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Being a senshi was many things, but none more than an extended study in fear. Irene had never been the type to cower in the corner, but most of the things she had faced in her life were things she could muster up strength and attack head-on. She'd faced down angry relatives, Greek school, dance mothers and lackluster grades. All the while, she had known that life had things that were far more frightening that she had been lucky not to encounter.

The things she encountered as Irene far outweighed anything she'd read about online. Her sense of self-preservation was getting a daily workout, and it was still woefully underdeveloped. All she could do was cower and watch as Needla came towards her. Irene shut her eyes and put her hands over her head, as if that would help.

Several seconds passed without further pain. Slowly Irene opened her eyes again, and she let out another shriek. "Victoria!" Her interaction with the latest addition to the team had been limited to ********* introduction, but that hadn't stopped him from coming to her aid. It was only right for her to return the favor. Getting to her feet again took several seconds, and even when she was upright she swayed, her left ankle not able to take her weight for longer than a couple of seconds at a time.

The smart move would have been to run, or at least retreat in some way. But retreat was not in Irene's vocabulary. Instead, she shuffled towards Needla, aiming her left elbow at the monster. It was a pitiful attempt at a charge, but she'd rather do that than be thought of as useless.

It was complete chaos. There was screaming and cussing filling the air. Various members of the team were bleeding quite a bit. Others were easily forming bruises from all of the abuse they had taken in such a short while. Pretty much everyone was feeling how miserable this situation really was. The youma minotaur easily seemed to break out of Iris' Rainbow Ribbon. All it had to do was buck its large head and it seemed to cut through the magic, completely unaffected. However, before the stubborn bull could focus in on finding another victim, something seemed to grab all of their attention (youma and senshi alike).

********* was not at 100% at the moment. She had mostly staggered her way away from the group, feeling a bit drained of energy due to that shot at the minotaur youma. And when she was about 30 feet away from the general group, she once more shot up from the ground until she was once more that cat-earred girl. The injury on her back was still there, back to the size it had been to start off with, but the bleeding had slowed down a bit. The Mauvian's cheeks were not as rosy as usual, probably having something to do with the combination of using up energy on a youma and a loss of blood.

Despite the faint woozy feeling which caused her body to sway slightly in her new spot, ********* called out in a seemingly playful manner "Why deal with the senshi when you have a feast right here?!"

The youma easily took the bait. The senshi they had been toying with were soon enough abandoned. Every senshi was probably grateful for the reprieve as they were released and the youma began to make their way towards the new source of energy further away.

Once the youma had started moving, ********* smiled. "Why did it have to be the baseball field?" It was a cleared out area, with a lack of trees. She could have bought herself some more time with trees getting in the way. However, making do with what she had, she began to run, her bare feet crunching against the partially frozen grass. It was now all a foot race.

The eternal senshi on the team heaved out a huge sigh as things seemed to calm down. Her eyes wandered through the group, trying to quickly assess the damage that had been done. Though Irene and Victoria both had blood stains on their uniforms (Irene along her arm and Victoria upon his white boot), the senshi on the team that seemed to get everything the worst was Eunomia. That wildcat youma had just been relentless, leaving the dark-haired girl with a blood stain that went from the injuries at her shoulder all the way down to her hip. The girl looked a bit pale from all of the blood loss.

Perhaps if this situation wasn't as serious, Iris might have noticed that the two children of the group had taken to copying her cursing style. Maybe she would have even tried to find other words to describe her emotions.

That wasn't happening now though. "SH*T!" Rather than linger any longer, the blonde turned to Hygiea. Her tone was not gentle, but instead rather demanding as she gave the youngest one orders. "Use your herbs on Eunomia. Use whatever amount you are able to on her... otherwise she's going to bleed out at this rate. Any help is better than nothing at this point..." Iris didn't know the child's limits with her powers, but that wasn't important at the moment. Any help was better than nothing.

After taking care of that, the blonde once more looked over the rest of the group. They all got messed up pretty bad, and if ********* had not intervened when she did, it was quite possible that some of them might have become youma food. Several pairs of eyes were looking at her, as if expecting her to somehow fix everything that had just happened. There were various members on the team that Sailor Iris had not exactly liked so much. Eunomia was always pissing her off, Egeria was annoying as sin, and Victoria just infuriated her with how green he truly was about everything.

Yet, despite this dislike on a personal level, there was an extreme amount of guilt that seemed to be weighing her down. They were only here because she, the team captain had called them here. It wasn't like she wanted the innocent spectators on the other side of the park at the concert to lose their energy or potentially their lives. However, it wasn't like she wanted her teammates to lose theirs in the place of the innocents. That was not how the senshi thing was supposed to work. Her team had bitten off more than they could chew, but more specifically (and accurately), the team captain had bitten off more than they could chew.

Eventually, her golden eyes drifted towards the field in the direction that ********* was luring the youma. "I f*cked up, guys..." she said in an exhausted tone, eyes still trying to locate the guardian. There was a lengthy pause, as if she was trying to find the words to say, but they just weren't coming to mind all that quickly. "I... wouldn't be surprised if you all hated me..." Iris was never all that good about filtering out thoughts and spoken words. Maybe she had meant to say those words, or maybe she hadn't. However, they were out in the air now for everyone to hear.

"...but I thought we really could take them on..." Even as an eternal senshi, she had hardly been able to take on these youma. At best, she had been able to momentarily assist her teammates, but otherwise, the youma had proven to be stronger and faster. She took in a deep breath, slowly, closing her eyes.

I only have one attack left, and after that I am a sitting duck. None of us will be able to take another round of beating.

"I've got one more attack in me... hopefully it will be enough..."

It won't be enough.

"...and I want everyone to gather at home base." There was a pause before she glanced to the fifteen year old girl of the group. "I need you to use your ability once everyone is gathered there..."

There was another pause in her voice, as if she was hesitating to say the final part of her thoughts. She turned away stubbornly to look out to the field again, her hand ruffling up to fluff her own hair in frustration at the situation.

"...and if sh*t gets too real... I want you guys to leave."

She didn't even have to look at the others to know they were probably glaring daggers at her. Hell, if she was in their position, she'd probably be glaring daggers at Iris too! "You can all be pissed off all you want, but as your captain... I am going to protect you all!" In as forceful a tone she could muster up, she then growled out "Now get your asses to home base before I kick them there myself!"

Once her teammates started moving, she also was moving. Rather than going to home base, she made her way to the pitcher's mound, where ********* had been standing earlier at the start of this mess. Once she was in place, she turned to the rest of her team with a big grin. It might be the last time she was going to see them, and she wasn't going to let the last thing they remember be a scowl upon her face.

"I know I suck as a captain... but I'm glad that I at least got to see ********* find all of you..."

With those words, she turned towards the outfield so none of her teammates could see her face anymore. Clapping her palms together, she closed her eyes and began to concentrate on her asteroid. All she needed to do was hear that familiar voice, like she was going to travel back to her old world, and then she'd be able to form her Rainbow Revenge attack perfectly. It was hard to clear her thoughts, with the sounds of the youma running wild, the bitter complaints behind her, the throbbing of her injuries along her side and back, and the sound of the song Silent Night being performed on the other side of the park. Even these sounds were distracting enough, but there were thoughts that got stirred up. Iris couldn't let the people at the concert become victims to the Negaverse. Iris also couldn't let her own team fall at the hands of these youma. Was it possible to save both the civilians and her fellow senshi? A logical person would have answered no.

Sailor Iris was not a logical person. Her desire to protect everyone in that park that evening from the threat of the youma caused her chest to feel warm at first, but then that heat grew to feeling like an inferno. It wasn't painful, but it was overwhelming. As her mind finally seemed to clear, she could feel this sensation starting to branch out until even the tips of her fingers and toes seemed to tingle. Even as the familiar musical laughter of her home world greeted her ears and wrapped about her mind, all the eternal senshi wanted was one thing.

I will protect everyone!

For a brief moment, while Iris' eyes were still closed, her fuku began to glow an intense white color. Then its form changed, flowing out until the very edges of the skirt were touching the ground, fading from a hot white to a pale yellow. Her long strands of hair quite suddenly seemed to grow until the sandy locks were reaching the pitcher's mound as well. Her senshi tiara faded, revealing a mark that seemed to be glowing as if it had been burned upon her forehead. It was her symbol, the rainbow arching over a star. These changes were not nearly as drastic as the final change. Rather suddenly, two large graceful wings seemed to shoot out from the captain's shoulder blades, sending a flurry of loose feathers to drift from the air down. The moment they had reached out as far back as they could, they started to tremble gently, both appendages being quite new.

Iris' eyes opened slowly, her golden gaze focused upon her closed hands in front of her. She was expecting to open her hands and then there would be a rainbow there, waiting for her to launch at her opponents. However, when she opened her hands, she didn't find such to greet her. Instead, she found a small gemstone that seemed to shimmer of many colors. It seemed to have its own gravity in a sense, for rather than remain laying upon the palms of her hands, it began to float up slightly.

The Iridian Crystal... her mind seemed to whisper to her.

The guardian had been running as best she could to try to keep the youma off her senshi. However, they had gotten wise and soon enough the silvery haired girl was surrounded. It was easier to hunt the prey by overwhelming it from all sides. Yet, as they began to make their steps closer, there was a strong surge of energy that seemed to almost pulsate from the other side of the field.

********* ears perked up, despite the fact they were lodged into the ear holes on her hat. "...what in the world...?" There were some things that even guardians did not know or recall right away. Whatever had happened on the other side of the field was a complete surprise to her as well.

Some of the youma seemed to lose interest in ********* right away. Sure, the Mauvian was full of energy, but now on the other side of the field was a lot of energy AND smaller energy signals. In some aspects these youma were smarter, but when it came to energy, several of them seemed to just look at the mere amount of energy like a scale. If one side had more, that one was obviously the best choice. Only two youma seemed to remain interested in the Mauvian. Needla and Cherie.

In as helpful a tone as she could muster from where she was at on the field, the guardian shouted out "WATCH OUT, YOUMA ARE COMING BACK!"

If it weren't for the situation they were in at the moment, the new princess might have spared a glance to her hip to locate a strange crystalline object now dangling there. It would have seemed familiar, since as an eternal senshi, she had remembered such an object from her distant past. It was her Ewer, one of the few items able to accompany her in the Sacred Lands of the asteroid, Iris. However, there were more important things to tend to.

Though her voice still seemed to hold a serious edge to it, there was something kinder to her tone as she quite quickly gave a new set of instructions. "...Change of plans... I need you all to trust me... and please move yourselves in front of me..." There was no slang and no cussing, and quite frankly, it almost seemed like it wasn't the Iris they knew speaking to them. For a moment, she closed her eyes, concentrating on the crystal at her hands.

You can do this... you can... everyone has to do something for the first time at least once... right?

With her eyes still pinched tightly shut, she then cried out as loud as her voice could possibly manage "IRIS CRYSTAL POWER!" The crystal at her fingertips began to glow intensely, the colors of the light shifting through the various colors. Approximately 5 feet behind her and extending to both sides of her by 25 feet, a strip of colored light seemed to form a line on the ground. Quite quickly, it shot up, seeming to sprout from the ground almost like some sort of bizarre rainbow-plant. Once the red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet lights began to seemingly grow from the ground, the princess' eyes opened. She could see the youma on the other side of the field rushing towards her.

Using all of her willpower, the princess remained in place, unable to move from her spot. Yet with all of her heart, she concentrated on the Rainbow which had only started to form, helping it to start off in the right direction. It was her goal to make the arch form over the baseball field, over her allies and her opponents alike. The strip of colored light easily lit up the evening sky, and from the concert, some children eventually noticed the unusual lights. The parents easily lay the blame upon special effects for the holiday concert.



(OOC NOTE: The effects of the Crystal attack are not evident yet. It will take one turn for the attack to fully form, and that is when the effects will become apparent. All senshi players, please post when you are able with your reactions heart )

The rolling trip was short, thankfully, Hygiea coming to a halt on her back and her white shirt covered in dirt and grass. Her arms were aching, the little senshi let out a small groan as pushed herself up, barely in time to hear instructions yelled her way. Eunomia. Heal Eunomia.

A little dazed and disgruntled, Hygiea turned herself about to try and locate the tall blue haired girl. Where she was instructed to go until Egeria's cries about ********* reached her ears. Something was wrong with *********? Her attention immediately shifted to locate the cat, panic began to rise when she spotted the silver haired girl trying to get the attention of the youma.

"No," she gasped and began to push herself up. She wasn't too badly hurt, just a bit winded.. she could make it. She could save *********. The youma near her were of no concern. Hygiea was to her feet finally when the light came into her field of vision, stealing her attention and focus as it shimmered almost like a rainbow.

The light was Iris. Wait. Sailor Hygiea stood their confused, just staring at her captain. She was wearing a pretty dress and had wings, well she always had wings but these seemed like real wings and not just buttwings. They reminded her kind of like Castor's wings but they were white and stuff and well. But still.

"Huh?" Really, even being instructed to move she couldn't find herself being able to. She just stood there, perplexed with her mouth agape.

(OOC Note: I am snagging this post to reserve for both Kailey and Desu, both who won't be able to post this moment in the RP. School and Computer fails are making it hard for them to post, so I am just reserving them posts so they can have their own reaction posts when they are able to write them later <3 )

Whether or not her teammates listened to her request was not her responsibility at this point. Any passing distractions had to be ignored as the new princess continued to focus everything on the small glowing crystal between her hands. Two hundred feet from the spot where the rainbow had sprouted, the large colored band of light finally touched the earth again.

The rainbow had easily passed over the head of the Mauvian and the two youma, Needla and Cherie. Where as Iris was putting her all into this and was unable to notice, ********* briefly felt the flicker of darkness that had come close by.

"Opps... sorry to disappoint, but I think I need to get out of your ways..." Quite quickly, the circus-styled Mauvian shrunk back down into the form of a simple cat.

The effects of the rainbow finally seemed to start affecting those who decided to stand underneath the space which the arch loomed over. The youma were the first to let everyone know what was happening to them as several of them began to screech in pain. It was like the light was burning them evenly like they were in an oven. Though the youma had all of their strengths and defenses, none of them were immune to this sort of magic. For the senshi and the single cat, who did not have the darkness affecting them like the youma did, they would feel something different. It actually felt somewhat refreshing, almost soothing like they were standing in the rain. It might not have been much, but as those soldiers stood under the rainbow, they could feel their wounds closing slightly. It was as if they were regenerating slightly while standing beneath the rainbow.

It might have seemed strange, but after all, rainbows were made of light and rain.

(OOC NOTE: All players, including youma players may post! To sum it up, if you are a youma player, you should be posting death posts for the youma you were playing. Thank you so much for helping out with this RP! If you are a senshi player, the effect is a subtle regen. Approximately 1% of health every 9 seconds, lasting at most 90 seconds/10% of the health. This is meant to help with exterior wounds, like cuts, but won't fix broken bones or super heavy injuries. It is meant to soothe, not to be the cure-all.)