View source for 3397/Take two and call me in the morning

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/09/08
|Location=Plot Room #2
|Synopsis=Tarnished opens her own health store! Unfortunately, there are always little magical girls running around and ruining all her best plans. Sigh. Seriously?! Why would -- OH MY GOSH MERCURY'S SPINE! I'm so sorry!
|Cast of Characters=228,220,54
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>It had been almost a full day, dozens of different medications had been sold... All with the Eclipse brand. Which, was bad enough on its own.<br /><br />Except the pain meds? The 'Extra strength pain reliever Dx'? There was dark energy. Very, very little dark energy. VERY little. But... It was there.<br /><br />And said medication was only sold in one place. Eclipse Health Bar, a new shop opened up off one of the many streets in tokyo... And seemingly run entirely by roboyoumo, who hid their true forms behind coats, glasses and aprons.<br /><br />The shop itself WAS really nice, though. And all kinds of health foods were being sold. Vitamins, bandages, the pain meds... on sale... crud.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho was kind of nervous about the branding, but she couldn't quite come up with a way to dissuade her mother from checking out the new shop. Now the two walk in, Miho in her usual outfit with a green shirt and a skirt and shorts simultaneously; her mother, Kanna Kagami, is a smiling woman in casual clothes in muted colors, wearing her dark brown hair in a side-ponytail.<br /><br />As soon as they enter, Miho can sense the ''darkness'' in her Life Blessing. By now, she's used to lying to her parents. She smiles easily up at her mother. "Um, hey, can I go wander off and check stuff out too?" she says in her somewhat scratchy and kind of androgynous voice.<br /><br />"Sure!" says her mother, patting her shoulder. "Take care, my little girl!"<br /><br />Miho beams, then makes a beeline for the pain relievers. She picks a bottle off the shelf and frowns. "Yyyyep," she mutters, then glances around to see if there's anything else suspicious. She blinks at one of the "employees"; is that a ''youma-bot!?'' "Ohhhhh boy ..."

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami walks into the store, looking curious. She's dressed in blue, naturally, a blue skirt and a lighter blue blouse, her shoes practical and matching. Her wariness is hidden well--the bluenette has learned to mask her body language moderately well over her years as a mahou.<br /><br />She smiles to a roboyouma and inclines her head. "Thank you," she says softly. "I'm just browsing for the moment." And she does, looking around. She doesn't even have the Mercury Computer on her person at the moment, just looking with her mundane senses as she inspects the place.<br /><br />She spots Miho, and wanders over that way. "Hello," she says softly, her blue eyes dark with worry. "We've met before," she adds, "if you recall." Her voice drops even farther, so only Miho hears the singular word, "palace." She continues. "I was doing some looking around. This place is too good to be true, right?" Her posture is easy, and her tone is light, but her eyes are deadly serious.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The roboyouma, of course, offer to help with any questions they may have. However, when they didn't have a sense of carring about them... They just kind of... wandered off and did their own thing. Moving about with a kind of dead eyed shuffle, stacking boxes, moving merchandise, ringing up orders. You know.<br /><br />Like anyone who worked retail.<br /><br />The medication seemed to be the only concentrated source of dark energy, aside from... well...<br /><br />Miho might feel a much, much more concentrated dark energy in the back of the shop. In the back office. Locked up.<br /><br />A youma approached her mom and... "Hello, ma'am. Is there anything I can help you find today?" it offered.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho visibly brightens, and gives Ami a smile which doesn't reach her eyes. "Oh! Mizuno-senpai!" she says cheerfully. "Yeah, that morning was kind of unforgettable, y'know? I still need to catch up with Noroiko-chan!" Translation: she still hasn't figured out anything about the fox-spirit that popped out of her shadow.<br /><br />Still smiling, she gestures with the bottle in her hand. "This stuff's got dark energy in it," she says in an urgent, quiet voice, though from a distance she still just looks happy to meet her friends. "I'm pretty sure some of the staff are youma-bots, and ... there's a bunch ''more'' dark energy over there." She gestures towards the back room. "Plus, y'know, this place is literally Eclipse-brand." She shakes her head and, with a cutesy shrug, puts the bottle back. "My mom's here, too, by the way!" she says aloud, in that fake cheerfulness. "Any suggestions?"<br /><br />Kanna, meanwhile, just smiles at the roboyouma. "Oh, I'm just browsing at the moment!" she says. She's just a perfectly normal civilian, oblivious to the magical goings-on, and doesn't notice anything out-of-the-ordinary about the "employee."

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami nods to Miho, smiling. "I should talk to her, too! If I can catch up to her." Her blue eyes are solemn, even as she smiles again. She gives a little bow, friendly style, like when agreeing with a friend or something.<br /><br />Listening to Miho's rapid, quick words, the smile staying in place and staying natural. It's amazing, really. She'd never have managed that a year ago. She nods. "Well, I haven't tried anything myself," she says softly but loud enough for the youma-bots to hear. "But I hear this pain medication is amazing." However, she darts her eyes to the back room, brief but natural.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The robo youma nodded. "Okay. Just make sure you have your mother with you if you decide to get anything requiring the age of 18 or older, young lady. Have a good day." Before walking off. Programmed flirting, or bad at detecting ages? The world may never no. <br /><br />And then... A youmabot. "Ah, are you interested in new eclipse brand pain relievers? This new drug has been created by only the finest minds at eclipse and guaranteed to take away any pain, as well as help you lose weight due to its usage of the unique special Dx chemical. Please do not use if you are pregnant, nursing or puella. If you experience mood swings, please contact Eclipse customer support and stop taking immediately."<br /><br />... Okay then.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Kanna chortles. "I ''am'' the mother, but thanks," she says wryly, waving as the roboyouma wanders off.<br /><br />Miho nods in a way that seems eager if you aren't standing right in front of her or named Ami Mizuno. "Oh, definitely, I'll have to see if we can't arrange a meeting!" she says cheerfully. And then, under her breath, "On the other hand, the ''only'' reliable way I know of getting a conversation with her is if I'm a complete and utter emotional disaster at the moment, sooooo, might take a while to figure something else out."<br /><br />And then ... Miho tenses up as she starts sensing the approach of a youmabot, but she turns around when it speaks up and does her best to give an ordinary smile. "Oh yeah, we were just checking them out, actually!" she says, her eyes shifting nervously to Ami with an expression of ''help, what do we do'' on her face. On the other hand, it literally said "puella", they aren't even ''trying'' to be subtle at this point.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami nods, once, giggling as she does at Miho's words. Then the youma-bot approaches! And says the word 'puella!'<br /><br />Ami doesn't flinch, or freeze, but she does look at the youma-bot with big, innocent eyes. She'll have her breakdown later, when she can face the fact that she's acting, instead of facing things head on. "Um, why would you think we're puella?" she says, with a little giggle. "We're just schoolgirls..." And she glances to Miho, a calming influence--she hopes.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The robot didn't answer, merely nodding. "Welcome!" the robot said.. then went to go fold stuff and put boxes away. Weird. IT didn't seem to really... notice them. Or care. They had the lay of the land, to do as they wanted for now.<br /><br />It didn't answer the question...

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho takes a few deep breaths at the glance from Ami. She's still inexperienced at the mahou- business, but she certainly learned pretty quickly how to take a few steps towards calming herself down.<br /><br />When the youmabot leaves, though, she just sighs with relief. "Okay, wow," she says. "I ... haven't been in this kind of situation before, it's always just been youma-bots and Eclipse-dudes just straight-up attacking or whatever." She shrugs. "I mean, it ''did'' say 'puella', but, uh. Yeah. What do we do?" It's clear that she's more-or-less deferring to Ami's authority in this case.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami smiles reassuringly to the younger mahou. "We work on recon," she says softly. She frowns a little, then, looking in the direction of Miho's mom. "Does she know?" she murmurs very quietly.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>And then... Miho would feel it. The pressure. The dark energy... A woman came out from the back room, opening and then locking the door behind her...<br /><br />And Miho would feel it. That dark energy. IT was definitely her. She practically sweated the stuff. Riventon levels... Well. Not THAT bad. But close...

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho manages a lopsided grin. "Recon, I can do," she says. "Just tell me how to start." At the other question, she promptly shakes her head. "Nope," she says. "... uh, Mom ''had'' my Curse and Blessing, they were passed down from mother to daughter --" That part makes her smile; it's a trans thing. "-- but I think I have enough evidence to say with certainty that they faded from her when she grew up without doing anything with 'em."<br /><br />''Very'' slowly and casually, she turns around, her face a mask of pure "casual" that belies her nervousness and tension, before she turns back to Ami and furrows her brow. "Okay, that girl who just came out is ... apparently ... the dark energy I sensed back there earlier."

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>"Aw," Ami says with a warm smile. "That's wonderful." And she's about to hug Miho, when...<br /><br />The turn. The forced casualness. The nerves underneath. Ami stares at the person before them. The bluenette's hackles are up, and she tilts her head, smiling a little. "Get your mom out of here," she says quietly, forced casual of her own.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished made her way to the front counter and... Grabbed... one of the candy bars. She opened it and...<br /><br />Her eyes widened. Distrust? Nervous? All kinds of different emotioins... And... a little bit of fear?<br /><br /> She looked around, before her eyes fell on those two. They narrowed for just a moment, before she began to walk towards them. "Hello! Can I help you miss?"<br /><br /> She stumbled, however, when she came a bit closer. MIHO?! What in the world was Miho doing here?! Oh my gosh did she have a stomach ache? She wondered if she should give them free samples. was this blue haired girl her girl friend? They did come here together... right?

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho chuckles nervously at the shorter-but-older girl. "I ... have no idea how to do that," she says. "Okay, uh, lessee, I can think of something ..." She can ''feel'' the darkness approaching, so she isn't surprised when the Tarnished speaks up. She turns around with a mask of curiosity on her face. "Hm? Oh, uh, her or me?" Stall, stall ...

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami nods. "Okay," she says softly. Then Tarnished approaches, and she turns to the girl.<br /><br />"Hi." She smiles. "I think I could use something for anxiety. I have a big test coming up," she says with a giggle.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished cocked her head to the side and then... "For anxiety on a test? I would advise against depending on medications. That's a good way to end up addicted, medication should only be used in proper situations to deal with medically sound effects," she said firmly. <br /><br />"What I would advise, is studying, getting some rest, and properly regulating your diet. Drugging yourself before a test may even result in a loss of focus, despite the stress, and make you do more negatively," she said firmly. Her face was perfectly calm and... she did have an odd aura that, despite her height and young age, made her seem like she was an authority at what she spoke of.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho taps Ami's shoulder. "I'm just gonna go catch up to my mom," she says, trusting that Ami will be able to stall for time. She starts making her way over to her mom at a leisurely pace, trying to think of something that could ''get her away'' while still offering an excuse to part ways so she could immediately turn around head back. Think, Miho, think ...

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami Mizuno blinks, and then nods, giggling like she's much dumber than she is. "Okay, thank you, miss. You're probably right." She nods to Miho before turning back to the Tarnished one. "So what does this do?" she says, pulling a bottle of something not a pain killer off the shelf. "I mean, I read it. But I don't really know what makes it better than its competitors." She nods. "My mom wants me to bring something home, pain killers and... I forget what else, but if you help me, I'm sure I'll remember." She smiles again.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished blinked a few times, cocking her head to the side. Were they... lying to her? They were definitely trying to lie to her. Why were they trying to lie to her? She nodded. <br /><br />"Of course. I'd recommend whatever things you need. Tell me, what kind of things were they looking for? Abrasions, burns, nausia, heart burn, indegestion?" she asked, eying the girl.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho slowly approaches the aisle where her mother is loitering, trying to think fast ... and then the lightbulb turns on. Ever since she "stayed overnight with Maria-chan" (in actuality, in Kunzite's palace), her parents have assured her that if friends have emergencies, they won't ask too many personal questions about said friends as long as Miho actually, y'know, ''calls her parents'' if she needs to stay somewhere overnight.<br /><br />Standing back from the aisle out of sight, she slowly and stealthily gets out her Virtue phone and sends her ''mundane'' phone a panicked text, adds the number to her contacts as "Ami-chan", and then turns on a reminder for a couple of minutes from now with the same sound as a text-notification, then puts both phones away and walks up to Kanna. "Hey, mom?" she says worriedly. "I got another ... worrying text from a friend. Do you think you could give me a lift ...? Like, as far as that one bus stop at ..." She names a place which is a reasonably short drive away. Okay, her mom seems to be listening, at least ...

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami nods to the other girl. "Indigestion," she says thoughtfully. "I think that's it." She smiles hesitantly at Tarnished.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished blinked a few times. "In that case... here." She soon held out a small bottle. "One tablespoon of this, every four to six hours," she said firmly. <br /><br />"I can't guarantee this will help, but it should." Ami... might notice as Miho started to leave, she relaxed. Just a little. Though er expression and tone remained calm and steady.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho and Kanna are out the door at that moment, talking in hushed tones. Miho is feeling slightly better now that she's actually doing something, but her mother is now worried and concerned. Soon, they're moving out of Tarnished's range at the speed of a car.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami Mizuno takes the indigestion cure, putting the other bottle back. She watches Tarnished relax, putting that information away for later, before looking at the pain medication. "How does this work?" she asks, picking up the mediumest sized bottle. "How often should we take it if we need it?" she clarifies.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished glanced to the bottle and.... "No more than four tablets a day, any more past that isn't recommended. Two at first, then only one every six hours, until the maximum is hit. However, there aren't any cases I'm aware of that should require more than two. It is very, very effective," she said firmly. <br /><br />"There are... occasional side effects. But if the directions are followed, like any medication, the risks are negligible."

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami Mizuno blinks. "Side effects?" she asks. "Like what?" She sounds mildly concerned, eyes wide after her blinking. "What should I watch for? Even at a minimal level, that would be... bad if something happened!"

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished glanced to her. "Mood swings are the primary ones. Some people experienced doses of anger or sadness. In that event, all usage of it should stop. And as long as you take the recommended dosage, it is unlikely to occur," she said firmly. <br /><br />"No more dangerous than any other drug on the market, after all."

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho gets out of her mother's car. "I'll find my own way home, all right?"<br /><br />"All right," says her mother. "You sure you can take it from here?"<br /><br />Miho smiles. "Sure I can!" she says. "See you later, all right?"<br /><br />"See you later, my little girl," says her mother. "I love you!"<br /><br />"I love you too!" says Miho with a smile.<br /><br />She waits until her mother is out of sight, then sneaks into an alleyway, does the Saturday Night Fever pose, exclaims "Life Blessing, wake up!", and then ...<br /><br />And then ... a moment later, there's another mind, approaching from a different direction. (Life Mahou Joy is fast enough that she can arrive via a different direction than the one Miho left in.) Her emotions are calm. Collected. ''Determined.'' There's no worries or fear; Life Mahou Joy lands on the roof of the drug store, and waits.<br /><br />Well ... there's one small worry. She has no idea where to go from here. All she can do is hope that Ami has a plan of action.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami Mizuno nods. "Okay, thanks." And she goes to buy her items, pulling some yen out of her pocket.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished blinked. Someone upstairs? Nah. Her imagination. She walked down the halls, helping people with their orders, generally doing the customer service thing.<br /><br />".... No you cannot use this coupon. One, it's for a BARBAQUE, which we do not sell here. Two, it's expired. Three, it's for another COMPANY entirely. It's not even eclipse. Four, just NO!"

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Life Mahou Joy walks along the rooftop, staying crouched down, and mostly following that ''dark person'' she can sense, trying to stay above her. She doesn't yet realize that Tarnished can also sense her. Her worries are mounting, ever so slightly.<br /><br />Hmm. Miho considers this a moment, and then wanders back over so that she's more-or-less above the aisle with the painkillers. She lies down on her side, placing her hand over the aisle, and starts trying to push the purification energy of the Life Blessing through the ceiling. She's never done ''that'' before, and she isn't sure it'll work, but ...<br /><br />Well. ''Purification'' will certainly get the attention of someone with darkness inside them, even if it's stuck on the roof.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Ami Mizuno smiles and heads out with her bag of questionable ''goodies'', before ducking into a nearby alley that has an exit from another direction and grabbing her transformation pen.<br /><br />Giving a covert look around to make sure the only person who may see is Joy, and only if she's paying really close attention, she thrusts her hand in the air, yelling, "Mercury Power, Make Up!" and transforming into Sailor Mercury!

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished froze, her eyes dilating... Okay. She felt THAT. Something, dark, wicked... uncomfortable. It felt burning... She rushed to the back office.<br /><br />Welp. Miho got her wish. As a portal of dark energy appeared on the roof... And Tarnished appeared through it. Her eyes narrowed. "Ah... Um. You. Person. Youuu... Errr... This... is..." She coughed.<br /><br />"This is actually... kind of awkward. But... I got a whole list of important people to look out for. But... well... You're apparently no one important. So... Would you mind stating your name, miss?" she finally asked. "Also, do you mind not attempting to... mess with my creations?"

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho heard Ami's exclamation, but she was too busy concentrating on failing to get purification magic to go through a solid rooftop to pay ''that'' much attention. And when the dark portal appears, she simply gets to her feet; there's a moment of tension, but ... well, Miho can't actually feel ''hostile'' towards someone who's being ''that'' awkward.<br /><br />"I'm the warrior of light and hope, Life Mahou Joy," she says, in that clear bright voice that sounds almost nothing like her out-of-henshin voice. Well, at least that rolls off the tongue better than "RM001". "And I know ''exactly'' how dangerous it is to just straight-up put dark energy in ''medicine'' of all things," she adds, somewhat flatly. "So ... why don't you just let me purify the lot of it, and I won't do anything else, all right? You're obviously at least ''trying'' to run something halfway legitimate here, and I definitely don't want to hurt someone who's got that much dark energy inside them through no fault of their own? Soooo yeah."<br /><br />She's not threatening her; there's no hostility towards Tarnished. She's making the offer genuinely, and in good faith.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mercury appears on the roof behind Tarnished, and waits. Joy has it all in hand, so far; it's the bluenette's turn to be backup to Miho's plan.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished sighed and nodded. "Ah. It is better than RM001 at least," she mumbled. She moved her left hand up and..." She paused for a moment and... Glanced back. "There's more than two of you, at least, right?" she finally asked. She then walked towards Joy and... Held up her right hand. "I see. I assure you, my medication is no more dangerous than others that are put on the shelves. It has been checked and validated by people... far more..." She was silent for a moment. "Smarter, than you," she said finally. "More useful, too, I imagine. And if you wish to tamper with my property, you'll need to purchase it," she said firmly. "Otherwise, as the darkness is part of what nullifies the pain, I will not allow you to tamper with it." She'd stop a few feet from the other girl. <br /><br />"If you insist on tampering with unpurchased merchandise, I will treat you like the criminal you are. Are we clear?"

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Life Mahou Joy raises her eyebrows. "You're not much of a people person, are you," she says softly. "That's fine, I'm not really one, either." She sighs. "I'm gonna level with you ... sorry, what was your name?" She shakes her head. "Well, ''anyway'' ... I have really not gotten the impression that Eclipse is full of law-abiding upstanding citizens." She shrugs. "In which case ... as far as breaking the law is concerned, it's kind of your word against mine? I mean, Eclipse ''is'' kind of having this private war against us. Like, okay, I'll be blunt, I've met exactly ''one'' member of Eclipse who exactly has the random man on the street's best interests in mind, in a ''really ironic way'' --" Lacrima still needs to ''drain'' the random man on the street. "-- and she's on my side on the subject of whether you should just feed people dark energy." There still isn't really any hostility, she's just become a little bit more guarded after that "treating her like a criminal" comment.<br /><br />She looks over at Sailor Mercury, not bothering to answer the question of whether they have backup. Looks like this is gonna be a relatively small fight! She can only hope that, without a Device-user on either side, they don't end up being Sailor Collateral Damage.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mercury raises an eyebrow. "Smarter than us, you say?" She sounds amused. "Are you so certain?" She grins crookedly, then. "I can assure you, we can have backup here within moments."

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished shook her head. "A people person? No, I've never been called that. However, I do see the necessity of people and I do believe that every life, even of those who just... are kind of idiots, matter," she said firmly. "I also believe that it's very important that everyone puts forth their best efforts in order to keep those lives from suffering." She backed away and narrowed her eyes. <br /><br />"Just because you, naively, assume that this is a foolish endeavor... Well... there comes a time in every great mind's time where they are renownced by the ignorant masses. My time is no different." She then leaped back, landing on the little jutting entrance way. "Trust me. I have no *choice* but to consider the best interest's of every random person on the road. It. Is. Infuriating."<br /><br /> She then glanced to Ami. "Really? I'll believe you, then. But... The thing about backup..." She held up her left hand... As little cartridges appeared. "I have it too." She tossed them and... out of them popped roboyouma<br /><br /> Five were made. Two moved by Tarnished, two charged at Joy, clubs in hand. And one raced at Mercury, taking a punch at her.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho sighs softly. "Yeah, I should've figured this would've gone down that way." As the two roboyouma close in, she just ... boosts straight up into the sky, flips upside down, and boosts for a brief instant in the opposite direction to stop herself before righting herself again. "Oh well!" she says, her heart-wand materializing in her left hand. "If you're jumping straight to a fight, then ..." She tosses the wand into the air, and catches it in her right. "... in the name of all life, we will halt the threat before us!"<br /><br />She swoops down, pointing her wand. <span class="fg_35">"Minty Barrage!"</span> she calls out, firing pellets of green light at the roboyouma. Again, the attack isn't ''that'' powerful, but they make up for it somewhat in purification power.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Mercury dodges, swearing quietly. I mean, it's Mercury, so it's not much swearing, but even mild swearing shows that she's frustrated. She dodges the punch, before yelling, "Mercury Aqua Mist!" and shrouding the rooftop in a freezing mist. She then darts a few steps away from the roboyouma silently.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished blinked a few times, as the barrage of minty attacks hits her youma.... they only last a few seconds. Though Tarnished sighs as a small... orb appears in her left hand. She shakes it and then flings it at Joy... What in the--<br /><br /> A few moments later it would explode, if the girl was there she'd catch a mix of dark energy and fire enveloping her. "The name of all life? Please. Spare me your self righteous drivel," she muttered, then glanced to the mist. She held out her hand as two more of the roboyouma balls appeared in her hand. She flung them in the mist, and now three roboyoua were moving through the mist, trying to find and strike at mercury!

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Joy doesn't need to know in advance what an attack is doing. She just needs to see it, and let her speed handle the rest. Once again, she boosts upward, diagonally off to the right this time, and then swoops over towards Ami, firing another Minty Barrage down at the advancing roboyouma. It's not quite as easy to see this time, but she's pretty sure she can feel the darkness inside them. She's now facing away from Tarnished, however.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Out of the mist comes Mercury's voice. "Shine Aqua Illusion!" Hitting the remaining roboyouma, she flips to the right, her back against Joy's. "I got you," she says lowly, but cheerfully.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished blinked. Huh. Well... That was convenient. The two were in the mist... and she could still feel them. Empath powers over powered. "Okay." Held out her right hand.<br /><br />And they'd see a dark energy blast coming through the mist a moment later. A large blast going right at poor Joy's back. Powerful, wide area... But... Not as destructive as it could be.<br /><br />However... She then held out her hands and a pair of... Red... bulls appeared in her left hand. "i've tired of this. Drink this." And then she tossed them to the two roboyouma...<br /><br />They did as instructed and... Joy might recognize what came of it. The two began to shift, change, grow... Not as big as the one that Joy had fought not that long ago... But... Still big. They then ran at the two.<br /><br />Tarnished, meanwhile, looked at her right hand. "..." Before shaking her head.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Miho smiles and pats Ami's shoulder, and then ... tries to shove her out of the way when she senses blast! She lets out a yelp as she takes a glancing blow, grimacing and clutching her side.<br /><br />And then she stares up at the giant robo-youma, then looks over at Tarnished. "Oh, so ''you'' were the one who was testing that thing before!" she says. She glances at Ami, and adds, "Stahlritter-kun and I fought one just like these two. Purification still hurt it, though!"<br /><br />And then she boosts back into the air to avoid the attack -- this time, diagonally and to the left. "Lessee ... can I get a good shot without his chains to hold it down ..." she mutters.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mercury blinks at the shove, but nods. "I can't purify," she murmurs, more to herself; before considering. She backflips as the mist clears away, and she can see the whole picture. Then, targeting the powered-up roboyouma, both of them: "Shine Snow Illusion!"

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The youma were hit by the blast of ice and... were frozen in place. Hah. That was--<br /><br />With a surge of dark energy, they suddenly blasted forward, scattering shards of ice in all directions as, now that Joy was in the air... Descended on Mercury. One reached out to try and grab her shoulders, while the other raced and swiped at her head, attempting to clock her. Hard.<br /><br /> Tarnished, meanwhile, started tapping on the screen on her left arm.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Joy glances at Tarnished, but right now they have bigger fish to puri-fry. "Eh. Might as well do my best," she mutters. She twirls her wand in a circle, leaving a ring-shaped trail of mint-green light, then ... tries twirling it in another circle to produce a ''second'' ring, but the first one just fizzles out. "Oh well," she mutters as she completes the second ring. <span class="fg_35">"Joy Shining Ray!"</span> She thrusts the wand forward, and the ring collapses, firing a brilliant beam of purifying light at the nearest uber-youmabot.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mercury flinches as the youma grab her and punch her, in that order. She winces, and is dazed.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>The youma that grabbed Mercury... Lifted her up. Joy slammed a beam of light energy on the one that punched her. It... took longer to disintegrate, pushing towards her...<br /><br />"WAIT!" Tarnished yelled.<br /><br />But it was too late. As the first youma exploded... The one holding Mercury lifted her up and just... Slammed her DOWN on its knee, making her body bend in an... altogether not pleasant way... Before lifting her up again, only to throw her into the ground.<br /><br /> Tarnished stumbled back, holding her bed. Damn it. Did she still not have enough control over them?! She said capture! What if the girl was killed?!!

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Joy's eyes go wide with panic ... for about a split second. Then she whirls around and wordlessly fires a bowling-ball sized burst of mint-green magic at the remaining youmabot. It's a little less powerful than Shining Ray, and doesn't ''hit'' as hard as a bowling ball, but on impact (regardless of what it hits), it explodes into a burst of purifying energy several feet wide.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mercury hits the ground. She bounces. She groans, and then just kind of lies there, eyelids fluttering as her breathing goes exceedingly shallow. Her legs twitch a little; her fingers twitch harder.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished just stared. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. She... She almost... Oh my gosh.<br /><br />The youma was hit by the blast, evaporating from the energy... Tarnished took a step forward, her eyes wide. Did she kill the girl? She hadn't meant to! The... She tested it, it was supposed to follow orders. HER ORDERS! Why did it do THAT?! Did it not realize it would kill her?! She was just... standing there. Staring at Ami.<br /><br />Oh gosh what had she done? She had to... Do something. She couldn't... could she? Should she? Oh gosh... she didn't... know what to do.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>With the threat gone, and Tarnished panicking instead of trying to press some sort of advantage, Life Mahou Joy just swoops down to Ami and kneels next to her. "Stay back," she says, not even bothering to look at Tarnished at the moment. "All my powers are purification-based, including healing." A new first: healing someone grievously injured while the one who is responsible for hurting her is standing ''right there''. "This is gonna take a few minutes. I need to concentrate."<br /><br />She holds her shaking hands over Ami, then ... pulls out a mint-green phone with a heart-emblem for a home-button, opens it up to a bookmarked YouTube video titled ''12 hours of kittens playing!'', sets it to a random point, and watches the video to calm her nerves, holding her hands over Ami's body again.<br /><br />Her hands stop shaking in the space of about twenty seconds, and another fifteen seconds later, a minty-green glow emanates from her hands, filling Ami's body the energy of the Life Blessing, easing her pain almost instantly. The injuries heal and fade away completely in the space of another couple of minutes.

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mercury's breath slows and her body relaxes as the minty-green light enters her body. "That..." She says weakly, once she can speak. "Was intense." And she looks up at Joy. "When can I move, Joy?" she murmurs softly, before looking to Tarnished. But there's no malice in her eyes, just... sadness.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished blinked and...<br /><br />She could eliminate them. It'd be so easy. A blast of dark energy and they'd both be gone. No more interference. No more problems. No more...<br /><br />Then she'd be just as bad as them... She felt the pain begin to fade and she let out a breath of air she didn't know she'd been holding. Her heart pounded, but she stared at them with a look that bordered on boredom. <br /><br />"I see... you children are... At least focused on your lack of understanding. You refuse to listen, to understand. So... very well. I will allow you this small victory. I can always proceed along a different avenue." She held out her right hand and a portal of darkness bgan to form behind her. "Insignificant imbeciles."

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Joy shakes her head to indicate that she's still busy concentrating, but after a quick moment she nods and says, "Now. Should be just a bit of stiffness and stuff, but yeah."<br /><br />She gets to her feet, wand in hand as she looks up at Tarnished, ready for another counterattack ... and then Tarnished just disappears. "Oh for ..." She shakes her head, and holds out her hand to help Mercury to her feet. "I'm not sure what she expected from us. How do you even ''talk'' to someone like that?"

:'''{{#var:54|Ami Mizuno| (54)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Sailor Mercury takes the hand offered and stands, sighing. She frowns and watches their opponent disappear. "I don't know." She stretches and looks to Joy. "You did a good job up here," she says softly.

:'''{{#var:228|Tarnished| (228)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Tarnished disappeared and... Soon was back in her office, in eclipse tower. She then raced to her desk and sat down...<br /><br />Before pulling out her phone. And dialing until... "Takashi-sama? Takashi-sama! It, it was horrible. I-I messed up. I mean. I almost messed up. I almost killed a magical girl! I had my youma fighting and and one of the girl's got grabbed and her spine was almost snapped and and then the other girl healed her and and oh gosh! It was some, some blue haired, ice flinging girl, in a skirt, and and, I almost killed her. I screwed up. Oh gosh I screwed up and... I almost killed her..."<br /><br />She seemed... relatively freaked out by this notion.

:'''{{#var:220|Miho Kagami| (220)}} has posed:'''<br><span></span>Joy smiles back. "Thanks," she says softly. She looks down at the roof. "Now why don't we go back inside and go all Life Blessing Pure Elation on the evil painkillers?"
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