[OOC][PLOT] The Third Thread of Planning for Arc 1 - Arrivals

[Dartz]

"So what's it like?"

The question had lingered on his lips.

Meg inhaled, seeming to inflate her chest, threatening to burst free of her outfit. Hazelnut eyes fixed him with a sultry stare. For an instant, a glint of energy shone inside them. "Give me a few moments and I can show you,"

A soft trill in her voice sent a thrill rushing through his body. Blood rushed through his his body, heart racing with desire. For one instant, nothing else in the world existed. Nothing beyond the rust-haired beauty infront of him.

Her posture relaxed, the pressure on his mind easing in an instant. In a moment, it ended, leaving his head clear and his body echoing with the remnants of a hollow desire.

"That was intense," he caught his breath. Angel flashed through him. "And that wasn't what I meant."

Meg gave him a mollifying smirk for a moment, before her expression softened into a genuine smile.

"I ride Deliveroo most days and we're still trying to get more than change as a band, Sylvie still hates me," she took a breath. She looked to Sylvie, trying to tune her guitar, then at Nam giggling at the playstation while explosions rippled across the screen. "But I'm happy. The girls are happy"

"Well, that's good."

The sense of discomfort still lingered in his body.

"We're free."

[robkelk]

Okay, "best treat ever" take two. Wiki markup this time, not forum markup.

---

"That was some decent loot," commented Tomo as the group made its way down the laneway and headed for the next building. "Hey, is that a cafe?"

Everybody slowed down and took a look. Sure enough, there was a building with a classic Art Deco facade with a few people inside enjoying tea and cake. "Technically, it isn't a cafe, it's a tea house."

"That's really pedantic, Aika-sempai," muttered Alice.

Tomoyo looked at the building, then said, "I believe it might be a Japanese-style cake shop. It has a Japanese style name: Midoriya."

Brent and Ben abruptly stopped walking. A moment later, so did everyone else. Chiyo was the first to ask, "What's wrong?"

"Did you know they were in your home city?"

"Never had a clue until now."

"Could it be a coincidence?"

Sakura and Shaoran spoke in unison. "There is no such thing as coincidence. There is only necessity."

Ben nodded. "I have to agree with you. Of late, I don't do 'Coincidences'. Brent, can you see who's inside from here?"

Yomi growled impatiently. "Are you two going to tell us what's going on, or are you going to continue keeping us in the dark?"

"Sorry," both landlords said in unison. Ben continued, "If they're who we think they are, then we need to introduce ourselves very carefully."

"So who gets to go inside and reconnoiter these folks?" asked Tomo eagerly.

"Not you. You don't know what to look for." As Tomo frowned, Brent turned back to Ben and suggested, "We could draw straws."

Ben groaned, "Let's just skip the part where I lose. Brent, call Belldandy, let her know we may have an issue here, then let everybody know who we think they are. I'll go take a closer look."

"What if you need help?" asked Minako. "How will we know?"

"... Good question," said Ben. "Here, let me call your phone. Don't hang up on me. You'll be listening in. Put your phone on mute so they won't hear anything on my phone from here."

"Oooh! Good idea!" said Minako as she got her cell phone out. Ben could trust Venus to know when his bit of social engineering has failed and he'd need extraction.

Ben nodded as he dialed Minako's phone. "If things do get dicey, I want you and Ami to come in. If it's a hot situation, transform first. But if it can still be managed without resorting to violence, come in as you are and help me get out of that situation. Are we clear?"

"Absolutely," said Ami.

"Like glass," chirped Minako.

"Don't you mean 'crystal'?" asked Tomo.

Minako shook her head. "I've seen Crystal Tokyo. This isn't like that."

----

"Hello! Welcome to the Midoriya!" chirped a teenaged Japanese girl with her hair in braids and large, round eyeglasses over her eyes. "Are you ready to order or do you need a moment?"

Ben smiled and reminded himself that he was very likely dealing with Ninja, and they'd be able to see right through him if he half-assed this. Fortunately, he knew that the best way to lie was to tell the truth while omitting details.

"Howdy. Just wanted to check this place out. I was in Japan for three years while I was in the US Navy and I loved every minute of it."

"Oh! Then our store must be very nostalgic for you."

"Very much so," replied Ben with a smile. "So I'll probably be a regular customer from here on out. My name's Benjamin. What's yours?"

"Takamachi Miyuki," replied the girl, confirming Ben's suspicions. He resisted the urge to geek out, and successfully as Miyuki was none the wiser. "Or... Just Miyuki. It's still kind of strange getting used to how Americans address each other so informally."

"No worries," replied Ben easily. "If it makes you more comfortable, I'm more than happy to call you Takamachi-san instead."

Miyuki shook her head. "No, there's no need. If you are going to be a regular customer, then it'd get confusing having several of us answer to you all at once."

"Ah, I see then. Miyuki-san, then?"

"Just Miyuki is fine. So, do you see anything you want?"

"Not just yet. I have a group that I need to get back to outside - I'm helping to chaperon some youngsters while they go trick-or-treating."

"Oh, so that explains your costume. Who are you supposed to be though?"

"A young version of Edward Teague, the father of Captain Jack Sparrow. I didn't want to do the old and grizzled version because that might scare some of the kids. And I don't like doing that even if it is Halloween."

"Onēsan," came a girls voice from behind the counter, "watashi wa kaji o oemashita. Feito to issho ni ikimashou ka."

Ben turned to the source and froze dead-still.

There, wearing the uniform for the Midoriya, was a small Japanese girl, with brightly shining red hair and brilliant and deep blue eyes.

''Oh my God... That's really Nanoha!? She's such a beautiful little girl!'' came the unbidden thought.

Nanoha herself wasn't unaffected. She looked up at the strange American and was transfixed by his gaze, never minding the fact that he was dressed up in the most elaborate pirate captain costume she'd ever seen. Rather than feel crushed by his intensity, the girl felt compelled by it. There was something in those eyes of his that some part of her recognized, but her conscious mind couldn't describe it.

ALERT! came Raising Heart's voice in her head. ANTI-MAGIC REACTION DETECTED!

''What?'' thought Nanoha back at her device. ''What is that supposed to mean?''

MY MASTER, THE MAN EMITS MAGIC DISRUPTION FIELD. IT IS WEAK, BUT DANGER STILL.

''But... I don't think he is dangerous. To us at least.''

DESIGNATE FRIENDLY, MY MASTER?

"...Yes."

"Is something wrong?" said Miyuki, a bit confused.

Ben snapped out of it. "Oh, sorry. Just had an Aspie moment." Not entirely a lie.

"Aspie moment?" parroted Miyuki.

"I have Asperger's Syndrome. It's a very high-functioning form of autism, and every now and then I can get lost in a moment, so to speak."

"But... you seem all right?" said Miyuki in confusion.

"Autism is rarely something so cut-and-dry. I'm an outlier known as an Extroverted Aspie. All the social awkwardness with none of the tendency towards being a wallflower. Anyhow, the reason why I spaced out was because during my time in Japan, I never saw any girls as young as you, little miss, with such hair and eyes."

"It's real!" cried out Nanoha defiantly.

Miyuki inwardly winced. ''It looks like he wasn't kidding about the socially awkward part,'' she thought to herself.

Ben, meanwhile, berated himself harshly. ''Smooth move Ben - way to open mouth, insert foot there.''

"I apologize," said Ben quickly, knowing for sure he was turning pink with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to offend."

"Mou," replied Nanoha grumpily.

"How about I play a song to make it up to you?" he asked.

Nanoha blinked as Ben swung the guitar around from his back. "You mean that's not just part of your costume?" she asked in awe.

"Well, it kinda is," said Ben as he checked the tuning on each string and made a few little adjustments. "The person I'm dressed as spends a lot of time playing when he isn't busy. Right, here we go then."

And with that, Ben began to pick the strings of the guitar, playing the unmistakable opening bars of Pink Floyd's ''Wish You Were Here'' and weaving rhythm, melody, and baseline together, flawlessly capturing the emotional pull of the song.

And then he began to sing, eyes closed as the emotion, pure and raw, flowed through his voice. It wasn't the same as the original performance, but instead, this was Ben's own feelings as he made the song his for the moment.

<poem>
''So,''
''So you think you can tell''
''Heaven from Hell?''
''Blue skies from pain?''

''Can you tell a green field''
''from a cold steel rail?''
''A smile from a veil?''
''Do you think you can tell?''

''Did they get you to trade''
''your heroes for ghosts?''
''Hot ashes for trees?''
''Hot air for a cool breeze?''

''Cold comfort for change?''
''Did you exchange''
''A walk-on part in the war''
''for a lead role in a cage?''
</poem>

Nanoha could only watch in wonder as she could almost taste the bittersweet angst in the air. And then, just when she thought she couldn't have been moved any more, the final verse started.

<poem>
''How I wish, how I wish you were here.''
''We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,''
''Running over the same old ground.''
''What have we found?''
''The same old fears.''
''Wish you were here.''
</poem>

The words and the emotion hit her squarely in the heartstrings, making her imagine a life estranged from the friends that she cared so much about. It took every ounce of her self control to not start crying there on the spot.

There was a smattering of enthusiastic applause from the other customers. "More!" cried out one.

Ben smiled wistfully. "Sorry folks, I have places to be. But if the staff doesn't mind, I can come back another time."

"We would greatly appreciate that," said a new voice from behind the counter. Ben turned as saw a man in his prime, just starting to creep up on middle-age, and wearing a black apron over a button-down shirt and khaki slacks. "Hello, my name is Shiro Takamachi. What's yours?"

"Benjamin Rhodes," he replied with a bow.

"It's nice to meet you, Benjamin," said Shiro with a smile. "Would you really like to come back and play for us? We're pretty new here, and if you can help us draw in more customers, it'd be helpful for us. We're doing okay so far, but okay isn't the same thing as 'Great'."

Ben smiled back. "It'd be no problem. Here, let me give you my card. I'm actually an apartment manager on the west side of town."

"You came all this way for trick-or-treating?" asked Shiro.

Ben nodded as he handed over his business card. "This is one of the nicest neighborhoods in town, and there's a lot of youngsters visiting at my complex right now. I just thought it'd be nice for them to see this place and get the most out of their experience while they're here."

"Well, then you're certainly more than welcome to come back, Benjamin. I'll go ahead and email you some possible dates you can come and play for us. By the way, have you lived here long?"

"Not really, but I am a native - my heritage here goes all the way back to the original Native Americans and Spanish Explorers that came here and established this city. I'll tell you guys about it later, though. It's a heck of a history lesson."

Shiro smiled broadly at that. "We'll look forward to it."

"Well, I need to get back to my people outside; I've kept them waiting long enough."

"Anything before you go?" asked Shiro.

"Hmmm..." said Ben thoughtfully. "I'll take one of those C.C. Lemon sodas - I haven't had one in a while!"

Miyuki chuckled at that as she rung him up. "You definitely lived in Japan for a while!"

----

"Well?" asked Brent as Ben came back out.

"Definitely them," said Ben as he cracked open the soda and then took a long pull from it. He cleared his throat after swallowing and then went on, "Nanoha had Raising Heart with her. What did Belldandy say?"

"We don't have to worry right away - it's something for her and the others to handle - the reason why they showed up with no warning, that is. But you're still going to be stuck with dealing with them. Can't say I envy you."

"Never thought otherwise," said Ben as he rolled his eyes. "C'mon, let's round up the kiddies and head on back before something else happens."

----

Meanwhile, in the Midoriya's back office, Shiro and Momoko spoke quietly together.

"I could tell even on the camera," said Momoko. "He was nervous about something. And him claiming to have Asperger's syndrome is a little too convenient - especially that he's an extrovert despite that."

Shiro nodded. "I think so too, but I didn't sense anything dangerous about him."

"How is that?" asked Momoko.

"I can't put my finger on it," said Shiro. "But... It felt like he wanted to help us."

"He might know about us. I did an Internet search using our names. You're not going to believe this."

Shiro put on his glasses and looked at the computer screen. Bit by bit, his expression fell lower and lower as his face slowly turned pale.

"... This changes things for us."

"The sooner we get him back here," said Momoko, "the better. But first, we'll need to talk to Nanoha."

----

"Okay, Minako, you can hang up now."

"Oh. Right."

----

The trick-or-treaters had worked their way up one side of the closest cross-street to the Midoriya, and were working their way back down the other side.

"We only have until 8:30! Why aren't we going on to the next street?"

"Do you really want free candy that badly?"

Shaoran interrupted before Tomo could answer Brent's question. "Am I the only one who thinks we're being watched?"

"That's why we're not going on to the next street," replied Minako. "No, don't look! And keep walking. I spotted two. One's a girl Aika-neesan's age, with braided twin tails and big glasses."

"Miyuki. She followed us." Ben sighed deeply. "I wonder what I did to tip them off."

"They didn't follow us; they're watching from the corner. The other one's a girl about Diana and Chibi-Usa's age. She's carrying a bag." Minako giggled. "I wonder where she found that outfit."

"What's she wearing?"

"A Juuban Municipal Junior High School uniform. She almost looks like Usagi, except her hair's tied with ribbons, and she's wearing a pin where Usagi wears her brooch."

"A pin? Not a pendant necklace? What color is her hair?"

"The same as mine. Why?"

"I didn't see her in the Midoriya," Ben commented.

"You probably wouldn't have been allowed to see everybody." Brent continued completely deadpan, "Oh, well. I suppose it has to be Fate."

"What, like Destiny?" Ami asked. "Sakura-chan said there's no such thing as coincidence, so ... Oh! ''Fate."''

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?"

"Since she knows who Sailor Moon is, then you could go introduce yourselves," Akia suggested.

"Hang on," interrupted Minkao. "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.

The youngsters picked up their pace and rejoined the others just before Fate arrived. She looked straight at Diana. "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?"''

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?"

[Black Aeronaut]

"Could it be a coincidence?"

"As of late, I don't do 'Coincidences'.  Can you see who's inside from here?"

There's a line missing between those two - one that Sakura heard from her big brother and her favourite teacher on occasion.

You’ll have to put it in. I have no idea what this line might be.

Okay - frankenpost assembled, but some stitching still needs to be done (along with some outright re-writing of the current ending). Stay tuned...

I’ll be watching for it.

[Labster]

"That's really pedantic, Aika-sempai," muttered Alice.

And speaking of pedantry... I doubt either Aika or Alice know the Japanese language.  If they're from a world like reality, then they know the local Italian and English, because they work in tourism.  Both of them have English derived surnames, too.  And from printed material we saw on-screen, we know Italian or Veneto is the dominant language of Neo Venezia.  You could make a case that Aika is haafu, because her name has a Japanese spelling.   But unless someone convinces me otherwise, what we saw in the anime was a Japanese dub on an Italian reality.

Sakura and Shaoran spoke in unison. "There is no such thing as coincidence. There is only necessity."

Kids, you're not in Tsubasa lol.

Leeroy Takino? Pfft. You do realize that you are now obligated to crack that joke on her, right?

• On saving the world, Tomo: All right chums, let's do this!
  

I'm still reading, let you know more later.

[Labster]

After a bit of thought I'm settling on the daughter of Himeya probably not speaking Japanese, but having a parent or grandparent who thought it was important she had a Japanese name. Himeya might use senpai internally, but not sure if that spread to Orange Planet. But probably not so strictly as real nihonjin would use it; probably only for rank differences. I guess Alice is a pair at this point in the story while Aika is a single so.... I'll allow it.

Is Fate coming to our party?

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay, just got a chance to look it over. It looks great so far.

If Fate is coming to the party, then that'd include Nanoha. And with all the red flags Ben's raised, that's not a good idea to go haring off with them just like that. Besides, if you ran that bit of Nanoha's Japanese through Google, you'd see that she was saying that she was done with her chores, and if it was okay to go out with Fate.

I'm not ruling it out entirely, but it would require me to pull the trigger on a few things right away, such as talking to Shiro and Momoko right away. And really, I wouldn't mind doing that - it can be done. But we'd have to bring either Shiro or Momoko with us as well - just to put them at ease and also let them see the full scope of the situation.

In fact, it's probably the best time to introduce someone, as pretty much everyone is at Ben's place. It's hard to refute that kind of evidence, and we can even take them down into Washu's lab to show them the Armslaves.

I'll get started on writing up some material because I have a good feeling you guys are gonna want this as well. (Don't worry about additional transportation - the Takamachis will have their own car.)

[robkelk]

"That's really pedantic, Aika-sempai," muttered Alice.

And speaking of pedantry... I doubt either Aika or Alice know the Japanese language.  If they're from a world like reality, then they know the local Italian and English, because they work in tourism.  Both of them have English derived surnames, too.  And from printed material we saw on-screen, we know Italian or Veneto is the dominant language of Neo Venezia.  You could make a case that Aika is haafu, because her name has a Japanese spelling.   But unless someone convinces me otherwise, what we saw in the anime was a Japanese dub on an Italian reality.

Good point. As a counter-point, Aika calls Alice "kohai" more than she calls her "Alice", so I'm thinking they're saying something that refers to the sempai-kohai relationship, no matter which language they're saying it in. We just need to figure out what they're saying.

Sakura and Shaoran spoke in unison. "There is no such thing as coincidence. There is only necessity."

Kids, you're not in Tsubasa lol.

My original plan was to have Sakura, Tomoyo, and Mira say the line in unison, and Ben outright saying he was creeped out by that. (And, later at the party, the Norns admitting they were channeling through the people dressed like them to give everybody a hint.)

But I decided, no, having the two who'd actually heard the line from Touya and/or Kaho repeat it was a good enough hint. The megami don't need (or have time) to micromanage the displacees and managers.

[robkelk]

Okay, just got a chance to look it over.  It looks great so far.  

If Fate is coming to the party, then that'd include Nanoha.  And with all the red flags Ben's raised, that's not a good idea to go haring off with them just like that.  Besides, if you ran that bit of Nanoha's Japanese through Google, you'd see that she was saying that she was done with her chores, and if it was okay to go out with Fate.

Maybe you'd better run that phrase back through Google - it says she was saying that she was done with her chores, and if it was okay to go out with her family.

I'm not ruling it out entirely, but it would require me to pull the trigger on a few things right away, such as talking to Shiro and Momoko right away.  And really, I wouldn't mind doing that - it can be done.  But we'd have to bring either Shiro or Momoko with us as well - just to put them at ease and also let them see the full scope of the situation.

In fact, it's probably the best time to introduce someone, as pretty much everyone is at Ben's place.  It's hard to refute that kind of evidence, and we can even take them down into Washu's lab to show them the Armslaves.

I'll get started on writing up some material because I have a good feeling you guys are gonna want this as well.  (Don't worry about additional transportation - the Takamachis will have their own car.)

Agreed - if they're coming to the party, then they're coming with a full escort... and Ben already gave Shiro his card, so they have the address. I'd suggest they arrive on their own after the Midoriya closes for the night, which gives them a chance to reconnoiter Westwoods before they announce their presence.

[Labster]

Okay, just got a chance to look it over.  It looks great so far.  

If Fate is coming to the party, then that'd include Nanoha.  And with all the red flags Ben's raised, that's not a good idea to go haring off with them just like that.  Besides, if you ran that bit of Nanoha's Japanese through Google, you'd see that she was saying that she was done with her chores, and if it was okay to go out with Fate.

Maybe you'd better run that phrase back through Google - it says she was saying that she was done with her chores, and if it was okay to go out with her family.

I think Google's in the wrong here.  When I look up "feito" in the Japanese dictionary, the first definition is Fate Testarossa.

"That's really pedantic, Aika-sempai," muttered Alice.

And speaking of pedantry... I doubt either Aika or Alice know the Japanese language.  If they're from a world like reality, then they know the local Italian and English, because they work in tourism.  Both of them have English derived surnames, too.  And from printed material we saw on-screen, we know Italian or Veneto is the dominant language of Neo Venezia.  You could make a case that Aika is haafu, because her name has a Japanese spelling.   But unless someone convinces me otherwise, what we saw in the anime was a Japanese dub on an Italian reality.

Good point. As a counter-point, Aika calls Alice "kohai" more than she calls her "Alice", so I'm thinking they're saying something that refers to the sempai-kohai relationship, no matter which language they're saying it in. We just need to figure out what they're saying.

Use of "kohai" in Japanese in this way would be really unusual.  It has the same level of endearment as "peon" does in English.  I've heard it used as a term of endearment in English language comedy, though.  So it suggests either an organization that used the words in its founding, but don't carry quite the same connotation as in Japanese -- Himeya could be suitable here -- or it suggests an Italian or English word translated back to Japanese, like "apprentice".

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay, just got a chance to look it over.  It looks great so far.  

If Fate is coming to the party, then that'd include Nanoha.  And with all the red flags Ben's raised, that's not a good idea to go haring off with them just like that.  Besides, if you ran that bit of Nanoha's Japanese through Google, you'd see that she was saying that she was done with her chores, and if it was okay to go out with Fate.

Maybe you'd better run that phrase back through Google - it says she was saying that she was done with her chores, and if it was okay to go out with her family.

I think Google's in the wrong here.  When I look up "feito" in the Japanese dictionary, the first definition is Fate Testarossa.

Google is a bit weird like this sometimes.  It knows Japanese is a language that has a lot of leeway in it due to its dependence on context.  It probably doesn't help that I didn't make it into 'Fate-chan' instead.  I'll go back and fix that...
That said, though...  Go/No-Go on (peacefully) confronting the Takamachis?

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay, change is in. It now reads as: "Ane wa, watashi wa jibun no shigoto o oete imasu. Feito-chan to soto de asonde mo īdesu ka?"

BTW: That draft template.... I can get the idea that it marks a section of text as something that is subject to change, but making minor changes to it marks the ENTIRE SECTION as changed. Perhaps something else? Otherwise, it could become hard to keep track of who is doing what.

[Labster]

I changed that again, because I'm not aware of any Japanese romanization that uses `ī`.

[robkelk]

...Otherwise, it could become hard to keep track of who is doing what.

Select "View history" at the top of the page, and you get a list of all changes, in order, with the editors' names on them. (linky)

This works on all wiki pages.

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay, thanks Rob. I guess it’s pretty obvious I don’t mess with wikis very much.

Guys, why are we making such a big deal out of Romanization? If it persists to be an issue, then I’ll get draconian about it and establish English Languge Only rule. I’ll even do all the edits in the Wiki myself.

Anyhow...

Rob, sorry I missed your agreeing about the Takamachi parental units coming along. I was gonna have it that they’d have Kiyouya and Miyuki close up the shop. To my knowledge, they handle a lot of the day to day operations anyhow. Or am I completely off?

[Labster]

Guys, why are we making such a big deal out of Romanization?

Not sure if you noticed, but there are a lot of weeaboos in here XD

I kinda got the feeling that Kyouya is going to take over the dojo and Miyuki would take over the bakery, which kind left Nanoha as a third wheel until Trump announced the Space Force until she discovered the TSAB.

[Black Aeronaut]

Well, it works either way with the two of them staying behind. Though I was under the impression that the dojo was strictly a family thing - something they kept going as a means to practice and hone their skills for their ‘actual’ business, and that the Midoriya was really no more than a front. (Albeit, one that makes them a bit of money, but still just something that lets them pass as ‘normal’.)

[Black Aeronaut]

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?

[robkelk]

The only quibble I have is that, as of when the youngsters went trick-or-treating, Belldandy hadn't arrived at the party yet. That should be phrased along the lines of Belldandy having promised to show up (maybe with a comment about Belldandy always keeping her promises).

[Black Aeronaut]

Oh, okay! I had thought she was already there. Thanks!

[Dartz]

I can't keep up with this workrate - I'm just unable to keep focus for more than a few lines.

If anyone wants 33-stars or Data to do anything in their own story they're welcome to bring them in.

[robkelk]

Thanks, Dartz.

[robkelk]

Dartz's scene is now on the wiki, in the Halloween Party thread. I've deliberately not named who Meg is speaking with.

And BA's scene is up, too, with a couple of minor changes:

"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. I was busking for spare change just so we could get something to eat, before Donaldson-san found us and took us in."

...

"You know about Ah! Megami-sama?"

"That's REAL!?" cried out Miyuki.

"Very real. In fact, Belldandy will be taking some time off from working on the Yggdrasil so she can enjoy the party with Keiichi. She promised that she would, and we all know Belldandy's promises are backed up by the Ultimate Force. You folks can meet her and get the word from the horse's mouth if you want."

[Black Aeronaut]

You know what?  I just realized what we're missing:

Party Activities.

So, let's go ahead and work on that list.

For one thing there's going to be the lunch and dinner.  Ben will leave most of the planning and management for that to Sasame and Noike, though Ben would like for the dinner to be a classic Texas-style barbeque with a little bit of everything for everyone.  (Any vegetarians going to the party?  I know that there's some great places to source vegetarian food in San Antonio.)

Movie Time
I'm thinking that along with the dinner, they should have a movie or two - seperate screenings at the same time.  On one screen, I say we should definitely do Labyrinth.  For the other, I would like to nominate an old favorite that falls into the Horror/Comedy genre, The Lost Boys.

Honestly, I love The Lost Boys as much as Labyrinth.  What's great about that movie is that it manages to perfectly balance horror with comedy - edge of your seat screams and thrills with laugh out loud moments that somehow do not feel at all out of place.  A real cult classic.

The pool, of course, will be open.  I imagine that Ami will be spending a lot of time both in and out of it, and will likely earn the title, "Official Mermaid of the 2016 Halloween Party".  Much to her chagrin. 

Games - we should have a number of games.  Not only of the backyard variety, but with the tables outside, we can also have a number of other games.  Jenga can be one.  We can also have a few classics that will bear up well outdoors, like Trouble and Connect Four.  Both are easy and fun to play, and I imagine that the younger ones that have never seen it before will adore Trouble's trademark Popomatic Bubble(tm).

And for people like Ami and Teletha, a nice chess set will be available.  (Fun idea.  So as not to miss out on party time activities, those two circulate and check back on the table to make the next move, then go out and circulate again.)

For outdoor games, we can have volleyball, badminton (really, they can be played using the same net) and bocce ball.  Though I imagine volleyball is going to be more popular with the more physical members of our group.

Oh, and we can probably have a fun little 'kendo match' with Tenchi and Shiro.

And then, of course, there will be the onsen, though that's probably going to be more of an after-party thing.  Shiro and Momoko being the only 'legally allowed' couple, they will probably be the only ones to take advantage of the mixed gender section.

This will probably be where Usagi and Sasami hatch their plan to make sure Ben has as much company as possible.  

Any other ideas?

[Labster]

Ideas from my PerlCons: We have Board Game Night, Good Movie Night, and Bad Movie Night (MSTing encouraged). I tend to get drawn to the board games.

If you don't mind a quick use of the Sand card, we can also have beach volleyball.

Believe it or not, some people go to parties to drink some alcohol, and dance to loud music. We should cater to that crowd, too.

I'm kinda hoping other people can write most of this. In real life parties, I have a tendency to wallflower, and not really enjoy myself.

Random, unrelated idea: There has to be a universe out there where they only have Codename wa Sailor V, and Sailor Moon never got made. (Actually, Sailor Moon itself is one of those universes.) I'd love to have someone go up to Usagi and ask if she's doing Sailor V cosplay.

[robkelk]

Any vegetarians going to the party?

Rei Ayanami, to name one.

The pool, of course, will be open. I imagine that Ami will be spending a lot of time both in and out of it, and will likely earn the title, "Official Mermaid of the 2016 Halloween Party". Much to her chagrin.

...

And for people like Ami and Teletha, a nice chess set will be available. (Fun idea. So as not to miss out on party time activities, those two circulate and check back on the table to make the next move, then go out and circulate again.)

As Fumoffu has shown us, the one physical activity Tessa is confident in is swimming. So set up the chess board at poolside.

Believe it or not, some people go to parties to drink some alcohol, and dance to loud music. We should cater to that crowd, too.

33-Stars has the "loud music" part covered.