2853/A Casual Disaster

A Casual Disaster
Date of Scene:	28 November 2025
Location:	Game Crown Arcade
Synopsis:	Usagi, Rashmi, and Molly were just hanging out at the arcade... while Mai and Lana did the same. When things go wrong, a surprise combat opens!
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Rashmi Terios, Mai Elcamino, Molly Skyline, Lana Voselle Miata

---

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It's an ordinary Thursday, the weather pleasantly brisk and clear, cold enough to warrant a light jacket or sweater but not heavy winter gear. Usagi Tsukino's wearing a long sleeved white shirt, simple and tasteful, matched white jeans, equally tasteful... under the loudest neon orange-yellow-pink-and-blue blazer that anyone could ever own. She's even had it modified to have shoulder-pads, to further cement the 90s in everyone's mind.

Not even Godoka can save you from these eye smarting colors.

The arcade is a great place to try and put it past one though, and Usagi is certainly in the midst of distracting herself - she's playing the Jurassic Park arcade game, shooting down raptors and rexes and everything else with the shooting attachment those sorts of arcade cabinets have. This is a common enough sight to the regulars that there's no crowd gathered, but there a few kids - maybe late elementary or early middle school age - who are heckling her whenever she gets hurt, in a sort of light-hearted teasing an older-sister way.

"Uh oh, they're gonna get you!" One laughs.

"They are not!" Usagi retorts, turning her head to stick her tongue out. She shoots the dinosaurs closing in, but for her hubris her character does get slashed again, taking them down to half-health.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
As a part of reintroducing Molly to the world she'd been taken away from, the Game Crown was an inevitable source of dread and determination; the arcade was a place Rashmi *loved* to spend time with Molly at, but at the moment so many games are off-limits to the one-handed. And so many more of Molly's favorites have NYX in big letters at the top of the leaderboards.

So Rashmi being Rashmi, alternatives were hunted down; The Boogie Boogie Rotation machines were the first pick, and while fun were immensely tiring. Thus, Molly elected to go get drinks, while Rashmi scouted out the light-gun games... and found an *insanely* loudly-dressed Usagi shooting dinosaurs! "Usagi-chan!" she chirps, coming up behind the kids. "You can do it, go go!"

Mai Elcamino has posed:
Elcamino Mai just got an extreme lateral promotion within Obsidian -- she was just sniped internally to ruin days for more pay and less work, and she could not have signed that contract faster. Right now, she's just finished treating Lana to desserts at the Fruits Parlor upstairs, sympathetic ear open for gossip or signs of spare resources that no one else has gleaned from the ashes of Tomoe LifeSciences yet.

She's been perfectly fine with Lana -- after all, the other girl's well-dressed and is also technically a co-worker. The whole time she's been very judgmental of literally everyone and it mostly doesn't show, but oh, Lana's close enough to see it. They're coming down the stairs into the arcade part, Mai in her glittery black pencil skirt with shoulderpads (on the shoulders) but no shirt, just the blazer, you know. It's a little chilly, but she's a slave to fashion. Her high-heeled bootlets are adorable, but-- she missteps on the last stair and starts to fall--!

Molly Skyline has posed:
Off-limits video games are not the only problem to the one handed, though it is a problem that isn't really going to have a solution until Molly gets a prosthetic. Which, at least, is in the works; her Moms are fantastic people and are hard at work on that very issue.

But one might wonder how Molly would manage to carry multiple drinks.

When the Purplenette arrives, dressed in her usual style of a cropped t-shirt with a bare midrif and a black denim jacket (sadly with no patches) and fashionably damaged blue jeans, she's got a bag slung over her left shoulder and across her chest, so she's got the open bag hanging over her right hip, with the tops of four bottles and a couple bags of chips showing.

"Okay, got... Melon, Raspberry, Peach, and Yuzu Ramunes," she explains, "And two bags of Shiawase Butter chips, so-- Oh!! Hi Usagi-Chan! Watch out, a Raptor is gonna jump out at you from that next doorway."

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    It's a new dawn. It's a new day. It's a new life...

    For Lana...

    And she's feeling good.

    Finally, finally, she managed to put that annoying demon Voselle into a hedgehog, and she left said hedgehog in the Fallen Dream Star with a caesar salad. She tries not to think about the fact that she put an evil spikey thing inside an evil spikey thing and just... enjoys having her mind to herself for once.

    Well, there's also the fact that her former boss, Viluy, died recently... but honestly even after working there for years she's not sure the Witches 1 even remembered she existed. Nanomachines-chan isn't going to be missed. True villains shed no tears for anyone but themselves. Sometimes not even then.

    All that said, Lana would not turn down free dessert from a co-worker, and Mai is certainly one of the more charming Obsidian employees. At least in Lana's estimation. She is, after all, the kind of woman this world deserves. Actually no. She's too good for it.

    Lana is walking down the stairs a step behind Mai, feeling satisfied by food and conversation. When she sees the other girl start to slip, she reaches out to grab her by the shoulders. "Careful now," she warns. "Don't ruin the dress."

    Lana's own outfit is something business casual. Tan jacket, beige shirt, black pleated skirt. Accents of gold jewelry here and there. All well-fitted, of course.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's always another raptor in this game, but the arrival of Rashmi and Molly makes Usagi lift a shoulder in greet as she raises the rifle to fire, fire, fire!

"Hiii, Rashmi-chan, Molly-chan! Have you guys been here long?" The shooter games aren't especially close to the dancing games, given that both require a good amount of space. The arcade's floor plan separates the cabinets in such a way as to ensure good flow and minimal chaos, so she hadn't realized her friends were here until now. "Don't worry! I know where all the dinosaurs are coming from."

She shoots the one that jumps out, only for one of the kids to say, "Then how come those other ones got you?"

At which point she turns to say, "Just because I know they're there -"

And gets gutted by a spiky dinosaur. GAME OVER.

"Argh!" Hand, meet face. As the little kids laugh, Usagi begrudgingly hands them a cup of coins, settling a bet that sees them all rushing off. Shaking her head, she turns to her friends. "Well, my game is over, but how about you guys?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
"Oh awesome Molly-chan, thank you so much!" As the one who procured the drinks at no small amount of hardship, Rashmi's more than happy to give her friend first pick, as she cheers Usagi along... then winces as that last one gets her. "We were just at the dancing games," she says, still dabbing sweat from her brow; Rashmi has never been very athletic, but being bad at things is still a fun time! "But I think I'm about danced out; you got good recommendations for beginners on the gu-- uuuuuuuhhhhhhh..."

The redhead has trailed off, because her eyes wandered for a moment, and just happened to fall upon a familiar shape in a familiar blazer, about to take a tumble down the stairs.

Oh this is bad.

So bad, in fact, that she very nearly says a word that would require her to pay into Chibiusa's swear jar.

"....Guys I think we're about to have problems," she murmurs.

Molly Skyline has posed:
Molly picks the Raspberry drink, which is the obvious choice because it's her favorite one. Not by a wide margin; there's certainly other contenders, but it's still the winner. "Mind helping me with the lid?" she asks, holding it up in front of her and looking lost for a moment before asking.

Some things are really hard to get used to.

And then Usagi gts GUTTED in the video game, and Molly winces, and oooohs. "Rough," she pronounces. "Oh well, can't have a perfect run every time, right? And--"

She stops, and mutters, looking away from the screen as the high scores come up and sure enough, no matter where in the rising scroll of high-scorers she's positioned, there's a NYX somewhere up above it.

SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH

All of this means she doesn't catch what Rashmi is seeing, but she does hear the Redhead's observation. Problems.

"Not todaaaaaaay," she complains, "I don't want problems today!"

Mai Elcamino has posed:
It absolutely happens in slow motion. Mai's face is comically alarmed, and Lana's hand shoots out to grab her shoulder and it works, but Mai was already shifting her weight in the wrong direction for that, and she's a little taller and heavier than Lana, and it's starting to look even worse-- but Lana's grip slips, and it's only Mai who takes a tumble. She manages to remain upright by sheer virtue of sacrificing a heel, and by the look on her face, she's not sure it was worth it.

Mai stands there, jarred and holding a hand to her chest, looking shocked, and she looks down at her feet, and she looks back at the stairs and Lana, her adorable Scully bob swinging into place a half-second after her head turns, and she looks back slowly at the crowd of people who have all hushed (they haven't, the chatter continues unabated in the background) and are all staring at her (literally that's just Rashmi and Lana so far actually). Her HEEL is BROKEN and she was PERCEIVED being GRACELESS and her shoulders start shaking under those shoulderpads, like an earthquake of anger, with her hands in fists at her sides, and her head bows. She looks through her hair, brown eyes burning with raaaage. She can't blame anyone here, so she'll just-- she'll just--

Ruin their days anyway. "Miata-san, you may want to look away," she says in a sing-song voice, "Pelotillero, attend me!"

<< ding~! >> << AT ONCE, MISTRESS~! >>

Cue honestly an actually beautiful henshin sequence with slices of light swinging through the air that look like the skirts of a Mexican dancer as she spins, and CORONA is on the scene!

"APEX WORLD ORDER!" Corona demands, the wings on her hat vibrating with fury.

<< ding~! >> << YES, MISTRESS~! >>

Immediately, a standard Midchildan Time-Space Barrier unfolds around them--

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    Lana looks down at the broken heel. She winces in what passes for sympathy with her. "Oof," she whispers, loud enough for only Mai to hear it. The brown-haired girl can almost see the breakdown in Mai's eyes.

    "Oh, dear me," she says, then turns her back on Mai to walk back up stairs. "Well, if you say so. It can't be helped. Sorry you--"

    Oh, she's henshining. Oh, it's a Time-Space Barrier.

    Well, shunting yourself into one dimension over is one way to escape social awkwardness. Lana honestly wishes she had thought of that. Right now all she wants to do is run upstairs and hope that no one magical is there it see her henshin.

    Well. It's not as if Lana really cares if Mai wants to vent on someone else. It's not her problem. All the same, she does activate her own Barrier Jacket. Just to keep herself safe.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Problem?"

Usagi is asking, curious and confused, just as Molly is saying she doesn't want problems, and it's only then that she takes notice of the graceless display that honestly makes her think of herself. The cracking and breaking of the heel is audible and a few of the kids who bet Usagi for token are already pointing and laughing, giggling at the pretty girl who almost fell.

It's funny, because she wasn't hurt, see?

Only, that pretty girl isn't just a pretty girl for much longer, and there's shouting and magic and people are yelping and digging out their phones -

"WAIT, WAIT, I CAN HELP FIX IT-"

It's a shriek from Usagi as she tries to stop the train that's trucking forward.

It's too late. There's a wall of barrier going up, and it's the kind that's purple and translucent, and Usagi throws herself behind a game cabinet and comes out the other side as Sailor Moon in one of the quickest henshins she's ever done.

"If this is about the heel we can fix it!" She is this close to begging for the chance to fix it. Unfortunately, she recognizes Corona as the girl who said 'fuck your day'. Unfortunately, Corona probably recognizes her as the girl who dared to appeal to her better nature while beating her. "This is not worth fighting about!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
At 'Pelotillero!' Rashmi has practically dived behind a bank of co-op shootan games, hand flying up to her charm. By 'Apex World Order!' a bubble of golden light has flared alight, and the Pagemage has stepped out into view, with a complicated look on her expressive face. There's some sympathy, some annoyance, but mostly just radiating 'girl *why are you like this.*'

"It really, really isn't, Corona-san," she says, entreatingly. "C'mon, please?"

Molly Skyline has posed:
oh come ON there's a Time/Space Barrier going up now? Molly puts her unopened drink back in her bag, which she unslings off her shoulder and holds up by the strap, "Store: Bag," she instructs flatly, and the whole bag disappears. (Not going to risk the snacks.)

The purplentte sighs loudly, throwing her head back as she makes the wordless complaint, and triggers Starcrash to set up her Barrier Jacket. Her new, sleek Henshin with the softly glowing heat circuitry envelops her form; Flier Fin wings spring into being behind her, her staff come to hand, and her Battle Visor boots up in front of her, layering different pieces of information in order of importance.

"OKAY LISTEN," she shouts, as she breaks away from Rashmi and Usagi, walking towards Mai and pointing the business end of her staff at her, "Let me make you understand something, I have had a very difficult year, I am FINALLY no longer possessed by a frickin' DAIMON and I lost an arm out of the deal and I am out, TODAY, trying to enjoy a little time at the Arcade with a couple of my friends and you are interupting that SO COULD YOU PLEASE GO BE A BITCH SOMEPLACE ELSE TODAY THANK YOU."

Mai Elcamino has posed:
"You--" Corona's cutely aristocratic face is, as always, ruined by negative emotions; her nose wrinkles at the idea of these children touching her Pradas, even broken, whether or not they're mahoujin, but-- she's hesitating. She doesn't want to take time out of her day to have an intern take her shoes to the cobbler, and these brats have magic, maybe they have shoe-fixing magic? It wouldn't be the stupidest thing she's ever heard...

Her face is clearly considering putting the violence down, and then

Molly

is REALLY UNFORGIVABLY RUDE, and Corona's eyes light up with delighted hatred. She starts stalking forward. "Pelotillero, Flier Fin." Four wings unfurl from her back, of purple and white energy with black crackling at the edges, and she uses them to aura farm and loom taller as her Device calls his confirmation. "Your friend almost fixed the day of everyone here, even though she thinks I have a better nature and is woefully underinformed-- but I know she can do miracles, and fixing Pradas without having to spend half again as much as they cost is a miracle! BUT NO."

Corona laughs a little bit, sounds a little unhinged maybe, looks it in her beautiful dark eyes. "You would never have known I was magic if you weren't magic, you idiot. I did not have beef with you before. Thank you for this gift--"

And Mai lunges, slapping the staff away with one hand and slapping at Molly's face with the other. "Come mierda, maldita lisiada!"

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    Starfall Omen hears Molly talking about finally getting rid of an unwanted backseat driver and all she can think is 'mood'. However, from the sounds of things, they're making an enemy of Mai and so Starfall can't really side with her out loud.

    So instead, Starfall Omen can be heard, and then seen, walking down the stairs now in henshin. Her brown eyes cast a judgemental gaze upon the mahoujin as the tip of her Device staff clicks against the ground. Stopping a few steps above Mai, she comments, "Really? Are you sure a fight is what you want right now? If you insist... Perfect Maid Bit, come forth!"

    A blue portal opens behind her. Nothing comes out.

    "Perfect Maid Bit, wake up and get out here!"

    Still no response. A tumbleweed rolls past the other side of the portal.

    "Perfect Maid Bit, did you--?" Lana blinks, then taps her chin. "Ah... she never came back. Guess she died. Pity. I liked that one. Perfect Gamer Bit, get out here!"

    From the portal emerges a neon green humanoid androgynous youma with silvery cybernetics poking out of her that glow with neon pink lights. Her outfit is a mockery of knight armor that looks like it's been fashionably weathered. Perfect Gamer Bit makes a tch noise and looks down at the three enemy mahoujin. "Casuals," it says with disdain. Neither the youma or Starfall are attacking right now, but they're each standing with their arms crossed and looking down at the heroines like they dare them to try something.

    Corona can handle herself for a moment, depending on how this escalates. Starfall is mostly looking out for herself here.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Sailor Moon lives with the hope that enemies can become friends or at least cordial acquaintances, that battles can be ended with words and hugs, that instead of scary fighting there can be peace, and for a brief and shining moment it seems as though that faith will be validated -

And then her eyes practically bulge out of her skull as Molly roars in like a wrecking ball and her mind becomes a loop of 'Molly died earlier this year I can't get mad at her for getting upset here Molly died earlier this year I can't get mad at her for spiking the aggro, Molly DIED earl-'

It is almost helping. One gloved hand slides down her face. The other grips the shaft of her Spiral Heart Moon Rod as she swings her arm wide, as if intent on slapping out, and magical hearts swirl into existence around her.

"Since my friend's rejected the easy way, we're doing this the hard way!" The pink hearts begin to rotate as though in an unseen wind, and Sailor Moon spins about, her twintails whipping through the air like rotary blades, her skirt twiling, and an enormous pink heart appears in front of her, twice again her size.

"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"

It flies straight towards Corona, intent on smashing her as she goes for Molly - and then Perfect Gamer Bit calls her a casual and the heart redirects in midair to smash at it instead.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CASUAL, HUH!?"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Pagemage's eyes bug out as Molly turns a complete one-eighty, and she decides she does in fact want a bad day after all. That's the only possible explanation for the way she ended that little rant, and while the redhead doesn't... really blame her for having feelings, perhaps a talk is in order for when to make it everyone's problem...

...And then she sees Corona lunge forward, slappin' hand at the ready. "Corona-san DON'T YOU--"

Of course she'd dare. Of course.

    << *BONG!* >> << SOLAR BARRAGE >>

Really the *only* upside to fighting Corona is that sometimes the energy drain of a Barrier is taken care of, which means she gets to open up by opening up, walking rapid-fire Barrets across the machines just to Corona's right before lending on Corona herself, in an attempt to push the Devicer back away from her friend.

Moon-chan *definitely* has the gatekeeper youma on lock. Rashmi has seen her Call of Warfare streams.

Molly Skyline has posed:
A slap? Really?

Molly reels backwards from the impact, stumbling a couple of steps before regaining her footing, and shaking her head. She opens her mouth to reply, and then shuts it again just as quickly. Maybe best not to add to the problem she may have just created. ...And it was a decent day at the arcade, all things considered; any day out with Rashmi is always great, seeing Usagi was also great, and then thigns went rather rapidly downhill from there.

Well on the upside she doesn't have to think about all the machines that say 'NYX' in the high scores right this minute.

<< RECOMMEND TACTICFAL REPOSITIONING >>

"Oh screw that. Charge Solar Flare, ten beams, rapid pulse."

<< ARMED >>

"FIRE!" And maybe Molly should be using mental commands, but whatever, she's having feelings and that's just how it is. Maybe getting pushed around by bullies the other day with no capacity to do anything about it didn't help. Maybe it's a lot of things. Either way, ten super-heated beams fired rapidly one after the other come in Corona's direction.

As the tip of her staff cools, Molly finally takes the time to process some things; mainly, that she's currently an Artillery Mage in face tank position, and finally starts backing up.

Mai Elcamino has posed:
Mai's face at the approaching Giant Moon Spiral Heart is so alarmed. SO alarmed. She lifts into the air, wings spread out and haloing her angelically, and then it swerves away from her and she can breathe again, but Molly's firing on her now, and "Round shi-- APEX SHIELD, PELOTILLERO APEX-- shield..."

<< ding~! >> << APEX SHIELD, MISTRESS~! >>

Well, Mai is a little singed. The uppermost wing on top of her fascinator is, in fact, on fire. Like a birthday candle. There's a growing scent of burning feather.

She VIBRATES WITH RAGE, because that scent brings her back to--

She yanks off her hat with its wings and roses and little netting veil thingy and its on-fire-ness, and she throws!! it at Molly.

"Fuck you, you suck," she says with the biggest pout, before she scoops up her heel and opens a dusk portal. "Come on, Starfall Omen-san, we're too good for these rejects. Have fun explaining your sudden cosplay to those stupid middle schoolers, you annoying PEASANT mahoujin."

She flounces a little lopsidedly.

Lana Voselle Miata has posed:
    Oh no. Gamer Bit drew aggro, in a crowded stairwell, and Starfall is right next to them. Starfall closes her eyes and takes a step back. Perfect Gamer Bit steps forward to protect their dark lady. Omen narrows her eyes, does the mental calculation, and realizes that she doesn't actually want to lose this minion within the first 3 seconds of combat. She commands, "Nightmare Chain. Needle Cannon. Shield Architect."

    < Ja, Mutter >

    Her staff changes shape into a futuristic rifle, and she takes another step back as she aims it down at Sailor Moon.

    < Schildarchitekt >

    A very thick, very powerful dark energy-infused shield appears in front of the youma. Multiple layers of bright white magic circles, one after another, each one filling the narrow stairwell. The pink heart presses against the layered shields as pink and white sparks fly between them. The first layer cracks and breaks, then the second, the fifth, the tenth, the fifteenth-- It's not stopping.

    Gamer Bit turns towards Lana and says to their boss, "Hey! Don't steal my aggro! I was gonna parry it and look awesome."

    "In a thousand, thousand worlds there is not one single universe in which you could parry a strike like that. Could you try not getting killed right out the gate? I spent good energy on you," bites back Lana, hurting her youma's delicate ego. Starfall makes a mental note to avoid making Perfect Bits that are literally based upon ridiculous insecurities.

    Gamer Bit sticks their nose into the air and says, "Whatever! Like I'd ever get spawncamped. Stay out of the way, noob!" because of course they wouldn't be a toxic gamer if they didn't constantly snipe at their team over their own mistakes.

    Starfall Omen narrows her eyes, says, "As you wish," and then drops the shield. Unfortunately for them, the power of love cannot be stopped. Usagi's love hits like a truck, and Perfect Gamer Bit is about to get isekai'd.

    "LOVELY!!!" is the last thing Perfect Gamer Bit says before turning into dust. Starfall Omen, caring nothing for the fate of her belligerent minion, walks through the dusk portal that Mai is offering her. "Indeed. These aren't worth our time."

    The swirling blue portal to Lana's dimension also closes. No one comes to avenge or reinforce Perfect Gamer Bit.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's no satisfaction making Mai panic, even if there is a mark on Molly's cheek where those nails struck her, which makes Sailor Moon's gut clench in the small corner of her mind left.

The rest of her is focused on the single most important mission of them all: destruction of enemies most unwanted.

The Spiral Heart swerves. The Spiral Heart begins to plow through shields.

"THERE'S NO HIDING FROM ME!" She roars as the youma complains about getting help, and then the final shield layer falls. Perfect Gamer Bit is wiped clean away in an instant, and Sailor Moon huffs - "Yeah, you better die." - as the two enemies escape.

The barrier falls. She's in henshin in the arcade. People who had been panicking are now staring. Cameras are out.

"..." she turns to Rashmi and Molly, saying just once, "So, I'm going upstairs for a parfait," before going up the stairs to get exactly that. This has been ridiculous. Ridiculous!"

Rashmi Terios has posed:
...Yeah Sailor Moon had that one on lock.

More horrifying is Molly's attack, and the fact that it set her hat on fire. Why anyone would put feathers in their Barrier Jacket is beyond her, but knowing how Corona reacted when she *broke a nail*... There can only be an armageddon-level reacti--

...Oh. Huh. She just... flounced off.

Somehow, even more concerning.

"Okaaaaay," Rashmi says, as the Barrier goes down and Sailor Moon goes for a parfait. "...So that happened... C'mon Molly-chan, let's go split some cheese dries to go with those sodas, yeah?"

Tug tug Molly toward the stairs.

Molly Skyline has posed:
While the Barrier is going down, Molly is collecting the fascinator off the floor that was just flung at her, while Starcrash rests against her shoulder. She holds it up, blows out the little fire that's burning the feather, and turns it over to look at it critically.

"Store Fascinator," she instructs, and the ridiculous hat disappears into her device's storage.

And with that dealt with, there is the matter that she's now in the arcade in full henshin, and that's a bit of a problem. Phones are out. Usagi's leaving for a Parfait (which sounds nice right now actually).

Oh good LORD people are going to take pictures of Molly with one arm could they please just no--

"Yeah that sounds good," the purplenette mumbles, allowing herself, defleated, to be tugged towards the stairs. "Sorry. That was all my fault. When I warned you I might have bitchy moments that wasn't exactly what I meant, I just... Maybe I was raw about being bullied and didn't want it to happen again."