870/Calling All Heroes

Calling All Heroes
Date of Scene:	10 December 2023
Location:	The Shed
Synopsis:	The forces of Known Good gather in The Shed to learn about the true threat of the Midnight Tokyo Project. The danger is unveiled, the risks are discussed, and a plan is hatched.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Chiyo Sakai, Kyouka Inai, Amanda Faust, Tadase Hotori, Naru Osaka, Nanoha Takamachi, Kazuo Saitou, Takuto Tsunashi, Koji Silvia, Adora Rainbowfist, Wako Agemaki, Rei Hino, Ikiko Hisakata, Chrono Harlaown, Rashmi Terios, Cho Konishi, Niji Dasshu, Ami Mizuno, Setsuna Meiou, Veronica Perenna, Makoto Kino, Adrien Agreste
Tinyplot:	Midnight Tokyo

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's the weekend, which is one reason so many people could be easily gathered into one place. This fall afternoon, with the weather chill and somber outside, the inside of the Shed feels warm and cozy, in part thanks to the presence of so many. The old-fashioned classroom seems to have expanded in size yet again, because there's enough seating for everyone, between all the chairs and stools, and there are more desks too. A lot of the desks have been moved to the sides of the classroom and are currently covered with all kinds of snacks - from homemade dishes made from high end ingredients to expensive snacks and treats. One of the desks is covered with bottles of Ramune in different flavors and another with bottles of water.

There's a Christmas tree in the room too, with nine sparkling ornaments (and a box, for people to add more). At the front of the room is Usagi Tsukino, fiddling with a pink broach in her hands. One of the chalk boards is next to her, with a large map of Tokyo taped to it - large circles covering different parts of the city have been drawn on it, and four places have golden star pins on them - Meiji Shrine, Asakusa Shrine, Nezu Shrine, and a power plant deeper in the city.

Everyone who is here was either invited by Sailor Moon or Naru directly or by someone who knows Sailor Moon and spread the word.

So some of them might be wondering where on Earth she is.

Which is one reason why, once the Shed door has shut, Usagi Tsukino raises her broach.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

Shining light, ribbons of color that snake over her clohtes, and then Sailor Moon is standing in front of everyone, waving a little sheepish.

"Hey, everyone. Thank you for coming. Most of you already know me - I'm Sailor Moon! I'm also Usagi Tsukino, and I've called you here because of something called the Midnight Tokyo Project. Some of you have heard of it, some of you have fought people over it... and all of you are people who can help protect our city, because it's... bad. Very, very bad. So - enjoy the snacks, and we'll get started, okay?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku was already here as Guardian Daifuku to help set up. Why? Because some of those snacks that she brought were, of course, from her shop. Given her Ojiisan worked and owned the shop she often had very easy access to snacks if she asked even if she wasn't the one that made them herself. She's chosen some that aren't the very obviously recognizable ones that might point back to the shop though. Just plain mochis with red bean or fruit filling. Small snacks that were filling and tasty.

To one side though, with a sign noting 'Do not eat if tainted with Dark Energy! Eat only if you need to heal!' are another selection of goodies. Because even though most everyone that would be here was a Mahou, there's no telling what stage of health or injury anyone may be in at any given moment. All the more reason to at least have SOME healing treats there, just in case someone needed the boost.

Her attention turns toward the front of the room watching Usagi to whom she gives a reassuring smile and a thumbs-up to indicate she was listening, and that Usagi could totally handle this 'talking in front of a huge crowd' thing she was about to do.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka is here, and not in henshin either, because let's be honest, pretty much everyone here already knows exactly who she is. One might assume she would be in charge of this briefing, but that is very much not the case- this is Sailor Moon's show, and she's more than happy to let the girl take the lead. She's just here for moral support, and to show that these endeavors have her full backing. She'll answer any questions put to her, and speak to anyone who wants a word, but otherwise she seems content to hang out over by the windows which look out onto the forest, sitting on one of the desks with her feet up on the chair, looking more like a delinquent student than like a teacher (especially since she's still wearing her sunglasses inside).

    She's also got a snack in each hand. The fanciest, most expensive ones from the table. Hey, a girl's gotta live.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy transformed before showing up at the appointed time with the crowd, waving to those she knows. She absolutely does go to try some of the snacks, first the homemade and a nibble at one of the expensive snacks she's never been able to try before.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase Hotori, of the Radiant Heart Academy Student Council, is here, along with his ever present floating companion Kiseki. He's actually ended up invited separately by both Usagi and Naru - they'd both met him at different points. Right now, his priority is keeping the floating tiny king version of himself that's just over his right shoulder from causing too much of a scene and disrupting things, so he's letting Kiseki direct what snacks he puts on his plate.

    He turns when Usagi transforms and just nods - the Veil has never really been a thing for someone with an everpresent friend and no henshin until recently; it was actually weird when Cho didn't recognize him in henshin. But he's most interested in the information - someone who's not in this room is going to need it.

Naru Osaka has posed:
There's no mistaking who Naru is.. she's just always Naru. She's been fluttering around doing all sorts of set up. Helping get food settled, and getting maps and notes hung such that Usagi can point to them as needed later.

Naru looks at the food table and then she laughs. "Seriously? Purfification candies? I love it!" Because of course there's purification candies.

There's also a thermal pot of coffee available for the caffeine addicted. Naru already has her mug filled with coffee and set on one of the desks.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi has brought cakes. SO MANY CAKES. She just told her family there was a Christmas party happening and she needed cakes and by jolly, they responded. She has white cakes, chocolate cakes, raspberry cakes, if there's a cake, it probably exists in the countless boxes she's brought.

She's here to hear information that is. And Usagi, that girl that hated carrot cake is really... Sailor Moon!? She's glad that a carrot cake is not actually among the options she brought today. She has Raising Heart in her hands- in it's default staff mode-, but isn't in her barrier jacket. "Hello everyone, I'm Nanoha Takamachi!" just. Nanoha Takamachi.

"And this is Raising Heart, my intelligent device." she says. < Greetings. > goes Raising Heart. "Oh and the ferret on my shoulder is Yuuno." Yuuno waves his paw and goes. "Hello, too." he says.

Nanoha Takamachi then listens, tapping Raising Heart in a palm idly.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Is it possible for someone dressed almost entirely in white to lurk? No? Kaitou Kamen isn't precisely trying. He's placed himself at the best combination of 'out of the way' and 'available if Naru needs anything' he can manage, leaned against a desk (not Naru's mug's) rather than actually seated on anything. Capes make sitting awkward. Not that everything about this meeting isn't awkward for him, but he's lucky enough that most people don't have to know that yet, and it's even hypothetically possible it might stay that way.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
The minute Takuto's in the Shed, he's out of the Shed again, doing the whole 'walk around the outside going ??? and then looking inside' thing, and when he finally makes his way back in he has +_+ eyes because, "Wako-chan," he says urgently in a low voice, gripping her arm and bending down, "this is SO COOL."

And then he sees the snacks, and his +_+ face intensifies.

And then he waits for the girl who set up the sleepover party to finish setting up the meeting, wow she's a good organizer, and he has a plate full of goodies and is sitting crosslegged on top of a desk before the Sailor Moon reveal comes out, and he goes from +_+ to @_@ and lifts up a hand with mochi in it. "And hi, I'm Takuto Tsunashi, also the Ginga Bishounen," he announces cheerfully with absolutely no shame. Immediately thereafter there is mochi in his mouth, he won't be taking questions.

Koji Silvia has posed:
There is a new (ish) face or anyone here, a half-masked individual in the kind of mix of armor and cloth that one has come expect with a Device User. The ninja-styled form is eating a piece of karaage THROUGH the mask being worn, and once Moon finishes speaking up and introducing herself, he holds up his left hand and a kunai-like knife with a gem in the blade gives off a faint gleam...

    <PHANTOM.>

Above the group and on the wall, like having a high-quality screen projector in the room, the words 'Midnight Tokyo Project' appear floating an inch in front of it, seemingly out of nowhere. Reaching down, the 'newcomer' picks up a ramune off a chair next to him and sips from it.

The White form of Kaitou Kamen gets a nod as he leans on the wall in the space between the door and the buffet table, but not in the way of the Christmas Tree.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
She-Ra, The Princess of Power is there, too. She's hard to miss. She's seated, due to being EIGHT FEET TALL. She sits on the floor, legs crossed and back against the wall. Her huge sword lays across her lap as she watches the crowd and listens quietly. Even indoors, her long blonde hair seems to rustle and wave a bit around her, like there was some phantom wind.

Seated beside her, leaning up against her skirt...is a homemade and very well-done plush of a certain angry catgirl. It looks adorable, and very soft. Every now and again She-Ra reaches down to adjust it a bit, before turning back.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Purification candy sounds amazing," Wako opines in agreement with Naru. She gives the candies with their sign a regretful little sidelong look, like she'd really like to try one but has no excuse to... and goes on heaping a plate with an improbably large assortment of other treats before she makes her way over to perch on the edge of the same desk that Takuto is sitting on. Her plate gets set carefully next to his, which will no doubt give her a convenient excuse to raid both as the meeting progresses.

"It's so cool," she says, grinning over at Takuto, before glancing around the room again. "...are we all doing self-introductions?" she wonders. "Because with this many people I think that could take a while..."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei shakes her head. This isn't the environment she thought they were going to be having this discussion in, but she definitely doesn't want all these people at the shrine either. And allegedly everyone here is trustworthy. So, after Usagi becomes Sailor Moon, Rei Hino becomes Sailor Mars a moment later.

    "Mars Power, Make Up!" she calls out as she raises her henshin pen. Ribbons of fire that encircle her, burning and replacing instantly as they wash over her, and bam. The Senshi of Fire stands among them. She has probably not met the overwhelming majority of the people here, since she doesn't go to the same school, but... Well... Maybe this is a chance to change that.

    "I'm Sailor Mars. Sailor Moon is the leader of the Sailor Senshi." she gestures towards her in an introductory fashion.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The large blonde glances up from adjusting the plushy and clears her throat. "Excuse me for sitting. Don't wanna hit my head. I'm She-Ra, the Princess of Power. It's...nice to meet all of you." She flashes a big smile, glancing about at everyone, and she raises a hand to wave before she reaches up to adjust her tiara a bit.

For the few she's met before she flashes that warm smile and offers a nod.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
It's been a hectic season for Ikiko Hisakata, helping the stray dogs of Tokyo get ready for the winter months and checking up on them. Even her nighttime patrols as Cute Wolf Tsukiko had been scaled back so she could spend more time helping the strays while still getting her schoolwork done -- and still get enough sleep!

But when Usagi had told her about the planned meeting, Ikiko knew that this was something she'd need to make time for. After all, if there's a threat to Tokyo as a whole, it's best to be informed enough to know what's going on, and coordinated enough to face it together.

The wolfgirl had transformed en route to the Shed, having just finished helping another group of strays. So, during these introductions, Tsukiko is tucking the various bags and bowls into some of the cubbies, with added signs of 'no, these are not snacks' attached for good measure.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown would arrive with Rashmi, of course. In full barrier jacket. And they'd arrive in style. Namely, they'd teleport in. Yes, it was an entrance. But Rashmi also needed the experience with doing such magic. While it was draining and took quite a while to ready, it also allowed them avoid being traced to their arrival destination.

... That and it was 'cool', so he wanted to. Don't judge.

Of course, he was once again in full TSAB getup and upon arrival... would clear his throat before holding up his right hand, with the holographic ID card. "Time space administrative bureau enforcer, Chrono Harlaown." Because who needed secret identities, amirite? Also, holographic ID card allowed him to say he introduced himself and nobody had any reason to NOT know who he was.

Of course, they weren't needed yet, so he'd take Rashmi off to the refreshment table... To grab an orange ramune and a piece of raspberry cake. "Nano-chan," he said, giving her a small acknowledging nod, as well as one to Naru. "Osaka-san." Well, only a few people here were currently deemed as temporary TSAB agents. He had to make sure to greet them, at least. He'd nod and greet others, but they were his crew. You had to greet your crew by name.

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Plushy Catra, and She-Ra paying enough attention to keep adjusting its position.
    "Uhh... that's not really her, right?" Amy asks, before stuffing a snack in her mouth.

    
> Hello, too
    Amy startles, "You talk!?" she replies, through a mouthful of snack and some crumbs fall out of her mouth onto the floor.

    "Umm... uhh..." She swallows her food. "I'm Amy-- short for Amanda Faust. Puella Magi. Nice to meet you." She holds out a hand to shake... and then extends her index finger for Yuuno's paws to shake.

    She repeats the offer of handshake and 'nice to meet you' to everyone else new.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Hi Chrono." Naru smiles warmly as they are all in the mingle and chatting stage of all of this. She leans back a little to comment to Kaitou "I am trying not to think about the fact that I'm pretty sure the room keeps changing in size as we shove more and more people in here. I figured we'd just be crowded."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku glances over toward Naru and Wako's exclamations to offer a grin in turn. "It's my specialty. They don't just purify, they also heal," she explains with a little laugh.

The long hammer she usually carries with her is currently leaned up against the wall behind that stash of purification sweets so that she's not accidentally swinging it around and nearly hitting anyone. It was a crowded Shed today, even if it seemed to have adapted a bit to try to handle everyone here.

Ah, but then some start to make introductions. She looks around a moment, eyebrows drawn together before exhaling a puff of breath. Not really the proper time given the seriousness of the situation. But maybe it wouldn't hurt to give a quick remark? Just a quick one.

Lightly clearing her throat she speaks up, "I'm Culinary Guardian Daifuku, or just Guardian Daifuku." It was a long name darnit. "If anyone is injured or lacking energy please try the snacks over here. Just be warned if you have any dark energy in you, it *will* hurt. At least until it's purified you. So save that for later, if that's the case, and we can focus on Sailor Moon's meeting first," she suggests.

When 'Phantom' speaks up she nods toward him with a smile, relieved to see her friend here too. Next to that tall, white haired guy who was wearing a cape. She tries not to stare. Much.

Aaaah why did there have to be so many cute guys here too!?

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Since other people are doing quick introduction, Tadase passes Kiseki a bit of cookie and introduces hisself as well. "Tadase Hotori, Student Council." he pauses. "Also Platinum Royale." Because clearly that's the less important part of the who he is here. Kiseki taps him on the shoulder. "Right, and this is my Guardian Chara, Kiseki." he says as the little King puts his hands on his hips and stands dramatically.

Adora Rainbowfist has posed:
The seated warrior glances at Amy and laughs, shaking her head. "No no. Nothing like that. I ran into her last night and we were talking, when this Magical Girl showed up...all Christmas'd out. She gave me this. She gave Catra something too, but she got all flustered and hid it away before thanking her. It was...a good moment."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Many aspects of the teleport being unfamiliar to Rashmi, the exercise left her a bit spinny-eyed after they land, and the redhead wobbles through the door to the Shed in a manner less than dignified. But a few moments and a shake of the head are all she needs to regain her senses, at which point Chrono's gotten his introductions out of the way. Lifting a hand and wiggling her fingers, she smiles to those -- startlingly numerous -- that she knows, and follows him up with "Rashmi Terios, Grade 10, good to meet all of you!"

No, she did not bring snacks from the Korma, if only on the theory that enough people would show up that asking for help making even *part* of the table's snack complement would shut the kitchen down for too long.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi would... be there near Tadase! In the background! But she'd smile and quickly introduce herself along with him. "Cho Konishi, student council. I'm also, uhhhh. Cure Wukong." she.... seemed to have a stuffy in her arms. That she was holding in a DEATH GRIP. "And this is Wuwu. He is not allowed more than two feet from me this evening because *no*," she said. More for Wuwu than her.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Geode Girl Loyalty is also here, and while not quite as hard to miss as She-Ra, her hair manages to still elicit a few glances. She's standing near she-ra eating a cookie. All of this, all of these people, most of them are new to her and likewise, but she's at least interested in what's going on, in learning about the bigger world of jerks and people who punch them until they stop doing jerk things.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto shifts a little bit and unfolds his legs, making room for Wako and Wako's plate, but he definitely keeps his plate in his own hands right now. Just for now! He's not tense, he's got a warm and friendly expression on his face, but he concentrates on eating and on watching everyone else and listening. Behavior that might surprise Koji, and possibly Kyouka, and honestly possibly a few people -- but he's waiting for the meeting to actually start.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Yuuno, on Nanoha's shoulder, shakes the finger extended out to Amy. "Yes, I talk. I'm not really a ferret."

Nanoha explains. "He's just a boy pretending to be a ferret because that's easier to explain to my parents." she says with a firm nod.

Before looking back towards Sailor Moon!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
On the desk next to Sailor Moon is a plate of snacks - candies and balls of cheese on sticks and little cubes of grilled meat and a rice ball and a slice of cake raspberry cake from Midori-ya. As people introduce themselves she nods along, eating her little cubes of grilled meats. When the words MIDNIGHT TOKYO PROJECT start floating in front of the blank wall, she stiffles a giggle and shoots a thumbs up Phantom's way.

This is serious business, but it's nice to have everyone here. It's nice to have this much support, and it's also nice to have a little levity before she makes everything... bad. Once everyone is more or less done introducing themselves, she pulls out a little extendable stick pointer and gestures to the worlds floating above the wall

"The first thing you should all know is the who, and the what, I think. The who is... a lot simpler than the what. The enemies making all this happen are from the Dark Kingdom, and as far as we can tell... they want to rule the world, even if that means destroying it. Their leader is a woman named Beryl - and a long, long time ago, she did succeed in destroying... everything. She and the Dark Kingdom were stopped, but they're back now. Their members as far as we know are Hematite, Jadeite, Nephrite, and... another guy who's name probably ends in -ite?"

She pauses for a second, considering that she really should have asked Hemachan or Kazuo-kun about that, then shrugs.

"The what is..a lot more complicated. Inai-sensei-" and she points to where the guidance counselor stands - "Reached out a few months ago to a small group of us because she'd discovered - well. A plot that could end up destroying Tokyo and maybe even the entire world as we know it. That plot - the Midnight Tokyo Project, of course!"

She'll let that sit for a second, but hurriedly continue before anyone could erupt in concerns or comments.

"How are they doing that? Well! We wanted to know that too, and all the materials Inai-sensei had uncovered were either in code or in languages we didn't know, or all messed up. We had basic details - that they wanted to merge our world with the Dusk Zone, which is like, the negaverse, just consider it that - but we didn't know how they were going to do it. What we had was this map -" and she taps the map with her pointer - "And a bunch of code. Over the last few weeks especially, thanks to Naru-chan, Chrono-kun, and Rashmi-chan, we've been able to crack that code, translate the documents, and figure out what the plan really is and how it will work and if it will destroy the world or not."

Another little pause, and then Sailor Moon blinks and hurriedly says - "It's probably not going to utterly destroy the world. But if it succeeds, it will definitely make it so we probably never win another fight ever again and we all die! Hahaha... ha... but we can stop it."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami Mizuno is seated sideways in a chair pressed against the back wall making use of one of the desks that thankfully didn't have any food on it. Or at least not much. There's a neatly placed napkin with what appears to be a simple sandwich ontop, and a bottle of water next to it. The most important thing on the desktop is her laptop which she's even now busily typing away on without glancing up.

Pausing, Ami reaches into the pocket of her sweater to pull out her pen which she holds up stating, "Mercury Power, Makeup!"

Just as the other Sailor Scouts had changed, so does she, only to lower her hands back to her laptop. "I'm Sailor Mercury. Please don't interrupt me, I'm coalating data," she explains with her gaze never once pulling away from the glow of the computer screen.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Just after Chrono and Rashmi teleport in, the door opens to admit Sailor Pluto, Garnet Rod in hand and absently rubbing her face, "...apologies. My coffee machine broke, so getting going was a bit harder than I really care to admit this morning."

She quickly brings her hand to her mouth to cover an enormous yawn, then, as if drawn by an invisible force, her eyes light on Naru's coffeepot.

At which point several quick steps bring her straightaway to get a mug of the lifegiving substance.

After adding enough cream and sugar to stand the spoon up in, she takes a sip and murmurs just loud enough for anyone really close to her to hear, "...it is by will alone that I set my mind in motion...it is by the caffeine of coffee that the thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning...it it is by will alone that I set my mind in motion."

The Litany of Caffeine recited, she snags a few snacks from the other offerings and turns to stand over near Sailor Mercury.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Weaving through the technicolor mob toward the buffet table, Rashmi collects a melon ramune, a sliver of Midori-ya black-forest cake, a strawberry-jam mochi, and an absolutely irresistible-looking piece of mille-feuille. She-Ra, Pluto, and Daifuku all get companionable nods... And then Usagi begins to speak.

At the absolute assurance that the plan won't kill the world, Rashmi tilts her head, raising a hand. "Um... Question? How would that happen, that we'd never win again?"

Because let's be honest, establishing the stakes is a good idea.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica has come here too. She Is currently in her civilian form, since Usagi had told her the Shed is a safe place. She says hi to acquaintances and friends (introducing herself as her magical identity if necessary) before staying to the side to listen to Usagi.

She doesn't say anything in particular, since she had already been debriefed on this part by Wako and Usagi combined, just listens intently to absorb everything.

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Takuto avoids eating anything crunchy while Sailor Moon is talking, but he's still silently taking in information; he glances at Rashmi as she asks her question, and then he asks after swallowing a big bite and grimacing with his hand on his chest because now it's going down too slow, "And is it only the Dark Kingdom we wouldn't win against?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
With a long-suffering sigh emitting from under the cloth mouth-covering, the boy with the long black hair pushes off the wall and then bows politely to everyone, "Sorry to not properly introduce myself. I go by Hanzo. There are people here who know my real identity, but I prefer not to give it out. I am a friend of Sailor Moon here, and am here at her invite."

He then takes the hand with the blade on the inside of his forearm and points it at the map on the wall, followed by clapping his hands together and changing their position like he's doing some style of Mudra... and the image changes. 'Midnight Tokyo Project' splinters and reshapes into a map of Tokyo, all the districts that are known marked with their own names in both Japanese and English. Then a large and sparkling but faint blacklight circle appears on the map crossing over several districts, followed by twelve smaller glowing red circles that begin to throb, followed by darker red dots the names of shrines appear over them. Lastly is a lightning bolt in sparking gold-yellow that appears over and notes 'Power Station'.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Zoisite." Naru provides the missing shittenou name for Sailor Moon. "That's the one that you're missing from that list."

Naru lifts her coffee cup in salute to Pluto, the fellow caffeine addict in the place.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako quiets as Sailor Moon begins her explanation, focused on listening and nomming on a piece of cake. None of this initial information seems especially new to her - she lifts a hand in a tiny wave of acknowledgement to Kyouka when the guidance counselor is name-checked, and her eyes track briefly to Rashmi when she asks her question, then back to Sailor Moon to await the answer. When Takuto grimaces, she reaches out without looking to pat him on the back like that'll help.

Also, there is a little yellow fox scampering around the room. He's mainly going back and forth between Hanzo and Kaitou Kamen at intervals, depending on which of them seems more like to sneak him some food at the moment.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Geode Girl Loyalty raises her hand like a student, and then realizes nobody else is doing that and sheepishly puts it down. Maybe nobody noticed. "Yeah, I mean. Most of these dorks couldn't plan their way out of a paper bag. Are you sure that they could do something that would actually work, or are we just trying to stop them in case it does work? Cause I'm okay with either - I don't mind kicking evil's butt - but how likely is it that it actually even works the way they want to?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
> He's just a boy pretending to be a ferret because that's easier to explain to my parents.
    Amy nods along, and then furrows her brow in thought as she tries to figure out... why

    Pluto is here! Amy waves, "Oh, long time no see!"

    And then her focus is drawn by Sailor Moon giving the presentation.

    She raises a hand. "Why, exactly, is the plan going to result in that? Are they stronger in the Dusk Zone, or are we unable to fight there? What about the civilians?

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars pauses, and says, "Wasn't the Nezu Shrine attacked by another one of those '-ites'?" She nods towards Naru in agreement. "That girl with the guns at the tower yesterday yelled the name of the blonde who attacked Hikawa Shrine. 'Zoisite'. Apparently he and Hematite are the two strongest of the Shitennou... Or Dark Generals... Whatever they're called." There was a lot going on, so she's not surprised if people missed that. Especially with the sound of gunfire indoors echoing in their ears.

    "I kind of feel like we got off easy that they didn't stick around to fight. And with La Crima there too..."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
There is a quiet exhale from Kaitou Kamen not entirely unlike Hanzo's sigh, and then the next time the fox scampers past him, he reaches out, scoops the fox up in a gentle and apparently practiced arm, and goes to raid the snack table for him, keeping a sharp eye out for Non Fox Compatible foodbits. If nothing else, he can keep Hanzo from being distracted while providing visual aids.

He does eye Sailor Pluto sidelong once or twice. But that may only be because she's one of the people in the room at his eye level.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gave a soft sigh and nodded to Rashmi. "If such a plan did succeed, it likely would doom this world. At the very least, it would force us to fight a very tilted battle that would result in countless losses on our side. Though, fortunately... from what I've seen? Such a plan would be incredibly difficult to pull off and far, far easier to disrupt than it is to create. So long as we're vigilent."

"As for why it would be a difficult battle if it were to happen... the dusk zone is dangerous to people who don't use dark energy. It'd be a force multiplier, they'd become stronger, we'd become weaker. Not to mention the possibility of countless deaths from any 'mishaps' that could occur, catching who knows how many innocent civilians in its wake."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
"You do realize they have the benefit of numbers, too. If I were trying to do something that everyone would want to stop, I'd throw out a bunch of distractions to keep the people that might stop me busy," Guardian Daifuku pipes up with. "Like getting a crowd of customers in a busy shop to distract the workers while someone else is stealing."

Pausing she clears her throat to add, "What I mean is... Just because they seem dumb, doesn't mean that's not the whole point, right?"

Makoto Kino has posed:
"They were picking a fight at Meiji Shrine." Sailor Jupiter has been mainly occupied with keeping the snack tables in order and refreshed, making sure everyone gets something if they want, but she speaks up in answer to Sailor Mars' comment. "I mean, I don't know a lot about all of this stuff, but I do know what picking a fight looks like. Which means.... they probably left because they got what they wanted out of it." She makes a face, clearly not pleased about that thought.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako lifts her head when Sailor Mars mentions Nezu Shrine. Hastily swallowing a bite of cake, she nods. "Pyrite," she puts in. "Pyrite was the one at Nezu... she's a ghost. I'm positive it was more of the same stuff. The attack at the art gallery, too." As she says it, she's looking over the projected map to see if the gallery was one of the marked locations or not.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi frowns a little. "This...sounds serious..." she says softly.

Yuuno nods and agrees. Raising Heart chimes in worriedly with a little ping and Nanoha rubs the top of Raising Heart consolingly as she listens to people ask good questions. She has none of her own, thusly, and listens intently.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Zoisite," Sailor Moon notes, nodding at Naru, Wako, and Sailor Mars' additions - "And Pyrite, too, though she's... indisposed right now."

That's a right way to put went into a death shrine that might be full of death! Ahaha...ha...

"Fantastic questions everyone and I am so glad you asked, Rashmi-chan, Amy-chan, and um - Rainbow and Wings-chan, I'm sorry I don't know your name! I don't want to scare anyone, except that we really should be scared. Chrono-kun has explained how the Dusk Zone is dangerous - it's a negaverse where Dark Energy is stronger and we're weaker, and, acccording to the notes we found, it's almost like poison to us - and, well, to everyone else, too. Civilians who end up there will almost all die. And if we stay there for too long... most of us will probably end up sick, or weak, or if we can handle Dark Energy - then we're tainted by Dark Energy, and we're not doing great then, either."

She takes a deep breath and smiles again at Hanzo's introduction, and at the large map that appears before everyone's eyes. The strangest part for everyone will likely be that there's a whole section of Juuban that none of them have ever really noticed... but it's clearly represented, nonetheless. The map lines here seem older, because they are - Usagi and Naru and Luna had had to dig through old, old map records of Tokyo to find the last time anyone even remembered that it existed. It is, of course, The Forgotten District.

With her extended pointer stick, she waves at the map. "The goal they have is to make a city in the Dusk Zone, a place where they're more powerful and we're more weak, and to make it mirror a part of Tokyo. To do that, they have to complete a lot of steps - our hope is to stop them at this first major section of the plan, where they get the power for their Dark City, where they would have the home advantage, and where they could use the magic binding our world to the Dusk Zone to kind of, flip the script on us, and make us fight them there. This map shows all the potential places they could attack - each one of these twelve circles is covering an area where a target could be picked."

There's a large portion of the city covered by those circles. An intimidatingly large amount of city is represented.

"The red dots are the three places I know Nephrite - who's in charge of this plan - planned to attack to make. The Lightning bolt is a power plant they attacked too. Hanzo-kun, could you please add a paint brush here, for the art gallery?" She jabs at the location on the map.

"The power station was the first place they attacked. This is so, when the ritual is complete, they could make a magic copy of the power grid, and turn the lights on all at once, in one go. Power to Dark City."

She looks exasperated, and explains why in a second. "Apparently, they planted youma there too, because they could send them anywhere through the city through the power grid."

How fun!

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars pauses and frowns when the name of the responsible party is mentioned. 'Pyrite'. Of course it would be Hematite's sister. She feels for the ghost girl, and wants to help her, but... The people who are still alive take priority over the dead right now. Even if she watched Himeko walk into a void to try to bring them back the Moon Princess, and did not come back out. Himeko and Pyrite, in Rei's mind, are basically two different people. So... She's not going to badmouth either one.

    She'll try to talk down the little ghost if it comes to it, but her hope is that Pyrite being their enemy is something they are done with.

    "I'm sorry I didn't make it to the power station. Maybe if I had, we could have stopped them in time."

Koji Silvia has posed:
Moving forward, the ninja-aspected boy goes to stand next to Moon.

Addressing the group, Hanzo says, "Something that you all need to keep in mind. When you are out there responding to any threat? We have to act like we do not know this information that Sailor Moon is giving us. Right now, we look like a scattered mob of random heroes trying to stop things that we have not connected together. The longer we can make them believe that we're clueless to the overall plan... the better our chances will be to stop this from happening, or counter it if they succeed."

He goes on, taking out a slightly beaten up phone that looks a couple generations old, "I recommend everyone ere obtain a second phone, on a cheap monthly text plan if you haven't already. Use this JUST for communications between us. This way, we can let each other know if we spot something, or we need help. There is going to come a point where being out there alone will get you worse than just beaten up, trust me on this. While a lot of us want to stop this... you need to all think of your safety first. If it's too much... get out. Everyone else here will understand."

"We Device-carriers... Like Nanoha and myself... we have an edge. We can communicate with each other directly. If you want something passed on and don't trust a phone, come see one of us. We can make sure the message gets passed along to the person it needs to."

He then stops, and adds with a small shrug, "If you don't mind, Nanoha-chan, that is."

As he moves back to the buffet table, passing by Kaitou Kamen to give Mr. Vice President a scritch, he adds over his shoulder, "It's alright to be worried, even scared. This... is a lot. But together we're all stronger than we, and the other size, has yet to realize."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase mentally 'chews' on all of this. "Well, it's obviously better that you share this with all of us than you didn't, for sure." he begins. "But other than continuing to do what we're already doing... how can we make sure we have the best chance possible of stopping it? It's one thing for us, but if they're gonna swap the City with the Dusk zone... I worry about the nonmagic people more."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kaitou Kamen takes advantage of Hanzo's pause by him to speak up in his wake: not loud, but calm, certain. "Don't worry about what you couldn't do, or didn't do," he says, inclining his head to Sailor Mars. "None of us can be everywhere. And if only people who'd been perfect could help, this room would be empty."

Niji Dasshu has posed:
For Loyalty's part she replies to Sailor Moon, "I'm... geode girl Loyalty." she says with the half-mumbled discomfort of someone who did not pick and does not like her henshin name. "But you can call me Loyalty, or Rainbow. Either/or." she says. Please don't use the 'whole thing' she thinks.

    "I'm not scared, I'm just trying to figure out who's butt I need to kick to make this not a thing."

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi takes in more information. Raising Heart may be recording this for later, for her own perusal later. She looks over to Hanzo and shakes her head. "I don't mind at all." she says softly, as Yuuno nods along again.

"Yeah. My barrier jacket protects me in places like that, but..momma...poppa..." she says worriedly. They're not magic. Neither is her brother and sister.

"Right so. This stuff is secret." she says. "Shhhhhh." she goes to Yuuno. Yuuno rolls his eyes.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"If you struggle with contacting people.. I think everyone in this room has my contact information." Naru looks out over the packed room. "And if you don't, I'll give it to you after we're all done talking. You can always ping me and check in, or ask questions and I'll do my best to help coordinate who needs to go where with whom."

Naru is, after all, always Naru.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
...Those are all good reasons to want to stop this.

Nodding along, Rashmi sips from her drink for a moment, leaning against a desk and frowning in thought.

<< Note to self, >> she thinks to herself... and Nicomachea... and S2U, because might as well loop Chrono on this thought, << How would Barriers interact with this Dusk Zone? Worth pursuing when there's a way to be there safely... >>

Aloud, however, she lifts her head and addresses Koji; "I'm *always* happy to pass along messages, too. Also, remember that the capital-E Enemy is about as diverse as we are. Some of them seem pretty hapless and small-scale, but, there's enough of them that it won't follow for all of the enemy. The people that Sailor Moon and her friends are talking about, they're pretty super scary when they need to be."

Lacing her fingers through Chrono's, she purses her lips in thought. "So okay... I see a couple circles on the map that don't have stars? Is that guesses basid on what was in the books?"

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica reacts to the mention of Pyrite too, but in an opposite direction to Mars. "I have talked with Pyrite when she appeared during the attack at Meiji. Whatever happened at Nezu, she isn't really interested in taking part in that plan anymore, and agreed to stay out of it when I asked her to."

Then there is also the aspect regarding the circles. Veronica speaks up there. "The important thing to note about those circles is they want us to fight there as part of their plan to gather energy. It's imperative we find a way to draw the fight away from those circles."

She doesn't really need to buy a second phone. Get a monthly plan on it, yes, but the Hematite foundation has already given her that opportunity.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown didn't really have a lot to say at the moment, but he did shake his head at that. << The barriers don't interact with the dusk zone. It's a lot like trying to make a barrier inside a witch's labyrinth. Creating a dimensional zone inside a dimensional zone likely creates a rather negative chain reaction, if anything happens at all. >>

He did give her hand a little squeeze, though. She was coming up with ideas, which was always good.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Very, very good question, Tadase-kun! I didn't bring everyone together to share nothing but bad news. I brought you all here because... we're running out of time to stop phase one, and I need your help. All of you. They have until the end of next week to meet their deadline if they want this ritual to work - otherwise, their window of opportunity closes, and this part of the plan is off, until it opens again."

She bows, not so much deferential but definitely more than just polite, and when she rises, she points at the map again. "Like Hanzo-kun said, right now our big advantage is they don't know how much we know. They know we know something, but they don't know that we have... most of their plan. They need to plant a magic sign called a glyph at at least five points in Tokyo, to complete the ritual that will copy the power grid. This map came directly from Nephrite, Rashmi-chan - from information Inai-san got ahold, and the notes we have confirm that they couldn't just move these circles. Every one of these circles is over a leyline - a line of magical energy in the city, and all twelve of these points cover areas where they could pick a target. These three locations - Nezu Shrine, Asakusa Shrine, and Meiji Shrine - are places Nephrite wrote down in his notes and attacked."

She jabs at the red circle that covers the land Hikawa Shrine rests in. "Jupiter-chan is right. They were picking a fight at Meiji Temple. And earlier this week, Zoisite attacked Hikawa Shrine, which isn't in the notes, but is in this circle right here. Nephrite used a Dark Energy blast when he foguht us, and Zoisite used Dark Energy to try and make all the civilians at Hikawa Shrine fight too, for the same reason. And worst of all? Last night, Zoisite attacked Clover Tower, which is in this circle and used an attack full of Dark Fire to burn a glyph there."

That's five locations. Didn't she say they only needed five locations...

"That probably should have been the end of everything. That's five, right?" But she turns away from the map, to look at everyone, and her eyes shine with hope.

"But they didn't succeed! They didn't succeed at Hikawa Shrine!"

She points out across the room to Naru and then Kaitou Kamen. "These two are our on the ground investigation team. After every fight at a Shrine, they've been going in to check it out, and they've discovered that at the other three shrines, there's a darkness there, where they planted the glyph. Except at Hikawa Shrine, where we fought Zoisite off and purified the ground. They only have four. There are eight locations left, and we don't know their last target, but we have all of our brains here, to figure out where they're going to attack next... and to decide who can go in and purify the places they've already hit."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Sailor Pluto stares at the map, frowning. She then shakes her head, sighs and mutters, "...oh, what I wouldn't give for us to have a sealing expert available. We could screw up this ritual in SOOOOO many ways."

Naru Osaka has posed:
There's a rueful look to Pluto and Naru nods. "Right? We'll have to work on that for the next apocolypse." She says, as if this isn't going to be the last.

Cause of course its not. This is just the current one.

"And honestly, if we can't come up with where and when for the next attack, then we need to arrange for people to keep an eye on all the possible spots so that we don't get surprised." Naru points out, as she drinks more coffee.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
After Sailor Moon finishes this part of her explanation - specifically, after she talks about figuring out where the next attacks might happen and how to purify the places they've already hit - Wako sits up a little straighter and raises a hand for attention.

"Purification is one of my main abilities," she says, with the slightest hint of an apologetic tone for telling Sailor Moon something she already knows for the benefit of the rest of the room. "If it's cleansing the places they've already compromised, that's something I can definitely help with. I just might need someone who can point me at where they've put their glyph, since... I don't know if I can make a shield big enough to cover the whole area it could be in." She flashes a quick, rueful smile. "I haven't exactly needed to try that yet."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Putting his plate down, finally, Takuto crosses his arms over his stomach and looks like he may have some regrets, face a little flushed from all the sugar at once. Should have gone for karaage.

He waits for Wako to finish speaking, then asks, "What's the shape they need to be in? I mean, what's the pattern that's supposed to be formed? Isn't this sort of thing usually a giant star? If you know the shape, then you can look at the areas that are left and see which falls into the right place, right?"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
There's just a trace of a smile on Kaitou Kamen's face at Sailor Pluto's mutter. All right, they have at least one other thing in common besides being tall.

Then there's something he can address more directly. "Osaka-san and I can give you specific locations," Kaitou Kamen says to Wako. "The trick is that they've tended to hide their - glyphs - inside physical objects that shouldn't be disturbed. For example, inside a pillar that's part of the shrine architecture, or underground." He half-bows toward her. "If you can find a way to envelop those without destroying the area, it would be ideal."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Squeezing Chrono's hand with an internal sigh, Rashmi privately reminds herself that ideas don't always work the first time, and that's why you keep coming up with them. With a big enough wall and enough hurled noodles, something is bound to stick.

...Which is when Takuto speaks up, and her eyebrows rise in appreciation. "...That's a good question, actually. Also, is every glyph the same one, when it gets burned in? Because if so, that might be a clue... or we can check the glyphs against the Moonspeak files to look for similarities?"

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku speaks up but only hesitantly so, "My purification is unfortunately limited to what sweets I can make at this point in time. Though I'm working on a way to do it otherwise." If she could just incorporate it into her flames, perhaps...

A glance toward Wako with a look of relief that another had such an ability. That would definitely help. "But if need be I can supply people with a healing sweet in advance so that those who are in this fight can recover quicker." It's an idea at least.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako looks to Kaitou Kamen when he addresses her, brows lifting attentively. A quick glance tracks Takuto's question and Rashmi's follow-up, then she looks back to the tall boy in white and smiles. "That shouldn't be a problem!" she assures him cheerfully. "Even if it's something too big for me to get a shield around, anything not magical that gets damaged in Zero Time should be back to normal when I bring down the barrier. So the only thing to worry about is if there's magic in place we don't want to mess with."

Koji Silvia has posed:
After examining this and the information provided, Hanzo says, "We need more than this. More than just to counter the last mark, or purify the marks already there... then it's just us playing the world's biggest live-action MOBA or PvP game. They attack, we defend, they corrupt, we purify. Eventually they'll get tired of the cat and mouse, and then just hit 5 places at once, and we may not be able to stop them all."

Standing back, he takes a breath and then taps his finger on his mask...

"Japan is rife with magical artifacts and places of natural power. Any temple is supposed to be a place of significance, or are made to hold something. Things of legend, or at least that's always been my understanding. If we can find something in each of these zones of influence and somehow supercharge it with magical energy... well... positive magical energy... we might be able to strengthen the border between us and this Dusk Zone place."

He picks up a small bag of cheese puffs off the table and rips it open, going back and pausing to give the little fox his share before moving forwards and pointing with another curvy bit, "I also think Takuto is right that... the formation has to match a formula, and so does the symbols. That's what any good light novel writer would do... so we should be looking at what areas would complete the seal for them, based on what the already have.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi says. "I know how to seal dangerous artifacts but that's it. I dunno if that's the same as purification..." she looks to Yuuno, who says. "Device Sealing is not the same as purification, no." he advises. Nanoha Takamachi says. "Well I'm no help there, then. But. If you need someone to watch your back while you do it, I'm available!" she says with a firm smile.

"Well that's good they didn't get one then, right?" she asks. "But won't that mean they'll have to just try again?" she wonders aloud.

"Wait, healing sweets!? I want healing sweets!" she says.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Then, perhaps as a bit of a backhanded rub on Takuto, Hanzo holds out the bag of cheese puffs to him to take one...

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Girlfriend intercept! Wako snakes a hand in between Hanzo and Takuto to snag a cheese puff from the bag, adopting a beaming smile. "Thank you!" *Nom.*

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Can confirm," Rashmi speaks up after Nanoha. "If you want bad guys to reconsider attacking you in a hurry, Nanoha-chan is the best reason I can think of."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto looks over at Rashmi and Chrono, "Oh, Rashmi-chan...were you and Chrono able to work anything useful out of the Clavica Salomonis de Secretis I loaned you? If not, let Osaka-san borrow it. I dunno if it'll do any good for her, but it's worth a look."

Adrien Agreste has posed:
The Shed door opens quietly to admit another person. The place was crowded enough it was fairly easy for the cat-eared blonde in all black to slink in. Cat Noir edges through the crowd toward the coffee pot with a simple remark of, "Don't mind me, I'm the Look Meow-t outside. Just grabbing a refill," with a little lift of his coffee thermos.

He does indeed make use of the coffee pot to fill it again. Only then he side-steps over to Naru's spot flashing her a grin while leaning in to utter, "You'll have to catch me up later, Naru-chan. I promise it's not just an excuse to spend more time with you. Cat-ch you later."

He turns, pauses, and tips his head way back to look up at Kaitou Kamen. "Big guys in these parts. Keep an eye on her for me!" And... then he's out again. At least any that might have been concerned now know that there's one magical type out there keeping an eye on the Shed while everyone is having a meeting. Even if he's a bit of a jokester.

Nanoha Takamachi has posed:
Nanoha Takamachi stares. "Did a catboy just walk in and make a few cat puns and just leave?" she asks as she blinks rapidly.

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase rolls his eyes. "You get used to that kind of behavior from catboys."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru can't help but laugh softly at the feline swagger by, ensuring that he's got enough coffee. She winks to Chat Noir. "I'll catch you up later, Cheeky Kitty." She promises.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto facepalms a bit, then shakes her head and replies to Nanoha, "...yes. Yes, he did."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku grins over at Nanoha's earlier remark of wanting healing sweets. A gesture to the table with the warning sign about dark energy is given. "Take some if you'd like. I think we're all in good health right now, it'd be a shame to let them go to waste." They're just little mochi daifuku and some maple shaped cookies with a gooey filling. Or at least that's how they look.

The distraction of catboyification doesn't really seem to garner her notice. Because she uses the distraction to reach out for Hanzo's cheese puffs that Wako had already pilfered to snag one herself with a little amused look as she turns her gaze back to the 'board' as it were with gathered information.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica is listening intently to the general discourse. Those are surely lots of points they have to defend still. Good thing there are several purifiers on hand, and the having convenient healing food on hand is great since people are going to hurt a lot. Maybe fish food for the catboy that showed up?

She mentally goes through the notes they discovered in her book of constellations to see if they missed anything worth saying. Well, not exactly what she thought they would miss, she realises, but that's another piece to the puzzle, she smirks.

"Hey, Usagi, remember when we were taking photos of my book? The points on the map form the pattern of the constellation of Pisces."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy learns things today.

    "They can send youma through the power lines. How does... why does... wait, it works from the power plant but not from any outlet? Does that mean if they take over a radio or TV station they can send them that way? Can they send them through the internet?!"

    "Leylines are REAL?! ...Of course they are."

    "...I take it there's no way to erase the existing glyphs, even if you blast them with purification magic or like... remove or destroy the ground or building they're attached to?" Oh, that's mentioned. "Sorry. What *do* we need for purification, though?" Oh, that's discussed too. "Okay but like... maybe someone with magic digging powers could get at the ones underground? And maybe... like... I know you can disguise as stuff, Sailor Moon, and maybe others can use more mundane disguises... like if it's stuck in a pillar could we maybe... I dunno, pretend to be a construction crew? Though I dunno how we'd end up hired for some theoretical emergency repair..."

    Also, Koji has a fox? "You have a pet fox? That's adorable!" She squees over it. "Can I pet him?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I like the idea of a counter, to make it so they can't just try this again," Sailor Moon fully admits, nodding at Hanzo. "But I think what we have to do first... is close the opportunity window. By making sure they don't succeed this time."

She tilts her head, thinking about Takuto's idea. The map of points definitely don't make a star, but what does it make? Sailor Moon can openly and honestly admit that she has not idea. "You're not wrong - plans... big bad guy plans usually do make like, patterns. I don't... see anything, but part of the code was translated from a like, astrological code?"

And then Veronica speaks up, suggesting the Pisces constellation, and her face brightens with the idea that maybe they have an actual idea. An actual answer!

"Hanzo-kun, could you put the symbol for pisces up? Maybe we could try and line it up with the points on the map and then we'll know what places they might strike!"

Meanwhile, Rashmi asked a good question about the glyphs, and she hums... "I don't know if they're all the same, and - I don't think they will? But this is what the one at Clover Tower looked like - I took a picture on my phone after we put the fire out."

She hops over to Hanzo, popping the last of the cheese puffs into her mouth and showing him her phone so he can project the glyph. It's the symbol for Jupiter, which is one of the few symbols Usagi knows for... very good reason. .

"It's the symbol for Jupiter. Sailor Jupiter wasn't even at the fight - so I don't know how they pick the glyphs, or if the symbols mean things besides planets..."

And meanwhile, Amy has some questions. And some of them have been answered, but also -

"We absolutely cannot do any construction! On any of those things!" She waves her hands in the air. Amy-chan's American, so she doesn't get it, but - "All of these Shrines are at cultural sites hundreds of years old! National treasures! Historical landmarks! The newest one they've hit so far is the Tower and that's all over the news about what a disaster it is that it's closed for tourism and there's so much damage! There is not a single chance that we can do a single damaging thing to any of those sites!"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Can Amy pet him? Kaitou Kamen, the current host arm for the fox in question, gives her an incredibly bland look from behind his mask. "No," he says to her. "Mind on the topic, please."

Makoto Kino has posed:
"Um," says Sailor Jupiter, suddenly looking very uncomfortable as she stares at the projected glyph - the same one on the cap of her henshin pen. "Just for the record... I didn't have anything to do with that."

Koji Silvia has posed:
Looking at Mr. Vice President in Kaitou's lap, Hanzo shakes his head, "No, he's not ours... he belongs to Wako and Mister Takuto. If you give him a treat later though, he will give you plenty of attention, though."

With no snack left, and people reaching left and right to snag a cheese puff from his bag, he moves a couple steps to one side and back, almost next to Kaitou Kamen, and then reaches into his bag for another one to replace the puff sacrificed to Sailor Moon.

There's a brief rustle and then "OW!"

Yanking his hand free of the bag, Hanzo peers inside, and then suddenly jerks his face back. As a pair of bright blue eyes blink back at him, Hanzo turns the bag over and shakes hard...

What falls out is a small blonde doll-like figure in poofy blue pants, the classic white-ruffed red royalty cape, and a little crown on his head. He is covered in puffed corn crumbs and cheese dust.

    "Does this belong to anyone?"

Like a guy does, he wipes his hand off on his leg, crumples the bag up and tosses it away before looking at the image and then nods once before he makes a few hand-motions and it's now overlaid in the air half an inch above the projected map of Tokyo, "Like this? If you put your hands in the image's edges and move them, it'll move with."

Tadase Hotori has posed:
    Tadase Hotori looks over to his shoulder and notices there's no Kiseki there - one can almost see the moment a cutout of where the king should be is noticed - and sighs.

    He walks over and ruefully grabs the little king by his robe. "Gomen. Arigatou." He says. He rulefully pulls out a little blue egg and stuffs the now-orange king into it. Kiseki doesn't resist - he knows this time 'he deserves it' as the egg is closed around him.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"I second the no damaging to any of the shrines", Veronica says. Usagi has said it well: they are irreplaceable cultural artifacts. Still the indignation she shares pushes her further. "The loss of world heritage would be immeasurable. And if It weren't enough to convince someone, damaging them would get Pyrite to intervene against us like it almost happened at Meiji, and we really do not need to be further divided with such a delicate operation."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
A glyph that represents a planet, a seal in the shape of Pisces, Setsuna asking about the Seal of Solomon, and puzzle pieces fall into place in Rashmi's mind, forming an imperfect-but-compelling picture. Leaning back, she murmurs in answer to Setsuna; "Not really, but it sure was *interesting.* And yeah definitely gonna pass it along to Naru-chan after this, because suddenly it seems like astrology really *is* the key, and if Jupiter-chan's feeling called out by that one symbol, maybe it's worth looking for *more* planetary symbols?"

Tipping her head back to address more distant people, she looks about the room. "So okay... Definitely a no on messing with the historical centers except magically, and then only very carefully. ...Do we know if the places that've already been marked are watched, or guarded? Cos if it's not done, *I* wouldn't want someone coming in behind me and messing up my work..."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kaitou Kamen says to Rashmi, "No other signs of dark energy when we checked them, some days after the fights. That doesn't mean they're not, necessarily, especially if they have something looking in on the sites intermittently rather than constantly. Tourists would provide enough cover for something with even a moderately subtle disguise. But so far, we've seen no evidence."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Speaking of disguises", Veronica adds, "if you see a villain that raises a closed fist to you and then extends three fingers, that's actually me, so please avoid attacking."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"This is perfect, thanks Hanzo-kun!" The Pisces sign goes up and Sailor Moon starts moving it around as people talk, carefully trying to line up all the points where the places that were attacked line up with the different circles. Not here... not here...

She lines it up in one way, with Hikawa Shrine completing the points, but if they don't go back to Hikawa Shrine, where else...

Everyone is talking and planning and discussing things, asnwering each other's questions, and Usagi meanwhile -

"Uh oh," she whispers, as she slides the symbol over in just such a way - "Uh oh.

Her face is pale as she considers, and then she raises her voice. "Everyone... I might have found the last place. Hanzo-kun, can you put a star here?"

The place her fingers are pointing now - and where the star will land - is squarely in the zone of Juuban that almost none of them will have ever visited, that few will even remember, that those who have may never forget.

"Soryuu Shrine."

Square in the middle of the Forgotten District.

Koji Silvia has posed:
He doesn't just put a star there... he puts four big blazing red pointing arrows that move back and forth pointing towards the spot that Usagi indicated.

Hanzo cannot help but exhale again, and goes back to start picking through the treats and beginning to store them away in his Device for his roommate, careful to avoid the purification snacks, "A shrine no one has been to in a place no one knows in the middle of district that's primarily housing and small shops... wonderful."

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars mutters invective and damnation as she first tensely watches Hikawa Shrine be included in the pattern, and then also goes pale when she sees what else is in that circle. A place already drenched in death and darkness. "The Soryuu Shrine... They won't even need to plant a seed, will they? It's already swimming in Dark Energy. They could use this shrine as a back-up even if we stop them somewhere else, because it's attuned already. They just have to show up and inscribe their glyph. And then... It's done. We lose."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko looks at the updated map, comparing it to her knowledge of where various groups of stray dogs travel. The Forgotten District is easy enough to overlook if you're not paying attention, but if you're aware of it...

"No wonder the stray dogs avoid that area," the wolfgirl mutters to no-one in particular.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Well, that should keep things exciting." Naru comments dryly as she drinks her coffee.

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Geode Girl Loyalty speaks up quickly. "Nuh-uh. I don't lose. It's just not a thing I like... 'do'." she says. "If it's swimming in Dark Energy why don't we go purify it now? Or if our backs are up against the wall, purify one of the other ones?"

    "Or can we get a rotating set of folks to watch out for it? Or anything more than throwing our hands up? It might be near the end of the game but the buzzer hasn't sounded yet so it's not like we can just give up, so we need a plan and we need to move on it."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi nods along with Loyalty's words. "The fact that we're all here and moving in the same direction means we haven't lost. Besides, there's a lot of 'ifs,' like 'if it's so easy to make part of their thing, why wasn't that the first one done?' I'm guessing it'd be a dumb idea to *purify* the place, cos... well I mean if it's so stuffed with Dark Energy you'd think three dozen of us would have already carpet-spelled the place. But if it's not done yet, that means it's not *easy.* And *why* it's not easy... well that'd be good information to have."

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
Sitting up a little straighter, Takuto squints at the map, then takes out his phone and takes a picture of it. He murmurs to Wako, "If you go in to purify anything, take me with you?"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako nods slowly along with Rashmi. "For something like that to have stayed so long... maybe it's just that it has a way of making people not notice it, but still, it's probably more complicated than anything just purifying the whole place would fix." She looks toward Sailor Moon, and to Naru, a questioning expression pulling her brows together. "How much do we actually know about Soryuu Shrine?"

She turns her face toward Takuto when he murmurs to her, and she nods without hesitation. "I will," she promises in a similarly quiet tone.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Mars understands. "It looks busier than it is. No one... lives there. No one's actually had homes or shops here for a very long time. No one except... Pyrite." The name is ash in Sailor Moon's mouth. Geode Girl Loyalty speaks up, and there's - obvious concern on her face.

"Pyrite - disappeared into Soryuu Shrine over a week ago. I don't know how much Dark Energy she has, but she's - a ghost. She's lived in that Shrine for hundreds of years, and up until October, hundreds of ghosts were trapped there. It's a death zone - maybe, not as much as it used to be, but - nothing bigger than mushrooms and bugs and very, very old trees is even alive there anymore. I don't know if we could purify it. But - Sailor Mars is right. There's so much death and darkness there, they probably don't even need a fight to happen... and they've probably avoided it because Pyrite is Hematite's little sister."

And as Sailor Moon just said, she's been in that shrine.

"There's not a chance he'd let us get anywhere near it."

Not a chance. Not with Pyrite in there. Not with her possibly -

Something else Loyalty said strikes a chord, and Wako-chan chiming up with purifying, and Rasmhi-chan talking about the chances -

"What if we tricked them into thinking we were going to do it anyway?"

Niji Dasshu has posed:
    Loyalty snorts. "If you're talking about the fate of everybody in Tokyo, of our friends and families, of the world cause we can't stop these jerks, I really don't care what Hematite is gonna 'let' me do." she adds. "High speed baseball bats can be really good at convincing."

    "But I am all in favor of tricking them. We didn't ask for any of this. If they'd stop being jerks, I'd spend a whole lot less time being blue." Here she means, literally blue, as her skin is now. "I mean not 'no' time because flying is pretty awesome but... you get my point, anyways."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Tricking them into thinking we were going to do it anyway?" Veronica repeats. "So that Hematite bars anyone from doing anything to that zone until he is sure things are clear? Is that what you mean?" It would be an effective way of buying time. "What if we tried to contact Pyrite herself, though? She seemed willing to listen to reason, and having her on our side would probably get Hematite to us too."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...I mean if they're trying to run us all ragged so they can get their stuff done in peace, I'd say it'd be a great way to make *them* a little spinny-eyed," Rashmi says, in answer to Moon's question.

Then Loyalty says what Loyalty is wont to do, and Rashmi clears her throat. "I uh... Would very not try and bonk Hematite-san. If for no other reason then what he did when Hannah-chan absolutely *had* to fight him one-on-one. It... didn't work out well for Hannah-chan. ...Or the cars nearby."

Falling silent when Veronica speaks, the red-headed Devicer ponders. "...But not *at* the Shrine, right? Cos it sounds like getting near the place is an even worse idea, but like... A seance? That's a thing, right? We've got ghosts and haunted shrines, seances are a thing too right?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars shakes her head. "They're on the schedule of the stars, not a corporate calendar. They can only act at the right moment... Or so we assume from the information we have. Saving the one that would be most disastrous to get purified for last means they have a trump card even if we purify the other shrines as they're made. It's like was pointed out earlier. It would just be an endless struggle of corruption and purification, over and over. Eventually we'll miss enough of them or they'll adapt their plan enough to account for us that they just need that final shrine."

    She looks at Sailor Moon. Then she looks away. She doesn't want anything to happen to Himeko either. Especially not with what's at stake. But... "I'll follow Sailor Moon's lead. But the living need to come first."

Chiyo Sakai has posed:
Guardian Daifuku clears her throat faintly as talk of Soryuu shrine and bonking Hematite and other similar things come up. Her arms cross over her chest, and she glances over to the no-longer-suspect Sailor Jupiter. "Hematite told me that if it comes down to it, I and Sailor Jupiter should try to take him down together. He said between both our strength we should be able to 'handle him'. I mean, if it comes down to needing to."

"Though," she reasons looking back to the point on the map with a frown. "I'd rather avoid that. Is there anything we can do right now to help protect that shrine?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
Finishing up his collection of cakes, treats, and other sweets that goes into his Device with little *thwups* as they become light and go into the blade's gem on his wrist, Hanzo turns back to look at things.

Sniffing once, Hanzo tilts his head to one side to look at the map, "I think at this point we need more information. On their symbols, what they do, and how to counter them... so we can counter one of them if they make a run on Soryuu Shrine. We also need to know if the energy there is the right KIND they need. Like... what if they're trying to plug a local power plug into an American 3-prong outlet, or a British one? Yes, they all have electricity, but different places use different wattages and amperages. Safety laws are different from country to country. Maybe part of the delay is they need to tame the darkness here to be able to use it?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Sailor Mars quickly but quietly replies, "They have a way to tame it, Hanzo. Her name is Pyrite."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"The problem with using *someone* to do a thing," Rashmi notes, "is they have to *want* to do the thing. I don't know about ghosts, but that's a pretty universal question; how hard would it be to get her to go along with what they want?"

Takuto Tsunashi has posed:
"Well she was very cranky at Nezu Shrine, she was the one we were fighting there," supplies Takuto, rolling the rest of his sweets onto Wako's plate, finally. "She brought a lot of ghosts with her. And skeletons."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Hemachan once told me that if we wanted to take him down, we'd need at least fifteen of us," Sailor Moon says, and she turns to look at Loyalty with - not anger, but frustration. "I'm not saying that we let them do whatever they want - we have to stop them. But Hemachan could probably stomp any one of us if we went alone. Like Rasmhi-chan said - Tragar-chan had a... bad time when she finally made him take her seriously."

It wasn't what he'd wanted to do. And Hannah-chan didn't seem to hold it against him, and she had thrown a flaming gravity motorcycle at him, but still - aaaaand he said what? She wishes that he hadn't said that. In fact, she buries her face in her hands a little. "I can believe he said that but I really wish he hadn't."

She looks down. "Nephrite and Hematite and probably the others, I guess, but definitely Nephrite... is a little brainwashed. Like something out of a scary story. Hematite is going to protect them with his life, same as he would protect Pyrite, and that's why I think we should use that against him."

She is definitely not looking at her closest friends right now!! Or the boyfriend of her boyfriend who she kind of talked to about this a little!

"We can't reach Pyrite. Even he can't reach her, and they're bonded at the soul. When I said she went in that shrine - I meant that she's - stuck. There. She hasn't been coming out. She's trapped in there and if we purify the Shrine we could hurt her. And I don't want that."

But like Mars said. They have to save the living, right? She can push it back, but this is her plan.

"But what we can do is watch that Shrine and launch an attack as loud and noisy and chaotic as possible, in force. We can make our justice speeches and we can tell him we're going to purify that shrine and stop them then and there...." and then she turns and looks at all of them, and a weak smile crosses her face. "And while we do that, Wako-chan purifies one of the other shrines, with a team to protect her in case they figure out what we're up to and try to stop her. But - they're loyal to Hemachan above almost anything. So if there's even a chance we could take down Hemachan and purify that Shrine, they'll come at those of us attacking Soryuu Shrine with everything they've got."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"Zoisite and Jadeite are brainwashed, too," Kaitou Kamen says in quiet confirmation, whether or not Sailor Moon is looking at him. "If you were at the tower last night, you saw it - the difference between Zoisite's just attacking with fire, and his last attack, the fire that was actually seeking to do harm. That's the difference between his own power and the thing inside his head, taking over his thoughts."

He glances down at Vice President, ruffles the fox's head gently, then looks up again. "The advantage of that is that they can't always follow through on their own thoughts when they want to. Even when it would make the most sense. Distract them hard enough, and Agemaki-san and company may get away unnoticed."

Koji Silvia has posed:
Hanzo nods towards Rei, and then says, "I wish I knew more about ghosts and the like... this is way outside my area of knowledge."

The ninja-clad magical boy asks, "Does everyone have this all down? I'm going to remove the image. Last chances to get pictures... and if you do... hide them somehow. Put them on a memory card you can remove from your phone. That way... no one can just open it up and see what we're up to."

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Wako favors Takuto with a beatific smile as he shifts sweets onto her plate. Yay! "She wasn't as cranky when Hematite-san had me help purify a haunted house," she observes. "I don't think she likes me very much, but she's not always spooky skeleton murder ghost."

Discussion of plans continue; at the sound of her name, Wako orients her attention back to Sailor Moon and nods firmly. "I'd be willing to do that," she says, speaking up now. "And, like you said, they're the ones who are on a time table. Even if there turns out to not be much we can do about Soryuu Shrine - and we should at least try - if we can keep going behind them purifying the other points before they manage to get five, we can run them out of time, and then we win."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Then put me down for Team Distraction," Rashmi says, drawing in a deep breath and squaring her shoulders. "Because the best way to make sure everyone comes back, the way you're talking, is if you have the best support you can get. ...And in the absence of that, I can do pretty good too."

Volunteering to help thumb your nose at evil in the evilest place in Tokyo is a *terrifying* prospect, and there *is* a definite shudder in her voice as Rashmi volunteers. But volunteer she does, and does not look ready to change her mind.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown gives Rashmi's hand another little squeeze, a smile on his lips.

If she was there, she'd not be alone. That was clear. He'd mostly been quiet, for now. Letting the others talk, and listening. Measuring. A situation like this... it was a great way to take stock of your allies and learn about them. So he was only planning to pipe up if something came up that he needed to address. For now...

Rashmi could lead. And in his eyes? She was magnificent. Okay, he was biased...

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kaitou Kamen says to Rashmi, "If we're sharing support duties on that team," he says, "can we talk a little later? We'll do better if we each know something about the other." Besides that he might be a jealous foxsitter. Who knows.