5/You Were Not Refreshing

You Were Not Refreshing
Date of Scene:	01 July 2023
Location:	Juuban Ward
Synopsis:	All Hematite wanted to do was steal some energy for Beryl via horrible fake fake ice cream, but then a bunch of magical girls decided they wanted horrible fake ice cream, not knowing it was fake fake instead of just fake. Featuring Sayaka, Madoka, Sailor Moon, Guardian Daifuku, Kyouko, Hanako, Misery Melon, Kyubey, and Hematite. And also not Gritty.
Cast of Characters:	Madoka Kaname, Mamoru Chiba, Usagi Tsukino, Chiyo Sakai, Kyouko Sakura, Hanako, Melona Mizu

---

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's a sunny summer evening in Juuban, and people are moving slowly.

It might be the end of the day tiredness, ir might be the fact that the heat is still, even now, stultifying. There are no fireflies in the city, but there are mosquitos, and everything feels just a little sticky.

It's the perfect time for ice cream, and there's a vendor there on the corner -- the only one for several blocks -- who's unfortunately selling Dippin Dots instead of real ice cream. But it's cold, at least, right?

There's a tall uniform-wearing RHA upperclassman paying for a cup of them at the moment, and then he saunters off, peoplewatching behind unreadably reflective spectacles.

Sayaka Miki (32) has posed:
Hurrah! It's finally Friday and time to relax! Well, Sayaka hopes som anyway. With any luck she won't run into any Labrynths or other weird stuff like last time, but hey at least she came prepared this time! She never saw the face of the mysterious Puella who saved her last time but maybe she'll get lucky and be able to thank her this time.

Either way, she strides along the pathway headed home, carrying a duffel bag with..Something long and solid hidden within. Just in case. But hey, it's hot and she could really use a dippin' dot, so she heads for the line..

Hanako has posed:
A hot day means loose clothes, Hanako dressed in a frilly blue skirt that cuts off just above her knees and a white blouse that shows off a bit of navel. She's quite dark, as if hoping that'll help thwart some of the heat, or at least keep her from sunburning too much.

Ice cream sounds good. Even if it is that weird 'astronaut food of the future' stuff that kinda tastes like something you scraped off the side of a freezer. It's cold, at the very least, which goes a long way in weather like this. Hanako inserts herself into line and, having scouted the rest of the line, pulls out her wallet to pay with her own money.

Melona Mizu has posed:
     "What is this quatsch<Nonsense>? Not even real ice cream? This land is so hot and sticky and all there is is abklatsch<A cheap copy>?" Mutters Melona as she approaches the Dippin Dots vendor, begrudgingly purchasing the cold sweet treat, shaking her head. She glances towards the RHA upperclassman. "Can you believe what this lusche<Loser> is selling?" She comments idly, shaking her head as she uses the tiny spoon provided with the similarly tiny cup to begin to eat the dippin dots.

     "At least it still feels cooler out here than it does in the forge, so I suppose it's not a complete waste." She adds, taking a couple of steps away, the occasional jingle of some charm or something audible as she moves. Apparently she's got absolutely no fear of insulting the ice cream man right to his face. This definitely is smart, right?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's a hot, hot, hot day, the kind where everything is sticky and Usagi is grateful for her usual hairstyle, because her twintails being set so high means the majority of her hair falls nicely down her back, instead of sticking to the back of her neck. It doesn't help the rest of her, though - her white shirt clinging under her pink overalls, and Luna's heavy weight dragging her shoulders down.

"You've got four legs, Luna, you could walk," she whines under her breath, trying not to be noticed as the weird girl talking to her cat.

"The pavement is too hot for that," Luna replies smugly, "You have those lovely shoes you're scuffing up, while my poor pads would burn."

Usagi is about to tell her that her pads could burn a little more, if it meant not having a furry little body clinging to her in the heat, when she spots the line, and the glorious rescue of treats! She rushes over, joining the line in a flurry of motion. "Oh! Oh, make room for me~!"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
A small gaggle of three girls around the same age wearing RHA uniforms stands gathered near the entrance to one of the small mom amd pop shops that sells manga, figures, and Gatcha toys. They'd been standing there awhile giggling over the pages of the newest books they'd bought minding their own business for the most part. At least until Chiyo comes dashing down from the school with her purple hair a mess, and chalk dust smudged on her skirt. "Sorry I'm late. I was finishing cleaning the club room. Is the latest issue out?"

The girls all look up and offer, "Ooh, sorry Chiyo we grabbed the last issues. We can loan it to you later! We should go for now though. Thanks for finishing cleaning up for us!"

Chiyo comes to a slow plodding stop staring after the trio of girls with a little huff of breath. "Sure. No problem! I'll just grab some icecream..." Her voice trails off as they're already absorbed in the manga again.

A deep breath is taken, held, and Chiyo turns on her heel to march over to the icecream vendor to join the line while digging out her purse from a pocket in her skirt. It's almost out when Usagi rushes by causing her to step to the side lest she get bowled over by the eager girl.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    To those already too hotblooded, the additional heat of the summer twilight adds another layer of frustration. The redheaded girl now approaching the ice cream stand as the line keeps forming has her hoodie with its sleeves knotted around her t-shirt at her waist instead. Kyouko is just about to the stand when Sayaka approaches from another angle--and rather than fall into line behind her, she outright shoves the other girl aside with a careless fling of one arm.

    Heedless of the potential of this to cause chaos in the rapidly-forming line, Kyouko steps up to the cart just as Madoka finishes getting her order. "I'm getting five," she tells the vendor. "Here's my money, it's good." And she slaps down a slightly sticky, but still crisp, pile of yen notes.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Dippin dots! Madoka loves ice cream! And well... on a hot day like today, how could she pass it up? She's wearing a white-with-pink-dots loose summer dress as she walks down the street, and her face brightens when she notices a friend.

    "Saya-chan!" she calls out, walking towards her with a bright smile. Her eyes glance towards the bag, and she gives kindof a nervous laugh. Well, no one can say that the bluenette isn't enthusiastic.

    When it's Madoka's turn to order, she gets something sweet and fruity. "How have you been?" she asks Sayaka, before starting in on the ice cream.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Mm?" the RHA upperclassman asks Melona, dippin dots already in his mouth. His eyebrows lift above his glasses-- and he smiles faintly, light glinting off of the lenses. "I suppose."

In the meantime, Kyouko has ended up with five cups of rippin dots, and Chiyo and Hanako have gotten their ice cream, too. Madoka gets some, and Sayaka gets shoved out of the way it's *so rude*. The stuff does, in fact, taste vaguely of freezerburn incarnate with a hint of milk or something, and faintly, a flavor of some kind. It also tastes a little bit like sadness, but that's always Dippin Dots, isn't it? Usagi's in line, and the RHA upperclassman, who Usagi will recognise as *that $^$^&* guy* from in front of OSA-P, stalks past her and literally lifts it out of her hands.

A moment later, everyone who's had some of the ice cream will, in fact, start to feel much more tired than they should-- maybe a little faint-- except for the magical girls, who will absolutely know that something is draining their energy.

The guy selling ice cream starts moving kind of oddly, and his eyes start glowing, and he says, "Dippin' Dots, the ice cream of the future! Come try it out!"

Sayaka Miki (32) has posed:
Sayaka Miki smiles and waves to Madoka as she joins her, "Heya, Mado-chan, how's it going? I gotta tell you about-!" and then suddenly some oddly familiar looking red head shoves her out of the way and she frowns, struggling to keep from falling over, "Hey! How rude! I was here first you know!" she grumbles as she scurried back to the line, losing her place. But by then, looks like they're probably sold out of ice cream. "Dammit!"

Hanako has posed:
One bite. Two bite. then .. what the heck? Hanako casts a confused glance at a ring on her left hand. For those in the know, it's unmistakeably Hanako's soul gem, for others probably just some sort of high tech mood ring that swirls with a soft purlish color with dark undertones. She isn't even doing anything for Versace's sake and her gem's already starting to darken.

Hanako frowns faintly to herself, then turns to suddenly oddly behaving icecream vendor. "Hey? You sure this isn't expired or something? Tastes kind of funny." While most of her attention is on the vendor, she's keeping half an eye out at the rest of the girls who just ordered icecream to see how they're reacting to it, just in time to spot a non descript brown haired girl with glasses who was eating her icecream before Hanako showed up stagger a bit oddly before catching herself and moving on. ... Not good.

Melona Mizu has posed:
     Was that girl talking to her cat? Actually the fact she had her cat out and it seemed to just be chilling on her shoulders is pretty cool. This fact is something that Melona absolutely pays attention to more than the fact the cat is talking. Because seriously, you see dogs out all the time, but cats? Not so often. "...Huh. That is a well trained cat. Cute."

     Another person seems to be shoving other people out of the way, and... three girls who seemed to give a certain Feel off of them. She looks towards Chiyo. And then towards the three leaving girls as she slowly nibbles at her small bites of dippin' dots. "Hm. A trio of bonze <rich people>, perhaps..." She mutters under her breath, red eyes following the three as they leave. And then the upperclassman just casually steals another girl's ice cream. Aaaaand...

     There was a feeling. Hm. She looks down at her dippin' dots. And then at the person selling it. "Ah. There is baggage<Rabble> here." She mutters under her breath. It doesn't feel like a witch though, different energy, maybe? She's starting to quietly probe at it as she passes off her own dippin' dots to Usagi. That was too much of a risk to let continue, someone else can lose their energy.

     Meanwhile, frankly, there are... several annoyances that are catching Melona's eyes. Those three girls. Kyouko. The uerclassman himself. She tas her li as she casually wanders off, sliing around a corner momentarily before doing a simle ho u onto a roofto, the Quintissential Henshin Location, where she reaches into her ocket and ulls out that small charm. "chmWake up, Drei Sprechen." She murmurs under her breath, as the three-pronged flail grows to full size, and her RHA uniform is replaced by her Puella Magi uniform. Simple, straightforward. Like her. For now, though, Misery Melon just stays atop the roof, watching the situation to see how much she cares to waste her precious energy further.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka is aghast at this sudden red-haired girl pushing Sayaka around like that. How rude!

    No, Madoka shouldn't just assume the worst in people. Maybe she was just really hungry. It's pretty hot out, so maybe people are just antsy? She tries not to take it to personal.

    "Um... excuse me, she was her first..." Madoka starts to say, but then she realizes that she doesn't exactly feel very good right now. "Um... I think I'm gonna go find a place to sit down."

    To Madoka this is just some uncharacteristic malaise that has suddenly fallen upon her. She walks away from the vendor. Maybe if she just finds a bench nearby. She keeps eating little nibbles of her ice cream, unaware that it's the cause of her tiredness.

    After a moment, she collapses on a bench. She decides to just close her eyes for a second, which basically means that she almost immediately passes out and drops her Dippin Dots on the ground. Bear witness to Sleepydoka.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
She's so excited for that ice cream - even if it's Dippin Dots, which only ever tastes good at Tokyo Disneyland after waiting in all the lands and draining *all* your strength - that Usagi barely notices that she's nearly barreled someone right over, hop-hop-hopping her way into a little spin to try and avoid them, entirely too late, and ultimately pinwheeling to avoid crashing into someone else - a pretty blue haired girl shoved right into her path.

How rude! (And how perfectly timed to make her forget her own rudeness!) Bunched fists press against Usagi's sides, and she glowers at the red-haired girl who eagerly buys up entirely too many containers of Dippin Dots. Doesn't she know *everyone* wants a sweet frozen treat today? Someone should remind her about good manners!

But that someone isn't going to be Usagi, who waits in line patiently for *her* turn, definitem=ly not bouncing on her heels and grumbling about the line. Nope, she definitely wouldn't do a thing like that, especially with Luna kneading her shoulder with her paws and ready to make a smart remark, nope, nope -

Besides, she's finally rewarded with her frozen treat! In all her impatience, she barely noticed the line moving, and definitely hadn't noticed a certain annoying someone - not until he steals her treat, anyway!

For a moment, there's a beat of dumbfounded silence as she stares at her empty hand, and then the culprit.

"You!!!!!"

It doesn't last long.

"I can't believe you'd steal a young girl's treat right out of her hands!" And she's so angry, she doesn't notice the people around her, or their reactions. She doesn't even notice the glowing eyes of the shopkeeper - and, not having eaten any of the treat, none of her energy is drained. "Didn't you buy your *own* treat, you cheapazoid?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai steps to the side to try and find a spot in some shade while enjoying her icecream. The first bite informs her that 'enjoy' is certainly not actually goign to happen. The little spoon is held between her lips while her expression alternates between trying to decide if she should eat it, or be so uncouth as to spit it out. Reluctantly she gulps it down with a grimace.

"Ugh, it's cold but the flavor is awful. *This* is the future of snacks? It's awful... Not even very refreshing." A little yawn comes immediately after she says this feeling suddenly far more drained than she should in spite of the heat.

With Usagi nearby she catches Darien stealing the others icecream leaving her in a momentary state of shock. "That's not nice-" she begins only to feel that queasy sensation of losing energy again. A rather rotund cat that can only be considered 'chonk' comes barreling out of the bushes to bump and rub against Chiyo's leg distracting her further with a deep meow.

Except it literally just says the word "Meow."

Chiyo glances down surprised. "Bonito? Why are you here?" The chonk hops up onto his rear legs to bump her elbow with his head so that she can see he has a paper wrapped senbei held in his mouth. "Me-yow. Come on and take it already!" Bonito hisses urgently.

The icecream is literally dropped with a sudden disgust in favor of the senbei cracker offered by the cat. She turns away from the crowd, lifting it to her lips to *crunch* into it daintily while walking swiftly toward the shade and shadows of some trees to finish her transformation out of sight.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Too late, loser, be faster next time!" Kyouko calls back to Sayaka as she starts away with her ice cream. She pauses for just a split second as she gets a chance to actually get a good look at the girl she just shoved--hey, isn't that...? Ugh. It had better not be the stupid girl she saved the other day (just so that she didn't have to clean up the body, of course). That would be annoying, somehow.

    To be absolutely fair to the Dippin' Dots, *everything* tastes a little like sadness to Kyouko, so she doesn't actually notice the little extra added kick in this overpriced ice cream novelty treat. If anything, it tastes almost nostalgic. There's something comforting about how pretty and novel it looks and how terrible it tastes--just like the life of a Puella Magi.

    On the other hand, Kyouko's failure to notice the initial low-quality taste of the ice cream particles could also be because she's literally tipping each cup into her mouth at once in a single go. One, two, three--

    Out of the corner of her eye, she catches sight of the cup of ice cream falling out of Madoka's hands onto the ground, and her eyes widen. "What the--!" And that's when that sense of being *drained* hits her. She turns around just in time to see the salesman being...weird. Now her eyes narrow, and she carefully sets her remaining two cups of ice cream down and reaches out to try to grab the salesman by the collar. "Did you *poison* good ice cream?!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Darien laughs, starting to walk backwards with Usagi's ice cream in one hand and his in the other. And then he sees Another Cup in her hands and stops walking, his eyes briefly going wide, then dangerously narrow.

He very deliberately licks (!!!) the top (!!!) of Usagi's cup of dippin dots, then sticks out his tongue at her. Covered in them. Then he jams that cup inside the first and-- as soon as Usagi gets up to him-- he steals THAT ice cream out of her hands, too. "Look back at your friends, Tsukino-san. Then go home."

Behind her, meanwhile, Sayaka loses her place in line and has to end up buying it after everyone else, and Hanako starts taking the vendor to task-- except the vendor's glowy eyes brighten and he smiles and his teeth are awfully sharp. And there are a lot of them.

Melona finds out that perching is the better part of valor -- she'll be able to see, from that vantage point, people dropping like flies and that upperclassman messing with a freshman still, but-- he's unaffected by the ice cream and is keeping her from eating it.

Poor Madoka eats enough to give her the most adorable public nap since the catgirls had a Shibuya Meltdown on Ruffles Night. Chiyo, on the other hand, has herself a good mascot who can tell bad ice cream from a mile off, and Kyouko is the first one to resort to assault. If anyone is surprised, please meet Kyouko Sakura.

The vendor transforms right in her hands -- and unaffected civilians start scattering to the four winds, some screaming, some backing off to try and film, most either running or steadfastly trying to ignore it, because THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT. Too many limbs, for one thing. Its clothing bursts off it, mostly, and it's sort of orange, and ... like a kind of scaly Grimace, honestly, with too many arms and an awful lot of toes. It has a lot of teeth, too, mind. "OF COURSE! IT'S THE ICE CREAM OF THE FUTURE!" it roars and grabs Kyouko's arms, hauling her up and THROWing her.

Sayaka Miki (32) has posed:
Sayaka Miki does manage to get some ice cream - eventually, at the back of the line, and she doesn't wait to take a bite, not yet noticing that everyone around her is passing out. "Hey, look whose. talking! Someone oughta teach you some manners!" still, she stares long and hard at the girl, why does she seem so familiar? Was she...?

And then suddenly Madoka passses out and she gasps, "Madoka-chan! What's.." then other people are collapsing. She gasps, tossing her ice cream away, "It's the ice cream! Is it another labyrinth...?" wait, how does she even know about that? "Kyu...bey.."

Then she suddenly collapses too..

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    When the ice cream guy starts transforming into a monster in her very grip, Kyouko really looks more surprised than she has any right to be at this point. But, to be fair, the heat is getting to her, and she's being magically drained by three cups of Darkness-infused Dippin' Dots, and her braincell is working overtime.

    So she goes flying through the air, but rather than flail and tumble, at the apogee of her trajectory she simply...

    ...changes in colorful shimmers and crimson splashes of color, and suddenly she's on her feet balanced atop a nearby railing clad in red ruffles and holding a truly ridiculous spear, because she's not really thinking about subtlety or dealing with consequences at some point in the future right now. She's thinking about wasted ice cream and the fact that she was suddenly in midair. "What the heck do you think you're doing! What the heck do you think you ARE! I'm going to bust your ugly monster FACE for what you did to that ice cream!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The yelling might go on longer, but there's a new cup placed right into her hands, offered by a stranger she doesn't recognize but who has just become her new knight in shining armor, a hero, a champion, even! Usagi rounds on the girl, so swiftly that her twintails might manage to slap against Darien's sides. "Thank you -"

But her hero is gone.

"You know, that's how someone should *actually* act. Being generous, and kind, and - are you listening to me? Are you - LICKING MY ICE CREAM? Did you steal my -"

But then, there are things too strange even for Usagi to miss (or for Luna to let her miss), especially with Darien taunting her to take a look. She does so, and a chill runs through her at what she sees. There's a pink haired girl, slumped over a bench so swiftly her treat falls, without even noticing it. There's another girl, stumbling a bit, and a third, stumbling off into the distance - are they okay? There are people starting to drop like flies, falling to the ground as though someone's sprayed fly spray all over them, not even sick or groaning, just down, on the ground. Is something - wrong with these treat? But what kind of treat made someone fall asleep? Didn't food poisoning just make you sick to your stomach?

"Their energy is being drained, you silly girl," Luna hisses into her ear, voice low and urgent. The cat has her ears pressed tight to her skull, her tail a whiplash of motion. Red eyes are focused intently on the shopseller, gone strange and insistent, his teeth awfully sharp and his eyes bright like something out of a video game. But it's not a video game. She knows that, now. This is nothing like the Sailor V game. "It's like the jewelry store! He's not a real shopkeeper, and you've got to stop him.

Horror fills Usagi's heart, horror and fear, twofold: first, at the thought of having to fight *again*, when it was the scariest, most awful thing in the world, and second, at the thought of having to thank *Darien*, for keeping her from losing her energy. The only saving grace was that he couldn't possibly know what he'd done, so she didn't *really* have to thank him, right? Right!

"But maybe it's not," she whispers to Luna urgently, inching away from the ice cream man and Darien too, just in case. "Maybe this ice cream is just really bad, in a weird new way!" But even she doesn't believe that, not with all those teeth, not with the way that rude red haired girl has swarmed up to him, not with -

She screams. Of course she does. A man turns into a monster in front of her, and she's still crybaby Usagi at heart and soul. At least she hasn't transformed yet, because everyone's ear drums are spared. For the moment. But then, just when her legs are shaking and she's ready to run - that pretty blue haired girl just collapses, right in front of her. And crybaby Usagi runs forward, catching her before she can fall, shaking in her overalls and nearly falling with all that weight in her arms. "

"I - I've got you!" She stammers to the unconscious girl, and backs away, dragging her with her to some shelter, behind a car parked on the street.

"You've got to transform," Luna yowls, nearly pitched off her shoulder by Usagi's sudden rush and the way she nearly toppled. Her claws are digging into Usagi's skirt, pressing against skin, to hold her in place. "Sailor Moon -"

"I've got to help her first!"

Hanako has posed:
Yeah. She somehow expected that, Hanako's approach on the vendor is halted when he turns into a Youma, the teenaged girl reconsidering her options in life when confronted with something that's clearly a danger and not even bothering to hide itself. What the heck is that about?

That moment pause gave Kyouko a chance to but in line once again, though instead of a dubiously tasty treat she's getting tossed and transforming into a magical girl and Hanako's... reconsidering what she's doing here. Definately time to change into a more powerful form. The transformation from school girl to magical girl isn't nearly as flashy for Hanako. A skip forward and school clothes is replaced with a form fitting leotard. A bit of a twirl and the cape's added with various sparkly bits of jewelry and the assorted accourments of a magical girl, then as Kyouko once again charges in to take the brunt of the Youma's anger, Hanako jumps backwards with a shimmer of air in front of her as she creates her magical bow.

"Hey Redhead! Try not to let that thing bite your face off." she calls out as she lets an arrow fly at the Youma with Kyouko being rather aggressive between her and her target. The arrow swerves through the air though, always managing to keep Kyouko out of its flight path.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    A pair of red eyes appear in the shadows beneath Madoka's chosen resting place. A white paw steps forward, and then another. Kyubey carefully steps out from the shadows, and then looks up at the sleeping middle schooler. The creatures lips don't move, but it speaks telepathically.

    "Wake up! You have to wake up!" it calls out, in a voice that sounds convincingly like desperation. It hops up to the bench, and then sits in Madoka's lap. "It's not safe here. We need to go!"

    Madoka stirs slightly, mumbles something in her sleep, then suddenly grabs Kyubey and squeezes the creature in her arms before rolling sidewise. In her drowsiness, she's mistaken the magical mascot for one of her plushies, and hasn't yet remembered that she isn't at home in bed.

    Ladies and gentlemen, meet the potential Puella Magi Madoka Kaname. Clearly, this is a woman of action.

Melona Mizu has posed:
     Huh. That upperclassman seems to be trying to protect the meatballhead. Fascinating. Melona makes note of /that/ as well as everything else. Also people falling down. Hm. "I wonder if I could steal that things' energy like a Hexe<witch>?" She murmurs under her breath. Still, most of the people are running, at least those that hadn't dropped like flies.

     A glance at her own gem, which was mildly darkened by that energy drain, then towards the monster with too many arms and toes. And teeth. Lots of teeth. "Ice cream of the future? More like a load of nonsense." Misery Melon comments as she hops down from the roof shortly after Kyouko is thrown, a trio of thuds audible as the flail's spheres strike the ground around her, leaving cracks in the earth around them.

     The fact that another Puella Magi just transformed right in front of her pretty much is noted. Hmm. And ... speeches about justice for ice cream, and other things. "Anyone still standing that wants themselves and anyone else around here to live, get out of here. Take anyone you care to." States the... rather dimunuative pink-haired girl.

    Like a small, grumpy Madoka almost. With a flail. "Because this thing? Not great at avoiding that 'friendly fire' thing." She says, lifting her flail slightly. She starts to swing the flail, only to twirl around the three spheres, hand slipping through the ground briefly and coming up with a series of three daggers which are quickly flicked towards the Youma. Not the most powerful of attacks, but likely a good distraction for that incoming arrow. It's Puella Beatdown Time apparently.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
From the shadows burst forth a sudden plume of flame. It was the friendly orange-red flames from a hearth, from a campfire, or a cooking fire. While it brought with it a short burst of heat it also brought with it a sense of comfort, of home. Though the flicker up high into the air the flames do not burn or scorch at all.

Almost as soon as they appeared they shift, swirling in a vortex that clears them away. There where the fire had appeared stands a girl in a short traditional kimono with an apron overtop, and her hair pulled out of her face by hair puns that looked like the deocrative wagashi daifuku molded into the shape of flowers. In her hand is a long staff with a wooden mallet at one end which twirls in her grasp skillfully to dismiss the transformative blaze around her.

Culinary Guardian Daifuku catches the other end of her staff to cease the spinning holding the large pestle in both hands.

"How dare you! Food is meant to energize, revive, and soothe the spirits of those weary--Not steal their energy! Release everyone from your grasp or else!"

Or else what? She certainly had her hammer at the ready but hearing Misery call out to keep clear she simply nods, leaping to the side to slide protectively in front of some of the frightened or passed out school kids prepared to defend.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I am-- SELLIN' COLD EXHAUSTION!!" the youma who's still wearing its Dippin Dots baseball cap roars at Kyouko, way up there perched like a red ruffled gargoyle.

Usagi turns away from Darien, and the second she does, he's gone round a corner and flickered away.

Half a second later, there's an arrow poking out of one of the youma's seven arms, and he screeches in aggravation like an insulted velociraptor, kind of. "THE FUTURE IS SLEEPY!" it yells. It's a real salesman. It ends up getting daggers in two more of its arms, leaving four, but the third dagger winds up in one of its legs and oh now it's mad, it only has two of those. "ICE CREEEEAM! FUTURRRRE!!!"

"God what a bad idea," Hematite murmurs to himself on a rooftop on the opposite side of the street, twirling a ball of energy around in his white-gloved hand. "NICE HAMMER!" he yells towards Guardian Daifuku with better cheer, he's grinning and he waves. "Bet you could get him good with it!"

The youma half-turns, looking COMPLETELY BETRAYED, then picks up the vendor cart with a giant creeeeak and throws *it*, though it doesn't throw it nearly as far as it flung Kyouko. It sails about five feet and crashes to the ground, breaking open and spilling tainted Dippin Dots across the sidewalk and into the street. On hitting the sizzling hot pavement, the little cold pellets start to evaporate and then turn into milky tar, making everything sticky and kind of bad-smelling. There's a miasma of sorrow in the air to accompany it. Most of the civilians have left the area.

"Why haven't you left yet?" Hematite yells at someone from the first group that were ushered away who's come back with a camera. "Go away, there's a fight!"

The youma's orange scaly grimace-shaped self picks up the umbrella and hurls it at Misery Melon, then starts scooping fistfuls of the ice cream dots still in the broken cart and flinging them at the girls. On impact, they actually kind of feel like getting hit by hail really hard. And also they're sad. Little pieces of sadness hail.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Ugh." Yes, that's Kyouko's reaction, from atop the railing, to the realization that there's other magical girls here. To add insult to injury, she can't help but catch sight of some other girl dragging an unconscious Sayaka to safety. Doesn't Usagi know that's *her* bullying victim, as decreed by fate and the irrational pang of irritation Kyouko had two seconds ago upon seeing that helpful rescue? Speaking of which-- "Hey, you idiots! Don't you know how this works? One of them, one of us. There's no room for you. Let me handle it!"

    But while she's ranting, the other Puella are attacking, landing hits on the ice cream youma in the process, and then the angered monster is aggro for real, and she's having to dodge flying pellets of...wait, did the youma *throw food at her as an attack*? Really? Oh, that is it. That's the end of her rope. With a furious yell of wordless rage, she grips her spear tightly and flings herself and the weapon, stabby part forward, in the immediate direction of the orange menace's face. Or whatever the most face-like part of it is.

    Yes, she's being spattered with weirdly freezerburned plasticky Darkness-tainted pellets of sadness in the process. She's very sticky and increasingly melancholy but justice cannot go unserved for this travesty.

Melona Mizu has posed:
     An arrow strikes a limb, daggers strike other limbs and a leg. Though they were fairly weak daggers, they didn't seem particularly ineffective? Maybe the heat of the pavement she used for it helped, in spite of how little energy she put into them. "You think her hammer's nice, wait til you see my flail." Melon comments, as those dippin dots start to roll out and evaporate into... nasty... sticky... milky tar. Ugh. That's gross. An umbrella is chucked at her.

     Which strikes her! Making her take a few steps back, landing in that milky tar with a grimace. "...Really? ... You made me... fall into... this... nastiness...?" A sorrowful miasma. As sad as the dippin dots themselves. Melona reaches for that umbrella that had been chucked at her, which alters shape rather suddenly into ... what's almost a mockery of Kyouko's own spear, which Melona lifts. "Here. I think this was yours." She says, chucking it back towards the dippin' youma as she stands back up. "Hm." She lifts her hand, beginning to draw in some of that dark energy, just testing. Let's see, does that help the soul gem? Hmm. Nope, doesn't seem to, but it doesn't /not/ help her. That dark energy is then channeled straight into her flail, which grows larger.

     "Look, if you wanted first dips, you should have attacked first, hunger lady." Yep. That's Kyouko's name now. Hunger lady.

Hanako has posed:
"Ya sure that thing even .gives. grief seeds?" Hanako calls out to Kyouko's back as she charges the monster again, "That look like a witch to you? Where's its...." and then a clog of half melted icecream gunk hits Hanako straight in the mouth. This stuff doesn't taste any better when its' being force fed to you! Hanako wipes all that gunk off of her lower face with a disgusted look on the other one and prepares to shoot another arrow.

As more nasty hard icecream pellets start to stick to her, Hanako retreats to behind a newspaper stand. No reason standing out in the open like this if she doesn't have to, and it gets her closer to the other girl throwing things. "How's that girl not been eaten already." she calls out out to her with a bit of a puff, "throws herself right at their mouths."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Kyubey slips out of the sleeping Madoka's grasp, and turns his beady red eyes towards the Puella Magi who are actually engaged with the youma. It assumes a perch on top of the bench while Madoka mumbles something unintelligible. Sayaka is down somewhere, dragged to safety by Usagi. With both of his potential recruits down for the count, Kyubey stretches his back and flicks his tail.

    Well this was a waste of time, he thinks to himself. He may as well stay to observe the fight, if for no other reason than to see what goes on with Kyouko, Misery Melon and Hanako. He doesn't seem to be overly bothered by the smell, though his eyes do go up to Hematite. If the dark general happens to look, he could probably see Kyubey's two red eyes staring at him, unblinking.

    "Oh, it's certainly not a Witch! At least, not like any Witch I've ever seen." Kyubey telepathically calls out to Hanako, while still staring unblinking at Hema. "Whether or not you fight this creature is completely up to you, but I wouldn't expect it to drop a Grief Seed."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
By the time Usagi has huffed, puffed, and dragged herself and the pretty blue-haired girl to the relative safety of ducking behind a parked car, her back hurts and her arms feel like overstretched noodles, and she can't believe there's still a monster in need of fighting. It's not fair! It's scary enough to fight these monsters when she's transformed into Sailor Moon, strong and powerful, but now she's already tired, and scared, and -

And the redhaired girl who was thrown transforms. Goes from regular clothes to strange attire, with a weapon in her hand, launching herself at the monster with no fear, just anger about the - the ice cream? Usagi is mad about the ice cream too, but is that really the most important thing -

Another girl, and another, and then *another*, her eyes wide as saucers as she sees them, girls with weapons and powers and all the confidence in the world to do something so scary. Moving on autopilot, she lowers the blue haired girl to the ground, staring transfixed at the fighters. "Luna... Luna, are these the allies you told me about?"

But Luna is as shocked as Usagi, the hairs along her back standing on end as she looks at the others fighting the good fight against the monster. "These - these are not your allies, Sailor Moon," Luna says finally, her voice low. She leaps from Usagi's shoulder to land besides the unconscious blue-haired girl. "At least - they are not your fellow soldiers. But if they're fighting that youma, they must be your allies for the moment! You can't hide away and let them do all the work!"

Usagi flinches, having wanted to do just that, and ashamed of it, heat pinkening her cheeks. She opens her mouth, ready to protest, not entirely sure what to say - and the ice cream cart is flung into the air, landing not far from the car they're hidden behind. Dipping dots fly through the air and slam into the ground, melting away, the scent of cream and preservative and sorrow rising from the hot asphalt.

In all honesty, this only makes her more scared. That cart weighed more than she did, was bigger than her, and that monster threw it like it was nothing! And there were so many people here, all with weapons in their hands - spears and hammers and heavy balls on chains and bows and what did she have but her tiara?

Never mind that the Tiara had cut through the last monster she fought in one fell blow...

Darn it! She hated when Luna was right!

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" The command is whispered as quietly as she can manage, though the glow of light that surrounds her, spilling from around the car, gives a hint that *something* happened. The figure that rises is certainly not Uagi Tsukino, though. No, Usagi Tsukino would never leap to the top of a car and point to a terrifying monster, and Usagi Tsukino certainly didn't look like that - a pretty sailor suited soldier, clad in a white leotard, blue sailor collar and skirt, red bows, odango caps, boots, and gloves, and a golden tiara to boot.

No, this was Sailor Moon, Beautiful Soldier of Love and Justice. "You - you awful fiend who taints sweet treats and ruins peaceful sunny day, how dare you! In the name of the moon, I, Sailor Moon, with the help of these wonderful, brave soldiers, will stop you!"

Now all she had to do was make her shaking, quaking legs carry her to the fight. At least she missed the barrage of all that nasty half melted ice cream.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Nice hammer? Daifuku almost calls back to correct about just what it is, but she pauses as there were more pressing things to deal with. Even though the Youma takes some attack damage from the other girls that cart slamming down required a quick dodge to the side to avoid being hit with it, or the yucky slimy mess of melted grossness that comes out.

Then the youma starts actually lobbing it at people.

A hammer, or kine as it were, was poor defense against a hundred small hailstone pellets. Daifuku throws her hand up over her face so that the long sleeves on her forearms will block the worst of it as the pellets smack against her leaving little hissing stick stains in various shades of ew.

"Oh, *BLEEP* this!" That was a curse word in some language or another, surely, but Daifuku yells it all so quick that it kind of garbles together conveniently making it hard to figure out what exactly she said.

It didn't matter. Her hand lowers back to the staff of the Kine as she stomps one foot forward swinging the overlarge mallet behind her. It comes crashing down in the puddle of melted sadness-cream as energy ripples around her. Like little flames on a hibachi grill the magical flames coalesce and race down the length of the hammer to the ground it impacted--Cracks appear in the concrete. Just little slivers, nothing more, but from them plumes of steam hiss out seeking to not just further melt the icecream but evaporate it with the purifying heat of the God of the Hearth.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
This melee of melancholy cannot last in the face of such attacks! Every rake of retribution that comes from the assembled magical girls lands on the big orange bulky scaly youma, bleeding ichor and roaring nonsense--

--and the air clears, very suddenly, of the vasty apathy that assailed the assembled with sorrow and ennui. The monster roars again, in indignation and rage, and it starts shedding its skin. Literally. Right there in front of everybody. The damaged limbs have to go, too, and suddenly the youma is sleeker and brighter and its remaining four arms turn into small cannons. Small cannons that shoot hollowpoint dippin' dots.

BLAM BLAM BLAM.

They're still dippin' dots. They just splatter more efficiently now, and maybe hit a little harder, but that's offset by them no longer having the strength and solidity of hail.

Hematite pinches the bridge of his nose, then slowly glances over and eyes Kyubey eyeing him for a second. He tosses the ball of energy into the air and then vanishes it into thin air. Cupping his hands around his mouth, the long-haired and dramatically-caped young man calls out, "SAILOR MOON! HELP YOUR FRIENDS!"

Melona Mizu has posed:
     "Fortune favors the bold, such as our naschkatze<Sweets lover> girl over there. To charge in is sometimes the way to win, ja?" Misery Melon responds. "Better than standing back timidly, letting others take advantage of your quiet, mm?" The pink girl then glances towards... the ... bright one. Sailor Moon, yelling at the youma and calling them all wonderful, brave soldiers... gets a slight crinkle of Melona's nose. "...Drawing attention to yourself? Careful, you might get it, lady Mond."

     Misery Melon begins to move towards the Youma, intent on closing the distance much like Kyouko has, the spiked chunks of metal at the end of her flail scraping along the asphalt and leaving deep gouges where she moved. The dark energy she'd just drawn in being suffused into the three-headed flail as she moves. Which was good, since that dark energy she'd been using for her ends was very quickly being purified, it seems. "Ugh... too hot to be using moves like that." She mutters under her breath. "Oh. Good. Now THIS is happening."

     She adds, as there are suddenly hollowpoint dippindots being fired at her, something which she mostly blocks with her flail, ducking behind the massive metal spheres before too many of them strike her and deal much damage.

     Moments later, Misery Melon is leaing out from behind the sheres, lifting the flail behind her as dark energy suffuses them rather suddenly, the sheres growing mid-swing to a much larger size -- literally likely like swinging three of herself -- as she brings it down towards the youma. "YOU WERE NOT REFRESHING. chxSPITZEN BURST!" The three flails strike towards it, and even if they miss, they explode into a small burst of energy, which... being currently suffused with dark energy, may not be the most effective against a youma. Luckily, less dark magical girls exist in the area, as Misery Melon begins to retreat after her attack back to a reasonable range.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    In a furious blaze of crimson and flashing golden spear, Kyouko attacks the youma, relentlessly stabbing until it resorts to another transformation. Then she's forced to back off and land several meters away. By that point she's panting a little--she did consume three cups of the tainted freezedried ice cream product, after all, and the drain on her power is pretty noticeable despite passion giving her a momentary boost. "This sucks! All these amateurs getting in my way!" And who's this 'Sailor Moon' chick? What's *her* problem?

    Kyouko drips stickily with congealed ice cream of the future as she takes just a moment to weigh her options in the midst of battle, and that's when one of the other Puella leaps forward at the monster, flail in hand. She's too tired to object at this point, so she caves and lets instinct kick in: she hurls her spear and it fragments into a chain in midair, aiming to wrap around the youma and help hold it in place for the others' attacks. "Fine! *You* jerks can save the day! GET THAT STUPID THING!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
At the end of it all, there's only one thing left for Sailor Moon to do. After all of those attacks, the youma is tired, beaten down, forced to transform once more in an attempt to survive, but even with cannons firing and voice shouting, it won't be enough. It can't be enough, because this monster is all on it's own, and Sailor Moon has powerful allies with her, in these marvelous fellow magical girls, yes, but also -

But also, that familiar, dreamy voice, of the boy she'd met only once, on the night she first transformed, but that she had fantasized about a dozen times over. Sailor Moon may receive her first and only spattering of dark energy Dippin Dots, but it won't be enough to save the youma. It's time for things to be finished.

Without Luna's call, moving with only the desire to help, to end things, and also to not be pelted with yet more Dippin Dots, Sailor Moon's hand goes to her forehead and grasps her tiara.

"I can do this! Moon Tiara Action!"

Now transformed into a disc of rapidly spinning golden energy, the tiara is thrown from Sailor Moon's hand at an admittedly awkward angle, wobbling just slightly in the air as it closes in. The youma will see it coming, perhaps think it nothing - and will more than likely end up sheared in half by Sailor Moon's opening - and finished - blow.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Head of the Kine hammer on the ground, Guardian Daifuku runs forward still grasping the handle which she brings up like a pole vault. Her body flings forward but rather than leave the hammer behind she brings it with her to swing overhead once more as she lands in a crouch.

The long handle comes in handy here (hah) as the wooden mallet comes slamming down toward the top of the youma's head. Just in case it tried to escape any other attacks, her attack seeks to literally hammer it in place so it can't.

Hanako has posed:
"Quiet? Heh. Just not built to be thrown around like that." Hanako pinches her nose, then stands up for a bit daring the withering fire from the cannons to stare the monster down instead. No way in heck is she getting up that close and personal to the youma.

As people charge in to continue the assault, and a leggy blonde takes position atop a car to chastise the youma, Hanako narrows her eyes and sets target on the monster. This one she's actually aiming, unlike the others that that were shot off as if she was perfectly confident they'd actually hit. A little bit of timing, too, waiting for the exact moment when it seems Kyouko and Melon's attacks were about to land.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" She shouts out loud enough that she can't be misheard even in the chaos of battle.

The next firework leaves her bow like a the world's largest roman candle. The arrow leaves a trail of sparkles and smoke behind it until impact when *KRAKAKABAM* that firework goes off in a concophony of light and sound and ohgodthecolorsareburningtherewayintothebackofyourhead. It's the sort of light you could see if you had your eyes closed. A bit distracting, to say the least.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Kyubey silently judges Hematite from a distance, breaking eye contact only to scratch itself behind the ears and then turn to the active Puella Magi. Melon's dark energy attacks continue to draw the mascot's attention, and it silently watches as Kyouko wraps it up with her chain spear for Daifuku to hammer it. When the blinding effect of Hanako's arrow fades away, Kyubey is already gone, leaving Madoka all alone. It doesn't even see the effect of Sailor Moon's tiara.

    Madoka... is about as asleep as anyone else who got drained.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The enormous flails Misery Melon swings at the villain land a partial giant hit, taking out one of the cannons and sinking one into the monster's midsection, and the dark sparkles of energy that result from the missed flail scatter in tiny explosions and end up soaked by the melting dippin dots. The monster yells, "NO MY FUTURE!!!" except in this form its teeth are in the way so it's a little distorted. It starts trying to shed its extra teeth in the middle of the fight, which. Not the best plan really.

The spear-chain not only wraps around the youma, but it gets another one of the cannons to stop firing-- by tying that cannon arm to the side of the monster, pointed down. It shoots itself in the foot. More roaring, and some youma teeth fall, too. And the teeth melt like the ice cream. In fact, the skin that the monster shed is also melting like ice cream. This is probably the stickiest fight--

--and then it's TIME TO PUT THE HAMMER DOWN. Not-Gritty wheezes as the hammer bonks him fully a foot into the pavement, putting its seventeen-toed feet out of sight and burying it up to midcalf.

Then oh dear god the fireworks; not-Grimace shrieks again as it's blinded and deafened and tripped into not having literally a single idea what the actual yikes is happening, and it waves its last cannon in the air, spitting teeth desperately. It doesn't see it coming.

All of this happens so quickly it's hideously confusing but extremely exciting to watch, and Hematite, above, is watching avidly now-- until the magical flashbang, and then he's grimacing and rubbing his eyes. "Damn," he says, and then hears MOON TIARA ACTION and abruptly scowls because he doesn't get to see his youma get dusted by ~goodness and violence~. And finally, teamwork. And, well, Moon Tiara Action.

The youma screams out, "REFRESHING!!!"

There's a big poof of sparkling orange energy that glitters through the air and then starts to dissipate in the direction of the unconscious civilians and the magical girls, whoever ate any of the tainted ice cream.

"Next time, team up from the start and the fight will be over much more quickly!" Hematite yells from across the street, then waves and steps into an invisible door, fading through it into nothing.

The sidewalk is still sticky.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's a titanic rush of attacks - a flail coming down, a hammer coming down, a chain binding and tightening, a flashbang that has Sailor Moon blinkinb rapidly, trying to clear her eyes, hoping her attack did something useful -

And then the monster goes boom, with a shout of refreshing! that honestly feels a little pitiful. The poor, awful thing. It might have attacked everyone, but - CUTE BOY TALKING TO HER!

Head empty, no thoughts, Sailor Moon lifts her head and scans the sky, looking, searching - and she catches sight of him just as he opens a door to nothing, in nothing. "Thank you, Hematite-kun!"

She doesn't think twice about thanking the mysterious boy in the sky in front of all these fellow magical girls. And, in fact, speaking of magical girls - she spins on her heel (nearly tripping off the car) and says, eagerly, "We did it! Everyone, we did it together! And it was barely even scary!"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    In the aftermath, Kyouko leans woozily on her spear, now intact and at her side again. "What?" She squints in Hematite's direction, finally registering that there's this random tall kid yelling at the whole bunch of the rest of them. "Did that guy just say something about teamwork? What's his problem? Wait, where'd he go? I'm gonna--give him a piece of my--" She pauses, looking around her. It finally hits her: as far as the eye can see (well, not really, but she's a bit fixated), there's nothing but ruined, wasted novelty ice cream treats. Slowly, stickily, the tainted foodstuffs melt into miserable residue before her very eyes.

    It's too much. The drain on her energy finally catches up with her, her adorable little magical outfit flickers out and disappears to be replaced by her (now sticky and dripping) casual clothes, and with the spear no longer in her hand supporting her, she pitches forward onto the sticky, sticky pavement, completely exhausted.

Hanako has posed:
Deep breath. Okay, that was over and it was.. she checks the palm of her hand where her soulgem is kept. Yeah, that'll do. She makes her way out from behind the newspaper stand, clothes shifting back to more suitable street clothes with every step. No fancy magic, just a gradual transition step to step. "Hey redhead, you okay?" Hanako asks in concern as she makes her way over to Kyouko.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku steps back with hammer held up, leaning heavily on it as she felt her own energy starting to wane from the fight. Maybe it was just the rush of adrenaline starting to fade. Whatever the case, she had one thing left she had to do. Smiling her head dips and then ...

She just isn't there.

It doesn't last long. A flicker, a blink of the eye, and then she IS there again. Slightly different. The apron she wore now had spots of dust and flour as if she'd been cooking and the softly fragrant scent of confectionaries drifts from her general direction.

"We did do it!" She agrees, belatedly in response to Sailor Moon. "And now it's time for us to retire. A long day, and a long fight, deserves more than a little respite." She hadn't MEANT to rhyme but it did so... it didn't matter.

Her hammer lifts again out in front of her but turned to the side and ontop of it were various daifuku. Strawberry, matcha, black sesame. With a quick spin around the confections fling off toward those remaining magical girls as well as any lingering civilians that had felt the effects of the icecream. "Eat, and be revived! I promise they're good!"

Again she leans on the hammer a bit more tired than before. "I do have to go now though, my power's spent. Goodbye!"

Melona Mizu has posed:
     Boom! ... The monster is gone. And the pavement is even more sticky than it was before. Also some people are unhenshining? Then again she already knew what they looked like before and after henshinning though, so... "Man, she's already out cold. Probably what she gets for that, but uh." She looks down at Kyouko, and then towards Hanako. "If you care about her at all you should probably go hexe hunting soon." Misery Melon comments.

     Then up at Hematite she just kind of. Stares. "...Aren't you the one who /did/ this? Why are you giving advice? Did the dippin dots go to your head or something?" She shakes her head, before walking towards Sailor Moon. "And you. You ... really showed up late what the heck? Where did you even come from? Also why are you thanking the source of this??? Hast du sie nicht mehr alle? <Have you lost your mind?>" Sigh. "...Anyway. ...Turned out fine. This time. I guess. What a waste of energy." Finally, she walks over to the cart, quickly changing it into the shape of a shield. "I'm taking this. Bye." And then she's off, leaping along rooftops, as one does when they're super powered. ...What did she want with a broken cart?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon is really pleased with herself, honestly! She did it! She didn't cry even once this time! And - she found allies! People who could fight with her, even if Luna insisted they weren't soldiers like her, they were still magical, clearly, and still fighters, just like her, in over there heads, but eager to do their best for everyone. Right?

But before she can get too excited, the redheaded girl has transformed to her regular, very sticky clothes, and before Sailor Moon can do more than cry out, "Oh no! Wait, don't -" she collapses. Right into the sticky, icky, sidewalk.

Oh boy, that was going to be a nightmare to clean later - and hey, hey wait, there were so many civilians unconscious, especially girls in rainbow colors, between the pink-haired girl from earlier, the pretty blue-haired girl, and now this redhaired girl -

But, at least one of the other girls is cheering with her, happy to recognize their victory, and - give out snacks? Never let it be said Sailor Moon turns down a free snack!

Unfortunately, this means her mouth is full when the other girl, the pink haired magical girl, comes right up to her, and she's - um, ah, uhhhh!!!!

"I'm 'oing mwhy west," she mumbles with her mouth full, mangling her 'I'm doing my best'. Probably for the best, because the other girl is off, before she can even try to explain about how Hematite is *nice* actually! By the time she swallows, their little group has significantly dwindled.

"Um," she starts again, then looks at the three unconscious girls, and all the civilians. "We should help who we can, everyone! These two girls are wearing the Radiant Heart Academy uniform, so they must be students! And... I don't know about the other girl, but she fought with us! We can't just leave her here. Please, won't you help me take them back to the school? The nurse's office definitely won't turn her away!"