2323/Power for Thee But Not for Me

Power for Thee But Not for Me
Date of Scene:	13 February 2025
Location:	Radiant Heart Academy
Synopsis:	Petz of the Black Moon Clan has invaded a parent tour of Radiant Heart Academy, only to encounter the Rabbit, Young King, Sailor Doomed-to-Die, and an unexpected Mau Cat (Chibiusa, Mamoru, Amy, and Veronicat). A clash of perspectives ensues.
Cast of Characters:	280, Chibiusa Tsukino, Mamoru Chiba, Veronica Perenna, Amanda Faust

---

Petz (280) has posed:
It's an ordinary day at Radiant Heart Academy, a place that Petz has only ever encountered in this strange alternate future where there are more magical warriors than there are cracks in Nemesis and the variety of magic seems endless.

The last time she saw this place was in December, on the day they arrived in what they now know was the year 2024, when the Rabbit was carried here by the Young King. Then the place had been protected by some sort of invisible shield of soft heartedness.

...and the shield is still here, as Petz has discovered. She's been on a campus tour with a group of parents for the last half an hour, dressed in a dark green suit jacket with strong shoulders, black slacks, and black boots. The symbol of the Black Moon has been discretely covered up with make-up, but her incredibly bored expression is visible.

"<And how many student attend this school?>" A parent asks in English as the group ambles along.

"<More than twenty thousand,"> the tour guide says cheerfully.

"How many of them study magic and dismemberment?" Petz asks, more because it's funny to watch everyone forget everything she says than because she expects a clear answer.

"Ahaha... that must be a joke," the tour guide answers, strained, "But there are several afterschool clubs that enjoy learning stage magic, and video game design -"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa is squatting on the ground, just around the corner. She's playing a game on a Switch that looks a whole lot like Luna-P because, secretly, that's what it is. When she overhears a 'joke' about magic and dismemberment, she gets a bit unnerved and then peeks around the corner.

    One adult in a whole crowd of adults is not intrinsically suspicious, but... after a joke like that... Very few people who actually belong in this era would be so out of place.

    She gulps, and then turns away, fleeing before she gets caught. The Black Moon Clan might not be able to use their magic here, but she wouldn't need magic to terrorize a small child.

    Chibiusa will just have to be the bigger terror, and for that... she's going to need some supplies. Luna-P reverts to catball form and happily bounds after Chibiusa as the two of them flee the scene of the crime-to-be.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
'How many of them study magic and dismemberment?'

Mamoru can't help it, he turns to look, eyebrows up. And then he sees Petz.

He's been sitting on a low wall in the sun with Amy, playing Cards Against Humanity, and he lowers his cards and just looks for a second.

"Dammit," he breathes, "how the hell did she get in? Wait, of course she can get in, Veronica-san's roommate can too, it's just not fun. Mmm."

Mamoru glances down at the cards and claps his hand over his mouth, eyes wide. "******* and ***** in-- no way. I'm not reading that out loud!" he starts laughing, then pushes the cards at Amy and decides to play with fire. "Don't tell Kazuo, okay?" he tells Amy, eyes dancing. He holds out his his pocket watch and whispers, "Earth Prism Power, Make Up!"

He's faced away from Petz and halfway behind some shrubbery where they are on that wall, s it's fine. When he's done with his henshin, it's... not... normal.

T-Shirt Mask wanders out from behind the bushes and smiles in Petz's direction.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
'That lady really is creepy', Veronica blinks, after yet another weird comment from Petz. Is she just a particularly weird person, or does she actually mean what she says? She may be just into occult, and if she were an enemy, she would have a hard time doing anything significant with the shield of purity the Crystal Heart is providing.

She has mostly been keeping her distance from the group of parents, just casually strolling around, and in any other circumstance, she would have probably picked another section of the school. She really doesn't want to take her chances with anyone's attention turning to her. She gets enough of that from the other students.

Would someone from Black Moon infiltrate the school? Even if they don't strictly need magic to kidnap Chibiusa, it would only be a matter of a minute before they get a swarm of angry magical warriors ready to show her why that's a mistake.

She approaches Amy and Mamoru when she spots the two playing cards in the sun, meowing a greeting. They can probably get the gist by themselves. And then she turns her head to where Petz is, as her way to ask their opinion.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Meow? Amy doesn't usually hear meows on the quad. She looks over and smiles with recognition, "Veronica!" And then she frantically gathers up her won cards that are out and holds them to her chest, but before she can comment, someone says something very strange and Amy looks over and raises an eyebrow. She doesn't immediately recognize Petz--she is disguised, after all, and Amy didn't get a close look at the baseball game. "Who?" Amy asks, and is probably reminded quickly.

    'Are you sure this is a good idea', Amy asked at the start of the game, and, well, it's gone like it's does, from uptight to relaxed, and she's trying to stifle laughter lest a crowd of curious students come over. "As long as you don't tell anybody either... well, anybody who wouldn't get it." she answers, henshining when Mamoru does.

    A civilian version of Chalcopyrite's outfit comprises a white-and-red sailor fuku with a black bow, and also the tiara is of course gone and the gloves are changed to a heavier fabric for warmth, and a white winter coat is added to the whole thing because it is February -- and she follows after T-Shirt Mask, whispering "You can do that with your powers too?" and glancing between Veronica and Petz, trying to keep her eyes on both.

Petz (280) has posed:
The Rabbit is out of sight, so when she disappears, she's totally unnoticed. The small cat following them around is also unnoticed.

The Young King in a domino mask, single glove, and T-Shirt?

He's noticed.

Petz is in the midst of a group of civilians, even if she's now straggling with the back of the pack, many avoiding her eye - yes, she has been making off-putting statements this whole time - and so after a moment of consideration, she does what seems natural: flips him off.

One of the chaperones notices, and gasps, horrified.

"Why would you do that to a student?" he demands.

"On my planet, this is how we greet one another," Petz lies, bland. "Why, does it mean something else in this backwater time that should have been doomed?"

"Well - culturally speaking, it - it certainly is rude - and I'll have you know, Tokyo is quite advanced -"

"Compared to what's left of Crystal Tokyo, you're quite right."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Small Lady returns, coming from the direction of the cafeteria, with a tray full of food. It is, in a word, overstuffed. Filled to the brim of the messiest, most gooey food she could find. Ice cream, fruit pies, rice with curry, etc. The warm food is melting the cold food, but Chibiusa seems unconcerned about that.

    She comes back just in time to hear Petz speaking very loudly about Crystal Tokyo and other planets and well... if she didn't know before she does now.

    She hesitates for a moment, then with a determined frown she takes one step forward, and then another.

    Slowly, casually walking in the vague direction of the gathered parents, the future princess approaches. Looking off to the side, pretending not to notice Petz.

    After seeing her alt-dad get flipped off by the enemy, there's a flash of anger in her tiny little eyes. She quickly looks away again. Gotta be low key. Gotta play it cool.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"No," T-Shirt Mask whispers back to Amy, "this is from a thing." And that's all he can really explain, except he also adds as if it explains everything, "Koji-kun."

And then Petz flips him off and the parents and tour guide are all way outside their comfort zones in terms of social horror right now, but Amy's walking next to him now, so Petz can also see her, and Mamoru doesn't flip Petz off back, he just gives her a shiteating grin, then turns to Amy and whispers, "Let's psychologically bully her."

He looks back at Petz and laughs, then whispers again while watching Petz, "She looks like an 80s businesswoman."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Rude! The Mysterious Red-Haired Student flips two birds right back. "On her planet, this just means I'm being extra welcoming." she smiles mischievously. Oh well, she was already rude to Emi's minder, guess there will just be rumors of a mysterious red-haired red-eyed exchange student who isn't Amy or Lulu...

    Mamoru whispers, and she whispers back, "I don't know how to do that!"

    She improvises trying to get Petz away from the civilians, "Perhaps you'd like to talk to someone who's heard of your home planet, Nemesis? I'd love to learn more about your culture and what you're doing here."

    Like an 80's businesswoman? Amy blinks at Mamoru innocently. "Is that bad?"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
A smile is given to Amy when the redhead shouts her name, and then she follows along the two of them towards the group of parents. Whether they answer her or not, they certainly deem the creepy woman significant enough to stop playing.

'Another time...', Veronica hisses, getting the confirmation they are in fact dealing with Black Moon. What is the point of a disguise if she is so blatant? She might as well walk in with a 'I love Rubeus' t-shirt.

When Chibiusa shows up too, with a tray of food that can only be described as a disaster waiting to happen, Veronica's tail swishes happily. Well, this ought to be fun. This day has been boring enough already, and the pinkette getting some payback on the monsters that have been making her life terrible would certainly make it memorable.

The russian blue happily sticks close to Amy and Mamoru. Who knows if she can find some way to do her part.

Petz (280) has posed:
She does look like an 80s business woman - this is very true. Petz was, after all, expecting to come back to the early 90s. However, she actually likes this style and finds modern women's business wear to be too focused on saving space and not standing out, which just defeats the point.

Women of business should be powerful! Mighty! They should rip the spines out of their opponents!

...she sees the Rabbit. But with the Young King right there, she obviously isn't going to get very far with her, and that - oh that's that other soldier. Soldier Doomed-to-Die, for theoretically caring about freedom of choice.

"Y-young lady! Even if that's the truth in her country -"

"It's fine," Petz says dismissively, cutting off the chaperone. "It probably says something vaguely positive about your institution of learning, that the students are willing to copy a stranger."

Is she going to stay behind with the children? Why not. The tour group isn't moving very fast, she can still dive to get in between them if this turns ugly.

"I would have thought what I'm doing here is obvious," she says, turning to Chalcopyrite. The tour group really isn't moving very fast - they're discussing - ugh, the rigors of curriculum. "Confirming that this is indeed where the Rabbit lives. Did you keep my sister's arm and corpse, or did you dispose of those?"

She is so tempted to just... kick the Rabbit... or the Cat... but her death would be pointless, and assured, in this place where darkness shrinks. Who would have guessed the Queen of this time had already erected the start of her barrier?

She keeps glancing at the Rabbit, as though weighing, again and again, whether or not she wants to try and kill her anyway.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"No it just means she brought clothes vaguely appropriate to 1994," Mamoru says out loud since Amy's taking a different tack. He'll explain the psychological bullying he was already doing... later.

"Even though, you know, that was thirty-one years ago." He's not actively saying the 80s called and want their shoulders back, but then he just... smiles at Petz again when she comes over. "Which sister?" he asks with gentle, sensitive amusement, hooking his thumbs in his pockets. "Koan got eaten by a Labyrinth, and some blue-haired guy came to collect the body of the ice one, but he was kind enough to cut off her arm so we could extract it from my friend's abdomen. It was a fun day! She totally missed our baby even being there."

He glances towards Chibiusa, and the fact that he does NOT like her being so close to Petz does not show on his face.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa keeps walking towards the group, pretending not to notice everyone else, even as she feels Petz's baleful gaze burning into her skin. There's nothing untowards happening here. Just a simple pink haired child trying to find a quiet place so that she can eat her weight in delicious food.

    It's only at the last moment when Small Lady's expression changes, and her gaze is locked directly upon Petz's eyes. For a brief fraction of a second, the little child smiles.

    ... and then a small red rubber bouncy ball comes from out of nowhere at just the right moment. Just in time for Chibiusa to accidentally trip on it, which naturally leads to her throwing, excuse me, 'accidentally dropping' her tray of messy foods directly at Petz's face.

    She covers her mouth and says, "Oh no! My food!" in the most fake-distressed voice she can manage.

    As for the rubber ball, it rolls off around the corner and transforms back into Luna-P.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    1994, when Amanda got Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles for her birthday and Christmas respectively, was 31 years ago?! Ooof, Amy groans, as what Mamoru thought was precision sniping deals some collateral damage.

    She does her best to recover, nodding as T-Shirt Kamen states the facts of those incidents. "I don't see you as worried about the people you hurt. The corpse your side made. What's the point, anyway? We're in a completely different timeline, they won't affect you at all. Why is it worth getting yourselves killed just to spite--"

    And then food shenanigans happen and she can't help breaking out into giggles unless Petz completely dodged it.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica squints when Petz confirms her all too obvious intent. For all the good It does her, and the fact she straight up confirms it in front of Mamoru. As much as Veronica would not complain if she got a lesson, Petz has to realise she has everything to lose by angering them on campus ground. She can't possibly be that reckless.

Koan disappearing in a Labyrinth is important news. Did a Witch kill her? Or was it one of theirs? Even with all those questions, she is mostly filled with relief at knowing there is one less person to make attempts on Chibiusa's life. Goodbye, Koan, you petty thief. You won't be missed.

A chipper noise comes out of Veronica's mouth when Chibiusa's tray plan comes to its expected conclusion, the best approximation she has to a laugh, and she jumps on Chibiusa's shoulder, rubbing her face against hers in approval.

Petz (280) has posed:
"I brought clothes appropriate to an era when women wanted to crush their enemies beneath their feet," Petz corrects, "...and that's unfortunate. Koan's corpse would have been useful. Saphir-sama informed me that the remainder of Berthier was retrieved. He was curious about what you'd do with the arm."

If she's bothered by the fact that her sisters have died, it doesn't show on her face, or in her voice.

"To destroy the people who would step up to support the King and Queen, of course. The people their daughter loves. And to darken the heart of the royal pair who decided only their kind should have magical power, after unilaterally forcing near immortality across the globe."

The food drops right on her face. Yes, it's a mess, everywhere, and the tour group - which are close enough to see - gasp in shock. Yes, some people are amused, but most look awkward. One of the chaperones rushes over, only for Petz to disdainfully take off her jacket and wipe her face with it.

Underneath the jacket, she's wearing a fitted blouse, which works to her figure quite well - it's high cut, and shimmery and she looks up at Chibiusa with a look of hate -

And then to the chaperone, says, in perfect English, "<I didn't realize you allowed such young children to wander about alone. How unfortunate for them, though I suppose your school is fortunate Japan isn't as litigious - or concerned with the safety of their children - as the union of states these lovely people were talking about."

Both chaperones are starting to turn red, at that, especially because their student did just cause a problem -

"I'm - I'm so sorry about the young lady -"

"It's. Fine." Petz cuts in, and her anger radiates from her, "I recognize her - a recent orphan. Her father and mother, both rendered brain dead due to their own egotistical decisions. Aunts, killed one by one after in pitiful fights against odds they couldn't hope to stand against."

She's looking Chibiusa dead in the eye. She fled to the gates, before the Senshi's battles were finished.

"They were so out of practice."

The chaperone eeps, staring at Petz in horror, handkerchief held in a shaking hand.

"Out of practice?" he dares to ask.

"Oh, they called themselves soldiers and lived like kings," she says and snatches the handkerchief to wipe the rest of her face, then dumps the jacket on him. She's still stained, and will destroy these clothes, but at least the rest of her is fine. "And then they couldn't stand against the first rebellion to rise against their reign."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Oh, she's not an orphan," Mamoru says, coming closer, close enough to hold out his arms for Chibiusa if she wants up. He winks at one of the chaperones from behind his mask. "I would know, she's my relative. I'm so sorry, it's my fault she was running about -- it was my job to watch her today," he says to the other chaperone. "But I also don't think it's very appropriate for a stranger to be saying such things to a five year old, do you? What was your name again, obaa-san? I missed it. Oh, let me just--"

He looks concerned, easy, he's holding a small child, he's dressed like a theatre kid and probably is, and Petz has some goo still on her face.

Quick as a wink, he licks his thumb and reaches up to touch Petz's face and get the schmutz off.

He is looking for connections, impressions of the other Black Moon Clan members, anything that would indicate she cares about anyone at all, and he's braced for unpleasantness.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa squints at Petz as she starts speaking in English. She looks at Tuxedo T-Shirt, and then at Petz, not having any idea what she's saying.

    As Petz starts describing the gruesome death of her parents, her eyes go wide for a moment, and something flashes in her eyes that really shouldn't be there. It would be easy, so easy, to fall into hatred right now. So easy for her to give a command that Luna-P wishes she would...

    This time, however, she resists; and she smirks.

    "I know she's not dead, you dummy," she says, in perfect confidence. "You sure like saying jerk things, don't you? I doubt you have any business being here to begin with." Her eyes dart towards the chaperones for a moment, but for right now she doesn't care about getting into trouble with them. Kamen picks her up, and she clings to him, but she doesn't take her eyes off of the filthy clanner. She reaches up to pet the cat that has jumped onto her shoulder, scritching her behind the ears for a moment.

    After thinking about it for a moment, she turns back to Petz and glares, asking the question that has actually been on her mind for a while. "Why?"

    "Why do you hate my mom and dad so much? What's your actual problem?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Okay actually Amy does not have time to giggle. She looks shocked at Petz's callous view of her comrades as useful materials, but at the next revelation, her jaw drops. "They gave everyone immortality and you're mad about that?!" She is too shocked to giggle even at Petz covered in food.

    How dare she try to get Chibiusa in trouble, though! "[She's not alone,]" Amy starts to object, but Petz has to describe deaths of her friends. Her fists clench. "Oh yeah? If you really had such a complete victory, then why did you need to come here? You've lost two of your number already, and for what? To pointlessly hurt people? Now you'll never see the world you say you fought so hard to create! Their followers could pick up the pieces, and now you're powerless to stop them!"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
So that's two of them gone, eh, that's actually good news. Lots of things have been happening while this curse has been taking up her time, but considering the last thing that happened before she turned, this is a quite positive turnaround. If they deal with the rest of them just as soon, then maybe Chibiusa will be able to rest easy soon.

When Chibiusa scritches her, Veronica purrs, and she readjusts her balance when Mamoru picks the pinkette up. She hasn't tried falling like this, and she doesn't intend to. When Mamoru moves to touch Petz, a look of concern is given to him.

A angry stare is given to the antiquated future woman still speaking, and stepping on the losses Chibiusa has experienced so viciously. There is a moment when Veronica really considers drawing out her claws, back arched in anger, but that would do more bad that good in this situation, and she forces herself to stay calm, staying on Chibiusa's shoulder still.

Petz (280) has posed:
"No, it's not very appropriate," the chaperone says, though it's very clear that he is wondering if some yakuza has come onto their campus and if he's the one who should be handling that. Maybe - the campus has some security, there are too many people not to, surely he can get a campus security officer -
"It is fortunate she could flee to distant relatives, after getting the rest of her family killed."

This is a bridge too far for the chaperone, who does decide to start loudly calling for security!

Petz ignores him, turning to look at Amy, and cocks her head.

"You think immortality is a blessing? You think living in a world that never grows and never changes, stagnant and afraid, is a good thing?"

This is clearly something she finds foolish, and when Small Lady says that her mother isn't dead - she smiles at her.

"But they're as good as. You wouldn't have fled with your mother's Silver Crystal if you thought she could protect you."

Of course they know about that, Rabbit.

"And we know the importance of finishing the job. Why would we ever let their spawn flee with their most powerful weapon, just to come back later - wait. You don't know?"

And at this, she laughs - and she's laughing, as Mamoru reaches her, and though she cringes in disgust when when the Young King licks his thumb and presses it against her face, he still gets the impression -

Of a Crystal Tokyo - of an Earth - that is dead and dying, the planet's population, human and otherwise, rotting on the surface, as the obelisk of Black Crystal poisons the planet.

"Her followers died first, of course. You're looking at the last survivor of the Crystal Millennium."

And he will feel that there is a deep and abiding hatred for the Rabbit, for the Queen, and the King -

And below that, perhaps surprising, a distant and unbothered love for her sisters, and the shadowy echo of affection for the man with blue hair, that he now knows is Saphir-sama. It's not a burning fiery love, but a simple and understated one, fact more than feeling.

She isn't even grieving. She's angry about their deaths, but not mourning.

And then she slaps his hand away, and starts in surprise at the cat on the Rabbit's shoulder -

"You brought one of your mangy pets with you?"

It seems she's mistaking Veronica for a Mau.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
T-Shirt Kamen shakes his head, holding Chibiusa easily in one arm, and kisses her head with a warm 'everything will be all right' feeling to it, and then-- he touches Petz-- and she slaps his hand away, and he grins. "It's time travel, are you stupid? You haven't done anything to her parents yet, either. But nice try."

And he grins wider, and it's not darkness in his expression, but the memory of what it looked like when Hematite was both protective and amused. The memory of the version of him that Hematite was grown from-- Endymion, wholly. It's the kind of expression Chibiusa's dad might have if he were sharper-edged and in a situation like this."

"You're the only mangy Petz here. Thanks for giving me your secrets. Or did you forget what your King is rumored to do with his touch?"

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa doesn't care about the chaperones. She's just glaring directly at Petz. If the actual adults bother her, she'll have to cross that bridge when she gets to it. They are the least of her concerns right now, even as one of them starts calling for security.

    At the mention of her mom's Silver Crystal, she sticks out her tongue. "What, trying to lie to me so that I'll spill details about my mom's jewelry? You're too dumb to fool me with lies like that!"

    She rolls her eyes and says, "Why do you want it, anyways? It's not like you could ever use it."

    A kiss from Mamoru calms her down for almost a half second, but she's like ten metric tons of rage in a fifty pound package. She'd probably be even worse behaved if he wasn't here, while also being a bit less obvious. Also she doesn't really want to get into a scuffle with a nice kitty on her shoulder.

    "You never really answered my question. Why are you doing this? If things had worked out like you thought, you'd have wiped out your own existence, too! You're lucky we wound up in the wrong timeline."

    She leans a bit closer, while still holding onto Mamoru, to ask. "What. Is your actual. Problem?!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy frowns. "If you really did kill them all to a man, you still could've started building your 'perfect' world. What's she gonna do when she comes back, fight all of you with some extra magic power? When she arrives to a world too late to save it and sees everyone she knew dead?" Amy makes a horizontal chopping motion with her arm and shakes her head. "Nope. You've already lost, or you wouldn't be fighting this hard for only shreds of victory."

    "And as for Immortality..."

    "You say life never grows? Never changes?!"

    Amy points at Petz, "In the last twenty years the world has changed drastically! Culture advances and develops! It is, as they used to say several years ago, 'lit, fam!' There's always more to see, and to make!"

    Amy spreads her arms apart, "The human experience is far vaster than any one of us can feel in a lifetime! And how many of us spend so much of that time struggling to get our basic needs met, or to be allowed to be ourselves, let alone getting to explore who we are or what it means to be human!"

    And then she raises her arms towards the sky. "And there's a whole universe out there! New worlds to see around more stars than we can count, stars I sold my soul to keep lit by the way so humanity darn well better make the most of them! There are aliens and other universes to see too! And you worry that immortality will get boring?!" Amy gives Petz a look of utter incredulity and shakes her head.

    "You're from the future but you sound like an old lady. 'What's so interesting about computers, it's the same computer, the same screen every time.' -- But they have the excuse of not knowing about newfangled technology. You're failing to dream about the potential of what was always there and has always been! How sad is that?!"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
There is a flicker of annoyance when Petz accuses her of being mangy, she has always kept herself well, but that's just her trying to get under their skin, isn't it? She needs to remind herself of that, that this woman, she has lost her sisters, and she is here to kill, and she is torturing Chibiusa with her words when that's the only way she can reach her right now.

She is taken aback by Chibiusa's composure, and the realisation fuels her anger towards Petz, that Chibiusa is able to stay so controlled, despite everything. Veronica is not sure she wouldn't be trying to instill panic in Petz with her powers if she still had the opportunity.

Instead, she just chooses to provide Chibiusa a bit of support, even if in a feline way, by caressing the pinkette's neck with her side, because she is doing great.

Petz (280) has posed:
"We both know we're not in her time," Petz says, blunt. "You might be alive and well, but her parents are not. If our time could be altered by what we did here, she would be at risk of destroying her own time as thoroughly as we wished to."

She's not bothered by his insults - not until he mentions her secrets. And then she realizes what he's done, in touching her, and she grimaces, disgusted by the violation.

"I hope you enjoyed the peek," she says, looking as grossed out as she feels. "I had forgotten about your voyeurism."

Meanwhile, his sick burn absolutely gets under her skin. Petzite is not an animal - I understand that having so many stone butlers may have confused you about that fact, but do keep your... interests to yourself."

"It would be enough to know that you never used it," Petz says, of the Silver Crystal, because she really is that pettyzite. "But what about ...any of us... ever said that we would not be willing to die if it meant that the world she brought into existence ended?"

Of course they knew there was the chance they would die if they changed the past, Rabbit. As she looks at Chibiusa, it's clear that she at least, was more than willing to accept that -

And then she looks at Amy, and she laughs.

"A world of endless changes, a time that's changed drastically in twenty years, in a world where humans are allowed to change," she says, cold and stern and looking at Amy. "In a world where governments change and leaders evolve. In a world where the systems of power are altered and the people can decide, through democracy or the power of arms, that they wish to change the world. You do not live in a world where a woman who called herself Neo Queen created a throne, a thousand years ago, and sat herself upon it. In this world, this very city of Tokyo was renamed and made capital less than two hundred years ago, and yet in a thousand years it has remained the same."

There's the fire of zeal in her voice.

"The same politicians elected year after year - my sister's target, Tomioka, elected Prime Minster again and again because the people of Earth under Serenity take the cloying sameness of the world over any difference, any change. Every citizen, subject to purification at any demand from those senshi who rule like gods, enforcing their will against any state that dares go against them, that wishes to rule without the Neo Queen's say."

She steps closer to Amy, glaring down.

"The human experience SHOULD be vast, it SHOULD be different, it SHOULD be the pursuit of freedom and change and growth across the stars and yet everyone stays right where they are and everyone lives their same little lives, a thousand years without any true change! Is your world anything like what it was a thousand years ago?! What strikes me most about your era is how like Crystal Tokyo it is. A thousand years separated, and yet the language is so much the same! The people! The customs, the food, the dress, so much the same! I do not worry that immortality will be boring, I KNOW THAT IT IS!"

Her voice rings out. Security officials are approaching, in the distance.

She points at Amy.

"And that is how I know you, soldier who fights for the freedom to enjoy life as your truest self, will die. For anyone who fights for those who wish to be themselves, regardless of approval, could not still exist in the Crystal Millennium."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Small Lady listens to Petz's complaints. Regarding unchanging immortality, and the absolute control that her mother has... Except that Chibiusa knows purification doesn't work that way. So... they really are as crazy as they seem? They really are as suicidal as they appeared? How do you even... reach someone like that?

    Maybe she can't. Maybe she's silly for thinking, even after all this time, that there was a chance of some kind of understanding. She didn't want to cave in to darker thoughts, but... it scares her to think they might be right.

    "If purification stops people from rebelling, then they were only acting out of dark energy. If someone had a real reason to be mad then their grievance wouldn't go away just because mom zapped them."

    She shakes her head saying, "You're delusional, and your dark energy has made you crazy. You want to commit temporal murder suicide just so humanity can... what? Die in the apocalypse? Is that the better, more exciting future you want?"

    Then Chibiusa does something that no actual 5 year old can do to an adult. She points at Petz and says, "You don't know what it was like back then! You weren't there during the Bad Times. You weren't there when society fell and everything went bad! If you want to change the future for the better? You want to stop my mom from rising to power? Help this timeline stop the apocalypse!"

    She frowns, then looks away, burning her face in Mamoru's neck while raising her hand to pet Veronica again. "... but you won't, will you? You're too blind. You don't make any sense. You speak in lies, and the thing that weirds me out most is the idea that you probably believe them."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    That... actually shakes her. "That... can't be right... the whole point of conquering nature's limits is so we can be ourselves... so we can do all that... Humans wouldn't really use it all to just..."

    Amanda can imagine it, though. So many humans have no imagination. There are people who, given virtual reality, will create the weird and wonderful, and there are people who will populate virtual islands with samey beachhouses filled with samey avatars, conforming to a very uninspired idea of wealth and beauty. Could the latter really be what society turns into?

    She looks at Chibiusa, an eight-hundred-year-old child.

    She looks at Mamoru. "You saw her memories... she's lying, right? She's lying to mess with us. That... can't be what we'd all become, finally given the chance to do so much..."

    She tries not to think about how the TIME TRAVELERS FROM CENTURIES HENCE are having no issues with language or slang...

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"My voyeurism?" laughs the masked boy, voice still light and easy-- but Chibiusa, held by him, can feel his mental teeth bared, his protective wrath growing, kept down by force of will. "As if I enjoyed that muck? I haven't forgotten your collective murderousness, don't worry, and I think it's a little worse than espionage. But it's really interesting you like the necromancer, is he going to rebuild your loser sisters for you? ...or for Rubeus, because he's running out of minions?" He is throwing spaghetti at the wall, making wild suppositions about Saphir's ghoulish behavior. "Or your Prince, who could never be a King and is really butthurt about it?"

He looked a little puzzled at 'your interests' and just sort of buzzes past it, also letting Petz know that one just failed to land. It's sailing out over the bay, out to sea...

"Wow, yikes," Mamoru says, eyebrows up at the zealotry, backing up with Chibiusa and Veronica in his arms. "SOMEONE's pissy they grew up in a hellhole full of dark energy and is taking it out on the people they could just have asked for immortality from. That's at least part of that, isn't it? That ghost nonsense that Calaveras pulled in the stadium."

He shuts up and lets Chibiusa talk, and then rubs his free hand on her back when she hides her face, starting to rock just a little bit, almost instinctively. He looks to Amy. "She's lying. I'll tell you what I saw later."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica was partially tuning out Petz's talk by now. She really can't say anything back, and all she can do is provide motivation to Chibiusa if she feels like she would need any (so far she hasn't shown she is opposed to her interventions).

She still doesn't know much about that future world, and she agrees that people should be allowed to expand and change, and that Chibiusa herself has talked about how people follow her mother because of the power she has. There is still much she doesn't know about that future, and Chibiusa is only giving her even more questions. Not to mention Mamoru's touch seems to have successfully taken information out of her.

She has also experienced infection by dark energy on her skin, and Usagi's purification, and as much as it hurt in the moment, she felt a lot better without it afterwards. If Petz's idea of change is to allow people to fall victim to dark energy, that they shouldn't be purified, she is not actually allowing people the freedom they deserve either.

There are approaching officials however, and Petz's time here is probably reaching the end. Veronica waits until they are close enough to them, then jumps and swipes her claws across Petz's cheek, rushing back to Chibiusa's shoulder, and purring satisfied while the pinkette pets her.

Petz (280) has posed:
"And that's how you and your bitch mother and father keep them under control," Petz says, after Chibiusa's declaration. "You speak of the Calamity and it's chaos and they bow under her power and say oh yes, we can't risk change, the world will be like it was, better that we let the eternal bitch queen rule endlessly than ever be different and risk it getting worse -"

This is about when security officials come, and honestly even without her powers, Petz could physically destroy them. She could absolutely defeat the trio of fighters if she had to.

"Alright, even if you're here for a tour, fighting with children is absolutely inappropriate -"

"I'm ready to leave," she says with a roll of her eyes, looking at the guards. "Please, sirs, escort me away."

They probably won't shoot her while she's vulnerable if they have to shoot through three security guards.

The prince fires off a parting shot, and though she doesn't confirm the spaghetti about Saphir, she does look at him and then - "You mean her memories? She did show you Nemesis, didn't she?"

And then she smiles, as she walks away.

"I'm glad I was born on Nemesis. I would have never had the will to resist if I was born on the kingdom of endlessly repeating days that is your Crystal Tokyo. Why would I trade my independence to buy immortality from you who conquered the world and made it in your image?"

And then unfortunately she's already been joined by the guards when she's scratched across the face -

"I WILL BURN YOUR KIND TO THE GROUND -"

She is ranting as she walks away, with the guards and by her kind she probably means she'll burn a pet store to the ground (don't worry. She probably won't.)

The children are left with the shell-shocked chaperones, who are trying to convince the tour group that this is NOT a normal day at Radiant Heart Academy.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa frowns as she keeps her head buried against Mamoru's neck, with her pink hair brushing against his cheek. She's not crying, or sobbing, or showing any outward pain aside from the specific way she grips the shoulder of his T-Shirt a bit more tightly than she would actually need to. Instead, she is just staring at his neck, or rather... she is blankly staring directly ahead and his neck just so happens to be there. She is just done. Petz said her piece, and Small Lady said hers, and now the child has to process the fact that their whole scheme was every bit as insane as it looked from the outside.

    Someone once told her not to attribute to malice what could instead be explained by stupidity... but what does that make this? The Black Moon Clan's Plan goes far beyond either of those things.

    Veronica goes for the scratch, and Chibiusa reaches up to scritch and pet her a little bit more. Chibiusa smiles softly. Such acts like these may not matter much, but... the next time they meet Petz will likely be mortal combat of the most brutal kind. Without honor or humanity. This might be the last real conversation she has with someone from the Black Moon Clan... for all the difference it made.

    Mumbling to her alt-u papa, Chibiusa says, "I'm sorry for making a mess. I don't know if I want to be here right now."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is a bit shaken, but nods at Mamoru's reassurance, and watching Chibiusa and Petz argue back and forth she does get the sense that Petz is shouting things taken from propaganda rather than lived experience in Crystal Tokyo, whatever kernel of truth may be in them no doubt heavily twisted to suit the purposes of those she works for. So she's able to more calmly watch Petz be escorted away. Although her eyes widen and she looks worried when Veronica puts herself in danger, "V--!" she holds out an arm and starts to object, but... it's done, and she walks over to pet her temporarily-catted friend, "That was kind of reckless... but how'd it feel to finally use your claws, on someone like that? ...I guess from the purring, pretty satisfactory..." She goes from looking worried to a smile.

    "She deserved the mess, too."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"...well," says Mamoru, waiting until Petz is gone before starting to carry Chibiusa and Veronica in the direction of the dorms. "We won't be here any more, then. Where do you want to go?" He looks at Amy, then at Veronica, and Chibiusa, and he says, "Well. We should have a talk in the Shed about these creeps at some point soon. And yeah, good scratching, kitty-vee."

Then he looks at Small Lady again. "That was great, the food. I'll get it if no one else does. But we are not telling Kazuo. Also: since she came on campus and could just have carried you off, I don't even want you to be alone on campus. I'm sorry. And for this, Anko doesn't count anymore."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
As weird as the feeling was, Amy is right and it did turn out to be pretty good, it's a nice way to inaugurate them, and she accepts well the pets from the redhead, while also giving a smile to Mamoru.

There is a lot of satisfaction with which Veronica watches Petz taken away ranting, powerless to do anything against the officials' arms. There isn't much chance it will get infected, she knows that, but if it does, then Petz will have gotten a very small part of what she deserves.

Even if the satisfaction is spoiled when she sees Chibiusa gripping tightly at Mamoru with that blank stare, and it probably is the best thing that she says she doesn't want to be here. These few minutes have been really intense.

She really shouldn't be sorry, and Veronica makes herself completely available to the scritches and pets of Chibiusa. It should be able to aid the pinkette somehow too, and Veronica really hopes that's the case.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Small Lady hears Mamoru say that Petz could have just walked off with her and...

    Geeze. As if Chibs didn't enough problems. The fact that he's not wrong doesn't exactly help.

    She doesn't really respond to that, which means she's not really arguing. Instead, she answers a previous question. "I don't care where. Just not here." She considers the person-turned-cat on her shoulder and says, "Maybe your place?"

    As for the chaperones, well... she'll have to hypnotise them later. For their own good, really.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy walks along with them closely... intending to stay with the group for awhile, today. Her smile becoming a look of thought and convern as the real concern to Chibi-usa's safety is noted. The loss in freedom has gotta suck for the little kid too, and she feels for her, but... it's only until these crazies from the future are stopped...