(no subject)

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Who: Jasmine, Lily, Raye, Marina, Rakka, Winter, doppelgangers [potentially more later]
What: "Darkness Falls" - "Attack" on the Heart Tree
Where: las Vegas, location of the Heart Tree
When: March 27th

Jasmine's doppelganger had gathered together the people she needed to fight with her. With that, all that mattered was choosing a time, as she already knew the place. The evening of a Friday was the perfect time, in her mind. Plenty of people would be near this tourist spot, after all - more than enough to bear witness to her triumph over her other self.

Rakka, Raye, Marina, Winter, and Lily had accompanied her, and she suspected her enemies would arrive with similar numbers. She had no intention of harming a potential asset like the Heart Tree, but their other selves didn't know that, and she suspected they wouldn't be willing to risk the possibility the so-called doppelgangers might. And so, she'd sent Lily a rather cavalier photograph of herself standing in front of said tree to the other Lily's phone, along with the taunting message of "Look what I found".

Now all that was left was to lie in wait for them to arrive, and for her to spring their trap once they did. But in Jasmine's mind, she had already won. She was certain victory would be her's, and that in the end, only one Jasmine Tsukuyomi would survive the night. That woman Saretha... her words had only galvanized her. If she was meant to help save the world, it was only fitting that they put the best foot forward, right?

A weak, pathetic girl like the other Jasmine... she didn't even deserve to play a part in such a vaunted task.

Comments

Prior to the Battle

[jasminebloominginshadow]

[dragon_blossom]

The Marina that's already there is also already wearing her armor, her sword sheathed at her side, because holy hell does she want to be ready before anything goes down. Sure, there are still people here who could grind her into a fine paste, but at least it'll take longer like this, and she'll have a fighting chance against everyone who isn't a Raye.

It's tedious waiting, though, even for a short while, and, sighing, she pulls out a book and turns to lean against the nearest lean-on-able object.

Which happens to be the ancient magical tree of hope and joy and awesome powers. "I hope they... get here soon. I want this over with." Her voice is already shaking a little.

[guitar_case_vagabond]

"So, this is the tree, huh?" Raye's voice comes from the other side of the tree as she steps around it, hands in the pockets of her long coat. "It doesn't look like much."

She glances around at the other two who had arrived before her before turning to look up at the branches above her with a wicked smile. Taking one hand from her pocket, she reaches out and rests it against the tree. Her fingernails dig roughly into the bark.

"It doesn't look like much. Anybody could come along and chop it down."

[jasminebloominginshadow]

"Don't you even dare," Jasmine snapped. "We still need it... its only purpose is to serve as bait. Trust me, if this thing thinks more Precure are needed, I'd much rather have allies than go without."

She crossed her arms. "If you're so eager to see something burn, Raye, you'll have more than enough opportunity to do so."

[jasminebloominginshadow]

After a bit, when the conversation provided an opening, Jasmine slunk closer to Marina, a serious and disapproving look upon her face.

"Why are you so nervous?" she asked, keeping her voice low. "This is cause for excitement."

[dragon_blossom]

Marina looked up bashfully, for a moment, just a moment, before dropping her gaze again. "I-I know you'll win..." No, she doesn't. "But I'm... not... as much of a fighter."

She shook her head. "I'm not so confident about... myself.

[jasminebloominginshadow]

The hairs stood on the back of Jasmine's neck as she and her friends approached. She hadn't directly encountered her doppelganger yet, but after hearing what it tried to do to Marina, and the way Raye's had threatened Lily and Winter, she couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous. Even after what Saretha Kaiser had told everyone, she was still very nervous and distrustful of these... these people.

Of course, even after all that, her own experience with Dark Precure's memories made it impossible to think of them as anything but: as people. Just, very dangerous, untrustworthy people.

And yet, they needed to confront them. Jasmine knew how important the Heart Tree was, so they at least needed to answer the taunting message that her doppelganger had sent. Of course, Jasmine had no idea how much of this whole deal revolved around her... or how much it would change her tonight.

No idea indeed.

And yet, they stepped onto the area of land surrounding the tree the people had adopted a tourist attraction. Unable to say anything else, Jasmine greeted her best friends' opposites the only way she really knew how.

"Um. Hey," she said, raising her hand in a light wave.

[dragon_blossom]

"Um hey?" she turned to look at Jasmine. Marina was pretty sure that wasn't how you greeted a bunch of people who might just want you dead right here and now, who were threatening to wreck the tree of joy and hope or whatever precisely it was.

Somehow it melted just a little bit of her tension away. "You really have a way with words dear." Not much tension, but it gave her room to fall back on being snarky, and that was familiar and comfortable, much more so than... staring herself down. Staring Jasmine and Lily and Winter and Raye and Rakka and... yeah. That.

Her armor was already on, and she noticed her double in the same boat. "What do you all really want?"

[alilyinthemoonslight]

Well. This is disturbing as hell. Lily hasn't arrived transformed... just yet. Her items for it are at the ready, but at the very least she wants to try talking. She has to try talking.

Fighting here is pointless. There's no real reason for it, is there? She would think, hope that there might be some other option... If not for the presence of Raye's doppelganger, which of all the mirrors is who she focuses on immediately. They'd run to escape her, and now...

She tenses, casting a worried look at Winter. A worried look for Winter. Is she read for something like this, if it comes down to it? It's nearly been a couple months, but...

Hn.

She focuses herself back on the other doubles, finally speaking up. "Whatever it is, surely we can talk this out. There's no reason for us to fight, right?"

The Battle

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Dopple!Jasmine vs. Lily

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Needless to say, negotiations didn't prove fruitful. The inverse Jasmine was normally reserved and thoughtful, but just as the original had the potential to buckle down when it came to something hard, her doppelganger had the potential to snap when it seemed something she wanted was right in her grasp with the slightest provocation.

To put it simply, she snapped.

Her uniform formed around her in a flash of red from her brooch, and she surged across the distance between the two sides, intent on using the sudden advantage to stab at her so-called original with the blade of her Dark Tact.

[alilyinthemoonslight]

She'd never get that far. Another flash and a burst of speed, and suddenly Cure Moonlight is in the double of Jasmine's path. She's able to deftly dodge to one side, avoiding the stabbing Dark Tact, while throwing a punch towards her gut.

It should be much harder to attack something that looks like Jasmine than it is, but... No. This isn't Jasmine. Not truly. This person... She's evil. Violent.

She's no more than Dark Precure, in her eyes.

"Switch up dance partners!" she cries to the others with her. "Our own doubles will know exactly what we're going to do!"

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Jasmine let out a cry as Lily got in her way, being thrown back by the impact. She growls as her feet hit the ground, effectively skidding back and digging a trench across it with her heels.

"You have no right to get in my way!" she screamed. "I won't let you get in my way!"

She held out her hand, lobbing spheres of dark energy at Cure Moonlight. If she had to take out the mirror of her own sister to get to her original... well, Jasmine already saw them as "beneath" her and her ilk. She had no problem with this whatsoever!

Marina and Winter vs DoppelLily

[dragon_blossom]

The worse things got, the more obvious it was that they weren't going to be able to avoid a fight, the more read Marina got got to take action the moment anyone else did. Regardless of who started the fight, she meant to make sure they were going to finish it in their favor with every ounce of power she had.

Even if that meant risking going too far, now. Marina couldn't let them hurt Jasmine or anyone else here, after all - and so when Jasmine's other, meaner self snapped and launched her attack, she didn't even wait to see the result before raising her hand, gathering magical energy. Water coalesced around her, then spiraled, taking a more and more defined shape. "Water... Dragon!" A thrust of her hand, and the now serpentine torrent of water shot straight for Lily's doppelganger with bone crushing force.

If they were going to switch up who they were fighting, she may as well take someone who fought without much thought to it. "Over here dumbass!"

[peacefulwinter]

Winter - the real one - is pretty well certain that this won't end well. But that doesn't mean she can just let the gang of copycats roll over them. There's too much at stake. People will die if she doesn't step in. Her precious people... there's no way she'll let that happen.

Which means that, even if she's fighting something with Lily's face, she's not going to let them have their way. Love Heart Arrow already in her hands, Diamond slots a Loveads in, taking a deep breath as she runs a finger up it. "Precure..." Glaring at the false Moonlight, she raises it over her head. "Diamond Shower!" The ring of a tambourine echoes out over the city as a rush of snow blasts around the dragon and to flank the other Lily. "Marina, I've got your back! Let's take care of this!"

DoppelRaye vs Raye and WHOEVER WANTS A PIECE

[guitar_case_vagabond]

In just a flash, everything exploded into chaos. Doppelgangers and originals lunged at each other, leaving Raye standing in place as she watched everything happen all at once.

"Raye!" Her attention snaps back at her clone and her eyes widen as she watches the transformation happening. She watched threads and fibers lash out like striking snakes before snapping back down into her other's body. Teeth came crashing down, sending a spray of blood into the air.

"... Shit." She shot a glance toward where Rakka stood nearby. Whatever happened... she had to keep this fucking psycho away from her at all costs. "Rakka, stay back!"

And she's off, biting down and pulling the pin from her glove. Stars shine around her as Senketsu transforms and then she's off like a blur to meet the one coming back her way.

The two Rayes meet halfway across the battlefield and Scissor Blade meets Scissor Blade with a thunderous crash that makes the ground shake.

[charcoalfeather]

The ground shook underneath Rakka's feet as she stumbled away from the two Rayes. The double of Rakka, on the other hand, had already transformed into her Precure form. Like this, her appearance matched the other Rakka in every way. Except for her actions.

She quickly circled the two, looking hesitantly at the fight scene before making her move. She swung a leg out at the real Raye's side, taking the chance to hit her blind spot.

open

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Jasmine... had no idea what was going on, but somehow, she felt like she was the center of it. It all started when her own doppelganger sent this message, and then she flipped out and came gunning for her... only for Lily to get in the way.

Needless to say, Jasmine felt very confused and VERY self-conscious. As such, she was flying about the battlefield, looking for someone to pair up with, someone to fight with. If she was the reason why all this was happening, it would be a very poor idea for her to fight alone...

Rakka VS the world (open)

[charcoalfeather]

Negotiations broke down quicker then Rakka could anticipate, and soon everyone was charging into battle. Rakka refused to be pushed to the side now-- she was stronger then before, more skilled. And she would prove it. Scarred hands flipped the Heart Perfume open, and in a moment, Cure Feather dashed into the fray.

"The flower that dances on a gentle breeze, Cure Feather!"

The battlefield was a mess. With her enhanced speed, Rakka did her best to weave out of the way of the other combatants, and look for anyone that needed help. Or, someone she could fight. It was a little strange, battling people with her friend's faces...

[dragon_blossom]

Marina wasn't sure who she should be fighting. That other Lily, who was trying to interfere with Jasmine's mission? The other Jasmine to keep there from being a two-on-one fight in their favor? All she could do was keep her eyes open for a chance, she supposed; she wasn't too inclined towards head to head fighting but...

Ah. There was someone distracted. Unfortunately, she needed to call out her spells, but in the chaos of battle? "Icicle... Blades!" Maybe that other, seemingly much happier Rakka might not even notice Marina's voice until the rain of razor-sharp blades was already bearing down on her.

Aftermath

[jasminebloominginshadow]

1/2

[jasminebloominginshadow]

It had been the perfect plan. It was, after all, her own idea, right? How... how could something she'd conceived of been so flawed? How could it have resulted in this?

An explosion burst out around Jasmine's body, as her other self looked on. As the debris cleared, the doppelganger fell to the ground with an unceremonious thump, her body laying prone on the ground, parts of it literally dissolving into nothing. Parts of her body floated through the air, her dress and wing laying in tatters, as a horrible, traumatic history played replayed before everyone's very eyes.

A shattered, broken heart seed fell from her hand...

The original Jasmine brought her hands to her face, unable to look onward. And yet, that horrible memory played out in her head. Her duplicate grunted like a sick animal as she tried to pick herself up, clutching at her fading body.

A daughter ran to her father's side... before embracing him and sobbing, even as he lambasted his own weak heart.

"It's all... it's all your fault..." Jasmine growled. She had been purified, but she was still Jasmine Tsuyomi's opposite. Her hate... her contempt for her other self was undying. And now, it had grown to someone else.

"You all... you all failed me," she screamed, obviously addressing her companions. "You didn't... you let her hurt me... you let her ruin me! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! It can't... I didn't... it was foolproof!"

Tears began streaming down her cheeks. "You're all useless... worse than worthless...!" she shrieked, her gaze settling on Marina's doppelganger. "I thought... I thought you loved me... how could you let this happen?!"

Dark Precure rose in futility, screaming at Cure Moonlight to release Sabaaku...

She looked around for her Lily. "WHERE ARE YOU?! YOU FAILURE OF A SISTER! WHY COULDN'T YOU SAVE ME?!"

Her brooch shattered, its pieces rolling about...

Present mirrored history, as the doppelganger stumbled forward, the pieces of shattered crystal clattering to the ground. Her body, her lungs felt heavy. Her vision was fading. She couldn't see anything... she couldn't see the people she hated so...

Sabaaku released Yuri, and walked over to Dark Precure. He revealed that he created her from a part of Yuri. To hurt her. She was a creature of darkness. A creation of hate. A puppet with no heart.

No heart.

... The doppelganger's lips curled into one last, hateful smile.

"We were right all along... we are monsters," she said wistfully. "We were right... from the start..."

Dark Precure's body faded with a smile on its face...

... And so did Jasmine's doppelganger, whose form dissolved into a drifting pile of dark feathers that began to blow away with the wind. But before that, she left her original with one final taunt.

"Now... you're the one who has to live with it..."

2/2

[jasminebloominginshadow]

Jasmine had long since collapsed to her knees, unable to look at what was happening. She sobbed uncontrollably as the horrible memory burned in her mind. But it was more than a memory. She remembered. She remembered what it was like to die, to feel everything you were dissolving into nothing. Remembered what all consuming pain was like. What oblivion felt like.

In one final moment, Dark Precure had known what it was like to be loved. But that didn't change the fact that she was literally made of evil. Everything she'd said to Marina's doppelganger... everything she'd told herself over the past year... everything she'd done...

No heart.

She had been lying to herself...

No heart.

What was the point?! What kind of future did she have?! Was there any place for her?! Her power... it was something that should never have existed. Sabaaku, a man so much like her father, had said as much.

We are monsters.

We were right all along.

No heart.

NO HEART.

What was the point of anything?! What was the point of her?!

Jasmine's hands pulled away from her face, trembling along with her lip. Her eyes darted about nervously, looking for the others. But... she was simultaneously terrified of what they saw in her now. There was no saving her. What would happen when she died?! How could someone like her deserve to carry on?!

Her own sister's previous self had killed her!

Her own existence should have never been!

She was an echo... she was the living memory of a... of a...

Jasmine threw her head back and screamed. And with that, red energy literally exploded off her body, bursting out around her in dangerous, diabolic waves. Just like Dark Precure, her anguish beget destruction.

Subthread!

[guitar_case_vagabond]

... Somewhere far away. Raye shuffled away from where the fight had reached its end, her breath coming in harsh hisses as each step made her whole body burn. Everything fucking hurt. Christ, she'd known she could hit hard and everything but she hadn't realized just how hard that was until she'd been on the receiving end of a few whacks from her doppelganger. Hell, so did Jasmine and in retrospect, flying into a tornado of evil? Actually a stupid fucking idea.

Still... it had been worth it. Jasmine was okay. She'd done what she could and now... Lily and the others would take care of her. As for Raye... it wasn't as if she didn't want to be there, or that she felt she didn't belong there. She knew better by now, but her being there would only lead to questions about what had happened to her other. And Raye hadn't even decided what to tell them there. So much had happened to them already and anything Raye could think of would only add to the weight they're already carrying after this day. She'd already put enough burdens on their shoulders. Not this time.

She stops, leaning against a wall for a second before slumping against it and sliding down to sit and catch her breath. She closes her eyes, letting the pain of her injuries burn, using it to banish the sight of the life draining from her own face. Alive. Pain means alive, and she can take as much of that as she needs to for as long as she needs to. It's the other thing that she fears, the empty numbness.

Pain means alive.

[charcoalfeather]

Raye wouldn't be alone with her thoughts for too long. The moment between Jasmine and her sister had been very sweet, but Rakka had slowly come to the conclusion that perhaps it was a moment best shared between them. Therefore, she had trudged off in search of the someone that she cared for.

It wasn't very long before Rakka spotted her, slumped against a wall. After what Rakka had watched go down, she looked even worse up close. Rakka stopped as she got close, looking at Raye for a second before moving to her side and sliding down the wall to sit next to her. There was probably something that needed to be said here. But Rakka was tired, and so was Raye from the looks of her.