2407/Death of a Bachelor

Death of a Bachelor
Date of Scene:	15 March 2025
Location:	Tsukino Residence
Synopsis:	Trapped in Moon Space with the heroes - those who battled through Scene 2405/Maidenless Behavior and those who arrive as reinforcements - Crimson Rubeus gives it his all. It's just that against these mahoujin, his best is simply not enough. The Dark General who's commanded the Black Moon Clan's feats of terror finally falls, and our heroes, though greatly injured, know victory once more! CW: Body Horror/Graphic Description of Injures, NPC Character Death.
Cast of Characters:	280, Makoto Kino, Usagi Tsukino, Chibiusa Tsukino, Zoisite, Minako Aino, Mamoru Chiba, Jadeite, Kazuo Saitou, Veronica Perenna, Amanda Faust, Takashi Agera, Glimmer Brightmoon, Norie Okana
Tinyplot:	Black Moon Clan
Tinyplot2:	BMC: Rabbit Hunt

---

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
In the center of Moon Space, a fantastical cityscape of buildings, some which stand tall and proud, others which tilt at jaunty angles, all of which are ever-so-slightly softened at the edges and corners, with their windows replaced with hearts and stars and crescent moon shapes - some of which are drifting around the building space, and others of which are floating away from their buildings - stands Crimson Rubeus, Vanguard Commander of the Black Moon Clan.

A tall man with flaming red hair and eyes, he wears a leather vest and camouflage cargo pants tucked into leather combat boots, the symbol of the Black Moon Clan is proudly displayed on his forehead. His face is set in a grim expression of menace, but his eyes are ablaze with grief and hate, as he looks upon them.

Not quite a minute before, his comrades, the rebuilt and reborn Spectre Sisters, were taken down by the heroes facing him, and their plan to slaughter Usagi Tsukino's family was ruined. Now, he has nothing to lose.

Rubeus knows what it would mean to return to his prince a failure, without even the bodies of his comrades to carry back, a failure in even that solemn duty and he will not have it.

This is fight to the end, one way or the other.

The sky of Moon Space is a watercolor-esque graded wash of color, from deepest orange to palest yellow, and no stars or clouds can be seen - only the tops of buildings, many of which have large stuffed hearts or wrapped gift boxes, the drifting shape of a blimp stamped with a detailed rose on one side and a crescent moon at it's nose, and the painted in shape of the Earth, drifting high above in cycles far too swift to match the rotation of planets. In that sky, and along the padded-ground, appear a few circle cut outs, the shape of the full moon, which reveal the real world, outside, a suburban neighborhood in Juuban Ward, Usagi Tsukino's damaged house.

These portals were opened to let those injured out - and they stay open to let those reinforcements joining the fight in. At the very start of this battle, Usagi Tsukino had sent a panicked request for help to everyone she knew and trusted even vaguely, along with her location - which means that many, many people got the message. Anyone approaching from the outside will see a large purple some, covered in the drifting shapes of little golden crescent moons, dark pink stars, and cartoon rabbits, hopping about, where Usagi's house should be.

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
Rubeus doesn't know that, but even without factoring in the odds of reinforcements, he knows he'll only win if he gives it everything he has - if he thinks with his head and not merely with his hate, and acts decisively to crush his enemies.

Sailor Moon, that most hateful witch, may be who he wants dead most, but his Prince would never accept that - so Rubeus plans to carry out a modified version of their original plan.

Take Moon out last. Kill the ones she loves before her eyes.

And he'll start with the girl who just destroyed Berthier's corpse and desecrated her remains: Amy Faust.

"Two down," he snarls, referencing Cure La Licorne and Sailor Uranus, both of whom have had to retreat from the fight, "But so many more to massacre.

"Broiling Darkness!"

A ball of dark energy the size of a soccer ball is thrown at - the ground?! Yes. When it strikes, it explodes in an expanding wave of darkness, sizzling with electrifying power, and throwing up a cloud of dust as the ground is destroyed.

And through that cloud of dust, Rubeus flies for Amy, firing off half a dozen blasts of darkness, which strike at her from multiple angles, like her own blasting, redirecting mini-rockets. Even as the blasts are striking, he claws at her, fingers laced with darkness to form terrible talons, striking for her chest and gut, once, twice, three times - at least one of these, she may be able to deflect or avoid, but not all.

"Destroy one of my girls, will you - let's see how you like it when its your body torn to shreds!"

Makoto Kino has posed:
"FLOWER HURRICANE!"

As the wave of darkness rushes outward, the air fills with a sweet-scented wind, brisk and balmy like springtime, a flurry of pink petals that capture the electrical charge and push back against the dark assault. It spirals outward, centered on Sailor Moon and covering as many of her allies as it can.

Sailor Jupiter descends through one of the portals near the top of the Moon Space dome, cushioned by the wind as she drops down to join the others. "Sorry I'm late!" she says as she touches down. Immediately she squares her stance, focusing on Rubeus and ready to fight.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
They've had a moment - barely, at that, but a moment nonetheless - to breathe, after the fall of the Spectre Sisters, but Sailor Moon knew it wasn't over, and wouldn't be for as long as Rubeus still lives. As much as she may hate it, she knows the reality of this situation: the only way out of this is for them to put their enemy down.

She can't help in this fight, though - not when all of her strength is being used to maintain this new battleground, and when the darkness rushes towards her, she clenches her eyes shut -

Only for them to pop wide open when that oh so welcome voice cries out.

"Jupiter-chan!"

She's instantly cheered by the presence of her guardian, her fellow Sailor Soldier. The fact that flower hurricane scatters the dark energy that would have otherwise hurt is a welcome bonus.

"Don't be silly - you're just in time!"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Madoka Kaname suddenly had to stop her fight. She had been relying upon Kamiko a lot and as a result, she was running out of energy. Knowing what was coming next she told her allies and friends, "Sorry! I have to pull back!"

    There's no way she can afford to drop henshin in front of the Black Moon Clan, and she's really been giving it her all this past month or so. Over and over. There's a limit to that.

    Yet as one pink leaves, another arrives.

    Up in the sky, flying thanks to the power of her Intelligent Device turned cape, Masquerade Lapine spots the strange colored dome and assumes, despite knowing very little about it, that it's some kind of friendly barrier. At the very least, nothing that the Black Moon Clan ever brought to bear has ever looked so friendly and cute.

    << Danger Ahead >> warns a telepathic voice from the cape, deep and horrible like something out of a horror movie.

    << I know, Lumie, >> reassures Lapine. << ... but if I can't fight now, then I may as well stay at home! We practiced for this, so get ready! >>

    She dives down, purple cape trailing behind her. Spotting Jupiter enter just before her, Masquerade Lapine arrives in the middle of the flower storm. Her feet gently land on a pile of stuffed hearts, and she swishes her cape dramatically!

    "The Rose-and-Bunny Magician of Mystery! Masquerade Lapine!" She dramatically points at Crimson Rubeus. "I wont forgive you for attacking this innocent family. In the name of..."

    In the name of what exactly?

    "... cute bunnies, I'll punish you!"

    Nailed it.

    A moment later, she's telepathically calling out to any friendly mahoujin who can hear her. << Um... so like... is there a bare minimum amount of posing or introduction we have to do or do we just like... start throwing things? >>

Zoisite has posed:
Hands were still together when the wave of electrifying darkness hits them, Zoisite stopping in his tracks in an attempt to shield himself from it, arm raised. Gasp muted by the sound of the explosion. They wouldn't make it to Kunzite in time, and he had a plan in mind--This was unfortunately not the time for it now. Rubeus was on Amy, the Rocket Girl. It was personal now.

His hand gives Jadeite's a squeeze before letting go.

"I can't heal you, I can only give you a bit of my energy." He pulls on both of Jadeite's cheeks, using the contact as a way to transfer only a tiny bit of extra energy in hopes that would make up for them not making it to Tuxedo and Kunzite. "Don't lose your fingers you dumbass!"

And Zoisite teleports into the air again, clear shot of Rubeus as another swarm of cherry blossoms swirl and beam directly to the bachelor's head. Same strategy--go for the earrings. COOK him.

"Sakura Conflagration!"

All the petals circling around Rubeus explode at once.

Minako Aino has posed:
"Sailor Moon!" Venus calls out with concern as she had watched her cast this... Dome all around them, and then promptly taken on a praying position. Now that the others were defeated, Rubeus was left and he didn't look happy. Her hand grips tighter on the Holy Sword and she starts to run in her direction to offer protection from the attack that Rubeus is dropping--

To go after Amy instead!? That was unexpected... But a saving grace in some small way. The wave of dark energy that explodes outward sends her into a protective stance before she even gets that far.

Venus throws an arm up to protect her face as the wave hits her tearing at her skin and fuku leaving her battered and bloodied. Some was not her own. Down on one knee she grips her sword for balance until it passes.

It's the cry of Jupiter's own attack and arrival that causes her head to jerk up with a quick laugh as more of her friends begin to arrive. "Jupiter!" And... "... Bunny Mask?" Okay that wasn't quite the right translation but she'd just spent enough time in Paris that she tries to translate it and that was close! It was enough more were here for her to try and regain her energy with several quick gulps of air as she willfully tries to ignore the aches and stings of her body.

Regaining her feet she holds the sword in one hand, and the Love-Me-Chain lights back in the other while she allows her power to build up again. No explosions here, but... She was preparing something.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
He was going to charge a Smoking Bomber, but no, he changes his mind when Rubeus goes straight for Amy. Abruptly the golden glow dissipates and Tuxedo Mask lunges to one side, bringing up his cape to shield himself from the dark blast-- though the force of it nearly knocks him off his feet. He keeps the charge, it's just been redirected, and Rubeus is on Amy like white on rice, and then Jupiter's voice calls out, and he nods firmly.

"--Glittering Rose Bomber!" he yells, and an array of almost three dozen roses bursts out as he flings his cape back, letting them loose. Each one explodes into glitter and rose petals on impact, a cloud of attack-cancellers--

--and then THERE IS A TINY GIRL IN A CAPE??? A-- a pink cape? With pink hair? And a MASK? And a top hat? With bunny ears? And a costume a little like his and a little like Sarek's? Not just pink hair, but CHIBIUSA'S pink hair, and Mamoru looks shocked.

"Usa! Someone's copying all three of us!!" he blurts, disbelieving and faintly offended perhaps, or at least considering being offended, except holy shit what a cute kid.

<< Just start throwing stuff! Also, sing out if you get overwhelmed, okay? But not out loud, just here. >>

Jadeite has posed:
Well. He acn't feel his fingers hurting, which is BAD for a burn injury. But that means he has more energy to focus on turning Rubeus into so much ash and sludge.

(Which should feel less hollow, he thinks. The man has caused nothing but trouble and harm. But it feels a little like putting down some rabid animal - maybe if someone had interfered long, long ago, it wouldn't have to be this way. But it's neccessary now.)

"Thanks, Zoisite," he says, rubbing his hands together to try and keep some feeling in them - His own ice shield has mostly protected him from the electrified darkness, but he's not feeling the most steady on his feet -

And then some kid in a bunny suit shows up and makes an announcement, and she is new and fresh and exactly the kind of person that Rubeus would maul to make a point. CHange of plans!! He runs over to her, manifesting a second ice rose shield in the process as he replies back to her with telepathy.

<<Hey!! No posing right now, this is a boss fight and this guy is trying to kill everybody. Take a shield, I'll be over to hand you one in a second, and then if you have any ranged attacks, aim for that redheaded man's earrings.>>

And then he skitters to her side and is handing her a nice, very thick ice rose shield. D. Don't mind the condition his hands are in. He's fine.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
At least the shock isn't as bad as it reaches Zoisite and Jadeite. Because there's still that shadow around them, and it can't consume the physical shock, but it can consume the electricity, tainted as it is. And it gives Kunzite an instant's warning, enough time to leap upward over the leading edge. To see over the dust Jupiter's arrival, and --

-- in the name of -- cute bunnies?

Okay, if they need to deal with any more ghosts today, between Amy and the new arrival, they are set.

Jadeite's got her. Tuxedo Mask has Amy - he hopes. Zoisite is mobile; for all Kunzite wants to shield him, it won't follow as fast as Zoisite can move.

So Kunzite makes his way, as close to a run as he can, around and through the disrupted ground (how long will it stay disrupted? they'll find out; if it closes up fast, he'd better not let his feet get caught) toward Moon's praying form. If he can protect her - that frees up Jupiter and Venus to do what they do best.

(It's been years since Makoto Kino punched him, and he's utterly unaware that the same laughing grin is on his face now. May Rubeus be as surprised by what's about to hit him.)

Veronica Perenna has posed:
What was holding Rubeus back, the Princess of Sarek kept her eyes on him while taking the chance to collect her forces. Was it reinforcements he was waiting for? She is not sure if he is preparing a particularly difficult attack, but if he is, he is very good at not showing any signs.

Nonetheless, this is the opportune moment to collect herself, and she spends those minutes, looking at the energy relics she has collected so far. It has been a long while since she has had to make use of them. Will today be the day?

The moonlit thief smirks at the entrance of Masquerade Lapine. She is always interested when another one of her kind shows up, and she bows at the bunny in top hat with a smile with a tip of her own hat before focusing back on Rubeus.

And good enough, because it is then Rubeus has finally started moving and he is going after Amy, enacting what looks like a furious vengeance, the intensity of which leaves the Princess of Sarek shocked. He really cared that much. But her answer is the same: shouldn't have attacked them.

"Lunar Glare!" the Princess of Sarek shouts, throwing a calling card at Rubeus. It leaves a trail of sparkling moonlight behind it, almost dancing around in the air on its path to the redhead of the Black Moon. If it manages to get in front of his eyes, it will explode in a burst of light that won't hurt him, but will instead temporarily blind him.

At the same time as she throws her card, the wave of darkness reaches her, and she throws out a hasty barrier of moonlight, but she didn't take good enough care, and Rubeus' attack breaks past it with more power it would otherwise have had, and she is forced back and bruised by it, but at least it didn't incapacitate her.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Two down? "What? You didn't--" Amy starts to question, when darkness.

    She leaps over the wave of darkness. And then finds herself pursued by homing attacks, her own tricks used against her -- she henshins to her 'super mode' in midair and takes flight to avoid them, conjuring minimissiles to counter them, in what would surely be a lovingly-animated homage to Macross if her life were an anime...

    Dodge, dodge, dodge, dodge, negated-by-Hope Concept, dodge, dodge, Amy is so lucky today

    until she isn't.

    It's poetic injustice, perhaps, that in dealing with the missiles she ends up vulnerable to the melee attack, just like Belthier. Claws stab into her well and truly, and Rubeus can take pride in a good hit. Puppet mode kicks in automatically. She twists out of the way of the second stab, by millimeters, but isn't so lucky with the third.

    Oh no

    Is this it?

    Am I dead?

    Not now. FIGHT. You can apologize to Madoka later...

    And there's something so sad about that last thought, tears in her eyes, but she pushes it down too.

    She explodes. More specifically, she summons and instantly detonates explosives between her and Rubeus, including indendiary powder on his side of the explosions. "You wghck--"

    She tries to retort, but blood comes out of her mouth instead of words.

    Smoke bombs detonate around her, and she flies from the smoke towards Mamoru. The healer.

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
Rubeus is as focused on his prey as a hound on the hunt, hands wreathed in darkness, fingers lengthened to claws, and yes, it is poetic, that in the same way that Berthier was killed, she is torn into, his first swipe cleaving through henshin and into chest, blood spraying, his second dodged, but his third, burying into the meat of her hip and thigh, cutting through muscle and vein and artery, barely avoiding bone.

It's a gristly wound, the sort that would be instantly fatal to a civilian, that's survivable to a mahou - with help.

Rubeus is an instant splattered with blood, and he is grinning, vicious as the slavering hound, the wolf with his kill -

And then she explodes the air around him, and the scent of petals surrounds as they explode, and even a calling card, thrown forward, explodes - though at least that explodes with blinding light rather than terrible heat.

Across the battlefield, Tuxedo Kamen's roses epxlode in glitter and petals, even as Sailor Jupiter's flower hurricane expands outward from around Sailor Moon. The dark electricity of the attack is seeped away from the bodies of those struck, leaving them freer to move.

When the explosive sparks and clouds of dust dissipate, Rubeus is floating there, and he is laughing.

He's a little singed, for those efforts, though he's blinking away the spots in his vision, not as blinded as his underlings had been when they caught the same attack.

"Come on, don't tell me that's all you've got!" He roars the words, a challenge, and thrusts a hand to the sky above. "Black Spear!"

In his hand, the spear forms, glittering like crystal, roiling like liquid, and when he hurls it, it's at Tuxedo Kamen, the would be king, the dodge-tank with a patient in-bound.

Except, when he hurls it - the spear splits into three, and only one is actually going for Tuxedo Kamen. One of the others is headed straight for Sailor Moon, and the other for the new arrival that had dared to lecture him.

The joy of fighting heroes is that even if it doesn't connect, surely one of his pathetic enemies will try to take the blow for another's sake.

"Keep it coming, heroes! How many of you can take a hit like little Amy Faust? With her only relative in this country missing, at least when I finish the job, she'll die unmourned! But don't worry, when we're done here, I'll be sure to pay the rest of your families a visit."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
In the midst of the chaos of battle, there comes a bright young voice, giving a justice speech of all things, in the name of cute bunnies. And the owner of that voice is adorable and tiny, a young mahoujin in a pink outfit that reminds her in all the best ways of Mamochan and Veronica-chan and Chibiusa-chan and even herself, between the many adorable little flourishes.

And as she looks upon that girl, there is a brief, so brief it startles her, flash of sudden incalculable rage, that is quickly smothered by a wave of warm affection and love.

How cute she is! How adorable! How - in terrible danger, this is Rubeus she's up against, Rubeus who is trying to maul her friends, who is trying to kill her family, who is -

<<Give him everything you've got and stay as far away as possible!>>

That's the advice Sailor Moon throws into the telepathic communication.

As Kunzite races forward, the disrupted ground is being healed, restored back to its bouncy state, but it's not trying to capture his feet at all, instead coming back together under his foot falls, making sure they're secure.

The barrier is friendly to him, after all.

Sailor Moon can't actively help her friends - she can only shout Amy's name when the Puella is caught and blood sprays into the air, "AMY-CHAN!"

And with her eyes on her friend, flying desperately to Kamen, she doesn't even notice the spear heading her way, her hands still clasped together in front of the silver crystal, encouraging it's glow -

"KAMEN-KUN, LOOK OUT!"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Luminous Titan is activated... and at full strength... and that activation actually reaches one of Riventon's Towers through the magical distortions that course through Tokyo. That means that the person who Luminous Titan had been reconfigured for is *fighting*, and the person who built Luminous Titan is aware of it.

    Which means the situation is picked out from all of the noise as best it can be - hints of the same energy signal that attacked Obsidian's Lab that day, the sort of thing that would be missed if not already called to his attention. How much data can actually be extracted from Riventon's Towers at any given time is subject to the distortions of Tokyo but today they paint a reasonable enough picture for him to stand up from his desk with such force it shoots the chair well across the room - Takashi Agera is already in full henshin by the time he walks out of his office.

    "The Black Moon Clan have appeared again, I think they're fighting some sparkles, and they're putting someone I care about at risk. I'm leaving. Come if you can." he says to the two girls who happen to be in his office today; Glimmer Brightmoon and Norie Okana. He's already got his teleportation circle up, too - there's no mirth on his face, he's very focused on getting there as soon as he can with who he can.

    Riventon, Glimmer, and Norie Okana teleport out.

    Back the battlefield, Rubeus' furious attack drives down towards Chibiusa - connecting and causing a storm of dust and Dark Energy.

    When the smoke of the attack on Chibiusa clears, the girl is fine - Even Jadeite's ice shield is fine. The attack impacted somewhere else first - the smoke further clears and there's a cloth flowing in the nonwind, but it's not a cape. It's a lab coat. A lab coat belonging to Riventon. A glowing purple-black Belkan shield from his hand absorbed the attack, fractured but still intact.

    "Rubeus. You army surplus store dumpster goblin." Riventon says. "I already wanted to make sure you died, but now you're going and making it personal." Riventon says, his eyes moving to look back at Masquerade Lupine for a moment. He's a lot more kinder looking in the moment he looks at her, before he turns back to Riventon.

    "Anything you people want to have, I'm going to stop you from taking. Anything you try to succeed at, we're going to make sure that you fail." he says. "I hear that... you're here because of some sort of Rabbit Moon Princess, and I'm gonna say no. However, I do have something for you. A rabid Moon Princess..." he says, gesturing to Rubeus in time for another presence. "And also someone who handles the whole Dark And Spooky thing ten times better than you do... an actual friend, that thing I have that you don't." he says, gesturing to his third ally.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon had been standing besides the Moonstone when she was called. Ugh. WHY WASN'T IT CONNECTING TO HER?! Was it her mom? Was it ONLY connected to her mom? Was it--

Annnnd then Riventon. "Hmm? Are we-- coming!" And she ran after him. Black Moon Clan? More like 'punched BY the moon' clan. Seriously. Sailor Moon had the WORST fangirls and fanboys.

Of course, Riventon arrived a moment before she did... juuuust long enough for Glimmer to suddenly appear and latch onto him from behind. Both hands in front of him as her arms go around his neck... And she *BITES*. *HARD!* Right on the shoulder.

And then her hands go off like two flash grenades, blinding light RIGHT IN HIS EYE SOCKETS! As she tried to also kick him because damn it she was going to, literally, hit him with EVERYTHING! Bastard looked like he dropped off the back of a pickup truck in an army surplus parking lot!

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Masquerade frowns at Tuxedo Kamen and then looks behind her. "An imposter? Who?!" Before realization dawns on her.

    Oh wow. The Veil is -strong-.

    As she considers how to respond to this, she hops over beside Tux-kun and takes of her hat, revealing a bouquet of white roses, one of which she plucks and hands to him. "Don't be sour, have a flower!" And if Mamoru gets close enough, Lapine's glove vanishes just long enough for her to poke his cheek. It's brief but... she doesn't really need a lot of time with this method. << Don't tell... >> is all she says to him after the exchange.

    Another hop brings her next to Sailor Moon. "A rose for the nice lady!" She has no means of informing her on the sly, but she takes off her purple mask and winks at her alt-mom for a moment before reaching up to put a white rose in her hair.

    The rose doesn't really do anything, but she does eventually stand still long enough for Jadeite to put up an ice shield for her. << Oh! I have one of those, too! >> She says, and with a flourish of her cape a glowing pink magic circle appears before her. It's... very clearly a devicer shield. The masked bunnyhatted girl is really proud of herself for it.

    ... but then she watches Amy get hurt really badly and... it's a grim reminder of what she already knew. It really is kill or be killed. This is the part that scares her more than anything, but...

    ... If she can't find the resolve to stand and fight here, she'll never be able to save her momma and papa in the future!

    Which is all very easy to say, except now a dark spear is headed for her dad... no it's also headed for her and her mom. In her moment of fear, Luminous Titan reads her hesitation and puts more power into the shield.

    ... and then Luminous Titan knows. It knows that reinforcements are coming. When the smoke in front of her clears, Masquerade Lapine blinks and looks up. She... smiles back at him, for a moment. Despite not recognizing him at all. A friendly smile deserves one in return, right?

    Taunts and speeches are given, and the whole time Chibiusa can only think about how she's kinda mildly jealous that other people are better at the shielding thing to her. She's still learning, she tells herself. She'll get it right sooner or later.

    Hopping into the air briefly to get a clear line of sight to Rubeus, she spreads her cape wide, and a spread of pink rose-shaped barrets fires from within. They fan out and curve through the air, intercepting the widening space between Amy and Rubeus before flying straight for the former. The message she's sending is pretty clear: If you go after her, you're going to have to tank this first.

    There are butterflies in her stomach. She has never actually attacked an opponent with something that mattered. Sure, she fired a gun at this guy before, but aside from the magic that Jades had given her, that token effort was practically a joke. More sentimental than effective, in as far as 'spite' can be a sentiment. This? This is the real deal.

    She lands back behind Jadeite's ice shield. Henshin or no, there's no reason to give Mamoru even more to worry about.

Makoto Kino has posed:
There's a split second to choose, as Rubeus's spear splits. Three targets to shield, three directions to jump--

Sailor Jupiter for once takes none of them.

She trusts in her allies, in the grin on Kunzite's face, in Jadeite's shields and Zoisite's quick reflexes, and her fists spark with electricity as she lunges for Rubeus.

Joke's on him, she'd say if she were wasting the time to put the thought together. No family to threaten here.

As Glimmer takes Rubeus on from behind, Jupiter comes at him from the front, holding back none of her prodigious strength as she drives an electrified straight punch towards his solar plexus.

"Lightning Fist!"

Zoisite has posed:
The tiny voice of a child rings in his ears softly, and it almost stuns Zoisite for a moment as he looks around for her. Sees the small figure some distance behind him, also noting both Jadeite and Kunzite running towards. So his own voice joins the fray.



<< How did you get here? Listen to Jadeite and Kunzite, you'll need a shield and please don't do anything reckless. It's very dangerous and not enough healers. >>

And on that note, the moment Rubeus comes out of the smoke and ash, all that seemed to be damaged were the tips of crimson hair. He wondered then if it was really the earrings that were shielding this man, or if something else was at play. Too strong...

No time to think, spears were flying in three directions and he had to choose one. His instincts were to head over to Tuxedo, but something told him that his prince was fast enough to dodge. And Jadeite was about to have some help with Riventon.

<< Kunzite-- >>

Swiftly, he teleports next to him and grabs onto the man's shoulders so they can teleport again, much faster an arrival to Sailor Moon. Instantly sharing his energy with the silver haired Shitennou. "Take as much as you need, keep your shield up!"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana, moments ago, was buried in a stack of some older dark energy researcher's Dusk Zone fauna study papers when Riventon came out of his office and says the Black Moon Clan is active. H..how does he know? Oh. Probably. The News. She bets some place got attacked...

La Crima appears besides Riventon and frowns hard.

She'd laugh at Army Surplus Store Dumpster Goblin talk if she could. Instead, she wears that frown and says. "You I don't know, but That black moon on your forehead marks you as a dead man." she says bluntly.

Before she unleashes a barrage of dark energy orbs into Reubus. Numerous orbs of black energy, trying to not attack close combatants in the process.

Did Glimmer just bite him? Glimmer. Just bit him. What.

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor Venus stands with head slightly bent forward as all hell breaks loose. She could hear the attacks raging around her as the others begin to shift and reform. To protect, to defend. To fight where necessary. Even the telepathic question from Masquerade Lapine asking how to deal with the foe is heard though she doesn't respond. Her breath is calm, slow, deep, and she can feel power welling up inside her until it's just right.

Venus lifts her head and kicks a leg back, eyes opening wide with a fierce grin. Fingers raise to her lips making a kissing motion as she winks toward the floating Rubeus.

"Venus Wink-"

A heart of energy blips into existance at her fingertips only to elongate into a string of hearts swirling around her much like her Love-Me Chain. Only brighter. More luminous. It's grasped firmly, and she hauls back to snap it toward her target. The end shifts from one in a series of hearts to the form of a sword as she finishes her cry sending the sword of light, trailing Love-Me Chains, at Rubeus.

Chain Sword!"

<< Let's see if this tangles him up! Jupiter, duck! >>

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Shoot! Why do you have to be such a pain, Rubeus? Couldn't you be blinded like all those that came before you? Her calling card hit him, she saw it, and yet, he really has to show why he is the superior of the Spectre Sisters.

Well, at least it worked, at that's an opportunity she can use, approaching him, moving through the fellow mahous with several hops to be at an advantageous position for her attack, one that hopefully he will take the full brunt of.

Is this a good moment to use her relics? Maybe it is, he is limited and they are fresh enough he has to pay attention to all of them, but something urges her not to go for them right now.

But there is something that really makes her feel better despite the aches of the attack she has just sustained, and it's Norie's sudden arrival, who does make her reinvigorated, despite the aches still being there.

"La Crima!", she waves at her friend brightly, yelling loud enough that hopefully she is heard despite all the chaos of the fight. If not, there will be time later. But the happiness is now.

Transient Lunar Flare!, she shouts, pointing her cane at Rubeus, the beam of moonlight cutting through the air with a soft shine, aiming for his earring.

Jadeite has posed:
As the spear comes hurtling for Lapine, Jadeite summons a third shield to slam on top of his own to slow the spear enough for them to run -

He can figure out why this tiny devicer gave roses to Mamoru and Uagi LATER, when they're not all under attack, the priority is making sure there's no casualties so Usagi doesn't cry -

And then, for once, Mamoru's brother doesn't make him want to pull his hair out as he shields him and Lapine from the blast.

"He wants our lives and our tears by committing goblin murder, and to look oh so pretty with his earrings and cargo shorts," Jadeite says, flipping his shield around. "You know, Riventon, you can be an asshole,but sometimes you're just the <son of a bitch> we need in a situation." (He briefly switches to english so that chibiusa doesn't hear him wherever she is and make him put a coin in the swear jar.)

He spirals out more shields, adds some more to rotate around Lapine. <<Need a lift? If you keep shooting, I'll keep throwing shields and I can help toss you up if you need it.>>

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"No need --" The offered energy is reflected back to Zoisite, gently but with love, and an "I'll explain later!" as Kunzite englobes them and Moon (and, however briefly, Masquerade Lupine) in darkness. Zoisite's presence helps, though. Anchors Kunzite in the certainty that he can for once devote all of his attention to the shield - because that dark spear is going to hit hard --

-- he does not try to absorb it. He does not try to deflect it. He channels it, breathing its impact in at a single point, splashing the energy that forms it out again across a wide arc. Not all around the circle. No. No risking Moon's connection to the place; he doesn't know how that works, either. But as wide as Kunzite's arms could spread, a great field of blackness flows back out. Dispersed.

He wouldn't want to step on that till Moon can deal with it. But if they need to move, Zoisite's there to handle it.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
OH. Oh. Oh she's Small Lady!!! The knowledge is a flood of sweet relief and then fear for her, but pride, so much pride. He puts the rose behind his ear-- and then everything is going absolutely pear-shaped. But Small Lady is being looked after, and Usagi is being looked after, and oh he's being attacked and Amy is incoming.

"Plan on haunting them?" yells Tuxedo Maskless at Rubeus even as he produces his top hat from nowhere and throws it like a knife, spinning end over end through the air until it tips, open side forward, and swallows the spear headed for him. It falls to the ground with a little bounce, then rolls harmlessly away--

--and while the hat is spinning through the air, Mamoru's bracing to catch Amy.

The place is full of them. The place is full of people who are watching out for Sailor Moon, watching out for that cute little girl, watching--

"RIV--oof," starts calling Mamoru joyfully before getting impacted with a heavily bleeding Amy. He catches her and doesn't let her fall, then JUMPS nyoom, holding her awkwardly in one arm while he henshins again mid-nyoom.

A crackle of light traverses his body and leaves Prince Endymion in armor and barehanded in its wake, and he lands lightly behind the giant heart emoji and sets Amy down. One glowing bare hand goes to deal with the wound in Amy's midsection, and the other takes on her hip and leg, and all he's trying to do right now is keep her from losing any more blood and patching up what he can in the span of seven seconds. Meatball surgery, and he shoves more energy into Amy. "You should probably leave unless you got a grief seed," he tells her bluntly, "because this is really bad."

Four seconds later: "Okay not as bad. We dont have time for--"

He picks her up again and jumps again, keeping one hand on her skin, his own steadiness probably surprising given where they are and what's happening, but it's there in his thoughts and feelings, and in his power. Seven seconds and Amy can get up and walk, "Keep your pain turned off, you're a mess inside," he says and then steps out from behind the short tilted gift box building they'd just landed behind and throws a solitary red rose at one of Rubeus' earrings. Then another. Then another...

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Oh hey, portals. Two mahou come out, more go in. Kyubey hops in too.

    The Incubator is not capable of feeling astonishment as humans know it, but...

    Since coming to Earth, he has occasionally encountered non-Puella Magi magical girls, who do not seem to operate on remotely the same principles of magic as Incubators know it.

    There is not emotion connected to the counterfactual of understanding and harnessing their magic to reverse Entropy. An Incubator cannot fall into the trap of thinking their power truly endless -- all magical girls either die, fade, or fall into despair, even if those last don't become Witches.

    But when he told Entrapta to look for what wishes made others' magic shine, he was not at all certain there were similarities.

    Kyubey stares at Sailor Moon's Labyrinth with no expression on his face.

    ...

    Oh hey Amanda Faust is getting her shit kicked in, maybe he'll get to harvest some of his quota today. That would be a better future state for the world to be in. o  o

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Internal damage. Blood in my windpipe? Lung damage? Holy fuck he took a chunk of my leg. Bleeding so fast. Amy reaches into her magic. Regenerating that... she could, but cost unsure and he might just hit her again. She calls and then dismisses fire. Cauterize the artery. Regenerate just a little, slowing the bleeding from the rest of her flesh. Bleeding like that... Guess my heart is still working. Somehow, that thought isn't as uplifting as one would hope.

    Are my lungs working? She coughs up blood. Partially, I think. I won't die even without oxygenated-blood-in-my-brain. How much magic does this cost? It's not like she really had time to study her soul gem while fighting Nezha.

    God I'm glad we have healers and regeneration. I don't want to end up all scarred...

    A lot of thoughts are going through Amy's brain at high speed. She couldn't really listen to Lapine's speech, but is dimly aware there's a new, very small magical girl -- she shouldn't have to face the horror of my Witch -- and that the Goddess of Puella Magi has left, which is kind of a bummer. Is that RIVENTON? Oh let Rubeus fight other people for a moment... But then they might get hurt too... Red eyes widen at Rubeus's announcement, Wait, he found ME?!?! It's chilling, to know that the Black Moon Clan has dug that deeply on her and her friends...

    As she comes close, racing towards Tuxedo Mask, he and Moon can see that the silver shimmer is already faded from her soul gem, she just can't store much external power at once, unfortunately...

    Amy was coming in for a landing, so she's slowing down as she approaches Mamoru, but seeing him ready to catch her she flies to his arms instead, not impacting too' hard but probably a bit harder than she meant to, and getting blood all over the front of his costume.

    She doesn't exactly feel great right now, but someone concerned trying to carry her away from danger is... a positive feeling, against it all.

    As they leap across the battlefield, Amy sees the new mahou racing towards possible death and that shocks her into action, Amy holding out an arm, a dozen mini-missiles conjuring around her at once and arcing in on Rubeus from different angles and distract him with their explosions, << Be careful! >> she thinks over the Device link, useless, half-panicked words without really thinking.

    Dr. Mahou says she should leave. She looks up at him to protest, then rethinks -- remembers Molly -- and nods.

    There's a lot less thought over Mamoru's telepathic link than usual. She's still kind of mentally stunned by all this, but he can pick up echoes and undercurrents and looping bits of thought from what she was thinking a moment ago. And also the idea of going outside for a grief seed.

    She nods at his warning to keep pain off, and smiles a little, "Thank you." And she runs -- her first step hesitant, she's subconsciously expecting it to hurt, and then she remembers and books it for the nearest portal so she can see if anyone's got a grief seed outside.

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
With the spears launched, Rubeus isn't planning to rest on his laurels - no, he's already charging another attack -

And then there's a voice ringing out, as the first spear is destroyed by - ha, that guy - Rubeus remembers him, if only because his dark energy powers are not super effective against him. Shit. He'd have to figure out a strategy for that -

"Yeah," he rolls his eyes, sneering, "You're here to stand alongside the rest of the heroes and kick my ass, you can tRY- FUCK!"

This, because suddenly, there's not just weight on his back, but TEETH in his SHOULDER, and it doesn't actually hurt very much in the grand scheme of things but being bitten is a special hell, why is he being BITTEN AGAIN -

To say that Rubeus is utterly distracted is an understatement. The rose-shaped barrets from Masquerade Lapine strike him full force, one after the other, and the young Mahou will get the pleasure of seeing him fly back, ever-so-slightly, an effort to dodge, even as light blankets his eyes and he yowls - the partial blinding as a result of Sarek is now a full blinding, for the moment at least, and he reaches back and grabs Glimmer, and hurtles her away, towards the nearest building in the distance -

But he's temporarily blind, so he misses, and she instead, bounces gently along the surface of a certain crescent moon-and-rose themed blimp.

This is good for Glimmer, because Rubeus has yet more heat coming his way - in the form of Sailor Jupiter's lightning wreathed fist plowing into his solar plexus. The air whooshes from Rubeus' lungs before he can cry out, and he flies up, less under his own power than under hers, lightning crackling around him -

As the sword of light from Venus' wink chain flies after him and catches in the meat of his calve, a harpoon snagging the target. Venus will have to rely on her strength to catch though, because as soon as the attack pierces his flesh, Rubeus roars in pain and grasps the gleaming, glowing Wink Chain and starts slamming it around, as though he were at the gym striking at the battle ropes, seeking to dislodge the sword of light and throw Venus around.

Missiles come after him and he drops from the air, swooping around Sailor Jupiter to use her as a shield -

And the Lunar Flare strikes his earring, at the same time as first one rose, and then another, and a third, and Rubeus' left earring shatters.

And unlike with the Spectre Sisters, when his earring shatters, a wave of Dark Energy bursts out of him, an uncontrolled rush of power that hates and bites and clings and stabs and burns, rushing over everyone.

Shields can block it. Those using Dark Energy can absorb it to grow yet stronger. But those with neither shields nor the ability to empower themselves with Dark Energy are taking a hit.

And Rubeus laughs. "You didn't think that would stop me, did you?! You might have killed the girls by targeting their power sources, but you can't get me that way! I'm built different."

Yeah, he just actually said that out loud.

"If I'm a dead man, then I'll drag you all to hell with me!"

Aaaaand then La Crima's dark orbs hit him, and the force does knock him back, back, back, a foot each time, but the darkness strengthens him - just as his darkness will strengthen her if it hits, hers (and Riventon's, and Glimmer's) will strengthen him in turn.

Despite the boasting, he's beginning to look winded, and definitely wounded. They're making some headway - he was in the earlier fight too, after all.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    When Amy peeks out of the Moon Space, Lydian is there next to a benotafraid, holding a Grief Seed. "Sorry Hope can't be here right now. She's having... technical difficulties..." Lydian looks a bit mortified as she looks off to the side. "Um... but you can have this Grief Seed! It doesn't have a soul in it anymore, so don't worry about returning it."

Makoto Kino has posed:
The instant Venus calls out to her to duck, Sailor Jupiter ducks, folding without hesitation into a three-point crouch as the Wink Chain Sword flashes over her head to spear him.

She's already surging up in the next moment. As Rubeus seizes the chain and starts trying to yank Venus off her feet, Jupiter thrusts an arm out; a quick twist snares the chain and wraps it around her forearm in an anchor point.

"I've got it, Venus!" she calls out without glancing back toward her sister-in arms. Her fierce gaze stays locked onto Rubeus. "Try that on me!"

And she lunges again, but this time it's a feint. Trusting Venus to allow her enough slack for the maneuver, she bolts past Rubeus - pivots and lunges again - winding the chain around him to pull tight.

Jadeite has posed:
Oh, interesitng. how delightful. Rubeus is finally away from the other mahou, in a nice, clear area. (With Venus's chain holding him in one place, no less!) It's time to help finish this fight.

As the darkness parts around his shield, leaving him untouched, Jadeite pulls his hand back, making a huge icy flower grow behind him. "Snow...." He takes the icy foxglove and pulls it back, then launches it- "THIMBLE!!!"

The bell-shaped ice hurtles towards Rubeus - even if Rubeus manages to get away in time to not get directly hit, the shattering will launch plenty of shards to escalate matters.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Lapine glances towards Jadeite and hovers in the air. << I can fly on my own power, but right now we're splitting up our shields into three different areas. >> She glances towards Kamen, and then Moon and tries to think. Luminous Titan helps, running several very quick strategies and simulations to see what happens. << Then again... I don't want to draw aggro to any of our supports. I'm gonna keep shooting him. I'd appreciate the shields if you can keep up with me, but if not... Protect the healers! >>

    Lapine flies higher and higher and starts zooming around, making sure not to fly in a straight line or any predictable pattern. It looks a bit silly from a distance still, because she's still not used to it. Even worse, she seems to be holding fire, not really attacking at all, just avoiding.

    Or maybe she's just holding it for the right moment.

    When the radial blast of darkness comes, Lapine is once again raising a Midchildean shield, this time holding her Device-cape out in front of her. The magical machine once intended for Hotaru is now defending her, and it's especially strong when it comes to defending against Dark Energy. Which is pretty fitting, considering its original intent was to stop Mistress Nine from awakening.

    Still, Masquerade Lapine has to put focus and energy into it. She has to commit to the defense and it takes effort in ways that Chibiusa really isn't used to. She's using magical muscles she honestly never knew she had.

    Yet as the wave passes, there's now an opening, and Masquerade once again takes off her top hat and turns the inside towards Rubeus.

    A holographic bunny peeks out.

    The bunny has laser eyes.

    The bunny shoots Rubeus with the laser eyes.

    Luminous Titan must be a very longsuffering Device to put up with not only Hotaru's shenanigans, but also Chibiusa's.

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor Venus shifts her arm quickly to wrap the length of glowing chain around her forearm. The rest is looped around her back only for her opposite arm to then grab the end of that. It uses her own body weight and strength as she physically leans back trying to hold onto the line that had a very angry, strong, Rubeus at the other end of it.

Her face scrunches already as she feels that first thrashing of movement start down the line. No matter how strong she was, he was stronger and bigger and IN THE AIR. Her feet lift off the ground while being flung toward a winky-face emoji which would probably hurt once she smacks into it.

It suddenly stops the motion leaving to just paff far more gently than expected into the emoji before regaining her feet with the slack that had grown from Jupiter grabbing hold. Her own grasp on the chain is loosened to give as much slack as the stronger Jupiter needs while calling back, "Thanks, Jupiter!"

Her hair was SUCH a windblown mess at this point. She was already blood splattered from cutting off Calaveras arm, too. The fact that she was on her feet at all at this point might be surprising by her looks.

<< We've got him for now- >> Jupiter did at least, really. << Go pork on him! >>

Did... did she mean 'go ham'?

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Bouncy bouncy bouncy... Glimmer bounced along the blimp a few times, before landing on her stomach and groaning. You know, as dislodgings go? That one wasn't so bad. She's certainly had worse ones.

The biggest issue, to her? Was that now there was another wave of dark energy! OH GOSH IT...

... Oh, right, she used it now. Ugh. It wasn't so bad. She slowly sat up and breeeeeathed it in. The power. Is hers. Right. Blasting him won't work, either. Well, that's lame. "You're lame!" Glimmer yells at him. "We get it, you're like the world's worst fan boy. But just let it go! You've lost, Moon girl here doesn't want anything to do with you, no matter how many tattoos of her stuff you get on your forehead! Gosh darn loser!" She then looked around. She... needed... Huh.

attacking him directly wouldn't work... but she had a blimp... Maybe....

Ideaaaaaaaa!

Which was why, after a bit... in the middle of the flurry of attacks coming at him...

A big piece of fabric that was seemingly a chunk of blimp balloon material... would glide through the air and attempt to wrap around his head!

Moments before Glimmer appeared about... teen feet away from the cluster of sparkles. And give a shudder. "Ugh. I hate this dusk porting..." she grumbled, before walking towards them. She couldn't fight a lot, but she was VERY distracting.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon knows that Rubeus and him don't have a lot of likelihood of scoring solid non-physical hits on each other. "Nah, honestly, I'm mostly just gonna make it easier for THEM to kick your ass." Riventon says, bluntly. Because there's not much anybody can really do about it - are the sparkles going to turn down his shields? No. Can Rubeus power through them? Also no. Can the sparkles hit Rubeus harder than he can? a begrudging yes but only for now for sure.

    Riventon gets a great moment to express the validity of this plan, too, when Rubeus' earring breaks and the wicked wave of Dark Energy threatens everyone - Riventon outstreches his hand, closes his eyes, and calls to it, beckoning it, drawing it into his palm, providing an actually quite solid area of protection to those around him as the Dark Energy streaks into his hand, swirling a bit like going down a drain.

    "Anything else you want to toss my way so it can get a better use than propping your lame ass up for a few more seconds before you die?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Dark vs. Dark rarely ended well. It's basic Pokemonics.

La Crima spits. "I've been to hell before. It sucks because you're there." she says bluntly.

She gets some protection from Riventon's energy draining the attacks as a wave of energy washes over her and also empowers her.

"Falcata!" she calls out, summoning a dark blade of energy from the air as she moves to dash closer, flying through the air in a hover dash to try to slice into Rebus.

Oh. Veronica. "H..Hi Sarek." she says, trying to look cool and failing.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
The wave of dark energy strikes Kunzite's shields, and this one is dispersed enough that he can hang on to it - but it's still dark energy. Still --

"Zoisite," he says, and reaches blindly to put a hand on where Zoisite's arm and shoulder at least just were.

Zoisite. Moon. Chibiusa. Venus and Jupiter. Amy, and all the blood.

The Tsukinos. The Ainos. His own mother. The distant relatives of Veronica, of Nephrite; the not-distant-enough family of Jadeite's.

Junichi. The schoolchildren. Tokyo itself.

Kunzite breathes, and it is not Rubeus' rage. It is anger, yes; but in its best form, anger is only a pointer to things that you care about, and the fact that they are under threat. Anger is not an excuse. In its best form, anger makes clear what you love.

So many of the people Kunzite cares about are here. So many more are at risk.

Nothing seems to happen from the outside. But inside him, something is burning; something is being made clear, more swiftly than he's been able to manage before.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon trusts in her friends - and that trust is rewarded, when Riventon appears. She's got a white rose in her hands, by the time he's protecting the tiny pink, and that rose is a gift that she tucks into her hair, right next to her odango cap. Riventon is protecting Masquerade Lapine, and Glimmer is attacking Rubeus, and La Crima is attacking Rubeus, and her friends are attacking Rubeus -

And Kunzite is protecting her, with Zoisite at his side, ready to help. The spear was devoured by Kunzite's shield. The wave of darkness is also devoured by Kunzite's shield -

And Sailor Moon closes her eyes tight, breathing in deep, and slams her hands against the ground of Moon Space.

She's still getting used to it, this barrier that she's made for the very first time today, that's taking everything she has, pulling out more power than she's ever used, because it's all at once, all of it is happening all at once -

But she made this, didn't she? So she can do something with it.

The ground shifts around Venus' feet, helping her stay on them, helping her grip. The blimp that catches Glimmer lowers, so that when she duskports she doesn't have to travel so far. The portal that Amy disappears through to reach Lydian is close, not requiring so much travel.

And in the air around Masquerade Lapine, a single cloud appears - the only one in the sky. It's fluffy and comfortable and she can stand on it, if she wants, like a platform in case she wants to steady her aim to fire.

Zoisite has posed:
As energy is returned, Zoisite peeks over Kunzite's shoulder to watch the spear be swiftly absorbed by the shield. Little smile reaching his green beaming eyes, marveling at the efficiency. "Alright, I'll focus on teleporting if we need a quick escape." It was his reassurance to the Shitennou and Mamoru, as keeping the princess safe, and teleporting that small child seemed to be part of the plan as well now.

He still wanted to deliver something to Rubeus, but just witnessing the man crumble slowly was satisfying enough for him. How sad it was, to witness friends die again and again. Was that what hell felt like? He wanted to as Rubeus, face to face. How boring. Maybe in another life, he'll be able to. In another life, he'd be able to step on the pathetic man. This time? Just smile and wait.

Well, mostly smile. Rubeus' cringe still hit him like a brick.

It was on the tip of his tongue, the tirade ready to be delivered until he felt Kunzite's hand reaching for his arm and shoulder. Instant serenity and focus followed, pressing forehead to his lover's forearm as he stood side by side now.

Nothing else seemed to matter then, just the small space they were guarding and their purpose as knights. Perhaps he wasn't as kind as Kunzite, to consider the rest at that moment. Selfish heart, focused on the honeymoon phase of their budding relationship. Yet, the ideals were there.

"I love you." He whispers.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The Princess of Sarek's tail swishes joyfully when the ring is broken and-oh crud, there is a dark energy wave now coming right from it. "Prismatic Wall!", she calls out her shield for the second time, and it blooms in existence again this time in the form of a small dome, shimmering lilies etched onto its surface.

He is built different? No matter, they will still take care to dismantle it, one piece at a time if it needs be.

The unexpected attack washes over the shield, but it holds this time, and she can breathe with relief now. <<Nice work, Glimmer!>> the Princess of Sarek tells her via telepathy (right, that was an option) when her efforts combine with her to finally blind the villain. The blonde thief holds her cane tightly when she approaches Rubeus, bringing the fight to the close quarters.

When she is there, she tries striking him as hard as she can three times, one at the knee, one at the neck and one at one at the stomach with the point of the cane in, like a very dull stab.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Incubators do not feel emotions. But the darkness blast ragdolls him and shreds into his body, and he doesn't get back up.

    Amy is running for the portal, when darkness washes over her. And she has pain off, but it's magic, it... it isn't physically painful, but it's emotionally painful, feeling such crushing hatred and rejection, it hurts and it aggravates old wounds and she just wants it to stop and she collapses as she falls -- through the portal, which is suddenly closer -- dropping to her hands and knees with her feet still in Moonspace, on the edge of tears as Lydian speaks to her.

    But the darkness passed, and she's being offered a grief seed and she touches it to her soul gem and it drains that bit of corruption away so her SOUL can shine again.

    "Thank..." she coughs up blood, "...you..." she says softly, and reshapes her left vambrace slightly so she can slot the grief seed in next to her soul gem.

    The darkness hurt but she's being shown kindness and thinking of that and of Tuxedo Mask healing her and carrying her from danger and being concerned, makes the memory of the darkness-inflicted feeling seem so small compared to her friends' care and compassion. She smiles at Lydian, "Thank you!" And stands up.

    As she turns and strides back through the portal, she thinks positive thoughts like that Rubeus isn't even shielding their attacks anymore, when that seemed like such a huge problem seconds ago!

    "You..." Amy sighs as she looks up at Rubeus. "What can I even say? You've been working so hard on something with no point but others' suffering. 'Winning' would have gained you no progress, made nothing better. You've been burning yourself away for nothing. And if you are built different... then we will finish the process and burn you to ash."

    She conjures missile racks on her 'armor', and fires, dozens of mini-missiles flying and chasing to explode with force, spatter with burning powder, or pelt with hypersonic bits of burning metal.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru's so happy to see Riventon fighting alongside them, every time he notices, like when he's holding up his cape to shield himself from the oncoming wave of dark pain -- and his brother takes the dark energy from in front of them and pulls it away. He's so happy that they're all working together against this-- this fuckin guy.

And he's so angry, but--

--he can't hate them. They're already dead.

He crouches and he puts his hands on the floor, too. The ground. The floor. Whatever it is, it's the moon that always welcomed him, and it's the earth beneath the moon, and Endymion smiles as he pulls up energy from the ground through Moon Space into him, letting overflow flood into the barrier as well.

And he keeps pulling energy up. And he keeps going, and he keeps going, and his hand's glowing bright enough he drops his cape over it so it doesn't call attention to him, but-- he's Endymion, and this is his family now, and this is his planet, and these are his friends, and his mind is clear and his countenance grave, and in the shadow of the orange gift box building with the star-shaped windows, his eyes begin to glow a warm gold.

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
The fight has turned.

All of them can tell - the heroes who have come through the first battle, the reinforcements who surged forth to aid the battle, and Rubeus himself, who has survived (and not survived) long enough to sense when death is near. Coming into this fight, they all knew it: there would be no turning back, no surrender, no running off to live another day. This must end here and it must end now.

And this is the beginning of that very end.

Rubeus succeeds in thrashing Venus about, but only for a moment, before Jupiter has dragged Wink Chain and tied it about Rubeus' form, using her own strength to cast him down too Earth. She too can fly, unbound by gravity, and he can't see, now, only feel the air rushing around him, and know he must be getting close to the ground, and -

THUMP!

He crashes to the ground of Moon Space, which is not at all soft for him.

It's while he's like sprawled supine that Glimmer teleports over with a length of fabric, wrapping it about his head, dulling his senses further, and he lashes out at her with a wordless blast of dark energy -

But it's not well-aimed, because he can't see, and now his hearing has been dulled, a wild, wide-spread, erratic burst.

"It's not a tattoo you rabid animal, I was born this way!"

Honestly that shouldn't be a priority to correct, but a hater this deep can't stand being mistaken for a fan.

A large chunk of ice appears above Rubeus and crashes down, and he hears it, just in time to thrust his arms up, covering them in energy, and slashes out, wildly - the enormous chunk of ice is shattered, but the great shards still strike, cutting gashes in Rubeu's face, shoulders, and arms, blood dripping down his form. It's in the aftermath, as he growls in pain and fury, that a holographic bunny pokes it's head out of the hat and laser blasts him -

And yeah, you know what? It does get him in the nads and he howls at a pitch that could break glass.

(Let's be real, no one has ever deserved a win over the Black Moon Clan more than Small Lady. She earned that.)

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
As Rubeus jerks upright, howling with the kind of agony only a below the belt hit can deliver, La Crima and the Princess of Sarek each dart in with their melee blows - La Crima slashing at Rubeus and tearing into his chest, and the Princess of Sarek bashing at him once, twice -

This is apparently a bridge too far, for Rubeus snarls like a rabid beast himself - "I WILL END YOUR WORTHLESS LIVES!"



And great spikes of darkness burst from the ground, starting near him and then expanding outwards, ripping through the ground like a bear trap through cotton -

La Crima has the chance to dodge, but Sarek is bringing her cane down for the third strike when the attack launches, and is stabbed in the torso and shoulder by two of the spikes of dark energy. It's not a fatal, all soft tissue and muscular damage, having avoided bones and organs by a miracle, but it hurts.

But she's also got a great angle to make him hurt in return, if she wants.

The spikes continue to radiate out, bursting up through the ground and every one on the ground has to contend with them, to dodge or fire an attack to destroy or leap and pray that they aren't struck next, and Kunzite's shield isn't extending beneath the ground.

Which is why a spire comes up, through, the ground. He's focused on that change, on that transformation of power, and Zoisite is near him, has just said those most important words on a battlefield of all things, that's such a death flag, and so it's Zoisite who acts to protect Kunzite - by getting stabbed himself, by a great spike of darkness.

It's a fun little spike of irony that the next to definitely be struck, speared through the leg, is Sailor Venus.

But here's the thing about big attacks -

It's really hard to dodge during them too. Rubeus will not be going anywhere. This will definitely be to his disadvantage.

"You think you can make better use of this power than we can?!" is what's shouted at Riventon. "What have you accomplished, besides helping this lot anyway? What have you ever achieved, if you're just going to build your power up ONLY to throw it at these wastes of space, who only want the world in THEIR image, in THEIR hopes?!"

Amy has words for him too, and he laughs, a mad cackle, "Save your yor words! I only ever wanted to burn the world down. He was the one with the visions of the future, who thought we could be something, but I've always known that the only thing this world, the only thing all of us, is fated for is death! Die with what your magic created, Sailor Moon!"

(That sure is a lot of missiles coming, and going to hit in just a cinematic moment.)

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    The cloud that appears next to Lapine might not be that necessary for flying. Being a Devicer (if temporarily) covers that pretty well.

    However, it provides something that Masquerade wouldn't actually be getting otherwise: visual cover, which is rare all the way up here.

    It gives her a moment. It gives her time. Time to focus and to think without worrying about getting smacked back.

    She breaths. Deeply. Heavily. Oh wow, she's afraid. She's so afraid but in a way that doesn't trigger her feelings of helplessness. It doesn't tap into the deep fears that cause her magic to go all wild. Maybe this is what fear feels like when someone can actually do something about it.

    Or maybe... maybe Luminous Titan is helping her with that too.

    << GET READY >> it intones, telling her of a potential opening.

    << Luminous Titan, begin charging! This is the big one. >> she commands, and lets all of her feelings, her magic, pour into the spell. Her deep pink cape glows, hidden behind the cloud. She peeks past it, down to the lunar world below. Moon is there, but she can't really attack. Tuxedo Kamen is there, but actually all this flying has put her out of position for a team attack. Unless he comes to her.

    No, he'll let him decide what to do there, whether to stay and protect the wounded or pair with someone else. All Masquerade needs to do right now is hide and store her magic into the increasing glow of her cape. There will be an opening soon. If she can synchronize her attacks with the others...

    There it is. Rubeus did a big attack, and he did it on the ground where Masquerade Lapine is in the air.

    << Everyone, I'm sending my attack. If you want to, put your energy into it when it passes by! >>

    "Moonight..." she calls out, announcing her attack name, because called attacks hit harder. (Do they really? She doesn't know, but it feels right.) Hidden behind the cloud, she feels, or rather she calculates where the target is.

    With a swoosh of her cape, she calls out, "... MESSAGE!" and suddenly there's an energy beam like a bright pale spinning crescent moon flowing from the cape, ripping through the cloud cover, arcing through the air like a boomerang before sweeping above a few of her allies, giving them a moment to add their energy to it (if they want a team attack) and then aiming to impact into Rubeus directly.

    Because F that guy. No pity.

    And where is Luna-P in all this? Well, she's here. She's managed to bounce her way into the Moon Space, and now she's watching Rubeus. Smiling. Luna-P is really happy to be here in this moment in time.

Jadeite has posed:
Zoisite.

Zoisite!

ZOISITE!!!!

zoisite and venus and usagi's family and mamoru's family-by-proxy and mamoru didn't want to be alone anymore, and usagi had cried so hard after koan, and minako and mako should be enjoying white day, and all these people came to help and rubeus has been hurting HIS friends HIS planet HIS family -

(ha, he hasn't seen any of his family through anything other than a screen in years, everyone's a little strange about the dead boy walking, and he's happy keeping them at a distance so he doesn't have to talk about it, and he may not get along with his cousins but he doesn't want them DEAD) and

his head feels. strange. this is probably shock, he thinks as he raises his arm again, pouring all his power into the snowy foxglove behind him.

"SNOW THIMBLE!!!!"

the icy bell sails through the air and when it falls - oh, it's tolling for Rubeus. pounds and pounds and shards and shards of ice, because what he wants most in the world right now is to not have to see his friends crying a g a i n

oh, he thinks as the last of his energy wicks away; he has just enough energy left in him to cover his head before he this the ground, and curls in a full faint behind his shields.

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor Venus releases her hold on the furthest end of the chain when Rubeus falls to the ground to pump her fist in the air. It wasn't quite victory--Not yet--But it was still so very close. A victory that would lead to ihs figurative as well as literal downfall.

The change of the ground beneath her feet is a bonus as it helps her footing to ensure it's far more stable. Solid. And unfortunately for her that does *not* aid her in moving fast enough to avoid the attack of dark energy spikes that shoot off in myriad directions.

The spike tears through her leg causing her to scream out in pain as she falls downward. It's her hold on the chain that manages to keep her from completely falling as it pulls tight. If not for Jupiter holding the other end, if not for having wrapped the Love-Me Chain around her forearm, she would have fallen on yet more spikes around her.

Awkwardly she grabs at one of the other spikes for balance while her leg is pinned in place leaving her to awkwardly be on her feet and NOT at the same time. The Dark Energy of the solid spike sears her palm where she rests it even through her glove but she has to hold on. If she fell her bloodied leg would be worse.

The Love-Me Chain's light dims noticably until she tightens her grip on it. The light ebbs and wanes as she feels the pain shuddering through her.

<< Still have him! >> Comes Venus' assured thought followed by a rushed mental chant of, << Hurry hurry hurry >> as she tries to KEEP hanging on through the waves of pain as she struggles to not pass out.

Others were screaming. All around, others were screaming, too. The memories echo in her mind of another time, another battle, long ago.

Eyes that had begun to droop open again at the requests for energy to be added to the attack passing by. One last deep breath, and she wills her energy to add to that of the Moonlight Message that Masquerade Lapine is throwing. The Love-Me Chain finally sizzles out of existence as her power is shifted instead to add to the attack.

<< Sorry >> is her last thought before slumping against another Dark Energy spike with her leg at an awkward angle bloodied and torn.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima evades the attack, barely , sailing upwards through the air , as she quickly scowls. "I've always wondered..." she says. "If draining someone entirely would fix me. But these people...always STOP me..." she says tersely. "Because it's wrong. I guess. Maybe they're right but... I don't think they'll stop me. This time. Wonder why~" she says as she suddenly lashes out, hands turning into dark claws as she attempts to just latch onto Rubeus.^R
She attempts to energy drain him just. Latch and energy drain, bear hug him, do whatever she has to just to latch and stay on and just drain and drain and drain at the fastest rate she can.

Maybe she'll get to find out what happens for a change! No one will care if this fixes her at the expense of this joker right?

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
'Born with it?' Oh, please. Yeah right. He comes out in THOSE pants, but a hat, a headband, some gosh darn makeup? That's where he draws the line. Just own it, dude. You've got the hots for the cute girl in the fuku who's a part of the moon kingdom thing. Glimmer gets it, girl's cute. but, girl? She's out of your league. And doesn't date losers in crappy clothes with genocide fetishes.

She hummed, annoying was fun, but the end was near... and you know what? Spikes. Spikes were fun. She put her hands together, forming an Etherian magical circle in her hands.

Dark energy swirled through her eyes before a new circle formed under Rubeus and... The ground would lift up slightly, forming around his ankles, the cement reforming, or attempting to, bind his feet like some kind of strange quicksand...

And then one of the lightpoles would be torn out of the ground and shot through the air to try and impale him (while angling to avoid La Crima! What? La Crima was friend, not viable target).

Zoisite has posed:
It was strange how quickly the world outside of the shield meant so little in that moment. Stupid boy in love, thinking of things he should not when lives were on the line. He knew better, always did. Rubeus' voice and howls were so distant then in the soft world Zoisite was in.

Until he heard it. A furious approach of the ground shaking and piercing the air in desperate speeds that every fiber in his body felt the urgency--The shield! It wasn't--THERE'S NO TIME--

There was no thought to his own actions, one could assume. But either he teleported Kunzite away or left the princess open for more attacks. And they were knights. So he did his best by providing the only shield he had.

His body.

It's fast, as was his need to grab at the girth of the spike and try not to let it puncture him through, not touch the older Shitennou. And he was halfway successful in his endeavors. Only a point of the spike ripped through his back, but not enough to injure Kunzite.

That was all that mattered.

46% survivability isn't bad odds for abdomen stabs. Mamoru will ground me for life, ahah! And he just recovered my back--

But no voice is leaving him. His sight was blurry. Nerves shocked. Adrenaline was one hell of a drug, even when the rest of his body felt the need to shut down. Rest a minute. Kunzite will be fine. Mamoru will be fine. Usagi will be fine. Jadeite will be fine.

They'll be fine--

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon hasn't raised his hand to attack since he's made his appearance on the battlefield, he's only shielded and absorbed that strange energy, but still Rubeus' spikes have put holes in several of the sparkles here. "Before I can change the world there has to be a world left to save." Riventon replies, surrounded as he is by only sparkles, people who know his focus, and a dead man. "You want to burn and I want to build. Your kind, who want to destroy without purpose... you're who I despise the most. I spend too much time having to hide that. But right now, I don't have to."

    While Riventon's aware that the Dark Energy on Dark Energy Violence isn't the most effective way to put a Rubeus-shaped problem down, he also knows that some of the impact still hurts. And he's clever and quick. And he's been thinking about the issue of how to harm someone who is also Dark Energy for a bit now.

    Midchildan circles, one interposted on the other, open up beneath his body. "I can't harm you directly with Dark Energy like I want, but unlike you - and I can take Dark Energy and do truly amazing things with it. It's not just a weapon for me. It's a source of power. It's an artist's tookit." he says.

    With Norie moving in to drain him, he can't do some of the things he was theorizing of, but Glimmer's idea gives him one of his own and he rapidly converts. "Do you even *know* what a photon is?" he asks. "Does it even do any good to explain to you? You're about to die anyways. Let's skip it."

    "But with so much Dark Energy, I can create them... photons, light, mirrors... everything a clever genius needs!" But what does happen is Riventon creates a series of magic circles in front of him that seem to rapidly fill with some sort of mirror like material.

    <<TOTENDES BRILLANZ>> calls both Riventon and his Device at the same time.

    And then suddenly out of the end of them shoots a sliver of purple light, a line through the sky, a laser, a magical one but built on scientific principles too, cutting through the air with an extremely focused amount of energy both mundane and magical, and going to cut through Rubeus from the side - avoiding Lacrim and Glimmer as well as any temporary allies, but angled to go right through his heart, if he has one. Riventon isn't playing around today. Not with this guy.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The third strike of the cane is close to hit its target, but then those spikes hit, just as many times as the Princess of Sarek was trying, the cane swerves and her arms fall back, an instinct to scream overtaking Veronica.

Scream that she barely holds back, her good arm, pressing against her mouth, letting out only a few muffled sounds. She can feel the zones hit burn with that pain, and the worse thing is the spikes are still sticking in there, reminding her of their presence with even the slightest movement.

And Rubeus is vowing to end both her and La Crima, and there is anger coming from her wounds, but also anger at imagining La Crima being next in his sight, and just as much as the joy from earlier made her forget the bruises, the anger this time gives her the extra push to ignore the wounds flaring up.

"No can do, Rubeus. You end here, and die with the knowledge the Sailor Mars you met was me", she reveals her trickery. And she can feel all the relics she gathered take life, their energy bursting into her to augment her attack way beyond what she would be usually able to.

Fire bursts from her cane, an enormous rainbow pillar that strikes horizontally against Rubeus, roaring with the desire to end this threat to their lives with no chance for him to return and menace them again later. "Seven-hued Inferno!"

Once the attack is released, the Princess of Sarek vanishes, and walks past the spikes as if she wasn't even there, breathing deeply at the sudden tiredness.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Tuxedo la Smoking Crater."

The words are spoken crisply, almost perfunctorily, as the rushing dark energy spikes flash toward the form of Prince Endymion, on one knee on the ground, one palm already flat down. He did this before, but before, he didn't do it like this, did he.

His eyes glow bright until he slaps his other hand down, and they go back to their eternal blue as the ground explodes up in front of him in a rolling wave on its way toward Rubeus, big enough and firm enough in Endymion's convictions and strength that it cancels out the spikes racing for him and still keeps exploding bigger and bigger--

ZOISITE. "You're NOT getting OUT of redemption THAT easy!" the prince bellows as he literally jumps over the whole fight to get to Kunzite's shield to get to Zoisite he felt that he felt that he felt that "Let me--" and his hands are glowing again, on Zoisite again, one on his forehead and one applying direct pressure to the wound itself.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
There's so much movement, so much flying. But there are also still channels, to keep power clear of others who might be hurt by it. Power he'll have in just a moment. Kunzite's concentrating - but there's warmth against his back, there's something nudging sharply against his cape -

There's no sound.

It is one of the hardest things he's ever done, not to turn around. To lift his hands. To open his eyes, and see Venus, and the blood, and the dimming chain. To know what's behind him.

"ZOISITE!"

Lightning that odd cool shade of pink lashes out, arcs between Kunzite's hands and the Love-Me Chain. He keeps it from flowing back toward Venus - keeps it from doing any worse to her hands and arm than has already been done - only up the chain. To Jupiter. Channeling it around the chaos, to someone better placed to do something with it.

It's formed from the power that Rubeus just gave him - but made fresh. Made new. Made into something that might, perhaps, have a hint of what Rubeus might have been if he hadn't been corrupted - a hint of a vision for helping people make things better rather than worse, for creating life instead of death, for finding places where just a little more help could let them do so much more for the people around them -

But mostly it's formed from pain, and from love.

Jupiter knows what to do with those. And he feeds her all the power he can till the chain dissolves.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There are attacks coming - so many of them, so much power, and she can feel it threatening to de-stabilize Moon Space, this new power, this new barrier, she isn't as strong in it as Wako is, isn't as secure i in casting it as Rashmi -

"Moon Crystal Power," she breathes under her breath, like a prayer, as Moon Space wavers around them, as for a moment they see the real world -

"Moon Crystal Power!"

And Moon Space stabilizes once more, the sky no longer a burning orange and yellow ombre, but deepest blue fading to warmest blue, still a water color wash of color across the sky, but one that feels comforting, and refreshing, and the Moon is in the sky now, the great full moon.

Screams ring out - Zoisite and Venus and Sarek, each of them pierced through, and Sailor Moon can't act in this place, it's taking everything she has to maintain the barrier and ensure Rubeus is trapped here with them, no more fading out, no more last minute escapes.

She believes in her friends. They can do this.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy winces, briefly, at the things happening to Rubeus. But she can't really be sympathetic to him at this point, only generally opposed to needless suffering. And at this point, he won't be suffering for long.

    Her friends, though... "VERONICA!" Amy screams, running over to her, looking at those spikes, raising her hands slightly, remembering Norie's dad, wondering if this will be the same, if only she could regenerate other people. "Hang in there... please..." Amy's gaze flicks between Veronica and Rubeus. She daren't begin medical care with him right there.

    Rubeus tells her to save her words. That he always knew he'd be nothing, and

    --She has no place in this world. A second chance but she can never be normal, and she decided that enjoying this time is more important than sacrificing this time in desperate hope of a chance she still has a place when this magical part of her life is over, a place she and everyone else deserves but there is no evidence she will get--

    --and she tells herself that is alright, that she's grateful for what she got, and it feels true and her soul no longer screams that death MUST be conquered because she finally got to live... but she always feels so very sad when she thinks about that--

    "I hope that you are satisfied, then, and that you found some good--" Amy starts to intone dramatically, then shakes her head. "Actually, no. I don't really care about you, only that now you'll stop hurting people. You made it that way. Live your truth and die by it."

    Veronica manages an attack, and Amy shouts "Watch out for the missiles, Norie-san!" and then turns back to her patient and sees only bloody spikes, and looks around in alarm. "SAREK! You'll bleed--" oh right telepathy, << Sarek, where are you? Without the spikes holding your blood in you need treatment now! >> Amy starts to move, uncertainly, away from Rubeus towards the nearest portals, looking for Sarek to reappear, so much more concerned with her than watching Rubeus fall...

Makoto Kino has posed:
That wave of spikes rushes outwards, and Sailor Jupiter drops like a meteor - one hand still gripping the Love-Me Chain, the other an electrified fist. She meets the spikes with driving force, fist and the heels of her boots, shattering a senshi-sized safe zone in the midst of the carnage and sending bits of shrapnel spraying in all directions.

It doesn't do nearly enough to help the others, but she can't focus on that just now.

Energy rushes up the chain to her arm and she seizes it, gathering it between both hands, channeling everything Kunzite sends to her until Venus can't maintain the chain that links them any more. By then it's a brilliant sphere of crackling energy between her palms, mixing with her own lightning as she wills every bit of a charge she can muster and presses it as tightly as she can into a single seething point.

And she winds up, like she's about to pitch the game-deciding ball at Koshien, and she hurls it at Rubeus with all the strength she has.

"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!"

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
A lot of things happen to Rubeus, much of it in a single instance, all at once.

The first is his laughter, as he feels the spikes connect. The second, is being grappled by La Crima, who clings like a murderous koala, and drains and drains and drains and drains and drains and takes from him taking his power, but the more she takes the more he flows through her, and it's all dark power. There's life energy, but so little of it, scraps compared to what she's gotten from others - most of it's just more dark energy, more of the same that she already has.

The third thing which strikes is Glimmer's attack, binding ankles and thighs to keep him still, as the Princess of Sarek reveals her deception - "

"You? You, were Sailor Mars?" and his eyes widen in genuine shock. Veronica can be satisfied that they never suspected her

- And then he's stabbed by the launched lightpole Glimmer sent, speared right throught he thigh, bones cracking, and the impalement is keeping the blood in, but he screams while ice crashes down from above, pounds and pounds of it in Jadeite's final attack before he loses consciousness.

And the missiles, launched by Amy Faust, by Puella Red, who cares for her friends and is going to be glad Rubeus will be gone, strike him then, exploding all around, but probably not getting La Crima if she shifts. Seven-hued flames from Sarek add to the agony, as Veronica pours on her power before limping away -

And then four truly busted finishers strike, all at once, with such swift speed that no one can really argue which is the one that actually killed him.

A brilliant laser, dark energy finessed into creating the kind of weapon that scientists and children have dreamed about for decades, fired right for Rubeus' heart, aimed by Riventon as he finally rejoices in his hatred for world destroyers.

Sparkling Wide Pressure, hurled like a baseball from heaven with all the force of a storm compressed into a single ball, launched hurricane speed by Sailor Jupiter and empowered by Kunzite, which strikes Rubeus at his core and sets him alight - literally, they can see his skeleton through his skin, for a moment, his entire body tense as the currents seethe through him, his scream dying in his throat as his vocal chords fry.

The most powerful Tuxedo la Smoking Crater ever unleashed by Endymion, held and grown and set ablaze until the once-king and king-to-be glowed with power, the world cracking and creaking and exploding beneath Rubeus, beneath La Crima, she had better be free, because the earth bucks and heaves and crackles beneath him, great spears and spikes and shifts of stone cutting through flesh and bone and everything else.

And the Moonlight.

Oh, the Moonlight is a Message of Love.

Moonlight Message is Chibiusa Tsukino's first ever finisher. The shape and name given to all her magic, all her strength, all her love, manifested through her companion Device, Luminous Titan. And as the Moonlight swoops above allies, gathering power from Sailor Venus, who clings to her chain that binds until the very end of her strength, gathering power from Moon Space itself, which gives and gives and only wants to protect, and then?

After gathering all that power, it strikes Rubeus with all of that. The Moonlight is a message of love, and what is love if not the sheer embodiment of what you will do for those closest to you? Usagi Small Lady Serenity is a girl with tremendous love in her heart, and for that love, Rubeus suffers as she suffered.

And in the end, Crimson Rubeus, of the Black Moon Clan, most certainly dies.

When the smoke clears, there's not even a body, just a pile of faintly gleaming ash, and the dull shards that are all that remains of a broken Heart Crystal.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Her limbs start burning up with fatigue, and Veronica looks back once she is far away enough, staring at Rubeus' final moments with the hope they are safe from him now, that they will no longer have to worry about him ever again.

He is gone, and even if Demande, Saphir and that Death Phantom are still left, she can take consolation that all those who actively posed a threat to their lives, that those who fought are now gone, and she hopes it can stay that way from Black Moon, for at least a good while.

Her surrounding start feeling kinda hazy when the spikes disappear and there isn't much shielding her mind from her pain or blocking the blood loss except the hand pressing against it. She is able to hear Amy call for her, and she lets the ethereal magic flow away from her, stumbling towards her friend.

"I am here, Amy-chan", she looks at her with an exhausted smile, not availing herself of her telepathy. "Looks like we won, haha", she stops in front of her. "You are right, I really need to get these checked. It's a long way to the infirmary, but I should manage it. Sorry, would it bother you if I held onto you? I don't feel all that steady, even with my cane."

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon's Dark Energy Mirrors don't fade out of existence after his attack - rather without the magic holding them up they crash to the floor before dissolving into liquid Dark Energy and then evaporating fully.

    Riventon walks around slowly, observing the strange world he's walked into finally now, now that Small Lady isn't at risk, now that Rubeus isn't at risk of existing further. He bounces on the ground a bit like he's testing it before rising off of it suspiciously and floating over to La Crima and Glimmer.

    "You girls are alright, yeah?" he asks. "One less problem in our lives, that's gotta feel a t least a little good." he says to the two girls. But he's also sort of aware of the others; he can't entirely feel 'safe' in Moon's world, created as it is out of energy that's not entirely friendly to him, and surrounded by Mahou.

Minako Aino has posed:
With the death of Rubeus so too do the Dark Energy spikes vanish. Venus had propped herself up against one while her leg was stretched out with another going through her thigh just above the knee and so she slumps entirely to the ground when they vanish. It's a soft fall, and yet the air rushes from her lungs. Pain sings through her with one hand moving to try and press over her bleeding leg. Much as she can.

There was nothing left that she can do, and so now she's free to think past the next attack. Past stopping the threat. Worry fills her now instead. Others were hurt as well and worse than she was from the sounds of it.

"Is everyone...?" Alive. Wounded was one thing but as long as they were alive there was still hope. "Did we make it?"

Zoisite has posed:
Shock. He throws up. He didn't mean to and a little whine finally escapes him. He started to feel the pain, and it was much worse than the fracture he received before. This was all muscle and some organs. His mind wasn't able to connect which ones yet, analyzing damage as though it could distract him from the pain.

It wouldn't. But he knew damn well to not remove himself from the spike. Just hold. Long enough for Mamoru's touch to reach him, heal him up. Keep eyes open. Yes. I'm fine, your highness. Make sure Kunzite isn't hurt--Jadeite barely has any fingers-- The crystal columns in his mind shrieked in shattering sounds, cracks of pain crumbling logic and overpowering what he found an acceptable amount.

He wanted to throw up again.

Then the spike was gone. Zoisite fell to his knees but thankfully the warmth of healing was keeping his blood from pouring out too fast. He was a mess. His hands scrambled to press against the wound like it would help clog up.

How long of a recovery time for this one...?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"We made it," Sailor Moon answers Sailor Venus, her brow beaded with sweat, her body trembling with effort - her fuku is starting to unravel, beads of light and the shift of ribbons taking the place of her boots and gloves - but she's clinging with all her might to Moon Space, even now. "We're all here - and they're gone, I can feel it."

She's not crying, but the strain of effort is making her eyes water.

"I don't think I can - hold this place much longer," she manages to gasp, "And I know it's gross - sorry everyone - but - I don't think - the bodies will stay - so, so if anyone can - the earrings -"

She's running out of energy for words, even, but hopefully, someone (besides Riventon, she hopes and fears) will grasp that she means get the earrings off the bodies.

This is their chance to learn more about their enemies - and Koan and Calaveras still have intact bodies, Koan with one earring remaining, and Calaveras with two.

It's a terrible thing to be thinking of, when her friends are hurt and bleeding and Zoisite was saying chances of survival earlier, but she thinks of the things they uncovered, that they figured out, and the many things they still don't know about their enemies... and hopes.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon let out a sigh of relief, before glancing to the approaching Riventon. She gave him a small nod. "Yeah. Feels pretty good. One less threat, now I can focus on the real threat."

She then glanced to the others and... "Hey! Sorry about the guy being a jerk! But hey, at least... now he's dead and can never cause you problems again! Good luck with like... your other stuff. Sorry if we have to kick your butts later." she called, before, well... likely leaving with Riventon and La Crima.

"Gonna brush my teeth as soon as we get back, I swear..."

And certainly nobody would notice that, during all that scuffling... one or two of the magic earrings disappeared. In Glimmer's pockets. Certainly they were destroyed, right? It was a big fight, a lot was going on...

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy sighs in relief, "There you are!" She goes for what was supposed to be a gentle-pressureless hug but her chestplate bumps into Princess of Sarek instead. "Sorry." She steps back. "Hold steady for a moment if you can, this will probably hurt." And she pulls out her first aid kit from somewhere and tears open the pack of clotting bandages, placing them firmly -- ow -- on entry and exit wounds and then wrapping regular bandages around her shoulder and torso to hold them in place.

    While wrapping, she does glance back at where Rubeus was and breathes another sigh of relief at seeing only ash.

    Amy answers Venus, "I'm alive. Does anyone need-- shit, your leg!"

    Amy gently pats Veronica's good shoulder, "Hang on, just... go to the portal, maybe Medo will be there, we'll work things out."

    And then she's off to run to Venus's side and start applying the same treatment to her leg. She can't do a lot, but she can at least try to keep their blood inside her friends so there's one less concern for the healers!

    "Gotta ask Pluto for better painkillers..."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Rubeus is dead.

    Masqurade Lapine looks down at the ground where he once stood, and takes that all on.

    Rubeus, one of the Dark Generals of the Black Moon Clan, the actual leader of the Small Lady Search and Squish Squad, someone once so terrifying and powerful and seemingly unstoppable...

    ... is dead now. He's dead and she helped kill him. That's... that's not something she's going to fully process right now, at the tender age of 900-something and a half. That's a thing she's going to grow into, going to realize later was actually really messed up, but for now all she thinks about it is that the bad guy is gone and isn't gonna hurt anyone she cares about anymore.

    Well, unless they make a Droid copy of him too, she guesses.

    Masquerade descends from the sky in a wide, slow spiral, looking over Moon Space and taking it all in. So this is the kind of world momma made? As Lapine looks into the distance and sees crystal structures, she can almost see a hint of home within this place.

    She sets down on the ground, looking at the spikes that have wounded a few of them. She winces sympathetically at Zoi, and also at Jade.

    Moon mentions taking the earrings, and Lapine heads over to Calaveras and tries to, carefully, remove one of the earrings. "I got it!" she calls out, lifting it high up and smiling like she's proud of it.

    The other earring is right there, and Lapine hasn't quite learned about efficiency yet so it's gonna take her a moment to realize she should get the other.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
There's a shaking breath. Then Kunzite turns, careful, so careful; touches Endymion's cheek for an instant, not to distract, only to convey love and utter heartfelt relief over both Endymion and Zoisite (can Zoisite feel it through him? Kunzite doesn't know, and there isn't time to find out). "I'm fine. You are not. I'm going to get Venus -" and at Moon's words - "and Calaveras." And then moves, willing his knees not to give out, for Venus.

He leans down beside her, hands hovering over her leg, and shapes a shield to cover the bleeding, to provide pressure. Bandage and tourniquet, without infection risk. Not the best of one, but it'll help till Amy arrives, and it'll buy Amy time to work without more blood. "No deaths. Amy's all right and coming this way. Endymion's working on Zoisite. Be back in a moment."

A moment that he takes to go and join Lapine, quietly taking the other of her earrings in hand. "Well done."

Makoto Kino has posed:
Sailor Jupiter had started towards Venus, but when Sailor Moon speaks up she abruptly shifts course. Earrings. If Usagi is asking, it's important. "On it, Moon-chan," she says.

Amy gets a brief grateful glance for tending to Venus before Jupiter turns her attention to looking around for the fallen enemies. Homing in on Koan's body, she lengthens her stride to head over and check for jewelry.

Jadeite has posed:
On the one hand, Jadeite shoved the crushed and ashen pieces of Koan's earrings into his pockets , leaving streaks of grey on his pants from where he'd pushed it in.

On the other hand, he is only just. Prying himself. Off the ground. Owwww. He hadn't bruised himself anymore than he was already, he was good at falling, but he. He needs to.

Needs to drag himself forward on his shaking legs. One step at a time. Until he plops next to the knot of Shitennou around Zoisite.

"Got Koan's earrings," he says, and then flops into floor time before the walls start dancing again.

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor Venus was already on her side on the ground with her wounded leg stretched out ontop of the bent knee of the other. It was the best she could do for 'elevating' right now.

The news and assurance of others that everyone was okay(ish) allows a little half-laugh to come from her. The adrenaline would fade soon she knew and she'd be hurting a lot more than she was now.

Kunzite's approach is watched with half-lidded eyes. A ghost of a smile teases over her. While he works his magic, she reaches out to rest a hand ontop of his wrist lightly. "Hi, handsome," she greets in an effort to lighten things up just a bit. "... Thank you for protecting her." He knew who she meant. The magical first aid does help to stymie a lot of the flow of blood so that Amy's actions are far easier.

"Thanks," she offers again. Right before just letting her head flop on the ground rather than keep her neck cricked at an awkward angle. "It's okay, Sailor Moon. I think we can all rest now." For a bit. Her attention is caught by watching Kunzite, and Jadeite, Jupiter and the bunny girl gather earrings. Better than staring at the mess her leg was.

Though it was impossible to miss the shape AMY was in as well. It takes a moment to get through her muddled thoughts as she watches Amy. "... You look like you're in worse shape, shouldn't you get first aid, too?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Someone please keep track of everyone for me? Jadeite, Amy, Zoi, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Venus, Sarek-- whoever's bleeding make them stop bleeding first--" starts Endymion, his hands still on Zoisite, and his face tilting briefly toward Kunzite's hand in (hello! detached! love but detached) acknowledgement. He looks to Usagi and he can't put energy into Moon Space again because he needs it for healing, but there's a little tug on her heartstring, as it were, and some love-- and then he calls over to Masquerade Lapine, "You did amazing, sweetie! Can you help Sailor Moon?"

And he removes his hand from Zoisite's forehead to place it on the ground and start pulling energy direct through again, silent and warm and vast and steady. Bleeding stopped. Things rerouted. "Stay still until I come back and fix more of you," he tells Zoisite instead of answering his question.

As he gets up to move to Venus, he calls over to the Obsidian crew, "Riventon! La Crima! Glimmer! You were all great-- thank you-- man, thanks Riv. Also, cool laser." And then he's there and he touches her arm and the pain stops for now, and he works on making her bleeding stop. "That was awesome," he says quietly, "thank you. Amy, you're-- ah, good." Her soul gem is more or less clear. "Where's Jadeite, his hand is a charcoal briquette."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "You're welcome." Amy answers Venus. Then a bit more loudly, "Remember, this is first aid, see an actual doctor or healer immediately."

    She stands up. "Well. Maybe we can catch our breath for a few seconds."

    Amy looks around. Mamoru is tending to Zoicite. "Does anyone else have open wounds before we leave the Labyrinth?"

    Asks the girl with huge open wounds in her chest and thigh seeping blood and pus, admittedly far better than Rubeus left her thanks to Tuxedo Mask replacing missing flesh. Some of them might remember the talk at the baseball stadium where the complications of being able to ignore pain were discussed.

    Amy nods to Endymion as he addresses her, smiling a little, then calls out "Also everybody who can't move like... make sure we got people carrying them. You can hold onto me, Veronica."

Jadeite has posed:
"Down here, Tuxedorin," Jadeite says weakly from the floor near Mamoru and Zoisite. "I'm not bleeding so do triage stuff. Is it ok if I take a little nap?"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kunzite gives Vee a wry little smile. "She's our princess, too. And you hit harder than I do." Then he follows Venus's glance to Amy, exhales a wordless sigh, and says, "I've got Amy's bleeding temporarily," and the dark shields close gently around her chest and thigh like another layer of armor. "Thank you, Venus."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Lapine smiles up to Kunzite as he also gets an earring, and she twists back in forth in that energetic child way because she has more energy than her small body can contain. Then Endy-papa compliments her and asks her to go help Sailor Mom, and Masquerade happily leaps over to her and places a hand on Sailor Moon's back.

    She has some energy to spare, still. She didn't get that wounded in the fight, unlike... many others here. Advantage of being a small target, she supposes.

Zoisite has posed:
Yes, he felt it. The steady tenderness that was Kunzite's quietness, the gentle touch through Endymion's healing. Then it was gone again. Zoisite nodded, eyes wide and focused on the shirt buttons in front of him. Deep breath. In and out.

Finally, the bleeding stopped. Wound closed under bloody gloves. Zoisite nods. He won't move besides his head, trying to catch a glimpse of what was left of the world around them.

Then lowers his gaze to Jadeite.

"...you look like shit, Tama."

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite looks blearily at Zoisite. Looks down at the closed hole in him. Looks back up.

"Big words from the human pasta strainer," he croaks, and then winks playfully.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Call me that again and we'll see if your tongue can grow back," Mamoru tells Jadeite crossly. "I am fixing bleeding first yes. You did really well and that was incredible and now I feel weird complimenting you."

Jadeite has posed:
"What are you going to do, dump me again? Drop me off a second graveyard?" Jadeite croaks, and his smile is a little lopsided and his eyes are glittering as he waits for triage. "Sorry, I'm in shock, can't control what I call people, Tux. I can give you the earrings when I'm not a pile of goo."

Zoisite has posed:
Blinks down at Jadeite.

Then his shoulders shake, bloody hand lifting to his face as he's trying to keep composure over genuine mirth, and not move. Don't move. Damn it.

"You're so stupid, Jade..."

Minako Aino has posed:
"Wait, dumped? Who got dumped?" Venus has managed to get up and using her sword as a cane limps somewhat ungainly toward the main group. She missed gossip clearly.

"Wow you both look terrible. Good job not dying."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Venus asks Amy shouldn't she get healing, and Kunzite says he's got Amy's bleeding-- "Oh shit! Right," she laughs nervously, and dismisses her armor parts -- except the left vambrace -- and skirt, and, if Kunzite drops the field on each area for a moment so she can work on it, presses a piece of summoned cloth against the wounds, then dismisses it and puts bandages in place, then replaces the torn bodysuit and undergarments -- pink sparkles cover her clothes and fade to leave them repaired and cleaned -- to hold them in place.

    Amy presses hands to the now-covered bandages, frowning slightly. "Eh, I guess it'll do till someone else looks at it."

    She summons the skirt and chestpiece and cloak of her normal henshin, puts the grief seed away in a belt pouch, and switches the vambrace back to a glove. Standard henshin is familiar and comfiest.

    "Thank you." Amy nods to Endymion, Kunzite, and Venus, then goes to pick up any earrings that haven't been yet, then goes to help Veronica to the portal. "Sorry that took so long."

    "...Should we have Entrapta look at the bodies? Is that too morbid?"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Masquerade Lapine, without looking up from giving Moon a bit of bonus energy, calls out to Venus. "Tux-kun broke up with Jadeite."

    As for Entrapta looking at the bodies, Lapine makes a face for a moment and decides that maybe someone else can answer that one.

Zoisite has posed:
Sighs. Well, children were honest. And it was going to spread around eventually. Hand lowers to pat Jadeite on the chest.

"You don't owe anyone an explanation." Was all he advised. The rest was up to his friend.

"Likewise, Venus. I see Kunzite is doing his best in covering wounds. I thought we shouldn't be moving around though..."

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor Venus glances over toward Lapine at the blunt explanation. Her face momentarily shifts fighting the urge to question further, or make a joke, or... None of that would fit the situation at all. "I'm sorry to hear that," she finally says sounding quite sincere at least. Breaking up always sucked.

Attention shifting again she continues to stand with weight on one leg because it was just easier that way right now. She would change back, but she didn't want to be more exhausted when she did. "We should probably get out of here. If the usual place is too far," the apartment of course. "My folks are safely away right now. My house isn't too far."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"-- bodies?" Kunzite repeats. "Are there any?" Rubeus' ashes. Cadaveras mark two sealed away. Petz exploded by Cure La Licorne. Berthier done in by Sailor Uranus, and gone. He's not sure about Koan.

And he comes over to sit down beside Zoisite. "I'm not saying her walking around is smart," he says to Zoi and Jadeite, "but she's not likely to have anything vital fall out if she twists wrong."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"My place is equipped to deal with bloody messes," the armored Prince Endymion says, standing up. "And close enough it's on the way to school. Amy is definitely staying overnight. Anyone else who wants to come is, of course, welcome. Please carry people who need it, we will meet you there."

And he goes over to Sailor Moon, and he kneels down next to her and puts his arms around her, and Moon Space flickers and fades. It leaves behind the wreckage of Usagi's family's home, silence, a bunch of injured mahoujin, and a prince picking up an extremely tired Sailor Moon and vanishing.