1115/Rainbow Crystals 2: Rashmi on the Loose

Rainbow Crystals 2: Rashmi on the Loose
Date of Scene:	13 February 2024
Location:	Twin Bells Toy and Card Store
Synopsis:	The Green Rainbow Crystal shows up at Twin Bells Toys and Card Store! Good thing Rashmi is on hand to put in storage, right? ...right? Wuh oh! It's a host of mahou against Veena, the unlucky youma to take over Rashmi Terios in front of her friends and boyfriend. Is Riventon going to help? No. Just, no.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Ikiko Hisakata, Minako Aino, Ahmya Karashima, Karin Miyoshi, Rashmi Terios, Takashi Agera, Kureha Senkenzan, Chrono Harlaown

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Twin Bells Toy and Cards in Mitakihara is one of those shops that reliably gains business around Valentine's Day - the shelves of stuffed animals and small toys sell out, the usual cards gain a hoard of Valentine's Day compatriots full of cheesy romantic slogans and cutesy pick-up lines. The store is even decorated with plenty of hearts and cutesy looking teddy bears and creatures.

The young woman manning the counter at the moment is looking pretty jaded, but nonetheless offers a greeting to every customer who pops in, encouraging them to browse the store's wares and reminding them of the fifteen percent Valentine's Day sale.

"Maybe you'll be original and try a stuffed animal instead of the same badly made chocolate everyone goes for," she advises to one of the newly arrived.

Usagi Tsukino is here for the same reason most everyone else is: serious desire for a gift for her boyfriend! Nothing will beat the handmade Sailor Moon plushie Setsuna had gifted him, but surely there was something she could find, right? She's walking up and down the shelves of small stuffed animals, looking for that perfect gift.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Even for those who aren't romantically involved with anyone, special seasons do mean additional variety of plushies, which means a chance to find cute plushies that you wouldn't see the rest of the year.

And so Ikiko Hisakata is here, browsing the stuffed animals, looking for any that happen to seem cute -- especially if they're canine! There's a cute otter, there's a dalmation with a silly-looking grin, there's a small bunny...

...in fact, there's two of those, in a manner of speaking. "Hi, Usagi!" Ikiko calls to the other girl, wandering over to see what Usagi's currently looking at. "Finding anything interesting?"

Minako Aino has posed:
If Mina was here to buy something for a boyfriend or Girlfriend? She had been uncharacteristicly quiet about who that might be. One might expect her to be excited, but this was serious business for the senshi of love and beauty!

Making her way in with a thumbs up to the offering of the discount before pushing her way forwards. She needed something cute, something perfect, something that would....

"Usagi-chan?" the sight of the other blonde brought a lift of her hand and a smile from the ribbon-wearing Minako who was clearly bouncing her way over to whatever relief to the mental strain Usagi's presence might offer!

Ahmya Karashima has posed:
     Ahmya Karashima, like most girls her age, had some vested interest in Valentines Day, even if she didn't REALLY have anyone who she was properly crushing on. Even so, she was wearing a more cute outfit than normal; still in a pastel goth kind of style but with a more ... soft ... look than normal. In spite of her normal trend towards black, she was actually wearing a white dress with pink accents, along with white leggings and some cute white shoes.

She had opted to go towards the stuffy section for sure, picking out various little cute ones, opting for a large amount of tiny ones for her various friends, though she does get one that was a somewhat larger bear that had some sort of adorable pun on it.

She wasn't there with anyone in particular, though there might be some sort of small animal hidden somewhere in the various frills and fluffs of her outfit.

As always, her eye-spider familiar is in the building somewhere. Tucked away in a hidden corner where it can keep an eye on things.

"Hm? ...Oh, my friends are here? Thank you, Hachi." Ahmya murmurs quietly under her breath to nobody in particular, glancing up and around to take stock of who was there, and offering a small little somewhat overburdened wave towards her various friends who popped up.

But otherwise she's just... waiting in line.

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    Karin Miyoshi has been given new orders by Taisha. Given that the Vertex atacks are not matching the predicted schedule at all, and there are other anomalies here on the mainland that also threaten humanity, she has been authorized to hunt down these dangers in her capacity as a Yuusha. Mostly this has meant keeping an eye out for more dragons (the reaction to her report of encountering a dragon around Christmas was quite something, that's for sure), and occasionally spying on the other Yuusha to make sure they're doing their jobs.

    The world hasn't been destroyed yet, so they must be doing something right. Thus, the bicycle patrol of the Fifth Yuusha takes her through Mitakihara. She can't just protect Yumegahama, she has to look everywhere! Though hopefully her phone app would tell her if there was something going on. It would, right? If not, she has been riding around various neighborhoods waiting for it to go off for no reason, and she may have actually missed things going on.

    Oops.

    The twin-tailed girl stops in front of Twin Bells Toy and Card Store in order to drink from her water bottle and wipe the sweat from her brow. "Where are all these enemies anyway?" she grumbles to herself. She hadn't expected the life goal she had devoted herself to, all the training she had undergone to ready herself, the supplements she takes every day, and all those dried sardines she eats, to be so boring.

    Looking over at the people entering the shop, Karin blinks a bit. What's so interesting about a toy store? Is something going on?

Rashmi Terios has posed:
With her own Valentine plans locked in, Rashmi is mostly taking this time to *explain* Valentine's Day to Chrono as they wander the Mitakihara shops.

Most importantly, she's explaining why Chrono is likely to no longer get confessions -- anonymous or no -- after tomorrow morning.

"...because y'see in Japan," she says as she opens the door to the card shop, "girls give chocolates to the boy they like, traditionally. Or boys. Chocolate *exchanges* could happen too given the girls involved, but that's generally more a case of 'The one who thought of it first takes Valentine's Day, the other one gets White Day.' And it doesn't *have* to be chocolate, but, y'know. Tradition, sweets, even Chiyo-chan's doing more chocolate than mochi until tomorrow."

More focused on the chatter and the browsing than on who else is here, the redhead weaves in and out of the shelves, not yet cottoned onto the familiar folks in the store.

...A plush hedgehog holding a rose catches her eye, but she tries very, very hard not to look like she's found the *perfect* garnish for her present.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon is not out picking up a valentine's day anything for anybody. Of course Mami's getting something, but he's not out looking for it right now, in full armored henshin, floating slowly far above the ground of Mitakihara Ward.

    No, what Riventon is out for is releated to the slender black crystal in his hand.

    "You know..." he says to absolutely nobody "... I feel like ancient mystical magic stuff could do better for being found than an annoying game of hot or cold." he finishes, sweeping the crystal around left-to-right and trying to feel the resonance. "Phenomenal cosmic powers... and no freakin' concept of GPS."

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Kureha Senkenzan is not a girl who considers romance in the least. This is the first year she's even had a faint possibility of participating, but she... doesn't have a reason. There's no one she's interested in. Perhaps a few people she'd give obligation chocolate to; or, rather, 'friendship chocolate', given that she's the kind of person to not feel obligated to give chocolate to anyone. Just a select few people she's starting to maybe, possibly view as friends.

    However, Kureha's three attendants are human, and while Chisa is wholly devoted to her duties, and Yozakura would never allow Kureha to see any kind of personal side of her, Emi...

    Emi is just a woman doing a job for a salary, and she's starting to view Kureha as more of a person than a responsibility. So she's not above taking the young miss along on a shopping trip. "My lady Kureha, feel free to browse. I don't mind picking you up something in return for indulging me, you know?" There's a slightly arched eyebrow. "I shall pass. And... not that I shall tell anyone, but are you certain you should be so amiable towards me?" That draws a soft chuckle from Emi. "Well, if you won't tell Hozan, I'm not going to worry about it~."

    Kureha silently muses that she can't fault Emi for that. And if she's going to be a little more personable, then sure, why not?

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was what one would call... an out of towner. Very, very far out of town. And so the whole valentines custom was... something he wasn't familiar with.

They had romantic festivals, of course... and the letters in his locker had... amplified. To say the least.

And he was REALLY hoping that this plan of Rashmi's would save him. His locker was hard enough to get into already.

He was wearing a normal pair of pants, a button up jacket, and... the most serious of expressions. A hand under his chin. "I see..." he mumbled softly.

"And I'm guessing the tradition of 'three times in value' on the return chocolate is a marketing ploy, correct?" he asked. That's right. The TSAB Enforcer had been STUDYING! Either way, he was following along, the dutiful boyfriend, a contemplative hand under his chin and eyes rapidly absorbing information of the world around him, cataloguing and organizing all of the new information.

Honestly, such a planet with so many breathtaking visages seeming so focused on a holiday of 'love' was one of the few things on this planet that made TOTAL sense to him.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Not that one. Not that one either. Nope, that one just isn't good enough either - why is it so hard to pick a cute stuffed animal?! Usagi is about ready to tear her hair out, when she hears her name from two directions and looks up, pleased as punch.

"Eh? Oh! Ikiko-chan! Minako-chan! Hi, hi hi! No, I haven't found anything interesting," she is pouting the biggest, saddest pout anyone ever did see. "I'm looking for something cute for Mamochan, but I can't find anything. This bunny has weird eyes, and the bakeneko might eat this kitty, and this puppy is cute but he has a pack of ramen so Koji-kun would definitely want to steal him..."

Such are the woes of a girl in love.

"What about you guys? What are you looking at?"

The Black Crystal in Riventon's hand jumps suddenly, leaping from his hand to float to spin about in a slow circle before the pointed end shifts to point unerringly at - well, technically, at a billboard in front of the store, but in actuality at Twin Bells Toy and Card Store.

Complain about the lack of GPS now the ancient magic might as well complain!

Why is it pointing at Twin Bells Toy and Card Store? Simple. Because under the right hindleg of the plush hedgehog holding a rose that's caught Rashmi's eyes is a green crystal, cut with a wide flat top and a pointed end.

The Red Crystal had sent out a pulse of energy the second it was discovered - but that may have been because in being grabbed by the claw, it was metaphorically taken in hand. Untouched - and unseized - the Green Crystal seems to be inert.

The jaded looking girl behind the counter waves Ahmya forward. "Did you find everything great?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Basically yeah," Rashmi sighs. "It's so stupid, worse that some people buy *into* that nonsense and expec--"

Her words trail off, as a familiar -- if green -- glitter catches her eye, and after a moment's inspection she reaches out to grab Chrono's arm.

"Chrono," she says, her voice low and worried. "Remember that crystal I told you about, from the Game Center? There's another one." Nodding at the hedgehog in question, she looks frantically left and right. << ...Can you block for me? >> she asks via telepathic link. << Because Nicomachea *does* have a secure storage, and if that's here then we need to lock it down before it grabs someone and takes them over. >>

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    There's a familiar voice here. One Kureha hadn't been expecting. And, as it happens, one of the few people the young Chikafuji scion might give friendship chocolates to. "-hm?" She looks up, looks around, and after a few moments, she spots some familiar red hair as well. "Rashmi?" Instantly, the tiny girl is weaving her way through the crowd... or perhaps 'pushing' is more accurate. She's surprisingly strong for her size. She hasn't yet noticed the girl's concern; all she's really worried about is 'having someone to talk to while Emi is shopping for whoever she's shopping for'. And nothing so petty as 'a crowd of full grown adults' is going to stop her.

Ahmya Karashima has posed:
     "Yes, thank you. There are a wide array of lovely affection charms within this building." Ahmya says, setting the various plushes on the counter. Various little stuffed animals of different types, while thought had been put into picking them most of them were standard fare 'You're a great friend!' kind of thing. Basically, her version of obligation chocolate probably. She pulls out her wallet to start flicking through the money it it, the vast majority of her allowance about to be paid to this store.

Such was the way of valentines day. Thankfully her parents had given her a slightly larger allowance this month.

"You don't appear to be, yourself, though. I do apologize that you have to work Valentines Day." She says softly, dipping into a small curtsy. Once everything is paid for she would turn to head towards one of the people she considered ... kind of a friend?

In the form of Usagi Tsukino, walking over towards the golden-haired girl and dipping into a curtsy towards her. "Hello! ...I don't believe we directly met the other day, it's good to see you again. I just wanted to say that your hair is absolutely gorgeous, golden strands that catch the light in a wondrous way and cut through the darkness of the world like a blade of beauty." She says cheerfully.

...Seriously Ahmy? You can't just say 'I like your hair. It's pretty.'?

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Thanks, that's better." Riventon says to the crystal before snatching it out of the air. "Of course it's in the busiest store in all of freakin' Mitakihara ward. I guess I would be about that 'lucky', couldn't be hiding in a dark alleyway or anything." Sensing it with the crystal, he notes it's at least stable. "Okay, so probably not going anywhere anyways." Riventon notes, and then comes to rest on the edge of the store's tall roof. Hopefully nobody touches it and he can do a quick old-school smash n' grab after the store closes. Trying to wrestle it out of that group of people would either mean dehenshining and trying to grab it without powers (no) or barreling over a ton of people and attracting every magical girl in a four-ward area (also no). So waiting, patiently, is the option.

    He's gotta start packing his Switch in his device for times like this.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko nods in greeting to Minako as Usagi explains the troubles of finding the right plushie for the right person. "Oof, yeah, I can see where there's plenty of things to keep in mind," the younger girl commiserates to Usagi. "I'm just looking for a seasonal cute plushie for myself, and even with fewer factors to consider there's still a bunch of 'this isn't bad, but I'm sure there's still better."

Rashmi's presence is noted, in an 'oh hey, I recognize that person' way, but between Ikiko being in one conversation and Rashmi appearing to be in a different conversation, the younger girl is content to focus on her existing conversation for the moment.

Minako Aino has posed:
Truly it was a woe, and yet just the exchange made Minako smile, the girl throwing an arm around Usagi's shoulder unless stopped and lifting a hand. "I'm sure you'll find something perfect, even if it has to be imperfect to be perfect. After all, Mamo-chan loves -you- doesn't he?" it was said so earnestly, that was probably mean to be a good thing, right?

"Me? Oh...I'm trying to find something perfect too, I guess..."

Well, that lowered her note a little, if only for a moment. "Maybe we should all shop together!"

The offer was clearly extended to Ikiko, but Ahmya was a new face approaching them, Minako offering a little giggle and a grin at that greeting. "Usagi-chan, you're even popular with complete strangers. Maybe I need to change my hairstyle?"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown instantly tensed up. And mentally, he did a less than proper midchildian curse or two. Buuuuut...

He never didn't work when work was possible. That likely wasn't healthy. But you know what was? Not letting people get mind controlled by gemstones.

His first instinct? To take care of it himself. BUT! She had more experience with this and he'd defer to her expertise. <<On it,>> he said through his own device. However, a hand slipped into his pocket to draw a strange card... Just in case.

Chrono, admittedly, half expected Riventon to pop out of the stack of stuffed koalas over on the side. But, fortunately, he didn't seem to be involved today. And maybe they could deal with all this WITHOUT having a big battle. It'd be nice.

His attention was drawn the girl making her way over... whether or not reality allowed it. He lifted a hand and interposed himself between the two. This would, hopefully, just take a second. "Hello there," Chrono said with a small smile... up at the girl.

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    Karin parks her bike in one of the public bicycle racks, plunks the yen into the machine to buy some time, and then heads into the store idly. Considering the cold temperatures, her tanktop and shorts outfit isn't exactly seasonal, but she is very warm from all those kilometers of biking, so the cold is actually soothing. The teenager enters the shop, and take sa look around, instantly taken aback by all of the pinks and reds on display. Is this... Normal?

    Karin heads for the counter, to talk to the checked-out attendant, waiting her turn and then asking, "Is there some kind of festival happening?" She gestures around at all of the... The colors. Stuffed animals, chocolate, whatever. She asks because she has just realized she hasn't investigated the holodays on the mainland and doesn't want to go to school just to find out she has failed to follow some local tradition or social norm.

    That would just be the worst!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The checked-out shop attendant handles the order without comment, though the obvious friendship gifts are noted and tallied up, then bagged. It was nothing she hadn't done a couple hundred times today alright -

Though Ahmya's quiet comment give her pause, and she actually looks a little bashful. "It's fine, really. I'm not really into this whole... lovey dovey thing."

She waves a hand, and then when the next customer - Karin - approaches, she just - outright stares.

"Uh, yeah? It's... Valentine's Day tomorrow?"


"It would be so much easier if I was shopping for me," Usagi siiiiighs wistfully, looking at Ikiko with just a touch of envy. "I like bunnies, and there's tons of cute bunnies here!"

No, she does not care if that seems a little funny or arrogant to love bunnies when she is named for them, you can love your namesake or hate it, and why go to the effort of all that negativity if you don't have to?

"But it's true, there's so many here that a lot of them aren't bad... just not right. But you're right too Minako-chan - Mamochan probably would say he liked anything I got him..."

Huff, pout, huff - hey. Does Minako seem a little... down? The overdramatic blond is pulled out of it for a moment, looking over her friend... and then she nods decisively, smiling brightly. "Yes! Let's shop together! Between the three of us, we'll totally dominate this - huh?"

The huh is because of Ahmya's surprise arrival, and her compliments. Usagi's face is red, but she recognizes the girl from the previous week, and she smiles in spite of her bashfulness. "Aw, thank you!! You've got beautiful hair too, you know, and I love your ribbons!"

Minako's teasing gets a gentle elbow shoved her way.

"Huuuush, she's not a stranger!"


The Green Crystal glimmers innocently in the light, mostly hidden by the hedgehog plush. It certainly doesn't look like something about to cause trouble. Isn't it just the most pretty and innocent lookijng crystal you ever did see? If it had eyes, they would be batting their lashes.

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    "...Oh. Oh! Right. Yes. Valentine's Day. Well-known for... This. Yes, of course! Thank you for reminding me!" Then she stoically, with a red face, stumbling over her words as she bids the check-out lady a good day and a 'Merry Valentine', backs up and speed-walks away. The heck is Valentine's Day!? Karin searches for what Valentine Day is on her phone without looking where she's going.

    She looks up in time to mutter a 'Sumimasen' and avoid walking into Chrono and/or Rashmi. But then. A hedgehog catches her eye. She looks at the info she pulled up on 'Saint Valentine's Day'. Then she looks at the hedgehog. Should she... Get a gift for someone? ...Like who, though? She has no friends. She has no loved ones. Maybe... Maybe for her class? They can share it!

    With visions of Hero Hedgehog becoming the mascot for the class, and everyone liking Karin and praising her for her good thinking dancing through her head, the shorty goes up on her toes and reaches for the plush. "Were you going to take that one?" she asks, belatedly thinking maybe it's being blocked because it's the last one.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Teamwork shopping! "That sounds like a great idea, Usagi!" Ikiko beams. "More eyes to spot the plushies, and more opinions to highlight the good of each plusghie!"

The young girl blinks a bit at the newcomer, who Usagi recognizes¹, then smiles at Ahmya. "Hi! I'm Ikiko Hisakata, grade 5 at Radiant Heart; nice to meet you!" the younger girl beams.

-----

¹: Admittedly, this isn't saying much -- asides from total newcomers, who doesn't Usagi know?

Minako Aino has posed:
Reject bad vibes, embrace time with friends? Minako could run with that. Simply sticking her tongue out at the girl she had half-hugged, Minako releases Usagi after a moment and considers. "If I was going to get you something Usagi, I'd get you a bunny, right?" she questions off-hand before placing a finger to her chin in thought. "Do you think they have other animals...other birds that aren't doves?"

Ikiko's introduction brings a reminder that Minako should be doing the same, earning a flash of a smile. "Minako Aino, another student at Radiant Heart!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Hwah?" Rashmi declaims, upon hearing a new voice, and it's *relief* that crosses her face as she turns to dip her head in greeting to Kureha. "Oh good hi Kureha-chan, could you just, like, stand over here really quick?"

Looping her into her telepathic comms, she looks between Chrono and Kureha. << ...Just in case it didn't happen before; Chrono this is Kureha-chan, one of my really good friends. Kureha-chan this is Chrono, my boyfriend. Okay. Cool. Important stuff out of the way, about to to magic so I need hiding. >>

And indeed she does just... kinda duck down between the two, using the shelves as cover from other directions.

And that yellow flash could just be a photo being taken, because sure yellow flashes exist, why not?

The shelving also makes it fairly easy to hide the giant book that Rashmi is now holding, from general view.

<< Nicomachea, >> she thinks, turning the book's central gem toward the green crystal. << How'd it go... Register -- Green Rainbow Crystal, two of seven. >>

The book answers with a *bong!* as space is allocated in secure storage.

<< SEAL IT! >>

The gem is encased in a bubble of golden light, picked up, and sucked into the red gem, where it disappears--

And everything goes *right* to hell.

There's a -PULSE- of dark energy that lashes out in all directions, and Nicomachea begins to sound... less like himself, and very, very audible to all in the store.

    << *BONG!* >> << ALERT. MASTER. ALERT. PRIMARY STORAGE MATRIX FAILS. >>

Rashmi's eyes snap open wide, and her knees give out as another wave of Dark Energy lashed out... but from *her,* not Nicomachea -- who is throwing bright golden sparks as it tries to reject... *something*

    << *BONG!* >> << LINKER CORE-- Co-- corrup-- CoRrUpTiOn EVIDEN-en-DENT. >>

A bubble of golden energy envelops Rashmi, shot through with streaks of dark, sickly green that grow like ink-stains, until the entire bubble matches the crystal's reflected gleam.

    LINKER CORE IDENTITY VALIDATION CONFIRMED.

A third pulse of Dark Energy, and the bubble *shatters* with physical force, throwing people and shelving and adorable stuffies every which way. And in the center of the devatation rises a robed, pale-skinned woman, with wide, feathery wings and a quiet, cold smile

    ~~ FOR THE GLORY OF QUEEN METALLIA ~~

        ~~ VEENA RISES ~~

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon can feel those pulses of energy without the aid of his device. The energy that is alike to his but not his, rushing through the store below. He rolls his eyes as the screaming of civilians starts.

    He pushes himself off the edge of the roof, levitation catching him instead of the ground as he gets to about normal walking human level. It's easier than it should be to get through the people trying to leave the shop and push inside the shop, but maybe they're patently ignoring the magic man like they're gonna forget the green skinned magic woman.

    "Really. What's even the point of waiting. Noooo, somebody had to touch the evil magic crystal I'm here to retrieve first." he says grumpily, floating down an aisle towards the epicenter.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    Someone steps out in front of Rashmi to get directly in Kureha's way. That's the first surprise. The second surprise is, he's... s... shorter than her...?

    Honestly, that might be the more surprising part.

    There's a slight touch of annoyance internally, but Kureha doesn't allow it to show. With practiced ease, she keeps a neutral expression, betraying nothing, and simply arches an eyebrow. "...good evening." Is this some kind of come-on? No, his body language doesn't suggest interest, but rather direcct interference. Protection? Yes, protection. She glances past him, at Rashmi, as if in hope for an explanation - but immediately, something in the girl's body language nudges at her instincts. Something is wrong. Something is definitely wrong. And this shorter young man is interfering. On Rashmi's behalf.

    A few pieces fall into place, a suspicion grows. She doesn't recognize him by sight or by sound. But she knows Rashmi has a boyfriend, she's seen the guy before in henshin, and...

    And she decides to take a chance.

    Kureha lets her face settle into a more stern, resolved expression. She looks Chrono straight in the eyes, and asks in a soft voice, as if testing the waters, "...do you perchance need the assistance of an oni?" It's a gamble. If this is that one guy, it'll say all it needs to say. If it's not, well... he may be confused? But if he doesn't know what she's talking about, that's fine.

    She completely manages to miss Karin's arrival. But she doesn't miss Rashmi turning around to greet her. And the telepathic communication confirms it. <<Understood.>> A simple, decisive reply; it makes obvious the trust the girl has started to develop for Rashmi, and probably tells Chrono a lot about how well she can be relied on. The black-haired girl carefully moves into place-

    -and there's a surge of Dark Energy. Kureha stumbles back, her habitual pokerface utterly cracking. "Rashmi-?!" Raw shock and alarm fills her face, and without even skipping a beat, she reaches under her school uniform to take hold of something. When the bubble shatters, it buffets against a wave of flames, a corona of fire that quickly dissipates to reveal a horned girl in a kimono, fiery eyes trained on the newly-risen being.

    A torrent of emotions - confusion, shock, worry - flit across Onihime's face, before all of them are suddenly pushed down, replaced by a deadly calm. And briefly, just briefly, her eyes flit over to Chrono.

    "She has placed her trust in you. For now, so shall I. I am very strong, and I am very durable; tell me what you need me to do."

Ahmya Karashima has posed:
     "...Same, kind of. Most of these are friendship gifts." Ahmya comments towards the shop attendant. Though she did have one that she planned to give to Makoto as a more proper valentines gift because frankly Makoto is really cool and aaaa but that's beside the point.

Minako gets a polite smile from Ahmya, who dips into a curtsy. "I apologize, I got a bit excited seeing someone I recognized. I'm Ahmya Karashima, of Karashima Shrine." She says, straightening back up. "I met her the other day and it was just a lovely interaction so I wanted to come say hi." She says, looking back towards Usagi and smiling widely.

"Thank you! I try to keep everything looking nice. Creepy-cute fashion is super fun too." She says with a bit of a giggle. "Though I leaned more pastel today because I didn't want to scare anyone in the valentines day store."

"If you'd like some help picking, I could show you to a few areas I found some of the nicer ones, they're over..." Pause. "... Oh! Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you, Hisakata-san. I'm also at Radiant Heart, grade 9." She says softly, dipping into a polite bow towards Ikiko and Minako.

"...Hm? What's that, Hac..hi..?"

A pulse of dark energy.

Ahmya's head lifts, as Hachi directs her towards it, her one eye locking onto the source. A second pulse. A bubble of golden energy envelops her friend. "..." She doesn't hesitate.

She lifts her hands in front of her, beginning to trace a wide golden circle in the air in front of her. She didn't care who saw. She didn't have time to hesitate. Since that event with Aunty Rache, that girl had been kind to her. Had helped train her.

One of her first friends.

And now? Something was taking her over. "Upon this midnight hour, the darkness of the Dark Twilight Pact shall be dispersed by the golden threads of hope!" She intones, as the golden circle forms a spiderweb from the edges to the core -- being in close proximity to her henshin, Ikiko would likely immediately recognize what she is; one of the Cursed.

Shortly after, a large, wide-brimmed hat appears in front of her, which she flips up to her head, a moment where she is obscured by the rapidly spreading golden veil is enough to transform her into Goldenweb Yorotsuchi. To Minako and Ikiko, she says softly, "Please get to safety." She says, immediately starting to sprint among the various people to get to where Rashmi's transformation happened.

Once she's close enough, she shifts her odachi into an offensive stance, speaking with firm authority alongside barely-concealed rage.

"This is your one chance, Veena. Relinquish your hold. Or you shall face no mercy."

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown tried to be cover. But you know, when you're a good head or so shorter than your girlfriend, it's kiiiiiind of hard. But he does his best. He gives Kureha a wave. And then blinks. "An... oni? Is that a threat? It--" And then... Rashmi confirms. His eyes go wide. "Oh, perha--"

Shit.

"Rashmi!" he called out, turning with the first pulse. He didn't hesitate. The card went up and, a moment later, the boy was standing there instead of in incredibly prim and proper day wear... instead in a slightly spikey black coat, with a way too large collar. Magic staff in his right hand.

The yelling was enough to draw attention, but Rashmi was fighting it. That was the time he needed. He held his staff up... At least, normally. Except, there was a civilian right on TOP of everything. He dashed forward, an arm wrapping around her and yanking her away from Rashmi before the pulse could wash over them, protecting her with his body. He grunted, but well...

            << Barrier! >>

A barrier formed around them, covering the battlefield and shunting anyone who WASN'T magical in nature out of the local area.

... To his surprise the uhhh... girl... he'd just shielded... was still here. He blinked. Then shook his head, giving her a light push on the back. "Go henshin," he told her. He didn't know who she was and he knew better than to ask. Instead he turned towards Rashmi and...

<< To all those within the zone, Rashmi has been possessed and is currently controlled by a rainbow crystal. Attempts to seal it have currently failed. I would appreciate any and all aid in restraining and removing the rainbow crystal. >> Well, anyone here, still, likely had it under control... and now they had a quick idea of what's going on. Woo!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Minako's stuck out tongue gets her a stuck-out tongue in retaliation, though Usagi's giggling makes it exceptionally clear she isn't actually bothered in the slightest. "I saw a parrot at the far end of the stack," she reports, sticking her tongue out, "That's pretty un-dove-like, right?"

Watching her two friends introduce themselves to each other is already washing away her bad move, and Ahmya's presence is just another thing to enjoy, her creep-cute fashion much more cute than creepy, and Usagi opens her mouth to say just that when -

A pulse of dark energy lashes out through the room - and Usagi, notoriously psi-null, doesn't feel it. But she hears the piercing alert in Nicomachea's familiar voice, and whips her head around in time to see Rashmi enveloped in a golden bubble, rapidly corrupted in sickly green, and then -

Screams fill the shop as people are blasted back by the pulse of Dark Energy, knocked into shelves and walls, stands for items thrown over, plastic and glass shattering into glittering pieces everywhere. Usagi herself is knocked back into the wall, and a rain of plushies falls down onto her head.

By the time her vision clears, a youma stands where Rashmi stood, and Riventon has arrived on the scene, and of course henshins are going off everywhere - Usagi recognizes Onihime, Chrono, and of course Goldenweb Yorotsuchi, and then a barrier goes up, phasing out all the civilians and protecting the shop from any further damage.

There's no time to worry.

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

Sailor Moon stands shining and well, not particularly tall, Moon Stick in hand, glinting brightly in the lights of the shop. She wastes exactly zero time moving into the attack she hopes will do the most to help, carving a circle of golden light into the air itself. When it's completed, silver beams of light and radiant mists fly through the air.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

It's purifying power in a nutshell, sure to burn at any being of Dark Energy in it's path, but she's not sure it will be enough to instant-purify her friend - Mamochan had said the youma in those crystals were strong after all...

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon yells. "If you want to help this girl, and all other people around you, I have a plan. Step one. Don't touch magic stuff when you don't know what it is. Step two? Don't touch magic stuff at all. You're all clearly very bad at it." he calls.

    "This is the sort of thing that should really be left to the professionals." Of course then he sees Chrono. "Not you, though. Nobody's paying you anymore ergo you're also not a professional."

    "Anyways, I could probably fix this right now but I feel like if I do you won't learn anything." And then Sailor Moon's Moon Healing Escalation and Riventon reflexively puts up a triangular Belkan runic shield from his hand, taking cover behind it - but the light is aimed at Rashmi, not him. "Hey, be careful where you're shooting all that light, that's how you get blasted, you know. Put the super-flashlight away before I make you."

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Ooh, a parrot plushie sounds neat!" Ikiko grins at Usagi. Even if parrots aren't really her style, they're still pretty to look at. And if this parrot plushie isn't very Valentine-themed, it might still be a fun thing to pick up for a certain ghost pirate magical girl... but again, that's getting into 'this would be great... for someone else' problems.

And speaking of problems...

As all hell breaks loose and people start henshining, Ikiko blinks a bit at the announcement from Chrono. "Yeah, actively malevolent crystals are a bit much for purified silk handkerchiefs to manage," she mutters to herself with a sigh as she reaches for her own henshin device. "Lycan Locket!" she calls out.

There's a silvery glow, and then Cute Wolf Tsukiko darts to the side, keeping one eye on Rashmi/Veena and the other on Riventon. At least the shockwaves have made the area a bit more open than the previous aisles, so the wolfgirl has a few more options in terms of maneuverability.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
    ~~ NO ~~

At about the same time as Riventon puts up his triangular barrier between him and purification, so does Veena act; wings flare, and pump, and Veena rockets up to the ceiling, crossing her arms and tugging feathers free from her own wings. But rather than fling them like the darts one would expect, she uses them to draw the outline of a large rock... which becomes a very large, very *solid* rock.

    ~~ SUBMIT, ~~ comes the hollow, distorted voice that once was akin to an English professor, now more of a SHODAN. And she rears back, striking the rock and causing it to *shatter* into deadly, jagged shards that rocket down toward the source of the purification beam, and just about everyone in her general vicinity.

    ~~ SUBMIT, AND OFFER YOUR WORTHLESS LIVES TO GAIN GLORIOUS PURPOSE. ~~

Minako Aino has posed:
"I was thinking more like a raven or-" Minako begins, then all hell breaks loose. Youma attack? More than that. This was one of those crystals that they'd spoken about, and clearly they weren't the only ones to respond!

As Usagi begins her transformation, Minako Aino's own hand raises, her own voice joining the call:

"Venus Power, Make up!"

Swirling lights and shimmering silhouettes later, Sailor Venus stood beside her charge, though the call for healing wasn't something she could replicate.

She could however, step forth as Riventon calls her out, lifting a hand to point. "Then clear the line of fire and let her help, otherwise people are going to get hurt!"

Of course, she didn't -really- want to start blasting herself, but she was certainly willing to protect the others, lifting her hand towards the shards headed for the others.

"Crescent Beam Barrage!"

The usual blast isn't just a single beam, but a torrent blasting the shards from the air as best she can.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown sighed when suddenly Riventon was there. "Of course," he said with all the patience of a grownup who just saw the neighborhood troublemaker run in with a squirt gun. "I am the most professional one here, Riventon!" Chrono called at him. "I have an *actual rank* that means something! And I am, in fact, still being paid!" He just couldn't, you know... access his bank account right now. On account of it being in a different dimension.

TSAB backpay could be a pain in the ass.

"If you're not capable of assisting, Riventon, just sit down and wait to try and backstab all of us after we deal with this."

And Veena was on the move. << Oni, please cover Sailor Moon. Her purification will likely be pivotal in this fight. I'll work on distracting her. >>

Rocks came tumbling down. He, meanwhile, came flying UP!

            <<Stinger Snipe!>>

Three small, blue orbs formed around him, rocketing up and piercing two of the shards that were coming at him, allowing him to fly straight at her! Well, not quite. The remaining orb circled around Veena's left side, coming at her from there. Meanwhile, he came at her from the left side. "Rashmi! See if you can fight it from within!"

            <<Stinger Ray!>>

And then he launched his assault from her right side. A rapidfire, shield piercing stream of magical bullets. Neither of the attacks were very damaging, but he was hoping they'd divert her attention towards him.

Ahmya Karashima has posed:
     People henshining around her. From behind her coming Moon Healing Escalation. There was a moment of concern as it came in her general direction since she was near the cursed Rashmi. And Chrono was there giving a warning. And possible directions. As the Moon Healing Escalation washed over her, she gave a slow exhale, feeling that sparkly, calming feeling. Her rage calming in its wake.

Just enough for her to be present enough as she hears Riventon's insulting and telling them that they're bad at this. Without doing anything. She grimaces at that, though decides to ignore it. For now. Instead focused on the fact that Veena was now tracing a giant rock.

But it looked like someone else was handling it, so she opted for the simplest thing. Not really knowing that Riventon is a possible threat, she would do exactly as Chrono requested.

She swiped both of her hands through the air in an outward motion, strings of strong, golden thread shooting through the air at an arc towards Veena, attempting to grab two of those shards of rock to use as a sort of weight ... so that she can pull the strings inward and attempt to do a thorough wrap around the youma!

This is followed by a secondary shot of webbing to attempt to put Veena on a rather short anchor to the roof and set things up for others' attacks. "Chrono, direct me when needed! I'll try to keep her bound until told otherwise!"

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    The answer Chrono gives to Onihime isn't directly aimed at her; but it says everything it needs to. Help restrain and save her. That means that she can be saved - and that the strength of an oni will absolutely have a use. She can work with this. There is a brief side-glance at Riventon; and then a simple, even-toned, "If you do not intend to help, be silent. If I am frustrated, my hand may... slip, when swinging large objects."

    The horned girl reaches up and gives her hair a casual flip, and then dives into the fray.

    And as if to lend credence to her 'words of caution', the Ogre Princess ducks a shoulder low and scoops up a merchandise shelf in passing, without so much as slowing down. She does skid to a stop when the creature suddenly flies up into the air, however. It's largely just to reassess her options at first, but then Chrono barks an order. On the battlefield, hesitation is death; she obeys without skipping a beat, suddenly turning to hurl the heavy shelf in a skid across the floor that puts it between Usagi and the shards.

    Several of the shards lance across Onihime herself, cutting through her kimono... and skin underneath. But she doesn't even seem to flinch, and the cuts are far more shallow than they ought to be. << Chrono Harlaown, I have one amendment to your plan. >> Around comes a hand, grabbing and lifting a table, and then the tiny girl whips around, tiny flames flickering in the air around her, before the table is hurled with all the strength she can muster.

    "I will draw the creature's attention and weather its assault. Find your opportunities where you can!" It's a general yell to everyone present.
"

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    Karin has no idea what's happening until it's too late. She has no awareness of Dark Energy, but the blast of it when that one girl turns into a monster would have been enough to hurl Karin away, no doubt. Instead, she is swept off her feet and carried away, out of range! "Wha--!" is all she gets out. Then a bunch of people disappear, and the boy tells her to 'go henshin'.

    There's no time to question him because Karin's smart phone is chiming. She ducks behind a shelf, and digs around in her shorts pocket until she finds the phone and pulls it out to see the screen. There's an alert symbol on the screen:

    SPACE-TIME ANOMALY DETECTED
    DEPLOY TO PROTECT HUMANITY

    That's not the message for a Vertex attack, and time hasn't stopped. Karin peeks around the corner, a cold sweat breaking out after she has to duck back behind cover when rock fragments start pelting everything like bullets. She stands up, and taps the screen when the flower symbol displays, signifying she is ready to fight!

    There is a flash of red light, the transformation sequence itself compressed into the shadow of an instant. Then, garbed in red and white, a girl leaps up on top of the shelves as shockwaves topple them, draws her swords by making them appear in her hands in a flash of red flower petals, and takes stock of the situation.

    She is a Hero of Taisha. She was chosen by the Shinju-sama to protect this world. She has trained harder than almost anyone else for this role, and she takes in the lay-out of the battlefield in a single glance.

    Shining light, laser beams, a wolf, a guy floating and looking menacing, the monster (Veena, wsa it?), the boy who rescued her is doing something with magic bullets, and there's spider webs flying, and a female oni just THREW A TABLE! IS THAT EVEN A LEGAL MOVE!?

    A katana flies through the air like a missile, practically sprouting from the ground at Veena's feet such is its speed. Another five pierce the floor, and together form a six-point circle around the youma as Karin flickers into place above the flying monster and tries to slam her down to the floor with a forward-flip ending in an axe kick! She is trying to send the youka to the middle of the Flower Sealing circle, which will totally work in this case, because it will eliminate the alien influence, or something!

    Probably!

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Riventon smirks from his location. "It's not backstabbing if you know it's coming, Enforcer. It's just a regular stab." he notes. "Besides I am helping. I'm helping to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone I actually like." he notes. "What, you want me to power her up instead? Or start blasting you as well? Because that really messes up the whole experiment I'm running here so I'd really rather not."

    He is, admittedly, curious what the youma from a Rainbow Crystal can -do- ; it might be handy to know later. Also the longer he talks the more combatants enter the fight and it's better to perhaps not be surprised. Barrier or not it seems like they're still filtering in.

    "If it starts looking like you'll win maybe I'll join in but right now honestly I gotta place my bets on miss arts and crafts over here." Of course there was more to it than just talking and sneering. Not exerting himself for now, and getting an idea of the battlefield, and preparing for things after things.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Of course she can dodge. And of course Riventon's here to be a jerk - and probably hoping to take the crystal for himself, too. There's a lot of things Sailor Moon could say to him, but she starts it off with a snapped, "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen!"

She might have said more, if not for the fact that suddenly there's a giant rock - nope, suddenly there's rock shards everywhere -

And dust, because Chrono's firing, Sailor Venus is firing, Goldenweb Yorutsuchi is swinging what she can catch, and Onihime is tanking.

Sailor Moon doesn't so much stand still in shock as she does recognize that wasting this tanking would be ungrateful - and she's realizing that there's going to be more to this than just blasting the monster that's taken over Rashmi, if it's so agile. In an enclosed space like a shop, it's hard to manuever with so many people, but Sailor Moon leans close to Onihime, to offer a quick, "Thank you!" before bending down to snatch a trio of Valentine's cards from the floor.

"Hey! You wrecker of stores and ruiner of good times! Your glorious purpose is the destruction of lives, and your great leader will burn out like a star! In the name of the Moon, I order you to get out of Rashmi now! Moon Valentine's Action!"

And then she does launch the cards - only they aren't cards anymore, but three spinning rectangles of pure cosmic energy, one coming from the left, one from the right, and one from above! Sure, they won't strike as hard as Sailor Moon's actual tiara, but they'll detonate with a little pulse of damaging energy each time they strike.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko yelps as rock shrapnel flies everywhere, and the wolfgirl dives and darts to avoid the shards. So... a flying enemy in desperate need of purification, a lot of melee types piling in...

Well, when all else fails, be a distraction.

She grabs a handful of Barrier-copy plushies and starts chucking them at Veena. They probably don't hurt, but:
    1.) this'll probably keep Veena annoyed, and with split attention; and
    2.) the actual plushies are still outside the Barrier, and thus (relatively) safe.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The problem with strong flying enemies is, they have the mobility to be *incredibly frustrating,* especially at the beginning of the battle. The hurled table seems quite easy to dodge, the beams... less so, but that's when the real wrinkle in the plan arrives; rather than dodging the stray Crescent Beams, and Chrono's Stingers, she... simply summons a dome of green-black light, that ricochets the beams off in a wide spray around her. No incantation, no Device, but that very, very much looked like a Midchildan shield--

--that soon gets axe-kicked.

Now the problem with Rashmi's shields is, half the time they're overtuned to kick back at what impacted them. In the case of a Yuusha, for example, all that strength she brought to bear is thrown right back in her face, hurling her in the general direction of 'away' and leaving it to Karin to decide what to do about being midair and at speed.

Ahmya's web gets a surprised blink, but with an almost contemptuous wave of a wing, the line is sliced away, just in time for the cards to be called out. Another shield is summoned, and it does well to block the first card, shatters at the second, causing the third to slam Veena back and up against a wall... apparently mildly inconveniencing her.

A *double handful* of feathers are pulled away, sketching long, wavy lines in the air. The lines become ropes, that fly toward those gathered -- except for Riventon, because lackey recognizes lackey -- as more ropes are drawn into being and launched.

What really sucks is, halfway to target, the ropes become snakes. Big, angry, fanged, venomous -- not poisonous, there's a difference -- snakes. And they are coming to *bite your face.*

And a pink bunny bounces off the side of her head.

...Ikiko *may* be in trouble.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown just sighed. Yeah. Riventon was going to be a problem. There was another person here who offered to follow his orders... so time to put that to use. << Yorotsuchi, keep Riventon on his toes. I'd rather he not have time to setup and then release some plan when this is over. >> No, he did not have her name memorized. His device, however, had it stored. Gotta love that notepad filled with names.

He then flipped upside down, standing on the roof, staring at his angel... Rashmi's shields were powerful. But... he had an idea. He started running... on the roof.

Listen, when you had a narrow space, use what you've got. He raced across the ceiling and then leaped up(down?) at her from the ceiling!"Hey, Veena! Eat this!"

He'd slam his palm down on her from above and... Likely touch her shield.

            <<Break Impulse!>>

And nothing would happen. His open palm strike, even if the pressure was bounced back, would barely make his hand twitch... A bluff? A wasteful one, most likely, as it likely resulted in him eating a few snake bites in the process.

But Rashmi, at least, knew what this was. And would know that the 'palm strike' was just the contact... It was what followed a second later that did the real damage. And as he was directly above her, the hope was that it'd catch her by surprise and send her down to the ground level. Trying to imitate what Karin attempted, but in a more... subtle manner.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    A huge barrage of attacks, a tricky ploy with webs, and even through all that, Veena still flies. Not only that; she unleashes projectiles, which become venomous reptiles mid-flight. But Kureha is already planning, thinking, moving. Already considering how best to make herself an obstacle that the transformed being that was once Rashmi Terios cannot ignore.

    A cross the telepathic link Chrono has established, a simple warning comes. << Everyone, cover your ears. >>

    And then the store fills with a thunderous, deafening clap. Onihime brings her hands together with all the strength she can muster, unleashing a burst of flames at that exact moment to further superheat the air. The result is thunder in a toy store, a deafening report that creates a shockwave aimed to blow away a large number of snakes... and, hopefully, to stun Veena.

    All the Youkai Musume needs is a moment. A chance, an opening, however brief. An opportunity to dive in, leap up, and grab for the feathered Youma - and then attempt to bring her down to earth with concrete-shattering force. "HAAAAA-!"

Ahmya Karashima has posed:
     Huh. Her web was just... swiped away by a wing. Well. That was new. Also partially terrifying since she /knew/ those web strings were incredibly strong from her own tests. The fact that the youma just casually snapped them like that? That actually caused a moment of panic on the one-eyed mahou's face. A moment of panic that becomes deeper concern as ropes -- that turn into SNAKES are launched in her general direction.

Well, everyone's general direction but there was a snake trying to bite her face and trying to dodge was ... difficult in the tight confines, so she lifts her hands up towards the snake to try to shoot it in the face and stop its strikes! ... ... ... Mostly she just ends up webbing up its fangs though, as the snake still manages to bite her.

Unfortunately, snake fangs are very good at penetrating through things like webbing, even being gummed up, she felt a pierce of her flesh. And then a beat of her heart. A second beat. She lifted her hands quickly to the snakes face to YANK on it in opposite directions, to break the magical snakes and remove it from her body.

A moment of dizziness as she felt the venom coursing through her veins. And then a sense of ... annoyance welling up from somewhere within her? A pridefulness. A mere snake? Trying to rival a spider's venom?! Her magic *pulsed*, forcing her to refocus, just in time to hear Chrono's order, and then the suggestion that she cover her ears. Which she does, just in time.

Still, with her orders, she moves, turning as if running to take cover in Riventon's general direction, rubbing her face and shaking her head. "Ow ow ow ow..." She mutters under her breath, but even as she did she was forming some webbing between her hands.

And in a flurry of movement she launched a massive web net towards Riventon from behind that cover, attempting to entrap him and PULL him down and towards her. "Hello. Apparently you're a problem. I've been sent to solve it."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon is pleased to see the shield shatter under her attack, even if it wasn't the most effective - it broke the barrier, didn't it?

It did. And Veena has opinons on that, clearly, because there are snakes! Snakes in this Valentine's Store!

Sailor Moon shrieks in terror, tears flooding her eyes as she falls back waving her arms, and it's a good thing that Onihime told everyone to cover their ears, because Sailor Moon's got an ability she's hidden from everyone, on account of it being utterly embarrassing. After all, it was one thing to throw a tiara, fire lasers, and purify the damned. Those things were cool.

It was an entire other thing to turn your sobbing shrieks into agonizing waves of sound capable of shattering glass and cracking stone.

And yet, that's what everyone gets a taste of, as her red odango caps glow, transforming her piercing shriek into a sonic wail, transforming Onihime's thunderclap into a resonating wave of sonic hell.

S U P E R S O N I C W A V E S

First, all the glass remaining in Twin Bells Toy and Card Store shatters - not just the windows, but the lightbulbs too. Then the glass of the cars parked outside and copied in the barrier shatter. Then the streetlights shatter, and the stores nearby start to shatter, and the walls shake -

Most of the people here have probably gotten used to seeing Sailor Moon be if not cool-headed then strong under pressure in a fight. But as she wriggles and wrassles with the snakes that are absolutely biting her biting her biting her, her wailing cries are giving them a whole new respect for what it means to be a crybaby.

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    A Barrier!? Karin is hurled back by the force of her own superhuman kick, and lets out a cry of surprise, but a shogun-like figure appears and a Barrier of Karin's own flickers into existence, eating most of the force and preventing her from taking serious damage. Somersaulting in the air, she lands feet-first on the wall behind her. She hears the warning in her head, just like earlier, and banishes the katana in each hand in order to cover her ears, as her fairy floats alongside her, to continue providing their Barrier.

    The sound is definitely loud, especially in this enclosed space, but with the warning and her Barrier still up, Karin is just mildly pained instead of deafened. <<How does this thing work? Am I doing it right!?>> she demands afterwards, as she drops to the floor. She gestures upwards with her fore and middle finger on her right hand, and the six katana in the floor fly upwards in the form of red flashes that slash at the barrier, in an attempt to add additional distraction against Veena!

    Unfortunately, that's when Sailor Moon freaks out. Karin puts her hands back over her ears and winces in pain, while her fairy simply utters, "All things must end!" in a very frazzled tone as it vibrates in place.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Throwing plushies might not be the smartest move, but it seems to be working well enough as a method to draw Veena's attention.

Uh, perhaps a bit too well...

There's a yelp as Tsukiko starts playing dodgeball with the snakes, hopping back far enough to avoid one as it lands, then darting forward to stomp its spine at the base of the head while diving to avoid the next snake, and so forth.

One of the snakes gets a bit too close for comfort, snapping at the wolfgirl as she has to bend backwards to avoid the sideswiping fangs, but after the near-miss Tsukiko lunges forward, grabbing the snake behind the head and at the base of the tail... and then, in a bout of irony, she opens her mouth wide, and her tiny fanglies briefly extend with silvery energy as the wolfgirl bites the snake.

And while Cute Wolf Tsukiko is technically not venomous (nor poisonous), the dark-energy snake would probably argue otherwise from the purification energy the fanglie extensions are composed of.

...wait, what was that about covering ears?

The shockwave of The Clapper sends Tsukiko tumbling back, her ears ringing. "Ow," she winced, picking herself back up. She pulls out a couple of silk handkercheifs to improvise a set of earmuffs to help soothe her ears, so she can--

    --wait, Sailor Moon is saying what?!?!?

Making impromptu earmuffs is forgotten in favor of hurriedly stuffing the silk handkerchiefs into her (canine) ears, and just in time -- between the ringing from the oni shockwave and the improvised earplugs, the supersonic waves are dampened to a (barely) tolerable level. "Owwwww..." Tsukiko winces, glad she's not having to listen to that directly.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "It's not a kitchen, it's a kitchy shop." he says. "There's a difference, not that I expect you to kn-" and then there's a deafening clap from nearby and that pulls Riventon's attention one way so that the web net can connect without Riventon stopping it, and tug him down towards the boring old ground.

    Riventon's device responds before he does. <<BUSTERKLOAK.>> the half-Space-German device calls, and a spehre of Dark Energy surrounds Riventon, ripping and cutting at the webbing. It takes the spell's energy a little longer than it does to break the Mid-Childan binds it's deesigned to counter, but it does pull him free so he can rise up to his feet and not be an enwebbed loot sack.

    Riventon raises his hand and Dark Energy collects into a sphere in his open palm "As if you could possibly stop me, Spider-gw..." and his potential trademark infringement is stopped by SAILOR MOON'S SONIC CRYING which causes him to unleash the building energy in an uncontrolled attack that's kind of in Ahmya's vague direction rather than precisely targeted because he needs to cover his ears.

    "Oh nobody deserves this!" he yells through the sound and jumps back and away - though a magic circle glows in the distance where he lands as he prepares for something.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The snakes react about the same as you'd expect snakes to react, when a fiery shockwave bores through the space they occupy; they flash into ash almost instantly.

Chrono's attack is lazily batted away, as well as the Enforcer himself. ~~ WORTHLESS HUMANS-- HUMANS? HUMANS. IS THIS *TRULY* THE BEST YOU CA-- ~~

Then the delayed reaction blast goes off, stuck to Veena's shoulder, and blasted to the ground hard enough to shatter the merchandise counter and *bounce* a couple meters back up.

Positioning her perfectly for Karin's oncoming swords, which slash at her from unexpected directions, juggling her yet higher into the air.

Giving Onihime the perfect opening for ONI FIRE SUPLEX.

The resulting crater would probably require a few million yen in construction costs, if not for the fact that it didn't technically exist in Barrier space.

Too dazed to be really frightened, the pale, winged youma (much less winged, most of her feathers seem to have been burned away) rises unsteadily to her feet, facing the horde of combatants with a look of pure '...wait, how is this even happening?' slowly turning into rage.

...Whiiiich is the point at which Usagi's SUPERSONIC POWER latches onto ONI THUNDER and just turns everything into porridge between the youma's ears. Because, seriously, how do you bear up under Sailor Moon's crying?

In Veena's defense, she *was* one of the greatest warriors the Dark Kingdom had ever fielded. But that was when 'opposition' numbered at four real warriors only a few steps down from her level, and a few hundred thousand mortal soldiers. The sheer *power* being brought to bear against her, fourteen thousand years after Beryl's Great Victory, should simply not exist.

So now Veena is starting to feel her first real taste of fear, and it is not helping her bear up under the sonic devastation.

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    In the aftermath of her suplex, Onihime coems up to her feet in a smooth and flowing motion, settling back into a ready stance with her right hand slightly out, claws splayed. But a half-second after she adopts that stance, her entire world becomes sound and pain. "Khh-!" Even Kureha staggers under the audio assault, caught off-guard by the pain. But fanged teeth grit, orange eyes set, and the Ogre Princess forces herself to stand and weather it. Even if there's currently blood pouring out of her ears.

    Veena is staggered, and this is a chance she cannot miss.

    In moves the tiny girl, kimono flowing behind her, billowing with the smooth, powerful lunge. Her right hand neither spreads into the telltale of a claw swipe, nor curls into the sign of an impending blow. No, she reaches out and grabs, seeking to snag the powerful youma by an arm and just flat-out hold her in place.

    << If you have any great strikes to make, now is your chance! >>

Ahmya Karashima has posed:
There is an issue with holding a web net with another person potentially on the end of it. It makes it hard to cover your ears. And there are super sonic waves happening now. Goldenweb Yorotsuchi did what she could to block out those waves with one hand, but it was too much to bear soon as she lifted her other hand -- dropping Riventon's rope -- to cover her other ear. Sure, magical protections were helping but oh dear kami that was really unpleasant.

"WHAT???" Is her response to Riventon, basically yelling at him in response to his barbs. Yeah her ears were still ringing as he tried to copywrite infringe her. ..If she could hear it she'd agree on the yelling of nobody deserving that, though. Unfortunately, there was a thing that being blasted by sonic energy had led to: She was not very ready to defend against Takashi's attack.

There was SOME attempt though, as she quickly shot up a hardened web reinforced with a series of latin runes for 'DEFEND, REPEL, STOP' on it to stop the WORST of the blast, but it does break through the webbing, the dark energy washing over Ahmya and leaving her golden veil in tatters, one of the protective Magatama having fallen off to the ground and starting to disintegrate into golden energy.

And Takashi was moving back as if to prepare something else. Yorotsuchi quickly lifted both hands to her cheeks, slapping them to break any of the remaining stunning from the various, well, unpleasantness t hat had just happened. Still mildly effected by that venom as well, ugh. Still.

She darts towards Takashi, grabbing her Odachi from its sling wholly the wrong way, grabbing it in an overhand position to CHUCK the blade past Takashi, while her other hand starts firing off a series of web balls in seemingly random directions; as well as several web strands in similarly seemingly random directions. The web balls striking in spots in the area nearby Takashi, each them imbued with a japanese rune for 'Fire'.

Which begin to fire golden bolts of energy towards Takashi at random intervals; not heavily damaging but potentially very distracting. Which was the aim of those... as two of the strands of golden thread whip around to grab onto rings on the back of that odachi, imbuing it with rings that read 'PURIFY, CUT, DESTROY' on them, the edge of the blade glowing as she suddenly leaps back away from Takashi at the last minute, PULLING those strings as hard as she could with one simple intent: To strike him from behind with that blessed sword.

Hopefully between everything, she would be able to at least reasonably distract Takashi. She could already tell she was outmatched. "YOU SHOULD LEAVE THE DARK TWILIGHT PACT, THEY'RE REALLY DORKY!" She shouts at Takashi, still barely able to hear so struggling with volume control.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown was knocked away from Veena, but, well... frankly, watching her go down was satisfying. Granted, the venom working its ways into his system was... considerably less satisfying. It--

Cover his ears? Oh dea--

The TSAB forces were, in general, known for being in very, very loud operations. Artillery mages, for example, were trained to unleash the magical equivalent of cannon fire and the like. As such, sound dampening to protect the hearing of TSAB soldiers was standard issue and dampened many such effects. And, were this just a standard issue ship cannon or the like? He'd have been fine.

As it was? The one-two ear hammering of Onihime followed by Sailor Moon meant he wasn't able to even enjoy watching his girlfriend's parasite get suplexed. Instead, he was now stuck covering his ears and struggling, desperately, slow his descent.

The poison in his system was making it harder to move, though magic helped with that. He touched down and started walking towards her. << Sailor Moon, purify her! Any others that have purifying moves, please assist! Everyone else, please maintain pressure on Riventon. I will assist Onihime in restraining Veena. >>

And he pushed off the ground, racing to her. And... As he rushed at her, he lifted his staff high... and tossed it aside.

And his arms wrapped around her neck and he *kissed* her.

<< PURIFY HER NOW! >>

Midchildian secret binding technique!

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    There is a lot happening. Too much to keep track of individual actions while also reeling from the assault on her ears. But Karin sees That Guy who has been floating around being menacing and she thinks he may have been trashtalking?? She can't hear very well right now, so she's not sure. But he's gathering energy and there's a shining circle, and it seems like everyone has Veena handled, and this is Clearly The Person Responsible Look At Him Being All Dark And Evil, so Karin does a series of rapid jumps off the walls and ceiling, a mere flicker of movement painted in red, until she winds up standing on the ceiling, right above the magic circle.

    Six katana from SOMEWHERE slam into the ceiling around her, and they link together in a flower-shaped glowing symbol, with a tree at the center. She has no idea what the circle is for, or what's being planned, or even if The Scary Guy is even evil, but the heroes are attacking him, and she'll apologize if she's wrong after the fight is over.

    With a shout, Karin pushes off the ceiling to try to impact right in the middle of whatever Treachery this is, and shatter the (not real but still physical somehow??) floor, drawing the power of the Shinju-sama down from the sealing circle in her wake, and flying out everywhere in a storm of red flower petals. She can seal a Vertex on her own. But can she do anything against a magic she has no familiarity with?

    Probably not, but, like, maybe it'll be a distraction!

    Or not, who knows, she can't see the future!

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Tsukiko makes a small sound of acknowledgement on the telepathic channel to both Onihime and Chrono, then hesitates a moment and tries humming experimentally.

    Very experimentally.

After a few moments the wolfgirl shakes her head. "Hard to do a Soulful Howl when your ears are too tone-rattled to even carry a tune in a buket," she admits ruefully. Still, she can keep an eye on Riventon, and ready herself to either dodge or rescue if he goes for a more focused attack.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The wailing is not a precision attack, not the stroke of a masterful genius. Nope, it's the utter panic of a girl who wants absolutely nothing to do with these mahou-biting snakes in this stupid money-taking shop that didn't have a single perfect plushie for her wonderful, perfect, loving, incredibly handsome boyfriend who would have hugged her and made her snakebites not hurt.

And that was unforgivable.

And also, she's tired of this youma that possessed her friend.

Sailor Moon climbs to her feet, scrubbing at her wet cheeks angrily.

How dare this creature.

How dare it hurt Rashmi! How dare it hurt all of them? How dare it speak Metallia's name to her face, threaten her friends, her allies, her beautiful world in that name of that demon -

The light of the silver crystal shines bright, and Sailor Moon's tiara vanishes, a golden crescent moon appearing in the center of her forehead. Her fuku sparkles and then a wash of white fabric flows out as that iconic dress unfurls, and the Moon Stick is raised high as Princess Serenity carves light in the air, cutting a golden circle in the air around her - and beams of light do not flow forth from the apex.

No, that would be far too simple.

The entire circle fills with light - silver and pure as the moon, and it BLAZES towards Veena and Chrono.

"MOON HEALING ESCALATION!"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    The webbing hits Riventon - he's not shielding. He's not dodging. He's still mainfesting whatever he's got going on. There's a visible focus on his face, and twitches with each hit of the minor damage, but he's keeping focus on his goal. The webs prepare to slingshot that sword into his back - and Riventon's casting finishes. <<SCHATTENWEG!>> calls the device, and Riventon goes... liquid. Like a mass of liquid dark energy, before parts of him start to launch from their position and fly... not towards the youuma, Veena. Not towards Ahmy. Not towards any direction anyone is looking. But up. Like a barrage of liquid energy it impacts the not-roof and bursts through, and away. And continues up like an ink fountain, and impacts the 'roof' of Chrono's barrier - and shatters it after the second impact, Riventon reforming way up high, and back in the real world. Before duskporting away. Without even a further insult or snark.

    After all, he'd seen all he needed to see about the crystals, the youma, and how they worked now.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
~~ WHAT-- ~~ as Onihime grabs hold of Veena's arm. Because who *ever* expects someone that smol, to be *that* strong.

~~ *WHAT.* ~~ as Chrono goes in for a smooch. Because, seriously, of all the possible attacks, smoochyface is not one that one normally sees upon the field of battle. Also apparently she doesn't seem to need to move her mouth, to speak. Because she keeps going.

~~ HOW DARE YOU INSOLENT, UNGRATEFUL *WORMS!* THE TIME OF THE GREAT AWAKENING NEARS, AND YOU WILL BE AS *LEAVES IN THE--* ... ....... ... oh.

Because now Veena sees Princess Serenity, in a truly royal fury. Sees the true, cosmic might of the Moon Princess Reborn, and the purification coming her way.

As her silhouette begins to erode under the purifying onslaught, there is a long, shaky exhalation.

~~ how... refreshing... ~~

It's not long before Veena is vaporized, and Chrono learns that one of the Seven Great Youma... was actually a head taller than his girlfriend, who slumps bonelessly to the ground, followed soon after by a small, green crystal.

Ahmya Karashima has posed:
     Okay he's just... tanking the attacks. What. Like who the heck just ... tanks attac-- oh he's teleporting away. Oh that would be why. Oh no now her sword is flying back towards her. Ahmya quickly shoots a blast of webbing at her own sword to deflect it away from her, letting it clang to the ground in the distance. She gives a soft exhale as she drops to one knee, rubbing below her ears. She grimaces a bit, that was bad timing to not be able to cover her ears. Ow.

On the upside, everyone else seemed to be handling Veena just fine. Probably. She gives a slow exhale, pushing herself up to her feet. Heartbeat. "...Ow." She takes slow steps towards Chrono and Rashmi, her sword and the webbing in the area starting to disintegrate into golden motes of energy, her steps unsteady.

Her inexperience had shown in this fight. And it had been really unpleasant.

Soon she's standing next to her friends, dropping to her knees to quietly make a silken pillow out of her webbing, including none of the sticky and instead just all golden thread, slipping it under Rashmi to make her (and Chrono) more comfortable. At least until someone else can pick them off and carry them off, because frankly, she's right there with them on the 'about to pass out' thing. She's not! Yet! ... But she's close.

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
The barrier twitched. And then BAM!

The second blast blew through the barrier. And they could see it. For a moment, it was like the world was glitching out. Chrono's eyes went wide. Breaking a barrier was... a bit rough to take. But one could just let it go.

But he was the only device user here. He had to maintain it.

The purifying light washed over them. Oh. Oh that was nice. At least he was... still bittinated. But not poisoned. That was nicer. Across the battlefield, cracks formed across the barrier.

And then... his girlfriend collapsed... and he tried to catch her. Hands reaching for her, the other reaching for the crystal...

And neither were grabbed. The barrier collapsed around them. And a moment later, his henshin collapsed and he dropped. Well, someone was going to have to help Rashmi get the blood of her boyfriend off her later. As he just groaned. At least she was soft.

However... after a few moments to regain... some semblance of control... of awareness... his hand reached up. And patted Rashmi on the head. "Good... job... soldier. Mission... success..." He was... just... going to lay here a moment. And bleed. Ow...

Kureha Senkenzan has posed:
    If Chrono ever manages to find a moment to glance at Onihime in all of that, he's going to get a sight few people will ever, EVER get to see - 'Kureha Senkenzan utterly dumbfounded.'

    Thankfully, by the time the attacks come to a conclusion, the young lady has recovered her poise entirely. With Veena's hand fading entirely, however, she no longer has a hold to prevent Rashmi from slumping to the ground. Whether the girl hits first or 'someone' catches her, Kureha's part in this is completed. She'll dust herself off, de-transform, and probably help to get Rashmi out of there as best she can once the barrier goes down. Curiously, by the time the barrier is down, she actually seems to be capable of hearing again, if not particularly well.

    At some point she'll have to use the crowd for cover and sneak back to Emi's side, though.

Karin Miyoshi has posed:
    Karin looks around as everything settles down. <<So, uh. Who are all you people? What just happened? What's a rainbow crystal?>>

    Yoshiteru floats over to her side and utters, "All things must pass!" again.

    Okay, okay, she'll ask questions another time, geez.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
In the aftermath of her attack, Princess Serenity vanishes the Moon Stick, and crosses the destruction laden floor, her layered skirts floating over the debris, her bare feet picking delicately over the damages.

The barrier has broken, but the first pulses of dark energy have left their mark.

When she stands in front of Rashmi and Chrono, she reaches down, taking the Green Crystal with one hand, and pressing her other hand - bearing the Silver Crystal itself - gently against their foreheads.

Princess Serenity can't heal properly, not the way that her love, Princess Endymion can. But the Silver Crystal is a tool of order, and love, and most importantly, a collection of immense energy, condensed into a single gem.

She doesn't have to have the delicate hand of a healer to pour a fraction of that energy into Rashmi and Chrono - the equivalent of a triple expresso shot to their systems, enough to get them back on their feet and refreshed, even if they'd be feeling the ouches later.

"Let's get you two back home, yeah? Actually - let's get all of us back home."

And she pauses, hearing Karin's confused voice, and says -

"The people of Earth and their allies are not willing to lose their planet again. The Rainbow Crystals are a grouping of gems like these," and she flashes the Green Crystal, "Which when found, will turn ally to enemy. They belong to my love, Endymion, and can be safely turned to any Senshi."

Ahmya Karashima has posed:
     Once again, Yorotsuchi finds herself slapping her cheeks. Okay. Okay. Focus. She takes a deep breath and then uses her magic again, drawing out webs as well as grabbing some convenient debris to make some sort of silken stretchers for Chrono and Rashmi to start getting them out of there, hopefully before anyone notices too much of what's going on or the magic.

Luckily people who can /actually heal/ are also there, because Ahmya can really not do that at all. Beyond bandages. She can make lots of bandages for people! ... ... That only last until her henshin is dropped! ... Yep. So yeah. "...Getting out of here sounds good. I'm not feeling so hot. ... Does it always make your brain fuzzy to get hit by dark energy blasts like that?"

Chrono Harlaown has posed:
Chrono Harlaown blinked when, well... he got an adrenaline shot. He held up his card and henshined once more. That... that would help, at least. With the blood loss and such. He got to his feet and then held out his hand to help Rashmi to hers.

"Thank you, uhhhh... Sailor Moon. We'll... have new information following our most recent scans. However... I believe we'll need to find new methods to contain these. It seems our standard binds don't affect them."

And then he gave Rashmi... a smile... "You always were my angel. Even when possessed."

It was almost Valentines day. And even if he didn't really know it... he had to. He couldn't not.

And then... because Karen, well... was unsure... He held out his right hand. And a holographic ID card formed. "I am Time Space Administrative Bureau Enforcer Chrono Harlaown. I need to recover, now, but I can be contacted at XXX-XXXX and we can set a time and place to discuss these events, as well as give you a more up to date summary of current events."

Then... he glanced to Yorotsuchi. "Dark energy *sucks*."