2639/Wicked Ride: Moon Bride

Wicked Ride: Moon Bride
Date of Scene:	21 June 2025
Location:	Moon Kingdom
Synopsis:	It's finally time for the wedding of the century - the Moon Wedding of Mamoru Chiba and Usagi Tsukino. Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity. Tuxedo Kamen and - New Moon? Those in the know join with those utterly shocked in the battle to finally free New Moon and Wicked Lady: it's time for this Wicked Ride to come to an end. Only, when the dust falls, things are still far from over. Would You Like To Save The Game?
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Mamoru Chiba, Madoka Kaname, Rashmi Terios, Zoisite, Koji Silvia, Catra, Norie Okana, Wako Agemaki, Kazuo Saitou, Amanda Faust, Jadeite, Yuki Hoshino, Takashi Agera, Coco Kiumi, Hinoiri Kirara, Haruka Tenoh, Chrono Harlaown, Chibiusa Tsukino, Hotaru Tomoe, Nephrite
Tinyplot:	Black Moon Clan
Tinyplot2:	BMC: Wicked Ride

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Look in the sky at night, and on most days, you'll see it - the Earth's only natural satellite, the brightest celestial object in the night sky - The Moon. Casting the eye upon it's near side, one can find large dark spots, basalt seas empty of all but dust and soil, known as the lunar maria. These maria have featured the myths and tales told by the people of Earth for epochs, and they have been explored by telescopes, rovers, drones, and so many more pieces of technology as humanity explores the stars.

But in a dimension slightly to the left (or the right, depending on your perspective), the mares are not empty. They are not merely plains of basalt, leftover from eruptions long past. No, in that dimension, ever so slightly to the right, the lunar maria are covered with domes. And within those domes - atmosphere. Systems of weather. Seas, populated with underwater plant life. Parks, populated by slowly wilding gardens and overgrowing paths. Cities, empty and pristine, proud.

Life, of a sort. A kingdom that sleeps, waiting, lingering, longing.

And in Mare Serenitatis, the Sea of Serenity, there is Capital City, once the great political and cultural hub of Silver Millennium. It is a well-maintained, well-structured city, planned in neat lines and clean corners, with carefully spaced gardens and developments, and at it's walls, a sea - a great sea of saltwater, and within the city, a great number of manmade lakes and ponds, filled with fresh water.

Near the city center, set atop a great lifted mass, is the Moon Palace, reachable by a cert of great steps all too reminiscent of the staircase to the Crystal Palace in the 30th Century. At the top of those steps is a path of white marble stone cutting across a created pond, poles topped with flower-shaped sconces, each glowing with pale light, strung with decorative streamers of silver and gold.

The pond reflected the light, giving the whole area a shimmer, and at the end of that path was the Moon Palace itself, white stone shining with the sun's reflected light, a split staircase leading the way. At the top of those stairs, stands a young man and with him, a small party, beyond them, a much larger one.

It's finally time. It's finally here. A day weeks in the planning, an even millennia in the making -

The wedding of the Earth's Prince Endymion and the Silver Millennium's Princess Serenity will now begin.

Prince Endymion is the young man at the top of the stairs, and he stands not far from the spot where he lost his life, whole and hearty and waiting for his bride. With him is the wedding party - his best man and his Shitennou, his bride's Senshi, all of whom wait in their henshins.

The attendees have been invited to sit in rows just behind the wedding party, split in two sides, with a great bubble-gum pink throne in the center of the two groups, near the doors to the palace. The audience, the wedding party, and the groom are all facing the stone path and the pond, the landing between the steps and the great entrance to the palace more than enough to host the wedding.

Beyond the landing, at the side of the palace, there is a path that leads to a beautiful garden, where the wedding feast waits. It's all just scarcely visible, from the stone path.

The bride has not yet arrived, but the air is heavy with expectation. Any moment now, the last of the guests - the bride, the Wicked Lady, and the New Moon, could be expected.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Endymion-- Mamoru-- is standing up there shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He looks like he always looks in this henshin, tall, regal, faintly military... but with bubblegum pink tips in his hair that don't at all go with the navy blue and dark brown and light blue and gold that are Endymion's colors.

He's watching; he's braced; he's excited; he's nervous-- even though he knows that a fight's coming first, where he's standing is...

It's so close to where he was standing last time, and he breathes out a silent prayer. This was on purpose. Everything here is on purpose. Every trap, every symbol, every precaution, every flower, every tiny bite, every note.

They're gonna be so mad.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Somewhere high in the air. Kamiko is fussing at two tiny benotafraids, one of which in a tux with too many arms, and the other is wearing a dress with multiple layers of wings on it. "No, no, no. You stand on that side, and you stand on that side." Frustrated huff, tiny arms flailing. "You are supposed to help me! Why can't you dummies get it together?!"

    Madoka and Homura are among the audience seating, looking up at Kamiko. Homura says, "She must be nervous."

    Madoka nods, and then giggles before leaning over to Homura and speaking softly, "Should we help her? You and me."

    Homura blinks at Madoka. "So... like, go and act like we're..." She immediately loses her cool as she figures out what Madoka is getting at. "w-we... us... you mean..."

    The pinkette just giggles at her poor girlfriend's reaction before noticing the hour. "Oh! It's about time. We need to get ready. Kamiko-chan, come down!"

    "I'm not ready!" protests the small fairy.

    "We're just going to have to wing it, sweetie! It'll be okay!" promises Madoka. The divine fairy floats down. Her tiny golden eyes gleam up at Mamoru for a moment, and then she looks back at Madoka. Her tiny frown is pensive.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Almost *everybody* is here.

And for the densest population of mahou in living memory, that's a *lot* of everyones.

The food is stored safely, the venue is set, and all that's required is for the last two participants to arrive... And then things are going to get *crazy.*

But it will be the fastest victory-to-victory-party turnaround Rashmi has yet seen, and should all go as well as is hoped, the party itself will be *glorious.*

Which is why Rashmi tries not to vibrate in her seat, as she watches Mamoru's place with vigilance enough that she might be trying to see through *time.* But she is in henshin, and Nicomachea clutched to her chest, and she is ready. Ready for *anything.*

They have, after all, planned the hell out of this wedding.

Zoisite has posed:
To set one's mind to the reality that is the old capital of the Silver Millennium, a fossilic structure of eras now passed, was difficult. He was there, many times before. A sad history left behind in ghostly footsteps that he could barely remember but feel in his bones. Something he might never have his answer to in this lifetime, and perhaps the next but--

It was alright. This was not about him. It was about his prince, and finishing a historical journey that needed its proper ending. Whether it be by then skin of one's teeth or leaving bone deep scars to get it, it would be done.

Instead, there was a soft smile on her face, gentle make up and lips giving a shimmer as she looks over to Mamoru with a rare type of affection. The kind that has been there, seen atrocities, but still loves him as a knight should. A dedicated life, possibly fooling those around her with the idea that it was once romantic. No, it was merely Sailor Moon, adoring someone she knew, and proud of what was to come.

Whereas Zoisite himself itched with the opportunity that would come with all that would unfold. All the hard work, the quiet isolation he went through to get everything ready, each flower in its place--

If this was all for naught, he would lose his mind. But he trusted, for Mamoru's sake--for Endymion's sake that this was all going to work out as they all hoped it would.

Tomorrow would be the new dawn of a Millenia.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Koji is not here for the fight... he came up here to finish the meal prep and then enjoy the ceremony, so naturally he's off with the others who are not going to be a part of what comes next, still dozing from his catnap last night.

That is, until something is dropped in his lap. A NOKIA bag from an electronics store with a cardboard box inside. Blinking... he looks around and missed whomever left this little surprise. Curious, he unwraps the bag from around the box, and then reaches inside to take it out. The label is for bamboo skewers. But the contents? Something completely different.

Inside is a smart flip-phone with a familiar azure Core Gem where a secondary screen would normally be. The gem gleams almost excitedly to him, and shines off his glasses for a moment. It's pulled out and held in both hands for a moment, causing the gem to holographically project two words only he can see...

    << SHIN HANZO. >>

He takes off towards the where the others are getting ready for the arrival, and as the phone is flicked open in one hand, two more words scroll along the screen as he speaks.

    "Set Up."
    << SET UP. >>

Down the hallway that he's vanishes around the corner of comes a ghostly blue glow, that goes brighter, and then vanishes in a flash.

Catra has posed:
Somewhere or other, Catra is in a seat, looking like she's trying to pass all of this off as absolutely no big deal. Internally, she's mentally reviewing two facts: One, she's about to be in a big fight against someone who recently shattered both of her knees and who's hair she cut and then later mocked her over it; Two, she's wearing her knee braces under her tux, just in case.

On the plus side it's a damn fine tux. Not that Catra would ever settle for anything less, even if she does wearing it in the most casual way possible. She doesn't even have the top of the shirt buttoned up and the bow-tie is just hanging around her neck.

But, whatever. Just do the usual thing. Act cool, pretend nothing matters, and when the moment comes tap into the Spirit Ember and go all out. It'll be fine, right?

Right.

Norie Okana has posed:
LaCrima sat in the audience, and looked pouty. Dumb Wedding. Dumb Fight. But she was behaved and that was all that mattered for now. That is to say. LaCrima is her normal self. She sighed and sat on the side wherever Riventon was. Or Takashi was. Whoever he was today.

She did looks antsy into the fight. Darkness rarely fought darkness well but she could help in other ways. She looked over to Princes Endymion with a slight frown, a sort of sad... frown/smile of sorts. This was probably gonna be rough.

She looked back to the door and back to Sailor Moon at the end, tapping her teeth a little anxiously. Others will move first. This isn't her battle to start.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako Agemaki has taken her place among the guests, dressed for the occasion in a short dress of gold-and-ivory brocade with a shimmering sunflower pattern, with a sparkling sunburst hairpin in her carefully-styled bob. She's smiling, cheerful, still a little awed by the grandeur of the venue - in short, looking for all the world like nothing could possibly go wrong today.

Not for nothing has Wako spent so many years in drama club.

She knows her part in what's to come, and she can feel Wawna's presence in the back of her mind, ready for the call to apprivoise. All she's waiting for is her cue.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
This is the point at which, normally, Kunzite would quietly and out of sight reach to lay a hand on Prince Endymion's shoulder or touch his arm, grounding him enough to let him settle a little. Probably not entirely, not today.

But - again, not today. He's not the best man in this party; just also having white hair is not enough to put him in that place. So he stands, quiet and still and patient.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Hours ago, Amy came to the moon for the first time in... well, ever, really, memory bubble aside. She talked, and she and Taro played around with low gravity, and maybe she got to help a little moving food around or something but she hasn't really been involved. Which might be for the best, as much as it leaves her feeling a little awkward.

    She's in a magical girl dress, the same one she was left in after Gretchen became Kamiko, as dealing with Seriss Nyx and New Moon so much lately she didn't get to go dress shopping with Masato as planned, and it's more... dressy than her usual henshin outfit is.

    As she's sitting in the audience and the time nears, she starts to feel like she should maybe be in something more formal, but she doesn't know what. She's not sure a Sailor Senshi uniform would be OK, and she doesn't really have a 'uniform' for herself, in any sense that applies here.

    It's going to become a fight at any moment. Wicked Lady and New Moon will bring Usagi here for the wedding, and everyone is going to fight them and purify them, and then things will be better, a peace they've all longed for since returning from the future.

    (At some point, she notices 'Sailor Moon' is with the wedding party and offers a smile and a wave. Oh good, Wicked Lady and New Moon already retrieved her. She looks well, at least! Amy wishes she had a chance to talk to her, but... so do all of Usagi's friends, probably, and they'll have a chance soon.)

Jadeite has posed:
The time has come.

As the cliche goes, the moon is beautiful. The Sailor Moon is beautiful. Zoisite as Sailor Moon is beautiful. The wedding party is beautiful, and so is the setting, and so is the food. (Somehow he had thought being back here would hurt more. It aches, but like a mostly healed scab. Maybe it will hit him harder later - but right now, all Jadeite can think about is how excited he is for the wedding.)

Jadeite's in his Shitennou uniform at Mamoru's side as one of the groomsmen.

"You look amazing," he tells Endymion quietly. "She's gonna be over the moon - no pun intended - seeing all this."

He looks between all his fellow Shitennou, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He can't wait...!

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki's invitation was signed by, quote, "that cute goth girl", unquote. Which amused her, so she loaded a nice black skirt-suit into Argent Dawn's Barrier Jacket library, and headed off for the place the invite said to meet.

When she found herself being brought to *the moon*, she spent several minutes geeking out over the idea, and when it became clear that there was more than just rocks and dust to see, she got even ore excited about it. She's doing her best to hide it, since she doesn't want to stand out, but sometimes she just has to stop and stare at something. Or get out her phone and take pictures, or scan something more closely.

With this many people around, she's fairly sure there's going to be a fight sometime soon. She recognizes several of those in attendance, more by obscure news reports than by having actually met them, but she's fairly sure that most of them are on the 'hero' side of the divide. And since her invitation came from an alleged villain...

Well, she's keeping Flight and Shield and Life Support on standby, just in case.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    All of the business with Wicked Lady, Wicked Mask, and New Moon has really cut into things Takashi might have tried to do as Best Man; Mamoru's been largely out-of-pocket and the lead up to this wedding has been anything but... standard. And there's a lot more chaos left to go before things get anything near standard. There's a lot of planned chaos coming to add difficulty back into everything.

    But being Best Man is about more than just a fancy title he can use to troll the Shitennou. Riventon takes it actually quite seriously, and despite the fact that things are already going to be a bit of a mess, he's going to do his best to ensure they don't get any worse; that everything goes according to plan. This means neither him nor LaCrima get unduly purified, nothing happens to the safely stored wedding rings, and the Groomsmen are ready to help defend Mamoru. Then, the actual wedding will go off, the reception will go off.

    Riventon is also smart enough to know that with the arrayed talent here; the Shitennou, the Senshi, and all of the other Mahou and how they've chipped in, and the way they regard him? One of the safest things to do is stay out of the way and just ensure nothing interferes with everyone else's plans.

    Also, he's found his way into a white tux as opposed to a labcoat.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
For an event as important as this one, Coco has decided it wasn't enough to come as herself, because this is the union of the heirs of two different kingdoms, and she has by consequence come in her capacity as the ruler of the South Pacific, to give her blessing to their wedding.

Even if Usagi is missing, she has been made aware they are setting a trap for New Moon and Wicked Lady. That is probably connected to rescuing her just in time for this wedding. Though she has no idea how she is going to be ready and dressed for the occasion. Maybe the Disguise Pen, or the other Sailor Senshi ready to work on her at record speed?

Since this is a fight too, she has asked Rihito to stay in another section of her Kingdom, accompanied by a small group of her attendants (it just so happens that these attendants are also prepared to dress a bride just in case something were to go wrong with the above).

She can then have peace of mind that Usagi's special day cannot go wrong, and she passes the time before they trigger the trap mingling with her friends, and mostly having fun, even if she has kept the mission in the back of her mind.

As promised, she has avoided coming in henshin to ease New Moon and Wicked Lady that her starting to sing is not a threat to the two villainesses. She is still ready to transform at a moment's notice, so that shouldn't be much of a hindrance to the plan.

The Princess of Sarek is also here in the background, though most people wouldn't be able to tell, as she is disguised as Princess Serenity and acting as such to any that approach her.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne was sitting, her arms crossed and had... well... While she was in henshin... She'd... even... managed to rig up a little something so her dress had something extra for it. She wasn't, for once. In black. She was in... Pink and yellow.

... In henshin.

God, Usagi, Mamoru, you better respect the sheer amount of LOVE that it took for Hinoiri to WEAR these colors in public for you. She looked like a flamingo wrapped in a banana peel... She felt like it, too. And it... It was not dignified. But for them? She did it. Because to wear black at a wedding, even a moon wedding... well... nope.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    And in a blue and teal dress respectively are Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune; or, more accurately for this occasion, Princesses Uranus and Neptune. They're both in henshin with swapped clothes rather than in a true Princess Form though... that's because 1) everyone else is in henshin and 2) things are going to get messy, before they get clean.

    The two of them are keeping an eye out for interlopers; they're not purifiers and they'd really prefer to not raise their weapons against the Royal Family in any way unless it's an absolutely final resort - but anyone who tries to stop bringing Usagi back down from her Dark Energy Phase so she can attend her own wedding properly is going to feel the strongest of their wrath.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was sitting besides Rashmi, as calm as could be. He'd helped, of course. And he... was... in uniform. It looked similiar to a tuxedo. A TSAB uniform. It had medals, at least. Snazzy. It seemed he was taking this seriously, at least. And it wasn't like he'd be able to remember any of them once the fade hit him. He reached out, placing a hand on Rashmi's to help offer her a calming presence, giving her the gentlest of smiles.

He kept his hands on hers, before turning ahead, ready for what was to come...

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
As everyone gets themselves settled, there's a ripple in space, the unsettling (to most) feeling of Dark Energy filling a space, as the final guests arrive via teleportation. As the mist of darkness clears, everyone will see -

Two people, not three. One, the tall and mature figure of Wicked Lady, the contrast of her candy-floss pink hair and dark dress striking against the white stone, and the other, shorter, her own shoulder-length candy-floss pink largely tucked under a straw hat with a mauve ribbon. She too, is wearing a dress, a gothic number with a flowing skirt to her knees, rather than a fitted one like Wicked Lady's.

There's no third girl, with them. Wicked Lady and New Moon have arrived, but there's no Usagi Tsukino, held captive by her daughter, to stand between them. There's no bride to walk along the path and ascend the steps.

...and yet, before anyone can protest this, New Moon strides forward, eyes shining.

"Thank you all for gathering today, to celebrate the marriage that will bring out our darling Wicked Lady," she begins, her voice carrying through the still air of Capital City, sweet as honey with a poisonous undertone. "You all have worked tirelessly to make this wedding possible, to celebrate your future king and queen and beloved princess, and we're so glad that things can finally begin!"

New Moon turns and gestures for Wicked Lady to walk before her, to take her seat at the throne so obviously placed for her honor, and as she does so, darkness fills her hands, and cascades over her form.

New Moon's straw hat vanishes. Darkness spreads from the crown of her head, down her neck and shoulders, shimmering to the floor, creating a floor-length wedding veil of gossamer fabric, the light from behind her filtering through like a halo. The veil is decorated with silver leaf down the crown of her head towards her shoulders, and filled with celestial imagery - the stars, the sun, and most predominantly, the crescent moon.

She tilts her head back, smiling, and at her words, the veil falls from their eyes, and they can all see who New Moon really is. "Now that this bride is ready, we can go ahead and start. Mamochan - Endymion - you won't mind letting me walk to you this time?"

Whether he minds or not, as Wicked Lady draws closer to her bubblegum pink throne, New Moon begins tro stride down the stone path, towards the split staircase where in another life, the curtain fell on a star-crossed love story. Her eyes are fixed on Endymion, her lips parted in a coy smile.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Strutting down the path with all the confidence in the world, Wicked Lady preens herself as she notices the gathered crowd. This is all for her, really. Sure, it's her parents' wedding, but it's really all about her. They've even given her a throne to sit in, so she can be more special than the rest of the audience. Because she is.

    She fully suspects that there's going to be a trap, or an ambush, or both, but she is as full of confidence as she is of Dark Energy. Whatever these mahoujin can throw at her, she can take, and then she will be the one springing her trap, and it will be the best trap ever.

    Wicked Lady wastes no time in getting to her seat, the special pink throne made just for her. She spins around and sits, and her parasol turns back into Luna-P, who hovers next to Lady as they both turn to watch the ceremony.

    The reveal of New Moon being the awaited bride gets applause and a cheer from Wicked Lady, who has been sitting on this secret the entire time.

    Everything is going according to plan.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Glancing back towards Takashi and his Shitennou, Mamoru gives a sort of jittery smile, but-- good lord is it grateful. And it's so full of affection. He checks beyond them, to where everyone's sitting; he checks in on everyone he can reasonably see... and then his attention falls back on the long white pathway between the enormous ornamental ponds.

They arrive.

There are only two of them, but Mamoru doesn't look surprised. New Moon is stepping forward, is striding forward, and the excitement-- the shine in her eyes-- gets Mamoru thoroughly, and he holds his arms out to her, and

(he glances at Riventon when New Moon says 'future king and queen' and very tiny, very minutely, shakes his head)

he grins. "Look at you," he breathes.

The Veil falls from everyone's eyes and suddenly Mamoru's behavior over the past month makes sense. He still holds his hands out, and by the look on his face, it's almost as if he's actually forgotten there's supposed to be a giant fight.

(Her hair.)

"Usako-- Serenity-- you can walk to me whenever you want," he says with a laugh that's maybe a little damp, just a little, and then Endymion glances up at Kamiko, and Mamoru waits until New Moon in her veil is close enough for everyone to see, and his chin crumples. "But you would do anything Wicked Lady told you, including marry me."

His voice gets louder. "Everyone, go!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Gasp! New Moon is actually... *Sailor Moon?!*

Shut the front door!

The problem is, Rashmi is a terrible liar, so all she can do is hope that her gasp of 'absolute shock you guys who could have seen this coming' is overwritten by much louder, much more genuine surprise-and-alarm from among the rest of the party.

Because she would really, really hate to have her fake surprise be the only one that registers.

But the trap hasn't been sprund yet so all the Meister can do is stay in her seat, take Chrono's hand, and maybe believe in his gentle, reassuring game face.

At which point Mamoru -- *Endymion* -- gives the go sign, and it's her turn to set the stage.

    << *BONG!* >> << TIME-SPACE BARRIER >>

While Rashmi's yellow-on-black, staticky Barrier will not cover the *whole* of the Mare... It will *definitely* be enough to ensure that the true Palace doesn't come to harm, nor the Black Moon Clan enter without putting more force into it than they would assume they needed.

And it will be enough for all of her friends to *absolutely cut loose.*

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru was, also, in a cute little dress. Between the other two princesses and... keeping an eye out for trouble. The glaive wasn't out, but she could feel it still. Stored away... But... she didn't think she'd bring it. Even though she had it stored away, technically... the idea of bringing it out... against... Her ruler? Oh... no...

And the moment they appeared? She let out a soft little gasp, a hand moving to her heart, but didn't say anything.

Nope. Even if she had the glaive... she... couldn't... attack. Not her. Not... like this... Never... them...

But she tensed up... it... was almost game time. She readied to follow the rest of the senshi, her glaive staying in storage, however. For now? Fists alone would be her weapon.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka and Kamiko are wearing the same tense smile as they watch the arrival of New Moon and Wicked Lady. Homura is next to them, giving the procession a blank 'really...?' look. That almost glare doesn't really go away when it's revealed who New Moon is, but both Kamiko and Madoka's eyes widen a lot.

    'Everyone, go!'

    The signal is given. Homura is already in henshin, but Madoka is not. The mechanism in her shield clinks and turns, and within an instant Kamiko vanishes and there are suddenly a whole lot of Hope Blossoms in the audience.

    Which in turn means that there are a whole lot of arrows in the air, arcing down to converge upon New Moon. It's a really good thing there's a barrier up.

    Homura, meanwhile, is making a note of New Moon's identity in case this comes up in a future timeloop.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Rashmi's Time-Space Barrier almost clips the top of Koji's head by a few feet as he stands on a single Shield looking down on the festivities, and is still 'settling in' with his partner.

Instead of making his entrance now, he sweeps one hand out, and points an armored and fingerless glove towards New Moon, the round gem on the back circling a gleam that seems to echo in his own teal-like eyes, "Full Scan, Shin Hanzo."

    << SCAN - FOCUSED TARGET. INITIATING. >>

    "Isolate the connection of the Dark Energy to her Soul Gem."

    << YES, BOSS. >>

Since he'll be fashionably late, he may as well make a splashy entrance...

Catra has posed:
Funny enough, Catra actually didn't know that New Moon actually is Sailor Moon because nobody told her, so she was here with the understanding that, in fact, New Moon was evil and the Moon Princess was in another castle.

Also it's getting hard to keep track of who's a princss around here these days. It almost seems like everone is. EVERYONE EXCEPT HER because no matter how good the Spirit Ember is having a sparkly rock does not make you a princess and that's final.

While Rashmi is giving a gasp of surprise -- even if it's a fake one -- Catra doesn't, in spite of the fact that she actully is surprised. Never show weakness, afterall. (Which is why the leg braces are UNDER her trousers and not overtop of them.)

But! Everyone, Go! has been said, so the feline springs up out of her chair, and flames spread across her body; the white tuxedo she's wearing is replaced by a black one with flames and brass accoutrements, and she draws Powersend (might as well enjoy using it while she still can afterall, it's a really good sword). Bright yellow flames dance across her body while blue flames wreath her sword and she's off, seeking a decent vantage point -- but waiting for someone else to open fire first, as it were.

She's had enough of New Moon's direct ire already.

Zoisite has posed:
Zoisite wished he could stand next to Kunzite in this moment. He knew he would when it was all said and done, but his thoughts kept floating back to his boyfriend like it were an anchor, while her blue eyes remained on Mamoru. Steady, as he knew Usagi's would be. An eternal love that the deepest atrocities the universe could make up would not be able to erase.

Even when New Moon arrived with the twist revelation, that gaze remained firm on the prince. Every step taken by the princess taken over by dark energy, his heart beat quickened a millisecond, like the ticking of a clock.

Waiting. Waiting.

Until Prince Endymion's voice boomed for action.

Besides the throne itself in that hideous bubblegum pink that, in his opinion and general love for the color, admittedly clashed with the rest of the wedding--he knew not much of the specifics of the trap itself. Then again, it was not of Zoisite's business to know this time around besides when he was expected to act as Sailor Moon.

The moment the urgent tone rang out, she leapt high, perching herself at the main flight of stairs towards the altar and at a still safe distance from the main trap and New Moon.

No point in attacking now, the purifiers would need to to their job first. If there is any resistance, then she'd act.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    For now, Riventon's done his part as Best Man - namely, playing his part and not letting on that anything was amiss as best he can - and so a Midchildan circle opens up underneath him and he casts a spell himself - but in this case it's Blitz Action - but not to attack. Instead it's to get over near LaCrima and get himself and her out of the way of the purification factory that this place is likely about to be, since for both of them, purification is not cleansing, but actively harmful to continued operation of their Dark-Energy admixtured bodies. He'll find a nice corner of the space to keep safe in. Hopefully it all works out. If not... well.. he hopes it doesn't come to anything like that.

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite manifests an ice shield as he hangs back with the others. He cannot purify, after all, only attack and protect. His powers will do no good until there is something to defend against; he must wait until New Moon and Wicked Lady strike to know where to send his shields, to protect without blocking the many purifiers here. He stands at the ready, tense as a taut string, to begin throwing out his defenses when the time comes.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Endymion gives the cue, and Rashmi's Barrier goes up. It's all that Wako was waitingfor.

"Showtime, Wawna," she says as she pops up from her seat. "Apprivoiser!"

In a flurry of glittering pink light, she transforms, her fancy gold-and-ivory dress giving way to Ginga Otome's white-and-gold military bling. Without hesitation, she throws out both hands and a sphere of pale pink radiance forms around New Moon, growing brighter and brighter with each passing instant as she pours all her drive into it.

Nephrite has posed:
Finally. Finally. Nephrite lets go of a held breath-- it's time to set things right.

It's taken him some time and no shortage of mystical cost to set up, but the scene is set with many illusions that he can use to the benefit of all this-- not just fragile wedding decor and food and the floral drapery and finish of the pink throne. Also a few distractions, if needed, like the reflections of a funhouse mirror to confuse and disorient where certain purifiers are.

The harder he can make it for New Moon to hit them, the better.

Gloved hands rise, and the gesture sets the effect, doubling up images around the main Purifiers.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The two guests of honour show up as expected, even as they bring with themselves that uncomfortable feeling of wrongness the dark energy causes that comes crawling down Coco's back. They still don't have Usagi with them, but she tries not to focus too much on that, as much as her worry allows it.

Her face scrunches when she notices the silver moon insignia on New Moon, and she has to suppress the irritation that comes with someone from Black Moon using the colours of the Silver Millennium. Instead she respectfully bows her head at their passage, trying not to make it too obvious her eyes are darting towards Endymion in wait.

And then the signal comes, at about the same time as the reveal that New Moon is Usagi, one she has no time to react to, as shocking as it is, and one she throws at the back of her mind for later.

Curving her hands in a vague x-shape around her shell locket, yellow light radiates in the now empty cafè, and a kaleidoscope of colour raises to cover Coco's form. "Yellow Pearl Voice!" Said rainbow energy fades away to reveal her Idol clothes, and the her pearl gleams and expands, settling comfily into her hand as her trusty E-Pitch microphone, its blue shape, the yellow jewel nestled safely in the head's center. "Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"

The rainbow wind blows at a far off coast
Before dawn, there was a melody I heard
It's a very nostalgic song

The birds that fly towards the eastern sky
now escape to the treasure island using this shortcut.

Where the paradise of the seven seas lies
After the stormy night, to tell you my love I will be born again
Even if there comes a day where everyone...
is to journey away from here, as long as we sing the melody of the seven countries
I'll never forget.

Joyful feelings bloom in the air by the song of Legend of Mermaid, and dark energy will have to account for the hurtful purification that comes with them, just as a Live Stage, identical to the one Coco is inside, yet different in purpose, wraps itself around New Moon/the Bride/Usagi, and tries to keep her captive.

Amanda Faust has posed:
Waiting. Since she's already henshined, Amy reaches into one of her outfit's pouches to feel the grief seed -- what's left of Melone -- that will be her reserve power if the fight takes everything she has, fingers fidgeting with it nervously.

    So many people in the crowd. So many of her friends and allies, and even Riventon is here. And there's Usagi transformed into Princess Serenity, and-- wait.

    There's Sailor Moon.

    There's Princess Serenity.

    Amy double-takes between them, and wonders why they need a body double at her own wedding. Wicked Lady wants this wedding to happen too, after all!

    

    Wait, there's Usagi Tsukino!

    Of course, if they did have to run some sort of shell game, then even better would be to have all of the Usagis be fake while the real one is not here or invisible or disguised as someone else, but... why? Amy can't think of a reason. She trusts there's some sort of plan, though. And stuff she Does Not Need To Know because she's so terrible at lying. But she can't help wondering.

    Izou Saito-san is curiously absent from the Shitennou, too. And there's Tamaki-san. Amy wonders how awkward it will be for them if New Moon does turn out to be one of their reincarnations and not one of the Senshis' future selves.

    Venus and Veronica are missing too. Three people who can pretend to be Usagi... but where is the real one? Amy wonders if she's waiting nearby, invisibly due to some magic Amy doesn't know about, having to see three of herself. That must be so weird.

    Amy can feel them arrive, and looks expectantly over at... Wicked Lady and New Moon.

    So she's right. Usagi was already here. But why?

    New Moon makes announcements. She and Wicked Lady don't seem surprised there are three Sailors Moon. What is going o--

    The veil drops, and so does Amy's jaw. "YOU WERE--!" she points, and then shuts up, because, wedding.


TWait.

    Wait.

    What?

    Wait.

    What?!




    She does look wonderful, though. What a cool veil. Amy didn't know you could have nonstandard ones. If she ever gets married she'll have to consider-- WAIT WHAT?! What kind of thought was-- Her, a bride? --But-- Well it would-- and a storm of thoughts collide all trying to fit in her brain at once until they're all sideswiped by another realization: Oh no, Usagi's hair was cut... but... it grows when she's Princess Serenity, right?

    And then Endymion says go and there's a barrier and arrows in the air and the throne is trapped so...

    Wait for it...

    Wait for it...

    When she feels the power of Yellow Pearl's Voice, Amy stands up and points and just like she used on Seriss and Argus, several artillery canons appear in the air over her like one of Mami's attacks and ripple-fire APFSDS rounds before poofing away in pink sparkles. The Boom Gun didn't work before, but 'hitting people with big metal darts really hard ' has worked well on shields in the past so maybe it'll work on New Moon's defenses! It's worth a shot!

    It's worth a lot of shots! No point in opening with a weak attack this time... They've got to hit her with overwhelming force so she can be purified... With Yellow Pearl Voice and Hope Blossom here, hopefully her Soul Gem will last.

    "CONGRATULATIONS BY THE WAY!" the Puella Magi shouts to her friend. "SORRY ABOUT THIS!"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    And with everyone focusing on cleansing New Moon or preparing to hold back and attempt the same with Wicked Lady, the Outer Senshi focus on trying to sense any threat that tries to enter into the barrier Rashmi's created, either by stealth or force; if all goes according to plan they should have nothing to do, but they're also keeping an eye on the goings-on. The last time they were soley focused on external threats didn't go so well, and they're not keen to do that one again.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kunzite steps sideways out of Riventon's way, then back into his wake - putting himself in the path of anything that New Moon might do if she gets irritated with the best man's vanishing from Endymion's side. Best if Riventon isn't slowed down right now. Kunzite's own hands move, but not to attack, and not to back up Jadeite's ice shields. "Reinforcement Focus!" - and his own shields flow their shadowy way up the far side of Ginga Otome's pale pink sphere abd Yellow Pearl Voice's Live Stage. Ready to back up purifiers and other attacks - by catching the overflow of their energies and reflecting them back toward New Moon.

Reinforcing them, with that purification. And, in a very real way, reinforcing her.

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
The Knight of Dawn was ready for a fight, ready for just about anything. She thought.

Somebody didn't get the briefing. But it's pretty clear what's happening.

Her best part in all of this is simple. She doesn't do 'purification', she can barely do healing, and it's obvious enough that no one wants to actually *blow up* the soon-to-be Happy Couple.

So she just sprints down to the front and throws up her Lancer's shield. "Best radius possible, Argent Dawn!"

<<Affirmative, Master!>>

The octagonal shield expands outwards from her left hand, spreading wide to cover as many of the guests as possible, trying to protect them from any attacks that might come their way from Wicked Lady or anyone else in that general area.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Mamochan," New Moon calls, as Rashmi's barrier unfolds and everyone starts fanning out and preparing to rush her, "Treachery is not cute."

She's still on the stone path, just at the foot of the steps, and thought it's wide enough for five people to stride across side-by-side, there's only so much space for a fight, especially with the pond to either side just behind her.

It makes it harder for people to swarm at her, but it also would theoretically make it harder for her to dodge about -

Except that, as she leaps into the air, veil trailing behind her, silver stars and leaves and crescent moons shining in the light, she floats. Right. Dark Generals so often have the gift of flight.

This is helpful for her, as arrows begin to rain down from on high as Hope Concept blurs into many Hope Blossoms, and Amy begins firing off many armor piercing finned rounds her way - New Moon dodges, sweeping across the pond in her veil like the brilliant figure skater the princess once was, rounds striking the waters behind her, zigzagging this way, that way, and calling to Mamoru -

"You know, we were going to set a trap too. Preempting your bride isn't the best way to start a marriage!"

She might have continued talking, but her flight is cut short, as a pale pink bubble unfolds around her, like the blooming of a flower, quickly followed by a pale Live Stage - and the rest of the arrows and rounds that would have tried to hit her, instead strike the two layers of 'protection' her friends have so kindly offered.

"Oh, you're going to try and hamster ball me? Aw, that's cute! Wako-chan, do you remember the time I came to you for that... I was sooo silly! Thinking it was wrong to hate Koan the way I did! Well, when this is over, you'll all help me get rid of the rest of them for our Lady!"

There's no more need for secrets - they are on the Moon, in a barrier, and this fight ends with either her Lady's victory or her Lady's defeat, and she cannot believe the latter will occur.

Which is why she brings her hands together, filling them with darkness, even as the singing starts and the air becomes tinged with purification, hope, joy, all those positive emotions...

(And those scanning will sense that it is working - New Moon's Dark Energy level begins to very, very slowly decrease, under that effect -)

And her dark power strengthens, and New Moon throws back her head and laughs.



Her Lady calls for her to do the needful.

The bubbles, powerful though they are, backed by two very strong defenders -

S H A T T E R.

Shards of light and magic go flying, and New Moon throws the ball of dark energy towards the gathered audience of fighters, crying out the name of her attack as it explodes in a concussive wave of dark force.

"Moon Sunder Eclipse!" R
The trap put in place for Wicked Lady activates the moment she's in her bubblegum pink throne, sanctified water from the Hino Shrine bursting from various points along the carefully 3D-Printed throne, and controlled by Sailor Mercury herself. There's a piercing light, and pyramid dueling barrier that the Crystal Knight Aloisia is so fond of utilizing is released, putting up a wall around all those who have chosen to delay Wicked Lady from joining the battle on her favorite minion - her brainwashed mother.

There's no chance that they'll hold her forever, but Wicked Lady now has much to keep her busy while the attack on New Moon wears on.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    As expected, Wicked Lady is ambushed.

    ... Though she may have underestimated just how fiercely the mahou are piling on top of her. Behind the barrier, and the water, and the combined efforts to keep her pinned down, Wicked Lady sits unamused. She snaps her fingers and turns Luna-P back into a parasol, and then she drives the tip into the barrier while the umbrella spins like a drill.

    Above all the noise being made around and by her, she shouts, "New Moon! Do the needful!"

    ... that might be a bad omen by this point.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As New Moon is bubbled up, Rashmi pts Chrono's hand, then rises from the seated audience to take her preferred position; above the chaos, where she can find the patterns in movement and the dance of action/reaction/counteraction. This is, however, an *incredibly* chaotic moment, with multiple dozen mahou all arrayed against two. One, if you count Wicked Lady as out of the fight, which no one sane *does* in this moment. But the two are not Kaiju, are not Beryls, and the only thing that towers above them all is the aura of their Dark Energy.

And when New Moon, perhaps inevitably breaks free of her bubble, the *wave* of compressed, corrosive energy sets Rashmi back a good dozen meters. Pausing a moment to catch her breath, Rashmi swoops back down into place, slotting a module onto Nicomachea's inner cover as a spell-seal spreads out under her feet.

    << *BONG!* >> << BIND INDEX: SOLAR BARRAGE >>

Barret after Barret after Barret streaks towards New Moon, each one carrying the payload of a golden Bind, a circle of energy that clamps around where contact was made, locking it in space.

Will they hold? Very probably not. Will they give her a moment's pause? Maybe, and that might be all her fellow mahou need.

It'll definitely be easier to *get* that moment if she has to contend with five seconds of machinegun's worth of binding spells.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    It's the first big attack from this particular Dark General that Madokas and Homura have seen, and none of them know what to expect. Homura holds up her shield as the concussive force slams into the purple barrier that forms around her, protecting her from the force while also tainting her Soul Gem. Some of the Madokas hide behind Homura, but she can't protect all of them, and the Dokas who were too far away get launched tumbling or spinning through the air.

    Though from overhead, an ethereal voice calls out, "I'm not going to let you remain like this, Usagi-chan." Who is that from? It's Hope Concept! Where is she? Well, she's perfectly visible as long as you're willing to look in a direction that doesn't exist in 3D space.

    It's from this impossible angle that she calls out, "Negative Heart: Lock On! OPEN HEART!" as a beam of heart shapes gets launched at New Moon. If that beam misses, another comes out, and then another, and if it ever lands then New Moon gets blasted with purifying rainbow magic.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Ginga Otome's expression is set with fierce, focused determination. She knows exactly how strong Usagi is, and trying to purify New Moon right off the bat, without any wearing down of the Dark Energy that empowers her, won't be easy. It's one of the reasons she's left the Barrier to Rashmi rather than even trying to invoke Zero Time: absolutely all of her concentration is devoted to maintaining that single shield around New Moon, to flooding it with purification.

New Moon shatters it like it's a glass Christmas ornament.

Ginga Otome's startled cry is echoed by the illusory doubles around her, but there's no time to stay on the back foot. With a breathless call of "Aurore Australe!" she flings a wave of rose-pink energy outward to meet the wave of Dark Energy, breaking it enough to - hopefully - spare at least some of the assembled mahoujin.

Then she rises into the air, focusing in once more on New Moon. Flying or not, Wako's doing her best to catch her in another one of those purifying pink bubbles.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"The brainwashing is a bad look too, bunnygirl," Endymion calls over the eruptions of power. "But don't worry! Once this is over, we can all help you and Wicked Lady get rid of the rest of the Black Moon Clan and fight a planet! We need your endless light of hope for that, not your desperate sickness-- but I'm here for you, Usako. Just like you were there for Hematite at the Soryuu Shrine!"

She throws out a vast wave of concussive force and darkness, and Mamoru lifts his cape as he holds on to the closest architecture. Such is the force that it manages to tear his magic shield, tattering the hem of his cape and impacting him through his armor with bruising energy.

"Sorry that was a little mean but I think it fits! It's for a good reason and you can carry a grudge over it for a while afterwards despite knowing it was for the best!"

He has no purification. That's her job. He doesn't-- his hand opens and closes. It doesn't glow. He's on the moon on the steps of the restored palace, this was on purpose, he's close to where he died, this was on purpose. They are cleansing the future and the past with today. He needs to participate more actively.

He can't hurt her. He can't hurt her here of all places. What was he thinking?

"But for real -- this is your wedding and you've been letting a five-year-old CO-OPT IT! I love her too, but I also still have free will and her birthday isn't until next week!"

Catra has posed:
And there it is. Wicked Lady is bubbled up and out of the fight at least for the moment, and everyone is attacking. People who can purify are doing just that; but Catra is not one of those people. She doesn't purify things. She just wrecks them and renders them incapable of fighting back (or of being anything other than a little pile of ash).

(Or at least that's how she likes to think about it. She's not nearly that strong with the Spirit Ember. ...Yet.)

Instead, she splits off a pair of illusory doubles -- Riventon might note that she's not doing it with dark energy anymore -- and forms a simple blade of searing, solidified blue flame, that she tosses to one of them.. As the double catches the weapon they both dash off, leaving Catra standing where she is, a slightly safer distance away.

Honestly this is what she should have done the other day when she decided to be sassy and give New Moon a surprise haircut.

The illsuory doubles rush forwards with the sword, trailing flame behind them as the first attacks, slashing with the weapon, before tossing it to the other double who repeats the motion. One of them parkours up the front of the palace, tossing the weapon to the other one who slashes with it, tossing it up to the one on the wall who jumps, attacking with it from above.

All while Catra, for the moment, stays a nice, safe(ish) distance away.

Zoisite has posed:
No shield to keep her safe, as she was meant to stand alone and strong in this endeavor--even stepping in front of Prince Endymion to shield him from a portion of the brunt of the blast that came forth.

But Zoisite wasn't a Dark General anymore, and all he could do was take it as Sailor Moon. Arms lifted up to her face, eyes squinting as she planted her feet to the step she was on.

It worried her that the bubbled was shattered. It worried her that all of these efforts seemed to make her stronger. It worried her that there was a possibility of losing, when one of the strongest purifiers was indeed tainted with dark energy, and there might be something missing in all of this. It worried him that he wasn't around to get as much information as he could about New Moon.

No. This would work. There was no other choice than it having to. Blue eyes kept glued to the bride.

Koji Silvia has posed:
From his vantage point well above the fight, the mahou known as Hanzo (at least publically) looks over the data being sent to him, showing the relative levels of Dark Energy in play, and where and how it seems to be infusing his friend.

    "Ready?"

    << GHOST BLADE - DISRUPTOR SLASH. >>

In the left hand of the gloves on Koji's updated Device and new Barrier Jacket, a bar of light appears, white in the center, almost space-black next to that, and then surrounded in ghostly blue light, as it reshapes into a katana-like blade of pure energy.

Next, there is a sudden wind that picks up from nowhere around him, causing the new ponytail and scarf to flutter, the tip around the scarf suddenly wicking off power like a torch caught in a gust.

    << FLASH STEP. READY ON YOUR SIGNAL, BOSS >>

His image blurs behind him into two after-images, and then he seems to be just GONE...

...only to reappear skid-stopping along the surface of the pond, sending sprays of water in both directions, a Shield appearing just under his feet at the end of it to keep him from sinking down. A half of a half-second later the air in front of New Moon's eyes flashes with that same ghost-blue light as a line follows Hanzo's path... the line crossing right over the Black Moon Clan Mark on her forehead.

    "Sorry I'm late... the new suit is taking some getting used to. If this was Call of Duty, you'd be seeing your respawn screen, Usa. SLOPPY."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    DODGED. Amy suddenly wonders if Moon let Amy's shots hit her, the other day, to make a point.

    If so, then dodging means her attacks do matter now.

    Fortunately, those flechettes have thrusters and turn upward as they soar into the distance.

    The grief seed is already in her hand, and she clutches it to her chest, leeching the darkness from her soul gem a quarter-corrupted and dropping as magic cheats to turn projectiles faster than their structure allows.

    Treachery is not cute? "I dunno, seems like a lot of people go for yandere these days, but this isn't treachery, we're helping you! We've seen how sick Dark Energy makes you, and now we know why!"

    As she speaks, she fires smaller attacks to keep the pressure up while her mental magic focus is elsewhere, shoulder-launcher-size tubes conjuring in the air, firing anti-tank rockets, and disappearing again in sequence from right-to-left over her head-- or they start to, but after a shot or two she realizes forcefields -- her side's forcefields -- are blocking her attacks. Uh?

MOON SUNDER ECLIPSE!

    It's like a repeat of the fight she just had with Seriss. Amy calls her launcher to her shoulder and shifts her stance-- right into a chair, tripping before she can rocket-jump, the concussive rocket careening down the row (at least it's configured for all knockback force and minimal damaging shockwave) as Moon Sunder Eclipse detonates and a smoking Amy is flung into a wall.

    Again.

    She almost cannot believe that just happened. Thank Madokami for the ability to turn off pain.

    She's scarcely fallen to the floor before her soul gem ticks down slightly as internal bleeding is slowed, outer skin layer regenerated, her tattered dress replaced with her usual henshin, shining and untarnished.

    She stands, unsteadily, aiming her launcher at New Moon, and she does fire a regular anti-tank homing missile -- but her real focus is on the kinetic penetrators she fired earlier, which have swung around to come at New Moon again from the sides!

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
The good news: Kunzite's shield was only partial. Therefore the force that shatters the other shields sends the hemisphere flying; he can dissolve it himself rather than collecting backl--

oh no.

He shifts to fling his cape up as well, deflecting more of the dark energy away from Sailor Moon and Endymion - covering them both, as he does whenever he can manage. He doesn't have architecture to hold onto. The impact drives him to his knees; the tracery of smoke trails might be coming from his cape, or from his hair.

"I think you're right on time," he calls back to Hanzo, taking a moment to climb to his feet. "We need the help inquiring why Mamoru's Usako is voluntarily doing the homework she's being given." By Wicked Lady.

Nephrite has posed:
Endymion talking sense into New Moon was an important part of this process, and Nephrite wasn't about to let him get swept up in the chaos-- sapphire eyes caught the hesitance, the flex of hands. He understood.

With a strong arm, he lets the remaining illusions continue to offer some confusion around the purifiers and pulls Endymion to him. Nephrite can fly, and he does. Plucking Endymion clear to hover above and slightly more out of the lines of fire and energies being thrown about or deflected by Kunzite.

"I'll do it," he says to him as they hover, "Lend to me." A gloved hand levels towards New Moon's general direction and gathers its own glow.

Jadeite has posed:
Yeppp. That's Usagi, alright. She won't half-ass anything that has to do with Mamoru or romance! That includes trying to wreck everyone!

As New Moon shatters the magic heading her way, Jadeite throws his shields into the air to stop some of them in their tracks, slowing down or blunting many of the shards -

BUt more of his shields shatter, and he has to duck out of the way as a few major ice shards fly at him.

As he rolls back to his feet, he pulls up more shields to send rotating around the groomsmen and Mamoru (and Zoi-Moon).

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Well, she couldn't have expected the shield to work right away, now when New Moon is at her freshest. It's a good thing the trap for Wicked Lady is holding and they don't have to focus on two dark generals at once, but it's a shame that even if her Live Stage let the attacks through, they still couldn't reach New Moon.

Nonetheless, the South Pacific princess gives a smile to Kunzite for his help. She could feel the effect his power had on her magic, and it was still a substantial aid.

Clouds slowly float away, vanishing away as they aim for the rainbow's end
And then the stars, like pearls
can start releasing a powerful, wondrous light.

From the southern sky, a whistling sound could be heard
Yes, this is the time that's finally come, the time for me to become an adult.

While embracing the kind mother's wishes in her heart
She wished that everyone would journey on a miracle-filled adventure
With overflowing tears and prayers, I just don't know anymore
But there still remains a fantasy of a night where stars fall for the shining future!

Her song continues undeterred, sapping the darkness and improving on morale and lessening fatigue (or reducing the darkening of Soul Gem for those that happen to have one), and at the sphere of dark energy New Moon throws at them, Coco makes the Live Stage surrounding her push back against the explosion.

Outside of it, she can feel the pressure of the violent energy tearing through her defense, and when it is done, she is struck by it, albeit lessened enough by her resistance and purification that she doesn't get hurt in a imponent way. Just a few bruises, she can deal with them.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Breaking those bubbles looked effortless, but trust New Moon (hahaha), it felt very effortful, her dark energy swarmed up and out even as she focused an enormous amount into her hands for that concussive burst -

It's just that she's being purified, constantly, and that means all her sickness that folds down isn't weighing her down, isn't tearing at her throat and begging her to vomit, like she had the day she tore Catra a new one by breaking her bones. Dark Energy is hate and anger and envy and everything dark. Usagi Tsukino was full of love when she fell under Wicked Lady's spell, but she's had plenty to hate in the weeks under that power, living in the home of her enemy, walking the halls of the dead, sleeping in their beds and knowing what they did, staring down Demande from afar and knowing what's wanted -

So the purification sears away the brunt of her dark energy, that makes her sick, that makes her want to burst. And the hate and anger and resentment is free to flow out without her own allergy to its power holding her back.

Which means that when Amy's anti-tank missile comes for her, she shrieks, not with fear but intent, and her dark Sonic Scream causes the payload to explode in mid-air.

Good thing that wasn't the actual strike, huh? New Moon is caught by surprise as the three attacks strike home - Catra's flaming swords, tossed between two copies, Amy's surprise kinetic penetrators, and Koji's flash-step strike to the head -

There's smoke and there's water, as New Moon sinks below the pond under the combined attacks -

And then she appears in the air over Koji, the Twisted Heart Spiral Rod in hand, ready to punch his clock, as blood spills down her face. The Black Moon Crescent on her forehead has been split down the middle, and it's a shallow wound but it bleeds heavily - headwounds always do.

Her eyes are black with rage, her veil is waterlogged, and burnt on one edge from the fire, and there's faint bruising developing from the combined strikes hitting, but the rod is coming down -

Bind Index! Solar Barrage!

It only holds for a bare few seconds. Koji only needs a bare few seconds to escape, and then Madoka's voice is in her ear, and she laughs, her voice sweet, "Am I a Witch too, Madoka-chan?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
A beam of heart shapes strikes, one after another, after another, in those seconds that New Moon's held still, and she laughs, and the blood pours down her face like tears.

Ginga Otome's light flies out, purifying those flooded with darkness by New Moon's attack in the same instant they can be darkened, ensuring there is no loss to their numbers.

That seems to tick New Moon off almost as much as the reference to their dogpile on Hematite does, and she breaks free of the binds, throwing herself into a whirling spin as mauve hearts, split in two, cracked, and bearing straw hats, pop into being all around her.

"That is neither here nor there Mamoru! Their stupid plan was going to destroy a city! Our brilliant plan is just going to brainwash you all a little."

She gestures with her fingers, pinching them almost completely together, just a tiny gap left.

"Just a little! You won't even notice, just like I barely notice! It's better this way! She's HAPPIER this way!" Her voice breaks, and an enormous heart, spinning, finally crystalizes into being and flies free, smashing through the marble stone that covers the landing, at the entrance to the Moon Palace. Stone rains down on everyone still under that covering, still standing or seated near where the wedding was to take place.

"Twisted Heart Spiral!"

It's a very, very good thing for the barrier.

"We can keep her! It's what she wants! It's what you want! It's what you've wanted the whole time, to keep her with us, where we can make her happy, and all you have to do is stop fighting us!"

It is perfect timing that this is when Ginga Otome's next bubble catches her, keeping her still as she listens to Coco's song of the future, the time to finally become an adult and a kind mother's wishes - oh perhaps that strikes close to the heart.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"You're our *friend,* Usachan!" Rashmi calls from above. "You're our friend and we love you and we're terrified for you and we *need* you! Look at everything we have to do *just to get you to stop for five seconds!* HOW ARE WE GONNA HELP CHIBIUSA-TAN WITHOUT YOU?!"

Chibiusa-tan. *Not* Wicked Lady. Rashmi had *said* she wants to safeguard her smile... She just didn't say *which* side of Wicked Lady she wanted happy.

    << *BONG!* >> << EXA ACCEL -- BOOST UP >>

Half a dozen Boosts, the most that Rashmi can throw unaided, streak out to those who most need a moment's mobility; Shin Hanzo, King Endymion, Catra, Hope Blossom, Rocket Red, and Jadeite.

*All of them* find themselves with a dramatic ability to *move,* for the space of a few moments. For defensive or offensive purposes, that mobility will probably be very very important.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Now.

Wako can't hesitate - the shield is, in its own way, a double-edged sword, and one way or another she can't hold it in place for too long.

The Y-shaped mark flares bright dawn-pink on her chest. "Illuminating the stage!" she calls out. "Ginga Otome Wawna. APPRIVOISE!"

Light bursts from around her, phantom armor taking shape in translucent white and gold light, floating piles creating a 'skirt' around her, the glowing golden twin-tails and celestial raiment arc unfurling about her head and shoulders.

"Nobody's happier like this, Usagi-chan!" she retorts as the pink sphere around New Moon coruscates with brilliant dawn-colored light. "Not me, not Mamoru-san, not Chibiusa-chan... and especially not you!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "What is a Witch if not a friend who fell? You're one that I can help bring back up," responds Hope Concept, in a voice full of sweetness and sincerity. Truly, for Usagi, there's nothing in Madoka's heart but love and kinship for a fellow magical girl. There's no sarcasm in her voice or intent when she says, "We're doing this because we care about you."

    Simple finishers aren't enough, but it's important to keep the Dark General pinned down, and Hope Concept can still manifest parts of her Labyrinth without actually being in it. Frilly white and pink portals open briefly, leaving behind flat, wide winged Familiars that serve as platforms, floating just above the pond. The Madoka ghost army leaps onto these ledges in order to get closer to the action, and once close they communally call out, "Hope Garden!" as they summon a whole lot of branch bows that weave around each other and try to wrap around New Moon, attempting to keep her trapped.

    And for good measure, Hope Concept keeps firing her rainbow light purifying magic at New Moon.

    Homura seems to be sitting out, or rather... Actually, she's watching. Waiting for a moment when her power is needed.

Catra has posed:
Ordinarily, Catra is extremely agile in ways that most people can only dream of. Ordinarily.

When she gets her agility boosted by Rashmi she becomes something else and this is absolutely too good to waste.

Fhe feline lets her doubles continue attacking New Moon while she dashes forwards herself; and where other people might be surrounded by falling rocks, Catra is surrounded by a rapidly collapsing staircase. Gritting her teeth as her knees demonstrate that they're not quite a hundred percent yet, she jumps, landing on one rock and leaping off it to the next, bouncing from one falling chunk of palace to the next and gaining altitude as she goes.

And when she runs out of rocks, she summons solidied disks of fire in the air like a big burning lillypads and keeps going, leaping from one to the next as she forms them and lets them dissipate, all while the fire surrounding Powersend grows in intensity and makes the blade itself look almost fit to go molten.

Rashmi is talking about friendship and wanting to save Usagi, but Catra has something else on her mind.

Just the same, she keeps the comment about 'Catra's Barber Shop open for business' to herself as she gets close enough to strike; her double tosses the fire blade back to her and she catches it with her free hand, leaping through the air and slashing at New Moon with both weapons, then lets herself tumble back to the ground while her doubles cover her retreat with flaming claws.

Koji Silvia has posed:
"Thanks, Kunzite!", Hanzo says as he MOVES, each running step along the water covered by a small hex-Shield barely the size of a tea-cup, vanishing as soon as they appear as he charges up and under where New Moon and the bubble are, evading the rain of rocks leaving heavy splashes in his wake. Mere feet from being exactly under where she currently is, a larger and glowing shield appears for a Kinetic Boost.

    << PHANTOM - SHIFT. >>

Not one, but four Hanzos in that new jacket are shot into the air, enhanced by Rashmi's boost, and each one of them has a trigram-in-Circle Spell pointing at New Moon from the pole points!

Now... will the Real Shin Hanzo please stand up?

There is he, about twenty feet above Usagi, and aiming his literal body-throw flight towards Rashmi. Turning, he presses his hands together as his eyes close for a moment, and first one... then two... then a third Circle appears in front of it.

Hands come back and he goes through Mudra, hands out, then in and fingers entwined, followed by fingers pressed together and pointing upwards... and finally pointed at Usagi.

    "Of course that makes sense to you right now. Of course you are saying what you'd say to any baddie you square off with. But listen to your own words. Really listen. Not to just what you're saying. Who's saying it. Listen to what's WRONG."

But in the meantime...

    << DISRUPTOR CANNON. >>

And a bottle-thin blast of magic flies out, focused in to a shot that if it hits will not attack the person... but the well of Dark Magic artificially attached to her, and growing stronger, to act like acid to burn at the strings connected here and there, to give the purification a better chance to work.

To Rashmi, he sends directly, <<Catch me if you can, Pagemage.>>

Yuki Hoshino has posed:
Yuki's shield gets broken with everyone else's, by New Moon's blast. Hurling her back to roughly where she was originally seated. Leaving a trail of scuff marks on the floor as she bounces along.

It takes her a few moments to pick herself up and shake off the impact of the blast. She eventually stands, warily, ducking behind cover (okay, a chair isn't a lot of cover) to take in the situation.

Recasting her shield, she stands up straight, letting others handle the blasting and purifying as she walks closer to the thrones.

"Look, Pinky. Much as I still think the look is cool... he loves you. You love him. You're here to *marry* him. Try *listening* to him, just for a minute? I mean, think about it, you're committing to a life together. Make it count."

It is, without doubt, the longest string of words *anyone* in Tokyo has heard her say.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kunzite's shield bubbles out again, deflecting falling stone just enough to let it slide down the outside curve, building up in a low wall around it. Protecting anyone he can reach who was still under the area that Moon just hit. Himself included.

"This isn't what she wants!" Kunzite calls back to New Moon. "It's not what you want - or she wouldn't have had to brainwash you! It's not what she wants - it's what she's been tricked into settling for! We want her to be happy - and that means we want both of you to be able to go home!"

And as the those last words are spoken, he lifts his hands, intersecting; a beam of light (of course it's pink, everything here is pink, isn't it?) springs out from them. Not aimed for New Moon.

Aimed for the Twisted Spiral Heart Rod.

Maybe they can get it to untwist.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Shielded, and shielded, and shielded again -- Endymion would still be the safest person here even if he weren't in henshin. And then Neph bodily hauls him up and makes his suggestion, and Mamoru reaches to clasp Nephrite's hand, bare skin to soft glove, and he says firmly, "I'll give you the energy, but-- save it. You don't have to do it either. I'm not going to ask you to do something I can and won't."

Says it at a volume that, yes, New Moon should be able to hear, if not register."

There's a bright glow that surrounds their hands as the prince transfers energy to Masato, but then he pats his hand, and glances down at the other guys before turning his attention back to New Moon.

"That is definitely there!! I never would have let them plant that last glyph, you saw--" And that is absolutely not the conversation at hand. Endymion shakes his head. "I have been brainwashed too many times to think that's okay. And that's not the kind of keeping we want to do, love. We don't want to keep people like objects. I am no one's toy. YOU, you, my giving and happy and lively beautiful bunny of the moon, you are no one's toy. She doesn't need an echo chamber, and she doesn't need new parents-- she has parents. She needs us, the real us, as we really are! She doesn't need a hype girl, she needs Usagi-- just Usagi! It's like Rashmi says -- this doesn't make anyone happy but Wiseman. How dare he transform our baby! Usako, he transformed our baby--!!"
He pats Neph's hand again, all of a sudden, buzzing with a boost from Rashmi-- this time his fingertips go up past glove and touch the other boy's wrist, and the silent request is to put him down after the rocks finish falling, he has a plan, something about a metal star, and he'll need to get closer to Usagi because of course he will.

"And now you're both doing what he wants!"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Usagi, do you hear yourself?", Coco shakes her head at the ex-blonde. "I am sure you know that the old you would have abhorred these thoughs. Even if you don't think that now, I am sure you can still remember moments in which you did, before you got hit by dark energy."

She is positive it won't work, and they will have to do this the hard way, but they are all trying, and they are all her friends, so hopefully she hears them out.

To the paradise of the seven seas!
After the stormy night, to tell you my love I will be born again
Even if there comes a day where everyone...
is to journey away from here, as long as we sing the melody of the seven countries
I'll never forget!

While embracing the kind mother's wishes in her heart
She wished that everyone would journey on a miracle-filled adventure
With over flowing tears and prayers, I just don't know anymore
But there still remains a fantasy of a night where stars fall
For the shining future!

This time her Live Stage holds up against the rain of rocks, luckily sparing her from getting worse off. She continues to trust in the honesty of her heart, from which her feelings spring forth and get transmitted through the purification of her song, and in the efforts they are all putting in together.

They have gathered here to help Usagi and let her have her special day, and they are doing that, Coco keeps smiling as her first song comes to an end.

Jadeite has posed:
Reinforcing Kunzite's shield here, dodging a bolt of energy there, throwing a shield to help make it easier for Koji or giving Yuki a few more moments to collect herself - this is an endurance test, and Jadeite's holding onto the energy from Rashmi in case he needs to jump in the way of any major attacks.

Finally, he pipes up: "I did a lot of stupid stunts in the past when I was brainwashed and thought I was right! If I'd spent a moment listening to my friends instead of doubling down on having things my way for the greater good, I could have saved everyone a lot of trouble! Which is putting it lightly! I don't want you to know how it felt to make the same mistakes I did - please let us help you!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh it is a relief to see part of a plan work. But it can't be over yet. Amy watches the water uneasily, pondering if perhaps she an attack an unseen opponent down there...

    CRACK!

    Amy turns and fires when New Moon reappears, probably too late -- but a moment later she's bound and Amy glances behind her, "BACKBLAST CLEAR!" giving a warning for once as she summons her giant artillery cannon and fires that at New Moon, again and again. Bigger anti-tank rounds.

    And then Moon's free. "BRAINWASH us?! How would that help?!" Amy shouts, and then

EXA ACCEL -- BOOST UP

    Amy's focus is on getting the hell away from Twisted Heart Spiral, weapon disappearing as she explosively propels herself out over the water, and is engulfed in flame again as thrusters are added to her costume and she takes flight.

    Oh, but now she can move, and gravity doesn't hold her down...

    "NO ONE is happy!" She shouts, across the distance. "Not you! Not Mamoru! You're suffering, you must see it! And if Wicked Lady seems happy..." Amy soars into the sky, magical effects resembling bow shock flying out from her as thrusters overload to make the most of Rashmi's boost and she summons... a bigass sword. The edge is blunt but that doesn't matter, the rockets in the other edge push her higher, faster...

    "So would you, if you got everything you thought you wanted as a kid! And everything you did want! But Usagichan... If you never became our Usagi-chan, never had the chance to grow into someone who can be all of our dear friend, and Mamoru's wife, and Chibiusa's mother..."

    "WOULD YOU REALLY RATHER NOT HAVE THAT? WOULD YOU REALLY BE HAPPIER?"

    "Wicked Lady deserves that happiness too! And in the name of all that's good on Moon and Earth... We'll give her a chance at it! And I believe you want to, too!"

    LOOK-INSIDE-YOURSELF-AND-SEE-YOUR-TRUE-HEART BLAZER!

    As she shouts the attack, Magical Rocket Girl Red swings the sword and in so doing changes directory, arcing down and bringing down all the potential energy of her arc's height and all the speed of Rashmi's boost swinging down... and just as she makes contact, BOOM! The sword's thrusters all explode to add even more force as it crashes down upon Usagi, and Red lets go as her skirt and boot and arm thrusters all flare up and scream to keep her from pancaking into the ground.

    She lands nearby, catching her breath and shaking with adrenaline, looking towards Usagi to see...

Nephrite has posed:
Dodging falling stones is short enough work, though with a few near misses. Nephrite let's his hand falter, gifted the energy and told to save it. It's a small mercy, because neither of them want to hurt her-- she's growing more and more powerful as the darkness is stripped away. The purifiers are hard at work, and Mamoru's doing what he can. Usagi's friends are trying to break through.

The plan filters through his skin, the request, and he understands. Closer. Dangerously close. Counter intuitive as it might seem.

As Coco's song echoes, Nephrite swoops in, landing Endymion close enough to do what he needs, and remains close behind him. His hand still aglow, sapphire eyes turn to New Moon.

Zoisite has posed:
Watching as Nephrite picked up Prince Endymion to be at a better altitude and talking range with New Moon, Sailor Moon stands up and for a moment breaks character as his hand touches Kunzite's shoulder--to check and make sure his beloved was fine after buckling.

"I love you, Kunzite." Whispered, and he hoped that it would do for now. He couldn't spare energy, and no words were exchanged telepathically. Yes, this would do.

He remains near, hoping that whatever the Prince was planning would in fact work.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"YOU STARTED THIS FIGHT," New Moon yells back at Rashmi, "BUT I'LL FINISH IT!"

Big words, but Dark Generals never went down easy - though, when Ginga Otome shifts into high gear, it's clear that this Dark General is not at all thrilled to be back in the Hamster Ball - light, rosy as the dawn and twice as warm, floods the shield imprisoning New Moon, bright enough that not even her shadow can be seen for a long moment, and she screams, head thrown back, body tight with tension, purification burning through the dark energy in her form, poisoning her, sickening her.

New Moon shudders as rainbow light rises up from within her, peeking out from her mouth, from the corners of her eyes, the thin skin of her nostrils, as her body's own defenses try to help expel the poison -

But she swallows it back down, curling in on herself, floating, for an instance in the air with her arms wrapped around herself, wisps of light floating from her skin.

Kunzite's fired beam of light, purified and pink, flies free and strikes the rod still clutched in her land, still tight to her skin, and the mauve and purple of the heart-shaped adornment returns to pink and gold, tattered black wings become a golden bow, and the crown is restored to it's luster.

The Spiral Heart Moon Rod winks away - it does not belong to New Moon.

Koji's disruptor shot fires, and the threads holding New Moon's Dark Energy together further fray and snap, the core of her dark heart beginning a meltdown. Purification has ripped away the overwhelming tide of that force, and for the first time in weeks, New Moon is not sick at all - she is not sick, she is not miserable to her bones, she is not feverish and clammy, she is -

Angry.

After all, it isn't just dark energy at play, isn't just negative emotion made manifest as power at work, it is Wicked Lady's needs, Wicked Lady's wants, it is her daughter's glowing eyes in her mind and her voice asking her mother to stay, it is the burned in need to put Wicked Lady first, that fights through the fraying darkness, even as she starts to unravel, even as she starts to question, deep in her heart, is this what Wicked Lady needs?

Not what she wants. She knows what she wants. She could never, ever, forget what she wants. Is this what she needs?

Everyone speaks their truth - everyone speaks to what their hearts are telling them, that they want to care for Usagi, that they want her to be with them, that they want her to return to the person she was, that this won't work, that they're suffering, that they're hurting, that Wicked Lady is hurting -

Transformed.

How dare he transform our baby!

It's what she's been tricked into settling for!

Listen to what's WRONG.

Hope Blossom's soar through the air, their voices together crying out for Hope Garden, and their blossoming branches unravel, growing together into a snare that pulls New Moon down even as Amy's voice rings out, as her new finisher strikes down, just as Catra's strikes out, fire blazing a path through the purifying branches -

New Moon crashes to the marble path, and she lies still, for a moment, gasping, and her face scrunched up, struggling with herself, with Wicked Lady, with everything that everyone has done and said. She rises to her knees, hunched over, dark energy sparking across her like lightning, like plasma, tearing at the seams, ready to split, so close to the edge -

She looks up.

There is Wicked Lady, so close to breaking free, that New Moon realizes that she only needs time, that she only needs to hold on for her -

is this what she needs? that small voice whispers.

New Moon's voice is a quiet rasp, the power within her boiling up, the artificial need to console, to cheer, to hype, to stay digging in it with it's last tendrils.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Unfurl - Nega Moon Space!"

And the world spins out of control around them.

They are under a barrier - Rashmi's barrier, everything gone black and yellow, the world's colors faded around them, and when a barrier is up, a barrier is up, no one's every tried to usurp one, to put up a space in place of another -

But that is exactly what happens, the dark energy exploding out in a wave of world-changing power.

For a moment, the energies violently war, the world warping at light speed, making everyone as sick and dizzy as New Moon had been this whole time.

Color, more than yellow and black, bleed into the world, mauve and pink and red and murky shades of orange and violet swarming up, around, as the shapes of everything twist and change.

The ground beneath their feet is the first effected, no longer marble but softened cloth with too much give, like trying to balance on the air-filled canvas of a bouncy house as it slowly deflates.

The water of the pond becomes sparkling marbles, heavy and painful to fall upon, sliding underfoot, a hazard to anyone who crashes in, or gets to close, and there's something in there, the surface of the marbles rippling as it swims through them, and the pond was fairly shallow, nothing more than a few feet deep, but this seems like an endless pit.

The Moon Palace becomes a pink and black monstrosity of a building, the rounded curves becoming hard-edged and sharp, the Crescent Moon twisting upside down, the shattered stones soaring up to strike at random, seeking to pummel and concuss.
    he sky is a watercolor nightmare of mauve and pink, stars punched out holes, tears in space behind which a gnawing darkness lurks, and the Earth is a whirl of too many muted colors, and it is getting closer.

It is so, so large in the sky.

New Moon rises to her feet, wavering, and energy bleeds from her skin, into the world around her, the dark energy at her core siphoning away even faster, spilling into the world around her -

"I don't feel so good, my Lady," she whispers, and nearly stumbles in an attempt to walk closer.

From the pond of marbles, the length of a limosine, the shape of a jeep, a blaring pink metal-surface, but with the head of the Luna-P ball where a jeep's hood should be, expression unforgiving and unremorseful, the smiling mouth open wide. The jeep that Wicked Lady had had so much fun threatening to run civilians over with has become a monster, and Nega Moon Space is likely to be filled with even more monsters based on her time as a general.

It leaps with all the flexibility of something organic, never mind it's metal plating. It winds about like long furby, and shrieks as it soars over the metal path and crashes into the staircase, and anyone who doesn't get out of the way fast enough. The doors along its length slamming open and shut, fur and metal peeking out from the inside like teeth, and it rears and bucks like a nightmare horse, trying to crush and grind anything under foot.

New Moon, still arcing with dark energy and purification power at war across her skin, looks about as shell-shocked as the rest of them.

Maybe there are reasons you shouldn't open a barrier in a barrier like that?

"Do you fear death, mahoujin?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Oh. Oh that's very bad.

Ginga Otome Wawna hangs in the air, spared the difficulty of the suddenly squishy ground or the pool full of marbles, but that doesn't change the fact that reality has fully gone out to lunch. The sphere that temporarily trapped New Moon the second time is already spent; trying to maintain it would only get in the way of her allies, but the work isn't nearly done.

How much longer can Wawna maintain her supercharged armor? Wako has a feeling that today is the day she'll find out.

The floating piles that make up her armor-skirt whirl around her in a tight spiral, building up a rosy-pink glow as the Galactic Maiden takes aim. "Sorry about this, Usagi-chan," she whispers, and then:

"ÉCLAT DE SOLEIL!"

The piles fire, a sunburst of glittering pink beams lancing down at New Moon and the Luna-jeeP both.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    It's too much.

    The dark world around them, Moon Space turned wrong. The long Luna-P Jeep, taunting them with words that the catball usually kept to itself. The Dark General seeming almost terrified of her own creation...

    Hope Concept watches with saddened eyes. "Is this enough? Enough to make you realize that this isn't what you want? Do you think your daughter wants this for you?"

    Homura Akemi gives the long jeep a horrified look and asks, without thinking, "Are you sure you're not a Witch?" Immediately she has a rocket launcher over her shoulder, firing it once before discarding and replacing it with another, and another, leaping back and away from the thing and trying very very hard not to think about dessert.

    "Homura-chan," calls out the voice of her goddess, "I need you here." Homura does not need to be asked twice. Her shield turns, halting the hourglass.

    In timestopped space, Homura holds onto a strand of Hope Concept's hair. "Does this work?" asks the temporal Puella.

    Hope Looks around at the greyed out space around them, and then nods. "It's fine." Her golden eyes fall on New Moon, and Hope says, "She just needs one more push. I don't think I'll have anything left to help Wicked Lady, but..."

    Homura shakes her head. "The others will handle it. Have faith in them. Do what you need to do, and I'll take you to safety."

    Hope smiles softly at her partner, and then looks ahead. "OPEN HEART!" she shouts, sending a burst of rainbow purification that freezes in front of her. Again, she shouts, "OPEN HEART!" and another burst merges with the first. "OPEN HEART! OPEN HEART! OPEN HEART!"

    The kami keeps casting the same spell over and over again, until she's exhausted, until she's spent, until she's absolutely sure she can't use another Finisher, letting each cast stack into one solid wall of love and sincerity.

    ... And when time resumes, Homura is carrying a dehenshined Madoka in her arms away from the battlefield. Tired little Kamiko is taking a rest inside her shield. All the Familiars and Doka clones are gone, even the platforms, but there's still a solid wall of concentrated rainbow light coming straight for New Moon.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Reaching out to catch Koji, Rashmi can't help but grin at the boy. "Hanzo's lookin' good on you! Ready to finish thi--"

Her jubilation trails off, as an *extremely* incompatible dimension shift lurches into existence *inside her Barrier.*

Clutching onto Koji actually helps him more than her, because Hanzo cannot fly and both she and Nicomachea need a minute because the Device's sensors are going insane and her mana is being warped from without.

As long as she doesn't move, she can't move in the wrong direction thanks to the impossible vertigo, and piledrive them both into the lake of marbles.

...A lake that is birthing the second most horrifying incarnation of Luna-P that Rashmi has ever seen.

(The first is just his normal face, but in the complete wrong time to look pleasantly daft)

Shattered rock flies out at her, and now she *has* to move -- sorry Koji, but better bouncing off the Palace than being used as a catapult target dummy -- And the pair of Devicers lurch and loop unpleasantly in the sky for a moment, avoiding more than glancing hits by sheer luck if nothing else.

But while Nicomachea needs to recalibrate to the *space* around them... what needs no anchor are the magical signatures arrayed *around* them, all of Rashmi's friends to one degree or another, and there are *so many.* If she can't anchor herself to the dimension... surely she can anchor to *them.* And Nicomachea takes note of the greatest signatures, the Purifiers, and suggests a course of action.

<< Agreed. Do it. >>

    Guided by pure muscle memory, Rashmi slips a module from her Device's cover, and slots it into place... Then *dips* in the sky, as Nicomachea does something with her Accumulator she had never designed it to do -- he just *dumps* her Linker Core into it, without using spells to shave extra away, and she hasn't felt drain shock like that in *some time.*

But it does its job.

"Verbal Command: Accumulator Purge."

    << *BONG!* >> << COMMAND INPUT EXECUTE. PURGE CHANNELS GREEN. ALTERNATE GRIMOIRE LOADED. AWAITING COMMAND. >>

"Area Index..."

    << AREA INDEX >>

"SOLAR BLESS!"

    << SOLAR BLESS >>

Normally, Rashmi's ultimate boost requires people to group up at least reasonably near her. But specifically enhanced by wide-area infrastructure... *everyone* feels the blessing of the small-s sun. Run faster, hit harder, shoot shootier, and the bright fire of Rashmi's faith in others setting mana ablaze. It won't last much longer than a few seconds... but it is a *powerful* blessing all the same.

Zoisite has posed:
There was a promise in the touch he shared with Kunzite. It had lingered, only long enough, until Sailor Moon noticed the world spin and quickly become the wrongness that was New Moon's dimensional world. And as danger of rubble and more fell towards them, all pretenses flew out the window as Sailor Moon hugged her arms around Kunzite and a flurry of cherry blossoms whisked them to a much safer location near the stage. Perhaps it blew Zoisite's cover, but that mattered very little in the grand scheme of what was important. He'd continue to play Sailor Moon, looking up at the Shitennou and giving a little relieved smile before running away and towards the figure that was a corrupted soul--the girl he at times abhorred, yet somehow found himself defending time and time again.

Because deep down, he understood something that was hard for him to admit to himself. As words echoed from so many individuals that loved Usagi, his own also needed to come forth to join the cacophony of reminders, and perhaps, revelations that were always needed to be given.

"Usagi, death is something we suffered a long time ago. It's such an old fear, eclipsed easily if we were to lose the one we love most." Sailor Moon remains at a respectable distance, those blues watch New Moon closely. A hardness to them like she recognized the other half, and for all of his spitting venom, Zoisite knew what he had been defending to Saphir since the very start. "Queen Beryl brainwashed Mamoru. Of all the people that we could emulate, she is the last one either of us would want to be."

"Being forced to see a world so differently, have those memories scrambled and manipulated down to the very roots until nothing is seen correctly. Not even love."

"And you, Usagi, there are so many things that you are, even if a few would think otherwise. Understanding, kind, funny, loving and so deeply respectful of the decisions others make and how they wish to pursue them. Even if someone needed purification, you wouldn't force it upon them."

"They would need to ask it from you, because they wanted it in their own terms. If you could barely do that, then we are not someone that could ever brainwash a man we love, Usagi."

"Prince Endymion--Mamo-chan loves you more than life itself. All of this, he wants to have with you. Even family, even different timelines where the two of us are together but suffering, he wants all of that. But not at the cost of manipulation. Small Lady's time will come, to be important to you both. But right now, it's about just Usagi and Mamoru."

"Let it wash over you. Let everyone's efforts win this time, because they care about you."

Catra has posed:
Just what is New Moon playing at?

Catra can't imagine anyone is having an easy time staying on their feet because she very nearly isn't. (And she is totally blaming it on the knee braces.) The Moon is all screwed up; and looking up the Earth isn't in any better shape, at least from here. The cat dives and rolls and runs on all fours to avoid getting crushed by falling rocks; when she gets a half-second of relative peace (extremely relative) she slams Powersend back into the scabbard, to make her life simpler.

And then, there's that pink jeep, all... Wow is that ever mesed up.

"I should have cut YOUR doors off when I had the chance!" she yells at it, as it passes by her and she has to dive out of the way yet again. She rolls, comes up to her feet and dashes to a safer spot, panting as she comes to a stop.

What do you do about this, Catra?

Dragon.

The word comes into her mind -- did the Spirit Ember say that? Nah, it doesn't talk. ...But it did absorb dragonfire not long ago.

Catra rises from her crouch, and blue flames dance across her body; they gather around her hands and feet, and powerful blasts make the shaking ground cease to be a problem as she leaps, jumping far higher than she ever has before. The fire carries her aloft nad keeps her there, and she trails an inforno behind her as she rockets after the jeep, inhaling a deep breath.

Rashmi's Solar Bless catches up with her, and she feels her heartrate spike; she's more powerful than she's ever been before, now. Her connection with the Spirit Ember is stronger. She understands it better. And fire isn't just destruction -- it creates, forges, buildes.

But right now the destruction is what Catra needs.

She glows with an inner heat, eyes blazing as she fills her lungs and exhales.

Catra breaths fire; a seraing hot blast of yellow flames, blindingly brilliant and steel-meltingly hot, and she rockets after the jeep to keep the blast of flame on target for as long as possible. She keeps it going long enough that anyone might start to wonder just how much lung-capacity she has; and just when it looks like she might be finished, her double appear beside her. One after the other they take deep breaths and dive to rejoin her, and the fire breath keeps going...

She gasps, her altitude faltering as the firebreath stops. But it's not over. Feeling herself burning inside and out she takes off, parkouring off a couple of falling rocks and launching herself airborne again she sets New Moon in her sights, and takes a deep breath; sailing past she forces air and inferno out of her lungs together, tracing a line in the ground that goes through and past New Moon.

Until finally, she can't keep it up anymore. She drops back to the ground and plants her hands on her knees, the fire going out all over her as she smolders, with fire raging all around her.

"No," she gasps. "I don't fear death."

Koji Silvia has posed:
    << RECALIBRATING... >>
    << RECALIBRATING... >>
    << ... >>
     << RECALIBRATION COMPLETE. >>

The disorientation passes, and his previous training helps him to get past the vertigo and the inherent wrong-ness in time to feel rocks and debris smack off his new Barrier Jacket, and feeling less of an impact than before... but as Rashmi flies too close to the castle, he deliberately twists so that instead of her getting the brunt of the facade, he gets ground along a good 10 feet of it before coming free and the flier stabilizing.

He hears and then FEELS the release of power, and that much causes Koji to look up and see the strain and the worry on Rashmi's face as she throws her ultimate gambit to help get. IT. DONE.

In response to this, he actually uses some of that gymnastic skills to release her long enough to throw a hand out, and a new Ghost-Blade energy wire-blade to go flying out and catch the building, and immediately pull him back in, all so he can grab Rashmi around the waist before her Flier Fin flutters and then vanishes. Turning and twisting in air, the grip changes and he's now behind her as both of them fall.

    << MULTI-BIND. >>

Normally, a Bind is used to secure someone in place. But in this case, Hanzo uses it a bit more inventively. A stair-case set of magic circles towards one side of the stonework away from the creepy Catbus appears, and ghost-blue ropes reach out and catch then both... only to break as they arrest part of the fall and velocity. It repeats, each step taking away a little more dangerous velocity, until the last set up droops them to the ground, where Koji takes a moment to twist Rashmi in his grip, and lands with her gently in a princess-carry, "Can't let my co-chef get hurt before everyone gets to compliment her on a job well done, now can I."

But it leaves the pair to watch the fireworks and the team locking down the Wicked Lady for now...

Nephrite has posed:
Nephrite, standing close to his Prince, is shaken by the impact of the Luna-P Jeepstrosity, and steps out some to grasp power-- added to and bolstered-- in hand. Both gloved hands raise, a swirl of silver coalescing around each with burning light.

To Zoisite's empassioned plea, he adds his own.

"Usagi, you're the very embodiment of love! Of all kinds. In every life, in every timeline. We, who have so hurt you in the past, we know that better than anyone. I'm here, we're all here again, for a new beggining! Even as you are, you've let this come to be! And we're not going to let you down again, we're going to forge a New Future together! For all of us, including Chibiusa-chan!"

The swirls of light became stronger. "He's right! We didn't overcome Beryl just to falter again here, of all places! You told me that you would do anything for your daughter, for your family-- for their sake and everyone else's, it's time to end this game!"

"STELLAR CONVERGENCE!"

A barrage, a brilliant burst of light and a dozen or more shooting stars erupt from his hands, dancing and swirling towards the mutated Jeep to come crashing down in explosive bursts along its fur. The length of its body, peppered by starfall, the glittering dust of it making sparkling mist of the air.

Jadeite has posed:
Wh. What. What??? This is Sailor Moon's peaceful world-barrier through an oil-slicked mirror, cloyingly sweet with cavity-pocked fangs. It's - this is - THIS is the discomfort he expected being back on the moon, coming someplace familiar only to find it warped beyond recognition. The toys, the soft fabric floor, the peaceful sky -

Jadeite has not been this afraid in a very long time, as an ice colder than his own soaks through him.

"This isn't you," he says softly, below the din of the fight - frozen for a moment at (his mistake seen through a mirror darkly) his best friend's love warped so much by love.

"This isn't you, Usagi! You don't need Beryl's brainwashing to make us be your friends! You don't need to act like this to protect Chibi-usa!

"I've died too many times to be afraid of it anymore! What I'm scared of is what comes afterwards - what it would be like knowing we couldn't save the two of you! Living a life without your lights in it! It's no good destroying yourself for love - when the thing we all want most is for you to come back!"

With that, he inds himself next to the pond with the Luna-limo - and slams DOWN an ice shield horizontally, sealing off most of the pond and trapping the snarling pink beast. It could probably crack the thick ice in time - but with any luck, it won't before a dozen finishers take it down.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
The whisper would more than have done; but then the world shifts, and without thinking Kunzite reaches for the Sailor Moon still by him, only to find that someone else is thinking of protecting him first. He can't react the way he'd want to, not yet, not now. But the scent of cherry blossoms steadies him in this bizarre nonplace, and as the Moon by him turns to run toward the New Moon (with the old moon in her arms?), he is still reaching out. Just long enough to brush fingertips against fingers. A promissory note, a promise for later.

And then a lift of his hand, and a call again, far louder than before: "REINFORCEMENT FOCUS!"

His shadows do not wrap around New Moon, this time. They curl around the Luna-jeeP.

They don't block attacks. Anything coming *in* comes in. But the heat of Catra's fire is not allowed to dissipate; it is reflected back in to the Thing, brightened and intensified by Rashmi's signature sun-yellow. Ginga Otome Wawna's beams that pass through its substance are bounced back, rather than being allowed to go through. The heat and force of Homura's rocket blasts. Nephrite's stars, converging on their own, reconverging again.

The thing's too big for him to cover all of it. But he can wrap a band around the most important pieces, protect Jadeite's shield from melting under the heat of the fire, and try to help the others take it to pieces before its thrashing and writhing can take it into -

He forces himself not to think about that, and doubles down on keeping the reflective shield intact against the impact of the others' attacks.

Fear always points at what you value. And it's not his own death he fears.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Close, dangerously close, with Nephrite staying close to him as backup, even as Nega Moon Space blossoms around them like a sickly, deadly twisting of an already-strange dream-- but Mamoru can tell where he is, because he's on the moon, and the prayer tower is that way magnifying the power of the silver crystal, and Serenity is this way (obscured), and his Shitennou are there, there, there, and here, and Chibiusa! Is there! And beyond the barrier, Earth is right there in the sky, and the moon beneath them remembers him, and it's dreaming itself closer to waking.

He doesn't drop henshin, but he shifts back to Tuxedo Mask, minus mask and gloves and shoes and socks, and he's barefoot in the barrierinth, and he sees the Nega Moon Earth closing in on them and he looks disapprovingly at it, but then turns his attention back to New Moon. He follows her as she stumbles closer to Wicked Lady, careful on the unsteady ground, and he gets almost to her before he falls awkwardly to his knees and IGNORES THE THING BEHIND HIM oh god.

"Everything they're saying is true, my love, but so is this." He unfolds his hands and holds them out, kneeling there on the ground, on the floor of her barrier in her Palace in her Kingdom on her celestial globe. Dirt boy, looking up at the Moon.

In his hands is something shining and golden, and he picks up one knee to give himself the stability of one foot on the ground, and he moves something on it and it glows with a soothing light, and a chiming melody starts to play. He holds it out to New Moon -- she's seen it before, it's hers, and the phantom jewel thief has stolen it away just to give it to her again.

"We have-- so much history together. Everything we've done for the past two years, it's been like we're tidally locked for two lifetimes now. I guess it makes sense, at least superficially, but-- remember? Our first kiss." There's an image of a moon in the night sky, with some soft clouds near the bottom; a small red gem is the center around which the night sky and moon circle as the song plays. The light coming from it shines brighter.

"At that stupid ball, where the princess of D Kingdom was unveiling the giant diamond statue of her prehistoric ancestor or whatever, when despite the fact that we were all after the Silver Crystal, our friends covered for the two of us so we could sneak off to the balcony. I already knew I wanted to marry you, but it was a little too soon to give you the ring, you know?"

"I was under duress, but at least by then I knew it, and it was only a dangerous situation, not-- I wasn't being mind controlled. I-- okay, no, that thing is bothering me, too," Mamoru says and keeps holding the orgel up in one hand, but the other grips the bizarre cloth floor and he squints and says, "Tuxedo la Smoking Crater!" with his intent cast on the ground beneath the monster. He doesn't look at the explosion. Instead, he continues, getting up and coming closer.

"Anyway, I wasn't kidding about not wanting to marry someone who's brainwashed. I need my beautiful, giving, loving, selfish, cheery, angry, friendly, justice-inspired, mercy-showing, silly, serious, wise, cute, fluffy, dangerous fiancee back. I need you to be in your right mind. I need you to be able to mean it when you say you take me for your husband. I need you to feel selfishly happy for us on this day. It's our day! All our friends are here!"

Then his other hand, gloveless and a little dirty, comes up and reaches toward New Moon's. "Please accept the purification, please, please be you again. Help us get our baby back so we can stop all this fighting and get married, Usa. I'm not afraid of death when we're together."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The world warps, and Amy stumbles unsteadily, trying to dampen her connection somehow and not throw up, and then she... sinks?

    New Moon's barrierinth spreads. Oh no.

    Space around her is being warped by a hostile force. New Moon... probably doesn't want her dead, but the Puella Magi can't escape the now-reflexive feeling that the world reshaping by hostile force meaning she's in the realm of a WITCH, her mortal enemy.

    But she's still trying not to throw up, and is in no state to "AGH!"

    Broken stone slams right into her head, and more into her body, and she tries to curl up small, crouch low to the ground with her right vambrace raised in that direction as a meager shield. It maybe helps deflect a couple rocks but they keep hitting--

    And there's something moving in the distance. "She has FAMILIARS?!" Amy squeaks in alarm, as Homura asks New Moon if she's a Witch. "No, no, no, no!"

    Stones rain into her, and a nightmare creature-- makes her reflexively rocketjump away just in time.

    She didn't have the best positioning for that, though, nor did she look first, and so she doesn't quite land on the path but on the marbles beside it. She scrambles back onto the path on all fours, then ducks as a rock whizzes by where her head just was.

    "Yes." Amy croaks out, and looks at New Moon and lifts her arm and fires an 84mm anti-tank round. But she needs to do more.

SOLAR BLESS

    "No. I don't know! I thought I was doomed! That I don't get a life after this!" She points and tries to focus on Yellow Pearl Voice's song as a launch tube appears beside her, braced from the ground like an artillery piece. Aura Pillar fires without the callout, splitting into a dozen homing anti-tank rockets wreathed in sunfire in hopes New Moon can't dodge them all. (Thank goodness they home, as the soft ground threw off the launch angle terribly!) Corruption ticks up, nearly a quarter of her soul gem now. (ED: should've been half that in the earlier pose, whoops)

    She waves her hand towards the rocks still coming at her. The artillery vanishes and micromissiles blow up some of them and fail to blow up others, making it easier to weave out of the way; more micromissiles harass New Moon with little explosions.

    "But I wanted one, okay?!" She screams out. "It hurt, knowing I wouldn't!"

    More. This is more than any Witch, she needs to do more!

    CRA-CRACK! Two artillery cannons appear over her, one pointed at New Moon and one at the source of the flying stones -- the latter firing out an explosion to knock them all away for a moment.

    "Then I felt how it hurt when Molly died! CRA-CRACK!

    "I don't want that for any of you!" CRA-CRACK!

    Darkness creeps into her soul gem. Nearly a third now.

    "But these past weeks I've been so tired!" CRA-CRACK!

    "I just want this to stop!" CRA-CRACK!

    Desperate eyes glance away from Usagi, see she's nearing two-fifths. She dismisses the cannons and tries to run over the soft ground for... some kind of cover, mentally cursing herself for what has to have been an inefficient way to keep rocks away.

    She catches some of 'Sailor Moon' 's speech. "I miss my friends! I miss seeing you and Mamoru happy! And your friends! We're all so worried and sad and Radiant Heart was wonderful and I could have a life but--"

    Red eyes look up at Sailor Moon.

    "I fear losing you, more!"

    They'd live. Just like they had to move on when they thought Molly dead. It would suck so much but they'd live, people endure tragedies every day. But she fears it.

    "I'll follow you to any world you want... But you don't want this. Your daughter doesn't want this. Wicked Lady does. It's all mind control, you said so yourself! So where does it start?! ISN'T SHE BEING CONTROLLED, TOO?!"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The colours swirl, become muted, darken reverse, they mutate in several ways, just as the world around them twists, and sharpens, and warps into something more dangerous, both for them and New Moon, with that dark energy that spills out uncontrollably.

Concern fills the golden light of Coco's eyes, and her hand moves towards Usagi as if to reach out to her, but she retracts it. This is not the moment to falter. This is the moment to give it their all.

She doesn't at least have to deal with the change of the floor, protected by the floating Live Stage, and with a glance at the others, her singing voice gives them more Live Stages, for them only to use as their support in the Nega Moon Space.

Does she fear death?

She would lie if she said she doesn't, but beyond that, she has things worth living for, Seira, Rihito, Madoka, Cho, Usagi, each and every one of her friends. She knows that, a permanent fixture in her mind, engraved slowly but surely. And they are all doing their best here.

The Yellow Mermaid Princess raises her right arm and calls out from within herself Aqua Regina's blessing, the bracelet on her wrist shining with white radiance as a halo of yellow light moves downwards from the mermaid princess's head, morphing her clothes change again, accepting from her clothes the all-encompassing affection.

, Rhythmic pulses of white light dance around, her, and the melody of her song soothe all the fatigue, strengthened by a Piece of Love in her heart.

"Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Finale!", the mermaid princess smiles gently vividly, and her words spill out confidently, even as it hurts Usagi, reaches out to her heart that is surely quaking.Did I predict one day that this day would come...?
My heart that's bewildered by love shakes more and more, so much that it hurts...
Even my deep sadness that no one else realized was somehow conveyed to him.
It's as if he was my true beloved.
In a galaxy, a small star that I call myself
has sprouten up with a single droplet of love.
If you fear of losing things, then you cannot fight.
So make a prayer to the moon, and a prayer to the stars and engrave the path you should be traveling down in your heart.
The reason for my tears heating up is a piece of love from fate
touching upon, and meeting with a piece of my heart

If I showed you everything, would you steal my heart away...?
But I can't just let it be flung away like that.
Because this is something to share with my true beloved.
A dream that's too big is still far away, and I can't just stand still now
If it's a love that only fulfills my own heart...?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Nega Moon Space is an atrocious assault on the eyes, the soul, and most especially the body, thanks to Luna-jeep. The creature born of Dark Energy, the dimensional fracture of opening a space within a space, and Wicked Lady's brainwashing is not content to have attacked only once - it continues on, thrashing, racing, roiling as it tries to bring down the mahoujin who would defeat New Moon.

It is not enough.

Catra's fire burns hot and bright as fur is burned away and metal heated to melting, doors sticking shut as they superheat. Amy's artillery carves gashes in metal-flesh and chips away pointed metal ears. Nephrite's Stellar Convergence streaks through the sky and punches holes in Luna-jeeP that leak oil and other fluids like.

The damage stacks.

And stacks.

And stacks, until the monstrosity hobbles instead of rolls, creaks instead of roars, and then -

Eclat de Soleil sears through with all the unstoppable brightness of the dawn spreading across the sky, the unbreakable promise of a new day. When it's over, a pink jeep toy, perfectly sized for a Barbie doll, rests on its side.

The creature is defeated.

The creature's maker (?) is not unscathed either - as the attacks are poured on, New Moon wavers in place, exhausted to the bone by the fight, by the abominable birth of such a twisted landscape from born by her own dark energy, and by the emotional turmoil as she twists - twists - twists - free.

There's Mamoru, finally delivered, not by Fate but by Nephrite, and he is before her, and he both is and isn't the Prince of her past, kneeling before her without his hat, his mask, his shoes, or even his socks. He is Endymion and Tuxedo Kamen and Mamoru and her dirt boy all over again, and he pleads with her, as he has plead with her all along, and the voices of her friends ring out.

He offers her what is hers, the gift he gave to her months and years ago now, and light shines from the orgel, as it plays its sweet melody.

Is this enough? Hope Concept asks, her merciful voice sad. Are you sure you're not a Witch? Homura questions, horrified and valiant nonetheless. We're going to forge a New Future together! Nephrite promises, the weight of his conviction heavy.

Usagi, there are so many things that you are, Zoisite assures her, the words carrying a different weight from his lips. It's no good destroying yourself for love, Jadeite calls, and he would know, and he would share. I fear losing you, more! Amy cries out, finally owning a desire to live and cracking open her heart.

Please, be you again.

New Moon takes Mamoru's hand, and he feels it - her weariness, her exhaustion, her heart opening, and he moves for her, with her, as he pours his golden sense of home into her, his cape deflecting flame and artillery both, and the wall of rainbow light crashes in.

Hope Concept and Ginga Otome poured everything they had into those spells, and they strike, and the singing - the singing of Yellow Pearl Voice's songs, her voice, offering the comfort of the future, just as Hope Concept offers the peace of an open heart, Ginga Otome, the sanctity of being ones self -

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Normally, it hurts, to be purified. It had hurt, earlier, when the attacks came. It had hurt, but it had healed, too, keeping away sickness.

In Mamoru's hands, in his arms, it does not hurt. There is only the peace of home - there is the golden warmth of the Earth, but also, the soft voice of the Moon, sleeping and dreaming and reaching for its last child, who had run across its surface as a child, who had spilt her blood as a teenager, who returns now to be wed -

When the lights dim and fade, Mamoru cradles Usagi Tsukino to his chest. She's battered and bruised and wearing the same clothes she'd worn in the future, before the fateful battle with Esmeraude, but her hair is golden - short, cut to her shoulders, but golden, and that black mark is gone from her forehead.

"Mamochan," she whispers, and pulls his head down for a kiss. It's too long to be chaste, not so long as to be uncomfortable, and when she pulls away, she laughs with that edge that sounds as though she's straddling the line of ears. "I think this might have been the worst date yet."

It's a joke, save for all the ways it isn't, but it's familiar, but it's not, this isn't a date, but boy isn't it something out of their big book of failed dates -

And then she looks to everyone and is so, so, so sheepish.

"I'm sorry, everyone! It looks like I got in over my head! Thank you for everything, and I promise, I'm back now, and I'm ready to make sure we get back our Chibiusa-chan, together!"

Nega Moon Space... has not unraveled.

Usagi Tsukino raises her hand, clutching the Silver Crystal tight in her grasp.

"Moon Crystal Power!"

Princess Serenity has joined the fight.