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No... NO NO NO NO NO NO.

The tiny phoenix screamed a choked cry as the great youma finally gave out her last breath. Her throat closed upon itself, and a tear rolled out of her glowing eyes.

Then she saw them... The crystals. She charged - no, she had to take them ! Protect them ! It was the last thing that remained of her !

They had to protect that...

Asclepius bent over the unknown fallen ally in the brown ruffled skirts as more things crashed down around them, attempting to protect her, but as the noise faded, she realized that it was over. Or at least the great Youma had been killed.

Something else other than battle cried out in her mind, now, however. There was something there, and it was essential that she reach it. But at the same time, she had to make sure the girl unconscious beside her would be alright.

Tugging the bandages tight around Requiem's leg, Asclepius stood and started to move towards the sound of the crystal, but hesitated as she saw other senshi make a move for it. ... She hoped it would be safe in their hands. She was not ready to abandon Requiem.

Oh, hell. Scylla watched the Negaverser jump between the dragon and the rubble she'd flung, and knock the second piece away. Not once had she had good luck trying to hit that damn monster. She should have stuck to trying to...

An explosion distracted her from the posturing of Zanazzite, and Scylla turned to see the phoenix explode. And then she saw a glint-- two glints. And she sprinted away from the Negaverser, away from the broken antlers, flinging herself into the mass of people running for the exploded body of the youma.

Her run had everything to do with the crystal. Nothing to do with the crazy lady chasing her down, waving a broken pair of antlers.

They did it...th-they really did it! They killed her! They killed the youma! Gianfar watched in amazement as she exploded in the way youmas were meant to do, a huge stupid smile on his face. He was relieved; they'd done it, they'd saved the city. That Black Phoenix wouldn't be destroying it any longer. They were safe, the civilians, everyone was safe. He really didn't want to know how many causalities there most likely had been on all sides, nega, senshi and civilian alike, but he had a feeling finding out this information was going to be impossible to avoid. No doubt it would be in all the papers, all over the internet, all over the news on television. It would be everywhere. Destiny City Attacked By Dragon! Thing of myth? No longer!

He just prayed his friends were alright. He didn't know what he'd do if anyone he cared about was lost in all of this.

He sighed and fell to his knees, the adrenaline rush of the entire battle dissipating quicker than he would have liked. It'd be nice if it could at least last until he was safe and sound in his bed at home. Maybe it would be a good idea to power down and go to a hospital or something; surely it wouldn't be too difficult to get in there, and he wouldn't even have to make up a story. He was attacked. Who wasn't attacked tonight? His fingers raked through his hair and he groaned, feeling the pain from every kick, every hit, every tackle and cut. It hurt. It hurt so much. Suddenly he heard footsteps, people were crying out, people were yelling. What? What was going on now?! He looked up to watch through his hair as both senshi and nega alike ran toward the dead cocoon of what had once been a great general. Even if she was on the side of the negaverse, from what little Gianfar had seen..she was a great general. She had rallied her people well. He could respect that.

Nevertheless he stood, though slowly and swaying heavily, and ran as fast as his body would let him. Crystals. Crystals. They needed to protect them, to keep them out of negaverse hands.

It seemed like now was not the time for them to have a final battle. There were too many distractions, too many opponents. One day, they would have to meet on the battlefield with no one at their side. There would be no Tanzanite to back Alkaid up, and Nemesis would have no one to back her up likewise. It would just be them, and their fates would be decided. One day, but not this one. This day wasn't for them.

Alkaid was turning to chase after a crystal, and Nemesis was surging after the purple one herself. She was pushing through other senshi, her target in sight... but it was too little too late. Someone else had claimed the crystal for themselves, and she couldn't quite get a look at who it was in the midst of chaos. Later, she'd figure it out, but for now a battle was still going on.

"...We're wrong?" He said his voice cracking with disbelief. He coudln't even find it in him to try and gather the crystals. He couldn't even think it... it hurt too much, there was nothing... there was nothing anymore.

Everyone was gone, the world was reduced to ashes as surely as Tanz's yoma body had been...scattered to the winds.

"... We're wrong... but... their the ones who killed her... all of them."
He shuddered and yanked the fabric of his mask down, the pain in his face bared to the world.

"Don't..." he said suddenly "Don't you touch her... you gave that up."
He could never hate her... not Lina... but right now all he knew was that pain, betrayal over and over again till he was once again alone in the darkness.

Alone was the only safe place... no one could hurt you if you didn't care about anyone.

"Don't you touch her... I'm not the one... who doesn't understand."

Wolframite had been left alone with Bismuthite at some corner of the battlefield, in the quiet dark for some time. The shock had been too much and he had curled into himself. He had collapsed, and was out for most of the battle. That was, till the end. He had woken up, groggy and out of sorts, and before he could even focus, he felt it. Energy signatures bombarded him from every side, but it was the consuming feeling on one energy signature all together that pushed him to sit up. He had known Tanzanite’s energy because she was so comfortable in uniform. This however, was much larger than her signature, and he looked around with wide, frantic eyes. The form of a giant youma was hard to miss.

While he was unsure of the situation, the very fact that a giant youma was here with the signature of that very General he came to tend to, care about, and envy with the highest respect, sharpened his groggy mind to focus.

“Wha…What HAPPENED?!” He cried, looking up and seeing that Bismuthite was here. Had been here this whole time beside him. “Tanzanite! WHERE’S TANZANITE?!!” He cried, gripping the lieutenant’s uniform and crawling up to get to his feet. The creature had, almost impossibly by the amount of energy, size, and ferociousness, fallen with a thunderous boom, and Wolframite almost fell back. Gripping with broken fingers, he pushed himself to stand, looking away from Bismuthite to the fallen youma before he could even answer.

He took a step, than another, and nearly fell there, reaching out to the officer. “TAKE ME TO HER!” That was an ORDER!

"They're not right either. But we don't have to kill innocents to win. There's so much you don't know..." The tone was wooden, hollow, someone who was convicted in what they were saying but so emotionally drained that the feeling wasn't behind the words. They wouldn't stop themselves from coming and as Zink told her to stay away from the remains of one of the only people she'd ever allowed close to her everything snapped.

The knight rose fluidly to her feet in a movement that was more sudden than could have been manged in her previously powered form. One step, two, and crack! It was the second time that Lina had slapped him and why she always struck him passively instead of the punches she was capable of was a mystery.

"Don't you ever try to tell me what to do, Zinkenite. I'm not your general but I've seen more, done more, and lived more than you can possibly imagine. You weren't there when she died the first time, you didn't see her come back from the dead, and you weren't there to pick her shattered mind from the floor when she served that b***h you call a queen! She isn't here, is she? She could have saved them all and yet she sits on her throne and giggles like a schoolgirl at your misfortune!" Her voice rose into a crescendo of the righteous.

There was nothing in this world Lina Knight hated as much as she hated Queen Beryl. "She killed the only real leader you've ever had for loving a woman. You kill mothers, children, husbands. But it's not wrong is it? Why? Why do they deserve to die and you get to live? Who made you judge and jury, Zinkenite?" All of these questions and more Linarite had struggled with.

Now, she was paying for her sins.