2262/Wrong Time, Wrong Place

Wrong Time, Wrong Place
Date of Scene:	22 January 2025
Location:	Game Crown Arcade
Synopsis:	It's a normal day at Game Center Crown, and he is a horrible Rubeus. One fight later, Crown is wrecked, and our heroes are in chaos, infested with Dark Energy. The Princess of Sarek, Puella Red, Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Venus, Kunzite, Jadeite, and Chibiusa have all definitely had better days.
Cast of Characters:	280, Mamoru Chiba, Chibiusa Tsukino, Jadeite, Veronica Perenna, Minako Aino, Kazuo Saitou, Amanda Faust, Usagi Tsukino
Tinyplot:	Black Moon Clan
Tinyplot2:	BMC: Rabbit Hunt

---

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
Game Center Crown is a beloved local establishment, having been opened by the Furuhata family since the late 70s to capitalize on the video game craze. The cafe was an addition added in the early 90s, transforming what had been an upstairs apartment into Fruits Parlor Crown - feeding hungry gamers and parents, and giving them additional space for hosting parties.

There are families in Juuban who have been bringing their children here from their youngest years, all the better for learning to play games from the start. There are kids who experience their first arcade experience here, who developed their first crush watching someone absolutely destroy the high score on the ancient and well-kept Pac-Man consoles, who soothed their first heartbreak with a milkshake in Fruits Parlor Crown.

And a thousand years in the future, it still stands, a monument to what was, and what it became - a shelter for those stranded during the Calamity, a respite from the horror, a gathering place of heroes, for the legendary Sailor Senshi could be seen departing at least once a month, and would continue to do so well into the 30th century.

It's a place of joy, fun, and well-wishes, which is naturally why no one is expecting the mailbox that's thrown through the glass double doors, sending shards of glass everywhere and crushing an old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cabinet - luckily, one that had no one sitting at it.

But the arcade isn't that large, and people are naturally panicking, scrambling all over themselves to get away from the crushed console, the glass, all of it.

"The Sailor Senshi," a cruel voice calls, "had better show themselves or I'll have fun taking this place apart cabinet by cabinet!"

Crimson Rubeus - a tall, muscular young man with red hair and red eyes, dressed in a black muscle shirt and green cargo pants over a pair of leather boots, hovers in the air, a furious glint in his eyes. Dark energy crackles over his palms, in a visible aura of power.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
They'd gone there to relax. That was obviously the first mistake.

Mamoru, here with Kazuo and Chibiusa, instantly produces a top hat and plunks it over the tiny girl's bunny-ear odango. He glances at Kazuo and his eyes flicker to Chibiusa, and then Mamoru's low-running across the back to get away from Kazuo and Chibiusa before he pulls out his pocket watch.

"Earth Prism Power, Make Up!" comes a voice and a lightshow from behind a cabinet.

Tuxedo Mask darts out from over there and says as he keeps running -- for the exit, or for the window, whichever seems more likely to get him outside, "You'll have to be satisfied with me!"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Oh shoot. Oh shoot oh shoot oh shoot oh shoot.

    Chibiusa looked over curiously at the arcade games, noted the ancient (especially for her) turtle-based brawler with some curiosity, and then shrieked as it was suddenly decimated by a flying mailbox. Covering her mouth and hiding behind the nearest tall person, Kazuo, Chibiusa watches the broken with wide open red eyes as she hears the chilling voice of another one of those jerks.

    A hairpin on her head poofs into the full catball form of Luna-P, which hovers behind its owner. Her's smile, as usual, never changes; but she's tilted about 45 degrees back giving it a haughty 'are you fn serious right now?' look.

    Chibiusa adjusts the top hat to make sure it covers enough of her hair. Good thing that pink goes with black so well. This was not the relaxing evening she had in mind.

Jadeite has posed:
Tamaki peeks through a crack in the door to the bathroom. Tamaki closes the door. A frission of light from under the door - and Jadeite casually steps out.

Knowing his luck, the newest clown was just as fire-themed as the last one he had fought, and that had ended poorly for Jadeite. Fire beats ice, after all. No taking the 'heat' this time - not when there were civilians to evacuate.

So instead Jadeite raises an ice wall to guide people out of the store BEFORE they can become collateral damage - and does it quietly, hoping that'll give him time to thicken the ice enough that if there ARE fire attacks, they'll take most of the brunt of it.

(And he's not calling out, not yet. He'd scared Mamoru and his friends enough last time!)

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica is on a stroll around Juuban Ward, her left hand holding an urban fantasy book. She is paying enough attention not to crash into other people, not even brushing by them. In the meantime, she is taking note of visuals in the book that would turn picturesque later.

Her right hand meanwhile is carrying a bag with new toys Emery would like, as well as an automatic feeder in case she has urgency to head to classes, as well as one of those self-refilling water dispensers. So far she has done well, but you never know. She is actually a bit concerned that Emery would find this sudden change unsettling, but she will deal with it if actually happens.

The brunette is just outside of Game Crown Arcade when Crimson Rubeus shows up and starts causing causing. An hidden spot and the twinkling of moonlight, and the Princess of Sarek shines bright once more, her form borrowing that of Sailor Mars. "You want the Sailor Senshi? I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for Love and Passion. I am Sailor Mars! In the Name of Mars, I will chastise you!" she tells Rubeus loudly with an inflexible voice.

"For threatening the innocents and scaring the defenseless, I shall hold you accountable", the fake Mars points at Rubeus, right hand on her waist. That should do the trick getting his attention away from the Arcade.

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor V was looking forward to relaxing with friends, catching up on her high scores on games, and perhaps getting to know the adorable future-daughter of Usagi and Mamoru! Along with Saitou-san of course. <3

That was her plan once she heard they were here, at least. Instead she approaches the arcade already in chaos by some redheaded boy hussy trashing the place.

RIGHT NEXT TO HER SAILOR V POSTER!

In an instant she's transforming with a cry of, "Venus Makeup Power!" but instead of Sailor Venus? It's Sailor V, complete with mask and matching the girl on that poster. On that video game cabinet. The little plushie in the claw machine. Once upon a time she would have given a lecture, or entered with a dramatic introduction like Sailor Mars there did--When did Rei get here?

Instead there's a blur of orange and white and blonde hair from the side as she leaps into an aerial double-heeled kick at Rubeus with a cry of: "NOT IN MY ARCADE! Sailor V Kick!"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
This was not the relaxing anything. No. Kazuo takes advantage of Tallness, shielding Chibiusa and pushing his way more mundanely through the panicking crowd - clearing room for five-year-old (and haughty catball). The front is blocked. Other exits might be open, might also be blocked - he'll settle if he has to for being able to get into the tiny downstairs kitchen. Or behind the counter, even if it's alongside a panicking Motoki. Anywhere out of sight of the individual hovering at the front door.

Because as soon as they're out of line-of-sight, he can transform without pulling the attention of the Irritating Hoverer of Property Damage right back to Chibiusa. Having a cape would be really nice right now.

Jadeite's ice wall goes up, guiding civilians out of danger, and further fuzzing Rubeus's view. "Here," he says to Chibiusa - the counter it is, for a moment, and Kazuo ducks down behind it and reaches to touch one of his earrings. This time the light show is shielded by the counter and what's left is diffused by ice into something that could be mistaken for game screen lights. He puts out an arm to Chibiusa. "If you stay close, I can keep better watch." Including, say, if the ceiling caves in or the building catches on fire. He'd like to take her and run. But knowing which way is safe is another question.

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
From within the arcade comes a pitched voice ringing with power and a light show, and then the King in Fancy Clothes himself bursts through the - as of yet unbroken - window, dressed in a distinctly darker tuxedo and sans top hat, bursting from the exit.

"Knew all I had to do was trash this place and you'd show up," Rubeus smirks and thrusts his hand out, a ball of darkness forming at the pit of his palm. "Now we just need to see who else is coming."

And almost instantly, he has an answer - Sailor Mars, the dread Soldier of War and - someone who looks like a dress-up toy idea of a Senshi. And of course it's the dress-up doll that comes after him.

Sailor V launches at Rubeus with a Sailor V Kick. Rubeus - catches her by the ankle and throws her bodily at Tuxedo Kamen and the busted arcade before twisting to launch an attack at Sailor Mars.

"Broiling Darkness!"

The ball of darkness - now grown to the size of a soccer ball - launches right at Sailor Mars' head.

"You lot are so predictable. All it takes is going after your favorite places and you line up for the slaughter. I'm going to have fun with this."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"As if!" scoffs the Prince in Phenomenal Drip, and then Rubeus yeets Vee right at Tuxedo Kamen and he crouches, then catches Vee and jumps back without falling, having been braced for the impact. Then he drops Vee to her feet and whips out a rose, aiming for the space in front of Marsu's face where the ball of dark energy will be by the time the rose gets there.

Interrupting Rose and he says urgently, "Venus, we need Venus! We have to get the heat off Mars--"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
No screams, from the way Jadeite is herding people. Kunzite rises to his feet, in a uniform that as promise matches Jadeite's (mostly) (if he weren't wearing it more casually) but also has a cape. A lonnng cape. He puts an arm out to keep it between Chibiusa and the front of the store, a third layer of protection beyond Tuxedo Kamen and the ice wall.

"There. The crush is easing up - it's safe out the back, at least so far." Kunzite nods Chibiusa that way, glancing toward Jadeite a moment after, and moves to guide (if necessary) or escort (if he can keep up) the small princess toward the back exit in her turn. Quick as they can, with the number of civilians still in the way.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa hides behind the counter, holding the hat down as she moves. Looking up to Kazuo, she nods and says, "Okay. As long as he doesn't notice me." Luna-P turns into a cape and wraps around Chibiusa, hiding her further. Hopefully.

    Combat is starting outside, and Small Lady can hear the attack callouts. Which means that she really wants to go out the back, as Kazuo says. As her red eyes track the people evacuating, she looks up at Kazuo and nods. "Right. I'm going."

    The future princess takes one more peek around the counter towards the front again, then she bolts towards what she thinks is safety. As tiny as her legs are, and with her lack of magic, it's really no challenge to keep up with her pace at all. If anything, her only advantage is in her ability to slip through tiny gaps in the crowd, but it's not like she particularly wants to get away from Kunzite right now.

Jadeite has posed:
No screams. Obsidian's forces are terrible at covering the exits - he remembers that from his own stint there - but it's good to have it confirmed. The civilians are streaming out, the enemy is kept busy - with apologies to poor Veronica, who is not getting a shield this time, and with hopes that Mamoru and Minako can help KEEP the enemy busy -

Jadeite stalks to help get the civilians out, quietly shuffling them out the back - gesturing to Kunzite and Chibiusa as they come by. "You two go ahead. I'll make sure the civilians get out and then follow behind," he says quietly.

He does not say: I'll stall for time if I have to if we get spotted. But he doesn't need to. He trusts Kazuo to understand.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica is internally filled with satisfaction when she, Tuxedo, and Sailor V all get Rubeus' attention away. The hard part may start now, but one less worry, a very important one. And she doesn't ask Tuxedo if Chibiusa is in there. She gives it a 9 out of 10, no need to check.

Even as she worries for V having been grabbed so casually and tossed at Tuxedo, she has the crackling lethal force of that ball of darkness to deal with. If only she could burn it back to buy some time to dodge. But no, instead she tries to dodge it on her own, and the lateral jump is success, the air burning with the passage of Rubeus' attack, and making her wince when it's still close enough to graze her cheek.

Even keeping in mind the speed with which Rubeus threw V away, the second Mars settles for a similar choice, at least trying to see if a feint is any better, a right fist at his face that would then switch into a left kick.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    A black- and blonde-haired college couple are over by the Pac-Man cabinets, the darker one infodumping about the history of Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man while their girlfriend listens with waning patience. "Ironically, the terrible console port of the original Pac-Man was a huge part of the Atari Shock back in the 80's, while the success of its sequel saved countless arcades from closing--"

    *SMASH!*

    "No, that was an original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cabinet!      You monster!"
    "No, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! C'mon, that game's a classic! You monster!"

    They look over at Amy, who just wanted to play some games and just shouted at the exact same time. And then the red-headed teen hurries off to find a spot to henshin, while dark-hair is dragged toward the back door by their girlfriend while gawping and pointing. "Is that Sailor V?! They're throwing real magic attacks, how is any of this possible?! How does that work!" "It works far away from us, I don't want to find out what it does if it hits us!" "But don't you see?! Everything we know about science is..."

    Meanwhile, Sailor Chalcopyrite is huddled behind a cabinet in the corner, wondering what she can even do as an attack that won't destroy more innocent videogames (and the arcade's livelihood).

    <<Everyone, close your eyes for a second in 3...>> "Hey, over here!" Amy calls, and then flings a flashbang at Rubeus's face.

    "Can't you see people are enjoying themselves in these myriad virtual worlds where they're free to imagine being a, a, a giant robot or a taxi driver or a tournament fighter or a special agent or a kart racer or... whatever DigDug is!? I, Sailor Chalcopyrite will not stand for itquickwe'vegottagethimoutofherebeforemorestuffget'ssmashed!"

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor V is caught and flung rather easily. While it was dramatic, and definitely attention-gaining, it was unfortunately rather easy to counter if the person she was fighting was any good. Sadly it seems the redhead's reaction time was decent.

Sailor V doesn't scream when flung, and when caught by Tuxedo Kamen she keeps her gaze on Rubeus as he prepares that attack.

Back on her feet she hops back a few steps to give Tuxedo Kamen some room again. At his remark of needing Venus she just reaches up to pull off her mask with a flourish! There's a shimmer of magic over her as she shifts from Sailor V, to Sailor Venus, a far more brightly colored and very recognizable senshi for the alternate-future Army-boy-wannabe.

"Love-Me Chain!" She cries out as a sudden whip of hearts is slung toward Rubeus to join in the attack again!

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
There's the King in Dark Tuxedo catching Sailor Dress Up Doll with an ease that Rubeus doesn't respect so much as expects. Of course he caught her. The King of the Crystal Millennium might be a worthless heap clinging to a throne, but he wasn't weak.

Well, he wasn't that weak, anyway.

It's even expected that he'd use a rose - it was possible for magic to function around them, but in the moment, they're effective. The ball of magic bursts mere centimeters from Sailor Mars' face as she dodges away, nothing more than black and purple dust.

But on the other hand, the fact that Sailor Mars dodged? That's not expected. That's interesting. Rubeus cranes his neck around

"Don't tell me the Soldier of Passion needs a pick me up from the King of Nothing over there," he mocks, and then immediately shifts to block both the mock punch and the feinted kick with his forearm, a palm thrust firing a bust of dark energy from Rubeus' palm into Mars' middle. "Then again, maybe you're just not good enough ye-"

This is when the flashbang goes off, causing Rubeus to roar in pain as he's temporarily blinded - Mars is released and he clutches his eyes -

And then laughs. Uh oh.

"I was RAISED in darkness you fool!"

"Dark Dome!"

And around Game Center Crown - and cutting off the back exit, trapping half the civilians and Chibiusa oh no! - rises a... well... dome of darkness, dark enough to block out the sunlight, leaving everyone as temporarily blinded as Rubeus, unless they choose to illuminate themselves.

And then there's the Love-Me Chain, snagging around Rubeus' waist as he's in the act of throwing up that shield, and he... didn't even see her transform, because of the darkness.

"So Sailor Venus is here too? Good! All the easier to kill you then!"

And then he yanks on the Love-Me Chain - hissing a little because the light energy stings at his hands - and tries to yoink her in his general direction. Of course, she could try yoinking him, instead.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
While Venus' glowing chain is connected to Rubeus, the Crown Prince of At Least Elysion laughs in the pitch dark, the visual echoes, the afterimages of the city street and the busted arcade and Rubeus and everything, they help for that split second--

(He has every confidence that Chibiusa couldn't be safer at the moment, he doesn't even worry.)

--"Tuxedo," he starts, then flings his glowing fist out in front of him.

"La Smoking," he continues, voice growing more strident, and then he opens that glowing hand and a growing ball of energy forms in front of it again--

--and then he yells out, the force of the laser blast enough to kick him back a half step, "Bomber!"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
And in the back, beside Chibiusa, in the dark that troubles him as little as it seems to trouble Rubeus, Kunzite says, "Let's try this," and raises his hands, his cape draping against the Luna-Pcape and Chibiusa's tophat. "Radiant Dark Embrace."

In Rubeus' darkness rises another half-sphere, invisible in the greater one. Kunzite drops his hand down to Chibiusa's shoulder, or takes her hand if she provides it, and guides her in the direction of the door. And when they reach the edge of the dome ... the smaller bubble of darkness merges with the larger, and when it reaches its highest point of overlap, Kunzite draws to the side and keeps it there. Not drinking down the entire tainted dome. Only enough to make a passage, and support it at the edge.

"This way," he says aloud. "Jadeite, can you make another barrier so I don't have to hold this --"

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor Venus holds tight to the Love-Me chain. Even as that darkness falls over the area obscuring the view, the light from that chain acts as a homing beacon for all who are currently fighting Rubeus to find where he is.

Venus digs her feet into the ground as much as she can whlie the chain is grasped between both hands fighting against the pull with strength, and her weight. None the less she finds herself being drawn closer with every little bit.

The chain is NOT released though. It was their guiding light in the darkness and she KNEW what Tuxedo Kamen was about to do. So long as Rubeus was on the other end of that chain the target was locked.

"Hit him hard and don't stop!" She calls out with assurance of, "I've got him!" Somewhere in the back of her head she toys with a joke about him being a fish caught on her line. Thankfully she doesn't say it out loud given the situation was far more serious.

Keep Rubeus away from the little Princess. So she holds on tight until 'Bomber!' is cried out. Then she just LETS GO so as to not find herself caught up in that attack at all.

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite blinks away the darkness, waiting - but not long as Kunzite drinks down the dark. It takes him a moment, blinking in the recreated light, to recognize what Kunzite's done, but then -

"On it," he says, and builds a lattice of ice vines in a underneath Kunzite's Dark Embrace to keep it from falling. (He takes a moment to build it up with the already set up walls, too, to ensure it will stay up as long as it can once everyone's done evacuating. Better to not let the enemy know they were getting out!

"Does Mamoru tell you that you're," oh, cannot call him hot in front of Chibiusa, that'd be weird, "reallyc ool when you do this stuff?" he whispers to Kunzite.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    The dark dome closes in, shutting out all light, which isn't that great for Chibiusa. Despite her years, she's still very much small enough to be afraid of the dark. She clutches Kazuo's hand, trusting him to lead her to safety, hoping that it is actually his hand she's holding. It's so very dark in here, and Small Lady has her eyes shut tight.

    When she finally opens them, she recognizes that she's in a smaller bubble inside the larger one, still with Kunzite, and she sees a small gap opening in the dome. The icy vines reinforce the exit, giving it one more layer of safety.

    She looks out the exit, and then up at the knights from another time. "Thank you." Then the small future princess scurries out of the barrier, looking both ways down the alleyway to check for immediate hostiles, then hides behind a garbage can while holding her cape and hat more tightly around her. Others can go to the street proper. They wont be directly targeted the way that she would.

    The flirting goes over her head. It wasn't meant for her ears anyways.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"King of Nothing? He has much more than you c-", the fake soldier of Passion starts quipping back, no doubt an expected retort, her words cut off by the palm thrust that makes her vision blur and her center bruise. She deeply thanks the salvific flash grenade for blinding the redhead, and the now freed magical girl stumbles onto her feet in a moment of recovery.

Her blurry vision gets to normal soon enough, but it doesn't do her much good with the cover of darkness that now suffocates the sunlight. Instead of getting away? She goes right back to aiming a fist at Rubeus' face, distracted as he is by the tight hold of Venus' Chain and the other attacks he has to worry about too.

She has to thank the chain of light for giving her a good enough reference for Rubeus' body. Of course, she is still in very close range with him. "You could never kill Sailor Venus", she exclaims with angry disdain at the threat.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    I was raised in darkness, you fool!

    It gets dark, but for the glowing chain and other attacks being thrown. The distinct hiss of igniting sparklers sounds as Amy holds one in each hand, lighting up the dome.

    At the back of the dome, cut off from their exit, one of the civilians has got their phone flashlight out, the two of them feeling the strange dark dome with their hands. The blonde gives it a kick to no avail. The brunette hmmmms. "What kind of material is this? Maybe we could break it with thermal stress? Hey miss! Can I get one of those?"

    Amy glances at them and considers it, but then Kunzite pokes a hole in the barrier and the civilians can escape! "Thank you sir!" Blonde turns to her friend, "Come on!" "Hang on I just wanna figure out what it's made of--ack!" Have they escaped magic this time? Time will tell!

    Amy, free to focus on Rubeus, unsummons one sparkler and conjures a high-caliber gyrojet launcher -- it looks like some kind of assault rifle with a cylinderical magazine -- and, somewhat awkwardly holding the sparkler against it as a light, she fires a few rocket-propelled bullets at the troublemaker from the future. "Raised in Darkness... so you really are from Nemesis?" Amy probes, questioningly.

    Also: with the storefront window already being trashed anyway, she tosses a road flare through the mailbox-hole to try and light things up!

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
Rubeus is tugging but Sailor Venus is tugging back, and she's rooted on the ground, where he's flying. She's not able to reel him in, but he's not able to easily get himself away, either, and he knows what she's doing, and he hears that callout -

"Broiling Darkness!"

The ball of darkness strikes dead-center through Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber, barreling through the attack, bleeding off energy. It's not enough to stop it, but it's enough that Rubeus gets his arms off, crossed in front of him to block the blast -

The Love-Me Chain is released and he lands hard on the ground, lowering bruised arms that faintly smoke in the aftermath of blocking so much energy, red eyes alight with malice. It would be more intimidating if he was looking in Mamoru's direction, but he still can't see, so he's looking slightly off center.

"Cute. That was almost something, kin-"

And then Sailor Mars II decks him, and it's not that it hurts - it doesn't in particular - but he wasn't expecting it, see, and his head snaps around, and he bares his teeth in a snarl.

"Rattling Blast!"

And a blast of dark energy, centered around him, bursts outward, knocking everyone and everything within fifteen feet of him back.

"Of course I can kill Sailor Venus," he sneers Sailor Mars' way. "If we could lay waste to the Earth on their watch, what makes you think we couldn't kill them?"

And though it would make more sense, with what he's just said, to blast Sailor Venus, there's bullets heading his way, rocket propelled, and those sting almost as much as the Smoking Bomber had, leaving smoking spots on his chest and forearms and Rubeus rolls his eyes.

"What, did my idiot subordinates tell you that? Of course we're from Nemesis. It was the only place your holier-than-thou bitch of a queen left for us to live. And we of the Black Moon Clan are stronger than you of the Silver Moon could ever hope to be!"

And now he blasts a Senshi.

Sailor Chalcopyrite, to be precise, though he mostly sees her as a blob of color, his vision slowly coming back.

He's launching a dark energy blast right at Sailor Chalcopyrite, inside the arcade, which is now slightly lit by the roadflare resting on the sidewalk amidst the shattered glass.

"Broiling Darkness!"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
As close as she is, the disguised princess of Sarek is thrown back a lot by the dark pulse, hurt not just by the attack itself but by the impact with the ground too. She doesn't get knocked out right away at least, but she isn't sure she can provide any useful attack until she has gotten a few minutes to recover. If Rubeus gives her that much.

Still, she is now far from him, and the attack from earlier had blinded him, so what she is about to do can be filed as reasonable risk on her part. Probably. "Uncloaking Shimmers", she whispers, her palm open in front of her, and a mist of soft moonlight shines and spreads around the area, with the capacity of revealing what is concealed.

"Maybe you shouldn't have gotten yourself exiled", she raises her voice and very slowly gets to her feet. "And you had to run all the way here, so I really the stain you are trying to give the future Senshi, I won't ever trust it", she states plainly.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Yeah well--" starts Tuxedo Kamen, then frowns, then smirks, and flings out his arm in the direction of the space between the latest Rubeus rant and the lit storefront. "Elysian Glitterbomb!" he yells, and--

A veritable HAIL of roses fly out, each one exploding into glitter with a PAFF and a bright flash of gold on hitting pieces of Rubeus' attack, and hopefully even Rubeus himself.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"Really cool, says the man literally growing an ice garden." Kunzite times that so that he can step into the light of the alley at the end of it, flashing a smile at Jadeite - then turning at once to lay eyes on Chibiusa, making sure she's safe, before easing off his own forcefield. Testing whether the ice vines will hold on their own --

They hold, but with the dimming of his barrier, there's an ominous creak and a shiver of pale glittery dust.

Kunzite makes a sound with his teeth that would probably result in Chibiusa resummoning the swear jar if it were a word. His field darkens again, and the ice vines reinforcing it stabilize. "Switch," he says to Jadeite. "I'll stay back till they're out. Stay with her and keep an eye out; I'll catch up." He doesn't call out to urge the other civilians to move faster; instead, he says to the one coming out now, and to the ones behind her, "Reach back and hold the hand of the person behind you. Form a chain. That way we can guide everyone out."

Maybe they could make it in a panic. But calling instructions would draw attention. And panics with small children involved are ... not good.

Minako Aino has posed:
"Why is everyone talking about killing me like I'm not even here!? How rude!" Sailor Venus snaps out at ... well at everyone talking about killing or not killing her. "I'm sorry you grew up somewhere awful but maybe it's time you came to see the light!"

Swinging her hand forward she swings her arm forward pointing at Rubeus (or the direction of his attacks at least? It *was* a bit hard to see), calling out, "Crescent Beam!"

In the darkness there's light once again. It was hard to see to aim though, so where it was going... Well that's a bit suspect. At least it might light up the area to help others see, right?

Amanda Faust has posed:
Outside (Back):
    The memory of what they are getting away from is fading, but the couple keep moving through the alley. The brunette looks back at Chibiusa in surprise. Do they somehow recognize Small L--? Oh wait no they just have red eyes too and so notice them on the pink-haired little girl, before the crush of people escaping the arcade pushes them on out of the alley.

Inside:
    "There has to be more to it than that!" Amy shouts back, as Rubeus starts providing possibly-useful information. "Did she even know it was inhabited when she banished that monster there?! Wait, Black Moo--"

    Amy was back and well away of the initial blast, blocking the shattered window glass with her cloak (yay capes!) but when she tries to dodge out of the way of the Broiling Darkness, in the poorly-lit room she slams into an arcade machine--

Oops! That REALLY hurt!

    "AAAH!" Amy cries out in pain as she's knocked into the back wall and slumps.

    That was surprising, and painful, and thank goodness Tuxedo Mask weakened the attack somewhat, and she turns off pain and watches Rubeus to see what he does, playing stunned or dead but waiting to see if he keeps going for her or turns his attention elsewhere.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa holds the rim of her hat down as she looks again down the alleyway, and holds the cape close to her. If she had a mask to go with it she'd almost have a complete look. Small Lady waits for a gap in the crowd before turning to Kunzite and Jadeite, then looking at the small opening that's currently threatening to collapse. She says, "Thank you!" again to the two Heavenly Kings before starting to scurry down the alleyway to the main street, trying to blend in with the fleeing crowd and keep pace with them. She leaves Kunzite's side, but not his sight.

    When she gets to the corner, she presses against the wall and peeks around, seeing the dark dome from the outside. She's safe out here, probably, at least until the barrier falls. Or so she thinks.

    The swear jar remains unsummoned. Chibs is far more interested in keeping her life at the moment, as well as being concerned about the immediate health of her alt-u father, and the senshi currently fighting. She makes eye contact with the brunette for a moment, not sure how to read her reaction, but it doesn't seem to last long enough to matter.

Jadeite has posed:
"I can't use hot or cool as a pun for your powers, so you'll have to do with that," Jadeite says, and he sticks his tongue out at Kunzite briefly before Kunzite turns to Chibiusa.

The barrier creaks. Jadeite pours more power into the ice dome, thickening it layer by layer as people begin to panic -

"Switching," he says, and heads out of the back door to join Chibiusa in the alley.

"Sorry about that! I'll be your Tuxedo-appointed bodyguard this evening," Tamaki says as he presses against the wall next to Chibiusa, an eye out for hostiles as he swirls his hand, swirling a shield in the shape of a huge icy flower. "Here, you can float that up on your hand if you'd like, or throw it around in a pinch."

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
"Yeah, that's what I expect from you, Mars. From one attack dog to another, if you're going to defend what your leader, at least get your facts straight. I wasn't exiled to Nemesis, I was born there -"

And then he gets a glittering bomb of exploding roses and fuck's sake he was just getting his eyesight back and now he can't see anything again fucking useless king of a dead fucking planet -

Rage makes him stronger. Hatred fuels his power. The black crystal earrings dangling from his ears seem to drain away any light from the flare that comes near him, leaving Rubeus shrouded in darkness as he roars out, "DARK RATTLING BLAST!"

And this time the darkness that roars out from him in a circular wave does more than just throw back those near him - it touches them with creeping darkness, making every effort to sink into flesh, to corrupt spirit, to taint with Dark Energy. The remaining windows of Game Center Crown shatter, their frames buckling under the pressure of the energy wave, the stone of building's face cracking under the pressure.

Those cars parked in the area crumple, metal warping, glass too shattering, and a nearby streetlight buckles, crashing to the ground in a shower of sparks and glass, and then -

Then Rubeus just shatters the dark dome, causing sprinklings of dark energy dust to rain down on them. Anyone who breathes it in will feel their temper spike, their frustration, their anger, rage, bursting under their skin. Those trying to evacuate out bristle as they push through the doors, shoving and kicking at those coming behind them.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
That's not making a chain. Ah, well, that's what he gets for saying that when he's not Venus. Kunzite snarls softly as the first of the dust touches his face, and the small controlled field of his own darkness grows abruptly - only dimming the light, but snatching up the tainted dust out of the air in the Crown and in the closest part of the alley. Trying to keep the civilians shoving, kicking, slowed, but still moving, not getting tainted further and starting to try to commit murder on the spot.

He might be tempted to commit murder on the spot, granted. But Mamoru would disapprove. So temptation is not to be given in to. He might, though, haul particularly determined obstacle persons out bodily.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Small Lady looks up at Tamaki as he joins her side, and then reaches out to accept the ice flower into her hands. She considers how to even use this, and it's during that moment of tactical planning that the dark dome just shatters and well...

    Chibiusa is not immune to the effects of darkness. As the tiny evil sparkles enter her system, she immediately snaps at the person nearest to her, which just so happens to be poor Jadeite. "And what am I supposed to do with this?! Cool my soda?" As if he hadn't just told her.

    Pretty unwise to be rude to someone trying to save your life, but darkness isn't exactly called 'wisdom sauce'. Nevermind what the BMC's shadow leader's name is.

    She angrily glares over at Crimson Rubeus as the dark dome falls, and the enemy general suddenly becomes very visible. "Abracadabra Pon! Become a gun!" she commands, as her cape turns into a pistol. The same pistol that once shot flowers at Usagi, and now Chibiusa is loading Jadeite's icy flower into the chamber. She levels the gun at Rubeus and, in a moment of sheer lack of foresight (thanks, Rubeus) she actually fires the flower at him.

    Don't question how a magic flower managed to get loaded into Chibiusa's gun, nor how it actually managed to get fired. You don't want to get on Luna-P's bad side.

Jadeite has posed:
Tamaki breathes in darkness.

Jadeite breathes it out, pupils dilating.

"You're supposed to fight with it," he tells Chibiusa tartly, body snapping to attention as adreneline surges.

Kunzite's dealng with the civilians. Mamoru's daughter just tried to shoot the enemy. The enemy will no doubt try to capture her. Unless he is stopped in time.

There are several abandoned bricks in the alleyway. "Snow," Jadeite casts, and as an enormous icy bellflower on a stem forms, he tosses the bricks up, freezing them into several hundred pounds of ice. He tugs the stem back -

"THIMBLE!"

Can Rubeus melt several hundred pounds of ice coming at him at high velocity? Maybe.

Can he melt bricks?

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Well, why, thank you very much, Rubeus. Veronica had completely ad-libbed that line, and it's interesting to know that he didn't question it, and that he added something about the list of things they know. She isn't quite sure how his anger and the fact he was born there fit with his hatred of the Senshi.

A second or third generation, and hate taught from his parents? That's quite the sad story, and it does make her feel a little bad for him. Nowhere near enough to forget they are committing and intending to commit all sorts of crimes, above all of which stands killing a small child, but she still pities him.

And any minuscule fragment of pity is smashed into fine dusk by that wave of darkness that corrupts and brings out the worst in people, prompting Veronica to ignore just how messed up she currently is, and her disdain for the Black Moon Clan's disregard coming back.

Amanda Faust has posed:
(Outside)
    Those two just can't quite escape this time! Perhaps getting knocked out at the mall was a blessing. They just get out of the alley in time to scream at cars crumpling and glass shattering, and then dark energy dust makes everything worse. The fight breaking out has the brunette down on the street in pain and blondie is standing over them swinging at people near where the alley lets out to the street and shouting, "DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!" So that's. Going great. Just great!

(Inside)
    Oh Amy is not ready for dark rattling blast. She dodges the pieces of broken arcade machine the explosion flings at her, but. Dark energy... At least she's not out in the dust!

    "You..." Amy rises to her feet in the ruined arcade, retaining enough presence to glance behind her at the crowd struggling to get out and NOT backblast them, "CAN'T TREAT PEOPLE THIS WAY!"

    Sailor Chalcopyrite, her fuku still scorched and burned in front, is suddenly screaming angrily and hurling (non-frag, thank goodness!) grenades at Rubeus, which airburst when they get close because fuck making it easy for that jerk to dodge!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Oh rip--" starts Tuxedo Kamen, eyes wide at the sound of the callout in the dark, and he tries to parry instead of dodging. That's his main, most major mistake. No one can reliably see anything, and he doesn't know how big the dome is, and there's the callout and there's no time to think about it, he holds up his cape at an angle, trying to sluice the energy wave away--

Well that doesn't work. He gets slammed backwards and over, and because his cape is facing Rubeus and keeping him safe only until it blows up and back, the only armor he's got when he hits pavement gets shredded pretty fast, and Mamoru's got the wind knocked out of him and a nasty case of 'just ate asphalt'. RAGE JUICE and a GUNSHOT and ROAD RASH means that the boy who was once a king for five horrible hours stands, eyes glittering, and henshins again.

Shoulder-length black hair, dark blue eyes full of rage which generates more which generates more and gunshot for the love of all the gods GUNSHOT and--

A grey uniform with black trim and a new black cape, this one dark blue on the inside, and black boots and a black belt. The dark energy that crawled in did it so fast and so forcefully--

Hematite picks up a crushed car, wailing away, and says, "FUCK YOUR STUPID POINTLESSNESS, STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" and yeets it at Rubeus.

Minako Aino has posed:
Darkness. Pure dark energy raining down like so much confetti that leaves Sailor Venus feeling... Ill. Angry. Frustrated. Worse than before. This wasn't just the righteous indignation she'd been fighting with before, or the urge to protect her friends. This was just aimless, pointless gut wrenching anger.

Venus draws up short nearly staggering from the impact of such a sensation hitting her so hard as her eyes focus on Rubeus. The source of all this ... THIS.

"I've watched my world die, and this world die, and I am *NOT GOING TO WATCH IT AGAIN!*"

Somewhere, somehow, in the midst of her current madness a sword appears in her hand gripped firmly as she steps forward intending to attack the redhead.

But then the explosions occur drawing her attention toward the fake Sailor whatsispite instead. And then there's a car being thrown at her target as well! AUGH!

"I WANT TO HIT SOMEONE TOO! AUGH!"

Stepping forward she leaps into the air. The car was already aimed at Rubeus, but that doesn't mean she can't jump upward to use it as a stepping stone while swinging her sword overhead in a downward slice.

Crimson Rubeus (280) has posed:
And of course, the thing about infectious Dark Energy is that those who use it aren't at all immune to all the worst effects. The rage and hate, the heat of the moment and the battle. He's more powerful like this, but also laser focused and full of rage and hate.

"AND WHY THE HELL NOT?" Rubeus roars at Sailor Chalcopyrite, another - smaller this time, at least, thankfully for the structural integrity of that building - dark blast allowing him to detonate her grenades at a distance that doesn't do him too much damage. "This is what YOU DO, Senshi! You force your purity down our FUCKING THROATS WHETHER WE WANT IT OR NOT - you leave us NOTHING BUT THE SHADOWS - we're just following your FUCKING LEAD!"

And then the flower is shot at him. It sticks! It lodges there, in the muscle of his chest!

It's not enough.

Neither is the giant hunk of ice, covered in bricks - which is shattered by a dark blast, the bricks bouncing off his shielding arm.

Neither is the car, which is kicked so that it flips up and Venus' sword ultimately ends up slicing it in half, at which point Rubeus grabs her by the wrist and hurls her, sword and all, right at where Chibiusa is hiding.

"You couldn't even handle a fraction of it," he laughs, and laughs, and laughs. "All your talk, and the second you get a taste of what we lived with, you lash out at what you hate just like me."

And then he's gone, leaving a mass of fighting, raging, kicking civilians at the back of the building, who are - going to gradually, slowly begin to exhaust themselves, dark energy sapping away their vital energy, until they collapse, leaving Game Center Crown busted (though most of the game cabinets are safe), cars trashed, a collapsed street light, and a group of angry, dark energy infested mahou.

Minako Aino has posed:
It's an oddly satisfying sound hearing a car be cut in haf. That shriek of metal being cleaved by a sword made of something far sturdier than waht could be found on Earth, weilded by her own hand. The peices of the car fall away to either side of her opening her up to her target with a look of malicious glee on her face.

At least until he pulls the SAME MOVE as before!

Though thrown she flips acrobatically in the air out of instinct. Far more graceful this time, far more prepared to land, to retaliate, to not impact with the child that...

That had pink hair. And red eyes. And. Was. Usagi and Mamoru's child.

Dark energy or not there was some part of her willing to fight against it so that she abandons the sword back to it's magical pocket of space so that the worst thing that might impact is just her body. Which she curls into a ball planning to try and avoid the worst of the impact from landing on the smaller form.

There's. There's a wall right behind her though, right? That's going to hurt a bit. Especially since Sailor Venus might get her head smacked on it. But at least that would stop her from attacking anyone else right?

Jadeite has posed:
The threat is gone. Mostly gone. Jadeite plucks Chibiusa out of the way of Venus's sword plucking like a particularly squirmy cat out of reach of the stove, and plops her on his shoulders. "I do believe the time for guns is over," he tells her, indulgent yet stern. The darkness in him settles; how that there is no one to fight, he is centering himself. His job is done. Now to get his charge to safety. "The time for home is now. And perhaps ice cream? Or are you in a cocoa mood?"

And he saunters past the raging civilians, nudging one with his foot to get them out of the way as he heads over to Kunzite. He's chipper now that the fight is over, despite the screaming people, the wreckage of the cars, the smoke. "My darling Kunzite. Could you be a dear and call our princess? I do believe our prince will require her gentle touch before he can help us clean up the rest of this mess. Unless you'd like to take over guard duty and I can call? I do believe our young princess has earned herself lessons on when not to fire at will and perhaps a treat?"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa immediately regrets firing at Crimson Rubeus, and while there is so much rage in her tiny little body right now there is also a lot of fear. Suddenly Sailor Venus is getting flung in her direction and she freezes still for a moment. She's not really sure how to respond to an incoming senpai projectile, so she holds up her arms, closes her eyes and grits her teeth..

    "Abracadabra Pon! Become a trampoline!" she shouts, throwing down the gun as it poofs into its new shape, angled to launch Venus a little more upwards and a little less forwards. Is that actually going to help? Uhh... maybe, maybe not.

    Fortunately, Crimson Rubeus has fled the scene of the crime. Unfortunately, he left a big dark energy mess behind him. She's now getting picked up and starting to get badfeels because she knows she messed up and she doesn't actually understand why she did what she did. It's really been a long time since she's had to deal with dark energy like this.

    Her magic toy turns from gun mode into a smartphone, and Chibs clutches it in her hands and starts typing.
> SMALL LADY to USA-CHAN: Dad's got long hair and is throwing cars around.
> SMALL LADY to USA-CHAN: Also a lot of people are mad.
> SMALL LADY to USA-CHAN: We got hit with dark energy.
> SMALL LADY to USA-CHAN: purify plz

Amanda Faust has posed:
(Inside, Now)
    "Are you crazy?! You're the one forcing this on people right now! AAARGH!" Amy screams in frustration at the person who is causing trouble and then blaming everyone else and denying it and that's about all the nuance she can give the situation right now! She holds out her hands like she's about to throw a ki blast, and instead launches -- inefficiently -- an anti-tank round at him, while her own backblast knocks her back into the crowd, and her shot goes by *just* after he disappears and blows a hole in the wall across the street. Great!

    At least her own explosion doesn't really hurt her more.

    She gets to her feet, shoving back any civilians that try to fight her, and angrily walking over to Chibiusa and Venus. "ARE YOU OKAY?!" She's. Concerned? But also still really mad. As much as she wants to punch something she's not so rage-blinded as to see anyone left here as an appropriate target!

(Outside, A Few Minutes From Now)
    The dark-haired civilian went down before they could burn through much energy, so they get to. Be the first one to wake up. Surrounded by unconscious, injured people. With no memory of what happened. And frantically call emergency services and have a very bad day trying to explain things!

    They were just so excited to play Ms. Pac-Man, Rubeus! They just wanted to play Ms. Pac-Man, and you ruined it!

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Jadeite is chipper, as he approaches Kunzite, perhaps not quite having put together that if he was hit with dark energy, and Chibiusa was hit with dark energy, there might be a theme here.

'Darling Kunzite. Could you be a dear and --'

And that is when Kunzite punches Jadeite in the face.

There are going to be so, so many apologies later.

Jadeite has posed:
Jadeite staggers back at being punched, but doesn't fall. He has precious cargo here! He can't fall!! His (chibi) princess is relying on him!! "Ow, what the hell," Jadeite snaps, breaking out of the crisp transatlantic English accent he'd worn as Obsidian's Jadeite to a thick, thick Midwestern. "Come ON, if you don't want to call Usagi, you can just say so!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
And that is when Hematite looms up behind Kunzite and says to all of them, "Behave."

His face is still gritty and bleeding and his gloves are bloody, because guess who can't heal like this.

Minako Aino has posed:
The quick thinking of Chibiusa at least ensures that Venus doesn't smack into her, or the wall. Instead she hits the trampoline which softens her fall. And bounces her right back off to the side leaving her in a crumpled, ungainly heap.

"This is not my night," she grouses somewhere in the vicinity of the concrete.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The Princess of Sarek is not in very good conditions right now, and her mind is split between being wary of any more moves Rubeus would do, and try to minimise what he did to those others by talking to them and try to reason with them maybe. She is mostly managing the dark energy balance, thankfully enough, but to say that the current situation is concerning is minimising it.

Then Rubeus decides to just be gone, and a breath Veronica didn't know she was holding back is finally let go, and the first thing she does is walk towards Tuxedo Mask, thinking the most about the gut punch that is him turning back into Hematite.

At the same time, he is also the one telling people to behave, so he has not been as badly affected as she feared. He was always quite composed as Hematite, actually, even back then. "Chalcopyrite, pipe down, you are probably scaring Chibiusa", she settles on, walking towards the other fake Sailor Senshi.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
    Usagi TXT to Chibiusa= He has what?
    Usagi TXT to Chibiusa= WHAT?
    Usagi TXT to Chibiusa= on my way, Luna can track the communicator oh my god he's not allowed to go on dates without me
    Usagi TXT to Chibiusa= at least our dates never brought back hema-chan!