2109/Help! I Have Too Many Robots!

Help! I Have Too Many Robots!
Date of Scene:	24 November 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Moments after Horde Prime's transmission and the sudden appearance of half a dozen Horde bots in their dorm room, Hinoiri arrives home. After so many times of them helping bail out Hinoiri, it's finally Double Troubles turn to call on her to help them get the bots where they need to go. And of course they reveal the broad strokes of their plan and debut their new faces to her. She's their girlfriend. She deserves that much.
Cast of Characters:	Double Trouble, Hinoiri Kirara

---

Double Trouble has posed:
"Deactivate," Horde Prime commanded, and the half-dozen spherical bots did just that. Their legs all retracted into their bodies and they seemed to shrink down just a little bit as all their panels pulled in tight to the cores. There were dents in the walls He could see now because the bots weren't pressing into them any more. There was a path to the door. Barely.

He stood there with His arms folded across His chest, considering the situation with disdain. It was just like Him to put Double Trouble in such an impossible situation. What were they supposed to do with all of these bots in their dorm room? Where could they put them? How could they move them? What was Hinoiri going to think?

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara had been, well... she'd been out. Working on her bike, replacing one of the seats, actually. It had a bit of...

... It had a youma tooth in it. It's really hard to explain how that happened.

She gave the door a few quick raps before she pushed the door open and--

... And stopped. And then... slowly... she blinked. Stared. Starrrrrrred.

Then, deeeeeep breath. Stepped into the room. Closed the door behind herself. Glanced at the tall, imposing figure in front of her. The six... weird... spherical things.

Stared. Then... "So... how much violence am I supposed to be commiting to here? Where's Dee?" she asked. Eye twitching. Glancing towards their beds. "... Really should have gone for the bigger room," she muttered. Oh, she was already preparing for violence. At least, well. She put down the tool box. Still gripping one of the wrenches from it, though.

Yes, she would TOTALLY go after mister 'Lord of Light' himself over Dee. Prooooobably because she didn't know who he was.

Double Trouble has posed:
"I'm right here, darling," Horde Prime says, before turning around to regard Hinoiri with all four of His green eyes blinking. His lips curl up into a smile and looks creepy. Anything that makes Him happy cannot be a good thing.

Then He melts into a familiar black blob of possibility and reforms as Double Trouble. "Thank goodness you're here. For once I need your help," they say, and then gesture around at all the bots. "He just sent these to me. I've got to do something with them." Beat. "Oh, and He's coming."

Who is He? Double Trouble forgets to mention.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinks a few times. Stares. Wonders if the wrench is still warranted. No. No beating her theyfriend (at least, unless they were both in henshins and... magic fighting for your theyfu was different). Instead, she tossed it into the tool box before walking over and... then just... sitting on one of the bots, shaking her head. "Like... unless they're made of bike parts I'm not sure I can... do... what in the blazes are these? Takashi is going to have a nerd-gasm if he sees these. Keaka, too."

"And what do you mean, 'he'? Who's 'he'? Do I need to toss a casserole in the stove? Cause if there's going to be some new pale Robo-Mindflayer guy hanging out here, I really should make myself scarce. Obsidian and I still aren't on the best of terms." Pause. "Also, don't smile as him. Like. That is *really* creepy."

Then... then she went pale. "Oh. Oh buck. You're... serious, aren't you? You need MY help to hide these? Hide them *where*?! There's not like, some old shed on the grounds we can just stuff them in or anything!"

Double Trouble has posed:
"He is Horde Prime. He fancies Himself a God. He uses clones to achieve a kind of immortality, and he has most of the known universe under his thumb," Double Trouble says, leaning back against another one of the bots. "We defeated him before I came to Earth, but Catra and now Adora are both from the time just before he arrived on Etheria. Drawn by the very portal incident that sent them here," they continue. They do love to tell a story, but they are being quite concise. "He's bad news, Hinoiri, and he's coming here."

Double Trouble gets a real sinister look in their eyes. Or perhaps it's just determination. "He told me to prepare Earth for His arrival, and I intend to do just that," they say and then they grin. With their sharp teeth it's definitely sinister. "It took every Princess on that planet and then some for us to defeat Him last time. We've got more power here, but nobody's ready for His onslaught."

There's a beat. "Which is why I'm going to get a seat on the Board. I'm going to get one of these bots to Takashi, and I'm going to get one to Keaka, and we're going to figure out how to make something like them out of what we have here. Because I guarantee you the rest will get crushed as soon as I take them out. And I'm going to prepare everyone for His arrival."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked a few times. "He has... the universe under his thumb? Really? I mean... you might want to bring that up with Sailor Moon and her crew. They're very much the orbital bodies crew. And... huh. So... he lost once? Oh gosh, is he a Beryl? Does he had the hots for Adora? So is she just the girl all the bad people want or something?" Hinoiri asked, her palm resting on her head and shaking it.

"... Okay. Fine. So he's bad news. Are... are these things... like... recording us?" she asked, before knocking a fist on one of them. "Oh, yes, these are so getting broken. I..."

And then it'd click. Hinoiri's eyes went wide. And she took a slow, deep breath. Finally... "And you're sure this is... the right idea?" she asked. Glancing down at them. "... So... you need to get them... to Obsidian Tower then, right? Well, uhhhhhhh... huh. I... guess... uhhhhh..."

"... I don't think they'll fit on my bike."

Double Trouble has posed:
"They're not recording us. I deactivated them all just before you entered. Which is good, because they're larger when they're on," Double Trouble said with a wave of one hand. Then they pushed off crossed the small space between them, sliding up next to her, arm around her shoulders. Their tail brushing along her shin reassuringly.

"Horde Prime is nothing like Beryl," they say with another dismissive wave of their free hand. "He is calm and calculated. He is cruel, yes, but measured. The only villain in Etheria that had the hots for Adora was Catra, and she just needs to get over herself and admit it already."

But that's not the current problem. The current problem is where are they supposed to sleep with all these bots here? They look aside at Hinoiri. "I know you can't do this now, but you have way more experience with it than I do. I know Obisidian Tower is easy to get to in the Dusk Zone. Could I duskport these all there? I've never even tried to take this anywhere near this much with me."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a small nod. "I see. And... do you trust them to turn off when you tell them to turn off? If this guy is so calculating?" Well, maybe she was a... bit paranoid.

Then again, she was betrayed by obsidian, soooooo...

She leaned into them and smiled, resting her head on her shoulder. "Mmmm... calm. Calculated. Likes robots, has excellent taste in... would you be a minion, then? Rules the empire. I do hope you're not hoping to replace me with him. I think I look much better in a skirt." Pause. "Oh, yeah. Apparently some problem is going on with Catra now and... Riventon is mad at me, so I haven't told him. It's a whole thing."

She gave one of the robots a firm knock. "Huh. I'd suggest doing it one at a time. Non-magic things break down real fast in the dusk zone. Like. Incredibly fast. I'd build stuff and then walk off for an hour and it'd all be gone. But doing them one by one would... oh."

She then hmed, before sighing. "That would take a while, wouldn't it? You can't exactly just... dusk port there and bike. You'd need to... Buck. Well. So, the obvious answer is dusk port there with one, take a Door back here, do another one..."

"Trying to dusk port all of them, at once? Might... overexert yourself. Especially since you haven't done it with too much before. You might accidentally break one of them. How sturdy do you think they are? How much magic goes into making them?"

Double Trouble has posed:
"I know he was using an immense amount of power to talk to me, an amount of power these bots definitely do not have. They will be destroyed before he ever has a chance to harvest data from them. If they're secretly recording us right now, he'll never hear it," Double Trouble says. Even so, in the back of their mind, there's a kernel of doubt. Because they remember the propaganda. Horde Prime sees all. Horde Prime knows all.

Whatever. Horde Prime was going to take a long time getting here, so Double Trouble had plenty of time to deal with those problems later. For now, the more pressing matter was the bots.

"They're not made with any magic, Hinoiri. That's why I want Takashi and Keaka to help make something better. Something more durable. Something we can make more of. Because He has an endless supply, and his are better than these too," Double Trouble says before sighing and leaning in against her. "So duskporting is out. It's a shame you can't teleport things anymore. We could just stash these in that cabin you kidnapped Naru to."

They giggle. Those were the days.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a light snort, a hand moving over her mouth. "Ohhh, we definitely can't. That cabin is nothing more than a crater now. Like... they were *pissed*. Although... hmmmm..." She knocked on one of them again. "We're not... that far from Obsidian... mmmmm..." She then glanced out to the patio.

"How light on their feet are they? I mean... we could... send them out the back. Toss a tarp over them. Say it's part of some kind of... float... oh, I am so going to get in trouble for this..."

She gave her a smile. "You really are 'double' the trouble, aren't you? Worth every drop. So... how about this. He get a like... cart. Borrow one from the club facilities. Toss a few of them on it, steer it to the nearest Door, chuck them through. If we toss them off our balcony, less chance of causing problems. And... sigh... if I'm with you, less people will question it. Or more. We can say it's part of a play."

"... And I am being *good* because I am *not* asking to take one of them apart myself even though a part of me wants to because I am not about doing that now. But I have no idea how they work and it is very tempting. So, does it sound like a plan?"

Double Trouble has posed:
Double Trouble laughs and claps their hands, pushing off the bot and swirling around to grab Hinoiri by both cheeks and plant a kiss right on her mouth. "This is why I'm glad you're my girl, Hinoiri. That plan is just complicated enough I think it might actually work."

"But it'll be bad enough having you seen with these bots. Nobody anybody knows is me can be seen with them, and He will cause too many questions." Their body shimmers and they are not them anymore. They're not Dianora. They're not Shiori. They're not Horde Prime. They're a a woman. A woman with purple hair and bright green eyes. It's kind of spooky. The same green as Horde Prime. She's wearing a pink and purple outfit that looks like a henshin getup if ever there were one.

They do a little pirouette in place. "Which is why I need to be who is with you," she says. "Much less suspicious because Princess Spinnerella couldn't possibly be evil." Except for those green eyes. They sure do look evil.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a light snort. "Well, smuggling things around campus is something I'm pretty good at. I should tell you about the time I had to smuggle out three crag eels and a cockatrice without Sora or the Dean finding out... during a big PTA meeting." There was way, way too much pride in those words.

"Okay, I'll go get the tarp and cart to move them. YOU see if you can get them, subtly, off the balcony. Give me ten minutes." Pause.

"Fifteen minutes."

She grabbed her jacket and then raced out the door. Oh, how hard could this *possibly* be?

The answer? Yes. Yes difficult. But, she'd be there... Pushing the trolley out. IT was usually used to move like... fertilizer and stuff. She had to leave a copy of her Student ID. She REALLY hoped people didn't ask too many questions... but she had *tarps*.

Double Trouble has posed:
The door shut and Spinnerella turned around to regard the bots. "She has no idea what these things are like," the woman said with a light laugh. "I guess we'll show her how subtle the Horde is."

One at a time she turned the bots back on, and instructed them to jump out the window and quickly conceal themselves in the shadows. It was as subtle as a huge spherical robot jumping out the window, but if nobody was looking, the spooky red glow of their eyes wouldn't cause any distress. When Hinoiri arrived with the trolley and tarps, Spinnerella was standing there with her little troop of bots arranged in two columns of three.

It turns out Hinoiri probably didn't see any of that "subtlety" but the end result was all the same. Spinnerella smiled and clapped when she saw the fire-haired girl approaching, "I knew you'd come through. Now, where's the nearest Door?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara just side eyed 'Spinnerella' as she helped her load up the bots. "You are so bucking lucky that this school has so much magic stuff going on that this kind of thing isn't entirely out of the ordinary." She tossed the tarp over the bots, sighing. Oh, it was clunky. So clunky. And then... "Wait, how would *I* know where the Doors are? They're Obsidian's Doors! I just know there aren't any on the school grounds because... reasons." Because Hinoiri had told the school where ALL of them were so they'd get cut off.

Girl was tired of assassination attempts, so sue her. MAybe they shouldn't have kept trying to kill her.

She tried pushing the cart, groaning. Then... "Wait. YOU'RE the one with magic and dark energy. Why am I pushing this?"

Double Trouble has posed:
Spinnerella sighed and shook her head. "I was hoping you knew where there was one on campus," she said before walking right up to Hinoiri and hip-checking her away from the cart. She put both hands on the handle and started to push it toward the nearest exit from the campus. It was almost effortless for her.

Looking back over her shoulder she said, "Come on. It's gonna be a hike. The nearest Door I know isn't too far, but it's not close." Then she smiles. "I appreciate you." Then she stops, and gets a serious look on her face. "Not a word of this to anyone," she says, her voice hushed. "Do you understand? I can't have people knowing it's me."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara sighed and reached a hand up to rub the back of her head. "Oh, trust me. I do not intend to mention the time I helped some girl who... was... princess of spin class judging by the name, haul a bunch of weird oversized roombas out of school and to Obsidian Tower."

"... I swear sometimes having friends who still work at Obsidian causes me *so much* grief. It was so much easier when I could just snap my finger and teleport all of the stuff to whereever I wanted it. Within reason."

She then glanced over to Spinnerella as they walked, before finally asking... "So... who is this girl, anyway? If you're so keen on keeping who they are secret? Some kind of new drama plan?"

Double Trouble has posed:
"I was a member of the original Princess Alliance with my wife Netossa," Spinerella says as she pushes the cart down the sidewalk out side the gate that lead to Pikarigaoka Ward. Definitely not going to Obsidian Tower with that choice. So clever!

Dropping her voice, Spinnerella goes on. "When Horde Prime came to Etheria he brought these mind control chips with him. Just slap one on the back of someone's neck and they were his mindless slaves. Spinnerella got chipped. So did Scorpia. So did a lot of other people." Beat. "Anyway. Horde Prime doesn't do his own dirty work, and he would draw more attention out in public. So this gig has me playing more roles, that's all."

Then she grins, and those green eyes narrow. "But I assure you there will be drama."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara narrowed her eyes, her fist clenching. "Ah. Mind control. Sounds like a real loser. What kind of pathetic ruler of anything, let alone the 'known universe', depends on mind control to do it?"

She then glanced back, hmming slightly.

"Wait, Scorpia? Oh... that other girl. Scorpia? She uhhhh... kept me safe. A bit.... unique, though. But we turned down the towers. Then she de-henshined to carry me off. Very strong, that girl. Bit... interesting. Seems... nice."

"... Do you think he can actually get here?"

Double Trouble has posed:
Spinnerella just lets that question hang in the air as she pushes the cart the last block to the Door. She pulls the door open and directs the bots into it, then she turns to look back at Hinoiri, finally ready to answer.

"Yes, I do. He can and he will. It will just take time. Etheria is on the other side of everything from here," she says. "But He wants to use the Heart of Etheria, and he needs the people who came here to make it go. So he'll be here. It's just a matter of when."

Then she gestures to the cart and grins. "Want a ride back to campus?"

They had two more trips.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was silent, her eyes shifting to the trolley. That. That would be terrible. What kind of person would do that? What kind of immature, irresponsible--

"... Buck yeah I do." Oh, she SO got on.