2355/Awaken, oh Mistress 9

Awaken, oh Mistress 9
Date of Scene:	23 February 2025
Location:	Ice Cream Parlor
Synopsis:	When the sparkles go out to get a limited edition cthulian ice cream, trouble rears its head as Mistress 9 is forcefully awoken by Kaolinite and the Witches 3. While they manage to put an end to Kaolinite's existence, many wounds are acquired and Mistress 9 escapes... Marking the arrival of the Messiah of Silence.
Cast of Characters:	Hotaru Tomoe, Mamoru Chiba, Setsuna Meiou, Madoka Kaname, Jadeite, Makoto Kino, Usagi Tsukino, Laura La Mer, Amanda Faust, Haruka Tenoh, Zoisite

---

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
It was another beautiful day, in that.... it was actually a beautiful day. The sun was shining, birds were singing. And today? The ice cream parlor was a place of... full. It was full. Because Hotaru had grabbed Laura when she saw her and... seemed to really be struggling with the idea that Laura didn't remember her. And since Setsuna was with her, they were getting ICE CREAM! And had managed to acquire an entourage of sorts,or a least run into many others on the way to ice cream. Hotaru was getting a small 'Cthulu in love', a temporary flavor with bits of sea weed in it, and chocolate and... sure, it may have been a bit weird, but she liked it.

And was now explaining to Laura how she got the special ring she now wore. "So, after our bodies were swapped, we..." At least she was leaving out some of the... more... pressing details. About her suffering, her pain.

Meanwhile, across the ward, Kaolinite and the remaining members of the Witches 5 were setting everything up for a new project. They'd managed to narrow down Hotaru to this ward thanks to Viluy's efforts... And now? They were almost prepared, standing on top of four skyscrapers in the ward, readying their magical staffs to begin...

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"It's not bad," Mamoru's insisting, already halfway done with his cup of rose-chocolate-seaweed ice cream. He's in his usual uniform: embarrassingly expensive dress shoes, black skinny jeans, a mauve Hi-Standard cartoon logo t-shirt, a hoodie, and his leather jacket. "It's like how a german chocolate cake shot isn't german, chocolate, or cake but tastes amazingly like it. Chemistry!"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
When Hotaru asked to go try the new ice cream flavor, Setsuna was able to hold out for PERHAPS all of five seconds before caving in.

Mainly because when the little scamp asked, it made the older woman want ice cream, too.

And she's fairly certain someone polished off the last of what was in the freezer the other night.

Thus, the trip was made to the ice cream shop in question...which attracted a bunch of friends and acquaitances along the way.

Somehow.

In point of fact, Setsuna isn't really sure how...but at this point in her life, she's learned to just roll with it.

Especially when there's ice cream involved.

Thus, the taller senshi can be found not too far away from Hotaru, eating her own cone of triple fudge ripple while watching the young woman she's been doing her best for talk with her friend.

At Mamoru's comment, she arches an eyebrow and asks, "...is that anything like how the Holy Roman Empire wasn't holy, Roman, or even an empire?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    New ice cream flavors means crowds and excitement. Especially for Madoka's Chara. Especially for Kamiko who, for so long while as Gretchen, used ice cream as a way to cope with the intrinsic horror that was her entire existence. Such self-therapy was a lot less vital now, but ice cream was there for Gretchen when she needed it, and now Kamiko is there for ice cream!

    Madoka, naturally, is getting dragged along by the hands by both Kamiko and Tia, because like heck are either of them going to miss out on new temporary fad flavors and they need to drag Madoka along to pay for it!

    (This isn't entirely true. Madoka gives them an allowance. The problem is that they already spent it on ice cream.)

    The hapless goddess-in-human form, having been dragged along by two tiny fairies, is now in the middle of eating her bowl, hanging out with Mamoru (and those with him) having met them along the way, and none of the non-mahou ever question why exactly she has three spoons.

    Tia, holding out her pinky, agrees with Mamo's assessment. "The seaweed draws out a flavor in a very particular way. Though I shouldn't be too surprised. Salt goes well with chocolate regardless, and ice cream tends to have a bit of salt in it by default."

Jadeite has posed:
"Respectfully, Mamoru, you have something wrong with you," Tamaki says, waving a spoon at him. "And I'm saying this as the guy who ordered the sweet roast corn flavor. Seaweed and rose and chocolate? It's going to be like biting into a bar of soap covered in salt."

He's in a baggy sweater that reads INDIANA!!! where the I looks like the state in question, jeans, chunky sneakers, and he's giving Mamoru's cup of ice cream a dubious look.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"I don't know what a german chocolate cake shot tastes like, and I'm not sure I want to know how you do," says Makoto, laughing, over her own rather more prosaic cup of azuki ice cream. "But unless it has nori in it, I'm not sure what it has to do with putting it in ice cream."

A beat, as Setsuna's comment diverts her attention. "Still less the Holy Roman Empire."

Oh, she'll probably try the Cthulhu ice cream while it's on offer - eventually - if only out of professional culinary curiosity. But right now, the look she turns back to Mamoru and his ice cream is distinctly dubious.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Okay, but Mothromance is also an amazing flavor. I mean, I never would have put boba, malted milk eggs, and ube together, but it's really good."

Usagi had been delighted to go out for ice cream - trying the new Monster Mash flavors sounded fun, especially at a time of year where no one would be trying to scare her with real (fake) monsters. She's devoured most of her triple scoop of ice cream, though at a reasonable pace because magic does not ward off brain freeze.

"But I'll try Chthulu next time. And you'll totally let me try your thing, right Mamochan?"

Tamaki's objects are noted, but snickered about.

And she's leaving it up in the air if she meant the ice cream or the shot.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Minding her own business, Laura was unaware that she was soon going to be abducted for ice cream, or that she would have to be involved into another chat regarding her memory loss. But she was getting used to that last thing already.

And this girl... she was weird. Not by her behaviour, but there was just something about her that put Laura on edge. Of the kind that tells you "Don't keep your eyes off her for a second, or else she vanishes". What kind of history had she had with her?

Taking small licks too out of a "Cthulu in love" (seaweed was a popular ingredient in Grand Ocean, maybe she should send one down for analysis), she listens nonchalantly to Hotaru's wild tales. "Is that so? I must have been pretty reckless to let that happen", she raises her eyebrows.

"But I hope you have been thankful for the experience, not any day you spend time in the body of a mermaid, much less mine", she gives her a grin, still looking at her. Why the worry for her...?

"I suggest you do, Usagi-san", Laura recommends without turning. "Seaweed is a great choice in Grand Ocean, and these humans aren't bad at using it."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Sunday. A rare day of no particular responsibilities...

    Even with everything happening... sometimes, you need a break, right?

    Although, maybe consuming stories about magical girls is a bit of a busman's holiday...

    As she goes out for fresh air and takes a walk -- it's like a patrol but more relaxed -- Amy reflects on stories and life. After getting to a part where the main character is asked to help mentor a young magical girl in a world of magic craziness, she wonders if she'd be up to the task. Maybe one day, but with so much going on now...

    Still, it's not like she's had zero interaction with younger magical girls. As close as she's gotten to Usagi-chan and Mamoru, interaction with Chibiusa is unavoidable, and there's that Yokina, who's Sailor Charon... but honestly, she has respectfully not pried into whatever Yokina's business is. She has Setsuna-chan watching over her, after all. Amy's fought alongside Sailor Charon and Nanoha on a number of occasions. She can only imagine what it would have been like to have a childhood replaced by all this craziness.

    Is Chibiusa going to have to fight too, one day? How will Usagi and Mamoru react?

    It's while she's lost in these thoughts that Amy bumps into some girls who ask if she's going to try the new ice cream flavor too, and

    Okay, honestly, that sounds at least okay and Amy's really curious what the marketing around 'Cthulu in Love' is going to be like. It might be funny and involve wacky shenanigans! You know, wacky fictional shenanigans to distract from the real ones!

    "Oh, dang! You all are here too?" Amy smiles as she sees so many friends and waves on her way to stand in line.

^"Did... did you say they have sweet roast corn flavor?" Amy turns to look at the flavor list curiously. "As a potato chip flavor? Awesome. As an ice cream flavor...?"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
Haruka didn't arrive with the others; she was out of the house and texted Setsuna to ask her if she wanted her to grab anything on the way back, only for the wise woman to note that it was in fact her and Hotaru who were on the way out, for ice cream. And that's most of what Haruka needed to hear anyways.

    So her presence is more of a surprise; perhaps a surprise that will be forgotten about with what happens the rest of today - but it's such a nice day, how could the blonde girl not be out driving with the top down, letting the wind run through her hair. The only thing missing was Michiru. But otherwise everything felt just right. Except something in the way the wind flowed... well, there was always something bad on the horizon in Tokyo too, lately. Always some no-nothing monster or creature turning good days bad.

    And she'd noted to herself that she needed to not let that prevent her from enjoying the good! So there's a handsome, well dressed person coming in the door - frankly, anybody else might have looked less 'well dressed' in a mustard colored suit, but this boy? pulled it off.

    And she looked at the gathering crowd of people. "Yo!" she said with a big grin on her face before stopping to look closely at Hotaru's ice cream. "...I think I'll order something a little less crazy. Do they have anything like that?" she asks, turning to witness another culinary adventure in another person's ice cream cup.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
"So kind of like an oxymoron?" Hotaru asked Setsuna. Of course she knew what an oxymoron was. She knew a LOT of morons. So many. Most of them in Obsidian. "you can try some of mine, if you want," she offered to Usagi almost instantly, holding out the half eaten ice cream cone. It was her, so she ate at the pace of a snail, anyway, and it'd likely melt if she wasn't careful. And now? Now she wanted to try a german chocolate cake shot. Maybe she could get Setsuna to let her try one. If not for her, then Haruka. Haruka was totally the type to let her try something new. It wasn't like she--

OH! Right, Laura! "Oh my gosh, it was the COOLEST experience ever, it was so amazing I could--"

And then, well, she never got a chance to finish that sentence. As it was then that the witches raised their staves and, for a moment, most of them could feel this strange... presence. Some kind of... weird... magic. They'd all feel it as the dark energy kind of swept through the world. Strange, wrong. But subtle. They might not even notice... Because of what else was happening. The ice cream fell from Hotaru's hands and she started to SCREAM! Wrapping her arms around herself, she crumbled to her knees, eyes wide with tears falling from them as the pain shot through her, letting out a scream that ravaged her throat...

The worst part was when the screams STOPPED... not because she wasn't screaming, but because she threw out her voice. It cracked... and then they could hear the other alarm in their head. Warning.

<< Danger, danger, evacuate. All personal, please evacuate. Seals 1-4, broken. Distress signal sent to Axion. All personal, evacuate. Seal 5, colla-- seal 6, col-- seal 7, c-- seal 8-- sea-- se-- All seals collapsing, unable to contain entity. Retreat, repeat, retreat >>

Luminous Titan's cold, distorted voice, always so... strange, like something from a horror movie, now actually sounded... concerned. Worried.

Dark energy was enveloping Hotaru, the screams mercifully stopping as she collapsed forward, slightly, her hands reaching up, gripping the crystal that housed Luminous Titan, and she pulled it free and threw it up, into the air, towards them. "R-run... run... I-I can't... I..."

And then spikes of... crystal... seemed to erupt from her ski. Starting from her back, they erupted, then seemed to just retract back into her body, going up her body towards her arms, over them... shredding her clothing slightly as they did, her eyes wide...

And then she erupted, scattering the ice cream, table, furniture in all directions...

And when they could see again... there were no spikes. There was just... Hotaru. Kneeling down on the ground. Except... her hair was no longer green. Instead, it was black. Raven black. And her clothes, once shredded, had changed. Now she had this long, green skirt and a sleeveless, beaded top... And her hair was so long it could easily compete with Usagi's. Heck, it might even WIN, flowing around her in magnificent strands that would have fit in a shampoo commercial.

But she was also so... so much taller... even kneeling, it was obvious she was taller. Possibly... even Setsuna's height.

And when she slowly raised her her head, the black star could be seen, emblazoned on her forehead... And her eyes opened. Black... vicious eyes within... And for a moment, she looked directly at Usagi.

And she smiled.

And those eyes. That look. That smile. It would all be so very... very familiar. Exactly like the one she'd seen, so long, long ago...

right before Cyprine and Ptilol had died, begging for their lives... turned to dust as Usagi reached out a hand out towards them...

Except it wasn't behind Hotaru's face anymore... It... was something entirely new...

Mistress 9 had awoken.

Jadeite has posed:
Tamaki is slammed into the wall and under the table by the sudden blast. Jadeite crawls out from under the table, hair raising on the back of his head at the power exuding from the - whoever or whatever that was that had exploded out of the child. He slams an ice shield in front of the table so that Sailor Moon and the others have something to hide behind if and when shit hits the fan, then jumps over it and starts making more. "Glory - of - the - Snow!"

Madoka's here to cover evac, so he rolls her a shield so she doesn't get interupted, then tosses another between Laura and Mistress 9 so that she can run without worrying about getting magic'd in the back.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna waves at Haruka as the blonde arrives, smirking a bit as she notices several of the random teenagers subtly checking out her roommate.

Hotaru's comment gets a nod from the older woman, "...more or less, yeah."

And then she takes a big bite of her cone...only to suddenly sit bolt upright as she feels the...wave of...wrongness...

And then Hotaru is screaming.

And Luminous Titan's alarms are going nuts.

And Hotaru is suddenly hunched over and holding herself...her Device having been thrown right past Setsuna's face...and the greenhaired woman can't help but watch it go by until the noise from Hotaru cuts out suddenly.

She turns back to see her charge covered suddenly in crystal...only to be blown back when the crystal covered form erupts....

And the THING that was inside Hotaru is finally revealed as Setsuna clambers to her feet, a distinctive pen falling into her hand from nowhere.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru, not having heard the Holy Roman Empire thing before, has to think about it for a blank half-second. And then he smirks at Setsuna with a spoon in his mouth and snap-points at her. Then he grins at Tia. "*You* get it," he says after swallowing and taking the spoon out of his mouth... and then he looks very smirky at Tamaki indeed, and he takes a spoonful of his ice cream and holds it out to Usagi. "You can try at least one of them this time," he tells her with a wink.

"I meant that the chemistry of the flavors together make it taste like something else entirely. You wouldn't think Sambuca would--" Mamoru starts explaining to Makoto, then breaks off and turns a little red. "Uh, corporate lifestyle. Also Neph had a bar in his spooky mansion. Um--"

Thankfully, there are a lot of other things going on! Like Laura agreeing with seaweed as a flavor choice. Or like, "Hi Amy-chan. There's also what Usako got, Mothromance. It's like a monster-lover's paradise in here."

He looks up when Haruka joins them and waves with his spoon hand, smiling. "They have regular flavors too."

And then. Oh. That's a lot of screaming. Mamoru ditches his ice cream really fast, then tries to get his hands not-sticky and he's losing time and she's screaming she won't mind being sticky if he can make her pain stop--

--but everyone else is closer; Mamoru tries to get between Usagi and Haruka, then, but Hotaru is changing and throwing something and changing, and he catches the gem-- but his other hand's jammed into his pocket and he calls out, in the middle of all the screaming civilians and tables and building breaking as Hotaru continues to change, "Earth Prism Power, Make Up!"

The henshin is like a shudder, and Tuxedo Kamen puts Luminous Titan in his jacket pocket.

<< No retreating, Luminous Titan. You did the best you could. I'll keep you safe for her to come back, unless I can't, >> he attempts to reassure the Intelligent Device as he backs up and away, and then he sees Mistress 9 looking at Usagi and he yells out "Tuxedo Glittering Rose Bomber!"

He hauls his arm back and throws up his cape to throw... actually probably like twenty roses? All petals first -- and each impact is an annoying thump, and each rose explodes on impact into petals and sparkling motes of gold glitter. No matter what they actually hit."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
Haruka felt the presence, and she felt the wind. Or, the absence of wind. Even inside a building she usually had some connection, or she could look outside and see things fluttering in the breeze, but for just a moment there was nothing, only a discomforting stillness. And then there was the opposite as everything broke loose. Everything went bad. She tried to push to Hotaru as she started to scream, only to be thrown away from her like so much furniture was.

    When she looked up, there was very much Not Hotaru, the tall lady in black and that wicked smile. "How hard did I get thrown back..." she asks nobody in particular, before staggering off to the back rooms to henshin.

    Sailor Uranus steps out shortly thereafter, for some reason rubbing the same shoulder that Haruka took the brunt of the attack in.

    Then she points a gloved finger at Mistress Nine. "Alright, wheoever and whatever you are. There was an adorable, wonderful, sweet little girl that stood right there just a moment ago, and you had better put her back, bring her back, do whatever it is that you have to do, to put things back the way they were supposed to be, stop ruining a wonderful day, or -" then Mamoru henshins and attacks. "- or things are gonna get even more rough for you." she finishes.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Between the three of them, Kamiko was the first to notice something. "Huh... why does this feel...?"

    Tia looked up question, but then she noticed it too. "Oh dear me."

    The both of them start to shout in unison, "Something bad's coming! Something bad's coming!!" while rapidly orbiting their Chara Bearer's head.

    Madoka, without being merged with her Chara, doesn't feel any of the dark energy. However, she is looking at something else. She's looking at Hotaru, and the way she changes, distorts and... honestly the way the crystals rip out of her skin make her think that the poor child is being impaled or something. "Ho--" She shouldn't say that name out loud. "No! Wait! Stop it!"

    As the poor child transforms. As she suddenly grows and becomes someone else... Tia and Kamiko stop their running around and watch on with a stilled horror. What even is happening here?!

    Madoka stands up. "Tia. You're with m..."

    Madoka pauses. There are way too many people here, and none of the other magicals can set up a barrier. Her heart freezes.

    "Actually... What I'm going to do is likely to wear myself out before the fight is over. I don't know if I can fully handle what this is probably going to be. I'm just... going to have to trust everyone else to do their part too." She makes the unlocking hand gesture in front of her heat. "Kamiko, with me! My Heart: Unlock!"

    And instantly, Madoka is gone.

    And so are the civilians.

    ... and so is the ice cream. Yes, ice cream is magical, but it's also innocent and must be protected.

    No one can hear her voice, but the mahoujin can feel her in their minds and hearts, like a kind gentle voice saying, <Wake Labyrinth.>

    Those who have seen Hope Concept have noticed this before. Madoka isn't actually gone. She's just... everpresent. Especially here, within her Labyrinth. Right now it just looks like the inside of an ice cream parlor, but the moment anyone does any property damage they're going to notice that everything is filled with plushie stuffing. Even the tables and walls.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Aw, only one?" Usagi giggles at Mamoru, then follows it up with a wink of her own as she leans forward to eat the ice cream off the offered spoon - and hums in satisfaction, because it really is good. "You know, I'm somehow not surprised at all that they have a lot of seaweed flavors in Grand Ocean... or that you've never tried roast corn flavor, Am-chan."

It was a normal day, a beautiful day, and it was a coincidence that so many of them just happened to be here, today, and maybe that's why guards are down. Or maybe it wouldn't have mattered if their guards were down, given that none of them are in a position to see why it happens - only that, one moment, everything is fine, and the next - screaming.

Awful, terrible screaming, as Hotaru doubles over, hugging herself and wailing until her throat cracks and it's just her device, crying out warnings -

Usagi's ice cream drops and the sense of dark energy and something twisted and wrong in the air -

"Everyone, get ready!"

Because they can all hear the warning cries that are sounding out, and this is exactly what Usagi was afraid of happening, some day, that thing that Setsuna had so eloquently broken the news to her about last year coming out again, this time after Hotaru's gotten to know them all, knows their secrets -

The creature smiles, that cruel and malicious smile, the one that widened as two girls pleaded for their lives as they were disintegrated centimeters from her out-stretched hands -

Ice goes up, as Jadeite throws out a shield. Behind that ice, she clutches her transformation broach.

"Moon Crystal Power, Make Up!"

As Tuxedo Kamen throws a bouquet of roses that explode in glitter, Sailor Moon slashes a circle of light into the air. Not today. Not like this. They have to stop this thing -

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Discussion of ice cream flavors and what belongs in them is forgotten entirely as - once again - all hell breaks loose out of nowhere. There's a split second where Makoto's first instinct, as she launches up onto her feet, is to grab for the crystal that Hotaru flung away from herself. But Mamoru is a little bit faster, and Mako's crisis response slides to the next thing: grabbing her henshin pen out of her skirt pocket.

"Jupiter Power - MAKE UP!"

Almost as soon as she's transformed, she's moving forward - not far, just a few steps, ready to interpose herself in front of her fellows if needed. As she does, sparks crackle to life along her fingers, the momentary herald to the stream of electricity she tosses out at Mistress 9 in the wake of Tuxedo Kamen's roses and Sailor Moon's Escalation.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Mamoru goes on about crazy flavors, and Amy listens with interest. "Monster ice cream? Okay, I'm down... Gotta come here more often!"

    And then She feels a sinking feeling as there's magic. Oh no, here we go...

    ...But instead of a Monster of the Week that attacks with ice cream and a crab dude or whatever shouting about how they should just give up and give their motivational power to the Witch of Delays or whatever, Yokina screams.

    "Meiou-san?" Amy turns, looking at her in concern, and then to Setsuna and Haruka, who seem most likely to be in the know and prepared for whatever strange magical condition afflicts the young girl.

    And then the scream stops, and -- that must be Yokina's Device...

    Before it's even done, Amy's already transforming in front of Godoka and everyone. "Everyone, get out of here!" she shouts to the civilians. "Uh... Fire, there's a fire!" And she's just about to make there be a fire in some corner of the store where no one is, when the feeling of being in Kamiko's labyrinth kicks in.

    That solves that concern. And it's always nice to have the space itself around you on your side... There's a reassuring feeling in Hope Concept's presence, too...

    Yokina, though... what is that?! So there was something Dark sealed inside her and now it's loose? Tuxedo Mask throws a pile of roses -- antimagic, Amy notes, not offensive attack. So she should open with something unlikely to hurt too much. Buy time. The positioning isn't good for a flashbang without getting everyone, though...

    "Pocket sand!" Amy shouts at Mistress Nine, the launcher suddenly on her shoulder, and--

    To everyone else, it looks like there was a giant 'muzzle flash' from both ends of Amy's weapon, only made of mist or steam or something instead, which is now just regular mist that will take a couple of seconds to disperse.

    To Mistress Nine, if the attack was on target, she just gets splashed with saltwater going so fast it instantly turned into mist. Probably not exactly good for a normal human, but for a magical being, little more than an annoyance -- but also just completely out of nowhere and unexpected, and even a couple of seconds of disorientation is what Amy hopes to buy.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Of course this girl was happy. Well, good for her. Maybe she can look why the Aqua Pot did that after it's over. That's a rather serious defect, after all, and she doesn't want to overlook it any longer.

She is about to ask Hotaru if anything else relevant had happened to her when her ears get assailed by Hotaru's screams, making Laura's body freeze startled, a flash of something going through her mind, something she hasn't been to quite catch, and something she somehow knew was important.

She lets her own ice cream drop, and takes a hold of the other girl, looking at her intensely, trying to understand what was wrong here, what is-

Laura jumps back in a rush, just a second of forewarning as those crystals start forming and almost pierce through her hands, and she can only look at her own horrified face in them, as dark energy sweeps and starts to change her.

That horror is quick to turn to anger when that person smiling maliciously takes her place, and Laura glares at that being. She doesn't know what that is, but she knows that she is angry, and she wants Hotaru-chan back.

"Pretty Cure! Tropical Change!", she announces as a pink sphere surrounds her. Taking off the Heart Swirl Ring and inserting sideways into the keyhole of the Mermaid Aqua Pact, she twists it upright and its seashell cover splits in half, revealing a purple base with white stars and blue waves on the left side and white hearts on the right side, surrounding a blue circle with a motif of crystals all around a white sphere.

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

But she doesn't stop there.

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

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

"Give her back! Give my friend back!", she shouts, flying all around Mistress 9 in a frenzy, trying to hit her with every punch and kick she can land. She doesn't know why she is saying that, but every part of her knows that is true, that Hotaru is someone extremely important to her, and she is not just going to let this being take her over.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
There was... something... so incredibly delightful... about this for Mistress 9. These people... were important to her host, weren't they? So insignificant. So minor. "They're all going to die here..." she said before lifting a hand and--

Bamf. Bamf. Bamf.

Her eyes narrowed as she tried to gather power, to unleash a focused, piercing wave of hatred... only for rose after rose after rose to strike her. Annoying. So. Very. Annoying.

And worse, it bought time. Her prey escape. They'd henshined. There was a weird dimensional shift and the people, and the ice cream, was gone.

And they were running at her. So many of them.

A mist washed over her as the roses kept pelting her...

And there was glitter coming at her... PURIFICATION! Electricity as well. and now one of them were punching and kicking... But then her eyes fell on one of them. One of them not in a henshin. One of them not protected. One of them... helpless. And many of them would be able to see her eyes fall on Setsuna... the cruelty in her eyes radiating...

"ENOUGH!" she roared before she erupted once more. Spreading her hands out, darkness would wash off her like a tidal wave, swirling around in a vortex of cruelty and evil. The remaining roses cast aside, the shimmering light of purification driven back and many of the girls? Likely following as well.

But what would likely be most troubling is while the assault would likely send the magical girls scattering, the 'shop'? Would likely be nothing more than a crater. The assault tearing out the walls, the ground, the ceiling. Dissolving all of it to dust. As well as part of the nearby shops.

If not for Madoka's dimensional space? A lot of people, innocent civilians, would have died there. As it was? The dark, vile corruption of the magic was trying to tear its way *out* of the barrier. To *break* it.

And Madoka could likely feel something else on the outside, now, trying to break its way in. Something almost as foul, jamming in and trying to tear down the barrier around them.

As Mistress 9 slowly rose to her feet, her hair swirling about her... and walked out towards the street... laughing all the while.

Only to stop, suddenly, arms reaching up and wrapping around herself. "S-stop it..." she growled. Spikes erupted from her back, then as she gasped. "S-stop... fighting... or I'll... tear your body... apart..." she growled, the hatred, the fury radiating out of her voice.

Setsuna and Haruka would likely realize something else... they'd seen Hotaru's bare arms before. The reason she wore the sleeves were because of the strange, incredibly advanced prosthetics she had.

But these weren't prosthetics, anymore. Whatever they were... they had fully fused into her body.

And if they were wondering what the crystal/metal that kept bursting out from her body was... they would possibly know the source now.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
Sailor Uranus was, at first, more than a little horrified, more than a little concerned. Hotaru, Yokina, Sailor Charon - she was a member of her family. She was someone she grew close to, someone she protected, someone she laughed with, someone she got in occasional trouble with. And now this thing had apparently inhabited her body, turned it, twisted it.

    But this thing was also a threat to the city, to her Princess, to the world. A threat that, somewhere deep down, her sensations told her was from outside of this solar system. Perhaps this is why the girl ended up with her family. Because someone had to be ready to do the things that needed to be done.

    For a moment, the two paths within Sailor Uranus' heart warred with each other. She reached out and grasped the hilt of a sword that only popped into existence when she did so - a sword with a gleaming blade of light attached. But then she let the sword go, and the blade and hilt vanished again. Not yet. She had to try something less first, before it came down to cutting and stabbing. Instead she collected energy in her hand, into an orange faceted gem of compressed energy. "Give her back, you wicked witch. Go back to sleep. Or just go to hell. I don't care. But I won't let you exist. You don't belong in my world. And you don't belong in her body!" she yelled.

    "WORLD SHAKING!" she called as she raised her arm into the air and then slammed the energy down, letting it take the form of a swirling orange ball of collected energy, ripping through the floor and the street on the way to Mistress Nine. Hopefully it would rattle (and rock, and shake, and quake) the thing that was standing there enough that Hotaru could take control again. She wouldn't throw an attack like this at Hotaru, but she could feel the energy radiating off of this thing, had been blown back by it, had seen it deflect Sailor Moon's purification and the other storm of attacks thrown at it.

    But she wasn't ready to start cutting at peices of Hotaru. Not if there was another way. Not first. The sword would always be there, if it needed to be drawn.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Something is tearing at her barrier. Not only was Mistress Nine trying to break out of the Labyrinth from within, but some thing was trying to get at her from without. Hope Concept was aware. The unknowable, invisible goddess was aware that something here was attempting to threaten her.

    ... and it's a humbling thing for a goddess to understand that the threats made against her are not empty.

    Yet this is her job. To be the bulwark between the innocent and the murderous. This is her ultimate dream, to be a magical girl, and to be her best possible self.

    The Labyrinth shakes, writhes, and lets out an alien squeak as the increasingly fluffy landscape is assaulted and torn apart... but Madoka will not go out this easily. Nor will she let Mistress Nine go so quickly.

    Yet this is a Labyrinth, and its Witch can't be too far away, and it's only a matter of time before the villains put two and two together. Sensing danger, Hope Concept does the most natural thing: She sends in her Familiars.

    Up in the sky above, and in the Labyrinth streets around them, several ornate windows appear floating in the air, glass panes shining with pink glare. As they each open, swarms of biblically accurate angelic Familiars of all sizes swarm out and charge at against Mistress 9. Some of them explode when they get close enough, others try to cling to her and slow her down, but not a single one spares a single thought to their own safety.

    Madoka's Hope Aura washes over the area. Some get a rainbow colored purifying boost to their attacks. Others maybe get a little more integrity in their shields. The mood of the magic is that everything will turn out alright, that you can do this, no matter how bad it looks.

    No matter how bad.

    Hope Concept, though she must be close, still does not manifest or appear. She's tied up in a conceptual battle against an unknowable thing, and despite being something of an eldritch monster herself she's not really used to fighting things on this level.

Jadeite has posed:
That awful look the monster was giving Usagi -

The pain the monster was causing the girl who was possessed -

Did she think she could just DO things? Hurt Tamaki's friends? Hurt kids on the street? Ruin everyone having a nice day when he was trying to socialize like a normal person??? Absolutely Not.

THe blast slams into Jadeite - and he summons a pile of snow to land in as the labrinth's walls are blown, then rolls onto his knees. They were having a wonderful time! He was having fun! With his friends! He was even talking to Senshi who werne't Ami!!! He may not be able to purify - but the roiling avalanche in his chest of protective feelings helps him summon a great icy flower that he pulls back and LAUNCHES - one icy bellflower headed Mistress 9's way! "SNOW THIMBLE!"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Setsuna finds herself frozen for too long as she is directly confronted with the subject of the nightmares that kept her up at night.

Things had gotten worse there for a while, but they seemed to be getting better-ish lately...she'd been hoping that Hotaru had started winning her internal battle...

Not least reason being because she had found ZERO way to help beyond giving the poor girl as much love and support as possible.

But now it's all for naught.

Now that...THING that THOSE PEOPLE put in Hotaru has finally broken free.

Now it's finally in the open and looking at HER with...malevolance.

The girl who she'd adopted in all but law was now replaced by this...black-starred THING.

As the explosion of power bursts out to do so much damage, Setsuna is knocked flying...and it's only the cushioned fluffy under-nature of things within the Labyrinth that saves her from a rather nasty impact.

From off behind the debris she was flung through, a voice can be heard to intone, <<PLUTO PLANET POWER, MAKE-UP!!!>>

And a moment later, Sailor Pluto comes charging out to point the Garnet Rod at Mistress 9 and GROWLS, "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HER YOU RAVEN-HAIRED BINT OR I SWEAR I WILL FIND A WAY TO TEAR THE VERY *CONCEPT OF YOUR EXISTENCE* ASUNDER."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
In Hope Concept's Labyrinth, the world gone sweet and fluffy, Sailor Moon hopes -

And those hopes are not answered, as the purification is deflected, again. Twice in one week, which just feels cruel.

Sailor Moon's fist clenches tight around her Spiral Heart Moon Rod, starting to carve another circle of light, larger this time, when there's that roar, and a pulse of dark energy like a tidal wave.

She's blasted back, knocked off her feet and rolling across the Wake Labyrinth's soft surface, only to pull herself to her feet when she's managed to land near Sailor Jupiter.

Only, when she looks around - everything that had been real is destroyed. The Labyrinth is protecting the area, but - that would have killed people. A lot of people.

An unforgivable amount of people.

"As long as Hotaru's still fighting you, we'll be fighting you," she declares furiously, and this is the end of the lies about Hotaru, and there will be truths to spill, later, but for now. "So just give up now and give her back!"

The great circle is carved in the air again and as she calls the attack, the Silver Crystal pinned in place above her heart, at the center of her bow in her compact, glows bright.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Silver beams of light flood the area, as mist flows and billows in clouds along the floor of Wake Labyrinth, spilling from a solid gold circle of light in the air in front of Sailor Moon. The Spiral Heart Moon Rod presses against that golden circle as she pours power into the attack.

For those who aren't full of Dark Energy, this attack is refreshing, on a spiritual level, scouring away any taint with a light brush. For those filled with Dark Energy - it's like having peroxide dumped on an open wound, like scouring pads peeling away rust.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
'World Shaking' cries Uranus, and at the same time, Mamoru can feel the ground of the little world they're in shaking with some kind of assault on it, on the Labyrinth itself-- he looks up at the 'sky' for a half second, then puts his hand on the pillowy ground and thinks: let me know if you need more power.

After all, if Usagi needs more power sometimes, Madoka must too.

But for now, the thing that almost killed both Usagi and Ami is hanging on to Hotaru, and-- this creature is so much more than anything they've fought before. Even Hinoiri. Even Beryl. And she's fighting it, Hotaru's fighting it...

So, Tuxedo Kamen picks himself up out of the rubble an stands, brushing himself off with dignity-- and then the Escalation washes over him and he relaxes a little, things are going to work out, they will. And besides, Takashi failed.

"Tuxedo," he starts, then flings his glowing fist out in front of him.

"La Smoking," he continues, voice growing more strident, and then he opens that glowing hand and a growing ball of energy forms in front of it again--

--and then he yells out, the force of the laser blast enough to kick him back a half step, "Bomber!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
The creature yet to be known as Mistress 9 wasn't showing to be particularly hindered by La Mer's punch and kicks, all of them blocked with the same ease one would block pieces of paper drifting lazily in the air.

And yet, she keeps trying, pushing past the futility of it, up until the being seems to have grown tired of it, and the swirling chaos of dark energy throws her back and makes her roll several times in the air with its force.

"Who are you?", she glares down at Mistress 9. "What are you trying to do with all this?" She pays no mind to the changed surroundings of Madoka's Labyrinth, even if she doesn't know what could have caused it. Her focus is on the being that is holding her friend hostage.

Maybe she can get to the bottom of it later, go through recordings, find out why she is so special to her, but only after she is back to normal and safe.

The ring of snow on her hand shines bright, a light that promises happiness, and it wants to show her the way, because that's what Hotaru deserves above everything. When she shows to be still in there, fighting, tears accumulate at the corners of La Mer's eyes, above that angry frown.

"You won't do any of that. She is still in there wanting to be free, and you are nobody to take that away from her. This ring wants to tell me the path to happiness, one I have shared with her. This is for you. The song of the land of happiness."

The mermaid starts singing, an ode to the cycle of the seasons, and to nature reawakening in spring, with the joy of the bright sun above it, waiting for them with hope on a beautiful meadow just after the rigours of winter. Purifying notes share that promise of happiness.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Sailor Jupiter keeps Sailor Moon in her peripheral vision, as best she can in these conditions. Not standing in front of her, not in the way of her line of fire... but near. Watchful and ready.

She didn't really expect her opening salvo to do much, but she still frowns, green eyes narrowed. Considers her options. And focuses in on Mistress 9's arms, the foreign material fused into the flesh.

As the bolstering energies from the Moon Healing Escalation and the Labyrinth itself suffuse her, she clenches her fists and gathers a greater charge. It races along her shoulders and down her arms in bright silvery threads of crackling energy, collecting in and around her hands until she throws out both in a double blast meant to course directly into that strange material embedded in Mistress 9's skin.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Whatever this is is tearing apart Kamiko's world. That's concerning!

    If you need more power... Amy wills the thought to reach Hope Concept, I've still got a full grief seed.

    An aura of hope washes over her. Things will be alright.

    They are, after all, magical girls, not... Not people who cut away their humanity to make hard decisions and do what must be done!

    An aura of ranbow flame coalesces around her, her outfit shifting to the one she wore after Gretchen's labyrinth, before -- something substantially more 'Magical Girl' than her usual: A red sleeveless magical girl dress, with pink decorations, a white cape, and matching red gloves and tall boots.

    (Longer desc: There's a pink bow on the chest, with her red soul gem set in the middle, there are pink heart decorations attached to the dress on either side of the waist, offset to the front, and the hem of the dress is doing that flower petal thing over a pleated white skirt, each 'petal' having an abstract design of thin lines on it reminiscent of things like rocket, fire, soul gem; The gloves' cuffs do the petal thing too, there are little heart-shaped gems on pink rings around the top of the boots, and finally a couple of thin red lines along the bottom of the cape add color to that expanse of white. This time, on her head, there's a red beret matching the dress with a heart decoration offset to the right side.)

    Her recoilless rifle resembles a scaled-up magical girl's wand: A golden haft with a big pink heart at the end, with a big red bow tied just behind the heart!

    ...It's still got a hole at each end, though.

    "I don't know who you are... but give my friends' friend back! This world welcomes all, but if you would destroy it? If you would destroy her?! That has no place here!"

    And she fires anti-tank rounds at Mistress Nine, CR-CRACK! CR-CRACK! CR-CRACK! CR-CRACK! Are they heart-shaped, yes, are the resulting explosions rainbow-colored, yes, are they [Cute] elemental now, maybe, but if anything they're only more powerful than normal, at least when it comes to fighting things that want to destroy the hope of Madoka's friends!

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Threats rang through her ears. 'Get out'. 'Leave her alone'. 'We'll fight'. They were so, so hollow to her ears. But not to the one inside her... As the darkness wrought over Mistress 9, attacks rained down on her. Familiars, so many of them... She tried to swipe them away, but then more just... took their place. Snow Thimble. More sparkles. World Shaking. Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber. Explosives. Electricity. And then there was SINGING! The terrible SINGING! Just like Hotaru LOVED! She hated them... Electricity coarsing through the spikes, forcing them to once again retract... leaving her body unmarred. As more and more explosives struck her purification and destruction enveloping the girl... As she was frozen and torn and knocked back...

The attacks rained on her, and she screamed. She was driven back, crumbling to the ground and kneeling there. And then... Madoka would feel it. The presence from without? It had stopped fighting. Whatever it was... was leaving her... alone? "I-it hurts... it hurts... s-so much... p-please... please... I-I can't... I can't fight it... it's t-too much... it's so... hard... t-to... k-keep fighting..."

And then she started to *laugh*. "The urge to *laugh* at all of you. You stand before Mistress 9, the Messiah of Silence. You believe you can hurt me? That you can save my host? You cling to useless, meaningless hope. She is already... she..." And then her eyes went wide, and she pushed her palms into the ground. "Stop... fighting me... you petulent... child... you have already LOST! I will TEAR YOU APART!" she screamed, lifting her hands up to grip her head.

And as it looked like hope might actually win, they might save her...

Suddenly, seeds rained down around Moon, Jupiter and Tamaki, quickly sprouting into vines that tried to coil around and bind them.

Small, tiny nanobots enveloped Pluto and Uranus, burning and tearing at their bodies as they tried to expand and grow, to bind and lock them up.

La Mer and Amy suddenly found themselves the target of a powerful, destructive blast of purple dark energy stars, the assault plowing into them...

But worst of all? Was Tuxedo Mask. As these attacks rained down, he'd see a flash of red hair... before suddenly Kaolinite seemed to appear in front of him. A crystal sprouting between her fingers before plunging forward, at his abdomen.

Three staffs suddenly drove into the ground in front of Mistress 9, as the remaining members of the witches 5 landed in front of her, taking up their arms before Kaolinite disappeared, reappearing by Mistress 9 and kneeling by her. "Hota-- Mistress 9, are you okay?" She reached out a hand, but Mistress 9 smacked it away.

"Don't you touch me," Mistress 9 snapped. "I... am fine. Weakened, but fine. Fools... I need... more power... to fully awaken..."

"Of... course..." Kaolinite said, before turning to look at them... she held out her right hand and a magic staff appeared in it. "The Messiah of Silence has awoken. Surrender, and your deaths may be painless. Viluy. Tellu. Find the host of this... space... and kill them."

"As you command, the two witches said.

And Hope Concept would feel them doing... something. Seeds sprouting from the end of Tellu's staff, vines creeping out in all directions while small, gray bots spread out from Tellu, coarsing over the labyrinth....

Trying to find Madoka.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Hotaru-chan--" Mamoru gasps out as Mistress 9 flickers, as Hotaru calls out her pain, and Tuxedo Kamen makes the stupid mistake of trying to help her, of getting closer to her, ungloved hand reaching out yet again to try and touch the girl as he clambers over rubble, to try and still her pain. "Keep the Witches a--" he calls back to Tamaki, but then his voice stops as the red blur is there and gone, and his face goes white and he doubles over.

On his knees, keeping rapidly bloodying hands pressed against his stomach and unable to do anything about his back, Tuxedo Kamen falls. Maybe he'll get forgotten and can just work on not bleeding out.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Concept, from somewhere ethereal, is watching the battle from a place that is both far away and immediately close. Or maybe it's easier to say that in this form, her self gets to see the full picture all at once. She bites her metaphorical lip as she feels the attempts to destroy her Labyrinth itself, and wonders just how long she can maintain her barrier.

    Mamoru and Amy both offer her energy. A tempting offer but...

    As she speaks telepathically, the words show up as Witch Runes just hanging in the air. <<Maybe, but... just wait. Focus on the fight. You'll know when I need your help.>>

    Madoka gets a bit of relief when the terrible presence from without stops assailing her boundaries. Only for her blood to get a little cold when she hears M9's words. <<Did she just say... Silence?>>

    Her mind goes back to the immediately previous timeline, when she was a Witch for real... when she was Kriemhild Gretchen... when it all just crumbled up and... No, no time to think about that.

    While a Labyrinth isn't easy to destroy, it's actually very easy to enter. As the horrible nightmare woman suddenly gains a few new allies in her fight, Madoka thinks out loud, <<Reinforcements! ... Everyone, I'm sorry. I have to move the Labyrinth. Um..... Don't worry! If it collapses, I'll catch you! Yes all of you. Don't... don't worry about it!>>

    Wait... where exactly is she moving the entrance to the Labyrinth?

    Why, up and away of course. High in the sky and over the ocean. Still not unreachable, but one would need to fly or teleport in order to get up to her, and do so pretty quickly.

    As for the Familiars, they fall in droves. They attack, fight, and fall in a torrent, only stopping to move out of the way of Madoka's allies. Tuxedo Kamen falls, and the goddess is not unaware. Several human-sized Knight-like Familiars gather in front of him and form a shield wall.

    As for the Witches attempts to find Madoka... they do! ... Sort of. They catch glimpses and short visions of her. Once in a while they catch sight of Hope Blossom, glowing and translucent like a ghost, before she skips away back out of sight. The thing is, there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reasoning behind these sightings, because there's no way she could've gone from point A to point B in such a short amount of time. Eventually they manage to catch sight of two Hope Blossoms at once and all of a sudden it becomes clear.

    There are a whole lot of Dokas in here.

    In a hidden chamber nearby, Hope Concept concentrates. Her eyes are closed, and she's watching the goings on with her mind. Tia is nearby, sending a text to Homura. Just in case the worse happens...

Jadeite has posed:
Madoka's affection and hope roils through him. Hope that they can win, confidence that they will save that kid - hope to steady his stance and think about how to attack next.

And as seeds rain down upon him, he draws his blade in one fluid motion and slashes the creeping vines to pieces before they can drag him down. He's here, and Mamoru and Usagi and Makoto are here, and -

Mamoru falls, blood spreading from his abdomen while the red-headed enemy teleports away. His gaze follows her as he hears Mamoru's last command - Keep the witches - away? keep them busy? Either way, keeping them from attacking Mamoru or supporting their ally is his top goal, he thinks.

He stalks forward, summoning more ice flower shields to bat away the falling seeds as he walks - right - up - to Kaolanite and stabs his blade into her staff like a lightning rod. "Messiah of silence. I hope you enjoy the sound of the coming storm," he says, taking a few steps back -

Away from the blast zone.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Mistress 9 falls to the ground and Hotaru's voice rings out only to be replaced by the invader once more, Sailor Pluto starts moving towards the kneeling villian...and once she hears said villain acknowledge that Hotaru is still fighting within her...she starts speeding up, aiming to help Hotaru in any way she can free herself from this parasite.

Unfortunately, as she does, she's interrupted by a swarm of tiny robots burning and tearing at her.

Worse off, the attacks are escalating, seeking to pin her down.

Fighting through the pain, she steps over closer to Sailor Uranus and says, "Uranus, back me up. You'll know what to do..."

And then she grits her teeth, pulls the giant garnet with the heart-shaped ring through it off the top of the Garnet Rod and holds it aloft for a moment before spinning in place and calling out:

    <<CHRONOS TYPHOON!!!>>

And with that, a temporally-charged wind whips up, swirling around to scatter and damage the various bots and other things surrounding the two senshi...

'Clearing the air', as it were.

Laura La Mer has posed:
There is an instinctive uncertainty in seeing Hotaru's body, even modified to suit its new host as it is, suffer and scream in pain, but Cure La Mer firmly reminds herself that is not the one they are trying to save, that's her oppressor, and they have to keep going like this.

"I won't ever stop hoping. No matter how you try to hide it, hope is always there, you just have to reach for it. If Hotaru-chan is still fighting, why should I give up? I will always reach for the hope that shines at the end."

She is after all smiling when Mistress 9 is facing rebellion in her own body, at the sign that Hotaru hasn't lost at all, that she is proving stronger than Mistress 9 has thought her to be.

And then there is that surprise attack, those dark stars rushing up at La Mer, knocking into her, and harshly throw her down from her position in the sky into a table, that at least proves to be made of soft plushie cotton, and doesn't hurt her more than what the stars have done.

"Looks like you are not as powerful as you thought if you need help", she grimaces while she backs up. Then the Labyrinth gets away. <<Don't worry, we will take care of things here, you take care of yours>>, she replies to the mystery girl.

"Hey, Mistress 9? This is for you now", she grins mischievously. She knows what to do, and she is going to help Hotaru out in the way Mistress 9 deserves. "Marine Heart Swirl Ring! Charm Up!", she smiles, as she stretches her arm upwards, a blue sphere engulfing her from the ring on her arm and making her change form.

"Five powers, roar through the seas!", she shouts, the ring creating a blue heart above her from which a bioluminescent whale comes out. Jumping inside of its mouth, La Mer swims in it, sending the purifying whale crashing against Mistress 9. "Pretty Cure Marine Butt Punch Dynamic!" Yes, it was turned around, and swimming towards her backwards.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Seeds shower down on them, erupting into tangling vines, and Sailor Jupiter *sneers* as the fast-growing tendrils wrap around her legs and try to snare her arms. "You think this is going to work against *me?*"

She squares her shoulders and breathes in, the smooth lines of muscle in her arms standing out in sharp definition as she puts her effort against the vines... and rips them apart. "Don't make me laugh!"

She's not laughing. Her eyes are ablaze with fury, thunder rumbling even within the confines of the Labyrinth as she sets her focus onto Kaolinite. As Jadeite strides forth, flowers of ice blooming in the air along his path, Sailor Jupiter brings her hands together. Electricity arcs from palm to palm.

*Messiah of Silence. I hope you enjoy the sound of the coming storm.*

"Supreme Thunder."

The thunder booms in response, and lightning courses down to meet Jadeite's blade of ice, flooding through it into the staff - and into Kaolinite too, if she's foolhardy enough to try to keep her weapon.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
There's so much going on, and there's so much trouble, and everyone is trying so hard - on both sides. Hotaru has friends and allies and family here, but the thing taking control of her also has new allies. She has to listen to that feeling of hope and the idea that they can put things back to right... or she's going to listen to the other feeling within her, the one telling her she must End The Threat...

    And then her concentration is broken by the attack from Mistress 9's allies, the little robots, trying to rip away at them, a sound of anguish from Txuedo Mask, the threats multiplying, the danger increasing.

    Then Sailor Pluto summons up her own storm, her own wind - and much like the solar wind, it's still a wind and it still can be controlled, can still be made to heed the whims of the Guardian of Uranus - especially when thrown by an ally.

    She pushes through the pain, drawing her blade once more. Too many threats. An injured Prince. A threat to her Princess and Planet. The sword has to be drawn. The battle must be joined. That's what the energy of Sailor Uranus in her mind tells Haruka Tenoh, what her Duty demands of her.

    "Wind of Chronos, hear my call, clear my path!" she calls, directing Setsuna's blast and pulling it into her sword, before slashing forward with it, to scatter the nanobots, to clear a path, to Do Her Job.

    Following in the cleared wake of the Chronos Typhoon comes a very angry Sailor Uranus, swinging her blade now wrapped in the twinned power of herself and Sailor Pluto.

    "SPACE TIME SWORD BLASTER!" she calls as she lashes out muliple waves of energy to clear the path for her allies and hopefully slice into mulitple Witches as she rushes forward.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
For a moment, it seems like they're winning - like the force they can bring to bear, all the might and love and hope they have - can do enough, can put the genie back in the bottle, the monster back in its cage, buy them more time.

After all, she pleads - she kneels, begging, and she's asking, and none of them are sadistic, none of them are cruel, and there's this thought - that maybe she'll stop - that maybe it will be fine -

And then she's laughing at them. It was all a game to her. A joke.

But... maybe not. Because they've given Hotaru the ability to fight back Mistress 9.

(If the word Silence sends shivers down Sailor Moon's spine, makes her eyes widen and her eyes flick to the star on Mistress 9's forehead, in horrible gratitude that isn't a planetary symbol... no one has to know.)

Hotaru is fighting back. Sailor Moon is raising her rod, ready to bring down more purification, to rain it down, as Mamoru goes in, to help -

And then everything goes to hell.

Seeds rain down on Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, and Jadeite, burning into blooming life and trapping them in place, and Sailor Moon struggles, looking around to see what happened, and realizing from Hope Concept's cry that it's reinforcements -

"KAMEN-KUN!"

It's a primal scream, horror and fear and refusal, and light pours over her, as her henshin breaks down into ribbons, that flow into smooth lengths of shimmering fabric, and her hair pales from golden blonde to moon-spun silver, and her skin takes on a delicate glow, as though bathed in moonshine.

Princess Serenity is not a fighter. She was a healer of souls, a soother of minds, a pacifist, who's grief turned her violence upon herself, rather than others, and even now, as she spins the Spiral Heart Moon Rod, as it lengthens into a staff, she is not seeking to wound.

Only to purify.

"Moon Crystal Power!"

And purifying light floods the room, as much a tidal wave as Mistress 9's dark wave. It seeks to bolster and encourage the spirits of her allies, to weaken the rage and spite of her enemies, and above all -

To tear away the darkness.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy smiles as she hears this unknown being's frustration at Yokina fighting her...

    And then the tides turn. She's on the ground, blasted by some kind of dark energy stars, groaning as she lifts herself up, and then shuts off pain -- she can't afford the distraction right now.

    Messiah of Silence?! What even the heck is this?! WHO IS THIS?! How many villains are up to things at once, sheesh! It's almost overwhelming...

    But no. Even as Mamoru falls -- he's not dead, he can't be dead just from that, he's a healer, please Madoka keep him safe until someone can help him -- even as the Witches 3 -- so this is who they were working to release? -- do something to the Labyrinth...

    It's far from over.

    It's not over until my soul gem is ansi#540087,black...)

    Amy raises her arm, the launcher having vanished in rainbow sparkles as more sparkles in her hand reveal a normal-sized wand.

    "No. This world doesn't belong to you. As long as we stand..."

    Star barette decorations appear in her hair, changing the style to twintails. Imitating Madoka or Usagi, not quite... perhaps a more abstract idea?

    "The people you tried to kill... the suffering you want to spread... We'll put a stop to it!"

    Corruption rushes into her soul gem.

    The red-and-white-costumed Puella Magi swings her arm down in a commanding gesture as if giving the signal to attack.

    "HOPE'S! COMMUNAL BLAZER!"

    Once again, all manner of explosive weapons conjure over her head and to each side. Big missiles, small ones, high-tech or looking like they were made by desperate rebels in a garage, recoilless cannons, artillery guns, old-timey? bombs, molotov cocktails and improvised mortars, all rain down on the Witches 3 + Mistress 9, Amy smiling confidently, trusting absolutely in Madoka's power to warp space and keep her friends out of the blast radius.

    Her soul gem is over a quarter black, though...

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Fortunately for the witches, the Tuxedo Mask hit was a distraction. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Their focus had to be on Mistress 9... And that girl was struggling...

"What's wrong?" Kaolinite asked. "I thought--"

"This child is... stronger... than I imagined..." Mistress 9 said. "A... suitable host... but a difficult one... I need... to gather my power... I need more... to properly, fully, awaken..."

Worse, they weren't catching the OTHER witch. She was elusive. So very elusive. Annoying. "She's everywhere," Viluy said, growling.

"Our priority has to be protecting the messiah," Kaolinite said. Believe it or not? She actually did seem concerned and worried for the child. Or, well. The woman, now. Not noticing Tamaki's rush towards her until he jammed his sword at her staff. She parried with the staff, knocking the blade aside, though it created the smallest of cracks across the side...

The butt punch was coming and Mistress 9 had her eyes inexplicably drawn towards it. As, internally, she squealed. Ugh. This child inside her... so obnoxious. How could anyone CARE for such a creature?! WHO CHEERED AT BEING PUNCHED BY A BUTT?! Who was this cheesy?!

But then the storm crashed. Kaolinite drives her staff down, into the ground, as the lightning, the winds, the whale, then, to add to it all? The moon crystal power itself amplifying the assault as the staff and its wielder tried, desperately, to hold back the assault...

And the crack only grew... More explosives, as that small crack grew, ever more... "GET HER OUT OF HERE! NOW!" Kaolinite yelled, gripping her staff tightly as she tried to hold back the assault... Even as electricity crackled through the staff.

The three witches nodded and lifted their own staffs up...

And then there was darkness. A tunnel of dark magic that tore through the air, the barrier, reality itself. If they were to look out into the void, they'd be able to see where a near, almost perfect circle had been vaporized from a good ten yards or so into the ocean, as well as a perfect circle in the clouds above.

... Had Madoka not moved the labyrinth, how many people would have died? How much damage would have been done to the city itself?

As it was, the three witches and Mistress 9 plummeted... one by one disappearing until they'd hear a single splash, Mimette's shriek, then she too dusk ported away.

Finally, Kaolinite's magic gave out and her staff exploded, sending Jupiter's electricity up her arm and drawing a shriek from her.

But, slowly, she chuckled, her left arm hanging at her side, right hand reaching out to hold it. She smiled. "The messiah has awoken," Kaolinite said, the reverence clear in her voice. "You cannot stop it now. Dr. Tomoe... is the most brilliant mind this world has ever known. And now, his daughter has been granted the gift of bearing the greatest honor of the Tau Star. You shouldn't be sad for her, or mourn her... You should mourn yourselves. Her end means everything. And your ends? Will be as meaningless as you."

Her right hand lifted up and crystal shards materialized, countless numbers of them, before erupting outwards. Each as long as a spear, intending to end this here and now...

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
$tUranus had cleared a path, and yet, they had taken her family member - they had taken the threat before she could resolve it or remove it - they were leaving with Hotaru, with whatever this was, and her eyes were almost hollow with anger.

    "Gift? Honor? Messiah?" Uranus spat out each word like they were low garbage. "What you've done, is take a beautiful, happy, wonderful girl and turn her into a monster." she said, taking a step forward. "Is this what she's been fighting all these years, what's been hurting her? You did this ON PURPOSE?!" Uranus asked.

    "You attacked my planet, you hurt my Princess' beloved, you threaten my world... and you hurt my family." Uranus says, sword in hand. "I'm going to fix this. One way or another. But first. We're going to fix you."

    That's all the warning and speech Kaolinite gets before Sailor Uranus is rushing at her with the sword, gleaming brilliant and bright, still somewhat infused by Pluto's Space Typhoon. She doesn't have a finisher. She doesn't have focus. All she has is a killing gleam in her eye, near-super speed, and a magic sword that she's looking to find a new Dark General sheathe for as she charges. To hell with the threatening crystals in the air, to hell with everything else. One or both of them aren't walking away now.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Tuxedo Kamen has mostly gotten himself to stop bleeding, but there's a lot of other damage to see to. It hurts, of course, but the prince has handily depersonalized in order to get it taken care of as quickly as possible without actually thinking about how much it hurts.

He pulls himself backwards and up onto a pillowy outcropping to lean back and see what's going on.

One ungloved hand on his abdomen, glowing, and the other comes up as he watches the crystal shards appear around Kolinite's hand, and as they turn into spears and she shoots them out, this guy...

...this guy throws a plethora of soft-petaled and glitter-filled rose bombs in that direction, each one flying for the crystal spears, each one its own little bomb of glittering antimagic--

But this guy has also been impaled and has been using magic for *healing his gut* so after that he just lets his head fall back and trusts everyone not to let him get stepped on.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
At this point, Sailor Pluto isn't in the best of shape.

She's burnt and cut and scraped in various patches all over her body by the small robots the witches used.

Even worse, the attacks they threw were for naught...as said Witches manage to brute force their way out of Madoka's Labyrinth and take Mistress Nine with them.

Crystals come hurtling at her and everyone else...and Uranus does as Uranus is wont to do...and charges madly ahead.

There's nothing Pluto can do about that at the moment...but what she CAN do is erect a bulwark to protect the most vulnerable and perhaps some others from the crystal storm that they can then attack around.

And so, replacing the head of the Garnet Rod with an audible click, Pluto takes a quick, stumbling step to get between Kaolinite and the vulnerable...and falling to one knee (...it's unclear whether this is because it's a part of the move or her leg gave out), Sailor Pluto intones:

    <<GARNET BALL!!!>>

Which causes a large garnet-colored dome of force to surround her...protecting anyone close to her and those in the shadow of her force-field.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Concept does in fact warp space in such a way that Amy gets to avoid friendly fire. One of the benefits of having control over her own domain means that she can turn friendly fire off for allies but leave it on for enemies. Unfortunately, such small measures aren't quite enough to stop Mistress Nine and the others from fleeing.

    A hole is torn into her reality, and the open gash through the Labyrinth remains as a portal to the outside. After a moment, it stabilizes into a circle surrounded by a glowing neon mandala that slowly rotates, letting the others see the Witches and Mistress escape.

    <<That can't be. You can't be the one who... who...>>

    Hope Concept's heart falters. Even as they flee, Madoka's Familiars give chase, though none of them could ever hope to pursue the enemy into the dusk zone. They pull back, watching all of this from afar.

    Madoka is frozen in fear for a critical moment. She doesn't know for sure, but she suspects, and a question is so much more distracting than an answer...

    If this is how things are going in this timeline, maybe it would have been better if Gretchen had won...

    No... she doesn't have time for that. She has to think about what to do next. Kaolonite is still here, and Madoka isn't letting her get away. The dimensional walls of the Labyrinth weren't enough to contain her, but her Familiars...

    Each of the tiny benotafraids starts tearing fabric off of the walls of Madoka's reality into long strips of magical ribbon. Each of them tries to circle around Kaolonite, wrapping her up and keeping her in place. Even if she can't rescue Hotaru...

    Madoka's Hope Aura takes on an additional quality, as the entire Labyrinth is bathed in purifying rainbow light. This isn't the gentle reminder from the Koan fight. This is an entire world being filled with Purification.

    And in this moment of power, Hope Concept finally manifests, hovering over her broken fabric-and-stuffing world and the remaining wisps of her fallen minions, holding the Humpty Lock high over her head.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The attacks and the strength they brought to bear were all for nothing, as Kaolinite utterly ignores everything they brought down against her, impossibly strong. Princess Serenity refuses to falter, even when it seems her greatest outburst of purification does nothing, even when Jupiter's lightning is unable to disrupt the attack, when Uranus' strike, empowered by the winds of time, still fails to stop the escape -

Sailor Pluto crafts a garnet shield over them, to keep out the menacing crystals, and Princess Serenity runs to her prince, kneeling beside him, heedless of the blood seeping into the delicate white fabric.

Her eyes are fixed on him. She will trust her allies to do what they can against this incomprehensibly powerful foe. "I'm with you. Take my power. Take my strength, and become whole again, my love."

And the Silver Crystal glows, pouring into Tuxedo Kamen, strengthening his healing, sharpening his mind.

Jadeite has posed:
HOw had that not put a scratch on that monster?? He'd at least thought those minions would take some damage, but apparantly nothing works on them... At least he'd gotten the staff?

And he'll get the rest of her, he thinks; he is between her and Usagi, her and Mamoru, her and their many allies.

He feels the change in the air from his fellow Shitennou before he can see it hear it smell it - as Zoisite appears beside him, he abandons his sword to put a hand on Zoisites back, feeding in the rest of his energy to his fellow guard.

"Zoisite," Jadeite says serenely, his smile tugging up w i d e as he turns to him. "That red-headed woman hurt our prince and has been trying to kill our princess and everyone else here. I do believe we should ensure she can't do anything else."

His Mamoru! His Tokyo! His friends! (His Zoisite!)

(He knows he can rely on his friend-brother-kin, just as he knows that he can breathe air and that the ground is solid beneath his feet.)

Zoisite has posed:
Ah yes, he can rely on Zoisite to do exactly just that. And even if there was no explicit permission given by Endymion, he would take the punishment later. For now... There is nothing but intense fury in Zoisite's eyes, green vividly burning as he stares down at Kaolinite. Jadeite's energy runs through his nerves and veins as he takes every last drop of it in greed before leaping into the air, hovering above the bitch that dared harm his--their--prince.

All of it was fed into his hands, the small fire ball now becoming nothing but a pit of hellfire that shone as bright as stars.

"May you rot into your next life." Sharp grin, pupils narrowed to the form of the woman with red hair below--releasing flames down upon her in violent spirals until majority of his energy was spent in one go.

He held back enough to teleport Mamoru later to a much safer place afterwards.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"Oh, please!", La Mer shouts at Kaolinite throwing out some dumb speech about giving up. "Make use of your Mistress's deal and be silent!" Really, you'd think she would understand they don't intend to give up.

"We will stop you, and all we will mourn is we couldn't do sooner. Doctor Tomoe was a monster, and Hotaru-chan wants none of his gift!" Mistress 9, she chose the wrong host, and the fact Hotaru is giving her such a hard time? It fills Laura with hope as boundless as the sea.

With the whale stopped and driven back, Cure La Mer turns back into her Snow Crystal Tropical Style form, grumbling at how Mistress 9 and that other woman escaped. It's ok, they will still find her and free Hotaru. She wants more power, right? She won't stay on the downlow, and they can use that to find her.

This is not the end. We will find you, Hotaru-chan.

The spears of crystal raining down are so many that Laura couldn't even count them all, but there is an attack of hers that commands myriad of things too, and in Hope Concept's realm of Hope, there is no way they can ever lose!

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

The mermaid spins around, a trail of glowing pink energy following behind her. "Pretty Cure Ocean Bubble Shower!" she shouts, pointing the Mermaid Aqua Pact at the spears, the magical item briefly glowing yellow before it rapidly fires an uncountable torrent of bubbles to try and overtake them and then crash into Kaolinite all together.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy threw everything at them at once, here, in this place, and it only drove them off.

    But as long as they haven't won, there's still hope, right?

    There are spears forming, and Amy hits the deck to present a narrower profile against the attack -- only to find herself surrounded by some kind of forcefield. Who knew Sailor Pluto could do that?!

    There's still one last witch in front of them.

    And they're still inside Madoka's Labyrinth, where space, hopefully for a little longer, always warps their way.

    She can see victory, if she only reaches towards it! She holds out a hand, and chants in engrish,

    WORM SMASHER

    It's the attack she used against the DG girls and some of the witches, a grid of those explosions in front of her, stabbing lines of orange light--

    --But when space is your friend and their enemy, is there such a thing as the wrong distance or the wrong angle? She trusts it to reach from whatever angle or angles it needs to!

    When every way you can possibly dodge is wrong, Hope is really only on the other side, isn't it...?

    Her soul gem blackens a bit more. Her soul still shines more than half that bright red, though...!

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Kaolinite didn't fear them, perhaps she should have. But instead, she summoned and shot out ever more spears of crystal. Bam. Bam. One by one, exploding and erupting. Slamming into people, intending to hurt them. Intending to kill them. With one hand, though, all of her magic was struggling to keep up. The flowers exploded against a barrier of magic, as she panted and struggled back. as the spears struck shields, rebounding off them, only for more to fly out. She would not lose to them. She was Kaolinite, the most powerful of the witches. Even without her staff... The fact they'd managed to destroy it, though... they were powerful. So much more powerful than she'd imagined.

And then the stupid familiars were trying to bind her up. More shards of crystal formed around her, shredding and tearing, a few of her blades even cutting herself. One of the roses struck her shoulder, making her stumble slightly. Before fire rained down on her. She held up her hand, the flames hitting it, enveloping her... but when they faded, she was standing... burned... but alive...

Which wasn't so nice, when buttles and purifying water washed over her and she tried to shield herself again, the magic sizzling across her body as she took another step back, now focused only on defense as no more spears came. More explosives. More fire. She holds up her hand, encasing herself in a wall of crystal which explodes, scattering shards in all directions before she--

Went entirely still. Her eyes wide. Mouth open in shock... as she looked down.

At Uranus' blade. Plunged into her chest. Her eyes wide, she looked at the senshi of wind... and smiled.

Before she and the senshi were enveloped in black flames, akin to the ones of Zoisite's... and... when they were gone?

There remained naught of Kaolinite... not even ash. Just the shattered pieces of her staff.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The rainbow swell of purification washes away the flood of darkness from earlier, rings out like the clear tone of an immense bell but with light and peace instead of sound. It feels so nice, it helps.

He can hear Tamaki, he can hear Makoto-- and then he feels Zoisite suddenly so much closer-- and then Serenity is there, and she's brought out her healing, her power, her love and strength, and her touch is gentle and cool like moonlight, and Tuxedo Mask's eyes open as his bloody hand touches the back of hers.

The flow of Usagi's power is enough not only to bolster and speed Mamoru's healing, but it's also enough to make sure he won't need a couple of weeks of antibiotics, it's enough to relieve his fatigue, make the pain stop, clear his mind so he can focus properly on what to fix in what order--

--and in the back behind all the professional business-face Mamoru's mind is wearing, behind the tiny sense of him gripping her hand and never letting go, there's just relief. She's here, he'll be fine. He loves her so much, and that swims through and throughout everything else, meeting her love where it is.

As he's healing he hears Zoisite with Jadeite, and he feels the heat, and he opens his eyes again.

Then they widen.

"I am--" he whispers, "I will, I do..." and his fingers, tacky, curl around her wrist a little, "but did you see that? ...was that my circus monkeys?"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Uranus has a look on her face, but it's not one of peace, or even one of anger. It's hard to place. A sort of cold determination mixed with sour regret. She's still got her sword, gripped in hand from where she plunged it into Kaolinite. And then it drops from her hands, shimmering out of existence when it hits the floor, before Uranus topples over sideways, uniform tattered from the Dark Energy Kaolinite released when she exploded.

    She's still, but breathing. Out of energy, passed out, but not out of life.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Kaolinite finally meets her doom, Pluto lets her Garnet Ball drop...all but entirely tapped out.

As it falls, she sees Uranus engulfed in black flames, and she lets out a sharp noise of surprise...and then she's scrambling hands and knees over to catch her roommate before she fully hits the floor.

And there she kneels, head hung, hair cascading over to conceal her face as she desperately hugs Uranus, murmuring softly to the other senshi.

Zoisite has posed:
Deep panting, breathing in the smoke and ash, watching the chaos of all other attacks following his own until he was sure that she was dead. A Sailor stumbles out of the smoke, still alive. Good, she will be fine enough--he assumes as he didn't care if she was fine or not. She was not his priority.

Instead, he gently glides down to Jadeite, looking over the blond man with furrowed brows that hinted at concern. "You look like shit." Mutters, but it's not a critical one, nor teasing as a gloved hand pushed blond locks aside to get a better view. Bruises. Many of them. Uniform stained in dirt and ash.

A lot of cleaning and healing to do. But that will be the least of their worries.

"Come, hold onto me. I can fly us over to our prince." Offers his arm, willing to share some of the energy he had left so they both could hover. Again, not all of it. Just enough.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Tuxedo Kamen heals. The Silver Crystals strength into him, until she's sure he's fine - whole, hale, hearty. Strong enough that if he had to, he could get back into the fight.

But the fight is ending -

Behind her, there is the sound of an explosion, and she flinches, turning to see -

"Uranus," she whispers, horrified, and with one last squeeze of Tuxedo Kamen's hand, stands.

"Yes," Princess Serenity says, "Those were your monkeys. Do you think you can help one of mine?"

He's healed - she has made sure of that - but is he well enough? Her hand is bare. Her questions are there for him, if he can feel them.

"Zoisite, Jadeite. Hold on, a moment. I know you want to whisk him away, but... if he can help..."

She glances back, to where Pluto holds Uranus close.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    That was a lot.

    Even for Hope Concept, that was a lot, and she's not looking forward to fighting those people in the future.

    At least she wont have to do that alone. Usagi's Silver Crystal means that her own medical intervention will be unnecessary, which is good because actually Medo is a long ways off. Then again, nothing actually stops Madoka from doing a simple checkup.

    Other than the fact that she is, in fact, exhausted. Both from manifesting a lot of her power and also from defending her Labyrinth from the outside of... what, exactly? Space?

    Maintaining a large Familiar is a lot easier than maintaining a whole Labyrinth. So, Madoka's Paradise fades away, and space bends and folds in subtle ways to ensure that everyone still here ends up on the top of a giant flying platform. It almost looks like a stage with multiple pairs of wings, fluttering down from the sky and heading back to the Tokyo coastline. It's probably a good thing that no one can see how many eyes this thing has on the bottom part of it, looking down into the ocean.

    It would be a long fall if anyone decided to take a dive from here, but there are a few more smaller Familiars flying around to catch anyone who falls.

    As for Hope Concept, she lands down on her stage Familiar, and falls to her knees. Tia keeps texting Homura, telling the Time Puella that things turned out okay but also there's this thing about the Silence and gosh isn't that kinda familiar?

    Madoka glances over to Mamoru to see if he's okay, and he seems to be, but then she looks at Uranus and... Oof.

    "I... I'll try to get us back to ground level... um... is she going to be okay?"

    She really misses Medo right now.

Jadeite has posed:
"You missed the head honcho sending out shockwave after shockwave, like some kind of deranged rhythm game boss," Jadeite reports. "So I got smacked into the walls a fwe times. I'm fine, nothing that Mamoru can't patch up."

It's fiiiine, it's not like he got stabbed! NOt like, ah. Mamoru.

He slumps onto Zoisite's shoulder without question, nodding. "Thanks, Zoisite," he says, using the borrowed power to fly with him. "I was trying to keep her from getting off a second shot before Mamoru could heal, and you made sure of that."

When the two of them land next to Mamoru - as Serenity asks if she can borrow the prince, Jadeite nods. "Yes, just - double checking he didn't break rule six, don't tank anything he can't heal."

Zoisite has posed:
Yes, he missed quite a bit. He wished he had not, but he was here now, holding onto Jadeite as they hover over. Details would surely be shared later. "You're welcome." Hint of a smile in those words, before the two landed near to Mamoru.

His hand remains close to Jadeite, making sure he won't fall over while speaking, his own gaze scrutinizing everything about Tuxedo Kamen's appearance. Stains of blood, stains and stains, but no wound visible. Healed fully by the Silver Crystal and the Moon Princess' grace. One more deep inhale, and Zoisite visibly relaxes then.

Green gaze shifts over to the Moon Princess. "Who will he be helping?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy looks shocked when flames engulf them... but then the witch(?) is gone, and Uranus isn't, and Setsuna is hugging the tall blonde senshi rather than taking medical steps so she's probably alive, and Amy slowly stands to her feet, looking at where Kaolinite was. And then at the hole in the Labyrinth. And then at... "Tuxedo Mask! Are you okay...?"

    Hearing Zoicite, who hasn't been in the Labyrinth before (Amy guesses?) she lets him know, "This place is safe, there's no more danger here, you can conserve your strength..."

    Speaking of strength, she looks at her own gem, two-fifths full of that inky, corrupted blackness. She pulls a grief seed from one of the pink heart decorations on her dress, oh, they're little storage pouches actually, and touches it to her SOUL and... it barely draws any of the blackness away before stopping. Amy lets out a breath and pulls out another grief seed, purifying her soul gem and pocketing it, while holding the expended one in her hand, to give it to, to give it to, the friend that's hard to remember but all around them...

    The Labyrinth fades and they're... over the ocean, on a Final Destination (Fox only, no items) platform?

    Others have already asked if Uranus is okay -- Amy listens for responses from the healers here.

    But right now, she walks over to Madoka, taking her hand to press Lucretia's grief seed into it. "Thank you."

    The look on her face, and her thoughts, says I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here... I don't want to know.

    "That... Hope thing you did... it was nice."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Always," Tuxedo Mask says, still looking an awful mess but his face is clear and he's rejuvenated, and as he gets up he kisses Serenity, and then he smiles at his boys. "I didn't tank it," he says, "Usa got it, it's fine now." He heads over to Setsuna and Haruka.

(He takes his remaining glove off, and therefore has at least a mostly clean hand to lay fingertips to Haruka's arm.) "She'll be okay," he calls over to Madoka as hee crouches down next to Setsuna.

It's a gentle golden warmth that's still laced through with bright, cool silver, and it's a gift of the relief from pain, a well of magical energy, and it's almost as good as a whole vacation of rest and relaxation at once.

"Hey," he murmurs, glancing to Setsuna, then back to Haruka, "Hinoiri is a terrifying driver, I was on the back of her bike..."

Laura La Mer has posed:
With a blade plunged into Kaolinite, Laura appears shocked at that moment, not expecting her to actually burn and die from it. It doesn't take long to shake herself out of it. Sure, she died, but she has more pressing things to think about than the death of an enemy, and that endangered a dear friend of hers, and the Sailor Senshi who punished her.

"Will she be ok?" Cure La Mer asks to Princess Serenity, looking at the unconscious Soldier of the Wind. At least the pinkette can see Uranus is breathing, but the mermaid doesn't want to imagine how much that hurt.

"So, Mistress 9... She wants to gather power, right? We should be able to use that to track her, when she makes her move."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Tuxedo kneels next to where she's gently rocking and places his hand on Uranus' arm, Sailor Pluto raises her head to look through her hair at him.

Her face is a mess...between scratches, minor burns, dirt, and suspiciously puffy eyes.

She looks down at where the Prince has laid his hand...and she realizes that Uranus will be healed and okay...which causes her to visibly sag in place at the realization.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Uranus," Princess Serenity confirms to Zoisite, as Tuxedo Kamen slips away from them so he can take care of Haruka. She stands, looking down at the blood on her dress - and then suddenly, it's Sailor Moon there, in shimmering light. She's looking drained, but she's not covered in her fiancé's blood anymore, so she'll take it.

"As long as she's alive - which she is - Mamochan will fix her up," she nods to Laura, gives Zoisite a smile, and pats his arm as she steps towards the Pretty Cure. "If she's looking for energy, we can definitely try to keep our ears to the ground - and we'll want to warn as many on our side as we can, because she might end up... going after some of us, to try and get power."

If Sunset of Sora would do it, who's the say this Mistress 9 wouldn't?

Zoisite has posed:
Ah, the sailor that rolled out of the smoke that had no priority to him. Very well. He says nothing while he waits, and is very unsure how to take the Princess patting his arm at that moment. The purification has not been scheduled yet, and there was no proper reply to his request, which he had sent at 1:35 AM in the morning.

Ah well, it was the weekend. Perhaps later she'll reply.

He shrugs, watching his prince cure Sailor Uranus, hiding his impatience.

Jadeite has posed:
"Should we try and set bait for a trap, or just wait for things to happen?" Jadeite asks Sailor Moon as she considers Mistress 9's further tactics. "IF she's going after mahou, we could use that to try and set things up to our advantage - like making sure we have Madoka with us to prevent collateral damage."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Uranus looks up for a moment, eyes opening slowly thanks to Mamoru. "Did we get her?" Is all she asks - and upon confirmation, she merely tells Pluto that "I'll be fine, just need a little rest." with a smile she closes her eyes still keeping.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka is still too tired to move. She's grateful that the Stage Familiar is moving for her, she's grateful that Uranus and Mamoru are alright, and she's grateful that Amy is delivering the spent Grief Seed to her by hand. She takes the Grief Seed into her hands and holds it close. "Thank you. Lucretia, is it? I'll..."

    She trails off. She is really tired. Holding a Labyrinth under normal conditions is not that hard. Holding a Labyrinth while under assault where you cannot comprehend the true nature of the attack is... a bit more taxing.

    After losing her train of thought, she smiles up at Amy and says, "I'm glad! I'm glad it helped. I'm sorry I couldn't do more, and I'm sorry I couldn't keep her in here."

    They need to get back to shore. The stage must remain perfectly stable, which means she must anticipate any wind turbulence, which is what the other escorting benotafraids are really for. She needs to deal with the Grief Seed. They need to get Hotaru back. They need to make sure that the world doesn't crumble into dust...

    Welp, back to living in constant existential terror.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Madoka looks so tired. Amy smiles and hugs her. (Which would probably hurt if she weren't presently disabling pain. Hooray for that ability?) "You did what none of us could do, you..."

    Amy takes a breath, and sighs. "...I guess no matter what we manage to do, we always wish we could've done more, huh. Gods are more like us than some weird eldritch entity after all, huh?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There-- ah, there. Tuxedo Kamen pats Uranus' arm, then Setsuna's back, and he gets up and drops his henshin right there on the biblically accurate flying platform, and suddenly the blood's all off him, too. His fluffy hair flutters in the breeze as they fly, and his glasses are smudged, and he looks a little bemused.

If anyone else needs healing, he's assuming he'll be ask-- oh, he got impaled today. That might be why he's out of it. "Anyone else hurt enough to be a major inconvenience?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Concept returns Amy's hug, leaning into it just a little before pulling back. "Eheh... well I mean... were all magical, and I'm a pretty long ways away from being all powerful or omni-anything."

    Tia interjects. "Not true! You are the omnicuddle. Homu-chan says so."

    Madoka winces. "Pet names don't count!"

    She glances over to Tuxedo Kamen and says, "I'm okay! I didn't lose anything I couldn't afford to."

    Sorry, Familiar army, but that's what you're there for.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods to Madoka, then lifts her head when Mamoru asks that, and looks behind her at the Senshi and Shitennou. After a moment, she turns and walks over to them. "I don't want to be a bother... I have more than enough magic to cover this if I have to, I think... but if you think you can do anything..." Her costume hides the bruises, her flesh hides the fractures. And because she has pain off and wasn't thinking about it, she didn't even think to stop the internal bleeding until just now. Oops.

    "...I don't mind staying over again, if it'd be more convenient."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Tuxedo Kamen does his work. Sailor Moon joins him - mostly, so that she can kneel and hug Setsuna, as tight as she can.

"Suna-san," she murmurs, "We're going to figure this out."

She wants to promise that they'll get Hotaru back, but things have been - hard. Bad. If there's one thing that she's had to learn, it's that she can't always get everything she wants to get done, done. And she doesn't want to look Setsuna in the eyes, if she promises to bring Hotaru back, and they can't.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As Mamoru touches her and she's healed of her various burns and cuts, Sailor Pluto breathes a sigh of relief.

She gathers herself to get back up...but then Sailor Moon is kneeling and hugging her...and she just sags into place, leaning into the hug...for hugs from Sailor Moon are ALWAYS worth it.

She murmurs softly in response, "...thank you..."

Then, with a small grunt of effort, she pushes herself back to her feet, Uranus shifted to a princess carry in her arms, "Let's get home, get some rest...and then we can start to tackle THIS problem."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"No, Usako gave me a super buff a couple minutes ago," Mamoru says reassuringly, reaching out to take Amy's hands. He shuts his eyes, and the glow surrounding them is bright, bright! Still threaded through with the aftereffects of being bathed in the power of the Ginzuishou.

Warm and gold and cool and silver, and there's the vastness of the stars in the taste of the nighttime summer meadow...

"I think I can get it by the time we land," he says with a smile, then very carefully makes sure he winks at Sailor Moon.