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Iya had stopped screaming. This was only a minor consolation to Ilie, who hadn't really been able to rip her eyes off Illitzi's body since stepping out to defend the youngest of them. And then, of course, her podmate was standing beside her, frantically trying to talk some sense into the tree that was their parent--

"Ishi, calm down," she said. It would be fine; this energy would call someone who could fix this. It had to; otherwise the Makaiju would die, and then--she gritted her teeth. Not thinking about that.

Then a new sailor scout appeared, and Ilie scowled at her suggestion, but waited until she thought she had an opening to reply. "Don't you dare," to the black-suited senshi. She shook Ishi off, patted his head as some kind of sop to his devotion. "We came here because this is where the Makaiju found its energy last time. Because there are so many of you, and the Tree is dying. It can't live without energy."

Not the best explanation, but it was the one Ilie had.

"It killed someone who would have killed us. It didn't kill us. It let us..." It was too late to continue with her argument and she realized that as the other girl (stupid girl) began to twirl her weapon (obviously overcompensating for something).

Whatever happened, Sailor Corvus knew that she couldn't let the attack hit the tree. The look of sheer determination on her face would be one that both Eridanus and MuCephi could recognize; it was the same look she always had right before she did something that most would consider stupid, foolish, or 'completely retarded'... Like throw herself in front of someone else's attack, which was clearly what she had in mind to do this time, the gears in her mind already whirring as she tried to project just how far she would fly from the impact and how quickly she would be able to return with an attack of her own.

Saiph's heart went out tot he aliens. It had only been survival and the dim knowledge that on Earth was a solution. Poor, poor things, she thought as she impulsively reached out to the little girl and somehow hugged her close in spite of the twining branches.

"I'll do my best, honey. I promise," she whispered as she stroked the girl's hair. "I promise.

Then, she caught a glimpse of movement heard the attack cry and whirled to chain Chain Girl let go and attack the tree. A strangled cry of , "NO!" burst from her as she released the girl and dove through the braches, moving with the speed of desperation. Even as she moved, she was calling up her own power and whispering an apology to the tree even as she loosed her own attack.

"Tail Thrash!"

And for one, blissful, wonderful moment, she felt the power explode from her in a controlled burst, aiming straight and true for the chain and, amazingly, deflecting it from the tree. Crouching on a branch, her face alight with wonder, she realized that the so uncontrolable power and for once, been controlled. No one had been hurt.

Then, shaking her head, she glared daggers down at the senshi.

"Are you god damn ******** crazy? Or do you like the idea of killing by proxy? ******** idiot, you'll kill them too and make everything worse!"

Then, climbing back up to Iya, She braced herself before the child in an unmistakablly protective posture.

"You don't have the right to decide their fates because you're too busy seeing a threat. And if I have to, I'll go down protecting the tree and them from you."

Powerful surges of energy was not something Wolframite was use to, and he nearly fell off the rooftop he was walking on when it washed over him like a cold shower in January. After he managed to pull himself back to his feet, he looked out at the direction he felt the unmistakable pull of something strange and not of this world. In his short list, this could have been either Senshi or Negaverse related, or maybe, just maybe, that new guy Wiseman. Either way, he couldn’t well turn around and head back home. Duty and curiosity pulled on his leash and he already started to jump rooftop to rooftop as he headed for the park.

Past the playgrounds into the forest, he stopped on a high branch in time to see a gathering unlike any other he had seen before. Around him a good many senshi were standing around the gnarled roots of an enormous tree. Following their upturned heads, he covered his mouth at the sight of a green man with a few spikes jutting out of his chest, and the sight of blood and innards made him ill, a acidic taste rising at the back of his throat. Blood and guts wasn’t something he liked being around which was why he appreciated the fact that starseed removal wasn’t messy. Disposing however sometimes wasn’t as pretty.

Holding down his dinner, he looked up to the tree. It was a sick brownish-gray, it’s dropping branches barren aside from a few leaves, it’s dried-up foliage collecting in great piles around it’s base. It seemed someone hadn’t taken care of the monster tree as it looked wilted and as dead. He’d seen neglected office palm trees that had more spirit than this one did. Even though it looked dead, it seemed to be what was giving off all the energy, not to mention it was holding another green person hostage. It’s then that Wolframite remembered all those annoying aliens he ran into, and spotted 2 of the girls he had met. So THIS was the tree they mentioned? Well look at that. It didn’t seem to be doing well, and he felt glad for it. Showed them for trying to be competition. With any luck, both the senshi and the aliens would wind up being spiked on some branches.

Not one to jump into a crowd of senshi or help, he sat back on the branch and watched. It seemed that with what he was hearing, the tree was here to survive and wasn't doing a good job. It was dieing, and in turn, so were the green guys. While it was sad, he wasn't about to shed a tear for creatures who made a mess with their card creatures and tried to kill him. In fact, if the senshi knew what was best, they could kill the creature with it's magical attacks and get rid of it. He had to hope they would. He'd do it himself but a jump rope wasn't very handy against a once-mighty oak.

-It was all happening so fast. Only seconds to react

She heard the called attack, followed by another, and before she could even turn her head in surprise the girl from above was falling through the branches, screaming downward, as Polaris instinctually steadied her footing. As if she'd actually be able to catch the girl. If she was lucky she might make a cushion.

Her eyes were locked on the green haired senshi, watched as she called a magic attack of her own, smacking the glowing chain away from it's intended target and back towards the ground.

Chain... the way it'd moved upon deflection, the links rippling back against each other. It was metal wasn't it? It certainly looked like metal. As it skittered towards the ground halfway between the senshi in black and the tree she shifted, taking sudden action.-

"Super magnetic field!" -She shrieked, her hands held out tentatively in front of her. She focused on the chain and the chain alone, setting herself as the target. If all went well, then she'd have the chain so the other girl couldn't use it again. How often though did things go well though? The chain began to shiver to life and Polaris could only pray to god and the moon princess that a) this was going to work, b) it wasn't going to hurt like a b***h or blow her up upon impact, and c) that her newly supped up power was as controlled as she hoped and wouldn't bring any other little 'surprises' along with it.-

((If anyone has any small bits of metal they'd like to lose feel free XD Or even just the feel of jewelry being tugged uncomfortably for a moment, whatever. Not necessary, just if anyone wanted it for anything :3))

Aphrodite had factored in various scenarios of what could happen when she launched her attack. She suspected the Tree Alien would react. She suspected the others would scream. That the girl could die or, if luck would have it, her aim could hit true and bring about a reaction from the Tree that would have to convince the others that taking it down was the Right Thing To Do.

What she hadn't factored in was the senshi of ink's follow-through with his promise, nor Corvus's attempt to jump in front, nor the green-haired crazy b***h from up above sending a terrifying looking attack in her direction.

The Tail Thrash successfully disarmed her and as she attempted to grasp tightly to Heartseeker's chain, Eridanus's Ink missed the chain entirely, striking her bare shoulder with a powerful sting.

Caught off guard by the counter-attack, Aphrodite stumbled back, one hand moving up to clutch her shoulder as the other still clung to her weapon. It was only when Polaris' cry rang out that she looked up from examining her shoulder - just in time to feel Heartseeker leave her hand entirely. She watched as her chain floated away from her, now far too high to jump up and grab at. In a moment of panic, she willed Heartseeker to disappear, returning it to the subspace where it was stored.

She had lost this battle - even if she produced Heartseeker again, the other senshi were bound to try and stop her once more. That, or Miss Magnet would probably manage to snag Heartseeker for good next time around and that was a risk Aphrodite was not willing to make.

"You guys are all ******** crazy." The Captain took a few steps backwards, but made no attempt to try to intervene once again. She'd thought she was doing the right thing - she thought she'd been trying to protect all of them. Why didn't they see that? "You're going to get yourselves killed and you don't care."

Iya, still dangling up above, stuck out her tongue at the blonde senshi and blew a raspberry.

"We're supposed to be Soldiers." Eridanus' voice sounded weary, but stubborn. "We're here to SAVE LIVES. Even at the cost of our own if we have to."

Insanely, he actually seemed convinced of this. "If we can fix the tree and save their lives as well as the civilians, then thats what we need to try and do. Otherwise we're no better than the Negaverse. Killing because it's easy

He honestly hadn't expected a chain of others to jump on board with him, but he was damned pleased they had. It gave him hope for the way he and Corvus saw the battle.