Saw this coming from a long way off

[odango_hime]

To the casual observer, Usagi seems to be just taking a nap, but upon closer inspection, one can easily see the strain on her face as she fights with an unseen terror. Occasionally, the symbol of Venus flickers faintly on her forehead, but the illumination doesn't last for long, and, whenever it does show up, there's edges of darkness around the

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[darkingdom_moon]

"Hey! Who turned out the lights!?" Thud. "Ow!"

A certain odango'd blonde stands very still, waiting for her eyesight to adjust to the dimmer lighting. She sees someone in bed, and winces. She puts a finger to her lip as if to tell herself 'shh'.

Hey, wait a-- "It's me!" ...So much for being quiet. Usagi winces again, and edges closer, trying to be a little more subtle about her until-now well-announced presence. "Eh?" She leans down, looking at--was that a trick of her eye? No, she can see something, definitely--the symbol of--isn't that Venus? But it's definitely her--uh, an Usagi--laying there.

Well now she's confused.

[abunodisceomnes]

It's quite obvious there is something wrong when Demand appears in the room. The fact that there are two Usagis in front of him is pretty much a giveaway. Perhaps he was going crazy. But perhaps this could be to his advantage if one of the Usagis was...well. The one he was looking for.

"What an unusual development," he remarks casually.

[odango_hime]

Usagi opens her eyes at the sound of the "Ow!", and freezes when she sees two people in the room, one of them quite obviously another version of herself. "Y-you can't stay here," she gasps, writhing on the bed. "I can feel her, straining to break loose, and she'll hurt you if you don't-- AH!" She arches her back with a cry of pain. "Please," she whispers. "Flee, now, before she breaks loose!"

[darkingdom_moon]

"Eh?" Usagi looks to Demand, then to the other version of her. Alarm finds its way across her face. "Are you all right?" She kneels by the bed. "What's wrong?"

Demand's presence unnerves her a little, she feels like she's seen him before. But for now, her alternate in pain is what she's focusing on.

[tuning_venus]

This wasn't where Venus had planned on arriving, but she had learned that the Nexus' plans were never aligned with her own. She observed the sleeping girl on the bed with a slight tilt of her head, trying to get a look at her Score and see if anything needed pulling out.

[odango_hime]

Usagi opens her eyes slowly, freezing upon the sight of a newcomer. "G-go," she whispers urgently, writhing in pain. "S-she'll hurt you if you s-stay."

[tuning_venus]

Venus narrowed her eyes, unwrapping her Baton from around her wrist and letting it form its normal shape. "Whoever 'she' is, I'm not afraid," she insists. She gets to work, retooling the girl's Score and trying to weed the evil out of Usagi. She doesn't care if it failed, but she had to try.

[odango_hime]

Usagi writhes, crying out in pain, and the symbol of Venus glows more brightly on her forehead for an instant. Then it fades in a flash of light, and she arches her back, shuddering as the evil entity inside her fights Venus's attempts to extract her.

[boundtowater]

Mercury stood over the clearly suffering girl. She considered; the Princess was a threat, and Metallia even more so. The right option was clear; it was obvious.

However...

Mercury closed her eyes, the sound of rushing water heard as the symbol on the forehead glowed as she called upon the power of Mercury to try and purify the girl, concentrating on the dark energy that was Metallia. "You've stayed long enough," she says firmly.

Have the *seethe* icon to make up for not having an evil icon XD

[odango_hime]

Usagi's eyes fly open, but they're not their normal pristine blue. Instead, they're black as night, with red sparks glittering in their depths. "Ha," she says, her voice much, much darker and colder than normal. "You think you can remove me, silly girl? No one has the power to match Metallia."

Usagi - Metallia, rather - sits up, eyes glowing as she faces down Mercury. "However," she says, flexing her hands. "If it's a fight you want, then come, taste defeat and drain the cup of futility to its very dregs."

Lawl.

[boundtowater]

Mercury tilted her chin upward, flashing into her Princess Senshi form without a word. "You do not frighten me," she replies simply, water already forming a barrier around her, "I've seen worse." Even as she spoke, water coiled around Metallia's legs and ankles, attempting to restrain her.

Oh dear, it's going to be a race to see if Mercury or Venus win first ♥

[odango_hime]

Metallia's eyes narrow, and she sends a blast of darkness at the ice, which cracks. "Two can play at that game," she sneers, before raising her hands and sending a wall of black ice at the Princess Senshi. "Try and worm your way out of that!"

after far too long to figure out who to send/what to do orz /latefail

[selene_queen]

"Serenity." The calm voice could cut through a mob. Queen Serenity, Selene, makes her way slowly, but directly, towards the beleaguered girl.

S'alright!

[odango_hime]

Metallia reacts instantly to the sound of Serenity's voice, and a wave of darkness reaches out towards the queen, hungry for her power.

[selene_queen]

Selene reacts as quickly, but her calm never breaks. She is steady, not hungry. She raises her moon stick, with the ginzuishou still set in it like a gem, the same thing that sealed away Metalia so long ago. Still, even she is not infallible; she is left too shocked to mount a full counter-attack immediately.

Had that darkness come from Serenity?

[odango_hime]

Metallia laughs and rises from the bed. "Are you frightened, your Majesty?" she taunts. "After all, I am only able to exhibit my power through the body of this pathetic girl, so you should have no trouble removing me, right?"

[waterfell]

She has no confidence in her voice being heard. It was once, but that was... different. She was different. And yet so much the same, the girl's senshi power trying to fight off- Trying to fight off what no one ever helped Mercury to fight! Instead, she has the scar on her chest to remind her that there is no help, there is no such thing as being saved.

Now, Mercury knows Usagi will never hear her. She knows her voice can't reach anyone. There's nothing good she can do. And even if she could... why help Usagi? No, why help this Usagi, who's haunted her for these past years?

Nonetheless, she says a single word, a name: "Usagi."

[odango_hime]

Usagi's eyes flutter open, and at the sight of this Mercury, the hostility, bolstered by Metallia, comes back to life. Only this time, it's Metallia who speaks through her lips. "Why hello, Mercury," she greets, sitting up and looking at the senshi with red-speckled black eyes. "Such a pleasure to lay eyes on you again."

[waterfell]

Mercury gives a slight smile; of course she hadn't reached Usagi. How much better that she knew it from the start, and isn't disappointed by some stupid false hope.

"It's been awhile, Princess!" she retorts cheerfully.

[odango_hime]

"Princess? What princess?" Metallia steps forward, allowing Mercury to see how much she's altered Usagi's form to suit her own tastes. "I'm afraid your princess isn't here, Mercury. She's sleeping, and she'll never awaken. So it's you and me now. I wonder how long it will take before you're on your knees swearing fealty to me, hm?"