1943/A Perfumed Beacon

A Perfumed Beacon
Date of Scene:	15 September 2024
Location:	Plot Room 1
Synopsis:	A hunt for a mermaid's treasure turns into more than Laura, Miho, Amy and Usagi signed up for as Grand Ocean turns out to be involved and Numeri is after a cup completely full of motivation power the mermaid from the story had concealed there. In the end, the Dark General is able to secure it, while the Perfume Shiny Ring that holds a piece of home for Laura is retrieved and kept safe.
Cast of Characters:	Laura La Mer, Miho Inada, Usagi Tsukino, Amanda Faust

---

Laura La Mer has posed:
Inside her mansion, the Witch of Delays is grunting and clawing her bed in pain, the noise heard throughout the echoing hallways, when Butler barges into the room. "What's the matter?", he hurries to her side, just in time for yellow lightning to course through the Witch, before it consolidates into a new sphere, ejected straight to the seahorse's forehead, sending him to the floor. "How long will you make me wait?" Quickly, get motivation power", the Witch grimaces, her head slightly upturned towards her servant. "R-rest assured", he says as he recovers from the accidental blow. "I got good information. This time, for sure..." he reassures her, taking the newly produced Layabout sphere and bringing it back with himself.

Back to Odaiba Island, the sun is about to set and accompanied by her friends, Laura is heading towards a cave system where according to a leaflet a treasure that got put there by a mermaid. She was, of course, incredibly surprised to hear of such a thing: why come all the way here to hide a treasure? Even the closest kingdom of the North Pacific wasn't exactly behind the corner. And what would she have left here? Anything that came to mind would be far safer in their home.

Finally, the opening of the cave is in sight! Just you wait, treasure, we are going to solve your mystery! Her enthusiasm turns to curiosity when she is greeted by an unexpected sight, an old woman waiting in front of the cave, her face peering in the dark twists and turns. Is this normal? Surely she isn't thinking of going into the cave at her age, right? It wasn't exactly advertised to her as a leisurely walk. "Uh, someone else is here", she tells everyone else, before stepping forward. "Is everything alright?" Laura speaks up, stepping closer to the old woman who turns around.

"Oh, yes", she brightens up with a smile. "I was just thinking about some old memories." As she is saying that, she peers at Laura from head to toe. "Say, wouldn't you be here for the mermaid's treasure?" A nod follows from Laura, of course she is here for that, how many people would be visiting the caves for themselves when they advertise the story first and foremost? "People don't really get in knowing the full story. Would you like me to tell you?" The mermaid's mouth hangs open when she takes in the old woman's offer. "You know of it? I mean, sure!", she quickly corrects herself, gazing attentively.

With the attention focused on her, the storyteller smiles. "You see, it was my grandma who first told me this story when I was even younger than you. Back when Odaiba Island was first built, she was just a kid then, having come here with her family, one of its first settlers. She was really reckless at that age, and out of a dare her friends gave her, she headed into the forest at night, a pleasant full moon in the sky, just like the one there will be tonight."

She stops a second to take a breath, then continues. "Out of nowhere, she heard a noise like a loud splash of water, and that's when she saw her, the Forest Mermaid, one she said was exceedingly beautiful, with the backdrop of the full moon behind her. I wanted to see the Forest Mermaid too, one day, but these old bones aren't just like were in my youth. This will probably be the last full moon I will be able to come all the way here." She then shakes her head. "But you didn't come here to listen to an old granny's complaint. Anyway, I don't know why, but my grandma was convinced the mermaid had hidden a treasure here, and that's how the rumour started spreading. Have fun in the cave now", she pats everyone here on the head, before turning to gaze at the setting sun.

Is that it... That was certainly a mysterious story, but it didn't really shine much of a light on the mermaid's circumstances. "Thank you very much", Laura bows towards the granny, before heading into the caves after taking a torch out of her backpack.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Well, the night prior was very...eventful. And well, a number of people decided that it might be best to let Miho spend the day recovering from said incident. As the woman has walked around the island a little bit, a strange noise comes from her. A low growl. Its almost feral to hear if one doesn't know what it is. And frankly, its Miho's tummy. The girl is running on empty since her first transformation. And well, since its her first time, she didn't exactly have time to really get a good meal set up yet. That and she doesn't realize how much energy she expended yet.

    Miho joins with Laura to explore the cave, mostly cause well, she was told to rest up a bit. She's currently munching on a protein bar behind Laura, and looking around for something else to chew on. She takes a moment to breathe out, and focuse her mind on something other then food. Like the 100s of questions thats going crazy on in her head. Not to mention that Yukihime is still putting infromation inside her head. Its rather clear that Miho is still kinda out of things, as her outfit at the moment is a pair of loose cargo shorts, and a light blue bikini top. Normally Miho would wear a bit more then that, but honestly, she should be fine...right?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
A ton of exercise - like exploring a cave - is not exactly, Usagi's idea of a good time, but considering their day at the beach had been foiled by a Witch, the idea of finding a treasure with friends had, at least, been a welcome one. Madoka had stayed with the other girls, but Usagi had split off with Laura and those coming to the cave, deciding she might as well check it out.

When they get there, and the old woman shares her story, Usagi listens tentatively, pondering what a Forest Mermaid looks like, wondering if she had been as pretty as Laura's own mermaid form, and then, when the older woman is gone, turns to the others.

"Well, that sounds promising. Maybe there really is a mermaid treasure here."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The mermaid's treasure is just a story... is what Amanda would have thought, long ago. Now? She's seen so much. It might well be real but something only magical folk could find.

    But then... wouldn't someone magical have searched for it by now?

    Although, her mind has wandered by the time they reach the cave. Miho is wearing cargo shorts and a bikini top, and something about that is kind of a good look, and she's seen girls do that but... could she do that? Does she want to? A bikini top might just draw attention to her lack of all that much for it to cover though, and boy is it weird to even be having that thought and any feelings about it and

    Amy is startled out of this snarl of tangled thoughts by the sound of an unfamilair voice, and looks around trying to not come across like she was spacing out.

    There's already someone here. Old lady. Probably not mahou -- unless she's a Dark Energy user -- but there seem to be some magic-aware humans, and of course someone could be a mermaid or youkai or something in a human-looking form. So. Who knows?

    If she's part of the tourist attraction... would someone really spend so much time waiting here for people to come by? The pay couldn't be that great, it's not like they bought tickets.

    Amanda listens to the story and looks at the old woman with pity. If he had just had a brush with magic and remembered but then not seen it again, would this be his future? An old man searching the place he saw a magical girl once, telling youngsters about it in 2065, 2085?

    He-- She can't let it end like this. Her heart goes out to the old woman in sympathy. "You could... come with us. Even if you can't fully explore the cave, we could let you know if we find something."

    Either way, Amy will follow the others into the cave, though.

Laura La Mer has posed:
"You are a sweet young lady", the old woman tells Amy at her offer, "but it's really better if I keep myself to the trail above the cave. I don't really have the energy for going spelunking nowadays", she smiles, waving at the group before walking in the direction she had mentioned.

Inside the cave, there is a handrail that accompanies the path while it is still lit by the natural sunlight of the entrance, but it doesn't take long for it to become a dot of light in the distance. "Ok, this is where the treasure hunt starts", Laura says, switching her light on and peering ahead in the dark cave. So far the path went on straight in front of them. Good, that is going to make it much easier. "How are you hanging in there?" she asks the rest of the group.

"I don't really know what a mermaid would be doing here though", Laura tells Usagi. "We have much better places to hide things in than some cave in the human world", she muses, not taking her eyes out of the path ahead. She still couldn't wrap her head around that. "There must be at least some path where the cave connects with water. I don't see how she would have gotten here otherwise.

There was more weird stuff ahead of then, though: at a certain point in their path, a slimy trail half a meter wide joined their path from a different section of the cave, but that wasn't all; a loud noise also boomed from ahead of them, just somewhere close enough that it feels like they are going to catch up to it soon. "What is that supposed to be?", Laura frowns at the noise, recoiling in disgust away from the line marked by the slightly sticky liquid. Good thing she noticed before walking on it.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho stretches a little bit. She takes a deep breath as she listened in, and watched things. The woman takes a deep breath, and pulls out another protein bar. She chews on it as she follows along. For the most part, Miho really hasn't said much. Her mind is still kinda jumbled up. She looks over at Amy, and gives a small wave. For a long moment, Miho looks up, and around. She opens her senses a little bit. Things feel weird for her now as her senses feel...more alert to things.

    "What was that noise?", Miho asks. She breathes out a little bit, as she looks around, and keeps her arms up, ready for a fight. "Ummm, kinda a silly question, but is there a limit on transformations in a day?", she asks. "Sorry, just....yeah, I'm still learning things here.", Miho says as she watches things. A part of Miho wishes she could call forth a shikigami to fly ahead.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Amy offers for the old woman to go with them, but Usagi is relieved she doesn't - because she doesn't think that taking an old lady into a cave is a good idea. Not for them, not with their luck. They make it a little further inside, but the noise? That doesn't sound good.

"I don't know, but I think transforming is a good idea here - and I don't have limits, exactly, but the more you do, the more tired you get?"

She's not... this is the first time she's met Miho, but they're all magic here, as is obvious, and going chasing after a mermaid treasure meant it was kinda obvious they were all in the know, so...

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

A flash of light and ribbons, and Sailor Moon stands there, looking out watchfully.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy looks pleasantly shocked, cheeks reddening a little even, at being called 'a sweet young lady', though a moment later she's nodding with a slight sadness at the elder's decision to not spelunk.

    Once they're in far enough to take flashlights out, Amy digs through her backpack, retrieving and turning on a headband light and a red mini-maglite. And a compass. "Our heading going in is <direction>, so the cave entrance is back <opposite direction.> I've got spare double A's if anyone's flashlight dies."

    She puts the pack on her back and looks to Usagi. "In Minecraft, I'd place torches along the right wall so I can always tell if I've been somewhere before, and which way goes back to where I started. Do you think I should try conjuring flares?"

    Reasons for hiding treasure are discussed. "Maybe she wanted to hide it somewhere mermaids wouldn't look -- or maybe it was for humans to find. She didn't say why her grandma thought the Forest Mermaid hid a treasure here, but there must have been some reason. And couldn't she just have turned her tail into legs and walked in and out?"

    "...Sometimes, people just like the idea of burying treasure. Maybe she hung around humans a lot and they rubbed off on her."

    And then they find... a slime trail? And Amy jumps at the weird noise. "[What the hell?!]

    She shines her lights on the trail. "What would even make this? A youma?"

    "A limit to transformations in a day? Amy shrugs. "I have no idea if some people have a limit like that, but I don't think I've ever heard of such."

    And Usagi does think they should transform, at least, so Amy -- after retrieving some supplies to stick in her belt pouches, since her backpack will go wherever her clothes go when she transforms.

    A flash of flame, and there's 'Magical Rocket Girl Red', collecting supplies to put in her pouches.

    "I've got a little over twelve meters of rope -- well, paracord -- if we need it, but it's in these bracelets so I can't get it out quickly. If any of you start to feel light-headed or have trouble breathing, say something. I suppose if gas were a known risk here they wouldn't let tourists in, but if we find some magically-hidden section of the cave, who knows? I can stop needing to breathe and help you get back to safety if it comes to it."

Laura La Mer has posed:
"No, there are no limits on transforming as long as you can stay fresh", Laura replies to her, eyeing her briefly. Will she be fine, if that turns out to be an enemy? "If you feel like you have any problem, stick with us, we can help you", the pinkette warns her, keeping the light shining towards the inner path. "That is a good call", Laura agrees with Usagi regarding transforming, and takes out the Mermaid Aqua Pact on hand, but she first wants to see what they are dealing with.

"Are you sure you can do without breathing?" Laura asks. She isn't sure if she is being introduced to some magic of Amy, but she is pretty sure in any other circumstance, that proposal would definitely be unusual. On the matter of turning tail into legs, Laura shakes her head. "That is not something Grand Ocean mermaids can normally do. I have been granted an exception for the purpose of my trip here. The Queen only has enough for one", she clarifies.

When they catch up to the source of the anomaly, the light illuminates a purple-skinned woman with dark purple hair, turquoise eyes and curved green horns above her head, dressed in a green shirt and a lab coat, and, from the waist down a single long limb resembling the tail of a pink and purple sea cucumber, which is where the slime comes from. She definitely looks like she has seen better days, her hair is disheveled, her eyes tired, and she seems really, really upset. The noise? That was her growling stomach.

"What are you doing!?", she shouts, not particularly enjoying the light almost blinding her. "Put that down!" Laura does do that, even as she recognises the figure in front of her. "Numeri!? Why are you here?" she exclaims, her hand keeping the Aqua Pact close. "Likely for the same reason as you, but I will be the one to get the treasure! Come out, Definitive Layabout!", the dark general shouts, using the sphere on the flashlight she is carrying.

Which grows and grows and grows and grows, until it stops just in time for it to be able to stand normally. "Layabout!", it shouts, staring down at the group. "Ok, then!", Laura nods. No time to waste here!

"Pretty Cure! Tropical Change!", she announces as a pink sphere surrounds her. Inserting the Heart Swirl Ring sideways into the keyhole of the Mermaid Aqua Pact, she twists it upright and its seashell cover splits in half, revealing a purple base with white stars and blue waves on the left side and white hearts on the right side, surrounding a blue circle with a motif of crystals all around a white sphere.

The opened compact transforms her completely, enriching her appearance with make-up and new clothes calling back to her mermaid nature and beloved sea. Jumping upwards with a splash of waters, finally Laura introduces herself. "The Shimmering Ocean! Cure La Mer!"

"Layabout, attack all of them!", Numeri orders, and the youma obliges, blasting strong beams of light on all of them. La Mer dodges hers, and in relation she pushes the Layabout back with a kick before running ahead. Securing the treasure from Numeri is their top priority.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho nods her head as she listens. It takes a second before she breathes out. A blue fog comes out of her mouth. "Youkai musume, Yukihime.", she quietly says. The fog surrounds her, and crystalizes around Miho. After a second, the ice shatters, and becomes a small blizzard around Miho, clinging around her both. A suikan forms around the woman, and her skin turns pale as the snow clings to it. Her hands become like claws, as small fangs poke out her mouth. Her eyes are so pale, they almost appear to be frozen. A few small orbs seem to float around Yukihime as she claws a piece of ice in front of her into a talisman. It becomes a naginata that she carries with her. Her bow is strung, and being carried on her back.

    Yukihime lets out a slow breathe, making a second talisman, and an orb crashes into it. The Shikigami that appears is a small bunny. Nothing threatening of a tiny mountain bunny! Honest! The new magic girl breathes out a little bit as she nods her head. Her stomach growls loudly again. "Sorry, I'm...still kinda fresh from awakening last night. I'm...kinda really hungry right now.", she says.

    As Yukihime follows along, she pauses a long moment. "Miss...Umm Moon? Where's the rest of your outfit? I mean, that skirt seems....ummm....short?", she asks. Yes, Yukihime just asked Moon that. Then the attack happens. Yukihime rolls out of the way. The Bunny shikigami is running around at hyper speed, looking for its chance to bunny punch. Yukihime draws her bow. She's not quite sure if she should use the arrows. Things...feel different then the last battle. She draws a few more talismans, and then the bunny runs over, collecting them, and tries to tag everyone with Barrier talismans.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Are you sure you can do without breathing? "Well, I can do without pumping blood, so clearly oxygenated blood is a nonissue if it comes down to it." She blinks. Laura was there for the Ocean Witch... was this part not explained? Amy points at herself. "This body is a magical Witch-hunting machine, remember? Actually the first Witch I fought filled her lair with water, but I didn't know I could do that back then. If the Princess of the South Pacific hadn't been there, I would've--" She pauses. "...Huh. I guess I would've found out breathing was optional sooner. But it would have been very disorienting! And scary! Certainly not good to deal with during my first Witch battle!"

    Mermaids can't all do the leg thing? "Ohhhhhhhh. Huh."

    Miho... tranforms! "Woooah, you're magic now? Congratulations! So did that bunny find you and enlist your help in saving the snow kingdom?" Amy wonders.

    Isn't Sailor Moon's skirt too short? Amy looks down at her own, which is... shorter than she's wear as a civilian, as it's above the knee, but not quite as short as the Sailor Senshis'. "I think it comes with the territory if the skirt is kind of accenting an outfit designed for leg mobility." She does a quick crescent kick to demonstrate. "The girls with the really long dresses all like, fly around and fight with magic blasts from long range. ...Which I guess I could do now, huh..."

    Following the slime trail brings them to... whatsername, the scientist-ish servant of the Witch of Delays! "Oh, it's you again." Amy comments, then looks puzzled. "Wait, what are you doing here? There can't be that much motivation power to steal deep in a cave..." Still, when asked to put the light down, Amy instead switches her headlamp and flashlight to 25% brightness.

    Although, when she sees Numeri make a youma out of a flashlight, Amy scoffs, "You really think that'll work?" And holds up her hand as if to tap on her head, then looks startled. "What?!" No, her magic won't make a helmet with a dark visor like she hoped. It's not cute! "Ugh, fine then!" She instead summons sunglasses with garishly barbie-pink rims, and slips her flashlight into her belt pouch while tossing flares around the chamber.

    Which, while it may be somewhat useful for freeing up their hands and for letting Amy see with sunglasses on, does nothing to help her when light freaking blasts her and turns out to be an energy attack and not just, y'know, light, sending her stumbling and tripping to the ground. "Agh!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh great," Sailor Moon grimaces, as they come across the enemy, "At least we know the treasure is rea- A FLASHLIGHT? Really?!"

Are they just turning any old thing into monsters these days? Is there no effort made at all? No though and consideration? How rude!

But the real rudeness comes not from the monster that's flashing light beams, but from the ally at her side, and Sailor Moon's eyebrow twitches as her skirt's length is questioned.

"This is the whole outfit," she says, tightly, "Maybe you didn't know, but in 2024 girls can wear what they want, and if people are looking at my skirt then that's their problem. I didn't know I was fighting alongside an old lady."

Her tiara is grabbed, becoming a disc of energy in her hand, and she hurls it at the flash light youma, aiming to cut into it!

"Moon Tiara Action!"

"You can't have this mermaid treasure, it's Cure La Mer's!"

Laura La Mer has posed:
The fact that Amy can actually use magic to avoid breathing is definitely a bit surprising. Even more than her fighting alongside with the mermaid princess of the South Pacific. "That's really not bad!"

Even Laura rolls her eyes at Miho being nervous at Moon's outfit. Really, if that is how she wants to dress, it's fine! What could even happen to her?

Though, Miho was having problems wearing a bikini on a beach. It's interesting that she has third hand embarassment about it. "I don't see anything weird about it, and besides it keeps you more agile, no?" she asks, addressing Moon directly.

"She tends to get self-conscious, nothing that is about your choices, really", Laura tries to get in between their back and forth. "Getting her used to that... is a work in progress, but I will help her get more confidence", the pinkette asserts.

"Not that it concerns you! If we think it's a good idea, we can do it wherever, don't worry your head with it", Numeri smirks mockingly. Said smirk only gets wider when she sees Amy wear sunglasses instead of trying to dodge. Good riddance there.

"Yes, a flashlight", Numeri calmly confirms to Usagi. If that choice riles her up, all the better as a distraction. "This treasure was here from before she was born, but I am not going to give it up anyway! Layabout, crush them now!" In response, the Layabout starts punching the cave over them, causing rocks to start falling all over.

Laura's rush is interrupted by that, barely dodging one that was about to fall on her head. "It's certainly not yours! And none of us is letting it fall in your hands!" The delay allows Numeri and the Layabout to catch up, though.

However, that is when the Moon Tiara Action puts an end to its disruption of the cave, causing a deep cut into the youma, who whimpers in pain at the strong damage. "Thank you, Moon!", she says, as the pinkette's run continues, only stops when the path stops into two. "I don't know the way", she tells the group. "Then stay here and fail", Numeri gloats as she is about to order another attack.

The mermaid assumes a defensive position in response, but then a fragrance spreads from the left path. "This smell... It's nostalgic...", Laura's eyes fill with shocked recognition. What is that doing here? "This way!" She tells her friends, running down the left path.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Inwardly, Miho is laughing quite a bit at Yuki-Onna's confusion. Yukihime is kinda wearing an outfit from the Heien period, which was...800 years in the past, and literally just one piece of cloth in total. Yukihime quickly breathes out creating several planes of ice in which her clawed hands quickly scramble up some talismans. Two more Shikigami slam into the talismans, and the Bunny Brigade goes on the offensive. They start attacing the Youma with rabbit punches to its legs...before getting crushed by a rock. Yukihime blinks, and shakes her head. Mental note...Need to work on learning what she can do.

    "H-hey! I don't get embrassed about wearing a bikini! I'm more embrassed about the boys seeing me in one! Large difference! And sorry! Just was wondering.", she tells th group. The girl tries to dodge a few rocks. She's not exactly used to her own movements yet before she gets conked on the head with a rock. Karma, Ladies. Remember! Yukihime has starry eyes for the moment before falling back down on her butt. She's trying to clear the cobwebs out, being the new girl in the fight. Has she even hit level one yet?

    "Remind me later...I need to practice on what I can do. Oh, and the Bunny didn't find me. You're talking about Kyubey, right? I...kinda have a guardian...ummm, I don't know what she is. All I know is that she controls snow and ice, and I seem to have something of a connection with Onihime.", she tells. THe girl follows along, taking moments to send more Shikigami bunnies after the Flashlight youma. For about as much good as they're doing....Yukihime's stomach growls again as she shakes her head. She's soo going to need some food after this.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    That's right! Even Amy is not an old lady! She gets back to her feet, hesitating to summon a rocket launcher in the confined space.

    The youma kind of forces the issue with rocks almost falling on her head, though! "Oh fucking no!" She curses a denial, following Moon's Tiara Action with a burst of gyrojet rifle fire. (non-explosive, rocket-propelled bullets)

    That could be a real problem! If her head is smashed... hopefully it will regenerate, but if the cave collapses on them all in the meantime will she even be able to do anything?! Being trapped underground and immobile until her magic runs out is not how she wants to spend her immortality...

    Laura knows the way! "Roger that, smoke out!" Amy tosses a smokebomb behind them to try and obscure which way they went, running after Laura!

    "I don't necessarily think she's being prudish!" Amy points out of the girl who was, after all, wearing a bikini top before. "Having tried it, I think short skirts are kind of uncomfortable to sit in actually! Kind of a thigh-on-seat problem, you know?" She looks to Yukihime. "There's no boys here, though." She tries to say something more thought out about the difference between being embarassed to wear something vs being embarassed to be seen in something vs embarassed at boys seeing you in something, but what with also fighting a monster while racing to find a treasure leaves her running out of brain.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It does keep me agile," Sailor Moon confirms, a little surprised to have Laura's support but welcoming it. "Oh, it's... self-consciousness, huh? Well, good luck with taking on that."

Maybe she misjudged Laura, that first day. It wouldn't be too unbelievable - she'd been upset by that chara, and on poor Taro's behalf -

And then rocks fall and no one dies because they all scramble, Sailor Moon herself shrieking - NOT super sonically - and scrambling away, towards the open passage.

"She's definitely a little prudish. It's fine but you know, it was a little rude, so just don't do it again, maybe?" Still though, when Yukihime gets hit with a rock, Sailor Moon grabs her by the wrist and yanks her forward, off her butt and towards the clear path Laura is directing them down.

"Your stupid youma is going to bring the whole cave down," she yells to Nemuri, "You'd get squished too, you know!?"

At least the youma is heavily weakened now, but still!

Laura La Mer has posed:
Amy is right to remind her, that, yeah, there are no boys here. "You don't have to worry when nobody else is around, though!", Cure La Mer tells Yukihime. Which is the whole point she was trying to get at. It only adds to the obstacles, her being nervous even if they aren't there. But she is still going to make her be at ease, no matter what.

In this contest of speed, Laura doesn't have much advantage on Numeri thanks to her trick from earlier. It's really just a good thing Moon intervened with the Tiara or the dark general, would have been ahead of her, rather than right behind her. The race ends quickly, as in a corner there is a bracelet over a filled cup. "That is mine!", the two of them yell at the same time, Laura ending up only able to grab the bracelet while Numeri snatches the cup.

"Eh, looks like you missed, mermaid-chan", Numeri grins, finding pleasure in Laura's angry expression at the failure. "You are not walking out of here with that!", she exclaims in response, reserving the question for why all that motivation power is here in a cup for later.

"Oh, but I am. And you all will stay behind to pay the consequences. Layabout, go ahead!", Numeri orders, the youma's flashlight hands glowing with an even stronger version of the beam. Her, getting squished? As if!

However, the seemingly ineffectual bunnies do help, casually walking around the Layabout, an inconsiderate step of it causing the youma to trip with a pretty loud smack into the ground. Which is also when she is struck for good measure by the rifle fire.

Just then, La Mer's Aqua Pact glows in proximity with the blacelet that starts reacting with a similar shine, floating out of Laura's hand and closer to it, becoming smaller and changing into a ring. "Really!?" the mermaid reacts. "This sounds bad for you, Numeri!", she smiles, realising it's time to turn the tables then.

"Perfume Shiny Ring - Bubble Form!" she declares as she inserts her pen under the Aqua Pact and her ring above it, grasping it by the now attached pen. "Aqua Charge!" She rotates her disk, a vortex of bubbles entering her Aqua Pact. She spins around, a trail of glowing pink energy following behind her. "Pretty Cure Ocean Bubble Shower!" she shouts, pointing the Mermaid Aqua Pact at the Layabout, the magical item briefly glowing yellow before it rapidly fires an uncontable torrent of bubbles.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Why is the enemy risking bringing the cave down on them all?! "I think she can do that teleport-away thing, so she doesn't have to care."

    And then... they get half of the treasure, while Nemuri gets the other half! "No, we won't."

    The youma tripped! Everyone else poses and calls out their attack names, so... Amy does as well, kneeling next to Laura. "Recoilless Rifle, Anti-Tank, out! Backblast clear!"

    Said backblast is a spray of dangerously high-velocity salt water, but at least it isn't flame spewing around. You know the drill, or rather, the shaped charge, skewering a spear of plasma through today's monster!

Miho Inada has posed:
    Yukihime is dragged along before she remembers her prayer beads! She shakes her head a few times, and clears it out the all the stars. The girl takes a deep breath as she starts a chant. The beads around her wrist seperate, and start to spin around her wrist. Yukihime breathes out a bit. "I call upon the Ancient Pact. Let the guardians of the Capital gather before me, and purify the darkness. Wolves of the Capital...", she says whiel glaring at the Youma. The beads gather spiritual energy from Yukihime, and form a pack of spirit wolves that gather around her. She lifts a finger at the Youma. "...Attack.", she says.

    The pack of 10 spirit wolves rush at the youma, slamming into it from all directions. As they hit, the beads come back to Yukihime's wrist, forming the prayer braclet once more. Yukihime's eyes go swirly though, as she gets dizzy. Her stomach growls once more. "Err, the world is spinning...", she mutters. The new girl has pretty much expended all her magical energy at this point...

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The enemy gets half of the treasure, and the youma blasts with a stronger beam of light, but Sailor Moon summons her Crescent Wand, the Silver Crystal glowing faintly in its setting.

"Moon Healing Escalation!"

Silver beams of light strike and mists of healing fog float through the air, attacking - NOT the youma, but Nemuri herself, with purifying force. Amy and Yukihime have the youma.

"Just because you can teleport out doesn't mean you can bring caves down! Don't you know that people and animals rely on caves? It's unjust! And I'll have you know, my tolerance for injustice is as short as my skirt!"

No, she is not going to let go on that for a little bit. She won't harp on Miho, but she sure is going to proudly defend her skirt length.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Under the strong assault of the wolves, bubble bombing, and spear of salt water, the so-called 'Definitive' Layabout gets definitively destroyed with no chance for a second try. Really goes to show how that goes, getting an upgrade for nothing with more than enough energy to spare. Any one attack would have been able to do the trick.

With the youma being defeated under all that magic power, Numeri sighs. "I really thought a new Layabout would have been more durable than that", she expresses her disappointment. Oh, well, time for me to go out of here", she shrugs. She is still holding the cup of motivation power. She has no idea it ended up here, or how Butler knew about it, but mission complete, and she has finally earned her vacation now. "Bye!" she says, her flying boat breaking out of the wall, ready to transport her out of here.

That is when the Moon Healing Escalation reaches her, and in a swift motion, Numeri elects to protect the cup first of all, throwing it above the the boat as she is hit by the purifying blast. "What did you think you were going to do? Your skirt is also as short as your common sense", she grimaces. She was already exhausted by trying to make sense of this dumb cave and now this? She wants to go rest on her vacation now, Butler can't tell her anything now. A jump on her boat and she flies away.

The situation is now clear of dark energy, but not out of danger, and it was the boat coming in carelessly to deal the final strike, as the cave starts shaking and water rushing in like a ferocious flood. Cure La Mer immediately runs back to her friends, they have to get out of here, right away!

Miho Inada has posed:
    At this point, a small blizzard forms around Yukihime, and she goes back to Miho. Whose already starting to fall over. Two major fights in less then a day of rest, and one meal...She hasn't had the time to fuel up. She blinks a few times. "I think my energy is about as short as the skirt...", she mutters. The young woman leans up against a wall, before seeing the water coming in. "....You have to be kidding me...", she says, shaking her head. Miho sighs a little bit, looking around. "I'm tapped out!", she warns.

    Miho starts looking around before she digs her feet in a bit, and leans up against the wall, prepping to take the water in stride. It has to come form somewhere. Maybe after it settles down, they can make a swim for it? Miho knows better then that, but well, yeah, she's exhausted. "If I survive this, I'm so going to be running for pratically forever...", she mutters.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Evil escapes... on a flying boat?! From a cave?! "Sure! WHY NOT. What else is going to happen today?!"

    She had to ask, as then the cave starts collapsing. "That was a load bearing boss?! Time bomb set, get out fast!" She waves them back the way they came. "Go, go, go!"

    If Yukihime can't walk, well... She'll pick her up, awkwardly trying to work out the mechanics of princess carrying the taller girl. Thank goodness for mahou strength!. "We don't know how this is going to go. Stay close to Laura, she can try to swim us out if it gets bad. I can't drown, but... I think I can get air? Let's hope we don't have to count on that!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"My common sense is great!" Sailor Moon protests, but then - there's a flood.

Oh that's not good. Amy might be able to stop breathing, but Sailor Moon can't, and neither can Yukhime - oh great. Great, not Yukihime. At least Amy grabs her up, and Sailor Moon trusts that Cure La Mer of all people can outswim a flood, so she runs ahead, holding the Crescent Wand high, beckoning the Silver Crystal to glow, glow, glow.

They have light, at least.

"Let's go, let's go!"

Everyone's going, but it's important to remind everyone, there's chaos here, there's - there!

"This way! There's an opening here, come on, follow me!" And she waits by the entrance, pulling everyone through before following them.

Laura La Mer has posed:
Thanks to seeing the exit up in the distant ceiling, Sailor Moon is able to relay how to escape the collapse of the cave, letting her, Red and Yukihime in Red's arms super jump out of the ceiling, escaping the roaring flood behind them. Laura is about to do the same when in her hurry, she misses a small rock, stumbling a falling to the ground, just as the wild waters reach up to her. Swallowing the entire cave, the rest of the group lands in the ground above the caves that the old woman had talked about visiting earlier, the hole they got out from completely filled with water.

A few seconds later, there is a shadow moving up, and Laura emerges safe in her mermaid form, jumping up high in the sky, the moon behind her much like the mermaid who came there before her. Somewhere not too far from there, the old woman sees her and smiles, glad that she was able to see the Forest Mermaid before it became too late, joy and wonder filling her.

"Sorry, I tripped", Laura tells the group as she goes back to being Cure La Mer in mid air, joining up with them again. "Numeri got the cup, but at least the Perfume Shiny Ring is safe", she informs the group, showing safe item on her finger right next to the Swirl Heart Ring. "We should go back now", she adds moving along with her friends back to the urban section of Odaiba Island.