>>654840

And demigods are all about meddling in mortal affairs.

Whats this?!

Sakurada has made a bold move! He put his hand on top of PB-chan’s while she was looking a bit lost. Continuing to play and scrutinize, you watch so not to miss a detail. Cursing under your breath as a passing cafe customer crosses into the arcade and momentarily blocks your line of sight.

Their back and forth is quick as the chilled orders arrive, PB-chan smiles decisively as Sakurada throws up his hands in what you think might be a placating gesture.

Just what is going on over there?

Your train is broken by the sound of breaking glass and a frustrated cry that drowns out even the electronica of the arcade. Just what is going on? It got colder and he’s offering her his jacket now-

“Venus-chan, come on,” Aiha surprises you from behind with a hand on your shoulder and urgency in her voice, “Follow me,”

Interlude End

>>654861

Quest Start

“Yoshi, I need you not to worry,” you say quietly as you invest magical energy in forming a shield of protection for yourself as the waitress approaches with the latest orders, a near to visible chill in her wake, “And not to worry about what happens next,”

“Oh, eh, thank you,” Koyomi responds with a demurred politeness, amid clearly noticing the air of menace, but then pauses as she notices something of the waitress, “Um, did you happen to run out of sprinkles?”

-I’ve found Yeon!- Kunzite’s voice roars.

“Oh, let me take care of that,” she smiles, perhaps a bit too widely as your face shifts with your disguise field and you practically roll out of the booth while Koito pulls Koyomi under the table with him to escape to transform while illusions of their presence and your own persists.

-Unconscious, pinned beneath a pile of whipped cream,- this gives sudden confused reaction to Sasha and Yoshi.

You are behind the wall at the cafe’s entrance, ready to become Eclipse and help protect civilians. The senshi are inbound and Koyomi is right there, to take on the threat as the waitress shifts and contorts, her body becoming a nightmarish mockery of sweets, cream, and cone in humanoid form. Rather near to lewd humanoid form at that. A psychic concept of her name rolls off of her in waves and catches you.

Bloodberry Sundae.

Huh, apt.

She whips a hand forward, fingers disappearing into a sugar cone gauntlet, leveling it at the illusions of your sister and your youngest knight. With a rage filled cry the space is blasted and plastered with soft serve ice cream in weaponized quantity, and freezing fast the booth.

There are also Koyomi’s requested sprinkles. Amid the action, Yoshi shielded himself from splatter with his guitar case and Sasha grabbed Saori Umeki and dove over the counter with her.

“EAT THAT!” Bloodberry Sundae cries out in visceral and personal triumph, running her fingers through whip cream hair beneath a giant maraschino turned hat, and sampling the taste.

“My sundae!” Koyomi cries out over her shoulder as Koito tries to move her stealthily away.

“What? HOW!?” the monster cries out seeing her would be quarry, “No matter, if you want seconds I’ll dish out all you can eat,”

“Damnit,” you curse under your breath at your sister’s antics.

“Really!” she brightens up as she and Koito also dive over the counter and head toward the back of the establishment out of sight.

“I’m not done with you,” the well churned monster hardens her resolve as her arms morph into sharp ended waffle cones.

This isn’t your place yet to intervene as the room is sunk into a blinding golden light that fades to reveal another figure standing before the counter. Flipping her long black hair that travels into a red gradient before striking a pose its…

“Guided by a new era, to fight with grace and elegance,” Keiko points at the chilling woman, “Sailor Sol!”

>>654879

“You think I’m afraid of you?”

>Combat is started.

The monster lunges forward, as ten silver spoons unfurl from her back and float behind her, sending her piercing brittle waffle drills into your friend and ally. In straight magic Keiko is amazingly powerful, but if this is going to be a melee she might be in trouble before the others arrive.

They crash into the counter behind her on either side first left, which she barely dodges, and then right which tears at the edge of her sailor suit.

>Sailor Sol takes 16 vitality damage.

“Nice opener, but someone’s about to learn what happens when you leave ice cream out in the sun!” Sailor Sol slaps wide across the woman’s mint chocolate chip face, leaving a burning and radiant trail in her wake as planetary power rolls off of her. You figure she isn’t unloading with her more powerful magic because there are still too many bystanders stuck in close quarters.

The impact splatters green onto a far wall, but it snaps back right into place.

“Flame won’t be your advantage here!” she laughs, “I’m refrigerated!”

Another pair of hits like what she took and Keiko might be in trouble, but the others are in route and you know Sailor New Moon is about to arrive on the scene.

Do you distract this monster as Eclipse or start trying to get the other civilians out. Jadiete Knight is probably right here and ready to strike, so you might not need to worry about Keiko, and the arcade patrons are either taking cover or fleeing.

You catch a glimpse of Saori Umeki peering wide eyed over the lip of the cafe counter.

>Continue to hold here for the right moment
>Try to get everyone else to evacuate the arcade and cafe
>Pull Yoshi out of his booth and get him out of here
>Intervene as Eclipse to help Keiko, how?
>Write in

Initial voting window for OP 30 minutes after first vote cast.

Subsequent votes will be 15 minute windows from first vote.

>>654891
>>Try to get everyone else to evacuate the arcade and cafe
>>Pull Yoshi out of his booth and get him out of here

>>654891
>Continue to hold here for the right moment

Woo-hoo! right into it!

>>654891
>Try to get everyone else to evacuate the arcade and cafe
>Pull Yoshi out of his booth and get him out of here

Following our father's footsteps, still.

>>654891
>>Try to get everyone else to evacuate the arcade and cafe
>Intervene as Eclipse to help
Napkin dispenser to the face. Napkins stick to icecream to blind and distract while people get clear.

>>655029
I like this idea, I'll support this one.

Alright, lets count us up...
Alright there was one changed vote so looks like we're going to get folks out of the cafe and throw a napkin holder.

Writing momentarily

Give me a dice roll.

dice+1d20+11 best of 3
1s and 20s wild

Rolled 18 + 11 (1d20 + 11)

>>655366
HERE IT COMES

Rolled 18 + 11 (1d20 + 11)

>>655366

Rolled 14 + 11 (1d20 + 11)

Sticky situation, clean up your act, corrupting the innocent joy of sweetened frozen delight, justice sprinkles? What tuxedoism is strong enough for a serving of Bloodberry Sundae? Imagine sis will have have words too, verbal tag team?

>>655366
Rollin'!

Rolled 4 (1d4)

Alright, lets get writing. I know exactly what the degrees of success are preapplied to.

just gonna roll napkin dispenser damage.

>>655408
Maybe hold the quips until after she gets napkins off.
>>655555
Did we get the drip on her ie sneak attack? Also quint 5s fun.

Rolled 5, 4, 6, 4 = 19 (4d6)

>>655592
Thank you for reminding me of sneak attack.

Rolling.

need another d20 roll.

Agility reaction.

dice+1d20+6

DC 21 best of 3

Rolled 16 + 6 (1d20 + 6)

>>655656

Rolled 18 + 6 (1d20 + 6)

>>655656

Rolled 4 + 6 (1d20 + 6)

>>655656

Rolled 12 + 6 (1d20 + 6)

>>655656
The way captcha goes maybe I am a robot.

There are too many people around, and while you are a cipher you turn out to face the monster and call to the room as the cape swirls into being behind you. Yoshi should have the good sense thanks to your warnings to heed this cloaked stranger’s call as you snatch a napkin dispenser off of the table and hurl it at the creature’s exceptionally dairy head.

“Everyone, make for the exits! This is no place to be and heroes need to be afforded space to fight!” you shout before the hurled box connects.

Your foe’s head turns to the sound of your voice as the spinning object collides with her creamery complexion and breaks apart. A fluttering explosion of paper napkins fills the air and sticks to Bloodberry’s face and body, providing with certainty the decency she otherwise seemed to lack in developing an appearance as your waitress’s unleashed id.

>You have dealt 26 Vitality done to Bloodberry Sundae
>Bloodberry Sundae is blinded.

“You’ve corrupted the innocent joys of sweet delights,” you declare as the crowd moves behind you and begins to leave the arcade through various means, “So I thought that would help you clean up your act,”

The monster rages and the form beneath the napkin coverings surges and ripples. Around her, as she wrenches her hands out of the now crumbling conical weapons and turns her back to Sailor Sol, a ring of dense and viscous dark forms. It is not chaotic darkness, but it bubbles and slides against itself before exploding out in thick tendrils.

Ropes of hot chocolate fudge snake and separate out in many directions. It webs Sol against the counter and hardens, as you duck and weave through the matter and manage not to be held fast. A splash of the stuff actually catches the sneakily observing Saori Umeki across her face from where she watches from behind the counter.

Yoshi didn’t quite take your advice, perhaps he just couldn’t react fast enough. and as the network of chocolate webs hardens he is held in the booth.

Shoot, at least you delivered what you think to be a debilitating blow to this sweet dream nightmare.

And you are answered further as four figures fall into place behind you and another takes position atop the counter behind Sol.

“Ice Cream is the soul of a young woman’s heart!” Sailor New Moon declares as her hands find her hips, “And to me that means Ice Cream is Justice!”

“For being so coolly unjust,” Sailor Jupiter declares.

“The fortunes turn against you,” Sailor Mars follows up.

“And bring us to compose for you,” Venus chirps in affirmation.

“An ice cream headache unlike any other as,” Mercury offers decisively.

“In the name of the Moon,” your sister beams.

>>656089


“We Punish you!”

Jupiter is the first to spring into action, grabbing at the network of hardened chocolate that pins so many down and impedes forward motion. With all her might her body sparks and crackles with electricity as the would be holding chocolate shells explode into tasty fragments.

Mars is next as she hurls a prayer strip at the still napkin bound face of this creature and chants some prayer, causing a pulse of energy to roil off of her and causes the censured monster to scream in certain agony.

Mercury’s eyes glow as a blast of force waves from her through the splintered chocolate chips and knocks the ice cream beast beside Keiko against the counter with a splash and a grunt as part of her upper torso stretches and distends against the waist high space.

Sailor Moon takes out her moon wand, eager to act she begins focusing her energies and starts to glow with power as Sailor Venus lets fly her chain and pulls at the sundae’s heeled glass boat shoes toppling her and further morphing her mutable but slowly retracting form.

Sol spins away from the form and looks to the lot of you, and begins to crackle with energy herself.

It is your turn to act. And there Bloodberry Sundae lies prone, made of ice cream and darkness...and you are for an instant enticed by your hunger.

>Move
>Cast a spell
>Use a power
>Attack
>Say something
>Hold
>Write in

>>656094
>>Move
Grab Yoshi and get him to safety, the Senshi have this well in hand

>>656113
Seconding

>>656094
Best not to indulge that hunger while in this guise.
Break out Yoshi and check on Saori.
Could a rose break the chocolate hold?

writing

>>656094
Umkei is not to forget. Maybe toss her at Yoshi to get loose?

You step out of the way of the Senshi as they prepare to unleash a magical barrage that might well turn this carton of negative emotions into soft serve, grabbing Yoshi you pull him from the booth and the chocolate crumbles that cover him and make quickly for the door. Casting a quick glance back you see Umeki has been pulled down and free of the remaining chocolate on the counter bar; though the molding remains in the shape of her shocked face. Assuming this to be the work of Sasha, you get yourself and Yoshi clear to the door as the boy clutches the black leather case holding his guitar.

“I leave this serving to you Sailor Guardians!” you explain as get clear and outside before the room set to ignite is sparked.

“Wait!” Yoshi cries and tries to pull against your gloved hand, “There are still-”

“The Senshi have this well in hand and to my awareness you are the last person in harms way,” you explain through the terse voice of Eclipse.

He stops his protests. Though there is a concerned glare of defiance once the two of you are outside and his vision sweeps the gathered escaped.

Within there are sounds of thunder and flame as mist and light obscure the windows, a blotch of vanilla white splatters against the bay window of the cafe as freezing crystals manifest on the exterior from the temperature drop.

There is a resounding flare as sparkling lights and positive energy seem to pour from the building. Yoshi has been watching and counting. No doubt he assumes Sasha and Saori went out the back like he saw your sister, but now you know he doesn’t see Keiko, Midori, or you.

“There were three more in the cafe,” he exclaims, “Classmates of mine, they aren’t out here and you’ve saved one of them before,”

It is your turn to act.

>Stay outside
>Head back in to survey the action
>Cast a spell
>Use a power
>Write in

&

>Calm Yoshi’s worries or fears, with a well placed lie
>Calm Yoshi’s worries or fears, with the truth
>Calm Yoshi’s worries or fears, with reason
>Ignore Yoshi’s worries, they will soon be rectified
>Write in

>>656475
>>Head back in to survey the action
>Calm Yoshi’s worries or fears, with the truth

>>656475
>>Head back in to survey the action
>>Calm Yoshi’s worries or fears
Simply "They are safe." before dashing back inside.
Not sure where that falls on the lie-truth-reason spectrum.

>>656475
>Head back in to survey the action
>>Calm Yoshi’s worries or fears, with the truth
Specifically the truth that our allies saw to their safety. We just won't mention that said allies did so by seeing to their own. Insert Obi-Wan gif here

File: Technically correct.jpg (81 KB, 800x450)

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Alright, fifteen are passed.

Looks like we're heading back in to deal with the aftermath of a Healing Escalation; however there is some split between how we tend to Yoshi.

So, extending the vote on the option in contention.

Wait, never mind, as I was writing this there was a deciding vote.

...actually going soft truth technically correct is lie. Calming him with truth isn't going to be outing the others, its going to be a subtle cue about who Eclipse is...

So...we're back into the split.

Extending vote.

>>656475
>>656578
>>656665
Too much truth is time taken. Short & sweet leaves less to trip on.

Writing.

You can only think to reason with him, with a definitive statement as you turn with a flourish of your cape back to the arcade.

“They are safe,” you say with the certainty of one who knows, but you can’t let Yoshi know these things yet.

Its enough that he is aware of your activities as the Red Eyed Beast, and as Miki. Its better that he doesn’t know the truth about Eclipse. There is a rabbit hole that follows that information that you aren’t ready to fall down. Between what Saori Umeki has rambled about in the past, it would mean confiding in Yoshi the absolute truth of why you shut down...and shut him out.

Admitting to him those things you believed you had done at one time.

No.

You really don’t want to do that now, maybe ever. And perhaps that might be something that forms a wedge between you now even though you are trying and you do have feelings for him. To connect your past and the end to that tragedy in a way he knows, but if you do want to pursue something with him the weight of secrets might ultimately be unbearable.

It’s a conflict. It is part of the greater conflict of why you didn’t grasp his hand when he offered it in comfort or take his coat. That, that isn’t for right now though.

He doesn’t press after you once you’ve said your brief words in all their final authority.

You are near to certain among the flashes you saw through the window that your sister performed a Moon Healing Escalation. If that’s the case the battle might be won.

Crossing the threshold of the arcade and turning to face the cafe, you find the Senshi and your knights arrayed around the unconscious waitress. As she breathes calmly, the last vestiges of purifying magic rolling off of her body, she seems to have a certain peace in this defeat. Though everyone but your knights are certainly ice cream stained.

Everyone seems a little tired, but otherwise pleased with the fight. Sailor New Moon is even holding and gnawing on a large piece of hardened hot fudge. The Saori face mold to boot, and its been dipped in some ice cream.

To wit there is no sign of the two.

“I sent Sasha and the other girl out through the back,” your Zoisite Knight declares, as he adjusts his cape, to those assembled.

“Everyone else ran when I warned them,” you explain to the assembled group.

>Scold Koyomi for eating monster made chocolate
>Obtain some chocolate yourself
>Congratulations are in order
>Remove the Chocolate from Koyomi’s grasp
>Write in

And then you hear a sudden shriek from within the kitchen, Saori’s to be sure.

>Rush over to see what she’s screaming about
>Oh, she probably found Yeon...you should tell the others about Yeon.
>Say it’s fine, no one should panic
>Write in

>>656971
>Congratulations are in order
>Oh, she probably found Yeon...you should tell the others about Yeon.

>>656971
>>Congratulations are in order
>Oh, she probably found Yeon...you should tell the others about Yeon.

I'm not sure I like the implications of that post.

Of course I'm the only one who wanted to come clean

>>656971
>>Write in
She seemed really keen on feeding her more ice cream, and she knocked out Yeon the the back, probably caught her tampering with the food as part of whatever energy scheme this was. Probably should check anyone she was serving and.. try to detect contamination? Insight would be my best guess. Follow up with covert restorations or bulk moon healing depending on scope.

>>Oh, she probably found Yeon...you should tell the others about Yeon.
Yeah, we should check on him. Warm up with curative magic as needed.

>>656971
>Congratulations are in order
>Oh, she probably found Yeon...you should tell the others about Yeon.
>And you should probably check that it's not anything worse, just in case.

>>657024
Don't mind me, just feeding off the choices for drama and conflict.

Review Anon mentioned those were my strengths.

>>657049
Iunno man, in this instance it may be a bit forced.

Or maybe I'm too worried about it, who knows?

>>657024
Coming clean is good, though we had put it off in the past until we talked to the others since we've found that telling someone the Sailor aspects of our past unravels their identities as well.
Though he will likely suspect now. Particularly with Saori likely to be certain of it in some way. She has keen perception combined with a lack of common sense or filters that would keep normal people from considering the options she does.

>>657059
Maybe, to both points. Though don't worry too much about it because its Mikage's inner monologue in the moment. More issues and things she wants to address or harp on or the kind of thing that may keep her up at night.

She's accepted who she is, but she still has some problem with some people knowing, or is at least worried about how they might perceive her. Or maybe its something to be resolved by action?

Lets find out as we proceed tonight.

>>657024
I would have said truth as well, but I was late.
Still, just because we didn’t give a hint now doesn’t mean we can’t tell him outright later.

COUNTING, THEN WRITING

>>657089
I just went short truth. Say it & get back in. No story to backtrack on either.

>>657103
Oh ya voting.
>>656971
>>657039
Is good. Check things.

Personally, I’d say Yoshi deserves more then a subtle cue anyway. Mikage should tell him what happened herself.

Besides, does anyone think for a second that Yoshi won’t wind up going down the rabbit hole anyway?

>>657206
he's late, he's late

Well, a job well done it would seem. Congratulations are in order. You even ignore Koyomi eating monster chocolate that is also apparently face chocolate, she did purify the monster...she’s earned it.

“Great Job everyone,” you say in a voice closer to your own, but still filtered through being no one of consequence.

Before more can be said or the appreciation more deeply felt, you hear a sudden shriek from within the kitchen, Saori’s to be sure.

“Oh, she probably just found Yeon,” you reason immediately as everyone’s head turns to the kitchen and they tense, “I should probably tell you about Yeon,”

Quickly relating Kunzite’s discovery of Yeon covered in whip cream, you and the others head off to make sure Saori hasn’t slipped into a complete state of panic as you ready a curative spell to steady the young man should he prove injured.

The now slouching girl, forgetting her well forced poise in her fear, is scrambled away from the open kitchen office door as Sasha tries to calm her. He did hear Kunzite’s declaration after all.

Laying a hand on the young man, covered though he may be in whipped cream, you restore vitality enough that he regains consciousness with a start.

“What happened?” he groans in a slight daze, “She was angry, angry about...Chiba-san being able to stuff her face again?”

“Your coworker turned into a monster,” Sailor New Moon explains as a matter of fact as she swipes a bit of cream off his shoulder with the half eaten face chocolate, “She’s better now. You really shouldn’t hold it against her,”

Though she sounds like she might. As kind as she is Koyomi takes ice cream very seriously.

“Sailor Moon,” Saori looks poignantly at your younger sister, and then over at you, “And Sailor Moon…”

Koyomi shoots you a concerned glance before you wave off her concern. This is a matter to be discussed later.

“Hey, crazy girl,” Sasha helps her back to her feet, “Are you okay? Did you bang your head?”

“Oh, no...I’m fine,” she says as she casts a glance to the assembled magical girls and sequin clad Knights.

>>657342

“Well, could have fooled me,” he grumbles as he surveys the rest of you before he says something with an addendum for Saori’s benefit, “Thanks for fighting the monster. I’m gonna lead these two out of here...and you should all check further in back for two scoops and her friend, they ran in here first,”

“Wait...I have questions!” Saori declares, “Like, some questions. Maybe possibly only one or...you know what. No. Short guy, I have questions for you!”

The lot of you disengage and when out of sight drop your various guises as Yeon, Saori, and Sasha make their way out the front. Your groups skips out the back. Koyomi eating the face chocolate with noticeably aggrieved bites.

“PIT and emergency services are on the way,” Kairi says as she checks her phone, “My mom is with them so if we want to get out of here without much fuss, sooner is better,”

>You’re going to head straight to Mugen Gakusei
>You can’t leave Yoshi hanging, you need to talk to him quickly
>You want to stay and watch a bit, make sure no one stumbles on Senshi stuff in the arcade
>Check status of the imouto
>Write in

>>657348
>You can’t leave Yoshi hanging, you need to talk to him quickly

>>657348
>>You can’t leave Yoshi hanging, you need to talk to him quickly

Writing momentarily

>>657236
I somewhat regret that euphemism....so many threads later.

>>657236
As long as she's not.

“Alright, Koyomi, I’ll meet everyone who is going to be at Infinity Academy after I take care of some business,” you sigh.

You just left Yoshi out there, you can’t really leave him hanging so you’re going to talk to him quickly. If this means you get caught up in the PIT interview net...well, it’ll frankly be incredibly easy for your to ditch them and go about your way.

Everyone begins to break off, though not before Kairi-chan grabs your arm.

“So, before you dash out front,” Kairi offers, “I had a quick chat with Sasha over some rail shooter,”

“Oh,” you pause as Kairi-chan lets go of you and nods.

“Yeah, I didn’t let him know everything about what happened between you and Yoshi that you told me, but I caught him up on some history and…” she pauses and processes in her mind the shape of things that has grown beyond a triangle, “I told him I’m a corner in all of this too,”

She seems unsure of something, perhaps doubting her own actions.

“Just, I know today is going to be busy, but when you get the chance you should talk to him,” she explains through a sigh, “Maybe tomorrow?”

>You know, we should talk too
>Thank you for that, Kairi-chan
>You didn’t have to do that, Kairi-chan
>You shouldn’t have done that, Kairi-chan
>Write in

Parting from the back alley as quickly as you can, you round forward and press through the crowd on the sidewalk and on the street in front of the Crowne Arcade. It is fairly easy to find Yoshi among the rest of the weekend customer base, as he sits a bit off from the rest. You also catch sight of Yeon, still cream covered and a bit unsteady but still trying to organize people as sirens sound in the distance. The waitress who was transformed is propped up against the building wall, apparently drowsily conscious.

Approaching Yoshi, who strums on his acoustic guitar as he waits, you are given pause by the sound of his music. A hollow and mechanical tune by rote, drifting through it slowly as if done absentmindedly while he waits. Though he perks up upon notice of your approach.

“You’re okay,” he smiles and rises to meet you, setting the wooden piece down in its case.

“Of course I am,” you nod back, “Like you had any doubt,”

“Well, when the Senshi arrived so quickly I was a touch worried,” he says casting a glance to not quite so near assemblage.

Following his glance to the large displaced group of teenagers, you catch sight and sound of Sasha and his bike tearing away down the street. Off, as he said prior, to train with Boris for the tournament.

“That they were there looking for you before the monster showed,” he finishes once satisfied in your shared privacy.

File: Diana prep.jpg (13 KB, 250x188)

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>>657635

“Well don’t be so worried, I told you not to, and I think I told you to get out of there,” you hum to yourself as you reach over and brush some remaining flecks of chocolate off of his jacket.

“Yes, well,” he composes himself, “I wasn’t quite quick enough on that front...though they were there rather quickly, don’t you think?”

Before you can respond, an interrupting presence looms behind you. Despite her return to expected posture, she still manages to loom over your conversation on fast approach. Saori Umeki stands beside you and Yoshi. There is no stutter in her voice, perhaps from adrenalin or any other number of circumstances of the moment.

“Chiba-san, I need a word with you,” she says with a mildly disturbed look on her face that cracks through the facade of makeup and poise she wore earlier, “Like now…”

She pauses and snaps her fingers and points them like guns to Yoshi.

“Hey class rep,” she says snappily, “I just need to borrow her for a minute, then you can get back to your date,”

Perhaps this has to do with whatever she spoke to Sasha about…

“Your monster interrupted date,” she says again with an excited vigor.

>Umeki-san, not the best time (nice)
>Umeki-san, later (perturbed)
>Engage Princess no protocol
>Whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of Yoshi
>Yoshi, I’m sorry this will just take a minute
>Write in

The long wait for votes drains me.

Happy New year and I'm going to bunk down, leaving this open for late morning resume.

Thread Pause

>>657635
>>You know, we should talk too
>>Thank you for that, Kairi-chan

>Umeki-san, not the best time (nice)

>>657635
>You know, we should talk too
>Thank you for that, Kairi-chan
>>657640
>Umeki-san, not the best time (nice)

>>657206
>>657593
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2CE0DjDdVA

>>657342
>“And Sailor Moon…”
I knew she'd come up with something, though I'll likely be frightened by what track her train of logic took to arrive at the right station.

>>657635
>>Thank you for that, Kairi-chan
I, the player, would love to hear that conversation sometime. Mikage probably has a healthy dose of awkward embarrassment mixed in.

>>657640
>Write in
We need to get Saori out of here. Her being PIT interviewed just seems like chaos waiting to happen.
Actually, tell Yoshi that too, ask if he wants to sneak out together.

>>658076
She already pegged Eclipse for being the previous Sailor Moon who used to show up for trouble at her junior high, within minutes of being free from being her own monster.

Also, morning. Just waking up and getting my bearings.

Debating spinning back under the covers and being toasty warm as I drift back into dreams. Gonna be a but so vote still opened.

>>658085
I thought that was the Endymion outfit on that encounter?

>>658092
Good mornin'. Sorry for drifting off last night, but was for the best, had to get up early to cook something for work potluck later.

>>658097
It is worth noting that I am not surprised she made the connection, just enjoying that she often makes interesting leaps along the way. Like assuming Eclipse is crossdressing and connecting to those events, because she just assumes anyone in costume could be a crossdressing and ask if Sailor New Moon is our brother or something.

>>658097
Eclipse (and in one instance the Beast) has been seen in the company of one or more Knights who bear similar costume design to the Prince get up Saori saw.

Also she did bang her head and was reaching. Maybe I should have put a question mark instead. She's jumping to several of her own conclusions.

>>658133
I don't think she would ask about that.

After getting g pulled from the chocolate she may have dismissed that thought through independent observation.

File: conclusions.png (25 KB, 420x294)

25 KB PNG

>>658134
She seems to do her reaching with great confidence, the Saori has no need for question marks when presenting her theories.

Writing.

File: meable.jpg (62 KB, 500x238)

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“Just, I know today is going to be busy, but when you get the chance you should talk to him,” Kairi-chan explains through a sigh, “Maybe tomorrow?”

“You know, we should probably talk too,” you offer with a slight edge of guilt to your voice.

“Yeah, but it would probably get a bit awkward,” she laughs a bit and then steadies herself, “Though, I would appreciate that...but later,”

She make a vague shooing motion as the two of you disengage from conversation.

“Yeah, I’m going,” you nod, “Will I see you at Infinity Academy?”

“Well, you’ll need someone to help keep you steady after, and I’m not doing anything else so yeah,” she crosses her arms and shakes her head, “Watching out for you can be a full time job, you know,”

“Well, never let it be said I don’t appreciate it,” you nod and start to skip away before pausing and turning back to face her, “Thank you for that, Kairi-chan, for talking to Sasha for me,”

“You’re welcome,” she nods firmly before sprinting off herself, “Alright, I’m getting out of here before my mom shows up,”

-

“Umeki-san,” you say with a wide eyed and communicative expression as your turn to face the girl, “Now is not the best time,”

“It’s really important, though,” she whines a bit and rights her unnatural posture to stand tall, “I was just talking to this guy Sasha, and was a bit surprised to learn he’s friends with you and-”

“Umeki-san,” Yoshi sighs and regards her with the usual cool and clinical composure he carries as Class Representative, “This was a private conversation, and of a context the both of us consider paramount,”

“Please,” you ask her, “We can talk later, I’ll text you when I’m free later tonight,”

She regards the two of you carefully and then nods firmly.

“Alright, but we can’t talk about his over text...so we’re meeting up wherever,” she declares, “This is too sensitive to leave a digital trail...oh no!”

“What?” you wonder out of morbid curiosity as again the illusion of her makeup cracks.

“PIT is coming and they’re gonna want to interview people. They’ll figure out I’m onto stuff, big stuff and want to question m-me!” she collapses down into a squat as her knees crash into her chest and her head hands between them, “Yeah, alright. L-l-later is good, I gotta get out of here,”

And with that she rises up and dashes off leaving you again alone with Yoshi.

>That girl is going to be the death of me
>How...how does she keep stumbling on all of this
>Yoshi, we should probably walk and talk while we’re at it
>Say nothing and stare at the undignified flight until she’s gone
>Write in

&

>What, if anything, do you want to respond to Yoshi’s concerns about the Senshi being there so quickly with? Feel free to discuss this a bit before casting votes.

Resume post 30 minute window from first cast vote

Bueller?

>>658308
>>That girl is going to be the death of me
>Yoshi, we should probably walk and talk while we’re at it

>>658369
What he said.

Alright, I begin writing.

Anymore traction on what to talk to Yoshi about?

>>658418
Probably about what we were talking about before the fight started.

Also, and this is just me, we should ask him to come over to our house soon (Keep it down over there, Venus) so we can give him the full story about what happened to Mikage.

“That girl,” you grumble toward her retreating and then out of sight form, “Is going to be the death of me,”

“Well, Umeki-san can be difficult. Though don’t be too discouraged,” Yoshi thinks aloud, “I think it’s good you’re making new friends after everything that’s happened. Good for both of you,”

“No, I’m serious,” you huff, “It won’t be monsters, the senshi, or anything else that does me in. The deeper she digs the more likely she’s eventually gonna give me a heart attack or something. We should probably walk and talk, I’d rather not be interviewed by PIT,”

He surveys the assembled crowd as the ambulance sirens grow closer. Nodding firmly he starts down the street back toward the residential parts of Juuban.

“Hold on,” you offer and turn at the next corner, “I’m going to need to catch a train,”

“Oh, not heading home?”

“Not yet, I have some things to take care of after we part ways and before I have to deal with Umeki-san again,” you explain as the two of you fall in step beside one another.

“Then I’ll see you too the station,” he nods, “Should we reschedule getting ice cream or find a new place to go on the way?”

“Lets see what we pass by,” you shrug, “Though after all of that I don’t quite think I’m in the mood for anymore ice cream for a bit,”

You stop short, and laugh to yourself a bit. A glance at Yoshi reveals he isn’t quite as amused.

“What’s wrong?” you ask and spin in turn to face him.

“It’s just, I know you told me not to be worried, but I still am,” he sighs, “I believe in you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t feel this way when things happen,”

“Yoshi, I can take care of myself,” you say sternly.

“And I know that, I’ve seen what you can do...and I thought I might see more of that today,” he sighs, “but when the Senshi and Eclipse showed up, I don’t know. I felt safer but also afraid. I know they’re after you and I imagine if they’d been a moment later...if you’d intervened, they would have had you surrounded,”

Maybe you aren’t the only one to be weighed down by your own secrets, even if he doesn’t know. Everyone on the nearby streets going about their own business has gone toward the previous sounds of chaos from the Arcade to investigate or satiate their curiosities. The two of you are as alone as you could be in the middle of the city and on the street.

>>658506

>Please, just keep trusting me right now. I need you to do that and I know what I’m doing
>Yoshi, we need to have a longer talk about this. Tonight or soon, just us, my place
>Yoshi, please just stop. This is hard enough, don’t make this harder for me to do now
>Yoshi, are you afraid of me or for me?
>Ask if the two of you can change the subject for right now, to what?
>Yoshi...the reason you don’t need to worry about any of this is because I’m...who do you tell him you are?
>Write in

&

>Keep walking with Yoshi toward the train station
>>some distance between
>>Close
>>Grab his arm
>>Hold his hand
>Part ways after this next exchange
>Stop with Yoshi for a small snack on the way since your sweets were lost
>Write in

>>658514
>Yoshi, we need to have a longer talk about this. Tonight or soon, just us, my place
>Keep walking with Yoshi toward the train station
>Close

Okay, writing.

>>658514
WAIT

>>Hold his hand

For the love of god ART I was at woooooork

>>658600
Don't worry, Close is still a part of the slow boil of that kind of track. You aren't forcing him at a distance.

“Yoshi,” you say and face him head on, “we need to have a longer talk about this. Tonight or soon, just us, my place,”

That assertion, at least in the serious tone with which you make it, catches him off guard. You aren’t sure if it’s how forwardly you invited him to the house or that you don’t want to talk about this anywhere but where you think you’ll feel safest.

“I...sure, that works,” he adjusts himself and his collar.

“Good, I can’t do this out here. In the open,” you sigh, “It’s just...there’s so much I want to tell you and I’m not sure if I can even talk about it...with you,”

“Mikage,”

“I...I’m worried about what you’ll think of me, so just table it for now,” you turn back down the way you wanted to go, “So, right now lets just go...okay?”

“Yeah,” he nods and follows after with a moment of trepidation as you slow your steps until he catches up to you.

Once beside you, you sidle over a bit more. Not quite leaning into him, but close enough. Though you don’t take his arm or his hand, there is a message in your body language that you want to be close to him, and he stays his course beside you as you make your way slowly to the train station a few blocks away in a companionable or awkward quiet. Not entirely sure which you let it go.

What you do know is that it is a comfort to stand this close. Is it because of him or just the chance to feel close to people?

Soon, you come to the station.

“Alright, this is me,” you say firmly and break off from him and start up the stairs.

“Well, give me a call when you know what’s going on,” he nods while looking up at you, concern still plain on his face.

It isn’t awkward or embarrassed. It's a certainty of his uncertainty of things; because anyone who didn’t know would be worried. Though you wonder if knowing might make things more worrisome.

Second guessing yourself and worrying about all of this might be bad for you have to do next.

And after you spare one last glance down at Yoshi, adjusting the strap across his chest of his guitar case over his jacket, you need to figure out how you’re really getting to Infinity Academy.

>You are taking the train
>Roof hop to blow off some steam
>write in

>>658625
>You are taking the train

>>658625
>>You are taking the train

Writing,

Boarding the train, swiping your pass card, you find yourself in a mostly empty car for the early afternoon train toward the Academy complex. It won’t be too long a ride, and you could have used a roof hopping run to burn off steam, it’s better to be still right now.

Right now it might be good to think. You need time to think. It was freeing coming clean to the others about your activities as Eclipse. This matter made you feel, you think, closer to the little sister you wanted to protect and showed you that maybe she isn’t as helpless as one would think at first glance.

Taking a deep breath, you sit down firmly in the car and lean toward your knees.

Why does it feel like you’re running ragged from yourself? That the only person who you’re running out of excuses for is you.

Glancing up, you see a phantom in the window’s reflection. Invisible to everyone but you, white hair and cape blowing in the imagined speed of the city behind him. Kunzite of the Shintennou.

“It is the weight of responsibility, Princess,” he begins before turning into the wind, to face it, “set on the scale against the uncertain weight of your own heart,”

“Not sure that’s helpful advice, Kunzite,” you say quietly as you rise up and flatten your back against the seat.

He nods, gray uniform and armament still a flutter imagined from the train’s speed.

“Well, perhaps it is more to establish perspective,” he smiles to the city passing below and lays a gloved hand against the glass from his ethereal side, “May I tell you a story?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” you sigh and give the phantom your full attention.

“It is something you might find perhaps familiar,” there is a wistful tone to words, “for it is about the compared weight of the heart against responsibility...and an unforeseen variable in that attempted measure,”

You sit quietly, and wonder what Kunzite wish to tell you about. Though it becomes plain and clear when he begins.

“One day, in the forests surrounding the castle, long ago within our Kingdom of Elysion, I found the prince in possession of an unfamiliar bauble after I had been unable to find him for some time,” Kunzite explains as his form disappears from the window and warps into a shadowplay of silhouettes for you, “A star shaped Orgel, a music box playing a tune that seemed to have him entranced,”

The silhouette of your father, both younger and in a lifetime you have never truly known him in, snaps the music box shut at the approach of the other. Turning to face him beneath the turning sky of sun and clouds with the moon high above as it sometimes appears during the day.

“Where have you been, my Prince,” Kunzite asks.

“Walking the Palace Grounds,” he offers quickly and with little retreat, “I felt like being alone for a time,”

>>658782

“Well if that is so, let us know next time. I’ve had the others searching for you high and low. The king and queen wouldn’t be pleased to know we had lost track of you,” Kunzite laughs, “We’ll keep a safe distance nearby unless you call upon us,”

“Certainly, Kunzite,” your father sighs in weariness and clasps the silhouette's forearm as a brother in arms.

“These were the beginnings of mistrust, the seeds watered by Metallia’s distrust as spread through Beryl among us,” Kunzite says sadly, “I loved your father as a friend, a comrade, my prince, and as a brother. I would observe and make incorrect assumptions through my infected presumptions about what was happening between his majesty and your mother,”

The silhouettes shift to another scene, of your father and what you can assume to be your mother meeting in clandestine fashion as Kunzite watches on in secret.

“Whether he was off to see her or she walked upon the earth, by the time we knew the truth...and not from his lips, terrible things would come to pass,” the explanation goes as Kunzite resumes his place within the window, “Whether there is a crown or merely the responsibilities of this earth in the future you chose, Princess, you cannot discount such measure against the wellbeing of your heart, and being able to trust others,”

As he speaks, you hand clasps upon your white locket. Your train comes to another stop, the towers of the Infinity Academy visible behind the specter you yet shelter. He vanishes, perhaps back into yourself as you rise to leave the train somberly.

You understand what Kunzite was trying to say to you, though perhaps not his delivery therein.

Moving through the sparsely populated campus, considering it’s a Sunday, you head for the elevator to Tomoe-Sensei’s private laboratory complex below. After a short ride the door opens to a conversation in progress.

“-again, Kilogram-grams is an inappropriate measure of mass when recording this project data,” Tomoe-sensei says to the white haired man beside her as the doors open before you, “Ah, Mikage, we’ve been waiting for you,”

“No sense of humor,” the elder Professor Tomoe sighs to himself over crossed arms, “Hey there kid, so when measuring the body for mass changes from purification, I wanted to jot my notes down in Kilogram-grams, how does that sound to you?”

“...because she may as well be my grandmother?” you question the spry though older man.

“Exactly!” he snaps his finger and turns to his own daughter, “See Hotaru-chan, she gets it!”

“Dad, lets not do this right now,” she groans a bit though a dropping expression, “Come along then, everything is set up,”

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>>658789

Following the two scientists, you watch as the Professor breaks off at your Sensei’s office/which appears to have been modified into some kind of control room. Inside you catch a glimpse of Kairi-chan, Kanari, Venus, Aiha, and Rin looking down into the larger lab room through the wide glass window.

Your teacher, Tomoe-Sensei, runs a hand through her bob of black hair while her purple eyes light up once away from the immediate purview of her father. Beyond being a respected scientist and educator, the woman leading you through this secret complex was the messiah of silence. The weapon of last resort against the darkness beyond the stars, Sailor Saturn.

When you were younger, she tutored you in the arts of magic and combat. Partnering with you and guiding you with stern and often presented disapproval to your growth when you were Sailor Moon. More than that she was and is one of your big sister’s lovers. You used to think she was always belittling you in comparison to her, but now you know differently and the long standing gap between the two of you has mended.

Her father was for a long time, as you are told, possessed by a villainous alien. That he is young despite his age because of it, and takes to good humor and cheer readily and with little prompt. Honestly if you weren’t so preoccupied you would have found his little Kilogram-gram bit quite funny. Though perhaps that is because you aren’t near such behavior nearly as frequently as Tomoe-sensei is.

“Koyomi is already in the lab,” she explains, “She wanted to get a clear look at Kalyke before things got started. How do you want to proceed with the double purification?”

>I just want to use my contact spell of purification
>It might be most effective for me to bite her while Koyomi uses her spell
>I want to try and use the Golden Crystal while Koyomi uses her Silver
>I think we should start off with Koyomi’s power and then try together
>I think we should start off with my power and then try together
>>Before we do this I want to use my fangs to drain a little bit, to gather information
>Write in

>>658793
>>I want to try and use the Golden Crystal while Koyomi uses her Silver

>>658793
>I want to try and use the Golden Crystal while Koyomi uses her Silver

Writing. Momentarily

“I want to try to use the Golden Crystal while Koyomi uses her Silver,” you say firmly and grab at the white locket, opening it to reveal the still unfinished but mostly healed crystal.

There is a gleam from it, a soft aura and glow as if it senses your intentions.

“I thought you might want to try something like that,” she nods firmly as she leads you down a short half flight of stairs, “Are you sure its ready,”

“Its whole, and I think the last remnants of the fissures are superficial at this point,” you say calmly thinking back to the remaining fragments of yourself that still need a soft resolution, “And maybe I need to think about not putting off using this crystal while we face this new Chaos,”

All the work into this that you’ve put in. All the thoughts you’ve had running to and fro. All the times you’ve denied this as who you are, who you were, and who you might yet be. The weight of responsibility, destiny, trust, love, and free will. What is the balance and who are you? Who do you want to be.

You are not a killer, you as Sailor Moon was not a killer. You’ve healed enemies again since then, and maybe will again. Maybe you could be who you were again but on your terms.

“Does this mean before we start you’re going to try to use it to…transform?” she asks with hesitation as the two of you come to a stop before the clear airlock bulkhead before the lab.

Even here you can see things have been rearranged. All of Sensei’s other experiments must have been moved as the only thing in the large space to your sight is the stasis tank. Before it stands your sister, looking up into the blank face of Queen Kalyke. Even here you can see Koyomi’s reflection in the curve of the glass.

This haunts her, seeing someone who looks so much like the two of you like this. A trepidation and fear that she stands resolute in the face of; something you have refused to entertain in a few situations as Tomoe-Sensei’s query echoes between your ears.

>No, Don’t even suggest that!
>I can’t, not yet...baby steps…
>I don’t want to, at least not into a Sailor Guardian
>That isn’t my intention.
>I...want to try...
>Write in

>>658906
>I can’t, not yet...baby steps…

>>658906
>>I can’t, not yet...baby steps…

>>658906
>I...want to try...

>>658906
>>I can’t, not yet...baby steps…

We're getting there

Been writing, first attempt to post that didn't go through.

“I can’t,” you offer her firmly as she swipes and access card into the airlock and opens the way for both of you, “at least not yet...baby steps…”

For a moment you think you might entertaining the idea of trying, but not yet. You aren’t ready yet.The door closes behind the two of your as you step through, there is a breeze within the small room, as air is cycled out with something far more sterile smelling but not stale. As the next door decompresses, she presses her own query.

“So you’ve thought about it?” she asks, perhaps a bit carefully.

“No, I’m thinking about it now,” you sigh and look down at the locket, clearly a transformation broach, “I’m thinking about who I am and what that means to me,”

She nods as your little sister turns to see the both of you, alerted to your arrival by the swishing of the door. Glancing up, you see the assembled girls and Professor Tomoe looking down into the lab. He picks up a square intercom microphone.

“I have an emergency blast set to open this window if Senshi here need to respond to back the three of you up,” he explains as all the girls brandish their transformation wands, “As a precaution,”

He obviously thinks with Hotaru down here with the two of you, there will be little contest if anything does go wrong. You are inclined to agree...but every bit helps. Kairi-chan is already clad in her regalia as Nephrite Knight, though unmasked, blade in hand.

“Mikage-nee!” Koyomi chirps, “Tomoe-san! I’m ready whenever you two are!”

“Certainly,” Tomoe-sensei looks down to you, and you nod firmly.

“We’re doing this together, Koyomi. Gold and Silver Crystals as one,” you open the locket and pull the artifact out with your bare hand, letting its weight settle in your hand before you again close the locket.

She looks at the jewel in your hand and nods firmly. Swiping a hand wide and then reaching for the sky she activates her own power.

“Moon Crystal Power, MAKE UP!” and she is bathed in scintillating rainbow of colors and ribbons before standing before you as the Sailor Guardian of Love and Justice, Sailor New Moon.

Taking the silver crystal from her moon wand, she holds it in her glove clad hand and smiles. Both of you turn to face the the suspension tank as an eerie quiet falls over the mechanical and electronic sounds of the laboratory space. Glancing over your shoulder you see Tomoe-Sensei already clad in white and purple of her own guardianship, Silence Glaive in hand.

“Ready,” your little sister asks as you careful regard the suspension tank as it tilts back at a 45 degree angle and the fluids within begin to drain.

>>659036

“Ready,” you nod in response, when the fluid is gone, the clear tube splits open from the center and middle, offering now barrier between you and the reconstituted form of Queen Kalyke. Unmoving eyes watch you, red as your own, as mist and steam rise from around her within the space.

You aren’t sure who reached out first, but your hand finds Koyomi’s. A steadying breath flows through you.

“Moon,” she calls out and brandishes her crystal, as it twists into an opening flower bud of clear glass facets.

You bring your own stone forward, its own aura glowing with your intent as the two of you close in toward the otherwise inert form. In these quick steps you see the distortions of the silence barrier containing the three of you.

“Healing,” with a flourish of the stone that you mimic by rote.

There is a sudden pressure. Here in this confined fold of space you can feel the overwhelming presence of darkness within this body, it convulses. Eyes still empty it twitches and tenses as it tries to breath on its own for the first time in incalculable history.

Koyomi’s stone shines, and she grits her teeth.

“ESCALATION!” and the spell activates, and you feel her pour as much magical energy as she can manage forward and into the stone, and then begins eroding at her own vitality and strength of mind to further fuel the spell beyond anything she has ever attempted before.

You don’t know if there is any specific spell tied to your stone, so you channel your own magic into it. Earlier today your expenditure was minimal, so you are flush with power...but if you follow suite as Koyomi has you are sure to be successful no matter the risk.

Your Available MP is 41
>Bid 1/4
>Bid 1/2
>Bid all
Your Available Vitality is 90
>Bid none
>Bid some
>Bid half
>Bid all
Your Available Emotional Wall is 97
>Bid none
>Bid some
>Bid half
>Bid all
Your Available Wounds are 0/15
>Bid none
>Bid some
>Bid half
>Bid all
Your Available Stress is 2/16
>Bid none
>Bid some
>Bid half
>Bid all

>>659039
>>Bid all
>Bid half
>Bid none
>Bid none
>Bid some

Just letting you all know that this will be a half hour voting window.

>>659039
>Bid all
>Bid half
>Bid none
>Bid some
>Bid none

>>659039
>Bid all
>Bid half
>Bid half
>Bid some
>Bid none
Go big or go home time guys. Holding back to much is just asking for this to blow up in our faces

>>659039
Let it be known that I have no idea what I'm doing
>bid all
>bid all
>bid none
>bid all
>bid all

Extending Vote, because we have two with one point of contention.

I know some of you folk might be out there having dinner or lurking, and I have some time to go grab some grub myself then while this remains open.

I see we have two eleventh hour votes before I extended things, seconds before.

Not counting until I get back from fooding.

So, discuss in my absence and those of you on the fringes are welcome to throw in.

Alright a delightful meal had, and now to count things up.

How has everyone been today?

Good news I hope?

All MP (41)
Half Vitality (45)
No Emotional Wall (0)
Some Wounds (4)
No Stress (0)

Thats 90 points bid.

Plus Koyomi's cumulative 91, that's 182 points spent between you.

Writing

>>659323
I mean 181 spent. I am bad at math for some reason.

>>659297
Busy day. Thing seem to be going interestingly. I may have missed but hope we went in with the princely outfit. Seemed good before for meeting her.

Entirely depleting your magical reserves, you delve deeper. Feeling the grip of fatigue strike you as your well of magic runs dry, you bid half of your potential for action. If things turn badly, you need to be on your feet.

The still fissure carved orb in your hand pulses and folds out, matching the flower of facets in your sister’s hand. Her other tightens on your own, and you offer a reassuring squeeze as you push things just a bit further for yourself. Closing your hand around the gilded flower in your hand, you cut yourself along its edge.

Your magic from the crystal and your sister’s mingle ahead as the rejuvenated corpse continues to shudder and move. A fell aura envelops her as the combined magics surge forward. A shell as brilliant and intermingling silver and golden light breaks into spiraling ribbons that are guided by unseen forces in every direction.

Wrapping around the black aura, bouncing off the outer borders of the barrier that the two of you stand in and fall back upon the shell ahead. The body of Kalyke writhes within, as the aura begins breaking and wisps of darkness begin slipping through the constricting ribbons of silver and gold.

Handprints slam against the collapsing magic, fingers slip through their gaps as an unweildy and bellowing cry echoes in the confined space, battering you and Koyomi and rippling the edge of Tomoe-Sensei’s silence barrier.

It hits both of you roughly, tattering your clothing and peeling back portions of your little sister’s regalia as a Sailor Guardian. Turning into the force, you press further with the crystals and bands and ribbons of light engulf you and your sister. By the light of the crystals intermingled you see through it as the shell aura shatters beneath constricting bands.

The form of Queen Kalyke goes rigid beneath the bands of intermingling light. Her cry of involuntary pain as her shape and structure beneath the entrapment of magic convulses and warps in unnatural ways.

As the light refocuses upon her, blinding her changing shape from you, your own appearance and that of your sister becomes clear. Clad in white and pink gowns for but a moment the power pours out of both of you as darkness spews out of blinding point of light and burns up before it reaches you.

The scream ahead of you is continuous, as the cocoon of ribbons falls tightly to the ground instead of being upright and something else surges out of the point of light ahead. Jagged and enormous, a misshapen skeleton falls toward you, shattering to dust and nothingness.

>>659653


There is so much power here that the world goes white again. You are alone with your sister, hands still clasped. Koyomi’s knees give way as she starts to fall to the floor, having exhausted herself by this expenditure of power. Moving with her to brace her fall, you realize you are both practically on top of the scintillating cocoon of energy left in the wake of your power.

It pops in a scintillating burst of bubbles and sparkles as the room returns to sight around you. At some point the power must have died out and the Silence Barrier collapsed, because the room is dark save for blinking red emergency lights aside from your own glowing gowned auras.

Where the cocoon once was sits a small sleeping form, perhaps a toddler in size with pale porcelain skin and dark hair. A child, a girl. Smaller than even Little Diana was last time you saw her in humanoid form.

“Awww,” Koyomi says woozily as the gown fades to her normal clothes, and your own fades to your own, “Where’d she come from,”

“I think this is,” you breathe heavily, “Our clone grandmother,”

“Oh?” Koyomi wonders as she begins to tip forward and let her eyes slide close with exhaustion, “Well baby grandma has the right idea,”

You kneel there, as Koyomi begins snoring loudly alongside the drooling child. The lights of the room snap back as Tomoe-Sensei is beside you.

“Are the two of you alright?” she queries and glances down at the child.

“Huh, I suppose my father's hypothesis was right,” she reasons as she places a steadying hand on your shoulder, “Removing the corruption from the skeleton caused a loss of mass,”

“Can, can we discuss the science of this later,” you groan, not quite as tired as Koyomi.

Eclipsed Moon Episode 137
End

Interlude Inbound.

>>659663
So we just accidentally'd a little sister eh, cute

>>659663
I hope the loss of mass includes other foreign elements that had been installed in the fossil skeleton.

>>659690
Our family tree is going to be so bizarre and multidimensional it'll dive people who look at it mad at this rate.

Interlude: Somebody’s Eyes

The screen sits before you as fuzzy and otherwise useless static. Connection lost to the nanomachines within the subject. Something must have happened when you weren’t paying attention. You’d been recording the entire feed from the eyes of the clone since it was found and moved to the lab belonging to Hotaru Tomoe.

You’ve gathered such information from those eyes. Such that you must know how they discovered those devices. They have granted you exceeding intel to keep ahead of one of the two groups you know your existence is now caught between.

You watch in interest as you roll the feed back until it returns to visual data. With no audio you watch curiously and roll back a bit further.

As you witness these things your lips curl.

The daughters of Mamoru Chiba. In possession of both the Gold and Silver crystals. The younger is Sailor Moon, and the light they wield against the would be host is blinding even through this screen.

Your azure brow creases in thought. As far as finishing data, this is interesting. This is good.

“With this, Borealis, your star is sure to rise,” you chuckle to yourself and crack your knuckles.

You will not merely have freedom from the ties that now bind you, you will have dominion.

Interlude End

>>659773
Yes. The feed of data is broken and foreign elements have been purged. Though the last thing those unblinking eyes saw is...telling.

>>659786
Still simpler than the Summers family tree.

>>659790
Darn lack of suiting up. Did we learn nothing from Barney?

>>659790
Someone was watching with NANO MACHINES SON, not sure if we could've prevented it.

Eh

>>659794
It's only simpler because they have a head start.

>>659790
Uh, goodnight Art, thanks for running

>>660172
That's an awesome title card

>>660191
I have been tinkering with new ones.

>>660198
I'm probably alone in this, but I love Mikage's outrageously long hair.

I don't even remember if we've cut it or not

>>660210
>>660210
As yet you have not, in my head she's been alternating between the loops you guys chose a while back and larger conical buns.

>>660221
Hey Artemis, what's the date in-universe?

>>660279
Hell if I can remember at the moment.
Like, some time around 2013.

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Full day today. Full of cooking, then working, then bottling and sampling. Missed a bunch of stuff though. Much sad.

>>659663
>>659690
Well, we know with Usa they have means to insert people into society.
Wait.
Are we the only qualified babysitter in the group? Oh dear.

Also this scene is really cool.

>>659831
It is a nice suit. This is among the sads, but most things went nicely.

>>659773
>>659790
Well fudge.

>>660172
Cool.

>>660221
>>660210
Groovy, enjoying those looks.


And it seems the sampling while bottling is affecting me, fell asleep while typing this.

So uh, thread's obviously done for tonight, but any more tomorrow or whenever?

>>660380
Nay, I am back to work. But I'll be around to chat and what not and if I have some downtime maybe an interlude.

>>660398
coolio

>>659786
That's part of the price of effectively being lovecraftian Elder Gods, I'm afraid

>>659039
Wish I hadn't missed this one either. Looks like it worked out, but dumping some of our Divine Source mojo in too would have been cool. Regenerate, Heal, and Breath of Life would have been an awesome admixture.

>>659794
>>659931
Borealis would need to go full Sinister before we'd risk becoming quite as problematic. With the powers involved I wonder if she'll count as a reincarnation/rebirth rather than a clone.

>>660366
>Are we the only qualified babysitter in the group? Oh dear.
well, there's dad, i guess.

So, I'm open to listening some ideas to build the option lists for your looming conversations with Saori and Yoshi?

>>661617
I'd like to ask Saori if she's ever heard of Occam's razor, because you wouldn't know from her theories.

As for Yoshi, I think we should ask him first if he really wants to follow us all the way down the rabbit hole. You can't put the cat back in the bag once it's out after all.

>>661617
Saori and yoshi need a similar conversation about danger

>>661978
Aren't we looking to recruit Saori though?

>>661617
If she is as close to the mark as I suspect she is, it is time to go ahead and recruit her for the Royal Guard. While she's a bit odd, she has excellent investigative instincts for our kind of life.
Kind of a shame we could go full Knight with her, but Koito getting the first shot was a fair choice.

And if we're talking to her, we have even less excuse to not open up to him.
Though >>661740 has a good point about asking first.

It might not come up in the conversation, but I’m thinking that Yoshi would make a better Knight. All of our Knights so far have a personal reason for fighting: Kairi wants to help us, Midori wants to help Keiko, and Koito wants to help his sister.

As for Saori, she’s definitely on team Eclipse, but I think Spy, rather then Knight is the right path for her.

Notation: Saori Umeki was compatible with Zoisite, and is out of knighthood running because you chose Koito Kino. The possibilities for Kunzite are Yoshi Sakurada and Hisako Ito. Sasha was in the running as compatible with Kunzite but his plot advanced past the point he would have still accepted.

Additional Notation now that I'm home from work and errands: Holy shit I forgot to work on the character list & descriptions in the pastebin for weeks.

>>662735
Forgot my trip, but its cool because I'm on my usual IP.

>>662300
Saori for the Royal Guard, which beyond the knights also includes Sasha. People not (yet) superpowered or given a boost by being bound to one of the Generals. And yeah, spy and investigator with some more formal training and teaching to help her out.

>>662378
Besides swaying him with words instead of respecting his wishes, was there a point he would have considered it more?

>>662735
Yeah, Mikage is still missing 7th level Divine Source and Daybreak Arrows last I looked.

>>662754
A good idea.

Yes.

...also yes...

Okay, a moment of real talk inspired by the latest exchange.

As the game has progressed I realize that I've not been able to keep a lot of the mechanics in my head. If we move up to R after this seasons finishes and we have a break I would consider revising things to use softer mechanics.

>>662378
Ah, I forgot that.

Well, either way, I can see Yoshi hearing our story, and asking us if there’s something he can do to help.
At which point the question is, how much help would he like to give?

>>662946
Wait, wouldn't Yoshi's gimmick as a knight be Guitar stuff?

Because sound magic and sword skills sounds rad as hell

>>662946
>>662983
Considering that he has unlocked a power independent of lended power from one of the Generals, maybe recruitment to the Guard to have our teams help him develop that power would be a good path.
It occurs to me now that our first big project should be uniforms/regalia for the members of our team that do not yet have identity concealing gear.
Maybe something in the vein of the classic Shitennou/Royal Guard uniform for them as a simple start, then customize and modify over time.
Basic features for summoning, identity concealment, and better protection than regular clothes.

>>663202
I think he'd do better with a knight, there's nothing excluding him using his personal power. Or developing it further

Yes. Excellent. Discuss the pros and cons of things based on observed interactions and abilities.

Discussion of aesthetics is also encouraged as I continue to work and preparation for the approaching tone shift and make notes for EMQ: R.

>>663458
Wait you're doing a redux?

Also

Tone shift?

>>663710
R like Sailor Moon R. A second season with different overarc villain.

Tone shift as in...what happens in the last arcs of the various seasons of the first anime.

>>663710
Though dear lord...could you imagine me trying to do this quest over from square one with a slightly more concise opening thread and with a few factors/assumptions changed?

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>>663777
>>663766
How did I miss the needed reply link? HOW!

>>663777
I can't I like this one too much.

Also, Yoshi as a guitar knight? is it possible?

>>663798
>>663777
And now I'm thinking of how I'd Redux it...I'd gain and lose some cast for certain. Change the trauma of why Mikage quit/what she fought as Sailor Moon and probably change the over arcing enemy while also switching the protagonist pants to Koyomi.

And use a system with fewer fiddly bits for certain.

>>663830
>switching to koyomi

Nah senpai, nah

>>663798
He has Bardic/Harbinger music. He could be a Guitar wielding Knight (as live action Kunzite was a musician before he was awoken) or he could be a Guitar wielding Royal Guard. Or just attempt to wield his guitar as neither.

The looming few episode arc saving Hanako is going to deal with Hisako Ito and probably give her a bit of development and appeal as a person and option for Kunzite as well.

Though between them, its ultimately up to you guys.

>>663843
When I was figuring out initial stats and adaptable rules I wrote her up first on my phone during a bored train ride home back when I was still in PA. It was a decision a few days later to make Mikage the focus.

>>663879
Does that tone shift mean we're approaching the Season Finale, because I haven't been getting that feeling at all so far.

>>663919
Well, I want to say we are past the half way point but not in the final third of this just yet.

>>663919
I like Hisako as a character so far, but Mikage still has to get a feel for what sort of person she is.

I think going with Mikage as our primary viewpoint was a good choice. Gave us a number of unique options and choices that made the quest stand out from the pack.

>>663919
>>663970
As I was saying to someone at the end of one of the threads, I feel like the arcade meeting was like when a show comes back from a mid-season break after seeing closure on some things and opening up new ones. We've got a firmer idea of who the opponents are and a firmer idea of who we are, while opening up new frontiers of interaction with the senshi.

And with unstable player decision making, we could stumble into a major confrontation or avoid things to dangerous degree.
I feel like we, and our opponents, are treading on R's toes already in our dealings with the alternate Black Moon Clan. I have this vague paranoia that the next major villain could swing through while the previous ones are still in play.

>>664063

I agree with you on Hisako and our need to find out more about her. I hope she remains a character even if we don't pick her.

I agree wholeheartedly on Mikage being the best choice for protagonist, and your reasons why.

Yeah, I can see how you got that feeling.

Maybe Borealis might become the next big bad? It is hard to say this kind of stuff definitively with it being a quest though. I'm impressed with Artemis for pulling it off so well.

I don't know about that being R specifically. It seems like we're picking up a lot of dangling threads from the original series, and it's just that the lions share of them come from R.

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>>664207
Oh yeah, Borealis is definitely geared up to cause everyone grief. Though I appreciate that Hiddenite is not blind to that possibility.

The boogeyman I keep shadowrunning after is worrying about this timeline's would-have-been Death Phantom. A person that in another life would take the time to bring death and murder to a relatively deathless kingdom trying to be a utopia for the survivors of humanity, be banished for it and become even more dangerous. For awhile I thought Ellis could be him, but that seems less likely at this point, though we still don't know much about him. With the reveal of the dreams being had by Malefic Black and Hanako, my concern has intensified, but nothing point to yet.

Huh. Just had a new theory/concern occur to me. I wonder if Ellis, Hiddenite, the crystallized boy, or anyone else from our current rogues gallery survived in the Crystal Tokyo timeline. I could see them being problematic with right twist on things.

And now the further thought of wondering if Nemesis is the full-grown result of the dark crystal growth on the boy, pulled from the Earth when Galaxia scoured the world.

>>664419
>>664419
There are any number of possible theories that fit. We've got most of the pieces I think, but no idea how they fit together.

>>664419
Death Phantom is making no appearances, at least in any recognizable or combative fashion, in EMQ series 1.

I may have time to do an interlude tomorrow...but which one?

>Papillon Triumphant
>Not Fitting In
>Strumming Thoughts
>Den or Hoard, Territorial

>>664808
>>Papillon Triumphant

>>664766
So we should expect him in series 2 or later, and he might be someone we already know. got it.

>>664808
Ok, so let's analyze these. The first I'm guessing is the person Galaxia sent (which thread was that anyway?) The second...maybe Gai's siblings? The third; Yoshi? His bandmates? Malefic Black? Probably Yoshi though. The fourth one is probably Flowers. I'm going with Flowers.

>>Den or Hoard, Territorial

>>664808
>Strumming Thoughts

>>664766
Aw come on, don't spoil my paranoid delusions.

>>664808
>>Not Fitting In

>>665006
Wondering if fourth is Saori, though she is getting closer to fitting in. Gai or his siblings could be nice too.

>>665567
Curse you...Cabal.

>>665537
Sorry, I'll provide opportunity for more paranoid delusions as recompense.

>>665771
It's those hard choices, Arty. Were you still looking for a tie breaker?

>>666371
Not writing until I have a clear direction.

>>664808
>>Den or Hoard, Territorial

Well. When I get done at Adventurers League I will be writing.

>>666552
Then I will refrain from voting and tying things up again.

Home. Writing. Probably posting late morning or afternoon.

Had a great night. Manipulated a corrupt guard captain and helped felled giants.

>>667459
My mind amuses at the possibilities. Sounds fun!

>>667530
Well, now that we're past the bump limit, it will probably be the last of this thread's surprises.

>>667459
What timezone are you in?

Interlude: Den or Hoard, territorial.

Your next piece is over budget. Its for a student gallery and a grade you’ve been working on all semester, due in a few weeks, and in one day you blew the rest of your fucking budget. Groaning as you walk the steps to your apartment slowly, you look down at the mangled belt you decided to bring home as a reminder.

Smoothing the welds and flat surfaces of your sculpture. Machining in a shine, your finishing touches. Except you’ve been so unfocused since Friday that you almost broke the belt grinder and lost too many belts.

“That was supposed to be a last hurrah,” you groan as you come to a pause on the landing of your floor and trudge down the balcony hall toward you apartment.

Reflecting on the strangeness of your experiences both at the Friday night show and the Saturday night show you attended, it frustrates you. Your fight with the Red Eyed Beast was...decisive. More than that, she really was some kind of monster with the moves she pulled and you still thought she was holding back. Meanwhile you poured everything into it, expecting to feel like a force of nature one last time…

Only you weren’t. Not anymore. Sure you were alive in that fight, but it gave you a taste of something more. Something else.

Your name is Hisako Ito, when you were a bit younger and more reckless people called you the Winter Wolf. A juvenile delinquent of real martial process and a hunger for challenges.

Now you’re just a college student who has almost ruined her big project because she couldn’t focus. A hesitance to try to express herself on the canvas of metal she had been laboring on, because the last fight didn’t quench you.

With a final grunt, you unlock your door and head in. No doubt your roommate slept until past noon after the two of you got in late from that concert. She was so pleased with herself and everything that was so quickly happening in her life all of the sudden. And you’re happy for her, though perhaps a bit jealous of her turn of luck.

As the door opens, your expectations and core understanding of the world are broken. The apartment is nothing like you expect, normally when you open the door you can see down the entryway, kitchenette, and bathroom access hallway into Hanako’s side of the room.

Normally it is in extreme disarray; clothes piled on top of her bed along with every other possible thing else in loose and haphazard arrangement. Instead, the bed is clear.

You are gobsmacked, so much so that you barely notice as you stalk forward into the apartment and take out the hair tie holding your wild mane up in a slightly more safe to work in pony tail.

>>668356

Moving the rest of the way into your shared space, you see your roommate standing in front of her desk and mirror staring intently at some of her tanning and what you recognize as a baggie storing her more preferred bangles and fashion accessories.

“Minami?” you call after her in confusion, “What happened in here,”

Truth be told, you are more than a little curious.

When you left this morning, having not slept, she was dead to the world beneath her nest of unsorted clothes and you assumed would be well into the afternoon.

“Oh, Ito,” she perks and spins to face you, and you notice she’s wearing a more formal dress, “Just cleaning up,”

Something she wears rarely, to family and important and fancy campus functions. Something she hates wearing, usually complaining about how tight it fit.

“...why are you cleaning?” you sigh, expecting madness to follow, as you cross over to your section of the room, “you never clean,”

She huffs, before taking her blonde styled wig off and running a hand through and freeing up her much shorter green hair. Seriously, maybe you need sleep. You’re still a little tweaked by whatever the hell that moving shadow on the floor was.

“I’m expecting some company later,” she explains, “I wanted to make a good impression,”

“Company?” you query with a yawn before grabbing a tall can from the mini fridge beside your desk.

“I called Hoseki-san today,” she starts to titter, before her laugh deepens and extends to something much more triumphant.

“Wow, okay,” you nod and crack open your drink and pause before taking a drag, “Need me around for backup or just on call for an escape plan?”

Her grip tightens on the bag of bangles as she drops the sealed makeup into it and closes it. An unfamiliar expression crosses her face.

“I don’t need a babysitter you know,” she growls before unceremoniously dropping the bag in her desk side waste bin, “It’s high time I put away childish behaviors and things,”

You almost spit your drink. Not about what she said, but what she just did. Even if the two of you weren’t exactly friends when you were younger, you still sat through her explaining why a bunch of those trinkets in the bag were important to her and what they meant.

“The hell brought this on?” you wipe at your mouth in confusion.

>>668364

“Nothing...just get those empty cans off your desk and leave us alone for a while,” she says with an unexpected authority and opens mascara before turning back toward her mirror.

Glancing back down to her waste bin, something gnaws at you. Between worry, concern, and your desire to stay out of business that shouldn’t be your problem.

“Yeah, whatever,” you yawn and tip back on your bed, it’s only the mid afternoon, “I’ll take care of that after I rest up,”

She doesn’t respond, her attention is back on herself in a way you’re actually worried about. It is your business...and she is your friend.

And there it is. You can’t sleep again as you try to nap. Letting your eyes watching her from where you recline, you feel a certain spark of liveliness. Not like a street fight, but something more urgent. Something you can’t shake.

You may be giving her space tonight, but like hell are you going to go very far. This occupies your focus, instead of real dreams or daydreams. Though for the stress, you would have preferred the nightmare where you were an office lady to this menacing worry.

Interlude End

I live again.

>>668356
>>668364
>>668366
More proof thar cleanliness is a mark of the dark side.
A clean workspace is a sign of a diseased mind.
I'm glad we already scheduled treatment.
Also: Really like the Wolf's fighting spirit.
Hope she rescues the bangles.

>>672188
Also, feel like who we pick for the dream intervention with be important.
The two I'd really like to have on that team a Keiko and Venus.
Keiko because she has the most experience with a different life intruding into your own.
Venus because it involves Love & Music.

>>672211
Though we should consider deploying phyical security as well. The wild card in all this is what Kal might do to ensure her sorrow.
He's into subtlety, so it might not be something as simple as killing her love interest. If he involves himself, it will likely be to cause her prince to spurn her through some means, magical compulsion, or decoy. A spell to create someone that appears as the perfect distraction for him could result in a very familiar face. Not to mention any strange interactions with those dreams.
Thinking about it, if we do go in we should bring someone she knows as friend, and probably not Miki lest we reveal ourselves. Ito seems good if we want to avoid associating the fashion circle with the supernatural too much.

Part of me is sad we don't see more of Estra, while the other is amused/pleased that we haven't gone out of our way to recruit the alien with powers and lettiing him enjoy as normal a life as he could on Earth.
His siblings are probably marring that enjoyment in amusing ways though. Hope to see a interlude letting us know how they are sometime.