2929/Duel of the Rates

Duel of the Rates
Date of Scene:	03 February 2026
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	Rate Your Henshin ruins another evening out.
Cast of Characters:	Rashmi Terios, Amanda Faust, Mamoru Chiba, Emi Hoshino, Molly Skyline
Tinyplot:	The Nightmare Nexus

---

Rashmi Terios has posed:
February has begun, and Valentine's Day draws near. Which means it is time for one of Rashmi's favorite traditions; combining sweets and heartfelt emotions, all in one, on an assault on the various chocolatiers of Mitakihara.

Today, she texted a cluster of her friends, to see if they wanted to join her. As in nearly all things, her purpose for doing so was twofold. First, most of them have people to shop for, but second... Well why try to unearth a friend's secrets, when you can get them to do it for you?

Honestly, Dark Energy General Rashmi would probably be a terrifying mastermind.

By now her primary goal has been achieved; some absolute mad genius of a chocolatier actually *did* make hedgehog-shaped truffles, with a variety of fillings, and Rashmi will protect the 12-pack she bought *with her life.* Also half her list of friends has been got to, and she hopes they like her picks.

"Okay," she chirps, busting out the door into the chill evening. "Do we want to grab dinner and keep going, or grab dinner and call it a night? I've still got a dozen people to hunt for, myself..."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy did, indeed, misunderstand this as shopping for ingredients when she was invited along, but hey, seeing if fancy chocolate tastes any better and maybe learning something about it wouldn't hurt?

    Last year, stuff was crazy busy and she didn't get to partake, although the year before a boy with culinary talents helped some of the girls with the process and Amy at least had some chocolates poured into simple molds to give to Hannah.

    She's not exactly sure if she experiences romantic attraction like most others do, but she's fond of people who want to be close to her and even if she didn't have Miho she'd still want to be involved and make chocolate for friends. Honestly it's more of a partake-in-gendered-ritual thing for her because manga's warped her brain.

    But that is for another day, today is shopping for chocolate and trying things!

    Amy's gotten a few samples of good chocolates to try, and perhaps a few packs of things that caught her eye as potentially interesting to particular friends -- like maybe cute monster-shaped ones for Taro, for example -- and tried to find a good deal on the chocolate to give to most of her classmates.

    She pauses after stepping out into the chill air, its briskness filling her lungs. "Uhhh... Honestly, I dunno how many more kinds of chocolate I can retain information on today..." she smiles, "but, there still might be more out there that catches my eye, and it's always nice hanging with you two anyway!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru's got a bag of Weird Expensive Artisan Chocolate Bars he's been picking up one by one, because he knows his audience. He's in all black-- mock turtleneck and jeans-- except for a dark red short-sleeved button-down with bright red stylized roses on it, and fancy red Fluevogs. His black hat has cat ears. He looks a little beleaguered. "How about we grab dinner and then decide if we're done or not?"

He may not have been the best help to Rashmi, since he's been deliberately picking flavors that make him raise his eyebrows, for Kazuo. However, he does make eyes at some salted caramel and dark chocolate raspberry stuff, because sometimes he is a basic bitch. (Except for the creme brulee. That's slightly more snobby. It's French.)

Mamoru smiles at Amy. "You too," he says, his friendly affection quiet, but she can tell he's overstimulated and his hierarchy of needs is demanding food over all. "Protein will help make the decision."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
It's an ordinary Monday in Tokyo. People come and go. The streets are full.

The ambience is perhaps a little sleepier than usual. Low energy. Flatter. Perhaps this is to be expected, given the darkness that has been leeching into the leylines of the city from Kyoto, but it hasn't reached a critical point yet by any stretch of the imagination.
ut that's a problem for tomorrow...

... or is it?

The first indication that something is wrong in the sheer number of people on their phones who are paying attention to the three Mahou on their sojourn. Its gradual, at first, but people are now openly stopping and staring at the three. It begins with a titter.

And then a snicker. Soon, there's guffaws. Outright laughter follows. They're all laughing at them. And then one of them holds their phone up and out, screen towards them, so they can see.

A pixelated smiley face.

"And we're back, loyal viewers," it booms, far less tinny than it should be from the confines of a cheap phone's speaker system.

"Now that we've finished our recap, it's time for the re-review! Remember to jam that like and subscribe button! We're powered by our fans! Now, it's time to ..."

"RATE..."

"YOUR..."

"HENSHIN! WELCOME BACK, RASHMI-MAMORY-AMY, WE'VE GOT SOME DEEP CUT REVIEWS FOR YOU TODAY!"

More of the passerbys have stopped, holding their phones out towards the three of them -- the same face on every one of them, its voice echoing in multitudes, a smile replicated on the faces of all its fans.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"You're right," Rashmi says, bobbing her head, though the amount of heads turning their way is beginning to get distracting. "Dinner first, *then* decide. I think I saw a ramen shop a couple... blocks... back okay Amy-chan do I have nougat on my face or something? What--" Her voice cuts off, as phones are held out to face the group, and the devastatingly familiar voice resounds through Mitakihara.

'Rate!' 'Your!' 'Henshin~!'

"OH COME ON!" Rashmi thunders, indignation flooding her voice. "Don't you ha-- I guess not okay y'know what fine let's do this I DON'T CARE."

And she slips under an awning, breaking line of sight from as many directions as possible, before pulling out a composition book and holding it up in front of her face.

"Nicomachea Exia! Set! Up!!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy gives Mamoru an understanding nod. They need a break and food. She's dressed in the same fleece-lined cream hoodie, mottled grey-and-black skirt, and pink-and-white beanie from yesterday, this time paired with one of the tees she gave out at Magic Karaoke of a chibi tiger 'nyo'-ing into a microphone, and insulated leggings with an angular pink-and-black pattern on them (it came in a set with the grey-and-black ones!)

    She hadn't really been paying attention to other people.

    As they walk down the street and someone stares, she briefly meets their gaze, and forces herself to shrug it off. Memories of another life feel increasingly like, well, another life, or that happened to someone else, but she clings to the wisdom of 'everyone is not paying attention to you they have their own lives to worry about, it just feels like that 'cuz you're a teenager'...

    But man, it sure does feel like it. But even if it does... yeah, what if they are? You're a cute girl, two cute girls and one of the prettiest boys in school (according to people who are attracted to boys.) It's eye-catching! That's probably why they're looking. They're not judging you.

    And then she notices another person staring. And another. Are they... snickering?

> And we're back, loyal viewers!
    "Wait, they can see magic?! But we're not in a nightmare!" Amy looks at the pixelated faces in wide-eyed alarm, and then checks that she can't breathe through her nose while pinching it. "Pretty sure we're not..." she mutters.

    "Wait, recap?! What'd you tell them?!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru instantly scrambles to put his earplugs in as Rashmi goes to henshin, bag of chocolate around his wrist, then says, "Aaa-- how'd we beat this asshole last time? I don't remember. Earth Crystal Power, Make Up!"

It's a full-on glowing glittery naked outline and ribbons and bokeh lights and stars and shoujo bubbles mask-first henshin, with impressively billowing cape unfurling in shimmers as he makes dramatically appropriate gestures. When he's done he leaps up to the top of the closest streetlight, tossing his hair, his cape settling around his ankles, one hand on his hip. His other hand throws back his cape and produces a rose, which he holds delicately.

"Tuxedo Mask is on the scene!" he sings out, then ostentatiously sniffs the rose. "So sweetly scented a knife, so beautiful a weapon--! It is too tragic that this rose's grace must be bent toward violence instead of loveliness followed by vitamin C, but vile bullies like YOU force my hand and the hands of my friends."

Another pose way up there on the lamppost and Mamoru finishes strong, "You suck and we're gonna talk to you about it with our fists!"

Molly Skyline has posed:
When Molly got a text from Rashmi to join her and there were chocolates mentioned, she wanted to come instantly. However, she was in the middle of a preliminary assessment to do with getting a prosthetic arm -- and even with Setsuna's offer for help in getting the best arm she can, she still has to go through the provess, which put her in the curious position of sitting through an appointment she's been waiting for for a long time and doesn't want to rush, combined with wanting to go meet her friend right away.

The result of this being that the second she had her freedom she was on her way in henshin, not bothering with WAITING FOR A BUS when she could just fly there at a speed much closer to the speed of sound than the bus can accomplish. (OKay well maybe not that much closer, but closer.)

So it is that the one-armed Star Devil arrives on scene with her backpack slung on her shoulder beneath her Flier Fin wings and Starcrash clutched in hand; the metal in her greaves squeals on the pavement as she lands and skids to a halt in a shower of sparks. "Starcrash warned me there were enemy targets from about a mile out," she explains breathlessly. "What've we got? Sorry I'm late!"

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"That's right! We're back in action! Chat, let your comments roll in! First, we have --"

And then -Molly- arrives out of seeming nowhere, so far as its concerned, and everyone holds their phones up and cameras in her direction, capturing her from every angle in the crowd.

"Whoa! Hold on, hold on. We have a late entry! Hey! Who's your tailor? It's not *that* guy, that's for sure," a digital finger on the phone screens is angled towards Mamoru, "He has an actual sense of style -- too bad clothes don't actually make the man."

DING! A single star appears over Molly's head.

"BAM! ONE STAR FOR FASHION! Let's see what else we've got!"
    he civilians phones turn towards Mamoru, Molly, and Amy each, scanning them, taking them in, and bracing for the attacks that come next.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As the flash of golden light dies, Rashmi doesn't look any less annoyed in her Barrier Jacket. Though when Molly screeches onto the scene, the redheaded Devicer *does* let out a long sigh of relief.

<< So if this is like last time, >> she says into the mental comms net as it spools up, << we beat it with sincerity. Star Devil-chan, I'd like to introduce you to the Nightmare's physical manifestation of cyberbullying. The last time it found me, it was when we thought you were dead, and *used that against me.* So it can go to hell-- >>

    << *BONG!* >> << TIME-SPACE BARRIER >>

A bubble of yellow-black staticky energy forms over Nicomachea's pages, then blasts outward... only to meet the glitchy pixel-faces of RateYourHenshin's mob, and be *forced,* with no small amount of struggle, back until it surrounds Rashmi only, at which point the spell collapses.

<< ...Well crap. So uh... Collateral damage is a problem too I guess, uh... >>

Rashmi Terios Has A Concern.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Mamoru just transforming in the open knocks Amy out of her 'wait what did it TELL THEM' worry for a second, and she lifts her hands to chest-level in front of her and swipes her right hand over her left. (The ring is currently not visible under her gloves, white pleather over microfiber and the one item in her outfit that was conjured just so they could fit perfectly. Also, her chocolate purchases are safely tucked away in her messenger bag!)

    Instead of the usual ending to her henshin where she lands on her feet, she's dropped on her butt instead, in the 'cute' outfit with the frilly-cuffed white shirt and tights under a sleeveless red-pink dress with matching bow, beret, and mary-janes and darker long vest, her hair tied low in twintails and wand with a big red bow and pink heart on the end in-hand.

    Can you be so off-balance you fall out of your henshin wrong? Maybe! Though shocked for almost a second she does a hands-free stand up by crossing her legs, standing, and uncrossing them, and points the wand at the nearest screen.

    "Hey! Don't make fun of my friends!"

"Ooh. Bold words from the girl facing us in cosplay! If they didn't want to hear hard truths they shoulda dressed better and been better."

    While Amy had sometimes chosen this outfit to try and look more like a 'typical' magical girl fighting with hope and friendship rather than high explosives and anti-tank weaponry, RMH calls her attention to that she's sometimes ended up subconsciously changing when anxious. Hmm.

    "H-hey. It looks good on me! It's cute!"

"And that's what the heroine is doing with her magic, folks! Normal schmuck gets magic and should be saving the world, and she's playing dress-up with it instead!"

    Amy's fists clench. "That's not what I said! I can't-- my life isn't fighting monsters like you every hour of every day!"

"You heard her! There could be a Witch eating people in the next city over right now, and she's out shopping with her friends!"

    "That's not... that's not..." Fudge, Amy's never been good at socially arguing on her feet...

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Star Devil, hey, welcome to cyberbullying hell," Tuxedo Mask calls from his lamp post. << What happens if we leave? We can pick our battleground if the nightmare follows us. >>

He jumps down because-- maybe this isn't a physical fight. "I'm a man today, and in fact, most of the time. And the clothes do have something to do with it, but I don't think gender is what you were aiming for with that bomb of an insult," he says strangely mildly. << Like, how sincere? I mean, just because *you've* seen exactly what'll make me lose my tiny mind doesn't mean I want to admit it out loud in an afterschool special. I know what my problems are, and I did not budget for vulnerability today. Amy-chan, it's bad faith arguing with you. This is when you log off the internet. It just won't let us log off. >>

He's still holding the rose, the rose that breaks magic, the rose that opens doors in dreams, and he walks toward one of the civilians with the screens pointed at them, closer, closer, and if the civilian doesn't back away he taps their screen with the stem of his rose, like it's got a spell around it or something. Worth a shot, right?

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly takes a moment to take it all in and connect with Rashmi's psychic coms line, and lets out a loud, verbal Aaaaaaaaaaugh. And she's just about to respond when she getes rated with... one... star. One? One.

"Oh, seriously? One star? As if you buncha gormless pillocks would know the meaning of 'fashion' if someone loaded a bunch of gold bricks into a Prada pillow case and smacked you straight in the gob with it!" Molly punctuates her return fire by cradling her staff against her shoulder to free up her hand, and throws up two fingers in a 'V' shape -- which if you're British, unless you're Winston Churchill is basically the middle finger.

<< ...Oh. >> Molly drops her hand back to her side and blushes behind her battle visor. << So responding with a like outburst is the wrong way. Got it. >> She pauses, sucking in her breath. << Also, like, I'm.. sorry you had to deal with that... then. I know that wasn't a good time for like... anything. I'm here now and I'm not going to let them talk smack about you even if I have to blow up this neighborhood... which... I shouldn't do since your time/space barrier fizzled. Awkward. >>

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"How dare you try to cut off our loyal fans," counters Rate Your Henshin as Rashmi tries to summon the barrier. "You're going to cause...

"VIRAL OUTRAGE," chants the crowd in unison and indeed, it is this viral outrage that spreads like wildfire amongst them. So outrageous. Comments from the crowd can be heard, both whispered and over the speakers of their phones and appearing in little chat bubbles around their heads.

"...censoring us..."

"...streisand effect..."

"Main character syndrome..."
% Chastising Rashmi for trying to shunt them away!

Amy's withering under fire causes those smiles to get even bigger and a single star appearws over -her- head next. "Re-review completed! No growth whatsoever!"

Mamoru's approach is stared at it -- it's not sure what he's trying to do, and certainly, that magic breaking rose will break the spell over that person. Their phone goes back to normal...

"Feisty, fesity, feisty! We like this one! She'll be entertaining! Shame you were DEAD the last time we met you, but that's okay! There's plenty of time for us to get know you better than you know yourself! Initial assessment completed! Chat, what do we think?"

The single stars that appear over Rashmi, Amy, and Molly all shimmer slightly, and all of them can both feel and hear the comments -pouring in-, cutting into them verbally, preying on their insecurities, mocking them for their lack of growth and evolution. So BORING! So dull!
% But something -else- happens on the phone screen that Mamoru freed. It went from Rate Your Henshin's digital face to their phone lock screen, to ... Rate your Henshin again? But it looks different. A little more fragmented, angrier, sparking. And then it spreads to several other phones nearby and then turn towards the others in the crowd, holding their phones up.

"...excuse me?! What fresh hell is this?! Here I am, laying dormant after a long night to find that my streaming style has been hijacked by an imposter?! Well, EXCUSE ME, buddy, but I'm filing a strike against your stream!"

... oh no. There's TWO of them?!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< No, like... When you're trying to help the Sailor Senshi, encouragement and affirmation? He finds it *cringe.* >>

The chastisement falls on deaf ears, at first; *yes* she was trying to censor the Nightmare's reach, because *it hurts people* and if you don't have magic you don't deserve even getting hit with *splashback* when monsters start hurting people. But the comments dig... deeper.

    'You had *one job.*'
            'Good work! Now you *and* half your friends are useless!'
        'Aren't you supposed to be the 'make everyone better' girl? Lolwut'
                'They're all going to die because you aren't good enough.'

It's that last one that gets her, causes her to shrink in on herself and need a few good, long deep breaths. "...Maybe," she says, voice cracking... Then she swallows, tries again. "Maybe! But we could die *anytime,* you're not *special* for being able to take us out! That's not the point! The point is *there will never be enough of you to beat us,* no matter *who* has the last shot! Doesn't matter if you win or lose today, there's *no world* where you win for long!"

<< That. That is how we beat them. By *really believing* they don't know what they're talking about. >>

And then oh god THERE IS ANOTHER ONE, what?

Hiroyuki Sanada's voice whispers in the back of Rashmi's brain, just for a moment.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It can't come after his gender. It can't come after his sense of style, that's impeccable. Even Casual Friday. Totally unassailable.

But as Tuxedo Kamen's reaching for the phone he tapped with the rose, to steal it with its new/old RYH glitching out on it, the younger shinier less angry RYH-- << Shit we need to name them. Thing 1 is glitchy, Thing 2 is the one that first showed up tonight. >>

--Thing 2 crows, "Oh, oh, no he thinks money makes the man. He thinks money makes a place for him, but he knows that the moment anyone finds out he's an orphan the place he's buying in society vanishes!"

Mamoru sighs, though the skin at the back of his neck is crawling now. His skin is crawling. It's on the right track somehow. Maybe Subsy-- "Old news!" he shakes his head firmly. "And besides, I'm getting married and taking her name. I'll be a fortress of respectability."

Thing 2's voice comes from another phone near Mamoru, "He's admitting he's a phony! He found someone who's willing to enable his delusion, you think it's his pretty face or his money--"

Mamoru rips his glove off and grabs for one of the Thing 2 phones, hoping that touching it works like touching an enemy, and floods that magicked phone with the sensation with healing and happiness from his wedding.

Molly Skyline has posed:
"Yeah?! Well how many people do you know who came back from the dead? That's pretty damn cool, right? Hunh? Any of YOU ever do anything so cool as dieing and it doesn't stick? That's right you didn't."

Molly shrinks back when the return rejoinder is a load of vitriol, aimed at her and her friends. That, and then there's a second one. So there's two now? These nightmares are just awful.

And then there's everything that getes said about Rashmi to boot. About how she let her friends die, and is bad at her job, and--

"Oh sod off," she snaps, slamming the business end of Starcrash into the pavement and leaving the staff standing there, all... jammed into a fresh hole in the public thoroughfare and everything, so she can go give Rashmi a one-armed hug.

"I didn't die because Rashmi-chan let me, she fought to save me. I died because I chose too, because saving my friends was worth it, and I lost my arm saving my friends, and I'll always make that choice because my friends are worth it. And they're cool in ways you'll never understand with your silly ratings. Go back to looking at cheap crap on Amazon. Mamoru-chan is one of the coolest guys I know. And nobody blows stuff up like Amy-chan does."

'Devil-wannabe thinks she's cool 'cause she died this one time'
'If she was actually cool she'd have like, 'won' the fight. Who remembers a loser?'
'Sounds like she made a good distraction at least. 2/10 for effort I guess'
'Wonder how long before she loses the other arm? She could get a job pretending to be the Black Knight'

Molly's face turns red, and she basically just... burries herself against Rashmi's shoulder. << Do they have to pick on me about my arm? >>

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Main character syndrome...
    "Hey!" Amy points at the screens. "HE'S-- uhh... it's? What are your pronouns? THEY'RE the one calling me a disappointment of a main character, I never claimed it!"

> One star. No growth.
    "That's... that's not right!"

"You're out buying ingredients to make chocolate because manga told you that's what girls do."

    She's not sure what to say to that. Her friends have words. << You BUDGET for vulnerability?! >> Amy thinks back, surprised.

    Amy looks up hopefully at Molly, and then alarmed at Rashmi as the barrier fails. << Choose our battleground? There's no place where I'm strong. There's only being around the right people. >>

    Like people who can see a fight rigged against her and tell her not to play! She nods to Tuxedo Mask... And also to Molly, grinning at the praise of being a good exploder.

"*Sigh*. You steal my style and you're not even doing it right." Glitchy rolls its pixellated eyes at the other faces. "Zero progress means zero stars."

    "Oh come on! I've helped save the world at least twice, and who knows how many other--" AMY NO DON'T ENGAGE

Glitchy continues, "Buying ingredients so you can have a chocolate-making scene because that's what genderswap girls do. You're not even Japanese! You don't care about the culture of Valentine's and White Day here... you're a tourist checking off sightseeing stops. New body, new feelings, girls taking you clothes shopping, dealing with monthlies, wondering if you have feelings for a boy now, eating sweets in a cafe, ryokan trip where you're very aware you're one thing and not the other now."

Thing 2 interrupts, "It's kind of funny you're so bad at knowing what to do as a tourist in Japan after years, because you're doing great at this itinerary!"

    "But..." Amy starts to mutter,

"Hey, excuse me," Glitchy replies, "I was doing MY bit here."

    "I'm not a 'tourist'!" Amy shouts, fist tightening around the wand. "I am a girl!" She levels the wand at the nearest phone and then realizes with wide-eyed hesitation that an innocent person is holding it.

"YEAH AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT SO PATHETIC!" replies Glitchy, on a roll. "If you were a guy how could we blame you for treating this like rides at a theme park on what would in that case be a very-messed up vacation."

Thing 2 interjects, "Metaphor's getting a bit away from you there."

"$Hut uP!" replies Glitchy in a distorted voice, before the pixellated faces turn from their counterparts to focus on Amy again. "You're not on vacation, you're... <distorted noise>!" It looks back to Thing 2. "You made me lose my train of thought!"

Thing 2 takes this opportunity to push on, just as Amy is daring to stop looking at the ground afraid of what anyone will say, "You thought we'd stoop to transphobia like some two-bit hack? Nonono, it's so sad because you're a girl treating this like a whistlestop tour after years. One. Star." ("What the <distorted noise> is a whistlestop tour" comments Glitchy, also "Zero Stars" to which Thing 2 replies "shut up")

Glitchy piles on when Thing 2 has stopped talking, "...And that's just it, a proper Magical Girl story is supposed to also metaphorically represent your growth and maturation as a person, which it can't since you haven't, and that is why we RATE YOUR HENSHIN at ZERO STARS." The face briefly has an icon of a hand dropping a micrephone.

"Okay, that was good." Admits Thing 2.

"Thanks, faker."

"I meant it was a good imitation of me, because YOU'RE the fake."

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"ugh ow hey stop that! That's nasty!" is the immediate response from the being in the phone as Mamoru floods it with happy memories.

"DISGUSTING," it complains ion a pained voice. "CRINGE!"

So it did have an effect! And it's about to respond to it, even as its instances and 'chat' are running down Molly, Rashmi and Amy all the same.

There's a burst of outrage and static and its loud and unfortunate for the ear, followed by 'DEEP CUT REVIEW' for Mamoru, it says. What's a deep cut review? Well, you're about to find out.

Still, some of that ire they have is for each other, too, members of the crowd under the sway of each -- you can tell from the differing colors, black and red for the original and red and purple for the newer one, emanating from their phones as they hold them up towards each other.

"Please," begins what must be the newer iteration of Rate Your Henshin, the one that started today's mess. "I'm the original: you're just a bug past its fix date. One star!"

"Is that your idea of a 'review'? You're where standards go to die," flings back the newly arrived original one. "One star!!"

They're, for the moment, distracted with each other. And that's when it starts raining ... stars. One star reviews, to be exact, that they're firing at each other from the phones they've possessed and are exploding beside the civilians who are holding those phones.

"STOP STEALING MY WORDS."

"YOU DON'T DESERVE ANY!"

A star explodes by a civilian, who staggers back in numb confusion after hearing: "This is the most attention you've ever gotten."

Another is clearly wounded by "This is the best day you're going to ever have."

The emotional damage is, of course, only further strengthening the two monsters.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi has to admit, hugs make *everything* better, even ones given in the heat of battle with a seriously upsetting enemy, and she throws Star Devil a brief, relieved smile as she considers the field. While it *would* be easier just to let the two duke it out...

    "Those glasses make you look like the third-string character who never gets a story of their own."

...But the *splash damage* is spilling over onto the civilians, however possessed they currently might be... and that was a *seriously* rude thing to say to her. << *That's* it, Mamo-san, >> she says encouragingly over the comms. << When he says 'Cringe,' you've hit on what he can't stand; genuine, sincere, hopeful feelings. >>

Taking Nicomachea in hand, she slots a module into his casing, then raises her hands, and the book, skyward.

    << *BONG!* >> << AREA INDEX: SOLAR SHIELD -- GLACE SHIFT >>

A small disc of golden light forms above the crowd, then *expands* out in all directions until it forms cover for most of the block in every available direction. A heartbeat later, there's a screeching *CRACK!* and the shield becomes a gently curved plane of thick, golden ice, festooned with craggy spikes.

While the reviews might cut, and deeply, hopefully their impact might be absorbed for a time... and that in the time it takes to *set up* the shield, the strays her friends catch won't hurt *too* much.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Tuxedo Mask is still throttling the phone when it calls out its Deep Cut Review--

    "Your boyfriend's other boyfriend is cuter than you, and your wife's girlfriend is smarter than you, and--"

Mamoru scowls, reaches for another phone and grabs it out of its owner's hand, jumps away from them. Now he has two phones and they're tag teaming him, but he's dodging falling stars, he's headed for the other crowd-- the red and purple Glitchy crowd, since he's throttling the black-and-red Thing 2 phones.

    "Your hair is mid--

He swaps out one of the phones with a different civilian's phone -- he's just going to mix them all up, they can figure it out later -- to try and get the phones isolated in a big mixed crowd instead of blocs. And then Rashmi's shield umbrellas over everyone and Mamoru can stop dodging and

    "It'll never fully heal, you know," says the Thing 2 phone still in his hand, as the Glitchy phone blares black and red in his other. "She'll never, ever forgive them, and she thinks you're weak for forgiving them, and that you don't have the right to because they hurt everyone else too. But you cling to them like you cling to your so-called brother, who broke every bone in your body--"

Why is there red on his shirt?

    "Everyone's disgusted with you for being so pathetic, such a damaged little orphan wallowing in abuse because you think being hurt for them is the only way to show you love someone--"

"Bullshit!" explodes Mamoru, a slash of red like a royal sash across his chest, soaking through the fabric. "Bullshit--"

    "Do you even really trust them? You're miserable if you don't, and stupid if you do."

Mamoru's hands glow bright gold around the phone and he starts "Tuxedo--"

It's someone else's *phone*. The glowing turns into his favorite attack today, the psychic one. Have the memory of talking seriously with Chibiusa in his big empty apartment and feeling so full of love and joy and pride and surprise and family such happiness, such fullness of spirit, when he got the confirmation that she was his. Ish, but ish is *enough*.

"--La Precious Daughter"

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly should know better. Molly does know better. Calling attention to something that you want bullies to leave you alone about is precisely the wrong strategy, as proven by the slew of comments that come through about her current one-armed state. And at first, she just grits her teeth and ignores it, but as they come hammering in her grip on Starcrash tightens and her jaw clenches. Anyone standing close enough to her could just about hear her teeth feeling like they're gonig to crack from the pressure.

Luckily, that doesn't happen; but after a time her shoulders slump, and she looks defeated on her feet. Getting hit by a few falling starts before Rashmi's shield goes up that blast away at her Barrier Jacket and rock her on her feet doesn't help much either.

<< This isn't fair, >> she quietly complains over the telepathic comms, << How am I supposed to defend myself against this? It's not like I'm over it and I don't know what to... what to even say. >>

And there it is; Molly's already fragile emotional state, of late prone to extremes from deep anger to overwhelming listlessness is suffering a deep plunge under the merciless assault, and she just kind of... shies away from everything.

Like she just wants to disappear and be left alone.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "That's... I'm..." Amy stammers, unable to lift her eyes from the ground, hands gripping the prop wand tightly, close to her chest. What can she say? What do they think?

                       DETRACTION RAINS FROM THE HEAVENS!                      

        'You peaked in high school.'

                'No one will love someone as broken as you.'

    "Ow!" Amy stumbles back from an explosion as do nearby civilians, "...Hey," she pipes up, finally looking at the battlefield again, "These aren't even targeted insults anymore, they're just mean words!"

            'Your parents are disappointed that you'll never be as successful as your friends.' falls to the ground behind her.

    "Leave them alone!" There's no time to be anxious right now, innocent civilians and her friends are under attack! "Time for a spam filter!" Dozens of tiny missiles conjure and ripple-fire outward from the space around her, intercepting and exploding many of the stars.

> Tuxedo La Precious Daughter!

    Mamoru's doing something to the phones! Amy runs up and snatches a couple of phones out of peoples' hands with mahou speed and strength, and...

    ...is left holding phones.

    "Some magical girl you are" says Glitchy's face from one phone, "You can't do anything but DE_$TR0Y!!!1"

        Thing 2's face says from the other, "It's understandable that you don't know how to be a magical girl, you don't even know how to be human--"

    *CRACK*

    The phone Thing 2 was on cracks and dies as Amy's hand clenches around it, and her expression goes from dull to horror realizing what she just did.

            "First of all: I was gonna sAy ThAT! S5$T0P stEAlinG-g my matERial!1" shouts Glitchy, angrily, from the phone in her other hand. "And second of all: Wow that was someone's phone. Their whole life could be on that, you careless jerk! AHAhaHAhA!!!"

    She starts to throw it at the street and then catches herself, left holding a phone laughing at her.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
It's a good thing those missiles intercepted so many stars, as there's a LOT of them raining down between the two Youma in their fight.

Deep cuts and deep cuts -- and both Rate Your Henshins can't help but be a little smug about the damage they're inflicting on them and the crowd. They're growing stronger, too, the whole environ seems to be filling with a miasma of dread and dismay, of knowing you'll never, ever be as good as you need to be and it everyone else's fault and ---

But at least some of those barbs are being kept away from them by Rashmi's shields. The stars are bouncing off them and popping into text bubbles that say things like 'You can't shield yourself from the truth forever!' and other such mainstays of a bully who wields speaking its 'truth' as a weapon to rend and tear with.

As the shields go up, both of the Rate Your Henshins are annoyed -- but they quickly change tactics as they work to ruin Amy and Molly's days with their cutting remarks. It's followed by 'RATING LOCK', declared by the 'duplicate' who started the mess.

"You've already shown you can't grow. We're locking in that one star rating, kids! You don't grow. You -plateau-. We're just so disappointed." It seems to be having a particular effect on Molly, now, and it knows it. It's going right into it for her -- only for it to be disrupted by its duplicate, who launches, "HA! I HAVE YOU! PLAGARISM STRIKE!" where it swiftly steps in and says what the other was going to say to Molly, hijacking it.

The copy, its digital face bristling with rage across a dozen phones, responds with 'VIRAL OUTRAGE!' and the people its bamboozled are all screaming and yelling about 'censorship' and ' poor customer service' at the others under Glitchy's control. It's a feedback loop, making them all angrier and angrier, feeding the two youma in an ever increasing tornado of internet driven rage.

And then...

PRECIOUS DAUGHTER

There's a pair of digital screams. Ranting about 'cringe' and 'NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR KIDS BOOMER'.

Its grip on the crowd loosens -- momentarily -- and the stars stop landing. There's a window, a moment to regather without the withering and vile criticism being directed at everyone.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The shield takes a hammering under the onslaught of the toxic dogpile thrown by the pair of Nightmare bullies, and Rashmi is very much showing the strain of holding up the shield. Ice cracks thunderously, as impacts rain down from above, and even still, *even still,* the remarks find their targets and cut deep. << Nicomachea, I know we haven't finished all the sims, but I think it's time to throw this into field-testing. >>

<< COMMAND INPUT EXECUTE, >> replies the Device. << AWAITING COMMAND, MEISTER. >>

The shield cracks, an entire chunk torn out of the middle, and the comments begin to find their target.

    "Great support you got going there." "I know, right? #CheerleaderFails!" "Hey at least when they're dead she won't have to work so hard!"

And it all becomes too much. The shield shatters completely, and Rashmi seems to buckle.

But it's like she's said, a hundred times; fall down seven times, stand up eight.

"Shut... *UP!*" she roars, lifting into the sky on wings of golden light. "You think because you can sit there and be jerks, you know *anything* about *anyone?!* You think you can find a weak spot and dig in like a worm, and that's *cool?* You're just what happens *now,* when you go it won't mean anything because there'll be a million other jerks just as sour and small and weak-hearted as you *rushing in* to fill the tiny little hole you'll leave in the Internet, and *nobody will remember you!* But if they were gone? I'd *remember* Star Devil being the first friend I ever had, and *fighting for months **while almost being dead*** against a creature a hundred times worse than you! I'd *remember* Tuxedo Mask, and how no matter what if someone needed help -- *any kind* of help! -- he'd be right there to give it, because he *can* and sometimes that's all that matters! And *I'd remember Red,* and how the whole reason she's even here* is because she knows it's *right to fight the monsters,* and no matter what she has trouble with *she knows that first!* We'd remember them, and they'd *never* be gone as long as any of us draw breath!"

By now she's about ten meters in the air, heedless of the lines they sliced open on her Barrier Jacket, the blood they drew when they penetrate her defenses. "NICOMACHEA EXIA! STRATEGIST MODE!"

<< *BONG!* >> << STRATEGIST MODE >>

The Device closes up, the cylinders at either end of the folio lengthening as the middle section collapses. Once the cylinders meet, they rotate and separate, extending back out until the Device resembles an open scroll, rather than a book.

Her Barrier Jacket glows, and melts around her body; her lightly-armored dress becomes a long tunic, with belled, separated sleeves, hakama pants wide enough to resemble a full skirt -- all with the signature piping and techy bits that are a Devicer's hallmark -- and on her head is a square cap, vaguely reminiscent of a graduate's mortarboard.

But the new Barrier Jacket is only the first step.

    << *BONG!* >> << TERA SOUL -- ADVANCE >>

Three bright, wispy balls of energy fade into view, and streak out to her allies. But this spell is... *new.* Not only is it an absolute *rush* of joy, of good cheer, an amalgam of all the moments large and small that make a person *glad to be alive,* they can *feel* the magic settle in, like a shimmering cloak around the shoulders.

Rashmi is not a purifier. But there are *ways* to beat back the Dark, and let in the Light. And it seems like she has found one.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"My kid can kick your ass and I am gen z you absolute walnut," Mamoru says, and then he says louder, "I don't care if I can't kick your ass, my wife can kick your ass and she'll always come for me. Even if she's disappointed in me. Even if she thinks I'm weak! And she DOESN'T think I'm weak! It makes her FRET, it doesn't make her disgusted, and I'm WORKING ON IT, the whole-- getting hurt--"

He fumbles a little there, but-- hands glow! He attacks both phones at once with memories of happy cuddles with Usagi and with Kazuo! With memories of hanging out with his LOTS OF FRIENDS, being happy with them-- when he got the apartment-- when they killed Beryl (maybe that shouldn't be in there?)-- the first time he met Sailor Moon, so bright in all the darkness he'd been swimming in... lots of things! The sheer joy of his life now as compared to how it used to be.

Tuxedo Mask starts laughing, bubbling over with that joy-- he puts the Glitchy and Thing 2 phones both in his one hand, bites his glove off the other one, and reaches to grab lightly for Amy's arm, or hand maybe. "Here! Feel this! This is the feeling of what life is like for me now, and it's because of Usagi and Kazuo and Chibiusa and all our friends, you included! I used to be so lonely, and everything was so bad for so long. But it's not anymore. Here! Share this-- then tell them how you feel!" He shakes the phones in the air.

He's offering Amy stability and joy, bubbling golden laughing joy, pure and unsullied and unrepressed. That feeling when everything is just right, unbridled open-hearted joy. It's infectious. "You two, come over here, let's-- let's combo these losers!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
> you don't even know how to be human
    but she knows to fight the monster.

    That's not a Dark Energy thought. It's not a desire to make someone suffer, but a duty to protect people, though she's not and can't be like them, because it is Good and the right thing to do. And fighting is evil is something she knows, even if she doesn't know how to be like those she protects.

    That's not a Dark Energy thought, but there's something else...

    The air shimmers around the Puella Magi's body, outlining a larger humanoid shape...

    Amy's hands are suddenly covered by massive oversized gauntlets, one of which is still delicately holding a phone by the tips of clawed fingers. Her irises and pupils glow red. Does her skin look a little paler?

    But, no amount of force and arms and weaponry can overcome the problem of how to destroy this monster without hurting the humans by destroying the devices they depend on, which gives her pause...

> Shut... UP!
    Amy looks up as her friend takes to the sky. She smiles earnestly as she's praised.

> STRATEGIST MODE
    "Ahhhhh, coooool!" Amy says earnestly,

    And Tera Soul -- Advance flies into her and Mamoru grabs her arm--

                                       --                                      

She did it, she freed the magical girls -- one of them called her cute -- she saved the day -- she looked in the mirror -- Hannah leads her in a dance -- she saved the day -- she is leaping through the air shooting rockets at a giant coffee monster and it feels natural and life is amazing -- she is talking to a god in a mirror and life is amazing -- everyone sees her this way and she wants to go to the roof of the dorm and shout I'M A GIRL! -- She is in a magical painting and life is amazing -- she saved the day -- Hematite is purified and her friend Usagi got her memories back and Sailor Uranus is acting like a gruff guard but this is life and it's amazing -- SANTA IS REAL life is amazing -- she's lying in bed processing new thoughts and feelings she's never had before and never thought she would but that also feel right -- Taro gets it -- she and her friends saved the day with magic life is amazing -- Usagi gets it -- they're going to a magical snow kingdom life is amazing -- Mamoru gets it -- and on and on

she tells Hannah the 'truth' and the princess is only more determined to love her -- she tells Coco the 'truth' and she's not bothered at all and as friendly as ever -- she tells Usagi the 'truth' and no one sees her any differently -- she tells Rashmi and Molly and Setsuna the truth (while in a helicopter! Life is amazing!) and they have only warmth and friendship -- and again and again and again and again and again--

And at the same time there's Mamoru's joy of life and happy cuddles and companionship and friends and found family and that bubbling golden laughing joy--

                                       --                                      

Amanda Faust has posed:
                                       --                                      

    (Years from now, Amanda is putting small golden letters up on the wall of her apartment that spell out "All are home in this place. You are loved. You are safe.", and one day Mamoru notices while visiting and she asks if it sounds like something Earth would say, or some conversation something like that probably happens, and maybe they remember this moment of shared joy)

                                       --                                      

    Amy looks her usual self again.

    That's right! She has friends now, and it's a dark world out there sometimes but the life she has now makes her want to sing out in joy! And she's smiling like a kid on Christmas, and how can she let this other stuff get her down when life is so great! There is still a splinter, in knowing that darkness surrounds this joyful bubble, but it seems so minor and unimportant right now

    "I am cringe, but I am free!" she shouts to the sky, and then smiles at the phone in her hand, her outfit changing to a school uniform although not Radiant Heart's.

    "I am me!"

    "I am here!"

    "I love the person..."

    "...I am now!"

    YES SHE IS QUOTING MANGA AT RATEMYHENSHIN. CRINGE!

    And then her outfit changes to her default henshin, instead of any of her costumes. "...Or at least, I love getting to be me, and that I can love myself, and loving myself means knowing it's okay to have stuff I wanna work on too!"

    And she undercut her own dramatic moment with a clarification like the autistic dork she is. EARNESTY. MAXIMUM CRINGE!

Molly Skyline has posed:
This entirely sucks, and Molly is not equipped to fight this problem, today. She came expecting violence and fully prepared (or at least as prepared as she can manage these days in her shakey and unpredictable emotional state), but just... holding off mean tweets, especially when they're cutting right into what's hurting her the most, just... it wasn't on her weekly bucket list by any stretch.

And while everyone else is rising to the challenge, she's just standing there with her shoulders hunched over, trying to fold in on herself and disappear, which really only serves to make her feel worse.

But then Rashmi reveals her device's new mode -- the one she knew she'd been working on, that she'd come and sketched out with her that night in her Mom's garage. And no matter how miserable she is, the purplenette isn't gonna miss that; so of course she looks up.

And of coruse, the Tera Soul cuts through all the pain and misery and regret and terror taht she's feeling, and finds something so much better to fill her heart with; enough to un-slump her shoulders, slowly, while Rashmi and Amy and Mamoru are all telling the two conflicting Youmas just what they think about everything.

<< Thanks, Rashmi-chan, >> she sends down the telepathic link. << That really helped, and I really needed that. I... I still don't really know what to say. But I think I can do this. Starcrash, charge Starburst Barrage; five hundred barrets, minimum luminal output, divide evenly among red, blue, and yellow bursts. >>

<< AFFIRMATIVE. ARMED >>

"Hey! This is what I think of my friends. This is how they make me feel. Always. Fire!!"

Molly holds her staff triumphantly up in the air, and unleashes... a three-colored display of fireworks. None of it is harmfull or damages anything, and unlike the usual use of the spell doesn't even hurt they eyes; it's just a brief but intense explosion of bright lights and color.

Emi Hoshino has posed:
"Oi. Did she just do a power up routine at us?"

"It sure looks like it. This is your fault. You pushed too hard, you worthless copy. You can't make a statement and then have them show immediate personal growth!"

"This is YOUR fault, you mediocre language model!"

"GASP. How -dare- you."

The two bickering youmas are still caught off guard by the surge of positive energy from Rashmi's power up and they both yell with dismayed 'eughs' in their digital voices. Honestly, they sound a little too much like those voice overs you get on AI slop youtube videos or tiktoks. This is followed by Mamoru's surging energies and Amy's and then finally Molly's as she throws off the weight of the rating lock. One by one, the single stars left over their heads shatter, and the surging energies rip through the crowd, causing several phones to pop and fizzle, but the digital faces on them to flee even more of them.

"You haven't heard the end of this! The All Subsuming One Will --"

"I don't care about your All Subsuming One! I'm coming for you!"

And then they're gone, fleeing into the realm of dreams, or worse, somewhere on the internet.

Hopefully there aren't more of them.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Rashmi's hands are shaking, just a bit, as the Things bicker over their failure, and the ratings-locks shatter. Slowly she comes back down to Earth, panting for breath, closing her eyes and putting her own mind back in order.

It is her habit, after all, not to target herself with her buffs. All she had to fight the Nightmare with, was righteous indignation.

Luckily, for Rashmi that is a fairly deep well.

By the time the fireworks die out, and the All Subsuming One is invoked, she has enough of a handle on herself to open her eyes, and smile at her friends with only a *little bit* of a lipwibble.

"...Okay, well... Field test successful," she says, keeping her voice light.

<< *BONG!* >> << THIS UNIT CALCULATED SUCCESS TO A CERTAINTY OF 5 TAU, MEISTER, >> answers Nicomachea.

"Yeah," Rashmi replies. "...But there's being certain, and being *sure.*" Lifting up her glasses, she passes a hand over her face, takes in a deep breath, and adds some sunshine to her smile. "So... You guys okay? That was *super* rough."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Still bubbly and bouncing on his heels, Mamoru comes over as Rashmi lands, and just outright hugs her. "That was awesome," he says fervently, insistently, as he steps back, "that was epic." And he looks to Molly and Amy, and he smiles. "You did so well against such a couple of total assholes."

Again Tuxedo Mask looks to Rashmi, and this time, he's taking out his phone. "I'm going to text Usa to come fix this, leyline's still gross."

    Mamoru TXT: hey can you come to the chocolatier at the shotengai in your fuku
    Mamoru TXT: the street would like to trade chocolate for the purification of a leyline

    Usagi TXT: does the street secretly share the name of my husband?
    Usagi TXT: I'll be there soon. Does anyone beside the street need purifying?

    Mamoru TXT: nah but i like it so i'll stand in the splash zone
    Mamoru TXT: it is the shin hoshi mamoru shotengai. see you soon! <3

    Usagi TXT: <3 <3 <3

Amanda Faust has posed:
    RateMyHenshin -- both of them -- flee.

    Part of Amy wants to finish them off (and Mamoru can see a half-remembered recollection of Tanya Degurechaff's desperate plea to finish the enemy instead of letting them get away to drag on an endless war flash through her head) but also she does not know how and the urgency is muted by all the good feels she's feeling right now.

    Life is wonderful, and saving these people while only destroying some of their phones is a victory!

    "Haha," she chuckles to herself, smiling, "RateMyHenshin didn't last so long before giving up..." A callback to RateMyHenshin sassing her in Kyoto.

    And then she brightly looks between them, eyes and smile shining with excitement and joy. "That was so cool, all of you! How did you do that, Rashmi?! And thank you, all of you, for being such wonderful friends!"

    But she's been asked a question by a friend and will answer it honestly, in good faith. "Um... I can't say the stuff they said didn't matter, that it wasn't kinda true, but... right now that feels like it doesn't matter so much... it might later?"

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly manages to breath, as the two RateMyHenshin monsters flee. It's a shame they got away, really, it means they'll be back, but... they're gone, and they're not saying horrible things right now. Which means that Molly can let her henshin drop, and go back to her street clothes and the punky look she favors.

'You guys okay?' The important question is asked.

"...I... No," she answers, quietly. She lifts her hand to push her glasses up her nose, and tugs on the shoulderstrap of her knapsack. "But, I think, I will be. You helped. You all helped. Hearing you say great stuff about me helped a lot, and like... it's good to be reminded, sometimes."

The purplenette takes a couple of steps to the side, so she can rest her shoulder against a lamppost. "So, uhm. I remember something being said about chocolate? 'Cause I really, really want some."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Mamoru just comes in for a hug, which startles a squeak out of the redheaded Devicer -- Mamoru hugs are rare, for good reason! -- but she laughs, wrapping her arms about him and squeezing. "You did amazing too," she notes, glancing down at the blood on his shirt, and by extension her new Barrier Jacket, but honestly that's so far from the most important thing right now. "But yeah, Usa-chan needs to un-mess this."

At Amy's question, Rashmi laughs. "Well I mean... back when we fought the *last* Nightmare, I started thinking my toolbox wasn't quite up to the task, so... I did a lot of thinking. And I'd been studying Luminous Titan's specs for *months* now, so I figured I had... well not an *answer* to Dark Energy and the nastiness it does to your soul, but like... a reply? Among a few other things. Like I'm pretty sure I've worked out a method of energy transfer, but it's gonna be *far* from efficient for awhile. *Anyway.* Point is, it worked and I can't tell you all how glad I am for it."

Turning, she wraps Molly up in a tight, tight hug. "You. I'm not gonna say stop it cos that's dumb to say. But that feeling you have, right now? Hold on to it. Because that *matters,* and you matter too. All of you do. So... Yeah when Usa-chan gets back let's grab some chocolate, then dinner. My treat."

By the ancient pact she'd formed with Hotaru, after all, it is the *winner* who buys the after-fight meal. And they *are* winners.