868/Act 6 - Tuxedo Mask

Act 6 - Tuxedo Mask
Date of Scene:	09 December 2023
Location:	Crystal Tower
Synopsis:	Professor Izono is set to give a special interview about magic crystal from the Moon... Is this a trap? Or finally a lead on the Silver Crystal? And who is the mysterious Tuxedo Mask!? And also that other hottie, the one with white hair.
Cast of Characters:	Zoisite, Norie Okana, Kazuo Saitou, Homura Akemi, Usagi Tsukino, Madoka Kaname, Naru Osaka, Rei Hino, Mamoru Chiba, Sayaka Miki, Amanda Faust
Tinyplot:	Silver Crystal
Tinyplot2:	Midnight Tokyo

---

Zoisite has posed:
    The Juuban Paper this morning has probably caused quite the stir. Blurry photographs and artist's renditions of 'Sailor V' and 'Sailor Moon', questioning if they are involved with the 'Silver Crystal'. The boy from the Clock App video, and a headline about the Silver Crystal. It is claimed that its monetary worth is incalculable, with hundreds of billions of yen being an extremely conservative estimate, as well as a column about a man in formal wear and mask (again, drawn by a concept artist. Clear photographs are strangely lacking for a front page article) who might be a jewel thief. There's a bit in a bottom corner about the rash of reports of people encountering youkai escalating too, but that's probably not important.

    This all seems rather deliberate, given the Silver Crystal was already being talked about extensively everywhere after that one video made the rounds. But now there is fresh excitement, accusations laid at the feet of mysterious individuals, and even reports on television.

    The Silver Crystal is claimed to be a 'lost treasure', and there's a report scheduled for this evening with an alleged 'expert' on the Silver Crystal. A woman named Professor Izono, who researches ancient civilizations, their myths, and their relics. Could she be a reincarnation as well, or have memories remaining from Silver Millennium...? She seems very knowledgeable even though 'Silver Crystalogy' isn't exactly a recognized scientific field of study.

    People on the news are yammering about prehistorical ruins of a previously unknown civilization, and matching structures on the Moon with (blurry and questionable) telescope photographs. It's all very sketchy and yet very exciting to most people, even those who previously didn't care at all about the fad.

    But if she does have information about the Silver Crystal...

    It would be reasonable to assume that the forces of evil would target her just as the forces of good. She might be in danger...!

    The broadcast starts soon, at Crystal Tower.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima is watching the TV in her dorm room. She's interested in the Silver Crystal for own reasons. She can use it. Primarily to fix herself. Give her back her feelings? Give her a normal existence back? But she's positive it has some dumb price because all these things have some dumb price when she tries to fix herself.

She's then duskporting away when she's watched enough into a backroom in the studio at Crystal Tower, and peeks out of the back storage closet she'd arrived in. She narrows her eyes.

If she could just question this woman....

Maybe she knows more.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kazuo Saitou would like to object. He is not, in fact, a jewel thief. However, actually voicing said objection has complications all its own, so maybe he'll just let that one slide for the moment.

He'd've liked to try to work his way into the direct audience for the broadcast, too, but there are complications of that one. Like that if his mother spotted his hair, he'd hear nothing for weeks but complaints about his not getting her in, too. So he's settling for keeping an eye on the Tower proper, and hoping that anything that explodes does so visibly enough that he can move in in time to do ... something. What, precisely, is going to depend on what in the world this is.

This is not his favorite way to run an operation.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Professor Izono was in the newspaper and a quick scroll through headlines on line before school told Homura Akemi everything she needed to know. She almost scrolled right past the piece, except the name tugged at the corner of her mind. Checking over the article showed that... yes. It was actually extremely similar to something she had seen before. Maybe it wasn't word for word exact, but it was close enough.

    An event at the Crystal Tower, the Silver Crystal being named directly. She couldn't be at all sure what was going to happen, but she could be sure that something would happen. So here she was, some silly cosplayer with a shield on her arm with a grim expression sitting in the back row of the live audience.

    Sometimes it's best to make a sudden grand entrance, but other times it's best to hide in plain sight, or give whoever planned on crashing this event something to think about.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The news has been full of Silver Crystal news, from false sightings, op-eds about why the crystal could be so important and rare, and even interviews with specialists.

Ever since Luna had informed them that the Princess was the Moon Princess and the Silver Crystal was therefore from the Moon, Usagi's been skeptical about all the so-called experts. After all, what kind of experts could there be about a civilization older than human history, that was on the Moon?

And yet this expert claims to know about the Moon civilization, and she's the only one associating the Silver Crystal with the Moon, so...

Maybe she knows something?

That was the logic behind Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, and Naru-chan heading out to the broadcast sight, to be part of the broadcast audience. And since the Dark Kingdom was on the lookout for the Crystal too, Usagi had had the bright idea of transforming into Sailor Moon, and then putting her oversized pink turtleneck and ugly green (affectionate) skirt over her fuku.

Ready to fight, but also in a perfect disguise!

"Hopefully this professor actually knows something, and it's not just another scam," Sailor Moon mutters to Naru.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen is following Homura around. This actually happens a lot. She's hovering over her roommate's shoulder with the bottom half of her black X-Egg in front of her. It's filled with popcorn and she's using it as a bowl.

    To be clear, the popcorn is in fact about as big as her face. Nomf nomf nomf nomf.

    The tiny X-Chara watches silently as the broadcast unfolds, taking full advantage of the fact that she's invisible to most. You don't have to worry about people harassing you if they don't see you to begin with! Not that it really matters here in the back row.

    She doesn't fully understand what's going on here, other than she remembers the Silver Crystal being Important. Unlike Homura, her memories are all jumbled up.

Naru Osaka has posed:
At least Naru managed to snag herself a coffee on the way over to the Tower. She tried not to think about the stunning fashion choices of her beloved roommate, although it DOES hide her fuku nicely.

"It's probably another scam." Naru answers with a bright smile. "But it should be an /interesting/ scam?" She is dressed like a normal person, her satchel over her shoulder as she manages not to spill her coffee. She's had a lot of practice in not spilling coffee.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei does not watch television. Does not even own one. But she does read the newspaper on occasion, and it's hard to escape all the chatter around the Silver Crystal when one goes out, let alone when one's allies contact her. She made her way on the train with the others to Crystal Tower, and is now waiting for the broadcast, and to see what's going to happen. She does the same as Usagi, transforming then putting on normal clothes. The neck of the senshi uniform stretches like super elastic, Rei has found, so it's possible to get in and out without de-henshining, but she just wears a cute jacket, a tight red turtleneck shirt, and jeans with what look like cowboy boots almost.

    And then she waits, with Sailor Moon and Naru.

    "If the Enemy is as interested as we are, they will show up for sure..." she mutters.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's at least one person here who isn't Izono that knows what's going on. He, however, is currently the Best Boy!

No really, Hematite's in disguise -- IE, he looks like Darien or Mamoru to people who know his identity, but just some guy to people who don't, thank you The Veil -- as the studio's best boy, currently setting up the lighting for the best angle on Izono and the interviewer.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
The news have been talking about Professor Izono and her research over the Silver Crystal and lunar ruins, and they have also gone over the Clock App video, so naturally, Sayaka, Klarissa and Ula have decided to attend, hoping to get some elucidation over the mysterious gem.

Especially since, ruins on the moon? Since when is that a thing? But wait, is that Gretchen over there? The three go and asks what's up.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amanda had a somewhat similar idea as Usagi, and is here in Puella Magi form in a school uniform -- not in hopes of being recognized, but so that when shit goes down she doesn't accidentally reveal herself to whoever she henshins in front of. She... probably doesn't see Sailor Moon in the distance on account of both of them being short, and she herself is not trying to be close enough to be on TV. The 'cosplayer' with a shield catches her eye, though unrecognized... but *Gretchen* she recognizes and makes her way over there. "Hey. Gretchen, right?" she looks around. "Is Kaname-san not with you...?"

Zoisite has posed:
    Professor Izono waits for the broadcast to start. It will happen soon. Within minutes, the show begins, and the interviewer is talking about the special report, and introducing Professor Izono, and discussing all the Silver Crystal stuff, from its first appearance on social media to now the confirmation that it is a real lost treasure.

    "Anyway! Let's get to the real topic - the 'Silver Crystal' everyone's been talking about. What could it be? Joining us today is Professor Izono, lead researcher and world expert on the subject." The bespectacles man next to her chatters on, with 'Talk Show' on a sign behind him with roses at the top-right and bottom-left corners, and 'Featured Story: The 'Silver Crystal' on the scrolling bottom bar.

    "You see, the 'Silver Crystal'..." Izono begins. "It grants immortality to its holder. Inside of the crystal there is enormous, untapped magical power -- practically unlimited!"

    Well, she's the only one so far to openly state it's magic as well. Maybe she truly does know about it...!

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen sees Sayaka, Ula and... another Sayaka?! come over. When Ula comes close, Gretchen offers her a popcorn kernel. When asked what's up, the tiny Chara shrugs. "I'm just here with Homu-chan."

    The X-Chara turns to Amy and says, "Look, it's complicated. Yes, Madoka-chan is my bearer, but I'm an X-Chara so I don't always hang out with her." The dark fairy gestures to Homura, and then to Amy. "Homura-chan, meet Amy Faust, a Puella Magi. Faust-san, meet Homura Akemi, also a Puella Magi and a veteran at that."

    Amy also gets a single popcorn kernel if she wants one.

    As Prof. Izono speaks, Gretchen watches, slowing down her crunching in order to hear a bit more clearly. She stops chewing entirely as the magical nature of the gem is mentioned, and her eyes dart towards the exits. This... wouldn't be a trap, would it?

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru drinks from her coffee as she sits in the studio audience, watching the set up and the start of the interview. She manages to settle her notebook in her lap, and hold her coffee and not drop or spill anything. Yet at least.

She leans over to murmur to Usagi. "Apparently it's going to be super /subtle/ sort of conversation. I wonder how much delay they have on this broadcast."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Well... no one else has outright admitted the magic thing," Sailor Moon whispers, "But... I don't know if it really does all that."

Grant immortality? Unlimited magical power?

Could it really be that strong? Could there really be an unlimited source of magic? And how would she know that?

"It's starting to sound a little more scammy."

But then... what was a miracle but something no one else could manage, with power no one else had?

"Let's be on the lookout for anything suspicious... and as soon as there's a break, maybe we can talk to her."

No subtlety here!

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima turns into a shadow and slides along the ground out of the back storage room. She slides down the stairs in the darkened audience seating and makes her way to the edge of the bright lights of the taping going on just as Professor Izono starts explaining things. So it nmakes you immortal. Is that it? She already has that! She needs a miracle---

Practically unlimited power though.... Maybe it can still help her. She considers her options. Move to attack. Or wait.

She waits.

Just for the moment. Soon... she considers.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura lets Gretchen handle some of the first introductions, but she's quick to note to Amy, "Madoka isn't here, sorry." She raises her voice just a little as Sayaka, Klarissa and Ula approach so they can hear her.

    Wait. Why are there two Sayaka's. She looks to Klarissa first, "Miki-san." Then to Sayaka, "Miki-san." There's a mild bewilderment in her eyes, but her face is stony. Well. That's never happened before. It might not be much a shock that Homura knows who Sayaka is, given Homura just started officially dating her best friend.

    Now's not the time to think about whether Madoka had talked to her about that though, so she plays it cool.

    "It's nice to meet you as well Faust-san." Her voice hushes somewhat, "Be ready. The Silver Crystal is even more important than the Professor thinks. I don't know what's going to happen, but it's going to be something."

    When the program starts Homura watches with a polite interest. She'll clap or cheer when any signs light up telling the audience to do so. Every now and then her eyes flick here and there, boring a steely gaze into the camera men, the lighting crew, and the suspiciously attractive lady guiding the boom mic.

    Isn't she a bit old for that job? She looks more like a stage manager than a sound girl, especially dressed so nicely. Maybe someone got sick. Or maybe someone can't handle being too flashy in their disguises. Hmmm...

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Unlimited magical power. (Kazuo does not have to listen in directly. He's listening in via a couple of people watching the broadcast on their phones.) Unlimited magical power would absolutely explain the condition of the planet as a whole, wouldn't it. ... alas, the muttered sarcasm has to stay inside his own head for right now. Like Lacrima, he's waiting, and watching. And considering.

Also, continuing to hope nobody decides he's a jewel thief today.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Hematite crosses his arms, standing off to the side by the controls for the lighting rig, and glares at the boom mic operator as if she had done something wrong (she hadn't) (but it seemed like the kind of judgemental thing he could get away with doing). He glances back at the studio door, then frowns faintly in the general direction of the closet-- but his gaze doesn't linger. Half of his attention stays purely on Izono, the other half on scanning the studio audience--

--and he sees people he absolutely knows. Oh no. Ohohoho boy. He starts looking for anyone he knows that might have a barrier, and doesn't see anyone, and oh god plan B any minute, right. He shifts his weight. He tries not to fidget.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
While talking with Gretchen, the two Sayakas spot Homura too, and they are about to ask her name before Gretchen mentions it by herself. "Oh, Madoka talked about you", Sayaka says, looking over at the dark-haired girl. Klarissa does the same too, since memories from before the split are shared between them and they both remember that talk. The two of them have been rather curious to meet this talented friend Madoka has made.

"Hi, Akemi-san, I am Sayaka Miki", says one, while the other tells Homura "Hello, I am Klarissa Miki", before the two of them blink and say "Oh, I see Madoka talked about me to you too."

Meanwhile Ula smiles gratefully at Gretchen and takes the kernel, starting to nibble on it. "So, how have you been doing recently?"

They also pay attention to Professor Izono, who is rather generous in talking about the qualities of the Phantom Crystal. Is it really so powerful? Makes sense why Hematite would want it for a miracle.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Magic. Just stated outright. And based on the reaction of the audience in-studio at least... It appears to be being accepted? Isn't the Veil supposed to stop something like this? Is the fact it's being broadcast to a city... A nation, or even world-wide... Is that collective attention from all those minds, hearts, and souls somehow granting this broadcast more power than it should? A piercing of the Veil like they were trying to prevent before, with the youkai, only far, far worse?

    Nervously, Sailor Mars says, "We might need to intervene even if there isn't a break. I have a bad feeling about this, and I see some weird people around us already."

    She starts reaching for an ofuda up her sleeve.

Zoisite has posed:
    The interviewer is a professional and also not magical, so he thinks nothing of any cosplayers or weirdness in the audience/studio. After all, what even is that? Some kind of puppet on a string? A wire puppet? Something? He wouldn't know, because he is a PROFESSIONAL and he is focused on the CAMERA and his GUEST. He smiles blithely through the description of the crystal as granting immortality and magic power. What he thinks of the claim goes unstated.

    Instead he asks, "So, Professor Izono, how are you today?"

    Izono basically ignores the question, looking directly into the camera as though speaking to the audience in-studio and at home personally, individually. An old orator's trick, but one she is distressingly good at. "Everyone should cooperate to find this gem, as it is probably located in a very unexpected place!" Though she is still smiling beautifully, there's intensity in her words. Urgency.

    'Find the Silver Crystal.'

    "We need your help!"

    Time is running short so you need to 'Find the Silver Crystal.'

    Elsewhere, the News Bureau is burning up the phones. "It's not in the National Museum either! Can you excavate those ancient ruins she mentioned!?" "It's not in the Imperial Palace either!?" "Damn! I don't have any information about it, this sucks!"

    Professor Izono puts a hand on her hip and starts to rise from her seat, a slightly pensive look on her face, like she just noticed something worrying.

    Then she leans forwards towards a technician's set-up and pushes a button. Oh, her smile returns.

    She looks into the camera. "I suppose I no longer have a need for any of you."

    A mass energy drain. All those minds, hearts, and souls focused on this one broadcast, their defenses down, their attention captured. Homes, businesses, people on the street near TV displays, people watching on their phones, everywhere. The whole city. More. Their energy is being sucked away fast, ruthlessly, with no regard for what affect it has on the victims.

    A trap indeed.

    And the entire city fell for it.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Sayaka, Klarissa." Amy nods to the two of them. Not actually able to tell which is which at a glance. At being introduced to Homura, she bows, and then tries to turn it into a curtsey after. "Pleased to meet you!"

    She will take a popcorn, yes! "Thank you!"

    Immortality, huh? She whispers to the Puellas and X-Chara, "It's weird how that went from 'oh, wow' to 'huh, a way for someone else to get it.' I guess if you could remember magic you'd want to tell everyone... but surely She's noticed by now that people can't remember it? Or... maybe they can, if this talk got planned? Are there some kinds of magic people can know about, or does that mean..."

    Homura says she knows *something* will happen, and she gives her fellow Magi a raised eyebrow. "That's the *second* time someone's had weird, cryptic information right before something happens. Are there Puella Magi with future sight or time travel powers or something?" She's not sure *what* Katarina has going on.

    She turns to look at the professor, then realizes how Homura worded that and looks back at her in alarm. "Wait, do you mean whatever it was told you this is the real one?"

    And then.

    "Wait... is it even here? Was this just a trick?!" She looks to Izono in the distance, and then glances around to see who *else* isn't collapsing and also if there are any monsters coming in while heroes are focused on the 'professor'.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen cautiously munches a piece of popcorn while glancing around the room. She notices a handsome boy starting to get nervous, but her Bearer isn't around to point out who that is. Maybe that's for the best. Bright pink and white usually isn't that subtle.

    To Ula, the X-Chara responds. "Mostly I've been alright. Just keeping an eye on things." Glancing to Klarissa, Gretchen notes, "I wasn't aware that Miki-san had a twin sister... or is that a cousin?"

    There is a lot of talk about magic, and there are a few people in the crowd who may or may not be glancing at her. It makes the dark fairy nervous. Her tiny Labyrinth opens briefly, and she shoves her eggshell through it. Popcorn and all. If something happens...

    To Amy, she asides "I mean, sometimes fortune tellers will talk about real magic things, but they tend to get blown off. This isn't that unusual but it's... noteworthy."

    Her tiny gaze widens as Izono starts to behave... strangely. She mutters, "Is 'Find the Silver Crystal' some kind of hypnotic trigger phrase? What's going on here?!" When the drain hits, she yelps and starts to descend. She hides behind a chair as evil magic is loosened on the audience.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Even as the pair watching the broadcast on their phones are collapsing, Kazuo feels the more diffuse tug at his own energy supplies. Fortunately, he can pull back. And does, wrapping his cape around him with one hand, physically holding on to the metaphysical. He straightens from his hiding place and reaches out, tasting a trace of the energy flow around him - the barest touch, because however much is being taken right now, it's far more than he can handle in his current condition --

(He could have handled it, once. He could do that right now, if he just tapped what's already being drained --)

-- no. None of that. With a frown, he refocuses, trying to get a sense of the direction of the flow and follow it.

It is absolutely not a surprise that that takes him toward the Tower.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I mean, people talk about magic all the time, right? That's how we know it exists in stories and myths. They just don't believe it or remember it when they really see it," Sailor Moon says reasonably. Despite this, the Moon Stick is already in her hand, the crescent moon and it's sharp point angled down. No one should be paying attention to her, right?

"We just need to let her keep talking until we get to a commercial. No one's going to cause a scene now, right?"

Right? Except, she's wrong. Professor Izono isn't sharing any information - she's looking at the camera and the audience both literally and metaphorically behind that camera, and she's telling them to find the Silver Crystal, and even Sailor Moon feels it, that tug, that urgency to find that which her every dream screams about (when they aren't begging her to awaken the princess) -

"How dare you take advantage of people trusting you to give them news and facts?!" She's standing on top of her folding chair, dressed like a regular girl except for the odango caps in her hair and the tiara on her forehead, those untouched by her disguise (aka perfectly normal clothes). "You, who took advantage of people's trust by pretending to be a professsor, had better prepare yourself, because I, Sailor Moon, will not stand for it!"

People are collapsing all around them from the energy drain, and there's only one thing she can think of that might help - or at least, she hopes it might help.

"Moon Tiara Action!"
    he tiara is heading straight for the camera!

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima is about to strike!-----

When instead there's a strange thing happening,., and then there's an energy drain. And La Crima thinks of course it's some trap and not at all a real broadcast about the Silver Crystal. She angrily forms back into her humanoid form at the edge of the studio lights and just throws one over angrily because there's nothing else in her vicinity to destroy.

"God dammit, I wanted information and this is some dumb trap!?" she points dramatically at Professor Izuno. "So am I supposed to be helping you here now or what!?" she sputters out.

"Because you just summoned a sparkleskirt squad no doubt." she says, pointing at Sailor Moon's speech.

"See!?"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Well there it is.." Naru comments mildly with a longsuffering sigh as things go from normal enough interview to compulsions and drain.

No matter that that coffee won't help even a little, she takes another drink of it. It's an emotional support coffee.

Naru is certainly feeling the drain, although she's not falling over from it. This is too much like your average Thursday to fell her, at least quite yet. She pushes herself to her feet as Usagi surges forward with a justice speech and she moves back, to be able to better keep an eye on who might be using this as a distraction, if anyone. It could happen.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura looks over to Amy, distracted as time travel and future sight are mentioned. "Ask Kyubey," comes the cryptic reply. This response comes just as Professor Izono mentions that everyone needs to work together to find the Silver Crystal. Distracted, she looks to Gretchen as she responds, then a split second before the drain starts hitting the audience something clicks into place.

    "Oh no."

    She's suddenly glad she came in henshin, because the drain seems to avoid her. She immediately stands up, reaching into her shield and retrieving an H&K SFP9-M pistol from it.

    "Sorry," she says to Amy, Gretchen, Sayaka, and Ula, "we'll have to talk later." With that she steps up onto the back of the studio chair in front of her, crouching on it and leaning forward before launching herself forward over the audience while mentally chiding herself. How could she have forgotten it was the Professor herself that was the problem here?

    Mid jump she holds the pistol in front of herself and immediately begins firing, 9mm rounds aimed center at Professor Izono. She does a half flip while arcing over the woman, firing down at her and if not interrupted will land behind the Professor and continuing to fire until she hears the dull click-click-click of an empty magazine. "Nice show," she hisses through clenched teeth while throwing the empty pistol to the side, "but you've got another thing coming if you think I'm letting you out of here."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Oh, Klarissa-chan is Sayaka's twin", Ula replies to Gretchen. "She was enrolled in another school, but issue have arisen there, so their parents have opted her to go at RHA." Better not to share the truth in public within hearshot of who knows who.

"It's nice to meet you, Gretchen-san", Klarissa mentions, sticking to that version of the story. Sort of. Maybe she shouldn't have acted so normal around Gretchen yet.

The twins start feeling dizzy when the energy absorption starts, leaving them to lean against the wall. Ugh, this is what happens when they can't freely transform because one of them block the others.

"I... will deal with it", Klarissa mentions. "Sorry", she tells Sayaka, before taking the initiative and putting herself in henshin. Two swords immediately fly at the professor.

"Got it", Klarissa replies to Homura.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Is it nowhere in the city? In the entire country?" asks the best boy, lips pursed as he steps past the gracefully falling studio crew members. He shakes his ponytail out and shrugs off his disguise, leaving him as quite obviously Hematite, strongest of the Shitennou. "This-- ohshi--" he turns in 'surprise' as Sailor Moon stands on a folding chair to give a justice speech, and then he ducks his head and flinches away from the spinning white-gold disc of death.

"The Silver Crystal is more important than justice speeches! And definitely more important than all this fuss over a little energy drain!" he calls out, flipping his cape back theatrically. He glares at La Crima. "No, you don't have to help, for godsake. Do whatever you want!" and he goes to stand between Izono and... everyone-- and immediately flips his cape back up to deflect the two swords and the round after round of bullets now headed towards him! He lifts off his feet a little bit too, for better coverage. Cape tank go!

Rei Hino has posed:
    All of that makes sense, but it just feels wrong. Like there's evil right here in front of her and she's not seeing it. Not until the energy drain starts. Sailor Mars is not able to really protect Naru, except to hand her an ofuda, and tell her, "Hang onto this!" Maybe it will block the energy drain, maybe it won't, but it's a weapon if something evil gets too close.

    She gets up on her own chair, more for increased vantage than for speechmaking, but she does call out a, "This is why people need to be more careful about the evils of broadcast media!" She is not going to start shooting off fireballs in a news studio with innocent people all around, but she can definitely try to rapid-leap forward in an attempt to shove Izono back into her chair to be dealt with later! ...Only holy hell, a girl is SHOOTING GUNS IN HERE!

    La Crima is here too, and this doesn't seem like an accidental traffic light situation, but she also seems to not quite be aware of what's happening? And now Hematite is popping up to tank bullets and swords for the lying professor, and... And... Sailor Moon is attacking the cameras with her tiara, so hopefully that will stop the drain!

    And... This is all complete and utter chaos! Just how many magical people came here, anyway!?

Zoisite has posed:
    Firearms? Seriously? Have some class.

    Hematite gets in the way of the projectiles and also the magical girls and everything else, and Izono steps back. Then Homura launches overhead, shooting down at her, as well as into her back. If Izono is a normal human or something...

    Well, it's hard to say, because though one of the bullets tears through her shoulder, elicitng a cry of pain and a grimace, the rest ping off of an invisible barrier.

    With one hand over her wound, and the Senshi here again, of course, and this little murder-cutie trying to gun her down, well, it may seem like the situation is very much against the villains.

    The camera is destroyed, and no more energy is being drained, but there are still people collapsed all over the city. It looks like something out of a zombie movie as Kaitou Kamen heads towards the Tower. Just unconscious people in the street all over. Adults, children, the elderly, infants, even animals seem to have been affected based off of a man with a service dog lying half-on and half-off of a sidewalk.

    This is probably the biggest and worse energy drain since the Enemy started taking action openly over the past couple years. Definitely the worst since July, when Sailor Moon and so many other Magical Girls and Magical Boys first appeared.

    One might wonder if Luna is okay. She was probably watching this, right?

    As much firepower as there is concentrated in this studio, they are still up against Hematite, the strongest of the Dark Generals. Their leader. And, as Professor Izono raises her hand from her shoulder to reveal she is holding the 9mm round between her fingers, and the wound is already sealing shut with Dark Energy wisping from the entry point, it becomes clear that he is very much not alone.

    "Who said anything about running?" she says chillingly, turning her head to look back at the Puella. Her disguise is gone. It's just Zoisite standing there now.

    The second strongest of the Dark Generals.

    This is about to be a whole thing, isn't it?

    Unlike Sailor Mars, Zoisite is very much okay with releasing fire in a crowded studio, as evidenced by the blast of it behind him that casts the semi-darkened space in a flare of bright light and a rush of scalding heat.

Norie Okana has posed:
Nrrrrg. Hematite. Takashi's brother. That's different.

"Well I'm helping now." she says with frustration as she sweeps over to all the incoming now and there's a magical girl... shooting bullets!? Well. Amy uses rockets. Maybe that's not as different. But seriously.

She instead throws a spread of dark energy orbs with her hand, sweeping out across the studio and towards the gun slinging magical girl, Homura. Someone needs to provide covering fire for Hematite while he tanks bullets and swords, after all.

"S..Stop this." she angrily yells at the magical girls. "Just go away, the camera's gone anyways! What more do you want!?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen produces a small cell phone from seemingly nowhere and sends off a text.

Gretchen TXT Lydian: Something's happening at Crystal Tower!

Lydian TXT Gretchen: We saw. We're watching over the hospital!

    The X-Chara hesitates as she considers asking Madoka to come, but... protecting the people at Mitakihara General is important, too. Support tasks like that have always been her Bearer's speciality, and there's no telling who would take advantage of this situation.

Gretchen TXT Lydian: Okay... There are a lot of magicals here. I'm sure we can handle things.

    The earlier story about Klarissa doesn't add up, but... now isn't the time to ask, or is here the place. It's not as if Gretchen has never been in a situation where she'd have to lie or hide things from someone she'd rather tell the truth to.

    She listens to the sounds of magical combat happening outside of her hiding place, and considers what a mascot like herself can even do. Staying low, she flies underneath the audience seats until she can get to the front row, looking up directly at the combat. It's then that she finally sees at least one familiar face in particular.

    "The Emu guy again?!" she mutters, suddenly aware that she's probably not nearly as invisible here as she previously thought.

    And then Zoisite is here. Little Gretchen turns pale, then pulls her mask down over her face. Rising up from her hiding place, she produces a tiny black branch bow not unlike Madokas and fires a spray of tiny black darks at Hematite's face. They probably don't hurt that much if he's wearing a mask over his eyes, but they are dazzling and distracting. "Don't just assume this is gonna go your way!" she shouts, in her tiny squeaky voice. La Crima's objections go unheeded.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods at the suggestion to ask Kyubey, before everything goes to hell. And then Homura-san is leaping into the air and there are gunshots. Well... if we're already doing THAT. This person is pretty bad news, clearly. And if they aren't going down to gunshots, then they're clearly supernaturally tough, which means it's okay to do this:

    Amy's clothes suddenly change in a splash of pink sparkles to her usual fighting outfit for recognizability's sake, and she lifts her arm into firing position for the rocket launcher that suddenly appears rested on her shoulder before she adjusts aim slightly and fires.

    If Homura glances back to see where that came from, Amy is holding what appears to be inspired by but not a detail-accurate AT4, obviously a Puella Magi weapon made of unmarked grey metallic material with gems on it.

    She then leaps after Homura, although hers is a bit short, leaving herlanding on some of the drained audience. "Oop, sorry!" She carefully steps off them before leaping the rest of the way towards the stage. Still holding the launcher. Maybe it's reusable? It's magic.

    "Hey uh... if she can drain THIS many people at once, does that maybe mean she's extra powerful?"

    Amy lands on the stage stumbling a bit as she looks shocked at the "professor" holding a bullet. "She caught the bullet!" she shouts, for the benefit of magical girls who didn't leap so close.

    And now uh.

    Hematite is standing in front of the target. She looks up at him, who she's worked alongside so many times. "Well." *gulp* "Tell me something. Will taking YOU down stop the energy drain?"

    And then she fires again, only this time the missile tries to swerve several feet AROUND Hematite to arc into Zoisite.

    And then she is running for cover, that is, holding up her cloak with her other hand while trying to keep Hematite *between* her and Zoisite so she's safe from the fire!

    Unless the fire goes around him too. Ugh! It's cheating when they do it!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"A little energy drain to how many people?" Sailor Moon snaps - yes, snaps, a little, at Hematite. She's scowling at Professor Izono, and maybe her endless nights of dreaming are effecting her, because even convinced it was a scam she'd still had hope that they might find something.

But no! This was a Dark Kingdom trap, so of course they'd known about the Moon Kingdom, and it wasn't any help at all!

She's a little - a lot - unnerved by the bullets, though. That's a real gun that girl is firing, and - hey, wait, Sailor Moon knows her! She was there, when Inai-sensei told them about Midnight Tokyo! She's an ally!

Where did she get an actual gun from?

Her tiara completes an arc back to her hand and is slid back onto her forehead. Guns are a little fatal, in her opinion, so she's kind of nervous about the idea of them being fired at her beloved boyfriend, but his cape has tanked a lot worse than bullets!

Right?

Right?!

La Crima is there too, shouting angrily, and it like the enemy isn't really that coordinated, so that's good -

And then the Professor isn't a professor at all. She's that guy, the one from Hikawa Shrine, and Sailor Moon's back stiffens and her teeth grit, and she remembers what Veronica had said, about La Crima not liking the purification -

Well, she'll have a chance to run, then.

"Is there a way to get these people their energy back?" She's not trying to roll the Moon Stick between her fingers the way Sailor Pluto does a pin, but she definitely has flipped it in her hand so the crescent moon is clear and visible, a warning and reminder if anyone caught sight of what she did last time.

The happy juice will come out, if these people - including her boyfriend, this time - don't clear out.

Except then there's fire, and Mercury and Neptune aren't here to help with that, and Sailor Moon doesn't have a way to block fire, because these aren't beams to use beam physics on, and - Sailor Moon does the impulsive thing, and throws herself in the path of the fire, in front of the nearest collapsed audience members. The circle gets carved into the air, and beams of light and silver dust poor from that golden circle of light.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Maybe, just maybe, this will help - and if not, maybe someone else will help, because otherwise, Sailor Moon is tanking that fire with her body! These innocents don't deserve to burn!"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Thanks." Naru accepts the ofuda from Mars, tucking it into the strap of her satchel. She takes a moment to drain the last of her coffee.

This is one fight where she is not going to spill her coffee and not get the rest of it. She'd rather chug it than have that fate befall it!

Naru is well out of the way of the guns and their 'not at all good for civvies' bullets as she throws out her empty coffee cup and then evaluates her options. Which are few. She considers Hematite, and Zoisite, along with La Crima, before Zoisite's lifting a hand, and Naru crouches down behind a chair to try and block the worst of that scalding heat. Clearly a folding chair will help her tank fire? Clearly.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Out of the way, Hematite", Klarissa mentions when the leader of the Shitennous blocks both hers and Homura's attacks. "If you think we are going to let you hurt people we care about just because you need a miracle and screw everyone else, well, you can forget it!"

The angered Puella materialises a greatsword in her hand and that too follows like the other attack, only this time she throws it by hand, putting immense speed and strength in the attack. Let's see how he likes this for a change.

Sayaka recovers from the momentary dizziness and just moves to the safest place she can find. As much as she hates it, she is completely powerless unless she chooses to get in Klarissa's way, and with how she is in a direct confrontation with Hematite or all people, that would be rather stupid.

Though, La Crima is shouting something about quitting it. "How about you just don't put trap over people and expect us to be fine with it!?" Sayaka shouts to her. Really, is it any wonder what they are doing?

Ula meanwhile is sticking with Sayaka out of danger.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
There is nobody conscious in the rest of the building to slow things down. Which means that a pale figure, masked and caped, appears in a doorway and lifts hands.

Kaitou Kamen doesn't try to absorb all of that fire. There's a split second to choose targets, and honestly the MISSILE is a tempting one, but he can't be sure how much of that he can absorb. Then he's ... helping folding chairs tank heat and stray fire, for Naru and for the unconscious members of the studio audience. The sparkleskirts and Hematite probably have the rest in hand. Probably.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    As Hematite intervenes and casually blocks all her attacks, a hollow point bullet maybe the worst possible weapon to try to use against that cape, Homura slides to a stop as she lands and glares at him. There's anger, intense anger showing in her eyes, with teeth clenched and her eyebrows down sharply between them. Despite this? The anger isn't directed at Hematite himself. For some reason it's not him she's angry at.

    "Which one of them is it?" she demands. "You're here watching them as they pull down the full might of Tokyo's protectors on top of their heads? I'm sick of this!" She retrieves another gun from her shield, this time a 5.56 Squad Automatic Weapon, which she holds at her hip. "You want to protect your friends? Fine. But don't think we're going to stand by and let them hurt people. I know all about protecting friends, but they don't endanger the entire city because they feel like it."

    She flings her hand in an aggravated gesture as Professor Izono reveals herself to be Zoisite, "See? I knew it!" She's clearly disgusted with the situation and starts reaching into her shield to pull out a machine gun of some kind, when she's blindsided by a blast of dark energy, staggering to the side and sending the large weapon clattering to the floor.

    Her teeth as she holds onto her side, raising her shield just in time as Zoisite unleashes a blast of fire. A purple semicircle erupts around her and deflects the flame around her, but even so she curses under her breath. Anyone watching the purple, diamond shaped soul gem on the back of her hand can see it visibly darkening as she tanks the hit.

    "These are the two most powerful Generals of the Dark Kingdom," she manages to shout to Amy. "And they're not playing nice!" she adds half a second later.

    Well fine, if they want to play that way, they can. Too much is going on to help everyone. She sees a flare of light as Sailor Moon's magic begins to unfurl while that gout of flame Zoisite unleashed peals towards her. Her eyes flick to Hematite and a quick calculation goes through her mind.

    This is going to be stupid, but it might work. It might help.

    She dives forward, rolling over her shoulder and wincing at the pain it elicits in her side. She looks ready to roll past Zoicite-- but instead she stops short, standing up directly behind him and trying to hook her arm around his neck and pull him into a choke hold.

    Hopefully all that training with Inai-sensei will hold off.

    "Payback sucks, doesn't it? Moon Healing Screw You."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars yells out, "SAILOR MOON!" in horror as her leader tries to stand in the way of the flames. She doesn't know if she can actually do anything to fire that's not her own, but she remembers at Hikawa Shrine that her fire was able to cancel out Zoisite's flame wall. Maybe she can use the same move against him.

    "FIRE SOUL!" rings out as fireball flies, trying to negate the pyrokinetic flames with opposing magic fire of equal strength. At least to spare the civilians present any injury, if not lessen the pain that Moon and the black-haired girl have to suffer.

    Missiles are being fired. Fire, swords, bullets... Dark Energy from La Crima, Hematite's foreboding presence... It's all too much. Far too much.

    So she just does what she can.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I have *one job*," Hematite yells back at Homura, teleporting as soon as Zoisite's got the shield up, ending up on the other side of the stage, "okay more like three jobs but the point is watch where you're firing!"

He definitely gets tagged in the face by Gretchen's little pafs of dark sparkle ammunition, and teleports away again, this time to up in midair, where he flings a rose at--

--he literally flings a rose at Amy's weapon, which should break it until she can regenerate the thing, and he yells at her, "Taking me down won't do anything but take me down!"

And then, oh, oh, oh, a *greatsword*, and with the amount of other stuff going on, he doesn't quite have enough cape to block-- it ends up a faulty cape-parry and he gets sliced along the arm as he deflects the thing. This makes him roar his retort. "Go jump in the bay, Sayakas One and Two, I don't care about your BIZARRE PROBLEMS!" He pulls a dark energy greatsword out of nothing and throws it right back at Klarissa. "La Crima, you don't have to look after me!"

Usagi's snapping at him, and Hematite pauses for a half second, then makes a face, because there's Kaitou Kamen too, and then MOON HEALING ESCALATION happens and Hematite does the same thing he did at Hikawa Shrine: he slams out a wave of force, a wide-field AoE kinetic PUNCH of dark energy, which crumbles in the face of Moon Healing--

--and he yells. He just *yells*. "NRAAAAAAGH!" more or less, because no that really hurts. That really hurts. He just has to make it to next Monday! That's all!

With a supreme amount of effort and will and held breath, he reaches into nothing, pulls out a black rose, and flicks at at Homura's foot.

Zoisite has posed:
    Standing and fighting is not something Zoisite would ordinarily do here. Too many Enemies from too many directions. The girl with the guns seems to know him somehow, but he can't remember her at all. That's not great. Neither is Mars cancelling out his flames in a *WHOOSH* as the two forces meet each other and nullify the other's existence. Neither is Sailor Moon using that damned healing escalation thing again, or actual missiles being fired in the studio.

    He is headlocked by Homura unexpectedly, the comparatively slower movement of martial arts compared to bullets allowing her to slip past the kinetic shielding, and is thus held stationary when the Moon Healing Escalation washes over him partly despite Hematite's attempt to block it with a wave of Dark Energy the way Zoisite did at Hikawa.

    Zoisite is shielding against kinetic energy right now, thankfully, so the missile that hits rocks him hard when it explodes, hurling him away from Hematite and out of Homura's grip, but doesn't directly strike his body. He just gets thrown all the way across the room.

    The explosion still sucks though. Cursing, Zoisite levitates up out of a mess of tangled and destroyed A/V equipment, using his telekinesis to hurl it at Puella Red or whatever her name is, while he raises a hand to launch ice shards into the mix, striking almost as forcefully as bullets as he 'leads' them towards Homura and her energy shield.

    This isn't sustainable. If he and Hematite went all out, they could probably tear this tower apart and kill everyone inside of it (or so he tells himself). If it were all four of them, then who knows how much damage they could do? But after being hit by that purification wave, and feeling a sizeable chunk of the gathered life energy slip away, Zoisite makes the tactical decision to get out with what he has.

    He's not Jadeite.

    He doesn't need to fight until near-death for his ego. He almost made that mistake by not getting out when the tide turned against him at Hikawa Shrine. Not again.

    "You're all going to be dead soon enough." he hisses, the sting of the purification still tingling in the air despite not being a primary target. He also feels energy being drained, and it's not from the humans. What the fuck? He looks over and spots Kaitou Kamen. The same one from the ball. And even if he hasn't been told the identity of that person yet, he feels an emptiness inside upon seeing him. Like Zoisite is just... Incomplete.

    The pained, longing expression that flits across his briefly is wiped away when his eyes glow solid red, and his visage is twisted in an ancient hatred that is not his own, but amplifies it.

    "I will personally burn this entire city to the GROUND!!" he screams out, raising his hands above his head, gathering power, and then blasting a tidal wave of flame straight down into the floor, sweeping everywhere, up the walls, along the ceiling, snaking across the floor, carving a crest of flame and hate into the tower.

    This is his last attack. He is too weakened otherwise. It may be mainly a distraction, but if it traps all of his Enemies in an oven of living flame, then that's great. "La Crima, I leave the rest up to you!" he calls out with a sarcastic two-finger salute. Then he peaces out with what's left of his harvest, and plenty of new wounds to heal. Also, Dark Energy reserves that are nearly empty after Hikawa Shrine and here.

    Why did he ever think this would be easy?

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen looks behind her nervously as she hears Sailor Moon escalating. It wasn't aimed at her, but a tiny lock of the fairy's hair gets caught in the blast. It, for a brief moment, gets inexplicably bright and long before darkness takes over and shortens it back down to it's usual size. It's then that Gretchen decides to fly up closer to the ceiling. Being in combat with a purifier can either go really well for her or really poorly, and the latter is far more likely.

    Ever mindful of Homura, Gretchen notices the black rose flying for her roommate's foot and fires a tiny spray of dark arrows directly at it. Shooting magic arrows at an anti rose ends up not doing much, and the X-Chara makes grumpy noises from behind her mask.

    Everything is happening too fast, and when Zoisite sets everything on fire it catches her by surprise. Gretchen yelps and flies higher... only to hit her masked head against the ceiling. "Oh shoot... um... well if it's this or the flames..."

    There are a lot of innocent people here who are about to get hurt if no one does anything, so Gretchen acts despite the dark nature of her powers. The gateway to her Labyrinth opens wide, and out of it a mist of water (... that is water, right?) comes pouring out. It looks strange and unnatural, and something really weird is happening with it, and those who know Witch Magic by sight can probably tell that this is actually some kind of Chara conjuring magic instead of actual Witch stuff... but it really really really doesn't look safe to drink.

    At least it can help keep magic fire at bay, right?!

    "Um... oh shoot! Try not to let people get burned!" she calls out.

    Maybe her improvised magic sprinkler system will help the normal one do its job?!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
All this cape tanking going on and there's fire, and he's getting his face PURIFIED and it hurts like anything, and there's FIRE AT HE HATES FIRE HEMATITE HATES FIRE SO MUCH AND THERE'S NOTHING--

--out of nowhere, there's a different cape unfurling in between the fire and the Soldier of Mystery, Sailor Moon; and there's a hat that lands on her head over the odangos. A masked boy in the black and tailored version of Kaitou Kamen's white formalwear is pulling off his gloves and he swirls his cape around to drop it over Naru's shoulders and hair, a firebreak. Then he holds Moon's shoulders and murmurs something next to her ear--

-- "Do it again. But do it to the fire. I'll help if you're tired, Sailor Moon."

And then there's a warm golden feeling, light coming from the hands on her shoulders, and a sense of peace and rest and sunlight on a wind-waving grassy meadow, and strength--
...

Hematite yells, YELLS, "HOW DARE YOU--" and seeeeethes, and he doesn't look great. He really doesn't look great. But they're handling the gods damned fire and that-- that JACKASS is helping Moon like that time Koji did it's the dark energy making him angry, it's the dark energy flooding in because he is so jealous he's SO jealous, it's generating itself to fill up the reserves of what he lost when Moon flung purification at him--

"Get out, La Crima, it's time to leave," he snaps out, and swipes up his cape, and he teleports out.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima can hear that. 'Moon Healing Escalation' and she closes her eyes. "Not again..." she mutters as she cowers and it washes over her again and there's that unearthly screeching again as it washes over her and she turns into that shadowy, girl shaped form again as she falls to the ground and hisses.

Hematite says he doesn't need help. Zoistite then leaves everything to her which means...

"Dammit." she sputters as she floats upwards and frowns. That took a lot out of her. Like it did last time.

"Fine, yes!" she sputters and duskports away quickly before any other fire or attacks can come her way.

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Hematite's greatsword takes Klarissa's whole arm with it, and the arm flies across the air with a thud, landing somewhere beyond the audience. Though you would get the impression the Sharpsong Puella hasn't really tried to block it. At least there is no Riventon around to grab it this time.

When her arm regenerates one second after, Klarissa swirls her cape and a ring of 8 swords appears around her. "Our bizarre problems! People being hurt is bizarre!? I will never forgive you Obsidian people, you are the scum of the Earth!" she shouts at Hematite, a volley of swords being directed his way at fast speeds. Unfortunately he duskports before they can reach him.

When the fire starts, Klarissa is still throwing her volley of swords at Hematite, uncaring of the pain she feels. Wait, she can do something about it though, right? At least she thinks Amy said something about it right before she was split. It was Amy, right? Her memories of those last/first moments are so confusing. It doesn't really work at first, but after a while she can feel the pain diminishing, and then she has no problem just standing there as if it didn't even affect her as her regeneration is fast enough to keep up with the burns as soon as they appear.

Sayaka meanwhile is trying to keep herself safe from the torrent of flame, quite literally playing the floor is lava with whatever grip or platform she can find. Ula is following her for it, and she would be rather calm since she is flying well above the level of the flame were it not for the fact Sayaka is in danger.

Luckily, Sayaka soon finds her saviour, a fire estinguisher located at a strategic corner of the room. She wastes no time in spraying it frantically while continuing her dangerous game.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura is... more than a little surprised when Hematite doesn't jump in front of Sailor Moon to block the fire. The reason why hits her as he instead tries to block out the Escalation... which goes poorly and seems to hurt him quite a lot. 'Oh, riiiight,' she thinks to herself. Luckily Sailor Mars seems to be on the case; she chose to go on the offensive rather than the defensive herself, hoping to amplify the effects of the powerful positive energy attack.

    Seriously, she would regret it later if Sailor Moon ends up seriously injured because she, the time tampering support mage decided DPSing was more important. Luckily the 'fight fire with fire' plan works out, and her hold on Zoisite is enough that he can't simply slip away while the magic washes over everything.

    She might even be able to hold on and go for a ride as he starts to levitate away, but Hematite's black rose cuts right through the heel of her boot and pins her to the ground. Soon she has to release her arm from against Zoisite's neck, and then she has to let go altogether as he floats away, one leg stretched painfully down below her before she drops to the ground.

    The ice being aimed for her shield might be a blessing in disguise, and it sparks brightly purple as they ring off of its surface. It's almost as annoying as if she'd got hit, honestly. More magic down the drain, but at least she won't have to explain to Madoka why she has extra holes in her abdomen.

    It takes her several moments of prying to jerk the rose out of the floor. She sees the flames start to pour out of Zoisite, and gives up. Her shield rotates, time freezes, and she sighs while walking calmly through the disaster, walks down a stairwell to the floor below. She lets time resume, taps her foot to count out ten seconds, and then walks back after the blast of fire has finished lighting everything.

    To everyone else it will look like she teleported away, but then back.

    As expected, everything is on fire. Everything. She holds out her shield arm, swings it in a wide arc, and thirty fire extinguishers pour out of it around her. She picks up the first, pulls the pin, and starts hosing down the floors around whatever civilians are still around, tossing it aside and picking up a second one and spraying foam and CO2 all over a wall as flames start to lick up along it towards the ceiling.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru is fully prepared to tank a giant fire attack with a folding chair.. in fact, she is Naru enough that she picked up that chair to get closer.. she might have been aspiring to get a chair attack in...

But there's a giant fire attack! And people teleporting away! And a cape..

Naru twists towards who the heck caped her, half expecting it to be Kaitou, but nope.. it's some new guy who is whispering sweet nothings to Sailor Moon. Like one does in the middle of utter chaos and fire and magical sprinkler system..

Naru and her borrowed cape and Mr. Chair aim to take and provide cover to some unconscious folks until things settle a bit.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Do it to the fire, the stranger says, and Kaitou Kamen has no idea who the stranger is, but he's stepped in to try to save Moon before. And Naru's taken over what he was doing. So he concentrates in turn, stepping in with a sweep of his own cape, providing a segment of wall that the mad half-self-willed flames can't climb - using Gretchen's water as one barrier, the extinguisher-armed Puellae as another, and his shadows and cape as a third. Herding the fire. Keeping it from escaping Moon's reach.

... the little half-smile might look out of place under the circumstances, granted, but everyone has their quirks.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars has fire, and her spiritual powers, and she doesn't know whether either one will be useful here. But she joins that strange Tuxedo Mask by Sailor Moon's side, and channels the power of Mars into her leader. Joining their spirits together along with the strange man in formal wear... And there's another one over there, siphoning away energy from the flames. Maybe, together... They can stop this conflagration before either the flames or the smoke start killing people.

    Some of the Mahou can deal with the fire. Not all can. Time is short, even with magic sprinklers, fire extinguishers, fire-suppressant grenades, shadows herding the flames into one place so that they can be eliminated.

    "You can do this, Sailor Moon. I believe in you." she adds to the affirmations, and means it completely.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Between everyone's efforts, the fire is blocked - without Sailor Moon even having to burn to a crisp again, isn't that great? But that doesn't make everything alright - the wave of Dark Energy that pours out from Hematite throws Sailor Moon back and his scream echoes through the air and into her heart. It makes her think uneasily of her conversation with Kazuo, and her half-hearted though of purifying him by force, if necessary...

But she doesn't have time to worry about him. Not with the other enemy screaming in hatred.

It had been bad enough when Jadeite wanted Naru dead. Bad enough when Lightning Guy hated her personally.

Now this guy wants the city to burn to the ground?

And there's fire - hellish flames pouring like a tidal wave down to the ground and then climbing the walls, snaking along the ceiling, and there's still a studio audience here, an interviewer, not to mention whoever else might have been in one of Tokyo's most famous tourist destinations -

But before she can finish panicking, there's warmth and light at her side, a hat that dips over her head, and a voice that she -

a voice that she loves in her ear.

In the stress of the moment, Sailor Moon doesn't have time to think, to obsfucate. There's only the understanding, intimate and true, that she loves Hematite, who is Darien Shields, who is Mamoru Chiba -

And she loves Tuxedo Mask, too.

And he is here. And he is warmth and light and peace and the swell of strength that pours through her and touches a place inside her that is itself filled with light and in this moment -

In this moment -

For a moment, the gap in the Moon Stick glows with silver light.

And then Mars - Mars too lends her power, and Sailor Moon hears her voice, her support, and more than she feels her energy, her love, her trust and the fire of her spirit, and in the midst of that silver light is a spark of molten red.

Then, there's Fire Extinguishers going off everywhere, spraying foam near and around all the civilians, and Sailor Moon closes her eyes, focuses in on the calm voice urging her onwards -

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

A golden circle carved in light - but this time, rather than the beams of light and silver mist shining forth from the apex of the circle, the entire golden shape carved in the air is a blaze of light, a torrent of silver glitter pouring out.

The light of her attack tears at the Dark Energy infused in the fire, the sparkling dust smothers it, and the light blazes through the windows of the Tower, shining out over the city -

Inside, the fire dies.

Outside, people begin to rise, conscious, if not fully restored.

As soon as the light of the Escalation dies down, Sailor Moon wavers, and sinks to her knees.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    ...And they're not playing nice!

    "No shit!" Amy replies, and then did Hematite just throw a rose through her rocket launcher. Puella Magi seem to be able to reform their weapons *really easily* actually, but she is, nonetheless, distracted for a moment, which Zoisite uses to smack her with AV equipment and send her flying back into the audience to land under a pile of tech. She's far from out of the fight, but she is a bit slow to stand up and push a fallen light off her, groaning in pain as she does so... only to see a WALL OF FIRE coming, her mouth hangs open and she drops right back down into the pile, hoping the fire will mostly go over her--

    Are those fire extinguishers? She hears the sound and the fire around her stops. She lifts her head and forgets to hold her breath as she is suddenly assaulted by the feeling of breathing WRONG. That's not air!

    Her costume changes to the pinkest firefighter outfit you've ever seen. It's not exactly cute by itself, but it being mostly big for the small girl has enough of an effect to count for the magic. Holding the clear facemask to her face she breathes, and is relieved to take a deep breath. Only then does she even think that maybe there was some way to exploit the nature of her body to get through this... but this option is certainly more pleasant. She stands again, looking around and running over to another fire extinguisher, starting to read the instructions on the side and then realizing she can just copy what Homura's doing. She pulls her mask off long enough to shout, "Get some windows open in here once we put the fire out!" The civilians are, after all, laying on the floor, where the heavier CO2 will collect. Amy's not sure how much 30 canisters will actually cause a room-wide problem, but... better safe than very very sorry!

    ...And then the fire is healed out of existence. Huh. AMy looks from Moon to the others. "Is everyone alright?"

Zoisite has posed:
    The flames, spawned not just by Zoisite's own power but by Dark Energy borrowed and forced upon him by that Shadow with Teeth and Burning Eyes that is always watching him from inside his own soul, is subject to the cleansing of darkness by the Moon Stick. The light dispels it, herded into place as it is, and burns away like mist before sunlight.

    The civilians are okay. The people outside across the city begin to awaken. Healing is bestowed upon anyone who has suffered even the slightest injury. There will be questions later, for the authorities to ask.

    It may be chalked up to the worst case of Juuban Flu seen so far, or an EMP wave from space that knocked everyone out, or something like that.

    The human mind can explain away anything. The power to disbelieve is both one of humanity's strongest traits, and greatest weaknesses.

    But for just a few minutes, the Veil was buckling. Everyone was willing to believe in magic.

    It is fitting, then, that this was all caused by the search for the Silver Crystal.

    What else can one call that but a miracle?