View source for 3448/Subject 23: Unbearable

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/09/30
|Location=Plot Room #1
|Synopsis=Jupiter, Mars and Joy decide to ruin Tarnished's plans. Using the bear-necessity of tactics, they manage to purify a truly un-bear-able foe. After they bear-ly teach her a lesson, the dark magical girl has no choice but to flee.

Bears.
|Cast of Characters=228,64,42,220
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:228|Masu Yogoshi| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It was a... welllll... It was a good day. Masu was having an okay day. Well. Sorta? Not... It was REALLY hard to say how it was going right now. On the one hand, accidentally infusing a bear with dark energy during her experiments had, well... been an accident. <br /><br />Really, how was she SUPPOSED to know that if she experimented on robo youma out here, in this place, it would attract a bear of all things to eat her experimental compounds? It was all a mistake.<br /><br />On the other hand, it was giving her PLENTY of information on how dark energy affected living creatures. It made them more wild, yes. But it also made them far more powerful and almost... Negative? Either way, she was quickly learning how to control the wild creature. And as she sat on top of the tree, watching it maul a few of her robo youma, she couldn't help but be impressed. She held out her left hand and a piece of darkness infused fish formed in her hand, which she tossed down to the bear once it was properly fed. She then jumped down and walked towards the creature.<br /><br />"A very... animalistic creature." She was able to pat it on the back once it was finished eating. It seemed almost... Calm. Except the fact it was glowing dark, and its eyes were flowing with dark energy and... Okay, it DIDN'T actually look like a normal bear but that wasn't what was important here. What was important was she was scanning it with her gauntlet...<br /><br />And then it tried to lunge at her, fangs out... And she caught it by her right hand, just over the back of the neck and slammed it into the ground. "Yogi. LEt's not do this again, okay? Your dark levels are up to twenty-three percent, but you're still managable. We're going to see what happens when we bring them up to thirty percent." She then shoved the bear back and it seemed... Mostly complacent. For now. She tossed it another fish, not darkness infused.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Stop right there!"<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From a nearby tree branch, Sailor Mars reveals herself, arms crossed and brow furrowed, somehow managing the balance of a ninja in high heels. "The forests of Japan have a delicate eco system! How dare you interfere with lives and ecology for personal gain, and pollute it with dark energy! In the name of Mars... I will chastise you!"<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She strikes an agressive pose on the branch with a stern glare.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's nice when things are simple sometimes.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"In the name of Jupiter... what the heck is wrong with you?"<br /><br />That would be Sailor Jupiter, settling into a crouch on another prominent tree branch across the way from Mars's perch, eyeing Masu and her project with an expression that's roughly equal parts incredulous and annoyed. It's almost certainly just as well that Mars got the dramatic introduction part handled; justice speeches are clearly not Jupiter's gift.<br /><br />"Who looks at a ''bear'' and thinks 'hey, I know how I can make this more dangerous!'," she complains. "Who does that?"

:'''{{#var:220|Life Mahou Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Another day, another one of ''these'' things. Life Mahou Joy flies in from another direction, and sighs softly. "Oh, it's you," she says. Seems like she's not much for justice speeches at the moment, either, even if she is fairly good at them; she just knows they don't work on the woman in front of her.<br /><br />She looks over at Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter. "She's the one I posted about who KO'd Sailor Mercury. Can either of you purify?" Her heart-wand materializes in her left hand, and she tosses it into the air and catches it in her right. "Because if so, judging by the effect I had on her ''robots'' ..." She points her wand at the bear. "... this is gonna be a ''really'' short fight."

:'''{{#var:228|Masu Yogoshi| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished blinked a few times and then glanced to the other two. And then sighed. "Gosh. Dang. Don't you people have ANYTHING better to do than to annoy me? Do you even have a reason for being out here? Did your mother's drop you off and you decided 'Let's go piss off Tarnished, bad enough she's stuck trying to save all these lives, let's make her miserable' on top of it? And save me the self righteous indignation, miss..." Then puased. "I have actually no idea who you two are. Mars? Jupiter? Are you friends with that Mercury girl?" she asked, glaring.<br /><br />And then joy. "Oh my gosh. Seriously. Where is your mother? How do you have TIME for all of this? Don't your parents wonder where you are all the time?" she snapped. Was... Was she scolding her?<br /><br />"Wait! Before I kick your butts into the ground... Are any of you dating or in a relationship with any members of eclipse that I need to know about? Because apparently *some people* take this personally when I beat thier special blueberry squeeze into the dirt. Even when it's their own fault."<br /><br /> She then glanced to the bear. "Now, before we start. I just want to say that all of this is medical research that I am putting forth in order to save lives in the future, and it is all very important work that you are attempting to ruin. Now, I doubt that will mean anything to you, as you people seem to have this REALLY annoying need to believe you're 'oh so important' and 'the power of darkness is evil and bad because it's something we don't understand but... I figure I should at least give you the OPTION of making the right choice."<br /><br />She then glanced to the bear. "Yogi, sit," she said firmly. And... the bear... Actually sat.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Rei frowns and nods on consterned commisseration with Jupiter. With the justice speech out of her system, she says, "At least she didn't give it more heads. I-" She looks up with surprise at the newest arrival, and gives a look that... is some strange amalgam of regretful and dangerous as she says. "I can purify... but not in the way you mean." She looks down at the bear and its master(?) below, "My purification's kind of... final."<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Once you get past all the... *bear*, Rei does feel some resistance to putting this creature down, but she doesn't see a lot of choice, offhand.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That feeling... ebbs a bit between hearing Tarnished's relation to Mercury, and Tarnished opening her big mouth, and Mars eyes narrow dangerously and she replies, "... You don't have to worry about hurting us. Get a lab. Get a permit. But first of all get OUT OF OUR FOREST!" She shouts as she drops forward out of the tree, plummetting towards the ground, arms crossed with her hands peeking over her shoulders and trailing streaks of magical fire behind her before she flips forward at the moment of impact, landing in a crouch on her feet and crying "Fire SOUL!" As she releases a short burst of flame at Tarnished, trying to... localize it enough not to cause an even bigger problem.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Joy's arrival and her comments draw Jupiter's attention her way, and the Senshi of Thunder's eyebrows go up sharply at what the other girl has to say. "--that's her, huh?" Her eyes narrow sharply as she turns her regard back towards Tarnished, assessing. "Sorry, purification's not really in my tool kit. Guess you're on point for our furry friend."<br /><br />With an irritated hiss of breath through her teeth, Sailor Jupiter straightens up out of her crouch to stand to her full height, booted feet braced wide on the branch that she's perched on. "Okay," she says, addressing Masu again now, "correction number one: we understand dark energy plenty. It turns things into monsters and it makes people unhappy, violent, and - oh yeah - DELUSIONAL. But as much as I'd love to hear you explain how corrupting the wildlife counts as medical 'research'..."<br /><br />Her hands curl into fists, stance shifting on the branch in preparation even as Mars is already blazing into action.<br /><br />"...I've been wanting a chance to have words with you."<br /><br />Protip: 'have words with,' coming from Sailor Jupiter, is a euphemism for 'punch in the face'. With a powerful leap, Jupiter launches herself from the tree branch and comes hurtling at Tarnished fist-first.

:'''{{#var:220|Life Mahou Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho just bursts out laughing when Tarnished asks about relationships with members of Eclipse. "I dunno, I've got a buddy in UMBRA, but ..." She flips her hair with her free hand. "... I'm sure she'll understand. So, 'Tarnished', huh? You actually call yourself that, and yet you think that what you're doing is ''safe?"'' She shrugs grandiosely. "You know that messing with magic outside of the city sticks out like a sore thumb, right?"<br /><br />Well, looks like the Senshi are going after Tarnished herself. Good; from what Lacrima has told her, fists and fire might be less painful than purification to someone as full of darkness as she can feel from Tarnished. Or maybe not, she ''really'' needs more experience with this kind of stuff.<br /><br />Regardless, she floats further down a bit. "Okay, Yogi-kun," she says. "Lessee if I can purify you without hurting you too much. Minty Barrage!" She fires a stream of mint-green pellets of purifying light, sweeping it back and forth so that it's harder to evade. Her attacks, as always, are fairly low-damage. If you aren't weak against purification, that is.

:'''{{#var:228|Masu Yogoshi| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished coughs. "Actually, in the manner of a lab and permit, I have both. And yet, LAST time, despite being entirely legal, you 'magical girls' had no respect for the law. So your remarks ring quite hollow." Her right hand reached out and... Dark energy enveloped the hand and then formed a wall. After the fire died down... Her hand lowered. The glove had almost been entirely melted off. "That's--"<br /><br />And then JUPITER!<br /><br />The girl stepped back as the fist came at her face. Her right hand reached out, gripping the wrist and then turning it in a small circle, deflecting the blow to the side and then twisting the wrist... AND OW OW OW OW OW! Jupiter would FEEL it. When her hand was touched, the skin. IT was BURNING!<br /><br /> IT only took a few seconds as she pushed a little bit , throwing off the other girl's momentum in her counter... And then stepped in, slamming her left palm out and INTO the other girl's stomach. And with all the dark energy... it wasn't a soft blow. It would likely rock the entire girl's body as it sent her rocking back. Even worse, when the body was sent back... Tarnished didn't let the right hand go for a few more seconds, likely twisting it nastily in the process. And there would be a gross, black mark across the wrist, as if the flesh was beginning to... decay. Tarnished stepped back, her legs bent, hands flat, palms up. Tai chi?<br /><br />"Tarnished is a name I chose not because of what I plan to do. It's for what I've done," she said flatly. "Now... I have no desire to harm you. But..." She held out her right hand towards Mars. "I'm not a DOCTOR. I have no oath to uphold."<br /><br />Then a beam of dark energy would shoot out from her hand, straight at the fire girl.<br /><br />Unfortunately for Joy, the bear... Let out a roar and charged her. And while the roboyouma were quickly destroyed by it... This bear? This bear was not. It sizzled off its skin, but it looked more pissed off by her attack than actually hurt.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>In hindsight, maybe she could've thought that out a little better.<br /><br />The breath goes out of Jupiter in a startled ''whuff!'' as Tarnished's counter hits home, using all of the force of her flying leap against her in a way she knows all too well. She doesn't ''quite'' go tumbling, but it's a near thing - as it is, she reels back from her opponent, staggering off-balance for some moments as she curls her arm reflexively against her body.<br /><br />Only once there's some space between them does she get her balance, steadying enough on her feet that she can risk looking down at her arm where Tarnished's hand made contact. Her mouth curls into a grimace at the sight of the blackened flesh. <br /><br />"Mars!" she calls out, voice rough in her throat. At the edge of her vision she catches sight of the bear's charge, and though the pain makes her wince she manages to throw out her hand and send a few thin lances of electricity into the bear's path in hopes of buying Joy some space. "Keep your distance!"

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mars' eyes widen in alarm at the seemingly merely cosmetic affect her attack had, and then narrows sharply. "You can't et a permit for *dark energy* you crazy-" however that sentence was going to end, it gets cut off when her friend is sent flying. "Sailor Jupiter!" She calls out in alarm and concern as she stands up sharply. "You-!" She snaps at Tarnished, clasping her hands together and causing wisps of flame to spark to life, charging her attack between her hands; but not quickly enough to stop or dodge Tarnished's bolt of dark energy; which strikes her square in the chest and sends her flying backwards into a tree hard enough that it shakes the leaves off the branches.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sailor Mars clutches at her chest in silence for a moment, trying to figure out how to breath again before finally pulling in a loud ragged gasp; holding her hands over the blackened portion of her costume and feeling her heart pounding against her fingers.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"S-sure thing...!" She croaks through gritted teeth before slamming her hand into the dirt, hissing "Fire Soul!" And sending a narrow wall of flame out where it rises up sharply in a linger flash of flame, hoping to at least startle the creature into giving Jupiter and Joy some ground; and hopefully damage it as well.

:'''{{#var:220|Life Mahou Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Life Mahou Joy's a one-trick pony when it comes to evasion, but it hasn't failed her yet: super-speed out of the way! She flies straight up, faster than the average magical girl, avoiding the charge. The Senshi-interference is welcome, too! She does spare Jupiter a worried glance, though. Healer senses tingling!<br /><br />Still, though, they're busy with tarnished. The Senshi can handle themselves without a comically-inexperienced purifier hovering over their shoulders. She breaks into a grin as she regards the bear. "Hmm, okay, looks like this is gonna take longer than I thought!" She boosts forward, sailing above the bear's head, and then spins around and boosts briefly in the opposite direction to stop herself. Her wand is already held out, and she twirls it in a circle, leaving behind a trail of minty-green light. Then she thrusts the wand forward through the circle. "Joy Shining Ray!" The ring collapses, firing a brilliant beam of light at the bear!

:'''{{#var:228|Masu Yogoshi| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished blinked and then looked down at her right hand. She sighed and a new glove appeared on her hand, created from dark energy. She then glanced to Jupiter and nodded. "Smart. Please do keep your distance. Either way, you're still rather pathetic and annoying. But it's a lot easier to keep damage to your bodies less... final if you don't force my hand. Ah. Right. You like to fly. That is so very annoying." She held out her left hand and a portal of darkness appeared.... "Yogi. Deal with them," she called, snapping her fingers as a.... Ball of dark energy flew out and struck the bear on the side. It let out a loud roar, before turning and running straight AT Rei, leaping OVER the flames and trying to jump on her! CRUD!<br /><br />Tarnished, meanwhile, stepped through the portal, only to appear high up, above Joy. "I'm not a bear," she said, looking down at the girl as a glass orb appeared in her left hand. She shook it... before flinging it at the girl.<br /><br />"Flying won't stop me." It would then explode... A dark energy grenade?! EESH!

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"K'so!" Jupiter swears under her breath, watching things going out of hand at entirely too accelerated a pace. With no time to deliberate, she's forced to make a snap decision - Mars is just as experienced a senshi as she is and more, she'll have to trust Rei to handle herself for the moment. Instead, Jupiter throws her uninjured hand upward toward Joy and Tarnished where they're skirmishing in the air overhead. "Flower Hurricane!"<br /><br />In an instant the air fills with a blizzard of petals, swirling and tumbling in a rush of sweet-scented wind. It won't be enough to stop that explosion of dark energy, but at least it'll help to blunt the worst of the grenade's force, and perhaps distract and confuse Tarnished a bit while she's at it.<br /><br />As she sprints towards Mars and the bear, Jupiter hopes it'll be enough.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>One hand still on the ground, and the other at her chest, Sailor Mars watches the bear's thunderous approach with rapidly mounting alarm, gritting her teeth and fighting through a moment of panic before she rolls to the side to put the tree between her and the bear.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Alarmingly, the tree does little to stop the bear, breaking and falling towards him on contact; but at that moment Rei is already in the air, landing on the slanted side of the tree and running up it as it falls; blasting fire downward with both hands directly into the bear's back; then leaping forward to gain distance from it, sailing closely over Jupiter's head as her comrade charges towards the creature. She comes to a skidding halt on the ground and leaps once more towards Tarnished; swapping partners with Jupiter and grasping at Tarnished's leg, heedless of the pain of contact as she tries spread fire outward from her hand and onto Tarnished's body. "Joy! Help Jupiter! Purify that thing before it can hurt anyone!"<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Specifically THEM, but she'd rather not say.

:'''{{#var:220|Life Mahou Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Same trick as before: Miho boost-dodges, sideways this time. Except that she has less time in which to do so, and she lets out a squawk as the very edge of the explosion hits her. "That's fine, it won't stop me either!" she says, boosting backwards away from the incoming Flower Hurricane.<br /><br />She nods in response to Mars, swooping down hurriedly towards Jupiter. "Try to pin it down or knock it out!" she says. "I'll be able to purify it in a jiffy!" She isn't looking forward to do so, if she has to use Pure Elation, but hey, it ''works''. She swings her wand forward towards the bear. "Minty Barrage!" she calls out again, firing another stream of pellets and trying to at least give herself a head start.

:'''{{#var:228|Masu Yogoshi| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished stepped back, actually... stumbling off the branch. Crud crud crud! She tried to keep her cool as she... well. Fell off the branch.<br /><br />And fell about four feet before she realize. Oh yeah. She could fly. Gosh dang it... Then... Wait. Mars? FIRE! SHIT SHIT SHIT SHE'S FLAMABLE! A blue orb appeared in her left hand, tossed into her right hand... "Chill." Then blinked. Wait. Did she just make a PUN?! GUHHHH!<br /><br />The orb shattered and she shot a darkness blast at Rei... Sending the girl flying back into a tree. And encasing her entirely in ice, freezing her to the tree. The bear, meanwhile, lunged at Jupiter and tried MAULING HER! <br /><br />Meanwhile... Tarnished then turned to Joy and flew after her. "No," she finally said. A ball appeared in her left hand. No, three of them. She started flinging them at her as... Much smaller orbs of powerdery... substance would erupt around the girl? And it... Would feel... It would burn if it got on her, and latch onto her clothing... OH MY GOSH IT WAS DARK ENERGY GLITTER! It would sap at her purifying powers if it got her.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mars growls as flames burst and pop out of Rei's hands as she flies upward towards Tarnished, her determined grimace turning to alarm as the globe drops towards her. She throws her hands in front of her and starts to cry "FIRE-" before her vision is filled with white light. The next thing anyone knows, the Senshi of fire and passion in encased in ice, her arms outstretched above her, trapped in that pose with a look caught between shock and indignation on her face.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>There's a fraction of a second where all Jupiter can do is shoot a wide-eyed, incredulous look Joy's way. "Pin it ''down''?" she echoes, in a tone that heavily implies 'have you ''seen'' that thing'?.<br /><br />...But Joy's the only one of the three of them who can purify. It's not the bear's fault that it's been stuffed full of dark energy and terrible ideas. Pressing her mouth into a thin line of determination, Jupiter clenches her fists and faces the bear as it comes at her in a couple hundred pounds of claws and teeth and rage.<br /><br />Just before it reaches her, she dives forward and down, ducking narrowly under those flailing paws and skidding along the forest ground-cover between its hind legs. In the next instant she's springing back up behind it, vaulting herself up onto the broad furry back and throwing both arms around the bear's neck.<br /><br />It's about like trying to wrestle a car, but Jupiter grapples for all that she's worth, astride the beast like it's a bucking bronco at an American rodeo. From this perilous vantage, she can only watch helplessly as Mars is frozen - horror flashes over Jupiter's face, green eyes wide with shock and fury, but she doesn't dare let go now.<br /><br />"MARS!"

:'''{{#var:220|Life Mahou Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Life Mahou Joy, feeling creative, boosts ''downward'', then stops herself and looks over at Rei. "Oh crud!"<br /><br />... Glitter is affected by gravity.<br /><br />She lets out a shriek as she gets covered in dark energy glitter, hurriedly boosting sideways out of the way of the bulk! "OW, WHAT!?" She's starting to list in the air, sinking downward.<br /><br />While she's panicking, her shadow turns black and opaque. <span class="fg_28">"Need a little help?"</span> says Noroiko's voice, before her shadow seems to turn to look over at Tarnished. <span class="fg_28">"Or, actually, hmm ... maybe I should ask her to hit you with ''more'' dark --"</span><br /><br />"Shut UP!" snaps Joy. She tries to focus through the pain, trying to summon purifying energy in her left hand, but ... it fizzles out due to the powder. She shakes her head, pulls off her glove and tosses it aside, and ... yep, she can get just enough from that hand to start clearing herself, at least!

:'''{{#var:228|Masu Yogoshi| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished smirked, as a ball of dark energy formed in her right hand. "I see. It appears that is quite an effective attack on you. Well then. Joy? The way you move, the way you react... It seems all of this is quite new for you. So... Allow me." And then she leaped up, and over the girl...<br /><br /> "To welcome you to this world." AND BAM! The dark beam of energy, wide area, was unleashed on the girl, intending to send her flying down to the ground. Well. No. More intending to SLAM her into the ground with pure, painful force. The beam wasn't meant to murder... But it would still hurt like hell if it hit. And make the darkness even harder on her body. "And stay down."<br /><br />The bear, meanwhile, was trying to get the RATHER LARGE AND ANNOYING MAGICAL GIRL OFF IT! It never agreed to be a mount! IT DID NOT WANT THIS! IT WAS NOT A HORSE! It tried to roll around before BAM! Slamming back into a tree, hard, in an attempt to get her off it. The thing was beastly! Even if they got Joy close enough to hurt it, could she even purify it as powerful as it was?

:'''{{#var:220|Life Mahou Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Life Mahou Joy grins up at Tarnished, and Noroiko instantly vanishes, Miho's shadow returning to normal. "Not as new you think," she says. Tarnished is nowhere near as scary as Archwitch Mirai, for one thing. "Life Blessing, STAND FIRM!" Purifying light emanates from her left hand, and then spreads out to enshroud her body. It's not exactly the best at getting rid of the glitter, but given that the Life Blessing knows what it's doing better than Miho does ...<br /><br />The darkness slams into her. Then it slams her into the ground.<br /><br />When the attack clears, the glow has faded, and she's on her back looking fairly beaten up and with her costume torn in a few places. But she's still grinning, and there seems to be less glitter than there was before, some of it having gotten purified. "Th ... the glitter is ... an ''amazing'' idea, by ... by the way!" she calls up to Tarnished.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>If one looks very closely, the mass of ice encasing Sailor Mars seems to have water trickling down on all sides at a gradually increasing rate. Also some of the inside appears to be... bubbling.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Boiling?!<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the ice, Mars' eyes work just fine, and two bubble jets form as she breathes out with her nose as ice turns into water inside the incasement, and her joined hands slowly shift downward leaving a trail of bubbling water behind them.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They seem to be trained on...<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Uh.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Bear.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The outer layer of ice begins to bubble and pop and hiss until it bursts outward with a piercing cry of "SOOOOOUUULLLL!!!" as a massive, charged sphere of throbbing flame blasts through the ice and towards the massive bear's chest as is rears up with Jupiter on its back.

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>A strangled ''HRK!'' chuffs out of Jupiter, but even when the bear does its best to ram her backwards into a tree, she holds fast, arms tightening around its neck a little more. "Come on," she grits - perhaps talking to the bear, but it's Mars she's watching, willing her fellow senshi to break free of the ice that's entrapped her.<br /><br />When she sees steam begin to curl off the ice, she grins fiercely, waiting for the explosion.<br /><br />The sharp crack of breaking ice and the roar of flame and steam that follows it is the cue she needs. Without hesitation, Jupiter lets go of her grip on the bear and launches herself off of its back the instant before the flames hit home. A low-hanging branch gives her a springboard, and then she's rocketing through the air again, electricity sparking and crackling over her fists--<br /><br />--straight for Tarnished, where she's still hovering in the air.

:'''{{#var:228|Masu Yogoshi| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished smirked, crossing her arms and hovering over Joy. Heh. She'd crushed them. "Why thank you, I worked really hard on them. It wasn't an easy process, you know. Because once dark energy is refined too much into different things, not to mention dark energy can be a pain if you don't do it right. Finding the proper base to fill with--"<br /><br />!!!!! She whipped around, her mouth falling open as the bear just got SLAMMED with fire energy. The smell of burning hair was filling the air and the bear flew off, hitting a tree. It laid there for a few moments before... beginning to get up. Some of the dark energy seemed weaker, though. Its eyes didn't even glow.<br /><br />That was... frustrating, but it could--Wait, did she feel someone--BAM! Flat fist on bare skin on... Tarnished was sent flying back by that punch, flying through the air and SLAMMING into the tree. She crumbled to the ground and... Ow. She slowly just... stared. OW! It all. Hurt. And worse, she got a nice flash of Jupiter's pain then, during that point of contact. Slowly, she reached up and put a hand on the tree as she climbed... Her bare hand...<br /><br />The tree began to decay under her touch, though.

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Panting, hurting, SOAKING wet and bracing herself against a tree, Rei watches her friend clobber Tarnished with a grim sort of satisfaction and mutters, "Study that."

:'''{{#var:220|Life Mahou Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Still grinning, Miho staggers back upright, entirely using her flight-magic, and she giggles. "Hokay!" she says. She glances around to find the bear, straightens her glasses. Okay, looks like it isn't going to be a struggle. Hovering centimeters off the ground, she flies over to the bear, and wraps her arms around it. "Life Blessing, PURE ELATION!" she calls out.<br /><br />And with that, purifying energy ''wafts'' from her entire body, surrounding herself and the bear, erasing what little remained of the glitter on herself, purifying the dark energy that was inside the bear's body ...<br /><br />... and also incidentally interacting with her curse. "... ow ... ow ... OW ... OW ... ''OW'' ... ''OW'' ..."

:'''{{#var:42|Makoto Kino| (42)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Jupiter lands in a three-point crouch, both feet and her good hand steadying her landing on the forest floor. She straightens back up immediately, looking toward the bear - but no, it looks like Joy has it handled. Something in the set of her shoulders relaxes just a little, and she lets out her breath in a relieved sigh.<br /><br />That's one down. She turns back toward where Tarnished landed, automatically slipping back into a defensive stance. "Well?"

:'''{{#var:64|Rei Hino| (64)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mars joins Jupiter at her side, poised to strike along with Jupiter, and joining in her challenge; "Still game for this?"

:'''{{#var:228|Masu Yogoshi| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>climbed up, before glancing to the tree. It wasn't fully dead, at least. She then turned towards them. "Yogi, attack... Errr...."<br /><br />And as the dust settled, the bear was on the ground. Alive. Purified. Tarnished sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Of course. And no. Not particularly. While I'm sure I could beat all three of you with ease, the focus of my research is now gone. Congratulations. You stood in the way of medical research and who knows how many lives this delay will cost? but please. Feel free to keep enjoying your ill-conceived notions of being heroes," she said bitterly. A portal of darkness appeared besides hers, forming out of the air. "Pains in the butt, all of you..."<br /><br />While she didn't say it... Well... Her head was rocking That punch. Seriously. She was going to go put ice on it. Did that girl dislodge her jaw?! OW!

:'''{{#var:220|Life Mahou Joy| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho just rolls off the bear and collapses onto her back. "''Wow'' she's a self-righteous pain in the butt," she says, still grinning. "... I mean I realize that's what she's calling ''us'', but, ''jeez''." She pauses. "... Also, could the two of you wait here while I heal? It probably shouldn't take more than a couple minutes to heal myself, doesn't seem to be anything ''that'' bad, but, um, I'm feeling very 'slammed into the ground' at the moment, and I'd rather not try to shrug it off."<br /><br />It has not yet occurred to her that healing more than little scratches might ''also'' interact with her curse ...

:'''{{#var:228|Masu Yogoshi| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished would step through the portal... And once she appears in her office, closes it and...<br /><br />"Oh my gosh ow ow ow ow ow owwwww!" she whimpered, closing her eyes and holding her cheek. She made an ice pack form in her left hand, before going to her desk and taking out three of her duskenol's, downing them.<br /><br />"I swear WHAT IS WITH THESE PLANET GIRLS?! I HATE PLANETS!"
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