Well, yeah. I was kind of referring back to that whole debacle when the Transformation Pen turned Usagi into her past life and she ended up walking into the middle of a street and almost got hit by a car.
"The world most powerful magical girl's daughter is reincarnated in another world as the demon queen", coming to dodgy light novel translation sites near you.
You've gotta remember: under normal circumstances, only one person's gonna be walking away from that crash anyway. I'd imagine getting utterly no-sold by a tiny little preteen girl while going at standard traffic speeds doesn't exactly do good things to Truck-kun's poor driver.
You've gotta remember: under normal circumstances, only one person's gonna be walking away from that crash anyway. I'd imagine getting utterly no-sold by a tiny little preteen girl while going at standard traffic speeds doesn't exactly do good things to Truck-kun's poor driver.
...Also, you just gave me this image of tiny four-year old Usagi watching her favorite show, only for that episode to air and send her into an uncontrollable crying fit, while her mother is very confused (she didn't see the episode at all.)
...Actually, now that I think about it...did Usagi ever find out about Naru almost getting Isekai'd, then saved?
When Naru first met Haruka and Michiru she almost walked out into traffic because she was distracted by Pandora's memories starting to come up and tease her but not strongly enough for her to know wtf was going on. Haruka pulled her back.
When Naru first met Haruka and Michiru she almost walked out into traffic because she was distracted by Pandora's memories starting to come up and tease her but not strongly enough for her to know wtf was going on. Haruka pulled her back.
You've gotta remember: under normal circumstances, only one person's gonna be walking away from that crash anyway. I'd imagine getting utterly no-sold by a tiny little preteen girl while going at standard traffic speeds doesn't exactly do good things to Truck-kun's poor driver.
The main threatmarks come to a bit under a million words. The sidestories add another fifth to that. It is very hard to remember all the little details.
[X][PLAN] Operation: Peachtree Oasis, Mercury slingshot
- [X] Sailor Venus Goes to Kibougahana
- [X] Sailor Mercury Goes to Uminari
-[x] Sailor Moon Goes to Uminari
- [X] Sailor Mars Goes to Kibougahana
- [X] Sailor Jupiter Goes to Uminari
-[x] Sailor Uranus Goes to Yotsuba City
-[x] Sailor Neptune Goes to Yotsuba City
-[x] Optional: Specify modes of transit: have Mercury teleport Venus and Mars to Kibougahana then return to Uminari.
Sunday, June 14th
Usagi takes her own shuddering breath, forcing herself to stop and think and princess and not scream. "Okay... It'll take a moment, but I'll make sure to get someone up there to help you. I'm not letting you fight something that can make people disappear without back up," Usagi says firmly.
A few quick clicks of the communicator's buttons bring Usagi back to Ami's circuit, and do more than that- she can hear faint chimes she's learned to recognize as the other Senshi starting to connect.
"Sailor Scouts, fall in. We've got... problems."
"Naru here." Usagi's best friend answers first. "I don't know what the problems are, but I'm already helping MCAT with something far out of town. You're going to have to handle this without me for now, sorry."
Usagi laughs, her tone a little nervous and there is a tinge of something stressed and strained to it as well. "I'm gonna guess that you aren't near any TVs either. Don't worry, you handle whatever you're working on. This looks to be fighty stuff, and I know that you don't like to fight. So that's fine." The tinge of Usagi's voice makes it clear that not everything is completely fine. "Everyone else, here's the deal."
Police Superintendent Natsuda Sakurada watches Usagi's entire posture shift between one breath and the next. The relatively ordinary girl that she'd just been speaking with has vanished, and in her place is someone with the resolve and stance of a veteran police officer - One of the good ones. The girl's shoulders firm up. Her eyes gain a sharpness and a definition that wasn't there a moment ago.
Even without the magical clothing and the strange spells that protect her identity, this isn't the same person anymore. This isn't Usagi Tsukino, mild-mannered youngster trying to help a troubled friend on a Sunday afternoon. This is Sailor Moon, the head of the Crystal Millennium, and leader of the Sailor Senshi.
And speaking into the little communicator watch with the firmness Natsuda likes to think she can manage in a crisis herself, she begins to speak.
"We have three major crises to deal with. First is Uminari City. Massive skyscraper-sized trees have burst through street and buildings, causing heavy property damage. Cures Bright and Windy are on scene, as is MCAT and emergency services." There are a handful of quiet sounds of understanding that come from the communicator, but it is clear that Sailor Moon hasn't finished speaking yet. "This is clearly not an ordinary situation. We may be needed to deal with any... complications if this turns out to be the work of the Dark Kingdom, or anyone else dangerous enough to be a problem on their own. While no casualties have been reported yet, if this isn't stopped it is only a matter if time before that changes. Mercury, Jupiter, you're with me. We'll handle it."
"Yes, Ma'am!" Sailor Jupiter's voice comes through the communicator, loud and clear.
Sailor Mercury's reply is a bit more restrained- "Understood."
"Second, Kibougahana." Sailor Moon starts to say, calmly speaking over Sailor Venus's quiet cursing in English. "The rattle hasn't given us many details. Venus, Mars, I'm afraid you'll be going in blind. I wish that I had more information for you; you'll need it. Mercury, can you drop them off by the Botanical Gardens?"
"I ran the numbers for the the dial in when you showed me the letter." Mercury confirms.
"Thanks, Mercury. Venus, you know what to do?"
"Yes ma'am." Venus says quickly, like a soldier speaking with a general. "Tensnips has given the address. We'll try to find him or Cure Flower as quickly as we can. You can count on us!" And as Sailor Venus ends on that cheeful note, Sakurada hears a grunt of acceptance- Probably from Sailor Mars.
The superintendent has no idea who this 'Tensnips' or 'Cure Flower' are, but then... She supposes that that is the whole point of code names.
"Which just leaves Uranus and I to handle this third problem then?" Sakurada doesn't recognize this voice, but by process of elimination, that has to be Sailor Neptune.
Usagi is quiet for just a moment. "Yes. Cure Peach and her friends in Yotsuba town are under attack. All I know for certain at the moment is that whatever is happening caused Peach's mother to vanish right before the girl's eyes."
There is a moment of silence, before something audibly crunches. "I... See." Another new voice says, angry and cold. If the previous voice was Neptune, then this has to be Sailor Uranus, and the girl sounds absolutely furious. "If you will excuse us Princess, we need to go and check on Peach."
Neptune sighs softly, and Sakurada has the feeling that the girl is shaking her head. "Oh dear. That would be something of a sore spot for Uranus." Neptune explains quietly. "It isn't something that she likes to talk about, so I am not surprised that you didn't know. I'll make sure that she doesn't end up going too far."
"...Thank you." Usagi says simply, before she blinks and her eyes focus down on the communicator once more. "One last thing. Neptune, Uranus. When you get your hands on whoever is responsible for this, I want you to keep hold of them. That girl we encountered last time managed to get away from the Yotsuba town police, and I'd quite prefer that anyone who could do something like this ends up properly in the hands of MCAT so that they can't get away."
There is a little part of Sakurada that wants to complain about the fact that Usagi is all but assuming that the police won't be able to keep hold of whoever the Senshi capture, but the fact of the matter is that it isn't her police department, and more than that from the sounds of it whoever caught them last time couldn't keep hold of the criminal before.
"Senshi." Usagi says firmly, almost glaring down at the communicator on her wrist. "You all have your missions. Don't let me down."
Then, right as Usagi before Usagi closes the line there comes one final click. "Princess." Another new voice answers, and from the look on Usagi's face she wasn't expecting this one. "Κόρε Πλούτων reporting for duty. Egyptian agents are going to be using the commotion to try something at the Crystal Millennium building. You don't have to worry about it, I'll handle it."
A beat of silence, before Usagi smiles softly. "Thank you, Pluto."
"It isn't an issue, Princess. I just want to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as it can, for what time I have left." That... That is definitely a statement, and before Usagi has a chance to try and ask anything about what Pluto might mean about that, the line goes dead.
Usagi sighs, something that is half a huff and half a laugh. "I hate it when she does that." Shaking her head, Usagi glances over to Sakurada. "Alright, you've not called a car yet, right? Would you like a lift to the station?" Usagi asks.
The superintendent doesn't even need a moment to think, already shaking her head. "No. Usagi, I'll be fine. You need to go. The city needs you." There is a part of Usagi that wants to argue, but at the same time she knows just as well as the Superintendent does that Sakurada is right. The city needs Sailor Moon right now, and if someone were to get hurt because she was hanging back and taking Sakurada back to the police station...
Well, Usagi would never forgive herself. "Stay safe." Usagi says instead, and Sakurada just laughs. "I'm the one returning to a cozy office to give orders from the back. I should be saying that to you." She says..
The two leaders give each other one final look, a nod, and then Usagi turns and with a cry of "Moon Prism Power! Make Up! Sailor Teleport!" There is a flash of light, and the girl is gone. Piercing through the darkness of the unreality and back into the physical world, Sailor Moon only spends a fraction of a moment staring out into the distance, eyes locking on a distant point.
Without even uttering the words she twists her magic once more and dives into the infinite nothingness of the space below the universe again. It isn't even a moment between her diving below and pushing back into the real again. Over and over, so quickly that the times she passes below are less than even the blink of an eye. In a way the changing surroundings around Usagi look more like a movie that is missing frames. The world stutters and jumps, the buildings changing and jerking forwards and past the girl as she continues to stutter forwards through the sky so quickly that there isn't time for gravity to try and grab hold of the girl. the combination of inertia and teleportation tugging at her skin and her clothes like a small child trying to get her attention.
Despite the short distance that Usagi is trying to cross, it still takes a few minutes to travel the dozens and dozens of kilometers across Tokyo to Uminari city.
The first time that the girl's stuttering teleportation brings her close enough to get eyes on the situation, Usagi is struck silent and dumb for a long moment.
It might be one thing to hear about a disaster happening somewhere, but it is something entirely different to actually see the situation with her own eyes.
Usagi's eyes are wide as she watches the massive still growing trees writhe their branches back and forth through the air as the roots continue to spread at impossible speeds. With each passing moment the heavy, truck sized roots continue to spread, ripping through asphalt and sidewalk and stone and steel. By now, gravity has started to take it's toll, and Usagi begins to fall from the skies. The girl barely notices, focusing on the way that some pieces of the massive root system seems to twist and turn upwards towards the heavens before they continue to grow - These upwards facing roots fatten and thicken as they begin to extrude out thinner branches each the size of a human chest and leaves begin to bloom.
This... This isn't a grove of massive trees the way that Usagi originally expected from what Ami said, Usagi notes as she casually stutters back up a few feet into the air, bleeding off the speed and kinetic energy of her fall. No.
This is all a single massive tree. One titanic plant that stretches through much of Uminari City. What is worse still is that Usagi realizes something as she watches one of the roots rip upwards through an empty street, tossing an empty mini-van into the air, the vehicle crumpling as it lands on its side.
There is no way that everyone is going to get out of this okay.
Ami might have said over the communicator that there haven't been any casualties reported yet, but just a glance at the sheer amount of destruction, and Usagi knows that that isn't going to be true for long. There are definitely people already in trouble, and it is all too likely that there are people who are already dead.
It is a bitter thing to think, but it is all but guaranteed to be true at this point. The only thing that Usagi can do at the moment is work to make sure that the list of dead and injured stays as small as possible. But in order to do that she is going to need a plan. Casting her eyes across the chaos once more, Usagi starts to try and find the tallest building that she can find that hasn't been damaged to work from, and as she lays eyes on a good spot the world flickers once more as her power reacts to her thoughts and emotions.
Sailor Moon's heels click on the rooftop as she teleports down, and takes a breath.
Even standing on the rooftop of a skyscraper, Usagi is still finding herself looking upwards at the trees. This this is impossibly massive, larger than any single tree that Usagi has ever seen before, even discounting the fact that all of the trunks are a single organism.
How in the world is she supposed to try and handle something like this?
A light flickers at the edge of Usagi's vision, and glancing over Usagi watches as Ami and Makoto appear. Each of the senshi's heels clack as they land softly on the rooftops.
"Venus and Mars have been dropped off in Kibougahana." Mercury says with a short nod to Usagi.
Sailor Jupiter whistles, taking a moment to lean back and get a good look at the whole of the massive tree directly in front of them.
"That is one heck of a tree." She says, while Mercury's eyes trail across the streets and through all the damage that has been done so far.
"You're more right than you know." Usagi says quickly, as she tries to figure out how to approach the situation. "This is just one tree. All the roots are connected together with whole trunks sprouting up out of the streets."
That statement catches Mercury's attention, the girl dragging her eyes up from the streets to stare at Usagi for a moment, before she brings a hand up to her ear and summons the visor of the Mercury Terminal. "Oh... That... That is not good." Mercury says quietly as she drags her gaze off into the distance one way, then the other.
Not having any idea what Mercury might mean, Usagi hisses before she does the only thing that she can. "How bad is it?"
"The roots here at the surface are just the start of it." Mercury says, the girl's eyes trailing out over the distance. There is something in her face that makes Usagi think that they need to move, and move fast or else the situation is just going to get out of hand. "There are more roots. Thicker roots." Mercury explains. "They've been pushing down while the others grow, and about a half a kilometer down they started to turn outwards to grow away from the core. The problem is that they've also started turning back upwards, kilometers out from here. They are growing towards the surface." Usagi goes pale as she realizes what Mercury is saying, and what she means. Before the girl has a chance to try and get any more details from Mercury, Jupiter speaks first.
"You can't seriously mean that these trees could start growing elsewhere?" Jupiter asks, sounding horrified by the possibility. Ami sighs, but nods. With a growl Jupiter's eyes crackle and she slams her fists together with enough force that the crack of the impact roars like thunder. "Right. We've got to stop this before that happens."
The only question is how? Usagi doesn't have an answer yet, and she takes one more moment of looking out over the trees and the destruction as she puts a plan together in her head.
There has to be a way to stop this, especially before things get even more out of hand and more of these monstrous trees end up sprouting elsewhere in Japan or the rest of the world. If this is something magical, then there is almost certainly some kind of center point for the spell to be building from. If the Senshi can find that, then they might be able to take it down and shut down all of this without anyone else getting hurt.
At the same time, there is also the issue of the massive amounts of damage that have been done to the city, and the civilians that are all but certain to have been trapped in some of these buildings that are likely only standing because of the roots running through them at this point. Removing the trees would cause them to collapse, and if something isn't doing about that, then those lives are going to be lost.
On top of that, Usagi glances around, barely managing to catch sight of a pair of glimmering lights arcing through the skies, diving and weaving through one set of branches as arcs of power snap out from them. Cure Bright and Cure Windy are here too. So they might be able to help with some of this as well. There are just so many things happening.
Maybe one of the Senshi should head over to them to try and see if the two younger magical girls have learned anything in the time that they have been fighting the foliage.
Finally, Usagi knows that Ami mentioned that both MCAT and emergency services have arrived in the city as well. If those services work anything like Usagi thinks they do, then they have probably tried to set up a triage station somewhere near the roots but not in the direct path of them. It should be possible for the Senshi to look around and find them. They might know something, or have come up with their own plans that the Senshi can help with.
The biggest issue at the moment is that there are just so many things all happening at the same time, which means that there are going to have to be parts of the perfect plan that Usagi hasn't come up with yet that would need to be put to the side in order to focus on the most important things at the moment.
Regardless, no matter how dangerous the situation the Senshi are going to do their best.
[ ][Plan] Plan Name Go here
- [ ] In five hundred words or less give a general idea of what you are wanting the Senshi to do.
OR
Search for the Core
-- Search for the Core of the massive tree. Until the core is found it may not be possible to stop all of this.
Search and Rescue
-- With the sheer amount of destruction that has been caused, there have to be people still trapped inside of the damaged buildings and overturned cars. Getting them out and to help means cutting down the casualties significantly.
Triage
-- Emergency Services have to have set up a triage station with the help of MCAT. If a Senshi who can heal can get there, then there is a chance of vastly increasing the chances of survival for the injured.
Bright and Windy
-- Cures Bright and Windy are on the scene. Getting to them means gaining access to another two pairs of hands and possibly more information about everything that is going on.
Pruning the Trees
-- The massive trees that have sprouted up across the city have massive dangerous razor sharp leaves. Letting those things continue to grow only increases the chance of something going wrong and causing more destruction. Pruning the trees back might slow the growth of the roots too... Maybe?
MCAT
-- MCAT are allies, and they might have some ideas that the Senshi haven't thought of yet. Getting their help might be a good idea.
Root Rot
-- The roots continue to spread, and the further they reach, the more damage they cause. Going after the roots means slowing the destruction.
Something More
-- In two hundred words or less explain what you are wanting this particular Senshi to do.
[ ][Plan] Plan Name Goes Here
- [ ][UsagiACT1] Choose an Action
- [ ][UsagiACT2] Choose an Action
- [ ][AmiACT1] Choose an Action
- [ ][AmiACT2] Choose an Action
- [ ][MakoACT1] Choose an Action
- [ ][MakoACT2] Choose an Action
[X][Plan] Plan Winds of Mercury
- [X][UsagiACT1] Triage
- [X][UsagiACT2] MCAT
- [X][AmiACT1] Search for the Core
- [X][AmiACT2] Bright and Windy
- [X][MakoACT1] Pruning the Trees
- [X][MakoACT2] Root Rot
I think this plays well to the abilities of everyone on the scene.
[X][Plan] Operation: Rubber Tree Plant
- [x]UsagiACT1: Triage
- [x]UsagiACT2: Pruning The Trees
- [x]AmiACT1: MCAT
- [x]AmiACT2: Search For The Core
- [x]MakoACT1: Bright and Windy
- [x]MakoACT2: Root Rot
Usagi is best healer, and she is fast with cutting making her best for Triage and Pruning.
Ami is best for searching and coordinating with MCAT. That way MCAT can be on Search and Rescue while Mercury tries to find the core.
That leaves Jupiter for doing what she does best and dealing with the root of the problem, and also looping in Bright and Windy who can also help with search and rescue or pruning.
She can't do both simultaneously though, and it states pruning may help slow roots, so if someone is on top while another is below it's the best way to attack.
I'm not seeing anything that says this. Maybe there's synergy instead. And if you think slowing the roots requires getting under the tree then she also can't loop in the precures while she's doing that.
...Okay? So either way she's doing two things, and either way she's not doing the things simultaneously. How is that an argument to take Jupiter off tree duty for an action? Trees are her Thing.