1933/Toppers at the Altar

Toppers at the Altar
Date of Scene:	08 September 2024
Location:	Penguin Park - Island Shrine
Synopsis:	A beautiful day goes south when a bride is left at the altar while Hawkmoth is searching for a new target! It's up to Ladybug, Cat Noir, Lunar Knight, GG Loyalty, Hope Blossom, Puella Red, and new hero Equivalence to stop Groomacidal before she wages war on men and love as a whole! And on the hero side of things, Equivalence is just starting out, but her tactics seem to be creating some friction...
Cast of Characters:	Gabriel Agreste, Naru Osaka, Adrien Agreste, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Niji Dasshu, Madoka Kaname, Hinoiri Kirara, Amanda Faust

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Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Standing in his lair at Obsidian Tower, Hawkmoth looks down upon the world and sneers.

"Ladybug and Cat Noir... your days are numbered. You may have grown accustomed to life in Tokyo, where you can rely on so many wretched friends, but I will not be defeated! I will have your Miraculous - it is only a matter of time."

It's the right of every villain to monologue, so naturally, that's what Hawkmoth is indulging in. Pale butterflies fly around him, occasionally alighting on one of the many plants in his office, or on the mannequins featuring his designs. He looks over them irritably.

"Where is the soul that will become my weapon? Somewhere in this city, there must be the soul rent with enough rage and despair to defeat them!"


It's a brilliant and beautiful day, and an outdoor wedding is being held at the small island shrine at Penguin Park, which has caused the bridge connecting the island, as well as a portion of the area around the bridge to be roped off for the private event. The reception area seems to be planned for that area near the bridge, with the actual ceremony taking place at the island shrine - and anyway passing by can see that the ceremony has begun.

At the far end of the bridge, in front of the shrine, stands a man in his mid-twenties, wearing a traditional Japanese wedding clothes, including the montsuki haori (the black kimono jacket worn for a wedding) along with black and white striped hakama. A family crest is visible on the back of his haori, as well as on the sleeves.

At the far end of the bridge is the bride, a young woman in an equally traditional shiromuku (a white wedding kimono), her hair pulled back and braided in a neat and complex style, a flowery hairclip tucked into the braid, just barely visible through her wataboshi (hooded white veil). Her father, at her side, wears a dark kimono as well, and together, the two walk across the bridge, father leading bride to her groom. Standing with the groom is the officiant, who greets the ceremony goers as soon as bride and groom have been united.

"Everyone, we offer our sincerest thanks that you were able to join us on this most wondrous of days. We are here to celebrate the joining of two lives - Kazuya Aoba and Hanami Kaneko- into one family..."

For anyone who happens to be walking by, the official is extremely good at projecting their voice, and there are a couple of people stationed at the edge of the event to guide those visiting the park away. It all seems to be going well, until -

"And now, presented with the rings, it is time for the vows to be ma-"

"Wait," the groom says, interrupting. He's red-faced and looking at the bride, who's frowning in confusion.

"Kazuya-kun, what is it?" she asks in a whisper, glancing frantically at their gathered friends and family, "Surely it can wait -"

"It can't wait," the groom says, and turns away from the bride to the audience of friends and family. "Everyone, I am sorry to have brought you here, and sorry to have wasted your time - "

An uproar of whispering begins, as the bride's face turns pale and then red, horror turning to embarrassment and anger.

"- but there can be no wedding today. Hanami-san, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let things get this far. I don't... I'm not ready for marriage. Please forgive me."


"Forgive him?" Hawkmoth laughs uproariously, "Why, I could thank him!, for being such a foolish, wretched coward! Who allows an event to get this far, only to get cold-feet? My akuma! Fly, fly to that jilted bride!"

And one of the small white butterflies lands in Hawkmoth's hands, only to fly free seconds later, painted a deep purple by his magic. It flies free, heading towards the disastrous scene of this wedding, and soon, is flying over head of any conveniently passing mahou, headed right for the would-be-bride.

Naru Osaka has posed:
It really IS a lovely day. Too lovely to sit inside and do something sensible like homework or anything reasonable like that. No no. Instead Naru and Adrian have managed to actually take some time together to go for a walk in the park. Possibly even a picnic!

So many options!

Naru looks over as they stroll, hand in hand, gesturing a little towards the wedding going on just a little way away "Awww, isn't that such a romantic place to get married?"

Clearly someone has no real idea that things are going horribly wrong on the little island.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
It was a lovely day out. Perfect for a walk in the park while enjoying the scenery, and holding Naru's hand. Adrien glances toward her with a smile as they had paused so that they wouldn't approach too close to where the wedding ceremony was being held. It was a public venue, but little cones had been set up around the area to warn people off. It being Japan, people were of course more than happy to actually follow the rules and allow the happy couple the time needed for the nuptuals.

"It is," he agrees about the romantic sight only to chuckle quietly. "I didn't realize there would be a wedding happening today though. We shouldn't interrupt. Should we try heading over to the riverwalk instead?" He suggests while glancing over toward the... Suddenly rather loud wedding crowd with a bit of confusion. That wasn't a HAPPY noise coming from them.

"I hope nothing went wrong."

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
"A..chi!"

Marinette is sick. She's not there, not at the great wedding. She is, instead, watching tv in her room. She has not been doing well, and when she's down...television. Romantic tv. Yes, please.

"Ugh. Tea," she mumbles to herself, reaching for her hot tea. She flips to another channel, stopping on a wedding, and sips. She cradles the hot cup in both hands, shoulders wrapped in a blankie.

"I am going nowhere," she mumbles firmly. "Nothing is gonna get me out of bed dis time.

She pauses to coo over the decorations. She sighs at what they bride is wearing. But then, oh no! Drama! The groom is leaving? She pauses, shivering. Not just from being ill, but...foreboding. "Tell me that's not a moth."

Oh darn. "One..thing...will get me out of bed." And it does.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    It's a pretty nice day indeed, and Niji Dasshu is spending it frustrated, standing on the edge of one of the waterways under a tree in henshin, with someone who used to frustrate her in other ways than she is now.

    "I don't understand why this has to be this complicated." she says to her companion, one Hinoiri Kirara, scowling at her hands. She's got a tennis racket in them, a rainbow colored thing with pink mesh for the strike area. "You said this was easy. Does everyone back home just have to keep doing it until they get the right stuff for whatever game they're actually trying to play? Cause this is so not a baseball bat." she adds, looking at the tennis racket like it's offended her. "Also way too much pink."

    She looks up at the sky, just in time to catch the sight of a purpleblack insect of some kind fluttering through the sky, over their heads and towards Penguin Park. "Huh." she says.

    And then the geode hanging from her neck starts to glow. "Aw man, that's never good. It means one of the uncool jerks is about to cause trouble - or doing it already. Whether that's just drain energy or worse I dunno, but I guess I'm going to have to do the rest of the practice live." she says. "You should get somewhere safe in case I'm about to have to go beat up evil mechagodzilla or something? Hopefully it's small but you know. They aren't always?" she says, looking at the racket before dismissing it into a set of sparkles. "At least I'm already in Henshin?" she adds. "Do you need help to get somewhere safe?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka Kaname really has no business being at this wedding. She and Lydian just happened to be passing by when they noticed a particular divine fairy watching the ceremony from a distance. Making her way closer to Kamiko, Madoka whispers to the invisible-to-most fairy. "Kamiko-chan? What are you doing here?"

    The recently purified fairy crosses her arms and pouts. "Well I was watching a wedding but I guess that's off now."

    Madoka and her two fairies look across the park to see the fallout of the drama. Madoka and Lydian cringe.

    Lydian rubs the side of her head. "How do you get this far and then chicken out? Didn't he have to like... propose, meet the family, earn the respect of her parents, and so on?"

    Madoka shakes her head. "Now now. Let's not judge too quickly when we don't know the situation... though I admit it looks pretty bad."

    Granted, it never occurs to Madoka that the poor bride might be the target of an attack. Not until it's too late. She watches, aghast, as a tiny purple magic thing races for the bride. Unable to do anything about it for the moment, Madoka pinches the back of Lydian's collar and drags her behind a bush. A moment later, Hope Blossom emerges.

    Kamiko pouts further and then vanishes through a ripple in reality. She's not getting involved in this.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was feeling pretty frustrated herself, rubbing her thumb and index finger against her forehead in small, annoyed little swirls. "Admittedly, no," Hinoiri said. "Usually a pony would learn to summon just the things they need, unless their particular talent was like... sports equipment maintenance or literally *every sport in existence*," Hinoiri said. Was she a little annoyed that the girl she was working with was, athletically, her superior in every sport imaginable? Did you really think she was that petty?

Because she was.

But she was TRYING to control it.

"It's really not that hard, though, you just need to memorize the equations like I showed you. Baseball bat is a variable of seven sub-divided by the magic of wood, because it's made of wood and due to its length, a tenis racket is 3 multiplied by wind, reduced by the..."

It was just a few dozen different complex magical formulas, why couldn't she just memorize them? IT WAS SO EASY! All she had to do after the memorization part was just learn to do the correct ones and not mess up! Ugh!

However, the butterfly made her pause and then groooooan. "Oh buck it, Hawkmoth. I swear, you're such a pain in the... what? No, no, here. This is probably enough practice for today. I'll try and get out of everyone's way, how about we swing by the korma after, okay? My treat. You've made some progress today, at least."

She then gave her friend a wave before she turned to jog off...

Though once she was out of sight, she clicked her heels together, a pair of weird wings appearing on them. A small smirk formed on her lips. Oh, she'd been waiting for a chance to use these.

A small part of her wondered if she should tell Niji about them. She had magic again. This was GREAT news... But she didn't. Couldn't.

She had a dozen excuses why. She didn't know if it would last. She didn't want to get Niji in trouble. Obsidian might still want her head and if they had any inkling it'd put everyone in danger... but truth was?

... She didn't want to risk losing them or people getting mad at Equivalence. Better to earn their trust and respect, then have everyone find out she'd been lying to them from the beginning, right?

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Does patrol become just a walk when it goes through a park? Like, I suppose one could continue leaping from lamppost to tree to jungle gym in place of from rooftop to rooftop, but if anyone is actually in the park it might just look a bit silly. So Amy's de-henshined to cross through the park...

    She doesn't reach the point of having to be told to turn around by the guard, but does stop a short distance away to watch for a few seconds anyway. She hasn't exactly seen a lot of traditional Japanese weddings, and also the way the priest(? is it a shinto priest? Or a different manner of officiant? How would she tell??) can project his voice so well catches her thoughts. She used to be pretty good at projecting her voice for singing at least. And she still is but it's probably not as much as a booming male voice did. Good riddance, though.

    Huh? The sound of the crowd changed, what happened? She doesn't notice the moth flying over her, and it doesn't catch her eye until it's halfway to the island. Oh shit! No no no no no... She reaches out and takes a step to run after it, but... oh right, out of henshin. Now the dude who was watching the bridge is looking at her from the sudden moment.

    "Uhhh... look! Moth!" She shouts, pointing, just hoping he'll turn around for a moment so she can transform... or she'll transform anyway, screw it!

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
"Forgive you?" Hanami Kaneko, would-be-bride, woman who had been having the happiest day of her life, asks in a voice that cracks like shattering glass, "How can I? How could anyone? Kazuya-san, what do you mean you're not ready?!"

Tears are starting to slide down her cheeks, leaving tracks in the delicate make up. She stares at her groom in horror and anger, grief and sorrow stirring in her chest. The bouquet of flowers in her hand crunch as she makes a fist.

The audience of those watching are still whispering, though many are staring in transfixed horror at a scene that properly belongs in a drama show and not the beautiful wedding they're seated at.

"How could I be ready!?" Kazuya bursts out defensively, "My career is still building, I have so much to do, and yet we're getting married - we've never even traveled! Before you know it, we'll be having children and be burdened further, we'll never live our own lives at all! I want to have fun and play around, not sit at home and raise a family! How can you be ready for that?!"

"Because we talked about starting that family! We talked about the future, why didn't you say anything?! We were supposed to do it together!" It's a scream, a cry of anguish, and many of those gathered look away, embarrassed at the scene being made - and thus, most of those gathered miss the butterfly that lands on the bride's wedding veil, turning it black.

"Hanami-san, I am Hawkmoth," the villain croons, as a butterfly pattern appears over the would-be-bride's face. "Let me help you! Your pathetic fiancé has humiliated you, because he's a coward! But why stew in despair, when you could seek revenge? All you have to do in return is find me Cat Noir and Ladybug's Miraculous!"

Between one blink and the next, the bride has become something altogether different - a towering figure eight feet tall, her wedding kimono having become samurai armor, her veil a helmet, and her bouquet of flowers a sword. Her voice is a war cry.

"I am Groomacidal, and I seek justice! I see it so clearly now! Kazuya, you wretched coward, you were just taking the best years of my life from me! But not anymore!"

Before anyone can hope to stop her, she swings her sword, and Kazuya-the-man becomes Kazuya-the-wedding topper, five inches of sculpted figure. He bounces across the ground, and slides towards the edge of the bridge. Paying him no heed, the akumatized bride turns to her audience - an audience consisting of now screaming, panicked and bewildered friends and family - and brandishes her blade.

"An end to all men, and the lie that is love!"


Back in Obsidian Tower, Hawkmoth fights a tingle of unease. Well, surely she didn't mean all men... oh, what did it matter, so long as she got the Miraculous?!

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Adrien Agreste lingers where they had stopped to try and figure out what had caused the disturbance in the wedding. It's not long before the screaming of the pair reaches his ears earning a wince of absolute sympathy. "Oh no, that's not good at all. Who would *do* that?" A romantic like himself simply couldn't imagine getting THIS far in a relationship only to decide it wasn't for him.

The fluttering wings of the moth catch his attention causing his grip on Naru's hand to tighten. A quickly flashed grin is cast her way, eyebrows rising. "Seems Hawkmoth intends to use this to his advantage. Shall we put a stop to that?" It was SO NICE knowing Naru had magic now too! "Come on Plagg. Claws out!"

The distraction of the wedding kerfluffle was enough to keep attention away, he hoped, as he shifts from Adrien to the darkly clad Cat Noir preparing to leap into the fray that was about to occur with his staff at the ready.

Only for Groomicidal's words to reach his ears causing them to lay flat on the top of his head, drooping with a sudden shiver.
% "Uuuuh. I'm in danger. More than usual."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Geode Girl Loyalty nods at Hinoiri. "Well, just take care of yourself. And yeah, Korma afterwards sounds -amazing-." she says with a nod. And then she's off - a rainbow colored trail of energy-blur proving a better way to gauge where she went than her actual body. And she may have gone the wrong way a couple of times and yet still can appear there before most others. Superspeed, baby.

    "Hey! Just because one person is a jerk doesn't mean all people who share some attributes with them are jerks!" Geode Girl Loyalty says, getting there about as the man is turned into a wedding topper. She also didn't hear what an idiot he was which is probably better for him. "For instance, I'm about to undo whatever's making you all evil, and not all girls with rainbow hair can do that - just me! But first, let me guess, I'm gonna have to beat some sense into you? Because honestly... that's my favorite part?" she says, as she attempts to dramatically summon the bat, again.

    And instead, a curling rock appears in her hand, and the sudden increase in weight makes her tip sideways a bit before she catches herself and avoids going sprawling. "Really? Well, whatever, still sucks for you." she says, before she lobs the heavy object at the youma. "Who else do we have here?" GGLoyalty asks, knowing at this point she's not going to be the only one.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
Dangit all to heck...

"Tiki." "I'm ready, Marinette! You can do it!" "I sure hope so," Marinette says, quickly pausing to blow her nose. "Tiki, SPOTSON!"

The earring flashes, five spots appearing upon it as Tiki is drawn inside. Marinette runs her hands over her face, and her mask flashes into place! She extends her arms and legs, and her clothing disappears to be replaced by her red suit, spots where spots are meant to be. The yo-yo appears, accessorizing the ensemble. And she lifts her leg into a vertical splits for a moment, revelling in the flexibility and balance.

Miraculous Ladybug springs out the window a moment later, heading for the people in need. But she will be a moment, as people below pause to ask, "Did you just hear someone sneeze?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Blossom, watching this from a distance, winces as she watches a scene that, honestly, by all rights should not be her business. Yet she recognized the scent and feel of magic, even if she hasn't seen that many akuma in her life, and so this really does kinda become her problem.

    As the forsaken bride gets youmafied and turns her groom into a wedding topper, Hope Blossom leaps up into a nearby tree and strikes a cross arms pose. "First off: nice sword!" Then she dramatically points at Groomacidal and says, "Secondly, don't go ruining everyone else's lives just because you got hurt!"

    Love being declared a lie is something she has conflicted feelings about because like... yes there's such a thing as real love but gee golly there sure are a lot of people who will lie about it, too.

    Either way her top priority isn't winning an argument via justice speeches. It's actually keeping people safe. She launches a volley of pink arrows into the air which all fall and implant themselves in the ground, creating a wall of pink arrows standing between the bridezilla and everyone else.

    Well, not the groom. He was right next to the bride and also he already got got.

    Kamiko pops into existence to comment. "Yeah, good idea. Save everyone but that guy."

    Hope whimpers, "I didn't do that on purpose!"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I think that sounds like trouble in paradise." Naru comments as the strident tones reach her and she winces. Ooof. Cold feet is one thing, but those are some words that will be hard to take back later.

Naru blinks as Adrien comments about Hawkmoth and she squints, looking a little more closely. "Oh.. turning your beau into a wedding topper is going to take some serious sweet talking later." She lets go of Adrien's hand as he uses the commotion to mask his transformation and she reaches up to touch the necklace that she wears.

The bride gained armour and a sword, and it's only a moment (and some sparkles and no doubt an excellent transformation sequence) before Naru becomes Lunar Knight with her own armour and an oversized sword drawn from goodness only knows where.

Lunar Knight laughs and winks over to Chat Noir. "Dont' worry, I'll protect you."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence did a quick little henshin and, before she knew it, she was the strange, gray and black masked heroine Equivalence.

And so she managed to arrive just in time to see the guy... get cut in half?! Wait, no, turned into a toy. Equivalence landed on top of a lamppost. She then sighed and put a hand to her forehead, shaking her head. "For buck's sake Hawkmoth," she mumbled under her breath.

Then she yelled out. "Hey, lady! Just because one guy is a jerk doesn't mean all guys are jerks! Like Loyalty over there says, everyone is different in their own way!" Pause. "Also, like, frankly? Just be thankful you found out he wasn't worth it BEFORE you got married to him. THAT Would be a headache!"

She then side eyed Loyalty. And BARELY resisted the urge to start coaching her on HOW TO DO THE BLOODY SPELL! IT WASN'T HARD! GEEZ!

... Yes. Yes it was.

"Oh bu-- screw this." She had powers now. SHE WAS GONNA USE HER POWERS!

She launched herself forward, landing by the bride before pivoting on one leg to try and KICK the woman, the foot exploding with magic if it connected, like a magic foot shotgun!

... She didn't make the powers she just stol-- borrowed them.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy never really thought about weddings all that much. As someone once told her -- her father, she thinks? -- weddings are really more for the bride.

    But even now that she's a potential future bride, she still didn't really think about it. Sure, there's the obvious issue that with multiple women and with whatever polycule(s) she ends up with a wedding doesn't make sense -- although she supposes that Tharkad probably has ceremonies accounting for that, probably involving swords and possibly duels -- but more than that, the idea of spending all that money and everyone's time and money for the preparations and making the men dress uncomfortably and the women buy expensive dresses they'll barely get to wear and everything else... how can that not be a recipe for massive anxiety for everyone involved, especially the couple ans most of all the bride! Or whoever best approximates 'bride' in the polycule, anyway.

    Red hair and white cloak stream behind her as she runs across the bridge, but by the time she gets there the moth is already on the bride. "Uh, look, at least he told you now instead of keeping this inside the whole time resenting you and himself, right? Calm down and let me get that..." She approaches, reaching out for the moth... yeah no she's not getting there in time.

    And then an eight-foot-tall samurai is redefining 'bridezilla'. The groom is cut down... and turns into a wedding topper. Thank goodness.

    It's not Amy's first akumatized foe, and the wedding toppers seem a bit more... durable than bananas? And they'll all turn back after and not remember this, so... y'know, way better, relatively speaking, than getting cut in half!

    Amy hefts her rocket launcher. "Alright, lady--"

    An end to all men, and to the lie that is love!

    A shiver of unease runs through her all the same. On some level, she's not entirely sure that such a declaration will decide to exclude her.

    ...Although, there's Adrien, a much more obvious target. "I mean," she smiles nervously and tries to offer comforting words, "the akumatized always try to fight us anyway, right? So I guess despite the words there isn't really a difference?"

    More magicals arrive on the scene. Dash makes the obvious argument. Amy points. "Yeah! N-#notallmen!" she adds, uneasily. "And, um, like... there's definitely love! Between all sorts of people!"

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
The wedding topper that had been a groom with cold feet is lying on the bridge, literally underfoot. Thankfully, he's a literal figurine right now, and isn't conscious enough to scream in terror - especially when Groomacidal raises her foot to crush him under her booted heel! She pauses only for a second, glaring at Amy, "I should be THANKFUL? After all of this? The wedding, the preparations, the effort, the years of our lives spent together, only for him to humiliate me, my family, everything we've built for?! He waits until the last possible moment and I should be grateful?!"

She swings her sword at Amy, who - isn't turned into a wedding topper! Instead, she's... incased in dense Samurai armor? It's going to be quite difficult to move in that, even for a mahou, especially when she's kicked over and sent rolling down the bridge.

Enemy taken care of, the homicidal bride-to-be turns back to her transfigured groom, raising her foot once more - and that's when the heavy curling rock GGLoyalty threw comes crashing in, striking against Groomacidal's armor. The figurine rolls away with the momentum of the rock, falling off the bridge with a faint splish-splash.

"Hmph," the Samurai Bride Akuma sniffs disdainfully at the sight. "I suppose swimming with the fish is the least a coward like you deserves."

Turning and brandishing her sword, she's just starting an injustice speech when Hope Blossom's arrows strike, creating a wall between herself and her potential victims.

"It's my wedding day, and seeing as that coward has already ruined everything, I may as well have a turn at ruining things myself!" And she swings her sword at the arrows, which glow a deep purple, becoming - covered in little bits of samurai-style armor? The tip of the sword is glowing, and with a wave, the fleet of arrow-soldiers rise and fly back towards the mahou, in a wave towards Hope Blossom and GGLoyalty, as well as the wedding guests who are running away from the scene!

Groomacidal is feeling pretty smug about this display of power, too, right until she gets kicked by another fighter. Equivalence's magical shotgun blast rocks her, and the bride roars with anger.

"You're siding with HIM? Well then, if you're so eager to fight, then try this one for size!" And she grabs Equivalence by the heel and strikes her with her sword. She too is encased in a shell of heavy armor, until she looks more like a barrel than a warrior, and is FLUNG right towards ...Hope Blossom and GGLoyalty. RIP Them for being part of the first set of enemies to go aggro!

"Where is Ladybug! Where is Cat Noir! If you want this to stop, bring them to me!"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Lady, I'm not siding with him, I'm siding AGAINST Hawkmoth! I'm not sure what the problem is but I know blowing up in a fit of rage and destroying a bunch of people isn't going to make it better! It--"

And then her foot is grabbed. "H-hey! Leggo!" She pulled up, intending to use her other foot to just kick the lady and blast her away. Teach her why you don't hold a kicking mahou's foot!

... Except she is then, unfortunately, encased in a barrel of armor and sent flying away. She gave a startled squeak and--

"Look out!" she yelled at the two mahou she was being flung at. Oh dear.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty is not a magical genius. Or good at memorization. But what she is, is athletic, and as Equivalence is thrown towards her and Hope, she can tell all three of them are in danger and acts quickly, getting in front of Hope to catch Equivalence before the two girls can be injured by the impact, causing her to stagger back from the trhrown object with a thudding noise and an "oof".

    "Hey, new girl! I'm guessing you're a new girl cause you rushed in all crazy like that and I feel like I would remember seeing or being told about blasty boots." she says to Equivalence as she holds her armor-coated form in her hands. "You can't rush in without a plan. Or superspeed. One or the other. Just work with the rest of us." says the queen of rushing in and acting without thought.

    "Oh crap - somebody is gonna have to get that figure or he's gonna get turned back and be underwater." she says. She sits Equivalence upright and dashes off in a blur.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
Oh, you want Ladybug, do you? You want Cat Noir? Honestly it's not slipped Marinette's mind thad Hawkmoth might actually be less dangerous without her around; he'd have less impetus to do his dastardly deeds, without her miraculous to try and sdeal.

But, someone talking about her? "A..chi." The sound comes from above, even above the eight food tall warrior wid samurai armour. It gives enough warning that her stealth arrival becomes un-stealthy. Sneezing lige a vampire, arm across her face to keep from sneezing on anyone, Ladybug watches the event while hunched on a nearby buildig.

"Don't mind me," she says, doing her thing up there. "I was just..." She sneezes again, into her arm. "You know. Sick." She quickly looks to make sure that the two armoured folk aren't in serious drouble, that the figurine is being addressed, then sighs.

And overacts. "Oh no. I'm up here, just in reach of your scary blade. And I like guys, they are so cool. I should marry one and use this lovely setup for it."

A picture of her and Adrien in her mind makes her pause. Oh, if only. She was such a fool. Oh. Righd, supervillain.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Cat Noir flashes a wink toward Lunar Knight at the encouragement. "My knight in shining armor has come at last," he teases jovially before turning his attention toward the others already rushing in to try and stop Groomicidal.

Of course up there is the familiar Ladybug, albiet sniffling and sneezing a bit. It's still reassuring to know his long time partner was around--Well. Akuma-handling partner. No other sort, and he had moved on. Totally. Completely. Yep.

While Groomicidal is distracted by Ladybug he leaps in trying to keep out of her line of vision as he glances around quickly trying to figure out WHAT might have been akumatized. Was it the sword? The armor? Something else?

The Achoo from Ladybug has him blurting out without thinking, "Bless you, my lady!" OOOPS.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope watches as the other sparkles start showing up to help, a cautiously optimistic smile creeping across her face. Granted, it doesn't last. "Cat Noir?" she considers. "What does he have to do with anything?" Then, she gasps, "Did your groom leave you for him?!"

    Kamiko comments, "I'm pretty sure that's not the case, Doka..."

    Things are happening and now all of her arrows are being possessed and turned into an army of arrow samurai, and she winces. "Oh shoot. So much for keeping people safe."

    Then, unbeknownst to her, Hinoiri is getting ready to smack her again. Thankfully, Loyalty is dealing with it. "Good catch," she says, before turning her attention to the army of TRAITOR ARROWS.

    "Using my own magic against me is pretty rude, but I think you forgot something: It's my magic," she calls out before raising her bow to nock back another arrow, which splits into a spray that flies over the arrow samurai and then turns suddenly down to rain all over them. Then, with a snap of her fingers, the part of the incoming army that's still made of her own magic explodes, creating a huge cloud of sparkly pink that the minions now have to deal with. In addition to being under fire.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Thankful?! "What?! No, that's not what I said! Just that at least this is better than the, the, it going on for longer... wait, humiliate? Your family? Was this about love, or not?!"

    Amy protests, and gets cut down for her trouble, too close to dive out of the samubride's massive reach.

    And now she's in armor. "Um. What--" and kicked and sent rolling! Aaaaaaaaaaaaa she tries to focus on her next move, hoping she doesn't roll into the water but mentally preparing for the outcome, until her soul-body connection responds by dampening everything.

    Only by the time she's already rolled across the bridge and is starting to roll down the path does it occur to her to summon a giant cannon stuck to her arm at an angle that stops the roll. She then dismisses it, but uh...

    "Guys?! I can't move! This is... rrgh... really heavy!"

    If no one else is able to reach her, she'll try channeling her cuteness magic into it in hopes that maybe it'll turn into something lighter.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Lunar Knight winks to her Cheeky Kitty as the pair of them heads over towards where everyting is going down. She pauses near where Amy has gotten herself wrapped up in extra armour and crouches there.

"Here.. let me help you get some of that off." Lunar Knight has gotten far far more familiar with armour of late, and she works to help Amy get herself extracted from it. Half her attention is still on what exactly is going on up on the island. Bridezilla, indeed!

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
"Of course this was about love!!! And how little he loved ME!"

But luckily for Amy, she's already rolling, rolling, away. Having successfully gotten rid of those who attacked first, Groomacidal is all set to charge forth, but there's a - sneeze? And when she turns around, there's a girl in black and red polkadots, standing atop the shrine. Sneezing, even.

"If you're so sick, you should be off in bed somewhere, rather than trying to interfere!"

<<That's Ladybug!>> Hawkomoth's voice is for only the akuma to hear. <<Capture her Miraculous now, or she'll defeat you!>>

Groomacidal was actually going to laugh off the thought of being defeated, when Ladybug says that she likes guys and wants to marry them - that fool!

"You fool!" And Groomacidal swings her sword, thankfully missing Ladybug on first pass. "You think a cursed wedding like this could possibly be suited? Look what happened to me!"

She's so distracted that she doesn't even notice Cat Noir until he speaks up, at which point she jumps and swings her sword at him - only for it to just barely miss when he makes to dodge. She keeps slashing, and those cat-like reflexes will enable Cat Noir to keep dodging.

"You! I suppose YOU'RE the man this poor bug-brained girl thinks she wants to marry, aren't you?!?! Well I won't let this happen! Love is a lie, and men are cowards!"

Meanwhile, the arrows that were turned against Hope spiral in the air as her magic explodes, causing them to lose their arrowheads and feathers. Sparkling dust spreads through the air, as the armored shafts are shot down by the new arrows.

With Lunar Knight's aid, Amy is freed! Armor falls to the ground around the two girls' feet.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence was caught! By... Loyalty...

... Who told her.

To not.

Rush in.

Alone.

Oh, her eye twitched and she grit her teeth. "My. Bad. Sorry. I'm used to working *alone*."

Oh. This. THIS was the girl who ran around her shooting her with a fire extinguisher until she got hit by a giant star bear paw. TELLING HER TO NOT RUN IN ALONE?! MAXIMUM! OFFENSE!

And then Loyalty leaves her. Hinoiri almost called out to her, after all. A cake topper should float.

... But not all did and if the lady hated him? Probably not that one. But also. SHE WAS STILL STUCK IN THE ARMOR! Fine. FINE! Even if LOYALTY left her behind, surely Hope would help et her out--

"Damn it Madoka..." Hinoiri muttered under her breath. OF COURSE!

She sighed, well, FINE! She'd just do everything herself.

... She was a hero who KICKEd, inside a BARREL. She couldn't KICK things like this. CRUD!

AND NOW LADYBUG WAS HERE AND SHE WAS SICK! Ugh. Okay. Fine. She got hit by magic bullshit enough times, it was time for her to do her OWN magic bullshit! She was already armored, she might as well just do her own, how badly could it go?

She rocked herself a few times, trying to get to her feet and... nope. Just nope. "Oh buck it," she muttered before finally... Rolling so her head was towards the youma, and then SHOOTING her feet.

Launching herself like a rocket at the weird samurai! HA! TAKE--

And then she hit a chair with the corner of the new armor and was sent *spinning* along the ground towards the youma, shrieking and shooting again with her feet a few times to try and correct the angle but it was REALLY hard to aim when your weapon was KICK and you couldn't kick! But hey, now there was magical girl spinning, very nausious puck flying at the akuma, that helped, right?

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
Even sick, Ladybug is still an athlede. She backflips, the sword missing her, then again. "I. Can. Still. Help." Every swing ad her is a swing nod ad her friends. And associates. I wasn' looking at you, Equivalence. Nod directly.

She's mostly trying to keep the abnormally dall lady busy while the armoured folk are helped out, bud then the sword is elsewhere and she can sdop flipping.

A pause to gather herself, and Ladybug gives Niji a liddle wave for saving the topper from the wader. Then she flings her yo-yo into the air and cries out, "LUCKY Ch..."

She sneezes, falling off of the shrine, backwards, out of sight, into some bushes.

"I'm alright," her voice can be heard from back there.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Cat Noir is quite glad for his cat-like reflexes at this point! The fact he was more skilled in swordsmanship than he let on while in this form helps quite a bit, but there's something to be said for those extra swift movements he can make as he dodges, and dips, and brings his staff up to try and parry the blows aside at the same time.

"Ladybug and ME? No, no, she turned me down when I told her that I--She likes someone else! I mean I won't lie I once hoped that we would--"

This was the problem with being the chatty one at times: It was hard to stop chattering especially when you were being distracted and pushed back toward the bridge that the original groom-turned-cake-topper had been on before ending up in the drink. He finally blurts out, "So I know what you're going through! It HURTS and it SUCKS and I'm so sorry. Really, I am. It's the worst pain ever."

He was going to have a LOT of explaining to do to Lunar Knight later. A whole bunch.

Glancing around quickly he realizes he's about to end up in the water himself if he's not carful, or worse yet, also turned into a cake topper. "Help me out here, Ladybug! Tell her you don't like me! You've told ME plenty of times!"

Aaand Ladybug goes down earning another wince. "She really ought to be in bed resting," he agrees with a solemn nod. "Someone else could get sick."

An astute observation a the sword comes at him again causing him to leap backwards into the water itself with a flip, and stab of his staff down toward the water to keep himself rather precariously balanced atop it so he doesn't end up... "Don't you know cats don't like water?"

His gaze drops down to the little cake topper bobbing by in the lazy water.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty isn't even wet from her little rush into the water, or gone for very long either; she returns with the little cake topper secured in one of her hands. In time to hear Ladybug and the Youma talk to each other.

    "Yeah... I'm not normally one to agree with the bad guys or girls on principle but I think in this case she's right, Spots. I don't think your henshin even finished." she says, gesturing to Ladybug. Surely, she was missing a belt or something? "Don't worry, we got this." she says, turning back to the youma before Ladybug sneezes off a rooftop.

    And then Geode Girl Loyalty holds up the little caketopper man. "Didn't you care for him only a few moments ago? I mean, he's a groom and you're the bride. So even if something went wrong... it can be fixed. No matter what it is. But not while you're stomping around like thi-" and she's cut off because there's a spinning trashcan samurai armor Equivalence spiraling off towards the youma.

    "You know usually we wait for someone to help us out before we go right back in!" she says, sounding a little frustrated. Nevermind that she could have helped Equivalence out if she'd stopped for a moment before going to get the plastic figure.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "I mean I can't really agree with the idea that all love is a lie," says Hope, considering Homura's sheer dedication, "but I do think that maybe we let the expectations of others influence our own relationships a bit too much? We put so much weight and self-importance on something that is largely outside of our control, and a lot of people are driven to marry not by romantic love but by obligation and FOMO. Whatever you just went through might not have actually led to whatever happiness was promised you, but that doesn't invalidate those who have found something real."

    Kamiko hovers over her shoulder and says, "I think that's just going to annoy her more."

    Madoka is about to respond but she's distracted by Equivalence just having a barrel of fun over there. "Good idea!" she calls out and then superjumps on top of the barrel, riding it into combat as she fires arrow after magical pink arrow at the jilted bride youma.

    Whatever is happening with the wedding topper does concern her a bit, but that could quickly turn into a 'too many cooks' situation and GGLoyalty is pretty speedy as she is.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's magic doesn't seem to be able to do this. It kind of feels like trying to find the right position to use a philips-head screwdriver on a flathead screw. Fortunately, Lunar Knight stops by to help! "Oh, it's you again!" Amy greets cheerfully. "From Paris! Thanks!" With Knight's help, Amy's able to extricate herself; To make it a little easier, she dismissed the skirt, chestpiece, and cloak of her costume, leaving her briefly looking like a newbie superhero, or like Ladybug accidentally washed her costume with bleach, before they reappear in a shimmer of pink sparkles.

    "I'm Magical Rocket Girl Red, by the way!" She summons a gyrojet rifle and turns towards the island, sighting on Bridezilla. Pop pop pop, little rocket-propelled bullets whizz through the air to hit the youma's armor, hopefully a distracting annoyance while the purifiers get ready. "HEY!" she shouts, "If this is about love, why aren't you two trying to find the happiest lives you can?!"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Nice to chat Red.." Lunar Knight comments as she gives a wave of her sword and heads off to go over to where the Bridzilla is taking swings at HER Cheeky Kitty.

Who probably should hve stopped talking a few moements ago.

She bounces up onto the island, bouncing once onto the bridge and then over to where Chat Noir is being thratened. "You probably want to stop talking, love." Lunar Knight gets her sword into the mix, aiming to parry that sword of Groomacidal.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
<<Seriously,>> Groomacidal tells Hawkmoth dryly, as Ladybug backflips fantastically only to sneeze and fall off the building the secondd she's no longer dodging. <<THIS girl is the one you want me to attack?!>>

<<Don't be fooled by her pathetic acting skills! Ladybug is a dangerous menace to my plans, and her Miraculous is critical!>> Even if Hawkmoth is also sweatdropping.

Cat Noir is managing to dode, dip, and parry the attacks coming his way - and his words are more effecting than he might think, as the Samurai Bride's expression softens under her helmet. "You were rejected? And yet here you are, still working with her... do you have an addiction to heartache, or something?" The fighting continues, until Cat Noir is backed onto a corner, and her black helmet shines with the sun's rays as she goes in for the kill - well, the cake toppering - and then Lunar Knight is there, defending her man! Her sword strikes are swift and terrible parries, and Groomacidal snorts puffing up in fury.

"Love?! You're talking about how another girl didn't love you when you have a GIRLFRIEND? SCUM! TRAITOR! FILT- ow, stop that!"

This is because Hope Blossom, riding atop the spinning barrel of flaming death(?) that is Equivalence is firing arrow after arrow with perfect accuracy, each blasting her in the back, over and over until her armor piece starts to crack.

Turning to face them is a mistake, because Lunar Knight is able to take a clean swing at the armored knight, cleaving her armor in two! The chest piece falls right off, revealing her white wedding kimono leaving her in the skirt and leg armor, arm protection, and helmet, even as the barrel of Equivalence pingpongs around the bridge. Hopefully Hope Blossom gets off this ride, because Groomacidal is hit at the knees by the full sized barrel of Equivalence, going fly, flying, flyyyyying!

At least Equivalence's attack was good for something, right? Maybe we shouldn't encourage her.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Groomacidal lands in a roll at the other end of the bridge, facing the magical girls and the remaining wedding guests. Standing in a rage, she glares - most have fled by now, but there's a pair frozen stiff with fright - the groom's sister and her husband.

"H-hanami-san, please! Stay away, this isn't reasonable!" The husband begs, only for the sword to swing at him, slicing him in two- oh, what? No, it just turns him into a figurine? Well, that's true enough - the groom's brother-in-law falls to the grass as a figurine, a look of pleading captured on his face. His wife screams and rushes for him, but falls back when Groomacidal swings her sword at her.


"Why was she attacking that woman, if she's such a man hater? What are this Akuma's specs, exactly - wait, can make more of herself?" Hawkmoth yelps as he reviews the power of his creation with a touch of... concern. "That... could pose a problem..."

Well... surely she wouldn't turn on Hawkmoth! He was the perfect example of a good man, one who empowered women to destroy their problems! Of course he's going to be an exception! Surely, he'll be fine.


"Rainbow Girl, of course I loved him! And he just left me at the altar! Literally at the altar of this very shrine! Saying he wasn't ready! We've been dating for five years! We shared everything, including all of our important firsts! We've lived together, loved together, we met each other's families! I went to his sister's wedding and HE proposed!!! We said that we loved each other and he's calling off the wedding NOW?! At the altar?! ON THE DAY OF?!"

Dark energy rises from her shoulders, and the groom's sister cowers behind her. "I hate to admit it, but even I can't defend my brother on this one!"

Amy's rockets are sliced out of the air by her sword, furious blows that cause them to spiral away and detonate on the grass - there's no barrier, this place is going to be a MESS - and she screams in rage and hurt to the heavens, sword held high. "WHY DID YOU PROPOSE TO ME IF YOU'RE NOT READY?! I EVEN WORE THIS VEIL, BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO DRESS TRADITIONALLY!"

The figurine in GGLoyalty's hands does not answer, because he's a figurine. It's probably for the best. And of course - she's not wearing a veil, she's wearing a samurai helmet.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence was spinning and rolling and oh gosh her life was suffering. Nothing but suffering. Please. Someone. ANYONE. Put her out of her misery. Save her from this hell. This torment. This miserable...

AND NOW MADOKA WAS RIDING ON HER!

But hey, she hit the youma, that... that mattered. Right?

But she was now so dizzy, so confused, her eyes little swirls and trying to resist the urge to throw up. She had so, so many things to say. But she also had to avoid throwing up. So she settled for the most obvious, and easy one.

"Your fiance was a d-dick and you have every right to stab him. But stab him with one of the, urg, fancy knives, don't use Hawkmoth's power. Hawkmoth has left like, four women at the altar and, guh, regularly leads women on in order to get, guh, power..."

Was it a lie? Yes. But she wasn't honesty, dang it, and she was not moving until someone else got her out of this. Possibly not even then. She was just going to lay here until the world stopped spinning.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Cat Noir can only wince when it seems his words are going through until he's getting rescued and then it turns to cheating! He would NEVER. ... Right? RIGHT OF COURSE NOT! "Because she's still my friend-- But I moved on and met the most perfect, capable, strong, lovely, wonderful girl after I did move on!" He blurts out with a quick, toothy grin shot toward Lunar Knight.

"Er, right, yes, I'll shush now," he agrees with a solemn nod.

Leaping off the staff that was keeping him precariously out of the water he aims instead for the little island to land on dry land with a sigh. "Did anyone see where the Akuma went? What it posessed? Uh, the little white moth? Maybe it's the sword, Dame Lunar!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka manages to ride the crazy train all the way to the station, which of course is a really bad idea. Look, don't blame her. She left her smarts Chara at home to play strategy games with the tactical Chara.

    Okay maybe you can blame her a little bit.

    Hope Blossom goes tumbling and flailing through the air after the impact, hitting the ground in a roll. Feeling equally dizzy and having no idea what kind of person Hawkmoth is, Madoka overhears what Equivalence says about him and adds, "Yeah, sounds like a real jerk. Why work for him?"

    Eventually she starts picking herself up, and Kamiko floats next to her, tugging on her frilly sleeve while pointing at Equivalence. "Hope-chan, I think she's stuck there."

    Madoka, who is still a bit confused and dizzy, finally looks at where The Fairy of Infinite Hair is pointing. She covers her mouth and says, "Oh shoot! And I was using you like a surfboard and everything! I'm sorry!"

    Then she summons a few more branchbows that twist around each other and weave together, then uses the reinforced magic branches to try and pry the barrel open. "Don't worry! I'll get you out!"

    Where did the moth go? Oh geeze, Madoka was looking right at it, too. She wasn't even paying attention to that! "Um... I don't remember, sorry!"

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty takes all of what the bride says, and then she blinks. She pauses. She looks down at the figurine. "Wow, dude. Weaksauce." she says. The figure does not answer back.

    "Alright, that's a pretty legitimate reason to be angry, but it's not a legitimate reason to go around smashing other things up." Loyalty says. She's got nothing for First Figurine. "But now look - you've gone and ruined someone else's happiness!" she says, pointing an accusing finger at the figurine on the floor. "You can't trust whatever the voices in your head are telling you. They're just making you lash out." Then she pauses and looks around. "And anyways, the greyscale girl is right. You're past making this about him. You're just lashing out at the whole world and we can't let that happen."

    "You're trying to hurt people who aren't involved. People who are on YOUR side. People who are just trying to make the world better." Loyalty shakes her head her mane of rainbow hair floating back and forth as she does. "No. That has to stop. This has to stop." She doesn't really remember the motions she does, the things she thinks, all of the things Hinoiri tried to teach her... she never fully memorized them, but in this moment she can call them from her subconscious. A sparkling rainbow-spraypainted baseball bat is drawn into her hand.

    "Hey! I'm even more awesome than I thought I was!" She says, taking a moment to happily jump. "Oh, right, wait, bridezilla, yeah." She says, running in to get into melee with her. "Alright! Tried talking, now we're trying hitting!" she says, though if any of her blows land on the helmet (or at all) may well be pure luck.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
This isn't going to be easy. But it's my only play right now. And...with Cat Noir right there? ouch. But this is happening, and Ladybug pushes herself out of the bushes. She stays back, staying out of Geode Girl's bashy-range.

She's holding a bouquet. It's...perfect. Every colour, every shade, woven together by a mastersmith. She's just holding it, looking ill and the least threat of anyone here. Is that true? Sne sniffles, then looks past the youma to Cat Noir. Specifically to him.

"Hey? Can I...can we...HEY! Give us a minute, here!" Us? Who is us? She walks toward the youma, sighing.

"I'm gonna give you one of these things, if you'll listen to me. No tricks." Then she holds out both hands. One has the bouquet. The other has...

It's an earring. Her ear is bare. Holy shit.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Wait.. he did!?" Lunar Knight had no idea about all of the lies about Hawkmoth! Probably because they're lies!

"Litte thick there, Cheeky Kitty." And if that doens't give entirely too many clues about Lunar Knight's relationship with Chat Noir, people aren't paying attention.

The suggestion that the akuma might be in the sword has the Knight specifidally aiming there, clashing her sword with the Bridezilla's sword.

There's a sidelong glance as Ladybug comes closer and Lunar Knight considers the bouquet and the earring. "Is.. that what I think it is?" She asks, hopefully just of Chat Noir, but probably more can hear than just him.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's eyes widen as her (rocket-propelled but non-explosive) bullets are deflected. "Really, I should have expected a samurai to do that, that one's on me." She didn't use explosives for a reason!

    She then rocket-jumps off the path, across the water, back to the island. Somehow, her magic lessens the collateral damage when she uses it that way.

    "It sounds like you both needed to communicate more! So much relationship stuff is people not communicating, gods!"

    She switches to a gyrojet pistol and continues firing, to keep the samubride's sword busy if nothing else. "Maybe he was... scared of this, and for whatever reason he felt he couldn't tell you, and he hoped that his mind would change, but I guess it didn't work out that way?!"

    "I don't freakin' know!" Amy throws her hands up, exasperated. "I'm still trying to figure out this relationship stuff! Am I demi? Ace? Something else? Lesbian or slightly bi? How do people figure all that out, let alone relationships with specific people?!"

    She points at Bridezilla. "But I know this:" She then just continues holding and firing the gyrojet pistol in a two-handed grip. "Anyone I'm having a relationship with, we're gonna talk and be open with eachother and never be afraid to, to tell eachother anything! And when we are we'll work on it!"

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
"...Hawkmoth has what now?" There's a tone in those words. A tone that says 'an end to men' may have just become 'an end to Hawkmoth!'

<<She's lying! I am a loyally married man! My wife is the pinnacle of my existence, the most important person in my life!>> Hawkmoth probably shouldn't have revealed that, but as a Married Man and a Card Carrying Wife Guy, he's affronted! Aggravated! Other words that begin with A!

(His son, Adrien, whose name is also a word that begins with A, would probably be hurt to not be mentioned here. Good thing this is psychic talk!)

"He says you're lying, barrel girl!" Second day on the job and already getting dissed. RIP. At least Hope Blossom is definitely able to get Equivalence out of the armor. She might have said more, but there's Loyalty attacking her, beating her about the chest and arms and ouch, yes, even the head - and one of those blows cracks the helmet, causing dark energy to spill out.

Eventually, she gets her sword up, parrying the blows. "You're right! I'm taking my hurt and anger out on everyone in the world, because I'm so - angry! So betrayed! How could he do this?! How could he play me for a complete idiot like this?!"

She's not able to break through and hit Niji with her sword - so instead, she lets it get knocked away, and catches the baseball bat with her gloved hand.

"None of you are on my side! How am I one of the ones who needs to communicate more when I said EVERYTHING about how I felt?!"

And she throws baseball bat (and attached winged blue girl) at Amy.

She might have continued on towards them, except - except that there's Ladybug, standing before her, offering the contents of her hands, if she'll only listen.

In one hand, a fresh bouquet. In the other, an earring.

<<Take the earring! She's just going to try and take your power ->>

"I'm listening," the Groomacidal bride says coldly, looking down at Ladybug. "If only because you've done something so - foolish. I could take your Miraculous in an instant, and this power would be mine to keep."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Kamiko thinks for a moment while Madoka fusses about with the barrel situation. The tiny goddess suddenly "Oh"s and then starts whispering into Hope Blossom's ear. Hope frowns for a moment and says, "You could've said it to them instead of me."

    Kamiko crosses her arms and says, "Well I don't want to! I'm shy. You do it."

    Hope frowns. "You're pretty bold for someone claiming to be shy..." but she doesn't have time to argue. So she cups her hands around her mouth and shouts to the others. "It was her veil! Her veil got turned into a samurai helmet! Is that important?"

    Kamiko grumbles, "Obviously it's important because they asked about it more than once!"

    Hope bickers back, "You could've told them while I was busy with the barrel."

    "Yeah well you could've just remembered, too."

    Madoka is unamused because she just cannot believe Kamiko right now but also she doesn't have time for this. She calls out again, "I mean, I'm not gonna be on your side because all men would include my papa, and probably my little brother. This is between you and your groom!"

    Kamiko chimes in with, "Also you can't trust anything Hawkmoth says! I bet that's not even his real name!" So much for being shy.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
"He's done what?" Cat Noir blurts out looking rather aghast at the suggestion himself. Hawkmoth was a jerk of course but they really didn't know anything about his personal life at all so he's just momentarily left looking very confused because, how would this girl know to begin with? Did she... work for Hawkmoth? Suspicious!

The chiding from Lunar Knight earns a little apologetic grin as he shrugs. "Sorry, Sugar Bean, but it's all true!" It seems like Cat Noir might say more, but Ladybug coming out with the flowers and... and earrings... has him suck a quick breath in between his teeth as he draws up to his full height with shoulders rolled back and eyes gone wide behind his mask.

"It is." Is all he responds quietly to Lunar Knight as he finds himself shaking, just a bit, with anxiety and stress and... "She must have a plan. She always has a plan," he whispers out more as a plea, a prayer, than just saying what was going on. "She just doesn't always share it."

Then Hope Blossom calls out about the veil and he nods, stiffly. "We need to get the helmet. It's... too dangerous for me to just touch it while it's on her." WAY too dangerous.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy says she doesn't know what she is and has a rainbow thrown at her. She tries to catch Dasshu but didn't account for how hard the youma throws, ending up stumbling back and falling on her butt. "Oof! You okay?"

    From the ground she joins in on the shouting. after Madoka. "Yeah! A lot of my friends are guys! The, the... like, there's always gonna be differences between us but that's a neat thing about the world, right? It'd be, like.... what would it even be if people were all the same? Like, boring!"

    "Again, this is a communication breakdown between you and your fiancee, not a problem with guys or girls or any larger class of people!"

    She looks at Cat Noir curiously. "Why, what happens if you grab it?"

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
"It would. And you could," Ladybug says, responding to the youma's words. This is -incredibly- stupid, which is why it's got a chance. But she sighs, and admits something real.

"I'm in love. I have been for a long, long time. Since someone walked into my life, years ago." She pauses, smiling wistfully. "It feels longer. Like I met him in another lifetime, and we were meant to be that forever couple." She looks at the youma, then past that to the girl inside.

"I've fought Hawkmoth for a long time, and to be honest? I think there's something in him that's strong too. Something, I hope it's love. I can't hear him like you can, but I'm guessing and if it is, I could understand why he's still trying, after all this time. I can feel the pain, in how he keeps trying. I get it."

She glances up into the sky, completely easy to destroy. "Thing is, it's just...so stupid. All of it, and the one I love walked away from me, too. And I. Can not. Forget him. I'm trying, I'm trying every day when I wake up. My knees give out, and I just...." She's crying now, just tears from behind the mask. "But it happened a little while ago, and I'm still shattered, but I get it a little more."

"I can't just, move on. It's not...that...that's not even a thing. I think, just, that it's meant to be complicated? Does that make sense at all?" She pauses, wiping her nose with a tissue. Then she looks back at the youma. "Because if it were simple, we wouldn't have to fight for what we love. And we need to get it right in the end, for it to be special."

She takes a step closer, then, and holds out both of her hands. "Are you still willing to fight for it? To get it right? Or do you let him win?"

Bouquet, or Miraculous.

Choose.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "Hey, score!" she says when she rings the bride's samurai-helmet bell. "I think there's..." she's about to state the obvious when the bride catches her bat. "Hey. We were using weapons, not hands!" she protests.

    Those protesting words clearly do not stick at all though, as the bride flings bat and Lolyalty end over end towards Amy. The winged girl is somewhat able to flap her blue-feathered appendages to stop most of the kinetics of the launch, but she's stilll ended up colliding at least slightly.

    She doesn't stay on the ground very long at all."Hey, what's Spots doing?" she asks once she gets herself square and stable. "And yeah, the helmet. I smacked it and it's leaking so that's probably where the bad stuff is. I think." Then she looks between Amy, Noir, and Ladybug. "Well, if she doesn't have a plan or it doesn't work all I've got left is plan B."

    She pauses, then explains. "The B is for Beatings."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence was free, yessss! She wasn't moving! Because she still needed the world to stop spinning. But, until it did that, she could help fro mthe sidelines. "Of course he says I'm lying. Why don't you ask him about Haruna? Or how about Akari? Those girls meant so little to him I bet he'll say I'm lying or, worse, that he doesn't even know them!" she called out. Because of course, those girls weren't girls he knew, why WOULD they mean anything to him? And that was kiiiiiind of the point. Random girls, say their names, make him flounder about a bit, panic, you know. "Do you think your fiance would admit to leaving YOU at the altar in the future?" Yes, poke and nag at her current insecurities.

"... Besides, think about it. What does Hawkmoth want you to do? Beat up other GIRLS. Because he's jsut THAT kind of guy. And now look, that other jerk? He's a cake topper. He's not upset, or sad, or feeling guilt, or getting yelled at. He's just there. How is that payback? If anything, Hawkmoth is protecting the guy who's like him!"

Lying, the sparkle skirt way. She was also... slowly... sitting up. Oh, wow. She may just, in fact, throw up on someone.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Groomacidal isn't expecting much, from Ladybug. The girl who's sick, sneezing, and falling off buildings - what could she know?

But instead, there's heartfelt sincerity, and a girl crying about lost love and failed chances, and love - and the idea that even her mysterious benefactor is motivated by that love.

Maybe it's why Hawkmoth falls silent, feeling caught out and vulnerable, seen in a way he doesn't particularly want to be. Of course he's motivated by love - everything he's ever done has been for love, for family, for the chance of regaining what cruel death stole from them.

<<What does her heartache matter? So she loved someone, and he left her - how can she know what it feels like to lose love that you've fought for and broken yourself for?! She scorns you, just by comparing your heartache to hers ->>

"You're wrong, Hawkmoth," Groomacidal murmurs, and looks at Ladybug. There's a tear rolling down her own cheek, followed by a second, a third. "I can't move on either, but I - how can I fight for him, when he threw me away? How can I... but I don't want to fight you, either. It doesn't matter if you're young. It still... hurts... to lose the one you've devoted yourself too."

It's not the Miraculous that she reaches for. Instead, the bride, grieving her heartache, her broken dreams, clutches the fresh bouquet to her chest, head lowered.

"I'm not willing to fight for him. Not when he's like this. Not when he'd rather - embarrass us both, in front of everyone we love, instead of admit that he was afraid. Not when he'd rather chicken out that fight with me for our future."

<<You fool! The Miraculous - take the Miraculous!>>

"I refuse to turn them back," the bride says, stubborn. I refuse to undo what I've done. But, I won't hurt you anymore, either. ...well, I might hurt that two-timing cat, who has a girlfriend but still tried to say he knows heartache for another woman," poor Adrien catching all kinds of strays here.

Given the moment? It's time for a purification. It doesn't matter if the akuma refuses to help, when you can undo the harmful works that they've crafted.

And she pauses, and then looks at Equivalence, with the calm of an older woman who's realized when she's getting played - "You're the type of girl who will say anything to get what she wants, aren't you? Well, even if Hawkmoth has harmed other women - I've already decided I won't keep waging war. But you know, if you lie too much, your friends won't believe you."

Pause.

"On the other hand. I do have an awfully large sword I could bring down on Kazuya's lying neck..." uh oh maybe she's going to take some of Equivalence's advice AFTER ALL.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty ends up next to Equivalence. "Are you lying to her? Because that's not really... helpful, or the way we do things." Loyalty says. "We're better than that. Is that what your name means - that you'll use the same methods they'd use?" she asks, her eyes narrowing down at the other girl.

    Then she points to her. "It wasn't your words that threw her off - it was Spots there, and her appeal to the heart. Because of that, we should be able to make progress."

    "Hey, before you use your sword on anyone..." Loyalty calls to the bride. "Maybe you should take the helmet that's leaking all sorts of funky shadow power off so you can make sure it's really the decision you'd make." she says. "Some things you can't take back. And he probably deserves some harsh words - a lot of them - but if you're gonna do something you can't apologize for once it's done, you should do it yourself, not because some creepy voice or spooky helmet is directing you."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Blossom watches as the akuma... starts to have a change of heart? At least for the moment. Before she starts turning on her groom to behead him!

    Kamiko rolls back and floats like she's resting in a hammock. "Welp. A coward dies a thousand deaths as they say."

    Hope Blossom frowns. "I feel like maybe we should stop her from doing an actual murder, though. I feel like maybe that's a bit too far."

    Kamiko sticks out her tongue. "I'm kidding, obviously. You're the one with the locket."

    Also, did Equivalence really lie to them? That's terrible. Also not really the main focus right now, but she seems kinda shifty.

    Hope Blossom pulls out the gold and pearlescent Humpty Lock from behind her collar and shouts, "NEGATIVE HEART: LOCK ON!"

    "OPEN HEART!"

    Heart shape beam focuses on the samurai helmet itself. Then the purifying rainbow flood of light comes.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Cat Noir draws in a deep breath and exhales it in obvious relief when it seems that Groomicidal is planning to not fight any longer. "Ohthankgoodness." He turns toward Lunar Knight to drop his head down ontop of hers for just a moment before standing to step away again heading forward.

With one hand extended he approaches cautiously simply saying a quiet, "Cataclysm," without any fanfare. His opposite hand reaches out for the helmet with a simple, "Pardon me then. We'll get you back to yelling properly at him in just a moment. He *does* deserve to be yelled at," he agrees with a sigh.

And unless stopped he takes the helmet off and then taps it with his other hand, already charged with power to release the Akuma.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
ladybug looks at the cake topper nee groom. "He doesn't deserve you," she admits. "Fight for your forever, you earned it. Him?" She rolls her eyes so hard they almost fall out of her skull. "Can you believe that guy? Seriously."

But she looks around, realizing that people are staring, and almost instantly sneezes. "Gah, I need to get back to bed."

Yo-yo at the ready. But she's thinking about Adrien, as everyone does the things that they do.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Equivalence opened her mouth, then... Loyalty scolded her. It was bad enough when the Akuma girl saw through her lies, which she thought were pretty good. Her hand moved to her side, forming a fist at her side and struggling to resist lashing out at the girl. Because she used the same tactics?! What?

She then stopped and took a deep breath.

No. The Akumatized girl was... obviously under Hawkmoth's sway. Here she hated all men, but obviously still put HIM on a pedastol enough to not buy into the (obvious) lies. But having Loyalty call her out? That made her FURIOUS. And she felt, for a moment, that desire to just... crush her. Maybe it was time for a heel turn.

No. NO. She wasn't... "Fine. I'm sorry. I believed that when the fate of the world was on the table, we were supposed to use whichever tactics necessary to win. My bad, I'll keep that in mind for later." She gott o her feet and--

Urg... Had to pause, wobbling a bit and trying not not heave. She could do this. Don't throw up. Dooooon't throw up. "I think... you got all this under control, though. So I'm going to beat it. Sorry I just *got in your way*," she said, the bitterness clear in her voice before she leaped away.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy stands up, listening. "...People are complicated. Feelings are complicated. You can't... Assuming that people want is what happens... Well, okay, that's actually a pretty good measure when we're talking about rich people running things, but people who don't run the world? He can know heartache even if he has a girlfriend! Your fiancee... like, at least he stood up today and said something! It woulda been better if he had sooner... but it woulda been worse if he'd waited longer! ...Oh heck why am I arguing, you won't remember this..."

Naru Osaka has posed:
There's a moment where Lunar Knight just leans into Chat Noir for a moment as he leans on her. She might be the 'other woman', but that doenst make her not terribly fond of her Cheeky Kitty.

"Kick him to the curb." Lunar Knight comments to Bridezilla. "And then find someone even better who loves you fully and wholly." She takes a step back, backing up Chat Noir if he's the one who is going to zort the akuma.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Even Ladybug admits her fiancé, would be husband, the man she'd thought was the love of her life, isn't worth fighting for. That he doesn't deserve her. And as she rolls her eyes, Groomacidal finds herself smiling.

"Honestly -"

That's when the Heart Lock-On strikes - helmet, primarily, but those heart-shaped beams of pink light are able to strike Groomacidal too, and under their power, the helmet becomes a black veil, as the akuma stubbornly tries to taint the product again -

And then Cataclysm turns the veil to nothingness, as it crumbles away before Destruction Itself.

The purple butterfly flutters free, to be quickly caught by Ladybug's power.

And while that's being taken Groomacidal shrinks down from a giant samurai warrior woman, to a jilted bride once more, her white wedding kimono making for an awkward effort at kneeling, given how many layers and structure there is.

She's crying, and of course she's still angry, but, without Dark Energy adding to it, she's mostly just very, very sad. "This is really... how it's going to end for us, Kazuya."

She just shakes her head at Amy. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? I didn't assume he wanted to marry me - he proposed. He asked my father's permission. We spent six months planning this wedding, and... he was lying to me about all of it. Even as we planned our honeymoon and the life we'd have when we were married, he hid his doubts and only revealed them at the worst possible moment."

And at that moment, the two wedding toppers? They turn back into men - groom's sister's husband, quickly embraced by his wife, and the would-be-groom himself, on his knees in his kimono, blinking in confusion as he looks around at the destruction.

"What... happened?"

His sister answers, "I can't believe you couldn't at least leave poor Hanami-san some face; you could have called things off before we were all here! Kazuya, what were you thinking."

Kazuya sputters, unable to defend himself. Lunar Knight speaks up, offering crystal clear advice.

Hanami, the bride-who-wasn't, brushes her cheek, and pulls herself up - not to her feet, not by herself, not with all these layers, but at least to an upright kneel.

"You broke my heart. I'm keeping the cat. And the apartment - it's in my name. You can just - you can just go back to your parents, since you're not ready for, for a married life with me!"

Yeah, there's gonna be some TV drama going on for a bit here huh.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Blossom isn't sure what to think of Equivalence. She comments, "The long term effects of how we fight matter, too. Lies like that can have unforeseen consequences."

    Also, bride-chan was right. She kinda doesn't trust Equivalence that much. At least, not her words. She still showed up to do the right thing, right? That counts for something.

    Now some TV drama is happening and Hope Blossom just looks at this sad affair with pity. Pity for the woman who is getting left at the altar, and some amount of pity for the man who wasn't mature enough to even be honest with someone who was allegedly his partner.

    Kamiko considers out loud, "You know... even if Hawkmoth isn't the player that girl was saying he is, the truth is that he took advantage of this woman's despair in order to get what he wants. He's not exactly a knight in shining armor, either."

    Hope Blossom frowns and looks down at the ground, thumb fidgeting with her bow. "It might be assuming too much for me to say this, but... as much as this hurts right now? If he was being this fake for this long, their relationship probably isn't worth saving." Then she looks up at the offending groom and says, "Hey, next time? Be honest in love. Otherwise you'll end up in situations like this."

    Then she turns on her heel and starts to walk away, because really who wants to listen to some weirdo cosplayer during a moment like this?

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Equivalence makes an exit - but she's also correct in that the team totally has it here, with the bride turned into a regular jilted bride and not a samuraibridezilla. So all that's left is for Geode Girl Loyalty to look around.

    "Come on, I'm not wrong. We can't just be lying, right?" she's looking for a little confirmation from the other magical girls here. "If we just leave everything as an option in the name of 'saving the world' - that's how we end up like them, isn't it?" she says, looking at the direction Equivalence walked off in. Loyalty feels like she knows her.

    Eventually she turns back to the bride and the ceremony, after Ladybug clears it of the destruction. "Well, that's still gonna be a mess no matter what..." she says, rubbing the back of her neck.

Adrien Agreste has posed:
Cat Noir steps away once the destruction is done. For all the power he had at his beck and call he was really trying to be careful about using it, especially around actual living things and people. He didn't want to know what would happen. If Ladybug's Lucky Charm couldn't bring them back.

He does pause a moment to flash a smile toward Ladybug remarking, "Get some rest, Lady." Then awkwardly he adds, "I hope... I'm sorry you've gone through so much yourself. I'm sure I wasn't much help either. I hope you can find your someone who cares back some day."

With that he awkwardly turns and dashes off pausing only to utter, "Got a time limit I'm working with sorry! Cat you later!"

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
"Pound it," Ladybug says, staying back a little more than usual.

And that's where Ladybug leaves it. She is pretty sure that she's no master of love, or of dealing with it, or she'd be with Adrien right now. Though she hopes that he and his new girlfriend are doing well, she slips out past Cat Noir and Naru with a smile and a sniffle and a fistbump. Tradition, and he did win the day.

Equivalence's exit is noticed, but...I just do not have it in me. She nods at Hope Blossom's important words, but doesn't engage. So, with a smile and a yo-yo pulling her up, she vanishes, leaving only the sound of sneezing in the air to say where she's gone.

And, in the end, her tea is cold and she has to make more. And she just...guh.

Bed. "Tiki, does the universe need me anymore?" The little kwami smiles, and it is time to sleep.

As the television shows silenced images of a bride chasing a groom with a bouquet, trying to see if she can cause some damage with flowers.

Naru Osaka has posed:
There's a whole lot of drama going on, and Lunar Knight tucks her sword away as everything gets.. well.. not /settled/, but into the next chapter of something.

There's a quick hug for Chat Noir before he runs off, and then she looks around and moves to leave the family a bit of privacy to sort out .. well the fresh mess of dividing up what seemed like settled lives.

"I need a coffee." Lunar Knight mutters as she heads back towards a quieter part of the park.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy shakes her head. "Better, no. But it wasn't the worst possible moment. The worst possible moment would have been even later. And you don't have to fix this. But you do have to move on, and... not generalize from him to others." She looks to the man. "Same to you. You can't repair this. But you can try to do better in the future. This isn't the end of either of your lives..."

    Amy scratches her head. "Although, I guess in a society like this your families are both gonna be awful about this rather than focused on moving on and making the rest of life better. Sorry, I wish I could fix that, but I'm a magical girl, not a miracle worker."

    "...Learn from this, and make sure you and your future friends communicate with eachother."

    She looks from Loyalty to Equivalence. "...'When everyone knows that you'd only lie to save the world, that's exactly when no one will trust you.' ...We can all work on getting better, as well. ...And maybe I'm wrong. Could just be sour grapes since I'm a bad liar."

    She shrugs.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Ladybug's power restores everything, undoing all the damage. The wedding set up is restored, though most of the guests have still fled.

"No," Hanami says, muffled by tears, "This is the worst moment. Because it wasn't enough to betray me, but to do it in front of everyone, so they all had to know -"

Humiliation on top of rejection on top of hurt? Hanami chucks the bouquet right at Kazuya's face, and it catches him stem end first, causing him to topple over with a yelp.

The bride's parents, had not fled far and after seeing this, they hurry to offer their daughter a consoling hug, though they're asking frantic questions about what happened, and how did she get and lose that armor, and her father is wondering if maybe their ancestors had filled her with strength to scorn that pathetic bastard who'd been so cruel to her -

The groom's parents hurry over to, to scold their son for being so wasteful and publicly shaming both the family and his would have been bride. This is a man who is going to regret not speaking up sooner, that's for sure.


And back in Obsidian, Hawkmoth shakes with fury as yet another plan fails - this one so close. Not only had his akuma backed away from him, but that girl - that girl -

"Who is SHE to say that I would leave a woman at the altar?! I would have never shamed Emilie so! Oh, mysterious magical girl Equivalence, you will rue the day you interfered with me! Foolish wretch with a liar's tongue, you will regret your words!"

The white butterflies fly away, settling into the rafters, eager to get away from the man who summoned them, and Hawkmoth slams his fist into the arm of his chair, grimacing.

"Cat Noir... Ladybug... I will have your Miraculous..."