2613/They See Me Rollin and They Rollin

They See Me Rollin and They Rollin
Date of Scene:	14 June 2025
Location:	Penguin Park - Museums
Synopsis:	Bored and without Mamoru's stabilizing influence, New Moon and Wicked Lady decide to spice up the Science and Natural History museum with some dinoyouma. Catra, Cure La Mer, and Sailor Mercury take exception to that. Catra's mouth gets her into some trouble, and Cure La Licorne manages to get her out of it, though not before making some trouble of her own. Thankfully, whales, water, and the power of an intercontinental ballistic Ami hug prevail... though the museum will definitely be closed for a while.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Chibiusa Tsukino, Catra, Ami Mizuno, Laura La Mer, Hinoiri Kirara
Tinyplot:	Black Moon Clan
Tinyplot2:	BMC: Wicked Ride

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's a beautiful afternoon in Penguin Park, and the Museum Circle - really more of a semi circle, with space for the three museums - is full of eager families celebrating the start of summer and the soon to arrive break. Radiant Heart Academy is still in session, but many are celebrating that soon they'll have summer break. The crowd at the Pikarigaoka Science and Natural History Museum are no different in that regard, and the pre-historic animals exhibit is especially popular.

Everywhere one looks, they see parents carrying small children, being dragged around by not-as-small children, or chasing their children, the air filled with excited shrieks and gasps of awe as those just entering the exhibit take note of the large assembled fossils behind climate controlled glass, and the replicas out on open pedestals for viewing.

In that regard, New Moon and Wicked Lady are not so different from their future victims - they are parent and child, here to visit the museum, even if New Moon has the looks of the average teenager with her bright blue eyes, straw hat shoulder-length pink hair, and knee-length black dress, and Wicked Lady every hallmark of an adult, between her elegant features, dress, and pretty make up.

In other regards, they're very, very different from the poor souls just here to enjoy a nice Friday afternoon.

"Are you having fun, Wicked Lady?" New Moon asks, ever attentive, glancing from the parents and children to her own child. She's not as excited about this as she'd have hoped, but that might be because they'd had to park their adorable Barbie Pink jeep outside, instead of racing through the museum exhibits on it.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    "Oh of course," says Wicked Lady to New Moon. "I always have fun spending time with my favorite assistant."

    Though she thinks it'd be more fun if there was a bit more chaos. Something to liven things up, maybe.

    "Though it's maybe a bit too relaxed. Perhaps we can find a way to spice things up a bit?"

    Wicked Lady is, of course, out in her usual outfit. Black slitted dress with red sleeves, mauve sash hanging off her arms and pink parasol protecting her face from the oppressive sun. She might seem overdressed for such an occasion, but well... she's always like this.

Catra has posed:
Someone at Radiant Heart Academy, where Catra has been hanging out increasingly of late -- it seems like the least likely place for Obsidian clean up crews to finally catch up to her -- has told the young feline that she either has to attend some classes for the remainder of the semester or at least do something in some way educational.

obvioiusly, classes suck.

Disguised as the ever obnoxious Rachel Miller, Catra is here, wandering around and trying to find something to pretend to be interested in. Actually there's a display about Samurai that she doesn't even really need to pretend to be interested in; so what, like, they were raised to be really really good at fighting? Doesn't that sound familiar. The whole chopping your tummy open if you do badly thing feels a bit off though, and Catra nurses a certain relief that the Horde never demanded that.

Walking around with the benefit of knee braces definitely has its downsides though, and eventually, she finds herself both tired and extremely sore, so she buys a bag of wasabi and beef flavored chips and finds a bench to sit down on, so she can munch away at these little potatoe things that are trying to pretend to be meat.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
It wasn't terribly often that Ami took time out, but with recent events fresh in her mind, today is the day. A hard-shelled backback rests on her shoulders with the day's schooling not far behind her, uniform crisp and tidy. A small plush bluejay dangles from the closing latch to bobble as she makes her way quietly between exhibits.

Wait. There was a familiar voice on the air and Ami chewed at her lip. It was a voice that immediately tumbled her thoughts, demanded her attention, and sapphire eyes flit this way and that in an attempt to find the source. Because, of course, there she would be.

And another. Not Mamoru today, which left very few alternatives.

Laura La Mer has posed:
There is one more addition to the group of caretakers and child, although in this situation it's less mother, and more older sister. What would have been more interesting to do after recovering from your loss of motivation for the first time after months?

Stick around in the same unchanged Grand Ocean, with only empty waves as companions, or explore the colourful human world? Of course, it doesn't even bear saying, it's the latter.

That's how Laura had chosen to drag Neve along to Pikarigaoka's Art Museum, with a wink and a promise that 'I won't tell if you won't', to the young mermaid:s enthusiastic nods.

The kid Laura is accompanying doesn't look older than 10, and she has green hair that curls slightly at the ends, cut in a short bob with uneven bangs like she trimmed them herself, framing a face with pale skin and a slightly iridescent sheen. Her eyes are blue and hints of violet appear when caught in sunlight.

"Is there anything you would like to see, Neve?", Laura smiles widely, standing proudly like she is out to get the title of best older sister in the world. Her hand is closed around the younger mermaid, guiding her in the crowd of parents and children.

"Is it true humans had big things with scales on their heads too, Laura-onee-san?", the kid asks wide-eyed to the pinkette. "Those are called dinousars. And of course, they should be somewhere around here...", Laura hums, inspecting her surroundings.

"Maybe she will know!", Laura picks the first victim out of the crowd, who just so happens to be Ami. "Excuse me, do you know where we can find the dinosaurs?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"You're right, as always my Lady! Just visiting the museum is what normal people do, and you're so much better than that!" Anyone could visit the Zoo. It wasn't even a 1000 yen to get inside! Every cheap parent eager to make memories could bring their kid to this museum. Wicked Lady deserves something grand and exciting and -

"Oh, oh, did you ever see that movie, Jurassic Park?"

She saw the original with her dad, once, and cried the whole time, but it was still a memorable experience - and more importantly, given all the fossils they're surrounded by, it's an experience she can copy.

Not all of the fossils are large. Not all of them are dinosaurs. But they're all here, and really what more can New Moon ask for? She cups her hands, pooling Dark Energy in them until she's got a nice, big ball that makes her hands quake and her gorge rise, and she breathes deep - and splits her hands, hurling the mass in two directions.

One hits the great replica of a stegosaurus, causing energy to pour over it's frame, until the replica dinosaur has 'skin' and 'muscle' and 'scales' galore, and seems like a living, breathing, bright purple and mauve stegosaurus, that tosses its head and snorts aggressively as it stomps its way off of its display pedestal.

The other hits an actual fossil, eating through the temperature controlled glass until it mixes and melds with the long neckbones of a brachiosaurus, dark energy filling out the rest of the form as the neckbones lift themselves up along with the skull, becoming a black-and-red long-necked dinosaur that dips its head and lifts someone high by the shirt, chewing on it like cud.

"How's that for excitement?" New Moon is panting a little, but she's bright eyed and eager for praise.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Yes. Just visiting is too pedestrian. Wicked Lady agrees. Plus, there aren't enough people praising her and they should really get on that. Sure, Mamoru isn't here to tell them that, but he shouldn't need to. They should just recognize her greatness automatically. Isn't that how it works?

    "Oh! Yes, I've seen that one. I am rather partial to the third reboot, actually." Wicked Lady's smile brightens, and her grip on her parasol tightens. She's still, on some level, a little kid. A kid in an adult's body filled with dark energy, but also very excited at the prospect of seeing real dinosaurs.

    Because of course that's where her mind goes, and like daughter like mother, that's how events are going.

    As the ancient beasts come to life, Wicked Lady giggles with delight. She begins to float into the air, in her casual sitting posture, as she watches events unfold.

    "Absolutely delightful, New Moon. Just the thing we needed."

Catra has posed:
You know what it was actually kinda nice here, even if there were a bunch of small children running around being loud and irritating. For once Catra hadn't felt the need to plug in her earbuds and crank the volume loud enough for her music to be pissing people off in the next time zone. She just sat, ate her chips, and ignored the throbbing in her knees while the world moved along around her, and it was fine.

Just as she's starting to gain an understanding of why all those Earth-cats in the Cat Cafe seemed so thoroughly content to just sit on a windowsill and stare at basically nothing for hours on end, someone decides to go ahead and animate a fake stegasaurus and an extremely senior brachiawhatever. And then there's running, and screaming.

Whatever.

Catra eats a chip.

Her knees hurt and this is not her problem.

The brachiawhatever stomps its feet down and everything shakes, and Catra sighs, crumples up the mostly empty bag of chips and lobs it in the vague direction of a trash bin, before manifesting Powersend, still in its scabbard. She plants the sword scabbard-down on the ground and uses it as a crutch to stand up with, as she drops her illusion, little flames racing across her form as she switches into Henshin.

"FINE THEN," she growls, shifting the sword to rest on her shoulder and walking forwards, doing her level best to pretend that she isn't going into battle with knee braces. "Can't get any damn peace anywhere I go! Fine. Let's fight then."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
The sound of someone approaching and calling out to her manages to snap her out of her brief reverie. A blink accompanied a shake of her head, and her attention drifted to the approaching pair. Ami couldn't quite place them, either, but she was quick to draw up a smile.

"The dinosaurs? Oh, they're a popular exhibit." Ami seemed distracted, glancing past them to keep her eye on New Moon.

Which, of course, is just in time to catch the throw of Dark Energy and the sudden rejuvenation of the exhibitions. Ami's mouth opens and closes as she searches for words until, ultimately, she manages a squeak.

"Here they come." It's almost more of a question than not, but she shifts gear immediately. "How are you two at running?"

With that, Ami was already darting off to find some half-hidden nook or another--the perfect place for a "Mercury Power, Make Up!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Yes, exactly, we are looking for it", Laura insists she doesn't get an answer to her question. Guess they will have to hope stumbling upon them by chance, the mermaid concedes reluctantly. It shouldn't be too long a delay though. "Ok, Never, let's go sear...", Laura starts saying.

A shiver runs up the back of Laura's head when dark energy is released, long before the dinousars gain life, and the pinkette's inquisitive eyes turns turn around, trying to find the source of that foreboding feeling.

But the source reveals itself first, and there is something to be said about it. After all, when even the people are murmuring around over how lively the replica seems, or what it would have been like when alive, is it all that odd when they respond to the question themselves?

Yes, of course it is odd!

And the fact the mermaid is very much of that opinion isn't a mystery at all, and the frown on her face will be much clearer than a thousand words. "All right, Neve, off you go. Laura will take care of this thing and we can go play some more, ok?", she takes out the Aqua Pot and hurriedly pushes the kid in.

"Be good, ok? You are getting first seats to an all new spectacle, your big sis Precure!", she gives a cheer to Neve, and then Mermaid Aqua Pact is in her hand, opposite the one wearing the ring. "I much prefer leaping!", she tells the running bluenette with bright confidence.

"Pretty Cure! Tropical Change!", she announces as a pink sphere surrounds her. Taking off the Heart Swirl Ring and inserting sideways into the keyhole of the Mermaid Aqua Pact, she twists it upright and its seashell cover splits in half, revealing a purple base with white stars and blue waves on the left side and white hearts on the right side, surrounding a blue circle with a motif of crystals all around a white sphere.

The opened compact transforms her completely, enriching her appearance with make-up and her clothes as Cure La Mer. Leaping upwards with a splash of waters, finally Laura introduces herself. "The Shimmering Ocean! Cure La Mer!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The Stegosaurus is greeted by a distinct lack of panic - at first. After all, it's a known replica, and some of the people think - hope - that it's just part of the museum, some new upgrade, fancy and holographic.

But then it bumps into someone - briskly, on purpose, shunting them aside - and people realize it's real, and the Brachiosaur has someone in the air, and that's when people start panicking - screaming, running, grabbing up children and stampeding, a mob crush waiting to happen.

New Moon leaps up into the air and hovers there, cheerful and giggling into her hands, face pale but eyes bright, and, then, with a gasp, she snaps her fingers. "I know just the thing!"

And she whistles, two fingers in her mouth, and in the distance, a horn beeps, as the jeep they'd parked in front of the museum (against all parking rules) activates and comes driving through the museum.

"I was thinking we could call them Stegosaursaur and Brachichi, what do you think, Wicked Lady?" Aren't those names cute? Of course, it's around then that she starts hearing calls and seeing lights sparkle, and she groans, "Oh, come on!"

Brachichi chews just a little too much... and the victim of the day goes falling as their shirt splits, from twenty-five feet up. Uh. Someone should catch them.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    As Wicked Lady takes the driver's seat in the floating pink Jeep, she watches some poor fool's shirt get munched with passive unconcern. Hate to be that guy. Just when she starts being curious about the youmas' names, New Moon answers her unasked question. Folding her hands together, she says, "Delightful! We'll go with those."

    Then the sparkles start showing up. "Do you all just spawn out of the ground?" asks Wicked Lady. Her eyes fall on Catra and Cure La Mer. "Oh, it's you two. Fancy meeting you here."

    To the fleeing Ami, she calls out, "I mean, I already kn-- you know what? Never mind." She will try, with light yet unsubtle sarcasm, to act surprised when Sailor Mercury shows up.

    Oh, the chew toy is falling. Unfortunate. Wicked Lady's concern is elsewhere. She honks the jeep's horn a couple of times before stating, "The mahoujin are here to interrupt our fun. Brachichi, Stegosaursaur, do the needful."

    She gives New Moon the chance to get in before she starts driving.

Catra has posed:
"Yeah, it's me, fancy meeting me here," Catra grumbles, doing her best to make it not look like she's still having difficulty walking. As she approaches, illusory doubles of her coalesce into being on either side of her, doing a better job of walking without hurting, and also managing to look just as grumpy about the situation. She holds out Powersend to the one on her left who takes hold of the scabbard, hanging on to it while Catra draws the blade with an audible 'schwing', before she hands off the blade to the double on her right.

"I was here. Minding my business. Eating a bad of chips. When SOMEONE decided it would be a good idea to animate some dinosaurs, and now I have to deal with it apparently. So don't blame me for this."

Since Catra is really in no condition to rush straight into battle herself, her doubles take care of it for her. The one holding the scabbard summons a ball of bright yellow flame, and tosses it at Powersend; the flame sets the sword alight, and the double rushes off, charging straight for the animated stegasaurus replica and dashing down the side, slicing all the way along its flank in passing.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"I know that!" Sailor Mercury calls back as she reappears, somehow now standing on the back of some large and extinct turtle-creature with fists planted firmly on her hips.

Ami had already taken a poorly considered risk with her identity recently and she wasn't about to be so careless again. What with the slightly tarnished trust she now had in Mamoru's choice of brothers. No, she didn't blame him for that--it was her mistake. It just also came with a slightly bruised ego, given how silly it had been.

A tap at the blue stone in her earring saw eyes immediately covered by visor. Sailor Mercury wasn't the one to act rashly. There were others here for that. She needed to gather information, analyse, and devise a strategy first.

Her attention passed over the injured Catra and her doubles, logging that in the back of her head, before shifting to take account of Cure La Mer and the youmasaurs.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Neve is just a bit grumpy, swimming around in the Aqua Pot when she was about to have fun in the museum, but Kururun is already on it, nuzzling against the kid's face, which quickly regains its smile. "Eheh, you are really cuddly, Kururun", the younger mermaid laughs, petting the nuzzling seal happily.

Meanwhile, out in the open, Laura is staring incredulous at Wicked Lady and the assistant accompanying her. So it is true, Chibiusa has really fallen under the influence of Black Moon. A change of plans, or was the previous intentions, smoke and mirrors?

But a civilian is falling a long way, and as much as Laura has things to say to her friend, words of concern, upset words, words of relief, she needs to get her head in the game, and the tides of enthusiasm of her heart flood out again.

"Snow Heart Swirl Ring! Charm Up!", she smiles, pointing her fingers to her face. A blue sphere appears from the ring, engulfing her and disappearing at the same time a pink heart rises from her feet.

"Snow Crystal Tropical Style!"

The energy recedes, and clad in paler colors, with hair as long as her waist, hued by a golden sheen and sporting a diadem, the Precure mermaid flies rapidly towards the falling person, helped by the outline of a large rainbow heart on her back.

"Run away now", she orders them, making sure to keep the youmas and the corrupted mahoujin in front of herself. "Interrupt your fun? I was here to show Neve around, Chibiusa! We were both here to have fun!", she stares at the adult pinkette.

"Is that where you have been all this time? I was worried about you! I kept hearing things, and you ran away somewhere in the 30th century", she starts speaking intensely. "I am glad you are alive, Chibiusa. Please, let's stop this. Both Hotaru and I are waiting for you to come back!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
When the car arrives, New Moon waits until Wicked Lady is seated as she'd like before hopping in herself once the horn honks. "Fate just hasn't learned that you can't be beaten, my Lady!"

Never mind that all of their previous youma have been destroyed, they still got away with treats! (That Mamoru paid for later, apparently.) Wicked Lady cannot be stopped!

Stegosaursaur and Brachichi don't need to be told what the needful is - they just understand. They're dinosaurs (youmas) after all, and they're big herbivores at that. The one thing they need to do is... RAMPAGE!

Catra starts off the assault by attacking Stegosaursaur, rutting a burning swatch down it's flank, and the dinosaur roars and rears up, the spiny sails on it's back igniting with dark energy before launching off, fired like homing rockets to strike out at the two Catra copies.

Meanwhile, Brachichi lifts its long neck and then swings for Cure Lar Mer, aiming to strike her with its head like a mallet! As this is happening, the civilian she saved is indeed running for his life, the pieces of his shirt starting to fall off thanks to the large tear from Brachichi's teeth.

"Her name is Wicked Lady," New Moon snaps at Cure La Mer, before her attention is captured by Catra, her eyes widening and then narrowing as she looks at the cat girl with short hair. Her.

"Oh please, no one made you do anything. You're just getting in the way for the same reason everyone else is: to ruin Wicked Lady's entertainment!"

Meanwhile, Sailor Mercury is in the perfect position to get information - her Mercury Visor will show that Brachichi is the weaker of the two youma, given that the majority of it's body is just dark energy shaped to look like a brachiosaur - but all the delicate bones are in the neck, if they want to try and preserve them. Meanwhile, Stegosaursaur is stronger, and as the sails fire, the dark energy levels within dip, before slowly starting to replenish. As the energy levels increase once more, a new sail slowly pushes out into place on it's back.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Wicked Lady watches the fight unfold. Upon seeing Catra's method of coping with her injury, she applauds. "Oh, delightful! Using your doubles to fight for you. Likely for the best if you don't want further injury."

    When Sailor Mercury comes back, Wicked Lady covers her mouth to feign surprise. "Oh dear me, Sailor Mercury. Where did you come from?"

    It's actually Cure La Mer who gets the most reaction from her of the three mahoujin. Wicked Lady narrows her eyes at the aquatic PreCure and says, "Chibiusa? That's not my name anymore. I'm Wicked Lady." With a bright smile, she intentionally misses the point of what Laura is saying, "Yes! I'm glad I'm alive too, but I'm not coming back. If you miss me so much..."

    Wicked Lady beckons with her index finger towards La Mer, as her eyes start to faintly glow pink.

    "... You can always feel free to join me!"

    Once New Moon is situated, Wicked Lady's eyes go back to normal as she revs up the engine. The tires peel out, throwing up dirt, destroying grass and ruining the grounds before the gear shifts and away they go! Wicked Lady chases after some of the civilian museum goers, never actually running them over but always getting just close enough to make them panic a bit.

    Sometimes she runs over a bench or a curb or something. This doesn't stop her. It does launch the Jeep into the air for a moment before it comes crashing back down.

    Yes, the Jeep can just fly actually. No, she doesn't care. She's doing jumps right now while the dinosaurs carry out her will.

Catra has posed:
Catra's ears flatten and she scowls at the mention of 'her injury'. "I don't see why it has to be MINE when SHE did it," she snarls, pointing at New Moon. "Nice haircut by the way. Ever consider going bald? I hear it's a great way to save on shampoo."

Maybe stick to words this time, Catra.

Her double has done its damage, and then there are this dark-energy stegasaur tail spikes homing in on her doubles -- and not on her, which is super convenient. She holds out her hand and her scabbard is placed in her palm, before her double dashes off, drawing the homing spikes away from where the real Catra is standing (and gets obliterated moments later). Her other double likewise meets an untimely fate, leaving Powersend to skitter across the ground, but Catra simply recalls it and the blade flies through the air into her waiting palm.

The weapon is returned to scabbard and rested on her shoulder; and she slinks backwards, wincing as she does things with her knees (like moving them, or not moving them, either is just as bad honestly). Her glowing eyes focus on the jeep, and one ear twitches. Yeah, gotta do something about that. Looks like Sailor Mercury and Cure La Mer have the dinosaurs handled (ish) anyway.

So an illusory clone of Catra ppears on the back seat of the jeep, and leans forwards, sticking her head between Wicked Lady and New Moon.

"Sup?"

Catra's clone leans back, clasping her hands behind her head. "Nice Jeep. Didn't know these things could fly. Did that cost extra? What happens if I do this?" And the clone reaches forwards to grab the shifter and push it into Neutral.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Shabon Spray was immediately out of the question. Sure, it'd do its job in hiding Catra and Cure La Mer, it'd also obscure them from Wicked Lady and New Moon. That seemed like the wrong way to tackle this particular problem. At the very least, she'd hate to be the one to cause damage to Wicked Lady's jeep.

Ami liked her knees.

With that in mind, there were clearly two rampages happening that needed to be concluded. Fortunately, one problem could be solved with another. If they were entertaining enough.

Bald? Oh, no. That definitely wasn't the sort of entertaining she had in mind.

Hopefully she could provide some distraction. So, with one fist still on her hip, Sailor Mercury thrust a finger out toward Brachihi. Then it lowered subtly.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

A jet of water shot forth, hissing through the air frigid and cold. Not quite aimed at Brachichi, but focused on the floor immediately ahead of its stride. Something that would splash, spread, and very quickly solidify into a very slippery sheet.

"You heard her Lady! Be entertaining!" Ami announced, loudly and obviously, she hoped. "Dance!"

With any luck, it might also leave it vulnerable for the nearby Pretty Cure.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura registers with the corner of her eye the presence of Catra and Mercury, but her focus is on Chibiusa, and she doesn't even pay much attention to New Moon and the other youmas, up until Brachichi gives her an impactful wake up call, the strong hit of its neck against the ocean mahou sending her flying and rotating a few times in the air, her breath knocked out of her lungs dizzily.

She stops herself in midair before she can be flown too far away, a pained groan out of her lips, giving the brachiosaur a serious stare, frankly more upset at it getting in the way of their reunion that at the attack Brachichi hit La Mer with.

"Perfume Shiny Ring - Bubble Form!" she declares as she inserts her pen under the Aqua Pact and the ring above it, the cover splitting open again. Grasping it by the makeup pen, Cure La Mer shouts "Aqua Charge!" and rotates the disk, a vortex of bubbles entering her Aqua Pact.

The mermaid spins around, a trail of glowing pink energy following behind her. "Pretty Cure Ocean Bubble Shower!" she shouts, pointing the Mermaid Aqua Pact at the dinousaur, the magical item briefly glowing yellow before it rapidly fires an uncountable torrent of bubbles.

It's not actually meant to entertaining, but it sure is picturesque, with all the various hues the bubbles shine with, capturing the light and returning it with various colours.

Both Wicked Lady and New Moon are insistent at her being called Chibiusa and Laura gives the two of them an incredulous stare. This is the first time she has heard of a mahou taking on a new name when possessed by the darkness, but not a whole other person.

"Ok, fine, Wicked Lady", she sighs reluctantly. If this gets them done with it faster. The offer she gets makes her freeze. "What are you talking about, Wicked Lady? Please tell me, why should I join you? You are just scaring people without a reason. Don't you remember this henshin I have? It came from Chanteur! Didn't we have fun there, playing with the snow? Let's go back to that, Wicked Lady, please."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
New Moon had already been upset about the sight of Catra, but so long as a fight was a fight, it had been contained. Normal stuff. Wicked Lady is driving the jeep, putting the fear of death and automotive accidents into people, the dinoyouma are fighting, and Catra is her usual annoying self -

(A few days ago, New Moon snuck into the Shed and put a note up, just to warn people not to make comments about her hair, her hair, that she had grown and loved and cared for all her life.

Catra has just done the One Thing she didn't even realize she'd been warned against doing.)

New Moon doesn't just go postal, she explodes, almost as badly as she had when her hair was actually cut, rage spiking over her features, darkening her eyes, and when the Catra Double shows up to mess with the jeep, the Twisted Heart Rod cracks into her head so hard it craters before the illusion bursts.

Sure, the jeep is in neutral, and sure it was an illusion, but New Moon hopes it hurt.

"My Lady," she says, and she's already climbing out of the jeep from the back, "I will be back after I skin a cat."

And then she leaps from the jeep with eyes promising murder and Stegosaursaur opens fire, unleashing twenty sail-spines of explosive power at Catra, each one hitting half-a-second behind the other, to try and pin her in as she tries to dodge or escape.

Of course, they're just a distraction from New Moon's rage, so Catra... Catra had better run.

Meanwhile - Sailor Mercury's attack has been properly aimed, and the enormous Brachichi slips and slides as the ground becomes ice, practically dancing around, tail sliding into other exhibits, smashing them up, cracking the floor -

And then Cure La Mer's attack strikes, the bubble blast tilting the already unsteady dinoyouma over, and it falls with a titanic crash that shakes the whole building, honestly, and leaves the poor beast prone and grumbling.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Wicked Lady frowns at Catra as she mentions the hair that she cut and... yeah. She's not going to hold New Moon back on that one. "I'm guessing it wasn't your turn with the braincell today," she calls out.

    When the double appears in the back seat, Wicked Lady tersely rolls her eyes. The stick is shifted to neutral and... Nothing happens. From this angle it also becomes pretty clear that Wicked Lady's hands aren't actually on the wheel, either. "The controls don't actually do anything because I never learned how to drive," she explains, without feeling any shame for being an adult without a license. "It works on magic."

    Cure La Mer is still pleading with her, but Wicked Lady is annoyed at Catra's antics. The mention of Chanteur makes her face light up as she glances towards Laura. "Oh, you're right! I remember Chanteur. Sharon wanted to make us all her subjects, right? Maybe I should return the favor!"

    New Moon is off after Catra, the real one, and while Wicked Lady can't blame her it does leave her in the Jeep all by herself. That's fine though, because it is a flying jeep, and now she's driving it up the walls. Probably knocking off several posters and ads along the way as her laughter adds to the chaotic cacophony of the fight.

Catra has posed:
Nobody's shown Catra the shed, so she had no idea there was a message posted there. She can hardly be blamed for this. Nevertheless, New Moon seems to be blaming her anyway. Catra's eyes go wide and she turns and dives for it, opting to run on all fours and letting a burst of adrenaline take care of the sudden agony in her knees. (What New Moon will do will hurt a lot more anyway.) As she runs she becomes two Catras, and then three Catras, each splitting off in a different direction and one would have to wonder just which one is the REAL Catra?

Not that one, which disappears when an exploding tailspike hits it; or that one, which you'd think would settle the issue but each time one vanishes, Catra summons a new one to replace it, as she herself dashes for cover -- is there any cover her? Well maybe there is, she lets her doubles run off in totally opposite directions; and then she herself picks a spot huddling behind a tree.

One of her doubles pops out and blows a raspberry at New Moon. "Missed!!" it proudly announces. Well, technically no she didn't but that's just a technicality.

The other one reappers back in the jeep, in the front passenger seat this time. "Oh this thing works on magic? OH WOW that must be how it flies, why didn't I figure that out?" She sighs, and clasps her hands behind her head once again. "Either way you're still a bad driver. Seriously though, Chibs, I like you, and I actually do want to help, as soon as you're ready to be done with all this evil stuff. It doesn't suit you."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Things had gone from inconvenient to disasterous faster than she'd been able to come up with an actual plan for dealing with all of this. Not that there was much coordination here to begin with. At the very least, Catra seemed to be doing the most sensible thing she could do at this point--flee. Sailor Mercury made every effort to not follow the injured Catra, not even with her eyes.

"It's neck is weak!" Sailor Mercury announced for Cure La Mer, with a final gesture at the downed Brachichi.

And then it was time to turn attention to Stegosaursaur. This one was going to be harder and Sailor Mercury was already hopping down from her perch to rush toward it, arms held to her sides as streams gathered there into swirling orbs of water.

They were thrown forth, angled at the spines to provide herself with some relevent resource ahead of time. Ami had a follow-up in mind and every intention of cutting out it's ability to produce more exploding back-missiles.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Another day, another dark general. Cure La Licorne had arrived late, it seemed. It looked like there was trouble and... well, frankly, she originally hadn't even intended to henshin...

Unfortunately... Then there was Catra.

"Sora Damn it..."

Which was why, as New Moon started to get out of the jeep...

"Stellar aspirational EXPLOSION!"

The setting sun of purification energy, in wonderful volleyball form, descended on it in slow-motion. Slamming into it from above before erupting vertically, like an exploding horizon.

Cure La Licorne then landed a moment later, along the path Catra was running on. "Hey boss!" she called after La Mer. "I'll get the kitty to the school, I'll trust you with dino-breath! Sorry I'm late!" she called before glancing to Catra and... "Seriously?" she asked. "Can you run okay? Do you need me to help you move?" She glanced back towards New Moon... Did she think she could take her? HA! No. But, well... After all the times she'd beaten down Sailor Moon as Sunbreaker, maybe it was only fair La Licorne got her butt kicked once or Twice by New Moon. Then again... Sailor Moon HAD annoyed the crud out of Sunbreaker a lot, so distracting her long enough for her prey to escape ALSO counted.

Laura La Mer has posed:
La Mer can't exactly blame Wicked Lady for her reaction to Catra's rather free behaviour with New Moon. Rather she feels her blood turn to ice when the cat doubles down on her antics and sends one of her doubles sitting into their jeep. Does she have a death wish?

"Catra, that's less bravado and more brava-did!", she comments incredulous. The rather weird wordplay is made all the worse by the complete lack of humour in her voice. "This isn't the time!"

She was about to move and get her out of the car herself, when La Licorne comes in and takes care of that herself. With an incandescent explosion. She sure doesn't do things halfway. "Hey, Lico!" She is noticeably happier at the other Tropical Cure's appearance.

"Get her out of here, before she gets in the running for something even worse than broken knees." Or anything that had happened last time.

But Mercury is calling her attention to Brachichi. "On it!" she replies, and she grabs the dinosaur's neck. "La Mer Grand Slam!", she announces huffing, trying to lift the whole youma by the neck and sending it crashing into the ground.

"You know why Sharon was trying to do that, Wicked Lady!", she returns to addressing her corrupted friend. "She was hurt and grieving. Why are you doing this? Maybe we can help, if you just talk with us about it!" She hasn't been getting through to her, but maybe knowing her problems will let her.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Catra can only blame herself for this. No one asked her to say those things! No one encouraged her to do this! Everyone wanted her to avoid this!

New Moon is certainly happy to skin the cat, though. Each copy keeps being destroyed, but New Moon is going to go for the original, is leaping from the jeep -

And then she gets hit by a volleyball of setting sun purification energy. It's New Moon's very first time getting hit by a purification attack, after previously being the purifier, and she -

Mostly, she just sighs a little in relief, looking less peaky. There's no visible signs of damage, but Mercury, via her visor, can sense that her dark energy levels have dropped some - not enough to make her not a Dark General, but less than they were. And she seems... better for it?

There's color in her cheeks, a sparkle in her eyes, and she's... cracking her neck, side to side? Cracking her knuckles like a fighter getting ready to throwdown?

"Oh, that was great, Hinoiri," she says, sounding downright cheerful as she bounces a little in place. "Really made me feel better! Totally refreshing, actually, got me out of my head, back to thinking about what matters most, and you know what that is?"

Her smile - oh yes, she's smiling - practically splits her face.

"Setting an example for My Lady."

And then she's got the rod in her hands, that twisted recolor, and she spins, a tight circle with the rod in hand -

"Twisted Heart Spiral Action!"

An enormous straw hat wearing heart appears before them, a deep purple-pink in color, and races through the air to crash into Cure La Licorne with all the speed and force of a bullet train.

And meanwhile... with the other threats... Brachichi had gotten in a great hit on Cure La Mer - once. This, it was spilling across the ground, which was covered in cold water, and it was knocked over by a bubble beam! Wanting to try and restore its honor (?) as a youma, the dinosaur attempts to climb to its feet, swinging it's head about once more - only for that swinging head to be grabbed, as the Cure improbably lifts it's enormous body for a grand slam!!!

The building quakes once more. Dust shakes from the ceiling. And the giant brachiosaur youma disintegrates, leaving nothing more than the precious fossilized neck and skull bones.

Stegosaursaur is trying to replenish it's spines, chasing after the cat-girl who was outrunning it with vigor - when SPLASH!

The dinosaur yells in fury, tail swinging about to try and attack Mercury, even as it shakes itself like a sad furless dog in a futile attempt to get rid of the water now covering its form.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    "That's not what you're supposed to say," intones Wicked Lady to the fake Catra. She's pretty sure it's a fake because the chance of Catra getting smacked by a Beryl-level threat is pretty high right now. "You're supposed to praise me. You're supposed to say, 'oh Wicked Lady, you're so amazing, and your driving is so excellent, and your jeep is the perfect color'. I shouldn't have to tell you to recognize my greatness and praise me. You should just know to do it by now!"

    She says this as if its obvious. As if Catra needs to get with the program.

    Feeling a bit put out by this whole situation, she props her elbow against the window frame and her cheek against her palm, watching Sailor Mercury strategize about dinoyouma fighting. Poor Stegosaursaur. All it was doing was carrying out Wicked Lady's will. Is that not for the greatest good?

    Then New Moon took direct damage from Purification, and Wicked Lady is actually concerned for a moment... but no, actually that's not enough. Not enough to undo the brainwashing, or ruin her game. Not nearly enough, but still bothersome. She tsks, and then warns Hinoiri. "Don't hit her with that again."

    Why is she doing this? It does make her think a bit. What are her reasons? She goes through the mental list. Because she thinks that finding the future Silver Crystal is basically an impossible task, and there's not much left for her to do but mess around and stall for time? Because she hates Demande and wants to clown on him as much as possible? Because she wants to monopolize her parents' attention? She thinks these things, but doesn't say them out loud, because any of the the real answers might give away her game.

    Instead, the answer that Laura gets from Wicked Lady is, "Because I deserve to be entertained. Because I deserve to have my way. Because I deserve for everyone to look at me and admire me and tell me how great I am. More than anything, I'm doing this because I'm tired of being seen as a mere child, powerless and weak in the shadow of my mother, barely even recognizable as her own daughter!"

    At first her response was an insincere one, meant only to be believable enough to throw Laura off of the truth, but now that she's said it out loud?

    Now that she thinks about it, Wicked Lady is kinda mad about that too. The weakness. The cruel laughter of other children. Having doubt cast upon her heritage... She's mad enough that she's starting to glow with dark pink energy. Not just her eyes, but her entire body, and she's floating above the jeep now. Hovering. Her parasol closes.

    The only thing stopping her from losing it completely is the fact that New Moon is loyally attacking her enemies, which she also deserves praise for. "Solid job, New Moon! Glad to see you put your heart into your work."

    Her tone isn't as fake-cheerful as it usually is.

Catra has posed:
"Wait, I'm supposed to do what?"'

Catra's double raises an eyebrow at what Wicked Lady tells her to do. "Yeah, uhm, no. That's not how it works. I'm a cat. When have you ever known a cat to act like that? And your driving does suck but, because I like you, and I do like you, as soon as you're done with this dark energy that is entirely ruining you, I will teach you how to ride a motorcycle." She pauses. "When you're old enough to not fall off, that is." Another pause.

"I don't care what your parents say."

The real Catra, meanwhile, is still hiding behind a tree. "Sorry what? Now is not the time?" she asks of Cure La Mer, "She's here, I'm here, I'm trying to keep her attention off you, what should I do -- phone her later?!" She finishes complaining just when Cure La Licorne shows up, and Catra's mood immediately rises. "Oh hey!" she call out. "Glad you could make it, I sorta might've said something I shouldn't ha-EEY!!" A mood improvement immediately reverses, as New Moon opens fire on Hinoiri with something big; and moments later a couple of illusory doubles come dashing out from behind two entirely different trees (the one from the jeep just vanishes, probably in the middle of whatever Wicked Lady has to say in response).

Both of her doubles summon auras of brilliant flame -- one yellow and one blue -- then release sustained beams of fire at New Moon. Well, not really so much at New Moon as in front of her, apparently intended just to throw her off from chasing Hinoiri.

"Hey, come on!!" she calls out from behind the tree, "I got your attention so you wouldn't attack anyone else, at least keep your attention on me! Look, I--"

Catra almost said something. Almost. But sorry Catra does not say.

"I didn't mean to cut your hair, it was an accident. I was just aiming for the door. I promise not to do it again. Can we talk about this nicely?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
The subtle beep of her visor caught her attention only very briefly before she made her move on Stegosaursaur. Purification. Useful. Anything else she might observe in that direction was information for later. There were youma to deal with, still.

"Mercury Aqua Mirage!"

And the water splattered about it's back would begin to gather, chill, and harden into something freezing and restraining. She was aware that it probably wouldn't hold it back for long, but they just needed a few--

Cure La Licorne now had something far more pressing to worry about. This all would have probably been a whole lot easier if they'd focused on the youma instead of New Moon's hair--

She was having trouble getting a thought in sideways just now as the tail took her. Sailor Mercury was no Pretty Cure and the force that sent her sprawling from there was distinctly felt. That was definitely going to leave a mark or several.

Fighting her way back to her feet, Sailor Mercury's voice called out loud again. "This packed with Dark Energy! Purify it!"

Either of the Cures would likely do for that. Ami, however, was already changing her focus again. With arm tucked about tender ribs, she was running for New Moon now.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne did not like this at all. New Moon knew who she was. THAT she REALLY didn't like. Because... Right. That... Wicked Lady knew who she was. And that meant she'd taken the time to tell New Moon who she was? What? Exactly? That... seemed weird? "Huh?" she asked. Well, at least they weren't Obsidian.

The girl seemed... Better now? Well... good. That was good. But Wicked Lady gave her a warning.

And New Moon gave her a BLAST. She held up both of her arms, forming a flaming X and OH MY GOSH IS THIS WHAT SHE DID TO PEOPLE?! Damn, now she knew how Fuyuko felt that one time as she was sent back, her feet digging into the ground and digging long skid marks into it as she was sent back from the blast but... well... she managed to stay standing...

... Barely... Panting... And her arms were a bit numb... *Ow.* She was very happy she wasn't Equivalence anymore.

"Catra? Honey? I love you. I really do. But please? Get the buck out of here. She is *very* stupid right now and she's *not going to listen*. It's really *not you*, it's *her*. It doesn't matter what you say, she's not going to care. There's enough dark energy in her right now that short of going a whole new Sunbreaker, I'm not going to be able to take her. So for my sake? Can we *please* pull a tactical retreat?" she asked. cause there was no way she was leaving without her. But, for the moment, she didn't launch another attack... yet.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura strikes a victory pause in the brief moment Brachichi is vanquished, before Wicked Lady actually starts opening up, and the Pretty Cure falters and just looks at her friend, completely convinced by what was meant to be a realistic excuse.

Here she knows a lot less about what to do. It's not like with Sharon when she could completely understand her feelings, having lived through a similar story herself, but with Wicked Lady she can only bites her lips, wondering how to get out of that.

She has shared any experience similar to Hinoiri, and as much as she would like to have a ready solution, one that would convince her with only a little problem, but she has none, and she can only watch Wicked Lady's angry pink aura barely get contained at all.

And Mercury is still calling to her, telling her to purify the youma, and the words of the song of happiness dance on her lips uncertain, something that would influence both Wicked Lady and the remaining youma. But if she tries purifying her now, and it works, it won't magically erase Chibiusa's problems. She will only be worse off because she now doesn't even have an outlet.

"Alright!", she nods to the blue Sailor Senshi, and the Marine Heart Swirl Ring, and she stretches her arm upwards. "Marine Heart Swirl Ring! Charm Up!" A blue sphere engulfs her again from the ring, and La Mer's form changes once more. "Five powers, roar through the seas!", she shouts, the ring projecting a blue heart above her.

Something squeals loudly, and a bioluminescent whale comes out. Jumping inside of its mouth, La Mer swims in it, directing the purifying whale and making it crash against the dinosaur. "Pretty Cure Marine Beat Dynamic!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
That purification hit wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough. And luckily for Cure La Licorne? New Moon's counter-attack, powerful enough to send her sliding back helplessly, worn out from the effort, isn't enough to kill her. Perhaps New Moon isn't trying to kill her? She doesn't follow the attack up immediately, after all, instead turning to face Wicked Lady with concern and worry as she spills her thoughts, her frustrations - about being in the shadow of her mother, powerless and it's all true, it's all things they couldn't fix -

But Wicked Lady could fix it herself. She could claim power, and hold onto it. So New Moon breathes out, and says,

"You can do anything, my Lady. You're no shadow, but a burning light for everyone to marvel at!"

And earning praise? That's just enough to make her beam.

"Of course! I would never put anything less than my whole heart in it!"

Her Lady is not as cheerful as she should be, but New Moon can fix that. New Moon will fix that. She'll get rid of the insolent cat, and Hinoiri, and Cure La Mer, and -

And Catra is calling out to her, as two doubles unload attacks that New Moon spins her rod about to disperse, though at least she isn't following up on Cure La Licorne just yet -

"You're terrible at apologies," New Moon tells Catra, but there's something in her tone, and she settles back, the rod lowering slightly. "And yeah, you'd better promise. But maybe-"

Talking nicely. Her Lady wanted entertainment, maybe she could make that work. Maybe they could play a normal game, with Stegosaursaur and almost running people over.

She is very stupid right now.

The words are said right there. In front of New Moon. In front of New Moon, as though she were suddenly going to go magically deaf and not hear them -

It's not you, it's her.

Oh. Oh so that's how it is. When it's Sunbreaker, there are all kinds of excuses for what she did and how she was hurt and they just need to be empathetic, but when Catra finally sort of owns what she did, it's all it's not you, it's her?!

New Moon's rage SPIKES. All the Dark Energy dispersed earlier by that purification attack is back, doubled, and she shrieks, in a voice of utter indignation and rage, that breaks glass and shatters stone -

"I CAN HEAR YOU!"

THE NERVE OF SOME PEOPLE!

The supersonic screech is directed in Cure La Licorne's direction.

As all of this has been happening, Sailor Mercury and Cure La Mer have been taking care of business with the youma - much to Stegosaursaur's dismay. The poor youma is soaked, and then -

And then the poor youma's back is freezing over, Mercury's Aqua Mirage hardening, tightening, filling the crevices where sail-spines should go, and it tries to stomp about, but the water freezes it's feet over, just as it's tail connects and sends Sailor Mercury flying.

And then?

The enormous purifying whale sours through the air, forming up, and out, and with it's Pretty Cure cargo, it crashes against the frozen Stegosaursaur, and the light within dissipates the darkness.

Cure La Mer and Sailor Mercury are victorious - dark energy evaporates, leaving a perfectly intact replica fossil of the Stegosaurus, it's skeletal jaws open in an almost comical scream.

New Moon hasn't noticed her youma's destruction. She also hasn't noticed Sailor Mercury coming at her.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Wicked Lady doesn't really say anything to Catra. Saying she likes her counts as praise, so she doesn't get the backhand, but she's also casting shade about Wicked Lady's darkness and Lady doesn't like that. So it cancels out.

    She's also not convinced that Catra's motorcycle driving is better than her jeep driving, if she's being perfectly honest.

    Still. The way she just... doesn't answer? Might be a bit eerie with the way she's glowing ominously like that. The sheer amount of bad emanating from her right now couldn't possibly be so easy to get rid of, and it's probably not a fight that Laura wants right now.

    Wicked Lady casts her baleful gaze out among the sparkles. Most of these mahoujin were, at some point, her friends. Maybe they still considered themselves to be so, even though they were clearly on opposite sides. Even though they were ruining her fun.

    "Don't insult my faithful assistant," she intones. That is a line too far.

    Despite all of that, an example needed to be made. A warning given. Wicked Lady would not be ignored.

    She lifts her parasol, and aims it at a nearby dinosaur skeleton. A Tyrannosaurus Rex. A beam of darkness fires from the tip of her parasol and into the bones (or replicas?) of the long dead creature, and much like New Moon's youma it soon has a coating of muscle and flesh made from evil energy. Unlike New Moon's dinoyouma, it never actually stops growing. Expanding and expanding until the corrupted flesh strains, rips, and then explodes.

    The resulting shockwave destroys every window. It's powerful, it's devastating to the infrastructure, but spread out enough that no one person has to take the full brunt of it.

    It also smacks the jeep into the wall, and it's the recognition that Wicked Lady is damaging one of her own toys that causes her to snap out of her foul mood. "... Hmph. Put too much in at once."

    Now, she opens her parasol and says, in her all-too-sweet voice, "New Moon, my dear. I believe that's en-- Sailor Mercury what are you doing?!"

Catra has posed:
"Okay so look, that was not and apology, that was--" Catra stops mid-scentence, because there's a T-Rex that's growing... and growing. Catra makes the decision to not be the first person finding her way past a giant lizard's chompers and ducks back behind the tree, ears flattening out.

"That is a very big meat-eating lizard," she calls out to Hinoiri, "So-- yes, to answer your question, but let's hide for a mo--

And it explodes.

Catra is already hiding, fortunately, but the blast reverberates through the tree anyway and the feline is hurled through the air, into the wall opposite her, and crumples on the ground. For the moment she just lays there, eyes just about bulging out of her head as the pain in her knees spikes after that experience, and she paws at the ground, struggling to get herself up or even just cope with what just happened.

"Ah-- Ow," she gasps, giving her best effort to downplay what just happened, which would probably be easier if she could get up off the ground, which right at the moment she can't. So she holds out her hand, recalling Powersend back to her from where it fell, and starts to crawl away on all fours, doing her best to keep to cover where hopefully New Moon can't see her.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Water and ice shot up ahead of her reflexively, catching as much of the exploding dinosaur as she could manage. It wasn't futile, but it also wasn't especially effective. Shards broke free as it shattered, cutting shallow across open skin as she fought with every single fibre to remain on her feet. Let nobody accuse Sailor Mercury of lacking determination when something mattered.

She would cross the distance.

Without a real plan here, aside from what she'd managed to cook up in between everything, Sailor Mercury let her thoughts return to her last interaction with New Moon. The memory of this Dark General peering straight through the negativity swarming wiithin her in order to sooth and comfort a desperately afraid senshi.

There wasn't even the hint of aggression as Sailor Mercury approached. The visor slid away from her face and she threw herself at New Moon, pulled--perhaps surprisingly--into a tight hug. Something cool and soothing, blanketing and filled with all of the affection she still didn't quite understand.

"Please don't." Ami spoke quietly, but still audibly enough. "It doesn't matter what catty nonsense anybody says, you're still beautiful and you're still be better than that."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Oh, joy. Who needed ear drums? She reached up, covering her ears and ow. OW OW OW OW OW! It helped... but only so much as in like... putting your bare hand on a gushing wound technically 'helped'. It stemmed it a bit, but it didn't stop it. Okay, OW!

And Wicked lady said... something, but La Licorne couldn't hear it.

But she certainly FELT it, when the blast sent her flying back, crashing into the wall and then sliding down it with a low hiss of pain. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a slow, deep breath.

Okay, you know what? She REALLY did not like this. Either of them, right now. Oh. She did NOT like EITHER of them right now.

"You... know what?" she called out. "Kid? I liked you a *lot* more when I was... buying you ice cream... *ow*..." she said. She slowly got to her feet before...

Yeah, she just leaped... and she grabbed Catra. And she knew she was likely going to get clawed for this. But she was going to *princess carry* her out of there. Yes. That was right. She was going to princess carry CATRA. "Good, and sorry. I don't know who she is right now, and I really can't hear well. But trust me, at the point she's shattering legs, she's on so much dark energy she's not really thinking straight anymore. Whoever she is under that energy isn't likely going to care, so for now? We're getting you somewhere safe. Okay babe?" she said, glancing back just in case they were being followed, rapidly leaping and dashing to try and get cover and make her way towards the school, putting all that 'leap over a building in a single bound' energy of a precure to use!

Laura La Mer has posed:
The smack of the purifying whale has done what it should have, but there is hardly any time to cheer. The air that separates Laura and New Moon breaks and screeches, and then there is her supersonic scream, vibrating through the whale, making it wobble like jello before it is broken apart and Laura barely catches herself, rolling to minimise the damage.

She winces at the destruction of the whale, but it's not like she would have used it again against Wicked Lady. Even if it would fail, Laura is in no condition to even try to purify her right now. Even if it was born of a lie, regardless of how much truth it ended up containing, Wicked Lady's, rather, Chibiusa's speech has sent her off balance enough that she can't bring herself to actually try to do anything towards her. Her youma she can probably deal with, the owner though not really.

And she braces herself when she sees another youma form, a tense drop of sweat falling down her temple, eyes fixed on the Tyrannosaurus Rex about to form. "Mercury, are you good for a round two?" She is not sure how much to count on Catra and La Licorne, with New Moon giving the two of them her full focus. They may have to do this by themselves.

She charges her Tropical Pact again, a twister made of water rotating and being sucked inside, but before she can try anything, the explosion of the Tyrannosaurus reaches her, throwing her aside violently, and breaking the charging of her signature move.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
In the aftermath of the two dinoyouma's deaths, and the aftermath of New Moon's deafening scream, there's a voice, quiet and baleful and beloved, and it is defending New Moon. She could, she's pretty sure, count on one hand the number of times her precious daughter had defended her before, and this is one reason that New Moon's heart is so willing to give her future daughter what she needs.

As she'd thought in the moment the darkness took her - Wicked Lady is so much nicer to Usagi than Chibiusa was.

"Thank you, my Wicked Lady," she murmurs, lowering her eyes, lowering her voice, because she would never criticize what Wicked Lady chose to dish out, but she certainly is warmed by her praise, her protection, her love. She's still enraged, of course, about being stalked about like she's not even there, but there's something more important - so much more important, to focus on.

And so she claps, when the Tyrannosaurus Rex is chosen, and begins coming to life, muscle and ligament, sinew and skin, and - uh oh. Uh oh, it's still growing, and her eyes go wide, and it's still growing, and -

It explodes. New Moon is fine, of course - she's also using Dark Energy, it doesn't hurt her, though it sickens her, and she's angry all over again, with clinging Dark Energy, with the force of that attack sending their enemies rolling after they tried so hard to ruin her Lady's day -

Sailor Mercury collides with New Moon with all the force of a thrown pillow, only hold her close with all the strength of piling snow, surrounding, solidifying, containing. It is a hug like the one New Moon gave Ami - it is a hug of consolation and affection and honest love, soothing and refreshing, solidifying.

The ice is no longer cracking under her feet. The rage is no longer burning so bright.

Sailor Mercury's voice is quiet but sure, earnest. It is her sharing facts, voice. her explaining things voice, and New Moon's arms, limp at her sides, rise, holding Sailor Mercury in return. For a moment, New Moon tips her head against Sailor Mercury's, and she is comforted.

"...okay," she says, very quiet, distant. And then she jolts, almost like a robot coming back to life, a toy reactivated, and she smiles, and her voice is sweet as honey, with the faintest hint of danger, but it is her usual brand of unsettling sweetness and danger, not the cocktail of rage.

"You're right, my Lady," she calls, pitching her voice louder, "I think this is enough! This museum is in such a state, it's not really fit for your presence."

She separates herself from Sailor Mercury gently, pats the top of her head with loving care, and calls to Cure La Mer, "There's no need for a round two! You'd lose against my Lady anyway!"

And lightly tosses herself into the jeep, lifting the slightly damaged vehicle into the air and 'driving' it to Wicked Lady's side.

"Shall we go, my Lady?"

The museum is a wreck. It most certainly will be closed for a while after this. Probably a long while, but - that's not New Moon's problem.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Wicked Lady ignores Catra. There's no point in cutting down a fleeing enemy, or kicking someone when they're already down. How would that prove her power? Her greatness? No, it would only prove that she feared her on some level, and Wicked Lady feared no one.

    La Licorne can flee with her if she wishes. Those who refuse to praise should learn to run.

    Mercury gets the stink eye up until the point she hugs New Moon, which... honestly Lady is okay with? More people should hug her faithful assistant. She deserves hugs! Maybe she should brainwash Mercury next so that there can be more hugs. Though there's still something suspicious here, because Mercury is smart, and smart people are tricky.

    Wicked Lady frowns.

    It's even worse when it looks like nothing's happened, because that means you missed the trick.

    She's still frowning when New Moon pulls up to her. Then, she floats into the seat and leans back. "Let's," she assents. Wicked Lady has had quite enough.