1395/Voice in the Dark

Voice in the Dark
Date of Scene:	01 April 2024
Location:	Palace of the Panthalassa
Synopsis:	While approaching Gaito's throne room, the Black Beauty Sisters block their path. Will they be able to get past the fearsome duo?
Cast of Characters:	Coco Kiumi, Madoka Kaname, Usagi Tsukino, Makoto Kino, Cho Konishi, Yuuto Shiraishi
Tinyplot:	Usagi's Abyssal Nightmare

---

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Everything is calm now that the Dark Lovers (sans Eril) lay behind and the water demon Devario has returned to his original form. The footsteps of the group echo through the dimly lit hallways of Gaito's palace, the only source of light coming from outside, from the unusually brightly lit environment of the sea.

The hallways repeat identically to each other, every single turn of the mahous leading deeper and deeper into the palace, the occasional anglerfish shining its light breaking the monotony of their march. Every once in a while the swirling pattern of the columns gets even more elaborate and sumptuous than it already was, as if whoever had built the palace had wanted to signal its most important zones.

The occasional door that they pass in front of reveal itself unimportant to their goal. It is neither the throne room nor the place where Noel lies prisoner. The next upgrade of the luxurious columns is signaled by something else changing, the new presence of two girls with fish ears, a red one that is taller than the blue one

"Are you looking for something?" the red one asks with a proud grin on her fact. "Gaito is always keeping the candy of the twin dango over there, so I don't think you have much of a chance at this", she raises her hands and shakes her head. "Not that we will actually allow you to just walk away, right, Sister Sheshe?" the blue one remarks. "Of course, Sister Mimi. The Yellow Pearl is there ready to be picked, and I don't think Gaito will mind not knowing that we helped ourselves to the Silver Crystal. Not like he hired us for that."

"Black Beauty Sisters, you have gotten enough of hiding, then", Coco exclaims. "We will stop the nightmares and save Noel too. Things are too different this time."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    At some point between this battle and the last, Hope Blossom swapped between Chara, which means that Madoka is currently wearing a flossie and Lydian is currently swimming right next to her.

    "Twin dango's candy... wait... they were able to curse her through a piece of candy?" repeats Hope Blossom. Apparently she missed the answer the last time that was asked, or maybe it just wasn't known.

    "So if she eats the candy, will the nightmares go away?" asks Lydian, because of course candy exists to be eaten. That's just the natural order of the world.

    Hope holds up both hands in a 'wait a minute' gesture and says, "I don't know how I feel about eating cursed candy... but then I guess it isn't my candy."

    Madoka's branch bow appears in her hands, and she starts swimming a bit higher and further back. It's just basic positioning. Fire Support belongs on the back row.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"You've got to be kidding me," Sailor Moon snorts, the sound distinctly unladylike. She's exhausted. She's been exhausted. And these two are all that stand between her and sleep. "You two aren't getting my Silver Crystal anymore than you're getting Yellow-chan. If you leave now, maybe we won't turn you into sashimi!"

All of which means, nice Sailor Moon is not in the building. The Moon Stick is in her hand, and if no one else is going to start this fight, she's happy to do it herself -

Right there in the halls of Gaito and before Godoka and Buddha themselves, Sailor Moon carves a golden circle of light into the air - well, the water - which flares with purifying light. If these two sisters somehow aren't using Dark Energy, then the beams of light and dusty mists will pass right through them harmless. But if they are? Oh, it's going to hurt.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Guess they could've meant it figuratively?" Sailor Jupiter offers over her shoulder, in the direction of Hope Blossom and Lydian. "Then again..." A glance toward Sailor Moon, a shrug, and a smile. "I officially haven't understood any of this stuff in a while."

The Black Beauty Sisters may possibly get the impression that the tall Sailor senshi in green and white may not be taking them especially seriously.

When Sailor Moon unloads an Escalation right out of the gate, now - that gets Jupiter's attention. She whistles softly as the scintillating energy rushes from the circle traced by the Moon Stick. "Okay, then."

On the off chance that doesn't simply Refresh! both fish-eared girls into a smattering of seafoam, Sailor Jupiter moves in close in the Moon Healing Escalation's wake. With several powerful kicks of her long legs, she rockets herself forward, both hands already sparking in readiness to dish out some electrically-charged punches.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong was walking with Yellow Voice, occasionally blowing out little water circles... why? Because they were underwater and could breathe and that was AWESOME. How often would she ever get another chance to do that? However, these funtimes were soon interrupted by VILLAINS!

The Black Beauty Sisters! Truly, dark, evil and... wait, candy?

"Wait, so you stole her candy and used it to make NIGHTMARES for her? That's just rude!" she said, glaring at the pair.

"Then again, a lot of my stuff is with magic peaches and so... maybe food stuff being used isn't so... wrong? Or is at least kind of... normal?" she offered with a shrug.

She then charged forward, twirling her staff as she went! "YA!" she yelled, bringing the staff down on whichever of the two Jupiter didn't punch! Well, SHE was a front line! And she had a stick.

"Wait, how long have you had this candy here?! Is it even still good?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The smug faces faces of the Black Beauty Sisters don't look look like they have any intention of answering either Hope Blossom or Cure Wukong's questions. Let them sort the truth out among themselves. "Certainly not for you! Unless you like dark-energy flavoured candy, but even then forget even just seeing it", Mimi sidesteps the matter.

The water demons are quick to react when they see Usagi pull out the Moon Stick, red sparkles moving from their sides towards the center as a Live Stage of red light appears in front of them.

"Let's go, Sister Mimi", "Right, Sister Sheshe." the two look unperturbed when the purifying magic is quickly onto them. "It's showtime!", the Black Beauty Sisters say in unison. Dark Energy starts twisting the air around them, crackling red, as the two start singing a hurtful melody of darkness, urging a Voice in the Dark to steal the the bond between pearls, and laugh and deride harmony, a deception without a mirror reflections.

When a red pulse pushes back against Wukong's staff, all the while one of the anglerfish, eyes shining red swims of front of Jupiter's path, taking the attack meant for the Black Beauty Sisters while it tries to bite her. The Escalation does hit them, but instead of them being hurt, the potency of their song is reduced, Moon's attack not hurting as much as that would have, the dark energy in the songs warping and weakening it.

Coco grimaces as the song starts, the pain of the dark energy song she is especially supsceptible to actually stopping her focus. It is thanks to the Escalation weakening it however that she can hold herself together enough to begin countersinging, reserving Moon a smile. Ever Blue: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!" she declares, the soundtrack from her own Live Stage not quite audible with the interference from from the duo of evil singers.

The mermaid princess sings softly of the feeling she gets that on the other side of the seven seas, someone is crying, squeezing her heart and causing her loneliness. But she embraces the guidance of the stars in her heart, the destiny of the ever blue sparkle of the ocean she loves calling to her and letting her gather the power to protect the future in her hands.

As the melody expresses her feelings of cherishment towards her friends and the mysterious blueness of the ocean, prettier than heaven, she sings for the purification of darkness and the disappearance of evil, helping diminishing the pain from the song.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I eat all kinds of candy," Sailor Moon says defensively, scowling as Moon Healing Escalation serves only to weaken the pair rather than take them out at the start. Alright then! That just means they need to be softened up before they can be taken out.

The singing the pair begin - cruel voices that sing of darkness and the loss of bonds - is the worst choice to bring against Sailor Moon herself, the soldier of love and justice, of mystery and cosmic force, and she is already pissed off.

Corruption makes her sick - literally, it makes her sick, and while she's vulnerable to the amplifying impact of Dark Energy...

That definitely isn't good for these two Sisters.

As Coco sings a melancholic song of cherishment in the face of danger, Sailor Moon grabs her tiara, holding it in her hand for a long moment, metal transforming to pure energy, a discus of cosmic power.

"You two are awful. You should really try some lessons in harmony! Here, why don't I help you try singing one at a time!"

And she launches the tiara at the red one.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
Having gotten caught from behind as the main attack began, Yuuto had gotten embroiled in a battle with Devario the Combative. That name was totally not a misnomer and after a decisive battle with the water demon, he's finally made his way back to the main group, just in time to miss the first clash with the others. "Sorry I'm late!" he manages, as the Steam Sentinel checks the charge on his blasters and forms up slightly near Madoka, but a bit of distance away as to not interfere with her bow.

Once in place, he grimaces at the song of the pair of sisters, shaking his head. But he's learned that music is the most common theme when it comes to Coco, there is always going to be music that will be involved. And Coco's music? There's not a single complaint there.

Blasters held out, he starts to fire, sending out low level bursts, his cannon still recharging from it's last fight, as his skates roll, looking to actively recharge him.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong scowled when her staff was pushed back by the red pulse, skidding back and twirling the staff. Well. That was... less effective than she'd have liked. In fact, it was so less effective it hadn't been effective at all! Rude!

She wished she was any good at singing, but she--

WAIT! SHE HAD SOME SUPPORT FOR YELLOW VOICE! She plucked a hair and then made but a single clone! DJ Wukong, the backup dancer! She had but one job, to run off and start backup dancing! No, it was maybe not the best plan but it WAS a plan!

She then turned back towards the duo singing mercenaries. Looking for some way to counter them... To DEFEAT them! She leaped back, landing on all fours and her staff held in her tail. She had to--

Her eyes widened. "I have an idea!" she called back before leaping back to... Madoka?

"Can you all hold them back for a minute?"

Landing by Madoka, she leaned in and whispered. "Hey... can your bow shoot anything, say... magic staffs, if you had a bit of help? And how much pressure can the bow string take?"

It'd be fiiiiiiine.

Makoto Kino has posed:
With Cure Wukong's withdrawal, it's left to Sailor Jupiter to hold the front line, and she doesn't flinch from it - even if this is about the last concert she wants a front-row seat for. A grimace twists her lips as the insidious duet washes over her, threatening to undermine her strength and her motivation... but there's Yellow Pearl Voice's song, countering it, and the bright flash of Sailor Moon's tiara.

There's also an anglerfish gnawing at her fist. "Ow! Are you serious right now?"

Electricity surges down her arm into the anglerfish's mouth, before Sailor Jupiter winds up her arm and pitches the whole electrified fish directly towards the blue Sister's face at high speed.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "I don't think candy usually goes bad," says Hope. "I mean... unless it got wet."

    Lydian, staying behind even Madoka, addresses the two Black Beauty sisters. "Did Gaito let the candy get wet? It's imperative that we know right away!"

    Hope Blossom sweatdrops. It's probably not that imperative. She's also not likely to get a meaningful response.

    Well now the attacks are coming out, and Hope Blossom gets to once again feel what it's like to be Sunbreaker whenever Coco sings. Harmful melodies come out, filling the air, and soon Lydian is floating over to Coco's side. She joins in by playing on a tiny recorder and harmonizing with Coco's song. It has very little effect magical on its own, but maybe it'll serve as a morale boost? Honestly she just noticed another mascot joining with Coco's singing and Lydian wanted to try it, too.

    Blossom looks back as Propel rejoins and greets him with a brief smile before focusing her attention back on the fight. She fires a spread of arrows at the two evil singers, each one trying to get in the two villain's faces faces before loudly exploding into a cloud of sparkly pink dust. Maybe don't breath that stuff.

    Cure Wukong is suddenly right next to her, and Madoka is looking down at her bow. "Bowstring? I mean..." She looked more closely, and noticed something weird. Sometimes her bow had a bowstring, other times the bowstring was less of a physical object and more of a theoretical construct. This time it was the latter, but...

    Maodka forms another bow, this one thicker, longer, and with an actual bowstring. "I mean, if it breaks, I can always make another one?" Forming 20 bows isn't quite as useful as forming 20 swords or guns all at once, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she can't.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"If it's so imperative, first take off the headset from the mermaid princess and give it to me!", Sheshe replies to Lydian, not that she actually expects the Chara to succeed even if she listens to her. She mostly just hopes that the little pinkette will provide a distraction. "Behind me, Mimi!", Sheshe scowls when she sees the many attacks all directed towards them, not waiting for the bluenette to actually do as she says and instead dragging her behind herself, taking all the attacks on herself.

Still, the crackling red energy is enough to slow down the many attacks just enough that Sheshe is able to take the brunt of it, collapsing to her knee between laborious breaths. "It's... ok, Sister Mimi, just... give me time to recover a bit", she forces a smile towards the other Black Beauty Sister.

,"How dare you hurt Sister Sheshe", Mimi trembles with anger at what just happened. "Don't think it's gonna be any easier just because it's me now. It's still showtime!"

Happy people protected by love
Eyes believing in "carrying through" are too bright

Voice In the Dark!
The black waves and the melody we're playing
Voice In the Dark!
Stop the love and turn it into a formless chain!

The water starts bubbling all around the red Live Stage, before water currents starts pushing against Wukong, Jupiter and Hope Blossom, and a swarm of anglerfish attacks Moon, Propel and Yellow. Coco, that was still singing Ever Blue, energised even further by her audience of WukongClone and Lydian. Coco's solution, hopefully lasting? Strike the anglerfish with more Live Stage to push them away.

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
With Madoka occupied for a moment, Yuuto realizes that he's become the primary ranged fighter - and in order to help keep Coco protected and get a bit higher, the Stream Sentinel moves towards the Live Stage. "Permission to come aboard!" he calls out to Coco. If the mermaid allows, he'll join her, using the live stage as a platform.

Once there, he's able to start to firing, two-gun style, towards the angler fish that are aimed at him - as well as the ones aimed at Sailor Moon, trying to keep her freed up so that she can continue her attacks on the pair directly.

Aside, her mentions to Coco, even if she can't answer because she's singing at the moment as the water currents pull at them. "...you'll forgive me if I hold off on seafood for a bit?" he asks hopefully, small charges formed and fired off, sending electrostatic energy into the fish to stun them enough to be knocked aside.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong let out a yelp when she was thrown back by the currents. And then... she ran away...

With Madoka...

And, for a while, there was nothing. She'd abandoned them, left them to such a terrible fate! What a traitorous, terrible person! Alas!

... Okay, probably not. Most of them (some of them) knew her. And knew while she was many things, she was NOT a traitor.

And it wasn't long before there was a rumble and...

"EVERYONE, GET OUT OF THE WAY AND READY TO RUN WHEN THEY'RE MOVED ASIDE!" Wukong's voice came.

Down the hall, Wukong drew back the bow string as far as possible.... and then some... so taut it might break.

Then released.

The staff flew by, just grazing by her hand as it went until... the very end, the tip?

While it touched her, the staff increased massively in size. Going from an inch or so thick and about five feet tall...

To about the size of a tree.

And now it was shooting straight at the poor twins, clearing a path down the hall as it went. Oh dear.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
With one sister weakened and Steam Sentinel Propel taking the lead to pick off the anglerfish, Sailor Moon focuses on keeping up the attack, Moon Stick spinning, silver crystal shining and she again carves the circle of light -

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Launched directly at the boiling water and red Live Stage.

And then there's Cure Wukong, shouting, and Sailor Moon turns to see - eep!!!

"Jupiter-chan, get out of there!" She yells as she flattens herself to a wall of the palace, because there's only one person holding the front line. "Wukong, are you crazy?!"

Makoto Kino has posed:
The currents batter at Sailor Jupiter, pushing her back - at least until her boots make contact with the floor of the hall. With solid ground beneath her feet, she braces herself against the pressure, bringing her arms up to shield herself. "I won't... back down...!"

This is approximately when Cure Wukong calls out her warning, and Sailor Moon's rather more urgent one follows close behind.

"--what??"

She'd begin to glance back over her shoulder, but Sailor Moon's yell cuts short any ideas she might've had about trying to see what's going on. Without so much as half a heartbeat's hesitation she leaps back from her forward position, launching herself as clear of the line of fire as she possibly can, just in time for that enormous staff to come blasting by her.

There's no time to try to right herself, so she doesn't bother. Instead she grasps for the lightning. "SUPREME THUNDER!!"

It surges out of her, racing to catch the end of the staff - and engulf it in a sheath of blazing electricity.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "You're saying you want your own headset?" responds Lydian, trolling the enemy by pretending to mishear. "I can get you a brand new one that's waterproof and noise canceling. It's gonna be cost you though. I'll need a piece of candy as a down payment."

    No, Lydian isn't going to attack Coco or waste her time by stealing her headset. She will absolutely waste the enemy's time by baiting them into responding to inane nonsense, though.

    Madoka, meanwhile, is absconded with by a crazed PreCure! There's not much that she can do aside from go along with the currents.

    Madoka kinda stays absent for a bit, but following shortly after Cure Wukong's re-entry is a whole cloud of scattered pink arrows in her wake, each one following closely behind the launched staff and spreading out to saturate the target area in pink destruction.

    In the distance, Hope Blossom is holding onto another launched arrow because there's really no way to get back into the fight without using the water scooter trick again.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Sheshe very much finds herself in agreement with Sailor Moon that the thing they are pulling off is crazy with that combination of three efforts into a single attack for something that huge. She isn't quite ready to get up yet, but forget that, if she doesn't do something, both of them are toast, and she especially not letting something like that ever approach Mimi.

Pushing herself up, the red water demon, stands again, mostly fueled by a surge of adrenaline, as she looks at the tree-sized pillar about to strike them as she joins back with Mimi on their singing duet, giving it their all towards an especially strong red pulse that stop the staff into place. And now, that very staff that threatened them is actually providing them with the perfect cover from Hope Blossom's rain of arrows and Sailor Moon's Moon Healing Escalation.

The duo now back together, the song of darkness is back to its full strength, and its impact is absolutely trying its best to be debilitating, with only the Ever Blue from Coco somewhat lessening its effects.

Voice In the Dark!

Now! The beautiful, magnificent show starts.

Voice In the Dark!

Carried by this song,

The power of darkness echoes!

The sad folia of darkness...

Violently, powerfully, hotly...

With this whirling refrain...

The sad folia of darkness...

Meanwhile, with the anglerfish taken care of by Propel, only the the Black Beauty Sisters are left, and the Black Beauty Sisters are reaching their limits, so things are coming to an end soon.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Lydian stays behind Coco and close to her song, hoping it'll protect her against the evil music of the enemy. There's no point in putting herself at risk.

    As for Madoka, she tightens her grip on her arrow turned water scooter, and then loosens the grip on her branch bow to let it slide back. Holding it on one end like a bat, Madoka lets the pink power within it gather. Once she gets past Cho's staff she can clearly see the Black Beauty sisters, so she releases her arrow scooter and lets it dissipate. Suddenly twelve other branches appear floating in the water around her, each one burning on one end with a pink flame.

    "Blossom Blaze Battery!"

    Madoka swings one bow at Sheshe, where it explodes and breaks upon impact if it hits. Then she picks up another and swings it at Mimi with similar effects. One after another she grabs and swings each branch at one of the sisters or the other.

    A part of her wonders if the noise from the blasts will drown out their singing at all, but in a few moments that question may not matter.

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
Pulling himself back on the stage, the Steam Sentinel sets up near Coco, making sure to stay nearby in case she needs more protect than she can offer herself, though the live stage seems to have most of her defense handled. Though it still makes a good platform from which to get a better angle to fire upon the pair of sisters.

Both of his blasters are brought together to form their rifle form and he aims down at the pair. "Let this light the way, then!" he calls out, a powerful blast charged from the joined pistols. "PROPEL BLAST!" And a twin beam of light lances out, aimed towards the pair, looking to strike them with a heavy burst of electrostatic energy to hold them in place for someone to use a finisher on.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The electrified tree goes sailing towards those two sisters, only to stop, as somehow, their song together manages to just - halt the attack in it's tracks. Sailor Moon scowls as it blocks her attack, and the arrows, then crouches, shifting into a running stance -

"Jupiter-chan! There's no way these two are stronger than you, so - PUNCH! THAT! TREE!!!"

And then she goes running, doing a super jump to land on top of the tree.

Once Jupiter punches it? She's going to run right along it's length, carve that circle of light into the watery air - only it's not just a single circle, with how fast she's running and the motion of the tree itself, it's a series of figure-eights, a long line of light carved into the water -

And silver beams BLAZE, firing ahead of the tree. There will be no cover, this time.

"I said, Moon Healing Escalation! Now, in the name of the Moon - Sailor Moon says go down and stay down!"

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cure Wukong yelled ahead. "OH COME ON! THAT'S NOT FAIR! ONLY I'M SUPPOSED TO PULL OFF STUPID MONKEY BULLSHIT LIKE THAT!" she yelled. "I HAVE A LICENSE!" It was given by Wuwu. But she DID have a license. It said she could do what she wanted.

She ran forward, kicking off the ground as hard as she could and building up comentum before leaping into the air. "I said when this MOVES YOU OUT OF THE WAY!" she yelled.

She then leaped into the air and KICKED THE STAFF AS HARD AS SHE COULD!

"MONKEY SAYS GET! OUT! OF! OUR! WAYYYYYYY!"

Precure Kicking Kicku!

Makoto Kino has posed:
"--no way," Sailor Jupiter complains, incredulous and exasperated, at the sight of the giant staff just... stopped, held short of its target. An annoyed breath huffs out of her at the absolute waste of a Supreme Thunder. What now?

As it turns out, Sailor Moon has some ideas on that front.

Quick as the lightning that is her power, Jupiter's irritated expression brightens into a sharp-edged smile. "You got it!" she calls back, and takes a moment to gather herself--

--and as Cure Wukong sails through the air for her kick, Sailor Jupiter LEAPS, spinning a full rotation in the air--

--and slams her fist into the base of the staff, adding her own incomparable strength to Wukong's mighty kick.

"Lightning FIST!"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
With the Black Beauty Sisters giving it their all to this one single song, Coco is almost pushed down by the wave of powerful dark energy, but they are almost there now, and Lydian is counting on her for protection. Raising her bracelet up high, the mermaid princess invokes Aqua Regina's blessing, the bracelet on her wrist shining with a white light as a yellow halo descends down on her from above, gathering into her pearl and enhancing Coco's songs. "The Tale of the Seven Seas ~Pearls of Mermaid~: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start." Coco sings of embracing a dream: the journey to find the story that leads all lives to paradise, a treasure that is surely shimmering beyond the seven seas.

The magical song spreads its splendor with sorrowful intensity, repelling evil and purifying the darkness.

The words of the mermaid princess call back to a lute, whose melody that resounded at dawn was similar to a sweet lullaby from her hometown.

The enchanted melody shows everyone present the peace the mermaid princesses wish to protect with their songs, a beautiful paradise when nobody has to hurt and no sacrifice is ever accepted.

The Black Beauty Sisters' song just stop in the middle of the mayhem aimed at them. Even just Hope Blossom's bow strikes is playing them like pinballs, the incredulous gaze on their faces a clear commentary on what they think about bows being used like that.

At the same time they are pushed out of their red Live Stage by the staff of Wukong as it's pushes further against them by the combined power of the Precure's kick and Jupiter's Lightning Fist, sending them crashing against the wall, leaving them to be hit by the Propel Blast straight on. They would quite battered already except then the Moon Healing Escalation reaches them, and with the double douse of Purification, between that and the song, they definitely feel the burns.

Forced prone on the ground, Sheshe slowly reaches the other Black Beauty Sister, she too not able to stand. "Let's get away, Sister Mimi", she whispers, grabbing her and teleporting out. "They went away", Coco smiles with relief, still shook by the effects of all the dark energy songs she had to hear today. "How is everyone?" she asks, keeping the WukongClone close while she caresses Lydian's hair to reassure her everything is fine.

Yuuto Shiraishi has posed:
Battered by the dark energy, but not worse for wear, Yuuto nods. "I'm good." He's looking over Coco to make sure she's really okay though. Once he's verified that, he disconnects his rifle, forming the twin guns again and hops down from the Live Stage.

"I'm good. I figure it's only going to get touchier from here though." he admits, as he taps the side of his goggles to scan ahead of the group. "Great job, everyone."

Cho Konishi has posed:
They DID IT! Cure Wukong fell to her knees and rubbed some sweat from her brow. Or maybe it was water. Likely both. They were under the sea. "Y-yeah. That's... that's what you get... y-you know what? I-I think these, these gauntlet matches? They take it out of you."

Slowly, she climbed back up and grabbed her staff. It shrunk back down to a managable size, but she leaned on it. "So, woooo! Victory!" She made a V sign!

"So that was like... now we just need to fight a lollipop, right? I think we can do that! We totally got this! Onward... to victory!"

Wukong started to kind of... sluggishly drag herself forward. She... was so tired. The adrenaline helped, but sometimes all you wanted was some peach cobbler and a little bit of a nap. Just a little. To know how it felt.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The attacks hit the sisters. The tree hits the sister. The Sailor Moon? Tumbles off the tree, flapping her arms.

"Wah! Catch me, Jupiter-chaaaaan!"

Catch her in your strong, wonderful arms, before she eats dirt! Water? Is it technically eating mud, if you fall on your face underwater?

At least they beat those sisters, right?

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "I'm fine," responds Lydian, looking up at Coco as she's headpatted.

    "I'm okay too," says Hope Blossom, feeling a bit exasperated. She wonders how much evil music she can hear in one day before it starts being a real problem. Her own minidokas are apparently not the only chaotic element in her life.

    Hope brushes herself off before swimming over to cup Lydian into her hands. She smiles up to Coco and says, "Thanks for looking after her."

    Madoka has to agree with Cho a bit. She's not really used to this level of intensity. Fighting several Familiars in a row is one thing. Fighting several key enemies in a row is something else. At least they'll be reaching the end pretty soon, she thinks.

    "When we're all done here, we should do something fun to celebrate."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Sailor Jupiter, meanwhile, makes a perfect three-point landing, just like in the superhero movies. Sailor Moon's frantic cry has her head snapping up, and the Senshi of Thunder scrambles up onto both feet with haste so that she can dive to catch the plummeting Moon in her outstretched arms.

"...you okay?" she asks, looking Sailor Moon over with some concern before she carefully places her onto her feet. "All that Escalating has gotta be taking it out of you..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I... probably over-Escalated a bit," Sailor Moon admits, shaky on her feet. She leans against Sailor Jupiter, her forehead pressed to Jupiter's forearm for a moment. "I'm sleepy, but if I sleep - I'll just have a nightmare... I wish Daifuku-chan could have come with us, one of her healing goodies would be so nice right now."

A sob. But it's one of her woe is me, piiiiiity sobs, not a real one, so no one has to get worried.

"Thanks for catching me, Jupiter-chan."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"It's no problem", Coco replies with a smile to Madoka regarding keeping Lydian safe. She definitely agrees on this being too many songs. "Maybe eating something at Korma, my treat", the mermaid offers, before walking over to Wukong and offering her arm as support. They should probably take advantage of this moment for a breather. Next up they are probably going to face Gaito. Or Sara, if she is currently walking around the palace. She is not sure which would be worse right now. The only thing she knows is if she met with the orange princess, she would show her why exactly she isn't giving up on her.