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Date of Scene:	25 October 2015
Location:	Uminari City - Game Center Crown
Synopsis:	Ikuto's up to his old tricks again. This time he steals the heart's egg of a girl at the Game Center Crown. Her dream of becoming a video game designer gives rise to the GAME MASTER, who tries to make the fight against Guardian Hino and Sailor Mercury into a total party wipe!
Cast of Characters:	Hinote Kagari, Ami Mizuno, Ikuto Tsukiyomi

---

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Sunday is a day for the young to play! There's no school, and with all day to play around-- and to waste both their own time and their parents' money as they see fit-- arcades are a popular hangout for kids. The Game Center Crown is no different. And due to the cafe above, tends to have customers that just make a day of it to go there.

Two kids are exiting out of the Game Center! It's a pair of girls, one dressed in a floral-print skirt and white shirt; the other wears a pair of demin jeans that look like they've seen better days and a long-sleeved t-shirt. The latter of the two, in the jeans, is sipping on a milkshake. The one in the floral print skirt has a shake too, but she's talking.

"I don't like the game. Not because I'm not good at it. Didn't you see all the clipping issues in stage 2? And the difficulty curve has a pretty nonstandard progression from stage 3 on up, and then it goes waaaaaay down at stage 8. That's just really bad game design."

The girl in the denim shrugs. "It's a game, right? Gonna have flaws."

"But it could be made better!" the girl in the floral print skirt insists. "And when I grow up, I'm gonna make better games than that! I'm gonna make games so good that the biggest game companies are gonna be tripping over themselves to hire me! And I won't work for just the money, either!"

On the roof of the two-story arcade, Ikuto and his partner-in-crime Yoru lay in wait. Ikuto is already prepared for this, his cat ears and tail already present. Yoru is floating above the crowd, trying to pick out a suitable victim. And then he hears the conversation between the two girls. He zips back up to the roof and points. "Right there-nya. The one in the flower skirt."

Ikuto nods, and picks up his violin from the case. He stands, places it to his chin... and begins to play. It's a sad, mournful melody. And the girl in the floral skirt reacts. Her eyes widen, just for a moment, and then her shoulders slump. "...But that takes a lot of work, doesn't it?" Her friend stops to look at her quizzically. "Like... decades of school, and then working in little tiny runner positions for years. I might never get out of those..."

The next will differ based on whether one can see the magical or not. To all appearances, the girl just faints dead away, for no apparent reason. Her friend gasps in surprise and catches her. "Hey! W-what's wrong?!"

But those with magical sight will see it. As she slumps, , a dark aura settles around her, and something inside her says, "Impossible..." And then something comes out of her chest. An egg? About the size of the palm of the hand, black, with a large white X over it. THEN she faints.

The purpose becomes clear to the magical folk when Yoru zips down and grabs the egg. He carries it upwards to Ikuto, waiting on the roof. Ah-ha, there's the problem!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Game Center Crown has mostly become the study-hall of choice for the Sailor Senshi. Possibly this has to do with their control center hidden in a pocket dimension beneath the place. Possibly it's just because they like video games (and hamburgers, and milkshakes).

Whatever the reason, Ami Mizuno is no exception to the rule, and even on a sunday the girl can be found alternating her time between studying her textbooks and dropping tokens in the machines to enjoy a game or two. At the moment, she's upstairs, reading a textbook on organic chemistry. Curled up on Ami's bookbag is a small black cat with a crescent-shaped bald patch on her forehead. Ami's casually pets the cat while she reads, almost as if she's not aware she's doing it.

Suddenly, the cat lifts her head and stares in the direction of the two girls leaving the Game Center, straight through the walls. "Ami," the cat says--yes, the cat talks. "Something's wrong. I think we need Mercury."

Ami leans forward and starts reading a little faster. "Okay," she says, but doesn't get up right away.

"Ami!" Luna repeats, standing up from her hand. Luna leans in to very gently bite Ami's hand. "Now!" she says.

Ami blinks at the cat, then her eyes widen, and she shuts the book. "Sorry," she says, then grabs a pen out of her bag as she runs towards the stairway. As soon as she's out of sight, Ami throws the pen into the air and declares, "Mercury Power, Make up!"

The pen--actually a magical device--begins to whirl with energy, and Ami's plain, boring nails shine with cold blue polish. Her fuku begins to shift and change, morphin into the outfit of Sailor Mercury. On Ami's forehead, the symbol of Mercury appears briefly, then glows brightly until a tiara coalesces and settles into place. "Douse yourself with water and repent," she declares, as she rushes down the stairs with Luna beside her.

"Mercury Goggles!" Sailor Mercury calls, reaching up to touch her earing. A blue visor slides down from the tiara over her eyes and begins hastily overlaying the scene. She just catches the flying cat picking up the egg, and quickly begins to analyze it. "Luna?" she asks, confusedly. "What's that?"

"I don't know, Mercury, but it can't be good. I'll go find Sailor Moon."

Mercury nods her agreement, then leaps up into the air, trying to keep up with the cat as it heads for the rooftops, but at a distance so she can continue analyzing the creature and its movement.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Hinote was walking along past the Game Crown Arcade looking thoughtful at best. A little worried secondly. Lots of things were going through his mind. Things had changed from the inital plan. He had to rip up and then burn the letter he was going to leave for his parents when he went to Waldia- since Runealy was adamant on returning. He had to cram his lines for a play he was very much going to be able to attend. He rubbed his face. It would had been easier if he just dissapeared forever into another world.

Not that he was complaining. Of course. This means he wasn't leaving his parents behind- and that makes him a little happy. And the Princess is getting better and that also makes him happy. He looks up a moment and---huh? Violin music? He looks around for a bit and blinks- and that dark /spike/ sort of causes him to twitch a little.

He ducks into an alley...."To protect justice...I am Guardian Hino..." he murmurs to himself- tapping the braclet on. The inset gem glows bright.

Guardian Hino-- in a sudden leap- nimble- but not completely so- lands down on a building opposite Ikuto. His arms are crossed.

"I always knew black cats were bad luck~" he says with a coy- charming smile- but then gets a little more serious as he grabs the hilt of his sword. He does not draw it.

"Whatever you just took from that girl---- I'm going to be cross until you give it back." he says.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ami's analyzation of the cat is that it's magical. Most likely someone's mascot. And when he flies up to the roof and hands the egg off to Ikuto, she can see the blue-haired catboy on the roof. Ikuto registers as non-magical himself; maybe she can pick up the connection between the boy and the tiny catboy fairy-thing, though.

Once he sees Yoru flying up with the egg, he stops playing his violin and puts the instrument in its case to protect it. Guardian Hino will probably see him as he stands from doing this, and as he takes the egg from Yoru. Yoru is the first to speak in response to Hinote's words, though. "You'll just hafta be cross then-nya!" He then pulls down his lower eyelid (somehow without poking himself in the eye) and emits a raspberry in Hino's direction. How rude!

"Yoru." This from the boy. "Retreat. Keep it safe." The catboy fairy gives a 'nya!' and swoops down to grab Ikuto's violin and starts to leave the area. As he does, the cat ears and tail disappear from the boy. He's not powerless, though. A smirk at Hino. And at Ami, as she appears. "Want it back? Come and get it." Not that's he's going to make it easy for them. The X-Egg begins to glow, and so does his body.

"Ore no kokoro... UNLOCK!"

The egg appears to sink into his chest, and the glow begins to change, pixellated 'flipping' of tiny squares from his feet up. It's a black bodysuit with angular, squarish lines on it. The lines are bright green, and glow. While the bodysuit stops at his neck, the squarish lines don't. They go up past his neck and to his face, curving an angular path around his eyes, to his forehead, where it forms a diamond shape. A sleeveless vest appears over the lot, black with neon green edging, and then a bright green digital ball appears next to him.

CHARA NARI: GAME MASTER

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Guardian Hino watches this go down. As he watches Ikuto transform with someone elses dream- he draws his sword. The longsword is orante, silver, sharp. clean, and is inset with a glowing red-orange gem in the hilt. He holds it with one hand---also. That is Sailor Mercury. Mercury would know that he's one of the Waldians who were off draining energy for a bit- aligned with Princess Runealy. She probably knows they stopped that draining energy bit not too long ago now. Hopefully. He doesn't want to have to have a running conversation with Mercury about awkward things while you know-- saving a child's stolen dream.

He points the sword at Ikuto. It lights up in flame that coils around the blade and rotates. "Combustion." is all he says. The Flames explode out and towards 'Game Master'.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury reaches the rooftop, and stands transfixed as the catboy turns into Game Master. "This can't be good," she observes, then glances back towards where Luna has disappeared in search of her allies. But they aren't here, and Guardian Hino is, so Mercury decides to work with what she's got.

"Someone needs a bath," she declares from the sideline. "Clean out all that evil. Bubble Spray!" she calls, sending a sudden geyser of water towards the Game Master.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Ikuto sees the flame coming towards him and raises his hands before him. A green, digital shield appears before him, though the flame does push him back. And he looks as though there's some strain in keeping the field up to avoid him being burned by the flames. That would probably be pretty bad for him, to get burned!

Mind, it's probably pretty easy to push him back, considering he appears to be able to float. Sailor Mercury figures that out too, because her Bubble Spray shoves him back too, and he grunts in surprise, not having expected it. He'd been focusing on Guardian Hino, and hadn't seen her attack immediately. That forces the field down, and the flames from Hino's sword hit and throw him back again. In fact, it throws him OFF THE ROOF!

Not to worry, though. He hasn't been hurt. He actually floats back up, the green ball next to him still. "Teamwork won't save you in this level!" He raises an arm, and the ball flies up into the sky. It flattens, and then opens up into a round, portal-like thing. "Glitches! Get them!"

And then a handful of green, pixellated... somethings fall through that hole, near where Sailor Mercury and Guardian Hino are. They're not really describable, except as 'someone who had no idea what a bug looks like attempted to make bugs out of pixels'. They bite and pinch similar to regular bugs, though.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Guardian Hino is told teamwork won't save him. Well. Yeah---he's /Fire/ and Mercury is /Water/. This isn't good synergy but he does smile coyly. "I don't need teamwork....I'm a level sixty Guardian Knight." he insists.

Oh, suddenly there are pixelated bugs---- glitches...? What the heck are these things!? This Raid Boss spawns Minions!?

This better be worth the c+PURPLE DROP</span>.

Guardian Hino pushes forward- because the best defense is a good offense- he aims to swing that shining sword through the bugs as he begins moving towards Ikuto.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Fire and Water work surprisingly well, when they're trying. Unfortunately, Hino thinks he doesn't need help, and Mercury has *bugs* crawling all over her. She lets out a shriek of unhappiness and starts batting them away with her hands, trying to get away from the pinching, and the biting.

"Mercury Aqua Freezing!" she declares, and the air around her suddenly drops to a subzero chill, obscuring vision and freezing the bugs away from her.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Hino's sword cuts through the bugs as though they were paper, and they explode into green pixels. Ikuto is forced on the defensive again, and raises shields to block Hino's sword again. Though he's not quite fast enough, and the sword still manages to cut, at least into the bodysuit, because it leaves behind a 'scar' that 1s and 0s appear in, skittering around the interior of the 'wound' like static on an old analog TV.

For her part, the bugs around Ami are frozen by her ice attack, and similarly explode into harmless pixels. No more bugs remain, between Hino's slashing them out of his way and Mercury's freezing attack.

Ikuto moves back out of range again, dancing around the duo. " I hope you saved outside... this is going to be a full party wipe!" The orb has reappeared, floating back down to Ikuto. He charges it with digital power, and then begins using it to fire lightning at the two of them!

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Guardian Hino may aswell be screaming 'let's do this, Lerooooooooy jenkins!'. He isn't, but he gets in close and this turns out disastorus because he's not close enough to deal with the lightning in any meaningful way and it pumps into him and cause him to cry out in pain and beflung back across the rooftops. He actually falls back into the alley.

He launches himself back up- looking a little scorch on his person- but dashes forward in a leap. "Sailor Mercury...." he calls out.

"You know what happens when you cool something hot fast, right?" he calls out.

Guardian Hino holds the sword at an angle in front of him. Lengthwise- gem forward. "BURNING IGNITION!" he calls out- trying to summon a wave of flame at Ikuto-- to warm him up of course!

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Mercury raises both of her hands in front of her, and a bubble of energy forms around her, deflecting the lightning harmlessly away from her. She maintains it until the energy is fully disappated, but it does leave her momentarily distracted from the fight.

When the lightning passes, she barely has time to hear Hino's call. But oh, she very much understands the principals of rapid expansion and contraction: and of course she understands the deadly effects of *steam*. She dances up and to the side to get an alternate angle at Ikuto, then calls out, "Mercury Aqua Blizzard!" A wave of snow and ice travels out from her directly towards Ikuto, pincering the Game Master between fire and ice.

Ikuto Tsukiyomi has posed:
Shield one way and Ikuto is burned. Shield the other? Frozen! As it turns out, he ends up with BOTH problems! He raises a shield to try anb block the flames, but there are just too many. He wasn't expecting that much fire, and within a few moments the shield just collapses. And suddenly it is a very hot time in the old town tonight, from Ikuto's perspective!

And it's not just that he's going to get either. In the time that he's roasting, Sailor Mercury decides to put him on ice! Which would be bad enough as-is, but is worse right after the fire to the face.

The sudden temperature shift is as damaging to him as the attacks themselves! The digital bodysuit starts to glow. And then the green orb trembles in the air... and then shatters! Immediately after that, Ikuto drops out of the focus of the fire-and-ice double discouragement, dropping to a knee in visible pain. He returns to normal, the bodysuit and lines on his face disappearing and his normal black attire replacing it. Notbaly, without his cat ears and tail.

Then the egg exits Ikuto's chest is a rippleif the air in front of him, and then floats down to the girl in the floral-print dress. She wakes up slowly. Her friend, who had been supporting her the whole time, asks, "H-hey, are you all right?"

She looks confused for a moment, but then nods, steadying herself. "Yeah. Guess I drank that shake too fast."

"Probably!" her denim-clad friend agrees. "You had like three of them. I know you like strawberries, but geez."

Up on the roof, Ikuto pulls himself to his feet with a wince of pain. He doesn't speak immediately. "IKUTO!" This from the catboy fairy, a short distance away on another roof. He's waving a large hand paw. Ikuto looks to Yoru, and nods. Then he looks back to Hino and Mercury.

"Good job." It's hard to tell if he's teasing them or not, the tone is unreadable. And then he smirks, and breaks into a run towards the other roof. He doesn't look like he's going to make it-- no human can jump that distance. But as he nears Yoru, he sprouts cat ears and a tail, as he had before. And then he leaps, far enough to map the leap.

Unless he's stopped, Ikuto will just disappear across the rooftops. At least he was sportsmanlike about losing, right?

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Guardian Hino sort of blinks. Ikuto runs away. Okay. He's willing to let that happen. What would he do if he catches up anyway? Kill him? That's silly. He'll just throw himself at him when he appears again.

He carefully puts his sword away as he turns towards Sailor Mercury. He takes a deep breath.

"I don't know what anyone told you yet..... But...I... and The Princess and our other friends.. are done hurting people." he says. "Please don't run away because you're afraid I might attack." he asks a little pleadingly.

With that. He takes a deep breath. "Are you okay?" he asks. "Those things were on you for a moment...."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Mercury watches the cat-boy retreat, then takes a deep breath as she lands back on the rooftop in a vaguely defensive stance. "Well, that was ... weird," she finally decides on, but turns her attention to Hino almost immediately. She doesn't attack, but neither does she run away; this is good, right?

"Are you?" she asks curiously. "If that's true, I am glad to hear it, but you hurt a lot of people. Promising you're all better now doesn't make up for that," she points out gently.

But to the matter at hand, she glances down at her arms and legs, then shivers a little. "I hate bugs," she says to him. "Even digital video game bugs are so gross. I'm okay, though."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Guardian Hino takes a deep breath, and looks a little shamed. "I know." he says. He admits it. He knows wrong was done. But there's only so much you can do to fix things....

"You should speak to The Princess about this. Do you still have a way to contact her? Otherwise---I can have her contact you." he says. "She may want to offer restitution. All I can do is to promise you that it is over. We're---- we're working on a different way to fix our problem." he says softly. "She'll tell you more. I don't feel comfortable talking about it in depth in public like this." he admits.

"...is there anything I can do for you right now...?" he asks.

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Reaching up, Sailor Mercury banishes her visor back into the tiara, then tilts her head faintly. "I think I still have a way to get ahold of her, but if you want to suggest she contact me, I'm okay with that, as well. I honestly am interested in finding out your story, but I'll understand if you don't want to share it without the Princess's input."

Mercury studies Guardian Hino for a long moment, then notes, "Actually," and a slow, sly grin spreads across her features, "There is something you could do. I would really love a peanut butter cup milkshake." Both eyebrows raise in hopeful amusement, just to see whether he'll buy it for her.

Hinote Kagari has posed:
When Hino asked this question to the last person he wrong- she demanded she go to some ridicolous trial or court or something that he was certain would not be fair representation. He was hoping for something not like that. Maybe expecting a 'help us help other people' kind of deal.

Sailor Mercury asks for a peanut butter cup milkshake. He blinks once. Then he gives perhaps a coy smile~ "I think I can do better than a milkshake. A moment." he says as he jumps into the alley. There's a flash.

Sailor Mercury needs to wait a moment. There's another flash in the alley after some time passed. Hino jumps back up. He has said Milkshake /AND/ a large cookie. He hands them over. This is a particularly easy request for him to fufill. And you know. Cookie.

"I will let The Princess know. Maybe she'll move to contact you first." he smiles. "She probably will."

Ami Mizuno has posed:
Sailor Mercury tilts her head when Guardian Hino jumps off the rooftop, but she is content to wait. She takes a seat on the edge of the building, legs dangling off the side as she looks out over Uminari City from the roof of the Game Center. She doesn't even try to figure out what the flash was; she understands, and she's not about to pry.

When Hino returns, he finds her with her chin in her hands, staring off into the distance absently. Ami looks up at the sound of his approach, then lets out a soft laugh of approval. "Thank you," she says, as she accepts the cookie and the milkshake from him. "And Guardian Hino," she notes, "please do keep in touch, yourself. Do you have a way to contact me? I can give you my phone number, if you'd like it."

Hinote Kagari has posed:
Guardian Hino blinks. "Uh...hrm. Yeah. I do." he says. He slips his hand behind his cape and produces a phone and hands it over to Mercury so she can...put her number in.

He does smile thou. "Tsk. A shake and a cookie are really simple things I could do." he says softly. He smiles a bit.