View source for 585/Inner Conflict: Bone Work

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2023/10/11
|Location=Plot Room 4
|Synopsis=''CW: Body horror.'' The mystery of the sourceless Dark Energy impact sites continues, with a sad tale of a butcher and his collection of bones...
|Cast of Characters=81,38,41,72,73
|Tinyplot=Inner Conflict
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:81|Himeko Soryuu (81)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The neighborhood market! It's a straight path lined with shops, and locals selling their wares. Produce, confections, meat, eggs, dairy, noodles, cooking ingredients, and what not. It's kind of like a farmer's market, but with a bunch of things for sale. The butcher is very active. Usually red meat isn't overly popular in Japan, but everyone loves a good wagyu steak, pork buns, and various other things, so maybe it's becoming more popular over time? Who knows!<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The popularity of this one butcher's shop, however, definitely suggests that the locals in this neighborhood are fans. Maybe it's the super cheap prices despite the quality and quantity of the meat on sale.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Maybe it's the Dark Energy floating through the air like a miasmic fog, unnoticed by most.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There's a variety of reasons to be in the area, but those are some of the most common ones. Yes, even the Dark Energy has drawn curious creatures that feed on such to set up camp along the line of shops. Creatures that have dwindled in numbers over the ages with the absence of sufficient background mana to live and the steady decline of belief in the supernatural limiting the flow of psychic energy to manifest physically.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;However, at each of the places that have suddenly been saturated with a seemingly sourceless but potent Dark Energy imprint around Tokyo, there has been a sudden proliferation of goblins, ghouls, ghosts, and assorted strangeness. Bakemono of various kinds, just sitting idly by, like capybaras in a hot spring... Letting their wounds heal and their power grow.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A book store, a mansion, and now a neighborhood market. What a random selection of places to suddenly be the impact site for Dark Energy of unknown origins.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Hematite (38)}} has posed:'''<br>Across the street from the butcher's shop, trying not to be in the way of the sidewalk displays of the greengrocer's, is a sixteen-year-old boy in an anonymous white button-down and black jeans. He's been watching the place for maybe ten minutes, and he finally crosses the street to enter only because someone in an apron has come out of the greengrocer's and started to approach him.<br><br>He'd look familiar -- if he'd been wearing a bespoke summer-weight wool suit, that is. At least his longish black hair is tied back, still, and his glasses aren't doing that creepy opaque trope thing, they're just glasses.<br><br>Ringdingaling the door opens to let him in.<br><br>That's an ''awful'' lot of dark energy.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>One of the *best things about hospitals* is being out of them.<br> <br>No matter how many entertainments one may have, when the world shrinks to a single room and the bed therein, even the brightest spirits can feel dulled by the lack of any kind of outside. It's why one of the first things Rashmi did upon getting Nicomachea back, was to nickle-and-dime her lingering wounds away with repetitive, low-power healing magic. It may not be much, but two dozen 'not much' over a ten-hour period can make considerable headway.<br> <br>Thus, her surprise discharge, and the absolute *joy* of being back home. So of course, she wheedled her parents into allowing her to make the day's purchases. Of course she decided to roam the neighborhood markets.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffff5f">&lt;&lt; *BONG!* &gt;&gt;</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">WARNING, MASTER</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span>, Nicomachea chimed telepathically, breaking into Rashmi's thoughts. <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">CORROSIVE ANOMALOUS MANA CONCENTRATIONS PROXIMATE. READINGS MATCH FOR SIGNATURE 'Dark Energy.' CONDITIONALLY SUGGEST CAUTION.</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>*Of course.*<br> <br>Heaving a very put-upon sigh, Rashmi squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, then opens them again. &lt;&lt; ...*Fine,* let's celebrate our reunion and my *first day out the hospital* by risking putting myself *back in the hospital...* &gt;&gt;<br> <br>Still not yet in henshin, Rashmi crosses the street, and tugs the door open.<br> <br>&lt;&lt; Nico-kun the *moment* something pops up, I'm gonna want a Barrier. Last thing we need is more people coming out with, Iunno, larval meat-youma in their bags. &gt;&gt;<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">CONFIRMED.</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>

:'''{{#var:81|Himeko Soryuu (81)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Inside, the shop is packed. The butcher seems energetic, vibrant, happy to serve, with a great big smile on his face, as he provides for his customers. There's lots of meat on sale, with ridiculous discounts, and the customers are buying it up like... Well, not like hot cakes. Maybe like beef cakes? Yes, that will do.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Thankfully, there do not appear to be any youma or bakemono or ghosts present.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Though the Dark Energy imprint seems to be coming from the back of the store. The walk-in-freezer, maybe. The butcher notices when Rashmi and Darien enter, even among the throng, and gives a boisterous call of, "Good afternoon!" accompanied by a big wave. For all the Dark Energy, nobody seems to be... Unwell. The opposite, if anything. Hm.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Maybe it's the healthy kind of Dark Energy that Takashi is always going on about, that doesn't hurt anyone.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The 'mrrr' of a cat as it leaps up onto the counter and then turns to seat itself politely is a bit odd though. Especially the way it's semi-transparent.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shiro's tail is up but also dangling down at the tip like a shepherd's crook. He is looking very deliberately at Darien.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Hematite (38)}} has posed:'''<br>Darien gives the butcher a wave in return, and a smile! And glances to one side to see who is in his elbow-space so he doesn't get his elbows in their space, and sees... the girl from Korma who caught him with Prince of High School. He gives her a wry smile of recognition, and then turns his attention -- amidst all the people in the store -- to a blank space on the counter.<br><br>He looks awfully delighted to see a blank space on the counter, and moves over quickly to hold out his arm, so ghost cat that nobody else can see can climb up on him and maybe be shouldercat. "Shiro!" he whispers. "Come! You know who I'm looking for. Help me find her?"<br><br>He glances at the butcher, then at Rashmi, checking to see if their faces say he's crazy or a problem.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>Likewise, Rashmi beams at the butcher, bouncing once on the balls of her feet and bobbing her head in a cheerful hello. Darien likewise gets a glance, and for a moment there's that look of puzzled recognition, before the clouds part and the memory of the rich kid with the manga swims to the surface. Thus does his smile also get returned with one of greater wattage... At which point she starts looking distracted, as if having a conversation with someone over the phone. And given the sheer amount of hair the redhead has, there *could* be Bloofang earbuds under there.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt; Is there anything special you can tell without having to come out of standby, Nico-kun? &gt;&gt;<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffff5f">&lt;&lt; *BONG!* &gt;&gt;</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">GREATEST CONCENTRATION OF ANOMALOUS MANA CONDITIONALLY LOCATED IN COLD STORAGE. ADDITIONALLY, SECONDARY MOBILE SOURCE NOW PRESENT UPON SHOP COUNTER.</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>Blinking, Rashmi looks to the blank spot on the counter... just in time to hear Darien whispering something, to nothing, and holding out his hand. Well, *that's* different.<br> <br>When Darien checks to see how she reacted, the answer is... puzzled. Curious. One eyebrow rises just above the circular lenses of her glasses, and her head is tilted to one side, as if to say 'Okay... what's going on?'<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:81|Himeko Soryuu (81)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The butcher is busy with customers, so does not appear to notice the cat-antics (cantics? catnics? cat... anics? cat... you know what, it's cat-antics now, that's what they're called, antics with cats, it's like dances with wolves but not as exploitative of Native Americans and doesn't feature a white guy as the hero, okay, it's cat-antics, deal with it). Shiro, on the other hand, raises a paw like he's going for the paw-shake but just pat-pats the back of Darien's hand instead. Then he turns and jumps down from the counter on the butcher's side of the counter with another 'mrrr' and disappears.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Little paw prints appear on the floor, marking his passage as he fast-walks towards the back. About what was expected... The imprint point for the Dark Energy.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"What can I get for you today, young man?" asks the butcher. Hiroshi Takahiro is his name, based off the board on the store outside (Takahiro's Meat &amp; Bones. Presumably he sells the bones for soup stock), and the nametag reading 'Hiroshi'. "Hirohiro-san!" another customer calls out, pulling Hiroshi's attention away. How cute, the butcher has a nickname!<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Something moves in the back room.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's not the freezer that Shiro is pawing at, and it's not the freezer where the Dark Energy signature is located. The two rooms are adjacent, but something has stirred and is moving around now. It's something large.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A psychic vision for Darien:<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="bold_fg_c bg_n ++ hc">Bones falling like water off a cliff's edge, tumbling down into the darkness below, just a river of skeletal remains falling and falling forever and ever and ever</span><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">Then a hand reaching out to snatch specific bones while they fall. Again and again, the same pale little hand nabs what its owner is looking for, whatever that may be. And then another hand appears. And another and another, until the flow of bones is practically halted by a wall of hands grabbing up all the bones before they can begin their journey into infinite darkness.</span><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shiro is meowing plaintively as he stands on hindlegs to put his paws against the door to the storage room.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Hematite (38)}} has posed:'''<br>"A full-- oh I can wait," laughs Darien when the butcher speaks to him; he's distracted in three directions, and he's looking at Rashmi still when Shiro patpats him on the hand. So he just outright says to her, "Ghost."<br><br>Then he looks back to the cat no one else can see, and gets a funny expression; his attention goes from counter to floor over the back of the counter, and his lips purse. He glances back at Rashmi, then at the butcher, and then at the pawprints on the floor--<br><br>--and something moves in the back room, and abruptly Darien's blue eyes are looking through everything to things that aren't there and aren't happening. "Oh," he murmurs, "gross, but okay." He turns to Rashmi, his eyes still... not right, and he says quite firmly, "The shop is haunted. Now is a good time to leave, unless you really like dark energy and bone golems."<br><br>And then he moves with purpose! Around the counter -- and he goes past the butcher's back and heads for the storage room, and he goes to open the door Shiro is pawing at as though he's got every right to.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>"...Ghost," Rashmi echoes. And if Darien was expecting confusion, or screaming, he may be put off by the little sigh that accompanies the word. "Right... One moment."<br> <br>And she just... sort of slips through the crowd, finding a place that breaks the line of sight of the maximum amount of people possible.<br> <br>And then there is, to Darien, a familiar flash of golden light. And then Book Girl steps out, a complex magical seal spreading out beneath her feet.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffff5f">&lt;&lt; *BONG!* &gt;&gt;</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">TIME-SPACE BARRIER</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>The book *speaks,* in an atonal, professorial voice, and a ball of energy *expands* outward, rapidly. Soon the entire shop, as well as most of this side of the neighborhood, is enveloped in dimensionally-shifting energy that takes some of the saturation away from ambient color, and the moment the field touches a nonmagical person, that person disappears, left in real reality. With luck, the butcher will be among those filtered out, as he seems so pleasant...<br> <br>"Okay," Rashmi says, rotating one shoulder and taking in a deep breath. "Bone Monster. That's horrible, so let's take care of it quick."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:81|Himeko Soryuu (81)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hirohiro-san notices belatedly when Darien goes behind the counter and behind his back. "Shounen? Shounen, you cannot be behind the counter! This is off-limits to customers! I must keep everything clean--" He is thus distracted when Rashmi finds a spot to duck into and henshin, and then dimension shift things!<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Butcher... Kind of... Gets displaced. Sort of. There's a partial silhouette of him, with a wailing, simplistic, ghost-like 'face', all made of something magical. Dark Energy, certainly. But also ectoplasm. It seems to be thickest around his head. It's like a residue was left on him after being 'slimed'.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As for the back room... It's locked. Until Shiro leaps through the door and disappears again. The door unlocks itself from the inside.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the back room storage area... Yes. There's a bone golem. But perhaps a more terrible one than imagined.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's a construct of many different bones, all connected together somehow. Glue, wire, leather straps, metal bolts, screws, nails, rope, modeling resin...<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's huge. It's like a tree made of bones, and it can't 'stand up' properly indoors. So it's slouched on the floor. The part that makes it look like a tree is that instead of branches, it has complete and partial skeletons that look like they're supposed to belong to small humans. Children. Maybe little girls. They're all made of non-human bones, so their construction is all wrong, very improvised. But they are also all wearing clothing. A 5th grader's school uniform. A sundress. A festival kimono. Various other outfits, no two the same, just like each skeleton is a different hodge podge of parts. The central 'trunk', the 'tree' that all these little skeletons are 'growing' from, is another cobbled-together horror. But the bones used are from no Earthly creature. The stink of Yomi is upon them. The carrion rot and decay, the dust and stagnation of eons, clings to them like a tangible, visible thing. Black and red, like insect larva, but just the Deathly energies of the Underworld, moving continuously across the monstrous skeleton as it sits there against the rear wall.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Oh, one more thing:<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;None of these skeletons have skulls. So the spinal cords just blend into leg bones or other pieces, leading back to the giant skeleton that seems to be 'growing' them.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It moves when Darien enters, clumsily sliding a leg along the concrete floor, and trying to support itself with a twelve-fingered hand, but slipping and falling back into a sitting position, making the many little skeletons rattle together for several seconds before their swinging slows. Their rattling is almost like the sound of laughter, if laughter could come in the form of bones clacking and dancing in the air.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shiro sits nearby to Darien's feet, but out of range of those long arms. He looks up at the spirit medium, and meows anxiously, as though saying, 'Please fix this!'<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Hematite (38)}} has posed:'''<br>... okay, the girl with the stacks of homework books at Korma Chameleon is also Book Girl.<br><br>Right!<br><br>Darien's not sure how to feel about this, or whether he'll need to henshin or not, so he just-- nods, to Rashmi, and then watches Shiro go through the door and open it from the inside. It takes him a moment before he pushes the door the rest of the way open. "Just so you know," he says seriously, "a few things. One, we're gonna need Agemaki-san or someone to see to Hirohiro-san out there, because he was possessed and it's still on him, poor guy. Two, if I have to transform, please don't panic and please don't attack me. Three, I can't remember how good your shields are, so if it comes to it, put me between you and whatever's in there. Let me take point. It might be my sister."<br><br>Then he opens the door. And he looks up, and up. And he ''sighs'', deeply, and looks down at Shiro. "Yeah, I'll try," he tells the ghost cat as he unceremoniously henshins right in front of Rashmi--<br><br>--a line of sparking light speeds over him like self-lighting charcoal with a match to it, leaving Hematite in its wake, glossy black hair spilled out of its little ponytail.<br><br>"Hime-chan? Are you in here? If you are, I have your phone and I kind of need you to stop haunting people, this is getting ridiculous... and also, you can't make a people skeleton out of animal bones. But those are nice outfits."<br><br>He steps closer, just within reach of those long arms.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>...Okay there is a *lot* going on here.<br> <br>There is so much A Lot, in fact, that the appearance of Hematite barely pings. For the first while, Rashmi is just... transfixed... by the towering construction of bones, dresses, and bone-creations *in* dresses, all of her annoyed bravado gone up in smoke. "...Okay," she says, her voice a squeaky shadow of its former self. "But um... uh... yikes. Uh... If it *does* turn into a fight, I'm a lot better at making you *stronger* than I am at shooting things."<br> <br>Then Hematite *steps into its reach,* and there is a moment of gibbering panic before it really registers how *calm* and *gentle* he is to that-- that--<br> <br>--something *really funky* is going on further back in this story. Context may be required.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:81|Himeko Soryuu (81)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The left arm immediately swipes as soon as Hematite is in range. Despite not having any muscle, the combination of magic and mass would be enough to hurl a normal human across the room, or grab them in an inescapable grip, or otherwise do terrible things to them. Hematite is not a normal human. It's still probably not a great feeling to be slapped by a giant skeleton tree from the afterlife.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shiro does make himself scarce before the attack happens. The only warning he can give to step back.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The little skeletons rattle and laugh as they dance in the air from the monster's motion.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The partial silhouette of Hirohiro-san whispers near Rashmi in a hoarse, distant, strained voice, "Please... Feeding it is the only way to see my daughter again... When I feed it, I can see her in my dreams... Just a little bit more, and she'll live again! Just look at how many of her are growing...! One of them will finish soon... Surely...!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Hematite (38)}} has posed:'''<br>"Hrghk!" is the sound of a Dark General getting smacked by a giant skeleton tree from the death gods, and so is the skid-crash immediately thereafter of him stopping himself from slamming into the wall by shifting his weight and throwing a hand up to brace against a metal closet which he dents in the shape of his hand.<br><br>"Okay, that's not my sister," Hematite says with a little too much cheer. "Sorry, sir, but this is an abomination and it's gotta go. Book Girl, can you call Sailor Moon for me? Her number is &lt;number&gt;, and I asked her to send in Agemaki-san if I didn't text her in three hours, but I think now might be good?"<br><br>He's, it should be noted, out of reach now. He also looks around for a second, then says, "Pspspsps, Shiro! If you can leave the barrier, please do, baby-cat. We don't want you getting hurt."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>The noise Rashmi makes when the hand crashes into Hematite isn't -- quite -- a scream, but just a bit closer to that than an utterly undignified squeak. This not at all probably hilarious noise is followed by a quick nod. A perfectly ordinary smartphone is pulled from the gem in the center of the book... which is then closed around the phone, like a bookmark.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt; Nico-kun, text &lt;number&gt;, message: Hi this is Book Girl and a guy in Dark Military gear with a ghost cat says now's a good time to call in Agemaki-san? &gt;&gt;<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">MESSAGE SENT</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>The moment the text is sent off, the redhead looks up, orbs of golden-colored magic fading into view and revolving around her at about waist-height. "So uh... While we're waiting on backup, which d'you do better, Dark Captain-san? Punch, or shoot?"<br> <br>"...I'm sorry," she says to the possessed shade of the butcher. "But... I think something lied to you, sir... I don't even know if anyone *can* come back, but... I also don't think feeding something bones is the way."<br> <br>Her phone *bings!* at right about that time, and Rashmi's head shoots up. "Um... Dark Captain-san, she says she's sending Sailor Mars? Also, heart eyes?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:72|Rei Hino (72)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rei was in the area already, sort of. Different street market, but close enough that when she is called upon by Sailor Moon, she is able to find somewhere to transform, and then hurry to the butcher shop, without having to consult a map. What a lucky coincidence she was buying more dried sage for the temple today!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There's some sort of... Barrier... Thing... But it doesn't appear to stop the raven-haired senshi from entering the shop after a moment of suspicious examination, followed by stepping through. She immediately senses the presence of evil onmce she's within the boundary, and calls out from the entrance, "Hold it right there, evil-doer!"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;One red high-heel is up on a footstool, the other on the floor, left hand on her hip, and facing away. Then she turns dramatically, her shiny black hair flying, as she makes some arcane gestures with her hands before pointing at the source of the evil! "How dare you summon evil spirits to this place and scare Book Girl! People have the right to go about their daily business and obtain food for their family without havign to worry about where it came from or what kind of creep may have touched it! In the name of Mars, your unhygeinic ways ends here! I, Sailor Mars, will punish you!"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She is pointing directly at Hematite.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:81|Himeko Soryuu (81)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shiro, despite just being a ghost cat, perhaps has an empathic understanding of Hematite's intent, because he skedaddles out of the barrier. Staying here would just be a liability for his owner's brother.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Hone Ki turns its attention from Hematite when Sailor Mars first enters. It tries to get up again, a bit more persistently this time. It looks like it might manage to get into a position to crawl at least, if given time.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hirohiro's haunted psyche can only make choked weeping sounds as it floats backwards, and away from Book Girl and the conflict.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Hematite (38)}} has posed:'''<br>"I'm Hematite," is the helpful addendum to 'Dark Captain-san', and Hematite is, in fact, keeping his eyes on the bone tree with the partial not-human vaguely human-ish-shaped skeletons with no heads my ''god'' this thing is something isn't it. "And probably punch, even if I'm not supposed to. I can only shoot dark energy and I think it would just eat it."<br><br>He takes another half-step back, but still makes sure he's between the thing and Rashmi, and he says firmly, "The Silver Crystal can probably bring people back, but Some People are impatient, and nobody's found it yet."<br><br>Quick glance at Rashmi and the shade of the guy, and he sighs, then looks back to the monster. "Yay heart-eyes, but... Sailor Mars means fire. I don't like fire but she absolutely knows what she's--"<br><br>And. She's here. And pointing at him.<br><br>"Do I look like a bone monster?" he retorts indignantly. "Like do you have eyes. It's in front of us? Did Sailor Moon not tell you what to shoot at??"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>"Okay things are getting too noisy and angry," Rashmi mutters, words lost to all but herself under the roiling waves of JUSTICE SPEECH.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffff5f">&lt;&lt; *BONG!* &gt;&gt;</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">TELEPATHY</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt; Okay so first things first I *promise* I'm not reading anyone's mind, &gt;&gt; comes Rashmi's voice from *inside the heads* of both Hematite and Mars. &lt;&lt; It's just, like, radio except harder to shout out. Mars-san, Hematite-san isn't *responsible* for this thing, he just *found* it, and *he's* why you were sent here. I hope you know how to exorcise a possession while you're at it, because that's what's gonna stop it from happening *again.* &gt;&gt;<br> <br>With all the pertinent information duly delivered, Rashmi takes a deep breath, and queues up her next couple spells.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffff5f">&lt;&lt; *BONG!* &gt;&gt;</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">STRIKE -- BOOST UP</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>A wisp of sun-colored mana, vaguely resembling foxfire, coalesces above the open pages of the book, streaking out to sink into Hematite's hands. The feeling of the magic is like being under the shadow of a tree, and stretching your hands out into summer sun.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">BARRET -- BOOST UP</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>Rashmi hasn't seen Mars in action, but to her knowledge only one fire-wielding mahou has chosen the Punch Arts, and it's not Mars. Thus does the sun make of itself an accelerant, for Mars' fires.<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt; It won't last long, but it should be enough to HIT IT REALLY HARD. &gt;&gt;<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:72|Rei Hino (72)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Flustered at being yelled at suddenly, and blushing furiously, Sailor Mars retorts, "I was told there was an evil spirit and that Sailor Moon's friend, Book Girl, needed help! Who else here looks like they summon evil spirits!? It's even connected to you somehow! Anyway, time is short, so I'll... Uhh... Let you go for today! ...Until I've spoken with Sailor Moon!" Then she fake-coughs into one hand. She gets down from her pose, and vaults the counter to head into the storage room. Even with Book Girl's explanation, she is giving Hematite some serious side-eye as she moves past him.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She skids to a halt, however, upon actually seeing the evil spirit. Her jaw drops. However, unlike Sailor Moon, she doesn't start screaming and crying, she just grits her teeth, slams her hands together with fingers interlaced, and index fingers pointing upwards in parallel. She concentrates, and intones her attack's name. The entire sequence is very fast thanks to Rashmi's provision of additional energy, letting her skip some of the power gathering process and the intense concentration needed. "<span class="bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">FIRE SOUL!</span>" A swirling fireball flies forth to strike the bone tree! She notices there's some spirit residue floating around too, but the monster takes priority!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:81|Himeko Soryuu (81)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;One might expect the evil spirit to shriek or something, despite its lack of mouth, but it produces no sound, animal or otherwise. Nothing except the sound of clattering bones as they knock into each other, dancing in the air, and then falling one by one from the monster's branches, to scatter on the floor in their burning little girls' clothes.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The monster itself will be collapsing soon enough, as the flames eat through it. It was incomplete, and so was its power. The firepower thrown at it is more than enough.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:73|Wako Agemaki (73)}} has posed:'''<br>This is approximately when the Galactic Maiden makes a slightly anticlimactic and entirely mundane arrival, in through the door of the butcher's shop, a bit winded from the hurry she made to get here after Sailor Moon called her. "Sorry," she gasps out, "I still can't fly all that fast..." As she catches her breath, she looks between Rashmi, Hematite, the phantom of the butcher, and what she can see of Sailor Mars and the storage room from this vantage. "...I think I can see who you need help purifying, but... what is on fire?"<br><br>She's already forming a preparatory shell of pale pink energy around Hirohiro-san as she speaks, though she holds back on anything more than that for the moment.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>"...Okay look can we just not call me Book Girl please," Rashmi mutters under her breath; unable to stop herself from speaking her mind, but frankly there are, once again, more important things to deal with.<br> <br>While the fires *do* look like they will be more than enough to take care of business, Rashmi has seen enough movies to ever believe that one good hit will be all it takes.<br> <br><span style="color:#ffff5f">&lt;&lt; *BONG!* &gt;&gt;</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">SOLAR BARRET -- BIND SHIFT</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>The trio of energy spheres rotating around her pause for a second, rune-etched ribbons of light wrapping around them... At which point they streak up and toward the monster. Their job is not to cause damage, but to deliver the payload they've been given; wherever they impact, the spheres shatter and form binding ribbons, fixing their point of impact in space. If it's going to burn down soon, best it not be allowed to enact a death charge.<br> <br>"Bone monster!" she calls to the new arrival, more and more pleased by the moment to have help.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Hematite (38)}} has posed:'''<br>&lt;&lt; Telepathy is cool! Thank you! &gt;&gt; Hematite 'says' into the link Rashmi's provided, and he sounds just as nice in Rashmi's and Rei's heads as he's been out loud, to Rashmi, thus far.<br><br>And then he's literally about to use the power that flowed from Rashmi's spell into his hands-- he's about to punch the heck out of a bone monster--!! when there's a jet of FIRE SOUL right past him and he scrambles back with a yelp.<br><br>Then the thing is clattering to the floor and there's the smell of burning bone and blood and Hematite makes a F A C E. "Ahh-- okay, if not Book Girl, what do we call you?"<br><br>But she's also binding the fallen-down bones in place, so maybe-- "I'm going to punch the pile of bones with this ''really nice buff''," he decides, and then Wako's coming in and Rashmi's answering her question, and he adds, "He's also grieving for his little daughter, which he built this thing to try and get her back with, apparently? So... he needs grief counseling too. But we're a bunch of teenagers so I'm not sure how that should be broached."<br><br>And then he slides closer to the fixed-in-place bones, glances back to make sure everyone's back far enough, and calls his attack: "BONE CONFETTI TIME!!" and SLAMS his hands into the mess of burning bone before skittering back again and brushing fire off if he's got any on him.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:72|Rei Hino (72)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Look, it's what Sailor Moon called her! Take it up with he--" she snaps but then Hematite is leaping out to power-up punch the bone monster, making Sailor Mars jump back to avoid flaming bone fragments flying in her direction, if any. The Ginga Otome is here? That's great news! They should be able to purge this place of evil spirits, and then they can grill Hematite on why he's suddenly not an enemy--<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Wait are those ''real bones''!?" she demands in a much higher-pitched voice than usual. She may not be shrieking like Usagi, but those are some very nostalgic vibrations of the ol' eardrum there. "What's going on here? I thought this was an evil spirit not a... A... Serial killer's Build-A-Tree Workshop!"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She also remembers there's a telepathic connection with all the talking in her head, and experimentally tries sending back a message. &lt;&lt;I wasn't told the details of what's happening. Can somebody please give me a summary?&gt;&gt;<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Thankfully, Sailor Mars's fire isn't actually 'fire'. It's magic energy that emulates fire. So it'll die out on its own and not burn down the store. Even so, the smell of burning bones is not a pleasant one, nor the general scent of death and the Underworld that is hopefully about to disappear back to where it came from.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:81|Himeko Soryuu (81)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bound, burning, and then punched, the evil spirit part of it disappears. It collapses in on itself and just leaves the bones that originated from this side of the after life behind. The energies, Death and Dark, that were clinging to the remains disappears as well. The purifying shell is making the ectoplasmic gunk affecting Hiroshi's psyche evaporate. Once the barrier is brought down, he should hopefully be unharmed.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Shiro was told to get out, and there's no sign of Himeko here, other than the lingering feeling of her presence that is fading by the second. Problem solved, and nothing got burned down? Yay??<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt; So something posessed the poor butcher, and convinced him that if he kept feeding bones to it, it'd bring back his dead daughter, &gt;&gt; Rashmi says, providing the briefest summary her comprehension can allow. &lt;&lt; Hematite-san learned about it, like, seconds before I did. I'm guessing it's mostly just all the bones from the animals he cuts up, because everyone seemed pretty happy and healthy back in the real world. I was worried for a little bit there, that all this Dark stuff was infecting the meat. &gt;&gt;<br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:#ffff5f">&lt;&lt; *BONG!* &gt;&gt;</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&lt;&lt;</span> <span style="color:#ffff5f">CAN CONFIRM, ANOMALOUS ENERGY CONTAMINATION IN FOODSTUFFS: 0%</span> <span style="color:#ffffff">&gt;&gt;</span><br> <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt; ...That's Nicomachea, my Device. He's the one with all the sensors, I just interpret. Anyway. It looks like everything's more or less taken care of? I'm not gonna drop the Barrier until that's all burned away. &gt;&gt;<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:73|Wako Agemaki (73)}} has posed:'''<br>"Bone monster," repeats Ginga Otome, in a tone of 'sure, this might as well happen'. "Okay. HEMA-SAN!" Her voice rises in volume, calling after Hematite as he makes to smash the last burning remnants of bone creature. "SAILOR MOON SAYS SHE TOLD YOU SO!"<br><br>And then, after drawing in a deep breath and exhaling it audibly, she returns her attention to poor Hirohiro-san. "Right," she says, more briskly now as she begins to understand what she's up against. "I can only really help with some of that... but if we get the gunk off of his soul, that should at least be a start."<br><br>Her task for the immediate moment is clear. She may not be hip-deep in the ocean at the South Shrine, but the measured gestures of the purification ritual are etched into muscle memory. The delicate sphere around the butcher's ghostly silhouette floods with light, a softly-growing radiance like the first pink of dawn to burn away the clinging mists of spiritual contamination.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:38|Hematite (38)}} has posed:'''<br>"Yeah they're not human bones," Hematite waves his hand around, and then he backs out of the storage room. His steps slow when he processes exactly what Wako said to him, and he turns and grins at her. "Yes she did. Thank you."<br><br>He brushes himself off again. "Anyway, my sister's not here, and I don't think any of us wants to actually be ''in the butcher shop'' when the barrier comes down? And I should really go. Nice to see you again, Ginga Otome, Sailor Mars, not-Book-Girl-- I have to find her cat and he's probably at a haunted shrine."<br><br>And unless someone stops him, he is ''out the door''. He's actually being super accomodating by not just teleporting away.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:72|Rei Hino (72)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt;...Right.&gt;&gt; No, she doesn't want to be here when the barrier comes down. Aside from drawing out an ofuda, closing her eyes, and praying silently, to see if there's any lingering evil in the area (no, there isn't), she doesn't stick around for much longer. She comes back out into the main lobby area and waits alongside Ginga Otome and not-Book-Girl, making sure they complete what they're here for safely. She'll provide well-wishes and anything else quick to say/do as well, before doing the typical senshi fast-jumping out of there thing.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"She owes me ''such'' a favor..." Mars mutters under her breath.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:81|Himeko Soryuu (81)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The residued psyche appears to be completely cleansed, since it is no longer visible or present inside the barrier. The magic gunk wasn't Hiroshi's to begin with, so that is a good thing. The bones are... Not going to burn up. The evil ones, yes, but the normal bones are going to be there for awhile. At least the difficult-to-explain childrens' clothes burned up though! That's something!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:41|Rashmi Terios (41)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt; Rashmi's fine! &gt;&gt; the redhead calls after Hematite, before the door can close... And forgetting for a moment to confine that call to him alone. Nope, everyone currently in the shop gets that.<br> <br>"Aheh... So... yeah. Thank you, all of you, very much. If it was just me and Hematite-san, I'd be worried, and nobody would have been able to do anything about Hirohiro-san. I..." A thought strikes her, and she looks to the pile of burned bones. "....Uh. ....Y'know what I'll just... take these out before I take the Barrier down, that feels like it'd be a bad look to have just... *appear* in a crowded butcher shop..."<br> <br>And a golden, translucent Shield bubble forms around the blackened pile, carefully guided by Rashmi's thoughts.<br> <br>"Okay see you all later!" And with that, she just floats toward the back, seeking the employee exit and the Dumpster nearby.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:73|Wako Agemaki (73)}} has posed:'''<br>As for the Galactic Maiden, once she's satisfied that no lingering negative energy remains, and the sphere of purifying light can be safely dispersed?<br><br>She simply bows politely, waves acknowledgement of Rashmi's farewell as she straightens back up... and dismisses her transformation entirely. The white and gold military uniform dissolves into plain old street clothes, and Wako Agemaki heads out of the shop at a purposeful but not overly hurried walking pace. By the time she's a few yards clear of the entrance, she has her phone out to send a text. Just another teenage girl doing teenage girl things, nothing to see here.<br> <br>
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