1417/Yoga Time! Zone Construction is a Go!

Yoga Time! Zone Construction is a Go!
Date of Scene:	15 April 2024
Location:	Penguin Park - Penguin Playground
Synopsis:	One of the DDGirls decides to hold an impromptu yoga flash mob slash energy draining party. She gets more 'mob' than anything.
Cast of Characters:	Doom and Gloom Girls, Hotaru Tomoe, Mamoru Chiba, Erika Shimizu, Jadeite, Wako Agemaki, Kyouko Sakura, Sugata Shindo

---

Doom and Gloom Girls has posed:
Mika Harada, a teenager with curly short hair, stands in King Penguin Park. If you're remotely online, you're at least slightly aware of her - Obsidian's been on a bit of a marketing blitz about this 'fitness influencer'. She talks in a bored tone, while looking rather annoyed, into the camera. "So like, yeah. Today is going to be a day where my fans can like. Come out and do yoga with me or something." she says, as she stands in front of a purple tower. "And because like, it's super important for you all to be able to see me - cause you have to follow the motions - they dragged this like. Prop? out from storage? I think?" she says, turning to look at it. The 'prop' in question is a giant purple spire, familiar to anyone who's been dealing with Sunbreaker and her Eclipse Zones. "So yeah, like. Come out and lets do an impromptu flash mob yoga thing together or whatever."

    In the playground of King Penguin park, Mika stands on top of the spire. There are a fair number of people who have gathered around, but... a lot of them look exhausted. In fact, it seems like some of them have passed out. "Don't worry about the like, others. They're tired cause they're out of shape. You don't wanna be like them, right?" she says to the assembled crowd. "It's not like this even really hard. It's like, yoga. Let's do another pose. This one is like called shrub pose, I think. Stand on one leg with your other one bent. Don't give up just cause you're tired. If you're not in shape you'll never find love, and you'll be all alone forever, which totally sucks. So take the first step of your fitness journey with me today I guess." Another person topples over, and the rest almost seem too entranced to notice...

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was, well... at home. Well, her new home. Setsuna's home. Or had been...

That is, until now. She'd heard about Obsidian's new influencers and had been watching many of their sites from home.

None of them were as influential as Oresky, but that was fine. She'd just be in HIS fan club.

However, she HAD been trying to yoga. Because she'd never done yoga.

But then, of course...

<< Dark energy detected. Avoid the park today. >>

Hotaru gave another sigh... before... "You know, I'm tired of hiding out here. We should go out. And help!"

<< Negatory >>

"... Pleeeeeease?"

<< Increasing resistance to woobly eyes. >>

"Preeeeeeeeeetty pleeeeeeeease?"

<< Cease doing that! >>

"Sniffle..."

<< ... Danger within acceptable parameters. >>

"YAY!" Hotaru said before sneaking out. Putting on the fake glasses with mustache. See, it was the perfect disguise because EVERYONE could tell it was obviously a disguise... but nobody would suspect someone actually trying to hide themselves would use such a silly disguise! GENIUS!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Just outside the Zone, with a Silver Crystal lollipop in his mouth, stick sticking out, and holding his phone up to film the disaster yoga session like some sort of degenerate, is Chiba Mamoru-- accompanied by Jadei-- Tamaki.

His absolute lack of concern surrounding the Eclipse Zone tower and the girl running the 'yoga' class is probably concerning in and of itself, but he has a lollipop and an ice-slinging guardian. "Pretty sure the captain of the swim team is in shape and has a boyfriend already," he tells Tamaki around the lollipop.

"She could at least come up with a convincing lie. She's phoning it in worse than I ever did." He doesn't actively heckle, though, because he doesn't especially want her cameras pointed at him. "Let's see who else shows up."

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    So apparently there's a thing going on in King Penguin Park!
    Erika Shimizu is not here for yoga though. If anything, she's poking around the park in search of her favorite mobile soda salesgirl more than yoga.
    See, Erika has a hankering for cola.

    "Running down to Cuba with a load of sugar~
    Weigh, me boys, to Cuba!
    Make her run you, lime juice squeezers!
    Running down to Cuba~.
    Weigh, me boys, to Cuba,
    Running down to Cuba~."

    Needless to say, she does not find her mobile soda seller, but something else does come up.
    See, she walks clean by the big purple spire thingy at first, but then her phone goes 'yar harr harr!' signalling that she has a notification.
    Pulling her phone from her pocket she fuddles with the screen for a beat before looking up.
    She look back at the screen.
    She looks up.
    Back at the screen.
    "Oh huh. Yoga in the park. Neat." She says at first.
    Before she watches someone keel the heck over.
    "Uh."
    And then another person drops.
    "...Uhhhhhhhhh... Oh barnacles I didn't know yoga was THAT exhausting."
    Hint, Erika: It's not.

Jadeite has posed:
Tamaki leans on Mamoru's shoulder, watching the disaster go down.

"At least make up a convincing lie about why the others passed out. Pretend to offer water bottles. Hide the bodies? This is awfully sloppy to be putting on the internet."

He's speaking in a low voice as he critiques - he'd rather attack on his prince's command than let this moron take offense at the truth, after all.

"I bet she doesn't even have a theme song."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"...knows now not to put things on ClockApp without me specifically saying so," Wako is saying, as she and Sugata stroll down one of the paved walkways that runs alongside the playground. "But since she made the mistake to start with, I might as well go with it. You and Takuto-kun get to have the login as long as you don't do anything too..."

She trails off here, distracted. They were not here for the event - literally were just walking past - but Mika's distinctly unenthused voice catches her attention long enough to notice that, increasingly, more people are dropping than yoga-ing.

She doesn't know from that purple tower, or Mika, but Wako is suddenly and intensely reminded of the time they gathered on campus to plant succulents and ended up fighting a plant youma.

"Okay," she says, glancing only briefly sidelong to cue Sugata before she changes course. "This is just embarrassing. The plant guy put in more effort than you."

And then the Y-shaped emblem on her chest flares with pink light as she declares, right out in the open: "Apprivoiser!"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
At least it's a nice day. Kyouko has gotten herself an ice cream snack, because nothing is better than watching other people exercise while you eat junk food. Except that there's not a whole lot of exercising going on, and a whole lot of passing up. She roams up alongside Mamoru and Tamaki, taking a bite of her ice cream. She doens't say anything, she just loiters there as she watches the mess in progress.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Sugata is already putting a hand to his chest, perfectly affecting innocence. "I have never, in all my life, done anything."

Done anything at all, Sugata?! Your grades, kendo, and drama performances argue otherwise!

But they're walking and talking, enjoying themselves, and besides, he wants to encourage this, Wako taking that next step into the future she had asked he and Takuto about, just a couple of months ago.

"We can post your performances from prom to the account. I know that I filmed perfectly." He absolutely didn't, because he gave his phone to a cat fairy for the last song, but shut up, don't worry about it. "And -"

It's not that he's going to trip over one of these slowly collapsing yoga enthusiasts, it's just that it's exceedingly noticable that there are all these slowly collapsing yoga enthusiasts. It really isn't a good look, or a good job at hiding the problem.

"They probably aren't paying her enough to put any real effort in," he shrugs, and then likewise, the symbol on his chest, a straight vertical line with three marks dragged horizontally across it, glows. Right there in front of everyone, including the cameras, probably-possibly, he calls out,

"Apprivoiser!"

Doom and Gloom Girls has posed:
    Mika turns and sees the bright imagry and well, she's more than just a social media darling propped up by a zaibatsu that owns a mass media conglomerate! She's a star. And also annoyed.

    "Ugh, Sunbreaker really wasn't kidding with how little time it takes you to come around." she says, from the top of her tower. Whoever is filming (probably a kindabad) cuts the feed.

    "Like, do we have to do the whole 'thing' cause like. It seems like a bunch of stress. You know this area is like, about to be saturated in dark energy and I'm gonna like, utterly destroy you right? Can we skip it and you just leave? I'm almost done here anyways and I have a nail appointment to get to."

    "Hey, did we bring like, a youma or something?" She asks to her assistants. The answer that comes back doesn't seem to be in the affirmative. "Ugh, fine. I probably need a better work out than yoga anyways." She throws her hand up. "For like, Dark Glory or whatever."

    It's more of an eruption of Dark Energy than it is a henshin sequence, leaving Mika Harada replaced with a tall, slender, pink...furred... half-moth girl with beady eyes and a set of folded wings on her back, with black claws on her hands. She doesn't really say anything more but even the way she lifts her hand to face her palm at the assembled Gingas is kind of half-assed. But the giant bright white-pink surge of blinding energy that erupts out of it towards both of them is not casual at all.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Hotaru Tomoe was quickly approaching the ordeal... and then... she received an alert. Yesssss. IT WAS DANGER! She quickly ducked into an alleyway and took off her false glasses (and mustache). By day, mild-mannered Hotaru. But by... different... times of the day...

<Standby, ready!> her device called out in its dark, ominous.... yet oddly exhausted voice.

"Luminous Titan, execute," Hotaru said.

The amethyst necklace around her throat glowed with a purplish-gray light. A strange, key-like glaive formed over her and she reached up, grabbing it in both hands. Light green light washed over her until, a moment later, she was wearing a fuku, gloves and shoes of many sailor senshi. Except hers were gray... <Sailor Charon, engaged!>

And now that she had donned her new magical disguise, Sailor Charon flew (yes, flew) towards the event! And she landed on the edge of the park, stopping on a tree branch! And she had THEME MUSIC! It was fast, upbeat and EXCITED TO BE HERE!

"I am Sailor Charon! In the name of Pluto which is DEFINITELY a planet and Charon the moon, I will stop your evil deeds! Give up your malevolent usage of yoga, or face my wrath!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Is she literally a moth," Mamoru asks flatly-- doesn't so much ask, really, as state disbelievingly. "Like that's her theme. Is moth. It's really too bad Zoi or Mars isn't here."

The prince nudges the top of Tamaki's head with his face, then slides off the back of the parkbench he'd been perched on. "Wako-chan and Ginga Kingu could probably use a hand, come on."

Sticking his phone in his pocket, he wanders off to find a copse of trees that'll hide them enough from Moth Girl that Mamoru's identity as Tuxedo Kamen at least won't be blown. Then, "Earth Prism Power, MAKE UP!" and there's a rich dark jewel-toned henshin sequence where nobody but Jadeite can see it. In the distance, he hears 'Sailor Charon' making a speech, and frowns slightly. Who? Hopefully Pluto knows about this--

--and then Tuxedo Kamen comes back to just outside the range of the Zone again, and he calls out, "Thanks for setting the experimental conditions up where we can interact with them! I love a good practical test of theory!"

That's him throwing a rose at the spire that Fem is standing on, wondering just how much magic it can actually break before it breaks, itself.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"It's fine," is Ginga Otome's flippant reply to Mika. "We can make this--ah!"

She hadn't really been expecting escalation quite that fast, despite very clearly starting it with such a public henshin, and her sass breaks off in a not very dignified yelp when the moth-girl unleashes that blast at her and Sugata. Reacting on instinct, she throws out both hands in front of her, palms out and fingers splayed to back up the translucent curve of pale pink energy that forms to cover the pair of them.

"I think I hate her," she says, momentarily slightly breathless. "ZERO TIME!"

The barrier rushes out, the sky overhead suddenly blazing with that spangled starfield in its myriad galaxy colors as Zero Time engulfs the playground and possibly a good bit of the park beyond. The bystanders, including most of the yoga victims, vanish in the time it takes to blink, safely removed from the influence of the tower and whatever else might be going on here.

Jadeite has posed:
"She might be. It's too bad I don't have light powers or we could do something really funny," Tamaki comments as he follows Mamoru to the copse of trees. Once they're both safely hidden, he henshins alongside him, silent sussurus of white cape pulled from his jade earring.

Once he's in uniform, Jadeite heads back out along with his prince, posing with him just outside the barrier. "Us leave? Why don't YOU just pack your bags and go? If your fighting skills are as half-assed as your MC-work, you're going to be in corpse pose in a moment. SNOW THIMBLE!"

A large white foxglove plant manifests above him; the plant rears back and then snaps forward, bombarding the spire with fist-sized bellflowers made of ice.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Pink light is flying their way, and Ginga Kingu has absolutely no concern about it at all. Wako is here. Her shields, which withstood Sinpathy's blow, which withstood Samekh's grasp, will not fall to an insect flying too close to the flame.

Instead, with a fist to his chest, he draws out his weapon. #-1 FUNCTION (ANSI #00D7FF,) NOT FOUND

"You're right to hate her," he tells Wako, as Zero Time unfurls around them, spreading like a storm cloud to darken the sky - though this sky is bright with stars and the swirls of galactic color. "She could at least put a bit of effort into it. "There were several of those towers in the zone I told you about," Ginga Kingu tells Ginga Otome in a quiet, urgent tone. "The one that withstood King's Pillar. It sounds like this one isn't activated just yet, so -"

Worst case scenario, he's going to King's Pillar the whole area. The civilians are out of here now, and the rest of them - well, they're probably strong enough to handle at least a medium strength one.

And then there's some... gray child, and he frowns for a moment, but there's a rose flying for the tower, and Sugata flies for the tower master. Not literally, as this Sailor Charon does, but with all the speed of a master athlete ready to break some bones, the glowing white energy sword's point aimed for the fitness girl's stomach.

"We'll just have to take you out before the job is finished then," he says casually, once he's come close.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Yoga in the park is NOT going well at all.
    Erika quickly puts away her phone and uh...
    She makes like Jack Sparrow for the Pearl while being chased by cannibals, to hide behind a nearby tree. That is to say... Wow look at her book it behind that tree.
    Fumbling in her pockets for a moment, the blonde finds what she's looking for and flashes a grin to herself as she pulls out an accursed doubloon and flips it into the air with her thumb.

    "Under a black flag we sail and the sea shall be our empire! Take what you can. Give nothing back!" She declares as she catches the coin.

    In an instant her clothes are replaced with the regalia of a pirate; boots, naval greatcoat, and most importantly a jaunty hat to top it all off as she emerges from her leafy hiding place.
    "Nay, belay that!" She declares, one hand holding her very important hat down as though it would blow off in a sudden random squall. In her other hand?
    She's holding a flintlock pistol and--...
    The pirate-themed mahou can't help but blink when Zero Time is enacted and all the bystanders are gone and she's standing there bewildered.
    "Wat?"
    This is her initial reaction before she regains her composure and gets back into character.
    "--Har har! I mean blimey! Ye'll be dancin' with Jack Ketch when we're all done with ye, ye bilge-suckin'... Moth... Thing..."
    Look, Jolly Roger didn't EXPECT to be dealing with this today okay?
    She waves her pistol about for a moment before aiming it and squeezing the trigger to make it go off with a small krak-*boom* at Mika the Moth.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
There's thoughtful consideration as Kyouko watches the lack luster attempts at 'hiding' the yoga drain and the extremely enthusiastic way that Mika tries to cut to the point. Blah blah. Evil. Blah blah. Fight.

Kyouko can appreciate the efficiency. She crunches on the next bit of cone as she gets pulled into Zero time, her whole body tensing, expecting this to somehow bend reality into some sort of triptastic alternate form..

Not a Witch. Of course not. She'd of known if it was.

Kyouko crunches on more cone as she watches a selection of heros get suited up and start making ... she looks vaguely impressed. It's not flowery declarations, it's vaguely irritated snark.

Kyouko eats a bit more of her ice cream as she watches how this plays out.

Doom and Gloom Girls has posed:
Tuxedo Kamen will have to throw another rose to get the full effect of his throw, since Fem reacts *surprisingly deftly* to the rose throw, causing a so-bright-pink-it's-almost-white barrier to erupt between the incoming attack and the spire. The rose breaks through Fem's barrier (after everyone in that direction has been subjected to the occular assualt of the color) and fails to push through the Spire's dark energy barrier. The rose does mean that her barrier isn't protecting her from the ice flowers, though. The world is shunted somewhere else, and Fem looks around. "Ugh, why are there, like, so many of you. Don't any of you have lives?" She asks. She's made of sterner stuff than the average youma even if that stuff is largely moth fur, but she takes the pistol shot to the shoulder and it staggers what would otherwise be a forward charge. "Tch. You know, pirates are just smelly drunks on the oceans." Now that the King is racing towards her with obviously a melee weapon, she spreads out her wings behind her and takes to the sky. She's got no desire to fight on anything approaching even terms, much less like six on one. The blade grazes her heeled foot on the way out though - Sugata's fast. She slowly circles at the top of the Zero Time barrier.

    "Like, I was just thinking... you know what would be great?" she says. She answers her own question as 'several' pink-white rectangles surge into being below her on the ground floor, each of them large city busses that start racing around in the relatively confined space of Zero Time, racing past each other and trying to run over the assorted heroes. "I was thinking you know, If some or all of you just randomly got hit by a bus. That'd be just great." she says, moving her clawed hands in a way that looks reminscient of an orchestra conductor as the space of Zero Time becomes a racetrack and her face grows a distinctly more monstrous sneer.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The rose broke the barrier! And now Fem is busy-- and there are buses to dodge?? No, there are buses to SURF! Tuxedo Kamen jumps up on top of one and calls down to Jadeite, "It's like equestrian archery! Except on a wild horse! Oh, hey, Kyouko-san~"

The greeting's called cheerfully enough, and cape streaming behind him, Tuxedo Kamen pulls out another rose. "Jadeite! One-- two--" and he flings it at the spire. Again. On two, because Jadeite. "Three!"

He's standing like he's subway surfing, because magic dress shoes have grip.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Charon shook her head. "No I don't! I mean, I did, before, but now my life is JUSTICE! Also, like. Saving people. OH! And being AWESOME! I am very much in the business of being awesome. But, Sailor Charon is here to make the world a better place and stuff! So stopping you when I have the time and can find the address is what I do!" For those curious, her voice was positively BRIMMING with pride when she said all of that.

Also, her theme music finally stopped.

She then descended to the ground(ish) and... "Oh, hey! The nice singer girl! Thanks for your help from before! And the time barrier thingy!" ... Did... they know each other?

"The buses of malevolence can't stop the glaive of-- EEP!" She had cut, tried to cut, a bus in half.

It had gone through them as they were light constructs and hadn't... really... stopped it. Instead, it had smashed into her. Well, almost. Her device had erected a circular shield around her. So instead she was more bounced off and away, like a pinball, bouncing a bit before landing a bit away with a groan. "N-nevermind.... the buses of malevolence got hands... ow..."

<< ... Affirmative. >>

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    That is a very bright pink barrier. Just looking at it hurts Jolly Roger's eyes. The pistol slinging pirate mahou has to spend a beat rubbing at her eyes before she tosses the spent pistol away. It turns to sparkles and seafoam as soon as it hits the ground, and once the dazzling colors leave her vision and she can see again she casually draws another pistol from her greatcoat.
    "Har har, but ye know what trends more on YouTube than yoga?" She spits back.
    "Sea shanties, mate." She says, waggling her gun.
    "All it took was one lad singin' Wellerman and they went *VIRAL*." She sneers.
    And then she gets hit DEAD ON by a bus-sized, bus-shaped, bus-like pink thing.
    There's a loud CRUNCH as she's slammed, and it would be absolutely *comical* if these things had horns to honk as they steamrolled over mahous.
    But it's not comical at all when she's left face down in a crumpled heap in the dirt.
    Many lesser mahou likely wouldn't get up from that.
    There's a tiny groan as Jolly Roger PICKS HERSELF BACK UP and adjusts her hat.
    "Right then." She says as she staggers for a beat and gets back up to her feet. "Me point is..." She says grimacing while firing off a wild shot as she does. "I can be more internet famous than ye with one well timed shanty, savvy?"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Alright, so, fair, he should have seen flight coming. Moth, wings, it was predictable. Sugata is pleased to cut her; less pleased to have nothing more than her foot. Even less pleased to have to turn his forward momentum into a flip out of the way, as bus-sized light constructs start sweeping around.

One tries to smash into him, as it has that grey child, and light flares in a blue-white square, angled slightly, towards the moth girl.

"King's Counter!"

The first light construct to slam into the square will push it back several inches - and then be launched towards their moth-like enemy. It's entirely possible she can just dismiss her own construct, but it will still take time - time Ginga Kingu can use to get back towards Wako.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
"Yo." Kyouko looks up at Tuxedo Kamen who has decided that buses are for surfing and she rolls her eyes a little. Except she might be just a tiny touch jealous. Jealous enough perhaps, to pop the last of her ice cream cone into her mouth.

It's only a few steps before Kyouko becomes Pueulla Magi Kyouko and her spear comes out of.. goodness only knows where. She uses it to bounce up, and try and catch the wave on another bus. Because dammit Tuxedo Kamen, it looks like fun. She flicks out her spear once she's higher up, to be able to launch herself and it towards the moth girl, using the momentum as the bus for assistance.

Nothing beats a good stabbing.

Jadeite has posed:
It looks like the other mahou have the moth handled - (and that using Snow Thimble on the youma herself might hit the other fighters!) - so Jadeite will use that distraction to his advantage!

Once he hops on a bus. It takes a moment to shimmy to the top, and then his magic dress shoes grip - "You're right! It's just like a good joust!" he shouts to Tuxedo Kamen. "Remind me, did we ever use busses back in the day?"

He remembers, distantly, an idea for a runaway bus stealing victims away, ghostly roads - but he cannot let himself be distracted by old ideas or copyright infringement.

"Snow Thimble!" he roars again, snapping and sending annother barrage of ice flowers forward - they bombard the spire once more, trying to take advantage of Tuxedo Kamen's rose hitting any shields in the way.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
What Sugata tells her has Wako giving the purple tower a closer, more serious look. "Not even the King's Pillar, huh...?"

Sailor Charon calling out to her has her head lifting, and she looks toward the other girl without recognition - sure, she knows a few Sailor Senshi, but when did she help this one? She manages a smile and a wave back, still a little baffled, and that's about all she has time for before the ground abruptly becomes a very unsafe place to be.

As the light-construct buses roar through, the Galactic Maiden takes to the air, lofting herself clear of the traffic in a sphere of pink light. "Cascade de Soleil!" Purifying energy, in a double handful of bright pink sparks, flies out from her fingers like a scattershot shower of bullets, strafing the moth girl while Ginga Otome glides to meet Ginga Kingu. "Sugata-kun!" As she nears him, she dips down, stretching out a hand to snag him up into her shield if he takes it.

Doom and Gloom Girls has posed:
This time the rose is able to make a dead on streak towards the spire, and while it and the barrier around it both make a spectacular crash-soundThe successive striking of the Snow Thimble against the unshielded spire is starts to do damage to it. but Fem is busy conducting her bus-orchestra. She's... not as intently focused on the Spire that generates the Eclipse zone as she is trying to run some of the fighters over with her busses. She cackles with a sort of vile glee as one thuds against Charon's shield. "Alllllmost..." she says, curving another bus in to hit the Kingu before it's repelled back at her. He's right that it would take her time to dismiss it - it's much faster for her to buzz out of the way of it, especially given she's going to have to dodge a lot of other things anyways.

    Things like a strafing blast of purifying magic that strikes out at her. Some of the busses fade out into pink sparkles as she has to spend her focus on dodging.

    "Hey, hey! I have wings. You don't. Stay on the ground where you belong!" she shouts. "Not. Cool."

    This is about when Kyouko comes flying at her, and she lets out a "sh-" as she is almost clipped by that massive spear. Actually, quite clipped - Kyouko drew blood through that thick fur. She rears back with her clawed hand to strike out at Kyouko - before that hand recieves a shot from the Jolly Roger's gun. So instead she pauses and grabs her hand because it turns out poweder balls are also quite *hot*.

    The Spire gets a clear fracture down the center of it. "Oh, crap!" she says. This is... actually pretty bad. "Crap." she says again. "Alright, like, which way is out ways?" she asks. "...you're not gonna tell me, are you." she notes, astutely, before bringing the busses together into one large light construct, an oversized semi-truck with cargo box, that just tries to ram into the walls of the barrier (when in doubt smash your way out).

    She is not a fan of the way the votes on this little video are going, and wants to stem the bleeding. The literal bleeding too.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Of course Sugata takes Wako's hand, as she flies towards him. The two of them, in her bubble - it's not the first time he's been in a bubble in Zero Time, but it's a much preferred experience compared to others.

"Do you know how tempting it is to King's Pillar her?" he asks Wako, anticipating the Sugata no, and responding, "I won't, she's already in over her head, and your allies would want to throw flowers at me."

Because that's the other thing he's noticing - for as strong as she is (slamming around half a dozen enormous constructs to fight off an entire group at once could hardly be considered weak), she's not optimizing to crush them, or to defend herself.

"...there's no way she's getting out of Zero Time. We could finish her off now." A beat. "Don't tell me. Sugata, no?"

There's a sword in his hand, bright, pure white, shaped like a cross, like a starburst. It's dishonorable to strike a retreating enemy. Sugata's not above dishonor, but - there doesn't seem to be enough reason, here. So instead of flying for the moth girl's back, Star Sword Diamant is thrown, point first, straight for the cracking pillar. If it can, it will sink deep, like another famous sword in the stone.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Good to know we-- AUgHSJKGL!" goes Tuxedo Kamen as his bus merges with another bus, and not like as in merging lanes: he falls through and vanishes underneath the enormous semi as it careens toward the wall of the Zero Time barrier. He's not flat splatted on the ground in its wake, though-- looking somewhat the worse for wear, he falls off the back of the truck where he'd grabbed on and slammed into it, then staggers to his feet and brushes rubber tire playground mulch off his formalwear.

No time for finesse. He draws his hand in toward his chest, closing it into a fist as it starts to glow bright, then flips his cape back with his other hand and flings his glowing hand out toward the spire.

"Tuxedo la Smoking Bomber!"

With the yell comes the column of unfriendly friendship laser, glowing a gold so bright it's almost completely white, aimed directly at the crack in the spire.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Charon was, well.... relieved wouldn't be the right word. She wasn't relieved to know somebody else got hit and hurt. But it was kind of a little.... comforting to know somebody else got faceplanted by the sudden vicious bus assault. Misery didn't necessarily LOVE company... but... it was nice to not have to suffer alone.

And, lucky her, then the walls got to experience it! It sucked!

However, the girl was focused on trying to escape, so...

Well, she didn't know much about these towers. But people were ATTACKING them. So she was going to help! She ran through the air before leaping into the air and slashing down with her energy glaive! Joining her attack in with Ginga Kingu's! Energy glaive, energy sword, then jack jacket jacket energy beam! Everyone was working together and, for once, SHE was on their side! "FOR PROPER YOGA!"

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    It's a good thing the busses fade out. Jolly Roger would have to do something like... Actually dodge if they didn't. Because honestly getting hit full on once by those was enough for her. Nevertheless she tosses away her spent pistol once again, and once again it turns to sparkles and seafoam as it hits the ground.
    For a moment. For just a moment, the pirate-themed mahou is grinning like a fiend.
    Because she tugs open her greatcoat with one hand and a flourish and...
    She drops a full-sized ship's cannon to the ground like she only JUST had the thing tucked away in a pocket.
    Planting her boot on the cannon she adjusts its aim and leans on it.
    She's aiming for the cracked spire now, too.
    "Oh right we call out our attacks." She considers for a beat, rubbing her chin. Before she snaps her fingers like she just came up with something *cool*.
    "Broadside Cannonade! Har har!"
    The cannon goes off.
    It's loud.
    I mean what do you expect, it's a cannon.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Only one other time, since Wako and Takuto first arrived in Tokyo, has anyone even tried attacking the Zero Time barrier itself. That other time was not a pleasant experience.

This one isn't looking too enjoyable either.

"--nnh!" Wako shudders as the impact of the light constructs reverberates. For a moment, the weightless hovering of her shield bubble wobbles in the air. When she looks to Sugata, her eyes are wide. "No, actually," she says, "I think maybe you ought to."

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite goes flying once his bus merges - he manages to fall and roll safely onto a patch of park with only bruises and grass stains, but it takes him a hot second to sit up, head reeling.

As he sits up, he sees everyone, from his prince to the young girl to the pirate, are starting to do their ultimate attacks to finish off both youma and spire.

He's been on the wrong side of this enough times to have a good idea of what happens next - if they're lucky the spire won't shatter into a thousand piercing pieces, and the moth girl won't have a final attack to spite them, and the ceiling above won't explode, but he's not taking chances!

"Glory of the Snow!" he casts; ice flowers blossom around and above himself, Tuxedo Kamen, and the nearby mahou to shield them from any collateral damage of anything shattering.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
The Star Sword might be embedded in the spire, but Sugata has never needed it, to make an impact. Wako is shuddering, as the struck slams into Zero Time itself, attacking the barrier - attacking her.

And for once, Sugata is being encouraged to go wild, as Takuto would put it.

"Hold tight," he says grimly, and thrusts a hand to the sky. "KING'S PILLAR!"

The Zone isn't up just yet. There's no power dampening in effect. And unlike these bus constructs, King's Pillar belongs in Zero Time. It's power is the power Zero Time was born to endure, to counter, to withhold.

So the pillar of light that falls from the sky, wide as a street, wider, as wide as an eight lane highway, punches through the air and to the ground. Jadeite's shield will just barely withstand it, shattering before the beam can strike them. The air itself will burn with energy, the sort of energy that is nothing more than power itself, distilled into tangible form, crushing, crunching, destroying.

It pours from the sky for a solid minute of real time.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
"Staying on the ground is for suckers." Kyouko commented back to the moth chick, and then went in for another stabbing. She bounces, up and up and around and then..

WHAT IN THE FRESH HELLS IS THAT.

Kyouko abruptly changes course, pegging her spear into the ground to basically look like she's fallen out of a Wile E Coyote cartoon as she backpedals away from getting caught in that pillar. There's a yelp as she got caught just on the edge of it before diving for cover.

She's fine. She grumbles softly, mumbling something about ice cream.

Doom and Gloom Girls has posed:
Somewhere in Fem's mind that isn't screaming 'this isn't how it was supposed to go' there's a thought she's going to have to bring up later. But one of the most annoying, nagging thoughts in her mind - right underneath 'oh no I'm losing' is that maybe Riventon and Sunbreaker were right - that she 'wasn't' ready for prime time. This thought truly infuriates Fem, and... like she was taught, she reaches onto that fury and tries to harness it. It turns out she may very well need it. Because even though most of the attacks are aimed at the pillar - and as she tries to drive a truck through a magical brick wall - and feeds power into that while everyone else is feeding destructive power at the Eclipse Spire before it can activate.

    Cannonballs slam into it, a sword embeds into it, an energy glaive cuts a long sliver straight out of it, more cracks appear, and the surge of energy from too many jackets attack wastes away the last vestiges of barrier. And now we get to find out how an unshielded, weakened, cracked barrier takes King's Pillar.

    It does not. It simply shatters and then the Jadeite shield is not necessary since the shattered peices themselves also disintegrate in the power.

    Fem has a moment of horror as she feels that bright blue power started. And somewhere, in the back of her mind, Riventon and Sunbreaker's drills take over where brain may not. "Stop. Drop. Duskport."

    Even still her wings are singed and leaving trails of black smoke when she arrives back in the core of Obsidian, bug-eyes wide before her henshin breaks and she's just an astonishingly wide-eyed brown haired girl. "Not. Cool. At all..." she mumbles to herself as she tips over sideways and a bunch of Sunackeys and Kindabads swarm around to take her to the infirmary, whether needed for damage or just shock and rest.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Cannon smoking, Jolly Roger looks pretty smug about her first called attack in all of ever. It was a good attack name.
    But then.
    THEN
    "... Holy carp I feel outclassed." She murmurs as the King's Pillar is brought down.
    That.
    That's an all out attack right there, the class of which should be both respected and feared even by those who brazenly barely fear death.
    That great light comes down and-- it's like time slows down as realization dawns upon he dread pirate.
    Jadeite's ice flowers are probably the best source of cover in the heat of the moment.
    Not everyone are behind the ice flowers.
    "--Barnacles!" The pirate mahou spits with the vehemence of a curse as she breaks into a full tilt sprint towards Jadeite.
    It just so happens that Sailor Charon is on her way, and holy heck does Jolly Roger not stop. She grabs the Sailor, hooking an arm around the girl's waist and heave-hoists to start dragging her in her wake before dive-leaping behind Mamoru's Heavenly King.
    In the bright flare of light that comes down, the coat tails of the dread pirate's greatcoa just EVAPORATE behind her, seared clean off as she skids to a halt with Sailor Charon in her grasp.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Charon saw an alert. But please, an attack from above? How bad could it possibly be? It was from one of the other sparkles and they were all on the same side, it wasn't like they'd risk hitting each other with something so strong, right?

... RIGHT?!

However, before she can suffer the consequences of Wako's decision to let her fiance off the leash, Jolly Roger saves her! And...

"W-wow," she whispered, staring at that impressive blast. Then... "You saved me!" Aaaaand full jumping hugged Jolly around the neck. "Sorry!"

Meanwhile, Luminous Titan was running some calculations. Only for Sailor Charon to jump back and glare at her glaive. "W-what? You can't be serious."

<< There is no attempt at amusement. >>

"You can't *ground* me from fighting with another sparkle! What if he ever needs me?"

<< Forbidden. >>

"That's not fair!"

<< Forbidden. >>

"Pleeeeeease? It was so cool though!"

<< For. >>

<< Bid. >>

<< Den. >>

She made a small, pouty face and looked to Kingu and... "I'm sorry! My magic says I'm not allowed to fight with you anymore because it's too dangerous..." And she was, definitely, pouting. "Sorry..."

She then looked to the... destruction... they'd left in their wake. And then perked up. And made a V shape with her hand! "Victory! And once again, the day is saved thanks to the efforts of... ummmm... I don't actually know everyone's magical names... sorry! But it's saved! Yay team! V for Victory!"

<< ... Yaaaaay. >> Amazing how the device managed to almost *perfectly* imitate Fem's tone.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Tuxedo Kamen squints through the afterimage of King's Pillar at the place where the tower had been, and he purses his lips. He doesn't say any of what he's thinking, he just moves over to where Jadeite is and offers his guardian a hand up. "Good call," is what eventually comes out of his mouth. "Let's get out of here."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
As the assault on Zero Time ends, Ginga Otome's breath goes out in a sigh of relief. She leans into Sugata a little, against the arm that's not upraised.

Yeah, the blazing power of the King's Pillar is crashing down in its torrent, but this at least is a familiar, steady pressure. Her shield can hold against it. Zero Time will contain it.

Once the dazzle has faded, it occurs to her the consequences her hasty decision could well have had. Suddenly feeling very guilty, she separates a little from Ginga Kingu and turns, still floating within her shield, to bow apologetically. "Um... gomen..." She looks up then, eyes skimming from one magical warrior to another. "...is everyone okay...?"

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite's ears are ringing as his prince offers him a hand up. He takes it gratefully, wobbling to his feet. He's so, SO glad he got a shield up in time. What was that....?

"Let's go. We can't leave the others waiting, after all." Usagi and Kazuo would both be alight with worry when they hear what had happened!! He can't let them fear for Endymion's life...!

He gives Ginga Otome a thumbs up, grass-stained and bruised as he is. "We're alright!"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Sugata breathes in, out, straightening his spine, lowering his arm, filling lungs with oxygen to steady himself once more. He'd put a lot into that King's Pillar - had nearly fully unleashed his strength, let forth Samekh's deadly rain to ensure Wako was safe.

Now that the enemy is gone, and she is safe, it occurs to him that if their allies are weak, that might have been... poorly calculated.

But when he turns, they're all alive, so how bad a decision could it have been?

"That's fine," he tells the girl, "You can always trust the self-preservation instincts of a coward. It has your best interests in mind."

Is he calling her device a coward? Yes. Yes he is. Forbidding the girl from fighting near him, just out of pure fear? That was, as the Americans would put it, chickenshit behavior.

"They survived," he reassures Wako. This probably is not reassuring anyone else.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
It's barely a moment or two before Kyouko has gotten herself back up, given herself a brush off and considers Sugata. "That's a /thing/." She grudgingly acknowledges that Kings Pillar is pretty intense.

And then she's turning to leave, by herself as per usual, probably to go get another ice cream. It's been minutes, y'know.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    On the bright side?
    Sailor Charon is okay.
    Jolly Roger can't help but grin like a doofus when she's hugged about the neck.
    "Har har! Think none of it, lass. 'M sure ye woulda done the same fer me." She says patting the senshi lightly before detaching, because personal space is kind of important and she doesn't want to creep anyone out with her low resting body temperature.
    That's when green eyes flick to Ginga Kingu.
    "Avast ye, belay those words!" She snaps. "It ain't lily-livered ta not wanna fight beside someone won't even give a damn 'fire in the hole!' warnin' to the rest of us!"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Charon shook her head. "I don't know. I mean, I think the girl would have fled regardless. She was already trying to leave and was really outnumbered and overwhelmed as it was. It's never much fun to fight people six on one, or if you think you'll just get hurt." She.... completely missed that he was calling her DEVICE a coward. Luminous Titan.... didn't. But kept its opinion to itself. It had already died once and it had NO desire to repeat the experience.

She then nodded to Jolly. "Thanks again! And I will! It was great seeing everyone, oh, and before I leave, the most important thing! Always remember! Sailor Charon says: Pluto is still a planet in every way that matters! Bye!" she yelled before running away!

She couldn't WAIT to tell Pluto and the girls. They were going to be so impressed! She'd... leave out the fact she almost got squashed.

Sugata Shindo has posed:
"She was hurting Wako," Sugata says with a shrug, "I was sure the rest of you were durable enough to survive."

He actually was - for all Sugata's primary concerns are Wako and Takuto, he isn't a monster. He wouldn't have risked the rest of them being killed.

Moderately pummelled, bruised, and aching, sure, but not killed.

To Kyouko, he nods, having seen her spear and been impressed. "If you ever want to try more than the spear, check out the kendo club."

And to the angry pirate, snarking in pirate speak about warnings?

"But did you die?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Sugata-kun..." Wako gives him a little push, looking exasperated now before she turns back to the others, most particularly Jolly Roger, to whom she bows her head again. The sweatdrop is almost visible. "That was my fault," she says. "I'm really sorry we didn't warn you all."

She'd like to promise it won't happen again, but... it will happen again.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"The others? No one's waiting..." Mamoru says to Jadeite, a little mystified. He turns to look at everyone, listens a little to what everyone's saying-- considers that maybe he should stay to listen more properly, but he's feeling a little Something-y right now and doesn't want to. "Yeah, we're fine," he says, sounding only wry. "I'll bring an umbrella next time. Bye everyone. Good to see you, Agemaki-san." He procures his silver crystal lollipop from the dimensional pocket he'd put it in for the fight, and sticks it in his mouth, and tugs on Jadeite's hand.

Then he goes to walk out of Zero Time like you can just walk into Mordor.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    'But did you die?'

    To Jolly Roger, of all people, that question is more loaded than a shotgun. For a moment. For a good moment the question looks like it legitimately made her eat a frog. But she rallies.
    "Already did." She replies. "And that's why I ain't worried about me own skin. That girl coulda been cleaved to the brisket." She huffs before snapping her fingers. Her singed and tattered greatcoat and the rest of her pirate regalia fade away leaving her back in her civvies.
    Wako apologizes for Sugata though and Erika takes a moment to scrub her face. "Well, I guess it's fine as long as none of us are hurt in the end."

Jadeite has posed:
"Usagi and Kazuo," he says quietly. He doesn't want to blow everyone's cover, but he should explain. "I'd rather not have a repeat of..."

...the Golden Kingdom.

He shakes his head. "never mind. Let's go," he says, and waves to the others. "Thanks for all your help! Looking forward to next time!"

Sugata Shindo has posed:
Wako's little push, exasperated tone, and look all combine to remind Sugata that he should at least pretend to care a little more than he does, and he grimaces, his own henshin flashing away. The fight is over, and -

"I apologize. Even without your experience, that was inconsiderate. What she was doing was harming Wako-chan, and King's Pillar was the most surefire way to stop it. I don't regret that, but I could have thought of my allies more."

He was, slightly, in the wrong. Even if really, all of them should be strong enough to survive it.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
A startled, maybe even slightly stricken look passes over Ginga Otome's face at Jolly Roger's blunt reply. Not really sure how to respond to that, she brings the sphere of energy that she and Sugata are floating in gently to the ground, releasing the shield once their feet touch dirt.

Very much hoping they can perhaps leave things at that, she says, "I'm going to take down Zero Time... we should probably get going once that happens, okay?"

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Well with the moth-girl handled and the dark obelisk thingy destroyed, that about ends it.
    "Aye well, just remember that for next time and we're square-- cool. -I mean just remember that for next time and we're cool." Erika says with a nod. That seems to be that.
    "Nah you get going ahead. I've got something I need to do."

    Because as soon as Zero Time is down and the others leave, Erika is going to hang back...

    She pulls out her phone. Sets it to record video.
    "ALRIGHT it's time for sea shanties in the park with ~Erika Shimizu~. I think you all know this one alreadyMamoru (talk)."

    "I'll sing you a song, it's a song of the sea,
    Row, me bully boys, row!
    Oh, I'll sing you a song if you'll sing it with me~
    And it's row, me bully boys, row!

    And it's row, me bully boys, we're in a hurry, boys,
    We got a long way to go!
    And we'll sing and we'll dance and bid farewell to France~
    And it's row, me bully boys, row!"

    Oh yeah she's gonna post that to YouTube.