137/Kokytos

Kokytos
Date of Scene:	22 July 2023
Location:	Juuban Ward
Synopsis:	Carbonado attempts his first gambit to collect energy. Then he's ganged up on by a lot of Mahous. At least they're terrified the whole time?
Cast of Characters:	Touma Amaya, Wako Agemaki, Coco Kiumi, Usagi Tsukino, Pyrite, Amanda Faust, Rei Hino

---

Touma Amaya has posed:
It is a lovely afternoon in the Juuban Ward. The sun shines, it's warm but not unpleasantly so. People are out and about, enjoying the day. Whether through some retail therapy or spending time with friends and loved ones. It's idyllic.

Until it isn't.

On the roof of a building, a cloud of inky darkness manifests with a low, warbling rumble. Out of it, the hooded figure of Carbonado, member of the Black Moon Clan, exits, the portal rippling to nothing behind him and fading to smoky wisps. He frowns up at the sky. "That simply won't do." He gestures, channeling dark power, and with frightning suddenness, clouds begin to roll in. Thick and low with the promise of awful rain. So thick and so dark that the streetlights turn on.

Not that it will save anyone.

He gestures again, pointing down at the street. From every alcove and alley, beings exit. Twisted, uncanny humanoids with glowing red eyes, mouths full of jagged teeth and black, chitinous skin emerge.

It's almost immediately that the screams begin.

Carbonado chuckles to himself. "I know my minions will be stopped, but I only need a little energy this time. Give me your screams. Give me your fear. I will turn it into a sacrement."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
It has already been A Day. Wako's just stepping out of the FaM-Mart, taking a bite out of a taiyaki and contemplating the virtues of going back to her dorm room for a nap when the sky turns black.

"Mmmn?" She pauses, looks up with the taiyaki still in her mouth. There wasn't any bad weather predicted for today, was there...?

The first sight of the emerging monsters puts paid to any hope that this might just be an unexpected summer storm. Suddenly very put out, Wako wolfs down the rest of the taiyaki in two big bites, chews, and swallows. No fooling around trying to get pictures this time. Somewhere in the back of her head the notion flits that she ought to call for help - but there's really no time for that, either.

"Apprivoiser!"

The instant she's fully transformed, the Galactic Maiden floats off the pavement in a bubble of dawn-hued energy, already pressing her hands together. "ZERO TIME." The barrier whooshes outward, the sky beyond the gloom shifting from a summer afternoon to a many-colored nebula of countless stars as a significant chunk of Juuban shifts into otherdimensional space.

Ginga Otome looks pissed.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco is walking through the Juuban Ward, having just jumped away from the Pikarigaoka District. Sure, the menace there was dealt with, but she didn't want to stick around and answer the questions of curious passersby. Overall, she was happy that Ginga Otome allowed them to get out of it with no damage to the district.

Now however, she is here for some rest and relaxation, as she enjoys the happy atmosphere around her.

Or so she thought, as she is quickly proven wrong, as dark clouds quickly cover the serene skies and cries of terror all emerge from all around her. She quickly looks around, though the stampede of people makes it hard to see the source. 'I need to get away from the crowd.'

A few minutes later, she is out on a patch of grass devoid of other people, now able to look at her surroundings.

'The heck are those?' she thinks, as chitinous monsters advance through the streets, trying to hurt as many people as they can get their hands on. 'Oh no, you don't!' As nobody is paying attention to her, she quickly transforms.

"I think that what you should be seeking is me! I am Yellow Pearl Voice, one of Aqua Regina's seven princesses and by her blessing, I won't let you hurt a single one of these people!" she declares, letting her pearl and the Live Stage shine around her, hoping the speech and the light will provide enough of a distraction for the monsters.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
So here's the thing.

It was a beautiful day, the sort that anyone could enjoy, especially one Usagi Tsukino. She had invited Rei-chan to join her on a shopping trip, celebrating the start of summer vacation and their freedom from school with a little relaxation before they joined forces in trying to get Luna to spill the beans on why she'd invited them to the library the other day. It was a beautiful day.

Now, it's an awful day - the sky dark with rain clouds, the air filled with screams, the streets filled with monsters, and there's only one thing to do. Only one thing they can do. Even if she really, really doesn't want to.

"Rei-chan, follow me - there's an alley over there!" With that said, Usagi does run right to the alley, the fruits of her shopping labor bouncing against her legs as she runs. The second she's out of sight from monsters and civilians alike, her bags are dropped to the ground, and her broach held high.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

Light overflows from the alley, quickly followed by the fuku clad form of one Sailor Moon, quaking in her boots only a little as she leaps to the roof of a car.

"How dare you awful creatures ruin this beautiful day! Summer shopping is the greatest joy a beautiful day can offer! In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you!"

The appearance of the starry sky above and the sound of another justice speech gives hope and courage. Her knees stop quaking - Sailor Moon stands fierce and ready to fight. "Ginga Otome-chan! Yellow Pearl Voice-chan! Team up with me and Mars-chan so we can stop these things!"

Pyrite has posed:
    There is an abandoned shrine beyond the outer limits of Tokyo. A neighborhood reclaimed by nature after it was abandoned by the residents. The stone steps leading up to it are cracked and woven through with unwholesome white vines, and sprouting sickly-looking weeds that seem to produce the scent of ash and dust while they droop over... Like condemned prisoners waiting for the axe to fall, unaware that they were left to rot.
    On the temple grounds, the crumbling building said to be over five centuries old is no more joyful a vision. Just as abandoned. Just as desolate. Unlike outside the low walls surrounding the temple complex, there is no life here, not even sickly sorts. There is a carpet of dead bugs leading up to the open space in the wall... The entrance to this most sterile of places. Every scrap of life has long been extracted.
    Even the dead trees overhead, with branches spread like grasping hands -- though whether they would be reaching for the minimal sunlight or trying to obscure this accursed place from the rest of the world if they were alive is unclear -- are thoroughly rotted. Their trunks are calcified like bone, plates of decay that solidified in the absence of any living bacteria or insects to aid the decomposition process, preventing them from falling over. In this dead neighborhood, the dead trees stand silent vigil over a dead patch in a forest, in which there is a dead shrine, dedicated to dead gods.
    Well, that last bit is conjecture, but it's at least safe to say that No Gods Live Here. Even local kami are absent. They fled long ago.
    So, in the midst of this death and sterility it would be peculiar to see a young girl in a black kimono kneeling on the broken and collapsed front deck of the temple, with a black cat in her lap. Long black hair hangs around her face, obscuring the details. Even amidst this decay, there are signs of deliberate destruction. And, unlike, the desolation all around, these marks are more recent. Something happened here. Something violent.
    The girl seems unbothered. She just strokes her pale hand across the deep-black fur of her cat, over and over, listening to the feline's purring.
    Then the sun goes out.
    Rain begins pouring down.
    The cat looks up along with his master, but the former stands and leaps away, vanishing into thin air with a 'mrrrp' sound, while the latter reaches out a hand after him uselessly.
    Alone again.
    Again.
    There is still power to this neighborhood, on the very edges of Juuban Ward. They were once connected before... Something. The girl can't remember what. But she rises to her feet, and looks out across her domain, down the steep hill with its broken steps, to where street lights flicker and falter, strobing and pulsing erratically like something out of a horror movie.
    How appropriate.
    Himeko Soryuu >is< a horror.
    In the space between one street light flickering and another sparking on, a glimpse of a girl in a black kimono, arms hanging loosely at her sides, her head down so that her hair obscures her face, might be seen, before the image vanishes. Only to appear beneath the next flickering light.
    One.
    After.
    The other.
    Moving steadily closer to the source of her discomfiture.
    One dying light at a time.

Amanda Faust has posed:
                              --- Minutes Ago ---                              
    They have an ARCADE here. An ARCADE. Gosh, Amanda hasn't been to one of those since college! She walks inside the Game Crown and enjoys a trip down nostalgia lane.

    And then she sees it: a cabinet of a rare, old game. Twin joysticks, calling. Why yes, she *will* take her mind off the troubles of a magical girl by pretending to be a MECHA PILOT!

                              --- Seconds Ago ---                              
                                    YOU WIN                                    
    The enemy mech explodes while her machine strikes a pose and the victory jingle plays. Five stages down, she's still got it.
                                 NOW LOADING...                                
    And if she recalls correctly, next up is the bit where the plot reveals that you're supposedly remote-controlling an *actual* robot instead of it being just a game:

                               M.S.B.SYSTEM V3.35
                                        
                                   [NOTICE!]

                    THIS VERSION IS NOT A SIMULATORY SYSTEM.
                        ALL REGISTERED USER DATA WILL BE
                     TRANSFERRED TO THE DEPLOYED VIRTUAROID
                              SYSTEM MEMORY BANK.

    Amy smiles as her performance so far is graded and the game moves on to the second half. Perhaps this is an old gimmick now, but there was a time when a plot reveal of 'Surprise! The simulation is real!' was-- wait, are people screaming?

    Amanda is snapped out of her focus on the videogame. The screaming is filtering in from outside, and the people near the front are screaming. At WHAT? She starts to try and push past people, then realizes she can just sort of duck between them with her small size and--

    The street is FULL OF MONSTERS. Oh SHIT. She's barely been a magical girl a week, and it's already at... whatever stage this is?! She ducks back inside, between some arcade cabinets, and transforms.

    Puella Red dashes through the crowd of arcade-goers. "MAGICAL GIRL COMING THROUGH!"

    She exits out onto the street. She hears other magical girls making speeches, and the sky is replaced by that starfield thing for the second time today.

    She looks at the horde of monsters coming down the street.

    She glances at the scared people in the arcade, looking to her with hope.

    Puella red puts on a grin and a brave face. "You think a horde of enemies makes a difference to PUELLA RED?" She points ahead vaguely, not seeing a general to blame. "Gamers like me have been practicing for this all our lives!"

    She does turn her head back to the arcade though. "But seriously nobody else try and do this I have a magic rocket launcher."

    Appropriately, she summons a more videogame-y design held like a rifle and starts firing smaller mini-rockets at the monsters. It makes a satisfying sound with every launch and reload (new rockets appearing from somewhere 'inside' the weapon. Guess she has an infinite ammo cheat, too!)

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei Hino is not... Opposed to shopping. Doing it recreationally has just not really been part of her life style up until now. Not having any friends to go with before was probably also a factor. Now she knows Usagi and Luna. And it looks like Ami might become a good friend too. Rei's initial awkardness and not-quite-as-enthused take on buying a bunch of stuff have thawed over the course of the afternoon. She has some nice outfits and accessories picked out, some with Usagi's help, others with her own impeccable eye for quality and presentation. Now, though? Before that changes even hit, she locks up, and looks up at the sky, her eyes sharp like they were when the bus pulled up outside the Hikawa Shrine.

    "Usa--" she begins but can't get out before the sky goes dark and stormy, and rain begins pelting her like she's on the edge of a hurricane. She follows the bobbing blonde odango ahead of her, while shielding her face with her bags and the clothes in them, until she is out of sight of the public. Then, without needing to coordinate with her partner, she likewise drops her bags, throws her hand up in the air with the pen that bears the symbol of Mars upon it, and calls out her own Henshin phrase.

    "Mars Power, Make-Up!"
    Once the flames have cleared from her vision, the transformation for others instantaneous even if for her it is a process of becoming someone new, and yet familiar. A soldier who fights evil. Sailor Mars!

    She follows after Usagi, stopping to look up and down the street, still shielding her eyes (though with her forearm this time) as she tries to find the cause. She can feel the negative energy all around her, and she can hear the screams. And there are... Things... Gathered in the shadows.

    She slips into place to pose with Sailor Moon, hoping maybe they can intimidate or at least catch the attention of the monsters and spare innocent people a moment to get away. "Sailor Mars doesn't accept manipulating the weather and turning a day of fun into a day of terror! In the name of Mars, I'll punish you!" she calls out.

    This will definitely do something. For sure.

    Though... Is it just her or... Is there something else she should be worried about? Yes, it seems ridiculous to even think about. They're already dealing with A LOT right now. But there's just... Something. Something nagging at the back of her mind. Almost like she's forgotten something important.

Touma Amaya has posed:
Ginga Otome shunts the area into an offset dimensional space. Carbonado staggers a little atop the building, the unexpected shift messing with his equilibrium. "Interesting. Of bo consequence, but -interesting-," he says to himself. His gaze flickers towards the pulses of dark power being emitted by HER as she teleports through the darkness. Not necessarily a threat to him. Maybe. For now anyway.

Yellow Pearl Voice has chosen the Tank role today, it seems. Her brightness and command of sound drawing a trio of the monsters her direction. Wordless grunts and growls escape their throats as they flex their wicked claws, working like a pack of jackals. They strike one at a time, lunging in then leaping out in concert.

You know what Youma don't like? Rockets. Puella Red pulls her weapon and starts thudding into nearby youma with rockets. The small explosions making the creatures yelp. She gets her own trio of the monsters, galloping towards the Puella Magi and doing what they can to dodge missiles. The good news is that one of them explodes, bursting into shadowstuff with a howl. The bad news is she has two to deal with, and they're coming in fast, swinging claws and gnashing teeth.

Sailors Mars and Moon appear, and the youma nearby pause in their menacing. Six of the wicked creatures stop and turn their heads, glowing, baleful eyes fixated on the Senshi. As one they begin to lope like wolves for the Sailor Soldiers, claws digging into the pavement and throwing sparks. They're coming in quickly, thirsty for energy.

All the while, Carbonado stands above the chaos below. He steps out from the edge of the roof, walking on air. He extends one hand, and motes of sickly purple begin to flow upwards, spiralling from the terrorized people to coalesce above his hand. "Give me your terror, let it consume you!" His gaze sweeps below as he surveys his harvesting, the swing of his hood stopping dead as his sight lands upon Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars. He makes a noise in his throat. It's not a nice one.

Everyone can probably see him now.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Sailor Moon calls out to her, and Ginga Otome is quick to orient herself toward the two Sailor Senshi. Recognizing Yellow Pearl Voice's distinctive Live Stage, and the arrival of Red as well, heartens her further. This is very much not how she wanted to spend her afternoon, but at least she's not facing it by herself.

"You got it!" she calls back to Sailor Moon, gliding swiftly to hover nearer the Senshi so they can back each other up. At least Zero Time means the normal folks of Juuban are safe... at least for as long as the barrier holds.

There's no time to be worrying about that right now, anyway. As the youma swarm, the Galactic Maiden begins firing bullets of purifying energy from her fingertip, taking aim at the wolf-creatures trying to swarm Sailors Moon and Mars.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Yellow Pearl Voice gets out of the three monsters' range with but a mental command as her Live Stage rises into the air. It seems her performance didn't attract just the monsters' attention, however.

A girl in a sailor uniform calls out to her, the aura of magical energy making it clear she is a potential ally. "Ok, I will purify these monsters and I will be right with you!" she tells her between dodging the monsters' strikes. As she turns her complete attention back to the monsters, she says "Glad to have you here! Enjoy the concert of love from the oceanic waters! Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"

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

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

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

Yellow Pearl Voice occasionally lowers the Live Stage to give a kick to the monsters, not because it would actually hurt them, that's her song's purpose, but to assure their attention stays with her. It's a very close game the one she is playing as the monsters haven't stopped slashing, and so it require lots of finesse on her part as she moves her Live Stage around.

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

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

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

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Drawing attention to themselves was the plan, and the plan is... working. In a sense. With the creation of that starry field had come the vanishing of the civilians - as if they, the youma, and this slice of Tokyo had been swept away into another place, an endless night under the field of foreign stars - but with the loss of the civilians, attention isn't just diverting some of the creatures - it's drawing a whole pack of them to Sailor Moon and Sailor Mar's location, and the four-door sedan they're standing atop of looks a lot smaller with so enemies rushing in - especially when theyr'e terrifying things with awful teeth and worse skin like this. "Hey! Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to crowd people? Why don't you give us some space! Moon Tiara Action!"

The energy disc that had been her golden tiara is hurled for the nearest youma's midsection, and once it passes through - turns in an arc to strike the next nearest. For as much of a mess as Mahou Fite Club had been, Ms. Trager had given Sailor Moon an idea - one that she's putting to effect right now, as she focuses on how much she wants her Tiara to not just fly forward, but strike as many enemies as possible, resulting in a boomerang-esque throw that will bring the disc out towards Yellow Pearl Voice before returning to her.

Of course, in the time between the throw and the return, she doesn't have a weapon on hand, so she's grateful for Ginga Otome's purifying bullets, Red's rockets (those are so cool, she got ROCKETS?), and Yellow Pearl Voice's - singing?

There's no denying the loveliness of her voice, but Sailor Moon has to admit - she didn't know singing was one of the options. (Considering she can cry her enemies to death, she shouldn't be so surprised!)

The voice of another person making threats is almost enough to make her freeze. When she looks up and spots the hooded figure, she gasps, and, perhaps inadvisably, grabs Sailor Mar's shoulder. "Mars-chan! There's someone up there!"

The memory of her conversation with Inai-sensei, just earlier that day, makes her shoulders bunch, the memory of burning eyes and a threat to hunt the youma-hunters sparking fear in her gut.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Yes, her soul gem is darkening. Maybe that's why she got all venemous at Riventon earlier, and needed to play videogames to take her mind off troublesome thoughts... Amanda is far from in immediate danger from that, though.

    Instead, she's in immediate danger from the youma who want to claw her face off! Still 'performing' for the arcade-goers (wait, can they even see through the barrier? Uhh...) she nonchalantly looks at the back of her hand like she's checking her nails (even though she's wearing gloves) then, just as they're about to reach her (and she doesn't try to time it *perfectly*, preferring to risk having to shoot them again to getting hit...) she aims down at the street and rocket jumps, leaving them only with a nearby explosion to attack!

    As she rises into the air, she catches sight of the general gathering energy, shouting about terror. It's like an evil anti-Spirit Bomb! That's... probably not good! Does this ever END?! Twice in one day, and this time it's a horde... She put on a brave face for the bystanders, but she's kinda tired... OHWAITSHITSHE'SINTHEMIDDLEOFFIGHTING

    Amy falls out of the sky onto one of the youmas she was fighting, getting nastily clawed before she blows it away at point-blank range, sending herself tumbling down the street with a bloody wound in her gut. "Oww..." she sits up, pain and adrenaline sharpening her focus a second too late.

Pyrite has posed:
    Terror, confusion, and panic spread through Juuban. The officials will probably label this another case of the mysterious 'Juuban Flu' that causes mass hallucinations and temporary physical weakness, accompanied by fainting and muddled memories usually. Once it's over, that is. Right now, no one is thinking of how to explain this away. They are trying to bring in their laundry, to close up their doors and windows, to protect their friends and classmates from falling in the torrential downpour... Parents are trying to find their children and keep them safe, and children are crying for their parents, their siblings, and their terrified pets.
    Pets.
    Yes, SHE would very much like her pet to come back.
    But poor Shiro the black cat is skittish around storms. So whatever is causing this... Will be dealt with.
    A youma menacing some people in an alleyway has its back to the girl who appears behind it. Not quite 'appears'... More like she was just... Always there. But unseen. She lifts her young girl's voice in quiet, monotone song.
    "Teru-teru bozu, teru bozu
    Ashita tenki ni shite o-kure,
    Itsuka no yume no sora no yo ni.
    Haretara kin no suzu ageyo."
    Something sharp moves quickly.
    Something falls to the ground.
    ~Teru-teru Bozu, Teru Bozu
    Do make tomorrow a sunny day,
    Like the sky in a dream sometime.
    If it's sunny I'll give you a golden bell.~
    A little white ghost-like doll lies there. It used to be a youma's head.
    The girl is gone.
    In a child's closet, monsters appear, sending the boy whose room this is to shriek in the uncontrollable, wild fear that only a child is capable of. He scrambles backwards, hands and feet pushing off his bed's blankets, and only succeeding in putting his back to the wall behind his bed.
    A young girl's voice sings out in monotone, as a pale hand holding a pair of scissors emerges slowly from under the bed.
    "Teru-teru bozu, teru bozu
    Ashita tenki ni shite o-kure.
    Watashi no negai wo kiita nara
    Amai o-sake wo tanto nomasho."
    Several objects land on the floor of the boy's room as he looks on in confusion at where there were monsters moments ago. He crawls to the edge of his bed to look over.
    ~Teru-teru Bozu, Teru Bozu
    Do make tomorrow a sunny day.
    If you make my wish come true
    We'll drink lots of sweet sake.~
    There are only the dolls that children hang up to chase away the rain lying there. Only this and nothing more.
    An old woman with a broom is fiercely trying to fend off the things attempting to get into her shop, full with others fleeing this supernatural threat. The youma snarl and bite and swipe at the frightened but brave grandmother, as feelings of fear flow from the crowd like wine.
    Then, in the reflection of the shop's front windows, in the blink of an eye and the shift of the light, there is a young girl with a pair of scissors.
    She raises her head, and her bright red eyes are wide as they stare in a pale face, absent of expression, other than an ever-so-slight smile, like the Mona Lisa.
    A bit of excitement enters a voice this time as she sings.
    "Teru-teru bozu, teru bozu;"
    Snip.
    "Ashita tenki ni shite o-kure."
    Snip snip snip.
    "Sore de mo kumotte naitetara..."
    Snipsnipsnipsnipsnipsnipslashcutstabrendsever--
    "Sonata no kubi wo chon to kiru zo."
    Teru Bozu, left to sit inthe rain. Small ghosts with smiling face. All cut into little pieces, just like the youma they came from.
    ~Teru-teru Bozu, Teru Bozu
    Do make tomorrow a sunny day.
    But if it's cloudy and I find you crying
    Then I shall snip your head off.~
    One. At. A. Time.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Flames erupt to cover Sailor Moon when she throws her tiara. More flames fly out towards one of the youma as it lopes towards her, though in this weather she can't be sure if she hit or missed--Oof! She is knocked off her feet and thrown back as something large and solid hits her, sliding across the wet street on her back. That was... Not very graceful. Hurt, embarrassed, and ANGRY, Mars pushes herself up into a sitting position and sees the various youma are... Dealt with? Huh. The starry sky above and everything seeming to be... Wait, isn't this the same thing as from the construction site...?

    Also, why's there a Teru-Bozu under her hand--

    Mars's attention is focused on the spot that Sailor Moon points at. Someone is up there. It would probably be too much to hope that they're an ally, right? Mars hops up. "Hey, you! Are you responsible for this!?" she calls out to him. At least that feeling like a knife scraping the back of her skull very shallowly has stopped ever since this magic field thing activated. Now she can focus on doing something useful. And not falling on her butt.

    One hand discretely slaps at her skirt in an attempt to make sure any grime or dirt is brushed away.

Touma Amaya has posed:
The flow of energy has stopped. The space phasing has cut it off. The orb that floats above Carbonado's hand is, honestly, slightly smaller than a baseball. He growls, flicking his wrist and sending it where it needs to go. It will have to do. His attention is still fixated on the Senshi, his face obscured in his hood, but they can feel the -hate-.

Uh oh.

Meanwhile, Ginga Otome joins the Sailors, doing her best danmaku impression. At the same time, Sailor Moon uses her tiara, and Mars her cleansing flame to puncture and burn the youma menacing them. Honestly, the Senshi make this look -easy-. Like they were (re)born to do this. Youma howl and scream as they're purified back into the violet smoke of nothingness.

Puella Red rocket jumps, which is the coolest way to jump, taking out one of the youma after her and wounding the other. It howls in fury and lopes after her, only to get landed upon and blasted to so much smoke. Luckily they're in a phased dimension, or these rocket blasts would need some explanation!

Yellow Pearl Voice does what she does best. She shines. She sings. She kicks youma in the face. One of the trio dissolves in agony at the purifying song, rendering it into harmless purple smoke. The other one lashes out with wicked claws to try and catch her at least once before it too is destroyed. The third, well, the third attempts to flee.

The ghost girl does ... ghost girl things. Horrifying. Terrible things. Luckily she's not in the Zero Time barrier yet, or she'd probably be chewing on some Mahou's face. With scissors.

Speaking of the Zero Time, Carbonado begins to walk downwards, using the open air like a staircase. Dark Energy boils around him, his hands and arms wreathed in purple flame. "I do not know how you did this, but...It simply will not do."

Terrible, wicked magic lashes out and up, striking in a beam of anti-light. It strikes the barrier of shifted time, arcs of black lightning raining down upon the streetlights and cars below in a torrent of raw, entropic fury. That can't be good for the dimensional barrier.

Carbonado speaks, his voice carrying despite his lack of yelling. "I should have expected this. No matter. You have dispatched my youma but...you are not prepared." His arm drops, arcs of black electricity still dancing across his fingers. He looks at the gathered mahou, but he zeroes in on Sailor Moon in specific. Until Sailor Mars addresses him. He stares at her balefully, unseen eyes boring through her. "Yes. I did. And you all have ruined it. I cannot let you get away with this without any punishment, can I?"

Both hands lift, and black lightning erupts, arcing into the sky before bolts begin to strike down at the gathered mahou.

"Behold! But a sliver of my power!"

Pyrite has posed:
    Has the storm stopped? There's no more youma. Not out here anyway. What is 'out here'?
    There is the temple, which is HER domain. There is the tower, with the people who try to keep Hematite to themselves. The school, with all its noise and all the vapid, cheerful people who monopolize Darien's time. Now there's this... Space. Inbetween all of them. A... City. Yes, the school, and the tower, and Her shrine is not the whole of the world.
    There is also a city.
    So if She is in the city, then what is She outside of?
    There is a place where time is stopped. A time where space is distorted.
    It's here, but not.
    Just like Her.
    And She is outside of it.
    Reality bends for the dead sometimes. Their reality is shaped by their traumas, their regrets, and their memories, after all.
    So the reason she isn't frozen and pushed aside already might be...
    ...Because reality is slightly lesser than her anger on the hierarchy of needs.
    So She stands outside the place that isn't, and the time that's never, listening to her own maddened whispers while she tries to convince herself that she belongs inside the barrier.
    She just stands there, on the edge of it, staring from an existence of illusion and eternity.
    Opening Her scissors. Closing them again.
    Snip.
    Something is happening inside to make a door for Her. She can just tell.
    Snip.
    So she just needs to wait.
    Snip.
    She's very good at waiting.
    Snip.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's the hateful gaze of the enemy on them, her skin prickling with nerves as the hairs on her arms rise, but even stronger than her fear of the enemy is fear for her friends. "Mars-chan! Red-chan!" Sailor Moon cries out as the two are sent sprawling in opposite directions. She freezes for a moment, torn between two allies - but where she can see that Sailor Mars is fine - furious, but fine, she can see that there's blood where Red was struck, and that she's all alone on her end of the battlefield. There's a choice to make, but it isn't really one. As monsters fall all around, Sailor Moon leaps from the car and goes running for the downed Puella Magi (not that she knows that's what Red is).

That's right, she's ignoring the enemy now raining lightning at the Zero Time barrier and making an evil speech to run towards her downed ally. You aren't worth her time, mysterious enemy! Not right now! Maybe not even ever, if someone else wants to take care of that scary guy!

"Red-chan, are you alright?!" They haven't met as magical girls, but she doesn't care about that, in the moment. She offers her hand, intending to help the other magical girl to her feet. "I saw you get hit! Do you need help?"

And then - lightning, and Sailor Moon, not paying attention to the coming storm, is struck dead-on! "Ahhhhh!"

The shriek tears out of Sailor Moon's throat, her back arching as the jolt of lightning flows through her. It's a pain unlike anything she's felt before, energy that floods her senses. She drops to her knees, panting - still leaning over Red. Sparks pass between her crescent moon and star earrings.

"R-Red-chan - are y-you okay?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
For a bit there, it really seems like things are going well. Yellow Pearl Voice's purifying song fills the air, buoying Wako's spirits; Sailor Moon's tiara, Mars's flames and Amy's rockets tear through the youma. Overwhelming as things seemed at first, with teamwork, they're managing to overcome it.

The assault against Zero Time itself - a thing it hadn't even occurred to her might be possible - catches her off-guard. As the dark energy hammers against the dimensional barrier, Ginga Otome cries out in pained surprise. The shield in which she'd been levitating pops like a soap bubble, dumping her unceremoniously the few feet to a jarring three-point landing on the pavement below.

"What are you--?!" Her voice comes out through clenched teeth. The pressure of the attack isn't letting up, and it takes all her will to hold the barrier against it. On her chest, the Y-shaped emblem glows bright pink as the Galactic Maiden pours her drive into holding Zero Time in place.

Unfortunately, occupied as she is, she's left wide open when the black lightning courses down on all of them. Engulfed in crackling energy, Ginga Otome screams--

--and the starfield dome of the sky far overhead shatters like a stained glass window.

Rei Hino has posed:
    The hate that radiates from that gaze is cold and hot at the same time. Or maybe that's just her body's reaction to it. Sailor Mars grits her teeth and tries to fight back against her physiological response to that kind of... Emotional projection. Or whatever it is. Just... The sheer malice the stranger feels towards Sailor Moon. Maybe Mars too a bit. "You're not in a position to punish anyone! What if you hurt innocent people!? I don't know what you're up to but--" 'But we outnumber you, even if I don't know most of these Magical Girls, and I'm pretty sure that means we win!' She doesn't finish that thought though.

    DANGER. Move. NOW.

    Mars turns to get out of the way and make sure anyone nearby gets out of the way as well. She already saw Sailor Moon take off running as enormous power starts being thrown around, crackling darkly around the... 'Zero Time'. It's far past anything Sailor Mars -- or Rei Hino -- has encountered so far. Her head feels like it's splitting open.

    "Everyone mov--!"

    An ashen landscape that was once a city. The beauty of it marred by huge craters and--

    A man's voice. "I don't trust him, brother. He doesn't have the best interests of the Black Moon--"

    A girl crying alone. "I want to go home... I want my mama! I WANT TO GO HOME!" A wail as a beam of light shoots up from her forehead, alerting the Enemy to her loc--

    A robed figure floating in the air, looking into a crystal ball. Nothing can be seen within the hood. A voice that is Evil itself speaks a single word.

    "Soon."

    Sailor Mars was too far away to help Sailor Moon anyway. Too far away to help anyone. But the shock of those visions, especially the last, puts her off-balance and staggers her, preventing her from doing anything except watch as Sailor Moon, the girl she just... Feels like she belongs fighting alongside... Is struck by lightning as black as that Moon--

    She spins around, powering through the pain, the fear, and the panic over the safety of her friend, and of the other magical girls, and of the innocent people they put their lives on the line to protect, by channeling sheer RAGE.

    She looks up at the man descending from the sky like the air is a physical thing for him. She slams her hands together, interlocking her fingers, her index fingers the only one sticking out as she channels her spiritual power and the mana of Mars itself, creating fire where there shouldn't be any. "Fire... SOUL!" she yells out, releasing a huge wave of fire (well, huge for a Senshi's Tier 1 attack, anyway) up at Carbonado. Even as she releases it, the details of her vision begin to fade away, like her anger is burning the future into smoke and cinders.

    The Zero-Time shatters. Everything floods back to Sailor Mars.

    Ah... And there's that knife again... Tickling at the back of her skull like dripping blood from an open wound. What else could go wrong?

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Having dealt with the Youma, Yellow Pearl Voice emits a sigh of relief, wiping a trail of sweat from her forehead. The relief is short-lived one, as she notices the hurt Red lying there.

'Hang in there, I am coming!', she thinks, her Live Stage going as fast as it can. However a spanner in the works appears as a hooded figure in the sky reveals himself as the culprit behind this incident at Mars' question.

Before she could actually reach the Puella Magi, he rambles about punishment, sending black lightning at them from the skies. 'Why now of all times...!'

Yellow Pearl Voice tries her best to divert and weaken the lightning with her songs. 'This guy is for real!', she thinks, really worried about the hurt Red. She barely manages to escape the lightning, but that's all she can do, not being able to make many moves towards her friends and her newfound allies. All she can hope for is she is doing enough to weaken the lightning that the man's fury is sending at them.

'I'm sorry, Red and sailor girls for being so useless.' She keeps up her song to the end, clinging to this one sliver of hope they are going to be fine.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The youma are just about done with. She's hurt, but the others don't look hurt, and the dark general is shouting. Since he relies on summoning monsters, is he weak himself in a fight, or is he *more* dangerous? But before she can even finish getting her bearings, a magical girl with distinctive blonde twintails is there.

    Is she alright? Red glances down at the wound on her belly. It's not exactly *good*, but given what happened with the last one, she'll probably heal it in a few days, tops. "I'll manage." She looks back up at Sailor Moon and reaches out to take her hand--

    And the other magical girl is struck. She stares in horror with mouth agape, but before she can get any words out of her mouth... this unknown heroine is *still* more worried about *her*.

    No...

    ...Mallory has screwed up. He signed up to fight evil and in only a week, he got *lax*. He got cocky, started showing off, almost treating it like a *game*. And because of that, he got hit, and now this innocent teenager is having to protect him.

    As if he's worth protecting! It should be the other way around. He's the adult. He should know better. And now he got her hurt, because he was... having *fun*.

    The pain in his belly doesn't feel so much now.

    Usagi can see that the little red gem, placed artistically off to one side on an alice band on Red's head, is half-filled with blackness.

    She stands.

    Look strong so they don't have to worry. Red looks at Usagi. "Don't worry about me. Are YOU alright? That was lightning... I'm sorry I got you hurt."

    Puella Red glares at the general. She holds her right arm up. Instead of the name she gave the attack, which was insufficiently serious, she says: "Two can play at that game."

    The rocket launcher she dropped instantly poofs into sparkles while another launch tube appears in her hand, firing a missile up into the sky.

    At the top of its arc, it splits into many.

    Amanda realizes she should *communicate* with the others. She points at the general, shouting while looking to... Sailor Mars. "When it hits, finish him!"

    The little missiles rain down towards Carbonado, but are set to airburst before hitting. Shaped charges don't explode in the normal way, though. If nothing stops them, lances of light that sure look like they *could* be a magic attack rain down instead, around where Carbonado was when Red fired.

    They're not though. They may have been created by magic, but they're operating by physics. Extremely, violently high-energy physics.

Touma Amaya has posed:
Lightning falls and does, in fact, punish. Carbonado, being a jerk, laughs about it. "Oh, children. Children, children, children." He shakes his head. "What you are now is not what you will be." One hand lifts in a dismissive gesture. "What you are is...."

"Pathetic."

Retaliation comes. It's from far fewer vectors than he was expecting. Mars sends raw flame at him, and he bathes in it, the heat searing him under the robe, tongues of flame charring his garment and burning his flesh, but he doesn't even attempt to dodge. A flex.

The missiles rain down in a torrent of hell, and these make him stagger, stepping back and covering his face as he's savaged by explosions and schrapnel. His robe's sleeves and hem smoulders, uncountable slashes fill it, but he still stands.

"Is that all you have?! Can you bring no more to bear?!"

He throws an arm wide, seeming to grow and tower over all of them, despite not changing size at all.

"You are all so terribly -weak-! You disgust me! How? How is it that you rule Crystal Tokyo?! How is it that you exiled me and mine from it!? WHERE IS YOUR POWER, SAILOR MOON!?"

What is he raving about? His fury is almost a tangible thing. Almost a literal physical force of terrible psychic pressure and black power.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"We're not..."

Ginga Otome is hoarse, still shaking in the aftermath of the lightning blast, on her knees and holding herself up with a hand braced against the pavement. Her formerly pristine uniform is streaked with dark burn-marks, the gold-fringed epaulets of her coat singed and smoking.

Lips curled back from her teeth in a grimace of determination, she glares up at the looming, raving figure above them.

"We're not... done yet...!"

With a fierce effort, she pushes herself unsteadily onto her feet. She feels scorched inside and out, ears ringing from the breaking of her Zero Time barrier, but she still reaches out both hands and gathers dawn-colored light to her fingertips.

"If you want to see power--"

("I can still see it!")

Thrusting her arms forward, she releases a spray of purifying energy bullets at Carbonado. "--EAT THIS!"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The hooded figure is waaay above their limits, and he knows as much, making sure to tell them. Sailor Mars' and Red's attacks only seems to prove him right, as he emerges unscathed, besides the now poor state of his clothes. 'Is there really nothing we can do?', thinks the mermaid princess, while singing again and again. The hope she feels is ever farther, but she doesn't stop chasing it, doesn't renounce the song of love that is Aqua Regina's blessing. She can't betray the Yellow Pearl, the exact thing that gave her life.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars is almost forced to her knees under the pressure of this man's anger and power. But she manages to remain standing. Thanks to her allies in this fight. Thanks to her passion to not let wrongs go unrighted. Thanks to a song that keeps her centered, and focused on the goal -- and what is important: Life. Not rveenge. Not spreading the pain.

    Crystal Tokyo? Exile? Things that make no sense right now. Things that don't concern her. Not right now.

    Sailor Mars focuses on the missiles that hit the enemy, the damage they do... And the flames that she can use to pour into those wounds, and hopefully drive this terrible Enemy from the battlefield. Because she isn't sure how much more she, Sailor Mars, can do.

    Again, she puts her hands together, channels even more of the planetary mana from her namesake. She builds it up while Carbonado rants, attacks them with the weight of his indignation, and the deep resentment of his grudge. He can judge her all he wants to, as long as she gets a little bit more time.

    Once Mars isn't sure she can hold onto her own fire any longer, she yells out, words hot in her mouth and burning the backs of her eyes.

    "FIIIIIRE SOULLLLL!"

    The flames. The missiles. How are they going to interact? Her previous attack did nothing, it seemed. Please let this make a difference.

    Also, WHY does she still feel like there's something else here that is very angry and isn't directing that anger at her? How many more monsters can there be?

    She trusts in the song being sung by Yellow Pearl Voice, who she looks up to with her violet eyes, silently thanking her. She trusts in her friend, who always means right and doesn't back down. She trusts in heroes who will fight for the rights and safety of strangers because it's what people are SUPPOSED to do for others, especially when they can't do it themselves..

    And Sailor Mars trusts in herself. Rei Hino. And whoever else she is. She isnt going to let someone's anger batter her self-esteem. She isn't going to let a man judge her unworthy.

    That's for Rei to decide.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A bit of satisfied smile creeps through the grim determination at seeing the missiles actually do what she wanted. Damn! That was pretty cool! And the fire-throwing sailor-suited warrior delivers the second half! They just did A COMBO ATTACK! EVEN COOLER!

    But uh. Oh fudge. Not that she really has a way to gauge raw power of something she's only done once, but that HAS to have been more powerful than any individual rocket she's used and even with the others' attacks it wasn't enough.

    She'll just have to keep shooting him, right?? She hefts the launch tube on her shoulder and takes aim...

    The darkness in her soul gem is just a little more than half now. And suddenly the dark general feels so imposing...

    Fire! FIRE! FIRE!!! PULL THE TRIGGER! But... Mallory hesitates. Finger twitching, but fear keeps him from firing. He really is weak after all... would shooting the dark general just get him crushed like a bug here?!

    ...Uh, what? Crystal Tokyo? Sailor Moon? What is this going on about...?

Pyrite has posed:
    Zero-Time is broken open.
    Paper angels start fluttering through the air. Some individually, others in chains of paper dolls holding hands. They are a minor detail in the midst of battle. Not even worth noticing, when fire, and rockets, purity of spirit, and song of strength all surge and ring through the air, pushing back against wrath and grudge and blight of soul.
    And then there's a girl in a black kimono standing behind Carbonado. In the air. She has a pair of black scissors held in one hand. They're bigger than she is. Much bigger. She stands there, with her head tilted to the side, while the man from a different space-time, similar to the girl in that respect, demonstrates his power, without even needing to hurt anyone or break anything. It's just sheer force and psychic pressure.
    She blinks her big, red eyes, as paper angels chain together more and more, beginning to obscure vision with their numbers. They might help to blunt the edge of the attack coming at Carbonado somewhat. They're stronger than they appear.
    "Ne," the girl says to announce her presence. "You... Who made it rain?" When her scissors open and close this time, it's not the sound of scissors. It's the sound of a large blade sliding across another large blade. Sharpening a guillotine. Swords slicing through bone and sinew as they are being tested on condemned prisoners.
    "Ne." she repeats. The storm of paper dolls grows thicker. "Have you heard this song?"
    She begins to sing in her monotone voice.
    "Teru-teru bozu, teru bozu..."

    But the bullets of positive energy are enough to make the ghost fall back a bit in the air, and the storm of paper to become many paper dolls fluttering their 'wings' and scattering to get away. Seems she doesn't like purification.
    She's not smiling anymore.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon may have taken that hit, but Red didn't. That's what Usagi Tsukino clings to, even when all she wants to do is cry. Everything hurts - lightning is an entirely different sort of pain than the bumps, bruises, and cuts she's earned so far in the month her career as a magical girl has lasted. But she saved someone. She protected them, and she's still - even though it hurts, even though it's scary - alive. And if Red can stand straightbacked and unafraid... if she can launch her attack with such endless courage -

You have incredible power.

- Sailor Moon can do no less. Sailor Moon will do no less! Inai-sensei would expect nothing less.

This man, towering above them, attacking her allies, her friends, he's not the man who emerged in the aftermath of the youma attack at Radiant Heart. He's not the fierce, ruthless presence that threatened to hunt them down, who raged at their defiance. But in every way that matters, he's no different.

Where before, Usagi Tsukino quailed under threat, Sailor Moon forces herself to her feet. She stands, chest heaving, odango buns partly undone, collar and skirt singed by the force of the lightning, and glares upwards. She watches the man take Red's devastating ranged attack and Sailor Mars' burning fury, and can see even from where she stands that the missiles and fire impact. Can see even from where she stands that he is not unharmed. Can see even from where she stands that he refuses to crumble under that force.

The magical girls can take care of the monster, but you're still moving-.

But Darien-kun, I am one of the magical girls. I should have been able to fight with them.

Yellow Pearl Voice sings with all the passion and love of a true friend, buoying their spirits, guiding them through the darkness. Her stage glows and sparkles, disrupting the lightning, dulling its fury, sheltering them. Ginga Otome launches a barrage of bullets, and Sailor Moon can see the singe marks on her coat, the evidence she too was struck by lightning and stood anyway. Sailor Mars, her friend, her ally, in this mess because of her, invited to a shopping trip turned disaster, turns the passion of her rage into an attack that sears a path through the sky, even as that man rages, his venomous hatred an almost physical force, trying to push them down, trying to silence them.

She doesn't know what she's done, to earn his hatred. She doesn't know why he expected more from her or where Crystal Tokyo is or why he thinks she could have exiled anyone, from anywhere.

But she does know the answer to one of his questions.

Where is your power, Sailor Moon?

Right here.

"Moon -"

Once again she draws the tiara from her forehead - but this time, she doesn't throw it. Not yet. She holds it in her hand as she calls out the attack, gold metal and crimson jewel transformed to all the energy of a star, held tight in her hand. She stares up at him, that hooded enemy, as the energy swells in her hand, blows back her hair. Distantly, she notes that her forehead feels hot.

It's for them those of us who have the means to make a difference have to try our best, alright?

Inai-sensei, you were right. It is less scary when we're standing together.

"Tiara -"

She draws back her arm, turns her body, weight shifting back to one leg, all the wobble and fear gone from her stance, from her body. With a jolt of force, she slams her body forward, launches from her clenched fist that shining disc of cosmic fury.

Und if you find ways to use that shiney crown of yours in your fist?

Thanks for the idea, Ms. Trager-chan!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Her tiara flies true, directly in the pasth of Sailor Mars' Fire Soul, drawing on the force of that rage, that passion, the fire that exemplifies that which burns in all hearts, and strengthening it in turn with love, with hope, with the burning strength of one fighting for their friends. It soars with the bullets Ginga Otome fired, adding pure white sparkle to their dawn-pink glow. Both figures will see it coming, speeding like a bullet straight for them - the ghost girl that Sailor Moon doesn't know is there, and the hooded figure she wants to see go down.

And at the moment those attacks strike home, the moment that fire-spun disc of cosmic love and rage strikes that hooded figure, Sailor Moon wills with all her strength and cries out with all the belief she holds in her heart - "IMPLOSION!"

It's like staring into the heart of an exploding star. All that energy, all the strength of her tiara, of her self, of her friends and her faith in them, erupting all at once.

Touma Amaya has posed:
He glances over his shoulder at the small girl with the excessively large scissors, breathing heavily as the assembled Mahou deliver directed hope and justice. "...What?" This is outside even his area of expertise. Small girls with massive shears? Above his paygrade.

Others prepare. Ginga Otome gathers power, Mars makes fire. He pays them no mind. His focus, all of his fury is directed upon Sailor Moon. The Senshi of Justice and Hope. The future Queen of the Solar System.

The singular point of his hatred.

Mars unloads again. This time it's a bonfire. An inferno. Ginga Otome joins in, preparing a scatter blast of raw energy. He doesn't pay attention to them. They are nothing. His singular, unconqured hatred belongs to Sailor Moon. He can feel the power of her magic, of her purity, of -weaponized hope-. He sneers behind his hood, even as she throws the purest essence of Love.

It burns through its path, drawing in some of Mars's inferno. Some of the Otome's raw magical might. It shines like a second sun as it careens his way. He lifts his hand, splaying his palm, and a translucent barrier of Dark Energy springs up. The tiara impacts, and a war begins.

Carbonado focuses his hate. His rage. Even his despair and loneliness. This he feeds to his power. He gives everything he has. All of his terrible might. All of his infinite anger. The tiara throws sheet lightning as the purification power interacts with undiluted Darkness. For a moment, it seems like it will hold. Like it will not touch him.

Until the cracks appear.

Like glass slowly beginning to shatter, cracks spiderweb across the shield. "No!" He pours more, but it's attrition. The cracks grow larger faster than he can fix them and soon, the sound of shattering glass echoes through the entire Juuban ward. The shield falls, and the tiara hits him.

The force is titanic. Like matter and antimatter colliding. Carbonado is hurled backwards, howling in agony as the terrible forces of weaponized Love and Hope do their best to consume him utterly. He hits the pavement, body shuddering as he skids and rolls, the glow eating into him like boiling acid. His howl of agony is haunting.

Surprisingly, there is no explosion, just a blinding light until the power wears itself out. The man rises shakily. Slowly to his feet. "You...Yes. It's in there..." He staggers once, trying to straighten. "Still... Nothing like...yourself."

As he straightens again, his now tattered hood falls away to reveal a handsome man in his mid thirties with black hair and burning golden eyes. In the center of his forehead is a crescent moon, points down. And it is black.

He waves a hand, summoning what little power he has left, and he stumbles into an inky portal of darkness. When it fades, it's almost like he was never here at all.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
In the aftermath, Ginga Otome breathes hard, making the effort to stay on her feet. The man who caused all this chaos has disappeared, and his youma are gone. Juuban isn't wholly unscathed, but the worst of the damage, at least, was contained within Zero Time and erased when that barrier fell.

"That was..."

The light of the Moon Tiara's Implosion, with all of their efforts gathered into it, has left after-images still half dazzling her vision. "...Is everyone all right?"

There was another one, though, wasn't there? Blinking a few times to try to clear her eyes, she looks for any sign of a small girl with very large scissors.

Pyrite has posed:
    A small girl with over-sized scissors? Why would anyone see one of those here? This is the scene of a terrible battle, even if property damage is, in the end, rather minimal... Compared to what it could have been anyway. Despite the breaking of Zero-Time, there were no casualties. Only those who fought are injured. They'll be groaning over their injuries for days, most likely, even with accelerated healing, if they're lucky enough to have it.
    And hey, look at all those Teru-Teru Bozu all over the place! They worked!
    After all, the rain stopped.
    Somewhere in the area, a black cat meows as he appears out of the air and walks while looking upwards. Like he's padding along at the side of someone unseen.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon watches the struggle of tiara and shield with an almost alien sense of calm. There's no bated breath, no uncertain fear. With everything on the line, with every ounce of strength squeezed from her body, from the bodies of her friends, her hopes cannot falter. They have to win this. There's no other choice.

And with an earthshattering crack, like broken glass magnified a thousand times, they do. Her tiara crawls with sheet lightning, the shadows crack, the shield buckles, and light flares in a blinding flash, tearing through the dark cloud layer and returning the afternoon sun.

A howl of agony echoes from the top of that building, a sound that will join the cries that haunt her dreams. With her vision distorted, the afterimage of her own powerful attack still beguling her sight, Sailor Moon can only make out the shadow of him, a man smoldering in the aftermath of her light, his dark hair blending with the shadowy nature of the portal he slips away into.

It's only when he's gone that her legs give out. There's a muted flash of light and for a moment, in place of her fuku, there are flowing pink ribbons, trailing over her body, connected at her heart - at the pink broach still hovering in front of her chest.

And then the moment passes, and Usagi Tsukino is kneeling on the ground, dressed in her casual clothes. Her broach clatters to the ground and she grabs it with shaking hands. Her face is wan, drained of energy - she had put everything into that final, desperate attack. At the sound of Ginga Otome's voice, she lifts her head, and one hand, managing a wobbly thumbs up.

"We - we did it! Everyone, we made it!"

And it only took everything they had.

That masked man - he left, and his monsters went with him, and with the way he screamed - Usagi has never wanted anyone to hurt, but she hopes he hurt. She hopes he hurt enough to be gone from this place for good, hopes that he won't return today, or tomorrow, or for a long, long time. A thought occurs to her, one that has her guts clenching into a knot.

"That Fire Eyes guy... he really wasn't joking about hunting us, was he? It's barely been a few days..."

Since the attack at Radiant Heart Academy, the monster defeated - and Wako-chan, she'd been there too, as Ginga Otome. So had Red. So too, had Usagi, even if she hadn't been transformed. He'd said he didn't know who they were then - but here, another attack. Worse than a monster attack, but with a similar awful pressure, the weight of hatred like gravity, trying to press them down.

Was this his minion? This man, so similar to the first, with his need to crush them into the dirt, his fury at being defied, trying to overrun them with force...

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars put in everything she had right now. She can maybe pull together another Fire Soul, but not one of the same strength or size. She can only watch, as their foe willingly takes damage from many of the attacks... As minimal as it is. It is only Sailor Moon's attack that he bothers to try to stop. Also, what is that girl doi--

    "Okaa-san, what's happening? Why is the town on fire?" A little girl asks as she tugs at her mother's kimono--

    Static as thememory dissolves into fear and pain.

    Sailor Mars blacks out.

    She comes to almost instantly. Maybe a second passed at most. The glow of Sailor Moon's tiara sends sparkles of magic everywhere, as it becomes the nexus point for an enormous amount of concentrated power. 'She's so strong,' Rei thinks, admiringly, peacefully, lovingly. Her mind is a jumble. She clings to the hope that Sailor Moon represents.

    When the tiara flies, Sailor Mars tries to follow it with her violet eyes, but has to close them at the moment of impact, when it strikes that shield of malevolence. She shudders at the emotions she is subjected to. Too many other people crowding into her head tonight. Too many mem--

    Pain. Pain tearing through her chest. Pain of betrayal and pain of a sword ran straight through her. She looks up, eyes watering, unable to breathe, at the man who has just killed her. A man she loved. She tries to speak, though she doesn't know what she was going to say. Only blood comes out of her mouth, the crimson fluid the most poignant condemnation or inquiry she could offer. The edges of her vision start to go black, but her final thoughts are not of herself, but of her Princes--

    She pushes them down. She pushes them down into that place she puts all the things she doesn't want to deal with right now. The emotions she only lets herself feel when she's alone. The tears she only sheds when no one is watching her. Strong. Always strong. Can't be anything else. That's Rei Hino.

    But Sailor Mars can shed tears for the beauty and hope before her. The overwhelming emotions from the Enemy are Bad, but they can't extinguish her flame. They can't extinguish Yellow Pearl Voice, or Puella Red, or Ginga Otome, even if she doesn't know all of their names.

    And all that darkness cannot smother Sailor Moon's light.

    The shield cracks. The blow is struck. And... And still the Enemy stands. He survived that. Somehow. She is still clinging to hope. She won't let that fire go out.

    But the icy dread over what it would take to actually defeat an opponent like this, and the worry over whether she has it in her, are definitely trying to douse her spirits. She'll trust in Sailor Moon, and all the others here who fought against such enormous evil.

    Sailor Mars gets up shakily, and limps her way over to her leader. "Good job, everyone." she says with a very pale-faced and tight-lipped smile. "Good job, Sailor Moon." she says when she's a bit closer. Close enough to hold out a hand. She might not be able to take on the Enemy alone.

    But she's not alone.

    And never will be again.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is almost shaking in fear, but not so the others. In particular, the senshi who just defended her throws something that boosts all the other attacks as well, the general's defenses finally broken enough to flee.

    Amy lowers the launcher, and as she releases her grip it disappears into sparkles.

    Ginga otome asks if they're alright. Red covers her claw wound with a hand. "I'll be okay. I don't think this is too deep."

    Sailor Moon's transformation falters. Red's eyes go wide. "...You!" She detransforms, revealing her own civilian identity. Oh wait, oops... at least this was a red shirt. She smiles. "Yeah... looks like we made it. Thanks, back there... Hey, are YOU okay? You got hit by lightning, that looked like it really hurt..."

    Oh, whoops, she revealed herself to the other senshi too... wait, they're all allies, right? "Yeah... good job everyone!" She offers handshakes with her free hand. And then wonders... That's the first time she did an attack like that. Maybe she should check her Soul Gem...

    Amy pulls it out of her shirt on its necklace chain, and stares. More than half of it is dark now.

    Finding a grief seed is something she needs to do sooner rather than later...

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Yellow Pearl Voice glanced at the environment around her, failing to keep up with the notion that Sailor Moon's attack had worked. Was everyone really ok? She glances at the hooded figure, now hooded no more, as his shield is vanquished, as Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara's Implosion strikes true.

She looks at her allies, shaking, battered, but still standing, their determination and hope still granting them the strength to stand beyond all possibilities.

"I am really thankful of you having been here with me", Yellow Pearl Voice says, her body aching for recovery just as much as that of the others. She glances at Amy, noticing her taking out a gem, more than half of darkened.

Whatever it is, it's clearly supposed to be red. She will have to ask whatever it is later. For now, she checks on everyone's condition, beginning to calm herself now that everything was well and truly over.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi Tsukino looks up at Sailor Mars and smiles - tired, more than a little beaten down, but alive. Hopeful, in spite of her fears. They forced the enemy to flee. They forced him to give up his plans. They protected everyone!

"Good job, Mars-chan! Good job, everyone! We did it!"

Next to come over is Red, and Usagi blinks at the shocked recognition in her voice - only to gape like a fish when she detransforms, revealing someone she's newly familiar with, both from history class, and the disastrous pot painting activity. "Amy-chan? You're Red?!"

Wow! How - how many of her classmates are magical girls, anyway?! The reveal is enough to blast away her thoughts of their enemy, and his connection to the frightening vision of giant flaming eyes, leaving only the gentle buoy of happiness that is their victory, and the realization that she really isn't alone in this - not just as Sailor Moon, but as Usagi Tsukino. There's something in Amy's hands - a jewel, maybe, but Usagi is too tired to be her usual nosy self. She takes Sailor Mars' hand and allows herself to be pulled to her feet, smiling at her friend. "We should hang out sometime! As ourselves - or as Magical Girls. It's not as scary when we're in this together."

And she turns, deliberately, to Yellow Pearl Voice, her smile widening into something more excited. "I'm thankful too! Your singing was so beautiful - you kept us all together, you know? Your voice was like a light in the darkness. That guy - he was so powerful, none of us could have beaten him alone. But we didn't have to."