2314/Precure: Philip's Shadow

Precure: Philip's Shadow
Date of Scene:	10 February 2025
Location:	Yumegahama Ward
Synopsis:	What was supposed to be a simple demonstration of how summoning a Kindabad works goes terribly wrong when Deep Mirror claims back his lost general.
Cast of Characters:	Phantom, Taro Yamada, 281, Chiyo Sakai, Amanda Faust, Sayaka Miki, Hinoiri Kirara, Usagi Tsukino
Tinyplot:	The Precure Hunter Attacks!? The Dreaded Precure Graveyard!

---

Phantom has posed:
The assignment is simple, really.

Entrapta had wanted to see a demonstration on how mirroring magic worked. Philip was willing to help with that - even if he had lost the ability himself, he knew of others that could do so. Some of which he still keeps in touch with. Namely Oresky, because Oresky is mostly muscle, and will share information with him on Mirage sometimes on accident. It's good to keep the pipeline open in case that Queen Mirage or Red tries to make a move, Philip may have a chance to report it to someone before it comes to fruition.

He hadn't considered that this information source may go both ways.

So, on a field near the school, Philip has set up a small area so that Oresky can demonstrate the ability on mirror, with the plan being that Oresky would temporarily mirror Philip, and considering that he's a normal human, it should produce a weak kindabad that Chiyo should be able to dispatch easily and Philip returns to normal. That way Entrapta can see first hand how Mirage's magic works with both the mirroring and field manipulation.

Philip is already out on the field, sipping on a drink, pretty relaxed as he glances at his watch. Folks should be arriving shortly, so he's in no rush. In fact, he's kind of excited - the last time he did this - he mirrored himself to prevent graveyard from falling into Sunbreaker's hands, so this will be a chance for him to see what he will produce without those magical bonds.

Near where Philip is standing, a portal opens, and out steps a large man. He's well-built, in his thirties, perhaps early forties with the wealth of white hair beneath a military style hat. He's dressed in a tan military uniform, pressed and polished, with a single medal on his left side. "Ha! I'm here! You won't regret using me for your demonstration of powers!" Oresky crows as he takes a couple of practice stomps on the field.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro's here mostly to have fun and watch Chiyo show off her new powers in the most sicknasty way possible. (And to support her boyfriend. If Philip is going to be his brother in law, it's important to get along!) Which is why he's here with a shopping bag full of juice boxes and snacks, just in case. Science and sparring are both hungry work!

Orevsky comes out of the portal and Taro looks up,and up, and up - Taro's tall for a Japanese teenager, especially one born in the 40s, but it's still nothing compared to how tall Orevsky is. Or how wide his chest. Or how shiny his eyes are.

"Do you want a chest- drink! Do you want a drink?" Taro squeaks, and holds out a Kapri Moon like he's expecting it to jump out of his hand.

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta isn't coming.

"I don't have time right now, this is too unstable to leave behind!" She's talking to her roomba and her celphone, as she moves between chemical reactions. The room that she's procured isn't the Shed, since she already blew that up once and was asked to not do it again.

She checks on the vial that's smoking, and bites her lip. Pulling the cork, she adds a single drop of white, with care. Patience. Responsibility.

Which is when the vat behind her starts to glow, and then shake. And then explodes, sending smoke all through the wing, setting off fire alarms, and making Entrapta look around for ways she can excuse being here. OH wait, I had an appointment that I was totally at instead of this.

Entrapta is coming.

She walks up, smoke coming from her lab coat, and looks quite innocent. "Hello," the purple person says around her goggles. Raising them up, she's got stains that are goggle-shaped on her face. "Am I late?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai wasn't TRYING to tell Philip's idea all around. It was just... Taro worked with them at the shop, too, and also knew their identities. She'd offered to show her powers to him and this seemed like the perfect opportunity if everyone was on the same page. She does think ahead enough to text Philip to inform him that Taro would be tagging along so that she could also let him see her new powers because it was only polite to do so.

Whether that information was passed on further? That she didn't know.

Oresky's arrival is met with a little hesitance. She reaches out to grasp Philip's hand giving it a squeeze as she nods politely toward the man she'd... Okay she hadn't fought ORESKY before, just the other two. "Hello," she offers simply. He knew her identity before though, so for now it... didn't seem to matter if he knew again. For now they were on the same page. RIGHT? She'd been promised that was the case.

This was just for science.

Entrapta's arrival gets a small look of relief as she flashes a grin toward her. "Yes, it seems so. Let me just change and I think we can begin then?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    There is to be an EXPLANATION AND DEMONSTRATION OF MAGIC.

    Waiting with the group of onlookers, sitting in a collapsible camping chair, is Magical Rocket Girl Red! ...She's henshined, but she's in civilian clothing and trying to look professional, as if she does belong in some sort of advisory or consulting position to this whole affair. Grey shirt, darker grey blazer, black jeans, non-sneaker flats she doesn't know the name of, a red scarf against the cold, and half-frame glasses. She has a notebook and a pen visibly a step up from the standard cheapest ballpoint, and a PET bottle of water in the chair's cupholder. Let him think her civilian identity is a writer or something, after last time!

    She greeted Taro and friends with hugs, but by the time Oresky arrives she's all business. "Thank you for agreeing to provide this demonstration." She smiles. "As thanks, I can offer literary criticism or advice on that story idea of yours, if you like."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka has little awareness of what is about to be the first case of voluntary mirroring in the whole history of the Phantom Empire (not like she knows much there too, Blue is more tight-lipped than a clam, and she has no reason to ask). If she knew, she would have words about the recklessness of it all.

Even so, it's a nice early February, and she has been out with Hitomi and Hinoiri at a cafè, chatting with her friends and catching up on the latest developments (Hitomi was miraculously still with Kyousuke, but at least her mood had generally been improving), and then they had spent some time at the Aquarium before finally going on their separate ways.

"You can come out now", Sayaka opens her bag, out of which bursts Ula like she had been possessed by the spirit of speed. "Ah, fresh air, if I had stayed there for one second more, I would have explored", she takes a deep breath. "Then it would have been up to you to explain that to the Aquarium staff."

Sayaka clasps her hand in an apologetic gesture. "Sorry, sorry, I will make it up to you. How about we hit the beach after the patrol? What do you think, Hinoiri?" Sayaka smiles at the redhead.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was enjoying life, today. She was wearing a scarf, a nice green jacket and big, purple mittens. And she'd been able to spend the day so far hanging out with her bestie and one of her besties friends. What wasn't to love? Of course, once the other girl left... work called.

She could feel for Ula, at least. Being stuffed in a bag suuuuuucked.

"Beach sounds good. Still a bit cold for us, but likely not for a mermaid. Actually, I wanted to talk with you about the whole Pretty Cure thing. After you do your finisher, do you ever like... have to do this po--" She then stopped. And blinked. And blinked a few more times.

"... Do... do you feel Oresky's ego?" Pause. "Or hear it, too?"

Phantom has posed:
Oresky grins hugely when Taro offers him a drink. He is big. Very big! "Is it water? Or zero calorie? My body is a temple, and I work in it every day! In fact, join my regiment, and I'll put some muscles on your bones!" Though he has this feeling as he peers at the boy again. "Do... do I know you from somewhere?" he asks, head tilted to the side like a dog that's figuring out a new sound.

Then he shakes it off. "Doesn't matter! Phatom! I mean Philip! HA! It's still weird seeing you without your powers!" Oresky offers up proufly. "Queen Mirage hasn't mentioned you much!" Which is a lie, she has wondered what Phantom has been up to and when Oresky's eyes fall to where Chiyo and Philip are holding hands, his own eyes widen. "OH HO! So this is the little lady you lost your powers for! She looks tough! Wanna arm-wrestle?" he asks Chiyo gamely.

"Stay on task." Philip grunts. And there is the arrival of the purple haired girl. The other purple haired girl. "Oresky, this is Enissa von Trapp, a visitor with a curiosity about how magic works. "Enissa, this is Oresky, General of the Phantom Empire, and he will be handling this demonstration for you tonight. With that out of the way..." Philip releases Chiyo's hand and kisses her on the cheek. "Be right back. Take care of her for me, Taro." he says, noting the presence of the other boy.

Oresky claps his large hands together, glancing at Amy. "We can talk about that later." he offers. "Right now, I have a task and a mission!" Again, another powerful guffaw as he waits for Philip to take his mark. "You ready?"

Philip nods. "Ready." he folds his hands behind his back. And Oresky is explaining to Entrapta. "So... I take off my medal like so..." he removes his medal from his jacket. "And when I use it? I'll mirror Philip and he'll release a Kindabad. Chiyo said she'd defeat the Kindabad, and Philip will return to normal, but that will give you time to study it."

And with that, he holds out the medal. "Let the future in the mirror turn terrible!"

The field turns into a black and green checkered pattern as Philip disappears into the mirror.

But no Kindabad comes out. Instead, the mirror suddenly glows bright red. "I have found you." says a disembodied voice, and a mirror appears above the battlefield, a pair of red eyes and red mouth in the darkness of it. "Queen Mirage has punished you enough. It is time to return... MY GENERAL!"

There's an explosion of smoke and fire, and when it clears, there is no longer a Philip standing there. Instead....

Phantom's eyes glow with the same red of the mirror and he smiles a twisted little smile as his feet set on the ground.

Oresky stands there, slack-jawed. "...that wasn't in the plan."

Entrapta (281) has posed:
Entrapta opens her mouth to answer what was said to her, but Oresky moves on. It's something that happens to her, so she just closes her mouth again. Then pulls out a pad of paper and a pen. She's learned about pens recently, pencils having their uses but not in all situations.

So she marks down a few things. General of the empire, showing minutia. Bad use of upper level personnel. No explanation of the magic to be tested-see footnotes. Visible tools, see drawing below of medal. Limited backup plans in case of unexpected catastrophic failure-refer team to safety procedures B through R.

She expects magical girls to dive in at some point soon, and is unlikely to be disappointed. "Ack!"

Oh right, danger. Forgot that part. Ack indeed.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at Taro misspeaking while offering a drink and thinks of memes. Attraction is mystifying and she observes it with the same curious detachment Entrapta might.

    She nods at Oresky's words to her, polite since they've asked him here for a favor that will further their understanding of magic, especially Entrapta's, and through that help them all.

    She watches with curiousity... and midway through his explanation she blurts out a question: "Wait, he'll make a kindabad? They come from mirrors too? Why doesn't he make a terribad, what's the diff--" But the demonstration is already starting.

    And no one expects what's happening next.

    Amy stands, speaking with urgent concern. "Philip? Philip! Stay with us, Philip! Don't... you don't have to become Phantom again!"

    It hasn't fully set in yet. She can't fully believe that Phantom is going to be back, that they're going to have to fight him again.

    She is not ready to plan for that terrible future.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai takes a deep breath trying to still that sense of nervousness that had filled her since this entire idea was suggested in the first place. There were plenty of allies around though, just in case. If she couldn't handle the Kindabad then there were others who likely could step in to help and release Philip once more.

That didn't help her feel much better.

"Maybe later," Chiyo responds to Oresky's suggestion of arm wrestling. When Philip steps over so that he can be mirrored she steps back flashing a worried glance toward Taro. A smile is forced and she still tries to ignore the gnawing sense of unease building in her. Reshbal was already speaking in the back of her head telling her this was a Bad Idea. Then it happens. The Trouble.

"Philip!" No, not Philip any longer. She knew Phantom too and recognizes him immediately. Oresky gets an angry glare only to find HIM surprised, too. Without wasting more time she calls out:

"Apprivoiser!"

Her left eye lights up with a symbol as she changes, and transforms into the Star Driver form. A psuedo-military dress that has her stepping forward to point toward Phantom. "Phantom! We've done this dance before--Fight Red!"

Taro Yamada has posed:
"It's not zero calorie but I do have water! But - You probably know this, but even the inhuman body needs calories to burn during a fight. Maintaining a perfect body is well and good, but you need fuel to crush your enemies. Though if you want to protein load, I should have some jerky and protein bars in my bag."

...did he fight this guy before? If he has, it was a while ago. There's something familiar but he's chestgotten. Forgotten. You know. He really ought to remember a guy like this -

Hm. That. Was not the plan. "Hold on," Taro says, and drops his backpack, spinning behind Orovsky. "I'll eat them all! Catch me if you can!"

Kuiper Belt Cape spins out, his brown cloak hood down to reveal his long hair and red horns, his kimono transformed to be black with pink hearts on it. He pats Orovsky on the shoulder companionably. "I figure this wasn't your plan, so if you want to bounce before the reinforcements show up, now's the time. If not - wanna team up? He's apparantly your monkey and this is my circus."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Ula certainly does not have problems with cold water, and neither does Sayaka thanks to the versatility of the PreCards. A shame there isn't a way she can share the Mermaid PreCard with Hinoiri. Partly because cases like these makes it quite useful, partly because Sayaka is quite curious of knowing what a mermaid Hinoiri would be like.

... Listen, Hinoiri has seen her as a pony. A mermaid-pony cultural exchange is only fair.

"I think I do?" Sayaka takes a moment to think. Right at the end, after I use "Pretty Cure Rondo con Toccata", that's when I give the back to the youma, raise my fist to the sky and shout "Justice, return to the Heavens!" What is it like for you?", she asks the unicorn in turn.

"I do feel like somebody is swelling and about to burst, is that what you mean?" Sayaka stops walking, trying to discern the sensation. Admittedly she hadn't had much exposure to Oresky, so she wouldn't have been able to give a tag to that feeling.

However, that spooky apparition and Phantom returning out of nowhere is enough to take the priority. It's in the span of a second that Sayaka takes out the Pretty Change Mirror and the Sharpsong PreCards. The forner starts radiating yellow, green and blue light when the cards are placed into it.

"Time to change!", it exclaims, opening to reveal Sayaka's face and releasing watery musical notes, surrounding the Precure. "The melody of justice that rises from the sea depths", Sayaka recites, the blue shape of an armored mermaid wearing a wide heart-shaped collar appearing in front of her before the figure dives into the bluenette and spreads bubbles all around her. "Cure Sharpsong!"

"What do you think you are doing, Oresky?", Cure Sharpsong loudly questions the man after jumping into the field.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked and... oh. Yeah. That was definitely Oresky. She knew that voice, that laugh, anywhere. Buuuuuuuck. She pulled out her compact and well... One overly animated henshin later and... "Righteous Indignation! Cure La Licorne!" she called.

She leaped along with Cure Sharpsong and... oh. Oh yeah.

It was like going to a party and your old co-worker you didn't associate with anymore was there. Oresky. Sigh. Of course. At least he didn't know who she was? So long as--

PHANTOM! OH! BUCKING! WHY WAS HE HERE?! She thought he was like, gone or something?! She took a slow, deep breath. "Huh. Didn't think I'd be punching Phantom today. Neat. Looks like you'll get to see my 'victory' yourself."

She leaped down, landing near Chiyo and... "Don't think we've met. I'm Cure La Licorne. That's Cure Sharpsong. Happy to be helping you kick butt today. Did they mirror your friend?" she asked, motioning towards the mirror.

Phantom has posed:
There's something different. The white coat is gone. In it's place is one that is black, as Phantom reaches behind him, his hand settling on the hilt of his blade. He launches at Chiyo first. There's a flash of blade, but instead of attempting to strike her, it's a feint in an attempt to throw her off-balance.

Oresky, in the meantime, feels Taro spin around behind him and transform and the large military man glances up uneasingly towards the mirror that's floating there. "That's Deep Mirror. Queen Mirage's advisor. I can't go against him. Sorry." And then Sharpsong is blaming him for what's transpiring?! "It wasn't me! It was Deep Mirror!"

He's definetly taking the advice of Taro though as he opens a portal to retreat through. And as he does so, Phantom takes over the field. It grows dark. Large amethyst crystals rise from the ground, jutting upwards as they rip through the surface, turning it into his domain. But it doesn't feel right. It feels a bit weaker...

...like he's sharing his power with someone else. He hides that by whipping away from Chiyo, twisting away from her and towards the pair of Pretty Cures. Moving on a collision course, he twists the blade to bring the hilt to try to slam into La Licorne's midsection, while his leg pivots and aims to send a sweep of his lower body across Sharpsong's legs to try to knock her off her feet.

He's not talking. None of that usual banter that rose from him about how inferior his enemies are. Just a single-minded determination that is aimed at taking out the two that use compacts for their powers.

While above, the mirror with the human shadow within watches with glee.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Orovsky bails. Which is a pity, a team up would have been fun - his heart's beating a little faster at the thought of it - but it's probably safer for everyone that he's gone. They can focus on their two targets-

Two, Kuiper thinks, because there's Phantom, and there's the mirror entity. All mahou transformations needed a trigger of some kind; it was likely it was the same for villianous ones. If this Deep Mirror entity is the trigger of Phantom's transformation, destroying him will free Phantom. And if not - having a second enemy watching this fight and getting information on them all is NOT going to be helpful.

Also, on a personal note, having some clown mess up Chiyo's cool training session? Mess up Philip's gift to her and Entraptra? Forget that. There's enough company to deal with Phantom.

Kuiper Belt Cape dashes over to Amy, tapping her shoulder and pointing up. "Let's leave Phantom to the people who can do purification shit. Let's try and take that guy out. Wanna toss me or can you help me fly up?"

Entrapta (281) has posed:
"Fascinating," the ...scientist? girl says, as she stands there watching all of this perspire. Occur? Prespire? It all happens around her, and she's not reacting in a Mahou approved fashion. No transformation, no Henshin. She kind of puts her pad of paper in front of her face, keeping wind and dust out of her eyes.

Which knocks her to her knees, the very wind of a passing attack being enough for that. She's either a complete wimp or ...normal? Alert, there's a normie in the middle of the combat field!

"I dropped my pen!" she can be heard saying, which is not combat glibness. More like Velma from Scooby Doo having lost her glasses.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne had tried to leap down by Chiyo, only to... well...

Suddenly Phantom. Huh. Ironic, last time they'd fought she'd been out of her bucking mind. Now? Now he was... quiet.

"Nice to see you, too, Phantom!" she said, her foot kicking out to hit the hilt... she'd intended to try and launch him back, instead, well. He was hard to stop. It kept coming!

So instead she leaped back, spinning through the air and putting some distance between the two of them. "You know, I often wondered if we'd cross paths again! Good to know you're as sharp as I remember! Let's see how you deal with this one!"

She leaped into the air and aimed her hand at him. "Stellar aspirational EXPLOSION!"

A ball of magical flmae would erupt from her hand before shooting forward, striking at him... before erupting. Horizontally. Forming a kind of magical 'horizon' where the ball struck.

And then she noticed Entrapta. And... "Uhhhhh, can someone grab the civie before she gets hurt?" she calls. Well. Phantom was bound to focus her and Sharpsong, so long as the two of them stayed away from her, it'd buy some time, right?

She'd land on the fence and... oh. She LOVED magical balance. She was in HEELS and standing on a FENCE. If not for magic, this would be MURDER on her ankles.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Ginga Hanma glances over at the Pretty Cure that appears beside her with a look of surprise, especially as it diverts her attention away from Phantom. Who didn't look right.

** Of course it's not right, that is not who he is. It's a lie upon a lie. ** The voice that was Reshbal inside her mind informs her.

"Not right now," Chiyo hisses out the voice in her head. Just in time to leap backward dogging the feint her way. The greeting from Cure La Licorne is met with, "I'm the Ginga Hanma, and that is MY Phantom!"

A secondary bubble appears near her with a mini-mecha inside. It's almost identical to the one the Galactic Prettyboy uses, except for being purple and white, and having only one eye. The plume of exhaust billowing dramatically from the crest of it's helm was also different in shape and coloration. It's motions move along with her own.

She reaches to her chest holding her fist there as the others begin to attack. Her power condenses as she calls out, "Star Swordo: Turqouise!"

From her chest she pulls a glittering, gleaming sword of blue light that she holds in front of her two handed. It seems unstable though. While a sword at first it changes in form solidifying into that of a war hammer instead, which she swings around at her side in a circle once it's finished it's transformation.

With Entrapta being apparently 'civilian' she tries to lure the attacking her way as she leaps in swinging the hammer overhead at Phantom. This move... Probably looks familiar to a certain precure.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"So, what if he was this Deep Mirror? You are on the same side, of course you would help each other", Cure Sharpsong doesn't relent from her accusation. However, Phantom and Deep Mirror are the clear threat at the moment, fact only compounded by Oresky getting out of dodge and Phantom trying to sweep at her with a kick.

Which does partially succeed, but she manages to catch her momentum midway through the fall with a backwards leap. The bluenette scowl at the appearance of the crystal field. While she has never been there, she has an educated guess of what this is supposed to represent. He is after all, the Pretty Cure Hunter.

"Hello to you too", the Pretty Cure of justice turns the dial of her Love PreBrace, generating a water sword and trying to hit Phantom with it, a few seconds before she twists her body in a feint and gives up on the sword strike to throw a punch at the enemy warrior instead.

"You can get it later, I will even buy you a new one, just get out of here!", Sayaka shouts to Entrapta. She doesn't know that girl, but even just on these few seconds, her lack of a survival instinct is... out of this world.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    He goes for Chiyo first, like a knife to Amy's hope that there's still good in him.

    Although... he's not just stabbing them. And he's not summoning multiple Terribads and bringing out stolen Cure powers, so maybe... he's holding back after all?

    And then Kuiper Belt Cape is at her side with a plan, and she smiles and nods, agreeing that stopping the source seems more likely to reverse this than simply defeating Phantom.

    Somewhere, Entrapta lost a pen. "Here!" Amy throws her her own before turning towards the mirror and a big metal tube like 10' long appears on her shoulder, pointed up at the mirror with the back aimed away from Taro. "Backblast clear!" The crack of artillery fire echoes across the field, testing how the mirror reacts to a 10cm iron ball shot at high speed!

    As for KBC... She's got to get him up there. He's too big to load into her cannons and might be harmed by such a process -- the same goes for launching him with an explosion. So she'll just have to uh... be a jetpack? She dismisses the cannon and a (SFX only) pillar of fire engulfs her and leaves her in her flight outfit. "[UN-CHAIN da!]" She hugs Taro tightly from behind as thrusters on her shoulders, legs, and skirt fire, slowly starting to lift them up. "Rrrgh... come on... Uh... Un-chain... kai?" she adjusts the name and adds more thrusters and a jetpack to the 'armor' to get them moving upward at her usual speed!

    And if Taro looks down he can see the gem on her wrist maybe almost a tenth black. Better hurry...!

    Flying is pretty straightforward once Amy's started, so she's free to glance back towards Ginga Hanma and smile. "Oooh, congratulations on the new powers! You look cool!"

Phantom has posed:
Amy's observation is solid. There has been no shifting between forms - the numerous Pretty Cures that he supposedly has. Perhaps Scorn still has control of those. Perhaps he just hasn't thought of it. Phantom does not acknowledge the words, only the movement, the shift in Ginga Hanma's stance, the telltale tension of battle. Her declaration, possessive and fierce, barely registers in his mind. He is not hers. He is not anyone's. He is the Pretty Cure Hunter, and his purpose remains unchanged.

His crimson gaze flicks to the new arrival, Cure La Licorne. A fresh variable, but not an immediate threat. Not yet. His focus remains on Ginga Hanma, on the defiance in her stance, the summoning of the mecha at her side.

A mechanical warrior, an extension of her will.

Phantom does not wait for it to act. He surges forward, low and fast, closing the gap with inhuman precision. His blade glides through the air, not a reckless slash but a surgical strike aimed at disrupting her stance before she can fully integrate the machine into the fight.

A hunter does not allow his prey to call for aid. But Chiyo manages to summon both mech and hammer in time, and it slams into the ground where Phantom just was as he leaps on top of the other side of it and notices La Licorne out of the corner of his eye.

As La Licorne leaps backwards, he twists and thrusts towards her as she lands in that precarious stance, intending not to give her a moment to keep that balance. She gets her blast off and as the flame flies at him, he drops into a slide, skidding across the ground, limboing beneath the horizontal effort of the flame to hit him.

She speaks at him, but the words seem to hold no meaning. It is the space between them that speaks, the fleeting moment before action, the rhythm of battle already beginning to weave itself around them.

Then he moves.

Not a lunge, not a reckless charge, but a step, sharp, precise, closing the distance before she can settle. His blade flickers, the tip whispering through the air, feinting high before twisting low, aiming to cut off her retreat before she can find her footing. A hunter does not simply chase. A hunter corners.

The water sword of Cure Sharpsong slashes toward him, and he tilts his body just enough for it to skim past his coat, droplets trailing behind him like fleeting stars. He does not counter yet. Not until he sees it, her twist, the slight shift in her weight, the telltale sign of a feint.

A trap.

His blade does not meet her sword. Instead, he steps forward, inside her reach, past the false attack, and brings his own weapon upward in a swift, merciless arc, turning her deception into his opportunity. His blade connects with her sword, and he leaps backwards, once, twice, three times and then brings up his left arm. The large bracer on it starts to glow as he aims towards Sharpsong. "ETERNAL GAUGE!"

Ribbons of red lash out, aiming to wrap up the Precure if she doesn't avoid them. And if he does manage to capture her - everyone (except Entrapta) knows what will happen.

In the meantime, Deep Mirror notices Amy's shot fired at him. It blurs and disappears, just to reappear a few feet away. "You dare?" it asks, as it seems that Taro and Amy are going to take to the air to come after him, and Deep Mirror chuckles. "Foolish. Foolish children." There's a momentary pause - and then, just like Phantom, there appears to be ribbons that are launched from the mirror that are aimed at the pair. More Eternal Gauges. Think fast!

Entrapta (281) has posed:
The civvie? Falls on her butt.

Then a pen lands in her lap, along with the promise of someone buying her another one. She honestly isn't sure what to do with so much largesse. Or weirdness. Which is pretty obvious by her complete lack of any useful combat response.

Not a magical girl? Check.

On the up side, it doesn't seem that the villain is making her a priority either, so she turns and starts to crawl away. Is she mumbling something about statistics? Yes. Yes, she is.

Is it helpful? Well, not as yet, no.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Of course we dare! You're being a real tool! You should REFLECT on your behavior!" Kuiper Belt Cape snaps back at Deep Mirror as he and Amy ascend to face him.

He sucks in breath; darkness hisses out between his fangs as he prepares to attack. The last time he pulled a stunt like this, he'd felt sick for weeks after - which was proably at least partially from seeing some shit during that witch fight, but it was possible it was from this too. But - someone's got to cut those ribbons, and Amy's focused on flying him and has ranged weapons to boots.

"Besides, dear boss," he snarls, "don't you want to hear about my FUNNY GAMES!" Above Amy's arms and below his neck, his chest blossoms into a dozen red blades, all billowing out to shred the rapidly approaching ribbons like a cat with a new toy.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne realllly loved pretty cure magic of walking in boots. Because he was sudenly THERE! Sliding under the orb of fire, lunging towards her... Blade high then whipping around low! It would have cut her if she pulled back.

Luckily, he didn't know her. Instead of trying to retreat, she lunged IN! Driving herself towards him to try to headbutt him and--

And he was gone, already after Sharpsong. Buck. Well, she managed to avoid the knife, but she couldn't get a blow in, either. He was every bit as good as she rememb...

No. He wasn't, was he? something about this felt off.

ANDNEVERMINDDON'TYOUEVENTRYIT!

And he tried to ETERNAL! GAUGE! SAYAKA! OH IT WAS BUCKING ON! Her body ERUPTED into fire and she leaped through the air, legs kicking out to severe the ribbons. "Ambitous blazer!"

"You better keep that gauge to yourself or I'm about to show you some eternal RAGE!" Righteous indignation indeed! She raced right at him, her body still aflame as she ran right towards his gauntlet... Before ducking down at the last moment to try and sweep his legs out from under him. "You know, I think you might be off your game, the Phantom I knew was a lot more clever than this!"

... Meanwhile, though, she tried not to think about that... hammer. Something about it was.... dreadfully... familiar. And sent chills down ehr spine.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Reshbal was not used to having such a small, short view of the world. This was as much a new experience for it as it was for his new Driver. Though a mental note sent his way has his floating bubble move closer to interpose between Entrapta and the chaos of the fight. It wasn't much--Certain not a bubble shield like Wako could produce. But it might still offer SOME protection! Besides, Entrapta was working on finding the truth of matters just as Reshbal did, that was respectable.

Phantom's attack toward her legs works well enough to force her to lose the strength in her hammer swing. Instead Ginga Hanma continues with her forward motion by letting the hammer hit the ground and pushing upward to pole-vault over the swing of his sword. Her legs are fine but it leads to her landing in a skid regaining her balance.

"It's NOT him!" Her voice calls out, ringing with the truth of the matter. "This isn't Phantom as we know, he's been taken over by THAT!" An accusatory hand lifts to POINT up to the mirror currently attacking with it's own Eternal Gauge. "Don't let it catch you!"

She shifts again swinging the hammer around--No, it's once again a sword. While not as skilled in swordsmanship, the cutting edge is what was needed now!

"Get his Gauge on his arm!" She calls out as she rejoins the fight jumping in to slash in at ribbons.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Cure Sharpsong slightly loses her balance when her fist meets empty air, Phantom's sword slashing her across the shoulder while she is in this precarious condition. The bluenette grimaces as she disengages from the taller warrior, the wound in her shoulder already healed in the second it took her to step back.

The Enemy of the Pretty Cures is about to prepare the final destination of his victims, an annoyed growl coming from Sayaka when she starts moving to charge her own attack, the blue energy of the sea starting to coalesce. It stops, ebbs and flows around the bluenette when La Licorne turns to her aid, and burns those strings for her.

"Thank you, La Licorne!", Sharpsong grins. She really is a dependable friend, Sayaka couldn't ask for anything better from her. And she'd better not waste the momentum they have got going while it's still there. "Phantom, I don't suppose you will stop whatever you are doing, right?" she addresses him. "This is just what that Deep Mirror did to you." So Oresky claims.

"Pretty Cure Spinny Mirror Change!", she exclaims, causing another transformation with the appropriate PreCards, changing into a dress with decorations styled after small red berries. The bluenette starts jumping and spinning around the place, her "partners" 5 watersprouts that move around the stage, passing over all the field, dodging her allies deftly and converging into Phantom.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Of course we dare!" Amy shouts, in sync with Kuiper Belt Cape as they fly through the air! Kuiper Belt Cape's weapon is claws, she'll have to trust him to handle the ribbons... she's got her own plan to teach the mirror a lesson!

    "Let me show you the true power of a spectre... the spectre of your terrible future! [SPLITTO MISSAILU, FIYAAAAH!]"

    Two of what seem initially like armor parts in kind of a shogi piece shape drop off of her armored skirt, before cracking open to release dozens of small missiles that home in on the mirror! And that's just it, they home. If the mirror warps out of the way they just come back around!

    In the meantime, Amy looks suitably impressed by Kuiper Belt Cape's claw attack! "Wow! So these are our claws, huh!?"

    And if the mirror keeps dodging the missiles, some of them don't wait for impact, airbursting meters away to fire jets of metal the last bit of distance at several times the speed of sound. Just how fast can the mirror dodge?

    "Aha, just kidding, it was Aura Pillar again the whole time!" Amy's demeanor darkens. "Now give Philip back!"

    Below those knives, corruption has reached 30%. Imitating a flying mecha together comes with a time limit just in some shows, apparently...

Phantom has posed:
Taro and Amy continue on their assault as the ribbons lash out, sliced and shredded as Taro digs into them - but even as he does so, he can feel those little sparks of magic. That threat that with any one mistake, he'll be captured, mirrored and left in a desolate wasteland - but at least he'll never have to worry about being lonely again. Blades and ribbons slash against each other, neither side gaining any ground on the other.

La Licorne launches into her inflamation indignation, Phantom watches the ribbons ignite, and he whips his eternal gauge to the side to cut it off. She manages to get her leg down and sweep his legs. He falls and for a moment it seems that La Licone has the advantage. That is until Phantom tucks his knees against his chest and both booted legs are driven at Hinoiri's stomach while she's crouched before him.

As Ginga Hanma launches at him, Phantom twists around again. He was bringing around the Eternal Gauge to defend what he assumed would be a hammer strike, but the arrival of the sword blade slips into the edge of the gauge, and for a moment, Chiyo can feel the give as if the bracer is going to break, before he twists again and leaps to get out of the way.

With the waterspouts firing at him, he's falling back on the defensive, leaping and twisting as he tries to avoid getting entangled within the conversing wall of water, finally opening a portal, leaping through, and appearing on the other side of the battlefield.

Amy continues to advance on Deep Mirror, firing the missiles, and the explosions that occur danger close to the mirror. It takes several hits. But then, it suddenly moves back as well. "You can't protect the Earth like that." he calls out to her. "All living beings die. One day, Earth will be a barren wasteland as well."

And then to Phantom, he calls out. "Retreat. We will have our day."

Phantom has just landed in front of Chiyo, looking about ready to strike, but when he recieves the order - for one, fleeting moment, Chiyo can see the reflection of the boy that she's doted on behind cold eyes of red. He's scared. Trying to find a way to escape. But for now? One more leap and teleport, and Phantom ends up next to Deep Mirror, where they both disppear, as the field fades back to normal.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Ginga Hanma strikes at the bracer with a look of hope filling her gaze. This was how he was 'defeated' once before so she has hope that this would also free him from the clutches of the power that currently had hold of him. It was a chance.

If only she were a better swordsman. She wasn't, unfortunately, but she had access to an ancient cybody that had fought numerous times in the past which could offer her information, suggestions, help.

** RESHBAL! Guide me here! **

Her left eye shifts from pink to a glowing red as she reaches using the power that she knew was there if she only asked. It came with a hefty price, she had been warned, but this was not the time to think of costs. Not when Philip needed her.

The sword is brought up again in a defensive stance as she'd been practicing as she squares off with Phantom catching that glint in his eye. And she... pauses, with eyes widening, one still brightly aglow.

It's a good thing that Phantom is called away as she finds herself slumping to the ground a moment later with a wailing, agonized scream that tapers off only after Phantom and Deep Mirror have vanished.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne had only a moment to realize... oh, this was going to hurt. Still, her best friend wasn't gauged.

On the other hand, she was about to get an imprint of Phantom's feet on her chest. Yup, there it was. She was launched back, hard, the flames going out as she hit the ground and rolled a few times, before digging a hand into the ground and coming to a skidding stop. Okay. So THAT hurt. Boy didn't skip leg day.

She rolled to her feet next and pulled out her heart rouge rod and ran towards him. Readying to unleash her finisher and--

And he gave the new hammer girl a look, before he leaped away, leaving them behind. Disappearing into a duskport. DANG IT! "Okay, I really feel I've missed something here. I..." Then trailed off, hearing the scream from Ginga. You know what? Any questions... she asked... could wait. Instead, she slowly reached out and gave Hanma a gentle, comforting pat on the shoulders before giving the others there with her a 'Please, someone who is better at this, help me' look.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "I'm pretty sure this is exactly how we protect the Earth from beings who say things like that! Have you not seen anime?!" Amy retorts.

    After driving off the ribbons, Amy doesn't try to keep pushing Taro all the way to melee with the constantly-moving mirror. -- he can feel them falling as she descends for a landing.

    Although just to keep the mirror on its nonexistant toes, a small salvo ripple-fires from her backpack, one missile after another trying to keep it defending for a few more seconds as she comments, "Also your science is bad! Living things die, but life doesn't! Our descendants will be here, and their descendants, until the sun swallows Earth up!"

    The land, Amy's grip on Kuiper Belt Cape at last relaxing.

    "And by then our civilization will have been spread across the stars longer than you or I can comprehend!"

    A third spent. She may have to come up with ways to make magic expenditure against Deep Mirror more efficient in the future... But for trying to save Philip -- not to mention helping keep herself and her friends out of the Graveyard -- she doesn't regret it.

    Once they're gone, she finally lets go of Taro and turns to look at Ginga Hanma. "Did you say... he's being mind-controlled by that bracer?"

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Of course everyone on Earth will die someday! That's how living works!" Kuiper Belt Cape shrieks after the fleeing Deep Mirror. "Nothing lives forever! Not even you, you piece of - "

POOF!! Phantaom and Deep Mirror disappear. Kuiper sags against Amy, the blades disappearing, his breathing heavy. "Sh - it, let's get down - you're not injured right? I need to see her - "

As soon as Amy helps him land, he bolts to Ginga Hanma's side (don't worry, La Licorne, he's got this!!), kneeling in front of her so he can take her hands. "We're gonna get him back. We WILL. And we'll smash that stupid mirror too. We're going to get him back. You hear me?"

( The ribbons had imparted the crushing feeling of isolation, forever with company and forever trapped - and his heart had wrenched at it, the echo of his own feelings, trapped with his dolls, surrounded by others and still isolated - but it was a familair feeling. It tore familiar grooves on his soul, and he could ignore them.)

Entrapta (281) has posed:
So there's a moment, with the rando civvie sitting on her butt at the edge of the festivities. She's just kind of there, having successfully gotten out of the way due to ennui in the part of the enemy, her own crawling, and a teensy mech who was being much more helpful than his size.

She just sits, considering all that's happened, and everything that's been said. Quiet, while the Mahou all have their moments checking on each other, while she's reviewing wht happened in her mind.

Thankfully she doesn't look too scared. Or hurt. But it's hard, because she's a bit confused. "Well, of course the earth will be barren someday. That's why we move to other planets," she says, mostly to herself.

Still, there's one thing she HAS to ask, and she raises her voice for anyone who might be listening. "Hey! Any chance we can get them to do that again?" She waves animatedly from her side, still sitting on the ground. Helpfulness level: zero. Sanity, bordering on. "Anyone? I wasn't recording that time, I just thought I'd ask...

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Ginga Hanma balls her hands into fists trying to resist the urge to press them against her eyes as tears stream from them. Part rage. Part pain of loss, part... Part feeling as if the rug had been pulled out from under her as everything just...

The patting from Hinoiri is awkward as hell but at least a distraction until Taro manages to reach her. Her hands are kept away from her eyes. A good thing as she's already mumbling, "Don't scratch eyes don't scratch--" Because she *had* told him after all that Reshbal's last Driver had lost their eyes this way.

"He's not human. He's not-- Philip isn't-- And he's--" Too much all at once. It was all clicking together with Reshbal's gleeful help at informing her of every bit of the Truth she hadn't seen until now.

Her head jerks up, red eye still glowing, to stare at Entrapta a moment.

"You're not human!" Or Earthling at least? She shakes her head quickly and leans forward using Taro's shoulder to block her sight.

"Stop it Reshbal, stop it now stop stop..."

Poor Reshbal just standing there awkwardly in his bubble gazing imperiously with that one big eye that sees WAY too much.

Her henshin drops a moment later leaving her just Chiyo, and Reshbal vanishes with his little bubble of reality. It leaves her a *little* calmer at least, it seems.

"The bracer is the source of his power. If it's on him and he's being controlled that stands to reason the bracer needs to go. Red has him again. ... But he used to be Blue's...?" Beneath her breath she mumbles, "PhanPhan." A cutesy nickname for Phantom? Who knows.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne blinked a few times. Blink blink.

Blink.

"... Wait. You... and Philip... you were..." Oh. Ohhh she kept her thoughts on that matter to herself. What? Was Blue's... yeah, Chiyo was upset right now, she wasn't going to focus on that right now. And frankly?

... Hinoiri had no leg to stand on. She was a unicorn and just got out of a relationship with a chameleon from Etheria. She did not judge. "Hey. Chiyo, it's me, Hinoiri," she said quickly, before pulling out her phone. Texting Usagi real quick.

'Chiyo's boyfriend just got Hematite'd. I think he was her boyfriend, at least. I think she needs a hug and the only people here are me, Sayaka, Amy, the guy who bloodied up my door and some girl with really long purple hair who forgot to record the whole thing and just asked if we could do it again. Come quick, before someone gets hammered through a building please.'

She quickly put the phone up and then pat Chiyo on the back. "Your cousin should be on the way, okay? And... it's going to be okay. We'll get him back. Trust me."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka keeps dancing in unison with the watersprouts. As long as Phantom is here, better to have them keep dancing for as long as she can keep it up. And it comes with the bonus that if any attack happens to get into Entrapta's trajectory, they can take the hit for her.

The French Suite No. 5 in G Major by Bach keeps playing to accompanying her dance, flowing into a rhythm together, and then Phantom goes away, Sayaka halting quickly to stare at the spot where Deep Mirror disappeared with Phantom. She wasn't quite expecting they would have given up just like that, or that Phantom would have disappeared before he would be purified.

"I will go look for him", Sharpsong reverts to her normal form, and her ribbon turns into wings, flying away from there as fast as she can.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Don't scratch her eyes out - oh NO. Kuiper tries to cover her eyes with one hand before her henshin drops, blocking her vision until she gives the ok. (If Reshbal gets a glimpse of him while he does so she will see - he'd pushed himself more than he usually dared to try and free Phantom, and the exhaustion clinging to his bones is him paying the price. But it was worth it, to him. What was a little darkness for the sake of love?)

"Miss Entrapta - everyone here's really tired from the fight, so no one's in any shape to redo it for you. Let's talk rescheduling when we're all not exhausted," he says, voice firm. "Can you bring the bag full of drinks over? If you can't, can someone else?"

He listens to Chiyo ramble. "I don't get the red and blue stuff. But if things get to life and death, we can cut the bracer and his wrist off and have Tuxedo Kamen heal his hand back? Like, obviously that's a last resort, cutting arms off is bad, but we have options. We can get Sailor Moon to hit him with a purifying laser? And Hinoiri back there is a homicidal maniac with more power than sense," and he nods to her, "so we can ask her to super murder that mirror guy later."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Philip's not human? Only mildly surprising when you know a unicorn and multiple Belkans, Mid-childans, mermaids and Etherians! But magically significant and relevant.

    She looks shocked at Entrapta's words too. Even Amy was never that clueless... right? She holds up a finger towards the purplenette. "Don't." she states firmly, but only with a slight chill in her voice rather than harshness and judgement. "This is not a discussion about what planet you're from, but an expression of... a comment on your lack of empathy and social awareness. If you need it dissected and explained further, ask me later. ...As in after I have left this gathering and returned to the dorm." She states firmly, only able to be mildly annoyed at Entrapta given her empathy and sympathy for the socially unaware.

    She drops her henshin -- she's wearing an oversized winter coat over her school uniform -- and walks over to the rest of the group to give Taro a quick one-arm half-hug and then Chiyo a pat on the shoulder and, if she wants, a hug. "We'll do everything we can to save him. He, he got free once..."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Ginga Hanma calms significantly as soon as her sight is blocked. She'd make sure Taro was all right. Another thing added to the list of things that she'd seen. She'd also have a chat with Reshbal about this little Truth issue... Or perhaps never activate it again if she could. The occasional prattle in her mind about 'truth' was far easier to take than what she had just forced into her vision and mind.

"He didn't escape last time. They took his power because of me. He broke their rule about falling in love."

Her hands finally lower as she rights herself some. It would still take a moment to get to her feet. "Thanks. Thanks for... yeah." She blinks rapidly with normal eyes again looking around and seeming very, very tired. "Drinks. Snacks. Home?" She suggests. "This is going to-- Oh no, and there's still so much Valentine candy to make!"

Entrapta (281) has posed:
No, I'm not human. Is that bad?

No, I'm not normal. is that?

"I don't know any other way to be,"she says. Softly, mostly to herself. But she's fairly certain that there are other things going on right now, than her.

That guy changed to dark energy. I need to understand what that means.

She turns, and heads off. Uncertain if she should apologize, or not.

All she has is science. So I guess, time to use that.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Home. I'll walk you home. You should probably rehydrate. Also your boyfriend's bosses are morons and we're going to - we'll zest them and juice them and then finely dice their peels to simmer in a sugar and water mixture to flavor a simple syrup," Kuiper decrees, wanting to comfort her without getting into potentially alarming language. (threatening to zest a mirror isn't threatening??)

"If he misses Valentines, you can do a double celebration on White Day and give him a gift of a mirror that's been crushed into a thousand sparkling pieces. And we can get extra hands for the Valentines candy."

HE shoots Entrapta a worried glance when she leaves - he'd been trying to talk to her with the same level of pragmatism she'd been using, and hadn't expected Amy to be the one to scold her - but she's not the priority right now. Chiyo is.

"Amy, how's your soul gem?" That is. much greyer than it had been ten minutes ago.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy gives Entrapta a sad look. It does suck, to have everyone acting like you did wrong and to not understand why, but right now they have to focus on Chiyo.

    Although a surge of panic runs through her when she remembers, before, trusting that Taro would keep, and running off to help someone else, and accidentally making him feel how she'd been made to feel, so many times, and she could not bear to do that to someone ever again...

    This... this isn't the same thing, right? Her boyfriend just got turned evil!

    And Akai-san was terrified that her dream would be hurt or killed. There was no danger, but she didn't know that.

    Amy didn't mean things the way Taro heard them that time, but he didn't know that.

    Red eyes glance between Chiyo, Taro, and Entrapta with increasing unease as logic and reason stack up arguments and counterarguments and they all make sense and she can't be sure and now is not the time this is Chiyo time but also if she makes a miscalculation one or more people will suffer horribly--

    How's your soul gem?

    She looks at Taro, "Uh, what? Um, it's fine." She re-henshins so she can access the belt pouch the grief seeds are in, touching Lucretia's seed to her soul gem and drawing the corruption off.

    That will buy her a second or two's reprieve from having to make a decision and possibly getting in huge trouble for making the wrong one.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
After Usagi Tsukino receives some pretty terrible texts - honestly she's really feeling the sympathy for Rashmi - there's literally nothing to do BUT run as far as she can to the location she's got and that's what she does - burst skiiiiiiiiidding onto the scene, still in her henshin, looking around for Chiyo -

"CHIYO-CHAN!"

There's a warning shout, at least? And then Chiyo (with Taro and to an extent Amy as collateral damage) are getting tackled hugged by the one, the only, Sailor Moon.

"I'm here, I was informed there was a hug emergency, I'm going to help you get him back!"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne lets out a sigh of relief when Moon arrives. "Oh, thank heavens. Uhhhh... I'll leave them to finish explaining all the details to you, okay? Cure Sharpsong is searching on her own and I'd really not risk her getting hurt. Thanks!"

She then turned and ran off, leaping after where she saw Cure Sharpsong going!

Oof, if Phantom was back... that'd be a problem. Still, he felt... different. Not the same. She'd worked with the guy, she remembered him being, well... not colder. Chillier? Something...

But hat could wait until after Chiyo's heart wasn't crushed.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai had been overwhelmed by so much. By what was happening, by the flood of TRUTH Reshbal had hit her with about Philip being a fairy, about... About him being gone and not even his usual self this time around.

She's on her feet glancing toward Amy with concern at mention of the jewel by Taro. Already worrying. "No, not... not about him missing Valentine's day, it's the shop..." Her hand reaches up to tangle in her hair trying to just calm herself.

Then her name is shouted mere moments before she's tackle hugged and she just clings to Sailor Moon finally cracking a bit with a sob.

"It was such a STUPID thing to do I knew it was a bad idea!"

Taro Yamada has posed:
"We'll hire extra people for the shop. It'll be fine," Taro reassures her. "If Ojiisan can't manage it, I still have a little extra cash from Obisidion. It'll be fine. I've been working my tail off and so have you - we'll be ready for Valentine's day."

And with the look on Amy's face - Taro tugs her into the hug too. Since he's a monster right now, his arms are extra long so he's good at hugging -

But also extra tip over-able as Sailor Moon glomps them all, almost teetering over before grisping them all. "It wasn't stupid, you were trying to help!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Hugged. Amy drops back out of henshin, grief seed clutched tightly in her hand, and without the hard chestpiece of her costume she can feel long arms around her and they do hug extra good and hold her against him and she closes her eyes and focuses on that feeling, maybe she can have a few more seconds without possibly fucking up, and then Sailor Moon's here too and she calls it a hug emergency and Amy can't help smiling at that as they're almost toppled by the group glomp!

    And then Chiyo finally starts to break, and Amy's desperately trying not to join her. She nods with Taro, opening her eyes again. "It wasn't a... It was risky but if any of us had thought it was a bad idea we'd have said so! There were no objections, we, we hoped we could have learned something that would help us end those damn mirrors, and free all those trapped cures. He had..." her voice breaks as she insists, emphatically, "none of us thought this could happen! It's not your fault!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's a hug happening now, and Usagi clutches Chiyo tight, holding her closely. She's being hugged back, and she knows a break is coming, and when that sob comes, she's there to squeeze her.

"Maybe it was an idea that didn't work," she says, because everyone else has said the other parts, "But it wasn't stupid. It turned out bad, but we're going to get him back."

Her hand cups the back of Chiyo's head, strokes her hair. She's holding on tight.

"I'm with you. I'm going to help you through this."