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The oppressive aura of a General-King was the last thing Persephone had expected right then, and for one mad panicked moment the tiny Corrupt worried that he was going to interfere on Wolframite's side and that she was even more doomed than she had been before - but no, the loud declaration of enough was reassurance enough, and she took the tiny piece of Leto's soul that Wolframite had stolen.

For a moment, she wanted to touch, to examine, because she remembered Zirconia's declaration that they were strange - but her curiosity was second to the life of the Dark Mirror Princess, and so she knelt next to the fallen body and held her hands over Leto's chest, releasing the starseed to return to its rightful place. It was a good thing, perhaps, that she'd done this twice before and knew what to expect, because otherwise she might have been panicked even worse than she was.

She found herself shrinking against the injured Princess. Even if Zinkenite's wrath was not directed at her, it was a terrible thing to behold.

Amytis took a breath, turning and flashing her girlfriend a smile. Sure, she might ordinarily have squeaked, blushed, and otherwise been foolish about getting her a** patted, but in the middle of battle was not the time for that. She darted in at the Page, curving her fist towards his gut while he was distracted by Chariklo's magic. She would happily take advantage if it got him out of her face.

And then there was a horrifying, blood-curdling scream, and once again her attention was drawn away. She spun to stare in abject horror at the sight of her Princess, broken and beaten and bloody. Leto, who she had only met briefly, but who had helped welcome her into the Court.

Leto, who was stronger than all of them, and yet still lay destroyed, starseed plucked from her core. Even if it was returned, the facts stood.

Her Princess had fallen. She could only imagine that she was next.

And then there was a soft brush of fur against her ankles, and a quiet voice saying "follow me," and she realized it was a cat, a Guardian, leading her out of the factory, at least for a brief moment - because she wasn't syaying gone, no way.

"Hold your panties, Page boy, I'll be right back to handle you." She darted after the cat, and slipped into a mirror in the nearby alley - undoubtedly left there by some clever member of the Court...and what came out the other side was stronger.

What came out, and what ran back into the fray to find Falias, was Super Sailor Amytis.

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((Phone post sorry))

He let wolfram hit him, his head turned slightly and he looked back once more like he faced a child.

"When did you become such a blind FOOL Wolframite, to think that you could save what we stand for by standing with them, the very -side- your tortures stood for when they cut your eye out? Are you so completely blind to think that who we serve doesn't change us? "


He reached his hand in and curled fingers around Wolframite's star seed. "Tell me now... That I should act as Charonite would. Tell me I should waste an officer who might yet learn because it's easier to take your star seed. Tell me you want to die for the same damned insurrection SHE punished you for. LIE to my face the way you lie to yourself for a grudge even she, in Metalia's name had to overcome. Do you think you're better than her to so REFUSE to let it go? Do you recall at all the words she spoke about putting your own goals, over the survival of the Human race?"


He shook his head. "How can you forbid me to speak of the one that raised me up? How, when it's you who piss on her memory and her suffering by learning nothing from it, or your own?"

The fingers around the star seed in coiled from their painful grip, and rather than pull his hand free, he slammed the flat of his free hand into The Generals chest sending him careening backwards.

"I don't know how I thought you would be wiser, not when you thought masks would hide you, or that so grand and foolish an undertaking would stay secret."

For one brief, flickering moment, Europa felt triumphant. Leto's eyes had gone dark and still - no more panic. No more pain. No more life at all. She heaved a triumphant sigh, turned to say something to Wolframite-

And the world exploded around her. Europa was thrown across the room with the force of the General King's arrival, colliding with the back wall with a crunching of old wood. Pain rushed through her body, dozens of splinters sticking into her skin. Europa glanced across the room, saw Wolframite confronted by-- Zinkenite she thought, recognizing the general-king. I need to get over there.

Slowly, Europa forced herself to her feet. She could not move as quickly as she liked, not with the damage she'd sustained in her express trip across the warehouse. But maybe - maybe if she could get close enough without the general noticing - she had one attack left, one that would leave them in the cover of darkness, so she could grab Wolframite and - it wasn't like she could teleport, but- she could get them out of here. They'd both upheld their ends of their bargains- Leto was dead, her starseed taken, and even if-

Even if it was returned-

-Which it was-

-Europa had still done her job. She had felt her go limp. She had seen the Princess die. Should she have crunched her trachea to be sure? Certainly. And she'd been getting to that, before Zinkenite's timely arrival-

"You're too late!" she shouted, to the general-king, and to the tiny corrupt senshi at his beck and call. "She's dead! We killed her!"

Unless-

Unless-

Should've crunched that goddamn trachea, Europa, just to be sure, she thought piteously. And that was when she smelled smoke. Looking around, Europa saw the fire spreading. It was time to leave. Time to go. Let them all die of smoke inhalation, she'd done what she came for and if they couldn't get Leto to medical help and fast then she really would be dead, for certain.

Get to Wolframite and go, she thought, limping towards the general and Zinkenite as quickly as she could.

[Exit]

The arrival of the General-King immediately soured his mood, especially when he couldn't find the red clad mirror senshi. He turned his head towards Zinkenite, eyes narrowed into slits. The General-King was siding with them, he was picking the dark mirror senshi over his own soldiers and he felt sick. He half-listened to the words that Zink rattled out, and Wolframite's response in return, and he shook his head immediately searching for Zircon.

This battle was lost and they needed to go.

Speaking out defiantly would do him no good, and neither had been spotted yet, so when he found Zircon he grabbed her by the wrist. "We're leaving. Now." He told her, looking at their surroundings as smoke began to rise from the embers trying to consume the warehouse around them. "We'll go after those that escaped already, there's no long a point in staying here."

And then he teleported them out.

"I think a lot of things are fun. Even if it doesn't always make sense to others." Azurite shrugged. "I get the feeling you'll prove me wrong on you though.. ...What is your name?"

"I know it's not. It's underhanded and sneaky on a level that borders the imbecilic." She responded, looking over his shoulder at the people who were fighting. "But again, in my case anyway, orders are orders. And I can't just disobey them. Like I said, I normally left you guys a lone. And to be honest I don't know many, if any at all of the Order or Dark Mirrors that are here." The corrupt snickered, noticing the faint trace of pink. "What's the matter? Not use to the other side calling you cute? Or is it cause it's coming from someone like me?"

The scream caught her attention and Azurite turned curiously to find the source. "That sounds like it hurts.. Ugh. That's gonna sting in the morning." The senshi muttered, rubbing her neck with a slight cringe. She blinked when the eternal look, knowing full well what he was thinking. "Oh don't look at me like that. There's not much I can do here anyway. I don't normally specialize in crowds if ya know what I mean..." Azurite would leave that up to the eternal to figure out it's meaning. "If anything, my game plan was to throw people off balance. So when I said I was going to give someone a hug. I meant it. But I don't expect you to believe me soooo.." He would do what he had too. Just like she had to do what she could.

Persephone knelt and released Leto's starseed carefully, allowing it to slip back into a chest. Seconds passed, and Leto's blank, red eyes stared unseeing up at the ceiling. She could hear screaming and panic around her, and suddenly the warmth of a body against her own cold flesh. There was a familiar voice, an enormous Chaotic aura; it could only be Zinkenite.

You're too Late! She's dead! We killed her!

No.

She needed to wake up. Leto yelled at herself in her head, screamed internally to get the ******** up. Hoping against all else that Europa and Wolframite were no where near by, or that they were otherwise occupied.

With a loud, desperate gasp, Leto inhaled as much air as she possibly could. She blinked at the ceiling, and then let out a whimper of pain. Her throat hurt, her back hurt, her chest ached like nothing she had ever felt before. With another inhale, the air now filled with thick smoke, Leto coughed and sobbed. She would die in this hell, burnt alive. Unable to maintain her power, Leto slipped easily back into her Eternal form- the lack of wings produced large open wounds in her back where Wolframite had cut and torn at her.

Finally, she stared helplessly at Persephone, the Senshi she recognized but not quite as she hadn't known that she corrupted to the Negaverse. She tried to speak, to thank her, but no words escaped her lips. Her one functional hand reached out and gripped Chariklo's sheer overlay the moment she heard her voice.

The fire that Wolframite had started to expand throughout the warehouse. Tears streaked down her sawdust, blood and dirt covered face. "Save everyone," she sobbed. "Get everyone out. Don't... Don't let them die here for my mistakes." Her chest heaved and she curled in on herself. "Please," Leto sobbed, her entire body trembling. "Leave me, get them all out. Make sure... Make sure Remarque got out."

If Leto was going to die here, she needed to know that the other Royal of the Dark Mirror Court survived so that the DMC wasn't left alone and leaderless. They needed him. She needed to know that the DMC didn't die in the battle, in the fire that was spreading- their safety was infinitely more important than her survival.