1297/When Mascots Clash

When Mascots Clash
Date of Scene:	17 March 2024
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	Luna rescues a vending machine from the wrath of Gretchen! Only to carry her off to see Usagi. The misunderstanding is soon cleared up, and Madoka catches up she and Usagi get to know each other a bit better. That vending machine still has Gretchen's money, though!
Cast of Characters:	Madoka Kaname, Usagi Tsukino

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Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen has always been the elusive sort. Even as she gets closer to Madoka, her sneaky nature hasn't changed. Maybe it's the fact that her X-Chara nature pushes her away from her Bearer even if they are otherwise getting along, or maybe it's simply the nature of a Witch to hide away and avoid contact except when getting food.

    Her next meal is, in fact, the order of the day. Only she isn't a real Witch and therefore doesn't have a Witch's diet. Instead, she eats what other chara eat: Treats, snacks, and yummy foods! Which is what Gretchen would be doing right now...

    ... IF THE DIABOLICAL MACHINE HADN'T JUST EATEN HER MONEY!!!

    "Again?!" whines the tiny goth fairy, flailing her arms at the mechanical thief strategically located in the hallways of the dorms. It's not like money was easy for her to get. She'd have to beg Madoka for more, which means she'd have to go all the way back to her house, and she shouldn't even have too because the evil robot should just work! "I swear to Doka if I have to climb up in there just to get the snackies that I paid for..."

    Shaking her tiny fist at the vending machine, Gretchen frowns and lowers her ghastly mask over her face. This infernal contraption may soon face her tiny wrath!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
If Gretchen is the sneaky sort, then Luna is certainly the independent sort. For all that the young cat is ever scolding Usagi for taking risks and encouraging her to patrol with her friends and guardians, she's just as likely to be found striking out on her own. Maybe it's only that Earth felines and Mauians just aren't that different, when it comes down to it, and both feel the need to explore their territory.

And Luna's claimed all of Radiant Heart Academy (in the name of Silver Millennium) as her territory. It's a big school, so she doesn't patrol the full length daily, but the dorms? The dorms she near always explores. She's grown very familiar with the inhabitants, and the patterns of the students here. The annex where the vending machines are tucked away is often a particularly popular spot...

But she doesn't recognize the voice whining this particular time. Still, not entirely unusual. She'd go see if there was any way she could help the poor soul locked away, then get back to the day's chief goal - concentrating her energy! She was sure she was getting close...

Except when Luna turns the corner, she does not see a student. No, she sees... a tiny... gothic... fairy?

HUH?!

And that face! That horrible masked face! There's no doubt about it - this creature must be a Dark Kingdom spy!

Luna lowers into a pounce poisition, shoulders hunched, tail twitching, ears pinned back... and launches for her prey!

"For the Moon!"

LKuna, sneak attacks work better if you don't call out!

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen raises her arms at the machine in a tiny threat display, which would probably look kind of adorable and toothless up until the point the wind started picking up around her. The energy coming off of her is clearly tainted with darkness, taking the form of storm clouds with a vaguely golden tint. She is not, however, expecting a sudden attack. When the tiny fairy hears Luna's battle cry, she turns towards the source only to end up with a facefull of mooncat.

    "Waugh!" she cries out as the larger mascot catches her. Gretchen flails and complains loudly, "Silly cat, I'm not a bird! Amy never makes that mistake." As she wiggles and squirms, she starts realizing just how much bigger a cat is compared to an X-Chara and wonders just how much trouble she's about to be in.

    "Hansel, Gretle, help me!" she demands. Out of thin air appears a tiny portal made of concentric circles of ornate lace alternating between black and white. Two eldritch winged beings made of rings lined with eyes appear and start swooping at Luna, not so much attacking as they are trying to shoo her away.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There are those who would say that pouncing on a strange fairy in the middle of her summoning a foul wind is an impulsive and foolish idea.

To those people, Luna would say... okay, so what?! She's already committed to the bit!

Because indeed, even as Gretchen yelps, Luna has already pinned her to the floor beneath her paws, intending to examine her a bit before carrying her off to her princess. Look at what a successful huntress she is! Look, she's so capable! She can just imagine Usagi's surprise and pride, the way she would stroke her head and praise her for her hunt -

Ahem, not that she needed that or anything!

Except, after the little fairy is down, she's not... down. Luna had been careful after all, keeping her claws sheathed and her mouth shut, so it's body weight and hefty paws pinning Gretchen, not tooth and claw. She might have even exclaimed that she is indeed not a silly cat, except that all of a sudden, there's a portal of circles and lace, and two strange beings with wings, and Luna -

"Serenity help me," she breathes, and then ducks her head to catch Gretchen by the back of her dress, and off she goes, racing towards Usagi's dorm with her prize.

Sailor Moon will absolutely know what to do!

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    "Waaah! I'm being fairy-napped!" shouts Gretchen. The tiny fairy is, at least, aware that she hasn't been physically harmed in any meaningful way, but she's still basically captured and her mind is scrambling to figure out how she'll escape from a cat without harming it.

    Wait... did that cat just talk?! Gretchen shudders as she starts to suspect this might be more complicated than she realized. She shouts louder, "Hansel, go get the others! Go tell Brai!"

    One of the mini-angels changes course to go off to Godoka knows where, seemingly having a plan. Unfortunately, Gretchen can't really feel safe or reassured right now because the tiny angel she's depending on has historically been kindof an idiot. "It better not fly into a window this time or something!"

    Gretle, meanwhile, is continuing to chase after the cat that is making off with Gretchen. The Familiar makes weird incomprehensible noises that sound so alien and strange that it's hard to tell if their exasperated, amused, or annoyed. It swoops down in front of Luna, trying to block the mooncat's path while expanding its wings out wide to make itself look even more scary. Every single one of its eyes look directly at Luna as the rings spin around.

    The masked fairy sees this and points. "See? Look how scary my minions are! You better let me go or... or..." Gretchen tries to think of a threat. "... or else!" Yeah, that'll show 'em.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna knows the dormitories like the back of her paw, having spent months exploring them, learning the quickest ways to get out of the building, and then, the quickest ways to get from Usagi and Naru's dorm to Makoto's and Ami's and Mamoru's and - the point is, she knows how to get around.

This is the one advantage she has over the strange creatures chasing her, though the wailing and shouting fairy creature is certainly distracting.

"Shuh uhf," she tries to order the little creature, but speaking intelligibly when you've got something in your mouth is near impossible. It's just not happening, even for magical alien cats.

So she runs, and thanks the Moon that there's no one around to hear all this ruckus.

And then just as she turns the corner and reaches the hall where Usagi and Naru's dorm lies, the strange creature swoops down in front of her! Winds spread wide, trying to block off the hall, and far too many eyes fixate on her, and Luna's tail poofs three sizes as her fur stands on end.

What. In. Serenity's. Name. Is. THIS?!?

But this creature is most definitely a threat! She can't just let it go now! Who knew what it would do?! Who knew what it had been doing?!? There's no choice!

Closing her eyes tight, Luna barrels forward, leaping up and over the familiar, one paw catching on a wing, she stumbles in the air, and goes skidding across the floor, stopping just before Usagi's room.

Gretchen goes flying too, freed from Luna's grip.

"Usagi-chan!" Luna cries out, voice free. "There's danger!"

In Usagi's dorm, the girl of the hour is laying on the floor in a pile of flashcards, having frustratedly thrown them up and then declined to pick them back up. She is one with the floor now. She is the floor and the floor is her.

"Huh?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen herself has lived in the dorms for a while, but exploration hasn't really been her goal. Going out means potentially getting caught. Mostly she has been hanging out in Homura's room, briefly leaving to find Witches, or checking up on Madoka's progress as a magical girl. Navigating the campus by flying is not nearly the same as doing so by ground, and Gretchen is getting to view this place from a very different perspective.

    Playing with Homura's cat is also not nearly the same as chasing Luna through the halls, and unfortunately Gretchen doesn't have access to the black haired Puella's laser pointer. Not that it would make a meaningful difference here.

    Gretle's many, many eyes look on in quiet astonishment as Luna bounds over it, and it turns to chase after the cat again. Clearly a cat's jumping ability is not to be underestimated under any circumstances, as Luna is demonstrating. As paws return to the ground, Gretchen gets even more desperate. She cartwheels through the air for a full second before coming to a stop in the middle of the air.

    Turning to the cat, Gretchen pushes her mask up and away as she tries to plead or reason with the cat. "Look, whatever Easter is paying you, I'll double it okay? I can... I can get you toys. Or catnip! You like catnip, right?!"

    Wait. Wait a minute. Did that black feline just call out USAGI?! Could that possibly be...

    Elsewhere, Hope Blossom is in henshin and currently rapidly approaching the school, led by the other freaky angel thing. The worry on her face is self-evident, but it's going to take her a moment to arrive.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Easter? I'm not being paid by an idol company," Luna sniffs, and then squints at Gretchen, appalled. "Now you want to bribe me?! U-SA-GI!"

Luna howls the name as the strange creature barrels down; no one in the neighboring rooms comes running - they've all gotten used to the unknown voice yelling at poor Usagi Tsukino. Half of them are convinced she and Naru are hiding a third roommate. (They're not wrong.)

The room directly in front of them quakes as someone ("someone") inside jumps to their feet, trips over their own scattered flash cards, crashes to the floor, and then finally gets to the door, bursting it open.

"Luna, I'm here! What's the big idea-"

Let's recap the moment.

In the middle of the air is a familiar little fairy. Behind said familiar little fairy is an unfamilair-but-distressingly-obviously-a-familiar Familiar. In front of the Tsukino-Osaka dorm is one Luna, sprawled on the floor. In the doorway of said dorm is one Usagi Tsukino, kitted out her PJs, hair messy from laying on the floor, one hand on the door knob, the other on her compact, an expression of utter bafflement on her face.

"Usagi! This - bizarre creature is offering me drugs!" Luna sounds much aggrieved. "Also, she summoned that - thing!"

Usagi is very tempted to shut the door. Instead, she scoops Luna up and against her chest, and turns to face Gretchen.

"You're... Madoka-chan's fairy, right? The one who said I wasn't her mom?" She's got the hand with her compact cocked on her hip, the other carefully supporting Luna. She's just... she's just going to ignore that thing about drugs.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Gretchen is totally about to bite back about how clearly an evil chara-stealing cat should totally be bribable as if somehow defending the credibility of her idea is more important than getting out of this horrid situation, but at this point she's just floating there mouth agape at the fact that this cat is clearly calling out the name of that Usagi.

    Yes, the one that yelled at her for messing with the controls. The one whom Gretchen told that she was not her mom.

    It actually takes the tiny fairy a moment to process the absurdity of the situation. Then, when everything clicks together she lets out a heavy sigh. Crossing her arms and turning away, Gretchen says, "Yeah well, you're not. Also I don't like your cat's implication that I'm some kind of pusher!"

    Some of the angel's eyes turn towards Gretchen and it makes a noise at her. She shoots back with, "Yeah I know what catnip is! I just think that's kind of a weird way of saying that!"

    Putting her hands on her hips, she floats higher to meet Usagi at eye level. When she gets closer she opens her mouth to say something but then pauses.

    Has she... met Usagi before? I mean, obviously they've met at school, but... doesn't she know her from somewhere?

    Don't be silly Gretchen. Of course you know people. You probably just remember her vaguely from previous timelines is all. She just can't place where...

    Her face goes through several different highly readable expressions, going from confused, to indignant, to introspective, to distracted and finally to focused on Usagi. "Look, I know my Chara Bearer doesn't look like it, but she's actually very powerful and very cuddly! You don't wanna make her sad, so leave me out of... whatever this silliness is."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Luna's tail has not regained it's usual sleekness - not at all. It's bushily slapping against Usagi's arm as she tries not to freak out about the angelic monster creature. Also - she's very confused. She knows Madoka's name, if only because she's heard her mentioned around campus, and she vaguely recalls that Madoka had been one of the girls at the Eclipse Zone - but Luna had been thoroughly en-baggened, and had gone entirely unseen. She'd only been able to hear, not to look around herself.

"This creature is attached to one of your allies? Her?" The disbelief is clear, and also probably a little insulting. Usagi just shakes her head, exhaling in a loud sigh of her own.

"Luna doesn't like catnip because it makes her act silly," she tells Gretchen, before looking down. "And yes, she's one of Madoka's little fairies. Did you really attack her, Luna?"

Is this... is this the legendary opportunity... to scold Luna?

Sensing Usagi's growing excitement, Luna wriggles herself free and clamors onto Usagi's shoulder, avoiding her eyes. "I didn't attack her. I collected her. To bring her to you! A strange creature like her, about to attack a defenseless vending machine -"

It all clicks.

"The vending machine ate your coins, didn't it?" Usagi turns to Gretchen, all sympathy now. "Look, I don't have Madoka-chan's number or anything, but if you want, I can give you some snacks, and then I can try and take you to her? To make up for all this? Luna's just very protective lately, since everyrthing in the world keeps happening at this school."

A scoff from Luna. "I'm exactly the right amount protective. You went off to have a date at the dorms and ended up having to help poor Mamoru-kun keep someone from dying."

"That wasn't really the dorms fault though..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Things are calming down, and Gretchen is starting to pick up on that. The tiny dark fairy looks between the cat and the girl and takes a long contemplative moment to consider what to do.

    At the end of the day, Madoka would be sad if there was bad blood between herself and someone else over something that her mascots got into, and that's the thing that guides her judgment. She may be a tiny silly-brained fairy but she's not without her own moments of wisdom.

    "It's not entirely her fault. I actually expected something like this to happen sooner or later. She didn't hurt me or anything. If I felt like she was going to get violent with me, things would have gone very differently." Gretchen holds out her hand, and summons a tiny ball of darkness. "As you can see, I can use dark energy. I also resemble Witches for... reasons I'd rather not get into. I try to keep my power use to a minimum because I don't want to go out of control like other X-Chara do, but I can't get rid of it completely without facing other problems. I should've been watching my back instead of getting mad at a dumb machine."

    Gretchen takes a moment to consider the offer for snacks, but before she can answer she hears a voice calling out her name.

    Hope Blossom runs down the hall, hair done up in twin braids, arms held tightly to her side. The other angel is floating behind her, flapping desperately to keep up. They're making pretty good time, but woe betide anyone who sticks their head out of the doorway to investigate. Now is not the time to jump out in front of a moving Madoka.

    "Gretchen-chan! I'm here!" As Hope reaches her dark fairy, she immediately cradles the X-Chara in her hands and holds her protectively close. Gretel floats back and up in order to get out of the way so Madoka doesn't trip on it. After a moment, Hope glances around and sees...

    "Usagi?" she asks. Then she looks down at the cat, and then at Gretchen. "Um... so... what's going on? Hansel told me that someone grabbed Gretchen."

    Since there doesn't seem to be a fight right now, Blossom henshin fades and Brai appears next to her. The tiny fairy moves to check up on her sister while Madoka's pink eyes stay on Usagi.

    Well, this is awkward.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh... that all makes sense," Usagi nods, sheepishly scratching the back of her neck, managing to not shift so much that Luna goes tumbling as she does so. "I can't sense dark energy at all, but Luna can sense it pretty well, so sensing you..."

Alright, Luna will not get teased for the rest of her natural life! She is spared this fate... for now.

That said... Luna does sigh a little, and scrunch down on Usagi's shoulder. "I do have to apologize. I suppose I jumped to conclusions... and while I was never planning to harm you, I've never enjoyed being snatched and bandied about..."

She might have said more, but there's a voice calling, and footsteps pounding, and the odd trio can see Hope Blossom bounding down the hall. Usagi sweatdrops a little, glad that none of her neighbors have decided to check in on things.

"Someone did grab Gretchen," Usagi starts, awkward, and then lifts a hand, pointing squarely at Luna. "Luna did. She saw Gretchen and thought she was suspicious, so she brought her and - oh, right, um, Luna's a talking cat, not a regular one."

That would probably go a long way towards making that explanation make sense?

"Sorry Luna's irresponsibility made you worry."

Is she enjoying this? A little.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka looks between Luna, Usagi, Gretchen, the two angels and then back to Usagi. She gives the other mahou a thin lipped, slightly mortified smile. In the back of her mind she thinks of all the various ways this could have gone wrong, but she pushes those thoughts way. Things didn't go poorly. This is just a misunderstanding. It's really no big deal in the long run.

    "I think if you were dealing with literally any other X-Chara, Luna's choice would've been the right one, but Gretchen here is a special case. It's..." Madoka sheepishly, nervously giggles and says, "... a little complicated."

    She softly suggests to her goth fairy, "Gretchen-chan, maybe you should send the Familiars home, okay?" The tiny mascot obediently opens another portal and the angels vanish through it, and then Madoka turns on her feet to face Usagi more naturally. "It's... it's really okay. No one got hurt. It's just a misunderstanding. No hard feelings, right Gretchen-chan?"

    The dark fairy looks up at Madoka, then to Luna, and crosses her arms. "It's fine. We know now, so it's fine. I also know not to offer you cat drugs so we're all learning things today."

    Madoka... actually seems to relax a bit once she realizes that Gretchen isn't going to make a fuss, then she turns her attention to Luna and says, "So... Usagi-san... I noticed the other day that you saw my fairies, and you also have a talking cat of your own. Not to mention you were talking to Sunbreaker in the Eclipse Zone. It's pretty clear that you can sense magic. I don't want to pry, but... what's your involvement in all of this? I don't think we're enemies or anything, but I don't think we've ever really gotten to know each other."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Poor Madoka looks a little embarrassed, and Usagi genuinely does feel bad, because she's sure her little fairy friend didn't do anything wrong. It's not her fault that Luna is so on edge lately! Between poor Ami-chan's mysterious hives outbreak, Sunbreaker turning up nearly dead (something Usagi can only think about because she's okay now), and the revelation that Riventon had faked them out on a rainbow crystal...

Her poor advisor has been really going through it. As the familiars vanish, Luna shuffles down from Usagi's shoulder to her arms, and looks incredibly sheepish.

"Thank you Gretchen-chan. And you two, Madoka-chan. And -"

Now it's Usagi's turn to be awkward, blinking at the frank and honest question that she honestly didn't expect. Really, it's unfair that she knows about Madoka and Madoka doesn't know about her, but she'd kind of forgotten, after telling so many people...

"Ah, no, we're definitely not enemies! I'm sorry, I told a bunch of people in December, and now I keep forgetting who I haven't told. I'm -" and she pauses, peeking down the hall, but it's still empty. "I'm Sailor Moon, and this is Luna, my advisor. Normally, she's the one keeping me out of trouble..."

Then it's her turn to fix Madoka with a curious look. "About your fairies, actually - you have more than three, right? Because this one," she points at Brai, "Is different from Gretchen, and the one I saw you with last time. I don't mean to pry, it's just the only people I know with fairies like you only have one..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka shakes her head at the thanks, saying, "Not at all. There's just no reason to leave weapons out if there's no fight. I think Homu-chan would call it something like... gun discipline? Those Familiars have names and act like living people but they're not... exactly 'real people'."

    Madoka also glances down the hall, and starts becoming very aware of the fact that they are, in fact, technically in a public place where people could barge in on them at any moment. Maybe they wouldn't, but that doesn't mean couldn't. That sure would be an awkward thing to try and explain.

    When Usagi shares her identity, Madoka's whole face brightens up. "Oh! Right. Eheh. Well, then I guess you kinda know the important bits already, since you were there when... Er..."

    Madoka is starting to relax as things deescalate. She doesn't mind sharing details with another magical girl, especially not someone like Sailor Moon. "Well, I think if we really want to talk about it we should probably go somewhere private, but... the short answer is that I'm kind of a weird case. In terms of things like destiny and fate, I really shouldn't be a Chara Bearer at all. I should've been a Puella Magi like Sayaka, but that didn't happen." Madoka starts to finger pet Gretchen's head.

    Brai looks up at Usagi and Luna and speaks next. "Madoka-chan's karmic potential is really super high, or at least that's what Kyubey said. When Gretchen and I first hatched as X-Chara, she took the majority of that potential power and ran away. I got purified, but Gretchen ran away because she wanted to prevent Madoka from forming a contract with Kyubey."

    Gretchen nods once as Madoka pets her. "That's basically the story. After Brai and I came about, more eggs kept appearing hatching. I actually don't know why there are so many. Most Chara Bearers only have one, but some have two or three. On the other hand, Brai's henshin is basically the same as Lydian's, Medo's or Sio's. Only mine is unique."

    "Eheh, well, maybe that wasn't exactly a short answer," admits Madoka.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Right, that makes sense," Usagi agrees, "And we're pretty okay, down this end of the hall; a few girls like us live down the hall, and some boys upstairs, but other than that, everyone around here is mundane, and won't notice any of this."

That's a also a quick assurance she can make. Normally, she'd invite Madoka into her room, but with how messy it is... does even she have enough shamelessness points to withstand being flustered by that?

Mayeb not.

It's not a short explanation that's then offered, but it is a thorough one, and even a slacker student like Usagi knows which one she would prefer, let alone Luna, whose ears prick attentively when Madoka, Brai, and Gretchen mutually begin explaining.

"Huh... that's really cool, though. Like, maybe you were supposed to be a Puella, but you became something else! You thwarted Kyubey! And maybe if you can do that, and Sayaka-chan could reclaim both pieces of herself..." Maybe what Kyubey said about Puella and Witches doesn't have to be true.

A part of her even wonders what it would be like, to know you might have been one thing, but were now another. She hadn't been Sailor Moon, in the past. But she is now. Is that something like what Madoka's experienced, going from a would be Puella, to a chara bearer?

"Thank you for explaining everything, Madoka-chan. What you've been through sounds a little more confusing than just being a reincarnated princess from Outer Space..."