2753/Summer Swansong Karaoke Night

Summer Swansong Karaoke Night
Date of Scene:	30 August 2025
Location:	The Shed
Synopsis:	The rainbow-energy kids of Radiant Heart put on a karaoke night in the Shed to say goodbye to summer. Everyone has a grand time, and everyone's performances were great!
Cast of Characters:	Mamoru Chiba, Erika Shimizu, Amanda Faust, Usagi Tsukino, Ami Mizuno, Miho Inada, Haruka Tenoh, Hinoiri Kirara, Setsuna Meiou, Taro Yamada, Minako Aino, Kazuo Saitou, Nephrite

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Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Well," Mamoru says, nudging the last speaker into place and lifting the hem of his undershirt to mop his face, "that was a lot of work. It's set up now, I can go home right?"

He's got such a tease-face on, but it's so affectionate.

He puts his glasses on and they steam a little and he looks unimpressed, briefly, then leans against the back of a chair. "Speakers, mic, PA, karaoke machine... I dunno what all that stuff is but I figure when someone gets here who knows what they're doing, everything should be there."

The space is decorated with foil streamers and crepe paper and balloons in addition to the audio/visual rig and the karaoke setup, and there's a selection of fizzy things and not fizzy things to drink, and he looks blankly at the table next to those drinks. "I sure hope someone else brings snacks."

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    That's about when the door to the Shed swings open.
    "Yo-ho!" Comes a familiar voice...
    See. When there's fizzy drinks and singing to be had... Erika Shimizu will be there! The pirate themed magical girl is in her casuals at the moment and very much NOT looking like a zombie like the last time Mamoru had seen her.
    "I brought popcorn!" She says plopping a big bag of popcorn on the table as she pours herself a cup of fizzy.
    Soda is important.
    Soda is life.
    "Mamoruuuuu, yo-ho! How's the married life treating you~?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    The door opens, and Amy walks in with her backpack. "Hey, Mamoru! Erika!" She greets them with a smile and looks around. "Am I one of the first here?" She sets her backpack down out of the way, from which she pulls a 2-liter soda bottle and a bag of mini-doughnuts and brings them over to the snack pile.

    "...It's been a wild year, huh?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Nope, you can't go home," Usagi says cheerfully, patting Mamoru on the back. "You organized the party, that makes you the host! You've got to stick it out at least an hour~"

He's teasing, but she's teasing back, especially because they both know asking him to be the host of the party is playing dirty.

"This looks like everything, but we can't trust that the good snack providers will just show up, so... I'm gonna run out and grab some things, okay?"

And thus does Usagi escape the party with a grin and a wave for Erika and Amy as she darts out to the nearest conbini.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami had just been arriving as Usagi darted out of the shed and off on her snack-venture. A lingering moment had her staring after the blonde wondering whether she should follow along, but the moment passed and the blue-haired senshi opted instead to enter. Besides, by the time she'd made a decision Usagi was already long gone.

She'd be back, no doubt.

"Hello everyone." Ami greeted generally, sapphirine gaze moving slowly through the space. "Well done Mamoru-kun. It almost looks like a party."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"--whyyy youuuu--" Mamoru says, exaggeratedly making foiled again gestures, then laughing as Usagi makes her escape. Then sighing as she's out the door, and straightening up to smile at Erika. "Well-- I mean, awesome? Despite the fact that I just got abandoned in a social situation~!" he says, the smile turning into a crooked grin. "Look like you can hold your drink a little better than you could on the moon."

Then he's making room for Amy at the table so she can dump her snacks, and he laughs again. "Yeah. Now... it hasn't been a whole year since magical karaoke was suggested, but, yeah."

Ami arrives and he looks up, and he looks very wry. "I've been to a few, you pick things up here and there. I can't believe I forgot to plan snacks."

Miho Inada has posed:
    Well, its been a crazy couple of months for a certain ice mahou. Miho went home to Kyoto for the past month, and been helping out some of the mahou in that area to keep in magic shape. She made a few friends over there, before returning to Tokyo. She checked her messages, and saw there was a party at the Shed for the return to school. She smiles a bit, and then heads over to the Dorms to drop off her stuff. And to change clothes.

    After a little time, Miho starts to head over to the Shed. Her outfit? Its a lot different then her normal cargo jeans and cropped top. Her outfit? Its a ice blue body suit that has a half skirt on the back side. She has some blue bike shorts on. The body suit has a front zipper as well as some straps that Miho has tied around her neck. There's a snowflake shaped catch that sits just before her throat. She has some fingerless gloves, and boots. Over her left eye, she has a frosted blue bang.

    "We were sopposed to bring snacks?", Miho asks. She gives a light wave as she looks people over. "Sorry, went home for the break. I just got back this morning.", she tells. The ice mahou bows to everyone there. She seems...relaxed. Not as stressed out like she was before the break.

Erika Shimizu has posed:
    The moon... The party...
    To her credit Erika retains a neutral expression.
    We will not be talking about her soda shenanigans on the moon today. There was soda everywhere... It was a nightmare...
    A second later though she's flashing a big grin.
    "Hehhhh! Yeah you got abandoned. Don't worry though I won't drive you insane!" She says before lightly giving Amy a big grin in greeting.
    "Yo-ho, Amy!"
    And it looks like more are showing up, too!
    "I can't speak for everyone here about driving you crazy though."
    "Well. I brought popcorn at least." She notes to Miho.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"I always knew you were a quick learner." Ami comented to Mamoru as she made her way over to find a seat.

Soda could wait, but popcorn could not. In those brief moments between someone paying attention and nobody paying attention, Ami skillfully pilfered a half-handful to disappear into her mouth. By the time eyes returned to her, chewing was done and the ill begotten snack was swallowed away.

At least she had the decency to offer Mamoru a smile. "It's okay. I barely remembered to bring myself."

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Two girls who are clearly and boldly a couple saunter into the shed next - one of them looks very overdressed for the party in a fabulous teal-blue dress. The other is wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a denim vest, and is a bit wrinkled. Perhaps the idea was that they'd settle into a medium dressed-up-mode on the average? ...or they came from doing two totally different things before arriving today, which is a more likely mundane example.

    "Yo." Haruka says, waving to Mamoru in particular but everyone in general. Michiru sets a heavy plastic bag with several containers inside, and the sound of fresh Takoyaki sneaks out from it as she opens it and leaves it on the snack table, assuming such a thing exists.

    "Good evening, Chiba-san." the more elegant of the two says. Despite their vastly different styles, Michiru's arm is curled around Haruka's - they're a little bit closer than usual (which is to say, basically joined at the hip right now).

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy giggles lightly at Mamoru's foiled again gestures, and nods a greeting to Usagi in passing.

    Abandoned in a social situation? "It's just us!" she reassures, although she's pretty sure he's joking, and she giggles at Ami's 'I barely remembered to bring myself' joke too.

    It hasn't been an entire year since--
    Amy's eyes widen. "We're doing that now?! I thought this was just..." She looks around at the people gathered so far. "We're doing a mix, then? Disguise pen karaoke and regular karaoke?"

    She looks like she's working something out in her head, perhaps trying to recall if there was anything she needed to go get.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho offers a light smile before she heads off to the side. She pulls out her laptop, and takes a quick peek at a few files she has set up. She nods her head a little bit before she closes the laptop. She breathes in, and lets it out softly. The girl leans against the wall, as if she's trying to hold the wall up. She takes a deep breath as she pulls out her cell phone. "What does everyone want on pizzas? I'll order some.", she calls out.

    She takes a moment to look over a few texts, and does a quick text. The mahou looks around though. There's a bunch of people here that she doesn't know. Normally, she'd be antsy, but these are all mahou. And they wouldn't be in the Shed if they were a danger. Or if they weren't mahou as well.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Welcome, Inada-san," Mamoru tells Miho with a little bow and a little smile. "No, you didn't have to bring anything. I just forgot to plan for them. Usagi is going to the store to get more." He starts laughing at Erika again and shakes his head. "I won't be driven insane. But Usa said I only have to stick it out an hour--" he tells her and Amy as Michiru and Haruka are coming in-- and his eyes pass over a slightly emptier popcorn bowl next to Ami and they narrow a little at her angelic face-- but they land on the Outers and he smiles again, bowing slightly and a liiiittle insouciantly at them with a sparkle in his eye that's not yet the mad light of panic. "Haru-kun," he greets, "Kaioh-san. Thank you!" he says delightedly at the takoyaki they brought. "I hope you do a duet!"

He moves back over toward the equipment and starts triple-checking wires, and then flicks a switch...

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

The switch gets flicked off again. "And," he announces, "I did it wrong." He looks at Amy. "Well I certainly plan to do that now. Do you know how to fix this?"

He hears Miho and calls over, "Pizza sounds fun! Just pick three you like and then three random ones, and two plain. Do you need my card? That's a lot of pizza."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy is startled out of her thoughts by the screech of electronics, and rushes over to double-check the connections and settings, motioning Ami over too.

    "Can we also get some sausage, mushroom, and extra cheese? Doesn't have to be a whole pizza."

    She glances up from the equipment and waves, "Also, hi everybody!"

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was, well.... an expert of karaoke! So, of course, when she heard there was going to be a karaoke party, she had to make an appearance.

She was a bit late, of course, or... maybe early? Hard to tell. Either way, she pushed open the door to the shed and stepped in, bag over her shoulder, wearing pants today, and her normal jacket. She'd been busy and out of town a lot lately, heading to KKF...

But she'd popped in, even come over. "Hey guys. sorry I haven't been around much, caught something... well... let's just say, some of the stuff you can catch in Kirakirafantastica may have funny names, but it's no joke," she said with a nod. "All good now, though. And I heard there's going to be a karaoke contest?" Wait, did anyone say 'contest'? Or was it just singing? Because with her involved, it would be two entirely different scenarios...

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
After a few minutes, Usagi returns, arms loaded down with bags of chips, cookies, and candies, along with a few packs of packaged onigiri, the perfect choices for an active party with friends. She dumps the lot on a table, snags herself and Mamoru a pair of onigiri - pickled plum for her, spicy tuna for him - and slips her arm through his.

"See, that wasn't so bad! I came back and it's still just a bunch of our friends here and no one else."

Not that they expected anyone else but friends: that's the whole point of hosting this little farewell to summer in the Shed.

At the sound of Hinoiri's voice and the word contest she points at Hinoiri without even turning her head and says, "There will be no contests in this Shed, we only have one and who knows if it could handle all that!"

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho nods her head. "Thank you, Mamoru. Please.", she says. The girl starts ordering the pizza, getting bacon, sausage, mushroom, extra cheese, bbq chicken, and some random pizzas. She heads over to Mamo, and uses his card to do the order. She smiles a bit, and hands the card back. She heads over to Amy and Ami. She does a little hip bump to Amy, before brushing the bang back a little bit. "Is there something I can do to help out?", she asks.

    She takes a moment to look at her phone, and rolls her eyes as a text comes back quickly. Miho sends one back, and gives a soft laugh. The mahou stretches a little bit. "What's wrong with a little contest? We could make it a rule we don't use magic?", she offers. Then again, Miho knows that mahou are very competitive. "You know what...nevermind.", she laughs.

    Miho offers Amy a smile. "Missed ya.", she tells softly. The ice mahou takes a deep breath as she watches the Amy/Ami team work.

Haruka Tenoh has posed:
    Haruka laughs nervously. "I have competed enough with Kirara-san for my multiple lifetimes, thanks. I don't know how she could turn Kareoke into something dangerous to everyone around... but I wouldn't put it past her." she says, elbowing the fire-haired girl gently.

    "I'd have to bow out, were it an actual competition." Michiru adds. "It would lend a sort of serious nature to the situation."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Still recovering from the angry noises the sound system had delivered to her unsuspecting ears, Ami was slow to make her way over to Amy. The blue-haired senshi leans forward to inspect the cabling with a long and drawn hmm.

Somehow, despite the distance, she lifted more popcorn to chew on as eyes darted this way and that.

"I'm not overly familiar with commercial sound systems, Amy." Ami said idly, drawing a finger out to point at one jack in particular. "But, I think he's gotten input and output mixed up."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy looks where Ami is pointing and scoffs. "This is why the plugs and jacks should be color-coded or something... can you switch them for me?" She looks back to the console.

    Amy smiles at the attention from Miho, "Uh... that depends, have you used any of this before? I'm not an expert, honestly, I've just kind of been figuring this out...OHRIGHT you're a DJ yes, please. Maybe you know ways to make it even better?"

    Amy bursts out laughing briefly at Usagi saying we only have one Shed.

    Once the equipment's been checked out -- this includes playing a few seconds of music a few times, Amy grabbing a microphone and saying 'testing, testing, 1, 2, 3', etc -- Amy goes over to a cardboard box that was with the karaoke stuff and starts fussing with opening it and sorting the contents.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave an innocent smile towards Usagi. "What? come oooooon. What's the worst that could--" And then Haruka's affirmation. She paused, opened her mouth, considered...

And then nodded. "Okay, fair. I guess there is only one shed, it'd be a shame if someone happened to it."

She dropped her bag down by the entrance. "And listen, despite the alligations, pony karaoke contests only occasionally result in blood feuds or outright wars. Like, one out of every three times. And those wars rarely last longer than a month."

"So, what's everyone been up to? Anything too insane I need to worry about? Any faces needing to get punched in?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"... it truly is just singing, yeah, also hi," Mamoru says to Hinoiri, then gets snagged and onigiri'd. He munches for a little while, giving Amy and Ami time to work and Miho time to order pizzas, and he nods to Miho again when she hands the card back, onigiri in his mouth.

Once he's de-rattled his head from the sonic feedback, he asks Usagi, "Do you have a song in mind?"

And then Hinoiri's asking about punchable faces, and Mamoru grimaces. "My stupid brother. But this is a party. I'll text you about it later. It's nothing to actually worry about, but it might get loud."

Miho Inada has posed:
    The ice mahou nods her head as she checks the equipment, and hooks up her laptop. She boots up her DJ program, and checks everything. Miho gives Amy a thumbs up. She puts in a Bluetooth earpiece, adjusting sound levels as well. She puts the laptop off to the side as she leaves the ear piece in. "I can adjust things as necessary as we start.", she tells.

    Miho takes a moment before she hears her phone ring. "I'll be right back with the pizza.", she tells. The ice mahou heads out to go grab the pizza.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Not even a little bit of an idea," Usagi admits honestly, "I figured worst case scenario I'll just pick one on random and have fun with it!"

She bites into her onigiri, gets the entire plum in her mouth, and almost chokes on the sudden intensely pickled flavor.

"We could do that Soda Pop one you've been humming~?"

It's a good thing everyone else has already helped shut down Hinoiri, because instead she just snorts a little and says, "We can talk about work later! Outside of work, I've just been doing summer school which has been an unjust punishment for acts of love!"

She dramatically presses a hand to her chest.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
There's a degree of curiosity as Ami watches Miho work rapidly on the equipment and a strange little turn of her lips that suggests she's rather impressed. A slow nod and she rises straight again, smiling after Miho as she finally darts off to collect the pizzas.

"That was instructive." Ami states happily to Amy before making her way back off toward Usagi and Mamoru.

"I don't know if I was pretending to be evil to protect my alternate future daughter is the sort of excuse teachers are ready to accept." Ami said quietly to the twin-tailed blonde as she came to a stop.

Well. More of a pause, perhaps. "Would you like a drink, Usagi-chan?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Soda Pop would be a singalong," laughs Mamoru. "Which means we should definitely do it with everyone. If they make me sing by myself I'm singing Radio Cat though." He kind of hugs Usagi's arm a little closer as he licks his fingers from the sticky rice. "The other thing I was thinking was Moonlight Legend, but we should probably put a cap on how insufferably twee we get in front of a captive audience. We should have some mercy. You know?" And there's Ami, and Mamoru brightens. "You two should do an insufferable duet."

Miho Inada has posed:
    As Miho returns, she holds the door open for another person to enter. "I bumped into someone while getting the pizzas.", the mahou says. She takes a deep breath, sniffing the pizza. There's a loud growl from her stomach, as she waits. "I was gonna have the snow bunnies carry them up, but the boxes would have gotten wet.", she says.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"It's not an excuse they'll accept at all Ami-chan, and it's so unfair! It's true..."

But Usagi doesn't look all that put out - maybe it's because she's already suffered through and survived summer school, and even managed to pass her make-up exams?
Sheure, it was with marks just barely into acceptable, but it was still in there, and that's what really matters. Now there's nothing for it but to enjoy the last gasp before everyone else is also in school.

"Oh, we could do something! Ami-chan, do you want to do something? Got any ideas?"

Setsuna Meiou has posed:
And entering right behind Miho is Nurse Meiou, carrying a few boxes of pizza as well.

Or more accurately, Setsuna, as she's not wearing her labcoat, "Greetings, all."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Furtive eyes, suddenly wide and concerned, darted toward the equipment she'd just helped to set up as her face rapidly reddened. A lip caught between teeth and slowly her attention drifted back to Usagi. But not before taking a brief detour to level some silent accusation at Mamoru.

"I'll sing with you." The suddenly much-smaller seeming senshi finally replied to Usagi, almost incapable of declining the offer for her no matter her own personal nerves. "But, I don't really have anything in mind."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Summer school is an unjust punishment! "Yeah!" chimes in Amy from where she's digging in a box by the audio equipment.

    "So... I do also have a little surprise for the occasion," she reaches in, moves something, lifts out a pile of folded cloth, and brings it out over to the end of a table, "when this became actually planned, I thought it'd be neat to hand out some kind of memento, and I asked Setsuna-chan if I could have money for it," she nods at the Senshi of time and sets out two little piles of T-shirts, "and she said yes, and maybe I got carried away, but they're made now, so if anyone wants one..."

    All have a graphic of a chibi tiger singing into a microphone on the front, on the left pile it's saying 'nyan' in romaji and on the right, 'nyo', although some of both are missing the text.

    Amy's hand taps the left pile, which has white and black and a handful of colors. "These ones are regular men's," and then taps the right pile, which has black and dark colors missing smaller sizes, "and these ones are very slightly fitted and made of thicker, stretchier weave."

    She's smiling, pleased with herself, and then looks self-conscious again, "Uh... when it was, um, disguise pen karaoke, I was thinking it'd be neat if I gave you, y'know, one thing you could wear and also still have fit if you ever changed again somehow," she looks away and rubs the back of her head. "Like I said, I got carried away, and I wanted it to be a surprise so I didn't, like, ask if it was a good idea, and now we're here and um, well, take one if you want!"

    She grins awkwardly and then pours herself a cup of soda to sip very slowly.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro wiggles his shoulders back and forth, humming Soda Pop as he waits for Amy to pop out from the box by the audio equipment - and then grins as she appears with double piles of shirts. "It'll be perfect if any of us have to Hulk Out, too," he says. "And if an enemy appears, we can shock them by all wearing the same outfit and slowly turning to stare at them, as if we're a zombie army commanded by our high twin-tailed leader."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru laughs again -- he's been laughing a lot; he thinks of Kazuo -- and this time it's at the t-shirts Amy and Setsuna got everyone. "I'll take one of the stretchy ones!" he says cheerfully. "That's really cute. And, um, someone who's done karaoke with friends before should run the actual karaoke part, I don't know how people usually take turns. Also, everyone! I think everyone wants to do Soda Pop, so we should all do that one together. And we should record it!"

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho takes a moment to put the pizza down. She moves back over to Amy, and looks to Ami. "Its a simple machine. You should see the Aoki deck that I want to play with. Or the Ultra Japan decks. I'm planning on going to Ultra Japan in a couple of weeks.", she tells. The mahou giggles. Music festivals are her thing.

    She leans into Amy a bit, and hugs her. Miho seems to be relaxed. "I haven't done the singing part, but I could do the video and music parts.", she tells. The woman opens up her laptop. "And if its not part of the list, I can grab the music and lyrics, and get it set up.", she tells.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gives a light snicker. "Ahhhh, yes, acts of love. And I don't know, summer school could be fun." Soda pop, though, had her a bit confused. She, alas, seemed to have missed the memo on that song.

She cocked her head to the side and blinked a few times, before taking one of the shirts. "That's sweet, Amy-chan. Though, I think I'll avoid the disguise pen. I can see one of two results. Return of the pajamas... just, nobody needs that. Or me as a guy, and well... I'm already hot enough without confusing people in two genders. I'll leave that for other people who have a firmer grasp on such things," she said in a playful tone."

".... So, what's this 'soda pop' that has everyone so jazzed up about? Cause now I kind of want to see just how many of you guys are going to go wild on it.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy was getting all self-conscious and then Miho's hugging her and Taro speaks up Mamoru thinks the idea was cute and Amy's face just lights right back up!

    She laughs at the mental image of all of them in matching shirts freaking out a dark general, "That would be something! I don't think these will survive a hulking out, though, unless maybe you're really small to start with and take one of the biggest ones."

    She hugs Miho back, and aborts her move towards the sodas to run over and give Taro a hug too instead. "Taro! Good to see you! I'm glad you could make it!"

    "It doesn't just put you in pajamas..." Amy notes, then lets out an amused 'pff' at Minako concerned that Mina...kun? Minato? would be too hot. "Come on, how often do you get a chance like that?"

    "...What is that song people keep humming?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Yes." Ami blurted quite suddenly at Mamoru. "We should all do a song together."

After all, it was mostly the idea of her having to sing in front of everyone that had brought about her stage fright. If everyone was singing, then it wasn't quite so bad. At least they were all in it together and maybe--just maybe--that would give her more confidence later when duets and singles started.

Well. No. Ami had very little intention of doing it on her own. Even the thought managed to deepen the ruddy shade of her face despite all probability.

"I mean." She cleared her throat. "That sounds like a good idea."

Minako Aino has posed:
The door to the Shed bursts open as another figure hurries in, a flurry of blonde hair and red bow. "I'm not late am I!? Have we started yet?" Of course she was late, just a bit, but she had good reason surely!

A quick glance around reveals that she hasn't missed out on much at all, and she lets out a sigh of relief. "Oh good. Oh and the set up is ready! I thought I was going to have to help put it together, sorry." Even as she says this she fishes out a wireless microphone which she brandishes as if it were a prize magical object. "Are we ready to Karaoke?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Oh thank the gods you're here," Mamoru says, disengaging from Usagi's arm to put his hand over his heart. "Yes. You're in charge."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Amy has prepared t-shirts! With Setsuna's help! And pizza has arrived! Those are two wonderful things, that result in Amy getting squeezed into a quick hug (and possibly in her spilling her soda) as Usagi coos over the shirts and their cute designs. "Aw, these are nice! You didn't have to, but it's sweet that you did!"

Perhaps it's the spirit of the shirt, or perhaps it was always her intent, but Usagi has pulled the disguise pen out from somewhere and she's grinning.

"Let's do Soda Pop together then! Everyone who knows the song can get in on it~! Lemme just change to fit the occasion!"

"Moon Power, turn me into my handsome boy self!"

A flash of light, some sparkling colors, and there's Usagi, a short-haired blond boy with just a few extra inches, along with a bright orange puffy-vest with a black zipper, oversized jeans, and a bright pink t-shirt (yes, it clashes with the orange). Of course the 90s styles stuck around!

"Minako-chan, you're just in time! We were just saying we should do a group number to start us off, so no one has to be the single shining start~! Do Soda Pop with us! I'll be the hot one with the abs, unless Mamochan claims that role. You can be the lead~"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    More hugs good! It's for the best Amy decided not to get soda yet! "You really think so?" Amy is over the (sailor) moon at her idea being this well-received. "Thank you!"

    Ready to Karaoke? Amy nods at Minako, "That's the plan!"

    "What is Soda Pop?" she wonders, but everyone's enthusiasm is infectious and she watches amazed as Usagi turns into a 90's boy. She doesn't know this song, but she's sure she'll get to do a fair bit of singing later!

Minako Aino has posed:
Minako Aino blinks in surprise at the enthusiasm about her arrival. Of course it only causes her to grin broadly as she strides confidently in toward the karaoke equipment set up. The shed door swings shut behind her. "Oh, a group song to start! That sounds fab! Soda Pop is so great too--Does anyone know the dance moves?"

"Hi Ami-chan, and Amy-chan! Setsuna! Don't worry Mamo-kun I've got this," she assures while bending over the equipment breifly. A few buttons are pushed as she syncs up her self-provided microphone with the system. It only takes a few moments to do so as she displays an odd familiarity with such a sound system set up. One has to wonder just how many times she's done karaoke herself to get this into it.

"Right! Lead singer it is!" Blue eyes twinkle with obvious mischeif as she pauses to pull out a crescent moon shaped compact that she clicks open and holds aloft.

Moon Makeup! Turn me into a pretty boy idol!R
With a shimmer of light the lean form of Minako is replaced by a skinny jean wearing blonde boy with too-perfect fluffy hair wearing a tight t-shirt covered by an unbuttoned pink and white plaid shirt tucked into those jeans. He winks toward boy-Usagi while twirling the microphone in hand. "Let's do this!"

Music cues up, soft and poppy. The distinctive crack of a soda can opening followed by a carbonated fizzy sound fills the air as the music builds up. Minato slides to the center of the room gesturing for those that are going to join to line up as his hips start to sway.

~Hey hey! Hey hey! Hey!~

Ami Mizuno has posed:
The wave that Ami offers is more than a little sheepish. There isn't much hope of her gravitating toward the center of the general attention, not the least reason being the quantity of eyes about. Instead, she sort of melts away from the now-boy Usagi to hang a little closer to Amy.

She could hum and sing along quite happily from here. Where it was safe and relatively calm.

"I don't know it very well either." Ami leaned in a little closer to Amy to whisper in admission.

At the very least, she'd heard it a few times.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro hugs Amy back, grin getting even bigger. "Dibs on Baby Saja! I can do the dance moves!" Taro says, perking up. "Amy, we gotta watch the movie - it's a musical about a K-pop band who are also demon hunters! They use a lot of traditional Korean iconigraphy and wordplay to - oh, it's starting!"

He hops up with the others, posing with them in his Hello Kitty sweater.

He's got to get the rap centerpiece, he's GOTTA, he's pretty sure he's the only bass in the room!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"It's a song from an American animated movie, <KPop Demon Hunters>," Mamoru answers everyone asking what Soda Pop is, finishing the sentence in flawless English. He grins at Usagi and slides over, holding out his hands for his jacket. "I was going to claim it, but no no, I'd rather watch you. Here, you're going to get overheated with a jacket on."

OH. MINAKO IS. STARTING.

Mamoru nearly fumbles his phone as he backs up against the wall and starts to film, device sideways to get everyone dancing in. "Recording! If you don't wanna be on film come sing closer to Ami-chan!" Film. Haha. He slide-steps to hand the phone to Ami, puts the jacket down if Usagi did give it to him, and he starts doing the dance too. Just. Watching Usagi as he sings and dances, somehow managing to be decent.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy ohhhhs as people explain what the song is, and nods at Taro, yes they've got to see it soon!

    And then her jaw drops as Minako, who she thought hadn't heard about any of the plans to use disguise magic for this, takes center stage as a prettyboy idol, and then the song is starting and she just... watches and takes it all in and tries not to analyze the music so much and are they dancing choreography how does everyone know this?! How did she miss this movie?!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi wriggles out of his jacket, offering it to Mamoru as the opening beats of the song start playing. "Maybe we can sing Your Idol together?"

It's a joke more than an honest suggestion, though she could totally see Masato and Izou making a duet of that particular song, when she gives it even a microsecond of thought.

Still! There's no time! He hurries to the front, grinning with Minako and Taro as it begins. The intro might be the lot of them singing the heys, but the first verse is Minako's so she just joins in on the choreography, clumsily but with much enthusiasm.

And then it's the second verse!
    Lookin like snacks 'cause you got it like that (Woo)

TTake a big bite, want another bite, yeah
    Neoui modeun geol nan wonhae, wonhae, wonhae
    Neo malgon modu pyeonhae, pyeonhae, pyeonhae
    Wh?n you're in my arms, I hold you so tight (So tight)
    Can't let go, no, no, not tonight

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
The door opens a little more quietly, and with rather less pizza. Kazuo isn't carrying food, just a cloth tote bag that he puts down beside the door ...

... and then he focuses on the choreography. And starts, absolutely silently, to back out of the room at the same speed he entered, without so much as bothering to turn around first. There is a whole lot of pretty there, and people having a whole lot of fun, and it isn't the language barrier that makes this experience more alien to him than Izou's new pet. Apparently his default plan for this is 'retreat in good order.' At least in theory.

Minako Aino has posed:
Idol-styled Minato throws his hips back, one leg out to the side, and an arm raises into the air with the microphone held aloft. Then it drops down as he begins dancing to sing with a smooth voice that rings out without hesitatin or fear or... Well, Minako had certainly practiced plenty. Maybe not as a boy but it carries over well.


Don't want you, need you,
    Yeah I need you to fill me up

    Masigo masyeo bwado
    Seonge chaji ana

    Got a feeling that, oh yeah,
    You could be everything that-

    That I need, taste so sweet,
    Every sip makes me want more, yeah~

Shoulders bump and lift, right left, right left, and a hand coasts down over his stomach before sweeping out to point toward the 'crowd' of Amy, and Ami, and -- And the newly, breifly entered Kazuo.

With a quick step he spins back to let the next verse come up by their respective singer.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Evidently, she's been put in charge of recording things. That was absolutely fine with her and she held the phone as steady as she could while shuffling a little bit to the pulse of the song.

And much like Amy, she was a little bit impressed at just how well they were managing to carry on together.

"Do you think they've been practicing in secret for this?" Ami whispered the quiet question to Amy beside her.

Taro Yamada has posed:
As the three of them dance around, Taro helps with the chorus and provides back up singing for the both of them. It turns out that a lifetime of villainy and shenanigans and two weeks of getting really hyper about the new fangled social media could do wonders? Especially seeing his fellow students getting hyped for it.

As he, Usagi and Minako finish the chorus, Taro takes the lead of their trifecta with the last line as he mimics drinking a soda pop, then steps forward and begins rapping, swapping between seamless English and clumsy Korean as he hops through the dance moves .

My little soda pop

Make me wanna flip the top
Han mogeume you hit the spot
Every little drip and drop, fizz and pop, ah
Soreum doda it's gettin' hot
Yes, I'm sippin' when it's drippin' now
It's done? I need a second round
And pour a lot and don't you stop
Til my soda pop fizzles out

He dances back so that the girls can take their turn, doing an unneccessary swirl at the end.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy watches and listens in rapt fascination, and obligingly pretends to swoon when pointed at.

    "I don't know." She whispers back in amazement. "But if this isn't magic, they must have... or the song's just that popular and it's like a bunch of people at a con all knowing the dance to Sunny Sunny Happy or Give It Back! Sailor Uniform..."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
It doesn't matter at all that he's in the middle of singing and dancing -- Mamoru hears the door open and feels the hot air from outside, and feels Kazuo come in, and he keeps singing but goes over to thread his fingers through Kazuo's hand before he can get away. Mamoru wants to Get Away also, actually, but he has a sense of grim determination to him. He whispers, "You can just watch and eat if you want, nobody is going to try to shame you into anything. I may beg you to stay for my turn, which I'm gonna try to do as soon as possible. I want to stay but--" But he wants to escape.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Has Usagi practiced the dance? Yes, absolutely, usually with Minako in breaks between studying, because he'd loved the movie. Is he as good at the moves as Minako is? Nope! Is he surprised that Taro can rap? A little bit! But is he letting that get in the way of putting on a good performance? Not even a little bit!

As it turns out, being a Senshi is great for being able to do a bunch of cardio (dance) while singing - his voice isn't the strongest, but he can carry a tune, and it's a nice voice, a little higher pitched than Mamoru's, certainly softer than Taro's deeper tones. They dance and sing the whole song, which is thankfully not very long - just under three minutes!

    Ooh, ooh
    Ooh, ooh
    You're my soda pop
    Gotta drink every drop

The choreography calls for pointing only in one direction, but Usagi points at both Ami and Mamoru, because he's got two soda pops!

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kazuo gives Mamoru a resigned look. Sometimes 'love' is defined as 'willing to endure social interaction, but only for your sake.' Fingers are squeezed and let go, and Kazuo sidesteps away from the recording zone to be able to find a place to hold up a wall. That he can manage. It's safely low-exuberance enough for him, right? ... maybe.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami flushed again as Usagi pointed her way but it was quickly chased by a warm smile. She lifted her free hand to point back as she hummed along to the tune more than anything else.

She was also trying her best to nod along knowingly with Amy but, unfortunately, Ami didn't know what either of those things were. It would become more evident as her brows furrowed a little and, of course, when she whispered again.

"Sometimes I feel very out of touch. What are they?"

Minako Aino has posed:
The rapping part of the song was known, but knowing that Taro could rap? That was a pleasant surprise! Idol-Minato finishes up the dance part with a flourish, one hand raking back through the bouncy short hair dropping his head backwards as the other rises up to 'drink' from the thumb and pinky 'soda pop' of his other hand. There was no soda pop significant other to point out here but that didn't mean he couldn't own the song!

With a laugh Minato stands again, the microphone that had mysteriously vanished breifly coming back to one hand as he hops over to where the snacks were laid out. "Woo that was great! I need a real soda after that. So who's next? It can be any song, really, it doesn't have to be a dance number! It could be a love song or even like, a parody song!"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
... Kazuo glances sidelong. Is Haruka seeing this? - Haruka is concentrating on Michiru. Well, that's a reasonable decision. Other side. Is Ami seeing this? Is this actually happening? ... Ami is talking with Amy. Kazuo's uncertainty about whether the shed door has briefly dropped him into some weird youma simulation will not be resolved this quickly.

Oh. Wait. The pretty singer (one of the pretty singers) is Minako?

Kazuo is simultaneously silently impressed and even less certain about whether he's actually existing in any version of reality right now.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Finally, Mamoru tears his eyes away from Usagi and looks at the boy whose hand's entangled with his. Gonna try for it. Gonna! Then he lets go, and the prince scrambles over to Minako and waves a hand. "Me! Me please. I have to get this over with," he says bravely, reaching for the other mic, picking it up, then flipping through the catalogue on the screen. He sees one that -- oh, he knows what THAT is. He looks. No: Coco's not here, Ula's not here, Laura's not here. He knows no one's going to tell on him if his falsetto's terrible.

He puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a-- what looks like a compass? and shakes it, polishes it on his shirt, listens to it, shrugs, and then looks down and to the side, smiling as he puts it back in his pocket. His finger hovers over the button to start the music, and he says, and his voice, he's using this resonant, husky voice, full of power and a falsely gentle malice, he says, "The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself."

He uses goddamned ventriloquism, a canon ability, to throw his voice to the side and falsetto, "Can you do that?"

He says with dangerous, wicked warmth, "My dear, SWEET child. That's what I do. It's what I live for. To help unfortunate merfolk like yourself. Poor souls with no one else to turn to."

He pushes the button and turns away, then launches into literally move-for-move as if doing the song on Broadway in an octopus-man costume, the most powerfully hammy villain song Mamoru remembers exists.

"I admit that in the past I've been a nasty. They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch. But you'll find that nowadays I've mended all my ways, repented, seen the light, and made a switch."

Mamoru glances to Usagi and asks, eyebrows up, "True?" Then he says coyly, his eyes glinting instead of sparkling, "Yes!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Bouncing off the stage, Usagi waves at Kazuo and then leans up against Mamoru for a moment before he takes his place on the stage - he joins Amy and Ami, leaning in with them with a grin.

"What do we think he's going to do?" he asks excitedly, before Mamoru starts, not with singing but with acting and he squeals.

"!!! URSULA-KUN!"

Yes he is squealing during the performance.

"So true!"

He will be the hype-queen eels, only off-stage so as not to take away from Mamoru's absolute ham.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ursula-kun was about the size of it. Still--and perhaps unfortunately for Mamoru--nobody had actually asked her to stop recording. But it didn't stop there, either. For as long as Ami held her metamour's phone and kept it pointed at the stage, she was spared the trouble of having to work her own way up there for a number.

This was the price he paid for what she already knew was coming up at some point. The bus beneath which he had tossed her.

"He does dramatic really quite well, don't you think?" Ami asked of Usagi quietly.

Minako Aino has posed:
"Of course! Take it away, Mamo-kun!" Minato declares with a flourish of hand sweeping out as if introducing a new act to the stage! Only to step back, and make a few little tweaks on the mixing board so that once 'Ursula-kun' starts up there's no way that any of them would miss a single word.

Of course there's no need to tweak it so he sounds good. He DID sound good, if a bit... Falsetto-ish.

Bounding away from the lime light so Mamoru gets his moment he joins over with the others, draping an arm around Ami and Boysagi from behind. Just a friendly little hug for his friends! "I'm so glad we're doing this! It's been ages!" Somehow even gushing as he was he manages to keep it to a hissed whisper-ish level so it's not interrupting.

Kazuo gets a bright grin followed by a hand lifting in a wave.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy cheers after the song, "That was amazing! Did you guys practice? Taro, I didn't know you could sing! I didn't know any of you could sing! and dance?!"

    At Ami's question, Amy. "I mean, yes, they're the dances used in some of those 'out of touch' meme videos... oh. Oh you mean. Um." More quietly, she admits, "They're Hirano Aya songs from two decades ago... do people even still know her...?"

    Who's next? Even a parody song? "I mean, there's so many options! Do I have to do just one? There'll maybe be time for some more, right? Uhhh... I've got pop-rock, a really old-timey song, a musical number duet, and a less old-timey mecha anime song that I figured a guy's voice better suits the mood for, and there was a parody song I considered but it's like, half rap and I'm not so good at rap."

    But Mamoru's claimed next and... huh. What is he doing? Wait, is this...

    She gasps when she recognizes it, impressed!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh good, you're recording!" But it's a whisper-exclamation, as Usagi notices what Ami is doing. They have got to show Chibiusa this later! Both videos! Not to mention Naru-chan, and Makochan, if she doesn't end up coming by! "He does! He's so dramatic, but all of them are, really, so at least it's something Makochan gets to see too. It's cutest with Mamochan."

Amy is asking if they practiced, and Usagi snickers, "I mean, yes, but not for actual karaoke, me and Minako-chan both just really liked the movie, and the song! There are all kinds of ClockApp videos about it, you should check it out! There are some really good dancers, but I had no idea Taro-kun could rap! That was <so cool!>"

Yes, the 'so cool' is in her heavily accented English, just like her singing had been.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro bows to his dancing compatriots before he sinks into the couch next to Amy to grab a drink - it's one thing to do it in henshin, but it still takes some out of him doing it in, uh, civilian mode? In civilian mode!

"I was a busboy at a bar in the eighties - not allowed to handle the alcohol, since I'm technically a minor, but I did a lot of dishes and fetching. And the customers got a hit out of me singing - like, in a nice way, they were all cool. They were an art bar, y'know? Casual," and he traces the kanji for art, gei, in the air. "Real accepting place. And dancing's good for keeping yourself fit to be an ex-villain."

And then, blinks. "I guess it's like Caramelldansen? I dunno yet, the movie just came out - but it exploded. I came to see the demons but then the music just sticks in your head... and, like, they accidentally made the lead Like You."

But then Mamoru is singing, and Taro drags hims elf up, eyes wide. "Ursula-sama!! Go for it! You're divine!!"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Oh now he's rolling. The Crown Prince of Earth, in his fluffy haired glasses-wearing preppy-casual glory, absolutely saunters with the microphone, making eye contact with people, smiling, gesturing with his whole chest. "And I fortunately know a little magic. It's a talent that I always have possessed," he winks at Kazuo as he snaps his fingers and his healing hand glows for a moment, "and here lately, please don't laugh, I use it on behalf of the miserable, lonely, and depressed~"

He stops in his tracks and says disgustedly and with rrrrelish, "Pathetic."

Then he puts the mic down so he can go full ham and the pony magic kicks in and he doesn't need the mic to be heard over the music; he clasps his hands together and sings as he reels away and brings his Presence with him. "Poor unfortunate souls! In pain, in need. This one longing to be thinner, that one wants to get the girl. And do I help them? Yes indeed," he says, leaning in and smiling like the Grinch at Hinoiri. "Those poor unfortunate souls, so sad, so true. They come flocking to my cauldron crying, 'Spells, Ursula! Please!' And I help them! Yes I do."

Move for move. He puts his hand over his head and looks SO sad. "Now it's happened once or twice someone couldn't pay the price, and I'm afraid I had to rake 'em 'cross the coals... yes, I've had the odd complaint, but on the whole I've been a saint--" Another glow, this one both hands, the dim glow of his healing magic brightening as a special effect, no doubt looking like a spotlight or something shining on it. "--to those poor! Un! For! Tunate! Souls!"

And there we GO: he swirls a chair around, grins at Amy and Ami, and hops up on it to loom over Taro, and he does this thing with his voice, it oozes careless power, a demon making a deal without having time for Your Shit, as it were. "Now, here's the deal: I will make you a potion that will turn you into a human for three days. Got that? Three days. Now listen, this is important: before the sun sets on the third day, you've got to get dear ol' princey to fall in love with you, that is, he's got to kiss you; not just any kiss, the kiss of True Love. If he does kiss you before the sun sets on the third day, you'll remain human permanently! But, if he doesn't, you turn back into a mermaid and... you belong to me!"

He throws his voice again and there's a passable Sebastien. "No, Ariel!"

Then he reaches out and grips Taro's shoulder. "Have we got a deeeeal?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Still holding Mamoru's phone steady, Ami leaned a little closer to Usagi with a wry smile. "It's Mamoru-kun's phone. You'll need to distract him a moment when he comes over, but I'll quickly send the video to you."

After all, they couldn't chance poor Mamoru's nerves on it and she thoroughly agreed. Chibiusa definitely needed to see this. So did Makoto. And definitely, definitely...

"Masa-nii would be very impressed by his range." Ami was grinning now. "He, too, enjoys a little bit of dramatic theatre."

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro is bouncing in place as the song goes on, and as Mamoru leans over him -

He leans forward and up, angling his face so that if Mamoru wants to grab his chin for the Drama or grab his wrist, he can.

"If I become human, I'll never see my father or sisters again," he says in a breathy falsetto, two octaves up, grammer shifted from his usual ore to a delicate atashi.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    (Amy listens to Taro with interest and at that last bit echoes curiously, "Like me?" but then the song is starting!)

    She's impressed with Taro's pun, quietly noting 'Yeah, I heard that's who Ursula was based on in the movie.'

    But she watches, breathlessly amazed, at how well her friend can not just sing but act and perform and also he knows ventriloquism?!

    The thing with his voice holds her, it would almost be creepy but it's Mamoru, a bit like that moment with Sailor Eclipse, and she can only nod after the instructions are given and then jumps, startled out of it by the 'No, Ariel!'

    Still, she's left staring, wide-eyed, after he focuses on Taro. "Wow."

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Minato's wave receives a bow in return. Solemn acknowledgment that Kazuo was outperformed in the literal second that he walked in. And then Mamoru winks at him with his hand aglow, and Kazuo finds something fascinating about fifteen degrees away from Mamoru's face. No no no he does not need to be the focus of -- oh, thank Whatever, Mamoru's picked Taro for Ariel instead. Kazuo gets to survive another thirty seconds.

In this moment he has more in common with Ami than he'd expect. Except that she's coping better.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"That's right! But, you'll have your man," Mamoru says to Taro, and then adds a little snidely, "Life's full of tough choices, innit?" Then he straightens up. "Oh! And there is, one...more...thing! We haven't discussed the subject of payment. You can't get something for nothing, you know?"

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro melts back, hands tugged close to his chest as he gazes up with trepedition -

(Heart beating, thrilled - this was so fun, why hasn't he done this sooner?? it's been so long!!)

"But I don't have anything!" he cries.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"I'm not asking much. Just a token really, a trifle." Mamoru waves his hand dismissively. "You'll never even miss it. What I want from you is..."

He leans in and it's hard to say exactly what Taro may see in his eyes but IT'S SCARY, and his voice sounds sickly sweetly deep, "Your VOICE."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"My voice!?" and he makes his voice crack halfway through, faux-alarmed.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"You've got it, sweet cakes," says Mamoru, straightening up again, hopping off the chair, and dragging it away. "No more talking, singing-- zip!" He pops the P.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"But without my voice, how can I - " and Taro dances after him, arms held out as if pleading.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy opens her mouth and barely stops herself from saying 'Don't do it!'

Minako Aino has posed:
It was so hard to just *stand around* and do nothing when there was so much energy built up! While Mamoru sings along with Taro doing their part, Minako--er, Minato--Has vanished from the small group around Ami.

Only to appear in the background near the audio equipment. Not touching it or doing anything, simply being in the background with arms out to either side doing a little rhythmic wriggling motion. A quiet 'Ke ke ke ke ke' of evil tittering comes.

Minato: Playing the part of Flotsam and Jetsam, and doing a eely swimming wriggle with both arms.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"You'll have your looks! Your pretty face!" He's doing all of it. His hands go to his face, and then they go to his (lack of) hips and he heyyyyy Macarena, AI! hipbumps the air, "And don't underestimate the importance of BODY LANGUAAAAGE! Ha!" And THEN--

--then he is on a *steamroll* because it is 12:12am and I will ham it all up in post but trust it's as good as the rest--

Mamoru drops the chair in front of himself, it's his cauldron now, he's tall enough as long as he's not right next to Taro. He intones, singing with full-throated whole-chested one hundred percent cured ham, "Beluga sevruga come winds of the Caspian Sea! Larengix glaucitis et max laryngitis la voce to meeeeeeeeee!"

He booms, "Now, SING!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Usagi is eagerly watching the spectacle of the show, and when Minato joins the show, he giggles, hiding his mouth behind a hand, and hopes Ami will record that too.

He will not interrupt the performance! But he will absolutely enjoy it.

This is Mamoru pulling out all the stops for a show and being his most dramatic self!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    At the explanation of how to attract the prince, Amy does give Taro a little nod and a wave of her hand as if to say 'sadly, such is the way of the world'

    And she just keeps watching in amazement.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro falls to his knees facing the audience, hands uplifted like he's a cartoon princess giving benediction, and starts singing.

He drops down to his natural range since he KNOWS he can't hit Ariel's high notes even in a falsetto, but he's still giving it his all as Mamoru commands him - rising up from the floor as Ursula-Mamoru encourages him, voice strengthening in pitch and volume as he goes as high as his voice can!!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Not only did Ami want to miss Minato's incusion into the performance, Ami couldn't quite a void it. Given the angles involved and how Mina had worked his way around to the behind, he was going to be in the shot regardless.

And boy-oh-boy, it definitely added to the atmosphere of everything.

Usagi would have video that captured everything happening in all of its glory.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
And Mamoru mimes clapping his hands around something as the music, finally, stops.

Then he bows, looking amazed. "Thanks, Hinoiri!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
As soon as the song is over, Usagi bursts into cheers. "Whoo! Whooo!" He cries out, grinning. "Look at you two! Mamochan, I can't believe you reprised the villain role! And Taro-kun, you made such a great Disney Princess!!"

He hops over, to offer Mamoru his hand gallantly.

"You did so good! And, if you want, I now release you to go introvert with Kazuo, okay? You did really good, and Minato-kun and I can take over hosting!"

Which will happen even if he doesn't want introvert time just yet, because she knows he doesn't exactly like hosting.

"And just think, this is what it was like when we were here. I really want to experience that over in KiraKiraFantastica!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    After the performance concludes, Amy cheers, and claps so enthusiastically that she's briefly shaking her hands after. "That was AMAZING! And yeah, amazing job rolling with it Taro but that whole thing was amazing holy cow Mamoru!"

    At Usagi's comment, she looks to her friend and notes, "Oh it was wild, we got nearly that dramatic over some guy choosing what kind of cake to bake his girlfriend."

Taro Yamada has posed:
"I had a great co-performer," Taro says, flashing Mamoru a peace sign (and flashing one to the camera, too!!!) before heading over to his part of the couch to flop again. He's always had a pretty decent voice, he's been told, but Ariel's solo at the end needed some good air control!!

"Thanks, Usagi-san!! The most important thing about being an ex-villain is presentation!!" double peace signs! yeaaaah!! "It's nice getting to stretch my chops again!"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
While Mamoru was busy being accosted and commended for his perfomance, Ami was quickly working away at his phone. By the time she reached him and held it out for him to take, the remnants of a sent message to Usagi--and herself, of course--remained to illuminate the screen. Of course, she was smiling.

"You did very well, Mamoru-kun." She beamed and nodded in Taro's direction. "You, also, Yamada-san."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Welp. After that I guess I'm doin' a musical." Amy comments, and the sound equipment announces that it's pairing to Amy's phone as she tap taps and queues things up. "He kinda made me wanna do Friends on the Other Side but I didn't practice that one..." She holds out a hand to Usagi with a smile, "Can I borrow that, please?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Alright! Another musical number!" Usagi bounces excitedly, a broad smile spreading over his face. He stretches his arms up, excited, and when Amy turns to him, he pauses and then grins. "Absolutely! Just remember, it's only humanoids and outfits!"

And he takes away the pen, sparkles flowing around his form as Usagi becomes her usual girl self, holding out the sparkly pen.

"Take it away! The command is 'Moon power, turn me into a -'"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru leans down -- not as far!! -- to kiss Boysagi, and the relief in that kiss is mighty, and his face is a little high in color, but it's from exertion instead of embarrassment. He smiles at Ami as he takes his phone back, glancing at the screen. He looks wry. "Making sure it wouldn't be accidentally deleted?" he teases as he turns it off and pockets it, goodnatured. And he says, "Thanks, everyone, for letting me hog the spotlight for a hot minute."

Hands on Usagi's hands, and he blushes at the praise he gets from Amy and shakes his head. "The ham and singing voice were me, but the talent was Kirakirafantastica," he says, and he squeezes Usagi's hands and lets go of them.

As she's handing the pen over to Amy, he steps off to take up residence next to Kazuo, standing close enough to touch, leaning against the wall next to him. His hand finds Kazuo's again, and he's companionably silent. We can go whenever, is the general sentiment, but I'm okay to stay now that that's over with.

Minako Aino has posed:
Now that the boy number was done (for now), the Idol that was Minato has faded away leaving Minako once again. She's settling back now with a soda as she had said she needed, also probably a slice of pizza, as she waits to see what Amy is up to. She lingers near the karaoke equipment for now intending to play DJ Hostess and make the necessary audio adjustments as everyone else sings.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy takes a deep breath, lets it out, clutching the disguise pen to her chest, and then holds it up into the air.

    "Moon power, turn me into a pretty boy singer!"

    But in a flash of light and sparkling colors, she's replaced by a much taller -- although not as tall as any other boy here, maybe 5'8" -- boy dressed like he's from the 2000s maybe, with short red hair -- comparatively, not actually cut close to the scalp but it doesn't even cover his ears, although there are still front sidelocks framing his face at cheek length, covering the ears from the front -- in a red shirt with cap sleeves, some golden necklaces, and loose-fit black pants (although not as extreme as jncos).

    He blinks down at the now-much-shorter Usagi, and then looks at his phone's selfie-cam.

    The wish changed his face, and he doesn't look the same as he once did, but he can see some of young Mallory's face there, the cheeks, the shape of the eyes, like a long-lost relative.

    But it's not a body he's stuck in this time, it's a costume, and the ridiculousness of the situation makes him chuckle, and he points towards the phone and says in a teen surfer accent, "[Dude. Sup?]" And then he chuckles again and drops the accent.

    He holds a hand to his chest and sings a scale and some vowels, "aa aa aa aa aa aa aa, aa ee ii oh uu, aa ee ii oh uu, ah ee ii oh uu..." He takes a breath. "That'll have to do."

    He steps out onto the area they're treating as a stage...

Ami Mizuno has posed:
As Mamoru scooted off to keep the walls in place along with Kazuo, Ami snuck an arm in to hook Usagi's elbow. Amy was on the way for her turn to sing as a boy, and there were still refreshments to be had. After all, Usagi had brought a whole mess of sweets.

Two cans of a raspberry soda were snagged from a cooler, with one offered to the blonde, and the other cracked with a hiss. Ami held the can up, smiled, and said, "<Soda Pop!>"

Her accent English accent, while not terrible, was distinctly noticeable in a way that Mamoru's hadn't been. She sipped quietly.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho is getting things ready for Amy's song before she blinks. Is that? Yeah, that was Amy! She's a boy now? The disguise pen really is a dangerious weapon! She turns bright red, as she ducks behind the laptop. She's gonna demand that Mamoru keep that weapon locked up!

Taro Yamada has posed:
As Amy takes the stage, Taro whoops. "Show us what you got!!" He's bouncing in his seat from the sheer excitement.

Amanda Faust has posed:
Amy turns to face the audience, and in a moment of playfulness winks and points a fingergun at Miho. Then a thought occurs to her, and she turns to give a wink and point at Taro, too! And then:

    "Moon power, turn me into a pretty boy genius mad scientist!" What.

    Goggles pushed up on forehead. Howie labcoat. Long black rubber gloves. He taps the phone in his other hand... nothing happens. Right, gloves. He slips the pen into a coat pocket, pulls off the glove, taps the phone, and pockets it too.

    A soft woodwind and tense-plucked strings start up in the background as he stares at the audience almost like he's got stage fright for a few seconds... and then he starts musically ranting, holding out his hand and gesturing with a raised, half-curled hand,

Any dolt with half a brain
Can see that humankind has gone insane.
To the point where I don't know if I'll upset the status quo
If I throw poison in the water main.

    He holds a clenched hand to his chest and pleads,

Listen close to everybody's heart
And hear that breaking soooo-o-ound.

    He makes a dramatic sweeping gesture outward, and then downward,

Hopes and dreams are shattering apart
And crashing to the ground.

    He starts to pace across the stage, still gesticulating as he sings,

I cannot believe my eyes
How the world's filled with filth and lies!
But it's plain to seeeeeeeeeeee evil inside of meeeeee
Is on the riiii-i-ise.

    Where is she going with this?

    Amy dismisses the disguise pen, her clothes sparkling into a plain pink blouse and purple skirt like Penny was wearing in that scene as she twirls across the 'stage' and faces the other way to further indicate playing another 'character', and continues the next verse, starting with a sweeping gesture:

Looooook around, we're living with the looooost and found.

    She turns to sing back towards where she was,

Just when you feel you've aaaaaaalmost drowned,
You find yourself on sooooooolid ground.

    She holds her hand to her chest, then clasps the other atop the first,

And you believe there's good in everybody's heart.
Keep it safe and soooo-o-und.

    She holds out her arms towards the audience, and then spins once at 'turn' before singing the rest to them,

With hope, you can do your part
To turn, a life, around.

I cannot believe my eyes!
Is the world finally growing wise?
Because it seems to meeeeeeean some kind of harmonyyyyyy
Is on the riiii-i-ise.

    (But the song's not over yet...)

Nephrite has posed:
A little late, but fashionably so! Masato arrives casually enough. It's a subtle entrance for him, because he respects the art of karoke, and does not wish to disturb the performance.

He does come bearing an assorted sample box of various cakes, a gourmet platter to allow for choice-- small squares of happiness for whoever fancies them. So, he slides towards the refreshments with mouthed greetings and squeezes around Usagi and Ami to place his offerings down.

Sapphire eyes lift to watch the transformation pen theatrics with some interest. He approves.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Masato put cakes down by Usagi and Ami. Well, those are going to be short-lived. Kazuo's mouth turns up at the corner, where he's propped against a wall out of the way, and he answers the touch of Mamoru's hand by interlacing fingers lightly. Nothing too obvious; they're in public, after all.

But amusement is best shared, and the light touch of 'just what we needed, more mad science' is something best shared silently, so that the sense of laughter is there without risking upsetting Amy. It's not a joke at her expense, just at the universe's.

"I'm on board with that couple of lines," he murmurs aside to Mamoru. Aloud, technically. But quietly.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Assorted cakes are a girl's delight, and especially so for one girl in particular. Usagi greets Masato with an enthusiastic grin and a hissed, "Watch Amy-chan, she's gonna be great!" before helping herself to one of those mini cakes. Well, that won't last long.

Having hand it over her disguise pin, she's not at all. surprised to see used - but she is surprised to hear what it's going to be used for and she laughs out loud at the site of Amy the roguish boy mad scientist, though the last will quickly ceases when the music starts and the singing begins. she doesn't know the song, and it's definitely in English, but her English has actually improved over the last couple of years. thanks to dedicated help from husband and girlfriend alike. It's not enough for her to really understand the song, but it's enough to get the vibe, especially with the impassioned performance, and she claps - quietly! - to show her support.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho is still blushing. Its almost bright enough to light up the room. She shakes her head. The girl has a job to do, and she's trying to be professional-ish. Miho grabs a soda, and takes a quick drink of it. She blinks a little bit. Sweet. She looks down at the soda. Oh, right. Party. She forgot that its gonna be soda here, instead of tea.

Taro Yamada has posed:
"Thank you for the cakes," Taro says, eyes not moving from the stage. He's transfixed. Everyone's transformations have been spectacle and costume, handsome faces to wear as a mask. Which, fair enough, he does something similar enough - but Amy takes it a step further with the dramatic costume paired with the boyish face, going so far around that it punches back into naturalistic.

Is it bad that his first thought is that this would have been a wonderful duet?

He doesn't know the song, but the drama of it pulls at him - while Soda Pop and Poor Unfortunate Souls presented two very practiced seductions of the audience, ones he'd participated in, this was at minimum a show of striking vulnerability. And it... makes him wince a little for how familiar some of those lyrics are to what he was like before he became to Tokyo.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
A refreshing beverage in one hand and Usagi in the other, Ami would only possibly disengage for the promise of something particularly nice. For instance, if a certain brother-figure happened to appear with a collection of miniature cakes.

"Hello, Masa-nii."

At the very least, Ami had manners enough to greet the cake-bearer before one disappeared from the platter. She chewed quickly and swallowed things away before too many would be able to take notice.

"You missed the opening ceremony, unfortunately." Ami informed him. "Everyone was boys."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
For one horrified second Mamoru thinks the disguise pen's about to turn Amy into Riventon.

It does not.

Therefore, the prince's hand, entangled with Kazuo's, squeezes and lets go of the alarm, equally entertained by it. Kazuo can tell he's taking a step back from reality for a second, maybe a few seconds, to get his head back in the space to enjoy the show.

And it's very enjoyable! "Combination of it being partially true and you being a cynic," he murmurs back, his mouth turning up at the corners. He'll be fine.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "Moonpowerturnmeintoaprettyboygeniusmadscientist!" Amy whispers to the pen in a hurry and then gasps a big breath quickly--

    And she's still singing, but her voice, singing the melody, is coming from the speakers with the music, while his voice does the male part in harmony:

H: Anyone with half a brain           could spend their whole life ho-w-ling in pain.
P: Taaaaaake it slow.        He looks at me and seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeems to know.

P: The things that I'm afraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaid     to    show,   and     suddenly I feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel this      glow,
H:                But the dark is everywhere and Penny doesn't seem to care that soon the dark in me is all that will remain.

P: And I believe there's good in everybody's heart.     Keep it   safe and soooo-o-ound.
H:         List - en    close to everybody's heart, and hear that breaking soooo-o-ound.

P:  With hooooope  you  can do your part, to tuuurn a liiife arooooooooound.
H: Hopes and dreams are shattering apart and crashing to the grooooooooound.

H: I CAnnot belIEve my eeeeeeeyes how the world's filled with filth and liiiiiiies,
P: I CAnnot belIEve my eeeeeeeyes how the world's finally    growing    wiiiiiiise,

H: But it's plain to seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, evil inside  of  me
P:                  And it's plain to seeeeeeeee,        rapture inside of me

Both: Is on the riiiiiiii-i-iiiiiiise...

    At the end of the song, he starts to do a curtsey to the audience, but the coat isn't open... oh well, he does it anyway empty-handed, making it a bit more of a dramatic bow.

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
A duet with oneself demands applause; Kazuo only has one hand available, but they're in the Shed. There's nobody on the far side of the wall to be dismayed; he drums his hand against it without shame. "Well done!" he calls aloud, inclining his head to Amy.

... and then murmuring back to Mamoru, "I don't like dogs enough to be a cynic. Can I be an ophidic instead?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
A duet with yourself, with all the swapping around the disguise pen requires... wow! Usagi joins the louder applause now, cheering. "That was awesome!! A duet with just you, that was so cool!"

She doesn't really get the song, but the performance? Absolutely deserves the cheers.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro applauds. "Great use of having things pre-prepared!! That must have taken some practice to get the timing right!! And those costume changes were tightly done!! Bravo!"

Good song! dont ask if hes emotionally affected by this duet that's hitting his old cynical feelings, he's fiiiine

He's got a can of soda ready for Amy when she gets back!! holy moly having friends was great, hearing everyone cheering for her as they had cheered for him earlier - Usagi and Mamoru and Kazuo and Amy and Minako and Miho and Coco and all the rest!!

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Instead of applauding, Mamoru calls out, "Amy-chan that was amazing! Your timing's ridiculous!" While he just sort of rolls around in how that song is so Riventon and he would like very much to wipe the smirk off Takashi's face and--

--and he laughs and pushes Kazuo with his shoulder. "No. Only if I can be delphic."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy stands up straight again and smiles at the applause, muttering, 'Disguisepenturnmebacktoaprettyboysinger.' to go back to the previous costume, no need to stay dressed like a villain.

    He steps back out of the 'stage' area. "I... I did practice some songs for this," he smiles at the praise, and takes the soda and a sip. "Thanks."

Miho Inada has posed:
    The young girl waits for Amy to walk off the stage, and gives Amy a quick cheek kiss. As Miho takes to the stage, she had preset her stuff. The lights go low as she starts to walk up to the edge of the stage. Its quiet, as she adjusts a headset mic. She smiles a little bit. The title of the video shows up on the screen. Its LEvel by TomorrowxTogether. "Youkai Musume, Yukihime.", she says, henshining into Yukihime. The mahou raises her hands much like the lead does, and then lowers them before snapping them back up. Four ninja snow bunnies appear with drums, playing the drums.

    As the song starts lyically, Yukihime goes into the dance while she sings, turning it into something of a proformance. Yukihime is in her element as she dances, mixing old school shrine dancing with hip hop movements. The snow bunnies mimic the movements of the 4 ninjas in the video.

    As the song comes to a close, Yukihime finishes with a pose before dehenshining back to Miho. The snow bunnies and Miho bow before the bunnies run outside to turn into water. Miho, herself, is panting a little bit as she smiles a bit. That was sooo much fun! She hops off the stage quickly to set up for the next singer, as she blushes a bit. Miho hasn't really done anything in front of a crowd before! She hops off the stage quickly to get it set for the next singer.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Ami still watching Amy as she departed the stage and Miho took over. She offered a round of clapping for one and then the other while ensuring she's somewhere a little bit behind Usagi for the minute. A sip of soda followed.

"Everyone's really very good." Ami observed sheepishly. "And well coordinated."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh wow, I wouldn't have thought about just outright transforming," Usagi contemplates as Miho performs as Yukihime. She's heard bits of the song on Clock App, but Solo Leveling isn't really her kind of thing, so she's not looked into it too much.

"You'd be good too! I believe in you. Minako-chan and Taro-kun really carried me."

Nephrite has posed:
After a small round of applause, Masato leans down over Ami's shoulder, smirking a little bit. "Usagi-chan is right. You could strike poses and send out prismatic bubbles, Ami-chan. Perhaps we should duet?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru cheers for Yukihime! And then he whispers to Kazuo, "Or we could ask to borrow the pen and the compact and be sapphic."

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy nods to Ami, "It took practice and preparation. That wasn't on the spur of the moment, after all. Although... I did have a few different songs ready."

    Amy blinks at the kiss, and holds his hand to his cheek, and then... the bunnies can play drums?!

    As the song gets going, he's bobbing his head and swaying to the music.

    At the end of the song he claps, "Yeah, Miho, nice! Were you controlling the bunnies the whole time, too? Dang!" And he runs up and hugs Miho exactly as if he weren't 3/4-of-a-foot taller and a bit stronger now, briefly forgetting.

    To Ami he suggests, "If you really haven't practiced singing any... well... maybe something easy to sing along to...?"

Ami Mizuno has posed:
There it is. That sudden shade of red again. Eyes dart back and forth between Usagi and Masato for a moment. Her lower lips is caught between her teeth briefly and, somehow, Ami seems to shrink a little smaller.

"You think so?" The words escape her as an impressively self-conscious squeak. "But, what would we sing?"

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
That gets Mamoru pushed back, cheerfully and with a hand-squeeze, as Kazuo wall-applauds Miho and bunnies as well. "For tonight, you are not oracular."

Taro Yamada has posed:
Yukihime's dance is another demonstration of dedicated preperation; Taro watches rapt as she and her familiars dance, then applauds loudly once it's clear she's done. "Well done! I love how much traditional dance you're using for this - and how you're using the modern dance moves to synchronize with the way your bunnies move! Your love of both old and new really shines - using all the talents at your disposal to really make the piece pop!"

There's been so many good performances - and he's been in a couple of them - and Taro just can't wait anymore. It's his turn to take the stage!!

He waits politely for Miho to leave, then takes the stage, his henshin swirling around him - and this is the closest to 'himself' that Kuiper Belt Cape has ever looked, his same height and same face and the red horns just nubs on his forehead. His kimono has manifested patterned with a rainbow of tropical flowers. "Just like Miho, I'm going to be doing a performance that's even better in henshin," he says. It won't be recorded properly, but - he doesn't care. This will be SO cool. "There are some songs that are considered to be near impossible to perform; this song's composer has never performed it live due to how physically demanding it is. For all of you, I will sing the impossible!"

He taps in 'Hardware Store' by Weird Al on the karaoke machine, then waits for the infamous 126 bpm song to begin.

Nothin' ever (ever) happens in this town
Feelin' low down (down), not a lot to do around here
I thought that I would go right out of my mind
Until a friend told me the news
He said, "Hey, you know that vacant lot
Right beside the gas station? Well, somebody bought it
And on that spot they're gonna build a shop
Where we can go buy bolts and screws

Since then I've been walking on air (air)
I can barely brush my teeth or comb my hair
'Cause I'm so excited and I really don't care
I've been waiting since last June
For this day to finally arrive
I'm so happy (happy) now just to be alive
'Cause any minute now I'm gonna be inside
Well, I hope they open soon

I can't wait, no, I can't wait (oh, when)
When are they gonna open up that door?
I'm goin' (yes, I'm) goin', I'm a-goin' to the
Goin' to the (hard) ware, I'm goin, really goin to the
Goin' (hard), I'm goin' to the (hard), oh, yes, I'm goin' to the
Hardware store

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho squeaks as she's hugged, and then leans into Amy a bit. She is breathing heavily, as she snuggles in. Plus, she got a free back pop! "Nah. I sent a pre-sent movement to the bunnies. I...well, its a song I like hearing, so practiced a bit while using the bunnies to mimic the dancers.", she blushes a bit. "Plus it would be insane to try to control each one.", she says. The young girl blushes a bit, "Thank you, sir.", she says with a small bow to Taro.

    Miho is a bit exhausted as she curls into Amy a bit more as she sits with him. She can't help but giggle at the Weird Al song. "I didn't think about Party in the CIA!", Miho laughs. Yeah, she knows Weird Al..."I got nothing! Hail King Taro for doing it!", she cheers tiredly. The girl seems to relax a little bit.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara had been here the whole time! And well... it had been a pretty wild night. Seeing Mamoru go wild as Ursula? Oh, that had been magnificent. Amy singing a duet with herself? That's just creative and amazing.

And hey, she wasn't the only villainous singer, either. Nice. It was good to know she wasn't the only one with tastes that played on the darker side in pretend.

Of course, as Taro's song starts... She just looked very confused. Giving a bewildered look for a moment until the laughter started... and she realized... Parody song. Ohhhhhh. Okay. So hardware stores weren't ACTUALLY great sources of excitement for everyone here...

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
Kazuo listens to Taro's singing ... and attempts to keep up with the English. He's catching maybe half of it, at this pace. And yet. And yet. He's catching enough of the meaning that his expression is very slowly shifting to one that doesn't need touch-based psychic contact to read. Who knew there was a specific expression for 'technical difficulties might not be the only reason he doesn't sing this one live, Taro'?

At least he and Hinoiri are at one in confusion, if for entirely different reasons!

Amanda Faust has posed:
    (Amy certainly isn't the first to think of doing a duet with herself in that situation, but she might be the first to get to actually do it...)

    Amy blinks at leaning and snuggling, Miho is really affectionate today! He hugs warmly, nuzzling a little in response to the earlier kiss... and that makes him even more aware of how he's taller and, oh right.

    He's not sure how he feels about that, but he'll hold Miho as long as she wants.

    When Taro takes the stage, Amy looks at him with eyebrows raised, wondering what song will be impossi--

    'Is that Hardware Store?', he mouths, and then watches and listens with interest, mouthing along to some of the words...

    But the hard part is yet to come, and he's excited to see and hear it!

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Is Taro-kun singing an epic adventure about going to the hardware store?" Usagi whispers to Ami, watching with almost cross-eyed awe at the speed of all that perfectly pronounced English - her English is absolutely not that good.

Taro is good, his singing voice strong and his diction good to her inexperienced ear, but she feels like she must be missing something, right?

Maybe she misunderstood the words?

On the other hand, the music is pretty bouncy and fun, so maybe it's a silly song? Either way, she's impressed and amused.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru has never heard this song in his life. It's patently absurd and Taro is singing it in full demon vampire henshin and oh god it's a silly song, he gets it, it's supposed to be absurd, and Taro is in henshin, and he turns to muffle his guffaw in Kazuo's shoulder.

It's not very muffled.

Nephrite has posed:
Masato understands Egnlish just fine, but he isn't familiar with the song or the artist, and so there's a slight layer of confusion about him when he claps. It was a good show, but he glances at Usagi as she whispers. He's wondering the same thing.

"Maybe it's a children's song or a television <jingle?>" He muses quietly aside to them. "Americans do like DIY. It's a big hobby."

Taro Yamada has posed:
This is fast for a song, and the internal meter requires crisp diction and a decent grasp of English. Though most of their group has little to medium English profeciency, they should at least be able to grasp the internal rhythm. Even if it's not a deep song - he didn't want to do a deep song. He wanted to do a fun song. With his friends. And this was a fun song that would make them laugh and they'd all have fun! Together!

(And he preens as he notices that Miho and Amy have recognized his song. He nods to Amy before he goes into the next verse - that's what he's doing!)

In my sleeping bag I camped out overnight
Right in front of the store, then as soon as it was light out
I pressed my nose right up against the glass
You know, I had to be first in line
Gonna get me a flashlight and a broom
Want a pair of pliers for every single room of my house
See those hacksaws? Very, very soon
One of them will be all mine

Guys with nametags walking down the aisles
Rows of garden hoses that go on for miles and miles
Brand new socket wrenches in a plethora of styles
All arranged alphabetically
And they're doing a promotional stunt
There's a great big purple sign out front
That says every 27th customer
Will get a ball peen hammer free

I can't wait, no, I can't wait (oh, when)
When are they gonna open up that door?
I'm goin' (yes, I'm) goin', I'm a-goin' to the
Goin' to the (hard) ware, I'm goin', really goin' to the
Goin' (hard), I'm goin' to the (hard), oh, yes, I'm goin' to the
Hardware store

The music comes in, and Taro takes a good, deep breath. The next verse is eight syllables per second and he will need as much air as he can for this.

Like a machine gun, he raps:

 ??They've got allen wrenches, gerbil feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters
Trash compactors, juice extractor, shower rods, and water meters
Walkie-talkies, copper wires safety goggles, radial tires
BB pellets, rubber mallets, fans and dehumidifiers
Picture hangers, paper cutters, waffle irons, window shutters
Paint removers, window louvres, masking tape and plastic gutters
Kitchen faucets, folding tables, weather stripping, jumper cables
Hooks and tackle, grout and spackle, power foggers, spoons and ladles
Pesticides for fumigation, high-performance lubrication
Metal roofing, water proofing, multi-purpose insulation
Air compressors, brass connectors, wrecking chisels, smoke detectors
Tire gauges, hamster cages, thermostats, and bug deflectors
Trailer hitch demagnetizers, automatic circumcisers
Tennis rackets, angle brackets, Duracells and Energizers
Solar panels, circuit breakers, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers
Calculators, generators, matching salt and pepper shakers??



I can't wait, no, I can't wait (oh, when)
When are they gonna open up that door?
I'm goin' (yes, I'm) goin', I'm a-goin' to the
Goin' to the (hard) ware, I'm goin', really goin' to the
Goin' (hard), I'm goin' to the (hard), oh, yes, I'm goin' to the
Hardware store

And as the chorus music plays on, Taro's going to catch his breath. Heck. He did it!!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Though her English is perfectly passable, it is nowhere close to Minako's or Masato's. Ami spent the song watching Taro, head tilted at a slight angle, and the occasional drift of can or cake to mouth.

"That's..." Ami shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I'd tie my tongue in a knot if I tried to do all of that. Wow."

The blue-haired senshi lifted her hands to applaud Taro's effort. That was an impressive amount of syllables.

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho is smiling a bit before she blinks. Wait, Amy is smaller then her. She pauses a bit, but then its magic. "S-sorry if this is inapporiate. Just...that was a bit...tiring.", she tells. The mahou leans in a bit more. She listens in, and makes a Hail to the King bow to Taro. She can't even do that with a mix on her laptop. Its one of the legendary songs. All Miho can do is clap to that.

    She takes a moment to compose herself, and then sits up a bit. Miho blushes a bit as she takes a drink of her soda. She bites her lip kinda watching Amy a bit. She shakes her head a little bit. The woman does offer Taro a soda, cause gawd...His throat has to hurt after that as well!

Kazuo Saitou has posed:
... wall-applause it is, and Kazuo gives a sort of cross between a nod and a one-shouldered half-bow to Taro at the end of it, because he keeps feeling like he's out of breath out of sheer sympathy. He can't actually bow. There's a Mamoru leaning on his shoulder and if the support were taken away like that clearly terrible things would happen.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"H-how!" Cheering! There's some cheering, alright, from Usagi, because wow that was like a machine gun! "Wow!"

There's a poorly muffled guffaw, and Mamoru gets an expertly aimed napkin (clean) crumpled and tossed over the crowd just so it strikes his head.

Nephrite has posed:
Masato whistles a bit. "Didn't even bite his tongue," He notes, impressed. "Where does he keep all that air?"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy shakes her head slightly and whispers, "It's fine."

    And as that part of the song is coming up, she looks back to Taro and STARES as Taro just does the whole thing. At the end he lets go of Miho to clap enthusiastically!

    "That was amazing! I've tried to do that one a couple of times... you said even Weird Al couldn't do it, there was a trick to recording it?? And how did that work, do you... not have to breathe to speak, or while transformed you talk extra clearly or something...?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Mamoru gets hit in the head with crumpled paper as he's laughing helplessly into Kazuo's shoulder, and that just sends him even more. He does finally slip his hand from Kazuo's in order to applaud wildly. "That was too fast for me to follow! I only got some of the words in that rap, hahahaha--"

That doesn't mean he stops leaning, though, so Kazuo still can't bow, but he can switch back away from wall applause if he wants, at least.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara knew a decent amount of english... Not nearly enough to keep up, though. She only knew as much english as she did thanks to DT and even that...

DT talked slyly, not quickly.

She stared, mouth open, before she finally just applauded. There had to be some magic going in there. Had to. There was no other way.

She was laughing so hard at this point she had tears in her eyes.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
"Maybe he keeps it in his legs?" Ami questioned nobody in particular, though still roughly in reply to Masato.

Her face, however, was drawing a little redder once again and she sipped quietly at her soda.

Taro Yamada has posed:
Taro bows for his adoring audience!! Or, well, his laughing audience, but still! The laughter is ok because it's a funny song, and they clearly are appreciating how technically difficult it was. He's funny! They like him! It's ok because they like him! He has friends now! (Mamoru likes him even though he stabbed him that one time, and Mamoru's boyfriends like him, and Usagi likes him, and Hinoiri's laughing even though the two of htem are technically still fueding, and he's liked he's liked he's liked - )

...He has friends now. It's nice.

Taro bows, still in his henshin, before shifting back to his normal self. "My henshin self has a bigger lung capacity and better air control," he tells Amy and Masato. "I could do that human-style if I trained for a couple years, but I've been trying to focus on graduating, you know?" hahaha you know, being in school!

He bows to Ami in thanks, and for Miho - "thank you very much," he says, taking her soda gratefully before flopping on the couch next to Amy. "The diction's from practicing a lot. I did a lot of sutras as a kid and did a haunted house gig being a hungry ghost in the 90s, so that helped a lot with diction."

Miho Inada has posed:
    Miho nods her head a little bit as she listens to Taro explain how he could do it. The girl is starting to think about a few things in her head. "You know I kinda make mixes about mahou. Sometime, maybe I could do something with you doing that again?", she asks Taro. Of course, trying to do that a second time...yeah...

    The ice mahou leans over to Amy again, and smiles. She closes her eyes for a second, but instead of a second, she fell asleep. Its been something of a rough year, but now things seem to be better. She'll have to remember to thank Mamoru for setting all this up later.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    "It was really cool!" Amy runs up and hugs him, then steps back. "But yeah, I guess everyone having ideas and practicing is a little against the spirit of karaoke per se, but... damn, the stuff we're getting to hear tonight!"

    She smiles. "This body has bigger lungs too, but I think I modulated okay back there... there's... accidental loudness, and singing to a room loudness, and then there's really trying to project, you know...?"

    When Miho approches, she puts an arm around the ice Mahou while she rest--oop.

    Amy blinks. "Uh. I guess, um..." She tries to lift her into a princess carry but nope, not happening out of henshin. "Um, let's help her over to a couch?" she asks whoever will.