854/Hikawa Shrine

Hikawa Shrine
Date of Scene:	05 December 2023
Location:	Hikawa Shrine
Synopsis:	Zoisite attacks the next Shrine on the list... Hikawa Shrine. Unfortunately for him, all the Inner Senshi are in attendance, more magical girls drop in, and there's even a ghost handing out knives in the back room! Total chaos ensues!
Cast of Characters:	Nephrite, Zoisite, Hinote Kagari, Usagi Tsukino, Iona Hikawa, Ami Mizuno, Minako Aino, Makoto Kino, Amanda Faust, Rei Hino, Pyrite, Mamoru Chiba
Tinyplot:	Midnight Tokyo

---

Nephrite has posed:
    Hikawa Shrine was founded in 938, but was burnt down in the war during the Showa era. However, it was rebuilt in 1948, and today the shrine stands in a predominantly residential area. Despite its small size, it is beautiful and conveys a powerful presence. Perhaps it is that presence that has made it the target for an attack. All the other shrines have been relatively distant and remote, while the Hikawa Shrine has likely felt safe, and protected.

    That was a mistake.

    Nowhere is truly safe.

Zoisite has posed:
    A lovely day at the Hikawa Shrine, no doubt. Even in winter, it's a beautiful, peaceful little place. A pity that it's about to become the site of a battle. Well, no, Zoisite doesn't actually care if it gets destroyed or not, but it's supposed to remain largely intact for the plan. He's also not going to show up, cause trouble, and wait for someone to show up to stop him like the others. They've probably caught on by now. Or been warned by whoever it was who leaked the Midnight Tokyo plan to the Enemy to begin with.

    Zoisite's teeth itch whenever he thinks about the fact there's still a spy in their midst that they've had no luck in rooting out. It makes every conversation and interaction suspect. Part of why he acts so ridiculous is to produce so much nonsense and white noise that the actual important stuff gets lost in the sound, or at least harder to ferret out.

    But right now? Right now, he's not here to be silly. He's here to hurt people, and engrave that pain and animosity into the Earth, with this shrine as the canvas.

    So, he floats in the air, looking down upon the Hikawa Shrine... Such a small place compared to the others... And then he raises a hand and snaps his fingers. A storm of rose petals appears from nowhere, surrounding him and then vanishing when he does. A large black and off-purple crystal appears right on the open temple grounds, levitating, and humming. It releases a PULSE of Negative Energy that covers the area and then some, drawing and amplifying negative emotions in those without any form of mental protection.

    Were there visitors to the shrine? People passing by? Some shrine workers on-site?

    Well, now there's a pressure inside their brains, pressing on all the wrong places, and stimulating aggression, jealousy, anger, hate, fear, and resentment. The average person may appear to just suddenly go rabid after a few seconds, their eyes glowing red.

    It's a nice start.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari was been investigating strange going ons when he's got the mental fortitude for it. He hasn't had much of that recently. School, Drama Club, has been more pressing, You know, things he can wrap his head around other than like, heart go pop out guns and such.

He'd come to the shrine to get some protection of some sort. a Charm, probably? Some sort of blessing? Something like that. That was the plan anyways.

INSTEAD, OVERWHELMING DARKNESS that makes him keel over and start grabbing at his head. "ARGH----w--what the hell!?" he yells as he tries to resist. He'll fail, miserably in a bit, most likely, without some form of help.

But people around him are most likely already succumbing!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Hikawa Shrine may be a very old and revered place, but it is also Rei-chan's home, and Usagi is hanging out there, for once, to study with her friends instead of at school. It's been a busy few days (a busy, few, days), but she isn't sure how to tell her friends she suspects that the last Senshi out there might be a possibly brainwashed murderer working for Obsidian, so she just... hasn't.

Yet.

Instead, she's studying. Also known as pretending to study, because the manga hidden inside her English textbook is definitely not a standard study item.

"Ugh, when do we go on winter breaaaaaaak," she whines, because even reading manga when she should be studying is not enough of a break from studying.

Everything is normal. Fine, calm, nothing more than the silliness of an ordinary day, hanging out as teenagers -

And then there's that pressure. That sudden rush of resentment and frustration and anger and Usagi Tsukino might be a magical girl but she has no protection against psychic forces, against dark energy. She's as susceptible as anyone else, and with all the frustrations and fears of the recent few days -

"Why is everything so fucking awful all the time?!"

Let's just say Usagi Tsukino is temporarily a little rabid.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Iona has never paid much attention beyond Pigarigaoka until recently, only really going into other districts once the occasional youma appeared there, but that wasn't really a thing anymore now that she had enrolled in RHA. More importantly, the news of a priestess with weird powers residing at Hikawa Shrine had reached her ears.

'I wonder how different her prediction method is from my own", the Precure ponders. And just for that reason, she has started heading there with the intention of meeting Rei Hino, and get to know her if possible, to satisfy her curiosity.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
It really wasn't like Ami to be running late, especially to a study session. She had a good, valid reason for this however! While she was more than capable of studying without constant breaks for drinks, or snacks, or other distractions she knew that Usagi -- Well she didn't have the same stamina. It meant she had to stop by a konbini for some 'study aids' to help her friend along.

The blue haired student, known for her constant high scores at both school and the arcade, was just coming up the steps of the shrine taking them at a good little jog to meet up with the others. Her bookbag is slung over her shoulders neatly (with both straps as you are supposed to do), and the bag from the konbini dangling from her hand at her side.

"Sorry I'm late. We'll make up for it with a pop quiz," she begins to assure her less-than-enthusiastic study mates.

At least until that sudden pulse of dark energy cuts through her mind like a knife sending her stumbling down to her knees with her free hand raising to her head. "Ah... Ow!"

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako herself was here, headed to the shrine...though she'd be lying if she said she was headed towards the structure for worship. She was here to see Rei, she was here to see the Miko and...well, that was as much as she was really thinking about it as she was dressed in her coat. Her hair was tied back in the usual ribbon, her hands clasped behind her back as she did her best to make a calm and casual route towards the location.

A lift of her gaze towards the space, her own attention drifes towards the familier sight of her familier blonde companion, spotting Usagi and lifting a hand to wave excitedly only for that same sudden surge to stagger her, doubt, anxiety, jealousy and every negative emotion she'd felt beneath from personal to her time as Sailor V surge through her.

For a moment at least? Minako Aino too was feeling some of the effects...and it wasn't a good experience.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Speaking of less than enthusiastic... well, Makoto hasn't fallen quite so far as to hide manga in her schoolbooks, but she definitely hasn't been focused. In point of fact, she's seemed outright distracted, a couple of times almost looking like she's about to say something that she then holds back. Usagi's unexpected outburst has her sitting up straight in surprise and alarm.

"Good timing, Ami-chan," she tells the newest arrival in a very rueful tone belied by the genuine concern lingering in her eyes. "I saved you an anpan, but I think Usagi-chan is having a snack emergency, or s--"

The rest of what she was about to say breaks off into a soft hiss of exhaled breath. The air feels oppressively heavy, and all she can manage to think is: this is very bad.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy said she'd help Usagi study! Or at least try to, she hasn't experience in teaching anything but beginner's English. Plus, she may have been through school once already, but it was long, long ago and while math and science may be timeless and she's a native English speaker, Japanese literature and history are not something she's really studied except bits and pieces absorbed from being an anime fan and a Japanophile. So, she can use the help with those subjects!

    Every once in awhile, though, when she drops out of focus on her homework, she looks around and has to work to shake that 'am I supposed to be here?' feeling.

    A pop quiz? Amy smiles, rising to the challenge. "Aww yeah!" and then things feel very wrong, and Usagi puts voice to it.

    "I mean... they're not *that* awful... Okay, so, we never know when a monster is going to just start wrecking places... or it's gonna turn out to be that the monster is your boyfriend's sister's unfinished little sister that we can't freaking DO anything to save even though we're supposed to be magical girls... and a bunch of us can't stop freaking *fighting* eachother, and Sayaka's being all unreasonable just because we got uploaded into rocks! We're *immortal*, that should be *cool*! Why can't she see it?!"

    Amy lets out a frustrated sigh. "And *nobody* else is stuck going through *school* again! You think YOU'RE frustrated? Do you know how *humiliating* it is to have my former coworkers embarass me in front of the whole class for not calling them -sensei, and now I have to treat them like they're above me, somehow? Some of them are over a decade younger than me!"

    Amy turns to Usagi. "What's so awful about *your* life?!" her voice is shouting.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei Hino, the priestess of this shrine, is alternating attending to her guests, including the ever-whiny Usagi Tsukino, and the ever peacemaker Ami Mizuno, and the ever steady Makoto Kino, and keeping an eye out for Minako Aino just in case she happens to stop by for some reason, and also heading out when a visitor approaches to answer questions about the shrine, give directions, or perform a simple fortune telling. Amy is here too, but she probably doesn't need supervision. It's a lot faster and easier than doing a full fire reading. And if it helps people, then that's worth doing in itself, isn't it? Thus, dressed in full miko garb, Rei is exasperatedly doing what she can to help Usagi with her homework, and then going out to be all mysterious for the people who don't know her.

    She is, of course, beautiful doing either. That part she doesn't need to try at.

    Some girls have all the luck. Though some might consider the whole Sixth Sense thing to be more of a curse. Especially right now.

    "You've been doing really well lately, Usagi-chan. Just keep at it, and you'll be able to enjoy your vacation even more, knowing you don't have any homework waiting for you at the end of it."

    She is just heading out front, for a fortune telling that has been requested, when the crystal appears, radiating awfulness that makes Rei's head hurt... Though for very different reasons than most others here. And it seems to be hitting those others much harder. She rushes forwards to Hinote to check on him and to get him away from the source of the negative energy. "Come inside! I'll do what I can for you! You don't look well!" she says, trying not to outright admit to being able to see the crystal, or tell what the cause of this mess is, while still getting civilians out of the way. Obviously, the crystal has to go.

    "Ami! We have a guest who could really use... Uh... A glass of water or..." It's so hard to think! She has never dealt with mental interference this powerful before. It crowds out everything else in her head. Only her spiritual powers are allowing her to retain her sense of self. And even those can't last forever.

    If Hinote cooperates, he'll be led over to at least two of the Inner Senshi in their civilian guises. Though Usagi's swearing anger is actually enough to shock Rei.

    Surprised Rei-chu face.

    The continued devolving of emotional states in the others makes Rei panic, which doesn't do anything for her thought process. Eventually, she just focuses really hard, leaves Hinote where he lies, and runs out of her room and down the hall to find somewhere to change. Thankfully, her grandfather is out right now, so she doesn't have to worry about protecting him too.

    "Mars Power... Make-Up!"

    Moments later, Sailor Mars is making her way towards the temple grounds, ready to put a stop to this.

Zoisite has posed:
    Now then... There's plenty of negative energy flooding the area... All that's left is some conflict to grind the glyph into place inside a Dark Energy seed. Now where could Zoisite find a bunch of people to fight each other when he's in a primarily residential area and pushing aggression forcefully to highest priority in their minds?

    Zoisite gives his high-pitched laugh of pleasure at the deliciousness of his plan as he lounges in the air after reappearing from his rose petal storm. Clearly, these humans will just have to fight each other!

    And they do. People passing by, visitors to the shrine, families in their homes, everyone within range of the crystal is becoming a wee bit cranky, and the best way to let out all that anger is to pull hair, scratch, punch, throw things, tackle others to the ground, yell and scream, smash property, and threaten loved ones. Strangely, most young children aren't affected. Maybe because their brains aren't developed enough to match up with where the crystal is exerting pressure. Well, that just means a lot of scared kids as their friends and families go mad, and that fear adds to the miasma of negativity.

    It's all turning out surprisingly well so far.

    That one shrine maiden seemed mostly unaffected. Like she could see through the miasma. Hm. Strange. Something to invetigate later perhaps. Zoi is distracted from that thought when Sailor Mars is spotted running towards the crystal. "Oh, for God's sakes." he mutters as he teleports down and appears inbetween Mars and the Negative Energy Crystal.

    "Excuse me, may I see your Crystal Handling Permit? I can't let anyone without one get within five kilometers." he says, deadpan.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I had to watch someone get murdered!" Usagi shrieks back at Amy, and she's on her feet without even realizing it, fury thrumming in her veins, heartbeat loud in her ears, anger and frustration and resentment and grief and fear and everything else that's ever been bottled up and shoved in a box after a crying session roaring in her. "Oh how sad, you have to call your teacher's sensei like a real student, that's SUCH a SHAME!"

Usagi's always had at least a bit of a temper, so it's no surprise that when someone actually pushes back, her frustrations ignite to a flame of fury.

"And why are you talking to Hemachan anyway?! He's my boyfriend! Stay away from him, you -"

What she might have called Amy goes unsaid because even swarmed with Dark Energy, even screaming mad, there's a sound that can cut through the noise in her head -

The sound of one of her friend's crying out their henshin call.

Mars.

Mars?

Sailor Mars is here!

It's a good thing they're out of sight, tucked away to study, because Usagi's mind seizes on that moment of realization to push back the insanity of Dark Energy, and she grabs her broach out of the air.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

The shock of energy flowing through her, the light and ribbons and hope of it all is enough to banish the Dark Energy from her mind, put up a barrier between it and herself, and the screaming outside starts to cut through. Everything she'd said comes back to, and her face goes pink.

"I'm! I'm going to go help with all that forget I said anything sorry bye!"

And Sailor Moon rushes outside, Moon Stick in hand.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Of course she's cranky. Of course she can't focus," Ami lets out in an exasperated sigh of sheer frustration. The discomfort of that pressure sending a throbbing ache in the back of her head certainly made her own frustrations of trying to keep the study group on track all the more annoying. And Usagi was shouting, Amy was shouting, others were shouting. Her face scrunches up into a grimace.

Focus, Ami, focus! Focus on what matters!

It's Rei's voice that cuts through as it's the only remark that isn't whining. It's concerned about another and asking for help.

"Right, yes. Help." Water. Oh, water would be so *soothing* right now. It would quell the ache throbbing behind her eyes and calm the anger she felt welling up inside her. The bitterness toward friends that shouldn't really be there.

With a deep breath Ami flashes as reassuring a smile toward the study group gone so wrong before turning away to duck behind a pillar.

It's her turn to transform as she pulls out her pen. "Mercury Power, Make-Up!"

Sailor Mercury dashes out from another angle toward that crystal that was currently guarded by Zoisite. A quick tap to the side of her tiara brings her visor out to begin scanning things.

"Where's your Crystal Handling Permit then? Not to mention your permit for erecting a crystal on private property and disrupting the peace!"

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari is taken aside, inside, away from... that. Sadly he's not doing too much better inside either, but he does manage to stutter out. He's too out of it to notice Rei transform into Sailor Mars, but he does finally have a sit and rock back and forth in a chair as he holds his head.

"Good, effen dammit, what's with this weird shit all the god damn time!?" he says as he holds his head in complete and utter agony.

Water? He doesn't need that right now.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
The more she approached the Shrine, the more a feeling of anger starts to overtake her. Really, why does she have fortune telling too? And what is it with this shrine bearing her same surname? That doesn't even make sense to Iona. Why isn't it called Hino Shrine? Is this supposed to be a mockery towards her? 'We are so good that we don't even have to put our names on it?'

Yes, this has to be all a bit prank they are playing on her. She bets Hime is involved somehow too! Why, Iona can just see her, cackling in a corner in the distance as she manipulates Cho-san and Hino-san and Aki-san and Mio-san like marionettes and they yell at her for daring to oppose such a cute angel! Yes, that has to be what's happening somehow, but you know what, she will still stop the Phantom Empire on her own, one way or another. She doesn't need help, and at the end even Blue will admit he was wrong with his ridiculous ban on love!

Time to start here, in fact. "Pretty Cure Spinny Mirror Change." A white throw covers her and she starts transforming into Cure Fortune next, well, throwing the throw off of her to show herself as her henshin self. "The star of hope that glitters in the night sky! Cure Fortune!"

Just like that, it is like a headache just passed, and she is suddenly a lot more lucid. "Uhh, what is going on here?" Cure Fortune stares confused at the other magical girls.

Minako Aino has posed:
Anger, insecurity, all of it was coming about at odds with the more positive side of what made Minako Aino herself...she was the senshi of Love after all, and Love was a fickle thing...

And then there was that same call that reached Usagi's ears reached her own, the name of the one she'd come to see...and then Usagi's call...another she cared for, another friend. It brought clarity, her gaze spotting Ami in time for the next call and then she came to clench her fist. She had to be better than this, she had to be there for the other Senshi.

Whatever remnants of that red glow had filled her gaze melt away as she lifted her own hand skyards, exhaling a breath as her mind was once more her own.

"Venus Power, Make-Up!"

Light filled the air, swirling around her as transformation began and then finally...Sailor Venus lept into the frey.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Murdered?! Amy's face goes white, and she's kind of shocked out of this for a moment. She stumbles back as Usagi belittles her silly-sounding problem. Before she can rally, she's hit with 'why are you even talking to Hemachan? He's *my* boyfriend' which.

    what.

    That is so out of nowhere, and such a nonsense angle, she can't figure out how to respond... and then Sailor Moon is transforming (huh, so that's what that looks like from the outside) and... well, the duty of magical girls is more important than squabbling, so she transforms too. Although, for a moment, she's awfully jealous of Usagi getting a cool henshin phrase and power that won't run out...

    Still, Puella Magi Amy runs out after the senshi, wondering... yeah, she nods at Cure Fortune, wondering the same thing.

Makoto Kino has posed:
With a single tremendous surge of movement, Makoto slams down her textbook and stands up to her full height to loom over, let's be honest, pretty much everyone else in the vicinity. "I have no idea what any of you are even talking about!"

Sailor Mars provides a focal point - Sailor Moon's transformation, moreso. She'll put all the rest of what she just heard fully aside to think about later; for now, as Sailor Moon bolts from the room, Makoto follows, grabbing for her henshin pen.

"Jupiter Power - MAKE UP!"

She transforms on the move, lightning swirling and crackling around her. As she homes in on the crystal and Zoisite, Sailor Jupiter quickly ranges herself alongside the other senshi. "I'm guessing that thing has something to do with what's going on right now?"

With no more hesitation, the tall senshi lunges forward in a bid to bolt past Zoisite to the crystal while he's busy trying to block Sailor Mars' path.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars stumbles to a stop in surprise as some girl appears in front of her. She's wearing the same sort of outfit as Nephrite and Jadeite... Then this is another one of them? One she hasn't met yet? "Just how many of you are there!?" she demands, as Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury run up to stand beside her. Her heart skips a beat when she sees Venus is here too. Oh, excellent! Confidence returning to Mars, after thinking about how deadly and powerful each of the Dark Generals has been, even the little apprentice, she retorts, "This is sacred ground! How dare you bring your evil device here and disrupt everyone's day? Whether it's getting advice or getting a chance to pray peacefully or even study for a test, the Hikawa Shrine is open to all, with no need for any permits!"

    Sailor Mars does a complicated hand gesture that ends in a pose, with her pointing at Zoisite. "All except you and your youma! I'm Sailor Mars, and in the name of Mars, I won't let you get away with this! None of us will!"

    More and more magical girls appear. A Pretty Cure, a Puella Magi, and now Sailor Jupiter is going for the bull rush on the crystal, bypassing the villain completely!

    Mars clasps her hands together, forefingers extended and in parallel to each other, and focuses the power of Mars itself. Then she calls out, "Fire Soul!" A large fireball goes flying at the strange Dark General girl. There's her permit!

Zoisite has posed:
    Zoisite snaps back at Mars, "That's what I should be asking!" After all, here come... What, two more Senshi? Three? And that... Has he even met that one? The redhead? And... Another one is coming in from behind!? And then there's... Whatever that thing is! The stupid-looking one! You know, with the face? Doesn't even know what's happening and is still barging in. Gods.

    His response to Mercury is to flip her off. "Here's my permit." Right above his raised middle finger, a ball of fire appears, and it grows rapidly so that by the time Sailor Mars launches her attack, it collides with a wall of flames produced through pyrokinesis, and nullifies Fire Soul. It also consumes Zoisite's flames in the process though.

    In that moment, Jupiter runs past. Getting flashbacks from the Dia Embassy fiasco for some strange reason, Zoisite causes the crystal to float upwards out of easy reach, and floats along with it in the process. He does not wish to take more damage to the face. A senshi will probably hit way harder than that gorilla girl.

    "Don't try to lecture me. There's hundreds of these shrines. Thousands. They didn't have to be here today; they chose to be. And that means accepting the risks that come with it!"

    Mercury's visor would be showing that the crystal is both generating negative energy that affects people emotionally, and absorbing the emotions that are generated in order to make itself stronger. If it's not destroyed, its range will probably keep expanding, and the strength of its influence will continue to grow. However, it has the same sort of Dark Energy signature as the Dark General who is guarding it.

    Perhaps disrupting him somehow will leave the crystal vulnerable!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury gets flipped off. "Well!" It's registered of course but her attention is split as she's reading the numbers that are coming across her visor. The attack by Mars is swallowed up and that sends off a slew of computations on her visor as well.

When he starts to rise into the sky with the jewel she calls out, "It's a feedback loop. It's putting out energy so that it can create the type of energy it wants to feed off of from those it comes into contact with. The range is growing, too. Which means," she begins to step back and away from the goup a little.

"We can't get distracted by his pretty face and banter!"

Hauling her arm back she takes a deep breath calling out, "MERCURY AQUA MIRAGE!"

Sworls of water spiral around her only to leap forward when her hands fling out. The waves of water coalesce beneath Zoisite and the jewel, twistling and swirling into a tighter configuration until it explodes upward in a geyser of water.

Minako Aino has posed:
Venus had clear thought, she's able to adapt...but she doesn't really have the same analytics of Mercury. She just has experience to call on these days. Well, that and one much more important thing: allies.

The Crystal might be trying to float away and follow along with it but Minako wasn't quite ready to let the villain escape just yet. "Venus Love Me Chain!" she calls, the heart-shaped links of glowing energy arcs around to try and seize the infernal device and anchor it down for the others to strike.

"Playing with the emotions of those around and setting their hearts sick with negativity? You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Pyrite has posed:
    Poor Hinote. Suffering, forgotten, left to fend for himself in a strange place. Not understanding why this is happening to him, or why these strange things keep happening in general. He was supposed to get help. Now he's been left behind by all those girls who were here.
    What is a mere mortal to do?
    There's a young girl with long, straight black hair, that hangs in her face, and a ragged white gown that reaches down to where her feet would be if they existed.
    She's standing in front of Hinote, arms hanging at her sides limply. Silent.
    Then she says, "Ne~... You shouldn't have to suffer like this... It's wrong that this is happening to you." Then she leans in closer, and she smells like death and the incense used to cover up the scent of death.
    She whispers into the civilian's ear. "Wouldn't you like to do something about that?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The villain before them wears a uniform like Nephrite, like Hematite, and that means he's a General of the Dark Kingdom, one of the Shitennou, and that means he's too dangerous.

But Nephrite had run when she used this one him, and so Sailor Moon doesn't hestitate, sweeping the Moon Stick up, carving the circle of light into the air.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Purifying light, holy and radiant, imposing order and the restoration of the natural way of things, flares out from the closed circle. Blasts of light, silver mist, floating down - not just at Zoisite, but a stretch of the screaming, fighting, raging crowd.

Only when the attack is done does she turn her gaze to the villain, her pretty face set in a vicious scowl.

"You're terrible! You blame other people for your actions, as if their innocent desire to visit a shrine justifies your cruelty!"

She's not going for the crystal just yet, because she's attacking the villain - and the poor poisoned crowd - directly.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari, meanwhile, is having a god awful effen time inside Rei's, apparently. He can't fight the ever growing darkness and he just outright punches into the wall next to him. He probably leaves a nice little creak in the drywall.

He just stews in all the magical bullcrap he's had to deal with and everyone telling him it's dangerous and to go home and whoop de do, a lot of good it's doing him now, right!? He can't even think straight!

Let alone walk straight enough to get home now.

Then there's suddenly... someone there. Asking him a question, too blurry brained to think about it too hard. Or who the voice or the girl is exactly. "Y--yeah, I would'" he says as he seethes in the moment.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Recovered from her Dark Energy trip, Cure Fortune stares at the Crystal when it's hit by Fire Soul. Or rather not because the wall of flame Zoisite creates completely nullifies the impact, though it is consumed in the process.

She listens to Mercury's explanation of the dynamic behind the Negative Energy Crystal. "So, basically we have to go through him first?" Not too different from tiring a Terribad before purifying it. Only this time it's a pretty guy to defeat and a crystal to purify.

The bow on Iona's back expands into wings and she flies up towards Zoisite, attacking him with kicks and punches alike, using her experience with the defensive Hikawa Karate Style.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A fight is already starting with this... person. Who is ranting about how shrines knew the risks when they were built. What?

    "The HELL are you on about? Is *everyone* just crazy today?!" Amy shouts up at Zoisite. "What 'risks' do shrines take by existing??? Are you here to like... smash shrines? Because that's your thing? Are you like, the edgy atheist villain or something? WHY IS EVERYTHING CRAZY TODAY?!"

    She's not actually going to attack until she at least sees some offensive move from the dark general, though.

    Instead she continues ranting, her own magic not offering as much protection from dark emotions as Sailor Moon's. "We're just *studying* and everyone's *living their lives* and then *everyone is shouting* and *a shrine smashing edgy atheist villain* is here now I guess to fight us with fire powers and THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT SOMEHOW!" She points at Zoisite and stomps a foot. "Go away!"

    V says something about manipulating emotions. "Wait, it really *is* their fault?!"

Makoto Kino has posed:
The crystal - and Zoisite - float up out of her reach before Jupiter can land a hit. She pulls up short with an annoyed sound, pivoting to look back to the others as Mercury calls out her findings. "So that's how it is."

The Dark General thinks he and his toy are safer at a distance? Sailor Jupiter can work with that. Even as the water swirls up around Sailor Mercury, the sky over the shrine darkens and rumbles, and a slim golden lightning rod glints from the center of her tiara. "Supreme..."

The tiara sparks. The sky opens. At the very last second, seeing Cure Fortune flying up to engage Zoisite up close, Jupiter redirects the lightning bolt from the General to the floating crystal instead. "--THUNDER!"

In the wake of the column of electricity, breathing a little hard, she looks toward Moon. "Sailor Moon!" she calls out, and cups her hands together demonstratively. "Want a boost?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars is stunned. Not by the incredibly flawed logic behind the Dark General's argument, but by the fact her Fire Soul did... Nothing. She thought she had gotten stronger since fighting Jadeite. She even managed to fight Nephrite, who definitely felt stronger than Jadeite had. This one... Just nullified her Fire Soul like it was nothing. When their own fire, no less.

    Here is one of the Shitennou, the Dark Generals, attacking her home. Making a mockery of her power as Sailor Mars. Endangering innocent people, and trying to twist her friends into hateful monsters... And then blames the victims?

    "Lady..." she begins. She feels molten anger rising up inside of her. She tries to hold it down, suppress it, thinking it's just the crystal's effects getting stronger, like Mercury reported. But it will not be held down. It keeps surging and growing inside of her, burning away doubt, and fear, and resentment, and instead feeding on the love, and bravery, and hope of those she cares about. Maybe it's the shrine itself even lending a bit to her strength as she thinks about her years spent here, sweeping, maintaining the place, meeting Phoebos and Deimos, learning rituals from her grandfather, having a place to heal after a painful loss... It's where she first met Sailor Moon, and it's where she first met Minako Aino and found out she's Sailor Venus. So many first have happened here.

    This is not just her home, it's home to many people, and the kami that the Hikawa Shrine is dedicated to.

    It was destroyed in fire once upon a time.

    But then it was reborn from those ashes, stronger and still standing.

    With the crystallization of her pain, her loneliness, her losses, and the power she gains from her friends, the clarity of purpose in this moment, the flames inside of Rei Hino can no longer be contained. They burn up all her thoughts, and everything else, and overflow their vessel.

    Sailor Moon is trying to cleanse people and the area of Dark Energy. Sailor Mercury is blasting the Dark General and crystal from below. Cure Fortune is fighting the Shitennou up close. Venus has sent out a chain of light to wrap around the crystal and pull it down to earth. And now Sailor Jupiter is calling down lightning from the heavens to destroy the crystal.

    But that won't be enough. Not for Mars. Mars needs to make it clear that this shrine and these people are under her protection. The words come to her, without her ever having heard them before. Without ever being told.

    She holds out her hand, and sweeps it around in a circle of her own. But where Sailor Moon produces a ring of purifying energy, Mars' is made of fire. Orbs of flame appear around her upon the ring, and when she yells out the attack phrase, they go flying in a barrage of incinerating force! "BURNING MANDALA!"

Zoisite has posed:
    Well, this is a lot.

    He doesn't even have time to ask the red-head what the fuck she's even talking about, if she has hit her head, or has worms in her ears, or whatever's responsible for completely mishearing and not understanding what was said, like, at all. 'Japanese, MFer! Do - you - speak - it!?' was on the tip of his tongue. But no. He doesn't even have the time to mock his actual natural enemies, the Sailor Senshi, for their protests and childish beliefs. All these things that are, frankly, alien to him in his own corrupted, brainwashed state... They just seem absurd. Pointless. Unworthy of attention.

    Because that's what the thing in his head, in his soul, wants him to believe. Love? Friendship? Hope? Peace?

    No one ever ruled the world because of those things, have they?

    Of course not.

    So he should ignore that. He should ignore the teamwork. He should ignore the strength on display that comes with them fighting together, and trying to protect others. He should make excuses if he has to, if he winds up defeated here... Fighting dirty, outnumbering him to make up for a lack of quality, or he was distracted, or... Or something. Anything.

    Anything that will keep him from emerging from the darkness that is drowning him steadily, day by day.

    Why are all these thoughts passing through his mind, right now?

    Because he has just been struck by a powerful purifying force, and though he resists it, it is an actual struggle requiring his full attention. He can't defend against anything else as he clings to the ancient hate that has infested him, because everything outside of that is just PAIN.

    So he is caught off-guard by the water cannon blasting up from below, separating him from the Negative Energy Crystal. The chain of light drags it out of the sky, and a lightning bolt sends it into sparking overload, shooting off little shocks of Dark Energy into the air, and no longer projecting its aura.

    Zoisite manages, somehow, to let out a scream of effort and a wave of Dark Energy that roils outwards. An ice storm riding on a wave of fire. Surging towards the Senshi in front of him, because he can't spare the attention to aim it when he starts having to defend himself in hand to hand... Generally not something he's used to. He takes blows to the body, and head, only managing to block the super strength attacks barely, before manifestating a short sword out of crystal and stabbing it at Cure Fortune's heart.

    The plan? The mission? The project? Who cares about any of that? His eyes are burning solid red, his hair tie has come loose, causing the long blonde hair to flow out around him and whip about as he moves in and out of range of the Pretty Cure's attacks.

    He is facing more firepower from more magical girls and assembled Senshi than any other of their enemies so far. Sure, Amy's doing fuck-all, but she's YELLING GIBBERISH AT HIM and it's ANNOYING and that counts for something, doesn't it?

    A distraction is a distraction!

    In fact, it distracts him so much, that this nimble, evasive, agile, deadly, and powerful Dark General completely misses the tremendous build up of power within Sailor Mars. Right up until she yells the attack phrase, and he feels the heat approaching, and the barrage of fireballs that evaporate and disperse his ice-flame wall... And then keep going, slamming into Zoisite and engulfing him in Mars' fury.

    He screams in pain, is still visible as a black silhouette inside of the blaze... And then the crystal shatters as purification, lightning, water, flame, and a chain of binding light, all are too much for it. It just cracks down the middle, and falls apart, disintegrating before it even hits the ground.

Pyrite has posed:
    The girl-thing agrees with Hinote. "Of course you do. It's not fair for you to go through this. You never asked for any of it... So..." A corpse-cold hand gently holds onto Hinote's, and something solid is placed in his palm. The handle of a knife. "Perhaps you should teach them a lesson... For messing with you... So they'll never do it again..."
    The crystal is breaking apart, shutting down, and is then destroyed. But will all of that happen before Hinote can act? That's up to you, my boy. What's worse? That you're being played around with by forces beyond your comprehension? Or that you might not get the chance to fight back?
    The visage of nightmares is already gone.
    But she still whispers, "I know you can do it..." encouragingly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The crystal shatters. Their enemy screams.

Sailor Moon doesn't want to kill him. Has never, ever, wanted to kill anyone, and with the sight she'd seen just a single day before - there's hesitation in her heart, even as Sailor Jupiter offers her a boost. A throw would get her up in the air, would probably make it easier to purify everyone, but with their enemy still burning before their very eyes -

"Do it," she says, decisive. "Throw me!"

And should Sailor Jupiter comply, Sailor Moon will be launched into the air - but she'll turn her back on the enemy, a perhaps dangerous proposition, performing a mid-air move with an utter lack of grace, a circle, slightly oblong, carved into the air in the direction away from the Dark General.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

One more time, with even more feeling. The attack doesn't strike at Zoisite - instead, it washes over the Dark Energy filled crowd, catching forth everyone else who was filled with corruptive force. They begin, one by one, and then in a wave of sound, to shout, "Refresh!" as they are cleansed in full.

Then Sailor Moon drops out of the sky, and is hopefully, caught.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Jupiter doesn't miss a beat. Sailor Moon barely even needs to bother with a running start; for Sailor Jupiter's strength, she's feather-light, easily launched skyward to pour out her purifying energy all around the shrine's grounds.

And when gravity brings her back down - yes, Jupiter is right there, ready to catch her in outstretched arms.

"Great job!"

Minako Aino has posed:
The chain holds the crystal in place until things collapse, the infernal jewel shattering before them bringing her chain to disipate. The plummeting Sailor Moon comes down, but the petite blone wasn't the one who could probably make that catch. Thankfully, Jupiter was far better suited for such a task.

Instead Venus' gaze comes back to Mars, to the miko who'd unleashed the impressive display of power, practically skidding up in her own heels she arrives beside the raven-haired girl, a hand to her shoulder. "Mars? Are you okay?" she questions before drawing her hands upwards, ready to respond defensively if Zoisite wasn't finished.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari is given a knife by a dead girl, But his head is too full of this, incomprehensible rage to really make heads or tails of this. "Yes..." he says, and then---

The crystal shatters... Sailor Moon uses Moon Healing Escalation outside. This makes him collapse to the ground immediately as he stands up with the knife as he feels this enormous pressure just lift from his being...!

He looks down at the knife. What was...what was her about to do. Oh right. He was gonna go stab someone----STAB SOMEONE!? He sputters as he comes too suddenly and turns around to face.... what he hopes is still a person over there.

"--Hey...!" he sputters worriedly out.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
The Hikawa Karate Style is primarily a defensive style, so when the blade comes for Iona's heart, she is ready to slap back against the flat of the blade with the back of her hand, pushing the knife away from her.

That is all the time she needs to jump out of the Dark General's range, but just because she is now away from him, doesn't mean she is out of options.

The ring on her hand starts emitting light and the Fortune Tambourine appears in her waiting hand. Cure Fortune starts playing the percussive instrument as electricity starts cracking around the area.

A quickly spinning star appears above the Precure's head before it flies above the Dark General. "Fortune Thunderbolt!" The star turns into a strike of electricity, a Thunderbolt aimed directly at Zoisite.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Okay, THERE'S an attack, although, since the senshi attacked first, it could be said to be defense... but still, this guy isn't trying to *talk* or something. Amy can't really... shield others from it, or anything, so she just rocket-jumps *over* the wave and trusts the senshi and Cure Fortune have their own defenses and escapes.

    And uh. That means her launcher is out now and ready to use, but... the crystal is broken, and the dark general(?) is um. did Mars just inferno a dude to death?

    Sailor Moon purifies the crowd, and the lingering Dark Energy leaves Amy too. What the hell was she shouting about before, this is clearly, uh...

    um...

    ...well this is clearly Sailor Senshi business, at any rate. "Who *is* that person? What do they *want*?" She's, y'know, ready to shoot back if Zoisite comes roaring out of the flames flinging more magic, but shooting them as they burn without knowing who they are is a bit...

    She gives Sailor Moon what she hopes is an encouraging nod and a smile. "Good idea, stopping people from fighting more!"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
This is what you get for interrupting Ami's study sessions! Though really, the readings that Sailor Mercury got off that crystal and Zoisite himself were far more important than the study session. Even she could admit that. It was just that she'd maybe gone a *little* overboard in her attack to neutralize it because she was irritated, too.

No, no. It was a valid threat that had to be neutralized as quickly as possible. Everyone had done their best, even those mahou she was unfamiliar with as of yet.

"It's destroyed!" She calls out confirming the crystal is done with a out of focus glance at her visor to ensure that was a true remark.

Seeing Zoisite go up in flame causes her a pang of sympathy. She's not entirely sure why--He'd been very rude and his actions were dangerous.

Sailor Moon's purification finishes off any other worries that there may be lingering negative emotions that could fuel the Shittenou. Instead she ... She cries out, "He's hurt!"

Why did she sound so worried? So concerned? Why...

"We should catch him before he can get away!" Yes that was why.

Lifting her hand to her visor she queues up a slew of calculations. They flit over her visor so fast that it's impossible to her eyes through it at the moment. The calculations Luna had given her, she'd gone through several times, though not yet attempted this. Her energy surges up around her as she lifts her arms, striking a pose to call out, "Hyperspatial Sphere, Generate!"

Water coalesces into mist swirling around Zoisite until it suddenly hardens into a shield enveloping the singed Shittenou.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars is both energized and exhausted. That attack refreshed her, filled her with life, and power, and also drained dry her physical stamina, and made her even more aware of her acheing head. She feels victorious, but ready for a nap as well. As Sailor Moon purifies everyone else in need, Mars stands back, not really knowing how to stop the enemy from burning, but not sure if she should yet. He was so strong. The lightning guy with the black crescent moon on his forehead might be the only person Mars would consider to be stronger, and even he didn't have the sheer density of Dark Energy that this Shitennou lady has. Actually... She's not sure they're a woman any more.

    Not that she cares. Next to that pure evil she felt at the ball, and again here, there's not a lot else in her head beyond thankfulness that everyone made it out safely.

    She just... Wishes she could be sure it was actually over.

    Mercury is containing the enemy somehow. Will that be enough?

    She's so distracted that, if Hinote hadn't come back to his senses... Well, she wouldn't have noticed him until the knife was in her back.

    Good thing she gets to go on being ignorant about that!

    "Good job, everyone." she tries to say loudly, but it comes out as normal speaking volume. That new attack really takes it out of her.

    Mars might be allowing herself to stumble closer to Venus and lean in her direction so that if she falls she'll at least be safe. And comfortable.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Abruptly, there's a sound like a miniature vacuum orb being filled with air and there's another Dark General in the sky: Hematite, of the silky long black hair and equally silky long black cape. He sees Zoisite burnt and encased in some kind of orb and snarls, whipping a hand forward--

--it's like black lightning, and it shatters the strong sphere shield Mercury just generated around Zoisite, and then oh, oh, it's not lightning at all it's a rose; a petal falls off and drifts to the ground as the water turns into so much broken ice and mist and rain--

--and Hematite blinks away from his place in the sky to catch the burning Zoisite in his arms as they're both rained on. The rain covers the brightness of Hematite's eyes, but not the hitch in his voice as he grinds out, "You CAN'T HAVE HIM!" and blasts the entire surrounding circle of magical girls with a WHOMPH of Dark Energy, even Sailor Moon. It's little more than a very uncomfortable Big Shove, but it's a very uncomfortable Big Shove indeed.

That done, he blinks right back out, taking Zoisite with him, clutched carefully to his chest.

Minako Aino has posed:
She'd come to visit, come to offer support or even just a little companionship to the miko before she'd been overcome with the magic of the crystal. If it wasn't for Mars' transformation, Sailor Moon's reveal...the others all together bringing her back to reality who knows what she could have done?

She was quick to offer a hand, quick to support the other girl who hadn't really answered her but had stumbled close enough to lend her shoulder for support.

Unfortunately this means that she wasn't ready for Hermatite's arrival, nor the shockwave that blasted out. The best she could do was throw herself to cover her exhausted ally from the blast sent to create the gap he needed to escape.

Zoisite has posed:
    Zoisite is conscious, if barely. He'll regenerate his injuries, even ones these extreme, but you can't regenerate when you're dead, and this was the closest he has come to dying since when he actually died, 14,000 years ago. "Didn't... Finish..." he chokes out. Zoi would totally deliver a hateful glare at his Enemies if he had the energy. Instead, as Hematite rescues him, he just clutches at his leader's uniform with one hand, as if hanging onto the fabric will keep him from taking that final fall once again, and vows revenge.

    The demon won't allow anything less of one of her slaves.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
It worked! Mercury watches with a look of pride as it works--Even if there was still the matter of Shittenou ON FIRE inside. He was caught and could be dealt with. Fire put out, offer medical assistance (she was already going through procedure in her mind), and then--

Hematite appears in all his wrathful glory to break through her newly constructed sheild. Very, very easily.

Her hands are thrown up to cover her face as that wave of dark energy knocks them back sending her skidding along the ground and then tumbling over onto her butt in an ungainly fashion. No real harm is done other than a bit of wounded pride and road rash. Ow.

Slowly her hands handsd lower to gaze up where they *had* been looking bewildered. "Oh... Okay."

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Now that the Dark General is gone, Iona looks around. The people affected by the Dark Energy are safe too, thanks to the blonde Sailor warrior. And the fire Sailor had been attacking Zoisite too. Admittedly she didn't notice her own attack would have been overkill. Too bad for that?

Still, that guy looked sturdy enough to take it. It's probably fine. Maybe he could have even taken another dose of lightning from the other Sailor over there. She did try something like that on the crystal earlier.

Just when Iona thinks it's all over, a mantled guy appears out of nowhere, yells, and blasts them all away, causing her to be pushed back further into the sky to dizzily recover from the blow.

After a long descent, she rests her body against a pillar and asks "How is everyone? Who were those two guys?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
Hematite's sudden appearance comes very literally out of nowhere. It catches Jupiter flat-footed, just as she'd cautiously begun to relax a little. She barely gets a chance to brace herself when Mercury's barrier shatters; she has just enough time to instinctively try to cover Sailor Mercury when that wave of dark force surges over all of them. She keeps her feet, at least.

In the stillness that settles in the wake of the two Generals' disappearance, she lifts her head. "That's what I'd like to know," she says to Cure Fortune. "But before that... I think we should get inside, and make sure we're all okay."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Hematite?!"

    Amy really *shouldn't* be surprised he's here, he *did* say he's a villain, but she's only ever seen him trying to help Himeko, or helping civilians that one time, so she doesn't really *think* of him as like... a comrade to someone like... ... ...whoeverthefuckthisis, no one actually told her Zoisite's *name*, did they?

    YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM! WHOMPH

    Wow that's twice Amy's been told that today, by both sides of a couple, weird.

    She is knocked to the ground and rolls a bit. Very uncomfortable! But not injured. Amy sits up and looks around. "...I still don't know who that was or what they wanted, but is everyone alright?"

    She stands up, and gives Usagi a somewhat concerned look. "I know you and he both warned me he's a bad guy, but like... that still felt kinda *weird*, right? Or have you seen him help other villains all the time and I just missed those fights?"

    She scratches her head and looks away. "Err, I guess I shouldn't talk about your boyfriend that way..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon is tired, but not wiped. She could fight on, if she had to. Fighting during the Night Parade had shown her how far she could push her purification power, how many reserves she had to call on.

But Mercury forms a shield and their enemy is caught and that means that they have the chance, maybe, to finally get information, to talk, maybe she can even give Mamoru one of his boys, his friends, see if they could -

Hematite is there. In the air. Furious, she can see even from a distant. A projectile flies.

The projectile tears its way through the shield. Frees the Dark General.

And Hematite attacks.

His voice hitching, his anger and fear as obvious to her as the sky above them, and Sailor Moon skids back, not afraid, but frustrated. Still.

Still.

"We won," she says, and breathes out, slowly realizing the truth. "We won."

Everyone is discussing falling back, talking about things. Usagi thinks that would be - a good idea, yes. Definitely.

"Yeah. Um... let's make sure everyone around here is okay, and then - I can explain what I can?"

Amy and Cure Fortune would have no idea what was going on, and she'd talked a little with Makoto about all of this, but it had been a while, and they haven't had a chance to really process...

But this? They won.

Twenty minutes later, she gets the text that confirms it, Hemachan letting her know: 'he didn't finish. Hikawa jinja is safe.'

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars does manage to get out, "Aw, darn it." As Hematite appears, rescues his dude, and nearly sends her flying with a shockwave. Thankfully, Venus is there to keep her safe and steady. So... She doesn't fall.

    "Thanks." she whispers. For a lot of things. And not just to Venus.

    They helped keep her home safe.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Iona looks at Sailor Moon. So three things she learnt, that second guy was her boyfriend, he was more neutral than on one side or the other, and Sailor Moon was going to offer them all an explanation. "Thanks, Sailor Moon, please lead the way."