889/Soryuu Shrine: Silver Crystal

Soryuu Shrine: Silver Crystal
Date of Scene:	15 December 2023
Location:	The Forgotten District
Synopsis:	The final shrine is assaulted. Secrets and hearts are laid bare. Does Midnight Tokyo end here? Does the door to Yomi open? Will the Moon Princess emerge? Who will live and who will die? The culmination of many intertwined fates, connect together to form a Bridge of Many Dreams.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Usagi Tsukino, Makoto Kino, Hannah Steiner, Rei Hino, Haruka Tenoh, Naru Osaka, Ami Mizuno, Kyouka Inai, Norie Okana, Ikiko Hisakata, Kazuo Saitou, Chrono Harlaown, Coco Kiumi, Amanda Faust, Minako Aino, Nephrite, Zoisite, Jadeite, Pyrite, Setsuna Meiou
Tinyplot:	Midnight Tokyo
Tinyplot2:	Silver Crystal

---

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The approach to the shrine is through or over an underpass, then slow zigzags up the hill road. Near the bottom of the hill, there's massive overgrowth, some of which is evergreen and some of which is only winter-dead. The further up the hill one ventures, the more empty it gets: the road goes past abandoned houses -- some with the lights on anyway, some with gaping black upstairs windows like empty eyes -- past broken-storefront dilapidated empty shops and rusting old cars, past witch-fingered dead trees that grasp at the empty winter air, and past the spidery spindly dead overgrown underbrush and crackling dry leaves that blanket their roots.

It's dark out, the sun having gone down at least an hour ago; the air is still and cold and sound carries especially well; the place feels like an interrupted sigh. Some of the offroad approaches-- through underbrush and bramble-- aren't impassable if you've got a machete, but between the trees and the uncertain footing they'll be much slower going; other offroad approaches involve the unsound rooftops of abandoned houses and the dead trees that lean close, or through the air--

--and going through the air has its own problems. All the Dark Kingdom's Shitennou can fly, can teleport mid-air. Hematite and his black cape can be seen at the very top of the hill, leaning on one of the shrine's porch columns with his gloves off.

The minute he sees anyone coming, he pushes off the column and crosses his arms.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The Forgotten District is a place of emptiness and decay, an oppressive aura of loneliness hovering over the place. The sky above is cut through by the grasping branches of trees, dead and alive, and the desolate, sprawl of the place would be chilling if Usagi Tsukino weren't, at this point, getting a little used to it. She stands near, if not at, the front of the pack of mahou gathered today, leading them up the main path through the district, towards the shrine that is their destination.

She's not dressed as Usagi Tsukino, though. She stands in the attire of Sailor Moon, white-chest plated leotard, pleated blue miniskirt, red ribbons and all. Her kitten heels catch at cracks and pits in the road, but she doesn't trip - hasn't yet, at least. Her expression is solemn, blue eyes serious. The Moon Stick is in her hand. It's sharp-edged golden crescent moon shines in the dark.

"Remember what we're here to do, everyone."

In an ideal world, Hematite will be the only one at the Shrine - be it at the moment of arrival or shortly after, when he feels their presence, and the fight will be on.

(She wishes it didn't have to be a fight, but it did. Talk no jutsu wouldn't be nearly enough of a distraction, not when they needed to keep the enemy focused on them, instead of on what Wako-chan and her group were doing.

In a less than ideal world... it would be the lot of them from the start, and the battle would be worse than they'd expected. If that happened -

Purification magic seemed to ward the Shitennou off best. But she really, truly, didn't want to see what that would do to Himeko.

When they reach the top of the hill, when they emerge to face the Shrine, she sees him there, leaning against a pillar.

A smile wants to come to her face. She stops it, lifting her Moon Stick to point directly at him.

"Hemachan! The Midnight Tokyo Project is a danger to everyone and everything! In the name of stopping it for good, we're here to purify this shrine! No glyphs will be planted here! In the name of our city and our world, we'll stop you!"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Flanking Sailor Moon, keeping pace beside and a little behind the twintailed blonde, Sailor Jupiter hikes her way up the hill road with unflagging determination. She'd be lying if she claimed to fully understand everything that's going on here, but she knows her role well enough... and she knows, too, that she doesn't like this place. Even without a sixth sense like Sailor Mars or the benefit of the MErcury Computer's scanning capabilities, the air itself feels wrong against her skin.

When Sailor Moon stops and issues her challenge to Hematite, Sailor Jupiter stands ranged behind her, folding her arms imposingly across her chest.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah isn't far behind Usagi Tsukino, floating behind her would-be sister. And much like her, the older blonde is dressed in the finery of Trager-chan, blade in one hand and her massive lizard-guide-friend Lyra at her side with flexing, threatening claws.

"Herr Hematite, though I know you've your reasons mein freund, this entire Project is utterly beneath a man of your ken! In the name of House und for the sake of all that dwell on this misbegotten little rock, this crime shan't be overlooked! Give yourself over to Justice!" Comes Trager before she rapidly slashes at the air in a duelist's salute!

"Or if you insist upon this course of folly, then come and face us HONORABLY IN GLORIOUS COMBAT!" Hannah turns up her normal ham a good notch or two, letting out a pleased laugh!

Rei Hino has posed:
    There's so many things resting on this. Even if it's technically possible to still stop Midnight Tokyo after failing here, it is going to be so much harder. That is what she gathered from the briefing. Other things too, but mainly the important of stopping the final shrine. Sailor Mars stands beside Sailor Moon, opposite Jupiter. The hill is mounted by speed or by stealth. She does not make a justice speech this time. She lets her leader handle the talking.

    Instead, Sailor Mars is searching for any sign of Himeko.

    She may have said that the living come first, but that doesn't mean she won't make every reasonable effort to spare that little girl who has been through so much already. She can't tell. It's all so saturated in things beyond her day-to-day in so many ways. It's a fog of potential armageddons on top of the actual fearful presence of this district, and of the shrine at the crown of it all.

    She does not prepare to cast fire about. Her role here is different. She is here to seal a door before it can be opened.

    So, she has ofuda ready and held between fore and middlefingers on both hands. Stacks of them.

    This is still a haunted place after all.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Small flower petals dance in the air, floating gently as they swirl towards a figure standing in a nearby tree. "Guided by a new era, representing the Outer Senshi, protected by Uranus, the Outer Planet of the Wind, the beautiful soldier Sailor Uranus, acts with elegance!" the figure calls out, an exteremly tall figure in a Sailor Suit, albeit with short hotpants as opposed to the traditional skirt, in navy blue with yellow accents. "I will never stand idly by while evil threatens the people and the planets I care about." she says.

    Of course, she did not arrive here with the group. She didn't tell them she was coming. There was a certain art to a dramatic entrance, after all.

    But when things were going to break down into what was likely to be a brutal fight, when you needed heavy firepower? You could do a lot worse than Sailor Uranus. She'd been briefed on the plan by Pluto - she knew she wasn't here to do more than distract, and she wasn't here to take anybody off the board. But as Setsuchan might have even said - there's a lot of space between uninjured and dead. A lot of space to play in.

    Sailor Uranus makes a massive leap from her tree branch, as though it took no effort, landing near Moon and Jupiter, and taking a fighting stance up. "Hey." she says to Jupiter. Hell of a day to meet one of the senshi, ain't it?

Naru Osaka has posed:
There are an awful lot of them. As it should be, but wow.. this is a lot of mahou. Somewhere near the back of the group there is one (presumably just one) who is not in henshin. Who can't be in henshin.

Naru might not have a fancy costume, or a transformation sequence, but she's borrowed a sword from /somewhere/ and she's got a satchel looped across her body such that it doesn't need any hands to keep track of it.

The others have the speeches down pat, she's not about to race to the front to chat.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Dressed in the blue and white of her own henshin is Sailor Mercury. A light glows slightly from near her eyes, the visor she wears on occasion in full effect tonight. Everything that was going on, or would go on, could be updated and read through her visor in a way that would hopefully keep them all in contact and informed. Tucked at her side in one hand is her mini-laptop with the symbol of Mercury on it's white surface.

When Sailor Moon stops to confront Hemachan--Er, Hematite--She stops her approach as well to regard the Shittenou General with a calm expression. She could at least look calm even if she was a bundle of nerves underneath it all. This was worse than a test she hadn't studied for, and the last time she let THAT happen was long enough ago she couldn't properly remember.

Though it may be unnecessary given the situation, she states boldly, "We're ready," to encourage Sailor Moon that they had her back.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    At the back of the group of mahou, Kyouka Inai is walking. She's already in henshin though, so perhaps calling her Stellar is more appropriate. Long white military-style coat with gold trim, black top and leggings underneath. And her ever-present sunglasses, yes even now in the foreboding Forbidden District after sunset. She's not looking up the zig-zagging road lined with dead trees though- no, she's scowling at her phone, held in her hand, her face backlit by the glow of its screen.

    Whatever she's reading, it's making her unhappy, as she's scowling something fierce and typing furiously, pausing, scowling more, then typing some more. She may be texting someone though since she's at the back of the group nobody has a clear look at her screen even if they wanted to peek.

    As the group draws nearer though, she makes a disgusted sound and turns the phone off, sliding it into a pocket and making it disappear. "Head in the game, Inai." She mutters to herself, as she makes a cigarette appear from... somewhere. It appears to already be lit, despite that defying all laws of logic. Tucking it into her mouth, she trudges along, grey eyes looking up the hill over the top of her sunglasses over the heads of those walking in front of her.

    "Guess it's time for the fun to start."

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima hung in the shadows. The Forgotten District didn't bother her too much. It felt like it bordered the Dusk Zone or some similar area and therefore she felt pretty good. Why was she here? WELL When this many sparkleskirts gather up and move, something's gotta notice. In this case a tiny shadowbat flew to Norie and let her know about the movement.

This had to be related to Midnight Tokyo, she figured, with this many people moving at once. She moved along the numerous shadows, jetted across a sparsely lit area and then peeked up as she let herself form behind a dead tree in the vegetation, peeking out quietly.

Yeah.. yeah. She was right. She can hear the speeches.

Good. Maybe they can stop ruining the Dusk Zone after this, she thought, when this many sparkleskirts beat the tar out of them. Maybe now was the time to act directly, herself.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Cute Wolf Tsukiko's hackles are up, as the aura of the district is making the wolf sliver of her soul extremely uneasy. Her focus is on Sailor Moon and, beyond her, Hematite, but her eyes keep darting towards the sides.

At a glance, her outfit seems to have an uncharacteristic number of ruffles today, but those who saw her when she arrived at the gathering point outside the district know what they are: handkerchiefs of purified silk, tucked into her collar, her gloves, her socks, hanging out of her pockets; heck, she's even wearing a headband, and has a few more of the handkerchiefs tucked in there near her ears. Not the most elegant of looks, but it does help dampen the feeling of the oppressive aura.

A little bit, anyway.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kaitou Kamen is a tall, pale ghost by Naru, keeping her company in the back. Like her, he doesn't speak. He might not even have tried to get a look at Kyouka's phone screen on the way in. Certainly now he's looking ahead, his attention centered on Hematite.

This is a lie. His gaze is centered on Hematite. But he is watching everywhere. Because Hematite might be the only one visible - or might even at one instant be the only one here. But Sailor Uranus is undoubtedly not the only arrival they're going to get.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown had been preparing for this. A distraction... that was all they were supposed to be. But no plan survived contact with the enemy. The REASON this place was a distraction and not the direct target was because of how dangerous this place was. He wasn't really worried about the main force, after all.

He'd directed Nanoha and Rashmi to go with them. That shrine was going to be purified, definitely. It may not be standing but it would be HELLA purified. That's what barriers were for. And if those two couldn't get it done with the rest of the team, who could?

He'd considered the fact that Hematite would be here... and spent a LOT of time prepping for this. He'd even brought special something, just in case...

And was very surprised to discover the darkness in it had faded.

But now, here they were. And he just side eyed Hannah. Of course. If anybody could be *distracting* it was *her.*

Hematite was called out and he moved a little forward. Lifting his staff overhead, magic washed over the world as the dimensional area was shifted, creating the field for all of them to 'play' in and ensuring nothing would be destroyed...

Of course, there was one more thing to do. One specific thing to do... He moved back, to Naru. "Guest user: Naru Osaka," he said. He then held out a ring to her. "Here. Windy Echo. It's tuned for communications. Since you'll be hanging back, it'd be best for you to maintain a communications network between everyone. It should give you a little protection as well. It's only guest access, though, so it won't let you change much in it."

Still...

Coco Kiumi has posed:
The reunion they had on this subject made eminently clear the risk they were at. They were right on Himeko's home turf, doing something Hematite might object to on account of the harm it might inflict Himeko, but what other choice do they have? If they fail, they might as well pack up and go nowhere, because there wouldn't be a somewhere to go back to. There are many shrines left for the enemy to strike, but they are only missing 1, so it's important they keep them all focused here while Wako takes care of the others. As harrowing not knowing if what they are doing is enough, they can't afford to stop for one second.

If there was ever a moment where she wishes the radiant light of the other 6 were with her, this would be it. With how much at risk she has been recently the other Pearls would have shining like crazy and with what they are about to do here today, the others will probably want to put their Pearls away for a few hours if they didn't want to get blinded, if they can afford to do that at least.

Coco is following Sailor Moon across the dreary landscape reeking of desolation, her mind focused on the task ahead. Despite the lack of the familiar lights of the seven seas, she is surrounded by people that over the months have become dear to her, some more than others, but still none that she would give up for anything in the world, and she would like to think the feeling is mutual.

Take care, everyone let's do our best.

"Hello, Hematite", she speaks to the figure above. "This may hurt a bit, but you will feel better once everything is over."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"...what?" Hematite asks blankly.

His seriousface got a worried look when he saw Sailor Moon on the approach, and a faintly betrayed look when he saw the moon stick and the wild collection of other mahou behind and abreast of her coming around the last bend of the zigzag road. But now? After her justice speech?

"This isn't about the Midnight Tokyo Project," he says, and he's also distracted. He's very distracted.

The black hole of a door behind and to one side of him, in the shrine, is still a black hole death void that nothing comes out of.

Hematite steps forward and raises his voice. "Why are you all here?? I'm just here to get my sister out of there! I told you--" he calls out, tone full of rising anxiety, "I told you! I'm still getting her! Why are you doing this?"

He sees Jupiter, Hannah, Mars; Hannah's saying to give himself over to Justice, and he shakes his head hard. "This isn't what you think it is!" He sees Uranus, and his bare hands clench into fists at his sides, and--

He looks away from the gathering crowd for a second and at the shrine door, and he says something to it, something frantic and worried and "--Mamoru! Let me keep you safe, defend you, it's what I'm for--" His name. The protector. He's certainly protecting someone right now, he's making that clear.

Hematite's wide blue eyes scan the crowd-- all these people he has to stop that he doesn't really want to hurt? That's not going to last. Not if they keep pushing. 'We're ready', 'time for the fun to start', so many challenges and threats and promises...

And Naru with a sword, next to Chrono who'd said outright, as a reassurance, that he'd kill Mamoru to prevent him from killing anyone. Mamoru's heart's in his throat. Surely Usagi wouldn't have-- and Kazuo? Kazuo is there too? And the more people Hematite sees, the more that are arrayed against him when he hasn't even done anything, when this isn't even about that, the more upset he gets.

His fists hum with power, with purple-black energy in a miasma around them.

Then there's Coco, who hadn't understood, who had wanted to know why...

"You need," he says, "to give me," louder, and then yelling, "MORE TIME!"

(He'd told Takashi yesterday that there wasn't any more time. He didn't expect this.)

With the words he yells out, he gestures and comes up with a handful of black roses, all of which he flings out at the feet of the paused crowd, and immediately, they skitter and grow across the cracked and overgrown asphalt of the road surface, 'climbing' laterally, then climbing up anything and anyone that doesn't move out of the way, weaving in and out of itself like a carpet and draping curtains of thorny sick-sweet blossoming vines. All of the roses are black. The vines are green and the thorns are sharp.

"Just STOP! Let me finish! No glyphs! Just Himeko!"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Sailor Uranus has to trust everyone else to manage their own affairs. After all, there's an expectation of more interference, more trouble, and she can't possibly worry about all of the other girls every time an attack goes off. That's why she jumps backwards, away from the creeping thorn vines, landing on a section of the shrine's wall - off the treacherous ground.

    "No more time, flower factory. I've waited too long - a whole reincarnation - to be able to pay Beryl and her flunkies back for the harm they did." she says. She's got the goal in her mind, too, but it's not like he didn't throw the first punch. Or first rose.

    Actually, she was throwing the first punch - she's got no qualms, no connections with this guy aside from what her inner Guardian is telling her, recognizing that uniform, the uniform of the leaders of traitors and rebellion.

    So the fact that she leaps off the wall and balls her hand up into a fist and is moving in, at her speed-of-the-wind movement, zig-zag dashing and aiming to just punch him in the gut is a display of tremendous restraint. Honest.

Rei Hino has posed:
    To say Mars doesn't feel conflicted about this, seeing how genuinely upset Hematite is, and him insisting it's about his sister, and just... The complete shock and look of betrayal on his face... Well, to say that doesn't affect her would be a lie. Did he tell people about this? That he'd be here tonight? And they came anyway? Mars knows better than to just take the word of someone jumped up on so much Dark Energy that it makes her head pound and her teeth itch, but... She still casts a glance around at the other Senshi, at least, if not the bolder ones who step to the fore, seeking a challenge.

    Violet eyes go back to Hematite. Sailor Mars wants to speak up. SHe is champing at the bit to ask if he'll step aside then, and let them seal the shrine after getting Himeko to safety, and work together, and this is all leeway and opportunity she wouldn't have extended just a few months ago. But Usagi loves him, and she trusts Usagi, but Usagi is the one who came up with this plan, and...

    The absurd idea to covertly text Hematite that they aren't here to fight him, just to distract his co-workers, flashes through her head. Yeah, because no one is going to notice that, or notice when Hematite's phone goes off. Does she even have his phone number? Doesn't he go through phones the way Rei goes through ofuda?

    She is still determined to put a stop to Midnight Tokyo. But that doesn't mean someone trying to do the right thing should be collateral damage.

    "Sailor Moon..." Mars gets out, but doesn't know what else to say.

    But then black roses go flying, puncturing the pavement, and Mars leaps back in alarm. Even with all the Dark Energy oozing out of Hematite, she hadn't expected him to actually attack them for some reason. Because he never has before? Because he has tried so hard not to be seen as an enemy? As vines crawl out of where the roses stabbed in, Mars yelps and leaps back even further. She is not letting her legs get caught in magic death thorns in a mini-skirt. That would not be a good look, and she would kind of like to keep her blood inside of her, thank you very much!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    For the past week-ish, Amy has... thrown herself into her studies. Certain subjects are easy for her, as the only student at Radiant Heart with a college degree, but things like essays and reports due before winter break still require time.

    The world might end soon. Spending any effort on school should be so stupid.

    But, when she thinks about that... about being so disconnected from the social world she was thrown into in favor of the magic one... Her mind plays endless visions of the future. Sitting in teachers' offices being lectured. The adults, many of whom are her juniors, looking down at her and seeing one more disaffected teen, eventually writing her off. The words 'You have so much potential' will be heard so many times she will scream.

    It shouldn't matter. It shouldn't matter! It's not supposed to matter! She knows it doesn't matter, but...

    She can see their side, too. The frustration of the teachers, familiar faces she's interacted with for years, overheard conversations in the staff lounge or at social gatherings, snatches of e-mail chains accidentally sent to all staff. They'd think Amanda Faust is their failure, too. And she's not sure she can do that to them, either.

    Or maybe all that is high-horse moralizing and she just needed a break from magic craziness. Some time to focus on the experience of the normal life she never had, before she might never have the chance again.

    Good gods, it's messed up that her actual teenage peers have to worry about that stuff. But then, the mundane world was messed up too.

    They'll probably win. They'll have to. It won't be for lack of her help.

                    I feel like I'm forgetting something...                    

NOW
    Damn, this is kind of surreal. A *pack* of Magical Girls (and Boys) all marching on the target together. This doesn't feel like a scene from an anime OR real life. Maybe a bunch of players gathered for a raid in some kind of Mahou Shoujo MMO?

    Before they reach the shrine, Amy makes sure to hug Tragar-chan.

    Sailor Moon leads them, and makes her speech.

    Amy takes a breath. "You know why we're here. Human, monster, reincarnated, whatever... Stories of Earth's heroes rising to defend humanity from existential threats are as old as time. We fight for our survival."

    How many times did Mallory imagine having great powers and fighting great evil? Standing here, he once would have said something like: 'Might does not decide who is right. But it does decide who is left. So today we bring all of our might.'

    Amanda opens her mouth: "Whatever happens... today we fight for a vision... of... for a better future! One where people don't have to think like that!" Like... what? You didn't actually say the other part out loud. "I mean... where people don't just have to do whatever it takes to survive in some cruel world of darkness! We'll... we'll make a world of light instead!"

    Quietly, she mutters, "I'm not good at speeches..."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Hematite's... here for Himeko? Amy looks towards Sailor Moon. "Would he lie? Can we tell if he's starting a glyph, and then all at--NO!"

    Vines creep over the ground. If Hematite's telling the truth, this is just a misunderstanding and they're about to get into a big fight they don't have to, depleting their strength so that when they fight the other Dark Generals after, they have to do it in a weakened and desperate state.

    A misunderstanding, bad timing, an unnecessary fight sending everything awry...

    How many times has she seen that in anime?

    How did she not see it coming?

    There's nothing for it, now. Survive! Amy grabs the nearest person who doesn't look able to evade the vines, if extant, and rocket jumps into the air. "Don't do this! Get Himeko and get out of here! Or, or tell us how to do it and keep your hands behind your head! There has to be a way to work this out!"

    She fully expects talking to be lost in the barrage of magical attacks that are about to be let loose, but... she can't give up on peace THAT easily!

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    If Hematite had been able to clearly hear Stellar's comment, unlikely at that distance, he would not have perceived the words as a challenge or a threat. There's a weary resignation in the phrase, despite the fact that mere days ago she had told some others that she found such times as these exciting. She does- there's no denying the thrill of something happening which is so preferable to her to all of the waiting and the planning. But in the moment, it's hard to escape the accompanying feeling that fights like this? They just never go the way you expect them to.

    When Hematite starts yelling back at them, her forehead creases. She doesn't reply. She's at the back of the group, several paces behind the back of the more combat-oriented mahous. It might make sense for her to be at the front, since shields are her specialty, but let's be honest- there's only one of her. In this type of situation her skills are better used in other ways.

    For now, she just watches. Her free hand is in a pocket of her coat, the other holding her cigarette which glows dully orange in the darkness as the others move forward.

    When Hematite throws his roses which begin to grow into a barrier across the road, she just watches, taking it in. A wayward vine grows a bit too close to her, and her free hand lifts, a crackling yellow shield forming in front of it. The vine touches the shield and crumbles away, the tip reduced to ash, though she makes no move to strike the rest of the vine. Not allowed, after all.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Hannah Steiner isn't exactly /surprised/ when Hematite decides that he's not having any of this, but the pure intensity and the mention of his /sister/ scores a chink in Hannah's emotional armor. She tilts her head towards Sailor Moon questioning, but still, they were here to stop the entire city from being shoved into a place dark and evil.

"For once I almost wish I could back down." She offers to Hematite, almost apologetically, before she grips her blade.

She can't, of course, she's a Belkan, and a Great House noble after all! Regardless of why Hematite's here? She has to shut down the project no matter what.

And of course those many vines satured with Dark Energy are trying to lash onto her and drag her down. Her blade lashes out, cutting apart many of the vines aimed at her, only for more of the morass scrapes along her leg as she floats up into the air, defying gravity!

A flick of her hand, and a ball of gravity appears, arresting the grasping, cutting vines. Her leg stings, but she flexes her toes, and can still feel things. Good.

<Schwerkraftwurf> Comes Hannah's Device, and her sheath glows in her free hand.

<Calculating attack vector...Feure frei>

Hannah tosses that gravity-enhanced sheath, spinning through the air in a beautiful arc like the world's angriest boomerang aimed directly for dear Hema-kun's skull!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
A justice speech aimed towards Hematite ought to be a fun thing. An inside joke, a bit of professional humor. It shouldn't be like this - friends echoing her words, turning them into even more of a challenge, forcing him to back off. It shouldn't be betrayal in his eyes and hurt on his face and a gaze that skitters from Usagi to Kazuo to Naru to all the rest. It's not supposed to be like this -

But it is, and she made it this way. It was her plan. Her suggestion. Her knowledge, of what was here, of what would make Hematite give every inch of his attention and what would - should - she hoped - draw the attention of the worst people he loved.

"I know," she says, instead, acknowledging the truth. The text message he'd sent, full of hope.

TXT from Mamochan: if i don't text again in half an hour come find me at the shrine, im gonna try and pull himeko out. dw i wont touch the death void. but i need to concentrate so pls dont bug me yet

She had given him half an hour, glad that no one had seemed to question when she'd finally started leading them up through the district, up the path.

When Amy speaks to her, she replies with no hesitation. "He wouldn't lie. It doesn't matter."

It does. Her heart aches. But they have to buy time.

"None of us want to hurt her, Hemachan! But we can't back down either!"

She's not surprised when things escalate - and she's not surprised when the Moon Stick disappears from her hand either, as she reaches up for her tiara instead, leaping back from surging roses and thorny vines.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

The discus of cosmic energy is aimed not for the boy, but the ground, tearing at vines that claw and grasp.

Angry voices draw her attention though, and she sees Uranus launch herself at Hematite, and she yells -

"Don't hurt him!"

Norie Okana has posed:
Roses are flung around. La Crima merely hovers up along the tree and lets go of it. She sighs a little and finally spits out something to the crowd. "Ah, I see this is serious. But that's on both sides it seems." she says. She snorts as Amy tells him to keep his hands behind his head. "Are you a fucking joke?" she asks Amy, finally.

Oh. Trager is here. She sighs a little and glowers a little and then turns towards Hematite.

She raises a hand and starts building up dark energy around her. There's plenty of that here to go around.

It's unsure who her target is yet.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Woah." Naru automatically takes the offered ring from Chrono, blinking in surprise as its identified as Windy Echo. "Thank you."

It takes a moment of Naru considering quite what to /do/ with a borrowed Device, even with Guest Access before she puts on the ring to get down to business.

She doesn't even /realize/ that the Device comes with a henshin of its own.. an olive green military uniform, the very bottom of TSAB army fashion.. as she's too busy sorting out comms and screens and new views.

There's a series of beeps and a lot of Naru nodding as she mentally scrolls through AUPs and Terms of Service and Are you Sure? wiht a side order of Limitations and Restrictions.

Eventually, Naru can start sending out messages to various other Devices and devices and people to connect everyone in together.

<< Can everyone hear me? It's Naru, sorting out communications over here. >>

Especially with rose thorny barriers in play, being able to direct traffic is going to be important.

Naru glances up at Kazuo a moment, and over to Stellar.. both of whom are at the back with her and then goes back to figuring out how the heck to work this thing!

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Being on edge from unease might not be good for a person long-term, but in the short term it's great for getting the 'fight or flight' reflexes primed. Tsukiko darts away from the initial volley of roses with a yelp, the thorns of the fast-growing vines tattering the edges of the handkerchiefs tucked into her shoes. Being agile and light on her feet helps the wolfgirl skitter across the rough terrain with minimal issues, as she doesn't trust the trees and other vetical terrain to be as (relatively) safe as the open area.

But the expanding briar is definitely reducing how much space remains 'open'...

With Hannah and Sailor Uranus going for kinetic 'diplomacy', and Sailor Moon doing some combat gardening, Tsukiko keeps her focus on not getting ensnared by the terrain, both existing and deployed.

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako was always one for a dramatic entrance, likely from her years as Sailor V. Of course that was it...and not that she was coming from across town. Still, the sudden barrage of light blasts from the distance, slamming into those grasping vines trying to snare and surge over her fellow Senshi and other allies alike made it pretty clear that Sailor Venus was here even before she lept down, the air still crackling around her white-gloved hand.

There was no speeches about wickedness, love or beauty this time...she had arrived to protect those she cared about, and she'd figure the rest out along the way.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Sailor Jupiter does a little double-take at that 'hey' from Sailor Uranus, coming as it does after so dramatic an entrance. "Hey," she says back, almost automatically.

It's about all she really gets time for, before matters start escalating in a major way. Black roses erupt from the ground and Jupiter throws both hands out, fingers splaying in the air. "Flower Hurricane!" Wind erupts around her, scattering petals - not black but vivid red. The spiral of air pushes back against the grasping vines and lofts Jupiter into the air, sending her flying upwards.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a small nod to Hematite. That was it. THIS was it. In the end, he'd operate as best necessary to keep everyone around him safe... But...

The more time he'd spent here, the more he realized just how much of a threat Hematite could be. The power that flowed through him, dark energy and all, made him an incredibly powerful threat.

But *not* more powerful than what was arrayed against him. They were supposed to be a distraction and, frankly? Right now? It looked like it was time to be distracting. He flew up into the air, moving away from the roses... Before aiming his staff downwards.

            <<Blaze Cannon!>>

Fire erupted from the end of his staff, forming a flaming twister and tearing a path through the roses, allowing, hopefully, for others to move behind the seered aea and around it. If they couldn't fly.

<< You're doing well. Monitor and direct as necessary. You should be able to open an arial view of those you're in communication with. Let us know if any more enter the fray we can't see. >>

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Shields versus roses. Stellar's shields evidently work just fine. Kaitou Kamen's would ... less so. He steps in close behind Naru, wrapping his cape around the both of them, fending off the roses trying to climb up her (olive-green-clad) legs and his own. Only those that try too hard - trying to sink thorns through the cloth - get more than that: a tiny controlled bit of the fire he has stored, charring the points off the thorns, keeping Naru able to use the paths people are creating. "Yes," he says aloud to Naru. That's all.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Trying to get Himeko out of here?" Coco repeats at him. She doesn't know if anything that might have happened to her, but still, this is the time they can't go back for any reason. But ahhh, there has to be something they can do, right? If Hematite gives them the information, maybe they can do both at once, right? There is enough of them for that, and maybe the fact they are helping Himeko will be enough of a distraction on its own, because well, they care about her. If something is happening here to aid her, they will focus on it. Hematite just has to speak.

But, of course he acts, and the roses he tosses are all the warning they get to get out of the way. Coco just has the time to fly backwards and upwards before the roses rise.

'I hope this reaches your heart, Hematite', Coco thinks. But then again, that's why she is in Super Idol form, right? She needs the best chances she can have.

The Sound of the Bell of Love ~Love Goes On~: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!

As the Live Stage shines with a brilliant white, the song of the seas seas fights the darkness with purifying splendor.

"You were just having the wrong dream...
The whereabouts of your love and the mystery of your memories
Were pierced by cold loneliness,
And you were suffering."

"Hidden in your blue eyes
Was a beautiful heart that seemed it was about to break."

"In the broken sky are the tears you've cried.
You don't have to hide all of your sadness."

"Let's end this wrong dream...
Forget everything and sleep bare
when a new dreams dwells inside of you,
You can become free."

<<I can hear you perfectly well, Naru!>>

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's a show of glorious goodwill on the part of Sailor Uranus to telegraph the fact that she is coming for him; Hematite's watching everyone, but Haruka is part of everyone, and he splits his attention further in order to teleport a step to the left and grab her fist. "Maybe DO SOME RESEARCH!" he yells at her, using her momentum to swing them both around and then let go, aiming to throw her into the front-lines, so probably Moon, maybe Amy or Hannah. "Just stay back, stay away! Don't come any closer! Just-- just ten more minutes? PLEASE!"

He's still pleading. He's pleading. He's not throwing out attacks left and right, he's not, he's NOT throwing around dark energy. But he's also getting angrier the more people argue with or attack him; the black-purple energy--

"DON'T MAKE ME THROW DARK ENERGY AROUND, NO dark energy on the GROUND, there's a NUKE under there! You can only help by staying BACK! Just wait for her to come out!!! I can--" he starts, and then Yellow Pearl Voice starts singing, and he snarls and it's not pleading, it's sudden anger. She's up. She's up. He shoots a blast of Dark Energy at the mermaid idol singer's Live Stage, trying to knock her out of the air, or at least make her stop.

He teleport-dodges out of the way of Hannah's sheath and it buries itself in the wall of the shrine behind where he was, and he yanks it out and WINGS it right back at her, face set into a pinched, furious expression. "You're ALREADY HURTING ME!" he yells, yells but it's raw, yells but it's thick.

And then La Crima shows up next to him and starts to generate more dark energy and his motion stutters for a second, "Don't let it touch the ground, or the shrine-- there's--"

That distraction plus some other slowness means he doesn't notice when his vines get blown up, get flower hurricaned, get torn and shredded; he turns back to see the crowd moving past or over the thorns and suddenly throws out both his hands and pulls. What is he pulling? He's pulling dark energy out of the blighted ground and shoving it into-- what? Trees. Dead trees, which pull their roots up from the ground and reach their spiny fingers out to grasp and grab and ensnare and trip, and the ones that aren't grabbing for the mahous are gathering into the street, ripping up the asphalt and pulling up dirt; the groaning creaking of the wood and the sifting of the pebbles and sand and clatter of rocks against pavement is a deeper and quieter thing than the sound of called attacks and weaponry and fists, but it's no less powerful. The earth shudders underfoot. Roots twist and pull--

--and these trees, they drain energy.

He's still pulling his punches.

Nephrite has posed:
    The plan probably seems to be working out great so far. Hematite is very distracted. No sign of the other Shitennou, which means they are probably occupied with Wako... Less than ideal, given the purpose of this operation. But as Hematite is pressured more and more, some undefinable something takes place. Like... A signal. Or a memory. Or a wish. Amidst the trees that pull up their roots and stomp forth, in search of life energy, something from the Dusk Zone makes an entrance.

    Nephrite appears from a flicker of red light, sword in hand, and a buckler seemingly made of stars and the void between said stars on his other arm. Blue stormy eyes take in the situation, in a glance. Other than staying near Hematite to back him up and ward off attacks, there's one other thing that Nephrite can do here.

    The mage starts casting under his breath while he raises his shield and stands at his leader's side.

    In the process, he becomes another obstacle to the shrine. Even if the good folks aren't actually trying to get to it. He saw both Jupiter and Naru here. And Kazuo. People he doesn't want to fight or hurt.

    So much for leaving attachments behind.

    He goes for the aggressive ones first: Sailor Uranus will have to be put down.

Zoisite has posed:
    A vortex of rose petals manifests and turns into a barrage of crystals raining down on the assembled Mahou. Not likely to deal meaningful damage, but perhaps enough to disrupt them and make them think twice about staying in Hematite's GENERAL (hah) vicinity. Zoisite descends from on-high shortly afterwards, in a half-sitting position, reclining against air, arms folded, and a scowl on his face. "Really. This is the one you go after. The one we were explicitly avoiding out of respect for our leader's dearly departed sister. How much lower can you all fall? Disgusting." Zoisite shakes his head in dismay, appalled at the behavior of the magical girls.

    "I'll bet one of those Mascots put you up to this! Why, I've half a mind to hunt one down and--!" Zoisite starts building up steam, but somebody is probably going to derail him.

    For now, he just stays with Hematite, forceshield up to help on defense as the Evil Ents make their march. Three of the Four.

Makoto Kino has posed:
A look of affront flashes over Sailor Jupiter's face as the dead trees begin to move under the influence of the dark energy that Hematite has poured into them. "Oh, no you don't!" She keeps to the air, wobbling a little as her focus splits - she's not used to flying yet, doesn't have much fine control to speak of, but like hell she's going to watch him use the trees against her and her friends and not do something about it.

The sky overhead rumbles with thunder.

Jupiter pushes herself higher, twisting in the air to get a better vantage. The miniature lightning rod affixed to her tiara sparks as she gathers her strength, and all around the animated trees the air shifts, charged and tingling.

"Supreme..." The sky opens, lances of lightning coursing down onto the evil tree-corpses. "...THUNDER!"

Jadeite has posed:
    Tt's easy to miss, in this death-soaked place, abandoned by the living, and infused with memories and loneliness and darkness. However, the Mahou present may find themselves moving closer together without meaning to, bumping into each other perhaps, or noticing the slight shift in position without moving under their own power... Like they're on a conveyor belt, or being drawn into something... Sucked towards some unseen... Anomaly. Or perhaps those with the ability to teleport, or senses relating to distorted space-time will notice first. Maybe a Device will speak up, or somebody's shoulder-rat.

    But the fact remains there's an itsy-bitsy miniature singularity forming in the midst of the Mahou, and Jadeite slowly descends from the sky, hand extended, a look of intense concentration on his face. He can't keep this up if he's doing anything else. But for now, it may at least serve as a scare tactic.

    He can't even spare the attention to speak. As a bonus, it may be harder to dodge moving trees when you keep getting drawn back towards them.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Sailor Uranus has, up until this point, dealt primarily with youma. Truck youma. Random youma. Tree youma. Turns out just diving for a physical confrontation with an honest to goodness Dark General threat is a whole other kettle of fish. As Hematite catches her punch and tosses her aside, it reminds her of the way Neptune's strength was enhanced when Sunbreaker gave her all that Dark Energy.

    Even though Hematite isn'ttrying to hurt her, the force with which he throws her into the group of other girls is strong, and even though she manages to stay upright, it has her putting one foot in front of the other, wobble-staggering and trying to right herself. In thatr moment, the best she can do is not be a projectile.

    She's about to say something to Moon when the wind moves just right - because there's a new combatant and he's headed for her. In almost the last moment she draws her own blade from 'nowhere' - clashing magic steel against magic probably steel as their blades meet. "How about him. He tried to slash me. Can I hurt HIM?" she asks, before trying to bring up her booted foot and kick him while their blades are meeting.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima is paying attention. She hears about a dark energy nuke in the ground. What was that? Well it makes sense. Considering the location. She frowns as she grasps at her dark energy build up and stops it as she summons up a powerful sword instead....

"Falcata...!" she calls out, the sword summoning up as she looks towards the group of magical girls...

Nephrite arrives.

"I'm sorry." she says to the group of magical girls.

Before she suddenly attempts to drive the sword into Nephrite's back.

"--but I can't let this silly project go on any longer and let it destroy the Dusk Zone!"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar can't help but shake her head a bit in admiration of Sailor Uranus' direct approach. Back in the day, that might have been her- punch the problem in the gut, end of problem. Of course, in this case, it doesn't work, which also isn't terribly surprising.

    The boss doesn't go down in one hit.

    She's still at the back, making no move to go forward. Her eyes rove, keeping a watch- if anyone seems like they are really getting into trouble, serious trouble, she'll do her best to intervene, but she's not going to do that unless it seems like there's no alternative. She's a finite resource and she knows it. Plus, she can tell- Hematite is pulling his punches.

    For now.

    She frowns when La Crima starts generating more Dark Energy beside him though. Based on some of the auxiliary intel they have about this location that probably isn't the best.

    She's near to Naru and Kazuo, so she speaks to them directly, her tone low-pitched but loud enough to be heard over the general din. "We need to minimize the usage of Dark Energy. Preventing it entirely is impossible, we knew that, but we should probably make trying to shut down non-unavoidable sources a priority. Can you get the word out, Naru?"

    She senses the other Shitennou's arrival. More will be coming, how could they not? "We have additional hostiles, as well. Let people know." She adds, still just standing there, smoking, but watching. A stray crystal shard heads towards Naru, and she casually reaches out and intercepts it with a crackling light-shield, knocking it away with a crackle-hiss.

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Is that...a comms network? Blauer Greif and by proxy her User links up with typical Belkan Great House identification codes. Despite all of the battle going on?

<Ahh, now that is someone /familiar/ with a new trick! Wunderbar! So glad of you to join us! Make your House proud, mein freund!> Comes Hannah encouragingly through that telepathic link.

Thankfully she manages to dodge any flying Sailor Uranii coming her way, but what she /doesn't/ dodge is her own sheath tossed back at her with speed. There's a very Space German /yelp/, as Hannah goes crashing into the brush.

She must be mostly fine though, as she's cursing him out in Belkan as she takes a moment to reset her nose. /Ow/!

She also curses Dark Energy.

Muttering something about 'stubborn karking older siblings', as thoug she'd know anything about that, she turns her attention to...well, those ents. Surely if she does some damage to those, she can force Hematite to waste energy. Oh, also, there's two more generals on the scene.

This gives her an idea. Taking in Zoisite's signature as he lands on the scene?

<Fluss: Anlocken> Another attractive line of gravity, except this one...she's going for one of the ents? Trying to attact the evil creature to her? She floats in the air, higher, higher...and then attempts to simply slam the Evil Ent through gravity and brute Belkan strength like a very evil log down towards Zoisite's noggin, and /hard/!

Minako Aino has posed:
There was no moment of introduction or chance to celebrate fighting alongside the other Senshi, their full team would probably been needed for a fight like this anyway.

Her gaze sweeps across the others, friends and allies towards the threats before she leaps down into the mix beside Jupiter, ready to add some scorching energy to the malcious walking trees straight out of some horror movies she probably shouldn't have been watching anyway.

"Lets make matchsticks out of these things!" she calls as she lifts her hand towards the Evil Ents.

"Creasent Beam!"

Sure she was late to the party and figuring out things as she went along, but at least the spooky plants seemed to be on-theme!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It isn't as though Sailor Moon expected to plan an attack on Soryuu Shrine, with the goal of fighting and distracting Hematite, and didn't think there was a chance Hematite would get hurt, it's just - she really didn't want to think it would be like this, either.

She's committed. And he's -

there's a nuke -

Who had told him about - and then he's screaming, in a rage, in betrayal, turned away to deal with Uranus and Hannah-chan, and Sailor Moon hesitates to fight him, hesitates to take that step, and then he turns and his voice is tight with still more panic and Sailor Moon whips her head around to see La Crima, to see her gathering Dark Energy.

Akemi-san's voice rings in her head and Hemachan's panic and despite all of that and La Crima's ringing scream, the way it had taken her out of the fight twice -

Despite all of that, the Moon Stick doesn't come out. The tiara is launched again, this time directly at La Crima.

"This has nothing to do with you! Moon Tiara Action!"

The discus of energy goes flying through the air in La Crima's direction - and then curves through the air with the goal of striking Zoisite in the back of the head instead, when La Crima suddenly changes targets and strikes at Nephrite.

The goal. She has control over her tiara, but there's a lot of room for things to go wrong, especially with her footing falling out from under her because something is pulling her in -

"Everyone, stay focused! Don't let them finish what they've started!"

Because this when things really go underway. This is everyone on the field all at once, and trees are reaching out and Hemachan is in agony and all tree of his irritating boys are here and the battlefield is chaos.

Naru Osaka has posed:
As the landscape gets infused with dark energy and starts draining the world around them, Naru automatically braces for that inevitable feeling of drain.

Which doesn't feel at all the same thanks to the Device. Hunh. Neat!

<< We've got the rest of the Dark Generals coming in to join Hematite. >> Naru notes calmly over the comms. As if people haven't already noticed the rest of the ites, but hey.. just in case.

<< Careful of too much Dark Energy getting tossed around. Shut that down if you can. >>

Naru nods to Stellar as she gets some of the important messages out to the group. Or tries at least.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is trying to think ahead. Does she absolutely 100% trust Usagi to not make a mistake? Does she say to hell with it and just stay by Hannah's side, supporting her? Come on... those aren't heroic third options. What would the hero who takes a third option--who makes a third option-- do?

    He's talking. He's talking! Maybe they can end this wrong dream after all!

    And then of all people he attacks Coco. Yellow Pearl Voice, who doesn't even throw attacks! What the hell?!

    She lands from her earlier jump on the branch of a dead tree. "Hey! What the hell did you attack her--uwagh!"

    The... TREE grabs her?! She stares with wide eyes at it, and the other trees now on the move. She's not what story this is out of, but it's not going anywhere good.

    Amy manifests her launcher and fires a rocket, or more if needed, at the tree trunk. Does breaking its center of mass kill an undead tree? A zomb-tree?

    We will find out together!

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Moon cuts down the vines with her tiara, and Mars wants to give that ten minutes despite herself. A dark energy nuke? So... That thing that they're not supposed to agitate? She throws out ofuda with one hand, a spray of them at the various undead trees. She's still not using fire here. Just in case it spreads to the houses or something.

    "Fine! We can fall back! Sailor Moon, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus! Maybe we should step back and get Stellar to put up a b--" Mars is cut off abruptly as she jolts. She looks confused at first. She hadn't noticed amdist all the chaos. That she was moving towards a singularity. How would she have noticed? Who watches out for that? Zoisite's crystal shard, meant as a distraction, or only to wound, stabbed her in the back. It's a shallow wound, probably. But it hurts as she stumbles a few steps, trying to reach behind herself to pull the crystal dagger free.

    Ah. At least it wasn't through the heart this time. she thinks in shock.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown kept his face a mask, that calm, TSAB mask. Deflections. Strikes. Had he been like this when the dark energy was in him? That was always the danger. There was always an excuse. Always a reason. 'I'm not bad, they're bad, if they weren't bad, I wouldn't use this power'. But that was what was so insidious about dark energy. Your intentions didn't matter if the energy made what you saw different from reality.

At least, in this case, it was a positive. Distract Hematite, keep him off balance. When he threw the girl towards the others... well...

And right on cue, a second appeared. The first step. Draw all of them in.

A third appeared. Then, finally, the fourth. No, wait, fifth. La Crima is here as well. But she hadn't launched an attack at--

AT NEPHRITE! WELL! OKAY THEN! Kind of nice it wasn't Hannah's neck. He turned his eyes towards the one with the shield and sword. Yeah, lets do something about that. As far as he knew, Uranus was unarmed.

So when Nephrite went after her, a bind would appear in front of him, magical binds springing up to try and stop him. They would only hold for a second or two, but it would hopefully by the martial combatent a chance to make some space or follow up with her own plan. Well. Or allow La Crima more time to stab him in the back. He wasn't picky.

He then launched his next attack. Distract. Four targets. Draw them in every possible direction.

            <<Stinger Blade!>>

Five blue swords appeared overhead. One flying at Zoisite, one at Jadeite. Three, however, shot towards Hematite. Two going in wide arcs to come from the left or right, the last from above.

Pull them in every direction at once. Keep them focused on what's in front of them, don't let them ask 'why'.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko looks at Hematite when he mentions the Dark Energy nuke under the ground, then glares at the Evil Ents. "I don't think I can throw those far enough to not leak back down into the ground--" she starts to mutter, then blinks as Jupiter blasts them with lightning.

    "--nevermind, then!" Taking advantage of the opening, the wolfgirl darts forward to land some darting kicks at any zombie-tree that didn't collapse to Jupiter's attack. The volley of crystals necessitates an extra zigzag on the approach, and between the churned ground and the pull of the singularity there's a certain amount of high-speed 'if I keep moving, I should regain my footing' staggering, but kicks are still getting delivered.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"The world was surely started from feelings of love.
It draws everything into it and becomes a big circle of love."

"Listen to my Heart."

"Rest your pure white wings, kindly let them sleep."

Coco keeps singing, unmoving. She can't stop, won't stop, even if she has to blast this over and over. They are fighting to help Wako, and if her song can reach Hematite's heart, just a moment...

Three Live Stages show up right there when the dark energy erupts forth, nonetheless breaking past them like paper, but accomplishing their goal of giving Coco just enough time to move slightly below its strike range, ending up piercing the top of the Stage she is in, leaving her a bit bruised as she takes an ungraceful fall to the ground.

And the Bell of Hope sings again as she is surrounded by another Live Stage, seeking to connect with the gentle heart hidden past those blue eyes of his.

<<How is everyone going? Be careful about the bomb!>>

Pyrite has posed:
    *snap* *pop pop pop*
    **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*
    A thunder clap at ground level blasts outwards, and a bolt of red lightning shoots UP from the shrine into the sky, clearing the cloud cover in an instant. New, rage-black clouds come swarming in almost as quickly. Rain begins to pour down in almost a wall of water.
    The rain stops as suddenly as it started. Another *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* of somewhat less deafening volume, and the cloud covers flies outwards from the Forgotten District, as several more bolts of red electricity jump and jolt and strike at the sky.
    Ah, yes, exactly what everyone needed.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Stellar's also watching Naru. Good. The girl who was summoning dark energy is already shutting it down. Good. The space around them is shifting. Not good. "Jadeite!" Kaitou Kamen's voice snaps out over the chaos. "If you drag the death void into Hematite --" He was already meaning to trail off. But there's motion over with the dark energy girl. Who is aiming for someone -- already being distracted, and bindings springing up --

He's too far to interfere. But he forms Nephrite's name, silently.

It might be Zoisite's, too, but he's more confident about Zoisite dodging.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"You guys," breathes Hematite, and on the one hand he's relieved because all of them together should be enough to keep the shrine safe, and on the other hand he's now 3x more terrified because, "thanks! And please don't kill anyone, this is-- just keep them from purifying the shrine! Just keep them off it!"

On the plus side that means that he's also less angry; he's afraid but that doesn't vicious-cycle generate dark energy in him like fury does.

On the down side that means he can think better.

"HEY THOSE ARE MY ENTS!" he yells at Jupiter, aggrieved.

That's almost enough to distract him from La Crima, but she's talking, so he's paying a little bit of attention to her-- and then he's made of a thousand percent shock!!! And whips a rose at La Crima, point blank. "NEPH! Nephrite! Stellar! STELLAR! HELP ME--"

The Evil Ents are taking a beating, but they're taking a beating in between crystals raining down and Jadeite making a gravity singularity in the middle of everything, so at least there's more harrying for the forces of good. There are lumbering dead-tree energy vacuums exploding in lightning and crescent beams, exploding in, yes, matchsticks. Another one gets rocketed and explodes in slightly larger chunks, whoof. There is the smell of woodsmoke all around, and sparks and tiny tongues of flame starting to climb over splinters and dust and lick at dead tree limbs. Mars isn't using fire, but these trees have been dead a long time, and lightning strikes. Tsukiko's kicking zigzag means she's getting closer too, and man, that's someone else Hematite really doesn't want to hurt. He doesn't even know her, but look at her!!

And another tiara-- Moon isn't purifying. Why? Why isn't she purifying?

For a second, Hematite thinks he's gonna get yelled at again because there are blue swords in the air, but it's Chrono, not Sayaka, and he teleports out of the way and back closer to the shrine-- and WOW, as he looks at where he was standing, the three swords obliterate each other and Hematite looks startled.

He lifts his hands again and pulls once more, and this time--? This time, it's literally rocks and dead underbrush and blasts of crumbling leaves that blow out from the overgrown sides of the road, more tripping hazards, more woes, and also dust and leaf bitlets coming up and getting in people's faces in the gusting storm-smell Jupiter's brought with her.

But then his attention is finally, finally fully present!! And GOD the shrine-- "Stellar, Shitennou--! Keep them off me I have to get her out of there!"

He does not dive into the death void. He barehanded grips the sides of the doorframe and shuts his eyes and wills his power through--

(There is something the device users will notice, it is something the Shitennou-- ALL of them-- and Sailor Moon will notice: there's another energy at play, it's thin and struggling and golden and determined. He cracked his heart open for Himeko to find; he's holding it open still.)

"Himeko! HIMEKO! COME OUT OF THERE! People are going to get hurt!"

Hannah Steiner has posed:
Amidst all the chaos, that energy is.../strange/! It's not the Dark Energy that's getting thrown around. Could it be this 'Himeko' that Hematite is ranting about? Confusion reigns in Hannah's mind even as she dutifully tries to smash her current opponent into the dirt with an ent.

Also there's lightning and dead on-fire tree bits.

"Moon-chan, what is he ranting about!?" Goes Hannah, vaguely, as she tries to ward off getting lit aflame!

<Und can anyone identify what that energy signature is?> She asks more pertinently to the Mahou Comms Team.

Makoto Kino has posed:
The lightning comes at her call, silver-bright, scouring the dead trees--

--red lightning explodes from the ground back up into the sky, striking at the heart of the storm that Sailor Jupiter called.

She jolts painfully in midair, a wordless yell escaping her as the backlash hits and the senshi of Thunder drops like a damn rock. She lands hard, just barely managing to bleed some of her momentum into a roll over the broken pavement. "Ow!"

As she pushes herself up, scuffed and a bit scraped, her expression is alight with affront. First roses. Then trees. Now lightning. It's not personal - it's probably not personal - but it feels kinda personal.

She scrambles onto her feet, throwing an arm up to shield her eyes against the flurry of dust and dead leaves and petals. "SERIOUSLY?" Her other hand scatters fresh petals into the air, pink and white, calling a new gust to drive back the bombardment. Everything around her is chaos, and she looks for Sailor Moon, for Sailor Venus, those bright spots of white and gold and light.

Pyrite has posed:
    There's a hole in the shrine. Hannah threw her sheathe and it punctured the shrine. The sheathe may have been thrown back at its source, but there's still a hole in the shrine. And it's bleeding. Just a trickle at first, then a steady flow, then it is spraying out like a fire hose, spreading cracks across the wall, expanding the damage and the volume of blood pouring out.
    Nii-chan... What happened? We feel weaker...
    A message only one person hears. Hematite is in the shrine just like he's out here.
    So he also sees how, forcibly dragging her other half up through the murk of her soul, Himeko seems to be moving further away as she swims instead of closer. Even with the stars right there, they're getting harder and harder for her to reach. Especially with the added burden.
    At least She isn't fighting any more. She doesn't look like She can. So much of Her is flaking off and flowing down, spiraling towards the abyss.
    Nii-chan! Where did the exit go! I... I'm leaking out into nothing and I--

Zoisite has posed:
    The tiara collides with Zoisite's forceshield. He looks annoyed, his head jolting forwards as though he has somehow been struck by the cosmic frisbee even though it didn't make physical contact. He unfolds his arms and starts to raise his hands as one of the dead trees, swollen on Dark Energy, slams down on him, only noticing the shadow and air distortion at the last second, and looking up too late to do anything.

    For several seconds, there's just the smashed tree where Zoisite was floating. Then the tree starts glowing from the inside, orange, red, and yellow light building like a furnace as it leaks through every available opening, before erupting in a ring of fire that expands outwards. A shockwave of flame.

    Zoisite's hair is dissheveled, and he has a cut on his forehead. He doesn't notice his blood is a muddy green as well as it leaks from a cut on his forehead. He looks enraged. "Right, that's it, you'll all have to go." he snaps rapidly, as flaming tree fragments rain down around him. Those fragments don't hit the ground though. They hover in place, amassing gradually into countless sharpened torches. Then Zoisite throws a hand forwards, and a barrage of burning zombie tree blades goes flying into the crowd of Mahou, indiscriminately.

    Oh, and look at that. Hematite just hurled a bunch of very flammable brush into the crowd as well.

    This should be absolutely splendid.

    Except for that goddamn singing. Is that why he's bleeding so much? Is that how the tiara damaged him through his forceshield? Being weakened continuously during all this is a hell of a problem.

    He is somewhat distracted, also, by whatever Hematite is doing. What even is that? It's super annoying, whatever it is. Like there's something on the tip of his tongue and he just can't quite--

Coco Kiumi has posed:
<<Hannah, please, be careful! We don't want to upset the Shrine or Himeko!>> Remarks to be on your guard aside, she tries to dodge and repel anything dangerous she can with her song.

"Piece of Love: Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"

In a galaxy, a small star that I call myself
Has sprouten up with a single droplet of love.
If you fear of losing things, then you cannot fight.
So make a prayer to the Moon, and a prayer to the Stars and engrave the path you should be traveling down in your heart.
The reason for my tears heating up is a piece of love from fate
Touching upon, and meeting with a piece of my heart.

Live Stages appear around the places that get on fire, their purpose to keep the flames sealed in so they don't spread.

Her purifying song meanwhile is still combating the surrounding darkness, and helping with any fatigue and small wounds her friends may have.

Nephrite has posed:
    Nephrite matches blades with Uranus. They are both swift, nimble, physically powerful fighters. The primary difference, however, is that Nephrite has a shield. He raises the Star Buckler to tank the kick from the Outer Senshi, and floats backwards from the force of it. A magic sword flies at him from Chrono's Device or... Something. For all the fact that Midnight Tokyo started with the idea to nullify the advantages of a Devicer's barriers, Nephrite still does not really understand how they work. So all he can do is try to force mana into the binding that appears in front of him as he lets loose his spell. A spear of stars stabs forth from over his shoulder, trying to disrupt the binding by simply tearing it apart at the center.

    Right as La Crima stabs Nephrite from behind.

    Nephrite turns to look over his shoulder. He looks less pained and more... Offended. "So it was you after all." he says coldly. Spy found. For all the good it does him.

    Nephrite throws himself forwards, wrenching his body off the blade, spinning to try to roundhouse kick the traitor away, and then leap away to try to keep all of his attackers in his sight. He notices the trail of blood he leaves behind, but doesn't have time to forcibly regenerate.

    'Huh. I wonder when my blood turned green?' he thinks idly.

    He tries to pay attention to everything and everyone all at once, but there's a lot. Lightning from multiple sources, singing that makes him bleed out even faster, and there's STILL people attacking him even while he's distracted by whatever the hells Hematite is doing by the shrine. What is that?

    Nephrite thinks he felt something like that before. A couple times. But where? The ball... The Halloween party... But somewhere else too. From a long, long time ago...

    He keeps losing focus. Not just because of his injury, but because the lightning and thunder are triggering memories. He isn't just seeing the present, but flashes of the past too. A past from so long ago that it's just scraps stitched together out of order, but he remembers the lightning.

    And so... He's distracted.

    And he sees Zoisite firing burning wood shrapnel into the crowd.

    And he moves without thinking, abandoning sword as he teleports to Naru, instantly appearing in a flicker of red light, and tries to turn to block any of it that would otherwise have reached her with the shield he still has on his arm. Could Stellar have handled it?

    Absolutely.

    Is logic what's commanding Nephrite's decision making right now?

    Not a chance.

    He doesn't even know when he teleported.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
The storm of debris forces Tsukiko to slow down, both from the treacherous footing and the lack of visibility. With the zombie-trees taking a beating, there's less immediate threat of being melee'd by a branch, but the wolfgirl still takes a few cautiously shuffing steps away from the general mass of mobile trees.

At least the handkerchiefs tucked into her gloves help the effectiveness of holding her arm in front of her face to protect against debris! And she can smell the smouldering embers well enough to avoid the worst of them, although the purified silk handkerchiefs are still taking occasional bits of burn damage--

    --but that's before Zoisite's volley.

There's a split second of clear in the genral debris storm, just barely enough time for Tsukiko to see the incindiary splinters and hit the deck, trying to roll with some of the rocks for a modicum of cover.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    The trees are being dealt with, but Stellar has much larger concerns than them anyway. When the shrine suddenly responds to the violence with red lighting and rapidly forming-then-dispersing clouds, her mouth twists. "Ah, godammit." She mutters, turning to grip Naru lightly on the shoulder. "Tell them to-"

    Just then, Hematite calls for her. Yells her name, and calls for help.

    She doesn't have to go- despite what she might tell people, that she'll come if they call her, she isn't under any obligation, there's no magical force compelling her to comply. But she said she would. More than once to Darien- to Mamoru. And she can feel that thin, golden energy as well. This isn't about hurting him, after all, for all that they are standing on opposite sides of a battlefield. It's just a distraction. And she's made promises. Sworn oaths.

    Sincerity and respect.

    She vanishes from beside Naru and Kazuo with a hiss of displaced air and suddenly she's standing up at the shrine, between Hematite and where Nephrite and La Crima struggle (or had, as Nephrite teleports away). An ominous rumble crackles across the angry sky, similar yet distinct from those caused by the shrine, by Sailor Jupiter summoning lightning. She raises both her arms, and crackling oval shields of golden energy blaze into being along her forearms, one on each, traces of orange-reddish lightning racing across their surfaces in an electric frenzy.

    She glances over her shoulder to where Hematite is yelling through the door. "You're running out of time. Make it count." She says, quietly but somehow still able to be heard.

    If any attacks make it past the others and look as though they are going to actually strike Hematite while he attempts to guide Himeko from the shrine, she will block them. She's made promises, after all.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Jupiter LIGHTNINGS the trees -- there's a handy element to have right now! and Amy blows up one and then everything is wet and then the... the wet plent detritus is being whipped up and Amy, unsure if it hides a more damaging attack, rocket jumps again.
    He's asking STELLAR to stop them? What the hell?! It should be interesting to see how she responds.

    Wait what the hell--

    Amy slams back into the ground much sooner than expected thanks to Jadeite. At least her knees are armored. THAT is the purpose of the silly little armor pieces on her costume!

    Amanda has played a zillion platformer games, 2D and 3D, and seen many variations on physics, and the slight ways that Rockman moves differently from Super Mario moves differently from Sonic or Samus Aran. There's an unseen source of acceleration...

    "HA-- TRAGAR-CHAN!" Amy shouts. "Someone's messing with gravity! Can't you like, fix that?!" She stands up and makes her way towards her magical girlfriend, holding her arms and the launcher in front of her face to keep leaves out of her face.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's a certain satisfaction when the tiara strikes against Zoisite's forcefield hard enough to cut him anyway.

"You can hit all of them except Hemachan...and La Crima, for now," Sailor Moon calls to Sailor Uranus belatedly, realizing finally that she'd been addressed. Her eyes still stray to Hematite constantly - even with so many enemies to fight, she can't help but want to turn her attention to him. Even with a singularity pulling everyone in - she throws her head back, eyes to the sky.

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

The beam of blue light - which works best on intangible beings, but certainly strikes a punch on the solid - flies free in a direct line towards Jadeite. It's not nearly strong enough to be fatal, but if he tanks it, it will take all his concentration.

And then there's Hannah-chan, speaking to her. There's Naru in her head, manning communications, and she uses her communicator, hoping Naru will pick it up -

SAILOR MOON to NARU OSAKA: he's going for himeko! i think she's coming out!

And there's Hannah-chan talking to her - "His sister went into that shrine and he's trying to get her out!" - and there's still so much happening -

She sees a flicker and there's Nephrite next to Naru and she wants to blast him to pieces but there's something in the air, something wrong, something she feels, and the shrine is bleeding - "Everyone, get away from the shrine!"

Naru Osaka has posed:
<< Remember everyone. Don't be on Fire is Rule number #1. >> Naru reminds everyone through the comms.

She is keeping an eye out for anyone on the light side team that is struggling, or looking like they are the worse for wear, but the purifying song seems to be keeping eveyrone in one piece fairly well. Along with some good dodges at laest.

Naru winced a little as she watched La Crima stab Nephrite in the back. Even if it doesn't seem to hurt him dramatically, it's still never /fun/.

And then there's a swap of people. Stellar is off to Hematite's side, and Nephrite is there with her.

<< Don't damage the Shrine! >> Because the Shrine is .. bleeding? Can Shrines bleed?

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown glanced around the field, taking stock of what was occuring. Well. Other than rapid chaos.

AND NOW FIRE! FIRE IN ALL DIRECTIONS!

He dove, racing towards the flaming bladed shards! While Hematite's fragments were dangerous, well... flaming blades seemed a bit more. And while he knew Hematite didn't want to hurt them, he didn't know about Zoisite.

            <<Subzero Boundary!>>

Once more he thrust his staff out, ice forming at the tip RIGHT as the first shards get there... then expanding outwards. The ice would attempt to snag and form a barrier of ice, snuffing out some of the fire...

But as fast as his device was, it wasn't fast enough, nor was he truly powerful enough, to stop all of them. Some would get through the ice, one skidding past it and slashing past his right arm, cutting through the barrier jack. Still, a wall of ice was at least heavily dampening Zoisite's flaming, piercing assault.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Just keep them busy, keep them distracted, the real work is being done elsewhere. She knows that, remembers that. So she doesn't even need to win, she doesn't have to give it everything she's got and Moon would be sad if she hurt... and then her allies hurt Nephrite for her.

    And then Haruka hears Sailor Moon's reply to her mostly unserious question. "Oh man, that is bad news for you pretty boys." she says, and anyone listening can hear the glee in her voice. It's not that she likes hurting people. It's just that when it comes to magical girl'ing, she's really got the one thing she's good at. Getting into trouble then beating it. Beating on trouble is her forte. Now she gets to do what she's good at. It's like being sat behind the wheel of a racecar. It's her space. Her place. Her skill, when it comes to the magic world. And on the list of things Haruka and Sailor Uranus have in common, it's a tendency to show off.

    She raises her hand to the sky, collecting orange energy into a crystaline form. Nephrite's away where she can't see them - so she's going to go after another target. Zoisite.

    WORLD SHAKING!

    The energy is slammed into the ground, ripping up the terrain in a line as the concentrated collected energy of an Earthquake roars out towards the other person who confuses others so easily.

    She's told to get away from the shrine, but instead she makes one of her high jumps and moves close to Sailor Moon. She's not good at doing what she's told. If Sailor Moon runs, she'll follow her - protecting her back, but if the other girl doesn't, she's not going anywhere either.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima gets roundhouse kicked. In the face. This hurts a lot, and causes her to loose grip of her blade which she stabbed into Nephrite and watches as he bleeds green. She knew these jerks weren't human. She knew it.

She huffs and has to physically turn her head the right way as she draws up her hand and throws a blast of dark energy through the air at Zoisite now.

"Your plan is dumb. And I stand by that." she snaps. "You can't change a power dynamic and not..not expect this." she says angrily.

"Go wreck someone elses domain, Stay out of the Dusk Zone!" she snaps.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The gusting flower petals are stronger than the gusting dust and crumbled leaf bits, but the pebbles and sticks on the broken-up street surface definitely don't help anyone walk or run.

Hematite CAN'T stick his arm through the door. Instead, hurriedly, he takes off his cape -- his TANKING cape -- in the middle of the fight and tears the bottom off of it, then wads it up and tries to jam it in the bleeding hole in the wall of the shrine. His hand's on the surface, his other hand stretches out toward the door. "Grab one! Grab a constellation! I tethered them for you! They connect back to me, just climb that-- ohhhh-- here--"

(The thin gold strand is brighter, so carefully, and Hematite has his hand over his heart, and he swims down further and tries to throw Himeko a rope--)

He's still-- calm. He's still calmer at least, once again all anxiety and aggravation instead of rage, and despite his attack on poor Coco, that's probably down to her influence.

And he looks up and back, and his eyes are overbright as he looks at Stellar. "I will," he promises her, "I am."

He hears-- so many things. And things are too bright behind him, and there are too many things going on, and Nephrite is hurt and bleeding, Zoisite is setting everything on fire, Jadeite is getting tiara'd, and Moon yells for everyone to run but there's so much going on, he can't actually track what's going on anymore--

--until EARTHQUAKE.

"NO!" shrieks Hematite, "You'll hurt the sh--" he has no idea if it'll do a single damn thing, but he wings a rose at the oncoming attack, sticking it in the ground in front like a dagger to bounce off of, but is it even magic anymore? Can a rose that breaks magic break a magical earthquake? Let's, as a wise girl once said, find out together!

Hannah Steiner has posed:
With new information, and a whole lot of Machinegun Fire Torch Spikes coming their way? Well, Hannah's grow furrows, and she decides she hates this shrine and everything about it. Especially since it's bleeding.

Amy does have a good idea regarding all this gravity shenanigans. Jadeite gets one /heck/ of a glare, and she clenches her free hand.

She can help her allies get away from the shrine /and/ interrupt any further attempts at edging in on her own spell type!

"I shan't be outdone! I AM THE CENTER OF GRAVITY!"

<Fluss: Akkretion>

Suddenly there's an ever-increasing, ever-internally impacting and self-wrapping ball of pure gravity energy that she's cramming into rather dangerous levels of opposing gravity well shenanigans. She intentionally lets it leak, such that she'll start to drag in any of the mahou that want to not be in the blast radius of Whatever-In-The-Heck is going on with that bleeding, lightning-belching shrine.

Using one Turmschild to take the brunt of those stabby spikes of fiery doom, Hannah scowls as she notices Jadeite happens to be /just/ out of range. Which somewhat puts a dampener on her original plan to draw him in and punch gravity wells into his face.

And so once any willing mahou have been gravity-dragged to safety? She tosses the thing like a fastball right towards her chosen rock antagonist for the night.

Namely, Zoisite, as she tries to explode several conflicting sphereical layers of gravity into the young man's wonderful facehole even as she's battered by all the flying debris being kicked up about!

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Maybe it's the dark energy, maybe it's the raw effect of the rose, maybe it's the willpower Hematite has in the moment. Whatever the case, while the rose doesn't stop the World Shaking, it does absorb it in a sense, the ground ripping up around it and shuddering before two giant earth-and-tile walls rise up and CLAP the rose flat. It's a good thing that didn't hit anyone anybody liked.

    Okay. World Shaking thrown, no effect. Things are... frantic. If her called attack didn't do anything - stopped by a simple rose - what was left? Run in with the sword and stab? Kick?

     And then, from somewhere deep within, Haruka can feel her Guardian calling to her. The outfits of the Shitennou. The memories half-forgotten. The anger, rage, loss. A fight she didn't even get the chance to lose, and now here, she wasn't winning it? Hell no, Guardian Uranus said. We're not done yet. We have SO MUCH MORE. World Shaking didn't solve the problem? Fine. Sailor Uranus looks at her sword as it gleams, and then flows into a swirling motion, raising it above her head, letting orange, angry, ferocious energy - the power of the Solar Wind - flow into it.

    SPACE SWORD BLASTER!

    Who is it targeting? Still Zoisite. Why? Because she can't punch his face from all the way over here. And Moon cried about her not hurting hematite. And everybody first went after Nephrite, so it made sense. As far as she knew he was out of the fight (she actually hadn't noticed him shielding her communications ally since then) - work your way down the chart. Jadeite's time to pay for the rips in her fuku and the scratches on her body and the pain she was ignoring would come right after, Guardian Uranus assured herself.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Injured though she is, disoriented though she is, Sailor Mars has to fight back now. Because unlike Hematite, these others aren't holding back. Unless, terrifying thought, they actually are holding back. And that's the only reason their side isn't already torn apart. Focus, Rei!

    Clasping her hands together, the shrine maiden focuses the power of Mars. She is going to need something strong to not be dragged back towards her by Jadeite's power. She gathers flame in her hand and forms a circle with it, spinning, and then hurling a barrage of burning blades at Jadeite as she yells out, "BURNING MANDALA!" If that doesn't make him cut it out, what will?

    Venus chewed up the trees pretty good with her light attacks, Jupiter continues to rain lightning, the unnatural actual rain from the sky is hard enough when it comes to almost bring a normal person to their knees but it's not continuous, and there's flaming shrapnel, and, and, and!

    All Mars can do is what she personally can do.

    So she just tries to burn Jadeite until he can't fight any more. Even if that means endangering his life.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru had /thought/ that Nephrite got away without too much injury from the stabbing by La Crima. That is until he got next to her and she got a much better look at him.. and he's /bleeding green/.

That cannot be good.

Naru goes into her satchel, coming out with a sparkling candy for him and she confirms that it's just healing. Not purification. "I don't know if straight up healing helps you.." She offers it to Nephrite, her brow furrowed with worry at him.

Immaterial of the fact that they're on the opposite side of the fight. He came to her, she isn't here to kill him.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh sure, Amy's the foreigner who doesn't understand how sacred and historical the shrine is, but *she's* not the one causing earthquake damage...

    Honestly, everything is becoming such a mess now. Fire and sharp debris scorches, buffets, and cuts her a bit. Hematite is trying to get Himeko out, but Amy can't really SEE what's going on in all the mess, or determine if she should attack someone. She doesn't WANT to escalate things even more...

    But she hears that wonderful voice shouting out amongst the chaos. "Aww, you're the center of my gravity." she says this nonsensical sentence with a smile on her face.

    And then she's dragged by Hannah's spell away from the shrine, sliding under it and slingshotting herself into the air again!

    She doesn't have to escalate to even more damaging attacks. She has other options!

    Like supporting Hannah's attack by firing a flashbang rocket at Zoicite's vicinity! It's like a flashbang grenade, but rocket! See, she doesn't have to blow up the shrine!

Makoto Kino has posed:
Sailor Moon shouted for everyone to move, to get away from the shrine. Jupiter reacts almost on reflex, leaning into the petal-strewn wind that swirls around her as she breaks into a bounding sprint across the uneven, grasping, debris-littered ground.

It's wrong. It feels wrong. The fight is still raging, and Jupiter sweeps a look around her, taking in the mess, the chaos, the magical attacks mostly targeting Zoisite.

The one thing about being able to wield lightning from on high - there really is no safe distance.

Her eyes catch on Jadeite, too far out of range for Hannah to target, and Sailor Mars unleashing the flames. Jupiter reaches defiantly upward and seizes control of the storm clouds once more. A massive ROAR of thunder reverberates in the air, threads of green-edged white chasing the red back.

"SUPREME THUNDER!"

A column of white-hot energy forks down from on high and merges with Sailor Mars's Burning Mandala, electricity threading through and around the blades of fire as they blaze towards Jadeite.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jadeite is yelled at not to do space-time warping that could endanger Hematite. So he stops, muttering, and focuses just on forceshielding. He may find himself standing side-by-side with Stellar, eyeballing her, as they both try to protect the same person from the same people. Until a tiara comes at him. Gods, not this fucking thing again. He knows better than to try to stop it with telekinesis, or his forceshield. He has stopped with the space warping, so instead he channels everything he has into offense, and tries to BLAST the tiara full force.

    That means... A lot of Dark Energy.

    Dark Energy collides with cosmic power, dark and light warring in the air. Jadeite is, again, focused solely onm this, and nothing else.

    So he misses when blades of fire come at him, slashing and burning him, and making him lose his focus.

    The tiara continues its flight, and embeds itself in Jadeite's chest.

    He staggers backwards, towards where Hematite is trying to stop a shrine from bleeding. Jadeite looks down at the growing dark-green stain on his uniform, and the piece of metal half-sticking out of him.

    He raises his head to look at Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars, and opens his mouth to say something, but all that comes out is a mix of red and green blood.

    Then lightning straks down from the heavens and pierces him as well, drawn to the tiara. He writhes, smokes, and ultimately collapses on the ground.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The last twenty or so minutes has been a nonstop stream of invective raging in dozens of languages, both living, dead, and more than a few that are purely fictional in the mind and later out loud by Sailor Pluto.

And every single curse and imprecation is hurled at that most carelessly malevolent Demon of the Perverse known and despised by working people all over the world and throughout history.

MURPHY

It wasn't the fault of that poor track student that he tripped and broke his arm...but because it happened at the last minute, Nurse Meiou was forced to take care of him until the paramedics could arrive and take him to the local hospital.

A necessary process, but one that took TIME.

And despite being the Senshi of Time, Sailor Pluto was in a situation where she could not spend it frivilously.

Thus, a quick transformation and then a mad dash across Tokyo to the Forgotten District.

To the Soryu Shrine.

Cursing Murhy every step of the way.

Once she passes the boundary into the Forgotten District she didn't need any further guide as to where to go.

All she had to do was beeline towards the massive amounts of magic being thrown.

Hell, if it weren't for the Veil, a battle like this could quite possibly be visible from ORBIT.

And...it's all CHAOS.

There's Moon and Uranus and Jupiter and Mars and Mercury and Venus were in the scrum there somewhere...Trager...Chrono...others she couldn't track or didn't know...and one of the Shittenou defending NARU?

No.

No.

Sort that out later. Right now is time for assistance.

Pluto stops a short distance away, readies hersef, then summons the Garnet Rod.

And then she spends a good two seconds blinking at the folding chair hanging from the ring at the top.

Apparently it got tangled up with a spare chair she'd grabbed for the 'camping trip'

After a moment, she shrugs. It just means an extra turn...and she IS the Guardian of Revolution, after all.

Thus, with a whisper of

    dead scream

Sailor Pluto spins...but this time she adds an extra rotation...at the end of which she twists the Garnet Rod ever so slightly so that the folding chair unlocks and goes flying in an arc towards Jadeite...then she spins once more and lets her purple ball of Death energy fly at Zoisite.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown really, really, REALLY had to resist calling out the 'center of gravity' comment. No, Hannah, just because belkans ACT like the densest thing in the universe doesn't make them its center... He adjusts his flight slightly to avoid getting dragged in. Meanwhile, shielded behind the wall of ice he'd made, his device flashed for a moment. Something red droppe into his right hand and he spun...

            <<Stinger Blade!>>

He didn't launch one, though. A single blade came out and cut through his ice shield, splitting it in front of him. He then threw... something? Red lightning flashed from his fingertips, streaking through the air straight at Zoisite... And... was that the sound of Castanets?

A single red rose, much like the rose that Hematite had used to stop World Shaking, streaked through the air. The very tool Hematite had once given the TSAB enforcer. The tool that Chrono had long been studying to learn the effects of dark energy.

It was time to return to sender.

Rather than a blade, it was the shittenou's leader's own rose, now free of dark energy, blazing a path towards Zoisite's own barrier.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar stands just outside the shrine, her back to Hematite as he does his best to lead Himeko back out. Her face is grim, determined- she didn't come here to help him do this, but situations change. There's the bad outcome, and then there's the really bad outcome, and she isn't about to let either of them happen. Not if she can put herself in the way of the problem.

    Sailor Moon yells for everyone to get away from the shrine, but she doesn't move. Not out of a lack of self-preservation, but simply because Hematite is still here and he's the one who asked for her help. He's not done yet. Besides, if the worst happens, this is where she's best positioned to do something about it. If there's anything to be done at all.

    "Hurry up!" She snaps over her shoulder, even though she knows full well that if he could he would. It's not up to him. It's up to Himeko, and that's something she can't predict.

    Magical energy is flying about at such magnitude its blinding her senses, but anything that comes close to Hematite or the shrine, if its within her reach, gets swatted or deflected by her shields. It's not much, as everyone else seems to be focusing on the Shitennou. Jadeite falls, and she winces slightly though she doesn't budge. Repercussions come after. The job isn't finished.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
A swap out: Stellar for Nephrite. And Nephrite is shielding Naru.

And bleeding. Green or not.

Behind him, Kaitou Kamen steps a little back from Naru, trying to encompass both of them. All three of them. Fire, shards, stone, dust, lightning, splinters. Burning splinters. Rose roots, still. There is so much to be dealing with. Nephrite is keeping Naru, and hopefully himself, safe from Zoisite's active attacks. Kamen's keeping the ambient menace at bay.

Except, of course, for the shrine. And the gravity.

At least they're already as far from the shrine as anything in this fight is. At least there's that. At least there's -- Hematite, what the hell are you doing.

Jadeite.

Zoisite.

He wants to be everywhere at once. He wants to --

No. He is not going to let himself want to be on the wrong side. He has one order to follow, and he is doing it, no matter how much in this moment he wants to do anything else.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko picks herself up off of the ground, sizing up the situation. The generals are getting pummeled, Hematite is trying to fish Himeko out of the shrine, the shrine is an utter mess, and the wolfgirl herself has no momentum built up. And they're trying to not accidentally dust Himeko via purification, so a Soulful Howl would probably be less than useful.

So Tsukiko readies to dart into action, in case any of the mahous wind up needing a quick rescue.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's Uranus at her back, and for all the tension that had existed between them, for all that they walked different paths when it came to little ideas like not killing people -

Uranus was one of her own. The part of Usagi that was Sailor Moon would never, could never, forget that. So to have her at her back, even when both of them should really be getting away from this shrine -

Well, it satisfies something deep within her. Attacks fly fast and free, with Uranus and Hannah and Amy all teaming up to strike at Zoisite, and Mars and Jupiter teaming up to strike at Jadeite, and Nephrite is off the field and La Crima is on their side and Sailor Moon most certainly will not be attacking Hematite, would never, but especially not when Stellar is protecting him, watching his back so he can get his sister, and she's breathless with relief because they are not just buying time, they are actually beating them back -

Sailor Pluto arrives on the scene. The whisper of her voice is carried to her ears despite the chaos, despite the noise, that gentle call that summons the power of death itself.

Not instantly fatal, but sure to hurt.

Her tiara doesn't return instantly. She frowns and jerks her wrist - and the tiara comes back to her, metal and energy and red-and-green with blood.

Oh that's gross.

Attacks fly. She could join them -

But Sailor Moon doesn't. Instead, there's the sound of castanets and a red rose flies and she stops, shocked. Her eyes fly to Chrono.

"Oh, he's going to hate that," she breathes.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima gets rosed, point blank earlier, that stung a lot and is what led to her being roundhouse kicked so easily.

She still has that rose sticking out of her and it hurts like heck, but she'll worry about it later. It probably won't follow her when she turns immaterial anyways.

Hopefully.

Instead, she just suddenly lunges, as shadow, through the air and in vaporous form, attempts to touch Zoisite, so she can just heavily, heavily drain him of delicious, useful energy through all the chaos.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Usagi warns of the shrine that starts bleeding, so she takes distance thanks to the floating of her Live Stage, from holes Hematite is trying to repair. What is happening? Can she help somehow? Would purifying cause it to flow away even quicker, or slow down its flow?

She needs information, and information is what there is no time to get. And the Shitennou are everywhere, and everybody is attacking indiscriminately left and right, and she can't do much better than this, and-

'Calm down, my mermaid princess', a melodious voice says in her head. 'You have dependable friends, never let your trust waver'. And just as quickly as it came, the serene voice disappears, still living her to this situation, but with a clearer vision.

Her purification is reaching Hematite, he isn't as panicked as he was. Let's keep going.

Nephrite has posed:
    Nephrite does what he can. A buckler is not a wall against flaming arrows. He turns to look over his shoulder at Naru. "I heal like anyone else. A little bit faster sometimes, but not when that purification song and all the rest is affecting me." Then he looks forwards again. He glances towards Kaitou Kamen. Then across to Zoisite, and then to where Jadeite fell. Everything is falling apart.

    And Hematite still hasn't gotten his sister out yet.

    "I'm sorry." Nephrite says. He doesn't specify what for.

    Probably a lot of things.

    He chews his candy and wonders if there's any point, or if he should just die alongside his brothers.

Zoisite has posed:
    Zoisite is the second most powerful of the Shitennou. At least those that are currently employed under that name. Yes, he's eyeballing you, Kazukunz. So, it makes sense that, with Hematite off-limits, Jadeite down, and Nephrite defending the good guys against him, Zoisite is the target for virtually everything.

    That doesn't mean he has to like it.

    He coils all of his fire around his forceshield, turning it into a sphere of flame. He dumps all the Dark Energy he managed to recover since Crystal Tower into another barrier of just Dark Energy around himself. "I'm not done yet!" he calls out as he makes rapid gestures. Ice and crystal begin to grow over the flaming Dark Energy barrier, adding a refracting and physically impervious defense.

    Then he curls in on himself, keeping his limbs close and head down, and tries to do what Jadeite is much better at than him.

    You see, force shielding usually requires you pick either kinetic energy or radiant energy to defend against. Kinetic is things like knives, punches, thrown trees, or whatever. Radiant is more like lasers, fire balls, lightning bolts, and so on. They require different energy phases for each form of energy being defended against, and setting up the two phases to run simultaneously is something not many can do. Jadeite is one of them.

    Zoisite is doing his best.

    Gravity layers slam into it first. A space sword blasts his defenses next, rattling them and cracking the physical layer on the outside. A flashbang sends harsh sonic waves through to Zoisite in the middle, barely blunted at all by the kinetic shielding. A Dead Scream slams into and blasts apart the Dark Energy barrier, and Yellow Pearl Voice's singing is still weakening him, and he can't focus, and the magic-breaking rose pierces all of it, ramming into Zoisite's shoulder, and all the defenses fall apart from there. La Crima is draining his energy, and all the attacks he was holding off strike home.

    But not on Zoisite.

Pyrite has posed:
    nii-chan... nii-cha... where di... xit go...?
    The voice in their souls is growing fainter.
    --h, I think I see-- Nii-chan, I se... --it, it's down there--!
    Fainter, and fainter still.
    when did it get so dark--?
    Nothing.
    ...Almost.
Are you sure? Up there? But that's where all the pain is.
Okay. Okay, I believe you. You've gotten us this far.
    Hm!
    Let's go together.
    Everyone is waiting for us.
    The shrine's bleeding slows, as an entire wall crumbles and falls away, and the roof along with it. The death void is spiralling around and around, like a vortex of Nothing, and floating at the middle of it is Himeko. She's still partially submerged, with the upper half of her face unseen, but she's gradually pulling herself free, following the chain of light, the thread of gold, the Bridge of Many Things, to the heart that is her home, because it's the place she returns to.
    The death void cracks, and bright light shines forth, and then the sun rises right here on the Soryuu Shrine's hill.
    Princess Soryuu emerges, existing only for an instant, before she is just Himeko again. Collapsed to hands and knees. Unharmed. But feeling the pain of her brother, and the shame of being unable to keep him from hurting once again.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"You guys!! MY SHITENNOU, GET OUT!" yells Hematite, seeing that the combos have started, eyes going wide. WIDE. And there-- there-- Jadeite--

Is a *Dark General* CRYING?

No. Obviously not.

"JADEITE!!" The last time Jadeite was falling apart, so was Himeko, and Jadeite told him to go after Himeko, but Jadeite was right there. He can't heal Jadeite like this. He can't get rid of the dark energy here, next to the shrine with the Throne of Want underneath it. He can't leave Himeko. He can't get to Jadeite. "Stop stop stop," he whispers, "stop stop stop--"

The only thing that's going right, the ONLY thing, is he can hear Himeko, he can hear her and she's coming back up finally, she's coming back--

A ROSE. HIS ROSE. There's no time to stare at Chrono, no time to teleport up there and punch him like ohhhh Hematite wants to because HOW RUDE CAN YOU GET, because that rose went to pop Zoisite's shield like a soap bubble and everyone is throwing EVERYTHING at him and Hematite SCREAMS "HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU!" at Chrono, at everyone but especially Chrono, as he

teleports

in front

of Zoisite.

Teleports in front and holds up his ripped cape, but it's too late for that, isn't it?

Every attack Zoisite was holding off hits Hematite.

Space Sword Blaster, dead scream, the blindness of a flashbang, the drag of gravity, the constant pull of Coco's song on his own dark energy, agitating the feeling of wasps under his skin that he'd grown used to, and he's kept his heart open for Himeko and she's out, she's out, she's safe, and

it's such a bright light

and Hematite falls and doesn't move again.

Many hearts here can feel the strain on a connection that they might not even have known was there -- many hearts here know exactly what that connection is. The death void is gone, but it certainly looks like death isn't--

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
DEATH.

Sailor Pluto blinks.

DEATH.

While she holds no powers over Death...she DOES have connections and associations to it.

So when Hematite tanks a massive wave of attacks to save his friend and there is that twinge across...SOMETHING. A connection...where?

Pluto frowns. She's complained on several occasions that her magical senses aren't particularly developed due to not having had the opportunity to train them...but following a metaphysical connection?

THAT, she's good at, given she's spent THOUSANDS of years connected to the Gates of Time...Gates that she is bound to and could literally point at if she had some way to physically point, as she phrases it, 'zornward'.

Thus, after a second, her head whips around to look straight at Sailor Moon...and the gears are turning...of course Moon is connected to Hematite...but the connection SHOULDN'T be strong enough for HER to feel it...unless...

As she leaps to land not far from Moon, she keeps staring at the younger woman, her voice barely a whisper, "...oh just this once..."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar is trying to both look over her shoulder and see what is going on with Himeko and Hematite and stay focused forward to intercept any attacks that actually come their way. Luckily, or so it seems in the moment, most of the mahou are focused on taking down Zoisite which means that there's relatively little for her to contend with in that regard.

    She sees, therefore, Princess Soryuu emerge from the shrine... but then it's just Himeko-chan, on her hands and knees. Looking more substantial than most of the times Kyouka has seen her in the past.

    She breathes a sigh of relief, because the job is done and now they can get the hell out of here-

    And then suddenly, Hematite does exactly that. He's gone, leaving Himeko alone just inside the door. Where'd he go? In a sudden panic, she whirls around, just in time to see him appear in front of Zoisite and soak up all the damned attacks at once. "Mamoru, you noble idiot!" She screams after him as he falls to the ground, "Why even call me-" There's actual frustrated anguish in her voice. But she knows full well why he called her.

    There's nothing she can do for him at this moment, anyway. She's not a healer, and there's ones who are closer to him than she is. She turns instead and moves to where Himeko kneels, reaching down to put a hand on the girl's shoulder, as if she isn't a ghost. "Come on," She urges. "He got you out. You need to get up and away from here." She's glancing over her shoulder. Looking for Sailor Moon.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco feels frigid when she watches Hematite fall unmoving. Himeko was out, the shrine had stopped bleeding, the sway darkness had on this place had faded, the feeling of death not overbearing the atmosphere anymore, and he had to take all those hits in place of Zoisite.

She would be at fault if she could not understand why. "He told me the wishes he wanted a miracle for", she starts saying, approaching Usagi. She probably already knows, but Hematite was special to her, and Coco feels she has to say something.

"He wanted to get free of this job, meet his parents, bring someone dear to him back from the dead, get the other Shitennou away too." She offers to give Usagi a hug. "He wanted to change things, and and turn them for the better. Despite everything else, his spirit was pure." She doesn't actually know what to say, but trying to point out the good in him has to be better than standing aside watching Usagi with those feelings that are going to come, right?

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
He has been here before.

It is not the same. But he has been here before. And everything in him, everything, wants to scream, to howl a denial at the universe. It is not supposed to be like this.

His hand moves without thinking to a certain pocket - touches the chain. Does not dare draw it out.

Kazuo has been here before, in this life, in his nightmares. That is all that lets him draw a breath. Lets him take hold of that one order. Lets him look, eyes a colorless, lifeless metal behind his mask, toward Sailor Moon.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
And Sailor Moon had not worried. Sailor Moon had not worried, because Zoisite was strong, Zoisite was powerful, she had seen that for herself, twice, had seen how much it took to drive him off, and Jadeite was strong and Hematite especially, was strong, and this was a fight, a battle, no plan survived the enemy, but they were all so strong.

And then Hematite screams Jadeite's name with terror and grief and agony and she wavers because Jadeite has fallen from the sky and smokes, between burns and lightning. And he screams rage at Chrono and -

She had not considered what it would mean for that rose to fly, even from the hands of someone else.

But the shield shatters and the attacks rush in to swarm Zoisite and -

They do not

Hit

Zoisite.

They strike him. Space Sword Blaster. dead scream. Hannah-chan's gravity spell.

The blinding flare of the flash grenade hides him from view, but not for long enough. Not enough to hide the way he falls.

He

doesn't

move.

There is nothing in the world but the stillness of his body. There is nothing in the world but the ringing thud of his fall. There is nothing in all the world but the strain of connection, the pull and pull and pull and pull and pull of the tie to her heart, the bond that holds and frays and threatens to snap -

Could it snap? Would it? Wouldn't it mean - if that fraying, fraying, fraying thread connecting them snapped, wouldn't that mean -

There is movement. There is a voice that speaks to her in that tone, that consoling tone, that voice she had once heard at a funeral she barely remembered, as her father's mother was given to the next life and all those who knew her lined up to speak and Coco is only saying this because - she is only saying - she says his heart was pure -

"NO!"

Between one breath and the next, Sailor Moon is running. She is sprinting, moving like she's stolen the Soldier of Wind's speed for herself, crossing the distance between herself and the only person her eyes can see, the only thing she can fixate on, the only -

"Hemachan," she chokes, and reaches for him. Her hands soak with wet. With warmth. With red, red, red, and he is not moving and he is so still and she cannot breathe, "Mamochan."

It is a whisper of a name meant only for the two of them, no other voices to hear, it is a plea, a cry, a whimper, she is begging for him to hear her-

He does not move.

Her hands are red with blood and her fingers shake and her lungs are not moving and her face is wet, when did that happen, and he does not move, his lifeblood pours from him and he does not move, he does not answer her, and the tie between them winds tighter and tighter and tighther and she screams as she curls over him, around him, drags his form to her and cradles him to her and the voice that tears from her throat is inhuman, a howl of grief and loss and the call of his name -

"ENDYMION! No! Not like this! Not again! You can't do this again!!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
She can't do this.

She can't

watch him die

again.

She will not let him die again.

There are tears that drip from her face and sobs that shake her shoulders and love that burns in her veins and she feels it, that power, that she had forgotten. The warmth that burned through her veins once as her flesh burned and the power that promised to make everything change surges forward once more and this time there is no greater pain, no greater force, to distract her.

The worst has happened. He bleeds in her arms.

His name from her lips echoes through this haunted place.

Sailor Moon welcomes the only power that will save her love.

There is a light that burns at her chest, in her chest, and there are tears that pour from her face and there are her hands, clutching Hematite - Mamoru - Endymion - to her, and they open, and all close enough to see will see the moment that light blazes brighter than the sun, warm, silver, glowing, and becomes a gem. A faceted jewel.

The Phantom Silver Crystal.

It's light pours forth in an arcing wave that passes over Hematite, over the Shitennou, over the Shrine, and the Forgotten Districrt, and all of Tokyo, in a wave of light that briefly cuts through the darkness of night and leaves the whole of the city shining brighter than a noon day sun.

Grass blooms around them. Dead, dessicated, twisted and burned trees stand in the full bloom of life. All over the city, people breathe easier, as sickness fades, as injury heals. The mahou in this field, those untainted by darkness, breathe deep and find their soreness gone, their energy restored. The injuries of their enemies too, are healed, with the relentless pressure of purifying light that brings them back from death's door but certainly leaves them lingering in hurt.

And in the center of that light is not Sailor Moon and Hematite.

At the center of that light sits a young woman whose skin glows - not with health or with joy or with life or any simple metaphor, but who merely glows with the soft light of the moon, her hair a spill of starlight, silver and white, wispy bangs framing a golden crescent moon on her forehead - her fuku has been swept away in the tide of an empire-waisted gown. In her lap rests not Hemaite, but teenaged boy with unruly dark hair in light armor over a military-style jacket, all light blue and gold trim, a symmetrical design of sweeping curves and seam outlined.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima can feel something light and she raises her hands and she can see it, and she 'see's where it comes from...

She'll remember to gloat to Veronica that she was right. It was someone's heart. Or something. It doesn't matter, it's been inside someone all along.

She escapes to the shadows, but there's nowhere to hide as she sinks into a shadow and merely hides in the shadow of a tree, this is so, utterly, incredibly, uncomfortable for her. She thinks.

'Is this what a world of light energy must feel like. this is awful'.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Sailor Uranus watches, enraptured, almost trapped, with all that's happening. The attacks hit the wrong person - he dives in front, Uranus did not target him but she doesn't get the chance to tell her that, because Sailor Moon is running over and Sailor Uranus' half-hearted attempt to grab at her falls short, more due to lack of effort than lack of possibility.

    And then there's so many things that happens, screams and crying and bright light and the scrapes and scars she was given as well as the one she gave are gone and so is Sailor Moon, and there's a mouthed word that carries no sound, just lips moving as if to say her name.

    Should she walk closer or keep her distance? She settles for the middle ground, noving close enough that she's still closer to the two of them - to her Princess and that same princess' love - that she's closer than any non-senshi but far away enough she's not entirely crowding them.

    She doesn't know what to do, she holds her sword, she looks to Pluto for guidance, she's unsure, but she thinks this is good, right? That kind of power in their hands has to be good, right? And the ghost girl is back, that's good, right? Something must be going right, for once? And she's gripping the sword tightly enough that if she didn't have gloves on you could see her knuckles bright white. Will she have to put someone down? Defend her? Will someone come looking for that power? Is everything OK or is this just the start of more trouble? She doesn't know, and Guardian Uranus doesn't know how to stand down, can't prove it's safe, so she doesn't.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Up above the chaos for a second, Rocket Puella Amy sees Hematite teleport and tank their attacks on Zoicite... Oh wait, shit, his tanking cloak isn't protecting him!

    Hematite goes down.

    Something feels off. Is he...?

    NO!

    At that shout from Sailor Moon, Amy takes a few leaps over to Hematite's side. It's a couple of minutes before the brain runs out of oxygen and that's the worst of a number of timers that could possibly be ticking right now.

    Unless, Amy realizes, his magic is also tied to his SOUL like HERS apparently now is, or something wonky like that. She's not sure if anything else matters if your SOUL runs out. That wasn't in any medical stuff she's read!

    Sailor Moon is already holding him in her arms as the Puella Magi approaches. Weeping for Endymion(???who???). Amy opens her mouth to speak--

    And pure life unlike anything she's ever felt sweeps across everything. Even her soul gem is cleansed of the small amount of darkness it had gained since she last replenished it, and glows a little brighter.

    And there's a goddess sitting in front of her cradling a teenage boy in unfamiliar clothes.

    The only word she can find, for this moment, is a nearly-breathless, "...what?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Everything seems to happen at once.

A rose shatters Zoisite's shield as half a dozen different attacks bear down on him - and strike Hematite down in his place.

Sailor Moon screams.

All the air leaves Sailor Jupiter's body. Time seems to slow, thick as glue. She can see it happen, but she's too slow, too far away, too uncertain of what she should be doing and it's too late.

Then... light. It washes over everything, healing, restoring. Sailor Jupiter's tiara is gone; in its place, the elegant figure-four symbol of Jupiter glows brilliant green in resonance with the silvery light that pours off of the Crystal as the sight of that slim figure in white fills her vision, awakening something ancient deep within Makoto's heart.

(Battle rages around her, the shouts of furious voices and the clash of weapon against weapon, explosions like claps of thunder. The Moon Kingdom has always been so peaceful, but now a storm has broken and the air is full of smoke and violence--

--Across the battlefield, clear in sight but far too far away, she sees the prince fall. Instantly she's running, plunging through the rebels with force enough to send bodies flying, but it's too far, too late, and suddenly everything else seems to fall away into silence as the Princess takes up the sword and plunges it through her own body.

The world shatters. Her scream rips her throat, drowned out by a catastrophic BOOM of a lightning strike--

--The blood roars in her ears; her mouth tastes of tears and ash and all around her white-hot lances of wild, undirected lightning stab down from the sky. The wind churns and rages, howling with a chorus of maddened voices, grief and fury. Sparks lash within it, the force of the gale turning windblown leaves to razors. "Hold your ground!" someone bellows, "It's only one girl!" but no one can reach her, no one can even come near through the battering wind that swirls around her. She's not a girl any more, not a princess - she's an avatar of thunder and lightning, an elemental force of fury and despair.)

Reeling on her feet, Sailor Jupiter whispers, "Serenity..."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Cute Wolf Tsukiko blinks owlishly. There has been a flurry of things happening almost all at once, with wild yo-yo whiplashes of emotion that would make the corkscrewiest roller coaster look like a casual stroll through the park. Himeko is safe, Sailor Moon has tapped into some sort of brilliant power, Hematite was dead (but 'e got betta'!), the entire district seems to be healing...

    Heck, even her silk handkerchiefs seem to have mended the worst of the damage they took during the fight!

Another blink from the wolfgirl.

Then, after another lengthy pause, she goes, "Um."

And flops to a sitting position, and decides to preoccupy her mind by carefully removing the silk handkerchiefs from where she had tucked them before.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown stared, barely breathing. He was calm. He was calm. He... he hadn't meant for that to happen. For a moment, he wondered if that was the dark energy. For a moment...

But no. He'd thrown the rose. He'd known there was the possibility that Zoisite might not make it. But he also knew that, at the end of the day, this was a battle. Casaulties... were an unfortunate reality. He didn't want it, but he could accept it.

But he certainly didn't want it. Especially not when everything had gone still. In the end, it was likely... better the rose had been the catalyst. At least it gave him valid reason to say he'd done it, for the others to not have to worry about the blood on their hands. They weren't soldiers. He doubted any of them had chosen this life. Well...

His eyes glanced to Pluto. Most of them hadn't. At least one soul understood.

Then Sailor Moon ran forward. Her cries. Cries he'd heard all too often. And he felt the softest of sighs coming from his lips. It was... over. There were no miracles. The desperate desire for a miracle was what led to people to shatter, to break, to become all that they despised in a desperate bid for a lost logia.

But there was nothing. A battle had taken place... and a cost had been paid. It--

WHAT THE ABSOLUTE SHIT?!! BY HANNAH'S OVERLY DENSE SKULL, WHAT WAS THAT?!

It took a few moments for his eyes to clear, during which he raised his staff and started doing a scan. WHAT. THE. HELL. WAS.

Every reading off the charts, every notion, every... Was it a jewel seed?! Here? Now? Was it--

... It was a miracle.

Chrono just kind of hovered there. Speechless. His mouth hanging open. Not a jewel seed. Not a lost logia. It was just... a magic... something. Miracle.

... He didn't know if he should just... take his barrier and go home, tackle them and demand an explanation... Or try to contain it.

So instead he just looked to Setsuna and moved a hand towards the princess. Giving her a look that, for the first time on the young TSAB enforcer's face, read clearly as 'What is ANY of this shit?! Are you SEEING this?!'

So much for the stern soldier's mask.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
The light washes over them, and catches in Kaitou Kamen's earring. It flashes brilliantly, refracting tiny rainbows.

So does a six-pointed star shape in the pocket he was reaching for. The chain holding it there dissolves into a cascade of gold glitter; the pocketwatch flares brightly and vanishes, and the white-tie outfit dissolves along with it, leaving behind a uniform not so different from the ones the Shitennou are wearing. Well. The other Shitennou.

At least Sailor Uranus is looking to Pluto, not toward him; her reaction to finding out that one of the enemies she remembers was behind her might not have been the safest.

The little pocketwatch, the golden star cradling the moon at its heart, flashes back into being by the boy in Sailor Moon's lap, in the curve of his hand.

Pyrite has posed:
    Himeko has a hand on her shoulder and a hole in her heart.
    He's not dead yet. But since she can't make ghosts anymore... "I'm being abandoned again." she says quietly in response to Stellar, her voice weak. Then her head rises, and she looks at her fallen brother. Her mother is probably smiling right now. Because she's finally going to get what she wanted from Himeko.
    The ghost girl raises a hand and points it at Mamoru. "As long as I can save my brother, I, Himeko Soryuu, blood of the First Emperor, accept the responsibility of governing the dead, and the burden of the Thro--"
    This is the moment. The moment when the reset button gets pressed, and this timeline is abandoned. Because the world isn't going to survive this.
    But Himeko stops speaking before she finishes the oath.
    A miracle that does not require her sacrifice is about to occur. That other self that she saw in her brother when she was still down there, still drowning, that Endymion he had finally accepted, like Himeko had finally accepted the monster that was a part of her all along, is being saved.
    So, she didn't fail everyone after all. She wasn't a useless thing to be discarded. Himeko Soryuu was not the Moon Princess, so she can put her trust in Sailor Moon after all. Even though pain and sickness and death are being taken away, and Endymion is being restored by Serenity, and things far beyond her understanding are taking place, and that pure silver light washes over everything, the blessing that Himeko receives is not in any way healing or restoration or purification.
    It's just the knowledge that her brother didn't die a second time because of her.
    There is nothing in any world that can buy relief like that.
    She cries in happiness.
    "I feel like I've been brought back to life," she admits to Stellar in a whisper, as tears that are not black, or red, or full of ashes stream down her cheeks and fall to the ground as real and solid as if she were truly still alive.
    She'll be there at her brother's side eventually. Right now, this moment is for those two, not her.
    But she has something to give back. Something she borrowed, to anchor herself, and to cleanse of the owner's pain before returning it.
    But later.
    Later.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
A terrible failure possible has happened, and the pain that exudes from Usagi's voice is a torture that cuts deeply, far far deeply, and yet, it's only a immeasurably small fraction of the pain Usagi's love and affection are making her feel.

That white light... It is a miracle, undoubtedly, an essence of purity inside which, a couple as beautiful as newlyweds stands inside, serene and perfect, untouched by sadness and tragedy, a visage that communicates boundless joy to Coco.

Naru Osaka has posed:
To say there's a lot going on would be an understatement of the week. Possibly of the millennia.

There's people falling, and Sailor Moon having a legit freak out and just so much.

So Much.

Naru just watches as Sailor Moon transforms again into something more.. with her beloved.. not Hematite, that's for sure. She's just watching.. as everything becomes Light and beautiful.

There's a lot.

Naru turns her attention to how Nephrite is coping with all sorts of healing and purification and miracles.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
The grief and pain that Sailor Moon feels is almost a physical thing...and Pluto feels that connection VIBRATE.

As Moon runs over to gather up the fallen Hematite...Pluto's eyes never leave her.

A force stronger than gravity keeps her gaze drawn there...and her feet follow along after the younger Senshi. Her voice is still barely above a whisper as she goes on, "...oh please...please...just this once let us be this lucky..."

Because over the months, Usagi has become like a little sister to her...that family member that everyone might give a hard time to...but when asked privately, all of them would say '...she's the best of us...'.

And Sailor Pluto DOES NOT want to see her mourn.

So when the Silver Crystal manifests FROM SAILOR MOON'S HEART, some might find it slightly incongruous that Sailor Pluto's eyes go wide and she starts...

Cheering?

"Yes...yes...yes...yes...YES!!!!!"

Because she KNOWS what that crystal is and KNOWS what it's appearance means...and moreso than anyone else alive, she's SEEN what it can do...and she knows that not even Death itself can stand against it's power...at least not in THIS case.

She quickly runs over towards the downed pair, then...turns and faces everyone else. She bangs the Garnet Rod hard on the ground, causing it to ring and send a harmless pulse of power to punctuate before she takes a deep breath and intones, "All Hail Serenity the Second, Heir to the Silver Millenium."

And then she strikes the ground with the Garnet Rod once more, causing it to ring and pulse power again.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    By the shrine, Stellar doesn't have a clear view of Hematite and Sailor Moon. But you don't need to have a clear view of them to see that sudden glow of incomprehensible light. To feel it. Kyouka has often described her magic sense as 'smelling' magic. It isn't really smell- that's just how her brain chooses to interpret a sixth sense foreign to humanity.

    The Silver Crystal smells like clean mountain air, and wildflowers on the breeze. It smells like hope.

    "Finally," She mutters to herself, though she can't keep a sigh of relief from passing her lips. What exactly she is referring to is not entirely clear. But she no longer seems concerned about Mamoru.

    She does, however, look down at Himeko who was on the ground beside her a moment before, unsure how that healing magic of pure light would effect the girl. It would be the ultimate irony if Hematite did all this to save Himeko, and then the thing Usagi did to save him in turn undid all his hard work.

    But that's not the case. Himeko is on her feet and looking more real than she has any time that Stellar has seen her. She whispers something, and Stellar's lips quirk up in a half-smile. "You're not the only one." She says, and squeezes the girl's shoulder. "Welcome back."

    Whether she's speaking to Himeko isn't entirely clear.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jadeite appears to be quite dead. Mostly. Vital signs gone. Life ceased. But soul not yet gone from his body. Lingering. A chance. The resilience of being Shitennou, and the modifications to his body that comes with exposure to Metallia's power. Namely, he is not fully a youma yet, but he's just enough youma to survive.

    He jerks as the Silver Crystal's power touches him, guides him back from the brink, heals him. The tiara extracted from his chest cavity and returned to its owner. He gurgles out a mixed slurry of human and youma blood, with bubbles in it, as he fights to sit up. He's in no condition to even regenerate. But he's healing. Fast. Miraculously quickly.

    And now he knows why.

    It happened again. He wasn't able to save Prince Endymion.

    Why was he even saved?

    He's clearly worthless.

Zoisite has posed:
    Zoisite survived because of Hematite. Because of Endymion. The memories come back, jagged and painful as burning glass twisting in his brain. It's happening again. He couldn't protect the Prince. Though stunned by the revelation, by the transformation of Endymion and Serenity, and the revelation of the Silver Crystal, Zoisite has only one responsibility right now.

    He needs to get as far the fuck away as possible before he fails yet again. He can't let that Demon take control here. Not in this moment.

    So he teleports to Jadeite's side as the healing washes over him, bringing the other blonde Shitennou back from the edge of death, the abyss that Himeko has been struggling with in her soul for all this time, still hungry for more.

    He scoops up his comrade, his brother, takes one last look, then a glance towards Nephrite. Then he vanishes with Jadeite, not bothering with special effects. They can't be here when Metallia takes back control.

    No matter how much he loathes the knowledge he will wind up being sent against his charge again very soon.

Nephrite has posed:
    How is he coping? He's healing and falling apart at the same time. His body is destroying and remaking itself over and over, and he hurts so much, and not just physically but emotionally as well. Hah. He should have known. "Prince of Lost & Found indeed." he whispers. Then he looks back at Naru. "It seems we're always parting like this. Hopefully this will be the last time." He turns fully, puts an arm around her and plants a kiss on top of her head. Then, still bleeding green, he disappears. He'll be back soon, he promises.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Endymion.

ENDYMION!!

He hears his name being called-- no, screamed-- but he's busy. So many pulls from so many directions, so many things going on, so much pain, such an unexpected explosion of pain?? Unexpected because the mind is so good at forgetting what the body knows it's braced for.

Someone's yelling about a noble idiot, he heard his other name, Mamoru-- he can't make himself talk. There's softness though, and love, and bright light, and--

And he can feel again, all of a sudden there are no wasps angrily buzzing under his skin, and he can feel every one of his connections bright and true (even if three of them are twisted and scarred and damaged), and he can feel the ground underneath him, and he can feel a watch in one hand. He closes his hand and thinks, this fits.

His other hand comes up as his blue eyes blink open, and he touches the side of Usagi's face. "Serenity," he whispers, "I remember you. I dreamt of you when I was small..."

There are so many voices, there's so much going on, but he's pretty sure there was just a miracle. Either that or he's dead, but Himeko would never let him live that down.

He cough-laughs. "Usako! You can purify the shrine now."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Somewhere in the body which holds the reincarnation of Sailor Uranus from the Silver Millineum, there is a girl named Haruka Tenoh. That girl is quiet and in shock. But that girl is being guided by memories, by energies, by hopes and fears and duties.

    She's got her weapon drawn and while a lot of people are probably trying to move closer, she's trying to make sure she's between them and well... everyone. Pushing or threatening with the sharp pointy metal object in her hand if she has to - Newly Awakened Shitennou and Ally alike. She doesn't know what to do, she doesn't entirely know what's going on, but she knows this is the Moon Princess and this area was - maybe is - still dangerous.

    Someone may have to talk her down. That someone may have to be Pluto or Serenity herself.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima has stuck around long enough to make sure that Mamoru didn't die horribly to the TSAB Gremlin throwing a damn rose. Then she scampers away into the Dusk Zone.

Because screw this noise. It's too bright and she isn't benefiting anymore from being here. What she came to do is done.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko looks up at Pluto's heralding, and gives forth a ragged cheer for Serenity. Okay, so this means Usagi is the princess Luna had been looking for.

Another owlish blink at this recognition. "Oh, I definitely want to see the look on Luna's face when she hears about this," the wolfgirl giggles~

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars is... Overwhelmed. By all of this. Everything going on. Jadeite's apparent death. Himeko emerging. Hematite sacrificing himself, and then Usagi turning into Princess Serenity. The one she was supposed to protect thousands of years ago but died trying to. And she remembers now. She remembers Jadeite from back then. She remembers how different he was from the monster that terrorized the Senshi since they were first awakened. Different from the man who died trying to help his leader save a little girl. Different from every way that Rei Hino has known him in this lifetime.

    She remembers he killed her, but that he would never have done so before the Demon took command of him.

    There's so much to say and do and reconsider. But first thing's first. She has a job to do. She saw Himeko point, and her lips move, and felt dread rising inside of her, but even if it was called off, the threat was there. Sailor Mars races to the Soryuu Shrine, and starts plastering ofuda on what's left of it, trying not to dryheave at the blood that poured out of a building. Before purification, she needs to make sure the door stays shut.

    Otherwise...

    Otherwise something bad will happen.

    Only then will she turn to Serenity, run over to her, and welcome her back.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown just... just sighs. And then... he walks towards them. He stops, however, when Uranus gets bladey. He held up his hands. "Easy, easy, I've got some news for the prince over there," Chrono said, his voice... *exhausted*. You'd think he just spent three days awake. But nope. Miracle. "Hematite! Or... Endymion! Whatever your name is! I'll expect a report on this tomorrow by sunset! You know where my room is!" he then turned and, shaking his head, just walked away... Then paused. "Osaka-san," he said to Naru. "I'll require the device back by the same time. I can track it, but... just... have a nice bit of time applying the real life applications of the homework I've been giving you."

Then the TSAB enforcer just walked away. For real this time.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto stands there, a bit less obvious a guard for Serenity...but she hears Tsukiko's comment about 'wants to see Luna's face'...and her expression gets very...strained as she fights DESPERATELY not to laugh.

SHE wants to see Luna's face when she finds out, TOO.

Figuring she's got nothing to lose by asking, she softly asides to Serenity, "...your highness...PLEASE let me be there when Luna finds out...or failing that, PLEASE make sure someone's recording the moment...it will be PRICELESS."

There she goes. Reminding her liege of things and making sure that things she would be recorded for posterity are.

She then sighs, "...also, given the situation, I've got things ready for your consort's bolthole...and I can take us there directly if you'd like. It might be the safest thing, anyhow."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kunzite lets out a breath, slow, and then lifts his hand to rest it for a moment on Naru's shoulder. Only for a moment, because he doesn't want Sailor Uranus to think he's implying a threat. "I'm going to check on --" He pauses. Mars is running the direction he was planning to go.

Oh.

He just nods in Mars's direction where Naru can see it. And waits for her to finish, and possibly for a Senshi or an Usagi start settling Uranus down enough Naru might be able to start heading in that direction, before he circles carefully around the miracle, not close enough to invite a stab, to join Himeko and Stellar. Because while Himeko's brother isn't in shape to tend to her, she shouldn't have to weep without family there.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Hematite!" Coco exclaims as she approaches, one of many swarming them while the couple shines there with they love. "You are all right!" That's the Silver Crystal Usagi has, right? That is its own fair share of questions, but somehow that isn't really important right now, what's important is the fact he is there, and alive. And so different too.

"Sorry, I should say Endymion", she corrects herself with the name Usagi shouted. "You will have lots of things to tell each other, but I am so glad you both are well." With that, she retreats to give space to the two of them, and goes to check with the others. This is a joyous day.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Serenity laughs - hiccups - laughs and hiccups and there are tears that roll down her face and eyes that shine with all the depth of space and she leans into his hand.

"I think I already did," she admits, and kisses him, right there in front of everyone. What's anyone going to do about it, huh?

And then Sailor Pluto proclaims her princess, heir, right there in front of everyone, and a harmless arc of power sweeps through the air and the Silver Crystal shines in her hands and she hears Luna's name and -

Ah.

Ah?

AH?!?

"I'm the - you're the - well we knew that you were - but me! I'm the - and that's the - Princess?!"

And that at least, is all Usagi, flailing and baffled and yet it fits. For the first time since all this began, all the pieces fit. She was never solely the Soldier of the Moon. She was always the one sticking out, because she's the Princess.

"Oooooh Luna's never going to believe this," Princess Serenity who is Usagi Tsukino who is Sailor Moon says, and bursts into giggles. At least everyone else is as confused as she is.

"Uranus, it's okay. Everyone here - they're friends. Kunzite!!! If you don't come hug your prince, I'll - I'll cry again! Himeko-chan! Himeko-chan, come here and hug your brother, he's been very worried!"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    The moment Serenity speaks to her, specifically, Uranus whirls around in a full on about face and listens. She puts her sword at least lower and stops looking like she's about ready to run everyone here through for coming too close. She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding in and her whole body visibly relaxes. And some of Guardian Uranus chills out to let Haruka Tenoh have a little bit more of a say.

    "You continue to surprise me, Serenity." she says, automatically defaulting to the right term even though she -means- Usagi, the girl underneath the henshin and the royalty. "I can't imagine Luna will be expecting it anymore than I was. Now I'm twice as annoyed at the way we met." she admits. She pushes her sword back into a sheathe that doesn't exist until it winks out of existence - not like she can't just draw it again if needed.

    Then, suspiciously. "You're sure everyone here is a friend?" she asks, a little bit concerned. Well, you can't take all of the Guardian out of a Guardian Senshi at once.

Pyrite has posed:
    Himeko is up and on her feet as she is invited over. Was she already standing? Or did that happen again just now? Who knows. Minor ghost nonsense. Probably endearing at this point. Like how she's right there by her brother's side already. She kneels there, smelling of chrysanthemums, and looks to Serenity first, as if asking permission, then to Endymion. Then, she gives a careful hug. Because, you know... He almost died.
    She doesn't want to risk it!
    And says, "I'm whole again. So you should be too." Something leaves Himeko and flows into Endymion. Into Mamoru. A childhood. Lost innocence, cleansed, full of happy memories now, friends, love, and even an infant sister that he watched over. Even if she is found family, instead of blood.
    Lost & Found indeed.
    "...Can I still call you Nii-chan?" she asks, muffled, face against her brother's shoulder.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    ...what?

> All hail Serenity the second, heir to the Silver Millenium

    The red-haired Puella Magi glances over at Pluto, and then back at 'Serenity'. Not a goddess but a queen? For a moment, Mallory feels a bit like he's the guy that just got isekaied and is standing in front of the ruler of some fantasy kingdom he knows nothing about. He should like, show respect but not fealty. Exactly how much do you bow for that? Oh wait right, would it be curtsey, she wonders, as neurochemical connections update in whatever piece of her brain was accessed to contextualize this.

> Sailor Bodyguard has a sword and a distinct dislike for people standing a mere few feet from her Queen.

    "Woah." Amy holds up her hands to show empty palms -- she dropped the rocket launcher when she landed earlier -- and starts backing up slowly. Isn't she clearly a [yuusha] here to help? Her magical girl outfit doesn't look threatening without a weapon, right?

> (Usagi - Sailor Moon - a Goddess? - Princess Serenity stammers.)

    A realization flashes across Amy's face and she points. "OH RIGHT! The reincarnation! So that's... this is... this is your past self? But... you still have your memories, right? Do you have her memories?"

    At the direction to Uranus to calm down because they're all friends, Amy nods in agreement. "It's fine! I don't serve the Princess, but I'm a friend." Rolling with the part she seems to think she has to play in all this, she bows, although it's more a stage bow with a fluorish, a self-introductory bow rather than one of obeisance, right arm across her body and left held out to the side. "I'm from the future. Or rather, you're in the present? Folks' memories seem to be a bit jumbled or something." She quirks an eyebrow at Uranus's question.

    "Umm, seriously, just what's going on?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto smirks a bit in response to Uranus' suspicion, then snorts, "After the Love and Healing Purification Blast that the Princess just put out?"

She shakes her head, "If there was anything TRULY dark nearby, it'd be weak as a kitten right now."

She then sighs, "Still, that being said, I'm reasonably certain they're going to be feeling that pulse all the way in Hokkaido...and I cannot imagine that there aren't people coming to investigate what happened as we speak. Perhaps we should retire the field, Princess?"

Yes, Pluto is deferring to Usagi.

She's the PRINCESS, after all.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
He could lay here all night, it's very nice. Endymion kisses Serenity back, and Mamoru smiles against Usagi's mouth, and then Usagi's suddenly floudering and Mamoru laughs, alive alive alive, and tucks his pocketwatch into his armor so he has another hand.

Pushing himself up, he focuses briefly on the people closest-- Pluto and Uranus-- and looks politely baffled. "How can we be..." he starts to ask, but then Usagi threatens crying again, so he takes her hand and kisses it, then says apologetically, "I think I just quit effective immediately instead of effective Monday. We should go. I don't know how long the boys can hold off the thing in their heads."

He smiles at people who smile at him, but it's pretty clear he's not processing much, still, and it's clearer still when Himeko's suddenly there, and he sits up the rest of the way so he can hug her back. "Of course," he whispers, "you're still my imouto. And I'm all of me now, too, yes. Thank you, thank you for everything, Hime-chan."

Then he peers at Amy, even as he's gesturing for Kunzite and Stellar to come over too. He tells Amy, "We're still us, Amy-chan."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko grins at Pluto on the agreement of seeing Luna's reaction, and carefully picks herself up and walks over to the crowd gathering around Usagirenity--

    (okay, it's going to take her a bit of time to finish processing all of this, but at least things are starting to make more sense)

She nods to Sailor Uranus. "I promised Sailor Moon and Luna that I'd help them in their mission, and I'm going to stand with that," the wolfgirl says, a faint hint of apology in her voice backed with steel conviction that she's not going to let a well-meaning bodyguard interfere with that promise.

Amanda Faust has posed: %R> We're still us, Amy-chan.%R%TShe smiles a bit at that, but also quirks a brow, and looks to Usagi. Who is, y'know, still radiating goddess vibes that Usagi Tsukino definitely doesn't have. And the way she speaks doesn't sound like Usagi, either.%R%R%TAt Usagi's praise of Uranus, Amy gives the royal bodyguard(?) a thumbs-up and a grin. "Gotta protect everyone's smiles, right? You sure did that today."%R%R%TShe smiles even wider as she sees Himeko reunited with her (new?) family. Awww! That's just heartwarming!%R%R%TDivine-- err, royal directive is given to Pluto as Serenity looks around. Amy follows her gaze, then looks back to her. "I'll accompany you if you want, princ-- Sailor Moon." She emphasizes the different name to remind Usagi not to get too lost in the memories and personality of her past incarnation, or whatever the heck is happening here. "If not, you know how to reach me later." She mimes holding a smartphone and tapping on its screen.%R

Pyrite has posed:
    Just as Himeko is over with her brother, she is over by the shrine as well. Sailor Mars has ensured the door will stay shut. Soryuu Shrine will not be a door to Yomi this time. Not this century, at least. There's no more Dark Energy to lever it open.
    She looks over at Kaitou Kamen, or Kunzite, or whatever, and smiles at him. "I think they'll be back with us soon." she says reassuringly. She can't know that for sure. But she just feels it's likely. She has hope again, after all.
    "Thank you." she says to the white-haired Guardian.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kunzite turns his head to try to hide the smile at Usagi's threat to cry again, but it's not a terribly successful veiling, mostly because he's now looking at Himeko, and her smile and her words make something in his eyes warm as well. "I think you're right," he says. "Because I think if necessary we'll go and find them. Thank you." A breath that isn't quite a laugh, and he glances up to Sailor Uranus - registers the sword's vanishedness, and starts forward to join the other Himeko, still moving a little slowly, and a little carefully, and arranging an arc to let the wary senshi see him coming from a little ways away.

"You can have the story anytime you decide," he says to Sailor Uranus. "The short version is, the first one who found me this time was Osaka." He nods back toward the girl with the borrowed Device, with the borrowed sword, with the satchel of borrowed bits of healing and purification: the one who defied her own lack of magic to be here, to give her friend with all her fierceness whatever help she could. And he kneels down beside Himeko, and bows his head to Serenity, and waits his turn to put his arms around his still-living prince.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto looks around, "Alright. Anyone who DOESN'T want to get sequestered outside of Spacetime had best take a few steps back."

She looks down at Endymion, "Are your sister and friend coming with us? Because once we're there, getting back without me will be a bit of a chore...so sort out who's coming with now."

She then smiles mischieviously at Serenity, "Thank you, my Princess. I'll make sure to have a camera running when we do."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I'm sure. If Zoisite and Jadeite and Nephrite were still here, they would be watching as closely as Kunzite is now. La Crima would not have stayed here, not with that much purification in the air."

And there's such strangeness, there, because though her momentary panic at realizing she was the princess had been all Usagi, there's still that moon-spun silk hair, that pale dress, those eyes, still blue but endless as the starry sky, and the pale moon-glow that emenates from her skin. There is a - forgive me - serenity in her face that Usagi Tsukino never came close to having.
Herne hand clutches the silver crystal. The other clutches Endymion.

"There is nothing and no one who would harm us who remains. This place - these people - they are our friends. They have come together to help us protect this world... our world." Some of that peace falls away as she realizes what she's saying - the dissonance of memory and self, where Serenity views Earth as Endymion's world, and she, Usagi, sees it as her own.

Oh, that's going to be fun.

"The way we met... well, it wasn't ideal, but, more than ever before I understand your concerns, Uranus. Thank you, for ever doing your duty. Thank you, for seeking to protect the people of Earth to the best of your ability, ever and always."

Her smile is small and sincere. Her hand is still on Endymion's chest, though she withdraws it to his shoulder as Himeko comes in and gives Endymion the hug he deserves.

"Pluto... thank you, as well. Silver Millennium owes a debt of gratitude to you that can never be repaid. You, who have done your duty at cost of great suffering - you will have your boon. I will not tell Luna until you can be present, so you'd best come back to Naru-chan and I's dorm, later. You are correct. We should not stay here - there are places we should be, that are safer than here."

There are questions and laughter and people and she soaks it all in, the life, the warmth. Over all their heads, she meets the eyes of her Senshi. Her friends. Her guardians.

There is so much she must say, but it - it can't be here, like this, with so many.

And when Endymion - Mamoru - says that he's quit - well.

"You absolutely have."