2834/Plushie Pinch

Plushie Pinch
Date of Scene:	13 November 2025
Location:	Yumegahama Ward
Synopsis:	Lanhua comes up with a cuddly scheme this time, but the threat gets stopped all the same, and another piece of Seira's heart gets recovered.
Cast of Characters:	Coco Kiumi, Angela Erickson, Madoka Kaname, Usagi Tsukino, Amanda Faust

---

Coco Kiumi has posed:
A week prior

"Hmm, this won't do...", a woman mumbles, slouched over his, repeatedly tapping the screen as it shows a list of the traffic her ads are receiving. "I need something more catchy, something that will make people flock here over any other store..."

A bell rings from the door, and the woman raises her face.

"Oh, I am sorry, we are not open yet", she says with a slight wince. Just her luck that she would get a customer at this time. She would have normally greeted with saying they have plushies of all kinds, but...

The seller is about to look back down, yet raises an eyebrow instead as the surprise guest keeps approaching her with a smile. "Oh, please, just let me talk for a second, I happened to overhear and I am sure you will want me here", she replies confidently, holding her fan tighter.

"Overhear? From outside the door?", the seller replies, her hand holding tightly onto her phone. The grinning woman ignores the question, and hands over a plain piece of paper instead. "Here, my business card."

The seller's eyebrows curve downwards at the sight of the scribbles, and she observes "All this says... is L. N. Hua...", to the laugh of the intruder, whose purple eyes flash brightly as she fans herself.

"Yes, I am a renowned marketer. Please look again." 'L. N. Hua' points down, and the other woman's gaze follows her finger to the piece of paper, whose scribbles have likewise started shining. "I understand, please tell me what I should be doing...", is the reply the marketer gets.

Over the course of the next week, people start swarming the shop in mass, after the offer of a therapeutic cuddling sessions with their plushies daily, and the exclusivity of a 1-hour daily limit seems to make people press even harder.

Word of mouth had quickly helped spread the amazing renvigorating powers of the plushies, and more and more people start looking forward to it, despite the tiredness with which people exit the shop.

"Thank you for accompanying me, I know it was sudden", Rihito remarks, pushing the door open for himself and Coco. "I was thinking of what to get Michal too, that makes two of us", Coco replies with a bright smile, moving away from the door.

All kinds of colours warm up the atmosphere, with the stretching of rows and rows of all kinds of colours, from the red to brown to pink to yellow and more. "Why don't we look over there first?", Coco suggests, looking over at a line of purple parrots.

Angela Erickson has posed:
Angela Erikson is passing by a shop, she is singing. Poorly. The lyrics to an American song, Uptown Girl.

"Just because I'm in love with an... UPTOWN GIRL!" "You know I've seen her in her UPTOWN world!.. she--- oh what's this?" she suddenly stops mid song to look into the window of the plushie shop. Suki also looks. and squeeees at the cute. Suki, being her tiny chara that's following her around, floating over her shoulder. She's dressed as a tiny bride.

"Cute!" says Angela, in agreement as the two decide to enter the plushie store, looking around curiously. She passes by someone tired, and accidentally and lightly, bumps into them, almost knocking them over. "Oops, sorry I bumped into you are you okay?!" she says, the man too tired to answer as he continues. She sees nothing wrong with this, she apologized! He continued on. She shrugs and continues into the shop.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Wherever there are plushies that need cuddles, the minidokas will be there!

    Which is to say that Lydian, Sio, and Tia are all here the very moment the Cuddling Hour begins, zipping through the open door as the hands from the unseeing crowd push them open. Madoka isn't here yet, and nor is Homura, so the three Guardian Chara are on their own for the moment.

    Sio floats over the rows of plushes with a grin, hands planted on her waist. "I've always thought we should start our own plushie store."

    Lydian looks up from admiring all the pretty colors to look at her business-like sister. "With what plushies? How are you gonna get merchandise?"

    Sio's smirk gets wider, and she points a finger into the air. "Simple! We use the plushies from Kamiko's Labyrinth!"

    Tia cocks her head to the side and frowns as her umbrella rests on her shoulder. "Don't those vanish after a time? Actually, are they even visible to begin with? If we tried that we'd be scamming them."

    Sio suddenly sweatdrops. "Eheh... well maybe not that then. Okay well what if we instead sell some of Madoka's--"

    "Absolutely not!" shout Tia and Lydian in unison. Tia then starts floating over the plushies on display and says, "Now enough of this foolishness. We need to select guests for our tea party... oh is that Coco and Rihito over there?"

    Lydian's smile lights up as she looks over to the two of them. "Oh! It is! Hii~, Coco! Hii~, Rihito!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Plushies that take away stress? Usagi Tsukino is THERE, in an instant. The world has been a very stressful place, and if she can get away from it all for just a little while... well, then of course she can bring Mamochan and Ami-chan along next time so they can all relax.

She's heard all kinds of gossip about this place, rumors and stories, and now that she's inside she certainly sees plenty of plushies... and a couple of Minidokas. She grins at them, before noticing Coco and Rihito thanks to them and maneuvering over.

"Coco-chan, Rihito-san, it's good to see you again!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    People are saying they feel so reinvigorated from hugging these particular plushies.

    Amanda scoffed at first, then wondered. Far less unexpected things have turned out to be true, even aside from magic! Maybe they're really soft. Maybe the environment is just really nice. Maybe it's just that the idea itself, and engaging in it being supported rather than seen as silly, feels nice?

    It's an appealing offer, to the formerly-touch-starved girl.

    Amanda walks into the store shortly before 'cuddling hour' is to begin, feeling a little bit embarassed all the same.

    As she comes close to the entrance she briefly tenses at the thought of how it would look if she came here for this in her old appearance. Such thoughts plagued her frequently a couple of years ago, but are pretty rare now.

    But her reflection looks back at her from the glass, looking completely in place here, and she smiles and pushes the door open and walks in.

    And Angela is singing Uptown Girl and Amy joins in, "Oh, good to see you!" And hey that tiref-looking guy is here, so maybe back-then-Amanda was just too self-conscious.

    And there are more friends! "Oh, hey everyone! This... I guess we all needed some relaxation, huh?" she says, a bit awkwardly.

    Present-Amanda is maybe still a little self-conscious sometimes.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Lydian-chan, Sio-chan, Tia-chan!", Coco cheers the three names at the sights of their respective owners. "Hello", Rihito smiles, giving a nod of acknowledgement to the three Charas. "Nice seeing you again. You too, Tsukino-san", he adds at noticing the twintailed girl.

"Hello, Usagi-chan. How are Mamoru and Chibiusa?", Coco asks warmly when she notices Rihito's greeting.

Next up the blonde mermaid gives the three fairies a a conspiratorial wink. "Here to sneak a cuddle? Do you need help getting closer?", she asks, vaguely gesturing at the especially sense crowd.

Angela's singing draws Coco's attention at the same time as Amy, and her voice starts urging the two of them over. "Amy-chan, Angela-san, why don't you come over here? There are Rihito, Lydian, Sio and Tia too." A grin is reserved to Angela, and Coco locks her arm with Rihito's. "He is my boyfriend", she explains.

If someone happens to move over to the counter, they would be able to notice the piece of paper with the scribbled signature is still there, with a second one featuring the message "Don't lose it!", in different handwriting. Above it, a woman whose uniform marks her as the shop owner directs clients and employees as needed, just next to a purple-haired one dressed in a qipao.

"Cuddling time is about to start! Don't miss it!", this one says while fanning herself. At the call the employees start asking any customer there to move away from the upper right corner of the shop, and dumping any plushie within reach. Seems like they don't actually have a designated space and plushies for it.

A messy line starts forming after a bit of a struggle, and the first customers approach picking up a few of the carelessly thrown plushies. No matter their ages, wide smiles show up on all of their faces. "These are so soft!", one of them cheers, rubbing against it.

The more people come in however, the more of the plushies start glowing, and a vague sense of dark energy spreads out over the shop for those sensible to it. Shortly, people start wobbling and getting to their knees, still hugging the soft stuffed toys.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The minidokas notice Usagi Tsukino. Sio flashes a toothy grin at her, Lydian waves her tiny hands and Tia curtseys. At Coco's offer, the three fairies float a little bit closer to her as Lydian says, "Well, if it gets too crowded, we probably will want to stick close to someone so we don't get bumped around."

    Tia twirls her umbrella and says, "You might not know this about us, but we minidokas are actually quite cuddly!"

    Sio boasts, "That's right! Our Chara Bearer is also known by some as The Omnicuddle!"

    Lydian sweatdrops and says, "Um... I'm pretty sure that's just something that Homu-chan calls her. It's not to be taken seriously." Then she notices Angela and Suki and asks, "Oh! Are you a Chara Bearer, too? Hii~! I'm Lydian!"

    As the Cuddle Hour approaches, the Plushie Corner is prepared. The three pink-haired Chara get excited in anticipation, chase each other around for a moment, and then start floating over everyone's heads. Just as Lydian is about to dive on one of the cuddly toys, Tia grabs her by the shoulder and warns, "Wait! Watch closely. They're glowing."

    Sio scratches her tiny chin. "That... doesn't look like a good glow. Not even Gretchen's plushies looked that spooky."

    Lydian looks disheartened for a moment as she backs away from them. "You know... One of us should probably call Doka-chan."

Angela Erickson has posed:
Angela Erickson smiles at Amy, Coco, and the other charas. "Hi, all!" Suki waves and spins in the air. "This is...Suki. My chara." she says. "HI everyone!" says Suki.

She smiles at Amy, and looks between Coco and Rhito and places her hands on her cheeks. "B-boyfriend. Is there a wedding in the future!?" she asks so bluntly, shaking her head. "If there is let me know!" she says.

Then there's a call for 'cuddle time' and she looks to Lydian. "Hi Lydian! Yes I am!" she says, as she watches toys be thrown and then... uh...

"Yeah that doesn't look right." says Angela. "Should we do something?" she asks.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Pleasantries are exchanged, and Usagi cheerfully says, "Mamochan and Chibiusa-chan are great - well, I mean, aside from the horrors -"

They all know about the horrors, they're Mahou.

"But if these plushies are as relaxing as everyone says, I want to bring them here!"

The news that Madoka is the Omnicuddle - at least in her girlfriend's eyes - makes her laugh, though Usagi hushes up quickly when the staff member announces that cuddle hour will begin soon. She's quick to grab an adorable little plush of her own - but when it starts to glow and drain her energy, she gasps and drops it quick, backing away.

"No! No, they're ruining plushies!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy walks over to Coco, smiling to the others.

Cuddling time is about to start, don't miss it!
    They're really calling it that out loud, huh? :I "Well uh..." Amy turns towards the voice, "Why not leave them on the shelves for people to take, then?"

    She picks one up. It is a big fluffy bunny. "Oooh. It is soft..."

    But, everyone is reacting that way? "Are they really that special? I don't see a glow, is it because--woah!" She drops the plushie and hops back as if she thought it were about to shock her, as she notices the plushies starting to glow with darkness.

    "We can't let them ruin plushies!" Amy agrees, at Usagi's words. "...Is a sentence I just said..." She crouches slightly as if the youma responsible were going to spot her out of the crowd or have any reason to care when she's not henshined. "But who's doing it?" she hisses.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Am I some prize to show off?", Rihito asks with an amused tone, giving a gentle pat to Coco's free hand before his shifts to hold it. "You are certainly as valuable as one", Coco replies without missing a beat, leaning slightly on him at the squeeze of her hand.

"But I think we might have a lot of work ahead of us if we are up against the Omnicuddle", she smirks at the Charas' nickname for Madoka. "I guess that if Homura-chan were here, she would extensively vouch for her."

Angela's predictable question makes Coco laugh. "No, not yet. But we are very happy with each other, so, in the future, maybe", she replies with twinkling eyes. "I mean, it's a bit soon. But I am sure you have a time and place picked already", Rihito smiles softly, thinking he does want to be the one making that move, at least there.

"Do you think we should go too?", she asks him when the announcement is first made, looking at three eager fairies, before she too picks up on what's wrong. "Maybe the other direction is the right one", she murmurs, disentangling herself from Rihito save for their hands.

"We really should", she quietly replies to Angela, bringing herself and Rihito behind the shelf furthest from the shopkeepers. Only one? Both? Or maybe one of the employees? Who is responsible?

Curving her hands in a vague x-shape around her shell locket, yellow light radiates in around Coco, and a kaleidoscope of colour flourishes over her form.

"Yellow Pearl Voice!" The rainbow energy glimmers and clings, warping into pale yellow boots that flow into overlapping fabric. Rising up, a golden yellow dress and a short yellow pleated skirt blossom onto her and her pearl gleams and expands, settling comfily into her hand as her trusty E-Pitch microphone, with the yellow jewel nestled safely in the head's center.

By the time she has come back, just about everyone but them has collapsed to the ground. "This isn't the way to treat people seeking comfort! Come on out!" she demands.

The woman with the qipao snaps her fingers and the shopkeepers all fall to the ground like marionettes with their strings cut. If one would check on them, they would be able to pick up on regular breathing. Enormous dark blue butterfly wings emerge from the one left standing, and she becomes recognisable as Lanhua.

Her eyes squint as she sees the three Charas. Last time's humiliation burns strong within her. "I hope you three little ones are ready for my dance." In a poof of smoke, her silhouette disappears, replaced by the mini-Lanhuas.

In the opposite direction, plushies from all over the shop fly together, forming a three meters tall mass of plushies in the shape of a Teddy bear. "For Michel-sama's sake, you will all fall in line!" the many -huas exclaim with shrill voices.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Ah yes. They all know The Horrors. That's part of what it means to be mahoujin.

    Tia crosses her arms emphatically and declares, "That's right! We can't let them ruin plushies! That's intolerable!" after Amy, agreeing with her.

    Sio is already on the phone, and after a moment or two Hope Blossom comes rushing through the store's front door and says, desperately and in shock. "They're ruining plushies? That just can't be right."

    Kamiko follows her in, with tiny arms flailing. "This is blasphemy! How dare you! You... you dummies!" When the divine fairy looks around, she notices the tiny Lanhua chibis and points an accusatory finger at them. "This is your fault, isn't it? Uncuddly jerks like you would never respect the sanctity of cuddle time!"

    Hope looks back at Kamiko and says, "Kami-chan, go get the others and hide in your Labyrinth, okay? We'll handle this."

    As Kamiko opens a portal and the various minidokas zip into it, Hope Blossom steps forward and dramatically points at the opposing chibis. "That's far enough! Plushies are cute and soft and sweet. How dare you use them for evil?"

    And yes, she says this with zero irony.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
They're ruining plushies, and it's unacceptable. The Horrors have gone too far. Her sleep has long been invaded by them - invaded by nightmares before they were invaded by Gaito, and now the All-Subsy - and her days are a mix between joys and ravenous horrors, but plushies? Even innocent plushies are a tool for evil now?!

When Hope Blossom bursts onto the scene, Usagi Tsukino cries out, "You're the worst, you - awful lady! How dare you ruin plushies!"

And she runs out the shop, dramatically crying as she flees the awful sight of a Nega-Teddy Bear.

...A moment later, Sailor Moon bursts through the door, striking her pose.

"Hope Blossom is right! Plushies are soft and cute, a comfort from the Horrors that we all must witness! People came to you with hope and trust, wanting nothing more than to get rid of their burdens, and you took advantage of that! And of them! In the Name of the Moon, I, Sailor Moon, will punish you!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Amy's considering whether to remain an apparent bystander and surprise attack, but when all the non-mahou (save the shopkeepers? Hmm...) are on the ground... She ducks out of sight and transforms.

    Everyone falls except the qipao woman. "[Found hiiim!]" Amy shouts, the particular cadence and use of English suggesting this is a reference, as she steps into view in her alternate puella magi outfit and flings a large teddy bear at Lanhua's face.

    And now she gets a good look at Lanhua, undisguised and not as a tiny fairy. "Wait, you're big now?"

    Not for long! Lanhua is small again, and the plushie monster is big.

    "...Oh no." They're gonna have to destroy the plushies, and also, "I'd set it on fire but uh..." Amy glances at all the people lying around.

    Hope Blossom speaks without an ounce of irony. "Yeah!" the red Puella Magi agrees, and holds out her hand, palm forward, toward the plushmob. BANG!

    The projectile is pencil-thin and hot but mostly it's insanely fast; remembering the Familiars of the child Witch, Amy's checking whether the proximity to such intense energy will tear plushies apart, or if it'll just overpenetrate and leave a small, possibly burning, hole.

    It's magic, not physics, she has no way to know for sure!

    But also the bits of metal hitting the wall behind the bear might start burning the wall before they fade. Oops. It's only the second or third time it's been a problem, usually she's in a barrier or outdoors! (Space, that one time, counts as outdoors. If anything, it's more outdoors than outdoors is.)

    "...Dang, that was a better speech, too," Amy comments to Moon. "I shoulda said somethin'. Uh..." She looks to Lanhua and points, "How dare you try to ruin plushies!"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Plushie time is sacred! Prepare for the cleansing you need Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!"

I placed a wish upon a shooting star
To find the seven lights,
The jewel stars who were scattered.
I believe in the bond called fate.

When I opened up my heart,
Something started to shine.
I didn't come this far all on my own, but
I'm sure I was playing it strong.

When I realized what was important to me,
The season began to change.
Enveloped in a green rain,
I continue to sing this song for you.

The song Coco immediately gets into makes all of the orchestra shudder and cry out in pain. "Oh, stop it! You are insufferable!" The plushie mass follows up on that and fires three plushies at Coco in rapid succession, with a speed that almost leaves the impression of flames in the air.

The first two miss both Coco and Rihito, but the third one is a hit, folding the yellow idol in two as her stomach is struck right in the center.

"I don't care what you think is right. Humans should be thankful they received this really soft gift before being consumed, that's all they deserve", Puonhua remarks to Sailor Moon, and with a nod at the other Chibis, the orchestra starts.

A strong feelings of darkness attach themselves to everyone's limbs with the beginning of the music, and there is a strong impulse to dance along, to let their arms and legs be guided against their will. Only their heads are spared by this attack.

"Blasphemy?" One of the other Lanhuas laughs. "Maybe they should have brought up their Plushie God here, if they worried about that. Lord Michel would just laugh at him" The giant plush immediately leaps into the air, diving towards Madoka in a body slam.

"Get Sailor Moon now, Bear!", Puonhua orders, and three plushies are fired at Sailor Moon as well. But at the same time, Red's projectile reaches its target, and the Puella Magi gets an answer to her question, when a plushie is forcefully ripped out of the youma and lands on the ground a little roughed up but mostly fine.

The bear's plushies making up its belly shift towards something mouthlike, and the creature roars, answering Amy assault with a huge punch. "We are many and one, what of it? Can't you keep track?", the Chibis mock her in the meantime.

"I am the one insufferable? Red can keep track of a lot more than you, it seems", Coco frowns as her body starts disobeying her, following the mad dance. "You need to take dance lessons", Rihito tells the Lanhua Chibis, beads of sweat moving across his forehead at the wild movements.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Blossom fully agrees that Moon-chan's justice speech is pretty spot on. "Yeah!" she says, finger pointed at the chibis. Then she turns around and points her finger at the Plushie Monster. Amy's attack is making chaos and Madoka winces a bit. Someone's going to need to...

    Oh no. The Chibi-huas are making them dance again. As Hope Blossom's limbs move of their own accord, she calls out, "Um... Oh shoot!"

    She looks up, mortified, as the giant evil teddy bear youma leaps above her. She can't move! She's dancing! It lands on her and she's thrown to the floor. "Ow.... Kamiko-chan?"

    The divine fairy's portal opens up and she pokes her head out, saying, "Oh, good idea! I gotta keep everyone safe! ... Hey no lying down on the job!"

    All over the store, Labyrinth portals open and start drawing unconscious dancing people in, hopefully taking them to a world of soft cuddly things and away from the music. As she gets up off the floor, with eyes spiralling, Hope says, "Huh? No! You got it backwards! We gotta move us into the Labyrinth and leave the other people out here."

    Kamiko blinks. "Well, why didn't you say so?" Then the tiny fairy starts dancing too, against her will. "A-ah...! Medo-chan, let's swap!"

    Madoka's henshin shifts. She stops Existing for a moment as the world around them is replaced with the inside of Kamiko's personal world. In this area, there is a soft plushie cloud floor, piles and piles of biblically-accurate plushies, and more clouds in the sky with solid black teddy bear eyes and big stitched-on smiles. Right where they are all standing is a lit up disco floor, complete with shifting glowing lights.

    Tiny benotafraids, also dancing with their too-many limbs, start rushing to protect the dancing non-magicals. Some of them are trying to push people back out of the portals they were just dragged into.

    Hope Concept is Here, and you Know It, and she's Right There, but it's real easy to forget that now for some reason. Even though she's dancing in that weird way. "I'm sorry!" she says, in a soothing voice that sounds like pure distilled Friendship, "We mixed things up a little. We'll get it sorted out. Give us a moment... just as soon as we stop dancing!"

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Coco's hit with a plushie and that looks like it hit hard. "[Jesus,] what's in those?!" Amy backs away from the plushmob -- that's what she's mentally named it until someone calls it something else -- and shakes her head at Lanhua. "Softness is nice, but why are you consuming humans in the first place?"

    It is weirdly easy to get caught up in the dancing like some sort of doll, and the effect puts Amy right into position to get punched and interferes with her reflex to dodge!

    "AUGH!" Amy goes flying and knocks over a shelf, "Oww, that..." but she gets to her feet and starts dancing again. "Hey! What is this?! How are you doing that?!"

    An image flashes through her mind of a blank sign turning over to show a sign of a stickperson dancing to music notes.

    "NO!" Amy hurls an explosive grenade at Bear, timed to detonate just as it reaches the monster, but...

    She's focusing desperately trying not to dance, which is making it hard to attack further or move, and she keeps starting to move like she's about to dance and stopping, finally dancing again as the Labyrinth surrounds them.

    Hope Concept will get it sorted out! The reassurance of knowing that lets Amy relax a bit, but also means she's insufficiently terrified of the dancing to fight it as hard. Hm.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Wrong! Humans are for more than being eaten! You can't just fatten us up like cows!" There's the flash of the Crescent Wand, and then a golden circle is carved into the air. "Moon Healing Escalation!"

As Coco is struck, silencing her purifying song for a moment, Sailor Moon's own purifying light shines out, aiming to dismantle the teddy bearstrocity - only for her to be attacked in turn! She runs in an awkward little circle, trying to dodge around unconscious civilians, and takes a teddy bear to the back of the knee and goes down tumbling amidst the crowd.

"Owww..."

The transition to Hope Concept's Labyrinth is felt in the sense of Friendship and Hope, the renewed determination to get back up and ice her knee later and fight now - and then she's yoinked along by the music, which is really lovely, in a way that seems just unfair -

"You don't even have to make us dance! This is so - nice - and you're so mean, you could just dance with us, and cuddle! You don't have to - stop yanking me around, I'm gonna fall -"

Even with magic yanking her limbs around, she manages to trip over her own feet, tumbling in the air and getting yanked back around into a sloppy spin and dip that almost looks planned.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
There is no time to be singing for Coco as she struggles to oppose the effect of Lanhua's music. The best she can manage is however not hitting Rihito's very strongly when they bump into each other. "Sorry!", she immediately apologises to her boyfriend.

"Why do you ask? Is the impact of their love too much for you?", Puonhua asks Red when she is not blowing air into her aulos, stressing each word venomously as the Puella Magi's grenade scatters half of the youma's face.

"Shahua, where are you going? Get back here!", she yells at another one, who almost danced herself into the back of the shop. The Chibi hurries back, almost tripping on her own feet mid-air in her hurry.

"How is everyone doing?", Coco asks with a strained voice. For a few moments she has succeeded aligning E-Pitch and mouth, and then another movements turns her efforts in vain, ripping it away from her.

"You really don't get the power of our magic?", Nyanhua tells Red while shaking her tamburines. "As long as we play, you are going to dance. Just give in to the music and relax, that's all you can do until we bring back the age of the Ancients."

"What kind of weird thing is this?" Chuhua looks around with wide eyes at the weird world Hope Concept has opened. "You can't escape us, you know that, right? Bear, take out those flying things!"

The benotafraids are immediately put to a harsh test with dozens of plushies fired at them. Unless stopped midflight, the plushies will go back like boomerangs and reattach themselves to the greater youma they make up.

It does mean that they aren't currently being attacked however, and Coco finally magic to hold still enough that her own song can begin counter the darkness and make it much easier not to follow the dance.

I placed a wish upon a shooting star
To find the seven lights,
The jewel stars who were scattered.
I believe in the bond called fate.

When I realized what was important to me,
The season began to change.
Enveloped in a green rain,
I continue to sing this song for you.

If a morning comes that I am reborn,
I would want to live the same life.
Our chance meeting and everything else
Will become a gem. I believe in miracles.

Madoka's aura of friendship mixes extremely well together with the refreshing aura of the song, washing over Coco's friends like a balm, and making the youma starting to fall apart, reduced just to legs holding up half of a 'stomach'.

Which immediately gets struck by Sailor Moon's Moon Healing Escalation, leaving behind just a pair of useless feet behind. Now, they too are dancing to the beat provided by the Lanhuas, but the Chibis don't appear too happy. "How dare you do this!?", Tinhua shouts.

The mermaid puts extra flair through her song, with a second Live Stage appearing and ramming through the Lanhuas like it's a Bowling Ball. "How did... you like.. that?", she huffs and puffs massaging her aching limbs.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hope Concept is still visible. Kinda. You just have to look in a direction that doesn't exist in order to see her. Sometimes one's eyes just so happen to glance in the right way and catch a glimpse of her confused, helpless and slightly apologetic expression as her divine form does a janky dance. One might get the

    What you can see a bit more easily is her unending pink hair, though. Flowing through the world in long waving strands that seem to go on forever.

    The benotafraids are under fire! One of their most favorite things is being turned against them. Some of them get shot out of the sky, their clipped wings flailing as they spiral into the soft plushie ground. They're still trying to dance even as they lie on the floor, and others rise to take their place in the defensive line.

    Coco's singing actually does help a bit, and with some concerted effort Hope Concept does manage to make the heart shape over the Humpty Lock hanging from her neck. "Negative Heart, Lock On! Open Heart!"

    Madoka's heart-shaped beam comes from impossible directions, attacking the various mini-huas and attempting to hold them in place. The burst of purifying light that follows floods the entire space, attacking both the plushie bear's feet and the -huas alike.

Amanda Faust has posed:
    Humans are for more than being eaten! Is a sentence Sailor Moon just had to say out loud, yup. Just one of those days.

    It is a kind of pretty song.

    "You filled them with love so that they hit harder?! That's... that's... that's mahou shoujo bullshit, you're not supposed to be able to do that! You're supposed to be like, filling them with hate or something!" What does it mean that Lanhua can do that?!

    When the guitar part comes in, even Amy's uncontrolled head starts to bob. "[Damn, this is a bop.]"

    She shakes her head. "Wait, no, no it's not! ...Well okay it is but this is still evil! Why do you want to consume humans if we're so awful anyway?"

    Just relax? "No! I'm not anyone's puppet!" Well okay she is literally puppeting this body from inside her gem but that's not the same thing! This body is only for her to puppet!

    Coco's music finally helps break the control. "[Hell yeah!] Thank you Yellow Pearl Voice!" Amy cheers, and conjures micromissiles to go after the flying plushies and stop them from rejoining the main group, before conjuring a grenade launcher and turning it on what's left of the main mass of plushies -- Boom! Boom! Boom! -- while Madoka's purification floods in from ana and kata and directions no one's invented words for yet!

    "You're more dangerous than I thought... and the song's not bad... but we won't let you destroy humanity so easily!"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The Chibi Huas are taunting and talking, but - "There's no way we're going back, not to any age! We're going forward - that's all anyone can do! Us, you, everyone!"

She can understand why someone might want to go back, she truly can. Why someone might romanticize what was, what could have been, if they made different choices, if they did different things, if they went back.

But it can't happen. There's no going back. There's no making things the way they were - not for anyone, even 'Ancients'.

Coco's voice is musical and bright, warm and lovely, and it loosens the chains of Lanhua's power. Sailor Moon stands under her own power, the Crescent Wand exchanged for the Moon Scepter. She swings it in a wide arc, and from the crown of the scepter bursts a silver beam of light, cloaked by spiraling pink bolts of light, brightly colored energy shrapnel in the form of stars and crescent moons firing out.

"Moon Princess Halation!"

The youma shoes are her target, but as she swings her rod, the beam shifts to Lanhua as well.

"We won't let you have your way!"

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"That was... We weren't being literal", Zanhua comments as Amy takes them at face value. "We just wanted to to pay you back! We haven't forgotten when we were minding our own business last time!", she admits grumpily.

Red's missiles make sure there is nothing left of the youma, robbing it of any cohesion the giant Teddy Bear had, and by the time the purification starts, it can finally make them safe for any cuddles once more.

The Yellow Mermaid Princess raises her right arm and calls out within herself Aqua Regina's blessing, the bracelet on her wrist shining with white radiance as a halo of yellow light moves downwards from the mermaid princess's head and her clothes change again.

Her left glove now adheres to her arm with a pattern made up of water ripples, while on her left leg a stocking has shown up with the same water ripple pattern, and on her right hand and on her legs a yellow glove and boots with flowy extensions show up.

Bathed in a golden glow, rhythmic pulses of light that give a warm embrace to the pain, soothe all the fatigue and push away the darkness.

"Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Finale!", the mermaid princess smiles gently.

At the apex of the song, purifying hearts fly out in all directions, the reach of a big circle of love that won't end. "Fine Heart Pitch!", she concludes the performance with a serene smile, extremely strong purification burning the dark energy and the one that holds it.

Love and loss I truly know them well
To love the lost I would break through hell

All my love across an amber sky
Looking right at all the ways you shine
All I have is you, my everything
Our bond beyond seven seas
All my love across the darkest night
Waiting just ahead to be your guide
All I have is you, my everything
Our bond beyond seven seas
Our bond beyond seven seas
Our bond is every part of me
My pearl

The Humpty Locket is extremely efficient at holding the Lanhua Chibis in place, keeping them still even as they are being tossed about in their temporary cages by those everpresent hearts.

And their screams intensify when Sailor Moon adds her own beautiful shower of crescent moons and stars. It would be a spectacle worth admiring like the vault of the night sky if they weren't on the receiving end of its power.

"I won't forget this", Lanhua promises now back to herself, gripping her closed fan to the point her knuckles are white and unable to stop a marble of pure orange light from escaping her and going back into Seira's pearl at Coco's neck.

"That's one more", she sighs relieved. "We really showed her, thank you!" the yellow mermaid smiles relieved at her friends.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    As everything is purified, and the compulsory dancing stops, Hope Concept gets a hold of herself and remembers how to Exist like a normal person. As she floats a few feet off the ground, she clasps her hands together and looks at her friends. "Is everyone okay?" Then she looks at Lanhua and waggles a finger at her. "You really should just cut that out! Do better."

    As the orange light escapes and returns to Seira's pendant, Lydian peeks out from beneath the Labyrinth stuffie pile that she was hiding under, then pops out to throw her hands into the air. "Yay! We got another one!"

    With the fight now over, the Labyrinth fades away. Hope Concept is still here, crossing her arms and frowning at Lanhua. Then she looks at the plushie store and says, "Geeze... what a mess. You really can't just leave well enough alone, can you?"

    Sio returns to Madoka's side, hovering over her shoulder and says, "I guess a Free Cuddle Hour was too good to be true, huh? Of course we can't just have free plushie cuddles. Of course there'd be a catch."

    Hope Concept looks at her tiny fairy and says, "Well, of course we can have free cuddles!" Then she wraps her arms around Sio and holds her close. Hope looks at Moon, Coco, and Amy and says, "What a day, huh?"

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
Lanhua is defeated, Seira's life force returning to the pearl, and Sailor Moon smiles, happy, because of course she is. This honestly wasn't that bad of a day - it was pretty normal, actually. She would have loved to have an actual Cuddle Hour with plushies, but she can at least go home and have a Cuddle Hour with her husband.

"Talk about a day," she agrees with Hope Concept, before looking back at Lanhua.

"I'm glad you won't forget it. Maybe next time, you'll remember this and change your mind about trying to eat people. I don't know why you want to go back to this age of Anciernts but - we're not letting you, so you'll just have to move on. It's all anyone can do when things are over and done with."

(Hey, Usagi, maybe that's not the thing to say next to the Goddess dating the incarnation of 'not getting over it'? Maybe?)

Amanda Faust has posed:
    We're not going back, says Sailor Moon. "That's right!" We're going forward! "Yeah!" Amy punctuates her grenadefire with this agreement.

    Coco's song sooths the pain from getting slammed through a shelf that Amy was ignoring.

I won't forget this!
    "That's two pieces of Seira you've returned to us! What will Michel think?!"

    "So... now we have her trapped in your Labyrinth, I guess we can ask some--" and there's the very familiar feeling of a Labyrinth fading away after the fight. "Oh. I guess that goes both ways, huh..."

    She stares at Hope Concept for a moment, her friend/the goddess clearly existing right there despite the normal effect of un-presence and forgetfulness is just kind of making her brain go... huh? What? But it's mixed with that aura of hope, and with knowing it's her friend, so Amy's not really concerned, it's just... huh? What?

    Until Sio breaks the spell a bit. "It doesn't have to be. I mean... it gets people into the store, right? Although... without magic making people forget and assume they must've had a great time, maybe it won't be as popular."

    She double-takes a bit as she says that at the same time as Hope Concept answers hugging her minidokas; right, Amy forgot she was there for a second and assumed Sio was talking to her and Moon. What a day. "Uh.... Yeah! Free cuddles..."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
"Probably he won't be too happy with his generals", Coco considers. "And he will probably double down, but we can deal with this."

"Well, this was certainly something", Rihito comments, letting his arms recover from the brutal dancing too. "I guess we should come back later to get Michal something. Or... find another store", he looks around at the mess. "Probably not the best look for the shop."

"Yeah, hopefully they won't pay the price for Lanhua's mess", Coco considers. "But if it made them consider it nice all this time, it will probably have worked for today too."

"Why don't you pick a plushie to cuddle?", Coco suggests to Sio. "They are safe now, I don't see anyone saying no. We must go though. See you!" And with that and Rihito giving his goodbye too, they both get out of the shop.