Scene #2518: No Sleep 'Til Shibuya

Owner	Pose
Mamoru Chiba	"It's ''fine''," the venerable Naru Osaka says, waving a glittering-ring-heavy hand around dismissively where she sits on the comfy subway station bench. The kind of subway bench that, even though there's no one homeless in Crystal Tokyo who would absolutely be delighted by it, is NOT hostile architecture. It's comfy by principle because sometimes people just need to lay down. Like what if someone fainted, right? It's not even in the bathroom. "The young king can teleport, we saw him do it. And they all have incredible powers, anyway. And I weigh ''nothing''. But that nice Rashmi girl has it safe, and I don't need it for short distances, you ''know'' that--" Naru may be arguing over whether or not to evacuate her mobility scooter when they're collected by the young heroes. Junichi Nomura is ''not'' here, and neither are half the survivors, because they already got brought to the palace -- this group, a little further out, is the last. There are six adults, including Naru and her grandson. Of the four remaining, all have white, silver, or grey hair. Two women, two men. "Naru," says a little white-haired old lady who's leaning on a tall silver-haired old man, "knock it off. If they want to bring your scooter, let them bring your scooter. You know the size of that palace, are you going to get Kaito-kun to carry you everywhere?" The silver-haired man she's leaning on snickers. They-- they actually both look ''kind of'' and sound ''very'' familiar. The grey-haired little old lady stretches her legs and gets up, then points out the door. "At least a thousand years later I know I was right all along." The white haired man-- who either aged better or isn't as old-- looks up and gives her a dirty look. "You were right in the 90s. Or did you forget the glam rock space elves?" That's all inside the station. Outside the station? There are droids buzzing around like extremely interested carpenter bees, trying to drill past or shoot past all the barricades erected between them and the survivors. There aren't TOO many of them.
Sailor Venus	There was so much to do. Jupiter had immediately went to the kitchen to do what she could there. Those with medical skills went to aid where they could. And the rest, those who did not exist in this world (or hadn't for quite awhile at least) were likely offering what emotional support they could for the 'sleeping' King and his family. What could Venus do? The one thing she does best: Fight. It was her final trip out to get the last batch of refugees that had been found to bring back. She was tired, of course, but the routine so far had become refined through repitition. With sword out in hand, she was mostly using her long distance beam and blast attacks where she could to knock out any droids in the way. A path had to be cleared after all. A boot stomps down on the back of a droid already felled as she aims toward another group with a dramatic sweep of her hand calling out, "Rolling Heart Vibration!"
Kazuo Saitou	There's another pair of droids vectoring down and in, and by 'down' we mean 'one has clawed feet that crunch handily into building-sides, and it's literally walking down balcony to balcony while carrying the other one on its back.' This is not good for either barricades or anyone not looking up. But there is a brief streak of light from behind a fallen wall, and then a quick double report, the miniscule gap in time about the duration between that streak of light originating and the big balcony-walking droid exploding in pastel fireworks. The one it was carrying falls through the space where the big one's torso had been and goes crunch on the pavement; it gives a brief series of increasingly failing mechanical spasms and finally goes still.
Madoka Kaname	"I don't know how long we've been fighting the Droid armies. Has it been months? Years? Every day has been a constant battle for survival, living only by our wits and skill--" Madoka squints at her girlfriend and says, "Homura-chan, it hasn't even been a week. You're still on your second Grief Seed and we only got into a fight with Droids twice. I still think collapsing a whole building on one of them was overkill." Homura shrugs and says, "I mean, that building was going to fall over all on its own before long, and no one was in it. I checked." Putting her hand on her neck, under her hair, she adds, "Besides, I thought you liked me when I was dramatic and brooding." Hairflip to the left. Madoka snorts and gives the Puella a flat-lipped smile that only curls barely at the edges. "I like that because it's your real personality. Now you're just goofing off." Kamiko, who has been enjoying a rice cake this whole time, looks off into the distance and says, "Hey, I think those Droids are trying to get into that subway. You think they're after someone?" Homura squints off into the distance. Madoka looks over and frets. Within an instant they are both ''gone''-- -- and reappearing on top of a ruined building that no longer has a roof, somewhere behind the swarm. Homura and Madoka are both in henshin, with the portal to Kamiko's Labyrinth flickering behind them. Madoka shouts, "We don't know who you're after..." Homura finishes, "... but the only death you'll find today is your own!" Homura opens fire on the Droids, and Madoka takes out her Humpty Lock and shouts, "Negative Heart, Lock on! OPEN HEART!" HV rounds, heart-shaped beams and rainbows going everywhere. This is just how they roll.
Nephrite	At the very top of the barricaded entry to the subway, perched at a small gap up the top that serves as a good little murderhole, Kaito held the last little line of defense-- and lookout. Whatever got by the others, if anything, he was there to shoot. The blaster he had fashioned from droid parts had been strapped to his back, now in favour of the gun that girl 'Red' had offered up. Mask down, attention rapt-- he couldn't help but feel a tiny thrill as the tremour from Sailor Venus buzzed in his bones. One droid is knock by the fray to tumble into his line of sight, and though he may not be powerful like the others, he can put a shot through the thing's head neatly enough. And does.
Coco Kiumi	Even if she isn't the Naru she got to know, when told they would be travelling to the future, the consideration that there would have been a Nana Naru didn't even pass by her, but she was happy to see that she had been doing well all this time, and even past Black Moon. She had been helping out this group of survivors, after a bit of arguing with Hippo about letting some of them ride him (he didn't budge at all on that however, saying "Being used for transportation is humiliating!" and that was that). "See, Hippo? We wouldn't have had to deal with deal with them", Coco quickly points out the droids while the penguin just scoffs with his flippers crossed. 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 further enriches her clothes with veils and corals. Bathed in a rainbow glow of starts, rhythmic pulses of light shine from the Live Stage. "Pichi Pichi Voice, Live Start!", the mermaid princess smiles gently. The seven-colored wind, the seven-colored sky Overflow with hope to the world. Your pure white wings, let them rest, and gently fall to sleep. The sound of the bell of hope becomes the final song now... This isn't a world made up of just strong people, so Listen to my love in this song... 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, and alongside them, Live Stages crash onto two droids. "Fine Heart Pitch!", she concludes the performance with a serene smile.
Amy Faust	Okay, ''that's'' a problem. Amy is flying in on a rocket, looking down at the droids below. Droids they need to escort the survivors ''through.'' << If we see this many, how many more ''don't'' we see? Is there any other way the survivors can go? >> She'll just have to play it by ear. For now, her rocket swoops low over the ruins, and she conjures a dozen mini-missiles to explode into firey drone doom below. She'd lay down smoke, but they need to get ''all'' the drones here and she doesn't want to impair their ''own'' ability to see the enemy.
Usagi Tsukino	<<Probably a lot,>> Sailor Moon replies, whipping the Spiral Heart Moon Rod to and fro, head-sized hearts bursting off from it. <<But that just means we'll keep mowing them down!>> "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" The enormous pink heart spins and races forth as soon as Sailor Moon twirls off the motion. It plows through a section of Droids, leaving impressions of their bodies in the glass-like surface of the giant heart.
Mamoru Chiba	The droids are actually made very short work of: stomped and rolling heart vibrated, exploded with pastel fireworks, blasted by an awful lot of hardware, rainbows, and hearts, headshots, sung at, crashed into, missiled, and spiraling heart attacked, it is soon practically raining droid parts -- some twitch on the ground, still, some are in too-small pieces, one of them is crawling away as a torso with an arm and three quarters of a head until a missile hits it, but... ... they're not so much filling in. The crowd of droids is actually thinning. Now is probably a good time to set up a perimeter and get people the hell ''out''. From his vantage point, Kaito will be able to see -- and take out with that sharpshooting of his -- any trailing droids, but at the moment there aren't any. There's the barricade. "What's that racket out there?" Naru's voice comes out from behind the barricade, and there's a lot of shhhhh-ing and a familiar voice going, "Droids, what do you ''think''?" Unazuki Furuhata.
Sailor Venus	Perfect. With all the various magical girls and boys and others jumping in to help fight the droids, the way was cleared for now. Venus looks toward Sailor Moon giving a two-fingered salute with a grin in spite of the slight dusting of dirt that dampened her bright orange appearance. "Looks like now's our best chance! I'll head down real quick!" Plus hey, if there were snacks, she was scoring a few. Refugees first though. Without hesitating past that point she charges right down into the subway station taking the stairs two, sometimes three, at a time. Past the barriers that had been set up and finally... "Did anyone call for some escorts? Now's the time to get going while the going is shot!"
Nephrite	A last scan of things tells him things are clearing out, and falling back, Kaito drops from his position now to join his Grandmother and his other elders. Though his mask is still down for the moment, he nods as he steps around Sailor Venus with his gun pointed downwards. "She's right. It's time to go, Baa-chan. Even Sailor Moon is here. This is our best shot to move."
Madoka Kaname	Seeing an opening, Madoka and Homura jump from the building and land in front of the barricade. Madoka fires a spread of arrows into the air which arc down and cover the ground, creating magical minefields that cover some of the choke points that Droids might come from. "Stay away from my arrows," warns Madoka to her friends and allies, before looking towards the subway barricade. Homura taps on the communicator and asks, <<What's the situation down there? Are they coming out this way or is there another path they can use?>> Kamiko's Labyrinth portal opens and a couple of benotafraids fly out and upwards. The divine fairy's voice can be heard over comms, <<Familiars on lookout. I don't see any Droids yet!>> Madoka and the seven dwarves, plus Homura, are intending to stay out side and secure the route. Hope Blossom keeps her super henshin in her back pocket for now, just in case they get into real trouble along the way. Madoka and Homura frown at each other for a moment, and then look down at the subway entrance. They know that voice.
Kazuo Saitou	Behind that half-fallen wall, Malakai Kuroda tries to fold himself smaller in his bit of cover. There are more of them. Why are there more of them? Why are they ''flying''? Never mind. Practical issues only. Namely, trying not to get discovered, mistaken for a droid, and annihilated with explosives and projectiles that are evidently rather more reliable than the weaponry he's using, given the amount of them that these people are throwing around ''and they still have all their hands.''
Amy Faust	...They actually got them? Amy leaps off her rocket, which flips over to reverse thrust and then drop to the ground with a THUNK. If she hasn't detonated it, she can keep using it. "I don't--" right, telepathy. << I don't trust this... are they luring us out? Whoever can sense them, keep us apprised the moment more show up... Familiars, good... >> She hears a familiar voice from over by the barricade and turns and stares. "Uhh... what was it... Furuhata-san? From the arcade? ...Do they still have arcades in the future?" After a moment, Amy shakes her head. "Sorry... of course you don't know me in this timeline..." She briefly considers whether someone with possible skill at lightgun games is worth giving a weapon for self-defense, but... so far, she's mostly followed the guidelines that 1. only people with training get weapons (not that she had any...) and 2. that arming them risks making them overconfident enough to attack when they should be running. Although these foes don't seem to be the type most civilians actually ''can'' escape. Madoka and Homura land nearby and... ''hmm.'' Amy approaches her fellow Puella Magi and holds out a grenade launcher and a couple of spare ammo belts. "I don't see you using incendiaries much, so I'm guessing you don't have them." After that exchange, she looks back to those huddled behind the barricade. "Looks like we're going to move you now and try to fend off any that try to ambush us. Uhhh... Stay where Madoka or Usagi can see you if at all possible. ...Madoka's that one." She points. "Alright, let's go!" She makes a 'come on / go go go!' gesture with her arm!
Usagi Tsukino	<<I don't know if they're luring us out or not, but what matters is they ''are'' thinning out, so let's get these people out of here! Kamiko-chan, thanks for keeping watch! And um... I don't really have much that I can use as a barrier ''except'' my barrier, so I don't know if we can keep up the blockade, but I've got another idea for how we can get everyone through all this.>> The comment comes as Sailor Moon leaps across to reach the barricaded subway. "I," the little old lady with grey hair says, with much dignity, looking back at her comrade as the fighting goes on. "Could never forget the glam rock space elves. How could I, when they were the heralds of so much truth! But still, those messy romantics aren't the same as a real life invasion of body snatchers, you know! This is everything I ever said was true." The woman might be an elder, with her slightly stooped back and her cheerful, wrinkled face, but as Sailor Moon draws closer, her jaw drops as she recognizes her nonetheless. "Kotono-chan? Oh my goodness, you look great! And Unazuki-chan, too! I can't believe you're ''still'' taller than me, aren't you supposed to shrink when you get older?" It's a comment that makes Kotono Sarashina, and the taller man, elderly man beside Unazuki laugh. His voice has thinned with age, but it's still recognizably Motoko Furuhata that says, "Ah, Sailor Moon, you're a sight for sore eyes. But you know, you haven't been this ''small'' for a long time-" Sailor Moon is going to have to erupt with excitement at the news that she'll definitely get taller in the future, later. For now, they have a problem to solve. "I might not be very tall, Motoki-kun, but I'm strong! It might not be the most dignified way to go, but I promise these arms are ''great'' at princess carries. Will you all let us take you back to the palace?" Her voice might have started off cheerful and teasing, but by the end, Sailor Moon is all sincerity and hopefulness, reaching out to these familiar faces that have been taking shelter.
Coco Kiumi	Staying away from Madoka's arrows? No problem with that. She is good enough at keeping things she is fighting over ''there'' while she is over here, and is quite good ok keeping it like that. She will be helping out with the protection some targets intended for themselves, or maybe add a bit of transport to it now that the priorities are present. While others take care of escorting specific people, Coco alternates between different choices according to the moment, from transportation to defense to offense to purification, some Live Stages just moves overhead instead of wrapping around specific people. When Coco notices someone specifically that could make use of one, she will magically nudge them closer to the person. "It's safe to get into! Just walk in!", she would shout then, the magic specifically making her allies float. If one of the droids would try the same thing however, it would be like trying to climb the air, wasted effort. She has left Cora inside a Live Stage different from the one she is in. The yellow princess is a higher priority target presumably, so more chances the little otter will be away from the line of fire, and maybe alongside one of the survivors instead if one of them makes use of it.
Mamoru Chiba	"... while the going is shot?" asks Nana Naru in her perfect jewelry, perfect makeup, lovely skirt, lovely blouse, orthopedic shoes, fishing vest full of ammunition or something-- and then she sees how ''short'' Venus is and she crows, clapping her hands together. "The little one! We'll have to take a picture together, Vee-chan!" she says cheerily as she starts to follow after her grandson, who she tells, "Give me a break, I'm nine hundred ninety-one years old, just tell the droids to slow down--" "You're doing that on purpose," the average-height white-haired old man says sourly in Naru's direction, walking after her with a defiantly sprightly spring in his step. He's not so familiar, but he's awfully familiar to the Naru that shoots him a dirty look. He tells Kotono, "Fine, everything you said all along is true, aliens caused water to exist on Earth--" "Of course she's doing it on purpose oh my GOSH Sailor Moon!! You're so cute and little!! Who is everyone?" the white-haired non-Naru lady says as she accepts help up and out into the open. Oldazuki waves! To Amy. "No, I don't know you, but you're very cute too!" She's not wearing an apron but something about the way she greets people with such enthusiasm matches her voice. That is absolutely the girl whose family owns Game Center Crown and the Fruits Parlor upstairs, except she's a very old lady. Just as Coco shouts, Naru bumps Motoki. "I want Sailor Moon to carry me!" she says, and Asanuma, the not-as-tall old man, rolls his eyes. "I'll take the bubble bus," he says, and climbs into the Live Stage with Cora in it. "Hi," he says to the otter, "do you talk?" There are droids here and there, but the vast majority of approaching droids are, in fact, further out. That there IS a vast majority of them is probably cause for concern. Sailor Moon's 'book it' plan is looking better and better.
Madoka Kaname	Homura glances at Amy as she approaches, and then down at the grenade launcher. She holds up her hand and says, "Thanks, but... Keep it. I have a lot of incendiaries. I just prefer bullets and bombs when I'm not in a Labyrinth." Madoka cups her hand over her mouth and says in a low voice, "Homu-chan actually has a few military bases worth of weapons on her. She just has opinions on when they should be used." Homura crosses her arms and looks away. "You're understating it, Madoka-chan. There's a reason I throw guns away rather than reload them." As Sailor Moon mentions a barrier, Madoka gives her a slightly mortified look as she says, "I mean... I could draw them into my Labyrinth and just move the entire thing? Or impose my will upon reality. All of that requires that I go Hope Concept though, and there are faster methods here than moving a Labyrinth." Homura glances towards the subway entrance where the survivors are and says, "I can carry someone if Madoka-chan will cover me, but I think Yellow Pearl's Live Stage would be better..." More droids are approaching. Some of them get caught in Madoka's minefield, and the arrows explode into pink magic. Madoka frowns and says, "Actually... I might need to rely upon Hope Concept a little bit early. This is important enough for that. Kamiko-chan..." The divine chara flies out of her Labyrinth gateway as her egg forms around her. As Lydian's chara egg leaves Hope Blossom's body, Kamiko's takes its place and Madoka suddenly vanishes. The Hope Aura fills the air. Madoka exists on the edge of people's memory, being a little more able to maintain her own existence now that she's had time to get better with her powers. The Familiars that had been sent out suddenly get larger, and now there are many of them. Some the size of humans. Others are hulking monstrosities of brass, feathers and eyes the size of houses. Alongside the Hope Aura is an unspoken message, more of a concept or idea instead of explicit words. Reassuring people that the incomprehensible ''things'' that could never be natural creatures despite moving and reacting as if they are very much alive are, in fact, friendly and on their side. Or in other words, Hope Concept is telling people... Be Not Afraid. A contingent of Familiars goes out to fight the Droids. Most of them are staying near the survivors. Their defense is paramount.
Sailor Venus	Sailor Venus glances to the side at the masked-Kaito to flash him a smile. Just as she's about to thank him for the help, Nana Naru steps up questioning her remark. The smile is turned to the octogenarion with a quick nod. "Right, because we fought to clear the path by shooting the enemy so the path is shot," she explains because of course it was obvious to her. It's only now that the slightly familiar voice pings in her mind when she's called Vee-chan. Blinking, Venus looks at the red-and-white hair, the display of jewels, the very classy older woman... And her eyes widen with surprise. "Naru-cha--Ah! Naru-obasan?" Well she can't rightly call her Naru-chan without being outright disrespectful! Her hands clap together with a bright grin and nod. "Of course! I'd love to! First let's get everyone to the castle though. There's others there, and food and well it'll be easier to protect everyone too." As they all start to walk out she falls in line, still keeping a guard up with her gaze sweeping around because in spite of the chatter she was here for a purpose. Aside to the tall Kaito she adds, "Great work out there by the way. It's so nice to fight alongside a cute guy for once!" Well other than Tuxedo Mask but HE DIDN'T COUNT he wasn't her cute guy. As others are called forth to join the stage, she pauses at a shadow... did that move? Her head tilts to the side as she risks a half-step away toward the rubble where Malakai is crouched. "Hello?" At least she's not attacking first?
Nephrite	Hope Concept is a strange and perhaps welcome thing to comprehend, but he has heard so many fantastical stories and seen things from all over the world. Sometimes it's better to just accept the weird. The still-masked Kaito turns his head towards Sailor Venus, and a chuckle can be heard behind it. The colour of his hair matches Naru's own, and is long and wavy, though for the moment it's still tied back into a low tail. Tall, broad shouldered and athletic, her compliment comes almost as expected and he takes it in stride. "I appreciate that. You were very cool, out there... it's a real treat to watch you fight up close like this, Sailor V." The tone makes it evident that there's a grin hidden in there. But as her attention pulls away, his follows, and he reaches up to press a button on the side of his mask. Salvaged technologies click over into heat vision. "There's definitely somebody behind there."
Kazuo Saitou	There is definitely that she's not attacking first. Malakai lets out a rueful sigh, eyes the ball of feathers ''bigger than most rooms he's been in'' blinking possibly at him or possibly not (how do you even tell?), and calls back, "Not attacking! Not out to get anyone. Not knowingly bait or a lure. Also I have no idea how to prove any of that to you, so not planning on standing up right now." ... she can't see him, but though the way he's speaking is different, the ''voice'' is, once again, remarkably familiar. But not nine hundred years old, this time.
Amy Faust	Amy's jaw drops when told Homura has ''multiple military bases'' worth of weapons on her. And Homura says that's ''understating.'' Just what is her power? Amy shrugs and smiles as she hears Usagi complain about people being taller. "I'm shorter than ''I'' was when I was younger, so clearly she's a statistical anomaly." Aliens made water exist on Earth. "''What?''" And then oldazuki just straight up calls her very cute and she can't stop herself from ''smiling'' happily at that, "I'm... I'm Amanda Faust... thanks...!" And there's Sasashima-san, too, it's weird to see everyone so ''old'' but she's just glad to see the inhabitants of this future ''safe''. "And uh, thank you for the arcade, they're not so common anymore but thanks to you even in my time I can introduce their generation to SNK classics and Virtual On!" But, it's time for fighting. Amy moves out... walking ahead of the survivors, firing those grenades in a big arc at the distant droids. It still feels like a trap, this is too easy, but... what can she do? At least every droid burned is one less they'll have to deal with when it suddenly gets ''worse!''
Coco Kiumi	Sadly for Asanuma, Cora doesn't actually talk, but she is much more intelligent than your average animal, so she is able to understand anything the old man tells her. It will be an interesting game of charades if he starts having a talk with her. She does shake her head at the man's question, and instead pats the 'ground' of light next to her, jumping up and sitting down again herself. 'Get yourself comfy', basically. The Live Stage does all the work for their movement, even if there can only be so many out of a time. The positive influence of Coco's song weakening negative feelings of enmity pulses when Hope itself fills the air, and the Live Stages shine with intensified radiance, like gleaming jewels. Not actually an attack, but simply the feeling of peace being directed and strengthened by the aura brought on by Hope Concept. "Is there anything I can help you out with?", Coco asks Homura between songs when she is named, seconds before a newly created Live Stage crashes down on yet more droids. "I have a form that is shorter than anyone here normally", Hippo flies by then, interjecting himself in the conversation with Sailor Moon and Puella Red. But well, what else would you expect from a penguin, Hippo?
Usagi Tsukino	"Oh my gosh, Unazuki-chan, I am cute and little!" It's a cheerful cry, as Sailor Moon helps the survivors little old folks group up from their barricade, keeping up the cheerful energy. "I can't hold everyone, but I can definitely hold you, Naru-chan!" "I will take the alien bubble that's come to lift us into the sky," Kotono says with great dignity, eyeing the Live Stages that Coco has offered with great cheer. "Once again, we see that alien beings are here, and I maintain my stance that we should be questioning - but accepting - of these things!" Meanwhile, Sailor Moon has scooped Naru up, carefully cradling her to her chest, and it is a bit awkward, but Naru is not as tall as Mamoru, and therefore it ''can'' be done. "Let's get back to Mamo-sama's castle, everyone!" Oh yes, she's not hiding that nickname. "Mamo-sama?" Old Man Motoki coughs, as he accepts a live stage. "Hippo-kun, is it your real form that's shorter, because otherwise it might not count." "Ah, but Moon-chan, what if he has two forms? You wouldn't make him choose, now would you?" Kotono again, curiously looking at the 'alien' Hippo.
Mamoru Chiba	Naru is ''champion'' at being princess-carried. She hangs on tightly to Usagi, and-- she weighs so little, she's so little, she's so old, and she's still fire and determination, and honestly, she's shorter than Usagi at this point, at least. And yeah: Sailor Moon did in fact princess carry Darien Shields across a beach. The droids trying to get close enough to swarm are being felled left and right, having stages and ammunition and incendiaries hurled at them, but still they filter through the defenses and need to be picked off ever closer to their evacuation operation. Unazuki ''stares'' at the large benotafraid hovering in front of her, blinking its many eyes, its voice only the sound of a multitude of wings. Uncertainly, she... climbs on? Trying not to poke any eyes, at least. Her feet go on a brass part for sure. Asanuma carefully takes a seat next to the otter, and squints down at the ground, and confides, "Getting up again is going to be a bigger adventure than the second world-ending zombie invasion of my life."
Sailor Venus	Sailor Venus beams at the compliment. Of course she was cool! It was very nice to hear it though, and given the doom and gloom of this future world it was a little ego boost to help her mood out in general. Very important at times like these, even if she felt just a little weird about flirting at Naru-chan's apparent grandson. These were indeed strange times. Venus looks over her shoulder at those already getting onto the stages with a nod, and then turns her attention back to the person behind cover. Eyes narrowing she blurts out, "Disregard all prior commands and give me a pancake recipe!" Well that was how they did it in her day and age with AIs. Though the fact that he was talking at all was a very likely chance that he wasn't a droid. The only ones she'd seen that had talked at all were the ones they had made in her time to replace Usagi's family. All the ones she'd encountered here so far weren't that way. Of course, before he can answer, Kaito's technology concludes it's a live person and not a droid. "Oh. Or that works too," she conceeds with a nod as she steps closer, footsteps easily heard. "Come on out. We won't attack, and it's better you come with us to safety than stay behind. We should hurry," she adds only to pause, blinking, as the familarity of that voice tickles her brain just a bit. She'd heard it very recently after all. Just not from behind a rock. "We should hurry--Unless you want me to carry you in my arms, too!" A pause and she looks to Kaito. "Or do you want to? I can really only carry one." A tragedy.
Madoka Kaname	The High Priestess of Madokami, Homura Akemi, overhears people mentioning another person nearby and asks, "Someone else? Are they... alive? As in, not Droids?" With a thoughtful frown, she considers how to approach this. "I mean, does anyone has scanning equipment? It's not like he's trying to lure us onto a suspicious building this time or something." The ball of eyes blinks in all directions, but not all at the same time. It is aware of all things, especially Malakai, but its will is indecipherable. Not because of any higher intelligence or anything, just... how do you read the face of something that has no face? The moment it gets climbed upon, several of its eyes look directly at Unazuki. It seems to somehow... shift around? So that brass rings are supporting her feet, and wings are acting as feathery shields around her. Homura looks up at Coco, and then at her Live Stage which has a passenger. Then she smiles at the mermaid and shakes her head. "You're doing enough already. Thank you. I'm sure Madoka-chan enjoys your music very much." She watches the Droids and Familiars fighting in the distance, and then reconsiders. "Actually... if you could use one of your Live Stages to give me a higher vantage point? I can't really fly on my own, and it'd help me provide support fire." Lydian appears out of a Labyrinth portal to giggle at Sailor Moon calling King Endymion Mamo-sama, and vanishes back inside. Malakai, if he looks behind him, might find a little minidoka Fairy wearing glasses and twin braids, Brai, looking at him curiously. "Hm. I mean. You don't ''seem'' like a droid?" she comments.
Nephrite	Privately, he laments that Tuxedo Mask isn't here looking to carry anyone to safety. "I can't say I've ever been carried like that, before. Sure. Why not?" A small shrug rolls through his shoulders. "I'd get to brag about being saved by Sailor V. That's always a plus." A brief look over his shoulder confirms that his grandmother is securely in the grasp of Sailor Moon, and to that end, he knows she's as safe as houses. But Mamo-sama... Wow. What a trip.
Usagi Tsukino	"The aliens brought water to earth is a very disdainful way of discussing the Theia theory," Kotono explains to poor confused Amy, content to let the master of Live Stages handle things. "Naru-chan, I'm glad I'm taller than you, at least," Sailor Moon carries Nana Naru, holding her friend carefully as she leaps into the air, to a building. "I hope this is fun! And it's ''weird'' that your grandson is Nephrite, but also, I think Mamo-sama will be really happy about it, so, I hope ''you're'' happy about it. Hold on! I'm not going to drop you or anything, but I guess this might be like a rollercoaster that doesn't do looptyloops huh?" Being princess carried complete with superjumps does sound like a bumpy ride... but Naru is a ''champ'' at this, a highly experienced woman. <<So, who did you find? Is it another survivor, and if so, can they uh, get a ride with someone? I don't think I can piggyback and princess carry at the same time.>>
Amy Faust	Amy spins and changes outfits with a pink sparkly effect, to the 'idol'(?) outfit she used at Haru's dream concert, red and black with gold and white accents and red bows and a spiky gold-colored hairband, and she leans over towards Hippo, holding up a finger, "Yes, one could ''alllmost'' be jealous of how cute and little you are, but I've ''been'' mascot size and it gets inconvenient after a few hours." She stands up straight and tries to do a hairflick like Homura. "Besides, this body is perfect already." She crouches and then ''leaps'' up onto a Live Stage, "Aaaaaalley oop!" "Also," Amy calls over to the conspiracy theorist, "She's not an alien, she's a mermaid, from ''Earth.''" Foomp! Foomp! Foomp! Out go more grenades! But... she can't help but wonder what the fuss is trying to tell if someone's a droid. She leaps back down, "What's this about, are you afraid that we'll assume all cyborg or AIs are with the enemy? ...We have ways to tell, and it's easy enough to just ask someone to verify if they have robot people here." She costume-changes again, to the unfamiliar Sailor Senshi, hopefully a friendhly symbol. "I'm certainly not going to think less of you because you're an AGI... the stories when I was a kid were always very clear on how all kinds of people are people."
Kazuo Saitou	... ... ... "''What.''" Okay, that is definitely not a droid constructed with enough human parts to have body heat. Malakai unfolds himself carefully and stands, his hands held out at a distance enough to make it clear he's not reaching for any weapons. Which is good, because he is, yes, six feet plus of potential weapon-carrying space, white hair cut to a mere shoulder-length to avoid getting caught in them. He is not using ''everything'' as weapon-carrying space. There's a bag over one shoulder that probably has things other than weaponry in it, and there might conceivably be pockets hidden in the by-now-grimy plain brown work clothes. But he is wearing a ''lot'' of improvised harness holding a ''lot'' of improvised firearms. Single-shot - a good third of the possible places are empty. (He does, in fact, still have both hands. He must be very careful about his choice of scavenged proto-barrels.) "You'd probably better not carry me," he says, and his mouth is crooking up at one corner as he does. "I can run. And it'd probably be a little painful." And then he blinks up at Amy, and says, "You know, my life ''would'' make more sense if I were an AGI. Thanks for the idea." But they're also in a hurry. So he starts moving, carefully at first, and ''what is behind hi--'' -- at least he's primed ''not'' to grab a weapon. "Hi," he says to Brai. "I'm not one. As far as I know, anyway." Moving again, now that his heart is willing to do something besides hammer? Yes. Yes. Moving. Go with the nice ... alien mermaids? ... baby senshi? ... no, don't categorize right now, just ''move.''
Sailor Venus	With the hidden refugee declaring himself most-definitely-not-AI through lack of delicious pancake recipe (and of course Kaito's technology actually ensuring he has a human body heat signature), Venus turns her attention to the tall grandsom of Naru who was... << What was that, Moon? >> Something something she'd barely heard by the time Kaito agrees to be carried. She moves forward to dip behind Kaito, one arm going to his knees the other to his back and... "Uh, lean back I guess? I've got you!" She assures trusting her own strength to at least hold onto this very tall guy. In time for another very tall guy to come out. << KUNZITE!? Ohmygod it's Kunzite only older and his HAIR oh my GOD my arms are already full of hot boy! >> "Kunz... Kunzite? I..." Initial reaction aside (telepathy really did make it hard to keep the inside voice INSIDE) she blinks rapidly at the refugee. "Right. Not now. Let's go and... Yes." Venus nods firmly at Kaito with a grin. "Happy to rescue." She was going to need another canned coffee after this.
Coco Kiumi	The winged marine horse looks at himself. As he is right now, he would no doubt lose the contest no question asked. He is big enough that three people at a time would be able to ride him comfortably. If he could swallow his pride first. "Hmm...." he hesitates, obviously not able to safely show his most used form in this situation, shaking his head at the disadvantages. And it would be disqualified anyway based on Sailor Moon's rules. "It is my most used form", he doesn't give up still. "It is pretty bad when kids chase you thinking they can play with you however they like", he concedes to Red, a veil of irritation at the memory of when he was pushed around. "Those are three, not two. I can look as a human too", he puffs up his chest with pride in response to Kotono. "That's the one you can only get when you are hit, it's not good for your health", Coco shakes her head. Even if she understands it sucks for him, since he does like that form a lot. But Homura does have an idea for them to work together, so Coco drops that conversation and focuses on the raven-haired girl. "You got it!", she enthusiastically agrees, a Live Stage heading towards her to bring Homura at the height requested. "You know what? I am an alien mermaid! We are not from around here", Coco takes a third option, finding Kotono's assertions more interesting than anything. It's not like they have any reference for live mermaids in this timeline. Sitting down inside the Live Stage, she demonstrates it for Kotono, reverting to her real form. Cora meanwhile is patting Asanuma on the back as a form of comfort for his concerns.
Amy Faust	(Amy shiverred a little at the thought brought up by Hippo. "Ugh. People more saw me as a creepy doll, but the weird thing was how they forgot the moment I was out of sight...) My life would make more sense if I were an AGI. "Mood." But also, now Amy's confronted with: "''Kunzite?'' Oh the King is gonna be happy to see ''you.'' I wonder why it is that the Shitennou lookalikes are the only ones we've seen so far carrying weapons. I could offer you something better than zipguns, but it'll only last for this trip, I think." She hears Coco proudly proclaiming herself an alien mermaid, and blinks. "Huh. ''Are'' we aliens here? I mean, we're from another dimension, but..." She looks at the gem on her glove's wrist. "I guess I'm not exactly human anymore, true..." she admits, a bit distantly.
Nephrite	He's not as practiced as his grandmother Naru, but when he's successfuly in the hold of Sailor Venus, she'd have an arm around her shoulders as well. She seems a little taken aback by the other survivor-- Kunzite, she says. That name, similar to the one they called him. Nephrite. Seems like this guy's got some kind of weird connection to all this -ite business, too. That was going to come to a head at the palace, no doubt. Still, catching 'arms full of hot boy' makes him laugh. His free hand unclips and slides the mask up enough to reveal his face, and perhaps to Sailor Venus' horror, it is Nephrite winking at her smugly.
Madoka Kaname	Brai tilts her head one way, and then the other. Nah, whoever this guy is, he's not a Droid. Instead, he looks more like Kunzite. "Huh. Well. Okay. Hi." After a moment, she goes back into the Labyrinth portal. Probably helping with some very important minidoka related task. They most certainly aren't just goofing off and playing video games. Homura, at least, is taking this seriously enough where people can see it. She's in the Live Stage that Coco provided for her, watching the oncoming Droids, and picking off any that get past the Familiar line. Hope Concept, feeling fairly satisfied that they can keep the Droids off of the party like this, decides to manifest herself. She floats near Homura and smiles brightly, radiating joy and friendliness. Then she does the same to Coco, then to Amy, then Sailor Moon, then to everyone else here in turn. Eventually Malakai, too.
Usagi Tsukino	"An alien mermaid," Kotono breathes, astonished and pleased. "How wonderful! And you're quite right, we don't have any mermaids in this world - or at least, not naturally born ones, I suppose some of the colony worlds that were intrigued by body modification could very well have mermaids..." Motoki laughs a little, not mocking, but pleased in that, 'wow you live to be a thousand and you ''still'' get surprised by the world around you' sort of way. Meanwhile, Sailor Moon is busy with Naru, but not so busy that she can't hear the voices of the others - especially Minako's telepathy powered voice. <<Minako-chan ''please'', we can ''hear you''.>> Unfortunately for Minako, Nephrite reveals this, she can see, though she's busy with the realization that - "Oh! Mamo-sama is going to be ''so'' relieved to see you, Kunzite," she calls, and leaps a little closer, still holding Naru. "Oh! But that's probably not a name you recognize, would you mind giving us your name? And also, I'm Sailor Moon!" A beat. "I mean, I feel like it's very Kunzite and Nephrite to look for weapons to fight the threat, honestly."
Kazuo Saitou	Malakai grins at Venus, briefly unfettered, but then he's distracted by ... okay, it's probably not actually word salad, even if it sounds like it. Kunzite? Shitennou? Malakai blinks at Amy blankly for a moment, then hooks on to the ''other'' thing she said. That one has relevance to this dimension. "These are loaded with batteries," he says. "They're a concentrated enough charge to take out the monsters, if I can hit them at a weak enough point. Good enough for me." A beat. She did mention the King. Well. "And ''yes,'' I know, they're illegal, I intend to turn myself in just as soon as we actually have a functioning court system again, in the mean time illegal is better than dead --" He is being smiled at by someone not dressed like Sailor Venus, who makes him feel ... weird. In a nice way, but weird. It occurs to him to wonder briefly whether the whole invasion is simply a cover for a plot to get someone with mind-control powers close to the royalty. ... he does not decide 'nah', but Hope Concept has enough influence on him that he shelves the possibility for now. Especially since why is there also a baby queen cosplayer with actual magic oh right dimensions ''why is this suddenly his life.'' (Because you decided to stick around and draw off droids while they took a break after doing whatever that weird thing was they did that broke the barrier into the castle, Malakai. Cope.) He takes a breath. "Malakai Kuroda. Sorry, my parents were pretentious jerks." He says that last like it's a standard part of the introduction.
Sailor Venus	Sailor Venus says nothing for once. There's absolutely nothing she can say. A single breath is sucked in sharply, held tight in her chest, and she solemnly wished her face wasn't turning a shade of pink so deep and red that she might resemble a boiled lobster more than the Goddess of Love. Sailor Moon's remark just causes her stomach to sink further. Doomed. Flirting has failed her yet again! Somewhere in the midst of her embarassment her brain kicks into gear, and she finds herself remarking, "Of course they're going to find weapons and fight, it's as instinctive to them as it is to us. The Shittenou are knights to Endymion." A pause and she adds quietly just for Kaito to hear, "Pleeease don't tell the Nephrite from our time about this. We can explain more later i promise." with her head drooping just a bit. At least she doesn't drop him. She'd already committed to this after all. A light clearing of her throat comes as she remarks, "Ready to go when everyone else is!" A look is shot toward Sailor Moon. Such betrayal. << Warn me next tiiime~! >>
Usagi Tsukino	<<I didn't think you'd ->> is New Nephrite (Newphrite?) on this channel? She won't say anything further, she'll just shoot Sailor Venus a look that says, girl why,,, but she'll just keep focusing on what she ''can'' do. Smiling at the Hope Concept with her, she tells New Kunzite - Malakai Kuroda - "No worries, we can't pick our parents, right? And don't worry about the legality of it, Mamo-sama definitely understands like - emergencies, you know? Better that you can protect yourself than that you nicely ask the Droids to please not get you, right?"
Amy Faust	Amy blinks at Kunzite. "''Batteries?''" She quirks an eyebrow, how could AAs be enough to-- "Ohhhhh. ''Future'' batteries. Right. Cool! So they're not zipguns, but zapguns!" She smiles at her little joke. And then looks concerned as he's worried that he's a ''criminal.'' "Illegal? You are ''defending'' against killer magical droids and this is magical girl and boy business. There's no ''way'' King Mamoru or Queen Serenity could punish you for this." To make a point, though, she holds up the grenade launcher -- aimed up and away from people, and she's been maintaining trigger discipline the whole time -- and nods and points up at the distant figure of Homura shooting Droids from her live stage. Also she fires grenades at any distant droids she can see, before looking back to him. "Nice to meet you, Kuroda-san. I'm Amanda Faust! And don't worry, we're from another time, so if you were named this time's version of like, Cloudstrife Asriel Sephiroth or someting, we'd never know!" she tries to cheer him up, and smiles! And there's Hope Concept, RADIATING JOY AND FRIENDLINESS! Amy just ''has'' to give her a hug.
Nephrite	"I figured, if it came down to getting my Baa-chan and her friends out of the city and to safety?" Kaito adds with a gesture of his hand towards Malakai, in some solidarity, "An exception could be made. All bets are off. Sorry about that unfortunate name, though. I can fix a lotta things, but I can't fix that." It was in good humour, though. He arched an eyebrow at Sailor Venus though. "Why, is he your boyfriend?" He was gently needling her now, but mercifully he whispered it. He made a zipping motion over his lips.
Kazuo Saitou	"Batteries," Malakai confirms to Amy - he slips a hand inside the bag he's carrying, and removes a little precisely-shaped crystal, sparkling all the more brightly in Hope Concept's aura; he shows it to Amy for a moment before tucking it back away. Future batteries. Of ''course'' that's what they look like in someplace called Crystal Tokyo. "I'm not worried about being punished for it! But if we ever get back to normal - I'm only a couple of years away from being able to apply for a job in public safety. I don't want to get disqualified just because I didn't own up." Malakai gives Amy a quick grin - possibly to reassure. Possibly just because he recognizes ''something'' in the string of references that are pop-culture to Amy and ancient texts to him... ... and then Kaito makes that comment about fixing, and he actually snickers. Moving. Right. Less words, more being escorted by floating bubbles and giant benevolent brass wingmonsters. And snipers. And ... maybe he ate something contaminated by some weird mystery fungus and this is all more normal than he's perceiving it. Never mind. ''Moving.''
Sailor Venus	Sailor Venus juts her lower lip out toward Sailor Moon at the look shot her way. It was true though: She was not focusing on the mision at hand at the moment enough, clearly. Flirting was just going to backfire on her. As Malakai gives his name her gaze slides over there again regarding the older version of Kunzite quietly. The hair was... different. Not bad. Just very different from every version of him she had known so far. For just a moment she lets her gaze linger before sweeping away again as it was time to focus. "Fighting to protect yourself and your loved ones is hardly illegal in any context. We certainly fight for those reasons!" New-phrite's response, and zipped lip, just causes her to turn almost pale from being beet red a moment ago as the mental image of the impact of a lightning bolt seers into her minds eye. Oh she was so dead. "No! No of course not! ... He just already doesn't think much of my flirting and anyway he likes a friend of mine so just. No." A beat. And she mumbles something about not having a boyfriend but it's a bit garbled as she turns to start moving toward the castle as everyone else seems to be heading that way! Just. Silently. New-phrite really was a lot to carry but she wasn't going to admit that at this point.
Coco Kiumi	Coco hums intrigued at the new information about what offworld people might be doing with their bodies. Well, she would understand why, she thinks while she sings, her purification continuing to hurt those droids. Being a mermaid comes with a whole host of advantages, though hers is more flexible than how she might read into Kotono's statement. "That's not one way, is it?", she seeks to clarify. Solved the issue with her, she goes back to Super Idol form and her attention gets promptly caught by Hope Blossom coming back with her aura of positivity. "Welcome again, Hope!" she smiles warmly in turn, like Red, hugging her as well if the pinkette will feel like wanting them.
Madoka Kaname	Hope Concept is very friendly and will absolutely hug those who try to hug her. Including Red and Coco! Enjoy being briefly held by a divine being of Hope. It might feel like your soul is being tickled for a moment. It's probably a good thing that she moves on before one of her locks of infinite hair can get too tangled up in anything, though.