592/The Cat and the Crystal

The Cat and the Crystal
Date of Scene:	14 October 2023
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Catra plans an attack in Shibuya Crossing, with Riventon ready to back her up -- or maybe just to get the Pureheart Crystal. She'd let slip her plans to Adora, and so She-Ra, Chrono, and Sailor V all arrived to intervene. A life was saved; but at what cost?
Cast of Characters:	Catra, Takashi Agera, Adora Rainbowfist, Chrono Harlaown, Minako Aino

---

Catra has posed:
Someone is going to die.

Tokyo, Shibuya Crossing. One of the busiest places on Earth, where there are people walking, driving, and thriving in droves, no matter the time of day. And, it's been a long day. Longer for some than others, now that the sun is setting. Catra has spent the entire day hidden, having scaled one of the buildings with her claws, and concealed herself behind one of the huge display screens, constantly displaying advertisements for everything from Coca Cola to Warframe. And there she has waited, for this moment; dusk. The moment when the light starts to fade, and details become easy to miss.

Because she's not going to make things easy.

She's spent the day with music blasting in her ears, going through anything new that she can find to drown out the noise of this place. Right now it's the Tea Party, a band with a frontman with a deep voice. Good stuff.

...drowning in a sea of rage
And I can taste the embrace
I'm helpless as it steals my soul
I've lost all control

It's coming up on time. Will Adora be here? It's not like she told her a time. Just said something stupid and probably tactically unsound to Rashmi, and then dropped a location to Adora during a fight. Maybe she's been here the whole day. That'd be like Adora. At least Catra's been lieing down on a support and resting, while giving odds on wether or not the blonde has been running around trying to figure out where she's hiding. Or if she's even here. Who knows?

Temptation
It never lets me down
Temptation
One foot in the ground

Catra sits up, and scrabbles up the space between building and the back of the massive screen. She's already unpacked the rifle, and slings a strap over her shoulder, just in case she's in the one reality out of billions where she has a clumsy moment. (As if.) As the sun dips down below the buidings on the opposite side of the street, she climbs up enough just to see the crowds of people walking around in the street below. Can people see her now? Maybe, but only if they're looking, and honestly, who's looking for someone up there?

We exist in a world where the fear of illusion is real
And we cling to the past, we deny, we confuse the ideal
Once inside, we conceive, we believe in a God we can't feel

Catra kills the music mid-song. Time to focus. Even as the noise and bustle of the world comes rushing into the space the earbuds were filling a moment earlier. The cat growls to herself, eyes narrowing as she looks down the scope. Shooting from here will be pushing the rifle's range to the limits, but... Well. Maybe some princesses (or whatever they call them here) will show up to present themselves as targets instead.

You never know.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Takashi Agera has not been at Shibuya Crossing the entire day. He lacks patience of any kind and would have long since been driven somewhat crazy by it. He is, instead, back in his lab, working on some 'adjustments' to the Heartstealer rifles - though obviously not the one currently in Catra's hand.

    There is, however, a sensor near Catra - a small metallic object, maybe one he put there or maybe one she did. Maybe its presence is known to the cat and maybe not. It's a simple thing - it will only sense sudden bursts of magic. Like might occur from a fight - or the shot of a Heartstealer Rifle, since it's not picky about what the type of magic is - more like a smoke alarm than a precision device.

    But when Catra takes a shot, or when someone takes an attack at Catra, Takashi will know - and Shibuya is just a door away for Riventon's presence to be made - he did, after all, want to be around for Catra's next attempt.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She'd done her best to warn the others about the danger present in what is happening tonight. Her 'contact' was putting themselves at risk to offer up a chance to weaken Obsidian and strike a blow for the people trying to make the world a better, safer place. However, her contact wouldn't be alone, and wouldn't make things easy. Expect opposition. Expect violence. She wouldn't be alone, but Adora had no idea who would be working with her.

Adora would focus on her Catra, while the others did what they could to save lives and deal with anyone else she had on her team. Not that nobody could step in to help against the beastgirl if something went wrong, but in the end she made it known that this girl was important to her, and that she would handle her. Destroy the Rifle. Save lives. Kick Obsidian tail.

Shibuya Crossing. Not too far from the park the Equestrian Club spends a weekend of the month, she's fairly familiar with this insanely busy intersection by now. They'd arrived a bit before sundown to begin staking the place out. Catra was a night person. She always complained about early mornings and too-bright light. So, Adora made the call that the attack would happen at dusk or later. She was dressed to blend in (As best a 5'7" 'Bavarian' could). Jeans, a hooded windbreaker (Catra had her hoody, afterall), and a white v-neck shirt under that. The chunky bracelet she was rarely without was secure around her wrist, waiting for the right time.

"Okay. Split up, I guess. I'll head to higher ground to look for her. She always goes for the high ground." Brief, aching memories of sitting above the Fright Zone, Catra leaning against her side as they complained about their day.

"Be safe. We've got this."
And so she headed up the stauirs to the walkways that run higher along the busy, bright buildings, bright blue eyes seeking out the love of her life...so they could beat the daylights out of eachother.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown didn't want to be here. But then, who ever wanted to go and fight a giant murder cat girl to help her gianter sword wielding girlfriend? But, well... there was absolutely no way he was going to just let Adora face this alone. Even if she'd wanted to.

Still, he was tense, tenser than he normally was.

And he was already henshined. Yes, he'd been stopped by at least three people who asked who he was cosplaying as. 'A final fantasy villain' had become his response. Except for one person who asked 'wait, which one? The DLC? Or one of the offshoots?' and he'd only BARELY managed to escape that. DLC, by the way. Offshoots. He had no idea.

These people were weird.

In the end, though, he was intending to serve as support. Keep an eye out for her, make sure she wasn't overwhelmed.

"You should henshin," he told Adora. "The last thing you need is her sneaking up on you. Or worse, you falling off one of these villains when unhenshined if she gets her hands on your sword again."

He wasn't going to comment on how, apparently, common it was for her to just LOSE her sword. Seriously. Super powerful relic... just drop it all the time. That'll end well.

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor V was a known quanity, literally a celebrity with her face plastered on arcade machines an mercandise thank Minako couldn't even claim royalties for without revealing herself, so that particular transformation was out if this was essentially a stakeout.

Thankfully, it wasn't her only option.

One swift disguise in the form of a hoodie pulled up for the weather and obscuring her face she looked like any other teen out and about enjoying the waning hours of the day before inevitably being called home. She'd thought about something more dramatic, her compact offered plenty of opportunities, but for now it was left understated as her identity was shrouded by more mundane means.

Looking positively tiny by the others standards Minako nods and begins to move, silently pondering how much easier things would be if others had communicators like her fellow Senshi.

Catra has posed:
Catra scans the crowd of people below. Does it really matter who she shoots at? Everyone's got a soul, right? Didn't Takashi say something about pure hearts? Maybe. Does it matter all that much? Was she even paying attention in that moment? (Well, yes she was, but it's not like she'd admit to it.)

With a crowd like this it isn't as if she could miss. And sure there'll be a loud bang, but there wasn't any blood last time. Someone will just fall down, there's be a sparkly little rock that nobody will think twice about, and that'll be that.

Oh, except there's Adora. It's not like anyone could possibly miss the nearly six foot tall blonde with that hair poof that adds an extra inch walking through the crowd, and from Catra's vantage point she might as well stand out like a lightbulb. Chrono doesn't take super long to track either, being as how he's already done everything shy of hanging a neon light over his head that says 'hero here'.

The feline has never met Minako before, though. As far as she knows, just looks like the two heroes.

"Far too small of a crowd today, Adora," she sighs to herself. "You're making this too easy. I thought you were supposed to be good at making friends?" She reaches up and flicks off the safety of the rifle, "Let's give you something to do."

Catra notes the directions that Adora and Chrono are going, and then picks a spot deliberately away from that, still just within range of the rifle. She squints, looking down the sights at one person after another; and there, just minding her own business...

There's a loud blast; maybe not all that loud really, in a place like this, but anyone paying attention will certainly have heard a gunshot.

Someone in the crowd falls down.

A little crystal skitters across the ground, coming to rest up against the curb.

Catra watches for a second, then ducks back down behind the screen, packing the rifle in a long duffel bag before she starts making her way down.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Catra's rifle fires, a light on a little circular metallic object flicks on for half a moment, and somewhere in the cavernous, extra-dimensional labs of Obsidian a device lets out a single ping. A tall boy with long hair and green eyes rises from a chair, shrugs off a labcoat and puts it on a hangar. A hand is raised, a small gem on a bracelet becomes a giant gem on the back of a gauntlet, and with a series of at least two distinct kinds of magical runes and Dark Energy gets... another lab coat, naturally, as he walks to a door and turns it the opposite way you'd normally turn a door handle - and exits on the other side from a service door in one of the subways near the crossing.

    Hands in cavernous labcoat pockets he walks up while the mass of people are leaving the area - the kind of discomfort magical people feel when magic is afoot that allows Mahou Shoujo, Youma, and Dark Energy Users to fight in mostly empty city streets.

    Now closer his device can make out the magical residue of one of his own rifle shots and knows what called him here - Catra finally took that shot. He was beginning to wonder if it would ever come. His general lack of anything remotely resembling stealth means it's not UNlikely that the heroes will notice him heading towards the direction of the felled civllian long before Catra. Which might end up to their distinct disadvantage, unless someone perceptive ignores the mad scientist with the face covered by swirling shadows heading directly towards the Pure Heart to keep an eye on the world around them.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"The second I change It'll be like fireworks, Chrono-san. Not until we're face to face, or she'll see me coming a mile away."

Not that it matters. Catra knows her to well, and she just stands out too much in a Japanese city. She begins to scale upwards, climbing stairs, when the shot rings out. She winces and turns, calling back down from the scaffolding she was climbing, hoping one of the other two hear her:

"THE CRYSTAL! IT'LL BE NEAR THE BODY! GRAB IT AND WE CAN SAVE HER AFTER!"

She isn't amazing at making friends, but she IS good at working with a team. She excels at it, actually. Also, she knows from saving Catra's last target how long it takes for someone to actually die from being shot by it, so she makes that call...and then breaks into a sprint up the stairs. The girl is a supreme athlete, and she covers ground so, so fast. Soon enough, she skids to a stop...right behind the screen her cat is hiding behind, facing her in the small maintenance room hidden behind it. Catra had just been heading for the stairs down when Adora ended up at the top of them. The lights of the Crossing glow through the small slats in the walls, filling the small room with enough light for the two to see eachother.

"Okay, wildcat. I'm here."

Catra can see the pained look on her face, though, and her stitches have popped on her tummy, staining the front of her white shirt red. She's seeing stars from the strain and the worried injury, but she knows once she changes the wound will be gone until she changes back. Long enough for her to do this. Long enough for her to help Catra.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown whipped his head around. There it was. The blast. Someone dropping... the masses fading as well. Moving away. And he started to move towards it. Being small had its advantages. Well. Small and a lot stronger than someone his size should be. He could easily squeeze in between the quickly thinning crowd...

However, he then noticed one tall, ominous looking figure moving towards the body and...

It likely wouldn't be long before Riventon found his own way barred. "Riventon," Chrono said, his eyes narrowing on the man. Of course.

And now Riventon's device probably gave a warning. If he didn't stop RIGHT NOW, he'd walk right into a bind.

Their last encounter had resulted in Chrono's success... but... they were both tactical fighters. There was no telling how things might play out this time. He had to alert them.

< Adora, Sailor V, be wary of youma traps. Riventon is here. I'm not sure if there's a third or not, but I should be able to keep him away from the crystal. See if you can get it back into the owner while I keep him focused and keep an eye out for any more reinforcements. > he said through the device's telepathic communications.

Minako Aino has posed:
Secret superhero ringer brought in! Minako knows that sound, knows a little of what the end result looks like...which is good, because most of the guns that had pointed at her in the early days as Sailor V were the bullets and pain sort!

Minako was already running, pushing her way through the crowd as a hoodie-clad bullet that would make a certain stabby videogame franchise proud.

Okay...find the crystal before the bad guys can...then fight badguys.

And someone was talking in her brain...that was new.

Catra has posed:
Catra makes it down from between wall and screen and jumps down onto the top of the stairs, just as Adora gets there. The feline stops where she's standing; a suitable distance between her and Adora, of course.

"Hey Adora." Catra grins. "Knew you'd come." She pulls the bag around in front, unzips it, and then flings it away as she reveals the rifle -- and then holds it one-handed, arm extended, pointing at the blonde.

"You *know* I'm faster than you," she continues, as she takes a half-step to the right, moving towards the railing. Her eyes narrow, reflecting yellow and turquise as she moves into the shadows. "Start transforming and I'll pull the trigger before you can transform, and then we'll see what *your* crystal looks like."

The rifle is spent, of course, it's only got one shot. She's entirely bluffing, as she moves closer to the edge where she can jump off.

Down in the streets, some poor girl is curled up in the crosswalk, in a fetal position on her side as the crossing's population empties out. She already looks pale and shivering.

The crystal sits against the curb, perilously close to a storm drain. It's not hard for Riventon to spot it. Or for Chrono or Minako, for that matter.

Up on the staircase, Catra grins, showing her teeth. "What're you gonna do, Adora? You know you can't save *Everyone*."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon's device does more than just warn him of the trap, though. And Riventon is more than a tactical fighter. He's creative, inventive. And he learns.

    << Meister. Bind ahead. Traps set. Signature Familiar. Deploy Adaptive Countermeasures?>> Riventon's device asks, the black gem on his gauntlet pulsing with a purple light in tune with the words, which were 'spoken' out loud. It didn't seem to worry too much about other people overhearing tactical information - or perhaps was just picky about what it shared.

    "If you please." Riventon replies to his device.

    <<BUSTERKLOAK.>> The device replies as a Belkan triangular runeset erupts beneath him and mana is poured into the spell - a swirling torrent of dark energy, like a wall of thin, smoky wind, in a close sphere around him. Each time the sphere connects with one of Chrono's binds, it attempts to immediately triggers it, rapidly - and to do so in mid air instead of around Riventon. Instead of trying to match Chrono's traps 1-for-1, Riventon's just spending a relatively paltry sum of energy on the cloak - hardly enough to harm anyone who came into contact with him, as the spell is not a weapon - but a very specific, prepared response to his duel with Chrono and the boy's strategy of lacing the field with his binds. Perhaps the TSAB agent will be honored. But probably not as honored as Riventon thinks he should be for this distinction.

    "Oh, and he brought friends. How delightful." Riventon notes sarcastically, wondering where the heck Catra is as the hoodie clad girl is moving swiftly towards the target. Riventon also breaks into a run, and through the thin smoke of the Buster Cloak anyone watching can see him pull a vial out of his pocket, pop the stopper with his thumb, and drink whatever concoction it is inside that looks like it came out of a watercolor painter's rinse glass. For anyone sensitive to Dark Energy, they'll feel its overwhelmingly bad-news presence the moment he first draws the vial out of his pocket.

    It does, however, mean the hoodie-clad girl will get to the crystalized heart before him, albeit not with the time she'd probably like to have to gently return it to its owner...

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Bright blue eyes flit from Catra's smirk to the rifle and back. She takes a step to the side, keeping a bit of pace with Catra as she moves towards the railing. Those words of introduction feel like a finger down her spine, but she tries not to focus on that right now.

"I can't save everyone. That's something I learned when I was fighting the Horde. But I can save some people. Sometimes, that's enough."

The way her gaze holds Catra's own mismatched one makes it clear that the person she is talking about saving is the cat, herself.

While those words are fluttering about in Catra's head, Adora suddenly moves. She doesn't do some flasdhy transformation, because she takes Catra's warning to heart. Thankfully, that's not all she can do.

In a flash of blinding, searing light, the bracelet transforms into a long, looped rope. She whirls it about like a lasso, moving to catch Catra by the wrist. If she manages that she yanks firmly to the side, trying to make her tumble in the room they are fighting in. Either way, whether she tumbles or not, once that lasso is loose, the blonde closes the distance. She bleeds more from the torn stitches on her stomach, and the sensitive nose of the catgirl can smell it. She balls up a fist and tries to catch Catra -right- in the chest. Yes, she knows Catra will fight dirty, so she goes right for sensitive bits!

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown luckily couldn't see Adora's fight right now. Because he'd have opinions. Those opinions would, primarily, be 'Why haven't you henshined yet?!'

Unfortunately, he had to focus on Riventon. They'd already met once and he knew better than to underestimate him. It was why he made only one bind, not even well hidden. It was to see and watch Riventon's reaction...

And, unfortunately, the other mage had learned. Using a small, weak attack, he triggered the trap... more importantly, the spell remained. A lot like his stinger snipes, it seemed.

This was what made the man a dangerous threat. He wasn't a fool. Then again, most peoiple would be dangerous if they weren't fools...

            <Stinger Snipe!>

Three small, blue orb of light appeared and then lanced out in a wild zig-zag route. One of them pierced the whirlwind before all three went flying at Riventon. One coming from behind, the whirlwind piercer from the left and one going towards... the vial. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough. While the orbs were powerful, they were one of his more efficient spells, focused more on re-using the energy. Still, they'd expend a lot more than his smoky wind. More importantly, he hadn't saturated the field with binds yet...

Instead, he was focused on Riventon, interposing himself between him and the crystal, as well as Minako. Trying to buy his ally time.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako was fast, even untransformed. Athletic focuses clearly have their place for the superheroic sorts! Still, those zipping and twisting displays of power and feline fighting mean things are very much kicking off.

The crystal was scooped into her hand, ready to return...but she wasn't going to be caught off-guard and blindsided doing so. Experience was a teacher, and she'd had her butt kicked trying to take a chance at the wrong moment before, so Minako dived back, rolling to her feet with the crystal held close.

She couldn't afford to be taken out while she was holding the victim's hope for recovery, so the hoodie-clad blonde lifts a hand skywards.

<Cresent Power Make Up!>

The explosion of light flares, her form silhouetted as shapes wrap and the outfit takes shape to reveal the pretty guardian 'Sailor V'.

Adora had indeed brought another friend!

Catra has posed:
This is the moment where Catra would shoot -- if there were another round in the rifle. Which there isn't. Also, if she could, deep down in her subconscious, stomach the thought of shooting Adora -- and in the feline's current state of mind, the jury is out on that.

But Catra wasn't expecting Adora to just stand there (when has she ever done that? She can't even sit still when she's asleep). The rope was different though.

Catra holds the rifle away from Adora's lasso, letting her wrist get it instead and shrieking as she's yanked through the air. She lands as only a cat can, and stands up just in time to receive a solid punch to the chest. Anyone else might've had the wind knocked out of them by the likes of Adora, but Catra was expecting it, and lets the force of the punch knock her into a crouch. She takes a half second to slip the rifle to her back and let it hang by the sling, then shifts to grip the lasso that's wrapped around her wrist.

"Let's take this outside," she drawls, before giving a hard yank on the lasso; as she pulls, she lines up to push off from the floor and bring her foot straight up, levelling the strongest kick she can manage into Adora's abdomen, right where she's bleeding.

Wether that connects or not, she turns to leap back out the window, aiming to haul Adora along with her by means of the lasso.

Outside, Minako has the crystal; the all important crystal, which is going to determine wether someone lives or dies. That person isn't far from where Riventon and Chrono are fighting, and where people are still clearing out of the crossing, she's still lieing on her side, shivering and gasping as her life rapidly ticks away.

Is the crystal warm to the touch? Possibly. Must be weird holding someone's soul in your hands, though.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora screams as that foot connects with her stomach and splits her fresh stitches, and she almost blacks out. But then she is being yanked through the air. She is falling. Air whips at her windbreaker as she plummets towards the asphalt below. She is still conscious enough, though. Through bloody teeth the teen growls the words of power.

"...For the Honor of Greyskull..."

The rope is gone. Adora is gone. When they land on the sidewalk, rainbow colored steam rises from her unwounded body, and She-Ra, the Princess of Power, climbs from her crouch to stand above the catgirl. She levels the enormous blade at her, looking like a normal-sized sword at her stature.

"Alright, Applesauce. You've been wanting a go at She-Ra since you got here, right? So let's go."

Now she is faster. Now she is stronger. Now she throws tanks like they weighed nothing. She leaps towards Catra and swings the Sword in a wide arc, not pulling back from nicks or light damage, but certainly not going for a killing blow. She'd never do that, no matter what. Still, even holding back, she is a devastating foe. An Armada Destroying Foe, in fact...though this Catra was never there for that. Swooshes of her blade, this way and that, her red cape fluttering behind her and her long, silken hair whipping this way and that, she puts herself out there, giving Catra the fight that at least part of her has been hoping for.

Takashi Agera has posed:
Riventon had to stop trying to go after the girl in the hoodie because of shielding the small attacks from Chrono - triangular Belkan shields that he interposes between each little dart - but Chrono will notice he's learned to manage how much magic to put into those shields instead of assuming Chrono's blasts are always high power. But it does pull his attention and when he turned back around, the girl in the hoodie was Sailor V - and she has the crystal. "Well, I should be so honored. A real life action hero." he says. "Between you and the Interdimensional Space Agent here I'm starting to feel slightly like a celebrity myself, really." Riventon says. But his eyes go, for just a moment, to that girl. Wondering why Catra chose her. But, someone has to be the target, right? Still, it's one thing to do your work in a lab, or even watch someone take a shot from a car and observe. But he's much closer this time, and the girl seems so much more visibly affected than the older gentleman was. Sometimes seeing the fruits of one's labors up close was less than happy, when you built weapons.

    And then whatever the substance was he just drank kicks in, and instead of his empathy for the girl, he instead leans into the anger he feels at the two trying to stop him.

    As Adora henshins not too far away (and Riventon can feel the magic detonated in that act through his Device) - Riventon flares with dark energy. "Even still, how dare the two of you get in my way?!" he demands as though this is a rational question to ask anyone ever.

    <<SCHATTENSCHLAG>> (Shadow Strike) Riventon's device calls out along with Riventon himself, as his shadow-flaring hands fires a thick burst of dark energy at Chrono. It's not a trick, or anything fancy, it's just him dumping Dark Energy in a conical blast at the shorter boy. "Power is the only real authority!"

    <<SCHATTENSCHLAG>> the device calls out again as a second blast heads for Sailor V. "And don't you have a toy to go autograph or something, hero?! You think you can come close to my level?!" he asks as the same angry cone of Dark Energy pulses forward at Sailor V. "Better back down before I take your mask as a trophy to show my colleagues, girl. Give me the Pure Heart."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown flashed a small smile to Riventon. "Well, you may not be as, physically, dangerous as some of the threats in this world, you're still quite a credible one. Your... unique device is a testament of just how dangerous you are." Of course, the midchildian would highly estimate the device user. TSAB agent gonna TSAB.

However, his sensors brought up an alert. A high concentration of dark energy? Oh brother...

< Careful, I don't know what he just did, but his magic levels are rising. He-- >

But before he could finish that thought, suddenly a shadow blast came at his face. He held out his left hand and a round midchildian circle appeared, a shield forming between him and the blast. He was sent skidding back along the ground, the shield holding but cracks forming along it. Having weathered the assault, however, he realized... he'd need to be a bit more forward now. Draw his focus OFF Sailor V.

He dashed forward, lifting his staff up and--

            <Impact Cannon!>

Not going for break impulse, instead unleashing a quick, short range bombardment spell. In this case, the equivalent of a cannonball launched in Riventon's face. It would likely need more than a little shield...

But it also put him closer to the other mage than he liked. He didn't detect any of the other man's traps, yet, but this change in style and the amplification of dark energy had him more than a little worried. He needed V to get the soul back in, fast, because he wasn't sure how long he could keep Riventon back with all these new variables entering the fray.

Minako Aino has posed:
"You'd not be the first villain to underestimate a Senshi," Sailor V, offers as she leaps high, drawing fire...but drawing it away from the still form of the collapsed innocent while the remaining civillians in the area scatter. It was a little hard to ignore the fight when giant women in capes, technosorcerers and Sailor V herself were throwing attacks around in the middle of the square. She just needed a moment, a moment longer, to get the crystal back to the girl, but there was plenty of focus on her. Perhaps they need to deal with Riventon first, or force him to retreat.

A flash of motion as she spun through the air, her glowing aura seemed to take shape of an intricate interlinked chain of energy that lashed out towards Riventon.

"I'm more than enough to defeat you," she calls back before a quick pivot sends the 'Love me chain' zipping to try and bind Riventon down, "but I don't need to be, when I'm not alone!"

Catra has posed:
Catra will never beat She-Ra head on.

Which is why Catra doesn't *fight* She-Ra head on. The feline jumps backwards, sumersaulting through the air and bouncing on her hands off the pavement to land in a crouch further back, just out of range of the swiping sword. It might appear to be a retreat, but it isn't one; just someone having enough since not to get sliced up with a sword. The feline looks over her should, quickly gauging how Rinton is doing, before casting her gaze back to She-Ra.

"Been a long time," she muses, taking a step back again and manouvering to her left, edging a slow circle around She-Ra. "Well. Not that long, really. Feels like only yesterday I dragged you all the way from the Crimson Wastes back to the Fright Zone and we opened up a portal." She barks a laugh, "I wonder how Entrapta's doing? Probably on Beast Island getting eaten by something."

Catra edges closer to a lamppost, of all things; and then she turns and whirls, slashing her claws in a wide arc to sever the bast of it. She catches it and swings, letting it go horizontal; at first it might seem like she's attacking She-Ra, but if she is she hasn't nearly gauged it correctly, and she's a couple of feet short, even with a lamppost.

But then she just keeps going, keeping the momentum until she releases it. "Heads up!" she yells, as she hurls it right at Chrono. From behind, no less. Jerk move.

As the lamppost leaves her hands, Catra turns back to She-Ra, keeping the motion from throwing that large object and dashing to the side, rushing on all fours back to the wall of the building and digging her claws in, ascending the wall rapidly to get up above her opponent. "Remember, Adora!" she shouts. "You can't save *everyone*! Who're you going to lose today?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Entrapta falls in love with Hordak, and Hordak betrays his superiors in the end," She-Ra replies softly. "For her. Shadowweaver sacrifices herself to stop Hordak's creator, too."

She watches the problems be flung Chrono's way, but she trusts him to hold his own. No, these aren't civilians caught in the crossfire, these are other warriors. She keeps her focus on Catra and keeps talking.

"You are taken by Hordak's creator. Turns out he's a clone desperate for his originator's approval."

She swings her blade, and an eruption oif magical energy bursts forth, smashing into the wall above Catra's ascent, sending rubble tumbling her way and blocking her climb.

"You betray Horde Prime and release his prisoners. You beg me not to come save you, but I do. He brainwashes you, using science to wipe your thoughts and take you over, but in the end you're too damn stubborn, and he kills you."

Another swing, this one tearing up asphalt and cement, sending another explosion to channel Catra's movements.

"I pull you back, and I bring you back. You never end up going back after that. In the end, you save -my- life. Together we tear the villains from the sky and save, not just Etheria, but the galaxy."

She keeps her eyes focused on Catra as she calmly tells her the future, swinging this way and that, calling out over the shattering walls and ground.

"Do you know the best part, wildcat? Nobody hates you in the end. Because you're loved and your worthy of loving."

Takashi Agera has posed:
The anger focuses, rather than clouds, Riventon's thoughts. They don't make him any less smarter, they don't turn him into barbrian or an animal - but they fester within, dark energy bringing out the worst aspects of him as it so often does for those who indulge in it. For Riventon, that is a lot of aspects, but it's also a particular viciousness that matches his rage - and a carelessness to score points.

    He doesn't shield Chrono's blast at all. The Impact Cannon energy pulse slams into Riventon, a slight dodge meaning it just slams into his shoulder with a brutal sound, but Riventon just keeps going. It's not that it doesn't hurt. It does. He just wants to hurt Chrono back more than he wants to focus on his own injury. His pride is much, much louder than his pain.

    And not shielding it, not rolling with the blow, not even pausing to think about his own safety makes lets him get to Chrono much quicker, much faster than he would otherwise - snarling out in a wordless mixture of pain and fury, Riventon's eyes flare red as he brings both hands down towards Chrono in a slashing motion, Dark Energy flooding off his fingers like an ink brush trail left in the air - the fact that his shoulder appears to be dislocated seems to have been filed under 'mild inconvenience' for now. Something he'll probably regret later, when the rage and Dark Energy overflow is gone and only the pain remains.

    Catra's on the attack for Chrono now too, and that's good because that's when Sailor V's chain lashes out towards him and Riventon reflexively outstretches an arm to block it before it can ensare his whole body - with his now bad arm, meaning he can't effectively tug of war against Sailor V with that hand when the chain wraps around it tightly. Before he can regret not blocking Chrono's attack sooner rather than later, he draws up his other hand and blasts Sailor V again, his device sounding like Riventon's just playing a track on repeat - another Shadow Strike, only this time the chain has given him a pretty good targeting line back to Sailor V. "You can't save everyone either!" Riventon calls, to the blonde. "You won't walk the paths I will. You won't go as far as I can. You won't do what I will do. You won't take the risks I will. And so you'll never, ever have the power I have." The same power that's causing him to try to fight full tilt with a dislocated shoulder, a wrenched arm, and a ragged breath as whatever he's doing pushes some part of him beyond what he should, even so early in the engagement. Truly the sign of a rational mind. The same power that's causing him to ignore the pain, the blood from some wound, either the chain or the Impact Cannon or both, dripping from that same arm.

    "Alright, I have to ask, what's it like to witness someone dreaming up fanfic of you in real time, Catra?" he adds, the derision in his voice. "'Cause it's positively repulsive from my perspective."

    <<OUR OPPONENTS: ONLY OPTIONS: RETREAT OR DIE.>> Riventon's device ever so helpfully and humbly adds to the invective.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had only a second to realize that Riventon *wasn't stopping*. He took the hit and *kept coming*. Once again, Chrono was able to show the specialty of a storage device over using an AI. In that split second he was able to make a bind, before holding up a shield.

The bind went off and only delayed the assault by a second, maybe less. But it was enough time to bring up a barrier.

The blades slashing down, however, were far, far more powerful than he wanted. He poured his mana into the device, struggling to keep the barrier up!

If he didn't wear metal gauntlets, they'd have been destroyed. But, again, THIS WAS WHY! Even so, the shield was cracking and breaking under the assault and his barrier jacket was getting small slashes across it. No no no no. He couldn't stop, though. He was pushed back, against the ground an inch at a time, and--

It was then that Chrono was able to demonstrate the WEAKNESSES of a storage device.

*BONK!*

The telephone pole hit him in the back. While he was alerted due to his scans, he wasn't able to divert any energy away from this assault. An AI to cast a shield at his back would have been INCREDIBLY USEFUL THERE!

Instead, the barrier finally crumbled and--

Rather than being torn apart, Riventon's focus was diverted to Sailor V. Way to go girl. He was bought only a few seconds to get out of there.

            <Stinger Move!>

In a flurry of blue magic, he took off like a bolt, moving about fifteen feet away... Then dropping to the ground, rolling a bit. Okay. Ow. < She-ra... please... control your ex... ow. > He uhhh... he was starting to do his litter the battlefield with little binds and traps. Cause he was going to need a moment. Because while magic meant it didn't just knock him out and Sailor V's attack meant he didn't get absolutely mauled in the opening...

A telephone pole to the back STILL HURT!

Minako Aino has posed:
The chain -did- allow a pretty clear targeting line towards Sailor V, something that she'd found out the hard way before....but it did also offer the means to -keep- it on her. Her body twists and her leg kicks up before stomping down on the chain, yanking the chain sharply towards the ground and hopefully throwing off the aim if she can't manage to throw Riventon down to the ground. It wasn't without a backlash however, it slowed her down, it put her in the firing line and sure enough as the blast impacted against her partially, as the 'cloud' of shattered asphalt clear and her form was slightly scorched, dirtied and scratched up.

But she was still fighting.

"Won't I?" V questions as she surges forwards suddenly, a flash of energy about the only warming offered before she uses the chain to try and keep him immobile before lifting her hand already glowing bright with energy. "I've already died for what I believe in before."

He could ponder that, or he could ponder the hand being lifted to extend a digit...first aimed at his face, but then instead directed towards the device that had been blasting at her. "Cresent Beam!"

Sailor Moon was the leader of the Moon Kingdom, but Sailor V was the veteran heroine who'd stood alone and she was willing to get a lot more rough than-

-Screeeeeeching mental turn!-

"EX?!"

Okay, maybe the professional, unshakeable heroine image wasn't quite so flawless. She -was- still a teenager beneath the superfuku!

Catra has posed:
"STOP. TALKING!" Catra's upward movement is arrested by She-Ra's magic, and she hangs on to the wall where she is, showered in the face by bits of debris as she snarls down at the tall blonde. "I'm NONE of those things! You're not going to trick me into switching sides with all that! I'M NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND AND I NEVER WILL BE!" she screams, "I *HATE* YOU!"

For the moment, Catra's lost sight of the rest of the battle; Riventon seemed to be doing fine last time she checked (and she threw a lamppost at Chrono). Riventon's question goes unanswered, at least directly, but maybe Catra's outburst has settled the matter. That, or the teardrops in the corners of Catra's eyes -- but that's just from the grit and dust in the air.

Catra's face contorts as she snarls, and she pushes off from the wall, summersaulting in the air as she sails back down towards She-Ra; she balls up a fist and swings it as she comes out of the tumble, aiming for a hard hit across She-Ra's cheek; but more, she's seeking to hang on, and get on the heroine's back. It's a position she's been in before, and last time it ended with her getting sandwiched between oversized hero and a cliff, but Catra's sense of self-preservation doesn't really seem to be operating at full capacity.

"You left me!" she snarls, "And then you keep claiming to be my friend afterwards! That's not how it works!" Wherever she's ended up, be it the hero's back or the sidewalks, it's claws out in a wide, vicious slash.

"You still haven't told me," she adds, panting, "Who are you going to lose, today?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
<She is NOT my ex! We're together! ...Sort of!>, Adora tries to defend herself, but it's really difficult when nobody has lived the future she has. Not even Catra. ESPECIALLY not Catra. And now it's being called fanfiction by some evil nerd in a labcoat! If she was over there her jock instincts would be kicking in and she'd be doing what she could do give Riventon a wedgie. But she's kind of focused on Catra. Plus he likely has anti-wedgie spells like the jerk he is. He's SO on her list. Yes, Adora has a LIST now.

She's briefly distracted by the mental conversation, and Catra's words hit harder then the punch she delivers to her cheek. She barely flinches, though. But then the wildcat is clinging to her back and the claws are digging into her armored clothing. She flails and reaches back at her with her free hand, trying to grab at her.

"I didn't leave you! I asked you to join me AGAIN AND AGAIN! You CHOSE to be left because you couldn't accept that things were BETTER in the Rebellion! You couldn't believe there were people who looked out for eachother! But there are!"

She leaps up into the air and then comes down...hard...attempting to slam the cat right back onto the asphalt, smooshed under her much, much heavier bodyweight. She rolls after that, whether that works or not, and tries to climb back to her feet.

"I told you before, Wildcat! I didn't come from the same time you did! I came here from years after. I SAW. Don't listen to that idiot over there. He's Shadowweaver all over again! You're BETTER then that!"

The blade arcs out, but this time she isn't aiming at Catra. At first the blade looks like it is, but hoping the words distract her (As much as she actually means them), the blade reangles at the very last second...to try and cut the rifle across her back in half.

"Nobody dies today," she states adamantly in reply. "We don't always have to lose someone, Applesauce."

Takashi Agera has posed:
Chrono eats a telephone pole courtesy of his ally/teammate/compatriot/co-belligerent. That's satisfying to hear, even if his focus is on Sailor V at the time - and normally he would probably be better able to deal with her tugging on the chain like that, and she's not the only who feels their body introduced to the ground forcibly. He's getting up as he talks back to her. "If you've died once why are you so eager to repeat the feat by standing in my way?" he questions. "Is dying becoming a hobby for you?" He's not sure he buys her coming back from the dead - he's not quite that aware of the extent of magical girl power yet, but certainly some members in Obsidian are chasing such power, or chasing power for such purposes. But then she's directing her chain and shooting, and Riventon protects his device - as best he can while being so contorted by the chain - and that means he turns his back to Sailor V - taking the crescent beam hard. It is, probably, notable to Chrono (if he can see it) that Riventon guarded his device but didn't put up a barrier.

    "I don't know what Shadowweaver is but if he's saying what I am, he's probably right, since you've been pretty categorically wrong about everything." Riventon replies. He doesn't know who Shadow Weaver is or what their connection to anything is.

    Somewhere in Riventon's mind gears are turning, watching Sailor V use that chain - it mirrors some thoughts he's been having on his own about weaponry - and the back of his Barrrier Jacket-labcoat reveals the flesh injured below from the crescent beam, and he's still getting back to his feet anyways. Sailor V and Chrono are both veterans and can probably tell that he's more wounded than he appears when he attacks - that he's pushing himself (Or something else is pushing him) past a limit he should have stopped at but hasn't yet. Riventon knows it too, somewhere in those turning gears, and knows he's going to have to do something different, change the dynamic of this fight at least a little bit.

    And how does the arguably half-youma scientist try to do that? The way a lot of Dark Energy creatures do. Chrono has an obnoxious amount of binds and he's already attached to Sailor V by that chain (and somewhere in his mind he remembers she was the last one to have the crystal, the actual point of all of this, beyond his prideful hunger for victory) so he turns to her and rushes over to her rapidly. No spells. No magic. Nothing fancy about it other than Dark Energy mixed with just being angry boosting his speed.

    But the time is ticking away as his hands reach out for her. Energy. He needs energy. He needs energy to spend energy to heal, to keep going, to keep fighting. And the less energy she has, the better. So, it's Youma's Greatest Hits time. Steal her energy. She's just gonna keep spending it shooting him with crescent beams and contorting that chain, anyways. All he's trying to do now is connect with her - ideally her uncovered upper arms but grasping for any contact he can get to try to feed the hunger for energy. This does, however, mean he's moving away from Chrono, and not attacking him.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown just sighed. < She-ra, if she was your girlfriend but isn't now, she's your ex. and unless you're dating her and condoning her throwing light poles at my head, at which point I'd really like to re-evaluate our friendship, she's your violent ex. >

A few moments of... well... time, allow him to re-evaluate the situation.

Situation: Mildly concussed, aching all over and annoyed at one of his teammates. All in all, not so bad.

Of course, then Riventon decided to turn his back on Chrono and he smiled. Maybe... he'd been going about this all wrong. Riventon was willing to take himself down to pieces to get them. But was Catra?

< Sailor V, try to keep your distance. I've got an idea. >

He tapped the ground, two binds appearing, visually, in front of Riventon. He didn't think they'd stop him, but he suspected they might buy some time.

And then he glanced towards Catra... She didn't have a device. But she'd been around magic a while. Maybe she'd realize that there was magic now being woven around her, little traps forming ahead of her, waiting to spring the second she stepped on them and tie her up like a gift for Adora.

... Yes, maybe he was a little annoyed for the telepohone pole. But if Riventon had to go defend his friend, he'd have to give V space to deal with the soul. They had the numbers advantage here, time to put it to use.

Minako Aino has posed:
She'd hit Riventon hard, she'd finally created her window, the timing was perfect!

Venus actually released the chain and made to leap while her foe was off-balance to try and finally restore the crystal, she'd ask the whirling mess of questions about relationship status' later...

And it seems she hadn't quite managed to slip the focus, since it seemed Riventon had focused on -her- and recovered a lot quicker than she'd thought.

If it weren't for Chrono's warning? He'd probably have caught her in that moment of the trap closing. Truely, the fact the actually had the 'villains' outnumbered for once really made a difference.

Springing backwards, once, twice before tucking into a somersault and then dropping down near the victim. Did she stop to use the crystal? Not quite. Plan B: she rolls into the motion and slings the victim over her shoulders in a fireman's carry. Maybe it was time to move the 'problem' and solve it elsewhere!

Catra has posed:
Catra know all about binds. Maybe not by that name specifically, but she's been immobilized as a child enough times by Shadow Weaver's magic to know what that's all about. Right now though, she's focused rather heavily on grappling with She-Ra, who's busy doing more or less what Catra expected and accepted.

The feline finds herself half-dazed as she's flattened between heroine and concrete, winded as the air is knocked from her lungs, which steals away anything she might've been about to say. Her digs her claws into She-Ra's shoulders, more on reflex than any particular malice, but it takes a moment for her to start digging herself out, by which time Adora has already rolled off.

"You're lieing," she gasps, "Everyone... always betrays me. Everyone always leaves." She sees what's coming, and her first move is to protect the rifle. She tugs on the sling, pulling it around in front of her, and turning her back to She-Ra to protect it.

She takes the sword strike, and receives a deep gash from left shoulder to right hip, a visible line of crimson across her back. She'd moved quickly to retreat, and it's not a fatal blow, but it's certainly not looking good. She cries out and stumbles forwards, ending up on all fours, now with tears in her eyes for a completely different reason.

And that puts her right into Chrono's binds, which shackle her wrists to the ground. She screams, a bestial snarl of rage and frustration as she pulls against the magic around her. "NOW who's like Shadow Weaver?!" She spits; the binds won't hold Catra for long, but they will for a few seconds at least. And against She-Ra...

A few seconds is a long, long time.

Takashi Agera has posed:
There was almost no benefit given to Chrono from the binds he threw Riventon's way - because promptly upon manifesting them near him, Riventon's device blared to life on its own. <<BUSTERKLOAK.>> the call came again, and it probably occured to Chrono that his device hadn't been defending Riventon against attacks - he'd been doing that all manually. Because Riventon's device was soley focused on denying Chrono his tactical advantage, to the point where Riventon had taken hit after hit stubbornly refusing to shift his device's priority. And if it had been anybody with a lesser combination of experience, skill, and raw athleticism, the tiny amount of time Chrono's binds bought Sailor V - mostly from Riventon partially hesitating, more than anything else - wouldn't have been enough.

    But the combination of his distracting and her prowess was enough that Riventon's fingertips just grazed the back of Sailor V's rear bow, but not enough to get a grip and pull her back. Riventon, on the other hand, was not particularly athletic once you got past all of the Dark Energy Cheat Codes, and threw a lot of himself into the attempt, so he stumbled forward upon not connecting with anything more than the tip of fabric. Which means no energy for Riventon. Which is totally Chrono's fault. Also getting shot in the back because he was keeping Axion on 'don't eat a bind spell' duty was Chrono's fault. Also the rising pain in his arm was Chrono's fault.

    So yes, Riventon wants the crystal, he wants the mission objective. Somewhere. But Dark Energy is not the best thing for proper decision making... so instead he growls and rushes for Chrono instead of following Sailor V and the poor unfortunate girl.

    To hell with the crystal and the cat, though. Riventon wants revenge, payback. "I'm going to steal all of your energy and then beat your helpless body until your ally there can put what's left of you in a knapsack!" Riventon growls - he's free of Sailor V's chain, he's on his last legs, he's furious, he's moving incredibly fast because he's both throwing caution to the wind and enhancing it by burning off the last of his energy, dark energy flowing out behind him as he moves. "There won't be enough left of you to IDENTIFY." Riventon threatens as he tries to do the same thing he did to Sailor V - to grasp and steal Chrono's energy. But he's burning energy to get to Chrono, he's not trying to win the whole greater fight anymore, he's just trying to avenge his pains and annoyance. His Device can only assist him by continuing to deny Chrono the tactical advantage of his binds and locks - Riventon is too far gone to listen to anyone's advice, even his own Device. And he's certainly not stepping in to help Catra, when he can't even help himself.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"NO!," she cries as the blade leaves ruin across Catra's back. That isn't what she wanted. That isn't what she ever wanted. She falters when that happens, blue eyes wide and her jaw dropped. She watched the girl stumble and cry and scream, before those magical binds wrap her in place.

She hears the girl's words and they're like a dagger, but she knows what she has to do. It's what Catra herself asked to happen. She rushes forward and uses the tip of the blade to try and catch the rifle's harness, launching the rifle up into the air. Then, it's a simple swipe of magical metal, and the blonde tries to cut the rifle in twain.

Assuming she manages her mission, she looks back down to Catra. She moves to kneel immediatly, reaching out to try and help her, to unbind her. "I...I wasn't trying to hurt you! I'm sorry, please!" Her shoulders are bleeding now, and when she eventually shifts back to Adora she'll have to deal with her torn stitches. Right now the only thing she can see is her sobbing, screaming wildcat.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had won! Winning was looking painful! He saw that train of anger and rage barreling down on him. But it wasn't barreling down on Sailor V. And you know what?

Now he understood. The advantage... of an intelligent device was having an ally to watch your back. His binds were not going to work well here.

But Riventon's device wasn't an issue then. And... Riventon was striking blindly. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw She-ra get the gun. Good. That left V to get the crystal...

Objectives secured. Seconds. He could buy the time needed.

He stepped back, once more using that split second his device afforded him to cast one spell.

            <Stinger Snipe!>

This time, five little blue orbs. They zoomed around, though. Not going at Riventon...

Until one broke off, going for his right leg! If he could pop them with his shields, good. But they weren't intending to take him down or slow him down. Instead, just slowing him down. One by one, the orbs rotating to whirl around him, to try and go for the legs and give small, glancing, stability hurting strikes.

Meanwhile, Chrono stepped back, holding up his left arm in a shield. "D-dang it!" he said. Was he thrown off? Actually... no. But he looked like it. Each shield he made crumbled, the blows shattering them. Moving back, back, back, being driven back, each time Riventon getting closer... closer... driving him towards a wall!

And then he hit the wall and--

He stopped making 'light' barriers. Instead, he held out both hands, forming a great barrier in front of him, made of multiple layers. Focusing entirely on defense. "You know, Riventan? You're a far more dangerous threat without whatever that was you took. Your mind is your greatest asset, I'm sure your device would agree. Power... isn't everything."

Sure, the shield may crack... and his jacket may be cut...

But his goal, buying time? Rescuing the civilian? Goal achieved. And so long as he could hold out against this assault, he'd be a good anvil for V's hammer.

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor V...she was gone, or at least it seemed so. She had to have faith, she had to trust the other two could take care of themselves and that they could trust her to save the civillian.

Now...healing was generally Sailor Moon's thing, but well, she'd at least been told -roughly- how to do this.

The crystal held carefully, offered to the unconcious form of the other girl...and gently setting about the task to revive her.

She might be doing her job, but for now she was absent, out of sight and unable to offer any aid.

Catra has posed:
The rifle is broken.

Catra doesn't even register it.

The feline is on her hands and knees, eyes wide and blinded by pain. Physicaly pain, in this case, instead of the usual emotional pain; but she's so adept at hiding pain now that it's basially second nature. And she hides it the way she always has.

"Don't say that," she snarls, as she wrenches her wrists free of the binds, one after the other, throwing off She-Ra's help. "Didn't mean it? Don't swing a SWORD if you don't MEAN IT."

Catra lashes out wildly with her clas before jumping back, doing a summersault in the air, and then... landing quite badly. It's hard to do your usual acrobatics with a wound of that magnitude. But still, Catra stands up, and raises her hands. Even with how profusely she's bleeding, she still wants to fight.

Sailor V has escaped, with the victim of Catra's shot, too. So she'll survive and Riventon won't get his crystal.

Whatever. Like she cares. She wipes the back of her hand across her lower lip, and hisses, baring her teeth at She-Ra.

"You should finish it," she snarls. "You know you're lucky this time. Next time you might not be. Or the time after. Sooner or later someone's going to die and it'll be all your fault, 'cause you were too weak to do what you *should* do."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon - or the currently nearly a youma formerly known as Riventon - smashes aside Chrono's light barriers like they were made of tissue paper. Chrono makes a barrier, Riventon smashes it, and the dance continues until Chrono gets his back to that wall and gets serious. And mouths off.

    And maybe it's a slight underestimation by Chrono, or maybe it's just the words he says, or a spate of bad luck - But Riventon's dark-energy covered hands smash against Chrono's barriers, and eventually he reaches through as they grack and grabs Chrono by the shirt while the other barriers wither away. He's got him, his other hand grips Chrono's neck - and Riventon starts to pull the energy from the other Device user.

    For a few moments, long enough for Chrono to feel a little tired (or, more tired than is normal for Chrono). But Riventon isn't truly a youma, he's also a teenage boy, with a human body - and his human body checked out of all of this a few minutes and injuries ago already. Whatever concotion he's imbibed can only push him past his mortal limits for so long, and that time is up.

    Without warning, or even a final insult - Riventon just passes out. In the middle of the drain, in the middle of starting to get his payback, the scientist's body just nopes out and he might as well be a rag doll for how suddenly and completely he slumps.

    Before Riventon's henshin can pop - thanks to Axion insisting on holding it together - a small robotic-like entity appears in a Dark Energy sphere above Riventon's unconscious left shoulder, and both Riventon and the tiny bot duskport away before his identity can be revealed.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown stared, wide eyed, when Riventon pushed through the barrier. Even using all of his focus on the defense... Well... there was a lot to be said about excessive firepower. And right now he had it in spades.

And he couldn't stop it. No no no. It was too much. Too. Much. He couldn't--

Then... he was grabbed. He gurked, trying to come up with a counter... only... for the draining to stop.

He had a split second to realize... he was... unconscious? He'd passed out?

*Finish him.*

Chrono's instincts screamed at him to do this. And he was already on the way to doing that, almost selecting the spell... only... to stop.

His mind went to Catra. The girl was... intelligent. If a cat. And She-ra cared for her. Even if she was on the bad guy side.

Did... Riventon have someone like that? A person... waiting for him? Watching him?

He wasn't an unthinking monster. He was a person. A criminal, certainly. And he was prime candidate...

... But this wasn't TSAB space. And maybe it was She-ra and Catra's relationship. Or maybe it was Rashmi making him soft. Maybe it was the fact... he was just... not as tense anymore. Maybe because he was less worried about the crew.

But instead of blades descending on him while he was vulnerable... Instead Chrono reached out and pushed the man back, off of him and used a shield to catch him. Only for a moment later, the robot to appear. He didn't even try to destroy it. Instead, in that split second, he sends a message to Axiom.

< Tell your master next time we fight, I'd like to fight him. Not something piloting his body. >

Then... he was gone.

... And Chrono fell to his knees, panting. Holy. Crud. He hadn't used that much magic in ages. What kind of... what WAS that that the bastard had used to power himself up?

< Riventon has retreated. Has your girlfriend? > Oh, and he sent that to everyone... including Catra. 'The fight was over, pull back, don't make this fight go on any longer'.

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor V would return, a flare of light and a rush of motion as she touched down...but Riventon was already gone, the dust was almost settled and the innocents were safe. This was the point where heroes could fight their hardest. Y'know, if they hadn't already been doing that.

Instead there was a little touch of a white gloved hand to Chrono's shoulder as he was slumped, a little squeeze of thanks before she turns her attention towards the direction of Adora and Catra's exchange.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Stop trying to hurt people, or trying to kill me, and I'll stop swinging a sword," She-Ra replies as she watches Catra raise her fists and waver. She stands there silently for a moment, before she glances down to watch Catra's blood catch the neon lights of Shinjuku Crossing. It makes her sick to her stomach.

She turns her attention back to the girl, and she sighs heavily. "Finish it? Catra, this won't be over until you've turned your back on all that and you're here, with me, where you belong. Where I know you want to be. Until then I won't stop...stopping you. I won't stop talking. I won't stop pleading. Because I KNOW. And one day I'll get it through that pretty, stubborn head of yours."

She's tired. She's bone tired. But the civilian is saved and the Rifle is destroyed. It all went according to what Catra wanted. She can't call her out for doing the right thing, though. Not in front of that labcoat wearing monster. "Sparing someone isn't weakness. Loving someone isn't weakness. They're the opposite. Obsidian is nothing but angry, damaged people who refuse to let themselves heal. You're better then that. Stronger then that. You just don't know it yet."

She sounds so exhausted, but Catra knows that She-Ra doesn't get tired. Not physically, anyways. She glances aside to watch Riventon vanish. Only then does she turn back and takes a step away from the girl.

"When you're ready to talk...I'll meet you where you told me about the girl. Even if it's just for you to tell me to go away, even though you know I won't listen. Please...get that wound looked at, wildcat..." She backs away, then, slowly. Putting foot after foot between her and the beastgirl, until she's beside Chrono.

She winces at the question about Catra, but ignores it. "We need to go home," she says, trying to pull the smaller boy to his feet. Well, much smaller boy in this case. If Chrono is too tired and hurt she'll straight-up lift him by the back of his jacket and toss him over her bloodied shoulder. She looks to Sailor V, then. "Oh, hey. I've totally seen you on a game at the arcade, haven't I?" Distracted as she'd been, this is honestly the first time she'd gotten a good look at her. "Let's get out of here," she says softly.

She turns to look back at Catra, and she hesitates before she turns, trying her best to leave before the situation gets even worse.

Catra has posed:
"You don't know me," Catra gasps. And she's still got her fists up; ears flat, tail lashing behind her.

But the rifle is broken, and the crystal has been returned to its 'owner'. Riventon is gone, and she's bleeding profusely. Outnumbered and broken, she has to concede that there isn't anything much here that's worth fighting over. "You'll regret... turning your back on me," she gasps, "Someday, you'll regret it."

Maybe Catra will regret it to.

Maybe she already does.

Catra turns and puts one foot before the other as she half stumbles through the front door of the building nearest her, leaving a trail of blood on the ground behind her. She walks past the front reception staff, and hisses at them for good measure; she keeps going until she finds a door with a handle, remembering what Majorina told her, the first day she was here. She grabs the handle and turns it the opposite way, stumbling through the door and letting it swing shut behind her, as she staggers onto the floor somewhere in Obsidian Tower and collapses. For a moment, she just lays there.

She's still bleeding. And it's still pretty bad, but she'll get help when she's good and ready. For the moment though, she just wants to shut everything out again; so she fishes about in her pockets, and puts the earbuds back in her ears, thumbing on some Nine Inch Nails.

Tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping away
Tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping away
Tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping away
Tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping

Laying on her side, Catra curls up in a ball, tucking her legs up against her chest and ignoring the searing complaint from her back. She pulls her mask off and tosses it aside as the tears well up and stream down her face. She lays there, quietly weeping.

Talking to myself all the way to the station
Pictures in my head of the final destination
All lined up, all the ones that aren't allowed to stay
Tried to save myself but myself keeps slipping away