Shadow looked towards the haughty half-snake creature as if it had spoken some grave insult. He brought Schwarzpferd to bear, holding the weapon upright in a defensive posture. Was she going to attack him now? If so, at least he had prepared himself for that likelihood.

He answered the Chaos agent's ultimatum with a dismissive scowl. "I bought a similar pack of lies from a woman who was similar to you. I'm not making that mistake again."

OOC:

As soon as Leafe was free he put more distance between himself and the Giant, scanning the room to see what fate had befallen Lillyena; he was relieved to see her alive and out of their clutches. They'd make it out of here somehow; they'd go back to Earth and get more help - they'd want to know what happened to their people, too. They could come back - there was still a chance to save Flora -- 

Shocking pain tore through him, electrocuting him to his core. In his last pain-filled second, he found her. As he fell he caught her eyes, and wished he saw something comforting there.

Sailor Uranus wrote:

Her brow quirked. "You are in no position to ask anything of me," she replied, her quip taking just the slightest edge of coolness to it. "Perhaps you misunderstand my offer. I give you one chance to accept or refuse, and that choice is immediate. The next words out of your mouth should be 'Yes' or 'No'."

Well, so much for that tactical advantage, Enyalius thought as her boots skidded across the floor. A slight momentary discomfort in her ears told her that the exit behind them had been sealed. She stood taller, took her sword in one hand, her shield supported carefully on the other, and waited for the agent to finish its speech. Typically she would try something while the enemy was occupied with a speech, but that she had sensed them from that distance while talking and acted without even glancing their way told Enyalius that any attempt at sneakiness at this point was futile. 

So she waited, shaking her head slightly to the side to get her hair off her neck, for the interview with Shadow to end. She did not concern herself with its outcome just yet, though she tucked away the information that even if Shadow refused her offer, he may turn on them later in the fight or after.

----------------------------------------------
As Shadow positioned his sword, the Evil One let out the smallest of disappointed sighs, let him finish speaking, and then casually sent an attack his way.

DM wrote:

The Dark One sends an attack towards Shadow!
Did it hit?
--She rolled a 6!  Critical hit!
How much damage? (d20)
--(d20) She rolled a 19
--Twilight Fortress Bonus: - 11 the fortress is exhausted!
--Armor Bonus (as fortress is exhausted): -2
----Total of 6 points of damage!

"Fool," she commented exasperatedly, "Never compare women in front of them."

----------------------------------------------

Enyalius noted the strength of the attack as it crackled around Shadow before affecting him, and scowled lightly - the creature was strong. She hoped allowing the pair behind her to volunteer for this did not end in tragedy. 

With a kick off from the floor, Enyalius ran, her sword ready to strike, towards the Evil One, hoping to get a lucky hit in, else distract her long enough for someone else to jump in and tag team with her.

Movement wrote:

Enyalius to the top of N9

DM wrote:

Enyalius attacks The Evil One!
Did it hit?
--she rolls a 5
How much damage?
--she rolls a 2
--strength bonus +14
--armor bonus - 3
----Total of 13 points of damage!

The Evil One attempts to counter!
Did it hit? roll required
--5! it hit!
How much damage? (physical; d10 + d6)
--(d10)4
--(d6)6
--Armor bonus -6
Total of 4 points of damage!

Enyalius jumped back away, getting scratched by the creature's long, manicured nails as she left.

movement wrote:

Enyalius to J8

“No, Leafe!” Pluto cried as she saw him attacked. She quickly moved forward and picked him up carefully, avoiding his wings as she remembered Mossen once saying. She quickly handed him to Moon. “Here, see if you can heal him. He caught the princess once, maybe he can do it again” then she turned back towards the fairies. She saw the queen and darted forward, swinging with the pot in the hopes of capturing her.

Quote :

As with Andromeda earlier on in the game, to revive Leafe he would need to be healed back to full health - at his current state, he would need to regain 17 HP.

Remember, too, that to heal the fairies of their corruption, Moon needs to restore 1.5x their health. Each fairy has 50 HP.  Aurae and I have spoken about how she can use the Pink Crystal to boost her healing efforts.

If the time comes for it, though (say, Friday? Keeping an eye on Moon's MP), I would suggest starting a conversation to concentrate on saving one of the two fairies.

Still leaning against the door, Sailor Leviathan watched as Sailor Moon, Pluto and Soul failed in their attempts to subdue the fairies. She wasn't doing too well herself. Her taunting fell on deaf ears. Already, her target was inflicting damage on the other pansy fairy.

"Hey, you stupid Queen!" the illusion shouted. "Stop hurting your subjects! What kind of Queen are you? The kind who wants to blow up planets? Sounds pretty stupid to me!"

The illusion would attempt to rush up to the Queen and swat at her like she was a fly.

"Can't hurt," Sailor Soul would hear Leviathan whisper in her invisibility. "Try it out."

This snake-woman thing was strong. Andromeda saw what she could do in the span of a few minutes and she knew there was a very likely chance she would not survive this battle. She was not as experienced as Enyalius and Achelois and probably had no business being here. But she took comfort in the idea that, just like it had been when she was awakened, she was facing this with courage rather than cowardice. Courage wasn’t the absence of fear, after all, but rather the ability to push past it regardless.

Wondering if this would be the last thing she ever did, she hoped that if it was, she could at least hurt their enemy even for just a little bit. She summoned her Battle Trident, ran forward, and attempted to stab it through the creature’s middle.

Quote :

Andromeda will move as far as N10 and then jumps back out of range again to P11 depending what happens.

Seeing Enyalius and Andromeda attack, Ganymede moved as well. This snake woman was fast and powerful if she could counter like that, but Ganymede would have to trust her armor to protect her from the worst of it. She charged at the Evil One before using her axe to take a swing at her.

Movement wrote:

Ganymede moved to N8.

Enyalius watched calmly and jumped back into the fray as soon as the creature raised its hand against Ganymede; her attack was off-balance and she had missed, leaving the creature a wide opening. Ganymede was hit, but Enyalius was within range to attack and distract it again - she hoped Ganymede would keep moving, else someone could pull their ally away before the woman could do more damage to Ganymede. Enyalius aimed for the woman's shoulder, hoping to damage the arm.

movement wrote:

Enyalius to L8 to attack, continuing to N9 if her attack is successful.

Battle wrote:

Enyalius attempts to attack the Evil One, aiming for its shoulder!
Did it hit?
--5! hit below the shoulder on the creature's back
How much damage?
--1
--Strength bonus of 14
--Armor bonus -2: near bikini point?
----Total of 13 points of damage.


The Evil One hisses in pain, her other arm moving to cover the wound on its back, its eyes following Enyalius.

Enyalius feels her sword cut flesh and gets a quick sense of satisfaction as she continued through her thrust, then turned to face the creature again. 

Her adrenaline was beginning to flow; she could feel her every nerve, her mind was finding its calm place, her eyes seeking out points of pain on the creature. She could feel her reaction time increasing.

DM Note wrote:

Enyalius's "Combat Intuition" is kicking in. After another normal round, her rolls for "Did it hit?" will increase by +1. Three of her attacks after, it will become +2, and so on.

Here eyes were a vibrant green as they followed the fight.  She stayed in the back and lifted off the ground just slightly to have a better vantage point from which to see.  She watched as her teammates fought, keeping track of their wounds.  She would have to wait until they were seriously injured before healing anyone.  She hated that she couldn't heal them even now but she knew that with her energy so low she couldn't afford to waste any.  She could only heal them in a dire situation.  She also didn't want to reveal her abilities before she had too.

Location:

Ganymede's swing missed, and her right side was open to attack, something the snake woman was quick to take advantage off. A searing pain erupted in her ribs as she was struck, and she grunted in pain before backing off. Claw marks had slashed into the weaker part of the armor when she looked down to check on her wound, deep enough to hurt. She had to be more careful...

"Lightning Slice!" Ganymede kept her distance and instead launched a bolt of lighting at the Evil One.

Movement wrote:

Ganymede moved to Q8.

Quote :

Ganymede uses Lightning Slice (2MP)
Did it hit?
--4! It hit!
How much damage?
--3
--MP bonus 1
--Control bonus 6
--Armor -0; she has no defense against pure magic attacks!
----Total of 10 points of damage!

Can she counterattack?
The Evil One has been shocked with Ganymede's lightning slice! Can she counterattack?
--1
She is unable to counter!

The Evil One is shocked by Ganymede's lightning attack, and as the electricity shoots through her, she is temporarily paralyzed!

Shadow reeled from the Chaos agent's attack, which breached his shield to strike him with significant force. It was quite potent; if not for his Twilight Fortress, he would have suffered a far worse injury.

She seemed annoyed by his words, and in hindsight it made sense. His only failing was drawing the comparison while she was still alive to react; he'd have to address that particular problem with a personal touch. After he recovered his balance, Shadow repeated his protective invocation and rushed forward to aid the senshi by joining them in melee combat against their scaled enemy. Schwarzpferd lashed into her backside, though not as deeply as he had intended.

For better or worse, he was committed to fighting the snake woman in close quarters.

Pluto pulled herself up and frowned. She noticed the queen looking between a...tiny Leviathan for some reason, and the canopy of the bed. Taking this opportunity since she was closer to the bed now, she took another swipe with the pot to catch her, hoping she was distracted enough.

As Andromeda saw that their enemy was paralyzed, she decided to use the opportunity. She'd seen the woman having no defense against magical attacks, and now she couldn't even move away. Andromeda jumped into action, shouting to Enyalius and Shadow, "Get back!" Just to be safe, she shot a chain at Shadow, who was closest, and pulled him away.

A split second later, Andromeda unleashed one of her stronger attacks that she had not until now, intending to suck in the woman-snake creature into a whirlpool that would hopefully keep her stuck in place for longer and allow them to keep attacking her without her being able to dodge.

"Wave Tide Maelstrom!"

Quote :

Andromeda will attempt to move Shadow to Q9 if she's sucessful with her bit of lassoing.

With the Queen distracted with Leviathan, Soul decided to take her chance. Soul Reaper. As the bottom of her staff touch the ground, dark purple wisps came from behind her, heading straight for the Queen. 

Soul hoped that with the Queen distracted with Leviathans Illusion, she wouldn't notice Soul's attack. Her intent was to use the attack to restrain the Queen while draining some of her energy, just enough so that Sailor Moon could heal her. I hope this works!

Hearing Andromeda's warning from behind, Enyalius jumps aside!

Movement wrote:

Enyalius to E10

DM wrote:

Andromeda attempts to lasso Jasper with her chains! ...I think this should cost 3 MP (Steel Chain Cascade?) but as I didn't charge MP when she was chaining up the door I think I'll let it slide.
Did it hit?
--5!
Andromeda grabs Jasper and flings him over to Q9!
Did it hurt?
--5
How much damage?
--2
--Strength bonus of 0 (she wasn't trying to attack him)
--Armor bonus -2 from Twilight Fortress. 9 remaining.
----Total of 0 points of damage.


--------------------------------------------
Andromeda uses Wave Tide Maelstrom (5 MP)
Did it hit?
--4
How much damage?
--4
--MP bonus +3
--Control bonus +7
--Lightning + Water hurt! +2
--no armor bonus
----Total of 16 points of damage! 
Is she captured?
--3
She will remain captured in the maelstrom for one move!

Pluto yelped a bit as Flora attacked her. She cringed a bit but had to ignore it for now, she was too far away. She saw Soul attacking the queen, and quickly moved around the edge of the bed. She got to the other side and saw the queen still in the place she was. She brought her staff up and pointed it right at the queen. "Dead Scream" she said calmly.

Spoiler:

"Ahh!" She cried out, stumbling to the side as Flora's attack hit her. She managed to use keep herself from falling with the use of her staff. 

"I can only hold one of them at a time, you need to hurry up and weaken the Queen, I think one more hit should weaken her enough for Moon to heal her then I can deal with Flora." She bit her lip as her abused ribs screamed in pain.

Pluto watched with unhappy satisfaction as the attack weakened the queen more. She turned her head as Soul called out, and she was attacked. She cringed, then nodded. She brought her hand back in the air and closed her eyes. “I'm so sorry to do this” She murmured before she opened her eyes and swung her open hand at the queen.

Lillyena, from her crumpled position on the floor, sat staring at Leafe's body. "Leafe?" she called quietly in disbelief, her eyes steady despite absorbing the action around her. She crawled forward, comprehension slow in coming. "Leafe?" she tried again, concentrating on his face, his chest. He was breathing, right? Her breathing increased, each inch forward taking much more energy then it ought. She felt the press of leaves against her torso, the soft petals at her waist, the vines and stems that made up her usual attire; each sensation reminded her of home, of the Glade. She remembered sewing these clothes together, laughing over the most inconsequential things, teasing Flora about Leafe, groaning about scouting duties and enthusing about political happenings... and then she felt the hard, cold press of metal at her waist, a weight she did not take lightly. 

What was she doing here? Her hands pressed against the flat stone, as alien to her as the Sailor Senshi planet had been. The woven works on the floors and walls, the furniture of dead wood, the restless spirits - she was not meant for this. She was a diplomat. She was training to be the Queen's left hand, eventually Flora's left hand; she wasn't a fighter. Leafe... Leafe was the fighter. And now...

"Leafe?" she called softly as the larger beings moved around, casting their magic, fighting her Queen and Princess. "C'mon, Leafe," she tried to rouse him before she got close enough to tell if he were alive or... "Leafe? Flora needs us, Leafe; once she realizes what she did, she's going to need us there with her. We have to be there with her, Leafe," she kept saying his name, but she had stopped moving forward, too frightened of what she might discover. "Leafe?"

DM wrote:

Pluto attempts to strike Queen Mana!
Did it hit?
--Automatic hit
How much damage?
--6! Critical Damage
--Critical +1
--Strength +5
--Armor bonus -0; engulfed in Soul's attack, her dark defense are unable to come to her aide.
----Total of 12 points of damage.

Queen Mana is at 0 HP.

Queen Mana is dead.

Hatred.

Anger.

Passion.

Mistrust.

Frustration.

Emotions were all she had at this point. Emotions and cold, hard calculation. She was a servant of her mistress, and that was all. The binds that held her in place and the cold, dead pain they caused were nothing to her - she did not feel them. The magical attack that rushed through her was nothing, the physical attack was barely a breeze, but even she knew when her breaking point had come. Her physical presence had endured too much; and as the lifeforce was pulled out of her, so, too, was the darkness, the anger, the hatred. 

Mana, beloved of her people, strong in heart and mind, came back to herself in her final moments, taking control over a body she had only been watching from the sidelines for over a month now. She caught the eye of the Guardian that had struck her and hoped her forgiveness was understood. Her green irises took in the room, one last time. She saw Leafe, the poor boy, and Lillyena... thoughts of her back-up plan flashed instantaneously, the careful decision she had made before she had left for the chase, the soul searching she had done; Lillyena may be able to do it, if... Flora. Tears sprung to her eyes, remembering her changed daughter and all of her malice. 

The Queen began to glow, her pure power pushing away Sailor Soul's wisps. Her eyes closed, her body tired, her heart heavy but lightening as she concentrated, calling forth her power source. As she fell to the ground it manifested itself in the palm of her hand as a glowing seed. "Flora," she whispered tiredly, her voice too quiet to hear.

"Oh moon turds."

Out of shock, Sailor Leviathan's illusion disappeared, leaving the girl completely out in the open. She was sitting against the door, still unable to move all too well with her wood riddled leg. Her face was contorted in confusion and anger.

"The queen's not dead!" she shouted in ignorance. "She can't be dead! That's not how you sol senshi work, dammit! You're supposed to save everybody!"

Tears swelled up in her eyes as she began to panic. Her magic was practically depleted and she had no means of helping the situation now. The center gem in her tiara was now a cold, dark green, having continued to darken since some time before their previous battle.

"Dammit! You guys have to save that princess! Whatever her name was! Flower or whatever!"

When Soul felt Queen Mana push her wisps away, she allowed the spell to dissipate, feeling the difference in the aura. The blow had been too much. Even with her mental shields up she could tell that Mana's spirit was leaving her body. She wanted to open her shields to communicate with Mana's spirit one last time but she was too scared about what could happen if she did. 

"I'm sorry we couldn't save you," she whispered, hoping that the Queen would be able to forgive them. She turned to Leviathan when the other began yelling. 

"We do try and save everyone, but sometimes it's not always possible. I hate that we couldn't."