2016-12-23 - Monster Cram Session

Title: Monster Cram Session
Summary: It's finals week, and someone is draining the energy from cramming students. It turns out to be Tellu, who has infected the World Tree with a parasitic vine to amplify her curse!
Who: Takeo Akamizu, Hikaru Shidou, Endo Naoki, Nori Ankou, Fuu Hououji, Saki Hyuuga, Mai Mishou, Ren Aizawa, Makoto Kino, Usagi Tsukino GM: Hotaru Tomoe
Where: World Tree Plaza
OOC - IC Date: 12-23-2016 - 12-16-2014

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the town

Not a student was sleeping, or had even laid down

For finals week cometh, requiring care

And for all the slackers, inspiring scare!

Study venues are many and varied, from neatly laid out desks to a scatter of notebooks on the bed to sleepily warm kotatsu. Topics are also varied -- the youngest might have flash cards on their times tables, while the eldest, on their calculus formulas. There's a certain commonality to the snacks, though; on a night like tonight, nothing will do but hot pot or oden or some other iteration on 'piping hot savory collations floating in delicious broth'.

There's a notable distraction: outside the window is the first big snow of the season. There have been flakes here and there, sure, but the fluffs and puffs and muffs of white spilling heartily from sky to earth are finally doing so with true conviction, and a hearty willingness to stick, to accumulate.

It's too dark to play safely right now, but tomorrow promises to be bright.

...and full of final exams.

The whole world feels like it's loudly exhaling at this juxtaposition of exuberance and melancholy -- and for children all over Tokyo, it is becoming harder and harder to focus on the visions of kanji dancing in their heads, and easier and easier to succumb to a long winter's nap.

Ren Aizawa's last pose:

Barely able to hold back a yawn, Ren rubs her blurry eyes as she refocuses on the text in front of her. Thankfully this last minute cram session isn't entirely being done because she completely slacked off beforehand. Phew! What a relief! No, this is in fact just a review session done at her leisure. Oh, and Endo's leisure too. She looks up from the book perched in her lap to spy Endo seated across from her on the floor, uttering something to himself from whatever it is he has chosen to look over. It was her idea to schedule this little "study date" more or less, inviting him over to her house the day before. It was spontaneous -- but for the most part it seems to be going well!

Ren's eyes then slide over to the window, catching sight of the snow as it begins to come down in earnest. It prompts a wistful sigh out of her on instinct, and the already blanket of calm draped over her only deepens.

"Did you want anything to drink?" She asks, her gaze refocusing on Endo. "...Though tea might make us both too sleepy to keep going. Hmmm..." She taps her chin thoughtfully, deciding either way a small break couldn't hurt them.

<Pose Tracker> Takeo Akamizu [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

Surprising many, Takeo had not slacked off either. This was because Mai-chan had primised him bacon wrapped chestnuts if he at least made an honest attempt at studying, and despite how hard it was to study, the thought of Mai's cooking, especially her cooking bacon, (Mostly the bacon) kept him mostly to task.Takeo stared at the book and for what felt like the millionth time tried to comprehend the pre-calculas formula. He closed his eyes and tried to say the equation, and got about a quartoer of the way through when he stumbled and lsot it. With a sigh, he opened the book, marked by his thumb and went at it again for the one millionth and one time.

He paused and looked out the window wistfully as he lifted the massive mug of soda and sipped the electric green soda that appeared to almost always be in the mug. He stared at the snow flakes that drifted lazily down and sighed. "I wonder if Merlin has a spell I could bribe him to cast on me to make me better at studying." He sighed. "Probably not."

Then, lifting one of bowls of savory broth he sipped and stared bat at the book. One million and two ....

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo has been mostly relying on Ren to keep him awake and studying when he'd rather doze off. There are books and flashcards scattered around, and also a plate or two to keep the snacks that he's been munching on. He yawns wide as he flips through pages, looking between the book and window, trying to decide which one he should watch more.

"Ah, that'd be nice." Endo decides on the matter of a drink. "Not tea. Coffee? Or hot cocoa." The last one probably won't help with not being sleepy, but it seems to excite Endo nonetheless.

<Pose Tracker> Saki Hyuuga [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Saki Hyuuga has a problem. Shinohara-sensei told her that, although Saki's a wizard at pitching and an all-around talented young lady, she needs to improve something if she's going to make captain of the softball team. It's...

...her grades.

Saki doesn't have a real brainiac friend, so she has recruited the closest facsimile she knows, in her good friend Mai. This has now lead to a late night around the kotatsu at the house behind Pan-Paka-Pan!, with books spread out in every direction, an infinite supply of fresh bread (*supply both very finite and near its end because Mom's gotta go to sleep eventually), and, thanks to an early bed time for a certain Minori Hyuuga, two fairies on the tabletop, under their own, fairy-sized kotatsu, which is armed with its own, smaller supply of cookies. One of these fairies, Flappy, has soundly passed out, and is loudly snoring away in that obnoxious, distracting way some fairies have a way with.

At the bigger table, Saki might normally be rebuking him, except she's currently propped up on a palm, her own eyes fluttering, her head bobbing as kanji starts bouncing off her eyelids harmlessly.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Mishou [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Mai Mishou is having trouble studying.

She has seen some snow this year so far, but it's never hit the ever present blanketing of the city that it promises now. That leaves the purple-haired girl entranced as she stares out the window -- and, for the moment, forgetting her study session /entirely/. Violet eyes look out the window and watch, entranced, as she stares out Pan-Paka-Pan's window.

It's okay that Saki is falling asleep.

She has been sketching instead of studying for the last thirty minutes. On the table, Choppy stands with wide blue eyes, lips quivering. "Th-there's no learning happening at all-chopiiii..."

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

For all Fuu's normal cheerfully optimistic (and utterly merciless) approach to exams, there's a certain gravity to her exams this year which puts a significant dent in her typical good cheer. She's staring high-school entrance exams in the face on the heels of her finals, after all - and if normal yearly finals are the equivalent of a game's final boss, entrance exams are one of those bonus bosses that you have to go out of your way to set the event flags for the encounter to even trigger, precisely because they are brutally fearsome and will lay complete and utter waste to the unprepared.

Needless to say, Fuu considers it in her best interests to be over-prepared instead ... but that means she's reviewing THREE years' worth of studies, not just the current school year. She's been going through a lot of tea and a lot of hot chocolate, but oden is an excellent break from the warming beverages. Proteins help keep the brain working, after all.

If she gets through her exams without incident, she'll probably need a week to catch up on all the sleep she's - not losing, not *losing*, just ... call it 'investing in favor of being as freshly-reviewed in every subject as she possibly can'.

And getting a completely full night's sleep the last night before the exams actually start, of course. Good thing she has an understanding and highly supportive family ... plus, her parents still remember what Kuu went through a couple years ago. For that matter, Kuu herself still remembers, and has been offering occasional study aids. The one thing Fuu's NOT touching are energy drinks - the crash after they wear off is not worth it, and 'vitality drinks' themselves are actually worse for your health than you might expect.

<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Seafood hot pot has kept Nori Ankou afloat, along with copious amount of black tea - as opposed to the more common green - as she's studied. The weather conditions still aren't right for that voyage they must take, but the piece of strange coral with its Cardiax egg case within are secured and can harm no one, right now.

What can harm someone is the midnight hour. The passing of time... the drifting fluffs of white outside, the mixture of cool air and the warmed within.

And the fact that Nori Ankou studies... while sitting in bed. Where she has now tilted gently to the side.

"Oh, cousin, let's go over these vocabulary words," says Batiste d'Otter, noted assistant to queen candidates. "-- Cousin?"

Batiste looks up. He sighs. Then he steps forwards, to fish out a slice of clam from the hot pot. He has earned it; after the snack can come the wakening.

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

Hikaru knows that studying isn't fun, but it's necessary to get ahead. She also knows that it can drain her energy quickly. So she's been at it all night, reading and re-reading all she can. It's putting a huge toll on her brain big time, which is why she's been going through several cups of tea nonstop. She finds herself blinking and yawning, but shakes it off to keep reading. "Can't... fall asleep now..." She says as she stretches her arms over her head and proceeds to another chapter. Yet, the more she reads, the more her eyes grow heavy. It's almost like her mind is telling her to just go to sleep and continue later.

"No!" Hikaru says as she stands up and stretches before doing some jumping jacks and some light stretching exercises. "I must keep doing this!" She smiles as her mother brings her another cup of tea, and she accepts it, sipping cheerfully before sitting back down to resume studying. "Gotta keep at it..."

<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Mark this day on your calenders friends. This is a night to remember. For an event is taking place tonight that will be passed by oral tradition until it is finally written down in the annals of history.

Usagi Tsukino was studying.

And by that I mean actually studying, not 'studying' which was actually a thinly veiled excuse for socializing with her friends and grabbing free snacks with a distractibility of the likes that had surely prematurely raised diligent Ami Mizuno's blood pressure. No, in fact Usagi Tsukino was pouring over borrowed notes and Kanji dictionary with a focus of the likes that had never been witnessed.

Stress lines were all over her furrowed brow along with a sheen of beaded sweat. as she chewed her fourth pencil eraser into a nub during this cram session. Her whole work area surrounded by lacey pillows she had comfortably worn in over this long study session around the kotatsu.

One thing that was acceptable while studying though was devouring snacks, and crumbs covered her side of the table from all of those delicious snacks she'd been witnessed stress devouring into oblivion. But her attention span wasn't limitless, even knowing what the stakes were. In fact it was all too limited, like grains falling through an hourglass or softly drifting snow outside the window- which she couldn't even enjoy right now.

In the end it was the wonderful hot pot that Makoto Kino had made that did her in. Deceptively warm comfort food, it just made her feel heavier and heavier. Her eyelids drooping more and more as her chin settled on the notes and the characters began to look blurrier and blurrier and her posture became more stooped and stooped over her notes.

Now she was mumbling with her eyes closed, "Twenty one stroke count from the Tokugawa Restoration equals the cosine of zuhh..." That was her chin finally settling down on the book, her cheek turning as old kotatsu warmth, hot pot fullness, and the atmosphere outside finally did her in. She struggled valiantly, drifting in and out of consciousness, but this battle was already a foregone conclusion, "...remember me fondly next term..."

The only things that would be coming out of those lips now are snorish grunting and a small fleck of drool. Perhaps the only thing surprising to the other girls at the table was how long she'd held out.

<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Usagi studying for real might be a rare sight, but it's not too common to see Makoto Kino buckling down and taking her studies for real. Really, between the two of them, Minako 'I've never met a textbook I didn't hate' Aino, and Rei 'entrance exams? what are those?' Hino, probably the only one truly studying with any seriousness is Ami Mizuno. That alone makes Makoto try harder; she doesn't want to let Ami's efforts go to waste and seem unappreciated. Besides, Makoto will *definitely* get into high school with her friends. There's no way she'll drop out here!

...Or so she asserts. Her apartment is a nice, solitary environment with a relative minimum of distractions, but there's also all sorts of goodies for her to make and share with her friends, like the hot pot they've all been picking at all night. While the other four manage to proceed with their studies somehow, Usagi nods off, leaving the remaining girls to stare at her, then sigh.

"I'll take Usagi to bed. Maybe a short nap will perk her up," Makoto volunteers, getting up from her cushion and gently picking up her best friend with no visible effort. "You girls go on ahead--we'll catch up a little later!"

And so Makoto carries Usagi to her bedroom like a sleepy child and tucks her in. Actually, once that's done, she finds herself yawning, too, eyelids growing heavier. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for her to take a little nap too... just a quick one...

And so Makoto ends up dozing off too, sitting on some spare pillows and propping her head on the edge of her bed. Awww.

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKdjSUEHaJ0

As that sleepy feeling grows heavier and heavier, so does the snow. But, paradoxically, some of those dazzling flakes must be getting lighter and lighter, because they're floating... upwards? At first it seems like a trick of the light, but it's no trick, and neither are the motes of white light spilling upwards into the night, out from underneath sleepy lids and ink-stained fingernails, escaping with every yawn.

Magical girls and boys have the capacity to resist outright unconsciousness, struck by a niggling sense of danger, one that urges them to transform, but they're shortly the only under-eighteens still awake in the city, because some monumental menace is steadily leeching the energy of Tokyo's hard-working, frantically studying youth.

As the radiance passes out of the windows, heedless of mere drapes or panes of glass, it's caught by the upward-falling snow. Energy rides in style as it flows, first in ankle-wide tributaries that merge into kotatsu-wide streams and finally into massive, rushing rivers, rivers of blinding, swirling, brilliant white...

...a maelstrom that converges at the World Tree.

From a distance, it seems as though these soulflakes are settling, daintily, on the limbs of the tree. Winter had scoured its leaves, but now it has a new bountiful canopy, white and cold as barest bone, and still softly, terribly aglow.

And as silvery as any Christmas bell comes pealing the occasional tinkle of laughter -- that peculiar version of the noise that lacks any true warmth, and renders chills upon the spine as surely as nails on a blackboard, whatever its beauty.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"Right then! I think we have some of both, actually..." Ren trails off as she sets the book aside and climbs to her feet, making sure to stretch her arms above her head as she does so. Ahh. That's /much/ better. Lightly smacking her face with her palms in an attempt to chase away the last of her sleepiness she turns sharply on her heel to head for the kitchen. It takes a few moments of rummaging around before she's able to find what she's looking for; and a bit longer still to actually brew up the cocoa and deposit it into two mugs.

Endo will likely look up to see her returning with the two steaming mugs, beaming brightly as she hands one to him. "I put a bit of nutmeg in. I've never tried it like that before. I thought it'd be a nice twist." And plus the nutmeg shaker was practically calling to her the whole time she was in there. Might as well make use of it and not let it go to waste!

Ren brings her own mug to her lips for a sip, her eyes simultaneously sliding back over to the window to watch more of the- "Wuh?" She says, loud enough for Endo to hear. The mug is brought back down onto the small table between the two of them immediately. "Endo-kun... look!" She points at the window her gaze is currently glued to. "That's... not right, is it?" It's really, /really/ not. And that nagging feeling that comes when something malevolent is afoot is being stirred up within her right about now.

In the next breath Ren is up and rushing over to the window, unlatching and sliding it open to lean out for a better look. Yes. Something is /definitely/ happening. The bright stream of white energy swirling and converging on a single spot in the distance is all the confirmation she needs.

"Endo... let's go."

One quick transformation later sees Ren flying over the rooftops of various houses and buildings, with Endo jumping from the rooftop to rooftop right beside her. The shiny lance-device that is Souverain Heraut is active, running preliminary scans of the area as they approach. Of course, it becomes glaringly obvious that they're headed for the one and only infamous World Tree. And if that doesn't create a pit of worry in Ren's stomach, then the not-very-comforting sound of laughter most certainly does...

<Pose Tracker> Saki Hyuuga [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Whether or not Saki is already unconscious is somewhat up for debate as she droops heavily against her palm. Nearby, Flappy makes a sound like a saw slowly and horribly murdering an innocent pine.

And then, as motes of white drift away past the windows, suddenly bolts upright and SCREAMS.

Saki yelps loudly and is in the middle of shouting, "FORTY-TWO ACRES!!" before she slams her knees against the underside of the table, and then immediately cuts herself off to roll on the floor, sputtering. Some seconds later she wrenches herself away from her horrible maiming to grab Flappy about the neck and also the entire rest of his body, seething, "FLAPPYYYY WHYYYYY"

"Don't look at me like that-lapi! I was in the middle of a good dream too-lapi!!" Seeing that this does little to soothe Saki he scratches out, "I sense an evil presence-lapi!! You should transform and go-lapi!"

Saki pouts, because she's in pain, and her woefully inadequate studying is splashed across the table in front of her, but she huffs a few breaths to compose herself enough to look at Mai, silently questioning.

It's not like she doesn't know the answer, of course.

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa transforms into Barrier Jacket Lustre!

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

Did she nod off?

Fuu was sure she'd arranged things to stay relatively alert and avoid dozing in the middle of her studies. Setting blocks of time aside, setting alarms here and there to help remind her when to switch subjects or take a break ... She must have nodded off anyway, snow doesn't do that; it may get blown upwards but it doesn't simply FALL up. Or -

• piyo piyo piyo piyo piyo piyo pi--*

The insistent chirping tweets from Fuu's phone snap her back, not all the way to alertness but close enough to cancel the alarm. She knows she's awake now .... and the 'snow' is STILL 'falling upwards'. "How wrong you always were, Lucy-san," Fuu mutters, sending off a quick text message to Hikaru - and to Umi as well, just in case the Water Knight is of a mind to help investigate. She bustles around her bedroom briefly, then decides she doesn't have time to do more than grab her warmest bathrobe and bundle it about herself. She won't have to worry about the cold for long, hopefully. Her glove-jewel is retrieved and pulled on, her phone dropped into her robe's pocket, and then she utters six words.

"Belief becomes power ... Winds, guide me!"

One brief indoor whirlwind later, the Magic Knight of Wind carefully opens a window, closes it behind her, and sets off in pursuit of the mysterious 'snowrise' - and as local as she is to the World Tree, it takes her very little time to get there. "What could this be ... ?" the Wind Knight wonders, alighting on a lamppost and looking up at the Tree's energy-shrouded branches.

Well, she hardly has to ask, at least in general terms. It's trouble. And it's a threat not just to the well-being of the city's students ... but to the grades of, possibly, an entire generation of Tokyo's children.

Just don't ask her which is the bigger worry.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji transforms into Wind Knight!

<Pose Tracker> Nori Ankou [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

"Iiih!!"

"I'm sorry," Batiste says, apologetically, as Nori Ankou nurses her nipped hand. "But I had to wake you up, cousin."

"But I wasn't remembering anything," she pouts.

"No," Batiste said: "Not about that. Look out the window."

Nori Ankou looks towards the white motes rising into the sky.

La Sirene du Nord follows them. Approaching this tree with its unnatural glamour of a coating is simple enough. She lights her way with her Pharos, which may conceal her from things that may lurk in defense, at least until she gets a bit too close. She tilts her head upwards to look towards it, feeling that silvery laugh.

She is garbed against the cold, but there are degrees and variations, after all. Her grip on the Pharos's handle tightens, just a little, though the sight of others incoming eases her. Somewhat.

COMBAT: Nori Ankou transforms into La Sirene du Nord!

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo accepts his mug from Ren with a smile, chiming, "Thanks, Ren-chan." She's very helpful. When his attention is drawn to the window he has to blink several times to make sure he isn't dreaming already, with the snow going backward. "Aah--Ren-chan, I think you're right." His head pokes up further from behind the book he's examining. "Something seems wrong." His fingers go to the gem he carries in his pocket, closing around it and drawing it out. "Fallen Stern, set up!"

And then he's arrayed in his armor, sword in hand, hurrying after Ren. The sight of the tree and the snow collecting upon it. The laughter gives him pause, and he twists and turns about to seek its source.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki transforms into Barrier Jacket Aufprall!

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

Sometimes even the best of us fall asleep, and it appears Hikaru might have nodded off as well. It happens to the best of us, we suddenly realize that we fell asleep longer than we anticipated and we realize it's later than we thought. Unfortunately, that slumber is interrupted by the text message from Fuu-chan, who alerts Hikaru as to what's going on, and then when Hikaru looks out the window and sees what's happening, she knows she's not dreaming anymore! Only one thing to do now, as Hikaru grabs her glove-jewel.

"Belief becomes power ... Flames, guide me!"

The lights come back on in Hikaru's room briefly as the flames envelop her, and then she jumps out the window of her bedroom and rushes down the street, the cold air barely even fazing her as she rushes towards the World Tree. Then again, she is the Magic Knight of Fire, so that most likely helps her out a bit too.

Arriving at the World Tree, the Fire Knight spots the Wind Knight, but barely even acknowledges her as she realizes she's definitely not in dreamland for sure. Something bad is happening, and it's going to have severe consequences on children and their academic standings. "We won't let them fail our next generation! The heat shall provide warmth from this evil!"

<Pose Tracker> Takeo Akamizu [Ohtori Academy (11)] has posed.

At roughly one million and twenty attempts, Takeo looks outside again, the sleepiness hitting him felt normal. He was after all looking at a school book. Lifting the mug's straw to his lips he sips and slowly tilts his head as he watches the snow begin to float ... upwards? "That ... Can't be good." He says matter of factly and sets the mug aside to watch the light show as it begins. "That can't be good either..." He says as he moves to the window. He briefly wonders if he should try to reach Merlin for advice, but the rabbit is likely still not coming out from under the heating table until spring.

Given the snow already on the ground and floating upward, Takeo doesn't think that's happening anytime soon.

He sets his mug aside and heads outside where he holds his amulet aloft and adds his own lightshow to the floating motes of brightness when he calls out: "I SWEAR TO DEFEND THE INNOCENCE!"

One brief lightning storm later Lancelot stands in front of the stables and looks at Sparkles. Who is fast asleep surrounded by manga, and a //pale// of hot cocoa. "You have got to be kidding me." He pinches the bridge of his nose as he sighs and begins to make his way toward that epicenter. A blue streak heading toward the world tree, trailing bolts of lightning.

<Pose Tracker> Mai Mishou [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Mai does, eventually start to drift off. The sleepiness wars with the desire to sketch. In the end, as she nods off, the pencil shifts out of her hand and leaves an ugly scratch in the drawing. She blinks -- and then looks up sharply when Flappy starts to scream.

"Flappy is right-chopi!" Choppy cries out. "You should hurry-chopi!"

Mai looks over at Saki -- watching her huff -- and then she nods, quickly, at her friend. "Saki," she says. "We better go."

There is a flash of pale silver light.

Not too much later, Cure Egret is leaping across building tops, before she takes to the air. Silver light showers after her, while her violet eyes narrow, as she soars towards the World Tree.

COMBAT: Mai Mishou transforms into Cure Egret!

<Pose Tracker> Usagi Tsukino [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Usagi doesn't even stir at this treatment, but it's not long before she's sprawled out on Makoto's bed, covers discarded. One by one, the others are lulled off to sleep. Neither Usagi nor Makoto can hear it as the other girls fall asleep. While there was a sense of danger in the air, it wasn't confirmed until even Ami Mizuno was unconscious. Leaving one baffled feline that was only barely conscious. "Ami-chan? It's too early to-to-" Luna yawns. "-...this..."

With a shake of her kitty head, she brushes a paw against her face, looking behind the profile of the girls at the motes of white light. Danger. Danger. The next few seconds was a desperate struggle of the moon cat trying to fight off this sinister enchantment. She knew her duty. She had her priorities. Into the bedroom she creeps, fur brushing against cracked door as she moves within. "Oooosageecha..."

The girl's arm was draped over the side of the bed. Raising a paw, she touched that hand. "Ooosagee..." Latching her teeth around red fabric. She tugged once. Then again. The girl's hand unconsciously twitched in a swat that missed Luna by a long shot. Mumbling- but the girl was no less asleep. Luna let go of the fabric.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Luna opened her mouth wide- and bit down hard on the girl's thumb.

The apartment shaking shriek that came next was predictable. A shot of adrenaline which had Usagi instantly awake, clutching her throbbing hand, tears in her eyes which were wide with disbelief as she cowered at the edge of the bed, "KAMINEKO!" She yelled accusatively- until she got a better look at Luna. Luna with her wobbly legs- right as her mentor mascot collapsed into a pile. "Luna!" That sight allowed her to focus, dispelled all anger instantly as she got down and picked her up and rubbed her hard once, "Hey Luna! Luna! What's going on? Hey-Hey! stay with us!"

The mooncat barely stirs. But she feels it. That buzz of danger in the air, it draws her eyes over to Makoto Kino. "Mako-chan are you awake?" How could she not be after that scream at point blank range? "Oh thank goodness. Something- something's really wrong!" Gently putting Luna down, she ran with besocked feet to the other room.

Try as she might, the others- just wouldn't awaken.

And her eyes. Her eyes kept being drawn to the window to that strange flow of dangerous white light into the drifting snow. "We've got to go." Grabbing one of the blankets around the study area, she blearily rubbed her eyes and wrapped it around the others. "...Wait for us alright? Just- just think of this as like taking a long break. We'll..." Her voice cracked momentarily, sounding a little overwhelmed at the thought, as it lowered into a whisper, "...we'll take care of this quickly and be back soon."

She knew the stakes. She just didn't want to say them aloud. It might make it come true. But with determination in her eyes and in her heart she put a hand to her brooch and lifted her hand to the air.

"Moon Cosmic Power - Make Up!"

Passionately bright ribbons, a heart wreathed around her. They prepare her for what's to come.

The trail leads them to the World Tree. Even in the distance, the look of it, those snowflakes settling, chills her... that laughter upon the wind even moreso. Something, was really. Really wrong. "Who's doing this?" Sailor Moon wonders warily aloud at Jupiter, hand clenching the Spiral Moon Heart Rod.

COMBAT: Usagi Tsukino transforms into Sailor Moon!

COMBAT: Saki Hyuuga transforms into Cure Bloom!
COMBAT: Takeo Akamizu transforms into Chevalier Knight Lancelot!

<Pose Tracker> Makoto Kino [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

'KAMINEKO!!' someone screams, feet flailing right next to Makoto's head. Makoto jerks back as if touched by a live wire, yelping as she clutches at her head, more awake now than after five shots of Jolt. "U-Usagi-chan! Luna! What's going on?!" she asks, heaving. "We weren't gonna nap for more than a few minutes, I sw--Luna? Luna!"

Usagi is at Luna's side first, naturally. Makoto crawls up next to the two, and even though her question is an obvious one at this point, she still nods firmly. "No kidding. Let's go get the others!" she replies.

But to no avail. The others are all asleep, even Ami, no matter how sternly Makoto tries to shake her into consciousness. Finally, Makoto stands up, hands clenched into fists as she looks down at her slumbering friends. She looks over at Usagi as she whispers, then gives her a firm nod and a kind smile. "It'll be over sooner than we can recite our times tables," she says.

That's a joke. It's a *joke*. DON'T ASK HOW FAST USAGI AND MAKOTO CAN RECITE THEIR TIMES TABLES.

Jupiter Star Power, Make Up!

Bolts of lightning whorls in atomic ovals around her, transforming her into Sailor Jupiter. From there, it'll only be a few magnificent leaps for the two Sailor Senshi to make it to the epicenter of the forbidding strangeness that's going on.

COMBAT: Makoto Kino transforms into Princess Jupiter!

COMBAT: Princess Jupiter transforms into Sailor Jupiter!

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaIc5lxs1Xs

There is a dancer in the clouds; she paces the steps of her pas de une, and is not lonely. To share the spotlight, the glory, would be anathema. Better to rise alone, even if there is no one there to catch her when she falls.

She swings her star-tipped staff from branch to branch, alluring in the way she sets to spin the white-mote harvest, joining her in dance; but most of all, there's her maniac grin. Up close and personal, it's plain to see that updraft snow was never snow at all -- if stars turn the night sky into a sea, then pollen's turned this night into her ball. Each puff's no less unique than icy flakes; the intricacy eiderdown can bring. How light the form tonight's misery takes -- and all at once, the Witch's trap does spring.

Flowers blossom from the World Tree, belching more of that pearly pollen even as their vines pulse with the energy already delivered unto them. It's difficult to see in the blizzard of ice and fluff, but it looks like that plant is no more a part of the sacred tree than a tapeworm is a part of the family cat.

Amid the torrential drifts of energy-draining pollen, the young woman tilts her head back and laughs once again. "I am Tellu, third and greatest of the Witches 5! Come retrieve your friends' fragments of Hoste if you dare -- my Telluride Snowflower has appetite enough for all!"

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe transforms into Let Me Tellu A Story!

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has fully healed herself. She is now ready to take on 10 opponents!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on La Sirene du Nord.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Ren Aizawa.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Sailor Jupiter.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Sailor Jupiter's Block ability activates! Sailor Jupiter's Parry ability activates! Blind, Stun, Tangle, and Trap applied to Sailor Jupiter!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon narrowly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon's Fade ability activates! Sailor Moon's Flash ability activates! Blind, Stagger, Stun, Tangle, and Trap applied to Sailor Moon!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom perfectly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge!
COMBAT: Lancelot fails to dodge Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Blind, Stagger, Stun, and Trap applied to Lancelot!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki narrowly counters Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Endo Naoki's Reverse ability activates! Blind, Stagger, Stun, Tangle, and Trap applied to Endo Naoki!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki's counterattack, Asteroid Eilen, partially gets through, doing 34 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord fails to dodge Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Blind, Stagger, Stun, Tangle, and Trap applied to La Sirene du Nord!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 4 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji's Block ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Parry ability activates! Stagger, Tangle, and Trap applied to Fuu Hououji!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Blind, Stagger, Stun, Tangle, and Trap applied to Hikaru Shidou!
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa narrowly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa's Flash ability activates! Stun, Tangle, and Trap applied to Ren Aizawa!
COMBAT: Cure Egret narrowly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Cure Egret's Fade ability activates! Cure Egret's Flash ability activates! Stagger, Stun, Tangle, and Trap applied to Cure Egret!

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

Lancelot runs headlong into a pollen snow storm. The blue chevalier (not to be confused with those Chevalier pretenders) finds himself suddenly blind, and running at full speed. Directly into a lamp post. The ringing gong that sounds from the fully armed and armored knight causes some snow to fall off a tree branch and right onto his head as he staggers backwards. He hits the ground splayed out spread eagle and blinks at the motes of lights and snow drifting upward and away. "Ow."

Getting to his feet he holds out his hands, and Arondight materializes in a flash of lighting and a clap of thunder. He runs forward at full speed, and right up the side of the massive trunk to leap off and slash at the monster of vegetables calling out, "LIGHTING IMPACT!" Which sends a wave of lighting through the twin blades that explode in a thunderous roar. He lands facing the creature, having to twist in mid air to do so, the twin longsowrds crackling with electrical energy. He briefly wonders if he can use this as an excuse to not eat a salad...

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo's eyes follow the dancer in the sky for as long as they can. Soon the world is a blanket of pollen, but he knows the general direction of the tree and the flowers blooming across it.

Which is all he needs. Bent and shielding eyes, he points his sword forward and calls: "Stern!"

<TARGET AQUIRED.> Warbles the device, Belkan triangles forming in the air around the dark metal. Just for a moment, and then both the weapon and knight shoot forward through the hail of pollen to smash into the pollen-spewing flowers. <ENGAGING.> The weapon is swept in a wide arc after, slashing across the surface of the flowers in attempt to sever them from the tree.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Blauverschiebung on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Egret [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

As she flies towards the World Tree, pollen spores shoot out at Cure Egret. She sees the way the light catches it -- and it's pretty, in its own way. It almost distracts her.

But only almost.

"Bloom!" she calls out. "She... she used the World Tree to--" It's too terrible to finish. Egret also can't, as one of those drifts of pollen flies up at her. She flies through it, and try as she might, she can't gracefully bank around it. Her feet slam down into the plaza below and she sneezes. Some of her energy is sapped.

"Egret..."

"N-No," she says. She looks up, then, and shakes her head quickly. "We won't let you do this!" she yells up at Tellu. Then, she goes airborne, spinning as she does -- and comes crashing down with a kick aimed at one of those flowers.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has used Sky Dancer's Kick on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lancelot has used Lightning Impact on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Lancelot has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly dodges Lancelot's Lightning Impact, taking 19 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Lancelot is Psyched! Hotaru Tomoe's Fade ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates! Diversion and Exhausted applied to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Endo Naoki's Blauverschiebung, taking 30 Fatigue damage! Endo Naoki is Psyched!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to dodge Cure Egret's Sky Dancer's Kick, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Egret is Psyched!

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

It's the wrong time of year for pollen. It's DEFINITELY the wrong time of year for hay fever - if the Wind Knight even gets hay fever normally (which she typically doesn't).

But when an evil witch decides to weaponize something, even something relatively natural and mostly innocuous, she makes you feel it no matter what. The Wind Knight's barrier doesn't stop the pollen wafting into her face, just redistributes it and puts some extra english on the spores' flight; she gets a faceful of it, and her first sneeze actually causes her to fall right off her perch, landing flat on her backside on the pavement. She stays down for a couple of moments, blowing her nose and trying to get her sinuses to clear up for just, oh, five seconds ...

"WIMBS OB -- *achoo!* -- of Healimg!!"

Belief becomes power, her will becomes magic, and even sneezing in the middle of an invocation isn't enough to stop a half-desperate, half-determined healing spell from billowing forth around the Wind Knight. Even the soreness in her tush is cleared up enough for her to get back to her feet unimpaired, and for a split second, she just focuses on filling her mouth, nose, and lungs with air that ISN'T saturated with sorcerized pollen.

Then the soothing breeze around the Magic Knight of Wind divides like a cell and heads off in two different directions. One half of the now-shared Winds of Healing enfolds the Magic Knight of Fire in its recuperative breezes; the other half homes in on La Sirene du Nord, soothing her symptoms and helping her to breath freely once more.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Fuu Hououji.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on La Sirene du Nord.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has cancelled their attack on Hikaru Shidou. If there are more attacks that need to be +cancelled, please hold all +attacks until the process is complete.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has cancelled their attack on La Sirene du Nord. If there are more attacks that need to be +cancelled, please hold all +attacks until the process is complete.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has cancelled their attack on Fuu Hououji. If there are more attacks that need to be +cancelled, please hold all +attacks until the process is complete.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou transforms into Fire Knight!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Healing on La Sirene du Nord.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cleanse! All of Fuu Hououji's debuffs are cleared!

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Sailor Moon's question is answered in the form of a dance. A beautiful ballet amongst the branches and the clouds. It's the sort of ballet she might have expected. It is beautiful, she can't deny that- on any other occasion she'd be agape with admiration, but tonight it's tempered by horror.

Parasitic flowers blossom in winter, and an introduction is given. "Tellu- Witches 5?" Just like Eudial and Mimete. It made her even more wary, in expectation of the danger. "Hold it right th-th-" That's energy draining pollen drifting over her, just as she tries to run out of the cloud. Sailor Moon tried to hold it in. Putting a hand up to her nose, but she just couldn't, "-th-ACHOO!"

"On a night like tonight you shuu-shuuudd-ACHOO!" But more sinister was the creep of energy out of her limbs. That draining feeling, this pollen was taking it's due, whether she liked it or not.

Well time to do something about that. A hand moved to her brow, grasping her holy tiara. It instantly became infused with holy light. "Moon Tiara-" She felt the sneeze creeping up again. She felt it. Her vision started to blur again as she looked upon the others suffering from it. Reeling her hand back, she snapped forward with all of her strength just in time, "-BOOMERANG!"

The tiara whizzed through the air. It's target not the unholy flower but Sailor Jupiter to back up her assault, it passes just by her without striking her, a wake of light that seems to blow off the pollen as surely as a blast of wind. It then arcs around near Ren, similarily dashing away the pollen with that blast of light and feeling of wind in it's wake.

When it returns to Sailor Moon it claps into her hand with a flash of light and a gust which scatters the pollen off of her Sailor Fuku. She places it back upon her brow. She hadn't been able to give a speech through the pollen, but she makes a promise anyhow, "Messing with all of us on a night like tonight - we'll definitely punish you!"

COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Tiara Boomerang on Sailor Moon.

COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Tiara Boomerang on Sailor Jupiter.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Moon Tiara Boomerang on Ren Aizawa.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has finished attacking.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of La Sirene du Nord's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon accepts Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Sailor Moon's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa accepts Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Ren Aizawa's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou accepts Fuu Hououji's Winds of Healing, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cleanse! All of Hikaru Shidou's debuffs are cleared!
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter accepts Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Cleanse! All of Sailor Jupiter's debuffs are cleared!

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

"Who is that...?!" Ren watches Tellu's strange dance with much apprehension, taking a few moments to look away at everyone else as they arrive in droves. She spots a few familiar faces amidst the assembled, but there's no time to exchange pleasantries. The strange woman speaks, issuing a challenge to them. "Hostes?" Ren questions aloud, and Heraut pings not long afterward.

<It would seem as though she has stolen vital energies from several people within the city.>

With that admission Ren's eyes narrow, and her grip on Heraut tightens. And it's just in time, too, since that very unpleasant looking pollen is quite obviously headed their way. She goes into evasion mode, trying to bob and weave around it all. But it proves to not be enough as she gets walloped by one of the puffs, which then envelopes her before she can try to twist out of its grasp. The force carries her backward... and then gravity kicks in, pulling her downward until she collides with the ground.

"Ugh!" It's not very enjoyable. And now she has the overwhelming urge to sneeze! Tellu is the /worst/ for this. But thankfully help comes in the form of Sailor Moon's tiara, which makes the rest of the debilitating pollen disappear. Ren takes a moment to shoot the Moon Princess a thumbs up before jumping back into the air, and hones in on the offending plant. "Let's hit it Heraut!"

<Partizan Snare!>

Directly above the plant, arranged in a circle, appear several phantasmal lances which streak downward in attempt to pierce and pin it's vines and assorted parts. Take that!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Bloom [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Cure Bloom is blasting across the night alongside Cure Egret, pink light and silver in pair. It's strange and beautiful and...

"The World Tree," Bloom breathes out, with a sick twist in her stomach reflected in an ugly grimace. "We can't let her--whoa!!"

Bloom sweeps her arm wide, a flare of earthen spiritual light sweeping the oncoming pollen back enough for Cure Bloom to veer to the side, whirling with a certain controlled, organized chaos before she sees Egret fall out of that blasting wave of fluff. Bloom veers down to strike the pavement near her, quickly gripping a shoulder and arm to check on her friend.

But he nods at that resolve, stepping back to glare up at the creature that has overtaken the place they both love. "The Shrine's up there...we can't let her get away with this! We won't!"

She explodes with a light of her own, more wholesome than the ghastly white of stolen power, and rushes upward beside Egret. Moments after Egret strikes home, so does Bloom - a blast of light in her open palm, driven into the evil flower infecting the mountainous tree.

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has used Bloom Strikes on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Partizan Snare on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Ren Aizawa's Partizan Snare, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe's Block ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Parry ability activates! Trap applied to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly dodges Cure Bloom's Bloom Strikes, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Hotaru Tomoe's Fade ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

Two distantly-related pairs of eyes turn towards the pulsing snowflower - "Ah!" la Sirene says. She takes in a deep breath, prepared to shout out defiance, and then -

She -

Breathes it in.

She does not quite get to the point of coughing. She feels horribly fragile as if she'd turned to glass, drained and irritated at the same time, gasping out something that's a hollow sussurous of despair -- when the familiar green winds of the Magic Knight of that same element eases her.

She does cough now, but it's a brief hack, not a gasping, disabling chorus. "Thank you," she calls to Fuu. Then: Blinking rapidly, she tries to put her mind back together. Cure Bloom makes some things clearer. "I wonder what she intends to do - with all of this," la Sirene says to her, voice huskier than usual, as the Pharos is raised.

A vast shadow is cast from behind her, despite everything, onto the gleaming of the snowflower. Not quite a shadow, so much as negative light: perhaps it will interfere with the dark syntheses of the floral foe.

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

Trying the best she can to avoid being caught, the Fire Knight finds it's not easy to avoid lots of pollen coming at her nonstop. She struggles to hold her breath, but it's no use. She gets some of the pollen, and her eyes water, and her nose twitches, and then...

"ACHOO!"

Yes, the Fire Knight has the sneezes. No, she doesn't breathe out fire. And no, it doesn't last long, because her ally, the Wind Knight, helps with a little healing magic of her own.

This magic helps cure the Fire Knight's allergies somewhat. She's still sniffling a little, but she manages to get back into her fighting stance and call out, "Fire ArroCHOO!"

Despite sneezing near the end, the Fire Knight shoots forth her favorite flaming projectile at the enemy. Apparently, magic works in mysterious ways.

COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Brockenspectre on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has used Fire Arrow on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces La Sirene du Nord's Brockenspectre, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! La Sirene du Nord is Psyched! Hotaru Tomoe's Block ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Parry ability activates! Diversion applied to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly dodges Hikaru Shidou's Fire Arrow, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Hotaru Tomoe's Fade ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Tellu? The Witches 5? Jupiter grits her teeth to hear the green witch introduce herself as part of the same group as Eudial and Mimete as she and Sailor Moon close in on the World Tree. That parasitic plant pulsing on the World Tree sends out its pearlescent pollen, and Jupiter braces herself against it--but while it doesn't *hurt*, per se, it gets into EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE. While not particularly allergic, Jupiter finds herself coughing as it gets all over her face, her arms, her legs, *everything*. "Sailor--*pluh, puh, pbbtttht*--Moon!" she tries to call in between hacking.

But no more than her name is needed. Sailor Moon rises up to the challenge, as Jupiter knew she would, sending her tiara forth to cut through the pollen with a wind that blows it all away. Jupiter sucks in a grateful breath, then grins over at her friend and gives her a thumb's up, as well as the other magical girls who all assembled to take down this threat. This is what being a magical girl is all about--what it *should* be about!

But then she focuses back to Tellu, eyes narrowing dangerously. "You like flowers so much--try on a few flowers of your own!" Sailor Jupiter calls. She links her hands over her head and begins to twirl rapidly; pink rose petals materialize magically around her. "FLOWER... HURRICANE!" she calls, snapping to a halt and bringing her arms down to either side, parallel to the ground. The petals rush forward in a spinning vortex towards the strange plant leeching off of the World Tree, aiming to slice into it and pelt its every inch with petals of its own, potentially slowing down its next attacks.

COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has used Flower Hurricane on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking.

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Sailor Jupiter's Flower Hurricane, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Sailor Jupiter is Psyched! Hotaru Tomoe's Block ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Parry ability activates! Blind and Cripple applied to Hotaru Tomoe!

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7SkrYF8lCU

With Fuu's winds blowing from the east, and Sailor Moon's stardust conjured forth from the west, a path is carved through the pollen storm, and it becomes possible for others to safely approach. Lancelot and Endo bring swords to this battlefront, and ancient magic from this world and one beyond the stars, and between them they sever numerous fist-sized flowers from a branch several traincars long. They seem separately animate, worrisomely capable of rising up to strike the unwary from behind, but that backstabbing barrage is lessened (though not halted!) by a few cut flowers getting pinned to the ground by Ren's lances. Inevitably, a few blossoms turn on her as well. They're squishy, stinky, and somehow razor sharp at the same time -- a trifecta of unpleasantness.

Pretty Cure come forth as well, and though Cure Bloom's blast is miraculously evaded by a wiggly vine (which proceeds to come up behind her, to entangle and squeeze!), Cure Egret destroys her target utterly. One vine deals with two Precure by the simple expedient of, should that entangling be at all successful, chucking Bloom at Egret. Sometimes the oldies really are the goodies.

From the back rank, La Sirene, Sailor Jupiter, and Hikaru call forth shadow, petals and fire respectively, and discover that the Plant Witch isn't just standing by to let her creation suffer the quick death of a dozen cheesed-off magical girls. No, she intercepts the shadow with the dark star at the tip of her wand, seeming to absorb some of its unmass and redirect the rest at the petals, utilizing it as a sort of erstwhile shield -- and then spinning, planting her feet firmly, and knocking the iconic Fire Arrow away like a hard-fought liner across third base.

She's grinning again.

"MANDRAGORA BUSTER!"

A cascade of evil green energy comes forth from her staff, crashing in a tsunami over the cute witches -- no. Crashing /around/ them. Gushing straight towards Fuu and Sailor Moon, who fought might with kindness. And in this moment of surprise and distraction, more of those entangling vines surge forward along the ground to ensnare Jupiter, La Sirene and Hikaru in their net.

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Backstabbing Barrage on Lancelot.

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Level One Druid Spell on Hikaru Shidou.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Backstabbing Barrage on Endo Naoki.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Level One Druid Spell on La Sirene du Nord.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used MANDRAGORA BUSTER! on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Level One Druid Spell on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Backstabbing Barrage on Ren Aizawa.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Level One Druid Spell on Sailor Jupiter.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used MANDRAGORA BUSTER! on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Golden Oldie-oop! on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji fails to counter Hotaru Tomoe's MANDRAGORA BUSTER!, taking 46 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji's counterattack, Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's MANDRAGORA BUSTER!, taking 29 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki narrowly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Backstabbing Barrage, taking 23 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Ren Aizawa narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's Backstabbing Barrage, taking 13 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa's Block ability activates! Ren Aizawa's Parry ability activates!
COMBAT: Lancelot perfectly counters Hotaru Tomoe's Backstabbing Barrage, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter! Lancelot's Reverse ability activates! Lancelot's Tactician ability activates!
COMBAT: Lancelot's counterattack, Veil of Steel, interrupts, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's Level One Druid Spell, taking 7 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Cure Bloom's Block ability activates! Tangle applied to Cure Bloom!
COMBAT: Hikaru Shidou narrowly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Level One Druid Spell, taking 11 Fatigue damage!
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter narrowly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Level One Druid Spell, taking 17 Fatigue damage! Tangle applied to Sailor Jupiter!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord fails to dodge Hotaru Tomoe's Level One Druid Spell, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Tangle applied to La Sirene du Nord!

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

"Storm-Dance of Kamaitachi .... huwah?"

Cotton Spore, the Wind Knight thinks blearily as she gets blown off her feet *yet again*. Covers the target with -- no, that's *Pokemon*, not middle-school biology, she reminds herself fiercely while she's flying through the air on the unwanted wings of the Mandragora Buster. Okay, she's in the air and it's not under her contr--

• THUD!!!*

--owwwww. Now her whole back is sore and her head is spinning all over again. She thought she was doing something about that ... oh yeah. She was. Except she got blasted before ...

"Uuuuurgh ... !!" the Magic Knight of Wind shakes her head, trying to clear it, then reaches up to straighten her glasses while getting back to her feet. There's too much pollen and too much EVERYTHING flying around, and that Witch of the Five is being more annoying than a shoot-em-up bonus true post-final boss with all her dodging and weaving and bobbing and evasive maneuvers. Or maybe that's just her brain and her eyes having an argument ... which is almost a hilarious mental image.

If she were in less pain and more of something like a laughing mood, she MIGHT give in to the mirth. She settles for calling out, "WINDS OF ADMONISHENT!!!" and trying to trap Tellu inside a focused cyclone. Normally she'd focus on trying to manifest the whirlwind right where she needs it, but this time, she plays it cruder - trying to conjure a wide-area whirlwind, then to narrow it down around Tellu, closing in from all sides. IF she can contain a batch of that pollen in the whirlwind with her? Awesome, better in there than blowing around all over the rest of the magical girls.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Winds of Admonishment on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo isn't expecting an attack from behind, so intent is he on shearing flowers loose from the tree. The vines cut into his back, slashing a wide line across the knight's armor and sending him lurching and tumbling away, off his chosen branch and down several feet until he hits another.

The pollen clogging his eyes and throat doesn't make things any easier, the boy heaving several coughs as he slowly tries to roll to his feet. His weapon is used for most of his support, Endo pushing himself up against it and using the big chunk of metal to balance again.

"Yaa, you're being serious, huh-Stern, let's not hold back this time. Ren-chan, hold on for a moment!"

<ZERSTORUNG DRANG.> More magical symbols light the area around Endo and his weapon, burning and blurring into the air. Fallen Stern starts to hum as it comes to life, the dark metal of the blade flaring into a pillar of garish purple light, pulsing and burning with energy.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has used Zerstorung Drang on Endo Naoki.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Endo Naoki accepts Endo Naoki's Zerstorung Drang, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Empower and Surge applied to Endo Naoki!

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

Dodging vines isn't easy, as they seem to come out of nowhere a lot of times. And in this case, they come so fast that even she doesn't know what hits her until it's too late. She goes down to the ground, feeling a bit of pain inside of her as she hits the ground. She realizes what has happened, but it's too late now. For some reason, the fatigue she felt earlier is seeping back in. It's overwhelming her like a sensation posessing her. "I can't... do this... sorry... Fuu-chan..." The Fire Knight says before she passes out.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Although her lances manage to pin down a few of the flowers and provides some aid to Endo and Lancelot, there's still some retaliation, forcing Ren to skirt off to the side, though not before a few of the stinky, squishy, razor-like blossoms tear into the side of her barrier jacket. Stiffling a yelp she erects a shield that stands up against the rest of the incoming volley. Once it subsides she drops her hands and takes a deep breath, positioning Heraut in front of her with both hands grasping him. That is one mean plant! How does someone even /grow/ something like that? Well, dark magic obviously! She glares at Tellu in particular. Didn't she say she was a witch? Something about Witches... 5? Which meant she had colleagues. Oh boy.

Ren's eyes widen upon seeing the Mandragora Buster get unleashed in the Wind Knight and Sailor Moon's direction. "Watch out!" Though there's little she can do to help them, it's more than enough to get her to refocus all of her energy on bringing down Tellu and her nasty plant. She zooms forward, her lance at the ready, and when she gets close enough she starts to deliver swift jabs with her device at the plant, using precision and poise to try and poke holes in it.

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Quick Jabs! on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking.

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

Spinning in place, Lancelot calls out, "VEIL OF STEEL!" as he moves. The twin blades parry and slash, and Lancelot backflips away from the attacking vegetation. He lands and twirls both blades ina fast flourish before slamming the two blades together in a cross before him. The blades clang, and lingting collects at the point where the twin baldes meet in an ever increasing ball of lighting.

"LIGHTNING STREAM!" he calls out, and wiht those words a bolt of thick and bright lightning whips out toward the vines that tried to backstab him. Forks of lighting arc off the main column of lightning, dancing along the ground, and arcing into the night. The blue light of the bolt is reflected on Lancelot's silver armor.

He looks over to Endo, the other sword wielder in this vegetable medley, and nods to him. "Hey. What do you say we attack at the same time?" He sets himself, ready to lunge into the mass of attacking plant life. "See if we can't ginsu this sucker?" He holds the blades a the ready, clearly seeing if Endo heard him, but ready to act on the other swordsman's words.

COMBAT: Lancelot has used Lightning Stream on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Lancelot has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to dodge Fuu Hououji's Winds of Admonishment, taking 18 Fatigue damage! Fuu Hououji is Psyched! Trap applied to Hotaru Tomoe!

<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

That vast shadow is absorbed, the unlight of the Sea of Tears sucked into the plant witch's staff. If it will harm her, well, la Sirene can't tell. She purses her lips in annoyance. And then!

VINES! Wrapped as she is, her lantern is hard to bring to bear; she is contorted in a posture she might find dramatic on the catwalk, were she some sort of fashion-forward model, but of course, that would be ridiculous. "Ghh -- Can't you gnaw through it or something -" la Sirene gasps.

"I'm not a gnawer, I'm a biter," Batiste squeaks, though being small and wiggly, he is able to escape these vines. Looking towards the landscape from a perch atop la Sirene's shoulder, he cries towards Sailor Jupiter - in a terribly sweet voice, his precious paws clasping before him - "Can you rip these vines loose, madam?!"

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Ren Aizawa's Quick Jabs!, taking 1 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa is Psyched! Hotaru Tomoe's Block ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Parry ability activates!

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe perfectly dodges Lancelot's Lightning Stream, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Hotaru Tomoe's Fade ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Carpe Aonyx on Sailor Jupiter.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter accepts La Sirene du Nord's Carpe Aonyx, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Sailor Jupiter is Cheered! Withstand applied to Sailor Jupiter!

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Sailor Moon receives two thumbs up for her efforts! She returns the thumbs up with a grin of her own before cheerfully waving at Ren. Before she turns to a fierce pose- but- "Mandragora?" Maybe she's thinking of some fictional depictions of the cute little plant monsters, "That sounds so-" And then there's a tsunami of sickening green energy. Fortunately Ren warned her! "-NOT! Not so cute! Not so cute!" It's coming her way. Now. The heroic thing to do would be to heroically stand her ground but Sailor Moon-

Shrieks and starts running. High tailing it away from it with her arms pumping and her legs high. But it's following her. No matter how much she zigs or zags it's too much energy for her to truly avoid. And so eventually she desperately turns around, and spins the Spiral Moon Heart Rod in a whorl of sparkles just as it makes contact. And just as surely the sacred rod is perhaps all that saves her, because it carves a thin safe path through it.

But still it's too much energy for her to deal with like that. Even parting it, each division passes by her, spins her around, and knocks her to the ground. Sailor Moon ends up on the ground with a sore butt and a feeling like she'd just had death by the energy of an evil, hungry plant warming her over.

It takes her some time to get up, wiping away the wet in her eyes which feels even more uncomfortable on a cold night like tonight.

"How are we supposed to get that thing off the tree!?" She wonders aloud- before dashing forward, leaping high. She turns a somersault in the air, her flight taking her towards a flower of the Telluride Snowflower. "Sailor Moon-" A slim-heeled moonboot leads as she tries to strike into the thing not far from where Jupiter is caught, "-KICK!"

She doesn't really believe that her kick would be powerful enough to knock the thing off the tree of course. But they have to start somewhere!

"Jupiter do you have any ideas on how to deal with this? I mean- you're the flower expert right?" As if Moon thinks she has to wrangle evil flowers all the time! "What do you do with yours if they become too rowdy?"

COMBAT: Sailor Moon has used Sailor Moon Kick on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Sailor Moon has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Sailor Moon's Sailor Moon Kick, taking 5 Fatigue damage! Sailor Moon is Psyched! Hotaru Tomoe's Block ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Parry ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

"Hnngh!" Jupiter grunts as Tellu gets in the way of her Flower Hurricane. She should've expected some interference, but--usually the bad guys let the monster take the hits! Does this mean this monster's important enough that Tellu can't just stand back at let it get whalloped? There's some inference that could be made there, but Jupiter's strengths are not her brains, and besides which, Tellu's shooting out her counterattack Mandragora Buster. While Sailor Moon and Fuu are assaulted with that green energy, vines surge forward on the ground, entangling any in its way. Jupiter attempts to jump out of the way, and for a second, it seems like she might evade it--but then one vine snaps around her ankle and yanks her *down*, hard. Jupiter manages to land on ehr feet, but she cries out in pain, bending over for a second, a wave of exhaustion from her bout with sleep earlier washing over her, nearly making her keel over.

Nearby, La Sirene is similarly entangled, and Batiste, precious, adorable otter that he is, turns to Sailor Jupiter to plead for assistance. Jupiter's eyes go wide and shiny as she stares at him. /He's... he's so cute!!/ she thinks in plain wonder. No matter how many times she sees La Sirene and her companion in battle, Batiste never stops being adorable.

And so she breaks out into a grin, newly energized by the power of adorbs. "Yeah! Just leave it to me!" she says, winking and clapping a hand to her bicep as she flexes. Then she leans over to grab the vines ensnaring herself and du Nord, then *heaves* back, muscles straining as she attempts to tear them apart. They might still have to deal with vine ends tangled around their legs, slowing their movements--but at least they'll be able to attack more freely, if she's successful.

"My houseplants--hnf--aren't usually this--hrngh--badly behaved, Sailor Moon!" she calls over to her fellow Sailor Senshi as she heaves. Being that she's a bit busy at the moment, she can't *quite* point out to Sailor Moon that her houseplants are not magical energy-sucking monster plants and that therefore the Gardener's Handbook doesn't really have advice for this situation.

COMBAT: Cure Egret fails to dodge Hotaru Tomoe's Golden Oldie-oop!, taking 29 Fatigue damage!

COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has used Get R-R-R-RIPPED! on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly counters Sailor Jupiter's Get R-R-R-RIPPED!, taking 6 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe's Reverse ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Tactician ability activates! Stagger applied to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe's counterattack, I Hear Jupiter Is Shredded, partially gets through, doing 8 Fatigue damage to Sailor Jupiter!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Egret [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Bloom slams into Egret. The Pretty Cure yelps, thrown backward, and she still feels dizzy from the pollen she flew through. She hits the ground, rolling a couple of times, before she comes up in a three-point stance. Her eyes narrow for a moment, before she bicycle kicks back off the ground and away from her partner. "We'll definitely protect the shrine...!"

She goes wheeling into the air, already in a spin, and a spiral of silver sparkles is left trailing after her as she rises up into the air. Cure Egret lifts up, then into the wave of evil energy. She can't break to the side. It smashes into her -- and she smashes through it, her teeth gritting together.

She swings back a fist and lands with a punch at a flower. She kicks, spins, and ends a flurry of blows with a backhand, each punctuated by a burst of silvery light where she strikes -- and each aimed for one of the flowers on her tree.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has used White Wing Flurry on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Cure Egret's White Wing Flurry, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Bloom [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Cure Bloom's magic fist swings wide, and Bloom hovers in mid-air for a second, just long enough to get efficiently wrapped up in a vine. "Whoa!!" Cure Bloom squawks, trying to rip at the vine with spirit power! It does not work very well. She gets pitched at Egret, and slams into the other girl. Egret, being the agile one, whips herself back upright.

Cure Bloom comes to a halt in an ungainly pile of limbs that only slowly forces itself upright. taking in deep breaths as she glares the titanic distance up to the invading species poisoning her most precious place. She met Mai there...and Flappy and Choppy...and...

"Yeah," she replies to Egret, grim. "You can't have the World Tree. No matter what, you can't have it!"

While Egret riots across the flower petals, Bloom strikes out with her own form - slamming hard into one, then less jumping and more /throwing/ herself at another with a harsh upside-down kick, and then blasting off to the next to sweep a harsh punch down, in a series of ungainly but powerful strikes!

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has used Bloom Pursuing Strikes on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Cure Bloom's Bloom Pursuing Strikes, taking 14 Fatigue damage!

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

<SoundTracker> http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xtrkvn_pv-hd-fictionjunction-stone-cold_music

Fuu's tactic to trap Tellu in a whirlwind of her own pollen is perhaps a good idea in theory but not in practice; maybe it's the cold, making the winds behave differently. Maybe it's the exhaustion. Maybe the ideal time to attack the Plant Witch is not in the middle of a double snow-pollenstorm. Regardless, it isn't now; when the winds converge, she isn't there. Her plant is, though (because it's everywhere seemingly, like an immense, omni-limbed spider or octopus), and several of its vines shrivel to blackened shadows of their formerself, there at the heart of the Wind Knight's conjured, chilly storm. Several more approach her from all sides, and Endo, too, since he's conveniently holding still...

Ren and Lancelot, meanwhile, contend with a part of the plant not nearly so withered or contained. It falls away from the Chevalier's electric onslaught, but Ren scores several solid blows, and with her precision, there's nothing left of her target blossoms to rise in revenge, after they've been punctured straight through their murderous, smelly hearts.

From hell's heart they spit at her, by exploding into more pollen on their way out of existence.

Another voice, also female, but older and perhaps more refined, remarks out of nowhere, "You interfered directly, Tellu. You've already lost our wager."

There's a moment of silence, for some definition of silence that includes 'howling snowstorm' and 'raging battlefield', before Tellu deigns to respond. She's impossible to see once again, but her nose in the air transcends invisibility. It comes out in her voice.

"My /mission/ to bring tribute to my /Master/ is more important than any /bet/."

Sailor Moon goes flying past, and certainly does bring down one of those flowers with her kick -- three, in fact. The problem is that this immense clinging vine seems to have dozens, maybe hundreds. The trio she severed rise up behind her like smelly shuriken.

Meanwhile, the conversation continues...

"Hmmph. Those sentiments would be more admirable if you were winning."

"I'd like to see /you/ do better, 'Kita-obaa-san'."

There's another psuedo-silence, this one far more great and terrible than before. The sense of rising, intensifying darkness is palpable. It's then that Cure Egret strikes, her fists and feet equal to the challenge of delivering the precise power required to smite her blossoms utterly. Cure Bloom vaporizes hers, as well, albeit with less precision and more power.

The net result is, as it was for Ren, no more blossoms in that part of the plant, but quite a lot of pollen. For what it's worth, however, this was the part nearest their shrine. Nothing but retreating vines left in that zone.

"Oh... you will. But no more of your interference. You're ruining the experiment."

"If you insist. I'll be sure to report this in full to the Grand Magus."

And then those powerful presences fade, leaving the magical girls left to contend with /only/ a massive plant demon whose vines have just sprouted thorns the size of Fallen Stern. Yes, that happened. Jupiter freed La Sirene just in the nick of time, but can't help but suffer some lacerations in that scary moment of sword-eruption while she's mid-rip. Then the thorns eject like pointy, heavy missiles, right at point blank, towards them both, and anyone else unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity.

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Level One Druid Spell on Endo Naoki.

COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Level One Druid Spell on Fuu Hououji.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Cure Bloom.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Ren Aizawa.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Backstabbing Barrage on Sailor Moon.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Pollen Snowstorm on Cure Egret.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Chlorosword on Lancelot.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Chlorosword on La Sirene du Nord.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has used Chlorosword on Sailor Jupiter.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter narrowly counters Hotaru Tomoe's Chlorosword, taking 14 Fatigue damage! Sailor Jupiter's Reverse ability activates! Sailor Jupiter's Tactician ability activates!
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter's counterattack, Jupiter Thunderbolt, partially gets through, doing 11 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Sailor Moon perfectly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Backstabbing Barrage, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Sailor Moon's Fade ability activates! Sailor Moon's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji perfectly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Level One Druid Spell, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Dodge! Fuu Hououji's Fade ability activates! Fuu Hououji's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord perfectly counters Hotaru Tomoe's Chlorosword, taking 0 Fatigue damage! Critical Counter!
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord's counterattack, Les Mysteres, fails to get through, doing 0 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Endo Naoki narrowly braces Hotaru Tomoe's Level One Druid Spell, taking 9 Fatigue damage! Endo Naoki's Block ability activates! Endo Naoki's Parry ability activates! Tangle applied to Endo Naoki!
COMBAT: Cure Egret fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 11 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Blind, Stun, Tangle, and Trap applied to Cure Egret!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom narrowly counters Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 8 Fatigue damage! Cure Bloom's Reverse ability activates! Cure Bloom's Tactician ability activates! Blind, Stun, Tangle, and Trap applied to Cure Bloom!
COMBAT: Cure Bloom's counterattack, Petal Flash, partially gets through, doing 3 Fatigue damage to Hotaru Tomoe!

<Pose Tracker> Endo Naoki [Juuban Public School (11)] has posed.

Endo does his best to fend off the next wave of vines, with mixed success. He ducks behind his sword, gritting his teeth as the thorns stab and prod at him, doing his best to get away from the mass and to clearer ground. It's on the way that he catches Lancelot's offer, pausing mid-leap.

"Good plan!" Endo's head bobs after a second to process, a thumbs-up made to ensure the other knight gets his assent. "Just-watch out with all the lightning. Don't miss!" He might have unpleasant memories of the last time he got fried by that stuff. Still, Endo seems to find a joint-attack to be a good idea. "Whenever you're ready!"

Which is hopefully at that exact moment. Endo takes a leap from his perch, bringing his glowing weapon up in a spinning arc. He rotates almost like a top, spinning around and gaining momentum before he smashes the blade into one side of a massive pile of thorns and petals, making his best effort to synchronize the motion with Lancelot's own strike.

<METEOR ABSTURZ.>

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has started a combo targeting Hotaru Tomoe!

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa narrowly dodges Hotaru Tomoe's Pollen Snowstorm, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Ren Aizawa's Flash ability activates! Blind, Stagger, Stun, and Tangle applied to Ren Aizawa!
COMBAT: Lancelot fails to brace Hotaru Tomoe's Chlorosword, taking 38 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit!

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

Bringing the swords before him, Lancelot is just a hair too slow and is clobbered by the vine's that lash at him. He slams into and through a park bench next to Endo and roll severla feet into a bush. From the bush comes a muffled, "I'm okay. It hit my head ... And Everything else. "

He did however hear Endo's assent to the plan to slice and dice. Rolling to his feet, Lancelot leaps form the bushes, twin blades flashinging with arcing electricity. As Endo moves in to attack, he rushes forward with a cry of, "BLAZING ZEPHYR!" Sending slash after slash after slash into the vines. He uses endo as the tip, and carves in behind the other knight. Attacking quickly and furiously, and sending the slashes where Endo's blade doesn't fall.

He's even careful to not have Lighting crackle at Endo. He's consierate like that.

COMBAT: Lancelot has used Blazing Zephyr on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Lancelot has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lancelot has cancelled their attack on Hotaru Tomoe. If there are more attacks that need to be +cancelled, please hold all +attacks until the process is complete.
COMBAT: Lancelot has joined the combo started by Endo Naoki!
COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has cancelled their attack on Hotaru Tomoe. If there are more attacks that need to be +cancelled, please hold all +attacks until the process is complete.

<Pose Tracker> La Sirene du Nord [Ohtori Academy (9)] has posed.

As vines are ripped from around her, la Sirene finds herself undulating freely. She tosses her hair back with her free hand, smiles at Sailor Jupiter, and then looks upwards with sharp swiftness. Sharp being the operative word, for that great green sword is falling down --

Batiste covers his eyes.

La Sirene raises the Pharos with a faint rattle of brass. Her other hand orients up too, her fingers rising as if to sight as she declares swiftly in a gush of breath, "Les Mysteres COME--"

Black and silver light burst upwards, but before they can form a fully fabulous eruption they strike against that blade, deflecting it aside. La Sirene does not have much time to speak past that, pushing against the enervation in her limbs to send a flickering burst up towards the thorny creature.

"I hope we won't be pierced to death by those thorns," Batiste says, peeking out between his toes.

"As do I!" la Sirene agrees.

COMBAT: COMBO! Endo Naoki and Lancelot have used Combo: Knight Alliance, composed of Meteor Absturz and Blazing Zephyr, on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Endo Naoki has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Lancelot has finished attacking.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has used Pieces of the Perfect Black on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: La Sirene du Nord has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Cure Egret [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

There is another burst of pollen -- and Mai sneezes again. She leaps away, shaking her head, and that does nothing to stop it from spinning. She stumbles a little, when she lands and her breath is more than a little haggard then. She shakes her head, reddened eyes looking quickly for Egret. "We've gotten some, but--"

"Look over there-chopi!" Choppy calls out, from the carrying case on her side. "Those terrible vines...!"

"I-I see them," Cure Egret says, as she watches the vines shoot those huge thorns out -- and the way they almost entangled La Sirene du Nord. She nods, before she leaps into the air. She comes down for one of the vines that just launched those thorns -- and her heeled boot drives down at it.

She hears the two talking, of course. Egret can't give it much more thought than acknowledgment yet.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has used White Wing Kick on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Cure Egret has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Ren Aizawa [Infinity Institute (11)] has posed.

Seeing those blossoms get skewered and seemingly done away with brings hope to Ren's already bolstered resolve. However, in the next moment they're spitting some nasty pollen muck out at her, and though she dodges backward a significant chunk of her being is coated in the stuff. "Yuck!" And /then/ she starts sneezing an awful lot, watery eyes temporarily blinding her line of sight. "Ahh! So itchy!" She rubs at her face and nose, trying to regain her senses. This isn't the time to get taken out by killer allergies!

It's a lot to shake off all at once, and she isn't quite able to do so, but she's not /completely/ beaten just yet. Squinting ahead she tries to blink away the rest of the tears obstructing her vision and- Wait, who's voice is that? Another woman begins to speak up, seemingly addressing Tellu directly. Could it be... another of the Witches 5? Or someone else entirely? Either way this seems to prompt Tellu into making her exit, leaving her nefarious plant behind to continue wreaking havoc. Giant thorns erupt from its vines, and Ren is absolutely /sure/ she doesn't want herself or anyone else to get poked by those things.

"Fine. If you wanna get all spiky and stabby then so can I..." Spinning around once Ren twirls her lance with a flourish before stabbing it down into the ground. There's a pulse of energy that streaks out towards the plant, and upon reaching it coalesces into a tangible, crackling spear that juts out of the ground seeking to skewer the plant through-and-through!

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has used Bane Spike on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Ren Aizawa has finished attacking.

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

Adrenaline is a pretty nice thing sometimes. With the battle raging, with the Fire Knight battered badly enough to pull out, the Wind Knight's mind is finally regaining the momentum she'd lost from the energy-sapping earlier. She still has to pay attention to staying alert, but she's fast enough to spot the pollen wafting around her - and the vines encroaching from almost as many directions as the pollen.

Almost. She has one opening; she leaps clear through that one narrowing gap, pulling free with almost no time or room to spare.

There's bickering between the Witch and another Witch. What are they arguing about, a bet? .... That actually threatens to make the Wind Knight genuinely angry; the fate of countless students across the city and the bad guys have a *bet* riding on something about it. The bad guys also are gone, why can she hear them, was that her sleep-addled brain again ...

There has to be a source to this. Something specific. Some discrete, concrete target. Otherwise all she can do -

Green light flares from the glove-jewel, curls around, strikes her hands and becomes a fairly large sword. The Wind Knight isn't even entirely sure what she's trying to cut through, but the vines don't belong here; neither does the pollen but she doesn't have enough wide-area attack spells to deal with all of it. She'll just have to settle for cutting as many vines as she can.

A piece of her wonders if this is still a dream anyway, a bad dream where the exams she's still worried about turn into actual monsters ... but even if it were a dream, she remembers clearly another dream battle - one which they COULDN'T take for granted that the dream would take care of itself. That would have been the opposite of what they needed to do. So she can't take THIS 'maybe it's just a dream' for granted either, she has to push herself. In this case, to cut through vines.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has used Sword Strike on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Fuu Hououji has finished attacking.

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Moon [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

"That's right they aren't! Because-" And then with that feat of strength to rip off vines, Sailor Moon whistles as if impressed, "-you keep them in line!" There'd be no delinquent plants in the Makoto Kino household. Because nothing associated with Makoto Kino is /delinquent/ in Moon's eyes.

But there's silence in the midst of the battlefield. The witch impossible to see in the midst of the storm. But she can hear the other raised voice. "What? Wager? You actually make bets over-" She doesn't know the details. It doesn't make sense, given that they were arguing over whether the wager was lost or not. But even without all the context they're in the middle of a battle with an energy draining flower that's gathering energy all over Tokyo. "-things like this!?"

Her grip increases on the Moon Spiral Heart Rod. One thorn missile comes. She takes a short hop back, it embeds itself just where she stood. But more come. And she continues her rapid bunny hop backwards just barely avoiding each of them. Even in the cold, sweat beads in her forehead, the kind that should be coming from kotatsu and hot pot warmth- but is instead coming from desperate dodging of plant matter in the snow. Her small chest heaves with rapid breathing.

"There's just so much of it- to deal with that! Too much." But the way that flower is draped across the tree almost looks like- a lightbulb must have formed over her head, "Hey Jupiter-chan! Remember the Christmas decorations at that skating rink?" She starts gesticulating wildly at the thing, "Let's light it up like that!"

Waiting for the other girl to start channeling her lightning, she brings her rod to bear, trying to mark as many blossoms on the trees with her eyes. And then she starts spinning around in a dance choreography that's part of the spell. Colorful energy gathers at the tip of her rod, "Moon Twilight-" And bursts forth, "-FLASH!"

Colorful orbs fly towards many of the flowers, bursting into explosions of light, as Jupiter tries to conduct electricity through the whole thing. If the effect is as intended, then the whole vine shines with electrical energy, electricity arcing forth from main of the flowers in streams of white and blue light.

Whereas the orbs of Sailor Moon's spell float alternatively to the other flowers in, flashing colors of violet, pink, yellow, orange, and red alternatively in sequence. If all goes according to plan it would lead to a really festive explosion when Moon's spell makes contact with the streams of Jupiter's lightning that connect it all together! Merry Christmas, courtesy of the Senshi!

COMBAT: Sailor Moon has started a combo targeting Hotaru Tomoe!

<Pose Tracker> Cure Bloom [Infinity Institute (8)] has posed.

Cure Bloom rips her way through the throngs of flowers. It's a certain single-mindedness that drives her, her precious shrine to be defended. She blasts the last of the dreadful blooms apart, and then...

realizes she is surrounded on all sides by horrible doom pollen. She sweeps her arms forward, fingers leaking light in an attempt to clear the air, but pollen is pollen and even in clear space she finds herself sneezing relentlessly, finally touched. "Ugh! Oh! Augh!!" she whines, batting at the air like that will in even the slightest way help.

She didn't hear the dramatic speeches because she is busy sneezing like, seriously a lot.

"Ugggh!" She sniffs, and "HACHOO" she sneezes, and then in a blind attmept to get away from the horribleness she throws herself at the first loosely vine-shaped thing she sees and attempts to punch its evil juices out.

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has used Petal Clash on Hotaru Tomoe.

COMBAT: Cure Bloom has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly dodges Endo Naoki and Lancelot's Combo: Knight Alliance, taking 78 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe's Fade ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces La Sirene du Nord's Pieces of the Perfect Black, taking 17 Fatigue damage! Critical Hit! Hotaru Tomoe's Block ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Parry ability activates! Blind applied to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly dodges Cure Egret's White Wing Kick, taking 12 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe's Fade ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Cure Bloom's Petal Clash, taking 10 Fatigue damage! Cure Bloom is Psyched!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly dodges Ren Aizawa's Bane Spike, taking 20 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe's Fade ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Flash ability activates! Stun applied to Hotaru Tomoe!
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe narrowly braces Fuu Hououji's Sword Strike, taking 3 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe's Block ability activates! Hotaru Tomoe's Parry ability activates!

<Pose Tracker> Sailor Jupiter [Juuban Public School (9)] has posed.

Those voices... Just what's going on inside that snow-pollen-storm? Jupiter hears the conversation, but given as she's busy ripping up some vines with her bare hands, she can't really look that way, even if they *could* be seen through the blizzard. And she *does* tear through those vines, though in return sword-like thorns rip upwards through the tears and catch Jupiter by surprise, leaving shallow cuts in her arms. Fortunately, it's not much worse than that, and she manages to hop back a step to give herself some distance.

Then the thorns *fire*, and before she can even think, Jupiter calls the thunder down through the rod in her tiara. "Jupiter Thunderbolt!!" she shouts, gripping a lightning bolt and hurling it towards the thorns as they fire at her. She doesn't get all of them--some of them race past and tear bloody lines in each side of her leotard, making her grit her teeth in pain--but she gives approximately as good as she gets.

"You all right, du Nord?" she asks La Sirene, looking over at the other magical girl. She smiles back, at least, especially to see her and Batiste in one piece--and then she grins over at Sailor Moon as she declares that no houseplant would dare defy her.

The time's come for a counter-attack--but Sailor Moon is right: there's just so *much* of this monstrous plant, where do you even start? As Sailor Jupiter sizes up the enemy, preparing to attack regardless, Sailor Moon suggests a literally brilliant plan. Sailor Jupiter lights up to hear it. "Oh! I know exactly what you mean!" She winks and grins, giving her companion a thumb's up. "Let's do this!"

Then she faces the monstrous plant, eyes back to dangerously narrow. "SUPREME..." she calls, summoning down a multitude of lightning bolts from nowhere down into and through her tiara rod. Sailor Moon begins her chant, channeling bright lights through her Spiral Heart Moon Rod. Before she finishes, Jupiter concludes, "THUNDER!!" Lashing her hands out, the multitude of lightning bolts sear out--but as the Moon Twilight Flash joins with it, rather than all cracking together, they chain out, one by one, bulbs of light connecting one bolt to the next, until together they form a beautiful chain of deadly lights.

Merry Christmas, ya filthy plantimal!!

COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has joined the combo started by Sailor Moon!

COMBAT: COMBO! Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter have used All-Star Senshi! on Hotaru Tomoe.
COMBAT: Sailor Moon has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Sailor Jupiter has finished attacking.
COMBAT: Hotaru Tomoe fails to brace Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter's Combo: All-Star Senshi!, taking 84 Fatigue damage! Hotaru Tomoe is unable to keep fighting!

<Pose Tracker> Hotaru Tomoe [Infinity Institute (6)] has posed.

Without the Plant Witch present, the fight kind of goes out of the big guy. Which isn't to say it isn't a nasty pile of chlorophyll, viscera, hatred, and the imbibed energy of Tokyo's youth, up until the very end.

But there's not much the monster can do when La Sirene's Les Mysteres erupt along one side, and Ren's lances cage it in on another; Fuu becomes a wall of sword slashes on a third side, and the Precure take the last, with a single punch and a single kick, wielded in unison, blasting it back when it tries to escape in their direction.

This leaves it nowhere to run when Endo and Takeo come for it like the world's most handsome weedwhacker... sending bits of plant demon everywhere. But it could have become /ten thousand/ little plant demons in that moment, given its penchant for reanimation, if Sailors Moon and Jupiter hadn't instead decked these boughs of hell-y with twilightning.

It's a beautiful sight as they fade away into sparkles... the stolen energy is all that's left, in the end, and it streams in all directions, to re-energize the children from whence it came. They wake up all over town, glance at the clock, and have various degrees of panic attack at how much studying time they've lost.

The World Tree seems essentially unharmed -- it is vast as usual, and bare again, as is appropriate for December. Well... except for that white dusting that isn't bits of soul at all.

That's just snow.

Which is still falling. A lot. Being out in it late at night, illuminated by the pale light of the heart, is another kind of magic entirely.