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All would have been fine. It really would have. However, something hurtled in the pair's direction. Something red.

Something that hit ********* plum in the face. Upon contact, it exploded into a small popping explosion, causing the cat to yelp out a bit.

"Cat?" The tomboy attempted to look to the guardian on her shoulder.

The guardian knew that there were various senshi with various attacks. In fact, this had been the abilities that belonged to a senshi she had awakened. If she had been prepared for the hit, she might have at least been able to prepare herself for the Pepper Poppers. Instead, she inhaled deeply as she whined out in pain. It wasn't brutal, but it was irritating. Rather quickly, her mouth began to burn and her green eyes began to water greatly.

"Sh*t, cat! What th'f*ck happened?!" Rather than continue to pursue the crystal she hadn't seen on her own, the senshi detoured to the side a bit in a slight clearing amidst the chaos. She plucked the cat off her shoulder and attempted an inspection. A very unprofessional inspection. Nonetheless to say Iris couldn't figure it out on her own. "Sh*t! Tell me what th'f*ck is wrong?!"

(rollin rollin rollin' )

They were taking delight, all of them. No doubt any Negaverser that had watched Nealite's greatest enemy come down before two Captains was reveling in this cruel torture of the Senshi of Hail. Did he deserve it? Oh undoubtedly. His crimes were innumerable to even one with such a numeric mind as Linarite. There was even a justice in the way that it was Wolframite holding him down and not her. Tanzanite, whether she wanted to admit it or not, was acknowledging that this was hard for the general and that she would either weaken and fail them all or would destroy herself in the process. It was easier on a whole.

All she wanted to do was turn and leave, running away from everything and everyone until there was nothing left but the stars in the special place that she'd shared with someone just as special. Instead, Linarite banished her staff and clasped hands behind her back as a hand dipped inside of Castor's chest where her own had once been. Golden eyes fixed and held on the face of the man she'd loved in every way possible before destiny had betrayed them both.

Her voice was soft but carried in the still snowy night. "Forever, Castor." Forever what, she couldn't say as a hand touched Tanzanite's spiked shoulder and stroked along one there. It was her approval and congratulations, whatever they meant to the Amazon captain.

Eyes snapped open as it happened. Nothing had ever happened that could compare to this. No pain. No words could express what was happening to him. What was going on could only be expressed in the most besic of ways. The expression of pure pain and horror. The scream of death ringing out. This was worse. Castor had felt death before. Walked the line before but this wasn't a line. This was worse then death. This was worse then anything he'd ever known. He wanted death, he wanted it to end.

The expression in her eyes. It was those gray eyes that make his mind recoil. It was her smile, the voice. Human. Only as she was killing was him did she seem human. Fear was a primal thing, but not, it wasn't even considered. Castor was looking at something he lacked words for, thoughts for. His hand held firm as his back bowed and eyes rolled back. His body, his mind both cried out wanting it to end. Wanting death, yet it would not come. She wouldn't let it. This was hell. This was the edge of everything. All Castor could do was scream. Scream and squeeze. Scream and pray to die.

Scream while the woman he loved unknowingly watched him die.

Bare skin kissed the cold snow as Sinon slid forward, only to have her hands remain empty and crystal-less. Dammit. Pouting, the senshi fought back by the childish tears beginning to brim in her eyes. Gosh, was snow always this cold? Sinon had always been careful about wearing warm clothing so that she wouldn’t catch frostbite—until this battle, that is. She sat up, grumpily rubbing away the intense chill as the familiar tinkle of coin fringe rang in her ears. Ah, Pomona! That was right, she had seen the senshi of peppers a little while ago, right?

Delighted eyes scanned the area to find her best friend—standing in front of a pair of captains and a general. Crap. Crap. Crap. What was Pomona getting into? She scrambled to her feet and sprinted toward her friend, just barely glancing at Castor to realize s**t was about to get worse. Wait. Wait. Wait. Was he going to die? Wait. Wait! She wasn’t mentally prepared for that. She wasn’t mentally prepared to watch a nameless comrade disappear so easily. Sinon began to panic and she wanted to scream why the snow suddenly seemed so slippery now. She tripped and slid, just managing to make her way over to the scene.

Her brain screeched for her to immediately call out her attack. After repeating the plain name hundreds and hundreds of time now, the name could easily roll off her tongue. Yet she quickly remembered that these guys were out of her league. Sinon was just a clutzy, regular senshi. These people had experience. These people had power.

These people did not hesitate to kill.

Was that the loud beating of her heart crashing in her ears? She couldn’t hear the wind howling or their gleeful voices or the scramble for the crystal. But she could hear Castor’s pained scream, and it drove her absolutely insane. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop screaming!

“S-Sinon White Lies!” she called out in a strained voice, the shout ending in a fearful crack. At least she wasn't the only one coming to Castor's aid, she sadly thought as she heard someone else shout.

Alexis still had dogby, however she noticed the chibi senshi and the terror going on just in the girl's sights. Alexis gave a frown, that child could be young enough to be in one of her classes!

Making sure Dogby was secure on her shoulder Alexis moved, there were things that kids shouldn't see, and she didn't know what was going on but this was one of them. However, the child had seen enough to have nightmares already, Alexis grabbed the crying Child and dragged her away from the scene. out of eye site and earshot but far enough Tony could find them.

Hugbell was shaken, visably from the cold and the terror she was watching, screaming at the big bad negas to let him go. She couldn't do anything, she was helpless, even Barnaby couldn't help this. They were hurting him--- suddenly an older woman ripped her away form it.

Hugbell had turned to cry into the woman's coat, trying to get the imagery out of her head, she hoped Castor would be alright. Everyone else would save him, right? All the chibi senshi could do was cry.

-------

Azzo could hear the screaming, his head snapped up from the lost crystal. He saw Castor about to have his starseed ripped out and at least one Negaverser he knew. That Negaverser, Azzo happened to have a bone to pick with.

The boy's honey brown eyes Narrowed dangerously, he was a civilian he couldn't do much. He watched as other senshi joined to help. Azzo's face twitched, as he walked, then paused. There was a twitching, he couldn't do anything...

He looked around for Polaris, and other senshi he knew. There were two options, Azzo could do, he didn't like one, the other Polaris and none of the other senshi would like. He stood there frozen debating on which the greater risk was. The less Negas on Castor, the more the senshi had a chance to save him. The boy was shivering from the cold and the fact that he was remembering what Wolframite tried to do. There was no Parallel Queen to save Azzo this time if he did something stupid.... Perseus however, had beat him too it...

There were eyes upon them, and Tanzanite's reverie was interrupted by the sudden attention of the senshi. Grey eyes narrowed, and held on Pomona for a brief moment. She gave Castor's starseed one last, hard squeeze, until she was so very certain that it would shatter beneath her grasp. She aimed to kill him then and there, but Merope's attack was heading towards the bluenette standing at her side, and protecting a General of the Negaverse – protecting Linarite – eclipsed even Castor's impending demise. She was forced to relinquish her grip on Castor's starseed in order to move in front of the General, the youma arm exposed to the full force of the senshi's attack. It seemed to have quite the effect, ripping away scales and spines and leaving a long stretch of sickly gray muscle exposed. The arm, it seemed, had finally overexerted itself. The thing yowled in pain, a noise echoed by Tanzanite's own agitated grunt.

“Warn them, Castor,” she hissed to the suffering senshi at her feet, even as she wrenched herself away entirely from him, “Because I am done killing your kind.”

“Let this serve as a warning,” she said aloud, loud enough for her voice to carry to the senshi around them. There was a shakiness in her first words, but Tanzanite poured all of her focus and energy into keeping her voice steady. She only needed a few more moments. Only a few more minutes of strength. Please, benevolent Queen, grant her just those few moments. The Negaverser called on the deepest scraps of power granted to her by the Dark Kingdom she served, and issued her warning in a tone as cold as Kaguya's shattered corpse.

“We will not tolerate interference any longer. If you choose to fight us, to defy our Queen, not even death will be there to comfort you. Everything you hate in us,” she tried to mask a wince as her human hand took hold of Wolframite's, the youma gently taking Linarite's delicate hand in it's own. The arm actually whined, and it seemed to tuck itself close to Linarite's side for comfort. “All of that darkness. All of that pain. We will spread it like a plague. We have Vivianite. Hel. Spinel. Tisipone. Nova.” She listed the corrupted senshi one after the other, people they had known. People they had once fought beside. “We have turned your comrades against you and I promise you...”

They were coming now, one after another, too many for the three of them to fight off. Another senshi voiced an attack, and Tanzanite's body tensed as invisible threads bound her. She focused on Merope, the water in her hair already hardening into frozen strands, and smiled.

“We will turn your hearts to darkness, and we will watch as you kill everyone you love.”

Perseus was barreling towards them, and there was not enough time. They needed an escape, and Tanzanite pushed her power to it's very limit as she called upon her unused teleportation. The youma at her side shook with the effort, scales falling away, spines twisting in pain, as it drained it's power into her to allow them an escape. With that, they were gone, teleported away for the crowd of senshi that they were far too exhausted to fend off.

In the safety of Audrey's apartment, away from the prying eyes of senshi and Negaverses alike, the Captain gave in to exhaustion, and Tanzanite's battered body finally collapsed.