
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Cure Fear jumped up and slammed her fists onto the ground, causing it to crack towards the dome!
"This is the punishment for your crimes! Precure... Groundblight..."
She pulled the ground apart with all her strength, and the crack opened up wide to look like a gaping mouth!
"WRECKER!!!"
She kept slamming the crack open and shut, making it try to crunch the dome...
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...but the dome was apparently solid, with a bottom half of it embedded below the surface of the earth. And no matter how many times the crack chomped, the dome wouldn't even chip.
But Cure Fear wouldn't let up her onslought, as she still kept popping the ground open and shut!
"Whoa! Slow down, girl!" Rosita shouted over the crashing in concern.
"Don't hurt yourself!" Jessica warned.
But their cries fell on large, fuzzy, deaf ears. "No! I! Will! Not! Be! Denied! My-"
Suddenly, her left arm muscle spasmed, and stabbing pain shot through it! "AAAAUUUUUUUGGGHHH!!! CRAMP! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!"
"I told you!" Jessica said.
"Please! Call off the wrecking before you kill yourself!" Rosita pleaded.
"No!" Cure Fear stubbornly refused. "Must finish onslought... with other-" But her right arm suddenly spasmed as well! "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"
That was enough to force Eartha and Anton to separate, leaving the poor fennec fox to grab her arms in agony. "Hold on, Eartha! I'll save you!" Jessica ran as she rushed towards her.
"Augh! The pain!"
Thinking quickly, Jessica rummaged through her pockets and found a roll of gauze wrap. As soon as she reached Eartha, she carefully knelt down and said, "Okay, Eartha, I'm going to wrap up your arms so your muscles are compressed, and it should ease the pain. After I do, I'll try to get something to use as ice packs."
"I have some water bottles in my backpack," Eartha offered as her arms were bundled up.
Leopold reformed from some nearby snow and said, "I could freeze those, if that could work."
"Good idea," Rosita said as she dug in Eartha's backpack for the water bottles, and with a quick ice-sigh from Leopold, they became what Jessica needed. "Two ice bottles!"
"Good job, everyone," the snow leopard said as she fitted the bottles between the bandages.
Connor had also reformed during the procedure, and was amazed at how well everyone was working together. Even Anton was stomping the edges of the crack to refill it with dirt, prompting him to will his grass powers to revive the plants!
Through teamwork and cooperation, Eartha was patched up, and so was the land before the crystal dome. As she looked up at Rosita and Jessica, she said, "Ironic, isn't it? The same thing that happened to you two happened to me; I was so caught up in the thrill of the fight that I got cocky and paid the price for it, and it took involvement from some friends to save me."
"Eh... kind of," Jessica supposed.
"But like we said earlier," Rosita added, "we don't want to lose you."
That put a genuine smile on Eartha's muzzle. "Thanks, girls. Sorry I didn't appreciate the sentiment before."
Both the caracal and snow leopard bent down to nuzzle the fennec fox, purring as they did so. But even though they made up after the fight and destroyed lots of Diademons (collectively), one thing remained: they had to think of something different if they wanted to stop the menace plagueing Paldea.
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To be continued.
