[audio > text]

[willchange]

[There's a brief moment of audio. There's a bit of background noise, but not a lot. Louder than the rest is the voice of a very panicked girl.]

Ah, I'm terribly sorry, sir, but, um... The cash register seems to be malfunctioning. I'm not sure what's... I think I pressed the wrong things, I'm really sorry.

...w-what the...

[There's a different voice, a male one, but he's barely audible. The girl speaks up again after him.]

N-No, everything is alright! I'll just-

[The audio cuts out. About an hour later, a text post follows.]

Um... I guess I should be polite and introduce myself? My name's Cerise... but Cherry is fine too, everyone calls me that. Anyway, could... someone please explain this to me?

I mean, what kind of network is this even? I thought it was fake or something... Not that I wanted to doubt anyone or anything, it's just a little unbelievable. But how did it just show up on my cash register?! I don't get this at all...

Comments

[willchange]

Um... sure?

1/2

[sun_sun]

Cool, hang on.

[Annie sets up the webcam, then takes a moment to root around the room for her transformation doohickey. She had been looking for an excuse to try this out, anyway, and there's no fairy around to warn her against excessive needles transforming.]

PRECURE, SMILE CHARGE!

2/2

[sun_sun]

So, yeah.

[willchange]

[...Well then.

That... just happened.

It's one thing to hear about someone being a transforming hero. It's another thing to actually see them change into an actual magical girl. Just... wow.]

I... That's... You just...

[She feels like her brain is breaking. Give her a second to remember how to words here.]

...that sure was... flashy...

[sun_sun]

Haha, I know, right? I have no idea how it works.

[willchange]

Well... magic, I guess? Somehow that's the only explanation that sounds right here.

...when you transformed just now, did you say 'Precure'?

[sun_sun]

Yup! I'm Cure Sunny of the team Smile Precure.

[willchange]

Someone else mentioned the term Precure too. I think... I kinda remember it? I mean, I had one of those echo-things...

[sun_sun]

WHOA REALLY? Maybe you're part of my team! Or Winter's team! Or Lily's team!

Or maybe there's FOUR teams!

[willchange]

I-I don't know, I guess I might be? I didn't know there were that many teams, though.

...wait, Winter's one of these Cures too?

[Is everyone at her school a magical girl now, what the hell.]

[sun_sun]

Oh, yeah, she's Cure Diamond. Sort of the leader of our team for now.

[willchange]

How big is the team even?

[sun_sun]

Three people. Me, Winter, Russel.

[willchange]

I guess that's not too bad. So with Lily there, that's about big enough for a real magical girl team, huh? At least, I think that's about how big they usually are in the shows.

[sun_sun]

Yeah, uh, I don't really know much about the shows. Like I watched Magician's Card Trick when I was twelve, and that's about it.

I should probably watch something now that I'm actually a magical girl in real life.

[willchange]

I haven't watched any since I was a kid either, honestly. I'm a little nervous to start watching it now, though. I mean, what if it triggers an echo or something?

SHIT I forgot that Annie is transformed in this thread

[sun_sun]

Wouldn't that be good, though? Like, what if you got powers of your own, that'd be awesome.

[willchange]

I don't know. It just sounds scary to me.

[sun_sun]

Hey, you'd have the rest of us backing you up, so it's all good.

[willchange]

What if I just end up dragging everyone down, though? I mean... I'm not exactly superhero material...

[sun_sun]

Hey, man, you never know how awesome of a hero you can be until you give it a shot. You could be a natural!

[willchange]

Do you really think so? Because... that's a little hard to imagine. I think if I ever got into a fight, I'd probably just try to run away...

[sun_sun]

Have you ever been in a fight? Maye you'd suddenly flip out and go crazy. You know, the whole fight-or-flight instinct thing or whatever.

[willchange]

Well, no, but... The idea of me flipping out is somehow even more unbelievable than magical girls actually existing.

[sun_sun]

Yeah, I guess some things are still too far-fetched to believe.