World Tree MUSH

    Something pretty big has been going on in Tokyo's Azabu-Juban district! A few days ago a brand new computer shop opened up, boasting the latest and greatest technology from offworld! Naturally the locals have been flocking to this shop to get their technological fix!
    Even after a few days for a grand opening, the shop is still bustling with activity, clerks selling desktops, laptops, tablets, cellphones. It's off the chain!
    And standing outside this very shop are two girls! One has short auburn hair, and the other has long blonde hair in twin tails. NARU OSAKA and USAGI TSUKINO are staring wide-eyed in through the window at the cellphones on display.
    "Oooooh look at that one Usagi! It's the latest model! It probably costs a fortune."
    "I want iiiiiiiit." Usagi whines, cheeks puffing up.
    "Didn't you just get your allowance though?"
    "M-maybe..."
    "... You spent it all at the arcade again didn't you?"
    "... ... Maybe..."
    Both girls sigh, resigned to not getting their brand new cellphones as people come and go inside the shop, which if alight and alive with bright lights, the sounds of video game violence, and various DVDs all being played on big screen LCD televisions.
    "Well, maybe going inside and looking around can't hurt a little." Naru does suggest.
    "What the point I can't afford any of it anywayyyyyyyyy!" Oh dear, Usagi has started bawling.
    She must really want that phone.

Paine's managed to hear about this too, and she's curious. Maybe, if she can find the right kind of comm terminal, she'll be able to contact the Al Bhed again. Even if not, there's a time for work and a time for play, and Paine's decided now's the time to play. So she's there with the crowd of people, looking around at the things on display.

She's not going to be without her sword, of course, but she's taken steps to make it look like she's not carrying a massive weapon on her back. The case is closed here, as she's carrying a large suitcase type thing of some kind that doesn't have a shape to suggest what's inside it.

Meta note: it's her sword.

    Roma, Brotherhood safehouse.

    "I want you to take a few days, explore other worlds, gather information and report back. Social, Technological and anything you may think of as useful; however small." Machiavelli says to Piera, who bows her head and turns to leave. "Take Aquila with you, she will likely understand more advanced concepts easier." The little Shinki looks up from fiddling with her equipment, sat on some contraption that acts like a charging port that Da Vinci made for her. She summons her jetpack, lifts off and flies over to land on Piera's shoulder without a word.

    This is the duo that round the corner of the block, the italian woman tilting her head at the bustle around this one shop. "Some kind of market bazzar?" she muses out loud, glancing at her companion who opens a holographic screen.

    "Some kind of new shopping outlet for technology. Small-scale counting machines, long range communication devices, and other such things." remarks the Shinki. "They are like, non-talking versions of me, if that makes it easier to understand."

    Piera nods a little. "I do not, but this seems like something Maestro wished to know about. Let's investigate." That is why the white robed Assassin approaches the shop. She isn't obviously armed, but anyone who knows the Assassins, even tangentally, would be foolish to think she truly isn't armed.

    Emily has taken the form of a woman in her mid-twenties with brown hair in a ponytail, dressed in a punk-rocker outfit featuring a T-shirt bearing the logo of "That Kinda Long-Haired Band" from Homestar Runner, which probably doesn't exist yet in this particular Blossom, plus pointy anime sunglasses. Oh, and she has four robotic-looking arms. This rocker-chick has "from offworld" written all over her.

    She's leaning against one of the kiosks near the front with her back to the screen, one hand on the mouse and surfing the web without even looking at the screen. How's she doing that!? It's like she's a robot connected to the system via Bluetooth or something! It looks like there's a bunch of children's websites, except ... with an oddly dark and Hot Topic-y color scheme.

    She's lightly headbanging to a languid, relaxed arrange of a song from Dante's world, playing at relatively low volume so that you might not even hear it unless you were right up close. Steal a soul for a second chance ... But you will never become a man ... Still, she has the presence of mind to nod in greeting to newcomers as they arrive. She gives a particularly deep nod to Piera, waving.

    ... She's suddenly wearing a signet ring with glowing runic symbols. One that Piera should find familiar.

    It's been an interesting time, wandering around the many worlds of the Tree, for Teresa.

    There's quite a variation, with levels of technology and scales of civilization she's never really seen before. Yoma do tend to prevent large cities from forming, after all, as a matter of safety. Just so happens she's ended up here. Incidentally, while Paine might be mistaken for.. I dunno. A goth trend cosplayer, or something of that sort, there's no real explaining Teresa's appearance.

    Nor the massive sword on her back. She might not be able to avoid getting some strange looks, nor a couple of police officers accosting her. But thankfully, Teresa is an incredibly unsettling presence. Rarely does anyone accost her for very long. This world seems to have.. been exposed to off-world travelers, as well, so that helps a bit.

Walking along, she happens to sense the rather large crush of humans. Even in a crowded place like this, she can definitely smell the lot of them. "Hm. Interesting.. I wonder what this is all about?" Thusly, she makes her way in the direction of the computer shop, indeed, simply just following her nose, as it were.

    Yeah. Yeah, just looking inside the shop can't hurt right?
    Usagi and Naru head on in!
    And it's true, this Blossom is pretty used to offworlders coming to visit, so while there are quite a few stares directed at Piera, Paine, and DEFINITELY at Emily and Teresa, they are mostly left to their own devices, save for the cops that are walking away muttering to each other about how that lady gives them the heebie jeebies.
    The inside of the shop is quite large, almost oddly larger on the inside than it looked on the outside, and everything for sale is on display in neat and orderly sections. DVDs, Blu-rays, computers for productivity, super incredible high end gaming rigs, smartphones, it's easy to find anything anyone could be looking for and there sure are a lot of people.
    Oddly though some snippets of conversation might be heard here and there and they're a little concerning perhaps.
    "Yeah I got the sweetest, most expensive gaming rig they had to offer. It's great, it'll play CRYSIS on the best settings at 60 FPS!" A nerdy kid with SWIRLY EYE glasses says. "But boy am I tired... I didn't even stay up that late playing..." GURIO UMINO says with a yawn.
    "Huh. Yeah I got a new laptop for work, but I'm just so sapped lately I can't get anything productive done." A dark haired man in a suit says rubbing his eyes. KENJI TSUKINO looks pretty tired.
    "Oh, I just got a new phone. It has this great app for managing the arcade's expenses, but I crashed last night at like eight o'clock." MOTOKI FURUHATA says stifling a yawn.
    Usagi is already gravitating towards her father with stars in her eyes in hopes of begging for that new phone.
    But... It's pretty odd.
    Everyone here seems a little... Too focused on the screens. People are plugging away at the free internet on the display models and they can't take their eyes off the displays. Eyes are locked on the action movie being played on about fifteen big screens through the store, and smartphones are flying off the shelves. It's... Kind of not normal, and the atmosphere is a lot more subdued on the inside than it was from the bustle and crush outside.
    "Huhhhhh..." Naru muses. "Does anyone get the feeling like people here are a little too glued to their screens?"

    Piera looks to Emily, looks at the ring, looks back up at Emily's face, then turns away to step deeper into the store without a further word.

    Eyes lim briefly in gold, then a brow furrows. "Everyone is exhausted." she says, glancing at Aquila who nods. "This world is not at the point where exhaustion should be the norm, especially with how intense they still seem." the Shinki and Assassin seem to agree with Naru, at least.

The technology presented here is pretty interesting. It's a lot different than what Paine is used to, so it's pretty fascinating. Though the difference in the atmosphere from outside to inside is even more so. Maybe these people find these sorts of events to be more solemn? Surely not. Then what's...?

She looks to one of the screens herself, confused. But she's not immune to the trance herself. As she tries to figure out what's so fascinating about it... her thoughts start to unravel a little... and she's just... staring at the screen. Her gaze starts to dull, her features begin to relax...

*THUD*

Fortunately that's not Paine. Unfortunately it's someone else nearby, collapsing. Paine shakes her head, blinking hard. "...What?" She looks to the collapsed person, kneeling to check on them. "...Asleep? With this crowd around?"

She stands then, and starts to look around, taking stock of the area, trying to figure out what's going on. This isn't normal, is it?

    Emily keeps headbanging, still looking fixedly away from her screen, and shoots Piera finger-guns right as she turns to leave. A nod is given to Paine, another to Teresa, since they're approximately as out-of-place as she is ...

    News websites are starting to open up on the screen behind her. One article about the incident at Naru's mother's jewelry store. One about the chaos at a short-lived burger joint. A completely out-of-context photo of a haunted house on an otherwise-blank web page. A graph showing two wildly-divergent values, labeled with a smiling face near the top and an exhausted-grimacing face near the bottom and every single other item labeled "STATISTICS", in an article which just says "Statistics. Statistics statistics statistics, statistics; statistics statistics statistics" ad nauseam.

    Seems like Naru and Piera aren't the only people who've noticed something funny going on. It must be why she's been fixedly looking away from her own screen.

    Once in a crowd, Teresa mostly can blend in. At least, enough that the police stop following her around. Moreso once she steps inside, and begins to look around. It's quite the array of technology, all of which she's unfamiliar with, but admittedly curious about. She walks around, looking at all of the interesting devices, silver eyes surveying the almost alien landscape of the store's interior. There's quite a bit of sensory overload, especially for someone like her, unfamiliar with the lot of this.

    "Goodness.. No wonder humans are so helpless, when they stay so attentive to these distracting things.." She remarks to herself, with a sigh.

    Piera walks deeper into the store. ... Funny. The store... Really is a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside. It doesn't make much sense, but there's a lot of space for more gadgets and electronics than there really should be. ... And people are beginning to pass out after staring at their screens for too long.
    "W-weh!? Dad? Dad what's wrong? Dad get up, this isn't the place to fall... Asleep..." Usagi blurts as her father falls asleep on her mid-conversation about smartphones. Then Umino passes out. Then Motoki.
    Naru, who had stopped to look at a TV screen stares enraptured as she muses aloud...
    "Usagi... What was the name of this place again? Jade Electronics...?" Until she conks out and hits the floor. One by one shop patrons are starting to drop like flies and Usagi goes blue in the face with terror.
    "This is bad this is bad this is bad this is badddddd!"
    Wow look at her bail and bolt right out the door.
    Right about now one of the shop clerks approaches Piera as though nothing in the world was wrong at all.
    "Can I help you? Were you looking for parts for your shinki? We have those too!" She chirrups saccharine sweet.
    Another clerk approaches Paine and Emily. Something seems off about her as she flashes an almost mechanical smile. "Is there anything I can do for you two?"
    Just as a man approaches Teresa. He's... Well he's handsome. Very handsome. With his short blonde hair and jade green eyes, he offers the Claymore a bright smile, apparently not disturbed by her in the least.
    "My name's Jay Daito... I run this store. Can I help ~you~?"

Paine looks to the clerk that approaches, and narrows her eyes. She... pretty much instantly decides she doesn't like this lady, for some reason. Might be the Stepford smile, who knows? She crosses her arms and glares at the clerk.

"So it's completely normal for multiple people to pass out while looking at wares?" she quips. "You might want to fix that -- nobody's buying anything if they're unconscious." She's not unaware that she was almost amongst the number on the floor. Maybe that's why her tone here is particularly prickly.

    People start to drop around her, and that puts the Assassin on edge. When a shop clerk, who for all intents and purposes, looks human and is unaffacted by what's happening to everyone else, approaches her, the pair of Assassins instantly go on the defensive. "We are fine, thank you." "Just browsing." they say in almost unison, the human half of the duo pulling her hood up to hide her face, while Aqula summons her armour and closes her visor to mimic her partner.

>> SUMMARY[Piera Forta] >> Clerk: Hello there! Assassins: General Kenobi!

    Emily also peers at the almost-robotic-seeming clerk. On impulse, she sends her an electronic handshake, just to see if she really is robotic. "Greetings," she says, in her best servile-robot voice. "I am here on behalf of Master Castor Pollux ahahaha you know what I can't even finish that sentence with a straight face, or even a gay one."

    She leans back slightly as a super-fast Usagi zips by. "... Oh. We're in her homeworld?" she murmurs to no one in particular.

    She turns off the monitor, and ... projects an identical hologram in front of it. "Hey, hot stuff," she remarks to Paine, gesturing at the hologram. "If you're carrying something interesting in that suitcase of yours, you might want to get ready to have some fun with it ... because ..."

    At the same time, she transmits her findings to Piera's Shinki. <<Get ready for some action, if you aren't already, cuz ...>>

    And she eyes Jay Daito as he approaches Teresa, her eyes narrowing.

    "... I get the feeling this ain't Mr. Jay Daito's first rodeo," she says, both aloud and radioed to Aquila.

    Teresa arches a brow, and as people start passing out, draws her sword slowly. The blade itself is slightly shorter than the woman herself.
    "For now, sir? An explination would suffice. As to what you're doing, here, exactly. I must say, this sort of scene.. It's hardly what one might consider normal. Humans aren't terribly prone to passing out en-masse like this, unless something makes them." The tall blonde turns her head, glancing at Jay, silver eyes narrowing slightly. Usagi's rather hasty departure doesn't go unnoticed, and Teresa lets out a small sigh. At least one of them had the presence of mind to get out of here. For now, this person seems to be her main concern.

"Of course, there's other ways to get an answer out of you."

    There's... There's a tension in the air. Even though Jay Daito himself seems fairly relaxed, the clerks grins widen almost in unison. There's no reply to Emily's digital ping as they stare down Piera and Aquila, and Paine and Emily.
    It's Jay Daito who dips into something of a formal bow.
    "Permit me to tell you the truth then, my true name is Jadeite, one of the four Generals of the Dark Kingdom, and we're here to drain your energy for our great ruler." He explains without missing a beat.
    "Digita. Analoga. Kill them." He orders the two clerks, snapping his fingers.
    This sets them off, shedding their human guises, one woman seemingly a creature of metal and machinery, the other a construct of hard-light.
    Digita, the hard-light youma, lunges at Piera, hands turning into wicked blades.
    "If you're just here to look, then why don't you browse in hell!" She declares.
    Analoga, the machinery youma, picks up a table and flings it at Paine and Emily with the force of truck.
    Jadeite himself holds up a hand, gathering a mass of energy which lances for Teresa with deadly intent!
    MEANWHILE IN THE ALLEY BESIDE JADE ELECTRONICS:
    "Usagi! You have to transform and help them!"
    "Nuh uh! Don't wanna!" The blonde girl argues with... A small black cat.
    "There's no choice in the matter, do you want the Dark Kingdom to drain your father and friends.
    "W-well no but... It's scary."
    "I'll show you scary!"
    WAH! LUNA NOT THE CLAWS! OW OW OW MY FACE! OKAY OKAY!"

    "MOON PRISM POWER MAKE UP!"

    ...

Paine looks to Emily at the headsup. Then looks at the various clerks, and finally at Mr. Jay Daito. And then her eyes narrow. "Right. Now things make some sense."

As it turns out, she does indeed have something interesting in her suitcase. Which she then extracts -- it's one of those really big blades that warriors in her world tend to favor -- and then drops the suitcase, forgotten.

This blade is hefted up to her shoulder to rest, and her other hand goes to her hip. Then she adds her response to Teresa's words. "And you probably won't like those other ways." A shrug here. "Unless you're into that. But then that'd make you weird, so whatever."

Oh there's the truth then. Dark Kingdom? Drain their energy? that makes up Paine's mind pretty quickly -- particularly when a table comes flying at her.

Moving as quickly as she can, Paine slices at the table; if Emliy doesn't make short work of it, the sword strike will probably slice it in half.

    Hard Light blades find a steel sword, and a long dagger intercepting them, a grunt of effort from the Assassin as her weapons seem to materialize from nowhere. "I have other engagements today, another time, perhaps?" she quips. Aquila sends back a confirmation ping to Emily, as her weapons materialize and she starts firing point-blank lasers into Digita the Hardlight Youma.

    Piera holds the blade lock for a few moments, if Aquila doesn't stagger the youma, then brings a foot up to straight kick into the youma's midsection to get some space. "Dark Kingdom? This sounds more like bad comedy."

>> SUMMARY[Piera Forta] >> Sass Engine output: 40%.

    Emily raises her eyebrows. "Well, that was refreshingly straightforward," she says cheerfully. "And here I was thinking we were gonna have to wait seventeen weeks and a couple dozen fight scenes before we actually got just your name."

    Table.

    Emily shoots straight up into the air, and stands upside-down on the ceiling. "Wow, she just physicsed that thing right at us!" she says, letting Paine deal with the cutting. "Incidentally, I'm Emily, a Nyx-model Eudaemon," she says. "Nice ta meetcha, Jadeite! Releasing Ca --"

    And then she remembers who else she met for the first time on the day she met Usagi and Piera.

    "Uhh ..." She rights herself, hovering upright in midair, and strikes a dramatic pose. "Releasing Capacitor Seals 3 and 2! Shenanigans engaged!" She's surrounded by three distinct auras, one gold, one silver, and one pearlescent; the first two shatter and the third one fades, and in a burst of holographic sparkles and a swirl of what appears to be silvery glitter, she transforms. Into a girl in her twenties with silvery hair in a pixie cut, and two gigantic holographic twintails that hang unnaturally behind her. She's also wearing an outfit quite similar to the hero known as Sailor Moon, except instead of being red, navy blue, and white, this one is orange, teal, and black so dark it looks like a hole in space or a graphical glitch. "Uh, Sailor ... Cygnus X-1!" she says, making up the title on the spot.

    She then fires five bolts of golden light at the youma that threw the table. "I can't think of any sparkly attack-names, though," she adds conversationally.

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Emily transforms into SAILOR CYGNUS X-1! ... And does one of the same attacks she normally does anyway at Analoga.

    "Teresa"

    The tall woman offers her name, though she remains wholly focused on her opponent. She's not holding up her weapon, however, and as Jadeite lashes out with that attack against her, all she really does is smirk. All she needs to really do is pick up on whatever ability this is. General or no, the attack is dangerous.. but takes a moment for that energy to gather. More than long enough for someone with Teresa's unique abilities to see it coming. "Oh, you're not.." She bends oddly, her feet keeping themselves on the floor, but her upper body leaning backwards, so the attack itself goes sailing past her, and into one of the displays. ".. going to hit anything with that." She considers something for a moment, "I would imagine your eventual intent would be to kill these humans by draining them dry, no? Of course, they need to stay alive for you to do that, or it would be something of a waste, correct? It would be a shame if you keep missing.. and with that sort of attack, I can guarantee you will.. and hit one of them. That'd be a shame. Killing a human, in front of a Claymore. Especially since.." She sniffs. Like, with her nose.

"You aren't quite human yourself, hm? All that said.. why don't we proceed outside? These confines are rather tight, after all. I don't think you'd like the results of my fighting in here. Nor would all your customers."

    Teresa doesn't even wait for him to reply, as she heads for the door. "It's also a bit rude to keep a lady waiting, you know."

    It's hectic and chaotic all so fast. Digita and Piera are locked in a vicious swordfight, while Analoga bull rushes Paine and Emily!
    Digita snarls as Aquila's laser fire peppers her body but presses her assault, blade-hands lancing fast and furious. The kick gives Piera a brief respite before the digital youma takes aim and starts firing blasts of staticy energy at the assassin!
    Meanwhile elsewhere the table is slashed neatly in two by Paine and Analoga eats several of Emily's blasts to the chest with a stagger before she raises her hands and starts shooting computer parts from her body. Razor sharp microchips, keyboard keys fly at bullet speeds, and cables and cords launch out to try and tangle and snare the pair as...
    BAM! The door kicks open and Sailor Moon stands in the entryway back-lit.
    "How dare you use people's need to buy new smartphones for your nefarious ways! In the name of the moon I'll--"
    Teresa walks clean by her out the door.
    "Later, Sailor Failure. I have a date." Jadeite chuckles as he follows to take the fight outside.
    Sailor Moon goes blue in the face at the mere sight of Jadeite. But then something more important comes up.
    "S-Sailor Cygnus WHAT?" She blurts. "Y-you can't just steal my thunder like that!" She whines like a pro. But then huffs.
    "W-well! I mean if you have everything in hand though, I'll just go and- YOW!"
    She is interrupted by the black cat that bites her right on the ankle.
    Of course Jadeite isn't going to keep a lady waiting. He's also not going to play fair as eh suddenly lunges with inhuman speed, intent to collide his fist with the Claymore's midsection as soon as they're out the door.
    Sailor Moon, however, thusly prompted by her cat, joins the fray, picking up a keyboard, which she promptly breaks over Digita's head, presenting a brief opening!

    Piera grunts as that static-y energy slams into her, until she dives aside and puts some displays between her and the Hardlight Youma. Her robe smokes from the impact sites, causing her to discard that outer layer before it can properly catch fire on her. The Assassin shifts, and sneaks along the display while Sailor Moon distracts the Youma, coming around from a different angle.

    With a sharp whistle, the Servitor and her partner both lunge at Digita, the subtle SHNK of their Hidden Blades springing forth before they're plunged into what look like weak spots on the monster.

Paine's noticed that electronics tend not to like electricity. So when computer parts come flying at her, besides taking a few to some exposed skin -- her outfit presents a fair amount of that, thanks to need for mobility -- it gives her an idea.

A visible aura of energy surrounds her for a moment as she gathers her strength. "You should get a 'charge' out of this," she quips. And then as Analoga charges towards them, Paine charges to meet her. An electric spark glints briefly on the edge of her blade as Paine brings it down -- hopefully -- on Analoga.

>> SUMMARY[Paine] >> Swordplay --> Thunder Blade, Target: Analoga.

>> SUMMARY[Piera Forta] >> Distraction: $10. Sneaky Sneak: $50. Stabbing the shit out of a monster: Priceless. There are some things money can buy, for everything else, there's Hidden Blade.

    Emily laughs out loud at Teresa's offer, but she doesn't have long to laugh it up. Suddenly, she has a bunch more attacks headed her way. She snickers, swooping out of the way. "Blah, blah, blah!" she says. "I'm gonna kill all of you!" But then her expression falters, and --

    And then she freezes up at the sight of Actual Sailor Moon.

    "W-wait," she says, pointing at Sailor Moon. "Two blonde bun-heads in the entire World Tree, and both of them are from the same Blossom!?" (If the disguise-magic had emotions, it would be delighted and relieved by Emily's total lack of common sense.) She grimaces. "... Also, y'know what, that murderous-magical-girl joke was, like super uncomfortable for some reason." In a swirl of silvery nanomachines, she's now wearing a pinstripe waistcoat and slacks, a white buttondown shirt with a bright red necktie. Oh, and the pointy sunglasses are back, too. The holographic twintails have become even more massive, moving into a curlicue styling.

    "There we go," she says. "Anyway, I'm gonna kill all of you!" She raises the hand with the signet ring. In a two-dozen-foot-wide sphere centered on the ring, the world inverts colors for a split second, and then everything freezes as time stops -- but everyone within and without can still see Emily's movements.

    She floats down towards Analoga from the opposite side of Paine, and activates another five bolts at point blank range. They, too, become frozen in time. "Okay, I can't lightning, but lessee if I can manage a --" The sphere inverts colors for another split-second, and time resumes. "Nope, never mind," she says, as the bolts resume their very short flight.

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Bad jokes, changing to a different appearance, time-stop, and lasers.

    Teresa grunts a bit, as that fist hits her in the stomach, sending her skidding back several meters, and into the street. She backs up a bit more, to avoid some of the traffic. Or at least, the traffic that doesn't have time to stop. The commotion now outside, vehicles begin halting around the outside of the store. "That.. was also rather rude. Goodness. I don't think I've been hit that hard, in a while, though." She smiles again, grasping her sword with both hands, raising it at Jadedite.

    "So.. I suppose I should treat you a bit more seriously." Her eyes narrow slightly, and there's a sudden wave of.. well. It's hard to say just what it is. The sort of feeling you might get, in a dangerous situation, that makes your hair stand on end. Whatever 'it' is, Teresa is undoubtedly the source. "I doubt many people know what a Claymore is, just yet. Allow me to demonstrate."

    Teresa takes a step forward, firmly enough that the act of doing so, and whatever intense aura is around her, makes the pavement beneath it spider-web, like someone had applied too much pressure to a piece of glass. But that one step is all she needs to close the distance.. several meters at least.. between herself and Jadeite. Which gives him very little time to get out of the way of that very large sword.

>> SUMMARY[Teresa] >> Crazy strong combat aura. Just about everyone can feel it.

    Oh god oh god oh god- that youma looks pissed after Sailor Moon smashed that keyboard over its head. With Piera sneaking around to another angle this leaves the youma a moment to menace the senshi, who...
    Well.
    "Uwah! Wait wait wait time out!"
    She panics. Picking up and hurling computers and displays and junk at the youma-- she at least makes for a good distraction as Piera and Aquila leap in, hidden blades flashing and hitting vital places.
    Digita turns to dust in an instant.
    This gives Sailor Moon a moment to wheel around on Emily.
    "There is NO WAY you're from the same blossom as me, stop playing around, you're not being funnyyyyyy!"
    Meanwhile, Analoga isn't having good time, either.
    Time freezes.
    Time resumes again.
    Emily's energy bolts slam into the youma from behind, point blank, making her smolder and lurch-- right into Paine's electrified blade.
    "Nooooo!" The youma shrieks.
    ... As she's also reduced to ash.
    MEANWHILE OUTSIDE:
    Jadeite spends a beat cracking his knuckles and looking smug after that blow. But then Teresa says she's going to take him more seriously.
    "Oh good. I wouldn't have it any other way."
    That street is going to need some fresh concrete for repairs, but Jadeite, seemingly thinking he can tank the blow of the Claymore's great blade, steps forward to meet her...
    It's a tense and dramatic moment as the two collide, that mighty sword meeting the fist of one of the Four Heavenly Kings- one of the Generals of the Dark Kingdom.
    And in that moment Jadeite's expression shifts from one of arrogant victory to an intense scowl as the sheer overwhelming force of Teresa's blade slams him so hard that he's launched away- quite some distance in fact- only to vanish from sight before he can impact the ground.
    "This will not be the last you've heard of me!" His voice can be heard, disembodied in the air before fading angrily.
    This leaves Sailor Moon to flop to her knees with a huff.
    "Is... Is it over...? And more importantly, are there still lay-away plans on that super cool smartphone???"

The timestop is briefly concerning, but seems to not have affected Paine's Thunder Blade landing on its target. Poof! The youma turns to ash. Paine frowns. "...Fiends in this place too?" she mutters.

Okay whoa that is some seriously bad juju. Paine turns in the direction of Teresa's aura -- Teresa being outside and Paine being inside, she doesn't quite see where it's coming from -- and turns to run outside, to check on it.

She arrives to find Jadeite disappearing with that 'you haven't seen the last of me'. Paine just kind of rolls her eyes, and rests her blade on her shoulder again. "...That it? For now, at least."

A look to Sailor Moon then, as the latter flops to her knees. "...You okay?" she asks. Paine herself doesn't seem to be terribly winded, but she's bleeding from a handful of wounds. None of them appear serious, though.

    Piera drops to the ground, like she were atop a corpse, even through the Youma vanished into ash almost instantly. She stays there for a second or two, then stands, retracting her Hidden Blade and looking at Sailor Moon. "Your world is in great danger... your enemy serves one even greater." she moves to retrieve her robe, donning it and pulling the hood up over her face. "Remember the name: Queen Beryl." she says over her shoulder, before she whistles sharply for Aquila to join her on the way out. She does pause at where Digita was. "Requiescat en pace... may you find some solace in oblivion."

    Emily strikes a pose. "Booyeah!" she exclaims. "Whoa, what --" Her head whips around at the force of Teresa's ... well, practically an explosion of presence, from her perspective. "What was that!?" she exclaims, and then cackles.

    Sailor Moon gives her pause. "No, no, not me," she says. "One, my hair is silver right now. I meant some schoolgirl who I met in the same Blossom where I met you for the first time, a little while before you showed up."

    She clearly doesn't realize she's talking to the schoolgirl in question.

    "And I know I wasn't being funny, that's why I changed into, uh ..." Her voice trails off. "Uh ..." She glances between Paine and Sailor Moon. "Are you okay?" she asks worriedly.

    She materializes a pinstripe hat to go with her getup, and tips it to Piera. "Good intel," she says. "I have no idea how you got it, but good intel." She pauses as Piera passes by. "We'll have to catch up sometime for a chat, too," she adds in a low voice.

    Teresa lets out a huff of disappointment, as Jadeite decides he's had enough, after that.

    The Claymore gives her sword a ligttle flourish, before storing it behind her back, again. The unsettling aura around her also fades, and she glances at Paine, as she comes outside to get a look at things. "Gone, yes. Not for good, it sounds like." She sighs again, through her nose this time, and glances at the other blonde with the odango hairstyle and long twintails. "My my. A bit late to the party, but I suppose hetter late than never." She smirks a bit, and shrugs her shoulders a bit.

"At the very least, I think we intervened soon enough, that no one should be all that worse for wear."

    Everything has gotten quiet now. The store, sans its evil clerks almost as silent as a tomb, while people begin to mill and gather outside, peeking in, in typical nosy mob fashion.
    "... Queen Beryl...? Where have I heard that name before?" Luna, the cat muses, one paw lifting to her chin in thought. It's a troubling reveal, for the Great Enemy to have a name now. But Sailor Moon... Well. She doesn't quite care about that.
    A big bead of sweat rolls down the side of her brow at Emily and she opts to not break her cover as That Girl.
    "A-ahem! Right! Her! Yeah! ... Who?"
    Just act stupid Usagi.
    ...
    Ahem.
    "I'm- I'm fine." Sailor Moon does manage after a second, picking herself up as the unconscious store goers begin to stir and groan and awaken. They should all be fine with some minor medical attention and some rest.
    "We should uhhhhh probably get out of here." She does suggest before pouting massively at Teresa.
    That's right! Better late than never!

    Piera doesn't address Emily's wonderings on how she knows what she related. Instead, she says as she passes. "Indeed..." she glances from the shadow of her hood. "We should." The look isn't one of anger, or treat... it's one that's /tired/ in a way beyond physical and mental.

    That glance is emotionally drained, but the 'why' is not obvious.

    Once she's outside, she glances over her shoulder for a moment, before stepping into the crowd, and vanishing into it.

>> SUMMARY[Piera Forta] >> A Blade in the Crowd. Hidden in Plain Sight.

Paine nods to Emily. "I've had worse injuries," she dismisses. Pause. "...But thanks for the concern." It sounds a little awkward, honestly, but hey, she's trying, right?

Oh right uh. People with big swords tend to draw attention in a population that doesn't normally carry them, doesn't it? So Paine goes and retrieves the suitcase she was carrying her sword in. When she exits again, the sword is back in place.

"Well. Interesting party," she comments. A wave to all assembled. "Take care, I guess. It's been weird." And there she goes, away from the party.

    Emily furrows her brow at Sailor Moon's odd behavior, then shrugs. Well, whatever, she'd doing well enough from what she's seen. Certainly considerably less odd than Emily's behavior.

    She strolls on out. "I guess I'll be getting-away in my own direction," she says cheerfully. At a gesture, a staticky portal opens up, with a nearby rooftop visible on the other side. She smirks faintly at Teresa. "Man, I should've made myself a sword, too!" she remarks. "See ya later, alligator!"