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Draconis whipped around as more senshi, knights, and cats alike seemed to form a line in front of the civilian. In fact, if she hadn't been terrified for what was coming, she would've thought this rather cool. All of the good guys lining up and defending the civilians. It was rather iconic, wasn't it.

Of course, Draconis wasn't in a very heroic mood. She nodded to Celsus and little (though not so little anymore) *********> as they arrived on the scene, but it didn't distract her at all from her main purpose.

"Does anyone know what that is?" she said discreetly. She said it quietly enough that the senshi and knights would hear her, but the civilians wouldn't.

There was one pesky civilian who seemed keen on sticking to Camelot's side. She would just be a hinderance. To Harmony she shouted, "Hey! Back off okay? Go hide and protect yourself. You'll just be in the way." Sure, it was a bit harsh, but she really would hurt herself and others if she stuck around for very long. Draconis was already aware of the patrol group of civilians that set out and got themselves killed. She wouldn't have anymore casualties.

Raven had soon joined the group that was forming, staring up at the shape in the sky that grew larger and larger. She had a lump in her throat and drew in a shaky breath, clenching her hand into a fist. This was is. She really could feel it. She heard Leo shout that civilians should go towards the back of the group, and she found that she agreed with him completely. She…didn’t want to die, but didn’t want to be a coward either.

Blue eyes scanned the ever growing crowd and looked for someone to stand with, a friend to protect, to make sure stayed safe. It didn’t matter who, Candice, Mary, Jett or Darwin. She just wanted someone. Wanted to hold their hand and have that reason to fight. That reason to fight to stay alive.
Well, that reason beyond…wanting to stay alive in the first place. She saw Camelot, that old man from before and sighed. Old people…really shouldn’t be fighting. That was dangerous. Older people should be home playing old people games…like chess or something. It didn’t matter if he was special, he was still older.

The senshi were gathering like flies, but…for some reason, Raven didn’t think they’d be able to save everyone. No, they had proven that when they let some people die. It didn’t matter their intentions, they still let them die.

She could only trust herself and her friends now.

Hesperis noticed Camelot's green eyes meet her own, and she made her way toward him, weaving her way around the others. She figured the old man would feel better if she was close to him, on some level.

She wouldn't admit it, but she'd feel better being near him as well.

"Nice shield you've got." She tapped it lightly with the tip of her staff. Her voice lacked some cockyness, some of what made Hesperis, well, Hesperis - it sounded alien, almost, like it belonged to someone else. "Really to use it ?"

((Gilbert's defense roll!))

It was just one thing after another, wasn't it? One goddamn thing after another. If he wasn't being attacked by frankencake, he was being mauled by angry demon-dogs from hell, and if it wasn't that, apparently it was something big and angry enough to blot the stars out from outer space. Either that meant they were facing something really ******** big that was really close, or something was wrapping around this entire Surrounding place like a cocoon.

Neither option was appealing. The fact that he could hear the rumble, hear the voices, from inside the infirmary?

Well, Gilbert Hennessy had never really considered himself a coward. Not a lot scared him. He looked out for himself, yeah, and if you gave him an option to save his own a** definitely or help someone out and save himself maybe, he was going to go for the former. He didn't consider that cowardice; that was just plain self-preservation. Still, as he stood there, bandages still wrapped around his legs -- and those marks were going to scar, weren't they? -- he felt real fear.

This time, he might actually die. He knew he'd been lucky, to an extent. Survival instincts were one thing, and running for the door at the right moment, well, that was just a reflection of his training and his will to live. Finding the end of that maze after that hellhound had gnashed his leg? That was more luck than skill. But this?

Standing outside, looking up as the stars winked out one by one, he knew. No amount of skill was going to get him out of this.

A girl, couldn't have been more than nineteen at the most, gripped his shoulder and pulled him back. She was tanned, which was a strange combination with her powder blue hair, and she was glaring at him.

"Go hide!" She pushed him, a little roughly he thought, for someone her age and the fact that he was still bandaged. "You can't fight. You're just going to get in the way and be a burden. Go find somewhere to hide, like, during an earthquake. Because s**t is going to start falling down."

With that, she darted out, charging straight into the pool of people gathering outside.

It was strange, but... Gilbert felt, for the first time, a bit of shame. Shame at protecting himself when girls half his age would run into the thick of battle, would risk all for people they didn't know. It was stupid, he reminded himself. They were just sending themselves out to die. But still..

You're just going to get in the way.

True. He couldn't fight these things, not like the rest of them could.

Still he hesitated a moment, and then another chorus of voices rose. He couldn't tell if it was the good guys or the bad guys -- s**t, this was like... this was like a war movie, this was like...

But it didn't matter, did it. He pulled back, glancing around for somewhere to hide, and he backed away and sought shelter.

And if he was a little ashamed, there weren't many people around to witness it.

Leo did 23 damage!

There was no time to mourn for the integrity of the Surrounding. It was broken, at least in part, and weak elsewhere; he had known this from the moment he set foot back on it again after so many years, and it was obvious now. Though anger and shame welled up inside him in equal measures, he was forced to set his sadness and his shame aside, focusing solely on his anger to propel him forward. Leo was rarely angry, rarely indulged himself enough to be truly moved by aggression and temper, but he could see nothing else.

He was furious.

The Negaverse was wasting no time moving forward; he would not waste time, either. He was reckless with his body on a good day, but in the midst of chaos and war, there was no time to think about himself. He knew what he was capable of, and he knew there were still civilians present who would be taken down in an instant, slaughtered without thought or remorse if the opportunity presented itself. He flung one arm out, gauntlet striking a civilian hard on the shoulder, and he shoved them back and behind him.

Yeah, it probably hurt. Being hurt was better than being dead.

He flung his left hand up, gathering energy and propelling his arm forward, as though the motion would somehow make his attack stronger. The disadvantage to Leo's beam was that he had to be close, very close; he was close enough to engage in direct combat with a Negaverse agent should they come at him, and he didn't care.

Light erupted from his hand, strong and bright, no doubt blinding those who were unfortunate enough to look directly at it as he summoned his magic. Glittering and radiant, it shot from his fingers and into the monstrous youma's face, burning a path down it as something caught him from behind and forced him to stumble, his hand jerking and redirecting the magical blow as he went.

Hardly enough to take the beast down, but he'd done damage.

(Camelot does 9 damage. Like a boss.)

Camelot nodded his head and let Harmony run off, wondering if the feeling in the pit of his chest was akin to one he would have felt if it was his own son in the middle of things. Thankfully, Nathan was blissfully unaware of these things back on earth.

When he got home, Tony had a lot of things to make up to his son. Or rather, if he got home. It wasn't his main goal at the moment, he realized. It was simply getting everyone else back to Earth, his planet, where they belonged.

He turned, looking at the beast as it attacked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he said to Hesperis, looking at her keenly and with confidence and courage. He had to trust in her, though what he wanted to do was hide her away with all the civilians as well. It never left his mind, how young she was, and how unfair it was that she, and all the other children and teenagers, had to be involved in insane things like this.

With that, he charged, shield swinging immediately for the closest target. It wasn't his style, out right attacking, but at the moment every single movement he made was in defense of someone. He had to do whatever was necessary, without pushing himself beyond his own moral lines. And he would do what he could.

He had to.

Magellan did 13 damage!

Having barked at some civilian or other to stay back and out of the way, Super Sailor Magellan dove out into the fray like she'd been born to do it. She fricking owed the Negaverse one for all the times she'd almost been killed, for all the times she'd been hurt and people she cared about had been attacked -- she wasn't going to let them just stomp on the Surrounding and throw their weight around, not this time. Frankly, it pissed her off that her magic was useless in a practical fight, but once she got close enough to some of those bastards to be of use --

She was going to ******** choke them with powder. It might not have been much, but she knew she could seriously mess them up for a few moments if anything, and that was what she was here for. Goddamnit, she was useful, and she wasn't going to take this s**t lying down.

Darting between confused civilians, scared civilians, and people already engaging in battle, she breezed past Leo and flung herself at the youma's face, driving her boots into it as hard as she could. Not the smartest idea -- someone flicked her off and back, and she hit the ground hard -- but it was a testament to her bull-headed, downright stupid determination that she got right back up again and threw herself into the fray.

Realistically, this thing was going to try to kill every goddamn one of them. Magellan wasn't going to let that happen. She certainly wasn't going to stand back and wring her hands while other, more flashier senshi got in there and beat the hell out of it, either.

Earth was her home too, and she'd rather break every bone in her body than sit back and let someone else fight her battle.

((Felicia hourly roll #1))

Like so many of the citizens stuck out in space, Felicia was caught in the grips of horror and panic. She clung to Grant's hand as if he was only solid thing left. Wide hazel eyes locked onto the giant beast looming down on them and the hundreds of people ready to attack.

((phone tags are short and lame. x.x))