1300/Rainbow Crystals 6: Orange-ins Unknown to Baseball Kind

Rainbow Crystals 6: Orange-ins Unknown to Baseball Kind
Date of Scene:	17 March 2024
Location:	Sports Pavilion
Synopsis:	Baseball practice goes awry when Niji catches the Orange rainbow crystal instead of the ball! Luckily, Hope Witch, Guardian Daifuku, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Kamen, Zoisite, Jadeite, and - Sunbreaker?! - are here to save the day. Wait, what's this?! A totally explicable and yet sudden betrayal from Sunbreaker?!
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Makoto Kino, Niji Dasshu, Jadeite, Hinoiri Kirara, Madoka Kaname, Zoisite, Chiyo Sakai, Mamoru Chiba

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The Sports Pavillion's baseball court is full of students, with the baseball team's members all crowded around for practice. There's bleachers for people to watch the practice, but the focus of the action is the players themselves.

The core team and the back up team as it were are both on the field, with the core team practicing their batting and rounding the bases, and the back up team practicing being in the outfield and infield, catching the balls. The pitchers are each taking turns pitching to the batters. They're all in uniform, with plenty of dust regularly being kicked up.

Usagi Tsukino is chilling in the bleachers, trying to resist the urge to cheer every time Niji does anything cool. Which is often.

"Makoto-chan! Isn't it nice to have a day out to watch the game?" Usagi kicks her feet a little, watching the play. They've got bottles of ramune, and they're having a Good Day Out.

It really is a beautiful day - the sun is shining, the sky clear, a nice breeze, and the occasional sakura blossom is carried by on the wind.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto is leaned back a bit in the bleachers in the seat next to Usagi, a little more sedate in her spectating than her friend is. A little. Even drowsy from too little sleep, Usagi's enthusiasm is inevitably infectious. And besides, Mako owes Niji some cheering on.

"It's definitely nice to get a chance to relax a little," she agrees, rolling the glass marble idly around in the neck of her ramune bottle. "Between studying and everything else, it kind of feels like we've barely had time to even sit down."

She's exaggerating. A little. "Oh, oh, nice catch!"

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji Dasshu has never been one to shy away from being watched. Someone who dyes her hair like this isn't doing it to blend in, after all. Niji is doing what she does best - filling in, which means she's actually playing with the backups, covering the outfield. And it's obvious why normally she'd be with the others - she's a little bit faster (in a nonmagical sense) to the ball than some of the others, and her throws back to infield are dead on straight.

    And yet she's not grandstanding (too much) and being encouraging to her current teammates in the outfield - after all, everybody on the field is still her teammate, really.

    She lets a grounded ball roll into her glove and fires it off back to the infield before the runner can take an extra base.

Jadeite has posed:
It truly is a beautiful day. Tamaki's packed his bags for a day out - water bottles he chilled with his magic before he left, bags of roasted peanuts and flavored popcorn his mother sent from America, and an old baseball cap for the Dartmouth Big Greens.

He offers a bag of peanuts to Saitou as he watches. "I've got barbeque and lime, if you don't want plain."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara wasn't that far away, out in the nearby field. Occasionally she glanced up to catch little bits and pieces of the game, but she was more focused on the work book she had. Studying was the first, second and only priority she really had.

But it was a beautiful day and she felt like studying outside for once. Enjoying herself, even. It was a nice day without any--

And then her backpack started to vibrate. She growled and yanked it open, rummaging through it. She swore, whoever was calling her should--

... Wait. Her phone was in her pocket. Why was her backpack--

Ah. Right. She found the black crystal buried under her math homework and a ruler.

She pulled it out and sighed. "Really? You know, Wannabe Queen, some of us have homework to do. You know, that stuff you probably failed at, came after the time of the dinosaurs," she muttered before shoving her workbook into her backpack and getting to her feet. Tossing it over her shoulder, she started walking away from the game...

Then blinked. Towards the game? Why would--

She looked towards the field.

Oh no. She needed to move fast, before somebody else found it. CRUD!

M-Maybe it was somewhere away from everyone else? Maybe. Hopefully? Please? She started making her way towards the game...

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka and a couple of her fairies are watching the game from the bleachers. Medo and Gretchen are sharing a bowl of candies, except that the 'bowl' is clearly the bottom half of one of their eggshells. Madoka herself is watching silently, seemingly spacing out once in a while only to get pulled back to reality whenever there's a loud cheer or something exciting happens. Something about her general vibe seems a bit... tired, somehow?

    The two Guardian Characters seem to be a bit more into the proceedings. Perhaps they dragged Madoka into this, and the pinkette simply allowed this to happen. Medo occasionally winces when she thinks someone does something that might get them injured, but fortunately nothing particularly unsafe is happening. Gretchen is watching Niji with rapt attention, silently appreciating the way she seems to display clear competence without actually making everything about her. A team player, she quietly supposes.

    Once in a while Madoka catches the eyes of someone she knows and waves at them with a bright smile.

Zoisite has posed:
    As someone who is still technically not a student, Zoisite has spent a lot of time on the Radiant Heart Academy campus recently. Mostly in the library, but he's been seen by the dorms some too, and now out at the sports pavilion, needing a break from studying with Ami. He's in the school uniform though, blending in as if he's meant to be here.

    Which he is. Just watch! He'll pass those tests soon.

    Unfortunately that means he has to go around introducing himself as Izou Saitou rather than his real name, but it's not a particular hardship, just a slight perspective change. And as he lounges on the bleachers next to Tamaki, he lowers his sunglasses to peer over at where Usagi and Makoto are sat.

    Then he's pushing them back up his nose so he can twist around and look back at his fellow Shitennou. "I suppose it is fitting," he determines, before accepting the bag of peanuts. Of course he daintily picks one out and doesn't immediately move to start eating, because he's fussy like that.

    Someone does something on the field and quietly, mostly to Tamaki, Zoi lets out a sardonic cheer of "Goooo sportsball."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai arrives a bit late to spectate the game, but she is here! The bleacher steps are taken a couple at a time until she gets to the same level as Usagi, Makoto, and any others in that general area. A quick smile is flashed from the purple haired girl as she sinks down to sit wearing what was essentially her work outfit minus the apron. Black slacks, slip on shoes, and a white button up neatly tucked in. A baby pink cardigan had been tossed on overtop of it so that she wasn't chilly if the weather took a turn.

"Sorry I'm late. Who's winning? Or do we even care?" She asks of her friends while offering over a white and pink shoppingf bag. "Ojiisan sent some snacks for everyone and said to tell you hello, Usagi-chan."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's a cheer as Chiyo joins Makoto and Usagi, and Usagi scoots to make room. "I think it's actually a practice instead of a game," Usagi says sheepishly - she'd been the one to claim it was a game, after all, haha. "But yeah, snacks! Oh man, I've got to stop by again and say hi - I know my mama stopped by again a couple of weeks ago, but it's been a little bit, huh?"

Not just for candy, but for family, and joy.

"And I agree! We're finally getting to relax and just enjoy a good day outside..."

And of course, as she's saying this, the batter who's stepped up to plate manages to hit the ball - and hit the ball she does. The ball and a little orange speck, that appears directly in front of the ball. Both goe flying, straight for the corner that Niji occupies. This might be why the batter is now running for the bases as fast as she can.

The ball falls right towards Niji, gleaming in the sun - clearly shined and rubbed for luck. It spins through the air and then begins it's descent.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Niji runs out to catch it - it should be a pretty easy catch, all things considered, a nice, slow, lazy ball in an arc. But the sun's in her eye, so she positions herself right, glove in front of her eyes. The ball goes into the glove, as expected - but it feels funny. As she closes her hand around it, another object hits her closed glove, and the white softball hits the ground.

    "What the..." she asks, and the batter is off running the bases while Niji looks at what's in her glove. A shimmering, orange crystal.

    "Where did this come from?" she asks out loud, before taking the crystal in her other, ungloved hand.

    Upon contact with her other hand, the crystal pulses and suddenly there's a dramatic outflowing of dark power from whatever hex the crystals carry. Maybe it's drawing it's form from whatever is in the area. Or maybe it's from whatever's on Niji's mind. Or maybe it's just a coincidence. But when the energy covers Niji her shape changes, and once the energy ebbs away, she is decidedly larger, and quite nonhuman. The lower part of her body is now a turf roller, and her torso is covered by a catcher's bodyplate, her head is a baseball with slanted orange eyes, and on her back like sheathed samurai swords are three gigantic baseball bats. Her arms seem to have been built from a pitching machine, and though one ends in a glove the other does not. That, and the fact that she's giant sized now.

    "PLAY BALL!!!" the not-Niji-anymore youma yells. This would probably cause a lot more concern except her glove-hand is draining energy at a rapid pace from the players, causing most to slump over before they can run or panic. "PROVDE THE ENERGY FOR HER MAJESTY. PITIFUL HUMANS."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara had only a split second to realize.... to see there were two objects in the air. How? Why?

MAGIC BS, THAT'S WHY! "Niji-san, don--" But it was too late.

She saw it land, saw the ball, and saw the hand grab it and...

On the edge of the field, she interlocked her fingers with the fencing, and banged her head on it three times. One. Two. Three. Sora. Dang. Blasted. MAGIC!

She glanced down at the black crystal in her free hand. "Stupid late alarm system. Couldn't go off a few seconds earlier? Or maybe draw it? No, you couldn't, could you? Because you're from the department of useless old crones, huh?" she snapped at it. Before turning and storming off.

Stupid youma. Stupid rainbow crystals. STUPID HAVING TO HENSHIN TO PROTECT HER IDENTITY! Baseball wasn't even a REAL SPORT! Okay, it was, but RAWR! ANGRY UNICORN SOUNDS! She'd be BACK! MARK HER WORDS! But don't because then she'd have fully revealed her identity.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Catching Zoisite looking over his sunglasses at them, Makoto flashes him a grin and a little wave before turning her attention to the new arrival. "Chiyo-chan, hey!" Mako straightens up and, likewise, scoots to free up room for Chiyo to put down her bag and sit. "Tell your Ojisan I said thank you. I don't think anyone's keeping score, but it's still--"

Whatever else she was going to say breaks off as, out on the field, the youma surges into being. Makoto whips her head to look out at the baseball... samurai... monster. "Oh, come on!"

Snacks, it seems, will have to wait.

Grabbing for her transformation pen, Makoto vaults over the seat in front of her and takes several bounding leaps down until she reaches a spot where she can slide through a gap and drop down under the bleachers.

"Jupiter Power, Make Up!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Huh... that's weird," says Gretchen. "Are baseballs supposed to be orange?"

    Medo shakes her head. "No. You're thinking of basketballs." Clearly she missed whatever Gretchen was talking about.

    Madoka suddenly starts paying closer attention to the practice, squinting to see an orange glint in the distance. That's... weird. Did something break off of the bat somehow? Oh well, it's probably nothing.

    Then suddenly Niji catches the wrong ball, and she's not Niji anymore. Madoka squints her tired eyes and stands up in the bleachers, crading Gretchen in her hands. "Again with the bleachers. Always with the bleachers," complains the tiny dark fairy.

    "Come on, Gretchen-chan," says Madoka, before turning around to drop behind the bleachers, finding a hiding spot while everyone else is either distracted by the energy drain or the sudden youma. Madoka makes a twisting hand gesture and calls out, "My Heart: Unlock!"

    A few moments later, Hope Witch is standing on top of the bleachers, one hand on her hip and the other pointing at what was once Niji. "That's far enough! Taking advantage of those who work hard to better themselves is inexcusable. Don't think we're just going to sit by while you have your way!"

    Madoka doesn't really want to fight a fellow student right now, but... at least she can be pretty sure there's at least one purifier around.

    Medo, meanwhile, is taken the snack bowl and is flying off to go hide somewhere safe.

Jadeite has posed:
The game is going wonderfully. He may not remember most of his classmates, but watching the game is a delight. Even if he's going to have to pry the peanuts out of Saitou's hands sooner or later.

And then there's a flash of light in the air instead of a baseball that makes Tamaki's stomach sink. And then darkness floods -

"Nuts to this," Jadeite snarls in English, and hops to his feet in front of Usagi and Mamoru as guard, hand sweeping up to his jade earring to pull his white cloak out and let it envelop him as he transforms.

He looks to Zoisite, then to his prince - what now?

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
What prince? Why, the one who's just appeared at the top of the bleachers, in formalwear, with a long-stemmed rose in hand! He flings it straight through the air at the glove doing all that draining and clears his throat, crossing his arms and letting the breezy day billow his cape dramatically behind him.

"Those who enjoy sports on fine spring days such as this are not to be interrupted by the vile motives of the Seven Great Youma! Whether they are here to cheer on friends, eat snacks, or play the game, their fun should hold no terror! I won't forgive you!" he decries, then flips his cape back where it'd blown over his shoulder. "Your usurping witch and the demon who fuels her will never win, youma! Don't sully the air by attempting to apply honor where there is none!"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai smiles warmly as she settles in, intending to simply enjoy the time off from school and work to relax! To chat with friends, to have some good food, to... Feel dark energy flooding over her with an irritating shiver that makes her stomach flop unpleasantly. Her eyes snap back to the field with a grimace of obvious distaste while others are already starting to jump up.

"Great, you guys do that, I'll... You know I need a little room for mine, I don't want to burn anyone." Which made it REALLY difficult in times like these! The jangle of noise from the fence draws her attention momentarily toward Sunbreaker only to huh softly.

Well if it was *her* then it's not as if she needed to hide her identity!

With a rather broad grin at this new information she just stands and whips her hand out overhead bearing a large pair of saibashi chopsticks that she *click-clicks* together.

"Let's Cook!"

A flare of fire erupts where she stands bringing with it a little sizzle, and the scent of sweet things being cooked up.

Guardian Daifuku stands with her mochi hammer slung over her shoulder a moment later grinning with the eagerness of someone who had energy to burn.

Zoisite has posed:
    The wave Makoto sends his way gets an answering tip of Zoisite's head, but there's a subtle smile curving at his mouth too, at the long-distance greeting. He might go bother them for a while before this practice is done.

    Or rather, he would have, if not for the appearance of a crystal. His fingers twitch as he thinks of the one concealed within the lining of his jacket, but there's no time for dawdling. Time for a quick swap.

    He slips away from the bleachers in one smooth movement, landing in a crouch on the ground from where he's dropped to the side. Only for, seconds later, a figure in light grey uniform appears, sword in hand, not far from where Hope Witch stands at the top of the bleachers.

    Though Zoisite casually strolls down a few steps to put himself further towards the ground and slightly to the left of the bulk of the students watching, his blade catching the sunlight as it extends in front of them defensively.

    "Honestly, the nerve of ruining a nice day like this," he says, on a sigh. "Some people just can't stand to see others having fun, can they?"

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    "I did help them better themselves. Now they're providing energy to awaken our Great Leader and accomplish our Great Plan! What could be better than that?!" the baseball-samurai monster asks. Like this is a serious question. Tuxedo Mask gives a speech and... well, you might expect it to be hard to tell when a baseball with eyes with no pupils rolls it's eyes, but the rest of the body language makes it clear. "Whaaaatever." the youma says, in a tone familiar to everyone who knows the person who it is currently... inhabiting? Hijacking?

    "Here, have a souvineer foul ball!" it says, leveling its pitching gun arm and firing two balls that are roughly human-sized and take strange looping curves towards the Hope Witch and Tuxedo Mask.

    As for everyone else who is assembling to stand against it? Well, that bottom torso roller-assembly starts to roll. Fast. And it's time to get moving or get flat for everyone else. "NO OBSTACLES ALLOWED ON MY PLAYING FIELD."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
And suddenly FIRE! Fire surrounded the youma and, overhead, Sunbreaker appeared. Clasped in her right hand was the black gem. She glanced down at the youma and then... sighed. As it just went right over the fire. "Right. Yeah, let's get this over with. I'm pretty busy today so why don't you lot call yourselves idiots and punch yourselves out and save me the trouble?"

She then dropped down and eyed the rolling youma. "Let's skip the song and dance. I've got the black crystal, that means you're mine," she said, holding it up and... then paused. "So... ummm... crystal... thing. Come out, I guess? Sit down, separate from the girl and let's move this on... I swear if I have to purify you in order to get the stupid rock I'm going to be PISSED! As if I don't have ENOUGH to do without having to deal with that old witch's vanity project."

And then... She glanced up and... "YOU! AND YOU!" she yelled, pointing at Zoisite and Jadeite. "You two are the reason I'm stuck dealing with this stupid baseball youma, aren't you?! And get your rolling useless dark energy butt BACK HERE you oversized construction equipment!" she snapped, turning her back on it to glare back at the two boys. "And don't even get me started on this 'great leader' garbage. Girl couldn't 'leader' herself out of a wet paper bag."

I mean, she'd only come down here, insulted it repeatedly and all. But she had the black crystal. That meant it'd be fine, right?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Of course a youma has to interrupt such a beautiful day. And of course it has to be for the sake of a crystal! Why not? This day just keeps getting worse and worse!

At least Sunbreaker was here, and looking well. No horrible wounds, no blood, no palid skin - nothing but flames and attitude, as it should be.

Usagi could take some joy in that, at least.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

And since everyone here already knew her - what with the civilians running off in a panic - there's no need to worry about her secret identity. Sailor Moon would strike a pose and offer a speech of her own, but she's been beaten to it, and besides that, there's a youma firing on her Mamochan! (And Madoka!) And also trying to roll over all her friends!

"Hey! You may not care about lives, safety, or school property, but you'd better care about backing off my friends!" Sailor Moon leaps from the bleachers to one of the stadium lights off to the side of the monster, hand flying to her tiara.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

The glowing disc of cosmic energy, love and hope made physical, flies for the two foul balls, aiming to sheer them in half so the pieces will fall to the side of Hope Witch and Tuxedo Mask, rather than striking them down.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Seven Great Youma?" repeats Hope Witch after hearing Kamen's speech. What exactly did she just show up for?! Suddenly this somehow doesn't seem like a normal youma fight. To Zoi, she adds, "It's a shame to ruin such a nice day, but this is our life now."

    Frowning at Yakyouma's response, Witch puts her hands on her hips and leans forward, "I don't know what your plan is, but if it involves stealing energy from people then--" She suddenly notices a GIANT baseball coming at her and well... this form still isn't the most nimble for her. Quickly she forms her black branch bow in her hands and releases a quickcharged arrow, which slows it down just enough for Moon to finish the job. "Thanks, Sailor Moon!" she calls out. Seeing the potential havoc that this Great Youma can cause, she decides that the best she can do is...

    "Wake Labyrinth!" she shouts, and suddenly reality itself swirls and changes. Magical folk are drawn into Madoka's version of the world, but the mundane victims are replaced by little plushies with X-stitches for eyes. If nothing else, she can probably stop things from getting worse. She doesn't know Niji that well, but she can't imagine anyone wanting to tear up the field that they themselves use.

    "Sunbreaker? Aren't you doing enough already with the Eclipse Zones?!"

    People keep throwing around the world 'old witch' and Madoka's fairly certain they aren't talking about any Witches she knows. Maybe she'll ask about that later when people aren't potentially getting run over.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Seven great You..." No, Daifuku was NOT going to repeat the witch over there even if she had the same curiosity toward it. She'd apparently been a bit out of the loop on that, and remarks, "I'll want a read-in on that situation later, Itoko!"

For now? While Hope Witch sets up the labrynth, Sailor Moon targets the baseballs of doom, and the others start taking up guarding positions, she opts to leap down to the field itself with her hammer drawn overhead.

"Let's see if you can roll around when the field's broken up!" It had a steam roller, surely limiting it's movement would be a good idea! The Kine is swung forward and down to slam into the ground in a move familiar to most of her allies. As it impacts, she cries out, "Baine Marie!" out of habit more than necessity. The ground cracks and splits with a hiss of releasing steam seeking to make the steam rollering youma have a very rocky time.

Zoisite has posed:
    Standing in front of the crowd, Zoisite knows that makes him stand out as a target. He'd been hoping it was enough to draw attention towards him and away from Tuxedo Kamen, but unfortunately he just doesn't have the same speech-giving capabilities as his prince. Maybe that's a strictly royals-only skill.

    He'll have to ask. Later.

    Fingers curling around the hilt of his sword, Zoisite begins to put some of his freshly studied physics knowledge to test as two foul balls come screaming through the air towards the bleachers. "Truly," he says distractedly in reply to Hope Witch, though not so distracted that he can't take a second to wrinkle his nose in distaste.

    Then the glittering shearing force of a tiara sails overhead, and at this point in his life Zoisite would be utterly foolish not to trust in the power of the Moon Princess, so he decides to go on the defensive instead, jumping away out of the youma's roller-assembly lower half's path. He backflips effortlessly, landing high up on the bleachers again, balanced on the handrails. "Why are you yelling at me?" he calls out to Sunbreaker. "I'm just a poor little bystander in all of this, I assure you!" Lie lie lie. The fact that he's actively wielding a blade seems to speak in contrast to his words, as does the narrow-eyed focus on his face.

    As they're all pulled into the Labyrinth, he steadies himself, and then Zoi leaps back into action. Bearing down on the youma, he brings his sword down to try and slice at once if its arms in the hopes of stopping further foul balls from flying!

Makoto Kino has posed:
It is, please note, severely disorienting to emerge from under the bleachers just in time to be plunged into Madoka's Labyrinth. Sailor Jupiter blinks a couple of times, regaining her bearings. "This is the weirdest barrier so far," she says, mostly to herself.

But never mind that, there's a youma to deal with. "How about you settle down a little?" she demands of Yakyouma before spreading both hands in the air, releasing a flurry of deep pink petals: "Flower Hurricane!"

A gust of wind kicks up, rushing past Jupiter to swirl the tumbling petals and the steam from Daifuku's Bain-Marie around the youma in a distracting rush of color and fragrance and sight-fogging haze. With the hurricane of petals in motion in the air, Jupiter surges forward, sprinting toward the youma with fists already crackling.

Jadeite has posed:
The world shimmers around Jadeite, turning it into a pastel wonderland. The victims appear to be dolls now; since a mahou his prince was allied with did it, it must be beneficial, but it is still a little eerie.

He salutes Madoka with his ice sword nonetheless before he turns to Sunbreaker, hopping down to stand alongside Zoisite.

"It seems like some people really can't have fun! And I hardly see how we're at fault if we're the ones trying to enjoy the game? Do you think we're so hard off that we'd disrupt our own fun for that fool?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Sunbreaker's right about the Dark Kingdom's upper management," Tuxedo Kamen calls out, laughing, then gets ready to jump away as his eyes widen behind his mask-- but it's okay, Sailor Moon has his 12! He holds his cape up to shield himself from the pieces of giant baseball, then leaps up out of the way of potentially getting shot again, landing just behind his shitennou.

"Excellent, stay there for a second," he tells Jadeite and Zoisite, "buff incoming."

His hands land on their shoulders and glow, and glow, and he says cheerfully, "You can beat it up and it won't hurt her, she'll be fine."

Then he calls more loudly, "Gravity's still right, I don't think this is a real Labyrinth!"

That's about where he is right now.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Confusion reigns as the youma's baseball-head turns left and right. "Who called for a change of venue? This isn't an official field! We can't have a game here!" it cries out. Daifuku's hammer breaks the terrain and it has to stop, too, somewhat catcorner. "Unsanctioned! Unacceptable!"

    And it looks at Sunbreaker. "And you're not an offical! Have a fastball!" it says, leveling the right arm before firing another person-size ball at her in a very fast direct line.

    The flower hurricane kicks up, preventing the youma from firing any more balls for now after that - doubly so as it flails, and while Zoisite doesn't cleave off an arm, his blade does find purchase in the machine-like cannon, and cuts a line down in it, which causes sparks to fly.

    "I guess I'm not pitching anymore... I must be up AT THE PLATE NOW." it says as fingers close around that cannon arm to turn it into a hand, and it draws two of the three baseball bats on its back - one in each arm. It makes three swings - one at Zoisite, one at Jadeite, and one at Jupiter. Then it LAUNCHES the bat at Daifuku before drawing its third bat to replace it.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Sounds to me like you should push for better working conditions," suggests Hope to Sunbreaker. "Maybe you could get a lawyer. Do you have lawyer youma?"

    Madoka, why are you giving her ideas?!

    Upon hearing people's confusion about her Labyrinth, she calls out, "Just think of it like a Barrier or Zero Time. The civilians have been left outside and collateral damage doesn't matter here. If I made this place too weird it'd just make it complicated for everyone else."

    That said, the random dolls are still strewn out all over the field. It can't help but be a little weird. At least the ground is solid and normalish instead of being soft and squishy like that one time.

    Since dodging isn't always reliable in this form, Madoka decides to hop down from the bleachers and onto the ground. The turf rises in front of her, creating a wall of packed dirt. With her cover semi-secure (in as much as destructible terrain could ever be safe), she fires more arrows into the air, one after the other, each one splitting into many and peppering the baseball youma with a multitude of magical bolts.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker let out a startled yelp when suddenly they were... inside a barrier. A Madoka Beryl. "Okay, you know what? This? This right here? Hope Witch? This is creepy. And yes! Thank you! I am overworked enough and yet, apparently, despite everything else I still have to do little vanity projects like this! It's not 'Oh, Sunbreaker, thank you so much for constantly pulling our flanks out of the fire, we'd be so lost without you'. No, instead it's all 'Grrr, here's a stupid useless black crystal that was made by WHO KNOWS WHAT, the interface is all screwed up, and now I have to go find a stupid bunch of rainbow rocks!'"

Okay, she was a little smug about that one. Even the sparkle skirts could probably pick up what she was putting down... even if they don't realize she's trying to put it down.

She then glanced towards the two Ite's. "Don't think I don't recognize you two! I know old co-workers when I see them!" Nevermind she doesn't recognize Tuxedo Kamen. "I don't blame you for quitting her department but now I'M stuck picking up YOUR slack! It--"

Annnnd then baseball to the back of the body.

She was sent toppling forward, skidding along the ground. The black crystal clattering along the ground...

The things she does for these idiots. Also. "The... tartarus. Did... you... just... ATTACK ME?!" she yelled, sitting up and then turning towards the youma. "OKAY! YOU WANNA PLAY BASEBALL?! LET'S PLAY BASEBALL! HIT THIS ONE!" she yelled, before forming a ball of white hot fire in her hand and then CHUCKING it straight at the youma.

"Yes, of course we have youma lawyers!" she yells at Hope Witch. "Also some in HR!"

Jadeite has posed:
"Thank you, my prince. Glory of the Snow!" Jadeite cries out, creating a screen of icy flowers that spreads over himself - and further.

Normally, his shield might spread to cover two or three people, a hard shield that would make an attack skittter off or get momentum stolen by the shattering. With his prince's assistance, he's able to grow it to cover himself, Zoistie, his prince, and the mahou getting a bat yeeted at her. If the attacks are able to break through, they'll at least be slowed enough to make dodging significantly easier.

As for himself - the attack is trapped in the icy bouquet, l which shatters harmlessly around him.

"You can quit too, you know!" he yells to Sunbreaker. He has no idea who she is, but the sentiment remains the same. Just leave! Hit the bricks! Stop being evil!

Zoisite has posed:
    The caped shadow that falls over Zoisite and Jadeite causes a momentary pause in the former of the two Shitennou present. When Tuxedo Kamen lands and places a hand on his shoulder, Zoisite's brow furrows, but then he takes in a strengthening breath as he feels hismself surge with energy. He gives a little shake, full body, before he draws his sword forward again into a fencer's pose.

    "I'm not going to apologize for quitting," he calls out as he readies himself for another attack. Only to be foiled, as in fact he's the one being attacked! His immediate instinct drives him to put a hand on Tuxedo Kamen's chest and push him backwards, out of the range of the swinging bat and further into the safety of Jadeite's shield, and then Zoisite lunges forward... out of the safety of Jadeite's shield.

    Because he brings his sword around to meet the swinging bat in the middle, hoping to block it fully!

    As an afterthought, he also adds towards Sunbreaker, "My two week notice was lost in the mail, I suppose! Not my fault!"

    Reader, he absolutely did not send in a two weeks notice.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku was ready for this attack as she steps back shifting her weight to her further leg intending to use her hammer as a bat for whatever baseball that was going to come her way. She was ready!

For a baseball not for a baseball BAT.

The stance turns more toward one of bracing for impact as she brings both hands up to hold her Kine in front of her intending to, hopefully, let it absorb some of the impact rather than take it all on herself.

The wall of ice flowers that bloom up in front of her take her breath away with a sigh of obvious relief that she wasn't going to have to tank that entire hit. "Thanks for the save!" She blurts out as the bat hits and shatters the ice leaving her revealed again, but safe and able to attack once more.

She really ought to work on more distance attacks, because all she can do at this point is run forward along with Sailor Jupiter, Zoisite, and anyone else directly attacking. The hammer is swung out ducking low trying to knock the youma onto it's side with one massive blow.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Jupiter's charge toward the youma is met with a swing of a bat. She could veer off, dodge - or she could commit.

Guess which one Sailor Jupiter chooses.

With a shout of effort, she drives ahead, fist-first, meeting the bat that's swinging at her with a headlong, full-force punch, her fist wreathed in crackling energy.

The two meet with a terrific CRACK!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Oooooh, good call Hope Witch! Thank you!" calls Tuxedo Mask, and then -- right there, a shield from a Jadeite, and the prince looks absolutely delighted behind his mask. He's listening to everyone and trying to keep his eyes on everything, and that's why it's super easy for Zoisite to just push him back.

For a half-second, Mamoru looks really annoyed. Like, really annoyed. And then he claps Jadeite on the shoulder again and says, "Good job, excellent work." A pause. "I'll be okay, I promise I'm not helpless. Go ahead and attack, I'll buff it again--" his hand's already glowing once more, "--I know you've been playing with form. Let's see what else you've got!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Watching everyone fight, Sailor Moon just has one thought - if she purified the youma now, would it be distracted enough for everyone to land a really soid hit? It would, right? Right?

"I definitely promise to explain everything later, itoko! But basically, Sunbreaker's mad because she works for the biggest jerk in the galaxy!"

And it's her own fault! She could quit! She could walk out and do it on her own!

With bats flying at Zoisite and Daifuku, and then quickly tanked by a wall of icy flowers, there's just Jupiter to worry about, and she's -

Meeting the bat fist on with a terrific crack! Wow! Honestly, she can probably trust the youma to her cousin and Mako-chan! Sure, it would need purification, but... black crystal, huh?

So it is that Sailor Moon, instead of going for the youma, decides to go straight for Sunbreaker - not tackling the flaming girl (she's learned from the mistakes of others! And sometimes herself!) but instead grabbing her tiara again.

"If it's so stupid, why don't we take it off your hands? Moon Tiara Action!"

And the tiara goes flying straight for the crystal that Sunbreaker just dropped. That poor, unprotected crystal that no one loves. No one's ever held it with warmth and compassion, no one's ever considered it valuable - and now, with Sailor Moon's tiara bearing down, no one ever will.

The sound of it shattering doesn't echo through time and space, and yet, despite that, far away in Obsidian Tower, Queen Beryl's face darkens with a scowl of rage.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    The thrown bat smashes with a terrific noise against the empowered barrier Jadeite brought up. But it doesn't go through, which is really the important part, thudding to the ground of the labrynth with a loud noise. And there's a whole lot of stuff coming back the youma's way. But for the moment it's busy dealing with everyone so close. The swings are wide, and powerful - they have to be when a bat is the relative circumference of a car - but they're each met by a relative amount of force themselves, intentionally or unintentionally - Zoisite's sword, Daifuku's hammer, and Makoto's lightning-wreathed fist each crack loudly off the wood, stopping a swing each.

    Having each of it's attacks parried by the smaller people with such tremendous energy seems to knock it off balance - a situation that is further exacerbated by the hail of pink arrows that fly through the air and into its body, because they hit slightly after the ball of white fire that burns away the catcher's chestplate it wore as armor. The massive entity staggers, and it turns out there's a reason for feet and not a roller for stability - because the whole large youma goes tilting backwards and then crashing down with a loud echo that rocks throughout the Labyrnth. It has to put a hand behind itself, now the youma is struggling to push itself with enough force to right itself.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker glared at the pair of boys again. "If I could quit I would, but it's not exactly an option at this point! And what? No, gosh. No. I don't blame you lot for quitting! I blame you lot for not taking care of your work before you left!"

And oh... oh wow. She saw Sailor Jupiter just... punch a bat. And made a mental note. Never. Let. That girl. Close. Holy crud. OW.

SHIT TIARA FRISBY MURDER STABBY THING! She yelped and stepped back, but it wasn't going for her. It was--

"Buck, no!" she yelled... but it was too late! The crystal!

...

Oh well. She only dropped it because the youma attacked her.

"... Well, Beryl's not going to like that. You do realize this means I now HAVE to bring something back to her, right? Ugh... such a headache... but fine... let's deal with the big thing first."

Right. Daifuku was here. That meant fire was a problem. The punching girl had some kind of lightning. Moon was... moon. Rose boy over there. The ex-workers. Aaaaand Madoka.

Seriously, Niji, had to bring a whole all-stars lineup, didn't you? She put her hands together and then five black gemstones appeared around her, swirling around her in a tight circle.

Jadeite has posed:
With his prince's power and his encouragement, Jadeite can see nothing except a path to success. He'll make his prince proud! He'll make sure their victory is complete!

He flashes his prince a grin, then winks to Zoisite, and then raises his hand, bringing it down in a long, striaght motion. "As you command! SNOW THIMBLE!"

An enormous stem of ice extends itself, then lets dozens of bell-shaped flowers hang from it. The flowers rock back and forth, ringing like crystal bells, before they start to drop on Sunbreaker and Yakyouma.

It's not going to finish off either of them, but the storm of ice bells - sharp around the edges, heavy at the base - fly freely, making it difficult for either of them to move without being hit by several baseketball-sized ice bells.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Witch looks around at her Labyrinth after Sunbreaker says it's creepy and feels a little awkward. "It's not that bad. I mean I'm not the one draining people!"

    An eldritch multi-eyed winged Familiar wanders into the field, gets spooked by the magic being flung around, and then skitters off to anywhere-but-here. Okay maybe it's a bit weird. She's used to the weirdness, but most others probably aren't.

    Medo peeks her head out from behind a cloud hanging in the sky which is apparently a lot closer than it actually looks. She looks at the fallen crystal, tempted to make a grab at it, but it looks like Moon has other ideas. Well, probably for the best. The Doka Fairy Squad has enough dark energy problems as it is, and who knows what that thing even did. It clearly didn't function as intended.

    "It's down!" shouts Madoka. "I'll keep it down. Try to purify it!"

    Hope Witch closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and tries to concentrate. The false cloud that Medo is riding on starts to move and turn dark, trying to raining water all over Yakyouma. In that one spot, the Labryinth's ground gets soft and muddy. Worse than that, it's also incredibly slippery, which probably isn't helping anyone who tries to move via roller. That tiny raincloud is starting to form a muddy puddle, and that mud goes unnaturally deep. More than deep enough to sink into.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I think the labyrinth is cute!"

Yeah, the girl who's akuma turned people into toys probably would think this plush-world-gone-wrong with x-for-eyes plushies is cute. But that least it's a vote of confidence for Hope Witch!

And then, thanks to everyone's attacks, the youma stumbles back, falling over with a thud that shakes the stadium light Sailor Moon is perched atop. Oh no! Her tall thing!

There's only one thing to do, right? The monster is vulnerable, attacks are raining down, and the Silver Crystal glows in it's housing within the Moon Stick.

"It's time for you to go. This game, it's over! Moon Healing Escalation!"

Beams of light blast forward and silver mists roll out from the apex of the circle of light Sailor Moon carves into the world. The purification stings - stings - stings! It's like taking a soak in menthol!

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku leaps backward after her attack because she sees that it is indeed going down. Between her and Jupiter's strength, and the additional attack from Zoisite's sword, there was no doubt in her mind it was about done for. Secretly she's rather glad she does jump back when the rain from Hope Witch's little creature starts making the ground rather muddy.

So she withdraws back to the 'defensive line' where Jadeite and Tuxedo Kamen lingered, all the while keeping her eyes trained on Sunbreaker and the Youma that was about to be cleaned just-in-case.

"Everyone all right?" She asks more out of habit than anything. While she was usually tapped for healing people, she hadn't *needed* to for quite awhile since Tuxedo Kamen had come back to the side of his girlfriend.

Zoisite has posed:
    Zoisite slams a home run touchdown or some other sports analogy he doesn't care to understand; the point being, sword met bat and sword won. He half turns to glance back at Tuxedo Kamen, a mercurial half-smile on his face concealing his pride, but Mamoru is busy giving a pep-talk to Jadeite.

    Which is fine! He's totally fine. Zoisite wasn't looking for any recognition, that would be beneath him. (He totally was. But he'll pout about it later.)

    Instead he rounds back on the youma, just as it topples over and hits the dirt! Or rather, the mud. Zoisite has quite the sinking feeling, so as rain starts to pour, he backs up out of it, coming back into close quarters with his fellow Shitennou.

    "They'll never get another cent of work out of me," he calls out in reply, to Sunbreaker. "I'm too expensive for Obsidian!"

    A flash of distaste crosses his face as Beryl is mentioned, but there's nothing for it.

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Ow ow ow ow..." Sailor Jupiter hops back a couple of steps, shaking out her hand and working her fingers. Nothing broken, but - "Dammit, that stung."

Although her arm is still singing from the impact with that giant bat, it did the job. She's still standing, and thanks to everyone's combined efforts, the youma is downed and vulnerable.

As Jadeite's icy flowers begin to hail down on and around both Yakyouma and Sunbreaker, and the tiny raincloud showers the youma with rain, thunder rumbles through the Labyrinth.

Sailor Jupiter draws back another step - two - and raises her hands, tiara sparking with energy. "Supreme..."

The sky lights up.

"...THUNDER...!"

The air reverberates with a thunderous BOOM as a bolt of lightning stabs down to meet the rush of Sailor Moon's Escalation.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
'As you command' mouths Tuxedo Kamen, shaking his head slightly. Tiny sigh.

He calls over to Madoka, "It's not bad at all! I like the doll effect--" and then Jadeite's ice bells of woe start attacking and Mamoru cheers. He doesn't yet move out from behind Jadeite, watching the youma closely, waiting for it to 'pop' and turn back into Niji and let loose the crystal. "I'm okay, Daifuku, how about you? Good job, Zoisite! I'm mad at you but good job! Oh, hang on--"

--and then Moon Healing Escalation goes radiating out and Tuxedo Kamen darts out from behind Jadeite and Zoisite; Supreme Thunder bolts down and the caped gentleman jewel thief bolts toward the downed youma, feet as light as dandelion fluff as dress shoes barely make a sound on the labyrinth floor.

He is, of course, hazarding action on a guess.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Between Madoka's raincloud of supernatural mudmaking and Snow Thimble, the youma who already wasn't going anywhere fast, now isn't really capable of going anywhere slowly either.

    The sky opens up and thunder crashes down, in time to meet the escalation (which is not going up despite its name) - and there's not really anywhere to go, anything to do but bathe in the purification (and lightning, and snow bell flowers, and mud.

    "I'VE STRUCK OUT! REFRESHHHHHH!" the youma yells, shifting and reforming until there are two seperate things - an orange crystal, which hits the mud and glistens a bit in it, and Niji Dasshu, who hits the mud and glistens a lot less. In fact her hair is *everywhere* - some of the spare electricity from Supreme Thunder must have been around to frizzle the heck out of her mulitcolored mane.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker would, in the future, say 'I was totally going to use this big attack on the youma, but that launched the first strike'. And there wasn't a truce or anything called! As the ice bells rang around her... "Oh, so it's like that, is it?" she called out.

And oh... as the youma fell...

So did the crystals. Ugh. She loathed doing this... but... appearances mattered.

One crystal shattered and the rainbow crystal, when it fell to the ground, suddenly erupted. There were now DOZENS of them?! But which was the real one.

They wouldn't have much time to find out. The second gem shattered and blasts of fire, ice and lightning flew off from her in all directions... Well.

Except there was more than just fake crystals there.

The blast of incredibly fast fire heading at Daifuku would remain fire... unless she tried to counteract the fire or touch. At which point the illusion would fade and she'd realize it was electricity, designed to strike and paralyze her.

The third gemstone would shatter. Lightning would go at Jupiter... but would reveal itself as not lightning at all, as it blew by (or even through her), the ground would rise up and try to bury her.

Shards of ice would fly at Jadeite and Zoisite... but as the fourth gemstone shattered, it would reveal to be another fake. Coming closer.... and erupting into a powerful cyclone of winds.

And the fifth gemstone shattered, sending a powerful gust of wind, shattering the ice over her. The fire aimed at Hope Witch and Sailor Moon erupted, this time not being fire... but ice. Attempting to encase all of them.

And Sunbreaker... "O-oh Sora..." she whispered, collapsing to her knees and... heaving? She coughed up what looked like dark... sludge? Stuff? It evaporated before it touched the ground, but the dark energy inside her... it did not... play well.

But with so many of them... she couldn't just hold back. And... of course... Tuxedo Mask was going for one. She didn't have time to regather herself, charging towards the flurry of illusionary gemstones. Hoping she'd bought... just... enough time...

She could worry about the blurry vision, the pain searing through her stomach and chest and nausea later. After she had the gem. And if she got there first, she'd lunge, trying to grab it!

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope sees Mamo-kun running towards the youma and starts fretting. As he moves he might find that the ground beneath his feet is surprisingly firm and has plenty of traction. She doesn't want to mess up his shoes or anything...

    A moment later she realizes that the outfit is probably a henshin and, therefore, doesn't really stay dirty but whatever. It still helps probably.

    When the youma falls, Madoka is actually focused more on Niji than on the crystal or Sunbreaker, which unfortunately leaves her vulnerable to a sudden attack. Medo, who kept her eye on Sunbreaker, calls out, "Doka-chan! Watch out!" Hope Witch looks up just in time to see the confusing illusion of fire that turns into ice. How could she even deal with this?!

    Madoka is, for the moment, frozen solid and encased in ice. The dirt wall she was hiding behind took most of the hit, but the rest of it washed over her and entombed her. The Labyrinth starts to waver, but not fade. Responding to her panic, the various Familiars begin to Move.

    The dolls lying on the ground rise up, looking up at Sunbreaker. Horrifyingly peaceful angels appear from behind cotton ball clouds and fly towards her. Medo flies closer to Madoka and pulls out a tiny hair dryer, trying to thaw her out.

Jadeite has posed:
As the ice attack rains down, Jadeite snaps to defend himself and Zoisite again - he won't allow his friend to be harmed by his own element!

"Glory of the Snow!" he calls out, creating a shield of flowers to protect himself and Zoisite.

Except what rains down is not ice but wind; it hits the wide spread of flowers and blows him and the shield back against the bleachers. Jadeite ends up pinned under his own shield against the bleachers. It'll take a minute for him to break down the ice and leap back up.

"Zoisite, I've got this!" he cries out; he's got this attack handled as best he can, so go protect their prince and his allies!!

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku flashes a quick grin toward Tuxedo Mask with a quick nod, "Doing fine. Barely broke a sweat!" A boast she usually wouldn't do, but given the situation it felt kind of nice to say. Even if it was a bit of a fib. She does add a quick, "Thanks for the assists," toward the others nearby though it was a bit early yet. Usually as soon as Sailor Moon broke out the purifying things were on their way toward finishing up.

Except Sunbreaker was out there still with dark crystals floating aroundher in a rather worrying way.

The blur of motion as the figure in black she'd been standing near dodges out to the field itself after the orange crystal earns a quick glance of surprise at him. If not for that look she might have caught sooner when the flames come shooting out toward her.

Without hesitation she steps forward to bring her Hammer forward as flames lick along it's length as well. It wouldn't be the first time she's caught and stolen Sunbreaker's fire and she intends to do so again! --If only it weren't an illusion.

Too late, the 'fire' changes to it's true form of electricity which cracks over her hammer dismissing the fire entirely as she takes the hit with a shriek as her body seizes up from muscles locking and clenching in place. The hammer hits the ground just before she does with a pained groan as she fights to keep her eyes open and head raised to watch what was going on.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There it is--! ... there a lot of them are, ugh, this again. "THIS IS WHY I SHOULD HAVE A CRYSTAL, ZOI," yells Mamoru across the field, still running toward the one he thinks is correct, amd then he's lost it.

TCH is the sound he makes, even though he's doing a lot less sliding on the ground than he thought he'd be -- which is lovely -- and then when he sees he's not going to stop her in time, she's too fast, she was closer, she's just... he veers off at the last second to try and bodyslam Sunbreaker!

Makoto Kino has posed:
Makoto's already had one unpleasant experience to teach her that she's not actually immune to her own lightning. She's not in a hurry to try anyone else's. So when that blast of lightning comes rushing for her, Sailor Jupiter reacts instinctively, dropping down to flatten herself against the ground.

Which promptly rises up and tries to eat her.

"Mmmphm!" Her voice is muffled, but from the tone it sounds a lot like cussing.

Zoisite has posed:
    When Jadeite steps forward to absorb the attack, Zoisite rightly steps back to allow him, knowing this is his compatriot's specialty. Except it isn't, is it, and Zoi watches on with widened eyes as Jadeite is blown back by the force of the wind attack, leaving himself standing there, mouth slightly parted.

    He calls out a "Got it!" back to Jadeite as he sprints forward, following after Tuxedo Kamen on the curiously firm and not-muddy ground. A handful of sakura petals gather in his palm and he extends his hand towards Sunbreaker...

    ...but he snatches it back, the flowers disintegrating into nothing as Mamoru charges at Sunbreaker, calling his attack back at the last second lest it risk seriously injuring his prince.

    Said prince does bring up a great point, though, and given that Zoisite has thrown himself into the midst of it all, he pulls out his own crystal and tries to use it as a magnet to attract the correct orange one to himself!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Everything erupts into chaos, as soon as Niji-chan drops. Tons of crystals and so many of them firing attacks and Sailor Moon tries and fails to dodge as fire transforms to ice -

But just like Madoka, she's caught up in the ice, and quickly covered over.

Unlike Madoka, she has no fairy with an adorable but ineffectual hair-dryer. Instead, she has a silver crystal, which glows, and glows, and glows, pulsing with light from deep within the ice.

It's going to take some time - it's going to take some time - but the soon, she'll be out.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker was the most petty of all unicorns. Her entire body was burning and, to her annoyance, the STUPID LABYRINTH WASN'T GOING DOWN! "Hope Witch bring down the barrier now OR I'LL BRING YOU DOWN!" she yelled.

Flower petals and--

Tuxedo Mask. Into the torso. It was... frankly, a miracle, she didn't go down. Her feet dug into the ground, skid marks across it. One hand on his shoulder... and...

Then fire. Driving it, and him, down into the ground.

"This is payback for EVERYTHING you sparkleskirts have DONE TO ME!" she yelled.

She drove an explosion of fire into Tuxedo Mask's back, driving him to the ground and sending smoke covering the battlefield. Zoisite had just a moment to see one of the gemstones move...

Before it was covered in smoke.

A few moments later Sunbreaker came hobbling out of the smoke, orange gemstone in her right hand, flame emblazoning her, before she kind of... teleported away in little hops and skips, limping like a drunk who just got hit by the delivery truck and hadn't realized they were broken yet. Finally, she disappeared, smashing through the walls of the strange witch's labyrinth.

... However... Tuxedo Mask would have something... stuffed down the front of his jacket.

Sunbreaker, meanwhile, collapsed to the ground... whereever the hell she teleported. She didn't even know. It was muddy. And everything hurt. And she coughed up more dark energy sludge. But you know what?

She'd proven her point. She could, at any time, BEAT ALL OF THEM! HA! That'd show them. SHE WAS THE GREATEST! THE BEST! THE BEST! THE BES-- More dark energy spewed out of her. "Wooooooo..."

"... Uhhhh... lady? Are... are you okay?" some hapless loser said, misjudging her glorious position.

"N-never... better..." What the hell were Tuxedo Mask's shoulders made of, cement?!

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Witch is currently frozen, and can't really respond to Sunbreaker at all, but probably wouldn't anyways. On the other hand, her Labyrinth was already wavering and weakening, and with Madoka's magic going awry between her sudden Familiar army and her also being frozen...

    The reality of the Labyrinth just isn't as durable as it normally would be.

    Sunbreaker smashes through a wall and makes a gateway back to reality. That gateway forms cracks that spread all over the ground and sky. Feathery eldritch beings and cute moving plushies all try to keep things together by applying small bits of tape to the web of cracks in reality, but to no avail.

    The Labyrinth shatters, and the various mahou end up in the real world again. The Familiars are gone. Madoka's ice tomb drops a few feet through the air and shatters, freeing her but also leaving her dizzy. Medo, the flossie wearing fairy, immediately starts fussing over Hope Witch, circling around her and applying tiny little band-aids while the pink Bearer is still trying to get her bearings.

    "Hey everyone... did we win? We won, right?" she says in a half-mumble as she tries to recover from her sudden dizziness.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's all the stress, not cement.

Tuxedo Kamen is definitely down in the dirt, there, not quite on fire but definitely burnt-- and he gingerly starts picking himself up, singed and tattered cape not having the best time of it.

"'M okay," he calls out, then chokes on the smoke and starts coughing, because he's one of the smartest people in his class. (He is not actually entirely okay, no.) He pats his front as he coughs, wincing, and-- (cough, cough) puts a gloved hand over his mouth and tries to breathe through the fabric as he fishes under his pique vest...

...and produces a glittering orange crystal. He stares at it uncomprehendingly, grimacing at the stinging from his back and shoulders.

Payback?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Once Sunbreaker is gone? That's when the Silver Crystal has built up enough energy. The ice imprisoning Sailor Moon doesn't melt - it simply shatters into millions of tiny sparkling shards as the Silver Crystal glows bright as a miniature star in the Moon Stick. Her chest is heaving, her skin prickled with goosefeathers, dragging in desperate breathes. Just before the ice hit, she heard Daifuku scream, saw Jupiter disappear beneath the earth, and now as she looks around she doesn't see Sunbreaker anywhere, and Mamochan is on the ground, and -

The Silver Crystal demands to be used.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

As the Labyrinth collapses, purifying energy washes over the area, tearing away at the dark energy that empowered Sunbreaker's attacks - the earth burying Sailor Jupiter softens, allowing enough air to flow that she'll have no danger of suffocating under the earth. The heavy winds pinning Jadeite and his shield die away. And for those injured, like Culinary Guardian Daifuku and Tuxedo Kamen - and for those not, like Zoisite, who had been forced to hold back - the wave of purification is invigorating. Not healing, but it's like a recharge of the batteries.

And for Hope Witch, comproised of dark energy herself, in part - it parts? Like a curtain, falling around her, allowing her to go without an unasked serving of happy juice.

Zoisite has posed:
    The crystal Zoisite is after is there and then gone in a wash of smoke. He presses his lower face into the crook of his elbow to protect his airways as he tries to navigate his way through it, to Mamoru.

    "Prince Endymion!" he calls out, not frantic but certainly on the edge of his nerves, blue crystal cradled uselessly in his free hand.

    Except... not. He feels it tugging again, and his arm lifts of its own volition, led forward by the magnetic pull until he clears the smoke and finds his hand resting against Mamoru's.

    Against Mamoru's, and the orange crystal he holds.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Moon Healing Escalation bathes the area in its rightness. In its wake, Sailor Jupiter erupts from the churned-up earth like something out of a horror movie, only very much alive and much more indignant.

Filthy, though.

"*HACK* pteh! ugh!" She sputters, coughing and spitting dirt, looking around with fiery green eyes for any sign of Sunbreaker. It's probably just as well the alicorn is long gone by now.

"Tell me she didn't get away with the crystal--!"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Could she just lay there a minute? That sounded so tempting. So very tempting. There was still so much going on though, and the heat of flames could be felt even where Daifuku had landed making her all the more aware that laying on the cool ground wasn't going to be an option.

Pushing down against the ground she levers herself up again, shaking a bit from muscles sore, aching, and jolted unpleasantly. One hand stretches out to grasp her Kine using it to help push herself further to her feet.

Just as she gets up sucking in a deep breath of air singed with the sharp acidity of smoke, she hears Sailor Moon call out with the healing escalation.

It was only a few times that she herself had been healed magically. Once by Mamoru, and now by this. The feeling as it courses through her was one of relief, of pain ebbing away, and she nearly falls again as she leans on her hammer. Not from pain this time but from the feeling of it being just not *there* in such a way that she just wanted to let that pleasant feeling sink in more.

The area had returned to normal she realizes with a few blinking glances around before she hears the questions start to rise. "I... think so? Maybe." Mostly. Partially. The response is for Hope Witch, but Jupiter just earns a shake of her head. "Don't know."

"Tux, you okay because if I have to cook up something, you better let me know now. Same goes for everyone else."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Got (cough) crystal," Mamoru says out loud so everyone who's asking at least has an answer, and then Zoisite's right there, and the prince leans his head to touch Zoisite's, black hair against bright. Then, then, oh, he hears Usagi's voice, and for a moment he's worried there's still a fight happening -- but the smoke is clearing, and then the air is clearing, and the lingering dark energy is clearing, and the escalation helps--

"What-- if you have anything on you I won't say no, but I'll-- it'll be okay," he says in Daifuku's direction, "pretty soon. I missed... pretty much everything that happened, except Sunbreaker gave me this and it's real??"

He holds the glittery thing out towards Moon. "I'm apparently not allowed to have any fun," the rapidly de-burnt-ing prince calls towards his sparkling princess girlfriend. "Would you like some orange?"

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite pries himself off of the ground as Sailor Moon's purifying energy helps peel the ice shield and wind off of himself. He staggers to his feet and wobbles towards the group; it looks like Zoisite has his prince well in hand, so he can gosee the others -

"Thank you," he tells Madoka. "Well done," he tells Guardian Daifuku.

And then he falls to his knees in front of his prince and his prince's friends, looking up at the four of them - Mako, Usagi, Saito, and his prince. "You were all brilliant," he says fondly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
As soon as the Escalation is done, Sailor Moon's henshin flickers, then collapses, leaving Usagi back in her pale orange shirt and brighter orange overall-shorts. She glances around, taking in everyone's condition - exhausted but okay seems to be the norm?

And when Mamoru annouces that despite everything, he got the crystal? She gave him the crystal? She can't help but smile brightly. So... is this just more proof of Hinoiri-chan being the worlds most annoying tsundere? Signs are pointing to yes!

Given the outfit, Usagi finds it perfectly fitting that Mamoru offers her the crystal, and she can't help but reflexively glance down at herself.

"You know, I think some orange would suit me." She waltzes over to him, accepting the crystal. At Jadeite's fond praise she smiles, and then he sinks to his knees! Eep?!

"Hey, you're okay, right? If not, Daifuku-chan can help! But later, I think she's tired now."

And, with that said, she kisses Mamoru on the forehead and then runs over to said cousin to stand by her side.

"How are you feeling?"

Zoisite has posed:
    There's a surprising amount of silence from Zoisite, who would otherwise probably be giving some clapbacks about battlefield etiquette. But even he is... impressed, perhaps, by Sunbreaker's trickery with that final volley of attacks. So he's quiet.

    But he has at least confirmed that Mamoru is still standing, they have the crystal, and when Usagi comes over he offers her a quick, "Thank you," for her earlier purification. Even if it hadn't benefitted Zoisite specificlly, he can be grateful!

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"That's a 'yes', then," Culinary Guardian Daifuku calls back with a look of amusement as she watches the others start to go check on him. He was coughing, and she knew that meant in spite of the healing there was still *some* things that needed healing. Plus he'd said.

When Sailor Moon comes over she smiles reassuringly. "I'm fine. Give me a moment though, and I'll get something to fix the others up," she assures. "Plus a snack for you."

Straightening up she steps to the side while everyone gathers around each other to lift her Kine up in hand. Slowly she spins it around in a circle until it's twirling in her grasp blurring the air in front of her to create a rip in ... in the air itself that she then steps through.

It's an oddity, the God Kitchen Mode, one she'd not used for awhile. Those that would look would see through to another room. A kitchen of all things. One well stocked from the looks, but time there seems to move differently as the figure within moves to and fro in a blur of motion. What would take far longer to do becomes done within a minute like watching a cooking show on fast forward.

Then she steps through that little barrier again carrying with her a cloth wrapped package that was still steaming a bit. The bundle is carried over toward where Tuxedo Kamen, Jadeite, Zoisite and the others are.

"Daifuku. Strawberry, and pineapple just for you, Prince," she teases a bit knowing his favorite flavor from experience. "Any who want, come have one. It'll help the healing and revive you further. Not as much healing as he can do," she admits with a tip of her head toward the tuxedoed one, "But it does the job."

"You too, Sailor Moon and Jupiter." And she nods as well toward the witchy one inviting her over. She just didn't know her name yet.

Makoto Kino has posed:
Sailor Jupiter's fury, targetless with Sunbreaker gone and the crystal safely in hands, fizzles out into awkwardness. "Hey," she says, looking at Jadeite, and chuffs out a little half a laugh. "Cut that out."

She looks down at herself a moment - scrubs her grimy hands against her equally grubby skirt - then gives up and peels off her right glove before she moves to offer Jadeite a hand up. "Your flowers were pretty great, too," she tells him. "Come on, Daifuku-chan's daifuku will top you up if you're wiped out."

To Chiyo she adds, smiling, "I'll definitely have one. Thanks."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    As the Escalation comes out, Medo starts to panic for Gretchen's sake, but it seems like Moon was able to spare Hope Witch for now. Madoka rubs her temple and starts to regain her bearings, then realizes what Moon did for her and smiles in her direction.

    A moment later, Gretchen's egg pops out of her chest and the Hope Witch henshin fades, leaving Madoka behind. Both chara and bearer are looking exhausted. Madoka scoops both of her fairies into her arms and takes a seat, holding them for a moment as she rests.

    When Daifuku invites her over, Madoka hesitates for a moment as she tries to decide whether 'standing up and walking' is a feasible ask of her body right now. Eventually she risks it and starts walking over. "Is... is it purifying? It's not a problem for me or Medo, but Gretchen-chan has dietary restrictions."

    Gretchen, too tired to be grouchy but still having enough energy to sass, says, "You're making me sound weird again!"

    Madoka shushes her and takes a bite out of the offered food, quietly amazed that it was prepared so quickly.