159/Survey Says

Survey Says
Date of Scene:	26 July 2023
Location:	Four Clover Mall
Synopsis:	A give-away of an Obsidian-brand product in exchange for a survey! Surely there is nothing suspicious or untoward ab--OH MY GOD A YOUMA, GET IN THE CAR.
Cast of Characters:	Jadeite, Naru Osaka, Mamoru Chiba, Rashmi Terios, Usagi Tsukino, Rei Hino, Pyrite, Coco Kiumi
Tinyplot:	Midnight Tokyo

---

Jadeite has posed:
    It's a normal afternoon in the Four-Clover Mall. Summer vacation is in full swing, and virtually ever store and kiosk is packed/surrounded with people hanging out, engaging in recreational shopping, eating at the food court, and just... Being people out doing things. There is, of course, at least one leased space set aside for Obsidian and its various sub-companies. Outside of it, and scattered through the mall in high-traffic areas, there are sharply dressed men and women soliciting passers-by to fill out a survey in order to qualify for a raffle to win one of a limited supply (500) of the new smarthome electronic assistant device, 'Black Jade'. It's like that one sold by the company with a river for a name. Panama or whatever. However, the Black Jade boasts even more features, a more advanced artificial intelligence that can be customized with a unique 'personality' and voice, and learn your habits to set things up for the owner according to their usual schedule.

    The Black Jade is quite the piece of hardware, since it has the mysterious ability to interface with devices that it has neither a physical nor wireless connection to. It's truly remarkable.

    And they are just giving one out to each person who completes the survey.

    'One per household!' says the rules, but that's still an amazing deal.

    One woman, Rana-san, is wearing her crisp, stylish, Obsidian employee uniform and standing near a particularly busy thoroughfare where people are buying things appropriate for a trip to the beach, summerwear, kid's toys (like scooters, bicycles, skateboards), and similar products. She adjusts her little hat on her red-haired head, and pushes her glasses up her nose, and smiles out at everyone who passes by, calling out if someone gets close enough to catch their eye.

    She's almost out of surveys, as well as almost out of Black Jade boxes. She's trying very hard not to shift her weight to try to ease the pain in her feet from standing around in heels for hours. At least the pay's pretty good. Now if only she didn't keep--She looks over her shoulder, back into the dimly-lit Obsidian outlet behind her, nervously. Why does she keep getting the feeling she's being watched?

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I guess we are one household?" Naru is speculating at Usagi, as she considers the offer. "I've been eyeing one of these, for like reminders and alarms and playing music in our room and stuff."

Not that Naru needs the reminders, per se, but that's besides the point.

She sips on her bubble tea, acquired in the food court and considers the poor woman standing there in heels, offering surveys. "I wonder if she had to wear those shoes, or if she could have worn flats. That has to have been awful to stand in all day." She might be short, shorter than Usagi even (a source of frustration for Naru), but she's wearing perfectly sensible sneakers to wander the mall all day in.

And wander they have been, the hand not holding bubble tea has a collection of shopping bags, proudly declaring all of the places the girls have been spending their allowance. Stationary, shoes and clothing seems to make up Naru's collection. So far.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Darien Shields is here with his little sister Himeko, and they are definitely in the high-traffic area because it's bathing-suit time for ten year olds.

He's holding up one that looks like bike shorts and a long-sleeved shirt, the kind that's especially good against the sun, and it's black with aqua-green flowers on it. He looks dubious.

They are trying their best to stay out of Rana-san's way, but the little store is right nearby.

"I'm pretty sure this is the right size, it's the same size label as your uniform? But I don't know how you feel about the flowers. At least the swim-shirt sleeves keep the sun off..." he tells Himeko. "But there are a lot of other ones! Probably even without green flowers on them."

He sidesteps out of the way of someone wanting one of the rapidly dwindling supply of Black Jades with an absent-sounding apology.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
The best part about summer break is, one has time to indulge in pastimes, that the mall is *excellent* for. And the best part about the Clover Mall, is that it's large enough it can host *three* used bookstores, without worrying about cutting into customers! And having trawled the two on the upper floors, Rashmi now has her sights on the final stop...

...And passes by the Obsidian stall, interest piqued by the Black Jade. Tech gadgets aren't a particularly keen interest of hers, but that *is* well-designed enough to attract attention! Rana-san gets a brief smile of greeting, as she pauses to consider what she would actually *do* with a home assistant with an AI.

Maybe she won't have to ask Nicomachea to do such mundane things as pipe reminder alarms directly into her brain?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
If anyone in their room needs alarms or reminders, it's probably Usagi Tsukino. This might be one reason she's staring at the thing suspiciously - it's the latest cool gadget, and she likes the sound of a music player, but what if it's a trick to remind them about studying and planning?

Or maybe it's just a neat thing they could get for free. "If we're not a household, who is?"

Everyone in the world with a house, Usagi!

She's got her own bubble tea, a fruit flavored blend that was more juice than tea, with aiyu jelly, a perfect refreshing treat, and she looks at the woman offering the survey for the device and winces. "I don't know, but I'd have fallen on my face by now."

Her own shoes are equally sensible sneakers, suited to her jean shorts and orange blouse. They'd taken a bus from the dorms, and walked the rest of the way. She tries not to imagine how many times she would have fallen on her face if she'd been the one wearing heels like those for a walk like that.

"Maybe she has some flats in a bag?" It's as much a response to Naru as it is to her imagination, a hopeful wish for the woman and the alternate Usagi who could have been cursed with those shoes. She shifts on her feet, lifting her bags higher - what with the spontaneous picnic earlier in the week, she hasn't had much allowance left, so her choices have been more sparing - a new blouse and some sparkly nail polish from one store and an adorable stickerset from the stationary store. "Do you want to try and do the survey?"

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei Hino keeps to herself. She is opening up a bit more after meeting Usagi and Ami, but she still goes to a different school, lives at a shrine, and is very absorbed with both her schoolwork and her shrine maiden duties. But she is also a teenage girl, and sometimes she likes to just do things that normal teenage girls do. Or at least to watch normal teenage girls from afar and wonder what it feels like to be normal. She has a bag full of manga that Usagi recommended to her, and an interesting historical romance novel that Ami suggested to her, and some nail polish in a small separate bag.

    She doesn't generally do make-up, but... Maybe she'll give it a try. Just to see how it feels. Maybe she'll invite Usagi and Ami for a sleep over and they can explain how to apply nail polish, because something as mundane as this is still an intimidating prospect.

    Sigh. The raven-haired young lady leans on the table she is sitting at, lazily eyeballing an okonomiyaki stand that is producing some enticing smells, and wondering if she should buy one for lunch or head over to the home supply store and get the ingredients to make them herself. One is cheaper, but the other is more work... And she won't be able to eat it until it's made, whereas the premade ones are right there... Choices, choices.

    Choices she'd much rather be making than whether or not to enter a warehouse she sensed evil in alone, or to wait until she has allies and leave any potential victims to suffer their fate alone. A choice of what color she wants to paint her nails is preferable to the thought of the problems waiting at home. No need to choose whether to return the voice mail from her father's secretary or continue hers and her father's mutually agreed upon ignoring of the other's existence, if she's trying to understand the appeal of Usagi's taste in manga.

    She's still so angry at him. But somewhere inside, there's that little voice that once thought well of her papa, a younger, more hopeful version of Rei, who keeps saying, 'Maybe... Maybe...'

    She is not paying attention to the Black Jade or to poor Rana, but she does pick up the sound of Usagi's voice, and blinks her violet eyes to clear her mind. Huh. That sure is Usagi. What are the odds?

Pyrite has posed:
    Himeko Soryuu considers the swimsuit. She stands there holding her chin in one hand, a thing she has seen other people doing before providing an ansswer. She does not know why they do this, but it is a thing that normal people do, so she shall do it. "What are my options?" she asks vaguely. Her Normal Human score has to be at, like, at least Grand Master For All Time by now, right? It doesn't really address Darien's inquiry, but she has never seen such a garment before, so being indecisive will help her appear to be knowledgeable. This is a Pro-Gamer Move she learned from The Television.

    Allowing her to watch TV was probably a mistake.

    "Is it accompanied by a Camera Flash?" she asks suspiciously. She doesn't want to get upsold on something that she doesn't need.

    Speaking of things she doesn't need, she does not need these people in her proximity. When they get too close while jostling for the Obsidian product somewhere behind her, she eventually turns, holds up her hand in a 'stop' gesture, and announces in her >most serious of Little Girl Voices, "Cease. I occupy this space."

    That'll show them.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Coco had heard of a promotion going on for some fancy household assistant. It wasn't exactly the same thing as having your personal workforce, but she had learnt to do domestic activities herself here on the surface, so having a niche filled by what this device could do would still be of great help.

Not that she was coming all the way to the way to the mall just for a promotion. She had been looking to renew her look a bit the last two days, what with all the socialisation opportunities (read: handsome targets) offered by the school and the upcoming fireworks. 'So much to do, and so little time', she thinks, taking a look at the note she created on her cellphone, it too a brand new purchase now that things were looking up for her kingdom.

'I won't let myself be caught by surprise like it happened with the summer dance', she notes, reminiscing all the improvisations and somersaults she had to do to appear somewhat decent that time. This time her clothes aren't as high as they should be on the list of her priorities, as she already has an outing set for her yukata hunt together with Mio and Amy.

'I will leave that for later though. I don't have to rush that decision, I don't know what kind of pattern the yukata is going to have. Better to take a look at this portentous Black Jade first', she decides, going straight to the employee distributing the surveys.

On the way there she passes by the swimwear, one of the things she has been adding and taking way from her list multiple times a day. 'I have to make up my mind already, swimming isn't the only beach activity, I can still do lots of things there'. The marketing cries of the device promoter get her back on track, as she is close to the location now.

The woman in question has a great poker face, she had to admit, but it was clear to Coco she had been there for a long time by now and desired nothing more than a contact with the softest mattress in the world. 'Let's see what this survey is about', she moves on.

Jadeite has posed:
    Rana-san's smile brightens a few watts as Coco approaches her spot. "Good afternoon, ma'am! How are you doing?" Common wisdom is that you should follow up the greeting with, 'Would you like to take a survey for an opportunity to win a limited edition Obsidian-brand Black Jade smart-home electronic assistant for free?' That's the marketing school of thought. Rana's thinking is different. She is here to do a job correctly. Despite her discomfort, that means forming a rapport with potential customers -- not that they're truly customers since they won't be paying for anything, but the principle remains the same -- and speak to them like human beings instead of walking canes of 'Brand-X Consumer Chow' she is trying to coax into opening and delivering their contents onto her plate.

    She is so hungry.

    She has not had a lunch break or anything like it, and didn't eat breakfast because she was anxious about this job and didn't want the nausea to get in the way, and now she's been standing here smelling that okonomiyaki cart for nearly half her shift, and she is going directly over once her time is done for the day. How much is left, anyway? The big electronic screen on the wall behind Coco's head says she has 50 minutes more to go. It will be almost dinner time by the time she gets to have lunch.

    The pay is good though. The pay is good though. The pay is good though. She keeps repeating that in her head like a mantra to ward off pain and hunger. She is still smiling at Coco, but sees others hanging around and hears at least one voice mention the word survey so spares them a genuine smile and a 'come on over' gesture, without taking her attention off the person she's already interacting with.

    A shudder runs up her spine as it feels like a door to a musty old basement just opened up behind her, and something is coming up the stairs that shouldn't have been in there to begin with. She pales a bit, but keeps right on smiling.

    Rana Uematsu is, if nothing else, a professional.

    The sudden wash of dark forces that flows through the area is, however, definitely not supposed to be here. For a number of reasons. The least of which is that this isn't where any ley lines or other dimensional weakpoints converge to allow a Door to open. Also, it really, really, really doesn't make sense to unleah a youma on top of an ongoing Obsidian operation that is going smoothly.

    Maybe it's all just a mistake and the Something coming is just going to close the door and go back where it came from.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Oh, there's Rashmi." Naru comments to Usagi, as she lifts her hand to wave her bubble tea to the other girl. Better than waving shopping bags.

Naru giggles at Usagi's assertion about falling on her face and she tries to walk a few steps on tip toes, to mimic the heels. "I mean.. it does make me catch up to you in height." She points out, as if that might, almost, be feature enough to be worth the pain. Maybe. "Yeah, let's try the survey. They might only accept adults, but we can try."

The firm demand of Himeko catches Naru's attention and she looks that direction. The next wave is for Darien who accompanies the smaller girl and she nudges Usagi. "Hey Darien's here too."

That bit of bestie-intel provided, Naru heads over to where the survey is, mostly oblivious to the wash of Dark Energy that is seeping into the area. She gives a little shiver, but doesn't even seem to notice that she has. "Hi Coco." She greets the girl getting chatted up by the consumate professional. "Are you looking to get a Black Jade, too?"

Naru turns her own 'I grew up in retail' smile upon Rana. "Good afternoon."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
That poor, poor saleslady, Rashmi thinks absently, pondering the wisdom of getting Rana a snack or something. Would she even be allowed to take it? Maybe a protein drink of something--

Her train of thought leaps the rails when Naru waves her way, and she answers with a smile and wave of her own. But seeing that Naru's with a friend already, she seems content to wait to be introduced, rather than insert herself into other peoples' business. Rich Boy from the restaurant, also noticed and with a small child in tow! That wasn't in any of her projections, perhaps he's babysitting?

And then the wave of Dark energy washes over the mall. Well, nerts.

Glancing quickly back and forth, she spots the girl who was such a help at the museum, nods to herself, and starts to back away, looking between the shops for a restroom. Or even a kiosk would do. Something put put between herself and the Black Jade stall, since it seems the need to fight is imminent.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Well... there are a lot of options. I figured you'd want a black one, but I could be wrong. I figured you'd want to be protected from the Daystar, so long sleeves, but you don't have to even have sleeves at all. You could have a one piece, or a two-piece, or-- I mean, do you want to wander around in the store and look, or--?" Darien's not... used to shopping with anyone, nevermind a little girl, nevermind a murderghost in the shape of a little girl who's Actually Doing Great. He looks a little helpless until he hears a familiar voice.

And then Himeko's trying to get people to stop jostling her, he bites his lip to keep from laughing and hangs the swimsuit back up, putting a hand on Himeko's shoulder to draw her a little closer to him. "I see a couple of friends, there, who would definitely be able to help you pick out a swimsuit better than I can. If we can't figure it out, I'll ask them after they're done with the survey," he tells the cutest carnivorous ghost in the world, waving back to Naru, and smiling towards Usagi--

--and that's when there's a wash of cold damp Darkness from behind the survey lady, and Darien's eyes widen. After a second of looking in that direction, he goes from startled to ... kind of tired, actually, like whoops forgot to check my Outlook calendar, didn't know there'd be a dusk zone incursion at the mall today kind of tired.

"Okay," he bends down to tell Himeko really quietly, "let's go, and then we can come back when we're dressed properly. After the screaming stops we can go back to shopping."

It shouldn't be too far to go to get to one of those discreet mall bathroom hallways and open a maintenance door into the dusk zone, henshin, and teleport back once the screaming starts, right?

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Rashmi?" Usagi cocks her head, thinking - "Oh, from Korma Chameleon?" She can't remember if she and Rashmi have actually met or not, but knowing Naru is basically the same as knowing Usagi, and vice verse. "Do you want to go say hi?"

They're all in the same circle, so it's not like it would be going out of their way; and it's not that Usagi particularly wants a Black Jade, not unless Naru-chan wants one, in which case Naru-chan should have one while they're free and available. This is why when the saleslady (is it still a sale if it's free?) beckons her over with a smile that Usagi catches from the corner of her eyes, she turns her head, ready to suggest they complete the survey first - but in doing so, she sees - is that Rei-chan? It is Rei-chan! She couldn't possibly mistake such a beautiful girl.

"Naru-chan, that's Rei-chan, the girl from the shrine I was telling you about!" She's quick to point her out, waving cheerfully because - look! Now her friends can meet, and become friends themselves! Of course she'd told Naru about Rei. Not about the Sailor Mars parts, or the fight with a bus and bus driver monster duo, or the library monster, or any of that, but definitely that she'd met a beautiful shrine priestess who was now her friend.

It's about then that she catches what Naru was saying about heels, and giggles herself. "Hey, you better not catch up to me - these few centimeters are all I have! You wouldn't take them away, would you?" Who is she kidding? Naru-chan absolutely would. But that's the joy of teasing - it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong, as long as you get a smile. "Well.. at least we'll know we tried! If you want it, you should - Darien's here?"

And just like that, concentration broken. You've lost her! Usagi doesn't notice the wave of Dark Energy - she doesn't have any sensing powers like that, and she's now too busy noticing her friend, and his adorable little sister. He's even smiling at her - oh? She does notice his smile drop. And the way he focuses on Himeko, she wonders if something happened. The little girl was a little unusual after all... maybe something scared her?

Hm. And now Naru-chan's walked away, to talk to a girl she doesn't recognize... well, Rei-chan's still there, and alone. Usagi shrugs and walks over to her - Naru-chan will probably do better on the survey without her anyway. "Hey Rei-chan! What did you pick up today?"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
As she is called ma'am, Coco looks at Rana like she had just threatened her with Concert of Darkness, or perhaps with a fish dressed like a certain french general, hard to tell which is worse.

"Good afternoon...", she says tentatively with a uncertain smile. "I am doing good, thanks. I hope that's the same for you. I was here for the survey. Do I need some sort of membership or is it just open to anyone?", she asks, mentally crossing fingers it's not the latter.

The wave of dark energy that suddenly comes from the abyss puts her on guard, almost feeling like being in the presence of the King of the Deep Sea. She looks around in frantic panic, expecting him to come out from behind a column or something, but all she sees are the lightened environment of the mall, the waves of clients, and unexpectedly, one of the Radiant Heart students.

"Oh, Hi, Naru", she replies, not having wholly shaken the fear from her voice, "yes, that's right, though I have a bit of shopping to do after. I suppose that's the case for you too? Or are you already done?", she asks, eyeing the group's shopping bags.

Pyrite has posed:
    "Perhaps one with ducks--" she starts to say when Darien tenses up. She then continues on obliviously. "--Unless it would be more than you can afford. Ducks are perhaps too large of an expense. I will collect from these Vagabonds who wander to and fro uselessly. They will pay me, for I am cute." This is how it works, she tries to figure out how to make a pleading face so she can beg for spare change. It looks so easy when others do it. Maybe she hasn't grown enough muscles in this body yet to--
    "Hm?" she refocuses on Darien. Then looks around. Then back to Darien. Then around. "There is The Usagi who befriended me. Is she troubling you? I can dispatch her quickly so that we may continue to look for ducks. Perhaps she has some money in her pockets--" Then she sees Rei.
    !
    ">The Enemy<!" she mutters gravely while looking at the shrine priestess.
    She appears to still not have caught on to the fact that the area is being flooded with dark energy. She's made of the stuff. If anything, it's making her less anxious about all the people around her. Sort of like the effect that skeletons have on her when she has one to cuddle.
    "We shall retreat then, and return when our victory is assured to mock those who would thwart us."
    Okay, it's great her vocabulary and speech have both improved, but TV was probably a >really< bad teacher.
    She will scuttle along after Darien when they depart, sticking close to him, like she's his shadow.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Rei's mood lifts as she sees Usagi waving at her, alongside a friend or two. She raises a hand languidly to wave back and smiles lopsidedly. She raises the bag full of manga and dryly says, "Recommended literature." The title 'Sailor V' can be seen on the part of the manga poking out of the bag. Before she can say anything further, her smile drops and that fierce, hawk-like look comes to her eyes. She quickly stands up, and looks around. She doesn't necessarily have the ability to sense 'dark energy' specifically, but rather 'evil'. So whatever's setting her off so quickly is definitely that. "Usagi," she hisses as she moves forwards to try to grab her friend by the arm and pull her behind the table she was sitting at. "Something is coming. We need to transform and get these people to safety."

    She doesn't wait for confirmation, but instead pulls out the pen with the Mars symbol on it that she was given by Luna, and raises into the air. In an instant, as someone oblivious passes by in front of the table, obscuring the view of her and Usagi from the sight of any onlookers, Rei Hino has become Sailor Mars.

    Just one problem now.

    She hasn't actually seen anything happen yet. So, now she's crouched there, with Usagi, as Sailor Mars, waiting for something to happen, and realizing too late she may have jumped the gun a bit.

    Dear Madokami, she is really not herself today, is she?

    "it'll... It'll show up soon!" she reassures Usagi gruffly while trying not to show how scarlet her cheeks are. Oh, boy. This is going to be one of those days she'll be trying very hard to forget ever happened.

Jadeite has posed:
    Rana smiles at Coco. "There are worse jobs out there. And I'm off in less than fifty minutes. I'm glad you're having a good day. Yes, the surveys are open to anyone who wishes to fill one out. You just put your name, contact information if you would like to hear back -- that's optional though, don't worry about it -- and some questions about Obsidian products, if you have heard of the Black Jade or considered buying one before now, and so on." Despite the cold sweat running down her spine, she gives her spiel, smiles to Naru and Rashmi -- even if the latter has taken off suddenly like she'd seen a ghost, and answers readily. "I am looking forward to something warm in my belly in a short while, miss. Is it just me or did the air conditioning just kick on very hard--?"

    A pressure wave tears through the store, hurling Rana, her kiosk, and bystanders up and down the passage through the air violently, with concrete, wood, metal, and glass spraying outwards in chunks and shards.

    The sound of a single tone ringing in the ears is the only thing likely to be heard for a while. The lights are all broken overhead or flickering. Some screens that were dislaying commercials are hanging by their cables, with sparking wires sending swarms of blue-white light out only to fall downwards towards the ruined corridor and the unmoving bodies below.

    It looks like a bomb just went off.

    Rana is lying face down with a chunk of concrete next to her head, and a pool of blood gradually spreading around her. She and the kiosk were in the way of Naru and Coco, and took most of the blast.

    Something pitch-black, covered in slick, oily skin, and covered in horns that protrude everywhere from its body, moves from the wreckage of the Obsidian shop space slowly, shifting splintered shelving, fallen clothes and smashed electronics underfoot as it starts to tentatively explore its environment.

    This is not like any of the monster attacks before now.

Naru Osaka has posed:
"Yes, that's the one." Naru confirms who Rashmi is for Usagi before her blonde bestie points out who Rei is. There's a wave of her bubble tea for the shrine maiden too and then they part ways.

Naru smiles gently to Coco and holds up the hand with the bags. "I'm mostly done, but we'll see if anything else catches my eye before we head out." She lifts the bubble tea next for Coco. "I can recommend the bubble tea, it's delicious."

She really was about to reach for a survey, juggling her bubble tea into her other hand, setting her bags down to manage it.

Well. The bubble tea certainly isn't going to make it. Not as all hell breaks loose in quick order, and there's a pressure wave that tosses Rana, the kiosk, Naru and others around. Naru lands not that far from Rana, her own collection of cuts and scratches and bumps and bruises proving that she does not bounce.

Naru looks up at the Creature of Black Ooozey Doom that is heading towards them and her voice joins what is likely a cacophony of screaming. "Usagi! Are you alright?" She's not headed for her roommate yet, no she's crouched down and taking the couple steps to get to Rana.

Sure Naru's bleeding a little, but she's /fine/. And for a mundane? She really should be more scared. She'll get to that bit later.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Nooo, no, I'm glad Usagi befriended you, she's a very nice girl, you don't have to dispatch her. Also I have plenty of money for ducks, and we can look for them in maybe twenty minutes--" Darien's saying as he and Himeko vanish down the mall hall.

It's actually deserted enough that they don't even have to duskport away to change the way they look; what passes for a henshin sequence for Hematite is the look of self-lighting charcoal, burning its way swiftly over his mundane human clothes, taking his glasses, and leaving his Shitennou uniform in its wake.

He shakes his shaggy long hair out and straightens his jacket and says, "You didn't notice the fresh air? There might be something for you to chew on, as long as we don't piss off..."

Hematite takes his phone out and checks the calendar. "...Jadeite. There's got to be--"

The floor rocks and there's SUCH a loud sound and the walls of the little hallway begin to fall, and instantly Hematite's grabbed Pyrite's hand, his heart in his throat, and pulled her into a teleport out of the hall and into the main area.

Everything's a mess and that-- that does not belong to Jadeite. They're hovering maybe a foot off the debris-strewn floor and Hematite looks absolutely stricken.

"You can definitely," he says faintly to Pyrite, letting go of her hand, "chew on that."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Instinct drove Rashmi to seek shelter. *Terror* drove her insensate when the bomb went off, just as she was ducking behind a kiosk. But even as her ability to process information is slowly returning, at the forefront of her mind is the voice of her Device, as the red gem in the middle of her charm is flashing like an alarm light.

<< ALERT! MASTER! ALERT! DIMENSIONAL INCURSION PREVALENT! ALERT! >>

*That* is a phrase to sharpen the focus, and as the dark-skinned redhead scrabbles to her feet -- pausing for a quick wavering, because inner ear has *not* regulated itself quite yet -- she turns to face the monster, and the carnage of the cart, taking a deep breath and making a quick decision.

"NICOMACHEA! SET UP!"

As the geometric bubble of golden light dissolves away from around her, she makes her first move of the fight. Luckily, *she's* not the one doing the calculations at the moment.

<< TIME-SPACE BARRIER >>

From just above the pages of the armored book that is her Device's combat form, a bubble of green-black energy washes outward, dimensionally shifting the Clover Mall just... a little bit to the left. While too late to keep the results of the explosion from being real, it *will* take the non-magical civilians out of the equation.

And as the world loses a bit of saturation and hue-shifts just enough to be noticed, Rashmi has only one conc-- WAIT WHAT IS NARU STILL DOING HERE?!

*Two* concerns.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Oh! You got it - you got the Sailor V manga!" One of Usagi's favorites lately, an episodic manga following new fictional adventures of the decidedly nonfictional hero. Some chapters involved fictional romances, where Sailor V flirted with handsome guys and girls alike, others involved the busting up of crime rings or bank heists. "That's great, I think you'll really like it - eh?"

The eh, because Rei's just gone ahead and grabbed her by the arm, yanked them both towards the table. Usagi has a bad feeling about this. Maybe she shouldn't go on shopping trips anymore?

"Rei-chan -"

But before she can say anything, Rei's transformed - just right there, ducked a bit behind the table but barely hidden, isn't she nervous about that? And then Sailor Mars is there, cheeks starting to flush, and Usagi stares, but.

The last time a shopping trip went bad, it went bad. She can't sense anything, not like Rei apparently can, but - can she really risk it? On the other hand though, she can't just transform out in the open, not like Rei had - Naru is here with her. It would just take one sideways glance for everything to be out in the open! "I believe you! I just - let me find a place to transform!"

She doesn't go for - her bags dropped right htere on the table - just behind a map of the mall, solid enough to that no one would see through, right next to an enormous fake plant. It will have to do, right?

"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"

The transformation finishes just as the shockwave goes off, and Sailor Moon is spared from being thrown off her feet only because the map stand takes the brunt, metal teetering ominously.

There's only one thing on her mind.

"NARU-CHAN!"

She doesn't care that Naru won't be able to recognize her with the transformation active. She doesn't even care how suspicious it might be, for her to know someone's name; those thoughts will come later. For now, there's just Sailor Moon, rushing right towards the monster and the downed civilians, a cacophany of screams and cries, wailing and sobbing from all around.

It's worse than the attack in Juuban's shopping district. At least then, the civilians were saved before they could get really hurt. Here, there's evidence of the destruction everywhere - people lying wounded, sobbing, crying out for help, and where's - THERE'S NARU -

Why isn't she running?! Usagi is going to have to have a serious talk with her bestie about that!

"Moon Tiara - oh no!" She'd called out the attack without thought, hand going to her forehead - but there's no tiara. Of course there's not a tiara.

She blew up the tiara.

And now there's nothing she can do, besides run out towards where Naru and the other injured civilians are laying.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Great", Coco remarks with a smile. "I hope you get to have a lovely evening." With Rana's assurance in hand, the mermaid princess is about to start compiling the survey. 'Coco', she writes in the slot for the first name, before looking blankly at the line for the last name.'And what do I do now?' she thinks, before shrugging and writing the last name she had made up when Cho started asking her questions. 'Campus'.

She gets distracted as Naru suggests her to try the bubble tea. "Oh, really? I will try it for sure then, right after I am done here". Something which is not set to happen, as just then a wave of energy tears through Rana's kiosk, sending everything flying like an explosion just occurred.

Coco is pushed to the ground by the pressure, scraping her arms a bit in the process. Luckily the kiosk's structure shielded her and Naru, so no harm actually came their way.

The same can't be said of Rana, who lies in a ever bigger pool of her own blood. She glances up at the monster that caused this, advancing from inside the shop, or what remains of it. "It was in here... Why?" She looks around, noticing the panicked people running away from the location, though Naru is standing there to her surprise.

'I don't have any time to lose, the saleslady has already been hurt, but she can still be saved if we deal with this quickly enough!', she thinks, before telling Naru "Sorry, I have to go!".

Rushing off just like that, she picks a place away from the rushing mass of people escaping from the mall as the black sludge advances. "Yellow Pearl Voice!" she declares, the mystical power of her pearl being released at that time, converting her clothes into her idol getup.

'Go, go!" she urges herself, rushing back to the location of the attack, positioning herself in front of Rana, confiding in whatever minor healing her songs may provide to let her hang in there till the monster is dealt with.

Rei Hino has posed:
    It really sucks to be validated sometimes, Rei thinks right as the explosion of dark energy and force rips through this section of the mall. The stone table on its ironwrought legs is heavy and doesn't go flying as far as some other things, but it does sock Sailor Mars in the face and smash the back of her head into the wall behind her pretty good. A black eye to explain to her teachers probably. Bigger concerns right now. The ringing in her ears, the disorientation of the shockwave, the sudden transformation of a brightly-lit, well-maintain mall corridor into a warzone, and the pulsing of evil that flows across her skin continuously like a corpse's breath has her feeling all kinds of things at once. But she forces herself up, watching as Sailor Moon emerges and runs over to help her friend Naru. She doesn't know where to start really. There's so many people hurt just in in this area alone.

    Did the explosion damage the building on the other side? Did it blast out the back, and compromise another section, with even more people hurt? This is... Beyond her experience. Not just the supernatural element, but the crisis management, if she's supposed to be evacuating people, or doing triage, or calling for help, or focusing on whatever caused this, or running to Sailor Moon's side and hoping she has the answers, or...

    The sight of something lurching around in the gutted former Obsidian outlet shop puts a cold pit in her stomach. She doesn't know how to do any of those other things. She doesn't have the power to heal. She only has the power to burn things, as Sailor Mars, and her spiritual powers as Rei Hino. Pick an option.

    Make a choice.

    Sailor Mars vaults over the table, leaving her purchases with Usagi's, thrown all over the place, and tries to pick her way through the wreckage without falling on her face, to get between Sailor Moon and the enemy. "Sailor Moon! We need to stop that thing before it hurts anyone else!" she calls out over her shoulder. She barely realizes there's some guy in a military uniform looking just as stunned by all this as the rest of them. Ally? Enemy? Unknown. But the creature takes precedence.

    Ofuda are splayed out in Sailor Mars's gloved hand as she raises and locks her gaze on the Thing In The Dark. She tosses out the paper charms to mark the edges of the access point there used to be between the hall and the store. Hopefully it will at least keep the creature from emerging for a little while.

    Something shifts and she feels like she's somewhere else. Her ofuda remain in place, but the people who were here, injured, are... Gone? Is this like that... Barrier thing, like from the construction site, and the guy with the black moon on his forehead?

    Mars' stomach sinks even further as a fearful thought bubbles to the surface. .oO(Is this another attempt to hunt us down?)

    She banishes it, grits her teeth, and clasps her hands together with her two index fingers extended parallel to each other, as she closes her eyes and concentrates. She has to keep the barrier intact.

Pyrite has posed:
    Pyrite's transformation is a bit simpler. Once she is within Darien's shadow, no more than a shadow herself, her silhouette deforms, ripples, and twists inhumanly, before stabilizing again. The next she is seen, she is wearing her tailor-made Shitennou apprentice uniform. She eagerly pursues into the destruction that has replaced the mall, finding the highest thing she sees, and hopping up onto it, lighter than a feather. The girl with the glowing red eyes draws a sword from a scabbard at her side, and holds it out, pointed towards the gathered magical girls.
    "You fools have already failed before you have begun! So much for the heroes protecting the weak! Make way for a new era of Darkness as we--" she stops and turns as Hematite speaks to her. She turns back to look at the magical girls. Then back to Hematite. Then to the magical girls. As they get shifted a dimension to the left, she looks over at Hematite questioningly one more time, then starts over.
    "You fool who has intruded upon this domain of Darkness, you are uninvited! The people you have harmed are the future loyal subjects of Hematite-senpai! I, Pyrite, apprentice of the Shitennou, will destroy you in his place! Watch, Magical Girls, what a true warrior's duty is -- and how to protect a life!"

Jadeite has posed:
    Rana is still alive, when Naru checks on her. Whenever Yellow Pearl Voice arrives and sets up her Live Stage, light spreads outwards in a sphere. It makes the terrible surroundings and spooky lighting slightly less so. If she chooses to sing a song of healing, its effects will begin to spread through those targeted as appropriate to the ability. Bleeding slows, then stops, vitality is restored to the wounded, and they are able to benefit enough to take care of themselves and others somewhat. Whatever it is that YPV is trying to achieve with her song, it is working, even now, in this situation. Rana may even move a little bit, even if still knocked out. People are going to need medical attention still, but this bit of light, courage, and hope will matter. It will matter a lot.

    The creature is still back there in the darkness of the destroyed shop, the monster's own color pallette not facilitating a clearer look at it just yet. It almost seems akward or uncertain as it shuffles its two, thick, dinosaur-like legs on either side of its spherical body through the clattering piles of junk that used to be merchandise and displays that lie about its feet. There are a lot of distressing things going on, but one of the biggest for those who can tell is that the hole this monster came through is still open. And wider now. Like the creature forcing its way through made the breach more accessible from both sides. That is a problem.

    Also a problem?

    The lumbering creature advances gradually, unaccustomed to its current environment. It's moving towards an awful lot of incapacitated people as well, and that seems to be what finally gets it moving faster and coming into the fitful light like that of a horror movie. It's... Big. Perhaps three meters tall and slightly less than that in diameter. A big, dark-gray scaled, near-spherical body with a texture to it like a head of lettuce, but made out of teeth. Blades that curl inwards and inwards in a spiral, the teeth occasionally splitting horizontally in the middle to expose something like liquid darkness. Oily, shifting, and seeming very much to be hiding something even worse beneath the pitch-black surface.

    Thankfully, ofuda go up, sealing the way out of the shop, and the creature stops when it reaches them and runs into a spiritual barrier. Energy crackles and burns against the scaled surface, but the monster just... Stands there. Pressed against it. Eventually, it takes a couple steps back. Then it cracks open its, 'body mouth' thing again, and there's a hint of a red gleam from within the oily flesh inside.

    Then the dimension shifts. The people disappear, aside from those who, for whatever reason, are anchored here. They are no longer in harm's way. The abyssal rift in the body of Dark Energy creature widens after that, exposing a glistening black pool of oil-flesh or something that ignores gravity as it flows vertically, obeying its own physical laws. The red gleam grows brighter, appearing as an emerging orb from beneath the blackness... And the orb finally, fully makes it way out into the open. It's a red that >drips<. It's like someone took a knife and >cut the darkness< and made it >bleed<. It glows red, but the red runs and drips and mixes into the oiil, spreading across the surface like capillaries.

    Then the eye looks out at the assembled warriors, and the heroes mundane or magical.

    It stares for several seconds. Stationary. Then in the blink of the eye is begins throwing itself against the barrier, over and over, like a giant, sapient bullet with too many teeth, crashing into the sparkling waves of spirit energy heedlessly in its attempts to break through. Each impact shakes the ground and walls, and sends a crash thankfully partially drowned out by the ringing that may remain in people's ears, but otherwise no less horrifying than the movie monster trying to pound the door down to get to the survivors clustered inside.

    Maybe it was something Pyrite said?

Naru Osaka has posed:
Creatures of Black Ooozy Doom do not seem to immediately phase Naru.

Rampaging destruction and injured people and war zones do not seem to immediately phase Naru.

The dimensional jump to the left? Okay. That is weirding Naru out a little. Especially as people /disappear/. She doesn't. Nor does Rana. She is not going to think about that right now. Especially not as music appears to be helping Rana not die. She didn't notice Coco leaving, she does look to Yellow Pearl Voice who is clearly healing people. "Thank you." Naru will think about that later. Along with a lot of other things.

And then there's someone yelling her name, and she turns towards Sailor Moon who is calling at her. She's bleeding, but not badly, chunks of glass and concrete scraped and sliced on their way through. She scrambles to her feet, moving towards the person yelling for her. "The sales lady is badly hurt! I think the song is helping?"

There's so many things Naru isn't sure about, but that's Future Naru's problem right now.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
She doesn't have an offensive attack, and two sessions of Inai-sensei's self defense classes are not enough to take down a creepy oozing horn-covered monsters - which is why Sailor Moon is grateful that Sailor Mars blocks off the creature with her ofuda, even if she's not sure how long it will last. There was a shift, a strange feeling almost like when Zero Time went up, but she doesn't see Ginga Otome anywhere, so who had -

But before she can try to find the answer to that question - or find a way to fight, she hadn't considered what she'd do if the tiara didn't come back, she had hoped it would come back - there's someone yelling. Lecturing? Giving a speech, more like. At...them?

"M-Mars-chan, you're hearing this, right?" She asks numbly, staring in shock at the sword pointing girl. So much for the heroes protecting the weak? They were doing their best! No one expected an explosion at a mall. Sailor Moon's about to interrupt this, this injustice speech, when the girl in the militaristic uniform stops herself, looking back at -

Sailor Moon's heart skips a beat. Hematite?

He was... was this his doing? It couldn't be, could it? Sure, Luna was convinced he really was an enemy, but he'd helped her - why would he do that if he was an enemy? But this girl -

And then she can practically feel the sweatdrop form as said girl - Pyrite apparently - starts her speech over again... now directed at the monster. Sailor Moon shakes her head, smiling a little - she should have known Hematite wouldn't be involved in something like this. Forgive her Hematite-kun!

"We'll be happy to have your help, Pyrite, Hematite. The more of us there are, the faster this monster goes down!"

Music has started up, a voice singing in the dark, and Sailor Moon realizes exactly who this must be - Yellow Pearl Voice! The light of her stage, the beauty of her voice, all of it's heartening. Even with the monster, locked away in the dark thanks to Rei-chan - starting to ram the barrier, Sailor Moon has hope. Enough at least, to turn to Naru and say -

"We're going to take care of this. But if that monster breaks out, you'll be in danger! You've got to get away from here, now!" Sailor Moon thinks of the way Ginga Otome was rocked by the destruction of Zero Time, and frets. Naru is okay, or at least, as okay as anyone who survived this could be, but if that monsters breaks through the barrier, Rei-chan will be defenseless. "Trust me. The safest place you can be is as far from that as possible."

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< FLIER FIN >>

Dragonfly-like wings of golden light unfurl from Rashmi's ankles, carrying her aloft and giving her a birds-eye view of the dustup.

Possibly soon to upgrade to fracas.

The black-haired Sailor V teammate? seems to have the monster held back for now, and the blond one seems to have a great deal of concern for Naru. Which is fair, considering Rashmi *also* has concern for her and the wounded saleslady.

"U-um!" she calls down to Sailor Moon. "I can make sure they're protected? Only I don't think the lady ought to be moved until that song's done helping!"

Hematite and Pyrite give her the absolute woogies, just at a glance, but... As long as they're pointed at the monster, worry about details later.

"If I covered the two of them, would it be safe to let down the barrier you've got?"

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Stricken or not, Hematite's taking stock of the situation, of the injured people and the fleeing screaming crying people, the Obsidian employee on the floor, the magical girls showing up out of the woodwork, and-- oh that's interesting, that dimensional shift to the left does something weird to his inner ear, maybe, because all of a sudden Hematite needs his feet on the rubble-strewn floor.

He takes a breath and watches Pyrite, and finally his unsettled face gets the indulgent smile it has for the murderghost every time she's exceptionally adorable. And he looks both amused and very proud of her-- it turns into an outright grin, even if he has to make a note to tell her he's not looking for any loyal subjects.

But the grin freezes and falls away in a flash as that-- wrong thing, that WRONG thing makes more of itself visible, and it has so many teeth that he hopes Pyrite will enjoy pulling them out, maybe, and he knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that no energy he shoots at it will help the situation. No matter what Nephrite's plan is, this thing can't actually be allowed to roam free in the real world. That door that's open is an issue too, but

but he knew

he knew he hated the plan

he knew from every word that came out of Nephrite's mouth, every red gleam in Nephrite's and Jadeite's eyes, that he hated this plan with almost everything he was, no matter what he used to justify it.

If this is the first result of that plan, it's no wonder. This is just destruction with oily caustic teeth, breaking into his planet--

Breathing exercises. Sailor Moon's calling out to him. Hematite gives her a poor excuse for a smile, unhappy and pinched but trying, and nods. He flips his hand around in the air and produces a black rose, and he tosses it carefully Moon's way. "You have no hat! Once the seals are down, use that with your power, Sailor Moon!"

But then he's already moving towards Pyrite. "Let me give you more power, Py-tan, let me help you!" he calls out, cape fluttering behind him as he goes, and he puts his hand on her back -- there's a bloom of darkness as he transfers energy to his kohai (sister) (kohai) (shadow). "Good girl," he practically whispers.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
As soon as it goes up, Yellow Pearl Voice recognises Zero Time from the invasion of the insectoids from hell. 'Ginga Otome is around here then', she thinks, acquiring confidence with the thought of having an ally she already fought with before. Glancing besides her to check about Rana, she is confused as to why she is still here.

'But I thought... No, this isn't the time to wonder about it works', she reminds herself, taking advantage of the monster being distracted by the other fighters. Putting her arms around Rana, she pulls her up on the 'ground' of the Live Stage.

She turns towards Naru. "Naru, get in! I can make the Live Stage hover away from the monster, hopefully outside of its range." While Naru makes her decision, Yellow Pearl Voice goes back to addressing the menace of the monster, stalling it while the other girl hopefully chooses to get in.

"You have threatened innocents and brought fear to the lands, demon! By the light of Aqua Regina and the pearls that shine from the seven kingdoms, I will help ensure peace is restored here! Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"

The rainbow wind blows at a far off coast
Before dawn, there was a melody I heard
It's a very nostalgic song

The birds that fly towards the eastern sky
now escape to the treasure island using this shortcut.

Where the paradise of the seven seas lies

After the stormy night, to tell you my love I will be born again
Even if there comes a day where everyone...
Is to journey away from here, as long as we sing the melody of the seven countries
I'll never forget.

Clouds slowly float away, vanishing away as they aim for the rainbow's end
And then the stars, like pearls
can start releasing a powerful, wondrous light.

Rei Hino has posed:
    The repeated blows on the barrier are taxing her concentration enough on their own without apparently plot-significant exposiiton going on somewhere behind her. It sounds upsetting, so she blocks it out. She'll ask Sailor Moon for the highlights later. For now, each impact is almost like a physical force against the inside of her head. She is in a deep meditation, so she doesn't appear to physically respond, especially as she puts more of herself into the barrier. But a trickle of red starts to drip out of her nose, and over her lips. The flow increases as dark red splotches hit the ground. She vaguely understands there is a desire to lower the barrier.

    By someone.

    She doesn't know why, but maybe the others are prepared to attack. The walls and ceiling the ofuda are on are cracking and crumbling anyway. The barrier is coming down soon, with or without her.

    Speaking distractedly, as though from a great distance, Sailor Mars says, "I'll drop it in three seconds. Get ready. One--" The masonry cracks and the barrier vanishes as blood gushes out of both nostrils and Mars' ears as well as she reels backwards, crying out in pain and shock, and falls towards the ground.

Pyrite has posed:
    Oh, good! Power! Pyrite likes power!
    It will help her get over the disappointment of the monster not saying something pitiable and trite so she can upbraid it with her list of memorized speeches and insults. Sailor Moon apparently acknowledging Hematite's claim to this domain and these lives and not getting in the way helps too, that's nice, she wasn't expecting it. Usually the heroes argue more. She crouches down on the broken piece of concrete that juts up like a tombstone where it fell. One leg slightly behind her like a sprinter preparing to run. She holds her sword low at her side, pointed backwards (not at Hematite though, thankfullly). As energy flows into her, Pyrite's hair begins to move in an unfelt breeze, whipping to and fro, and a black glow starts to emanate from around her.
    Her sinister little smile spreads wider into a malicious grin, perfect white teeth on display.
    Right as the barrier disappears, so does Pyrite. Another shockwave tears outwards. This one is going >away< from the people in the corridor though. The apprentice Shitennou has just manifested directly in the path of the monster that outsizes her many times over, and has clashed with its toothy maw upon the sword she is holding up in both hands in a parrying position. Her feet are planted firmly on the... Air.
    She grins even wider as she pushes back against her fellow abomination with borrowed power. "Not yours." she hisses out between her teeth. "Mine." Shadows flow out from beneath her cape, turning into a multitude of tendrils with clawing, grasping hands on the ends. They swarm over the horror. Each one may be individually weak, but they keep massing and swarming, reaching for anything they can grab. They dig into the space between the tooth-blades, they go after the eye in the middle, and they writhe across the monster's surface like a swelling sea of obsidian snakes.
    If she can just hold it long enough, maybe she can eat it right here and now, like a carnivorous shadow. But there are others keen to join the battle, and she has been drilled on teamwork. So, regretfully, she leaps up off her perch in the air, vaulting over the creature, arching her body like a bow when she is above and behind it, and then attempts to plunge her sword directly into its back. "Strike now, if you dare!" she calls out gleefully, her shadowy hands still trying to tear the monster apart, successul or not.

Jadeite has posed:
    The shockwave that results from the clashing with the monster is still likely painful for anyone too close. But by now, only the warriors prepared to fight are nearby. Yellow Pearl Voice has created a safer area for the defenseless, and has called upon the power of song to condemn the invader by sending musical power and rhythmn into their bodies and souls, helping to synchronize their actions and attacks for a finishing blow (hopefully). The terrible murderwraith clears the way while restraining the monster with shadowy hands hooked into its flesh and gums. Its single eye has retreated back into the darkness in response to the clawing, but was definitely damaged. It isn't going to see an attack coming. It has still been utterly silent. No threats, no dismissal of speeches, just the attempt to throw off its attacker and use its strength and mass to go after the enemies before it.

    However, all that shaking, on top of the initial blastwave, have tosses the Black Jade boxes everywhere. Most are smashed or damaged. A couple have open during their flight, and two Black Jade assistants have rolled out into the open. One of them has somehow turned itself on. A pair of glowing dots in the sphere's 'face' look like eyes, and blink a couple times as they lock onto the teeth-and-blades monster currently under attack.

    The creature's efforts are redoubled suddenly, thrashing furiously and stomping out of the store and into the main, destroyed thoroughfare. It snaps its oversized jaws at anyone in its way, easily enough to bite a normal human in half, as it carves a path towards where Rana fell initially, and where the Black Jade device is staring back at it now.

    It's now or never at this point. There's still a dimensional tear open, and if a second one of these things appears... or even more... It doesn't bear thinking about.

    Finally, a noise emerges. A screeching, tearing, knife-on-your-bones sound that reverberates up and down the passage, shattering any glass that wasn't already broken, and vibrating the air to the point it can be physically felt on the skin.

    Strike now, Pyrite said.

    So strike now!

Rashmi Terios has posed:
Change of plans. Yellow Pearl Voice has Naru and Rana, she can keep them safe, and the black-haired girl is down for the count with a *very worrying* case of bleesing from the face. That's bad.

The monster still exists. That's worse.

*BONG!* << SOLAR SHIELD >>

A dome of golden light forms around Rei's prone form, shielding her from any rampaging the Dark monster may happen to go on if freed from the creepy ghost's clutches. Brown eyes dart from the black rose in the blond's hand, to the boy that threw it, and Rashmi's eyes narrow in a moment's consideration. Then, nodding to herself, she looks down at the book floating, open, centimeters above her upturned palm. "We need someone to hit hard, Nico, and it looks like she's the one to do it. Let's help her out."

*BONG!* << BARRET -- BOOST UP >>

A wisp of sun-colored light darts down toward sailor moon, nestling among the petals of the black rose and gilding its petals with pure, warm sunlight. "SAILOR MOON!" Rashmi calls from above, because hey, if someone knows it then it must be her name. "YOU'RE THE BEST CHOICE WE HAVE TO END THIS! BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, AND TAKE THE SHOT!"

Naru Osaka has posed:
"When." Naru corrects Sailor Moon about the barrier that the Nasty is behind. "When it breaks out."

Prophetic, or at least realistic about how this is going to go.

And then more unfamiliar people who know her name, and Naru eyes the floating stage warily, and skeptically. There is an awful lot going on that even her unflappable is starting to wiggle. Just a little. It's not yet flapping, but it's thinking about it.

Really, it all just gives her a front row seat on watching Pyrite have a Moment with the Nasty. And that is just so many levels of wrong.

So. Much. Wrong.

But .. whatever that was.. seems to be on their side? And is suggesting striking now. So Naru grabs for something, coming up with one of her own shopping bags.

Eat cute flats, Nasty thing!

She's bad at running away. Even when she really really should.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
There's Naru and the saleswoman - Naru significantly healthier than the saleswoman. There's Sailor Mars, holding back the assault.

And there's Hematite, looking at her with a smile that's patently false, stiff on his handsome face. He doesn't like this anymore than she does. Is he really on the other side, if he wants this monster to go down as much as they do? When he launches the rose towards her, black as night, she catches it. Of course she does. And he's right - she doesn't have a hat.

"It's not nice to point out when a girl's missing her accessories," she says, with more pep than she actually has, playing up confidence because the other choice is to be afraid, and she can't panic now, not with -

"Mars-chan!!!"

Not with Rei down. There's no more attention for anything else. Golden light covers Sailor Mars, a dome of protection, and Pyrite rushes forward to attack in the most unsettling, uncute manner Sailor Moon's ever seen, shadow tendrils that strike and strike and strike -

But when she darts away, her sword sinking into the monster from behind, and light pours down to shine across the rose in her hands -

it doesn't matter that the rose in her hands isn't a Tiara. It's something in her hands. It's something she can hold, something held in her hands, something she needs -

"Moon Tiara Action!"

The black rose is thrown from her hand with all the speed and force of her old tiara. She sees it turn color - black burning away, replaced with shining bright red - and then it does what she needed it to do. Shining energy, the force of love and hope (and cosmic energy) transforming it into a weapon forged of their combined efforts.

It strikes point first and barrels right through the creature - a gaping hole left behind.

Pyrite has posed:
    A projectile of love, hope, cosmic energy, and stabbity stabbing tears through the monster and out the other side. Where Pyrite is, hanging from the sword embedded in the monster's back. The shadows pull away suddenly, retreating to their source and making... >Sounds< like squealing, squeaking... >Things<. Nothing else really fits. They disappear, and Pyrite lets go of the sword and drops out of visibility as she disappears too.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Yellow Pearl Voice doesn't notice Naru hasn't gotten onto the Live Stage until she sees her tossing... shoes?... at the monster. 'Oh, for real!?' she thinks with a badly suppressed smile.Not that she wants her to get hurt by the monster with her courageous gesture, but she can't help but appreciate Naru's determination. 'I guess I should put my best forward too', she decides, preparing to give it her all.

She spots Sailor Moon is also giving a decisive strike to the monster, using her tiara attack - with a black rose? 'I guess she has lots of flexibility in her power sources', she thinks, before focusing back on her own situation.

'Aqua Regina, give me your blessing', she things, invoking the power of the bracelet on the wrist as it shines with white light. Yellow Pearl Voice's dress transforms, becoming more ornate. "Here comes an encore. The Tale of the Seven Seas ~Pearls of Mermaid~."

Surely shimmering beyond the seven seas is the story that leads all lives to paradise.
We"ll surely find out where all the birds are flying off too
Embracing that dream, we left on a journey.
The treasure map we found at the secret cove no one can see just yet.

But the single constellation is glowing for us.
The story of the seven seas starts from here.
Many miracles are always revolving around us.
Will they ever return to us?
Even if at the end of our journey, we're to become adults.
Within the treasure boxes of our hearts, will always be our mermaid songs.
The lute's melody I heard on the beach at dawn was similar to a sweet lullaby from my hometown.
Everyone is surely protected under the veil of love and go down their own paths.

Even when the sea is stormy, our bonds and heartbeat will still be conveyed.
Even if there is to be no light, you"ll surely be able to see something.
Before long, the sadness of the seven countries will become a song and cross the seven seas, becoming love.
I want to become a life that can warm this world.

I'll never forget.. these Tales of Mermaid.

By the time the large rainbow fades away, at the end of our dreams
will surely be an overflowing rain of happiness that we"ll all share.
At the beginning of our large journey, we didn't have a map
We just continued heading towards the future while looking to the sea.

The story of the seven seas starts from here.
Many miracles are always revolving around us and one is here once again.
By the time our journey ends, shining in our hearts
will be our most precious treasure... our Pearls of Mermaid.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
And Hematite makes a face like 'oh shit I left my cat on the stove.' Eyes wide, grimace of dismay. "Pyrite! Ffff..."

And then with a whirl of his cape, he vanishes himself as if he were a magician vanishing a bird, and the cape vanishes itself after him until there's nothing left.

Rei Hino has posed:
    Mars is being protected and shielded. And if Yellow Pearl Voice is still singing her song of healing, then tbe fallen Senshi is recovering gradually too. She'll probably start to sit up around the time that everything is over. But she can't see very well right now. Her vision seems to be a little bit obscured by something.

    If she had a mirror, she'd see that the capillaries in her eyes burst, and the whites have become cloudy with red. Oh, boy. That's gonna' be another thing she'll have to explain if her Senshi healing doesn't clear it up before someone sees. But she remains blissfully unaware of what a nightmare she looks like right now.

    "Sailor Moon... Everyone... Do your best...!" she manages to get out groggily.

Jadeite has posed:
    The first strike went to Mars, for halting the monster's advance.

    The second went to Yellow Pearl Voice, for keeping everyone alive.

    The third strike was claimed by Pyrite, who met the monster at the boundary and blinded it.

    The fourth went to Hematite, who gave a weapon to the unarmed.

    The fifth strike went to Rashmi, for preventing a devastating loss of a heroine and strengthening the only Senshi still standing.

    The sixth strike was not the last, but it was one that really mattered. The flats... Hit the monster, and bounce off. After everything it has endured, it is startled by the impact. And when the flats fall aside and hit the Black Jade device, sending it rolling away, the monster Loses. Its. Shit.

    It stops paying attention to anything else, and its wounded eye re-emerges to try to find where the orb rolled off to. The seventh, and final, strike hits it unopposed, unawares. A weapon of shadow turned into a vessel of light, opening a hole in the thing that goes clear through to the other side. It stands there on its two feet for a moment, tilting to one side, stumbles, then falls to the ground. It begins to decay into dust, but it will take perhaps a minute. Longer than it generally does. This thing... Was strong.

    But those who stood against it, hero, villain, or simply courageous young woman, were stronger.

    Oddly, that dimensional tear seems to be gone as well.

    Now... Time for the aftermath, and the wounded.