2488/Snap Back To The Future

Snap Back To The Future
Date of Scene:	23 April 2025
Location:	Crystal Tokyo
Synopsis:	Chibiusa has finally asked for help. The Mahoujin of Tokyo are here to answer the call. Welcome to Crystal Tokyo.
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Rashmi Terios, Chibiusa Tsukino, Haruka Tenoh, Minako Aino, Mamoru Chiba, Laisa Samuiko, Amanda Faust, Hotaru Tomoe, Zoisite, Nephrite, Koji Silvia, Kazuo Saitou, Veronica Perenna, Catra, Setsuna Meiou
Tinyplot:	Black Moon Clan
Tinyplot2:	BMC: Dimension Future

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's nearing midnight on the 23rd of April, and a large group has gathered on the rooftop of the building Mamoru owns.

On the distant ground floor, seven stories below them, is the Cafe BAKE Neko. Under their feet, separated by an inordinate amount of reinforced roofing material, is Mamoru's apartment. There's some patio furniture up here, carefully secured in place against wind and rain, and some areas marked out where future projects will be built up, but for now, what matters is that in the sky above their heads is the dull glint of stars through Tokyo's haze of light pollution, and far brighter, the waxing crescent moon, a thin sliver of brightness amidst the shadowed dark.

Usagi Tsukino is grateful for the cold-numbing effects of her henshin - even though they're this high up in the sky, with the night breeze flowing, the one and only Sailor Moon isn't cold at all. She stands beside her future husband and future daughter, closely flanked by Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars.

It's Chibiusa who together - Chibiusa who had surprised both her teenage parents by asking for their help, by saying she thought her Time Key would work this time, and would they mind gathering as many of their trusted friends to help?

Obviously the answer to that had been a resounding yes, and then a frazzled 'wait, you mean tonight, like in a few hours?!'

And now here they are.

Some of them have bags - snacks and supplies and things they'd thought to grab and stow. One of Sailor Moon's supplies is Luna herself, draped on Sailor Moon's shoulders, having refused to be left behind while her charges go gallivanting through time to save the day.

"Thanks for making it out here, everyone," she says as she looks around at the gathered group. Among their gathered friends and allies, she sees Chrono near Rashmi, in his usual spiky henshin, and Hinoiri, flashy as ever in her La Licorne outfit, settled after her experience with Sora, Catra slinking behind her. Amidst the group is Aloisia, the Crystal Knight to the Earth and Moon herself, ready with her newly reforged twin devices. So many friends, here to help. She hopes Chibiusa feels reassured with the presence of so many, here just for her.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
With a few hours' notice, Rashmi's options were... limited. Without knowing how much time they were going to be spending there, Rashmi just... flew toward one of the stores that sits between conbeni and actual grocery store, and bought enough 24-pack flats of Cup Noodle to last two Devicers a week, a twenty-kilo bag of rice, and every jar in her tea stash, just in case there's no way to get *food* where they're going. Then went her sleeping bag and a couple changes of civvie clothes. And all of it went into Nicomachea's storage.

She can't, after all, assume that they'll be as lucky as they were in the memory portal, and food will be provided. Water, less of a concern; a fair few mahou have water-based magic, and others fire.

As the mahou start assembling, Rashmi edges in a little closer to Chrono, wrapping an arm around his, and giving the TSAB Enforcer a faintly nervois smile.

The last time they all formed up like this, after all...

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa stands on the rooftop, rocking back and forth on her feet with her hands clasped behind her back. She is likely to be the only one here not in henshin, because it would be really weird if Masquerade Lapine suddenly took out the Time Key and travelled to the future.

    Maybe she'll tell the mahou collective about that one day, but for now it's on a Need to Know basis, and part of a Princess's upbringing is knowing how to keep state secrets.

    ... Which in her mind generally just means never mentioning them ever.

    As others gather around, Chibiusa starts addressing the crowd.

    "Um... I know this is sudden, but..." How does she do this? How does her mom do this? "... Thank you, everyone, for everything so far. For fighting for me, for keeping me safe, for protecting the future of your own timeline from the bad things that followed me from mine. However, our enemies aren't gone. We don't know what the Black Moon Clan is up to in the future. We don't even know what the state of my home timeline is like. All we know is that they probably aren't done."

    "Please be safe. If anyone of you got hurt because of me, I wouldn't be able to stand it."

    Was that good? She hopes that was good. She only had one shot at that and there's no way she's going to try and redo it. Small Lady fingers the key in her hands nervously as she mentally makes sure that she remembers the words, as well as the path she took to get here.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Three of the Sailor Soldiers from the farther planets of the Silver Millenium arrive together shortly after being called - those who were known in the past as Outer Senshi but have begun to disdain that title in favor of just being Senshi like the others.

    Landing gracefully on the rooftop, their outfits just nudged gently by the wind in the way needed to make them appear that slight bit more dramatic - in blue and yellow with the short blonde hair is Sailor Uranus, in teal and dark blue with the sea green hair like ocean waves is Sailor Neptune, and they've brought the newest Sailor Soldier with them; in purple and black arrives Sailor Saturn.

    The taller two arrive and innately pose out of centuries of habit, back to back, as if to announce their presence; only for Sailor Uranus to break the pose for a moment to catch a lately-arriving Sailor Saturn as she comes out of her own jump, spin her around, and set her down, which elicits a giggle from Neptune as the entire fashionable entrance squad is a bit disarrayed from it.

    Chibiusa gives a speech and Sailor Uranus smiles broadly. Sailor Neptune gives a slight clap with gloved hands - polite like one might clap at a fancy show, not in any way sarcastic or mean.

    "Don't worry. The wind and the sea combined can't keep Uranus safe from Uranus. If she gets hurt it will most likely be on her." Neptune says with a slight smirk.

    And Sailor Uranus doesn't really argue that, just rubs her hand on the back of her neck. "Look, our Duty isn't a desk job..." she protests, half to Chibi-usa and half to Neptune. "But I'll try to be safe. That goes double for you, though, kid." And she pauses to look at Saturn. "Kid*s*."

Minako Aino has posed:
It didn't seem so long ago that they had all fallen into that little bubble of recorded time which had allowed them to experience the past long gone. Now they were about to head to the future? To see this world that had been damaged so harshly by those fashion disaster Black Moon Clan members. Getting to prepare before hand was definitely going to benefit them this time around!

Venus was prepared. While standing on the rooftop she focuses her attention intently on the others around with a scrutinizing gaze that sweeps over them checking for any that might not be ready for the inevitable battles that were to come. She herself was totally prepared. Totally. Though it wasn't part of her usual henshin there's a fanny pack at her waist that appeared tightly stuffed full of whatever emergency rations she could think to bring.

At ChibiUsa's statements her gaze reverts to the smallest of the group (Look at you Chrono no longer smallest!) paying rapt attention. "Of course. We wouldn't let you go back alone. It's about time we took the fight to them!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Oh, Luna is so game for it. Oh, Anko is sitting there watching inscrutably, carefully out of reach of any stray magic that might splash around when everyone leaves. She starts grooming herself lightly, like a lady. She has a whole city to watch while so many mahoujin are off the map. Also, meh time travel, who knows what there is to eat in an apocalypse.

But she does say with a certain amount of finality, "Small Lady will rrrrreturrn to Anko. And Kazuo. And Usagi." A beat. "And Mamorrrrru, Anko guesses." And then a put-upon sigh, and the lorge fluff calico maine coon today, she saunters off carelessly.

"Dissed," sighs Tuxedo Kamen, and then -- then he sees everyone, and what flashes across the back of Rashmi's eyes is mirrored in blue ones the color of the oceans. What happened the last time they all went somewhere dangerous together... white-gloved hands ball into fists, and Mamoru stands a little straighter, for his future wife and alternate future daughter, for his Shitennou, for their Crystal Knight, for the Senshi-- for all his friends.

One hand briefly rests on Chibiusa's shoulder once she's finished her speech, and he says in a low voice with a smile in it, "You know, if anyone gets hurt it's because of the Black Moon Clan. Not you. But we'll try not to get hurt anyway, okay?"

He looks for them -- he looks at them all -- and suddenly it's not hard to be brave against shadows of the past. They triumphed then, and they'll triumph in the future as well.

Laisa Samuiko has posed:
    Rashmi isn't the only one to think of food prep, as both Madoka and Homura have filled their own private inventories with rations and supplies. Not just for them.

    Mou Fubuki, however, does not have the gift of infinite storage space. What she can do is conjure water. Well, actually, she can conjure snow and ice which melts into water and while such a trick isn't exactly free it's honestly better than being dehydrated.

    Laisa reaches the rooftop by super jumping. No ice skating up the side of the building this time. Like... she could? It's rude to do that outside of a barrier, though. She stays quiet and a bit further to the back for now, soaking in the nervous energy and mentally steeling herself for... who knows what.

    Occasionally her eyes search the crowd for a specific someone.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy has bags -- in addition to the backpack, messenger bag, and laptop that are pushing 'it goes away while you're in henshin', she has her first aid kit and a bag of luggage with a bit of spare clothes and toiletries and stuff. After what she thought was a day trip to Chanteur became days, and having to think about the possibility of the KKF portal closing while they were on the other side of it, she's getting a bit more used to planning for trips.

    And she's in henshin, currently, with her cloak billowing dramatically in the cold wind. Being in henshin probably helps, but it's a good thing her bodysuit traps a thin layer of insulating air.

    Chibiusa speaks, and Amy looks to her and nods. "I do my best."

    Oh hey, Anko is here! Amy sets down her luggage for a minute to go give Anko some pets and scritches.

    That does make her wonder: "...Are there cats in the future, besides uh... Mauians?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
"Weeee!" Sailor Saturn said when she was spun. She was new to being a senshi, it was only right that someone was there to help her get through it. In this case, she was learning how to jump. Later? She'd learn how to land and dramatically pose.

"Of course, Uranus-papa. I'll be ever so safe and secure," she said in a tone that anyone who had dealt with children at ALL in their lives knew she would definitely NOT be. "... But I will try, though." Right. She had a life now. Best not to waste it.

She hadn't hought of food prep in the slightest. And she was so excited! Her first real Sailor Senshi field trip! She hoped she'd be able to like... put all that practice she'd been getting with everyone to use. She wanted to look cool and dramatic, like her two caretakers.

Though, she also had the glaive with her, so like... hopefully they had a chance to explain BEFORE anyone saw that.

Zoisite has posed:
To the belt of his uniform a medium pouch was set. Leather and durable, packed with the bare minimum essentials he could think of--which of course, his mind mostly focused on the potential flora seedlings he could find while in the future. Among other things.

Yet, Zoisite himself seemed impatient, arms crossed and head leaning against Kunzite's arm as he waited for the speeches to end. Could they get on with this? The longer we wait, the more anxiety will build up. Gods... But such thoughts remained quiet in his head, only the pout of lips making the inkling of them slightly obvious.

For a moment or two, he'd glance away to look over to the other Shitennou and take guesses on what they were feeling. Then to Venus, giving a small smile her way due to the packed fanny pack. Well, if there were any doubts they were similar, the hip pouches were indeed a nod towards that. At least his was of leather.

"What are the chances of us finding our future selves, Kunzite?" Whispers, not exactly expecting an answer back. He was mostly musing. "I wonder if they are even alive."

Nephrite has posed:
With his arms crossed and his eyes averted to the Heavens above, Nephrite stood near his Prince. The harsh glow of Tokyo obscured the stars above, making the night sky a mysterious and almost ominously dull spectacle. But he knew the placements of what lay beyond their feeble atmosphere, twinkling eyes watching them below. He had, in the last few hours, made his own small preparations, including many calculations for the cosmic shift that would have occured in the Princess' future.

He may not be able to hear the whisper of those stars, but he would know and call upon their likeness still. They ought to be where he expects to find them.

When Chibiusa's worry is issued, he considers this carefully-- her gentle request that nobody be truly harmed. It's impossible to ask the stars their guidance here, for a future so distant and so alien, though he briefly wishes he could tell her anything of substance or truth.

But just now, he doesn't want to lie. If it was a trade for Mamoru's life, or Usagi's life, or Chibiusa's herself, Nephrite would not hesitate to hand over his own. So he simply smiles at the pink-haired Princess, with quiet reassurance.

His gaze lifts back to her future-father, however, and remains there.

Koji Silvia has posed:
A lot like Rashmi, Koji has supplies packed in as far as his Storage will let him, including a quick plunder of his dad's camping supplies, adding some water filters, some first aid kits, and of course... A decent amount of some favorite sweets for a specific couple.

This time, he lands on the roof entrances and opens to walk through the balcony. Almost immediately his Barrier Jacket fades out as he slides his partner away into the pocket of an insulated hooded top, cargo pants, and hiking boots, looking more like some kid who'd be found on the side of the road. Complete with backpack that has a few of his electronics testing and repair, and a laptop.

As he looks around at the sheer numbers of people here, and then resettles his pack on one shoulder as he walks towards where Rashmi is, and stops next to her.

He exhales, "Well... now at least we finally get to see what all of this is about. Did you bring any Meister gear in case something happens?"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kunzite inclines his head gravely to Chibiusa. And then, equally gravely, to Anko. They have a bargain. It is to be kept.

"If there aren't cats in the future," he says to Amy, "something is seriously wrong with it.

There's a bag with a cross-body strap at Kunzite's side, tucked mostly under the fall of the cloak. For the moment, though, it's information that he's concerned with giving, rather than food. "Non-zero; that's all I know," he murmurs back to Zoisite. "The stones are there, but they don't answer. So our alternate selves ... will be somewhere if they could be. But whether they were incarnate somewhere at the time, or whether they were taken out by the attack, there's no way of knowing in advance."

Veronica Perenna has posed:
A trip to the future? Somewhere they have heard lots about, but on very vague and conflicting terms? Somewhere Veronica has already accumulated a list of burning questions she would like answered? Somewhere Chibiusa may need their help? Well, you will have to chain her, seal her in a box somewhere and bury it deep in the sea to have a chance at stopping her from coming.

As soon as she received news of Chibiusa's calling, the brunette had started stocking up on everything she might possibly need and more: water, food, all sort of clothes for different temperatures, and put all of that into Sarek.

She is considering the possibility that the island, if she can access it, won't be the same small island as here, and so she will have none of that, but trying can't hurt. She has put the most important things in a bag on her back: her energy bars she always brings around just in case her curse strikes, and her small paintings.

Her eyes fall on a certain someone as soon as she joins with the group, and she becomes ethereal with a smirk, making her way around so she can hug Laisa from behind and kiss her cheek after she turns that power off. "Hello, fancy seeing you there. Looks like we will be going on this trip together."

In that middle of that group, Coco is instructing Hippo to be on his guard at all times, and to report to her anything weird he sees, meanwhile she is also instructing Cora to keep an eye on Hippo in turn.

At the same time, Laura is hanging around Hotaru with a confident smile talking about what finds will await them there, and Kururun is considering hopping on the purple-haired girl's shoulder to greet her.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa smiles at Uranus, Neptune and Saturn as they arrive and respond. "I know. If anyone can do this, I know this group can." With her papa's hand on her shoulder, she gives him a sheepish look. Sure, on a moral level, it's the Black Moon Clan's fault, but...

    Small Lady looks at Amy and says, "Of course there's cats in the future! It's not a dystopia."

    To Zoisite and Kunzite, Chibiusa frowns. "I'm sorry. You might have reincarnated, but if you did, my papa never found you. Not that I know of. If you meet King Endymion, maybe you can ask him."

    When the last of their group arrive, Chibiusa looks over the group and offers them a smile that is both grateful and... apologetic.

    The future Princess takes a moment to soak up the atmosphere. She makes sure that everyone is gathered and ready before she holds her Time Key up over her head, looking up into the heavens. Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

    "O Guardian of Time, tear apart the heavens and open wide for me the door of space and time! I summon thee by thy true name, the almighty god of time father of the guardian,Chronos! Guide us on our journey protect these travelers grant us the path of light!"

Catra has posed:
Somewhere in the back, Catra is here.

The feline is dressed in her cyan tuxedo once again, which might be a bit of an over-dress for this occasion, but for her just showing up not disguised as Rachel Miller kinda qualifies as henshin, at least at the moment. Maybce once she's got the Spirit Ember figured out that'll change.

And maybe she just doesn't want to wear the Horde jumpsuit right now and hasn't got a huge amount of options. Well whatever. She's here.

And she still has Powersend in its scabbard, hanging over her left hip.

"So uhh... what's this all about, exactly?" she asks quietly, a bit sullenly, of nobody in particular. She leans against a wall, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she watches and listens without mingling too directly. Well, right up until Chibiusa starts talking about invoking the guardian of--

"Wait, what?! Guardiwn of TIME? Are we sure we should be messing around with that that sounds like it could go horribly wrong!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Grant us the path of light indeed.

Though it is midnight in Tokyo, as Chibiusa raises forth the key of space and time, stolen from the Guardian of Time herself, first comes the wind, tearing at their hair and clothes, whipping around Chibiusa and then the lot of them in a whirl that sees their hair lifting upwards. The rooftop furniture creaks where it's anchored, and the usual smog and soot of Tokyo blows around them. From the distant clouds pierces a narrow band of light, which broadens to encompass the whole of the roof just as it falls upon the lot of them.

They have just a moment, to take it all in, the light shining over them, pink and sparkling as the dawn rising over the ocean - and then they are gone.

For a moment everything is gone.

For a moment it's like they aren't even there. The whole of the world is an endless white plane, with no horizon, with no ground, no sky, nothing in all the world except white, and they are moving but not moving, because there is no wind, no air currents, nothing by which to know that they are moving.
ut then, the world shifts, the white begins to fade out into light all around them once more, and out of the corners of their eyes, they all may catch the most fleeting possible glimpse of a woman in a dark fuku, with long dark hair, a belt of keys at her hip and the Garnet Rod in her hand - Sailor Pluto.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
And then they are somewhere, and that somewhere is in the air and they are falling - falling from seven stories in the air, because it would seem that while Chibiusa may have had the benefit of falling from the ceiling of Mamoru's apartment building and onto her future parents, in 30th Century Tokyo... there is no apartment building.

As they fall through the sky, they will have an excellent aerial view of the surrounding terrain.

A once beautiful city has been nearly obliterated, with the vast majority of buildings within sight damaged, if not utterly destroyed. A heavy smog, formed of ash and dust from all the destruction, hangs in the air that they fall through, and the sunlight is weak through the heavy clouds of it.

From this vantage point it's clear that Crystal Tokyo was a planned city, not a naturally sprawling one built up over time. There are large swaths of green space and waterways - but these green spaces have died, the plants becoming rotting piles of biomass, while much of water has evaporated or grown stagnant. The scent of rot and decay hangs heavy in the air.

In the distance, there are two impossible sights to modern eyes - one, a jutting outcrop of enormous clear crystals, that rise from the Earth at angles around a single, skyscraper sized obelisk of perfectly carved stone, atop which sits a structure difficult to make out at this distance. Those crystals are the only things that haven?t taken on an ashen, corrupt look, shining with a gleam of rainbow color instead.

The other impossible sight is another enormous obelisk, this one made of crystal so dark it seems to swallow the light. It is buried in the earth in the midst of a massive crater, revealing that for as tall as it is, an enormous portion of its length has been buried in the earth already. Just the sight of it makes one feel vaguely unwell. The aura of dark energy it radiates is palpable.

They have time to take all of this in, because they are falling through the air, straight towards the ground - no, towards the crumpled remains of what had been a single story building, and which is now so much rubble.

Sailor Moon shrieks, clutching Luna and Chibiusa with one hand, as the other gropes for her rod.

"MOONHEARTMOONHEART!"

The frantic, garbled cry results in an enormous pink heart bursting into existence beneath a portion of them, allowing a place to crash land before they reach terminal velocity. Those who land here will still need to leap to the ground, but at least they won't be starting from a mad fall from the sky?

Sailor Moon will process what all she's seen in a moment - once they're on the ground.

Laisa Samuiko has posed:
    Mou Fubuki feels the embrace of the thief who stole her heart and leans back against her, touching the Princess of Sarek's hand. She's chilly to the touch, but that's normal for a Snow Angel. While the cursed rosary might bury her feelings, the sheer amount coldness used to cover them is in of itself a reminder.

    "I can think of no better company," says Mou Fubuki, with a bit less warmth than she had at their last encounter, but the reasons for that have already been explained.

    "Are you ready for what lies ahead? I've heard dire things, though I guess that's business as usual for people like us."

    Then the time trip, and then the drop, and then Mou Fubuki does the one thing she has learned to do by instinct the moment she thinks she's going to have a bad fall.

    "Blizzard. Blizzard!" she calls out, summoning all of her wintery magic to bring up a swirling storm of snow that surrounds the mahou and softens the ground beneath them a bit more just to make the impact a bit safer.

    Once she hits the ground, she turns to Veronica and asks, "Are you alright?" Then to the others, "Did everyone make it okay?"

    In the background, Homura is princess carrying Madoka, because that's her first reaction even though the pinkette could've probably just flown.

    Wait... was Homura glaring at Sailor Pluto just a second ago?

    Nah...

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
The Time Key works this time! Chibiusa was sure that it would but it's weird to see it actually work.

    The trip is a bit weird, but it's the kind of weird that is actually normal. She glances around to make sure everyone is still together as they travel.

    "Hii, Puu~!" She calls out. "Bye, Puu!" Well that was fast.

    On the otherside, she's being clung to by a panicking Sailor Moon and she says, "Wha-! I have a parachute! ABRACADABRA PON!"

    Chibiusa's hairclip turns into a parachute. An extra wide one to accommodate both herself, Usagi, and Luna.

    Nevermind the fact that the physics of the situation might make it impractical to use a parachute at this height. It's magic. Don't worry about it.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Not unlike a cat himself, Mamoru bumps affectionately into Nephrite since he's close enough to do that without being disruptive, and he meets that gaze, trying to look reassuring himself. Probably the only actually reassuring thing he could be doing is...

Oh, no, he doesn't look worried enough, he may have overcompensated--

They are falling. And what they're falling into is something Mamoru's seen before, something he saw the first time he put his hand on Chibiusa's head. He's not surprised, but what hits him viscerally is the smell.

The smell has his stomach roiling, and it's a bad time when he hits the giant pink heart and bounces off into the snow. He just... stays in the snow for a moment, his two-finger peace sign extending from the enormous drift he's in.

Minako Aino has posed:
Sailor Venus looks around at thei sheer number of Mahou, related to their group or not, that have amassed to help out. Having the mahou that may be unknown to the future adversaries with them would be a huge boon to help defeat them. Surprise was always great!

Except when the surprise is having no ground beneath your feet while your tomach drops out from you as gravity takes over.

A surprised shriek comes from Venus because unlike others she doesn't have the automatic ability to summon something to help her fall.

One hand immediately drops to press her skirt down while the other grabs for her Love-Me Chain intending to whip out and grab ahold of some build--ing... er. Except there were none.

The sudden heart that appears thanks to Sailor Moon catches her from falling totally leaving her momentarily pausing to wheeze in a breath. There's no further screaming at least. "That is way way worse than a Sailor Teleport," she decides.

A light clearing of her throat follows as she straightens herself up again to regain her dignity, and gingerly hop off the heart to the ground below. Gracefully. Like a proper seasoned mahou.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    It's a lot to take in, for the Soldiers of Uranus and Neptune - the destruction in the Moon Kingdom's past had been something they had some level of participation in, some level of awareness of, this devastated and strange future is something altogether different. Still, they keep their wits about them - even as they fall and Moon panics. There's only a little bit of wind on this wounded world for Uranus to manage with, but she does try to do her best subconsciously to keep the Moon Heart on track so that the landing is less bad.

    Uranus and Neptune leap from the crash-landed heart the moment it hits the ground, and their weapons are drawn before their boots hit the ground. A blade for Uranus and a hand-held mirror for Neptune. Uranus' eyes and ears scan the horizon for anything that responds to their less than stealthy landing, while Neptune uses her mirror to do the same, shining it in slow lines to see if it uncovers hidden enemies.

    "We're not in friendly territory and we just made a lot of noise." Uranus advises. "Be on guard. The wind's too calm, I can't sense... much..."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The White Void *never* sits well in Rashmi's hindbrain. Fortunately they're not there long enough for the collywobbles to well and truly set in.

One of the greatest advantages to arriving so high in the air is, one gets *plenty* of time to survey the battlefield. Water, stagnant. Green, rotting. City, trampled. Giant black crystal obelisk...

...Later.

Squeezing Chrono's hand, she lets him go just long enough to order Nicomachea to keep up a running passive scan of the area, largely to see if this timeline's Dark Energy is at all equivalent to her own. If it is... Well, she can work with that. She did, after all, bring her Meister tools with her.

When Sailor Moon starts panic-casting the crash pad, Rashmi glances at the book tucked under her arm, then at Chrono, and smiles in a fair approximation of the Enforcer's Game Face.

    << *BONG!* >> << FLIER FIN >>

Yes, she could have cast that at any point. Except her top speed is actually a fair bit *less* than terminal velocity, and high in the air over presumptive enemy territory is not a place to be caught alone. Swerving in behind Catra, the redhead shouts "I'm going to keep you from splatting, okay?!" before encircling Catra's waist with her arms, and guiding the Etherian in a much more controlled fashion to the ground... Hopefully with far less chance of murder-mittens due to the warning.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Jupiter looks rather guilty as Sailor Moon indelicately crashes on her heart shaped platform, but to be fair to the Soldier of Courage, she had tried to rescue her princess - it was only that she'd panicked and flapped her way to Chibiusa just as Sailor Jupiter reached out, resulting in her grabbing the wrong blond.

At least Chibiusa was able to make a parachute! She waves sheepishly as she, Jadeite, and Sailor Mars float gently to the ground and are thusly backgrounded.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Not a dystopia!

    We can only hope not, Amy wonders silently, in the time since you left it... Wait, is that how time travel works?

    When it's time to go, Amy gives Anko a parting scritch and picks up her luggage bag. "Ready..."

    And then Chibiusa is invoking a GOD OF TIME and Amy realizes they are using another timeline's Gate of Time and are quite possibly about to see Pluto...

    Catra has concerns. "You're absolutely right but we're not messing around, she's from the future!" Amanda shouts over the growing wind...

    When they're surrounded by endless white, Amy concludes they are indeed at the gate and starts to look around for Sailor Pluto, raising her hand to call out--

    Falling.

    Amy glances down, drops her bag, and is engulfed in a pillar of flame as she re-henshins to flight mode and wonders how many people she can grab-- oh Moon is on it.

    Amy lands a bit more slowly than the others, as if she'd only dropped a story, next to her luggage, and considers which way to go. "Okay, lesson learned: Make sure you time travel from a place that also exists in the same shape at the destination. Everyone alright?"

    If she doesn't see anyone crying out in pain, she pulls a small pair of binoculars from her belt pouch and looks more closely at those stone and crystal structures... and at the skyline around them.

Zoisite has posed:
Blinding light, his gasp stolen by the rush of wind, arms wrapping around Kunzite's as though he wished to anchor himself--

Then he was in the air, taking in the view that was one of their possible futures. Destruction and the smell of sweet rot that invaded his nostrils and bristled his hair as he wanted to wretch. Instead, he watched as the rest of the group fell downwards while he stayed floating in the air.

"Oh. How tragic." It's a nasal comment, fingers pinching his nose while still clinging to Kunzite's arm.

Catra has posed:
And then suddenly they're in a white nothingness type existence, and all of Catra's fur stands on end, her ears go flat, and her tail poofs up, "I recognize this this is exactly what it looked like when I opened the portal and MIGHT HAVE DESTROYED ETHERIA WHARE YOU DOI--

And then she's plummeting through the air. She's definitely not going to land on the platform that Usagi summoned, that's pretty clear, and as desperately cool as cats are she can't bend the laws of physics, and she hasn't learned any magic that would let her do so. (At least not like that.) Still, she doesn't panic; and seeing the world existing around her again, her sense of panic actually decreases.

Instead, she just twists in midair, re-orienting herself in a series of manouvers by swinging her legs, twisting her hips and abdomen, and swinging her arms, until she's lined up correctly to land on all fours -- legs first, then arms. She takes a deep breath, and she's set, and--

Then Rashmi is behind her, circling her arms around her and organizing a much slower descent, and Catra for once doesn't complain. As the two of them reach the ground she just makes sure to stick the landing, bouncing them off a half-ruined chimney and slidign down the side of it with her claws in the bricks until they reach the ground half a second later.

"...I'm a cat," she points out, after a moment to catch her breath. "I'd have landed fine, it just would've hurt, you could have saved someone else."

"...But thanks."

Nephrite has posed:
Nephrite himself simply halted his own fall to hover in the air, sighing to himself. At the very least, he held vantage. But Gods, what a horrible view it was-- the shock of it was what he might blame for the distraction as the Prince plummeted from beside him.

Not the most gossamer of landings, for Mamoru. He immediately regrets not doing more to grab him-- he was closest, probably, but part of him naturally expected Kunzite to be on it already. No. The fall was too sudden. Mamoru was eating snow. Great start.

The air tasted of death, and he held a sleeve to his nose, scanning the surrounds for movement.

Koji Silvia has posed:
And some Devicers just gotta be COOL.

The white... the endless nothingness of white, the lack of noise, smell, touch... all those lacking feelings that are supposed to be there when you are on the move, they aren't there... and all Koji can do is close his eyes, take deep breaths, and keep himself from losing what's left of his dinner.

To his credit, he just barely makes it to the other side!

Which now has him falling...

But as someone who's used to being in freefall when travelling most places, it's not a major shock, but the scenery... it certainly is.

    "Hanzo!"

    << SET UP. >>

Immediately, he's out of his travel clothes and into his Barrier Jacket, scarf whipping behind him while his clothes flutter. Eyes dart around to focus in on what's on the ground and the area around him before he takes a deeper breath and winces at the scent.

    << BOOST SHIELD. >>

Flipping in the air by tucking and rolling, he kicks back and his feet hit that Shield... and he SHOOTS down towards the ground!

    << DISRUPTOR SHIELDS. >>

Seven small interlocked hexes appear about 5 meters from the ground, and as he hits them and shatters, the bulk of his speed is just sapped away, and he lightly tumbles into the classic Superhero Landing.

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Saturn blinked and then... they were falling. She saw Puu! And was going to just.... shunt away the endless white void. It wasn't real, it couldn't hurt her. That wasn't relevant. Now? "Weeeee!" she said, hugging her glaive as she fell. This wasn't--

... Oh.

She was not Firefly anymore, or Sailor Charon. She could not fly or control her fall. Not anymore. Oh no. Nooooo this was bad this was--

And then she landed on the platform, wobbling for a moment before falling to her knees, said knees splayed out. She panted, eyes wide, looking around a few times before gulping. "T-that was... fun," she said. She did, noticeably, not ask to do it again. And was only a little shaking. It was--

And then she stopped. Then she stared.

"I... I can feel it... there's so much... death here... it's like... a wave of just..." She shivered, the glaive falling from her grip, disappearing before it could hit the ground. Her arms wrapped around her shoulders and she shook. "U-Uranus? N-Neptune?" she asked.

... She liked horror. She liked PRETEND gore. She liked monsters. But this?

She could feel it. She could all but HEAR it. The cries, the fear. The yelling. She death. All of it.

And she climbed over to them and just... hugged them... "You don't want to h-hear the wind here..." she whispered. "It's not saying nice things..."

The only reason she didn't grab onto Moon was because Moon was a tad busy...

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kunzite catches Zoisite up in the familiar dark shield; he wasn't close enough to grab the Prince, too. But Moon has him caught, even if in the less dignified way, and while he and Zoisite still fall, the fall is controlled - he slows them at the end, and settles them to the snow beside a couple of emerging fingers, ready to help the Prince out of the convenient drift.

When the Prince is ready to move, anyway.

When Kunzite takes his own hand off Zoisite's arm, where he seems to be clasping Zoisite's hold to him. His expression suggests he's unaffected by this place. That hold lingering for a minute suggests otherwise.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"Neither can I", the Princess of Sarek responds with calm affection to the chill of Mou Fubuki's tone. Even if the curse might stop Mou Fubuki from showing affection, the snow angel has made fully clear what her feelings are, and Veronica will just make sure to provide enough warmth in the meantime.

As the Princess of Sarek, Veronica has a very long braid, one that reaches down to her knees, so when the unnatural wind picks up her hair sort of just starts whipping around uncontrollably for a second or two, a tugging that causes a grimace on Veronica's face until she secures it under her arm. Her tail instead wraps itself in time around her waist to avoid that same occurrence.

She turns her head with interest at the mention of Chronos, and at the white space that surrounds them, and... that is Sailor Pluto!? But the guardian of the Gate is gone before she can so much as move a muscle, and then they are left to plunge to the ground, with the holder of her heart intervening to soften the fall.

There is a moment while they are still in freefall, when Veronica takes in the sight of the city ruins, imagining what it once was, and its beauty, now possessing of a haunting quality to it. She imagines all the people that had lived here, and thinks to herself just how blind the Black Moon Clan must have been to believing they should be doing this, that this was fine.

"I am all right", Veronica smiles to Mou Fubuki, leaving aside her feelings on their enemies for now, tapping the snowy ground with her cane. "That was some excellent timing, thank you Mou", she replies to the angelic magical girl. "Are you all right as well?"

Meanwhile, Coco has saved herself, Hippo and Cora with a Live Stage, and Laura has done the same for herself and Kururun with the Aqua Pot, though it was definitely a harsher stop for her.

"What are we going to do now? Should we head for the obelisk we saw from above?", Veronica asks the group.

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Sometimes, things don't go as planned.

Case in point:

Sailor Pluto was supposed to stay behind to help keep an eye on things while the rest were gone.

And also because she wasn't entirely sanguine about the ramifications of meeting herself from a later point in the time stream.

Even if it was an otherdimensional alternate.

Thus, when the transfer happens...things go a bit sideways.

Namely, there wasn't one Time Key at the site of the sendoff.

THERE WERE THREE





...and to be fair, there really never was any research or speculation as to what would happen if multiple time keys were in the presence of a third copy of themselves from the universe acros the hall and to the left.

It turns out the answer to that question is:

The Guardian whose soul is tied to at least two of those keys finds herself yoinked along for the ride.

Thus, when the beam of light drops down and whisks everyone else away...another smaller beam of light shows up in the kitchen of the Casa del Outers and grabs Setsuna from where she's absently sipping a cup of tea.

And then there's a flare, a momentary glance at what appears to be herself...and then she's falling as well.

Quite a dsistance separate from the others...and she blinks a few times as her ancient nemesis, gravity, grabs ahold of her once more.

Falling towards the ground, Setsuna takes a moment slurp down the last of her tea...subspaces the mug...then does a midair henshin.

Unfortunately, Pluto isn't any better off in the 'flying' department...but fortunately, she's got a trick up her lack of sleeves.

Manifesting the Garnet Rod, she waits until she's near a rooftop, then pulls the top of the Garnet Rod off, holds the orb and ring in hand, then points it mostly down and fires off a Chronos Typhoon to slow her descent enough for her to make a bit of a heavy landing.

After a few moments getting her bearings, the Senshi of Time then walks over towards the edge of the rooftop, looks to where she sees the others coming down...and she starts roofrunning in that direction.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Once everyone is in the clear, the enormous pink heart platform shatters into pieces, leaving glittering sparkles that dissipate into nothing very quickly. Sailor Moon and Chibiusa float down on their Luna-P parachute, the Soldier of Justice's heart pounding a mile a minute as they descend, ultimately landing in the pile of snow right beside Mamoru.

The scent of rot hangs in the air, sickly sweet, the air itself feeling at once humid and not.

Instead of commenting on their surroundings, Sailor Moon reaches down to help Tuxedo Kamen up, looking at him with a touch of worry, before looking down at Chibiusa, with more than a little worry. This awful place is her home after all.

Those scanning, like Rashmi, will find that Dark Energy is as Dark Energy is. It's heavily concentrated here in Crystal Tokyo, an ambient amount of Dark Energy that's higher than is normal in their own Tokyo, but not nearly as bad as it was in the Dark Kingdom or on her brief, horrifying venture into the Dusk Zone.

To Mamoru, who can sense the Earth, this is nothing like being in another world - nothing like KiraKiraFantastic or Chanteur, where he had been cut off from the planet. Though this is not his Earth, it is, in so many ways, his Earth.

And it is dying.

It is dying, slowly and surely, as Dark Energy seeps into it and devours all that is light and living, creeping every closer to the shining core.
Through Amy's binoculars, she can see that the skyline is full of collapsing and destroyed buildings, broken shafts of crystal obelisks, shattered windows and dulled lights. The great dark obelisk of crystal looks to be a solid black hunk, through those binoculars, and catches the dull sunlight with the same dark sheen as the crystal earrings taken from the bodies of the Black Moon Clan members they defeated.

The other crystals - reflecting rainbows of light where it dimly filters through clouds of ash and smog - just as solid, and pure. They're actually clear, it seems, but the reflection of light is enough that they could seem to be made from rainbows. Through her binoculars, she can see that the shape atop the greatest of the spires of crystal is a palace.

"All clear here," Sailor Moon calls, but much quieter, now, "Sorry for the noise."

Her voice had been among the loudest, crybaby and coward that she is, and she's not ashamed, but she is aware of how bad that could be for them now. "Chibiusa-chan... Sarek-chan is right about us needing to head for the crystal, right?"

The shining rainbow crystals... are just like those that sprout from Moon Space, the barrierynth that Sailor Moon has only recently begun to summon, only so much larger. The world around them is dreadfully silent, without even the whisper of wind through leaves, the skitter of insects, the flapping of wings. There doesn't seem to be anything - or anyone - alive, as far as they can see with their own eyes.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa eventually lands next to Sailor Moon and walks onto the snow as the Luna-P-chute falls behind her. She's not looking at the skyline. She doesn't need to. She saw what she needed to see. She saw what happened to her home.

    She's not going to cry.

    She's a big girl. She's not going to cry.

    Her parachute turns back into Luna-P in a puff of pink smoke and hovers next to the small child, being as supportive as an evil demonic catball possibly can be. There, there, Small Lady. Vengeance shall be yours.

    Chibiusa wipes her eyes and sniffles. Her finger points to the giant crystalline skyscraper. Looking up at it, she says, "That right there... That's my home. I bet that's where my mom and dad are, along with the Sailor Senshi from this world." Then she points to the black obelisk in the distance and says, "That... is what they did. The Black Moon Clan. That's their doing." From the looks of it, that crystal seems a lot like the earrings that the rest of the BMC wore.

    Small Lady turns her red eyed gaze to Veronica, and then Sailor Moon, and says, "If you want my opinion? We should get to the palace. They'll know what's been happening since I left. That's where... the survivors will be."

    This is grim. Just like ~900 years ago. One shining beacon of life in the middle of immense darkness, and this time it's all...

    Chibiusa looks over to Mamoru and asks, "Are you okay, Mamochan?"

Laisa Samuiko has posed:
    Laisa looks down at herself, brushes a bit of extra snow off, and then shakes her icy wings until they fall off. "I'm fine," she says flatly to Veronica. "I couldn't begin to tell you how often I've had to soften my own landing like that. I'm used to it by now." She wraps her arms around herself and frowns at the apocalypse around them. "I liked the beach better."

    Her attempt at a joke? Hard to tell from her tone of voice. Though the fact that she forces a smile after might confirm that it is.

    Thinking back to what Haruka said about the noise they just made, she frowns and says, "I'll have to be careful about how often I use my power. It's... flashy, and covers a lot of ground."

    She notices Mamoru's landing, and his peace sign, and assumes that's going to be okay. All the same she walks up to him and offers him a chilly hand.

    

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Maybe," Rashmi says, letting go of Catra now that they're on the ground. "But I thought of you first, and there were lots of other people who could help." Patting the Etherian's shoulder, she wanders back to Chrono's side, pressing the back of her hand against her nose against the miasma that crouches over the city.

Dark Energy is Dark Energy, she confirms, scanning Nicomachea's multiple screens and readings. That's useful, at least...

Looking up at Sarek, then Sailor Moon, then Chibiusa, the redhead's brow furrows for a moment. "Honestly," she says aloud, "I think... we should probably make for the palace, not the black crystal. That... seems more like a 'Nanoha it from orbit' kind of thing, but it's probably the biggest reason there's so much Dark Energy around. So if we're to attack it... The surprise *might* help."

This isn't her expedition, but she *can* provide information for the use of the people who *are* making the decisions. In this case...

Her eyes turn to Chibiusa again, and she tries to give her presumptive niece and student an encouraging smile. "You make the call, Chibiusa. Palace, or obelisk?"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    "We should be careful about wherever we move." Uranus suggests, and Neptune nods. "All of ability to sense the wind is dulled, it feels like danger could be anywhere." she adds.

    But then something's off, a different sense. Neptune moves to remain closer to Saturn, to put a hand on her shoulder reassuringlyt, but Uranus is looking in the direction where she saw what might have been a shadow, moving across the rooftops. She knows there's plenty of them and she doesn't want to rouse them to overmuch worry, so she keeps her eyes in that direction for now and otherwise is quiet.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Being completely fair, Tuxedo Kamen was a little busy trying not to breathe in the smell to scramble for Neph or control his landing like he usually does-- his voice is muffled for a second, unintelligible, and then he accepts the help up and brushes himself off with all the dignity of a cat that fell off a table and didn't stick the landing.

But he's fine now, and he gives Sailor Moon a brand new reassuring look, briefly taking his mask off to wipe the snow off of it. There, mask on again, and he crouches on purpose to check the ground beneath the snow and immediately wishes he hadn't. His ungloved hand flinches away, then grimly digs fingers into the earth and looks through the dying rot.

Shapes and miseries and destruction all around -- and the rest of the world, with, oh, god, such a smaller, there are ancient ruins of the cities he knows to look for, such a smaller world population, but more than there had been during the Golden Kingdom; now precious little. This planet is dying. Its people are dying. There's only the rainbow castle amid all that, and it sings along with the shining heart of the earth, but, but, but--

--even the dreams of this Earth are sick, are rotting, are decaying from the outside in, the darkness forced in with that enormous malefic crystal that radiates it. The prince can see broken connections with his eyes shut, but there are connections still there.

"There are survivors," he says in a low voice, but firm, "we'll find them and bring them with us. And we'll visit your home, Chibiusa-chan, and we'll help. We'll help fix this. If anyone can do it, it's all of us."

He's not lying. He's holding his ungloved hand out to her, now, dirty from the ground even after he wipes his hand off on his tuxedo trousers. He's not lying. He believes in Sailor Moon. He glances up and back at Kunzite, at Nephrite and Zoisite, at Jadeite, and he smiles and it's warm, even in the middle of all this.

"She definitely voted for the palace already," he tells Rashmi with wide eyes. "If I get a vote, I do too."

Catra has posed:
Catra inhales, and takes her first real breath since arriving; a breath that stops halfway, with a choked gag, that turns to retching and almost turns into a full on projectile vomit, before she stops herself and swallows with a loud --ULRP--

"That," she gasps, clapping one hand over her mouth and nose, "Smells... revolting." She takes another breath, slowly through her fingers, and gags once again. Then the cat ducks behind the chimney, and when she reappears a moment later her orange shade looks tinged with green, and she's wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Guess I just gotta get used to it," she grumbles. "Look," she continues, addressing the group at large now moreso than only Rashmi, "I was gonna say this place looks like the Fright Zone, which was the industrial hell I grew up in, but I gotta be more specific -- it looks like the Fright Zone, and smells like the Fright Zone sewer system dialed up to a hundred. Don't ask me how I know, okay, I just know."

The feline rests a hand on her sword, and looks around at the surroundings, ears perked up just in case anything is prowling or lurking or whatever.

"Palace sounds good. Get a chance to learn about what we're up against before we go storming our enemy's stronghold." She nods towards the big obelisk. "Back on Etheria even the Resistance were at least smart enough to do that."

Koji Silvia has posed:
    "Okay... so I guess I believe you now, Chibiusa Tsukino."

Those words come from Koji as he brushes some dust off his hands and pants of his Barrier Jacket, and just looks around at everything. Another breath is taken, followed by coughing from him as he reaches up and brushes his hand along his illusory mouth and nose-cover, causing a faint glow as it changes color from matching his scarf to black, "That's better."

Moving his way up towards the front of the group, he looks over his shoulder at.. of all people... Catra.

    "We should scout ahead for the group... look for ambushes, pitfalls, and anything that might hinder the group. I can communicate back to Rashmi. We wanna make sure we're not going to walk right into the back of someone storming the... well..."

Motioning to the crystal construct, "Castle?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Saturn nodded, leaning into the touch from the elder senshi. "When... when we go to rescue people... can I help too?" she asked softly. Asking gentle permission. A little fearful. A little hopeful. She was a senshi now And she could feel it, the death. The destruction. The pain... But...

But this... was a time she could actually help. And provide a benefit. Slowly, she pulled away from the others and reached back, her glaive appearing in hand once more, before she dug it into the ground. "Palace sounds nice... Palace sounds..." Then she trailed off.

... Was that Puu? Was... was she flying towards them?

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Not a dystopia, hu--Woah!" Amy's muttering is interrupted as she falls when the pink heart platform shatters under her. She's not hurt, it's just undignified.

    "...The city... doesn't look good. I think that must be the... future you's palace, up on top of the highest spire."

    And now she finally has a moment to notice the stench. At least with her helmet on, she can apparently add some filtration.

    Going for the palace is brought up. "I agree." Not that she assumes she gets a vote, but it's got to be the safest place, with any allies that are here, right?

    While they decide that... She kind of needs a moment.

    During her slower fall, she saw Pluto falling too, and she leaps up to the rooftops and runs over to meet her.

    "...I was thinking about it, when we... when we set out, but... I didn't expect the future to actually look this... 2300 AD." She tries to make a joke, but she just can't manage to put humor in her voice that second.

    "...I thought you weren't coming. What happened?"

Nephrite has posed:
There's a treacherous stretch between them and that palace, and things are far too still. There's no easy path, the destruction is clear. More than that, anything that is still living down there knows better than to be out in the open.

As he lowered from the air, drifting down towards Mamoru and the other Knights, Nephrite's frown is contemplative. Mamoru's smile reflects something of a determined optimism, but surely he knows this is a willful thing. It's hope, and a desperate attempt to grasp at a reality where they can undo this. They can't fail, that's not an option.

"There's no easy path ahead," he muses, glancing to Kunzite as he rests a hand upon his sword, "Everything's still. It's too quiet out there."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
"You had to say it," Kunzite says resignedly to Nephrite. He glances over the other man's shoulder, just to make certain that the words didn't invoke an instantaneous attack, but doesn't go so far as to raise his shields again in the middle of the cluster. "We'll make too much noise moving, ourselves. But staying here after that entrance ... no."

He doesn't contribute anything to which way they might move. Tuxedo Kamen and Chibiusa have already cast his vote.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
"This doesn't have the same vitality to it", Veronica agrees somberly with Mou Fubuki, peering at every nook and cranny surrounding them, noting the complete tranquility of this dying world. They aren't at least getting ambushed as soon as they arrive.

Which leaves her plenty of time to wonder what can be done for this place after the clan of disaster is gone. Will the Silver Crystal be able to return vitality to the soil?

"There will be plenty of time to take more nightly walks like those", the moonlit thief whispers to Mou Fubuki in a cheerier tone, finding comfort in her way to lighten the atmosphere around them.

"For now, let us keep close to each other", she tells her, meant just as much as reassurance as a warning to keep their guards up. She doesn't really feel good herself here, a uncomfortable feeling that creeps up her skin and fur alike.

"Do you need a bit of time, Chibiusa-chan?", the cat thief expresses her concern with the pinkette's explanation of this place. They can probably buy it to her if she does. "If we can meet your parents, we really should head there first", she recognises the younger girl's suggestion.

"Though, the idea of someone dropping Nanoha-san against that pillar would make for quite the sight", she giggles towards Rashmi.

Zoisite has posed:
"Safe to say they probably know we're here, considering the massive light that pulled us through. Unless the Clan decided to go blind." Not only that, it seemed clear to him that this could easily be a calculated choice. Bring the enemy into their battle ground instead of invading the enemy's.

Hand still pinched over his nose, trying to get used to the smell that offended him. "Gods..." Something deep in the pit of his gut tied itself in knots, but he couldn't identify it yet. The look of optimism from their prince was a welcome one, yet...

The ground beneath his heel'd boots whispered otherwise. It smelled otherwise. Not of ashes, not of the good reaping a fire could end the reign of one forest to start anew, but one of a kingdom that never felt the embers for centuries.

And it worried him that only moments earlier, even Kunzite didn't respond so quickly to the view of the world. How everyone was so hushed.

This was a tomb-to-be. The Black Moon Clan might be laughing at them.

"Nephrite is, unfortunately, correct. It's too silent to trudge ahead all together. If we do, we'll all be a target and put our Prince and Small Lady at risk of being attacked. Smaller groups would be better."

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Fortunately for Sailor Pluto, even if she isn't near the group's local guide...the landscape kind of makes it SOMEWHAT OBVIOUS where the arriving forces of Light are likely to go.

Thus, she's heading in at least the right direction.

As Amy comes to meet her partway, Pluto snorts a little at the reference as the redhead gets within earshot, then points towards the crystal in the distance, "...Kinda looks to me a bit more like the Donner Cut over there."

In response to the question, she then shrugs, "That WAS the plan. As for why I'm here? Couldn't tell you for certain. I have a vague idea, but nothing solid at the moment."

Meanwhile, she doesn't break stride...she's coming from somewhat further out...and with as bleak as things are, she'd rather arrive at their destination more or less with everyone else.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
So those crystals are where Chibiusa's home is. And that is what the Black Moon Clan did to the planet. And Mamochan is saying -

"If there are survivors, we have to help them," she says firmly, and it's clear that the if not because she doubts Mamoru, but rather - it's like a formula. If survivors, then rescue. A law of heroic mahoujin, perhaps? "But we also - we also need to head to Chibiusa-chan's home, so Zoisite's right. Breaking up into smaller groups is a good idea."

Some to try and head directly to the palace, some to look for survivors while they head to the palace, smaller groups to draw less attention, altogether...

Luna, on her shoulder, looks up. "The less attention we gather, the better. A city this quiet is bound to be filled with dangers. We have our volunteered scouts, but your communicators will work as well, even here. If you don't have one, come over here, and I'll make sure you receive one."

She'd made sure to create plenty, not specifically for this, but because there were so many circumstances where it's helpful for those around her girls to be able to reach out.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa looks at Tuxedo Kamen, and at his ungloved hand. She reaches out to touch it, and her feelings become clear.

    I'm scared. is what she feels at him, and she means it, but his faith, both in Sailor Moon and everyone else here, reassures her. Yet even so... she questions whether or not this is something that they can pull back from.

    When she pulls her hand away, she turns towards the Palace and says, "I think we've all agreed. The Palace should be our first goal. If we get lost or split up, we can always find it, and it should be relatively safe. I bet they'll be happy to see us, especially after I explain the situation."

    She puts her Time Key back onto her necklace and lets it rest next to the Silver Crystal. Then she raises an eyebrow at Koji and says, "Now you believe me? Really? Who would travel back in time just to lie about the future?"

    (Homura would have Feelings about that comment if it wasn't from an alt).

    Chibiusa glances towards Sailor Saturn with a sympathetic frown. "Of course you can help!" she promises, and then looks off to the horizon. "Huh... is that your Puu or mine?"

    To Zoisite, and really to the others, Chibiusa shakes her head. "Honestly? Since they followed me to your world, I wouldn't be surprised if they knew we were coming before we arrived." Then she looks at Veronica and shakes her head. "Thank you, but sticking around here wont make anything better for me. I can be sad and walk at the same time." Yeah, she's not even going to pretend she likes this, but she didn't come here for a pity party either.

    After a moment's thought, she says, "I'm tempted to agree with the boys on this one. We should split up. I know what the roads should look like, but we don't know which routes will be blocked off by rubble. As long as you can see the palace, you know which direction to head, and a lot of you can fly or jump really high anyways."

    Then she considers Luminous Titan. At some point, she might have to henshin. Only where she's sure she isn't being watched by the enemy, though.

    Chibiusa starts trudging towards the palace. Towards home. May as well start walking, and she's confident that others will follow to at least look after her.

Laisa Samuiko has posed:
    Mou Fubuki smiles softly at Veronica and is about to say something flirty but decides against it. They will have time for that later, probably when they reach some kind of safety. At least enough safety for her to drop henshin and actually feel what she's saying. Instead, she nods to Sarek and says, "Let's. Even if we get split apart, my magic will still let me talk to you, and we should be able to find each other through that. We'll get through this if we watch each other's backs."

    Though... the fact that Luna is handing out communicators tempts her. "Actually, just to be safe..." The Snow Angel walks up to the cat and accepts one. Then she turns to Veronica and asks, "Do you need one, or do you have one already?"

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    "Pretty sure it's our Pluto." Uranus offers. Then squints a bit. "Hard to tell without a nerdy t-shirt to give it away but I'm pretty sure based on what she said."

    "Alright, communicators then." Neptune confirms, idly playing with the one on her wrist. Which she should really use more. "If there are any threats someone needs to tell us though." Neptune knows what she's here to do, and it's not to give a concert. This is Business Time, a form of it she's missed for so long, and part of her is ready even in the dreadful circumstances.

    "We'll probably have our own problems to deal with." Uranus notes. "If what I can feel on the wind is any indication there's enough trouble for all of us."

    "Didn't know there was such a thing as enough trouble for you, dear." Neptune says as she keeps her hand on Hotaru's shoulder and decides to stick with the girl, knowing Uranus will stick with her.

    "Why am I catching all of these strays today, save some for Black Moon." Uranus gripes as she does in fact follow the group, motioning to Pluto to come over and stick with the Four-Pack.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Palace, split up," Rashmi echoes, nodding and shrugging at Mamoru's wide eyes. Chibiusa repeated her decision, and commented on the advice of the others to boot, and that's good enough for Rashmi to start her brain to working on what to do next, as she extracts her SilMil communicator and fastens it into place. "If we're splitting up... "Saturn-chan, would you like me to join you? Between Hanzo-kun and I we have an excellent chance of finding people to help--"

/Puu./

Oh that is *going* to stay in circulation.

Turning back to look, Rashmi chuckles. "Ours, I think. I can't imagine yours would know Red-chan well enough for casual conversation." Glancing back at Chrono, she draws in a deep breath, and rubs her hands together. "Okay... please remember to stay in touch, even if you're used to not talking much; we can't help who we don't hear from, y'know?"

Not to say that request was for Catra -- and Zoisite -- specifically. But it probably was.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    When you've traveled to the post-apocalyptic future, centuries from home, and the whole world is... wrong, it's comforting, grounding, to refer to something from the old world, before all the magic craziness, and confirm that that was real too, and you're not the only one who remembers it. The faintest hint of a smile creeps onto Amy's face.

    She ends up roofrunning -- or wreckagerunning -- alongside Pluto, towards the spire that is their hope for... local sanity, in this crazy world.

    "...I'm afraid that's not ringing a bell, you'll have to jog my memory."

    Amy blinks at a thought. << Hey, uh, Chibiusa? >> Amy asks over communicator. << If we get seperated and run into locals, is it better to pretend to be senshi to get them to talk to us or just start expositing everything immediately? >>

    And, speaking of a particular local who is especially likely to be Concerned about time travelers, she asks the Senshi of Time: "Say, uh. If we get separated, and any of us run into you... What should we tell her? What's the fastest way to let you know we're legit?"

Hotaru Tomoe has posed:
Sailor Saturn couldn't help but smile as poor Uranus just... caught all the flack. She giggled, shaking her head. "Be nice, Neptune," she said in a teasing tone. "Just because you're anxious, isn't a good reason to give her too much grief." Pause. "There are so many other reasons." OH COME ON! She did nod to Rashmi, though. "Yeah. I'll come with you. Between some senshi in all of the groups, it should help make things better, right?" And she knew Rashmi well, so she'd be less anxious working with her.

Chrono, at least, would nod and give Rashmi a smile. "Of course. Communication during rescue operations is always pivotal." At least he wasn't flying off on his own.

Cure La Licorne, at least, had been... mostly quiet this affair. Keeping an eye on things. But well... As one of Laura's cures? She was probably going to try and keep an eye on her lil mermaid kohai where she could...

Koji Silvia has posed:
Koji stops by Luna-P to pick up a pair of communicators and fit it into his ear, and then sends one to Catra in an underhand lob before he says, "Yes, Now I believe you. And thanks to your mother, I've also played enough Call of Duty to know we need someone at the back keeping an eye out for someone trying to sneak up on us."

And weirdly, he smiles at Catra, "Okay, I'll swing left, you swing right, and we call out what we see... and try not to start any fights. Have to leave something for the rest of them."

    << PHANTOM. >>

And he vanishes from sight, and even from some forms of scent as his footsteps go another half-dozen and just STOP.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I told you she was our alternate future daughter," Tuxedo Mask says smugly to Koji, and then he's -- there's just a firm faith he's decided won't waver, and it's warm in the wordless awareness that Usagi and the Shitennou have at the backs of everything, past mind and into soul, and every last one of them knows it's a choice he's making every moment.

It's not a blind faith at all. His metaphorical eyes are wide open, and his actual eyes have begun laying the map of survivor locations over the blasted earth around them. "Remember to sing out if you need help, too, Hanzo."

And then he glances to his Shitennou again and gestures after Chibiusa, then glances at Usagi to see where she's headed, and he trails off after the tiny pink-haired girl. "You can also be sad and carried if we have to run, okay?"

Nephrite has posed:
Travelling in several smaller groups had it's perks, indeed, in protecting certain people. Nephrite lowered his head to add to the murmurings as he followed the Princess.

"We can have up to three Sailor Moons on ground, in the mean time." Two of them would be fakes, of course, but... "If there's going to be an ambush attempt, of any kind, it won't make it any easier for them."

A glance to Tuxedo Kamen, then. "I'll even get my own Tuxedo out, if we need to add to the confusion."

Especially considering Chibiusa's own transformation, it may even provide a better sort of camouflaging for her to blend into a seeming team.

Catra has posed:
Catra catches the lobbed earpiece, and turns it over in her hand, looking at it critically. And yeah sure, it'll fit in a primate's ear, but will it fit in a feline's? She sighs, and shakes her head, "Nothing in this world is ever designed for a cat unless it's a scratching post," she mutters.

As for the earpiece, she tries it several different ways before she finds a way that works, where it stays put. She may have had to modify it a litte by just squeezing and stretching the stay-in-ear part of it. Whatever, good enough.

"Alright, I'm heading to the right," she agrees, and draws Powersend with a soft 'schwing' sound. She holds it reverse grip in her right hand, with the blade curving up against her forearm. "Hopefully the smell of this place doesn't get any worse. And don't worry, I won't start any fights, either." She pauses. "I might eliminate a sentry or two though, if I find any and they're just too damn in the way for their own good."

Well, let's be fair, fights and murder are not the same thing.

And with that, Catra slinks off, disappearing into the rubble.

Chibiusa Tsukino has posed:
    Chibiusa hears Amy talking over the communicator and activates her own.

    << If you're in a hurry, tell them that you are acting on the authority and permission of Princess Small Lady Usagi Serenity. You'll have to decide whether or not it's worth it to explain more than that. >> After a moment she adds. << It's not quite the same level of authority as the King or Queen, but if you throw my name around it'll be better than nothing. Besides, if you meet a senshi from this era, you'll be able to tell them I'm alright. >>

    Another pause, and she adds, << Actually? If you meet a Senshi? You can probably assume it's safe to tell them the full story. Same with Neo Queen Serenity, King Endymion, Luna, Artemis or Diana. You should be able to recognize them. They look like the ones from your world but grown up. >> One more pause. << Except Diana. She's a small kitten. Not grown up at all. >>

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
Sailor Pluto blinks and gives Amy a LOOK...then shakes her head and sighs.

"Note to self: when this is all over, get people together for a watch party of the alternate cuts of the Reeves Superman movies, including the Donner cut of Superman II."

Amy's question about how to deal with alternate her causes Pluto to pause and scowl a bit in thought, idly tapping her lip as she processes the question, "...well...given that it's EXCEEDINGLY unlikely you'll run into my alternate, as from what I gather from Chibiusa, she's more or less stuck at the Gates of Time..."

After a moment, she smirks a bit, "...if you want her to give a minute, say 'Abracadabra Pon' at her."

The older senshi looks over at Amy, "...it's a magic spell we know, see?"

And with that, she waves the Garnet Rod and says, "Abracadabra PON!"

And with those words, a small cascade of flower petals appears and flutters off in the wind.

Veronica Perenna has posed:
Veronica nods in agreement to Mou Fubuki's considerations, letting her positive surprise show at the revelation of her powers' approach. If something happens that she can't use her communicator at the moment, falling back on Mou Fubuki's powers sounds just what they need.

"I have already been given one", the blonde girl shows her wrist with the watch when the idea of giving communicators around comes up. "Between this and your powers, I think we are covered no matter what."

There is also the fact that a lot of the time, she might not exactly be herself outwardly depending on the situation, but she will be able to give the snow angel the required headsup when they aren't speeding up towards the palace with the rulers of this city.

<< Ok, let's try this >>, Veronica uses her communicator, checking if it has no problems here. "Good, that works. I have stashed more food and necessities than I know what to do with within Sarek, so if you find yourself in need of something, please tell me", she advises her friends. Besides that, she is going to put in a lot of work as a scout herself thanks to her stealth.

Coco would be sticking around with Rashmi and/or Amy for the trip, though her powers are all about catching attention, so she is not exactly the best fit for being on the downlow. Still, she should be able to put in the work with emotional and physical help.

Laura meanwhile, would be trying to coordinate herself with others to fend off threats with her powers, chiefly La Licorne and Saturn.