2626/A Saccarine Salutation

A Saccarine Salutation
Date of Scene:	18 June 2025
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	A new antagonist has deemed to make her presence known upon the face of Japan, as Sucre W. Delicious unleashes a youma upon the Four Clover Mall, a group of friends having drawn the attention of Sucre with their sweet friendship! A French Press Robusta is created, with some creminion mugs to terrorize and drain the sweetness of the mall!
Cast of Characters:	294, Roman Talleday, Laura La Mer, Ami Mizuno, Ikiko Hisakata, 296

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Sucre W. Delicious (294) has posed:
It's the relatively early evening, not too long after getting out from school, and people have flocked to the Four Clover Mall to get food, hang out with friends, or even do some shopping with their friends, using their allowances for the month. Among those people at the mall, there are a group of friends chattering away at the food court.

They weren't talking about anything all that important, just about their plans for the evening and what to do over the weekend while they sipped at smoothies.

Meanwhile, in one corner of the food court, a very ... average... looking girl sips at her own beverage. A coffee beverage chock full of sugar and cream and with some horrific whipped toppings on top that looks like it should be sugar with a side of sugar and more sugar.

Mille Fuille takes one sip of it and immediately pulls a face though. "Eugh, bitter." She mutters under her breath, before glancing towards that chattering group of friends. Mmm.

They should be tastier. That painfully average looking young woman quietly slips off and into a bathroom briefly.

Not long after, out comes... Sucre W. Delicious!

Some people glance at her and comment about her cosplay, as she calmly walks up to that group of chattering friends. "My my, hello! Aren't you just the sweetest bunch! I'm so tired of sipping bitter brews, do you perhaps have the sweetness I desire~?" She says cheerfully, as the group kind of gives her an uncomfortable look.

Which was around the moment when she poked each of them with her staff, pulling out a coffee filter -- along with a small cup of ... something ... from each. She sips daintily from one of the cups, while two of her four arms quickly fold those coffee filters. "Mmm... that's MUCH better~." She says cheerfully, buzzing off as she drops those folded up coffee filters, which briefly ~poof~ into a coffee machine, brewing themselves... the coffee pots 'pouring out' four figures.

One, much larger than the others, appears to be a french press with arms and big eyes on it.

"RRRRRroooobustaaaaa!"

It calls out as it finishes forming, and much like Mille had... it, along with the smaller Creminions (Basically humans wearing cream pod themed bodysuits and masks, really), begin to draw that same sweetness from the others around.

"Hm... though this is sweet, it's still not quite right..." Sucre mutters to herself as she buzzes off to sit atop a sign, crossing one leg over the other as she daintily sips from her cup. ... Well, rotating through four cups, really, but that's beside the point.

Roman Talleday has posed:
Robusta. That was bad news, and it was bad news mailed directly to him, like the world's most unwelcome Summer postcard. Roman Talleday had become scarce at the roar of the French Press, and the sinister scent of coffee in the air.

The Dark Roast had reached him in Japan, it seemed.

Cure Chai had appeared swiftly, standing atop a table in full glory-- a beautiful young man with vibrant eyes of blue and vivid pink hair, a cow-licked streak of white curling into an aesthetic swirl shape over bangs. Fashionably dressed in what could only be described as flashy Ouji-lolita clothing, he was princely in his white outfit with pink accents, a matching teacup tilted on his head like a small top-hat. A bejewled teaspoon at his hip, on a bow.

"I'll show you there are better ways to stir up a sweet change!" He chastised openly, drawing attention to himself. "Order up! Cure Chai!"

He had no idea why he said that. Still, he frowned, and yelled at the French Press, "Oi! Biggun!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
Laura was mostly bored, and feeling restless. Not out of anything specific happening right now, but because the summer sun was really getting at her in a way that begged her to do something high energy. For that she had considered going on a run, but it was then she had realised, she had never really bothered with buying a tracksuit.

Yeah, well, her methods of burning off energy didn't usually involve jogging, but something spurred her to try it this time.

Minutes later, she is coming out of the sports store in the mall with a bag hanging from her elbow, humming the melody of Aqua Prism cheerfully.

Today is definitely a good day.

Then, a flash, a feeling all too familiar that predates the formation of a youma.

"Alright, I see how it is!", the mermaid grins, sliding her Heart Swirl Ring off her finger, and clasping the Mermaid Aqua Pact with her right hand. She is going to transform right on the spot.

"Pretty Cure! Tropical Change!", she announces as a pink sphere surrounds her. Taking off the Heart Swirl Ring and inserting sideways into the keyhole of the Mermaid Aqua Pact, she twists it upright and its seashell cover splits in half, revealing a purple base with white stars and blue waves on the left side and white hearts on the right side, surrounding a blue circle with a motif of crystals all around a white sphere.

The opened compact transforms her completely, enriching her appearance with make-up and her clothes as Cure La Mer. Jumping upwards with a splash of waters, finally Laura introduces herself. "The Shimmering Ocean! Cure La Mer!"

"You! Cure Chai, you said you are called right?", she jolts up when she hears the introduction. "I am Cure La Mer, and will be teaming up with you today! Looking forward to see what you can do!"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
One moment, her tutoree had been quite present and the next--where had he gotten to? Ami had only been gone a couple of minutes as she picked up her hamburger, expecting him to at least put some effort into his homework, when he appeared to have given her the slip.

"Rome-kun..." She couldn't help but sigh heavily.

Oi! Biggun! It was definitely a phrase that managed to catch her attention as she held her tray and sapphirine eyes slowly worked their way upon the Pretty Cure now standing astride her books. As a result, of course, those very same eyes widened and Ami made an almost choked noise before she followed his gaze toward the French Press.

She bit at her lip, set the tray aside atop an unoccupied table, and then bolted right for the nearest store. With people gawking outside, it wasn't hard for Ami to seclude herself within.

Of course there was a youma today.

"Mercury Power, Make Up!"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Today had been a good day for feeding some of the strays around Tokyo, but it was a bit warm, as usual for the season. Since Ikiko had been not too far away in the ward, she had visited the mall to do a bit of window shopping while cooling off in the air-conditioned interior. Hey, it's a two-for-one relaxation deal, right?

She had started to head towards the food court when the weird call had bellowed out. Taking advantage of a nearby closed kiosk, Ikiko peeks towards the source of the sound, and spots the youmas and their boss.

"Well, that's different," she murmurred to herself, doing a slight doubletake as Cure Chai arrives and announces his presence -- good, a bit more of a distraction, and someone to help fight off the youma!

Still, this kiosk isn't the best place to join the fight from. Glancing around, Ikiko spots a photobooth, and quickly darts to it, saying "Lycan Locket!" as she goes through one curtain.

There's a brief silvery glow, and then Cute Wolf Tsukiko dashes out of the other curtain, leaping over to a table not too far away from Cure Chai and Cure La Mer. "I'm no Cure, but I'm generally up for defeating youma," the wolfgirl grins to the others--

    --a grin that gets interrupted by a small sneeze. "GAH!" Tsukiko yelps, rubbing a finger under her nose with a grimace. "Is this type of youma usually this... bitter-smelling?"

Elodie Vautrin (296) has posed:
Modern Tokyo is still an enigma to Elodie Vautrin. After her remedial Japanese class -- thank you, Nurse Meiou -- she once again decided to venture out into the madness that is modern day Tokyo. Today's destination? The shopping mall. While she has since learned to navigate the transit system, she still has considerable difficulty and getting to the mall was an adventure in and of itself. Getting lost usually is.

Her arrival led her to navigate her way to an extremely important location, one she has been eager to visit, a thing that is of great import to her.

The hair salon. These drill curls don't maintain -themselves-, you know? And so it was that she was seated with the hair dresser who had *just* tied the cape around her front and was about to begin to wash her hair when...

.../Villainy/.

Elodie closes her eyes for a long moment, begging the hairdresser to wait with a wave of her hand and a held up finger as if to say 'but a moment', before she sits up, lets the drape fall away, and marches out the front. She is .... very angry. This villain has further delayed a haircut overdue by fifty years and now they will face the wrath of MIRRORHEART. With her clutched in her hand, she becomes awash in overflowing nimbus of white and gold light that unfolds like a blooming flower around her. Now dressed in her majestically flowing white gown (and her hair promptly refixed into their proper drill curls by the force of magic and good fashion sense), she holds her hand into the sky and summons her blade, magical power coalescing into the long blade, veined with shimmering gold, and begins making her way towards the commotion, stopping dead when she sees the form of Sucre W Delicious herself. Her mouth works a little but she finds herself unable to initially say anything -- so she just stands there with blade in hand, pointed towards the ground and off to the side. At least she *looks* majestic.

Sucre W. Delicious (294) has posed:
Order up! Cure Chai!

Hm. Well /that's/ different. Another sip of that sweet syrup that she'd drawn from the 4, which were now bickering at their table, arguing about how one wanted to do one thing, others wanted to do another, how they'd always done what /that/ friend wanted to do.

Something that Sucre seemed to be quite enjoying as she watched that bickering. And watched from her perch atop the teriyaki shop sign that she was watching from.

The arrival of Cure La Mer is noted much like the arrival of Cure Chai. My! Where did all of these Cures seem to be coming from? Hm hm~. So stylish too! Sucre was sure they were quite sweet, too.

And the Maiden of Mercury arrives as well, coming from a hidden spot within a store... and the Cute Wolf Tsukiko as well! Hm hm.

Yes, it /did/ smell pretty bitter, that bitter brew that was left over after the sweetness was drawn from those civilians was certainly befitting the name of Dark Roast.

A final arrival in the form of Mirrorheart, which stares at Sucre. Who stares back at her, it's a somewhat exhasperated stare in response, as she sips her drink, before she just hooks her head at the Robusta. "What are you looking at me for? I'm just enjoying my drink...s over here." She comments.

As the Creminions split from the Robusta, starting to run towards the three water-aligned Mahou with little wordless cries, each one holding an oversized milk frother which they begin to swing at them threateningly, the ends of the milk frothers spinning quickly and glowing with dark energy!

The Robusta, meanwhile, seems to have deemed to go for a more... wide-spread option, as it rapidly begins to fill with hot water, bitter coffee grounds in the bottom of it.

It waits, properly, a few moments for the coffee to brew, even looking at a suddenly-appeared giant watch on its wrist for a few moments, when, with a comical ding, it calls out again.

"ROBUSTA!!!"

And the handle on the french press aggressively is pushed down, sending scalding hot coffee flying up into the air to rain down over the area -- threatening civilian and mahou both!

...Though civilians hit mostly just seem to grow bitter and start arguing, more than being burned, perhaps thankfully.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Soon after Laura gets herself into Cure Chai's team, there is one more magical girl who strolls up to them (besides Mercury and Mirrorheart a few meters away), and it's definitely a very striking presence. After all, how many times does it happen to meet with a bona fide wolfgirl?

This is her first time, that's how many times.

"Don't worry about it, you are welcome to team up with us! You will fit in just right. Cute is only a letter away from Cure!"

It makes sense(?)

"It also fits you well, you are quite pretty", La Mer observes, and without a beat gets into a fistfight with the Creminion headed for her, punching it into a nearby wall.

"Are you serious about that?", the mermaid Pretty Cure blinks when she notices the scalding hot deluge, definitely surprised. Such a huge amount of coffee didn't fail to impress. "Soo bitter", she scrunches her nose when the smell reaches her.

"I think you need to feel refreshed, let me help with that!", she recovers right away, twirling her make up pen in her fingers.

The pinkette starts stirring with her pen the disk at the center of her Compact, causing water to gather and move in a pattern of recurve spinning lines as it concentrates inside the Mermaid Aqua Pact.

"Pretty Cure Swirling La Mer Stream!", she shouts, a huge rotating beam of water erupting out of the Pact, following the pen's direction at the bitter fluid with a roaring sound.

Roman Talleday has posed:
A nod is given to the other Cure, and he's graeftul to see others appearing to help. More than he'd expected, honestly. Was that one a werewolf? Man, that was cool. And the one with a sword. What he wouldn't have given to have a transformation like that, she looked absolutely bad ass--

"Yeah, they're bitter, alright. All burnt beans and bad attitudes," He remarked to Tsukiko, before the Creminions started at them. "Things are heating up--" He brought his hand to the teacup on his head firstly, turning it on its saucer to spin. A swirl of pink steam gathered in the cup, coallescing around his fingertips as he drew it out and brought it to his lips.

"Kettle Krash!"

A pitched whistle like a kettle boiling rang out then, directed into a narrow shockwave towards the Creminions themselves, blasting towards them at force to knock them back.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury had scarcely taken place beside Cure La Mer before the creminions started their charge. After all, she needed to be fairly close to the action--Ami, underneath, still wanted to rescue her schoolwork.

There was now coffee spraying all over the place and beams of water from La Mer. Of course, Sailor Mercury was going to add her own to things before too long.

Did he just whistle out a Sailor Moon wail? Goodness...

"This is really inconvenient!" The senshi announced as she drew her arms up slowly, water collecting above her head. "Shine Aqua Illusion!"

Arms cast outward and a powerful jet of water was added to the mix. Aimed, quite specifically, for the creminion that La Mer had already bodied into a wall.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko replies to Cure La Mer's compliment with a beaming smile (and a wagging tail, naturally), then nods in acknowledgement to Cure Chai's description of their foes and in agreement with Sailor Mercury's take on the overall situation. The wolfgirl darts forward in the wake of the Kettle Krash, lashing out with some follow-up kicks to the blasted Creminions to take advantage of their off-balance situation.

The coffee rain is less scalding when cooled by moving air -- or, more accurately, moving through cooled air -- but hot and soggy is still not enjoyable, especially when accompanied with the bitter scent of coffee. "Okay, how about if you try being more focused?" Tsukiko growls at the Robusta, circling the youma with the occasional feint as a threatening distraction.

Elodie Vautrin (296) has posed:
There's a lot going on. Minions, and an evil animated french press?

Elodie looks angry. Righteously, sure, but also just deeply offended as a frenchwoman.

"A waste of good coffee," she blurtso ut in French, swiftly leaping to interpose herself between the civilians coming under that stream of hot water. She brings her hands together in front of her, clapping them together with an audible smack. Around her, the air rings with a hum and the sound of cracking glass as a swirl of shards materialize in front of her, coalescing into a silvery shield in front of her to absorb the impact. Seems she's focusing on protecting the civilians, immediately for the moment.

She looks very offended by all this and fairly put out.

Sucre W. Delicious (294) has posed:
Being relatively weak youma, the Creminions rather unsurprisingly, get blasted back by Cure La Mer's punch, and the narrow shockwave of force sends a second creminion comedically flying, a little 'aaaaa' as it crashes into a table and lays there a moment, while one of the other creminions runs over to help it stand back up, and the one that was smashed into a wall climbing out of a suspiciously creminion-shaped hole.

Only to get blasted by a secondary jet of water, shot right back into the hole where it had started climbing out of, hanging out of it momentarily with swirly eyes -- before ~poof~-ing back into its coffee filter form, falling to the ground harmlessly.

As the coffee rain falls, it's being interrupted by the efforts of Cure La Mer, who unleashes a rotating beam of water to redirect or stop the worst of that falling coffee! Which is great as Cute Wolf Tsukiko darts forward to follow-up on the creminions helping each other get up from the table and back into the fight, a follow-up series of kicks making them fall back again, though one of them manages to get their milk frother into place to attempt to catch those kicks in the dark energy-infused spinning tip!

Luckily it's not sharp so PROBABLY wouldn't cut up her leg or anything if it does catch it, but the dark energy and bitterness might sink in, draining some of Cute Wolf Tsukiko's peppiness and turning it into a bit more of a jittery jerkiness!

"Pah, this bitter brew is not good coffee." Comments Sucre towards Elodie similarly in french, as Tsukiko recovers and starts circling the Robusta distractingly!

A distraction that gets a giant gloved hand swinging towards her in a circle windmill punch type attack that is surprisingly quick for being /entirely ineffective/ as an actual combat tactic in reality. But, well. It's a youma. It doesn't have to pay attention to reality.

Well okay it does, kind of.

Those swirling shards, meanwhile, help to protect from the follow-up attack, as the french press robusta pumps its own press up and down a few times, which seems to be building up pressure for ... some reason, as the whistling sound of steam can be heard, before it tips forward, unleashing a stream of coffee that it sweeps over the assembled mahou in the area!

Elodie Vautrin (296) has posed:
"Stop this immediately! It's an insult to good coffee!"

Elodie is *mad*, and who can blame her? "What an embarrassment!" With Elodie's mirrored shield now covered in dripping coffee and grounds, she smears a little off and tastes it on her tongue, and then looks like she's going to gag. "Stop this immediately! It's an insult to good coffee!"

Elodie is *mad*, and who can blame her? Still, as the second blast erupts towards her, Elodie quickly expands her shield even further, trying to shelter the civilians and expanding it to the other mahou. This is clearly taking concentration and strain on her part as she rushes closer to the other Mahou to offer it. There's a distant sound, a ringing hum and the sounds of cool, cracking glass.

Roman Talleday has posed:
Caffeinated assault comes, and Cure Chai jumps back behind the table for two and kicks it over. Unfortunately scattering books and homework-- Ami won't be pleased about that whenever she gets back-- but, grabbing at the center stand, it's now an umbrella-like sheild for him.

With that to brace against the coffee, he bolts forwards in a remarkably intense burst of agility, headed straight for the Frech Press. The bastard may be big and full of bitter brew, but he is still made of glass-- tempered by dark energy, sure, but he had a solution for that. The sounds of cracking glass by Elodie have been an inspiration to him.

So Cure Chai intends to kick it really, really hard.

The table is thrown at it first for good measure, but swiftly after, he launches into a leap and delivers a mighty drop kick.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
She started, barely able to stop herself as the Pretty Cure boy upended table and homework. The distress escaped her as an upset squeak, fingers twitching at her side before she let her head lull. There were a great many things that Ami Mizuno could forgive. Indeed, she was very much the forgiving sort. Sadly, messing with schoolwork wasn't one of them.

The Maiden of Mercury lifted her arms, not intent to use any specific attack, but instead to put the water spread about by Cure La Mer to use. As the French Press unleashed it's stream of coffee, Mercury's hands fell and the wet of the ground splashed up in a vertical sheet. There, it froze solid for the senshi to hunker behind.

She wasn't about to weather the blast of Dark Energy infused bitterness directly. If she could help it, at least.

From there fingers darted to her ear to summon her Mercury Visor before peeking out to survey the Robusta. With immediate threats handled and the biggest youma currently occupied with multiple combatants, Sailor Mercury wanted to do what she did best. Find it's weakness and plan a means to exploit it.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
The scratch from the milk frother isn't particularly painful, but the dark energy -- particularly in conjunction with the ongoing coffee aroma -- is making Tsukiko a bit crankier than usual, as evident by her snapping at the Robusta with her silvery fanglies as she darts back from the windmill punch.

Still, the wolfgirl's efforts seem to have given Cure Chai an opening to charge in for his own one-two assault, which makes now the perfect time to--

    --deal with a small flood of coffee, apparently!

With a yelp, Tsukiko scrambles for higher ground, taking advantage of signage, light fixtures, Elodie's large shield, anything to keep out of the bitter flow.

"Just you wait!" the wolfgirl yells angrily at the Robusta, waiting for the flood to subside. "Next time I get close enough to hit you, I'm gonna turn you into a has-bean!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
With the bitter coffe deluge overall taken care of (probably until the youma being purified removes the effect it had on civilians), and with Cute Wolf Tsukiko dealing with the Creminions trying to get back up from the table, it's basically like the big coffee press has a target painted on it, when the unoccupied Mahous start to converge on it.

Still, she is not really convinced it's a good idea to leave the coffee filter at the wall alone especially with how it still radiates trace amounts of dark energy, so she takes it with herself, to keep an eye on it while the fight continues. Off into her hair it goes, right next to the Aqua Pot, so Kururun can warn her if it does funny things.

The blue-pink-haired magical girl gives a look at the general overlooking the scene, shivering with a frown as she takes a look of the insect appearance she has. She has never had much of a problem with insects, but she can't say Sucre W. Delicious is putting her at ease.

Tsukiko's yelp sets off Laura's alarm, and she turns towards the wolfgirl with concern, but she relaxes again when she notices that it was just an emergency escape from a flood and she is alright.

Putting her focus back in the fight, the Tropical Pretty Cure smiles at the youma confidently. With a leap, Cure La Mer throws herself at the giant coffee press, unleashing as many kicks and punches she can manage.

Sucre W. Delicious (294) has posed:
Sucre actually pauses as Elodie ... tastes... the coffee, she stares at her a moment, before buzzing off of the sign she was lounging on, discarding the cups that she had been sipping from as if they weren't something precious. Two of her hands hold onto that staff, while two others rest on her hips.

"Yeah? Why should I care about an insult to coffee, huh?! It /should/ be embarrassed, it's bitter and disgusting and horrible!"

...Isn't she with the Dark Roast?

"I /hate/ bitter things, and you smell like you would taste /just/ as bitter as that coffee! Bleah!" She sticks out her tongue at Elodie in a fairly juvenile manner, even as the girl darts over to try to provide more protection for the other Mahou.

She very suddenly has to zip to the side, those wings of hers buzzing as that table is THROWN past her into the youma, and she glances towards the Robusta that was leapt towards with a MIGHTY KICK, sending it falling over and onto its back where it rolls around for a bit at first.

"Robusta, stop being useless and /take care of these brats/ already."

There's no way she isn't a kid herself, why is she calling them brats? Half of them are older than her even!!! Especially not with how she's /stomping in the air like that/.

Well, whatever.

It was clear, from the Mercury Visor -- and of course her actions -- that Sucre W. Delicious was most likely the source of this trouble, in addition to examining the Rubusta... well, it's a Dark Energy youma, created by the magic of the Dark Roast! Its weak point is...! ... Well okay there's purification which would probably work on it, but also it now has a pretty big crack from having a TABLE YEETED INTO IT AND THEN DROP KICKED.

... Yeah in spite of being told to stop being useless it was still rolling around from that for a moment.

And then Cute Wolf Tsukiko calls it a has-bean.

"Are you going to take that from that wannabe inumimi?!"

At which point, Cure La Mer's staring seemed to draw Sucre's gaze in return, who returns her gaze with a pulled-down eyelid and stuck out tongue.

Which is followed by more beating upon the robusta by Cure La Mer, who's repeated kicks and punches further distress those cracks on the Robusta's form!

Sucre flies over to kick the French Press Youma, though it was with a purpose.

...To get it back onto its feet.

And then she buzzes back off again muttering something about having to do everything herself.

Meanwhile, now righted once more, the Robusta grabs one of the remaining Creminions, spinning its arm in that same windmill punch again... before peeling its mask and dumping it inside of its coffee, the cream and coffee mixing together inside of it as it discards the now-spent creminion -- that turns back into a coffee filter.

"ROBUSTAAAAAA!!!!!"

And then it grows larger. And spits out ALL of the coffee inside of it into a giant floating blob of coffee, which floats over towards the gathered mahou... almost... slowly and gracefully.

Before, like the giant blobby bubble of coffe it was.

It bursts.

Sending the dark energy coffee EVERYWHERE.

Elodie Vautrin (296) has posed:
"Please! There's nothing like an excellent coffee," counters Elodie in French to Sucre W Delicious. She still looks really grossed out by the dark energy coffee -- but you know -- a dark roast is often quite good! And she likes her coffee black, generally speaking. She whips her blade around her head once, getting ready to launch an attack of her own as the Robust is ... punted back onto its feet and then, as it starts to build towards ... bursting ... she stares at it with a wide eyed realization that just sacreams 'oh no'. She quickly moves those glass shields up over her head, trying to provide as much shelter from the burst as she can. Seems she's on defense today -- which is fine, really. Those mirrored shields are good for *something*.

"Eugh!" she squeals in disgust.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Nobody ever said that a Pretty Cure beating the snot out of something wasn't effective.

"It's cracking!" Sailor Mercury called out. "Hit it harder Cure Chai!"

There wasn't really time for much else. Similar to Elodie, the senshi seemed to be forced to the task of defenses. A thrust of hands into the side of the little ice wall saw it spread outward and around, like a frosty cup to keep the deluge of unholy brew.

Roman Talleday has posed:
One girl was with the Dark Roast, and the other was defending coffee supremacy-- you really couldn't trust the French.

"Yo," Cure Chai yelled up at Sucre, "Wasp your problem? Who even are you, anyway?"

In retaliation for the coffee burst, Cure Chai prepared one of his own. The Teaspoon was taken from his hip and twirled in his fingers like a baton, only for him to pirouette in graceful form as a stream of pink milk seamed to flow around him like a ribbon, ending in a demi-plie. That 'ribbon' wrapped him like a bubble, protecting him from most of the splash.

"Boiling Burst!" And the return! An outwards explosion of pink chai milk, complete with spinning cardamoms and bubbles, flew from Cure Chai's form. This, directly buffeting the poor Fresh Press, as another punch aimed right for the crack.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Did... Did the dark general just stuck her tongue out at her? Laura really would like to have some sort of response to that, if only just sticking her tongue in return, but the bursting coffee gets her to rethink that course of action, and quickly, because she is suddenly impacted and thrown back, to grunting sounds of pain and forming burns.

She grabs onto a nearby corner to leverage herself away from the boiling liquid, at least somewhat minimising the damage it did. She still has burns that hurt terribly, and a thought surfaces in her mind to use Marine Beat Dynamic purely so she can be at least somewhat refreshed.

And it would be a good payback for the youma. Yeah, let's do that.

"Marine Heart Swirl Ring! Charm Up!", she smiles, as she stretches her arm upwards, a blue sphere engulfing her from the ring on her arm and making her change form. "Five powers, roar through the seas!", she shouts.

The ring creates a blue heart above her from which a bioluminescent whale comes out, and jumping inside of its mouth, La Mer starts swimming in it to lead the whale against the youma. Sighing relieved, the Pretty Cure directs the purifying whale towards the Coffee Press, and the sea beast delivers a sound purifying tail slap. "Pretty Cure Marine Beat Dynamic!"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko hops down from her improvised defensive vantage point, dashing forward to join in the Cure-hosted youma-pummeling party with a fierce grin on her face. She veers wide of the huge coffee blob, wondering what the heck the Robusta is trying to do...

The wolfgirl's eyes widen as she figures it out. In a moment of panic, she does a skidding turn, getting herself pointed the right direction a few painstaking seconds before getting enough hand-assisted traction to gracelessly scamper towards the first available form of safety -- in this case, Sailor Mercury's icy wall.

Running more on momentum than any actual footing, Tsukiko slides behind the ice wall (with emphasis on 'slide' -- the last few meters were a literal face-first full-body skid as her feet finished slipping out from underneath her), out of the way of the worst of the coffee burst. After a pause of a few seconds as she recovers her bearings and her breath, the wolfgirl rises up on her elbows and gives Sailor Mercury a rueful look. "I think... I'm gonna need to get myself a milkshake after this is done," Tsukiko says with a weary sigh. "At least the coffee stains won't stick..."

Sucre W. Delicious (294) has posed:
"Nothing /worse/ than one!" Sucre cuts back to Elodie, seemingly having no interest in helping defend her Robusta, which is .. probably pointless, but maybe she already got the energy/sweetness she wanted from it? Well, whatever, it's probably better that she's short-sighted, right?

A frosty cup is created to help catch some of that explosive coffee, reducing its spread and helping to protect the civilians that hadn't already passed out or ran from, the, well, frankly ridiculous situation. Hit it harder indeed, Cure Chai!

"Hm? My problem? Nothing. I'm just seeking sweet treats. Truly, this has been a wonderful afternoon~." She says cheerfully in response. "Unfortunately these little sweet treats were just little dregs of sugar, but I'm sure I'll find better later~."

...Hm.

Oh hey look there's a ribbon! And... and... he's pirouetting. Huh. Aaaaand pink chai milk bursts out, which actually causes Sucre W. Delicious to buzz away from that burst, leaving the French Press on its own to deal with that. "Eugh, what was /that/?" She crinkles her nose.

Marine Heart Swirld Ring! Wait what?

And... and...

...Is that a /whale/? What the /heck/???? Seriously there was a whale hitting her Robusta. And ... and... ... and it ATE THE CURE THAT SUMMONED IT?!

"...That's buzzed up."

Seriously what is with this country???

And to add insult to injury, as the already heavily-cracked Youma is purified by a tail-whap, that tail-whap is joined by Cure Chai and Cute Wolf Tsukiko to beat the rest of the life out of the Robusta, as it calls out, "REFRE--OW--SHING!!!!"

Crack. Shatter.

...And the Rubusta was now a coffee filter that was elegantly folded into an origami french press.

...It's almost impossibly well made.

And all of the civilians returned to normal...ish... though they seemed still a bit jittery, as that magical coffee faded with the Robusta.

"Hmph! You all weren't even that sweet!" Calls out Sucre, as she stabs the air, retreating through a dark energy portal.

Elodie Vautrin (296) has posed:
"...augh!" Elodie allows her mirrored, coffee-soaked and stained shields to dissipate. What she just witnessed, too, was also quite impressive and she was at least a little shocked by the extent of the power on display. A quick look towards Ami, her sister in quicksilver shields apparently, and gives her a nod.

"I like that," she tells her, gesturing at her, before she turns and says, "Now, I am going to go get my hair done and pretend none of this happened. Until I find that wasp. Then I am going to swat her."

She casts a glance in the direction that Sucre portaled off in with a sigh before finding a space to dehenshin and disappearing into the hairdresser's once more.

Cute Wolf Tsukiko, at least, also got a smile.

Roman Talleday has posed:
The other Cure had a whale. Cure Chai didn't have a whale-- well, no, he wouldn't, would he? Maybe he had a giant teapot or something. He wasn't sure what the limits of his new magic actually was, yet. Something in his heart told him there would be a giant teapot, when he was stronger, perhaps. Or with some help from friends.

Which was an odd thought to have, but so was mild whale-envy.

Air gathered in his cheek and he blew a raspberry. He didn't have a name to put to Wasp-Girl, yet, but he did step over to kneel and pick up the little origami coffee filter. With a slight frown, he inspected it closely, turning it over carefully in his fingers.

From the teacup on his head, a little pink puff wiggles and appears over the rim-- a chipmunk-like fairy poking her head out with a small squeak.

"Eugh! What horrible tasting magic, Stir-stir!"

Sucre W. Delicious (294) has posed:
There's a pause, as the portal re-opens, Sucre poking her head out.

"Someone asked my name. I forget which, and it doesn't matter."

"But I would be remiss not to introduce myself. I am Sucre W. Delicious, the sugar wasp of the Dark Roast."

And then her head pops back through the portal again, which closes.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Leaping out of the whale, La Mer lands on the ground silently, turned so as to give her back to the others. A rainbow outline of a conch forms around the Coffee Press when the purification gets through, and the mermaid kicks her leg high up, turning her upper body back so she now faces towards her allies, cheerfully declaring "VICTORY!", accompanied by the conch's rainbow burst.

"Sucre W. Delicious... I have to commend her for manners, but what's her deal?", the Pretty Cure grumpily sighs, hands on her hips, watching the spot where Sucre W. Delicious had been. "I have seen many selfish things, but draining people purely so your coffee could be sweet takes the cake!"

...

"Or, I wish it took the cake. Then she wouldn't have to target people for it", she smirks with dry humour. "How are going with wounds here?", she immediately starts doing the post-battle check-up somewhat imperiously.

"Cure Chai, are they your enemies?", the mermaid turns towards the Pretty Cure that showed up today. After all, each group of villains has a counter Pretty Cure, and Chai is the only one here that seems to fit the bill.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"I know it probably isn't the time, but I could really use a cappuccino now." Sailor Mercury sighed in commiseration with Tsukiko.

It was going to take her half the evening to get Roman's homework back on schedule and she could already hear the moaning complaints. Despite all of this, the cat cafe and some nice sweetened coffee sounded like a very good idea.

She managed a pleased smile in Elodie's direction as she departed, before her attention was stolen again by the temporary reappearance of the evident Dark General. It saw the senshi squint before disappearing once again, all rounded out with a sigh.

"Sucre W. Delicious." Salior Mercury said to herself mostly. "Sure is messy, more like."

She made to inspect her surroundings finally, quietly dismayed for the state of her tutoring session.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"I think the only lasting bruise I took was to my dignity," Tsukiko said with a tired laugh as she got back up to her feet. The smile from Elodie definitely helped her mood, though, and the sudden vanshing of the dark (energy) coffee was an added relief as well.

Mercury's snark about the dark general draws a giggle from the wolfgirl, and she flops down on a nearby chair for a moment. Sure, sooner or later she'll have to drop henshin, but for now? Catching her breath without having to contend with adrenaline sounds pretty good to Tsukiko at this moment.

Roman Talleday has posed:
"Think I'll just stick to callin' her Sucre-Bleu, myself." He rights himself, passing the now normal-- though immculately folded-- coffee filter to the fairy on his head. She inspected it, as he nodded towards Cure La Mer. "Yeah... The Dark Roast are working to find the Eternal Sweet Aroma. But, in the meantime, they go 'round spreading bitterness and draining people of their 'sweetness', makin' 'em all jittery and stressed out... messing with people's rest, making 'em feel disconnected from one another. That sorta thing."

He glanced up, though he couldn't really see her. "What's up with that thing, Darjeela?"

After a small nibble, the fairy popped free of the cup to hover. "This has all the sweetness! We have to return these to those poor girls, or their hearts will stay bitter, Stir-stir!"

At once, Darjeela drifted off to do so, settling atop the chest of one of the original friend group-- unconscious now-- to place the filter over her heart. With a small glow, it immediately seemed to be absorbed back into her.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury stood properly now, her coffee-retaining ice-wall now fading away as she followed the little chipmunk-fairy with the Mercury Visor. At the very least, she'd take readings of the coffee filter before it was returned to the people it had been pulled from.

"Da-chan seems to know what to do, at least." The senshi let her gaze return to Cure Chai, visor sliding from her eyes now. "It always surprises me just how good Pretty Cures are at being direct."

Cure Chai. Dark Roast. Eternal Sweet Aroma. These were things that Sailor Mercury filed away in her head for later.

Laura La Mer has posed:
The Eternal Sweet Aroma... She has never heard of anything like that in Grand Ocean. Maybe the Queen would know more about it, but if she does it would have a thing buried deeply in some scarcely used section of the Kingdom's library. "I will keep an eye out for them then, and I will be sure to contact you if I can. Wanna trade numbers?"

"You might meet some guys after motivation power too. They are a crab man, a sea cucumber woman, a shrimp kid, and a seahorse", Laura warns him. "If you do, try to henshin as soon as you can. They can't get you when you are henshined, but otherwise, you will lose the will to do anything at all."

When Darjeela explains what the coffee filter is, Laura puts a hand inside and takes the one she retrieved from the Creminion, peering at it intently. It's definitely curious to her. It's the first time she sees stolen energy in solid form. With a nod, the Pretty Cure approaches one of the girls, and lightly presses the sweet energy into her heart.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Good to know," Tsukiko says to Cure Chai and Cure La Mer, standing up and helping locate the remaining filters. "Asides from getting the filters back to their people, and being aware of the motivation-drainers... anything special we should know about the enemies you directly oppose? I know of one mahou who has to recover cursed treasure, and that's I wouldn't want to handle without her present -- or at least, I wouldn't want to handle with my hands. Maybe with a handkerchief of purified silk, but only in a pinch."

The wolfgirl pauses and blinks for a moment. "Oh, I don't think I introduced myself. I'm Cute Wolf Tsukiko; pleased to meet you!" she beams.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"If you see people drained of motivation power, try to keep the Layabout from running away, and most importantly, don't purify it. I need it as is if I want to retrieve the motivation power it stole. If you purify it, that is lost forever, and nothing could be done to save those people", Laura remarks sternly.

Then she goes back to smiling. "I am Cure La Mer, but my real name is Laura Apollodoros Hyginus La Mer, a mermaid that came here all the way from Grand Ocean and its Queen candidate", she introduces herself proudly.

Roman Talleday has posed:
Motivation stealing bad guys. Cure Chai made a face at that, but he nodded. "Alright... I'll watch out for crabs, then. And not give the wash to the Layabouts."

It takes him a moment to register the true nature of the Cure-- "A Mermaid. Right. That does explain the whale bit, then."

His attention drifts to Tsukiko, and he rubs at the back of his pink hair to grin. "Well... I'm Cure Chai."

He'd explain more as they went on.