1214/Rainbow Crystals 4: The Good, The Bakene, and the Violet Crystal

Rainbow Crystals 4: The Good, The Bakene, and the Violet Crystal
Date of Scene:	29 February 2024
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Luna's rough day takes a worse turn when dogs start chasing her! The Bakeneko saves her - and promptly eats the Violet Crystal. Yikes! It's up to Luna, Magical Rocket Girl Red, Tuxedo Kamen, Hero Karin, and Hero Fu to chase her down, while Hinote and Tracy try to crack this case! At the end, Himeko shows up to save the day... but she doesn't look too good...
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Pyrite, Karin Miyoshi, Fu Inubouzaki, Mamoru Chiba, Hinote Kagari, Amanda Faust

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's late afternoon in Mitakihara, and Luna is forlorn, walking alone to clear her head. Ami had had a breakout of hives just the day before, and the most likely culprit was Luna herself, given that fur and dander were extremely common allergens.

True, Ami had never broken out in hives before while spending time with Luna, but she hadn't been willing to declare that the culprit was anything else, and it was also... well, it was also fairly common for humans to develop new allergies, over time. Or stronger ones! Ami could have been suffering in silence all this time, slowly growing worse, until finally her immune system could hide the abuse no longer.

And thus, Luna was sulking. Radiant Heart Academy's position at the conjunction of four wards meant that it was easy for to get around, even - perhaps especially - for someone small, four-legged, and willing to amble about.

If anything happened, she had her communicator. Thus far, nothing had happened. She was merely walking through the alleys, largely unnoticed by the crowds of people - black fur was very good for blending in.

Luna didn't notice the dogs at the other end of the alley. The dogs were very much beginning to notice Luna.

Pyrite has posed:
    "Fwuffy belly, fwuffy belly!" said the ghost girl as she rubbed her face against the Bakeneko's admittedly very soft and very fluffy belly. She puts a paw on Himeko's head but no claws. She knows to be gentle with children. Also she doesn't mind belly touches all that much as long as people are gentle with her. Then the ghost sits up as the other girl who looks like her enters the room. They discuss something that the bakeneko is largely ambivalent about and thus not paying attention.
    After the two leave, being advised to behave herself, the Bakeneko lies there for a moment on the bed. Then she does some quick self-care in the form of licking her fur. When she gets tired of that, she decides to leave out the open window to see what's up around town.
    How this leads her all the way to Mitakihara, the world may never know. Unless they put a camera on her, like some people do for their cats, to see all the things felines get up to, but the Bakeneko would be very displeased with such a contraption. Instead, she semi-fast walks, that kind of purposeful 'I'm a cat with a destination' walk they use that's not quite running.
    There's something on the air that is tickling her whiskers...
    For a moment, her fur kind of 'ripples' a little bit in a cat's equivalent of a shiver, before she sneezes delicately. A pause to rub at her nose, then hop-hop-hop. Top of a fence, up onto some hard box-thing, and then from there, to the ground on the other side of the fence. She sniffs around. What is that scent anyway? Is it the smell of home? No. Is it other youkai? No. And it's not anyone she immediately recognizes either, though there's yet another scent she has picked up in previous interactions with humans and ghosts and puppets but never met face to face. Hm.
    Hmmmm.
    She stops to scratch at her right ear with rapid kick-scritches of her hindleg, before settling to licking her flank while her ear twitches a bit until it settles.
    Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
    Oh, is that the smell of dog?
    Well, it has been half an hour since she ate last. She could go for a snack.
    The bakeneko gets up and starts sauntering in the general direction of the barkers.

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    "I don't see why I should be 'patrolling' with you, anyway! It's not like I need your help! I'm a professional. If there's something causing trouble, I'll deal with it, okay?" Karin insists as she stalks down the sidewalk. Looking for more of these 'Eclipse Zones' or the devices that generate them. If they can catch them out early, then they can stop more from being set up, right? Of course, Karin is still mostly worried about Vertex attacks, but she has to admit, Tokyo is a lot more troubled than Taisha informed her. She can't focus on just one threat and leave the city vulnerable to dozens of others.

    Which is all the more reason she should be doing this alone! Huff!

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Like an adult humoring a child, Fu just says, "Hai, hai~. You'll hit them with your fists, right?" The blonde is teasing Karin, but she's also looking around as they pass through an area with a convenience store. "Want to get something to drink?" she asks, pointing over at the 7-11, while looking back at Karin. "My treat!" She is very much not taking Karin's griping seriously at all, but she's still taking the patrolling seriously (kind of). Her phone will let her know if there's something weird going on again, right? So it's fine.

    Even though there was no alert for the Eclipse Zones. Hm.

    Fu pulls out her phone and checks the screen, just in case.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Unlike Luna, Mamoru is not disconsolate -- he's multitasking. Walking, texting, and chewing all at the same time! Who is he texting with? Kazuo! What is he chewing? Anpan! (He's texting with one hand.) Where is he going? To do something better than hang out in front of a 7-11, that's for sure. He just came from the 7-11. (It's where he got the anpan.)

Little does he know how close Luna is -- just a street and an alleyway over! He stops right next to a streetlight, out of the way of foot traffic, without looking up; he sticks the sweetbread in his mouth, fishing for exactly the right gif to respond with.

Then he frowns and pauses, looking up with anpan hanging out of his mouth and brow furrowed, and he ducks into his own alley while stuffing his phone in his pocket. He takes it out again to quickly text 'something feels like it's going on, probably ghost nonsense, ttyl' and jams it back in, then shoves the rest of the anpan in his mouth and goes behind a dumpster to say "Earth Prism Power, Make Up!" but...

...his mouth is full of anpan; it comes out like 'Mph Ihm Phwn, Meh Ph!' Mamoru sighs through his nose and chews really, really fast.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari was walking home from school today backpack slung over his bag. From within tiny eyes peeked out of a flap as narration played from it's mouth. "My partner had a busy day. He trudged home in the dreary, rainy day, back to the office to work on his next case." he said.

"Tracy it is not raining. At least you didn't say it was night time. Again." he says. "And we're just going home to my room to do homework." he says.

He continues on, probably past as Tracy peeked out more properly. Maybe he feels something.

"Kid, stop a moment." says Tracy, the tiny detective chara. Hinote does and 'ehs'?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The dogs are street dogs - three of them, in fact, and while they were relatively good with people (a certain wolf-like girl came about often to feed and help the strays), they were not good with cats. Cats were like snacks, to dogs, particularly stray ones gone feral.

And Luna has wandered right into their territory. The first one, a grimy-looking mutt with a good amount of Shiba Inu, is the leader, and growls, ears back, eyes hungry. The followers, a pair of dogs that could only be described as mutts, growl in succession.

Luna notices that, looking over her shoulder with wide eyes. Well. That's not good!

She bolts, and the chase is on, three dogs growling and barking up a storm, chasing a single cat fleeing as quickly as she can. There aren't any fences she can climb, though leaping up to dumpsters and running across parked cars is buying her distance, at least.

"Oh, I don't need this today you stupid dogs!"

The dogs have never heard a cat speak human speech. They don't seem to care for it, if the way the leader lunges forward, teeth snapping just centimeters away from Luna's tail, means anything.

She yelps,the terrified cry of a girl in need of help echoing down the back streets. She can get away! She's sure she can get away! But that doesn't mean this isn't scary!

Pyrite has posed:
    Barking already? She hasn't even shown herself! The sound is moving further away, so the calico cat waddles a bit more quickly, and then starts walking straight up the outer wall of a building until she is up high enough to wall-jump to another building across, and then from there to a rooftop. Sniff sniff. Hm. Yes, more of that scent she has picked up... And fear. She can smell fear. Or rather, the chemicals associated with it, but this is a cat, not a biochemist, dont' ask her how it works.
    Jump-jump-jump.
    Much longer leaps now as she moves from roof to roof, and then there it is. Dogs chasing a black cat, running towards the alleyways.
    Bakeneko waits. Gauges, wiggles her hind quarters as her tail swishes back and forth.
    Then some fish bones pierce the pavement right in front of the canines to hopefully startle them into stopping. Yes, she threw them with her mouth. She picked them up during her jumping. It's magic, stop asking questions!
    Then she jumps down from the roof of a three-story building, to land on the lead dog's head, and shut its trap! Non-lethal damage because she still weighs as much as a cat, but it's not likely to be pleasant on the ol' noggin'! Without waiting for the other two to react, she is immediately a hissing, bristling calico torpedo as she charges the other canines. You ever see videos of a cat chasing a bear up a tree? Yeah. Sometimes an animal just knows it doesn't want to mess with that.
    She'll come back to check on the black cat when those mangy mutts understand who is in charge on these streets!
    If it's quick, then she circles back around to see if the lead dog is still conscious or if she can kick dirt in its face and move towards the frightened fellow feline, to mrrrt at her. She thought she heard human speech. Is this a fellow bakeneko? Perhaps an elder?
    "MrrrOW!" she calls out, then stops. She tilts her head. She sits. In a high-pitched, child-like voice, the Bakeneko says, "H'lo!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The past few days have been hectic. Amy thought her own life experience and way too many stories prepared her for helping others, but Natsu(mi) doesn't seem to be going through quite the same thing she did.

    She kind of welcomes the routine of going on patrol for an evening, and hey, isn't it nice to do something with the Hero Club?

    Karin is worryingly insistant about doing things alone. "What if you run into a Witch? They don't collect your energy and go home, they just... Never Enter A Witch's Labyrinth Alone, okay? ...Maybe that should be a rule of Hero Club too..."

    There's the cry of someone in need. The heck? Did a youma catch someone alone or is a mugger about to have a very bad day? Either way...

    She glances at the other magical girls, "You heard that too, right?" And she leaps from rooftop to rooftop that way, looking down into the alley and seeing dogs menacing a poor cat. "Hey!"

    She leaps down beside Luna to shoo the dogs away, and... there's already a cat there. Hopefully they and the dogs will scatter in opposite directions now, she needs to go find the source of that scream!

> H'lo!

    Amy blinks. She looks at the calico cat. "Did... you just talk? Did you say hello...?"

    She's seen videos of cats meowing in a way that sounds like 'he-llo?' but with all the magic stuff around, she second-guesses dismissing it as something normal...

    Still, it'll probably just make a normal cat noise or run off, and she'll be on her way.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Earth Prism Power, Make Up!" Mamoru finally gets out, there in his alley, one hand holding his pocket watch high in the air. Then he hears the barking -- and then he hears Luna! Even if that weren't her words, he'd recognise that yelp from her tail getting partially stepped on anywhere. There's no way he can find her if she's running except by listening unless he's got the aerial advantage, which is what he's going for anyway.

One abbreviated sparkling light show later, and Tuxedo Kamen jumps nearly straight up onto the roof of the small shop he transformed next to and starts running in the direction of the barking dogs, rooftop to rooftop, cape billowing out behind him. No thoughts of ghost nonsense anymore, only catte friend in trouble!

--and then ghost nonsense: the bakeneko is running ahead of him all of a sudden, which means he's chasing a cat to find a cat? This, he decides, works just fine. Unfortunately there's no fresh salmon in his hat, only salmon paste in a tube, but it'll be great for later. Maybe Luna will want some too. "Luna! Bakeneko!" he calls, pouring on the speed and then actually, finally, seeing some of this and almost falling off the roof into the alley that the bakeneko jumped into--

--and that's when he registers that there were, in fact, other people up here??

Tuxedo Mask rolls 1d10 to understand the situation: 3.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari hears a yell and he immediately takes off running towards it with Tracy in his backpack. "I heard a yell pierce the dark! Me and my partner ran towards it, aplomb with worry!" Tracy narrated. He'll slide stop at the entrance to the alley and walk in, expecting to find some punks terrorizing some girl with a yell like that.

Instead there are cats, and dogs. And one of the cats just said hello! He rubs the back of his head before trying to understand the situation and he just yells "Go on, git!" at the dogs, that seem to be harassing cats.

It's really all he can do.

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    "No, I'll hit them with my swords!" Karin yells back at Fu, fists clenched at her sides, and twintails standing out like actual tails. Angry O_O She folds her arms and looks away from Fu, then, reluctantly, quietly, says, "...I'd like a juice, please." Patrolling is thirsty work. "I've heard a bit about those so far... Yuna went into one with others. They sound like bad news. Maybe not as bad as a Vertex, but still plenty capable of hurting or killing people."

    Since she's looking away, she sees something mottled land on a few dogs who were chasing a cat. Karin is alarmed, and already transforming with her phone in her hand. A burst of red energy that turns into dissolving red petals, and she is using superhuman speed to blur towards the alleyway, thinking she might have just watched a cat and/or dog get seriously injured!

    But then...

    "Can cats be youma too?" she asks, with suspicion. That was a VERY well-timed take-down from a rooftop. AND DID SOME GUY JUST JUMP DOWN FROM THE ROOF TOO!?! I think some guy just threw a cat off a roof and then jumped!" she yells in alarm, hoping she can get to that man in formal wear before he hits the groun--

    Oh, he's okay and talking to the cats. Of course.

    "Wuh... Do you know these cats!?" she demands, pointing one of her katana in their general direction, then realizing that's kind of rude, and putting it away.

    There's also some guy with a... What is that? What even is that!? A finger puppet? Karin is very much starting to shut down as she looks back and forth between her group and the strangers and also the cats.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    "If it's dangerous, it should be a rule for anyone who might wind up encountering them," Fu agrees. Before she can poke fun at Karin any more or get her that juice, chaos erupts. It's a matter of seconds before Fu is also just a blur of motion, more to back up the other girls than because she knows what's happening. If somebody jumped, it's probably too late to--Oh, he's okay. And the other one. They're fine. Everyone's fine here. How are you?

    "Eeehhh... Are we interrupting something?" she asks awkwardly. =_=

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
One moment, Luna is in danger of becoming a tail-less cat.

In the next, she's rather thoroughly rescued, the dogs growling about the other cat trouncing them, the leader baring teeth but not quite running away... but also not willing to chase further, not with all three dogs already bruised without even a chance to fight back.

Something about that cat...

Luna is Puzzled. With a capital P. "Hello," she says, to the other cat. Something about that cat smells not quite right.

And then there's Mamoru, and then a strange boy, and then Usagi's friend Amy, and then other magical girls, none of them Senshi.

She's never spoken up in front of random strangers without Usagi about, but these are magical warriors. Surely they've seen a talking animal before. And besides - in the absence of Usagi, Ami, or Makoto, Mamoru is the next best thing, and Luna steps back before racing forward and making quite the impressive leap up to dangle from Mamoru's shoulder, the henshin tuxedo resisting damage as she clamors to get into the proper position.

"I'm quite well, Tuxedo Kamen. The Bakeneko was very gracious in assisting me." Luna leans down, red eyes taking in the full length of the bakeneko. "Thank you. Your help is much appreciated, friend."

She hates to leave the poor thing on the ground, but Luna does like tall things, and Mamoru is the tallest one here. She does not like being this close to the dogs, even if they are backing... away...?

Karin and Fu jumping down are the last straw - the batter and nervous trio of dogs are running off, whimpering in fright, the leader of them running off first, barking to the others. His head hurts! And then all these humans showed up!

As they turn tail and run, one kicks over a loose stone, sending an object of deep purple color rolling across the ground. Light shines off the facets of the Violet Rainbow Crystal as it stops just inches away from the Bakeneko.

Pyrite has posed:
    Hm? Not a bakeneko? But definitely a talking cat. It seems like there's a lot more effort involvd for Bakeneko to speak than for Luna. But considering that, by youkai standards, she is still young, perhaps around 60 or so, it makes sense in a way. She gives a look over her shoulder at the dogs, the additional humans, the little Chara thing that she is definitely going to be stalking later to pounce on and play with... She is trying very hard to appear uninterested in one of her favorite humans being nearby while she was out romping around. But eventually, she looks back up to Tuxedo Kamen, with Luna perched on a shoulder, and says, "Yee-ah." in response to the thanks. Still a work in progress, human speech.
    Then the youkai is truly distracted as something comes rattling and rolling over to her. Hm? Something shiny? And roughly large enough to be a cat toy? She'd be tempted to bat it around regardless, but there's that scent she picked up before. It's the same one the little ghost girl had one day after being out. She'll be pleased if her favorite bakeneko brings her one of these things, right? So, without thinking too terribly much about it, she reaches her head down, and picks up the Violet Rainbow Crystal in her mouth.
    Yep.
    Simple as that.
    Energy of the Earth that is Wrong starts to erupt immediately, surging through the youkai, turning what is already a supernatural entity into even greater one. The amount of twisted power in this one does not even compare to the ones before. Though the bakeneko's eyes are wide as bolts of violet energy coarse through her fur, she does not let the crystal go. In fact, she...
    She swallows it.
    She starts to grow bigger so she doesn't choke. Then she grows bigger still as the energy welling up from within makes her choke anyway. Hacking and coughing, the youkai grows and grows. Not quite the SUV-sizes she has reached before, but this time she's also standing on her hindlegs, and her body is stretching and filling out, gaining a humanoid shape.
    And finally, as a column of violet light finishes firing up into the air, there is a youkai-youma hybrid.
    She is visibly rippling with muscle, and pulsing with magical energy.
    As her senses return to her, she looks around the area, at the human girls, at the boy with his morsel, and then to Mamoru and Luna, whom she is finally eye-level with. This is a monster-cat taller than Sailor Jupiter.
    She stares at Tuxedo Kamen and Luna. Sniffs the air.
    And just kind of waits.
    She is now Bakene, one of the Seven Great Youma. And she does not appear all that eager to start a fight at the moment.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's true, Mamoru is very tall, but he's also fairly easy to balance on and won't flinch away from claws like this. "Hi," Tuxedo Kamen says to Amy, and Karin, and Hinote, and Fu, and then he answers Karin, "Yes." A second later he realizes that's probably not enough, and he adds introductions. "This is Luna, she's Sailor Moon's partner, and this is my sister's friend, the bakeneko whose name I don't know. As Luna said, I'm Tuxedo Kamen. And oh no-- don't touch it, anyone, it's--"

With a cat on his shoulder Mamoru flips a hand over and produces a top hat like he's pulling a rabbit out of nowhere, then starts digging around in it hastily. "I'm sure I've got tongs in here somewhere, maybe they'll help, it'll turn you into a youma if you touch it, it's not--"

Digging around up to your elbow in a magic top hat while there's a talking cat on your shoulder is certainly a Situation. Tongs? He thinks he may have tongs in his hat. Tongs in his hat.

And. The bakeneko. The bakeneko has cat priorities and Mamoru makes a face, and straightens up. "That..." he says with a tiny sigh, "is going to be very messy to get back."

Reaching into his hat again, he pulls out a tube of Koji's salmon paste, designed for a target demographic of Cat, and he unscrews the lid, and he literally just offers it to Bakene. "This?" he asks hopefully.

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Hello,

    "BWAAH?!" Amy's surprised exclamation is almost a scream as she reflexively moves away from the person she didn't see right beside her -- no, the CAT?! THE OTHER CAT TALKS TOO?!

    Do... do all cats talk and I just couldn't hear until I was magic?!

    And as it leaps up onto Mamoru's shoulder, Amy notices the marking she saw when they were making chocolate. She points. "Are... are you Usagi's cat?! You can talk?!"

    And then the other cat is.... coursing with violet energy and growing?! "Oh no! Kitty!"

    Wait, it... it turned human? Or at least large-humanoid. "Uhh." Amy blinks. "You can transform? Hello, I'm A--I'm Magical Rocket Girl Red, pleased to make your acquaintance." She bows.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari whews and is about to leave, giving a wave to everyone else and he turns when Tracy, solemly says. "Wait kid I feel something."

"A dark feeling hung in the air, the night grew restless..." as Tracy speaks.

Hinote turns around and gapes a moment up at the youma as Tracy says. "...That's how I knew. There was a youma afoot." he says as he looks up to Hinote, the tiny chara says. "Come on, kid!" he says.

"R...right." he thinks as he works up the gumption to ask. "Hey, what's going on now!?" he sputters out.

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    Oh, no. Not another one of those rainbow thingies. Karin dives for it, a second too late, after realizing what it was she was looking at. That realization didn't come until it was already in the cat's mouth, and energy started going crazy in the area. Backing up and shielding her eyes, Karin throws out one arm to try to keep Fu and Amy behind her, and shield them against any stray bolts. "Stay back! That cat is about to turn into some kind of weird monster!" she calls out.

    And it does! And... People who know more about how to deal with this are handling it! So... She... Just kinda'. Stays like that. Shielding the others, and then turning to make sure the normal kid with the talking familiar doesn't try anything silly like attacking the giant predatory beast.

    "...Isn't it supposed to be attacking us by now?" she asks warily.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    This is a lot to take i--Ohhhh. "Hey, weren't you that guy from the arcade, with Sailor Moon--" Then electricity! Cats getting Super Sized! Bright lights! And amidst all this, she's just going, "No, no, Amy-chan. Remember we took those kittens around to help them find homes? They couldn't talk at all." .... "Probably."

    Then she heaves a sigh. She also heaves her two-handed sword that she wields one-handed, up onto her shoulder. "So... Do we not fight this one? I have to be honest, the rules for all this seem really inconsistent." She steps forwards, gently brushing past Karin's arm. "Hello! I'm Fu! I'm a Yuusha working for Taisha. I see you have a... A little friend there. Do you have a way to defend yourself if this lovely lioness goes berserk?" she asks with a cheerful smile as she looks at Hinote.

    What? Tuxedo guy has it under control, clearly, she can at least make sure everyone here is safe.

Pyrite has posed:
    Bakeneko considers the salmon paste. And the people around her. And Luna on Tuxedo Mask's shoulder...
    And with a very deep 'mrrrrt!' she turns and leaps on top of a building, and then keeps on leaping.
    ...Wait, is that legal.

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    "What." Karin says deadpan as she hears about cats from... The Moon.

    Then the cat just yeets herself into the sunset. "What!" she yells, more alarmed.

    Then she is told to go after the cat! "WHAT!?" she yells while doing as she is told. Say what you will about being a tree-powered hero, it gives you lots of air time when you jump. As Karin drifts through the air at high speed, at the crest of her leap, she tries to spot the gian--Yeah, it's hard not to spot the giant cat. Oh, boy. Why couldn't she just stick to fighting Vertex?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"You all look like you've never seen a talking cat before," Luna says primly, "I have no idea who this Usagi is, but I'm Sailor Moon's talking cat, yes."

Before any questions can be asked about that though, there's a glimmer of violet, a curious Bakeneko sweeping forward to swallow something she shouldn't have, followed by a crash of energy, and Luna tucks herself close to Mamoru's shoulder with a horrified gasp - "Oh no!" - as the Bakeneko becomes Bakene, one of the seven great youma.

And then she just leaps away.

"?????" Luna's yowl of horror is, well, horrified. "Get after her! She can't keep that crystal, come on, let's go!"

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari looks at Fu and says. "A little bit." he says. Tracy nods. As the Bakeneko takes off, Hinote starts hightailing after, mainly by running up a nearby fire escape like a Noir hero he might actually be st this point as a Fedora, grey colored with a white band appears on his head and Tracy quickly flies after. "HEY WAIT FOR ME, KID!" he yells, as he floats after Hinote, who is racing up the stairs to the roof a litttle faster thanks to the Chara Change! he just did.

"I'm going to find out what's going on." he mutters to himself as he gets to the top of the roof with a huff.

He's slower than a full Mahou though so he'll be a small bit behind the others. That might be a good thing, for the moment.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Oh it's going to be gross. God only knows what else the Bakeneko has been eating. This is going to be so gross when they get to that bridge, when they cross that bridge...

Tuxedo Mask cringes a little when Luna yells in his ear, but he was definitely already bracing to leap after Bakene. Now he leaps while putting the cap back on the salmon paste and shoving it in an internal jacket pocket, like where someone might keep a slim wallet or a flask or a cigarette case if this were a hundred years ago or something.

Look the important part is that Mamoru is absolutely jumping after Bakene, chasing a cat again, this time with a cat.

He tells Luna, "You can ride on my shoulder any time you want! Just try not to yell in my ear if you can at all help it-- I understand that this (huff!) was a Circumstance." Run run run. Run. Jump. SUPERJUMP. Run run run. LEAP.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Huh... this must be what a Bastet looks like in Crinos, Amy thinks.

> You all look like you've never seen a talking cat before,"
    "Only on Sabrina." Amy answers without thinking, eyes wide.

    And then the werecat-looking-thing just... runs away, instead of attacking. Um? Do they just leave it, she wonders?

    Luna says they'd better catch it. So weird to see a cat talking in real life. It looks way more natural than the Salem puppet did, or like talking CG animals, but that's also why it's kind of freaky.

    She'll get used to it as she talks to Luna more. Amy wonders what a cat has to talk about? It (She? That sounds like a woman's voice but maybe it's higher in pitch 'cuz cats are small?) must have so many fascinating things to say! A different perspective on life, and did Luna just say that have to catch it?

    Amy leaps up onto the roofs after the Bakeneko. "Waaaaait, come baaaack! ...Okay, calling a cat is never gonna work, does anyone have like, treats or something? D'you think that conbini has canned tuna?"

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    "Well... Okay, then." Fu says, shrugging as Hinote asserts he can take care of himself. Somewhat. Then the giant cat is on the loose, and everyone is chasing after it! "This is going to be one of those days, huh?" she mutters as she pushes the tip of her sword into the ground, so that she is up near the handle, then makes her sword grow to giant size so that she's roof level, then jumps off while at the same shrinking the sword back down to a 'mere' zweihander or zanbatou as she swings it up and over. It's a smooth motion, that has her feet on the roof before she has even finished the sword's arc, and running and jumping moments later. She just carries the sword at her side, running with it one-handed like it weighs no more than a knife.

    "So, what's the plan for stopping it?" she calls out as she leaps to be closer to everyone without impeding their own paths. "Chasing it is all well and good, but should we be trying to restrain it? Can we use force?"

    She also gives a concerned look back at Hinote. If needed she can always slow down a bit and carry him... But for now he's just a little bit behind.

Pyrite has posed:
    Bakene does not come back! She seems to have a destination in mind, too! She's heading towards... Juuban Ward. Hm. What's in Juuban Ward? This isn't some dramatic 'she is going after the Senshi's families' nonsense or something is i--OH YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE IS IN JUUBAN WARD, THAT OVERPASS/TUNNEL THING TO THE FORGOTTEN DISTRICT of course this is where it's going, OF COURSE!
    Probably don't let the monster youma cat crackling with energy to ghost town, nothing good ever happens there. Let's maybe do something before that even becomes an issue.
    Slow her down! Like... Throw your shoes at her or... I don't know!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"My sincerest apologies, Mamoru," Luna says, "I forgot myself for the moment. We've no idea what that creature will do now that she's become like this, and that makes me a tad nervous."

She's able to keep herself in place, even with Tuxedo Kamen launching himself through the air.

With the others following, she can speak at normal volume, twisting to look. "She must be stopped, even if you have to use force! Preferably you won't harm her in any lasting way, but like this she may do anything..."

And then Amy suggests tuna, and Luna coughs, "The bakeneko is accustomed to much finer treats."

She Luna is also accustomed to nicer treats.

As she realizes the Bakeneko is going for the ghost town, she -

Surrenders her dignity. "Pspspspsps," she calls, "Bakeneko! Don't you want to be friends?"

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    Right. "Force without doing damage... Okay." Karin mutters. Then she speeds up further, showing why she is the completed version of the data gatherers in the Hero Club. Her parameters are just set higher by default. Fast, faster, even faster! She is closing in on Bakene, when she crosses her katana in front of her and slashes with them, sending out a flaming 'X' on a trajectory that will cross in front of the monster cat, hopefully dissuading her from going any further, at least for a few seconds!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"PSPSPSPS!" calls Tuxedo Mask with his hands cupped around his mouth, Just In Case the bakeneko did not hear Luna, as he runs across rooftops with Catte on Shoulder.

"I understand completely. She's a sweetheart but... youma," he gestures as he's running. "I don't want to hurt her." He turns his head to the other side so he's not yelling into Luna's ear, and calls out to the others, "Does anyone have nets, or string, or rope--?"

A beat. "Catnip? No, that would be suicide..."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari is chasing after the cat behind everyone else and he stops dead when he comes to his first rooftop hop. That's not a large jump. But it's not like he has super-SUPER powers. What did Tadase call it. A Character Transformation? He has no idea how to do that. Tadase never told him more about it before Ikuto's fight distracted them.

He runs back, and closes his eyes and runs forward and JUMPPPPS---and makes it, landing with a thud on the other side, on his feet, but almost falling over. He whews.

"Good jump, kid!" says Tracy as Hinote removes his Colt .45 from his jacket!?

Before aiming it at the cat and firing off--- not a bullet- but a spray of water, strong enough to knock a grown man over a few times.

"BAD CAT. STOP." he yells as he shoots the water stream.

Spray bottling cats works, right?

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Much finer treats... "Like what?" Asks Amy. "Maybe we can get that!"

    And then a cat calls a cat with pspspspsps. Huh. So that's how they call eachother, too.

    Tukedo Kamen suggests catnip, but... would that be suicide? "Only if we get it on us! But once we've distracted it-- him? Her? Once we've distracted them... without Sailor Moon, do we have anyone with purification powers?

    Someone is trying water. "Isn't that just gonna make it mad?! Or run away?! Look, where can we get catnip around here, maybe a... pet shop, or..." She pulls out her phone to search for pet shops, 100 yen stores, and grocery stores that might have pet stuff near by.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    When Karin pauses to launch her attack, Fu uses that moment to step on Karin's shoulders, spring off of them, and somersault with her sword extended, to try to land on the rooftop ahead of the youma, swinging that big sword so it hangs over her shoulders, both hands on the hilt. "Why don't you just go back to your friends, okay--" Fire. Water. That's not how you get a cat to listen to you! ...Is it? NO! Definitely not! She handled the kitten-homing, she knows these things probably! "Hey, we want to settle her down, not rile her up, right!?" Well... They were authorized to use force. She just doesn't feel good about hurting an animal who hasn't actually DONE anything and isn't responsible for her current circumstances (okay, yes, the youkai ate the crystal, but come on, it's a cat, how would it know that would happen??).

    So, she launches herself again, to try to clash with Bakene head-on, flat of her blade first to act like a shield against any unexpected attacks. Maybe just keeping her distracted and stationary will be enough??

    "Amy, do you have any, like net-missiles or anythi--" Amy is on the phone.

    She'd say keeping the Hero Club on task is like herding cats, but. You know.

Pyrite has posed:
    Bakene hears the pspspsps and her ears perk. She turns her head to look back, and actually stops--just a flaming 'X' goes tearing past to her side. She hisses and leaps backwards, at least no longer going forwards. She hunkers down on all fours, her growling producing such vibrations that it rumbles the buildings in the area, rattles the glass, and sets off touch-activated car alarms in several nearby parking lots.
    She appears to be even less impressed with the water gun, and moves to leap away, only to be distracted when Tuxedo Kamen makes the same sound as Luna. Well, there's someone she knows and is friendly with, maybe she'll go to hi--*BASH*
    She is rammed with a sword, her reflexes and senses allowing her to turn and block the zweihander with one of her huge, claw-tipped hands just in time.
    She is growling at Fu now, staring down at her. Fu is strong. But Bakene is blocking her one-handed.
    Add the strongest (?) of the Rainbow Crystals to an animal that is already very proportionally strong and agile, and then make the base animal already supernatural and apparently this is what you get. If Bakene actually wanted to hurt them, she might be a major threat. And it's true, that there's no one with purification powers here. So, how are they going to get the kitty back to normal? Or is that no longer an option!?
    Bakene's tail thrashes and smashes part a roof off to tumble to the streets below with only a casual impact.
    The clock is ticking.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Well, Tuxedo Kamen-kun does have a scrumptious salman tube - not water!"

She doesn't yell, remembering the plea. But her voice takes on a sharp, too late urgency as the bakeneko is pelted with water. Luna is wincing with sympathy - she knows all too well how cats hate water.

"Even without purification, the crystal should be released when it's host is unable to fight," Luna says uncertainly, "Purification should simply make it easier. I think."

She must admit, she hasn't had the chance to research it.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"... Himeko!" Tuxedo Kamen finally calls out, landing on the roof with Bakene. He's not yelling; he doesn't have to. He's never had to. He doesn't know what to do about Himeko's strange sister, but Himeko herself-- "I didn't bring any fresh salmon! The bakeneko is possessed by a youma!" A beat. "Like last time at the arcade!"

He explains quickly to the others, "The bakeneko's a ghost cat, and my sister's a ghost, she might be able to do something -- she chewed on the last rainbow crystal possession I saw, and it helped when she did that-- she can eat energy..." he trails off, not really sounding like he would believe his own explanation if he were someone else.

He steps closer to the giant cat youma, pulling off his glove and holding his hand out. "I'm sorry you're having a rotten time! You can talk now! What's your name?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Car alarms go off all over the block. Amy covers her ears. "Arrrgh! Why do we still have those?! It's 2024! Wouldn't you just put a GPS tracker in your car instead?! No one hears a car alarm and things, 'oh no, a car is being stolen!' They hear a car alarm and think, 'ugh, there goes a car alarm!' Mockingbirds imitate them now! I think they're even teaching their chicks to do it! We're gonna be hearing birds making car alarm sounds long after we finally stop putting them in cars!"

    Rant done, and with there being so much loud noise to help cover it, Amy leaps off the edge of the building they're on, conjures her launcher, and rocket-jumps into the distance.

    She lands in front of a pet store, de-henshins, and runs inside to pick up some catnip.

    There is one cashier on-duty.

    Who is busy talking to the lady in front of her in line.

    "Ma'am. I'm sorry but you're not supposed to actually bring your pet into the store. Can you please leave and come back-- Can you please get him to be quiet?"

    "raaaaaAAAAAWK raaaaaAAAAWK aaaaAAAAAWK EEEE-ooo EEEE-oooo EEEE-oooo EEE-ooo HRRRK HRRRK HRRRK EEEEeeeeeooooo EEEEeeoooooo" says the parrot from the lady's shoulder.

    Amy counts out some bills and tosses them at the cashier before running back out the doors. "Sorry! Emergency!"

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    "Hey!" Karin yells as she suddenly has Fu straddling her (not like that!) and then jumping off her shoulders, forcing the brunette to land on top of a nearby building (she does it in a very cool way though). "Listen, at least I didn't hit her!" she protests. Compared to a flaming X, a water gun actually isn't all that bad, is it? Guh! Amy is on a mission clearly, so as soon as Amy leaves the building, Karin is there to scoop her up, and carry her towards Tuxedo Mask and Luna at top speed. "Hang on!" she calls out, even though with her own strength there's no way she'll drop Amy.

    But also, like, she moves FAST, and the wind blasting past produces a shrill sound even with the added burden of a second person. It's like a FPS overclocked like crazy, with barely a fraction of a second to react to things appearing in your way. The kind of twitch reflexes that even a Juicer or maybe Usagi would probably love to have.

    Then the two of them land by Tuxedo Mask and Luna. She'll let Amy down now, sorry about that, at least she put her swords away before trying to princess carry her or else, so no one had to stare at swords bobbing around near their eyes.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari stops when the cat stops and points the gun downward when Tracy comes to a stop next to him. "I stared down the youma-cat, and came to a stop. It was a dead heat.."

"Man this isn't even a little fair or equal, Tracy." he says as he clenches his teeth a moment after he stops.

"Can you please cough up what you ate?" he asks as he suddenly starts breathing a little heavily and heaves over a moment, catching his breath, mainly.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Fu is strong, and she knows it. But being stopped one-handed is stil...! Thankfully, it looks others are closing in to distract and subdue the monster. "Please... Just stop running! We don't want to hurt you!" she pleads. She is going to just try to block the youma's way if she can, not attack further. Not unless she has to. At least she bought time for Karin and Amy to perform their errand and return. What kind of plan might they have in store!?

Pyrite has posed:
    The agitated cat youma, perhaps starting to realize that it might actually outclass all of these opponents, just stares down at Fu with unblinking green-hazel eyes, the necklace of giant teeth around her neck rising and falling with her breaths. Then she smells something enticing, and hears people she actually likes, and starts to back away from the sword wielder. Her hackles are still up, her ears pivoting towards each yell in her direction, and numerous other sounds all over (the car alarms are not helping her mood)...
    A wobbly pale girl with black hair, looking more like a child's rendition of a cartoon ghost than her usual self, slowly condenses into her usual appearance. With difficulty. Himeko is saying something, but her words are inaudible. She focuses, and then she fully solidifes, as much as the Red Rainbow Crystal's power can grant her. Which is becoming distressingly little. "Oh. You found it." Himeko says in an ethereal whisper, before turning around to look towards Bakeneko. "I smelled it but then it disappeared... It was inside her, so her smell masked it... That's why..." Himeko seems very unfocused. "Need more."
    The Bakeneko is loping across the rooftops towards the friendly crew, a bit of heaviness in her chest seemingly making it difficult for her to breathe. She is hacking and choking a bit, until she stops only a single rooftop away, down on all fours, her claws gouging the cement. Hurf. HURK. Hack. BLEARGGGH!
    Hinoate asked for it.
    The Violet Crystal is launched out of Bakene's mouth like a ball from a pitching machine, right at the detective. Residual energy continues to crackle around the youma as Bakene... Fails to revert. Himeko floats closer, and sticks her hands in Bakene's fur, and whispers sweet nothings, as she siphons away the violet energy, filling herself up with Wrong, far more than she did at the Arcade, and she becomes solid, tangible, and real-looking again. Almost human.
    As she does so, Bakene slowly shrinks in size. Himeko points towards Tuxedo Mask, Luna, Amy, and Karin, and says, "Treats. Go there."
    The Bakeneko, still gradually regressing to her true form, leaps and bounds, crossing the space between the two buildings, and dashing only to come to a skidding stop in front of everyone gathered there. "Treaaaths!" she mewls demandingly, still licking up the saliva from around her mouth now that she has hairballed the crystal out of her system.
    She sits up on her hind legs, and says, "Bakeno! Me! Treaaaths!" So her name is Bakeno, huh?
    Meanwhile, Himeko looks distinctly sickly. Still solid, and normal, and real, but like she is the next one who will be ill. She hugs herself and closes her red eyes. "Almost... Almost."
    She disappears.
    Enjoy your hair-covered crystal, Hinote.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna's nose wrinkles in disgust at the vomitting, but the young bakeneko does indeed revert to normal, becoming an ordinary...well... youkai, instead of a youma-fied youkai. They can count this as a victory, can't they? As Bakeno comes prowling for treats, Luna leaps down and prowls towards the crystal, looking down at it with a wrinkle of her nose.

"Detective-san," she says, looking up at Hinote, "Won't you offer me a handkerchief or something to carry this crystal?"

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    "Not it." Karin calls, even if it appears that Luna has already designated the crystal retriever. She heaves a sigh and leans forwards to rest her hands on her knees. "I really hope the rest won't be like this." she grouses. Even if it was, technically, a victory. No one even got bodied!

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    The blonde swordswoman joins Luna with Hinote and the crystal. She does not appear thrilled at the state of it. "Hai, hai, I'll take care of it... I've had to clean up after cats before--Err, that is, not smart talking cats, but, you know... Normal--Wait, not normal, uhhh... Average? Look, I'll help if he doesn't want to touch it." At least it's encased in... In hair and stuff, so no one will be directly touching the crystal, right?

    Fu does appear concerned about that girl who was here, and then disappeared. She got the gist of the situation, she was Tuxedo Masks's sister, she can absorb energy, but the rest was lost in translation between 'omg giant cat' and 'wait what did he say'. "Will your sister be okay?" she calls out.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is snatched up by Karin -- They were introduced before going on patrol -- and henshins on the way. It's a bit abbreviated -- the light and fire surrounding Amy are over in a half-second, and don't burn Karin.

    And... the Bastet goes back to Lupus as, is that HIMEKO draining its energy?! (Hmm, Lupus can't be right. Is it called something else for Bastet? Amy forgets.)

    "Himeko?! Himeko!" Amy starts to run to her, but she... vanishes.

    And now a cat is here, demanding treats in distorted Japanese. "Uhh."

    Amy looks at the vial of catnip in her hands. "Are we... taking them anywhere?" If so, she'll wait to dispense catnip there, otherwise, she just taps a bit out now, sprinkling it around Bakeno.

    "It's nice to meet you, Bakeno. And you too, Luna. I've never met talking cats before."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari watches in horror as the Baeneko just barfs up the crystal in a hairball and he covers his mouth and closes his eyes as he produces a tissue from WcDonalds from his pocket. And unless someone stops him, he'll walk over and use the tissue to pick it up as he holds his nose with the other hand and then offers it, to Luna, the talking cat.

"Here." he says. "Can you tell me what this is all about?" he asks, eyes looking to the cat with wide eyes from under his fedora.

"The name is Hinote. Hinote Kagari. That's uh. Tracy." he says to the tiny detective chara floating down next to Hinote's head.

"Heya, dollface!" says Tracy, fingergunning and winking at Luna before clicking his tongue. Hinote goes red face.

"Inappropriate." he says lowly.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"--okay that was exactly as disgusting as I expected," sighs Tuxedo Mask, half-bending to let Luna jump off from not quite so astonishing a height. He eyes the vomited Rainbow Crystal with distaste, and looks to Hinote and Luna, then crouches down as the bakeneko comes over looking for treats. He takes the salmon paste out of his inner jacket pocket and unscrews the top again, squeezing some out for the ghost-cat to lick at, and he looks up and...

"Hime-chan?" he asks the air worriedly. "Himeko?"

He looks to Fu and grimaces. "I mean-- I hope so? I can't follow her, but she's not gone-gone. I'll see if I can get her some kind of other energy," he says unhappily, but then he's petting Bakeno as she licks at the paste and he looks up at Amy...

...and looks relieved. "She'll love that too, I think. Thank you for getting it. I'm going to just stick around here with her for a while and not look at the cat yarf over there."

He sees Hinote hand the crystal over to Luna, and pauses. "Thank you," he says to Hinote, and then to Luna, "how on earth are you going to carry that? I have gloves, do you want me to?"

To Karin, he asides, "I do hope they're all no-fight, but I also hope they're no-vomit."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Thank you, Detective-san," Luna says and then cocks her head at Tracy. "Wouldn't you have to see my human shape, to judge if I have a dollface?"

And with that little bombshell dropped quietly, soooo quietly, she carefully uses her paws to fold the napkin from WcDonalds around the crystal, making a little package that she can lift with her teeth. Then she trots casually over to Mamoru.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    After sprinkling out some catnip, Amy looks down at Bakeno. "Um. Can I pet you?"

    She looks to Luna. "Is that weird to ask? Also um. Can we talk later? I just. I never met a talking cat. This is really cool! ...Is that weird? It's probably weird that humans are this excited to talk to you. I'm sorry. I don't wanna be a bother."

    But TALKING CAT, though!

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote Kagari blinks at this, so does Tracy as he stands back up and brushes himself off. He looks towards Amy and then Tuxedo Kamen as he tips the front of his fedora down a bit. "I guess that's this case closed, but I still don't know what was up here." he says as he starts to look around for... for a way down.

Oops.

Fu Inubouzaki has posed:
    Fu frowns and nods. She's not thrilled about the uncertainty regarding that girl's fate... But she's not in a position to press for details right now. What's most important is this is all over. ...Right? Ugh. She's going to need some udon to forget about the cat barf long enough to be able to eat another bowl of udon.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru delicately takes the questionable package from Luna and puts it in his inside jacket pocket for now, definitely using his glove which will be perfectly clean and not... icky... when he re-henshins next time. Then he smiles lopsidedly. "I heard that," he murmurs to the moon cat, then just continues petting the calico ghost-cat, who pauses to make a "Hrrmmrmrmyeh," sound of agreement at Amy-- then sniffs, and freezes, and EYES DILATE, and the salmon is forgotten and Tuxedo Kamen yoinks his hand away because it is time. for. CATNIP.

There will be a lot of careful cat-petting while Hinote probably gets a ride to the ground floor.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It's not weird to ask," Luna says, once Tuxedo Kamen has the crystal. There's a very cat-like sense of satisfaction in her voice, but she ignores his little comment for now. She's sure he and Usagi and all the rest will have questions, soon. "It's quite normal. I'm not a human person, and I have different interests than a human person. Bakeno is even less a human person than I am, and enjoys many cat-like activities and behaviors."

She lifts a paw to her mouth as she giggles.

"And you would be surprised by how many people are very excited to speak to a cat. Cute Wolf Tsukikko is eager to practice her Feline Speech with me. I don't mind talking at some point in the future."

She pauses, and then her tail snaps, expression chilling.

"So long as that Kyubey creature is not about."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's eyes and mouth go wider as she stares at Luna in wonder. "That's a thing we can LEARN?!"

    "...As for Kyubey..." Amy looks down at the ground, and at Bakeno happily rolling about in catnip.

    "...I don't think he has much reason to talk to us anymore. He got what he wanted. He's probably gone off who-knows-where to find new contractees."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I don't know if it's a thing any human can learn, but it's something she learned. You could probably ask her about it."

Luna licks the fur on the back of her paw, then strokes carefully at the back of her head. There. Much better! She can feel the fur lying flat.

"He may be. But he may also stick around. He hasn't gotten what he wanted until... certain events come to pass, no? Be careful, Red-chan. It would make Sailor Moon very sad to see something happen to you."

Biiiiiiig Stretch.

"I have to go now. Tuxedo Kamen is going to be my ride after such a long day."

It's so hard, being a cat!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A talking cat. She's talking to a cat! So weird. So cool!

    Amy blinks. "I already made my Wish. It overcame Entropy. He doesn't need anything more from me. He hasn't shown up to tell us that it's a bad idea to not give him grief seeds, so..."

    Amy nods. "You too.