16/Stray Cat Strut

Stray Cat Strut
Date of Scene:	02 July 2023
Location:	Pikarigaoaka
Synopsis:	Francesca Leon is under attack by a two-headed bear youma! Luckily, Ginga Otome, Sailor Moon, Cute Wolf Tsukiko, and Cure Tide are on the scene to help her - and civilian Rei Hino, who's wandered into a nightmare.
Cast of Characters:	Francesca Leon, Zephyr Windstar, Wako Agemaki, Ikiko Hisakata, Usagi Tsukino, Aki Kurosawa, Rei Hino

---

Francesca Leon has posed:
    It's evening in Pikarigaoaka; the sun is setting in vibrant tones of reds and orange across the city, and people are filtering their way out of Penguin Park. Most people anyway except for a solitary girl.
    Francesca Leon is laid out on a park bench gearing up to go to sleep for the evening. At least it's quiet now with most people leaving the park, but something about the night air doesn't sit riht with her.
    That's when the cross-shaped necklace with the purple gem around her neck chimes with a warning.
    <Kitten. Wake up. He's here.>
    "The hell, I was about to knock out. Who's here?"
    <You know who.> Her device says a she sits herself bolt-upright to stare face down with a solitary humanoid figure shrouded in shadow standing atop a lamp-post looking over her with blazing cats eyes.
    "... Oh. No. No no no. No no, not you, no..." Francesca begins to utter in a litany of mounting terror before she bolts up from her bench and makes a wild break for it. Bursting into a full-tilt sprint she makes her way out of the park and starts running down the Tokyo city streets and alleys. Anyone in the area can certainly feel it, too, as the sky seems to darken; it's a youma. A nasty one. And as it opens it shadow-shrouded cloak it drops something to the ground. Something that begins to grow in size- shifting in shape until it takes on a vaguely ursine form; rushing down the streets and alleys in chase.
    So yeah that's a girl getting chased by an absolutely massive, two-headed, bear made of darkness and nastiness.
    Just another Sunday in Tokyo, right?
    <Stop running.>
    "No fricking way!" Francesca replies as she... Eventually loses her steam, coming to a halt in front of a construction site.
    <In there! Go!>
    "I am not dying because I didn't put on a hardhat."
    <Stop being such a hardhead!>

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Zephyr was heading back to the shop for the night. Her cart clinking as she trundles down along the street.

    < Hey Chief... got a youma signature coming from a nearby construction site. > "Yeah? We can't deal with those alone y'know."

    < Detecting a Device Signature in the area too. Coordinates are specific. Mistoffelees is there. >

    That gets the brunettes attention and she quickly locks the cart to a lamp post and sets off at a sprint without further prodding. "Get in contact, let her know we're on the way. Once we're on site, get us into the fight ASAP." she says as she ducks through alleyways to cut travel time. < Standby Ready! >

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"Vice President...!" Not far from the construction site, a teenage girl in a pink hoodie huffs as she chases a small yellowish fox down the sidewalk. "Where are you going?!"

As the spreading darkness casts a pall over the sunset's glow, the little creature halts and reverses its course so quickly that Wako only just manages not to fall on her face. "Hey!" She's still recovering her balance when Vice President scrambles up onto her shoulder and curls himself anxiously around her neck, ears and tail quivering. "This isn't the island, all right? You can't just go..."

Only a little ways down the street, the massive two-headed youma goes barrelling in pursuit of its quarry. Wako's voice trails off, her eyes widening.

A moment later, her expression settles into one of resolve. Ducking hastily into the shadows of the construction site, she raises her hand aloft.

"APPRIVOISE!"

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Another day, another group of stray dogs to feed. Ikiko Hisakata had been feeding some of the strays on one of the more unvisited outskirts of the park, and was in the process of cleaning up afterwards when the dogs started to whine in fear. Even though they couldn't see the youma, they could tell that there was a vicious, unnatural predator on the loose -- and they don't want to have anything to do with it.

"Get to safety," Ikiko tells the dogs in their language, quickly shoving the bag of empty dogfood bowls under a bush. As the strays run away, Ikiko touches the locket around her neck, murmuring "Lycan Locket!"

A blur of silvery light envelops her form, and moments later Cute Wolf Tsukiko bounds towards the growls of the youma, eventually finding herself at the construction site. "Ohhh, that is not good," the wolfgirl grimaces as she spots the monstrous youma.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Luna, are you *sure* none of those girls were my allies? Either time? Or the cute boy with the broth? I could describe them again -"

"Usagi, I am very sure that none of those girls were our allies," Luna sniffs. "Except perhaps that Sailor V..."

The two of them have been on a loping walk around the wards near Radiant Heart Academy, having a bit of a walk-and-talk because the dormitory buildings, they are not working out for secretly talking with a talking cat! At least this way, anyone who sees Usagi Tsukino talking to her cat just thinks they're seeing a very strange girl, and not the kid from the next class over. People saw too much in Tokyo to care, right?

Their conversation - argument? - might have continued on, but for Luna abruptly going stiff, her ears perking, tail stiffly raised above her head. "Quiet, Usagi! There's something... something not right."

"Not right how? Like... bad garbage not right, or, um," Usagi trails off, not wanting to say the y word out loud, hoping against hope -

"An enemy! It's definitely an enemy. Follow me! You've got to find a place to transform!" And before she could protest (because Usagi was definitely going to protest), Luna is running off, rounding a corner to dart through an alley leading to a distant construction site.

"Luna!"

What else could Usagi do but reluctantly chase after her? Well, besides lift a hand to her broach, the second she's safely in the alley. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

Aki Kurosawa has posed:
Aki Kurosawa-- Cure Tide was doing her nightly patrol. This involved mostly hopping from rooftop to rooftop down in the city and using her powers to fly up to rooftops she couldn't jump to. She stopped near a construction site as she whews and closes her eyes. She looks upwards a moment before opening her eyes and scans the sky. "This would be a lot easier... if Gull-chan was still here..." she says silently to herself before she blinks and 'huhs?' and looks down into the construction site. What's that?

Cure Tide hops to a beam and tiptoes across it as she lands on top of the construction site and looks down, she can see a youma of some sort chasing someone. She frowns quite hard at this, as she prepares to hunker down and leap into the air. She spins around in the air a moment, trying to come down hard with a mighty kick in front of the youma and the girl it's chasing, pointing.

"Not on my watch." she says, bluntly, throwing her arms up, in a covering motion, not ready to attack yet.

Rei Hino has posed:
    It's not a place that Rei frequently passes through, but the raven-haired girl has a purpose this evening in being in Pikarigaoaka Ward. Her grandfather is having some joint pain that he takes a special medicine for, and since he couldn't make it over to the Eastern Medicine shop he normally goes to, it fell to the able-bodied to make the journey. It has taken her well out of her way after school, but she is on her way to the nearest subway station now so she can get home just a little bit faster. Her hackles are up about something though.

    She feels uneasy, like there's something bad in the air, but it isn't directed at her. That's good though, isn't it? Maybe. Rei Hino quickens her pace, the brown paper bag with her grandpa's medicine in it quickly being secured inside her schoolbag when she slips it off her shoulder to keep everything in one place.

    Her head snaps up a few seconds later and the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end as violet eyes scan up and down the nearly-deserted street. There's something wrong. She very much wants to not be wherever the wrong thing is happening, but she might not have a choice.

    Just grabbing hold of her bag by the straps instead of putting it back over her shoulder, Rei begins full-tilt running. Where the danger is coming from and what it is, she doesn't know. But her intuition has never lied to her. If she isn't OUT of here, she is going to be caught up in it.

    If she had a bird's eye view of the area, she'd be able to see that she is running almost directly towards the danger she is trying to avoid, but only because the danger and several other parties are all moving as well. They're converging in such a way that it could almost be seen as intentional.

    It's as though the encounter is fated.

Francesca Leon has posed:
    It's worse than bad garbage.
    It is, in fact, a youma.
    Usagi can hope all she wants, but that's the case as Francesca grips her pendant tightly by the time the monster has her cornered. Plucking the pendant free of her necklace she tosses it up into the air.
    "Do the thing!"
    <Standby, ready!>
    In a flash of dark purple light her normal clothes are instantly replaced with an armored black longcoat, and the pendant takes on the form of a heavy two-handed sword almost as big as the girl herself. And in an instant that sword is being used to parry and block a swipe of massive claws. The blade buckles as Francesca's arms go numb and her hands tremble as she holds her defense as best she can. Right before the monster sends her flying, putting her through a concrete wall and onto the street, stunned.
    Cure Tide arrives just in time, landing between the bear and the downed device user while Francesca sputters and coughs up dust. But now the beast turns its attention on the Pretty Cure, swiping with those massive claws and gnashing teeth, while Francesca herself starts to stand again. She looks up--.
    And there's Rei.
    "You might wanna go the other way." She warns between hacking coughs of soot and concrete dust.
    Luckily, though, she won't have to face this thing alone as the others begin to arrive.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    < Barrier Jacket Set! Device switch to Gale Mode! > comes the clarion call from Tenraikaze just before Zephyr breaks out of the alleyway and onto the street. Purple magic wraps around the device user and as she moves, the shell breaks and she's in her armoured looking Barrier Jacket, with a battleaxe-like staff in hand.

    "Mistral Cutter!" < Mistral Cutter! > comes the call and response as the axe-head gains a sheath of boiling purple magic, aiming to slam it into the bear-youma's center of mass and knock it off balance. The magic explodes like a shaped charge on impact.

    < Ribbon Bind! Restrict Lock! > announces the Device a moment after impact. Purple 'ribbons' of magic erupting from rhomnoid spell seals to lash about the youma and at least attempt to restrict its movement for a precious few heartbeats.

Aki Kurosawa has posed:
Cure Tide watches as the girl... transforms? Wait. If she could do that, why didn't she do it sooner? Still, she looks over her shoulder and asks. "Are you okay?" she asks, as she looks back to the beast as it swipes and gnashes at her, meeting swipes with punches that collide in mid air... but the gnashes, she can do nothing about except try to step back and get some distance, not avoiding a few bites here or there against her arms as she tries to block damage to her personage.

That's when Zephyr's binds hit and hopefully stop her from getting more hits from the beast as she places her hands to her hips. "Not so smart now, are ya!?" she says as she as she hops up to a beam and motions at the beast. "Hey, double-mint, up here." she waves about, trying to lure the thing into the construction site properly, as she jumps away into the mass of beams, wood and tarps when it probably frees itself from those binds.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Cute Wolf Tsukiko darts around the periphery of the construction site, keeping an eye on the youma. With it distracted by Cure Tide and assaulted by Zephyr, the wolfgirl takes the opportunity to leap forward with a flying kick to the monster's blind side, before darting out of reach again.

She gives a happy smile of recognition to Sailor Moon as the senshi arrives, then returns her focus to keeping an eye on the youma and the nearby civilian, ready to dart in with an intercepting kick if the former goes after the latter.

"What is this thing, anyway?" Tsukiko asks to the others present, giving an extra glance to Ginga Otome. "Asides from really mean, that is," she adds.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
"*Brilliant entrance!* Illuminating the stage!" This part, Wako is pretty sure she has down, if only from watching Takuto from the sidelines - the girl, now decked out in military parade fashion all in white and gold, slides dramatically into view of the fight. A sphere of transparent pink energy trails after her, containing a floating twintailed white-and-gold robot approximately the size of an action figure. "*Galactic Maiden!*"

Just like being on stage. Unfortunately, it occurs to Wako to think as she takes in the looming size of the beast, the hole in the wall, and the other magical fighters... she isn't entirely clear on what comes after that part.

The mini-robot in its glowing sphere glides in a half-circle around behind her head. <A barrier, miko-sama!>

"Ahh--right!" A little flustered, she raises her hands before her, fingers splaying in the air toward each other. "Zero Time!"

It rushes out from her, wider and wider, encompassing the whole construction site and the street bordering it in the space of little more than a breath. To those assembled, it feels like no more than a brief stirring of wind - but in its wake, the night sky over Pikarigaoka blazes with a dazzling many-colored starfield, and the noises of the city beyond seem to fall away.

As for Vice President, the little fox seems to find it prudent to run for cover behind the ankles of one Rei Hino rather than get caught up in the middle of combat.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's Luna who makes it their first, even with Sailor Moon's longer legs and magically enhanced speed, the black cat grimly following her sense of the enemy's wearabouts. She knows full well that the only way someone as cowardly and unreliable as Usagi will run into battle is if she sees the danger with her own eyes, and the easiest way to make her see, is to ensure she has a target to follow. She's confident that she can get herself out of any danger she comes across -

But she's not expecting a giant bear youma, either and scrambles to stop, paws skidding in the dirt as her momentum carries her forward. She'll scrabble to a stop at Rei's feet, nearly colliding with the small fox creature already hiding behind the civilian.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon bursts onto the scene, red with exertion, taking in everything with wide eyes. "I - really - hate - when - Luna's - right."

Because of course there really is an enemy, a terrifying bear with awful claws,right there in front of her, attacking a pair of girls in strange outfits. More magical girls, and she has to help them -

But before she can move, even more people have arrived, including one she recognizes from the beach, even if they hadn't gotten the chance to exchange information. This - this won't be so scary! Not with so many people to help. Emboldened by that though, she raises a hand to her tiara. "Look out, everyone! Moon Tiara Action!"

Her attack flies for the monster, a golden disc of energy that wobbles just slightly in the air, striking the monster's arm instead of it's chest.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Somehow (don't ask her how) her flight from danger has led her to directly to its source. She comes to a stop right in front of a girl who seems to be in quite a bit of distress. "What!? Why don't YOU go the other way too? This obviously isn't safe--!" Before she can either back away down the alley she has partially emerged from or grab Cure Tide and push her that way instead, the commotion at the construction site becomes Even More Wild. She is suddenly the target of not one but two animals using her as a barricade. Well, time is stopped or whatever, so it's not like this girl is going to move out of the way, right? It's BASICALLY like having an unmovable barrier or something maybe Zero Time magic isn't exactly the forte of most cats and foxes shut up.

    And yet, for some reason, Rei Hino turns her attention to the movement around her feet even after the effect falls into place, twisting this way and that to look at each animal in turn. "What the...!?"

    She doesn't have much time for that though, before she is focusing again on the battle before her. There's streaks of light, bindings, jump kicks, magic axes, coughing dust, and someone just threw a laser frisbee or... Something? Also there's a two-headed bear monster. That is also a thing.

    It would be overwhelming even to someone who was expecting it. Rei Hino, however, drops her school bag, attempts to scoop a critter with each arm, and then carry them to safety while encouraging the girl in the jacket to run ahead of her. "Don't just stand around, baka! You're going to get hurt!"

Francesca Leon has posed:
    Zero Time happens; courtesy of the Galactic Maiden, the barrier spreading to seal off the construction site from any bystanders that might blunder into a magical battle. This is good.
    And there's Zephyr; lunging in with Tenraikaze. Her initial blow staggers the beast before her bind spell captures it, giving Cure Tide room to breath and whallop at the beast before leaping up to the beams. That... That seems to anger it.
    "I'm... I'm fine." Francesca replies, using her sword to prop herself back up to her feet. But she's still looking a little shaky for a moment.
    "It's bad is what it is." She answers Tsukiko when the (admittedly completely adorable) wolf-girl lands her kick to stumble the beast.
    Sailor Moon's tiara goes flying- the the magical disc of golden light sailing through the air to slice one of the shadowy bear's forelegs off entirely, the severed limb hitting the ground and dissolving into motes of darkness as the beast howls and breaks its binds.
    First it starts by leaping up to the girders and beams, wildly snapping at Cure Tide before it shifts attention to try and bat Zephyr with its remaining claw, snarling and gnashing fangs at Sailor Moon and Tsukiko with its heads going in two different directions to attack them before... It starts to bull-rush.
    "Ah crap."
    It's now going after Rei and the animals in her arms, viewing the shrine maiden as likely the easiest person around to eat.
    And that's not good.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Binds hold for the brief moment needed for others to clear the beast... but Zephyr doesn't manage it. She sees that claw swiping in. No time to dodge, no time to... < KITE SHIELD! > chimes Tenraikaze, erecting a hastily built rhomboid barrier.

    It shatters instantly, and the claw slams into the mage's chest. < REACTOR PURGE! > comes a slightly more desperate call, as the chest plate explodes outward in a shaped reactive armour blast. This also knocks the brunette away, skidding down the street a few meters.

    The dustcloud that obscures the brunette makes it seem like she's down for the count. One breath. Two breaths. Thre--- *BOOM*.

    < Maximum Drive. Device mode: Maelstrom Form. Tempest Bits cycling. > comes the Device, as a surge of raw power scatters the floating debris. < Switch to Bombardment Mode. All mana channels connected. Anchor Points and Recoil Dampeners locked. Linker Core Pressure, rising normally. > The Mage snarls, a cut on her cheek oozing red as she holds her Device like a Squad Assault Weapon. Five turbine-like bits float around the head as a single axe blade rotates around the crystal. Energy gathers into the blue crystal, sucking 'lines' of power as it builds towards something intense. < Tempest Ring has started revovling. Ready to Fire. > The bits start to spin opposite to the axe blade, and then Zephyr intones a simple imperative. "FIRE!"

    The world goes quiet for a moment, as a torrent of power erupts from the tip of her Device, pinching as it passes through the ring of Bits into a tightly focussed beam of magical plasma.

Aki Kurosawa has posed:
Cure Tide starts by jumping up and then down on the beam she's standing on to send the other end flying upwards into the beast, and then lets the bow on the small of her back turn into a set of wings, letting her float there a moment to then kick the beam again towards the beast as she 'hi-yahs!" loudly. She then watches as it stops paying attention to her, and going for the civilian. The girl carrying two fuzzy animals at her own peril. That's very bad.

"Waves of Joy...turn into a sacred power...!" she calls out, throwing her hand upwards, pointing towards the sky as she points her hand upwards. "LovePrebrace!" she then adds, spinning the dial on some sort of device on her wrist, before before it charges... something inside--

"Joyful Ocean... Shoot!" she calls out, fluttering waves of water forming in the air in front of her, before she punches the waves-- sending a stream of swirling, purifying water towards the beast-- and when, or if, it connects... she throws her hands upwards in a pose, "Joy, return to the heavens...!" she calls out, causing a rather catastrophic purifying force to explode outward and upward, trying to take any corruption with it...!

(and if it isn't dark energy, it still, you know. Exploded. That's gotta still smart more than a little!

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Cute Wolf Tsukiko nods in agreement with Stray, then yelps as the beast goes after Rei and the critters! The wolfgirl dashes after the youma, in a not-quite-parallel line... slightly veering away?!?

As her speed increases, Tsukiko hears the sounds of the other magical girls launching attacks. She reduces her acceleration a bit, waiting for the blasts to land (with her a safe distance aways!); then, with a final burst of speed and a nigh-impossibly-sharp cornering step, the wolfgirl launches herself as a silvery blur of energy, tackling the youma seemingly through its necks in a bolt of light, decelerating back down into human(oid) form some distance away.

"Did we get it?" she calls back to the others, catching her breath in case she has to jog back into the fray.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
The fox pins his ears back in momentary startlement when he comes face-to-face with Luna, two small furry persons who had the same idea at the same time. Vice President doesn't get much chance to react beyond that, though, because Rei's scooped them both up and VP, at least, has no objection to being toted under Rei's protective arm.

So this is going pretty all right... right? Sure, it's still wildly dangerous, but at least the Zero Time barrier is doing its job and the other magical warriors on the scene seem to know what they're doing--

Wako flinches in spite of herself at the nasty hit that sends Zephyr flying, too quick for the Galactic Maiden to even think of reacting. Everything's happening all at once, and even with Wawna's power at her disposal - even though this was what she *wanted,* to be able to fight for herself, now that the time has come she's frozen with indecision.

Until the dark monster goes into its charge, bull-rushing through the beams and girders in a clatter of metal, headed straight for the one person in this mess who *isn't* protected by a magical transformation.

The Galactic Maiden is already moving before she has the chance to think about it. "Oh no you don't--!" What starts as a sprint becomes more like a short flying dash that sends her shooting across the intervening space. She plants herself between Rei and the charging youma, crossing her arms in front of her as a sphere of pink light forms around the both of them in a solid barrier of purifying energy.

Vice President wriggles himself out from under Rei's arm to clamber onto her shoulder, fluffed up defensively at the youma.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna yowls in surprise as she's snatched up, clamping her mouth shut to keep from giving away her secrets. That's not what she was expecting to happen at all - sure, the civilian girl fleeing, but taking her along for the ride? And that's without the other, strange creature that most certainly is no more a regular animal than Luna is a regular cat. She's *certain* of that. At least Sailor Moon is fighting, without shedding tears first, but she should be there with ehr!

Her hind legs dangle from Rei's arm, her forelegs gripping the young woman desperately, and she cranes her head, trying to look up at this surprising rescuer. She could free herself. She could free herself easily, turn her claws on the kind-hearted girl and race back to her senshi, and yet... she doesn't.

There's something, besides the strangeness of the creature caught up alongside her. Something that tells her to stay here, in her arms.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon is not experiencing the safety of a beautiful girl's arms. No, she's experiencing the terror of gnashing fangs, from a *bear* of all things. A two-headed bear. With fangs! And claws! And it's angry at her!

Naturally, she shrieks in terror, scrambling back and falling right on her rump with the bear looming above her. There is literally only one thing to do: "Sailor Moon Kick!"

Her red boot slams right into the bear's chin, and then the bear youma is rushing away. For a moment, Sailor Moon is convinced *she* scared it off and she flops on the ground in relief - only to see from her new vantage point that the bear is rushing *right* for a pretty girl with Luna in her arms.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

This time the tiara is awkwardly thrown over her head, luckily landing DIRECTLY on the bear youma's head. Yay? Yay!

Rei Hino has posed:
    The thunderous, deafening crash of steel and timber and who-even-knows-what-else crashing behind her like a collapsing tunnel in an American action movie that the heroine is running out of while it is actively falling apart around her, is not exactly condusive to well-balanced, logical decisions. This aside, it appears that the emotional decision of 'running for one's life' coincidentally is also the logical decision, so, lucky break that. The two animals she grabbed up... She probably would have grabbed them or at least tried to protect them regardless. But for some reason she just felt like she had to act.

    Her forehead feels hot in contrast to the cold and clammy feeling over the rest of her body from her body's reaction to fear and adrenaline. When the fox escapes and a girl drops down at Rei's back between her and what is clearly some kind of evil spirit, she actually turns to look over her shoulder and, despite what logic tells her, she slows her flight until she stops entirely out on the main street she was running down before she decided to take a shortcut directly into the lion's den--Err. Bear's den.

    It's an amazing light show of heroes fighting a being of evil, something she was, at best, only peripherally aware of until now since she doesn't own or watch television. It's enough to make most people halt in their tracks and stare wide-eyed. Before such paralysis can take over, however, while an energy field keeps her and Luna from going any further away, she sees her schoolbag where she dropped it, visible through a space between the youma's legs. Her school supplies are scattered across the alley. But the medicine she bought for her grandfather is absolutely ruined, the glass shattered and the contents spilled out onto the dirty pavement.

    Rei Hino's temper flares.

    The black cat is gently set down, as the anger over her family being denied something that would relieve their pain swells higher and higher. Though outwardly she appears calm, cool, and collected -- absolutely fearless -- the righteous anger is burning right under the surface.

    She leaps up into the air, spinning acrobatically in a way most normal schoolgirls generally don't, releasing a stream of ofuda as she does so that spiral along after her. Then, in mid-air, she hurls them all at the youma who is having a Very Bad Evening and yells, "Evil Spirit, Disperse!"

    If the Magical Girls weren't enough to stop the monster, the spiritual barrier suddenly erected in the alley might have done the trick too. It's like an invisible wall just popped into existence in front of the bear's face. Both of them. Whichever one(s) are still intact, anyway!

    The barrier is not enough to kill a strong youma on its own, but it is as solid and impenetrable as a column of solid steel.

    It probably hurts.

Francesca Leon has posed:
    A lot happens, but with the bear loping on one missing limb, it's not fast enough to avoid the sheer level of pain that's about to be laid down on it.
    With the bear rushing after Rei, Stray picks herself back up.
    "Crap- crap crap crap." The rookie mage seethes in a litany of mild profanity as she starts rushing after.
    There's a loud CRASH as the beam Tide is on is used to slam into the monster's body, giving it a brief beat of pause before Zephyr's focused torrent of magical energy hits it from one side- only for it to be seared away from the other by purifying waters, the attacks blowing two large holes in the creature's torso.
    Tsukiko tackles through the beast's necks; severing one head completely as Sailor Moon hurls her tiara again, the powerful disc of golden light doesn't just land on the youma's other head, it cuts it off completely at the neck, the two heads hitting the ground and dissolving into dark mist.
    But even without its heads it makes one last bear rush... Only to slam into the sheer wall of both Rei's mystical protection and the Galactic Maiden's defensive sphere, scrabbling as it tries to break through both and fails miserably.
    This is where Stray comes in... Breaking into a full tilt sprint, she kicks off a vertical pillar, sprints along a beam and jumps from girder to girder before taking a vaulting leap, sword raised high aloft.
    Before she lands on the other side of the bear in a skidding stop, a thin line visibly bisecting the youma before is starts to split apart, collapses in two, and starts to melt into dark mist.
    A little breathless, sweat beading on her brow, she picks herself up to stand and rubs the back of her neck.
    <Not bad.> The sword says, somehow sounding pleased.
    "Everyone alright?" She asks, deciding that to be more important than her weapon's praise.

Aki Kurosawa has posed:
Cure Tide takes a deep breath and floats on downwards towards Stray and says. "Are YOU alright? That thing was chasing you, afterall. What'd you do, call it's cousin a bad name?" she asks, coyly. Still, she looks towards the others. "Woah woah, before we all vanish into the night , quick question!" she says, waving her arms. "H-have any of you seen someone by the name of 'Cure Gull' around? Like. Ever?" she asks, looking at the girls she's never met before.

She looks around expectantly at everyone else, before pausing.

"Right, and. Is. Everyone okay?" she asks, looking up at the sky.

"What's with this weird feeling?" she asks, about the Zero-time, to no one in particular, finally.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Tenraikaze's beam peters out, and several vents open to eject a cloud of magic-ladened steam in a gout that obscures the girl for a few moments. She twirls the weapon, and it collapses back into Standby mode. She rubs her chest as she walks over toward Francesca. "Bit banged up, but I'll live... you okay?" she asks.

    Cure Tide's question earns a shrug. "I don't keep a list of names on hand." < The name is unfamiliar. Sorry... don't mind the Chief either. She's just grumpy. > "Oi."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Now that was some good, improvised teamwork! "I'm fine!" Cute Wolf Tsukiko calls back as she walks over to the others. Glancing between Stray and Rei, the wolfgirl adds, "Are you alright?"

Which one of the two girls she's addressing could be interpreted either way.

Still, Tsukiko's tail is wagging slightly, glad to see a familiar (albeit only slightly so) face, and happy that this fight didn't seem to have as many casualties as yesterday's brawl.

The wagging slows down at Cure Tide's question. "I'm... not really familiar with that many magical girls, much less their names, sorry," Tsukiko shrugs apologetically.

Wako Agemaki has posed:
The pink glow of the Galactic Maiden's shield remains steady until the last wisp of darkness has vanished completely. Only then does Wako let it dissipate and straighten out of her defensively braced posture to rub a hand somewhat awkwardly against the back of her neck.

Cure Tide's question draws her attention; she looks in Tide's direction, brows lifting. "Cure Gull...?" she echoes. "I haven't, but I can keep an eye out for her if you want. And--if anyone's hurt," this is directed more towards Stray and Zephyr, the ones she saw taking particularly nasty hits, "I might be able to help with that a little."

Vice President runs an excited loop around Rei before darting off across the pavement to pounce upon the toes of Wako's boots.

"--oh, sorry," the Galactic Maiden says after a moment, making a suddenly wry face. "That was me." She lifts her hands, palms up, and recalls the Zero Time barrier. As quickly as it first changed, the sky returns to normal; the sounds of far-off traffic and city noise once more fill the air. The damage to the construction site vanishes as though it never happened, with the notable exception of the gaping hole in the concrete wall that Stray went through.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The monster dies gruesomely, and Sailor Moon wrinkles her nose as the heads just pop off. She's never going to get used to how destructive her attacks are, or how utterly final, it can be. The enemy was terrifying - a rampaging bear! - but she's never going to be used to thinks just, dying around her. (She hopes she'll never get used to it, anyway.)

But now that the enemy's defeated, she can relax, right? Because they won! It's over and they won!

But uh, it seems like her allies have questions? And she should probably find Luna, right?

"Sorry, but I've never heard of Cure Gull. But! I've met a lot of people like us lately... what does she look like?" Sailor Moon scratches the back of her head, sheepish. "And what's your name? I'm Sailor Moon! I figure - I should probably introduce myself, because I keep running into people but there's never a chance to say hi or exchange names or anything!"

In the meantime, Luna's been ignoring her senshi, focused on the civilian who had far, far too much power to be normal. She's seen those ... paper charms? Before, with other humans, passing shrines. They didn't have nearly the kind of power this girl summoned up. And there was something about her that felt... familiar. Something that was worth watching, when there weren't so many strangers here. Whoever these girls were, they weren't their allies. She mrows, then hops down, circling Rei's ankles, acting the typical cat for all she's worth.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Not that the danger appears to be over, the immediacy of survival slips away from Rei's mind. She goggles a bit at the collection of colorful characters, not that she'll remember anything about them later, and responds to the inquiry about her well-being with, "Uh, yeah." Eloquent as always. She tries to unobtrusively head back over to where her school bag and its former contents are lying at the other end of the alley, near the construction site, but she frowns deeply at the sight of the spoiled powders. The small shop is closed by now, and she doesn't have the yen to buy more either way. She considers seeing if she can salvage any of it, but...

    The only thing worse she could do than ruining the pain-reliever is to give it to him and find out it has trash and broken glass in it. She's ashamed of her failure, and as a teenager girl that takes priority in her mind right now over the realization that 'magical girls' are real. The youma thing, not so much. She is a shinto priestess who attends a Catholic school run by nuns. She knows her spirituality, okay. It's just that usually the akuma she faces off with aren't so... Corporeal.

    Refusing to cry in front of strangers, her lips press together tightly, and the schoolgirl puts what she can find of her belongings away before giving one last glance over her shoulder. Her forehead still feels hot, but it doesn't appear to be bleeding based off a quick check with the back of her wrist. It would be just her luck to have hallucinated all this because of a fever.

    Right before she tries to escape undetected and get home, she feels something furry against her ankles. A quick look down reveals it's the same cat as before. Well, at least the cat is real, right?

    Rei pauses to run a hand down Luna's back to the base of her tail and quietly says, "You should find someplace safer than this to spend the night, neko-chan." Then, unless someone yells, 'STOP THAT SCHOOLGIRL!' or something, she sneaks off to the best of her ability considering there are all these Magic Girls with Who Knows What Kind Of Abilities hanging around.

    Occupied as she is with how to explain what happened to her grandpa's medicine, and the details of the encounter already starting to fade from memory, Rei doesn't notice that she left behind her student ID card.

    But Luna might.

Francesca Leon has posed:
    As Zero Time fades, Stray heaves an exhausted sigh and answers multiple people at once.
    "I'm... I'm fine. Just a little shaky. There's no way I could have taken that thing on by myself so... Thanks for that. All of you." She says as she sets her sword down, embedding the tip of the blade inthe sidewalk. But then she shakes her head.
    "I'm super new to this. I donno anyone named Cure Gull, sorry." Then comes Sailor Moon's introduction. She's about to open her mouth when her device speaks up.
    <The Kitten's a Stray.>
    "... Did you just."
    <Yes.>
    She sighs. Heavily.
    Then pauses.
    Did. Rei just bail?
    "... I think that other girl just bailed.
    <Totally bailed.>

Aki Kurosawa has posed:
Cure Tide sort of breathes out helplessly. It's the answers she didn't want to hear, but knew she'd get anyways. "That's fine. I thought I'd ask anyways." she manages a sort of small smile of sorts, as much as she can. She doesn't explain why she asked, regardless. Maybe it isn't important. She watches as the damage goes away, the sound of the city returns and the sky returns to normal. She blinks. "Huh. That's kind of neat." she says.

"Erm. Green hair. Kinda can't keep her mouth shut, dresses like I do, except longer skirt, seafoam greenish..." she says, placing her hand underneath her chin. "...instead of aqua blue. Like I am. I'm. Cure Tide!" pause. "A Precure!" she elaborates.

"Yeah, things have been picking up lately-- I wonder if... everything is alright..." she trails off, smile suddenly fading as she slacks a little.

"I need to get going...later!" she says as her back bow erupts into wings and she takes back off into the night as a blue streak.

Zephyr Windstar has posed:
    Before Zephyr can react to the offer, her Device chimes up. < Some medical attention would be useful. Less explanations to the boss when we get back. >

    Zephyr frowns at the medalion but doesn't say anything. She just folds her arms, huffing as her Barrier Jacket shatters, returning her to her civilian outfit.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"I like strays," Cute Wolf Tsukiko remarks offhandedly, thinking of her canine street friends. Well, she's apparently just met a human one, with... feline influences? At least Tsukiko doesn't have to speak feline to her; the syntax of Cat is not something the wolfgirl is good at.

She waves goodbye to the departing Cure Tide, calling, "I'll keep an eye out for her!" A glance confirms that Rei has swiftly departed; well, at least she wasn't hurt, and exchanging names with someone who... probably isn't magical girl would just feel Awkward.

Although that move with the ofuda was pretty impressive!

"I'm Cute Wolf Tsukiko; nice to meet you!" the wolfgirl grins to the magical girls present, her small fanglies clearly visible in a non-threatening way. "Glad to meet all of you!"

Wako Agemaki has posed:
Sailor Moon. Cure Tide. Cute Wolf Tsukiko. Stray? Wako looks from one face to another with visible curiosity, making note of the names and a few unfamiliar terms. "...Ginga Otome," she offers, a little self-conscious about it now that the moment has kind of passed.

Vice President, apparently tiring of attacking her boots, sits down and cocks his big-eared head curiously at Tsukiko. The fox's bead-black eyes track every swish of her lupine tail.

Zephyr's Device speaks up for her and Wako has to stifle a little laugh. "Okay, then," she says, and glances aside for a moment to the miniature robot that has once more manifested in its floating sphere nearby. "Wawna...?"

<Yes, miko-sama.>

When the Galactic Maiden raises her hands again, pink energy glows around Zephyr, an aura of gentle healing to help soothe the injuries of the night's battle.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna mrrrps as Rei pets her, holding still and allowing this because it *is* what an ordinary cat would do... and not terribly minding. She can't say anything, of course, so she doesn't, but she takes careful note of the abandoned ID, bending down to take it between her teeth. She'll have to investigate this!

"I.. don't know what a precure is?" Sailor Moon says awkwardly, "But! I'll look out for her! Green hair, seafoam green, talkative! She sounds really sweet... if I see her, I'll tell her you're looking for her, Cure Tide. I promise!" You can count on her! Really! She is dependable!

"And it's really good to meet all of you, Stray, Cute Wolf Tsukiko, Ginga Otome! I hope we can work together again... it's really scary being a Soldier of Justice! But I've had so much help, all the time, and it makes it a lot less scary."