2014-12-29 - Feng Shui 10

Title: Feng Shui 10
Summary: The Wrongness plaguing Tokyo for months has reached its peak as a titanic tree-monster threatens to consume all life. Can it be stopped?
Who: Mai Tokiha, Lera Camry, Fuu Hououji, Hikaru Shidou, Cute Wolf Tsukiko, Japanese Cherry Blossom, Forever Sunshine, Dark Amber, Cure Peach, Cure Berry, Cure Pine, Lingshen Chao, Sailor Mars GM: Juri Arisugawa
Where: Nishitama Park District
OOC - IC Date: 2 May 2014 - 12/29/2014

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqV4W6JajkA

Across the beautiful spring forests outside Tokyo, a battle between the region's magical girls and five Mirror Nakewameke has come to a violent conclusion. There are explosions of mirrordust as the eight-sided mirrors shatter beneath the weight of the girls' feelings for one another.

Now all that remains is the circuitry, the data diamond visible at each of the five monsters' cores, beating as though alive with that crackling green energy.

It's more than Soular's energy, of course -- this is what was stolen from Magic Association headquarters, then split into five. This is the potential, the balance unbalanced, the hinge upon which all things rest, a piece of the World Tree's harness.

And without the mirror to hold it, it has to go /somewhere/.

Carrying the wiring with it, the five green energy beams bend inward, towards the central point around which they were placed.

Closer and closer their tips come to each other, some ten or twenty stories up in the air.

When they finally connect, a shockwave ring blasts those few Golden Week clouds out of existence, and the green is so intense that the blue sky seems gray. Spots of light defiantly remain hovering in midair, moved by rapid blinking but not erased. It takes a good fifteen seconds for them to clear sufficiently to be able to see what has come to pass.

The energy has formed a sphere, and the attached circuitry runs across it, splitting and converging like veins. There is so much less of it than there is of what it is trying to contain, to control, but it has cleverness on its side. By acting as the connection, it routes the energy through itself, over and over and over.

But this is an extraordinary situation, and emergent properties arise that no amount of programming can predict.

The energy roils, twisting this way and that, into mindbendingly impossible shapes one moments and a cloud of spaghetti the next. At last it congeals into a logical yet meaningful shape, an inevitable one, even:

A massive tree.

A tree hundreds of feet tall, with roots ripping out of the ground and crashing down in a tantrum of epic proportions; with a screaming face cast upon its trunk in the whorls and burls of lost limbs and found.

And the Wrongness reaches its height--

AND NOW, THE CONCLUSION...

--as the root-shaped energies plunge back into the ground hungrily.

Darkness spreads upon contact, as every nearby tree, every bush, every blade of grass, every flower petal, first gets a faint tint of purple tainting its hue, then fades to gray and then to black. At the slightest whisper of wind, energy-drained leaves crackle, fall, and turn to dust.

Birds that land for a rest on a twig suffer a similar fate, turning stock-still, their eyes glassing over with violet light, then falling to the ground. Butterflies, squirrels, lizards, turtles, deer, salmon and carp in the streams, the rare bear on the hill... nothing is safe.

The awareness gradually filters in that now it smells like nothing at all, which is a stark contrast from the rich, loamy air of the forest. If anything, it's like inhaling chalk; dry, empty... a little grainy.

The radius of this massive-scale energy drain is still small, maybe a quarter-mile in every direction... but it is steadily expanding.

In minutes it will have consumed the entire Nishitama district.

In hours... Tokyo.

The energy-tree itself is glowing brighter than ever, the circuitry that makes up its veins now luminously purple with the lifeforce of its victims. And its terrible, craggy face is slowly beginning to reshape itself into the worst perversion of a smile ever seen on Earth.

OOC: Anyone who wasn't present for Feng Shui 9 is free to assume they were fighting one of the other four, off-camera Mirror Nakewameke. It involved getting sucked into the mirror to fight Soular in a weird mirror dimension, while your evil twin emerged to fight your friends, and was not very much fun. How he managed to be in five places at once is an open question for another day.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa transforms into Arboreal Cataclysm!
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 9 opponents!
COMBAT: Inori Yamabuki transforms into Cure Pine!
COMBAT: Sakura Akagi transforms into Japanese Cherry Blossom!
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Love Momozono has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Love Momozono transforms into Cure Peach!

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

When the mirror Nakewameke was destroyed, it threw Lera out -- after nearly crushing her. She is tired; she is hurt, and her side is injured from Mikoto's attack in her berserker state. Her barrier jacket is rumpled and dirtied; she will have bruises tomorrow. That, however, is tomorrow. She stands up as she sees the sphere begin to roll and turn, before it finally twists itself into the form of the colossal World Tree, its roots shooting back down to the ground.

It grows dark, then, which makes the faint lingering glow of Soaring Sky going into overdrive make her stand out more against the darkness caused by those terrible roots. Some leaves crumble to dust, falling in front of her as it drifts down.

She shakes her head, staring at the energy tree. "Oh, no," she murmurs softly. "It's going to..."

Her Intelligent Device finishes for her: <...destroy Tokyo.>

She takes a deep breath, reaching her free hand up to dust off her shoulder -- the ashy substance of the fallen leaf is sent to the ground as a powder -- and then she hefts her sword up. The energy blade flares to life, as she looks up at the giant craggy face. "We gotta stop it," she says to her Device and anyone around her. "There's gotta be a way."

COMBAT: Lera Camry has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Lera Camry transforms into Barrier Jacket!

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Japanese Cherry Blossom was among the girls flung free from the mirror at its final shattering. She lands on her shoulder as she's thrown out, roughly.

She is already beaten and exhausted. The little shards of glass that assaulted her inside the mirror have slashed up her sleeves and skirt just slightly, and one little cut streaks across her cheek. She feels bruised and battered. But... surely, the mirror's destruction, means...

No. As she starts to sit up, she shades her eyes as the wrongness pierces the sky. The green and gray fold out, and she opens her eyes, blinking rapidly as the dark energy spreads through the trees. The smell of stale dying leaves and dust and corruption and then nothingness chokes her senses, and makes her eyes water with tears and pain.

She struggles to her feet.

But can anyone even reach the heart of... an evil tree?

Maybe the creatures. The flowers.

Sakura runs over to a drained butterfly, sitting motionless without flutter on a pile of faded flowers. She gets down on her knees, and lifts it up into her hands. "Please," she says, "You can't give in! You have to have hope! Not on Golden Week! What's summer without butterflies and flowers?!"

She has to try, even if she doesn't expect much response. Even a flutter would be something.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used For Sweet Memories on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa accepts Japanese Cherry Blossom's For Sweet Memories, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is Quipped!  

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Cute Wolf Tsukiko had been fairly exhausted from howling at the hyperbeam from the dark mockeries of her fellow magical girls. The fight in the mirror, being a spacetime apart, seemed to have left no lingering harm or physical/magical exhaustion, but two fights (and the advent of a third) in quick succession are taking a toll on her mental endurance, pushing her to the limit.

But when there's a threat this severe, limits must be pushed past.

A growl emerges from the wolfgirl's throat as she leans on the outnumbered aspect of wolf in her soul. As the growl continues, it becomes more primal, and Tsukiko herself changes slightly -- her canine teeth grow slightly, a thin layer of shaggy fur sprouts across her entire body, and the normally decorative claw tips of her gloves and shoes turn into actual dog-like nails.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Moonlight Growl on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Moonlight Growl, taking 3 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Ready Set Go on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

This is far worse than the Magic Knight of Wind had expected, even *with* what Clef told her about the plot that was afoot. Just how dire the threat to the world is, she's not sure - but even if the danger is limited to Tokyo, or even to PART of Tokyo, she's not about to let this warped, destructive power wreak havoc. Even if it were confined to a single city block, or even smaller - this is a wrongness she refuses to tolerate. It isn't rage that fills her now, exactly; nor is it desperation, at least as far as she can identify it. She doesn't take the time to try and sort out what emotions she's juggling at the moment, in any case - she can figure it out later. First, she and the other magical girls have to ensure that there will *be* a later.

"WINDS OF ADMONISHMENT!!"

The Wind Knight's cry rises, and so do the winds themselves - her will and her magic weaving together, drawing the air into a controlled whirlwind as she tries to contain the darkened powers, to limit how far they can spread - and possibly to create just enough of a barrier to keep further innocent fauna from being sapped by the tree's negative energies. Her primary focus is on containment, though; any other benefits are welcome but beside the point.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Admonishment on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lera Camry accepts Lera Camry's Ready Set Go, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Fuu Hououji's Winds of Admonishment, taking 12 Fatigue damage!  Fuu Hououji is Psyched!  Cripple applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Power Redirection, partially gets through, doing 12 Fatigue damage to Fuu Hououji!  

<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Exhausted in body, mind, and soul, Mai looks up at the towering, screaming, Wrong tree towering above everyone. The battle with the mirror-monster - forced to watch as something with her face drove Mikoto into a berserk rage, forced into a battle against a monstrous Mikoto she wasn't certain was a fake until it broke into mirrored fragments - it exhausted her on every level.

Now, in spite of everyone's efforts - or even because of efforts twisted the worst way possible - the land's power has become a dread tree threatening everything and everyone here. For a moment, she can only stand and stare at it, her Element rings gently turning without drive or purpose. This thing - this is too unreal to believe.

For a long moment...she doesn't want to fight. She's done everything she could, was deluded and tricked and used time and again - her conviction to do what's right has burnt out. For justice, for the world, for what's right... if she fights for those again, she might just make things worse. She should just step back, join Mikoto in evacuating the cats and other animals, and console her roommate and herself in the wake of that brutal battle.

And then - Soaring Sky speaks and reminds her of what's at stake here. Mai looks again, actually sees how much is weakening, dying under the shadow of the tree. Another moment's thought, about how quickly this disaster is spreading... fear plain on her face, she looks in the direction of Southern Cross Island. "...Takumi..."

She might survive this. Her closest friends, deep as they are in the world of what is strange and arcane, might survive. But her sickly brother would never withstand the dreadful drain of this tree. Taking a shuddering breath, she turns back to the tree, face set in grim fury. "Whoever - whatever you are... If you even /think/ of putting him in danger, you'll have to go through me."

Slowly, the rings begin to blaze anew, spinning faster and faster, carrying Mai steadily upwards. For her own sake, she shouldn't be here - but for her brother's sake, she can't leave. Flames gather to her hands, shifting from yellow to red to an odd shade of pink - and then she brings both hands forward, igniting a flare of light to distract the tree-monster from its inexorable drain. Meager, perhaps, but...

This was supposed to be such a nice day for a picnic.

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has used Devoted Scintillation on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Forever Sunshine ran after Cherry Blossom then, as she was freed. Maybe the shadow-Blossom's words rung true - or at least reminded her of what she might be taking for granted.

She's tired. She's sore. But you have to keep going. She catches up as Cherry Blossom cups that butterfly in her hands.

"Ch-Cherry... Is it...?"

The warm glow of summer still ripples off her, mingled with notes of fragrance. A little confused, now; like summer when you've been in the sun for too long, with a subtle headache. She looks up towards the looming shadowy tree, then down again at the butterfly.

"Come on... you can't just give up!" Forever Sunshine says that. A few deep, steady breaths and that warm glow emanates out of her - towards the butterfly as much as Japanese Cherry Blossom. "Whatever it's doing... we have to stop it. We CAN stop it, together. Please, help us..."

"Help us all!"

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Summer's Warmth on Japanese Cherry Blossom.
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

How could Cure Pine ever be brought to hurt her friends?

It was a question she had hoped that would never be answered, as she was showered in glass dust from the destruction of the Nakewameke. It is probably for the best that she had no time to process it, even if the memories of fighting the memory duplicates would linger with her for some time. Her chest heaved back and forth like bellows, mouth open wide as she gulped in air.

And watched the corruption undergo a metamorphosis before her. The tree didn't look natural, but mechanical to her. And it's effects... felt wholly monstrous. With the flesh worn, and the spirit feeling weak, 'buki felt fear as she looked up to the peak of the tree where it seemed like it touched the heavens itself. How were they ever going to fight that? She watched each animal fall, with an expression of horror. Thought upon how many more, how her family and loved ones would fall soon enough.

What could her fists, her kicks, and even her most earnest heartfelt prayers do something so large!?

It was frustrating, it was terrifying, as the feeling of defeat pressed down upon her. And so she did, what she often did in situations like this. She looked to her friend. To Love, as Cure Peach, who always seemed so much stronger than her, whose love seemed boundless. She always seemed to instinctively know what to do in situations like this. And so, digging deep, she allowed her breath to still, she allowed her arms to stop trembling with fear. And instead she tries to put on her best smile. It looks like a thin, half-smile, but it's her best effort, "A-Are you ready to make the nasty thing fly away, Peach?"

The question was rhetorical. The very question itself just showed one thing. If she could believe in nothing else. When she felt like she couldn't even believe in herself. She could believe in her friends. And perhaps that belief in them helped her have faith in herself, even in times where the situation felt so hopeless. Everything seemed so clear to her all of a sudden, as she looked to the tree in front of her, and took up a strong stance.

COMBAT: Cure Pine has used I believe! on Cure Peach.
COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Dark Amber isn't looking much better than Cherry Blossom. His cape is gone, it lost in the mirror somewhere. Will it return? Who knows! He frowns at this feeling. And then suddenly jilts a hand towards his head. This feeling of wrongness--- the inhaling of... nothing. It's giving him some trouble and he needs a full moment as he just stands there getting his senses in gear as this tree rips around everything.

When he finally looks up, it's through a strained look. "This is pretty horrific." he manages to finally say with a swallow, as he looks around, He raises his bracer and a wrist blade extends--------only for him to lower it. Maybe slicing things up isn't a good idea.

Instead he raises his hand high and then lowers it---slowing this thing down with a sepia toned cloud of---whatever he does--- probably won't be a good idea. He has this really frustrated look.

Then Sunshine comes out to help Cherry Blossom. "We can't give up... these creatures can't just give up."

He says as he says. He goes to just stand beside Sunshine, because really, that's the best he can do right now. Happy thoughts---happy thoughts.

Dark Amber is terrible at this.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Dealing with one nakewameke was scary enough, but having to deal with five at the same time was a nigtmare! And yet the combined efforts of the magic girls and boys of Tokyo was enough to save the day....or atleast so Cure Peach thought. In reality, those mirror nakewameke were just the opening act and the curtain to the main attraction had just been opened. Love could only hope that Berry, Pine and the others were alright and that they still had the strength to fight on against this new threat!

After having fought robotic versions of many inanimate objects, a robotic tree was something of a shock to Cure Peach. Her mouth drops open in shock as the evil tree begins its energy drain of what seems to be the entire district! The young Pretty Cure knew that she and others had to do something and fast if they wanted to save Tokyo was this terrible new threat.

Peach's expression hardens in one of utmost determination. The battle for everyones' happiness begins now and Cure Peach was ready to give it her all. Crouching down slightly, the pink-clad warrior leaps up into the air and conducts a series of hops to close the distance on the malevolent tree. It seems that Peach is on the attack!

Landing with a quick but loud series of clacks near Pine, Cure Peach turns and offers a serious nod to Pine. She then attempts to flash her friend a reassuring smile before raising a fist skyward. "We'll uproot this tree even if it takes a thousand punches!" And Peach was quite serious about this as she was going to let some big scary tree interfere with the happiness of others! Cure Peach then takes a short jump over one of the tree's smaller roots before leaping directly towards the tree itself. "Hiyyyaaaah!" yells the young warrior as she attempts to take the most direct route in stopping the tree's evil drain attack by delivering a mighty uppercut to the tree's trunk. Here comes punch number one!

COMBAT: Cure Peach accepts Cure Pine's I believe!, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Cure Peach is Cheered!  Surge applied to Cure Peach!  
COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Steel Your Memories on Forever Sunshine.
COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine accepts Dark Amber's Steel Your Memories, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Forever Sunshine is Cheered!  Withstand applied to Forever Sunshine!  
COMBAT: Cure Peach has used Pretty Cure Fresh Punch on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Mai Tokiha's Devoted Scintillation, taking 2 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  Blind applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Cure Peach's Pretty Cure Fresh Punch, taking 15 Fatigue damage!  Cure Peach is Psyched!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Lingshen Chao [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Accounting for Chao's presence can be hard at the best of times; she likes to slink in and out, in civilian life as much as magical girl.

She has claimed a perch as high as she can climb, cloaked as she chooses to be when she wants to choose the moment of her arrival. But that horrid energy tree forms overhead, the fluttering stops; the wind dies. She stands and watches, catching her breath from the run. She's had to pull more on her inner strength today than she has for a long time, and the price of that strength is starting to burn in her limbs, sting her chest. She knew enough to expect something, but this...

...in hindsight, should have been pretty obvious.

She twists her wrist; the elaborate bracelet that once belonged to a far better person than she wound tight around her forearm, its blue jewel gleaming over her cream and black bodysuit. She considers it for a heartbeat, head dipping down in contemplation; then eyes up. "It didn't have to be like this," she mutters. "But since it is...I have to stop it."

Every tomorrow to come depends on today. True as ever. She leaps off her treetop perch, cloak landing neatly on a branch as she moves to leap toward the inevitable cluster of responders.

COMBAT: Lingshen Chao transforms into Girl of the Future!

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP53hgAwFik

The tree's face, which could have formed naturally were it not made of pure energy in about thirty seconds flat a few moments ago, holds few answers for Lera. It is immovable now, impassive, an expression of inexorable demise.

It is not moved by a Cute Wolf's growls, nor Mai Tokiha's flare, which does not cause it to so much as blink -- though it is easy to imagine the bark-textured energy slowly, painfully moving downwards, then upwards again, over those violet-orbed energy eyes.

...were those there a moment ago?

No. No, and now they brighten as the Winds of Admonishment approach, a barrier appearing between the massive tree and the gale. It glows bright purple as it absorbs much of the impact -- and then reflects the rest out in brutal bolts of lightning, straight at the Knight of Wind. Cure Peach arrives just as the barrier is beginning to fade, and impacts it solidly, causing it to flare up once again. It is certainly, at the least, forcing a response.

It's unfortunate that that response is to continue as it has begun.

Its roots surge, ground crumbling around them as they bury themselves more deeply into the soil... the effect, in turn, boiling upwards, upwards to reach the girls on the surface.

The air is empty, but as the effect intensifies, the world feels empty as well. It is a hollow emptiness, the pure despair of being absolutely tiny in an infinite space. It is more than a drain of energy, sapping the strength to move, to resist.

It is trying to take something far deeper and more precious than that.

The fires of creation that burn in every girl's chest. The answer to the unhinged question. The source of the light that shines most brightly in darkness, the flower that blooms to bursting in a storm.

As though simply excising it with a scalpel, it is trying to take the bird that perches in the soul called 'hope', and make it its own.

The butterfly in Japanese Cherry Blossom's hands fluttered briefly, but now, beneath the weight of this intensified assault, turns to dust.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Cure Peach.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Dark Amber.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Cure Pine.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Forever Sunshine.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Japanese Cherry Blossom.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has adjusted her boss levels. She is now ready to take on 10 opponents!
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom accepts Forever Sunshine's Summer's Warmth, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Japanese Cherry Blossom's Block ability activates!  Japanese Cherry Blossom is Taunted!  
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Forever Sunshine's Fade ability activates!  Forever Sunshine's Flash ability activates!  Trap applied to Forever Sunshine!  
COMBAT: Dark Amber narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 4 Fatigue damage!  Dark Amber's Reverse ability activates!  Dark Amber is Taunted!  Trap applied to Dark Amber!  
COMBAT: Dark Amber's counterattack, Amber Striker, partially gets through, doing 36 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Mai Tokiha's Block ability activates!  Mai Tokiha is Taunted!  
COMBAT: Cure Pine narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 12 Fatigue damage!  Cure Pine's Reverse ability activates!  Cure Pine is Taunted!  Trap applied to Cure Pine!  
COMBAT: Cure Pine's counterattack, Pretty Cure Roundhouse Kick, partially gets through, doing 7 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  Critical Counterhit!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji perfectly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates!  Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 4 Fatigue damage!  Lingshen Chao's Fade ability activates!  Lingshen Chao's Flash ability activates!  Lingshen Chao is Taunted!  Trap applied to Lingshen Chao!  
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 2 Fatigue damage!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Block ability activates!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Taunted!  Trap applied to Cute Wolf Tsukiko!  
COMBAT: Cure Peach perfectly braces Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Brace!  Cure Peach's Block ability activates!  Cure Peach's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Lera Camry perfectly counters Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Counter!  Lera Camry's Reverse ability activates!  Lera Camry's Tactician ability activates!  
COMBAT: Lera Camry's counterattack, Sentinel Cross, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

The warm sun rays beat down toward Cherry Blossom. Yes... it must work. They can't lose hope yet...

She tries to summon up the will to listen to Sunshine's words, but she sees the butterfly crumble away in her fingers.

It is a symbol of heartlessness, despair.

She stands back to her feet... her legs wobbling. She's still crying, a little, but she tries to find some kind of resolve within this heartbreak. Enough to raise her hand, palm out, and look at the tree.... light blooming between her fingers. "We... will have to stop it. We can't let it win. All I can do is concentrate my power. I don't... know if it will be enough..."

A pink light flashes, and the dead grass beneath her feet rustles as she builds up some wind. Light and perfume blaze from her fingers, with a streak of flowing petals behind them!

But the light does fade quickly, just a small opening strike. All she can think to do right now is fight, even if her heart does not want to let her.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Pink Blossom Wind on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.

Huh? (Type "help" for help.)

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Forever Sunshine's eyes turn towards Dark Amber as they come together. It's heartwarming, really. Her face isn't trying to hide anything; she actually smiles, if faintly, and weakly. She looks back down.

The wave brightens - and the butterfly turns to dust.

"!!!" Forever Sunshine is aghast, and this time the tears in her eyes spill over. She looks up at the titanic tree-creature, her mouth opening and closing slightly. Beyond words, for the moment, all she can do is clench her fists. Part of her wants to lunge forwards, to throw herself at this thing.

But she doesn't. The shadow's words are still clinging to her, and perhaps in a paradoxical way this reluctance is what saves her from that teetering brink of despair. Like a rainbow in the dark, she sucks in a deep breath.

"Dark Amber," she says then, as she sees the ground subtly shift underneath those spreading roots. "D'you think you can slow it down or - or something? We have to figure out a strategy here, we gotta have a plan!"

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Summer's Warmth on Dark Amber.
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Dark Amber accepts Forever Sunshine's Summer's Warmth, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Dark Amber is Cheered!  

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Dark Amber watches the butterfly flutter in Cherry Blossom's hand---everything is going to be okay!

Then it turns to dust.

Nothing is going to be okay. Ever again.

The feeling kind of rushes through him, and his immediate reaction is to----lash out suddenly with his blades like a mad animal. Someone has to do something! This has to be stopped! This results into him rending his blade into one of this thing's roots.

Then he falls to one knee...."Nrg--what is this!?" he asks worriedly to no one in particular. His breathing begins to get a little heightended. Something is going on.

He looks over to Cherry Blossom. "Ah---we.. can't-" but he can't finish the sentence. His lips just purse. He manages to push himself to his feet. Then Forever Sunshine comes up, and despite his forlorn nature, still asks him for help. Despite everything. It's perhaps this that helps stablize him. Just a little bit. Enough to think straight again.

"I can try.... this things too big for me to freeze it." he says looking at the tree. "But maybe I can get some of it." he raises his hand up and forward as he closes his eyes with a swallow, and tries to concentrate as hard as he can--- before the world cracks into Sepia tones before him and he tries to slow down what can in a speia tone haze.

COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Dark Amber Dream on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Japanese Cherry Blossom's Pink Blossom Wind, taking 6 Fatigue damage!  Diversion applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Dark Amber's Dark Amber Dream, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Trap applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Power Redirection, partially gets through, doing 22 Fatigue damage to Dark Amber!  

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Lera looks sideways when Mai speaks, then she nods once at her. She looks back up at the tree, even if she is talking to Mai. "Yeah," she says. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen. We can do this!"

That sentiment, however, is hardd to maintain. She watches the barrier reflect much of what is thrown at it; then she feels the first tinge of despair, as the ground crumbles. The tree is trying to take something from them, and she can't say what; the Midchildan opens her mouth -- and then realizes that it is an active process, a power rather than the overwhelming nature of seeing the ground crumble away like that.

<Sentinel Cross!>

And Soaring Sky realized it before Lera. Her blades split apart, and then a bright light shines off them -- a field of energy over her, which repels the effect. Lera's eyes widen sharply as she comes to the full realizat. She turns to Mai Tokiha, the girl closest to her, and sees the effect on her. She watches her descend, and Lera's stomach ties itself into a knot.

"Hey! You--you gotta stand firm, okay? I know it's awful, but... but if we let this go on, we're going to lose everything. I don't know who Takumi is, but if he's someone important to you, then..." She frowns, then looks up at the tree again. Her eyes narrow with determination. "...then the only way to make sure he's safe, that he has a future, that everyone has a future is to bring that thing down!"

COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Stand Firm on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha accepts Lera Camry's Stand Firm, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Mai Tokiha is Cheered!  

<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

The tree is impassive, uncaring, inevitable.

Mai's challenging flare was utterly ignored - for a moment, she can only stare at that massive visage. From somewhere below, she can hear others making efforts of their own. Desperate entreaties to the flowers and butterflies, a rallying cry and mighty fist, an admonishing windstorm, a wild growl...

All of it, utterly ignored.

The earth trembles at the arboreal foe's command, and before its violet eyes, Mai is left with the realization of just how small she is. This is indistinguishable from Death - the great inevitability that can be, at most, staved off for a time before its victory.

If she fled now - flew with all her strength back home - she might reach Takumi before this thing's shadow did. Might be able to spirit him away from this place before Tokyo is consumed. Might ensure he lives a few hours longer before this consumes the world, to whatever meager gain that might be.

The spark is dying. That renewed blaze of life is slowing, the rings turning gently as Mai begins to descend. Whatever her efforts, in the end-

A falling gaze rises, and Mai turns to Lera. Her eyes are hollow, her expression bleak - and then her brow furrows in a moment's anger. "Don't-!" Whatever she was about to say, she cuts off, and actually listens.

"...this alone won't do that. There's always going to be something else, something trying to keep him from his future, some new threat showing up. But...!" She'd almost reached the dead ground below, grass slain and turned to dry husks. In an instant, the ground's aflame - Mai's rings spinning back to life, igniting the lawn in a circle around her, and looks up again at the towering tree. "Whatever else might happen...I'm not letting -you- cut everyone's lives short."

Leaden arms come up again, flames dancing around her - and again, they come forward. Streamers of flame, searing out along the dead ground, burning at the roots of the tree. Even in the face of this inevitable fate, she has to try. Has to do what she can to keep her loved ones alive another day.

As close as she is to Lera, the crackle of burning grass can't entirely hide the quiet 'thank you'.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

The Magic Knight of Wind is blasted off her feet by the bolts of evil power, rolling to a halt - and then she flings herself away from where she was just crouching, sucking in a breath as she feels something VERY wrong building up. Despair reaches for her heart, clutching with icy fingers ...

But an unshakable will, a dream that won't be yielded, is the bread and butter of a Magic Knight. And so it is with the Wind Knight, landing in a crouch next to the Cute Wolf and looking at the monstrous mockery of the World Tree with a calm, clear gaze. "Tsukiko-san, are you all right?" she asks the wolfgirl, moving to help Tsukiko back to her feet if she needs it. "It's true that this thing is a mockery of the natural world that we know and love ... but we've fought against disasters of this scale before, haven't we? As long as we support each other, we can prevail - one tree can't overwhelm an entire forest, after all."

... okay, maybe her choice of metaphors isn't the best - but the emotions are still there.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Favorable Observation on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko accepts Fuu Hououji's Favorable Observation, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Cheered!  

<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Peach moves first, and Pine marvels at her lack of hesitation. There were other Mahou Shoujo she recognized moving with her. The wolf girl in particular, but others she'd encountered before in her battles. She felt as if a hundred thousand punches wouldn't do it, but they had to start somewhere didn't they? Peach, and it brings back some of the fire within her.

That's when the roots boil out of the ground, surging at her, seeking her out. She leaps straight up as they follow, spinning and turning as if she were dancing an aerial ballet, exerting every iota of her effort to stay just ahead of them. She changes directions from one way, then another, before changing tactics and starts to use the momentum of her spinning aerial turns to drive her foot towards the tip of the roots chasing her.

The roundhouse kick cracks against them, and immediately she feels the ice cold caress of the roots, and realizes the trap. There's something like a cry of pain that bubbles out of her lips, but even that is stolen from her as well after a few moments, as the gripping sensation of having the fires of hope leeched within her takes hold. Those flames are soon little more than dying embers within her chest or the falling petals of a quickly wilting flower.

In the end, she simply falls, gravity taking ahold of her, making only a feeble half-hearted attempt to arrest it.

She hits a patch of roots, and raises a large plume of shattered dust and foliage, coughing weakly as she tries to catch her breath. In the wake of this feeling, excuses come up in her mind, one by one. "Peach... I..." 'I'm sorry, I don't think I can do this...' 'I'm not as strong as you...' 'There's nothing we can do.' And yet even dying embers still have some warmth to them, even if they're fast fading. A dying flower has some life left within it. She doesn't give up quite yet, swallowing down the words, as she surveys the surrounding area, viewing the still bodies of many animals about.

She gets up, slowly, morose golden eyes looking up and down the length of the tree again, and this time she moves forward, dashing just a few paces. As Mai's fire lances down towards the roots, bringing an inferno to the area, she springs into the air once more, her form silhouetted by the flames and smoke. She draws back an arm, making a fist, then at the last moment, she turns her hips, her fist lashing out towards the trunk in sync with the movement. Instead of a battle cry, she whispers mutedly to herself, "I believe." as it makes contact. She hardly believed it herself anymore.

Nevertheless, it was a punch she could add to her fellow Pretty Cure's estimate of the 'thousand' it might take to bring this monstrosity down, wasn't it? She just didn't think the tree would bend or break before she would.

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has used Infernal Embrace on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Pine has used Pineapple Punch on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Cure Pine's Pineapple Punch, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Mai Tokiha's Infernal Embrace, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Power Redirection, partially gets through, doing 41 Fatigue damage to Mai Tokiha!  Critical Counterhit!  

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Tsukiko grits her teeth (fangs?) and does her best to keep her balance as the roots rumble the now-dusty soil. Her feet sink into the dirt, and her heart -- or at least the human part of it -- sinks after them. It's fight or flight, and the wolf of her soul is ready to fight like the cornered animal it is.

Then the Magic Knight of Wind comes over, and Fuu's words get through to the scared Ikiko deep inside Tsukiko. "And a pack of wolves can take down even the biggest prey," Tsukiko whispers, flashing Fuu a thankful smile. The wolfgirl's nails fade back into being decorative tips on her gloves and shoes, and the sprouted fur shrinks enough to no longer look shaggy.

She rushes forward, leaping at the vile mockery of a tree in an effort to crack its desecrated bark.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Overrun Bounce on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Overrun Bounce, taking 2 Fatigue damage!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Psyched!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Cure Peach's preemptive power punch perforates the air as it positively leaves its mark on the robot tree's suddenly formed barrier. Unable to go through it, the airborne warrior has to redirect herself somewhere. She raises her feet quickly and kicks off the barrier with both feet, flipping through the air as a result. The flying Peach eventually rights herself and lands on the ground hard, upturning the ground around her as she makes impact.

Lifting the arm that landed the punch, the blonde-haired warrior readies herself to launch another attack. It was time for punch number two! But robotic tree was not intent on merely defending itself as it proceeds to launch its own dastardly version of a counterattack. Feelings of oppression, sadness, and despair resonate from the tree, but Peach stands her ground. She grits her teeth and brings both hands out to her sides. Pine, Chiffon, Tarte, and the others were counting on her to give it her all against this creature and Cure Peach was intent on doing everything she could to weather the storm and fight on against this creature. So when one of the roots is finaly swung her way, Peach forms a big 'X' with her arms and throws her might behind her block when the root hits. This allows her push the root above her block which stops the tree's attack against her in its tracks. Phew, that was cutting it a little too close but somehow she managed it!

From off somewhere to her side, Peach notices a swath of yellow go flying through the air. Oh no! The yooung fighter leaps in around the attack roots to try to get to Pine, but she's already on her feet before Peach can make it over to her. Pine was wrong! She was just as strong as Peach was! But together they were stronger still. In fact, Pine did exactly what Peach would have done in her situation. Fight through it all and go for the big punch. "Only nine-hundred and ninety eight more to go!" exclaims Peach as she lowers a fist down towards the ground and crouches slightly. She then explodes upwards with an encouraging punch of cheer aimed towards the heavens above. "Gooooo Pine!"

COMBAT: Cure Peach has used Let's Get Our Happiness! on Cure Pine.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Pine accepts Cure Peach's Let's Get Our Happiness!, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Cure Pine is Cheered!  

<Pose Tracker> Lingshen Chao [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Chao's feet hit the ground and shes already in ready posture, low, arms out. Attacking this thing with her fists seems like a bad call, but her magic is...

She barely has time to think before it hits her. Her feet stumble to a stop and she clutches her chest. The mark branded across her bodysuit burns her. She understands magic enough to weave it and technology into sparkling wonders of her own, but all she can do when her own sparking hope is clawed at is wheeze.

But she's come too far to be stopped now. The reminder feels leaden in her chest; unsatisfying, incomplete. Still, she tells herself: She has stormed across the gulf of time to set things right. She casts her eyes around, to the girls cheering each other up amid the agony of the beast's silent, passive assault. That hope is what they need. This...this thing, is wrong. It shouldn't have happened.

So she pulls one hand up, deciding to dive right in. It's all she's got. She clenches her fist until she feels the click of the system engaging, drawing on her beleagured magic reserves to conjure an electric pulse; and then she leaps in, legs propelling her into the air in a reckless leap to drive her gloved fist in - as close as she can get to that dark energy tree, hopefully hitting it, probably hitting that barrier. Impact releases a high ZORCH of electrical power, and then a second and a third, Chao releasing a few quick, martial punches against the beast!

COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has used Machine Kenpo Flurry on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa perfectly counters Lingshen Chao's Machine Kenpo Flurry, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Critical Counter!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Power Redirection, bursts all the way through, doing 41 Fatigue damage to Lingshen Chao!  
COMBAT: Rei Hino has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Rei Hino transforms into Sailor Mars!
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has adjusted her boss levels. She is now ready to take on 11 opponents!

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGy70BxOQwY

It is beginning to get cold, very, very cold, thermal warmth following the warmth of the heart into the nexus of power that is the tree. Spots of ice are forming here and there, in total defiance of the celebration of spring that is Golden Week. Not that it looks much like spring anymore; nary a leaf remains on the trees, making the forest a spooky place, normally-invisible hills and ravines suddenly visible, the horizon so much further away.

This does not help at all with that feeling of intense smallness, which twists like a knife within those who dare to oppose it. The growth of this tree feels unstoppable; the darkness of the heart, intensifying.

The Wrongness itself persists, separate and yet equal to the soulful assault of the tree, the last unsnapped string on the violin of balance strained beyond its limits and yet singing a shrill and painful warning, tension, tension.

It is a problem that demands redress.

The tree itself is growing a bit, the energy it managed to glean from its would-be executioners filling its veins with more of that brilliant violet light. And its radius is accelerating, rapidly putting the lie to the Magic Knight's claim that one tree can't overwhelm an entire forest. Suburbia isn't far beyond its reach, now.

But it cannot consume as quickly as it might like when some of itself has to be expended in defense. Japanese Cherry Blossom's woeful bit of light is mostly dispersed by the energies of the branches itself, which crackle and zap, subtly shifting the at-risk bits out of the way. Cure Pine's punch induces a rekindling of the barrier of shifting purple light that blocked Peach, and while it again flares at the impact, twice when Tsukiko impacts, it does not give very much at all.

It does take, taking in Dark Amber's sepia mist and exploding out with devastatingly painful purple lightning in return. And when Mai sends flames at the roots, its connection to the ground, the barrier shines the fiercest it has yet in defense, and tries to get the HiME away with not a blast but a wave of rolling violet, violent force. Chao's attempt to ZORCH her way through the barrier is evidently either also a very good idea, provoking a similarly outsized response of pure force, or a very bad idea, overloading the barrier in her face. It isn't yet clear which.

Mai, however, discovers the ground beneath her feet to no longer merely be drained and dusty with the former flesh of the forest, but tainted to bogginess, attempting to swallow her up -- and the nearby Cure Pine along with her! The quicksand is black and grasping, the suction force of a void.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Unstoppable Growth on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Unstoppable Growth on Forever Sunshine.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Unstoppable Growth on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Darkness Intensifying on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Darkness Intensifying on Dark Amber.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Darkness Intensifying on Japanese Cherry Blossom.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Darkness Intensifying on Cure Peach.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Darkness Intensifying on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Darkness Intensifying on Sailor Mars.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Black Morass on Cure Pine.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Black Morass on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Pine narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Black Morass, taking 3 Fatigue damage!  Cure Pine's Block ability activates!  Cure Pine's Parry ability activates!  Tangle applied to Cure Pine!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Black Morass, taking 6 Fatigue damage!  Tangle applied to Mai Tokiha!  
COMBAT: Dark Amber fails to dodge Juri Arisugawa's Darkness Intensifying, taking 25 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Dark Amber is Quipped! 
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko fails to counter Juri Arisugawa's Darkness Intensifying, taking 24 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Quipped!  
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko's counterattack, High-Speed Kick, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has adjusted her boss levels. She is now ready to take on 12 opponents!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou transforms into Magic Knight of Fire!
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Darkness Intensifying on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Sailor Mars narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Darkness Intensifying, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Sailor Mars is Quipped!  Sailor Mars's Fade ability activates!  Sailor Mars's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Unstoppable Growth, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Juri Arisugawa is Psyched!  Stun applied to Fuu Hououji!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji's counterattack, Spinning Slash, partially gets through, doing 9 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Unstoppable Growth, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Forever Sunshine is Taunted!  Stun applied to Forever Sunshine!  
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine's counterattack, Pink Peony Overdrive, partially gets through, doing 9 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Lera Camry narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Unstoppable Growth, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Lera Camry's Fade ability activates!  Lera Camry's Flash ability activates!  Lera Camry is Taunted!  Stun applied to Lera Camry!  
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Darkness Intensifying, taking 13 Fatigue damage!  Lingshen Chao is Quipped!  Lingshen Chao's Reverse ability activates!  Lingshen Chao's Tactician ability activates!  
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao's counterattack, Time-Leap Retaliation, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom fails to counter Juri Arisugawa's Darkness Intensifying, taking 20 Fatigue damage!  Japanese Cherry Blossom is Quipped!  
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom's counterattack, Desperate Strike, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

The ice isn't the only thing that makes Lera shiver. She glances sideways at Mai, though, and smiles; then her expression is all business. She can enjoy the gratitude when she is sure that it bought them something. The rapid expansion of the dead zone, the growth of the tree, all of it is enough to make Lera's blood run cold. This is like the sort of Lost Logia that she has nightmares about. The sort of thing that, she heard whispers of, has destroyed worlds. But, unlike the things she cooked up in her imagination, this is quite real. That alone proves sobering.

She starts to waver, herself. How do they keep up with this? The city is so close, now; homes and more places will be ruined. This whole plan has, already, damaged homes and places people love. She thinks of the damage done to Clover Town, before, and the way that Tokyo Tower was nearly destroyed.

Her eyes widen, jerkingly, with anguish.

In this case, she acts on it. Rather than panic silently, she screams in anger -- perhaps futile anger -- and jumps up. A ring of golden-red light bursts from her feet, and she leaves a trail of light in the air past her, as she hurls herself at the barrier. She slams her sword down -- it reforms with a spoken word from Soaring Sky, as she changes forms -- her blade trying to pierce the barrier. "Stop it!"

COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Line Burst on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Peach narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Darkness Intensifying, taking 9 Fatigue damage!  Cure Peach is Quipped!  Cure Peach's Reverse ability activates!  
COMBAT: Cure Peach's counterattack, Pretty Cure Counter Punch!, partially gets through, doing 11 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Darkness Intensifying, taking 6 Fatigue damage!  Hikaru Shidou is Quipped!  Hikaru Shidou's Block ability activates!  Hikaru Shidou's Parry ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Dark Amber watches as this thing just...crashes right on through his attempt at slowing it down. His eyes go wide and he has to expend way more energy than he'd like leaping backwards. That dread feeling intensifies and it's horrible feeling. He winces as he snaps his teeth. He looks over to Cherry Blossom--- Sakura and he snaps out. "You can do this. We need---to--do something I don't know yet!" then he cusses under his breath.

He's bad at this.

"Sunshine! Maybe if...we combine...your fast..power with my...slow power. Something will go wrong and damage this thing!" he says.

Yeah this is a silly idea. At the very least, it might give Forever Sunshine something to focus on.

COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Dark Amber Dumb Ideas on Forever Sunshine.
COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Other than the flash of energy when she connected, Tsukiko could barely tell that what she hit was the doom-raidating tree and not some random piece of scenery -- well, the glow and the lack of remaining scenery. And when the tree unleashes a surge of lightning, the wolfgirl gets a quick (and painful) reminder that kicking energy attacks only works if the attack isn't pure energy.

The feel of her fangs gives her an idea. "Let's see if your shield is good for more than momentary flashes," Tsukiko growls, darting forward to grab one of the roots. There's a gleam of silver as her teeth sharpen, then--

• CHOMP!*

--she bites as hard as she can, trying to break through.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Nine hundred and ninety eight to go. It seems like an absurd, impossible quota for even this many Mahou Shoujo to meet. And yet as Peach cheers her, she believes it, with her whole heart. Peach's words of encouragement were as if someone had stoked those embers back to life. The flames were not quite as fierce as before, but that could come in time.

Her breath fogs as the chill increases, sending her to shivering, but the flames seem untouched by it. Even if the cold itself seemed to bring the despair of winter back with it. The purple light that she strikes, she tries to drive through, but in the end, finds herself unable to muster the strength to create more than a ripple along it's length.

When the barrier explodes outwards as Dark Amber's mist and Mai's flames strike at it, and slams into them with incredible force, she calls out, "Are you alright!?" while making her descent. She lands near Mai, only to discover the ground beneath her was no longer solid. Her feet make contact, and as she tries to pull herself out, her panicked struggles only seem to make her descent into the sand all the more rapid. With every passing moment, it feels like she's going to drown in the stagnant black morass, as it comes up to her hips, then her bust line. "I can't get free!" Trying to make one last effort to tug herself out, it's over her shoulders, as she takes one last quick look at Mai, and then scans the sky to find her friend, a desperate plan forming in her head. "Peach! Double..."

That's the moment that her head vanishes beneath it, the tip of her sidetail the last to disappear. A moment later, the morass looks like stretched silly putty, as the figure of Cure Pine surges out of it's depths. It dark substance clings to her for a time, and appears like she won't make it, that it would pull her back down.

"...Pretty Cure..." She cries out from sheer determination, as it finally gives, and she sails high in the air, her trajectory extraordinary for having just escaped from within the depths of the morass. On her descent, she outstretches her leg again, trying to synchronize her efforts with her teammate as best as she can in an attempt to slam against the trunk simultaneously with her. "...KICK!"

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Silver Fangs on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine accepts Dark Amber's Dark Amber Dumb Ideas, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Cure Pine has started a combo targeting Juri Arisugawa!

<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Encouragement resounds from around, as inevitability looms. Lash after lash of flame licking out, snaring at the roots - and Mai can hear how everyone else is faring along the way. The sheer enthusiasm on display from Tsukiko and Cure Peach bring a small smile to her face - it's a raw determination she can't quite echo herself, but it impels her forward if only by the examples before her.

The enemy, while immobile, is unfortunately not idle. The tree's wrath, violet and violent both, slams into the briefly encouraged HiME, sending her skidding and tumbling along the ground. Dead plants provide no cushion against the rocks, and as she comes to a rest near Cure Pine, she finds herself ready for a brief breather.

...one she can't afford to take; the ground itself is ready to consume her, and already making its attempt. The HiME's eyes flash open wide in momentary panic at the morass, and there's a surging blast of flame as she tears herself free of bog and gravity. Panic, slow to settle - but at least it isn't that mind-numbing despair. Before her, the tree towers - terrifyingly indomitable.

There's an answer, says her inner voice. If not now, then-

Mai grits her teeth - dark mud still clinging to her. ...she needs a moment to catch her breath, before trying anything else. The tree's retaliation to her last attack was one thing - she doesn't want to think about what would happen if she was knocked out while...

Lera catches her eye. The girl with the blade of light, the one who was caught up in Mikoto's rampage, the one who still took time to give her a reminder - who is charging in in sudden desperation. Without more than a moment's hesitation, Mai charges after her. "Hold on! I know, I /know/, we can't let this thing get away with this - but it'll just smash you down if you're reckless! You survived /Mikoto/, don't throw yourself into danger like this!"

Hypocrisy, thy name is Mai Tokiha. Nonetheless, fire comes with the HiME - not searing, just warm, calming. She's trying to stay calm.

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has used Affectionate Inferno on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Japanese Cherry Blossom tries to push back against the feeling of overwhelming despair coming out of the tree. She keeps summoning flower petals to shield her... but... there is nothing here to really strike against, only the feeling which desperses her attempts and sends her into deeper depression.

The wind around her starts to die.

She closes her eyes, and tears blink out of them as she wildly shakes her head.

She'll just.... have to get aggressive. Though she's still afraid. There's nothing left to lose.

Steeling her resolve, she pulls one tiny chopstick spear out of her hairdo. She holds it out in a tightly clasped hand as if she were waving a tiny saber, and it begins to glow, from her hand, out to the tip, edged with gold energy.

But it isn't a very big weapon.

Still. If she can manage even a scratch in the demon tree.... it's something, right?

She runs in toward it. She may not even make it before she falters. But as a branch gets in her way, she stabs into its twisted, evilly-glowing bark with her tiny weapon of light.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Cherry Wood Chopstick on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Japanese Cherry Blossom's Cherry Wood Chopstick, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Japanese Cherry Blossom is Psyched!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Lera Camry's Line Burst, taking 7 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Lera Camry is Psyched!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Lera Camry accepts Mai Tokiha's Affectionate Inferno, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Lera Camry is Cheered!  Cleanse! All of Lera Camry's debuffs are cleared!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Silver Fangs, taking 3 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  Cripple applied to Juri Arisugawa!  

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

The darkness keeps spreading despite everything. Shouldn't they be corralling it better? Forever Sunshine thinks bleakly, even as things spread, chilling, draining them.

Why did they make this? she wonders, even as she slams her palm into the ground, trying to stave off the wave of spreading nothingness, of ineluctable wrongness. Her burst of peony-scented light seems halfhearted, almost, and she doesn't rise up again immediately, her head drooping.

Her chest hitches for a moment. But Dark Amber addresses her. Her head turns to look towards him and she smiles, if weakly. "Geez... come on, Dark Amber, you can't go like... planning on a screw up."

And with that Forever Sunshine pushes herself up to her feet. It is almost a rote maneuver, but sometimes habit can bear you up where everything else fails. She clasps her hands together. "Alright... Cherry's got the right idea, and I'm gonna stick with her. So keep us backed up, OK?" she asks Dark Amber, before she lunges forwards, running along the ground.

She doesn't call to Cherry Blossom. It might distract her. She leans in further and narrows her eyes as she speeds up. Flat, uninspired, but she carries her arms low and when she gets near enough, she has enough of herself together that the kickoff has fragrant sandalwood behind it -

"Hyah!"

A rising uppercut. How much of this 'wood' can be broken in a single blow?

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Rising Sandalwood on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Forever Sunshine's Rising Sandalwood, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Stagger applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Power Redirection, partially gets through, doing 34 Fatigue damage to Forever Sunshine!  

<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Cure Peach may have fought against similar foes before, but the sheer amount of negative energy and despair that this tree was emitting was off-putting! The sudden chilliness of the area certainly doesn't help either! And it seemed like that tree was growing stronger the more energy it absorbed which meant that the situation could get pretty dire pretty quick. The most recent surge of negative feelings reaches even Love's stalwart heart. None of their attacks so far had seemingly been able to pierce through the tree's barrier. What was Peach supposed to do with a problem that she couldn't punch away?

But that was precisely the answer she was looking for! Punch through it!

Pine had just did a moment before. When she was stricken by the plant's negative emotions, she believed and punched through it! Peach just had to believe too.....and start punching some more! A flailing root of the plant gets just a little too close to the blonde warrior and she dashes forward to wallop the root a good one. Her punch may not be able to permanently damage the tree, but she can atleast knock one of threatening roots out of her way to hopefully open a path for Pine and Peach's counterattacks.

Normally, seeing her dear friend sink into the murky depth of the tree's evil pit of despair would have Peach diving in right after her. But Peach knows Pine enough to be completely in sync with what she intends to do after shouting 'double!' Peach nods firmly and redirects her series of hops towards the tree itself instead of where Pine fell. Her last hope has her rebounding off one of the tree's roots and high up into the air.

The pink clad Pretty Cure had to believe in her friend and this belief soon pays off as Pine surges up into the air to join her. "Double - Pretty Cure - Kiiiiiiiick!" proclaims Peach proudly as she hopefully lands in time with Pine to provide a deadly staccato of kicks against their towering tree foe!

COMBAT: Cure Peach has joined the combo started by Cure Pine!
COMBAT: COMBO! Cure Pine and Cure Peach have used Combo: Double Pretty Cure Kick~, composed of Pretty Cure Fresh Kick, on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Cure Pine and Cure Peach's Combo: Double Pretty Cure Kick~, taking 86 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Things were really getting bad here in the forest. After having to deal with a strange fight in a mirror type of realm, Hikaru Shidou had to then deal with the issue of getting back there and dealing with her evil clone. But she's made it back... in time to witness things going crazy with the forest. And Hikaru just can't stand by idly and watch what's going on. She takes it upon herself to evacuate as many civilians as she can, not wanting anyone to risk being hurt in this manner. When she's finally done, she finds herself in the area where things are going down... and then finds herself face to face with the big bad behind the whole thing.

Once she'd evacuated as many civilians as she could, she took the time to find a spot to transform into the Magic Knight of Fire, before approaching where everything was going down. Almost immediately as she got there, though, it felt like the evil magic radiating from the big bad evil tree (or whatever it's supposed to be, Hikaru doesn't care!) was bearing down on her. But Hikaru refuses to give up! She grits her teeth and assumes a defensive stance, not letting it get to her. She points her sword and says, "This is the end! You will pay for all you have done!" Her sword glows red with the power of fire as she raises it above her head, then swings it downwards in a vertical crescent slash, sending forth a blast of flame. "Take this!"

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Flaming Slash on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Hikaru Shidou's Flaming Slash, taking 23 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  

<Pose Tracker> Lingshen Chao [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Chao strikes with force! And is treated to much the same; the strike overloads the barrier right in her face, exploding her backward with enough strength that she bounces back into the air; flipping end-over end!

And then, recovering herself mid-flight, she says, "Fine. Experimentation, then! Casseiopeia!"

There's a distant sound like a stopwatch clicking, and she vanishes. And reappears; right next to that barrier with yet another blow, and vanishes again one more time, striking another blow a good two meters to the right, and then a third time, spinning to a halt on the ground while the barrier either does or does not explode behind her.

Her heels dig into the dirt as much as that thing's mystic claw digs into her spirit, rummaging around and draining away the little spark that lights her way, even across the very sea of time itself. She stands there a moment, feeling it like a sickness clawing at her, a nagging wondering. She rarely entertains the thought that all her works are for naught, but...suddenly, the question is there in her mind. What is even the point, if she can't even...

She tries to remember their faces; the people she left behind as her eyes angle up to that beastly tree. She tries to remember the legacy embodied in the bracelet she dares to wear, and dares to raise it up before the beast like a talisman. That isn't the power it holds, but...

There is another. "I can't just...let you pervert their tomorrows," she wheezes out. "You weren't supposed to happen, and I can send you away again!" And then she clenches her fist round the spare loops of bracelet, speaking the words to unlock her heart: "Last Tale! My Magic Scir Magister!"

She grits her teeth for the pain as ribbons of rainbow light shoot from the emblems on her chest and down her arm, synching to the bracelet and forcing magic out of her. When she speaks next, the words are Latin; but the meaning echoes in the heart. "Magic Archer! Arrow of Fire!"

She releases her fist and with it the magic barely contained within; and what comes leaping from her hand this time isn't a lightning blast or some martial trickery! It's a simple, direct arrow of flame, bolting across the distance to slam into that barrier with whatever Chao can bring to bear!

COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has used Sagitta Magica on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

The next wave of dark power races towards the Magic Knight of Wind; she begins to pivot, her sword materializing in the middle of her spin, and she lashes out with a powerful slash - although she's a little wobbly on her feet after she stops spinning; maybe the eldritch shockwave hit harder than she was anticipating. Or maybe she just twirled around too hard for her head to keep up with.

She shakes her head to clear it, noticing as she does so that Forever Sunshine looks a little wobbly on her feet as well. But as much as the Wind Knight is inclined to cast a healing spell, the threat of the evil tree is big enough - literally and otherwise - that healing spells seem like they'd just be forestalling the possibly-inevitable. With that thought in mind, the green-clad Magic Knight draws herself up and raises her sword, calling the winds to her once again ...

"Storm-Dance of the Kamaitachi!!"

Again she pivots, this time seeming to gather the wind with her blade, and sending a fierce tornado towards the tree - noticing as she does so that the Fire Knight is finally here as well. "Hikaru-san!" she calls out. "Are you all right?" She's splitting her attention just now, guiding her tornado spell's path ..

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Lingshen Chao's Sagitta Magica, taking 6 Fatigue damage!  Lingshen Chao is Psyched!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Fuu Hououji's Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi, taking 13 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Power Redirection, partially gets through, doing 19 Fatigue damage to Fuu Hououji!  

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Mars [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Invigorated from her battle with the demon mirror and the sorceries it conjured, Sailor Mars feels the minor wear of a hearty warmup. She's trotting along one of the less remote paths towards the park's interior, picking up into a run, passing some younger kids playing in a stream, diving from an overhanging branch.

A few minutes later, the wrongness detonates. She feels it before she sees it, the ravenous unseen line of death and decay devouring every scrap of life that it touches, chewing up the woods with a shockingly brisk pace. Nearly tripping as she comes to a sudden stop, Mars' left knee twitches as she stops and thinks, just for a moment, and starts sprinting back the way that she came. With a decently sized gap in the treeline above her, Sailor Mars lifts her arms straight up and holds her hands together, pointer fingers outstretched. She would look pretty silly running like that if it weren't for the brief burst of flames she blasts into the sky every few moments, doing her best to scare some wildlife out of their trees.

The kids are still in the stream. Little children like these may not have listened to Rei Hino tell them to get their butts out of the stream, they might have turned stubborn and defiant. But Sailor Mars running up and telling them they're in trouble? That's not something they have to think too long about.

As they scramble onto the bank and towards their clothes, Rei sees that there's a child on the tree branch, a little girl smaller than most of the others. Yelling at the kids to wait for their friend, she climbs the tree fairly quickly. Her heart's pounding, she knows that time isn't on her side. When she reaches the branch, she crouches down as she sets out on it, less for her own balance than to put herself closer to the little lady's line of sight.

The shrine maiden listens to the child tell her that she's afraid of heights, that she only came up because the other kids were teasing her, but she couldn't jump when she got here, and she's too scared to climb back down, worried she'd fall. Breathing through her nose, Rei consciously slows down her breathing, steadying her nerves long enough to stay calm for the frightened little one. She knows who Sailor Mars is, and after a little cajoling, shuts her tearstung eyes and nods her assent when Mars tells her that they'll jump together, and she'll see that it's not so bad, and that Mars will make sure nothing bad happens.

Holding the kid on her back in a piggy back, Sailor Mars gives her a warm smile and jumps off and into the water below. If things were calmer she'd stay with the child and make sure that she could swim ok, but as things are, Mars drags her along with her as she makes her way back to land. Setting her down with the two other kids that had stayed, Mars gives her a hug and another smile, and tells her to be brave.

And to run.

Turning on her heel, she starts to run herself, away from the kids, waving behind her with only a quick glance..and taking long strides towards the void. When she crosses the barrier it feels like an out of body experience..a possession almost. Her eyes bulge, her knees buckle, her legs sag and her brow droops. Like a gut punch, a thick plaque of depression smears itself along her heart. She knows that it will get worse the longer she stays..but there has to be a center.

There is, as a matter of fact..and the tree that Rei sees at that point is perhaps the most repulsive thing that she's ever beheld. It is..obscene. A word that she's never truly, personally understood until now. A warped mockery of goodness and life. A scion of rot and ruin. Rei has trained for years to cleanse such a stain on the soul of the world. It's what she has long planned to spend her life doing.

She..probably would have imagined something like this more along the lines of something for when she's decades older. It feels..more like the culmination of a long life's work. Something that will snatch her teenaged self up and end her aspirations, revealing them for the hollow fancies they'd always secretly been..

Shaking her head and blinking, Rei slaps herself on the cheek, hard. Then the other one..can't think like that. This place, this thing, is getting to her. Her thoughts can't be fully trusted, so she must.. /must/ focus on the task at hand. The simple and wordless objective before her.

Taking a single ofuda, Rei whispers to it with all the assurance she'd held for the little girl. As it charges, Rei's eyes refocus from the close paper to what lies beyond it..and blanches as a violet barrier seems to pulse out towards her.

Leaping clumsily aside, the crackling wall clips her leg..but Rei manages to hurl her hopes around it, towards the withered root spreading like a tumor.

COMBAT: Sailor Mars has used Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen! on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Sailor Mars has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Sailor Mars's Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Analysis performed by Sailor Mars!  

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5txwarcAP0

Even a tiny weapon of light, wielded against pure darkness, shines infinitely brighter than nothing at all. It may be held by a maiden fighting with desperation rather than hope, but she's still fighting on to protect what she believes in, and that can be enough.

Japanese Cherry Blossom's chopstick manages to stab straight through a point on the barrier, causing it to flash blindingly and then fade, just in that one spot, to something less than it once was.

Others find less success, though the sheer volume of offense is clearly forcing the well of darkness to slow the rate of its expansion yet further; distantly one can see that trees are now being consumed only one per ten seconds, instead of one per one. Tsukiko's fangs find the barrier sticky and strange, while Lera's blade glances off at an angle harsh to the palm that holds it and Chao's arrow is somehow mostly absorbed, disappearing into the energy but not emerging out the other side. Forever Sunshine suffers the grave misfortune of 'almost perfect, but not quite,' the sheer might behind her uppercut causing the barrier to give, stretching, stretching inwards, as she propels her sandalwood self towards the tree --

-- until it snaps back into place, sending her in the opposite direction with awesome force with an audible 'CRACK!'

The Magic Knight of Fire, meanwhile, explodes onto the scene sword-first, thrusting her blade into the opposite side of the barrier from the leader of the Perfume Warriors, and with a blast of fire and a blaze of purple light, puncturing it. The intellect behind the tree immediately sends a great deal of strength to intercept the worst of her partner's magical tornado, and a little bit more, with a vicious whip of lightning to sizzle the Magic Knight of Wind's armor.

Indeed, now energy is being sent to opposite sides of the force field, to shore up the weaknesses created by the two magical girls. Rather like an iridescent bubble with most of its fluid pulled towards the ground -- or in this case, to either side -- this leaves its center vulnerable, ghostly radiance flickering.

That's when the Pretty Cure, Peach and Pine, impact.

There's a truly eyesearing flare, one that leaves radiant spots in the aftermath for some girls who were unlucky enough to be looking in the wrong spot at the wrong moment.

There isn't a shattering noise, because this isn't glass, but it does look like it, as cracks arc jaggedly between the girls' feet and Hikaru's blade and Japanese Cherry Blossom's chopstick. Then it tinkles silently away into nothingness...

...just as Sailor Mars' ofuda floats into range. The tiny slip of faith wraps itself almost gently around a root... and the senshi's senses are abruptly overloaded with the sheer scope of the energies she is suddenly bound to, experiencing not firsthand but first-soul. Some of it is not dark in itself, the part providing the magnitude, the bulk of the engine, as it were, but the veins of the tree, the circuitry, which still pulses violet with drained energy, is tainting the whole with a very deliberate, very intense malice.

It hungers for what it perceives, dimly, at the edge of the void that comprises itself, and at long last the tree moves in earnest, an enormous, school bus-width branch crashing down towards Mars, with Peach and Pine radially right in the way and in need of some payback, anyhow.

In the same moment, many girls might be taken by surprise by the intensity of the misery pouring out of the now-proximate energy tree. Apparently that barrier wasn't just keeping girls out; it was keeping some aspects of itself /in/. This, however, is a subtly different feeling from the deliberate assaults on the spirit; it's more passive, and in some ways more painful. Overwhelming all else is a sense of being /lost/.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Direct Approach on Cure Peach.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Direct Approach on Cure Pine.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Direct Approach on Sailor Mars.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Eyesear on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Eyeblast on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Eyesear on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Eyesear on Forever Sunshine.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Dark Amber.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Japanese Cherry Blossom.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Overwhelming Despair on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao perfectly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Eyeblast, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Lingshen Chao's Fade ability activates!  Lingshen Chao's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Eyesear, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  
COMBAT: Cure Pine narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's The Direct Approach, taking 16 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is Psyched!  
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 12 Fatigue damage!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Block ability activates!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Taunted!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Eyesear, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Sailor Mars narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's The Direct Approach, taking 18 Fatigue damage!  Stagger and Stun applied to Sailor Mars!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha perfectly braces Juri Arisugawa's Eyesear, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Critical Brace!  Mai Tokiha's Block ability activates!  
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 19 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Japanese Cherry Blossom is Taunted!  Trap applied to Japanese Cherry Blossom!  
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 17 Fatigue damage!  Hikaru Shidou is Taunted!  Trap applied to Hikaru Shidou!  
COMBAT: Lera Camry narrowly counters Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Lera Camry's Reverse ability activates!  Lera Camry's Tactician ability activates!  Lera Camry is Taunted!  Trap applied to Lera Camry!  
COMBAT: Lera Camry's counterattack, Sentinel Cross, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Juri Arisugawa!
COMBAT: Dark Amber narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Overwhelming Despair, taking 13 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Dark Amber's Fade ability activates!  Dark Amber's Flash ability activates!  Trap applied to Dark Amber!  
COMBAT: Miki Aono has fully healed herself.
COMBAT: Miki Aono transforms into Cure Berry!
COMBAT: Cure Peach fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's The Direct Approach, taking 29 Fatigue damage!  Stagger and Stun applied to Cure Peach!  

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Lera's desperate swing slams into the barrier, sparks and light erupting from the energy sheathing the sword -- and it yanks her hand back sharply. She hisses, backing away from it, angrily -- and her sword swings back, as she prepares to rush in once more.

But then Mai's words reach her ears, while sparks and flickers of orange-red light shoot around her from the desperate swing. Briefly, much like Mai did a moment before, her teeth grit together in denial. If they don't rush in, if they don't stop it now, it could be devastating. But then the warmth of Mai's flame washes over her, and despite all odds, despite everything occurring on the battlefield, she finds a sense of calm. She hangs her head, bangs falling down before her eyes.

Lera nods her head, slowly. "Yeah... yeah, you're right," she says. "It's the only way we can save them."

She watches Chao's fire arrow shoot by her, turning her head to look at the girl for a moment -- she stares a moment, before she looks back at the tree and the barrier. Then the Pretty Cures kick into the barrier -- and with a tremendous flash of light, through it. She winces, eyes widening; after that, Lera starts to rush forward again. There is another ring of red-orange light that shoots out from her feet, and she takes off like a shot.

Then she jerks to a stop.

This time, Soaring Sky can't act in time; he fails to separate the blades, and there is a bright flash of light to stop the wash of pure negativity. When she stops, her eyes are widen, mouth opened in something between terror and gut-wrenching despair. She shakes her head, but she can't shake the feeling: is there any point to this? Has she really come as far as she thought?

"Sky..."

<On it! Inferno Slasher!>

A Midchildan magic circle appears behind her. She goes flying at the tree, then; Lera does a sharp pivot in midair, as her broadsword-shaped Device suddenly ignites. The plasma field around it flares, becoming longer, and she slams the sword out as she twists in midair -- and then it explodes as it comes closer, a straight line burst of energy shooting off the blade.

COMBAT: Lera Camry has used Inferno Slasher on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

A little point of light. A tiny cut through the overwhelming darkness.

And the teamwork. The Cures, working together. It's cheerful in spite of everything. There is just... the smallest possible ray of hope?

The barrier is cracking! Cherry Blossom sees the light spread, and pulls her hands back, expecting something that may pour out...

She's still not entirely ready for the power of the despair that grabs out for her. It's intangible but still strong, and she feels it constricting around her heart like a vice. The smell of dust becomes even more like nothingness. Her little chopstick weapon turns into glitter dust that falls at her feet.

She leans away from the sickening tree, as it's obviously slowing her down. She feels weaker by the moment, but she knows she has to keep trying.

"This is... this is the end for me," she says, looking over her shoulder at Forever Sunshine, and Dark Amber, and then trying to catch the eyes of anyone else who might listen.

"But I can't let this despair overwhelm nature. Or Tokyo. Or... all of Japan..."

She can see it in her mind's eye, the darkness spreading from the roots of this tree all over the world, and has a vision... the world she is from NOW, in this lifetime, crumbling to darkness... blackness rolling into the seas...

"Yes, I have to make that promise. For all of Japan. And for my friends."

The golden glitter that's dulling at her feet starts to pick up a little more, a new wind billowing it. It's weak at first. But then the gold seems to multiply, and ripple out. "I can't be lost. I am here. I know where I am! This is our home! And we will protect it, and this world!"

Cherry Blossom closes her eyes and tries to concentrate on that feeling, the feeling of being here, now, present. It's difficult, but she must use even her desperation for this last push.

A circle of red light rises up behind her. For a moment it looks almost like the Japanese flag - but just as it is done rising, it becomes golden and shimmery and begins to set again, flickering as if it were reflected off of the ocean. Flower petals are forming in the air in front of Japanese Cherry Blossom as she presses her palms together.

She opens her eyes! There's a burst of resolve, a golden light inside them reflected from her power.

"Cherry Blossom--"

And as the gold light, full of petals, slams forward from behind her, she can feel her feet already giving out, but maybe it will give others the chance-- "Golden Sunset!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Cherry Blossom Golden Sunset on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Dark Amber begins to waver as a wave of pure despair, that feeling of being lost settles, he has to shake it off best he can and he snaps forward pulling a chain out as he thwips it against the ground and forward..."I will...BACK YOU UP!" he yells as frevently as he can. He then swings it out in an attempt to tie up some of this thing's roots as he winces.

But can his chains possibly contain this thing at all?

What the others are doing are starting to penentrate it's barrier. That's good. But---- it needs something more. Maybe Cherry Blossom can do something to weaken it further!

COMBAT: Dark Amber has used Binding Amber Chain on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Somewhere in the middle of getting blasted by her own countered attack and nearly getting blinded by that eye-searing flash of light, the Magic Knight of Wind takes note of one particular detail: the bigger the 'impact area' of an attack, it would seem, the more likely it is to be repulsed. Certainly her own wind spells are far from pinpoint precision - quite the opposite, in fact. By contrast, the Double Pretty Cure Kick seems to pierce the arboreal abomination's defenses with some degree of success, as does Japanese Cherry Blossom's thrown dart-like chopstick.

The Wind Knight isn't limited to just her magical wind attacks, of course; she DOES have options, and her sword vanishes to be replaced by her bow and quiver. "Everybody!" she calls out. "Use the thinnest attacks you've got; try to pierce that barrier instead of simply battering through it!"

On that note, she nocks an arrow, drawing it back, and gathers her focus. There's no attack call this time, not even an invocation of wind to boost her arrow's flight; she just lines up her shot ... adjusts her aim to allow for various forms of crosswind ...

1. -1 ARGUMENT OUT OF RANGEAnd looses.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Somewhere in the middle of getting blasted by her own countered attack and nearly getting blinded by that eye-searing flash of light, the Magic Knight of Wind takes note of one particular detail: the bigger the 'impact area' of an attack, it would seem, the more likely it is to be repulsed. Certainly her own wind spells are far from pinpoint precision - quite the opposite, in fact. By contrast, the Double Pretty Cure Kick seems to pierce the arboreal abomination's defenses with some degree of success, as does Japanese Cherry Blossom's thrown dart-like chopstick.

The Wind Knight isn't limited to just her magical wind attacks, of course; she DOES have options, and her sword vanishes to be replaced by her bow and quiver. "Everybody!" she calls out. "Use the thinnest attacks you've got; try to pierce that barrier instead of simply battering through it!"

On that note, she nocks an arrow, drawing it back, and gathers her focus. There's no attack call this time, not even an invocation of wind to boost her arrow's flight; she just lines up her shot ... adjusts her aim to allow for various forms of crosswind ...

And looses.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Trick Arrow Shot on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

The longer the battle rages on for, the more Hikaru believes that things are getting worse. And the darkness that she felt from before seems to be seeping into her again. This time, though, it's more than just unpleasant. It seems to be holding her back somehow, almost like an invisible chain is bound to her. Yet, at the same time, there's a strange feeling inside her. Almost like something is daring her to attack, or that she's secretly being mocked. It's causing her to glare at the evil being with more burning rage than before.

Gripping her sword, Hikaru rushes at the monster. She ignores what's holding her back as best as she can, attempting to pierce the monster with her sword as she's heard from Fuu-chan.

COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Horizontal Slash on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Mars [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Sailor Mars coughs as her soul brushes against the not-tree's parasite, a retching, sharp burst of disgust. There was an..enormous, range of things to process..but she comes away with a much more vivid understanding of her enemy.

Before she can share her discovery, she gets the impression that her ofuda had made an impression when a (big) dumpster sized branch burns straight for her. Planting her feet and crossing her bracers, she grits her teeth. It hits her hard, but not as hard as it looked like it might have. She stays upright, and on her feet.

"It's in the..." she yells back behind her shoulder. What are they called again? "..." "...the circuits! Try to hit the circuits!"

Maybe nobody could hear her, maybe they already knew to do that. Maybe she-

Rei slams a steel portcullis down on that train of thought. It was flirting with the darkness, and if she tried to redirect it then it would be hard not to fall in. Better to sever it completely with a razor puff of will.

Raising her hand to her brow, she holds her fingers to her palm as though she's holding cards, fanned out. One after another, three ofuda wink into being in her grip. They are not made of paper, but of white flame. They are not written with ink, but burn red instead where each character is formed.

Reaching straight back like a pitcher winding up, Rei snaps her arm around and forward..launching each strip to strike at the maleficence.

COMBAT: Sailor Mars has used Evil, Begone! on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Sailor Mars has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Pine drives her foot against the tree right beside Peach, the almost noiseless impact is startling, but the spiderlike cracks show far more effect than what they'd managed before. She might have might have even continued trying to drive right through that point, when suddenly the massive branch the side of the bus, crashes down towards her.

"Look out!" She cries, just as she pushes off the barrier with her other foot, kicking off of it, and somersaulting back into the air. It isn't the main part of the branch that strikes her, but the boughs and twigs of energy which tear her up, causing numerous cuts across her torso. It takes tiny bits of fabric with her. She lands upon the branch itself, and even as it continues swinging, she runs along it, somehow keeping her balance. That's when she hears Rei's advice, on aiming for the circuits.

Emboldened by the previous success of the Double Kick, she runs along the energy branch until she's almost at the trunk. And then she leaps. As now, she has a target, even if the implications might be that the misery energy within the tree was being contained by the barrier. She picks a target in mid-air, the circuit closest to where their kick previously struck, and once there, she just starts punching, as rapidly as she can, fists blurring as she does so, attempting to drive through the violet energy barrier. "We can't let up!" She rasps out heavily, "Everyone is counting on us!" Tarte, Chiffon, her family. Every animal and person in the city! She couldn't let them down, by giving up on herself!

None of the blows are all that powerful, but the least she could do is keep up the pressure, and add to the count! They had a thousand punches to manage after all!

COMBAT: Cure Pine has used Dogged Assault on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Forever Sunshine thinks as she sees Peach and Pine rise up: Maybe we need to do a duet move. But the other girls aren't really brawlers. Who can I team up with for this? Maybe if --

Maybe if she had a little better follow through.

As the tension of the thing's 'skin' starts rebounding, Forever Sunshine lets out a small, weak sigh and lets herself go limp. With a sudden emphatic burst, she hits the ground, and she hits it hard - actually sinking down several feet, thanks to the marshy, mushy quality it has developed. The ground closes in OVER her, just a bit...

But Forever Sunshine is not to be dimmed yet. Straightening up, she back-bends, flipping her way free and standing in a short crouch. That feeling of misery is coming off of the tree, but...

'This is the end for me.'

"Cherry!!" she cries out in fear, tension, every sudden moment passing with abrupt and shimmering certainty. When Cherry does not collapse, relief washes over her, but that bursting golden wave of petals might be, truly, her friend's last gasp. Wordlessly she puts her trust into Dark Amber as she turns towards the tree again.

Towards where Cherry's chopstick had struck home.

Forever Sunshine wades forwards, resolution guiding her even if this battle shows little sign of abating. The golden sunset of Japanese Cherry Blossom casts a shadow - and she reaches out to put her palm against that barrier.

"If this is my last one, I'm gonna make it a good one," she mutters, sucking in a deep breath. "Piiiink--" And even as that sunset may be fading, a pink sunrise comes beneath Forever Sunshine's palm.

"Peony--" The light intensifies, the peony-flower fragrance rising up, this time fresh and clean and mixed with warm notes of vanilla and praline that bring to mind sweets just in time for Golden Week. Forever Sunshine's other hand comes up and curls into a fist as lightning-like crackles erupt from that bolt.

"Over-- drrriiiiiveee---" And with this, she does not punch or strike or kick, for such things have failed. Instead, Forever Sunshine presses that burst of hope, of sunshine-soaked memories, against the tree. The pink lightning crackles out --

'hit the circuits!'

Forever Sunshine's stoic expression snaps open. "OH MY GOSH IS IT THOSE GUYS? Yes of course it is. Howwaaahh--" The pink light surges as she pushes it the rest of the way. Hopefully that barrier really was damaged!

COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has used Pink Peony Overdrive on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Courage and hope, shining from all sides...it may be desperate, it may be meager, but as Mai takes in the sheer force of the looming tree, she has but one thought.

As long as it's dealing with them, it isn't killing the world.

She's watching, full on, when Peach and Pine slam into the tree's barrier - it's at the last moment that she throws up her arms to guard her sight. She can practically see the brightness through /arms and eyelids/, and she's dazed for a moment.

In that moment, everything changes. The tree, lined with misery and despair and impossible power...Mai's arms fall to her sides, and she just stares. Stares, even as the power-tree unleashes wave after wave of despair, slams down a mighty branch on those who injured it the most. Stares, with horror and realization dawning in equal measure.

"...it's in the wrong place." The words slip out of their own volition, but slip out they do. The name she was about to declare with terrible certainty...all of a sudden, she's not so certain any more. She rises swiftly, casting her gaze about...and slumps. "It's the World Tree, or some piece of it. And...its home is too far away."

...frustrating. Infuriating, even. If her guess is right, she managed to stop short of making a mistake - but that won't solve the problem. Kagutsuchi would gladly do his very best to incinerate this energy-tree if she asked... but fire might not be the answer here. If the key is to get through to whatever will motivates this thing-

She flushes a moment, remembering. Well. Maybe fire can help there after all.

As dread increases, as the monstrous tree continues to loom...Mai flies in close. Closer than before, closer than the barrier had allowed, to stand in the air before the tree's face. Given what it seems to be, might be, could be - maybe everything she'd done before isn't for naught. Flames tremble as her mantle, and her voice quavers, but she speaks as clearly as she can to the face before her. "I don't know if you can understand, but...do you remember? The night the shadows attacked the World Tree, and...and those girls probably attacked too, and we didn't know it? How I burnt branches in desperation? Just...show me. Show me some sign that you're connected to that tree, somehow. That you remember this."

The flames that dance behind her spread out - like one of the fiery walls she used that night, so long ago.

COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has used Burning Memory on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly dodges Lera Camry's Inferno Slasher, taking 24 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to dodge Japanese Cherry Blossom's Finisher, Cherry Blossom Golden Sunset, taking 91 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Dark Amber's Binding Amber Chain, taking 9 Fatigue damage!  Dark Amber is Psyched!  Exhausted applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Fuu Hououji's Trick Arrow Shot, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Hikaru Shidou's Horizontal Slash, taking 12 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, Power Redirection, partially gets through, doing 25 Fatigue damage to Hikaru Shidou!  Critical Counterhit!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Sailor Mars's Evil, Begone!, taking 45 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Cure Peach's pink eyes light up when Pine and her really -kick- the tree at the same time and also in tandem with the continued assault of their allies. Every kick, every punch, every sword slash or chopstick they hit this tree with meant they all were that much closer to defeating this terrible evil creature. They couldn't let up now and they had to keep attacking now that their attacks were seemingly doing -something- to the tree.

But their attacks were also awakening some dark power within their foe. Waves and waves of negative energy and emotion crash throughout the area, but it a much more corporeal danger that threatens Peach now. A massive branch of the tree has been aimed straight at her and there was no way that Peach would be able to dodge out of the way in time. Instead, she stands her ground and readies herself for impact. And the brutal impact of the swung school-bus sized branch comes.

Out stretching her arms now, the young Pretty Cure attempts to push back against the powerful tree limb in a vain attempt to lessen the power of her foe's blow. But the tree wins out and ends up smashing Love into the forest ground with a mighty TWACK. The branch lifts up to reveal a Peach sized impression in the ground. Groggily, the young warrior starts to pick herself up but it feels like the world forest is spinning around her. She soon looks over to Pine to see if she's okay. Her friend was right, everyone was counting on them! And Peach couldn't help anyone with just lying there on the ground. Shaking her head, Cure Peach takes in a deep breath and then turns to face the tree that still has yet to be uprooted by their punches.

"Pine! Everyone! Our happiness is only a few hundred more punches away!" The young girl readies another punch and runs straight for the big tree when she hears her allies echoing that they all should aim for the circuits. This is definitely something that Cure Peach can do! She dashes forward winds up a big punch and throws her whole body into it in an attempt to add another punch to the tally!

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

Given enough time, even a mouse can cut down a tree. A slight grin crosses Tsukiko's face as she feels the root of the tree twitch from her gnawing.

But the key word there is 'time'... and time is not on her side.

The wave of despair hits the wolfgirl, feeding on a lurking insecurity. While she's been hitting this monstrousity of a tree with everything she has, she's barely been able to scratch it. She still has hope, backed by the presence of the rest of the magical girls, that the tree will be defeated...

...but do her contributions even matter?

She sighs, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a howl. As usual, there are no words to it, just feelings -- but unlike her usual howls, Tsukiko isn't stating her own emotions in it. This isn't a song of defiance, or at least not in the usual sense.

Instead, she's calling to the stolen hope, encouraging it to break free from its prison, to return and rekindle -- and revive.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly counters Cure Pine's Dogged Assault, taking 4 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa's counterattack, The Direct Approach, partially gets through, doing 14 Fatigue damage to Cure Pine!  Stagger and Stun applied to Cure Pine!  
COMBAT: FINISHER! Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Soulful Howl on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has used Pumped Up Punch! on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Forever Sunshine's Pink Peony Overdrive, taking 36 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Mai Tokiha's Burning Memory, taking 3 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Cure Peach's Pumped Up Punch!, taking 10 Fatigue damage!  Cure Peach is Psyched!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Finisher, Soulful Howl, taking 71 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Cure Berry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

The misery that had seeped through the entire area - the people that had been threatened. So many people had been threatened here in this battle against this creature, and Cure Berry had taken her time. Darting to and fro, plucking up people and carrying them to safety, trying to get as many people out of the path of the destruction as possible.

It had left her battered, having shielded a child from that devastating, draining attack - and tired from the sheer effort of moving people out of the way in time.

But Berry could not sit idle for too much longer. Those that she could perceive as needing immeadiate saving had been saved. Now... now...!

'We can't let up!' 'Our happiness is only a few hundred more punches away!'

In the chaos of the melee, Berry's eyes settle upon her fellow Cures, and in the space of a handful of heartbeats, she lunges, ducking her head under a lashing root to draw near Peach. "Peach! Pine! Everyone!"

A beat then, and Berry balls her fists up, striking in unison alongside Peach - first one mighty punch, a handful of moments after Peach's - and then another, right on time with her fellow dancer. Almost ~perfect~.

COMBAT: Cure Berry has used Beautiful Battler on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cure Berry has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Lingshen Chao [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Chao's fire arrow blasts into the barrier and is simply chewed to nothing. But that wasn't much of a hit; she knows it. And she sees that it at least contributed, as the other girls slam into it and it finally shattters. She throws a hand up, knowing what to expect there - the flash of light fails to blind her, lets her keep her position for a moment longer. Her spirits rally, if only an inch; she recalls the strides she's taken. The very reason she can call on her magic this way is her own cunning. The power to fight this beast - fight for the tomorrow her people were denied - is her doing. But...

But she's got to put up with a renewed wave of malice from this thing. She has to withstand the fear of seeing what it's done to the forest around them, turning it into dust and silence. It's familiar; too familiar. She tries to understand it, with what little she knows of these creatures; but her understanding of the powers of darkness is basic at best, fundamentals taught to children so they don't accidentally invoke demons into their socks. Something of this scale...arising from what she knows it arose from...

All she can do is try, she reminds herself, and tries not to heed her imagination as it runs wild; runs through old nightmares of the friends she left behind calling her coward instead of hero.

She turns the images into fire as best she can. She holds up her hand and the bracelet with it, and calls, "Last Tale! My Magic Scir Magister!" the magic words of her heart, and then, louder: "13 arrows of fire, come together now and strike my enemy! Magic Archer! Convergence of Flame!"

They appear behind her as glimmering orbs of fire, first; and then, as one, streak around her and spiral around themselves, 13 flaming arrows howling down the range to find --

>The circuits! Try to hit the circuits!

Of course it's Sailor Mars. Chao finds her lips curling just a shade, and snaps her hand higher. The slowly narrowing point of the 13-arrow convergence points up and streaks forward, driving toward one of the exposed circuits before bursting into mystic flame. One arrow isn't that much power, all told; 13...13 can be a conflagration.

COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has used Convergence of Flame on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Cure Berry's Beautiful Battler, taking 36 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Lingshen Chao's Convergence of Flame, taking 11 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ght558wXr9I

With the barrier gone, the battle changes completely.

That tree of energy is a lot more /active/ all of a sudden.

It rips the root that Lera was trying to vaporize with that giant energy blade-beam right out of the ground, turning what might have been severance into a nasty burn. How do you burn energy? Apparently, that's how. Then it maintains its momentum, swinging back around to attempt to bowl the Midchildan over with its sheer bulk. If it comes into direct contact, even for the slightest moment, it's like energy drain overdrive, since there's no longer 'the ground' in between source and reception of the transmission of that attack.

It cannot, however, get its massive bulk out of the way of Japanese Cherry Blossom's desperate, perhaps final, blow, especially when Dark Amber's chains are momentarily holding its nearest limbs in place. The sunset radiance slams into the tree and seems to, if anything, infect it; the circuits that pulse purple are now pulsing something a little bit more to the red side of that spectrum, and there's a sharp smell in the air, like ozone or burning metal. The chains shatter, and some figurative ones do as well, intangible but potent as Japanese Cherry Blossom feels the binding upon her heart release at last.

Sailor Mars' flame ofuda and Forever's peony blast slam into it while it's still reeling, unable to recover, and they, too, start winding their way through the metal, turning some of the internal wiring gold and pink. The energy itself is still green, immutably so, but, to give an example of the larger effect, a leaf, a single, pizza pan-sized leaf, without any uninfected circuitry remaining, falls to the ground, then vanishes in a hiss, boiling away.

That doesn't mean it's defenseless, however. Japanese Cherry Blossom, Sailor Mars, and Forever Sunshine are immediately on the receiving end of painful bolts of violet energy, sharp as knives. Furthermore, Hikaru and Cure Pine both discover this in a difficult way; perhaps the energy tree is especially determined to defend itself from those who destroyed its barrier so totally. Pine, in close, finds branches between her and the trunk at the last minute, swatting her away, while Hikaru sinks her blade deep into the trunk, only for purple energy to use it as a lightning rod right back to her. ZAP.

Cures Peach and Berry, the latter newly on the scene, punch the branches away from their teammate, clearing a space for them to regroup, while Mai and Chao set everything they can see on fire, Chao with more precision, Mai with more remorse. Either way, the attacks don't seem to so much as infect circuits as melt them. Still, those branches begin to slow their thrashing, though they do not stop. There's violence yet to be achieved, with the bludgeon of limbs and the occasional detonation of the equivalent of pinecones, only they're violet energy balls.

And a Cute Wolf calls for the return of something stolen. That's really what all this is about, in the end, as while Mai cannot seem to communicate her feelings clearly, she is not wrong; and while the newly mobile energy of the World Tree's control nexus cannot be led home by this howl, some of the energy it has been ordered to consume, can. That purple pulsing in a few of its still-untouched circuits (which comprise the majority for now) simply reverses direction, away from wherever its as-yet unseen core or heart is, and out the roots.

Distantly, too distantly to see but impossible not to feel somehow, the radius of destruction, very, very slightly, retracts.

In response, the tree tries to make up the difference with the Cute Wolf's personal supply, three roots erupting to grab the girl and drain her as dry as they can. It's very, very cold.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Emergency Countermeasures on Japanese Cherry Blossom.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Emergency Countermeasures on Sailor Mars.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Draining Darts on Forever Sunshine.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used ZAP. on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Arbor Tantrum on Lingshen Chao.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Arbor Tantrum on Mai Tokiha.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Arbor Tantrum on Cure Peach.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Arbor Tantrum on Cure Berry.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Arbor Tantrum on Cure Pine.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used Arbor Tantrum on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: FINISHER! Juri Arisugawa has used Absolute Zero on Cute Wolf Tsukiko.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has used The Root Of The Problem on Lera Camry.
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Finisher, Absolute Zero, taking 30 Fatigue damage!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko is Quipped!  Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Draining Darts, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Forever Sunshine is Quipped!  Forever Sunshine's Fade ability activates!  Forever Sunshine's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's ZAP., taking 25 Fatigue damage!  Hikaru Shidou's Block ability activates!  Hikaru Shidou's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly dodges Juri Arisugawa's Arbor Tantrum, taking 14 Fatigue damage!  Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates!  Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!  
COMBAT: Cure Berry narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Arbor Tantrum, taking 5 Fatigue damage!  Cure Berry's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Cure Peach fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Arbor Tantrum, taking 17 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Arbor Tantrum, taking 6 Fatigue damage!  Mai Tokiha's Block ability activates!  
COMBAT: Sailor Mars fails to brace Juri Arisugawa's Emergency Countermeasures, taking 9 Fatigue damage!  

<Pose Tracker> Hikaru Shidou [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

The electricity surges through Hikaru's sword, electrocuting her and causing her to drop to the ground onto one knee. She's not out yet, but she's close to it. She knows she can't keep fighting much longer. She pulls back, attempting to find a safe spot to rest a little and regain enough strength to keep fighting...

COMBAT: Lera Camry perfectly dodges Juri Arisugawa's The Root Of The Problem, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Dodge!  Lera Camry's Fade ability activates!  Lera Camry's Flash ability activates! 
COMBAT: Cure Pine narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Arbor Tantrum, taking 9 Fatigue damage!  Cure Pine's Block ability activates!  Cure Pine's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Arbor Tantrum, taking 12 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom narrowly braces Juri Arisugawa's Emergency Countermeasures, taking 3 Fatigue damage!  Japanese Cherry Blossom's Block ability activates!  

<Pose Tracker> Japanese Cherry Blossom [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Japanese Cherry Blossom strikes. The stike hits home. She, surprising even herself, does not fall down.

Not now. She feels the grip on her heart releasing, and keeps her hands out in front of her as the last of the golden light pours forward. The last of the light serves as a barrier, and though the violet energy pours out from the tree, crackling at her with sharp edges, she closes her eyes and bears only the edge.

"It's... all the power I have left..."

She looks over at Forever Sunshine, and Dark Amber...

She also sees Fuu is giving her all. They've fought along side one another in lots of dire situations, and she's always there with her Winds when people are hurt. Time for Cherry Blossom to try to return the favor.

She brings her hand up to her locket, the little sparkly heart around her neck. She opens it up, just as she did to battle the mirror inside. A sparkling wave of diamond dust pours out. It smells of springtime, glows with pure white light, and moves comforting, glowing waves toward her friends. "Diamond... Shimmer! Give us the strength to keep fighting...!"

There's one more flash of white, and then she finally drops to her knees.

COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Diamond Shimmer - Shimmer Mist Sensation on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Diamond Shimmer - Shimmer Mist Sensation on Dark Amber.
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has used Diamond Shimmer - Shimmer Mist Sensation on Forever Sunshine.
COMBAT: Japanese Cherry Blossom has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Dark Amber accepts Japanese Cherry Blossom's Diamond Shimmer - Shimmer Mist Sensation, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Empower applied to Dark Amber!  
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji accepts Japanese Cherry Blossom's Diamond Shimmer - Shimmer Mist Sensation, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Empower applied to Fuu Hououji!  
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine accepts Japanese Cherry Blossom's Diamond Shimmer - Shimmer Mist Sensation, taking 0 Fatigue damage!  Empower applied to Forever Sunshine!  

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Lera takes a sharp breath when the sword burns energy. She half-expected it to fail -- but sometimes, luck goes her way. She pulls back, though, when the root shoots up out of the ground. It flies at her, but the girl is already airborne; she manages to shoot straight up, a blast of light coming from her feet--

--which the root tears through, dispersing the light into particles below Lera's feet. She jerks to a stop again, and turns her head to look up at Mai. "You know this thing?" Lera asks. "Then--then we gotta get it back home. Somehow."

She watches Mai take off, to talk to the face; she bites her lip, the feeling of despair lingering, dreading whatever the tree might try to do to her. But, she remembers what she told Mai; she remembers what the other redhead told her. They have to stop it. They have to be smart about it. She squeezes her eyes shut, remembering what Soaring Sky said yesterday, and she sucks in a ragged breath. Things seem impossible; the retreat of the field of desolation is a small victory, but this is far beyond her capabilities.

But, she has Sky with her. She has that much -- and she feels the wind chill, as the tree's roots shoot for Tsukiko. Her head turns. "Tsukiko!" she yells, "Hold on!"

<We have enough for one shot. We have to make it count.>

"I know," Lera says. "Let's do it. We've got to protect the city, and the others..." She trails off. "I just hope it's enough."

<We'll make bloody certain it is.>

That prompts a small smile on Lera's face; then she nods down at her Device, and the smile turns into a grin, despite everything. At least, she thinks, they understand each other better, now. That is something she can hold onto. She points her sword down with both hands; the halves separate, and lighting crackles across them. A Midchildan magic circle, traced in red light, shoots through the air before the ppoint of her sword.

<Aura Burst!>

The lightning gathers, dancing between them, as a white point of light gathers inside the blade. It looses, then; a massive column of white light, tinged with gold, and a deeper orange at the edges, fires down towards the ground.

'This is home now,' she thinks through gritted teeth, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, as the blast fires her back through the air. 'Please, please, let me be able to save it. I just found it.'

COMBAT: FINISHER! Lera Camry has used Aurora Burst on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Lera Camry has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Tokiha [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

She tried. She didn't get through. And yet...it doesn't seem like she was wrong.

Tsukiko's soulful howling resounds in Mai's ears, and the tree seems to respond to it. A talent, it seems, for calling to those who are lost, for righting what is wrong.

Even as the tree retaliates against Tsukiko, Mai can't help stealing a jealous glance down to the wolf-girl.

But...there's a plan, it seems. The circuitry running through the tree, shining with malevolence, show the tree-spirit's nature more than anything else. Or corrupt that nature, as the case may be. If she had some way of purifying it, of correcting the ill - like the floral scents and paper talismans seem to do - that would be the path to take. As it stands...

Mai closes her eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry. I can't fix this - I can only try to stop you." Hesitation...but the circle of destruction continues, in spite of its pauses. So long as this tree is rooted to the ground, those she cares about will still be in peril.

Mai's eyes open as she descends to solid, dead earth. A glance - a hopeful look to those, like Sailor Mars, who might be able to fix what's wrong. A look up to Lera, as she unleashes a torrent of light - and her decision is made. Rend and burn the roots, so it stops draining everything - so that things might be put right before it's too late.

Gold-and-jade magatama bracelets spin rapidly, unleashing great swaths of flame - and Mai begins to spin as well, round and round. Again and again, her flames pour forth, blazing at every root she can see, burning at the tree's connection to the earth. Burning brightly, hotly, fueled by regret and determination and compassion for those she cares for. In the end...that's why she's here.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Mai Tokiha has used Passionate Conflagration on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Mai Tokiha has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Those circuit-pathways are remarkably small targets; it gives the Magic Knight of Wind some pleasure in seeing her arrow drive into one of them - although it's clearly nothing close to 'enough' to stop the disaster in the making. And then things get worse, again - the roots reaching for Tsukiko, and the electrocution that sends the Flame Knight flying. "Hikaru-san!! Tsukiko-san!!!" shouts the Wind Knight, her heart leaping into her throat ... and a cold wind whipping around her as she fights to dodge the branches whipping at her like something out of a children's book or a fairy tale.

By the time the Wind Knight finds enough of a 'clearing' in the attacks to turn her full attention to the arboreal abomination, she seems to stand in the midst of a zephyr, skirts and hair whipping gently in the rising wind. Whatever light there is gleams from her glasses as she slowly lifts her gaze, studying the 'tree' as thoroughly as she can at this distance and in the short time she's allowing herself.

The circuits. Those have to be her main target - she's certain of that much. The power which is 'embodied' in the shape of the World Tree ... is it better to forcibly disperse it? Possibly; she's not sure if the World Tree itself will draw the power back once it's set free, or whether the energy will need to be built up again - assuming that's what's going to happen in the first place.

Either way, the captured power CAN'T be left bundled up for those of evil intentions to do with as they please. Maybe it'll inconvenience those on the side of good if this energy is scattered beyond easy recovery - or maybe there's a purpose she doesn't know of for which this power *should* be preserved rather than scattering it. But the Magic Knight of Wind is still in the dark about quite a few details; Clef didn't tell her what to do if the World Tree's power coalesced into a shape and started taking hostile action.

For the second time that night, the Magic Knight of Wind gathers up her magic and builds it up to full strength, her arms coming up and back; the wave of diamond dust and boosted strength wafts across her from Japanese Cherry Blossom, and the Wind Knight spares a grateful nod to the Perfume Warrior before taking a deep breath and calling out, "EMERALD CYCLONE!!!"

She whips her arms forward as if physically gathering up the winds - and the tempest erupts at her bidding, a vicious gale whipping away from her and into the arboreal apparition. Her primary target of intention remains the circuitry embedded in the tree's darkly luminous shape - but she can only hope, in the end, that a greater disaster does't come about from unleashing all of that energy uncontrolled.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Fuu Hououji has used Emerald Cyclone: Full on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cute Wolf Tsukiko [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.

The faint feeling of the draincircle retracting gives Tsukiko a brief moment of encouragement -- but the deep chill of both body and soul from the retaliation of the roots quickly overruns it.

The wolfgirl scrambles for safety, avoiding the worst of the snarling attack, but she is definitely looking worse for the wear. She gives Lera an 'I am good for this moment' thumbs-up, then looks at the monstrous tree again.

What she wants to do is to run off and hide, to let the others finish the job.

What she does is run back towards the tree, darting around the roots, trying to distract it into immobility and, hopefully, vulnerability.

COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has used Herd the Quarry on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cute Wolf Tsukiko has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Mars [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8un8nEkQJG0

A violet arrow of crackling energy snaps into her shoulder, halting her stride for a moment as her uniform smolders at the spot that it struck. It reminds her of getting clawed by a cat. This one seems to be hissing at her.

She strides closer, and closer. The chaotic hatestorm surrounds her. Placing her hands together in prayer, she closes her eyes and bows her head. Twisting coils of alabaster fire spring from her feet. Roots of her own spread out in all directions, tumbling and snaking along and upon one another, wriggling towards the enraged energy and the desecrated circuits within.

Expanding like a fractal, a growing garden of holy immolation attempts to purify the evil from within, rooting into roots to take the battle straight to the chain of control.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Sailor Mars has used By Fire Be Cleansed! on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Sailor Mars has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Pine [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Pine is swatted in the sky by the same branch. The impact is hard enough that she can't even let out a cry of pain. It takes her with her on it's arc, and for a moment she's only vaguely aware of what's going on around her as she feebly tries to push away with her arms and can't manage it, so stunned by the powerful blow. It's only once her teammates punch the branch away, that recognition dawns on her again. "Berry! ~Perfect~ timing!" She says first as her eyes focus on the violet Cure, her tone one of delight.

"Thanks for the save!" She then follows up with to both, as she descends a ways, before kicking off the trunk on the way down!

The descent is a hard one, she's struck by so many branches as the tree responds with a tantrum, for which she can only defend herself by sweeping her arms away from some, and taking many other blows. She's knocked askew from her intended path several times, as she fights her way there, but eventually, her feet touch ground again, or more accurately, roots.

"I don't know if I can manage a few hundred punches Peach!" She places her hands over her head, her arms weary, various tears and cuts and bruises all over her body. "But I can offer one prayer!"

She claps her hands. And thinks upon what will happen to everyone in Tokyo if they don't succeed today. She thinks about Love and Miki, and how much faith she had in both of them. She thinks about herself, as she had been before in her life unconfident and uncertain.

Those feelings still lingered, and yet she was given this power for a reason. On the day when she resolved to start believing in herself just as much as she did the two of them. "Nasty things, nasty things, fly away!"

Her arms move down to her side as she speaks, as she brings her hands together in a diamond. "I can't forget I have to believe in myself too." She whispers, allowing the flames of hope in her heart that the tree had tried to smother, flare into brilliance once more. Her next call, is clear, and bright, full of all the belief she has in herself and her friends, "Pretty Cure...!" She spreads apart her fingers, and golden healing light shimmers towards the roots, which she hopes is the quickest way for it to reach the center of the abominable arboreal that threatened to annihilate all. "...Healing Prayer!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Pine has used Pretty Cure Healing Prayer on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cure Pine has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Those darts smash into Forever Sunshine even as the tree pulsates. She winces, letting out a yelp and staggering backwards. The violet shards dig into her arms, left bare as they are; one slices through her hair ribbons on the left, blonde hair spilling loose in a ragged cascade.

Someone howls in the background. No, she thinks, that's the Cute Wolf.

The winds of admonishment and healing and more are howling. The Pretty Cures are striking home. Even Cheeseburger Propane is striking telling and deep blows against that vast tree like construction. Looking up at it, Forever Sunshine feels a fleeting instant of sheer awe at its scale. All that circuitry...

The Diamond Mist washes over her as she looks over her shoulder, the springtime fragrance pushing away the smell of ozone and solder. Cherry Blossom is sinking to her knees.

"It's alright," she calls. Her right hand comes up, because the left arm is cut in several places. But despite this pain, Forever Sunshine grasps her sundial on its stout cord and flips it open. "I think - no, I feel - that we can pull this off! Dark Amber, relax!"

What an odd thing to say. Forever Sunshine pulsates that subtle sunshine again, and she is surrounded by her usual golden-violet bubble. As she so often does, she starts moving fast, so fast that her outline is hard to make out -- until she zips towards Dark Amber!?

Once Dark Amber enters that sphere, Forever Sunshine hops up, grasping him under one shoulder in what is perhaps the world's strangest wrestling hold. For a moment she quails, but only for a moment -- she hasn't come this far to be deterred by Dark Amber being bigger than her! Once his arms are around her neck, she starts running... away from the tree? But tending towards the right.

The sphere around her glows brighter, a tiny sunburst that steadily increases in light even as it stretches out, gradually, into a conelike shape. Wind passes as it moves, with a sweet scent that reminds one of what Golden Week truly means. Perhaps it will attract the attention of the tree, provide a tempting bait.

Inside the bubble, the usual sunset-golden light is fading fast into night-time darkness. The light ahead of Forever Sunshine is glowing a curious blue tint, even as she vaults over a root. "Sorry I couldn't explain this better, Dark Amber, but I didn't want it to hear!! I'm gonna go as fast as I can -- but before I impact, I'm gonna sorta throw you, you know, like in gym class!"

Hastily she continues, even as her face tightens with a stab of pain from her left arm. "But we're going so fast I figure that you're going to fly up in the air -- and since I'm gonna be running up the trunk, you'll whip out way ahead of me! By the time you'll slow down, we'll be in a perfect position. OK here we go, we're coming up now --"

That bright sphere is barrelling like a freight train back towards the tree. Even if it's over a barren plain, some stretch, at least, is truly Golden.

Forever Sunshine hits the angle she wanted, running up one of the curves of the roots, and spear-throws Dark Amber forwards -- out of the sphere, where she sees his image momentarily distort into an elongated piece of sepia-hued style before he is launched.

That's when Forever Sunshine lets herself grind her teeth in pain, even as she throws herself to the side. Somersaulting in the air, she leaves the ground as she heads towards that epicenter. The sphere of fragrant sunny light collapses around her like a comet as she twists around. It narrows so thin she almost leaves it, but as it becomes so terribly narrow, one slippered foot reaches the apex:

Thoughts flick through her mind. Cherry, Vanilla, Sweet Pea, Amber, Winterberry: Dark Raspberry Vanilla, Mist, Puff; Fuu, Hikaru; Propane, Cures White and Black and Pine and Peach and Berry, Sailors of every planet.

The bubble of sunny charging light reaches her foot just as that foot touches one of the places she weighs to be more or less in the center.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Forever Sunshine has started a combo targeting Juri Arisugawa!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Peach [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

There's a flash of pink when Peach reaches out to strike her target that is almost immediately followed by a burst of blue. Cure Peach bounces back from her punch and immediately smiles to ear to ear at Cure Berry. "You made it!" Peach exclaims happily as she resists the urge to go hug her friend in greeting. Hugs will have to wait. This was punching time. "Berry! We need to keep punching until we can get to the root of this tree problem!"

The great enemy tree that they now face apparently finds Peach's statement rather arbor-ous to hear and attempts to smash Peach once more. Unfortunately for the young fighter, she can't stand her ground against the attacking tree and gets smacked through the air. Cure Peach tumbles end over teakettle through the air until she comes to a very quick halt by letting the ground break her fall. But not one to be defeated easily, Peach crawls back up onto her feet and nods to both Pine and Berry. "Pine! Berry! We're just going to have to pick up the pace to get to a thousand punches!" The wounded Peach then smiles through the pain and pushes up the imaginary sleeve on the right side of her outfit. "Or just hit it so hard it will feel like a thousand punches!" She cheerfully calls out to her teammates before running straight for the tree.

Peach jumps from one root to another until she arrives at the base of the tree's trunk. It is here that instead of clapping her hands together, Peach punches one hand into the other before raising a fist into the air. "Pretty Cure...." The spirited puncher then leans way back and aims up at the trunk with her left hand. ".....Power...." Cure Peach now explodes forward with her right fist coming forward to hit the tree with all of her might, for all of their happiness. "......Puuuunch!"

COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Peach has used Cure Peach Power Punch on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cure Peach has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Dark Amber [Infinity Institute (12)] has posed.

Dark Amber manages to somehow, avoid the brunt of this chaos, but this doesn't mean he looks okay about it, in fact, he's about to sputter out. "No Cherry Blossom---this isn't over. We /can/ do it....." he insists. "We will---we will end this somehow-----" he says to her before looks over at Sunshine, who calls out to him. "Right---! I just need to-----whahugh!?"

Dark Amber enters a ball of weirdness. This isn't like his timeskip at all. Nothing is still, everything is moving so Slow on the outside. He blinks. "Wow----" he manages to says amazedly. "This...isn't like -----" he looks to Sunshine and merely gives her a curt nod, he knows what's going on now. About to be flung out of the ball, he summons up his power..."Dark Amber...." he yells...

"CRUSH!" he yells as he's flung out like a bullet, aiming to smack this thing somewhere up above Sunshine's impact location for a double strike, as Amber hopefully shatters from his fist into the tree.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Dark Amber has joined the combo started by Forever Sunshine!
COMBAT: COMBO! FINISHER! Forever Sunshine and Dark Amber have used Golden Massy Overdrive and Dark Amber Crush on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Forever Sunshine has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Dark Amber has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Lingshen Chao [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Chao's bombardment narrows in on a single point. Magic Archer's a pretty flexible spell, that way. When the spell is spent she staggers backward, breath coming heavy. She's exhausted; she collapses to one knee, huffing. The mark burns her like it hasn't in years. Her limbs feel leaden even in that mystically-enhancing bodysuit. But...

This is her responsibility. Even if she has to burn herself out to make things right, the world has to continue turning. Everything else comes after that. Her hands crunch in the dead soil; the price of failure. She can't even imagine what would happen if it got to the city proper.

Her gaze rises up as Mai releases her aurora of flame and Sailor Mars employs her own, more healing conflagration. Chao can only emulate one of those. She looks down at her hand, where the thaumaelectric gauntlet fuzzes and sparks, ready to be used. One straight punch might be effective, but...No, they're right.

She clenches the bracelet again. "Grandfather...again. Please...Last Tale! My Magic Scir Magister!"

Her heart unlocks; she feels it like the CLUNK of a great padlock releasing, magic flowing out of her and through the conduits the suit provides. That's its real function, after all. Even though it burns her, she casts her hands up and cries out to the world: "Ever-burning Fire of Purification, Lord of Destruction and Sign of Rebirth, Spring Forth from My Hand and Throttle My Enemy! Red Blaze!"

And thus from her outstretched hand explodes a rioting burst of Chao's own flame, a sweeping blast of fire that sweeps toward the tree's routes and joins the others in setting them fatally alight. It isn't healing or pure, not for Lingshen; Chao's fire brings rebirth only by clearing away that which strangles the world.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Lingshen Chao has used Flagrantia Rubicans on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Lingshen Chao has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Berry [Infinity Institute (9)] has posed.

Berry purses her lips as the branch tries to swat her like it did her teammates. Bringing up both of her arms, she reaches her hand out as if to catch the branch - and the impact sends jolts up to her tired shoulders, but she manages to vault over it, her eyes flicking towards Pine and Peach both to check their situation.

A smile manages to dance up unto her lips, "Thank you Pine!" she chirps back towards the others. "It looks like you two were doing quite well on your own!" She says, giving a wink as she tosses her hair over her shoulder.

But there were no winks or smiles for the Tree that had caused all of this pain and misery so far. "Right, Peach!" she says, her tone of voice cooling a handful of degrees. Pine was preparing her most powerful attack - Peach was moving in to punch.

Sidestepping to near Pine, Berry briefly touches the other woman's shoulder, before vaulting forward towards Peach. As Peach went to punch, Berry leaps up and over her, twisting around in the middle of the air to give the tree something that she owed it. Pine and Peach had showed the beast the bottom of their boot already, so why can't Berry make it a triple PreCure kick? Well. A belated one, at the least?!

"PRECURE KICK!" calls Berry, her voice rich with a certain determination.

COMBAT: FINISHER! Cure Berry has used Precure Kick! on Juri Arisugawa.
COMBAT: Cure Berry has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Lera Camry's Finisher, Aurora Burst, taking 137 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa narrowly braces Mai Tokiha's Finisher, Passionate Conflagration, taking 32 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Juri Arisugawa's Block ability activates!  Juri Arisugawa's Parry ability activates!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Cute Wolf Tsukiko's Herd the Quarry, taking 8 Fatigue damage!  Tangle and Trap applied to Juri Arisugawa!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Fuu Hououji's Finisher, Emerald Cyclone: Full, taking 62 Fatigue damage!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Sailor Mars's Finisher, By Fire Be Cleansed!, taking 123 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Cure Pine's Finisher, Pretty Cure Healing Prayer, taking 94 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Cure Peach's Finisher, Cure Peach Power Punch, taking 93 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: Cure Peach is unable to keep fighting!
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Cure Berry's Finisher, Precure Kick!, taking 63 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Forever Sunshine and Dark Amber's Finisher, Combo: Golden Massy Overdrive, taking 242 Fatigue damage!  Critical Hit!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  
COMBAT: Juri Arisugawa fails to brace Lingshen Chao's Finisher, Flagrantia Rubicans, taking 67 Fatigue damage!  Juri Arisugawa is unable to keep fighting!  

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.
<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrCvzwUgqRo

Once Japanese Cherry Blossom has shown the way by being the first to show how to purify the circuits connecting and malefesceancing the greater energy, the battle begins to turn.

Once Cute Wolf Tsukiko has proven that it's possible not to merely halt the advance of the dead zone but reverse it, the feeling in the air is electric, crackling. Hope has returned.

But the tree hasn't seemed to notice -- if anything, it's now contracting the dead zone /deliberately/, drawing its energy back into itself, making itself denser. So dense that it might detonate and take the whole forest with it, or implode and take the whole planet.

There's no time left.

And so, swiftly and fiercely comes the intervention, all at once, the girls' hearts beating as one:

High above, Lera's pearly-white beam, so abnormally brilliant for a Midchildan's Device, pierces from the heavens towards the earth in a glorious inverse of what the Mirror Nakewameke attempted to do in the first place. And from below, Mai burns a wide area, disconnecting the roots of this false tree from the planet, incinerating everything that might allow them to be as one. It may be the miraculous intervention of a divinity that prevents the Cute Wolf from being vaporized as well.

The Magic Knight of Wind's tempest spins the tree's higher limbs, twisting them together as though wringing out a wet towel. Sailor Mars walks straight into the heart of that storm and the energy itself, and finds all of her brilliant, sacred flame being drawn upwards, out of her immediate reach but not out of the reach of her heart. Twisting and twining through the circuitous veins, her fire goes straight for the core of this monstrous perversion, now illuminated to be five computer-chipped green diamonds, themselves in a diamond configuration, four on the outsides, one within.

The Pretty Cure's power wends its way towards this same destination through another channel. Cure Pine's golden light of faith infects the roots at an angle that flame has not yet reached, and from there shines its way ever inward -- and where violet energy congeals to attempt to stop it, Cure Peach punches and Cure Berry kicks, each performing a bit of bypass surgery that leaves a crater apiece behind on a surface of pure energy that really should be shapeless but has now, by unstoppable forces, been shaped. When Pine's energy reaches the heart, it detonates in tandum with that of Sailor Mars.

Running, launching up another side -- the circumference of this tree is enormous, there's plenty of room -- come the twin strikes, amber and sunny, of the Perfume Warriors. In and out, crushing and exploding, they render a crack straight through the tree that is filled completely by Chao's arcane fire. It washes in all directions.

The circuits are picking up all of this, of course. And what was violet is being transformed. As though splashed by the enthusiastic paint of a swarm of fairies, some of the Labyrinthine wires now carry white luminescence, very faintly touched by a golden-orange, downwards. Others burn with fiery red and shimmering gold, upwards. Emerald green and amber and sunlight, rioting flame without and alabaster immolation within.

The wires cycle through all of these colors and more, becoming prismatic, and then becoming nothing, the data diamonds near Mars shattering to dust and then becoming less than even that, as all the energy they contained is redistributed in a rainbow blast in all directions, reviving trees and birds, flowers and butterflies, including one that flies straight past Japanese Cherry Blossom, fluttering around her crown before vanishing into the sweet spring sky.

Released from the influence of these evil artifacts, the brilliant, verdant green energy departs as well, in a single, blinding bolt, away towards the East, away from Tokyo and any risk of harming the city. It vanishes from view in moments.

And finally -- at last -- at long last -- like a diminished chord becoming dominant, a red light turning green, a pained inhalation becoming a steady exhale, the Wrongness that has plagued the hearts of girls for months comes to an end.

<Pose Tracker> Forever Sunshine [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Spent from her ultimate golden-massy kick, Forever Sunshine topples backwards. She has to put her trust in this now - if everything worked out, then, she thinks as the green energy washes away, the city will be safe...

She lands on her back on soft grass. At first she thinks it's that mucky ground. But no - it's fresh, warm, a little sweet smelling in that memorable way.

She smiles, if very wearily. For better or worse... she's too sore to just conk out!

<Pose Tracker> Lera Camry [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.

Slowly, the Midchildan mage descends down to the ground. She stabs her Device into the earth, point first. The energy field around it is patchy and crackling; she is beyond exhausted, she is still cut and bruised, and she has used up all of her energy. She looks around -- at the forest that begins to restore itself, at the flutter of wings, and the signs that life is coming back. That terrible feeling that something is wrong is gone.

Finally, Lera laughs. "We... we did it!" she says. "Look at it!"

<It has its charm. I suppose.>

Which is approximately when Lera slumps over onto her Device and throws him into a bear hug. It looks a little weird, all told. "I remember what you said, mister! You actually like this planet! And you think we're a great team and we are and everything's awesome! Skyyyyy!"

<What! No! I merely meant that it is tolerab--unhand me! I am a piece of superior magical technology! We don't have to hug it out!>

"Yes we do!"

<Pose Tracker> Juri Arisugawa [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

MEANWHILE

"Hmmm," says old man Clef in his young boy body, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he gazes into a crystal ball. Kaoruko Hanasaki stands beside him, as does a teacher from Infinity Institute with long, brown hair and a pointy witch's hat.

They are underneath St. Ursula's, in the recently violated, evidently unsafe sanctuary of the Magic Association, in the very chamber that was once one of the five aboveground Control Points of the World Tree. But recently the nexus of energy that made it so was stolen.

"Released," says Hanasaki, "But not returned."

"Wherever could it have gone?" asks the woman whose students definitely do not call her Shiny Chariot but something much more appropriate and reserved.

---

ELSEWHERE

He wears indigo and yellow, for this is the will of Lord Mobius. His skin is pale beyond belief, as though it has never seen the sun. Certainly, it hasn't seen Earth's, but deep within some memory of cold blood yearns for heat.

He doesn't care, because he serves something greater than his own desire.

"Everything for Lord Mobius," Klein intones reverently, as he steps into the Desolate Mansion, that strange place even deeper in the forest than the girls have yet traveled, which seems to be all abandoned villas and none, all at once.

And now it is something more, as well.

"He will be pleased," the elite Labyrinth agent continues, glancing at the five data diamonds, once again arrayed themselves in a diamond, teleported out of harm's way at the last possible moment, such that they could act as a beacon, an antenna for the energy it was so recently connected to. Bereft of any other link to follow, it arrived in a green flash, then settled into the house like a cat kneading a pillow before lying down.

"You have done well... Soular. When the World Tree blooms later this year, we will be one step closer to controlling it."

THE END... FOR NOW.