2400/Akumadora: Forsaken Honor

Akumadora: Forsaken Honor
Date of Scene:	11 March 2025
Location:	Riverside Path
Synopsis:	Adora has been struggling with various thoughts for a while, and as she stares at a stream muttering about the honor of greyskull, a butterfly alights upon the bracelet form of the Sword of Power. Several people show up to stop the resulting Akuma, Skeletara. Unfortunately, she ends up focusing on the wrong person, thinking the Princess of Sarek is Chat Noir!
Cast of Characters:	Adora Rainbowfist, Gabriel Agreste, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Usagi Tsukino, Bow, Rashmi Terios, Glimmer Brightmoon, Veronica Perenna, Amanda Faust, Catra

---

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora had been a lot more introspective than usual, recently, in part because of the constant urging to break her sword and also just that general sense that everything in this world is /wrong/ to her.

She'd found a covenient bench on the riverside path between the Pikarigaoka Ward and the Juuban ward to sit down on, staring out onto the water.

The reflection she saw back, in the moment, wasn't her own, but instead She-Ra's.

"..."
"The Honor of Greyskull, huh..."
"What's that gotten me?"
"My childhood friend is now my enemy."
"I'm responsible for EVERYONE."
"The world was nearly -- maybe actually -- destroyed because of my having the sword..."
Adora stands, walking to the edge of that water, kicking the surface with her foot to disrupt the water's surface, where She-Ra stared back at her. "I hate you." She mutters, as a butterfly alights upon her bracelet...

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
Another day, another tireless search for Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous. It's been - something of an interesting time for Hawkmoth, having successfully gained the scientific interest of an intriguing genius, but having failed to find the Miraculous, and he's turning back to the tried and reliable:

Sensing the negativity of Tokyo in search of someone who could be useful to him.

With the Butterfly Miraculous' power, it's something bordering child's play for Hawkmoth to sift through the negative emotions of all of Tokyo's citizens, never mind that there are millions upon millions of them, all crowded together in an even greater density than his home of Paris. Their minds are a stew of negative emotion, a break up here, mourning for a lost pet here, a faltering marriage there, a failed exam there, hatred for her own heroics there -

Wait a minute.

"Fly, my akuma, to that girl."

When the butterfly lands on Adora's wrist, it seeps into her bracelet, turning it a blackish-purple. A butterfly effect appears around her face, and Hawkmoth speaks into her mind.

"Adora, you've truly found yourself in miserable circumstances, haven't you? I understand - the world has put such a burden on your shoulders, and despite everything you've tried, nothing has worked. You're one girl against the world, and even the mighty She-Ra can only do so much."

His voice is sympathetic, but not condescending - he strives to strike the balance of one who can empathize without tripping the scarcely healed wounds of trauma he can feel in her psyche.

"The problem isn't you - it's the world. This world itself is wrong, Skeletara. Get me the Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses, and with their power, together we can fix everything. It will all make sense again."

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
That butterfly shape covers Adora's face, a red blush in that same face covering her face as she listens, not speaking at first. "..."

"Yes, Hawkmoth!"

And then she lifts the bracelet-bearing arm up into the sky, as it transforms -- not into a sword -- but into a skull-faced scepter as she calls out, "BY THE POWER OF SNAKE MOUNTAIN, WREAK HAVOK!"

And purple energy consumes her, lightning striking her location as a column of purple and blue shoots up into the sky. Her scepter-bearing hand growing skeletal, as a skeleton half-helmet covers her face, leaving only her jaw exposed. Her hair sticking out from the top of the skull in a massive, wild high ponytail, what visible skin she had turning a pale blue color, and she wears a corrupted version of her Horde uniform, instead of reds, a deep purple with teal blue accents.

And when people arrive to the location where that column of corrupted energy shot into the sky... they would find a concerning sight.

Statues on the pathway leading to the source of that darkness, each one in various state of surprise, shock, or horror. And when they finally do find her, she is holding a young woman by her collar, as sickly green energy is pulled from that person into the staff, leaving them as a statue that is casually dropped to the ground.

Luckily, they do not shatter, having landed on grass...

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
Far away, in a club room. Marinette is behind the GM's screen, holding a skeleton figurine that she painted just last night and has a shiver go down her spine, as if someone has just walked over her grave.

"It's okay, I just have this feeling like my undead horde for tonight might be...ill timed, is all," she explains to her players, many of which are looking at her with concern.

A fluttering ladybug in the corner of her eye makes her nod. "Would anyone mind if we put this on pause right here, for now? I think it's best if I rethink this a bit, before we get any further."

What made her stop? Is there any merit to the shiver in her heart? Why does that skeleton girl figurine look so foreboding, right now?

Or is it just a lack of enough snacks? As the players pack up, she quickly dashes out, leaving her dice behind. "What's up, Tikki?" she asks, but she only gets a glance to the sky to know.

That way.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
This week started bad, what with the ever-present threat to her family (and the families of several close friends!), and it's only gotten worse. Yesterday, Usagi Tsukino had her heart crystal shot out. Today's been better... in the sense that she went to school and nothing bad happened aside from Chibiusa making fun of her for having to rush out the door because she slept in again... but that doesn't mean she's ready to call it a good day.

And she's right not too, because just as she's patrolling around Juuban, all the better to keep an eye out for threats to family and friends, she sees a pillar of energy in the sky.

"Oh come on!"

It's an exasperated shout to the heavens, but Sailor Moon goes rushing towards the scene, going from hopping along buildings to bounding high into the air and waving her arms wildly as she plummets down again, looking out for the cause, only to find -

"Oh, no, no, no," she breathes, looking at the horrible statues, "This is almost as bad as that which we do not speak of - HEY! PUT HER DOWN!"

But the shout is too late. As Sailor Moon watches, the young woman has her energy drained, only to fall to the ground as a statue.

She's kiiiiiinda regretting calling attention to herself while alone.

Bow has posed:
It's been some time since Bow touched base with Adora. It wasn't from a lack of trying. Just that life got in the way and he's kept busy and sort of withdrawn with recent events. Things in this world are confusing, there's a lot he still doesn't understand. But one thing he does grasp is that he is one-third of the OG Best Friends squad, and he's going to do what he can to bring them back together and make this work the way it should.

Even if one of them is now experimenting with Dark Magic.

Even if Catra is a Princess now.

Even if Bow's life stuff got in the way.

He had a lead that Adora was at park. Easy peasy. Meet up with her. Offer to buy ice cream. Make small talk. Make bigger talk. And plot on how to help Glimmer.

And Catra, I guess.

And that's when the light goes out. "What the..." he picks up the pace, his walk turned into a run as he comes across the first fear-struck statuaries, and then a little bit further away - the only reason why Bow can actually put anything together is because he knows that uniform very well. Shifting into his henshin, he is stlll wary as he approaches. "Adora... that you?"

Just in time for her to make another statue. "What are you doing?!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Some days, being mahoujin is suffering.

A late night's patrol had turned into oversleeping, and thus Rashmi was late -- late! -- to school today. When one lives less than a block away from one's classroom, turning up late is a *particularly* dire infraction. Coupled with a pop quiz in trigonometry, a subject in which Rashmi has found *so many* roadblocks to success, *and* the fact that it was her turn to tidy up after Debate Club...

It has not been a good day for Rashmi.

So when the column of purple energy erupted worryingly close to her home neighborhood, it was almost a relief to henshin and fly out to meet it... Only to find a procession of *statues,* and a skeleton-themed villain ripping civilian energy away as if it was their very soul?!

But Sailor Moon is on the scene! And as she flies down to meet her friend-- Bow's voice?!

*ADORA?!*

... Being mahoujin is suffering.

"Wait," she says, floating down to 'land' a few centimeters off the ground, next to Sailor Moon. "That's *Adora-chan?!*"

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon was so, so tired. She couldn't believe she'd fought with Adora a few days, her recent fights with Bow, now Catra up and offed one of the big names at Obsidian. How could all of them be doing so POORLY? She really... had to find some way to fix this. As much as she hated it... she'd have to put all of her work on freeing her mom on hold, focus on helping the brain cells that she apparently ended up dragging to this world.

... None of them should have been here.

She had a small pack of cupcakes with her as she walked through the city as Gloria. She could come, apologize to Adora, maybe... just... work something out.

Catra was... out, right? So that was... good? So that meant... maybe she could get Adora too--

"Oh come ON!" Glimmer snapped when she saw the tower of purple. Well.... maybe she'd jsut... check it out. A small detour. That was all.

Of course, she arrived just in time to see Bow... And . horde uniform? Catra? Was--

... Wait. He called her... Adora... There was no way.

And then Rashmi confirmed it?! Albeit, likely not really, but Glimmer didn't hear the 'question' part of that, and jus thought it was a statement. She tossed the cupcakes away, unable to keep her anger bottled up, and endered her role as 'Gloria'. Dawning the outfit of red she had been wearing for so long. Yeah. There was no way this was... At all normal. She stepped out into the open, blowing into her fingers with a shrill whistle. "ADORA! Is that you?! PLEASE tell me what in the WORLD you're doing?!" Was it a kitty/soldier lesbian thing?! Catra was leaving Obsidian so now ADORA had to join?! Were those two just petty?! IS THIS HER LIFE NOW?! HER HEAD HURT ALREADY!

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica was here painting the beautiful sight of the riverside, light refracting to create small rainbow whenever a fish breaks through the river surface. Those moments are entrusted to her memory rather than to any camera, and she happily hums without any insight to what is occurring elsewhere.

Theeere we go. That splotch of light had been bothering her, she smiles while her brush lightly applies colour, and then moves towards the palette for another touch of paint. Everything is going well, and in fact this is turning out to be a good break from the stress that has been accumulating in their lives.

Even her patrol for youmas and relics had turned a lot more frustrating due to keeping an eye out for a potential return of the Spectre Sisters. You'd think they would have enough problem with alive villains. But best not to think of that now.

However, the oppressing feeling of darkness is hard to miss, as is the column of purple and blue energy. "Such a shame when a good colour combination bears bad news", she frowns, abandoning her break and turning to where the malevolent energy had acted as a beacon for them.

"Moonlit Heist, Phantom Thief Release, My Evolution!" Veronica calls out, snapping her fingers and summoning the Hallward painting's blessing. Glowing mist wraps around her, and her magical garments materialise, accompanied by feline ears sprouting from her scalp, and a swishing tail emerging behind her.

"The Princess of Sarek, with hope held tight, I leap through shadows to light up the night!" she sings the final verse, holding her cane tightly in her hand.

"Sorry I am late", she rushes onto the scene where mahoujin have already started gathering, her gaze moving from her friends to the stone victim to Skeletara. "Who is that?", she peers at the unknown villain with a frown.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"Hehehe. I did as you wished, why are you looking at me like that?" Comes the much more raspy voice of Skeletara as she turns towards Sailor Moon, that staff held at her side as she glances down towards that statue. "See? I didn't even break her. But she was useless to me but you! You might be useful."

A purple portal opens in front of her, as her non-skeletal hand reaches through it, another portal opening behind Sailor Moon to attempt to grab the back of her sailor uniform and DRAG her through the portal. "Tell me! Do you know where the Miraculous is?" She asks, skull-faced eyes turning to face Sailor Moon as she turns her to face her with one hand, the scepter held above her as a purple scythe of energy crackles into existence. "I need it, so that Hawkmoth and I can fix this world."

What are you doing?!

"Ah! Bow! Don't worry, everything will be okay. I'm going to fix everything. This world is so very wrong. It's not where we're supposed to be. It's not WHEN most of us are supposed to be. But all I need to do is get the Miraculous, and then I can make everything right again!"

More people are arriving. More people she recognized. Rashmi Terios was there now. "I am not Adora, I am Skeletara, and unlike poor Adora... I have the Power to fix things, instead of relying on a fragile honor."

And now Glimmer was there.

...Everyone she didn't really want to see was here right now.

Sailor Moon.
Glimmer.
Bow
All she's missing is Catra and she'd have the full set of everyone she would rather have just faced once she fixed everything. Tch.

Whatever. They're just going to get in her way.

"You were right, Glimmer. Adora wasn't enough. Adora has NEVER been enough. You needed something stronger, better. So here I am!" Comes the cheerful response to Glimmer's question. "You understand, right? We just need to find the Miraculous-- and then we can fix everything. Then we can make everything alright!"

And then... a cat arrives? Is that Cat Noir?!

Sailor Moon is promptly let go of, as Skeletara, in a moment of mistaken identity, darts towards the Princess of Sarek, that purple scythe of energy held high as she darts towards her, ready to bring it in a sideways slicing arc towards her. "GIVE ME THE MIRACULOUS!"

Whoops.
Man this would be so much easier if they knew exactly who they were looking for, right?

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Darkness... again?! Amy is out for a walk, and henshins and runs into the park.

    And Amanda is someone who can take one look at those statues and knows in an instant what they mean. A chill runs through her. Yet another nightmare from humanity's dark imaginations has been unleashed in real life. Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no...

    Although uh. When she comes upon. Skulldora turning someone into a statue. Amy is confused. "What are you DOING?!" She's draining something from people and that's turning them to stone? What? How does this work???

    Amy pats Sailor Moon's shoulder. "We'll stop this. We can probably change them back..." And she takes a step forward to stand protectively in front of Sailor Moon, but is ready to move.

    And then Rashmi lands and shouts and Amy's expression mirrors hers. "That's ADORA?!"

    Little good Amy's positioning does against a portal appearing behind her. She doesn't even know. "FIX everything?! How is this going to FIX anything?!"

    Also, she double-takes at the portal, looks behind her, and tries to pull Sailor Moon back through. "Hey! Let go of her!" She's about to swing a rocket launcher at Skeledora when Adora lets go.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
On the one hand? She's not alone!

On the other hand? ...this is bad. Bow's called out Adora's name and Glimmer's arrived to yell, and Usagi can only think of one thing that could have caused all of this, especially given Adora's scary but lovely new look -

And then she's snatched from behind and dragged through a portal, left dangling in Adora's hands, and she - wow it's terrible that skeleton-mask doesn't make Adora look bad. She did not need to know this about herself.

Sailor Moon waves her hands, dangling from Adora's grip like she weighs absolutely nothing, sweat-dropping.

"Adora, don't listen to the Butterfly Man! Trust me, I know it sounds great in the moment, when you're all sad-mad and hurting inside, but you're going to feel embarrassed later, and there's nothing so bad that we can't help you with it!"

Unfortunately, she is dropped because there's Adora, going after -

"RUN SAREK-CHAN!"

Ffffffffuck, "Okay, okay, there's something that Hawkmoth put a butterfly into, and we've got to just purify it, or break it, so we can help - I really wish Ladybug or Cat was here... Bow! Okay, I'll do that - aaaand I think we lost him."

Bow has posed:
"Yeah... maybe..." Bow starts to say as other arrive and catch onto the words that came out of his mouth. In for a penny, in for a pound. As he summons a net arrow, he calls out, "I'll try to tie her up, give you time to prepare some Moon Healing Escalation!" he calls out to Sailor Moon, as he moves to draw back.

And then of all the parks, of all the scenes, Glimmer has to come sauntering into his. Hearing her voice, he starts to respond, "Oh thank goodness, maybe we can help her togeth..." and that's when he gets his first look at the all-new for 2025 Queen Glimmer Brightmoon. Curves and all.

"G-Glimmer...." he stammers, his eyes wide, his jaw going slightly slack.

TWANG.

The arrow fire prematurely into the ground.

He'll come back to arguing with Skeletara in a moment.

For now, brain cell stuck, needs to reboot.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
"That's not Chat - is that Chat Noir?" Hawkmoth pauses mid-snap, furrowing his brows, frowning at the cat-themed heroine Skeletara is going after. "There was a second Ladybug for a moment - it's possible that this could be..."

Hmm... The Chat Noir he knew of was male, but who was to say that had to still be the case? The boy could have discovered something new about himself - herself? Or simply handed off the Miraculous!

"It's a worth a shot! My apologies for doubting you, Skeletara. You're more than capable. Don't let these friends slow you down - they still think this world is as it should be!"

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
There's a whole lot of no-Miraculous in the situation though. Rather wondering what Hawkmoth's plan was if none showed up, it seems to be a less than optimal way to get ahold of something if you target areas that don't have that resource available.

However, it's not to last. As Adora the Explorer launches for the wrong target, the right one appears in the edge of her vision. Standing there, black with red dots. Fists on her hips. Eyebrow raised with a judgement that comes of unlimited levels of french sarcasm.

And a yo-yo shoots out to snag the oncoming attack as it goes for the entirely wrong person, its unbreakable twine able to stop even the might of the arm holding the scythe.

Of course, that also requires that Ladybug be strong, or you lose that one point in the chain. Ladybug, you are the weakest link! And she gets yoinked off of her feet rather easily, since the comparison chart clearly says that She-Ra is ..you know. a titch stronger on the graph.

Whoof. And thus does Ladybug enter the scene, face-down in the mud.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
And everything goes to hell, all at once. Sailor Moon is yoinked through a SUDDEN PORTAL, Glimmer shows up to yell some more, Bow segfaults at Glimmer's new look -- which, fair, but not the time -- Sarek is getting rushed, and Amy hasn't had a problem yet but *this situation needs to be controlled, now.*

    << *BONG!* >> << TIME-SPACE BARRIER >>

And the world takes on a much warmer hue, as Rashmi's Barrier expands out to cover the whole of the park, and any other civilians that could be under threat are filtered away. Which is a good start, but...

    << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >>

<< SAREK, MOVE! Everyone else, FOCUS! If Adora-chan's gotten Akumatized, then Ladybug or Cat Noir'll be on the scene soon! We need to keep her occupied until then! >>

Yes, even Glimmer got a dose of Rashmi yelling into her brain; if she's on the scene, then she can help with her friend's mess.

And as the yo-yo soars in, Rashmi can feel her spirits lift. "Ladybug-cha--"

*SPLAT*

...Being mahoujin is suffering.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Dark Glimmer blinked a few times. Stared. "Oh for..." she muttered, face palming. "ADORA! COME ON! YOU BIG STUPID IDIOT! YOU WERE ALWAYS ENOUGH! IS THIS REALLY ALL YOU EVER TAKE AWAY?! GAHHHH!" she screamed, stomping a foot. "HAWKMOTH! YOU AND I NEED TO HAVE A TALK LATER! STOP! BUTTERFLYING! MY! FRIENDS!" she yelled, stomping both her feet. "Listen, I'm sorry! We... both said some things we shouldn't have, okay?" She may have mumbled 'mostly you' under her breath, nobody would ever know. "But I'm sorry! This isn't the path! Adora is more than enough! It's the stupid sword that's restricting you from being, well, the real you! Who you are supposed to be! She-ra! Not this imitation! So please, stop being... whatever it is you're being!"

She then glanced towards Sailor Moon and Bow. "Okay, Bow. I don't suppose you have a pl--" Then stopped herself. Noticed the arrow going off... The way he was looking at her... ugh. He hated this, didn't he? 'All you do is delegate!' Asking him for help... he didn't want that. Damn it. "... Nevermind. I'll deal with this myself." There. He couldn't POSSIBLY be mad at her if she did that, right? If she picked it up?

"GAHHHH! GHOST!" Glimmer shrieked, shaking her head. "No. NO! Okay! ADORA!" she yelled, before putting her hands together. "I learned this one from your MAMA!"

Annnnnnd black lightning came out from her right hand, then. Etherian magic... technically. Etherian dark magic. One of Shadowweaver spells. Also. OW.The lightning lanced out... but some of it also recoiled back on her. But hey, it likely made some of its way towards the scythe!

... And if it did, sorry, Ladybug, as you likely ate some electricity there too.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Having the villain rush at her the second she appears wasn't quite on the list of the Princess of Sarek's expectations, nor was she expecting to be requested to hand over a Miraculous. She'd know if she had stolen something like that! What's her deal!?

Unfortunately, at the sight of Sailor Moon in trouble, the Phantom Thief had started running towards them to try getting the soldier of the moon out of that bind, so she doesn't have much time to react to Skeletara's change of priorities.

It is only Sailor Moon and the Page Mage shouting a warning for her that gives the cat thief enough time to release her moonlit barrier and block the blade, but the force of the blow is enough to impact her and throw her to the ground with a groan.

"What gives?", she shouts after getting to her feet, her tail rigid with irritation. "Not something I can give you, and why do you want that? There must be something better than this!"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Drained completely, the people were rendered stone. Not that it really was the explanation that Amy Faust likely wanted to likely realize. Perhaps it was some curse of the magic in that ominous skull scepter as well, who knows. "The miraculous will let us fix this world! Let us make everything how it's supposed to be! Make everything make /sense/ again!" Skeletara shouts back at Amy at the question. A rocket launcher is swung towards her, only to be deflected by that scepter.

Which is ... blackened, like something usually 'blessed' by Akumatization tends to be.

Don't listen to the butterfly man! You're just going to be embarrassed later. "I'm in the wrong world -- possibly the wrong time. Everyone I know and care about is gone or changed. I've lost *everything* because I wasn't enough, Sailor Moon. How do you fix /that/?"

Bow, ever the reliable, ever the one ready to help and protect them when they were in over their heads was readying an arrow.

...Bow is rebooting.

And she gets reaffirming comments from Hawkmoth that she was possibly going after a proper target! "Yes, Hawkmoth." She comments.

And then a ladybug appears.

And a yo-yo is wrapped around her arm, and Skeletara feels a slight ~tug~ mid-rush towards the Princess of Sarek. "...What was that? Did you truly think that would stop me?" She seems legitimately confused in her raspy voice.

"No matter, considering your spots. I somehow have the feeling that YOU might have a miraculous as well, to think that both are here! This must be Fate." A word that makes her mouth taste like ash to say, in spite of the dark energy coursing through her that drove her to cause havok. A time-space barrier takes over the area, those statues fading out thankfully, reducing the chance of them being broken in the fighting so they can hopefully be fixed later.

You were always enough. Is this really all you ever take away?

The words reach Skeletara...

But not her heart.

"I /was/ She-ra. And it /wasn't enough/. YOUR MOM HAD TO SACRIFICE HERSELF TO SAVE US! HOW IS THAT ENOUGH?!" She shouts in response. And then... then a familiar spell is cast.

Black lightning shooting towards her. Striking the scepter. Electrifying it.

...And purple scythe is suddenly now purple /electricity/ scythe. "Truly? Darkness? On darkness? In what timeline did you think that would work?" She asks, her tone slightly mocking towards Glimmer. "So you fancy yourself a Sorceress, do you? Well! Let me show you how it's done!"

The Princess of Sarek is thrown to the ground, as Skeletara stands over her, her hand shifting to grip onto the line of the yoyo with simple intent: To attempt to spin Ladybug around and FLING her towards the group of assorted mahou in the distance. A purple portal opens next to her.

And then six... seven... 8 appear around THEM. And she lifts the scepter towards it, while one hand reaches down towards the Princess of Sarek to attempt to grab her.

Concentrated purple bolts of energy are launched through that portal, shooting in a rapid barrage where they come out on the other side, larger than they had been when shot. "Just give it to me, and everything will be /fine/ in the end." She speaks down towards the Princess of Sarek, not quite getting that her response was an 'I don't have it' kind of response.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
X.x

Ladybug, the awaited hero when it comes to akumatizations, has enough time to spit out some mud before LIGHTNING hits her, through her line. She spasms, her skeleton actually visible for a second, as she takes MUCH more damage than Skeletara did from Glimmer's attack.

x.X

Then, she feels the line tightening. She can't seem to get her hands to let go, the obvious choice. The world is spinning. That doesn't seem right, I haven't been dizzy in ages, not cinse tegging the rilamucous. . .

Oh wait, the world is ACTUALLY spinning.

Ladybug does the only thing she possibly can in the situation, and kinda screams as she's used as a flail against her own team.

._.

Bow has posed:
Glimmer has it completely and totally wrong. The thoughts that Bow is having at the moment would push the scene's rating to PG-13. He's distracted, and needed to snapped back to normal.

Fortunately, Page Mage is on the job. There's nothing like the boss's daughter yelling INTO YOUR BRAINMEATS to snap the thoughts of Glimmer out of his head.

"Sorry! I'll get on the box choy right away!" he calls out in response to Rashmi's push on his head.

Oh right, not at the restaurant. Back into the field of battle. That's when he hears Glimmer calling out, and he turns, just in time to see her fire lightning towards Skeletara. He doesn't yell or complain, instead, with her trying that, he's changing arrows. "Going to try to glop her up!" Another non-lethal weapon.

He summons the arrow, just in time for Skeletara to start to fire the barrage of lasers at them, and he's knocked off offense to defense as he moves to dodge the blasts.

As he runs along the ground, blasts exploding behind him, he ends up near Glimmer.

Okay. Near Glimmer. Idea! "Glims!" he calls out to her.

And then he points to himself. And his bow. And then points to the sky above Skeletara's head.

A little boost for a crazy idea, please?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"...You can't fix it, Adora-chan," Sailor Moon says quietly. "You just... keep moving forward. I know it's not what you want to hear, but - "

But she knows what it's like. Everything and everyone she had once loved is gone or changed and the world is different and she grew up in it, but she remembers another life, and it's not the same, but it's kind of like that -

Aaaand she's still going after Sarek, who's got that Prismatic Barrier up, at least, thank goodness, and there's Ladybug going in, and there's Glimmer shouting encouragement, yay!

Oh no she's attacking, not yay!!!

"GLIMMER! THAT'S NOT GOING TO WOR-" Sailor Moon is shouting at the other Moon Princess, and she stops, only because Adora - Skeletara says... that. And it's so sad that it makes her cringe to her soul, because, in the immortal words of that children's book that wasn't for children that she read with Mamoru... Jesus Christ, what the fuck.

You know it's bad when you're invoking someone else's God.

That definitely wasn't a stray shot to the heart, making her think of her own mother sacrificing herself because they couldn't fix it, is that what Adora's been carrying around this whole time?

A barrier goes up, and Ladybug goes down, and Sailor Moon's Spiral Heart Moon Rod appears in her hand, as she tries to get her head back in the game. A golden circle of light is carved in the air.

<<I'm gonna zap her with purifica-OW>>

The Ladybug flail has just claimed her first victim, as Sailor Moon goes poooooing-ing off into the distance, skidding across grass like a rock before sinking into the river water.

What? It's a riverside walk!

<<...I'm fine...>>

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Admittedly, it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

However, the comment about her mom... made her freeze... Her fists clenched... "I... is that... my mom... she's... it's not... you haven't lost everything! You haven't lost anything! We can... unless... it's only if Horde Prime gets what he wants you've lost everything! Why... why can't you just... listen to me?! Why won't anyone ever LISTEN to me?!" she screamed, stomping her boot down. "Mom isn't... WE CAN STILL SAVE MOM! I CAN STILL SAVE MOM BUT I JUST NEED YOU AND CATRA TO HOLD IT TOGETHER FOR JUST FIVE MINUTES SO I CAN FOCUS ON IT! I don't need you for that! I just need you for Horde Prime so he doesn't kill all of us!"

For... gosh darn... And then it was a Ladybug Flail. GAHHH! She held out her hands, forming a half-dome in front to... make the poor girl skid off it like a window wiper, making an oddly squeaky sound... "S-sorry!" she called out.

Then... Bow had an idea? She looked to him... And then... "Y-yes! Okay!" she said, grinning wide... before...

She puts her hands together, an etherian circle appears under him and LAUNCHES him into the air and over Adora!

... He... he did remember she couldn't teleport right now? Eh. Of course he did. He was the idea gu--

And then she got hit by one of the beams of magic, shrieking and being launched herself... splashing into the water a moment later...

... She... she was NOT fine... ow... But at least she didn't skip?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Ladybug-chan!"

As Amy's opening salvo is deflected, and Glimmer's... ends about as badly as it could have, Rashmi takes some comfort in the fact that the assembled players are, at least, beginning to move in the same direction. Eeeexcept for Ladybug, who is flying directly at them... just as portals are opening up all around the group.

Priorities are assessed with lightning speed, and... defense takes a backseat to rescuing a teammate turned projectile.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR FLASH >>

An eyeblink after the spell is called out, Rashmi next-best-thing-to-teleports a couple dozen meters forward, catching hold of Ladybug and -- not for the first time -- breathing out a whisper of thanks to her Barrier Jacket, for magnifying her noodly strength enough to be able to catch an entire person in mid-air... just in time for the barrage of Dark Energy bolts to slam into her at multiple angles. So it's with a scream of pain, and a faintly-smoking back, that Rashmi carries Ladybug up and out of the immediate line of fire.

<< Ladybug-chan... ow... Lemme give you a quick crash-course in flying. Treat it like jumping, except gravity stops caring about you the moment you push off. >>

    << *BONG!* >> << FLIER FIN >>

And golden, dragonfly-like holograms of wings unful from Ladybug's ankles. << You need the mobility, and *she* needs to have to focus on more than one direction. >>

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The Princess of Sarek wasn't letting herself to be taken by surprise twice in a row, and when Skeletara's hand reaches for her, she disappears like she had never been there. Where had she gone? She hasn't moved, but being a literal case of a Phantom Thief has its perks, and the Akumatized Adora will find herself grasping for air.

When she stops being ethereal, Skeletara will have the cat thief at her back, cane and handle pointed at the villain's back, and the cat statuette starts shining with moonlight. "Transient Lunar Flare!", she shouts the attack's name, a beam of moonlight rushing ahead.

"I really don't think things will be fine in the end. This is dark energy you are using. Do you think that has ever turned out well?" She actually doesn't know this is Adora's second time with dark energy. "You can do better if you just listen and let us help. What are you trying to achieve?" she tries again.

<< Thanks for the help, Page Mage, Moon. That would have been nasty. Are you two ok? >> she finally uses the mental link the Device Mage has set up. << Be careful, Moon. The rocks are quite slippery. How about me and the Page Mage try to deter Skeletara with our protections and you try purifying her again? >>

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The miraculous will fix everything? "HOW, EXACTLY?" Amy shouts over the battlefield.

    Wrong world, wrong time. "Mood."

    How do you fix it? "You find a new life to care about. With whoever will see you as enough. I'm sorry the past and so many people suck, but that's how it is."

    Adora wasn't enough. "NO ONE is SUPPOSED TO be enough for that! " Amy shouts. "So you're a person and not a god! That's not your fault! No one should blame you!"

    Portals open. Amy gets ready to catch Marinette when she's inevitably flung--

    BAM darkbolt to the face. Amy stumbles back. Really should've known she was gonna do that, since we did it to the Messiah of Silence the other day... she thinks to herself.

    "HOW! HOW will it be fine?!" Amy shouts, and aims fingerguns at the portal that just shot her, BANGBANG! There are explosions in front of Amy's hands, which launch the actual attack -- tiny sprays of orange-hot metal going WAY too fast (faster than that. Faster than that. It's just very fast!) and she continues stumbling back from firing two at once.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"...That girl is the one you have been struggling with, Hawkmoth?" Skeletara comments as Ladybug is mostly just ... sent flying and screaming. "Surely, you are strong enough she shouldn't be a problem." Questioning and/or mocking the person who gave you power is /definitely/ the smartest thing to do, isn't it, Skeletara.

...Well, her wisdom was never her high stat, that's for sure.

Well, the girl was being saved it seems. By... uh... hitting Sailor Moon. And then hitting a barrier. And then yoinked by Rashmi. At each impact she was actually wincing a little bit, the skeleton helmet moving as if they were actual eyes with her wincing. "Oooo, that one is going to sting in the morning." She comments under her breath.

"This could all be over, you know. If you JUST gave me the Miraculous." Skeletara says towards Ladybug.

You can't fix it. You just keep moving forward. "But I *can* fix it. All I need is the Miraculous!" The Akumatization is confusing her logic far too much.

Bow is launched towards her. One of the biggest threats of her team beyond herself, with his arrows and his careful shooting. Others are focused on other things, like saving Ladybug. Not attacking her. So she was getting ready to handle Bow-- when -- suddenly the cat thief is no longer in her hands, and a Lunar Flare is launched at her back, the beam of moonlight causing her to stumble forward a few steps and stopping her counter to Bow with a soft hiss.

Ow.

"I'm going to fix things. I'm going to return us where we're supposed to be, where everything is how it's /supposed/ to be. None of us. Not me, not Bow, not Glimmer, not Catra, not Scorpia, not Double Trouble... NONE of us should be here. We're supposed to be elsewhere. We're supposed to be on Etheria. AND we're all from different times, too!"

Orange-hot metal is shot back out of the portal which Skeletara had just used, spraying the area she had been standing in.

Burning holes in her horde uniform. Leaving burning marks on her skin.

And eyes turn towards Amy Faust.

No irises. Just red, glowing lights.

The scepter is lifted again, and then brought swinging down towards her -- and anyone else nearby her -- as another portal opens, much larger.

And a giant scepter is brought down through that portal.

...Did anyone get the number of that HOUSE that was just dropped on them?

...Luckily several people were spared from that by virtue of not being there!

THey are not spared from attacks though, as more portals open, more of those dark energy blasts shooting out and through them, while the Princess of Sarek?

Gets one aimed directly for her face.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
It's hard to really react sometimes. Ladybug, for example, has been having a bit of a time of it since getting involved here. I was having a lovely evening, she thinks to herself. Pretty sure her brain got scrambled, she was making no sense a moment ago and words were jumbling in her head...

Don't worry, it's just the concussion talking. Ooh, wings on my feet.

The bluenette turns to look at the lady who's got her now, visions of Glimmer's shield flashing through her memory, and pauses to rub at her left eye to try and clear her vision. "I need a second," she admits. Then she looks past Rashmi, to the ongoing melee. "Still haven't had time to grasp what's going on. I take it they know each other?"

She pauses, floating, then says, "If the Miraculous would fix this, I would literally give it to her." Pause. "All four of her.." To be fair, concussion. Then she looks at her feet. "I'm flying." She pauses, then nods. I mean, you get the chance to fly...then fly!

"Have I jumped yet?" She has not.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
"The girl might be ridiculous, but I can't help but notice you haven't stolen her Miraculous either, Skeletara. Perhaps you should save the gloating for after the victory?"

His eye is twitching, but thankfully there's no one in his lair to see it.

Bow has posed:
Glimmer can't teleport him?

Glimmer can't teleport him!

Bow realizes this just as the magic circle under his feet. "Wait a mo--"

And then he's launched.

"Shiiiiiitttttttttttt." he calls out as he flies through the air.

Skeletara was expecting Bow to be launched at her. This is incorrect. He was launched above her. "We were brought here for a reason! To find friends, to make alliances, to find the strength that we need, as a team, as a family to take back Etheria and restore it to what it once was! It's noone's fault that we have been terrible at communication. But we can do better!"

And it is from this poisition, above Skeletara that Bow draws back his arrow. "This is for your own good and that I love you as a friend!" he calls down to her.

Just as he fires the goop filled arrow down at Skeletara to try to stick her to the ground and gum up the works.

Oh right, he's still travelling at a high velocity --- as he continues to sail on as he heads towards the ground to slam into it unless stopped.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    To paraphrase another skeletal figure: Now you're blue^H^H^H^H shot with burning metal! That's my attack.

    Amy's attack 'element' is that and explosions, really. It speaks to the durability of mahou that that would have disintigrated large chunks of an unprotected human.

    Amy is concerned about Adora trying to send all the Etherians back while under the influence of dark energy -- you probably shouldn't teleport people between worlds while drunk on power! -- but then feels goosebumps as red eyes turn on her.

    Amy just learned an important lesson: do not stand in front of these portals. She applies it now, and that is the only reason that the giant scepter smashes into the ground, the Puella Magi having desperately dived out of the way, landing prone inches clear of the scepter in the grass.

    "Stop! The dark energy is getting to you!"

    Ugh, right, talking won't work. What can they--

    << The scepter! Destroy the scepter! >> Amy's voice is telepathically relayed to all allies.

    She thrusts a hand out towards Adora and conjures a half-dozen homing mini-missiles, which attempt to home in on the scepter and explode. Amy gets her legs under her and quick-stands, thrusting her other hand out and conjuring another salvo.

    There is so much going on, she can barely keep up with what's happening to some of them. Hopefully they're watching eachother enough...!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon is spared the enormous staff that strikes down like a house for the simple reason of being currently in the river, doggy paddling against the current. Yes, doggy paddling. No, she did not ever learn to swim outside of doggy paddling.

Shut up, it works!

The point is that Skeletara is in the midst of all her attacks when Sailor Moon finally makes it back to the surface, and grits her teeth as she grabs her rod.

"Let's try this one more time... with feeling!" A golden circle is carved into the air. Silver light begins to flood beam out from it.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

And the beams of light are aimed at Skeletara's back, hoping to hit her with enough purification to get Adora back to her senses, if only briefly. That staff is definitely the right color to have the akuma, but would Adora really have a staff as her important weapon?

(Someone's forgetting that the Sword of Power can change shapes~

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...You have not," Rashmi says, vaguely concerned. "But yeah... the one who got the butterfly is... pretty much the superhero of her world. So that, *plus* whatever power Hawkmoth gave her... This is gonna be a problem. And I know giving up the Miraculous won't fix *anything,* so don't worry, just... Focus, Ladybug-chan. See if you can figure out *where* it is, and how to break it. Meantime... hup!"

And Rashmi really, really hopes the exposition gave Ladybug time to clear her head, because more portals are opening up underneath them. So, Rashmi does the only thing she can think of at the moment, which is to switch her grip to one of Ladybug's arms, spin twice in the air, and *heave* the Miraculous user even higher!

...Right in time to catch another lightning blast to the side, sending her spinning for a good moment.

When she can finally reorient, a downward glance is enough to send her heartrate back up.

<< SOMEONE CATCH BOW!!! >>

"Adora-chan, *listen to people who care about you!*" she shouts, thrusting both hands forward. "It doesn't matter *why* you're here, you *are* here and you have the chance to make *something good out of it!*"

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE -- GLACE SHIFT >>

"But NOT LIKE THIS!"

And the sorceress is pelted with balls of ice from high above. Each one that hits... *clings,* adds more mass and weight to hamper movement. Not enough to stop someone completely in their tracks, but pile enough on, and maybe an opening can be created...

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Bubbles rose to the surface of the river and... finally... Glimmer popped out. With a loud 'pop'.

She flailed for a moment, pulling herself out and--

Wait, why did she feel an ominous--

She looked up in time to see EXPLOSIONS!

And when they finished, she landed, face planting by the others again, hating life and Hawkmoth.

"... Hawkmoth you are the *worst* co-worker..." she muttered.

In time to hear 'Someone catch Bow!'

She looked up and then SHRIEKED! Put her hands together, thrusting them into the ground. An etherian circle appeared under her... And then expanded RAPIDLY! Until it encapsulated Bow as well! ... And everyone else.

... And gravity was just... turned off. For everyone. At once. This would have NO consequences, but hey. At least Bow was going to not crash into the ground?

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"I was simply surprised." Is the response to Hawkmoth. "So far she has just been... flung around."

Said miraculous was claiming she'd give it to her if it would help, to which Skeletara turns her gaze towards her. "SO GIVE IT TO ME! EVEN IF IT CAN'T HELP THEN AT LEAST I CAN TRY! AT LEAST WE CAN TRY!" It's... a shout, but not... really, one full of anger.

That's desperation. That's pain. That's someone who has been through her own personal hell and back and come back injured.

With her focus on the Miraculous Ladybug...

Bow was above her.
And an arrow was drawn.
We can do better.
A goop filled arrow shoots down at her, exploding to attempt to stick her in place. She glances at the goop around her, pulling at it. "Really? All the power of a dark sorceress and... you... goop me up?"

...But as usual, Bow's tactical prowess shows its head, as she lifts the scepter to clear the goop.

And a half-dozen mini-missiles home in on the scepter, exploding on it and forcing her to scramble to keep hold of it, falling to the ground momentarily as Moon Healing Escalation is launched towards her, and consuming her in the light, the corrupted SCREAM of a purification attack striking her, as that goop burns away around her.

She growls as she pushes back up to stand, planting that scepter into the ground. Ah. It wasn't ladybug that was the threat. It was that she wasn't ever alone. Of course. She knew this, she was usually fighting alongside these people.

A thought that brings a pang to her heart.

The people around her that were her friends. Injured by her. AGAIN. Even if it wasn't 'her' that last time.

As Bow falls, as Rashmi talks, as more magic shoots out towards her, a barrage of icy shots which are ...

Redirected by another one of those portals, shot right back at Rashmi.

Whoops.

And Gravity is turned off.

"Do you really think that you can defeat me?" She says, lifting the scepter over her head.

As lightning crackles, the sky turning dark reds and purple above in that barrier reality.

She points the scepter down again.

"I am Skeletara. The master of destruction."

And lightning crashes.

Breaking THROUGH the top of that barrier.

Purple and blue lightning blasting through to the ground, aimed at each of the gathered heroes(And Glimmer), leaving crackling craters in the wake of each strike.

"And if it is what it takes, I will destroy ANYTHING that gets in my way. So. Give. Me. The. Miraculous."

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
Someone catches Bow. In this case, it appears to be Ladybug, who does not have ladybug insect wings. More of a foot thing, but she snags him out of the air even as gravity shuts down. Glimmer really has no faith in her friends. Which might be part of the problem, really.

Looking down at the people below, Ladybug says, "It's in her staff. I've done this a million times, it's in the staff. Can you hit it from here?" She upnods, switching grips so the guy can use his bow.

There's a lot going on right now. "That's...Adora right? Girl really needs to calm down. If you have a partner, you trust them to do their job. Sometimes trust them with your life." Then she grins at Bow, and nods.

When even the concussed girl can tell that you're taking on too much on your shoulders? Might be an issue, there.

"I do know what the miraculous does. Sadly, it won't fix a broken heart." Wait, did she already say that? Well, it bore repeating. After all, it didn't fix hers.

Bow has posed:
"Wauugh!" Bow calls out as he plummets to the ground. However, Glimmer shrieks... and he slows as gravity is turned down which gives Ladybug the time that she needs to grab him. As he lands on the ground, she's pointing out that it's the staff.

"...the staff. Right. Probably the Power Sword in disguise." he admits as he takes to a knee to summon another arrow. This one is more in line with his normal arrows, except for the small tuning fork that makes the arrow head. He draws in a breath and lets it out slowly. "Got it."

Then, he yells out, "HEY CATRA! Better late than never!"

A total bluff.

But hopefully it will be enough to draw her attention as he fires the arrow. When it strikes the shaft of the staff, the tuning fork reverbs and vibrates, growing in power down the shaft as it works to knock the staff from Skeletar's hands.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Dark Glimmer has absolutely NO faith in her friends righ now. Considering two of them have now been butterflied and the last one is Catra. GAHHHH! Even as it is, the spell she did... fractures and fades after a few moments of chaos and she just kind of... drops. Panting. "Y-yeah... catch.... catch that... boy... now... okay... just... need a moment..."

... Oh gosh, Catra wasn't... actually... here... was she? Oh gosh she didn't have the energy for this she swore... "ADORA WILL YOU JUST GET OVER YOURSELF?! You don't have to fix EVERYTHING yourself! You just need to be She-ra, that's it! I'll take care of everything else!"

... In her defense, she does work with Riventon. Getting the wrong lesson is like, part of day one of the job....

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It's not often that Rashmi gets her own attacks flung back in her face. Which is a problem, because her first instinct is to throw up a Shield to block... only to be rooted in place, as the ice builds and builds and builds, and bolts punch through her Barrier to crash down on the field. Thus forcing Rashmi to defend the only way she can... with another Shield. Unfortunately, her Shields, by themselves, are not nerly enough to tank the entirety of a blast of that magnitude, and the golden disc shatters, leaving Rashmi to suffer an attenuated-but-still-painful attack directly from above...

That *would* create from her impact a fesh new crater... if only Glimmer hadn't turned gravity off for a moment, causing her instead to bounce gently, and vaguely anticlimactically, back into the air.

...Well that's new.

It takes her a bit longer than that to pull herself back together, but her mind latches onto the Akuma being identified; the staff. Reorienting herself, she opens her mouth to speak, then pauses and just... *looks* at Glimmer. Like, how is that even supposed to help?!

"Adora-chan, *we care about you.* But we can't help if you won't *let* us! I know it's hard, I know it feels wrong, but sometimes it's okay to just *ask for help* and *trust us to be there for you!*"

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BLADE >>

A single Barret blinks into existence, then lengthens into the shape of a sword. A defense-breaking spell, with maximum homing and evasion programmed into it, and it launches, jinking this way and that as it shrieks towards its target.

Not Skeletara, but her staff.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Miraculous this, Miraculous that. She really isn't dropping her focus on those things no matter what they say. And at least now they knows what she wants. Their home must be someplace else, and the Princess of Sarek feels a pang of sympathy with that understanding. That must be really harsh. The cat thief can't really blame Skeletara, even if she has to be stopped either way. And, actually, did she just say Catra?

Before she can act on that information however, there is a portal aimed right at her face, and she can see the beam that is being charged at her right now. She really should have saved her ethereal power for now, and she can jump away enough that doesn't get hit in the face at least.

She gets blasted in the side instead, a hastily conjured Prismatic Wall the only thing saving her from grevious harm. Admittedly, she hasn't done a great job at it in the rush, so she still gets thrown in the river much like the others before her.

Rushing back onto the scene is a wet Princess of Sarek, and there is a line of water following her path from the river back to the fight.

"Skeletara, I understand you want to go back with those you care about, and I am sorry you are trapped here, but you haven't even asked them if going back with a dark power that has harmed people is what they want! Please stop before you make a mistake you can't take back! You don't have to shoulder this yourself!"

And then the ruby of the ring on her hand shines when the cat thief starts gathering moonlight again on her cane, but it's not actually light, instead it's a rainbow of flames, seven colours swirling together and then roaring ahead at Skeletara in a single burning beam. "Seven-hued Flame!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Moon Healing Escalation strikes.

Skeletra screams.

Sailor Moon closes her eyes against that scream, and clenches her fists tight, before doing something very risky indeed -

Bounding forward, straight towards Skeletara. As she does so, gravity turns off - she leaps into the air where she didn't expect to, bounding like a gazelle right towards the sorceress and her staff, and as the lightning crashes down on her, she is leaping anyway.

(Ow, it doesn't feel any better than it had the last time she was struck with lightning, her henshin smoldering, her bow singed at the edges, her collar and skirt smoldering, but her eyes bright with determination!)

As she launches herself into a hug, grabbing onto Adora with all the fierce strength of a super-koala.

"Wrong, Glimmer!" The words aren't vitriolic, but passionate, as she grabs Adora in a tight hug. "Adora, you don't need to be She-Ra! You don't need to be a Sorceress, or Skeletara, or a hero, or any of it. And you know what? You don't even need to be you, if you're not sure who that is yet! You just need to be here, with us, because we care about you. Because you're going through it, and sometimes it's okay to not be able to ask for help! I'm here! I'm not letting go! We're in this together."

And they are in this together - as she clings to Adora, she will absolutely be taking the brunt of her friend's finishers right alongside Skeletra.

"You're my friend. You've been through so much, and I know you're scared, and I know you want to be home, where things make sense, and I'm sorry I can't get you there - but I promise, you don't have to do this alone."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    SOMEONE CATCH BOW!!!

    Amy's brain catches up to that, and she looks to see Bow just in time to realize she can't get there that fast and -- he slows and is easily grabbed, and her feet feels much less solidly on the ground.

    The MASTER OF DESTRUCTION over there is DOING SOMETHING and Amy decides to START MOVING -- she leaps away and goes flying as the lightning crashes down where she just was.

    Goes flying?! Oh this is a curious sensation. It kind of reminds her of some of the times she was turned into something smaller but also not. As one who uses rockets and who propels herself around the battlefield with explosions, she kind of has to be acutely aware of some things like this on an intuitive level before she can even put it into words.

    Fire washes over her and she transforms into 'super mode' in midair; flight is basically free for her right now, she tested that back when she was a doll. She hovers in the air, turning towards Adora and summoning the giant artillery cannon -- and right now it's easy enough to hold it steady! Buuuut before she fires it, she realizes that her usual attacks won't really... work. She doesn't zap things with magical energy, she magically makes explosions which act like explosions and hit things hard. But right now things don't get hit hard!

    Swords and purification are starting to get flung around. Sharpness and fire still work, and Amy's already thinking of some possibilities, but...

    It's Adora. She doesn't want to just inflict as much pain on Adora as she can.

    Amy dismisses the canon. She points, and conjures and fires a small rocket. Then another. Then another. Each in turn flies over to above Adora's head and stops and breaks apart into blindingly bright flares, which slowly fall around her in a circle; She also fires a rocket that drops burning powder over the scepter, but is focusing mainly on the blinding -- let her instead focus on stopping Adora from being able to see and defend against the attacks coming for her.

    Amy feels a shiver as Sailor Moon ~~climbs Adora like a tree~~ clings to Adora to share her fate; she is very relieved to have not gone with the plan that would have blasted Sailor Moon with countless sharp shards and burned her from all around...

    "Adora... I hope you remember these words when the darkness leaves you. You don't have to save the world alone. None of us do, and none of us blame you for failing an impossible task, however possible or however much your job it may have seemed, it should never have on the shoulders of one person."

    Amy flies down to land on the ground. "We may not know your world or your past the way your friends do, but... we still want your future here, however short or long it is, to be a good one, so that when or if you go back to your world... you can do it happily, and not feeling like this. Feeling like this... doesn't solve anything."

    Amy tries to keep her voice steady and not think too much about her own 'I have to protect everyone else and sacrifice myself' complex she started this whole Magical Girl business with right now. Right now is time to focus on Adora!

Catra has posed:
Catra needed to think.

To that end, she needed to fulfill a few requirements: She needed to be away from people, she needed peace, and she needed to be somewhere that Obsidian wouldn't find her. All of this finds her on some stupid river path somewhere, walking along disguised as the ever obnoxious Rachel Miller; she has her hoodie drawn low over her head, her headphones are blasting some Marilyn Manson much too loud, and she's carrying a box of take-out noodles with extra fish that she's munching on. Not that she's really tasting it; even with the chilli powder sprinkled liberally all over she isn't thinking at all about flavor. She's got much bigger worries on her mind.

And then right in front of her, a barrier drops just before she was going to walk into it.

There's a fight going on. it's a big one; or at least, she gets that impression. And is that...

Catra drops her box of noodles and it splats on the ground at her feet, as she drops her chopsticks, drops her jaw, and eventually considers turning off her music.

"What... the..."

And then she sees Adora. And it's definitely Adora, but... something has happened to her. And it looks pretty horrendous. And Catra's jaw drops again.

Her sword comes to hand and she more or less bursts into flames; the area around her out to about ten feet goes up in a conflagration as she screams, "WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DOWN TO HER?!"

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
"Skeletara, don't be blind-sided by these fools!" Even Hawkmoth doesn't think this will actually work. For as powerful as Skeletara is, it's clear that a wall is being hit. It's clear that this is going to end as so many battles with his akuma do - with the girl being freed and soothed, her heart no longer full of such malleable darkness.

He can't send out reinforcements, can't strengthen her, he can't do anhything to stop this -

But he can at least try to get an answer to an important question.

"At least ask that new Cat Noir what their pronouns are!"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Sadly, the miraculous won't fix a broken heart.

Words barely heard by Skeletara -- Adora -- but still another pang as she holds that scepter out, as that lightning crashes down to strike the ground, growing less aimed, more wild as it continues. And then...

Hey Catra!

...

Adora is nothing if not predictable, her gaze flicking around momentarily, as that tuning fork strikes the scepter, sending shockwaves through it, through that skeletal hand.

Just get over yourself. "GET OVER MYSELF?! DO YOU WANT ME TO BE BETTER? DO YOU WANT ME TO JUST BE ME?! WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY EVEN WANT??? I've BEEN She-Ra. I WAS her this WHOLE TIME!!! The SWORD is what LETS me be her!!! It's fine though. She-Ra is gone now. Now there's Skeletara. And I'm better than her. She-Ra wasn't enough."

CRASH. CRASH. CRACKLE.

Solar Blade.

Crack.

The barret stabs into her staff.

...But it persists. It doesn't shatter. Green energy glowing through that crack and seeming to ... slowly heal it.

Please stop before you make a mistake you can't take back.

A single burning beam of rainbow flames wash over her. "I can't... I can't stop... if I stop then I really will lose everything." She says, her voice growing quieter.

And then Sailor Moon darts towards her, yelling at her. The scepter is brought to bear towards Sailor Moon as she darts towards them -- and then... then arms wrap around her.

And it's a cling. The non-skeletal hand reaching to begin to pull Sailor Moon off of her at that clinging grab, expecting another attack.

...None comes.

...And also Catra is there. Well, Rachel Miller.

...Huh.

... It looks like she's hugging Sailor Moon in one hand, which is DEFINITELY not awkward.

A sight that goes away as flares are falling in a circle around her, blinding her. Burning powder falling over the scepter, and more words are spoken.

"...You're all weak. Holding back. Trying to stop from hurting the thing that used to be your friend... but it's fine. You couldn't stop me even if you wanted to. Because He-Man isn't here to defeat me. And She-Ra? ... Well... she might as well be as good as dead. Because I am Skeletara. And I.."
"Have..."
"THE..."

That scepter was beginning to glow brighter with that purple-and-blue energy, those clouds roiling brighter and brighter... until, all of a sudden, at the last second, that purple and blue turns golden, and Skeletara is dragging Sailor Moon off of her to fling her -- not aggressively, just away from her.

"POWER!"

Comes Adora's voice, screaming through that mask, as lightning strikes the scepter, glowing brightly with golden-and-blue power.

And she brings it swinging down upon the stone pavement beneath her, the scepter striking HARD.

And shattering.

An explosion of power surrounds Skeletara briefly as she /screams/.

"HAWKMOTH WANTS TO KNOW YOUR PRONOUNS NEW CHAT NOIR!!!"

...Those are Skeletara's last words.

As the explosion clears, as the smoke clears... Adora is left on the ground, kneeling, arms slack at her sides.

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Dark Glimmer felt like she was a deep undercover spy infiltrating the Horde... and while she was undercover ALL OF HER FRIENDS LOST THEIR MINDS and now she couldn't even help them because she had to do her original job... And what if she stopped? If she came and joined them? Then she'd lose her mom. And she just... she...

And Adora was hurting and Bow was hurting... Her hand squeezed, digging gouges in the dirt... And what Usagi said... made a lot of sense... and... was she... being... a terrible friend...? Why was Adora making this so hard? Why was everything... why did it have to be so complicated? Why was THIS the time where Adora starts questioning things? Girl grew up her whole life in the frightzone and never questioned anything, NOW she's all investigative and assuming all she knows is a lie?! This is SUCH BS!

Sure, it made sense if you thought about it but dark energy wasn't good for that.

Her fist punched the ground and she just... she just wanted to cry. To yell. All she wanted was to save her mom, that was all she ever wanted. So why did all of her friends need to fall apart? They didn't NEED her. They had Bow and Adora. So why was everythin just falling apart? Why couldn't Catra get her shit together? Why couldn't ANY of them?

... Why did Sailor Moon get to hug and fix her friend, why wasn't it her or Bow or... And now Catra was causing problems and... And it was all falling apart.

... And the thing she wanted to do most, right now? Was give Hawkmoth some sparkle to face diplomacy and she couldn't even do THAT or everything would get even WORSE.

... And now Catra was here. She looked over at her... And just...

And then... then Adora... broke the sword. Finally. She broke the sword. At least one thing was going well. Just... just one... She... she just... she wanted to stick around, but she couldn't. Not with Catra here. So she dusk ported away.

It was all a house of cards and it felt like they were on fire and exploding and she was desperately trying to put them back together and if only her mom was here, she'd know what to do.

But the sword was broken, right? That... that was better... right?

... Good thing about the dusk zone? Nobody around to see you cry.

... Also, wait, who was cat noir? Was this going to be Adora's new crush? Oh she did not have it in her to deal with ANOTHER 'will they/won't they' between She-ra and an angry kitty. Please no.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
The Sword breaks, but the butterfly is still there, flying free from the shattered weapon of power, looking about for a new source of negativity.

Hmm... it darts towards Glimmer for a moment, then doubles back towards Catra, apparently unsure of who is the most negative person on the field right now. And then Glimmer disappears, duskporting to the Dusk Zone, and now the dark butterfly is zipping between Bow and Catra.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
In the wake of Skeletara being ... uh... defeated? ... Most of the people-turned-statues are now statues-turned-people. Though it's no doubt that Hawkmoth probably got a /lot/ of energy from Akumadora, at the very least!

Bow has posed:
The sword... breaks.

The shattered pieces reflect in Bow's eyes, the shock on his face evident. That sword was supposed to be indestructible. It was First One's tech. It was the best of them. Why... how...

Bow looks towards where Glimmer is, and was about to head that way to approach her. Thank her. Hug her. But then she disappears.

There's a butterfly.

He remembers those. Where one attached to him and...

"HEY!" he yells at the butterfly. "I don't know who sent you! But you want the Miraculous, come get it yourself!" he rages at the butterfly, like he assumes whoever sent it can hear him.

"By Brightmoon, you're a jerk!" His fingers dig into the meat of his palms as he tries to figure out what to do next.

Instead of them being closer together... it seems they are even further apart.

"Thank you for helping Adora." he finally manages to say.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "If the real you is She-Ra then be her!" Amy shouts out, sympathetic to those whose civilian identities do not and cannot contain all of who they are.

    Lose everything? "Nonononononono!" Amy tries to reassure, worried at the way Adora's words are going. "So you went evil a little, a lot of people have! You can get better! We'll figure it out! Together with you! Please!"

    Who the fuck is He-Man?

    Oh no this is backfiring, she's doing something, Amy tries to shift her stance to get ready to dodge and in the lightness just sort of stumbles backward a little--

    But the scepter shatters and

    What.

    Amy looks around. Who the heck is Adora calling--

    Veronica has blonde hair, and has cat ears right now.

    Chat Noir is also blonde, and wears a mask.

    Oh my god.

    Amy doubles over in laughter at the misunderstanding and can't get any words out for a bit.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
As Skeletara relays Hawkmoth's question, the Princess of Sarek stops in her tracks. It did not even come to her mind that someone could have asked her that in the midst of a fight, much less a supervillain.

She releases a chuckle once she recovers from the surprise. All the more since she is catching up on the mistaken identity. "I am flattered Hawkmoth wants to respect little old me. Is this a "I am a villain, not a monster" deal? Quite avantgarde of him. Very well then, Hawkmoth, this cat has an answer ready for you. My identity is She/Her!"

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has posed:
Almost an aside, the butterfly is caught in Ladybug's yo-yo. Purified, and freed. She's not done her job tonight, not helped. This wasn't a situation where the Akuma was...even the focus. This is not where she excels.

"Bye-bye, little butterfly," she says to the moth as it goes. But she pauses, as the moth alights o her hand. Just for a moment. And talks to it.

"Hawkmoth, you might have gone too far this time," she whispers to the moth itself. "There are some things that even we don't do."

Then she raises her hand, and the butterfly goes off. Message delivered? Maybe, she can't really tell how it works. But she had to try.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Attacks rain down - mostly on the staff, thank goodness, but Usagi is staying put, clamored to Adora, yes, having finally climbed her like a tree but not like that, intent on being supportive even through the fire (ow) and the beams (ow) and the - being thrown free?

Wait, that wasn't supposed to happen -

"ADORA-CHAN!"

And then the lightning comes down, a pillar of light through the afternoon sun, and Sailor Moon's eyes are wide as she watches Adora's sword break to pieces.

All around them, the statue'd people are turned back to normal, though they're decidedly unconscious from energy drain.

The Sword... Adora's Sword... broke.

That, that inspires a wince. Usagi remembers breaking her tiara - imploding it, even - but that wasn't her henshin item, that was... but still.

There's more to Adora than the sword. And there's more to magic than vessels. In the meantime, there's still that bewildering question in the air, but when Veronica speaks up, Sailor Moon finally understands the misunderstanding that's occurred, and slaps both hands over her mouth to keep from laughing.

...At least until the Butterfly is gone.

Then, she giggles a bit, before wiping her eyes, and walking to Adora - and ah, Glimmer's gone...

"Adora-chan..."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    << *BONG!* >> << TELEPATHY >>

This channel is going out solely to Catra, because that is a lot of fire and screaming that nobody needs right now. << CATRA-CHAN! Catra-chan it's okay. She got hit by Hawkmoth, but it's over now. It's okay. She's going to be okay *I promise.* >>

And with that, she flies down to touch the ground, and one more magical circle spreads out under Adora and Usagi.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR HEAL >>

It's not a patch on Mamoru's abilities, but, the warm golden light dulls the pain, and brings a little motivation through the exhaustion. "Hey," she says softly. "Can you move...?"

Her head turns, eyes find Ladybug, and she smiles faintly.

<< Are you okay, Ladybug-chan? You had me really worried for a second, there... >>

Catra has posed:
Adora is Adora again.

Somewhere along the line Catra has dropped her illusion and Powersend is in her hand, still sheathed but ready to be drawn and sliced through whatever happens to have earned her ire right in that moment.

Catra's battle-charge comes to a stumbling halt, and she just... stands there. Jaw slack. Staring at what's going on and wondering just what did she miss. Her ears are flat, and her tail is practically rigid behind her, as the fire around her slowly dies out.

What the hell kind of state was Adora just in? Skeletal arm?? How does Adora end up in that kind of state? But she's... back to normal now, and so Catra just... stops. She stands there, behind Adora, looking at what's going on.

And then the telepathic message from Rashmi arrives, assuring her that Adora is going to be fine. Because of course she is. Why wouldn't she be? She's the center of attention like she always wants to be, and Catra can practically feel the oxygen rushing past her to get to the big hero who, if she couldn't be the center of attention as a hero, would just get there by being a villain for like, ten minutes. And now everyone's all over her.

"Great," she snaps. And her music is turned back on, as she spins on her foot to march smartly back the way she came.

Gabriel Agreste has posed:
There is a moment where the cat-eared blond girl acts with just as much showmanship (showwomanship?) as the Cat Noir he knows and loathes (loathes? does he really loathe some obnoxious teenager? that feels a bit pathetic -), aand Hawkmoth really thinks he might have it.

And then she gives her pronouns, and he thinks to himself, that obviously he wants her pronouns. He's a supervillain, not an ass.

Instead, the butterfly is purified - and Ladybug whispers to him.

He absolutely does not feel guilty about the fact that the girl he chose this time was apparently a bit of an emotional glass house. Life hits them all in different ways, and she wanted the power. They all do, when they accept his akuma.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora was left kneeling there quietly, her gaze down at the ground. It wasn't really embarrassment on her face, it was shame. It was still a pained heart. But there was a series of words playing in the back of her mind that she had thoroughly violated today.

Take care of each other.

Others walk over towards her. A healing circle appearing under her that soothes some of the pain from the various attacks and the explosion of breaking her own sword of power. Someone asks if she's okay.

"..."

"...Why are you still here?" Adora says quietly. "She-Ra is gone. You don't have to pretend to care about me anymore. I'm... I'm not She-Ra, I'm not magical anymore... I'm... I'm just... Adora."

It seems that she'd recovered enough to know she didn't want to hurt her friends anymore, but definitely not ... really... fixed the heart of the problem.

But, of course.
...Those words don't come out until after Catra's music is back on.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
With the butterfly gone, Sailor Moon picks herself up, wincing, and then - lets her henshin fall. Sailor Moon dissipates, replaced by Usagi, with unmarred clothes and some aching bruises (thankfully, no more lightning burns, though the deep muscle ache is slightly soothed by Rashmi's healing effect).

Adora is kneeling there, among the shards of broken metal, quietly asking why they still care, and she -

Well, she throws herself at Adora, again, of course. It's very lucky that their skulls don't clank together, with all the speed with which she goes at her.

"Adora-chan, I like you." The phrase she uses is 'kimi ga ki ni itta', which makes it clear she's talking about a deep, platonic affection, which, technically, the hug probably helps with. "I only care about you being She-Ra because you care about you being She-Ra. She-Ra matters to me because you're She-Ra, and if you're not She-Ra and you don't want to be, then that's okay. If you do want to be, we'll find a way. But being magical isn't why I care about you. I care about you because you're Adora-chan."

And then, because she's met way too many people who don't have self-worth and it's honestly very concerning, she continues.

"Adora-chan's a great friend. I think you'd like her. She's brave when she has to be, and she's strong even when she doesn't want to be. She's always trying new things, like trying to figure out cooking, and she's great at making sandwiches. Even when she's struggling, she tries to help people, and she gives her all to everything she tries."

"There's a lot of pressure on her shoulders, and she's been carrying it a really long time. I hope she'll let me and the rest of her friends carry the burden, because it's not all on her."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Well, that was definitely a thing that happened", Veronica scoffs amused. But now that the butterfly is gone, the Princess of Sarek is free to stop caring about the misunderstanding Hawkmoth is under, and can finally go towards the other mahous. Specifically towards Adora who is lamenting her loss.

"Hey, you know, that's really not true. You remember us, right? Everything that has happened", are the Princess of Sarek's first words as she approaches, picking up Adora's hand.

"There is still enough magic in you to protect you from the Veil. I don't think you have to assume the worst. You can still be a heroine, even now. It might take a while to find out how, but I think you can do it, ok? So please don't lose hope", she gives a hopefully reassuring smile. "But when you do, remember that this is a team, and we are all together in a team. Your burdens are not yours alone now."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is trying to stop laughing but wheezes as the Princess of Sarek plays into the misunderstanding-- she drops back to standard henshin and pats Veronica on the shoulder with a smile, "Congratulations, Chat Noir!"

    But then she hears Adora.

    And sobers right up, and turns, and looks at her, and walks towards the circle. The 'sword' that was mentioned, that she saw the past Adora use once, isn't present; Amy tries to recall if she heard what happened to it, but can put together that something did, and Adora getting akumatized makes a whole lot of sense now.

    Oh.

    And Amy can't just refute the words, because that would be dishonest; and no one here would care about her if she hadn't become a magical girl.

    If she lost her powers, however...

    ...Well they'd still be kind of concerned, at least. Like a friend that went off to a different college than you after graduation. But it just isn't the same.

    But it's not nothing, either. Especially while they're here at Radiant Heart together.

    Especially while they see someone they knew, someone stranded on Earth from a different world.

    "...It's not the same. And if you're not out there fighting with us, it may not be the same going forward... But that doesn't mean we don't want to help you."

    Amy stops outside the circle. "The people you helped as She-Ra. Did you want to help them only because they could help you fight?"

    "...If you want to be magical again... you're not the first one to lose your powers. I can't say it will be easy or fast, but... it's possible. I've seen it twice, even."

    "And if you want to just be Adora..." Amy looks at Bow, at Glimmer, at... where'd Catra go? Then back to Adora. "I don't think your friends will stop being your friends. If they do that's pretty shitty of them."

    Usagi's speech warms her heart and brings a smile to her face.

    "...I don't think I ever actually met this version of you? But I wouldn't mind getting to know this Adora she's talking about, or She-Ra. And I want people to be what they want, ask anyone."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Aaaand Catra just leaves.

...

Why, these two. Just... *Why.*

Letting out a quiet sigh, Rashmi kneels down next to Adora, nodding along with Usagi's heartfelt words. "Hey... You really, really need to listen, okay? She-Ra isn't *all* you are. When you wake up in the morning, you're Adora. When you eat lunch? Adora. When you go to sleep, you're Adora, and you don't need a nine-foot-long bed. Just like she's not always Sailor Moon," she says, nodding at Usagi. "And in the end, we care about *Adora.* She-ra's just who you need to be when there's something Adora needs to help with, but needs a little more."

Reaching out, she rests a hand on a shoulder that isn't covered in Usagi. "Sarek's right too. We care about you, and we're in this together, okay? But remember... we're helping *Adora,* whether or not she's also She-Ra."

Tilting her head at Amy's words, the other redhead nods. "Also that. People've lost their magic before, then gotten it back. But maybe now you can take a *break* from putting so much on yourself?"

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
Adora is quiet as people gather around her. As Catra leaves. As Glimmer is gone. And... there's talking. Adora's gaze stays down as she just.

Listens.

She doesn't talk back, at least not immediately, as everyone says their pace. As she's hugged by Usagi and others. She's... somewhat trying to hide them, but tears are quietly falling down her cheeks. Not that it's really possible to hide her tears when surrounded like that, so she mostly just keeps her face turned down. Which is a bit awkward when being hugged and told that they like her for /her/. That she doesn't have to carry the burden on her own anymore. The soft shuddering of her shoulders as she just... continues to listen. Still enough magic in her to protect her from the Veil. Probably remnants of She-Ra. "...Everything's been so messed up since the portal." She finally says quietly. It's, not really much of an in depth response to all of the comments to her, all of the reassurances, but at least she said /something/. Acknowledged what they said.

"...You weren't wrong about the embarassment."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"If it makes you feel any better at all," Usagi says, quietly, smushing her face against Adora's shoulder, "When I got akumatized - twice, I might add! - I turned people into toys. And also, it was over things a lotta bit dumber than everything you're dealing with, you know?"

She can't make the embarrassment go away, but she can share in it. She points a thumb at Amy and Rashmi.

"Those two were there. And Mamochan wore the cutest terrible outfit, and used paper airplanes like weapons. So... we get it."

She wasn't there for Bow's akuma, so she can't speak authoritatively about it.

"...things are pretty messed up. I won't pretend they aren't. But the only way they get better, is if we all help each other out."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Yeah, it has," Rashmi agrees, nodding quietly. "But Usachan's right. But... don't worry about the embarrassment; the best part about having friends is, you can be embarrassing and they'll still care about you and they can help you forgive yourself for it."

Patting Adora's shoulder, she climbs to her feet, looking left and right to make sure that the initial chaos that *sent* people running is *keeping* them away.

"...So I don't know about the rest of you guys, but... I know a great 24-hour all-you-can-eat yakiniku place a little ways from here?"

Because for some people, food is just a love language; romantic or platonic.

Catra has posed:
Catra stalks off, holding it all in until she's well out of range; around a corner, down the path, eventually realizing she left the path and really only drawing upshort when she realizes that if she goes any further, she's right about to stick her foot in the river, and no matter how iserable a cat she has become getting wet like that is absolute anethema, so she just ends up standing there, staring out over the water.

There's a lot bouncing around inside her head. A lot of feelings. A lot of ideas. A lot of words. Eventually, just the one word, really.

TRAITOR

She could have said something. She could've said something to Rashmi. She could have said something to ADORA. Why didn't she? Why'd she just turn around and walk away? She could go back, of course, it's not like they wouldn't still be there. They'd all still be there. Rashmi would probably tell her to come bck. But

She

Can't. She can't just... crawl back, like some lost little kitten desperate for protection. She can't ever appear weak. Weakness is death.

There are tears flowing down Catra's cheeks, and she realizes it abruptly, as she wipes them away from one cheek with her fingertips. As she looks at the moisture glistening just beneath her claws, her eyes narrow, her teeth grind and her hands shake.

"AAAAAAUGHHH!!" she screams, as she winds up and hurls Powersend -- the item that happened to be in her hands -- out over the river; it sails a good forty feet before it lands with an unassuming splash.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy looks away, briefly, when Adora starts crying... then looks back.

    She might be reading a bit too much into it, thinking of conversations with Taro and Usagi, and Mamoru, and Jadeite. "We're helping you, whether you're Adora or She-Ra or whoever you want to be."

    She thinks and chooses words carefully. She must be honest, even when platitudes would be less harsh; She always disliked when heroes in stories weren't honest. "This world won't let anyone relax forever. It won't care for you just because you deserve it; like everyone else it's unkind to. But... it doesn't expect you to hold the world on your shoulders alone, either. No one... No one is expected to do that."

    And she thinks of Usagi and Madoka and Mamoru who seem to be bearing a bit more destiny than others, and doesn't know how to fix that but to be there for them -- she can only hope they can continue to bear it, with friends' help, even if it isn't fair and those burdens would crush people like Adora and Amy.

    "...You can take a break. It's not forever. We're not sending you away. And if a break from it all seems like too much, you can start with the small burden of worrying about your grades and gaining the skills to survive in this society, if you like. ...And you can devote a little time now and then to gathering information on ways to get power again, too."

    "...But even when you're a -- if you're a Hero again, if you want to be--" and she says [yuusha], not [hiiro], "You won't be having to save the world alone, either. Here... the burden of Hero is shared by all of us, together."

    (She does nod when Usagi points to her.)

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
"...Maybe a little." Adora says, as she starts to put herself back together. "I can totally see you turning people into toys, being all cute and girly as you are." There is the VERY slightest, if exhausted, tease in her voice towards Usagi at that. She lifts a hand to lightly pat Usagi's head. "Can... can uh. Can you let me go so I can stand up?"

"...My legs are falling asleep."

Pause. "Also food sounds good. I used so much energy there." Don't mind the loud growl coming from Adora's stomach. It's fine.

You can take a break.
...When did she really take a break, last?
She's always been worrying about one thing
Or another thing...
Having to train to be a Horde Force Captain, always having to be ready for the next trial or test...
Having to fight the Horde.
Worrying about the next battle.
Worrying about her friends.
Worrying about Catra's next plot.
Worrying about if she was good enough.
Wondering why she was even chosen by She-Ra.
Why she seemed to be constantly dealing with a fate she barely chose.

"...I don't know if I know how to." Adora finally, quietly, admits in response to Amy at that talk of taking a break.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I am cute and girly," Usagi agrees, with a little wink and a giggle - and then, after a moment, she goes - "Oh, right!"

And hops up, before offering Adora her hand. Adora's much taller and stronger than her, but she's still offering nonetheless. "Rashmi-chan, I want yakiniku so bad I could die."

She's definitely exaggerating - teasingly, lightly - but in her mental voice, since telepathy is still up, she says, just to Rashmi - <<Maybe you can see if Catra wants to come. She's... I know she and Adora are not good right now. Maybe they won't ever be. But if she wants to see that Adora's going to be okay... Adora did still look for her, after all.>>

Bow called Catra's name, without even seeing her, and Skeletara looked. There's obviously something there. And it's not lik Catra is in good shape, either.

"If there's one thing I'm qualified to be a tutor on, it's taking a break. Do you like examples, or guides, or lists, or lesson plans? I can try all kinds of study strats, thanks to Mamochan and Ami-chan!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi blinks at the mental suggestion, one eyebrow rising behind her glasses. But, it makes sense, and if *anything* will mollify Catra long enough to be near Adora, it is endless seared meat. Equally luckily, her communications spells can reach a lot farther than just down by the river.

<< Hey Catra-chan, >> she says quietly, along the private link. << We're all gonna go get some food. If you wanted to join us, I think I'd like that a lot. All-you-can-eat barbecue? >>

A little wheedling note in her mental voice, because she absolutely *is* trying to make the idea as appealing as possible. But Rashmi has never been anything but sincere to Catra, and 'I would like it if you joined us' is no different.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy pats Adora's shoulder. "I read manga, mostly. You'll find your own thing."

    Yeah, you read bad manga in search of Feels, and in that search you continue to accumulate more of the psychic damage that's going to shape your Familiars one day.

    Amy frowns at the thought that just went through her head. "You know, maybe I don't actually know how to relax relax, anyway. Maybe we should listen to Usagi-chan. Honestly, I guess hanging around certain people and helping folks mitigate getting turned into a cat or a toy is how I--"

    Her eyes go wide and she turns around and looks around the park frantically. "Oh shit! The statues, they changed back, right?!"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"I think Yakiniku sounds good too", the Princess of Sarek chimes in. "And regarding relaxing, Adora, how would you like to take up painting? I find it really helps to detach yourself from your problems and only focus on what you find beautiful."

Catra has posed:
Catra is standing by the river, still staring out over the water where Powersend landed, still crying. Well, no, she's not really.

She's sitting huddled in a little ball with her knees up against her chest and her face burried down against them. And then, Rashmi's message reaches her, and she kind of makes this choked half-hiccup sound as she looks up. She doesn't so much take a breath as she just kind of... eats one, and lifts a hand to rub at her face under her eyes.

Go get food, Rashmi says. We're all gonna go get some food. ... all.

all.

That means Adora will be going, too, which means if Catra goes then the restaurant owners will be lucky if anything on the same block as their restaurant is still standing by morning.

Slowly, still feeling a bit wobbly, Catra rises back up to her feet. She rubs her forehead, leaning against a tree, and lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

<< I... maybe. >>

her hand stretches out towards the water, and just as expected a sword still in the scabbard comes flying out of it; as it flies through the air a little burst of flame around it dries it off before Catra catches it, and she just carries it like that as she makes her way back up the bank and walks in a daze down the path.