1448/ON A QUEST

ON A QUEST
Date of Scene:	24 April 2024
Location:	Juuban Ward
Synopsis:	Taro Yamada decides to take advantage of the spooky glitter doom portal in the middle of town by selling supplies to any fools willing to traipse in. Meanwhile, Stellar and the Sailor Senshi who weren't trapped by Beryl begin to contemplate how to rescue their allies from the portal. Cue an unlikely alliance bridged by a mutual dislike of Queen Beryl.
Cast of Characters:	Taro Yamada, Usagi Tsukino, Mamoru Chiba, Naru Osaka, Kazuo Saitou, Kyouka Inai, Ami Mizuno
Tinyplot:	Operation: Past

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Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro had the hairs prickling on the back of his neck all day; it was enough that he took a break from homework to do what was becoming a self-soothing habit: cooking and beating rice from the giant tub he'd bought until it formed dough and his nerves stilled.

Only for them to return when he checked his new phone: strange occurance, blocked roads. It's the kind of thing he's seen dozens of times in his long life - all too often, a sign of yokai attack. Or, if he stuck to Fuyuko's terminology, mahous and youmas.

Hurrying to the site, he stalked to the street in question and gazed upon the glittering portal, like a wound in the air.

He considered it all, then hightailed it back to his dorm room, a plan growing inside his mind.

At the very least, a construction crew would come through to check out the damage, if they hadn't already. But having a glowing portal in the middle of construction would complicate things - no doubt there would be some reason for it to be delayed, time enough for the portal to be destroyed.

At the most...more mahou would come through. The prey that the Back-Street Slasher craved, the prey that he hadn't had much time to hunt because he now had a "job" and "chores" and a "Curfew". It'd make it easier to gather information, and perhaps he could find other benefits.

Like, for example, showing up at the construction site after school with a cooler of water bottles and food. The construction workers were grateful enough for the delivery of an easy meal that they paid enough to cover the cost of cooking.

So now he waits down the street from the glowing portal, sitting on his cooler and paging through a textbook as he writes notes. Taped to the wall was a sign written on notebook paper:

ON A QUEST? EAT THE BEST!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
So it's been a pretty bad afternoon, huh? Well, Luna supposes that she should say it had been a normal one, until the communicator opened, and Usagi uttered the most heartstopping series of words Luna had heard in years.

Beryl. A portal. Going in.

She'd started running, of course, tracking Usagi's location with the communicator, but she is a single cat, and the city a large place. It didn't take long for Usagi's signal to disappear, or for Luna to realize that she couldn't reach the Outer Senshi, or Sailor Mars, and started to properly panic.

And then she'd run into Mamoru - which had been such a relief.

"Mamoru-kun! You're safe! You must have - do you know where it happeneed? Do you know where Usagi is?!"

He had.

And thus, when the two arrive, it's with Luna on Mamoru's shoulder, tucked close and eyes wide with worry, tail draped over Mamoru's neck.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru, who is *not* wringing his cape; Mamoru, who has *not* got red-rimmed eyes behind the mask-- he's not. He just feels like he is. He's texting with a cat on his shoulders as they get there-- he's texted Kunzite, Kyouka; he's left Naru and Ami to Luna's comm-ing them; he's weebling over texting Zoi and Neph maybe he'll text them after he's calmed down some more--

He texts Fuyuko about Sunbreaker. He writes a text to Takashi and doesn't send it yet.

He leans his head a little against the warm bundle of fur on his shoulder, mooshing just a little bit.

"They'll be okay," he says, and he says it with certainty, because he's not saying it to himself. "She's big into teaching lessons while getting the targets out of her way. Killing doesn't rub her victories in people's faces enough..." he trails off.

It's not a thousand yard stare. It's not. He's just looking at the steps where Beryl was standing, when he was standing next to Sailor Moon and Jadeite instead of running away--

Nope. He jerks his gaze away and then squints at the kid down the street on the cooler. "Is that literally a food vendor."

Naru Osaka has posed:
It's not actually that often that Naru's communicator goes off and even less often that it's a message from Luna. Naru had been off campus doing some things, and now she's hurrying to the location that's been blasted to everyone about .. well.. everything.

Apparently those things include getting a coffee, as she has a hot cup of coffee in each hand as she comes up to where Tuxedo Kamen is.. and Luna too.

"What the /hell/!?" Naru blinks at him and then down the street and then back to Tuxedo Kamen.

And then back down the street to where Taro is, with his sign. She blinks and then ums to Tux. "I don't know if I hate this city, or love this city for that."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
It is entirely unfair that when Kunzite leaps down from one of the buildings still standing by the construction site, he makes no sound whatsoever on landing. Not even when his cape falls into place behind him. He takes a couple of steps specifically so that Luna and Tuxedo Kamen can hear his arrival - Naru had him in field of view - and then halts as the attention falls on the food vendor.

It is possible to mark when he reads the sign by the slow blink of his own.

Well, Naru brought coffee.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    There's a faint crack of displaced air and a distant rumble of thunder as Stellar suddenly appears right next to Mamoru, a frown on her face. "There you are," She says, with mild exasperation that is based wholly in concern rather than annoyance. "I saw you run when shit started hitting the fan but I didn't see where. I've been looking for you.. didn't think to look back here so soon."

    She glances at Luna, giving the cat a nod of greeting.

    Grey eyes turn to the portal, her pensive frown deepening. "I've seen portals before, and that's definitely a portal and not a.. I dunno, death ball or something. I couldn't tell you where they went, but at the very least, getting there shouldn't have hurt them." This is conjecture, but she refrains from saying that part since it's meant to be reassurance.

    "Naru-chan, hi." She greets the other girl who hurries up a moment later. The food vendor gets a glance, but no more than that. She's the sort to admire someone taking advantage of a situation in a way that helps everyone... though she's not about to say that now.

    Kunzite also gets a nod of greeting as he appears.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Cram school wasn't as necessary these days having just joined High School properly. It had become as much a habit as anything for Ami however. That's where she was, when things happened. That's why she wasn't there. No sooner had she heard than she was faced with the awful decision to abandon the comfort and familiarity of the life she'd worked so many years to build up or... or her friends.

The teachers are concerned when she leaves early. She *never* left early. It surely must be an emergency, so they don't even say anything other than to wish her well as she bolts out of the room leaving her study materials behind.

Sailor Mercury arrives to land from a jump near Tuxedo Kamen and Naru.

"Are they... Are they okay? Do we know?" The tension in her own voice is evident as she stares toward the portal that was there with a forlorn expression of her own. Already her hand was halfway up to her ear intending to bring out her visor--but she stops. It would be best to hear first, and not lose herself in the steady flow of numbers that would flash across her screen the instant it came up.

"Is this anything you've come across before, Luna?" She asks of the feline hoping that there may be some knowledge of this occurance since it involved Beryl. If only Pluto were here to ask too.

Taro Yamada has posed:
He's getting a lot of stares from the kids in costumes. That's fine. Taro is staring back. There's a fine pack of rainbow costumes and tights and - hey, he knows that guy! It's Tuxedo Mask! He looks - hm. He looks worse than that time the Slasher jumped him in an alley, and that was usually a low point in anyone's day.

No doubt he was involved all this portal business. Which, obviously, meant that Taro would need to pack up and head over.

After all, if you had a cow that could sing opera, pooped gold and saved your life, you wouldn't let some OTHER farmer beat you to to it, right? That's YOUR prime rib!

So Taro saunters over with his backpack over one shoulder and his cooler over the other and sets them both down. He pulls out a lukewarm water bottle and a pair of red bean mochi wrapped in plastic wrap and offers them to Tuxedo Mask.

"Here. On the house."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
They'll be okay. They have to be. All of their hopes and wishes can't have died in a single moment, before anything could be done.

Luna will believe this -

And then they notice the food vendor, and an expression of exasperation crosses her face, but also, despite everything?

"Today," Luna says grimly, "You love this city. Kunzite or Stellar, could one of you please buy Tuxedo Kamen some food? It would be good for him to eat something. Good for all of you to eat something, actually, because I'm sure Naru-chan and Sailor Mercury haven't either. I will reimburse you at a later time."

And then - pause. Eyes widen.

"Sailor Mercury!"

Oh no! She's been avoiding her to set off any allergies, and she can't afford to have her distracted by anything, let alone the difficulty of breathing and the skin-crawling itch of hives! Luna's spent the last couple of weeks building her energy, stretching metaphorical muscles, and now she has no choice but to put them to the test.

"Tuxedo Kamen-kun, I'm going to jump down, and hide behind your cape. Please keep yourself between me, and Mercury-chan."

And then she does just that, hopping down, and standing behind his back. The little moon symbol on her forehead glows faintly as she focuses.

Of course, to everyone else this was probably a very weird thing to do and say, and it cannot be helping the perception that she's been avoiding Mercury. At least she jumped down and started her forehead symbol glowing before the civilian came over to offer food (further emphasizing her point about why they should buy some).

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm not sure how I feel about that kid either. He's either in the know or a magical boy, though, since he's literally taking advantage of a spacetime portal and talking about quests on his sign..." says Tuxedo Kamen, glancing away from Taro to Naru, and Kunzite.

And then Kyouka arrives.

"I'm sure everyone saw me run. Sailor Moon and Jadeite told me to run," Mamoru says sharply to Stellar, defensive, the ragged edge of a big raw emotion showing, "because Beryl named me, and everyone went to so much trouble to get me out before, I-- I listened--"

He won't look at anyone now. He's obviously got some shit going on upstairs. "Sorry. Maybe that kid saw when Beryl left. I don't know if she left anything spying..."

He wants to crumble to dust and blow away.

"I can still feel them. Through it. They're not on Earth but I can still feel my connections to them, they're okay," he says quietly, crossing his arms like he's cold. "I mean, I don't know about most everybody, but at least Moon and Jadeite are all right for now..."

And then he stares at Taro, at the water bottle and mochi he's being offered, and he sort of automatically takes what he's handed, which is a very bad plan if you ever plan to encounter the fae. "Ah-- thank you," he says with a jerky little bow, and bites his lip. He doesn't want to eat, he would like the ground to swallow him-- but Luna told him to eat, and he's doing as he's told today, so why stop now.

He also stays put, as Luna asked. He unhappily takes a bite of red bean mochi.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru does, indeed, have coffee. And she passes one of them to Kunzite, because in times like this, everyone could probably use a coffee but she only has the two. Adrien will understand as to where his coffee went.

At the mention of eating, Naru reaches into her bag to emerge out with some protein bars. "Okay.. why are we eating?" She looks over to the portal and then back to Luna.. who is hiding behind Tuxedo Kamen.

"So. We just need to go get them?" She glances to the portal and then back to the group, her voice offering a plan that's on the order of 'get 'em' in complexity.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
It is a good thing that Kunzite is not necessarily up on European legendry. All he's evaluating is: could it be poisoned? Yes, but Tux can probably handle it long enough to reject it. Could it be enchanted? He isn't seeing any sign of it. So he doesn't prevent Tuxedo Mask from taking it.

Even if he's internally calculating the odds that this boy is in fact a youma working for Beryl. If he turns into an enormous animate water bottle flinging waves of plastic shards at them, well, that'll answer the question.

He starts to say something in answer to the Talking Cat, possibly about not having a wallet in his current outfit, but is somewhat forestalled by Naru handing him coffee. He nods at her wordlessly, resting his free hand on Tuxedo Kamen's arm for a moment; the coffee may be being held in trust.

Words do, however, follow. "If it were that simple, they'd already be back out. Figure out how first, then do."

... and he glances toward Sailor Mercury. Apparently the Shitennou's planner thinks she has the lead in the 'figure out how' part. Whether or not he would also think this if Luna weren't inside a cape at the moment, good question; it might be a tie.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury sucks in a quick breath as Luna remarks on eating. A quick shake of her head comes denying that particular urge in face of what was currently going on. "How could we eat right now? This is not a time to be eating!" There's a sharp edge to her voice very rarely there except when scolding others for getting off track during study sessions. Only with far more emotion. This wasn't about grades, this was about people she cared about.

Finally her hand lifts to press her earring so her visor can shimmer into existence over her eyes. The read outs began only to draw another little gasp.

"This is... Similar to the White Space. A bit." Her eyes narrow as she starts to look over some readings on her visor. A half-step is taken forward forgetting where she is as she moves closer to the portal, only to stop. No need to get closer, not for now, she ought to stand among her friends and those that were equally concerned about those that were missing. Tuxedo Kamen's reassurances that he could still 'feel' them helped calm her some.

Taro giving Tuxedo some food, and Luna hiding, finally snaps her attention away to look back puzzled at the grouping. "Who are you?" She demands of Taro simply. Followed with a simple, "Thank you for the food, he probably needs it," because she *was* raised with manners. That wasn't the point right now. Also:

"Luna? Why are you avoiding me?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar looks sharply at Mamoru as he speaks, at the defensive, ragged edge in his voice. Her brows draw together slightly and, as Luna vacates the boy's shoulder, she reaches out and squeezes it with one hand.

    "No, no, Mamoru... you absolutely did the right thing. Running was the right choice. I wish more of them had run. But you were the one she was specifically after so you running was especially the right choice. Now you're here, and we can figure out a way to help. You getting caught by Beryl would not have been the preferable situation. I think literally everyone can agree on that."

    She takes her hand back off after a moment, shaking her head slightly. "Mercury." She greets the blue-haired girl as she arrives. "Hopefully you can figure something out about this.. it's a bit outside my wheelhouse." Unless stabbing it would work, but she's smart enough to know that is unlikely.

    When Mamoru mentions that he can still feel Usagi and Jadeite, she huffs a faint sigh of relief. "Well, that's something at least. I was pretty sure, but it's nice to have confirmation."

    She's about to do as Luna asks and go get Mamoru some food when the vendor kid comes over on his own to offer it. She eyes him up, faintly sniffing the air.. definitely some kind of magic there, but that's no surprise. She gives him a nod of acknowledgement for his offer of food and drink.

    To Naru she says, "A solid foundation but I'd very much prefer having a guaranteed way to get back before we do that."

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro listens to the back and forth - he did not get there in time to pet the cat, alas, but he can deal - he does wonder if anyone in their magical costume has room for a wallet or if he's going to have to look to the two normies here? Normies, in quotes, since they're probably still magic, just not... MAGIC.

And technically, he's not either. No one has to know about the Slasher. It's Taro that works for Obsideon; the Slasher is freelance, and if he has a chance to deal with that creep who beat up his boss -

"Beryl?" His eyes widen in recognition. He quickly runs the numbers in his head, decides that causing trouble outweighs profit for the time being, and sets the cooler down. "If you're fighting her, everything's on the house. (Though I'll take tips.)"

And he looks to the girl in blue. He only caught about half of what she was talking about, but he can address her questions. "I'm Taro. A yokai bit me when I was ten so I can see the evil portal and ghosts? We're eating because you don't know if there's food and water on the other side of that thing, and you're going to want to bring nonperishable, high-calorie foods that are easy to carry if you go spelunking."

Especially, he thinks, if there's no way to get OUT of the sparkly doom portal.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Food is important fuel for brains," Luna says tersely - she's focusing hard, gathering the energy inside of her, pulling it through her limbs. The mark on her forehead, the gift granted by the queen, glows as she does, that little, extra bit of energy helping her press energy to her limbs, to her core, to her head. She can feel it, the old familiar-unfamiliar sensation. "And brains are going to be especially important at this time. That's why I can't afford to have you distracted by any health challenges!"

Luckily she's hiding behind a cape. Unluckily, the strange boy here may still notice that, well, she's a cat, at least, initially...

Initially because behind Mamoru's cape there's a soft, golden glow, and Luna sighs a little as it finally works. She realizes, this is the first time she's done this since she was reborn.

What is this, by the way?

It's the soft glow of Luna's body transforming, a henshin-like shift from the familiar cat they've all grown to know, to a girl, dainty, with sharp, admittedly cat-like features, vivid red eyes, and dense, long, so long, dark hair. It's gathered into two bow-like buns on the side of her head. She's wearing a yellow dress with a black underlayer, a pair of black cloth flowers at her chest, more at her back. There's a golden ribbon tied neatly about her throat, and a golden crescent moon on her forehead and she does a biiiiiig stretch as she steps out from behind Mamoru's cape.

Her spine cracks a few times. It's been a long time since her spine was this long. She's younger than she remembers being in this body - but then, she's younger in general, this time.

"Much better," she says with satisfaction, "I apologize for distressing you, Mercury-chan, but I didn't want to risk triggering your allergies. It's been so long since I took this form, that I had to struggle to recapture the feeling... but never mind that. Unfortunately, I don't know what, exactly this portal might be - there are so many options... but I believe my... oh, you're still here."

This, awkwardly directed at Taro, who is now offering them free food to fight Beryl.

How does he know about Beryl?! Being magic doesn't make you magically aware of her, Luna's life would be so much easier if it did!

Her hair can't bristle as her hair once could, but she puffs up her cheeks as she looks at Taro with suspicion.

"How do you know the name Beryl?"

Taro Yamada has posed:
"A werewolf? No, a were-cat..." Taro says, crouching down and then hopping back up as the cat - now the girl - comes out behind Tuxedo Kamen's cape. Cute! And ferocious. Which tracked, given the way that many werecats he'd seen in movies were even more terrifying than werewolves.

He considers lying - but that's probably not going to work since APPARANTLY the scary redhead lady currently throwing people into busses and freezing them in ice is not well known? to the community? A half truth would be safer than an entire lie. And he's good at those. He's been telling them for years.

"Seeing supernatural stuff all the time isn't ideal for home life or school life, so I dropped out. I was told that if I didn't join Obsideon, I'd be going to juvie for truancy, and I'd get a scholarship and a dorm room out of it too. Company policy is you can sabotage each other as long as you don't get caught, and Beryl was a jerk to my boss, so consider this payback by proxy."

He looks around at them all and shrugs. "Believe me or not. I have no skin in the game with whatever you all are doing, except for the part where I'd love to see her get beat like a drum by a bunch of teenagers."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's a coffee handed to Kunzite from Naru, who has the biggest 'were that it could be so!' plan ever; Kunzite's hand is on Mamoru's arm as Luna is transforming behind him, and there's a little lean toward Kunzite for it. Just a little. His arm feels colder when that moment's over, and he finishes eating the mochi and holds the water bottle kind of listlessly until Kyouka addresses his angst, and his eyes are too-bright behind the mask, so he doesn't blink.

He just nods, instead, looking marginally less miserable.

Then this kid with food, from Obsidian, is talking about Beryl giving his boss a hard time, and Tuxedo Kamen looks a little dubious-- though the distraction is great for him. "Who's your boss? Beryl is a jerk to literally everyone who has to deal with her. Wait, that's... probably not relevant right now." He pauses. "Also you can stab each other as long as you don't get told on. For the record."

He's probably taking the wrong tack with this.

"Do you know Sunbreaker? Beryl jammed Sunbreaker in there with everyone else."

He's STILL probably taking the wrong tack with this.

"Sorry, Mercury, what were you saying about White Space?"

Also... he stares at Luna. He is not ... surprised. Not with today being what it is. But he has a question and it's a little plaintive. "Are the buns a moon thing? They look very nice. Are they a moon thing?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
There's a blink. And another. And then Naru just drinks her coffee. Because the talking cat that she lives with is now a girl who admittedly.. is basically the cat wiht opposible thumbs and that is a sure sign of all sorts of doom.

Not just because the cat now has thumbs. No tuna is safe!

Naru tucks her protein bars back into her satchel, a quick bit of mental math on just how many she has in there. They are good solid portable food sources for an away mission, that's entirely true.

Her attention settles on Taro as he answers Luna's very pointed question and she considers him. A little quirk of her head, and a touch of a smirk at his comment about beating Beryl like a drum. Ahhh. Obsidian loyalty at its finest.

"So. We don't know where or when they are, and because they aren't out yet, we aren't sure if the portal is two ways or not." Naru sums up and then nods a little. "Although if there's a portal there, then there can be a portal back."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Allergies?" A look of sheer confusion at the remark flits over Mercury's face. Moreso when Luna is a woman. It wasn't often she was left speechless. For a few scant moments she is as she regards the cat-turned-woman with mouth slightly agape as all this information is processed. Finally she snaps out of it enough to murmer, a bit baffled still, "I don't have any allergies. Well, maybe to love letters."

An odd remark that is left without explanation as there's far more important things going on.

"I suppose she makes enemies everywhere she goes. Thank you then, Taro-san." Whoever his boss may be, in this effort if they were allied, she would accept it.

"The White Space. Where Sailor Pluto brought us before. I spent a good bit of time there studying it. While I admit I don't understand it completely," a frustrating thing for her! "I did obtain quite a few readings of it's..." A little hand wave is given searching for the right term. "Existence."

"This portal has some similar readings. Not in that it's outside of time and space, but that it has some connection to time. I don't think it's just a portal to 'where'," she concludes with another look around them all.

"But a portal is a portal. If there's a way in there's a way out so long as it's open."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Luna can shapechange.

Admittedly, that explains how a cat can type.

"The portal still existing is a hint that it might be two-way," Kunzite agrees. "She wouldn't have wasted the energy to keep it open if she had a choice in the matter; so it has the potential to have been more than she might have wanted in other ways, too." Some things play by their own rules. Even when you're working for a demon.

He offers Mamoru the coffee. And wonders, however briefly, if Taro was working for Nephrite. It'd make some sense, after a fashion. ... he's not asking.

"Can you get a read on how stable the thing is? How much time we might have?" Or how much time they might have to protect it for. Obsidian is automatically already interested. Probably in more than a Quest Food Vendor way.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar gives Mamoru a nod in return. Message delivered and received, she feels no need to add anything else. She is rather distracted by Luna transforming into a girl, giving the feline-ess an up-and-down glance before saying, "I didn't know you could do that." Which should be obvious. She might have more questions about it later, but for now she just shakes her head slightly. It has certainly been A Day, everyone can agree on that, too.

    As Taro speaks up, she shifts her gaze to him... the fact that he works for Obsidian is not in and of itself a problem for her, and he seems to dislike Beryl so that's a point in his favor. She does give him a rather more sharp look as he mentions Beryl giving his boss a hard time, though Mamoru beats her to the punch of asking the question.

    To Naru, "Yeah, but Beryl made this portal and I have a feeling asking her to make one going the other way isn't going to produce a whole lot of success."

    She nods her head in reply to Mercury's assessment. "That tracks." She says, before adding to Kunzite, "I hadn't even thought about that. I can't imagine anyone wanting to follow them in, not knowing what's on the other side, but.. " But there's all kinds of crazy people in this city.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Hmmm... Obsidian loyalty, and what it's worth, perhaps. A little sniff. "I am a Mau, not a werecat. Weres are cursed."

"They're a Moon thing," Luna answers Mamoru with a faint, somber smile, "Serenity - Serenity used to style my hair like this, while we watched over the princess." The Serenity she means is the Queen - the Serenity she was once closest to.

"You broke out horribly the last time I spent the weekend in your room," Luna says, just a touch petulantly, confused protest as she looks at Ami. "It was very distressing, and you were decidedly unwell. I've done research into human allergies, and dander and fur are common allergens, and the impact can develop later in life. I've always had the ability, but accessing it again took some time - it takes quite a bit of energy, and I prefer my other shape, of course..."

So this does not explain how a cat can type.

"The White Space that Pluto has access to is an artifact of the Gates of Time. They are a place, in many ways, outside of time itself. There are dimensions, as well, pocket places outside of this world and into others. Sailor Mars awoke in one of them, when a youma bus-driver was kidnapping passengers to drain their energy..." She's musing, and the surprise from those around her is a little satisfying, she must admit.

"I am confident that there is a way out. I am equally certain that wherever the others are - it may be as Sailor Mercury says - it may be a when they are, rather than merely a where. Comprehending Beryl's twisted psyche may be of difficulty to us, but reviewing the sort of space this is... I have access to a space, which should be able to provide us more detail on this sort of thing. It was not unknown, in Silver Millennium, for spaces like this to exist..."

But she's not going to identify that place in front of a stranger!

"However, I do believe it is likely that others may venture in. Be they civilians, lacking understanding what they see, or concerned allies, hoping to go after those we've lost."

Taro Yamada has posed:
It takes him a moment to place the name. "Sunbreaker's the kid my boss got into a fight with Beryl over. Shoved her into an ice cube? If you know that brat, you must know my boss."

Right? Who wouldn't know the incredible Fuyuko-sensei, one of the strongest former yokai in Japan, and who'd gotten him a job AND an apartment? If these guys know so much, they ought to know HER.

"A Mau... is that like a nekomata? Or is it speciesist to ask? Sorry about the werething, I only saw the weird stuff until I got to Tokyo."

He's working on it! He didn't get an encylopedia or anything!

"I was expecting people to wander in, as Ms.Mau said. The construction crew that came through here this afternoon already lost a couple people. I don't know if they're chalking it up to carbon monoxide or a burst pipe yet, but it'll come...but if you're all worried about people wandering in, it'll take more than me making a quick buck to keep EVERYONE out."

Not that he cares! He has little interest in the magic kitty space that lets you travel dimensions, it's fine to talk around it. Just a pity that people kept on falling into the sparkle hellhole when they didn't know a dmn thing.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I wanted to go in after them," admits Tuxedo Mask to Luna and Stellar, taking the coffee from Kunzite and handing him the lukewarm bottle of water in return. "Without a plan or a way back or anything to contribute other than also getting stuck."

He holds the coffee in both hands and takes a careful sip, then glances at Kazuo again. "Riventon will probably be here soon." Then his attention's flickering back around to everyone; he says, "I haven't texted him yet to tell him what happened to Sunbreaker. He might be in a meeting or something, otherwise he'd have beat us all back here to take readings on the thing-- it's pretty loud. So if we want to do something before he gets here, we should probably do it quick."

Hilariously, at the knowledge that Fuyuko is Taro's boss, Mamoru relaxes. "Oh, you're in HR. Okay. New, huh? I guess you're liking it okay. Just remember to keep sight of the exit, and stay away from Dark Energy, it's really bad for you."

A beat. "Maybe after everyone's out we can just blow it up."

At least he does seem to be doing better.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Beryl isn't going to want to hang out there /either/." Naru points out to Stellar. "Mercury isn't giving us any indications that it's going to like the dusk zone or something."

Naru frowns a little at the mention of civilians wandering in. "Yeah. That cannot be good. No matter what's on the other side." She gestures at it and then looks over to the others. "Is Pluto in there, or still out here?" Becuase she seems like a good resource on portals to elsewhen as well as elsewhere.

Another drink of her coffee and then she settles quiet. Mostly.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury finds herself staring at Luna a long moment. At the Mau's explanation of it all her expression softens significantly. "I was wondering what had caused you to seem so distant lately. That wasn't because of you, Luna. I'd just been out with ... A boy, that night. Some strange oceanic fortune teller informed us we were destined to be in love." Here she grows just a little sheepish. "I get stress hives sometimes when I don't know how to handle a situation." Or maybe she'd become allergic to oysters. Either way it didn't matter now. "Thank you for the consideration though. I'm sorry to have worried you."

The slight distraction over the Mau's confusion, and her ability to change forms how, had been enough to at least marginally calm her nerves over the current situation. Now she returns her attention to the portal.

It was almost possible to see the light reflecting in her eyes as various different readings fed out in her vision on the other side of the visor. Stability readings. Estimates on duration of such stability, or when it might close.

Without a word she pulls out her Mercury Computer to type on rapidly until she pulls from the side what appears to be a simple flash drive. Basic enough but likely with far more data storage capabilities than one would expect from such a device.

"I'm going to go in. They'll need someone working on that side as well as out here," she reasons while holding the thumb drive out to Tuxedo Kamen. "You know others that can help with this information, no doubt, even if they can't obtain it themselves. I may be able to establish a link through the portal."

Canting her head toward Taro at that point she regards the unfamiliar apparent teen and the cooler he has. There's maybe the slightest hint of a gurgle from her stomach. "I'll bring some supplies with me if the offer is still available."

The blue haired senshi regards Naru, and Kazuo, Stellar and Tuxedo Kamen in turn. "In the meantime this side will have to be guarded as well. I don't know the timeframe, but we should have a few days to solve this before it deteriorates."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kunzite accepts the lukewarm water bottle from Mamoru without a word, smooth exchange. He does not quite look at anyone while Luna and Mamoru are discussing her hairstyle. White Space. He will think about White Space, and the ground that was not a ground; that is much more reassuring. Configurations like - like the boundaries of a portal, or a pocket dimension, or maybe a real dimension. Yes. Twisting time. Likely not just time, either.

... Riventon. Great. Maybe he'll bring a nineteen-eighties computer youma this time. No mice, just attacks with giant low-resolution blocks. They didn't have pixels back then, right?

Kunzite exhales, slow, at Mercury's suggestion. "Guarded on this side," he agrees. "Do you need someone to watch your back, too? Establishing a link while under attack doesn't sound like the best plan. And while it might not be the Dusk Zone, I don't think Beryl is even capable of sending people anywhere friendly."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka looks vaguely like her eyes may glaze over as Luna starts going into the specifics about White Space and pocket dimensions. All above her paygrade, so she focuses on the portion of the musing which seems the most significant. "Well, if we're confident there is a way out, the next step is obvious- figuring out what the 'way out' is, and then how our friends can use it. Preferably sooner rather than later."

    She gives Mamoru a Look when he says he wanted to go in after them, but she doesn't chastise him for it. After all, if a different selection of people had been trapped in there, she might have felt the same way. As it is, he didn't follow them in so she has nothing to criticize.

    She pointedly does not say anything at the revelation that Taro is one of Fuyuko's brats, though in retrospect it makes sense. She gives Mamoru a second Look, but relaxes when he makes no mention of her relationship to this kid's boss. Not that she has any particular reason to hide it- it's just a complication that doesn't needed to be added to this situation right now.

    "Blowing it up is a plan I can get behind. You know, after we rescue everyone." She adds.

    When Mercury states she's going in, she raises her eyebrows but doesn't protest. "That's brave of you, but I think you're probably right that it will be helpful. You uh.. think we should tie a rope around your waist or something? As a precaution."

    "Guarded on this side is definitely a priority." She agrees with both Mercury and Kunzite.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I can't help with the portal bits, I don't know any magic lore and I don't think you'd want me knowing anything I could repeat in front of the wrong person," Taro says, because he'd rather just shoot the elephant in the room before it crushes something, "but I might be able to do something about guarding. I think one of Obsideon's construction projects eating contractors would fall under an HR problem, and the boss would want an eye on this trainwreck anyway. I can ask if there's a way to keep normies out while letting the usual flow of magic nonsense through."

And he grins at Ami. "Go for it when you're ready. It's all food that should last at least 24 hours on a trip."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"...you're not allergic to me?" Oh, that's such a relief, Luna's shoulders slump, "That's wonderful. I hate being on two legs, I don't know how you do this all the time."

The thumbs might be useful, but not worth all this!

Taro gets a look of brief consideration, but then she flaps a hand, dismissing it. "You wouldn't have. I doubt any of my people have been on this planet in millennia." Though the human love of 'catgirls' has made her question that belief time and again...

Wait.

"Mercury-chan, you can't just go in there! We may need you to get them out, and you - you could get hurt!" Another one of her girls, vanished through a portal? She can't just standby and watch that! But - then she wilts. "But the same could be said of the others. They may need you far more than we do."

But oh, she hates this. She really does.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Tuxedo Kamen takes the thumb drive from Mercury, but pauses. "You have a copy of this data too, right?" He appears his hat from nowhere and takes another thumb drive out of it. "Before you jump through, can you make another copy of that data on this? I don't want to share my only copy."

He glances at Naru and he says, "Pluto's in there. So are Neptune, Uranus, Mars, Moon, Rashmi, Sunbreaker, Hope Blossom, that pirate girl, Jadeite, and Red Rocket Puella whatever she actually calls herself. And now some construction contractors." And he doesn't squeeze the coffee.

He takes another sip of it.

"I'd appreciate that. Ask Yuuhi-san for a barrier device with at least a forty-meter diameter," he tells Taro. "You can tell her I gave you that request."

One hand's opening and closing. Kazuo wants to go in too. Kazuo should go in too, his point is really good. And obviously they'll sort this out.

(He didn't get to kiss Usagi goodbye.)

(He won't ask.)

He says to Kazuo, "When you get there, can you please tell any of the Outer Senshi you see that I'll check in on Sailor Charon? She's... in Pluto's orbit."

His hands do not crush the coffee cup.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Mmm." Naru listens to the list of folks who are .. well.. possibly trapped, probably indisposed at the very least, and who knows what else on the other side of a mysterious portal to goodess only knows where and when. It really is quite the list.

Naru drinks her coffee. She even finishes her coffee and in lieu of a handy trash bin, tucks the empty coffee cup into her satchel. She's hardly about to litter.

There's a little nod and then Naru moves over to where Mercury is making her preparations. "Ready to go?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar glances at Kunzite as he offers to go as well, or at least intimates as such. After a moment she nods. But she doesn't say anything. Instead, she just reaches out and gives Mamoru's shoulder another squeeze, before turning away. "I'll do it," She tells him, as he asks Taro to requisition a barrier device. "I want to talk to her anyway about all this."

    She gives the kids standing around a sweeping look. "Sounds like the beginnings of a plan are coming together, at least. Just be careful, although I'm sure you don't need to tell me that. And keep me updated on what you find out. I want to see everyone back safely as much as anyone."

    She gives a brief smile. "Don't worry. I'm not even lying when I can tell you this isn't the scariest portal to another dimension I've ever dealt with."

    And then she's gone, with barely a flicker of air.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury pauses as she looks toward Kunzite. The offer was a bit unexpected, and though she seems to consider it she glances back toward Tuxedo Kamen from the corner of her eye. The relationship between the two of them wasn't unknown after all. "If you want to come I certainly could use the help."

Some small memory of needing backup while working tickles at her mind. It's quickly ignored in favor of her attention turning to Luna with a smile.

"I know. But they don't have anyone on that side with the abilities that I have access to. They'll need me." While Tuxedo Kamen had Riventon. Much as she disliked the thought of someone she knew having to rely on yet another supposed genius, in this case she was right about having to go through.

"I have a copy. And of course." The extra drive is taken from Tuxedo Kamen to insert into the computer. The copy is an easy, quick thing to do. In no time at all it's offered back toward him.

She hesitates just a moment. Her hand rests against his arm and she leans in to murmer some words of encouragement quietly. "We'll be back. You should say goodbye to him, too." Just in case. JUST in case it was a case she didn't want to admit to, and her gaze drops significantly as she whips around so no one has to see HER expression. There was no one for her to say goodbye to and she had to focus here at the moment.

"I'm ready when you are, Naru-chan. I'll make you the best ice sword," she promises picking up some conversation from awhile ago. With a sidelong tip of her head toward Taro's cooler she suggests, "Let's stock up," as a means to give the boys a moment of privacy.

"Thank you as well Taro-san. I'll repay you somehow later."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kunzite's intent is to move while Mercury is copying data. He gets about half a step in, and converts the gesture to a wince at Tuxedo Kamen's description of Sailor Charon.

At least Mercury opens a window for him, and he completes closing the distance, tucking the water bottle inside an elbow, so that both hands can settle on Tux's arms this time. Light connection.

"Don't worry," he says. "That joke was more painful than anything else we'll run into.""

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
He's got coffee, from Kazuo, but it's got a lid on it; Mercury tells him a thing, so when Kazuo puts his hands lightly on Mamoru's arms, Mamoru steps in and puts his forehead on Kazuo's shoulder, leaning equally lightly. There's a short little huff of breath out, which could be a laugh or could be something similar but opposite, and then Mamoru takes that half-step back after a moment.

No one mention his voice is thick when he says, "'Don't worry,' he says, as if it weren't my main hobby. Go on then. Have fun storming spacetime or whatever. Take care of everyone. Tell Usagi I have something to tell her when you all get back." A beat. "And I'll make up something to tell her."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Mercury... Naru..." Luna clenches her fists a little, looking exceptionally frustrated, worried - and reluctantly, proud. "Take care of each other, alright? They'll need the two of you. Rashmi-chan may be the only one in that group with a level head on their shoulders."

It's mournful but also - honest. She's not going to convince them otherwise, and really, these two are the most level headed options...

"I'll see if I can convince Jupiter and Venus to not just go chasing after you, but... if I don't succeed, make sure to scold them for me? Even if you don't really mean it. Channel my spirit."

And then there's a shimmer and glow, and Luna the girl is Luna the cat once more, sulkily climbing Tuxedo Kamen's extremely nice evening wear to mope on his shoulder.

Taro Yamada has posed:
When most of the magical people are through the portal or teleported away, Taro kneels in front of his cooler again and scoops onigiri and mochi into a plastic bag that managed to jellyfish it's way in. He ties it off at the top, then offers it to Tuxedo Kamen.

"Here. You don't have to cook tonight. If you're a friend of the boss, she wouldn't want you to starve yourself because you felt guilty. I can sell the rest and ward off normies until back up arrives."

He can't have his prime beef be eaten! And, also. Fuyuko-sensei was very cool, and if he got on with her well, then he could get a bit of leeway. Some more pasture time. Especially since it looked like he'd been chopping onions behind that mask. They could get back to business AFTER Beryl's shenanigans were dealt with.