Session Start: Sat Nov 19 17:17:12 2005
<Ked> Previously, on Hunters:
<Ked> Things are getting a little rocky - the Americans got trashed at their
base, the police aren't on the team's side any more, Haruko's world is
impinging ever more strongly on reality, Minami is being investigated, Hardhat
is becoming active again, and nobody quite knows what to do with the intel
that the US just provided.
<Ked> So the team wants a little direction, and Her Majesty is the source of
all direction... so it's time to go see Her again.
<Ked> ...except that it seems like half the team has disappeared on the way to
the Palace.  Haruko and Kyouko arrive together, and the others... don't.
<Ked> [Monday, March 28, 2004 - 1420 local time]
<Ked> [The lobby at the Palace]
<Ked> [mini start]
<Lady_MakeBelieve> I wonder when the others are going to get here....
<LadyHeat> They probably stopped for something silly like ice cream. *fidgets
in her chair*
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Should we wait for them?
* LadyBlue flaps her hands frantically.  "How can they be late?  I made time
in the schedule..."
<LadyHeat> Is there any space for them later?
<LadyBlue> It's that La- Princess Sakura.  She thinks that she's so much
better than the rest of us, always messing with normal routine...
<LadyHeat> ... We don't really have a choice.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> I'm going to call them...
* Lady_MakeBelieve pulls out her trademark Imagi-Phone!
<LadyBlue> Oooooh, if I cancel the movie and push back dinner... but that's
only if they arrive in the next hour.
* Lady_MakeBelieve tries calling Sakura first.
<LadyHeat> They shouldn't be that late. We didn't get ahead of them by that
much.
<PrincessSakura> Yes?
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Where are you?  Heat and I are already at the palace.
<PrincessSakura> Um... I had a little... problem, and Taki and Mina are
helping me with it.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Do you need any help?
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Any more help, I guess I mean.
<PrincessSakura> No, not really.  (Sakura sounds *really* distracted.)
<LadyHeat> Are they coming, MakeBelieve?
<PrincessSakura> We'll be there, but we're maybe an hour away.
<LadyBlue> Tell them that they shouldn't demand time with Her Majesty if they
can't keep the commitment!
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Should we wait for you, or what?  They seem impatient here.
<PrincessSakura> We need to have this meeting, so yes, wait.
* Lady_MakeBelieve motions for both Heat and Blue to be quiet while she’s on
the phone.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Ah... alright then.  Good luck with whatever it is then.
* PrincessSakura mutters something about motorcycles which Haruko can't make
out.
<PrincessSakura> Thanks.  We'll be there.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> They said they're having some issues, and it'll be around
an hour before they can be here
<LadyHeat> So should we just go in?
<LadyBlue> ...fine.  I'll put Tiara back into this slot, then.  She was soooo
pissed when you bumped her.
<LadyBlue> No, you get to wait.
* LadyBlue sniffs.
<LadyBlue> Here.
<Ked> The lobby is very lobby-like.  There are chairs and bad paintings on the
wall, and year-old magazines on low tables.
* LadyHeat picks up a random magazine and flips through it.
* Lady_MakeBelieve plays games on her cell-phone
* LadyBlue gets on the phone and starts reorganizing the Palace schedule,
shooting pointed glances at the guests every few seconds.
* LadyHeat whispers to Haruko "Do you know why we're having this meeting?"
* LadyHandcuff walks in through the front door and strides through the lobby.
She stops as she notices the waiting pair.
* Lady_MakeBelieve stops playing and leans over "I'm guessing it has something
to do with the recent American info."
<LadyHandcuff> What are you two doing here?
<LadyHeat> We're here for a meeting.
<LadyHandcuff> Just you two?  Not the whole team?
<LadyHeat> The others are busy somewhere else, with Sakura.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> We're just waiting for them.
<LadyHandcuff> Ah.
* LadyHandcuff looks back at Lady Blue, then leans in much closer.
<LadyHandcuff> I heard...
* LadyHeat listens in, or tries to, anyway.
* LadyHandcuff looks around again, and begins again, only much quieter.
<LadyHandcuff> I heard you ran into Lady Hardhat?
<LadyHeat> ...We did.
* Lady_MakeBelieve nods
<LadyHandcuff> Is she...
<LadyHandcuff> ...hold on.  Let's go back to the office for some privacy.
* LadyHeat gets up, so they can go somewhere private.
<LadyBlue> They'd better not be late for their audience!
<LadyHandcuff> Just page us in Princess Sakura's offices.
* LadyBlue frowns, but nods.
* Lady_MakeBelieve sighs
* Lady_MakeBelieve mutters "She could really try being nice"
<LadyHeat> She has to deal with magical girls all day.
* LadyHandcuff leads the way back into a wing of the Palace that the others
have not been in before.  The doors here are mostly unmarked.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> So does the Celestial Agency, but they manage to stay civil
about it at least.
<LadyHandcuff> Eh, she's old guard.  Just didn't get the promotion that most
of her original team has, and so she lords it over anyone she can.
<Ked> A door at the end of the hallway bangs open, and a stack of rumpled bed
sheets with legs lurches out.
* Lady_MakeBelieve pauses and stares
* LadyHeat tries to guess which Lady it is.
<LadyHandcuff> These are all supposed to be offices, but with all the Ladies
staying here, we've converted a bunch into apartments.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Ah, poor girl, doing laundry duty,.
<Ked> The stack wobbles and falls apart, revealing a somewhat embarrassed
girl.
<Princess> Ooops!  Oh!  Hi!
<LadyHeat> Princess! It's been so long since we've seen you!
* Lady_MakeBelieve concentrates for a moment, and then hands Princess a
laundry basket.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> "Here, you look like you could use this."
<Princess> Thanks!  You're handy!
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Sometimes.
<LadyHandcuff> What are you doing?  Let the staff do this stuff - you're going
to get yelled at by the other Princesses...
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Now now, if she wants to help out don't discourage her.
<Princess> Aw, I was just helping Lady Discus...
<Princess> ...you know how big her family is.
<LadyHandcuff> Yeah, I can hear them arguing all the time.
<LadyHeat> Her whole family is here?
<LadyHandcuff> A lot of families are here.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Why have they all been moved into the palace?
<LadyHeat> Wow.
<LadyHandcuff> Mostly they're the families of the Ladies who survived the
school.  We couldn't... leave them in place.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> I see...
<Princess> Yeah, but we haven't been able to expand our staff, either.  So the
laundry piles up...
* Princess starts stuffing sheets into the basket.
<LadyHeat> Do you want some help?
* Lady_MakeBelieve nudges Lady Heat. "They should get you working here to
steam clean everything."
<Princess> Naw, that's okay.
<LadyHeat> I've never tried steam cleaning before...
<LadyHandcuff> Just don't get caught.  You know how some of them are about
protocol around here...
<Princess> Right, right...  how are the Hunters doing?
<Lady_MakeBelieve> You should!  Once the ningyo are defeated you could start a
cleaning business!
<LadyHeat> It's been pretty busy recently. We've had some weird run-ins.
<Princess> I suppose you can't really tell me about it.  *pouts cutely*
<LadyHandcuff> They probably shouldn't, Your Highness.
* Princess finishes binning the laundry.
<Princess> Oh, all right.  Take care, you guys.
<LadyHeat> Have a good day!
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Yeah, good luck!
<Princess> I'll get Sakura to give you another vacation!
* Princess drags the bin away.
* LadyHandcuff turns to a door, and unlocks it.
<LadyHeat> A vacation would be nice.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> I agree
<LadyHandcuff> That's for sure.
<Ked> Sakura's office is a pair of rooms - the front one looks like a real
office... the back one has a bunch of computers and maps and for all that it's
been tidied up, it seems inherently disorganized.
* LadyHandcuff closes the door.
<LadyHeat> Can we talk now?
<LadyHandcuff> Yeah.
<LadyHandcuff> How is she?
<LadyHeat> She's alive. She got shot, but not fatally.
* LadyHandcuff grimaces.  "You shot her?"
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Darkmoon did.
<LadyHeat> Darkmoon did. She pulled out her Hardhat.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> He got trigger happy.
<LadyHeat> We weren't sure what to do.
<LadyHeat> She's still brainwashed and she might be continuing Pie's...
crusade. Or whatever you want to call it.
<LadyHandcuff> Yeah...
<LadyHandcuff> I thought that she came after me just for revenge.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> She called us betrayers...
<LadyHandcuff> But I didn't think she would try to kill other Ladies.
<LadyHeat> She said she did it because you betrayed Pie.
* LadyHandcuff nods.
<LadyHeat> She wanted to get Fork back, that's why she was stalking her.
<LadyHandcuff> I still feel that way, a little.
<LadyHandcuff> How was she?  Did she seem scared, or angry, or...
<LadyHeat> If you run into her again, be very, very, very careful. She's a
Princess now.
* LadyHandcuff chokes.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> I have to wonder if she can perform any quick attacks.
<LadyHeat> Well, her powers were mostly centered around defense.
<LadyHandcuff> She can swing those hardhats around... but they never were that
effective.
<LadyHandcuff> Mostly she would try to protect us.
<LadyHandcuff> So it took a while for her to call that... hat strike down?
<LadyHeat> Yeah.
<LadyHeat> It took a few minutes, we had enough time to evacuate everyone.
<LadyHandcuff> Huh.
<LadyHandcuff> Do you... *sniff* Do you... think you'll have to kill her,
then?
<LadyHeat> It's... very obvious when it's going to happen, at least it was
this time.
* Lady_MakeBelieve stays quiet.
<LadyHeat> I'm not sure. I don't think we'll be able to. No one wants to.
<LadyHeat> If we could get someone who could order her, we could get her back
here.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> We'd need Sakura with us, or some other Princess, and
they'd have to have orders from the Queen.
<LadyHandcuff> I hope you don't, but...  I don't know what Pie was thinking,
precisely, making her own cabal.  But Hardhat was a true believer.  We all
were, but she was even more so.
<LadyHeat> Yeah, she honestly believes what Pie told her.
<LadyHandcuff> I never did understand what Princess Pie's ultimate plan was.
She would have needed so many more of us to challenge the Hierarchy...
<LadyHandcuff> ...but if you do run into her again, would you tell her I
forgive her?
* LadyHandcuff tears up slightly.
<LadyHeat> We will.
<LadyHandcuff> Damn her.
<LadyHeat> Leena still wants to try and get to her and help her.
* LadyHandcuff collapses in a chair and really starts a good cry.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> Something smells odd to me about this whole thing, I want
to get to the bottom of it...
* LadyHeat awkwardly pats Handcuff on the shoulder.
* Lady_MakeBelieve summons a handkerchief, and hands it over, not knowing what
else to do.
<Lady_MakeBelieve> "It'll turn out alright, I promise."
<LadyHeat> We're going to try to do something.
<Ked> [end mini]