December, 1958: The Advent of the Desert King
It begins.
As the year 1958 drew to a close, it seemed so too would the Earth.
Mere days before the new year, on the 23rd of December, the massive landmark and broadcast site, Tokyo Tower, was opened to the public. A great deal had been made of the construction, and it would finally give Tokyo access to radio and television across the sweep of the city. For the inaugural Christmas Eve broadcast, many throughout the city tuned in.
And were met with a glimpse of dust; a vision of their city, their country, and then the world, reduced to howling sands. And atop it all sat a man, looking down from the heavens above. Handsome and pale, he smiled, and he said: "Humans. Your world will soon come under the control of the Desert Apostles. Your oceans, your rivers, your forests, and your souls...will be overrun by sand!"
For the last year, the Desert Apostles - heartless creatures that stole the hearts of others and sought the withering of the Great Heart Tree - had been in conflict with the Pretty Cure of the Great Heart Tree, who was at the time the solo but staggeringly powerful Cure Flower. None could rival her might, even among the mages of the Magic Assocation. So when a terrifying creature appeared in the Kibougahana region and began reducing it to dust, it was widely believed she would make short work of the problem.
Cure Flower was swiftly defeated.
The Magic Association quickly scrambled to cover her while the Pretty Cure escaped to recover and seek even greater power via the trials of Pretty Cure Palace. The mages managed to narrowly defeat the monstrosity, which Lord Dune soon broadcast to inform them was a Desert Devil, but only at great cost. They were faced with a grim revelation: The worst had come to pass. The legends were true.
The Desert King, who was supposed to be a myth, was real. The monstrosity that had laid Mars to ruin in a single stroke in the Silver Millenium had come to repeat his feat on the Earth. Faced with little choice, the mages begged the Time-Space Administration Bureau for aid.
When their ships appeared in orbit, the situation soon became clear: Lord Dune was residing in an interstellar Castle Planet, from which he could launch Desert Devils at any point on the globe. The TSAB's fleet quickly interdicted it...and was decimated by the power of the Desert King, whose magical might was inconceivable, and whose physical power they, who had rejected physical combat, had little defense against.
For seven days this continued, with stroke and horrific counterstroke. Finally, on the last day of the year, Cure Flower returned with more power than ever, and with the aid of the Tuner Organization, and the Magic Association's most promising, including a young wizard by the name of Konoemon Konoe, led the assault on Castle Planet directly, with the backing of the Time-Space Administration Bureau's full power. It would be, in many ways, the Bureau's first test. They were aided, unexpectedly, by a prodigy bursting onto the battlefield from the United Kingdom, as London was reduced to sand - a natural magic-user of great power and very little age by the name of Gil Graham, who rose to help the TSAB fleet interdict the Desert Devils, against which even the Bureau's battleships were ill-equipped.
The battle was catastrophic, and it seemed like the Earth's Heart Tree couldn't possibly survive. The TSAB fleet was decimated; Mages died by the hundreds. But in the end, Cure Flower entered the Desert King's throne room alone, while the rest aided the TSAB fleet in preventing the launch of further Desert Devils. Nobody but Cure Flower could tell what happened there, and she refused to say any but the obvious results: She had sealed the Desert King, at the expense of her power. Cure Flower retired, and the prodigy Gil Graham was recruited by the Time-Space Administration Bureau.
The world had been saved. But questions lingered: Who was the Desert King? Why had he come to Earth now? Were there other such powerful creatures who would appear? The Magic Assocation and Tuners went back to their havens to lick their wounds and resume their battle against darkness, while the Time-Space Administration Bureau, staggered by the power of Earth's foes, retreated to its own headquarters to rebuild, and consider the might of that speck that called out across the worlds.
Click to viewAs the year 1958 drew to a close, it seemed so too would the Earth.
Mere days before the new year, on the 23rd of December, the massive landmark and broadcast site, Tokyo Tower, was opened to the public. A great deal had been made of the construction, and it would finally give Tokyo access to radio and television across the sweep of the city. For the inaugural Christmas Eve broadcast, many throughout the city tuned in.
And were met with a glimpse of dust; a vision of their city, their country, and then the world, reduced to howling sands. And atop it all sat a man, looking down from the heavens above. Handsome and pale, he smiled, and he said: "Humans. Your world will soon come under the control of the Desert Apostles. Your oceans, your rivers, your forests, and your souls...will be overrun by sand!"
For the last year, the Desert Apostles - heartless creatures that stole the hearts of others and sought the withering of the Great Heart Tree - had been in conflict with the Pretty Cure of the Great Heart Tree, who was at the time the solo but staggeringly powerful Cure Flower. None could rival her might, even among the mages of the Magic Assocation. So when a terrifying creature appeared in the Kibougahana region and began reducing it to dust, it was widely believed she would make short work of the problem.
Cure Flower was swiftly defeated.
The Magic Association quickly scrambled to cover her while the Pretty Cure escaped to recover and seek even greater power via the trials of Pretty Cure Palace. The mages managed to narrowly defeat the monstrosity, which Lord Dune soon broadcast to inform them was a Desert Devil, but only at great cost. They were faced with a grim revelation: The worst had come to pass. The legends were true.
The Desert King, who was supposed to be a myth, was real. The monstrosity that had laid Mars to ruin in a single stroke in the Silver Millenium had come to repeat his feat on the Earth. Faced with little choice, the mages begged the Time-Space Administration Bureau for aid.
When their ships appeared in orbit, the situation soon became clear: Lord Dune was residing in an interstellar Castle Planet, from which he could launch Desert Devils at any point on the globe. The TSAB's fleet quickly interdicted it...and was decimated by the power of the Desert King, whose magical might was inconceivable, and whose physical power they, who had rejected physical combat, had little defense against.
For seven days this continued, with stroke and horrific counterstroke. Finally, on the last day of the year, Cure Flower returned with more power than ever, and with the aid of the Tuner Organization, and the Magic Association's most promising, including a young wizard by the name of Konoemon Konoe, led the assault on Castle Planet directly, with the backing of the Time-Space Administration Bureau's full power. It would be, in many ways, the Bureau's first test. They were aided, unexpectedly, by a prodigy bursting onto the battlefield from the United Kingdom, as London was reduced to sand - a natural magic-user of great power and very little age by the name of Gil Graham, who rose to help the TSAB fleet interdict the Desert Devils, against which even the Bureau's battleships were ill-equipped.
The battle was catastrophic, and it seemed like the Earth's Heart Tree couldn't possibly survive. The TSAB fleet was decimated; Mages died by the hundreds. But in the end, Cure Flower entered the Desert King's throne room alone, while the rest aided the TSAB fleet in preventing the launch of further Desert Devils. Nobody but Cure Flower could tell what happened there, and she refused to say any but the obvious results: She had sealed the Desert King, at the expense of her power. Cure Flower retired, and the prodigy Gil Graham was recruited by the Time-Space Administration Bureau.
The world had been saved. But questions lingered: Who was the Desert King? Why had he come to Earth now? Were there other such powerful creatures who would appear? The Magic Assocation and Tuners went back to their havens to lick their wounds and resume their battle against darkness, while the Time-Space Administration Bureau, staggered by the power of Earth's foes, retreated to its own headquarters to rebuild, and consider the might of that speck that called out across the worlds.