844/Glitter, Gleam, Glow

Glitter, Gleam, Glow
Date of Scene:	03 December 2023
Location:	Penguin Park
Synopsis:	A Phantom Silver Crystal lollipop has been possessed by the spirit of everyone's greed! Good thing Guardian Daifuku, Sailor Moon, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Mars, Cure Fortune, and Puella Red are on the scene! One monster later, the mahou take a moment to exchange information and their origins. Cure Fortune even tells Sailor Moon's fortune! Y-yay...?
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Chiyo Sakai, Haruka Tenoh, Iona Hikawa, Amanda Faust, Rei Hino
Tinyplot:	Usagi's Abyssal Nightmare

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The thing about miracles is that almost everyone wants them, no matter their walk of life or social status. With the Silver Crystal in the news constantly, people have been searching pawn shops, jewelery stores, even museum collections in hope of being the one to find the legendary crystal and claim the miracle.

And unfortunately, in a city like Tokyo, where evil spirits lurk, ready to seize on any opportunity, that means that weird stuff happens. Dumb stuff happens. Just plain, outright, stupid stuff happens.

Today, that dumb stuff is in Pikarigaoka, where the greed and hunger for a miracle has found a very... unusual vessel: a left over Silver Crystal lollipop from Noumamu Sweets, just walking down the main street. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Except... lollipops weren't usually seven feet tall and five feet wide, rolling around on their facets with googly eyess and capturing people for their energy by capturing them with flypaper sticky facets.

What? You were warned it was pretty stupid.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Nounamu Sweets had such a good reputation! To think one of their candies would go bad! This also meant that anyone inside the store location in Pikarigoaka had a prime view of the glittery, sugary mess that was going on outside not far down the road.

The old man who owned the place had already ordered all of his employees to safety, and offered a way out through the back doors to any customers that were around at the time. That left the only other person he trusted to lock up the shop and make sure no one was left behind---His grand daughter. Chiyo.

Chiyo, who was currently staring out the window at the youma capturing people with a deadpan expression. One of HER candies went bad? Not on her watch. Turning her attention only breifly to her phone she's quickly texting a familiar number. Without waiting for a proper reply she calls back, "All clear, Ojiisan! I'm going to go upstairs to the apartment and check the news!"

Not that there would be any, but at the moment the Veil hadn't erased everyone's memory. Not while it was currently active, at least, though later they might think it was just an issue of a broken gas line. That was most often the excuse.

It gave her time to get to the roof where she transforms into Guardian Daifuku who stands on the rooftop with large hammer in hand *glowering* at the sheer audacity of this confection. Now she pauses to look at her phone again in case the text had received a response.

TEXT: Usagi, it's time for me to call in a favor. It seems one of my lollipops has turned into a youma outside the shop. If you're free I could use some extra hands.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Even nonmagical people had dreams they wanted to achieve. Haruka Tenoh could have seen herself at least poking her nose into shops trying to find the one that would give her all of the things she wanted.

    But she knows that instead, the Silver Crystal is something real, and it's something their princess needs. Just thinking about it gave her this intense, if odd, sense of duty and responsibility. Especially odd for Haruka, who had felt nothing like a draw to duty or responsibility for most of her life.

    So she is, actually, spending some time in Pikarigoaka's shops, looking over for it. How will she know it when she sees it? Well, she didn't see the Clock App video, but she's assuming if it's important... she'll know, somehow. It's worked that way every other time.

    And that's when a short gust of angry wind blows her hair to the side. She knows what that means. Trouble. Ever since becoming Sailor Uranus - and maybe before - she's been able to read things in the wind, sense things. Not... perfectly... but usually she can follow the screams or the sound of fighting. She draws her henshin pen from her coat pocket and ducks into an alleyway.

    Soon, Sailor Uranus is jumping from rooftop to rooftop and it doesn't take her a long time to see the giant candy lollipop stealing people with sticky. She sees also a girl with a giant hammer, and ends up walking up beside her, the yellow and blue fuku of the Soldier Guarded by Wind similar but very different from Sailor Moon's.

    "So, is this your monster, or are you here to help it stop doing... that." she asks, pointing to it. Well, in a way... she could be right about both.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Iona's always lived here up until she transfered into RHA, and even now she still frequents the district a lot between her grandfather and the Hikawa dojo. The Precure and Glasan are in fact going out of the latter when they notice the huge lollipop Youma currently towering over people.

"Hey, Iona, isn't that from the Nounamo Sweets novelty over the Silver Crystal?" the fairy says from her spot in the purple-haired girl's bag.

She, for her own, has of course heard about the Silver Crystal and had imagined too what she could have done with it: freedom from the Phantom Empire, and she could have had her sister back. Her search of Phantom had been all the more assiduous lately now that people were bothering her over her behaviour towards Cho, and a good part of her efforts were taken up by this Phantom Silver Crystal (what is with the suspicious naming, though?)

"Looks like it, Glasan", the Precure reminisces. That event had made her search so much harder. Nounamo Sweets' campaign was so successful that it took over a lot of the buzz. And now this happens.

"Well, let's do this!", Iona tells the fairy, finding an appropriate hiding spot. Jumping across buildings with Glasan behind her, Cure Fortune catches up to the monster and the other two magical warriors in front of it, one of them quite handsome, Iona realises, her heart skipping a beat over it and staring quite a bit at Sailor Uranus.

No, get a hang of yourself, Iona. This is so not the time and place for distractions. That princely beauty doesn't matter. A few mental exercises, and Cure Fortune's iron focus is back, just as if she were in her grandfather's dojo.

'Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy knows the Silver Crystal is some kind of real MacGuffin in whatever Usagi and Hematite are dealing with, but it's never really been explained to her? She figures someone would tell if if they wanted her involved. She's barely aware of the fever over it and hunting for it from civilians and magical folk alike. She has a lot going on, okay?

    Still, she'll certainly notice a goddamned katamari rolling down the street picking up people. Amy has to try and get a glance behind it to verify there isn't someone pushing it. At least it isn't actually getting bigger.. is it?

    Only after transforming and taking up position on a nearby rooftop does she realize the additional difficulty: People are stuck to it like flypaper. That makes using rockets on it kinda difficult. She can use non-explosive weapons, too, but still, that's shooting projectiles at a thing covered in civilians and hoping you don't hit one.

    "Uhhhh. Anyone have like, purification attacks to hit it with that *won't* accidentally hurt people they hit?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Guardian Daifuku's phone buzzes gently.

Text from Usagi: I'm on my way! I can't believe someone would waste one of your candies this way!

There are five people attached to the large lollipop - two children, three adults. One of the children is a girl in an elementary school uniform, plastered to an upper facet face-down - only her legs seem to have escaped being stuck to the candy, and they're kicking furiously, a muffled yell escaping. The other girl, in a middle school uniform, is stuck in an awkward yanking position - foot and forearm sticking to the candy, the other hand still gripping the other girl by her shirt.

The adults are a trio of older salarymen, still in their suits, the backs of which are stuck to a large back facet; they're unconscious from the energy drain, sagging down.

The middle schooler is yelling, even though her poor little sister can't do a thing about it. "This is all your fault! I'm always telling you to stop putting things in your mouth!"

The Candy Youma is ignoring them both, rolling forward a little more and then springing up, so it's candy stick is facing the sky. Googly eyes spin, and little legs of candy spikes protrude from it's surface so it can walk, turning this way and that as it looks for more people to drain.

The street had emptied quickly though, and it's not finding anyone.

"Um," comes a voice from behind the gathered group of mahou. "My Moon Healing Escalation doesn't hurt anyone who doesn't have Dark Energy and also isn't like, evil some other kind of way? At least as far as I can tell."

It's Sailor Moon! She walks over to the rooftop to look down, whistling. "You know, this is the second weirdest thing to happen to me today."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"It's *not* my fault," Guardian Daifuku snaps back a bit more irriatably than she might usually have. Her gaze swings over toward Sailor Uranus about to say more when she starts to doubt herself. *Was* it her fault for making light of this apparent search for the crystal? The familiar garb, so like Sailor Moon's that Sailor Uranus wore, causes her to deflate just a bit. "Maybe a little my fault... But certainly not my intention, or my monster. It needs to be stopped but most of my attacks are very much violent."

As if to state her point on this the large-handled hammer she carries is flipped around so that she has a slightly different grasp on it. Hitting a monster covered in people it was stealing certainly wasn't going to help!

The new Mahou that show up earn quick nods from her as well in silent thanks to their presence. Then Sailor Moon's speaks up causing a small held breath to release.

"Sailor Moon! Thanks for coming to help," she starts before cutting off. No time to really talk much about it. "... If it's still candy at all, then it could be melted, but I can't with people there."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Sailor Uranus puts a hand to her chin as she surveys that situation and listens to the others explain. She considers it. "I could try to hit it with World Shaking from the back, shatter it if it's still mostly candy. If there's a spot not covered in salarymen or gradeschoolers, that is.

    "Beyond that, I could maybe... cut them out? Though I don't know if that risks my sword getting stuck and that seems a bit risky with it moving all over."

    And for the same reason, she can't kick it, either. Michiru is at a recital and she's not sure Setsuna would have any better luck with Dead Scream. "You think we could find something to... un-sticky the stickiness? That and the civilians are the big problem. Once they're free it's just another youma. Well, a sticky youma." she asks, basically everyone assembled. Sailor Moon and Amy get nods, as Haruka folds her arms and looks down at the scene. "And we should probably keep it coralled somehow.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars is here. She was contacted by Sailor Moon, and has no idea what fresh hell she's in store for, but she's here. For this. Whatever this is. She has her hands on her hips and is squinting at the monster as though she isn't actually convinced she's seeing it. She slowly raises her wrist communicator and says, "Sugar is flammable, right?"

    A pause and then a heavy sigh. "I mean... We can't just let it run around, right?" That's her thoughts on 'do you want to fight it'.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"What's this about being your fault?" Iona asks Guardian Daifuku. That development is quite out of the blue, what's going on here? And it doesn't help matters how the magical girl with the mochi hammer first denies it, then seems to be partially responsible. What has she done? "Could you explain yourself?" Cure Fortune insists on the matter, possibly before Chiyo has the time to tell her a single word. Ok, she does think it's totally not nice if Daifuku caused this.

Iona does have a purification attack, but she can't just use it randomly. "I can help purify it, but not right away", the Precure replies. "It needs to wind down quite a bit first, but I have an attack to constrict it in place, so I will do that myself." Without waiting for any sort of reply, the ring on Iona's hand lights up, and a star-shaped instrument appears in Iona's hand from the energy it releases, the Fortune Tambourine.

"I won't let it move", she declares, lighting up the heart on it and hitting it one time, causing it to emit a slight percussive sound. "Light of the stars, turn into sacred power! Fortune Tambourine Ring!" A hollow star appear in front of her and with the tambourine, Cure Fortune launches it towards the sticky, hitting the youma one time and causing it to constrict around it.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Sailor Moon!" Amy smiles, happy to see her, *especially* when her power is more useful here than Amy's. "The... this is the second weirdest?"

    Amy gets a thoughtful look on her face as she considers what else weird has happened today. She saw a forum post mentioning a piece of web fiction about someone going the other way for once. She saved the link for later to examine the novelty (and see if any of it resonates with past experience...) but she can count on one hand the number of stories she's seen with such a focus.

    Amy slumps as she realizes that 'weird monsters encountered in the past few months as a magical girl' are possibly far more normal in her life now.

    Daifuku mentions melting candy. Amy stands up straight again. "If it's sugar does that mean it'll melt in water? Although, I'm not sure where we'd get enough, I don't know how to use a fire hydrant and that'd probably hurt the civilians with the pressure anyway."

> Sugar is flammable, right?
    "Do not set the monster covered in people on fire!" Amy replies, emphatically.

> Could we un-sticky the stickiness?
    "Maybe covering it in some sort of powder? Flour or powdered sugar or something... That's kind of at odds with melting it though, I think we can only do one."

> Light of the stars, turn into sacred power! Fortune Tambourine Ring!
    Why does that sound like a Final Fantasy Tactics spell incant. What does a Fortune Tambourine Ring do. Amy watches, curiously. "Ohhhhh." she mutters, "So that's how..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"The salarymen all seem to be stuck by their clothes, so maybe your sword could cut just those? But ruining their clothes and making them walk home like that might be mean?" Sailor Moon is starting to layout their options, having missed the part where Daifuku was being blamed for all this, "I wonder if the poor thing got turned evil because someone threw it away? It's such a waste of good candy..."

The tension, if it's still there, is flying over her head for the moment. But then there's a familiar voice coming over her wrist communicator, and Sailor Moon flicks the volume up so the gathered party can hear.

"Mars-chan! Good to see - umn, hear you? I've got Sailor Uranus, Red, Guardian Daifuku, and - I don't actually know you, do I? Another girl! Um, I think melting the sugar might have to wait until they're not stuck..."

And then Cure Fortune is just going for it, lashing out with her tambourine, and the monster -

Well, it is stuck, trapped in what appears to be a magical star cutout, and it tries to carry on moving, but it very much can't walk forwards... back... to the sides... Nope, it's stuck in place.

Frowning, the candy legs retract, and the gem lollipop drops down onto it's point, before beginning to spin in place, causing the stuck civilians (well, the conscious children, anyway) to cry out in distress.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku glances over at Cure Fortune with a shake of her head at the question. "Not now," she pleads if only because the matter at hand was far more pressing. "We do need to keep it from getting further away." Which it seems that Cure Fortune at least has in hand!

It's Amy's remark that then causes her head to tilt a bit thoughtfully. "Yes, it'd be slower, but it should melt if it's still candy at it's heart. Powdered sugar wouldn't work though." Her hand lifts to gesture. "It's already covered in edible glitter. That's how it's got the 'silvery' finish to make it look like the Phantom Crystal." She knew a lot about it's construction it seemed!

"I can do water. Sort of. Water vapor. If it can be cooled down right after, it should solidify into actual water. It's cold out, so maybe..."

There was more to consider though as some people, unaware of the conflict they were walking into, were coming up the street. Her face contorts a moment and she lets out a sigh of utter frustration. Even if it couldn't move if people got near it's grasp it might do worse to them, too. All the more reason to act now. "I'll give it a shot!"

Feeling more confident she steps to the edge of the building to jump down with hammer swinging overhead. She tips forward just before landing so that the hammer SLAMS into the concrete below with a cry of, "Bain-Marie!"

The ground cracks beneath her hammer. It splinters open into two crevaces that race from one side of the street to the other only to meet around together again once the candy youma was encircled with a wide berth for both pedestrians and it. Steam gushes up out of the cracks created turning the chill day suddenly muggy and damp.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Sailor Uranus watches the civilians spin attached to the lollipop. "Damn, I thought it was gonna stay still for a moment there. Also the idea of being on that with it spinning that way, makes me nausous just thinking about it." she notes. "Poor civvies."

    Note to self, see if Pluto or Neptune know about any non-lethal attacks she could learn, or maybe she can just will one up herself. She doesn't know, magic is weird, after all. But as Neptune says, there's no such thing as a gentle Deep Submerge - or World Shaking.

    "Well. This is either going to work or get me stuck too." Sailor Uranus says, before hopping down off the building and bounding woards the candy. In the position of a runner at the starting blocks, she waits for the thing to stop spinning and for a chance. Then suddenly she sprints by, building up speed like only the Senshi of Wind can (at least, among her fellow Senshi) and trying to grab the leg of one of the civilians and just tug it free. Risky, but she can't just do nothing. At least if she gets stuck she can learn how to get free... directly. And maybe she'll pull someone! Who knows!

Amanda Faust has posed:
> You could cut their clothes? But that might be mean.
    Amy imagines being on the way home from his job and then in some ill-defined disaster -- one which didn't even result in like, emergency services showing up to hand out blankets or get people home -- leaving him to walk part of the way home holding a torn suit -- probably the most expensive item of clothing he owns -- in front of him for modesty, and grimaces. "Yeah, that'd be... Like we gotta save them, but if we do it that way, we can't leave them like that."

    Thanks to Cure Fortune, the monster has been corralled! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the result is at all pleasant for the people stuck to it -- she nods to Uranus in agreement.

    Well, this isn't the time for rocket use, but maybe Amy can at least do something about the civvies coming up the street? Amy leaps off the building that-a-way to run up to them and wave them off. "Uhh, sorry! Street's closed, we're filming a movie, you'll have to go around another way!"

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"Ok, later then", Iona nods towards Daifuku. They do have people to help, and that thing seems to be quite tenacious for monster candy.

"What does it mean?" Iona asks Daifuku after her speech. "Why do you know so much about how the Youma is made? Are you really on our side?" the Precure stares at her suspiciously.

Her Ring doesn't quite go like she it would. The youma starts spinning in place and the civilians with it. "Oh, no, Fortune, it backfired!" Glasan exclaims, sweating nervously over seeing the civilians go and go as it spins.

"Of course, I see it too, but if it really doesn't want to stay put, I will make it, one way of the other", Cure Fortune exclaims bringing up the Pretty Change Mirror and associated Precards.

"PreCure Rolling Mirror Change! Pine Arabian" she declares, putting the PreCards inside. "Oriental Dream!" All of a sudden, Iona is wearing an oriental costume and she is dancing around, engaging in percussive music with her Fortune Tambourine. Go to sleep, sleep now, lollipop Youma.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Well... If it's already stuck... Mars jumps across rooftops to join up with the others (or at least anyone still on the rooftop), and takes a closer look. She draws an ofuda between fore and middle fingers. Does this count as an evil spirit? It probably doesn't matter. She managed to stun Usagi with one of her ofuda before. It's a long story, don't ask.

    She waits for an opening, and then hurls the prayer slip at the youma! It flies straight and true like a throwing dagger! And, not that it's usually a concern in the first place, she can be sure that it's going to stick the landing! Get it? Stick the landing? Because it's sticky and listen shut up, she's funny okay? SHE'S FUNNY.

    "EVIL, BEGONE!" she calls out.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Wait, you think Daifuku had anything to do with this?" Sailor Moon looks both astonished and offended on Guardian Daifuku's behalf at this. "No way! She's an earnest, hardworking, magical girl, and an incredible defender of this whole city! She'd never, ever make a youma!"

And with that cleared up, she leaps down from the roof to the spinning youma as well, watching as Sailor Uranus builds up speed - and manages to tuuuuuuuuug the elementary schooler who'd been stuck free! Her face and uniform shirt are covered in edible glitter and sticky residue and her face is red, as are her forearms - getting ripped off was about the same as having tape torn off her arms, and she's whimpering a little.

"Owwwwwww," she mumbles as Uranus drags her - she's still dangling by her leg.

That actually worked! Amazing!

The muggy steam has the spinning candy producing even more sticky residue, as the wet damp begins to threaten its solid candy structure. It wobbles as it's point starts to distort in shape... and then goes stiff as an ofuda affixes to one of it's googly eyes.

Cure Fortune is the last piece of this puzzle - there she goes, with her dance, and the middle-schooler and youma alike fall asleep. The candy youma falls face first to the ground, still stiff as a board.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    "Sorry, kid. It was the best I could think of at the time." Sailor Uranus says to the kid and then pats them on the head. "But you just be brave and wait right here, and me and the other gals will get everybody free."

    And about as she says that, the youma stops being quite so icky-gooey, and starts being a little bit more solid. "Oh hey, you guys got it!" Uranus says, walking over to it. Well, she's going to get to work here... drawing her sword from its dimensional scabbard. "Let's see if I can... maybe... get someone free without also destroying their clothes." she says, walking over to one of the salarymen. She's not sure if there's safe spaces to attack the candy just yet, and doesn't want to World Shaking and send candy projectiles all over the street... that seems unsafe with as solid-hard as they now are. "What a pain in the butt. Not my favorite creature." she admits, kicking it while it's literally down out of annoyance.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku steps back from her landing pulling the Kine she weilded back up to swing over her shoulder. Preparing just in case she needed to intervene again with a more solid attack.

Her eyes focus on Sailor Uranus as she crouches and runs with the speed of the wind behind her and just... for just a moment... stares openly. Something about the way that senshi carried herself was just utterly enthralling. Enough so that she reaches up after a moment to smack her own cheek to pay attention again.

"Okay! Seems like it's kind of working, now we only--" Daifuku cuts herself short when an Ofuda appears on the youma keeping it in pace. Her glance draws up to the rooftops again spying Sailor Mars there now along with Sailor Moon which earns a smile. So many were working together so well in this case. It was rather nice to see. A large change from the first time she'd run into Sailor Moon who was too scared to step in and DO anything, really. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sailor Moon!"

Stepping forward she moves toward one of the other salarymen to start trying to pry him free with a firm grip on one arm, and shoulder. It doesn't seem to take much for her to remove him. A good yank and the sound of cloth ripping from his jacket, as well as some of the sticky candy giving way causes her to grimace. "Right, sorry, forgot the strength. Uh. Little more gentle."

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"I asked her to explain herself, and she said to do it later", Iona starts talking to Sailor Moon. "It was ok with me then, but why does she know so much about how it's made then? I can't just ignore things like that if she doesn't give me an answer", she states her reasons cleanly and decisively. She needs an answer from Daifuku, not from anyone else. A convincing one.

"Her vote of confidence is good and all, but if you throw something like that out, you could at least answer." She may be an earnest magical girl, but not answering her at all? Rude, very rude.

Since the youma is now asleep, Cure Fortune approaches it and the kids, grabbing one and trying to detach the child carefully. Slowly. Without hurting them.

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Why do you know so much about how the Youma is made? Are you really on our side?
    Amy has it in her mind to speak up as soon as the civilians are shooed off, but Usagi steps up for her. The people grumble a bit, wanting to push past -- "Look, we'll just stay out of the way" -- but Amy insists, "Look, you don't want to get special effects on your clothes. They can be quite... sticky."

    There's some muttering about how this should have been announced earlier, and why don't they just use computers instead of risking getting people sticky anyway, but they turn down another street. Amy shrugs helplessly, "I'm not in charge of any of that, ma'am, sirs."

    She turns and runs back over to the fight. "So um... I guess it's easy enough to shoot now, but will damage really *help* or are we just melting and purifying at this stage?"

    And she gives Fortune a look. "What *matters* is that despite how having helpful advice might reflect on her, she chose to help us, and these people, despite the risk that someone might get suspicious. Tell me, is there no part of your life that would be inconvenient for others to know about but might give you helpful knowledge if suddenly a youma themed around it shows up?"

    Of course, that applies to her too... heaven help them if a gender-bending youma ever shows up.

    ...But another situation like this already happened, didn't it? Amy is glad Cure Fortune wasn't around to make things even harder on her babysitting Sailor Eclipse's victims, at least.

    If it's time to start detaching people, Amy steps close and gets on that, trying to help pull them free as the candy melts, hopefully without severely tearing anyone's clothes.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars leaps down to join the others, eyeballing the candy youma suspiciously. She does what she can to get any remaining people free, whether alone or at the side of someone else. A little bit of heat might be used to melt some of the candy, but she is not making flambe out of it. "Those injuries are going to need to be treated," she mutters worriedly. "I just assume that someone from the Dark Kingdom made it, honestly. They do stuff like that. The weird ones are usually by Hemat--" she cuts herself off, and just introduces herself as necessary to Fortune and Daifuku. She can't really remember right now who she has or has not met.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"She's a sweets making magical girl," Sailor Moon says with a wave of her hand, and nods approvingly as Amy - Red - also comes to Daifuku's defense. That's right! She's helping with the special knoweldge she has!

And it's coming in handy, too, because with the monster down, they just have to get the people free, and a little information about candy will certainly go a long way to making sure that happens.

That, and arm strength because Daifuku is able to just rip someone free - unfortunate for their jacket... but their shirt is safe! So at least they won't get home with their clothes totally ruined? Sailor Mars is able to melt another adult free, and Cure Fortune gently pulls the middle schooler free, the elementary schooler that Sailor Uranus freed running over as soon as she sees this. "Sis! Sis, get up!"

As everyone removes the civilians, Sailor Moon calls the Moon Stick to her hand, mouth twitching as she remembers Sunbreaker's jabs. The Moon Stick was not a dumb name!

"Everyone, I'm going to purify it while it's still out. Hopefully it will disappear and we won't have to worry about candy in the streets."

With the Moon Stick in hand, Sailor Moon sketches out a circle of golden light in the air itself. At the apex of the circle, she calls out the name of the attack and beams of light and glittering silver dust burst free and shower over the monster.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Without a mouth (or an aware mind) it can't exactly shout refresh, but it dissipates into nothingness, leaving behind the original Silver Crystal Lollipop.

Victory! Of course, there's still a group of sticky and mildly injured unconscious people to deal with.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"It's one thing to know about making candies, it's another to know about how this specific candy is made", Iona points to Amy. "If the Ursa Minor or Leo descended here as a Youma, I would point out it's that specific constellation, because anyone with knowledge on that material would know. It would be another matter entirely entirely if I said "Yes, it is a bit oddly shaped because it wasn't completely visible when it was made." The second one is not general knowledge."

She turns towards her fairy, "Glasan, try to detach another one of the kids, please", Iona says, still pulling on the one she chose earlier. Not like there is much to do, since they are never going to damage this thing while it still has hostages.

"I am Cure Fortune", she introduces herself to Sailor Mars, despite being a bit distracted by her efforts. "And this is my fairy partner, Glasan", Iona adds to the introduction. "Pleasure to meet you, Sailor Mars" the flying creature adds.

Sailor Moon then purifies the youma, leaving behind the original candy and sticky people. Well, at least one part of the problem is over, but she has no idea how to help the unconscious civilians. "Any idea how to help them?" she looks at the others unsure.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Sailor Uranus looks to Iona. "Isn't that what we just did? Help them, I mean." she says. Of course, Uranus is more thinking about freeing them from the lollipop that they just did - and then she walks over and stops on the original item with her heel and grinds it into the pavement for good measure.

    "I guess we can take them to a hosptial or something, but they're pretty exhausted. Maybe we should just call ambulances directly?" Uranus offers. She turns to Daifuke. "Right. Sailor Uranus. Good to meet you." She says with a smile. And then to Iona, who is also new to her. "And I'm sorry, I think I missed your name." This girl seems... very serious. It's kind of almost... reminding her of herself. Not in the way she's acting now, but in the way she gets sometimes when Sailor Uranus is all out of chill.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods to Sailor Moon. And chuckles a bit about the comment about candy in the streets. Just, the way Usagi said it puts Amy in mind of an authority figure speaking of dealing with proliferation of more dangerous substances 'on the streets', though in a decidedly less literal sense.

    She watches, curious, as Sailor Moon performs the purifying attack. Puella Magi don't seem to get things like that. What must it be like, to be chosen by a god or a planet(?!) instead of by Kyubey? Though, there are probably downsides too; at least Amy seems particularly amenable to the downsides of being a Puella Magi.

    Cure Fortune won't let it go. After the purification, Amy points at the normal candy left behind. "See? She knew because she made a completely normal candy that someone turned into a monster."

    So, the civilians. "Is there anything we *can* do? I guess the veil -- is that what we're calling it? -- will leave them without suspicion. We could make up a story, but I don't like lying, and... is any story going to meaningfully *help* them or make their situation better?"

    Amy looks to Uranus. "Do they usually *need* emergency treatment after being uh... drained? Scorn's and Sunbreaker's victims seemed to wake up alright once they weren't being drained anymore.

    She then looks back to Sailor Moon. "And what's the deal with the Silver Crystal, anyway... it's clearly important, and now a whole lot of people are making a big deal about it, um... is there anything more we should know? ...If not, that's fine. I stand by what I said earlier, but things get so hectic, sometimes we just don't get a chance to tell others something importnt, you know?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku lifts the salaryman over her shoulder to step back, and carry him a safe distance away from the various magical binds keeping the youma in check. Crouching down she lays the man out with more than a bit of ease given he was probably a good head taller than herself. Strength apparently wasn't a joke for her.

Standing again she turns to find Cure Fortune approaching with further accusations.

It was nice to have so many speaking up on her behalf. It was clear that wasn't going to be enough though, so she draws herself to her full height meeting Cure Fortune boldly.

"Allow me to properly introduce myself. I'm Culinary Guardian Daifuku--And I've been protecting this city since before any of you showed up." True. She was here before many, but... she didn't have a team like the Sailor Scouts, or the Cures, or even the Device Users. She was just here, doing what she did.

"Sweets are my specialty, and I've had this kind of candy before," she adds gesturing toward the soon to be purified youma. "It's not hard to figure out how it was made if you're familiar with such things."

"As for it being my fault..." She glances to the side, red faced and looking ashamed. "Haven't you ever felt guilty at not being able to stop something before it got out of hand?"

Her hand stretches out toward where she'd left her Kine, and it flies back to her grasp. A newer trick but one she was finding handy at the moment as she slings the heavy hammer back over her shoulder. "Thank you all for your help before this got worse. If you give me a moment, I can cook up some comfort food to help heal these people." Which only works if they're awake. But it's a start.

Stepping backwards it seems as if she might just walk away with her focus on the purification. It was hard not to watch with a bit of rapt interest. It was so different from her own methods.

Turning away from the group she lifts her Kine, and swings it around creating a rift in the air. The air itself seems to ripple and inside... Inside is an entire restaraunt worthy kitchen. Which she steps toward stating simply, "Wait a moment."

A moment is all it seems indeed. Time seems... different in there. Those watching the stadium kitchen see the entire process of her going through choosing ingredients, preparing and cooking. All in fast forward. It's no more than a minute, maybe less, when she steps through again looking tired but carrying a plate of treats. Mochi with strawberries, toasted chestnut prailines, and other such things. "Here. If they eat these they will be healed and revived," she states matter-of-fact.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh, she didn't make this particular candy, Red-chan" Sailor Moon says, as Sailor Uranus crushes the candy before it can be further examined. Sailor Moon doesn't mind - there's no point in keeping it around when no one can safely eat it, right? "That's one of the Phantom Silver Crystal lollipops from Nounamu Sweets! They had a big sale a little while ago, and they've been really popular around the city. My boyfriend bought like, a whole box of them!"

More than one, actually.

"They're really good - pineapple flavored! - but Daifuku-chan's sweets are all for healing, not for wandering around as monsters. You're right though, that she's got a LOT of knowledge about sweets and candy, and savory things too, actually, we had some- ah, never mind, I probably shouldn't go on and on about all the yummy treats, should I?"

She rubs the back of her head, sheepish, and looks even more so at the pointed question... "Ahh, fair enough, Uranus-san. I was thinking we probably shouldn't just leave them here, but, a hospital might not know what to do with them either..."

As they're talking, the elementary school student - the only victim still awake, speaks up, "Um! I don't know what's going on... but if those treats will make my sister and everyone feel better, I'll make sure they eat them?"

Well, that's an option! "If everyone's okay with that, we could go with that, and talk, up there, maybe?" She gestures in the vague direction of the roof tops, the natural habitat of lurking magical girls. "I... can explain a little, about the Silver Crystal."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    "Look, I'm pretty sure the Dork Kingdom could turn my motorcycle into a monster, and then I could tell you all about it, but it wouldn't be my fault it was suddenly roaming around without a rider being a jerk." Uranus says to Iona.

    Regarding the rooftop jam session? "I'm down. Or, well. Up." she says, smiling. While this isn't the first time she's heard about it at all, Sailor Uranus is interested in more info - and curious if she shares things here she doesn't share with her, or if she told Uranus some things she doesn't share with the other girls. But she's sure Neptune and Pluto would want her to sit in for the information.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Any questions Amy might have are pushed out of her mind by Guardian Daifuku just casting Mordenkainen's Magnificent Kitchen and making treats in fast-time. She stares into the spatial rift, open-mouthed. That is *incredible*, although any thoughts of how convenient a pocket dimension would be lead her mental monologue into acknowledging that after all, she *did* get immortality and that's probably at least the same tier of hax.

    The treats are ready, and the grade schooler volunteers to administer them. Something mischievous in Amy approves of the idea of leaving it to the little girl to manage this, no matter that it might inconvenience the other civilians. Daifuku approves, too. Amy gives the child a pat on the head. "You're a good girl. Your sister's lucky to have you."

    Exposition time? Exposition time. Amy walks and leaps up to the indicated roof.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Iona turns to look to Sailor Uranus, trying (and partially failing now that she was a bit winded down from the fight) to keep a inpassive face in front of the soldier's 'handsome prince' looks. "Ok. Though, you would have told me it was stolen. So, then, the situation would have been clear. Which is why, you know, Daifuku could have given me an answer instead of just complimenting Sailor Moon."

Iona is just getting confused at this point. Between Amy talking about Daifuku making a candy that was turned into a monster, Daifuku saying she just made a similar candy, Moon corroborating that, and Uranus' analogy involving something she owned, she feels like her head is going to explode. Why is this giving her such a headache?

"As for my name, that would be Cure Fortune", she repeats to her. "So, what about you, what's your name, and do you like motorcycles then?" the purple-haired girl asks dazzled.

She watches Daifuku answer her query about how to help the victims with a speedy version of the cooking process. She wishes she could actually have one of those candies now. It would help.

"Well, I am glad it was just a misunderstanding", she tells Daifuku.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku crouches down to offer the plate out to the girl with a smile. "Would you? That would help me so much. And help them, too," she assures as the candies are offered over. "You've been really brave. Make sure you try some too. Just not all of them, you don't want to ruin your dinner." She might be the Culinary Guardian of sweets but one can't eat sweets alone!

With this done, she stands again giving a nod to the others. "Sounds like a good idea." The hammer she weilds is swung around again to plant against the ground as she kicks off into a jump heading for the roof that Sailor Moon had chosen. She lands lightly in spite of her heeled shoes and takes a deep breath.

"Okay. I figure we all might be a bit tired by now." One kimono sleeve is swept back to reach inside pulling from it a few bags of cellophane wrapped sweets similar to what she'd already handed out. "Plus I know you have a sweet tooth, Sailor Moon."

Daifuku grins a bit knowing her friend well enough. Making sweets and not giving her any would likely lead to a rough time later. The bags are tossed toward all lightly underhanded so as to not risk fast-balling them with too much strength. "I hope you enjoy them."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Uranus caught her thrown bag deftly, and opened it to pop a candy into her mouth. Maybe she shouldn't be taking candy from strange Mahou Shoujo, but oh well. She'd let Michiru and Setsuna try some later. If not, more for her, which was just fine as the candies were delicious.

    "My name is Sailor Uranus, Guarded by the planet Uranus and the wind itself." she says, leaning back and dangling her legs over the edge of the building. "Sailor Moon and I have a... working relationship. Same type." she says. "And yes, I like to ride motorcycles. And drive cars. And run fast. Honestly I am finding I run faster than a lot of cars and bikes can really go in Tokyo streets anyways." She says, grinning. And then decides one more candy wouldn't hurt.

    She leans up again and looks down over the edge. "Man. A magical cook. I thought I had seen everything. But this whole thing just keeps getting wilder and wilder." she notes.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Of course! Thanks for saving us, onee-san! I'll make sure everyone gets a sweet!" Will this little girl ruin her dinner? Quite possibly! Will the civilians be waking up soon, and be offered sweets? Definitely.

Sailor Moon hops her way up onto the roof, already thinking furiously about what exactly to say - Hemachan had given the basics, she could just build on that, right? She wasn't about to mention everything, not with a strange new girl she didn't know involved, but there really were starting to be a lot of incidents...

Once up there, she takes a seat on what looks like some kind of air conditioning unit and grins as she catches the candy tossed her way. "Thanks, Daifuku-chan! You know me too well!"

The first of the sweets is popped into her mouth and she does a little happy dance where she sits, enjoying the delightful flavor.

"Ah, this is great! ...okay, I guess I should explain some more now, huh? Like Uranus-san said, I'm Sailor Moon, guarded by the Moon and soldier of love and justice. Sailor Mars is one of us too, guarded by the planet Mars, and as you might have seen, she has fire! We're, all of us, the same type of mahou - we're Sailor Senshi - and the Silver Crystal is a ... a magical item, that Sailor Mars and I, and the rest of our team, are looking for. It... belongs to someone important to us, and it has the power to make miracles happen. We were looking for it in secret, but... some stuff happened, and now the whole city is looking for it. We have to find it, before it falls to the wrong hands."

Uranus will note that this is a lot less detail than Sailor Moon gave her, when she asked. Honestly, if it were just Daifuku and Red around, she'd say more, but she doesn't know Cure Fortune yet, and revealing the secret of her princess to a stranger... doesn't seem the wisest move.

Amanda Faust has posed:
> This whole thing just keeps getting wilder and wilder.
    "Right?!" Amy nods in fervent agreement.

    Amy scratches her head as the others gather on the roof. "Right, for any who don't know... ugh, I never figured out how to come up with a codename, but I don't mind allies knowing I'm Amy Faust. I'm a Puella Magi, one of the Magical Girls recruited by the little white catfox-thing Kyubey to fight Witches. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

    Amy nods at Usagi's summary of the Silver Crystal. It doesn't really tell anything she didn't already guess, though, aside from the explicit power of 'make miracles'. Which is still pretty vague, honestly.

    The red Puella Magi looks between Uranus and Moon. "How does... like, I got my magic by making an agreement with Kyubey, but you're... connected to celestial bodies, somehow? Chosen by them? How does that work?" Amy finally pops a candy in her mouth while the others talk. "Mmmh, heeze are gooh!" she smiles.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Uranus nods along with Usagi, and is mostly fine with the situation, but it does tell her something important about her trusting Haruka versus at least one of these girls.

    She turns to Amy after a moment. "Past lives or something." Uranus says, with a casual, almost dismissive wave of my hand. "As near as I can tell I didn't get to make a deal with anybody ever. I've been Sailor Uranus once before in another life... and I'm Sailor Uranus this time too." she says.

    "As near as I can tell, something..." and here she really does try not to look at Sailor Moon and mostly succeeds "... went wrong in the past and this is kind of our magical do-over." she says.

    "I almost didn't want this to be my destiny. I had other dreams. Other hopes. But... I also have teammates and a world that needs me to be Sailor Uranus not H... not anybody else." Close save.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Iona misses Daifuku's throw, actually, no thanks to that sudden headache, but Glasan is there for her and catches the sweets instead. "And grabbed!" the fairy smirks before handing it to Iona. "Here you go. It looks like you will actually need it, Fortune."

The Precure unveils the package and starts going through the sweets, the headache improving as she does so. "Thanks for that, Daifuku. That was actually needed, I had this headache going on suddenly."

"I have seen it", Cure Fortune comments to Moon. "There was that guy on Clock talking about it. If I hear something about its location, I will let you know", she promises. "I was thinking of using it to defeat the Phantom Empire, but if it belongs to you, then I have no right to it."

Iona looks at Uranus with sympathy. "Being forced into a war you didn't want is cruel, but it's encomiable that you want to take it seriously despite your feelings on that. You are a great person, Sailor Uranus."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
As official names and introductions are being given, Daifuku nods toward the others. While they choose to sit she opts to lean against the stairway entrance building to the roof. Resting her back against it her legs stretch forward with a sigh feeling a bit tired in spite of it all. "I'm Culinary Guardian Daifuku, chosen by Sanbo-Kojin, the god of the kitchen and hearth to help fight against the ennui and apathy that has fallen on humanity. Cooking may seem innocent enough, but we all need to eat. We all have memories surrounding food. While fast food is good on occasion, there are so many who spend their lives with nothing more and start to focus too much on work, or ambitions, and forget how to simply enjoy things." She smiles faintly to add, "Sanbo-Kojin can't do much these days but he saw the need to try and do *something* to help. So, here I am."

For a moment she grows quiet, staring at a spot on the rooftop. "There were supposed to be four of us. We don't know what happened to the others. Which is why," she adds looking up to flash a grin over toward Sailor Moon. "I'm so glad I've met other mahou too. I know all of our reasons for fighting may be different, but that doesn't mean we can't work toward our goals together. Whether we be from Earth, or aliens from another planet," she teases lightly. "I will always come to help my friends if I can."

The great speech given she looks over toward Cure Fortune who was enjoying the sweets. "You're welcome."

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Everyone here was chosen except for her by either a destiny or a being. She is aware she is unusual in that regard even among other Precures, Blue is the one who would have dealt with it, but she is glad that wasn't the case for her. "I wasn't given these powers by anyone", she admits. "I only got thrust in this role due to the circumstances that made the Phantom Empire my enemy."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Ummm... honestly, I don't really know? I don't think the planets themselves picked us... Unless they did, in our first life?" It doesn't sound like Uranus knows either, so at least they're both in the dark there? The way Uranus almost but doesn't quite manage to not watch her as she says that this is their do-over... "The main thing is... Yeah, what Uranus-san said. We were...born for this, even if we didn't always know that. In our past life, we weren't able to stop our enemy, the Dark Kingdom, and many people died because of that. We... died, because of that. But now we have another chance, so we're going to win this time! And part of that win js finding the Silver Crystal. So! Is any of you were to find it, I would really appreciate if you gave it to me or Mars or Uranus!"

This is accompanied by a quick but sincerw bow of gratitude and thanks, Sailor Moon being absolutely the sort who is unashamed to ask for help.

"Honestly, I think it's good to not be chosen. I... did not want to be Sailor Moon at first, but I am, and that's all there is, you know? But I've made lots of wonderful friends, like Daifuku-chan and Amy-chan, so I don't mind too much, anymore."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Uranus nods at Sailor Moon. "Yeah, I mean. Sometimes I think why did the universe pick me, but even that's out of my hands. Maybe I volunteered in a previous life. I don't know. Even the racing that I wish I could be doing instead of fighting; that could all be born from my connection to the wind and speed." she offers. "So if I wasn't Sailor Uranus, I might not be the same me in other places too. This duty is just part of what makes me, me." she says.

    She looks to Daifuku. "It took a long time for my partners to find me, too. They knew there was a Sailor Uranus, but I was the last one to become aware of my role. They knew before I did. It didn't come out till someone needed my help." she says.

    "The Phantom Empire? all of these jerks, I'm going to need to make a chart at this point." she says.

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku allows herself to smile a bit more when Sailor Moon speaks, and when Uranus encourages her that it might take awhile to find the others. Her grip on her hammer shifts a bit so she can lean in resting her chin atop the mallet with a sigh. "I hope so. I like being who I am, and I don't regret getting the chance to do what I do. I'm also lucky enough I don't have any *specific* enemies to fight. Sanbo-Kojin just wanted to help all the distress he saw going on... Probably from things like this Phantom Kingdom and the Dark Kingdom, and Witches." Which meant she was there to help all she could.

"A list would help," she has to admit chuckling thoughtfully. "Or even a place where we could just share what we all know."

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Past lives or something.
    "OH RIIIIGHT! Sailor Moon mentioned something like that, but I was caught up in... other revelations, at the time, and I guess I forgot." Amy rubs the back of her neck awkwardly.

> I almost didn't want this to be my destiny. I had other dreams. Other hopes.
    Amy gives the wind-aspected Senshi a long look and then stares into space. The stories she's so obsessed with are all about abrupt changes in destiny, from a certain point of view. Most protagonists in any story of length either find it suits them better, or do so and then suddenly reverse course at the last second when the author is a boring coward, but a few struggle against an unwanted life, either to finally escape or -- again if the author goes the boring coward route -- suddenly reverse course and accept it.

    (She has been involved in passionate internet arguments.)

    Is this princely young woman stuck on one of those tracks, or something else? Has there been an actual misfile in the records of fate? Everyone should be able to reach for the destiny they want, of that Amy is sure.

    "You should be able to be who you want. If you need help to do that, I'll do whatever I can."

    She listens to Sailor Moon reiterate that this is a second chance. "If you win, Uranus... and you, and all the Senshi, will be free to pursue their own dreams after, right?"

    Uranus says she's fine with it and then also says she wishes she could be doing something else. Mixed messages.

    "A list... an information exchange... so like, everyone knows what Witches are, and what the Phantom Empire's deal is, et cetera, would be pretty nice, actually."

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Moon gets a gaze of sympathy from Iona too about her circumstances. "You have great motivation too, Sailor Moon, it says a lot about drive and moral fiber. You are definitely able to rise to the challenge." Deep down, she was quite envious of that.

Iona is suddenly more reticent at the thought of getting on a list to speak with everyone. That would mean meeting Cho and especially Hime again. There was no positive discussion getting out of that one.

Managing to hide a grimace, Iona looks at the other magical girls and says "There are others who can explain the Phantom Empire too, there is no need of exchanging information with everyone. If you want, I can elaborate for you here, though, but that would be it from me."

Glasan looks around uncormfortably as Iona says that, but she otherwise keeps silent.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"There's a Phantom Empire now?" It's a belated understanding, but Sailor Moon drags a hand down her face in exasperation. "There's an evil guy who's after mermaids, too, and a plot involving guns that kind shoot your soul - or your energy, now - right out, and some other stuff so... Sanbo-Kojin is right, there is a need to help people, and I'm glad you're one of those here to help us, Daifuku-chan."

She cannot help but smile at her good friend, because, honestly, truly, it's good that someone is here to help and not wth an enemy."

And then Amy hits her with the ten million yen question, and she looks down, for a moment, wondering...

"I don't know. I kind of get the feeling... But well, once we're adults it won't matter, anyway, because we'll lose our powers !"

It will be great. There is nothing to be concerned about here. Usagi is not thinking about how destiny might want to change that theory and what would happen to the princess if her guardians lost their powers and if aliens worked the same way when Hannah-chan's uncle had magic still -

Nope!

She does shoot Cure Fortune a mildly concerned look, though.

"There's...a place I know, where we could exchange information. But it's kind of a big secret, so I'd have to take you in person, and you'd have to be sworn to secrecy about... stuff." The Shed was a super important place... But that encounter with Veronica and Adrien lingered in her mind. It was all well and good that Veronica hadn't minded too much, but her identity had been exposed. If people started coming out of henshin, they'd have to accept that everyone there knew they knew. Maybe... Could there be something that would help, with that? Something to ask Inai-sensei, and maybe Rashmi-chan and Chrono-kun, about.

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"Mermaids?" Iona repeats. "Are they actually real? We are talking about the mermaids with enchanting songs and live in the depths of the oceans, right? Those mermaids."

Glasan starts whispering to Iona. "Fortune, you should go there, you are not doing any progress, and I don't think you are going to meet Hime there, the chances are too low. These people have only wanted to help, and they have done you no ill will."

"But they will side with her, too, just like everyone, and then I will be back to the starting point, with them too against me", she whispers back.

"Cho isn't against you, she only wants the best for both you and Hime, and either way it's unlikely either of them will be there", the fairy tries to calm her apprehension.

"You are just not going to stop, are you?" she glares at Glasan. Still, her points have merits, but she would feel bad just accepting like that after what she said. "I think I could actually come if you wanted me to, and have that explanation there, but not like this. Would you be ok if I read your fortune, Sailor Moon? Could be useful to prepare for the future." Iona looks at Usagi with an expression that is a mix of apprehension and hope. She is actually doing this, she is not going to get pushed back after what she had just said, right?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku glances over at Sailor Moon looking a bit surprised at mention of a place. "There *is* somewhere to go?" That was news to her. She knew she'd been out of touch for awhile dealing with preparing for the holiday rush at work, but that was a big thing to miss! However, she doesn't press further once she remarks to Cure Fortune that it's a valuable secret.

"No one has to share any information they don't want to. I know not everyone is okay with that sort of thing. I was just brainstorming."

For a moment she goes quiet only to add, "Thank you all again for helping with that youma. I wasn't really sure how I was going to manage it myself without hurting anyone. You all did really well though, with the magic to seal it, and purify it. And you really do run very well, Uranus. I can see why you like it. It was super impressive."

The little argument between Cure Fortune and her fairy causes her to stop and stare a long moment as several names are listed. Some familiar, some not, but she does have to nod. "Mermaids are real. I've fought with some before." A small pause comes and she clarifies, "Alongside them, not against." Though at this point it was safe to say that no one thought she was on the side of evil.

Amanda Faust has posed:
> It won't matter once we're adults!
    Amy looks hollowly at Sailor Moon. "I asked M-- another Puella Magi what she wanted to be when we getr older. But she figured, we can't very well forget about our soul gems, can we? Kyubey's never said anything about a way to retire, or a way to unmake a soul gem that doesn't kill us." Although, no one has ever point-blank asked exactly that question. Maybe they should.

    "...Did your past selves forget about magic when they were adults, come to think of it?"

    Amy looks down at the roof and scratches the back of her head. "I guess we just don't know how all this works or will turn out, when it comes down to it.

> MERMAIDS?!
    Amy blinks at Cure Fortune. "You haven't met Yellow Pearl Voice yet? Yeah, they're real. She sings enchanting songs, at least, I dunno if they all do."

    Amy looks back to Sailor Moon. "This is exactly why we need a way to pool all our information. I'd like to see this place, when you can take us."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka shrugs. "I am not at all surprised to find out mermaids exist. My first day as a magical girl I had to fight a giant monster created from a too-large-for-sanity diesel truck." she says, shaking her heads. "Compared to that and an energy draining lollipop monster? Mermaids sound fine."

    "It would be nice to hear about this place, but it does make sense to want to keep things a secret, too." Sailor Uranus says. She's not about to unhenshin in front of these people and give her own ID away, for example. And then she turns to Daifuku. "Yeah, I used to do track competitvely and I'm pretty sure in henshin I could lap my old self with minimal effort." she says, putting her hand behind her head. "Magic, though. Pretty sure that's cheatin'."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"...I don't know about that," Sailor Moon says, "Because people can forget... a lot, I think. Especially if they just think they have to keep their soul gem with them because it's a favorite thing, or a ring, or a necklace, or... my past self, I don't... think she made it, to be an adult."

Her lips wobble, just slightly, as she says that, and then in the interest of not trying to remember any of those memories, smiles and soldiers on.

"Amy-chan's right, there are real mermaids - and even mermaid princesses! Who sing."

Cho... well, there was no way she meant Cho-chan, right? There had to be multiple Cho's on campus, let alone in the city. But it's still... it's still a coincidence, right? That little fairy could be talking about any Cho.

"There is a place for us to go," Sailor Moon confirms. "It was made by Stellar, a veteran magical girl, who's also Inai-sensei at Radiant Heart Academy. She told me I could bring anyone who was trustworthy. And I know we don't all know all of us all that well, but we fought a monster together, and I do think that shows that we can trust each other to have similar goals. But sometimes, people show up as their regular selves too, and I'd hate to surprise people... but on the other hand, I guess that's part of the risk, of going? That you know everyone you meet there is magic, if they're not transformed..."

She taps her chin, because honestly this is a lot of thinking and fretting and...

"Yes! Yes, actually, you can definitely read my fortune, maybe it will help me know what's the right thing to do?"

Iona Hikawa has posed:
Iona shakes her head. "I have never met this Yellow Pearl Voice, and frankly, with how busy I am, I don't think we will ever meet." Still mermaids being real is a shock, and while she meant enchanting in the negative sense, she is actually a thing on the side of good, huh. Guess you never know what will happen.

"Yes, I guess mermaids are rather low on the insanity mark right now", Fortune agrees with Haruka. And of course she would beat herself with magic, but she already knows that, so there is no need for Iona to bring it up.

"Please remove one glove and give that hand to me." Assuming Usagi does that, Iona takes hold of it, and starts looking at her lines, her brow furrowing and becoming more moody. "Sorry, but this doesn't look good." Iona finally breaks the silence.

"You are going to lose a gift soon, and after that, you will be trapped in unending nightmares." Iona stares at Usagi in the face. "You have to be really careful, this calamity isn't unavoidable, but I don't think anyone of us will be able to save you."

Iona lets go and takes a step back, her gaze cast down. "I am sorry, this is a terrible prediction. I would say to be careful, but I hope you manage to avoid this fate somehow."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Yeah I think magic would be cheating at sports. Though that doesn't mean it isn't still cool. I... I kind of avoid sports myself," Daifuku adds looking down at her hands. "But I've always been strong. I think being who I am now just enhances it. Plus I'm just not very outgoing. Usually."

The little self-depreciating remarks fall silent in favor of paying attention to the fortune telling going on. A look of curiosity has her lean forward a bit as if she might get a better view by balancing on the balls of her feet instead of just leaning. It doesn't do much.

The fortune however earns a frown. "Well that's pretty bad. Do you need me to send you with some sweets just in case, Saior Moon? Just. Uh. Don't eat them until you need."

Amanda Faust has posed:
> I don't know about that, people can forget...
    Amy nods. "I did think of that. Knowing what I know now, the prospect is... worrying.

> I don't think she made it
    Amy strides over with arms wide, glancing at Usagi for confirmation before hugging her tightly.

> The shed.
    Amy blinks. "Yeah. I need to check that place out ASAP. We should set up, like, a bulletin board, and, records of bad guys and what they're up to. Maybe an electronic version? Though I guess it'd need to be untraceable... hmmm...

> Fortune.
    Amy stares at Cure Fortune. And then at Usagi. "Geeze." She doesn't know if this fortune telling is legit, but if it is that's all the more reason Cure Fortune would say the truth rather than what Usagi wanted to hear. How does this stuff even work? Come to think of it, Katarina knew to bring a grief seed when they faced Walpurgisnacht's familiar and Amy blithely played genre-savvy with the intent to learn more later and then found out she'd been uploaded into a magic rock which was rather distracting. She needs to ask Katarina more about that later.

    But Cure Fortune is right here.

    "...How does that work, exactly? The fortune can be avoided... How have fortunes been avoided in the past? How have they come true? Can you give us a better idea of just what you're um... fortune-telling powers are telling us?"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    "I want to say it's just a fortune..." Uranus begins... "But we just got finished putting a giant sticky lollipop youma in the ground with our magical powers." she says, wincing.

    "So maybe be extra careful for a bit, Sailor Moon?" Uranus asks her distant teammate. Then she turns back to Daifuku. "You know, playing sports in a team might help with that. You meet people for a common purpose and all."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"That's a terrible fortune!" Sailor Moon wails. Not quite literally - she's not actually crying, but her face is full of distress. "Is there any chance it's just - um, a metaphorical unending nightmare? Is it high school that's the unending nightmare, not a magical unending nightmare?"

She can't believe she's hoping like this, but come on? She was hoping to hear something sweet! Or something cute! Or even especially that she should take everyone to the Shed right now, don't worry about it!

Instead...

Amy-chan comes over with a hug, and Sailor Moon accepts it, squeezing her tightly (but not with all of her magically enhanced strength). When the hug is over she sags back, sighing. "Some more sweets would be nice, Daifuku-chan... I'll ask N- I mean, my friend, to hide them until things get serious,"

She (and Chiyo) know her better than to assume they'll survive, otherwise.

"And I'll just have to... try really, really hard to not lose any gifts. Yeah. Yeah! That can't be too hard, right? I just need to not lose something, and I won't have awful nightmares!"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"Would it?" Daifuku seems as if she hadn't even considered that as an option before, though she does glance upward in thought. "There was this redheaded boy that kept asking me to join the baseball club. I thought he was flirting until I overheard him talking to his teammates about my great throwing arm. I guess he was there when I threw a ball back toward the field when it went over the fence once."

The ill fortune and hugs do cause her to frown thoughtfuly trying to recall if anything else has come up. Though she nods in agreement at providing treats for the mysterious friend to hide. "I'll send some over then, later."

She pauses then and looks around at all the girls here. "By the way, Sailor Moon. Tell your... other boyfriend that you fight with a lot... He owes me for helping with his little sister the other night." Her arms cross over her chest, cheeks puffed a bit. "Absorbing that much dark energy was awful. He owes me dinner at least. Or something."

Iona Hikawa has posed:
"The nightmares are literal. Even if you escape one, another will come up, and you will be completely powerless in them", Iona shakes her head after replying to Usagi "That's as far as I can tell. Their contents elude me. But they aren't natural, and the person behind them is powerful enough that I can't perceive their fate, and so their involvement in this too."

To Amy she says "Predictions aren't infallible, they are just a thread among the paths of the future that seem to match the current present. However, that makes them very likely to occur. It's like guessing the middle of a movie from knowing how it began and some fragments of how it ends, which is why I can tell that Sailor Moon could search everywhere and she wouldn't find anyone who could help her. At least mine work like that."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy stares at Fortune for a bit. "...So... some is *sending* her nightmares? We need to find them and stop it, right?" She pats Usagi's shoulder. "Look, with all the magic stuff going on... maybe we can find someone who knows about dreams, or sending visions to people. We'll figure this out, alright?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon exhales slowly, a wobbly, whining sound that communicates the full extent of her absolute displeasure.

"Well!!!!!!"

And then she says nothing else, for a few moments, letting everyone talk around her.

"There's definitely going to be a way to fix this, so I'm not going to worry. I'm going to just keep on going, and I'm going to believe in the best possible option, and also, I'm going to eat a candy. Because even if that candy made the day worse, other candy fixed it, and thus, candy can do no wrong."

Yep. That's her plan, she's sticking to it.

"Okay. Since my fortune didn't tell me what to do... follow me, and I'll show you to the Shed. It's up to you, to decide if you want to go only in henshin or if you want to go as your regular self too. I'll let everyone else know that some more people are coming by."

Rei Hino has posed:
    "Nightmares can have meaning to them. Be sure to say something to someone if you keep having a recurring element in your dreams." Sailor Mars pipes up.

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: I CANT BELIEVE YOU SAID MY OTHER BOYFRIEND IN FRONT OF EVERYONE

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: CHIYO-CHAN! CHIYO-CHAN! YOU BETRAYED ME!

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: I'm sorry! I was going to say his name then figured that might be even more suspicious!

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: Sorry! I don't know what your relationship is or if it's like two boyfriends or you're not sure about one or something!

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: i'm???? glad???? in a way? that i got that -

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: wait

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: I know bad boys are very alluring, but you shouldn't cheat on poor Darien like that!

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: scream dot emoji

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: Or was he first? I'm sorry I know we pushed you to get with Darien!

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: chiyo-chan

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: Oh my god Usagi I'm so sorry we made your love life into a love triangle I'm sorry!

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: i will. i. hhhhh.

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: DARIEN IS HEMATITE

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: waaaaah

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: ......

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: I guess that explains why they both really liked the lollipops.

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: WAIT DARIEN IS EVIL!? Kind of!? Oh god. He was the bad boy all along!

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: i thought you knew oh my god have people been assuming i've been dating them both oh NO oh NO oh NO

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: Why would I have known? No I... I guess maybe? I wasn't sure really what was going on. You seemed so head over heels for Darien but then when you were with Hematite it was WOW.

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: i guess i just figured since you knew i was me and you knew i was moon and you knew i was dating darien that you would realize he was hematite but also he doesn't feel like hemachan i guess and

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: he isn't evil! just... a little evil.

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: but it's under control! he's evil by the clock only

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: I knew he was working with you and playing both sides. I got that much figured. Just, something happened with his sister the other night.

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: Sunbreaker apparently poisoned her food with some dark energy and she went... It was ugly. And he went *wild* beating on Sunbreaker.

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: I had to pull some out of her and then she got sick and seemed better and *she* ended up taking it out of me after that. But he calmed down a lot and they left. You should check on them if you haven't heard from them recently.

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: ...he didn't tell me about that. but sunbreaker already pushes all of his buttons because of naru-chan, if she attacked himeko-chan -

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: thank you for telling me. i'm going to check on him as soon as i've shown you all the shed!

(PHONE) Chiyo Sakai texts: Okay. I'm sorry again for earlier and the misunderstanding.

(PHONE) Usagi Tsukino texts: no, i was never actually mad. just a little embarrassed. and now it's all my fault anyway! you were being so nice even though you thought i was cheating on darien!