480/Feat of Clay

Feat of Clay
Date of Scene:	21 September 2023
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Sentai assemble! It's time to fight CyberBeast Linxus, as he tries to prove himself before the wicked and powerful Lord Hematite!
Cast of Characters:	Jadeite, Mamoru Chiba, Rashmi Terios, Ami Mizuno, Veronica Perenna, Usagi Tsukino
Tinyplot:	Midnight Tokyo

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Jadeite has posed:
    Keep exercise to reasonable levels. Catch up on sleep. Plenty of bedrest. Eat and drink regularly. Basic medical recommendations for getting himself back to stable condition. Jadeite is complying, even if he went with the Corporate team up into the mountains yesterday. He was never in any real danger. Not only did he bring the team of youma he is considering calling the 'Dangerous Ladies', but he had almost all of the Shitennou present, and Riventon, and the vampire, and Sunbreaker who was apparently able to fight Sailor Moon and survive, and also fucking Himeko Soryuu the murderghost, so it was fine.

    However, even today he is keeping to the background in this operation as he lends Nephrite a hand. A power station that helps supply and distribute electricity to homes, businesses, and utilities in Tokyo is currently the site of a youma attack as part of that assistance.

    Some strange masked figure in spiked black armor has appeared before a crowd of children and demanded that a team of heroes appear before him to do battle, in exchange for the release of the power station. The workers inside appear to be mostly oblivious to what's happening out front, but once cameras are out and filming, it's only a matter of time before word gets around of some kind of promotional event going on.

    The fact that the recordings are distorted means normal people probably aren't going to show up. Meanwhile, the report that a weirdo in a mask is challenging heroes to a fight should be enough of a clue-in for not-so-normal people to respond, if they aren't already in the area.

    A young man in an electrician's outfit, meanwhile, slips inside the building.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
There's also a Dark General with longish black hair and a cape hanging out in midair in front of the power station's scaffolding, apparently eating taiyaki. He is not challenging anyone to anything, so he might initially be overlooked in favor of the spiky guy. The cape isn't so much billowing as it is floating, likewise with his hair.

Munch, munch. Fish head, gone. He's copying someone he sort of admires, eating the heads first, but he'd never admit it.

All he has to do is stay in the front of the operation as long as possible, but dark energy is so much easier to work with after he lost his temper the other day-- so much easier. Hematite's conversation with Naru earlier made him realize that that's not actually the best thing ever, but he can't see to it yet, and you know-- maybe he won't. Not with all the new things he feels like he can do. It's so easy.

It's only a matter of minutes until they show up. Sparkleskirts is honestly such a hilarious word.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi hears about the incident from her little brother, of all people. Someone at the powerplant had been recording and posting clips from the Clock app, and he'd seen one, thought it stupid, and forwarded a link directly to his sister, who he was sure would think it was stupid too.

Heroes! Like Sailor V was real.

Usagi had done the only thing she could.

COM: SAILOR MOON to SAILOR MERCURY: GUYS THERE'S SOMETHING GOING DOWN AT THE POWER STATION IN MITAKIHARA, MEET ME THERE!

She wasn't sure how many of her fellow Senshi would be able to come out on such short notice, but surely other allies would see this too! And then, message sent, she'd shown up on the scene, having stolen Setsuna's trick of riding trains by riding atop a bus to reach the location. What? She couldn't teleport and she didn't have superspeed and running around while using the GPS on her phone was a sure way to drop it!

At least she's well rested, when she leaps off the top of the bus and strikes a pose.

"The Soldier of Love and Justice, Sailor Moon is on the scene! Masked Guy, why do you want to fight heroes? Don't you know the people here just want to live their lives?"

And then she notices him. The handsome guy floating in the air, eating taiyaki, and a bright smile crosses her face. She doesn't wave to him though! Professionalism! She's heard of it!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
When you're a mahou...

Sometimes you have to put things off in case of an emergency. Homework, hangouts, class attendance... Ordinarily Rashmi would never skive off school like this, but when you're alerted to children being taken hostage, and the recording shows the demand for a sentai team...

Well there are more important things than school. Also, *what the what?!*

Swooping down on the gathering crowd, BOOK GIRL hovers a few inches off the ground, looking from the Senshi to the masked and be-spiked villain in... well, open and honest confusion.

<< So uh... This is for real, right? >> says Rashmi's voice into the girls' heads. << This isn't some kind of a joke or TV thing? >>

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury had not been in the area. So she took a bus. This is a boring affair of Ami standing , holding one of those overhead handles and bouncing on her heels forward.

Now, she wasn't transformed, she was still Ami Mizuno on the bus, but she ran through an alley, transformed along the way.

She landed in the end, after running over a dangerous piece of equipment, next to Sailor Moon.

"Why demand to heroes?" she asks. "Do you wish to be stopped?" she wonders aloud of the masked figure. "Fine."

"We'll stop you." Then someone speaks into her head. << I think it's real. Real dumb. >>

Veronica Perenna has posed:
The report of the masked weirdo has reached Veronica's ears, of course, much like it would anyone who is doing the barely minimum of partecipating in school life. In this case it happens through the school teacher, who is admittedly getting distracted a lot more than one would presume from a supposed professional, but if nothing else, this turned to her advantage: a quick pulling out of the "not feeling well right now" and then pulling out the actual card of the Phantom Thief, and the Princess of Sarek is traversing the walls out from the school, heading in a straight line as fast as she can towards the power station. Heroing is Heroing, even if you come with a dapper hat, after all.

She is keeping herself ethereal for now, keeping an eye on how things develop. She is tempted to get right behind the man and administer him a punch after making herself visible, but those children's safety comes first, and she doesn't know what he is capable of. At least if things appear to go south, there are other heroes on the case. The weirdo is in trouble either way, she reasons: either he is a normal person, in which case she can go with her idea, or he is a youma, in which case the providential presence of Rashmi the BOOK GIRL can push out those kids to safety with that barriers of hers.

Jadeite has posed:
    The masked figure waits patiently for the heroes to arrive, posing occasionally, and making dramatic monologues to the watching audience. When they finally start arriving, the spectators get even more excited. And for once, no one is being drained or anything! He just turns, swirling his bloodred cape, because he has a cape now, and points dramatically at each hero as they arrive, counting them off to see if this composes a sentai team. At the proclaimation from Sailor Moon, the villain poses back at her! "Sailor Moon! I see! I've heard of you! So this area is under your protection is it? Then I, CyberBeast Linxus, must give my all in this battle. For the rest, however, you will have to prove yourselves worthy. Only then will I grant you the right to challenge me directly, and attempt to win back this power station!"

    He throws out one spikey-gloved hand. "Lord Hematite, I will now release the Claymores!"

    So saying, several previously rather featureless gray lumps on the ground start to pulse and grow like living things, turning quickly into cocoon-like pods that 'hatch' into gross, slimey, clay people. They all look more or less the same, with some a bit taller or shorter, and they all have the same face, as if from a theater mask. Two carved, black crescent moon shapes for eyes, and a larger third one for the mouth. They giggle creepily as they position themselves to fight!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Ooookay this is happening. This is actually happening. Um. >>

Rashmi is confused. This is confusing. Martial arts kabuki is pretty much the *opposite* of her skillset.

<< ...I've barely ever taken self-defense classes so um... Would anyone take it amiss if I helped *you guys* do the punching? >>

Rashmi's cheeks flush at the admission, and she... just sort of... floats up and away a few meters, a quartet of Barrets rotating around her, then firing off at individual Claymores in the front line.

Just because she can't throw hands doesn't mean she can't throw *down* after all.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Excellent, CyberBeast Linxus! You are doing well so far, ha ha ha!" crows Hematite, gesturing widely with a headless bean-filled fish cake. He's grinning. There's something a little unfamiliar about his grin here, but maybe it's because this is over the top even for him. "Come, heroes! We stand on the side of injustice and menace, and your friendship and love cannot hope to stand a chance against our might!"

He kind of looks at the spiky guy skeptically though, a little. "Claymores?" he whispers. "That's a weapon..."

He gives Sailor Moon an exaggerated wink, then takes another bite of his taiyaki.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Allies did arrive! Wonderful allies, in fact, because there's Sailor Mercury, and the kind girl with the device, and - well, there's just the three of them! But everything is fine, you know? They count as a sentai team!

And their enemy is marvelous! Spiky and caped and masked, and Sailor Moon maybe should have been scared, but, but, but - she spins a little, hands in fists pressed together and to her face as her smile becomes an excited grin. Professionalism has vanished! "Ah!! This is just like in Kamen Rider! Uwah, I'm so excited!"

The Legendary Sailor Moon strikes another pose, hand going to her tiara. <<Don't worry! You're a wonderful support unit, and I'm really good at DPS! Plus, Mercury-chan is a great split class Support and DPS!>>

"That's right, CyberBeast Linxus! This city is under my protection - and that of my allies! We won't let you bully these children, or ruin the days of these workers! Your Claymores won't stop us!"

Her boyfriend is here! Her boyfriend is here! Her boyfriend is here, watching her fight! He's always cheering her own when she fights!! Are these his monsters? Is this one of his ideas?

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

The gem on her tiara shines, and a beam of light blazes forth, firing at the front line of Claymores.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury brings two fingers to the bridge of her nose, spreading them out to the sides of her ears, summoning the Mercury Visor as creatures grow from masses of clay-like substances that are laying around the area. She does a scan of one and discovers that they are made of clay. She also finds them not terribly strong. << They're made of. Clay. They're also not particularly powerful. >> she passes on.

She then draws her arms out and calls out "Shabon Bubble Spray" she calls out as a spray of bubbles and mist starts to flood the area, and obscure the villains into the mist with her.

<< W--why are you describing us in video game terms, Sailor Moon!? >> she asks, worriedly as she moves to raise her hand and bring it down in a move down into the neck of one of the Claymores.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica scoffs in amusement when the villain boasts about them having to earn the right to take the place back. That swirling cape, that dramatic speech, he is seriously putting up as much of a show as she is going to? A pity he is on that side, she would have liked him otherwise. She would applaud him for the forethought of bringing extra numbers though: they would actually make the heroes seem outmatched.

'They look fragile though, I think this isn't going to last long before we get to fight this dude. For now... I will leave actually disposing of most of them to them to my allies.' She can't actually take them out en masse, but she can help confuse them. With a snap of her fingers she reveals herself, almost simultaneously releasing a flash from the handle of her cane when the Princess of Sarek raises it upwards.

"Good to make your acquaintance, fellows heroes and despicable villains, and nice meeting you again, barrier mage. This trick is just for you all", she winks as the flash, having blinding properties, proceeds in the direction of the minions.

"A gift from yours truly that is a feast for the eyes, but I wouldn't want to be lesser than my wonderful allies, so the party isn't over!" She exclaims, joining the fight directly and moving to strike a Claymore directly with her cane.

Jadeite has posed:
    Meanwhile, inside the power station, the young man in the electrician's outfit finds his way into the sensitive mechanical parts of the building. He may not know anything about electricians work, but he knows how to use magic crystals to bypass the skills he lacks. Which he does. A crystal, shades of black and purple, is applied to each of the distributors, to turbines, to computers regulating and monitoring things, and basically every other piece of equipment that seems like it would be a good idea to put a weird crystal on.

    Then he moves on to the next area to do the same. The crystals will gradually melt and fuse into the machinery and electronics, undetectable by normal means, preventing any real employees from stumbling upon them.

    Outside, the masked villain whole-heartedly accepts the challenge. "Their day will remain intact, as long as you can defeat me!" he says regarding the children. "However, if you fail then I will bring the glorious future shown to me by Lord Hematite upon this world, and then all will know that CyberBeast Linxus was instrumental in victory!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
The front line of Claymores is more than decimated-- it's centimated!! Blinded by the light, revved up with no truce, and there's a Book Girl in flight--! Half of the front line is legitimately chopped in half by Moon Twilight Flash and Rashmi's Barret Barrage; one of the Claymores has its clay head cracked open by the Princess of Sarek, which makes it crumble to pieces like the dirtmonster it is; the rest are legitimately blinded and confused by the combination of fog and flashing lights.

The children cheer-- some of them cheer for CyberBeast Linxus because let's be real spikes are cool, but most of them cheer for our heroes versus the mildly unnerving movements of the jumping kicking giggling Claymores.

That was the front line. There are still more, and they jump around and mug for the cameras and chortle uncannily!

"The future I have shown you is grand indeed, CyberBeast Linxus -- midnight darkness that may never end! After all, when the last light goes out, will anyone ever laugh again?" Lord Hematite cries after finishing his taiyaki. He crosses his arms and hovers there, such midnight darkness beginning to curl around his form, turning his smile into something gloriously sinister. "Come, Claymores! Fight these heroes harder! Do not simply prance -- show them what it means to fight!"

There's a fresh wave of gibbering, and Hematite glances down to look at the heroes, then remembers to laugh. "Ha ha ha ha haaaa!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
It's great that the kids are cheering, but... << And who's *that guy?* >> Rashmi asks, glancing up in Hematite's direction. << Anyway, if the kids want a show, how about we give them one? >>

Nicomachea drops open to hover inches above her outstretched hand, a bright magical circle spreading out beneath her feet, revolving into a gently rotating mandala of mathematical nonsense.

    << *BONG!* >> << DELTA STRIKE -- BOOST UP >>

Three golden wisps of power fade into being above the fluttering pages of the book, darting out to give each Moon, Mercury, and Sarek even greater judo-kicking power.

<< It won't last long, >> she says, as the sudden dip in her mana levels makes her bobble in the air just a bit. << But now we can finish this quick so we can get to the real fight! >>

Seriously though, who *is* that monolguing doofus up there?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Moon Twilight Flash does it's job, tearing through the whole front line, and Sailor Moon cheers alongside the children as her allies' attacks go into effect. These monsters are weak, to go down this easily, but she's not complaining! She gets the feeling that that spiky guy won't go down nearly as easily.

"What kind of glorious future? Your Claymores are doing down fast!"

Hematite, what are you doing for your even job, huh?

Sailor Moon glances up, at where Hematite hovers and directs, and frowns at his speech. Midnight... but it was probably a coincidence, right? And even still - his laughter and his smiles, they definitely aren't normal. For him. Hmmm... is he having too much fun?

Well, that's alright. She's having fun too! As strength from her book-bearing ally rushes embraces her, she prepares to strike once more! "Evil Claymores, you won't terrorize these children anymore! Moon Tiara Action!"

She throws the tiara in a tight spin, circling around the backside of the enemy rank this time - the ones still waiting to swarm being struck!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury slaps her hand into the Claymore as she jumps back- the boost she just got most likely helping her hit it harder than she normally can- and then gets a read on the situation, using her Mercury Visor to try to figure out what's really going on her. She's scanning for strange energy signatures, anything, while she uses the momentary cover of the Shabon Spray to do her scan and hopefully avoid the claymores.

There has to be more to this than, than some kids show going on, right?

She keeps one hand to the side of her visor, as she keeps the other one free just in case.

Jadeite has posed:
    Youma boss. Youma boss's boss (Hematite). Youminions (seem to be connected to CyberBeast Linxus. Perhaps he created them?). That really seems to be it, even if the bad guys are thoroughly confused and blinded by Sailor Mercury's attack. There's a brief little blip of electrical output increasing in the background, but it's among many other blips, as people increase their electricity use for a moment, and then stop. It's mixed right in with the others.

    A thorough analysis later may reveal the staggered pattern to the blips, but right now there's hundreds or thousands of such blips and dips from the millions of people across the city.

    CyberBeast Linxus hmmms appreciatively of the heroes' efforts. "You have indeed proven yourselves worthy! I shall face you personally now. Enemies of your caliber deserve nothing less!" He throws his arm wide, dramatically swirling his cape outwards. He is just as blind as the others in this fog, but he still readies himself and calls out, "Come, heroes! You will see the future I speak of when you fall before me! Then, when you understand the true power of Lord Hematite, you will be allowed to join us on our march towards destiny!"

    Meanwhile, the electrician who totally isn't Jadeite is releasing very weak, small youma, made of lightning, into the power grid. They are zipping out at extreme speeds, near-instantaneously. The crystal is emptied. Definitely not Jadeite pulls out the next crystal. One more to go.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Confused and blinded by Shabon Spray, and then Rashmi's buff goes out to the assembled heroes and strengthens their attacks, and these poor Claymores have no chance!

There's plenty of cover, still, for Mercury to do her readings and look for anomalies -- and good LORD is there a lot of dark energy in the one the monster is calling Lord Hematite?!!? -- and even the slap to the back of one does enough damage that the twitching sends it into another row of them.

Then Moon Tiara Action boomerang-sweeps in from the back, and as enthusiastic as it is extra-buffed by Book Girl, it slices clean through the entire last batch of the somewhat unnerving and definitely kind of goofy minions.

Hematite looks displeased, should anyone be able to see him in the bright, bright fog. "I can't watch the fight with all this fog in the way," he complains, sounding extremely sixteen. "If I go home and hear that I... MIST... a cool moment, I'm going to be really mad."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The fog lifts, obscuring the view of their enemies, and her tiara cuts through the miniature monsters (in power level, anyway, in size, they are very much regular!), making Sailor Moon a very happy camper. CyberBeast Linxus gives a very sentai speech, enough to make Sailor Moon smile brightly, because why can't more monsters be like this, huh, over the top and mildly goofy, and doing weird things like attacking a power station instead of being scary creeps that drain people's lifeforce?

"We're more than ready to defeat you, CyberBeast! You've got nothing against the power of we three champions! We're a masterful dungeon clearing team!"

This is just like her action RPGs. This is what it should be like!

There's a visor covering Sailor Mercury's eyes - she must be scanning the area, which means it's up to Sailor Moon and... hm. This is awkward. She doesn't know her allies' names!

"Your Lord Hematite is looking pretty... bored," yes the pause was intentional, because her boyfriend does look very pretty up there, "You should be trying to put on a better show!"

Sailor Moon hears Hematite's complaint, and makes a very unleaderly call, because, well,,,

"Mercury-chan, can you get rid of the mist? If it's just one of him, the group of us can handle it no problem!"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury frowns a little. Well. There's a lot of dark energy here, but that's unsurprising with the youma and their commander up there, complaining about being unable to see with the dumbest pun ever, she thinks. "Good." she says under her breath. Keep the surprise com--

And then Sailor Moon asks her to lower it? She gives Sailor Moon such a look but she starts making a hand lower motion with her hand, doing the thing and starting to make the mist go away, but slowly.

Hopefully, Usa-chan has a plan to go with this, taking her leader's...lead.

<< There's electrical spikes but... hrm. I need to look into it more later. >> she says over the local Device channel in everyone's head. << And also, that guy is loaded with dark energy. >> she asides.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Electrical spikes? Okay, well... Then *definitely* don't let him touch the power stuff! >> Rashmi sends... probably unhelpfully, but still it never hurts to make sure. The boost is beginning to fade, but there remain many more tools in the toolbox. Such as--

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRET -- BIND SHIFT >>

--a new trio of Barrets, each loaded with a Bind spell and tuned for maximum homing ability. Nothing that'll actually do much damage, but it *does* act like a glue shot if it connects; whatever gets hit will be more or less anchored to that exact point in space.

And all three of them are locked onto CyberBeast. If Sailor Moon wants to put on a show...

Jadeite has posed:
    The obscuring fog thins out. CyberBeast Linxus 'Hmmm!'s approvingly. "An open and honest fight. Very honorable, as I have heard. It is unfortunate we must be on opposite sides, but perhaps we will one day fight together as allies!" Because he intends to recruit Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Library Lass, obviously! "Now, to battle!" The spike-armored Linxus, who is probably some kind of Lieutenant of Hematite's or something, enters a martial arts stance. It looks like it might be Northern Shao-Lin Kung Fu, or maybe it's Cinematic Movie Martial Arts designed specifically to look impressive regardless of effectiveness. Someone using this fighting style can make a single blow look like a devastating, mountain-crushing strike! They can also make taking a hit look like it was so storng it sent them spiralling through the air, or flipping end over end. It's very useful for what it does, even if not for fighting for really reals.

    Against people who mostly wouldn't know the difference between Kung Fu and Foozball, it is enough.

    Prepared to fight hand to hand, CyberBeast Linxus is caught unawares by Bybliobabe's attack--that's a terrible name, don't use that one--and lets out a, "Nani!?" of shock as the anchoring shots lance out and hit from three different directions!

    Did the background just turn bright red? Did Linxus just turn into a black silhouette, like in anime!? It did and he did! But as the chromatic appearance fades back to normal, Linxus, who appears to be locked in place now, with a shot to each shoulder, and one to his upper back, lets out a low chuckle. His laughter raises in volume and vigor. Then an arm reaches up and undoes the clasp on the huge billowing cape he used to take the Binding shots.

    "TOH!" he yells out as he leaps up into the air, spinning, going inverted, arms out to his sides, putting Olympic athletes to shame, and then landing on top of a nearby fountain gracefully. "Very clever. However, I learned well from my master... Just like Lord Hematite..." SUPER ZOOM IN. "...MY CAPE IS DETACHABLE!"

    The kids have got to be cheering wildly by now. This villain is so cool, after all! The heroes are too, but that is such a cool villain thing!

    Needless to say, people are a bit occupied outside as Jadeite pulls out the third crystal and activates it. Last one.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Looking pretty? It's hard to see from down there that Hematite's sparkling eyes are too, too dark, their color like the depths of a borehole rather than the surface of the Blue Marble, but it's definitely not hard to see that they are sparkling.

In fact, he may be sparkling. With dark sparkles in motion. Hematite crows in glee as the fog clears out at Moon's request, straightening up to step -- in midair -- away from the pylon leg he'd been near, and watch from a little closer by.

Then oh my, he looks very very approving. "Yes! Good decision, CyberBeast Linxus! I am pleased you have taken to using Cape Tactics! You see, Book Girl? My champion CyberBeast Linxus has been trained to adapt to your every ploy! Sailor Moon, you and your friends will only suffer defeat once, because once you join our side and begin to help bringing darkness to all the world, you will never lose again!! A HAHA HAHA HAAA!"

He said that all so fast he barely took a breath between ... anything. And he's laughing with his hands in fists above shoulder height at either side. AHAHAHAHAAAA.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon has no shame and an excellent pokerface - at least, right now she does. She smiles brightly as Sailor Mercury looks to her in disbelief, and keeps on smiling as the mist is lowered. She is not impacted by that judgemental, questioning look! Not at all!

And the mist is lowered, giving them a clear view of the enemy... even as Mercury shares some pertinent information.

Electric spikes?

Okay, well, it's probably pertinent to someone else, who can put things together. The part about Hematite being full of Dark Energy gets a frown out of Sailor Moon - sure, he's always got that stuff inside him, but maybe there's more than usual and that's why he's being a little 'make my monster grow!!!' about it all?

And then.

Not going to lie, Sailor Moon is right there cheering with the kids as CyberBeast Linxus jumps into his attacks, breaking out of his binds. Sure, she's not on his side, but, that was cool "You're so cool! You should be on our side, fighting for good, not terrorizing these kids. I mean! They aren't very terrorized right now, but you get what I mean, right?"

Surely he understands her! Surely, she can bring him to the side of good!

Nah, she probably can't. He is a Sentai Villain. And his Dark General is watching, standing above and rooting for his victory with maniacal laughter. "Instead of copying Hematite in flashy Cape Tactics, you should have paid more attention to your battle tactics, because you're going down!"

And she raises her hand, up to that central jewel on her tiara.

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

He might have gotten rid of the cape, but those binds have pinned him right where she wants him - where her beam can hit! (which is anywhere she can see, but shhhh, she's being cool! this is cool!)

The beam of bright light, the Moon's own power, streaks across the battlefield, shining from her tiara to strike CyberBeast Linxus square in the chest. "Hematite! It is you who will join us, in the Light! Me, and Novel-hime!"

Will anyone ever stop renaming that poor girl?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Novel-hime?!"

Yes, those are the first words uttered by poor name-less Rashmi in this entire battle. "Uh... nuh-uh. No. Uh. Anyway. Good... cape tactics?" A tentative thumbs-up is aimed at the posturing CyberBeast. "...So let's switch it up a little bit, then?"

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE >>

There isn't *quite* the sound of an automatic weapon's charging handle being locked into place, when the quartet of Barrets resolve into place around Rashmi, and begin their vertical orbit. But when the orbs of golden light get fired and re-summoned and fired and re-summoned, strafing the general area CyberBeast Linxus in monologuing from, one could easily imaging the producers adding the *K-CHAK* in post-production.

Jadeite has posed:
    Forced off of the fountain by The Quill's strafing runs, CyberBeast Linxus engages in dashes and leaps that have him zooming all over the place. "Destiny would have us fight together, but first a change of allegiance is required!" he declares in response to Sailor Moon. Finally, he has nowhere else to go, has been hit several times by the Barettes, and is trapped in a corner. Hurling out a hand to throw Dark Energy shuriken at the incoming projectiles in an attempt to clear some space, Linxus is caught flat-footed by the Moon Twilight Flash! It strikes him dead on, and he wails, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" as he dramatically throws himself backwards, arms flailing in slow motion, before colliding with the ground, and skidding. A smoking hole on his chest armor shows he has indeed been struck for reals this time.

    Even so, he forces himself up onto one elbow so he can look at his enemies and his master. "I am sorry, Lord Hematite. It appears I have failed you. These champions are powerful and clever in their own right. It would be dishonorable to ask that you avenge me, as this was a battle of my own undertaking. But perhaps you might spare mercy for me, that I may try again when I am stronger!"

    Then he turns his glowing red eyes on Sailor Moon, Index Idol, and Sailor Mercury, and says, "Destiny... I thought it certain. But perhaps, fate can be changed, little by little... In a different time, perhaps we could have even been friends..."

    Then he flops down on his back with his armor crashing heavily against the pavement. "If Lord Hematite wills it, I may return someday to challenge you again. Then, we may discover who is fated to stand by whom, or if one of us will leave the stage entirely...!"

    Jadeite has finished with the final crystal, and GTFO of the place. Tipping his hat to fellow employees as he passes by. He's going to walk to his van, drive a fair distance away, and then teleport.

    Meanwhile, the fate of CyberBeast Linxus lies in the hands of the villainous Hematite. What route will he choose!?

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"You and the Paper Purinsesu will NEveR corrupt me to the side of sunshine and kittens and birthdays, Sailor Moon! I have seen the light, and it is not light but MIDNIGHT'S NEW MOON--!" Hematite cries out dramatically, uncrossing his arms to flip his cape back in emphasis, and showing a lot of sparkly white teeth in the unholy grin he's currently displaying.

*Ting*!

There's also a lot of squinting and shading his eyes when Moon and Rashmi literally both shoot light at CyberBeast Linxus.

After a moment, Hematite sleight-of-hands a pair of sunglasses out of nowhere and puts them on and gains +3 cool.

Except then-- then his champion suffers a theatrically spectacular surprise inevitable defeat! Hematite looks shocked! SHOCKED! And throws out an arm, clearly about to pass judgement...

...when he sees the little kids looking expectantly up at the grandstanding boss and his pleading underling, and you know, they'll have to deal with being pleading underlings to grandstanding bosses as grownups, why subject them to such despair so early? And there's Moon, and she's so-- well okay Book Girl too but he's not secretly dating *her* so her potential judgey bunny eyes are less potent-- she's so full of *hope*, he can't hang on to the mad that would have seen this end disappointingly.

Hematite lowers his arm, then alights gently on the ground next to the smoking-hole-in-chest Linxus. "You fought bravely and were simply outclassed by these incredibly powerful... heroes," he says Distastefully, gesturing broadly at the fighters. "That is no fault of yours. It would be a shame to see you destroyed when instead your training can be increased--" He looks out at the kiddos. "IN TRIPLICATE!"

The kids cheeeeeeeeeer!

"In fact, when you return, it shall be as MegaCyberBeast Linxus XL!" Hematite declares, and leans forward to put his hand on the youma's shoulder. They both disappear in a flash of darkness.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"...Okay *seriously,*" Rashmi says into the empty air, more than a little frustrated. "*Who was that guy?!*"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"The dreamiest boy you ever saw," Sailor Moon sighs, and then remembers, wait, she's not supposed to be on their side! "I mean, can you imagine how much he's gotta be daydreaming to come up with MegaCyberBeast Linxus XL?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Slowly turning to stare at moon, as if she'd grown a third and fouth odango, Rashmi blinks owlishly for a moment. "...Okayyyy... um..." The cheering kids are waved to, and Rashmi touches down on the ground. "We should probably go, if the fight's been won, Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury... But um... There's a sandwich bento place a coupleblocks away, how's lunch sound?"

Turning back to regard the empty air, she allows herself a moment to consider the CyberBeast's blustery, purple wording.

...Are they gonna have to do this again? In *public?!*

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon has no shame. None. At all. There has never been shame in her game. She only smiles, and waves at the kids, and then - "Lunch sounds good? Yeah! Let's lunch! Also, you should have my phone number, we keep running into each other."

It's great! It's fun to run into other heroes, but also, you know, could be better coordinated? "Sandwiches to celebrate our great victory over Lord Hematite and the Dark Kingdom's CyberBeast Linxus!"