2370/The Crane has the Crown

The Crane has the Crown
Date of Scene:	02 March 2025
Location:	Game Crown Arcade
Synopsis:	The mahoujin go to confront Hinoka, and the fake Mars, in front of their steadfast determination, when offered compassion and hope, ultimately chose to believe in hope too.
Cast of Characters:	Veronica Perenna, Hinoiri Kirara, Usagi Tsukino, Norie Okana, Miho Inada, Amanda Faust, Erika Shimizu
Tinyplot:	Flameborn Façade

---

Veronica Perenna has posed:
It's a serene and calm day, and for Game Crown Arcade, that means a whole host of people has decided to go hunt down the top records and prizes once more. The rows of machines are glowing softly in dim lighting, quiet whispers and murmurs coming from all kinds of players, absorbed in their screens and chasing more and more points, of which the games had become much more stingy than usual, compelling to try again and again for as long as they have coins.

Curiously enough, the shop owners have stopped accepting to change money, and seem to know exactly how much you had when you came in. The small change is all you are allowed to spend, never the big changes, or coins you had traded elsewhere with them.

The competitive atmosphere had changed, with no shouts of frustration being expressed at the games, even as some games that once offered a fair challenge seem to offer way less points that they used to, and game levels that go on for longer.

It was a common sight that to squeeze every single point out of the machine, players had offered all they had, even beyond what they would usually be willing to part with. The owners' decision to refuse change was the only silver lining that prevented people from walking out with empty purses.

Motoki Furuhata, one of the Arcade's employees, had changed as well, and become much more passive towards a new employee of the Arcade, a certain Hinoka Saito, who had also become the de facto manager of the place in record time.

She wasn't admittedly very interested in doing much managing, and it's not a rare sight to see her play one of the Arcade's games while on the clock. Certainly her employers didn't seem interested in reprimanding her for that. It was as if the whole Arcade had become subservient to her.

There was a notable exception to the games that were seemingly designed to turn fun into addiction, and that was the Sailor V Arcade game. As annoyingly hard it is to some, it stands as the sole game in the entire Arcade that hasn't switched to the others' cheap tactics, and that's what Hinoka is playing right now.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
There was a time, not too long ago, where every machine in the arcade had Hinoiri's name at the top.

Primarily because she had looped the SAME BUCKING DAY like, a thousand times and you know what? After a while you found ways to entertain yourself. For example seeing how many games she could high score in one day before, inevitably, it all reset and your efforts became meaningless, like all of existence, had been one of said games.

She was better now, but hadn't really come to the arcade since. But when she heard that things were getting weird there... well... she decided to see how much she remembered.

Which was why she'd spent the last hour at one of the shooter games, her hand moving in a rapid blur as she did the same actions she'd done a thousand times and...

... AND STILL THE GAME OVER SCREEN CAME?! HOW?! HOW DID IT KEEP DOING THIS?! HOW WAS THIS A THING?! WHY WAS THIS A THING?! WHAT DID THEY DO?! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED!

She, of course, didn't say that. But her hands were shaking as she stuffed another coin in and...

... Yeah, uhhhh. She was... really going to need someone to shake her out of it. She may not be evil, but girl was still competitive as could be.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
A relaxing trip to Crown is clearly the best thing to do after the wild and whacky chase Minako had sent everyone on earlier that day. Usagi's not mad about it - as she told Minako, she's choosing to see the whole thing as a cry for help - but she does need to just get away.

Do something fun, and a little mindless, and check in on another friend. She, admittedly, hasn't been to Game Center Crown as much as usual - not since Rubeus attacked the place...

But now, it's back up and running, and she thinks, it would be nice to just, hop on a game, play around... consider checking out the secret base...

...except the whole place is eerily quiet, and then -

"You?!" Of course she immediately recognizes Hinoka.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana heard some rumors about the Game Crown being rigged and this seemed a little too far fetched, the employees there always treated her kindly, even when she became less than kind. So she's standing in front of the Game Crown with her hands in her pockets and looking sulky as normal.

Oh. There's a dark energy signature here. It isn't strong. If some people auras feel like a hammer, this one feels more like a knife.

Oh is that Hinoiri Kirara suffering. Suffer Hinoiri. Norie isn't breaking you out of it. Anyone else can. Enjoy missing your money.

She walks in and frowns a little as she keeps her hands in her pockets. She has no coins.

Just an Obsidian BLACK card. Usually that's good as money. Not today.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho has been in her head since the Shed incident. Then again, maybe getting back in the saddle is what she needs. She has been getting headaches while passing by the Arcade recently. The mahou has decided that maybe she should investigate like Hinote. Before heading out though, she henshins into Yukihime.

    Yukihime takes a deep breath, and then freezes herself. The mahou shatters into snow flakes. They fly though the air, and reform into Yukihime in a nearby alley. She leans up against a wall, before blowing out some snow from her hand. A tiny snow bunny cleans its ear a little before looking at Yukihime.

    The bunny hops into the game center, with its eyes glowing a bit. Hippity hop, Bunny in the sho...game center! It hops around before stopping to see Hinoka! Wait!?! Isn't that the fake Mars that attacked the Cat Cafe? The same one she still owes money to for the missing cookies? The bunny squeaks! "Hey! You tried to burn the Cat Cafe!", she hisses! Yes, you see a hissing mad snow bunny. That just means Yukihime must be close by! Especially when the bunny melts into a puddle on the floor!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy came to investigate the rumors and also to see Hinoiri do amazingly.

    Which she does, but somehow the game is still too hard, no matter how impressed Amy is. "Hmmmmmmm."

    Amy goes over to one of the old games that she's more familiar with. The ones still running on ancient Neo Geo hardware. Some of which tell you what difficulty they've been set to at the bottom of the screen. And sure enough, they've all been set to LEVEL-8. "Yup. They've definitely changed the difficulty on these, Hinoiri!" She frowns, and starts poking around to see if the cabinet is set up in such a way that she can reach the dip switches without opening it up. She's not sure she's going to take action and meddle, but she wants to know if she can...

    But then she hears Usagi shout 'YOU!' and she crawls back out from between the machines, her shirt and pants a bit dusty, and stands up to see what Usagi's--

    "YOU!" Amy points.

    She's only a little mad.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Something is up at the Crown Arcade. It's... Not quite the same atmosphere?
    Now, the arcade is actually not one of Erika Shimizu's usual hangout spots but sometimes... Sometimes she stops by to blow off some steam and spend some cash.
    So she walks into the arcade today completely CLUELESS of the hijinx that are about to ensue. Or the chaos. That's a problem for future Erika as she makes her way towards one of her favorite games.

    KARAOKE HERO.

    Slotting a coin into the machine she picks up the microphone, the music starts...

    o/` "Nah-Nah, Nah-Nah-Nah, READY FOR MY SHOW
    Okay, for the ones who don't already know, LISTEN, LISTEN
    Nah-Nah, Nah-Nah-Nah, READY FOR MY SHOW
    Go crazy!" ~ o/`

    That... That's not a sea shanty.

    o/` ~ "Break it down...
    Yah-Yah-Yah-Yah-Yah, SHOWTIME!
    Look alive, cuz I've arrived to kick it
    Now tonight's COMPLETE ALRIGHT, oh YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH

    Come now, sing it out, a pumped up sound like BRAH, BRAH, BRAH, POW
    Once the party's started,
    AIN'T NOBODY STOP
    Ha, Ha!" ~ o/`

    She is SO INTO her wild singing that... She doesn't notice that she's been GAME OVER'd despite the fact that she's not all that bad. At least for a moment before she frowns.
    "Tha' ain't right?" She mutters, jabbing the game's touchscreen a few times. She's about to feed the machine some more coins before she looks up.
    There's Usagi. "Oh hey U--" Usagi is busy yelling at someone Erika does not recognize at all.
    And there's Amy showing up! "Hey Am--..." Amy is also yelling at the same person. Erika's reaction is reasonable. She asks one simple question:

    "What is going on???"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica had just stumbled into the Arcade when the others come in. It had been a very long while since she had come around here, discounting the time with Rubeus, and why not have a look at others playing and having fun? A pity noone appeared to be particularly having fun right now.

And someone else was standing there as well. No, not Hinoka. Hinoiri. It was apparent that something was wrong, and she couldn't really let her be. Jumping onto the cabinet and Hinoiri's shoulder from there, Veronica talks into her ear at a slightly raised volume. "Hey, Hinoiri, stop. You are looking obsessed."

Meanwhile, at being called by both Usagi and Amy, Hinoka stops playing at turns to the two with a smile. "You have found me!", she tells them, and snaps her fingers, getting the attention of everyone in the room.

"Sorry everyone, arcade closed for the rest of the day, be sure to come back tomorrow." The raven-haired girl stops Motoki as he passes by her. "Hey, I am resigning today. Be sure to tell the bosses, ok?" Hinoka addresses him seriously. With the civilians gone, this floor of the Arcade is now completely silent. Except for Hinoiri's machine.

"Congratulations, I have heard you have broken Sunbreaker's resurrection. I always knew I would have lasted longer than her. I suppose it's time to fight then", she burns off her employee uniform, replacing it with the Sailor Mars fuku. She pays no mind to Yukihime's bunny.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"We... have found you," Usagi says, slowly, because admittedly, she's now a little confused. She wasn't expecting the smile. She also wasn't expecting for Fake Sailor Mars to just tell everyone to leave, or quit her job (?!) at Crown, or -

"Erika-chan, hi, long time no see, uh, well you see, this is about to be -"

Her explanation is cut off by Hinoka Saito burning her clothes away to reveal Sailor Mars. Fake Edition. Usagi slaps a hand to her face.

"Do we really have to do this? Can't we just, find a way to get along? Separate you, so that you can live, and Veronica-chan can be a girl again, and no one gets hurt?"

Miho Inada has posed:
    Yay! Amy and Usagi are here! Yukihime breathes out. The mahou takes a few deep breathes as she walks into the arcade. She raises her left hand, and 6 beads come off her wrist. 6 wolves surround Yukihime. The woman glares a bit. Will 60 percent of her magic be enough? With Amy and Usagi, maybe...

    Yukihime calls out her naginata. "Should I put a barrier up on the door to keep people out?", she asks. The mahou breathes out. Its clear that Yukihime is a little nervious. She's not quite used to fighting people...She moves next to Amy.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is... kind of caught off-guard when Hinoka calls all the civilians' attention. Is she going to claim she and Usagi are trouble?

    No. She actually takes the time to get the civilians out of danger and seems resigned to fall here, though not without a fight.

    Amy holds out her hands in a 'stop' gesture. "Woah..." Usagi says what she's thinking, and she nods. "Yeah! Look, we know now that the artifact keeping her transformed and the artifacts you two need to live aren't the same ones. So you can live even if her curse is broken. Isn't there... some way you can... have a life, other than trying to break the ward?"

    Yukihime gets a shrug, and Amy quietly asides, "I think the 'closed' sign will do it, this time..."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana 'ughs' loudly as she slacks in place. "Ugh."

"Look, just turn Veronica-chan back and I won't have to end your existence. I won't need to roll 1d20 to do it this time." she says bluntly.

"So do as asked or I'll make things miserable for everyone here." she says. This is like the anti justice speech.

She glares over to Yukihime and says. "Is she one of yours? Who is this, Dances with Nerds?" she asks to the other people she knows are magical girls. Like Amy.

She then raises her hand at the fake Mars as it bursts into dark aura, as if to prove her threat.

She isn't super strong when the Norie illusion is up, but she's kind of hoping the pacifist route can be taken here secretly. Less messy. Less problems.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was so close. She could feel it. She was shooting three, four steps ahead. She heard Amy say something, but tuned her out. She had this. Shoot, shoot. she was perfect. She was incredible.

Of course, she wouldn't lose to this machine, bah. It was a second rate game being played on third rate hardware and she would NOT lose to it. She. Was. Phenomenal. Blam. Blam. Reload. Shot. Die little squid man.

And then people were clearing out. And there was a cat on her shoulder, telling her to stop. Bah. As if she'd let a cat stop her. She was going to earn that high score! She'd beaten this game a thousand times before, she would NOT lose today. She was Hinoiri Kirara, and she was--

"Wait, what?" she asked, looking to the cat and then--

"GAME OVER?! OH COME ONNNN! I was so cloooooose!" she whined, collapsing to her knees...

... Also... her hand hurt... how long had she been doing this? All the guns blended together... "Just one more... wait, where did everyone go?"

"... When did I get a cat?"

"..." Slowly her eyes leveled on Usagi, Amy, Yukihime... and one of the girls who tried to burn down the cat cafe? Oh... that might need her help...

.......

Just... just one more round? Maybe? NO! She had to be respon... "Ohhhh... buck..." she mumbled softly. Norie.

... You know what? She was going to subtly play another round of blaster master. Once the fighting gets under way, she'd sneak around, henshin, and join in. The perfect plan and not another excuse for her to try again to beat the high score...

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Sooooooo uh. Just like that the arcade clears out. Leaving a bewildered Erika rubbing the back of her neck, because when Hinoka turns into SAILOR MARS (fake edition), she has to pause and look to Usagi.
    "Isn't sheeeeeee one of yours? -- Wait no, that don't feel quite right."
    "Oh." She says as the arcade clears out.
    "Ohhhhhh." She says overhearing that this involves the artifacts that turned Veronica into a cat.
    Erika Shimizu proceeds to fumble in her pockets, single gold dubloon coin dances between her fingers a moment later, expectantly.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
At Usagi's words, Hinoka sighs and shakes her head. "That really can't happen, Usagi-chan, but thank you for wanting to find a solution, that means a lot to me", Hinoka's fire aura gets dimmer for a moment. "Maybe clear things with your other friend, because she seems to think I can just snap my fingers and solve all problems", she points at Norie.

"Things don't work that way, the demons that made us were really thorough. The moment you break the enchantment, we are gone with it", she shrugs. "Which is why I am going to fight to the end. Though, you still get a fair chance."

But the moment her insurance gets broken, she plans to run for it. The other Sunbreaker seems to have found a good spot for their last shot, even if she had gotten into a fight with a statue and a final fantasy cosplayer that uses ice magic.

"You can do that if you want, the magic is yours to waste", she raises her eyebrows at Yukihime and her zoo. "Just, try not to make too much of a puddle. I'd hate to give Motoki-san trouble tomorrow."

Amy's insistence gets the redhead a puzzled look. "Where did you get that from? The ring half I am wearing and Sunbreaker's both made us and cursed her. But that brings to me how we are doing this. I hid the relic that resurrects me over and over in one of the games here. If you can find it while I fight you, I will let you destroy it, just like that."

Meanwhile, a few cabinet rounds over, Veronica quietly hisses at Hinoiri's actions. "Hinoiri-san, it's me, Veronica! You are falling into the demons' traps. Why don't you go and help everyone?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana scowls. "First off, you cursed my roommate and turned her into a cat. So you don't get to act like the superior one today." she says. "Secondly. $^&!* YOU!" she yells as she makes a gesture at the fake Mars. You know the one. She just lets a dark aura envelop her and turn her into LaCrima so she can access all her powers and abilities.

She then softly huffs. "You're gonna fight us in here? And make more trouble besides puddles?" she says bluntly. "That's counter productive." she says.

She then folds her arms in front of her as she floats upwards and lands atop one of the cabinets.

"These lo---" ugh. "These loooooos----e---" she UGHS. "These Loooooseeeeeeeee assembly of losers is gonna mess you up because you're not gonna talk and be friendly and it kind of sucks for you I guess."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy doesn't look like she wants to fight, even as Fake Mars -- no, she's her own person, even as Hinoka declares this is the end. "Hang on, maybe you were told wrong? We didn't take her ring, we broke another artifact and Princess of Sarek can talk now! The curse is weakening!"

    Amy holds her hand splayed against her chest. "We're magical girls." She transforms, into her actual usual henshin outfit rather than the cosplay this time. "Figuring out ways to save situations that seem hopeless is our job, so let us give it a shot! Despair and greed is your job as a demon, of course you can find it in anything!"

    She nods to Norie. "Also yeah, if you're going to commit suicide-by-magical-girl, can we find someplace else to do it and not ruin this arcade? If you've really come to be concerned for Motoki-san..."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinks a few times before sighing and putting the gun down. "Right. Fine. I... I know... I need to go away now," she muttered, before reaching up and picking up Veronica and placing her on the game station. "And get out of the way..." Then whispers. "Still can't let your roomie know who I am. Otherwise it might cause us both more trouble," she whispered, before she ran off! Heading out the door!

LEH GASP! IN THEIR HOUR OF NEED, HINOIRI BETRAYED AND ABANDONED THEM!

But wait, Cure La Licorne has arrived! Coming in through the same door a few minutes later. Sunglasses on and everything. So cool. So suave. Definitely NOT thinking about how easy it might be to just... sneak off towards the gun machine and...

"So, I can't help but notice everyone fleeing the scene. I don't suppose this is just a case of the shakes having gone up in price?" she asked, giving a cocky grin.

Wait for me, gun game... she would return... but first... she must sparkle. And yes, she did in fact scritch and pick up the kitty as she passed, to bring her along. She was the Veronicat transport system.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    Ah. So that's how it's going to go down. She's gonna fight and the crew has to find her Lich Phylactery and destroy it to end this all. That sounds easy enough. Maybe. If it's somewhere amid the games. Erika listens to all this and lightly thumps the heel of her fist into an open palm like she's just gotten an idea.
    As casual as can be she... slots her magical gold dubloon into the KARAOKE HERO machine.
    When the machine refuses to accept the ancient coin and spits it back out at her, where Erika Shimizu was there now stands JOLLY ROGER, the dread pirate mahou shoujo.
    With a thump of her boot against the machine, music starts to play...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wnPWgmqfqA

    And then. As the music blares through the arcade, Jolly Roger... Walks up to another game.

    PUNCH OF THE BIG DIPPER.

    She slots a coin into it and starts playing.
    She's helping, really.
    She's checking all the hard games in search of a magical prize.
    It doesn't help that she's bad at punching and does.

    'IOmae wa mou... shindeiru.' the game says to her as she game overs.

    "The phylactery's nay in this one mates!"

Miho Inada has posed:
    Yukihime sighs a little bit. She shakes her head a little bit as she listens. "I could...try to just hold her in place.", the mahou comments. Yukihime looks around a bit as Norie makes her comment. She blinks a few times.

    She sighs a little bit. "Ummm, I would rather not kill unless it is absolutlely...wait, you're a demon?", she asks Fake Mars. This puts her in a rather awkward place...She looks to Amy a little.

    "Seriously. Can we go outside? I mean, I don't play anything here, but others do...", she says. The woman pauses at the Pirate. "A Mahou from Edo and a Mahou Pirate meet in Tokyo...sounds like a really bad pun...", she says. Yukihime stretches out her arm with the naginata. She blinks at the dances with nerds comment.

    "Dances with Nerds? I...don't get it.", she comments. Yukihime's wolves continue to surround Yukihime.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I wasn't there when Sunfaker's artifact was destroyed," Usagi expresses to Hinoka, "So I don't know if Red-chan's right, or if there's something we missed that you and her know, but... just because you were made by demons, that might not mean you have to be one!"

She hopes. She would like, very much, for this for this to all end well, for everyone. For this to be one of those happier times, rather than a sad one.

"But - if you want a fair fight, we can give you one! Just, yeah, not here. Poor Motoki-san's been through a lot already."

This poor arcade... and then she sweatdrops as Jolly Roger goes to test the games.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Hinoiri-san?" Veronica looks after her, blinking as she gets placed on the arcade machine. Is this to keep her identity secret? She would guess so, but, that is not going to help Veronica when the redhead comes back.

And she doesn't know what to make when Cure La Licorne comes back. She clearly means well, and she appreciates the transportation and the scritches, but... "Wait, I am waiting for Hinoiri-san. I don't want to disappear on her." She tells the Pretty Cure.

Hinoka glares angrily at Norie's behaviour. "If you want to burn through my good will, congratulations, you are doing a really good job at it", she flashes a menacing smile to La Crima.

"If you didn't realise, your roommate fell into a trap, and then we were born as the demons' lackeys. Do you really think that is fair? I didn't ask to get to live through another person's misery, and I have no intention to lay down my life for her sake."

She crosses her arms. "Look, I don't like her. If she hadn't been more cautious, neither I or her would be in this mess. Give me one reason I should play nice with her. I like you, Usagi-chan, Amy-chan, but that's all there is to it."

To illustrate her next point, she conjures a thin flame and fires it at a cabinet, and the fire dissipates before it reaches the game. "As long as you all don't intend to go overboard, I don't think that's going to be a problem. I am confident in the control of my flames."

Hinoka looks at Erika displeased. "And we can go outside, if you want, but then your chances of finding the relic disappear. I don't think you want that."

Why must they be making it so hard? Just. Get. On. With. It. At least, the pirate has started searching. She has accepted her game. Forming a fire arrow, she tosses it at the pirate by hand.

Hinoka has nothing to tell them about Veronica's speech returning. She has already said her piece.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    "Aye it sounds like the start of a bad joke." Jolly Roger concedes to Yukihime. "Question is which onna us be the straight man, lass?"
    Jolly Roger briefly pauses.
    "Wait why does everyone wanna go outside?"
    She asks this as she slots her dubloon into another game.

    ROM VLANCY'S: 'SUMMONS OF HONOR: FUTURE WARSOLDIER IN THE TRENCHES'

    Jolly Roger picks up the game's gun and starts shooting World War II Guys on the screen, until she gameovers again.

    "No Phylactery here either! ... What?" She asks when Hinoka looks to her.
    "What?!!? Why're ye givin' me dirty looks, ye said ta check the games!"
And then fire arrow.
    Erika was about to move to another game when it gets launched right at her. It is at the last possible second that Jolly Roger jinks into a tumbling roll, clutching her hat down to her head so she doesn't lose it.
    Hats are important.
    But when she stands up, the pirate is smoldering a bit.
    "Gah!" Cue chibi flailing as she stops, drops, and rolls to put herself out.

Norie Okana has posed:
LaCrima angrily scowls. She won't take the fight outside.

No one here appears to be a barrier user (Seriously where ARE these jerks when you NEED them!?) unless that blonde girl is one.

She huffs dramatically. She's useless here. She can't fight with destruction. No one is gonna help her if she's the one that destroys GALACTIC HERO SQUAD 6 next to Fake Mars there.

"Ugh, have fun fighting these nerds." she says. "Because there's a point they get fed up." she says as she jumps down and leans down and says to Veronica. "Sorry, but I can't fight here. I'll just make things worse." she whispers quietly.

Before she duskports out.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy pauses at the oddity of hearing a song she knows but the lyrics being in Japanese. Huh.

    However, Hinoka is still refusing... but has said 'give me one reason', not, 'there can be no reason.'

    Amy takes a breath. Even if Erika is playing Hinoka's game... Hinoka seems to be playing to lose. Calling her out on that doesn't seem like the play, here.

    "None of us asked to be born. None of us asked to be born now, in a world in turmoil. The world isn't fair."

    Amy takes a breath. "But the world is just things that happen. Physics or magic. Fourteen thousand years ago, the world was destroyed. Everything we'd built erased, civilization, wiped out. And yet we're not still living in caves now. Do you know why?"

    "Because someone said 'there must be a better way'. Or 'Hey, maybe I could use that to make things better.' Again, and again, and again, and again, and again."

    "In my grandparents' time you could just get sick as a kid one day and then be unable to walk for the rest of your life. But people said 'that's not fair' and they stopped it. There's a lot of unfairness in the world still, some is easier to fix than others. A lot of people create unfairness in their favor and fight this process -- but we can also do the reverse."

    Amy sighs and shakes her head. "My point is, yeah it's unfair that you're tied to this curse. And maybe there's really nothing we can do. But we don't know if you won't even let us try. We've got a magical expert who -- hell, we've got multiple magical experts, and one of them is right here! She points at Cure La Licorne.

    Amy then holds out her hand to Hinoka, palm upturned. "Please. At least try hoping. I have seen so many impossible things happen in the last year and a half... and I've seen a number of impossible things happen before then, too."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about Hinoiri," La Licorne said with a gentle smile. "She told me there was a problem and she needed to get purified after the trap she fell into, so she won't be able to come help with this one." A small, minor lie. She didn't need purification!

She needed to beat that game so she could prove SHE was the best, the one, the only...

But it could wait until later. For now? Kitty scritchies.

"So, right, is today's goal to like... play games to..." Her eyes followed the fire arrow. She then gave the kitty a little hug. "Sorry, kitty cat, I need to go punch out a fire girl. Stay safe." She'd then put the kitty down (she was a magical girl now, she had hugged and pet a talking cat, that was the rule).

"So, like, what are the rules?" she asked 'Mars'. "If we beat your high score, you beat it? Or like... what are we looking for?"

Of course... once she said what it was, and that it was in the games... well... "Did you like... magically stuff it in a game? Or... like... physically put it in them? Cause like... if physically... I guess it'd mean it'd have to be in like... a pachiko game? Or one of those crane games? Something with like... a claw?" Pause. "... Does anyone have magic like... tracking powers? Cause I'll be honest, I do not. What I do have, however..." She flipped her glasses off and gave a smirk. "Is the determination to beat you. So, girl, I challenge you! Race off!" she said, before motioning towards the motorcycle games! "Three laps, I win, you have to tell us what kind of game it's in!" she said.

... Did she expect the girl to do that? GOSH no. But she figured... it'd be a distraction. And it's hard to look for a thing while someone is throwing FIRE at you!

Miho Inada has posed:
    Well, nobody seems to really want to fight, but nobody wants to get attacked either. Yukihime mutters a little bit. She's not very good with psycology. Nor is she good at making speeches. "Well...I have a magic that might work, but I can't use it while in combat mode...", she tells. While Yuki has used the spell in fights, she wasn't being attacked either.

    The mahou sighs a little bit. "As soon as I get attacked, or have to attack, the bunnies would become puddles. And with me being at a heighted state already, I can't focus on that magic as well, at the moment." Yukihime admits to.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"...you're not wrong, there," Usagi says, quietly. "There's nothing we can promise now, that would be worth your life. I want to believe that we can find a way to help you and Veronica-chan both, with no one having to suffer."

But then she looks up, giving Hinoka an honest look.

"I can't ask you to let us destroy the item that saves you on hope. So if it's a battle you want, it's a battle we'll have - and I'll trust you not to mess up Motoki-san's arcade!"

And with that, and with no strangers left aside - she thrusts her hand up.

"Moon Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Sailor Moon strikes her iconic pose and smiles at Hinoka with quiet determination.

"I'm joining your game! In the name of the Moon, let's make it a clean battle!" And with the suggestion in the air... she runs for the Pachinko machines, pressing up against the glass to see if she sees anything besides the usual prizes.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica purrs before Hinoiri lets her go. That's fair of her, even if she doesn't intend on staying behind. This is being done for her sake as well, and they are still her friends. "I hope you took her out of it, before coming here", she tells La Licorne concerned.

A ball of fire shows itself on Hinoka's hand next. "Stop suggesting to go outside when you can't even find the relic that way. But you started looking for it, so we are cool. Nice song earlier." Even if the fact she had dodged the arrow instead of fighting back was a bit disappointing. Once the pirate is done with the game, she drives the fireball into her chest.

"The rules are simple, we fight each other while you go search", the fake Mars nods at Cure La Licorne. This was one of the people that had fought her and Sunfaker. She does remind her of someone, but she can't put her finger on who.

"That means that anything is fair as long as we can keep attacking each other, and when you find the relic, you can keep it. I am not allowed to try and take it back from you. I supposed you could give it to me, but that's hardly the point now?" She looks at her grinning.

Hinoka stays put for a few seconds, while she decides if questions are allowed to be part of the game or not. "It's a physical object. So, you can stop looking inside the purely electronic games."

The fake Mars looks amused at the motorcycles that La Licorne has offered to her. "You know what? Let's do that once we are done here."

Even as Usagi transforms and goes searching, Hinoka gets stuck thinking about Amy's words. Is that really all it matters here? Hope? That she should give it a try even if she knows it will lead to nothing?

She doesn't really believe that's actually a possibility, but... Is this really what makes all these girls who they are, hope? They all have hope of doing something positive, and they are willing to humour her even with the monsters she works for.

Usagi-chan is trusting her. That La Licorne is willing to play a game against her. Amy thinks it's good for her to hope.

She needs a minute.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"If there was a way to give it to you and help Veronica-chan, I would," Sailor Moon says, as she peeks around the machines. She doesn't see it in the first two machines, but the third she looks in has a lot of things under the top layer, and so she stops to put a coin in, lowering the crane to see if she'll dig anything out.

The words could be platitudes, but for the gentle honesty in her voice. Yes, this is the girl who teased Hinoka at RPG Club - but this is also the girl who questioned her, and made it clear she didn't want to destroy her.

"It's not your fault that you were born the way you were, and it's not wrong for you to exist. It's not even wrong for you to want to fight us to exist, because - everyone who lives, deserves the chance to live. It's only when we decide to torment others that that... starts to change."

Her words trail off, as she thinks of other encounters, other enemies, other people, who couldn't be talked down, who couldn't be talked to at all. The crane drops a plush, and she lowers it again, in a different spot, hoping to find something else.

"It would be... it would be really nice, for this to end with you and Veronica-chan and Sunfaker all happy and alive and able to live in this world."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy gives Hinoka a look of...

    Like, she's helping them. Either Hinoka has a good heart, despite her origins, or she's suicidal.

    And she can see that the others have already decided to play Hinoka's game, and she hopes they've come to the same conclusion Amy has:

    "Alright. We'll play your game. But if we win... We can choose hope, whether you like it or not."

    With the hint that it the artifact is a physical object they can win as a prize from a game...

    Well, wait a minute. While there are physical games here like skeeball, most of them, and some of the electronic ones, dispense tickets with the prizes to be exchanged for behind the counter. The only game with prizes inside it is...

    Usagi's already playing one of the crane games.

    Amy walks over there, and begins circling that game, and any other crane games, looking through the glass from all angles for anything that doesn't look like it belongs with the normal prizes in there.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne blinked a few times and watched Hinoka. She... was the bad guy...

But she knew that look. Telling them all the things they had to do. Giving them hints. The fact she wasn't 'allowed' to take it back. The fact she had to keep 'attacking' them.

She'd been there. Near the end. When she'd finally, finally had the strength to look at Sora's message... and find out how little she had met.

But she knew these girls. They'd never stop. They were... kind. In an incredible way. They'd show you so much love and kindness if you let them... and they made you want to stop fighting.

They made you want to stop... being bad. Made you want to believe all their happy, joyful stories.

She looked down at her hands, the gloves.

Because, sometimes? It was true. "She means it, you know," La Licorne said. "Doesn't matter if she can't. Doesn't matter if it's impossible. They... We'll still try. Because that's what us sparkles do. Save everyone we can, even if they don't want to be. So then... if you need to fight..."

She, admittedly, was also wary of playing the games herself. The siren call of the gun game still called to her. And she knew she was WAY too competitive. It'd just end poorly if she tried. So instead... she'd do the other part of the equation. She pounded her fists together and flames formed in them, before she charged Hinoka!

Starting with a right hook and...

If it connected, the flames would go out right beforehand and the hit would be stopped, just a smidge away. Then another punch, a kick...

All of her blows pulled. At best, pulling back a little so it was little more than a light push. Besides, she was a fire girl too, it was a lot harder to burn her than it was the not-fire girls.

... And seriously the siren call of 'Beat our scores now that we're harder...' was soooooo hard to ignore.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The question she has to answer herself is: what matters more to her? These people's trust? Or her loathing against the Princess of Sarek for putting her in this situation? She sees her, just in the background, coming up here. It would be really easy to pretend to be hitting either Moon, La Licorne or Roger, and just... "miss" the target.

She doesn't even owe them anything. Why would she? They were strangers when they started, they would be strangers when this all ends. But she would feel really cruddy if she actually went through with it. They don't have any fault, and shouldn't be let down, or lose a friend.

What does she want to do? It's comforting and all to be told that she has a right to live, but this is not the way things are going to be, right? And if so... These people have shown her way more than someone who has just been blackmailing her this whole time. It's really not a hard choice who deserves her loyalty more.

Then she gets charged at by La Licorne, and the first fist is one to defend herself before she catches onto her intentions, and responds to punch with punch, kick with kick, pulling her blows in the same way she is doing.

"It's ok, Amy-chan, Usagi-chan, and you and you, and you", she tells La Licorne, Yukihime and Jolly Roger. She... actually didn't know their names. "Maybe give me your names, should be fair. Unless you like being called "you", for some reason", she grins.

"You win the game", Hinoka smiles. Technically, Usagi hasn't found it yet, but it's any minute now if she persists. She goes over to where the blonde girl is, and opens the machine, taking out the crown, and setting it ablaze right there and then, reducing it to cinders herself.

"There, now the only thing tying me and Sunfaker is the ring of the curse. However, she is preparing to break your friend's ward, and told me she found the right place for it. I will keep playing along with her, and when I know where she has setup everything, I will send you a message so you can reach us." Maybe it is still too much hope to get them to trust her? Is she way in over her head?

Veronica approaches her then, slowly, and still a bit warily. "I am sorry for putting you in this situation. I should have picked up on the signs that things were going my way too well, and pay more attention. And then, you are here and helping so thank you for that."

Hinoka stays still as she considers that. She has already given up her cause, what should she do with her resentment? "Promise me you will put all the pieces back together, and you will keep helping them no matter what, and... Not sure we are completely on the same page, but we can get along", she picks the cat up under her forearms, leaving her to dangle.

Veronica's ears flicker at the choice of pose at being told to do something she was already doing. "That was never in question. And could you put me down? It's not really comfortable like this."

"Hmm..." Hinoka fakes being lost in thought considering it. Just a few seconds more. "Ok", she actually lowers her then.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy looks stunned as Hinoka just gives up the crown and destroys it herself. Amy looks at Veronica expectantly, but... she remains a cat. It really couldn't be that easy, after all.

    Amy turns toward the 'villain' of the day, and switches to her cosplay outfit from earlier (the one with the black duster and handless long gloves over a sailor fuku) because it doesn't have a hard chestplate, which would interfere with what she's about to do:

    Amy walks up to Hinoke, spreads her arms, and tries to give her a hug. (Though she won't insist on it, and will quickly back off if Hinoka says she doesn't do hugs, or goes to dodge it, or tries to wiggle out of it)

    Hug or not, she says: "A friend of mine told me recently, that everyone deserves a life where they don't have to worry about how they'll survive tomorrow. They don't always get it. No one knows if there will be such a life for either of us after our magical careers are over. But know that you deserve it."

    "...I don't know for sure this will work out. I won't make a promise I can't keep. But even if it doesn't... I hope you can have at least one nice memory in your life." Her eyes water a bit, and if a hug was allowed, she squeezes. Amy likes getting squeezy hugs the best, so she tries to share that pleasant experience before letting go and stepping back, looking at Hinoka sadly, albeit with the slightest smile.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi would have found the crown eventually - but she doesn't have to. Hinoka finds it for them, destroys it - and says that she'll tell them, when the next plan starts.

That she'll be there.

And well...

Amy is already trying to hug, but Sailor Moon is too, trying to squeeze Hinoka into a hug as well, because she deserves it, and if she's rejected - well, it wouldn't be the first time someone with Rei's face (Rei) rejected a hug.

"Thank you, Hinoka-chan," she says quietly, "We'll do everything we can, okay? Please don't give up hope."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne had done it! Had managed to NOT play the game, had managed to avoid going into mega competitive mode! Yesss! "Cure La Licorne," she told the other girl. "And don't worry... we're..." She trailed off as Amy managed to just... yeah. Say it better than she could have. "That. Just... all of that. Once these girls set their eyes on you, they'll go through tartarus itself and drag you out if they have to. They're... pretty dependable like that. Can't promise it'll work out..."

"... But can promise there will be people on this side who want to help. Probably... both of you... How... ummmmm... bad is the... other one? Like... are we trying to save her too, or ummmmm..."

... What? She wanted to know if it was just Mars or if they wanted to save the Sunbreaker, too. Maybe to know if the other her was still kind of a jerk, too... or if she was likeable.

... So she got a little worried sometimes, that she wasn't so redeemed.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"That's not something I know", she replies more seriously to La Licorne. "I don't really like her, and she has made it clear the dislike is mutual. She has been a lot into the plan they set up for us, and I don't know if she would ever give up on it." She gives a shrug. If they want to try and save her, she would probably be on their side, but she doesn't have a lot of convinction.

Hinoka doesn't feel very huggy, but she lets it go through anyway, and hugs them back in turn. "Thank you. You better not try to do the impossible though. Try to go on, ok? Don't stick with something that won't work", she smiles.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy smiles as the hugs are returned. "Everything is impossible until someone does it. ...But I do take your meaning." She nods.

    At Licorne's question, Amy holds out her hand, palm down, and wiggles it side-to-side in a 'so-so' gesture. "I think there may be hope for her. But she's not... as ready for peace as Hinoka-san is."