2399/Moonlight Petals

Moonlight Petals
Date of Scene:	09 March 2025
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Tellu and Mistress 9 go for pure heart hunting, targetting Usagi... however, in the fight, Mistress 9 ends up eating the gift that La Mer had given to Hotaru and Tellu is killed by a combination attack from Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask and Catra. While they stopped Mistress 9, many were hurt in this battle and the thing using Hotaru's body seems stronger than ever...
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Madoka Kaname, Usagi Tsukino, Mamoru Chiba, Minako Aino, Zoisite, Laura La Mer, Jadeite, Amanda Faust, Catra, Sharon Kuniyuki

---

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
It wasn't often that Tellu found herself scared for her life. Not often, but still... sometimes.

Today was one of those days. She could FEEL Mistress 9's eyes on her back. Watching her. Ever since Mistress 9 took over the department it wasn't an understatement to say that she was... wellllll... a bit intimidating. And now that three of the witches were gone... As well as Kaolinite...

Tellu was feeling the threats on her back. And now? She was told to bring Mistress 9 power. One way... or another.

So today, she was out, by a floral store. Having set up to watch couples going by... she was on a nearby rooftop, the rifle in hand, waiting for it to ping correctly with a 'Pure heart'...

And M9 was on the roof with her. Watching. Judging. Threatening.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka likely would've just walked right on by that floral store. She wasn't even planning on being in this part of the city today. Lydian and Tia were with her, hovering over her head chatting up a storm in a conversation that only mahoujin and very small children could hear. The Chara Bearer had, for the moment, tuned out whatever her fairies were saying. Whenever they got excited, they could start talking so fast and in such a squeaky voice that it was hard for Doka to keep up with them.

    Yet when she started to notice the floral arrangements displayed at the front of the store, her pace slowed as her head turned to look inside. She started wondering what kinds of flowers would look nice in the dorm, which ones would smell nice, which ones went with Homura's eyes...

    Of course, as soon as her Chara noticed what she was up to, they both got excited and started chatting about flowers instead.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi Tsukino's life is weird. (This is an understatement.)

There's a clan of people from the future who despise her and probably want to kill her entire family because now they have her identity. There's a little girl sharing her dorm room who is actually her daughter from the future. She's flower-browsing for 'glad your back isn't broken anymore' flowers. Her fiancé dumped his boyfriend in front of his parents' grave yesterday.

Honestly, pick a reason why her day is weird from the hat and you've got a good chance of being right.

"...I feel like pink isn't really worthwhile, on account of him having all those sakura petals," Usagi is telling Mamoru, Minako, and Amy as they browse, "But is red too dramatic? But like, I feel like Izou likes drama? I mean obviously not red roses, but it's tulip season and red and yellow ones are nice!"
R
She's saying this with her mouth, but what she's texting with her hands is:

    Usagi TXT to Mamoru: IN FRONT OF THE GRAVE?

This is the sixth time she's circled back to this.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru would have his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched and his face scrunched, but Usagi's texting at him while they're walking with Mina and Amy. He makes an extremely put-upon SIGH and scrabblety-texts back, ignoring the talking about flowers for the most part-- except, "I think he likes pink roses."

    Mamoru TXT: i needed the moral support

Minako Aino has posed:
"Pink would be nice, but red would clash with his hair, wouldn't it?" Minako reasons as she has her own phone out to at least Woogle color theory stuff. She knew her own, but for others she had to look it up usually! "White would work," she begins only to pause as she realizes something with eyes going wide. "Oh! Oh, we have to make sure the flowers are cat-safe, too. I know which ones are, Artemis made sure to drill it into me a long time ago."

She's dressed casually herself expecting just an outing in general today. The usual bright red bow is replaced with a burgundy one that is adorned with a decorative jewel pin at the center in orange. It worked. Somehow it worked. A red denim jacket is worn over a pink top, and blue skirt. Apparently she felt like ALL the colors today.

Curious what Usagi is texting about she leeeans over with a sly grin to try and read her friend's phone. It's kind of obvious if Usagi is paying any attention at all.

"Maybe we can get him teacup roses. Little baby roses, since he likes being babied."

Zoisite has posed:
First day out of the building, after a long shower and freshening up his curls. His back was fully recovered now and he made no ceremony to immediately start doing his usual routine, and stretches. Once he was fully dressed--casual this time--hopefully, for once, he can have a normal day out.

Just. One. That wasn't the Minako-Apology-Tour.

"Tomato face, you decent?" Izou didn't even wait for a reply, already grabbing the other Shitennou by the arm and dragging him along. Out the building and heading towards the smaller shops. He just wanted to smell the breeze and nature and have a witness that yes, yes he's doing fine and behaving.Besides also distracting someone else in the process. He wasn't about to have someone possibly sob in a corner like some abandoned, kicked dog.

The icy blue gem shined in the sun, clipped to his green hair ribbon.

"So for dinner, what do you think we should prepare? I was thinking a hot pot would be nice for just the four of us?" No mention of Mamoru. Izou didn't know if they were going to avoid each other or not. "That way we don't need to worry about actually cooking." Clears throat.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Shortly after her regaining her memories of Hotaru's first meaning, Laura had sought Sharon's counsel. Admittedly, where was a bit of an awkward explanation before that, but soon enough they both set out to find out the very flower Hotaru had gifted to her all those years ago.

Sharon knew more about taking care of flowers than she did, and the platinum-haired girl certainly showed no intention of witholding that information. Rather, all the opposite. "Keep in mind, Laura, a lotus thrives best when its contained is 5 inches wide, and of course, it has to stay away from currents. Try not to keep it in the Aqua Pot."

There is a momentary frown at the insinuation on Laura's face, followed by a nod. "Yeah, of course, I wasn't really going to do that. I have seen how they grow", the mermaid remarks, peering at the flowers' various colours. "These ones", she smiles, pointing at purple loti, the same one Hotaru had given her.

"Such a beautiful colour", Sharon smiles as well, delicately picking them up so they could be brought to the cashier. With them paid for by Laura, the two girls are about to walk away when they take heed of Madoka and Charas.

"Hello, Madoka-chan, Lydian, Tia, how have you been?" Laura cheerfully greets her. "This is Sharon Kuniyuki, a close friend of mine. Sharon, this is Madoka Kaname", she does the introduction, followed by Chanteur's princess bowing her head. "Pleasure to be acquainted with you, Kaname-san and fairies."

Jadeite has posed:
Tamaki bounces along as Izou drags him out of the apartment. There's not even the token playful resistance Tamaki usually brings to the two of them playing tug of war with each other. His eyes are red-rimmed and puffy and his hair has not been combed.

"I don't feel like cooking, so I would spring for buying something - not curry. But hotpot works. Can we get some really shitty sugary drinks while we're out here? I can't drink that shit Nephrite has straight yet."

They don't need to talk about anything else. It's fine.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amanda Faust's life is weird too. She's friends with Usagi Tsukino.

    And today she's accompanying the group as backup in case her friend gets attacked while doing normal things like buying 'glad your back isn't broken anymore' flowers.

    She couldn't think of something fitting but inconspicuous as a bodyguard so she's just dressed in a Radiant Heart Academy uniform. Yay Spring, the uniform is lighter than it was! And the weather is getting to the point where it's comfier to not always wear a heavy coat all the time outside.

    "I mean... is it? When it's flowers. I vaguely recall there being symbolism to the color of roses -- was it red is love and yellow is friendship? -- but isn't there some kind of like, flower language of what each flower is a symbol for?"

    Amy holds her hand to her chin. "But, isn't a..." What was she saying? After a moment, she shakes her head. "I forgot what I was going to say next. Oh! Now I remember: Does Saitou-san read the same meaning into the flowers as you? If he doesn't then there could be some kinda weird misunderstanding... which it seems like you could prevent by just saying what you mean on a card along with 'there is no message in the flower I just thought it was pretty and you would like it.'"

    "...Then again, if he likes drama, maybe a misunderstanding over the meaning of the flower is what he'd like?"

    She blinks at Minako. "Oh, good point about the cat safety! I learned a lot about cats last month, but I didn't look up that. Not like Veronica was gonna eat random flowers just to see if she could."

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Tellu wondered if you could die from stress. Because as she could feel Mistress 9's impatience grow, she wondered if she would just keel over here and now. Watching all those people below... stupid... lucky... ingrates. They had no idea what it was like to have someone like HER watching their every action. Knowing that heir existence could be snuffed out in a moment. That they...

Then.... Mistress 9 put a hand on her shoulder. She was... staring. At... Laura? Huh... that was... weird... why did she... "That one," she said, before pointing... at Usagi?

"What? Why?"

"No reason," Mistress 9 said.

The reason? When she'd looked at Usagi... there'd been this... rush, inside. this desperate, overwhelming need to protect her. To stop... this. Hotaru cared deeply for that girl.

So... "Of... of course..." Tellu said. She gulped before...

She lined up the shot... and...

Then a lot happened all at once. Tellu took the shot and the beam shot through the air, embeddening in Usagi's chest...

At the same time, there were screams from inside the flower shop, as plants began to grow, wrapping around the people near them!

And then Tellu, member of the witches 2, leaped from the roof, to descend on Usagi, a whip of vines lashing out, to try and coil around the pure heart crystal and draw it to the witch's hands!

Those who had purchased flowers, however, might notice that only the ones embedded in the fertilizer were affected and growing and attacking people. The ones people carried out of the shop? Not attacking anyone.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Mamoru suggests pink roses with his mouth, while his fingers fire across the phone. He does look a little scrunched and sad, and she would normally be offering all kinds of cuddles, but well, they're at a flower shop, so -

"Minako-chan, these are private texts," she scolds on automatic, tucking her phone into one of her numerous pockets on the honestly ugly purple jacket she's wearing.

She loves it. It's huge, horribly purple, and it clashes with most other bright colors she owns. Today, she's wearing a bright green shirt under it and navy blue leggings, just a mix of colors that balance in a way that only someone versed in 90s palettes would agree is working.

Amy pipes up about flower meanings, and she frowns as Minako's suggestion about teacup roses registers. "Well, I mean, there are lots of different flower meanings! I'm just going for what looks and smells nice, but - I think teacup roses are over here -"

She crosses the floor, heading towards those lovely teacup roses.

The beam connects with her chest, right as she does. It passes through the fabric as if it weren't there, hooks in, it feels like, pulling, and she breathes out, "Oh - that's what that feels like."

And then she collapses back, a puppet without strings, a broken doll, as a bright, bright heart crystal, shining and perfect, with its many prongs of crystal. It hovers over her chest in a little ball of dazzling light.

Zoisite has posed:
"Tsk."

Spring green eyes glance over to Tamaki and without much thought, begins to comb his fingers through disheveled blond hair. "We can get any and all the drink you want, but I need you to at least start taking care of yourself?" Maybe he should have taken a better look at the Shitennou instead of dragging him along the way he did.

Before long, Izou stopped and pulled Tamaki by the shoulders. "Stand still. Let's freshen you up a bit." Making sure the golden strands weren't pointing in different directions, and that the shirt Tamaki wore wasn't all wrinkled. Folding and tucking.

"There." He smiles up at the blond man. They weren't that far away from the flower shops when suddenly a flash of light shot out next to them--into the flower shop.

The same kind of beam that slammed him against the wall two weeks ago-- Green eyes go wide, looking at the shop as customers screamed, and another witch made her way inside.

"Earth Power, MAKE UP!!" Silver hemmed in green, not losing a another second as he chases after.

"Jadeite, we can block her inside so she doesn't leave with whoever's crystal heart she took!"

Jadeite has posed:
"I'll take a shower and comb my hair when we get back - come on, Izou, no one does this with me unless I'm going to an Event," Tamaki complains as Zoisite finger-combs his hair. "Am I not allowed 24 hours to wallow? I'm not even doing it in front of anyone's grave."

But he lets Zoisite straighten his shirt and fix him up because he does like the attention, does like how Zoisite is focused on him, the comfortable pressure of being looked at as hard as he loooks at others.

And then there's a light, and his identity is already blown - "Earth Power, MAKE UP!!" he shouts as silver hemmed in blue overtakes his body and he follows Zoisite.

"On it! Do you want to get inside before I block the door?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The world moves in slow motion: Usagi's heart crystal pops out, there's someone underwater somewhere yelling 'USAKO!!', Mamoru drops his phone and tries to catch both her body and her heart (and her heart is the full thing not the nonlethal gun's broken-looking versions--) and by the time he's failed to catch her, he's already rippled into his princely armor, his ancient henshin, and he can see the whip coming for Usagi's heart, and he flicks a rose at it quicker than thought.

"HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!" he bellows, swiftly turning directly to still-close Amy and gesturing at Usagi, then diving for Tellu like a bullrushing steamroller.

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor Venus juts her lower lip out in a mock pout when Usagi hides her phone away. She'd just have to get the gossip another time, then! At least it helps Usagi focus on what was going on around them right now though!

Amy's suggestion of flower meanings earns a shake of her head. "You're thinking Western meanings. Japanese flower language is a whole thing of it's own, you know. Then again..." Where *was* Izou from?

The thoughts flee from her mind at the ring of a shot that sends her heart plummeting. Moreso when Usagi jerks from impact and the crystal that appears is... is WHOLE and Beautiful. Minako had the difference in the heartstealer rifles explained to her after her own usage of one. Whole meant...

"USAGI!" Minako wails her name out even a waves of guilt wash over her for not paying attention to the surroundings. SHE was the guardian! She doesn't hesitate further as her hand snaps out, and she calls out firmly, "Venus Power, Make Up!"

Venus doesn't even hesitate as she launches forward attempting to cut off the path of the vines coming for her friend's heart crystal. The Holy Sword alights in her hand as she slashes seeking to cut more of those offending vines before they reach Endymion or Usagi.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka looks up as she hears Laura and Sharon approach, and she greets the two of them with a smile. Tia and Lydian also wave at the pair of them with their tiny little hands. "Oh hey!" says the pinkette. "It's nice to meet you, Sharon. I've been... pretty busy lately," she says. There's a part of her voice that is a little hesitant. She couldn't possibly describe what she's been up to lately in a flower shop, so she sticks to small talk. If it's important to tell Laura and Sharon something, she could always pull them both aside.

    And then Usagi gets shot.

    Madoka didn't even realize that the moon crew was here yet. The first sign she had of it was Lydian covering her mouth and shouting, "Usa-chan!" As the pink girl looks over to see the Pure Heart rise out of the moon princess, her mind briefly flashes back to Sayaka...

    Madoka looks around briefly. Everyone seems to be watching the plant catastrophe. Due to recent events, she actually does bother to run into a nearby store to find a bathroom to henshin in.

    Granted, anyone who knows how her powers work could probably tell that Madoka, Lydian and Tia went to the bathroom and only Hope Blossom and Tia walked out; but the Veil is really good at stopping people from connecting dots.

    Immediately upon re-entering the battlefield, Hope Blossom is wielding her branch bow as a melee weapon and beating back the growing plants. Her eyes go to Usagi's pure heart. Mamoru is right next to it. That's about as safe as it can get right now, right?

    Relatively speaking.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"So, what is it now?", Laura grimaces as the plants start coming to life. She looks around for the culprit, but it is Sharon who spots Tellu and Mistress 9 first. "Over there, Laura", she nods her head in the direction of the two villains. "Thank you, Sharon." Laura replies, harrumphing at the enemies' sight, her gaze focused on Mistress 9.

"You have someone who belongs at my side, Mistress 9", the mermaid declares, make up pen and Mermaid Aqua Pact finding themselves in her hand.

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

Sharon does likewise with the Tropical Pact, snow bunnies and snowmen appearing and making their way towards her. Sharon smiles down at them, her expression warm and tender as she caresses them gently, then she cartwheels in front of them, landing with a perfect pirouette. "The hope blooming from the fresh snow! Cure Snowdrop!" she declares, her voice filled with hope and determination as she stands proudly.

"Snowdrop, can I ask you a favour? Please bring the gift for Hotaru to safety, we will handle it here", La Mer asks her fellow Tropical Cure. A second of silence passes while Cure Snowdrop regards the request. "I understand, La Mer, but promise you will call me if things become too much."

A current of icy air picks up at the snow-haired girl's command, directed towards the plants in her path. And then she is gone with the gift, leaving La Mer to punch a few of the plants for now. Admittedly, she didn't think they would have snuck on Usagi, but rather than feeling down at that, she is all the more motivated by their trickeries.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy thinks that all of Usagi's outfits are great but she can't just... copy them! That would be weird!

    ...It would be weird, right? Like, what she needs is to put her own outfits together, somehow synthesizing whatever it is that works in Usagi's outfit to a similar outfit of her own picking and aaaaaaa how does she even begin to

    BEAM!

    Amy looks in the direction it came from, then away from it, expecting the crystal to go shooting out, and there's plant monsters but, just a second, the crystal--

    (Amy winces as she looks back to Usagi, she was so focused looking for the crystal she didn't stop Usagi's body from falling to the floor)

    --Is staying next to Usagi? It didn't clatter to the ground, or shoot off, or get immediately snatched by the villain or their accomplice? She reaches for it -- and then the whip comes in and the rose is deflecting it and Mamoru is going after the perpetrator and Amy tries to grab it in her hands and it goes flying and Amy chases after it as she transforms--

    --engulfed in incandescent orange light, a silhouette of a girl, then the light is gone and she's wreathed in flames, which fade to reveal Magical Rocket Girl Red--

    << Can you hear me? You got knocked out of your body. >> Mamoru mentioned being conscious while he was a crystal, right? That thought goes through Amy's head as she chases after the crystal, and she briefly closes her eyes and covers her ears as a mini-missile launches out ahead over the crystal, a brief magnesium flare and a loud BANG attempting to disorient whoever the crystal was knocked towards!

Catra has posed:
Catra isn't even part of this.

The feline is walking around in her usual illusory disguise as Rachel Miller, with a ragged hoodie drawn low over her face and her hands shoved into the pockets of her ragger jeans. Under the illusion there's a pureheart rifle of her own slung over her shoulder, and Powersend in its scabbard, hanging off her hip -- looks like Tellu isn't the only one with firm instructions to go out and get energy, but at least Catra's instructions didn't come from Mistress 9. (Mostly, she's just scared of Joker, not that she'd admit it to anyone.) Still, she might be a villain, but she despises the pureheart rifles and what they do, so she's flat refused to 'find a good target'.

So she's just out, walking around and pretending to be vaguely productive while trying to work out how to think firey thoughts without accidentally setting that noodle stand on fire because tat would be awkward.

And then there's... the unmistakable sound of a rifle firing; and there's screaming, and noise, and it makes Catra hunch her head further down into her shoulders and turn the volume up on her already obnoxious music. And she really is going to walk straight past, but...

That's...

Chibiiusa's Mom.

Catra just stops. She stops, and stares at what's going on, with just one question spinning around and around in her mind.

What do I do?

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
The vine streaked through the air, before being pierced by a rose and then torn by a sword. Of course, as if she didn't have enough problems! Worse, that prince boy was diving at her and, while normally, she'd like a cute boy leaping towards her... not today! She snapped her fingers and vines would suddenly rush out, grabbing Endymion's ankles as he ran, yanking him back... And then... Then the explosion girl. As she sent out a flare and... BOOM!

GAHHHH!

When the brightness was gone, the heart crystal... was gone?!

Instead, a flower was residing here? And thern there was a clattering sound from behind the counter?!Tellu leaped over, towards it, frantically blinking and trying to clear her vision, reaching and...

There was a BLOOD CURDLING SCREAM FROM HER! And she frantically pulled back, eyes wide with horror...

And then... Cure La Mer... Mistress 9 blinked... before she smiled and leaped down from the top of the building... landing by the entrance... then cocking an eye as they tried to seal it up. To trap... her... and Tellu... in here with them? Her eyes then turned towards Laura. "Ahhhh. You... were that girl who shared my host's body for a while, weren't you? I wondered where you ran off to. You..." Then she stopped, pointing a finger at Laura. The hand... held a ring on it. A ring she didn't remember... Or... did? How had she forgotten it?

"M-Mistress?" Tellu asked, staring up at her.

"Get me the heart crystal, you fool!" she yelled.

"But... but... there's *bugs*! It landed by a cockroach!"

Mistress 9 just... she just stared for a moment. Blink. Blink blink. This. This was one of her soldiers? She then raised her hand. "Then perish."

"I'll get it!" Tellu shrieked, before diving behind the counter so rapid and fast she slammed into the wall.

Meanwhile, the flowers continued to rise, before they ALL found vines lashing out, attempting to envelop them one by one, coiling around and up as thorns sprouted from them. They had to be coming from somewhere, right?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
<Uwahhh, you know this is some total bullshit!>

That's what Amy hears, when she uses her Kyubeypathy to reach out to Usagi's heart crystal - the belligerent and decidedly un-cute complaints of a girl no longer in her body.

<I mean come on! Who asked for this?! I didn't ask for this! We were supposed to be distracting Mamochan from his break up, not getting in a fight over my - wait, Amy-chan? Amy-chan is that you? Can you hear me?!>

She can't quite see and she isn't awake, per se - unlike Mamoru, she doesn't have a ton of experience perceiving the world through wildly different realms and metaphysics and scientific terms for his super cool magic powers inserted here. But she is aware, at least, of her own existence, and that she's not where she's supposed to be.

Outside of that, the world is dim.

<What's going on? Tell me what's happening! Is Mamochan okay? Is my body okay?! WHO SHOT ME?!>

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Rolling over, this time it's Endymion's turn to draw a sword-- this poor flower shop, honestly-- and he slices furiously through the vines but there are too many of them. Fine.

Fine.

The prince's hands start to glow, and glow, and glow, and he slams them on the ground as vines grow all around him, all around everyone, starting to choke the shop out. "Tuxedo la Smoking Crater!"

The floor starts ripping up like there's something large tunneling beneath it, and it'll definitely explode the whole area around that counter, and under Tellu, and oh my goodness each bit of exploding floor will also explode, and the counter itself might crunch, and there'll probably be a fair amount of vine pulp--

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Mistress Nine is here.

    Hope Blossom looks over as the Enemy in Hotaru's Body shows up. She's here and Madoka doesn't even have access to Kamiko right now. The divine fairy was busy watching people's houses and trying to make sure her Familiars didn't go wandering off on their own.

    Tia looks upset, like she wants to yell at the Apocalyptic Villain Comedy Hour, but she's biting her tongue. Madoka notices her fairy's hesitance and says, "Go hide, Tia-chan, and call Kamiko!"

    The tea-loving fairy nods and then summons her egg, which closes around her as she flies off. Inside the eggshell, she's frantically tapping on the world's tiniest smartphone.

    As for Hope Blossom, she picks up on Amy's telepathy and hears Usagi's complaints. Oh geeze she's actually in there. How does she even respond to that?!

    <Um... sit tight! Oh no someone just screamed. Ah! Sorry!>

    Yeah that wasn't very helpful, but she heard something about bugs and honestly... she can't help but think a little less of Tellu over that. Like, on top of already thinking less of her for being a heart-stealing villain.

    She bats away a couple of vines, and shoots a pink arrow into one that's currently curling around her ankle. Then she super jumps into the air just in time to (accidentally) avoid the Smoking Crater. Eep!

    Madoka gets a glance of something shiny that Tellu is going for, but even with homing arrows she's not confident in the shot she'd have to take. Not with Usagi right there.

    Instead she turns her attention towards the growing plants, the ones in fertilizer, and even if she can't quite identify what the problem is she knows how to saturate an area with pink death. Yet... with all of her friends here that's not really a good idea. Maybe if she...

    Madoka, still in the arc of her jump, fires an arrow towards the ceiling where it flies out for a moment and then stops in mid air. It's spinning around in a tight loop, homing on itself in an effort to stop it from going anywhere. Then as Hope lands with her feet on a pile of rubble, she pulls out the Humpty Lock and shouts, "Open Heart... BREAK!"

    That's not what she usually yells, and the first half of the incantation is missing, and why is she shooting her own arrow with it?

    Because she's infusing that arrow with dream-saving purification energy. And the pink projectile is turning into a rainbow color before it splits into a thousand tiny arrows and bathes the whole cramped little store. Especially the plants. Especially at the soil they're coming from, not because Madoka suspects anything weird about the fertilizer, it just makes sense to shoot there in the same way it makes sense to extinguish a fire by aiming for the base.

    "Sorry!" she calls out, because she's almost certain she hit someone she didn't mean to.

Catra has posed:
So who's side are you on today, Catra?

That's really the question that needs to be answered. Catra's fought with Obsidian against the Heroes. She's fought with the Sparkles and with Obsidian against the Black Moon Clan. She's even fought for Obsidian against the Heroes on behalf of one of the Heroes. But she hasn't, hasn't dared, fight against Obsidian. So while the two sides are properly joining each other in battle, she just stands there; and her disguise slowly melts away to reveal herself properly, orange fur and black ears and all, with a slackened jaw and shocked look.

That's Usagi on the floor with no Heart Crystal.

Usagi is really important to Chibiusa, who will be very hurt if something happens to her.

A side has been chosen.

Catra draws Powersend with her right hand and unslings her Pureheart Rifle with her left, and marches straight up to the place; her ears are flattened against her head and her tail lashes behind her as she summons her illusions to flank her, and she... tries thinking firey thoughts.

Maybe not as effective today. She's really just not there yet with the Spirit Ember. ...But some of the vines do start smoldering.

Oh whatever. Probably the vines will start attacking her in a moment, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do; for now she stands just outside the range where they seem to be attacking people within, and raises her rifle, pointing it one-handedly at Tellu.

"HEY!!" she creams, snarling and baring her teeth. "YOU GIVE UP ON THIS AND RUN FOR YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW OR I'M GONNA SEE WHAT HAPPENS YOU SHOOT AN IDIOT WITCH WITH THIS THING!!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Sorry to say, but I don't give up that easily, of course I would have been back", Laura grins. "And yeah, I was in Hotaru's body for a while. It's only a bit, but I know some of what you made her feel. Did you really think I would ever overlook that? Not even losing my memories stopped me from recognising you. Get ready to face the floor", La Mer states calmly.

The mermaid gives Mistress 9 a particularly angry glare at seeing the Land Ring on the woman's finger. That's the representation of her bond with Hotaru, Mistress 9 has no right to be wearing it...!

But the plants have started overtaking the shop, and the marine Cure looks at one of her own ring. That could probably work. She just needs to attack hard enough. Even if it's admittedly a shame the floor will have to pay.

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

"Snow Crystal Tropical Style!" Her clothes change to a different form with paler colors and making her hair even longer with a golden sheen and a diadem. The outline of a large rainbow heart appears on her back.

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

The mermaid spins around, a trail of glowing pink energy following behind her. "Pretty Cure Ocean Bubble Shower!" she shouts, pointing the Mermaid Aqua Pact at where the vines have been raising floor, flooding the floor with an uncountable torrent of bubbles at high speed.

Minako Aino has posed:
There were some scenarios that Venus knew she would not do good in from experience. Fighting Sailor Jupiter when she decided to go all planty was one of them. While this wasn't Jupiters' doing it was certainly a similar situation.

The light of the Holy Sword radiates around her with every swing sending bits of plant flying as she trims it. More yet come at her causing her to step backwards trying to at the very least protect Usagi's body while Endymion and Amy and Laura try to retreive the crystal.

It works to a point.

Venus keeps her balance when the floor moves from Tuxedo La Smoking Crater, but the debris of the explosion are a more difficult matter. A sizeable peice of the wooden counter comes dangerously close to landing on Usagi.

Venus dives over, sword swinging to cut through it, each side of the wood shattering away safely. The distraction is enough for the remaining vines to focus toward her (because the ones near Endymion were now compost!)

This wasn't going to work. Without thinking more of it, Venus whirls around to drive the Holy Sword into the ground near Uagi's body pouring energy into it so that it's light shines brighter casting her in a protective glow with a cry of, "Bring her back safe!" to the others.

The vines lash out whipping around her to entangle her. Arms and legs are pinned and she's dragged off her feet while another lashes around her neck. One is even so bold (and rude!) as to wrap around the length of her hair while she's hauled off her feet.

Gasping, and choking, Venus continues to struggle until... She... doesn't anymore.

Zoisite has posed:
"Let me get in. Just make sure the ice won't melt--" As Zoisite was about to head in, he saw his prince get dragged back by one of the many vines as many of the other fighters were scrambling to and fro. Either for Usagi, the witch or the crystal heart that flew off somewhere.

Next to him, Mistress 9, eyeing him and Jadeite as their attempts in assisting were possibly comical in contrast to her might, yet he turns his nose up as the earth begins to tremble and shake, cracks forming on the ground.

I have a better idea. And for some damn reason, Usagi's threat on his hair came to mind.

Turning towards his companion and away from earshot, he whispers. "Change of plans. Flowers hate ice. I can't burn everyone in there. Make sure whatever vines are left are nothing but ice. Then close us in. I'll focus on the witch."

With that, he teleports inside--since Mistress 9 was blocking the damn way--and he's on top of where the counter used to be. The remaining cherry blossoms around him, which were quite a few, are now spiraling around Tellu.

"Sakura Conflagration!" Every petal violently bursts into fiery explosions.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Usagi is answering?! That actually worked?!

    Amy is incredibly surprised as she opens her eyes to see... a flower where she thought the crystal was.

    << Fuck, where'd she go?! >>

    Wait, did she accidentally think that at Usagi?

    *CLATTER*

    << I think you landed behind the counter! It's the plant witch! >>

    Tellu is up ahead screeching about bugs. Amy dives behind the counter as the witch crashes into the wall. "Don't like bugs, huh? How about SNAKES?!" Little black pellets clatter to the floor around her and hiss softly as they ignite and extrude thin 'snakes' of black foam. Amy figures that'll buy her another second or two before Tellu realizes what she did. She reaches for Usagi--

    Only to have vines wrap around her. "No! Sto--!" she starts to protest, but her brain, now a mess of several processes, stops her. << Like hell I'm saying-- >> the rest of the distracted thought cuts off as it goes from words to compact concepts,

    Amy yells at Tellu in English as she struggles against the binds, "[Stop! Let go of me!]"

    The thoughts go out to all allies now, << Her crystal is here behind the counter! It's the plant witch! She hates bugs! Get these vines off me! Also Usagi's on this channel Kyuulepathy works I guess! >>

    Small chunks and powders of incendiary material start appearing around Amy, burning, Amy hoping they drive the vines off before they burn her as the thorns cut into her flesh.

    << Your husband's telepathy is way more convenient, this is like talking but not talking and I'm trying to fight at the same time! >>

    Amy is vaguely aware of the sounds of battle and allies fighting but she's kind of focused on the vines and countering them and Tellu and the crystal and is so focused on all these things she doesn't even notice she just called Mamoru Usagi's husband.

Jadeite has posed:
"This is why you're the smart one and I'm the pretty one," Jadeite says, teeth gritted in a not-grin as he slams the door closed after Mistress 9, slamming a hand on the door to coat it in a thick layer of ice, then slamming the other on the wall to let frost spread, settle, grow in spiderwebs and spikes to dip icy fingers into the many plants and let the ice infiltrate their insides, freezing the many wriggling and whacking plants from the inside out. Some creak, and some crack, and some fall over completely from the weight of their water turning solid.

Everyone's busy. So he'll just make sure nothing gets in the way of that business.

Catra has posed:
Wait, hold up; the doors are slamming shut? Well that's less than idea, Tellu hasn't even responded to her threat yet! Catra isn't about to get left outside though, so using her vaunted feline agility, she leaps forwards and dives through the door -- which puts her right next to Mistress 9.

Well, her and her illusions, 'cause they came too. Which Catra is the realy one? They're all actually holding swords and rifles so maybe it's not entirely clear. Or maybe it is. It's not like Catra's illusions are completely perfect and maybe someone could game that the real Catra is the one in the middle, closest to Mistress 9.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
The snake, at least, distracted tellu for a moment. "Actually, they don't bother me much, they--"

And then.... explosion. So much explosion. Endymion's explosion tore through the area, breaking all in its path and opening up the ground, tearing pieces of wood apart as Tellu shrieked, struggling to shield herself and... and a giant seed-like youma erupted from within! Tellu was sent flying, less than gracefully landing on her face, as the heart crystal went in the opposite direction, skidding along the ground...

And then there was purification arrows raining down on them. Mistress 9 raised a hand, shielding herself... And then there was bubbles... so many bubbles. She growled, eyes narrowed...

The seed youma? It was... obliterated. It didn't stand a chance. Not even a little bit of one. As it crumbled, so did the vines. Freeing them.

Tellu, meanwhile, groaned, petals exploding around her and scattering her... And then... "Are you.... really... threatening me with... our invention? That gun won't work on me... you idiot... I don't *have* a pure heart..." Tellu muttered. Everything hurt... and Mistress 9 was watching.

Not helping. Just watching...

Mistress 9 glanced back towards the gathered. Then the sword. Was this... truly them? Their capabilities?

Mistress 9 looked at the ring once more. The Land Ring... and then... she pulled it off. "This... is important to both of you... isn't it?" Mistress 9 asked, locking eyes with Laura. Before she then... put it into her mouth... and swallowed it.

And then she laughed. Her hair writhing as more spikes rippled up her back. "Ahhhhh... power... how could I miss this? No... how did you *hide* this from me?" she asked,. Then glanced to Catra...

Well... she was one of Obsidian's, was she not? And she really should have known better than to have interfered. "So... a traitor... then?" she asked.And a moment later, Catra felt something GRABBING her. All three of them were grabbed in her hair... and the real one was brought to M9's hand, which gripped her throat. And Mistress 9 just chuckled. "Traitors... should know better..." And then darkness would flow off her hand and INTO the cat. Before she was thrown away like garbage. Dark energy forming around her and taking on some kind of... form. An elephant? The elephant of darkness leaped into the air, before coming CRASHING down in the center of the shop, kicking the ground...

And sending destruction in all directions. tearing apart the walls, the flowers , the floors, even the roof (granted, a lot of the damage had already been done by the rest of the group)...

As the darkness coursing through the air cleared... there'd be rubble... a collapsed Tellu... a heart crystal across the alleyway... Catra in the center, having likely taken the most of the force... and well... The after effects of how the rest of the sparkles had dealt with assault.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
<Knowing that people are screaming is not - what do you mean where am I - BEHIND THE COUNTER? Plant vines?!>

Oh his is not helpful at all, Amy can't be her eyes when she has to focus on the fight, and Madoka-chan has to focus on the fight, and she, Usagi, she is not in the fight, she wants to be in the fight, if only to help protect everyone, and now she's helpless, and it's terrible.

This is a terrible time for personal revelations, but it's not like she's got anything else to do. There's just Usagi-the-crystal, unable to see or feel or hear anything but the voices of her few friends who could speak with their minds, and the realization that she'll never be happy being stuck on the sidelines.

Oh no.

She hears Amy's voice, shouting <<No! Usagi!>>

She can't feel her Heart Crystal bouncing around. She can't feel the world at all.

But she can feel Mamoru's distress, his protectiveness, his frustation and - R
There's Usagi's actual body, on the ground, protected in a circle of light by the Holy Sword cast to the ground by Sailor Venus' hand, and on that body, in one of the many pockets of a truly ugly jacket, is her transformation broach, with the Silver Crystal in it.

And it glows.

Glows.

Glows.

And directly in front of Endymion, just begging to be grasped, appears the Spiral Heart Moon Rod.

Catra has posed:
Catra can dodge quite a bit, but this... this is something else. The feline is hauled up off the ground, and in spite of her fighting back with the sword...

Traitor.

Should have known better.

Well Catra, you've really chosen a side now, haven't you? The horrible attack might well have killed her if she hadn't already been thoroughly infused with dark energy from all the time she's spent using it, but as it is when the dust clears, so to speak, she's laying on the floor against a wall, bloodied and battered, probably with multiple broken bones and she's... not going to be getting back up again right away. She's breathing shallow, and only her blue eye opens, the yellow one battered shut.

"Screw..." she gasps. "You."

The feline lays there, piecing herself together, along with what Tellu said.

Oh, really? Call her an idiot? Even in her state, that awakens a serious level of spite in the cat. She raises the rifle (her sword has clattered away somewhere) with her one not-broken arm, points it at Tellu, and... thinks those firey thoughts.

The rifle is wreathed in flame, and when she pulls the trigger the blast that comes flying out of it isn't the usual Pureheart Rifle fare; it's fire; and it brings the sort of destructive cleansing that fire so often brings.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The vines are gone, and Madoka is happy because she knows that she wasn't the only one firing at them. Hope Blossom could go after the crystal, but that might be unwise when--

    Oh no. Tia. Tia's egg is darting after the crystal. The tiny little fairy is flying after it as it scoots around. She cracks her egg open, letting the top half fall away and vanish into the ether while riding in the bottom half like the world's tiniest chariot. Her tiny little hands grasp and flail at the crystal as it skirts around.

    She zips by Madoka for a moment in her mad chase, and says, "Kami-chan said she's coming!" before focusing back on Usa's heart.

    "Stay safe!" calls out Hope Blossom, but what is she going to do? Tell Tia not to grab the thing?

    Instead of trying to stop her Fairy, Madoka decides to provide Tia with cover fire. Pink-charged Branchbows appear in the middle of the air and drive themselves into the ground, acting as a fragile but potentially explosive barrier to anyone unfriendly who'd try to steal her friend's pure heart or go after her Chara.

    Then all of her efforts to set up defenses are in vain, because the giant exploding dark energy elephant knocks literally everything away. Madoka is sent flying through a window, her branches are turned into glowing pink splinters, and poor Tia is knocked completely out of her egg shell and into what remains of a wall.

    The tiny fairy whimpers, resummons her egg, and crawls back in.

    She's still going after that heart crystal, godoka dangit!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"THANKS," snarls Endymion, "for the confirmation. Even Sunbreaker had a pure fucking heart!"

Freed, he gets up, and he's so angry, he's SO angry, he's so distressed, he walked into this day messy before this even started--

And then there's a DARK ENERGY ELEPHANT jumping in the air?! and?! Kunzite could deal with this, so Endymion can too! >:E He jumps in the air just before the elephant slams down, and when he falls, he lands on some rubble and dents his breastplate.
Finally, he gets up, disoriented for a half second-- and then a glow in front of him.
The prince feels his breath catch in his throat, everything sounding like it's underwater again, and he takes one rattling armored step forward to put his hand around what's in the air in front of him: the Spiral Heart Moon Rod.

He can feel Usagi's power buzzing beneath his fingertips and he can feel his own power singing to answer it, and he takes one step in the chaos with his hand around Usagi's rod. Then he starts to literally do, step and twirl for step and twirl, in his armor and everything, Usagi's attack charge-up sequence, including the part where he ends up on his knees with his hand in the air--

"Miracle Romance la Smoking Heart Attack!"

An enormous pink and gold heart forms from smoke and bright sparks, starting to spin, then spin and spin, glowing a brighter and brighter rosy gold, then hurtling forwards toward Tellu, clipping rubble and people drunkenly on its way, and when it hits either Tellu or something it will explode with considerable force.

Zoisite has posed:
Everything was chaos, crumbling down around them. Whatever flora existed in this space was obliterated by the malevolence of their enemies and the desperation of his companions. Even if pushing the thoughts away from his mind, the state of the place had him horribly sullen.

Why were they even there to begin with, buying flowers? For who? Didn't matter now.

He turns to watch as his prince is grabbing the Spiral Heart Moon rod, and doubted much help would be needed besides hunting for the heart crystal and dealing with the creature with tentacles for hair on the other side of the crumbling store.

An orange shine catches his eye then. That gem... Sailor Venus was unconscious on the floor, next to Usagi's body. This was not the place for them to be. A rush of blossoms again, this time bringing him closer to both of the bodies. "Mina-chan?" Pressing two fingers against her neck, he could feel a pulse. Thank the gods! There was a wish that he could also heal her, but nowhere in his body was that power.

Taking them somewhere much safer would have to do, as pink swirls around him. On the other side of the street, Zoisite appears with Usagi's unconscious body and Sailor Venus.

Jadeite has posed:
So. Mistress 9 is still shrugging off the kinds of attacks that would kill at least three boss youmas. There was adarkness elephant. The store is collapsing. There's not much point in keeping Mistress 9 trapped in here if there's not any here LEFT.

And that catgirl is alone. 'Traitor'. Bruised, bloodied, likely worse. Something about triage, he thinks as he runs to her - "Glory of the snow!" he casts and summons icy flowers to shield the two of them.

"Hey. This creep doesn't take any damage, though the fire is very sick. Can I carry you out of here?"

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura stops to just stare when Mistress 9 takes the Land Ring off and looks at it with that malicious glee. What... is she planning to do with it? "What of it?" she replies curtly. "You should do well to be careful with it, you don't know what you are touching", she warns Mistress 9, the pinkette-bluenette's hand already on the Marine Ring.

There is stillness and a look with wide eyes and an open mouth from La Mer when Mistress 9 just eats it, even talking about how good it feel. What did she do now? She can't really just have...

Before she has any chance to express her sudden anger at Mistress 9's mistreatment of the Land Ring, the Elephant of darkness strikes, knocking L Mer off her feel and hitting the floor with the back of her head, accompanied by a cry cut short.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    EXPLOSION!

    << No! Usagi! >> Amy calls out, as if it will help, as the heart crystal is knocked away from her.

    A moment later, the seed youma is purified and the vines are gone. Amy drops to the floor with an 'oof!, crushing and smudging some of the 'snakes' and then unsummoning them and any fire still around her.

    Covered in thorn scratches, she scrambles to her feet and to run after Usagi. Mistress Nine is here doing BAD THINGS to Catra who is shooting Tellu and Amy snap judges that getting Sailor Moon up will probably help more than fighting the elephant in the room herself.

    And then it makes like a bull in a china shop. << Usagi! >> Amy tries to track where her friend is going through it all... Somehow, barely, she manages nothing worse than glancing scrapes against flying chunks of the building that could have gone so much worse for her! And when the darkness clears... Thank goodness Usagi shines so bright, she's there, << I see you! We've almost got you! >>

    Amy scrambles over the rubble to meet up with-- "Tia! I can take her!" She holds her hands out, figuring that a Puella Magi holding it is probably more defense -- more mass and toughness -- than a Chara.

    Did Endymion just do Sailor Moon's attack? Cool. Based, even, as they say in 2025.

    Whether Tia hands over the crystal or not, Amy rushes to kneel by Usagi's -- the body's -- side to press her back into her chest. Only once Usagi is conscious (and pulled into a hug) can Amy finally stop focusing like a laser and try to take in the rest of the scene and work out what all has been happening.

Zoisite has posed:
Zoisite remains a safe distance away from the where most of the battle is taking place, keeping his eyes focused of what will come next in case he needs to move both bodies away further.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Tellu's head rose, groggy, confused, disoriented... What was...

From one direction, fire. From the other, a La Smoking Heart Attack. She lets out a scream as, smashed between the two, she is destroyed, disolving to darkness... Between Zoisite and Jadeite saving who they could...

Alas, as the Witches 2 member perished, screaming, Mistress 9 didn't even look to her... Or Usagi, as her heart crystal was rescued and returned to its body. Mistress 9 smirked, her hair coiling up, forming multiple spikes. "Shall we test out this new power?" she asked. "If you refuse to be--"

And then she stopped. Looking at La Mer...

... No... Past La Mer. As if she saw something, or someone. Which, admittedly, she did. A figure.

It wasn't there being another person amongst the destruction that worried her, though. It was the fact that seeing this person... made her feel *fear*. For the first time since she'd awoken. She was unstoppable, unbreakable... Who...

She growled and her hair lowered. She looked towards them, those hurt, those broken... then sighed. "Count your blessings, humans. You live... for at least one more day... but soon... your end will come."

She then glanced towards where Tellu had fallen.

Her hair reached out and grabbed her magic rod, the only thing that remained of her... She turned and walked away... disappearing in a flurry of darkness.

Catra has posed:
Catra lets the spent rifle tumble out of her hand; as it clatters to the floor she keeps her palm outstretched, until Powersend comes skittering back across the floor and takes its place where the firearm had been. Not that Catra intends to use it; it's just... comforting to have her weapon in her grasp.

And when Jadeit is standing over her, looking down at her, she looks up, and bares her teeth defensively, and for a moment it looks like she might actually take a swipe at him with the bared blade, aimed somewhere between knees and ankles; but then the realization visibly dawns on her.

He's offering her his help.

The feline's muscles just kind of deflate, and she loses all of her tension, especially as Tellu dies and Mistress 9 retreats. She sucks in a breath, and looks back up at Jadeite.

"Sure," she gasps. "Sounds... great."

Laura La Mer has posed:
At the appearance of that mysterious figure, Laura's marine ring shines and a miniature version of the whale appears, floating towards the blonde girl with a happy cry, being petted by her while she stares down Mistress 9.

With a closed eye and a groan, La Mer stands to her feet, ready to make Hotaru's tormentor pay for everything she has done and been doing, just before noticing what is happening with the small whale and the mysterious figure.

"It's you!?" La Mer cries, both shocked and happy at her appearance. She wouldn't have expected to see her appear so soon, or that she would have scared Mistress 9 off, or that the Marine Ring would be off playing with her. But right, both Rings were hers once.

The blonde girl smiles at Laura after Mistress 9 gets away from her, and nudges the whale back to La Mer, disappearing herself once it has gotten back in the Marine Ring.

"Thank you...", Laura murmurs before recalling everything else. Usagi! She was attacked out of henshin! "How are you?", the Pretty Cure hurries to her side.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Endymion turns away once Mistress 9 is gone, and turns to see where-- aaaand there's Vee's sword, shining the light of protection over an empty spot on the cratered and pitted and broken-up floor. He coughs, and, one hand still holding Usagi's weapon, he goes to yank the sword out of the floor, at which point the light turns off. "They're across the street," he says out loud, a little raggedly; he's been keeping off the telepathic link, himself.

And then he jogs that way, throat tight, all the way that way, and he manages to get out, "Zoi-- please-- can you take Vee back-- put her on the comfy couch, I'll-- we'll be there soon."

As sakura petals drift, Endymion drops his henshin, he's just Mamoru now, coming to gather Usagi up, putting the Spiral Heart Moon Rod down on the sidewalk. He brushes her hair away from her face.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Tia catches the crystal! ... but then Amy is also chasing it, so she hands it over because like...

    Well let's just say that she's a tiny fairy and Usagi has a lot of heart.

    "I think Zoiboi took her," says the fancy fae, pointing through the window at where she suspects Zoisite is. The Prince confirms her guess. Chara can kinda feel magic things, though perhaps not nearly as strongly as Endymion feels his knights.

    Madoka, meanwhile, is picking herself up from having been thrown through a window by an exploding elephant. She is, for once, very very glad that she was in henshin during that. She's seen people need stitches after that kind of physical trauma. Held their hands and brought them food, even.

    She looks up at Tia through the window, and smiles at her and Amy. The Pure Heart Crystal is going back to where it belongs, and for the moment Madoka can relax.

    A Witch Sticker appears on her hand, as a distant-but-closing Kamiko asks if there's still an issue. The divine fairy was still in the air far away, but still close enough to see that the fight might be over. Madoka taps the Sticker to say that it's okay now, as much as it's going to be. For the moment.

    "I guess it's the Witches 1 now. Would that just make her the Witch?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Endymion gathers Usagi's body up, brushes her hair away from her face -

And when Usagi's heart crystal re-enters her body, there's a flash of light - and Princess Serenity smiles blearily at him, raising a hand to his face. She's all long white dress with many skirts and moonlight hair even longer than usual, and her skin glows with a pale light.

After a few seconds though, she realizes there are more people nearby and looks around at them with startled, confused eyes, before realization dawns, and with another flash of light, the princess becomes Sailor Moon, all red bows, blue skirt and collar, and white armor.

"That was awful!"

She's tired and drained but part of being Usagi is being Sailor Moon, and having her heart crystal back means being Usagi means being Sailor Moon means smushing Endymion's face between her hands as she pulls his head down to rest on her shoulder and hugs him.

"Everyone... thank you."

Jadeite has posed:
"Ok, here. HOld on...." Jadeite carefully leans down, then hauls Catra up princess style - he doesn't want to test if she can walk when the store is Like This, and he thinks having a little more difficulty hauling her is worth not messing with her pride with a fireman carry. He takes her out of the store and wobbles over to Endymion and Serenity.

"Before you go, this one needs patching up since she tried to take Mistress 9 out in direct combat," he says solemnly.

(It's. Weird. Awkward. But he is a knight, and a knight does not bring up the drama of a recent break up when someone is in peril! or possibly has broken bones.)

Laura La Mer has posed:
"In her dreams!", Laura shouts upon hearing Madoka's affirmation. "She is not even all that, and I actually met the Witch of Delays in person, so I can tell. She is just a witch now", La Mer proposes confidently. Nevermind that she doesn't know who Viluy even is.

"Well, good you are ok", the mermaid tells Usagi, now Sailor Moon, when she gives out her thanks. "You look like you need to rest right now. How bad was that crystal thing?", she inquires with a hint of annoyance at Tellu. Even if it's not much use getting mad at the dead.

But there is something else that she needs to discuss, and it's quite important. "You guys saw the figure that scared Mistress 9, right? Right? That was the legendary Pretty Cure! The one that first repelled the Witch of Delays!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Okay yes Endymion obviously gets first hug! Amy will hug Sailor Moon later.

    She's just happy to see her friend smiling, able to smile, after what was no doubt a trying and stressful experience.

    She nods at 'That was awful', and smiles at the thanks. "You'd'a done the same for me."

    Now she can look around and take in the scene. While holding out a finger to Tia to offer a gentle headpet after her own little ordeal. Amy knows getting smacked into a wall once when you're less than a foot tall sucks.

    "The... the civilians got out, right? This is gonna be a hell of a 'gas leak' for people to explain..."

    "The Witch 1? We got another one? Thank goodness..."

    Amy looks to Laura. "Legendary Pretty Cure? What's she like?" Amy shakes her head. "Sorry, I was kinda... focused."

Catra has posed:
Catra isn't really in a position to argue with being picked up; so Jadeite gets her up off the ground and out of the shop, but like hell is Catra giving up her sword. Even if the blade has to hang loosely from her hand and the blade scrapes along the ground as it gets dragged along beside Jadeite.

And all the while she's being carried, the word that Mistress 9 called her is echoing through her head. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor. Traitor.

TRAITOR

So apparently this is what it's like not to have any friends, since Catra's just thrown away all of hers. Who's going to take her in now? Now what's she supposed to do?

The cat gives a one-eyed glare to anyone who gets close and shows her teeth, that's what. And she's in a lot of pain, so she doesn't say anything, she just glares adn snarls and her claws are out, and in this wounded state -- especially in this wounded state -- she's more ready to throw down than ever.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I feel... a lot better now," Usagi admits, all Sailor Moon and all. "Tired? But I mean - before I was just kind of... somewhere. Now, I'm here, with you all again."

And that is much better than being nowhere.

"But uh, I don't think we're... getting flowers today," she sweats as she takes note of the utterly destroyed flower shop behind her, cringing more than a little bit. "And I wish I could have seen her, Laura-chan, but I couldn't see anything."

A pout, and then a yawn, and - "Let's - let's go back to Mamochan's place, maybe? Or the school, but, I mean - man, I feel like we're spending a lot of our afternoons crowding into Mamochan's place - it looks like some healing might be nice?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
And there we are: Usagi's all right. Sailor Moon is all right. He hugs her, he hugs her tight, and then he looks to Catra and smiles lopsidedly, sympathetically. "Need a place to lay low for a while? There's a bunch of empty apartments. I won't heal you if you don't want."

And then it's everyone back to Mamoru's place.

Mamoru himself doesn't protest this, but he's quiet after Usagi says that. When everyone's ready to go, he collects Vee's sword again, making sure Usagi's got her weapon back, and teleports back to get the evidence of ice cream away before everyone arrives.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"She is really pretty, and has blonde hair shaped like a palm tree, but the tips are green, as are her eyes", she gives out a quick description of the legendary Pretty Cure, with a quite excited demeanour. It's always a special occasion when she appears, and she is even more confident they will see this to a positive conclusion and get Hotaru back very quickly.

"Your place?", she repeats to Mamoru. She really needs to catch up with Sharon, but she can invite her there as well. She needs to know what happened here as well. "Ok, I will come too, and send Sharon a message to catch up with us."

Jadeite has posed:
The catgirl in his arms is - well. She looks like she's dealing with becoming a traitor to Obsidian just as well as he might have, a year and a half ago. (...honestly, better than he would have. Past him had Issues.)

"If you're with Obsidian, is it safe for you to go back?" he asks. "We can set you up with a place to stay, if need be. If you don't want our food, I'm willing to give you some cash to feed yourself." It'll please his parents to know he's using his allowance for a good deed. (...goodish deed?)

"If you don't feel comfortable sharing an apartment with us, we can buy you a hotel room to crash in as well. It's up to you to make the choice. You're in control."

(How many of his worst excesses had been fueled by a fear that he wasn't in control?)

Catra has posed:
Catra is running a number of calculations in her head.

None of them are coming up with particularly pleasant answers.

Well, Catra, you are the one who made the choice to try to save Usagi because the kid you like happens to like her and you didn't want the kid to get hurt. Actions have consequences and all that. Consequences that might include someone like Joker coming to tie up a loose end. Would he do that? Who knows? But they sent her to kill Hinoiri (though that might've just been Joker messing with her) and she didn't even quit, they fired her.

Well, maybe she's about to be fired. Who knows? Maybe she should text Glimmer. Or Takashi. Or both. Both? Both.

Be nice to have two working arms for that.

Also be nice to not be alone somewhere much as she doesn't want to admit it.

"Your place's good," she wheezes. "Healing sounds nice."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "I mean. It is a nice place, surrounded by friends." Amy observes, to Moon. And then slowly nods at Laura. Palm tree hair. Huh.

    She looks to Catra. "I suggest emptying your bank account before they get around to doing it and like... You'll probably want to talk to the school nurse about new records. Like. ...I don't mean to sound like oo, I'm making a big deal about money, but it is a big deal on Earth, unfortunately, and also, everything you take that isn't reposessed by Obsidian is their loss, so..." She shrugs.

    "Sorry. I um. I guess it's gotta suck. But um. If you want a place with us... everybody's pretty welcoming, at least!" Amy smiles a bit awkwardly.

Jadeite has posed:
"I'm a defector from Obsidian. I'm not the only one at the apartment. So if you need a place to stay or help getting out, we can provide it," Jadeite offers. "Are you Catra? I heard that you did Miss Chibiusa a major favor a while ago, and it's very appreciated."

That's...not quite the tale he heard, per se. However: if she's defecting from Obsidian, carrot's better than stick and he'd have enjoyed having more carrots on his go around!!