2847/The Tau Nebula Arrives

The Tau Nebula Arrives
Date of Scene:	23 November 2025
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	The time has come for Phantom 90 to make his grand assault on earth. With the portal opening, will the mahou be able to stop him before he can cover the planet in his dark ooze and drain the world away in darkness, turning it into a graveyard like the one in the Tau Star System, without Sailor Saturn's help?
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Laura La Mer, Haruka Tenoh, Chibiusa Tsukino, Rashmi Terios, Usagi Tsukino, Rei Hino, Hinoiri Kirara, Amanda Faust, Mamoru Chiba, Kazuo Saitou, Molly Skyline

---

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
The portal hanging over the beach seemed to, for a moment, close... Just a moment.

And then two massive hands, fingers first, reached through it. Gripping it. Before forcefully opening it wide open. Tearing open the dimensional rift like it was cloth. There was a sound like, well... it wasn't like cloth being torn. No. It was something like souls being torn in half. Which was not something anyone there likely hoped they'd ever know! But it seemed to *echo* through the city...

And then it began to flow out from the portal. That... thing. That mass. A writhing, pulsing mass. The source of the daimons, of all the misery, the witches 5, of Dr. Tomoe, of Mistress 9... all of it...

Began to come out... and its cruel, vicious laughter seemed to fill the air as the mass began to fill the air, its body seemingly spreading out, flowing over all in its path. Like a tidal wave of dark energy and evil, coating all in its wake in its very malevolence...

Laura La Mer has posed:
That was the end of it for the fake Dr. Tomoe. His real name... That wasn't of interest to Laura. She said he wasn't going to be remembered, and she meant it. It's only now that he is finally gone that she gives her attention up to the fractured sky with the weird hole Viluy had left behind.

She would want nothing more than to rush at Hotaru's side, to be with her, to ensure that she was fine, and whatever the fake Dr. Tomoe had done to her wasn't permanent, but as the titanic thing start breaking through... She realises that's not a choice she has. That it will have to wait.

The wounds from when the claws had struck her pulse when that sound she shouldn't have a name for echoes through the air. Cure La Mer instinctively jumps back when those hands finish ripping their way (in? out?), watching the ground she stood on.

She leans forward while staring up, her bottom lip partially bitten by her teeth. The mermaid Pretty Cure kneels for a few seconds, as if that colossal dark energy had intensified the gravity, then forces herself up, breathing in and out until she feels mostly fine.

<< Ok then! >> she relays to Rashmi's channel. << Seems we have one more volunteer for our carousel of staying well away from Saturn! Do we want to form a plan? >>

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Sailor Uranus didn't even deign to wipe Germatoid's Daimon Egg off her sword with her gloved hands, instead manifesting a little gust of wind to shove the away and into a wall to finish its destruction there.

    Then all planetary hell broke loose as some sort of horrible space planet monster was clearly trying to rip its way into their reality. She grimaced, and dug her blue boots into the ground, raising her sword. "So much pain and suffering caused by this horrible thing. I won't allow it to cause anymore." She says. And she's sure that the others there agree with her on this important truth.

    "Let's end this."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    ... And Dr. Tomoe's gone.

    '... an empty home where a family should be...'

    The memory of Wicked Lady's words chill Chibimoon's spine, but she shakes her head. No. Hotaru has a family now. A real one. One like she used to have. That wasn't her dad. That was the thing that killed her dad, and Haruka is her papa now.

    Small Lady doesn't have to think about that for even a moment. She wants to, but the portal is open and something is coming out. There's no time to process feelings. There's only time to look up in horror.

    Small Lady frowns, then grits her teeth as she grips her weapon. "That's as far as you go!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Floating down to join her assembled friends, Rashmi looks worriedly skyward at the portal, the hands, and the writhing, formless mass connected to them. << ...There's no way I can move a fight this big somewhere safe, >> she frets. << So as far as plans go... Hit it *really super omega hard?* >>

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Dr. Tomoe and Viluy die. The second enemy to kill one of them and Hotaru's fake father, who had prolonged her life just to fill it with suffering - they're gone now.

All Sailor Moon can spare for them is the hope that when they eventually return, when they have washed clear enough to be human again, they make better choices.

There's no time to spare them any more thoughts, or to rest or recover between the downfall of enemies and the rise of the next, a fact which really seems all too common with these world ending stakes. Sailor Moon grips Tuxedo Kamen's hand tight as the sky tears open and the enormous hands return to their sky for the third time.

For a self-professed coward, Sailor Moon is feeling remarkably calm about this - but then, now that they're in the thick of it, there's nothing to be afraid of but the completing of the fight. It's do or die, and if she fails everything she knows and loves will die, which means she can't fail.

She won't fail.

"So that awful thing is what they hurt so many people for," she breathes, and grits her teeth. "Well! Let's give him a welcome he won't forget!"

"Moon Princess Halation!"

The bold beam of her purification attack strikes from the earth to the heavens, where that massive form is pulling itself into existence.

<<I don't know about a plan, besides stay alive,>> she admits into telepathy, <<But together we won't fall. We have to show this thing that our planet isn't theirs to take!>>

Rei Hino has posed:
Another Sailor Soldier appears on the scene, this one in red with a purple bow, albeit a bit scuffed up from having trashed her way through scores of youma outside. And she arrives just in time to see the reality-warping sentient planet-demon/daimon ripping through into our world.

    Sailor Mars' gaze is somewhat horrified, but grows to become a look of determination.

    "Well, at least I don't have to ask what's going on and what to do..." she says, stretching her hands out and rolling her neck.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne was looking less than good for the ware. She'd been fighting youma throughout the city, but there was no way that she was NOT coming when she heard whatever *that* was. So there was a red and black blur in the sky, before Cure La Licorne landed on the beach. "What in the--"

<< Oh, hey, nice. What in the world is going on here? Oh, hey! La Mer, what's up? When did you guys get the Smo-- AGGH!>> She narrowly avoided getting caught in the sludge, having to jump back, leaping into the water to avoid getting struck! Before leaping out from the water, to spike a ball of fire AT the ooze! "Stellar aspirational EXPLOSION!"

Sending the purifying orb of flame at the oozing beast!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amanda was so mad at them for everything she forgot to be mad at them for possession. They're gone now. Good.

    But there isn't really time to even take a breath in relief.

    "How do we fight that?!" Red directs her missiles towards the cloud instead of Viluy to see if they do anything but it is a giant dark cloud.

    "D'you think you can stab it in the eye too?"

    The words of her comrades lift Red's spirits at least! Things look bad, but together with her friends, she won't fall into despair!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
<< Beamspam, artillery, dodge a lot, do lots of combos. We can do this, but it's going to hurt. By the way, Hotaru-chan is stable, she's in the hospital, >> Tuxedo Kamen's voice comes over the telepathic network. He squeezes Usagi's hand then throws his other hand out, palm out, and a ball of energy starts forming in front of it.

"Tuxedo la Smoking Bomber!"

KSHOOOOOF. The slam of bright force kicks him back a half step, and he's so tired, and they have no other choice but to do this, here, now, with this many health bars and mana remaining, against the entire Lusca but with more eyes and warts.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Some people made it here faster. Some slower, either because of where they started, or because their powers were particularly suited to rescuing individual in-danger civilians and shoving them somewhere slightly less immediately dangerous.

Days like this one, Kunzite is torn between appreciating the Veil and being supremely irritated that they can't actually stage drills to teach civilians what to do in case of enormous youma attack.

He takes up a position backing up Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, to no-one's surprise - at a little distance, to give them room to move. Hands lifted; prepared to do what he can to deflect attacks ... but mostly observing. Seeing what the invading thing does, what it reacts to, how those reactions work, how they vary. If it reacts at all. << Looking for weak spots, >> he notes as he slides into Rashmi's communications network. Apparently he's on board with Amy and Uranus in the 'stab it in the eye, or equivalent' plan.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
The massive beast continued to spread at an incredibly alarming rate, its voice spreading out, not through their ears, though. It seemed to echo through their minds. < All will become one with me. All will join with me. Why do you fight? Why do you oppose me? Do you not see? You cannot hope to win? You have already lost! >

As the ooze spread out, in enveloped all in its wake, washing over buildings as well... And where the halation, purifying flames and bomber strike... some of the ooze is knocked away, but it quickly recoats itself and in the end there is barely a singed mark, as the laugh just echoes.

Then great tentacles reached out from the ooze, attempting to grab them, reaching out and trying to grasp the gathered mahou, to entangle and draw them into its oozing mass!

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Small Lady has heard taunts like that before. She's not concerned about the words themselves. The writhing mass of oozey whatever-that-is, on the other hand, is a lot more worrisome. Especially as it shrugs off their early attacks like it's nothing. Even worse when it reaches for her.

    Chibimoon leaps back to get away from one tentacle, and then blasts another with "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!" before leaping back away. When she lands, she steps in it and almost wants to throw up as she looks down to it trying to ooze over her feet.

    "Abracadabra Pon! Smoke Bomb!" she shouts, throwing her rod to the ground and causing pink smoke to fill the area immediately around her. The next time she's visible, she's leaping for the top of a lamp post, jumping from tall thing to tall thing as the ooze follows her.

    << Why are our enemies always so weird? >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
This is a threat on a scale far beyond anything Rashmi has faced before, and already it threatens to engulf all of Tokyo into its mass.

The thing is, though? This is also like the *eighth time* they've faced a threat on a scale far beyond etc etc etc. And Rashmi knows well by now, if it's trying to talk you into giving up? It can be beaten.

"We fight because *every time we fight,*" she shouts, slapping a module into Nicomachea, "when we fight together *we win!* EVERY TIME! How many times have *you* won the battle for Earth?!"

    << *BONG!* >> << AREA INDEX: SOLAR SHIELD -- GLACE SHIFT >>

Rashmi's hands whip out to either side, and a titanic half-dome of golden light appears over the assembled mahou, turning into golden, spiked ice with a screeching CRACK!

<< Because only weirdos believe they have a right to *our world,* >> she answers Chibi-Moon.

Rei Hino has posed:
    <<If they weren't weird, they'd just settle down and enjoy all the cool stuff we have.>> comes Sailor Uranus self-assured voice.

    <<That's what happens when you need to own and control everything, instead of share.>> Sailor Mars adds in for her bit.

    The two Sailor Soldiers quickly leap away from the incoming slime wave, with Mars doing so while unleashing a burst of fire from her hands, and Uranus trying to sweep some of it away with a windblade from her sword. <<Gross.>> the two of them say at roughly the same time.

    <<I'm guessing we don't want that to touch us - can someone create us a place to stand?>> Mars asks.

Laura La Mer has posed:
<< A plan I can get by! >> Cure La Mer grins at Rashmi's reply. Hitting it until the dies would certainly make it understand how hugely dumb it just proved to be for barging in. All while staying alive of course. She can't check up on Hotaru if this thing isn't there afterwards. And who else could narrate the events of the fights as magnificently as her?

< Oh, you can hear us! That makes things easy! We owe you no answer! Go eat Obsidian's food and die of indigestion! > La Mer comments uncaring, and the rainbow heart on her back starts glowing.

The rainbow heart on her back shines brighter, and the Pretty Cure pays special attention to the oozing mass that is about to strike at the mahoujin, taking to the sky to dodge it thanks to her flight.

"Pretty Cure Swirling La Mer Stream!", she shouts after Charging her Mermaid Aqua Pact, and a huge rotating beam of water erupting out of the Pact as she points the pen at the thing.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
<< There's something more solid beneath the mess, >> Kunzite reports, as he darts away from another tentacle, perching on top of an abandoned vehicle for a moment. A partial curve of familiar, much less unpleasant darkness manifests by Mars and Uranus; they have at least one temporary solution. << It's a particularly disgusting shield - focused fire might push it aside, reach what's underneath it. >> Whether that would be a good thing or a bad thing, he doesn't speculate. Probably both. Definitely necessary.

And then Cure La Mer sends water at it, and Kunzite abruptly grins - and rather than attacking directly, sends bursts of purified energy at any tentacles that might block La Mer's attack. Apparently, he wants to see whether water helps dissolve the ooze.

Granted, they'd need an epic amount of soap.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The Halation does something - Sailor Moon can see that well enough - but not enough. As expected.

It wouldn't be a world-ending threat if it fell to the very first attack, after all. It also wouldn't be a world-ending threat if it wasn't incredibly weird oh no oh no there's ooze oh no it's so wet looking-

Sailor Moon leaps to one of the boardwalk's lampposts so quickly she nearly tumbles off and falls into the ocean, ending up gripping onto the thing like a koala as she stares at the goo.

"Oh that's disgusting," she squeaks, and looks up to glare at the spreading mass of villain. Her voice pitches up as she yells, "You can't just come to people's planets and cover them in goo! That's gross! This is our planet, our world, and you're not the first monster to think you could take it and change it... you're just the most disgusting."

It's part bravado, part genuinely horrified disgust that powers her words forward, and since giving it everything they've got is the only plan any of them can think of just yet, she feels a flash of light shift as she grabs for the Spiral Heart Moon Rod and starts to spin it, hearts popping into existence.
R
<<Remember, everyone: this creep ran when Sailor Saturn tried to drop her glaive. It can die, and we can win!>>

"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Did her minimissiles even do anything? Certainly not meaningful damage to something this big... weird how the physics of being 'big goop' works for this thing but the physics of explosives never matter in her favor. She needs to learn more about magic. Or maybe it's that the same effect has kept her from pulping bystanders' organs with shockwaves.

    ...She needs to learn more about magic.

    Anyway, it's yammering on about how doomed they are. "Dude! ...Thing! No one who wants their enemy dead and could just do it asks them to give up and let it happen first! You're only saying this 'cuz you know you might not be able to beat us!"

    "What do you want Earth for anyway! You can be a cloud of darkness literally anywhere? What's wrong with where you were?"

    Hopefully it does have an eye they can stab it in; right now, the rushing Ooze of Darkness sends Red leaping to rooftops. She alights on a rooftop near Chibiusa, muttering, "Maybe that's just the fate of Magical Girls..."

    And then she looks back in time to see tentacles coming -- throwing a couple clusters of minigrenades tear and burn at their... whatever they're made of while she leaps clear. "This isn't how those are supposed to be... it's worse! How is it worse?!"

    Hmm. It's made of darkness... Amy tries chucking some magnesium flares into the ooze to see if light particularly hurts it somehow.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
<< Your world attracts all the weirdos for some reason, but you also get the cool people, like me. >> La Mer said cheekily before she once again leaped out of the water. Okay, time to see how well she could to this. "Ambitous blazer!"

Her entire body erupting into fire, she came descending down on some of the tentacles, attempting to kick it with a double flaming kick! And she chose her target, following up with Moons! Namely, once the moon spiral attack struck, she kicked once with flames, then a second time and tried to launch herself up into the air and--

<<Have I mentioned how much I miss being able to fly?!>> As she got smacked by one of the tentacles but, hey. At least she managed to get back to the ocean, so... there was that. Not the most elegant of fighting styles. But if it worked, it worked.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Gross gross gross, IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE GROSS and we don't want our lives to become one with an oil spill that has the viscosity of partly dessicated mucus," yells Tuxedo Mask, completely ruining any sense of gravitas he might otherwise have had a prayer of carrying off. << Ahh thank you Rashmi-sama~ >> he wrecks even the memory of that sense.

And the oobleck, the smooze, the croach begins to creep and wash and smother and corrupt, and Chibiusa lands in it-- but gets away, thank goodness, and aww it's time to scatter all right. With a pang of regret for the people littered all over the beach, he squeezes Usagi's hand one more time and lets go. All he can think of right now is 'obviously this will all be set to rights, this isn't killing anyone outright, or if it is, can't worry about that'--

It must have been how King Endymion felt... 'can't worry about that.'

<< Oh sweet, thanks Kunzite. I'm going to stay right here under this brilliant shield and do my thing with that information. >>

By 'my thing' Mamoru kicks some of the sand up back and away, then frowns and shrugs his pauldrons into being and detaches one to dig a quick sand trench, then detaches the other so he's not lopsided, and Prince Endymion crouches down to dig his hands into the sandy beach, a lake of pitch black slime around him. << Also, maybe it's like slug juice and the saltwater could dissolve him. >>

His hands glow, there's a bright gold glow, and he closes his eyes and searches for the thing Kunzite found. And there it is, something solid beneath all that. He tries to hammer at it with explosives from the bottom up, and maybe start undermining it enough to make a sinkhole open under it. "Tuxedo la Smoking Crater!"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Ever more te creature seems to be spilling forth from whereever it came from, the portal seeming to get wider and wider by the second as it went. How could something so terrible, so awful, just keep growing?

It felt like the monster just... never stopped. As if there was an entire world there.

< All will become one with the Tau System. All will join with us... >

As the attacks rained down on it and they took cover behind the shield, the ooze tried to wash over and surround the barrier. Enveloping it... and then began to crash against it. Crashing into it. Crushing it. As chunks were shattered, dents carved into it. It wouldn't hold for long, the impossible titan being held back even for seconds a miracle in its own right.

Where Chibi Moon's boot had touched it for a second, she could see scorch marks, as if the ooze had tried to absorb her, like acid attempting to dissolve anything that had fallen within. And as more attacks rained down on it, they were able to see more of how it worked... and it was not looking good...

Because the water didn't seem to be dissolving the sludge coating it. In fact, as more of it entered through the portal, it was beginning to spread out through the ocean now as well, washing over even that bastion of purity, removing that one last haven from protection.

The sinkholes seemed to do little as well, the ever growing tide of sludge seeming to just fill them... However... While it didn't seem to have much of an effect, attacking from the bottom was having more an affect than it seemed, slowing down the advance slightly.

But what was having an effect, the largest effect, was the combined assault of the magical forces. As they worked in tandem, assaulting together, their strikes combining to hit the monster, they managed to push through the layers of grime and sludge, to the true beast beneath it.

And finally, it was hard to say which of the attacks finally manage to strike the body, amidst of all of the combined strikes, the flames, the wind, the hearts, the beam of water... But enough of the ooze was parted that its fleshy body, dark, rotting, seemingly made of what almost looks like many other rotting bodies beneath, was struck...

<AGHHHHHH!>

And they are rewarded with the sound of *pain* from the behemoth creature, before it unleashes a wave of dark, purple energy from its body, in all directions to blast at them!

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibimoon can't help but notice that the others are bringing up good points. This thing can be beaten. The smoke cloud that was once Luna-P turns back into the ever-friendly catball, returning to Sailor Chibimoon's side as she finally lands on a high enough rooftop to give herself a second to breath before the ooze crawls up the sides and--

    Dark wave.

    "Parasol, now!" she calls out, and Luna-P immediately changes shape even though the full incantation wasn't used. The wave knocks her tiny frame into the air where she tumbles for a good few seconds, but the little umbrella opens up and lets her right herself before floating down gently onto another perch.

    A weakness has been pointed out, a focused fire onto one specific spot. The thing is howling, and it seems to be working, so even if her attack joins in a little late...

    "Pink Sugar Heart Attack!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
For all that they're throwing at the monster, none of them have a cork to fill that giant hole with, and with the amount of endless corruptive ooze that's spilling forth, it's starting to feel like that's the only thing that could stop this advance: a giant cork to seal it up.

In the absence of that cork, Sailor Moon's Spiral Heart has to count for something, right? All of their attacks, they count for something, don't they?

They do.

Ooze is smothered away, disgusting flesh is revealed, and a scream echoes through their minds as the creature is struck by the force of their attacks burrowing through the ick.

Sailor Moon scrunches under the mental-auditory attack, uselessly covering her ears, and when the retaliatory blast of purple energy comes for them, she's in the open on her tall thing, and gets blasted back, into the ocean that's rapidly filling with ooze.

It stings against her skin as she paddled to the surface, gasping for breath and trying desperately not to inhale or taste any of that -

<<I hate this, I hate this, I hate this,>> she says over the telepathy without meaning to, climbing the boardwalk's standing logs as best as she can, her gloves and fuku sizzling wherever they come into contact with ooze, and uncomfortable heat beginning to building.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Ambitious blazer! "Hey yeah," Amy smiles, reminded, "#-1 FUNCTION (ANSU) NOT FOUND DID YOU MEAN 'ANSI'" wait she doesn't have a weak point to target yet, no point dumping that much magic into an attack yet.

    << You could FLY? What, do unicorns in your world have-- wait no I've been a unicorn in your world! What, for the brief time you were Sunset?! ...Ohhh right you flew as-- right. It's been awhile! >>

    We don't want our lives to become one with an oil spill. "ALSO THAT! Seriously, you're not doing this right!"

    All will become one with-- "The TAU system?! I've seen Tau attacks, you're nothing like them! Also if you want people to join you why do you need Saturn's power to kill the world?! Are you just saying words!?"

    And then its flesh is exposed -- and it roars in pain, and a song pours into Amy's brain:

    "OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT!"

    Unfortunately, music does not help her dodge, and she's not quite fast enough -- she leaps for a rooftop to try and drop behind it but the wave catches her midair, "AHHG!" and she lands with a stumble, dark energy having eaten through her outfit in places to damage reddened skin.

    She grits her teeth and turns to face it, and as she turns the damage to her outfit and hair is gone, and she toughs through some pain and just starts belting out as she leaps across the battlefield:

Thunder, rain and lightning
Danger, water rising
Clamor, sirens wailing
It's such a bad sign

Shadows of dark creatures
Steel clouds floating in the air
People run for shelter
What's gonna happen to us?

    Yeah she's doing the song. And all the while she's sending salvos of tiny missiles to help shred tentacles, and firing that artillery cannon of hers at the exposed flesh.

All the steps we take, all the moves we make, all the pain at stake
I see the chaos for everyone who are we what can we do
You and I are same in the way that we have our own styles that we won't change
Yours is filled with evil and mine is not there is no way I can loooooo-se!

    Okay this is actually really hard? Without KKF magic helping and all the running and jumping ... maybe she can't do the whole thing. But, while firing a big missile that splits into a large salvo of anti-tank missiles to rain into that exposed flesh, she belts out one more time:

    OPEN YO-UR HEART, AND YOU WILL SEE!

Molly Skyline has posed:
Today has been Molly's first day back on any sort of active duty since being, well, killed and resurected as a daimon host and all that, and the fight against Dr Tomoe and Viluy -- the passing of the latter giving her no small degree of satisfaction, incidentally -- has left her in a rather more drained state than she would like. An updated spells list is going to take some getting used to, and her linker core has been used (and mistreated) for dark energy for so long that using it for the good stuff is... a bit of an adjustment.

And Molly would have withdrawn; that would be the smart thing to do, wouldn't it? Not be a liability to her friends in combat after they spent all that time on defeating Seriss Nyx and rescuing her. She should withdraw, lick her wounds, and trust everyone else deal with this latest problem.

Except that then it turns out to be a bad rip-off of The Blob and it's enveloping Tokyo and well forget that.

<< Starcrash, charge Stellar Pulse, seventy barrets >> she instructs. << AFFIRMATIVE. ARMED >>

"Fire!" Molly lets her wings carry her high up above the battle, so hopefully she won't be the first targeted for reprisal (even though she knows it's coming eventually), as searing barrets rip through the air towards the monster; just gotta hurt it, somewhere, anywhere, and trust everyone else to take care of the rest. << Starcrash, it's good to be on the field with you again, >> she adds.

<< AFFIRMATIVE >>

Rei Hino has posed:
Sailor Mars and Sailor Uranus see the attack coming and see the situation and both of them do the only thing they can do - they cross their arms in front of their faces, dig in, and brace for it. The torrential energy washes over them, pushing them back, but the fact that they are Sailor Soldiers mean that they don't get wiped out, just... injured, gritting teeth, pushed back with their respective heels and boots digging into the sand, and needing a moment to raise back up to their full height.

    <<Gotta be honest, I'm not a fan either.>> Sailor Uranus agrees over the comms. But she's seen the way the Smoking Crater slowed it - and slowing it is a good start towards stopping it, so she raises her hand to the air and collects energy into a faceted gem of barely contained power, before slamming it hard into the sandy earth. "WORLD... SHAKING!" she calls as the orangbe ball of roraring power tears its way towards the bit of slime planet monster that's leaked into this world.

    <<We need to kick this thing out before it does any more damage... or anyone else ends up in the goo.>> Sailor Mars adds as she collects energy into her own hands, calling on her firey planet. "FIRE... SOUL!" Sailor Mars calls as a roaring fireball surges forth to try to burn away and the corruption - and the corruptor itself.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne did NOT like any of this, at all. As the muck spilled into the sea, she... had to go into the air, once more. Fudge.

And it results in her getting blasted, hard. Sent flying back and colliding with one of the structures and--

<< NOPE! NOT TODAY! >> With a burst of flame she barely MANAGED to launch herself into the air and out of landing directly in the sludge, managing to catch onto and dangle from a telephone pole.

<< T-teleporting... or flight... I'll take either or. Please. This walking around thing is terrible. >>

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The shield walls are creaking alarmingly around him, and Tuxedo Kamen teleports into midair about five meters up just as the last of the shields cracks and shatters the whole thing in one glittering crash, and he starts to fall, then teleports to the top of a building across from him, and then the thing bellows IN THEIR MINDS and there's this raw edge of pain to everything now because this psychic was already beleaguered, and it blasts energy and all Mamoru has the time to do is raise his cape to tank the massive attack, ducking his head-- and he weathers it, his cape ragged around the edges now.

He sighs and hops closer by a few buildings, keeping track especially of where Moon and Chibimoon and Kunzite are and where he is in relation to them, and he rakes a hand through his princely hair and makes it artfully fall just so, and he yells, "I WANNA MELEE IT!" and then

"Tuxedo," he starts, then flings his glowing fist out in front of him.

"La Smoking," he continues, voice growing more strident, and then he opens that glowing hand and a growing ball of energy forms in front of it again--

--and then he yells out, the force of the laser blast enough to kick him back a half step, "Bomber!"

We mentioned he's keeping track of Moon, right? SHE JUST WENT IN THE WATER and the croach is there and it's O.O; he springs from the top of the building to the telephone wire right before the beach, then from the telephone wire (which doesn't snap!) to a hotdog stand's umbrella, then from the umbrella to the docks, and he scoops Sailor Moon up, "Hi!" and then his boots start to sizzle.

He considers this as he takes a schlorping step and the dock creaks alarmingly.

<< Kunzite! >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As the shield falls, Rashmi launches into the air, turning to get a bead on the fight... and hurriedly thrusts out a Shield against the oncoming energy wave, riding the impact to get herself knocked further up into the air. When she settles, she spares only a moment to give Molly a 'WHY?!' look. Because, let's be honest; if she weren't the type, she wouldn't have Starcrash.

When Cure la Licorne begs for mobility assistance, Rashmi tosses a quick Flier Fin in her direction. << Cure la Licorne! >> she calls over the comms net. << Let's keep the window open, shall we? >>

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE -- BLAZE SHIFT >>

A dozen flaming Barrets per second stream out from Rashmi's position, tracking a circle around the periphery of the goop. The intent, of course, is to make use of her magic's sticky, persistent fire to keep the goop away from the horrid flesh of the invader.

<< Anyone else want a lift? >>

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
... that's not Coco. Pity, Mars and Uranus could use a Live Stage or two.

Kunzite crouches down on his chosen vehicle, his shield spinning up around him in time to intercept some of the blast of vile energy, deflect a little more ... and keep him in place as the frame caves in beneath him. He leaps for a better vantage, then yells back at his prince, "What, not ride the thing? You're slowing down!"

That's taking care of his talking, so he lifts his hands in silent sign rather than calling his attack aloud, sending a violet-pink beam of his own alongside the Pink Sugar Heart Attack. That's the rest of what he's got from the youma; it'll take him a moment to purify what he just picked up enough to use it safely --

-- and then his head snaps over to focus on the docks as the far more serious call comes. No question. The shield dissolves around him, reforms around Prince Endymion and Sailor Moon, keeping them safe from the dock's alarming creak and the ocean at once, giving a solid place to push off from, a sheltered place to exist in, whichever they need.

Of course, it leaves him unprotected, but he hasn't been flinging the obvious attacks. He probably won't get attention. Probably.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
More and more destruction was being brought down on the creature. As the portal was opened more and more... the surge through, however, seemed to be slowing. It was still coming through, but it was slowing... bit by bit...

More of the sludge was wiped away, more of the attacks were impeding its progress. And now there was a girl singing at it, yelling at it about... the destroyer? How he wished to have her power? What? It was all so much noise. And then there were more blasts... and worse...

The months, no, years of battle had helped the girls grow stronger. Battle after battle they had worked in unison. Grown together. Gotten stronger. And there was no Saturn this time. But this time? They were proving they didn't need her. As the sludge was beaten back and the body beneath was struck, blasted with power and authority by their assaults. The message was clear. 'Go back where you came from!'

And the monster was no longer expanding, that which came through the portal now attempting to envelop itself, protect itself.

As more flames, the earth shaking, the bomber and the barrets struck it, knocking more of its coating away and caused more pain, it began to realize... it might truly be in trouble.

And then it saw it. Kunzite. Alone. Unshielded. Opportunity.

< No. >

And in an instant, everything went wrong. A single tentacle reached out, grabbing him, coiling around him, yanking him in. The acid, it burned around him... but there was something worse here. He could feel the dark energy here. < I tire of this game. It ends now. All of you will be hosts... or perish. >

And they could see it, the tentacle enveloping Kunzite, trapping him, was glowing with dark energy, at its base there was a shimmering, jewel... something... evil... vile... glowing with purple energy... Glowing brighter and brighter, as the creature gathered its power, intending to eliminate all of them at once, holding Kunzite captive over the point. Intending to use him as a hostage.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Probability has this irksome way of not working out. Kunzite whips his cape around him as the tentacle catches, but it only fends off the acid; the rest is more subtle, slipping around the fabric, energy trying to contaminate him. He could try to shield against it. He could.

But the anger at its threat, at its daring to claim it would reduce Endymion, Chibimoon, Rashmi, Amy - Licorne who'd worked so hard - to puppets, to shells?

That's enough for him to burn the darkness out of the energy he'd just absorbed.

He can't focus the attack he released. He doesn't need to. It's a beacon for anyone who's too distracted to spot the jewel themselves. A burst of light too bright to be pink-toned - a violent white, like Amy's magnesium flares - to highlight the jewel, the reflections off of it.

Let this end now. Yes.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Barret after Barret after Barret splashes against the goop... And then in desperation, it lashes out. In indignation, it swallows Kunzite. In utterly baffling entitlement, it seeks to dictate the terms of a fight that it's losing.

The look that Rashmi shoots Molly, honestly, requires a Jersey accent, if not the full Joe Pesci. 'D'you f***ing believe dis guy over here?!'

A quick check of her accumulator, and Rashmi nods. "Verbal Command: Accumulator Purge."

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

"So at what point," she yells at the purulent voice in her head, "Did you actually get the impression you were *ever* on the front foot, here?! Your minions were at least *winning* for a little bit, is this really all you brought?!"

Letting out her breath in a rough sigh, she fills her lungs and dips down for a better angle, stretching out a hand. "Solar Buster."

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BUSTER >>

A coruscating beam of gold-to-white energy lances out, impacting against the jewel and holding for several seconds. And when it dies out, the explosions begin.

Of small consolation to Rashmi is the fact that Kunzite may be hurt by the backsplash of her finisher... but it's not a lethal concern.

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Kunzite!" Sailor Mars and Sailor Uranus shout out in unison as the man is grabbed. Not over the mental comms, but out loud, in shock and rapidly growing anger.

    <<Oh no you don't, not after all we went through to get you back!>> Sailor Mars says as much to Kunzite as anyone else. <<You're not allowed to be corrupted by some space monster goo thing.>> She says firmly.

    <<We won't stand for any more of this. After what happened to Molly...>> Sailor Uranus adds. She may not have been as present about it, but the Outer Senshi knew Chrono and Rashmi well and were absolutely affected and appraised of it.

    <<If it wants our attention let's give it to it.>> Sailor Mars says, reaching a hand out to Sailor Uranus. They clasp, and both of them have the same thoughts - leaving one arm free from each of them and reaching out to the nearest Sailor Crystal holders to them.

    <<Let's get this thing.>> Sailor Uranus adds.

Laura La Mer has posed:
The wave of dark that the enraged creature had sent after them in its pain easily crossed the distance between her and the mermaid Precure as if they were right next to each other, blasting her off into the sky while she is trying to prolong her Swirling La Mer Stream to avoid getting hurt.

It is rapidly outmatched and overpowered, scattered into the air like many small droplets falling down to the ground like harmless rain, but it manages to buy her that second she needs to avoid taking the brunt of it head on. Bruises form across her arms and legs, and she stares up at the living nebula, ignoring them.

La Mer is about to cheer when she notices everyone's progress and success, but instead she feels herself grit her teeth at that tentacle that dares take one of them as hostage. "Is this all you can do? Trying to hide before a captive person?", she grimaces at it.

She is not going to stop however. In the current circumstances, it's probably for the best if she avoids the uncontrolled flow of her stream of bubbles, and goes with what has always come through for her. She only has to be careful with avoiding Kunzite.

"Marine Heart Swirl Ring! Charm Up!", she exclaims with a smile, stretching her arm upwards. The ring on her hand shines bright, and a blue sphere engulfs the mermaid, morphing her into her Excellent Tropical Style form.

The bioluminescent blue whale takes shape above her, and Laura jumps in its waiting mouth, supported by the familiar energy of Grand Ocean. "Five powers, roar through the seas!", she shouts, and starts swimming to direct the whale towards her target.

The giant creature squeals and swims into the air rapidly, with its tail tense in preparation for its final strike. In its approach to the vulnerable bright spot, the whale delivers a slap with its tail whose sound spreads all around, followed by La Mer's shout and an explosion of purifying energy. "Pretty Cure Marine Beat Dynamic!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Go back where you came from? Nonononono. Amy's message reads: Die. She is very good at controlling whether she makes a rocket to move a thing or an explosion to kill a thing! This is besmirching her abilities! Besmirching!

    "Kunzite!"

    They will all be hosts. "...Uhh... no? I just got this body. And my weapons are guided." She trusts the others have a way to rescue Kunzite -- she will do her part to not shoot him.

    She conjures missile racks all over her body and braces like she's going to fire...

    While the big rocket she rode in on earlier streaks out of the seaward sky at three-hundred-whatever miles per hour to try and punch its way to that core and explode it from behind.

    "Frikkin'... why is all you know how to steal..." she mutters, as if it can hear after all the attacks rain into it. "What is your obsession with taking others' bodies and lives... all that power, you could've looked for a way to coexist instead... Weird."

Molly Skyline has posed:
"I already was a host! For a year!" Molly shouts back down, "And you know what?! It SUCKED! Zero out of ten! No stars! Would not reccomend! WILL NOT HOST AGAIN."

Molly shoots a look back to Rashmi, that perfectly mirrors the redhead's sentiments. Like, for real? What's up with this guy? Be a meat puppet on someone else's strings or perish? Isn't that basically just what you say when you want to motivate someone to fight against you as hard as humanly possible?

So Molly keeps firing, unloading beams and barrets into the beast, and completely ignor-- No, we're not going to ignore the warnings about mana levels, we're just going to make a note of it for later. Ignoring warnings is bad.

<< Alright Starcrash, because our first outing in a year is not going to be a simple fight, let's do Coronal Overload for a second time. >>

<< AFFIRMATIVE. ALERT: MANA LEVELS WILL BE CRITICAL >>

Molly shrugs her shoulders, << Well that's fine, if we lost this fight our mana levels won't matter and if we do... it won't matter. So use everything. NO WAIT leave me enough to get home so my Moms don't freak out because I'm ringing the doorbell when I should be in bed. >>

<< AFFIRMATIVE. CHARGING >>

Molly maintains her position high above the battle, and locks her targeting reticle onto some part of the... thing... that isn't where it's holding Kunzite (which is a problem that needs solving immediately).

<< Hey Rashmi, >> she calls to the redhead while watching her little charging progress bar. << This feels like my first day all over again! Just with somewhat higher stakes. >>

When at last the attack is charged, the purplenette points her staff downwards and yells "Fire!!" And fire Starcrash does, releasing several orbs of glowing energy that combine and collapse down to a single, tiny point that explodes into a furious beam of energy that pushes Molly backwards as she fires it, blasting a swath through the goo monster for as long as she can hold it.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne had flier fins. Could FLY! << ... I'll be honest, I forgot you could do this. Thanks, Page Mage. >> She was so grateful she failed each time she tried to destroy that girl's ability to do magic.

... Every time.

It took her a few moments to get the balance right... and then she realized... "HOW DARE YOU!" Cure La Licorne yelled. "You think you can just come to this planet and KIDNAP our friends because it's not going your way?! We have a way of dealing with people like you! And that's with VIOLENCE! AND I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW THEY TAUGHT ME! AND GUESS WHAT? I'M A GREAT STUDENT!" As she pulled out her Heart Rouge Rod. The sun, unimpeded by the sludge, descended its rays onto the earth, and turned to raging, blazing swords of purification, slamming down on the massive youma's shining weak point that Kunzite so helpfully pointed out. "Scorching ray piercer!"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    It grabbed Kunzite.

    Unforgiveable.

    It grabbed Kunzite.

    Then something happened. A beacon within the sludge. Kunzite's power, painting a target. Her red eyes go to her fellow senshi. Uranus and Mars seem to already be starting something, and Chibimoon immediately gets it. She doesn't need it explained to her further than that.

    She leaps, jumps, kicks off of a wall, and at one point has to blast sludge out of her way just so she can land. Once she safely traverses to the other two, she lands next to Sailor Mars and takes her hand.

    Her eyes close. A pink aura starts to glow around her, increasing in intensity.

    Her other gloved hand reaches out for another Senshi to join them.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
He calls out for Kunzite, and Kunzite shields him and Sailor Moon long enough for them to get the solid footing to jump up and away, and as they're jumping in that bubble, the thing takes advantage--

Endymion's hands are bare and Sailor Moon can feel through his hand on her arm, until he puts her down next to Uranus and Mars and Chibimoon... Sailor Moon can feel his heart in his throat and his blinding fear and trust in her but NO PRESSURE because they're all here, they're all here to weave their powers together, aren't they? And their friends are all here, and Kazuo means so much-- so much--

He takes Chibimoon's hand and his eyes are on Kunzite, eyes are on Kazuo his heart is beating too fast and he has Chibimoon's hand in one hand and he takes Moon's with the other and he pours energy in and it's like everyone else's, it's like everyone else's and something quiet clicks into place again, and clears his mind enough to let him focus. It's up to Sailor Moon to close the circuit.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Having been dunked into the coagulating ocean - ugh ew oh no it had been coagulating - Sailor Moon is pretty pleased to be rescued from the climb by her still very clean and dashing husband, given that she's dripping goo ew -

The Kunzite provided shield that pops up, providing a place to land, and to leap up, up, and away from sizzling acidic monster ooze, is wonderful, given the givens, and Sailor Moon turns to smile at him, beaming in spite of everything.

Attacks are connecting, the enemy is taking hit after hit, they're going to do this, as she always knew they would have to and could, and everything is going so well!

And that's when she spots the tentacle just as it catches hold. That's when Kunzite gets yanked away from them, enveloped in tentacle and ooze alike, and Sailor Moon's heart clenches, her breath catching, and she calls, "Kunzite!!"

There's a spark of light from her Silver Crystal, a glow of defiance, purifying light beginning to spread in a bubble. He's gone, but he's not gone and even if he was gone she would drag him back there would be no mistaking that, this life is theirs and he is part of that and it is not allowed to just end here, not now, not here -

Endymion's terror-faith-conviction floods in her heart, and as they land she sees Uranus and Mars and Chibimoon and there's a beacon of light from Kunzite, a purifying bolt directly into the heavens, and as the Sailor Senshi link hands, their energy broils out of them in an aurora.

Pink energy glows from Chibimoon.

Red energy burns from Mars.

Blue energy storms about Uranus.

Golden energy emanates in a steadfast glow from Endymion.

The circuit is almost complete. Attacks from their friends are flying for the gem revealed in the monster's haste to take and corrupt Kunzite. Sailor Chibimoon and Prince Endymion each stretch their hands out to Sailor Moon.

And Sailor Moon steps forward and seizes their hands, completing the circuit. Silver light flows from her in a frenzy, and together the five of them glow bright enough to cast away the darkness.

"You came to the wrong planet," Sailor Moon calls, as their energy builds together, the five of them the center of a start of conjoining, radiating energy, their hair lifting, sand fragments and wood bits and goo all rising into the air, and their planetary symbols flash on their foreheads, all of them, as the light reaches it's peak. "This is our home, these are our friends, and that man is our Kunzite! You can't have any of it! We might have shared, if you came in peace, but you came to conquer, and we're here to tear you asunder!"

The light reaches it's peak. The boardwalk creaks beneath them. They shout the command to the world at large, to the celestial bodies that grant them name and power:

"Sailor Planet Attack!"

five beams of multicolored light streak upwards and towards Pharaoh 90, combining into a great beam of white just before it strikes and continues to strike, pouring from them as they give everything they have to ending the threat for good.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
There was no hope for them, they couldn't defeat him. They couldn't destroy him. They couldn't even begin to have the slightest glimmer of a chance of defeating one such as him.

Kunzite's glow showed them the gem, drew every eye to it.

Across the city, buildings were freed as more mahou fought, as more of them achieved victory, as they refused to give in, as they fought back against the tide of this never ending onslaught and drove back the darkness.

He was Pharaoh 90, he and his minions had watched this world for years, even Saturn had now crumbled before his magnificence.

The Solar Buster crashed down into the much, splashing into the acidic ooze... before exploding.

He was unstoppable. Uninhibitable.

More buildings were freed, more people released from its grasp as the end of days was driven back, as mahou across the city joined in the city.

A great blue whale of purifying light tail slaps the gem, as from above flaming, purifying swords rain down, explosions erupting around the gem... clearing the ooze... As the assault never stops.

As Molly's blast enters the fray, as Amy's missile slams into it. A crack forms in the gem.

< Stop! STOP! IMPOSSIBLE! YOU CANNOT! YOU WILL NOT! YOU-- >

And then? The planets themselves join forces, and the five lights of the universe join together, raining down across the gem, adding their force to the assault...

The tentacle holding Kunzite writhes, shaking, throwing him away in a blind, angry fury!

And all their power together finally shatters it. The gem shatters! And in a moment... The sludge seems to harden, as the creature goes still.

Bit by bit, it begins to dissolve. Slowly at first, a few inches. Then it begans to go quicker, more and more of it dissolving faster and faster, as its body fades out... and the portal that it was holding open closed with a soft, gentle pop.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kunzite hits the sand ... and is not still; he curls on his side into the rags of his cape, coughing violently. Acid on skin; acid in lungs - these things are not good. But there's sand beneath him, not slime, and he can take a moment to experience the world the way the first dubious thing that successfully wriggled its way out of a tidepool and lived to tell about it did. To appreciate this world. And the people it's created; and the people it's welcomed; and the people who've created themselves upon it.

Coughing violently, taking deep lungfuls of air and regretting them almost immediately. But finding somewhere the hint of a defiant smile, all the same.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    "Sailor Planet Attack!"

    Small Lady calls out, in time with the others. Her power is unleashed, joining with the others into one big blast. Pharoah 90 came to this planet where he was very much not invited, and now he's not leaving.

    Hopefully this means that Hotaru will be okay now.

    Chibimoon looks up to Endymion with a smile, and then to Mars, and releases the latter's hand before leaning against the former.

    Then she looks over and sees Kunzite. Alive but in need of medical care. So she calls out, "Kunzite!" and releases her papa's hand in order to chase the Shitennou.

    She actually fully expects that Endymion will get there faster than she can, but that's not going to stop her from running.

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Sailor Planet Attack!" call out Mars and Uranus, Rei and Haruka, melding their energies with the other Sailor Soldiers. Melding in their love of this world, their desire to protect it. Their desire to protect much more personal things; Kunzite and Small Lady and their friends - as well as much larger things. A world they've all battled and fought and bled for. Taking those emotions, translating them into energy, and all of them throwing it in such force at the thing that wanted to take it all away.

    Neither of the two Senshi is the fountain of legendary power that Sailor Moon, Chibi-Moon, or Endymion are, and after the attack they sort of slump forward exhausted - especially once they see Kunzite moving - but they can look at the space where the enemy used to be and smile.

Laura La Mer has posed:
La Mer watches the great figure slowly, quietly disappear, bringing with itself the doom spelled by the darkness it spread. There aren't many sights Laura could call splendid, but seeing the natural colour of the sky unbroken and repaired, and hearing that gentle pop, a promise fulfilled after a long time.

La Mer gives her back to it as she sees the attacks are doing it, it's indeed! Kicking her leg high up, the mermaid turns her upper body back so she faces behind her and now towards her allies and times it just right to coincide with that gentle pop. Grinning widely, The Pretty Cure, cheerfully declares "VICTORY!", choosing when the whale returns in a rainbow burst.

"We did it, we did it!", she shouts to the others, and hugging the nearest mahou in a burst of joy. At least, they are all clean thanks to the goop's disappearance with its master.

She is extremely tired, and moving even an arm feels like pushing against lead, but the joy, the delight, the reassurance that Hotaru is finally safe to live her life all provide her with a burst of adrenaline that overpower the fatigue for now.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Sailor Planet Attack!" calls the guardian senshi of Earth along with the others, pouring that focused gold in to the tapestry.

And oh man, oh man, Kunzite impacts the sand while they're still keeping up the pressure, and OH HE'S MOVING OKAY, Endymion waits until they're actually finished attacking before, yes, squeezing hands and then breaking away from the Sailor Senshi to go ... vanish.

He's already over by Kazuo, yeah, pulling his hair away from his face, crouched with one armored knee in the de-goopifying sand. And then Mamoru drops down a henshin so he has comfier knees and just, gives Kazuo something to put his head on that isn't sand, you know, he takes off his cape and bunches it up under his head and then goes back to touching his face--

--and takes the pain away, and slowly eases the inflammation. "Stay as still as you can, sorry sorry, I know you have to cough-- should I just get us both home and you can be miserable in private?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< *Way* higher stakes, >> Rashmi answers Molly, << but it wasn't gonna end up any other way. >>

While Pharaoh 90's demise is a source of a sort of grim satisfaction -- *nobody* gets to ruin *their* world like they called dibs, damnitall -- there's still the matter of a deeply wounded Kunzite, and a *deeply* terrified Mamoru. << ...D'you want some support, Endymion-san? >> comes in solicitously over the comms net, the redhead just waiting for permission to add her little bit of recovery assistance.

Cure la Mer's exuberance is indeed infectious, and Rashmi continues to lower herself to the glorp-free sand... So if there are hugs to catch, she will happily catch them.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne landed on the beach and... as her teammate hugged the smallest moon... she reached out an arm and... gave Rashmi a little one-armed hug. "Have I ever mentioned that you're one of my favorite mages?" she asked her with a grin. "Mayyyyybe not my favorite... but certainly in my tops," she teased.

It was hard for her to say who was her favorite. She had a lot of friends, and while she had a best friend, past that... well... "Thanks for the wings, though. A lot. Forgot you could do that. You really are the best at support."

She'd then let her go, to stretch out. "And I really have learned *so much* about violence from you people! It solves *so many* problems! The BEST problem solver when people just can't take a hint! Anyone need any help with anything?" She sounded rip raring and ready to go!

... she was not. She was actually exhausted. But she was trying to hide it because she wanted to be useful and helpful and not keel over.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Kunzite falls, curls, coughs. He's alive.

Pharaoh 90 withers, screams, and dies. The portal closes. Yumegahama Beach is without threat, without monstrosity - there are only the remnants of the attack, the goo that lingers, slowly fading, the civilians slumped and drained and collapsed across the beach and boardwalk, having had their lifeforce stolen by Dr. Tomoe and Viluy and then been well and truly smothered by Pharaoh 90's spreading ooze.

The streets, too, are lined with those who had been attacked, those who had not been able to escape.

Yumegahama is hurting. The area of the wards all the way through to Radiant Heart Academy's borders is hurting, and though the enemy is defeated, the job isn't done.

Sailor Moon's responsibility isn't just to punish her enemies, after all. It's to protect those in need, to save those before her.

To make miracles happen, even on the darkest of days.

Which is why, as Sailor Chibimoon and Prince Endymion make their way to Kunzite's side, and Sailor Mars and Sailor Uranus slump in relieved exhaustion, and her friends begin to celebrate their victory, Sailor Moon takes a deep breath and cups the broach on her chest, above her heart, and calls on the Silver Crystal's power.

So many people, drained and exhausted and hurt, touched by that dark power, unable to be rescued in time. Her friends, drained by their efforts, Kunzite collapsed where he was hurt, and the power blossoms in her hand.

Her broach, her Cosmic Star Compact, glows bright, and opens to reveal the Silver Crystal, blossomed into its lotus form. She's tired and yet not, a wellspring of power waiting to be tapped, waiting to be used for this - her conviction and love and hope and determination to protect everyone, to make sure that they are safe, translated into a silver glow that shines as bright as the full moon. The Silver Crystal glows. Sailor Moon, too, glows, for a brief instance, her skirt shimmering in the light, her collar blowing, her bows seeming to extend far, far away."

"Moon Crystal Power!"

Sailor Moon raises the compact and purifying light pours over Yumegahama Ward, restoring energy and leaving no trace of corruption in its wake. Pharaoh 90 and the Deathbusters will leave no trace on those used in their final gambit.

Usagi Tsukino sinks down to her knees between Sailor Mars and Sailor Uranus, exhausted. The compact in her hands is dim, the gold and pink colors seeming a touch paler.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Small Lady happens to be the closest mahoujin to Cure La Mer when she decides to go for the hug, and she's caught off guard by it because she's worried about Kunzite. Though, she's worried a little less upon seeing Mamochan's reaction, so after a moment she relaxes, and then smiles. Leaning against La Mer, she hugs the PreCure with tiny arms and says, "We did it!"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
There's a quick little shake of Kunzite's head at Mamoru's question. Talking isn't a good idea, but -- "Moon," he says between the calming coughing fits.

And that's when the Silver Crystal's power washes over them, and Kunzite relaxes still more - between Mamoru's healing, and Mamoru's cape, and the banishment of the foul energy that had been lingering on his skin, under his nails, clinging to his hair.

His hand comes up to touch Mamoru's. That counts as staying still, right?

Molly Skyline has posed:
<< MANA LEVELS CRITICAL >>

As Molly's coronal assault tapers off, her heat circuitry is glowing and her vents hiss steam, and she drops from the sky a little faster than she might have otherwise to land heavily on one knee, catching herself by using Starcrash as a prop. For a moment, she rests, blinking back tears.

She fought. Really soon after being rescued, and on the beach. This particular beach.

And they won.

Rashmi and Hinoiri are the closest, so while they're busy hugging the purplenette more or less staggers into them, throwing her right arm still holding Starcrash around Hinoiri's shoulders and... doing the best she can with what remains of her left arm to at least make it clear that Rashmi's included in this too.

"We won," she gasps, voice quivering. Her Battle Visor winks out, and there are tears rolling down each cheek. "It's over now, right? The... the daimons, possessing people and turning us into hosts.. that's all over now, right? It's over, right?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Uranus staggers to her feet, first. She looks around. Everyone is... varying levels of... okay. She makes a sort-of-half-bow to the assembled. "I have to check on my family." The blonde says. Both Neptune and Saturn are meant. She takes off running, to find her love and her adopted.

    Mars, though, is in no such hurry to leave, and she smiles at Usagi, at her brilliance, at all she accomplishes - reminding her why she is happy to be Sailor Mars. She smiles a bit and slowly puts one of Moon's arms around her neck so she can cart her over to Mamoru and Kunzite. While Rei is tired too, she's far less tired than Post-Silver-Crystal Usagi.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne glanced back at Molly... and then slowly nodded. Hugging her too. "Yeah.... yeah. Another idiot bites the dust." Giving the girl a tight little squeeze. To think, not... well, actually, over a year ago now. She'd tormented this girl. Now? She was here. Besides her, fighting with her. She'd tormented both of them, even.

And this time, she was on the right side. The GOOD side.

No bad guys, no terrible dumb ideas to endanger anyone. Just... saving he world. Being good. Doing good...

And honestly? She felt... refreshed. Stronger, now. Sailor Moon, once again, going above and beyond. She snickered, shaking her head. Then again... that was always her, wasn't it? Part of why she adored her so much, too.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Far away, in the city, in one of the hospitals that had, fortunately, been spared being covered in ooze...

Hotaru's eyes opened. The familiar beeping sound of medical equipment told her where she was and with weak, blurry eyes she looked up at the person standing over her. She didn't feel in pain anymore...

Most importantly, though, she knew they'd won. Why?

Because she was Hotaru now. However, most surprising of all? Was who was sitting by her bed in that moment.

"T-Takashi... senpai?" she asked softly.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
He's all 'should we get home then so you're not being half-dead on sand' and Usagi's all 'should I fix this mess then' and briefly, Tuxedo Mask feels a little guiltily small-hearted for being upset he couldn't fuss more-- until the wave of purification washes over everyone and everything, and the lingering darkness that clung to them is dispersed.

Then Tuxedo Mask is just staring at Super Sailor Moon and his heart's bursting because they won and they're all safe and LOOK AT HIS WIFE??? DAMN.

He's still brushing Kazuo's hair from his temple, but now Rei is bringing Usagi over, and Mamoru makes room on himself for Best Girl and puts his free arm around her and he just starts giving them both Earth's energy, golden and warm.

"Hey, everybody," he says relatively quietly, but enough to be heard, "anyone who wants to wind down at my place is perfectly welcome to, there are snacks and two bathrooms et cetera. We're also awake and fancily dressed on a beach full of unconscious people who are gonna wake up with Questions. So we should definitely go somewhere not here."

A beat, and Mamoru looks down. He is Situated. "In a second."