[Identity Erasure, Brainwashing, Purification]

“Outta cash again, damnit…”

Walking along the streets of Équilibre, was a black-haired young woman dressed from head to toe in ripped clothes. Stylistically ripped, showing off a hint of her abs beneath the shirt and her toned thighs behind the shorts. Combine that with a couple of hints of bruises across her arms and legs, and it wasn’t hard to tell that the youth had been in a couple of throwdowns. No doubt the reason why her clothes were ripped in the first place.

“How the hell am I going to get any grub tonight?” The tough-looking gal muttered under her breath as she looked up at the sun shining above. “There ain’t any way to make money quick in this blasted town…” She continued, still walking along the streets as if on autopilot.

As she made it closer to the town square, she heard something echoing through her ears. It was hard to make out, but she could tell where it came from. The exact center, where she could barely see a girl standing atop of a couple of boxes with a megaphone. “Eh? The hell’s she doing over there?” The mysterious youth asked as she scratched the back of her head, approaching the source bit by bit.

The closer she got, the more legible all the sounds became. She kept an ear open, trying to decipher it, before grimacing as she realized what it was, and who exactly it was that was standing in the middle of the square at this hour…

“Join the Natura Couleur! You’ll be able to save and protect all your friends! You’ll be famous, the talk of the town, and you’ll get your very own merchandise! You’ll be a bright star among the ones in the sky! So come on! Join in!”

The girl standing on the boxes, Natura Blanc, giggled as she kept on shouting through her megaphone, piling nonsense on nonsense in an attempt to recruit anybody that might just hear her out. Yet, considering the crowd that had gathered around her, or rather the lack of one, it didn’t seem to work out that well.

“Hummm…” The white-haired heroine put down the megaphone as she finally took a moment to look around. “How come Akane and Aoi are so good at this? They always reel in so many people, and yet they never end up recruiting anybody…” The dejected girl complained as she fell onto her bottom, sighing while resting her head on her palms.

By closing her eyes and neglecting the world for just a second, she avoided noticing the mysterious girl approaching. “Oi! Why’d you stop shouting, Hero?” The lass asked aloud with her arms crossed. “Lost your nerve? Finally decided that you didn’t wanna bother people with all of that nonsense?” She continued, her words making it clear that she didn’t respect the girl at all…

“Eh?” Natura Blanc blinked a couple of times as she opened her eyes to look at the girl. “No, I was just taking a break since nobody came by. Well, except for you!” She giggled, completely ignoring all the negative words the stranger has said. “So, you wanna be a hero? Wanna fight against evil and protect the people you love?” The words just rushed out of her mouth, without even taking the girl’s opinion into account.

The stranger twitched and glared straight into her eyes, gritting her teeth for a second. “Bite me. What’re heroes good for, anyway? The more you fight, the more villains pop up! I’ve had to knock out at least a dozen idiots after they got charmed, and all it’s earned me is an empty wallet and no place to stay!” She sounded outright outraged as she stepped closer, putting her foot up against one of the boxes. “Give me a reason I shouldn’t knock you out too, ‘Hero’!”

“Because you care!” The white-haired heroine cried out as she grabbed the rough-hearted girl’s wrist, tightly squeezing it while still smiling. Though this time, it wasn’t a carefree or happy smile. It was a determined smile. “The fact you complain, the fact you try to make it sound like you’re annoyed at all of us for doing our best to fight villains when you do the same… You’re exactly what we need! A new hero that can fight back and save the ones that she cares about!” Her eyes lit up with white stars, as her hands started glowing too…

The stranger shook her arm around rapidly to try and shake the heroine off. “Let go! Aren’t you listening to a word I’m saying!? I hate you and I hate your friends! Damnit, this isn’t helping!” She cried out in frustration, only for a wave of warmth to wash over her, spreading from her wrist into the rest of her body.

As soon as she tried to speak another word, she felt that warmth suffocating her tongue and preventing her from saying anything that might be considered rough or harmful. She tried, again and again, but all that came out was tired gasps and pants… “W-What..?” She coughed, her angry expression soon melting into pure confusion…

“I was right, you really are meant to be a hero!” The white-haired younger girl chimed as she pulled her hands back a bit until she was holding the stranger’s hand in hers. “What’s your name? Such a strong and loving girl must have an equally strong name! Koko has one, so you clearly do too!” The small heroine prattled on, while also inquiring at the same time…

The confused stranger blinked a couple of times as the warmth continued to spread through her, eating away at her negative emotions as she looked at the small heroine. “T...Tachibana Tomomi. What’s happening to me..?” She asked, any sense of malice or hatred towards the heroine having completely left her tone.

“I’m just healing your emotional wounds, Tomomi!” Blanc explained as she let go of her hand, the warmth staying with her as it continued to wash away any sense of hate, fear, anger or the like. “I really do think you’re meant to be a Natura like me, Tomomi. Won’t you try it? I promise, it’s not going to hurt or anything. You’ll get a chance to fight back against the people that got transformed, and this time, they can be healed by you instead of just falling over and needing to be healed later!”

Tomomi couldn’t really find the right words, but as she looked at the girl’s sincere expression… Maybe there was worth to what she was saying? Maybe she had been wrong about this entire thing. If she was a heroine, then she could fix what they had done wrong… And if they still screwed up, she could always just pull them in line. Judging by the way they all interacted, there was no formal leader, so she could take that role…

“...I’ll do it. How do I become a Natura?”

Blanc grinned from ear to ear as she put her hands around her new friend’s wrist once more, pouring a little bit of her magic into her fingers before pulling them away. Once she let go, a device wrapped its way around the girl’s arm and quickly whirred and beeped to life. “Just raise this into the air, and you’ll transform! Heck, try and shout a cool phrase, it’ll make it even more cool!” She giggled while giving advice, her encouraging stars still visible in her eyes…

Tomomi looked at the simple wrist-device, which basically only had a display that wasn’t powered on at the moment. At least, that’s what it seemed like. There were only a couple of violet dots blinking around on it, so how was she supposed to know? “Alright, let me try that then. Hopefully it’ll work!” She cried out, her tone and her mood a far cry from what it had been just a few minutes ago…

“NATURALIZE!”

The instant she thrust her arm into the air, the device fully flickered to life. The purple dots grew in number until they spelled out the name ‘Violette’, and a violet-colored light shot out from both ends of the device. In mere seconds, her rough clothes were replaced with the same kind of uniform that the white-clad heroine was dressed in, with a few touches that were unique to her.

Her hair, formerly black and plain, turned a beautiful shade of purple that complimented her uniform. Combine that with a set of frills running along the middle leading down into a delicate and elegant skirt sticking out from her waist, and she looked more like a regal member of the team than anything else.

Combine that with a feathered hat appearing on her head, and a rapier forming in her hand, and she looked outright dashing. Especially with the new warm gaze in her eyes, as she kneeled down and grasped the white-clad heroine’s hand, much like a knight would do to her princess.

“Natura Violette, at the beautiful Blanc’s service.”

Unbeknownst to either of them, that transformation sequence had done a number on Tomomi’s mind. All of the roughness, which had been suppressed by the white-clad heroine’s powers, was now properly erased and replaced with a sense of elegance. A sense of chivalry. Her new duty wasn’t to fight people, nor was it to complain and gripe about the heroines she was a part of.

It was the duty of Natura Violette, alias Tachibana Tomomi, to protect her teammates and protect humanity against the darkness of the city. Any semblance of her previous self, well, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the love and the protection she wanted to extend towards her allies. They’d accept it all, as long as she had them in her eyes…

Thus, the Natura Couleur gained another member. A brainwashed beauty, standing tall to defend the ones she now loved...