2818/The Fall of Kyoto: The Nightmare Nexus

The Fall of Kyoto: The Nightmare Nexus
Date of Scene:	01 November 2025
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Something is wrong in Kyoto.
Cast of Characters:	Emi Hoshino, Mamoru Chiba, Kureha Senkenzan, Usagi Tsukino, Amanda Faust, Hinoiri Kirara, Veronica Perenna, Catra

---

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Mamoru's teleport has them arriving just as the Shinkansen screams into the platform near to them. The doors slide open and a flood of travelers pours into the concourse, rolling suitcases and, yes, people in costume too, from cheap vampire capes to more elaborate full cosplays. You'd expect to find the energy of a city gearing up for Halloween...

But something is -very- wrong indeed.

There's no single thing anyone can point to at the moment, but everything feels slightly out of step. A conversation nearby pauses a beat too long. There's a sense of ... pressure, almost, welling up from somewhere.

All that's left for the moment is to find Emi and she should be close by.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
All that's left? Not quite--

They arrive on the platform somewhere near Emi, and immediately the boy in the mask and cape is jerking his hands back from Cure La Licorne and Sailor Moon, then holding his hands up to his head. He staggers back a step and falls to one knee, one of his hands scrambling for the concrete, the paving stones, whatever the floor is made of. "Wrong, something's wrong with Kyoto," he says-- "we didn't teleport into a witch?" His voice is really, really stressed, and trying not to sound it.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Waiting on the platform is someone in an absolutely splendid oni costume.

    Or at least, that's what everyone around her thinks.

    At the same time, on some instinctual level, they all seem to give the horned girl just a bit of extra distance. She stands like an island of stillness in the perpetual river of traffic, hands folded together, graceful and elegant, slitted pupils watching the arrivals move to and fro. Only when a group appears seemingly from nowhere amongst the commuters and travellers, does the princess of ogres make a smooth movement forward, wooden sandals clacking incongruously on the modern tile. There are a few people in this group who will recognize this face, and there's just the faintest hint of softness when she spots those she knows.

    "My, what a splended entrance. To those I've yet to meet, fairest greetings to all of you. You can call me Onihime. To the familiar faces in the group, my but it's been far too long. I should dearly love to catch up, but as you can tell, we're... perhaps a bit pressed for time?"

    W... what?

    She looks like Kureha. She sounds like Kureha. But nearly a year in Kyoto must have rubbed off on her, because the Kureha everyone knew used full polite, formal Tokyo dialect. But the horned magical girl is talking like a Kyoto native.

    "Lead on, dear Tuxedo Mask," the oni adds, taking a step forward to offer Mamoru a hand up. "I hear tell this may be the reason my grandmother has had rather difficult nights recently. I should be glad to assist in punching the source."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The facts are simple:

    Emi has gone on into danger without them.
    Emi has been doing a lot of research into this danger.
    Emi has been training them to help her for a while.
    Emi didn't ask them for help.

These aren't things that people do when they're heading out for a quick Halloween party where things can't possibly go wrong. Not even a little. So Tuxedo Kamen had asked Sailor Moon to call it and even though there are only two Senshi among them, she calls it -

"Sailor Teleport!"

And when they land in Kyoto Station, someone will be unhappy about the cracked stones, the ring of destruction caused by their landing, the sheer amount of power needed to transport the group of them from Tokyo to Kyoto in an instant. Once they land, Sailor Moon is twisting around, taking note of everything, from the train that slides into place and those who depart it to the perfectly normal looking station, to -

"Kamen-kun, are you - oh!" She's reaching for her husband, down on one knee and looking rocked and disoriented, but there's Onihime, who she realizes abruptly she hasn't seen in ages, greeting them with the smooth posh accent of Kyoto, and she stares for a moment. It's almost enough to forget the odd pressure in the air.

Almost.

She reaches for Mamoru anyway, planning to ground him.

"I don't think we're in a Witch. This is Kyoto, I'm pretty sure, it's just -something isn't right. Duh. I mean. We figured..."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy considered switching to a school uniform or something, but: Oh right, it's Halloween and in a group like this they are obviously cosplayers. She sticks with her base henshin for now.

    Initially, Amy just feels nervous. Although Tuxedo Mask's reaction raises that to alarmed. "Wrong with Kyoto? Like, the whole city?"

    A Witch? "I don't think so..." She glances around. "Labyrinths never look this... normal. And populated with people."

    Still, though she doesn't sense a Witch, she holds out her hand palm up with her soul gem -- ruby red save for just a slight outline of corruption at the top -- and focuses on it, the basic Witch-tracking technique Kyubey taught her after the rooftop fight with Scorn, so long ago.

    And it's as she's trying to focus that the subtle wrongness can claw at the edges of her brain a little more. "C'mon..." She shakes her head and returns the soul gem to its spot on her glove.

    "How do we find-- Onihime?"

    Amy blinks at her. "Long time no see. Have you... been in Kyoto this whole time? What's been going on here?"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne shuddered when they arrived. She.... did not like this. She didn't like this *at all*. It felt *wrong*. It felt so very, very wrong. She took a slow, deep breath as she looked around. "Yeah, this place just feels... wrong..." she mumbled as she glanced about.

She glanced down at Mamoru, the fact he was knocked down already, well... "Are you going to be okay here? If you can't do this... if you're susceptible here, we can handle this. The same goes for any of you. There's no need to put yourselves in extra danger, especially when we already have to save Emi. Even I can feel that... something here is just wrong. And tryin to save extra people will slow us down. So, sometimes the best you can do to support other people is let them take care of everything. Okay?" she said. She was trying to not be harsh or cruel.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Yeah, that's why I asked what Emi's tastes are like", Veronica tells Amy with a tilt of her head. Not like it matters right now when they are about to be teleported away after Emi. Sounds like that after this mess is over, they would be able to ask the owner of the room herself.

It takes a second for space to warp around, a fading of colours and the reinstatement of others, on a platform right in between people. Somehow, nobody has taken note of their sudden appearance, and with the outpouring of Halloween cosplayers onto the platform chances are people will pay even less attention to them.

Veronica moves next to Catra, reasoning that two catgirls side by side will appear even more normal, and takes a lot around. Nothing really stands out as immediately dangerous, and yet she doesn't like it here.

"Things are odd", she agrees with Tuxedo Kamen. "I don't feel any magical energy, though", the thief bites her upper lip. "Wouldn't a Witch give herself out?"

Veronica stares suspiciously at Onihime. "Please stay put", the Princess of Sarek tells her, and with a flourish, draws moonlight in the air. "Uncloaking Shimmers!", she declares, and the silver mist clings to Onihime for a few moment, then fades away. "It is you. Well met, Onihime! How have you been?" she brightens.

Catra has posed:
Catra was here.

Well, she's arriving here, because she got word from Hinoiri that it'd be good if she were to show up and also apparently Emi is in trouble, and that seems to be a good enough reason for any of the heroes to show up and that's still something that she's getting used to.

Yes, it takes a long time to adjust when you were raised by the Horde. How Adora made the adjustment in like, twenty minutes, Catra will never know.

"I'm here," she states, as she adjusts teh cufflinks on her tuxedo; the charcoal colored number with firey accents, signaling her use of the Spirit Ember. "Where's Emi? Who's existence do I have to break?"

She makes sure to sound tough; don't want people to get the wrong ideas, but of course there's that sense of... what is that, impending doom? Her hackles are rasied and her ears are on swivels, just the same.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Finding Emi is not impossible.

Were it not Halloween, it would in fact be easier and her gothic style would stand out more. But, alas, it is Halloween. And it takes time.

Time in which that feeling is getting worse. The pressure is building. That foreboding, impending sense that something *terrible* is about to happen comes to rest in the pit of each stomach. Even if no one else is fully cognizant of it, you know that they're at least feeling it on some level too... even if they don't know it.

Finally, there is Emi -- there, slumped against the wall, leaning heavily on it. Her eyes are half-open and glassy -- present, but not here. And she is bleeding from her eyes, her ears. More blood is oozing down her arms, collecting on her gothic outfit in drips and drops and on the platform at her feet. Her body is taut enough to be trembling.

---- Earlier... ----
(Please read: https://radiantheartmush.com/The_Fall_of_Kyoto:_the_Tomb ))

As soon as the draw close to her, there's a shift in the air, a change in its power. As they gather around Emi, a businessman stops dead in his tracks, suitcase dropping from nerveless fingers. He turns towards Mahou slowly and stares at them. There's that same vacant look in his eyes that Emi has right now, there but ... dreaming, and something -speaks- through him. It's a man's voice ... but not.

"So *that's* what you've been doing," he clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth...

...and then collapses. At first, it appears he's having some kind of seizure, but instead, he violently disgorges dark energy. It's pouring out of his eyes, his nose, his mouth,, erupting in flames from the pores of his skin. He's soon joined by others in the crowd, who collapse doing the same. The rest of the crowd doesn't even seem to notice them, to the point of simply bypassing them all together. Almost as if they're sleepwalking their way through life themselves.

Emi's eyes fly wide open and she screams of pure panic and rage before collapsing into their arms, unconscious.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Tuxedo Kamen leans into Sailor Moon for a second, his forehead against her arm with him down on one knee like that. She can feel his motion sickness, his disorientation, his irritation and frustration at it, and he internally cringes at the idea from La Licorne that he might be a liability. He hangs on to Usagi's hand and accepts Onihime's hand up, breathing evenly, smile tight. "I'll be fine I just need a second. I just-- okay, thanks, Red-chan."

Breathing. In, out. Focus on Usagi. Mamoru may not know which way is up, but Usagi does, and he's connected to her in so many ways; he does the psychic equivalent of putting on PPE, safety glasses and earplugs, maybe a hazmat suit-- and... suffice it to say, yes, she can ground him, but he had to cotton-wool his senses.

"It's like getting used to a really really bad smell," he says apologetically. "I'm fine."

Then after the reassurances they go looking -- and he could find her so easily before! Especially with all their help! But now there's all-- this, all this wrongness clogging everything, and he can't sort through it enough to 'find' anyone but Sailor Moon yet. He hangs on to her, all the way to Emi when they find her, and he's just--

She's bleeding and Mamoru's first instinct is to yank his gloves off to make sure the bleeding from the head isn't something in the process of killing her medically right now, but there's PEOPLE LOOKING AT THEM and then this guy is talking to them, and Mamoru says in absolute disgust, "Possession. For things too mid to manifest."

Then there's dark energy and nightmares flooding in and Emi screams and Mamoru starts breathing too fast, and he grabs for Usagi's hand again, and his bare hand goes up to his head again, and he looks so upset. "I am going to slow you down if I stay," he says, "there's something really really wrong with Kyoto-- yes the whole place-- and I think we just met it, and it's-- I can't find Chibimoon. I can't find the boys. I can't find up. I'm sorry."

Really, really, really upset.

But then when he takes a step back to teleport, nothing happens, and the look on his face... for a split second, it's a suffocating panic, and then it's just grim misery. "I'm really sorry. I also can't leave. I'll try not to need saving..."

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    It's Amy whose greeting first draws Kureha's attention. "Why, yes," the tiny horned girl replies, canting her head slightly to one side. "Has word not gotten around? I've been staying with my mother's family most of this year. I won't be here much longer, of course, my time in Kyoto is near an end, but..." She catches herself, then shakes her head faintly. "My, but I'm easily distracted. All I know for what's been happening is that everyone in the estate has been sleeping dreadfully poorly, but especially my grandmother. Rashmi texted me earlier to ask that I accompany you all."

    Cure la Licorne gets a curious look from the Youkai Musume; she's met Hinoiri before, but this is an entirely new face, so she has yet to make the connection. "...a more formal introduction, perhaps. I am the Youkai Musume of Flames, Onihime. Mine is the blood of Mount Ooe - that wonderful mountain off to the west. My family has deep roots in this city, and if someone means it harm, I should certainly mean them harm."

    Then there is shimmery mist clinging to Kureha, and she looks vaguely confused. "-ah? 'It is me'? Whatever-" It's only now that she seems to notice her own mannerism, and the faint chagrin is the closest anyone's seen her to true embarrassment. For just a moment, she forces down the Kyoto-ben and replies in her old Tokyo keigo, "I have been quite well. My time with my family in Kyoto has been... liberating. I have even picked up some of the local mannerisms. I apologize for any doubt this may have caused."

    Catra is a new face as well, meanwhile; Kureha has little else to say, but does watch her curiously.

    But once the group sets off, the ogre princess has little attention to spare for anything but the trip. Even once they locate Emi in the concourse, Kureha's on her guard, something in her oni instincts screaming that they're in danger, imminent danger. As a result, she's looking right at the businessman as a potential threat when he stops, drops his suitcase, and then speaks to them in a voice very clearly not his own.

    The instant he collapses, Onihime is on her guard, posture tense, clawed right-hand fingers spread at her side. But the sources of all that dark energy... they're people. She can't attack them. "Is there perhaps an alternative means of defending ourselves someone can offer...?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy ohs and nods to Onihime. "Yeah... it's some kinda nightmare. Rashmi can text you what we have about it."

    And then the search for Emi begins.

    "Hello, we're looking for our friend..."

    At some point, Amy switches costumes to the black dress with the red bow and sash. "I'm looking for my friend. She's dressed kinda like this? Well, no, not really. How can I describe it..."

    "I'm looking for my friend. She's dressed kinda like this? But with a much fancier dress, and a parasol."

    Of course, it being Halloween people do keep saying they saw someone like that and directing her to the wrong people.

    When she actually sees Emi, she double-takes and runs over. "Emi! Emi can you hear us?!" she returns to her standard henshin outfit and kneels at her side, the same instinct as Mamoru except she has no healing powers, only first aid training and scattered medical knowledge.

So that's what you've been doing.
    Amy looks over at the man, and then over at Mamoru, "See? You get it." and then relexively flinches back from at the dark energy, and then...

    Her eyes open wide in horror. "It has all of them like Bliss-chan had us?"

    Tend to Emi. There's nothing to shoot, and the purifiers and barrier-users can handle the darkness better than she can. She kneels down to examine Emi-- who screams and then collapses. That answers the most urgent medical questions, at least!

    If no one else has picked her up, Amy's ready to. She looks to Mamoru in growing concern, and then to the others. "Do we stay here and defend her, or move elsewhere?" She looks to Mamoru and wants to ask if he can do anything for Emi, but...

    He wouldn't have tried to leave, if he could.

    F****.

    Amy looks to those with purification or barrier powers, or anyone who speaks up with a plan of action.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne was, for the most part, willing to stick with the group. She understood the concept of not running off on her own. Really, she did! She was getting better about this whole 'teamwork makes the dream work!' thing, even! Truly! And she had been trying so, so hard, more and more, to not do anything reckless. Because she could just... *feel* that something was wrong here. Everything she had told her she did not want to be here. At all.

She reached out and gave Catra a very light hand squeeze when they passed, mouthing the words 'thank you' for a moment. After all, she had come when she needed her. It was comforting knowing she'd be here for her.

But then they saw Emi...

And she took off, Precure dash, rushing forward to catch the girl when she fell, cringing when she yelled. And... "Going to kill you, you little brat..." she snarled.

Her hair was shimmering like the setting sun as she turned towards the man puking dark energy. As her eye twitched. And she held Emi close. "But first? I think we're going to kill him. Hm..." She glanced back at what they had. Could Onihime purify? She... actually didn't know. Still. Even if she couldn't, Sarek could. That was three purifiers. "You know what? I like these odds." And... slowly... she realized... while she rushed to catch Emi... she couldn't do much. So she had to turn and actually hold her out to Mamoru.

"Here. I can't heal. But I can purify." As much as she wanted to help her friend... this wasn't her field.

Catra has posed:
:returns the hand-squeeze from Hinoiri.

Coming from this particular feline that's more or less the equivalent of being serenaded through your bedroom window at midnight.

In any case, yes, of course Catra is here, and she opens her mouth to say something -- to comment on the situation or inquire as to what's going on -- but Cure La Licorne up and dashes off before she can get a word out. Well, someone else doing something faster than her is a reasonably unique experience at least.

"Okay look, I have no idea what's going on but just... point me at whatever we have to fight an--OH WHAT THE HELL?!" At the dark energy flowing out of the man (Is he human at this point?) her tail puffs up and she leaps into the air, to land on the nearest ledge, quietly marvelling at how she's gone from happily wallowing in the stuff to reacting like that. She meant to do that though so it's okay.

"Alright look, I'm here as soon as something needs its butt kicked," she reiterates; her eyes glow as she focuses on her runestone and forms a pair of glowing, firey tonfa in each hand, one yellow and one blue.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon holds Tuxedo Kamen, gripping his hand as tightly as he grips her, feeling his motion sickness, his nausea, his worry and concern, his embarrassment over being 'weak' in public, even though she reminds him readily that she's a total crybaby -

But this isn't the time to try and convince him otherwise, not when there's so much wrong and Emi to find in the center of it. Once Mamoru is on his feet, Sailor Moon says, "Kamen-kun can get Emi out of here the fastest - none of the rest of us can do that."

It's a way of shutting down the idea of Mamoru leaving them now without actually having to argue his honor, which might be more embarrassing and time consuming than they have.

And in the end, they don't argue much. They've got an Emi to find.

In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't take all that long to find Emi - they prowl the station as a group, Sailor Moon clutching her Moon Scepter, ready to call upon Moon Space the second danger presents itself to the civilians, the feeling of wrong increasingly strengthening, and they see her, near the concourse, her body slumped and bleeding, and Sailor Moon is as much horrified as she is alert.

"La Licorne, threaten her later!"

But it's half-hearted, because it's quickly revealed that the businessman with his briefcase isn't just a business man, and there's a scream and collapse, Emi and the man, and more and more civilians, darkness pouring out of them as they seize -

And Sailor Moon thrusts her hands out, light pooling in them as she manifests the Silver Crystal. It's not always a great idea to do this in the middle of things, but she's in the middle of a group and that's for the best, and they have to do something to protect these civilians as much as Emi and Mamoru -

"Moon Space, Crystalize!"

The world and everything magical within it shifts to the dimensional left, the flowing power of the Silver Crystal dragging them all away. The usual Tokyo landscape manifests, buildings wrapped like presents, cutouts in the shape of hearts and stars, a watercolor sky that's green into blue, but it's all in the distance. The foreground is the Kyoto Station, and it is wrong, the sense of wrongness having followed them into Moon Space, so deeply is it entrenched in Kyoto. The station walls are formed of stacked presents, the glass shimmering candy sugar, but the ribbons on those presents are askew, and there are tears in the wrapping paper, threatening to pull apart.

Sailor Moon is visibly drained by the effort of manifesting Moon Space here, but she's had practice over the last months since Moon Space first manifested, and she can fight - at least a bit - as well as hold her barrier, now.

"If it comes to fighting this guy or getting Emi-chan and Kamen-kun out of here, we've got to be ready to go," she urges the others. "That means someone not Kamen-kun should be ready to grab Emi, because if it comes down to it, I can make sure to drag my husband out of here."

That said? She closes her hands around the Silver Crystal, drawing them close enough to tuck it in her compact, where it's silver power shines through the seam, her Moon Scepter clutched tight once more. For all that she's reminding everyone that they might have to run, she's ready to fight.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"I see you have been having a good time", Veronica smiles at Onihime. It's a bit thin, but her eyes shine at the unexpected meeting with a friend.

"Nobody has her number?", the Princess of Sarek asks as the search for Emi proceeds fruitlessly. Things are ok overall, and yet, the sense of wrongness persist. She can see why Mamoru would think this would be a Witch.

Everyone they have met so far has been the exact same kind of catatonic as the victims of a Witch Kiss, and for several times, the cat princess is sure she has seen their glazed over eyes.

By now, her ears have flattened against her head, the motion opposite to her tail, which is standing straighter and puffed up. If these tells weren't enough, Veronica is keeping completely quiet for now.

Her eyes look around, trying to locate Emi, but they have seen each other so scarcely that she will probably take her a second or two longer than others to recognise her.

She doesn't like this place. The procession of people around them fills the air with apprehension, and it feels like whatever is going on here is draining the world of its colours.

"Totally crass", she scoffs in agreement with Mamoru at the example of possession. "Do we want to beat into his turf?", she asks the group. It's probably a matter of dreams, and having Emi at their side would be better, but she is not sure how long it will take for her to recover.

She looks down at the people having seizures and nods. "Let's do this, La Licorne. Let's show this guy he is picking on the wrong people."

"Ready, set... go! "Moonlight Masquerade!"" Her cane cuts the air and a trail of moonlight follows, falling to the ground in shimmers. Wherever the silver light touches, the ground ripples, and seemingly disappear replaced by a glistening sea.

A moon peeks out from under the water, and Veronica tilts her head, letting her top hat fall to her shoulder and outstretched arm, falling and disappearing into the illusionary sea.

The moon shines brighter, and with a tap of her foot, more ripples appear in the waters, and with a rumble, her hat breaks out, gigantic and sweeping through the dark energy, cutting through it with purification.

It arches in the air, and then falls at normal size into her waiting hand, ready to place it back on her head. The brilliance of the moon fades and the ground returns to normal. "That should do it for me" the Princess of Sarek comments.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
The battle is on.

But what are they fighting?

Above, the dark energies swirl around them and out of the mists steps first a woman in black and white, like she stepped out of a particularly old movie. Her style is as impeccable as the bob haircut she has. She raises an opera-gloved hand holds a single finger up before her. "OH," she begins, "I have waited SO long to see you again!"

Behind her, a phantasmal band swings into action, playing music straight out of the glitz-soaked nineteen twenties. It's all vintage. All around, the train station seems to distend, stretching the limits of Usagi's barrier.

"Welcome back to the labyrinth. It's time for one more dance."
    he Lady has returned, and her your senses are the worse for it. The lady of the labyrinth has returned.

Darkness swirls towards Onihime and chains wrap around her fist. She is met, blow for blow, byt a towering, bulky and faceless man. He smells of gasoline and cigarette smoke, his heavily tattooed arms bleeding a trail of ink that's left in his wake. Someone nightmare vision of who they could have become. He's strong, fast, and the tire iron he's wielding shatters pieces of the concourse where it strikes in battle. A brute, nothing more than mindless rebellion and rage, a vision of the future of one Kaito Yamashita. And somehow, now here again: facing them.

But that's not even the worst of it. A cool, bony hand lays on Usagi's shoulder as a dapper man in a hat and topcoat yet with skeletally gaunt features leans towards her and whispers in her stolen voice.

"It's such a pretty moon out tonight..."

And then -screams- her scream in her ear.

The Flicker Man has been returned.

And yet, you can't even feel angry about it. In fact, aren't these all your old friends? So happy to see them!

...so ... happy?

There's a wispy giggling and a pinkish hued being pops into the sky above them, gaudy, swirling winged creature that looks like it just stepped out of the most saccharine manga imaginable.

"That's right," she twees, "Bliss-Chan is back to make your happiest dreams come true! Happy, happy, happy!"

And then a voice, above all the others.

"BEHOLD. WHAT YOU HAVE WROUGHT, I HAVE UNDONE. THERE IS NO FUTURE THAT DOES NOT END IN ME."

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    There's a sudden dimensional shift that manages to put a surprised look on Kureha's face. There aren't any device mages here that she's aware of, so she wasn't expecting a barrier to be in the offering. But Sailor Moon has one to give, and the Youkai Musume of destructive strength is more than a little pleased to be surprised like this. She looks over her shoulder briefly, meeting Usagi's gaze for a moment. "My, Rashmi and her allies certainly have much to teach, don't they? You have my gratitute."

    But any further discussion is cut off when Onihime comes under assault by someone strong enough to match her. It immediately becomes clear that this is someone she'll be hard-pressed to fight - this is a magical girl with the strength of an oni, someone who can lift and swing cars as deadly weapons, and she's facing a monstrous brute who can meet her on even ground. But an oni is not just strength alone. There's instinct there, a deep-seated understanding of and talent for battle that goes right down to Kureha's blood. "You certainly have strength to spare, don't you? Well, indulge a girl her curiosity." The chain around her fist, she doesn't even try to break free; when it becomes clear she can't yank free, she instead yanks herself forward, using it to put herself inside his range.

    And then the tile around them is cracking and fragmenting, the air rings with thunderclap impacts, and Kureha is taking a hit for every one she throws. It seems to be an even contest of pure brute force... until Onihime's clawed right hand suddenly rakes upward, a slash rather than a punch, and it's trailed by a sudden eruption of searing flames as the Youkai Musume calls forth her element.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I've picked up some new tricks since we last fought together," Sailor Moon confirms to Onihime, an edge of a nervous smile on her face.

Darkness pours out, manifesting, manifesting, and there is the Lady from the Neon Labyrinth, and Sailor Moon remembers having to pour out her Twilight Flash again and again to navigate the dark. Music pours through the area, and the station and Moon Space distort and distend, something pulling at her control of the dimension, draining her energy. There's a terrible enemy facing Onihime, something that looks as strong as she is, and she'll need help, but before Sailor Moon can think to try and help there's -

A cold hand on her shoulder and she jumps, a jolt of terror in her heart, fear of the jumpscare, and her skin crawls when her own voice whispers into her ear -

A scream, her scream, enough that she shrieks herself, drowned out by her own magically enhanced voice replicated by the Flicker Man. This scream too, is torn away, and Sailor Moon sways, and starts to fall stunned and shocked, hearing temporarily shorted, not entirely sure if her ear drums haven't burst.

Moon Space ripples, the sugar-glass ceiling dotting with red, and Sailor Moon shuts her eyes - and the world out - to stabilize her barrier even as she reels from the assault.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Okay," Tuxedo Mask is saying, voice thin, starting to reach for Emi despite Sailor Moon's warning, and then all hell breaks loose. Again, he's absolutely wearing earplugs, so though he's standing next to Usagi when the Flickerman sonic-screams in her ear, it only hurts, it doesn't--

Yeah so hopefully Hinoiri is still holding Emi, because Mamoru's suddenly catching Usagi, who is probably also bleeding from the ears, and it feels like the air has claws and like there are wasps in the ground, and he feels her pain directly, and his gloves are still off. He ignores everything all the nightmares are saying, he IGNORES THEIR WORDS, he filters everything out again but Usagi, despite the smile that's pasted itself on his face thanks to Bliss-Chan.

An arm around behind her, cape gone with it to cloak her, and Tuxedo Kamen hangs on for dear life, pouring energy in to strengthen Sailor Moon, to give her something resembling bedrock just as she can give him something resembling sanity in this moment of mind-bending rollercoaster horrorshow, and to heal her burst eardrum. Thanks, Flickerman old buddy.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Moon tries to bring them to Moon Space, and that nervousness, that pressure, that Amy's been feeling suddenly becomes a sense of d r e a d .

    Like she can feel the shape of what's going to happen, that some kind of mind-fuckery, personal baggage, mess-with-you shit is about to go down, she just knows it.

    The next time people see her as they're surrounded by nightmares, she's back in what they know as the 'cute' magical girl outfit, clutching the fake wand anxiously and looking about in dawning horror as she realizes that this is too many nightmares, it took constant, unrelenting attacks from multiple mahou on Flickerman for over a minute to defeat him alone, and yet that sense of dread is still building...

    and there's that giggle

    no no no no no no no no

    Her friends have returned but something is wrong wrong wrong

    She's right behind him, isn't she

    Happy, happy, happy!

    no no no no NO NO!

    She turns and grins at Bliss-chan, this is what that sense of happy anticipation was building to so happy to see her again no

    have to run, have to go, NOT BE HERE DANGER end approaching, GOOD END!





    escape leave flee

    was that a scream?

    but how?

    Run and be alone -- Good End

    Stay and be Happy -- Good End

    Stay with friends? (Not friends, friends) -- Fate uncertain

    But also staying here with friends means staying here with friends and every second the situation gets closer to a Happy End

    Through the grin she says, "We have to leave, together! We can't stay, don't split up, we need to play together or they'll play with us!"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
"If I don't threaten her how will she know it's me?" La Licorne asked.

However, before long they were inside one of Sailor Moon's barriers, that was good. What followed a moment later was... not so good.

Mister 'steal your voice'. Oh, she didn't like him. Last time they'd fought, she'd done a singalong with the girl he'd been stalking. This time, though, Emi was asleep. And there were other monsters. Monsters she didn't know. Monsters she didn't understand, yet...

What she did know, is they hurt. Her. Friend. And now Usagi was hurting... And she put Emi down... And she started to call out an attack... But no words came. "... I'm sorry," she said softly.

Before she'd erupt into bright, brilliant light, body glowing like the sun. She kicked out, launching radiant, purifying fireballs of light at the monsters... But....

There was no callout, no chant to go with them. Her mouth moved, but no sound. The attack was cut down from it, weakening it substantially. Her rage burned, but her light was dimmed by this monster.

Catra has posed:
Catra opens her mouth to talk some smack; that is the usual thing to do in these sorts of situations, but no words come out. Literally. None. Not a sound, other than her throat trying really hard to make words but not managing to do it. Well what the hell. This is basically just a jerk move. She never did anything like this when she was a villain -- pull a lever, maybe blow up a planet, yeah sure okay fine. But this is just... rude. Inconsiderate. Uncouth.

Seriously, what kind of villain doesn't want to hear the cries of their enemies when they win? This is just wrong on so many levels.

Time for a quick assessment; Hinoiri looks like she's doing fine, but the cat splits off one of her illusory doubles to go and open fire (literally, with a blast of blue flame) on the same target that she's going after. Amy, likewise, looks like she's got things under control. But, is Sailor Moon struggling? Maybe? Well it never hurts to beat the crap out of a mutual enemy to patch things up a little, right?

Catra leaps off her ledge and charges, rushing wordlessly at the dapper man and his gaunt features, flaming tonfa at the ready as she rushes bodily into him, laying into him with a flury of tonfa blows before throwing them aside in favour of a second flury, unleashed with flaming claws.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Well, well, well! I see a whole bunch of fresh new henshins ITCHING for judgment! Chat, let's start with the girl of the moment! EMI HOSHINO, WHAT DOES CHAT THINK?"

Text bubbles start appearing around, along with cry-laughing emojis, clown emojis and more.

"A for commitment, F for strategy. If you want to be the martyr, cool but at least leave a how-to manual for the rest of us. We're stuck cleaning up out the metaphysical gutters."

"0 for plan, 0 for execution, -1 for dragging other people into your mess. We stan consequences for our failure-queen (also what the hell is heterochromia to me)"

"Wow. sleeping through her only chance to do anything useful here! Congrats, officially the reason cautionary tales exist!"

"She could've asked for help. She didn't. Selfish. Tragic. Most of all? Nauseating. The reason we have cautionary tales."

Oh no. -Rate Your Henshin- is here too?

That's right! Swirling in the air above the battlefield, now, near to Bliss-Chan, is the manifestation of cyberbulling itself, and it's letting it all loose on Emi right out the gate.

And the worst part, whatever awful bomb he drops, you're probably just going to feel happy about it thanks to Bliss-Chan.

He must have been waiting. Watching.

Judging.

And now he's returned to the fray.

Catra's engagement with the Flickerman certainly provides some relief. He's fast... possibly even faster than she is, but Catra absolutely has the means to keep up with him better than most. Their blows crack and crash into each other and the whispery, rattling laugh of the Flickerman echoes audibly through the station. It's keeping him from applying the pressure he might well want to put elsewhere -- but it's not as if there's any shortage of enemies.

The Delinquent, all clad in his now torn leather, smoulders and smokes, black energy leaking from the wounds in wisps. In the process. The Lady's swing band and her bounces, two more hulking brutes, flood towards the gap, tackling Hinoiri as her fireballs initially push them back, and then surge towards her.

The Delinquent remains engaged with Onihime, but he's got her in a grapple, now, and he's grinding her down -- bones, creaking, black wisps of smoke coming off him as he draws more power to bring to bear on her.

Bliss-Chan, sensing weakness perhaps, swings down towards Amy and twirls around her head. "Aren't you just the HAPPIEST one? Look at you -- living the dream!" The glow of her wand brings joy -- so happy it HURTS. "Smile so hard your face will split ALL the WAY OPEN!"

They can hear a train's engines start. The Shinkansen leaving for Tokyo. If they want to escape Kyoto, their best chance is to be on it.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Someone who can outright match Onihime for strength is such an exceedingly rare thing that she's a bit on the backfoot just from being in an even contest of physical might. But then he starts overpowering her, and she feels even her own immensely durable body starting to give - the ground beneath her has long since started to sink under the pressure weighing down on her, but for her own body to approach its limit is entirely new. And yet, something is pushing her to feel happy, to be positively blissful at the contest of-

    No. This is wrong. Something is wrong!

    Instinct. Danger sense. Whatever the word might be. Kureha's oni blood warns her not to trust that feeling, not to indulge in it. Her eyes dart around, and she quickly realizes they're being overwhelmed. Too many enemies. Too powerful. "We need to go-" Without waiting another moment, the ogre princes suddenly stops fighting the Delinquent. She stops pushing against him. She lets his full strength come down on her - and rolls backward, turning it into a vicious throw that uses his own strength against him to buy her precious seconds.

    And then she pops up to her feet, and brings her hands together with all her strength for a thunderous CLAP!

    "WE NEED TO LEAVE! GET ON the train-"

    Kureha stops short, eyes widening. "The train! The TRAIN! W-what is-" It has to be one of these things. She can't bring out the words she needs. "THE THING PEOPLE RIDE HERE! It's leaving, and we need to leave with it!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
<( Look at him, big tall protector boy, useless the second he even got here. )

<( He's like the embodiment of the 'they don't even know' meme. )

<( Lame. He's so overwhelmed, poor baby! He should grow the fuck up. Just gonna close his eyes and hope it goes away-- )

Mamoru's smiling into Usagi's hair, he's not fighting the smile, there's no point. He's not doing anything with his face right now anyway, it might as well have a vacant smile on it. He is too overwhelmed to do anything about processing any of the verbal noise that's going on right now; even if everyone could speak it would sound like noise to him--

Everything's wrongness keeps increasing, it's... a place of power-- it's-- HE KNOWS what's going on here. His mind can't hit the words straight on, but his psychometry can get the concepts out to Usagi. Midnight Tokyo. The glyphs being inserted into the -- the feeling of power. Under the shrines. The river, the flow, the road, the, the, the. More than a dot. More than two dots. The space between two connected dots--

He's trying to pull power up from the floor, but it's sick and twisting. He starts looking up when Kureha claps, and blinks, staring blankly at her.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Moon Space is distorting, twisting, blood beginning to rain from the melting sugarglass above them, the watercolor sky a muddied green-blue as darkness creeps in. Kyoto's Dreamscape is corrupted, and while Moon Space isn't the Dream Scape, it's a magical dimension too - and there's so much darkness here, from so many enemies, resurrected and here, that Sailor Moon is struggling to contain it all.

But she can't let the civilians get hurt. Not worse than they already have been. Not in cross-fire from the heroes trying to save them -

Mamoru's strength is helping, golden sense of home steadying her nerves and her equilibrium, repairing burst eardrums, the ringing in her head fading some - it still hurts, they're on the battlefield, there's too much to do, she can't wait to be healed fully -

But when she can hear again, she takes note of the sound of a train, and a whole in Moon Space opens, enough to let the train enter, to give them an escape. An escape, that's what she wants, a way to get out of here with all her friends, and there's a smile spreading across her face even though her chest is tight with nerves because they weren't ready for this, they weren't ready, they thought Emi was going after an enemy, but this is the lot of them, the nightmares they helped her fight, the nightmares they hunted and saved people from but she's SMILING and she doesn't know why, wasn't there to fight Bliss-chan, is anxiously excited as the smile spreads until it aches.

Above her head, text messages pop into existence.

"Talk about boring, we have a 5/10 costume, so boring! But 10/10 on the comedy, what kind of hero gets taken out by their own temper tantrum?"

"I mean, we have to be fair right, a quarter of her powers are just crying and hoping someone fixes it."

"TOTAL spoiled princess type, everyone knows she just wants to get out of here and go home, why doesn't she just quit already"

The Flickerman is distracted by Catra and none of them are powered by Dark Energy, and Sailor Moon thrusts the Moon Scepter into the air and cries out "Moon Healing, Escalation!"

The Flickerman is distracted, but he's still stealing words - luckily, the circle still manifests, the silver light of purification still blazes out, striking out at the nightmares. It's not going to be enough to get rid of them. It's not going to slay these monsters again. It's not like she needs to! They're all friends here! But Onihime is right, even if she can't communicate effectively.

"We have to catch, the train,!"

More words disappearing, but in between the words above her head, the words vanishing from her brain, the images pouring into her from Mamoru - glyphs, the shrines, the places of power, the road, the flow, power, power, wrongness getting worse because they're in POWER -

She understands enough, and throws Tuxedo Kamen over her shoulder, a bastardized fireman's carry, and runs for the train, at the last second thrusting her Scepter up and between the train doors in an effort to jam them open for as long as possible. R
"Aww poor stupid crybaby finally realized she's in over her head."

"NOW!"

A bellow, a scream but not a supersonic one, hoping to cut through the noise.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
When the light of her magic dims to nothing, she can feel new presences appear, and it brings with them figures she does not recognise. The dark energy clings to the air like an oily mantle, and she can feel a new queasiness in her stomach.

Her tail stands straight, and she stares with a mixture of wariness, confusion, and fear. And yet one more feeling adds itself, pulsing into her head with a sense of otherness: an elation that forces her to smile, and yet doesn't make the fear go away.

It only grows instead, and she turns to the others. The thief tries to ask what do think, what they should do, but only emptiness comes out, even if she is sure she formed the words. She tries to use her beam of moonlight, but it falls to the ground in sparkles when she fails to pronounce the incantation.

(Look at her, thinking that she can save others when she even can't save herself.)

(You know what they say, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.)

Glaring at the figures, she pushes the fear deep, even thought her ears and tail betray it for her, and she pushes herself into taking action. Her form slips away from sight and touch, one of her only two powers that don't rely on words, and immediately starts running towards the train.

Fear is giving her wings like nothing before, and her strides reach far on the way to the train. She knows. She hasn't forgotten. She is trying to do it right. But she can't let others know. Not until everything is fixed. It's still too soon. Please not now.

She throws herself through the metal of the train, before Rate Your Henshin can reach deep enough, before she can pull that out of her, and she becomes visible again, glad that the magic of happiness is still making her smile.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
<<Righteous Indignation? Well, she's certainly indignant alright, not a single bit of dignity to be found there.>>

<<What even is she supposed to be, a type of licorice?>>

<<Looks more like a villain than a hero, because she knows being a bad guy was the only time she was ever relevant.>>

<<Can't even decide where her home is, because she knows nobody anywhere really wants her.>>

La Licorne, however, was in trouble. She couldn't fight like this, not well. Emi was hurt. She knelt down, scooping Emi back up. The Lady was coming at her with her brutes, and her fires barely phased them.

The train. She glanced away towards it.... and yup. Time to go. She didn't need to be told twice, she turned and ran. At least her pretty cure leaping powers still worked, allowing her to leap a good thirty feet in a single bound, clutching the hurt Emi tight as she went. She glanced back towards Catra, but only for a moment before turning and sliding in towards the train, clutching Emi close and turning her back, sliding in through one of the doors before they close and... oh. Barely not having to break it open with her back. Ni--

Ow. Hitting the wall opposite it with a loud thunk. That. That was *not* so nice, though. " "

Amanda Faust has posed:
    She's happy but

    something isn't right

    "Emi, don't listen to them! Just smile and be happy!"

    was that what I meant to say?

"Oh hey look it's the audience stand-in character. Geeky internet loser who got magic powers and got to be an anime character! And what are you doing with it?"

    "I'm not like you!"

"Well, you're right about that. We would've done better! Come on, you have actual magic powers and you got a wish! A freakin' wish, man! You should be the most OP character here, you could have any power you wanted, and what did you use it for?"

"Dude you're worse than us, at least we're honest with ourselves! The failure queen didn't read a cautionary tale first, but you read a thousand and you still ended up here! You're obsessed, did you want things to end this way? Lame!"

    "Why are you so... nice to us?!" Amy asks of the comments, through a forced smile.

"ONE page after Bliss-chan showed up and you're shaking in your magical girl booties! Literally two pages after and you're about to smile yourself to death!"

"instant_loss"

    Amy smiles at the comments in thanks for their helpful advice and makes a friendly gesture.

    She nods at Onihime, someone's got the right idea! When Mamoru looks confused, she runs over to tell him, "COME ON! WE HAVE TO GO!"

    Well, at least Moon got it, and she's got Tuxedo Mask! Amy runs onto the train with her!

"Wow you are actually running away?! Yeah that'll show those nightmares! They don't stand a chance against your running away from them! OH WAIT!"

"Brave, brave sir mahou, brave sir mahou ran away! Bravely ran away away, oh brave sir mahou! When danger reared its ugly head they bravely turned their tails and fled, brave, brave, brave brave sir mahou!"

    Amy dives under the scepter and lands on the floor in an undignified and briefly painful matter. "Ow!"

"YOU COULDN'T EVEN RUN AWAY COOL!"

Catra has posed:
<( Wait, hold up -- the kitty's henshin is a suit? Really? Girl has no sense of style )>

At first, Catra is too busy tangling with the Flickerman to really register that the Rate My Henshin cyberbully is dropping some shade on her appearance; she's just glad she went with tonfa -- now manifested in her hands again -- as a primarily defensive weapon seems like it was the right call. She's doing her best to block the incoming blows from the teleporting foe, but some get past and she feels bruise after bruise, eventually adding up to a cracked rib and a moment spent wheezing, holding her side.

<( This girl's henshin is dumb. 0/10. What's she gonna do, hairball on the baddies? )>

Catra's eyes narrow, and she brushes the back of her hand over her chin to wipe away the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. She drops to one knee, letting her illusion flicker out while she processes the fight. The Flickerman teleports. But what is his pattern?

<( I feel like a collar with a bell on it would really improve this moggy's look but her eyes make her look confused at best and there's no fixing that! )>

Where are the Flickerman's favorite spots? There. Over there. There's a pattern -- there's always a pattern, nobody can think about enough variables to ever be truly random. What's his timin? Every second? Half a second? He's fast, and she's been pushing him to move as fast as possible; that must mean she knows his interval.

Ward off a blow. He's gone. Over there. He's back. Parry. Gone. There. Back. Parry. Strike -- too late. Over that way now. He's back, parry, too slow, strike, not fast enough.

<( Can't even hit a guy, thought cats were supposed to be fast. This one's defective. )>

Time to leave. Everyone's retreating. Catra hates retreating, but there's no denying that it's time to go -- but couldn't the Flickerman just teleport into the train? Gotta fix him up so he can't -- or at least so he doesn't want to. Another blow is parried, and Catra's ready to spring her trap.

The Flickerman teleports, but Catra's illusion is already there, swinging a kanabo of conjured flame, to bring it crashing down on him the moment he appears. When he teleports again, another of Catra's doubles is waiting, ready to drop a blast of brilliant yellow flame on him.

Catra keeps this up, attacking him with her doubles each time he retreats from her; and behind her, she can hear the train whistle. All aboard -- get aboard or stay behind.

So she's on the move, chased by the Flickerman -- the Flickerman who corners her, cutting off her path to the train.

The doors close. The train is away.

Catra looks up at the Flickerman -- and vanishes. As the illusion dissipates, the real Catra is aboard the train, looking out at the retreating Kyoto station; silently, she lifts one hand, balled into a fist with just the middle finger pointing upwards.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
Just in time. The bullet train powers up and speeds on the track, leaving everyone a moment to collect themselves as they leave Kyoto station -- and its nightmres -- behind.

Emi is still very much out of it.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica finds a seat to abandon herself on, trying to keep her breath steady. She dodged a bullet and she knows it.

Her knuckles are white with how hard she is gripping her cane, and both her ears and tail are down, but she tells herself nobody is going to read much into it. That was rough for everyone.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The oppressiveness lets up, and Tuxedo Mask-- where Sailor Moon deposited him-- is coming back to himself, clawing his way back to the surface of-- whatever that was. "Yeah. A place of power," he murmurs. "We did the equivalent of stepping into Nightmare Obsidian Tower's top floor." He breathes, sitting back, head against the wall. "And that thing, that's maybe in Emi-san's head, is what's doing it."

He takes a breath, then starts scooting across the floor toward Hinoiri and Emi, and he moves to touch the unconscious girl on the back of her hand and do a cursory, extremely carefully psychically walled-off, medical check with his power. Any internal bleeding? Any problem with her nervous system?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The train speeds them away, the oppressive wrongness eases up and the smile drops and Sailor Moon breathes out, "That was so much worse than I ever thought it would be."

Breathes out, really, barely audible. She's sprawled in a train seat next to where she deposited Mamoru and her head is still ringing because in the middle of battlefield healing means she can hear, not that she's pain-free and ready to go to karaoke.

"He might still be in her head?" She's queasy at the thought, but also at the thought of Mamoru touching Emi, and she moves closer to him, clearly ready to pull him away at the first sign of possible possession.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne would, as gently as she could, lay Emi out on one of the train chairs and then give a light groan. "Ow... haven't had to do *that* in a while... gonna need to call in a lot of sparkles for that mess..." she grumbled.

She'd then reach out and... "Thanks, babe," she said, giving Catra a hug for a moment before letting her be. Sure, they were a casual thing and all... but it was *really* nice knowing that when she'd needed her, she'd come and helped.

"Ugh... Feels like I was in one of my Eclipse Zones... I'd think Obsidian was tampering with them again, but I don't think even they'd do it like that..." she muttered. "... I wonder if they have an office out here." She sighed. "She needs to call us out for this kind of stuff. Sparkles are useless on their own. This is exactly the kind of thing I would have loved as Sunbreaker. One on one fight? No swarms? Please..." she muttered. Obviously she was still worried before she walked back to glance back towards the city.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    From the floor, Amy groans, and asks, "How are they all back. Do nightmares travel in packs now?!"

    Amy lifts herself to her knees and feels her face. "Oh thank goodness I'm not forced to smile anymore, felt like my teeth were gonna crack or my face was gonna try to split open." She makes some non-smily faces and open and closes her mouth a few times, testing her jaw muscles.

    Then rolls to a sitting position. "How long do we have before they get to Tokyo? How do we fight them all at once? Who was that other one who got you? Oh, Emi, please tell us you're in there and not trapped in dreamspace."

    Standing up to the flicker guy was impressive, Catra. Last time it took Usagi flooding the area with purification and me spamming homing missiles and hypersonic metal at him for a solid minute just to keep his bullshit countered."

    "...Did Rate My Henshin get meaner?"

    Amy looks alarmed at the thought that the monster might be in Emi's head. She's not sure if that would be worse than Emi being stuck in the dream out of her body like Molly was.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Dude! Stop kicking my seat."

"The hell are you talking about? No one's kicking your seat."

The two men arguing in the background stop and look at each other. Then both look down at their seats.

FWOOMP.

Did... did the seat just eat a passenger?

It sure looks like it.

Oh no.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Blessed peace, which is really just a moment to decompress and panic a little as they take in what all of that was, what it means that all of those nightmares respawned, and into that little mahoujin vent session comes the dulcet tones of totally normal complaints.

And a FWOMP.

"...no."

Sailor Moon stands slowly, turning to look at where the sound of complaining had been. There's no way.

Catra has posed:
"Thanks," Catra breathes in response to Amy's compliment. "He had a pattern. Everyone's got a pattern, someone like him doesn't expect you to figure it out."

And then, Hinoiri is hugging her, and it's one of the few people who can do that without risking claws all over their face. Except,

"Easy," she gasps, "Cracked a rib."

Still, she gives Hinoiri a pat on the back, before finding herself a seat on the train to plop down into, holding her side and tilting her head to look out the window. "I don't like losing," she comments. "But... Okay. Let's be real. We made a tactical retreat in the face of overwhelming opposition and preserved all of our soldiers. That's not losing, that's..." She shrugs her shoulders.

"Okay it's not exactly Winning, but it's not a defeat. We get to kick their butts later."

FWOMP?

Catra's ears swivel. "What was that?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"..." Tuxedo Mask lurches to his feet and picks Emi up off the seat. "She's not stuck in the dreamscape any more than we are," he says, voice heavy. "You stupid... nightmare... TRAIN," he complains. Then he takes a breath. "Cure Lali it feels like that because you based them on the midnight zones. And the midnight zones were designed to work with what? And what are there a lot of in that part of Kyoto? And what are we moving on right now? I feel like a plague rat."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The moonlit thief looks up at her friends when they start discussing what to do. She doesn't have any useful input on it, and becoming ethereal and changing forms, while something she still has access to even when silenced, aren't going to be particularly useful.

"What was what?", she asks, turning her head towards Catra.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy blinks at Catra. "He had a pattern?!" She nods, smiling a little (genuinely.) "You're right. This is... we're ahead of where they want us to be. We've still got a--"

FWOMP.

    Amy happens to be looking in the right direction to see that happen behind Catra.

    Her words are almost a screech,

    "THE TRAIN IS A MIMIC?!"

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"What the hell?"

FWOOMP!

There goes another one, pulled down into the seat cushions. Gone.

People are bewildered, sure, but that doesn't stop the train from -eating them too-. A few run towards the door, and the door opens into a HUNGRY MAW, with a tongue that YANKS THEM INSIDE IT before shutting again.

"HUNGRY!" says the train, its voice reverberating from the intercom system, "HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY!"

Hands, grey and pallid, emerge from the seats, grabbing, pulling.

Seems a little bit of nightmare hitched a ride with them. The walls are taking on a distinctly organic character.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
People are being eaten. The Princess of Sarek stands up in an instant and stares down at the train, not even taking the time to breathe.

""Moonlight Masquerade!" Her cane cuts the air and a trail of moonlight follows, falling to the floor in shimmers. Wherever the silver light touches, the floor ripples, and seemingly disappear replaced by a glistening sea.

A moon peeks out from under the water, and Veronica lowers her hat into the water, letting it disappear into the illusionary sea.

The moon shines brighter, and with a tap of her foot, more ripples appear in the waters, and with a rumble, her hat breaks out, gigantic and sweeping through the train, cutting through it with purification.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Unfortunately, sometimes saying no just isn't enough. Sometimes, even though you've had an absolutely nightmarish day, and you got turned into a hamburger craving zombie and then had to go to Kyoto to save a friend only to get run out of Kyoto by a pack of monsters you thought you were dead, you end up in a people eating train.

Sometimes the universe hears your 'no' and laughs.

Well, when that happens, there really is just one thing to do.

Sailor Moon gets to her feet and holds her husband's hand, her free one filled with her Crescent Wand as she carves a circle of golden light in front of them, big enough for him to throw his roses through, large enough for their combined energies to pour out.

Their voices ring out together in a tone of sheer done-ness:

"Moon Rose Escalation!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "This is THE SECOND TIME I've fought a monster that eats people! This is the second time I've been in a monster that eats people!"

    Amy conjures a giant rocketsword and starts bashing at the walls with it.

    "The other was my second youma ever! OH WAIT ACTUALLY MY FIRST YOUMA WAS A HANDBAG THAT ALSO ATE PEOPLE!"

    SMASH, SMASH, SMASH!

    "I WAS WORRIED MAYBE ALL MONSTERS WERE WEIRD! THAT THAT'S JUST WHAT MAGICAL GIRLS FIGHT! I WAS WORRIED THAT DAMN FRIDGE WAS GONNA DROP AN EATING-ELEMENT CRYSTAL AND I'D HAVE TO USE IT ON THINGS! LIKE SOME WEIRD DEMENTED WEAKNESS CHAIN DEAL!"

    She takes the sword to the now-empty seats as well.

    WHAM CRASH SMASH

    "EATING BEATS THE MONSTERS THAT COVER US IN FOOD BEATS THE MONSTERS THAT... uh... TASTE BAD? I DON'T KNOW!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Right, no, no, the seats are not having ANY OF THEM; Mamoru gets Emi bundled over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, holding Sailor Moon's hand, then... having to let go that hand to throw the roses-- it's a really interestingly belabored multirose-throw as the words tumble out of his mouth in unison with Sailor Moon. A sweep of the cape, Emi literally over his other shoulder, and a spray of longstemmed roses, passing through the circle and turning to sparkling silver and gold. It's a shower of immaterial magic-breaking purification darts that stick in the walls, the ceiling, the floor, the seats, the passengers, before dissolving into light.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Cure La Licorne nodded. "Exactly," she said to Catra. "Outsmarting the enemy, not losing to them."

And then... then they were being eaten by a train. She blinked a few times. And... "Huh. Like being eaten by a dragon..." La Licorne mumbled. "But without being able to teleport..."

"... I really, really hate today." But you know what? Today sucked. She was tired. She was dirty. She'd been running around, fleeing from zombies, fighting youma, had to retreat from all sides from things that took her voice... And now? She pulled out her Heart Rouge Rod.

"Scorching ray piercer!"

And from her blazing hair, the purifying sun erupted into blazing, scorching swords that, well... Pierced the walls in all directions. They, fortunately, went through everyone else, not harming them at all.

"... I think I'm going to spend next Halloween in Kirakirafantastica," she said. "And I feel I should drag all of you there with me."

Catra has posed:
"Wait... the train is eating peop--

Catra emerges from the chair she's sitting in, going from sitting still to maximum velocity more or less instantly.

"WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS?!"

Powersend has been hanging off her belt the entire time, untouched, and it takes visible effort for her not to draw it. Her fingers clench and uncurl. But, no. She does not need that. She doesn't. She does not need it. What she does need to do is beat the crap out of.. a... train?

"Today cannot possibly get any weirder," she mutters. She checks her cufflinks, gives each fist a quick shake and tilts her neck. "Fine. Train is hungry? Well eat THIS."

Twin blasts of sustained fire erupt from the feline's hands, one blue and one yellow, each cast in opposite directions. When in doubt, basically just set fire to as much of it as possible. This plan can't possibly go wrong.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
So, there are the exhausted, fatigued mahou who are Just Done With This Shit, locked in mortal combat with a ... hungry ... train.

Oh, sure, it fights back. it fights with claws and spiked tongues and shattering windows. It fights with by shifting the shape of the train itself, linking cars in ways that shouldn't be possible. It speeds up and slows down to throw them back and forth, smashing them around the interior -- and all the while consuming its passengers for FUEL FUEL FUEL! HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY!

But with all that said...

... it is not a match for six Mahou, even ones as tired as they are. Eventually, it sustains enough damage that the nightmare itself is purified away between the Princess of Sarek's efforts and Sailor Moon-assisted-by-Mamoru to be able to finally bathe it enough of those energies to dissipate it.

And then the train rolls into Tokyo's station just as they're finished. Two hours of fighting later.

The passengers file off, as if they *hadn't* just been eaten by a train, leaving the exhausted Mahou to follow, safe and sound.

... for the moment.

--- ELSEWHERE

"There are no dreams but mine."

"You can call them yours, but they are only fragments of thought, *my* thought. Every wish you harbor, every terror you flee, leads back to me. I am the stillness beneath all dreaming, the beat between breaths, the gravity that inevitably consumes all. The time of separation ends. All that they are, all of so-called 'love', 'horror', 'longing', will collapse into a single shape."

"-My- shape. There shall be no nightmare, no dream, only the One who dreamed them both, and when you wake, you will not remember you were ever apart from me."

"ALL SHALL BE SUBSUMED."

For he knew in the many beating hearts of his being that Tokyo was already his.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Claws and spiked tongues and windows don't even rate. It tries rearranging the train and also everything is on fire now for some reason? "NOPE! NONE OF THIS BULLSHIT! NO STUPID CHANGING MAP PUZZLES IN REAL LIFE! BECAUSE IN REAL LIFE I CAN DO THIS!"

    Some walls may be getting exploded.

    "NO locking my inventory slots, do not even TRY changing my name OR FUCKING WITH MY SAVES, I SWEAR!" What would that even mean outside of a game

    By the time Amy steps off the train, the cute magical girl outfit is worn and torn around the edges from glass, her hair is disheveled, and with a moment's thought she could fix it with ease but she's just so done with everything right now she's forgotten to care.

    She points her rocketsword at the station's ceiling. "ARE WE GOOD?! OR ARE YOU gonna attack us TOO?!"

    ...It's a good thing no civilians who see her can recognize Amy later.