2420/Hot Goss

Hot Goss
Date of Scene:	20 March 2025
Location:	Cafe BAKE Neko
Synopsis:	Being Mahou is suffering - but sometimes, there's so much going on, that even the mahoujin don't know what all is happening. A gathering of mahoujin turns into an old-fashioned gossip session.
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Usagi Tsukino, Chibiusa Tsukino, Amanda Faust, Rashmi Terios, Hinoiri Kirara, Laura La Mer, Catra, Koji Silvia, Chiyo Sakai, Zoisite

---

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It's sunny and mild out even toward the evening, thank you Vernal Equinox, and the cat cafe is closed early with a sign on the door that says 'Private Party'. Anyone who was invited, or texted to come, or asked by a friend to come, can either come in through the front door or from the back, in the building.

If it were a little bit later in the year, there might be fireflies on campus.

There are some sleepy kitties sprawled on the cat furniture, and Anko the magical talking calico ccat, the size of a giant Maine Coon right now, is sprawled ignobly in a cafe chair at the big back table, pretending she's a people.

"So I'm figuring," Mamoru's telling Usagi and Chibiusa, "this summer is also better so we can have you the flower girl at your own parents' wedding. Since you might still be here this summer."

There's a bunch of food that has been bought this time, at an end of day discount, that anyone is welcome to.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Plus, summer is the best time for a wedding, as long as it's not raining," Usagi is saying, and of course she's stuffing her face with some of the snacks provided. "But it's not like it's going to rain on the moon, or have other weather, so I guess that doesn't matter as much."

She's still thinking about all the benefits of a summer wedding, though.

"Plus, Mamochan is right! It's way more likely you'll be here if it's this summer, instead of next summer."

On this spring afternoon, she's sprawled in the seat next to Mamoru, cheerfully planning a wedding. There are still some signs of stress and exhaustion in her face, but they're fewer and farther between. Changed out of her school uniform and into a pair of blue overalls with a pink top, she's looking relaxed. Luna is in a chair with Anko, not quite sleeping, but not quite awake either, half-heartedly listening to the plans being made.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa is giving her parents a flat look because like...

    They are teenagers and they want to get married on the moon.

    She can't really blame them. She almost can't help but feel a little bit responsible for this because, admittedly, if her future daughter travelled back in time and told her that she was going to stay with her current fiance for a thousand years she'd probably feel pretty secure moving forward in that relationship. Yet that doesn't really change the fact that she's likely to attend her parents' wedding from before she was born and it takes her a moment to really soak that in.

    She takes a sip of her juice, sets it down, and leans back in her booster seat before crossing her arms. "Are you rushing it because of me? I mean... I don't mind being a part of your wedding, but..."

    Small Lady trails off because she isn't really sure how to voice her objections or if her objections about it being 'too soon' really count in a setting where you know for a fact that it works out. So instead she shifts tracks to something else. "Well, if we're gonna do it, we should do it right. Luna-P should be the flower basket."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy comes in in comfy print T-shirt and a uniform skirt. She's about to comment on is this really a party when she overhears her friends discussing their wedding plans. And she looks at them, and smiles, "Hi guys! Usagi-chan, I like the look!"

    She turns to Chibiusa, thoughts flitting through her head show in her expression: It was always going to be soon, because of the Fade. But she doesn't say it out loud. if Chibiusa hasn't been talked to about the Fade yet... well, her parents will discuss it when they're ready.

    Quick, find something else to talk about... and she does look curious as she asks, "What even is Luna-P, anyway? I mean I'm guessing that's the catball that turns into things, but like. What is it?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...If you had it on the moon, would you want to have it on a *full* moon?" Rashmi wonders, picking distractedly through the snacks provided. The Devicer has deep bags under her eyes, as if sleep was an enemy rather than friend this last night, and she seems to be practically vibrating with unspoken news.

But clearly she would rather go with the social flow and talk about the wedding... or secondary loogistics thereof, at least. "...Or *is* the palace on the light side of the moon? I don't really remember, *so much has happened* since then..."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara comes in through the front door, cause ha! She was INVITED! She didn't break in or anything this time. She was invited! Mwa ha ha ha!

And she managed to catch the tail end of that as she came in and... "Huh. You didn't invite us over so you could make us do your wedding planning, did you? Because, despite what he rumors may say, I don't get excited at the prospect of making lists and charts..."

"... Well, I don't get any more excited than the average person. Hey Usagi-minor, Usagi-major, Usagi-husbando, Amy. Rashmi."

She'd walk over to sit on one of the seats, turning the seat around and sitting on it backwards so she could rest an arm on it, and rest her chin on said arm. "Its been hectic here lately, hasn't it? How goes the repairs, Major?"

Laura La Mer has posed:
Being invited to the Cat Cafè to have a debrief of everything that happened weeks earlier, Laura had actually spent the time before the meetup to look up what cat cafès were. Her only contact with one was Luna, and she really wasn't a good representative of all things feline. She was much much smarter, for one, plus all the other differences.

Right after that, it started out Laura started availing herself of the internet to find everything she could on the matter, and discover what is it that makes cats interesting to humans to the point of letting them anywhere. But that was nothing when compared to cat being associated with beans.

Her internet search went on for so long that Kururun had started piloting the Aqua Pot to make sure she could still arrive there in time while the curious mermaid had lost track of time, slipping into the cat cafè when someone opened the door, and at that point telling Laura they have arrived.

"Shoot, thank you, Kururun!", the pinkette tells the fairy, mentally berating herself and leaping out of the Aqua Pot among her friends. "Hello, everyone!", she greets her friends, instantly waving at Hinoiri upon seeing her. "Has your Precure-ing been going well?" she checks in on her.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Yeah--" Mamoru says to Usagi, then blinks at Chibiusa. "No, it's because I turn eighteen this summer, and who knows when the Fade will start hitting? It'll probably hit Kazuo and Neph before me, since they're both like six months older."

So much for Amy's worry about Chibiusa and the Fade talk.

As for what it is, Mamoru gestures cheerfully to Small Lady. "Her toy, she knows best. I'm inclined to wave a hand around and say 'magic is baloney'--"

He shakes his head at Rashmi. "Mare Serenitatis," he says wryly.

Hinoiri gets a squint at Usagi-husbando, but Mamoru has far more efficient ammunition. "You couldn't pay me to let you plan breakfast," he tells the unicorn gravely. Then he looks up and pushes more chairs around. "Anyway we just have to finish closing up for them when we're done in here."

Then the boy exhales, and he says, "So I figure everybody's got as much to unload on everybody else as everybody else. I've got-- Crimson Rubeus and the remade Spectre Sisters are all dead! Yay! Usako's house got trashed and her family got evacuated in the process-- umm-- also Masquerade Lapine is really cute does anyone know who she is~?"

Catra has posed:
For reasons she cannot fathom, Catra was invited.

The feline almost didn't show up. But then she did show up. (What? You don't tell Catra what to do.) She walks in through the back door and just kind of... hovers for a minute, disguised as the eternally obnoxious Rachel Miller and listening to what's going on, to gauge... what's going on. Sounds like a bunch of dweebs, actually, and they're all discussing...

Siiiiiiigh A wedding of all things.

But, Catra can't just hover around the back door. On the upside, there's a whole bunch of goodie two-shoes here so on the off chance an Obsidian clean-up crew shows up, she'll at least have back up, and maybe that's the deciding factor as she drops the illusion and wanders in, casting her eyes about for somewhere to sit. She eventually picks somewhere that's close to where everyone's talking without directly joining the group and plops down there, not saying a word as she pulls out her phone (still with a crack down the middle of the screen) and starts idly surfing through the internet or whatever.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa watches Hinoiri walk in and, after her greeting, looks at the ceiling while thinking. "Hm. Actually, I like Usagi-Minor. Luna-P, add that to the list of acceptable nicknames."

    The catball pings twice in acknowledgement.

    To Rashmi she shrugs and says, "Depends on the kind of lighting you want? The sun is always shining on the moon, it just doesn't always reflect upon the Earth."

    Considering Amy's question, Chibiusa takes a sip of her juice and says, unhelpfully. "Luna-P is my favorite toy. I've had her forever." Feeling like maybe that's not enough of an answer, she adds, "I don't actually remember where I got her from, or who gave her to me."

    Laura's Aqua Pot floats through the door, and then Laura herself comes out. Chibiusa smiles and waves as she arrives, and also waves at Catra when she sees her.

    Chibiusa is in the middle of sipping her juice again when she blinks at the mention of the Fade. Putting her juice down, she says, "Right... forgot that was a thing. Okay, then yeah, it kinda has to be this summer doesn't it?"

    At the mention of Masquerade Lapine, her eyes sparkle at Mamoru and soaks up the playful mystique. "I don't know who this new magical girl is but she sounds dapper."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"You think awfully highly of yourself, Chibiusa-chan," Usagi says in response to that 'is this because of me', but her voice is full of obvious teasing. "No, it's because - well, what he said. We want to make sure we have one while we remember everything about how we met and all that, just in case."

Amy gets a wave, as do Rashmi and Hinoiri and Laura, and she sits up a teeny bit more properly.

"I feel like I should have gotten to mention that part about my house," she says dryly, but the look she gives Mamoru is affectionate. "But yeah, my grandparents are helping manage all the construction while my mama and papa and Shingo are on the cruise we booked them. They don't exactly remember what happened, but we're still grounded."

Did she say we? Yes, she said we, and Mamoru and Chibiusa both know she's meaning them. Her parents had been very clear on the fact that they weren't expecting this to be enforced, on account of the whole, vacation thing going on, but they also expected regular updates and for the three of them to behave and not get into more trouble.

Honestly, she wishes she could do that for them.

"Aside from that, I haven't seen anyone, and also, the barrier I opened up swallowed all the bodies, so that was good... especially since Lapine-chan was pretty cute for dealing with all that."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked a few times and then fumed, just a tad. "Hey. I plan *amazing* breakfasts. Double Trouble used to--" And... oof. She caught herself in that one. Right. Focus on something else. "It's going well, Laura-chan," she said, grinning up at her. "I ummm... I've been thinking on what the queen said. I'll... uhhhh... have an answer soon, I think..."

Then glanced back to Mamoru. "No idea. She might be an enemy of the BMC, though. We hadn't seen her before and, honestly? She gives very much like... well... she's trying to cosplay as the kid of Tuxedo Mask and, say, someone who's kind of like a bunny with a henshin... In which case, it might be another faction who's after the same thing they were, who's trying to get under our guard. so I wouldn't let her adorableness trick you."

And then there was Catra. Her eyes lit up a little and she waved. "Hey Catra, long time no see! Been doing good?"

Also, score. Nickname approved. "The barrier was neat, by the way. also, I'd just like to state, once again. Magic in this world makes no Sora-darned sense. Cool. But weird."

Koji Silvia has posed:
This was Koji's actual first time here at the Cafe BAKE Neko, and he's not showing up in either the mysterious suit he's been using of late, or henshin, or even in his school uniform!

Instead, he's dressed down into what looks like either a server or busser's uniform. A shortsleeve white collared shirt, and black slacks, black sneakers, and the sign of a nametag stuffed into the shirt pocket. As the door closes behind him, he stops and looks around at all the people present, taking a moment to take off his glasses and then cleaning them before trying to find a place to settle. He doesn't really announce himself, instead just makes sure to try and meet at least Mamoru's, Usagi's, and Rashmi's eyes before he starts moving to the side and along some of the bookshelves and towards a place to sit that's within speaking range, but leaves him a bit of room to move.

Someone else to be 'catty' in the cat cafe apparently. A couple of nods and a wave of the hand towards Laura later, he manages to remove the backpack off his back and set it down on the table as he sits down, and just... listens for now...

Rashmi Terios has posed:
There's a pause, and a tilt of the head as Rashmi clearly asks Nicomachea to Google the term, then nods a few moments later upon getting the summary. "So the head of the rabbit? Perfect..."

But then he goes on, and Usagi picks up the thread of What Happened To The Tsukino Household, and her eyes get *wide.* "...So," she says after a moment, "who even's left? Also this Masquerade Lupin sounds completely adorable and definitely probably not a secret agent from a fourth faction maybe."

Does she know? Probably, but with *that* many obfuscating adjectives, who would even have the time to untangle them?

Laura popping out of the Aqua Pot never fails to amuse, though, and it's a genuine smile she turns onto the mermaid, then Hinoiri and Catra in turn... Until Hinoiri makes her slip, and Rashmi just starts searching among the drinks for something Hinoiri would like.

Koji's eyes are caught, and the boy gets a nod of greeting, but then she fails the inner battle she seems to have been fighting all day.

"...Molly-chan's alive and I have proof."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru grimaces apologetically at Usagi. "You can tell them what I did to Jadeite? I know it doesn't make up for it..." he says, then waves to people who've come in-- and looks amused at both Catra and Koji. "All the snacks were made fresh today," he calls over, "and there's sashimi in the minifridge under the espresso bar, Catra-san. Anko already had hers--"

Anko settles back down grumpily.

"As far as who's left, they've got Saphir, Esmeraude, and their prince, Demande, but the gods only know where they've hidden their stupid spaceship."

Then he blinks at Rashmi and says after a second, in a really uncertain voice, "... haven't you been-- I mean, hasn't she been-- fighting you? With something possessing her?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at Chibiusa, then remembers that, if you go back far enough, there are things you don't remember getting but simply had. Although, she can't think of any examples for herself. Like, she remembers getting her first Nintendo for Christmas. Even her teddy bear and plush lioness (well, it's a mountain lion, but little Amy didn't know what those were and concluded that lion - mane = lioness) which have been with her all this time and are even now on her dorm bed, she remembers receiving.

    Man it's nuts that her plush toys are more than twice the age of a lot of her friends no wait don't get lost in thought end this branch return();

    Her first blanket and pillowcase, maybe? At least, the first ones she remembers. She barely remembers having them, and remembers she then got new ones as she got too large for that blanket, so yeah, Chibiusa's had Luna-P a long time, at least for her.

    Man it's wild that someone in the future can have a magitech shapeshifting toy since longer than they can remember. It's wild that someone now can have a tablet computer since longer than they can remeWAIT CHIBIUSA IS OVER 800 YEARS OLD.

    Amy looks at Luna-P with wide eyes as she realizes: This thing is an antique. Aside from local historical sites -- because Japan IS that old, Luna-P is older than America -- and in museums, Amy has never interacted with anything that old, and certainly not regularly.

    Is Chibiusa the oldest person she interacts with regularly?

    Man, that is a weird thought.

    "...Damn, they really build things to last in the future."

    Wait. The future? But...

    "So... wait, but didn't you say you were born in 1997 or 1999 or something? So that means it was built in the 90's or 2000s?"

    And then other things are mentioned. Amy turns to Usagi. "How did you make a Labyrinth, anyway?"

    And then she turns and stares at Rashmi, astounded. "Wait, really? Proof?!" Some here, including Rashmi, know Amanda's understanding -- and perhaps assumption -- is that Seriss Nyx took over a corpse, so she doesn't restate that, just listens.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Yeah, she imagines she will have to explain what was going on with that elephant and- .... Waaaait a second, Usagi's house got trashed? Her parents evacuated? Some ghost people were remade? When, how, where? Wait, no, she knows that last one. Still, everyone wasn't as on edge as she would imagine if somebody of theirs had gotten hurt, and those guys were dead now, so things seems to have turned out well(?).

"Well, I cannot really say how cute she is since I have never seen her, but if this Masquerade Lapine ever needs help with it, I have got what it takes", she grins confidently. It goes without saying she is qualified to help. "What about you, Usagi-chan? Everything alright with your house and family?" she ends up checking on her anyway.

There is a brief scoff at Hinoiri bringing up the Mermaid Queen. Right, there was that too. For some reason, there was something really important that Hinoiri wanted to forget. Laura still doesn't really like dealing with the subject, but if Hinoiri chooses that way, the mermaid is going to support her. "Reach out to me if you need something", she reminds the unicorn with a smile.

"So, I have got two things to talk about", Laura stands straighter, assuming a serious tone. "The matter of my memories, which some of you already know, and the Land Ring Mistress 9 swallowed. How do we decide who talks first?" she goes right to the matter.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was uhhhhh.... yeah. She was.... a bit shaken as more things come up... "Molly's... alive?" she asked softly. "What's the proof?" She also had a bit of a suspicion at Rashmi's confirmation that 'Masquerade Lupin' wasn't an enemy. Or maybe wasn't. She sighed. "Rashmi, if uhhh... you know who she is? But can't tell us? That's okay. A lot of us have identities we can't reveal. Like, I have half of Obsidian I can't reveal. That's okay."

She then nodded to Laura. "Thanks. I'll let you know. Sorry, it's a... bigger decision than I thought it would be. Just... yeah. And... I guess maybe just say it. There's so much going on, that... I almost feel we should write it all down and-- OH!" she said, eyes lighting up before reaching into her bag and pulling out... a notepad and pen. "I'll take notes."

... She was still a student. Shush.

Catra has posed:
There's a lot being talked about, but right now Catra isn't participating in any of it; though at least she doesn't have her earbuds plugged in right beside her ear drums, blasting something loud or obnoxious (or anything for that matter) so it does seem that she's genuinely paying attention. When mention is made of sashimi, the feline stands up to go get it and returns with a pretty generous looking plate of various sorts of fish, and a pair of chopsticks.

"Thanks," she offers as she sits down; and she looks up to register the people who've greeted her by name, too. Hinoiri and Rashmi both get a bit of a wave, but if there is one thing that is absolutely, painfully obvious, it is this:

Catra considers herself to be in the midst of an enemy camp.

Which normally, she'd avoid for certain, but she's in the middle of experiencing very interesting time.

For now though she just... eats some sashimi. After sniffing it. Maybe to make sure it's safe.

At least there aren't any Obsidian assassins here.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Small Lady gets told that she thinks highly of herself, and her nose goes straight up into the air. "That's because I'm a princess!"

    Yeah she's just going to go ahead and own that.

    After Hinoiri speaks, she opens her mouth to say something, reconsiders, and then decides to keep it to herself. Her alt-parents got into a lot of trouble because of being careless with their secret IDs, and as far as Chibs knows the Black Moon Clan might still have other assassins after her. "Maybe Death Phantom too, unless he actually really died somehow."

    Molly is alive. Chibiusa blinks. Small Lady only saw brief glimpses of Molly but... she can see how much such a recent death has weighed on everyone's minds.

    Luna-P starts to stare at Amy. Does it know it's being thought about? Hard to tell, behind that mysterious smile. It might be better if Amy didn't think too hard about what Luna-P was. Then again, there might be a time in the future when Amy really wishes that she had thought about it a little more.

    "It would've had to be after the apocalypse because magitech didn't exist before then. Probably before the Sailor Senshi and mama restored peace to the world, because I remember it used to protect me."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"So you want me to tell our friends you dumped your boyfriend in a graveyard?" She asks Mamoru, in that teasing way that says she absolutely knows she just dropped it in there, but -

Then there's a couple of things happening all at once, and the most important response is -

"I FUCKING KNEW IT!" She crows, as Rashmi announces that Molly's alive, and that she has proof. "Ah, I will put something in the swear jar! I just - I knew it, I knew she had to be alive in there, I don't - I mean, yeah, what's the proof?"

But also, she was asked about her Labyrinth, and she frowns, tilting her head. "I guess it was... kind of like a Labyrinth, huh? Almost a little more than a barrier... um, well, this won't really make sense, but, I heard the voice of the world?"

How does Takuto manage to explain this to people? Does he bother? How can she explain the way everything snapped into place, clicking together like a puzzle solved, and she did what she did because she wanted and had to?

Oh, getting organized is a good idea, Laura-chan. I think we should start with Molly! - ah, and my family is okay! They're safe and on vacation and we'll get our house all fixed up. My papa says we've had great insurance since the last time the house had to get rebuilt."

Koji Silvia has posed:
Being probably the most paranoid and uptight person here, the fact that someone he's been on the wrong side of a few times... who isn't Hinoiri... is here and allowed in the room, Koji just sits back and lets go of his hackles for Catra, and even for Chibiusa.

Instead, he just continues to listen, but then pauses for a moment to dig into his pockets and digs out a small thumbdrive. Standing up, he makes his way over to Usagi and hands it over, "Can you hold onto this and give it to your dad when they're back. It's from Mom. It's the security company information for the extras she recommended. She also said she got the uhh... friends and family discount. Whatever that means. And Dad wanted me to remind you to remind your dad the next time they call that he's a double XL." He just rolls his eyes and then goes back to sit down once more, not giving ANY context to what that is all about, "Sorry... I don't have anything to really add here... but Mamoru asked me to stop by so..."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Anko the enormous fluffmonster THUDS off the chair she was sharing with Luna and pads over to sit next to Catra and watch her eat. Mamoru calls crossly, "Leave her alone, Anko, we don't need you the size of an SUV again."

Anko ignores him. He is not surprised. And yet, Anko isn't actively trying to steal any of the fish.

He takes his phone out and slouches further into the seat next to Usagi, then starts thumbing out something on it.

Mamoru TXT Catra: do u want an apartment

He puts his phone down on the table in front of him and he pushes his mostly-clean glasses up, his pink Babymetal t-shirt proudly exactly what it is under a black button-down dress shirt, and his usual black skinny jeans and dress shoes.

"How about Rashm--" he starts when Laura asks, but Usagi's quicker, and he grins again and just brushes his fingertips over the back of her hand before he tilts his head up to look at Koji... and he laughs a little, shaking his head. "I invited you to come to the catch-up session because you're my friend and you're always telling me you never hear anything. Also, you're all invited to our wedding on the moon this summer! But sorry, behaving, Rashmi-chan has the talking stick."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Passing Hinoiri a strawberry drink, Rashmi takes a deep breath. Nodding to Laura, she clears her throat. "So... I'll make it quick, because it sounds like Laura-chan's got a lot more to talk about, but um... Around the middle of the night, Molly-chan... called me. Through a burner phone she keeps in Starcrash for emergencies. Apparently Seriss was asleep enough she couldn't tell Molly-chan was... moving around. I mean... I *hoped* she was alive-alive, and not just..."

Not a corpse puppet. Not a meat-suit. Not an abomination that needed to be put down a second time.

"...But the rest of what she said was important. Like... That Dr. Tomoe's been giving her upgrades. That she's a lot stronger than she's been letting on. ...And that we should focus on saving Hotaru-chan first. ...Also that both Seriss and Mistress 9 don't think very well of me, specifically. So... *that's* a thing. ...Anyway I have a recording of the call if anyone wants to hear it, later."

With that, she catches Koji's eye and wiggles a plate, offering a selection of snacks without words. "So yeah... that's my thing."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai arrives a bit late but she had very good reason. The cheery pink and green paper bags that were slung over an arm are likely a good indicator of the reason why. The bags bore the perhaps-by-now familiar logo of Nounamu Sweets in cheery hirigana font. As if that weren't enough she also carries caught in both hands a bag of rice.

She pauses at the door to shift her load while twisting to the side using her hip to bump the door and gently push as she step-step-steps to the side to use her body to wedge it open so she can pass through without potentially damaging and/or dropping anything she carried.

Once the door is open the plum-haired girl calls out cheerily, "Usagi-chan! Mamo-kun! I've got White Day leftover boxes so I hope you're all hungry." A pause, and she adds while arching her neck to peer over top of the rice bag.

"And Ojiisan figured you might need more rice. I'm so sorry."

Zoisite has posed:
Majority of the cats quickly disperse in an anxious rush as a sudden flurry of cherry blossoms bursts in the cafe as Zoisite teleports himself, school bag in one hand and cello--securely packed away in its case--in the other. He looks at everyone as the petals now fall onto everyone else.

"I was being held up at Music Club. Excuse me." No apologies though, quickly transforming back into his school uniform.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa glances up to Usagi. She doesn't say anything. Alt-mama knows where the swear jar is. After all this time, it's not really a deterrent from cussing at all, it just means you only curse when it actually matters. Which is fair.

    Small Lady hears the term talking stick and wonders for a moment if there is an actual stick involved or if this is some kind of alt-u metaphor that she's too 30th century to understand.

    Chiyo and Izou arrive and Chibiusa smiles at both of them. She reaches up to wave widely. "Hi! Welcome. Have a snack!"

Koji Silvia has posed:
The mention of White Day does make Koji get a little hot in the cheeks, but he doesn't look away, he just exhales and slumps his elbows on the table, planting his head in his hands, and frowns, "Of course they don't like you Rashmi. You're the most dangerous thing to them... the person who inspires hope in their hosts, gives them a will to fight back and try and take back their forms. You do that for a lot of people."

To which is looks at Hinoiri and then Catra, before looking back.

Zoisite's entrance, so stylish and fashionably late... it gets a stare, and then a shake of the head and he tries to go back to the topic, "I mean... I know I always sound awful when I say things like this, but we could use you to trap them. Draw one of them to a place where we can do our thing. Maybe get Hope or Nanoha, or the one named Sailor Moon blow an air-fuel bomb's worth of goodness up their skirts."

He just shrugs, and waves off the shares snacks, but adds, "Weaken them down, purify them up, head off for dinner. It's a pretty tried and true method."

Catra has posed:
Catra is keeping quiet. Is she entirely committed to keeping quiet? It's not like she's taken a vow of silence or anything. But, the Sashimi is good and No she will not be sharing.

Oh, but, she almost forgot, she did bring something. She reaches into her jacket and pulls out... a headband, with a set of cat-ears on it, that are extremely pink and very glittery, which she slides across the table perfectly so they stop in front of Chibiusa. Honorary cat? Maybe!

her phone goes off, and she peeks at it between pieces of tuna. 'do u want an apartment'. Well that's a damn good question. Can she even go back to Obsidian? She hasn't tried since, well, apparently switching sides. Or maybe not so much switching sides as leaving her side. So she has no side. Well, that's not entirely true, she has her own side, if that helps, which probably doesn't.

Mamoru can see on the screen that she's messaging, then not messaging, then messaging, then not messaging, then messaging, then not messaging. She starts and deletes a response a number of times. And then she eats another piece of tuna, and listens to the conversation around her, and checks to see if Chibiusa likes the headband, then turns a completely blank look in Koji's direction for exactly four and three-quarter seconds, and then looks back down at her phone and finally texts back.

Catra TXT Mamoru: I think so?

Oh, and it sounds like Rashmi's friend is still alive, which... even though Catra never met her, that's good. Not that she particularly has anything to say about it.

Zoisite has posed:
Gives a courteous bow to Small Lady before he walks towards one of the tables in the back, placing his school bag and cello there so they are out of the way before returning to make himself some tea behind the counter.

"What all did I miss, if anyone wishes to catch me up?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is briefly surprised at Usagi's outburst, and then just. Stares blankly. "The voice of the world?" she echoes. But... yeah, the biggest news is Molly. She looks back to Rashmi.

    So that's the situation. "It does explain that message that initially led us to her. I thought maybe it was a recording, or Starcrash trying to communicate."

    Amy would be happy, but the news that Molly is in such a terrible situation kind of offsets that emotion. Molly was dead, as far as she knew. Now she's in a living hell.

    "Or Seriss... Nyx? Which do we call her for short? Or that bitch is pretending to be Molly to mess with us... but I'm not sure that adds up." Amy sits, and holds a curled finger up to her chin. "We knew she was holding back. I don't think she thinks we're that dumb. She might think that would be surprising to Molly, though, with how much she likes putting her down... We didn't know she's still getting upgrades, but without telling us what, that's not-- that may not be as costly intel as it sounds."

    Amy considers. "So. The situation, then, is Molly's alive too, they're sharing the same body, and presumably Seriss knows she's alive and possibly even that she can move the body, but is confident she'd stop Molly-chan from messing up her plans. She can still use Starcrash... is Starcrash really able to hide her use from Seriss Nyx, though?"

    Amy stands, and paces back and forth between the tables. "Is Molly conscious when Seriss is? Can Seriss be conscious when Molly is? I don't think we should seriously consider the pretending-to-be-Molly hypothesis without more data, but I think we should prepare for the possibility that Seriss Nyx knows what Molly is doing, and is going to pull a 'oh, I know all about your little plans, did you think I didn't?' moment or simply doesn't care because she doesn't think any of us or Molly is a real threat."

    Amy nods to herself. And then also goes for a strawberry drink as she looks between the others, and to Laura.

    And, now that her brain has processed the situation tactically, tries not to imagine what Molly is going through too much.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"She was able to call you," Usagi breathes, and her smile is wide and bright. "Rashmi-chan, that's amazing!"

It means that Molly isn't just alive in there, but alive and aware and intact, not just like, in a coma or something, and that's - well, it means there's a lot of risk there too, and it could mean that she's suffering, the way Mamoru once confirmed Hotaru was there but suffering - but positive things for now.

"When I got her earlier this week," she says contemplatively, "My purification seemed to burn her up, but it didn't - I mean, it didn't fix her, obviously. If Molly-chan's saying she's really, really strong, that makes sense... but it also kind of makes me worried about some of our other enemies..."

Esmeraude had deflected her attack, after all.
ut then, Chiyo and Izou are both joining the group, room being made for them, and Luna hops up to come and sit near Usagi to make space in the chairs. Izou asks for a recap, and that's reasonable, so while snagging a White Day box of snacks from Chiyo-chan - what, she loves sweets! - she quickly rattles off.

"Molly-chan - Star Devil - is alive for real and getting possessed, which is really good because some people were worried she was like, being corpse puppeted. Rashmi-chan got a call from Molly last night, and she said we should focus on helping Hotaru, stopping Mistress 9, and also that they're making the evil lady in Molly-chan way stronger. Also Mamochan, Chibiusa-chan, and I are all still grounded, and after Rashmi's turn is done, it's Laura-chan's turn."

Zoisite has posed:
Nods as he listens to Usagi, now satisfied with the cup of tea he's made as he joins the group. A brow arches however. "Grounded? Who grounded who grounded the two of you?" Asks as he stares at Mamoru and Small Lady. "I am very aware that Usagi is grounded but neither of you need to be caught up in her deal. Respectfully, princess." Adds quickly, then takes his seat a meter away from the rest of them.

"Please go on Rashmi."Waves dismissively.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai strides to the corner near the elevator in the back to deposit the bag of rice with a heavy *thump* of letting it drop. Thoroughly unburdened she makes her way back swinging by Koji to give him a quick one-armed hug in greeting. He gets a box of sweets, too. The rest she leaves near Usagi of course.

ChibiUsa's greeting gets a wide, warm grin toward the younger girl she'd met a few times already. "Thanks! I just want to sit a bit for now though. I'm always exhausted after holidays."

Speaking of, she starts to pass out a series of boxes with no particular order as to who might get them. Some are mochi, some are chocolate, some are fruit jellies. But all are flower shaped with expert care.

"These are just shop leftovers, no meaning to them, but I hope everyone enjoys them," she assures before settling down to sit and leeeean over to bump her shoulder against Usagi's.

"Sounds like I have a lot to catch up on. Let me know who I need to hammer some sense into."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru TXT Catra: cool, talk to me after class haha
Mamoru TXT Catra: whatever floor except the top one

Mamoru puts his phone face down on the table. "I definitely want to hear it later, Rashmi-chan," he says firmly, making himself sit up a little further. Stop slouching, your royal flyness. "And that's really good. I'm so happy she's awake in there and will be able to fight!"

He glances to Chiyo and laughs. "Never say no to free things," Mamoru says with amused affection. "Thank him for me, and thank you for carrying it here! And thank you for sweets as well!"

Mamoru calls over to Izou, "What Usa said. And you know about Rubeus and the wedding and Usako's house. And her parents grounded all three of us, it was really sweet."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa looks down at the cat-ears headband, then she glances at Catra, and then looks at Luna-P. She reaches over to pick them, up, considers them for a moment, and then decides 'why not?'.

    Small Lady is wearing cat ears that nestle in front of her pointy hair buns. They are very glittery! She glances around at the others at the table, especially Usagi and Mamoru, to gauge reactions.

    Eagerly she takes the offered snacks from Chiyo and starts eating a chocolate flower. "Thank you very much~!" she says, because even if she's a spoiled princess she still has manners. While nibbling, she looks over to Laura in order to listen to what the Mermaid Cure has to say.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Sorry, Molly called her? In the middle of the night? And she had a burner phone? "That's awesome, Rashmi", Laura doesn't hesitate cheering. She can only imagine what sort of situations lead to that matter, but whatever the matter, it's not like she can be punished by making her situation any worse than it already is.

"If you need me to whale on her, you only have to ask!", she promises with a wink. This situation must be such a huge turn around for Rashmi. As far as she knew, there was no clear defined hope for the redhead. Now, she has that, and most importantly, a desire to formulate the best one she has. Probably the most concrete serving of hope Rashmi has had in recent times.

"I am not really surprised they don't have a good opinion of you", the pinkette remarks to Rashmi. "They probably spend a lot of their time deciding who to hate that day", she smirks at the thought, before clearing her own throat when she gets told it's her turn to speak.

"As some of us had the displeasure feel on our own skin, there was a dark energy elephant that appeared out of nowhere in the fight for Usagi-chan's heart crystal. That was one of two complementary rings, one ring that represents the heart of the land, and another which represents the heart of the sea", she raises her hand to show the marine ring. Which is right next to the snow ring, but she is not going to talk about that one unless asked.

"I have reasons to believe that Mistress 9 won't be using that ring again, because the appearance of the Legendary Pretty Cure that fought the Witch of Delays put a stop to her at that time", she remarks, bringing out from her Aqua Pot a few papers with the rough drawing of a girl dressed in green with a blonde palm tree hair.

"Hotaru had that ring because I insisted she kept it, right after we recovered from our body swap experience" - which would probably yet another tale on its own - "right when Butler attacked taking advantage of our vulnerability due to the body swap and me feeling one of those dark energy fevers we now know as Mistress 9."

She sighs. "I didn't really want Hotaru to experience that, and I was so stubbornly set on it that I ended up worrying the Mermaid Queen, who thought it right to erase my memories without asking me. And that's why I had forgotten all of you", she bows her head apologetically right after that indignant expression of the Queen's intentions.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara jerked a bit, almost dropping her pen, when Usagi yelled. Ow. And this was why you didn't sit near the screamer.

She took the strawberry drink from Rashmi, popping it open and giving a light thank you, before taking a drink.

"... You broke up with someone in a cemetary? Geez... I hope you two weren't visiting anyone there... cause if so, that's rough."

Then... then she sees Catra... Give. Chibiusa. A. GIFT! "Oh my gosh she's bonding..." Hinoiri whispered, her eyes actually shimmering with excitement.

Then looked to Rashmi. "So... some kind of... mind control... magic? Possession? I'd like to hear it later, too. That sounds good..."

She was, in fact, still taking notes. Listening along as Laura explained her side of things and letting out a low whistle at the end. "Sounds like you were busy while I wasn't around, Laura-chan. Happy to know you seem to have gotten those memories back, I think I'd have been pretty sad if you'd forgotten our meeting," she said with a grin.

Then jumped a little, her eyes going wide... before glancing away and looking uncertain, now. "... Oh..." she mumbled gently.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"...there was an elephant?" Usagi asks with utter bafflement, a reminder that she had been rather - heart crystal-less at the time, and had thus missed all the spectacular strangeness of it all.

Her eyes do flick to Hinoiri and Laura, at the subject of erased memories, the offer Grand Ocean's queen had made to Hinoiri stirring in her own memory.

Zoisite has posed:
"Yes there was an elephant. Mamoru dealt with it more than me. All I gathered from it was that it looked like a normal youma apparition. But apparently I was quite wrong." Sips his tea. "I was more focused on getting you and Minako out of the demolishing flower shop before anything else happened."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Oh is that where that elephant was from. Except for the part where it exploded, I was more focused on stopping Tellu and making sure someone got Usagi's soul got back in her body," Mamoru tells Laura, tapping his chin, leaning forward, and picking up two wagashi flowers and starts eating them as if he were eating a petal at a time.

He blinks at Hinoiri. "Oh, it was my family grave. I needed the moral support."

He's also contemplating Chibiusa's cat-ears in front of her bunny odango... and there's a little smile twitching at the corner of his mouth, and then he looks up again and says, "Sorry about all the exploding. Got a little carried away."

Then he looks at Laura again, head tilting a little. "Is she an evil queen? Do we have to take care of another evil queen?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai falls silent as she listens to the explanation of everything that has been going on. The more she hears, the more her eyes widen and lips set into a tight line. It had been far too long since she'd been 'in the loop' as it were. Too long trying to find someone missing, too long dealing with the mundane aspects of working a candy shop during some of the busiest candy times of the year.

Too busy to realize... "Usagi's *soul* was shot out?" The girl in question is given a sharp LOOK as she realizes she really DID miss a lot. "Cousin, what have you been getting into?" It's really not a question that needs to be answered because she just heard what she's been up to. Instead she sighs.

And pauses. And suddenly grins a bit too wide, but ultimately happy, as she spots the kitty-eared ChibiUsa and sneaks out her phone for a quick photo.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Koji just ends up dropping his head onto the table for a moment. An exhale later, he lifts it back up, "Mamo, I think if she was an evil queen, the MERMAID would have told you she's an evil queen. Seriously... you sounded almost excited to try and do some royal headthumping."

Coming up, he ends up hanging his head back, hair almost to the floor, staring at the ceiling, "I would have preferred an elephant. When I got my soul shot out of me, all I got was some cranky weirdo dressed like a walking Cup Noodle advert."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
'There was an elephant.' 'There was an elephant?' 'Yes there was.' 'Oh was *that* where the elephant came from?'

Rashmi's eyes move from Laura to Usagi to Izou to Mamoru as if she was spectating a particularly fiendish doubles tennis match, and for the longest moment her brain latches on 'Dark Energy Elephant' and she just needs to sort of... sit with that, for a moment, as more proof that magic exists and even when being used for evil it can be silly and wonderful.

"...Hang on *I missed Usachan's Heart Crystal being shot out?!* ...What has the last month even *been?!*"

Sighing, she drops her head in her hands, then upon Amy's questions, looks up. "...No that pretty much feels like how it's been. Everything from December onwards is just one big, long stress-scribble..."

Glancing at Laura, she tilts her head, privately guessing the answer is going to be 'no,' but realizing the important part isn't the memories, but...

"...So it really, really feels like at the base of things, Mistress 9 is *everyone's* problem. Apart from the whole destroying the world thing."

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa blinks as Laura discusses the elephant in the room. Or rather, the elephant that was in another room that Chibiusa wasn't at, where Mistress 9 was and Usa-mom got her heart stolen by someone other than Mamoru. Unforgivable!

    As Small Lady looks over the rough drawings that Laura provides, she asks, "So this Legendary PreCure. You say she fought the Witch of Delays, but that Witch is back again? Does that mean the Legendary Pretty Cure is going to come back too, and that this is all tied to the rings that you and Hotaru had?" After a pause she says, "Oh! Is she gonna help us get Hotaru-chan back? Maybe?"

    She is, of course, keeping the headbands on while talking about these big important topics. Noticing the corners of Mamoru's lips twitching, she gets a mischievous glint in her eye and makes a 'pawing' motion with her hand. It only happens for a second, but Chiyo might get a shot of it if she's quick!

    There's a subtle change in tone regarding Chibiusa's engagement in these topics. Those in the know would think it was only natural, though. She's talking as if she's a part of this now, instead of being stuck on the outside and looking in.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Mamoru broke up with someone in a graveyard? Oh, that's what was meant by dumping someone in a graveyard earlier.

    It coulda been an enemy's ashes or something, she didn't know!

    Amy blinks. "Elephant? Oh right, the elephant." Man, that feels like it was weeks ago. It was weeks ago, wasn't it? Amy's sense of time is kind of fucked up. Like, there was the new year and then there's just been crazy things and her watch says it's MAR 20? "We found out that Kyubey's telepathy works on heart crystals. It might also be worth trying on a soul gem, if ever... if ever you need to."

    She nods to Chiyo, "Yeah, they have these guns that shoot people's souls out. I think we have one or two of them captured now? Anyway yeah I was so busy focused on getting Usagi back to her body I barely remembered the elephant in the room."

    Amy blinks at Koji. "When you..." She looks around. "Geeze, has like, everybody here had their soul shot out except for me?"

    Beat.

    "Geeze," she repeats the sentence with the exact same intonation, "has like, everybody here had their soul shot out of their body or otherwise seperated from it? ...Our lives are nuts."

    Rashmi missed WHAT? Amy nods to confirm, "Yeah, by the way, Gaito got his powers back because --well, there was a whole thing, but we purified him and he's not going to be a problem anymore, it seems..." Amy hangs her head at the meloncholy memory.

    She listens to Laura, and takes a picture of the Legendary Pretty Cure's sketch with her phone, then looks at Laura in surprise "Wait, you remember the bodyswap now? Did you get your memories back?"

    "And... what does it mean that she has the ring now?"

    Amy blinks and looks back at Mamoru. "Wait, it was at your-- your family grave? Why--" Amy shakes her head. "No, I guess that's not my business."

    

Catra has posed:
"I shot someone's heart crystal out once," Catra states in a quiet, grumpy tone of voice. "Obsidian had me test the prototype. I didn't... like what it did. So I gave the crystal to Adora so she could give it back to the person I shot it out of." She takes one of the strawberry drinks, sips from it, holds the drink away from herself so she can glare at it suspiciously, before taking another sip and alright maybe it's okay.

"They didn't tell me everything about what it did. Anyawy. Whatever. It's over now."

The feline shifts her gaze to Mamoru. Broke up with someone in front of a grave? her eyebrow rises, and she shakes her head, before looking the other way and tossing a secret thumbs-up to Chibiusa after she puts on the headband.

Is this what the heroes do all the time? With nobody yelling at them for failing, and no horrible jesters showing up to threaten them for not working hard enough? They just sit around and eat treats with everyone's dietary needs considered and drink stupid drinks that taste like strawberries?

As she processes it, Catra has a long slurp from the drink, and she goes back to listening without commenting, bi-colored eyes shifting from person to person depending on who's talking.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy wonders, "Does it hurt when your soul gets shot out? Because when Kyubey took my soul out it really hurt, I remember thinking maybe he was just killing me."

    "...ALSO WE GOT OTTO and Aloisia's-- okay you know what maybe I should just wait for a turn with the talking-stick."

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura grimaces at Mamoru's question. Despite her vocal disapproval of her action, she still recognises the Mermaid Queen isn't really evil, and is still the benevolent monarch she had looked up to before this. "No, she is not evil. She is just obeying Grand Ocean's laws that try to avoid us mermaids suffering from our longer lives by erasing all memories of humans. Of course, she didn't ask me, she just doesn't ask."

Because of course the whole thing has to be kept secret too. "I don't agree with those laws, so I will do my best to end my apprenticeship, and when I am Queen, I will dismantle them all", she promises.

A smile is given to Hinoiri. "I am happy to have them back too. It wasn't easy, the Queen kept all the memories together and there were millennia' worth of memories from all mermaids. The only good thing about it was the most recent memories are closer to the entrance", she explains. Which was good for her, or she would still be looking.

"That was also how I discovered that she had done it to me once already", she adds, and despite the subject, her expression is not of discontent, but of radiant happiness. "Turns out Hotaru and I are childhood friends! Kind of. We happened to meet one day and became fast friends! Of course, I will tell her that the moment we rescue her!"

A shrug is given to Amy. "Nothing much, probably. I think she too fears the Legendary Pretty Cure, that's why she stopped the assault after she showed up. I would be quite surprised if she used the Land Ring again."

She nods to Chibiusa. "The Witch has been back for a few months now, and I suspect that the Rings showing up are all the doing of the Legendary Pretty Cure. I know this to be true about the Land Ring, but she is the first owner of both, so she is probably why I have the Marine Ring too. These rings are her help."

Zoisite has posed:
"It doesn't hurt. But only part of my heart was shot out. I just felt numb, then collapsed. While those that have their full hearts shot out, well..." Nods towards Usagi. That experience was quite different than his own, he imagines.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gaves a soft sigh, shaking her head... and... "Wait, Usagi got her soul sucked out? Wait, family grave? Moral support? NO! She's NOT evil, she's just... misguided.. kind of..." she mumbled, writing furiously. Holy moly a lot happened.

"... Wait, the world got destroyed? I left for like, a day. What the buck were you people doing?!" she asked, staring at them like they had lost their minds.

Then, however, her eyes shifted to Chibiusa. She cocked and eye... and then... Sent Luna-P a small text message. 'Let's talk later'.

She'd spent a few... so many... oh my gosh so, so many loops talking to that girl. Something... changed here. And she was... hoping it was good.

And oh my gosh she felt like her head was spinning. "And yeah, I got my heart shot out once. Ironically, I was Sunbreaker then. Don't know how I had a pure heart then... wonder if I still do? Rather not find out..."

She then glanced to Catra. "Yeah. Obsidian loves to do that. Not tell you all the fine details. The sparkles here are much easier to work with. Their tolerance for jerks is pretty high and they don't try to kill you when you buck up. Also, free cat cafe."

Then she focused back on Laura and... "Really? Huh... I'll make a note of that. Maybe... something like that can have uses. But forcing it on someone seems... rough..."

Koji Silvia has posed:
There's a side-eye towards Catra, and then Koji shrugs, "No harm no foul... at least, that's what I won't get scolded for saying."

Rashmi gets a LOOK for that one, but the glasses-wearing one continues on, "I mean, you've also tried to decapitate me twice, chopped a car I was in in half, and kidnapped a child while an ice-witch had me impaled through the gut but... I counterbalance that with you standing up to whatever that was in the cafeteria. Besides. Rashmi likes you. And that pretty much means you're doomed. Pretty soon it'll be team-ups, combo attacks, and you'll get to do a heroic justice speech. Juuuust don't hairball in the middle of it."

Still grinning just a little from that, it falls away as he puts his elbows back on the table, "I met Hotaru once... she was scared and alone, and Riventon had sent her into a chunk of the Arthra all on her own. If I hadn't been trying to save Chrono at the time, I think I would have tried to punch his glasses through his smug. So... she's Mistress 9? Whoever that is... not important... just means I need some upgrades so I can pick apart whatever magic is glueing all of that together. Maybe if we get lucky we can get this all wrapped up before test season. May's just around the bend."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Oh he's got new dad syndrome real bad, Mamoru does. He gets this utterly besotted look when Chibiusa makes the little pawing gesture, and at the sparkle in the little girl's red eyes. Just. Awwwwwwwwww!

(He nudges Usagi and points out Small Lady's kitty ears!)

Then the prince slouches again, grinning and finishing off the wagashi he was holding, his fluffy hair looking faintly rakish. His grin softens to a smile and he tilts his head, looking at Catra for a second. "It's over now," he agrees. "But I quit on purpose. Didn't make them any less mad at me. You'll do fine."

Mamoru's gaze rolls over to Amy and one side of his mouth tilts up in a half-smile. "Yeah. My whole family. I have a lot of ancestors and a lot of bad luck."

There's talk about getting heartshot, and Mamoru picks his phone up again and starts fidgeting with it, tuning out a little bit, eyes not focused.

Nonetheless: "Koji-kun, leave your grief at the door, please."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It didn't really hurt?" Usagi hums. "I was mostly just drifting, until Amy-chan and Madoka-chan started like... talking to me with their Kyubeypathy? And then - and then Mamochan was fighting her, and I had to help him, so."

Those who were there, would guess this was when the Spiral Heart Moon Rod appeared before Mamoru.

"And... it sounds like all roads really do lead to Hotaru-chan, huh?"

She sneaks a picture of Chibiusa with the kitty ears, looking very awww - and then gasps and scoops Luna into Chibiusa's lap.

"Usagi-chan," Luna hisses, and then Usagi scoops up Anko too and puts her in Chibiusa's lap, and takes her picture with both of them, too.

"So cute."

...and then a deep sigh. "Also we still have the rest of the Black Moon Clan to deal with, and I've got to practice with my barrierynth some more, because I only did it once, and I know I can do it again."

Catra has posed:
"If I tried to decapitate you, you'd be decapitated," Catra replies, returning the sideways-eyeing to Koji, before having another sip from her drink and following it up with a piece of red snapper. Did she mention red snapper is good? Red snapper is good.

Really good.

The feline shrugs, and nods to Hinoiri, "Yeah, that's... basically how it is but whatever I still need to figure out how to clear things up 'cause Glimmer is still there, and she's a moron, if she's there by herself she's going to get herself killed or turned into something unnatural." She pauses. "more unnatural than she already is. She already has the brain of a cricket that's had too much caffeine. And she's been using dark energy which I don't think she's suited to. ...not that... I can talk about that," she mutters.

"Oh yeah and apparently I'm kicked out of Obsidian. At least I think I am. I haven't gone back to find out since I helped you all deal with Tellu."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai quickly forwards the picture she took to the relevant people. Of course that was Usagi and Mamoru, but they were already busy oggling the kitty-eared future child of theirs anyway. That's it for her and photos for now (perhaps) as she lowers the phone to listen to the talk of the rifles, and who got shot, and other such things. A sympathetic, worried look is cast toward Izou when he says he too was shot. "Are you all right now, though?" Apparently Koji too though she does recall that one. She was far more active as a mahou at the time.

She does hesitate a moment as she looks around the room again considering. "I ... should probably also mention that Philip was taken back by Mirage and is working as Phantom again. I've not run into him much since then but his memories seem to be erased, too." The talk of memories had brought that up after all. She fidgets, a bit, and clears her throat. Nothing more is said though as she stares with a worried expression at a spot on the table.

Zoisite has posed:
Starts to look down at his phone, scrolling through epay again. He's still rather pissed that he missed out on that one auction for antique music sheets when Rubeus attacked. If only that had waited a minute later. Perhaps a few seconds. Tsk...

However he looks up at Chiyo, blinking at her question before nodding. "Yes, I'm alright. Once the heart is back in, it doesn't seem to leave any after effects besides the typical PTSD and heightened awareness."

His gaze did slide over at the mention of the Black Moon Clan. Sighs. He wonders when they would strike next?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"So... I did hear that Aloisia-chan's okay now? And uh, maybe going to swear as my knight maybe?" Usagi is asking this mostly to prod at the people - Amy and Rashmi - who could offer more information, while they're all here.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru's head swivels from Chiyo-- "Yeah! Phantom is evil again, I forgot to say me and Minako-chan fought him and Danburite showed up? I may actually not be responsible for his death, which is great news..."

--to Usagi, and his eyes go wide. "She what?! Are you gonna? I mean... nobody else did in this life..."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was finally catching up. Good. gooood. She took a drink of her strawberry drink. Well, it wasn't like anyone else could drop any--

And then she choked, sputtered, and strawberry drink went up her nose and some on the table as she hacked and coughed, lunging for some napkins to start wiping off her face, and trying to regain SOME tiny measure of dignity. Not much, but a little, before she coughed, sputtered and--

"Catra, you did WHAT? Please, PLEASE tell me you didn't help them off Tellu," Hinoiri asked. Well... all she'd done was attack a few people, kill some youma...

Killing someone of actual RANK? Oh, she did NOT like to imagine how Obsidian was going to react to THAT.

"Oh, and uhhh, congrats on another knight?" she offered to Usagi, still focused on Catra. "Are you okay? Do you have somewhere safe to stay?"

Then, finally, one last bit caught in her mind and she just... looked... at Usagi. ".... Barrierinth... Usagi... no... you can do better. I know you can."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai lifts her head again when Izou explains... that. She didn't know him. She hadn't met him prior to this, nor had she even fought with him in the past. He was to her a totally new face, but one she gathered was known by her cousin and cousin-in-law to-be. Which made remarks such as 'PTSD' so nonchallantly made rather worrisome.

She responds the only way she knows how.

One of the boxes of candy is plucked up from the stack that had not yet been devoured, and she scooches her chair back a bit. Skree-skree-skree. Without a word she pauses her 'trek' halfway between where the chair originally was, and where Izou sat so seperated from the group. The box is offered out quietly.

"I used to be able to make magic candy that could heal some, but I can't anymore," she offers apologetically. "But regular candy can sometimes be just as nice in these cases." With a little flashed smile she leaves the box with Izou and then wiggle-kicks her chair back toward the main group again.

Just in time for the update on Phantom to come stopping her in her tracks. Er. Chair scooting.

"He did? You did? He's... Okay? I mean. He didn't hurt anyone did he?" From the sound of her voice she could maybe use some of her own candy at this point.

Lightly clearing her throat she lifts her chin a little, and asides to Usagi, "I mean I could swear to you if you want, but you already know I'm going to help anytime I can, too! ... Although since I'm an Earthling maybe I ought to swear to Mamo-kun," she teases trying to get back to a lighter topic.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    At Chibiusa getting progressively cuter and Usagi calling attention to it, Amy looks at her a moment, and then conjures cat ears and tail and pawgloves in a tiger pattern and makes a pawing gesture back at her, grinning a little.

    And then her head whips around to look at Hinoiri, "The world got destroyed? What?"

    She pulls her phone out of her bag and struggles to use it with the gloves, finally pulling them off with her teeth so she can type something quickly.

TXT to LAURA: Did Hinoiri have her memories wipet yet? If so what is the porotocol;?

    Meanwhile, Phantom is mentioned, Amy nodding at the memory. "That sure happened..." The pawgloves drop from her mouth as she speaks, and then disappear into pink sparkles.

    "Who is Danburite? Wait is that another person pretending to be affiliated with the Senshi or...?"

    Amy nods to Usagi, "Yeah. I mean. As okay as she can be, given what happened. Otto sort of... pre-emptively crashed our attempt to go out and-- Oh right so first of all we did, um, we finally freed her from the Prinzessin? Her Devices helped us fight in this sort of, nothingness-space and" Amy can't help grinning excitedly "oh man we did this amazing combo attack and I got to see a real mecha and we blew up the thing that was controlling and feeding on and taking over Aloisia's body and she was free, and that was, that was this thing when apaprently a chunk of Tokyo disappeared and a lot of people were in like nothingness?"

    Amy takes a breath. "Anyway, after that, we were going out to celebrate some days latr and Otto... knew where we were gonna go and tried to do the whole 'Oh I am a rich noble hosting you now give me my daughter back' and we were like no and apparently he can summon some dangerous black hole magic but uh... Aloisia used the crown again, but its true uncorrupted power this time, and burned it out sealing Otto away in... some kind of magical prison the ancient Belkans either found or made. Without his Device. She didn't really wanna talk about it after."

    Amy smiles. "But yeah, no more Otto! So, like, thats a step forward and a threat erased that's been a problem for awhile, and Aloisia's back..."

    Amy blinks at Usagi. "She's gonna be your knight? Do you have knights? Are you uh. Leaning more into the whole future ruler thing? Isn't, uh... the Fade going to be an issue with that...?"

Laura La Mer has posed:
A smirk is given when Kitty Chibiusa circulates. "Guess that's why Catra zeroed in on you, she recognised your bunnycat potential.", she tells Chibiusa jokingly. "You are quite cute."

When it's Phantom's news instead that comes out, Laura raises an eyebrow. She really wasn't aware he had become someone's boyfriend. Or that he was normal for a time and now he is back to evil by brainwashing.

She has no reason to like he had been the Pretty Cure Hunter willingly for a long while - all the more so with the Cure Kinder she is still taking care of - but if Chiyo-san cares about him, they should be trying to remove his brainwashing. "We will get him back as well", the mermaid tells the purple-haired girl.

<PHONE> Laura La Mer texts Amanda Faust: Hinoiri-chan is still considering it. The protocol is the Mermaid Queen can extend the offer to her since she is a Tropical Pretty Cure, but since she is not a Grand Ocean denizen, she can't force her to.

Zoisite has posed:
There was nothing worrying about it in his mind. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome seemed to be a given side effect with everything people seemed to be dealing with. And people coped the best way they could. Some with therapy, others with medicine, managing, taking sparkling pills, needing moral support from dead parents, or like he did by dumping himself into music and lashing out at whoever he had permission to do so during battles.

Genuinely, it did not cross his mind that what he said was off.

He did frown a bit at Chiyo scootching over with her chair, a single brow slowly rising as he wondered if such a strange little display was necessary before accepting the box of candies. "Thank you?" And watches her scoot back before sipping his tea.

Magical candies? He wasn't injured, what?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I mean not like that - and she hasn't asked me -" she understands Mamoru's wide eyes and what he's really asking, and she knows that Chiyo doesn't quite know what she's offering and she knows, that... "I'm not trying to be a future ruler, because I really don't... want to be. And Aloisia-chan hasn't technically asked yet, but Rashmi-chan gave her my name as royals she could swear too."

Oh she is absolutely throwing Rashmi under the bus.

"And I mean, we'd have to talk about it, and she wouldn't be my Knight the way Naru-chan is, or my Soldier, the way my girls are, but -" A deep breath. "But just because I don't want to be a future ruler doesn't mean... that me and Mamochan might not be in a position where we're stuck again. And backing out isn't an option, so, you know, doing the prep work sounds like a good idea."

And then, sheepish -

"I think it might actually be called Moon Space, but that doesn't really tell anybody what it is?"

And then - there is her, meaning to get up and - to offer Chiyo a hug, or something, because Phantom is evil, she knew, but that he attacked - but then she's offering candy to Zoisite and oh god i she going to set HER on fire?

But no, he didn't. Whoo!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...So it was after we dealt with Otto," Rashmi says, picking up the thread from Amy-- and then Usagi just tosses her right under that isekai generator, and her cheeks puff out *just* a bit. "Yeah... Honestly I think it'd mostly be for *her,* because swearing to you would be making an oath based on something *real,* and she's still wrestling with the idea that her past life was founded on at least one major lie."

Not that anyone in *this* room could relate, oh no.

"I'm working on her Devices now, and when I'm done Koji-kun I will *absolutely* want to talk about upgrades for Hanzo. Also... Working with Luminous Titan gave me some ideas for mitigating Dark Energy in general. Not gonna talk more about that until I've gotten some actual concrete use cases, but... That's also a thing."

Koji Silvia has posed:
After a kinda of sinking in the shoulders at the reprimand, Koji sits back up and just puts his hands palms down on the tabletop, "You know..."

He looks around, "Okay, so if everything that the little future princess says happened happened... most of which I haven't even heard yet, let alone anything else that's been discussed about past future present tense... it's actually..."

He pauses for thought, "If you two are Queen of the Moon and King of Earth past this time now, that means at some point or another in THAT timeline you figured out what the Fade and the Veil are, and you conquered it... so it stands to reason that if you are still on the same direction, but an adjacent thread, you may still figure the same thing out, preserve yours and anyone else's memories, and then... well... there you go. No pressure on you. Maybe that's a part of what the Black Moon Clan is here about. Something that hasn't happened but will, and then divert from the course they know you'll already take anyways."

*GLASSESNOISE*

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa spends a little more time being cute because apparently it's being received well, and while this isn't going to become her entire lifestyle she may as well enjoy the gift for as long as the humor lasts.

    She gets a little more serious when topics get a bit darker though, and she kinda winces at the idea of Chiyo's... boyfriend? ex? turning evil again. Ouch.

    She glances at Koji and listens to his logic, and she kinda frowns. "I don't know if that's true. I'm not sure the Fade exists in my timeline. None of the Sailor Senshi ever lost their memories due to getting old. Some of them died and lost memories that way, but they eventually got those back."

    Chibiusa shrugs and says, "The Veil still seems to exist though, or at least something like it, because like... mom still doesn't get recognized even if the only thing different about her face is a tiara and some earrings."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Of course we can trust Chibiusa-chan," Usagi says resolutely, "She's the oldest of us here, after all."

She pauses, and Luna speaks up then, telling Chibiusa sternly, "That doesn't mean you don't still have a bed-time, however, or other rules that you have to follow, as you very well know."

Somethings never get old, apparently, including lectures from a cat.

"....But I think we're Queen and King of the whole system, in Chibiusa's future. And since Aloisia-chan - I mean, it's not like I mind, you know? What's a knight, but a loyal friend?"

A beat.

"So, anyone got anything elsee?"

Catra has posed:
In response to Hinoiri's spitting out of drink or... whatever, Catra just throws her hands up in the air, "YES I helped off Tellu I was sent with one of those Pureheart Rifles to go get energy for Mistress 9 so I was already in a bad mood and trying to figure out how I was going to NOT shoot someone's soul straight out of their body and then I found Tellu doing exactly that to Chib's Mom and I GOT REALLY ANGRY AND SHOT HER WITH FIRE BULLETS and yes she died shortly after that."

Catra realizes she still has her arms up in the air, and lowers them, still holding a pair of chopsticks that amazingly enough she hasn't flung across the room in the process of all this. "Whether or not I actually contributed to her death I have no idea, but I show her and Mistress 9 called me a, quote, 'Traitor', so odds are good I'm on the naughty list and that's why I haven't been back to Obsidian since then and I've been surfing whatever couches I can find in abandoned hotel rooms for the last... I dunno how long it's been. Whatever. But I stole a credit card -- from Obsidian, don't worry -- so I'm okay until they figure out that I stole it."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Yes," Mamoru says to Chiyo, "I mean no. He's fine just evil and brainwashed. He doesn't remember you, but that's fixable, don't sweat it."
He takes a breath. "Please be joking," he adds, exhaling in an uncertain laugh. Swear an oath to him? This isn't a joke... he's not sure how to feel right now. He rubs the bridge of his nose. "Danburite is a long story, and it's not mine to tell, I think that one'll have to wait until Minako-chan can tell it.

Mamoru looks at Koji, and blinks. "I think weddings make it so that... there's one reign? Of one kingdom? And even if it wouldn't normally, ours would. Because even it it's taken since the Younger Dryas and everyone died and came back in the intervening time, we finish what we start."

There's so much going on; everyone's talking at once; Mamoru takes Usagi's hand, no matter what she was doing with it. "Nope, nothing else."

He does not bring up the apartment he offered Catra, but he says as he lets go Usagi's hand and gets up, "Catra-san you forgot something upstairs after that fight with Tellu, come up and get it whenever."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy snrk at Usagi commenting that Chibiusa is the oldest, even if it's true. She looks to Chibiusa. "Recognition Inhibition -- or whatever people want to call it -- isn't the same thing as the Veil. It affects us, too. Like. For instance. That Masquerade Lapine might be in one of your classes, they looked about your age, but if you saw them in civilian mode and transformed, you'd never know it was the same person unless they transformed in front of you." Amy furrows her brow in thought. "Are there any classmates you think might be a magical girl? Should we try to find the newbie and bring them in on stuff?"

    Amy looks to Usagi. "Did they have Recognition Inhibition in your memories? Or could everyone recognize who the Senshi and your... past-mom... moon-mom? were when untransformed?"

    Amy listens to the others. "That is really cool that you can upgrade Devices, Rashmi-chan..."

    Amy takes a breath. "It's good that we got Otto this way. We... Apparently... Hinoiri said we tried to fight him in a timeloop once, and it did not go well."

    That sets her thoughts drifting to her Witch. "Moon Space..." Amy mutters. "I wonder if Puella Magi could learn to project our Labyrinth too? Madoka could fuse with Gretchen without going evil, and Kamiko can still do barriers, so... maybe it's possible to use without being a Witch?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Chiyo Sakai purses her lips trying not to frown at mention of him not remembering her. She already assumed as much given how he acted when it first occured though. "Yeah, I get the impression he doesn't."

As for the joking? His reaction earns a grin that was perhaps just a little bit trollish. Not quite as bad as Mamoru himself at times, but there was a hint of it there. "Mamoru-san, oath or not, you're as much a part of my family as Usagi-chan is. All you, or she, has to do is call for me. I'll come no questions asked if I'm able. But yes I was joking. I'd have to take some weird name like ... I don't know, Opalite or something."

When he moves to head out she nods toward him knowingly. "You get to bring the rice upstairs, though. And you ought to stop by and say hi to Ojiisan, too," she adds.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa gets lectured by Luna and she just smirks at her, wrapping both her and Anko up in a hug. "Sure, sure! I mean you never really outgrow having a bedtime. You just hit a point where your body enforces it instead of your parents."

    Or at least that's what they tell her, and she has no reason to disbelieve it.

    To Amy, she says, "Well I mean... there's that, but it's not like anyone has ever figured out who my momma was without seeing her transform. I'm not really sure that what we have is all that different from what you have."

    As for the subject of domain, especially when it comes to Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion, Chibiusa says, "Technically it's the whole solar system. There's colonies all over the place so it's not just Earth. People have spread out to other planets in the 30th century, at least in my timeline. Of course, most of that happened after my mom rose to power and people could see magic again."

    Her red eyes glance towards Chiyo's trolling, and she smirks a little, but she keeps her reaction to a minimum.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara sighs, glancing to Catra and... "Catra... be careful. Chances are if you're using one of their cards? They're using it to track you... and waiting for the right time to slam down on you. They tried to off me, repeatedly, remember? So... just... be careful."

".... On a less serious note... Usagi-major, Mamoru... I just want you to know. I will never swear an oath to you."

She then gave Chibiusa a small grin. "Usagi-minor? Jury is still out on you, maybe. We'll see how things go."

She then glanced back to Catra. "Seriously, though. If you ummm... need anywhere to stay? My room is always open. I... don't really have a roommate now..." she mumbled. "... Things have been wild, huh? Makes the moon wedding sound almost... boring in comparison. Almost."

She snickered to Chibiusa. "Well, depends on the body, really. With enough determination, no bedtimes can hold you," she jokes.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Any other comments by Koji are cut off as Hanzo gives him some signal that causes him to reach down and check his Device-as-Phone, "I need to go. Just school stuff."

Standing up, he gives a little bow, and adds, "Nice seeing everyone again. Sorry if I got grumpy there for a bit. Wasn't my intention." And with that he just slings his backpack and heads for the door.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "So you did have the veil like we do in this timeline," Not surprising, Amy thinks to herself, considering where it came from... "But your Usagi -- senior, I mean -- figured out a way to end it. Huh. So maybe she does have a way to end it here... and obviously, with no more Veil, there couldn't really be a Fade either," Amy notes, thoughtfull.

    Amy blinks at Hinoiri. "You say that now. I stayed up all night one day in college in my past life, but like. By the time you're in your 30's?" She shakes her head. "Not happening. You can't stay up forever. Also I think there have been studies on sleep deprivation and you start to go insane after a few days or eventually just die or something."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi listens to everyone's words, and she sees Mamoru's quiet offer, and understand it for what it is, and thus doesn't just outright say that Catra could definitely get an apartment. She sits up straight, as Catra practically explodes, and then she raises a hand.

"So, the the school is the safest place for you to be, because they can't use Dark Energy there, and you have another way to use magic, so you're not gonna be like, helpless, unlike them, but there's other people who would help too."

This, offered into all the chaos.

"Using an Obsidian credit card isn't a good idea - if anything, you should buy up a bunch of expensive stuff, far away, and then pawn it so you have cash to burn, cause they could track where you've been going with your purchases, Catra-san."

Catra has posed:
"I don't buy anything near where I'm staying," Catra replies, though she's visibly deflated after blowing up, and rests her cheek on her palm and her elbow on the table. "And why I've been couch-surfing abandoned hotel rooms. Which suck and they have bugs in them but whatever. ...But buying a bunch of expensive stuff and pawning it is a good idea, and I already switched the license plate on my bike."

The feline opens her mouth, closes it, and shakes her head, "I'd never... I am not going to school," she asserts. "That'd never work out. What am I gonna do, sit still for however long it takes in... what? Math class? Dissect a frog?" She sighs, "Since I was old enough to crawl the only 'school' I've ever been to only taught one thing, and that was how to beat people up real good, especially if t hey had magic. I don't know how to do anything else."

Catra busies herself with some more of the dwindling sashimi -- not a lot left now -- and nods to Hinoiri, "I'll come stay at your place sometime, yeah. ...Unless I think Obsidian is real close, I don't want them coming after you again. And I know they tried to kill you. I was there."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"You don't have to go to school," Usagi says, and rolls her eyes a little, against her will, "I mean, they'd probably like it if you did, but they really want us to be safe, and Kyouko-san never went to school, so why would you?"

Come on, how is she the one grasping the idea behind taking advantage?

"But you could get a room and go the cafeteria and know Obsidian can't crash your day."

A beat.

"But if you did want to learn new things, you could. I mean, you learned how to use a credit card."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods at Usagi's suggestion for converting Obsidian credit card to cash. "Do you... want to learn anything else? Like, you could. Maybe you could sit in for a day and see if it's as bad as you think? And if it is, fine, far be it from me to say school is for everyone."