1422/The Wrong Way to File a Complaint With HR

The Wrong Way to File a Complaint With HR
Date of Scene:	17 April 2024
Location:	Mitakihara Ward
Synopsis:	Bow seeks out Fuyuko to bring her to justice for killing the mascot Aurora, and finds that while she did indeed kill him, things are far more complicated than thought and in more shades of black and white and it ... is probably just better to eat ramen and not sweat it.
Cast of Characters:	Bow, Fuyuko Yuuhi, Kyouka Inai, Mamoru Chiba

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Bow has posed:
Early evening in the Mitakihara Ward. As the day has turned to night, the long shadows of the skyscrapers that brush the dark clouds above are cast even further, a bit deeper, a bit more ominous. It's enough that the streets are busy, but the side alleys and roads are starting to see their evening rush begin to fade away as people grab their purchases to hustle to the safety of their homes.

However, this is also where the night starts to turn neon as the glow of the karaoke bars, the host clubs, the various entertainment venues offer their electric glow that casts back into the shadows - but instead of making it feel more safer, it's even more sinister.

It doesn't help that this is also the time of the night that the masquerade has begun - the karaoke hostess that likes to get her patrons good and liquored up before draining their energy. The DJ who uses his music to pull people into a trance like a techno-Pied-Piper.

Above it all, perched on the edge of a rooftop, a figure has his goggles pulled down, the soft blue glow of them illuminating the night as he looks for his target. With a dark cloak pulled over his golden armor, his stance is crouched, and with his bow to the side as his quiver is set upon his back, he could probably easily be mistaken for a gothic statue of a fictional comic book than the heroic Bow.

But even soldiers in the Rebellion took on stealth missions now and again. And he is on the hunt, the image of Fuyuko Yuuhi, murderer of Aurora (and others according to Corona) and assistant-director of Human Resources at Obsidian loaded in from her plain, if pretty Linked UP Profile.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Early evening in the Mitakihara Ward, the sky predominantly red and orange, purplish blue creeping in at the edges, the far side of the sky opposing the setting sun. It had been a lovely day, warm and breezy, hardly a cloud in the sky, and Fuyuko had been disgusted. Did Spring have to be so.... Spring?

But at least the day is over, and true to form, night is falling, bringing with it a refreshing cast to all that brightness. Kyouka would probably call her a stereotypical goth - or worse, emo - and she wouldn't be entirely wrong, given Fuyuko's dark business attire, broken up only by a charcoal gray button down. At least she's off work, done with a day of requisitions, payroll issues, and memos to send to obnoxious, overly powerful directors who didn't care about processes or policies.

Honestly, sometimes it's like dealing with her fourteen year old self. Fuyuko's been forced to realize, again, and again, that she really had been an obnoxious teenager.

And to think, all it took was working day in and out with literal megalomaniacs and disastrously fucked up kids.

All of which is to say: Fuyuko has things on her mind as she cuts through the dark alleys, around the clubs, and on her way home. She's been getting into the office early to train Sunbreaker, pushing the girl as hard as she can without outright breaking her, and staying late every now and then to train up Taro, the two of them as different as night and day save for how utterly annoying they both were. They were terrors, and they were both, absolutely, going to fuck someone up.

A little laugh, hardly audible in the bustle of mitakihara, at the thought. She kinda hoped they did. At least it would mean all this work was worth it.

"I've got to find something better to do with my evenings," she mutters to herself, jaywalking to cut across another street. The people are thinning out, and the tall - much taller than average - woman who walks alone, striding with purpose through the night, is definitely eye-catching for someone on the lookout.

Bow has posed:
Bow was sure this was going to be the part of town he would most likely come across his quarry. It was near Obsidian, along the food stalls path, and near the karaoke bars. It should be the perfect spot to hunt for a thirty (twenty) something who was single and seemed to have no real interests outside of work (according to her Linked UP profile). At least that's what the web search on women than fits all those catgegories seemed to come back with?

Sipping on a juice box, there's a sudden chime in Bow's ear from Crystal Hope. "Despite my better judgement, I've found your target." Connected to the goggles, she illuminates a figure as she cuts across the street. Add jaywalking to her list of (supposed) crimes!

"That's her." Bow replies, and drawing back an arrow, he fires -- across to the street. A grapple line flies out and impales across the way, and using the bow as a handle, he swings his way across the street, landing on the other rooftop. Once he's there, he disengages the bow and makes his way along, waiting for Fuuyuko to have noone around her.

And once that happens? He reaches the edge of the roof, bracing himself. He murmurs a command, and an arrow is pulled from the quiver. Drawing it back, he aims at Fuyuko's back. Drawing back, he draws in a breath, sucking it in and holds it. His eyes narrow in focus, and his fingers gently release the arrow.

The canister arrow spirals down towards the woman. As it gets close, a pneumatic fuse engages, and popping from the canister if a human-sized net, weighted all the way around the edges. It aims to wrap itself around Fuyuko and pull her into it's ropey embrace for the hooks all to connect and lock on the front and hopefully take her down!

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
If Fuyuko could hear Bow's internal narration, she'd indignantly point out that she hasn't been to a karaoke bar for actual karaoke since she was fifteen. It probably wouldn't help her case, as a largely friendless spinster overly devoted to her work.

She'd still do it though. Never let it be said she knows how to give up on a lost cause easily.

That said? When Bow fires the grappling arrow and zips across the line? Even though it's behind her, even though it's out of her line of sight... she knows. Mayne she doesn't know that there's a mid-riff baring freedom fighter launching arrows, but she knows there's someone following her, someone closing in. Call it a second sense from spending literally half her life in this gig. Call it dumb luck.

Or call it cheating, because she can literally hear magic - and in this world, Bow's techno arrows count. There's the plucking of a violin, the sweet sound of music isn't in the real world - and Fuyuko leaps to the side to avoid the canister arrow. Black flows up and down her body like a liquid splash painting her form, transforming her business clothes into a cap-sleeved knee-length dress, white-star earring appearing in her ears, white-and-purple strapped leggings the only other pop of color on her.

"Now," she calls, looking up in Bow's general direction. "What's this all about now?"

Bow has posed:
As the canister arrow flies out and misses, Bow frowns. Fine, ambush blown, "We're playing by ear." he comments quietly, probably drawing a chiming groan of displeasure from his erstwhile companion. Leaping from the edge of the building, another grappled arrow is fired, the line snapping to cut his fall and he lands in a crouch in the shadows of the alley, the goggles pulled up, another arrow drawn, this one with a point on it. (it's a goop arrow).

He had expected the transformation - Corona had warned him that she was still magical (if past her prime) and extremely dangerous. "I don't want to hurt you." he says, the arrow drawn back, the cloak fluttering back enough to show the white, yellow, gold and red of the Etherian armor beneath.

"But you need to answer for the murder of Aurora, possible other harming of people, and... and..." A pause. "You were jaywalking back there!" he adds quickly. "So... turn back to normal and surrender, or you're going to end up in a sticky situation!"

Straightening to his full height, the arrow is drawn back, even as Crystal Hope is chiming into his ear. "This is a terrible idea, Bow. I told you not to take on this... ugh. Keep an eye on her. You don't know what she's capable of, and Cororna made it sound like she will /really/ hurt you. These are not the youma and robots you're used to dealing with!"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"You don't want to hurt me?" Lacuna shoots Bow a disbelieving, honestly insulted, look. Seriously? First some brat calls her an auntie, now some no-name thinks she has to worry about being hurt?

Not that she's going to give her counterpart any credit, but more and more it's obvious Kyouka has a point, because it's absolutely insufferable to be without the ability to show off exactly how capable she is of putting someone in the ground.

"Right, so since that's not happening," she says dismissively, only to realize that he's not done yet. And that -

"Corona sent you, didn't she?" Lacuna's eyes narrow, and even at this distance, Bow will be able to tell she's glaring, lip curled back, "Well, I'm not answering for anything, and if you want to try and bring me in, you'd better consider what you plan to do with me. And how you plan to bring me in all by yourself."

Is there a threatening, boss battle rhythm on? No, of course not. But there should be.

Bow has posed:
Apparently, this is going to go wrong - so so wrong. Because when Lacuna makes it clear that she is not going anywhere and then asks what he plans to do with her, he... well, that part he hadn't thought about, because his first thought is, "I'll get Sailor Moon to purify you and you'll be all good again!" he manages, because clearly that is the worst punishment he can think of for magical girls gone evil. After all, that's what they want to do to Sunbreaker and... well, that's about his expertise on that.

And with that, he lets the first arrow off. A goop arrow. It flies towards Lacuna, and when it gets close, it opens and splatters in a viscious green fluid that sticks to anything it collides with. If someone thought he was just going to stand there and keep firing arrows, they're mistaken.

He's immediately on the move, back tracking with steps and leaps into the alley as he starts to pull up normal (blunted) arrows, unleashing them as fast as he can draw and fire, his eyes wide as he backs up.

"Corona said you were dangerous and shouldn't be out and about because you'll hurt others!" Which is not exactly saying she sent him, but heavily suggests that there was a lot of words and thoughts pumped into his head, and now here we are. Untz untz untz.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
The goop arrow flies, and Lacuna isn't allowed to use offensive magic - isn't allowed to proactively fight. The word allowed is a hateful one, especially in this context, where she shouldn't have to worry about being allowed to do anything - but whatever.

Whatever.

She can defend herself and that's enough - she lashes out, darkness flowing like water around her arms, forming semi-circle shields that take the brunt of the goop. Despite everything, some of it still manages to spatter her.

But it's an annoyance more than -

First arrow is swallowed by the shield. The second is also swallowed. The third comes while she's dropping the shield to brush away goop, and smacks into her shoulder but good.

Which is why the shield comes back up, and she curses vibrantly, low and muttered and -

"And that's enough for you, huh? Some mangy mutt comes prowling around telling you to bother someone after work and you come out swinging? Kid, keep this up, and I'll show you some real firepower."

She's using one hand to shield. She's using the other to - get her phone? Clearly, her defense is going to be too strong for Bow to out maneuver with these attacks.

    TXT to Kyouka: that shitty cat sent one of your stupid fucking children after me.
    TXT to Kyouka: if we went with my plan I wouldn't be dealing with this shit

Bow has posed:
Blunted arrow after blunted arrow are fired, as Bow is backed further and further down the alleyway. As he reaches the dead end part of the alley, he realizes that he's not getting through that shield. What to do? What can he do? He's not sure, he's lost, and he's not the only one that's realizing it. Because with his heart rate up, and fear starting to show, suddenly, there's a chime from Crystal Hope.

Activating Preservation Protocol

Bow doesn't get a chance to protest - which he would have done so, loudly. Lacuna will see a small green glow on the back of Bow's neck -- and then his eyes turn an ominous green color as Crystal Hope takes over. He aims upwards, firing a grapple arrow, yanking him up.

And then the next arrow to rain down on Lacuna after he goes up is an explosive arrow, meant to slam into her shield and create knockback. Why?

Because Crystal Bow is reversing the field, going up and over the retired magical girl as he lands on the ground, turning so that she's the one facing the dead end.

A flare arrow explodes out next to attempt to blind her as another arrow, these much sharper, much more deadly are switched into, a combat mode kicked into that apparently not something the Etherian expected.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Meanwhile, across town...

    "...and so that's why you need to avoid the blue shells," Kyouka is telling Mamoru, with way too much enthusiasm. "But if you're in first place, which I always am, they're the worst because it's-" her phone buzzes, possibly much to his relief. "Hold on a sec." She pulls out the phone, glancing at the screen, and frowns, finger flicking.

    "The fuck is she on about.." The redhead glances up to Mamoru. "Hey, I gotta go for a minute. Fuyuko's apparently getting NARCed by 'one of my kids'. I don't know who she's talking about but I also don't think she can tell any of you apart so I'd better go tell whoever it is to knock it the hell off before they get hurt."

    She henshins in a flash of golden light, and before Mamoru can even get a true response out, she's simply gone without a sound.

    She appears directly between Fuyuko and the now-green-eyed Bow. Was this on purpose, or merely coincidence? Her sense for Lacuna's position, magic sense and simple long familiarity allows her to locate the other woman easily, but she can't have known the exact situation until she's there- and in the path of several sharp, deadly arrows.

    It all happens nigh-instantly. She appears, the arrows are flying, and her insane reflexes kick in, her arm snapping up sheathed in golden light, severing the arrow in two and sending the two halves skidding across the pavement to either side of her.

    Grey eyes narrow at Bow. "This isn't one of my kids," She says over her shoulder to Lacuna. "Are you just fucking with me, Fu-chan?"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Arrow, arrow, arrow, and they're all being swallowed, dissolved by Lacuna's power, because they're just... arrows. Nothing magical, nothing charged, not even fire or ice arrows.

Just. Arrows.

"Are you planning to bore me to death? There's nothing to purify, kid! Didn't anyone ever tell you some people are just born bad?"

It's not even the actual truth, but it's fittingly antagonistic. What? She works for Obsidian for a reason. She's all prepared to keep talking shit when suddenly - boom.

There's no damage, but there's knockback for sure, Lacuna pushed back a good three or so feet, phone knocked loose - she has to scramble to catch it, because like hell is she letting this kid break her phone - but the by the time the smoke clears the music is behind her and she turns, shields up, in time to see a blinding flash.

Dazzling sparkls fill her vision.

"Oh, come on, she growls, before the familiar bass rumble of Kyouka arriving registers. "Oh yeah, because I'm so known for my pranks. Watch out - he's got flares, and it's not fucking fun to look at them."

She's blinking to try and clear her vision, spots still dancing in her eyes.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Definitely to his relief. To someone who didn't grow up playing videogames or spending time in arcades playing videogames, discussions of how to win at the Kart are nod-and-smile territory. Mamoru nods and smiles.

And then she's gone, and he says something very rude under his breath and ducks into an alley. A moment later, he's grimly and unerringly going in the direction Kyouka's "signature" has appeared in -- he's following a teleporter by rooftop because he is a paragon of protection and whatever (he is nosy and wants to know what is actually going on.)

At least he's fast on rooftops.

Bow has posed:
Freedom. The freedom to use Bow to his fullest potential. He holds so much back that he doesn't even realize. Non-lethal arrows. Goop. Net. Blunted. Crystal Hope realized a long time ago that Bow, out of the trimunative from Etheria, was the one that held back the most. Adora's sword was too much of a wild card. Glimmer tired out too easily. Now, however, with the magic of Etheria within him - it's a good feeling.

The arrow that's sliced in half is glanced at by the Etherian archer as Crystal Bow takes a step back. "Secondary target, Corona warned of you as well." he says in a voice that isn't quite his own - as his field of fire switches to Stellar as an explosive arrow is sent her way - let her slice that in half and see what happens.

No. No ice arrows. No fire arrows. Bow hasn't tried for those yet. And Crystal Hope hasn't started tapping into that to figure that out.

After all... this is a test drive.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Hopefully Stellar has at least given Lacuna enough time to clear her vision. "I know you're full of shit, does that count?" She says with half-affectionate, half-scornful sarcasm over her shoulder. But the warning about flare arrows is well taken. "This one's yours then. Hup!" Years of teamwork make it seem all too familiar as Bow fires an explosive arrow and Stellar just jumps up and over, back behind Lacuna. Slicing a bomb won't work well- but swallowing it into an endless void will. (Not that she knows the arrow is explosive, but the same logic applies to flare arrows).

    Regardless, she is now standing more or less shoulder-to-shoulder with Lacuna, and if she had much in the way of introspective tendencies she might comment on how like old-times that makes it feel. Instead she just frowns towards Bow as he identifies her as a secondary target. She doesn't know his normal voice to identify that something is off with it.

    "Look, kid, I don't know who you are or what Corona has been telling you, but there's no need to do this. Fuyuko hasn't hurt anybody. Y'know, recently." She pauses, then glances to the side. "Right?"

    Really selling it there, Kyou.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
This has gone from annoying to outright irritating. This is why Fuyuko hates working with children. Never mind that she's twenty-three and thus not even a decade older than Bow - he is a child and she is an adult. Mature, wise beyond her ears, a paragon of fucking virtue for putting up with this shit.

Stellar jumps and Lacuna slides into position, shield up, and this time, ready. She doesn't allow the arrow to punch into a landing, but allows it to be swallowed into the void, devoured by the endless expanse of space.

"You're wasting your breath and failing to convince anyone of anything," Lacuna snarks, flashing out with her shields to catch every arrow that looks funny - she's taking this much more seriously now, because that explosion might not have hurt, but it could have, and if one of Kyouka's own side is out for her too? "He's not going to buy it. Corona's been making new friends out of old news, and now this kid wants to bring me in for purification."

Her voice is dry as the Sahara in mid-summer, unimpressed and unamused.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"GODS you're annoying, just bring me with you next time!" comes Mamoru's aggrieved voice from somewhere in the dark, right before a crackling red flash splits the night and drives an arrow into the ground, middle first.

Two halves of an arrow with a rose stuck in the concrete between them.

"Bow, you've been played. It sucks, but you've been played," says Tuxedo Mask, suddenly behind the other boy, grabbing him by the-- oh my god those are *biceps*, what the fuck-- biceps and throwing his weight into pulling him offbalance. "Also, your eyes are glowing!! Are they supposed to do that? They didn't do that before! It's kind of cool I guess but it's really creepy too--"

Bow has posed:
Bow is a child that has been at war and part of a rebellion to liberate his home from alien invaders since he was able to hold a bow to draw back an arrow to fire. Annoying is part and parcel for what he does, which is mainly... well, what he's done for most of his life - usually against robots. Or a cat and her scorpion companion. Which is now on his side. It's complicated.

But as he's firing and Stellar appears, there's a pause in the rain of arrows. Stellar... Bow recognizes Stellar. She was there when the whole Indigo crystal thing happened. She had complimented him on his tact and skill during the whole thing -- all during his first week at the school, when he was as lost as he is currently. Stella wasn't a killer - she was a friend of Sailor Moon's. Something else he remembered.

Something's off here. He doesn't know what it is, but what he does know is that he needs to get control of himself back from Crystal Hope. She means well, but now that they have clearance, they could retreat. Which is what they should be doing. Falling back, trying to figure this out. And get answers. Not from Corona.

It is in that moment of confusion as Bow is trying to wrest control back from Crystal Hope that the arrow he was about to fire gets sliced in half as it twangs awkwardly as the back half of the arrow is fired off in a weird direction. His eyes drift down to the rose at his feet and there's a moment of confusion on his face.

Then he makes out the voice of Tuxedo Mask - definetly a friend as he feels those hands on his biceps (well yes, he has those, 10 years of firing arrows and wilderness training!) and is suddenly off-balance and he goes off to the side, sliding along the ground with a groan.

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he brings his hands up to his face and covers his eyes. "Stop it." he growls, "...end the protocol." Crystal Hope chimes for a moment... and then relents.

Preservation Protocol Averted

A few blinks of his eyes, as he tries to reorient himself, currently seperated from his bow.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Purify you?" Stellar responds to Lacuna as the other woman swallows the next few arrows with her shields. "What's he going to do, delete those folders on your harddrive, because I'm pretty sure-" She cuts off, scowling as she shouts towards Bow, "Purification only works on people with Dark Energy! She's clean, so stop it with the arrows already!"

    Her arm flashes out, slashing effortlessly through an arrow that slips by Lacuna (luckily not an explosive one). Either of them alone could be overwhelmed by the volume of projectiles, but together it's a tough ask.

    Luckily for.. well, probably for everyone involved Tuxedo Mask shows up just about then. Complaining. "I didn't want to bother you! I was gonna come right back!" She yells back at him, petulantly. "You don't need to get dragged into this!" Except clearly he does, because he's the one who actually gets Bow to stop shooting.

    Stellar frowns as Bow seems to back down. "I'm starting to be more sympathetic to your point of view." She asides quietly to Lacuna.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"Better my hard drives than those crusty old floppy disks of course," Lacuna shoots back without skipping a beat - the trash talk game is on point, honed to a fine and brutal edge by years of friendship. There is no shame. She is twenty-three - crude jokes are still among the heights of comedy.

"Another one? Do your kids just stalk you everywhere you go? Is this contagious?"

It's a joke, but also - it's not. She - oh fuck her, she absolutely does recongize the kid in finery, and she's not embarrassed to be scene warding off one of his allies, but needing a teenager to heal your injuries is a somehow less embarrassing than ending up (non-purposefully) relying on a kid to cool down a fight. She handles this the way she handles everything else: with a lot of unfortunately earned confidence and a denial.

"Yeah, well, I'm always right," she says haughtily, and then pushes away from Stellar before the enormity of that lie can reach out and crush her into a tiny, hyper-dense mass. "Now that you're done firing, you want to actually talk, brat?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Sorry," Tuxedo Mask says, eyebrows up at Bow -- and then he leans to offer the other boy a hand up. "Looks like you've got a backseat driver. Maybe we can talk about that later."

He flips his cape back over his shoulder with his other hand, then glances back at Lacuna and Stellar. "I'm already in this," he tells Kyouka, then shakes his head. 'Bothering' him...

Then he looks back at Bow. "Also sorry you're gonna have to tank getting called brat for a while, you did pick a fight with Lacuna." He's not stopping Bow from getting his bow, either.

Bow has posed:
For a moment, Bow's about to go back after his bow - but something about Tuxedo Mask makes him stop. Crystal Hope isn't reacting to anything as he gets to his feet after grasping the other boy's hand to get to his feet. Another close of his eyes, and those dark eyes of his seem to return to normal as he looks to the two girls, and steps back a little - putting Tuxedo between him and them.

"I was approached by a creature named Corona who is searching out for someone to receive her power." he starts off, frowning at the pair as he uses his foot to kick the bow back into his hand, but shrinks it back down. "She said that the two of you... murdered her predecessor." he explains finally. "And made it clear she didn't think it would be safe to give her power to anyone while you..." a gesture to Lacuna. "...were about. Since you're the one that murdered Aurora."

"But if that's the case, why are you here?" he asks of Tuxedo Mask. "...she told me to be wary of them both, but why are you helping them if they were all that bad?" It's all very confusing.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar makes a face at Lacuna in response to her jibe about floppy disks. The energy is very 'fed-up-sister' and not at all 'blood enemies', although honestly anyone who has ever been blood enemies with someone they've known for most of their life might tell you the energy isn't actually all that different. Just with less murder. At least on this occasion.

    "That one isn't one of mine." She says, gesturing in Bow's direction. "Or at least, pretty sure he goes to the school but I've never really talked to him and I certainly didn't send him after you. I'm here to help you, asshole."

    She calls across to Tux, "You're in it now, but you don't have to feel like you- you know what, let's address this later. Somewhere with less weapons and hovering threats of violence."

    Grey eyes settle at last on Bow. When he speaks, mentioning Corona, she shifts... but doesn't move away from Lacuna. Still standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her old partner-cum-nemesis. "There's quite a few... creative interpretation of facts in those statements. First of all, I never murdered anybody. Second of all, you can't trust Corona. She has it out for us." A gesture that includes herself and Lacuna. "She's playing fast and loose with ancient history."

     "Didn't think she'd go as far as convincing some kid to try to kill you though," this last an aside to Lacuna. She sounds vaguely impressed. And not at all worried.

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
"Obviously you're here to help me," Lacuna rolls her eyes, "That wouldn't mean one of your kids was AWOL. But alright, he's not yours, he's not mine, he's definitely been roped into more than he's ready to handle..."

Because Lacuna might not be able to use her powers to fight back, but she can still use her fists, and mundane weaponry. And yet, she hadn't bothered to fight Bow - only made a mockery of his arsenal.

As Bow gives his view of things, and Stellar responds, Lacuna rolls her eyes. Well - she'll give this to the fleabag, she hadn't lied. But then, when the truth is as bad as it is, one didn't really... have to.

"She told you most of the truth," Lacuna says bluntly, for once acting the knife that cuts through illusions. "I killed Aurora. I don't want her re-establishing our old origin, and she knows it. If she's afraid for her life..."

She shrugs, careless.

"I'm not. She sent you after me. Why not try it again, with someone less likely to set aside ancient history? Everything's always so personal with kids."

The hypocrisy on display here is astounding.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
One hand flaps a little at Kyouka, agreeing but sort of dismissively, sure we'll talk about it later. Sure. Mostly, Mamoru's attention is the topic at hand, Bow's questions, and the answers of the two women -- Chaos Lady and Chaos Gremlin -- over there.

At Lacuna's answer, and subsequent challenge and diss, he theatrically rolls his eyes. Then he half-turns so he doesn't have to crane his neck to talk to Bow but doesn't have to rudely turn his back completely to the other two.

Tuxedo Kamen says simply, "One of them is my friend. The other is her best friend, and she helped me when I was in a bad place, once. Now-- I was still in an orphanage keeping magical secrets with my brother when the world almost blew up and Lacuna killed Aurora... and I can tell you ouright that extreme emotions kill inhibitions. Lots people give up, or explode, or end up doing things they'd normally talk themselves out of, when everything's gone wrong. Add a lot of power to that and you get people throwing minivans at people who threaten their little sisters-- or you get Sailor Moon about to kick Sunbreaker to death-- or you get another doomsday threat-- or you get a dead guy, a mascot who didn't recognise killing intent and run."

He takes a breath, then glances at Stellar and Lacuna again for a second, then looks back to Bow. "We weren't there for what happened. It's not our place to judge. And Corona is an asshole. And loyalty can be a very complicated thing."

Mamoru looks back at Stellar and Lacuna and says helpfully, "Don't worry, the Sunbreaker thing was only once, when she kidnapped Naru."

Bow has posed:
While Bow's weapon may be tucked neatly away, it doesn't mean he can't easily grab it if he needs to. For the moment, he's digesting information, taking it all in. When Stellar speaks, his eyes turn to her, his body still tense, even if Crystal Hope is under control, there's the element in danger. "I've seen you before. At the library when the Rainbow Crystal showed up. Corona said there was her partner there - walking the halls and that you were unstable, profligate and lacking in virtue." comes his comment as he draws in his breath. "She said it wasn't her mission to hunt you, but that you may interfer with her search for a worthy successor."

His boot scuffs the ground and he frowns, his free hand reaching up to scratch his neck near where the control chip is. "You..." a glance to Lacuna, were the murderer that hadn't faced justice for your crimes... and you..." his eyes move back to Stellar, "Were her accomplise. But you've done a lot to help at the school and... why would you be helping students, but stopping that..." He's heard what Kyubey's doing from Sayaka, but there's no way that Corona is just a wishless Kyubey, right?

"...and I wasn't going to kill her. That's what Corona wanted. But I figured if I captured her and brought her to justice. So that's what I was going to do. Because I mean. It's wrong. Even if they really deserve it." The crux of being a soldier who values life in a war filled with robots and villains that could be won over with truth and love.

Then Lacuna is speaking, and Bow drops his hand. At his side, but it's clearly at a ready position. Stellar, he knows a very little. Tuxedo - a lot more, if not as much as someone like Adora. Lacuna... this is totally the wrong way to make an introduction. "I've been involved in a planetary fight for freedom since I was old enough to pull a bow string." he grunts. And yes, he knows he may be way out of his element... but he's felt that way since he arrived on his world. Not much different than when he was on Etheria, really. All the Princesses with their powers, and he was just the normal guy.

The more things change.

Then Lacuna speaks and confesses to her crimes, and he frowns further. "Why did you kill Aurora? What old origin? Why are you so careless about it? Is life not worth that much to you?" Big dark eyes sparkle with confusion and worry. "It all sounds so personal to you, would it help if you talked about it?" he offers to her, his whole body posture that of one trying to understand things, but still on guard as he continues, "That's why you should surrender, because then you can get it all out and then everyone will know the truth and if you're found not to be in the wrong, then things would be better for you too, right?" Because there clearly has to be a reason that Lacuna did what she did. A good reason. A really good reason.

And then Tuxedo offers his view on things, and he twists to face the only one here that he truly considers a friend. And he's explaining things in another way and Bow frowns, eyes downcast for a moment. He's feeling played. And he recognizes that feeling. But at the same time. "I don't have that type of power. I don't throw minivans, or Sailor Moon type strength. Or a doomsday threat. But none of that justifies a murder, even if he was unaware and possibly stupid..." Kinda like Bow on that one, noone tell him.

But he falls quiet at that. "I didn't know you were an orphan or you had a brother." Hey, he grasped onto something in the story, at least. He just seems to deflate, shoulders slumping, posture failing. Tuxedo Kamen is vouching for them. "I'm sorry."

And he's not even sure what he's apologizing for.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Profligate?!" Stellar exclaims, sounding offended. "She said I was profligate?" No denial of 'unstable' or 'lacking in virtue'. "That was really uncalled for." She may not actually be sure what 'profligate' means. She'll google it later when she's not in the middle of a situation.

    Tuxedo Kamen gives a rather eloquent speech on the matter, and Stellar knows she can't equal him, in either benevolence or eloquence. Though she does aside to Lacuna, "Sailor Moon is my best student." But she can offer what she always offers.

    Sincerity and respect.

    Stepping forward towards Bow, Stellar gestures towards Lacuna. "Look, kid, this chick and I have been 'accomplices' since we were twelve years old. We've been a lot of things- friends, enemies, everything inbetween. Corona didn't lie to you. In fact I think she told a little bit too much truth. There's a lot of history in this city, things people don't remember. And I'mma be honest with you.. a lot of those things should stay forgotten. Not because they aren't significant, but because at a certain point the past is the past and people need to move on. Holding grudges.." She casts a sidelong glance at Lacuna. "It costs us in the end."

    "Here's the thing you need to realize. Aurora's murder wasn't justified. But she didn't do it because she thought it was. She was out of her head. She wasn't thinking straight. Tux is right- get a person fucked up enough in the head and they'll do shit they wouldn't normally. That doesn't always make them evil. And justice..." She makes a somewhat sour expression. "Justice is a word that's too often used to persecute people who've made mistakes. But who the hell hasn't made mistakes? I never killed anybody, other than monsters I mean, but I can't claim I never did anything I regretted later. I was a fucking asshole as a teenager man, let me tell you. Half the kids I knew back then could probably walk up and punch me in the face and fairly call it 'justice'. But sometimes growing up means realizing we've all done stupid shit and maybe people don't deserve to be hounded by their mistakes for the rest of their damned lives."

    When Bow suggests that Lacuna 'surrender' and tell her side of the story, she almost laughs. But manages not to. "Surrender to who, kid? There's no magical police force with a psychiatry division. Hell, if there was we might not be in this situation in the first place. Throw a bunch of kids into a magical meat grinder and say 'figure it out', and is it any surprise somebody got killed?"

    "Let me be honest with you. I was mad as hell at this bitch for killing Aurora. We beefed about it for like, five-plus years. Literally tried to kill each other. If I can get over it, then you should probably just chill out about it too, huh?"

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
Bow's words, his litany of ideas and thoughts, his plans for what to do with Lacuna - well, they're laughable. The kindest thing Lacuna can do, in this moment, is not laugh, and despite the fact that almost no one on the planet would mistake her for kind?

She gives him that grace. She doesn't laugh.

Her eye twitches, when Stellar takes over, spilling more of ancient history than is necessary on top of her amateur psychiatrist opinion, and she elbows her, hard.

"Then you've been fighting a long time too," she says and it's not a play for sympathy at all. "I don't know where you came from, where it's freedom on the line instead of existence, but it sounds like you're from a place where there is justice, of the legal sort. A place where there are people who can handle people like you, who think they could handle people like me. Well Stellar's right about one thing: we don't have that here."

She lets that sink in for a long moment. "Murder is justified by the same thing that justifies everything else people do: desire, and the power to fulfill it. Kid, you seem to think I feel bad about what I did, back then. I don't."

She levels a side-long glance at Stellar, speaking more to her than Bow.

"I might have been out of my head, but I don't regret what I did then. I am who I am and the person I am is the person who was always going to walk the path I walk now. As far as Corona, and hell, most reasonable people are concerned, I am in the wrong. Believe it or not, despite whatever fit of murderous power gripped you for a second there: you're not in the wrong for coming after me."

This too, she lets sit for him, not because she wants the kid to feel better, but because it needs to be said at some point.

"Of course Sailor Moon is your favorite," she mutters to Stellar, rolling her eyes. "Too much power, too much heart, not enough common sense, from what I hear."

But that's not really relevant. What's relevant is:

"I told you the truth. You need to decide what you can live with. Because there's no justice for me to face - there's just life. As long as our battles are forgotten, as long as our victories and our defeats are as meaningless as grains of sand on the beach, the only justice any of us can hope to have is what we can dish out with our fists. You can tell Corona, if you see her again, that if she wants justice, she can come get it with her own paws. You don't have a stake in this fight."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Everything that Bow says, Mamoru has complicated feelings about. The same goes for what Stellar and Lacuna say afterwards. He finally just reaches to put a hand on Bow's shoulder, still keeping himself more or less where Bow put him -- between Bow and the two women. He tilts his head when Bow bows his, frowning. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Except maybe letting something green backseat-drive you, we'll have to see what can be done about that."

He squeezes Bow's shoulder and lets go, smiling. "Also, you'd hate my brother. I don't know if you've heard of Riventon, but we joined Obsidian together when we were thirteen, yoinked right out of the orphanage. Like I said: loyalty is complicated. And yeah," he nods in Lacuna's direction, "what every person can live with is very personal. But you know how they say you gotta pick your battles?

Tuxedo Kamen takes a breath, holds it for a second, then exhales all at once. He says, "You have too many battles, Bow. Better put this one back on the shelf. I'm happy to talk with you more about philosophy and justice and murder, but we should probably go get ramen or something, let the adults do whatever adults do when they're off the clock. Like, drink beer and cuss and cry or whatever."

He pauses. "And that way we can avoid that goddamned vampire."

Bow has posed:
When Stellar takes a step towards him, Bow suddenly stiffens and takes a half step back, hand dropping again to the bow. It's the reflex of a child soldier, someone that is seeing a possible threat and reacting to it. Ready to draw, expand and release an arrow all in one smooth motion if he needs to. Even the small green glow on the back of his neck seems to grow more intense.

"Those that tend to bury the past will find that it has grown back worse than before." he comments - they buried Aurora and everything about it and now here it is, rearing it's ugly head in the form of Corona. "People that make mistakes generally want to do something to make amends for their mistake, instead of hiding it away and forgetting about it." he points out diplomatically. "She killed Aurora. Fact. Proven. And now she works for Obsidian. I... I'm not like you. When I make a mistake, when I regret something, I try to make it right. And that's not what's happening. Hiding something only makes it worse."

Then there's the mention of their being no justice and meat grinders and his lips pull into a thin line. Feet shift, pulling into that archer's stance as he closes his eyes for just a moment. "Why did you get over it?" he asks Stellar simply. Then there's a blink. "How do you both still have powers, I was told there was this whole thing that made you lose them when you reached a certain age, and you're both so mature."

As Lacuna starts to speak, he's not sure what to think. Yes, he's been fighting for far longer than a child should - after all those shoulders and biceps and abs didn't come from suddenly getting magic one day by holding up a magical sword and getting fantastic secrets revealed to him. But it also came with an unhealthy obsession for catgirls.

But it's more the fact that.... Bow blows out his breath, and when he speaks, the first sound of exasperation is in his voice. "So there's no regrets, no justice, no rhyme or reason. Just yet another unending war that ebbs and flows, without a way to reach an end, without a way to... solve anything. Back home, it was drive the Horde from the planet... to finally be free to live in peace. To end the occupation. There's no point here. Girls get turned into witches. Mascots get murdered. People are drained of their lives without them ever knowing... it doesn't make sense." At all. He stands on that beach that Lacuna describes. Except there's no surf. No warm sun. No cooling sea breeze. Just the harsh reality dawning on him. "There's no winning this. On Etheria, we were down, but we knew there was a chance, even if the Princess Alliance lost once... I believed in it. The Rebellion that rose from it had... could... but there's nothing here." And she sounds like a villain. It reminds him of Catra or Hordak... And it is when he considers that he feels the first breeze of hope on his cheeks.

"That's not true though. The victories, the defeats. They mean something. To their freinds. To their families. Justice isn't found in your fist, justice is found in seeing that someone has realized their mistake, owned it, and made their amends from it. According to your Linked UP page, you are in human resources. That means that you are helping and guiding people. Even if it's for... the wrong reasons. That's still helping. That's still... it's something! Maybe it's not a jail or anything like that, but it's something you've chosen for yourself that you can try to make your amends. Like Stellar... at the school. I mean, they wouldn't have her at the school if she was a threat. So... if Corona's the threat... then I mean. Maybe she needs to be confronted so in a decade - we're not standing here doing this all over again with whoever she choses?"

Bow has posed:
Then Tuxedo squeezes his shoulder and he kinda deflates and stands down - it was a touch that was needed. "That was Cystal Hope... she is able to take control if I'm in immenent danger to protect me by any means possible. I was able to get control back." he says to Mamoru, as there's a shake of his head. "Nothing to be done about it, it's only an emergency thing."

"I've not heard of him... why are so many friends and family on different sides of thing here?" he asks with a small sigh, lowering his head as he's told he has too many battles. "I have to manage them all, Tuxedo." he says quietly, honestly. "If I handle the battles, then other people are free to live their lives. I helped Queen Glimmer back home because if I did all the heavy lifting, she could be what she needed to be to the people of Brightmoon." he explains.

But, he's willing to let it go. "I know, I know. Stuck my nose where it doesn't belong." He does that a lot, though. "And this time it came back to bite me." He finally shifts his stance, and his arms drop to his side. "Okay." he agrees to his request. "Wait... what's a vampire?"

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Stellar turns her head when Lacuna starts speaking, her brows drawing together as she listens to her ex-partner waxing poetic on the justification of power- or maybe it's the elbow to the ribs which makes her double over and shuffle a few steps away, gasping faintly for breath. By the time she's recovered, Lacuna has mostly finished speaking. She doesn't let the elbow go entirely unpunished, reaching out as Tux starts talking to Bow and giving Lacuna a none-too-gentle shove on the shoulder.

    "Look, I'm trying to save this kid from making a mistake he'll regret, would you cool it with the supervillain taglines for half a minute? This is for your benefit too."

    When Bow speaks again though, she frowns a little, straightening up. When he speaks of a world without rhyme or reason, a war that never ends, she feels the need to interject.

    "You're right, kid. It's a war that never ends, it's a cruel world and justice and mercy are in short supply. But lemme tell you the same thing I tell all my kids- that being true doesn't make it not worth fighting. Because we don't make this war. Monsters are gonna come and people are gonna be in danger, be hurt and die, whether we fight it or not. If we can give the majority of people a normal life where they worry about things like bills and grades and not alien monsters and life-draining youma, then that alone makes it worth doing."

    "This ain't about 'you did wrong' or 'you used your power badly'. It's about making it so most people just get to fucking live. Okay, Lacuna killed Aurora and she's not sorry about it. That still pisses me off, and I don't think it was justified no matter what she says. But she also saved a fuckton of people, fighting alongside me. How many kids out there got to live a normal school life, how many salarymen got to go home and sleep in their beds because we ruined our lives with this stupid superhero gig?"

    "I don't want people getting away with murder any more than you do, kid. And it sucks that there's no way to make this world a nicer place than it is. But the fight's worth fighting regardless. No matter what she said, Lacuna has protected people and she still protects people, in her own stupid corporate way. It's not worth putting yourself in danger to balance a scale that's never going to be balanced anyway. If you get yourself killed by Lacuna here, think of all the regular-ass people who won't get saved in the future."

    She shakes her head, glancing down at the sidewalk, then up at the two boys again. "Tux is right. You should just go get some ramen and relax. And for what its' worth.. I don't think Corona wants justice, either. At best, she's after vengeance, and I don't know if I even fully believe that. But she's definitely using you, and you should be careful trusting what she says if she talks to you again."

Fuyuko Yuuhi has posed:
That none-too-gentle shove on the shoulder doesn't knock Lacuna over, but it's enough to distract her so that Stellar can have her turn with the talking stick - and she's probably doing a better job of defusing things.

Not that Lacuna especially cares about defusing things. There's a few things that were missed, points that should probably be clarified, for the sake of this not coming around again. Bow's point, in a roundabout way.

"You seem to think we hid the truth. We didn't. Everyone in our generation knew what I did; everyone might have been six other punks, most of whom couldn't have put a hand on me if they wanted, but the point remains, they knew. Not supervillain monologuing here," and she glowers at Stellar, "But that's the way this world works. You don't just lose your power when you become an adult. You lose all memory of it, too. People don't know about what happened then, because the two of us are the only ones who still remember any of it. Another reason there's no justice you can hand me off too."

Not that he's still aiming to do that - at least, not in this moment. As for how they still have their powers? That's a question Stellar can cough up the answer too, some other time.

Things are winding down, but there's one other thing -

"I wasn't going to kill him for firing a few shots. I was not going to kill you, for firing a few shots," this time she's focusing that on Bow, making sure he knows that, "I'm not in Human Resources because I care about helping people. I have a job, and I do it. I'm not secretly a good person, Corona might be a bitchy fleabag who should have stayed on the other side of space, but it doesn't make her secretly the villain of this story. Do what you want: you're a hero, you're going to stick your nose where it doesn't belong. Just don't get pissy if it ends badly for you."

That's not helpful! But she's turning to walk away as she says it, lifting a hand in a wave. "Come on, Stellar. Let the kids get ramen. I actually do want a beer."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Stellar's and Lacuna's points are all excellent, all of them, even the shitty ones. Mamoru's mild exasperation is saved for something Bow said, though. "There are more people than you who are managing battles here, Bow. The trick is to working with people instead of going off on your own to take care of everyone else's problems for them. Maybe it's different in Etheria, but here on Earth, there are literally too many battles for you to track. We'll stick another pin in the corkboard: Corona Is A Dick Don't Listen To Her," Tuxedo Kamen says, waving a hand around. "You find something out, corkboard. Let everyone else know so they can be aware of it... but listen."

Listen, he says. He slings an arm around Bow's shoulders, steering him away from Stellar and Lacuna both, and they start heading off for the rooftop ramen restaurant like a couple of cosplayers.

Listen, he says, and his voice goes quieter as they leave the alley for the louder (incrimentally) street and sidewalks. Maybe it's something to focus on. "Keep you safe by any means necessary...? We're gonna have to talk about that too," murmurs Mamoru, "what if Crystal Hope decides that killing someone is necessary to keep you safe, and she's wrong? That seems like what she was trying to do with Lacuna..."

It's going to be a multi-layered and interesting conversation over noodle soup with delicious meat in it. A meaty discussion.