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Azzo's horror manifested quickly. The Negaverse almost materialized around them. He stared and let out a rather loud 'EPP' when he was grabbed trying to swing at whatever grabbed him before he realized it was the tree and was piled into a pile of senshi.

Azzo untangled himself after having been tangled up. He wasn't sure what to do, he made sure Polaris was okay before watching Saiph scramble over to the barrier. They couldn't get through....

Azzo's eyes widened noticing the Aliens outside. He was debating on what to do. "H-how long will it hold?" He asked watching the soldiers. Surely it couldn't hold that long could it? Not with the tree dead.. He looked at the tree crawling over placing a hand on it looking at it. It had fallen, a mighty oak.

He swallowed softly. He never really hugged a tree before. But he did, "Why..." He said to the dead tree. "I couldn't help..." He murmured before looking back wondering if Polaris got a hold of this Astra... Astra... who was Astra... The dumbest question he could muster at this point came, "Who's Astra?" He asked quietly at this point watching the Negaverse having this feeling, this was something he couldn't help with and there was no point in trying.

His body was shaking with an Adrenalin rush. He didn't want things to end this way. There had to be something... didn't there? The aliens couldn't just die out could they?

Eridanus snapped to attention as the world suddenly turned to chaos and a pile of wild limbs and snapping wood. He wished he hadn't felt the need to help deflect Aphrodite's attack, because it left him almost useless. He might as well have powered down, he'd be so little help if the barrier broke.

No. When the barrier broke.

"I don't know." He answered Azzo, as the others, who'd been further away from the tree, disentangled themselves. "But we'll do what we can."

Which might not be enough. Not with an small army outside. "Astrea. One of the guardians. But there's no way she can come here." he sounded uncertain, a little shaky, trying to imagine if he was going to see his family again, as he reached over to take Corvus's hand. "She needs to be safe to find the princess. She's not here to fight." Lecture, scold, awaken, chastise... any of these things, but she wasn't there to fight. They needed her and all the guardians to stay alive and recognize any other Senshi not yet awakened in Destiny City, especially with the potential that they might loose some of their number tonight.
"...When it comes down, we'll try and get you out of here. You can help by staying alive. If you send anyone, send authorities. They might scatter." Might. Then again, Charonite might just decide to kill everyone and take the city.

Civilians at least didn't belong in the fray. They'd have to get him out somehow. He just wished this could have gone differently, that the tree had spoken up sooner.

No amount of prayer that would save them now. No chanting, no crystal, no magical bonds of trust or sudden understanding of what it truly meant to be friends that could help Makaiju or it's children. They were at the mercy of the Dark Kingdom.

Pity, then, that the Dark Kingdom knew nothing of mercy.

It was not the confused, scrambling array of Lieutenants that most senshi were familiar with who fanned out around the base of the tree. It was not the Negaverse they knew, a bunch of teenagers with toy weapons under the orders of an exhausted Charonite lost for direction. It was the Dark Kingdom beneath Queen Beryl, beneath a General-King with renewed drive and purpose, ready to tear the tree apart as though it were only so much tissue paper.

Tanzanite cursed softly beneath her breath as it deprived them of the chance, sacrificing itself to protect the senshi who might have otherwise met a similar fate. She was staring at that pile, the claws of the monstrous arm flexing and relaxing as though it desired nothing more than to rip through the pile of bodies. Her eyes scanned them, a tangle of bright skirts and pretty face, and found the occasional familiarity. Only Saiph caught a prolonged stare, the faintest hint of a smile pulling at the corner of Tanzanite's mouth.

That one, she remembered.

That one, she wanted dead. The long protrusions at her shoulder flattened against her neck, and she took a step towards the barrier. Saiph was there, screaming at the top of her lungs, crying in a way that made Tanzanite happier than it should.

“Tanzanite,” Charonite snapped, halting her as effectively as if he'd pulled hard on the short leash he kept her on. The arm bristled, short spikes twisting up out of the dark hide, but her eyes followed the length of his pointed arm as it commanded her elsewhere, “We're not here to waste our ******** time, Captain. Go.”

Tanzanite, loyal attack dog that she was, hesitated only a moment. She gave Saiph one last glance, one more twisted smile, before turning her attention on the target of Charonite's command.

Ilie.

The alien girl was glassy-eyed, her gaze switching from the remnants of the tree to Charonite's outstretched hand. She could do nothing as Ishi was devoured, and nothing as Tanzanite rushed towards her with supernatural speed. It would only take a moment.

One agonizing, painful moment.

The claws of the monstrous hand wrapped around Ilie's head like a vice, palm pressed against the wide-eyed alien's face. Any screams would have been muffled as a hole opened in the palm of the clawed hand. The opening, lined with what must have been hundreds of small, sharp teeth, looked like nothing so much as a Sarlacc. It was a mouth of sorts, from which a thick black tongue forced it's way down Ilie's too small throat. The skin of her neck split down the front, and the tongue slipped out of the opening and coiled around the alien's neck. It tightened, the saliva eating away at the flesh and bone that kept Ilie's head attached to her body.

Ilie's body fell to the ground as what remained of her head was slowly devoured, a hundred tiny teeth chews apart her skull.

All the while, Tanzanite was staring, wide-eyed, at the entire spectacle. When it was all said and done, as she stepped back to avoid the slowly spreading pool of alien blood, she turned her gaze on Charonite, looking annoyed.

This was probably due to the fact that her hand was still chewing on Ilie's jaw.

“Are you ******** serious?”

Charonite shrugged, “I told her to give you a prosthetic.”

“It ate her.”

“s**t happens, Captain.

Everything happened so fast, to fast. From the time the Negaverse showed up (or what she assumed was the Negaverse) to the barrier surrounding those in the area it all seemed like a blur. And the only thing that stood out in her mind was the tree sacrificing itself to save them.

A pathetic wail of sorrow left her, the pink clad senshi watching in horror. The alien tree that didn't even known any of them, saved them and all they could do was watch. Her stomach rolled but she shoved it aside for now. Or tried to.

Then she was aware of more yelling, more wailing and screaming as one of the aliens had it's head devoured. She gagged around tears, a hand moving to cover her mouth. Then she collapsed to her knees to continue to watch uselessly the assault.

Powerless. Once again she was powerless to help anyone, even in this form... "Please, someone save them.. Someone save them!"

All Flora could grasp from what MuCephi said was that the tree; the tree with the energy was dying, which was kind of ironic, if you thought about it. She started forward after the Senshi of blood, but then drew back, remembering the Princess. It wasn’t as if she could do anything; could they even do anything with their powers? Senshi of Spring, she may be, but she was unable to bring it back to life. Could anyone even bring it back to life? Even with a Princess here; she chanced a glance back at Chronos, with the Opal Crystal gone... She did not say anything, however.

Chronos, on the other hand, was confused as to why the other senshi was attacking the black clad one, despite her harsh words. They were still on the same side, weren’t they? Why were they attacking one of their own, instead of explaining things?

“It’s not your place to judge.” She said quietly to Azzo, remembering him from Barren Pines. “You had better leave before...” And then she stopped, as Corvus spoke to her and regarded the raven haired senshi with a serious, but pained look. She could do nothing. It was funny to think that she and the Zodiacs had destroyed the barrier over Barren Pines, and that the title of Princess was stuck on her head so that every senshi here would expect something of her. She did not know what to say; anything she said that was the truth would disappoint them.

And now, she was faced with answering the Tree which was now speaking to her, and even as Flora moved closer for comfort, Chronos was trembling. The words, ‘I’m sorry’ would not come out, would probably never come out, because they were interrupted by a voice she had never wanted to hear again. She was staring; her gaze now fixated on the man with purple dreads even when the Tree lifted her up in air and dumped her on the ground. As the Tree died, Chronos clenched her fist, wondering how many, how many Charonite intended to kill. But she had always known, hadn’t she?

He was a monster.

Flora, on the other hand, looking at the Negaverse agents with a horrified wide-eyed look, was wishing that they could somehow contact the other Zodiacs. Or more senshi for backup. “Anyone have their cellphone?” She asked, as she struggled up to stand behind her Princess. There was a very odd look on Chronos’ face. It was a cross between crying, anger (yes, there was actually anger in Chronos’ expression there), and determination.

She would fight this time. He had nothing else to take from her. He had already taken so much before, and without the Opal Crystal, there was nothing to gain even if he killed her. Nothing. When her Crystal was taken, she had felt as if she had died once again.

“What’s your purpose for killing them, Charonite?” She spoke up, not meeting his eyes, but looking at his army instead. “You killed me once. Nothing came of it.” The only thing she could do now was to use her presence to show him he had failed. Even Wiseman had gotten to her Crystal before he had.

“Princess.” Flora whispered, looking nervous and distressed as she laid a hand on the smaller girl’s shoulder. When the barrier fell, all hell would break out. And she was certain that the General King would go straight for her Princess. “We need to get ready to fight.” She said to the Moon Senshi. Perhaps they did not have as strong an obligation to save her Princess as she did; she gave Corvus a small smile at her mention. The barrier would not last forever. They all knew that.

Chronos was talking, Lacrimosa was crying, others were shouting plans and yelling out in mourning of the fallen aliens, but Tanzanite heard not a bit of it. She was focused now, the arm at her side still writhing in it's digestive process. Her fist opened, and half of Ilie's jawbone clattered to the ground, picked clean. The mouth closed, and a moment later was only the solid, scaly palm it had been before. The world might as well have been a blur, a white noise soundtrack to the mission. Charonite's eyes flicked to one side, focused on Irre, and Tanzanite followed the unspoken command like a trained hound.

The Captain did not rush as she had towards Ilie, but took a slow, measured pace. Stiletto heels – nobody ever said the Negaverse had a practical sense of fashion – clicked as she walked. Irre didn't move, couldn't move from where she stood, eyes wide. Reflected in them were the bodies of her fallen siblings, pieces of Makaiju scattered across the ground, Ilie's pale white jaw resting on the ground. She could only stand there as Tanzanite paused, bent to pluck one of those snappedbranches in the bloody youma fist, and stopped a few paces away.

They regarded each other, Irre hopeless but proud, Tanzanite murderous yet placid, but for only a moment. Tanzanite did not resist as the monstrous arm moved seemingly of its own will. A faint scream, the terrible sound of twisting flesh, and the branch erupted from Irre's back, slick with blood. The grip tightened, wood splintering as Tanzanite twisted the branch hard. Irre's gasped, but blood choked off any words she might have said. She blinked once, slowly, as though trying to clear her vision.

As though all of time might be a dream. Or a nightmare. Something from which, surely, she must be able to wake before she died.

By the time Irre's body was lifted from the ground, it gave only a slight, posthumous jerk, and was forever still.

-If she thought she'd felt fear earlier.. it was nothing compared to the emotion that rippled through her now. The nervousness.. the confusion.. it was all exponentually greater now, washing over her with a hopelessness as dark as the night.

She'd shrieked when she'd been unceremoniously yanked up from the ground, the protective act leaving behind faint white scratches around her waist. Her phone had slipped from her fingers in the sudden action, quickly drawing back into nothingness just as Aphrodite had done not long before.

She'd gazed confused and ever grateful as the tree made it's proclaimation, giving it's last bits of energy to entwine them safely away from the onslaught. Any feelings of safety or pleasure were quickly erradicated as a blood bath ensued.

It was carnage.. pure and unadulterated carnage. There was blood... there were bones.. slivers of flesh flayed in a scene the girl was most definately not ready for. There was a poor little girl begging for a her life.. pleading to be let in and saved. Her eyes were transfixed in horror as they fell one by one. And there was nothing they could do.. nothing at all.

Others tried to push against the barrier, she saw another try to attack their wall of safety and captivity. Words were flying, screams of anguish echoing, it was all being drowned out for the most part by the loud pounding of her own heart in her ears, her lungs beginning to burn from holding her breath in so long.

The tree was dead.. the alien children were as good as dead.. who knew if the monsters on the other side would find a way in to them. Hopeless.. despair...

Cellphone... Just as the idea had hit her before she was reminded again as the word was one of the few that she absorbed. The small phone flickered out of nothingness into her hands once more and she began to press buttons frantically, no time to worry about her technological eneptitudes. It began to ring and she began to talk, words spilling frantically in hopes that someone would hear them. Anyone. The words were disjointed, touched quite obviously by tears.- "Astraea. Anybody. Help. Please. Please we need help. The park... the park. They're dying. They're all dying."