184/Evening Snacking

Evening Snacking
Date of Scene:	31 July 2023
Location:	Radiant Heart Academy
Synopsis:	Norie Okana as La Crima tries to feed at Radiant Heart Academy. Magical girls try to stop her and... help her? What is this madness.
Cast of Characters:	Norie Okana, 143, Koji Silvia, Lulu Adelstein, Minako Aino, Amanda Faust, Setsuna Meiou

---

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana has put off feeding again. She didn't want to eat. It wasn't...it-- normal people... didn't eat the energy of humans. But here she was. Sweating, in the middle of task in the early evening of delivering late day paperwork her mother had her drop off for the Science Department. She saw on campus students trail towards the club buildings and--one broke off, alone.

Ok..okay. If she could make this quick, she thought. She trailed behind her fellow student and when they passed through a desolate area on campus in the setting sunlight...

She struck and with a little yelp, sent the girl spiraling into unconsciousness. She caught her and dropped her down to the ground carefully, but quickly looked around and sped off.

This led to a nice little tingle of darkness in the air, enough to attract attention, and soon enough, Norie had to find herself a little alleyway to drop her illusion of normalcy as she looked down at her hands. "I need more... dammit..." she said to herself as she hopped up to the top of the club building and looked around. "Nrg.. tchk---" can't exactly. Go to Dark Burger to fill human energy, here.

Needed to find someone else.

Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki had been doing late night council duties. As she often did, gathering paperwork, delivering it to the proper people. In this case, she had agreed to grab some forms for the council president from clubs that had been a little sluggish in their responses. There were always clubs like this, who turned in their work at the last possible moment.

Still, the path of the council was a difficult one and often meant helping to direct her fellow students on the right course. She didn't dislike them for this need, it was merely her duty to try and fill those gaps their laxness left. After all, in the end... she couldn't help but enjoy going to the clubs like these even for such occasions. Seeing so many of them excited and filled with life, enjoying their own passions. So it was with a smile on her face she parted ways with the head of one of these clubs, paperwork in hand, and made her way towards the main building.... before pausing.

Was... that a student? "Hello?" she called out before starting towards... what... looked like a girl? Collapsed on the ground?

Unfortunately, this would put her right within both visual and audible range of La Crima...

Norie Okana has posed:
'Hello?'

That catches La Crima's attention and she leaps down from the club building back down in front of it as she silent starts to stalk Reika from behind.... isn't that. One of the student council presidents? Still...

She quickly leaped into action and mutters. "Found you...!" as she leaps from behind, trying to pounce onto Reika and drain her before she can A: Attract help or B: Cause more attention.

La Crima is probably causing both without realizing it regardless.

Koji Silvia has posed:
It's late at night, but leaving the academy's massive Cafeteria Plaza, Koji Silvia has a rather accomplished look on his face. One hand in his pocket and the other thumb-hooked on a backpack. He looks back at the big building and then takes the slip out of his uniform jacket pocket. The slip for a small box in the school cold food storage to store stuff for student projects, "Now that those are stashed away, I just need to figure out the recipie."

This just let's him lick his chops, because experimenti-

And then he feels it. That tingle-tug of 'wrongness' that having his ability to use magic has awakened in him, and his shoulders just sag.

"Here... seriously..?"

    << Young Master. Unknown Dark Energy Trace. Extrapolating Position Now. >>

Looking left and right for the positions of cameras and any other students, Koji holds up his hand and a small Mid-childan magic circle appears over the palm of his hand, and a white-blue thread of blade-tipped mana shoots out and towards the roof of a nearby building.

The line retracts as he grabs onto it and with a grunting tug of his shoulder, he gets to the roof where he can henshin in private and begin looking around, "Set up, Hanzo."

    << SET UP. Barrier Jacket Engaged. Sensors Deployed. >>

The now ninja-themed Devicer releases 4 of his 6 Blades into the air by mental command and he begins looking at the screens that come up in a half-circle in front of him as he mutters to himself, "Where are you..."

Lulu Adelstein has posed:
    A figure is crouched on a rooftop, a long cape flapping behind them. The trail of Dark Energy is not what they are used to tracking, even if similar... But the egg-shaped gem in their hand pulses slowly all the same. The figure rises, what appeared to be a pair of horns or bat-like ears in silhouette turning out to be a pair of short ponytails. The gem turns into light and flits to their belt, and the hand that was holding it suddenly becomes engulfed in a large battle gauntlet or something in another flash of light. Then, the mysterious watcher vanishes in a blur of motion.

    The hunt is on tonight after all.

    Even if it turns out to only be a Familiar.

Minako Aino has posed:
So many days and nights had Minako Aino done the delicate dance of balancing life as a Senshi with the life of trying to be a 'normal girl'. She had hobbies, dreams and ambitions beyond simply guarding and protecting the Moon princess after all, even if it seemed that every day out, shopping trip or attempted date seemed to end in Youma attacks or things trying to make her sleep in a mirror.

With that in mind? Perhaps tonight it was just easier to...well, lean into it!

With her hair tied back in her normal ribbon and her form wrapped in a dark hoodie and a pair of orange shorts, the girl was...well, patrolling. Sailor V was meant to protect others beyond simply Sailor Moon.

Reika Aoki (143) has posed:
Reika Aoki went wide eyed when she saw a student collapsed. She'd thought it was perhaps her imagination, but when she got closer--

There was a sound behind her, someone. She turned, confusion on her face. But if someone else was here... "We need--" But then... she didn't know this strange student. She had only a chance to give out a startled partial cry... before her energy was drained and she began to fall forward, her eyes drifting closed and the papers falling slowly through the air to land around her...

K.O.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Having absolutely destroyed her schedule last week with gaming and such, Amy Faust finds herself wide awake at night, but at this particular moment she doesn't really feel like playing any of her games. The weather is *great* tonight, a break from the worst of the summer heat, maybe she'll... go for a walk?

    Or at least go up to the roof of the girls' dorm, enjoying the cool summer breeze.

    And maybe that little bit of chuuni in her can absolutely appreciate the aesthetic of standing near the edge of a rooftop, looking out over the campus as wind makes her hair and skirt billow dramatically. Yeah, she's wearing a skirt again. It's soft and she's not planning to sit a lot on a walk.

    OH. Huh. On a day when the weather's nice, outside, it *is* pleasantly breezy. Manga didn't lie after all!

    The light of a distant henshin and movement pulls her from her reverie. Huh? Did she see something? She looks over towards where Koji is -- and then another light out of the corner of her eye and she looks over towards where Lulu was... but there's nothing. Or... is there?

    Eh, may as well check it out.

    One transformation later and oh man running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop is SO COOL AND FUN, like, Amy should come up and do this *just for fun*, even if there's no youma around!

    As for now, though, she makes her way to the rooftop Lulu was on, only to find nothing there now. Hmm...

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Being the school nurse at a place as absurdly well funded and upscale as the Radiant Heart Academy is GENERALLY nothing but upside. There's very little serious need for a nurse most days, but regulations and say having one is a must for precautionary measures. Which means most of the job is patching up the occasional minor cut or scrape and dispensing the occasional dose or two of over the counter level painkillers.

Granted, in the last few weeks there's been a huge upswing in mysterious cases of fatigue and exhaustion...but nothing conclusive or showing a discernable pattern. Thus far it's been dismissed as just adolescents learning the consequences of staying up way too late in the dorms or the like.

Nurse Meiou, however, being more 'in the know' as it were, is suspecting there's an energy drainer lurking around the area.



Joke's on her. There's probably DOZENS.

But SHE has no way of knowing that.



Still, it means that she's not really all that annoyed at having to pull the occasional 'late' shift at work. Frankly, just being around people is a DELIGHT.

Thus it is that when the first little burst of Dark Magic happens, Nurse Meiou blinks and snaps the book she was reading shut, turning her head in the direction she felt the ripple of magic come from as she calls up a mental map of the campus and what's in that direction as she starts powerwalking in that direction. Fortunately, it's after hours, so there's nobody at the moment to see her go.

The second burst a few minutes later, priorities shift into high gear as she makes for a nearby classroom that should be abandoned.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Its Blade 3 that picks up on the position of La Crima in the alleyway, just by sheer chance due to the odd flutter of paperwork coming out of that space. The focus of the V-shaped light flashes and turns, and allows Koji to see on the Device's viewscreen just one leg from where Reika has collapsed in the shadows.

Swiping one hand in the air, the other Blades vanish from their courses, and Hanzo intones in his head:

    << Point Warp. Blade 3. Obscure. >>

Hand suddenly gripping the kunai-like energy blade that was floating in the air, the form of the magical boy fades from view and turns around the corner of the alleyway.

    << Young Master. Warning. Incoming Energy Signatures detected. One previously tagged as friendly. One Unknown. >>

'I guess we're kicking this one off early.' He thinks to himself, and the draws a second Blade in his off-hand. One is thrown towards a spot behind some benches along the walkway where it's a shelter from most of this...

...The other is thrown right at... REIKA?!

As the energy blade sails towards her, suddenly Hanzo's voice is heard as it intones << POINT WARP. >>, which causes it to glow on contact with her.

Reika vanishes from her spot and ends up as an unconscious heap in that sheltered spot, the light of the blade pulsing almost like a wink before it vanishes into the ether, along with it's partner, their tasks completed.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima drops Reika. She's done. She's careful about this. She looks down at her hands. "Just one more..." she says to herself. "Just one more, I'll go home... and..and..." beyond her hands she sees...something smack into Reika and the earlier victim when they disappear and this shocks her and makes her draw back a few feet.

"Wh...who's there. This...this isn't what it seems. I...I didn't do that to them. Whatever just happened." she sputters out to the dark, starting to look frantically around as she tries to spot anyone else.

She seems really worried all of a sudden! "L..leave me alone." she mutters. "W..whowever you are!"

'You'll never get anywhere like this.' says the voice in her head.

'S...shut up!' she thinks back at it.

Lulu Adelstein has posed:
    Pain. Fear. Distress.

    People, then. Not Familiars. The Dark Energy is still puzzling, but if there's no Witches here... Then this is a job not for a Puella Magi, but for a Hero. This vigilante Witch-hunter loves to be a Hero.

    Out of the night sky, a figure in a long red cape streaks downwards, landing nearby to La Crima, one boxing glove down, the other raised overhead incase it's needed. It's an extremely dramatic entrance, with slow motion and everything. It feels like being in a movie or anime, rather than like it's happening in front of the onlookers.

    "Don't worry... Everything will be okay now." says the voice of a girl. When she straightens up and props her gloves on her hips, she gives a big cheesy grin as her red eyes twinkle, and announces, "Because I am here!"

    She blinks. "Actually, there are lot of people here. More than I expected." Oh, one other thing. She's speaking nothing but German.

Minako Aino has posed:
Was it a sense? Dark energy? Mearly the movement of others? Something called Minako as surely as it called the outer Senshi and the other guardians within the City. Perhaps she'd even felt the vaguely familier 'vibe' of Amy's transformation after having been there for the first, or Koji's magic after the encounter in that store...

Noone might no exactly, but the end result was the same thing as the figure striding through the dark, silhouetted in the darkness of the alleyway, a voice calling out to the night:

"Crescent Power, Make Up!"

The flare of light cast that darkness aside and the silhouette was illuminated brightly as energy swirled in ribbons of magic until the striding figure was revealed:

Sailor V was here!

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
One quick duck into an unused room, a call of "PLUTO PLANET POWER, MAKE-UP!" and a henshin sequence later, Sailor Pluto opens a window and leaps out before quickly making for the rooftops herself. While she lacks the analytical precision detection possibilities of a Device user, the campus IS a place she knows well and spends a lot of time at...so she knows which direction to go...and in the dim of evening, even minor flashes of light from things like point to point matter transmission can attract attention from a long way away...especially if the observer is actively looking for things out of the ordinary.

Fortunately, between the physical augmentations provided by her Senshi transformation and the ability to ignore minor inconveniences like 'obstructing buildings' that roof-hopping affords her, Pluto is able to pour on the speed towards the apparently brewing altercation.

To an outside observer in the dark of evening, she probably just looks like a whitish blur going by overhead, the darker parts of her uniform not easily visible in poorly lit areas.

Ahead she sees more flashes. She's going to be a bit late on the scene, but there's at least some tactical advantage to that.

Norie Okana has posed:
Puella Lulu arrives and Norie Okana.... doesn't speak German. She sputters out 'What!?' in Spanish however, almost on reflex. The girl arrives with a flourish and an arm up and she takes this as a threat, aiming a finger and firing off a bolt of dark energy towards her!-----

It doesn't hit her though. It's so poorly aimed it flies far to her right and impacts to the side of the building there. Nothing happens from the blast.

"L--leave me alone." she sputters out however, in her native Japanese language. "I'm---"

She just tenses and starts backing backwards before she closes her eyes and fires off a more properly aimed ball of dark energy towards Lulu!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Someone is making a speech... in German? Wait, could it be...

    Amy runs to a nearby rooftop. Okay, the appearance and voice absolutely *don't* match Hannah, but Amy would not be surprised if someone's magical girl form looked entirely different from their civilian one. And if she can see when transformed that would explain her giving fashion advice way better than 'her dog explains colors to her.' Hmmmmmmmm.

    And then hey, it's that ninja toku guy and the Sailor V cosplayer again! A *second* red-themed puella magi leaps down from the rooftops, her white cloak not unlike a cape, and looks between the gathered magical girls and boy. The ninja one, the cosplayer one, the goth one, the boxer...

    ...But where's the villain? "Uh... what's going on? I don't see the monster..." She steps back. "Wait, is it an INVISIBLE monster?!" She looks around in alarm... wait.

    Amy turns back to look at Lulu. Takes a few steps towards her. Looks her up and down. Finally points, "Seriously?!"

    *POOF*

    Her clothes turn into a pallete swap of Lulu's, the black replaced with pink, and her hair still styled long though now with twintails on the sides. She steps closer. "That is *uncanny*!" She puts her hands on her hips as she looks more closely at Lulu. Amy is an inch taller, and less muscled. And now that she's looking closely she can see the different facial features. "Okay, up close you don't look THAT much like me, but god that's weird..." *POOF* her outfit turns back to normal.

    She's speaking Japanese.

    AND THEN A DARK ENERGY BALL IS THROWN NEAR HER AND SHE LEAPS BACK IN SURPRISE. "GWAH!"

    She looks at La Crima. "WHY?! ...Wait, are YOU the monster?"

Koji Silvia has posed:
Nothing gets hit by that blast, however, the dust from the explosion of brick partially reveals Koji's location!

Ducking reflexively, he tilts his head to look back and see that a Magical Girl has already appeared and engaged the intruder... which means he has done his part.

Slipping away for the moment, he releases the Obscure and makes his way to where the two victims he moved out of harms way are, dumped unceremoniously on top of each other.

Reaching down he moves the other girl off of Reika and sets her down in a spot almost up against the building, shifting her until she's sitting up. This is repeated with Reika until the pair are leaning back on the cool stone of a school wall.

Now he brings all 6 of the Blades out and focuses them on the unnamed victim.

    << 6 Blade Seal. Regenerate. >>

His 'healing' power has nothing on the real stuff. It's just helping the body regenerate faster and can handle things like burns, cuts, and some blood loss.

But it takes his entire focus to do this, so as both hands are pointed out, he cannot even spare an eye to the fight.

Minako Aino has posed:
Now that was a call Venus hadn't heard before, at least not in this life. Or maybe it was simply a surge of Senshi energy through their space. Something for Minako to investigate, but for now as she moves forwards, that plea in her native tongue to leave her alone was...unexpected, especially when more guardians show up seemingly more...well, confused. Rookies?

"Attacking an innocent girl on the street like this? You're going to be stopped! Surrender now, or in the name of Justice, I'll punish you!"

Well...it was close enough to the real princess' speech, right?

She moves forwards, hand lifted to point a gloved finger at La Crima.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Sailor Pluto shifts path slightly as she sees multiple obvious magic users descend on the scene, coming to a landing on a building slightly off to one side of the altercation with a better view...as it might take a moment to sort out who is whom, since the obvious victims are already some distance away and apparently being tended to. A minor note of their identities is made, as she's almost certain they'll turn up at the Nurse's Office later and it's a good idea to be prepared.

Plus, the appearance of somehow being all-knowing is good for one's reputation in an environment as prone to gossip as a boarding school.

Later, likely, Setsuna will likely ponder this whole event and come to the realization that, bizarrely, a whiff of Dark Energy in the air is apparently like bait for magical girls...as it draws them out of the woodwork, it seems. Hopefully the bad guys will NEVER COTTON ONTO THIS.

Lulu Adelstein has posed:
    "Haha, what?" Lulu says as she stands there smiling at La Crima, while a bolt of some strange energy shoots by her on the right side. "Eh?" She looks towards another girl who is approaching her and getting super into her personal space. "What?" There's some blinking before she realizes she's under attack right around the time she looks back towards La Crima. "Whaaaaaat!?" she yells out as she leans over backwards, eyes wide as the ball of energy shoots by over her body and right past her face. O_O

    "Wait, wait, wait!" she calls out, before standing up straight and making 'wait stop no' gestures as best she can with boxing gloves on. "I sensed someone in trouble so I came to--" she starts, then stops. "Am I in the wrong place or--"

    Then there's a blonde lady in a mask appearing as well, and there might be even more in the area...!

    "Look, if you're hunting a Witch I'm not trying to steal your prey, okay!?" Lulu yells as she flicker-vanishes and reappears to the goth girl's left. "So just... CHILL OUT!" She whips her fist forward at superhuman speeds, to the point of the air spiralling around her arm and blowing everywhere in a burst of wind.

    When it dies down, it's revealed that the boxing glove has stopped without hitting La Crima. "I wish I had let Adalinda use her language-teaching magic on me after all." she mutters.

Norie Okana has posed:
Puella Amy arrives and calls her 'Monster'. She seems taken aback by this quickly backing up a few feet. She draws her arms up. "...What!? No! I'm not a ...monster!" she splutters out. That's when Sailor V arrives.

Sailor V...is real? That's another one up on her. She sputters. "S-sailor V?".

She tries to examine this situation. Sailor V. She should. Be happy, right? Even if it's a cosplayer... maybe? But no, nothing is coming to her and this makes the situation all so worse for her.

"Why don't I..."

She grips at her head a moment. "You this is your fault for showing up now isn't it!?" she splutters out at Sailor V. She leaps at Sailor V, trying to make contact with her, trying to drain her. Sailor V may be too quick to catch though!

"I'm...not. A Monster. I'm NOT." she yells the whole time.

Then, Lulu moves to punch her and---stops? The strange speaking girl stops attacking her as she spluthers out and backs off.

"L..leave me alone." she finally says. "Ju..just go. I got the energy I needed and I need more. But. I'll go somewhere else."

"Please?" she begs, noticing the amount of people here now.

Koji Silvia has posed:
Even though there is a staggering lack of cement dustclouds, sounds of impact, and intonations of power that often lead to sparkling lightshows... Koji can't really focus on what's going on in the alleyway.

Instead, the first girl is back to where she'll just wake up with a headache and very little memory of what happened, and all of his Blades shift over to Reika. A screen pops up next to him, showing him both their student IDs scanned from their persons, giving faces, names, and room assignments for him to help get them back to sleep this off as the beams of faint blue light begin to focus on the other girl's cuts and scrapes from the fall, feeding his own mana into her to fix the loss again.

He's sweating, and his hands are shivering now from the effort, but he continues on...

Minako Aino has posed:
An attack headed her way was indeed something Sailor V was well accustomed to. She was moving fast, that speed an indication she was indeed the 'real deal'...but probably not as great a proof as the manifestation of the glowing chain between her fingers that she brandished, preparing for attack.

Sailor V was indeed ready for a lot, had experienced a lot but....never something like this before.

It was enough to give her pause, enough to make even her hesitate.

"Wait..." she speaks, eyes shifting behind her mask.

"Everyone...just wait."

What exactly was going on?

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The look on Tears's face (the gothic magical girl just looks so sad!) tugs at Amy's heartstrings. But before she can think about that, Lulu is flash-stepping (holy shit Amy got to see that in real life, so cool!) next to the goth girl while shouting in German. Amy could *barely* get 'It's all good... I/We(?) here!' from the hero speech, the rest is meaningless, aside from 'what', and the hand gestures and tone communicate 'wait' just fine. "[Anoo... No sprechen sie Deutsch! Umm, do you understand English?]"

    She looks back to Tears. "What's... what's going on? You need energy? What happened? Look, we're... we're [yuusha], you know? That means if you need help... can you tell us what's wrong?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Seeing Koji off to the side obviously running some kind of aid process, Pluto takes a moment to observe what he's doing. This is the first time she's seen a Device user actually do more than just transform...and she's trying to get a feel for and figure out this much different school of magic. It's so much more...mechanistic than what she's used to. Apparently there are things it struggles a bit to do, as he's in obvious strain...but it's possible he's just pants at healing magicks. She doesn't have enough evidence to form a solid hypothesis yet.

At the moment, things seem to be teetering precariously on the edge of the Legendary 'GO TIME'...but the situation still seems a bit unclear as to whom is whoming who.

Fortunately, she's far enough away that it seems she hasn't been spotted yet.

Lulu Adelstein has posed:
    "Eh?" Lulu replies, startled, when addressed by Amy. "Yes, of course I speak English. Do you not?" She is now speaking English. "Yeah, I understand... You're feeling trapped and scared..." she says while looking towards La Crima. She backs up, understanding the sentiment even if not the words behind Sailor V's speech. The Puella Magi cups her chin with her boxing gloved hand, realizes she's practically palming her entire face, and makes her glove disappear in favor of just the bandages wrapped around her hand. "You're hungry. But you feel guilt over it?" She squints. "I think?" Hmmmm.

    It might be a bit like a Puella Magi who is low on magic but doesn't want to ask for help... She has seen that before... Arms folded, eyes closed, Lulu nods her head a few times. "I got it, I got it. So what you need is..." She steps forwards again and pulls the shoulder strap of her top aside to expose her neck more, with a light blush on her cheeks. "To top off your magic? It's okay, go ahead. You can take what you need. I have extra." D-does she think La Crima is a vampire?

    ...Is she actually right about La Crima being a vampire?

    Also, if she thought this girl was a Puella Magi, why wasn't offering a Grief Seed the first thing that came to mind!?

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima stops because she doesn't want to actually fight these people. She wants to go away. hide. find somewhere else to feed away from. from these strange people. When the neck is offered she 'ehs!?' and blinks. "I don't... bite? No. Bitey. No. Chomp." she points to her mouth and shakes her head no, trying to convey this.

She mutters. "Energy vampire. Need energy. Leave people in public spaces. Understand?" she asks. "People are okay after usually...."

"I didn't...make those people go away!" she suddenly spultters. Referring to the teleport earlier Koji had used. "I don't do that..leave me alone!" she says as she backs off further.

Leave, says the voice in her head. "y-y-yes.' she says back in her head, closing her eyes.

"S--s-s-s-sorry..." she stutters out, keeping her eyes closed as she fades off into a black mist, trying to escape to the dusk zone before anyone can say anything or offer more, not taking any offered energy but also not causing more of a rukus!

Koji Silvia has posed:
Koji would be the first one to tell ANYONE who asked that this basic healing ability isn't all that much. So the thought of him being 'pants' at it isn't too far off compared to someone else with a more dedicated Device.

But what Pluto DOES see might be of more interest...

Once he's finished with whatever he's doing for the two girls, two of the Blades floating in the air and shooting thin beams into them go shooting off over the roof of the building with the speed of a solid throw! As they zip out of view, he reaches up and grabs a second set, even as the third float down and sheathe themselves away.

It takes about a half minute, and then he nods and touches the tips of those weapons to each girl. They glimmer, a nimbus of energy appears around them, and then *POP*, they're gone. Both the weapons AND the girls

Wiping his brow with relief, the grips of the missing weapons reappear translucent in their homes, but he points his hand up towards the night sky, and shoots up a Guide Wire, ascending away from the slowly de-escalating situation.

However...

For at least one trained eye, there's a little struggle on the quiet and thankless getaway... like a muscle strain.

Minako Aino has posed:
The magical girls and boys tended to be the compassionate sort, and it seems the Minako had come to the same conclusion as Lulu, albeit without the neck offering bit. A friendly Youma was a new thing!

"Take enough to survive, from me, from another, only the willing and never to the point of harm...or we'll have to put a stop on to you!"

Sympathy wasn't quite without a threat it seemed, even if she was well-meaning.

So thrown as she was, she hadn't actually sensed the familier energy of a Senshi behind her!

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
As she sees someone starting to flee, Pluto aims the Garnet Rod at the fleeing party...but then she sees that those closer seem to be okay with letting them go.

She pauses...then raises her staff and relaxes a little. For the moment, she'll trust those closer to the event.

Which means that for the moment, the emergency seems to have passed...and therefore she's free to investigate other things that have come up. Like the person whose magic feels a bit more familiar than the others.

One powered leap later, she lands behind Sailor V, her heels making a slightly muted <tap> as they strike the pavement, "Well, that could have gone worse."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Do you understand English?" Amy asks, in English.

    "Eh? Yes, of course I speak English. Do you not?" Lulu replies. In English.

    Amy just stares at Lulu, tilting her head to one side slightly as she tries to unpack the several levels of 'What.' that response is tangled up in.

    But, uh, things are moving on. Lulu has magic to spare, apparently. Amy does not. She looks to La Crima expectantly to see how this sorts out-- wait, does La Crima understand English? Amy translates: "She's asking if you need to top off your magic and offering to let you take hers. She 'has extra.'"

    Then, to Lulu: "[Energy vampire. Not the bitey kind. She leaves people in public spaces so they'll be found, and... they're usually okay?]"

    Aaand then the scared vampire Villain Teleports away. Huh, so *that's* what that looks like in real life, it's not just something only Scorn can do.

    "[I hope she's... okay... and can work something out without, like, deciding to become a monster.]"

    And then there's a new voice! She turns and looks over Sailor Pluto. "Who're *you*?"

    She looks back at Lulu. "[Actually, also, who are *you*? I barely understood your introduction earlier.]"

Lulu Adelstein has posed:
    Lulu is startled as the goth girl disappears. "Oh!" Then she pauses and pulls her shoulder strap back into place. "So she wanted energy but was shy about taking it when it was offered? Is this what is known by the Japanese as 'Tsundere'? I see, I see! I understand completely!"

    She does not, in fact, understand.

    As Sailor Pluto arrives, Lulu looks over there, notes the Very Tall Lady and says, "Well, it looks like you three have this handled. I am the Super Cool and Super Handsome Hero of Justice, Puella Magi!" She looks away dramatically. "You've probably not heard of that term before, but that's okay. We may yet meet again. For now, my work here is done!" Then she turns and leaps away. Really, really fast. She actually needs to find a Witch to kill still. The work of a Puella Magi is never finished.

Minako Aino has posed:
Eeep! Holy Moon Palace!

Of all the things Sailor V might have expected? Another Senshi turning up wasn't one of them. Sure, she wasn't Sailor Venus, she herself might not be recognized, but the poor Blonde was currently busy pondering the consequences of not trying to destroy the energy-drainer when she had the chance.

Then Pluto announces herself and the 'Cool and popular heroine Sailor V' actually squeeks and jumps in suprise.

Well done.

"O-oh! Yes, things seem to be alright now, as long as those girls are okay."

Amanda Faust has posed:
> Is that 'tsundere'?

    "[Uhhhhhhhhhhh...]" Amy considers how to explain that. But then something else is said. "[Wait, you're a Puella Magi too? Do you know where I can find a--]"

    LULU'S WORK HERE IS DONE. SHE MUST GO NOW, HER PLANET NEEDS HER.

    "[--Witch?]" Amy finishes, lamely.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto nods in response to the various acknowledgements, then once more to V, "Yes, that young man with the ninja theme apparently healed them and whisked them to safety."

A look is given at Amy and an eyebrow is raised at the question asked. 'Witch' is apparently some kind of title in whatever context.

Information to be researched later.

Focusing back on the blonde before her, she tilts her head, "And who might you be, young lady?"

Minako Aino has posed:
The post-battle scatter was pretty common, but Amy's confusion and remaining brought a little grin from Minako. "Glad to see you're still okay!" she offers before turning her gaze back towards Pluto and her question, offering her predicament.

She'd love to be able to come clean, but she hardly could with others around and she still hadn't properly located the princess...

"I'm Sailor V, Guardian of Justice...and you're a Senshi!"

Classic mysterious Sailor V seeming to know plenty and be the expert...despite the fact that below the surface? She had -no- idea who this senshi was.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy smiles and nods. Still here!

    After Sailor V makes her proclamation, Amy walks up next to the masked senshi, leans over, and stage-whispers, "What's a Senshi?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
V's declaration gets a raised eyebrow, then the black-acccented Senshi nods and spins her staff once as she decides to answer Amy's direct and V's implied questions by saying, "Guardian of the Planet of Space-Time, I am Sailor Pluto." She finishes her declaration by striking the pavement with the butt of the Garnet Rod and making a minor flare of power as she does so.

Why yes, she had a LOT of time to master dumb party tricks...fortunately, some of them help when she wants to be extra dramatic.

Minako Aino has posed:
It made sense there was a Pluto...yet Minako didn't remember her. Maybe even Venus had incomplete memories of her life gone, despite having far more than the other inner Senshi attempting to live their life.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," she offers, one gloves hand extended formally, though Amy's question brings a pause. "A guardian...a soldier of good."

Or at least, that was the best sounding summary she could come up with on the spot.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    ...But Pluto's not a planet!

    ...Somehow, Amy thinks maybe now, to this tall woman with the magic staff, is not the time to bring that up. But she still wonders...

    "So... how does this work? Like what does that mean? If you're the guardian of Pluto, why are you here guarding Earth? Wait, Pluto needs a guardian? Also it's the planet of space-time? Shouldn't it be the planet of death? ...Wait, sorry, I'm still kinda new to the 'magic is real' thing, there's obviously tons of stuff I don't know... but I'd like to learn!"

    She looks between them. "Um... I haven't picked a magical girl name yet. I'm not sure how to come up with one. 'Red' works... but I guess that could just as much apply to other people..." She glances at the direction Lulu went.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto takes the offered hand from V and shakes it. Truth be told, between 14000-odd years of boredom, the side effects of everyone's transformation magicks, and danage from catching the outside edge of some of the discharges at the Gates of Time before the failsafes kicked in...her memories of the other senshi beyond 'there should be one for every planet' isn't really all that good, either.

Amy's rapid fire questions cause the taller Senshi to smile, "It's complicated, young lady...'Red', if you prefer. However, to answer your questions: Reasons. Yes. Yes. It's that, too."

Minako Aino has posed:
"The planets existed a lot longer than the agencies that classify them," Minako points out, instinctive defense or just a byproduct of her knowledge of the Moon Kingdom?

Given her duties, the pair of them might never have met after-all!

"And 'Red'? There's a lot to get used to. Don't feel embarassed needing time to work it out."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Young lady...

    A slight smile creeps onto Amy's face as she's addressed. She holds out a hand to each of the Senshi to shake in turn. "Pleased to meet you! I'm a new magical girl, just started two weeks ago. [Uhh, how does that go...] I'll be in your care, sempais." She imitates a newly-hired office worker greeting her new coworkers and bows.

    A LOT TO GET USED TO BOY YOU HAVE NO IDEA

    'Red' smiles at this kindness. "Thanks! Umm... yeah, gosh, how DO we get the hang of it? Is there like... a pamphlet? 'So you've become a magical girl, 10 things to know on your first steps to becoming a heroine of justice'? Or... some like, hangout place or get together? Secret internet forum? How do we like... learn all this stuff?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto sighs a bit. Things were so much easier when there was just the one type of magic to deal with. She shakes her head a little and says, "A Senshi is literally born to her role. It's a very long story that involves events that happened a very, very long time ago, a betrayal, a war, a great evil, a queen, a princess and her court. As for the other traditions of magic that I have seen lately..."

She shrugs, "I really couldn't tell you much of anything, I'm afraid." She pauses and ponders for a moment, then smiles a little and decides to give SOME advice, "...as for 'things to know'?" Her smile gets a bit more mischevious, "...never consume an energy field larger than your head."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Very, very long time ago? ...I guess magic being ancient makes sense..." Amy ponders.

    And then smiles at the reference. "Yes, I know. And don't turn into a snake, it never helps."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Beat.

    "...Wait, isn't that the *villain* list?" She holds her finger to her chin. "Shouldn't advice be from some sort of hero list? ...Although, I guess a lot of it could apply to both..."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto smiles a bit wider and hides a giggle behind one gloved hand. She nods, "Good catch, both of you. Yes, it's the Evil Overlord List. Yes, some of the advice is applicable to both heroes and villains...and it's also a good idea to be prepared in case you're dealing with a COMPETENT villain rather than a scenery-chewing one." She shrugs, "Hopefully all our enemies will be the latter rather than the former."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Actually I think there *was* a hero list too. Maybe there's one for magical girls?" Amy's hand reaches for a pants pocket that isn't there.

    She blinks.

    "...Where does my *phone* go when I'm transformed?"

    Pluto being relaxed and casual about all this makes her feel comfortable to talk with this sempai! "Anyway, that's a good point, I'll review them... Uhh... well, the particular villain who has it out for *me* now seems to be one of the 'I will spread misery and despair because they are great!' types, but you know, she's *yet* to thank me for doing the favor of delivering *her* the misery and despair of failure multiple times! Like, if she loves them so much she should be *thanking* me!" While she *is* frustrated at the illogic, she's half-joking, in that she doesn't expect a villain to *actually* be grateful for defeat in any circumstance, except perhaps being spared a 'what have I become' realization.

    She looks up at Pluto curiously. "Do you know what's up with that, actually? Like... people do stuff for a *reason*. They have *ideals*. What's the point? Real people aren't saturday morning cartoon villains who are evil just because they're the bad guy." Wait, didn't that guy who jacked up the price of insulin buy rare magic cards so he could destroy them like Seto Kaiba? "...well, most people. Do you know just what they're getting out of it?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto looks a bit contemplative about the question for a magical girls' list, "Hrm. I'll have to give that one some thought..." Then she blinks and looks at Red as she asks about her phone. A moment later, she smiles, "Most likely it goes to wherever your magic sends the rest of your clothes. I ASSUME this isn't what you wear all the time, as I'm sure I would have noticed that."

She then sighs, "...as for what motivates villains? It varies a lot. Sometimes it's greed. Sometimes it's power. Sometime it's an eldritch horror from beyond the stars." She shrugs, "...the sad thing is, I'm pretty sure that there are actually some magicks that allow those so inclined to LITERALLY get power from causing misery and despair...so in that regard, they might as well be cartoon villains."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Ashley looks down at her outfit. "I mean, it's pretty cool, but yeah, it'd be like going around school in cosplay... actually, that would be pretty cool, imagine if every day was Halloween..."

    The villains actually just get power for being jerks? Ashley sweatdrops. "Dang... I guess that would explain bird lady then."

    She finds herself covering a yawn with one hand. "Dang, it's late... um..."

    She looks up at Pluto. "Just one last thing... Um... The day after I became a magical girl, I got an invitation to Radiant Heart Academy in the mail. And *no one* should have known I was here. Does the school... does someone *know about us?* Is there someone I should talk to?"

    "...Actually one more last thing, you're pretty cool to talk to and seem to know a lot, is there some way to contact you...?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Pluto's eyes narrow a bit at the mention of the timing of the invitation, then she frowns a little, "...it's not IMPOSSIBLE..." She trails off for several moments, then blows out a sigh, "...HOWEVER...we are experiencing a rather unusal conflux of magic...and frankly, with magic...Destiny itself CAN be a legitimate reason for 'why did this happen?'" She shrugs, "It's worth keeping an eye out, but without more evidence, it's hard to say."

The question about how to contact her gets another frown, "...sadly, not at the moment. I'll have to think on something, as having too many groups working at cross purposes doesn't serve anyone except those that would prey upon the innocent."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Perhaps you were just destined to be Amanda Faust and go here as a student? ...She's not sure how she feels about that.

    Amanda nods. "I guess I should like... come up with some secret anonymous message group or internet forum or something we can join anonymously... I'll think about it. It was nice meeting you, Sailor Pluto!" She smiles and waves, before leaping up to the rooftops.