Okay, here is the reworked bit leading up to the meeting, and the meeting itself. Let me know what you think.
----
The adults (most of them) waited at the foot of the driveway that they had just reached while the youngsters (and a few of the adults) went trick-or-treating. Ami continued, "How do we make contact with them without it turning into a fight?"
"I think I can manage that," said Ben. "After all, I got Sousuke Sagara to come quietly. Granted, that was probably because Teletha and Kaname there as well. Kaname was actually the harder sell. And they do want me to come back. If nothing else, then that will be the time for me to lower the boom."
"But since she knows who Sailor Moon is, then you could go introduce yourselves," Akia suggested.
"Hang on," interrupted Minako. "She's coming this way. No, she's headed for the kids!" Minako and Ami both got their transformation brooches out, and Ami waved at Chibi-Usa.
"Stay frosty everyone," said Ben. "This might be nothing."
The youngsters picked up their pace and rejoined the others just before Fate arrived. She looked straight at Diana. "Hayate! You're here! We've been so ... Oh. I'm sorry. I thought you were somebody else. Where did you get that costume?"
Diana smiled. "I made it."
"Your costume is pretty good, too, but there's a couple of things wrong," Chibi-Usa said before Diana could continue. "The pin on your bow isn't right, and Usagi-mama doesn't wear ribbons in her hair."
"Usagi-mama?"
Ben slapped a hand over his face, but otherwise said nothing. The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley.
Chibi-Usa looked around to make sure nobody was watching (except for the other trick-or-treaters), grinned and grabbed her locket from her pocket. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" A moment later, Sailor Chibi Moon was standing where Chibi-Usa had been a moment earlier. Diana transformed into her cat form and jumped onto Chibi-Moon's shoulder.
The pin on Fate's bow chose that moment to say "MAGICAL REACTION DETECTED" - because the girl was standing there with her mouth half-open in amazement.
Chibi-Moon looked straight at Fate's pin. "Hello, I'm Chiba Usagi, or Sailor Chibi-Moon."
"BARDICHE."
"Happy to meet you!"
The blonde finally regained her wits. "Er... and I'm Fate Testarossa. Pleased to meet you."
"And I'm Diana!"
"Hello, Diana. I'm pleased to meet you. Are you her familiar?"
"No, I'm her friend. Can we be friends, too?"
Miyuki chose that moment to make plain to the others that she was there. "I think we should be friends. Are you all... well, magical girls?"
River grinned. "Don't we look the part?"
Ben rolled his eyes. "Well, some of us have the wrong chromosomes for it, though that's discounting the Sailor Stars."
Miyuki spluttered at that, causing the others to giggle. Ben then sighed. "Well, that blows our cover. I'm pretty sure your folks would dearly love to know what's going on - especially if Fate wants to come to our Halloween party. And if Fate is coming, I'm pretty sure Nanoha wants to come, too."
Miyuki sobered quickly and gave Ben a very hard look, one that completely annihilated her nadeshiko yoroshiku facade.
"Benjamin comes with me. And only one other."
"Minako," said Ben right away.
"Why me?" asked the Senshi.
"Because you were originally Princess Serenity's body double so you know the bodyguard job to a T."
Minako blanched at that. "You know, sometimes I forget about how much you guys know about us."
Ben shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry."
"It's okay, Ben. I'll go with you."
"What about the rest of us?" asked Brent.
"Take everyone else to the streets you haven't hit up yet, then meet me back here."
---
Benjamin and Minako followed Miyuki and Fate to the back door of the Midoriya where Miyuki knock twice. Within a few seconds, the door opened and Shiro appeared with a concerned look on his face.
"Inside everyone. Quickly please."
They all filed in and found themselves in the Midoriya's stock room. Momoko and Kyouya were already there, and it was not lost on Ben that they had their ninjato sheathed at their sides.
"I apologize, everyone," said Ben, starting with no preamble. "It wasn't my intention to mislead or frighten anyone."
"Alright," said Shiro. "Do you know what is happening?"
Ben nodded. "I understand this is going to sound crazy, but you're in a parallel universe. Something happened to the whole of creation, and while the higher powers have been working to fix it, people like you have been arriving here, like driftwood washing ashore."
Shiro nodded thoughtfully. "I thought it might be something like that. How do you figure into this, though?"
"Well, everyone that's been showing up so far are people who, in our world, are characters in works of fiction. For example, Aino-san here is actually Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon."
"If that's true," said Momoko, "Then I'd like to see you transform."
"Of course," said Minako. She raised her henshin stick into the air and said, "Venus Star Power - Make Up!"
Ben kept his eyes averted while, in a flash of rainbow light, Aino Minako became Sailor Venus.
"MAGIC REACTION CONFIRMED," stated Bardiche for everyone to hear. "SEARCHING INTERNET. VERIFIED: 99.99% CERTAINTY IT IS SAILOR VENUS."
"Oh my gosh," said Momoko quietly from behind her hand. Suddenly she had to take out her handkerchief because her eyes had suddenly overflowed with tears. "Oh, please forgive me. When I was a little girl, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon was my favorite manga."
The other Takamachis and Fate gave Momoko mildly surprised looks, then looked to Sailor Venus again.
"Well," said Shiro, "since it seems you're the real thing, I guess you're safe enough. Nanoha, it's okay. You can come out now."
With that, Nanoha came in from the back office, clad in her barrier jacket and carrying Raising Heart in its staff mode.
"I knew he couldn't be a bad person," said Nanoha happily. "Rodes'-san felt too nice to me."
Ben was glad she felt that way. He'd hate to be on the business end of one of her 'befriendings'.
"We understand, Nanoha," said Kyouya kindly. "But sometimes you have to check to make sure."
"It's alright," said Ben. "I kinda have that effect on people for some reason. Probably why I'm stuck with this job."
"What job is that?" asked Shiro.
"Basically, I've been brought in to help people like you - to make sure that you're happy, safe, and do not attract any undue attention."
"We seem to be doing okay," said Shiro, arching an eyebrow.
"You guys were lucky," said Ben. "Sailor Venus and her friends showed up in Canada with just the clothing on their back and little else."
At everyone's shocked looks, Minako nodded. "He's right. We were worried about how we were going to get by, let alone get back home again, when Donaldson-san found us and took us in."
"Who is Donaldson-san?" asked Miyuki.
"Another person like me," said Ben. "He manages an apartment complex up in Ottawa. Anyhow... The girls outside, I know they're gonna want to invite Fate and Nanoha to this party of ours. And really, I don't mind, even though I imagine you'd like to come with us. It's not a bad idea, I think, because most of the displacees are there right now, so you'd have a chance to meet everyone and get a better handle on the situation."
"Benjamin," said Shiro, all business, "do you know why this is happening?"
"I do," said Ben reticently. "It's just embarrassing for the person responsible. They're a good person and usually mean well, so I won't name any names. Instead, I'll just say that someone broke the computer that helps manage the multiverse, and until it gets fixed, this is the situation we're in."
"A computer?" asked Shiro, raising an eyebrow.
"You know about Ah! Megami-sama?"
"That's REAL!?" cried out Miyuki.
"Very real. In fact, Belldandy is taking a day off from working on the Yggdrasil so she can enjoy the party with Keiichi. You folks can meet her and get the word from the horse's mouth if you want."
Shiro looked to Momoko and a silent conversation took place between the two. Ben knew that what appeared to be very slight bits of fidgeting was actually a very subtle form of sign language.
"Alright," said Shiro at last. "I would like to accompany you to this party. And if Fate and Nanoha wish to, they can come as well."
"Really? We can!?" said Nanoha excitedly.
"I don't see why you can't," said Momoko. "In fact, Kyouya, Miyuki?"
"Yes mother?" the two choroused.
"Do you think you two will be fine with closing the shop by yourselves tonight?"
"It will be no problem," said Kyouya, and Miyuki nodded as well.
"Thank you," said Momoko, who turned back to Ben and Sailor Venus. "In that case, I'll be coming with you..." She suddenly turned a little pink and said, "Do you think you can introduce me to Tsukino-sama?"
Sailor Venus smiled broadly. "Of course I can. Usagi will be happy to meet a fan."
"I'm gonna go get into my costume real fast," said Nanoha quickly. "Fate-chan, can you come upstairs and help me?"
"Sure," agreed Fate, with understated enthusiasm.
"Do you guys have your own car," asked Ben, "or are you going to need a ride?"
"We'll be able to drive," said Shiro. "We'll just follow you. The traffic here is a little hectic, but it's nothing I can't handle."
---
Soooo, how's about that?
----
The adults (most of them) waited at the foot of the driveway that they had just reached while the youngsters (and a few of the adults) went trick-or-treating. Ami continued, "How do we make contact with them without it turning into a fight?"
"I think I can manage that," said Ben. "After all, I got Sousuke Sagara to come quietly. Granted, that was probably because Teletha and Kaname there as well. Kaname was actually the harder sell. And they do want me to come back. If nothing else, then that will be the time for me to lower the boom."
"But since she knows who Sailor Moon is, then you could go introduce yourselves," Akia suggested.
"Hang on," interrupted Minako. "She's coming this way. No, she's headed for the kids!" Minako and Ami both got their transformation brooches out, and Ami waved at Chibi-Usa.
"Stay frosty everyone," said Ben. "This might be nothing."
The youngsters picked up their pace and rejoined the others just before Fate arrived. She looked straight at Diana. "Hayate! You're here! We've been so ... Oh. I'm sorry. I thought you were somebody else. Where did you get that costume?"
Diana smiled. "I made it."
"Your costume is pretty good, too, but there's a couple of things wrong," Chibi-Usa said before Diana could continue. "The pin on your bow isn't right, and Usagi-mama doesn't wear ribbons in her hair."
"Usagi-mama?"
Ben slapped a hand over his face, but otherwise said nothing. The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley.
Chibi-Usa looked around to make sure nobody was watching (except for the other trick-or-treaters), grinned and grabbed her locket from her pocket. "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" A moment later, Sailor Chibi Moon was standing where Chibi-Usa had been a moment earlier. Diana transformed into her cat form and jumped onto Chibi-Moon's shoulder.
The pin on Fate's bow chose that moment to say "MAGICAL REACTION DETECTED" - because the girl was standing there with her mouth half-open in amazement.
Chibi-Moon looked straight at Fate's pin. "Hello, I'm Chiba Usagi, or Sailor Chibi-Moon."
"BARDICHE."
"Happy to meet you!"
The blonde finally regained her wits. "Er... and I'm Fate Testarossa. Pleased to meet you."
"And I'm Diana!"
"Hello, Diana. I'm pleased to meet you. Are you her familiar?"
"No, I'm her friend. Can we be friends, too?"
Miyuki chose that moment to make plain to the others that she was there. "I think we should be friends. Are you all... well, magical girls?"
River grinned. "Don't we look the part?"
Ben rolled his eyes. "Well, some of us have the wrong chromosomes for it, though that's discounting the Sailor Stars."
Miyuki spluttered at that, causing the others to giggle. Ben then sighed. "Well, that blows our cover. I'm pretty sure your folks would dearly love to know what's going on - especially if Fate wants to come to our Halloween party. And if Fate is coming, I'm pretty sure Nanoha wants to come, too."
Miyuki sobered quickly and gave Ben a very hard look, one that completely annihilated her nadeshiko yoroshiku facade.
"Benjamin comes with me. And only one other."
"Minako," said Ben right away.
"Why me?" asked the Senshi.
"Because you were originally Princess Serenity's body double so you know the bodyguard job to a T."
Minako blanched at that. "You know, sometimes I forget about how much you guys know about us."
Ben shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry."
"It's okay, Ben. I'll go with you."
"What about the rest of us?" asked Brent.
"Take everyone else to the streets you haven't hit up yet, then meet me back here."
---
Benjamin and Minako followed Miyuki and Fate to the back door of the Midoriya where Miyuki knock twice. Within a few seconds, the door opened and Shiro appeared with a concerned look on his face.
"Inside everyone. Quickly please."
They all filed in and found themselves in the Midoriya's stock room. Momoko and Kyouya were already there, and it was not lost on Ben that they had their ninjato sheathed at their sides.
"I apologize, everyone," said Ben, starting with no preamble. "It wasn't my intention to mislead or frighten anyone."
"Alright," said Shiro. "Do you know what is happening?"
Ben nodded. "I understand this is going to sound crazy, but you're in a parallel universe. Something happened to the whole of creation, and while the higher powers have been working to fix it, people like you have been arriving here, like driftwood washing ashore."
Shiro nodded thoughtfully. "I thought it might be something like that. How do you figure into this, though?"
"Well, everyone that's been showing up so far are people who, in our world, are characters in works of fiction. For example, Aino-san here is actually Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon."
"If that's true," said Momoko, "Then I'd like to see you transform."
"Of course," said Minako. She raised her henshin stick into the air and said, "Venus Star Power - Make Up!"
Ben kept his eyes averted while, in a flash of rainbow light, Aino Minako became Sailor Venus.
"MAGIC REACTION CONFIRMED," stated Bardiche for everyone to hear. "SEARCHING INTERNET. VERIFIED: 99.99% CERTAINTY IT IS SAILOR VENUS."
"Oh my gosh," said Momoko quietly from behind her hand. Suddenly she had to take out her handkerchief because her eyes had suddenly overflowed with tears. "Oh, please forgive me. When I was a little girl, Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon was my favorite manga."
The other Takamachis and Fate gave Momoko mildly surprised looks, then looked to Sailor Venus again.
"Well," said Shiro, "since it seems you're the real thing, I guess you're safe enough. Nanoha, it's okay. You can come out now."
With that, Nanoha came in from the back office, clad in her barrier jacket and carrying Raising Heart in its staff mode.
"I knew he couldn't be a bad person," said Nanoha happily. "Rodes'-san felt too nice to me."
Ben was glad she felt that way. He'd hate to be on the business end of one of her 'befriendings'.
"We understand, Nanoha," said Kyouya kindly. "But sometimes you have to check to make sure."
"It's alright," said Ben. "I kinda have that effect on people for some reason. Probably why I'm stuck with this job."
"What job is that?" asked Shiro.
"Basically, I've been brought in to help people like you - to make sure that you're happy, safe, and do not attract any undue attention."
"We seem to be doing okay," said Shiro, arching an eyebrow.
"You guys were lucky," said Ben. "Sailor Venus and her friends showed up in Canada with just the clothing on their back and little else."
At everyone's shocked looks, Minako nodded. "He's right. We were worried about how we were going to get by, let alone get back home again, when Donaldson-san found us and took us in."
"Who is Donaldson-san?" asked Miyuki.
"Another person like me," said Ben. "He manages an apartment complex up in Ottawa. Anyhow... The girls outside, I know they're gonna want to invite Fate and Nanoha to this party of ours. And really, I don't mind, even though I imagine you'd like to come with us. It's not a bad idea, I think, because most of the displacees are there right now, so you'd have a chance to meet everyone and get a better handle on the situation."
"Benjamin," said Shiro, all business, "do you know why this is happening?"
"I do," said Ben reticently. "It's just embarrassing for the person responsible. They're a good person and usually mean well, so I won't name any names. Instead, I'll just say that someone broke the computer that helps manage the multiverse, and until it gets fixed, this is the situation we're in."
"A computer?" asked Shiro, raising an eyebrow.
"You know about Ah! Megami-sama?"
"That's REAL!?" cried out Miyuki.
"Very real. In fact, Belldandy is taking a day off from working on the Yggdrasil so she can enjoy the party with Keiichi. You folks can meet her and get the word from the horse's mouth if you want."
Shiro looked to Momoko and a silent conversation took place between the two. Ben knew that what appeared to be very slight bits of fidgeting was actually a very subtle form of sign language.
"Alright," said Shiro at last. "I would like to accompany you to this party. And if Fate and Nanoha wish to, they can come as well."
"Really? We can!?" said Nanoha excitedly.
"I don't see why you can't," said Momoko. "In fact, Kyouya, Miyuki?"
"Yes mother?" the two choroused.
"Do you think you two will be fine with closing the shop by yourselves tonight?"
"It will be no problem," said Kyouya, and Miyuki nodded as well.
"Thank you," said Momoko, who turned back to Ben and Sailor Venus. "In that case, I'll be coming with you..." She suddenly turned a little pink and said, "Do you think you can introduce me to Tsukino-sama?"
Sailor Venus smiled broadly. "Of course I can. Usagi will be happy to meet a fan."
"I'm gonna go get into my costume real fast," said Nanoha quickly. "Fate-chan, can you come upstairs and help me?"
"Sure," agreed Fate, with understated enthusiasm.
"Do you guys have your own car," asked Ben, "or are you going to need a ride?"
"We'll be able to drive," said Shiro. "We'll just follow you. The traffic here is a little hectic, but it's nothing I can't handle."
---
Soooo, how's about that?